Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men.
Copyright: I do own Jarek if you wish to use him ask me.
* * * * * * *
A New Beginning Part 3
Jarek came to the street that the Donut Shop was on. He drove the motorcycle into an alley and covered it with cardboard boxes and other items of garbage. He didn't want anyone stealing the bike since it was not his. He then went to the mouth of the alley and looked around.
He saw no people on the street but that was not surprising since he was in a part of New York that most sane people did not even think about going. He gave his half-smile to himself then. He was definitely not a normal person and who knows he thought he may not even be truly sane.
He headed down the street watching rooftops and windows as he went. He figured that even if Mystique hadn't set him up Magneto would use the oppurtunity to rid himself of a potential enemy. He scanned for anyone who would be out of place and didn't see anyone.
He had made it to the door of the place and was just standing there. He didn't know what he would say to Mystique. It had been about four years since last he had seen her. He knew she had changed from the person he remembered but he knew that he had to speak to her. So he pushed open the door and entered the place.
He scanned the room that he was in just out of habit. He saw tables spaced around the room with wooden chairs at them for customers to sit and get out of the streets. Jarek also saw a counter that was hollow with glass on the side the customers were on. Inside the counter were many different kids of rolls from normal donuts to bear claws.
There was a man behind the counter who was small with beady little eyes that reminded Jarek of a rat. The man when he moved was quite fluid though which gave away that he was indeed a mutant since his movements were too fluid to made by a normal person. A normal person would still have some jerkiness to their movements no matter how hard they tried not to. The man must have had a mutation that dealt with speed and balance.
Lastly Jarek saw her. She was sitting in a corner table so that her back was to the wall and she could see whoever came in. She was beautiful though Jarek knew that this was just a form and not her real one. She was tall and red-haired with big blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of old denim jeans and a white T-shirt. She gestured for him to come over to the table and so he did just that.
When he got there the first thing he did was pick her up out of the chair and give her a hug. He couldn't believe that she was really there! He figured that it was someone other than her but it was her. She smelled like her and when she first saw him her eyes had shifted color for just a split second to the customary yellow.
He sat her down then and he sat down in a chair. He just looked at her then waiting for her to start the conversation. One thing that he had learned over the years was patience. So he waited for her to speak as she watched him and looked him over.
* * * *
Mystique was sitting in the designated place waiting for Jarek to show up. She hoped and prayed that he would show since she owed him an explanation for why she had ran out on him. She was not wearing her normal guise since that would attract to much attention and she knew that Jarek could tell if it was really her or not.
She watched the door the whole time drinking coffee. She had a donut sitting in front of her but that was untouched. She kept waiting for him to show up but he just was not. Then when she thought that he wasn't coming for sure she saw the door start to open. She hoped that it was him and when the door opened fully standing there framed by the street lights was Jarek.
He had changed since the last time she had seen him, besides when she had seen him earlier in New York but then she hadn't had a very good picture of him since he moved away from her so fast. Now she noted he was very handsome. He had apparently finished growing. He now stood six foot and five inches tall. He weighed in at 245 pounds which made him look kinda mean. He was very muscular and very cut, in very good shape with little fat on him. His hair was a very dark blue, a blue so dark that unless the light hit it right it appeared to be black, perhaps it was black she couldn't tell. His hair was also cut short so that it didn't get into his eyes to interfere with his fighting just like she had told him. He had bright green eyes that one could see from across a room, it was almost like those eyes could see into your very soul and yet they held understanding for all that they saw. He had a face that was free of any blemish but that was not surprising considering he had a healing factor even if it was not as good as Sabretooth's. She knew by looking at him that the women would just love him and she herself found him attractive.
She felt then just how much she had missed him. He had been her constant companion for near two years. He had went everywhere with her and they had shared everything together. There was nothing that they couldn't talk to each other about and that was something that she missed ever since joining with Magneto. She hoped she could mend what she had broken.
She noted with a little amusement how he scanned the room with an experts eyes. She knew he was looking for anything out of the ordinary and she also knew that he would be prepared for whatever it was that could happen. She gestured for him to come over to her then.
He started across the distance seperating them and came right up to her instead of taking a seat like she thought he would. Then without any warning he picked her up out of the chair and hugged her. It took Mystique completely by surprise. No one in her life had ever hugged her. It was something that she was not prepared for. It was at that time that she found out how much she had meant to Jarek. She also guessed then that she had hurt him more that she had first believed when she left.
