Callous
Chapter 09 – Turret [1]
"Yeah, they're in there with him now," Kitty said over the phone.
"But why is he there? Is he joining up with you guys or something?" Lance asked.
"I don't know. The Professor only wanted to meet with them. I guess he'll fill us in later."
"Think it could be a set up or something?"
"Do you think? I mean, that would totally suck. If he's using Rogue and all..."
"Yeah, I think we should keep this from Pietro for now. Just in case."
"Keep what from me, Lance?"
Lance looked up and saw Pietro chewing on an apple and leaning nonchalantly in the doorway. There was an angry glimmer in his eyes.
"I gotta go, Kitty. Pietro just heard me."
"Oops. Sorry. Well, good luck."
"Yeah, I'll need it. Talk later. Bye."
"Bye, Lance."
Lance hung up the phone and ran a tired hand through his hair.
"So, what is it?" Pietro asked, containing his anger.
He was getting tired of having to still prove himself to them. When they accepted him back into the house, they didn't really forgive him as he'd hoped. Pietro was thinking they only let him back in so they could keep an eye on him. Sort of like the saying, 'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.' Like it did them any good before.
"First, promise me that you won't run straight to the Institute and start a fight."
That got Pietro's attention. He moved his weight off the doorway, preparing to do just what Lance asked him not to.
"Just tell me," Pietro told him.
A sigh, then, "Let's get everyone together. They all should hear this."
"Some of dis stuff isn't pretty, mes amis," Gambit said in all seriousness as he motioned to everyone in the room. "Sure y' want everyone watching?"
"We're not leaving ya in here alone with the Professor," Logan said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't trust ya, and I don't like how friendly ya are with the doc. So, quit stalling and show us what ya got, Gumbo."
"Look, pup," Gambit said, earning him a raised brow from Logan for the nickname. He pulled out a video for Logan and the others to see and said, "People on dis tape might not like an audience watching dis." He held up a disk. "De technical stuff, de t'ings on dis disk, gonna be bad enough. But y' doc here has t' know so he can take proper care of de kids. But dis—" he held the video up again, his eyes straying briefly to Rogue then back to Logan before he continued, "—Dis made Remy t'row up his dinner."
Logan furrowed his brow. He hadn't thought of that.
Xavier cleared his throat, lowering the tension and drawing attention to him. "Perhaps Gambit has a point, Logan. But, I must ask, why did you bring it if you thought the students on it would object to our watching it? Were you not supposed to bring us back tangible evidence from Dr. Milbury's treatment of them as proof to your continuing usefulness to us and proof of Dr. McTaggert's claims?"
Gambit slid the disk across the desk to Xavier. "Dis is de proof y' asked for. Mais, de video, Dieu, it has some key answers. I'd call it a bonus, 'cept it's not'ing y'd be pleased t' see."
"And how they gonna like knowing ya saw it?" Logan snapped as he stood. He poked a finger at Gambit's chest, and added, "At least we're their friends. For some, the only family they have."
"How else was I know supposed to figure out which ones had anyt'ing useful t' y' on dem," Remy said, heat in his words to match the heat in his burning orbs.
"Everyone just remain calm," Xavier said, trying to mediate them. He knew Wolverine wouldn't react positively to Remy, but he didn't expect them to clash quite so much. It was another problem added to his already long list of problems.
Storm rose to her feet, her wisdom exhibited in her tone as she said, "Why don't you tell us who is on the video and give us enough of a description so that we can ask them who of us they would permit to see it?"
"All of dem," Gambit said. "X-men and de Brotherhood guy... and ot'ers."
Storm swallowed her gasp. She was hoping desperately that Evan wasn't on it. She controlled her emotions, but she had to sit down again in order to hear the rest.
Logan grimaced. He couldn't remember any time where he was in the same room with Rogue, Fred, Evan, and Hank all at the same time. Other than being in their cells in the cellblock, of course. But, then again, he was drugged so much while he was there that he didn't remember a lot of what happened.
