***
Disclaimer – I don't own X-Men: Evolution
There was way too much 'fluff' in the last chapter. Because of that, there will be no 'fluff' in this chapter.
Just kiddin'. :P
I've been neglecting Jamie (and a few others) for a while now. He (and they!) actually has a part in this fic now.. which won't come till the end of the chapter.. :|
By the way, THIS IS A COMBINED CHAPTER! Don't expect any more chapters as long as this..
__
"This is it?" Jubilee stood in the back alleyway to an old, small abandoned building. "Sheesh, talk about a tight squeeze." A soft breeze went by, making her shudder and look around, alarmed. Both Hank and Bobby noticed how tense, yet jumpy, she had gotten since Scott, in the X-Jet, dropped them off.
"It's underground, Jubilee." Hank said, giving her a smile. An image-inducer was placed around his wrist and gave him the appearance of himself, when he looked human. Most of the students were dumbfounded when he put it on, before liftoff because they were used to his beast-like appearance. 'Just incase we run into humans down south,' he had explained. "We mustn't underestimate Charles, he knows what he's doing." He walked towards the backdoor. "Follow me."
Jubilee followed in behind him, with Bobby besides her, his arm found it's way around her waist as they walked into the building. "Anything wrong?" They asked each other in unison. Hank glanced back at them, an amused _expression was written upon his face but he just turned back.
"You've been quiet." She whispered to him, as they walked into the dark building.
"So have you." He said, giving her side a little squeeze. She felt him pull her closer to him. They continued to follow behind the Beast, walking together as if they were connected by the hip.
"I know it's somewhere around here.." They heard Hank murmur; he turned back to them. "There's a hidden staircase leading to downstairs."
"Not upstairs?" Jubilee asked, her voice sounded cold. "Gee, and here I thought we were going to do the whole 'The Diary of Anne Frank' thing." She bit down hard on her bottom lip, wishing those words hadn't sounded so cruel. Before she could say anything else, Hank found the hallow wall, which opened up and led down stairs. He took a flashlight from the duffel bad that was thrown over his shoulder and led them down. "This isn't obvious at all.." The teenaged girl mumbled groping the wall as she carefully walked down the stairs.
***
Amara sunk low into her seat, feeling bored. A wave of anxiety passed through her as she tapped her fingers against the cool leather armrest. She was buckled into the seat, playing with the X-buckle with her free hand. She slowly exhaled and began pounding her fingers harder against the armrest. Beads of perspiration started to pop out above her eyebrows. Nausea seemed to pass through her stomach with each breath she took. Her lips were slightly parted, and her eyes were now half closed. She didn't even bother to move when she felt someone slid into the seat next to her.
"You alright 'Mara?" A gentle voiced with a tint of Australian accent asked. "You don't look so good.." He trailed off; his dark green eyes studied her face.
"Land.." She mumbled; her fingers stopped tapping. "I need.. land. I need to get to land." She felt like her X-uniform was trying to swallow her up in the spandex.
"Scott, we have to turn back." She heard Jean yell, her voice was almost in a frantic. "Just take deep breathes, Amara. I'm sorry we forgot, what happens to you when.." But Amara never heard the rest of the sentence as she drifted off into unconsciousness.
***
Rogue sat in the living room with her feet propped up on the table. A pillow was placed between the couch and her lower back. She was wearing a dark green nightshirt that stopped mid-thigh with a pair of plaid pajama bottoms. Jamie walked into the room, carrying a glass of iced tea, another Jamie came in behind him, carrying a sandwich, and another Jamie, behind the second one was carrying a package of cracker. Another Jamie, Jamie, number four, walked in with nothing. He walked over to Rogue. The seventeen year old was supposed to leave with Logan, but he (Logan) had decided to go alone.
"Do you need your pillow to be fluffened?" He asked, giving her a big smile. The Southern shook her head no.
"No, Ah'm find in tha' compartment, thanks." The other Jamie's then set down whatever they had in their hands and combined back into one. Well that never got old.
"Just tell me if you ever need anything." He said, leaning down and giving her a small hug and a peck that was supposed to go on her cheek but missed and got the corner of her eye.
"Makin'
yo'r moves on mon woman, eh Multiple?" Jamie spun around to see Gambit
standing there, with his arms crossed. "Sorry homme, But I already left mon
mark on 'er."
Before Jamie could say anything, or ask anything, Rogue spoke up. "Left yoah mark on me?" Now, she crossed her arms. He cleared his throat and she looked down at her stomach. "Oh." She took Jamie's hand and (just about forced) sat him down. She placed his hand on her stomach. "Want ta feel 'em kick?" She placed his hand on the side of her stomach. He could feel the slight movement beyond the surface of her flesh. "They're bruisin' mah organs up." She mumbled after he took his hand away. She took her feet off the table.
