Disclaimer: Okay, still don't own X-Men and I'm defiantly not making any money off of this so no one sue. You won't get nothing but a headache. And I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of it's references. Oh, but I do own Ebony and the story idea and probably any characters you don't recognize. Yay me. And I don't own the concert idea of this chapter. That belongs to the creators of Evolution. It's not an episode transcript though, cause I don't have the episode. So any similarities in speeches are purely me barely remembering what was said and using it. So, anything you recognize isn't mine.
Authors Note: Everyone, y'all need to go and read Mercury Dream's stuff. It's really, really, really, really, really good. (Did I mention really?) A Rogue's Touch and All Grown Up are my favorites but the others are all really good as well. So go read her stuff to. Now, quickly! Oh, and if any of you didn't already know, Ishandahalf has posted a fic that you all need to go read too. Remember, Xander said it best. "To read make's our English speaking good." I'll be introducing more evil characters later on, hopefully soon. I have a few in mind but I have to create a couple of more. If anyone has any they'd like me to consider, feel free to send me the ideas in a review and you'll get full credit for them if I use them.
'text' internal speech
dreams
Wandering Souls
Chapter 27: Conflicts, Concerts & True Friends.
"It's the most talked about concert of the year," Risty stated as she stood next to Rogue at the young Goth's locker. "We have to go."
"Ah can't," Rogue stated shutting her locker, looking startled as her hand phased through the door. She shook it off and turned to face her friend. "Remy and Ah have a date. It's our four month anniversary. Besides, ya know Ah don't lahke crowds," she continued as the two made it towards the woman's bathroom before their lunch break was over.
"Wow, that's some guy you have there," Risty said following Rogue into the bathroom. "I'm surprised he's not here now. You two are pretty inseparable."
"Yeah, he's sweet," Rogue said as she placed her backpack on the counter and pulled out her lipstick.
"Especially since you can't touch him."
Risty's words cut like a knife through Rogue's heart as she stared at the other girl in the mirror.
"I just mean, most guys would have gone and found it somewhere else," Risty continued as she wiped a stray smear of eye shadow from the corner of her eye, not noticing the glare Rogue was shooting her. "But with Remy, you don't have to worry. Hey listen, I've got to run to my locker. I'll see you later," Risty turned and exited the bathroom, leaving Rogue standing there, glaring at the other girl's retreating form.
Rogue turned her attention back to her own reflection after a few moments, sighing in defeat. 'Why does he stick around?' she asked herself as she gazed at the dark eyed, pale skinned girl staring back at her.
'Be damned if I know,' Carol's voice called back through her mental wall, causing a temple throbbing pain to pass through her head.
Rogue shut her eyes and reinforced her walls, willing away the pain. 'Go to hell Carol,' she thought as she began throwing her makeup back into her bag.
'Would if I could,' was Carol's smart ass reply before Rogue turned back to her own self doubts.
'What am Ah thinking?' she thought after a beat, as she turned to head out into the hallway. 'He loves meh.' She opened the door and looked up to find the man she loved locked in a passionate embrace with one of the cheerleaders in the middle of the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So, what have you two lovebirds been up to?" Logan asked as Meranda and Henry walked into the Institute's library, smiling.
"Nothing of interest to you I'm sure," Meranda said, collapsing in a chair near Ororo, crossing her legs in her full black skirt and black boots. She rested her manicured nails on her knee and smirked over at Logan.
"We were categorizing DNA sequences in the computer mainframe," Hank replied, sitting in the chair opposite Meranda. "It was quite interesting."
"Man, you sure know how to have fun bub," Logan stated as he rested his hand on Ororo's knee on the settee they sat in.
"You have no idea," Meranda cooed as she ran her foot up Hanks leg.
"Get a room," Logan growled as Hank blushed and Charles and Ororo each chuckled slightly. "Meanwhile, we have bigger things to discuss." With that, Logan held up a busted up racket.
"Where did you come by that my friend," Hank asked intrigued by the amount of damage done to the racket.
"I found it. In the wall of the court room," Logan stated looking directly at Meranda. "And Stripes sent is all over it," he added.
"Her powers are growing then?" Ororo suggested as Logan and Meranda stared at one another.
"No, I don't think so. Her head's been crowded lately. Especially since those last few fights. And the Sentinel attack. And she told me about some of the people Mystique had her absorb."
"Like whom?" Charles asked, placing down his book.
"Sabertooth. And this guy, Juggernaut," Meranda said, searching her memory for the other names.
"My brother, Cane," Charles said grimly, steapling his hands under his chin.
"And everyone of the Brotherhood once she joined," Meranda added.
"What do you think we should do Chuck?" Logan asked grimly as they all looked to the Professor for some guidance.
The shrill ringing of the phone cut through the room and Meranda rose. "I got it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Remy, how could ya?" Rogue whispered as she already felt the tears brimming in her eyes. She stood shocked for a few minutes, watching Remy and the girl go at it before she stalked across the hallway and grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from his latest tramp. "What the hell do ya think yer doin?" she yelled at him, causing everyone in the hallway to stop and stare.
"Oh, Bonjour cherie," Remy smirked as he looked at her. "Somethin' wrong?"
"Somethin' wrong? Ah find ya out here makin out wit the town whore and ya ask meh if somethin's wrong!" Rogue screamed as the crowd around them gathered. Ray and Sam fought their way to the center and were standing on the sides, unsure of which X-men to side with and choosing to stay out of it for the time being.
"Now easy chere," Remy went to put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her but Rogue just pulled away.
"Don't touch meh! Don't evah touch meh again!" she yelled as the lights around her began to flicker.
"Again cherie? When Remy ever touch y' before? Y' untouchable non?" Remy smirked
Rogue's face fell as she anger began to cloud her vision. "GO TO HELL YOU GOOD FER NOTHIN' SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed and whirled around, the crowd parting before her.
"Hey Sam, I'm gonna go check on her, you go get the others," Ray said as he took off after his new housemate.
"Gotcha," Sam nodded and headed off outside to find Scott and the others.
"Rogue! Hey Rogue wait up," Ray called as he jogged after the retreating Goth as she headed down the hallway towards the parking lot. He reached out and grabbed her arm, causing her to spin around and glare at him. Electricity formed around her and shot into a nearby water fountain. "Wow. I thought I was the only one who could do that," Ray stated as he put his hands up in defense. "Listen I only want to see if your alright."
"Alright? How am Ah supposed to be alright? Mah boyfriend was just makin' out with a ho!" Rogue sobbed, the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey, it's okay," Ray placed his arms around her awkwardly as she sobbed into his chest. "You wanna go to forth?"
"No," she shook her head and cried harder.
"Okay, well go call the institute and have someone come get you," he said leading her towards the office.
"Not mah dad," Rogue looked up at him with tear filled eyes. "Call mah mom."
"Okay," Ray led her into the office and helped her into a chair and sat his things down next to her before walking over to the secretary. "Hi, my friends not feeling well and I was wondering if I could call her mom to pick her up?"
The secretary eyed Ray for a minute before looking over at Rogue. "You guys live at Xavier's don't you?" the woman's shrill voice asked. She was at least 80 with curly gray hair and glasses perched on the end of her nose and too much blush on her cheeks.
"Yes ma'am," Ray replied becoming impatient.
"You've got five minutes," she stated after a moment, handing him the phone.
"Thank you," Ray said, dialing the Institute's number and waiting for someone to answer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, this is Meranda how can I help you?" Meranda spoke clearly into the phone as the others watched her from across the room. "Oh, hello Ray, what's wrong?"
Logan shot up as his keen ears picked up on Berserkers half of the conversation as well.
"Logan? What is it?" Ororo asked noticing the look of anger growing on Logan's face.
"It's Berserker. Rogue's upset," Logan rose and headed towards the door.
"Why?" Ororo rose as well, placing her hand on his arm. "Logan what's happened?"
"She found Remy kissing another girl and she's not doing too well right now," Meranda stated as she walked briskly into the hall, grabbing her jacket and a set of keys. "I'm going to go pick her up."
"Good, drop me off at Gumbo's class on the way," Logan growled stalking off behind her.
"Logan no," Charles stated wheeling behind the angry parents. "We have no way of knowing if Remy has really committed this act or if it is some grave misunderstanding."
"He's right Logan. This just doesn't sound like Remy," Ororo said soothingly. "Let's just let Meranda go pick her up and then we'll straighten everything else out tonight.
"He's a player Storm," Logan growled. "And he should have known better than to play my little girl."
"Do you really think it wise my friend, to go into a public school and skewer one of it's students?" Hank asked as he stepped up next to the others.
"Hank's right Logan, besides, Marie doesn't want you," Meranda stated as she opened the door and looked back at him. "She told Ray to not tell you," with that Meranda shut the door and headed to the X-Jeep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You're mom's on the way," Ray said sitting down next to Rogue. "I told her I'd wait with you," he placed his arm supportively around her shoulder. "It'll be okay."
Rogue leaned against him and cried silently.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meranda drove like a bat out of hell and got to Bayville High in record time. She parked quickly out front and jogged up the stairs into the office, her eyes scanned the room quickly and found Ray and Rogue on a pair of chairs against the wall. She strode confidently over to them and knelt before Rogue. "Thanks Ray. You can go back to class if you want. And tell the others that Rogue went home with me," she said gently as Ray released her daughter and Meranda took over.
"See you at home Rogue," Ray said softly and went out into the hallway, anxious to see Remy later and really lay into the Cajun thief.
"Oh Mamma," Rogue sobbed and threw her arms around Meranda's neck, practically crushing the other woman with her super strength. "How could he?"
"Shh. There, there baby. Let's get you home," Meranda cooed as she helped Rogue to her feet and made for the door.
"Excuse me," a curt voice cut through the office as Rogue and Meranda turned. "But if you're taking her then you have to sign her out," Principle Kelley stated, glaring at the two women. He hated mutants and if this woman was coming from Xavier's, then she must be one of them.
Meranda could feel his hatred for her and her family wash over her and anger clouded her eyes. "Fine," she replied snippily. She pulled the pen from the Principle's coat with her mind and looked at him pointedly. "Where do I sign?"
He pointed shakily towards the clipboard on the counter.
"Thank you," Meranda stated as the pen signed her name and returned itself to his pocket. "We'll just be going now," she stated leading Rogue out to the jeep and helping her in before throwing the girls bag in the back and climbing in herself.
"So you wanna go talk about it somewhere or do you wanna go home?" Meranda asked looking sadly at her daughter. 'I never thought he'd do something like this to her,' she thought as she watched Rogue wipe at her eyes with the sleeve of her green over shirt.
"Ah jus' want ta go home," Rogue whispered, her lip quivering again.
