Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 21

Chapter 6: Never

When Remy LeBeau awoke the next morning, it was past breakfast. Memories of the night previous floated back in waves, and he remembered how incredibly insensitive he'd been to Kitty. He supposed he should have been a little more tactful, especially when Kitty had come up intent on apologising for what had happened.

As Remy showered, he realised of course it hadn't just been his fault, Kitty's mood had been overemotional and had quickly become angry. Hormones, he thought. Pregnant women are really prone to mood swings, he thought. He remembered Bella Donna's mood swings in particular, they had been the worst. Crying, screaming, throwing things. Compared to that, Kitty's temper had been fairly mild.

He slicked his wet hair back from his face, pulled on some clothes, and went to the classroom Kitty used for Maths, without knocking he slipped in quietly, Kitty was in the middle of administering a test, she looked frazzled, her hair wasn't done, she wasn't wearing makeup and her clothes were slightly wrinkled. She was leaning over her desk writing something.

"Ahem," Remy gave a cough to acknowledge his presence. Kitty raised her head and looked at him, and he looked right back at her. Some of the students also looked at him. Kitty was still seemingly moody, she looked at her paper again and chose to ignore his presence completely.

Remy stood for a moment, then spoke, "Pardonner mon intrusion, peux-j'avoir un mot, s'il vous plaît?" he asked for her attention to speak for a moment. He knew there was no likelihood that any of these students spoke fluent French.

Kitty ignored him, she was flicking through a book relating to her lesson plan.

"Ne pas me négliger s'il vous plait," he sighed.

Kitty still did not answer.

"Je sais que vous comprenez le français couramment, donc ne fait pas semblant comme si ne vous faites pas," he said. He knew she understood him very well, the fact was she was giving him a rubber ear – in other words, she chose not to listen.

Kitty stood up, giving in, "Class, if you'll excuse me, I have to speak with Mr LeBeau for a moment…" she said, then slipped out of the room after Remy. "What?" she demanded once she was outside.

"I just wanted to apologise about last night. Look, when I drink I sometimes get nasty or I act like a smart ass…I didn't mean to not be there for you…I just…I have…"

"Problems," Kitty remarked, "Yes, you have problems. Well so do I, Remy. I have a baby inside of me, that's a pretty BIG problem. And you have NO idea what I'm going through right now, and after…ALL I've done for you could have at least stayed sober enough to be there for me…"

"I know," Remy sighed, "I'm really sorry…" he looked at her.

Kitty looked away, her eyes were puffy, it was more than evident she'd spent a good deal of the night previous and this morning crying.

Remy looked at her, "do you forgive me?"

"No," Kitty mumbled.

"Fine, are you mad at me?" he tried.

"I don't have the strength to be mad anymore," Kitty sighed softly, she looked down at the floor distantly.

Remy reached over and fixed her hair a little, "I let you down and I'm extremely sorry…"

Kitty shrugged.

"Are you and Piotr speaking again?"

"I don't know…" Kitty sighed, "I mean I think so but…I don't know, at breakfast he was distant…and so was I…" she shrugged, her eyes gazed up to him. "Look…I don't BLAME you for getting drunk, alright, I just…I really needed you, this one time I need you, and you weren't there…"

"I know, I know…" Remy sighed, "that's why I'm always so…reluctant…to give anyone my word, 'cause I'm always afraid I'm going to let them down…but you're the only real friend I have in this place, and I didn't WANT to let you down…that's why I came back early."
"You were no good to me, drunk, Remy," Kitty admitted sourly.

"I'm no good to anyone even in the prime of my sobriety," he admitted.

Kitty smirked a little, "one of your short comings, I suppose, but at least you're easy on the eyes."
"More than I can say for you this morning," Remy commented, "have you ever heard of this little thing called a 'hairbrush'."

"Have you ever heard of something called odor eaters? 'Cause those boots stink…" Kitty gestured down to them.

"Yeah, I stepped in dog shit last night when I was staggering home…at least I think it was dog shit…I used the shortcut route and walked through that alley all the junkies and winos hang out in so…god only knows if it was dog shit or if it belonged to a human…it's kind of disturbing."

"Indeed…I'd buy some new boots if I were you…" Kitty remarked.

"Are we cool then?" Remy asked.

"Cool?" Kitty raised an eyebrow.

"Are we friends, still?"

"Duh," Kitty sighed, "You're about the only real friend I can depend on, since Kurt is like…pretending I don't exist, and Carol is keeping Rogue away in her own head…"

"Does that make me a friend by default?"

"Not necessarily," Kitty said, "but you're good to keep around for emotional emergencies."

Remy smirked, "you better get back to your class."

"Yeah…I just hope they aren't doing what they were doing earlier…"

"Which is?"

"I left the class for like a minute to go pee, when I came back they were hitting a blown up condom around like it was a beachball…"

"They must have got those from Drake," Remy remarked.

"Why him?"

"He's the only one who has an abundant supply in them in relevance to how much he gets laid. Never."

