Part 2
Remy rode back to the mansion as fast as he dared. He felt Rogue shivering beneath him, and he knew it wasn't from the rush of air gliding by her. Her hands held on to the handlebars strongly. Remy feared if she tightened her grip anymore he would need to invest some money in new ones. The ride was silent with the exception of the air. It was a hollow echo in Rogue's ears; something she could hear, but then not.
Just like the sound of the air, she was thinking of so much and then of nothing at all. Her thoughts swirled around incoherently in her head, nothing piecing together in the least. A tiny whimper escaped her trembling lips, mostly concealed by the rush of air. Remy felt it though, and it was like tearing out his heart and running it over with his motorcycle.
They reached the mansion and Remy stopped his bike quickly without it toppling over. He climbed off and helped Rogue, who insisted on walking herself. She took a few steps with her arms wrapped around herself, cold to the core. She felt cold and sour, just like Sinister's breath. Just like death. She looked up at Remy, who was staring down at her with such concern in his eyes, so much love. She extended her hand to him, which he gratefully took. "Do ya think the professor is even up?" She whispered.
"Hard t' say. Whet'er he is or not, he's gon' be now."
Her question was answered when they stepped inside the doors. They were unlocked. Remy didn't use his scrambler this time, so the security system was either turned off completely, or the defenses were inactive. The professor, Ororo, and Logan stood waiting for them. Each had a characteristic look on his or her face. Xavier sat with his head propped on the steeple of his fingers, willing to give them a chance to explain themselves. Ororo's eyebrows were knitted with a little anger, but she was nonetheless calm. Logan, on the other hand… was Logan. His mouth was curled into a snarl. Remy noticed Evan sitting on the couch behind them. He was half asleep, as if he'd been dragged downstairs.
"Do you two have somethin' ta say about this?" Logan growled. "We're missing Kitty, the Elf, and Jamie, too. Know anythin' about that?"
It was then that Xavier felt the anguish radiating off of Rogue. "Back down, Logan. Rogue, what is the matter?"
Her estranged gaze met that of Xavier's, and then flickered back to Remy. His red eyes blinked, telling her to go ahead. She nodded, her lips trembling still. They felt blue and cold. She couldn't stop herself from the cold that racked her body. She wanted to hold her appearance up. She hadn't felt so weak since Carol and that horrid mess. She was about two seconds from completely losing it. "Ah had a bad dream," she managed to whisper.
Ororo, too, could feel vibes coming off of her. She felt the air thicken as Rogue's words crawled over to their side of the room. She took a few light steps towards Rogue. With a glance to Remy, she knew that he wasn't feeling great either, and it wasn't just because Rogue was upset. She extended her hand to Rogue. "Come on, child. Do you need to talk about it?"
Rogue nodded weakly and accepted Ororo's hand. The weather goddess led her away from Remy. Rogue spared a glance back towards him, and he nodded gravely. "Go on, chere." He let her be taken away, deciding it was best if she didn't have a large crowd. He wished he could hold her hand to help her out, but he was on the brink of combustion. Dat monster… dat fuckin' monster. I'll kill him now - harmin' a damn seven-year-old girl. His hands burned as his anger built, causing them to glow bright orange.
Logan watched him silently, waiting for him to explode. He finally said something that Remy chose not to listen to. Remy didn't respond in any way either. He just turned and walked out of the door. It would be better if he didn't make a mess indoors.
Rogue numbly sat down in the library, idly wondering how Remy was feeling. If there was anything she could focus her thoughts on, it was he and his safety. She wished it was his hand holding her own, but Ororo was comforting enough. She must've taken a bath befoh she went ta bed… she smells like flowers. It's soothin'.
She was happy to divert her train of thoughts off for that brief second, but the moment she looked at the professor, she remembered why she was sitting where she was. "Rogue," Xavier began. "Tell me why you look so distraught."
"Want me ta start from the beginnin'?" He nodded affirmative. She then told him about the night: waking up, flying, ending up at the Brotherhood house, talking with Mystique, etc, etc. "Then she told me that Ah was kidnapped foh a night by Sinister."
Ororo suddenly tightened her grip on Rogue's hand. Xavier's eyebrows rose in utter surprise. "Sinister… as in Mr. Sinister?"
Rogue laughed despite herself. "The one an' only, hun."
"Oh, dear," he murmured. He closed his eyes a moment as if to collect his thoughts and then met Rogue's gaze. "Would you mind if I took a look inside your mind?"
"That's why Ah'm here. Ah need ta know. Ah wanna know what the hell he did ta me."
He nodded. "This is going to sound like a hefty request, but I need you to relax."
She wrinkled her nose. "Ah'll try."
"Just breathe deep, Rogue," Ororo said from her side. She demonstrated by closing her eyes and taking in a breath, holding it for about 10 seconds and then releasing it, nice and slow. "You try."
