Disclaimer: None of the mutants belong to me. Anything familiar you read below is most probably not mine either.
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Thanks to those who reviewed the previous chap! I appreciate it. =) but since I've got school tomorrow, I can't answer them all. But rest assured that I read and treasure them all.
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Chapter 6*
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Veronica Thibault shifted restless in her airplane seat. Sure, seats in the first class were comfortable and spacey, but flying commercial just weren't her thing.
"What's the matter, chere?" Her husband, Jacques, queried softly as he wrapped a possessive arm around her shoulders.
"Ever heard of personal space, sugah?" Came the dry reply.
The stewardess watched in amusement as the young couple, who was obviously having a lover's tiff, interacted with each other. The handsome man was obviously sorry for whatever it was that angered his young wife, as he was doing everything he can to charm his way into forgiveness. But the pretty wife was obviously not in a forgiving mood. She hadn't so much as said a word to her husband since the two of them stepped into the plane.
"Can I get you anything?" The stewardess queried softly. And her breath got stuck in her throat when the husband turned to look at her with an amused look on his face.
"That's alright, petite," he told her lazily as he once again attempted to bring his wife into the circle of his arms. "Me and my wife be fine,"
The stewardess blushed and nodded, and began to walk away from the couple. But she couldn't help but steal glances at the man as she moved away. She wondered how the woman could resist someone as beautiful as he obviously was.
"Le Beau, for the love of—"
"Shh," Remy grinned. "The name's Jacques,"
"Whatever your name is!" Rogue snapped as she glared at him. The first ten minutes of his constant flirting with her was amusing. But an hour into the flight, he's now making Rogue nervous with his insistence on physical contact. Right now, the last thing she needed in her tired mind was perverted Cajun thoughts. "Keep your hands to yourself!"
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"I'm going to kill that Cajun," Scott muttered for the thousandth time since the plane began its ascent.
"Take a number, Shades," Pietro grumbled as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The space was too narrow for him to stretch his legs, the service was poor, and the worst thing was, Holier-Than-Thou-Summers was sitting right next to him. "I don't travel economy," he continued in such a fast pace that Scott almost didn't understand him. "Wait 'til my father finds out about this."
"Alvers!" Scott snapped as he turned in his seat when Lance kicked the back of his chair for the tenth time.
"Sorry," Lance shrugged as he rolled his eyes. "Too cramped." He shrugged.
"I can't see why Daniels get to go to business class with Kitty, Jean, and the Scarlet Witch." Bobby complained from his seat beside Lance. "And Remy gets to go first class with Rogue!"
"Well, he did buy the tickets," Lance shrugged uncaringly. Before the Brotherhood, he was used to things like this so it didn't really bother him that much. Actually, he was taking advantage of the opportunity to drive Summers to the brink with little things like kicking the back of his chair and complaining loudly with the rest of the guys (thus humiliating Summers). Economy was not really very comfortable but if it meant he could torture Summers, then he'll take it over first class at any day. "And Pietro, would you rather be riding with your sister?"
Pietro paled at that, but that didn't stop him from his personal tirade against Gambit. "He better not be doing anything to Roguey," Pietro muttered.
"Rogue can take care of herself," Lance declared confidently. "I'd like to see him actually try something,"
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"Oh, don't you make a cute couple,"
"Merci, mademoiselle," Remy bowed grandly.
The elderly woman giggled before walking away, sneaking glances at the charming Cajun.
Rogue rolled her eyes and fought the urge to run far, far away. She tapped her foot impatiently. "What's taking them so long?" She grumbled as she looked around the almost-deserted airport. When they had changed planes (to a much smaller one) about five countries back, she noticed that the plane was almost empty. In fact, the only people in first class were her and Remy (much to her chagrin and the latter's delight).
"Patience, ma sweet." Remy told her with a grin, attempting to once again place his arms around her.
Rogue growled and muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath.
Remy laughed at that. "You know you look real pretty when you're all mad like that,"
Rogue couldn't help but smirk. It seems that nothing short of the end of the world would unruffled the young Cajun thief. "You never miss an opportunity, don't ya?"
