Okay, so you guys weren't all that pleased with the last chapter… it's okay, I like Rogue anyway they make her, powers or no. It's just easier to write her into fight scenes now. I just thought the last chapter was cool. This chapter I love, and I hope you all do too. It is Romylicious. It's kinda long, but I think it's worth it, I wanted to make it two chapters, but then part of it would be too short for it's own chapter. But Hey, it's all good. I love all of your reviews and thanks for all of your suggestions. Keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep posting!!!
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Days and weeks had passed like seconds. The professor and Hank were both in Scotland, still working with Moira to find a cure. Peter had decided to stay with Illyana until she got better… or died. Kurt had finally gone back to Germany to stay with his family until school started. Kitty decided to stay at the institute, so her parents could work things out without her there adding pressure to an already tense situation. Jean was staying at the institute as well to continue her pre-med education in the professor's absence so he would be impressed to see how much she had improved since his departure. Ororo often took private missions to try and find an explanation for the sentinel, but only ran into dead ends. She and Scott would often act as liaisons to the various media and other organization that wanted to know what was going on behind the mansion's closed doors. Logan was around and about, mostly out, since Remy and Rogue's on again off again "friendship" took up most of her time, but he decided to return for a while, to keep an eye on them and make sure they didn't get to his for his comfort. Betsy felt like a guest in her own home. She often slept in Kurt's bed or Peter's to avoid Jean as their relationship continued to spiral down hill, but she managed to form a bond with Rogue, weekly going into her head to slide up fresh walls around Carol, lest she breakout. But whenever she hung out with Remy or Rogue, she felt like a third wheel when they were speaking and a mediator when they weren't. And Kitty's personality was a little too much for her at times.
Betsy sat in a chair in the recreation room and Rogue and Remy sat on the sofa. Remy had his head in her lap as they watched a movie.
"Ugh, you smell like an ashtray, Cajun." Rogue joked with him.
"Actually, I borrowed some a Scott's cologne… thought you liked that stuff." He joked back. Rogue opened her mouth to yell at him, but Betsy diffused the situation by snapping her fingers three times and waving her hand in the air. She didn't have to say anything as the "oh no you di-ent" was implied. It worked, making Rogue smile and forget what she was angry about. She went back to watching the movie when something triggered a random thought in her head.
"Hey, how come y'all haven't gone home?" She asked Remy and Betsy out of the blue. Remy sat up slowly as Betsy just glared at her. "What're your families like?" she asked again.
"Uh, Betts?" Remy tried to divert attention from himself.
"Yeah, Betts?" Rogue encouraged. "Are they mutant haters or something?"
"No." Betsy said with no emotion as she refused to look back at Rogue, feeling angry and distant at everyone. Remy and Rogue could both pick up on it.
"Then why don't you go home? When's the last time you saw 'em?" Rogue pressed her further.
"Three years, almost four now." She said stoically. "They wouldn't recognize me if they saw me." She said as Rogue looked at Remy, confused. Remy quickly looked down at the floor so he wouldn't feel an overwhelming urge to tell Rogue what she meant. "I have a twin brother, Brian. He hated it when I starting dying my hair purple. 'Guess what, Brian? My hair's still purple… but everything else had changed.'" She looked down at the floor, signaling to end the conversation. Rogue didn't get the hint.
"You have a twin brother? That's so cool! I mean, I have Kurt, but that's different. I always wondered what it would be like t—" "Betsy interrupted her with a cold stare. Rogue decided to change the subject. "I thought it was part of your mutation… I didn't think you died your hair."
"I don't anymore." Was all Betsy said. Rogue finally decided Betsy wasn't in a good mood she turned to Remy.
"What is your family like?" She asked him. He looked around the room for an answer. When he couldn't find one, he sighed.
"I don' wanna talk about it." Rogue got angry.
