"The British and Acadian War"
"So?" the girl, lying on the bed behind him, asked.
"So what?" Static asked already knowing the answer.
"You told her didn't you?" The black haired girl never broke her gaze at the ceiling.
The blue-eyed boy let out an exasperated sigh.
"Yeah, I told her." He paused before continuing. "But you weren't there. She's like fuckin' relentless."
Vashoba Wagner chuckled at her brother's use of profanity. He always laughed at her when she did it. It had always made him uncomfortable. Laughing had been his way of dealing with his discomfort. But to actually use the offending language himself; it had to have been pretty bad.
"It's okay," Vashoba sighed. "She was going to find out sooner or later. Now she going go tell dad and they're going to dote over us more than they already do."
The boy had only wanted to spare his mother's feelings as he had with everyone else who had come to him with questions of their own. The future was not for him to tell. He wasn't even sure if the supposed future would even occur any more being that it had been three months since he and his sister had arrived in this place, and he and Dr. McCoy had yet to find a way to return them safely to their own time. They had their theories though. Vash's teleportation ability was identical to the Incredible Nightcrawler's in the respect that she traveled through an alternate dimension to reach her intended destination in her own. Coupled with the massive amount of electricity that her brother was channeling, they ripped a hole in time. They could attempt to recreate the phenomenon, but there was no way to control the outcome. The first occurrence was a flook and there was no guarantee that they would end up home. In truth, the twins had given up on the idea completely opting to stay with their parents and new found friends. In reality there was not a great deal left in their futures lives that beckoned them home. This was their home now.
****
The truth of the matter had been painful for the weather witch to accept. Her son-
"My son." She had grown accustomed to the reference. She smiled to her self as she continued to stare up at the ceiling above her bed.
Static, her son, had recounted every detail of he and his sister's life to her after much dancing and skirting around the subject. Her strategic interrogations were not lost on the young mutant and it hadn't taken long for him to cave.
The story was enough to break Ororo's heart. She learned, much to her regret, that her children had few memories of their mother. She had died when they were very young. She left them and her husband Kurt; he had to raise them without her. She did not press Static for details of her demise; she could see that it was hard enough on the boy, with her sitting right in front of him alive and well. Static, no Isaac, had assured her that the other X-Men were there in every step of their upbringing. And that they had had a very extensive extended family. Then she was further shocked by the news that Kurt had died as well, when the children were but ten years old. Even after his wife's untimely death, the man had held tight to the dream of mutant equality; dedicating his life to the struggle for the sake of his obviously mutant children. He died protecting that dream, leaving the twins in the care of his most trusted friend, Logan.
"Logan raised my children?" Ororo though in disbelief. "But he's so- so- Mean."
Her children seemed perfectly well adjusted, despite the circumstances. Though, she could see hints of Loganology in her daughter, Vashoba's personality, especially the cursing but there were hint of her Kurt there as well. Isaac, for the most part, seemed to have taken his personality from her oddly enough; she hadn't been there to influence it. She wouldn't make that mistake again. But that didn't mean that she had to give up the X-Men. Of course not, she just had to be more careful, now she knew what she had to lose.
[In Vash's Room.]
The golden-eyed girl stared intently at the ceiling. It wasn't like that was the only thing of interest in her room. In the short time that she had been at the academy, she had accumulated quite a few items and had fully decorated her room. It was good to have her real dad again. She ferociously fought back the tears building in her eyes. She was glad her brother had gone off with Jubilee so he wouldn't see her like this. She had always been the strong one.
"Jubilee," she mused. "I could see that coming from a mile a way." She thought.
The small Asian girl had staked her claim to Static as soon as she'd first saw him. Static had obviously felt the same. Hell, she could practically smell the pheromones coming off the two when ever they were near each other.
"Wonder if they're fuckin'?"
She would have never had the courage to ask her brother herself, it was way too personal and she knew he would just shy away from the answer. Jubilee was the only girlfriend that her brother had ever had. She smiled at the thought.
"I'm glad he's happy. I, on the other hand, am a total wreck."
Vash had grown accustomed to her new environment, she had new friends, her parents back, and even her surrogate pop, Logan, was warming up to her.
