Ch.7 Weekend Warriors
SLAM!
Rogue watched helplessly as the Sentinel slammed Cyclops into a nearby wall. The metallic groan of gears alerted her to the arrival of two more robots as she darted over towards Scott. A look told her she was out cold as he lay amidst the dust and debris. Rogue reached down without a second thought and touched his forehead with her bare fingers. She was careful not to prolong the contact, just enough to pull his power from him.
SNIIKKKTTTThat sound Rogue knew and a moment later the head of a Sentinel rolled lazily down the street after Wolverine was kind enough to detach for the over grown transformer. Over the communication link, Rogue heard the chatter of Kitty and Kurt as they worked furiously to clear the streets of innocent bystanders.
Rogue remained near Scott who still had not moved.
THUNK...CHINK…THUNK...CHINK…It's maroon head appeared over the expanse of the roof and its main gun arm raised. Rogue released her borrowed power and hit the shoulder joint of the thing dead on. Servos snapped and sparks flew as connecting wires, those vital to function sizzled and melting under the powerful optic blast. Two down…two more to go.
'Go on Rogue, I've got him.' Jean's voice worried and full of fear filtered into Rogue's head and a moment later Scott's body lifted up from next to her. 'Wolverine could use some help, two blocks south.' With Jean removing Scott from battle, Rogue sprinted off. Though the directions were useful, she hadn't needed them as the sounds of pure chaos and panic rolled in waves from the vicinity of the two towering giants remaining.
On the back of one was Wolverine who maneuvered his way unerringly towards the head of robot. His claws sparked every time he drove them into the thing's back. The other Sentinel turned and fired blast after blast at a running Kitty as she grabbed the arm of a man and phased them both through the shots. Rogue's heart clinched as she saw the fatigue on Kitty's face, but the younger girl did not stop. Kurt appeared and BAMFED out with the scared gentlemen and Kitty circled back around.
Rogue never stopped running for a moment. She needed to get closer since her aim wasn't as good as Scott's. Time slowed as her heart raced in that adrenaline induced state. Part of her noted that Wolverine had reached the head of the Sentinel and was preparing to decapitate it as he had the one before. Kitty grabbed a woman and child to phase them through large slabs of concrete that fell free when the Sentinel Logan attacked staggered under his attack.
'Somethin's wrong,' Rogue increased her speed and wished she'd absorbed Pietro. Before her, she saw the woman and child run after the blast ran through them, and Kitty fall. The last Sentinel turned; it's chest cavity gun ports opening with harsh CLICK as it locked in on Kitty Pryde. 'NO KITTY!' Her mind screamed as Rogue forced even more speed into her legs.
Wolverine dived off the falling robot and made a beeline for the girl as well. Though he was much farther away than Rogue. He felt a dread rise in his chest. He didn't think either one of them would make it in time. Rogue blasted at the Sentinel with Scott's powers. Her aim was off. She only hit the body plating, but enough force transmitted in the blast to knock the giant off balance. Still though the eerie glow of the gun ports increased.
Rogue dove towards her friend. Her arms wrapped around Kitty as she rolled the girl beneath her and the blast went off all round them. Metal, concrete, street lamps, and other debris burst up from the blast site and much of it sped towards the two. Rogue curled her body around Kitty in an attempt to physically shield her friend.
Logan heard Rogue's cries of pain and his rage knew new power. A vicious snarl seized him and those sharp claws connecting with the leg of Sentinel.
SHHHIINNNNK... SHHHHINNKKK... THUD…The creature went to its knees. Its head turned slowly to access this new threat. At a distance Rogue felt herself and Kitty hit the ground, but she did not move. At a remove she felt the tears free themselves from her eyes as she held onto her unconscious friend. Kurt returned then from his last drop off. His eyes widened as he saw both Rogue and Kitty down. On all fours, he bounded over and immediately teleported them to the rooftop where Jean had taken Scott and the team was supposed to rendezvous with the Blackbird.
Logan wasn't far behind. He'd made short work of the final adversary.