He then sat her back down and grabbed himself a seat. He sat there just looking at her waiting for her to speak first. That was something else that she had taught him. If you have the upper hand use it completely. If it is something that you didn't desire then you wait for the other person to speak and they will give themselves away to you in how they speak.
She knew that he had learned everything that she had taught him and now she saw that he had used all that knowledge in the years since. He had become quite the warrior she had heard. He was a person she knew who had used fights as a way of unleashing his feelings so that other people were not hurt by those feelings. He had always been one to keep those feelings of his bottled up inside and she knew that it was eating him up inside. It always did to anyone who tried to do that.
The silence was becoming umcomfortable to her and so she spoke first just like she knew he wanted. She spoke softly, "Jarek I asked you hear to explain why I left four years ago."
* * * *
"Jarek I asked you hear to explain why I left four years ago," he heard her say finally. He could tell she was a bit uncomfortable around him but that was just too bad. She was the one who left and not him.
He looked her in the eyes then and replied, "I think I now know why you left but go ahead and tell me."
"By the way it is good to see you," Jarek calmly told her.
"It is nice to see you too Jarek. I wished that you had been there with me these last years but it is my fault you weren't," she said sadly.
"You are right but the blame does not matter now just please tell me why you left," he repeated for a second time hoping she would tell him.
"I . . I don't know how to do this. It has been four years since we have spoken to each other this is a little hard," she stammered out.
"The four years absence was not my idea it was yours sis now please tell me why you left. I want to hear it," Jarek replied coolly hoping that she would tell him. He didn't care what the reason was he just wanted to hear her tell him. It would be easier to look back on the years with a reason that she had told him instead of one that he had made up on why she had left him.
He gazed at her face and saw the emotions battling on her face which was one of her lessons. Don't ever let someone see your emotions unless you want them to. "I just want to hear that it wasn't my fault that you left me, please tell me that it was not my fault," Jarek said his voice breaking at the end with pent up emotion.
"Oh god no it was not your fault! Jarek why ever would you think such a thing," she cried out as she saw a single tear start to gather at the corner of his eye.
"I thought that because I had no real reason for you to leave. You just up and left one day never giving word of why or where you went," Jarek replied angrily now.
"I left because I found me something to fight for."
"Oh yeah fighting for mutant rights is that right? Well sis I got news for ya. Mutant rights are not what you should be fighting for. Our rights are the same as anyone else's and when you fight for them you make people fear you because you have fought instead of living just a normal quiet life," Jarek spat out.
"Is that what you truly believe. If it is then I am sorry for you. I believe that without Magneto mutants will be put behind bars so that we can be examined and experimented on," Mystique said angry herself.
"Magneto is the man you joined in his crusade for mutants. Well he will never win for the simple fact that mutants are too few and there are an even fewer number that will help him."
"That is where you are wrong Jarek. We may be few but our powers make us the equal of any force that can be put against us," Mystique replied.
"Perhaps."
"Now since we have gotten into what I wanted to tell you in the first place let me tell you why I left. I left because Magneto offered me a home with him. He offered a better life for mutants and that is what I had wanted all along Jarek. That is why I helped you remember, because I wanted to help our kind out. Well he offered to help me with that if I followed him and so I did. I did not think that you would have wanted to go with me so I did not say anything," Mystique explained to Jarek.
"Well you could have asked me sis. I might have surprised you. Remember that I had no home at the time either. I would have welcomed a home and especially if it was with you. You are like the sister I never had Mystique. Believe me when I say this to you I will not allow anyone to hurt you even if it is Magneto that hurts you at some point," Jarek said.
"Oh Jarek I had no idea that I meant so much to you. I thought that we were just traveling companions. I didn't know that you thought of me as your sister. I am touched because I never had a brother," she replied.
"Well now you know. Also I am with Xavier's school now so I will protect those kids from Magneto. Tell him that if he thinks about trying to abduct one," Jarek told her.
"Why the sudden change in topics Jarek," Mystique asked puzzled.
"Because I don't feel right talking about my feelings. I am used to keeping them locked up inside me forever so that no one has to deal with them but me."
"Well that is alright I guess if that is how you feel," she stated.
"It is how I feel. When I let my feelings out someone always seemed to get hurt. It never failed no matter how old I was so I started to keep them to myself," Jarek explained to her.
"Well Jarek it seems to me that you have had a hard time these last years," Mystique said.
