DISCLAIMER:I don't own the X-Men or any other characters, etc. Marvel, etc. I do lay claim to the FOH members, but only with reluctance.
A/N: Wow, there are over 20000 hits on this story! (And only 176 reviews. . . : oh well)
Chapter Thirty-Six:
Rogue wakes to the sound of beeping monitors and a soft bed. Confused, she looks around the room. It's strangely empty except for the sleeping Cajun in the chair beside the bed and Carol's partially see-through form standing beside the bed. She looks at Carol's psyche. "Ah suppose you know why it's so quiet in my head?"
Carol nods.
"And Ah suppose ya also know what happened at the graduation?" she asks.
"Yes, but that's only part of why we're stuck in this bed." Carol looks bored.
"How long have Ah been here?" Rogue asks.
"Three weeks," Carol says.
"Ah can see why y'all're bored. What happened?"
Carol thinks about it. "No, it's better if someone else explains it. Can you focus on Sabretooth's psyche?"
Rogue looks oddly at the girl who is in a strangely nice mood. "Okay. . ." She tries to focus on Sabretooth's psyche, only to find out she can't find it. "What in the. . . What happened to me?"
"Never mind that! Can you focus on his powers?" Carol insists.
Rogue looks confused but tries anyway. She slowly starts to feel the pain leave her body. "Wow. . . What happened, Carol?"
Carol sighs. "I've just realized how awful it must be to be you. . ."
"No, duh. What happened?"
"It's a long story," continues the psyche.
"Ah don't care. Tell me!" Rogue insists.
Carol sighs again. "Your mother helped Mesmero brainwash you into helping release Apocalypse and you nearly died and that stupid Cajun has been sitting there for three weeks throwing cards into a trashcan from three feet away the whole time! He's only got up to go to the bathroom and Magneto's had to force him to eat! Kurt calls every thirty minutes. Wanda's been crying all the time! Your mother got turned into a statue. Your father..."
"What?!" Rogue exclaims "My mother is a statue?"
Carol nods. "It's confusing."
"And that Apocalypse guy is loose?"
Carol nods again.
"Why are you the only psyche Ah can sense?"
"When Apocalypse touched you, he drained the psyches out. It seems he left their powers and memories in some sort of file system. . . It was pretty bad Rogue. All the people he forced you to drain. . . every mutant you know. You have their powers and memories. Well, not Mastermind or Mesmero, thank goodness. It was very crowded here before. But. . . now that they're gone. . . Ah kinda miss them. . . especially Scott."
"Would ya get oveh Scott? He's obviously oveh you, Carol!"
Remy stirs and lifts his head. The next thing Rogue knows she's trapped in his covered arms. "Roguey! Chere! Mon Amoure! Ma Coeur! Ma Cherie!"
"Gambit. . .?" Rogue says weakly.
"Oui, mon amoure?"
"Ah can't breath. . ."
"Oh, sorry." He eases up. "You've been out cold for. . ."
He's cut off. "Three weeks. . . Carol told me."
"Oh. . . Did she."
"Told me about my motheh and Apocalypse and why my mind is so quiet and that Kurt keeps calling and Wanda keeps crying and. . ."
"Slow down, chere. You've been in a coma for three weeks." Remy begs her.
"Ah used Victor's powers to heal up." She uses Jean's powers to push him out of the room while she gets up and turns the machines off. She pulls of the wires and changes clothes.
Carol's image starts to fade. "I can't stay visible to you much longer. I have been really weak since this happened. I feel less connected to you. . ."
Rogue nods. "It's okay."
The phone rings and she answers. "Hello, Kurt."
"Rogue!"
"Yeah, it's me. Ah'm okay."
The door hinges explode and the door falls in. Rogue doesn't even flinch. "Vhat vas zat?"
"Just Remy," she says grinning at the angry red-eyed mutant before her.
"T'at wasn't very nice, River Rat!"
She shrugs. "Ah'm on the phone, Swamp Rat."
"Rogue, how much do you remember?" Kurt asks.
"Nothing, but Carol's been fillin' me in."
"Zat's odd for her," Kurt says.