"Stripes," He touched her shoulder gently, "Let me see her." Rogue rolled from Kitty and Logan hissed softly, but not at the younger of the two. Rogue had succeeded. Not a mark showed on Kitty from the Sentinel attack, but Rogue hadn't fared so well. The debris had cut through her clothing and left deep gouges all over her, and he suspected internal damage as well.
The Blackbird came to a hover above them; it's walkway extending on protocol from the auto pilot program. Logan scooped up Rogue, his mouth set in a grim line as he and rest climbed into the plane with all due haste.
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"How are they, Hank?" Wolverine stepped from the cylindrical elevator and into the med lab level. Hank McCoy sat at his desk and looked over various X-rays scattered about.
"Scott is fine, minor concussion. I'll be keeping him overnight for observation though. Kitty is up and about too much drain from continued, prolong use of her mutation had sent her body into shock. A day of rest and a few good meals will set her right as rain." Logan didn't need keen senses to find the pregnant pause as Hank looked away with a sigh.
"Tell me, Hank." He strode over to the blue Beast his heart erratic with the dread he would not show.
"Rogue," Hank sighed and motioned for gruff Logan to follow. "She will recover, but the damage was significant. " A large blue paw turned the knob to the last observation room where Rogue lay stretched out and hooked up to various machines. Each contraption gave off it's own soft whine and sharp beep. "A fracture wrist, two cracked ribs, several bad lacerations, and a severe ankle sprain. But," He said as he closed the door to the sleeping girl, "That isn't what bothers me."
"Well, spit it out Hank." Logan's eyes narrowed. A gaze many wilted under, but one that Dr. Hank McCoy met without flinching.
"Before I sedated her, she kept saying 'I failed her'. I didn't even want to sedate her, but, " Hank shrugged, "She would not remain still, even after I told her it would just make her injuries worse."
"Thank, Hank," Logan left with a scowl. He knew Rogue well. In fact, when she had first showed up on the Institute's doorstep and demanded admittance Logan had taken a shine to her.
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"This is tha Xavier Institute rahght?" Logan quirked a brow at the fourteen year old before him and nodded once. "Then Ah'm in tha raght place." Now his other brow joined the first in surprise.
"Kid, you need to call your parents or something?" Logan frowned, but the girl met his eyes with no sign fear.
"Ah'm Rogue, n' Ah'm a mutant." She stated as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Logan could not help the grin as she extended one small-gloved hand towards. Her tiny face as serious as any adult embarking on a life altering decision. His much larger hand closed over as he crouched in front her.
"Logan, nice to meet you, Stripes." She grinned at him and followed him inside the mansion to meet Charles Xavier.
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In all that time, Rogue had never once openly complained. Like any other kid she'd rib him about his danger room session or groan good-naturedly about the ungodly hours he sometimes visited upon them. But really complain? No, in fact she tried harder than any other student. Something drove Rogue that even Logan did not quite understand. No one did.
Because of her determination, Logan had set up two extra training sessions a week with Rogue, and her physical abilities showed both their hard work. She was an excellent fighter, and lately Logan had begun teaching Rogue, Scott, and Jean advance tactics as well. With more and more kids coming to the Institute Logan had already made up his made to create three specialized teams, and he knew who would be leading them.
Now though, after hearing Hank's words about Rogue, Logan wondered if he had done the right thing by her. She was his best student and the least approachable, much like himself.
"Logan," Xavier was the sort of man that never had to raise his voice to be heard. "How is she?" Wolverine fell into step next to his friend. The soft buzz of the chair lessened the silence of the hallway as they moved towards Charles' office.
"Physically, she'll be all right, but I knew that. Rogue's a tough kid. "
"But you're worried
about her mental state."
"She thinks she failed us, Chuck. She thinks she failed Kitty. N' I think it goes deeper than what happened today." Logan's gruff voice was oddly subdued.
"Then it's up to us to prove to her that she isn't."
"How? I've worked with her for years." Charles' hands steepled in front of him.
