Chapter Eight - Nire Goes Home (Finally!)

It was Friday night, two weeks after graduation.  Most of the graduates had gone home for the summer.  The rest of the school was pretty much out on dates.  Seeing as how the mansion was almost empty, Nire rented 'Dracula 2000' and hijacked one of the smaller TV rooms.  The only people who she would let in were Logan and Rogue.

Nire took over one couch, curling up in the corner, but clearly saying the whole thing was hers.  Logan and Rogue were only too happy to share the other couch, one on each end.  As the movie progressed, Rogue inched closer and closer to Logan.  He could smell the nervousness that came from watching a good horror flick emanating from her.  She stopped when she was a hairs-breadth away from him.

Her hand was on his leg.  He wasn't sure if she realized this or not, but he was too busy concentrating on saying the alphabet backwards to care.  The end of the movie was nearing.  Vampires were popping out everywhere.  He heard their heart rates increase, and smelt the jumpiness on Marie.  Acting on impulse, he took Marie's hand in his, and as rewarded with a flash of surprise, then a bright smile.  His attention was drawn away from the movie at movement from Nire, who had been still throughout the movie.  Her hand was groping in the air next to her.  When she glanced over and realized no one was there, Logan smelt intense sadness, regret, anger, and a strong desire for revenge.  He felt sorry for the girl, and even sorrier for the person who had crossed her path.  If they were still alive.

His thoughts were drawn from Nire when Marie clutched convulsively at his hand.  "Shit, Marie!"  She was strong!  That had actually hurt!

She dropped his hand guiltily and withdrew a little.  "Sorry," she said in a tiny voice.

He grinned at her as he shook his hand.  "Do you sit up in your room and work out that hand?  That actually hurt."

Nire's scorning voice came into his head.  She doesn't have gloves on, you ass.  She thinks that's just an excuse.

He glanced at her gloveless hands - which he hadn't noticed - and at her face.  Oh, yes, he felt like an ass.  Watery eyes fixed on the screen, the distinct smell of salty tears wafting through the air, Marie sat in as small a space as she could with her hands in her lap.  She never wore gloves when it was just them watching movies - why would she think he would start to care now?

Hormones.  You really are an asshole if you don't fix this.

Logan didn't even bother with the usual 'stay outta my head', because she was right.  He pulled Marie snug against his side, feeling her stiffen a little.  He let his gloved hand come to rest on a bare part of her arm.

"Just because I said 'don't squeeze the life out of my hand' does not mean you have to move away like I'm diseased."

She managed a weak smile, but Logan did feel her relax.  He silently congratulated himself.  Yes, he could make a mess, but at least he could clean it up, too.


*  *  *  *  *

Rogue couldn't believe it.  She had thought he didn't care.  She thought he didn't mind her skin - and so he didn't.  When it was covered.  But as soon as he realized she didn't have gloves on…  So she moved away a bit, trying not to cry, concentrating on the movie.  It was good - she would have nightmares tonight.

Of course, she was being paranoid again.  She had been hurting his hand, that was all.  He pulled her back close to him, closer than before, so she was actually leaning against him.  She relaxed into his side, enjoying the close contact.

The movie was almost over.  Judas had been hung.  The door opened, and Rogue jumped a mile.  Logan smirked, trying not to laugh.  She twisted around, to see who was coming in.  Logan already knew it was the Professor and someone new.  Then he swiveled around, too.  This person didn't smell right.  Not at all.  Nire didn't smell like a mutant, but this person didn't even smell human.  Logan was suspicious, to say the least.  His animal senses were on fire, his instincts raging that this person was evil, and danger to his Marie.  There was little he could do, however, and it was obvious the man had come for Nire.

The man following the Professor was human to all appearances.  He had shoulder-length, wheat-gold hair framing a bronze, angular face.  His eyes were a beautiful shade of silver.  He carried himself with the grace of a deer, and was extremely handsome in the boyish way Scott was.  Logan heard Rogue's soft intake of breath and her heart start to beat faster.  Damn, was he jealous!

The man thanked the Professor in a voice like liquid silver.  He headed for the couch with Nire.  Rogue glanced at Logan and was about to pull him up and surreptitiously walk away.  This looked like a conversation that was going to need some privacy.  Nire read her intent and flashed her a pleading, 'don't leave me alone' look.  This was the first time Nire had appeared to need anyone, the first sign that she might actually want someone around.  So, Rogue didn't move, just settled more comfortably into Logan's side.

