Chapter Fourteen is finally finished. Will Rogue remember. Read on to find out.
Chapter Fourteen: Hidden Memories
Rogue woke a little late the next morning, which was unusual for her seeing that she was the first to turn in. After dinner the night before she felt so wiped out but and didn't know why. Even after getting more than ten hours of sleep she still felt wiped and didn't really want to get up, but she had school. She quickly took a shower, brushed her hair and put on some makeup. She hoped it would cover the obvious circles under her eyes. She had her things together and grabbed her bag before going downstairs. She intended to skip breakfast, but before she could head out the door she heard Mystique's voice.
"You're not going anyway until you eat breakfast," she said and Rogue turned around. The woman had a stern look on her face.
"Ah'm not hungry," Rogue said and tried to leave but Mystique stopped her. "You need to at least have a glass of orange juice."
"Okay, fine," she said and followed her into the kitchen. She had a glass already poured for her and handed it to her. Rogue took a sip but made an ugly face but swallowed it. "This is watered down."
She put it back on the counter and headed straight for the door. Mystique tried to stop her, but she was already out the door. It seemed that Quicksilver was not the only she couldn't catch.
Rogue had no choice but to walk to school that day seeing that the boys took off already. She knew she was going to be late, and it would be the first time since she started at Bayville High, but that was less than a week ago. Her homeroom teacher had it in for her since the second she walked into class and was just waiting for any little thing to punish her. One thing she didn't want to deal with today was detention, but it looked like it just might happen.
She walked as quickly as she could, but the time was ticking by fast which was causing her anxiety. She heard a sound coming behind her, sounding like a motorcycle. She looked behind her and saw that annoying guy from school. He was always popping up when she least expected It, and here he was doing it again.
She tried to walk faster but there was no way she could beat a motorcycle even at its lowest speed. She finally stopped knowing she wasn't going to get rid of the guy, unless she said something.
"Hey, chere, like a ride?" he asked after he took off his helmet.
"Not from you," She said and tried to walk off.
He got off his bike and did a flip with his bo staff and landed right in front of her. "So you would rather be late for school?"
"Ah will if you don't get outta my way," she said and tried to walk on but he grabbed her hand.
"You'll be late anyway, so are you gonna let me give you a ride?" She hated that he was being logical. She shouldn't accept anything from him seeing he was an enemy, but there was no other choice. Besides, she was too tired to walk anyway. "So what you say, let Remy give you a ride?"
"Okay, fine," she said and he led her to his bike. He hopped on the bike first, but Rogue hesitated at first.
"You can trust me," he said and looked into her eyes. He didn't have his sunglasses on, and she could see that they really looked like. It was like looking into the heart of a volcano. She should have been afraid, but she was more intrigued.
He held out his hand and left it to her whether or not she would take it. After a few moments she did and felt a certain gentleness and warm. She got on the bike and he handed her the helmet. After putting it on Remy started up the bike and put her arms around him, and he took off.
She felt as if she had done this before, but her mind couldn't quite pin it down. It was kind of exciting putting her life in the hands of a so-called enemy.
In minutes they were at school and she quickly got off the bike and was about to leave but he grabbed her hand. She turned back and knew she had to say something.
"Thanks for the ride," she said and saw him looking intensely at her. He had his sunglasses still on, but she knew he was looking at her and felt that somehow he could see into her soul.
"You're welcome, chere," he said and raised her hand to his lips and kissed her. She wanted to pull away, but for some reason she couldn't. She also felt that this wasn't the first time he had kissed her.
A flash came to her mind of her and Remy, and they were kissing, not on the hand but on the lips. She let out a deep breath and run up the steps and into the school building. She ran down the hall and into the closest bathroom she could find. She splashed some cold water on her face trying to get that image out of her head. It was so real, but there was no way it could have really happened, not with her powers. She saw the scene playing through her mind. Was it that she really wanted him to kiss her like that? She was so confused that she couldn't think straight.
