CHAP13

The first beams of sunlight broke through Rogue's window and promptly awoke

the sleeping girl by shining in her eyes.

"augh! Stupid sun." she mumbled groggily, literally crawling out of bed. As soon

as her body hit the cold floor, a knock arose from the door. Rogue stumbled downstairs

holding her head in typical just-woke-up disgust. "ah'm comin', ah'm comin'." She

grumbled, opening the door.

"hey there, Cherie!"

"oh no." she said, covering her mouth. Oh yes. Remy Le-beau stood at the door.

Today, however, something was different. Rogue studied his face, trying to figure out

what. Oh yes. His usual smirk was replaced by a hateful scowl. 'how nice.' Thought

Rogue, opening the door wider and letting the tall Cajun walk in.

"what d'ya WANT, Cajun?!" she growled, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to wake

herself up.

"I want de' coat you took, petite! As well as de' weapons you took! Remy ain't

too happy about DAT one."

"WHAT? I mean....wait, WHAT? Are you drunk er somethin'?" Rogue wrinkled

her nose in confusion.

"If 'dis is your idea of a joke, now, Rogue, I'm t'inkin' you need some help."

Remy's ruby eyes bored into her. It was nothing she wasn't used to.

"ah could say the same thing, swamp rat!!!" she retorted, making an attempt at

shoving him out the door. He leaned over and blocked her from closing it with his foot.

"Remy knows YOU took 'em Rogue! Jus' give 'dem back to ol' remy, eh,

Chere?"

"The only thing Ah'm willin' ta give ya', Cajun, is a kick in th' ass! Now GO!"

"Rogue my dear." A voice came from behind her and she turned to face Charles

Xavier himself.

"oh.....hey professor. Guess you're back....huh?" muttered Rogue meekly,

backing away from the door.

"yes. I arrived early this morning Rogue." The professor wheeled himself towards

the door, motioning for Remy to come in. Remy stepped in, tripping over Rogue's foot as

she slid it out under him. She snickered nastily.

"Rogue." Warned the professor. Rogue stepped off and sat in a large velvet chair

next to the professor.

"Mr LeBeau....I'd like to let you know that I've been filled in on all of

the.....action that's gone on while I was away. I am a telepath, also, you know." Remy

nodded, his auburn hair bouncing against his forehead. "well..." the professor continued

"Rogue did NOT steal any equipment from you, as were your suspicions.

"so who was it, 'Den, huh?" asked Remy

"it was your friend.....OUR friend.....Aurora. She's a very disturbed young

woman, Remy. She meant no harm. But now that she has what she wants she may

CAUSE harm. I just hope it's not too late. I hope that she hasn't figured out things that

were....well......not meant to be figured out by her." The professor rubbed his temples

attentively.

"so what now?" asked Rogue, finally speaking up from her perch on her chair.

"now we find her. And we find Kurt, too."

"how you goin' to do dat?" asked Remy curiously. Almost at the same time,

Xavier and Rogue replied "cerebro!"

Aurora unwrapped her hands from their bandaged prison, examining them closely. Her

claws were back. Massive deadly weapons. Aside from being a bit scarred, they were

everything they had always been. Sharp. Terrifying. She smiled, and clawed the ground.

As sharp as a samurai blade, her claws sliced through the cement like butter. CLUMP! A

noise shook her from her dream state. She crouched further beneath the black Chevy

parked perfectly in the driveway. He was home. She crept from her hiding place and ran

to the door after him. Good, he hadn't locked it. She crept into the house. It was like a

Martha Stewart dream house. The staircase, black and white marble, wound itself around

a grandfather clock. On the kitchen table sat a bunch of flowers and a crystal punch bowl.

It all seemed familiar, but......but maybe not. As if she'd seen it all in a past life, or a

dream.

"ahem ahem!" a man coughed from the staircase. She hid from his view as he

lumbered down in search of a glass of water. It was then that she sprang. It was her only

chance.

"STRYKER!" she screamed, emerging from her hiding place. The old man

jumped and whirled around, his water splashing on the clean white floor. There she

stood. Holding Remy's staff in her hand, his trench coat swirling around her feet like a

black pool.

"so.....you came back, darling." He smiled, revealing a set of tobacco stained

teeth.

"I couldn't keep away. You know me."

"yes.....yes I know you....." Stryker tugged at his beard thoughtfully. "So...are

you going to kill me, or what?" he asked, causing her to raise her eyebrows in shock.

"yes. But not yet. FIRST...." With that she cracked him across the skull with the

staff, sending him flying into the wall, it's white paint now spattered with crimson.

Stryker looked up at her, still smiling. Blood flowed from the wound in his head like a

small waterfall, trickling down his face and landing with a "plop" sound on the floor. She

walked over to him calmly and grabbed his head with her claws, digging into his scalp.

"what are you smiling about, old man?" she sneered, spitting the words out like

they were poison.

"I know.....something.....that...." the old man was slipping from consciousness

now, his head drooping like a bean bag.

"WHAT?" she slammed him head into the wall, causing more blood to spray

along the white paint and her hands. He gasped and winced in pain..........and then that

smile returned to his face.

"you look..............just like your mother, darling." He touched her face and she

backed away, and dropped his head.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Aurora..............my.............my darling daughter.........I told you I knew

you........." he smiled wider now, as Aurora reeled back in horror.

"what are you saying? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" she screamed, standing

and pacing the kitchen.

"Do you really want to kill your father?" Stryker coughed, and a drop of blood,

like a jewel, hung on his lips.

"no....that isn't true! THAT ISN'T TRUE! YOU'RE DELIREOUS! That's all!

Just...."

"you look like your mother when she..............met with her accident." Stryker's

eyes searched her face for a reaction. Aurora opened her eyes and gazed into space.

"YOU!" she turned and pointed at him accusingly. "what did you do?"

"when your mother saw the.........the wanted posters with your pretty little face

on them she................she called me..........she wanted me to leave you alone. To take

the posters down, but............I couldn't do that." He looked across the room at Aurora.

"y'see..............I had another child, Jason........a son.............your half brother. It was

after he met his....................most unfortunate fate that I realized..........I should have

studied him. Trained him. Perhaps he could have been an advantage to me. And

then......your mother came along...........and a year later, so did you. You kept your

mother's last name, and went to live with her, which is what I was counting on......After

she decided she couldn't HANDLE a person like you......she called me........and asked

me to take care of you..........and I did, didn't I, my beautiful daughter? Didn't I?" his

breath was becoming shallow now, and his vision was darkening.

"Your whole purpose was for me to experiment on. The only reason I HAD you

was to.......to experiment on.....and then I collected more and more mutants, but......you

were one of the first."

"one of the-???" she dropped the staff, backing away from Willaim

Stryker.......HER FATHER...........in utter fear and shock.

"You have a choice now, child...............you can stay, find out more, and let me

live............or leave.............and let me die..............choking on my own blood.

What is it?" he choked. And immediately the look on her face – the terrified, painful look

on her face – told him the answer. She whirled around and ran out the door. And she left.