Alrightie… here ya go… little bit a Remy, little bit a brotherhood… oh, and by the way… Everyone is really out of character. Sorry, just bear with me. Hope you enjoy. Okay, okay, who saw part two of Ascension??? Dear Lord, I thought I was gonna have a coronary… they were all grown up!!! Sitting through four seasons of Evo was really worth it just to see that last 30 seconds, you know? Not that I hated all four seasons of Evo or anything, but you all get my point. They can't cancel it now!!! Okay, take a deep breath… back to fan fic. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!!!
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"Are they home yet?" Betsy asked Kurt and Logan as she walked into the kitchen.
"They?" Logan grunted.
"I mean she. Is she home yet?" Betsy tried to cover her tracks. Logan and Kurt both looked at each other, then back at Betsy.
"Rogue? Isn't she with you?" Kurt asked.
"Uh, yeah… she was… but she had some business to take care of and left a little early." Betsy lied. Logan and Kurt grew suspicious. Logan approached Betsy and sniffed her carefully. Betsy feared he'd smell Gambit on her, even though they hadn't even touched. She also feared she was shouting into Logan's mind.
"That's expensive cologne you're wearin', Betts." Logan finally said. She heaved a sigh of relief.
"I don't kiss and tell." She said, blushing. Logan smiled at her and rolled his eyes. Suddenly his head snapped back to the window. Shortly thereafter, Kurt and Betsy knew why. They heard a motorcycle pull in front of the mansion and shut off. Kurt and Logan finally understood what was going on. Kurt and Betsy both cringed and Logan grimaced with anger.
"Shhh!" Rogue warned Remy as she poked her head in the front door. She looked around for a minute and didn't see anyone in the main foyer. "Ah think we made it home free." She said as she pulled Remy inside with her. They started up the stairs, but stopped dead in their tracks when they heard the distinct SNIKT! at the bottom of the stairs. Remy and Rogue turned around to see Betsy and Kurt standing nervously at Logan's sides, waiting to see what would play out.
"Bon soir, M'sieu Logan. Long time no see." Remy smiled arrogantly.
"It's gonna be even longer when I gauge out your eyeballs, Gumbo." Logan snorted.
"Logan… calm down--" Rogue started from behind Remy.
"No, no, Rogue. S'alright The Wolverine ain't th'only one who don't think I should be here." Remy interrupted her. Betsy and Logan both looked over at Kurt.
"What? I haven't even said anything." Kurt said defensively. Remy looked intently over at Betsy.
"Don't do this, Remy." Rogue pleaded.
"Me?" Betsy asked surprised. "I thought we knew each other well enough to have a silent understanding about what went on the last time we spoke." Betsy addressed his accusation.
"You didn' want me t'be passive aggressive, Rogue, so I'm gonna be aggressive." Rogue rolled her eyes at his foolishness. "An' I'm not talkin' 'bout what happened up on the roof, Psylocke."
"Then what are you talking about?" Betsy asked, seeing his anger in the way he addressed her.
"I'm talkin' 'bout earlier this evenin'." He said cryptically. Betsy took his cues and caught the thoughts he threw at her. Betsy knew he refused to say it aloud because he knew it was stupid, but for some reason he wanted to be combative. She heard from him the harsh words she had said to Warren earlier.
"That? You're angry about that?" Betsy shouted in disbelief. "I was just thinking out loud. You shouldn't have been listening in on our conversation anyway."
"The fact you were thinkin' it at all is th'problem."
"You don't even know the half of it, Remy. So don't presume to know what's goin' on my head." Logan and Kurt backed away, knowing Betsy would give him a piece of her mind, so they wouldn't have to.
"What's left to know? I heard all I needed to hear." He turned around to continue up stairs. Rogue stood in front of him with her arms folded. She scoffed at him and moved out the way, showing her disgust in his actions.
"Don't you walk away from me." Betsy called out to him as she walked up the stairs after him. He turned around to stare the purple haired vixen in the face with his burning red eyes. "You want to know what wasn't said, Gambit? Do you?" she growled.
