The Truth Hurts
Chapter XXIII: Upon Arrival
By: Michelle
"ROGUE, REMY." Piotr came to a dead stop as he stepped in the kitchen and looked around. Holy Shit. He followed the scorched walls and floors to the den. He looked around noticing small fires, pieces of playing cards and the falling bookcase. "ROGUE, REMY."
Surprisingly conscious and in extreme pain, Remy groaned from underneath the bookcase.
"Remy." Piotr rushed over to the bookcase noticing Remy's form trapped underneath. "Hold on."
As Piotr lifted up the bookcase, Remy dragged himself slowly from under it. He hurt all over and knew he was going to have more than just a few bruises to show for it.
Piotr stood the bookcase back up and rushed over to him. "Are you alright?"
"Remy thinks so." He sat up carefully looking down at his side. Damn that Pyro. He looked around the room realizing something was missing. "Where's Rogue?"
"I don't know." Piotr shrugged.
Remy's eyes widened as he looked around forgetting about all the pain he was in. "ROGUE."
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Graydon stood up slowly. "Hallo Mutter." He asked standing proud and tall as he began walking towards her. "Where's Vater[1]?"
"He'll be here shortly." She smiled at him. "And so will the others."
"Others." Graydon looked at her confused. Then, he remembered the pictures. "Oh, them." He glared at her hard with his black soulless eyes. I know you are up to something. "So what is this? Some sort of family reunion."
"Possibly." She answered walking around him. "Who knows Graydon? You just might change your mind about us."
"If you mean respecting mutant freaks like you and vater, then you are mistaken." Graydon spat. "You are every reason I stand against you."
"All the more reason I stand against you." She answered walking away from him. "One day you may have to watch your back."
"It should be you watching your back." Graydon answered her as he smiled to himself.
"They have arrived." Magneto said wrapping an arm around her waist
"Good." Her eyes glowed as she turned from Magneto to her son. "Well it looks like you won't be alone in here anymore."
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"Ms. Monroe wake up." Rahne cried she shook her teacher. I told you there was a monster. "Ms. Monroe please wake up."
"MR. WAGNER."
"MS. MONROE."
Kitty and Jubilee stood in the doorway of Ororo's room seeing Rahne next to their unconscious teacher.
"Ms. Monroe." Jubilee rushed down next to her.
"Is she like alright?" Kitty asked as she joined her.
"She's just knocked out." Jubilee looked around the room seeing the broken vase, damaged plants, and claw marks on the floor. "Rahne what happened?"
"The monster hurt Ms. Monroe." Rahne wiped her eyes. "And he took Mr. Wagner."
"Monster." Kitty looked at her friend. What monster? She jumped as Ororo began to stir.
"Ms. Monroe are you alright?" Jubilee asked helping her sit up.
"I think I'll be OK." Ororo placed a hand on her forehead. What happened? Then, she looked around her room. Something is missing? "KURT."
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Graydon backed up as Sabretooth and Pyro laid the unconscious Kurt and Rogue in the cell. Holy shit. It's like beauty and the beast. He thought noting his sister and brother's appearances.
Raven glanced at her other two and then at their captors. "What the hell happened?" She fussed noticing the claw marks on Kurt's chest and the bruise on Rogue's cheek. "I wanted them unharmed."
"They attacked." Sabretooth growled then glared wickedly at his son. 'So we attacked back."
'Fools." She glared at them. "You can never do anything right."
Sabretooth growled at her and then at his son. "Next time do your own dirty work."
"I will, because you could never do the job of a real man." Mystique fumed.
"Damnit woman." He stepped forward to attack her when their leader stepped in between them.
"Now is not the time or the place for this lover's quarrel." Magneto ordered. "Now you and Pyro head to the meeting room, while we finish business here."
GRRRRR. Sabretooth turned and stormed out of the room dragging Pyro with him.
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"ROGUE." Remy looked all around the den from where he sat on the floor. Where is she? Please don't let it be what I'm thinking.
Piotr glanced around the room knowing she was no where to being found. "She's gone."
"NO." He denied the truth as he stood up to look around the room himself. He came to a dead stop as he saw one of her black gloves lying on the floor. No. He dropped to his knees as he picked it up. Ma chere. He could feel the tears burning in his eyes as he looked at the glove in his hand.
