Five
The multicoloured lights of the city hovered in the blackness that was night-a modern tapestry to hold Asli's fractured attention. A simple and welcome distraction from sleeplessness and worry. Asli had known even before knocking on Feral's door that the girl had left, it would have been more surprising if the shape shifting mutant had been there. Asli understood Feral's motivation; she and Brick had been lovers since their early teens-their devotion to each other was the one thing Asli had always admired about them. If Brick's death was an isolated incident then Feral would wear herself out trying to find the killer and return with any clues that turned up once her temper had cooled.
And if some one is hunting us, Asli didn't want to finish the thought. There had always been tension between her and Feral but it was impossible to wish a violent murder on anyone. Apart from the killer when they found him; Asli was certain it was a man-few women-even other mutants would have had the strength to pull Adimantium through Brick's skin. Superpowers aside there were still a few laws of physics that could not be ignored.
The dark glass caught Bender's reflection as he headed towards the couch Asli had curled up on-his face was haggard. "She hasn't come back yet, I'll wait up." Asli stretched out feeling a bit responsible for the harsh treatment Shade had meted out to the grieving mutant.
"She won't be coming back." The dark circles under his normally bright eyes lent Bender a skeletal air; his words were choked with raw emotion, "I felt it this time. He cornered her in the same alley. Before he killed her I felt Feral's fear but nothing from him."
In normal circumstances Asli would have worried that she was slipping back into her old habit of blankness-in the emptiness it was all just words and images-not the mutilated bodies of girls she had known since childhood. They may not have gotten along but all of the survivors of the Program could understand the apartness she felt from the rest of the world. How alien it felt to be free. It was something that could not be described only experienced and it bound them all together whether they liked it or not.
Instead of sadness Asli's mind began to run through scenarios that would prevent the telepath from sensing the killer. "He must be good to block you out Bender. It's almost dawn. We'll wake the others and try and find something," the words should have been comforting but they weren't.
Neither mutant bothered to pretend that they weren't being consumed by the darkness deep inside of their own minds-it was too late for that.
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"Rogue?" the Goth didn't have to turn around to see that Kurt's face was a mask of barley disguised pain-it rang clear in his voice.
Swallowing Rogue steeled herself for the confrontation that had been long in coming and turned, "Yeah?"
He had switched off his image inducer and it seemed right that they have this talk face to fuzzy face. Kurt had always been one to see right through her-it felt like an honour to know he felt more comfortable in his real form around her. Rogue found it frightening sometimes how Kurt could look so innocent and yet so much like their hated mother at the same time. "Are you happy mien sweister?"
It took Rogue a minute to think of a reply that wouldn't give her away and still please the boy who was probably her only living family, "I don't know Kurt."
"Then why did you leave? Why go to Magneto?" Tears glimmered in the corners of his yellow eyes.
Rogue's stomach twisted in a knot-the only thing she really regretted about her hasty change in allegiances was not being able to explain to Kurt why she was doing it. She knew he'd understand in time that she had only done what she had to for the greater good but now Rogue had no answers for her brother that would fill the void her departure had left. "Because I'm still looking for something Kurt. I don't know what it is-I don't even know how long I'll stay with Bucket-head…I just couldn't do it any longer…Being an X-Man wasn't going to help me find my own way."
"If you find what you are looking for," Hope replaced the tears and Kurt's voice found some of it's normal happy-go-lucky spirit, "You'll come back to the fuzzy one?"
Emotion gripped Rogue's heart tightly and tugged; loosening a tear from her emerald eyes, "No matter what happens Kurt I want you to know that I never left you. It doesn't matter where I am or what team I'm on…I'm still your sister."
Turning away from him before he could answer Rogue clutched her self control like a talisman to ward off the tears. It made no difference and she could feel warmth on her cheeks as they snaked their way down her face. Rounding a corner Rogue crashed into the person coming from the opposite direction, her invulnerability sent him crashing to the ground. Red eyes flashed in the darkness of the hallway and with a sigh Rogue held out a hand to help him up; a smart comment died on her lips as another wave of tears flowed over her.
"Chère?" Rogue could feel arms wrapping around her body and a pull her close, "You okay?"
For once Rogue decided not to fight it-the concern in Remy's voice was too genuine and her heartache too great. Before she could stop it all of the pain poured from her lips accompanied by a chorus of fresh tears. Instead of trying to make her laugh or teasing her for being such a girl, Remy stroked her hair and let her continue uninterrupted. It startled Rogue that he would touch her willingly and without reservation but then a hundred other casual touches flooded her mind. As far back as she could remember; even that disastrous first day-Remy Labeau had never cringed away from her potentially dangerous skin.
The butterflies that began madly flapping in her stomach helped Rogue pull herself back together; suddenly Remy was too close, too intimate for comfort. With regret Rogue unwound herself from his embrace and brought a gloved hand to her face to wipe away the traces of tears lingering there. Tomorrow everyone's gonna know about this, the thought rose unasked to the fore of Rogue's mind allowing her to take a step back from Remy. Her voice was thick, "Ya'll gotta think I'm crazy."
"Non," Rogue looked up into his fascinating eyes and saw something new in their ruby depths-utter seriousness. "Crying when de pain is too much don make ya crazy. It makes ya human, Rogue."
She knew she was in for it-Remy never used her name-not even on pain of death. "Thanks." She smiled ruefully trying very hard to fight the urge her body had to move close to him and let the tall Cajun wrap his arms around her again. "Rogue?" she snapped back to reality at the husky sound of his voice; it sent her pulse racing in her throat and destinations south-Remy was standing close enough that all she would have to do was lean forward a fraction of an inch, "One day I'm gonna kiss ya."
"Remy, Rogue?" Asli's voice called out to them from the other end of the hall, "Can you start waking the others it's gotten Feral."