But then there was the Cajun; her one and only true weakness. She loved him, she always had. Even now, them being around the same age, the attraction was still there, even more so. Though, he had yet to gain some of that access baggage he's been carrying when they had been together before. Namely, a girl named Rogue and an unexpected vacation in Antarctica. But she knew better, she knew the secrets that the Cajun had yet to tell her. But he had. In his old age, the prince o' thieves had been more open to share his tortured soul. She knew all his dirty secrets and she knew how they had tainted his soul, how they had tainted hers. He seemed to have a knack for falling in love with the forbidden girls. Rogue couldn't be touched because of her mutation. Their relationship had been the epitome of dysfunctional. And then there was her, though she was sure that there had been many before her. Remy had been attracted to her, even thought she was so very young. She had her suspicions why the Cajun had been so interested in her, but the fact that he was interested at all was enough for her at the time.
"Now why exactly did I fall in love with that nutcase in the first place?"
Logan said once that the only reason the Cajun was so interested in her in the first place was because the girl had reminded him of her mother. Remy had talked about Vash's mother a lot, telling her things about her that she could never had known. She took it that there had been a powerful bond between the two of them from the way he talked about Ororo Munroe. Her mom had been the one to bring him to the X-Men in the first place and Remy had always loved the X-Men no matter how they felt about him. He said that they were the only real family that he had. Logan had come within an inch of killing the Cajun when he found out that he had been sleeping with Vash. But Gambit had refused to give the young woman up. She had to admit it; she loved ever minute of it. She was his 'Pit'e Ange'. And it was her job to take care of him. During the time that Vash had spent with Remy she had witnessed his self hatred first hand. She knew of his childhood before being adopted by Jean-Luc LeBeau. He was a street kid and was force to do some pretty fucked up things to survive. But he had always clung to life, just like he had clung to her. The man had really wanted her; she had never felt wanted like that before. He was a grown man and he readily admitted being in love with a sixteen year old girl. She hadn't even thought twice about leaving with him.
"I wish somebody had been there to take care of me."
She could feel the tears coming again and the bitter lump in her throat. She rolled over on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow.
"I can't hate him. I love him too much."
She finally gave in and her body racked with sobs. With any luck she'd cry her self to sleep.
[In the basement.]
Jonothon Starsmore lay in his bed and stared up at the ceiling of his room lost in thought. For some reason things seemed clearer this way and even though he was exhausted he still couldn't make him self go to sleep. He'd finally found the courage to climb up the stairs and visit his friend Vashoba. He couldn't help the warm feeling that crept over him when he thought of Vash. He liked her; they had quickly become best friends. They liked the same music and television shows. She really seemed to genuinely care for him too. That had been hard to find since his accident even his own family had shunned him. Some times he and Vash would spend hours in his room just talking about things, their lives in general. She seemed to think that he was just fascinating. He even promised to teach her to play guitar if she promised to teach him to play the piano. No one had ever thought of him as fascinating, not even his old girlfriend, Gayle. He was fascinated by her as well.
*She's from the bloody future for fuck's sake, what's not ta be fascinated about?* Jono thought to himself. *And Christ she's beautiful, like some dark angel with glowing yellow eyes. I could spend a lifetime staring into those eyes.*
Jono quickly pushed those thoughts away. They were friends, that's all. He wouldn't ruin what they had by telling her something stupid like that. Besides, there was Paige Guthrie, his girlfriend, sort of. He had finally given in and gone out with her. It wasn't all that bad; Sam didn't even try to kill him when he'd found out the freaky Goth boy had gone out with is little sister. She was a sweet girl; the only problem was they really didn't have much in common.
*Begga's can't be choosers, mate.* He told himself.
Jono had promised Vash that he'd come up and finally see her room, since they had always just stayed in his. But now he had he suddenly found him self at her door listening to the faint muffled sounds of crying. He tried to extend his psychic abilities into her room, something he wouldn't have normally done, but he was worried about his dear friend. He wanted to know if she was alone before he just barged in. He suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a room that he wasn't familiar with. The edges of his line of sight were hazy as if he were in a dream. But it wasn't a dream; it was someone's vivid memory, Vash's memory.
Jono's mind was racing. He knew he shouldn't be here but he had no idea how he'd gotten into this mess, let alone how to get out. He had just begun to test the limits of his telepathic powers with the professor. He had no idea what to do and he realized that he was unable to move. He calmed himself and hoped that he would go unnoticed. He found that he was standing in the middle of a living room that looked like a hurricane had gone through it. He could hear crying and yelling. It reminded him of his home life in London. He noticed a woman huddled in the far right corner of the room. He felt a presence approaching, he looked up and immediately recognized the man. It was Remy LeBeau, only he looked a good twenty years older. Remy had been pacing back forth in front of the cowering female figure. He stopped abruptly and sighed heavily. The huddled figure flinched. The Cajun dropped to crotch and faced the girl and titled her face up to his. The girl cowering in the corner was Vashoba. There was a huge red bruise on the left side of her face and her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks her stained with tears. Remy was saying something to her, Jonothon could hear every word.