"Y'know, Ah'm tryin' mah best here. Y'all already know everything about me, Ah'm and open book. But y'all won't tell me anything. It's like y'all are part of some secret club where Ah'm not allowed. It's not fair. If y'all wanna be mah friends, you gotta be honest with me." Remy just shrugged his shoulders, and Betsy gave her a passing stare. Rogue got frustrated and stormed up the stairs.
"Whas' a matter, Betts?" Remy patted the seat next to him on the couch. Betsy got up and sat next to him. He put this arm around her shoulders and drug his fingers up and down the back of her neck. It relaxed Betsy as she shut her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"This isn't going at all the way I had expected." She said.
"How's that?" Remy asked back.
"I've never felt so foreign before… well… except--"
"Yeah, I know." He said. "We jus' gotta find our own thing, y'know?" He reassured her as if it were no big deal. It made her feel slightly vindictive that he could shake his problems so easily.
"Remy, if they can't trust me, they sure as hell aren't going to be able to trust you."
"What're you sayin' Betts?" Remy was offended. She looked up at him surprised at his sensitivity.
"Oh c'mon," she scoffed. "You're a shady character and you know it."
"An' you should know better then dat." He leaned back away from her.
"And I do… but, you know what? I don't really know anything about you either. Sinister didn't have a file on you, and you haven't let me in on much. I barely know anymore about you than they do here." He stood up, insulted.
"Ya know why you're not happy here?" He changed the subject from himself to her.
"Why?" she egged him on.
"Because you're not the center a anyone's attention… ya selfish and self centered an' no one cares!" He yelled at her. She stood up furious. He folded his arms and sat down in the chair she was sitting in. Betsy walked up the stairs and into Rogue's room. She slammed the door and screamed at it from the inside. Her hands were glowing and she struggled to make it stop, but it started to finally go away.
"Ah think you're in the wrong room." Rogue said, sitting on her bed reading a comic book.
"You want to know about my family?" Betsy shouted at Rogue. Rogue put the comic book down, but Betsy didn't wait for an answer. "My twin brother Brian is a mutant as well. He has super strength, agility and reflexes. He was threatened with death to become Britain's greatest protector, now he's called Captain Britain… but you didn't just hear that. And it was great and wonderful having a twin, but now I don't ever get to talk to him. My older brother Jamie is a race car driver with a gambling problem and my father was a sorcerer, a contemporary of Merlin, don't ask me how, but he is. My mother was a flatscan. After my powers manifest I worked with British Intelligence as a spy while I kept up the appearances of a model. Shortly thereafter, however, my powers began to grow out of my control. Sinister contacted me and said he was the only one who could help me by giving me a surgery that would make the voices stop. He switched and mixed up my mind with some other woman. When we woke up, we didn't know who was who. Then she got some bogus virus and died, giving me all my mind back. Now, every time I look in the mirror I see her, and I know that the only reason I'm alive is because I stole her body from her… otherwise, it would have been me. That was my debt to Sinister. He took credit for keepin' me alive and forced me to work for him until he decided I was done. Then I jumped ship and joined the Acolytes and came here. There, that's everything, now I'm an open book… are you happy?" She looked at Rogue as she gasped for air and waited for an answer. Rogue shrugged her shoulders. "I beg your pardon?" Betsy was offended her story meant nothing to Rogue.
"Look, I wanted you to tell me all that stuff because you trusted me, not because you felt guilty for makin' me mad." She said.
"I wouldn't have told you that at all if I didn't trust you with it." Rogue sat and thought about her words for a second.
"You wanna know mah real name?" Betsy smiled and shook her head.
"You're Rogue and you're always going to be Rogue."
* * *
It was now 2:30 in the morning and Betsy's eyes flickered open. She saw Rogue sitting on Kitty's bed with a mini book light, writing furiously.
"N'other nightmare?" Rogue was startled to hear Betsy.
"What are you doin' up?"
"Habit." Betsy said simply. Rogue nodded and went back to writing. "I don't mean to interrupt--" Betsy paused and Rogue looked up at her inquisitively. "Where's Kitty?"