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Graydon backed himself into a corner looking down at the two unconscious bodies. Damn. Damn. He couldn't believe what he saw before him, wishing he was dreaming.
"What's the matter Senator Creed?" Magneto said as he placed metal bracelets around Kurt's tail, wrists, and ankles and Rogue's neck, wrists, and ankles. "The Truth Hurts."
Graydon remained silent and in shock. I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming. This is not happening. This is not happening.
"Mystique. We have private business to tend to." Magneto stood up and waited for everyone to exit the cell before turning to the nervous senator. "I would be careful around them if you know what's good for you."
Graydon sunk in the corner and stared at their unconscious bodies. Why do I have the feeling he maybe right?
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Ororo's eyes glanced around her destroyed room. "Kurt." She got up in attempt to look for him.
"Ms. Monroe, you shouldn't be moving so much." Jubilee pleaded. "You're hurt."
Ororo continued without a care in the world. Why did this happen? She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a familiar item among her damaged plants. She bent down and picked it up. Kurt's rosary. She closed her eyes allowing her tears to fall and the rain poured down.
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Graydon glared at his brother's unconscious body on the floor. And I hoped that picture was something from Halloween. He thought as he glanced over Kurt's appearance noticing his blue skin, pointed ears, and tail. So, he's the one before me. No wonder why Mutter gave him up. But, then again, she gave me up too. I wonder if he feels the same way I do about our parents. He sucked in a breath as he noticed his brother's tail snake around the floor.
Kurt's chest rose up and down with each breath he took.
He sat down at the table next to the woman he considered mother wanting a simple explanation for the burning question that plagued his mind for many years.
"Mutter." He said shyly looking at his blue three fingered hands. "Can I ask you something?" He glanced up at her hoping she could help him understand who he was.
Margali looked up from her potions and into the ten year old's golden eyes. "Ja, Kurt. What is it?"
"What happened to my parents?" He asked nervously as he broke from her glance and fiddled with his tail. "You know. To my real mutter…and vater."
Margali paused feeling her heart rise in her chest. She knew this day would come, but why did it have to be today. "They passed away when you were a baby." She lied.
"How?" He asked not feeling satisfied with her first answer.
She took a deep breath. "Your vater died of a heart attack when your mutter was still pregnant with you." She answered what Azazel instructed her to say. "I took in your mutter to help her, but there were problems when you were born. She asked me to take care of you before God sent his angels for her."
Kurt thought for a moment. Then, he felt the tears roll down his cheeks. "Did I kill her?"
"No. Oh no Kurt." She hugged him. "No. What made you think of something like that?"
"Because of what I am." He pulled away from her and looked at his hands again. "Where they like me?"
She rose up his chin and looked at his innocent face. "More than you know." She whispered under her breath as she kissed his forehead.
He thought long and hard at what she had told him debating if it was the truth or not. He felt like she was hiding something from him. There had to be more to this than what she was telling him. Didn't she want him to know? Or, did the truth hurt that much? One thing was for sure, when the time came, he knew he was going to learn more than he bargained for. Plus more.
Kurt opened his eyes. Where am I? Where is Ororo? What happened? He felt the claw marks burn on his chest. Sabretooth attacked us.
Not realizing his brother was waking up, Graydon shifted his focus to his sister lying on the floor. She was beautiful with her porcelain skin, her white streaks standing out in her brown hair, and her short black nightgown. Mutter always wanted a daughter. Why the hell she gave her up? She's not human like me. He watched as his sister turned her head in deep dreams.
Rogue chest rose up and down with every breath she took.
"Ah didn't mean it." She explained to her father. "Ah didn't mean to hurt him. Ah didn't know Ah…" She looked at her gloved hands. "Ah'm sorry."
"My own flesh and blood. A MUTANT."[2]
"DADDY PLEASE."[3]
"You're a disgrace. Ah'm assamed tah be seen wich ya." He said coldheartedly. "Yah ain't mah daughter. Not anymore."[4]
"Daddy…DADDY." She called after him as he walked away from her. The tears rolled down her cheeks as she slowly walked to her room.
She grabbed her backpack and shoved as many of her things as she could in her bag. The tears streamed down her face as she took one last glance around her room before she climbed out the window.
As she walked down the dark interstate, she pulled her cloak tightly to her with her gloved hands, debating what she should do next.
Where should I go? All my friends think I'm some sort of a monster. I don't have any family in this area.