"Ah'm so sorry, mon amour." He whispered. "You know dat Ah never meant ta hurt ya, non? Ya forgive Remy, chere?"
Vash nodded sadly and she let Remy kiss her. If Jono's hadn't known any better he would have sworn the Remy wasn't the guy who'd caused all of this damage. He'd never seen Remy angry let alone throwing things and hitting women. The guy always seemed so relaxed. What was this that he was witnessing? He just couldn't wrap his mind around it.
Remy had picked Vash up into his arms and whispered sweet Cajun endearments to her. She gave him a weak smile and he carried her out of the room. Jono didn't know for sure where the man was taking her, but he had a good idea. His father had done it all the time; knocking his mother around and using sex as a way of apologizing later on. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. In Jono's dazed state he hadn't realized that the memory had faded and he was now standing in the middle of Vash's bedroom.
The Brit looked up to see his friend huddled in the corner of her bed leaning against the wall.
"Hi, Jono." She whispered softly.
Jonothon just stared at her unable to say anything.
"I'm sorry." She said sniffling softly. "I'm just in a huge funk right now; you don't have to stay if you don't want to."
*Bloody 'ell!* was all the boy could say before he dropped to his knees.
"Jono!" Vash said as she slid to the edge of the bed.
Jono raised himself slowly to the side of the bed and stared Vashoba directly in the eye. Vash realized that the Goth boy's eyes were as red as her own. Her mouth hung open in disbelieve, she could hear Jono's mental sniffle in her head.
*Yer won't believe what juss 'appened.* his psi-voice whispered.
****
"What's up, Gumbo?" Static said cheerily as he flopped down on the couch next to the Cajun.
Remy sized up the wild haired boy before answering. "Have fun?" he said with a huge grin.
Static grinned goofily and batted his eyelashes innocently. "What ever do you mean, Gambit?"
"Y'and Jubes been missing for the past two hours. Pretty Miss Kitty been looking all over for y'two. She say somet'ing 'bout a double date."
"Oh, yeah." The boy said flashing his fangs. "I guess we loss track of time."
"Sure." The Cajun replied with a knowing look. "So, Static, where y'pretty sis be hindin', huh?"
"She's probably down stairs with Jono." Static replied.
Static could hear the near silent growl building in the Acadian's throat. He smiled to himself, the guy was obviously jealous. Gambit had been after Vash ever since he'd first saw her. Static guessed that Remy had used just about every trick up his sleeve to win Vash over, still to no avail. The Cajun had done everything possible to be a constant in his sister's life. They took all their classes together and they did all their homework together. Vash had no problem being Remy's friend, but Static knew that his sister wasn't sure about going any further. She was happy with the way things were and he knew full well that it had been a long time since his sister had been really happy.
"What's she see in dat mummy anyway?" Remy whined. "Ah thought he was wit dat Paige girl now?"
"Was Remy actually whining?" Static thought and his smile grow larger. Remy noticed.
"What?!" Remy was obviously annoyed as well as jealous.
"You are so jealous, Remy. I mean you are like glowing green." This broke Static up completely.
"Ah am not jealous!" Remy shrieked.
"Aww Rem, you like my sister. It's not like it's the first time." Static immediately tensed after he made the statement.
The Cajun raised an inquiring eyebrow and Static knew what was coming next. Although now he didn't seem so opposed to it anymore; the Cajun could ask him anything just now and he was sure to get a truthful answer.
"FUCK!!" Static thought. "HE'S A FUCKING EMPATH, STATIC!!!!"
"So, mon ami," Remy began. "When did me and Vashoba get ta'gether?"
"In the future, Remy." Static said it but deep inside there was voice screaming in his head. "YOU'RE TELLING! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSTA TELL! SHE'LL KILL YOU IF SHE KNOWS THAT YOU TOLD!!!!!"
Remy felt bad about using his empathic abilities to get Static to tell him what he wanted, but he had to know the truth. Why was it that Vash wouldn't even give him a chance?
****
It was so hard to look her in the eye, so Jono decided not to.
"What's going on, Jono?" Vash asked softly.
Her friend was beginning to worry her.