"Hey there."  The man sat on the couch next to Nire.  She gave no indication that anyone else had entered the room.  A few seconds of silence passed.  "What are you watching?"  More silence.  "Look.  Everyone is worried sick about you.  Khel couldn't find you; he's frantic.  Are you coming home any time soon?"  Silence.  The credits were rolling on the TV.  The scene folding out in front of them engrossed Marie and Logan.  "I…I'll leave if you want."  It sounded as though he was choking back a sob.  "I'll pack up my things and you'll never have to see my cursed face again."

Rogue got up to turn off the movie.

"Don't touch that!" Nire said quickly.  "I want to see if this song is by Linkin' Park or System of a Down."

Rogue sat back down as Logan grinned at her.

"By the gods do something!" the man burst out.  "Slap me, punch me, drive a stake through my heart, tell me to go fuck myself, scream obscenities at me.  Don't just ignore me."  His voice got quieter, more pleading.  It sounded as though his heart were breaking in two.  "Please, my love…" he all but whispered.

This got a reaction from Nire.  She whirled on him.  "Don't you dare call me that," she hissed.  "Do not dirty that word with your foul tongue.  What in the Nine Hells do you think you are doing here?"  Her volume began to rise, and she jumped up to stand in front of him.  "How can you even show your face to me after what you did?  After what you said.  You leave without telling anyone, on some gods-be-damned self-pity trip, and no one can find you.  Then you come back and say things like that?  How can you wake up in the morning and face the day knowing you did that to someone who trusted you so utterly and so completely.  You do not even deserve to walk this earth."

"Please," came the whispered plea.  "You…you are the light in the dreary darkness I call life.  You're the one who makes me want to face the day.  You light up my world.  I…I don't think I could survive without you in my life.  You're my everything.  I…'

"Shove the poetry up your ass.  You disgust me.  The fact that you would presume to say that after…"

Logan could smell the turmoil of emotions emanating from both of them.  Strangely enough, they were both almost the same.  Depression, longing, fear, anger (more so in Nire), and…love?

"Because, gods-be-damned, I.  Didn't.  Do.  It.  Someone impersonated me to get at you.  Or to get at me, or the both of us.    The gods know we've made enough enemies together…  If you don't believe me - which you obviously don't - then look!  You know I can't hide anything from you."

"Fine," Nire said viciously.  There was silence for a moment.  It was a tense silence, filled with anticipation.  This was almost better than one of those romance movies.  And just as retardedly sappy, Logan thought.

The pregnant silence was broken with a gasp from Nire.  She visibly paled and began to shake.  Logan could smell the horror at what she had said, and the saltiness of her incipient tears.

"By the gods," she said, backing away in shock.  "You were telling the truth."

The man stood up as her tears spilled over.  He just stood with his arms spread slightly.

Nire flew into his arms, burying her head in his chest as she whispered, over and over, "I'm so sorry.  I'm so, so sorry."

The man was starting to weep, now, too.  Rogue could have sworn they were tears of blood dripping down his face, but when she blinked, they were normal.  Logan was positive he could smell blood, but then it abruptly changed to the salt of mere tears.  He really did not like this man.

The two were holding onto each other like they would never let go, locked in a deep kiss, tears streaming down both their faces.

"Another pansy," Logan muttered.

"Shut up," Rogue hissed as she socked him in the shoulder.  She was intensely jealous of Nire.  She would probably never be able to do that - the newest idea, yoga, wasn't working - and the odds of someone loving her like that were slim to none.  She could hear the man whispering, "I though I'd lost you.  When no one could find you…" The odds of Logan ever looking at her with such love in his eyes were almost laughable.  It was beyond hopeless.

They kissed the tears off each other's face and stood apart a little.

"Will you come home now, sweetie?" the man asked gently, stroking her hair.

" 'Course I will, love.  Just let me get my stuff."

They walked out, hand in hand.  Logan rolled his eyes.

"Pansy," he said, turning off the movie.

A pansy who could kick your ass almost as easily as I did, came the dry comment in his head.

Stay outta my head.

"Ah'll be back," Rogue said softly.  She got up and left before Logan could ask where she was going.


*  *  *  *  *

Rogue was heading up to her room.  She wanted to say goodbye to Nire without anyone else around.  She hadn't realized how close they had become until now, when Nire was leaving.  She was one of the only two people who didn't flinch away when she bumped into Rogue's bare skin.  Rogue remembered one time, in the middle of the night, a half-asleep Nire had all but run her down.  Bare skin had brushed against bare skin, not long enough for the connection to open up.  While she had been freaking out, near tears, Nire had just laughed it off, much as Logan did.  The two were so similar, it was almost scary.

Seeing the two of them in the TV room also gave Rogue the tiniest sliver of hope.  The man was obviously much older than Nire, yet their relationship appeared to be working.  Her situation with Logan apparently wasn't completely hopeless because of the age difference.  Just everything else.