"Please, enlighten me."
"Don't do this, please! Betsy, just say you're sorry and walk away, even if you aren't. Just let it die. This is stupid!" Rogue tried to intervene. Remy and Betsy each put a hand up in her face, telling her to shut up.
"I don't think you deserve to be here because you've had several chances to prove yourself worthy of all of this, time and time again, and every time you've failed. You even killed more than 40 people, not two weeks ago. I fight my ass off to bring you here, thinking you could turn yourself around, and this is the thanks I get?"
"I didn't ask to come here!" He snapped. "I didn' ask f'r any a this. I tol' you I didn't deserve none a this." Betsy looked at the ground feeling sorry for him, then she grew angry.
"You know, I defended you to Angel, I defended you to Rogue, and I defended you to anyone else who said you weren't worth it, and it's a relief to know that now I don't have to clean up anymore of your messes. Y'know, the only thing I ever did for you that you actually deserved was pushin' you off that roof!" She pushed him hard against the wall as she stormed off down the hallway. He looked to Rogue, thinking he would gain pity support after the verbal abuse he'd just sustained, but she looked back at him empty and angry. He felt her disappointment. She shook her head at him and walked up the stairs.
* * *
Betsy changed into her PJs in a huff and walked back out of the room to go watch some TV to distract herself from feeling angry. She stared at the floor as she walked down the hall, and bumped into Rogue, who was doing the same.
"Sorry." Rouge said, stepping out of the way.
"S'alright." Betsy said coldly, continuing on her way.
"Betts--" Rogue stopped her. She tried to formulate what she wanted to say into words.
"While we're young." Betsy demanded. Rogue was beginning to get frustrated by Betsy's attitude.
"Okay, look, Remy was stupid t'go off on ya like that but he's tired and… and he just feels like he's been doubted and pushed around too much. Ah mean, Ah know how he feels… just, lay off, okay? It's not fair."
"Oh, really? You know what else isn't fair? Makin' baseless accusations about someone using tainted information they obtained illegally." Betsy barked at Rogue, then continued off down the hallway.
Rogue screamed through her teeth over her failed, if not valiant, attempt to reconcile things between two hotheaded and defensive people. She threw her fist into the wall. "Cajun! Ah need a punchin' bag!" she shouted. Betsy smiled under her breath at how easy it was to make Rogue angry.
Betsy jumped on the sofa in the big, empty rec room. She turned on the TV to the local news. "I'm Trish Tilby, reporting live from the Brotherhood of Bayville boarding house, where the fire department has just been called in." Betsy was instantly intrigued. "When authorities arrived here on the scene, the known mutant home was engulfed in flames. It is not known at this point whether anyone is, or was in the house as it burned, or how it was started. It does appear, however, that the fire has spread down the street…"
"Betsy… geez…" Kitty whined as she ran down the stairs. Her hair was down and she was wearing a nice gown.
"Uh… sorry." Betsy said instinctively, even though she didn't know why.
"Did you not hear the doorbell or something?" Kitty as she went to open the front door.
"Uh, no… I guess I didn't." Betsy responded, confused.
"Lance? What are you doing here?" Kitty shrieked when she saw him at the door.
"Kitty, you gotta – You look nice." Lance said, losing his train of thought.
"Oh, thanks. I was sitting for Peter." She blushed.
"Who?" He was unfamiliar with the name.
"Me." Peter said, as he took Kitty's side at the door.
"Oh." Lance said disappointedly when he saw the big Russian man he was, indeed, rather well acquainted with.
"What do you want, Lance?" Kitty said, snapping Lance back to the reason he came to the Xavier Institute.
"You gotta do me a favor--" He started again.
"I'm not doing your homework for you." She interrupted him.
"No, Kitty, you gotta turn off everything that produces heat. TVs, light bulbs, everything, it's gotta go off." Lance ordered.
"What? Why?"