"You could say that," he replied.
Mystique seemed uncomfortable he noticed as if she was struggling with herself on whether or not to say something. Jarek took the dilemma away from her when he kindly told her, "Just tell me whatever it is you have to say. I don't want to leave here regretting something."
She sat up in her chair then and looked him square in the eyes. Since she had his permission she would ask the question that she needed to ask him in order to stay in the good graces of Magneto. "Jarek the other reason that I came here was to ask you a question."
Jarek just sat there looking at her. When she had finished that statement he nodded for her to go on. She knew that he would not like what she had to ask but she pushed on with his urging, "Jarek I need to ask you if you would join our cause. If you would join with Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants." After she finished she took a deep breath and waited for Jarek to explode at her.
He did not explode in anger though which made her a bit nervous. He just sat there looking at her with his eyes that seemed to see into her very soul. She wished he would speak anything would be better than the silence that was between them. When he didn't speak she started to wonder if she had ruined anything that was still between them with that one question.
God she wished he would speak. The silence was killing her. She was not used to it and it was unnerving coming from someone who had been with her for so long. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and she asked, "Is there nothing that you want to say Jarek?"
She saw his eyes change color something that she had never seen before and it frightened her. It frightened her badly. His eyes which were normally bright green were now a dark silver and as she watched they started to glow. It was at that time that he spoke. His voice was so cold that she wished that he hadn't, "You ask me to join with you in your little crusade. A crusade in which he was willing to sacrifice a girl. A crusade which took you away from me in the first place sis. I will not join him and you can tell him that. Tell him that his crusade is foolish for it does nothing but harm to mutants."
Jarek stood up then and started towards the door. He stopped halfway there and said in his same cold voice. "You know Mystique I kept the knives that you gave me. They are the only thing that I have kept for all these years. Those knives that you had made for me. Now I think that I will get rid of them. They mean nothing to me now that I know you will not ever be on my side again. Good bye now,"
As he neared the door three scents came to him that he had never smelled before. At the same time he smelled them he felt a blast of concussive force hit him in the back. Jarek flew through the air bashing though the window of the shop sending shards of glass everywhere some of which cut him. Jarek knew some of his ribs were broken he had felt them break like dry twigs. Jarek landed in the street where he rolled a couple of times cutting him some more. The street was dark, except for a couple of street lights, since it was nearing midnight. Jarek just layed there for a minute breathing slowly and evenly through the pain. He didn't want them to know he was alive just yet he needed to heal first.
Inside the building Mystique was staring at Jarek who was laying in the street and not moving. He was just laying there like he was dead. She didn't even see him breathing. She turned to the man who had done that and yelled, "Why did you do that and why the hell are you three here!!"
Bomber looked at her and smiled for he really did enjoy his job of killing people. His two companions Toad and Sabretooth hadn't needed to be there he thought. He could have killed this Jarek on his own. To Mystique he said jovially, "Magneto sent us here to watch you and make sure you asked him. He told us that if the boy didn't accept then we were to eliminate him. He said that a mutant that knew about you so much could not live since so many plans rested on your shoulders."
Mystique started to cry then something that she had done since she was a little girl. She had never thought that she would have reason to cry but here she found one in a kid who had become like family to her. She put her head in her hands as the sobs wracked her body.
Toad went over to her and put his arm around her. He didn't know why she was crying but it was something that he was not familiar with. He knew she needed comfort but he didn't think that he was very qualified to give it. He also knew though that he was the best qualified out of the three of them. Sabretooth was just a killing machine as was Bomber it seemed. To Mystique he gently said to her and her alone, "let your grief out for you will feel better when it is no longer a part of you."
"W…wh… why did you have to kill him. Couldn't you have let him go. He would have done nothing to harm me or Magneto if I had asked." Mystique sobbed into Toad's chest. In her grief she had shifted back to her normal self. Her grief was truly hurting Toad himself. He too knew what it was like to lose someone you loved for he figured that she had indeed loved this Jarek. He started to lead her away when he noticed movement in the street.
Toad wasn't the only one who noticed the movement though so did Bomber and Sabretooth. Bomber frowned at the kid and started forward saying to Sabretooth angrily, "This one is mine. I have to prove my worth big man." As he headed for the street he pulled down his black sunglasses and begun to make another ball of force.
