What is to Come
Chapter Thirty Seven
The house stood in the middle of a grove, far away from the closest town. The likelihood of someone accidentally coming upon it was nonexistent thanks to the tall stone walls surrounding the area, the thick trees, and the location.
It was a grand house, built in the style of his old country. The only sign of sentiment anyone had seen from the man in years, though even his closest allies would never dare to suggest it. This was his sanctuary, far away from his experiments and meddling, and schemes. This is where he came to be truly alone. Very few people knew of this home, and none of them were connected to his other dealings. With one exception.
This was the location on the fateful video. This was where he had brought Jean to deliver her baby, and this is where the child still resided. Beyond the richly decorated and antiqued rooms, in a clinically sterile laboratory laid a tiny baby, clinging to life thanks to technology and her mother's parting gift.
Jean had no way to protect or save her tiny child, so she left the baby with the only chance she could give it, the moment of the child's birth the Phoenix that had been both a curse and a blessing left with the baby. It had been Jean's only chance of surviving, and now it was her baby's only protection.
As the man known to the world by many names stared down at this tiny weak infant, he seemed unaware of the mother's parting gift. He looked instead at the tiny child with a detached interest he bestowed on all his subjects. If the twinge of remembered children of his past came to him at all in that moment, none would be the wiser.
Instead he made note of the name and size of the tiny infant, leaving her with the gift he knew her mother had left her. "Subject Rachel Summers is recovering well from delivery. Weight, 2.9 pounds, Length 15.7 inches. Experiment considered successful. Continued monitoring expected." He paused in his writing to look through a notebook nearby. "Henceforth subject with be referenced X1243."
~o~0~o~
Kurt had tried to talk to Rogue again following the funeral but she had disappeared somewhere upstairs with Nathan and no one had been willing to help him find her. Both Scott and Remy had advised him to let her calm down before he tried again, Logan had told him to back off, and even Charles had told him to give her time. Eventually he had given up, because Magneto declared it was time to leave.
After Magneto,Kurt, and the other Genoshians left, those that remained settled in to plan their next move. It was agreed then that Rogue would remain at the mansion with Charles and Nathan, Elizabeth and Warren were remaining with her. Scott,Ororo, Logan, Remy, and Victor were going back out in search of the baby, Mystique would remain at her house both to take in new refugees (no one was willing to have the mansion house them with so few X-men there) and to keep an eye on the ones staying behind.
Bobby was going to Boston. Officially he was acting as a courier for Warren, and trying to mend fences with his family. He offered to go there because he intended to look for Emma and talk to her. He was determined to find out why she'd left like she had. He knew some of the others, especially Scott, thought she was a traitor and he should just forget her, which is why he'd never mentioned her recent visit to the mansion while everyone was sick.
He'd seen the footage Logan had decided to hide from everyone. She may have been covered up, but he knew the way she moved... he also knew that aside from Mystique she was the only one he knew of who could hide their scent from Logan. In her diamond form she could anywhere in the mansion without Logan smelling her, she'd mentioned it to Bobby in the past.
He also suspected that Charles was well aware of her visit. He still didn't know what was going on with her, but whatever it was he knew that Charles did. It wouldn't have been the first time Charles withheld information from the team, but he hadn't told anyone else his suspensions. Instead he intended to find the answers for himself.
Rogue wasn't really happy being benched again, especially with Remy going. Someone had to watch after Nathan though, and it made sense for it to be her, as she was the one who watched him most often when Scott needed a sitter. The baby knew her best, it would be easiest on him. Still, she had no intention of letting them turn her into a babysitter full time. She was one of their best fighters, darn it.
She also couldn't help but feel Warren and Elizabeth were being left behind to babysit her as much as Nathan. This did nothing to improve her mood, especially with her recent fight with her brother. Remy realized she was angry, of course, and tried to comfort her, assuring her that this was not his idea, but Logan's. This did little to relieve her anger, but she was now angry with Logan instead of him. Remy could live with that.
Soon the Blackbird departed headed toward Boston, to drop off Bobby and begin the search. As soon as they were out of sight, Rogue smiled down at Nathan and asked him if he was ready for a snack. He agreed quickly, at just over a year old he knew very few words, but food was close to the top of the list.
~o~0~o~
Kurt arrived home to find Amanda waiting for him, anxious to be sure he returned safely. He was glad to see her, and quick to assure her that no one had interrupted the funeral. He then told her about his fight with his sister. Even with others telling him he'd been wrong before, it wasn't until Amanda compared him to her parents that he finally realized why everyone, especially his sister, had been mad at him.