*I'm sorry, love.* Jono offered weakly. *I didn't mean ta.*
"Didn't mean to do what?" she asked.
*I saw 'im.*
"Saw who?"
*Remy.* Chamber let out a telepathic sigh. *In yer head.*
Vash's face froze in shock. Was he really saying what she thought he was? She looked into Chamber's big brown eyes.
"A cow. That's what his eyes remind me of. Cow's eyes, big and round."
Chamber let out a telepathic chuckle that was completely against his will.
*I remind yer of a cow?*
But the humor was lost on Vash; she stared back at him with teary eyes.
"Why?" She asked so softly that he barely heard her.
Chamber returned his gaze to the girl's bed comforter. He felt like he would sink through the bed. *I'd give anythin' ta be Kitty right now.* But he couldn't look at his friend. Not now.
"Why?" her voice squeaked with anger.
*Tell 'er Starsmore, before she uses yer for Kitana practice.* he told himself.
*I didn't mean ta, love, 'onest. It just 'appened before I could stop me self. I saw e'erythin'. I'm so sorry, love.*
Vash's shoulders shrunk in defeat. She knew Chamber had not had full control over his powers yet. It was the reason he'd come to Westchester in the first place. It wasn't his fault, besides he would never do anything like that on purpose.
*Did that really 'appen to yer, ducks?* Jono could have slapped his self for letting that slip out.
A small giggle escaped her lips, she like being called 'ducks.' It was Jono's strange word for friend and she liked it. She realized at that moment that she would tell him everything; she would never keep anything from her friend. Plus, she knew she would feel a lot better afterwards.
[Outside.]
Remy was smoking. He hadn't smoked a cigarette in three weeks but now seemed as good a time as any.
"Well y'juss had ta know, huh, homme?"
The Cajun felt absolutely sick to his stomach. Static had told him everything. He knew everything. Remy could never show his face in there again.
"So that's my future, huh? To end up some depressed, alcoholic, woman beater?" the though made his stomach flip.
Those weren't exact words that Static had used but they were pretty damned close. Remy had come to Xavier's school at the age of 21, so far things were going as they were meant to. Static knew about the Cajun's fucked up childhood, growing up on the streets of New Orleans. He didn't know all the details but Remy was pretty sure that the boy had put two and two together. Just how does an eight year old mutant survive own his own? Remy fought back the lump in his throat. He had thought that he could start over here, pretend to be someone else. But he couldn't leave. He couldn't go home, they didn't want him there. He'd been banished. He was a divorcee. He was a murderer. He was a whore.
The Cajun pulled his long legs close to his chest and started to rock slightly. He hated the habit but it was the only way to calm him self. He would have to go back and trust Static not to say anything. He had practically had to force the boy to tell him; maybe he was good at keeping secrets. But what if the professor scanned them then he would know too. Remy had been able to keep up his shields around the professor. But Static and Vash knew everything; what if the professor scanned them then he would know too. Remy stopped fighting the tears and let go.
Vash would never want someone as fucked as him. And Rogue, he was supposed to end up with Rogue? And become an X-Man only to have them find out about him working with Essex and leave him to die in Antarctica.
"Some great fuckin' future LeBeau?"
[Vash's Room...]
Jono had been holding her close for a while now. She had to admit it was nice. He was so warm. She'd never noticed before. It was like he had a high grade fever or something. Probably because of the swirling mass of psionic energy contained in his chest; his skin smelt good, though. She'd always liked the way he smelled. Like leather and spice.
"Very manly, Jono." She thought to her self.
She'd told him everything about her past, leaving out the details of Remy's sensitive past. It wasn't her place to tell Chamber those things. And she'd finally been able to stop crying.
*It's okay, love.* Jono whispered as he absently stroked her hair. *I'm 'ere with yer.*
She was so close to him now. It felt so nice to be so close to her. He could hold her like this forever.
*Oh god, not now.* he thought to him self.
Jono prayed that Vash hadn't noticed the growing bulge in his pants.
*Some friend yer are, Starsmore. She's in bloody pain and all yer can think about is sex.*
He looked down to find his friend staring up at him smiling. Jonothon Starsmore was completely mortified. *Did I say that out loud?*
"Its okay, Jono." She whispered. "It's my fault."
*I'm sorry, ducks.* he said weakly. *I'm such a wanker.*
Vash giggled and added, "It's just natural for it to happen sometimes."
Before she could go into her "It-happens-to-everyone" speech, there was a frantic knock at the door.
"Vash! Open up!" Static yelled from the other side.
