"Focus! I know you can do this." Xavier encouraged her.
"Ah feel stupid." She retorted after failing for the thirteenth time at trying to teleport. She felt all she was doing was screwing her eyes shut and standing there.
"Perhaps we should try a different power." Xavier gestured to a feather on the floor. "Try to lift it with your mind."
"Okay." she agreed, trying with all her might to find Jean's psyche and focus her telekinesis on the feather.
"Whoa chere, what did de feather ever do to you?" Gambit sauntered in, bringing Rogue out of her focus making her realize she was only glaring at the feather like it was the enemy.
"Damnit, swamp rat Ah'm tryin' to concentrate." He smirked.
"Maybe you should ask the x-men how dey use their power before trying to use dem, non?" Xavier nodded.
"I agree Rogue, it may be better if you trained with those you have absorbed. Meet back here tomorrow at this time, you can work with Jean." With that he left. Rogue glared hard at Remy.
"Great, now ah have to spend an hour with Jean. Thanks a lot." She turned and started to walk out.
"What you got against her anyways, chere?" Remy questioned. Rogue turned around and opened her mouth to reply, then realizing she didn't know, shut it again. Finally she answered. "Ah don't know okay! Ah just do. Bad vibes or somethin'."
"I believe you, but," Remy smirked, "try to be nice, or at least as nice as a rogue can be." Rogue smirked back.
"Alraght, but only 'cause you asked meh to, Cajun." Together they walked out.
Rogue walked groggily into the danger room. Who the hell came up with the idea to have danger room sessions at five in the morning? Rogue cursed silently as the doors slid open to reveal Jean Grey, perky as ever ready to go with a damned smile on her face. Rogue scowled back.
"Good morning to you too Rogue. I think we should start with telekinesis, It's much easier than telepathy." Rogue nodded. Using her own telekinesis, Jean floated over some feathers. Show off Rogue thought bitterly. Jean frowned, she probably heard her thoughts but didn't mention it. Instead, she described her powers.
"Okay, what you need to do is look at the object and concentrate very hard on what you want it to do. Then, you-" Jean paused.
"What?" "I'm not sure, it just comes so naturally I don't know how to explain it. Hold on." Jean moved the feather, concentrating on how she did it. After several attempts, she answered, "Ummm, you reach out with your mind, and will it to do what you want." "Real helpful," Rogue drawled. Jean sighed.
"Just try, all it takes is focus." Rogue nodded and gave it a try.
She concentrated hard on levitating the feather as she searched deep in her mind for Jean's Psyche, willing it to work. The feather quivered slightly.
"You're doing it!" Jean whispered, excited. Over the next three hours they worked on Jean's powers but Rogue couldn't get the feather to do any more than that. "I think we should stop now." Jean commented, sounding slightly disappointed. "How about we meet here again at the same time tomorrow?" "Ah'd rather try anothah power." Rogue answered shortly. Jean looked a bit hurt but nodded. That may be a good idea. How about kitty since you already used her power?" Rogue nodded, relieved to have a session with her only friend, besides Remy.
At the moment, the Cajun was sitting contentedly on the roof of the mansion. A slight breeze tugged at his already messy hair and a long drag from his cigarette eased his thoughts. He loved the view from the roof and found it was his favorite place to come and think. For a moment his thoughts went to Rogue. He considered her to be one of the best things that ever happened to him. Not only because she was a mutant who comforted him on the lonely streets of mutant haters, before they joined the x-men, but he found himself falling for her as he had never fallen for anyone before. It used to only be the sex he sought in women, but with her powers, that was impossible, and he found it didn't bother him at all.
Slowly the sun set, bathing the sky in orange and pink until it faded to nothingness. His red on black eyes gave him the ability to see better in the dark than the others and on impulse, he decided he would go out tonight, by himself, and haunt the rooftops as he used to, putting all his precise skill to the test. Expertly he leapt off, landing in a nearby tree with agility a cat could be jealous of. Then dropping silently to his feet, he slipped into the shadows and snuck, unseen, of the property. Not because they wouldn't have allowed him to leave, in fact, the professor had made a point to tell Remy to be as free as he liked, within reason, it was simply because he could, and he never wanted to forget the skills he prided himself to own.
The New York lights glowed in the distance but for the time being, Remy chose a slightly quieter part of town. Dark was the way he liked it. He made his way to the rooftops and reveled in the adrenaline rush as he leapt, flipped and spun around the high shadows like some vigilante seeking shelter in the dark where no one could find him. When he had his fun, the Cajun went to an empty park and sat on a bench. It was almost midnight now.
"Hello Remy," He spun around instantly. A tall figure stood several feet away.
"Who are you?" Remy wondered why he didn't sense the strangers presence through his empathy, then realized the man had a weird helmet on his head. He assumed it was what kept him from feeling him.
"My name is Magneto and I have a proposition for you." Remy's eyes burned brightly then narrowed into slits with suspicion. "I ain't interested." Suddenly, out of the shadows the woman called Mystique stepped out, a tightly bound figure in her arms. Remy stared in disbelief.
"Henri?!" His brother looked at him pleadingly from above his gag.
"If you don't do as we say, we will kill him." Magneto said icily.
"What do y' want wit me?" Remy said through gritted teeth. Mystique laughed mercilessly.
"Vain as always." She chided. "I thought you figured it out by now. It's not about you, it never was." Remy's eyes widened as the realization dawned on him.
". . .Rogue. . ."
"That's right. And since you already messed things up, she doesn't trust me." Mystique scowled, then smiled evilly again. "But she trusts you. You will bring her to us."
"What makes y' t'ink dat?" Remy asked, looking uneasily at his brother, knowing the answer. Magneto pulled out a knife and with his mutation to control metal, floated the weapon to Henri and left it at his throat. Henri let out a muffled groan as the knife slightly pierced the flesh.
"Stop!" Remy yelled. Magneto walked over to him and slipped a piece of paper into Remy's hand. It was an address to an abandoned warehouse.
"Bring Rogue to this address by noon tomorrow or Henri dies. You know where it is?" Remy nodded, then charged the slip of paper and let it disintegrate in his hands.
"My group is called the Acolytes. You and Rogue will join tomorrow. No mention of what happened here tonight, she has to think you want to join and she will too." Magneto spoke.
"She'll never go for it" Remy said.
"She will. I know how she can control her powers, and not just the ones she has stolen, the absorption ones too. Tell her that."
"I don't believe you."
"Personally I don't care what you do or do not believe, the point is: it is true, we need her on our side, and if you don't do what we ask, your brother will die." Magneto replied coldly. With nothing more to say, Remy turned on his heel and started walking away.
"Remember Cajun," Mystique called after him, "noon tomorrow or your brother dies." Another muffled groan from Henri finalized the statement and Remy slipped again into the shadows, no longer finding joy in it.
Yay I updated! Sorry for the long wait.
Also just to let you know, this story is going to be over probably within the next three or four chapters but think of it as more of a prologue story because I have many more ideas but they will be incorporated into sequels.
Thank you to all who reviewed my story!! You make me feel very special.
Star-of chaos- Not quite but maybe soon ;)
Blondesquirrel-You can borrow him after me heehee
Pink Panther 69-ok ok I updated are you proud of me? Now it's your turn to update.
RikaTabithaStarr, enchantedlight - Thank you very very much for reviewing : )
See ya at 11
Mystic