My Heart in Your Hands
by Princess of Monkeys
Chapter 27
Yes, the card he leaves for her is symbolic of something. If you want to know, ask me in a review and I'll tell you!
And the song she's singing is 'Blasphemous Rumours," by Depeche Mode. Somehow it just seems to fit her.
The moment Risty was out of sight, Rogue rushed to 'Remy's tree,' as she'd taken to calling it in her mind, searching for any sign of him. All she found was a card, laying against the trunk- the Jack of Spades. Confused, she just stared at it- he had been here then, but why hadn't he spoken to her? Why hadn't he let her know he was there? Was he back to merely spying on her again? She pocketed the card, pondering how things could have gotten so strange so suddenly.
Walking back to the bleachers, she caught sight of Kurt and Kitty headed towards the field for gym, and returned hastily to her usual seat, so she wouldn't get stuck with a detention. Kurt waved to her, and she waved back at him, but he thought she seemed distracted by something.
He turned to Kitty, standing next to him. "Kitty, I thought you vere going to go talk to her at lunch. Vhat happened?" He'd seen Kitty leave, and then she'd come back, looking sad and refusing to discuss it with the group at large.
Kitty sighed. "There's, like, no point. It's not like she's gonna care about the rest of us now- Risty's back in town."
"Kitty, that's not true! Of course she vould care! Ve don't stop being her friends just because her best friend is around. You should still apologize- she can have more than one friend."
"Could have fooled me," Kitty muttered under her breath. She shook her head. "No way. I know I was, like, only her 'replacement' friend until Risty got back, and I refuse to take a back seat to someone like her. I'd rather, like, not even be friends if it's, like, gonna be like that. I have my pride, after all!"
"Pryde!" The coach barked her name. "What have I said about people talking when I'm talking? Two laps, now!"
Kurt shot her a sympathetic look, but there was nothing he could do. Everyone knew the p.e. coach hated the mutant kids, and he gave them every extra laps at every opportunity. Gritting her teeth and biting back the rude comments that wanted to escape, Kitty took off running.
Rogue was oblivious to the goings- on down on the field- she was staring at her card, wondering what it meant. Sighing, she put it away, and tried to think about happier things, like Risty being back. But her mind wouldn't let her stop worrying, and it latched onto Risty's explanation and wouldn't let go. _She was home for a whole month and couldn't get to a phone or the computer even once the whole time? The Risty I know would have snuck off and made a phone call the first chance she got! Something doesn't add up here._ But try as she might, she couldn't make heads or tails of anything.
Somehow, they all made it through the rest of the day without incident, and managed to get back home without mishap. The Professor had talked Logan into giving the kids a day off from training, so they could enjoy the concert that night, and Rogue made a point to go up to Logan and tell him "Ah'm goin' out tonight. Ta the concert with Risty- she came back."
He just nodded. "Good, you remember our little talk. Yeah, go ahead, but try to make it in by curfew this time, huh?"
She tried to make a joke of it. "What , ya mean my curfew isn't 3:30? But Logan, Ah thought Ah was special!" When he just glared at her, she said "A'right, I'll come back with the others. Okay?"
"You do that, Stripes." She turned to go, but Logan called her back. "You never did tell me what happened to the racquet, ya know."
She visibly paled. "Uh, Ah dunno- Ah jus' got mad 'cause Ah lost ta Scott and threw it, an it broke Ah guess. Maybe we should get better ones or something." She dashed off before he could ask her anything more, and he was even more worried than he'd been before. He could smell the lie- she knew what had happened, and she was scared to tell him. But why?
Pondering yet another mystery Rogue had set for them, Logan set off to do some thinking, which in his case, was facilitated by beating things up. Going into the recently rebuilt Danger Room, he set the simulation for a level 10 run of his special program, and locked the door.
After escaping Logan, Rogue retreated to her room, and lied down on her bed. Her headache hadn't come back, but now she was regretting the wisdom of going to such a crowded event. What if someone touched her? What if a lot of someones touched her? She'd get mobbed, hurt.... People really didn't like mutants these days.
Her thoughts went back to Remy, and the card he'd left after failing to talk to her at school. His actions seemed so.... cryptic. She was sure the card meant something- she vaguely remembered Irene reading cards for her when she'd been small, and telling her that all the cards have special meanings, but she couldn't think of what it could mean. _It means that he's crazy, that's what it means,_ she thought bitterly. _Just when I start to think I understand him, I realize he's just as loony as all the rest of the guys I know._ She pulled out her book, and took all the other cards out, laying them out in a row. There was the Ace of Hearts, singed around the edges but miraculously still whole, from the battle; the Queen of Hearts that he'd handed her before she and Kitty had followed the Brotherhood on Pietro's rescue mission; the King of Hearts that he'd left in her locker the next day; and now the Jack of Spades. It didn't seem to fit. Still pondering the vagaries of Remy's choice in cards, she fell into a light slumber.