"Oh, by the time she and Jean got back from the movie, you'd fallen asleep while were talkin', so I asked her to stay in your room, and I'd stay in her bed. It's no biggie. She and Jean are getting kinds close." Betsy nodded and rogue went back to writing.
"Tell me about it." Rogue looked back up at Betsy. "Your memory, I mean." Rogue got up and sat on the floor next to the head of the bed to be eye to eye with Betsy. She held her book light over the notebook and began to read from it.
"Ah'm crouchin' in the closet with Rose. No one ever seemed to have enough faith that Ah would get better, but Rose does. She's young… she came to take care of me because nobody else has the patience anymore. Ah'm sick all the time, and grandfather and father look at me like Ah'm not really part of the family anymore since they fired Thomas. Mother isn't happy anymore either since he left... Ah don't think father loves her anymore.
"Rose is hidin' me in the closet cause Thomas has come back. He hurt father and grandfather, but father got him first. My hands… they hurt so bad. Mother cries for Thomas and Dog is yellin' at her to shut up, but she cries anyway. Dog raises his hand to her… there's somethin' in it. She takes it from him and hits herself with it. Rose hugs mah head as mother screams to keep from crying… Ah feel like Ah can't breathe. And then Ah fall asleep" Rogue wept as she looked up at Betsy. She slid out of the bed to be next to her. Rogue huddled up to keep Betsy from touching her exposed arms, but Betsy rubbed her back, as she sobbed. "They killed the whole family." Rogue said. She laid her head on Betsy's shoulder, and Betsy put her head on top of Rogue's. Betsy couldn't help but start to nod off.
"Who's?" Betsy asked, trying to stay awake.
"Ah dunno… some boy named James." Rogue said as her tears subsided.
"Do you want me to press further?" Betsy offered to go into Rogue's mind to clear up the memory.
"No thanks." Rogue shook her head as she stood up. "Ah'm jus' gonna go sit on the roof for a while."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Rogue looked down at Betsy who was practically falling asleep on the floor.
"Nah, go back to bed, Betts."
"okay." Betsy mumbled, not moving at all, besides slightly nodding her head. Rogue smiled at her as she opened the window in her bedroom. The cool, late summer air blew refreshingly as she stepped out on to the ledge. Rogue used the ladder that was attached to the side of the building as a fire escape, but covered by ivy to look pretty. After a step or two, she remembered Ms. Marvel's powers that wouldn't seem to go away, and she flew with ease, as she'd been developing them in Logan's sessions. She landed gracefully on the flat, graveled roof, and crossed to the other side where she could see more of the city of Bayville. Then she saw something that made her stop.
"What're you doin' here?" She snapped. Remy twisted around. His knees were bent up, but all the way to his chest. He rested his forearm on one of his knees as his red eyes flashed, staining to see her in the dark. He raised his hand to reveal a cigarette between his middle and index fingers. He said nothing, then turned back around as he took a drag. She was surprised to see someone smoking underage, much less at the institute. She tried not to let on her naivety as she walked over to sit next to him.
"Ya know, you're gonna die a cancer." She said as she swung her legs over the side of the roof.
"I never met anyone with the luck t'live long enough f'r the cancer t'kill 'em." He said, flicking his ashes without looking at her. "What're you doin' out here?"
"Ah come out here ta be alone." She said, monitoring how close her elbow was to his knee. He examined his cigarette as he exhaled a stream of smoke.
"I won' be too long." Then he took another puff. She shrugged her shoulders.
"S'alright." They sat in silence for a minute, avoiding eye contact.
"So ya made up wit' Betsy?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "Ah'm sorry Ah yelled at ya." She said as she looked up at him. He took another puff on his cigarette as he glanced down at her. "Ah'm not sorry about what Ah said, but Ah shouldn'a yelled, Ah shoulda talked to you about it."