She heard the bell ring, but she was too overwhelmed by the could-be memory that her being late for class was the least of her worries. She slumped down on the floor in the corner and tried to get the image out of her head, but it was no good. The scene played over in her mind repeatedly becoming stronger, until she couldn't take the pressure anymore. It was real; it had to be. The only thing she didn't understand was how.
Rogue was trying to get herself together when someone came into the bathroom. She was so out of it she didn't even care about the embarrassment she was going to receive being found in this position.
She was shaking as she looked up and saw a familiar face. "Are you okay?" she heard a short-stature brunette say.
She recognized the girl as being part of group the terrorized her back home. "Stay away from me," she said and tried to move away from the girl.
She didn't realize in her state of confusion she had taken her glove off. The girl didn't listen and just stood over her. "I just want to help you," the girl said but Rogue brushed up against her hand and the girl screamed before passing out.
Rogue moved off the floor and grabbed her gloves and put them back on. "Hey, you, wake up."
Damn! She had the girl's mind inside if her. A name popped into her head. It was Kitty. That was her name, but she had seen this girl in Lance's mind too. This was the girl he was in love with.
"You'll be okay," she whispered to the girl. She was about to get up and get help, but she suddenly went through the floor. She screamed but kept falling, through the basement and into the sub-basement until she finally hit the floor. That girl's memories were still inside her mind, but she couldn't see any of the memories of her and her friends trying to kill her. Although it could be because they were not surface memories, but it could also be that it never happened. She had been doubting that for days, but she had kept these feelings to herself. Mystique reminded her daily about what these people did to her.
She tried to pick herself up, but she found that she had a large bruise on her leg. "Damn it!" she yelled out. She had to find a way out of here, but she didn't exactly know where here was. She looked around and found a small stairway and struggled to climb it. Her leg still hurt, but at least it wasn't broken.
When she reached the door she tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. She wondered if it was just too heavy, or if the door was simply locked.
"Open up!" she yelled. And hit the door with her hands. She pounded it over and over, until her hands just seemed to simply pass through. She wanted to freak out not wanting to be stuck in the door and tried to pull the rest of her body through. She took a step and then another slowly and carefully but stumbled onto the floor after moving too fast.
"So that girl does have a power," she said quietly. She pulled out her phone and saw the time and realized that homeroom was half over. "Shit!" She picked herself up off the floor and took the stairwell up to the first floor. She made her way back to the bathroom where she had her freak out. She wanted to be sure that girl Kitty was okay. When she was just around the corner she saw two girls helping her accidental victim out of the bathroom.
She was relieved to see the girl was alright and ran down the hall to her homeroom. She walked in as indiscreetly as possible but her teacher looked at her sternly.
"Rogue, may I speak with you?" She knew she was in for it. She approached her teacher's desk and her stern expression evolved into sustain. "May I ask why you were late?"
"Girl problems," she said thinking it was the only answer she could come up with at the moment.
Her teacher just rolled her eyes, and she was sure her teacher didn't believe her excuse. "Well, don't let it happen again."
Rogue wondered why the woman let her off so easily, but then she saw Principal Darkholme pass by her classroom door. She wondered if she had anything to do with it, but she wasn't going to push the subject and decided to let it go and took a seat in the back row.
She still had the girl in her head, but she was starting to fade and hopefully she would soon be in the back of her mind with the others.
Still that memory of kissing Remy was always on the forefront of her mind and she was going to confront him about just as soon as her could.
*The rest of the morning seemed to move like a snail, and it didn't help that she couldn't keep her eyes off the clock. She knew that more she stared at the slower it would move, but she just couldn't help it.
Lunch time came soon enough and even though she hadn't had breakfast she wasn't that hungry. She found him in his normal spot by the entrance doors.
"Are ya stalkin' me?" she asked as she approached him.
He smirked while shaking his head. "You wan' me to?" he asked. She hated the fact that He would usually answer her question with another question. She turned away hating that he was being so evasive. She turned away from him about to walk away until she heard his voice again. "I saw you lookin' all round like you're like you're searchin' for somethin'."
"Ah was," she said honestly. "Ah need t'talk to ya about somethin'."