Rogue pursed her lips, but then figured she should. She closed her eyes, letting them just flutter shut. She breathed in deep through her nose and focused on holding it long enough without making herself lightheaded. She'd had enough training in everything that breathing should've been a breeze, but something about thinking about how she was breathing made everything more difficult. She counted to herself, realizing last second that she wasn't thinking about Sinister for that long moment. She scared herself and had to redo the entire exercise of breathing with a little coaxing from Ororo.
Xavier raised his hands to hover over Rogue's temples. With a minute psychic shove, he pushed himself into her mind. He glanced around to look for the Rogue inside herself, but didn't see her right away. "Rogue?"
"Hi," she said simply from behind the standing psychic form of her teacher. Her own psychic form wore a long, black dress that looked to be from the Renaissance era. The dress was tattered along the skirt as if she'd run through a thick brush of thorny bushes. Charles glanced down and saw the tips of her black polished toenails.
He smiled. "Interesting choice of wardrobe."
She shrugged. "It's flowy. An' it looks cool when Ah fly," she smirked. "Like a fallen angel."
"That would be you, my dear. Would you like to show me what you could?"
"Ah'll try." She took a second glimpse of her apparel. "This dress is actually from the dream, too. Ah just remembered that."
"Do you remember anything of Sinister?"
She shook her head, causing her slightly curled hair to bounce around her head. "Ah can't think of how this dress and Sinister are connected. Especially if it happened when Ah was seven."
Xavier thought for a moment. "You played as a child, right?"
"O' course. Ah didn't start keepin' ta mahself 'till junior high."
"All right, then."
"What are ya thinkin' of?"
"Just testing some options in my head. If anything becomes blatantly clear, you'll be the first to know."
"Sometimes Ah fohget you have a slight sense of humor."
"I am human, too, Rogue. Just remember that."
She smirked. "That shouldn't be too hard." She had begun leading him aimlessly towards the more secretive part of her mind. Usually, she would never let anyone see this, but drastic times call for drastic measures. She was willing to do just about anything to find out what the hell had happened to her.
"You mind is looking better since the last time I've been here," Xavier commented as they walked. Before, her mind had been dark and foggy - full of nothing and everything. Now, it was clear, as if almost easier to breathe in. The atmosphere was tinted green, with twinkling silver butterflies flying just out of reach. The professor looked around, curiously and almost eagerly. She's come so far in her time with us, he noted to himself. The personas she had absorbed were safely knit in cocoons along the field of her mind, no doubt made by the butterflies dancing in the air around them.
One fluttered close enough for Charles to see that it was made of pure energy. It had silver veins crackling with energy that just ached to be released. "Don't reach foh it," Rogue warned softly.
"Why is that?" He was actually thinking of doing so until Rogue spoke up.
"That's how the people are trapped. Ah'm not sure if you could touch 'em since you're not an imprint, but Ah wouldn't try it."
"Interesting," he said, backing away from the closest one.
"They act all beautiful an' mysterious so whoever's been in mah head thinks it'll be safe ta touch 'em." She shook her head. "No way. Once one touches ya, the rest of 'em swarm in. The result is what ya see everywhere." She waved daintily her hands towards the landscape. A butterfly flew near her arm and landed on her shoulder. To Charles, it seemed to feed off her, though she physically showed no signs of fatigue from the drain. She smiled and blew at it to leave her shoulder.
Charles watched in amazement. "That doesn't hurt?"
She shook her head. "They comes to me with the power of whoever Ah've just absorbed. It usually all instantaneous, ya know, Ah absorb, an' in a split second's amount of time, they've got the person trapped in web an' they transfer it ta me. That li'l bugger saved some foh me though."
"Does it happen often?"
"Yeah. It's like bein' shot up with caffeine. Ah can't stop it when they come after me. When stray ones come after me long after Ah've touched someone, it gets a spark inside me, remindin' me what Ah've done an' really only gives me a memory or two that Ah missed befoh." Xavier nodded, absorbing it all. Knowing this information does make future things possible, he thought with a smile. "That one was from awhile ago," she added. Then she shivered. "From Blockbuster."
"Blockbuster? One of Sinister's Marauders?"
She nodded sadly. "Ah think Mystique was raht about the nightmares bein' about him. Ah got one from Slab the other night." She walked a bit ahead of him, a trail of slashed clothing behind her. "Do ya have any idea why this is comin' out now?"
He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Rogue. Though I may be able to figure out more with more information."
"You wanna look at mah dreams?"
"Yes."
"But where would they be? Ah haven't remembered a dream in so long. Well, Ah do, but sometimes Ah can't tell if they're mah own or someone else's so Ah push them outta mah head completely."
"And you don't know where they are?"
She shrugged. "The only place Ah can think of is the Cellar."
