Pairings: Rogue/Remy, and Jean/Scott mentions in other chapters.
Archive: It's not archived except for here. If for some reason you want to, e-mail me. It will eventually be up at my site 'Beautiful Alone'- http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/rachelpage
E-mail: TARGETER14@AOL.com
Disclaimer: Last I checked X-Men wasn't mine. Which sucks, majorly. Stan Lee, and all those lucky people at Marvel own 'em.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I am so incredibly sorry for not writing for three months. Feel free to berate me. I don't have much of an excuse. Real Life just decided to give me a good slap upside the head though, and this fic became quite low on my priority list. *wince* However, this chapter is quite long- so long, I've divided it into two parts for easy reading- so I hope that placates you all. :D
By the way, I haven't thoroughly edited this because I have a killer headache, I've just run a spell check. Lemme know if you find any glaring errors, and I'll fix them up and re-post this chapter.
~~~~~
Rogue gasped as Sabretooth punched her again, but grimly kept her mouth shut. She would not let him see her scream.
"My dear girl, this would be easier on you if you would just tell me what's wrong with you!" Sinister called out from his place on the metaphorical sidelines. "You are only making things difficult for yourself."
The young woman glared at him, as blood dribbled from a cut in her forehead, and into flashing green orbs. "Ah'm making things difficult? Ah'm not the one who ordered your pet kitty to attack me!" That comment earned her another blow. She gritted her teeth as pain blossomed in her gut, and continued. "You're the sick bastard that's doing this. Play your mind games elsewhere."
A flurry of blows against her stomach made her wince, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Blood ran down her chin, but she didn't break. She was still strapped to the operating table, and as he punched, her back smashed against the metal. Bruises had blossomed all over her peach skin. She would not let him hear her scream.
Sinister raised a pale hand. "Sabretooth. Pause." As the large, cat-like man glowered and backed a step away, Sinister drew near. "Now, dear Rogue." He said, voice soft and menacing as he drew an icy cold hand down one side of her face. She tried to move her head away, but he slapped her on the cheek, causing her to see stars, before continuing. "You say I'm playing mind games. But you see, I am not the only one playing games. Never forget that Raven is playing a game of her own."
He plucked a piece of silver-white hair from her face, and rolled it between his fingers. "Never forget that it's your foster mother's fault that you and Remy are here. Never forget that it is because she didn't like the way you, one of her pawns, was destined to fall to the other side- the side of good." His hand was against her forehead now, and he dug a sharp nail into the cut on her brow.
Rogue's eyes were flooded with tears of betrayal. She shut them, and took a ragged gasp of air. "You'll never see me scream..." she murmured to herself, chanting it over and over like a mantra. She held on to her vow, and in turn, to the physical pain in her body.
It was better than the pain in her heart.
Sinister's lips curled. He stepped away, and inclined his head towards Rogue. Sabretooth grinned, revealing yellowed fangs, and began to beat her again, pulling his blows, but still hurting her. Sinister cared nothing for the sound of flesh beating against blood-slicked flesh, unlike some of his colleges. Though his calm, porcelain face betrayed nothing, inwardly he was seething. If the girl didn't break, there was a good chance LeBeau wouldn't either. And they were would be far better as petri dishes if they were mindless drones.
Fed up at the annoyingly persistent stubbornness of the pair, he stormed out of the room. No longer supervised, Sabretooth quickly punched her in the face one last time, before following his master.
Before she passed out, a small smile of relief crossed Rogue's face. I didn't scream. she thought, before passing into blissful unconsciousness.
* * *
As Scalphunter and Riptide argued over the filth-stained map of the sewer systems in their position, Remy sat down on one of the rare dry patches and began absent-mindedly flicking at pebbles and crumbled masonry. He had been tense for the past hour or so as he and Sinister's Merry Band of Nutcases made their way through the dripping tunnels, prepared for whatever it was Sinister had planned. However, after quickly coming to the conclusion that they were well and truly lost, he wasn't as worried for his own neck as he had been. He was still going out of his mind with fear for Rogue of course, but had come to the conclusion that seeing as he couldn't look out for her, he would just have to make sure he was healthy enough to save them both from this madness later on.
It will be a bit hard to save us if I die of starvation wandering around the sewers of New York though, he thought, scowling.
"Aha!" Scalphunter crowed triumphantly. "We are going the right way!" he cuffed Riptide over the back of the head. "Argue with me again, and you'll find yourself staring down the barrels of my guns. Polaris, take the collar of Wonder-Boy over there. Marauders, get your lazy asses in to gear! We have a job to do!"
