Rogue couldn't believe it. She had seen Logan run off to the woods,
followed a while later by Ororo, Scott, and Jean, and she had seen Milana
earlier. But now, seeing the four X Men leading Milana, the traitor who was
now one of the school's enemies, and a man that had saved her from the
incident earlier.
"Oh my god!" Jubilee said, looking out the window. "It's her!"
"Common, we need to check this out," Rogue said, tearing down the halls, followed by Jubilee.
They reached the front door just as it slammed open, and Logan stalked through and growled at them, walking down the hall towards the kitchen, to his private stash of beer. Next came Jean, Ororo, and then Scott, and finally Milana and the mysterious guy came through. Both of them looked extremely nervous, and the man had three long cuts across his chest, obviously from Logan. Milana spotted Rogue and Jubilee, who both had their mouths and eyes wide open, but she looked away. The man looked up at them, and they jerked when he narrowed his demon eyes at them. No one said a word as the pair followed the three X Men down the hall.
"Did I just see Milana and a freaky-eyed guy lead into our school?" Rogue asked. Jubilee nodded slowly.
"There is no way in hell this could be right, something's definitely up," she said. "I think we should find out what it is."
"Kitty can help," Rogue said, and both girls ran to find the wall walker.
*****
"Kurt, what in heavens name were you thinking, going down there?" Hank asked while fixing the bandage on the now-sober Kurt's head, who had gotten a nasty scrape when he had made then bad landing earlier.
"Milana..." he said in a small voice.
"She's gone, Kurt, you're going to have to face that. Killing yourself isn't going to help anything, and Milana isn't going to some back," Hank said seriously. Kurt nodded just as the door opened and Jean walked in, followed by Scott. Kurt turned to look at them and his jaw dropped, Milana was standing next to a stranger, looking scared. When she saw him she froze, and the man with her turned to look at her. Then she slowly backed up and moved out of sight.
"Lan!" the man said, surprised. He went back out after her.
"I'll check on her," Ororo said immediately, and the door slid shut. Hank was standing with an unreadable expression on his face, somewhere between shock and anger.
"What is she doing here?" he said in a low voice.
"She and Remy need help," Jean said. Kurt was still gaping at the closed door.
"And you let them in?" Hank said. "Either they've done something to you or I've missed something, last I knew she tried to kill all of you."
"The professor thinks she may not have," Scott said, tight lipped. "I'm not sure how, but he told us to help them."
"I knew it!" Kurt breathed, going to get up. Hank grabbed his friends shoulder.
"No, Kurt, you need to sit down and be careful," Hank said sternly.
"I- Milana-" Kurt protested, going to get up.
"Will still be here," Hank said. "Sit." Kurt didn't take his eyes off the door while Hank continued to check for problems.
*****
"I can't, oh god," Milana said, fighting back a tear as she slumped to the floor. "Look what I did, that was my fault..."
"Aw chere, t' ain't your faul'," Remy said. Milana looked over at him, her eyes were slightly duller than usual and she seemed extremely tired all of a sudden.
"Maybe..." she said. Ororo came over.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Dad... he told me to leave a little while ago... maybe I should..." she sighed. Despite her initial anger with the teen Ororo couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"Um, Mr. Remy-" she began. The young man smiled and an arched an eyebrow.
"'Old up, chere," he said. "I'm Remy, no' married yet."
"Alright, Remy," Ororo said. "You should go back in there and get those cuts checked out, Jean is waiting."
"Nah, Remy be 'ere wid Lan," Remy replied. Milana suddenly glared at him.
"Oh no you don't," she said. "You get in there and get those cleaned or I'll kick your thieving butt into next week." Remy looked ready to protest but sighed and stood up.
"Remy'll be righ' back t' carry de petite in dere for 'er own cleanin'" he said, then walked off. As the door to the med-bay once again closed Ororo looked at Milana, straight in the eye.
"We've known each other for a while now," the white haired woman said. Milana looked at the far wall.
"Can't deny that." She said.
"We're nearly sisters, or we once were." Ororo continued.
"Seemed like it," Milana replied. Ororo sighed.
