Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they all belong to Marvel and are probably safer that way. *glares at Cyclops* Creepy one-eyed bastard...
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"So lemme get this straight," Logan began as they walked towards the medbay, "the Storm in your time attacked you because you killed the Professor?"
"Hmm? Oh, not really," Anne said, distracted. She pulled away from the rest of the gourp so that they couldn't hear. "She attacked me cuz Cyclops t'aught I was gettin' a might too powerful an' got some o' de X-men t' sorta band agains' me wit' de idea o' takin' my powers away from me wit' one o' Forge's lil inventions."
"And?"
"Dey failed," she answered darkly.
"So what did you do to them?"
"Me? Not'in'. Pappa got real mad an' confronted ol' one eye. Sayin' t'ings like how I was his daughter an' he should be de one t' deal wit' me an' how I destroyed Sinister's lab an' all dat an' how he really didn' see what de problem was. One man died to save dozens. He didn' like it eit'er but he had t' deal wit' de outcome, non? Well, when he said dat, Summers lost it an' swung at him. Pappa swung back an' dey got into it real bad. Hittin' each ot'er wit' everyt'in' dey had. Pappa had de upper hand cuz he was younger so Summers used his powers on him. I tried to save him by puttin' up a force field around him, but he vanished. We t'ought he had disintegrated from de blast, but apparently he survived an' was just sent somewhere else, but where dat be, we don' know. We find him dough. You can be assured o' dat. An' den we deal wit' Cyclops."
"Y'know darlin', as much as I hate to admit it, he's not really that bad of a guy. True, sometimes he's a little stuck up and a little bit anal, but that's just who he is. I really can't see him attacking any member of the team or for that matter tryin' t' kill 'em."
"Hmmph, jus' wait, mon ami. He was possessed by Apocalypse. True, he dealin' wit it now, but give dat experience time to fester an' build an' you'll have yourself a mad man. How long you t'ink he can hold out Logan? Unfortunately, nobody know until it too late for him an' de X-men."
They were silent until they arrived at the medbay. "I hate t' do dis t' all o' you, but I'm gonna need complete silence t' concentrate. I don' want no one in here wit' me else I screw up. Dat means you too Beast." He began to protest along with the other X-men. "Trust me, I ain' 'bout t' do my own mamma in. What would be de point?"
The X-men turned to leave and she reached out and grabbed Gambit by the scruff of the neck, "'Cept you mon ami, I gonna need an anchor," and she dragged him in with her and sat him down next to Rogue's bed.
"How you even know dis gonna work petite?"
"Cuz I done it before," she said knowingly, "I t'ink you know what I mean. Now take her hand...don' worry it won' hurt her...an' hold on t' mine. Dere dat's good. We gonna make a circuit. You gonna serve as her guiding light an' make sure I don' fall to deep in her mind. You understand?"
"I t'ink so...dat all you want me t' do?"
"Oui. Oh, an' t'ink o' her as you love her best." The words were warm, but Anne's voice was cold and dead like that of someone who had seen and been through too much in their life. Gambit found it disheartening. This was, or rather would be, his daughter and he didn't like the idea of anything in her life being hard, but she had insisted that everything remain the same. So whatever pain she had endured, she would have to face it again. That thought was painful.
He felt something through the connection. It felt like concern and consolation. 'Don't worry,' it said to him, 'things are as they are meant to be. Everything will be fine.' Anne gave him a weak smile. "What will happen will happen, Gambit. Dere is no changin' it." He nodded.
"Alright, now focus, t'ink o' her."
At one moment, they were in the medbay, the next, they were spiraling into endless darkness with no sight of a way out, but Gambit felt himself sitting in the chair in medbay. He was only an observer in this, he would not participate. He was only there to make sure nothing went wrong, and he sincerely hoped that nothing did.
Rogue was walking. It was completely dark and she could barely see. She wasn't sure how long she had been walking, just that she was. She wasn't sure of any walls or a definite shape to the darkness, it just was. When she first arrived, she couldn't remember how long ago that had been, she had called out for someone, anyone to find her. It was so lonely, here in the dark.
It was like swimming in black waters for Anne. It was also very cold. She couldn't see where she was going, but still, she knew. She felt her mother's prescence drawing her deeper and deeper into the waters. Sometimes she would just float, looking at the memories of days gone by. Rogue as a child, Rogue manifesting her powers, Rogue leaving home. She knew them all so well, had seen them over and over again everytime she touched her mother. The feeling warmed her. How long had it been since she had felt this close to her? Too long, she thought.
