A/N/: * Anyone who's checked out my profile, thanks so much. I watch my brother's girls for him and it's where I get most of my writing done. If it seems like I jump around a lot or have abandoned a story, I haven't forgotten. I try to write things out while I have the inspiration and it's fresh. If it seems I skip on a story/plot I'm sorry, I'll be back! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing.


Today was a new day. Apocalypse was gone. Whether he left of his own accord or was destroyed, nobody could know. But, he would never return. And the Old Ways will stay gone with him. Baella was the new way. She would stand for the test of time, Apocalypse had willed it so. She would live forever, and the mutants to come would have her blood in their veins.

She could see it so perfectly, a future that Apocalypse was too narrow minded to imagine. Today was the day, she would lead her people to freedom. Humans would know who they are, and they would be the supreme race.

And, she would ask Remy to be her king. To live forever. To drink the blood of the First Ones and become one. She'd wanted to ask him for so long. He was the one thing the goddess wanted. But, as she sought him in sheer, black robes, he was nowhere to be found. Her subjects were in distress, and when she reached the throne room she understood why. Ancient armor, passed from En Sabah Nur's hands to her own, were gone.

And, so was Remy. Prince of the Thieves Guild. 'He wouldn't...'

"Baella, your grace!"

The same, amethyst eyes opened, but in a different time. Baella was synonymous with forever, just like her lost love. She kept raven locks cropped in a bob, blunt bangs shielding her eyes. And she was draped in a black, form fitting dress with silver armor plating the bust. She sat on her marbled throne. Alone. Waiting. Waiting for Remy to move. To do something. Anything.

She had such big plans. Such a world she wanted to see, and he ruined everything. She would wait forever to get him back for it, they both had it.

"Goddess..." She had earned a whole army of winged mutants like Angel. They were more common in the past, almost dying out before the Age Of Enlightenment for their biblical implications. Few were transformed to immortals to defend her as her royal army. Her Valkyrie Guard. And Jaesa was her general. The leader of her army, and one who spent most of their time with her. She was the color of sand with honey colored eyes. Her wings were delicate and feminine, but powerful.

Her hair was full of platinum twists and dreads that went down her back like vines. She was built like an amazonian, strong. Lean. With toned arms and legs from thousands of battles, to carry her to her queen's victory. A true warrior. And, she'd do anything for Baella. She had done the deed last time, killing Remy's lover on the goddess' word (even when he never planned to kill her).

"Bella, NON-"

She twirled the jeweled daggers in her hand expertly. "He's courting again, your grace." She delivered solemnly. Baella moved slightly, her lips pursed.

"Is he?" Her slender fingers began to glow with an ominous, purple light. Her hair covered violet eyes. "Who?" Jaesa couldn't hide her sneer.

"A sad little mutant girl." Her eyebrow arched. "Vulnerable. He appears to want to die." Baella chuckled, now. She held her hands out and focus, bringing up Remy's current position in the Xavier Institute. Then, Rogue's face.

"Her? Really." Her beautiful face twisted into a sneer. "Tīkun Jaesa. Go. Pay them a visit." Gold glitter went everywhere as Jaesa unfurled her wings. She would enjoy this.

"Yes, Goddess."


Rogue eyed the cajun with narrowed, grey eyes. The past few days had gone by incident free (Logan and Scott had been on high alert), but she couldn't figure the southerner out. Even the version of him in her head struck her as the kind of guy who was in it for something. But, everyone hated dish duty at the institute. And every time she got dinner and dish duty, he stuck around to help.

"Jus' because ya stick around to help me wash dishes..." She wagged a yellow sponge around, her elbow length gloves covered in yellow rubber ones. Her hair was tossed into a fluffy bun as she scoured pots and pans, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Doesn't mean ya get brownie points." She flexed her hip defensively. "With me, or the others." She knew he felt the lingering stares and noticed the sudden entrances upon his arrival because she did. He chuckled to himself in amusement. She sure didn't let that guard down for anything. 'Good girl.'

"Gotta repay you for dat jambalaya, chére." He mimicked a chef's kiss and her earlobes burned. "Sure ya ain' from NOLA? Was mighty good..." She sucked her teeth. "N' Ah would know." She snorted at him.

"Oh, like you cook."

"Oui." She rolled her eyes, but she lost the battle with her smile. Why did he have to look so cute and casual? She was a little over the skin suit he liked to wear. It shrouded him in darkness for no reason. But, his hair a little messy. A normal, faded blue t shirt. Black wranglers... She steeled her focus back to dirty pots and pans. He was the last thing she needed. "So Remy kin appreciate good cookin'. Leas' he can do is help wit da dishes."

He found schmoozing her startlingly easy. Maybe, he wasn't schmoozing at all. "Hmm." Rogue scrubbed at a pot with particular vigor. "Well, you should trade dinner duty this week for some of your laundry. See if your money is where ya mouth is." Now, he raised an eyebrow. Who wanted to do laundry in a house full of mutants? He hated it.