Sabretooth stood there with Toad and Mystique who was still sobbing though she had noticed that he was still alive. Sabretooth wanted to kill the man but the new kid was right he did need to prove himself. Sabretooth hoped the kid left him some since he wanted a taste of the boy's blood.
Jarek lay there in a lot of pain. Damn it he thought. I had a feeling that there was a trap and yet I just let them get from behind without me even knowing they were there. I am slipping. As he lay there he knew he had to get up and fight. He also knew that he owed the guy who had hit him in the back. That was a assassin's trick and Jarek may have been one for a while but he had always killed the man from the front.
While he lay there he heard Mystique yell, "Why did you do that and why the hell are you three here!!" He then heard her break down into tears.
Jarek frowned at that. That meant that they had come without her knowledge. Her heard other voices but they were too low to pick out through his haze of pain. He knew then that Mystique had no part of what had just happened. Since that was the case then he would forgive her for asking that damn question.
Jarek concentrated then because he knew that he had to get up. The pain was bad but he could deal with it, he always did. Jarek focused on himself and used his power to manipulate objects. He tried to heal his bones that way but he just couldn't his power didn't work that way or if he did he had no idea how to make it work for him. So he did the one thing that he could do. He used his power and made air inside his body. He used this to push his ribs into place so that they were set. Next he used that air from inside his body and created a cast for each rib of pure air. That would hold them in place no matter what was done to them.
He stood up then and looked over to the shop and saw four people inside, the owner had fled. He noticed the huge hulking man called Sabretooth, there was Toad who was holding onto Mystique who was her normal self though she was crying. That made him wonder. He had never seen her cry and if she was crying for him then that meant she had loved him at least at one time. The last man Jarek did not recognize from Xavier's debriefing. The man was tall and lean yet muscled. He wore blood red leather from head to toe and as Jarek watched the man started towards him. He pulled down a pair of black sunglasses and started to create a ball of something in his hand.
Jarek knew at once that it was he who had hit him from behind. Jarek pulled the light in from the lights and solidified it into his blades as he started for the man with the glasses. Jarek smiled as he was getting close to the man. Thankfully the others had decided to watch and see what happened. Jarek knew he could take this man and Toad but he also knew that he would likely be killed by Sabretooth.
"Glad to see that you left your friends behind and decided to face me from the front instead of attacking from behind like a damn spider," Jarek spat out.
"Oh come now spiders are not that bad. You see they rid us of unwanted things which is what I am doing now," the man coolly replied.
With that the man's arm shot forward and the ball of force streaked towards Jarek. Jarek could only put his blades of light up in hopes of the ball hitting them it flew so fast. The ball hit his blades and exploded. Bright light flooded the area and illuminated the entire block from his blades exploding and sending their light skyword. Jarek was forced back by the blast yet kept his feet. The blast was not close enough to damage him yet he was seeing spots. Of course he didn't need to see in order to fight.
Jarek could tell the man was working on making another ball and so he yanked his knives from their sheaths on his back and charged where he heard the man breathing. He slashed and slashed again yet met only air both times. The man was laughing at him because he knew he could not see. As he stood there his meager healing factor worked on his eyes and he could see.
The man was standing not more than four feet away from him still laughing. "You know I think after I kill you I will go comfort Mystique for you. She will need comforting I think," the man said through his laughing.
That was the wrong thing to saw to Jarek at that particular moment. He had always been protective of women and Mystique especially. Now this man was insinuating that he would sleep with her after he killed Jarek that set Jarek off. Faster than thought Jarek shot forward burying his knives into the man's chest.
The man looked astonished as blood came from the corner of his mouth. The man then reached out and grabbed a hold of Jarek's shoulder and released his power. Jarek's shoulder just shattered under the force that was applied to it. His arm fell to his side nearly useless. His collar bone was a part of what was broken that time, and it only made Jarek mad. He looked into the man's eyes as he said, "For what you said about Mystique you die." Jarek then reached up with his right arm, the arm that was still good and tore the man's throat out.
Blood gushed from the man's throat and covered Jarek's chest. It was not as if he wasn't bloody enough, he thought then. My face is a mess due to cuts from the street and the window both as are my arms and chest. I can't get a break he thought as Sabretooth started across the space that seperated him from Jarek.
"No don't hurt him Sabretooth," Mystique yelled at Sabretooth.
"Too late," was all the man said in return.