"Home it is then."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The bell rang and Remy stepped out into the hallway from the boys locker room, his eyes scanning the hallway frantically for Rogue. It wasn't like her to ditch PE. At least, not without him anyway. He hurried over to her locker and discovered she wasn't there he headed over to where the other X-Men usually congregated and found everyone except Ray, Evan and Kurt already there, Sam in the middle of the group talking loudly.
"Ah saw it wit' mah own eyes. Ah wouldn't believe it if Ah hadn't. He was wit' another girl," Sam's voice died down as Remy strolled up to the group. Everyone turned and eyed him warily.
"Have any of y' seen ma chere?" he asked as everyone looked at him, some of them angrily. "What?" he asked after a few minutes of the staring causing Kitty to glare at him.
"Like you don't know!" she stated, her arms crossed over her chest.
"We know what you did you jerk," Jubilee growled.
"What Remy do?" Remy asked confused as he looked around at the others.
"Sam said Rogue caught you making out with Shelia Riley," Jean said quietly.
"Y' be kidding right?" Remy snorted. "Dat be de biggest load a merde Remy ever heard. When dis supposedly happen?"
"At lunch. Ah saw ya too Rem's," Sam said quietly.
"Well it ain't be Remy dat y' saw," Remy growled glaring dangerously at the other Southerner.
"Can you prove it?" Wanda asked, her hands shaking with anger.
"Jus' ask y' amore," Remy stated glaring over at the Scarlet Witch. "Remy be wit him all o' lunch. Kurt too."
"There he is," Ray's voice echoed through the hall as he threw his books to Roberto and shoved Remy hard against the lockers. "What the hell were you thinking? Rogue cried for god's sake," energy crackled between Ray's hands. Jean quickly grabbed him in her telekinesis.
"Alright guys," Scott said stepping between the guys. "We just need to settle this. Where's Kurt and Evan? Supposedly Remy was with them the whole time."
"Hey guys, what's up?" Evan asked as he and Kurt joined the group.
"Sam, Ray and Rogue caught Remy cheating," Amara stated.
"Vhen?" Kurt asked shooting Remy a look.
"At lunch. But Remy says he was with you blokes," John declared.
"That's cause he was," Evan said taking a step next to Remy. "We were all out in the yard."
"He vas teaching us to play poker," Kurt confirmed as he too took a step next to Remy. "Ve even ended up late to class."
"Yeah, we dropped Remy off on the way, so there was no way he could have done anything like that," Evan agreed.
"Jean?" Scott turned and looked at his mind reading girlfriend.
"Do you guys mind?" Jean asked looking back at the three young men.
"Non. Y' won't trust Remy till y' read his mind so by all means," Remy growled. "He thought y' knew him better though."
"It's not that Remy," Amanda stated. "She read Sam's mind too."
"Fine. Just do it girl," Evan said as Jean scanned their minds, Remy even dropped his shield's to allow it.
"They're telling the truth. Remy was with them," Jean said after a moment.
"Then how was he in two places at once?" Ray asked relaxing slightly.
"Dat be what Remy be wantin' to know," Remy growled looking around the group. "Where is she?"
"Her mom came and got her and took her home," Ray said. "Listen man, I don't know what's going on but I'm sorry alright?"
"Apologize later mes amis," Remy said brushing them off. "Right now, we jus' need to convince ma chere dat her eyes be lyin' to her, non?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Remy stalked up the steps of the Xavier Institute, the rest of the X-Men following close on his heals. He pushed open the door and headed straight to the living room where all the adults sat. "Where is she?"
"That's none of your business Gumbo," Logan growled rising, his claws extending with a loud SNIKIT.
"Hm, Remy always wonder if he be able ta charge dem claws enough. Maybe we find out hahn?" Remy replied, in no mood for Logan's over protective threats at the moment.
"Ya wanna try bub?" Logan rose to the challenge before Charles cleared his throat loudly.
"Enough. Remy, care to explain today?" Charles asked the young man who had pulled a handful of cards from his trench coat, which were now glowing menacingly.
"Remy vas vith us Professor," Kurt stated as he indicated himself and Evan.
"Yeah Prof. It couldn't have been him," Evan agreed.
"Rogue told me what she saw," Meranda said rising and crossing her arms over her chest. "Showed me. Are you saying my daughter didn't see you with your arms around another woman?"
"Non, Remy be sayin' dat whoevah it was, it non be Remy," Remy said exasperated, withdrawing the charge from the cards and replacing them into his trench coat. "Jus' look like him."
"We were thinking it might be Mystique," Wanda suggested drawing everyone's attention. "Lance said that she got away from my father and his pet cat."
"She wouldn't dare," Logan stated still glaring at the Cajun.
"Why not? She did the first time," Meranda growled pacing the room. "If she's responsible for making my baby girl cry," she trailed off as she clenched her fist. "They won't find the pieces."
"Let us just relax and talk this out," Charles said calmly. "See if we can figure out what exactly is going on."
"Y' talk dis out, Remy go talk to Rogue," Remy said heading up the stairs.
"Why don't you all go and start your homework before the concert," Ororo suggested to the others, who silently headed off in separate directions.
"He's lying," Logan growled after the room had cleared.
"Oh wake up Logan. You smelled the same thing I did," Meranda said glaring at her former husband. "He's angry and he's worried but he was telling the truth."
"What shall we do now?" Hank asked stepping up next to Meranda.
"I don't know, but by the Goddess I hope she forgives him," Meranda breathed wrapping her arms around herself.
"Why?" Logan growled. "She can do much better."
"Because she needs him," Meranda practically screamed.
"Easy," Hank said placing two large hands on her shoulders.
Meranda took a deep breath before continuing. "Marie's on the verge of something great. But her past haunts her. Hurt's her."
"What about her past?" Logan asked taking a step forward. "What aren't you telling me?"
"I can't tell you that," Meranda whispered as she thought about some of the memories she'd seen in Rogue's mind. "She'll tell us all when she's ready. The point is, she needs to know she can trust again and that she's not alone. And as hard as it is for you to believe, he needs her too."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Rogue, com' on chere, let meh in. Ah have ta talk ta y' mon amore," Remy banged on the door.
Rogue laid on her bed, trying her best to ignore him, tears falling down her face as she hugged Mr. Marbles tightly. 'How could he?' she thought as she rocked slowly, curled up in the fetal position. 'This is worse than what Cody did.' Sobs shook her body as Remy banging only grew louder.
"We have to talk Rogue. De other's told meh what y' saw and Ah swear ta y' mon amore, it wasn't meh. Please Rogue, jus' let meh explain."
'I told you he didn't love you,' Carol's voice cut her like a knife. Rogue rose from her bed, discarding her tiger and heading into her closet, ignoring the banging once again as she began pulling out cloths, pulling on her leather skirt and doc martins with he black stockings and green over shirt over her black tank top. She grabbed her gloves, and fixed her makeup quickly before throwing open the door to see Remy standing there, hand poised in mid knock.
"Ah Cherie, Ah knew y' would talk ta dis ol' Cajun," Remy started before her hand shot up in front of his face.
"Ah don't want ta hear anythin' outta yer lyin' mouth, ya hear meh Remy LeBeau? As far as Ah'm concerned, we're thru," she shot him a glare and shoved her way past him.
"Rogue, please let meh explain," Remy grabbed her wrist causing her to spin and look at him, her eyes full of hate making Remy glad he had his mental shields up.
"Git yer hand offa meh!" She pulled her arm away and glared at him, fighting the tears in her eyes. "Ya said it yerself, Ah'm untouchable. Go back to yer slut," she hissed as she headed down the stairs, stopping at the table and grabbing the phone.
"Non, chere, Remy non goin' anywhere till y' listen ta him," Remy stated standing next to her as she dialed, ignoring him once again. "Com' on Chere, please."
"Hey Risty, this is Rogue. Mah plans have changed and Ah need a rahde ta the concert aftah all," Rogue said into the phone, glaring at Remy as she spoke. "Uh-huh, Ah'm already ready. See ya then." She hung up the phone and turned to head into the living room. "Daddy, Ah need money."
"What for Stripes?" Logan asked turning to look at her.
"Ah'm goin' ta the concert tonight," Rogue stated as Remy followed her into the room.
"We need to talk Rogue," he tried again causing Rogue to spin on him.
"We're finished talkin' Swamp Rat," Rogue said as she turned back to Logan and took the money he held out to her and headed for the door.
"Rogue, aren't you waiting for the others?" Charles asked, aware that all the other students were attending the concert that night as well.
"Nah, Ah'm goin' with Risty. See y'all later," with that she walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
"Merde!" Remy cursed as he went to grab the keys to his bike.
"Where you going bub?" Logan asked staring at the Cajun.
"Ta de concert." Remy growled opening the door and following her out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"See, I told you it'd be fun," Risty said as she led Rogue farther into the group of teens and nearer the stage.
"Ah don't know, Ah shouldn't of come here," Rogue said as she glanced around nervously. What she really wanted to be doing was upstairs in her room at the institute crying her eyes out. Everyone here was just way to close and she really didn't want to be bothered right now.
"Don't worry," Risty said, looping her arm through Rogues. "Your covered enough. Besides, for a show like this we have to be close."
"Whatevah," Rogue muttered as she tried to make herself as small as possible.
"Listen, I heard what Remy did," Risty began causing Rogue to shoot her a glare. "And I'm sorry. But don't worry, you can do way better. I mean, look at all these guys around here," Risty elbowed Rogue playfully, eliciting a small smile from Rogue.
Meanwhile, farther back in the throng of people, Remy stood with Scott and Jean, watching Rogue like a hawk. "Hey Jeanie, y' evah get a readin' on dat Risty?" he asked after a few moments.
"No, why?" Jean asked above the crowd.
"Cause, don' it seem odd dat she show up outta de blue and latch onta ma chere de way she did?" Remy mused as he watched the two near the stage.
"So her and Rogue are friends? What's the big deal?" Scott asked, busy watching Jean more than anything else going on in the arena.
"Don' know, but somethin' bout dat girl ain't right ta dis Cajun," Remy stated, longing for a cigarette.
"I'm sure it's nothing, but if it will make you feel better," Jean said as she closed her eyes and brought her hands to her temples and looked for Risty's mind. She tried to enter only to be thrown back by an extremely strong mental wall. It knocked Jean off her feet and into Scott's arms.
"Jean! What happened?" Scott asked concerned as he cradled the red head close.
"Her mental walls, they're too strong. I couldn't get in," Jean explained as Scott helped steady her. "Almost as good as yours," Jean added looking over at Remy who was now glaring at Risty.
"But, how would she know how to block her mind, unless," Scott began but was quickly cut off by Remy who started to fight through the crowd to the commotion happening near the stage.