Hank was puzzled. His thoughts were much along the same lines as Logan's.
Gambit looked to Rogue for her reaction. She was clammed up, though, showing nothing but grim resolve.
"Dere's about two, two and a half days of footage, compressed," Gambit explained. "It's from sometime during de week before y' escaped."
Logan and Hank were wracking their brains but couldn't remember anything so horrific they would refuse to let the Professor see it.
"It's the slabs," Rogue spat venomously. She was pissed off that they didn't remember. She didn't want to be mad that they were allowed the unique bliss of their ignorance, but, at the same time, she thrived in it. She had a whole jumble of hot and cold feelings on the subject. Even though she knew they had the right to know, she was glad they had forgotten the horrors, had been able to move on without the taint of their memories. She was angry that she remembered more than they did and yet, conversely, she was angry for not remembering everything on top of it.
"I'm afraid I have no knowledge of such a place," Beast said.
"Ya weren't there much, Hank. Ya were lucky on that." The last part was very quiet. She looked to Logan, explaining, "It's where we escaped from, right at the end."
"I don't remember much," Logan admitted with annoyance. "They kept us drugged most of the time."
"That is, as they say, an understatement," Hank mildly added. "I doubt we will be of much help in deciding what could be seen without seeing it for ourselves first. Not an altogether pleasant thought, if what Gambit here suggests is true, but perhaps necessary."
Scott spoke up. "Could each of them only watch the part that they are on?"
Gambit thought about it then shook his head. "Non, not really. A few parts, maybe. Mais, it's not singled out like dat, y' know?"
"Would you mind if the others on the tape saw it?" Xavier's question was obviously directed at Logan, Hank, and Rogue.
"Don't see how much of a choice we have," Logan said and shifted in discomfort. That was as much of an assent as he would give.
"Unfortunate, but true," Hank said. "I agree to it as well."
They looked to Rogue, who scowled.
"What do ya think, Remy?" She asked. "Are the answers worth it?"
Varying silent responses of surprise filled the room. Rogue's deference to him implied an intimate trust between them. As far as they knew Rogue wasn't that friendly with anyone. She never let anyone get that close to her. They all wondered, why him?
"Oui, Rogue," Gambit replied.
The look he gave Rogue when he said it was so tender it made Logan want to snarl.
Rogue bit her lip, thinking it over, then said, "All right. But just us at first."
"Well then," Xavier said. "If you are up to it, why don't you look over the video now while I familiarize myself with the disk."
Jean got up, pulling Scott with her, and said, "We'll call the brotherhood."
Storm followed them out, saying, "I'll get Evan."
As they left, Logan held his hand out for the video. Gambit smirked, and to rile Logan, handed it to Rogue instead. Rogue took it, but rolled her eyes at the macho display that Remy and Logan were putting on.
Lance observed the collected rag-tags from his position just inside the kitchen, where he was sipping coffee and gathering his reserve for what he had to tell them.
Tabitha was sprawled on the torn, musty love seat, with one leg dangling over the right armrest, the other hung up over the back of it, and her head lying back over the left armrest. She popped her gum in her usual bored manner.
Todd was crouched on the floor as near to Wanda as she would let him, his attention switching from Lance, in curiosity, to Wanda, to whom he gave the goofiest, lovelorn grin. Todd been shoved and smacked and badmouthed by her for his doting too many times for Lance to count. Lance had to give the little toad credit for his diligence and fortitude.
Wanda, leaning in the doorway leading to the hall, was vainly ignoring Todd. It was poorly done, if the twitch in the left side of her scowl was any indication. Pietro was nearly a mirror image of his twin, by way of how he leaned against the wall near the front door. Both had that twitch of annoyance to their lips. Both looked ready to bolt at any moment. Both had arms crossed indignantly and tapped one out-jutted foot. Besides their looks, the next biggest difference between them was the speed in which they tapped. Wanda's was a slow, calculated rhythm, off beat, sort of, so that it made Lance want to snap and exclaim, just tap it already! Pietro, on the other hand, tapped away in maddening impatience.
