Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am to a spiritual level beyond material possessions. Therefore, I must borrow everyone else's.
NOVEMBER RAIN: Chapter Twenty-eight: Ah Can't Run Away
The first thing Rogue felt was shooting pains from her unused muscles. Her head and her right hip was especially sore. She tried to reach up and rub her neck, but something prevented her arm from moving. Her other arm was locked into place as well.
As her memories flowed back to her, Rogue began to panic. The bright white light of the examination room burned her eyes, but she didn't dare shut them. She sat up as straight as she could, so she could get a good look at the room and her situation. Her arms and legs were strapped to the table she laid on. She was still in her paper examination gown, but a white blanket had been tossed over her to keep her warm.
She struggled with her restraints for a few minutes before giving up. She took a deep breath and fell back onto the cot. Struggling X-Men, but her love for the law wasn't that great.
She had no super-strength to pull off the restraints nor laser beams that shot out of her eyes. For all she knew, she might not even have her God-given powers anymore. That notion scared her a million times more that she thought it would. She had cursed her abilities since she got them, but without them she didn't have the surefire protection they gave her. She felt naked. Before, no one could get close; no one would get close. If they did, it hurt them a lot more than it did her. That is until the X-Men and Remy came along.
Rogue scolded herself. She was an idiot for doing this and even more of an idiot for not telling anyone. There was no one coming to save her; she was on her own. Funny, usually that was what she was demanding from everyone: Leave meh alone; Ah can do it mahself. Never did she think she'd regret her instance on her independence. Was it really that hard to ask someone to come with her to the clinic? Or to confide in someone?
Rogue's breathing shuddered before she caught herself. Stop the pity parade, girl. Ya got more important things ta take care o' first. The straps were leather so they would be durable, but gave a little so they wouldn't cut a struggling patient. Rogue concentrated on her right hand, which felt a little looser than the left. All she hand to do was wiggle one hand out, and the rest would be clear sailing.
Instead of clenching her fist like before, she relaxed her hand and slipped her thumb into her palm. She pulled upward toward her head, attempting to slide her hand through. She gained a half a centimeter. Rogue continued to wiggle and stretch the leather and kept her eyes on the door in case someone should enter. Being doctors, she figured Essex and the others knew about what time she would wake up from the anesthetics and would soon check up on her.
As Rogue struggled with the slow processes of freeing her right hand, she tried to plan the rest of her escape. The problem was, she had no idea where she was. Was she in one of the second floor recovery rooms or one of the few examination rooms downstairs? She could have been taken to an empty dorm room for all she knew. Hell, she could be in a different building, city, country. . . What had she gotten herself into?
Suddenly, her hand slipped a few centimeters instead of millimeters. She was almost free!
Footsteps at the door made Rogue's blood run cold. She laid back down and closed her eyes, hoping the intruder wouldn't notice her ruffled blanket or have heard any noises. The door opened, and Rogue held her breath and listened intently.
The person's movements were not regular; their feet shuffled and slid across the floor. Then the person started humming. Rogue relaxed a little: Thank God for iPods. She heard medical gloves snapping and steps toward her. She struggled to remain limp as rubber tubing was tied around her upper left arm. One of the stranger's hands felt for Rogue's vein.
"A hora tomas su medicia, senorita (1)," the stranger said as she brought the needle to Rogue's forearm.
Snapping open her eyes, Rogue snatched the purple-haired woman's wrist with her free hand. "Think again!" Rogue yanked the woman across the cot, smacking her head on the light above the bed. The syringe of tranquilizer clattered on the floor. The purple-haired janitor fell backward, clutching her bruised head.
Rogue quickly undid her binds and jumped off the cot, tipping it over. She bent down and picked up the tranquilizer. Without a second thought, she jammed it into the recovering minion and pushed the translucent liquid into her body. Rogue staggered backward as the woman slumped to the floor.
Rogue took a second to catch her breath before rushing to the door. With her hand on the knob, she paused again, staring at the bare face of the unconscious woman. Given the other company Essex kept, Rogue assumed this woman was a mutant too. One touch and she could have another trick up her sleeve if she met any more resistance. She took a step back toward her with her arm outstretched.
Inches from the woman's cheek, her hand jerked back as if bitten. Was this a good idea? She knew the doctor had done something to her. What if her powers didn't work? What if she could control them? What if they were more powerful than before? Rogue's bare hand hovered; her head was full of fear and uncertainty. She only now noticed how cold she was in her disposable outfit.
When she calmed the questions in her head, one still shouted out to her: If mah powers don't work, will Ah be happy or deathly afraid? Rogue took a deep breath. It was better to find out now what happened to her powers, alone in this room, than somewhere else when she would be depending on them. Her pale hand reached to brush the woman's cheek. All the while Rogue concentrated on blocking the flow of any energy or memories, in case Essex did do what he said he was going to.
It was the same as before. A tumble of memories stampeded unbidden into her mind, and her body fell against the door. They were dark, violent and a few bittersweet. There were some with Remy . . . Rogue gasped and quickly pushed away the anger and hatred Arclight had for Remy. She tried to lock away more of the woman's memories, but they kept knocking over the walls. They were strong and domineering, like the woman she had absorbed.
