Chapter 5: To Say Goodbye

             Rogue watched the videos over and over hoping there would be some sign of life in them, something that would indicate how Jared got in, but she herself found nothing.  She stationed herself at one monitor watching in fast motion time drone by, Kitty was stationed nearby at another monitor, she looked half asleep.

             Rogue could still not deal with the fact that Jared was dead.  It seemed only hours earlier she'd been talking about him to Remy, and now here she was at 3am mourning the young mans death – a tragic death, one full of confusion.  How could he have died this way?  How did it happen?

             Rogue was beginning to fear what Kitty had said might be true, was it possible Remy had murdered the boy?  And if so…why?  How had Jared gotten in, and why had he come back – and why hadn't he come to find her?  What had he been doing in Remy's room?

             Rogue had run out of tears and sobs, and she could feel herself wanting to slip into sleep, exhaustion still settled.  She had not caught up on her sleep yet, and now she'd never felt so tired in her life – but she felt even more determined to keep herself awake, at least until she had answers.

             "I think I found something," Kitty said, her voice low, eyes locked on a screen, "here, look…the camera right at the gate, 1.42am precisely, Jared waltzed right in…" she tapped a long fingernail on the screen where a figure looking uncannily like Jared Rickman walked in.

             "Looks like he still had access to get in…" Kitty admitted, "damn…he just wandered right in and none of us knew…" she said.

             Rogue leaned over, watching the recording, Jared was walking up towards the mansion in a very casual way, almost as if he had never left in the first place, Rogue couldn't explain the chills she felt up her spine.  Maybe it was because she was watching what might be the last few moments of Jared's short life.  She shivered and hugged herself.  "What was he doing here?" she whispered.

             Rogue got up and paced, "Where did Remy go…I mean why leave…"

             "I don't know…" Kitty sighed, "Maybe he was scared and high tailed it…or maybe he did die…maybe he's under the rubble…"

             "No…" Rogue shook her head, "I know how crafty Remy is, he had to have gotten out of there…he just had to."

             Kitty wondered if maybe Rogue was in denial…it could have been possible that Remy hadn't survived, she just didn't want to admit it.  For all the both of them knew, Remy could still be buried under the rubble right now, dead.  "What if he didn't though…"

             "No, I refuse to believe that," Rogue stopped pacing, she ran her hand through her hair absently, "We need to get into our uniforms, take the black bird and do a search, maybe we can lock cerebro onto his mutant signature…"
             "I'm afraid that would be impossible…"

             Rogue and Kitty turned towards the door, Professor Xavier had entered the room, one hand on the control of his electric wheelchair, "Professor…it can't be impossible…"

             "I'm afraid it is," Professor Xavier sighed, he looked as tired as Rogue felt.  "I've checked on cerebro – I cannot trace Gambit until he uses his powers…and even if he was using his powers, Rogue, I doubt cerebro would pick up on it, it has ever only managed to pick up very weak signals from Remy most recently…"

             "Why?!  It always works with everyone else…" Rogue frowned angrily.

             "Except from yourself and Remy," Professor Xavier stated, "something I've come to realise is that whenever you use your powers, cerebro never seems to pick up on it the way it used to – which suggests that something you and Remy have done is preventing Cerebro from sensing you…even if Remy did show on cerebro the signal wouldn't be strong enough to trace…"

             "Wait a minute, it doesn't pick Rogue up at all?" Kitty asked, she rested her arm on the back of her chair, her blue eyes curious, "Isn't that a bit strange?"

             Professor Xavier looked at Kitty, "what are you getting at?" he asked of her, he seemed too tired to understand what it was she was trying to say.

             "Well…" Kitty paused for thought, "they've both used MutantX before…" Kitty explained, "Rogue used it ages ago, remember?  And then last Christmas…Rogue and Remy were being held prisoner…Remy's ex-girlfriend used MutantX to stop them using their powers…" Kitty explained, "Rogue has used A LOT more of it than Remy has.  What if there's something in it that changes one of the genes permanently?" she asked.

             Professor Xavier seemed suddenly concerned, "this is a possibility."

             Rogue looked at him, "can we stop making theories about this for now?  Remy is still out there – god knows where, and we need to find him!" she said shrilly.

             "Rogue, you are exhausted, and grieving, you're in no fit state to go looking for Remy, right now," Professor Xavier stated, "leave the search up to us, if he is out there somewhere, we shall find him."