The last of their motley group, Fred, took up nearly the entire couch all by his lonesome. His expression though, bore no resemblance to loneliness. He seemed content, even if he seemed confused for Lance's abruptly called house meeting. Lance had been holding these 'house meetings' since Fred was returned to them. Pietro, though, only believed they were because of him. A mixture of arrogance and perceived lack of trust in him on the brotherhood's part formed Pietro's reasoning.
Another sip of coffee, and then Lance sighed. While the others were being called downstairs to the living room, he had received another phone call. This one was from Jean.
Lance put down his coffee cup. He then grabbed two chairs from the kitchen table and brought them into the middle of the living room. "Pietro, Wanda, can you two actually join in on this," Lance said, setting the two chairs between the couch and the broken television. It was as far from the all the doors as possible.
"Just tell us, already, Lance," Pietro said.
"Just sit down already, Pietro," Lance mocked.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Bubble gum pop!
Tummy rumble.
Fwwwip! Gulp! Burp! Stare.
"Fine," Wanda said.
Reluctantly the two left their posts. It was obvious Lance wasn't going to talk until they did. Fred moved over to one end of the couch, presumably to make room if one of the twins wanted to sit there. Speedy took the bait and sat on the couch. It was nearer the door than the two chairs Lance had brought in.
It was just as Lance, with all the others' help, had planned.
The moment Pietro sat, two beefy hands landed on his skinny arm. Todd landed, bounding from a single leap onto the back of the couch, and held Pietro in place with a hand atop each shoulder. Tabitha's grasp caught Pietro's other arm, and she sat on the arm of the couch for better leverage against him. Wanda smirked as she poised her fingers toward him, ready to snap a hex bolt at him upon the slightest provocation.
"Let me go!" Pietro protested.
"No," Lance said. "Now sit still, listen up, and hear this out, before you going running off half-crazed with jealousy."
"Gambit," Pietro ground out from gritted teeth. "What's he done?"
"Something none of us have been able to," Lance said. ...And now for the bomb... "And because of that, he's playing house at the Institute right now."
"WHAT?!"
They almost lost their hold on him. Not from his strength, he was a skinny little thing after all, but from the speed with which he tried to free himself. Newton's 2nd Law says that Force equals Mass times Acceleration (F = ma). What Pietro lacked in size he made up for in acceleration. Unfortunately for Pietro, they had the improbable turned possible on their side because of Wanda's powers.
Speedy wasn't going anywhere for the moment.
"Go on, Lance," Wanda said, readying another hex. "We've got him."
Pietro was slewing every curse he could think of at them... and every warning. Lance knew it all, already. They all did. They didn't really listen to what he said, since, well, in his angered state, he spoke too fast for them to understand anyway. So, Lance waited him out, till he was panting, tired, yet his body pinged like a tuning fork from his rage.
"You done?" Lance asked.
Pietro didn't answer. He made no sign of affirmation or objection. Lance simply took his lack of response to mean something like 'just spit it out and get it over with so you'll finally let me go and I can pummel you and then pummel that slimy Cajun.'
"Gambit was hired to steal information and evidence about Trask and Milbury and the experiments." Lance paused, letting that sink in.
"And?" Pietro gritted out. Lance had paused too long.
"And he found it. Not everything, but a lot."
"Mighty convenient of him," Todd quipped.
"He even got video."
"Like I said, yo, convenient."
"He's right," Tabitha admitted. "He was working two sides during all that. Why not now be working a third side?"
"My-point-exactly-so-let's-go-get-him." Obviously, Pietro's speedy speech.
"Like you're one to talk," Wanda snapped.
"We are going over there, Pietro," Lance said. That really got their attention. They didn't expect Lance to agree with Pietro about that. "Well, Fred is, at the very least. Well, unless you don't want to, big guy."