Rogue couldn't stand to look at the woman and see the atrocities she would now always remember. Rogue fell out into the hallway and slammed the door behind her. She leaned up against the door and slid to the floor. She should have known better than to absorb one of Essex's employees. She knew Remy was permanently scarred from working for him, so why didn't she realize that these people would not be full of happy, fluffy-puppy memories?
Her face fell into her hands. It was a stupid thing to do; she was stupid. Whatever made her think she was a smart, scrappy survivor, able to take anything life threw at her? She was nothing, and she was alone.
Her foot slipped, making a loud squeaky noise against the linoleum. Rogue's head shot up, glancing around for anyone who might have heard her. Satisfied that no one was coming, Rogue let out a sigh of relief and stood up. She still had to make it out of this place.
Rogue cautiously made her way through the hallways until she saw an exit sign. She was on the second floor. When she was almost to the landing between the second and first floors, the door below her flew open. Throwing her body against the wall, Rogue hid in the shadows. She held her breath as she watched a dark-haired man scurry down to the fire door leading to the outside.
After he left, Rogue sighed and sat on the stairs for a second. If she left now, out the stairwell, she'd have to get past that guy first. She recognized him from her first session with Essex, and Arclight was screaming the name Wisdom in her head. Rogue shoved the woman's psyche back. Her memories might be helpful to fight the guy, but it was not worth the unpleasantness of them. There was someplace else she had seen him too, but she couldn't remember where (2).
How many more mutants lived here, indebted to Essex? It was obvious that Malice and Arclight didn't mind their work, but it seriously messed Remy up. How many more were here like him? Like Rogue might have been?
Rogue straightened up and set her gaze. She wasn't going to run out that door and forget about this place. She was going to end it, so others that came here innocently looking for a "normal" life would not end up broken like her boyfriend.
With new determination, she sprinted downstairs and yanked the door open. Using Arclight's super-strength, she snapped the door off its hinges. The halls were empty as Rogue ran toward Essex's office. Thirty feet ahead, someone stepped out into the hallway from a lab. Rogue skidded to a stop.
The blonde doctor looked up from her clipboard and cocked her head in wonder. Rogue took advantage of the doctor's surprise and brought her hands together. Dr. Novak flew backwards with an incredible force, making a large hole in the wall.
Rogue approached the hole cautiously and peered in. The woman's eyes were closed and her body was limp. Rogue shrugged. Ah hope they're all that easy.
More cautiously this time, Rogue headed to Essex's office. A few minutes later, she opened the door in the shallow hallway and stepped into the office. The X-Man stared at the wall with the two doors and the photographs. Once she opened that door, there was no turning back. She had to finish the job and keep Jamie and Sam and all the other mutants to come safe from the madman. He had planned to make her do unthinkable things and lure others into his trap.
Clenching her fist, Rogue could feel Arclight's strength flowing through her veins. She let the woman's anger and determination feed into her. She had to end it. Rogue placed her left hand on the door to the "Batcave" and brought back her right in a fist. It was time to make that bastard pay. Her knuckles made contact with the door, and it folded in on itself, flying into the room.
Rogue stomped into the room, her eyes adjusting to the dull blue glow of the computers. She spied her target when the dust cleared.
"How does that fine print look now, doc?" Rogue brought her hands together, sending a shockwave through the room. The lighter tables flipped over, and anything not secured to the floor flew to the walls. Out of the corner of her eye, Rogue noticed a second person fly across the room.
Normally, Rogue would have investigated the guest to prevent a surprise later, but an insistent voice in her head thirsted for a fight. Rogue didn't shut out the voice; she let it taint her. She knew what she had to do next, and she knew she couldn't do it alone. Arclight's whispers helped plan and fuel her attack.
Regaining his senses, Essex kneeled, struggling to stand up. Rogue stomped the floor, knocking Essex back on his ass. "Ya aren't going anywhere, ya hijo de puta (3)."
Rogue paused her approach to bend down. She picked up a piece of rubble and chucked it at him. The scientist tried to dodge it, but his leg did not move fast enough.
Even though he was trapped, he smiled when Rogue reached him with a table leg in her hand. "And he thought you didn't have the stomach for this work."
The table leg cut across Essex's face. "Shut up!" she said. "Golpeé tú para Remy (4)." Rogue raised her hand again. "Este es para me." She brought the table leg down his chest. Essex winced, but continued to grin. "Stop smiling!" She hit him again across the face.
The doctor spit to the side, then locked eyes with his assailant. "I can't. I'm too proud that you have come this far."
Rogue's eyes burned. She gritted her teeth and raised her hand.
Across the room, Remy stirred. He opened his eyes, but he couldn't see much of the place with all the overturned tables. Moving to his knees, Remy recalled the few seconds before he was knocked across the room. His eyes widened.
"Rogue!" he yelled and bounded to where he had heard pounding. He froze at the sight.
Rogue towered over a bloody Essex. "¡Te exterminare aquí y ahora!¡No encarcelarás mas
personas! (5)"
Remy rushed forward and grabbed her covered shoulder. "Rogue! Stop!"