"So?" the girl, lying on the bed behind him, asked.
"So what?" Static asked already knowing the answer.
"You told her didn't you?" The black haired girl never broke her gaze at the ceiling.
The blue-eyed boy let out an exasperated sigh.
"Yeah, I told her." He paused before continuing. "But you weren't there. She's like fuckin' relentless."
Vashoba Wagner chuckled at her brother's use of profanity. He always laughed at her when she did it. It had always made him uncomfortable. Laughing had been his way of dealing with his discomfort. But to actually use the offending language himself; it had to have been pretty bad.
"It's okay," Vashoba sighed. "She was going to find out sooner or later. Now she going go tell dad and they're going to dote over us more than they already do."
The boy had only wanted to spare his mother's feelings as he had with everyone else who had come to him with questions of their own. The future was not for him to tell. He wasn't even sure if the supposed future would even occur any more being that it had been three months since he and his sister had arrived in this place, and he and Dr. McCoy had yet to find a way to return them safely to their own time. They had their theories though. Vash's teleportation ability was identical to the Incredible Nightcrawler's in the respect that she traveled through an alternate dimension to reach her intended destination in her own. Coupled with the massive amount of electricity that her brother was channeling, they ripped a hole in time. They could attempt to recreate the phenomenon, but there was no way to control the outcome. The first occurrence was a flook and there was no guarantee that they would end up home. In truth, the twins had given up on the idea completely opting to stay with their parents and new found friends. In reality there was not a great deal left in their futures lives that beckoned them home. This was their home now.
****
The truth of the matter had been painful for the weather witch to accept. Her son-
"My son." She had grown accustomed to the reference. She smiled to her self as she continued to stare up at the ceiling above her bed.
Static, her son, had recounted every detail of he and his sister's life to her after much dancing and skirting around the subject. Her strategic interrogations were not lost on the young mutant and it hadn't taken long for him to cave.
The story was enough to break Ororo's heart. She learned, much to her regret, that her children had few memories of their mother. She had died when they were very young. She left them and her husband Kurt; he had to raise them without her. She did not press Static for details of her demise; she could see that it was hard enough on the boy, with her sitting right in front of him alive and well. Static, no Isaac, had assured her that the other X-Men were there in every step of their upbringing. And that they had had a very extensive extended family. Then she was further shocked by the news that Kurt had died as well, when the children were but ten years old. Even after his wife's untimely death, the man had held tight to the dream of mutant equality; dedicating his life to the struggle for the sake of his obviously mutant children. He died protecting that dream, leaving the twins in the care of his most trusted friend, Logan.
"Logan raised my children?" Ororo though in disbelief. "But he's so- so- Mean."
Her children seemed perfectly well adjusted, despite the circumstances. Though, she could see hints of Loganology in her daughter, Vashoba's personality, especially the cursing but there were hint of her Kurt there as well. Isaac, for the most part, seemed to have taken his personality from her oddly enough; she hadn't been there to influence it. She wouldn't make that mistake again. But that didn't mean that she had to give up the X-Men. Of course not, she just had to be more careful, now she knew what she had to lose.
[In Vash's Room.]
The golden-eyed girl stared intently at the ceiling. It wasn't like that was the only thing of interest in her room. In the short time that she had been at the academy, she had accumulated quite a few items and had fully decorated her room. It was good to have her real dad again. She ferociously fought back the tears building in her eyes. She was glad her brother had gone off with Jubilee so he wouldn't see her like this. She had always been the strong one.
"Jubilee," she mused. "I could see that coming from a mile a way." She thought.
The small Asian girl had staked her claim to Static as soon as she'd first saw him. Static had obviously felt the same. Hell, she could practically smell the pheromones coming off the two when ever they were near each other.
"Wonder if they're fuckin'?"
She would have never had the courage to ask her brother herself, it was way too personal and she knew he would just shy away from the answer. Jubilee was the only girlfriend that her brother had ever had. She smiled at the thought.
"I'm glad he's happy. I, on the other hand, am a total wreck."
Vash had grown accustomed to her new environment, she had new friends, her parents back, and even her surrogate pop, Logan, was warming up to her.