Mystique was struggling to get away from Toad but could not. She couldn't believe what she had seen. Jarek had torn the man's throat out! What had the man said that had made Jarek do something so horrific. Mystique had dried her tears and couldn't believe that Jarek had done that. She had killed but never in such a brutal fashion. While she watched still held by Toad she saw Sabretooth advancing on Jarek. She knew that there was nothing that she could do.
* * * *
The blackbird, the name of the X-men's jet, landed in a place where a building had been knocked down recently not too far from where the action was. On the jet was Cyclops, Jean, Storm, Jubliee, Kitty, and Rogue. The three girls had insisted they be allowed to come and help their friend if he needed it especially since they had brought the note to the professor.
They had been summoned to the tactical room where they were shown Jarek's first use of his power and his meeting with Mystique. What they had seen had left them in tears. Tears for Jarek and how he had been treated. They couldn't believe that people were like that. As well after they had seen it they then knew why Jarek hadn't wanted them to know because of the pain it caused them. They knew he was just trying to protect them.
After that they had returned to Jubliee's and Kitty's room so that they could finish their homework when they found a note in the room. They had taken it to the professor and he then told them what it had meant. Shortly after that they had all boarded the jet and took off for the Donut Shop.
After they landed they all exited the jet and looked around. As they were they saw a bright flash of light and they knew that Jarek was where that light had originated. So they headed down the street towards where they had seen the flash.
* * * * *
Watching from a nearby rooftop was a man who was very young. He had on a long brown coat. His eyes were red and he was a tall man standing in at six foot two inches. His name was Remy Lebeau. He was a thief, and had moved to New York recently.
He used to be part of a thieves guild down south but he had found out that they were a bit darker than your average thieves guild. They were also into assassination and many other forms of unsavory behavior. Remy though was just a thief and that is why he left. He didn't want to be assosciated with any of those people, it was dangerous to be around people like that and Remy had a certain fondness for his life. Especially since he had seen something that he shouldn't and now those assassins were now after him. That was one of the many reasons he had come to New York. He could hide there for it was a large city.
Also Remy had heard of some people up near New York who had a fondness for mutants as it was put to him. He thought that he might check them out and see just what it was that they were really like. That and New York was full of rich people who needed to be lessened of some of their wealth for those who were unfortunate like himself.
While Remy watched what was going on below he saw one man make swords of light and then they blew up. He watched as that same man tore out another man's throat. He also noticed that there was a blue woman who was being held by a rather unseemly looking man. Remy figured that the man with the swords of light was fighting for her and Remy always was one to help out a lady.
Remy saw a jet land not all that far away but he paid it no mind for he had decided that he would help the man out with his next fight. After all he was going up against a man that just looked mean. He looked like he could kill and enjoy it much like those assassins that were after Remy.
Remy dropped a rope over the side of the building and made sure it was secure at the top. He then repelled down the side of the building until he was down to street level. He then pulled some cards out from his pockets since he really like having cards with him at all times and charged them with his power as he headed towards the man who was hurt and the other man who was nearing him. Once he decided that he was close enough he threw the cards at the large man.
* * * * *
Jarek was standing there waiting for Sabretooth to come and get him. That was when he saw three red streaks flash through the air striking Sabretooth in the chest. The big man just shrugged them off and continued on his way towards Jarek.
Jarek looked to see where the streaks had come from and noticed that a man was standing in the shadows of a nearby building. He had been the one who had tried to help Jarek out and Jarek was grateful, even though they hadn't done anything. As he watched the man threw three more at Sabretooth striking him in the chest again.
Sabretooth looked rather annoyed this time as the man said in a southern accent, "You don't want to play with him mon ami. Play with me instead." Gambit once again threw three of those things that he was throwing hitting Sabretooth in the chest. Sabretooth just growled and started towards Jarek again.
Jarek stood his ground and said over his broken shoulder, "Thanks friend but stay out of this now and they may let you live after they kill me."
The man just shook his head but did as Jarek had bid him for Remy had noticed that his energy charged cards were not really hurting the big man, even though he had charged them with enough force to kill a normal person. That was about as much as he could put into a card.
Jarek created a sword out of the darkness instead now so that it would be harder for Sabretooth to see. He held it in his good hand. Sabretooth growled and charged the last few feet. Jarek was ready for him and sidestepped at the same time as slashing his sword across Sabretooth's stomach. The wound healed almost instantly Jarek noted with resignation. Sabretooth slashed in a backhand cut at Jarek who didn't avoid it completely and he felt the claws tear through the flesh of his chest.
