Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 10
Chapter 1: Telltale Signs
"How could you NOT have noticed, Hank?!" Rogue demanded as she had later calmed down, standing over the body of what they all had once thought was Remy LeBeau – but now Rogue was confident whoever this man was, he could not be the man she loved, however much he appeared to look like him.
"I don't understand…" Hank followed her over to the cadaver, staring down, "why did you half undress him?" he felt immediately concerned over this, what could a woman like Rogue have possibly been doing undressing Remy? Had her obsession with not being able to touch people finally gotten to her that she might molest a corpse? Hank frowned and chided himself for thinking such a thing. If Rogue had half undressed Remy, there had to be good reason – more than likely to do with this claim that this cadaver was not Remy at all.
"Look, Hank, doesn't anything seem a little strange to you? God knows, you've seen him bare-chested before…" Rogue gestured to the bare torso. "You of all people should have noticed…"
"Noticed what?" Hank asked, he was staring for some time, he looked tired and extremely confused, Rogue almost felt bad for him – except slightly angry there was something he'd missed when he'd been treating Remy. Hank's eyes suddenly opened wider, in realisation.
Rogue realised Hank had suddenly noticed what she had moments earlier, that this body that had assumedly been Remy LeBeau was missing a very important scar on the left side of his chest – a scar that had always been noticeable and could have never completely just disappeared.
"His wound," Hank said, he quickly pulled on a pair of surgical latex gloves and touched the area where the scar had been. "The scar from the stab wound he received the day he came to join us…"
"You of all people should have noticed it was gone, Hank…you stitched it up yourself," Rogue reminded.
"Fascinating, the scar has either miraculously healed itself…or…something else is at hand…" Hank's interest showed in those intense indigo eyes of his, his thick furry eyebrows knitted together as he investigated further.
"This isn't Remy, Hank," Rogue found tears of relief springing to her eyes, she wiped her eyes quickly.
"But how can you be sure? You've seen Logan heal from larger wounds with not even a scar to show from it…"
"Could that be possible?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow, but knowing in her heart there was no way this man on the bed was Remy.
"Possibly, if a new power had manifested within him allowing him the ability to heal at accelerated rates – just like Logan," Hank replied, "but…I would have thought that the scar that would have been there before such a power would have manifested would have remained. But still…this is just one explanation – there could be many," Hank replied.
"Look at his left hip…" she said quickly, brushing the white streaks of her long hair away from her face.
"Why?" Hank asked curiously, he reached over, with a very careful and doctor-like fashion pushing the waistband of the Jogging pants slightly down the cadaver, "I don't see anything…"
"That's just it…" Rogue looked at Hank, "Remy has a tattoo on his hip, a tiny black spade. I saw it once…" she explained, "it was a personal thing for him, it wasn't something he went around showing people…"
"Then how did you see it?" Hank raised his eyes to her as he was doubled over the body examining the hip. He paused, then he shook his head, "No, forget it, I don't want to know," he frowned, "then…if this isn't Remy, who exactly is he?"
Rogue shook her head, "I don't…I mean, is it possible he had a twin brother?"
"I think he might have mentioned – at least to you," Hank moved away from the body. "Does he have any brothers?"
"I don't know…I don't think he mentioned…it was so long ago that me and Remy were close to discuss things like that…I just don't remember…he had a sister – remember, she died in the cave in under the Muir Island Research Centre…" Rogue reminded.
"Yes, I remember," Hank nodded.
"He WAS adopted by the leader of the Guild of Thieves," Rogue hugged herself, "could it be possible there were twins, Remy and another brother? Maybe they were separated at Birth…" she asked.
"Identical twins? Possibly. Certainly would explain why Rem—er, I mean this…person didn't how signs of possessing any mutant abilities…" Hank admitted, "That could be yet another explanation," he added, "I myself would have assumed this may have been a shapeshifter, if he or she could copy Remy's exact face and body without flaw and never have known about any distinguishing marks – but if so…the body would have reverted back to normal upon the death…" Hank frowned in deep concentration, "there seems to be something very disturbing going on."
Rogue nodded, still gazing down at the body.
Hank sighed, "I wished I had not become so immersed in my work that I've neglected the signs…how could I have been so ignorant of these details?"