"I want you to tell me the truth, did you help Magneto and Mystique that afternoon?" Ororo asked.
"Would you even believe me if I did tell you the truth?" Milana asked. Ororo paused.
"Yes, I would," she said. "For the sake of how close we were."
"That being the case," Milana said, "I shouldn't have to tell you, or anyone else. You should know the answer yourself." Ororo nodded slowly.
"You didn't do it, did you? But how that could have been someone else...." she said, then she looked at Milana carefully. Ororo sighed. "You need to get that shoulder checked, and Remy is probably being hard on Jean and the others, he seems the type."
"He is," Milana said, smiling. Ororo stood up and offered her hand, pulling Milana up.
"I'm sorry," Ororo said. Milana knew what she meant and shrugged, then followed Remy into the med bay.
*****
Kurt had leapt up when the door opened the firs time, and Hank had to grab him. But instead of Milana it had been the young man, who laughed at Kurt and then been taken by a severe-sounding Jean for a check. The second time the door opened and Milana did walk through Kurt was held back by Hank, who was ready for the reaction. Remy smiled at Milana and she weakly tried to smile back, looking at anything but the faces of her former teammates and especially her father.
"You doin' 'k Lan?" Remy called across the room.
"A lot better than you," Milana replied, walking over to her friend and avoiding Kurt.
"That's the truth, actually," Jean said, pulling off the bandages for a quick glance at Milana's shoulder. "He had dirt in his cuts, probably from the rolling around during the fight." Remy grinned at the doctor.
"Aw, dis be nut'in, chere," he said. "Remy ge' t'rugh worsen' dis." Jean raised an eyebrow but didn't respond further, and Milana looked at the floor.
"Well, you're going to need something a bit stronger than the disinfectant you put on Milana," Jean said. "I need to really clean this and make sure you don't get an infection. This is going to take longer than I thought." Remy sighed and Milana's face fell slightly, the only reason she wasn't out the mansion door's already was she wanted to wait for Remy to be alright. Jean must have heard this thought because she looked at Milana for a brief instant and then ignored her.
Kurt, meanwhile, was staring at his daughter as she hurried past him and went to sit by the man named Remy. For an instant Kurt looked at Remy closely and wasn't sure he liked the young man's looks, but then he wondered why Milana hadn't even looked at him.
"Kurt, no," Hank said. Kurt looked at him and the doctor sighed, letting go. Kurt slowly stood up and walked over to Milana, and somehow Scott and Hank managed to make quick exits.
"Milana?" Kurt asked in a soft voice. His daughter looked at the floor.
"Hey," she said in a tiny voice. Kurt just stared at her, unable to believe that she was here, in front of him. After a moment Remy leaned over to her and whispered.
"Is dat guy bothrin' you petite?" he asked. Milana looked at him.
"He's my father," she answered.
"None excuse, chere," Remy said. Milana looked at him and then at Kurt, their eye met for a brief second. Then she got up and left, hurrying past Hank, Ororo, and Scott who were waiting in the hall. Hank and Scott started to follow but they heard Xavier telling them to stop.
~ She's just going to her old room, she's not a threat to us, ~ he said.
~ But professor, what about- ~ Hank and Scott began.
~ We were mistaken, ~ Xavier said shortly. Scott and Hank exchanged looks, but Ororo had smiled. She hadn't attacked them after all, Milana was just as hurt as they had been. Then the weather goddess began to worry about her friend, the guilt hitting her like a punch to her chest. Almost forgetting what the professor had said Ororo started to follow Milana herself, but Scott grabbed her arm. They all stared at the way she had left.
"Oh my stars and garters," Hank breathed, just about summing up what they all felt.
*****
"Kitty, we're not joking, Milana's back!" Rogue hissed. The brown haired girl looked at her, then up and down the halls near their room.
"Why would she be back, after what happened?" Kitty asked. Jubilee and Rogue shrugged.
"We dunno," Rogue said.
"But she did have a really cute guy with really scary eyes with her," Jubilee said. Kitty shrugged.
"And what does this have to do with me?" she asked.
"We need to figure out what's going on," Rogue said.
