Lorna sat in her empty room. Lying on her back. Looking at the ceiling. Thinking.
Almost a week had passed since everything happened. Everything being her confession to Mick via Remy. It also was almost a week since Bobby had asked her out. She never had a chance to answer him that night because almost as soon as she and Remy finished their conversation, Logan all but popped out all six claws and demanded everyone clean up the mess made during the food fight. Which wasn't fair because she had no part in it.
But whatever. At least it gave her time to think.
Eventually though, Bobby did come back looking all hopeful in search of an answer. What was she supposed to say? Yes, knowing that it was only a matter of time before her life got ugly again? And even though he wanted to fill in the position of her protector, there was no way she would ever bring Bobby into this situation. Never. It was way too dangerous. So she told him no.
Okay. Not no, exactly.
She said not right now. While she didn't go into specifics as to why, she did explain that things were getting really crazy. She didn't have time for a relationship of any sorts. If she said yes, it wouldn't be fair to either one of them.
Not now.
He seemed to take the news…well enough. But he was quite clearly filled with disappointment. Saddened by his pseudo no. Since then, despite their best efforts, things between them had become awkward.
Which really sucked.
Now Lorna was rather alone, waiting for it all to happen. The rest of her classmates had gone off to school. That only left her, a handful of older X-Men, and the adults. For once, the mansion was rather silent. Even her roommate had up and disappeared.
So Lorna remained on her bed. And waited.
XXXXX
Washboard abs, washboard abs, washboard abs.
Washboard abs.
So much for watching Shutter Island. Not like they had really intended on watching it in the first place. But it was a very nice excuse. All it took was one well-placed kiss to the neck and bam!
Leonardo DiCaprio was forgotten.
Which was fine. Because Rogue wasn't paying that much attention to the plot. She was too busy trying to figure out if Leo had gotten fat since his Titanic days or was that just his face now. She still wasn't sure but now washboard abs so it didn't really matter.
Remy pressed her deeper into the mattress, which made kissing better but washboard abs access became a bit more difficult. Her legs ached to wrap around him but she managed to stop herself for the moment. But she did dig fingers into his back as he went to give a little affection to her neck and shoulder and collarbone area. His hands were on her hips, pulling her tight against him.
Pssh. He was such a friggin' control freak.
Not that she minded. Especially in this one particular setting. He could be as controlling as he wanted. As long it didn't involve anything like safety words and name calling and injuries and handcuffs.
Meh.
Maybe handcuffs. But none of the other stuff.
Besides, as controlling as he was, she was always able to turn the tables with absolutely no compliant from him. He even encouraged it from time to time. But today, Rogue was fine with his possessive hands on her hips, bringing her closer and closer to him. She loved being close to Remy. He was always so warm. So inviting. On more than one occasion, she wished that she could just melt into him. Never go. Never have to leave him.
Which probably wasn't a good thing in regards to how badly she loved him.
But right now she couldn't find herself caring about how serious she was about him. Because he was kissing her all over and making the world fade. Make her body act funny. Bruising her mouth with his heated kisses. Nipping gently at her skin and kissing the sting away.
One of his hands snaked his way up the length of her torso, taking a brief detour to further explore the curve of her hip he seemed so fascinated with. But eventually he went up and up and up and up. Up to her arm. He pushed it, just one, over her head. She expected him to do another one of his dominating, possessive moves and pin her arm over her head.
Only he didn't.
He twined his fingers with hers and held her hand. Tight.
Even as Rogue arched under him in response to a kiss placed on a particularly sensitive area, she felt the sting of stupid tears in her eyes. God. She was such a baby. She used to be the scariest X-Man, second only to Logan. Now she was crying because her boyfriend was holding her hand.
But….
She didn't know what but was. She knew that she should be worried about how strongly she felt for Remy LeBeau. She knew this was a problem. She wanted to care. She needed to care about this problem. But she didn't.
Which was so bad. Like, so bad.
Maybe it was just his kiss and his touch playing with her head at the moment, but Rogue didn't care. She didn't. She just wanted to…to melt.
Only then did she realize that Remy was speaking to her.
"Huh?"
"I said," he whispered in a raw voice, "didn' you wanna talk about somethin'?"
