Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 20
Chapter 5: Baby Blues
"What am I gonna do?" Kitty sobbed moments after Remy had revealed the shocking news to her. She was pregnant, and it seemed as if that moment, everything seemed to crumble around her. Her career as one of the X-Men would be over, she couldn't fight while carrying a baby. And Piotr? Piotr would be horrified if she told him how she got pregnant, he'd never want anything to do with her again.
Remy moved over and put his arms around her, "you're gonna cry it out until you can't cry anymore, and then, when the tears are dry and your head is clearer, then you'll figure out what to do…" he answered. It seemed like the best decision. She was too distraught to make any plans on how to deal with the situation at the moment. He felt as if this definitely wasn't his place to deal with this. He longed for Rogue to be there. Rogue would have the right solution, she'd know how to deal with this. This wasn't a mans place, it was a woman's place to be with Kitty. Remy wished he'd never offered to be there for her now, he was afraid anything he said would cause a bad decision to be taken. He could be so tactless sometimes that he was afraid to open his mouth any further.
Kitty pressed her head into his shoulder, "Piotr will never speak to me again."
"Sure he will," Remy replied, while truthfully he wasn't particularly sure, he was just saying what she wanted to hear. Remy tried to put himself in Piotr's place in his mind, if Rogue had come to him and told him she was pregnant to another man, Remy knew he'd feel very detached and estranged. Sure, the pregnancy would have had to have taken place before their relationship – just as Kitty's pregnancy had – but it would still make the situation awkward.
Remy realised Rogue had gone through this situation somewhat, and again, he wished she were herself, and not with the mind of Carol Danvers controlling her. When Rogue and Remy had been dating years before, Remy's ex fiancé had turned up pregnant. At first, Rogue had been angry, and she'd split up almost instantly with Remy, but after time, events happened that changed everything, and when they came together again, Rogue had began to accept that Remy would have a child.
He sure wished he had her thoughts on this right now, or for that matter had her with him at all. Already his train of thoughts had moved on to his stillborn daughter, Gabrielle, and then the other events that unfolded after the birth. Jared Rickman stealing Rogue right out from under him, Rogue's change, the incidents on Muir Island that involved his sister. The vendetta against MutantX…and Jared's death. It was strange when he thought about it. Everything seemed to link up in some form or the other. If this was fate, he sure was in a resentful mood towards it.
"Life isn't fair, Remy," Kitty sobbed softly into his shoulder.
Remy almost felt as if she'd read his mind, but then realised she was talking about her own predicament, "my sentiments exactly, petit," he stroked her hair, "my sentiments exactly."
That next morning, the X-Men were called to a meeting – excluding Carol Danvers and Bobby Drake but including Betsy Braddock – the woman they called Psylocke. The Professor had a serious expression on his face as they all entered the war room. It was five am, it seemed to be too early for anything except sleep.
"Good morning," The Professor said softly as they all began to take their seats.
"It's morning?" Kurt asked dully, "It's still dark out there, I thought it was nighttime, seems like I barely went to bed."
Kitty took her seat, she glanced over to Kurt and felt slightly apprehensive, if only he knew what was happening to her, she wondered how he might react. Not that it was his place to, but as they had once dated, she knew that he might have a few thoughts on this also. She wished she could go to him, she missed him incredibly, and knew his support would have lifted so much from her shoulders. Not that Remy's support had not done the same, but Kurt's friendship was a different kind of friendship, it was more intimate.
Kurt glanced over at her, caught the expression but said nothing, he looked away, "is something wrong, professor…?" he asked, "we never meet this early."
"I wanted to call a meeting before the students would awaken and take part in lessons, there have been a few changes, and other things that need discussing," the Professor explained, he had a few papers on his desk, "first of all, I want to welcome Psylocke to the X-Men," he gestured towards Betsy Braddock who was wearing another one of Ororo's nightgowns, a satin one that revealed more skin than perhaps the men could handle.
Betsy Braddock gave a slight smile and nodded at him in a respective manner.
"Scott," the Professor said, glancing to Scott Summers direction, "I would like to assign her to the Blue Team, if that is alright?"
"Of course, Professor."
Remy found himself wondering if Scott would have admitted it if he disagreed. The other X-Men were taking it surprisingly well that this woman had joined out of the blue. Especially since it was only days earlier she'd tried to embed ninja stars into some of their members.
"Psylocke, before we continue…could you just fill the others in about yourself a little?"
"It may take me all day," Betsy responded, "but the basics I can quickly explain," she leaned back in her chair, folded her arm, and crossed one long leg over the other, "my name is Elizabeth Braddock, you can call me Betsy if you choose, those who don't wish to can stick with Psylocke," she said coolly, "I'm originally from England, although I've travelled the world quite a bit in the last seven years – for those who want the vague details on that, you can always ask your resident Sneak Thief," she glanced towards Remy smugly.
