See Part Four A
Title of Series: The Web - Borne Of The Fall
Part Four B
A Continuation Of: "It Can Swallow Her Whole Star Intact"
JUBILEE
I wake up to Drake freezing my hair into a mohawk. I'm really not happy about this, so I send a volley of plasma blasts in his general direction. Kora squeaks as Drake's bed leg gives out. Oops. I guess I shouldn't squish her under the bed.
I sit up in my sleeping bag and reflect on how crappy it is to sleep on the floor. Four days. Just four more days and I'll beg Creed to let me sleep on a nice, fluffy bed. *Guh.*
Adam's part of the link brightens when he hears my sensible hello. *G'day.*
*The fook're you? 'Strailian?* Hey, it's almost a full sentence.
*In my day? Probably.* ...He's laughing at me, I just know it.
*"Shower. Now."*
"Duh, Jubes. It's why I woke you up so early." Bobby needs a kick to the head. What's he doing bein' so damn cheerful? It's morning, dammit.
Ooh. Asher's presence on the web fades into a hum as he pulls himself deeper into sleep. His veils darken further in an effort to keep us awake (heh) ones out. Creed does the same. It's the mental equivelant to pulling a pillow over your head.
Kora's staring at me with tired eyes. I wholeheartedly concur. We both spent the night following Asher through his dinner with Jean Claude and Anita, giving him support when he needed it. Asher gave us a peek at that Jean Claude guy and I almost melted. That is one fine dead dude. Long black hair with little curls and eyes a deep midnight blue color. He has a voice like Asher's, too. The kind that you feel in places you aren't supposed to feel when you're just innocently chatting with someone. They both would make a fortune at phone sex.
I sigh as I get up and grab the necessary clothes for my shower. This time, however, I will not be transmitting. God, yesterday was so embarrassing. I will be much more careful in the future. Yeek.
I sigh under the almost scalding water and shampoo my slowly unfreezing hair. I forget about my bandaged wrist when I go to rinse and let out a string of Mandarin curses. *Hey Kore? Can you ask Bobby to get some bandages from Med Bay? I got mine all wet.*
She gives me an affirmative. I shake my head and continue with the shower. When I finally get out, about five minutes after Kora politely knocks on the door and informs me that the bandages are on Bobby's bed, I dry myself with the towel and pull the bandages off. What I see gives me such a shock that I accidentally slip it out through the link, causing Creed and Asher to both wake up and join Kora and Adam in asking me what's wrong.
In response, I send out an image of my wrist. It's perfectly healed save for four dark stitches.
*Well, shit.* Victor sounds amused. Bastard.
*Pull the stitches out, they'll only hinder the healing.*
*Are you sure that's wise, Adam?* Asher seems surprised, but not shocked.
*I was a doctor, Asher, and I have dealt with my own wounds, which heal faster than a humans.* Adam's wry wit is what leads me to the medicine cabinet to pull out the scissors.
*Do you want me to help?* Kora's standing outside the door, waiting patiently.
*Nah, I wanna get this on my own.*
She sounds hesitant when telling me, *Bobby's worried about why you haven't come out yet.*
*Distract him, please.* I snip the first stitch, then the rest, and pull them from my arm. I allow them all to see the small punctures disappear through my eyes.
*With vampires who bond together, the servant will often gain faster healing.*
*Ash, I'm not yer servant.*
*And she's not bound to just a vampire. I heal faster because of my immortality and Victor heals faster because of his mutancy. It may be that she's hooked onto Victor because he's a mutant like herself or it could be that the combination of all of our healing is what is leading to this healing for her.*
*Crap, Adam. How many degrees do you have? You're starting to sound like Hank.*
Adam sniffs at me. *I happen to enjoy scholarly pursuits.*
*Well at least one of us is book-smart. I know I ain't.* Creed sounds more awake now. At least he's not angry about me waking him up.
I close down the visual parts of the link and unwrap the towel from my person. I get dressed as quickly as possible, run a brush through my hair a couple times, and opened the door.
Kora's sitting on the bed, which had it's collapsed leg replaced by thick accounting books. Bobby stood by the bed, looking worried. "You okay? Need help wrapping your arm?"
I shake my head at him. *"Nah, it's fine. Don't worry 'bout me, Drakester! Got more lives than a cat."* I grin at him as sweet as possible.
He looks suspicious, but drops it. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" I nod and smile, encouraging him to keep his mind off my wrist. "We're all a little worried about Remy. After the trial and stuff..." Bobby trails off, looking a little green. I didn't blame him, I was sickened when I heard what had happened to Remy too. "Well, let's just say that Remy's been avoiding us for the most part, and since you weren't around for the trial, I thought that you might be able to get him to open up a little. Maybe take him out to the mall or something. I'm really worried about him, but he doesn't want to talk to me at all."
*Hey, what happened with the Cajun?*
*Gimme a minute, Vic.* *"Yeah, sure. I'll see what I can do. Where's he hangin'?"*
"The boat house. He's been living there since he got back." Bobby looks relieved. "Thanks, Jubes. I owe you."