"Huh? Why me?"
"You're on the video. It was Jean that called a minute ago. She said that what's on it is bad enough that you need to decide if it's okay for Xavier, and some doctor he's got there, to see it."
"The slabs," Fred said quietly, and then went stock-still. If Pietro tried to get away right then, he would've gotten right by Fred and Fred wouldn't have even noticed.
"I don't know what's on it, Fred," Lance said. "But, they suggested it'd be a good idea if you and the others viewed the it first."
"I'll go with if you want," Todd offered, laying a comforting hand on Fred's shoulder.
Fred slowly turned a grateful expression to Todd. "I'd like that, Todd."
"Well, I'll go, but I don't want to see it," Tabitha said, then shivered. She also let loose her hold of Pietro in the process. "No offense, Blob. Movies are one thing, but when it's people I know... I don't want to see it."
"Wanda?" Lance asked.
"There ain't no way I'm missing this," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "All of us, the X-Men, Gambit, and a torture flick—there's a recipe for entertainment if I ever heard one." She cocked a brow at Pietro. "Especially if split-second-boy could be on the losing end."
"We'reallagreed,good,great,seeyouallthere." And he was gone.
They looked from one to another.
"Heh, heh... oops." Gum popped.
Lance sighed. "Come on, then, let's go."
Moira asked, "The trade?"
"Ahh, yes, that," Xavier answered. His hesitation and reluctance showed clearly in his tone, a sign that he was very stressed and tired.
He and she were alone in his office now. The others were off eating dinner, Moira's companion (a man Xavier had yet to meet) included.
The sun was near to setting. Under other conditions, he may have thought it gave the room a warm glow, like the color of the crust on fresh baked bread, right out of the oven, with cheddar melting on the top. The atmosphere of the situation proposed between the two of them, however, had him thinking of a potter's fiery oven instead.
He had so much responsibility. All of them were his to protect, to train, and to prepare. …So much responsibility.
"Well?" Moira asked. "I did nae fly all this way tae be dilly-dallied about. Out with it, already. What're yer limits?"
Xavier smiled. Despite the trickiness of this deal, the cost if he chose wrong, and the disastrous potential truths of her goals and intentions, he couldn't help but to like her. There was something refreshing in her bluntness. After all the politics and double-talk that'd been going around lately, he was grateful for her ways.
"Hank McCoy is a biologist," Xavier explained. "He has some medical training beyond that as well—"
"So he could help me?" She seemed overjoyed by this prospect.
"You don't object?"
Yes, he could've read her mind and answered his own question without leaving any room for doubt, but he was very reluctant to do so, to break his ethics again. What he'd done to the members of their community made him sick to his stomach. He was too tempted to do it again.
"Why would I?" She leaned forward. She was all no-nonsense. "Look, Charles. I am nae interested in negotiating. I will taeke whatever research ye will allow me ta. And if ye have someone ye trust that's qualified ta help me, I'm all for it. Neither of us wants me here any longer than necessary." She shoved back into the chair, ready for business. "That said, what are yer limits?"
If she wanted it straight out, he'd give it to her straight out.
"No surgical procedures," Xavier said. "Blood samples, physicals, and anything else that's non-intrusive, are acceptable. Tissue samples, only after McCoy and I have approved on a case-by-case basis. And it will take a great deal to convince me of it. Also, you are to do nothing if the student protests. Not even take his or her temperature."
"Anything else?"
"Not that I've thought of. I'll let you know, though, if I think of anything."
"I wouldnae expect anything less."
"And for this access, you will turn over everything you have come across regarding my students in the medical research community?"
"Aye," Moira nodded. "That and more. I'll tell ye where tae get more of it."
"With Gambit's help..." Xavier was finding it hard to release his trepidation.
"How ye go about getting it is yer business, Charles. I'll give ye the connections I can. The rest is up ta ye."