The blackness around Rogue began to take on definition. It formed around her like a box. The sides became walls, but still it went forever on. She could hear her foots hitting a surface. And then she heard it, the voices, the laughing, the shouting. She was here again. The same dim light illuminating everything. It was happening again. She turned to run, but she was only greated by the same grim reality. Every where she turned, it was there. The nightmare would play through whether she wanted it to or not. She tried to scream for help, but no sound would come. So this is hell, she thought.
Cyclops had started to get impatient. They had been in there for a very long time and still nothing. He didn't trust her, despite what her claims were. Sure she might not harm Rogue physically, but she could leave something in her mind just like she did to Jean. He stood.
"Whatcha doin', Cyke?" Logan asked.
"I'm going in there. I don't trust her!"
Logan stepped in front of him, "I don't think ya wanna do that. You could end up killin' one or both of 'em. Ya heard what she said. Any distraction, any at all could be real bad."
Cyclops glared at him and shoved him aside. He stepped toward the door and reached to turn the handle but was pushed back. 'Scott,' a voice sounded in his head, 'please be patient, I assure you that Rogue will come to no harm. Anne is deep in Rogue's mind and any disturbance could be dangerous.'
"They've been in there an hour!" he argued.
'And they may be in there for much longer, please, relax, sit down. They will finish when they finish.'
Scott turned and went back to his seat, still seething. Jean moved to calm him. "He's right, Scott, she won't hurt her, now just relax."
He nodded and leaned back into his chair, trying to relax, without much effort. Somehow, he managed to fall into a light sleep. The Xavier inside Anne's mind laughed quietly to himself. That trick always worked didn't it?
Anne had lost herself in Rogue's early childhood, basking in the joy, but she was torn suddenly from her euphoria. It was Gambit, pushing her on. She had a job to do. She concentrated again on the task at hand, and then she felt it, a silent cry for help. Desperate, wanting, and alone. She followed it.
Once the nightmare started, Rogue fell into a kind of routine, meet a team member, they would try and help her and she would kill them, instantly. She couldn't stop it. It was the way the dream played. She started towards the part she hated most. She could almost smell the cigarette smoke, hear the words he would say. She wanted to run, but she knew it would be easier to finish the dream and keep walking.
Anne found her quickly. She appeared to be in a maze. This maze was different though, it had a definite start, but there was no finish. She would just keep walking through it over and over again into oblivion. How long had she been walking through this maze? Since her powers manifested? Possibly. It ended now. She swam faster towards the maze, towards Rogue's destination. She would stop the endlessness.
Rogue rounded the corner. Why hadn't he said anything yet? He normally would be chiding her for crying or giving her advice on how to use or rather misuse her powers, but he wasn't saying a word. She turned and saw that he wasn't there. Not at all. In his place, was a young woman with long flowing black hair down to her ankles and brilliant red eyes. The woman stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Rogue in a warm embrace.
"Let it go," she whispered gently into her ear, "let it all go. There's no need for this. Bring down the walls and live. Be free."
Before Rogue new what was happening, the walls vanished and the endless darkness seemed to return, but it was brightening. Images began to appear, friends and family long forgotten, birthdays and holidays, everything. The woman stepped in front of her, blotting out the images. She seemed to carry the darkness with her. Rogue started to say something, but the woman raised a finger to her lips. Suddenly, there were two boxes in the woman's hands. She laid them down on the ground.
"For when you are ready," she said, and vanished. Rogue immediately felt a strange lightness come over her. The voices were gone and her mind was quiet once again.
Anne opened her eyes to find herself back in the medbay, and sighed. It had been nice, but she knew that wasn't where she belonged. She glanced over at Gambit, a questioning look in his eyes.
"She'll be fine in a day or so, until den, rest," she touched her hand to his forhead and he fell asleep instantly.
She walked out into the waiting room to see the rest of the X-men waiting anxiously.
"What took you so long?" Logan asked.
"Hmm? Long? I don' know what you mean."
"You were in there for five hours!" Kurt exclaimed.
"Oh, I hadn' realized. I'm sorry."
"Well, how is she?"
"She be fine in a day or so, give her time t' rest."
"Lu?" Nicky asked, "Are you alright?"
"Oui, qu'est-ce que c'est?"
"You're cryin'."
She touched her face and discovered it was wet. She looked at her damp fingers in shock.
"I don't see what the big deal is, women cry, it's what they do," Logan argued.
"Non, you don' understand, Lu hadn' cried since she was a kid. You sure you okay?"