Rogue opened the door to her room.  The man was sitting on Rogue's bed as Nire ran kisses up his ears - ears that were now elegant, long, and pointed.  Rogue was positive that he had had human ears in the TV room.  The man was kissing and nibbling on Nire's neck as she lavished attention on his ears.

As soon as Rogue came in, they broke apart.

"You explain," Nire said when she noticed Rogue staring at the exotic ears.  She set about cleaning up her stuff.

"I'm obviously not human," the man said in his silken voice.  "I do not come from this planet.  Our home is another planet, in another…"

"Dimension," Nire supplied from the bathroom.

"It's a land of swords and sorcery, where the creatures of fairy tales abound.  I happen to be one of those creatures - an elf."

"You probably think we're crazy," Nire said, coming out of the bathroom.  She put the last of her things in her bag.  "But we're not.  I'll take ya ta visit sometime."  She suddenly wrapped Rogue in a fierce hug, and, just as quickly, stepped away.

"No, Ah believe ya."  And, she found that she really did.  "Ah'm gonna miss ya."

"If it ever gets to be too much, come for a visit.  Among my family, you would be one of the normal ones.  A mental shout will get me attention, and I'll come getcha."

"Okay."  There were tears in Rogue's eyes.  The three left the room - now seeming empty - and started to walk to the front door.

"Everyone's going to be ecstatic to see you, love." The man - elf - gave Nire a one-armed hug.  Now, his ears were back to human looking.  "Many of them were worried," he continued quietly, "that you had…had committed suicide."  Rogue could just barely hear them - even with Wolverine's powers.

Nire laughed.  "No, I hadn't gotten that far yet."

Immediately, she looked as though she regretted her words, and he had backed her up against the wall.  "What do you mean 'yet'?"  He had pushed the sleeves of the sweatshirt she always wore up before she knew what he was doing.  Fine white scars crisscrossed her wrists and arms, along with new scabs.  Rogue unconsciously rubbed her own upper arms, where her scars were.  It was remarkably easy to hide her dirty secret from everyone, even the telepaths.

"Okay.  Give me th' speech.  Hurry up, I wanna go home."

He gently traced over the scabs, infinite sadness in his eyes.  "No, you know it already.  I won't waste my breath, love.  You know Khel's going to tear into you, though."

Nire grimaced.  "Yeah, I know."

Rogue watched the interplay.  She could see - she could smell - how much the elf cared for Nire, and worried about her.  Watching them was just making her feel bad for herself.  Knowing that she would never gave something like this made her want to get her razor…

As Nire finished her short statement, the Professor and Jean appeared.  "What's going on?  You two are broadcasting strongly enough…"

Nire tried to shove her sleeves down fast enough to hide her scars, but she wasn't fast enough.  She cursed herself for not paying attention enough to hear them coming as Jean grabbed her wrists.

"What's this?"

Nire grunted in answer while Rogue faded into the background.  She didn't want any attention brought to her when someone was talking about this subject.  Nire's boyfriends slung an arm around Nire's shoulders.  More jealousy from Rogue at something she would never have.

"There are people you should talk to."

Nire rolled her eyes.  "Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Heard it all before.  Don't care."

Jean glanced at the Professor, clearly unsure as to what to do.  She had never had to deal with this with someone like Nire before.

"Would you please come up to my office, Nire?"  This was not a situation that could be talked about out in the hall.

"No.  I'm going home."  Nire winced as she got kicked in the ankle.

"Yes you will."

Nire growled.  "Fine.  Whatever.  See ya lay-dduh, Rogue.  I have a feelin' the three o' them aren't gonna let me go home until this is 'talked through'.  He thinks it's his fault, so he's gonna support them."  She rolled her eyes as they walked away, leaving Rogue alone in the suddenly empty hallway.


*  *  *  *  *

"Okay, let's get this over with."  Nire stood defiantly in the Professor's office.  "I'm a sick kid, I need help, this isn't a good way to deal with my problems, I've heard it all before."  Nire felt the Professor trying to probe into her mind.  "Don't bother trying.  Nothing you see of my moods is real.  I'm a more powerful telepath than you could ever be."

"Wait, I thought you did fire?"  Jean looked confused.

"I'm not really a mutant.  It's a long story that I don't want to get into.  Nothing you say is going to help me.  Going back to my family will.  I can get all the therapy I need from them."

"But you should get professional help."  That was the Professor.

"Look.  Some shrink who doesn't know me won't help this."  She let down her shields for a moment, letting the Professor plunge into a black pool of darkness.  Just as quickly, she shoved him out, leaving his mind reeling.  "Being around people who keep tabs on me at all times, who know my every move from telepathic contact, will."

