Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 6

Chapter 5:  Lessons on You

             Kitty came into the hospital wing bright and early the next morning, her hair pinned back in glittering flower hair clips, her sapphire eyes slightly accented with just a hint of pale blue eye shadow, and mascara, she wore dark grey pin striped bootcut pants and a navy blue blouse with three quarter length sleeves.

             "Good morning," she said in a sing song voice as she approached the bed where a tired looking Remy LeBeau was lying bored, biting his nails just for something to do.  His long brown hair was unwashed, unkempt and hanging all over him. 

             "Morning…" Remy replied, seeming rather vague, watching her with eyes of total bewilderment, Kitty could see he didn't recognise her in the slightest.

             "I'm Katherine Pryde, you can call me Kitty, some call me Shadowcat," she said, she stepped up beside the bed, "don't bite your nails, it's a bad habit," she moved his hand slowly away from his mouth.

             Remy watched her carefully, "So you're Kitty."

             "Oh, you know about me?" she asked, slightly surprised, "Oh…well, I suppose someone might have told you I'd come see you," Kitty sat on the edge of his bed, "I was asked by the Professor to help you out with your memories…I was – I mean am – your friend."

             "I don't really remember you in the slightest either," Remy responded to her softly, he squinted as if he were trying to picture her in his mind and what part she'd played in his life.

             "That's alright, really, it is," Kitty crossed one leg over the other, "how are you feeling anyway?" She asked.  "How's the wound?  Is it healing well?  Are you uncomfortable?  Do you need another pillow?"

             "You sure are talking fast," Remy changed the subject rather quickly.

             "Oh…sorry," Kitty's cheeks flushed scarlet, she began to realise her apprehension with the situation might be causing her speech to speed up out of nervousness – this and having hardly spoken to anyone in the last few days had perhaps built up a collection of talking energy that had to be released maybe, she wasn't sure.  "Sorry, I'll slow down," she promised, "but are you okay?" she asked, guilt beginning to seep in that she hadn't come to see him up until now.

             "I have a bullet hole in my side," Remy admitted, "but apart from that I'm fine…"

             "Good, good," Kitty nodded, she wasn't sure where to start with telling him about himself, "Well…as you were probably told, I'm gonna help you out, you know, answer your questions and tell you about yourself, hopefully it'll help bring some of your memories back, I'm gonna work really hard to help you as much as I can…"

             Remy stopped her from speaking by reaching over and putting his hand upon her arm, "Right…we established that, but I have so many questions I need to ask," he said, his voice full of desperation, "and every time I ask no one is willing to answer…please…"

             "Sorry," Kitty sucked her breath through her teeth sharply, "before you start asking questions…can I just ask how much do you remember?" she queried nervously. 

             "Nothing," Remy responded, "I don't know who I am – apart from the name Remy Lebeau…this is all I know of myself…"

             "Okay," Kitty bit her lip, this was going to be one of the most difficult things she'd ever had to do, to try and teach someone all about himself.   Now she had the problem of trying to figure out where to begin…and decided introducing himself to himself might be the best way. "Well…Remy LeBeau is your name..." Kitty picked her blue nailpolish off absently, "You're twenty-seven years old – you'll be twenty eight on the first of November," she explained, "You were born – as far as we know – in Louisiana and you're bilingual in French and English," she prattled on, "any of this sound familiar?" she asked hopefully.

             Remy's interest seemed to be growing, "No…tell me more."

             Kitty paused, wondering how much else to tell, she began to tell him things, things that were altogether quite general, his favourite foods, his favourite pastimes, she limited how much she told him because she didn't want to overload his brain.  She deliberately left out any information about his mutant powers and his relationship with Rogue.  She felt he wasn't quite ready yet. 

             "So you seem to know me pretty well," Remy admitted, "Or at least, know the Remy I was before I lost my memory – how long have we been friends?" he asked, he began to bite his nails again, Kitty stopped him gently.

             "Around seven years, I guess," Kitty stated, "we weren't like best friends or anything, in fact…we had a lot of differences."

             Remy looked at her with curious eyes, "Did we date?" he raised an eyebrow, never taking his gaze off of her all the while.

             "No…god no," Kitty gave a soft nervous laugh, and as she did her mind drifted back to that night and that kiss in Remy's apartment.  The thought brought a flush of pure scarlet to her face once again, she felt her cheeks become warm and suddenly the room seemed stiflingly hot and stuffy.

             "Why are you blushing?" Remy asked, straightening up a little.