She looked at him and a huge smile spread across her face, one that no one had ever seen on her before. "I'm fine Nicky, jus' fine." He looked shocked at first but then finally grinned back.
"Come on mon frere," she began, "we still have work to do, non?"
"Alright," she explained to the X-men, "jus' t'ink o' sumt'in' dat you would normally be doin'. Dis won' take long."
"I'm gonna miss ya darlin'," Logan said.
"No Logan, you won't even remember me." She touched her hands to Xavier's temples and expanded her own abilities with his. She went through each person in the mansion, sealing their memories of her and replacing them with another. A girl, named Donna Freeman had come to stay at the mansion for a short period to heal after she had been attacked at the orphanage. She was looking for work there. She temporarily lost her memory and stayed at the mansion until her family had come looking for her. Before that she had become good friends with Logan and Rogue. She promised to write, but then proceded to fall of the face of the earth and no one could find her again. Jean had had a run in with a particularly nasty mutant and was still shaking the aftereffects off. That was the way they remembered things happening. No mutant named Lucretia Lebeau had ever visited them.
Anne finished her work and moved to the exit. "I wish dey could always be like dis. So nice..."
"Dey may yet, petite, dey may yet."
The four mutants moved to the edge of the grounds where no one could see them. Anne opened a rift in time and they stepped through, back to their proper time, all but Witness. He existed in all time, so to try and travel through time was redundant. He simply walked off the estate and back home, but at the same time, he was greeting Anne as she arrived home. He saw her as her mother hugged her tightly and her friends greeted her with sighs of relief. Anne's mother, she had been so beautiful...
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One more chapter left! You didn't really think I was gonna leave you like that did you? I mean, I know I'm mean, but jeez! I'm not that awful! Well, close, but not that bad. Really, I'm offended! Oh and Harry, I'm really sorry, I was kind of expecting that reaction from a lot more people. It's not really an alternate universe though, it's their future, that's why she sealed their memories, but still it is a bit aggravating, I understand. Also, I think I've left some confusion. At times it seems like Witness is uncertain of the future, but how can that be, you may ask since he exists throughout time. Well, he is certain, he's just not letting anybody know. Often times he doesn't even interfere, but he does what he has to and says what he needs to and that's the extent of it. Anyway, go review, all of you! Warning! Fluff ahead!
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"So lemme get this straight," Logan began as they walked towards the medbay, "the Storm in your time attacked you because you killed the Professor?"
"Hmm? Oh, not really," Anne said, distracted. She pulled away from the rest of the gourp so that they couldn't hear. "She attacked me cuz Cyclops t'aught I was gettin' a might too powerful an' got some o' de X-men t' sorta band agains' me wit' de idea o' takin' my powers away from me wit' one o' Forge's lil inventions."
"And?"
"Dey failed," she answered darkly.
"So what did you do to them?"
"Me? Not'in'. Pappa got real mad an' confronted ol' one eye. Sayin' t'ings like how I was his daughter an' he should be de one t' deal wit' me an' how I destroyed Sinister's lab an' all dat an' how he really didn' see what de problem was. One man died to save dozens. He didn' like it eit'er but he had t' deal wit' de outcome, non? Well, when he said dat, Summers lost it an' swung at him. Pappa swung back an' dey got into it real bad. Hittin' each ot'er wit' everyt'in' dey had. Pappa had de upper hand cuz he was younger so Summers used his powers on him. I tried to save him by puttin' up a force field around him, but he vanished. We t'ought he had disintegrated from de blast, but apparently he survived an' was just sent somewhere else, but where dat be, we don' know. We find him dough. You can be assured o' dat. An' den we deal wit' Cyclops."
"Y'know darlin', as much as I hate to admit it, he's not really that bad of a guy. True, sometimes he's a little stuck up and a little bit anal, but that's just who he is. I really can't see him attacking any member of the team or for that matter tryin' t' kill 'em."
"Hmmph, jus' wait, mon ami. He was possessed by Apocalypse. True, he dealin' wit it now, but give dat experience time to fester an' build an' you'll have yourself a mad man. How long you t'ink he can hold out Logan? Unfortunately, nobody know until it too late for him an' de X-men."
They were silent until they arrived at the medbay. "I hate t' do dis t' all o' you, but I'm gonna need complete silence t' concentrate. I don' want no one in here wit' me else I screw up. Dat means you too Beast." He began to protest along with the other X-men. "Trust me, I ain' 'bout t' do my own mamma in. What would be de point?"