"Go ahead," he said and took her hand.
"Not here... Someplace private."
"Alright," he said and led her down the hallway. He looked to see if anyone was around. When he saw that the hallways were clear and led her through a door into a small utility closet.
"Why the hell are we in here?" she asked angrily.
"Privacy," he said and put his hand over her mouth. He was wearing gloves so there was danger of accidental skin contact. "Now, what you wanna talk ,bout, and be quiet?"
"It's hard to explain," she said and he looked at her a little confused. "Well, earlier when we arrived at school…when you kissed my hand…it… ah…wasn't the first time…was it?"
"Non…," he said but he had a smile on his face. "You remember…?"
"Ah'm not sure what ah remember," she said and she looked down at the floor. Remy had taken his glasses off and raised her chin so she had to look him in the eyes.
"Tell me what you see," he said and she thought back to the memory.
"Were we in a sewer? I remember a place that was dark and damp." He nodded and his lips came close to hers. She pulled back. "No, we can't do that, not without…"
"Dis?" he asked and pulled out a green gem. It was attached to a chain and he put it around her neck. "You remember dis?"
"I'm not sure," she said and looked up at him.
"Perhaps I can jog your memory… if you trust me," he said. She nodded and he came close to her touching her lips. She was waiting for the pull of his memories, but they never came. After that she lost all self-control and wrapped her around his neck and had his hands on either side of her waist and pulled her closer to him.
The kiss seemed to last forever, but as they pulled away more memories came back to her. She was shaking and he held onto her so she wouldn't fall. "You alright, chere?"
"I just keep getting these flashes," she said and she looked up at him. "About you and me…together."
He smiled and touched her cheek. "Dat makes me real happy."
"Ah'm still real confused," she said. "How did ah not know..."
"It don' matter," he said and wrapped his arms around her. "What matters is we're together now."
She pulled away from him, as much as she could in the crapped space they were occupying. "No," she said and shook her head. "Ah have t'find out why this happened, until then ah can't promise anything."
"Dat's fair enough," he said and looked into her eyes again. Something inside told her that he would never hurt her, even though her head was telling her to be cautious. "Just do somet'in' for me?"
"What?" she asked with a confused looked on her face.
"Meet me t'night," he said. She hesitated which gave him a worried look on his face. "Please, in the park by the old Oak Tree, 10 o'clock." She lowered her head and again, and Remy was worried that she wouldn't agree. "Please, chere."
"Okay," she said looking up at him. She had her fingers touching the green gem he put around her neck. She took it off and handed it to him.
"Chere, dat's yours," he said trying to get her to take it back.
"Keep it for me," she said and placed it in his hands. "Until tonight."
"Alright," he said and put his arms around her. They stayed that like that for a few minutes until he realized that their lunch hour was almost over. He peeked out of the door to make sure the hallway was clear. He then led her out just as the bell rang. "Don't forget."
"Ah won't," she said in a quiet voice and turned around and walked away from him towards her next class. She was sure he was staring at her as she walked down the hallway, but she was afraid to look.
Rogue returned home that day with more questions. She was quiet all the way home riding in Lance's jeep and even ignored Toad's teasing. All she could really think about was being in that utility closet and kissing Remy, and she was able to do it all because of that gem.
She couldn't make sense of all the memory fragments that were popping up. They were jumbled and didn't make sense, but it seemed the only time she felt like herself was when she was around Remy. She had to know the truth, and it seemed he was closer to it than she was.
Fred noticed that she was eating more than usual and wondered if she was trying to outdo him. If she was planning on sneaking out tonight she didn't want to pass out halfway down the driveway. She turned in early telling everyone that she was tired. The other boys didn't seem at all interested but Fred looked concerned.
She ran up the stairs and looked at the time. It was 7:30, and she had several hours before she was to meet Remy in the park. It was half hour walk so she could leave no later than 9:30pm. She would have to take the back way out. The boys were going out later, but Mystique's curfew was midnight, not that the boys ever abided by it. Rogue never went out at night, mostly because she had no reason to, so to keep up the pretense it was best to sneak out. If everyone thought she was in bed asleep Mystique would have no reason to send out a search party, and the boys would just end up resenting her for invading their leisure time.