There were scattered moans and grumbles as the group (now revealed to be the Marauders) picked themselves up. The stunning green-haired Polaris strutted over to Remy, toying with a cameo choker around her own neck. Smirking at him, she waved a hand. Remy felt a strange buzzing sensation on the skin around his neck, then with a soft snicker, the collar opened. [1]
Remy raised an eyebrow at her. "Telekinetic?"
She smirked again. "Magnetic fields."
"Ah." Remy pulled the smooth metal circlet off, and held it out to her. "A present, chere."
Harpoon, who had been silently witnessing the exchange, stalked over and grabbed the device. "Stand up." He growled at the still sitting Remy, before grabbing Polaris by the wrist and dragging her off. Much to his amusement (and Harpoon's annoyance) she turned as best she could, and wiggled her fingers at him in a half-wave.
It was wonderful, having his powers back again. Now Remy could sense the underlying nervousness all the Marauders had within them, along with individual emotions. Some were blood-thirsty; others were bored; after being so long without his empathy, Remy had almost forgotten how insightful it was.
Before standing, Remy flicked one last pebble, letting the potential energy within change. Glowing a hot white-orange, the pebble disappeared into the tunnel behind them, before exploding with a near inaudible bang. No one in the tunnel noticed.
However, in Salem Center, alarms were blaring as Cerebro's mutant detection system hummed to life. "Mutant detection. Location- city sewerage tunnels. Longitude..."
~~~~~
"Wake up."
Sharp, stinging pain on her face.
"Wake up."
Something sticky, clinging to her cheeks and chin.
"Wake up."
Pain. Liquid fire racing up her spine, burning her from the inside out, followed by stinging cold.
Rogue woke up, mouth wide open in a silent scream
"Much better." Sinister began typing on a computer just within her peripheral vision. "Pain resistance without mutation accessible...minimal." he murmured to himself as he pecked away at the keys. "Ability to recover...minimal." He stood up, and moved to the foot of the operating table, and Rogue was able to stop straining to see him through two swollen black eyes. "Are you ready to talk to me about what you feel before blacking out?"
She strained to breathe, her ribs sending lightning bolts of agony up her torso. "Fuck...you." she finally managed to gasp out.
"That's original." The twisted man rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "What harm could it do to tell me? I realize that you are here forcibly- but perhaps I can help you."
The green-eyed woman laughed harshly. "What, earlier was...your 'bad cop' act, and now... you're trying...the 'good cop' routine." Rogue smirked nastily. "Ah...ain't helpin'...you. You only what me healthy...so you can do weird-ass tests on me...anyways." Feeling tired and sick to the stomach with the effort of talking so much, she allowed her eyelids to flutter shut.
Footsteps. Suddenly, an ice-cold hand was wrapped around her wrist, crushing the now fragile bones in it's grip. Damp breath hit her ear, and Sinister's voice, a lot closer than it had been before, vibrated in the organ. "Listen, you little bitch, I already promised that sap LeBeau that I would fix you if he did a chore for me." Without the cool edge his voice normally held, Sinister seemed like a completely different person. "If he comes back and you aren't on the road to recovery, he might rebel and try something stupid. And then, I would be forced to hurt him. Neither of us wants that, do we?"
The threat was badly veiled. Co-operate, or he would turn his wrath on her childhood friend.
"Now, for the final time. What is wrong with you?"
Feeling weak, pathetic and defeated, Rogue squeezed her fists shut. "It hurts. There's so much pain...it concentrates in my stomach. Voices...and pictures. Ah see people I don't know." she broke off to try and breathe. She was feeling strangely dizzy.
"Go on." Now Sinister seemed so far away. Her skin was buzzing, and all she wanted to do was slip back into unconsciousness.
"Ah'm so tired." Rogue mumbled, body weak from injury, soul weakened from failed conviction.
Sinister slapped her across the cheek, and that too felt far away. "Tell me more!"
"There's people..dun know 'em..." her speech was slurred, as darkness called her. "but people I a'sorbed...they know 'em. The pain moves to...mah head...tired."
Everything was drifting away. "You have a concussion." Who was that speaking? In some distant part of her body, there was a stinging pain, and everything sharpened again. Rogue's eyes fluttered open to see the white-skinned man putting a needle away. "What did you do to me?"
"That idiot Sabretooth has given you a concussion. You mustn't fall asleep. I've merely injected a mild stimulant into your system. Now, let us continue talking about these people you see..."