She awoke, hours later, to hear Kurt yelling through the door "Rogue, Risty's here! Hurry up!" She sat up suddenly- she didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep. Quickly changing into a different outfit, she rushed out the door and climbed into Risty's small black car.
"What took you?" Risty asked conversationally, and Rogue quickly thought up a story, not wanting to admit she'd fallen asleep. "Oh, Logan didn't want ta let me go. Ah had ta convince him Ah'd come home on time this time." Risty nodded, and Rogue, hearing a song she liked on the radio, turned it up and started singing along.
"Ah don' wan' ta spread any blasphemous rumors but Ah think that God's got a sick sense of humor...." Risty just looked at her, laughing, and Rogue smiled and kept singing. "An' when Ah die, Ah expect ta find 'im laughing....."
The song finished, and Rogue turned the radio down. Risty was still laughing, and she teased "Wow, maybe we should do karaoke some night!"
"Aw, shut up! Ah'm way better than karaoke!"
"That is a rather morbid song, you know." Risty commented, and rogue looked at her funny for a moment. _Risty thinks that's morbid? She usually listens to Manson and she thinks an old school 80's song is morbid? What space alien invaded the body of my best friend?_ But all she said out loud was "whatevah."
The rest of the trip to the concert hall was in silence. When they got there, Risty paid for both their tickets. When Rogue tried to protest, she said "No, it's to make up for me not being able to call you while I was gone." All Rogue could do was shrug and follow her inside.
But when they got inside, Rogue knew she's been right. There were too many people, she didn't know how to deal around this many people! "Risty, Ah don' know 'bout this- there's so many people!"
But Risty said "Nonsense, it'll be fun, you'll see." She dragged rogue further into the crowd, and Rogue lookeda round, catching sight of people she knew. Kurt was with Amanda, and Kitty had been roped into taking Jamie. Turning the other way, she caught sight of Scott and Jean, and her eyes lingered on them for a moment. Risty caught sight of her looking at them, and commented "You still have a thing for him, don't you?"
Rogue shook her head. "No way. They're practically a couple now; an' Ah've got a guy, remember?"
Risty sniffed. "Well, they do deserve each other. And you, my girl, can do better."
They moved further into the crowd, and Rogue started to realx some, maybe she could handle this after all. The band was just starting to get into the full swing of things, and Rogue was starting to groove to the music a bit, when the unthinkable happened. The girl next to her, teetering in impossible high platform heels, overbalanced. As she started to fall, she grabbed onto the nearest thing to steady herself- and the nearest thing happened to be Rogue's sleeve. Rogue watched in horrified slow motion as everything happened at once- the girl grabbe3d onto her arm to pull herself back up- her bare arm. Immediately knocked unconscious, she fell back down. At that moment, the crowd started to surge around her, throwing her into contact with way too many people at once, and her mind was flooded with memories and thoughts in such rapid succession that she couldn't handle it. Holding her head, she backed up, trying to escape the crowd, but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to turn. She was violently thrown into Risty- and a she touched her best friend's skin and absorbed her memories, she let out a tortured, betrayed scream. Memories churning in her mind, she let go, and just became someone else. Crazed, desperate, she ran, trying to get out, just trying to escape.
From an overhanging balcony, Remy saw the whole thing, but he was too far away to help her. He saw Risty's transformation from purple haired teenager to blue-skinned Mystique, heard Rogue's anguished cry. He saw everyone dropping like flies around her, saw her transform into Juggernaut and Sabretooth. In all the destruction and mayhem, he alone saw her escape, and he ran across the catwalk and threw open the roof access door. He had to follow her, had to save her.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team quickly assembled. Scott barked orders at them to follow Sabretooth, and Kitty ordered Jamie to stay behind. Kurt grabbed the young boy and Said "Protect 'Manda for me!" Jamie nodded, aware of being given an important responsibility, and he and Amanda stayed there, watching as Scott, Jean, Kurt and Kitty ran after the villain who had wrecked the concert.
"I contacted the Professor- he'll be here with Wolverine and Storm as soon as he can. Has anyone seen Rogue?" nobody had, and that worried Jean, but she thought _Rogue's probably looking after her friend- she can protect herself._
by Princess of Monkeys
Chapter 27
Yes, the card he leaves for her is symbolic of something. If you want to know, ask me in a review and I'll tell you!
