Well, here's chapter 2. It took less time to finish than I thought it would, probably because it's slightly shorter than chapter 1. This is where traces of a plotline can be found…if you look reeeeeally closely. It's there, I promise! Oh, yeah. One thing. In case I didn't warn you before, I am very anti-Xavier and not too big a fan of Jean, either. Beware, telepath fans…
[Random Quote: "And what have we learned from this experience, Drake?" "…girls are scary."]
It didn't take much for Remy to figure out where Rogue was when he discovered she wasn't in her room around mid-morning. Nor was he all that surprised, if he was to be completely honest with himself. Sure enough, no sooner had he entered through the Danger Room doors (noting to himself how easy it was to get by security) when he spotted her limp form. She was breathing heavily, almost gasping for air, and only semi-conscious.
The question was: for how long?
With a look of sadness on his face, he wordlessly walked over to Rogue, bending down on one knee beside her. He checked her forehead, discouraged to find her even warmer than she had been that morning. He lovingly brushed away a few damp strands of hair that had been matted to her forehead with sweat.
"Merde, Chere." He sighed, "Why didn' y' listen t' Remy?"
The surgery was intense, and took several hours to perform. A majority of Ryo's wounds were so deep thank Hank had to be sure no vital organs had been struck before he could sew them up. She was lucky; there was some damage to her lungs, but nothing more than a few scratches on the tissue. A sliver of bone had been discovered leaning up against her lower spinal chord, so sharp it was a wonder it hadn't severed. Still, it took the most delecate of procedures to remove it and prevent any future disasters.
Blood loss was another major issue, but fortunately both Jean and Jubilee shared compatible blood types with the young girl, and were both willing to donate a pint each, more than enough to put the girl out of immediate danger.
Despite the usual method of resting back injury patients on their stomachs, a few hours after he finished wrapping her bandages (to prevent infection), Hank allowed Ryo to lay on her back on some extra-soft fluff pillows so she could have visitors. The anesthesia had yet to leave her system, leaving her a bit drowsy, so he had suggested they keep the visits short.
It was close to one in the afternoon, almost five hours after the accident, when everyone wandered in the infirmary to see how Ryo was faring. Hank had warned them that it would best to see her one at a time, but of course nobody listened. However, while the others quickly crowded around her bedside, Scott and Jean drifted off to the side.
"What is it, Scott?" Jean questioned; he had been the one to pull her over, saying it was important.
"It's about Ryo," He began in a hushed whisper, not quite sure how to explain his suspicions. Heck, he wasn't quite sure what exactly they were himself. "This is probably going to sound ridiculous and totally out of line, but…"
When he didn't elaborate, she queried further. "But what?"
"I think the Professor let her get hurt."
"What?!" He sudden outburst caught the attention of the rest of the room for a brief moment, but neither of them seemed to notice. Jean managed to regain her composure and lower her voice enough to continue: "I assume you have some proof to back this up?"
He started to nod, then uneasily paused. "Well, not proof exactly. You see…" He explained the brief telepathic conversation with Xavier earlier that morning.
Scott had expected some reaction out of her, but he certainly didn't expect her to laugh—laugh—when he finished. "Scott, listen to me." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulders, looking him serenely in the eye. "I know that, as team leader, you feel responsible for the safety of every team member. But you can't beat yourself up when something goes wrong, like what happened earlier today."
"Wh-what do you mean?" He was obviously confused; he had been accusing Xavier, not himself.
"There was no way the Professor could have foreseen something like this happening. His powers are telepathy, not precognition. The same goes for you. Someone gets hurt under your watch—a Newbie on her first day of training, no less—and you immediately try to place blame…find a direct cause."
"But I warned him she had poor control…"
She interrupted him, her voice remaining calm. "You need to understand that things can happen by accident, Scott...despite what they teach us in school, it is possible." He forced himself to smile. Given all the evidence, Jean did have a point. And it did make sense; this wouldn't be the first time Scott was found beating himself up over something like this. When Jean sense his mood improving, she smiled. "Feel better now?"
He nodded. "Actually, I do. Thanks, Jean."
"Anytime, Scooter." She winked, calling him by his most hated nickname, then linked arms. "Come on, let's go see Ryo."
As Jean guided him back towards the others, she suddenly received a message. ~Is there a problem, Jean?~
~No, Professor.~ She responded casually, traces of a smirk on her face. ~He was a little uneasy of the situation, but I've taken care of any suspicions he may have held towards you.~
She could feel him telepathically smile proudly at her. ~Well done, Jean…as always.~
There was one other student, however, who held back from rushing to Ryo's bedside, albeit for a different reason. Evan hadn't even changed out of his training uniform since that morning, choosing to lock himself in his bedroom where he remained until Ororo finally had to (literally) drag him out of bed. Even then, he still remained in a partially dazed state of mind.