Jarek swung his blade at the legs of the big man and managed to cut him in the thigh. Sabretooth just stood there and took the cut and slashed Jarek again. Jarek was starting to get sluggish from a loss of blood and knew he had to do something. Everything was fading into the background as he used his power and created a ball of light around Sabretooth's head blinding him for a few seconds. Jarek backed off and thought fast.
* * * * *
Remy noted that the man fought amazingly well for being wounded so bad but he was no match for the large man. He wanted to help but he decided it was best to listen to the one who had told him to not use his power again.
Remy had no idea how to help when he saw down the street six people come running down towards where they were at. Remy didn't like what that foretold so he faded into the shadows to watch and see what happened.
* * * * *
The X-Men had seen where Jarek was and it frightened them. They saw Jarek fighting Sabretooth who was wounded but his wounds healed fast. They also saw Toad holding Mystique back from helping. She was fighting to get free but she just couldn't break Toad's hold on her.
As they watched Jarek took a slash to his chest. He created a ball of light on Sabretooth's head and backed off to regroup. As they got closer they noticed that there was a body laying on the ground of who and how he had died they could not tell but they if they did not hurry up then Jarek would be joining that person.
* * * * *
Mystique was struggling hard to try and break Toad's grip but she couldn't. She needed to help Jarek! Sabretooth was killing him and he had already been badly wounded before the fight. She couldn't let him die not after just seeing him again. That was when she heard Toad whisper into her ear, "I know how you feel but do you want to risk your standing with Magneto for this kid who will die no matter what?"
He was right she knew, but it was just so hard watching someone that had called her sister being mutilated before her very eyes. She knew he was fighting hard and she could tell he had hurt Sabretooth a lot but he couldn't hope to win when Sabretooth healed so quickly. With a heavy heart and a face dry of tears she watched and waited for the inevitable conclusion to the battle.
* * * * *
Jarek thought about how cold it was getting for it was nearing Christmas. There was no snow but that was because the year had just been freaky all around. The cold was an old friend of his and he knew that it would be what would save him.
He pulled the cold into his body slowing down all his body functions. His bleeding slowed so that he would not bleed to death standing there. He looked to Sabretooth who was clawing at his head trying to get the ball of light off of his face so that he could fight. Sabretooth was growling loudly and seemed to Jarek to be very upset.
The cold started to settle into his very bones strengthening so that they were harder than normal. Jarek released his hold on the sword of darkness and created ones of pure ice putting light inside of them so that they would mess with the vision of whoever looked at them.
Just as he was about to unleash the power on Sabretooth he flew through the air landing hard. A blast of pure energy had hit him. Jarek released all the power that he had gathered and looked around. He saw Cyclops standing there with Jean and Storm at his side. Standing behind them was Rogue, Kitty, and Jubliee all of whom looked very scared.
He wondered why the hell they were there when Sabretooth stood up and charged at Jarek again. Jarek moved into Sabretooth instead of away from him. He knelt down as Sabretooth neared and wrapped his leg up. Jarek twisted then and yanked back breaking the leg and pulling it out of socket. Jarek stood up then and created his sword of light again and was ready to bring it down on Sabretooth's neck when Mystique yelled, "Jarek please don't kill him."
Jarek looked from her to Sabretooth who was nearly healed already and walked away knowing that they would leave now that the X-Men had showed up. He was right when Sabretooth stood up he picked Bomber up and walked away with Mystique and Toad at his side.
Mystique threw a look over her shoulder and mouthed, "I'm so sorry," before she didn't look back again. They disappeared into the night then which Jarek was glad for. He had enough for one night.
Jean came over to him and examined him. She then asked him very concerned, "Why did you leave without telling anyone." She was still examining him as he answered her.
"I could not tell any of you because you would have tried to stop me and I needed to see her at least one last time."
"How could you worry us like that," Jubliee demanded.
"Yeah do you have any idea how we felt when we found out where you had gone," Rogue put in.
Jarek looked and Kitty and waited, "Well," he prompted her, "are you going to scold me like a mother too."
She just shook her head at him and went over to him and gave him a small hug. That was something that he was not ready for. Anything but affection he was prepared for. He didn't know how to deal with and luckily he didn't have to as Jean spoke up, "I don't know how you are even alive Jarek. You have lost so much blood and your wounds are very bad."