"The Cellar?"
"Ah imagined this old shack past all the cocoons. Ah call it the Cellar. Maybe they went there."
"How could you imagine it but not know if things went there?"
"That's where Ah put Carol. Ah don't know if anything else follows. Ah never go in there. Ah'm so scared that she might hear me from her side of her cage an' start screamin'. Ah can't think if Ah can hear her. It's bad enough thinkin' she's in there all alone."
"I see," Xavier gave her a moment to relax. Talking about Carol always strung her emotions up a bit. He put a hand on her covered shoulder. "Can you show me?"
She nodded somberly. "It's this way." She started walking again, weaving herself and the professor in and out of the rows of cocoons. The butterflies seemed to flutter by in suspicion, but gave Rogue the room she needed. Xavier took a moment to examine one of the cocoons. It was glowing red from underneath.
"Whom does this one belong to?"
Rogue turned and floated back to him. Walking made her so tired sometimes. She took a brief look at the cocoon. "Oh, that's one of Scott's."
"One of them?"
"Ah've touched him a couple times. Foh some reason the butterflies don't put more than one persona in a cocoon, even though it's the same person. Ah figure it's because they'll fight or somethin'."
"That makes sense."
"Yeah, Jean's got a couple 'round here, too." She pointed to a rather large one. "There's Jamie's."
"His is so big," Charles commented.
"Maybe he keeps bumping into the walls an' multiplying, Ah have no idea." She pointed to two more large ones. "Those two are Freddy's."
"Blob?"
"Yeah. Ah think he may have another one around here somewhere, Ah can't remember. Ah try not to spend too much time here." She started to float away again, only keeping herself about two inches off the ground.
Charles followed her. "You don't come here usually?"
She looked over her shoulder. "Ah spend too much time in consciousness ta come here. If Ah were ta meditate, Ah probably could, but it hurts, ya know?"
He nodded. He followed her hovering form past the cocoons into where a circle of them had formed, just like a gate. "There's no one in these," she answered before he could ask. "Cody's near here though."
"Which would make sense."
"It does, doesn't it." It wasn't a question. She said it flat and sarcastically in order to quiet the professor. Not that she didn't appreciate what he was trying to do, but he talked too damned much.
He got the hint and reluctantly kept his mouth shut. Her mind was an amazing place with all it's literal imagery instead of the usual flashes of occurrences he'd seen in everyone else's. It was hard for him not to ask questions. He settled for just following her floating form in silence once again.
They reached the shack, which from the outside appeared to have water-warped wood, rusty hinges, protruding nails, the works in the ugly department. Rogue carefully turned the tarnished doorknob; afraid she might break it off. She was also afraid of stepping inside. She swallowed her emotions and slowly pushed the door open.
Once she opened the door, Charles bit back a gasp. Inside was much different. It looked to be the size of a three-bedroom apartment (without separating walls), but with hardwood floors and lilac painted walls. It actually looked like it could be a comfortable place to meditate to until Charles saw the cemented cage in the corner. It stuck out like a deformed mole on an otherwise perfect face. The cement had turned a dingy gray with time. Rogue took a single glance towards it and had to look away.
"That would be her," she pointed dismissively. Xavier nodded and remained speechless. "See that hole over there?" She motioned to one in the wall about five feet from Carol's cage. "That's the only way they could've come in here." Her voice was uncharacteristically soft, as if she were trying to conceal her presence in case Carol was to hear.
"Any idea where they would have gone after coming in that hole?"
She shrugged. "That's why we're here, ain't it?"
"Very true." He took in as much of the room as he could with just looking. "Why do you call this the Cellar when it looks like this?"
"It seemed appropriate. This place is uncomfortable ta me. I hate lilac; it's too light, the floors are too cold under bare feet, an' that stupid fuckin' cage is the most obvious thing in this whole place!" She bit her lip when she realized her obscenity. "Sorry 'bout that."
He smiled. "Don't worry about it. Let's concentrate on finding those dreams, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan ta me," she said, sighing with relief. The idea of concentrating made things better.
Remy released his anger on some unfortunate pebbles by the main road that led the gates to the mansion. He threw each one with such force that his arm responded with a pain close to that of it dislocating. A rush of wind went by and stopped on his side facing the institute. "What d'ya want, homme?" He asked his 'arch-nemesis', otherwise known as Pietro.
"I think this is one time we can put out rivalry aside," the quickster replied in a flat tone similar to Remy's.
It was then that the Cajun turned and faced Pietro. His eyes were blazing a brighter red than Pietro had ever seen; he was surprised he hadn't seen it by staring at Remy's profile. What surprised him even more were the tear trails down Remy's chiseled cheekbones. The color from his eyes reflected in such a way that he appeared to be crying blood.