"Hank, your work is important to you, its easy to get caught up in something that matters to you and lose track of everything else, it happens to us all…" Rogue touched his arm, "even me…" she sighed. Rogue stared down at the body, relief still spreading through her, the hope that perhaps Remy LeBeau wasn't
Hank stayed silent for moment, apparently deep in thought, then pulled himself out of it, and spoke again, "Rogue, I know you didn't want me doing anything to the body but…has that changed?" he asked.
"Yes," Rogue nodded, "I want to know what the hell is going on here…I want to know WHO this guy is and WHY he looks like Remy…"
Hank took off his gloves, he unlocked a large medicinal closet nearby and began to search within, "years and years ago, I took a blood sample from Remy, as well as some DNA samples…never thought they would come in handy – until this moment," he admitted, he retrieved a hypodermic needle, some sterile swabs and a handful of other items he'd need to investigate further.
Rogue headed for the door, "I guess I better go tell Kitty the good news…she's still really upset…"
"Rogue, please, do not get your hopes up too much about this. If this isn't Remy, it still does pose the question of where Remy is…and if he is indeed alive…we still have so much to find out…"
"I know," Rogue nodded, but faintly smiled, "But I can't just give up hope…I don't have much else to hold onto right now…"
Hank nodded, "Go talk with Kitty, while I investigate this further."
It was four thirty am when Kitty Pryde heard the knocking on her door, she'd been lying across the bed with her small fourteen inch television on with the volume low, hoping maybe some sound in the background would lull her to sleep – but it hadn't done anything except aggravate her. "Who is it?"
The door open and Rogue walked in, her expression wasn't one of heartbreak as one might expect, she looked happy, and this began to concern Kitty instantly. "Rogue…what is it?" Kitty asked, she sat up straight, brushing her bangs away from her forehead.
"Something…something wonderful has happened, Kitty," Rogue rushed over and sat down, "Remy isn't dead…"
"You mean he's still alive?" Kitty asked, "But…we…we saw him, he was dead, Hank had him covered in the hospital…what do you mean he's still alive?" Kitty's large blue eyes widened in shock.
"I don't know exactly what's going on yet, Kitty, but…whoever that man is down there, he isn't Remy…he's…I don't know, a lookalike, maybe a twin…"
"Could have fooled me, looked the spitting image of Remy to me," Kitty felt shock jolting her, it seemed her whole world had felt as if it were falling apart only hours ago at the death of someone else she had cared about, and now she was finding out that this was all some kind of mistake, that the man down there wasn't Remy. "I spent hours with him, that was Remy, Rogue, I know Remy when I see him!"
"I know he looks like him, but he's not…" Rogue assured, she looked straight at Kitty, "Remy has a scar, here on his chest," she gestured upon her own chest where the scar should have been, "and on his left hip a small tattoo of a spade – you know, like the ace of spades…" she explained, "I went into see the body one last time, and I noticed that he didn't have the scar…I knew right then that it couldn't be Remy."
"He couldn't have possibly had both the scar and the tattoo removed?" Kitty asked.
"No…" Rogue said firmly, "I saw that scar on him recently, do you remember that day me and you came back from going out for pizza and he was in the garage working on that stupid motorbike that's in pieces? He didn't have a shirt on and I saw that scar then…he couldn't have it removed so suddenly – and not without someone having found out about it…"
Kitty frowned, "this whole thing is so bizarre…the bullet…then Remy not being Remy…the lack of memory…"
"Well…that makes sense…how could he remember things that only Remy could remember if he wasn't Remy?"
"Good point," Kitty said, "but if that were the case why couldn't The Professor or Jean couldn't locate ANY memories in the guys head, but he could still think and talk? Now THAT's a really weird thing."
"Yeah…Hank is down there right now, he's going to examine the body and see what he can find…"
Kitty looked away distantly, feeling slightly chilled by the thought that some identical twin of Remy's had been leading her on this whole time with stories of not being able to remember, could it have been true? "When the Professor gets here maybe he'll have a better idea of what's going on," she finally said. "And maybe he'll be able to find the REAL Remy."
"I hope you're right," Rogue replied.