~~~~~
"Who are dey?" Remy breathed in amazement as he stared in wonder at the sight before him.
The Marauders plus one were concealed in the darkness granted to them by a wide tunnel they had been walking through. Before them lay an enormous chamber, filled with warped people. It was like a market place- stalls were set up in neat rows, and the beings walked along the small pathways, buying food and cloth from others with equally twisted visages. [2] The chamber was lit by fluro lights crudely strapped to the ceiling.
"They call themselves the Morlocks. They're what happens when mutation goes wrong." Harpoon spat into the already filthy brown sludge that washed about their shoes. "Set up a nice little civilisation for themselves down here."
"And we're the ones that are going to make them history." Vertigo commented, smiling nastily.
"You're what?" Remy asked, alarm evident in his voice.
"That's what we were hired for, Cajun." Scalphunter explained, glaring at him ferociously. "Mr. Sinister wants 'em dead- so we're gonna kill 'em. And your gonna help us."
Remy shook his head emphatically. "No way. Remy ain't gonna help you slaughter a group of innocent people. Not my style."
Scalphunter narrowed his eyes, his hands already reaching for components hanging off his clothes and assembling some sort of device as he spoke. The young ex-thief watched, fascinated, as a wicked looking gun formed. "Listen up, Cajun. You either get your ass out there and help us- or we'll kill you now, and your girlfriend when we get back. You have 'til the count of three to make up your mind." He turned to the rest of his team, who were watching him with blood-lust in their eyes. "Marauders, on three! Three...two...one...go!"
The Marauders ran out of the tunnel, some screeching chilling war-cries, others frighteningly silent. A fraction of a second later, Remy too stepped out of the tunnel- though he made no move to attack anyone. He merely stood, watching the gruesome scene before him. To an empath, this was hell. His head began to pound, and his heart to wrench, as he unwillingly absorbed the rage and joy of the Marauders, and the terror of the innocent Morlocks.
Arclight and Scalphunter, the rivals and lovers, performed a ghastly duet. Arclight would send shockwaves through the floor, knocking over countless people, elderly, young, female and male. Then, while they staggered to stand, slipping in the sludge of the sewers, Scalphunter fired his creation- a flame-thrower- killing them all.
Scrambler, a weasel of a man, and one Remy had taken an instant dislike too, was slipping in and out of the crowd, briefly touching the skin of any of the more fearsome looking mutants. Any hope the Morlocks may have had of resistance was destroyed. Following in his wake, Riptide was cackling joyfully. At random intervals he would spin on the spot, hurling devices that Remy tentatively identified as shuriken at the unsuspecting mutants. The wicked objects buried themselves deeply in their victims, and the injured would fall screaming to the ground to die slowly.
Vertigo, in comparison to her more outgoing colleagues was merely selecting random spots in the room, and calmly walking over to them. She would then hold out her hands. The people around her would fall to the ground, screaming and vomiting. The cold blonde seemed unperturbed by these disturbing displays, and occasionally would hold on with her powers, keeping the dizzy mutants down so that those who landed face-first in the sewer waters drowned to death.
High above them, Polaris floated gracefully like an angel of death. She would merely point at her victim, then pantomime pulling something apart with her slim hands. Screaming, the unfortunate Morlock would be torn apart by her magnetism, spraying blood over those nearby, as bones crackled and snapped, and organs made sickening popping noises.
"STOP IT!" Someone yelled, and it took Remy a moment to realize it was his own voice shouting. He now understood why Sinister had thought this would break him. It was a sight that would stay with him forever, haunting his nights, and lingering at the edges of consciousness during the day. Around his feet, the water slowly turned red, stained with the blood of innocents.
Remy turned a tear-stained face back up to the dark angel Polaris- and gaped as a streak of light knocked her from the air. Shrieking like a banshee, the green-haired woman tumbled to the ground, saving herself just before she landed in the bloody water. In her place hovered an absurdly handsome man, his pure white wings holding him above the carnage. All over the chamber, heads turned upwards, and Morlocks began to cry out to him for help.
Polaris snarled at him, and began to soar upwards. From the depths of a dark tunnel, a bolt of ruby light struck her the chest, and with a cry of pain she fell, unconscious, a spray of filthy water washing over nearby people.
"It's the X-Men!" Scrambler yelled, running for the cover of another tunnel. As Remy watched, amazed, he slowly rose up, unable to move as he hovered in the air. "Help me! Someone, help me!" The little Korean shook, and tried hopelessly to break the invisible grip.