"Oh, shit, man. I didn't realize - "
"Save it, please. Y'll understand if I'm not m' usual charmin' self t'night."
"Thanks for the heads up," Pietro responded after a pause. He stood for a moment before awkwardly placing a hand on Remy's shoulder. Remy hadn't anticipated such an action, but shockingly didn't recoil away. "Everyone's on their way. Mysti's riding back with your people, mine are in the jeep."
"Are dey worried sick?"
"Yeah…" His voice fell. "Todd looked ready to scream. Fred had to hold him a bit to get him to calm down. Tabby busted in on Lance and Kitty to fill them in - also scarring herself for life in the process, but yes, everyone is worried." The thought of anyone walking in on the unusual occurrence of a Lance and Kitty make-out session brought a small smile to Remy's face. Pietro caught the expression himself and mirrored Remy's face.
Remy dropped the tiny smile and sighed. "She never knew so many people cared 'bout her," he said idly.
"She'll know after everyone beats the shit out of that sick bastard."
Remy pulled out of Pietro's reach, his hands balled into fists. "I want not'in' more den t' snap dat fucker's neck an' feed him t' some vicious animal - an' den wait f'r de damn t'ing t' shit so I know he's dead." He stopped for a moment. "But I'm so scared," he admitted softly. "Petrified is a better word."
It took everything in Pietro's lack of self-control for his jaw not to drop and/or throwing the comment back in Remy's face in the form of taunts for actually admitting a weakness. He knew this was hard for the Cajun though. All he could manage neutrally was "Why?"
"B'cuz I know what he's about. Dat time he had me an' Rogue in Seattle, he let us go. He has the team power t' defeat us. I know him. When I was younger, I t'ought gettin' 'way from him was de craftiest t'ing I'd ever done. I t'ought I was free forever. How fuckin' naïve c'n a 14-year-old be? Now - I live ev'ryday, holdin' Rogue's hand, hopin' an' prayin' we won't ever be as dumb as we were dat night. I hoped dat she never had t' face him 'gain, when I knew de threat was anyt'in' but idle for me. Dis whole t'ing just fucks up ev'ry wish I've had f'r de last months… because I couldn' save her den. I jus' want her t' be safe, an' I couldn' protect her from him. I fuckin' failed her." He said the last sentence through gritted teeth. They both heard the gates open in the distance, signaling the arrival of the two vehicles with their combined nine passengers.
Pietro thought for a second on what he could possibly say to that long monologue. "Remy…" he started. "There was no way you could've known. All of us wish we could do something to change the past to make things better for the people we care about, but it's just not doable. Everyone has their screwed up pasts, whether it's their fault or not." Even me, he added mentally.
Remy snorted. "Y'r not makin' me feel bett'r, if dat's what y'r attemptin'."
"For the record, in the case of Rogue and her sanity, I would be there to help you if needed it, no matter what. I know you wanna say that I couldn't begin to know what kinda power the asshole has, but it's good to have allies against him in the event you'll need them. And I'm all but positive the others would say the same."
Remy looked him hard in the eye before sighing. "Merci, mon ami. I truly appreciate dat." He stuck out his hand. It was that or hug him - and things were already awkward enough.
Pietro accepted the handshake heartily. He smirked. "I'm only there if you really need me. In the case of Rogue though, whatever she needs, I'll always be there to help."
"Gotcha, homme," Remy grinned in exchange.
"This is useless," Rogue said in a smaller tone than she wanted to. They'd been searching for who knows how long and hadn't found a thing.
"Anywhere else we could probably look?"
Rogue was on the complete opposite side of the room from Carol while Charles was off the middle of it. There were little chests and cabinets placed everywhere in the room, as if it really were a storage room. Rogue pointed to the cage. "She may have an answer."
Charles looked at the cage. It still looked pretty concrete without any holes and such, but then again, he didn't examine it closely. He walked over slowly, catching a glimpse of Rogue backing away. "Be careful," she warned, her voice barely above a whisper.
He nodded and continued his way to the cage. Rogue pushed herself against the corner directly opposite the cage, not feeling safe even at that distance. She wanted to run out of the house and have the butterflies swarm around her; protect her with their shimmering energy wings.
Charles kneeled on the floor next to the cage. "I think I may have found the hiding place of your dreams." There was a hole so small that if he wanted to, he couldn't even insert his pinky finger. He put his eye up to it and saw blue. Blue? After staring at it curiously for a moment, the blue blinked. Blinked? It was an eye. Charles own brown eyes widened at the realization.
"Hiya, Charlie," a voice rasped from inside.
The car ride back was sickeningly silent. Kurt drove, with Mystique in the passenger seat. Kitty willingly sat in the back with Jamie. Even though the woman was the mother of two of her teammates, she didn't trust her one bit. And poor Jamie was confused to hell. He'd never met Mystique in battle or even seen her as principal of the high school (not that he would have if he came sooner to the institute, since he's a junior high student and home schooled, but that's besides the point).