Remy shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"I never reveal my age," Betsy smiled a little at her new team members, "age is but a number, I always say. I was a twin, up until Remy got us caught," she glanced towards Remy, a little more coldly. "I spent some time working with S.T.R.I.K.E., but eventually left when Remy LeBeau confronted me about Mr Sinister," she glanced towards Remy again with that same cold glare.
"What's S.T.R.I.K.E.?" Kitty asked.
"It's a British division of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Logan responded.
"Gotcha," Kitty nodded.
"Your face seems…quite familiar…" Hank said, "might we have seen you somewhere before, have we ever run into you before?"
"Highly unlikely that we've met before, but you may have seen my face in a magazine or two a few years ago, I modelled for a time…mainly fashion, but some men's magazines," Betsy gave a wink. "I was in dire need of money at the time."
"Ah," Hank nodded, although if you looked closely enough you could almost make out a reddening on his cheeks hidden beneath his fur.
"May we move on to other things now, Professor?" Betsy asked, "I tire of talking about myself."
"Yes, of course," Professor Xavier nodded, "Also on the list of things to touch upon, is Rogue's condition."
"How is she?" Remy asked, sitting forward, suddenly quiet interested.
"Still possessed by Carol Danvers mind, unfortunately," The professor sighed, "me and Jean have tried to break through this mental wall she seems to have Rogue behind, but unfortunately we have had no success. Carol doesn't seem to have any intentions what so ever in letting go of Rogue's body for the time being, so we will need to grin and bear it until we can come up with a solution."
"I was afraid of that," Kitty made a face.
Remy shook his head, "no…" he stood up slowly, "I refuse to just…stand by…and let her totally possess Rogue."
"What would you plan to do, LeBeau?" Betsy asked impudently, "you aren't exactly in the position to solve this problem yourself, are you. You can barely fix your own problems let alone anyone elses."
"Shut up," Remy frowned at her.
"I'm just stating the obvious," Betsy held a hand out in front of her, examining her nails, an air of nonchalance in her tone.
"Bitch," Remy muttered under his breath.
Betsy rolled her eyes, "Professor, do I have to suffer this childish manner?"
"Both of you, please," The professor said in a warning tone, "we are all adults here, there is no need for immaturity and name calling. We are ALL above that…" he reminded.
"Maybe you are," Remy headed for the door, "Excuse me…I have things to do," he uttered angrily, and left, wanting to get out of there before he said anything else that would give the others a lower opinion of him than they already seemed to have.
Kitty sighed, "he's just going through a rough time…" she trailed off.
Betsy didn't even glance to Kitty, "he's not the only one," she said casually.
Kitty felt her cheeks redden, but hoped no one would take that comment as pointed directly at herself, luckily, no one seemed to catch it.
"I'll have private words with him later," the Professor decided.
"Professor…" Scott said, "what about Rogue's Danger Room training with the students…?"
"Yes, I was about to bring that up before Remy's outburst."
"It was hardly an outburst," Kitty responded, feeling the need to speak up for the man. After all, he wasn't there to defend himself anymore, "all he said was he disagreed."
"Kitty, please," the Professor said softly. "Until Rogue is herself again – in charge of her own body – we will need someone to handle the danger room sessions with the students…are there any volunteers?" he asked.
Kitty wanted so badly to be able to volunteer, she loved working with the kids in the Danger Room, she'd helped Rogue several times in there, but now…she had another human being inside her to consider, and that meant she could never enter the Danger Room again under a training session, either to help, participate or train herself. She suddenly found herself wondering how she'd be able to avoid her own teams training sessions in future, she could only use so many excuses, and was pondering if perhaps she should deliberately twist her ankle or break a leg so she had a valid excuse.
Logan shrugged, "I'll do it."
"Perhaps that is not a good idea, Logan. The newest students fear you…" Hank admitted.
"Good, it'll make them work harder," Logan chortled.
"Logan, you shall run the programming and controls in the control annex, then," Professor Xavier, glanced around, "anyone else volunteer to participate in the sessions with the students?" the professor asked.
No one said anything.
"Kitty?" The Professor asked, "You're usually the first to volunteer for these things, but perhaps you are just waiting to be asked?" he suggested, "would you like to handle the sessions?"
"Uhm, I can't," Kitty said, "I'm backed up on the kids math's work…I have so many tests and so much homework to grade – and I have to prepare the students for the next test," she explained.
"Ah, fair enough," the Professor sighed.
"I will, Professor," Piotr said, "the children do not know me…but I will make an attempt to do as good a job as Rogue does."
The Professor smiled, "thank you, Piotr."