Amanda then stormed angrily into their bedroom, locking the door behind her. Though he could have easily gotten in, Kurt took the message for what it was and made up the guest room for the night. He could her his wife,presumably on the phone with his sister, apologizing for his rude behavior as he laid down. Now he had both Rogue and Amanda to make up to in the morning, he realized with a sigh. He was nearly asleep when he remembered with a groan that tomorrow his parents would be arriving as well, and if he new his mother and father at all, they were going to be disappointed in him when Amanda inevitably informed them of his behavior.
He reminded himself that this was what came from reacting without thinking. He never should have said those things, especially to Rogue. He knew deep down even as he was saying it that he wasn't being fair to Remy. He let his fear for his sister's well being overshadow logic.
He had a hard time falling asleep, now that he had a his wife's perspective in mind, he realized he had to do something to make up with his sister. He couldn't just wait for her to calm down and then talk to her. Their lives were to uncertain for that. What if, god forbid, something were to happen to her like what happened to Jean? He couldn't handle the idea of her going missing or worse while they weren't on speaking terms.
With this in mind, and noting that it would now be morning at the mansion, Kurt decided to try to call her. The call was short however, because as soon as Warren gave Rogue the phone she hung up. Kurt sighed, then redialed the phone. His sister was stubborn especially when she was angry. He hadn't expected her to make this easy but it was going to be impossible if she wouldn't even let him say hi to her.
An hour and six calls later, Warren refused to even try to hand her the phone again. "I'm sorry Kurt, but clearly she doesn't want to hear it right now and all calling her back in her is doing is making her angrier. You know Rogue, just let her calm down awhile. Either that or send her a letter or email."
"How can I tell her I didn't mean anything I said if she won't talk to me?"
"I don't know, but this isn't helping. She just left Nate with Liz so she could go to the DR. Clearly this is just making it worse." Warren sighed. "Get some sleep Kurt call her back when you wake up, I'll try to talk to her in the meantime."
"I'll call back, but don't worry about it Warren, I don't want her mad at you too, especially while you're stuck at the mansion almost entirely alone."
"Okay. Good luck Kurt. You could always try a text if nothing else."
~o~0~o~
Bobby had been safely delivered in Boston, near Warren's office. The others had gone back to the warehouse where the search would begin, and he was on his way to deliver Warren's files. This took all of ten minutes and half of that was the walk, so he had time to kill before he was to meet his mom for lunch.
When he'd called his family home recently, his mom had been the one to answer. She had told him she missed him, and that she loved him. They had been talking regularly since then. It wasn't until he suggested that he come to see her for the day that he realized that not only was his dad still anti-mutant, but that his mom had been hiding their phone calls from him.
Bobby had tried not to be hurt by this, his mother still loved him and wanted to be part of his life. It did hurt though, that his dad rejected him so completely. Bobby shook his head as he walked across the park, this wasn't the time to feel bad for himself. He had a busy week planned, and needed to find a hotel to check into before he met with his mom.
After he'd checked in and dropped off his bag, Bobby began his search. As much as he wanted to see his mom, his real reason for coming to Boston was to track down Emma. He only had a week to find her and determine what kind of trouble she was in before he was expected back at the mansion. He knew if the others new what he was planning they'd be all over him to try and stop him, so he only had one shot at this. Which meant he didn't have time to waste.
He started with the obvious and went to her townhouse. He sat across the street and watched the house for awhile trying to decide if Emma may still be staying here. Judging from the activity he saw, a gardener in the small yard, and a maid arriving around eleven, he decided it was likely she was using the house at least part of the time.
After the gardener mowed the tiny lawn and tended the bushes, Bobby realized it was time for him to go as well if he wanted to make it to lunch. He'd just stood to walk back across the par when Emma arrived in a dark car. The driver helped her with her packages in the trunk. Emma turned at the last minute, just before walking into the house, and Bobby could have sworn she'd seen him.
He made his way quickly to the restaurant, in a better mood than he'd been in months. His mom was already seated when he arrived. "How are you doing Robert?"
"I'm okay Mom, how are you doing?"
"Fine. How's it going at that school you work for? What is it you do for them now."
"Everything's fine at the mansion, but we don't actually have any students at the moment, so I'm not sure we qualify as a school. More a halfway house at this point. I'm in charge of the budget. Well me and Warren are in charge of the budget."
"That's nice, hunny." His mom said.
They chatted about general things as their food arrived and they ate, before she insisted on paying the bill, then as they stood she handed him an envelope. "Please take this."
"...Mom, I didn't call to borrow money. I didn't ask to see you because I needed anything other than to know someone, anyone in my family still loved me. I don't need or want this."
