Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 22

Chapter 4: To The Nines

Remy spotted the cannonball at once from a distance and he knew it was going to hit Kitty Pryde before he was even aware he was thinking about it at all. It almost seemed as if the world were moving in slow motion for those vital few seconds, and Remy heard himself cry out in panic as he flung himself towards Kitty to get her out of the way, he pushed her shoulders from her front, that way she was liable to fall on her back or her side, she wouldn't fall with too much force – it was better than being hit in the stomach with the imminent cannonball as it hurled it's way towards her from across the room.

It was moving, everything started to speed up again, on reflex he pushed her to the left, Kitty went down on her left side with the dull thud a heavy pumpkin would make as it landed upon hard floor, she let out a wail, he wasn't sure if he'd caused her injury or not, but he knew if he had the pain he would have caused would be considerably less than what she'd feel from the impact of the cannon, and Remy felt like rejoicing that he'd gotten her to safety in time…but then he felt the impact of the cannonball directly in the small of his back. He felt almost as if something within him had shattered, the pain was so unbelievable that he thought it might have punched a hole right through him. He fell on all fours beside Kitty, gasping in pain.

"Oh my god…" said Jean Grey as she floated over telekinetically, "Remy…are you alright…" she asked, she seemed a little frantic although it was clear she was trying to remain calm and serene, as would a doctor – for which she was still studying to be.

"I'm fine…" Remy breathed, he could barely move, and felt almost as if his back had seized up completely. "How is she…Make sure she's alright?" he nodded his head into Kitty's direction.

Jean found it terribly strange that Remy should be more concerned about Kitty having fallen over when he'd just suffered a blow to the back like he had done.

Kitty winced, trying to get up, then she cried out and reached over to touch her ankle, "Ugh! My ankle…!" she groaned.

"Is it sprained?" Jean asked worriedly.

"I don't know…" Kitty sucked in a breath, "it really hurts…"

"Don't move..." Jean said calmly, she knelt down by Kitty's foot, "this might hurt a little…" she said, she unzipped Kitty's leather boot and began to slide it off carefully, at the same time using her telekinetic powers to support the ankle as she did so. "Remy…how you doin'?" she asked at the same time.

"Peachy…just…peachy," Remy breathed, "is Kitty okay?"

"I think her ankle may be spained…" Jean said concernedly.

Good, Remy thought. A sprained ankle meant she couldn't train in the Danger Room for at least a week. That meant he didn't have to worry about her getting more seriously hurt – or worse – the baby getting hurt. If Kitty had spained her ankle, it would be the icing on the cake – not that he wanted to see her in discomfort, but it certainly took a load off his mind.

Kitty looked at Remy, she could barely believe he'd done what he'd done. Of course it was something that any team mate might do for her, but it hadn't been anyone else, it had been him, and that meant something – at least to her. As he turned to look at her, with pain still etched across his face, she mouthed the word 'thankyou' to him, and then chewed her lip bashfully.

Remy sighed, and mouthed the words, 'you're welcome'.

Remy's back injury was not as bad as he'd thought it was at first, while he did have some extensive bruising, most of the pain seemed to be in the flesh itself, while luckily his spine was fine. An hour later he was moving again, although walking at a somewhat slightly more slouched position. He realised of course this could be the calm before the storm. He'd had so many back injuries during the year in particular – mostly due to his career as one of the X-Men – that he knew the injury would come back to haunt him later, and just when he least expected it, the pain would resurface, twice as bad as before.

After a shower, a long nap – which had lasted several hours – and some food, Remy headed down to the hospital wing, where Kitty was lying on a bed drinking from a bottle of Evian, she looked unhappy and slightly sleepy.

"Hey," Remy said, he stepped in, he wandered over slowly, looking at her, she had her foot suspended up a little, and her ankle was in a cast. "What's the diagnosis?" he asked softly.

Kitty pouted, "I have a broken ankle," she replied rather upset, "I can't do training for like…eight to ten weeks…depending on how it heals…but even then it could be iffy, Hank said we'd have to see. When Jean broke her ankle in the Danger Room three years ago, she was back in there within five weeks.

Remy sighed, "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to break your ankle, or anything else for that matter," he explained, "I acted on instinct, I saw the cannon heading towards you and I reacted the way I thought best…I didn't think when I threw you that I'd snap you like a twig."

"You didn't snap me like a twig, you just knocked me a little," Kitty responded, she put her water bottle down on the little cabinet next to the bed.