"Mhmmm, but unlike the others, we haven't trained her mutant ability." That gave Logan pause. He, Xavier, and Storm had always assumed that it was best to keep Rogue from using her mutation too much so she did not feel so isolated from the rest. Now he saw what direction Charles' mind was traveling.
"I think yer right," A small grin broke his normally temperamental features, "N' I think I got just the solution. Thanks, Chuck."
"No, thank you, Logan. You reached her when no one else could. You've always been able to reach her. If anyone can help her learn its you." Logan's brows rose with those words, but he said nothing else. Xavier chuckled as Logan's expression settled back into gruff indifference. One day the children here would remember their taskmaster of an instructor and realize that he had cared deeply about each and every one of them.
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Light. A thin seam of watered down light swam in a sea of black. The light seemed to pulse in the same time as the pain in her chest. Rogue's eyes opened and the seam of light became a sea of light. She squinted against its vicious intrusion as thousands of small needles flung by that same light pierced into her skull. A raspy groan slipped free as her thoughts struggled to push through the layer of murk that covered her mind.
'Tha fight.' She tried to look around, to figure out just where she was, but the anxious face of a half-asleep Kurt bolted into her vision.
"Vogue!" His voice jabbed into her ears.
"Not sa loud elf," She half rasped, half pleaded. Rogue felt his furry, three fingered hand touch the top of her head, and he quieted.
"Vogue, should I get McCoy?" He did not wait for her answer as she heard the door creak open. ''Least 'e didn' teleport outta heah.' She loved Kurt, but the smell of burning sulfur just did not appeal to her at the moment.
The soft, steady beep of the monitors lulled her eyes closed as Rogue attempted to adjust to the various aches that ran from the top her head to the bottom of her toes. She felt like warmed over crap. 'Ah feel like Ah jus' gotta hit wi' an explosion.' A small smirk, and even that seemed to cause her pain.
The silence shattered a moment later as a worried Kitty bolted through the door with Logan, Kurt, and a rather amused Dr. McCoy in the rear. Kitty, for all her fear managed not to squeeze her friend, or squeal in delight that she was finally awake. Much to everyone's surprise the younger girl took the seat Kurt had just vacated and took on of Rogue's hands in her own gloved ones.
Mc Coy pushed between Kurt and Logan to check her vitals and only then did anyone speak.
"I think you will make it," McCoy proclaimed. "Though you will be required to remain here tonight." He smiled so gently to her, and then left her to the care of her friends.
"Wha…Wha.. day is it?" She asked in a voice so weak, Kitty nearly cried.
"Zis is Tuevsday," Kurt sat at the foot of her bed, just next to her sheet covered feet. Logan looked between the two kids who were obviously torn between pure joy and the need to be still with a chuckle.
"How you feelin', Stripes?" In small increments, she moved her head to look at Logan. He saw the haze in her eyes as her pupils dilated slowly into focus.
"Lahke Ah got caught too close ta a Sentinel blast," She grinned. Only to frown a moment later as she looked Kitty.
"Ya okay Kittycat?" The words were nothing more than a pained whisper.
"Totally," Said the head bobbing valley girl. "Like, didn't they tell you? You took all the damage, Rogue." Her words weighted further as she looked at the older girl lying so pale and weak against the medical bed.
"Th' half-pint's right, Stripes. I'll be back later, gotta a session with those new recruits." All three teenagers hid small snickers at the near painful expression on Logan's face. This new group was rowdier than Rogue and her friends ever though of being. Logan ruffled her hair with an affectionate pat before he left just as quietly as he came.
"Cool, now that Logan's like gone," Kitty grinned a devious grin as she reached under Rogue's bed and pulled out a large clear bowl, half filled with water. On top floated several Magnolia blooms. A card hung off the side. Kurt watched on with comical puzzlement.
Rogue reached towards the bowl, only to retract her hand with a soft hiss when her cracked ribs screamed in protest. Kurt, who was dying to know who they were from, promptly reached over and snagged the card.
"Vet weel soon. Cher?" Kurt's head titled to the side in much the manner of a puppy that hears a high-pitched noise. "Vho is Cher?"