A young red-haired woman stepped into the room, hands resting on her temples. Eyes closed, she made a sweeping gesture, and Scrambler was dashed against the wall, to fall unconscious.
The Morlocks tried to scatter as new players emerged from tunnels around the ruined marketplace. The remaining Marauders snarled at them like feral dogs as their prey slowly began to trickle out.
"Surrender!" A blue and yellow clad man demanded, probably the other teams leader.
Scalphunter sneered, hands already assembling a new weapon. "Not on your life!"
"Oh goodie. I was hopin' you'd say that." That was a short, gravelly-voiced man, his face filled with dark humour. With a faint snikt six claws, shining with a cold, deadly light, popped out of his hands. Then, all hell broke loose.
The two mutant groups clashed together, a beam of red, a flash of fire, a crackle of lightning illuminating the underground marketplace.
I can't fight with the Marauders, I can't fight against them. What do I do!?
Simple. The calm, almost repressed part of his mind told him. Help the Morlocks while they're all distracted.
Remy blinked for a second at the voice of reason, then glanced around the immediate area. Most of the Morlocks had evacuated. A trio was caught between various combatants and a wall though, terror written into every feature of their faces. A small gap of safety appeared, and the two older mutants ran for it. They had reached a tunnel before they realize the third member of their group, a small pink haired girl, was missing.
"Sarah!" One of them, a woman screamed. The other, a man grabbed her before she could run into the fray.
Wishing for a moment that he had his bo staff so he could use it as a pole vault, Remy ran for the child, hoping to God that he wouldn't be hit by anything. Slipping in the water in the floor, he skidded to a halt beside her.
The child- Sarah- turned frightened blue eyes to him. Bones stuck out of heart-shaped face, turning a cherubic visage into a fearsome sight. "Are you going to hurt me?"
"Non, petite." He began to mentally work out the most feasible escape route. "Do you think you can run?"
"I'm scared." She whimpered, looking at the floor, and tracing a bare toe through the moisture there. Remy sighed, not really surprised.
"Dat's what I thought. I'm gonna pick you up and carry you. I need you to stay real still though, ok?"
She nodded, and held out her arms. Careful of the sharp looking bones which had emerged from her elbows, he scooped her up. An opening presented itself a fraction of a second later as Harpoon successfully knocked the angel out of the air, pinning his snow white wings to a wall, and clearing a direct pathway to an exit. Remy ran, trying to escape the sound of the winged man's screams of agony. Something else that was going to haunt him for many a year.
Sarah was crying into his shoulder now, back bobbing softly against his hands as he exited the awful chamber, and ran down a tunnel until the sounds couldn't be heard anymore. "Is the pretty angel going to be all right?" she asked him, tiny hands moving against his neck, and Remy felt his heart shatter for her. What an awful thing to see at such a young age.
"I dunno petite." He finally stopped running, and sat down on a fairly dry patch. He released the child, but she seemed content to keep hugging him. "Maybe he'll go to heaven now. Do you know where your family might be?"
"No." She shook her head. "A lot of them are back in the bad place. They fell asleep and didn't wake up. Penny said they were dead. Then she fell asleep too. I don't know where to go now. Can you stay with me? Please?"
"...Just for a little while."
"Ok. Can you sing to me? Penny always sings to me."
"...I'll try."
Wrapping his arms around her again, he began to hum quietly a song his Tante had always sang to him when he was young and depressed about the loss of the girl named Rogue. And when it was finished, he hummed it again, until the little girl fell asleep in his arms.
"Are you Remy LeBeau?"
Remy's head snapped around, red irises peering into the shadows. "Whose dere?"
A white haired woman stepped out of the gloom, flanked by the short man with the claws, and the red-headed woman who had taken out Scrambler. The two women were blood-stained and weary looking. "I am Storm. These are my colleges Wolverine and Jean. Are you Remy LeBeau?"
"Oui. What do you want with me?"
"To talk, nothing more." Jean soothed. "You are not a Marauder. But you were with them back there. Why?"
Remy closed his eyes, and leaned back against a dripping wall. "Their leader, a man named Sinister wanted me along. I t'ink I was supposed to participate, but...I couldn't." With his eyes closed, he did not see Jean's nod of affirmation to the other two as she briefly scanned the surface of his mind and confirmed what he said.
"Mr LeBeau, we are members of the group known as the X-Men. We fight for a balance between mutants and humans, in the hopes that one day we will be able to achieve the dream of unity between the two." Jean told him. "With your talents, we believe that you would be an asset to our cause. Would you be interested in joining us?"