             Kitty yawned a little, "what can we do while you guys are out searching?"

             "I would advise to get some sleep," Professor Xavier stated.

             "Get some sleep?  I can't sleep with all that's happened, I need to know what's going on, I need to talk to Remy and get answers, Professor!" Rogue gaped.

             Kitty looked at Rogue, "Rogue, you've missed like a whole nights sleep somewhere along the lines, you need to catch up on it, you're already a wreck."

             Rogue sighed, "please…let me go look for him…"

             "No, I can't allow that," Professor Xavier said, "stay here, and wait for our return, if you don't sleep, it is your choice, but do not leave the mansion," he said sternly, then turned, and left. 

             Rogue frowned, "I'm gonna search Remy's room," she sighed, she waited a few minutes until the professor had left before speaking, she headed towards the door and looked down the hallway, moments later, she heard the take off of the blackbird Jet.  She chose this moment to rush to the elevator, Kitty followed curtly.

             They soon approached Remy's room, climbing and stepping over the rubble of the destroyed bedroom, Kitty trying desperately to avoid stepping on broken glass from the blown up window, she phased herself through what she could.  The two girls searched thoroughly finding no sign of Remy, or what might have possibly happened.  There were no signs of a struggle, because the explosion seemed to have hidden all traces of any clues that might have given them some indication of what had caused the incident.

             "Nothing…" Rogue whispered, she reached over to pull the closet door open, and jumped back as it fell, having obviously been affected by the impact, the hinges mangled.  She glanced in, everything seemed in place just as it should have been, nothing was gone.  She headed over to the bedside cabinet which was sitting on its side, the drawers askew, the contents scattered across the carpet, Rogue reached down, picking up a few playing cards, none of them seemed to have been the culprit of the explosion, since all were perfectly intact. 

             "He didn't use cards…" Kitty said, "I've looked too, I don't see any signs of a proper fight, none of his weapons are around though…were does he keep his long stick thing?"

             "It's called a bo-staff," Rogue retorted in a haughty tone, "and he keeps it in the pocket of his coat," Rogue admitted, "I saw it hanging on the back of the chair earlier, its not there now though…" she looked around, "where he's gone…he's taken it with him…"

             Kitty looked around, "this seems so weird…"

             Rogue looked around, suddenly realising that it didn't seem at all strange to her, "I…he…" her voice faltered, "He was talkin' about taking off, wanting to leave…start fresh," she whispered, "Kitty…he wouldn't have…he couldn't have…" she shook her head.

             "He'd have never gone without you," Kitty stated firmly, "c'mon, he's infatuated, why would he leave you?"

             Rogue drew her breath, "He was upset…he thought he was cracking up, Kitty…oh my god what if he did, what if he did kill Jared…what if he is a murderer," Rogue put her hands to her mouth in extreme horror.  Her dark green eyes widening.  "Oh my god…" she whispered, "what if he did…"

             "Calm down, don't start getting all dramatic," Kitty said, "Maybe it was stupid of me to make an assumption like that, come on, Remy?  A killer?  He couldn't kill time," Kitty joked, but it didn't gain a laugh from Rogue.   Kitty paused for thought, "come on, Rogue, Remy can be a little unhinged at times, sure, but the most he could do to anyone is maim them, I doubt he'd just kill some dude in cold blood, even if it was Jared…"

             "He almost killed that guy in the nightclub!" Rogue yelled.

             "He was on EDGE!  He had just lost a baby, and then you got raped, what did you expect him to do, just quietly sit by and let it go?" Kitty pointed out.

             Rubbed her forehead, a very sharp persistent pain beginning to grow just between her eyebrows, "god, this can't be happening, it can't be happening…why is he doing this…why didn't he come to me, why did he just leave…"

             Kitty sighed, "do you think he'll come back?"

             "I can't stand around here and wait to find out," Rogue said, she left the room and headed up to her own bedroom to get some clothes on.

             "Where are you gonna go?!" Kitty followed at a quick pace.

             "To look for him…there's one place I think he might be…" Rogue sighed, "I just hope I'm right," she sighed, "If he was going to high tail it for good, and start a new life…I think he'd have one last stop to make before he did," she yanked off her Pyjama top and pulled on a thick sweater, pulling her hair quickly out of the collar.

             "Where?" Kitty asked curiously.

             Rogue took a deep breath and pulled some black jeans – ripped at the knee – over her pyjama shorts, "to say goodbye to Gabrielle."