He sat back, thinking it over. "Why are you giving up so much for so little in return? What can you learn from some physicals and blood tests that would equate what you are giving me?"
"How many mutants do ye see banging down my door ta let me study them, Charles? Huh? Most are in hiding, especially now. I won't go tae the lengths that Milbury goes tae. I can't. I may nae be the least abrasive woman, but, I couldnae stomach doing the things I've read about in some of his reports. I'm nae too sure ye'll be thanking me after ye see them for yeself."
"Still... Your risk is greater than your gain."
Moira shook her head. "I don't know what else tae say or do tae convince ye. Do I stay or do I go? It's up tae ye at this point."
Xavier closed his eyes and listened in on the thoughts that the students let out freely. It was just exactly what they were saying aloud, things on the forefront of their thoughts, things that were not hidden in the least. Most of them were so happy right then. They felt safe within the walls of the Institute. It was supposed to be their safe haven. Yet, it was not impenetrable. They all were aware of that. Many of the students still often felt discontent and nervous... worried to a degree that had Xavier immensely unsettled.
He sat like that for minutes, just listening. It eased him a bit that they were so carefree and open with their thoughts so much of the time when they were on the Institute's grounds. There were some exceptions, of course. Jean was difficult to read, due to her need to control her own powers. She had to shield most times, like Xavier himself, just to keep from always hearing the surface thoughts of others, and those shields worked both ways. Logan was hard to read as well. Much of his memory was mush from the experiments that left him with the metal lacing his bones. Mush was mush, even to a telepath of Xavier's caliber.
Gambit had disturbingly strong shields. Not the shields of a telepath, but the shields of someone trained to protect themselves from telepathy. Xavier was both repelled and intrigued by Gambit's shielding skills. He offhandedly wondered if Gambit could help teach the students how to develop shielding of their own.
The only other person who shielded as strongly as Gambit was Rogue. But Rogue's was different. She didn't seem to be able to let anyone in if she wanted to. It could've been from some sort of shock. It could've been from some aspect of the telepath she'd absorbed or simply a side effect of so thoroughly absorbing so many mutants. Whatever it was, it was most definitely from some phenomenon that took place during the experiments she went through.
And Rogue wasn't the only one with lingering problems from the imprisonment. Evan was having difficulty with controlling his bone growths. Hank still wasn't able to pinpoint the specific reason for it, let alone to come up with a solution. He'd been too often cloistering himself up in the medlab, searching and searching to discern biological solutions to the problems of Rogue and Evan. Fred didn't seem to have any lingering physical problems. But, he was still coping. He was making the most progress of those that had been captured. Still, it wasn't enough. Xavier had begun to worry that the sessions weren't making near enough progress on their psychological stability.
Not near enough.
He and Hank couldn't do it alone.
He looked to Moira. She seemed eager, but patient. There was no challenge in her gaze, just genuine interest and resolve there.
"Stay," he told her. "Tread slowly, Moira. We've all been through too much to take too many risks—especially within our own home. You're going to have to earn their trust, and it won't be easy. I can assure you of that much, if nothing else."
"Genetics doesn't just deal with biology, Charles. Their psychology is part of my study. In that, I could use yer help as well."
Xavier nodded, thankful.
"So, we are in agreement?" He asked feeling surprisingly more relieved than he thought he'd be at this point in their meeting.
A small stronghold was being formed, a small turret that was shelter, a stable landing from which they could attack opposition. This gamble was in his favor. He could feel it. And he was glad for it.
"Agreed," Moira said. She stood and reached her hand out in offer to shake his. They shook hands, then she clapped her hand on his shoulder and said, "Smashing, now let's eat. I'm starved and I want ye tae meet Sean."
Halfway to the first turn in the hall, a... noise erupted. It vibrated the walls and floors. Xavier would've assumed that Lance was the cause, had not the sound accompanied the vibration. It was a sound that Xavier could not fathom he'd ever heard before. A scream, but not quite. A train whistle, but yet... human made. And there was an edge to it, like with that of a dog whistle... some part of it that was beyond the human spectrum of hearing.