"She said somethin' that made her sound a little sorry fer me," Rogue informs him.
"Oh. Zen. . . you know about Mozer?"
"She's a statue? How did that happen?" Rogue asks, extremely confused.
"Ve aren't sure. Volverine and Sabretooth found her. She looks scared, Rogue."
"Ah'm sorry, Kurt, sugah," Rogue sounds genuinely sad. She really is. She barely knew her birth mother, but she liked her well enough. She thought she cared about her. "Why would she do this ta me?" Rogue asks.
"I have no idea," Kurt says.
Remy puts his arms around her as she starts to cry. "Maybe she t'ought she could help you."
"Kurt, Ah think Ah should go now. Magneto's gonna be here soon, wonderin' what the explosions were about."
"Alright, schwester. I'm so glad you're alright. I'll go tell ze Professor."
"Thanks, little brotheh."
As she hangs up the phone, right on cue, Magneto enters the room. "Gambit! What are you trying to do? Wake the Dead. . . Rogue! You're awake!" He grabs her and hugs her tightly.
She hugs him back. "Yeah, Ah'm fine, fer now."
Wanda rushes in and steals her away from the guys, hugging her tightly.
Wolverine is talking to the Professor. "I don't know what we should do, but that Apocalypse guy sure packs a big wallop. We barely had time to turn around before we were out cold, and you know how hard it is to knock me and Ol' Sabey out."
"Yes, Logan, but we must do something."
"That idiotic friend of yours thinks we can fight him!"
Xavier sighs and steeples his fingers. He hates it when people talk that way about Magneto. "I know Erik's methods aren't the sanest, but he has at least one thing right. Apocalypse must be stopped."
BAMF! Kurt ports in the middle of the room.
"Elf!" Logan growls. "Ya shouldn't port in front of people! It's annoying! We're in the middle of something!"
"Oh yeah, sorry about that, Logan," Kurt says hurriedly. "Professor! Rogue's awake! She's okay!"
Xavier sighs with relief. If only I could tell Raven. . . "That's excellent news, Kurt." He turns to his desk as a tear escapes his cheek.
Logan sighs, "I guess we can discuss this later, Chuck."
Xavier nods and Logan walks out and right into Storm.
"I suppose you've heard about the Rogue, huh?" he says as he notices tears in her eyes.
"Oh, dear, no," she says, wiping her eyes. "What happened?"
"She's okay and awake. Why are ya crying, 'Ro? Did that jerk Hank say something that upset you?" He readies to have yet another fight with Hank.
"No, it's not that Logan. . ." Storm says, trying not to let more tears form.
"What then?"
"Logan. . . I'm pregnant."
"Pregnant!" Hank exclaims.
Storm nods. She is standing in Beast's lab, looking at Hank and Logan.
"Which one of us. . ." Logan begins to ask.
"I don't know," she tells them.
Logan kicks a bucket.
Hank gets up and puts his arm around her. "We'll get through this."
Storm starts bawling.
Hank comforts her.
Logan leaves the room.
"Hank. . ." she cries.
"It's okay, Ororo. I'll be here for you. No matter what." He tells her.
"What if. . . what if the baby is Logan's?" she asks timidly.
"It won't matter to me," Hank tells her. "I'll take care of you, and the baby too."
Storm nods. She's just made her decision. She will stay with Beast. Logan is obviously not ready to be a father. "I knew he'd act this way."
Beast doesn't answer her. He just keeps his arms around her.
Magneto is telling his plans to his team. Now that Rogue is awake, they have to do something to stop Apocalypse. . . and that means they have to find Apocalypse. They must go back to Egypt.
His Acolytes and his children are all sitting in the meeting room. Rogue is there, looking distracted. "We'll leave for Egypt at once. Rogue, you stay here."
"What?" she looks outraged.
"You've just woken from a three week coma. You are not working yet."
"Ah'm fine! Ah used Victor's powehs ta heal. Ah'm fine!"
"No, absolutely not. You aren't going."
Rogue gets up and walks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Gambit. . ." groans Magneto.
"Remy will go calm her down."
"Good. Now, back to the plans. We will drag every local person near that pyramid inside. Emma, this is where you come in."