And the song she's singing is 'Blasphemous Rumours," by Depeche Mode. Somehow it just seems to fit her.
The moment Risty was out of sight, Rogue rushed to 'Remy's tree,' as she'd taken to calling it in her mind, searching for any sign of him. All she found was a card, laying against the trunk- the Jack of Spades. Confused, she just stared at it- he had been here then, but why hadn't he spoken to her? Why hadn't he let her know he was there? Was he back to merely spying on her again? She pocketed the card, pondering how things could have gotten so strange so suddenly.
Walking back to the bleachers, she caught sight of Kurt and Kitty headed towards the field for gym, and returned hastily to her usual seat, so she wouldn't get stuck with a detention. Kurt waved to her, and she waved back at him, but he thought she seemed distracted by something.
He turned to Kitty, standing next to him. "Kitty, I thought you vere going to go talk to her at lunch. Vhat happened?" He'd seen Kitty leave, and then she'd come back, looking sad and refusing to discuss it with the group at large.
Kitty sighed. "There's, like, no point. It's not like she's gonna care about the rest of us now- Risty's back in town."
"Kitty, that's not true! Of course she vould care! Ve don't stop being her friends just because her best friend is around. You should still apologize- she can have more than one friend."
"Could have fooled me," Kitty muttered under her breath. She shook her head. "No way. I know I was, like, only her 'replacement' friend until Risty got back, and I refuse to take a back seat to someone like her. I'd rather, like, not even be friends if it's, like, gonna be like that. I have my pride, after all!"
"Pryde!" The coach barked her name. "What have I said about people talking when I'm talking? Two laps, now!"
Kurt shot her a sympathetic look, but there was nothing he could do. Everyone knew the p.e. coach hated the mutant kids, and he gave them every extra laps at every opportunity. Gritting her teeth and biting back the rude comments that wanted to escape, Kitty took off running.
Rogue was oblivious to the goings- on down on the field- she was staring at her card, wondering what it meant. Sighing, she put it away, and tried to think about happier things, like Risty being back. But her mind wouldn't let her stop worrying, and it latched onto Risty's explanation and wouldn't let go. _She was home for a whole month and couldn't get to a phone or the computer even once the whole time? The Risty I know would have snuck off and made a phone call the first chance she got! Something doesn't add up here._ But try as she might, she couldn't make heads or tails of anything.
Somehow, they all made it through the rest of the day without incident, and managed to get back home without mishap. The Professor had talked Logan into giving the kids a day off from training, so they could enjoy the concert that night, and Rogue made a point to go up to Logan and tell him "Ah'm goin' out tonight. Ta the concert with Risty- she came back."
He just nodded. "Good, you remember our little talk. Yeah, go ahead, but try to make it in by curfew this time, huh?"
She tried to make a joke of it. "What , ya mean my curfew isn't 3:30? But Logan, Ah thought Ah was special!" When he just glared at her, she said "A'right, I'll come back with the others. Okay?"
"You do that, Stripes." She turned to go, but Logan called her back. "You never did tell me what happened to the racquet, ya know."
She visibly paled. "Uh, Ah dunno- Ah jus' got mad 'cause Ah lost ta Scott and threw it, an it broke Ah guess. Maybe we should get better ones or something." She dashed off before he could ask her anything more, and he was even more worried than he'd been before. He could smell the lie- she knew what had happened, and she was scared to tell him. But why?
Pondering yet another mystery Rogue had set for them, Logan set off to do some thinking, which in his case, was facilitated by beating things up. Going into the recently rebuilt Danger Room, he set the simulation for a level 10 run of his special program, and locked the door.
After escaping Logan, Rogue retreated to her room, and lied down on her bed. Her headache hadn't come back, but now she was regretting the wisdom of going to such a crowded event. What if someone touched her? What if a lot of someones touched her? She'd get mobbed, hurt.... People really didn't like mutants these days.
Her thoughts went back to Remy, and the card he'd left after failing to talk to her at school. His actions seemed so.... cryptic. She was sure the card meant something- she vaguely remembered Irene reading cards for her when she'd been small, and telling her that all the cards have special meanings, but she couldn't think of what it could mean. _It means that he's crazy, that's what it means,_ she thought bitterly. _Just when I start to think I understand him, I realize he's just as loony as all the rest of the guys I know._ She pulled out her book, and took all the other cards out, laying them out in a row. There was the Ace of Hearts, singed around the edges but miraculously still whole, from the battle; the Queen of Hearts that he'd handed her before she and Kitty had followed the Brotherhood on Pietro's rescue mission; the King of Hearts that he'd left in her locker the next day; and now the Jack of Spades. It didn't seem to fit. Still pondering the vagaries of Remy's choice in cards, she fell into a light slumber.