Mystique nervously sat in her natural form, hand wringing noticeably in her lap. She had formerly gotten her nails manicured for the hell of it, even though she could damn well make her hands look great without spending the money. Regardless, the fine nails had been chipped and bitten at since Rogue had stepped foot inside the house earlier. Nail biting is a habit Mystique would never openly admit to, either.
How could I have never told her? It was almost impossible for me to sit there in Irene's living room, listening to her tell me that monster had gotten her not even a week before. She sighed shakily, catching Kurt's glance out of the corner of her eye.
"Do you know vhat happened und didn't tell her?" Kurt asked quietly.
"I wish I did," Mystique answered just as quietly.
"How could Irene not remember it?"
"She was drugged. I said that already."
"He vould know how because he's a geneticist, right? Und he knew all ze stuff with her DNA makeup und ozer stuff zat I don't necessarily understand."
"Yes, though the point is that he's had your sister twice and I couldn't stop it either time. If I had just listened to Irene that time so long ago, both of them could have probably been avoided."
"You can't blame yourself for the actions of anozer," Kurt whispered. "No matter how bad it feels."
She fully looked at Kurt then, feeling as if it were only he and she in the car. Tears welled up in her eyes. Did he just - in a way - forgive me about the castle incident? No, that would be too soon. I'm looking too far into it. "I still feel like I failed her. Just like I failed you."
Kurt took a moment to look her straight in the eye. "I know you're sorry about vhat happened. I know zat nozing will probably make me feel better about zat whole zing." He turned back to the road. "But I do like ze life I've lived. My parents in Germany… zey're great."
"You were better off with them."
"I von't disagree vith you on zat one, but I've always vanted to know und be with my real family, you know?"
"I know."
He sighed. "It vas Magneto's fault back at ze castle, und it vas his fault with Rogue und Carol."
"How do you know you're not placing the blame on the wrong person with both of those scenarios?"
"Are you purposely trying to make me hate you?" Kurt suddenly growled, his voice louder than it had been the entire conversation. Kitty was listening the entire time, sunken back in her seat with Jamie, who still didn't understand a single thing. Both were shocked at his outburst.
Mystique lowered her head. "No. But I don't feel like I deserve any easy ways out of making things better between the three of us."
"Then why did you come back? It's like you're giving up. Just why bother?" Kurt kept a firm gaze on the road, signaling to everyone that he was through talking. They approached the gates and they opened without any sort of identification code. The van slowly drove insides, catching sight of Remy and Pietro ahead. Kurt glanced in his rear view mirror and saw Lance's jeep still behind them.
He drove past the two boys standing off to the side and parked by the front fountain. Lance followed and did the same.
"I guess we should follow them," Pietro said as Remy threw another pebble. It exploded before it hit the ground.
"Y' c'n. I t'ink I should spend some more time out ehre." To prove his point, he bent down and picked up another pebble. He didn't even have to concentrate to send the power it needed to change its potential energy to kinetic. With a grunt, he threw it hard. Very hard. "Putain," he cursed as his left hand grasped his right shoulder.
"Dammit, Remy, now you've done it."
"Done what?" A female voice asked. Pietro and Remy looked up from inspecting his shoulder to see Tabitha, worry etched across her face. Lance, Fred and Todd were not far behind her. Remy glanced up to see Kurt leading Mystique, Kitty and Jamie into the house.
"An' now de real fun begins," Remy stated without humor.
Rogue cringed at the sound of her voice. It sounded like she may have permanently broken a vocal chord or something with how she was talking. Too much screamin', Rogue thought harshly.
Charles had not answered Carol yet. "Is there something you wanted, Professor?" Carol asked, voice cold and raspy.
"…How are you, Carol?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Both Rogue and Carol said, eerily at the same time. "Roguey?" Carol called. "Is that you?" She knew of course that it was Rogue. She did intend to play with her a bit though to make this all the sweeter. Charles rose up and Carol shouted, "Hey! I wasn't done talking to you yet!" He walked over to Rogue, who was leaning rigidly against the wall. He was afraid it would fall from behind her since she couldn't possibly push herself into it any further without doing so.
"You should ask her," Charles said.
"Are you insane? Ah can't go over there!"
"I can hear you, yanno."
Normally, if it was anyone else, Rogue would have retorted accordingly. But she could only lower her voice. "Ya can't be serious."
"She's not on good terms with either of us."
"But you didn't kill her!"
"True. Rogue, listen to me. I know this seem harsh, but you can't run from this. These are your dreams that she could possibly possess. You need to be the one to get them back, not me."
Rogue snorted. "Easier said than done."
"By a long shot. Just go. I will be right here if you need me."
