Hi everyone!
I wanted to thanks the people who took the time to review and/or email me.
roguewannabe: I won't repeat what I told you in my email, but I guess you might enjoy this installement quite a bit….
Duo/Folken/TK: Hey, nice nickname, where does that come from?
Hmmm, it's funny, actually, everybody seems a lot more concerned about the relation between Rogue and Apocalypse than I am. There IS a relation alright, but they are only two parts in the greater scheme of things…. Don't worry, you'll understand when we come to the big showdown in that part.
And yeah, I know I haven't been nice to Jean, who's been dissmissed as if she hadn't been there, but there is a reason, and it's NOT gratuitous bashing!
Okay, enough rambling, now on to the fic (and the first real action)!
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The evening went on without any remarkable event, a rarity in a mansion full of teenage mutants.
Jean passed through the hall of the dorms, heading for her room, alone. Some days, when her spirits would be high, she would view it as a great thing. To have her own room, the freedom to do there what she wanted at whatever time without having to worry about a roomate. Granted, most of the others, except for Scott who had the same privilege, had envied her at one point or another, but during these days, she was confident enough to know that this feeling was nothing more than a flying thing that would never come as far as standing between their comradship.
But at times like this, when she stood outside the door of Kitty and Rogue's room, attracted there by the high-pitched sound of Kitty's laughter and the half-mocking, half-amused tone of Rogue, signals of one more light-hearted argument between the two girls, she couldn't help but regret what she'd never had.
Especially these days, when the nightmares once again came plaguing her more frequently, when she would wake up with a start, her throat dry, her mouth open in a silent scream, images that she knew she would never forget swirling in her head, and no one, no one to turn to, no one to give her comfort. She had quickly dismissed the idea of talking to the Professor or to Scott about it, she didn't want to lay more worry on either man. She hoped, although she instinctly knew this was a fool's hope, that they would simply go away. That it wouldn't be like last time. That it wouldn't herald her lost of control over her powers.
She shook herself out it enough to hear someone approaching. A quick scan of her mind told her that it was Elizabeth. Hoping that she hadn't been broadcasting enough to let the other telepath know what she was thinking, she quickly retreated to her room.
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"Are you out of your mind?"
Rogue was standing in the middle of the otherwise deserted garage, her hands on her hips, an obvious disbelieving expression etched on her features.
Elizabeth just kept grinning. "Come on luv, girls deserve a little fun once in a while. Besides, we're both 18, we can both legaly do whatever we want to do." Her grin faded when she saw Rogue wasn't brightening any. She quickly added: "Hey, don't worry, there won't be any catch this time, it will be just you and me, as in "me, Betsy, model and telepath extrordinaire", and not "me, Betsy, evil shapeshifter", ok?"
Rogue took a deep breath. She had felt confident enough to tell her most of the past events within a couple of days. It's not as if Betsy couldn't have learned it otherwise, most of the students had been there anyway, and they were still talking about it often enough, but she had had this urge to have her understand what had happened, not just hear about it through some second-hand memories. She wanted to believe that, this time, she had been right in trusting her.
"I wasn't even remotely thinking about that. But you don't seem to get the point. You're not living alone anymore. You're in a mansion full of mutants, with the most powerfull telepath and the most stubbornly nonindulgent teacher in the world."
"I'm not too worried about the Professor's reaction."
"Me neither. But if Logan discovers that we went clubbing the night before school, we'll be in for an epic lecture. And an epic detention. And when I say if, I mean when, 'cause there's no way in hell he's not gonna know."
"Why would he know? It's not as if we were gonna tell him, right? "
Rogue rolled her eyes. "Betsy, it's Logan we're talking about. Just wait to go through his classes for a couple of weeks, and you'll understand."
"Please, we'll be out a couple of hours….ok, maybe three, top. We take your motocycle, we can be back before one. Nobody will have to know we ever left. We'll be there if he decides to do his round in the middle of the night. Please, pretty please?"
Rogue let out a sigh. It wasn't as if she didn't want out herself, or as if she was a big sticker to rules either. "Alright, alright. But we are back before one, and we'll have to be extra-careful not to wake anyone, so no drinking either."
Elizabeth said with a shocked expression: "You're not serious, luv? How can you ever think about going out without pouring yourself a few drinks? But-but that's the whole point of going out!"
"It's my conditions, or you're going on your own….and on foot."
The british girl harrumphed: "Ok, you won. Before one, and no drink. Happy?"
Rogue went to retrieve two helmets and threw one at her friend, before heading for her motocycle, Betsy in tow.
