My Heart in Your Hands
by Princess of Monkeys
Chapter 24
I've got stuff to say to people! Gothic Cajun- I actually hadn't considered that idea, that people would think Kurt's out of character behavior was because it was really Mystique.. But it's a good idea. (Wheels in my brain are spinning.... heh heh heh)
Alara- glad you liked my attempts at continuity with the show. I will break from it eventually though, because Apocalypse isn't much fun for me to write (can anyone say lack of character depth?) and I have something totally different planned.
Kira-Leigh- thanks!
Ish- sometimes I wonder if you're on crack too, but that's okay. If you want to squeal about my story, go right ahead, squealing makes me happy. And yeah, single rooms... Lots of romancing going on at the Institute. I think so, anyways- I haven't written that much in advance yet. But yeah, this is doing the totally sappy cheesy romance thing. Probably because I lack romance in my own life.
But yeah, now that I've rambled on for half a page.. You came here to read a story!
Rogue, Kurt, Evan and Kitty met Jean in the hangar. The Professor, Logan and Ororo were already aboard, and as soon as the teenagers were strapped in, Logan began take off, wasting no time.
Jean and the Professor were huddled in conference while Logan and Ororo flew the plane. Kitty and Rogue both stared out opposite windows, while Kurt and Evan discussed some finer points of a recent skating competition. Suddenly, Jean turned away from the Professor, who had gone into a telepathic trance. Fury blazed brightly in her eyes as she advanced on Kitty. "Quit broadcasting your thoughts! I'm sorry that rescuing your teammate is wrecking your plans for the night- next time we'll give you two weeks notice so you can fit it into your busy social schedule!"
But cats have claws, and Kitty was in no mood to keep hers in. "Yeah, I do, like, resent having to give up my plans to go bail him out, because it's like, totally his own fault! He totally didn't even try to verify the story, and he should never have gone off alone! He's always telling us all this stuff about, like, how we have to be careful 'cause we have so many enemies, and it all went right out the window! If he'd done what he's always, like, telling us to do then we totally wouldn't be having to go rescue him! So don't like, go getting all mad at me just 'cause your boyfriend screwed up!"
Before Jean could answer, Logan spoke up from the front. "Can it, Half- Pint. Red, go sit down. Fightin's the last thing we need right now." Still shooting a murderous glance at Kitty, Jean went back to her seat next to the Professor. Kitty went back to staring out the window, muttering something under her breath. The Professor came out of his trance, his worried face showing that he'd not had any success, and Jean went back to conferring with him worriedly.
Rogue shifted in her seat, going back to staring out the window now that all the excitement was over. As mean as it was, it always amused her to see the cracks in Miss Perfect's façade. Granted, she was worried about Scott too, but it had been funny to watch Jean blow up at Kitty.
Unbidden, her thoughts turned from the red head to a certain demon eyed man. She'd been trying not to think about him all day, ever since her argument with Kurt, but it was hard. As she'd walked the Institute's halls, her mind's eye had been placing him in the picture. She could clearly imagine him just hanging out in the rec room with the others, making fun of people and flirting with her, and it disturbed her to realize how much she wished it could happen. _You just want him to be an Z-Man because then it wouldn't be wrong to be with him,_ the annoying voice spoke up in her head, and for once she didn't try to contradict it. It would be so convenient of he could just up and leave Magneto's team and join her side, but realistically, she knew it would never happen. Things like that never happened in real life- only in those dumb Hollywood movies. _Besides, he'd make a terrible X-Man- he'd never get along with Scott, Logan would positively try to skewer him for even looking at me, and the Professor wouldn't let him steal things._ Even so, she couldn't ignore the tiny part of her that still wanted it to happen.
Sighing quietly, she pushed aside her daydreams of Remy in an X-Man uniform, idly wondering where he was and what he was doing. _He probably didn't catch hell for being out all night._
Currently, Remy was trapped inside a metal sphere hurtling through the sky. _I really hate these things. We're only going to Albany- why couldn't we just take the train like normal people? Can't stand up, butt's numb from sitting here... Mon dieu, what if he drops this thing? I really hate being in here...._ Something bounced off the metal sphere, and Remy spared a thought of pity for the poor bird. _He says we have to be inconspicuous, he says we can't show up on film- and flying through the sky in giant metal spheres is inconspicuous? Forget all those UFO sightings- it's not aliens, just my crazy boss and his damn metal pod- things!_
To say he was tired, cold, and annoyed would be an understatement. After dropping Rogue off at the Institute, he'd gone back up to the ridge and sat there in thought, watching the sun come up. He'd gone down the hill to a local diner to have breakfast, prolonging the inevitable. He didn't want to return to base, to his life. Sitting with Rogue and really just talking about normal things had been.. priceless, and he'd hated for the night to end. They'd just been normal people for a few hours, and despite the fact that all the stories they'd shared had been about other people with powers, he hadn't felt strange to be talking about mutants. Even though the Guild had accepted his powers, and Bella hadn't ever cared, it had always felt strange to discuss his powers with them, or to talk about mutants in general. But for himself and Rogue, their normal was different than other people's normal. Their version of normal was something that no one who wasn't a mutant could ever understand.