"Must be weird.. having two babies growing inside your stomach."
"Technically," Remy suddenly spoke up. "It's not 'er stomach. Her stomach is up in 'er chest. The baby grows in 'er—"
"Mm, this iced tea is good, Jamie." Rogue commented, sipping the glass of iced tea. She had somehow managed to lean over and grab it. She glanced up at Remy, who had caught her glance, and smirked at her. She smiled and looked down into the glass.
"I'm going upstairs. Need anything Roguey?" Jamie asked, standing up. The Cajun raised a brow. What made this younger male think he was not capable of taking care of his girlfriend's needs?
"No thank ya." Rogue said, giving him a thoughtful smile that didn't disappear until he vanished from the room.
"I t'ink someone has a crush on mon chére." She heard Remy say out loud, as if it were to no one in particular.
"Jealous?" She teased with an eye roll.
"Oui. 'Dat kid brings true meanin' t' bein' in mo' places 'den one." He paused. "O' somethin' of 'dat sort."
***
"Doesn't this look like a homely place." Jubilee stated sarcastically as she looked around in the surrounding areas. "Dust. Cobwebs. More dust." She sneezed, "And even more dust."
Bobby looked around with the flashlight. He made a face. "And even more cobwebs. Y'know, where there's cobwebs, there's.."
"Spiders." A new voice joined in. They both spun around to see a figure leaning against the doorframe. They both shined their flashlights in on his face. "Ah, c'mon, do you have to do that?" He snapped, annoyed.
"Ray!" Jubilee gasped, dropping her flashlight. When it hit the ground, the light blinked off. "Oh my god! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for the free donuts and coffee." He muttered, sarcastically. "The Prof told me to come down here and help you guys out. Now," He looked around, "Where's Hank? Probably trying to get the light to work?" He didn't wait for an answer; "I'll go help him with that." He started to walk away but then paused, "Where exactly.. is he?"
"I'll take you to him." Jubilee generously offered with no hesitation. She grabbed Bobby's flashlight, "Thank you Bobs." And they both were gone before he could say anything.
"Alright." He said into the darkness, "Something just happened.."
***
"I'm fine."
"You didn't look fine."
"Well, Now I'm fine."
"Fine? Hot, or Smokin' is a word I'd use.."
"Enough puns." Rogue mumbled walking into the med lab. Amara was propped up on a bed, laying on top of the white thin blankets. "How are you feelin', Amara?"
"Better." She said, giving Rogue a smile to show she really was. "A lot better. I just don't do well on air planes, or boats.."
"In other words, you start ta feel sick whenever yoah not on land?"
"Pretty much, yeah." She was about to ask where Hank was, but then remembered he wasn't even in the state. "How are the kids?"
"What ki—Oh." She looked down at her stomach and grunted. "Jus' fine. Ah think they're gonna grow up ta be mutant soccer players."
"By then we're probably gonna have our own team." St. John muttered coldly and crossed his arms. The look on his face was serious, which was something you didn't see much. He looked at Rogue and frowned. "Sorry Ro', I know ya ain't partial to that kinda talk."
"S'all good, John." She gave him a small smile. "If ya need anythin' Amar', Jus' ask Jamie o' mah wonderful future-husband." She patted John's shoulder. "Actually, Ah'm sure John would love ta be yoah servant." The mother-to-be then made her way out of the room before the pyromaniac could respond.
And in response, St. John raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
***
"This place is gettin' even mo' an' mo' crowded everyday. An' 'dis is supposed t' be when everyone leaves." Remy mumbled to himself as he took out his lighter and lite up the end of his cigarette that was placed between his lips. He was sitting up on the roof, alone. He knew there was no way Rogue could make it up on the roof without some kind of flying power, so, he just planned on finishing up his cigarette and going back inside. For some reason he suffered separation anxiety when away from her more than a few minutes. 'De Prof is gonna kill me if he finds out I be up 'ere. He said looking around. The night air was silent. No protestors were yelling, waving signs, and being as annoying as ever. He wasn't used to this. The Cajun winced as he stood up. He had managed to hurt his back when escaping from one of the three ways out of the institute. Of course he managed to pick the hardest one to get out of. With a small flick of the fingers he tossed the cigarette, that wasn't even half finished, out into the lawn and made his way back into the mansion.
***
It wasn't long until the lights were on. Not long at all. Now the secret oversized basement had
electricity. Bobby just sat against a wall, bored. He wished he hadn't come. This was boring. Positively, absolutely boring.