"It's, like, French ya loon! It means 'dear'." Kitty rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Vat!!! Vho are dees from!?!" When Kurt got angry or upset he looked like a cat in that a small ridge of his fur stood on end.
"Oh hush, elf, it's sweet," Kitty grinned at Rogue. When it looked like Kurt would press the issue, Kitty smacked him lightly on the back of the head with a scowl. He settled cross legged on the edge of the bed again. Though from time to time he looked at the vase with a frown.
"Kurt, thahre from Remy," It was Rogue that spoke, and Kitty sucked in a deep breathe as she looked back over to Kurt.
"Vey is dat one sending you vlowers?" Each word left his mouth with careful deliberation. He did not like Remy a.k.a Gambit he'd already tried to hurt Rogue once outright after all.
"S'okay Kurt, jus' friends," Her eyelids fluttered down. It felt like someone had just attacked lead weight to them. Kitty motioned to the door and Kurt nodded, any ire at Remy faded as he watched Rogue in unconcealed concern. He patted her leg very gently before slipping out of the door.
After Kurt left Kitty leaned forward, her face partly hidden behind Rogue's head.
"He said he missed you," The excitement in Kitty's voice was impossible to miss, but before Rogue could say anything the younger girl darted out. A soft click announced the closing of the door, and Rogue found herself alone again and drowsy. Still a small smile tugged the corner of her lips as she turned her head towards the bowl on the table.
The soft white of the magnolia stood out against the sterile, practical room. Everything in here had sharp angles, metal plating and a washed, antiseptic smell. But without fail the gentle sent of the blooms permeated the air. A wry grin crossed her face. Rogue would have loved nothing more at that moment then to breathe them in, but she knew her ribs would not tolerate that. So instead she contented herself with small inhales just before she drifted off to sleep.
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Friday came and Rogue was finally allowed back to her room. She moved slowly up the stairs with one crutch tucked under her good arm for support. Behind her Kitty clutched the bowl with the still blooming magnolia behind. 'Don't drop this, Kitty.' The girl repeated that single phrase over and over again. She did not catch Rogue's backwards glance and subsequent smirk.
"Kit, tha' ain't the holy grail ya holdin' there."
"Ohhhh… hush!!! You, you … unromantic person! You should've like seen his face when I told him you wouldn't be back until Monday." Kitty's dreamy sigh forced an exaggerated eye roll from Rogue.
"There jus' flowers fa cryin' out loud," A strong ache in her ribs reminded Rogue rather sharply that laughter was not an activity she could engage in just yet.
"Ppffttt right, just flowers. N' like that's just some dime store snow globe next to your nightstand. Face it girl he's got it bad for you," A mischievous grin lined Shadow Cat's face. Rogue may not admit she liked Remy, but Kitty knew her better than that.
"Shush n' leave me alone fa awhile," Whatever harshness might have been in Rogue's words was removed with her soft laughter at her friend's behavior. 'Tha' girl's always been a hopeless romantic.'
"Nope, not until you're in bed missy, McCoy's orders." Rogue flashed a mock frown before she sat on her bed arms crossed before her.
"Betta?" Kitty smile was both smug and triumphant as she kicked on the light after setting the bowl on Rogue's dresser. She signed softly. 'Wish someone would bring me gifts'. With a last wink and a wave, Kitty sank through the floor into the downstairs common area.
Rogue smirked as she leaned back against the pillows, grateful for their soft embrace. Impulse ruled a moment as she flipped the catch on Gambit's present and turned off the glaring overhead light. Within a second the room filled with the soft, diffuse glow. Rogue snuggled down into her soft bed with a pleased sign. The scent of magnolias and the vision of river water, what more could a gal on the re-coup ask for?
"Remy's glad y' like yo present, Cher." Well that was another thing she could ask for. Even though he'd startled her, Rogue rolled over slowly. He leaned half against the open balcony doors, strong arms crossed against his chest with one foot propped against the frame as his coat billowed softly in the breeze. In the near dark room those hellfire eyes gleamed in a dangerous way, but she held no fear only fascination.