"Ah know." He said. She waited for him to continue. When he realized she wasn't going to say anything more, he went on. "I didn' wanna tell ya 'bout ma famille, cause they remind Remy of the pond scum he is." He took another drag.
"You're not pond scum, Remy." She said "You're swamp scum." She smiled, and he did the same. "Really Remy, you're not scum at all."
"Remy's family is. They got me thievin' by my 13th birthday. My whole family, my whole life is based on what's been stolen from others.. Talkin' bout 'em… thinkin' bout 'em… it reminds Remy how much he don' deserve this place, don' deserve someone like you."
"What'd you mean 'someone like me'?" She smiled. He threw his cigarette butt off the roof.
"Rogue… you gotta know…" She smiled wider now.
"Ah know, Remy." She put her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her to be more comfortable.
"No Rogue… I mean… as much fun as it is, I don' wanna jus' flirt with ya no more." She looked back up at him. He focused intently on her green eyes… she focused on his red ones. They spoke silently. She rested her head back down on his shoulder. She shivered slightly as s breeze blew over her. He used his mutant ability to kinetically charge the air molecules around them. As they exploded, it released a burst of heat. He kissed her one the top of her head.
"Tell me more about your family, Remy." He sighed and rested his head on hers.
"Ma mère tossed me out when I was born… saw my eyes an' thought I was th' devil."
"Wasn't too far off." Rogue joked. He chuckled.
"Lived on the streets of New Orleans till Jean-Luc LeBeau let me pick his pocket."
"He let you?"
"Oui… testin' me." Rogue closed her eyes as she listened to his story. "I mean, ya don' pull one over on the King o' t'ieves." He continued. "I wanted nothin' more than t'please that man. I always felt I had t'prove that he didn' waste his time on me. All I ever wanted was a pat on th'back, y'know?" Rogue nodded wearily. "I did everything he asked me, an' I did it well. Remy made one little mistake an' he tossed me out." He looked down at Rogue. He thought she was asleep. He brushed her white bangs back up behind her ear with his gloved fingers. She jumped awake at his touch.
"Ah'm up, Ah was listenin'." He smiled at her. "What did you do?" she asked, validating her previous statement.
"I was set up." He said. "They used me an' then dey kicked me out." He said. "Th'other family, th'other guild, the Assassins. We was the thieves, they was the assassins. Ma petite amie, my girl, she was the princess a her guild, I was the prince a mine. They had us… get together… an' her brother didn' like me, so we had t'fight. I didn' want to, I never wanted to. He was an assassin, he'd been trained t'kill since birth. If we had a lock pickin' contest, I wouldda kicked his ass, but…" He trailed off to see if she was still listening.
"But what?" she asked, half asleep.
"But he was a murderer." He went on. "I expected to lose, an' I was ready to, but I still didn' want to die. My powers… they showed themselves then. I didn' mean to, I- I couldn' help it, chère." She looked up at him, her eyes were half closed.
"What happened, Remy? Tell me." She said. He stroked her face with his gloved hand.
"He died." Remy whispered. "They tol' me I had t'leave an' never come back, or they'd kill my family. So I left. I didn' wanna hurt no one else, so I went ta Sinister." She wanted to cry for him. He needed to cry, but he wouldn't… he couldn't. So someone had to do it for him. She out her head back down on his shoulder. They stared at the city laid out before them as her tears soaked through his coat. He stroked her head until she went to sleep. He held her tightly as he carefully climbed back down the ladder she had begun to come up on. He carried her like a precious treasure after a heist. He slipped into her room and put her in bed. He kissed her head again and walked out of the room. Betsy waited till he was gone to wipe the tears from her face.
* * *
Rogue laid on her bed, Reading a comic book. Betsy sat on the floor against Rogue's bed, also reading a comic book, while Kitty laid on her bed and painted her nails.
"Whaddaya think?" Kitty said, displaying her freshly painted hand.