But then there was the Cajun; her one and only true weakness. She loved him, she always had. Even now, them being around the same age, the attraction was still there, even more so. Though, he had yet to gain some of that access baggage he's been carrying when they had been together before. Namely, a girl named Rogue and an unexpected vacation in Antarctica. But she knew better, she knew the secrets that the Cajun had yet to tell her. But he had. In his old age, the prince o' thieves had been more open to share his tortured soul. She knew all his dirty secrets and she knew how they had tainted his soul, how they had tainted hers. He seemed to have a knack for falling in love with the forbidden girls. Rogue couldn't be touched because of her mutation. Their relationship had been the epitome of dysfunctional. And then there was her, though she was sure that there had been many before her. Remy had been attracted to her, even thought she was so very young. She had her suspicions why the Cajun had been so interested in her, but the fact that he was interested at all was enough for her at the time.
"Now why exactly did I fall in love with that nutcase in the first place?"
Logan said once that the only reason the Cajun was so interested in her in the first place was because the girl had reminded him of her mother. Remy had talked about Vash's mother a lot, telling her things about her that she could never had known. She took it that there had been a powerful bond between the two of them from the way he talked about Ororo Munroe. Her mom had been the one to bring him to the X-Men in the first place and Remy had always loved the X-Men no matter how they felt about him. He said that they were the only real family that he had. Logan had come within an inch of killing the Cajun when he found out that he had been sleeping with Vash. But Gambit had refused to give the young woman up. She had to admit it; she loved ever minute of it. She was his 'Pit'e Ange'. And it was her job to take care of him. During the time that Vash had spent with Remy she had witnessed his self hatred first hand. She knew of his childhood before being adopted by Jean-Luc LeBeau. He was a street kid and was force to do some pretty fucked up things to survive. But he had always clung to life, just like he had clung to her. The man had really wanted her; she had never felt wanted like that before. He was a grown man and he readily admitted being in love with a sixteen year old girl. She hadn't even thought twice about leaving with him.
"I wish somebody had been there to take care of me."
She could feel the tears coming again and the bitter lump in her throat. She rolled over on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow.
"I can't hate him. I love him too much."
She finally gave in and her body racked with sobs. With any luck she'd cry her self to sleep.
[In the basement.]
Jonothon Starsmore lay in his bed and stared up at the ceiling of his room lost in thought. For some reason things seemed clearer this way and even though he was exhausted he still couldn't make him self go to sleep. He'd finally found the courage to climb up the stairs and visit his friend Vashoba. He couldn't help the warm feeling that crept over him when he thought of Vash. He liked her; they had quickly become best friends. They liked the same music and television shows. She really seemed to genuinely care for him too. That had been hard to find since his accident even his own family had shunned him. Some times he and Vash would spend hours in his room just talking about things, their lives in general. She seemed to think that he was just fascinating. He even promised to teach her to play guitar if she promised to teach him to play the piano. No one had ever thought of him as fascinating, not even his old girlfriend, Gayle. He was fascinated by her as well.
*She's from the bloody future for fuck's sake, what's not ta be fascinated about?* Jono thought to himself. *And Christ she's beautiful, like some dark angel with glowing yellow eyes. I could spend a lifetime staring into those eyes.*
Jono quickly pushed those thoughts away. They were friends, that's all. He wouldn't ruin what they had by telling her something stupid like that. Besides, there was Paige Guthrie, his girlfriend, sort of. He had finally given in and gone out with her. It wasn't all that bad; Sam didn't even try to kill him when he'd found out the freaky Goth boy had gone out with is little sister. She was a sweet girl; the only problem was they really didn't have much in common.
*Begga's can't be choosers, mate.* He told himself.
Jono had promised Vash that he'd come up and finally see her room, since they had always just stayed in his. But now he had he suddenly found him self at her door listening to the faint muffled sounds of crying. He tried to extend his psychic abilities into her room, something he wouldn't have normally done, but he was worried about his dear friend. He wanted to know if she was alone before he just barged in. He suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a room that he wasn't familiar with. The edges of his line of sight were hazy as if he were in a dream. But it wasn't a dream; it was someone's vivid memory, Vash's memory.
Jono's mind was racing. He knew he shouldn't be here but he had no idea how he'd gotten into this mess, let alone how to get out. He had just begun to test the limits of his telepathic powers with the professor. He had no idea what to do and he realized that he was unable to move. He calmed himself and hoped that he would go unnoticed. He found that he was standing in the middle of a living room that looked like a hurricane had gone through it. He could hear crying and yelling. It reminded him of his home life in London. He noticed a woman huddled in the far right corner of the room. He felt a presence approaching, he looked up and immediately recognized the man. It was Remy LeBeau, only he looked a good twenty years older. Remy had been pacing back forth in front of the cowering female figure. He stopped abruptly and sighed heavily. The huddled figure flinched. The Cajun dropped to crotch and faced the girl and titled her face up to his. The girl cowering in the corner was Vashoba. There was a huge red bruise on the left side of her face and her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks her stained with tears. Remy was saying something to her, Jonothon could hear every word.