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The soft wind continued to blow in the new-born leaves, for a long while the only sound in the still of another fresh night in Westchester.
Remy stood on the wall, nearby the entrance of the mansion. That mansion, that was at the same time a blessing and a curse. Now there was no way he could steal the delicious collection of portraits he's seen in the magnificent property down the road, Professor Xavier would know and, since he couldn't count as a student anymore, would probably be kicked out.
And there were a lot of reasons why he wouldn't like that. With the Acolytes, he had felt more isolated than during all the time he had wandered on his own after leaving the Guild. It's not that he exactly blent into the mansion's life: too old to be a student, but not close to any of the adult, and especially not to Logan, who kept growling at him every time he'd see him, and although he had not be given any lesson in that department, he was quite positive those weren't welcoming growls at all. But there was at least companionship, the feeling that as a part of the team, the others would look out for him out of their own free will, and not because they had been forced into it.
He should know the difference: after all, Magneto hadn't recruited his team lightly. He had made sure he had a good way to make pressure when they weren't willing to submit to one or another order. He didn't even want to think about what Magneto had told him once, to make sure he would cooperate. But he also knew the weight had been far heavier on Colossus. He understood why Magneto did it, he understood the need that drove him to use such ways with people, but still: putting someone's sister and mother at stake?
He was suddenly distracted from his musing by a not-so-subtle giggle. He looked down: as they passed under the lights that borded the narrow path that led to the mansion, he recognized Elizabetth and Rogue. Betsy, as they had all come to name her, had visibly had quite her share of alcohol for the rest of the month at least and Rogue, walking by her motocycle, didn't look too happy about it. Nope, she didn't look too happy at all. He could hear her trying to hush her friend, to no avail.
Suddenly, she totally stopped, as still as a statue, but obviously with all her senses in alert. He stood there, not willing to move either, content to just drink in the sight. Betsy was a beautiful woman, even when she looked downright drunk. But there was something about Rogue, although he couldn't place his finger on what. She wasn't as strickingly beautiful as the girl beside her, at least not with her constant white mask ans the clothes she kept wearing. But he would bet that take all that away and let her be more aware of her feminity, and no man in his right mind would resist her. Of that he was sure. And till now, he's never been proven wrong in the whole seduction department. Hey, he didn't have a reputation for nothing….
He wondered what had her in such a state. He hadn't moved at all from the wall so that couldn't be it. Slowly but with no hesitation, and without turning her head, she griped Betsy's wrist and guided it to the grip of the motocycle. Only then did she turned her head and muttered something to the other girl, gesturing to her to stay there. Somehow, she must have found the right tone or the right words to reach Betsy's fogged counsciousness, for her giggling subdued immediately.
This is when he heard it, the soft noise in the leaves, very close to him. But this time, it couldn't be the wind. Rogue was in such a stance, as if she was ready to bolt any minute, or to attack whatever was responsible for the noise. When she was in battle mode, she exhulted a peculiar sort of feline grace, as well as power. She wasn't impressively built, but you could tell that power beat strongly inside. If he hadn't known any better, he'd say Logan had wanted to coin her into the perfect weapon. He silently thanked whatever god there might be that the man wasn't a telepath, or he would have gutted him for good just for thinking such a thing, Rogue nonwithstanding. He had watched enough training sessions to know that his only intent was to make her able to defend herself in whatever situation, and rebuild some kind of confidence she had lost over the previous events, but certainly not to turn her into a kind of ace-in-the-hole. In fact, Remy was sure that if Logan had been given his impulses free reign, he would have locked her away to make sure she wouldn't have to face any of this, ever.
"You, get down, show yourself!"
Damn, she had been so quick that he hadn't seen, or even heard, her coming. And now she was just a few feet away, looking in his direction. There was no way she could have recognized him, but she had pegged him right were he was with her stare. Ok, maybe Logan is trying to turn her into a perfect weapon. Too bad he can't see that, he would be very proud of her; I know I would.And with that, he let himself fall from his pedestal to end up a couple of feet from her. She was reading herdelf to deal the first blow, when she suddenly recognized her opponent.
"God, Remy, what are you doing here?"
"Remy could ask you the same question, chere."
"Well, I wasn't the one doing a little spying here!" Now that he was close, he could study her face. She looked more than a little upset. Allright, even with her make-up, she can be beautiful too.
His silence seemed to infuriate her even further, and she was about to add something, when they both heared it at the same time, and both directed their eyes on the left. The soft noise of leaves in the nearby bush. They cautiously turned to face each other again. Understanding passed between them, and as one, they run towards the shadows.