"We need your help." Jubilee said.
"Fine, what do we do?" Kitty asked. "But if you've set me up, well, Milana had better be here or I'll kill both of you. Now what?" Just then Milana half speed-walked, half ran past the group of girls and threw herself into her old room, slamming the door behind her. Kitty, Rogue, and Jubilee stared at it.
"Believe us now?" Jubilee asked.
"Oh yeah," Kitty replied.
*****
Milana looked around the room after she locked the door behind her. It was exactly like it was when she had last seen it, from the unmade bed with Mystique's pressure mark still on it and Milana's sweater in a heap near the wall. Slowly Milana looked around, opening the closet and bathroom doors, then checking underneath the bed. She didn't know what she was looking for, maybe proof that Mystique had attacked her, to prove to the others at the mansion, to prove to herself. Going through her drawers and then checking the bedspread Milana found nothing, and frustrated she grabbed her comforter and tore it off the bed, collapsing on it on the floor and then hearing a loud bang!
Milana looked up slowly and saw that she had accidentally knocked over her trash can, spilling it contents over the floor.
"Oh, this really helps," Milana muttered to herself, crawling over and starting to put stuff back when something caught her eye; a needle. Milana had never seen a needle before besides in the med-bay, and she certainly never had any up in her room.... Milana's breath caught in her throat as she held up the needle.
"Are you what Mystique used on me?" she asked softly, looking at it closely as she moved over and sat on her bed, turning it over with her hands. If this was, then she could prove she had been taken from the mansion... and then they would all know she was telling the truth, and maybe even Logan could forgive her. Holding the needle carefully she stood up to leave, to go show Hank, to get the little bit of fluid still left in the needle tested.
"Ah!" she said, tripping over the trashcan lid that had fallen off when the can had tipped over. Milana landed heavily and the point of the needle pierced her thumb, her weight pushing the remainder of the fluid into the small cut. Milana leapt up and yanked the needle out, sending little drops of the milky-white liquid into the air.
"Shit, oh no," Milana said, turning around to go run her under hot water. Suddenly a wave of dizziness washed over her and she fell on her mattress, rolling off and landing on the comforter with the needle still in her hand as she closed her eyes and she went limp.
"Oh my god!" Jubilee said, looking out the window. "It's her!"
"Common, we need to check this out," Rogue said, tearing down the halls, followed by Jubilee.
They reached the front door just as it slammed open, and Logan stalked through and growled at them, walking down the hall towards the kitchen, to his private stash of beer. Next came Jean, Ororo, and then Scott, and finally Milana and the mysterious guy came through. Both of them looked extremely nervous, and the man had three long cuts across his chest, obviously from Logan. Milana spotted Rogue and Jubilee, who both had their mouths and eyes wide open, but she looked away. The man looked up at them, and they jerked when he narrowed his demon eyes at them. No one said a word as the pair followed the three X Men down the hall.
"Did I just see Milana and a freaky-eyed guy lead into our school?" Rogue asked. Jubilee nodded slowly.
"There is no way in hell this could be right, something's definitely up," she said. "I think we should find out what it is."
"Kitty can help," Rogue said, and both girls ran to find the wall walker.
*****
"Kurt, what in heavens name were you thinking, going down there?" Hank asked while fixing the bandage on the now-sober Kurt's head, who had gotten a nasty scrape when he had made then bad landing earlier.
"Milana..." he said in a small voice.
"She's gone, Kurt, you're going to have to face that. Killing yourself isn't going to help anything, and Milana isn't going to some back," Hank said seriously. Kurt nodded just as the door opened and Jean walked in, followed by Scott. Kurt turned to look at them and his jaw dropped, Milana was standing next to a stranger, looking scared. When she saw him she froze, and the man with her turned to look at her. Then she slowly backed up and moved out of sight.
"Lan!" the man said, surprised. He went back out after her.
"I'll check on her," Ororo said immediately, and the door slid shut. Hank was standing with an unreadable expression on his face, somewhere between shock and anger.
"What is she doing here?" he said in a low voice.
"She and Remy need help," Jean said. Kurt was still gaping at the closed door.