Until it was time to take off she decided to sit back on her bed and read. She still hadn't finished Interview with a Vampire, but since she read it twice already and seen the movie only about ten times, she knew how it would end. One thing Aunt Irene always complained about with her was all the horror movies she watches and vampire and monsters books she seemed to like to read so much.
The time seemed to go slow and after about an hour she put down her book and looked in the mirror. She was a bit of a mess. Her makeup had worn off and her hair was a mess. It had grown a bit since leaving Caldecott, but her signature white streak remained. She decided she was going to change clothes. She couldn't go out dressed in her sweatpants and t-shirt, so she looked through her closet. She didn't have anything really dressy, but for some reason she wanted to look nice for Remy.
The time seemed to go slow and after about an hour she put down her book and looked in the mirror. She was a bit of a mess. Her makeup had worn off and her hair was a mess. It had grown a bit since leaving Caldecott, but her signature white streak remained. She decided she was going to change clothes. She couldn't go out dressed in her sweatpants and t-shirt, so she looked through her closet. She didn't have anything really dressy, but for some reason she wanted to look nice for Remy.
She picked out her black jeans and black top with the string straps. It showed off her figure very well without looking overly trashy. She chose her green transparent over lay for safety reasons more than anything, and her black leather jacket. She had a pair of silk gloves sitting on her dresser that she always wore to school, but they went with anything she wore. There was a lack of pink in her wardrobe and for good reason. She wasn't a girly girl and never would be, and loathed the color. She ran a brush through her hair and put on some makeup. She used softer shades then she normally did but still maintained her Goth look.
She looked at the time and it was almost 9:30pm and it was time to make her escape. Somehow she felt she was planning a jailbreak. The house was quiet, but she could hear Mystique in her study taking to someone on the phone. The boys were gone, so this would make it easy to sneak out.
She quietly walked out the back door through the kitchen and left through the small gate. She was careful to make sure it didn't creak too much. She hadn't done a sneak-out since she lived with Irene, but with her she always got caught. She would have find a way to sneak back in without anyone knowing. She had made sure to stuff up the pillows so if anyone would open her door they would think she was still sleeping.
She took the long way around so no one would see her. This street had some nosy neighbors, and she didn't want word getting back to Mystique that someone had seen her walking to streets at night. She walked as fast as she could, but she managed to get to the park a few minutes before ten. Now, she had to find the old oak tree. She waited there for several minutes before slumping down on the ground. She then felt a shadow looming over her and looked up to see Remy staring down at her.
*"You came," he said and held out his hands to help her up.
"Ah said ah would," she said with a smile.
"I'm glad," he said and led her over to a nearby bench. "We got some t'ings to talk about." He pulled out the green stone he had made into a necklace and put it around her neck. "Damn you're beautiful, even more now den when we were in New Orleans."
"Ah just wish ah could remember everything," she said and sat closer to him. "everythin' is just so jumbled up."
"Dere's a reason for dat," Remy said and took her hand. "Dat woman you livin' wid was druggin' you."
Rogue looked stunned. "How do you know?"
"Your friend Tara made a study date wid Quicksilver. While she was over dere she heard her talkin' to some blind woman." Rogue looked stunned by his words. He heard onto her hand caressing it trying to make her feel at ease. "Don' worry about dat anymore, 'cause she switched de drug with plain water."
"That makes sense now," she said, thinking back to that morning. Remy looked confused, so Rogue made an attempt to clear things up. "This morning ah was runnin' late for school and ah didn't have time for breakfast, but Mystique was insisting ah have a glass of orange juice. The problem was is that it tasted watered down."
"Tara thought dat if she didn't know the drug was replaced you'd get your memory back."
"Why would she do that to me?" Rogue asked out loud, but not so much to Remy.
"Not sure," Remy said and put his arm around her. "Maybe she don' want us to be t'gether, or maybe it was because of dis." He pointed to the gem, which confused Rogue.