"Uh…." She did want to talk to him about something. She couldn't remember what. Was it…washboard abs? No. That couldn't have been it. *Was it knee high socks? Maybe thigh high boots?* No. No.
Long black gloves.
That's right. She wanted to talk to him about the long black gloves. About them. Remy and Rogue. The couple. The us. That's right.
"Yeah…." she whispered, sliding her free hand into his hair. She thought she heard him growl when she did that.
"What was it 'bout?"
Did he really want to talk about this now? Right now?
And he used to criticize her timing. But before she answered, Rogue thought she heard something. In the distance. At the main entrance to the mansion. Could have just been Logan or something.
But the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, something told her it wasn't that easy.
"Do you hear that Remy?"
He kissed her mouth, taking a long, languid drag. "Mmm…oui, I do." He snuggled closer to her. "Do you feel that?"
"Oh, gosh! Remy! Stop bei' gross. I'm serious."
He grinned and stole another kiss. "So is Remy."
"Shhh."
He did, burying his face into the crock of her neck. Rogue continued to listen. There was some thumping around and maybe she heard voices. Still nothing to really call need for her attention.
But she was seriously starting to freak out. And then….
And then the alarms sounded and it pulled them both out their lust induced haze.
XXXXX
She knew it, she knew it, she knew it, she knew it, she knew it, she knew it.
She knew it.
It was time. Now. It was always inevitable.
She was afraid but her feet were taking her out of her room. Racing down the halls. She heard the Professor's voice yell in the distance but couldn't make out just what he was saying. She ran past Emma and Betsy, who stuck their heads out their shared bedroom. She ran and ran until she reached the stairs.
Vertigo was there. Along with three others she had never seen before. But she couldn't make her eyes focus on Vertigo and the men. Her eyes were immediately drawn the man making his way through the destroyed front entrance. He surveyed the foyer briefly. Then they landed directly on Lorna.
And he smiled.
"Hello, Miss Dane," he said pleasantly. "So nice to see you again."
Her mouth dried up. She couldn't find words or actions or…anything. But she turned her head at the sound of footsteps appearing behind her. The few X-Men that were home were gathering behind her. This included Remy LeBeau.
Sinister's eyebrow rose.
"I thought I might find you here, Mr. LeBeau. Long time, no see."
XXXXX
Remy's heart was pounding wildly in his chest. His ribs were probably cracking with each beat. He hadn't expected to be this scared when he faced the man again. Maybe it was his shady past catching up with him that was freaking him out.
Or maybe it was the makeover Essex had given himself.
The last time Remy had seen him, he looked like a man. A very pale, creepy man. But a man, not very different from another.
Not anymore.
Now his eyes glowed red, with no visible signs of pupils. He had to have grown several inches since the last time Remy saw him. Because now he was a towering, huge, muscular figure. There was a scarlet diamond in the middle of his forehead that may or may not have been for decorative purposes.
And he had a goatee. Which definitely marked him as a bad guy.
This was not the doctor Remy remembered as a seventeen year old.
That didn't matter.
"Get out the way, Cherie!" he hollered, not so gently pushing Lorna aside. As he did so, One-Eye elbowed his way to the front of the group and pulled off his sunglasses. He released what had to have been the strongest optic blast Remy had ever seen the team leader unleash. It hit the intended target, Essex, perfectly.
There was dust from where part of the mansion was hit. Everyone waited with baited breath as the dust cleared. Everything was still.
"Oh my god," whispered Emma when she could finally see.
One-Eye had taken out a huge chunk of Essex's right side, leaving a gaping hole where his body should have been.
"Mon Dieu," Remy repeated, shocked. And yet, Sinister remained standing. Smiling. The X-Men watched as the hole in his body grew smaller. And smaller still. No one uttered a sound as the wound closed up completely, leaving Essex whole once more.
"You'll have to do better than that, my dear."
And then all hell broke loose.
XXXXX
Lorna did not need to be told twice. Not only did she get out the way, she got the hell out of the way and then some. In fact, she was just going to let the more experienced X-Men handle this one.
She thought the odds were in her favor. Scott, Emma, Betsy, Remy, Rogue, the Professor, Ororo, and Logan were all home. The others were at school or doing something or another with their free time.
Eight to five. Good odds.
Kind of.