Chuckling bitterly, Remy opened his eyes, careful not to disturb the peacefully sleeping girl in his arms. "You give dis speech often?"
A smile tugged at the corner of Wolverine and Storm's lips, while Jean looked faintly exasperated.
Remy continued. "Sounds fantastic though. While I'd love to put my neck on de line and fight for unity between humans, and scum like de Marauders, I can't. I have to go back to Sinister."
None of them seemed to expect that. Maybe everyone else they'd tried to recruit had jumped at the chance. "Can we ask why?" Storm asked him, voice regal and collected.
Pain clenched at Remy's heart. "Dat son of a bitch has the girl I love. She's sick- real sick- and he said he'd try and help her. He plans to use us as guinea pigs when he's fixed her up, but when she's well maybe we can get away. I can't leave 'er dere with that sicko."
All three tensed up. "Yer girl- is she called Rogue?" Wolverine growled.
Remy blinked. "Oui. How did you..."
"Let's just say we've had run-ins with her before. Are you part of Mystique's crew as well, Cajun?"
"Who?"
The three X-Men exchanged knowing glanced. "Mystique is- hold up." The short man sniffed the air. "Shit. The bastards from back there are approaching fast- well, what's left of them."
Storm tugged at a disk on her dark costume, and handed it to Remy. "This is one of our communicators. Keep it with you, and we can track it. We shall rescue you and your Rogue before the end of the day."
Remy stared at her, speechless for a moment. "M-Merci."
The compact Wolverine eyed him for a moment. "Muss up yer hair. Look a bit messy." He extended his claws and before Remy could say a word to stop him, drew them lightly across the back of arm. Blood welled up out of the cut, and he stepped forward and rubbed it against the chest of Remy's armor. "Tell 'em you went after some of the stragglers. Maybe they won't kill ya." He explained gruffly. The cut on his arm was already a dark pink line.
They started to leave. "Wait a moment!" Remy called after them, and they stopped. "Sarah. Do you think you can take her wid you?" He ducked his head, pushing a strand of pink hair out of her sleeping face. "She has no where to go, and I don't want her to get 'urt."
Jean smiled warmly. "Of course." She placed a hand on her temple, and appeared to concentrate for a moment. Sarah's prone form floated into the air and began to drift after them. "Goodbye, Mr LeBeau."
"A bientot."
He stared after them for a moment. They didn't know who he was. They had never met him before. They probably hadn't even met any of the Morlocks before. Yet the risked their lives for them, for him. And they would do so again.
If I ever become that unselfish, maybe I'll join them. I...owe them. And if they save Rogue, I'll do whatever they want.
The sound of splashing coming from the direction of the Morlock Massacre caught his attention. A moment later, Riptide came around the corner, and unconscious Polaris in his arms. He was soon followed by Scalphunter and Arclight. Of Scrambler, Harpoon and Vertigo there was no sign.
Scalphunter blinked, then sneered. "I see that our little tag-along has gotten his hands dirty."
Adopting a haunted expression, Remy lowered his dark eyes. "Dey're further up the tunnel, if you want to see de bodies. I...dey..." he blinked in false confusion, praying that the acting skills he had used to manipulate people when he was a child had not left him.
The leader of the Marauders seemed to consider for a moment. "No. We need to get back. Sinister's going to be pissed as it is."
Riptide hissed through his teeth. "I'll kill that purple haired bitch."
"Harpoon is dead, killed by a mere girl." Arclight said flatly in explanation. "Vertigo was killed by the leader of the X-Men." Remy couldn't exactly say he was sorry to hear that. "Scrambler is inconsequential. But yes. Sinister will definitely be pissed. Let's go."
That was a deliberate challenge of Scalphunter's authority, and he bared his teeth at the short haired woman. Once again, Remy wondered what was going on between them, before realizing he didn't really care. He just wanted to get Rogue, and leave.
And if the X-Men kept their promise, that should be soon.
~~~~~
[1] Gah, never had to add one of these into a story before. I'm assuming that the Genoshan collars are made of metal. If they're not...well, it's an AU fic, they're made of metal now. :o)
[2] Eh, this is a personal opinion. I've always viewed the Morlocks as a society who live underground, not only as refugees from the anti-mutant sentiments on the surface. In this society, I imagined that small groups of Morlocks would go to the surface and get needed items such as food or clothes, then distribute them underground. Plus, I needed an excuse for a whole group of Morlocks to be together. :o)
Thus ends 'Blood- Part A'. Part two shall be up soon, full author's notes to take place there.