"Hate cookin' dat much?" He questioned with a smirk. Then, he realized she was trying to give him an easier chore. To be nice. Logan gave her all the good chores cause he thinks she had it hard enough, and most students agree (or know that they'd better). He presses his mouth in a line when the girl doesn't force him to admit that. "Sure, dat sound good to me."

She seems pleased in herself, clad in only a black tank top. She opened her mouth to say something, but he never found out what. A deafening crash was heard as a winged woman crashed through the glass patio doors. Remy grabbed Rogue and threw her behind him, instinctually. His hands were glowing with pink energy, shocked into action. 'NO.' He thought, desperate to get Rogue far away. "We got-"

"Mutant X-Man: Rogue." She purred, pointing a sharp, bladed tonfa towards the teenage mutant. She looked up at Remy in shock, but he didn't seem to be anymore in the know than she was. She stumbled up off her knees, wondering how many mutants there were out there like Warren Worthington. She seemed a little more ethereal than Angel, but they both had wings. 'What?' The stranger's eyes smoldered beneath tangled dreads.

"Me?" Rogue responded, counting the seconds before more teammates showed. She removed her rubber gloves. "What the heck did Ah do?"

"ROGUE!" Compact Laura flew in the kitchen first, followed closely by the man she was cloned from. Jaesa barely repelled her with the iron wrist cuffs on her arm, hissing with fury. Logan took a minute to examine her dated, almost biblical valkyrie armor. He'd never seen anything like this, before. And, he'd seen a lot. "What the hell?" He turned to make sure she and the cajun seemed alright.

"You dare touch a goddess?" Her stare pierced through the former Weapon X project. Laura snarled in a hunched position, her claws out. Jaesa only smiled at Rogue, her weapon twirled at her. She was trying to get past Remy, one of her gloves off, but he wouldn't let her.

"Easy, petite." His eyes were locked on the mutant in front of them.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Logan tried, listening as footsteps thundered closer.

"You answer to Baella and the White Order. Not the other way around, mutant." Logan didn't want to think of how he was a mutant and she wasn't. He scraped the tips of his claws together with a sneer.

"Never heard of 'em." She pointed the blade of her weapon in his face.

"You have been warned." Rogue shouted as her wings began to flap.

"Warned about what?" Scott demanded, Jean at his side. He had a hand on his visor, but he didn't shoot as she rose to the air.

"You haven't warned us! Warned us about what!" Rogue screamed through cupped hands. Jaesa only smiled as she shout back out of the hole she created. Logan growled as he put his claws away.

"Everyone alright?" Jean called, inspecting the room for damage. Her hair was standing on end. That woman was no ordinary mutant. "What was that?"

"I dunno?" Scott answered, inspecting Rogue despite her protests. "You two okay? You were in here when she busted in." Rogue nodded slowly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. Remy didn't answer. There was sweat on his brow and a twisted look in his eye. He unhooked himself from Rogue's side and stomped out the front door without a word. 'Why did that chick single me out? Does he know?' She moved to follow, but Logan held an arm up.

"Let him go, kid. Give him a minute." He knew when a guy just needed to be alone. Concern shined in her eyes, but she did what she was told and leaned back on her heels.

"Okay." She said, sniffling as Kurt and Kitty settled beside her. 'What's going on?'

Kurt quirked an eyebrow as Remy's stormy demeanor. "Sheesh. Vhat's gotten into him? He doesn't have to replace the doors..." The blue mutant mumbled, his eye on his sister. Why did he always do the dishes with her? Or, watch TV in the rec room when she did? Or, help her organize the library when it was her turn. He basically did double the chore load, and the teleporter was catching on.

"Yeah," Kitty stared at the mess left behind. "He's usually all smiles when he's around you." Rogue went red again, redder than Jean's hair or Scott's glasses. Logan crossed his arms, scenting her embarrassment a mile a way.

"Oh, is he?" His chilly glare landed on the stripe banged mutant, who was twiddling her fingers. Jean broke away from Scott's side. Gambit was a dead spot to telepaths, she already knew that. But, for the first time, she could sense him. Emotionally. He was being torn to shreds on the inside by something, something she could feel, but not understand.

Scott frowned when she went to follow after him, clad in familiar khaki pants and a short, tight X shirt. "Jean, w-"

"Something's wrong, Scott. I'm gonna try to talk to him-"

"You are?" Rogue, Logan, and Scott all answered at once. "You don't need to go after h-"

"He's upset about something." She answered solemnly, tears gathering in her eyes. Scott's expression softened. As Jean's power grew, so did her empathy. She couldn't help but channel the feelings of her friends and teammates, even him. It was as real as when Rogue had flashes of her memories. The stronger she got, the harder it was to control. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her face. "Really upset, I... I have to at least try to let him know that the professor, somebody could help."

Logan can see a barely contained response bubbling up inside Rogue. Both Kurt and Kitty made themselves scarce, knowing when it came to Jean and Rogue, it was always complicated. Sure, she didn't like Remy. And, they were barely affiliated beyond New Orleans. But she let him into her private moments, little by little. And, he was good at companionable silence. Something Jean, was not. And though the two were much closer than they were, and even friends, they didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things.