Should I go to Ms. Raven? To Ms. Irene? No, why would they want me. Why would they want the freak I am? I would only end up hurting them like I did to Cody. Besides, if they wanted me, they would have stopped my father from moving me away from them. They would have adopted me officially. Besides, there was something about them that made me afraid.
I'm not sure where I am going, or what I am going to do. But one thing is for certain, I am going to find a place I belong and a family that loves me.
Still lying on the floor, Rogue fluttered her eyes open. What happened? Damn, my cheek hurts. Where am I? Where's Pyro? Is Remy alright?
"Rogue." Kurt said looking down at her. "Are you alright?"
"I think so." She sat up feeling her throbbing cheek. Shit, I lost one of my gloves. "Where are we?" She asked realizing it was just the two of them.
"I don't know." He answered looking around the room. "But I don't like this."
"Neither do I." Rogue folded her arms. It's cold in here. She thought, then realizing she was still wet. She looked around noticing a figure slumped in the corner staring at them. "Kurt."
"Ja." Kurt said as he searched his rosary nervously. Damnit.
"We're not alone in here."
"Vat do you mean?" Kurt asked looking up, and then he noticed the figure glaring at them from a dark corner.
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Remy tightened his grasp on the glove as he stood up. He could feel his eyes light up as the anger surged through him. I'm gonna git her back, even if it kills me. He placed her glove in his pocket. Pyro messed wit the wrong Cajun.
Logan held the door open as Xavier wheeled in the front door with Bobby following him.
Oh No! Xavier looked around the room sensing his missing X-men. Rogue. Kurt.
What the hell happened here? Bobby looked at the mini fires around the room and held his hand out sending frost to freeze them out as Piotr grabbed a fire extinguisher.
"What happened Gumbo?" Logan asked already knowing who intruded in the mansion.
"Pyro." Remy looked down at the red mark on his chest. Oh dat hurts. He held his side knowing there was more wrong with him than just the burn. Remind me to return the gesture. "He dun took Rogue."
"Where was Elf and Ro during all this?" Logan asked as she picked up a familiar sense in the air.
"Dey was upstairs." Remy answered.
"Kurt's missing too." Xavier said looking towards Logan. I'm going to Cerebro.
"RO." Logan tore up the stairs while Remy, Bobby, and Piotr followed Xavier to Cerebro.
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He glared at them hard from the corner he was in. Why couldn't I be an only child?
"Vho's zhere?" Kurt asked standing up looking at the dark corner. "Why don't ya come out?"
Graydon didn't reply. He just sat still hoping they wouldn't come any closer.
"It's alright." Rogue looked over to the corner. Maybe Kurt is scaring him. "We're not going to hurt ya."
"Why am I having a hard time believing that?" He answered. I know what you two are. I know what you can do.
Why does that voice sound familiar? Kurt thought for a moment. "Who are you?"
What am I some kind of a wuss. Graydon stood up and slowly stepped into the light. I am not going to let you intimidate me.
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"Ms. Monroe." Kitty placed her hand on her shoulder. "Professor Xavier will like be home soon."
"Yeah." Jubilee said looking at the rosary in her teacher's hand. "We're going to find him."
"I know." Storm wiped the tears from her eyes and placed the rosary in her pocket. Let God be my witness. I'm going to get him back, even if I die trying.
"Ro" Logan came to a dead halt as he looked around at the room. The room was pretty much trashed. Elf put up one hell of a fight. He sniffed in the air catching another whiff of Sabretooth as Rahne clung to his leg. "You alright munchin."
"Yeah." Rahne replied.
Then, he turned to Ororo being comforted by Kitty and Jubilee. "You alright darlin'."
"I'll be fine." Ororo replied. "But Kurt…"
"We'll get him back." He replied knowing Kurt was missing. "Come on, Xavier is in Cerebro now."
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"I swear Victor." Mystique stormed her way into the meeting room and into his face. "You could never do anything right."
"DON'T CALL ME VICTOR." Sabretooth growled at her. "AND DON'T BLAME ME FOR THE MISTAKES YOU MADE."
I can see why they are separated. Pyro turned to Magneto. "Have you ever seen her PMS this bad before."
"It's been a while." Magneto pointed to the video from the security camera he had in the cell. "Keep an eye on this while I handle this."