"Evan," He vaguely heard his aunt gently call out to him. "Evan, there someone who wants to see you." She took his hand and guided him to the bed. It took a bit of coaxing on her part, but he finally made over. He was greeted by Ryo's wearily smiling face.
"Hey, Evan…you okay?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Aside from his aunt, she was the only one to ever call him by his real name, though at more of her insistence than his. "I was worried that you might have gotten hurt when we fell off that cliff. Guess I should work on that control a little better, huh?"
He managed a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." She visible relaxed. "What about you? Feeling any better?"
She gave a smug grin he knew well, moving to sit up. "A little fall can't keep me—" But she was cut off as a sudden wave of pain ripped down her spine, causing her to wince. "Oh, I should not have done that…"
Hank rushed to her side at once. "I must insist you refrain from moving, my dear, otherwise you run the risk of your wounds re-opening." He gently laid her back down against the pillows. Feeling worse by the minute, Evan back away slowly until he was out of Ryo's line of sight. Not that she noticed; the sudden movement had caused a rush of blood to her head that made her dizzy.
"Y'know…wit' all dis concern f'r one team member, it make Gambit wonder why y' don' notice when anot'er falls ill." A sudden voice rang from the infirmary doorway.
Everyone abruptly turned to find Remy LeBeau, codename Gambit, walk in with an unconscious Rogue in his arms. The X-men immediately stood their guard, Scott coming forward.
"What did you do to her?" He growled.
Remy met his gaze with even more anger. "Didn' y' just hear what Gambit said? Gambit haven' done merde t' her…de femme be sick wit' fever. See f'r y'self."
His tone stopped Scott in his tracks, leaving him almost speechless. Hank, noticing the flush on Rogue's cheeks, stepped forward. Donning a pair of thin, latex gloves for protection, he placed one hand over her forehead, his eyes widening in surprise. "Dear me! No wonder she fainted; her temperature can't be anything less than one hundred and three degrees!" He stepped back, motioning towards the nearest cot. "If you wouldn't mind, sir, would you please place her on the bed here? I must see if I have a cooling compress somewhere around…" He spoke this last sentence more to himself than Remy.
Remy did just as the bestial doctor had requested, not unaware of the sudden attention his every move was given by each person in the room. In fact, he rather enjoyed it in spite of the circumstances. Maintaining his poker face the entire time, he grinned inwardly at the looks of shock he was being given for treating the girl in his arms with such tenderness, even more so when he gently kissed her forehead after making sure she was as comfortable as possible.
"He touched her!"
"How is he still conscious!"
"You're asking me?"
He moved go get up, only to have a half-conscious Rogue grab his arm. "Don't leave, Remy." She moaned, wincing. A smile grew on Remy's face in spite of the stone-cold impression he had been trying to give, and he sat down on the side of the bed to face her.
"Remy not goin' anywhere, Chere." He trailed a finger down her jawline, putting her at ease. "Dat be a promise." Then he did the most unexpected thing.
He began to sing.
"Mon Cherie Amour, beau comme jour d'ete/Mon Cherie Amour, éloigné en tant que 'Milky Way'… " The tune was vaguely familiar, but he sang it in French, a language only he and Rogue knew fluently, "Mon Cheri Amour, le petit que j'adore…Vou êtes la seule fille mes sauts de coeur pour…Comment je souhaite que vous été les miens…"
"But Remy…" She whispered before drifting off to sleep, "Ah am yours, an' don't ya forget that. Eva'."
The tension in the air had all but vanished as Kitty watched her best friend and roommate being sweetly serenaded by her first love. That's what it was, too…love; she could tell even from where she stood. And they weren't the only ones who had fallen to it, either. She turned just in time to see Bobby place a kiss on his girlfriend's head, an arm wrapped securely around her, as she rested it on his shoulder. Sam managed to take hold of Rahne's hand, earning a faint blush from her before she intertwined their fingers together, smiling. Tabby leaned back against Ray's chest as he wrapped his arms protectively around her, despite their mutal hatred of anything "sappy." Even Scott placed a hand on Jean's shoulders, which she squeezed tightly with her own.
It was a tender moment for every couple in the room.
For Kitty, however, it was a slap in the face. She tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach so as not to ruin it for anyone else, blinking back unshed tears that threatened to spill over. She tried to appear just as happy as everyone else in the room; even Kurt was smiling as he thought of Amanda. She tried, but it wasn't long before everything became too unbearable even for her. Quietly excusing herself, her voice breaking, she slipped out of the room by phasing through the closed doors.