"She not who she say she is," Remy stalked towards the stage, ready to rip Risty apart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It all happened so fast that Rogue had no way of preventing it. First the girl that had been on the guys shoulders behind her fell, grabbing on to Rogue's sleeve to try and save herself only to rip the delicate fabric right from Rogue's arm. She then fell into the young Goth, sending her bar arm against Risty's and the imprinting began and Mystique's psyche filled her mind.
Risty fell to the floor, transforming into her normal blue skinned form, unconscious while around her, more victims fell pray to Rogue's poison skin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Psyche's scrambled and fought trying to gain control while Madison watched from the porch of her small home, a knife in each hand. She watched Rogue stumble by confusedly as all the other's pushed her and threw her. Carol succeeded in knocking Rogue to her knees. Madison wanted so much to help but knew her place was at the house. If she left it than all of Rogue's hope would be gone. So Madison watched on sadly, feeling helpless, glad that Remy was making his way over to Rogue. "Just get her over here Cajun. She'll be safe here!" she called over to his psyche as it easily lifted Rogue in his arms and carried her towards the house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The X-Men watched on as suddenly Sabertooth appeared in the middle of the floor, roaring loudly as he began trashing the auditorium. The X-Men went into action, grabbing innocent bystanders and pulling them to safety while trying desperately to regroup with the others.
"How'd Sabertooth get here?" Scott yelled over the commotion.
"Where's Rogue?" Remy yelled back. "She was over dere a second ago," he looked around frantically, pulling out his cards.
"We should call the Professor," Jean added, stopping a speaker that was about to fall on the band as they ran across the stage.
Sabertooth crawled onto the stage, roaring at the crowd, allowing Cyclops his opportunity. He lifted his glasses and shot a beam at the ceiling above the roaring villain, burying him beneath the rubble. The X-Men came out of the crowd, climbing onto the podium and gathering around the rubble.
"What was that?" Sam asked as he stood next to Rahne and Roberto, all watching the rubble cautiously.
"Sabertooth," Kitty said as she came up supporting a disoriented Jamie. "I, like, called the Institute. The adults are on there way. Where's, like, Rogue and Risty?"
Suddenly the rubble began to shake and Juggernaut emerged from the pile screaming. The X-Men took a step back, Scott going for his glasses as Remy charged several cards.
"What is that?" Roberto asked backing away with the others.
"Juggernaut," Amara said as she charged up.
"Not someone you want to party with," Jubilee added.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Here, put her on the couch," Madison said as Remy carried Rogue in from the chaos outside, and she shut the door. "What happened out there?"
"It be too crowded in here non? And ma chere stopped fightin' fer some reason," Remy replied as he lowered Rogue gently onto the couch and brushed a stray hair from her face. (AN in Rogue's mind, her skin isn't poisoned.)
Rogue's eyes shot open and she looked at Remy, anger flashing across her face. "Ah told ya to nevah touch meh again!" she yelled pushing him away from her.
"Marie what's your deal?" Madison asked as she helped Remy to his feet. "He saved your ass from getting trampled, which is not something we usually have to do. What's up?"
"That son of a bitch cheated on meh," Rogue replied pulling her knees to her chest and gazing out the front window at the chaos outside, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Never chere!" Remy said rushing to Rogue's side, kneeling in front of her. "Remy never do dat to y' mon amore. Je t'aime," he ran his fingers over her cheek tenderly.
Rogue looked at him, wanting to believe him, but unwilling to do it. "NO!" she said shaking her head and disappearing from the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Vhat do ve do now?" Kurt asked as Juggernaut walked thru one of the walls of the auditorium and into the streets.
They all watched as Mystique appeared out of no where, running after the unstoppable giant. "I knew she was behind this some how that bitch," Wanda swore as they watched before turning to Scott for some kind of a plan.
"We get to the vehicles and get suited up. We've got to stop him first before we can worry about anything else," he turned and looked at Remy. "Let's just hope Rogue got out okay."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once away from the concert hall, Juggernaut transformed into Quicksilver. Taking a quick look around, he took off running, ending up in the dead end of an alley way before transforming back into Rogue. She collapsed against the wall, sobbing. "What the hell is going on?" she pulled her legs closer to her chest.
"Rogue?" Mystiques voice called to her as the blue skinned woman entered the mouth of the alleyway.
"You!" Rogue practically screamed as she launched herself at the woman she considered her mother for so many years, sending a roundhouse at the woman's chest. Mystique easily dodged, but Rogue was ready with kick after kick, punch after punch, finally landing one square on Mystique's jaw, sending her flying into the brick wall. "How could ya? Haven't ya hurt meh enough?"
"Rogue I wasn't trying to hurt you," Mystique explained as she climbed to her feet. "I was worried. I had to protect you and posing as Risty was the only way I could."
"Protect meh? From what? The only one Ah needed protectin' from was ya!"
"Rogue you don't mean that," Mystique took a step towards the agitated teenager, who began to shake with anger and rage, suddenly changing. Her hair grew out and bleached a brilliant honey blonde as her eyes turned crystal blue and a military uniform covering her now tall, well proportioned body.
"You're probably right. She never knows what she means," Carol Danvers stated, smiling at Mystique before stepping towards the other woman. "I should be thanking you Ms. Darkholm. If it weren't for you, I'd never have been able to take control."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue was back on the couch again, staring at Madison and Remy. "What happened?" she asked as she looked around strangely.
"Carol's in control now," Madison explained as she looked at the TV. "You have to fight her and the others if you ever want your body back."
Rogue looked at the raven and indigo haired girl and then over at Remy who sat on the other end of the couch, watching her with concern. Everything was just so confusing. She slowly crawled down to the other end and into his arms, resting her head on his chest. "Ah wanna stay here."
Remy wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "Remy know Cherie," he whispered soothingly, hugging her closer.
"You can't stay here Rogue," Madison turned to her. "If you don't take back your body you'll die and so will we."
"What do Ah have ta go back ta?" Rogue asked glaring at the other girl, her head still resting on Remy's chest. "'sides bein' alone."
"God Rogue you are so fucking annoying sometimes," Madison breathed before grabbing the remote and throwing it to Rogue.
"What's this for?" Rogue asked catching it midair and looking at it thoughtfully.
"You still don't get it do you?" Madison asked walking across the room and kneeling before Rogue. "All your answers are in this house. The key to your powers are here. You're so sure that Remy fucked around on you, I suggest you look at Mystiques memories first."
"Ah can do that here?"
"Yep, just point and click."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meranda and Ororo had taken to the skies, flying high above Bayville, searching the streets for the attackers the children had faced at the party while the Professor and Hank rode along in the Blackbird. Wolverine meanwhile decided on his own mode of transportation, whipping through the streets on his Harley, helmet open and nose sniffing out for any familiar and unwelcome scents..
Suddenly a beautiful blonde woman stepped directly in front of his bike, causing him to swerve and crash into a wall nearby. He quickly got up from the wreckage, his wounds healing themselves, and pulled off his helmet. "What's the big idea…" he stopped mid-sentence, sniffing the air. "Stripes?"
"Major Danvers to you," the blonde woman growled, her head twisting to the side. "No, it's mine!" she screamed before transforming into Sabertooth before Logan's eyes.
"Long time no see Wolverine," the overgrown housecat growled as he lunged for Wolverine only to be blasted into a nearby building by a red beam. Logan whirled around to see Cyclops standing nearby, in full uniform.
"Don't!" Logan barked at him as he came jogging up. "Don't hurt him."
"Why?" Cyclops gave Logan a weird look, his hand still on his visor.
"Cause that ain't Sabertooth. It's my daughter," Wolverine growled as they slowly entered the warehouse. "Call the others, get them over here."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue watched wide eyed as Risty exited the ladies room, transforming into Remy and grabbing the first girl that walked down the hall, throwing her against the wall and kissing her passionately. Tears clouded her vision as the anger within her grew, a storm forming inside her mind. "That bitch!" she fumed as she watched the screen. "Ah ruined everything with Remy cause of her!"
"I doubt that," Madison said as she watched Rogue. "I'm sure he'll understand."
"Course Remy understand p'tite," Remy said as he looked away in disgust at what his copy was doing on the screen.
Rogue meanwhile, began rewinding through Mystiques memories, unlocking more secrets about the woman who stole her as a child. "Ah can't believe Ah fell fer it. Ah'm so stupid!"
"Whoa, where'd that come from?" Madison asked glancing over at Rogue. "She tricked you, she's tricky. It happens. Doesn't mean your stupid or anything, just trusting. It's a good thing at times."
"Nevah done me any good," Rogue grumbled causing Remy and Madison to shoot her looks.
"Uh, hello? What are we fucking chopped liver?" Madison asked glaring at Rogue.
"Sorry. It's jus' every tahme Ah trust people they seem ta come back and make meh regret it," Rogue leaned against Remy sighing.
"As is the way of life," Madison commented. "But it doesn't mean you should give up or stop trying. Just be more careful and trust more in those you know are going to protect you and care about you. Those who have in the past without asking for anything in return."
"Ah'm jus' so tired," Rogue said yawning as she grew more comfortable against Remy.
"Now not be de time p'tite," Remy whispered shaking her. "Go git control den y' can lay on de real thing non?" he winked at her and helped her up from the couch.
They walked over to the door and opened it, noticing the hordes of people that had broken free of the mental shields and were now walking freely thru Rogue's mind.
"Ah don't think Ah can fight them all," Rogue said recognizing several familiar faces amongst the crowd.
"Maybe not out there," Madison comment closing the door and turning to Rogue. "You know how to use they're powers. The first step is not letting them use them. Use them yourself. Once you can gain control over their powers then there's no way they can fight you. Or stop you. Then hopefully one of those lovely telepaths will be around to help you lock them up."
"Can't y' do dat p'tite?" Remy asked Madison curiously.
"I'm just the keeper. Only Rogue can control it all. Even the telepaths can only help, ultimately it's all Rogue," Madison replied as she pulled a beautifully carved dagger from the armband on her wrist, twirling it absentmindedly.
"No pressure, right?" Rogue said sarcastically as she tried to focus. "Let's just do this. Ah'm tired."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What's going on?" Meranda asked as she and Ororo landed amongst the X-Men gathered outside of the warehouse.
"Logan and Scott are in there now. It's Rogue, her powers are going all nuts," Jean explained while Remy paced outside, his trench coat billowing behind him.
"Let meh talk ta her!" he growled glaring at the others. "Ah can git ta her. She's jus' confused."
"We've got to have patients my young friend," Ororo soothed when suddenly Logan and Cyclops came flying out of the building. Jean stopped Scott with her telekinesis while Ororo created a gust of wind to slow Logan down as he crashed into the side of one of the vehicles, leaving a large dent.