"Hurry up before Wanda's hex bolt wears off, and his powers are unfreezed." Lance pushed Kitty inside and let himself in, switching off lights. Betsy jumped off the couch, having heard the exchange, and helped Lance and Kitty switch off lights.
"Lance, what's going on?" Kitty finally asked in pitch darkness. Betsy let her hands glow so they could see enough to get around.
"It's Pyro." Lance explained. "His powers have gone crazy."
"Pyro…" Peter mumbled, fearful for the goofy boy who had been like a brother to him for a while.
"Yeah, everything that produces heat just bursts into flame. Wanda had t'freeze him so we could get him here without my car exploding." Peter's eyes grew wide, and he ran up stairs.
"I will get the professor." He announced. Just then the Blob burst inside, carrying a moaning Pyro.
"Alright, outta my way!" Blob shouted like a foghorn, Wanda, Pietro, and Toad following in his wake.
"Wait a sec, what's wrong?" Betsy said, trying to slow him down.
"Who're you?" Blob grunted as he laid Pyro down on the couch.
"I'm Psylocke." She said indignantly.
"You're a what?"
"Forget it, Blob." Pietro demanded. "He's sick, we need help."
"Yes, and he's highly contagious." Xavier said from the top of the stairs with an armored Colossus at his side as he held a handkerchief over his mouth. "Please, if we're going to help him without getting anyone else sick, I'll need you all to clear the room." Everyone looked at Pyro on the couch, then took a few steps back. "Betsy, go to cerebro and contact Hank to see what we should do." She nodded and ran off down the hall, leaving the room pitch dark again.
"Professor…?" Lance called out.
"Yes, Lance?" Xavier responded warmly.
"Y- you have to save him." He stuttered.
"I'll do everything in my power." The professor answered.
* * *
"The final flaring of his powers?" Betsy shouted at Dr. McCoy in disbelief. "You mean he's going to die?"
"From all that you've told me, Betsy, it seems that way." He tried to be compassionate about what he was saying, but he also had to be honest. "I'm afraid all I can tell you to do is make sure he's comfortable and take his last words… and keep the lights off."
"But what if it isn't?" She asked as she flapped her purple butterfly wings in front of his face in Scotland. "Is there something we could do? Please, we have to do something!"
"Well, there is a minor surgery we could do to delay the virus, but he sounds too far gone to me."
"Dr. McCoy!" She shouted at him.
"Alright." He said. "You'll need a doctor." He informed her.
"And some decent light…" Betsy mumbled.
"Oh, right…" McCoy thought for a moment.
"We'll think of something." She said.
He briefly described the nature of the surgery, and Betsy finally realized how truly dire the situation was. "And make sure you document everything you do, and its result, as well as detailed observations of his condition and symptoms from the time they began."
"He's not a guinea pig." Betsy scolded.
"No. If he were, he'd be in a much more controlled environment, but this is the best we can do for now. Just get as much information as you can. He could help someone else." That point made her relent her position and go on about her task. She disconnected from cerebro, collecting her butterfly back to her faster than the speed of light. She took a list of needed supplies she had written down during the butterfly's and the Beast's conversation, and walked quickly back to the foyer. Once she reached the end of the hallway, the mansion was dark, forcing her to breathe heavily to calm herself as she braced herself for the unknown. She illuminated her fist, allowing her fears to subside a little. She could sense that Scott, Logan, Remy, Rogue and some of the new mutants were now watching.
"Betsy, what did he say?" The professor asked her calmly as everyone glared at her, waiting for answers.
"There's a procedure we could do… but it's in his brain. We'd need a doctor and light." Everyone in the room sighed collectively.
"Wait!" Scott shouted as a light bulb went off in his brain. "Dr. Reyes!"
"Yes! Dr. Reyes!!" Betsy said, having the same thought.
"Her forced field could let her work right in the middle of his flames! And if a raging fire isn't enough light…" Scott explained for everyone. Xavier smiled at their quick thinking.
"Alright, you two go to the hospital to try and recruit Dr. Reyes. Don't alarm her colleagues… and remember we can't force her." Betsy and Scott nodded. "Is there anything else we need?"