Oh... and it was loud. Very, very loud.
Xavier and Moira clutched their ears, to no avail. When it finally ceased, he looked to Moira. She had a bit of a sheepish grin splitting her face.
"Sean, I presume?" Xavier asked her.
"Aye, 'tis Sean," she said, her grin broadening. "Got a good set of lungs, he does."
Xavier laughed for the first time in a while. And it felt good.
Next: Chapter 10 – Cellophane
They watch the tape. Pietro confronts Gambit at the Institute.
Footnotes:
[1] Turret, n. 1) a small tower, usually one forming part of a larger structure. 2) a small tower at an angle of a building, as of a castle or fortress, frequently beginning some distance about the ground. 3) a dome like structure, usually revolving horizontally, in which a gun is mounted, as on an armored vehicle, ship, or aircraft. 4) Also called a turret-head, a pivoted attachment on a lathe or the like for holding a number of tools.
TIME LINE
- 14 days (2 weeks before DoR). Magneto briefs Remy, Piotr & St. John on the Brotherhood and X-Men members (Ch. 3, Pietro's memory). Pyro asks if Rogue's power is to imitate the dead (I love that!).
0 days: DAY OF RECKONING. 1st news broadcast of mutants. Rogue, Logan, Fred, and Hank are captured by the Sentinel and held as prisoners in Trask's Institution (research labs).
3 days: RAID ON THE INSTITUTE. Described briefly in prologue.
5 days: Fury sends Carol undercover at Trask's installation.
8 days (1 week and 1 day): Rogue convinces the prisoners to pass their blankets to Fred resulting in punishment from the guards: forcing an unconscious Logan's claws to pierce a collared Fred's skin and the winking guard (Renfield, Ch. 5) to break Rogue's legs (Ch. 4). Fred kept a shard of glass from the Dr.'s glasses, broken in Rogue's struggles (Ch. 4).
9 days (1 week and 2 days): Remy meets Carol and they both try to play each other for information (Ch. 5).
10 days (1 week and 3 days): Rogue refuses the doctor's many attempts to treat her festering broken legs (Ch. 5). Rogue first glances Dr. Milbury (though they do not speak to each other) while the more familiar doctor whispers to Fred (Ch. 5).
11 days (1 week and 4 days): Guards stop feeding Rogue; Fred shares his with her, exactly what they wanted to happen (Ch. 5). After giving the winking guard the nickname Renfield, Dr. Milbury formerly introduces himself to Rogue and informs her that Fred told them her name and powers, well, that she absorbs psyches (Ch. 5).
16 days (2 weeks and 2 days): Dr. Milbury catches Carol and Remy sharing information (Ch. 5).
23 days (3 weeks and 2 days): With Trask in attendance, Dr. Milbury tests the ratio of touch-time to retention-time when Rogue, suspended in an open cylinder, absorbs Logan, strung up by his hands, in order to weigh the possibility that Rogue could survive the adamantium bonding process (Ch. 5). Dr. Milbury reveals his agreement with Trask: Sentinels provide mutant research subjects in trade for progress on the bonding process (Ch. 5). Gambit reports to Dr. Milbury that the assault on the Morlocks is complete and Rogue discovers that they work together (Ch. 5). Rogue absorbs Carol Danvers (Ch. 5), who survives, though is technically brain-dead (Ch. 6). Dr. Milbury plans to use Rogue to create an army of multi-powered soldiers (Ch. 6). Remy is nearly crushed by Rogue's cylinder while trying to save her (Ch. 6). Magneto's new team attacks Trask's installation (Ch. 7). Magneto unknowingly uses Rogue's cylinder to pummel a squadron of guards (Ch. 7). Gambit and Rogue, collared, are taken away, and followed by Pietro, who snatches Rogue and tries to flee, but Rogue convinces him to help her try to free the imprisoned mutants (Ch. 7). Splitting up, Pietro sets loose one of the cellblocks, but Rogue runs into trouble (Ch. 7). Pietro and Emma try to stop guards taking aim on Rogue, but fail, and Rogue is taken down (Ch. 7). Pietro doesn't see what follows as he does what Rogue's closing eyes plead for him to do: he flees (Ch. 7).