"Marvelous…" Rogue said, rolling her eyes. Kitty stuck her tongue out at her.
"Betsy?" Kitty asked for a second opinion. She laid the comic book down.
"Oh, it's brilliant." Betsy said honestly. Kitty smiled. "It goes great with that top." They were interrupted by a knocking at the door. Betsy and Rogue looked at each other, then looked at Kitty.
"Aww man." She said, getting up from the bed. She fought to turn the door knob with out ruining her nails. She gave up and phased through the door, then re-entered, pushing Remy and Logan through the door from behind. They were both in their uniforms.
"Uh… thanks half-pint…" Logan said to Kitty. Remy bowed to her, ever the gentleman. Logan growled at him, then caught whiff of something. "You been smokin' again, Gumbo?"
"Never, M'sieu Logan." He said smiling. The girls all giggled at his blatant lie. Logan growled again, then got back to the subject at hand. "I'm gonna teach this Cajun how ta fight. We need someone to run the danger room." Betsy and Rogue looked at Kitty again.
"Oh no… I got up to get the door." She replied, blowing on her nails.
"Well I don't know how." Betsy said, looking up at Rogue. Rogue sighed.
"What about Scott and Jean?" She looked for away out.
"Sent 'em to pick up the elf from the airport." Logan replied.
"C'mon Roguey…" Remy pleaded with her. Logan growled at him again. Rogue turned her head and smiled at the small possessive competition over her. Remy smiled too although he couldn't see her.
"Rogue, show me how to work it." Betsy said, as she stood up, ending the stalemate. Rogue sighed heavily as she stood up too. She walked out the door first, passing everyone without saying anything.
As she passed Remy he leaned over to whisper in her ear. She stopped for him. "Remy feels it when you smile." She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back. Logan smiled, proud of Rogue. Betsy followed her out throwing a snicker at both Remy and Logan and their immaturity. Remy raised his eyebrows as he watched Betsy's hips sway back and forth seductively. Logan pulled him back in the room and walked out in front of him. Kitty giggled as Remy shrugged his shoulders and shut the door behind him.
* * *
Gambit and Logan faced each other in the middle of the danger room floor. Gambit smirked as Wolverine snarled.
"Alright, Stripes, Betts, run the simulation." Wolverine called out to the control room hovering above them.
"Okay, hold on." Betsy called back.
"It's that one." Rogue pointed to one of the many buttons.
"Oh right, I knew that." Betsy pressed the button. Gambit looked up to the control tower and blew Rogue a kiss. She rolled her eyes, but she smiled and blushed at the same time.
"Keep your eyes open, Gumbo." Wolverine advised him. The two began sparring down below as guns fired and things flew out of the walls at them.
"My money's on Wolverine." Betsy said as Rogue watched the fight below.
"Hmmm…" She sighed. "Ah think Gambit can pull it out."
"Well you're biased." Betsy smiled at her. "So it's a bet then, what are the terms?" Betsy said as she rolled around in the swivel chair. The girls jumped back as an arsenal of explosive playing cards hit the window of the tower. "Wow, they're really having it out down there." Betsy said as she looked down over the big computer.
Wolverine thrashed his claws at Gambit, who evaded each one deftly. "You hurt her," he said as he split a flying disk coming straight at his head. "You hurt her and I'll slice off your arms and beat you to death with 'em."
"Wouldn' dream a hurtin' the femme, Wolverine." Gambit said as he threw his bo staff up to deflect his opponent's claws. "I'd have to die if she ever shed a tear." Wolverine reeled at the meaning of the boy's words. Suddenly, an overwhelming surge of possessiveness overtook him. With all of his strength, he threw his claws down at Gambit, dicing his staff into pieces. Gambit was shocked, the new staff he got with X-Men had been made of adamantium. He never expected it would break so easily. He looked back up, just past Wolverine. "DUCK!" He screamed, tossing away half of the staff and holding up the other half like a baseball bat as he charged it up. Wolverine did as he was told, and dropped to the floor. Gambit charged the staff and swung it at a flying metal ball that would have hit Wolverine in the back of the head. When the ball made contact with the bat, it too became kinetically unstable and hit the opposite side of the wall in a massive explosion.