"That's reassurin'," she mumbled. Todd was raht, her thoughts flickering back to Christmas. Xavier is just like Dr. Finkelstein. Slowly, she trekked over to the cage. It seemed to take an incredible amount of effort to lift up her feet to take each step.
She finally reached it and kneeled down. "I though you'd never get here."
Rogue's gray green eye gazed wearily at Carol's bight blue one. "Fohgive me if Ah don't seem overly anxious 'bout this conversation."
"I'll just add it to the list of things I'll get you back for when I get out of here," she said menacingly.
"Ah dunno about you, but Ah really don't wanna spend any more time in here."
"You say that as if I have an option of leaving. Come on! We should be, like, best buds by now. We've lived together for how long now?"
"Ah don't need a roommate in mah head."
"I wouldn't say it as if I've been cramping your style. You locked me in a fucking closet, Christ."
"Enough of this metaphorical bullshit. Do you know where mah dreams went?"
Carol's eye squinted with a smile. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."
"Don't do this, Carol."
"And ruin my fun by just letting you know? You're not a bargainer at all. You should bring that Cajun bitch of yours in."
Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Don't ya bring him inta this."
"See, you always want that, but I do that anyway. When will you learn that I'm not going to listen to you just to spite you. You may not have figured this out yet, but I'm not particularly fond of you. Wasting what could be the happiest days of my life in this cube is not how I wanted to spend my life."
"Here we go again. Ya're just gonna go on an' on about how Ah ruined yoah life, how Ah took it away from you." Two can play at bein' cocky, Rogue thought evilly… and also bravely. It took all her control to not rack with shivers because this was the last thing in the world she wanted to be doing.
"That's exactly what it's about though!"
"We've gone over this befoh. Ah had no choice."
"Don't turn this into a story about you. You took my life from me."
"Lookit Miss Selfish over here. Oh wait, Ah'm sorry, it was Miss Marvel."
A growl was heard, no doubt from Carol. "Do you want your fucking dreams or not?"
Rogue's features softened. "So ya do have them?" She whispered.
Carol took a second before replying. "I had to occupy myself somehow," she said casually, although quietly. "Your dreams are quite fun. Especially the more recent ones."
"How did ya get them?"
"For me to know and you to figure out. That's not the point though, is it now? You just want them for the time being so you can figure out what Sinister did to you when you were a kid, right?"
"How did ya know?"
"Don't think I'm locked away from everything, Roguey. This shack you've shoved me into is where everything filters through before being stored in wherever part of your mind."
Rogue wasn't' too comfortable with Carol knowing more about how her mind worked than her. It only made sense though. Carol was living in her head. She wasn't an entity, a presence in a matter of terms, or an imprint. She was a living, breathing personality in her head. Of course she would have full out emotions, meaning boredom when it came around to it. She'd probably spent the last year or so taking in everything she could about her surroundings to keep herself from going completely insane.
Carol laughed, and it wasn't nice. "I know what you're thinking. I've tapped into that, too."
"How the hell could you know what Ah'm thinkin'?"
"This is your mind, Rogue. The thinking does happen in here, yanno. It's only a matter of finding one of the speakers and you can hear everything."
"You were never this cynical befoh."
"Talking to yourself to pass the time does that. That, and I've ripped out all my hair at this point… I did it to see if I could watch it grow back. I measure it by the lengths of my nails, which have gotten particularly gross. See?" She stuck her pinky finger out of the miniscule hole, showing a rather ugly and chipped nail that was about four inches long. She pulled it out of view once she heard Rogue gasped disgustedly. "I refuse to bite them... nasty habit. Anyway, about my hair… it hasn't grown back in too well. I think the first thing I'll do when I get out of here is get that mess cleaned up."
"Ya really think Ah'm gonna let you out of there?"
There was that laugh again. "Do you really think I'm just going to give you the dreams freely? You're so funny sometimes, Rogue!"
Rogue sighed in frustration. "Okay. You wanna bargain? Fine. Let's go then. What do ya want in return foh mah dreams?"
"… Didn't I just tell you what I wanted?"
"Ya're gonna hafta be a little more specific than that. Ah mean… if ya're lookin' foh full out freedom in mah mind, that's not gonna work."
"Aww, what a pity then. No deal."
"You know as well as Ah do that option is a bit extreme!"
"It's all a matter of prices, Roguey Roo." Rogue grimaced. God, how she hated that nickname. Of course Carol would've known that. "The thing is," Carol continued. "I know how much these dreams mean to you. Kind of like those credit card commercials. Rogue's gloves: $15, Rogue's hair job: $35, Rogue's dreams: …priceless." Rogue only stared. "Alright, alright. I know the hair is natural, no need to be stonefaced."