He'd finally gone back to base mid-morning, intending to take a nap. But when he'd returned, he'd found St. John causing mayhem, Sabretooth shedding and clawing at things, and he'd found himself volunteered to go ferry messages to the Brotherhood. When he'd returned from that unpleasant little duty, Magneto had found things for him to do all day that interfered with the idea of sleeping, and he swore the man was doing it on purpose as punishment. And now, this mission.
There was a sudden thump as the pod landed, jarring Remy from his thoughts, and he jumped out as soon as the hatch opened far enough for him to make it out, enjoying a satisfying full body stretch. Years of conditioning immediately took over as he took a quick survey of the surroundings, noting where they were in relation to other buildings, windows, and the like. Magneto had landed them on a broad, flat roof, conveniently hidden behind a large billboard advertising for a Friends of Humanity convention, to be held in New York City in a month's time. _Figures they'd advertise themselves here- it is their building,_ he thought sardonically.
This mission had been carefully planned. Creed had left two days ago for a talk show tour of the west coast; he was currently in California with his entourage. Additionally, it was a weekend, so very few people should be around.
Once Remy had the area firmly mapped inside his head, he turned to Magneto and nodded. Magneto levitated himself into the air, and Remy gave a start as the metal bits on his uniform and in his pockets levitated as well, pulling him into the air alongside the silver haired man. Magneto floated them down t a specific window, and Remy performed his breaking and entering magic swiftly. Within moments they were in, and Magneto wasted no time getting to the computer. Remy took a plastic disk case from the leather satchel he wore over his shoulder, and handed it to the other man before going to tackle the rows of filing cabinets against the far wall.
Magneto opened the case and grabbed the specially designed hacking program disk, inserting it into the disk drive. Within moments it had broken down all the electronic barriers in the system, and Magneto got busy downloading files and programs onto a handy stack of blank disks they had brought along just for this purpose.
Meanwhile, Remy was busy breaking into the locked filing cabinets. He was unsurprised to discover informational files on all the X-Men, as well as quite a few other mutants. He took those, shoving them into a pocket in his bag- no way was he going to leave any information about his future affiliates in the hands of someone as dangerous as Graydon Creed. He was vastly disturbed, however, to discover large files about training camps in Wyoming and research centers in the wastelands of the southwest. Taking those files as well, he continued in his search. Picking through the personnel files and tax records, he found chillingly accurate photographs and diagrams of the Xavier Institute, as well as photographs from the Sentinel battle. Stuffing those in the bag, he proceeded to rifle through a stack of documents detailing the attempts to get Bolivar Trask released from prison- evidently, the F.O.H.'s lawyers were working determinedly on an appeal case. He put those back, and closed the bottom drawer of the cabinet, moving on to the next one.
Eventually Magneto finished downloading programs and files onto the disks, and with a thought, wiped the hard drive, returning everything to its proper place on the desk and shutting down the computer at the powers source, leaving it how he had found it. He joined Remy at the filing cabinets, and they silently rifled through papers for some time, until they had finished going through every drawer and Remy's bag was full. Remy used his picks to relock the cabinets, and they carefully scrutinized every surface for traces of their presence. They had both worn full gloves and long sleeves, as well as hooded shirts, so that they would leave no fingerprints or hair at the scene. They wanted to leave no clues for law enforcement.
As they turned to go, Magneto saw a pair of glasses lying carelessly on a corner of the desk, and he grabbed them on an impulse. They skin cells clinging to the nose piece could be used for DNA analysis, and he was very curious about this particular man's DNA. Slipping the glasses into a pocket, he went out the window, floating the pods down from the roof. Remy followed him out, jumping lightly into the waiting pod, and closed the window behind himself. As they floated away into the dark night sky, Remy found himself pleased by the success of the mission. He smiled, imagining the confusion and disarray their raid would cause when Creed returned. They had found plenty of useful documents, they hadn't been caught, and now, he had some rough idea of Magneto's plans. Now, he had a bargaining chip to use with Charles Xavier. Confident in his decision, he began planning his defection.