"THE ONLY MISTAKE I HAVE MADE WAS SLEEPING WITH YOU." Mystique folded her arms. "I should have slept with Logan."
GRRRRR. He went to attack her again over that last comment.
Bang.
Sabretooth stopped dead in his tracks as the metal chair that hit the wall fell to the floor.
"Enough of this." Magneto looked at the two of them. "When I recruited the two of you in the Brotherhood years back, you agreed to not to let your history together interfere with your business."
"Yeah well, it wasn't my idea to create this illusion of a happy little family." Sabretooth took one look at him and then at Mystique. "The only business I tend to see here is giving that sniveling piece of shit son of ours a beating well deserved. "
"Be that as it may, you two are under my orders." Magneto replied. "And are still bond by the contract we made. So help you if one of you breaks it."
"Umm. Sorry to interrupt this little…bitch out ya'll have, but…" Pyro pointed to the TV screen. "Our guests have seemed to waken up."
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Kurt's eyes widened as the figure stepped into the light. "You." He couldn't believe his eyes. What the hell was he doing here? "You're that senator…" He felt his stomach tighten. He couldn't believe he was facing the same man that was bashing all mutants at the debate earlier in the day.
Rogue looked over at him. "I know you." She said standing up. "You're Graydon." You're my brother, sort of.
Graydon turned to her. She knows. "That's Senator Graydon Creed to you, missy."
"Vhy are you in here?" Kurt asked dreading the answer.
Graydon eyes his brother suspiciously. He doesn't know. Or, does he? I can't figure it out. "I know why I am here, but do you know why you are here?"
Kurt raised an eyebrow. What's that suppose to mean?
"Aacchhooo."
"Bless you." Graydon said out of pure reaction and looked over at her.
"Aacchhoo."
"Gesundheit." Kurt replied facing her as well.
"Thank you." Rogue retied Remy's bandanna to keep her hair from falling in front of her face and looked at the two of them. They looked so alike, it was scary. Their chin, their nose, and the way they stood up straight acting all brave facing one another. "OH…MY…GOD."
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The X-men waited in the med lab for Xavier to return from Cerebro.
Jubilee thought for a moment. "How did they get in the mansion?"
"Escape tunnels." Logan said with Rahne in his arms as he remembered Sabretooth's scent as he walked past one of the hidden passages when he rushed to Ororo's room.
"John knew way around them." Bobby added. "He must have shown Sabretooth the way."
"And the tunnels were the only security we hadn't fixed yet." Ororo sighed. How could we have let something like that go? "It just made his job easier."
"Yeah, well Gambit plans to remedy dat when we finish kickin' Magneto's ass." He spat as Kitty bandaged his burned flesh. I'm gonna rig da mansion's security so good even I ain't gonna be able to get past it. He winced as Kitty accidentally touched a tender spot.
"Like Sorry, Gambit." Kitty apologized.
Xavier rolled out of Cerebro to face his awaiting X-men. He glanced at each of their anxious faces. Wolverine. Storm. Gambit. Iceman. Colossus. Jubilee. Shadowcat.
"Did you find them?" Ororo asked dreading his answer.
"No." He took a deep breath. "Wherever Magneto has them, I can not trace. It's blocking my callings to them, like his helmet does."
"But, like how are we like suppose to find them?" Kitty asked.
"I'm not sure." Xavier answered. There has got to be something they left behind. "Kitty and Jubilee, I want the two of you to get the students from the hide out while I relax their minds. Then, come back here."
"Yes Professor."
"Logan and Ororo, take Rahne and check upstairs for anything that can help us track them down. Remy, Piotr, and Bobby check the kitchen and the den." Xavier ordered. "I'll keep trying on Cerebro."
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He snuck silently around the well guarded hide out as he checked up on him. He ducked in the shadows with his black cloak hiding his form. He could see quite well with his unique eyes. He was going to make sure she failed on her mission. He wanted him for himself. Maybe not today, but in the future. One day, he was going to call his children. All of them.
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Sorry it took so long to update. I've been having computer problems.
Anyways, I hope everyone liked this chapter. It's not one of my best, but it is a stepping stone for Chapter 24. And of course, you know I had to leave everyone hanging at the end there. I'll update as soon as possible.
Michelle
[1] Father
[2] X-men Cartoon 209 A Rogue's Tale
[3] 209 A Rogue's Tale
[4] 209 A Rogue's Tale