The X-men turned to leave and she reached out and grabbed Gambit by the scruff of the neck, "'Cept you mon ami, I gonna need an anchor," and she dragged him in with her and sat him down next to Rogue's bed.
"How you even know dis gonna work petite?"
"Cuz I done it before," she said knowingly, "I t'ink you know what I mean. Now take her hand...don' worry it won' hurt her...an' hold on t' mine. Dere dat's good. We gonna make a circuit. You gonna serve as her guiding light an' make sure I don' fall to deep in her mind. You understand?"
"I t'ink so...dat all you want me t' do?"
"Oui. Oh, an' t'ink o' her as you love her best." The words were warm, but Anne's voice was cold and dead like that of someone who had seen and been through too much in their life. Gambit found it disheartening. This was, or rather would be, his daughter and he didn't like the idea of anything in her life being hard, but she had insisted that everything remain the same. So whatever pain she had endured, she would have to face it again. That thought was painful.
He felt something through the connection. It felt like concern and consolation. 'Don't worry,' it said to him, 'things are as they are meant to be. Everything will be fine.' Anne gave him a weak smile. "What will happen will happen, Gambit. Dere is no changin' it." He nodded.
"Alright, now focus, t'ink o' her."
At one moment, they were in the medbay, the next, they were spiraling into endless darkness with no sight of a way out, but Gambit felt himself sitting in the chair in medbay. He was only an observer in this, he would not participate. He was only there to make sure nothing went wrong, and he sincerely hoped that nothing did.
Rogue was walking. It was completely dark and she could barely see. She wasn't sure how long she had been walking, just that she was. She wasn't sure of any walls or a definite shape to the darkness, it just was. When she first arrived, she couldn't remember how long ago that had been, she had called out for someone, anyone to find her. It was so lonely, here in the dark.
It was like swimming in black waters for Anne. It was also very cold. She couldn't see where she was going, but still, she knew. She felt her mother's prescence drawing her deeper and deeper into the waters. Sometimes she would just float, looking at the memories of days gone by. Rogue as a child, Rogue manifesting her powers, Rogue leaving home. She knew them all so well, had seen them over and over again everytime she touched her mother. The feeling warmed her. How long had it been since she had felt this close to her? Too long, she thought.
The blackness around Rogue began to take on definition. It formed around her like a box. The sides became walls, but still it went forever on. She could hear her foots hitting a surface. And then she heard it, the voices, the laughing, the shouting. She was here again. The same dim light illuminating everything. It was happening again. She turned to run, but she was only greated by the same grim reality. Every where she turned, it was there. The nightmare would play through whether she wanted it to or not. She tried to scream for help, but no sound would come. So this is hell, she thought.
Cyclops had started to get impatient. They had been in there for a very long time and still nothing. He didn't trust her, despite what her claims were. Sure she might not harm Rogue physically, but she could leave something in her mind just like she did to Jean. He stood.
"Whatcha doin', Cyke?" Logan asked.
"I'm going in there. I don't trust her!"
Logan stepped in front of him, "I don't think ya wanna do that. You could end up killin' one or both of 'em. Ya heard what she said. Any distraction, any at all could be real bad."
Cyclops glared at him and shoved him aside. He stepped toward the door and reached to turn the handle but was pushed back. 'Scott,' a voice sounded in his head, 'please be patient, I assure you that Rogue will come to no harm. Anne is deep in Rogue's mind and any disturbance could be dangerous.'
"They've been in there an hour!" he argued.
'And they may be in there for much longer, please, relax, sit down. They will finish when they finish.'
Scott turned and went back to his seat, still seething. Jean moved to calm him. "He's right, Scott, she won't hurt her, now just relax."
He nodded and leaned back into his chair, trying to relax, without much effort. Somehow, he managed to fall into a light sleep. The Xavier inside Anne's mind laughed quietly to himself. That trick always worked didn't it?
Anne had lost herself in Rogue's early childhood, basking in the joy, but she was torn suddenly from her euphoria. It was Gambit, pushing her on. She had a job to do. She concentrated again on the task at hand, and then she felt it, a silent cry for help. Desperate, wanting, and alone. She followed it.
Once the nightmare started, Rogue fell into a kind of routine, meet a team member, they would try and help her and she would kill them, instantly. She couldn't stop it. It was the way the dream played. She started towards the part she hated most. She could almost smell the cigarette smoke, hear the words he would say. She wanted to run, but she knew it would be easier to finish the dream and keep walking.