"Oh, uh… just a few things we don't keep stocked." She said, checking the sheet she'd taken notes on in the dim purple light of her psionic knife.
"Pietro, Gambit?" The two were both surprised when the professor put them together. "I know of a medical supplier you can break into – only because it's after hours, we're desperate, and we can't impose on Cecelia – get the equipment, then get out quickly." They nodded apprehensively. Betsy handed Xavier the slip of paper with Dr. McCoy's instructions on it. She and Scott left to get Dr. Reyes while Xavier led Pietro and Gambit down a lit hallway to explain their duties.
* * *
"So that's what your sister had?" Kitty asked bluntly as she sat next to Peter on his bed. He nodded. "This must be hard on you."
"It is not only that." He said. "For a long time, he was my brother as well."
"Really? I mean, he joined the brotherhood." She gasped.
"Just because we do not believe in the same philosophies does not mean we are not alike." Peter explained. "The three of us… we had been through a lot together… although we may have had our own agenda."
"I understand." Kitty consoled the emotionless man.
"I fear I will lose everyone I love to the Legacy Virus… I would run if I were you." Peter tried to force out a smile.
"Awww… I love you too, Peter." Kitty said as she took on of his big hands. Her innocence finally provoked a true smile. "The professor wants you to help the doctor if she decides to come." He nodded. Kitty nodded too and decided to leave as she had nothing else to say.
"I know what you are thinking, Katya." Peter called out after her.
"How? Did you suddenly sprout telepathy or something?" She snapped, much to his surprise.
"It is one thing to care for someone despite their faults… or even because of them, but to care about someone for the person they you want them to be… it will end up only in disappointment, Katya."
"I know." She sighed as she finally left the room.
* * *
"When did his symptoms begin?" Xavier interrogated Lance, Wanda, Blob, and Toad.
"It was… uh… about two weeks ago, I think." Wanda answered.
"No, it was four weeks." Lance said. "He had the rash on his neck."
"He did?" Wanda was surprised. "I didn't see it until about two weeks ago."
"Yeah… that's when it got too big for the make up to cover it." Lance explained.
"Make up? Dude wore make up?" Toad interjected.
"Well, I wasn't supposed to know." Lance said. "He only did it because he didn't want Wanda to think he was losing control."
"Oh, understandable." Toad responded.
"Me? He wanted to impress me?" Wanda blushed. "Lotta good it did him… the crazy, Aussie retard."
"Yeah, he was crazy alright. Kept laughin' at me." Blob finally spoke.
"Sign of insecurity, yo. Don't sweat it." Toad comforted him.
"Hey, have some respect, guys!" Lance snapped.
"What other symptoms?" Xavier finally broke in. "When did he begin to lose control of his powers?"
"About the same time, I guess." Lance said.
"No way!" Wanda shouted, surprised once again.
"He was trying to impress you." Lance asserted.
"What about any changes in diet or behavior… any mood swings?" The professor decided to nip this bout of squabbling in the bud.
"He started yelllin' at me whenever I ate all the meat… or fish. And he was always cravin' nuts!" Blob was proud of himself, thinking he might have been helpful.
"Hmmm… foods high in protein…" Xavier concluded as he carefully wrote down everything they said.
"Man, he's been real mopey too." Toad threw in.
"Mopey? How mopey?" The professor pressed. The brotherhood all looked at Lance. He grumbled.
"I think he thought he was dying," Lance finally explained.
"DYING?!" Wanda shouted.
"Well, he was talking about… I dunno… He said he's always felt misguided." Xavier couldn't help but crack a smile.
"What's so funny?" Wanda snarled as she grew vengeful.
"Nothing Wanda, just hope. Please calm down. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" When they all shook their heads, the professor began to wheel out of the room. "You are all welcome to stay here until you find a new home… provided you fight for peace." They all grumbled, but couldn't say no. "That's what I thought." Xavier said as he finally left the room.