"Does insurance cover flying Wolverines?" Bobby joked earning him glares from over half the team. "Sorry," he muttered, sticking his hands back into his pockets.
"What happened?" Meranda asked when suddenly the top of the building blew off and Rogue flew straight up into the air, hair whirling around her, eyes bleach white.
"By the Goddess," Ororo breathed as they all watched her.
"We've got to stop her before she hurts someone," Jean said looking at Rogue.
"Consider it done," Ororo said flying straight into the air. "Forgive me child," she yelled before two lightening bolts formed, striking Rogue directly.
"Ro wait!" Meranda called, warning the weather witch too late as Rogue turned the bolts back onto her, sending Ororo falling from the sky. "Damnit! Jean catch her, I'll try to stop Rogue. The rest of you get as far away as possible. She's too strong," with that Meranda flew up into the air, directly in front of her daughter. "Baby stop this! Let me help you!"
"Kid, ice me up," Logan called to Bobby who did as instructed, sending Logan up with Meranda and Rogue.
Meanwhile, Remy got sick of waiting and ran to the nearest building, taking the fires escape as quickly as he could up to the roof.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is hard," Rogue asked as she stood in the middle of the living room, every color of the rainbow swirling around her as she pulled every psyche's power to her, leaving them all defenseless. "Ah don't know how long Ah can keep it up."
"Y' doin' bon mon amore," Remy encouraged her, as he watched the psyche's outside the house begin to stop struggling and look around puzzled.
"Just a little longer Rogue," Madison assured her. "I can sense that Professor guy trying to get in here. I'm afraid if I let down the shields though the others will gain control."
"Are they weak enough fer him ta git in?" Rogue asked as more powers flew to her.
"Yeah, but he'll just have to work at it," Madison stated as she moved back away from Rogue. "You're doing great. The really hard part is coming though."
"Oh, and what could be harder than this?" Rogue growled.
"Keeping those, and regaining conscious control. The bald guy's not really going to be able to help you much till you can do that," Madison said, her blade twirling expertly between her fingers.
"Great," Rogue breathed as more energy flowed at her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Logan lunged at Rogue, pulling her down to the ground as Meranda landed with them.
"Come on darlin fight! Come back to us," he yelled at her when a sudden psychic wave passed out of her, throwing both Meranda and Logan back. In a blink of an eye, Rogue teleported to the top of a building, her powers still going haywire when a smooth Cajun voice spoke up.
"Knew y'd be comin' Remy's way ma chere," Remy said as he walked slowly into Rogue's line of vision, his bo staff in hand. "Y' ready t' talk t' dis ol' thief now?"
Rogue sent a lightening bolt down at him, but Remy quickly tucked and rolled, landing just in front of her face, grabbing her arms. "Come back t' meh Marie," he pleaded.
For a moment Rogue's eyes cleared and she looked at him frightfully. "Remy? Help me, please," she begged as the powers took over again.
"Remy told y' he be here t' catch y' when y' fall non?" he whispered as he moved in quickly, wrapping her in his arms. He focused his empathy on her, letting his love for her leave him like a bolt of lightening, hitting her full on as he tried desperately to calm her nerves like he always did when the voices got to bad. "Dat means Ah'm nevah lettin' y' go neither."
Kurt suddenly ported next to them, took Remy and Rogue's arms and ported them all down to the ground where the Professor was waiting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Charles stood in the middle of a homey looking living room, clean with a cluttered lived in feel with three others. Two he recognized as Remy and Rogue, colored lights swirling around her body. The third was a young woman he'd never seen before. "Rogue, let me help you," he said looking at his distressed student.
"Ah can't lock em up by mahself," she whispered, her voice strained. "There's to many."
"Then we'll do it together," Charles sad and together the two began to sort and lock up all the psyche's, starting with Mystiques.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Outside, Rogue's body began to transform in front of the X-men until it was finally her own again. Charles opened his eyes looking tired from the strain as Rogue collapsed into Remy's waiting arms.
"How is she Chuck?" Logan asked as he watched Remy carry his baby girl tenderly to the waiting jet so Hank could check her out.
"As well as can be expected," Charles replied looking at his students and teachers alike. "It's going to take her mind time to heal, as well as time for her to get used to the knowledge of what she is exactly capable of. But in that time, I'm sure she'll make a full recovery. Especially now that she knows who exactly her true friends and family are."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Remy sat in a chair next to Rogue's bed down in the med lab late into the night. Ororo and Hank had forced Meranda and Logan to go to bed for the evening, much against their wills, but Remy remained unmoved. (AN Not that Meranda and Logan would just leave her there, but I needed her and Remy to be alone for this.)
"So Ah guess Ah owe ya an apology," Rogue's sweet southern voice stated, causing Remy to jump even closer to her side.
"Chere! Y' awake!" Remy exclaimed squeezing her ungloved hand in his gloved one. "Y' had meh worried."
"Ah can see," Rogue smirked slightly as she adjusted in the bed. "Yer talkin' in the first person."
Remy snickered and placed his thumb over her knuckles, kissing it softly. After a few moments he spoke again. "It wasn't Remy y' saw today," he began before Rogue shushed him.
"Ah know. And Ah shoulda known bettah than ta jus' think ya'd evah do that ta meh. Ah'm sorry,"
"Think nothin' o' it ma chere," Remy waved it off as he looked at her for a long moment. His usual smirk suddenly appeared on his face and he leaned in closer to her, whispering huskily, "So dis mean we still together, hahn?"
"Ah suppose," Rogue replied giggling. "Since Ah didn't git a bettah offer. And no one else will take ya now."
Remy laughed loudly. "It be true mon amore. Y' ruined Remy fer de other femmes."
"Good," Rogue replied, stifling a yawn. "Ah'm so tired."
"Rest now den. Remy look after y'." Remy brushed the stray hair from her eyes, the fingers of his left hand still laced with her own.
"Ah can't sleep," Rogue whined.
"Why dat?" Remy asked looking around for the tiger Logan had brought down earlier, figuring she'd want that.
"Ah'm cold," she stated, moving over in the bed enough so Remy could climb in, hoping he'd accept the invitation.
"Y' wan' y' pere ta find Remy in bed wit y'?" Remy smirked as he kicked off his shoes and climbed under the covers next to her, wrapping his arms around her body as she rested her head on his chest.
"Ah'll risk it," Rogue yawned again as she began to drift into a deep sleep. "Hey Rems?"
"Oui ma chere?" Remy asked, finding it hard to keep his eyes open as well.
" Je t'aime."
"Je t'aime aussi. Maintenant et pour toujours."
Author's Note: Wow, another chapter up in the same week. Is it just me or are these things getting longer? This chapt's 16 pages, but whose counting? (Besides me anyway.) Y'all should feel loved. Actually, I just felt inspired. Now for translations and shout outs.
Translations: Bonjour cherie ~ Hello Dear
pere ~ father
Oui ma chere? ~ Yes my dear?
Je t'aime ~ I love you.
Je t'aime aussi. Maintenant et pour toujours. ~ I love you too. Now and forever.
I know some of those are pretty much self explanatory but I try. Oh and if I missed any, sorry.
Now, shout outs:
Koosei ~ I like Batman and Robin so that's where I remembered it from and thought, hey it could work. And you know with the scarf you've got all those little strings and the breathing issue becomes harder so yeah. And just for you, Risty made her move. Well, for me too. Lol! Well, hope you liked.
Lovablelatina ~ Oh don't worry, Remy has a huge imagination. It comes from reading fanfics over my shoulder. J/k. I'll come up with something, so long as my muse doesn't desert me.
Rogue4787 ~ Yeah, now I just need to find some chicks for the new recruits. Except for Roberto and Rahne. I think I'll put the two of them together. Thank you, I like the scene in Rogue's head too. And as you can see, Madison is back. Now I wonder what Rogue will do when her corporeal counterpart comes into play? We'll just have to wait and see I guess. (As you can tell I have plans. Run in fear.)
cool-chick-rae ~ Batman is the best superhero after the X-Men. Sorry, that's just random thoughts.
Ishandahalf ~ seems like your fic inspired me again. Cause look, you updated and now so have I. How scary. I did take the hint hint though. (hint hint, you should to. LOL!) I hope you don't hate me for the whole angsty romyness this chapter. But there were cuddles and stuff and they made up in the end. I agree, Hank is freaking awesome and y'know he almost never gets shown any love. It's sad really. So I thought I had to fix that in my story. And yeah, risty/mystique is a bitter bitch. Maybe I should be really cruel and pair her with Sabertooth, since y'know he like never bathes and would just be the worst possible choice for anyone EVER. Sorry, random venting. Anyway, Merry Christmas back at ya and hope to see a review for this chapter too.
Rogue77 ~ Well at least the wait wasn't long this time! Hope you keep loving it though. (I worry sometimes when it's like 2 in the morning and I'm not sure I'm even typing in the English language anymore.) LOL, anyway, enjoy.
Taz9 ~ That is amazing, cause usually I have at least a few typo's that I find later and wonder what the hell I was on to have missed them. But anywho, I love gold stars. Thank ya much. Exactly on the more money part. That's the only reason I agreed to it. And I'll get paid a couple of days before my birthday so can we say spree? Thank you for your praise. It's the best present I could get this year. And Merry Christmas right back at ya.
Lightspeed Suzuka ~ Patients, the touching will come. I promise. And yep, it was Poison Ivy. And Robin's little, "Wax lips are immune to your charms" inspired me. And the funny part is I haven't seen the movie in a couple of years. I own it, I just don't watch it. How sad huh? Anyway, I think Hank's better for Meranda, at least for right now. Cause she's all angry and stuff and needs someone who can be the calming wind so to speak. Y'know, up until you said something I had never heard of CardCaptors so I don't know what you're talking about really. Sakura is going to be brought in later and kinda based on a friend of mine and she gave me the name. I really don't watch a whole lot of cartoons though except for the X-Men related ones. I am interested in what it's about though if you'd like to explain. Oh and here's the update, since you just sent the review like today I'd say I did pretty good with the soon. Yay me.
Invader ZaiFae ~ It's okay, I understand how busy life can be. As I'm sure you can tell since I commented about my hectic life last chapter. So the last chapter was magic huh? Wow, cool. Now I'm kinda worried if this one lived up to the last one cause I really didn't go into the fight scenes as much as I wanted too. Oh well, I can always revise later. And I'm hoping I didn't jump around too much in this chapter cause I kinda changed the style a bit as far as timing goes. Anyway, thank you for noticing my work on Beast. It's kinda hard to develop his character cause even in the show you don't see a lot of it. But I am doing my best to fix that. And Thank You for mentioning my favorite line in the whole chapter. I was so proud of myself for that whole, "Anything he feels for me is just residual territorial nature due to his animalistic mutation" line, cause I worked really hard on it and it made her sound all intelligent yet with a sense of humor. Happy holidays to you too.
