Bring Me To Life
By Kanshisha Tenshi
Disclaimer: If you really think I own this awesome show or even greater song, then you need professional psychiatric help, my friend. In fact, I can get you the number of this really great doctor...
( )=Paul McCoy's parts
) (=Paul McCoy and Amy Lee together
~=song lyrics
Evanescence=Damn good band
Daredevil=Damn good movie
X-Men: Evolution=Damn good show
~How can you see into my eyes, like open doors...~
Rogue was becoming uneasy under Remy's level gaze. He was staring at her so intensely she thought he might burn two holes in her skull. She turned to face him and stared straight into his red irises.
"Ah'm sorry, Remy," she murmured. Looking into his eyes was even worse than not doing so. He could see right through her, she believed. In a sense he could, with his empathy. He couldn't hear her thoughts, but he could feel what kind they were. She was sad.
She was sad, but why?
~...Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb?~
He could no longer feel her emotions then. She'd steeled herself, locked her emotions away from him. What was she going to do that she was sorry for?
Then she touched his face. Too late, he realized her hand wasn't protected by its usual glove, nor was his face...
~Without a soul; my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold...~
Rogue forgot to let go. She held on longer than necessary because the stunned expression on his face had momentarily paralyzed her. Consequently, she absorbed more of him than she needed--or wanted--to.
Despite the memories pouring into her mind, she felt empty. She pulled back and fell to her knees, her green eyes becoming red with a black background.
"What have Ah done?" she sobbed, feeling weak. She looked at his now-unconscious form and the movement made her head swim. "Professah, ya owe meh big time...an' Ah owe him."
~...Until you find it there and lead...it...back...home.~
Scott and Kurt were the ones to find Rogue and Remy. Scott lifted Remy up and set him in the back of his car, while Kurt helped Rogue to stand.
"Vhy vould ze profezzor vant you to abzorb hiz memoriez?" he inquired softly.
"T' find out what they're plannin'," she whispered. "He didn't know. Ah absorbed him fo' nothin', on purpose! Ah feel horrible..."
"He'll be okay," Scott assured her. "He just needs time to recover."
"Ve'll take him back vith uz to ze inztitute."
~{Wake me up!)~
Remy was surrounded by darkness. He wasn't sure what had happened. He remembered finding Rogue in the park, sitting in a tree near her and watching her, hearing her sing an enchanting song to herself...he had decided to accompany her in it.
"All o' dis sight, I can' believe I couldn' see; kept in de dark, but you were here in front o' me..." She had nearly jumped in surprise when she heard his husky voice singing sweetly to her. She'd turned around and found him sitting on a branch, leaning against the tree trunk as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He was even shuffling a deck of cards.
"Actually, Ah was goin' t' sing ~Now that Ah know what Ah'm without, ya can't just leave meh; breathe int' meh an' make meh real, bring meh...t' life...~"
He'd jumped down, landing gracefully.
"By de way, evenin', petite."
"Hey..." She wasn't there for singing or sightseeing, he imagined. She was there to think. He wasn't that off in his assumption. He stood there, staring at her, waiting for her to say or do something.
"Ah'm sorry, Remy," she murmured.
Then, in his unconscious mind, he realized why she was sorry.
She had absorbed him on purpose. That explained the darkness.
~Wake me up inside.~
Rogue was still feeling empty. She'd never enjoyed absorbing people, but to do it on purpose...with no good outcome...
She closed her eyes.
~(I can't wake up!)~
He felt his body moving. Car? Yes. He was being taken somewhere--by who? His friends, or the X-Men? He hated not knowing what was going on. If he'd had a stopwatch, he'd even time himself on how long he'd been unconscious just for the sake of knowing.
I's takin' too long t' wake up...
~Wake me up inside. (Save me!) Call my name and save me from the dark.~
"Remy? Mr. LeBeau?" Hank asked. "Still unconscious. Good." He directed Scott to a bed in the med lab where he set Remy. Hank McCoy hooked some wires onto him to measure cardio activity and brainwaves.
~(Wake me up!) Bid my blood to run,~
He took a blood sample from the unconscious teenager and measured other things: breathing, temperature, et cetera. He heard the doors swish open and closed, and saw Rogue when he looked over his shoulder.
"Greetings. Are you here to see our young guest?" She nodded. "You can relax. He's doing quite well, and should regain consciousness within a few hours."
"Ah'll stay here, if that's all raght with ya."
"Why, of course. I'll be over there if you need me," he said, pointing to another part of the lab.