Magneto, too, was planning. Gambit had proved to be useful yet again, but he would have to be kept distracted from now on. His attachment to that girl made his loyalties too questionable for him to be trusted with a role in the greater plan. It was a pity, but it appeared the demon eyed thief was quickly beginning to outlive his usefulness. Fortunately, he would be easily disposed of.
The sun was setting over the Pacific when the Blackbird arrived over Mexico City. Jean knew that this was where Scott had flown to, but they had no idea if he was even still in the city or not. Since Scott hadn't used his powers yet, the Professor's portable Cerebro unit had been unable to detect his presence. Jean cast about with her mind, opening herself wide to receive anything, even the slightest hint of Scott. All she had was their link..... Suddenly, she felt something, just as the Professor gasped sharply. "There, west!" A flash of red lit the sky, and Logan swiftly turned the plane. Jean reached out, and she had him. "There! That warehouse!"
When the Blackbird was directly over the roof, Logan opened the ramp, and before any of the adults could discuss a plan of action, she had dived out, floating herself down through the hole Scott's force beams had made in the roof. Rogue and the others rushed to the ramp, looking down as Jean threw someone around with her powers. "Omigod, that is Mystique!" Kitty exclaimed in horror, and Kurt cried "Hit her harder!"
"Dude, that's your mom!" Evan said in surprise, and Kurt replied "So vhat? She deserves it!" He continued shouting encouragement.
Rogue just shook her head in amazement. "This is better'n wrestling," was her only comment.
When Mystique finally crumpled into an unmoving pile of blue against a wall, Jean floated herself and Scott up to the plane. They settled into chairs, Ororo handing him a spare visor and Kitty rushing to get blankets for them.
Logan muttered something under his breath about teenagers and hormones, and with a strange smile, the Professor, who had taken over flight, turned the plane towards home. As Jean and Scott whispered to each other and everyone else pretended not to be watching them, Rogue's thoughts turned towards Remy again. The uncomfortable thought came to her- they were still on opposite sides, even after last night. If she ever needed him, would he come and rescue her?
by Princess of Monkeys
Chapter 24
I've got stuff to say to people! Gothic Cajun- I actually hadn't considered that idea, that people would think Kurt's out of character behavior was because it was really Mystique.. But it's a good idea. (Wheels in my brain are spinning.... heh heh heh)
Alara- glad you liked my attempts at continuity with the show. I will break from it eventually though, because Apocalypse isn't much fun for me to write (can anyone say lack of character depth?) and I have something totally different planned.
Kira-Leigh- thanks!
Ish- sometimes I wonder if you're on crack too, but that's okay. If you want to squeal about my story, go right ahead, squealing makes me happy. And yeah, single rooms... Lots of romancing going on at the Institute. I think so, anyways- I haven't written that much in advance yet. But yeah, this is doing the totally sappy cheesy romance thing. Probably because I lack romance in my own life.
But yeah, now that I've rambled on for half a page.. You came here to read a story!
Rogue, Kurt, Evan and Kitty met Jean in the hangar. The Professor, Logan and Ororo were already aboard, and as soon as the teenagers were strapped in, Logan began take off, wasting no time.
Jean and the Professor were huddled in conference while Logan and Ororo flew the plane. Kitty and Rogue both stared out opposite windows, while Kurt and Evan discussed some finer points of a recent skating competition. Suddenly, Jean turned away from the Professor, who had gone into a telepathic trance. Fury blazed brightly in her eyes as she advanced on Kitty. "Quit broadcasting your thoughts! I'm sorry that rescuing your teammate is wrecking your plans for the night- next time we'll give you two weeks notice so you can fit it into your busy social schedule!"
But cats have claws, and Kitty was in no mood to keep hers in. "Yeah, I do, like, resent having to give up my plans to go bail him out, because it's like, totally his own fault! He totally didn't even try to verify the story, and he should never have gone off alone! He's always telling us all this stuff about, like, how we have to be careful 'cause we have so many enemies, and it all went right out the window! If he'd done what he's always, like, telling us to do then we totally wouldn't be having to go rescue him! So don't like, go getting all mad at me just 'cause your boyfriend screwed up!"