The moment his hand touched her, he found himself flying through the air, but in a few seconds Remy was on his feet again. "Stop, Rogue! Stop before you do somet'in' stupid."
Rogue paused and looked at the Cajun out of the corner of her eye. She smiled and licked some blood splatter from around her mouth. Although she spoke English, a Mexican accent replaced her Southern one. "This is the smartest thing I did today, Rem-Rem." She looked at the blood-splattered Essex. "Beautiful, you think, no?"
Essex bobbed his head toward Remy. "It's amazing how far she's come."
Remy's eyes glowed, and he threw a card dripping with kinetic energy at Essex. "You enculé!" Essex's right hand exploded.
"That's the idea, guapo," Rogue said. She paused with the bloody table leg slung over her shoulder, waiting for Remy to take a more active role.
Instead he tried appealing to reason. "This isn't you, Rogue. Stop it now."
She snorted. Her Southern accent was back. "How do ya know? Ah can' let him keep doin' what he's doin'. Ah can' run away like ya!"
His voice was quiet; Rogue strained to hear him. "I know you, chere. Dis isn't you. Dis isn't de way."
She raised the metal leg, this time with tears brimming in her eyes. "Ah have ta."
A hot knife skimmed through the air, knocking the table leg from Rogue's hands. Wisdom shook his head. "Stupid slag. It doesn't do any good to beat 'em."
Wisdom prepared to throw another handful of hot knives from the office, but Remy was faster. A few charged cards hit the wall above the door, filling the opening with rubble. "Dis is a private party, homme!"
"Gracias," Rogue told Remy as she kicked Essex in the rib cage. His body bounced a little, unlodging him from the rubble. The Goth noticed something as he crawled away from her. He had a right hand.
Remy grabbed Rogue's covered shoulders. He pulled her away from the doctor who smiled and wiped his face. Underneath the blood, Essex's spotless, pigmentless skin gleamed in the computer's light.
Noticing Rogue's stare, Remy stepped in front of her and stooped to look her right in the eye. "Rogue, chere, stop it before you regret it."
Rogue caught another glimpse of Essex's new hand. "He. . . he can heal? Like Logan? Why can't he just die?!" She screamed and threw Remy out of her way. She grabbed a pencil from the floor and, kneeling, stabbed the doctor's new hand. When she pulled it out, the skin closed up not like it was healing but like oil coating a pan.
Rogue looked up to find Essex mere inches from her face. "Fascinating, isn't it?" he said.
Rogue grimaced and stabbed the doctor in his beady eye. Essex yelped and slid away from the girl while pulling out the writing utensil.
This had to end! She had to stop him. With desperate tears, Rogue tuned in to the bloodthirsty voice in her head. It was much quieter than before. Rogue had to act fast before her super-strength was gone. She reached for a nearby microscope.
Whipping off his trench coat, Remy threw it around Rogue and embraced her from behind. The microscope fell to the ground. Again he pulled her away from Essex. "You aren't a murderer, Rogue. You have no idea what it'll do to you."
In two seconds, Rogue slipped down and out of the Cajun's embrace. She punched him in the stomach, knocking him off his feet. "Sí, cold-blooded murder is your speciality."
His body turned cold. "How'd you know 'bout dat?"
Rogue threw a monitor at him, but Remy easily dodged it. "I was there! ¡Asesinaste mi novio y mi mejor amigo!"
"No, you weren't. Rogue, dis isn't you! That's Arclight. Stop listenin' to her!"
"Why? She's been helpin' meh." Rogue dropped the clipboard she was going to toss next, and stared off to the side. "Ah couldn' do it alone. Ah'm weak, stupid - "
Remy approached her again, this time slinging his coat over her shoulders. His hand hovered above her mouth. "Lies, chere. I don't want to here any more comin' outta that pretty little mouth."
Three hot knives flew at the couple. Rogue sensed them and pulled Remy down. None of them hit her, but Remy was less fortunate. He got a bad haircut and a good chunk taken out of his arm.
Remy grimaced, but stayed in the game. Wisdom had managed to dig a hole through the rubble. The Brit's head disappeared, and two stretchy purple hands popped in to move more wall out of the way. Remy staggered to the computer servers and blew them up along with any data Essex had gathered since he did back-ups. Rogue's electronic file was gone, and he had the hardcopy.
After making an exit in an outside wall, Remy glanced back to see that Rogue hadn't moved. She stood staring at the smirking Essex.
"You are already one of us," he said.
"He's tryin' to trick you into stayin'!" Remy stood half in his makeshift doorway. "Come wit' me, chere. You don' belong here."
Rogue kicked a table at the doctor and ran to her boyfriend.
(1) This was my horrible Spanish translation of "Time to take your medicine." Please correct me.
(2) Wisdom and Remy were in one of the few memories Rogue got from Malice in Chapter 7 – You Aren't Delusional.
(3) I believe "Hijo de puta" is more or less "son of a whore".
(4) Literally: "I hit you for Remy."
(5) "I'm ending you here and now! You will not imprison more people!" (Thanks Itachi's aprentice)
Next Up: Pasts revealed and confessions made!