"I know my wounds are bad would you like me to tell you some of them. Well I have a broken shoulder and collarbone. Also I have some broken ribs along with many cuts up and down my body," Jarek replied trying to lighten the mood.
"That is not funny Jarek," Cyclops said sternly. "You could have been killed"
"That is right. You should have told someone so that we at least knew what you were doing," Storm put in her two cents.
"People I think we should get him back to the mansion for medical attention. After that then we can scold him like a bunch of parents," Jean spoke up.
"Oh goody a whole group of parents I just can't wait," Jarek said sardonically.
Cyclops and everyone smiled at that. "Can you walk," Storm asked.
"Of course I can walk."
"I have one last question though," Jubilee said.
"What is it Jubliee," Jarek wanted to know.
"What happened to that man that was dead. Also how could you stand toe to toe with that guy."
"The man who was killed I killed. I stabbed him in the chest with my knives and then I tore his throat out with my bare hand," Jarek said easily.
"Why did you do that," Kitty asked sheepishly.
"Because he said something about Mystique that I didn't like. He said he was going to sleep with her after he had killed me. I took exception to that remark and so I killed him for it," Jarek replied coldly.
"As for standing toe to toe with Sabretooth I didn't do a very good job. I was hurt but I was not prepared for him. Next time I will be and I will win," Jarek said smoothly.
"Hey mon ami where you be going," a voice spoke up from behind him.
Jarek gave his half-smile as he said, "I am going home friend. Or at least what passes as my home now." Deep down Jarek knew that it was his home now. He would fight to protect it and those who lived there.
"Hey Jarek who is the guy," Jubliee asked flicking her thumb towards Remy.
"I don't know but I do know he tried to help me," Jarek said.
"Well I think we should at least make introductions don't you Jarek," Rogue said.
Scott stepped forward and extended his hand to the man. "I am Scott Summers. My friends are Dr. Jean Grey and Ororo Munroe."
Remy looked at the indicated people as he took Scott's hand and shook it. The woman with the white hair was Ms. Munroe and she looked like she was a kind person as did the Dr. Jean Grey. That name sounded familiar and then he knew why. It was because she worked at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children. He knew that he had to go with them.
Jarek looked at Jubliee and said to her through clenched teeth, "Jubliee introduce will you please. I don't care to and it seems that you are about to come out of your shoes for want of something to do."
"OK fine I will. I am Jubliee, this here is Rogue, next is Kitty, and lastly the ungrateful cur that you had the pleasure of helping is Jarek. Who are you," she asked brightly to finish.
Remy was taken aback by the name of the man who he had tried to help. Jarek was name of the man who had killed one of their assassins. The man he had killed had been one of their best. The man had been sent after Jarek for a wrong he had done sometime in his past. Then he recovered and answered Jublilee's question, "I be known as Remy Lebeau."
"You are southern aren't you," Rogue wanted to know.
He nodded his head as Ororo said, "Are you a mutant, you would have to be since no sane person would fight Sabretooth."
"Well yes dat I am chere. I was also wondering if you could help me out. I be looking for de school run by one Charles Xavier."
"It seems you are in luck Remy because that is where we are going. Follow us and we'll take you there to meet the professor," Scott said.
"Thank you," Remy replied.
At that time Jarek fell forward to the ground. He was in too much pain and his body was shredded to much go any farther. "Scott help me," Jean said anxiously.
In an instant Scott was there as he helped Jarek to his feet using his bad arm. Jarek winced in pain and choked out, "You know Sabretooth didn't finish me off would you like too. That is my bad arm moron."
Scott looked rather sorry that he hadn't noticed and moved around to the side where Jean was. He took Jarek's weight onto himself as Jarek told him, "Who is going to ride your bike home Scott. I can't do it and so the choice is yours."
"You took my bike?" Cyclops asked incredously.
"Storm can you ride it back to the mansion," he asked her.
"Yes I believe that I can, if I have the keys and know where it is at."
"Here are the keys. The bike is in that alley over there covered in cardboard boxes." Jarek told her weakly as his blood loss began to take it's toll.
She strode to the alley as the rest of them made it to the jet. From there they flew back to the mansion so that they could help Jarek out. He got better within a day and a half and in that time Remy was made a student and given a room.
Jarek noticed after a while that he no longer had his knives. They were still stuck in the body of the man he had killed. Jarek wished that he had remembered to pull them out but he didn't and so his last link to Mystique was gone with her. Now all he had of his past were his troubled memories and that was something that he thought he could do without.