"Ah wish ah knew," he said.
"You will wid a little more time," he said. "I got a friend testing dat drug, find out what it really is."
"Well, it might explain why ah've been so tired lately," she said and looked up at him.
"I hate dat she did dat to ya," he said. "I promised you back in New Orleans dat I'd take care a you. Haven't been doin' a great job at it."
"Yeah, ya have," she said and turned towards him in her seat on the bench. "Last time ah clearly remember was being a bus after leaving Mississippi."
"You came to New Orleans, dat where we met up de second time," he said.
"The second time? When was the… Oh mah god…" She stood up looking up at the sky. "Ah was five when I met this little boy with eyes like yours. We escaped this lab and we hitched a ride on a train to New Orleans."
"Yes, dat's right, chere," he said coming up behind her. One hand was on her shoulder and the other was in his pocket. He pulled out a shining metal object and held it out to her. "You remember dis?"
She turned around to see a butterfly necklace. It was made of cheap metal, but something in her treated it like it was a rare costly jewel. "That was just a dream," she said slowly and then the memories came back and in the order in which they were made.
First arriving in New Orleans, to the hotel she first stayed at, and then the attack in the alley and even her breakfast at the café. Remy had been there, flirting shamelessly and then back at her hotel she was attacked again and he had saved her, and then their breaking into the mansion and stealing the gem. Another memory came, the last thing that happened before she woke up in the dungeon.
"It was her," she said and Remy turned her around and saw the fright in her eyes.
"What you mean?" he asked.
"Mystique, she's the one who kidnapped me from your apartment," she said and grabbed onto him. "It was her." Tears ran down her cheek and he held onto her. "that day we were going to leave the city. You came back to the apartment, so ah let ya in, but she used some kind of knock out gas, but before a lost consciousness I saw you change into this blue skinned woman. It was her all along. Then I woke up chained up in that dungeon."
"I know. I was dere, but I was too late to save you," he said feeling ashamed. "I tracked down Julien dat night and I forced him t'tell me where dat woman took ya, dat why I came t'New York and dat why I joined de X-Men… t'find you."
"You did that for me?" she asked like she didn't believe it was true.
"I love you, my Anna Marie," he said using her real name.
"A love you too," she said and pulled her close to him until his lips were touching hers. Their kiss seemed to last forever, buth not wanting to ever let go of each other. Soon they were forced to break apart to get some air.
"I'm not letting; you go back to dat house," Remy said but Rogue shook her head.
"Ah have to go back," she said and moved a few inches away from him.
"Non, chere, I ain't gonna let that witch hurt you anymore. If you go back there…"
"If ah go back ah can find out what she's up too, what's really gonnin' and why she took me in the first place. If ah leave now, then ah'll never know."
"And if you end up dead?" he said with fear in his eyes. "I'll never forgive myself."
"If don't be that way," she said trying to talk soon sense into him. "She don't know that ah know, and ah intend to keep it that way. I got a feeling the attack back home didn't happen the way ah think it did. You're friend Scott tried to tell me that, but…"
"I t'ink it was her too," he said and pulled her close to him. Her back was leaning against his chest. "Dat's why I want you away from dere."
"Remy, ah have to know for sure, and ah have a way t'do it," she said and walked a few steps away from him. "It'll take time, but ah know ah can do it."
"And what about us?" he asked. "How am I gonna keep you safe?"
"Ah can take care of myself, and as for us, we can see each other but it has to be a secret…for now." He tried to open his mouth to say something but she placed her hand over his mouth. "Trust me enough to know what ah'm doing… okay."
"Alright," she said and leaned down to give her a kiss. She left the park that night to go back to the house of a woman who had caused them so much grief, but at least now she remembered him and everything they meant to each other. He just hoped she was stay safe. She worried about that to, even though she tried not to let it show.
I'll be starting on the next chapter very soon. I have a lot of idea swimming around in my head right now, but Bayville has some young detective on the job and they are all gunning for Mystique. She's up to no good, but is she in it alone or is she just another foot soldier doing someone else's bidding?