Before Jean could answer, Logan spoke up from the front. "Can it, Half- Pint. Red, go sit down. Fightin's the last thing we need right now." Still shooting a murderous glance at Kitty, Jean went back to her seat next to the Professor. Kitty went back to staring out the window, muttering something under her breath. The Professor came out of his trance, his worried face showing that he'd not had any success, and Jean went back to conferring with him worriedly.
Rogue shifted in her seat, going back to staring out the window now that all the excitement was over. As mean as it was, it always amused her to see the cracks in Miss Perfect's façade. Granted, she was worried about Scott too, but it had been funny to watch Jean blow up at Kitty.
Unbidden, her thoughts turned from the red head to a certain demon eyed man. She'd been trying not to think about him all day, ever since her argument with Kurt, but it was hard. As she'd walked the Institute's halls, her mind's eye had been placing him in the picture. She could clearly imagine him just hanging out in the rec room with the others, making fun of people and flirting with her, and it disturbed her to realize how much she wished it could happen. _You just want him to be an Z-Man because then it wouldn't be wrong to be with him,_ the annoying voice spoke up in her head, and for once she didn't try to contradict it. It would be so convenient of he could just up and leave Magneto's team and join her side, but realistically, she knew it would never happen. Things like that never happened in real life- only in those dumb Hollywood movies. _Besides, he'd make a terrible X-Man- he'd never get along with Scott, Logan would positively try to skewer him for even looking at me, and the Professor wouldn't let him steal things._ Even so, she couldn't ignore the tiny part of her that still wanted it to happen.
Sighing quietly, she pushed aside her daydreams of Remy in an X-Man uniform, idly wondering where he was and what he was doing. _He probably didn't catch hell for being out all night._
Currently, Remy was trapped inside a metal sphere hurtling through the sky. _I really hate these things. We're only going to Albany- why couldn't we just take the train like normal people? Can't stand up, butt's numb from sitting here... Mon dieu, what if he drops this thing? I really hate being in here...._ Something bounced off the metal sphere, and Remy spared a thought of pity for the poor bird. _He says we have to be inconspicuous, he says we can't show up on film- and flying through the sky in giant metal spheres is inconspicuous? Forget all those UFO sightings- it's not aliens, just my crazy boss and his damn metal pod- things!_
To say he was tired, cold, and annoyed would be an understatement. After dropping Rogue off at the Institute, he'd gone back up to the ridge and sat there in thought, watching the sun come up. He'd gone down the hill to a local diner to have breakfast, prolonging the inevitable. He didn't want to return to base, to his life. Sitting with Rogue and really just talking about normal things had been.. priceless, and he'd hated for the night to end. They'd just been normal people for a few hours, and despite the fact that all the stories they'd shared had been about other people with powers, he hadn't felt strange to be talking about mutants. Even though the Guild had accepted his powers, and Bella hadn't ever cared, it had always felt strange to discuss his powers with them, or to talk about mutants in general. But for himself and Rogue, their normal was different than other people's normal. Their version of normal was something that no one who wasn't a mutant could ever understand.
He'd finally gone back to base mid-morning, intending to take a nap. But when he'd returned, he'd found St. John causing mayhem, Sabretooth shedding and clawing at things, and he'd found himself volunteered to go ferry messages to the Brotherhood. When he'd returned from that unpleasant little duty, Magneto had found things for him to do all day that interfered with the idea of sleeping, and he swore the man was doing it on purpose as punishment. And now, this mission.
There was a sudden thump as the pod landed, jarring Remy from his thoughts, and he jumped out as soon as the hatch opened far enough for him to make it out, enjoying a satisfying full body stretch. Years of conditioning immediately took over as he took a quick survey of the surroundings, noting where they were in relation to other buildings, windows, and the like. Magneto had landed them on a broad, flat roof, conveniently hidden behind a large billboard advertising for a Friends of Humanity convention, to be held in New York City in a month's time. _Figures they'd advertise themselves here- it is their building,_ he thought sardonically.
This mission had been carefully planned. Creed had left two days ago for a talk show tour of the west coast; he was currently in California with his entourage. Additionally, it was a weekend, so very few people should be around.
Once Remy had the area firmly mapped inside his head, he turned to Magneto and nodded. Magneto levitated himself into the air, and Remy gave a start as the metal bits on his uniform and in his pockets levitated as well, pulling him into the air alongside the silver haired man. Magneto floated them down t a specific window, and Remy performed his breaking and entering magic swiftly. Within moments they were in, and Magneto wasted no time getting to the computer. Remy took a plastic disk case from the leather satchel he wore over his shoulder, and handed it to the other man before going to tackle the rows of filing cabinets against the far wall.