"Splendid job Ray."
'Splendid job Ray.' Bobby mocked to himself. He crossed his arms and looked up at Jubilee who was standing next to the Beast.
"So now what?" He heard her ask. Her hands were placed on her hips and her hair was now pulled up into a ponytail.
"Lets just start cleaning this stuff up." Hank said, taking his laptop out from his duffel bag. "I have some work to do. Just call for me if anything jumps out at you. Only if it bites you though." He disappeared into the next room.
"Such a caring guy, That Hank is." Ray commented, with an eye roll. He looked over at Bobby who was sitting there. "Hey Bobby." He noticed his sullen mood. "Long no see, eh?"
"I guess." The other male mumbled, looking down. He blinked a few times and then stood up. "And I guess we have a lot of work to do, huh?"
"C'mon guys. Lets get this placed together without making it a winter wonderland." Jubilee looked around the room, at the dust, old broken furniture, and the cobwebs. "Oh god, screw this. Lets go set some ice cream."
***
"Do you guys think they know we're mutants?" Jubilee stood between Ray and Bobby as they walked down the street.
"We do kind of stick out." Bobby said with a nervous laugh. "I mean, you're wearing a bright yellow jacket, and Ray, well.." He gestured to the other male, "He speaks for himself." He coughed, "And his hair.."
"Don't mess with the hair." Ray warned, his left eye twitched. "Unless we're wearing signs on our backs saying 'Kick us—we're mutants!' no one should have any idea."
"Or they might get the idea from us talking about it." Jubilee said through clenched teeth as she smiled at a passing woman.
"This is going to be a long day." They said in unison.
***
… Just about a month later at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters…
"Alex!"
"Sorry man." The blonde looked down at the pieces of a vase that used to be whole. He grinned down at it stupidly. "Heh. I blew it up." He scratched the back of his head. "This wasn't a rare and priceless antique was it?"
"Yes." His older brother glared down at him. "It was expensive, too."
"Be nice, Scott." Rogue mumbled, walking down the hallway. She looked at Alex. "Don't worry 'bout it, Al. The Prof will jus' get another one from his hidden stock room that's filled with replicas of that."
"Where are you going?" Scott asked as she walked down the hall. He knew they had a meeting with the Professor in a few minutes.
"Ta piss fo' the nine millionth time taday."
***
"You know.." Kitty trailed off, looking up at Piotr. "You don't always have to be, like, in your metal form." She felt incredibly short standing next to him. He just looked down at her. His face was expressionless and emotionless. She gave him a wide smile. He just turned his head away. Her smile faded. "It's been totally quiet here since the others left. I hear the safe houses are effective." He just looked straight ahead as they continued to walk down the hall. His steps nearly shook the ground and left prints in the rug. "What do you think the Professor wants to talk about?" Now, he looked down at her. "Oh right. The whole anti-mutant thing."
"Have you guys seen John?" Amara asked, walking quickly down the hall, towards them. She was wearing her uniform and snapping shut the X-buckle to the belt around her waist. Her brown hair flowed out around her shoulder. The ends were neatly trimmed and dyed a fading red color.
"Nope." Kitty answered, with a smile shrug. Piotr gave her a vague shake of his head. The younger brunette gave out a frustrated sigh and walked past them, stomping her feet. "Sometimes I think her power really suits her.." She looked up at Piotr. He gave her a nod, in agreement.
***
"Can I get you anything?" Seeing Jamie's smiling face wasn't something Rogue wanted to see after coming out of the bathroom. He was taller than her now. He used to be nearly half her sized and now, here he was, finally bringing the appearance of man into Multiple Man.
"Mah wonderful boyfriend would be nice."
He gave her a bizarre look. "I don't think I can fill in those shoes, Rogue."
It look her a minute to realize he hadn't fully understood her. "Can ya go get me Remy?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Yeah."
"You're going into labor!?"
"No."
His face fell. He raised his brows beneath his brown fringes. "Then what?"
She looked around, her hands placed on her stomach. "Do ya see Remy?"
Jamie looked around. "No."
"That's the problem."
"That he's not here?"
"Yeah.." She felt like giving him a cookie. "Now, go get him. And hurry! Be quick—like a bunny on crack!" (A/N—That was for you, Ish)
"Watch." She watched as he split into two.
Her jaw hung, empathizing on her dull expression. "Wow. Ah've never seen some do that befo'." She said sarcastically.
'Mutants—Final warning. Get to my office. We have serious matters to discuss.' Xavier's voice broke into their thoughts.