"So you two are pretty hot and heavy now?" Betsy asked Rogue, prying for information about their relationship.
"Yes… well, no… Ah mean yes but… it's complicated. Just read my mind and you'll understand." She sighed, looking back at Betsy.
"I'm afraid, each time I go in there, that someone is gonna run up behind me with a big stick and club me over the head." Betsy smiled as Rogue chuckled.
"Oh, ow…" Rogue said, suddenly doubling over in pain while rubbing the back of her head.
"What's wrong? It is Ms. Marvel?" Betsy jumped up, worried about her friend.
"No, no…" Rogue stood back up. "Ah'm fine." She tried to fend Betsy off as she got closer. "This is diff'rent… like I was hit in the back of the head with something." Betsy's head perked up in confusion.
Back down below, Gambit approached Wolverine who was sprawled on the floor, recovering from the explosion. He rolled over on his back to see Gambit standing over him, smiling wickedly. Gambit held the charged staff over Wolverine and lowered it to Wolverine's neck.
"I win." Gambit said, still smiling.
"Alright, bub…" Wolverine admitted. He couldn't knock the stick away as it could explode against his arm or claws. He was at Gambit's mercy.
"Mais non, d'abord, vous devez dire « oncle »" Gambit said, pressing the staff into Wolverine's neck ever so slightly.
"In America, Cajun, we speak American… Okay, end the simulation." Wolverine called up. The girls weren't paying attention. "Hey!" Wolverine yelled. Gambit uncharged the bo staff. They had to duck laser guns and flying projectiles while Wolverine attempted to call out. "End the simulation, NOW!" Nothing happened. "Throw some cards up there or something, Gumbo!"
"I'm out." Gambit said, looking into his empty coat pocket. As he was distracted, Gambit was hit in the back of the head with a metal ball. He was knocked forward, unconscious. Wolverine rolled in to save him from an cache of laser fire. Wolverine closed his eyes and concentrated hard.
Betsy was knocked out of the chair as Logan's thoughts entered her mind.
"BETSY, END THE SIMULATION, NOW!"
"Alright, alright." Betsy said aloud as she situated herself back in the chair. "Where's the button?" She asked Rogue.
"What button?" Rogue asked back.
"The one to end the session." Rogue looked down into the arena.
"Gambit!" Rogue shouted as she saw his lifeless body in Wolverine's arms, darting them both out of harms way. Betsy looked down to see the scene.
"Oh bloody hell, where's the damn button!?" Betsy shouted frantically.
"There." Rogue pressed a button and the danger room died. "What happened?" Rogue called down through the communication system
"He got hit in the head." Logan said back. "He oughtta be alright." Betsy smacked Rogue in the arm, calmed by Remy's stable condition.
"I bet that was Ms. Marvel's 7th sense!" she said.
"What was?" Rogue replied, confused.
"You felt like you got hit in the back of the head and then Remy did. You sensed his danger… how sweet." Betsy fluttered her eyelashes, mocking Rogue. Rogue rolled her eyes at Betsy as she left the control room and went down to the door of the danger room and Betsy followed. They were there to greet Logan as he carried Remy out of the room.
"So who won?" Betsy asked excitedly.
"What? You mean ta tell me you weren't payin' attention?" Logan looked down at her and growled sarcastically.
"Wow, Rogue, I guess I owe you." She said, following behind Logan and Rogue.
"Are you sure he's okay?" Rogue asked Logan worriedly as she ignored Betsy.
"Stripes," Logan sighed. "I'm not a doctor, I don't know anything for sure." Betsy moved Rogue out of the way and pried Remy's eyelids open.