"Bobby please, you have some undefined job in an undefined location with questionable people. Take the money. I don't want my child to suffer, I don't want to wake up to hearing you froze to death."
"Well, that's just never going to happen mother." Bobby said. "Considering my power is controlling ice, I can't freeze to death. I don't need money. I have money. What I need is a family."
"How can you just talk about your condition like that?"she said looking around to make sure no one had overheard them. " What if someone was listening? Please just take it, I would feel better knowing you had it."
"It's not a condition mom, there is no cure, and even if there was I wouldn't want it. I'm okay with who I am. I really just don't need this mom. You and Dad need this more than I do. I have money in the bank. I am paid well for my job."
"I don't even know what your job is! How can I be sure you're safe."
"None of us are safe mom, because of people like dad. I gotta go I love you." Bobby then walked out before she could respond. It probably wasn't fair of him to compare his father's rejection to people like Kelly and Creed but Bobby didn't really feel like being fair right now. He saw the hurt expression on her face as he left, and knew it may effect his ability to talk to her again later, but he was also annoyed and hurt that she thought so little of him.
~o~0~o~
Warren came into the kitchen and smiled down at the baby in the highchair. Rogue was at the stove stirring something in one of the smaller stockpots. It smelled spicy, similar to the kitchen when her husband cooked, so Warren assumed that she had borrowed one of his recipes for dinner. "Hey buddy." Warren said as he rubbed the baby's head.
Nate smiled at him and babbled as he offered Warren a soggy cracker. Warren smiled once again and told the baby to keep it. He then looked back at Rogue who had yet to acknowledge his presence. "What's for dinner?"
"I'm not talking to him. I don't want to talk to him, I don't care that everyone thinks I'm being childish so don't bother." Rogue said as she turned off the stove. " Gumbo, and biscuits for dinner, and yes it's Remy's recipe. It's finished now, Serve yourself whenever you feel like it. Nate needs a bath."
Rogue then scooped up the young boy and left the room before Warren could respond. He stared after her for a moment before shaking his head. "That could have gone better." he muttered before sending a mental message to Elizabeth and Charles telling them that dinner was ready and moving the pot to the table.
The other two joined him as he added a basket of biscuits and bowl of salad to the center. Elizabeth asked where Rogue and the baby were, but Warren just shrugged. Charles sighed as he ladled the spicy stew into their bowls. "She will be back to eat herself once we have finished. Between Kurt's hurtful statements and her annoyance at being left behind, I'm afraid she isn't feeling sociable this evening."
"It doesn't help that Kurt's been calling all day, or that Remy went with the others this time." Warren added as they all began to eat. "Why was she left behind when he was allowed to go?"
"You mean to ask why he was allowed to go with the others I believe?" Charles said. "Remy will be invaluable to this trip. I believe, and Logan agreed, that his former career path may come into play for this mission."
"As for why Rogue is still here, she knows Nate better than you or I do, it would be unfair to the child to leave him with people he doesn't know when we don't know how long they'll be gone." Elizabeth added. "Plus the last thing anyone wants or needs is for Rogue to end up captured like Jean. Keeping her here keeps her safe."
"She'd be safe with them. Don't you think Logan and Remy would keep her in their sight at all times? Let's face it, she'd probably be safer with them than she is here at the moment." Warren said. He wasn't entirely certain why he was pushing for Rogue to join the team, but he knew she was miserable left behind.
"Nathan is safest with her here however." Charles said. "After Logan, she is the best bodyguard the child could hope for at the moment. If we were attacked, she could borrow any power she needed, including those of the attackers. Nathan knows her and feels safe with her, and if she were with Logan and Remy they would both be distracted as they tried to protect her, which would serve to annoy her further and complicate the mission. I would have preferred if Remy and Scott had remained here as well, however I knew that Remy's skills were needed and that Scott would not have stayed behind."
"So basically I drew the short straw without even knowing I was drawing?" Rogue said. "I can live with that. Next time though Professor, please just tell me that instead of benching me and making me feel like you don't trust I can preform the mission."
"I apologize Rogue, that was not my intention." Charles said as Rogue joined them at the table after setting a freshly washed Nathan in his playpen.
"As for Kurt, I'll talk to him when I'm ready to talk to him, so please just tell him that next time he calls." Rogue said. The others nodded, and Rogue filled her own bowl. " Sorry I snapped at you earlier Warren, I just knew you were about to mention my brother and I didn't want to fight about it."
"It's okay Rogue. I know family can be complicated."
Everyone ate in silence for a few minutes, aside from the baby babbling to himself, before Elizabeth asked if anyone had heard from Bobby or the team yet. Warren and Charles both shook their heads, and Rogue frowned. They all hoped this mission was successfully over soon.