She awoke, hours later, to hear Kurt yelling through the door "Rogue, Risty's here! Hurry up!" She sat up suddenly- she didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep. Quickly changing into a different outfit, she rushed out the door and climbed into Risty's small black car.
"What took you?" Risty asked conversationally, and Rogue quickly thought up a story, not wanting to admit she'd fallen asleep. "Oh, Logan didn't want ta let me go. Ah had ta convince him Ah'd come home on time this time." Risty nodded, and Rogue, hearing a song she liked on the radio, turned it up and started singing along.
"Ah don' wan' ta spread any blasphemous rumors but Ah think that God's got a sick sense of humor...." Risty just looked at her, laughing, and Rogue smiled and kept singing. "An' when Ah die, Ah expect ta find 'im laughing....."
The song finished, and Rogue turned the radio down. Risty was still laughing, and she teased "Wow, maybe we should do karaoke some night!"
"Aw, shut up! Ah'm way better than karaoke!"
"That is a rather morbid song, you know." Risty commented, and rogue looked at her funny for a moment. _Risty thinks that's morbid? She usually listens to Manson and she thinks an old school 80's song is morbid? What space alien invaded the body of my best friend?_ But all she said out loud was "whatevah."
The rest of the trip to the concert hall was in silence. When they got there, Risty paid for both their tickets. When Rogue tried to protest, she said "No, it's to make up for me not being able to call you while I was gone." All Rogue could do was shrug and follow her inside.
But when they got inside, Rogue knew she's been right. There were too many people, she didn't know how to deal around this many people! "Risty, Ah don' know 'bout this- there's so many people!"
But Risty said "Nonsense, it'll be fun, you'll see." She dragged rogue further into the crowd, and Rogue lookeda round, catching sight of people she knew. Kurt was with Amanda, and Kitty had been roped into taking Jamie. Turning the other way, she caught sight of Scott and Jean, and her eyes lingered on them for a moment. Risty caught sight of her looking at them, and commented "You still have a thing for him, don't you?"
Rogue shook her head. "No way. They're practically a couple now; an' Ah've got a guy, remember?"
Risty sniffed. "Well, they do deserve each other. And you, my girl, can do better."
They moved further into the crowd, and Rogue started to realx some, maybe she could handle this after all. The band was just starting to get into the full swing of things, and Rogue was starting to groove to the music a bit, when the unthinkable happened. The girl next to her, teetering in impossible high platform heels, overbalanced. As she started to fall, she grabbed onto the nearest thing to steady herself- and the nearest thing happened to be Rogue's sleeve. Rogue watched in horrified slow motion as everything happened at once- the girl grabbe3d onto her arm to pull herself back up- her bare arm. Immediately knocked unconscious, she fell back down. At that moment, the crowd started to surge around her, throwing her into contact with way too many people at once, and her mind was flooded with memories and thoughts in such rapid succession that she couldn't handle it. Holding her head, she backed up, trying to escape the crowd, but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to turn. She was violently thrown into Risty- and a she touched her best friend's skin and absorbed her memories, she let out a tortured, betrayed scream. Memories churning in her mind, she let go, and just became someone else. Crazed, desperate, she ran, trying to get out, just trying to escape.
From an overhanging balcony, Remy saw the whole thing, but he was too far away to help her. He saw Risty's transformation from purple haired teenager to blue-skinned Mystique, heard Rogue's anguished cry. He saw everyone dropping like flies around her, saw her transform into Juggernaut and Sabretooth. In all the destruction and mayhem, he alone saw her escape, and he ran across the catwalk and threw open the roof access door. He had to follow her, had to save her.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team quickly assembled. Scott barked orders at them to follow Sabretooth, and Kitty ordered Jamie to stay behind. Kurt grabbed the young boy and Said "Protect 'Manda for me!" Jamie nodded, aware of being given an important responsibility, and he and Amanda stayed there, watching as Scott, Jean, Kurt and Kitty ran after the villain who had wrecked the concert.
"I contacted the Professor- he'll be here with Wolverine and Storm as soon as he can. Has anyone seen Rogue?" nobody had, and that worried Jean, but she thought _Rogue's probably looking after her friend- she can protect herself._