Alright guys, Happy Holidays to one and all and hopefully I'll get another chapter up soon. Night and much love to everyone else who reviewed that I didn't get a chance to post too.
Authors Note: Everyone, y'all need to go and read Mercury Dream's stuff. It's really, really, really, really, really good. (Did I mention really?) A Rogue's Touch and All Grown Up are my favorites but the others are all really good as well. So go read her stuff to. Now, quickly! Oh, and if any of you didn't already know, Ishandahalf has posted a fic that you all need to go read too. Remember, Xander said it best. "To read make's our English speaking good." I'll be introducing more evil characters later on, hopefully soon. I have a few in mind but I have to create a couple of more. If anyone has any they'd like me to consider, feel free to send me the ideas in a review and you'll get full credit for them if I use them.
'text' internal speech
dreams
Wandering Souls
Chapter 27: Conflicts, Concerts & True Friends.
"It's the most talked about concert of the year," Risty stated as she stood next to Rogue at the young Goth's locker. "We have to go."
"Ah can't," Rogue stated shutting her locker, looking startled as her hand phased through the door. She shook it off and turned to face her friend. "Remy and Ah have a date. It's our four month anniversary. Besides, ya know Ah don't lahke crowds," she continued as the two made it towards the woman's bathroom before their lunch break was over.
"Wow, that's some guy you have there," Risty said following Rogue into the bathroom. "I'm surprised he's not here now. You two are pretty inseparable."
"Yeah, he's sweet," Rogue said as she placed her backpack on the counter and pulled out her lipstick.
"Especially since you can't touch him."
Risty's words cut like a knife through Rogue's heart as she stared at the other girl in the mirror.
"I just mean, most guys would have gone and found it somewhere else," Risty continued as she wiped a stray smear of eye shadow from the corner of her eye, not noticing the glare Rogue was shooting her. "But with Remy, you don't have to worry. Hey listen, I've got to run to my locker. I'll see you later," Risty turned and exited the bathroom, leaving Rogue standing there, glaring at the other girl's retreating form.
Rogue turned her attention back to her own reflection after a few moments, sighing in defeat. 'Why does he stick around?' she asked herself as she gazed at the dark eyed, pale skinned girl staring back at her.
'Be damned if I know,' Carol's voice called back through her mental wall, causing a temple throbbing pain to pass through her head.
Rogue shut her eyes and reinforced her walls, willing away the pain. 'Go to hell Carol,' she thought as she began throwing her makeup back into her bag.
'Would if I could,' was Carol's smart ass reply before Rogue turned back to her own self doubts.
'What am Ah thinking?' she thought after a beat, as she turned to head out into the hallway. 'He loves meh.' She opened the door and looked up to find the man she loved locked in a passionate embrace with one of the cheerleaders in the middle of the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So, what have you two lovebirds been up to?" Logan asked as Meranda and Henry walked into the Institute's library, smiling.
"Nothing of interest to you I'm sure," Meranda said, collapsing in a chair near Ororo, crossing her legs in her full black skirt and black boots. She rested her manicured nails on her knee and smirked over at Logan.
"We were categorizing DNA sequences in the computer mainframe," Hank replied, sitting in the chair opposite Meranda. "It was quite interesting."
"Man, you sure know how to have fun bub," Logan stated as he rested his hand on Ororo's knee on the settee they sat in.
"You have no idea," Meranda cooed as she ran her foot up Hanks leg.
"Get a room," Logan growled as Hank blushed and Charles and Ororo each chuckled slightly. "Meanwhile, we have bigger things to discuss." With that, Logan held up a busted up racket.
"Where did you come by that my friend," Hank asked intrigued by the amount of damage done to the racket.
"I found it. In the wall of the court room," Logan stated looking directly at Meranda. "And Stripes sent is all over it," he added.
"Her powers are growing then?" Ororo suggested as Logan and Meranda stared at one another.
"No, I don't think so. Her head's been crowded lately. Especially since those last few fights. And the Sentinel attack. And she told me about some of the people Mystique had her absorb."
"Like whom?" Charles asked, placing down his book.
"Sabertooth. And this guy, Juggernaut," Meranda said, searching her memory for the other names.
"My brother, Cane," Charles said grimly, steapling his hands under his chin.
"And everyone of the Brotherhood once she joined," Meranda added.
"What do you think we should do Chuck?" Logan asked grimly as they all looked to the Professor for some guidance.
The shrill ringing of the phone cut through the room and Meranda rose. "I got it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Remy, how could ya?" Rogue whispered as she already felt the tears brimming in her eyes. She stood shocked for a few minutes, watching Remy and the girl go at it before she stalked across the hallway and grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from his latest tramp. "What the hell do ya think yer doin?" she yelled at him, causing everyone in the hallway to stop and stare.
"Oh, Bonjour cherie," Remy smirked as he looked at her. "Somethin' wrong?"
"Somethin' wrong? Ah find ya out here makin out wit the town whore and ya ask meh if somethin's wrong!" Rogue screamed as the crowd around them gathered. Ray and Sam fought their way to the center and were standing on the sides, unsure of which X-men to side with and choosing to stay out of it for the time being.
"Now easy chere," Remy went to put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her but Rogue just pulled away.
"Don't touch meh! Don't evah touch meh again!" she yelled as the lights around her began to flicker.
"Again cherie? When Remy ever touch y' before? Y' untouchable non?" Remy smirked
Rogue's face fell as she anger began to cloud her vision. "GO TO HELL YOU GOOD FER NOTHIN' SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed and whirled around, the crowd parting before her.
"Hey Sam, I'm gonna go check on her, you go get the others," Ray said as he took off after his new housemate.
"Gotcha," Sam nodded and headed off outside to find Scott and the others.
"Rogue! Hey Rogue wait up," Ray called as he jogged after the retreating Goth as she headed down the hallway towards the parking lot. He reached out and grabbed her arm, causing her to spin around and glare at him. Electricity formed around her and shot into a nearby water fountain. "Wow. I thought I was the only one who could do that," Ray stated as he put his hands up in defense. "Listen I only want to see if your alright."
"Alright? How am Ah supposed to be alright? Mah boyfriend was just makin' out with a ho!" Rogue sobbed, the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey, it's okay," Ray placed his arms around her awkwardly as she sobbed into his chest. "You wanna go to forth?"
"No," she shook her head and cried harder.
"Okay, well go call the institute and have someone come get you," he said leading her towards the office.
"Not mah dad," Rogue looked up at him with tear filled eyes. "Call mah mom."
"Okay," Ray led her into the office and helped her into a chair and sat his things down next to her before walking over to the secretary. "Hi, my friends not feeling well and I was wondering if I could call her mom to pick her up?"
The secretary eyed Ray for a minute before looking over at Rogue. "You guys live at Xavier's don't you?" the woman's shrill voice asked. She was at least 80 with curly gray hair and glasses perched on the end of her nose and too much blush on her cheeks.
"Yes ma'am," Ray replied becoming impatient.
"You've got five minutes," she stated after a moment, handing him the phone.
"Thank you," Ray said, dialing the Institute's number and waiting for someone to answer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, this is Meranda how can I help you?" Meranda spoke clearly into the phone as the others watched her from across the room. "Oh, hello Ray, what's wrong?"
Logan shot up as his keen ears picked up on Berserkers half of the conversation as well.
"Logan? What is it?" Ororo asked noticing the look of anger growing on Logan's face.
"It's Berserker. Rogue's upset," Logan rose and headed towards the door.
"Why?" Ororo rose as well, placing her hand on his arm. "Logan what's happened?"
"She found Remy kissing another girl and she's not doing too well right now," Meranda stated as she walked briskly into the hall, grabbing her jacket and a set of keys. "I'm going to go pick her up."
"Good, drop me off at Gumbo's class on the way," Logan growled stalking off behind her.
"Logan no," Charles stated wheeling behind the angry parents. "We have no way of knowing if Remy has really committed this act or if it is some grave misunderstanding."
"He's right Logan. This just doesn't sound like Remy," Ororo said soothingly. "Let's just let Meranda go pick her up and then we'll straighten everything else out tonight.
"He's a player Storm," Logan growled. "And he should have known better than to play my little girl."
"Do you really think it wise my friend, to go into a public school and skewer one of it's students?" Hank asked as he stepped up next to the others.
"Hank's right Logan, besides, Marie doesn't want you," Meranda stated as she opened the door and looked back at him. "She told Ray to not tell you," with that Meranda shut the door and headed to the X-Jeep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You're mom's on the way," Ray said sitting down next to Rogue. "I told her I'd wait with you," he placed his arm supportively around her shoulder. "It'll be okay."
Rogue leaned against him and cried silently.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meranda drove like a bat out of hell and got to Bayville High in record time. She parked quickly out front and jogged up the stairs into the office, her eyes scanned the room quickly and found Ray and Rogue on a pair of chairs against the wall. She strode confidently over to them and knelt before Rogue. "Thanks Ray. You can go back to class if you want. And tell the others that Rogue went home with me," she said gently as Ray released her daughter and Meranda took over.
"See you at home Rogue," Ray said softly and went out into the hallway, anxious to see Remy later and really lay into the Cajun thief.
"Oh Mamma," Rogue sobbed and threw her arms around Meranda's neck, practically crushing the other woman with her super strength. "How could he?"
"Shh. There, there baby. Let's get you home," Meranda cooed as she helped Rogue to her feet and made for the door.
"Excuse me," a curt voice cut through the office as Rogue and Meranda turned. "But if you're taking her then you have to sign her out," Principle Kelley stated, glaring at the two women. He hated mutants and if this woman was coming from Xavier's, then she must be one of them.
Meranda could feel his hatred for her and her family wash over her and anger clouded her eyes. "Fine," she replied snippily. She pulled the pen from the Principle's coat with her mind and looked at him pointedly. "Where do I sign?"
He pointed shakily towards the clipboard on the counter.
"Thank you," Meranda stated as the pen signed her name and returned itself to his pocket. "We'll just be going now," she stated leading Rogue out to the jeep and helping her in before throwing the girls bag in the back and climbing in herself.
"So you wanna go talk about it somewhere or do you wanna go home?" Meranda asked looking sadly at her daughter. 'I never thought he'd do something like this to her,' she thought as she watched Rogue wipe at her eyes with the sleeve of her green over shirt.
"Ah jus' want ta go home," Rogue whispered, her lip quivering again.
"Home it is then."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The bell rang and Remy stepped out into the hallway from the boys locker room, his eyes scanning the hallway frantically for Rogue. It wasn't like her to ditch PE. At least, not without him anyway. He hurried over to her locker and discovered she wasn't there he headed over to where the other X-Men usually congregated and found everyone except Ray, Evan and Kurt already there, Sam in the middle of the group talking loudly.