"At least now we don't have to look for Remy." Jamie said with a lopsided grin as he went back into one. In silence, they walked to the Professor's office.
***
It was really starting to get crowded in Charle's office. Everyone sat around, waiting to hear what the Professor had to say. The minute Rogue walked into the office, Remy walked over to her. Kitty, who was still standing next to Piotr laughed.
"Man, You can't keep those two away from each other." She said to him, and laughed again. "I hope I find true love like that. What do you think?" He just looked down at her, stared at her for a few seconds and went back to looking straight across. She crossed her arms, and then poked his side, lightly. He didn't even feel it. She then phased her hand through him a few times, to get his attention. He still looked straight across. "Piotr?" Now, he looked down at her. "Humph!" She turned away from him and crossed her arms.
"Vhut?" He asked, staring down at the back of her head. His Russian accent came out thick. He felt confused by the girl's actions.
"You're, like, ignoring me!" She turned around and glared up at him with her arm stills crossed.
He blinked. "I.. am?"
"Duh!" She paused. "Wow, that's.. just, like, the most you've said to me since you got here."
Before he could say anything else, Charles wheeled into the room, Ororo walking besides him. "Good. I see you're all here. Hank, Logan and the others will be coming back today."
"What? Why?" Scott asked, dumbfounded. "Nothing has changed out there."
"But it will." The Professor said solemnly. "Today is the day that things will change." Before anyone could say anything else, he went on. "If they will change for the best, or the worst, I do not know."
***
"Since we've been here, we've had three mutants come here." Jubilee commented sitting on a table, "and none of them stayed longer than one night. The only reason they stayed was because of the free food."
"Meh, stupid new Mutant tax. Isn't that illegal?" Bobby asked dropping cubes of ice into his soda.
"Not until they decide what to do with us." Ray said, walking into the room. "They're not considering us 'humans' so they can do whatever they want until SOMEONE does something about it."
"I can we can be very useful. Ray, with your powers, you could save a lot of money on batteries, and Bobby, you can save a lot of money on.. ice cubes, and I can, well, save a lot of money on fire works on the 4th of July."
"Doesn't that sound promising." Ray said, with an eye all. "Some things never change about you Jubes."
"I could say the same thing for you, Ray." She said coldly, not making eye contact with him. "Maybe you should remove that stick from your—"
"Are you guys done packing?" Hank asked, walking into the room. He turned on his imagine inducer and looked at the three of them.
"Some more than others." The female retorted, picking up her X-signature duffle bag. "He isn't coming back with us, is he?" She eyed Ray.
"Of course. He is part of the team." Hank said, not fully comprehending the situation. Jubilee just grunted and walked out of the room. The blue Beast just shrugged at Ray and Bobby and left the room.
"What's with you and Jubilee?" Bobby asked, setting his empty glass down on a table. Ray just shrugged at him. "If you don't tell me, I'm sure Jubes will." The other male shrugged again. "You two used to get a long.. quite well."
"You don't know." He looked at him surprised.
"Know what?"
"We used to date."
"Date?" His voice squeaked.
"You know, boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"Why'd you two break up?"
"None of your business." And before Bobby had a chance to say something else, Hank hurried into the room.
"We don't have much time. The meeting for the debate of mutants is tonight."
***
"Are y' okay?" Remy asked, softly rubbing Rogue's back. She laid her head on his shoulder; her stomach was pressed up against his side. They both sat on the bed in their bedroom.
"Fine." She mumbled, sitting up straight, detaching herself from him. "Do ya have ta go?" She asked as he sat up. He chuckled as he walked over to the dresser and pulled out a new shirt.
"It's only fo' a few hours, Roguey. An' y' can still come." He grimaced at the last part; he didn't want her to go. "Want me t' make sure someone stays 'ere wit' y'?"
"Nah. Jamie already said he would." He made a face as he pulled his shirt off. "What is that supposed ta mean?"
"'Dat kid—" She cleared her throat, "'Dat teenager, has barely been 'round but fo' 'de past five weeks, he's been everywhere."
"O' course he has. He can multiply himself."
"Y' know what I mean." He mumbled, putting on the new shirt. He took out sunglasses from his jeans pocket and slipped them on. "How do I look?"
"Like someone who is hiding somethin' since they're wearin' sunglasses at night."
"Scott wears 'em."
"If he didn't, there'd be no Earth."
"Point taken."
"Good, now c'mere." He walked over to her and sat down next to her on the bed. She took off his sunglasses and flung them across the room. "Show off yoah beautiful eyes."
"Maybe I will scare some children an' old people."