"Ah'm so sorry, mon amour." He whispered. "You know dat Ah never meant ta hurt ya, non? Ya forgive Remy, chere?"
Vash nodded sadly and she let Remy kiss her. If Jono's hadn't known any better he would have sworn the Remy wasn't the guy who'd caused all of this damage. He'd never seen Remy angry let alone throwing things and hitting women. The guy always seemed so relaxed. What was this that he was witnessing? He just couldn't wrap his mind around it.
Remy had picked Vash up into his arms and whispered sweet Cajun endearments to her. She gave him a weak smile and he carried her out of the room. Jono didn't know for sure where the man was taking her, but he had a good idea. His father had done it all the time; knocking his mother around and using sex as a way of apologizing later on. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. In Jono's dazed state he hadn't realized that the memory had faded and he was now standing in the middle of Vash's bedroom.
The Brit looked up to see his friend huddled in the corner of her bed leaning against the wall.
"Hi, Jono." She whispered softly.
Jonothon just stared at her unable to say anything.
"I'm sorry." She said sniffling softly. "I'm just in a huge funk right now; you don't have to stay if you don't want to."
*Bloody 'ell!* was all the boy could say before he dropped to his knees.
"Jono!" Vash said as she slid to the edge of the bed.
Jono raised himself slowly to the side of the bed and stared Vashoba directly in the eye. Vash realized that the Goth boy's eyes were as red as her own. Her mouth hung open in disbelieve, she could hear Jono's mental sniffle in her head.
*Yer won't believe what juss 'appened.* his psi-voice whispered.
****
"What's up, Gumbo?" Static said cheerily as he flopped down on the couch next to the Cajun.
Remy sized up the wild haired boy before answering. "Have fun?" he said with a huge grin.
Static grinned goofily and batted his eyelashes innocently. "What ever do you mean, Gambit?"
"Y'and Jubes been missing for the past two hours. Pretty Miss Kitty been looking all over for y'two. She say somet'ing 'bout a double date."
"Oh, yeah." The boy said flashing his fangs. "I guess we loss track of time."
"Sure." The Cajun replied with a knowing look. "So, Static, where y'pretty sis be hindin', huh?"
"She's probably down stairs with Jono." Static replied.
Static could hear the near silent growl building in the Acadian's throat. He smiled to himself, the guy was obviously jealous. Gambit had been after Vash ever since he'd first saw her. Static guessed that Remy had used just about every trick up his sleeve to win Vash over, still to no avail. The Cajun had done everything possible to be a constant in his sister's life. They took all their classes together and they did all their homework together. Vash had no problem being Remy's friend, but Static knew that his sister wasn't sure about going any further. She was happy with the way things were and he knew full well that it had been a long time since his sister had been really happy.
"What's she see in dat mummy anyway?" Remy whined. "Ah thought he was wit dat Paige girl now?"
"Was Remy actually whining?" Static thought and his smile grow larger. Remy noticed.
"What?!" Remy was obviously annoyed as well as jealous.
"You are so jealous, Remy. I mean you are like glowing green." This broke Static up completely.
"Ah am not jealous!" Remy shrieked.
"Aww Rem, you like my sister. It's not like it's the first time." Static immediately tensed after he made the statement.
The Cajun raised an inquiring eyebrow and Static knew what was coming next. Although now he didn't seem so opposed to it anymore; the Cajun could ask him anything just now and he was sure to get a truthful answer.
"FUCK!!" Static thought. "HE'S A FUCKING EMPATH, STATIC!!!!"
"So, mon ami," Remy began. "When did me and Vashoba get ta'gether?"
"In the future, Remy." Static said it but deep inside there was voice screaming in his head. "YOU'RE TELLING! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSTA TELL! SHE'LL KILL YOU IF SHE KNOWS THAT YOU TOLD!!!!!"
Remy felt bad about using his empathic abilities to get Static to tell him what he wanted, but he had to know the truth. Why was it that Vash wouldn't even give him a chance?
****
It was so hard to look her in the eye, so Jono decided not to.
"What's going on, Jono?" Vash asked softly.
Her friend was beginning to worry her.