Gambit is gone after that.
Gambit goes to their room. Rogue is sitting on her bed crying. He sits beside her and wraps his arm around her careful not to touch her skin. "Ah can't believe this, Remy. Ah'm being left out because of my powers again."
"No, no chere, Magneto just want ta be careful wit' you."
"No, he doesn't want me ta get in the way!" she insists.
"T'at's not true, petite."
"Yes, it is! He thinks Ah'll get hurt again and be in the way. He can't let Charles' daughteh get hurt again or his old friend will neveh forgive him! He is startin' ta think Ah'm not worth the trouble!"
"He isn't!" Remy insists.
"Ah am. . . Ah am too much trouble, Remy. Why do ya even stay with me?" she is sobbing very hard.
"Remy stays with Rogue because he loves her, more than life itself."
"Thank ya, Remy," she says, hugging him tightly.
They stay this way until Rogue calms down. She stares out the window after they let go. "Did ya hear him? He's lost his mind, Remy. He thinks he can fight that monsteh?"
"Yeah, Remy's been wondering about t'at as well. Seems Apocalypse took everyone out with one wave of his hand."
"How does he think he can win? He's gonna go get himself killed. . . and maybe everyone else too. . ."
"What do ya want to do, chere?" Remy asks quietly.
"Ah. . . Ah'm leavin'." she announces. "Ah'm gonna go tell Papa what he's plannin'."
"Roguey!" but she is up, packing her bags.
"Ah'll wait until everyone's left," she informs him, as if that was what he was worried about.
"You can't. . ." he starts.
"Remy, please," she cuts him off.
He silences her with a look. "You can't leave wit'out Remy." He finishes quietly.
She looks up into his red-on-black eyes and tears form.
"Just wait here. Remy'll let Magneto know he ain't going to Egypt."
Magneto is steaming. Calming Rogue down is taking forever. He wants to leave. The metal pods are ready. Everyone else is in the pods, waiting. He is seriously considering leaving Gambit behind. Finally, he sees Remy walking up the hall.
Remy looks sad. He's shaking his head.
"What now!" Magneto insists.
"Rogue won't calm down. She's so upset about being left behind. Remy's afraid she's gonna hurt herself again."
Magneto sighs. "We can't have that, now can we?"
"Non," Remy shakes his head. "T'at's why Remy wants ta stay behind and make sure she doesn't."
"Gambit, I need you there." Magneto argues.
"Magneto, Rogue needs me here." He looks straight into the eyes of the Master of Magnetism and sees the eyes of a madman. "Who do ya t'ink is more important to Gambit?"
"Fine!" Magneto says impatiently. He's put this off long enough. "Stay! But don't tear up the base while I'm gone!"
"No problem," Remy says with a smirk.
And just like that, Magneto's entire team is gone. All that's left is Remy and Rogue. Remy goes to their room. Rogue has packed all their stuff.
"Ya sure 'bout t'is, chere?"
"The only thing Ah've eveh been more sure of. . . is you."
To be continued . . .
A/N: Okay, Writer's Block dissipating! Woohoo! All I want to do is write lately, so you are all lucky. Maybe I'll get a few fast updates out! For now, I've been writing a lot on the sequel of this, getting that written out the way I want it to start. ;) Course, I have to explain a lot in this one to get to the point where that one starts. . . Which will be ten years after this story ends. . . CatF has agreed to proofread it, so woohoo!
Will Magneto find what he's looking for? Will Rogue and Remy fit in at the Institute? Will Piotr be happy to see them? Will Apocalypse take over the world? Will Magneto have a fit when he gets back home? Will he even make it home? Will we ever hear about Graydon or Sinister again? Will I ever stop making up these ridiculous questions? All these answers and more as A Split in Reality continues.
Please Review:) Pretty Please, with sugar on top. :) And a cherry!!!! And nuts. . . And Chocolate sauce! And Whipped Cream! And a banana! And butterscotch! And, um, gummy bears:) ! And candy corn! And um, peanut butter? Jelly? Um, raisins? And M&Ms! And. . . um. . . Marshmellows! And Gummy Lifesavers! And Stride Gum!