42 days (6 weeks): RESCUE. Mentioned in prologue. X-Men discover that Rogue has new permanent powers that allowed her to survive the warehouse collapsing on her and prevents Jean and Xavier from reading her mind (Ch. 1).
56 days (8 weeks): PROLOGUE. It is revealed that Xavier changed the memories of Bayville inhabitants to make them forget that the X-Men and Brotherhood were the mutants involved in the news broadcast of the giant Sentinel attack.
70 days (10 weeks): CHAPTER ONE. Rogue's 1st week back to school. Pietro tries to rescue Rogue from the dastardly Remy, who has so evilly trailed the Queen of Hearts card on her cheek. How horrible of him!
72 days (10 weeks and 2 days): CHAPTER TWO. Logan flashes back on his memories of the rescue, prompting him to confront Rogue about helping more with the reconstruction of the institute. Surprise, she's been avoiding using many of her new powers because she'd killed those whom she'd stolen them from.
84 days (12 weeks): CHAPTER THREE. Sleepless Pietro confronts Gambit outside the mansion. Gambit gives him advice wishes him luck with Rogue.
85 days (12 weeks and 1 day): CHAPTER THREE. Rogue skips out of the overcrowded breakfast and ends up being confronted by Scott. She explains how she hides her constant floating/flying, to keep from getting caught. Rogue/Pietro locker and lake scenes. Wanda tells Pietro he's without honor.
87 days (12 weeks and 2 days): CHAPTER THREE. Gambit slices the tarp to sneak into Rogue and Kitty's room to watch Rogue sleep. He uses his spatial (kinesthetic) sense and empathic (charm) abilities as a way to 'touch' her. Rogue pretends he didn't wake her. Logan bursts in, missing Gambit. Smell's fresh blood on Rogue, but doesn't know it's because she popped a bone claw out ala Wolverine. Gambit left a card with a note on it (see Ch. 4) for her.
90 days (12 weeks and 6 days). News report/interview with non-mutant Dr. Moira McTaggert of the Muir Island Research Center catches Xavier's attention.
91 days (13 weeks): CHAPTER FOUR. Xavier, Logan & Hank meet with Moira McTaggert, who, to inspire faith in her so they could work out a trade of services, gives them guaranteed contact to Jean-Luc for the hiring of a thief to track down some of Trask's files. Rogue and Pietro skip school and spend the afternoon on the mansion's reconstruction by themselves. Pietro throws a fit when he finds the card from Gambit. Fred gives Rogue the Hope Chest. Gambit again waits futilely in Spades for Rogue, who doesn't show (Gambit's note on the card he gave her in Ch. 3). Pietro begins camping outside the Institute to watch for Gambit sneaking into Rogue's room (Ch. 7).