Logan can sense the turmoil in her like the changing of the tide, and places a hand on her back. "Simmer down." He reminds her. She doesn't have to be defensive, Jean only ever means help. It's what friends do. He'd told her, time and time again. Rogue evened her breathing, her stare fixated on her shoes. Scott didn't want her to anymore than she did, but she tended to be right about these things.

Scott smiled in defeat. This was one of the reasons he loved her. "Okay." She left the tense atmosphere to follow the southern mutant. He hadn't gone far, he was staring at the setting sun and trying to shove his hands into a trench coat he wasn't wearing.

"Remy?"

"Bee, ya don' understand..." He squirmed from the blonde's touch. "Remy not jokin. Dis real." He stared at her tan colored turtle neck and frivolous, black beret. He never expected to find someone who would make him want to live, even if it was for eternity. She was smart and dangerous; his equal. He found himself bad at love after centuries of trying. He'd never come close to having a way to become mortal again, then he met Belladonna.

Stubborn, fiery, sweet, and his partner in crime. He never came close to holding a dagger to her breast. Not once. But, they couldn't be together if she didn't know the truth. She wrapped her arms around him and smiled, carrying the scent of magnolias. "Stop bein' so serious," She rifled her hands through unruly, auburn hair. "Lighten up, kid. If what ya sayin' is true, well.." She flashed a dazzling smile at him and he melted a little. "How is it bad thing?"

She was impossible, but that's what he expected her to say. Nothing scared her. That's why he loved her so much. "Bella..." He held her close, his grip on her tightening. He wanted forever. He needed her to become like him before Baella took everything away. If she knew he chose to live with her and would change her, Belladonna was a dead woman walking. And, he couldn't have that. "Join me. Live forever. With me." Her blue eyes went wide. "I can change you."

Did he mean forever? Like him? Her? He loved her this much? "Remy Etienne..." She stood on her tip toes to kiss him, but he spun around her and shoved before their lips met.

"Run, hurry!" His staff extended and his hands were glowing.

"REMY," There was a blue haired, blue winged Valkyrie staring at them both in the distance. Baella was always with him, he was convinced she was in his thoughts. They knew he planned to make her immortal before he did. She only glared at him, her impossibly long hair in a shiny, thick blue braid. Her skin is almost white and her eyes two sapphires boring through her. She was smiling. 'No, damn it. Not now!'

Bella and Remy had been in enough life threatening situations for her to know that she needed to listen. She pulled a gun from her waist and took off running. Remy had powers. And, he was apparently immortal. Not even angels shocked the girl after fighting her way out of the thieve's guild, together. But, a lean, brown skinned woman stood in front of her made her jump.

"You really think I'd let someone else kill her, LeBeau?" Red and black eyes went wide.

"Bella, NON-" The arrow glittered through the air as it sailed right through her heart.

"Not a good time, rouge." He told her, a cigarette pressed tightly between his lips. He thought about that every day, but it didn't get any easier. Jean sees the tortured expression a mile away, one as intense as Logan's. It's overwhelming as she stands there, watching the sunset.

"I know." She admitted, her eyes shut. "That's why I came. I'm an empath, Remy. Do you know what that is?" He would normally love to charm the red head, if only to get a rise out of Scott and Rogue. But, he doesn't have it in him with Belladonna on his mind.

"Your professor t'inks my charm is an empathetic ability." Jean nodded slowly.

"Right. I can't read your mind." Her face darkened. "But, I can feel your feelings. And no, not by choice. It just... Happens." His eyes flickered to the telepath, but he didn't say anything. If she really believed he would spill to her, she was crazier than Magneto had always let on. "Talk to someone, Remy. Even people like Logan and Rogue have learned when to tag someone in for help. You're not alone, anymore. You're with the X-Men."

He sighed. He'd heard many a woman to plead to him to open his heart after sex. Let them in. Tell them why he never slept, he stayed awake all night. And, he never broke down before. That last person he told, died. Jean deflated when he flicked the cigarette and stood. "Ain' nothin' y'all can do fo' Remy." The X-Men were too good. So worried with helping him when he was conning Rogue, he would do what he had to but it still made him sick. He walked off as Scott and Logan approached her.

"Curfew's nine, swamp boy." Logan called after him as he glided over the fence. Jean sighed as Scott inspected her, his suspicious stare on the way Remy retreated.

"Think you helped?" Scott asked, forcing himself to sound interested. When her face didn't lighten he pulled her close.

"I think it's a lot worse than I thought." Logan sighed. Rogue had been tortured enough, she didn't need some haunted boy trailing behind her like a lost dog. Mostly, because she'd be inclined to fix. And, she didn't need a full plate. He ushered Jean towards the institute.

"Somethin's wrong. Why don't we go talk to Chuck." It sounded like a suggestion, but they all knew it wasn't. She nodded, her head swimming in thought. What exactly would she tell him?