"Kazchen?" Kurt called out, having been the closest to her at the time. He got no response.
Jean looked over towards Xavier, receiving a silent nod in response. She got the message. "I'll go after." Without another word, Jean existed the room as well. As she left, Xavier turned to address those still remaining.
"Well, now. It's been a rather exhilarating afternoon, hadn't it? But I do believe it would probably be best right now for everybody to leave so our patients can get some rest." He motioned to the two now-fast asleep girls. There were a few murmurs in the crowd, but everyone soon began drifting out of the room, shouts of "get well" and "feel better" fading as they left, knowing they couldn't be heard anyway.
Soon, only Scott and Remy remained. The latter had yet to get from his seat next to Rogue, so Scott took the initiative and walked over to meet him eye-to-eye. "I'm…sorry about earlier." He finally spoke after a moment. "You see, we thought you were working for Magneto and—"
"Gambit don' work f'r nobody, homme…" His curtness then subsided as he put on a slightly more friendly expression. "But t'anks. Apology accepted." And, like gentlemen, they shook hands briefly before Remy gave a sudden frown. Diverting his gaze away from Scott, he instead focused it towards the back of the room. "Y' always make a habit t' invade ot'ers minds, Monsieur?"
Any surprise Xavier might have had at Remy's sudden outburst was well hidden. "Of course not, but surely you can understand the reason for suspicion, Mr. …"
"LeBeau."
"…Mr. LeBeau." He repeated. "You have fought against us once before, and I simply wish to be absolutely certain you have no intentions to harm any of the students under my care."
Remy scoffed, but didn't say anything more on the subject. Instead, he turned back to Rogue. "It be okay if Gambit wishes t' stay wit' her a bit, non?" He spoke to Hank, who mutely nodded a response before going back to work. With Remy's back now to the two of them, Scott took his cue to leave the room and Xavier backed off as well, turning to wheel himself over to Ryo's bedside to check on her.
"Kitty? Open the door, please, it's Jean." After a few moments of silence, Jean used her telepathy to unlock the door. She cautiously walked in only to find the younger girl sitting on the edge of her bed Indian-style. A small stuffed animal in the form of a purple dragon was being held tight in Kitty's clutches as she stared absently at the ground beneath her. Her expression was completely neutral, but the tears didn't go by unnoticed.
Carefully, Jean moved to sit next to her. "Are you all right, Kitty?" She didn't respond verbally, only clung tighter to Lockheed (the name she called her stuffed dragon), and Jean had her answer. "What's wrong? Everybody's worried about you."
"I-I…" The brunette tried to speak, but her mouth couldn't seem to form the words. The traces of guilt in her voice gave her away, however, and Jean didn't need to use her powers to realize what was wrong.
"Oh, Kitty," She placed a sister arm around the girl's shoulders, speaking as softly as she could. "You're still in love with him, aren't you?" It was no secret amidst the mansion that the breakup between Kitty and Lance some months before—aside from being rather unexpected—still effected her deeply, even then.
Kitty tried denying it, but her shake of the head ended up coming out as a nod. She leaned her head down against Jean's shoulder. "What's wrong with me? I'm supposed to hate him…but I can't."
"Why are you doing this to yourself?" Jean sighed, feeling nothing but pity for the girl at the moment. "Listen to me, Kitty, very carefully. No guy is worth beating yourself up over for, especially Lance Alvers." That succeeded in getting her attention. Kitty sat up to look Jean directly in the eye. "I know it sounds harsh, but it's true. He had his chance…in fact, you gave him more chances, shown more patience than any girl I've ever known. And what did he do? Blow it all away!"
"I know that." Kitty turned away. "Believe me. I know it, and yet I just can't seem to accept it."
Jean gave her a comforting smile, smoothing out some of the loose strands atop Kitty's head. "Tell you what. Why don't you sleep on it? Relax, take a little nap. I'll cover for you the rest of the day…sound good?" She nodded, and Jean got up to leave.
"Hey Jean?" She paused in the doorway at the sound of her name. "…thanks. For everything."
As she shut the door behind her, leaving the younger girl to her thoughts, Jean paused to lean against it. Wincing slightly, she placed a hand to her head in pain, shaking it a few times in sudden confusion. Passing it off as a simple migraine, she stood up and made her way back down the hall to continue on with her day.
TO BE CONTINUED…
*note—the song Remy sang earlier in this chapter was a French translation of "My Cherie Amour," originally done in English by the fabulous Stevie Wonder and translated by moi via Altavista.com.