             "I'm not," Kitty protested, "I'm not blushing at all…its just really warm in here," Kitty glanced at her watch, she realised now might be a good time to end the visit – and perhaps spend some time with the other X-Men to re-establish the friendships she'd been neglecting while she'd been mourning. "Geez, I gotta go, I have some stuff to do…stuff I've neglected for way too long…" she stood slowly.

"But there's so much I still don't know…" Remy objected.

Kitty smiled softly, "Hey, don't worry.  When I find the time, I'll try and stop by again…tell you more if I can."

             "So there's a lot more then?" Remy asked hopefully.

             "Tons," Kitty explained, "but…its so complicated, and I don't think its too good to dump all that shit on you too soon, you just found out a lot…and all this information will stress you out so…"

             "Wait, what could stress me out," Remy leaned forward as if he were about to get out of bed, Kitty stopped him.

             "Nothing," she faked a dazzling smile, "just rest, I'll stop by tomorrow maybe, alright?" she waited for his reply, watching him carefully.  It seemed as if there was a totally different person sitting there.  Sure he had Remy's eyes and Remy's hair, but it wasn't Remy anymore, and it made Kitty feel slightly uneasy.

             Remy sighed finally, nodding in agreement.  "Okay, but you promise, right?" he asked, in a tone that reminded Kitty of a little boy making a mother promise something special.
             Kitty nodded, "I promise," she crossed her heart, then left the room.

             Kitty knocked on Professor Xavier's office door, and waited patiently for a response.

             {Just a few moments, Kitty,} the Professor's voice echoed in her mind, Kitty sat on the small velvet cushioned chair outside the office and waited patiently.  Finally, the office door opened, and Monet St Croix, a sixteen year old student Kitty had already had a run in with the day before, exited, she looked quite hostile, her long black hair flowing behind her as she ignored Kitty and continued to walk down the hall disappearing around the corner.

             Kitty stood and entered through the door into the office, the office was warm, and friendly, and Professor Xavier – despite his stern expression – was ever welcoming.  "Monet didn't look too happy," Kitty commented as she closed the door quietly, then stepped over.

             "Yes, she's been giving a lot of the instructors a hard time," the Professor nodded, "especially Logan.  She questions everything he asks her to do in training."

             Kitty sat down on the chair in front of the desk as the Professor gestured to it, "Yes, I know, she gives me a hard time too – she's incredibly smart and likes to show off about it, try and catch me out and make me look stupid – and she's succeeded several times."

             "Yes," The Professor nodded, "I just advised her if she intends remaining at the school and becoming one of the X-Men in future she should curb this attitude of hers," he explained.

             "Kids these days," Kitty shook her head with a slight smile, "we were never that bad when we were kids, were we?"

             Professor Xavier smiled rather slyly, "In some ways your generation were worse if possible," he picked up a folder from his desktop and put it into a drawer as he spoke.

             "No way," Kitty made a face.

             "You and Rogue were quite the trouble makers of your day," Professor Xavier's voice was light, he was definitely amused, "Sneaking out to go to nightclubs, stealing the van when neither of you had a drivers license, deliberately short circuiting equipment as a diversion so Rogue could sneak out…" he raised a sharp eyebrow.

             Kitty's cheeks once again flushed, "Yeah well…we were kids, what'd you expect?  Besides, we learned our lesson once it all went pearshaped," she reminded.

             "Yes…" the Professor's expression darkened.  "Anyway I doubt you're here to reminisce, Kitty, is something on your mind?"

             "Yeah," Kitty leaned forward in her chair, she looked the Professor right in the eyes, "Remy isn't showing any signs of remembering the stuff I just told him, I mean I spent like two hours telling him all the general stuff…"

             Professor Xavier sighed, "I'd feared as much…"

             "Of course I'm gonna keep trying…but it's kind of worrying me…" Kitty said, "I mean I have all this responsibility of trying to help Remy – what if I can't?"

             "If you can't, then it won't be your fault, Kitty," the Professor assured, "in the meantime, me and Jean are going to try and enter his mind further to see if we can dig out some memories – any at all – that might help him unlock the rest."

             "When?" Kitty asked, her eyes wide.

             "Tonight," The Professor explained, "in the meantime I'd appreciate your complete discretion regarding this information – and Remy's condition.  Please do not tell Rogue."

             "Of course I won't," Kitty assured, she stood slowly.  "I hope your luck is better than mines, Professor," Kitty added as she headed for the door.

             "So do I, Kitty, so do I."