"Ah saw it wit' mah own eyes. Ah wouldn't believe it if Ah hadn't. He was wit' another girl," Sam's voice died down as Remy strolled up to the group. Everyone turned and eyed him warily.
"Have any of y' seen ma chere?" he asked as everyone looked at him, some of them angrily. "What?" he asked after a few minutes of the staring causing Kitty to glare at him.
"Like you don't know!" she stated, her arms crossed over her chest.
"We know what you did you jerk," Jubilee growled.
"What Remy do?" Remy asked confused as he looked around at the others.
"Sam said Rogue caught you making out with Shelia Riley," Jean said quietly.
"Y' be kidding right?" Remy snorted. "Dat be de biggest load a merde Remy ever heard. When dis supposedly happen?"
"At lunch. Ah saw ya too Rem's," Sam said quietly.
"Well it ain't be Remy dat y' saw," Remy growled glaring dangerously at the other Southerner.
"Can you prove it?" Wanda asked, her hands shaking with anger.
"Jus' ask y' amore," Remy stated glaring over at the Scarlet Witch. "Remy be wit him all o' lunch. Kurt too."
"There he is," Ray's voice echoed through the hall as he threw his books to Roberto and shoved Remy hard against the lockers. "What the hell were you thinking? Rogue cried for god's sake," energy crackled between Ray's hands. Jean quickly grabbed him in her telekinesis.
"Alright guys," Scott said stepping between the guys. "We just need to settle this. Where's Kurt and Evan? Supposedly Remy was with them the whole time."
"Hey guys, what's up?" Evan asked as he and Kurt joined the group.
"Sam, Ray and Rogue caught Remy cheating," Amara stated.
"Vhen?" Kurt asked shooting Remy a look.
"At lunch. But Remy says he was with you blokes," John declared.
"That's cause he was," Evan said taking a step next to Remy. "We were all out in the yard."
"He vas teaching us to play poker," Kurt confirmed as he too took a step next to Remy. "Ve even ended up late to class."
"Yeah, we dropped Remy off on the way, so there was no way he could have done anything like that," Evan agreed.
"Jean?" Scott turned and looked at his mind reading girlfriend.
"Do you guys mind?" Jean asked looking back at the three young men.
"Non. Y' won't trust Remy till y' read his mind so by all means," Remy growled. "He thought y' knew him better though."
"It's not that Remy," Amanda stated. "She read Sam's mind too."
"Fine. Just do it girl," Evan said as Jean scanned their minds, Remy even dropped his shield's to allow it.
"They're telling the truth. Remy was with them," Jean said after a moment.
"Then how was he in two places at once?" Ray asked relaxing slightly.
"Dat be what Remy be wantin' to know," Remy growled looking around the group. "Where is she?"
"Her mom came and got her and took her home," Ray said. "Listen man, I don't know what's going on but I'm sorry alright?"
"Apologize later mes amis," Remy said brushing them off. "Right now, we jus' need to convince ma chere dat her eyes be lyin' to her, non?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Remy stalked up the steps of the Xavier Institute, the rest of the X-Men following close on his heals. He pushed open the door and headed straight to the living room where all the adults sat. "Where is she?"
"That's none of your business Gumbo," Logan growled rising, his claws extending with a loud SNIKIT.
"Hm, Remy always wonder if he be able ta charge dem claws enough. Maybe we find out hahn?" Remy replied, in no mood for Logan's over protective threats at the moment.
"Ya wanna try bub?" Logan rose to the challenge before Charles cleared his throat loudly.
"Enough. Remy, care to explain today?" Charles asked the young man who had pulled a handful of cards from his trench coat, which were now glowing menacingly.
"Remy vas vith us Professor," Kurt stated as he indicated himself and Evan.
"Yeah Prof. It couldn't have been him," Evan agreed.
"Rogue told me what she saw," Meranda said rising and crossing her arms over her chest. "Showed me. Are you saying my daughter didn't see you with your arms around another woman?"
"Non, Remy be sayin' dat whoevah it was, it non be Remy," Remy said exasperated, withdrawing the charge from the cards and replacing them into his trench coat. "Jus' look like him."
"We were thinking it might be Mystique," Wanda suggested drawing everyone's attention. "Lance said that she got away from my father and his pet cat."
"She wouldn't dare," Logan stated still glaring at the Cajun.
"Why not? She did the first time," Meranda growled pacing the room. "If she's responsible for making my baby girl cry," she trailed off as she clenched her fist. "They won't find the pieces."
"Let us just relax and talk this out," Charles said calmly. "See if we can figure out what exactly is going on."
"Y' talk dis out, Remy go talk to Rogue," Remy said heading up the stairs.
"Why don't you all go and start your homework before the concert," Ororo suggested to the others, who silently headed off in separate directions.
"He's lying," Logan growled after the room had cleared.
"Oh wake up Logan. You smelled the same thing I did," Meranda said glaring at her former husband. "He's angry and he's worried but he was telling the truth."
"What shall we do now?" Hank asked stepping up next to Meranda.
"I don't know, but by the Goddess I hope she forgives him," Meranda breathed wrapping her arms around herself.
"Why?" Logan growled. "She can do much better."
"Because she needs him," Meranda practically screamed.
"Easy," Hank said placing two large hands on her shoulders.
Meranda took a deep breath before continuing. "Marie's on the verge of something great. But her past haunts her. Hurt's her."
"What about her past?" Logan asked taking a step forward. "What aren't you telling me?"
"I can't tell you that," Meranda whispered as she thought about some of the memories she'd seen in Rogue's mind. "She'll tell us all when she's ready. The point is, she needs to know she can trust again and that she's not alone. And as hard as it is for you to believe, he needs her too."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Rogue, com' on chere, let meh in. Ah have ta talk ta y' mon amore," Remy banged on the door.
Rogue laid on her bed, trying her best to ignore him, tears falling down her face as she hugged Mr. Marbles tightly. 'How could he?' she thought as she rocked slowly, curled up in the fetal position. 'This is worse than what Cody did.' Sobs shook her body as Remy banging only grew louder.
"We have to talk Rogue. De other's told meh what y' saw and Ah swear ta y' mon amore, it wasn't meh. Please Rogue, jus' let meh explain."
'I told you he didn't love you,' Carol's voice cut her like a knife. Rogue rose from her bed, discarding her tiger and heading into her closet, ignoring the banging once again as she began pulling out cloths, pulling on her leather skirt and doc martins with he black stockings and green over shirt over her black tank top. She grabbed her gloves, and fixed her makeup quickly before throwing open the door to see Remy standing there, hand poised in mid knock.
"Ah Cherie, Ah knew y' would talk ta dis ol' Cajun," Remy started before her hand shot up in front of his face.
"Ah don't want ta hear anythin' outta yer lyin' mouth, ya hear meh Remy LeBeau? As far as Ah'm concerned, we're thru," she shot him a glare and shoved her way past him.
"Rogue, please let meh explain," Remy grabbed her wrist causing her to spin and look at him, her eyes full of hate making Remy glad he had his mental shields up.
"Git yer hand offa meh!" She pulled her arm away and glared at him, fighting the tears in her eyes. "Ya said it yerself, Ah'm untouchable. Go back to yer slut," she hissed as she headed down the stairs, stopping at the table and grabbing the phone.
"Non, chere, Remy non goin' anywhere till y' listen ta him," Remy stated standing next to her as she dialed, ignoring him once again. "Com' on Chere, please."
"Hey Risty, this is Rogue. Mah plans have changed and Ah need a rahde ta the concert aftah all," Rogue said into the phone, glaring at Remy as she spoke. "Uh-huh, Ah'm already ready. See ya then." She hung up the phone and turned to head into the living room. "Daddy, Ah need money."
"What for Stripes?" Logan asked turning to look at her.
"Ah'm goin' ta the concert tonight," Rogue stated as Remy followed her into the room.
"We need to talk Rogue," he tried again causing Rogue to spin on him.
"We're finished talkin' Swamp Rat," Rogue said as she turned back to Logan and took the money he held out to her and headed for the door.
"Rogue, aren't you waiting for the others?" Charles asked, aware that all the other students were attending the concert that night as well.
"Nah, Ah'm goin' with Risty. See y'all later," with that she walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
"Merde!" Remy cursed as he went to grab the keys to his bike.
"Where you going bub?" Logan asked staring at the Cajun.
"Ta de concert." Remy growled opening the door and following her out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"See, I told you it'd be fun," Risty said as she led Rogue farther into the group of teens and nearer the stage.
"Ah don't know, Ah shouldn't of come here," Rogue said as she glanced around nervously. What she really wanted to be doing was upstairs in her room at the institute crying her eyes out. Everyone here was just way to close and she really didn't want to be bothered right now.
"Don't worry," Risty said, looping her arm through Rogues. "Your covered enough. Besides, for a show like this we have to be close."
"Whatevah," Rogue muttered as she tried to make herself as small as possible.
"Listen, I heard what Remy did," Risty began causing Rogue to shoot her a glare. "And I'm sorry. But don't worry, you can do way better. I mean, look at all these guys around here," Risty elbowed Rogue playfully, eliciting a small smile from Rogue.
Meanwhile, farther back in the throng of people, Remy stood with Scott and Jean, watching Rogue like a hawk. "Hey Jeanie, y' evah get a readin' on dat Risty?" he asked after a few moments.
"No, why?" Jean asked above the crowd.
"Cause, don' it seem odd dat she show up outta de blue and latch onta ma chere de way she did?" Remy mused as he watched the two near the stage.
"So her and Rogue are friends? What's the big deal?" Scott asked, busy watching Jean more than anything else going on in the arena.
"Don' know, but somethin' bout dat girl ain't right ta dis Cajun," Remy stated, longing for a cigarette.
"I'm sure it's nothing, but if it will make you feel better," Jean said as she closed her eyes and brought her hands to her temples and looked for Risty's mind. She tried to enter only to be thrown back by an extremely strong mental wall. It knocked Jean off her feet and into Scott's arms.
"Jean! What happened?" Scott asked concerned as he cradled the red head close.
"Her mental walls, they're too strong. I couldn't get in," Jean explained as Scott helped steady her. "Almost as good as yours," Jean added looking over at Remy who was now glaring at Risty.
"But, how would she know how to block her mind, unless," Scott began but was quickly cut off by Remy who started to fight through the crowd to the commotion happening near the stage.
"She not who she say she is," Remy stalked towards the stage, ready to rip Risty apart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It all happened so fast that Rogue had no way of preventing it. First the girl that had been on the guys shoulders behind her fell, grabbing on to Rogue's sleeve to try and save herself only to rip the delicate fabric right from Rogue's arm. She then fell into the young Goth, sending her bar arm against Risty's and the imprinting began and Mystique's psyche filled her mind.