The southern girl pulled away from the hole for a moment to collect her thoughts. She did not dare look at Xavier. He forfeited his chance to give advice the second he sent her over to Carol. "Ah'll let ya live as me foh a couple hours," she relented aloud.
"A day," Carol commanded.
"Ten hours."
"Twenty."
"Eleven."
"Fifteen?" This time it came out in the form of a question, almost a plea.
"Twelve."
"Thirteen?"
"Done." Rogue could practically feel Carol grinning through the thick concrete. She just scooted further away and laid her head on her knees. "Ah'm so gonna regret this."
"Of course you are."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"You're welcome."
Rogue sighed angrily. "Does the word 'rhetorical' mean anythin' ta you?"
"Not a thing."
"Ah'm definitely gonna regret this," Rogue moaned, burying her pale face in her equally pale hands.
Remy held his shoulder as he, Pietro and the rest of the Brotherhood plodded into the house. Logan had moved to the base of the steps, keeping the peeping new recruits at bay. Jamie was safely kept downstairs away from the curious ears of those upstairs. The news would of course make it around the mansion in a matter of time, but it would've been better if the situation was slightly solved before doing so. Hank, Scott and Jean were now in the foyer as well. Scott and Jean immediately scowled at the presence of the Brotherhood, but they ignored them completely as they, plus Remy, walked over to the couch where Mystique sat. Kitty sat with Kurt and Jamie on the opposite couch.
"Remy? Is something wrong with your shoulder?" Hank asked, observant of the Cajun's posture.
"T'ink I t'rew it out," he mumbled as Hank bounded over.
"Lift up your shirt. I'll examine it quickly," he said. Even though Hank was a chemistry teacher at Bayville High, his expertise in the medical field was never questioned.
"Sure," Remy said in the same tone as before. He peeled off his jacket and his black t-shirt followed. A gasp elicited from Tabitha's lips, but she received a jab from the elbows of both Pietro and Todd.
"Just admiring art, jeez."
"I would normally be flattered, Tabby, but as y' c'n see, I'm jus' not too enthusiastic t'night." He hissed through his teeth as Hank rotated his arm around.
"You pulled a muscle," Hank diagnosed. "I'll go retrieve a sling from the medical area." And then he bounded off.
Everyone settled down after that. Remy sat awkwardly to Mystique's left, and Lance was to his left. On the third couch sat Pietro, Tabitha and Todd, and sitting alone in the reclining chair was Fred. Mystique just stared at her hands in her lap, while Remy propped his good elbow on the back of the couch and fumbled his fingertips across his lips.
"Excuse me if I think something is wrong with this scene," Jean suddenly spoke up. She was glaring at the Brotherhood intently, but wondering why Remy… well, not Remy, but mainly why Kurt and Kitty hadn't said a thing to them or about their presence.
"Not now, Princess," Todd mumbled.
"What was that, Tolensky?" Scott asked. Jean was glaring daggers at Todd for the degrading title.
"I didn't say nothin'."
"Yeah, I didn't hear anything," Fred said, backing him up.
"What is going on here?" Scott was getting very agitated.
"Summers, this really ain't the time for chit-chat. Right now, to some of us, our sister is going through of hell of a lot in her head, and all you can care about is what you don't know? And I thought I was selfish." Kitty threw a cautious glance towards Lance after he finished talking, but he rolled his eyes in return.
"Remy?" Jean turned to him, sighing. Her patience was wearing thin.
"Don' look at me. I'm not in de mood t' tell y' what's goin' on because I'm likely t' blow up if I have t' utter a word. Unless y' lookin' for some remodelin' tips courtesy of me, I t'ink y' better shut up."
"He's got a point," Logan said from behind. "You're at the same level as them," he hooked a thumb up towards the younger recruits at the top of the steps. "You should go up there an' keep 'em under control. They don't need to be gettin' involved in this."
"You're reducing us to babysitting?" Jean asked incredulously.
Logan thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I am. Now just go up." Jean quickly glared at him and the rest of the group for a short moment and stomped up the steps. Scott looked at the group as well, but no one could tell his emotion underneath his shades, though it was no doubt an unhappy one. He followed Jean up the stairs as well.
"I thought they'd never leave," Tabitha muttered under her breath.
"I hear that," Fred seconded.
Mystique lifted her head up, mainly towards Logan. "Would it be possible for me to see her?"
"She's in a trance right now, Raven," Ororo stated calmly as she entered the area. "The professor with her deep in her mind."
"Could I just watch her?"
Ororo glanced to Logan, who sort of just shrugged with his eyes. "Very well," Ororo relented. Mystique slowly picked herself up and followed Ororo back into the library.
"Are you thinking that I'm actually going to try something?" Mystique asked with a chuckle as they walked.
"The thought did cross my mind, but I do have the feeling that you have no hostility towards any of us tonight." She opened the door for Mystique and soon the two women were out of sight.