Kitty smirked, "bye," she said, and stepped back into her class. Remy stood for a moment, deep in thought. He was glad Kitty had forgiven him, but there was still so much to amend, such as the situation with Rogue and Carol.

"I find it interesting you can comment on Bobby's sex life when your own is so non-existent as of late."

Remy turned to see Betsy Braddock standing there in one of the alcoves. She'd been in the Danger room, she was donning a new uniform that consisted of little more than a dark purple PVC costume that resembled a swimsuit. She had on matching gloves that went all the way up to her arms, her boots matched the costume, but not each other. One boot went up to her thigh while the other boot only went up to her calf and tied onto the leg itself with purple satin ribbon. A satin red sash was hanging tied around her shapely hips, her plum tinted hair fell over one shoulder, her violet eyes were upon him intently. A cruel smile playing about her lips.

"Betsy, still lurking around violating other peoples minds?" he asked coldly, he looked away from her, knowing she'd been in his mind again. He hated that. He'd always been able to avoid the Professor and Jean violating his mind, but Betsy Braddock had determination they did not, and she had no morals when it came to using her powers.

"If you had the power you'd probably do the same," Betsy folded her arms, still looking at him ever so intently.

"Can you hurry up and throw the string of insults at me that you're obviously waiting to say because I have a lot to do today," he headed towards the foyer, he knew that by now Carol would be intent on leaving the mansion to find something else to do, to go somewhere else to flaunt Rogue's body.

"I have no insults on my mind – none that I would waste on you, at least," Betsy said smoothly and confidently, "however…I do have something that may be of interest to you," she admitted.

Remy stopped, "If it's your body, then you can save your breath…" he commented, "because I've been there, done that, and it's definitely worth taking my clothes off for twice in the same decade."

"No," Betsy retorted, "I'd only sleep with you if I needed to laugh."

Remy rolled his eyes, he walked right into that one, and felt incredibly stupid, he could not think of a response.

"Let me get right down to it, LeBeau," Betsy said.

Remy began to walk again, "I don't have time for this, Betsy, I have important stuff to do."

"I know how to help Rogue."

Remy stopped instantly, he froze all over for a moment. Was she bluffing, did she really know how to help Rogue come back in control of her own body, or was this some kind of sick joke just made up to hurt him. "You're lying."

"I'm not," Psylocke said. "I know how to help her. It's a very simple answer, too."

Remy turned and walked over to her, "that ISN'T funny," he slammed his hand into the wall, very close to her head. She did not even flinch. She remained calm, and simply looked at him, her pursed her lips together for a moment to even out her lipstick. He hated how calm and confident she was. Nothing ever seemed to rattle her.

"Who said I was joking…" Betsy placed a hand upon his chest and pushed him back forcefully, "I'm serious. I know how to help. It's a simple answer, like I said."

"Then why are you TELLING me this, why don't you go tell the Professor, huh?" He demanded, "I'll tell you WHY you haven't. It's because you're fucking with me."

Betsy looked at him, "No. The reason I have not told him yet, is because I want to run something by you. A…proposition."

"A proposition?" he asked, he clenched his fists, everything about the woman made him so mad he wanted to attack her. He was proud of himself that he had enough restraint as to not.

"Yes," Betsy murmured, "I'll get Rogue back…but it won't be easy."

"What's the catch, Betsy?" he demanded, he knew there had to be a catch. Betsy wasn't the kind of woman to do something out of kindness for anyone – unless there was something in it for her.

"The catch, LeBeau," Betsy smiled, "Is that…since it's going to be SO much work in helping your poor helpless Rogue back to her body, that…I think it would be nice, if you would do something for me."

"Which is?"

"Dump her."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" He asked immediately, "DUMP her?"

"Yes," Betsy remarked, her voice suddenly very cold, "as long as SHE remains in your life, you're never going to focus on anything else – you have not so much as tried to help me in my search for Sinister since I arrived. If you are not with her, you will not be preoccupied with spending your time with her."

Remy shook his head, "No…I can't…she'd never understand."

"I'll MAKE her understand," Betsy said.

"I don't want you fucking with her mind!" Remy cried.

"I wouldn't be," Betsy said, "besides," she added, "once you help me find Sinister, you can go back to her again…" she said.

"NO," he said, "if I broke up with her…she'd hate me…she'd never COME back to me."

"I'm sure she would, if you used your charm," Betsy fluttered her eyelashes at him playfully, "think about it," she suggested, "it might be your only hope."

She walked away with a confident strut. Remy frowned, "Never."

The end (or is it? DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN)

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As per usual, thanks to the following readers for their reviews… (the reviews with actual thoughts and comments)

Ishandahalf

Aro

IvyZoe

Sweety8587

Lucy Ryan

Just Me

Rogue4787

Heartsyhawk

Illussen

TruleyRogue

And thanks to Aro (she's my personal assistant/creative advisor/research assistant when it comes to DA. You can thank her for timing out how long it was since Remy had sex and for Remy's comment about the C in maths, lol. Thanks again to everyone for the brilliant reviews and thoughts. Now I'll just sit and wait patiently for the hatemail I'm likely to get for yet another cliffhanger, lol.