Risty fell to the floor, transforming into her normal blue skinned form, unconscious while around her, more victims fell pray to Rogue's poison skin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Psyche's scrambled and fought trying to gain control while Madison watched from the porch of her small home, a knife in each hand. She watched Rogue stumble by confusedly as all the other's pushed her and threw her. Carol succeeded in knocking Rogue to her knees. Madison wanted so much to help but knew her place was at the house. If she left it than all of Rogue's hope would be gone. So Madison watched on sadly, feeling helpless, glad that Remy was making his way over to Rogue. "Just get her over here Cajun. She'll be safe here!" she called over to his psyche as it easily lifted Rogue in his arms and carried her towards the house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The X-Men watched on as suddenly Sabertooth appeared in the middle of the floor, roaring loudly as he began trashing the auditorium. The X-Men went into action, grabbing innocent bystanders and pulling them to safety while trying desperately to regroup with the others.
"How'd Sabertooth get here?" Scott yelled over the commotion.
"Where's Rogue?" Remy yelled back. "She was over dere a second ago," he looked around frantically, pulling out his cards.
"We should call the Professor," Jean added, stopping a speaker that was about to fall on the band as they ran across the stage.
Sabertooth crawled onto the stage, roaring at the crowd, allowing Cyclops his opportunity. He lifted his glasses and shot a beam at the ceiling above the roaring villain, burying him beneath the rubble. The X-Men came out of the crowd, climbing onto the podium and gathering around the rubble.
"What was that?" Sam asked as he stood next to Rahne and Roberto, all watching the rubble cautiously.
"Sabertooth," Kitty said as she came up supporting a disoriented Jamie. "I, like, called the Institute. The adults are on there way. Where's, like, Rogue and Risty?"
Suddenly the rubble began to shake and Juggernaut emerged from the pile screaming. The X-Men took a step back, Scott going for his glasses as Remy charged several cards.
"What is that?" Roberto asked backing away with the others.
"Juggernaut," Amara said as she charged up.
"Not someone you want to party with," Jubilee added.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Here, put her on the couch," Madison said as Remy carried Rogue in from the chaos outside, and she shut the door. "What happened out there?"
"It be too crowded in here non? And ma chere stopped fightin' fer some reason," Remy replied as he lowered Rogue gently onto the couch and brushed a stray hair from her face. (AN in Rogue's mind, her skin isn't poisoned.)
Rogue's eyes shot open and she looked at Remy, anger flashing across her face. "Ah told ya to nevah touch meh again!" she yelled pushing him away from her.
"Marie what's your deal?" Madison asked as she helped Remy to his feet. "He saved your ass from getting trampled, which is not something we usually have to do. What's up?"
"That son of a bitch cheated on meh," Rogue replied pulling her knees to her chest and gazing out the front window at the chaos outside, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Never chere!" Remy said rushing to Rogue's side, kneeling in front of her. "Remy never do dat to y' mon amore. Je t'aime," he ran his fingers over her cheek tenderly.
Rogue looked at him, wanting to believe him, but unwilling to do it. "NO!" she said shaking her head and disappearing from the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Vhat do ve do now?" Kurt asked as Juggernaut walked thru one of the walls of the auditorium and into the streets.
They all watched as Mystique appeared out of no where, running after the unstoppable giant. "I knew she was behind this some how that bitch," Wanda swore as they watched before turning to Scott for some kind of a plan.
"We get to the vehicles and get suited up. We've got to stop him first before we can worry about anything else," he turned and looked at Remy. "Let's just hope Rogue got out okay."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once away from the concert hall, Juggernaut transformed into Quicksilver. Taking a quick look around, he took off running, ending up in the dead end of an alley way before transforming back into Rogue. She collapsed against the wall, sobbing. "What the hell is going on?" she pulled her legs closer to her chest.
"Rogue?" Mystiques voice called to her as the blue skinned woman entered the mouth of the alleyway.
"You!" Rogue practically screamed as she launched herself at the woman she considered her mother for so many years, sending a roundhouse at the woman's chest. Mystique easily dodged, but Rogue was ready with kick after kick, punch after punch, finally landing one square on Mystique's jaw, sending her flying into the brick wall. "How could ya? Haven't ya hurt meh enough?"
"Rogue I wasn't trying to hurt you," Mystique explained as she climbed to her feet. "I was worried. I had to protect you and posing as Risty was the only way I could."
"Protect meh? From what? The only one Ah needed protectin' from was ya!"
"Rogue you don't mean that," Mystique took a step towards the agitated teenager, who began to shake with anger and rage, suddenly changing. Her hair grew out and bleached a brilliant honey blonde as her eyes turned crystal blue and a military uniform covering her now tall, well proportioned body.
"You're probably right. She never knows what she means," Carol Danvers stated, smiling at Mystique before stepping towards the other woman. "I should be thanking you Ms. Darkholm. If it weren't for you, I'd never have been able to take control."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue was back on the couch again, staring at Madison and Remy. "What happened?" she asked as she looked around strangely.
"Carol's in control now," Madison explained as she looked at the TV. "You have to fight her and the others if you ever want your body back."
Rogue looked at the raven and indigo haired girl and then over at Remy who sat on the other end of the couch, watching her with concern. Everything was just so confusing. She slowly crawled down to the other end and into his arms, resting her head on his chest. "Ah wanna stay here."
Remy wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "Remy know Cherie," he whispered soothingly, hugging her closer.
"You can't stay here Rogue," Madison turned to her. "If you don't take back your body you'll die and so will we."
"What do Ah have ta go back ta?" Rogue asked glaring at the other girl, her head still resting on Remy's chest. "'sides bein' alone."
"God Rogue you are so fucking annoying sometimes," Madison breathed before grabbing the remote and throwing it to Rogue.
"What's this for?" Rogue asked catching it midair and looking at it thoughtfully.
"You still don't get it do you?" Madison asked walking across the room and kneeling before Rogue. "All your answers are in this house. The key to your powers are here. You're so sure that Remy fucked around on you, I suggest you look at Mystiques memories first."
"Ah can do that here?"
"Yep, just point and click."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meranda and Ororo had taken to the skies, flying high above Bayville, searching the streets for the attackers the children had faced at the party while the Professor and Hank rode along in the Blackbird. Wolverine meanwhile decided on his own mode of transportation, whipping through the streets on his Harley, helmet open and nose sniffing out for any familiar and unwelcome scents..
Suddenly a beautiful blonde woman stepped directly in front of his bike, causing him to swerve and crash into a wall nearby. He quickly got up from the wreckage, his wounds healing themselves, and pulled off his helmet. "What's the big idea…" he stopped mid-sentence, sniffing the air. "Stripes?"
"Major Danvers to you," the blonde woman growled, her head twisting to the side. "No, it's mine!" she screamed before transforming into Sabertooth before Logan's eyes.
"Long time no see Wolverine," the overgrown housecat growled as he lunged for Wolverine only to be blasted into a nearby building by a red beam. Logan whirled around to see Cyclops standing nearby, in full uniform.
"Don't!" Logan barked at him as he came jogging up. "Don't hurt him."
"Why?" Cyclops gave Logan a weird look, his hand still on his visor.
"Cause that ain't Sabertooth. It's my daughter," Wolverine growled as they slowly entered the warehouse. "Call the others, get them over here."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue watched wide eyed as Risty exited the ladies room, transforming into Remy and grabbing the first girl that walked down the hall, throwing her against the wall and kissing her passionately. Tears clouded her vision as the anger within her grew, a storm forming inside her mind. "That bitch!" she fumed as she watched the screen. "Ah ruined everything with Remy cause of her!"
"I doubt that," Madison said as she watched Rogue. "I'm sure he'll understand."
"Course Remy understand p'tite," Remy said as he looked away in disgust at what his copy was doing on the screen.
Rogue meanwhile, began rewinding through Mystiques memories, unlocking more secrets about the woman who stole her as a child. "Ah can't believe Ah fell fer it. Ah'm so stupid!"
"Whoa, where'd that come from?" Madison asked glancing over at Rogue. "She tricked you, she's tricky. It happens. Doesn't mean your stupid or anything, just trusting. It's a good thing at times."
"Nevah done me any good," Rogue grumbled causing Remy and Madison to shoot her looks.
"Uh, hello? What are we fucking chopped liver?" Madison asked glaring at Rogue.
"Sorry. It's jus' every tahme Ah trust people they seem ta come back and make meh regret it," Rogue leaned against Remy sighing.
"As is the way of life," Madison commented. "But it doesn't mean you should give up or stop trying. Just be more careful and trust more in those you know are going to protect you and care about you. Those who have in the past without asking for anything in return."
"Ah'm jus' so tired," Rogue said yawning as she grew more comfortable against Remy.
"Now not be de time p'tite," Remy whispered shaking her. "Go git control den y' can lay on de real thing non?" he winked at her and helped her up from the couch.
They walked over to the door and opened it, noticing the hordes of people that had broken free of the mental shields and were now walking freely thru Rogue's mind.
"Ah don't think Ah can fight them all," Rogue said recognizing several familiar faces amongst the crowd.
"Maybe not out there," Madison comment closing the door and turning to Rogue. "You know how to use they're powers. The first step is not letting them use them. Use them yourself. Once you can gain control over their powers then there's no way they can fight you. Or stop you. Then hopefully one of those lovely telepaths will be around to help you lock them up."
"Can't y' do dat p'tite?" Remy asked Madison curiously.
"I'm just the keeper. Only Rogue can control it all. Even the telepaths can only help, ultimately it's all Rogue," Madison replied as she pulled a beautifully carved dagger from the armband on her wrist, twirling it absentmindedly.
"No pressure, right?" Rogue said sarcastically as she tried to focus. "Let's just do this. Ah'm tired."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What's going on?" Meranda asked as she and Ororo landed amongst the X-Men gathered outside of the warehouse.
"Logan and Scott are in there now. It's Rogue, her powers are going all nuts," Jean explained while Remy paced outside, his trench coat billowing behind him.
"Let meh talk ta her!" he growled glaring at the others. "Ah can git ta her. She's jus' confused."
"We've got to have patients my young friend," Ororo soothed when suddenly Logan and Cyclops came flying out of the building. Jean stopped Scott with her telekinesis while Ororo created a gust of wind to slow Logan down as he crashed into the side of one of the vehicles, leaving a large dent.
"Does insurance cover flying Wolverines?" Bobby joked earning him glares from over half the team. "Sorry," he muttered, sticking his hands back into his pockets.
"What happened?" Meranda asked when suddenly the top of the building blew off and Rogue flew straight up into the air, hair whirling around her, eyes bleach white.