I grin at him. *"No prob, Bob. You can pay me back in twinkies."*
Bobby grins and heads for the door, saying thank you as he closes it behind him.
*Go shower, Kore.* Kora nods and gathers some clothes I've given her before heading to the bathroom for her own shower.
*Vic?*
*Yeah, I'm here.*
I nod to myself and settle down on the bed. *A while back, the X-Men put Gambit on trial for his part in the Morlock Massacre. Because of what he did, they found him guilty. Rogue dumped him in Antartica barely clothed, with no food, and with no equipment.*
*Lemme get this straight, they gave Lebeau a death sentence because he gathered me n' the Mauraders together when he didn't even know what Sinister planned on us doing?*
Oh yeah, my stomach is getting queasy again. *That's the gist of it.*
Creed snorts, a mental huff that sounds equal parts sickened and amused. *And the X-Geeks call me an animal. At least with me, you know what to expect.*
I agreed. With Creed, you knew where he was coming from and you knew not to turn your back on him. The X-Men were supposed to be Remy's family and they betrayed him. I sighed, told Kora I was going to be going downstairs, and had her agree to stay in here until I came back.
KORA
I'm out of the shower and dressed in slightly baggy jeans with a warm sweater when Jubilee walks back in to Bobby's room. She looks a little harried but happy. *I got Jean to give me the Proffessor's credit card. We have a three hundred dollar limit on buying you some new clothes at the mall.* Jubilee gives me a wide grin. Why do I have the feeling the mall is going to be a scary place?
*The mall?* Yes, it did come out as unimpressed as I feel.
*Yup! Put on your best begging face and come with me. We have to go charm a charmer into leaving his room.*
Jubilee grabs my hand and her yellow coat and pulls me out of Bobby's room, down the hall, down the stairs, through the kitchen, and into the backyard of the house. In the near distance, I can make out a small house by a lake. It's to that house I'm being dragged.
Once at the house's door, Jubilee knocks three times before barging in. A man dressed in only grey sweat-pants looks at Jubilee somewhat bewildered. "'Ello, petite. Is something wrong?"
Jubilee grins, what I've privately dubbed the eager puppy look, and tells him, *"Hey, Gumbo. Remy Lebeau, this is Kora. Kora, this is the man that cooked those Thanksgiving leftovers we were eating a couple days ago."* I smile and nod at him. Jubilee continues babbling. *"She can't talk but she can understand you real well. She's new here and she doesn't have any clothes and everyone else is really busy, so do you think you could take us to the mall? We'd really, really appreciate it."* Jubilee pauses to fish something out of her pocket. *"We have the Prof's gold card."*
The shark-like grin that possess Jubilee's face gets an answering tug on Remy's lips. "Well..."
*Go for the trembly-lip, Jae. No man can say 'no' to that face without going insane with grief afterward.*
I see Jubilee follow Adam's advice while desperate trying to hold back the laughter. *"Pleeeeeease?"*
And that is how the Remy crumbles. "Okay, petite. Jus' give Remy ten minutes to take a shower and he'll take you and Kora to de mall."
Jubilee squeals with delight and throws herself around the taller man. He staggers but wraps thin arms around her and just holds on for a few moments.
*My god, Kora. He's lost so much weight.* The sadness in Jubilee's voice almost brings tears to my eyes. *He's always been lean, but he's all bone now.*
I agree with her, he is quite thing. Each of his ribs is pushed against his skin as though seeking escape and there are small bruises littering his sun-starved skin.
Eventually, Jubilee releases Remy and gives him another smile. *"Shower, Remy."* She gently pushes him to the bathroom and he lets her.
JUBILEE
Kora and I wait for Remy to get dressed in complete silence. In our heads, however, a whole conversation is going on.
*I'm just so angry at them! I can't believe they could be this selfish! Remy makes one accidental fuck up, so the entire team leaves him to die. Logan's a killer! Little Miss I'm-Too-Good-To-Tell-Y'all-My-Real-Name purposely put people into comas when she worked with Mystique! Ororo made her living as a thief when she was a kid! Phoenix killed an entire planet! Remy assembles a team to do something he knows nothing about and they leave him for dead in a wasteland!* I know I'm ranting. I can't help it though.
*I told ya, Jae. They're sanctimonious bastards. As long as they pretend they're clean of sins, they can hate anyone.* If someone had told me three days ago that Victor Creed would be calming my rage, I would have probably blown their heads off, but here I am and there he is. Weird how life goes.
*No one should be judged by their past actions, sweetie, but they are. We all are.* Adam should know. He's lived for five thousand years, he's got a lot of past to be judged on.
*It doesn't make it right.* I sigh. I don't mean to be whiney, but Gambit looks so defeated that it hurts to watch him. I feel like I want to roll him up in a big blanket and feed him chicken noodle soup until he gains twenty pounds.
*No, sweetie. It doesn't make it right.* I would give anything for the hug I know would accompanied Adam's words. I settle for Kora giving me a hug.