"Oh, yeah, he's fine." She said, seeing no signs of internal damage. "Nothing I can't fix in a jiff." She said nonchalantly.
"Why don't we just let him wake up on his own?" Rogue said as Logan laid him down on the bed in the med lab.
"Are you sure?" Betsy asked, surprised. Rogue nodded, not taking her eyes off Remy. "Okay…" She replied as she found a towel and got it damp. She handed it to Rogue. Then the phone began to rang. That was Logan's cue to leave as he walked into Hank's office adjacent to the lab and answered the phone. Betsy followed him, but stopped in the doorway.
Rogue sat on the bed next to Remy, pressing the cold towel against his face. She did this for a minute or two until his eyes opened. Her face lit up.
"This can't be right." He whispered.
"What?" she said.
"People like me don' get t'go to heaven." He said.
"What're you talkin' about?" She tried to act like her frustrates self, but she was so happy and relieved to see him awake, she couldn't fool anybody.
"It means you're in heaven if the first thing y'see when y'wake is an angel." She smiled at his compliment, blinking her eyes to keep back tears of happiness. He winced as he sat up too quickly. Rogue almost fell back due to the small size of the bed, but he put his arms around her lower back. Their faces were only an inch or two apart. Remy glanced over to the office to see Logan occupied on the phone through the glass wall that separated the office from the infirmary. HE leaned in to kiss Rogue, and she instinctively leaned back, giving him a chance to remember her mutation. He looked into her deep green eyes than leaned his head down to kiss her along her collar bone, as close to her neck as her shirt would allow. She leaned her head against his and closed her eyes, savoring every moment of closeness. "I thought I died." He whispered to her.
"I was afraid you would… it was just a bump on the head though… isn't that silly?" She whispered back, not filtering what came out of her mouth.
* * *
Betsy still watched in the doorway of the office. She was happy for her friends, they found so little happiness in their own lives… they deserved each other, they deserved to be happy. But she also felt a tinge of jealousy. Since the moment she met Remy, she wanted him. She knew it wasn't meant to be and tried her hardest to deny it, but she couldn't stop herself from falling in love with him. She knew he had to feel it in her, but he was too gentlemanly to address it. She wanted to get up to leave when she sensed Logan behind her.
"Betts, the professor's on the phone, he wants to talk to ya." She tilted her head at the sympathy in his voice as she suspiciously got up to take the phone. "Hey, bub…" Logan said, noticing Remy and Rogue huddled up on the bed. They both looked at him, startled. "I think you'd better lay back down, Gumbo."
"Non, merci, mon ami. I feel great" Remy smiled as Logan unsheathed his claws. Rogue took her hands off his back and laid him back down by his shoulders.
"Stupid swamp rat." She said.
"Beautiful river rat." He replied.
* * *
"Betsy?" The professor said as she picked up the phone. She was startled at first, since she hadn't made any sound to alert him she'd answer the phone, but then again, he was the world's most powerful telepath.
"Yes sir?" she answered.
"Peter and I will be returning home in a week or two."
"Oh! You found a cure! What about Beast? Why isn't he coming home?" There was silence for moment.
"No, Betsy. We still have yet to find a cure."
"But I thought he was going to stay until Illyana got better or…" That's when it hit Betsy.
"Peter and I are going to Russia to help his family make arrangements."
"That's not fair." Betsy said as tears welled up in her eyes. She sat down at the desk and massaged her forehead with the hand that wasn't holding the phone.
"I know it isn't Betsy, but…"
"No." Betsy shouted at him. "He doesn't deserve this. It's not fair." She said.
"I know Betsy; I just wanted to let you know." She fought back tears. "I will speak with you soon." She nodded, knowing he would sense her response as she hung up the phone. She folded her arms on the desk and put her head down, crying. Logan sat down next to her and put a hand on her back.
"It'll be okay, kid." He said, trying to comfort her.
"How many more seven year old little girls have to die before it is?"