*I'm sorry, love.* Jono offered weakly. *I didn't mean ta.*
"Didn't mean to do what?" she asked.
*I saw 'im.*
"Saw who?"
*Remy.* Chamber let out a telepathic sigh. *In yer head.*
Vash's face froze in shock. Was he really saying what she thought he was? She looked into Chamber's big brown eyes.
"A cow. That's what his eyes remind me of. Cow's eyes, big and round."
Chamber let out a telepathic chuckle that was completely against his will.
*I remind yer of a cow?*
But the humor was lost on Vash; she stared back at him with teary eyes.
"Why?" She asked so softly that he barely heard her.
Chamber returned his gaze to the girl's bed comforter. He felt like he would sink through the bed. *I'd give anythin' ta be Kitty right now.* But he couldn't look at his friend. Not now.
"Why?" her voice squeaked with anger.
*Tell 'er Starsmore, before she uses yer for Kitana practice.* he told himself.
*I didn't mean ta, love, 'onest. It just 'appened before I could stop me self. I saw e'erythin'. I'm so sorry, love.*
Vash's shoulders shrunk in defeat. She knew Chamber had not had full control over his powers yet. It was the reason he'd come to Westchester in the first place. It wasn't his fault, besides he would never do anything like that on purpose.
*Did that really 'appen to yer, ducks?* Jono could have slapped his self for letting that slip out.
A small giggle escaped her lips, she like being called 'ducks.' It was Jono's strange word for friend and she liked it. She realized at that moment that she would tell him everything; she would never keep anything from her friend. Plus, she knew she would feel a lot better afterwards.
[Outside.]
Remy was smoking. He hadn't smoked a cigarette in three weeks but now seemed as good a time as any.
"Well y'juss had ta know, huh, homme?"
The Cajun felt absolutely sick to his stomach. Static had told him everything. He knew everything. Remy could never show his face in there again.
"So that's my future, huh? To end up some depressed, alcoholic, woman beater?" the though made his stomach flip.
Those weren't exact words that Static had used but they were pretty damned close. Remy had come to Xavier's school at the age of 21, so far things were going as they were meant to. Static knew about the Cajun's fucked up childhood, growing up on the streets of New Orleans. He didn't know all the details but Remy was pretty sure that the boy had put two and two together. Just how does an eight year old mutant survive own his own? Remy fought back the lump in his throat. He had thought that he could start over here, pretend to be someone else. But he couldn't leave. He couldn't go home, they didn't want him there. He'd been banished. He was a divorcee. He was a murderer. He was a whore.
The Cajun pulled his long legs close to his chest and started to rock slightly. He hated the habit but it was the only way to calm him self. He would have to go back and trust Static not to say anything. He had practically had to force the boy to tell him; maybe he was good at keeping secrets. But what if the professor scanned them then he would know too. Remy had been able to keep up his shields around the professor. But Static and Vash knew everything; what if the professor scanned them then he would know too. Remy stopped fighting the tears and let go.
Vash would never want someone as fucked as him. And Rogue, he was supposed to end up with Rogue? And become an X-Man only to have them find out about him working with Essex and leave him to die in Antarctica.
"Some great fuckin' future LeBeau?"
[Vash's Room...]
Jono had been holding her close for a while now. She had to admit it was nice. He was so warm. She'd never noticed before. It was like he had a high grade fever or something. Probably because of the swirling mass of psionic energy contained in his chest; his skin smelt good, though. She'd always liked the way he smelled. Like leather and spice.
"Very manly, Jono." She thought to her self.
She'd told him everything about her past, leaving out the details of Remy's sensitive past. It wasn't her place to tell Chamber those things. And she'd finally been able to stop crying.
*It's okay, love.* Jono whispered as he absently stroked her hair. *I'm 'ere with yer.*
She was so close to him now. It felt so nice to be so close to her. He could hold her like this forever.
*Oh god, not now.* he thought to him self.
Jono prayed that Vash hadn't noticed the growing bulge in his pants.
*Some friend yer are, Starsmore. She's in bloody pain and all yer can think about is sex.*
He looked down to find his friend staring up at him smiling. Jonothon Starsmore was completely mortified. *Did I say that out loud?*
"Its okay, Jono." She whispered. "It's my fault."
*I'm sorry, ducks.* he said weakly. *I'm such a wanker.*
Vash giggled and added, "It's just natural for it to happen sometimes."
Before she could go into her "It-happens-to-everyone" speech, there was a frantic knock at the door.
"Vash! Open up!" Static yelled from the other side.