Magneto opened the case and grabbed the specially designed hacking program disk, inserting it into the disk drive. Within moments it had broken down all the electronic barriers in the system, and Magneto got busy downloading files and programs onto a handy stack of blank disks they had brought along just for this purpose.
Meanwhile, Remy was busy breaking into the locked filing cabinets. He was unsurprised to discover informational files on all the X-Men, as well as quite a few other mutants. He took those, shoving them into a pocket in his bag- no way was he going to leave any information about his future affiliates in the hands of someone as dangerous as Graydon Creed. He was vastly disturbed, however, to discover large files about training camps in Wyoming and research centers in the wastelands of the southwest. Taking those files as well, he continued in his search. Picking through the personnel files and tax records, he found chillingly accurate photographs and diagrams of the Xavier Institute, as well as photographs from the Sentinel battle. Stuffing those in the bag, he proceeded to rifle through a stack of documents detailing the attempts to get Bolivar Trask released from prison- evidently, the F.O.H.'s lawyers were working determinedly on an appeal case. He put those back, and closed the bottom drawer of the cabinet, moving on to the next one.
Eventually Magneto finished downloading programs and files onto the disks, and with a thought, wiped the hard drive, returning everything to its proper place on the desk and shutting down the computer at the powers source, leaving it how he had found it. He joined Remy at the filing cabinets, and they silently rifled through papers for some time, until they had finished going through every drawer and Remy's bag was full. Remy used his picks to relock the cabinets, and they carefully scrutinized every surface for traces of their presence. They had both worn full gloves and long sleeves, as well as hooded shirts, so that they would leave no fingerprints or hair at the scene. They wanted to leave no clues for law enforcement.
As they turned to go, Magneto saw a pair of glasses lying carelessly on a corner of the desk, and he grabbed them on an impulse. They skin cells clinging to the nose piece could be used for DNA analysis, and he was very curious about this particular man's DNA. Slipping the glasses into a pocket, he went out the window, floating the pods down from the roof. Remy followed him out, jumping lightly into the waiting pod, and closed the window behind himself. As they floated away into the dark night sky, Remy found himself pleased by the success of the mission. He smiled, imagining the confusion and disarray their raid would cause when Creed returned. They had found plenty of useful documents, they hadn't been caught, and now, he had some rough idea of Magneto's plans. Now, he had a bargaining chip to use with Charles Xavier. Confident in his decision, he began planning his defection.
Magneto, too, was planning. Gambit had proved to be useful yet again, but he would have to be kept distracted from now on. His attachment to that girl made his loyalties too questionable for him to be trusted with a role in the greater plan. It was a pity, but it appeared the demon eyed thief was quickly beginning to outlive his usefulness. Fortunately, he would be easily disposed of.
The sun was setting over the Pacific when the Blackbird arrived over Mexico City. Jean knew that this was where Scott had flown to, but they had no idea if he was even still in the city or not. Since Scott hadn't used his powers yet, the Professor's portable Cerebro unit had been unable to detect his presence. Jean cast about with her mind, opening herself wide to receive anything, even the slightest hint of Scott. All she had was their link..... Suddenly, she felt something, just as the Professor gasped sharply. "There, west!" A flash of red lit the sky, and Logan swiftly turned the plane. Jean reached out, and she had him. "There! That warehouse!"
When the Blackbird was directly over the roof, Logan opened the ramp, and before any of the adults could discuss a plan of action, she had dived out, floating herself down through the hole Scott's force beams had made in the roof. Rogue and the others rushed to the ramp, looking down as Jean threw someone around with her powers. "Omigod, that is Mystique!" Kitty exclaimed in horror, and Kurt cried "Hit her harder!"
"Dude, that's your mom!" Evan said in surprise, and Kurt replied "So vhat? She deserves it!" He continued shouting encouragement.
Rogue just shook her head in amazement. "This is better'n wrestling," was her only comment.
When Mystique finally crumpled into an unmoving pile of blue against a wall, Jean floated herself and Scott up to the plane. They settled into chairs, Ororo handing him a spare visor and Kitty rushing to get blankets for them.
Logan muttered something under his breath about teenagers and hormones, and with a strange smile, the Professor, who had taken over flight, turned the plane towards home. As Jean and Scott whispered to each other and everyone else pretended not to be watching them, Rogue's thoughts turned towards Remy again. The uncomfortable thought came to her- they were still on opposite sides, even after last night. If she ever needed him, would he come and rescue her?