But then Lorna saw why Sinister choose his particular group. They weren't lightweights. Like the big one. He was just…big. And strong. And not one to be stopped without a lot of effort. Effort, which the X-Men were putting in but to no apparent avail.
And Vertigo. It appeared as if her and diamond-Emma were duking it out. In her diamond form, Vertigo's dizzy powers didn't seem to work on her. But that meant any telepathic advantage she could have had over the villainous was lost.
Betsy was fighting the man with black skin and purple hair. Which was actually kind of funny, since she had purple hair too. Only hers was much prettier than his. But anyway, they were fighting. She was using her mental samurai sword, swinging it at him with frightening precision. But he would morph and dodge and disappear altogether. Rogue ran over, attempting to be of some aid.
The hairy brown one Sinister brought with him was a problem too. Ducking and dodging every attack thrown his way and then attempted to slice open her teammates with his freakishly long claws. It was just sad that Hank wasn't here. They would have had a good time, being all hairy and claw-y at each other.
Oh. Ouch.
Well, even if Hank wasn't here, Logan seemed to have a fine time taking care of hairy. He charged Sinister's lackey or whatever he was and sent them both falling to the ground, where they rolled and clawed at each other. Lorna screamed when the hairy one clawed Logan right across the face.
Not like it stopped Logan or anything. In fact, it looked like all it did was only piss him off further.
Okay. That was one fight she didn't want to watch.
Scott was busy trying to deter Sinister himself with a series of powerful optic blasts, most of which Sinister deflected. And when he didn't, any gaping wound left healed in a way that would make Logan jealous. Remy was helping the others with the huge guy, but whenever he could spare a glance, he was watching Sinister carefully.
A mournful scream had Lorna looking back to Emma and Vertigo. For a moment, she was afraid perhaps the telepath was injured. But it appeared as if it was the opposite. She stood over Vertigo, who while conscious, was rolling around in the ground it what had to have been immense pain. Emma watched her with only mild interest, seeming fascinated with a spot of blood that stained her white blouse. She scoffed, returned to her normal state, and ran to the opposite side of the room with Scott.
"Merde!"
Lorna looked. Remy was lying flat on his back, eyes squeezed shut in pain.
Not a good sign.
The big guy towered over him, smirking wickedly. Lorna watched with terror as the huge man threw his body forward, preparing to crush Remy beneath his massive weight, effectively creating squished Cajun.
Thank god for Ororo.
In what had to have been a powerfully annoying swirl of wind, she stopped the giant from making Remy a stain on the very nice floor. Never being one to not take advantage of a situation, he pulled out a handful of cards and threw them directly into his attacker's chest, sending him flying backward.
"Rogue!" he hollered. "Betsy!"
How they knew, just by Remy calling their names, to duck out the way, Lorna had no clue. Either way, she was totally impressed. Because they ducked without looking in time to miss the hulking man flying their way. But the purple haired dude they were fighting didn't have such luck. He was knocked over by his fellow lackey-henchman-dude.
Sinister surveyed the scene before him, his eyebrows puckered. Not too far away, Emma stood up straight. Then her mouth fell open.
"He's a telepath!" she yelled. "He's telling his team to keep us distracted so that—oooff!"
Lorna didn't see who knocked Emma over. Because Sinister looked over and found her cowering in the corner. And he smiled.
Keep the X-Men busy so that he could come for her.
Crap.
XXXXX
Even though Emma did not get the opportunity to finish speaking, her message was clear. Essex was going for Lorna. He wouldn't be leaving until he got her.
Remy would make sure that wouldn't happen.
Lorna darted out of the foyer and into the kitchen. Essex was hot on her heels. Even as he rushed, the little smirk never left his face.
Lorna ran. Essex lifted an arm and from the palm of his hand appeared what looked like a ball of energy. Or maybe plasma. He wasn't sure. It didn't matter. Either way, he shot the thing out. Not directly at Lorna. But at the ground in front of her. She had not a chance to dodge it. She was running too fast. It happened too quickly.
The ground in front of her caved. She ran right over the hole and dropped though it, letting out a startled scream. One second she was there. The next gone. Essex picked up speed. So did Remy. The X-Man managed to get a glance into the hole, which led all the way down to the floor below. Lorna was hovering a few feet above the ground.
Apparently she could fly too. Remy wished he had known that earlier.