Jean looked about to argue, but the Professor silenced her.  "She's right.  And her… family… will keep her safe."  The Professor had gotten the sense that it wasn't her biological family, but a group of close friends who lived together.

"Look. I'll bring you to meet them later, in a few days, if it will make you feel better.  Then you can feel like you've done your duty and go back to your happy lives without feeling like you just let me go to end up killing myself somewhere."

"I'm going to have to do something about that scathing tongue of yours," the man next to her muttered, letting go of her hand and putting an arm around her waist.  "I thought you had gotten that out of you six years ago."

Nire laughed.  "Can I go now?"

The Professor reigned in his curiosity about the strange girl and nodded.  There was nothing any of them could do for the girl.

In an uncharacteristically kind offer, Nire said, "If you ever need help dealing with the Brotherhood, contact me.  Rogue knows how.  I've got sufficient firepower in The Band to help anyone."

The Professor nodded his thanks, instinctively knowing that 'The Band' was the girl's family.  Jean was visibly doubtful that they were doing the right thing, but she would not question the Professor.

"Come!  The Band awaits!"  Nire ran out with her man following close behind.  The Professor smiled.  It seemed like the surly girl who was too old for her years was replaced by the fifteen-year-old she should be, for the moment.


*  *  *  *  *

Rogue waited with Logan in the foyer.  Nire came down the stairs with the man - elf - following behind her.

"Well, bye guys," the girl said to them.  She gave Rogue another hug and Logan a handshake.  Then she chuckled evilly.  "But just when you think I'm gone for good, I'll be back to make your lives miserable again."  It had to be almost 10:30PM, and Rogue wished Nire would at least stay this one last night.  "Are ya gonna walk with us t' th' edge of the grounds?"

Rogue nodded quickly.  Logan grunted his usual, noncommittal grunt.  He might actually miss Nire, but he couldn't wait for the strange man-who-didn't-smell-human to leave.  And he certainly wouldn't trust Rogue alone with him.  They walked out the front door, but instead of going to the front gates, Nire headed for the woods.  They saw Ororo on the lawn, and Nire went up to her.

"Going home, Nire?" the weather goddess asked, looking at the handsome man following the girl.

"Yeah."  Nire hugged her tightly for a second.  "Thanks for letting me hang out in the gardens."

"You're welcome.  Come back to visit, okay?"

"You can bet on it!  You can't get rid of me that easily!"

Rogue was amazed that she had never bumped into Nire in the gardens, where she, too, spent a lot of the time.  They continued on to the grove Rogue had shown Nire on the first day.  The girl dropped her pack in the middle of it and pulled out some clothes - the clothes she had first met them in.

"Be right back," she said and disappeared into the trees.

"Me too," the man said.  He went in the other direction.

They both came back at the same time, dressed in what could only be described as breeches and tunics.  Definitely not any recent fashions.  Nire began to rummage through her pack, taking out various pieces of weaponry.  She strapped on two scabbards, with scimitars in them, and tucked daggers into her belt.  A quiver of arrows went over her shoulder and she pulled out a bow.  As miniature crossbow went up her sleeve, and a diamond yo-yo was tucked into either side of her belt.  A whip went on her right side next to the yo-yo.  The elf was already similarly outfitted.

Nire dug through her pack, making sure nothing was left.  She pulled out a stiletto, tucking it into her boot, and another small crossbow, which she also tucked into her belt.  Then she closed her pack and stood up, handing it to Rogue.

"Will you hold this for me a while?"

"Uh, sure."  She took the pack.

"How the hell did all that stuff fit in there?" Logan growled before Rogue could ask it.

Nire smiled.  "It's bigger than it looks.  You can take the stuff in there out and put it back in, but please don't put anything else in.  Oops, hold on."  Nire took back her pack and pulled out a forest-green cloak.  Not the kind Rogue wore, not a modern cloak, but an honest-to-god sleeveless cloak from when they were first invented.  "Okay.  Bye Rogue, bye Logan.  I'll see ya both again someday."

Nire took her boyfriend's hand and made a gesture.  Before either of the mutants could say anything, the two took a step forward and disappeared.

Rogue and Logan both had hundreds of questions, but had no way to contact Nire and ask her.  Rogue struggled not to cry.  All she had left now was Logan - Nire had gone home, and all the rest of her friends were either with their own families or their friends' families.

Logan could smell her held-back tears, and gave her a one-armed hug.  He let his arm linger, not wanting to let go.  He and Rogue turned, walking silently back to the mansion.