"And you let them in?" Hank said. "Either they've done something to you or I've missed something, last I knew she tried to kill all of you."
"The professor thinks she may not have," Scott said, tight lipped. "I'm not sure how, but he told us to help them."
"I knew it!" Kurt breathed, going to get up. Hank grabbed his friends shoulder.
"No, Kurt, you need to sit down and be careful," Hank said sternly.
"I- Milana-" Kurt protested, going to get up.
"Will still be here," Hank said. "Sit." Kurt didn't take his eyes off the door while Hank continued to check for problems.
*****
"I can't, oh god," Milana said, fighting back a tear as she slumped to the floor. "Look what I did, that was my fault..."
"Aw chere, t' ain't your faul'," Remy said. Milana looked over at him, her eyes were slightly duller than usual and she seemed extremely tired all of a sudden.
"Maybe..." she said. Ororo came over.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Dad... he told me to leave a little while ago... maybe I should..." she sighed. Despite her initial anger with the teen Ororo couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"Um, Mr. Remy-" she began. The young man smiled and an arched an eyebrow.
"'Old up, chere," he said. "I'm Remy, no' married yet."
"Alright, Remy," Ororo said. "You should go back in there and get those cuts checked out, Jean is waiting."
"Nah, Remy be 'ere wid Lan," Remy replied. Milana suddenly glared at him.
"Oh no you don't," she said. "You get in there and get those cleaned or I'll kick your thieving butt into next week." Remy looked ready to protest but sighed and stood up.
"Remy'll be righ' back t' carry de petite in dere for 'er own cleanin'" he said, then walked off. As the door to the med-bay once again closed Ororo looked at Milana, straight in the eye.
"We've known each other for a while now," the white haired woman said. Milana looked at the far wall.
"Can't deny that." She said.
"We're nearly sisters, or we once were." Ororo continued.
"Seemed like it," Milana replied. Ororo sighed.
"I want you to tell me the truth, did you help Magneto and Mystique that afternoon?" Ororo asked.
"Would you even believe me if I did tell you the truth?" Milana asked. Ororo paused.
"Yes, I would," she said. "For the sake of how close we were."
"That being the case," Milana said, "I shouldn't have to tell you, or anyone else. You should know the answer yourself." Ororo nodded slowly.
"You didn't do it, did you? But how that could have been someone else...." she said, then she looked at Milana carefully. Ororo sighed. "You need to get that shoulder checked, and Remy is probably being hard on Jean and the others, he seems the type."
"He is," Milana said, smiling. Ororo stood up and offered her hand, pulling Milana up.
"I'm sorry," Ororo said. Milana knew what she meant and shrugged, then followed Remy into the med bay.
*****
Kurt had leapt up when the door opened the firs time, and Hank had to grab him. But instead of Milana it had been the young man, who laughed at Kurt and then been taken by a severe-sounding Jean for a check. The second time the door opened and Milana did walk through Kurt was held back by Hank, who was ready for the reaction. Remy smiled at Milana and she weakly tried to smile back, looking at anything but the faces of her former teammates and especially her father.
"You doin' 'k Lan?" Remy called across the room.
"A lot better than you," Milana replied, walking over to her friend and avoiding Kurt.
"That's the truth, actually," Jean said, pulling off the bandages for a quick glance at Milana's shoulder. "He had dirt in his cuts, probably from the rolling around during the fight." Remy grinned at the doctor.
"Aw, dis be nut'in, chere," he said. "Remy ge' t'rugh worsen' dis." Jean raised an eyebrow but didn't respond further, and Milana looked at the floor.
"Well, you're going to need something a bit stronger than the disinfectant you put on Milana," Jean said. "I need to really clean this and make sure you don't get an infection. This is going to take longer than I thought." Remy sighed and Milana's face fell slightly, the only reason she wasn't out the mansion door's already was she wanted to wait for Remy to be alright. Jean must have heard this thought because she looked at Milana for a brief instant and then ignored her.
Kurt, meanwhile, was staring at his daughter as she hurried past him and went to sit by the man named Remy. For an instant Kurt looked at Remy closely and wasn't sure he liked the young man's looks, but then he wondered why Milana hadn't even looked at him.