"By the Goddess," Ororo breathed as they all watched her.
"We've got to stop her before she hurts someone," Jean said looking at Rogue.
"Consider it done," Ororo said flying straight into the air. "Forgive me child," she yelled before two lightening bolts formed, striking Rogue directly.
"Ro wait!" Meranda called, warning the weather witch too late as Rogue turned the bolts back onto her, sending Ororo falling from the sky. "Damnit! Jean catch her, I'll try to stop Rogue. The rest of you get as far away as possible. She's too strong," with that Meranda flew up into the air, directly in front of her daughter. "Baby stop this! Let me help you!"
"Kid, ice me up," Logan called to Bobby who did as instructed, sending Logan up with Meranda and Rogue.
Meanwhile, Remy got sick of waiting and ran to the nearest building, taking the fires escape as quickly as he could up to the roof.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is hard," Rogue asked as she stood in the middle of the living room, every color of the rainbow swirling around her as she pulled every psyche's power to her, leaving them all defenseless. "Ah don't know how long Ah can keep it up."
"Y' doin' bon mon amore," Remy encouraged her, as he watched the psyche's outside the house begin to stop struggling and look around puzzled.
"Just a little longer Rogue," Madison assured her. "I can sense that Professor guy trying to get in here. I'm afraid if I let down the shields though the others will gain control."
"Are they weak enough fer him ta git in?" Rogue asked as more powers flew to her.
"Yeah, but he'll just have to work at it," Madison stated as she moved back away from Rogue. "You're doing great. The really hard part is coming though."
"Oh, and what could be harder than this?" Rogue growled.
"Keeping those, and regaining conscious control. The bald guy's not really going to be able to help you much till you can do that," Madison said, her blade twirling expertly between her fingers.
"Great," Rogue breathed as more energy flowed at her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Logan lunged at Rogue, pulling her down to the ground as Meranda landed with them.
"Come on darlin fight! Come back to us," he yelled at her when a sudden psychic wave passed out of her, throwing both Meranda and Logan back. In a blink of an eye, Rogue teleported to the top of a building, her powers still going haywire when a smooth Cajun voice spoke up.
"Knew y'd be comin' Remy's way ma chere," Remy said as he walked slowly into Rogue's line of vision, his bo staff in hand. "Y' ready t' talk t' dis ol' thief now?"
Rogue sent a lightening bolt down at him, but Remy quickly tucked and rolled, landing just in front of her face, grabbing her arms. "Come back t' meh Marie," he pleaded.
For a moment Rogue's eyes cleared and she looked at him frightfully. "Remy? Help me, please," she begged as the powers took over again.
"Remy told y' he be here t' catch y' when y' fall non?" he whispered as he moved in quickly, wrapping her in his arms. He focused his empathy on her, letting his love for her leave him like a bolt of lightening, hitting her full on as he tried desperately to calm her nerves like he always did when the voices got to bad. "Dat means Ah'm nevah lettin' y' go neither."
Kurt suddenly ported next to them, took Remy and Rogue's arms and ported them all down to the ground where the Professor was waiting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Charles stood in the middle of a homey looking living room, clean with a cluttered lived in feel with three others. Two he recognized as Remy and Rogue, colored lights swirling around her body. The third was a young woman he'd never seen before. "Rogue, let me help you," he said looking at his distressed student.
"Ah can't lock em up by mahself," she whispered, her voice strained. "There's to many."
"Then we'll do it together," Charles sad and together the two began to sort and lock up all the psyche's, starting with Mystiques.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Outside, Rogue's body began to transform in front of the X-men until it was finally her own again. Charles opened his eyes looking tired from the strain as Rogue collapsed into Remy's waiting arms.
"How is she Chuck?" Logan asked as he watched Remy carry his baby girl tenderly to the waiting jet so Hank could check her out.
"As well as can be expected," Charles replied looking at his students and teachers alike. "It's going to take her mind time to heal, as well as time for her to get used to the knowledge of what she is exactly capable of. But in that time, I'm sure she'll make a full recovery. Especially now that she knows who exactly her true friends and family are."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Remy sat in a chair next to Rogue's bed down in the med lab late into the night. Ororo and Hank had forced Meranda and Logan to go to bed for the evening, much against their wills, but Remy remained unmoved. (AN Not that Meranda and Logan would just leave her there, but I needed her and Remy to be alone for this.)
"So Ah guess Ah owe ya an apology," Rogue's sweet southern voice stated, causing Remy to jump even closer to her side.
"Chere! Y' awake!" Remy exclaimed squeezing her ungloved hand in his gloved one. "Y' had meh worried."
"Ah can see," Rogue smirked slightly as she adjusted in the bed. "Yer talkin' in the first person."
Remy snickered and placed his thumb over her knuckles, kissing it softly. After a few moments he spoke again. "It wasn't Remy y' saw today," he began before Rogue shushed him.
"Ah know. And Ah shoulda known bettah than ta jus' think ya'd evah do that ta meh. Ah'm sorry,"
"Think nothin' o' it ma chere," Remy waved it off as he looked at her for a long moment. His usual smirk suddenly appeared on his face and he leaned in closer to her, whispering huskily, "So dis mean we still together, hahn?"
"Ah suppose," Rogue replied giggling. "Since Ah didn't git a bettah offer. And no one else will take ya now."
Remy laughed loudly. "It be true mon amore. Y' ruined Remy fer de other femmes."
"Good," Rogue replied, stifling a yawn. "Ah'm so tired."
"Rest now den. Remy look after y'." Remy brushed the stray hair from her eyes, the fingers of his left hand still laced with her own.
"Ah can't sleep," Rogue whined.
"Why dat?" Remy asked looking around for the tiger Logan had brought down earlier, figuring she'd want that.
"Ah'm cold," she stated, moving over in the bed enough so Remy could climb in, hoping he'd accept the invitation.
"Y' wan' y' pere ta find Remy in bed wit y'?" Remy smirked as he kicked off his shoes and climbed under the covers next to her, wrapping his arms around her body as she rested her head on his chest.
"Ah'll risk it," Rogue yawned again as she began to drift into a deep sleep. "Hey Rems?"
"Oui ma chere?" Remy asked, finding it hard to keep his eyes open as well.
" Je t'aime."
"Je t'aime aussi. Maintenant et pour toujours."
Author's Note: Wow, another chapter up in the same week. Is it just me or are these things getting longer? This chapt's 16 pages, but whose counting? (Besides me anyway.) Y'all should feel loved. Actually, I just felt inspired. Now for translations and shout outs.
Translations: Bonjour cherie ~ Hello Dear
pere ~ father
Oui ma chere? ~ Yes my dear?
Je t'aime ~ I love you.
Je t'aime aussi. Maintenant et pour toujours. ~ I love you too. Now and forever.
I know some of those are pretty much self explanatory but I try. Oh and if I missed any, sorry.
Now, shout outs:
Koosei ~ I like Batman and Robin so that's where I remembered it from and thought, hey it could work. And you know with the scarf you've got all those little strings and the breathing issue becomes harder so yeah. And just for you, Risty made her move. Well, for me too. Lol! Well, hope you liked.
Lovablelatina ~ Oh don't worry, Remy has a huge imagination. It comes from reading fanfics over my shoulder. J/k. I'll come up with something, so long as my muse doesn't desert me.
Rogue4787 ~ Yeah, now I just need to find some chicks for the new recruits. Except for Roberto and Rahne. I think I'll put the two of them together. Thank you, I like the scene in Rogue's head too. And as you can see, Madison is back. Now I wonder what Rogue will do when her corporeal counterpart comes into play? We'll just have to wait and see I guess. (As you can tell I have plans. Run in fear.)
cool-chick-rae ~ Batman is the best superhero after the X-Men. Sorry, that's just random thoughts.
Ishandahalf ~ seems like your fic inspired me again. Cause look, you updated and now so have I. How scary. I did take the hint hint though. (hint hint, you should to. LOL!) I hope you don't hate me for the whole angsty romyness this chapter. But there were cuddles and stuff and they made up in the end. I agree, Hank is freaking awesome and y'know he almost never gets shown any love. It's sad really. So I thought I had to fix that in my story. And yeah, risty/mystique is a bitter bitch. Maybe I should be really cruel and pair her with Sabertooth, since y'know he like never bathes and would just be the worst possible choice for anyone EVER. Sorry, random venting. Anyway, Merry Christmas back at ya and hope to see a review for this chapter too.
Rogue77 ~ Well at least the wait wasn't long this time! Hope you keep loving it though. (I worry sometimes when it's like 2 in the morning and I'm not sure I'm even typing in the English language anymore.) LOL, anyway, enjoy.
Taz9 ~ That is amazing, cause usually I have at least a few typo's that I find later and wonder what the hell I was on to have missed them. But anywho, I love gold stars. Thank ya much. Exactly on the more money part. That's the only reason I agreed to it. And I'll get paid a couple of days before my birthday so can we say spree? Thank you for your praise. It's the best present I could get this year. And Merry Christmas right back at ya.
Lightspeed Suzuka ~ Patients, the touching will come. I promise. And yep, it was Poison Ivy. And Robin's little, "Wax lips are immune to your charms" inspired me. And the funny part is I haven't seen the movie in a couple of years. I own it, I just don't watch it. How sad huh? Anyway, I think Hank's better for Meranda, at least for right now. Cause she's all angry and stuff and needs someone who can be the calming wind so to speak. Y'know, up until you said something I had never heard of CardCaptors so I don't know what you're talking about really. Sakura is going to be brought in later and kinda based on a friend of mine and she gave me the name. I really don't watch a whole lot of cartoons though except for the X-Men related ones. I am interested in what it's about though if you'd like to explain. Oh and here's the update, since you just sent the review like today I'd say I did pretty good with the soon. Yay me.
Invader ZaiFae ~ It's okay, I understand how busy life can be. As I'm sure you can tell since I commented about my hectic life last chapter. So the last chapter was magic huh? Wow, cool. Now I'm kinda worried if this one lived up to the last one cause I really didn't go into the fight scenes as much as I wanted too. Oh well, I can always revise later. And I'm hoping I didn't jump around too much in this chapter cause I kinda changed the style a bit as far as timing goes. Anyway, thank you for noticing my work on Beast. It's kinda hard to develop his character cause even in the show you don't see a lot of it. But I am doing my best to fix that. And Thank You for mentioning my favorite line in the whole chapter. I was so proud of myself for that whole, "Anything he feels for me is just residual territorial nature due to his animalistic mutation" line, cause I worked really hard on it and it made her sound all intelligent yet with a sense of humor. Happy holidays to you too.
Alright guys, Happy Holidays to one and all and hopefully I'll get another chapter up soon. Night and much love to everyone else who reviewed that I didn't get a chance to post too.