"But that's only a benefit." She said, kissing the side of his mouth. "Jus' try not ta charge anythin' up an' throw it at unexpectin' people."
"What if 'dey are expecting?"
"Remy.."
***
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe a few should only go." Ororo said, closing the door to Xavier's office. They both stood (well, erm, one stood and one sat) alone in there.
"Hank, Jubilee, Bobby and Ray will be arriving here shortly. Since Hank has search warrants out for him, he will stay here and keep an eye on the others."
"So, Scott, Jean, Alex, Roberto, Piotr, Kitty, John, Amara, and Gambit are all coming with? Jamie and Rogue are staying here? Won't it be best if Gambit stays here with Rogue? You know that after being separated for so long, they somehow manage to be together. Shouldn't she come with us?"
"You know how Rogue feels about all of this. It would only add stress, and that's the last thing we need, Ororo."
"Char—"
"Enough said. It is time to go."
***
"They're letting him go?"
"They're letting me go?" Pyro and Amara looked at each other, both dumbfounded.
"Ah have a feelin' they're gonna regret it." She looked over at Amara. "Make sure ya keep any lighters of his.. here." She turned back to Pyro. "An' if ya cause any trouble, yoah gonna be in even mo' trouble.. with me."
"Aww." He gave her a wide, goofy grin. "I care fo' ya too, Roguey!"
"Ah bet." She mumbled, with an eye roll. "Jus' keep yoah cool."
"Pun." He stated, half-shocked. "Bad pun."
Rogue glanced over at Amara. "You have yoah work cut out fo' ya."
***
Kitty phased into the X-jeep, and slid into the empty space next to Piotr, who was in his flesh form. "Why aren't we taking the jet?"
"I t'ink vhat vould be noticeable." He said, looking down at her. "Ve don't vant to add any extra attention to ourselves, right?"
"I guess." She said, feeling surprised that he talked to her. "And it's only on the other side of town, so I guess taking the jet would be kind of stupid."
"Kind of? Plus, Logan went to go pick Hank and the others up in it." Scott asked, getting into the driver's seat. He didn't wait for her to say anything else. "Everyone buckled up? We don't want to be late."
"We should be fashionably late." Amara said from the seat behind Kitty and Piotr. "I didn't dress up for nothing."
"And they call me crazy." Pyro mumbled, nudging her in the side with his elbow. He then reached down, picked up a piece of paper, crumbled it into a ball and threw it at Scott's head. It bounced off. "C'mon ya bloody bloke, lets get a move on!"
***
Remy kissed Rogue on the forehead as he got up and walked towards the door. "Don' worry mon chére, I'll be back in a few hours."
"Ah know." He heard her mumble from her spot on the couch. "They're leavin' so ya hurry." He nodded and turned around just as he heard her exhale sharply.
"Y' okay?"
"Fine." She said quickly, without looking at him. "Jus' bring back good news."
"I'll try," He said, walking out into the main hall and towards the door. "I'll try."
***
"So you'll be here in about ten minutes?" Jamie asked Hank into the communicator. "Alright.. see you guys soon." He clicked the 'off' button. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since the others left and he was growing with anticipation. "Rogue?" He called out, wanting to tell her Hank and the others would be there shortly. He received no answer from her. "Rogue." He called out again. His voice seemed to echo in the mansion.
"Yeah?" He heard her answer softly from upstairs. He walked up the stairs, very cautiously as if something was going to jump out at him. When he reached the top, she was walking out of the bathroom, wearing different clothes than she was earlier. Her hands were placed under her stomach and she looked at him with a weird expression written upon her face.
"Are you.." He asked, trailing off. Her face was beginning to look flush. "Okay?" His voice squeaked out the words.
"Ah'm—" She started to say but cut herself off. She winced in pain. "Oh gawd."
"Something is wrong—" He started to say, feeling his heart start to race.
"Why thank ya Mista Obvious." She said and then groaned. "Ah'm havin' contractions."
"Are you sure!?"
She just blinked.
"Oh shit."
"Ah know." She said, rubbing the sides of her stomach. "Oh gawd."
"Go lay down, I'll go, um, get the others." He looked around nervously. "How long can you wait."
Her face defaulted. "Ah'll jus' press mah legs tagether ta buy us time."
"You can do that?"
"No!" She yelled, trying not to get angry. "Go try ta get Remy, o' someone."
"Do we have time?"
"I don't know." She mumbled, wincing again.
"Then I think—"
"Jamie, DO NOT ARGUE WITH A WOMAN IN LABOR!"
***
To be continued!
I screwed up on two storylines in here, but that's okay. Just ignore any knowledge.. Nevermind.
Read and review!