Normally Rogue would have felt a tug of pain for the unwarranted passing of someone she could remember so clearly but not this time. The only thought in Rogue's head was how eternally grateful she was that the darkness hid the majority of her blush.
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Dawn lent the cobalt sky a faint blush, the yellow caution tape waved gently in the spring breeze; it seemed like another innocent cityscape. Just another part of living in NYC, but dread coiled through the small groups gathered around the lip of the alley, no one wanted to move any further. Bender's vision had been graphic and Rogue knew exactly what would be waiting for them, blood and lots of it. The coppery tang of old blood had faded away once Brick's body had been removed to the morgue; it should have taken Wolverine's sense of smell to ferret the murder scene out amongst the cornucopia of city scents. But it didn't.
Heady and strong the aroma of fresh hamburger assaulted Rogue's nose causing her to shift her eyes just so she wouldn't have to look at the alley any more. She mentally kicked herself for not offering to go with Surge, Kitty and Kurt to arrange Brick's funeral; or even to pound the pavement with Lance, St. John and Remy to find out if there was talk on the streets. It would probably be more enjoyable than viewing a freshly killed body-even Asli and Bender had managed to beg off, staying at the warehouse to comb police databases for similar killings.
Rogue honestly didn't think she and Pitor were the best choices to accompany Shade and Cobra to retrieve Feral's body but it was too late to argue now. From the corner of her eye Rogue caught Shade moving into the alley and forced herself to follow. Things could hardly get worse.
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They had left them alone, ripe for the picking-the Shadow laughed silently. This was his moment. The one he had been waiting for and now his vengeance would be swift and terrible. On the other side of the window she pushed her unruly curls away from her pale grey eyes, such a simple unaffected motion. One of hundreds he had watched her make in the last hour. Those eyes didn't belong in that face. His memories told him that her eyes should have been a deep, sorrowful brown. Another reason why the Shadow couldn't forgive her-the first of his children.
The last time he had seen those eyes they had been full of reflected flame. This made the Shadow chuckle out loud; a quiet, rasping sound-he was looking forward to seeing something else in those expressive eyes. Fear.
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"That's Interpol and FBI down," Asli blinked her dry eyes and pulled herself away form the computer screen, "Nothing."
Bender shook his head looking as dejected as Asli felt, "We are the only ones it is targeting. Could it be someone from the Program?"
"Why would they wait five almost six years to clean up their mess?" Asli pushed her hair out of her eyes and frowned, "We were more vulnerable in the first year."
"The fire would have destroyed most of the valuable information on us-on controlling us," A crease appeared between Bender's golden eyebrows, "Could it be him?"
All of the blood left Asli's face in a cold rush, "No."
"Are you sure?" The tinkling of broken glass suspended further conversation-Bender closed his eyes, "It's here…"
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No one said anything as they returned to the warehouse, there really weren't any words in any language that could erase the sight of an entire brick wall coated in blood. No way to make Rogue forget Feral's glassy, unfocused eyes or the fact that the dead mutant's face had been the only recognisable part left. The only up side Rogue could see was that she had miraculously kept her breakfast down. Pitor hadn't been so lucky.
It seemed wrong to have faced such gruesomeness on such a bright, sunny day. Like the Gods really didn't care what happened on earth. But then it's not like the death of another mutant matters to anyone but mutants. Rogue mused knowing full well that Magneto's negative opinion of Homo Sapiens had nothing to do with her own pessimism. Shade keyed in the security code-they were the first ones back-maybe Asli and Bender had found something to make the day worth living through.
Two steps into the warehouse Rogue pushed that thought down, glass gritted underfoot; the main floor of the normally immaculate living quarters looked like ground zero. From far away Rogue could hear her own voice call out, "Asli! Bender!"
There was no sign of the hacker anywhere in the main room so Rogue moved on carefully listening for any hint of her friends. When she found one the Goth wished that she hadn't. In the back corner that existed as a training area lay Bender in a crumbled heap. Rogue ran to him fighting back her nausea and dropped to her knees at his side.
Coldly, she could see that the killer hadn't done as much damage to the telepath as he had with his previous victims. "Over here!" She shouted for the others but her world had narrowed making Bender the entire focus, "Oh God…"
A faint smile lifted the young man's lips-his teeth were stained red with blood-he was still alive. Rogue's heart leaped; maybe, just maybe there was still a chance, "Hold on Bender…you're not gonna die…can you talk? Did it talk Asli?"
Sadly the telepath shook his head, a stab of guilt needled Rogue that her questions had caused him to do that much. "It's okay…relax…we'll fix you and save Asli…"
His bloodstained hands rose and the rest of her platitudes died before they could leave Rogue's mouth. Their eyes locked and Rogue knew exactly what Bender was silently asking her; she swallowed the tears that rose unbidden for the quiet telepath and the future he would never have. Rogue nodded once and Bender's hand pressed softly against her cheek-her powers tugged and began to pull what was left of the telepath into her mind.
When it was over Rogue focused on ignoring the jumbled thoughts the others were projecting-she had absorbed Jean before and that helped her to block out some of the telepathic leakage. Bender had seen enough…Rogue knew who had Asli and that if they wanted to save the hacker they would have to hurry. Whispering a hushed prayer for his sacrifice Rogue closed Bender's eyes and hoped they wouldn't be too late to save Asli.
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Wow…is this ever moving at a nice pace…I couldn't rest until I got this up. Hope you like it.
Ish- I threw some real Romy your way. .Yep, I knew throwing Lance and Pitor together was wrong but I couldn't help myself. This whole ball of wax just keeps getting better and better as I write it. It makes me excited to finish. The next story will be even darker and more mmm…harsh. Oh man you have got to read the lyrics for the song I picked for this chap…it'll please you.