Anne found her quickly. She appeared to be in a maze. This maze was different though, it had a definite start, but there was no finish. She would just keep walking through it over and over again into oblivion. How long had she been walking through this maze? Since her powers manifested? Possibly. It ended now. She swam faster towards the maze, towards Rogue's destination. She would stop the endlessness.
Rogue rounded the corner. Why hadn't he said anything yet? He normally would be chiding her for crying or giving her advice on how to use or rather misuse her powers, but he wasn't saying a word. She turned and saw that he wasn't there. Not at all. In his place, was a young woman with long flowing black hair down to her ankles and brilliant red eyes. The woman stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Rogue in a warm embrace.
"Let it go," she whispered gently into her ear, "let it all go. There's no need for this. Bring down the walls and live. Be free."
Before Rogue new what was happening, the walls vanished and the endless darkness seemed to return, but it was brightening. Images began to appear, friends and family long forgotten, birthdays and holidays, everything. The woman stepped in front of her, blotting out the images. She seemed to carry the darkness with her. Rogue started to say something, but the woman raised a finger to her lips. Suddenly, there were two boxes in the woman's hands. She laid them down on the ground.
"For when you are ready," she said, and vanished. Rogue immediately felt a strange lightness come over her. The voices were gone and her mind was quiet once again.
Anne opened her eyes to find herself back in the medbay, and sighed. It had been nice, but she knew that wasn't where she belonged. She glanced over at Gambit, a questioning look in his eyes.
"She'll be fine in a day or so, until den, rest," she touched her hand to his forhead and he fell asleep instantly.
She walked out into the waiting room to see the rest of the X-men waiting anxiously.
"What took you so long?" Logan asked.
"Hmm? Long? I don' know what you mean."
"You were in there for five hours!" Kurt exclaimed.
"Oh, I hadn' realized. I'm sorry."
"Well, how is she?"
"She be fine in a day or so, give her time t' rest."
"Lu?" Nicky asked, "Are you alright?"
"Oui, qu'est-ce que c'est?"
"You're cryin'."
She touched her face and discovered it was wet. She looked at her damp fingers in shock.
"I don't see what the big deal is, women cry, it's what they do," Logan argued.
"Non, you don' understand, Lu hadn' cried since she was a kid. You sure you okay?"
She looked at him and a huge smile spread across her face, one that no one had ever seen on her before. "I'm fine Nicky, jus' fine." He looked shocked at first but then finally grinned back.
"Come on mon frere," she began, "we still have work to do, non?"
"Alright," she explained to the X-men, "jus' t'ink o' sumt'in' dat you would normally be doin'. Dis won' take long."
"I'm gonna miss ya darlin'," Logan said.
"No Logan, you won't even remember me." She touched her hands to Xavier's temples and expanded her own abilities with his. She went through each person in the mansion, sealing their memories of her and replacing them with another. A girl, named Donna Freeman had come to stay at the mansion for a short period to heal after she had been attacked at the orphanage. She was looking for work there. She temporarily lost her memory and stayed at the mansion until her family had come looking for her. Before that she had become good friends with Logan and Rogue. She promised to write, but then proceded to fall of the face of the earth and no one could find her again. Jean had had a run in with a particularly nasty mutant and was still shaking the aftereffects off. That was the way they remembered things happening. No mutant named Lucretia Lebeau had ever visited them.
Anne finished her work and moved to the exit. "I wish dey could always be like dis. So nice..."
"Dey may yet, petite, dey may yet."
The four mutants moved to the edge of the grounds where no one could see them. Anne opened a rift in time and they stepped through, back to their proper time, all but Witness. He existed in all time, so to try and travel through time was redundant. He simply walked off the estate and back home, but at the same time, he was greeting Anne as she arrived home. He saw her as her mother hugged her tightly and her friends greeted her with sighs of relief. Anne's mother, she had been so beautiful...
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One more chapter left! You didn't really think I was gonna leave you like that did you? I mean, I know I'm mean, but jeez! I'm not that awful! Well, close, but not that bad. Really, I'm offended! Oh and Harry, I'm really sorry, I was kind of expecting that reaction from a lot more people. It's not really an alternate universe though, it's their future, that's why she sealed their memories, but still it is a bit aggravating, I understand. Also, I think I've left some confusion. At times it seems like Witness is uncertain of the future, but how can that be, you may ask since he exists throughout time. Well, he is certain, he's just not letting anybody know. Often times he doesn't even interfere, but he does what he has to and says what he needs to and that's the extent of it. Anyway, go review, all of you! Warning! Fluff ahead!