~(I can't wake up!) Before I come undone.~
She began humming to herself--and Remy if he could hear her--once Dr. McCoy left. She still felt bad about what she had done. She searched through the memories she'd acquired from him for some sign of reward for his temporary sacrifice. Nothing. Magneto hadn't told him a thing yet. She felt tears well in her eyes, partly for him but mostly in self-pity.
"Ah hate mahself. Ah hate mah powers. Ah hate all o' it!"
~(Save me!) Save me from the nothing I've become.~
It was why she kept to herself, wore make-up, became gothic. Why she braved the rude comments, the taunts, the strange looks that resulted from her style. Her power had shaped her, and she had let it, feeling sorry for herself instead of looking inside for the answers. She was smart, but she didn't need books or lesson. There was no Rogue's Powers for Dummies. She needed time to herself to sit down and do some serious soul-searching.
The wry fact that Remy was providing her with the time and quiet necessary for the ideal inner peace crossed her mind.
~Now that I know what I'm without, you can't just leave me...breathe into me and make me real; bring me to life. [chorus]~
She went over the pros and cons in her mind and decided she had nothing to lose and time to spare. She reached into herself, determined to come to terms and truth with herself.
~Bring me to life. (I've been living a lie; there's nothing inside.)~
What she found didn't please her. She was lonely; she had isolated herself because of her inability to touch others. She considered all the possibilities. She could continue on as she has, and stay away from people; avoid more than a few friendships, never get too close to anyone. She could be more open, undergo a serious transformation into what she'd hated for years. She could run away and completely isolate herself until her body became so unaccustomed to not touching that her powers stopped working. That led to another thought.
What would happen if she started touching people more?
~Bring me to life. Frozen inside without your touch...~
Yes, touch people more. The more she thought about it, the more logical it seemed. If someone, say, starts drinking the same amount of alcohol every day, they eventually build up a tolerance. Maybe if she started touching more she'd develop an immunity to her own powers.
~...Without your love, darling. Only you are the life among the dead.~
She searched through other memories now, memories of how the people she'd touched controlled their powers. With the Professor's help; born just seeming to know how; experimenting--the only option left. She wrapped herself in their memories, their pasts.
~(All of this sight, I can't believe I couldn't see; kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me.)~
Gambit sensed her inner turmoil, and the ladies' man's first instinct was to reach out and comfort her. But it was a good half hour before he could actually control his body enough to do so. He opened his eyes, and was surprised at just how close she was.
A few silent tears ran down her cheeks, but she was staring into nothingness. Her expression was blank, but he felt her angst and wonderment. She was staring straight at him without really seeing him.
~I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems; I've got to open my eyes to everything.~
Fights at school, football teams, cheerleading, boyfriends, girlfriends...She'd withdrawn into herself too far. The psyches were screaming at the invasion; voices enveloped her.
...chére?...One voice spoke louder than the rest.
"Wake up, chére! Chére!" the voice said urgently.
Remy impulsively touched her cheek.
~(Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul.)~
Nothing happened. He waited, but did not feel her powers kick in.
~)Don't let me die here( (There must be something wrong!)~
He looked into her eyes.
"Mon Dieu, chére, please be okay!" He shook her gently, and her clouded eyes fixed on hi.
"Remy? Ya okay?"
"Oui, chére. What de hell is wrong?" It took her a moment to realize what he meant. He was touching her. She wasn't absorbing him. All was well in the world...but how?
~BRING ME TO LIFE! [chorus]~
"Remy t'ought yo' power was t' absorb people."
"So did Ah."
"Know what happened?"
"Not sure. Hank!" The Beast strode in.
"What is it? What's wrong--oh, my stars and garters!"
~Bring me to life (I've been living a lie; there's nothing inside!)~
No one could explain it, not even the Professor. Magneto and his Acolytes eventually came to the mansion and informed the X-Men of their plan. A temporary truce was called for the upcoming battle with Apocalypse. Rogue and Remy eventually, because of Rogue's mysterious control, began dating.
~Bring...me...to...life!~
THE END.
Author's Notes: She could control the powers because of her deeper understanding of how others controlled theirs. If you haven't heard "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence, buy the soundtrack or download it. It's a good song and worth the wait or money. And while you're at it, go see Daredevil.
I was too lazy to write the chorus over and over and to add a better ending. If you think the lyrics are wrong, let me apologize BEFORE you review, because those are the lyrics I found online.
Good night, God bless, and please review!He