Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 9
Chapter 1: I'm Afraid
Rogue entered the mansion through the front door, taking her jacket off as she headed towards the staircase, it was then that she noticed Remy LeBeau standing upon the banister at the top of the stairs overlooking the foyer, she strained her eyes to look closely, noticing a noose around his neck.
"Remy…what are you doing?!" she demanded, panic overwhelming her, freezing her to the spot.
Remy LeBeau did not answer Rogue at all. He looked at her with tragic, desperate soulful eyes, eyes of pain, hurt, he looked as if he'd been crying.
"Remy…come down…" Rogue pleaded of him, she could feel every part of her body trembling with fear, her heart felt as if it were about to explode out of her chest in terror.
Instead of doing, with an almost graceful fashion, he leapt from the rail he'd been standing upon, the thick rope around his neck followed him until its length was pulled as far as it could go.
"NO!" Rogue screamed, finally able to move, she leapt to the air, taking to flight, hoping to reach him in time.
A horrible, terrifying snapping sound occurred before Rogue could get to him, and upon the rope, the body of Remy LeBeau swung, the only sound in the foyer was the creaking of the rope against the rail.
"NO!" she screamed again, she caught his swinging body in midair, holding him up with one arm as she forced herself up higher to the banister to try and untie the rope that he'd knotted particularly well. "You are not going to die on me!" she said angrily tugging hard at the knot.
Rogue could feel the dead weight of his body hanging from her arm as she continued trying to free him from the noose, "HELP!" she screamed frantically as she continued, helplessly unable to free the rope from him, becoming more and more panicked by the second knowing she was running out of time.
Kitty Pryde came dashing from the hall, "what's going on—" her large eyes grew wide with the site of the rope, and Remy dangling from Rogue's arm, "Oh my god…" she whispered.
"Kitty, help me!!" Rogue demanded, tears of anger streaking her face.
Kitty rushed over, pulling at the knot on the rope desperately, "its too tight!"
"Phase it!" Rogue cried at her, she couldn't believe in a crisis like this Kitty was helplessly trying to undo the knot when her powers would simply accommodate the situation.
Kitty grabbed a hold of the rope, she used her powers to phase it through the rail it had been tied around, bringing herself through with it as the weight hauled Rogue and herself to the ground along with Remy's body, the three made a thud upon the marble tiles, and Kitty felt it might be lucky she hadn't broken her neck.
"Get Hank," Rogue said, yanking the noose free of Remy's neck.
Kitty pulled herself up painfully, rubbing her shoulder which had slammed against the floor, she rushed down the hall, leaving Rogue in the foyer alone with Remy's body.
"Remy, come on, you are not going to die on me," Rogue yanked her glove off and pressed her bare fingers against Remy's neck to detect a pulse finding none. "No, dammit!" she cried, "Breathe!" she pleaded helplessly, now the thoughts of what to do left her, in emergencies she'd always known how to react but now, her mind was blank.
"Rogue, move back from him!" Hank McCoy called as he came rushing down the hall, Kitty running at his back, he fell to his knees by Remy, and Rogue moved aside, letting Hank do what he could. "What happened?" he asked.
"He jumped…" Rogue stammered, "from the balcony…I begged him not to but he…he just…he jumped…" more tears sprung to her eyes, her voice shuddering with emotion.
No amount of resuscitation seemed to work upon the body, Rogue kept hoping any minute she'd hear a cough, or a loud breath, or a voice calling her name, but instead, all she heard was Hank's frustrated mumbling to himself as he tried to bring Remy back to life.
"Hank, you have to bring him back, you have to, he can't die…not yet!" Rogue screamed in tears at Hank.
"I'm doing all I can…" Hank said breathlessly, trying to apply mouth to mouth in between talking, although he was already sure he knew the diagnosis, and wasn't sure that Rogue should be here when he made it. "Rogue…" Hank said softly, "could you please…go into another room…" he said softly.
The front door opened, and Bobby Drake stepped inside, his expression twisted in shock to see Remy LeBeau lying upon the floor lifeless, "what's…going on?" he asked.
Rogue stood up, "If you hadn't kept me away from going inside I could have stopped him in time!" she accused.
"Bobby! Get out of here!" Hank called over his back. "Kitty, get Rogue into another room," he commanded – and Bobby, stunned, left silently, looking confused.