But he saw her briefly. Because then Essex came barreling through. He jumped into the whole, grabbing Lorna by the arm in the process. Another scream. Essex said something to her, something Remy couldn't quite hear. It didn't matter.
He wasn't taking her.
He jumped into the hole behind them, sparing one glance over his shoulder. Rogue was staring at him, her eyes as round as saucers. She was afraid. She wanted to say something. Wanted to stop him maybe.
No time.
The big guy who attempted to squash him earlier ran at her. With ease, she dodged his attack. But her attention had to be focused on him. No time for Remy.
He wished he could say he was sorry for what he was about to do.
When he came upon Essex, he had Lorna pinned to the ground, a wicked looking needle in hand. The girl was screaming, squirming, and struggling against his attack but too terrified to use her powers. Tears poured from her eyes and down her cheeks like a dam behind her eyes burst open. Remy could never recall a time he had ever seen such frenzied fear in another human being.
It made his decision that much easier.
He pulled out his bo-staff and swung with all his might. The sound of it making contact with Essex's skull was incredibly satisfying. It wouldn't be enough, but it was satisfying. The man stumbled back, off of Lorna. In Essex's confusion, Remy yanked Lorna to her feet and shoved her behind him. Where it was safer.
Essex touched his lip. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He examined his bloodied fingers with a startled look. He then lifted his glowing red eyes to Remy's determined ones.
"Leave her," the Cajun said simply. His heart was pounding. Chest heaving. Nostrils flared. "Take me."
Essex's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?"
"You had the girl for a few weeks. You've had my blood in your back pocket for years. Don' tell me you haven' experimented on it," Remy challenged.
Essex said nothing but his lips curled into that smile.
"We all know that I'm jus' spillin' over wit' power. The kinda power you wanna get your hands on. Take me up on my offer, you got a willin' guenia pig." He jerked his head in Lorna's direction. "Wit' her, you gonna get a caged animal achin' to get out. It'll get out. But I tell you one thing now: you ain't gettin' us both."
His eyes started to burn. That meant they were glowing. That meant he was very mad.
Good.
Remy knew he certainly looked like a white devil in this moment. Glowing eyes. Wild hair. A threatening stance. He was ready to attack. Just give him a reason. Any reason.
"You take me up on my offer or you don' walk away from this room in one piece." He raised his bo-staff. "Even if both of us go down in the process."
Essex stared. Behind him, Lorna let out a breath. She pressed her hand to his back, a gentle touch that reminded Remy how much he was about to give up. Give up for this girl. Not even a girl he loved. He admired Lorna though. And he would die a gruesome death before he let anyone—and he truly meant anyone—be carted off to a fate they didn't deserve.
Lorna deserved so much more. It was not a hard decision. A sacrifice he would do for any one of his teammates. Even One-Eye.
God, Rogue was gonna be so pissed.
"REMY!"
Speak of the devil.
He could hear a fight raging on above them. The X-Men were still quite a distance away but Remy knew his Rogue was clawing her way to him as quickly as she could.
"Hurry, Essex," he called, his voice rising. "They're comin' and I ain't gonna be able to stop them. Hurry. Choose now."
Moving as if he had all the time in the world, Essex capped the needle he was still brandishing and tucked it into one of his pockets.
"I believe we have a deal, Mr. LeBeau."
"Magnifique."
Essex adopted a smug look. "It was always inevitable that you and I would work together again."
Remy chose to ignore him. Knowing his time was painfully limited, he turned his back at Essex to face Lorna. Though the tears were still in her eyes, she stared at him as if she was seeing the sky for the first time. She lifted a hand, as if to touch him. She said one word. Two syllables. But in those two syllables, he heard eternal gratitude. In the one word, he heard utter astonishment. It brought a bitter smile to his face.
"Remy…." she whispered.
He took hold of her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "Tell Rogue I'm sorry and that I love her." He shrugged out of his trench coat. He carefully draped it over the younger girl's shoulders. "And give her this for me, s'il vous plait?"
He didn't wait for an answer. With one last lingering kiss to the hand and a lavish bow, Remy LeBeau left with Nathaniel Essex.
"Au revoir."
XXXXX
**remember that for later.
NEXT CHAPTER: Lorna and Rogue scheme while Remy suppresses screams.