Gambit quirked a brow as she started to chuckle softly. How could she not? He was the vision of dashing rogue in a romance novel as he spirited unheard or seen into his lady's room. The vision faded fast though as he crossed the expanse of the room in long strides at her wince.
"Cher?" His hand stroked her hair softly as a worried frown formed.
"Ribs. Ah'll be fine," The frown deepened. "Really, Remy." She cocked her head curiously at his sudden smile.
"Dis be th' first time ya eva call Remy by 'is name. Y' sho dat robot didn' knock y' in yo head?" He teased gently, though his hand never left her head. Instead it drifted to the curve of her cheek in such a gentle sweep as if he feared causing her more pain.
"Ya tryin' to same somethin' there?" A mock frown slipped over her lips.
"Jus' statin' a fact, Cher." She had no immediate response, and the silence stretched on for several moments until she cleared her throat gently. Gambit felt her indecision, and instead of prodding her, he waited for her to come to some inner decision on whatever was troubling her.
"Remy," She started only to stop again. "Ah…. Ah… owe ya an apology."
"Wha fo'?"
"Ah," She looked down from those entrancing eyes. "Ah thought tha' ye'd left a bomb or somethin'," this time she did not pause but rushed on in the hopes to get it all out before he could take offense. "Ah love it tho' neva had a mo' thoughtful gift in mah life." She waited for his anger she felt sure would come, but he only smiled and leaned forward to brush a feather light kiss to her hair.
"Don' worry 'bout it, Cher." All of a sudden Rogue felt uncomfortable, nervous. 'What if someone heahs 'im? Ahhhh Gahd Logan'll kill 'im!' Though before she could speak the words, Remy felt her internal retreat. A long sigh echoed through his mind as he stood.
"See y' in class, Cher," And just like that he was gone. Rogue could not explain the sudden the loss she felt, nor could she explain her sudden stupidity as she bolted up with the full intent to go after him. Her side screamed in agony and the firey pain burned a long every nerve. She bit her lip deep enough to draw blood to keep from crying out as she fell back on the bed.
'Wha' am Ah gonna do?' She took as deep a breath as her chest would allow. No longer just the scent of magnolia though. His scent lingered all about her, and it was both pain and pleasure. 'Ah can' do this'. Though exactly what 'this' was, even Rogue did not know.
She watched the water's patterns play out over the ceiling as with each breath she breathed him in. She wanted to stay up and think on this, she wanted to go after him, but Dr. McCoy's happy pain killing pills kicked in and she drifted asleep. But she still dreamed. Dreamed of fire lit eyes, quiet nights by the river, and maybes, and could bes that brought tears to her sleeping eyes.
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And now for the thank yous! Of course a thanks to everyone who read this and a big thanks to all those that offered a review!
Caliente – Thank you, and here be yer update. Yes Rogue does rock!
Yumiko – I saw the update funny how everything sometimes works out like that no? As for the gift they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so we'll see right? Thank you!
Katrina5 – Yeah I wanted Kitty to be a little more assertive, Rogue needs someone like that that isn't Wolverine. Hehehe. Glad you're liking it! The gift was an inspired moment from insomnia induced sleep deprivation… hmmm could this mean insomnia is a good thing? Something to ponder there.
Buffy2004angel – thank you!
DBZpunkchick – Hope you like this one too.
Writerchik1 – I wanted some silly romance in with the 'serious' romance. I figure it works since they are both still pretty young. Thanks!
Ishandahalf – Not sure if it's CBS (Crack Bunny Syndrome) or lack of sleep. Heck maybe it's both. Hehehehe. I think Gambit thinks of everything in the terms of a thief, much like he thinks of everything in terms of challenge. It's pretty much second nature to him by now. Hehehe… I like to throw my readers a lil suspense every now and then, and I figured Remy wouldn't be able to resist her calling him in her sleep. No worries have a crack bunnies surrounding me and prodding with their bunny paws to keep on typing! Enjoy!
On a side ya'll are makin' me blush with these goods reviews… hehe.