98 days (14 weeks): Gambit waits for Rogue at Spades, but she doesn't show (Ch. 6/7). Pietro is on his seventh night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
105 days (15 weeks): Gambit waits for Rogue at Spades, but again she doesn't show (Ch. 6/7). Pietro is on his fourteenth night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
112 days (16 weeks): CHAPTER FIVE. Gambit decides to only wait one more week for Rogue to show up at Spades (stage and spotlight references to standing in the cones of light on the street waiting for his leading lady to show). In remembrance, Rogue runs into Evan on her way to reveal the problem with her legs and chicken's out (Ch. 5). Pietro is on his twenty-first night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
115 days (16 weeks and 3 days): Rogue attempts to, but chicken's out about telling the team about her legs again, this time after running into Fred (Ch. 5). Pietro is on his twenty-fourth night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
118 days (16 weeks and 6 days): CHAPTER FIVE. Rogue freaks out, inadvertently revealing that she also possesses the additional power of telepathy, while trying to tell the team about her legs and Hank sedates her to calm her. She remembers several events that took place while she was imprisoned: meeting Dr. Milbury, meeting Trask, absorbing Logan and Carol, learning that Gambit worked for Dr. Milbury, being suspended in the open cylinder. She wakes from sedation during Wrestling Night (unofficial Thursday Family Night) and is plagued by the red-on-black numbers of her clock into going to meet Gambit at Spades the following night. So much so, that she stumbles downstairs to avoid them, and facing everyone, on impulse, shows them her dilemma with her legs. Psyche-Emma meets Psyche-Carol in Rogue's mindscape. Xavier calls the Guild and leaves the message as directed by the card Moira gave him (Ch. 6). Pietro is on his twenty-seventh night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
119 days (17 weeks): CHAPTER FIVE, SIX and SEVEN. Rogue makes the team a southern dinner as thanks (Ch. 5). She brings a packed serving of the dinner to Pietro, who is on his twenty-eight night of camping outside the institute to 'observe Gambit's stalker-like visits' (Ch. 7). Rogue goes to Spades; Pietro (rendered telepathically invisible by Rogue) goes along to support her and prove he's not a complete, unrepentant jerk (Ch. 6). Though Gambit is there, they do not speak or directly interact (Ch. 6). Gambit leaves when the Guild calls him to inform him that Xavier has made initial contact via Moira's boon (Ch. 6). After flashbacking to the failed prison escape (see day 23), Pietro embraces Rogue, who permits him to, and sways to the music, vowing not to run again (Ch. 7).
120 days (17 weeks and 1 day): Xavier finds a card left by a Guild member (Gambit, though they don't know that yet) on his desk to coordinate a direct meeting (Ch. 6).
123 days (17 weeks and 4 days): CHAPTER SIX. News broadcast of the video of the Sentinel attack undoes Xavier's sacrifice (erasing the memories of Bayville). As a result, Xavier makes the final call to the Guild from the card left three days prior. Gambit is who meets him, and does so by sneaking in to prove his skills.
124 days (17 weeks and 5 days): CHAPTER SIX. Hank McCoy is scheduled to speak at the Bayville public meeting regarding the American mutant situation.
129 days (18 weeks and 3 days): CHAPTER EIGHT and NINE. The students prank each other: Kitty paints Kurt's nails pink and Kurt teleports Bobby's Spiderman underwear loose to wave them like a flag (Ch. 8). Rogue, in the middle of a tantrum, throws Kitty's dresser through the window and onto the lawn (Ch. 8). After failing to find any physical causes to the problem with her legs, Xavier and Jean persist in telepathic therapy, which also isn't working, thus further frustrating Rogue (Ch. 8). Gambit shows up, formally meeting the X-Men, who distrust his role in procuring Milbury and Trask's files from the imprisonment (Ch. 8). Moira also arrives to witness the success of her boon (Remy's involvement), and immediately guesses Remy's alternative motive (that being his interest in Rogue) for succeeding in helping the X-Men (Ch. 8). Inside Rogue's mindscape, Emma cites the current events in her attempts to persuade Carol that Rogue purposely imprisoned them in her mind (Ch. 8). Earlier in the day, Ray got suspended in an uneven scale of punishment after being involved in a brawl with other non-mutant students (Ch. 8). Xavier and Moira agree on the details of their trade (Ch. 9). Remy gives Xavier a disk containing medical and other records of the prisoners in Trask's installation as well as surveillance video of the last couple days leading up to the final rescue (Ch. 9). Pietro overhears Kitty and Lance on the phone and bullies Lance into telling them what is going on at the mansion (Ch. 9).
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