"I'm not goin' anywhere!" Rogue objected, tears streaked with mascara and eyeliner ran down her face. She kept trying to tell herself that this was some terrible nightmare, that this was just a bad dream induced by sleeping after having eaten an extremely dodgy pizza earlier that night. But she couldn't remember going to bed, all she could remember was Bobby telling her he loved her, and then her coming through the door to see Remy up there, jumping.
Kitty got up, grabbing Rogue's arm, "come on…" she urged, "you can't be here, now," she said softly, she sounded as if emotion were about to defeat her at any moment, but she seemed to be holding on strong.
"I have to be!" Rogue pulled away, "I can't leave him now!" she dropped to her knees beside Remy, taking his bare hand within hers and holding it tightly. His hand was soft, and still warm, and it gave her hope that if he were still warm he couldn't really have died, that this might all be some mistake and Hank just hadn't detected the pulse that might be there.
"Rogue, go!" Hank ordered.
"He's still warm!" Rogue cried at him, "He's not dead, he's not, he's warm!"
Hank looked at Rogue, his indigo eyes filled with a kind of sympathy that spoke volumes louder than words could. "Are your powers picking up anything from him, Rogue?" he asked pointedly, but in a voice soft, and gentle. He knew these words would make her come to terms with it.
Rogue soon realised herself that if Remy had been alive, she'd have felt his powers absorbing into her, his memories, his thoughts, everything that was him.
But there was nothing…just the feel of his skin against hers. This was when she began to realise that what had happened was real.
"Rogue!" Kitty frowned, "you can't be here, let Hank do what he can!"
Rogue was finally too devastated to fight with Kitty about this and let herself be led off towards the recreation room. She collapsed on the couch in tears, and Kitty sat silently upon a chair, put her hand to her face and sobbed.
Jean Grey and Scott Summers had been smiling at first when they entered the foyer, smiling at their Valentines date and the romantic evening they'd just had. Although to see the scene in front of them in the foyer, Hank McCoy kneeling on the floor beside a lifeless Remy LeBeau, the smiles soon faded.
"What's going on?" Jean asked carefully she rushed over, falling to her knees.
"Suicide, I'm afraid," Hank said rather tiredly, he put his hand to his head, "there's nothing I can do…his neck must have snapped upon the yank of the noose…"
Jean checked Remy's pulse herself, "does Rogue know?" she asked softly.
"She witnessed the whole thing," Hank sighed, "she's devastated, of course…"
Scott knelt down too, looking at the body, "What should we do?" He asked, "call the police?"
Jean frowned a little, thinking deeply about this, "No…that would be a bad idea at this moment in time," she stated. She could envision clearly what would happen if they did so, and the outcome would not be good.
"Then what should we do?" Scott asked.
Jean drew her breath, "legally we're obliged to call the police, but…we can't…besides, Rogue wouldn't be able to handle any questioning from the police right now. Her emotions are running so high I can feel the telepathic echoes bouncing off these walls," she rubbed her temples, "perhaps we should try to find out what happened before figuring out what we should do?"
Scott gaped at her, "Keep a body in the mansion? We can't do that…you know that his body will—"
"I know, Scott, I know," Jean frowned, "but you have to also remember, Remy was on the run! For murder, and an endless list of robberies, if we call the police explaining he committed suicide here you know we'll be in as much trouble as he is – for harbouring a fugitive," she said, "we should wait for the Professor, he'll know what to do, he should be home by tomorrow morning, within another twelve hours, we'll have the answer, I think we can wait until then…"
"Jean…can you telekinetically move Remy from here to the hospital wing?" Hank asked softly, "I…I must check on Rogue, I must explain to her I did all I could…" he stood up.
"Of course," Jean nodded, "Rogue is in the recreation room, by the way," Jean said after doing a quick telepathic search of the mansion.
"Thank you," Hank said, and headed off in that direction, finally he approached the recreation room, holding his breath, hoping he could deliver the news without devastating her more than she already was.
Rogue raised her head as Hank stepped into the recreation room, he looked sombre, his eyes sympathetic once again. She tried to contain her own sobbing, and looked at Hank pleadingly, hoping he'd have the good news she desperately needed to hear.
"Rogue…" Hank said softly, he came over and sat beside her on the couch, he reached over and touched her arm, "I'm afraid…there was nothing I could to save Remy…"
Rogue pressed her hands to face and broke down into more tears, it felt as if her life were suddenly over, as if the weight of the world came crashing down upon her and once again, the same feeling that came to her every time Remy left her – her heart breaking – was there again. Only this time, she was well aware this would be the last time she ever felt it.