"So, how long are you to rest for?" Remy asked.

"Hank wants me to rest for a week," Kitty said, "But I'm taking three days and then taking over my classes, I can't lie around all day, I NEED something to do," she explained.

"No wonder you stay so thin, you're always on the go."

"Tell me about it," Kitty said, "Knowing my luck, I'll gain like thirty pounds since I can't really exercise and burn off anything."

Remy glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one had stepped in and was in earshot of listening, he leaned a little closer to her, his voice no more than a whisper, "is the baby okay?"

"I'm sure the baby is fine," she assured.

"Did you tell Hank?"

"No," Kitty said, her cheeks went red, "I can't just…tell him."

"You think you can't trust him?" Remy asked, slightly perplexed. "Hell, if you can trust a snake like me, you can surely trust Hank."

"It's not that I don't trust him," Kitty explained, "I trust him so much and I KNOW he'd keep it a secret, but…I just don't want him knowing…or anyone…at least not yet. The first person who should know…is probably Piotr…imagine if he heard it from someone else…that'd be devastating."

"Which is why you should tell him soon before this thing gets any bigger," Remy said, "I mean two people in this mansion already know, me, and Betsy…and you DON'T want Betsy to blab it to everyone, but she will because that is JUST her style. She won't do it directly. She'll drop hints…get you all flustered and embarrassed, until you feel cornered…"

Kitty shook her head, "why would she do that to someone she BARELY even knows?"

"For kicks, mostly. But really, she just likes to see people sweat. She's manipulative and loves having peoples nuts in a vice, if you get my drift."

"What if you don't have nuts," Kitty raised an eyebrow and swallowed nervously.

"Metaphorically, I'm saying."

"I get that…" Kitty nodded, "so what you're saying is…"

"That she'll find the sensitive spots in you, the pains, the frustration, and she'll keep pressing them like buttons, pushing you to the limits, seeing how far you'll tolerate it, drive you crazy with it."

"How do you know this?"

"I've known the woman a long time," Remy sighed.

"Known? As in…romantically?" Kitty asked, she knew about the situation with Remy and Betsy – they'd worked together avoiding and trying to foil Sinister's plans, but Kitty had a feeling it may have been more than just that. Remy couldn't have kept his hands off of a woman as beautiful as Betsy, she just knew there was no way it was possible.

"I wouldn't call it that," he looked away, deep in thought.

Kitty sat up a little straighter, "but you've…slept with her?" she wasn't sure why she'd asked, but the words had come out of her mouth before she'd had a chance to really consider it.

"A few times. But I wasn't with Rogue…and for all I knew I'd never see Rogue again…so it's not like that was an issue. I thought me and Rogue were well and truly over."

"Yeah, but…you know Rogue," Kitty grimaced as she tried to get comfortable, "she holds a grudge when its women you've been with…"

"God knows why! It is NOT that big a deal," Remy sighed.

"It is to her, because every other woman on earth seems to have had sex with you apart from her," Kitty reminded.

"Look, Rogue doesn't even have to know…" Remy shrugged, "it's ancient history, gone and buried."

"Uhm, newsflash…ancient history? Betsy is one of the X-Men now. And if she's really as nasty as you say…who's to say she won't drop the hint to Rogue?"

Remy gave yet another sigh, looking away from Kitty once again.

"You can't keep repeating these stupid patterns," Kitty said, perhaps a little more harshly than she intended, because it even seemed to take Remy by surprise. "You keep hiding all these little secrets, and then feel resentful when people don't trust you. You gotta quit it, Remy."

"I know…I know," Remy mumbled, he chewed the inside of his cheek, "I guess old habits die hard though, right?" he asked.

"Why are you all dressed up to the nines?" Kitty asked, she noted he was wearing black dress pants, a black shirt and a long black leather coat – the smell of brand new leather was distinguishable at once. "New clothes, huh?"

"I felt it was time to stop wearing the old shit I left here years ago," Remy responded, and shrugged.

"So where you goin'?"

"Followin' Carol – again."

"Isn't that getting' boring yet?" Kitty asked.

"Sure is," Remy sighed, "but I just…I feel compelled to follow her. I need to make sure she's not gonna cause trouble or flaunt any more of my girlfriend's body, thank you very much," he sighed, "I better go now, get some rest…" he said, he leaned over and kissed Kitty's forehead, "and take care of Baby Pryde, 'kay?"

Kitty smirked, "Okay."