Kora's still holding onto me when Remy exits the bathroom dressed in what looks like three layers of clothes. He's still thin looking, but he's trying not to be. *"Ready?"*
He smiles a charming grin. "Yeh, petite. Le's hit de road."
I pull a ring of keys from my pocket, a sight that makes Remy's grin widen. *"How 'bout we drive Scott's car?"*
He laughs, a full throated sound that I had feared he wouldn't be able to do. "Ah, petite. How could I resist de charms of you two beautiful women? You hypnotized me into it!" Remy grabs the keys and races us to the garage.
KORA
The drive to the mall had been hectic. We ran three red lights, ignored most of the stop signs, and out-raced one police car. Scott's car sure is fast.
The mall is a whole other beast. It's loud, crowded, and filled with shiny, colorful, or fun-to-touch objects. Then Jubilee pulled me out of the store called 'Natural Wonders' and dumped me in the middle of a giant closet. At least Remy seems as happy to be here as me.
*"Quit complainin', Gumbo. I told you that Kora has no clothes."* Jubilee is pulling various clothing off the racks, holding them up to my body, and tossing them into Remy's arms.
Despite the weight of the clothes, Remy still manages a smile. *Jubilee? Why does Remy enjoy holding the clothes?*
*Huh? I dunno.* *"Hey Remy. Kora wants to know why you keep smilin' when I toss a dress on yer arm."*
I frown at her. That wasn't what I asked at all.
Remy laughs. "B'cause, petite. Ev'r since I got back, dey all been treatin' Remy like he got de plague. But you, you don' treat me no diff'rent. I like dat."
Jubilee pauses in her perusal of clothes and smiles at Remy, a 300 mega-watt smile so bright that Remy can't help but return it. Then she turns to me, grabs my hand, and drags me to the dressing room. She grabs the pile of clothing from Remy, hands it to me, and orders me into change.
I sigh.
JUBILEE
Kora ends up falling in love with a velvet shirt I slipped into the pile. I knew she'd like it. The texture seemed to intrigue her because she kept fingering it and giggling.
After the clothes shopping, we go to the luggage department and pick up two suitcases and a backpack. Remy looks at me with a raised eyebrow and adds a leather suitcase for himself. It makes me wonder about his intentions.
Mine and Kora's stomach decide it's dinner time, so we stop at the food court. We plead with Remy to get a juice from the fruit bar and, at the very least, a muffin. He agrees and actually eats both. Kora and I split a small pizza and don't mind a single bit when Remy steals the last slice.
We get home in one piece, for which I'm grateful. Driving in a car with him is kinda like driving in a rollercoaster but without the built-in safeties. The rest of the mansion is too busy to really notice our entrance.
I go to Jean and Scott's room alone and quietly give her back the Professor's credit card and the receipts, minus the one for the luggage. She smiles at me, one of the little half smiles she's developed whenever she thinks about Remy. That's the only reason why I was allowed to leave the grounds again, because they wanted me to check on him. I tell them that he's alive and kickin', but not about how he's got a haunted look when he steps into the mansion or the frail thinness of his wrists. If they want to know, they should go fuckin' look at him themselves. They created him, they should face him.
I leave Kora to go pack her new clothes into her luggage bags while I accompany Remy to his room at the boathouse. I feel the need to talk to him alone, without the others in the link.
"You knew I was gone."
Remy smiles at me, that sad smile he seems to be developing. "Yeh, petite. I saw you leave."
"And you know I plan to leave again." I almost turn it into a question, but decide against it. I'm not asking him if I can leave, I'm just leaving.
"Yeh, I know dat too."
"You aren't going to stop me?" He sits down on the couch in front of a silent television. I sit down beside him.
"If you need t' leave, you need to leave. Logan leave t' clear his head, Remy leave t' clear his head, an even Bobby leave t' clear his head. If you feel de need, petite, run wit' it. Don' let de X-Men trap you here. You wouldn' survive dat." Remy wraps his arm around me and I fall into him, suddenly very close to tears.
"I... Somethin' happened when I left, Remy. Somethin' really weird." And I tell him. Not about everything, of course. He wouldn't believe the thing about the immortals, but he does know about the vampires. I even tell him about Creed and after his initial shock he seems okay with it. I think it's because I told him that Creed can't kill me without killing himself. I tell him about the link and about the scars Asher carries and the brains Adam has. I tell him about the money Creed keeps in his peas and he laughs.
"When I leave, I don't think the X-Men are gonna be happy about me goin'."
Remy turns serious red on black eyes to me. "No, petite. Dey won' like you leavin' wit' Creed at all."
I bite my lip, hesitant to ask him into this. "Will you help me if I need it?"
He's silent for a moment, knowing that I'm asking him to help me betray the X-Men when they already ostracize him. "Yeh, Jubilee. I'll help you."
It's the first time today that he's called me by my given name. It's also the first time he's come out of his mental hiding and referred to himself in the first person. I hug onto him tightly, aware of the passing minutes in the company of my friend.