Remy stopped playing with his lip and glanced around to everyone else. They all just sat in a very awkward silence, as if nothing they could say would carry a conversation for even three minutes. His eyes fell to Mystique's seat, where a lone pack of cigarettes lay. They beckoned to him. Smoke me, Remy. I'll make you feel better. It was an enticing offer… maybe the nicotine would do him good.
"You should go see her too," Pietro suggested.
"I don' wan' see her."
"What?" Kitty asked in total disbelief. "How could you not want to see her?"
"I jus' don', alright?" In a deft motion, he palmed the pack off the seat and stood up. "Anyone wanna get some air?" Pietro stood up with him, as did Tabitha. Remy nodded to them in thanks and then looked to the others. "If Hank asks where I am, don' tell him I'm outside." He waved the pack at them and the institute kids understood. Then he left, Pietro and Tabitha behind him.
They walked out around to a few yards away from the pool area. Remy leaned against the wall and held up the pack to Pietro, offering. "No thanks," Pietro declined.
He held it to Tabitha next, who took one gratefully. "Didn' know y' smoked, Tabby."
"An occasional thing," she stated simply. "Nothing too much so I don't get addicted. Can ya light me?" She held the cigarette to her lips and Remy placed his fingertip to the end of it. It sparked to life with his power and Tabitha took in a drag, coughing for a second as she got used to it.
Remy did the same to his own. He took a nice, long, needed drag and enjoyed the nicotine that instantly rushed into his system. Immediately he felt better. "I forgot how relaxin' dese t'ings are." He took another drag and slowly let out the smoke through his partially opened lips.
"You think Mysti's gonna be mad about the smokes?" Tabitha asked Pietro.
"Tonight I think it's the last thing on her mind. If she bitches later on, I'll steal her a whole carton," he replied nonchalantly.
"Okay. I think she already hates me for breaking into her room," she laughed.
"I think she adores the neon orange walls. The paint job you and Todd did is awesome."
"The splatters where his idea, really."
Remy half-listened as they purposely went off on a tangent about Tabitha's designing changes to Raven's room. Soon he was done his cigarette and snubbing the end under the heel of his sneaker. He considered getting another one out of the pack, but that would lead to a third and a fourth one at least. And then he would be back to where he was before joining the X-Men. And when this was all over and done with, Rogue wouldn't be too happy with her wasted effort of making him quit. When dis is all over… he thought wistfully. Like hell dat's gon' happen.
Pietro and Tabitha stopped talking and just stared at Remy. He felt their eyes on him and looked up. "What?"
"You need to see her," Pietro stated, with Tabby nodding.
"I tol' y' already dat I don' wan' see her."
"Yes, you do," Pietro said. "The act of being away from her is tearing you apart as we speak."
"Dat's not de point."
"Then what is, Remy?" Tabby countered.
Remy glanced briefly to Pietro, his red eyes flashing so quickly that Tabitha almost missed the motion. "Just go, Remy. Face it." He stressed 'it', not to be degrading, but he meant for him to face his fears.
"I wish I could," He whispered, fumbling another cigarette out of the pack.
Pietro swatted it away from him before Remy could fully take it out. "Get in there with her, now. Don't you think that when she wakes up she'll need you there?"
"She will… but-"
"No 'buts'. Just get in there and hold her."
"Fine!" Remy shouted loudly. He pushed himself away from the wall and stomped back to the front.
"What was that about?" Tabby asked, finally finishing her smoke.
"Wish I could tell ya. C'mon." He grabbed her hand and led her back into the house.
Remy had walked by Todd and the others without so much of a word. He went straight to the library without stopping. He flung open the door, surprising Ororo and Mystique.
"What are you doing in here, Remy?" Ororo asked.
Remy was at Rogue's side before they could realize it. "I'm here f'r moral support." Before either could stop him, Remy had his bare hand on Rogue's face.
"What the hell is he doing?" Mystique yelled as she ran over to break the contact between the southerners. Xavier was shaken out of his trance, but Rogue remained still.
"What is going on?" Charles asked reflexively without really observing.
"He's in her mind," Ororo whispered.
"That rat bastard!" Mystique hissed.
"Calm down, Raven," Charles said tranquilly. "No harm that comes to her will be his fault."
"What do you mean, Professor?" Ororo asked.
"Carol has been set loose."
TBC…
Alright, I wasn't planning to make this a multi-chapter story… but I was getting sick of looking at what I had and wanted to get it out. :o) Anyway, the next chapter will most likely be the conclusion, unless it takes me too long to post once again. This story will not turn into the 20-some chapter saga like 'Street Livin', though I would love to write something in the Evolution verse that long. Please review and let me know you're reading this!! (I feel like people are bored of Evo Rogue/Remy stories after DoR…) Thanks!