"Kurt, no," Hank said. Kurt looked at him and the doctor sighed, letting go. Kurt slowly stood up and walked over to Milana, and somehow Scott and Hank managed to make quick exits.
"Milana?" Kurt asked in a soft voice. His daughter looked at the floor.
"Hey," she said in a tiny voice. Kurt just stared at her, unable to believe that she was here, in front of him. After a moment Remy leaned over to her and whispered.
"Is dat guy bothrin' you petite?" he asked. Milana looked at him.
"He's my father," she answered.
"None excuse, chere," Remy said. Milana looked at him and then at Kurt, their eye met for a brief second. Then she got up and left, hurrying past Hank, Ororo, and Scott who were waiting in the hall. Hank and Scott started to follow but they heard Xavier telling them to stop.
~ She's just going to her old room, she's not a threat to us, ~ he said.
~ But professor, what about- ~ Hank and Scott began.
~ We were mistaken, ~ Xavier said shortly. Scott and Hank exchanged looks, but Ororo had smiled. She hadn't attacked them after all, Milana was just as hurt as they had been. Then the weather goddess began to worry about her friend, the guilt hitting her like a punch to her chest. Almost forgetting what the professor had said Ororo started to follow Milana herself, but Scott grabbed her arm. They all stared at the way she had left.
"Oh my stars and garters," Hank breathed, just about summing up what they all felt.
*****
"Kitty, we're not joking, Milana's back!" Rogue hissed. The brown haired girl looked at her, then up and down the halls near their room.
"Why would she be back, after what happened?" Kitty asked. Jubilee and Rogue shrugged.
"We dunno," Rogue said.
"But she did have a really cute guy with really scary eyes with her," Jubilee said. Kitty shrugged.
"And what does this have to do with me?" she asked.
"We need to figure out what's going on," Rogue said.
"We need your help." Jubilee said.
"Fine, what do we do?" Kitty asked. "But if you've set me up, well, Milana had better be here or I'll kill both of you. Now what?" Just then Milana half speed-walked, half ran past the group of girls and threw herself into her old room, slamming the door behind her. Kitty, Rogue, and Jubilee stared at it.
"Believe us now?" Jubilee asked.
"Oh yeah," Kitty replied.
*****
Milana looked around the room after she locked the door behind her. It was exactly like it was when she had last seen it, from the unmade bed with Mystique's pressure mark still on it and Milana's sweater in a heap near the wall. Slowly Milana looked around, opening the closet and bathroom doors, then checking underneath the bed. She didn't know what she was looking for, maybe proof that Mystique had attacked her, to prove to the others at the mansion, to prove to herself. Going through her drawers and then checking the bedspread Milana found nothing, and frustrated she grabbed her comforter and tore it off the bed, collapsing on it on the floor and then hearing a loud bang!
Milana looked up slowly and saw that she had accidentally knocked over her trash can, spilling it contents over the floor.
"Oh, this really helps," Milana muttered to herself, crawling over and starting to put stuff back when something caught her eye; a needle. Milana had never seen a needle before besides in the med-bay, and she certainly never had any up in her room.... Milana's breath caught in her throat as she held up the needle.
"Are you what Mystique used on me?" she asked softly, looking at it closely as she moved over and sat on her bed, turning it over with her hands. If this was, then she could prove she had been taken from the mansion... and then they would all know she was telling the truth, and maybe even Logan could forgive her. Holding the needle carefully she stood up to leave, to go show Hank, to get the little bit of fluid still left in the needle tested.
"Ah!" she said, tripping over the trashcan lid that had fallen off when the can had tipped over. Milana landed heavily and the point of the needle pierced her thumb, her weight pushing the remainder of the fluid into the small cut. Milana leapt up and yanked the needle out, sending little drops of the milky-white liquid into the air.
"Shit, oh no," Milana said, turning around to go run her under hot water. Suddenly a wave of dizziness washed over her and she fell on her mattress, rolling off and landing on the comforter with the needle still in her hand as she closed her eyes and she went limp.