Remy placed an arm around Rogue. "It's part of being a thief, cher. You take advantage of every chance you get."
"How nice," Rogue snorted.
"Rogue."
The cool, bored voice brought Rogue back from her musings. She whirled around and almost fainted with relief when she saw the familiar figure of Wanda walking towards them.
"Thank God," Rogue muttered as she shouldered her duffel bag.
"Let me," Remy offered as he tried to rid Rogue of her load. But at Rogue's malicious glare, he backed off. "Or mebbe not," he shrugged as he followed Rogue towards Wanda.
Behind Wanda were Jean, Kitty, and Evan, the last of whom was struggling with the amount of luggage he was carrying. The two X-Women were suspiciously free of any bags.
"What took you?" Rogue demanded when she and Wanda were face-to-face.
Wanda motioned behind her. "Got a little luggage problem," she rolled her eyes at the X-People behind her.
"Yeah," Kitty chirped. "Like, Evan was so sweet to offer to carry our bags,"
"Believe me, man," Evan whispered to Remy. "I didn't offer,"
A gust of wind suddenly manifested in their midst.
"About time," Rogue muttered.
"Hey, Roguey, missed me?" Pietro asked with a smirk.
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Scott opened the door leading to the scrap yard. The night had already fallen and they decided it was high-time that they set their plans in motion. But first, Rogue needed to get her hands on some things.
"Thank ya," Rogue grinned at him as she stepped into the junk yard. For the thousandth time, she thanked her lucky stars that Gambit didn't get to accompany her to the place, but not due to his lack of trying. Spending the whole day in an airplane with him was enough to drive her up the wall.
Scott looked around, alert.
Rogue stretched out her arms outwards and slowly, her feet lifted from the ground. With her, large scraps of metal began to separate themselves from the mountains of junk. Soon, Rogue was in the sky along with five metal orbs.
One of the orbs descended in front of Scott. It opened slowly.
"Your carriage awaits," Rogue called out to him.
Scott gulped. It's now or never. It's time to put his trust in a member of the Brotherhood. He entered the orb. And as the orb closed, he reminded himself that he was doing this for the Professor.
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"Alright, if anyone of you is claustrophobic, speak now while it's not yet too late to go after the boat," Rogue said as she looked at the boat that carried most her teammates. It had just departed.
"Well, mebbe if the femme would keep Remy company," Remy started as he began to reach for Rogue.
"Gambit, don't make the idea of dropping your orb into the middle of the Pacific Ocean more desirable than it already is," Rogue told him.
"Merde." Remy grinned unrepentantly. "That hurts, chere."
"Alright. Enough." Scott said. "Let's do this,"
Rogue nodded as one by one, the orbs opened.
Scott was the first to enter into one.
Jean watched as her leader was cocooned into the orb. She bit back a sigh. She realized that there was no way out the orb if Rogue decided to double-cross them. Putting Kitty on the other team was a gamble. But it was a gamble she was willing to take. She stepped in the orb.
Remy did the same.
"Alright, Roguey, time to throw them into the sea." Pietro told her as he zipped by.
Hey! Scott telepathically projected. During the course of the trip, the five of them agreed that Jean would link them telepathically for communication.
"Alright, Pietro," Rogue spoke as if she was talking to a small child.
Pietro frowned. He hated traveling through the orb. It was confining, and a speed demon like him needed a lot of space to run free. He was not meant to stay cooped up in small spaces for too long.
"It's just for a couple of hours," Rogue told him softly.
"I'll be fine, Roguey," Pietro nodded determinedly as he finally stepped into an orb.
Rogue grinned. She took out a map from her back pocket and looked at it for the final time. "Let's get this show on the road," she muttered as she stepped into her own orb and slipped the map back into her pocket.
Then, five metal spheres rose into the sky.
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Lance checked his watch for the tenth time in the last two minutes. By now, Blue Team would've finished the first leg of their trip. While they're still drifting in the middle of nowhere. He mentally willed for their boat to go faster.
"Lance?" Kitty wandered into the deck where Lance was. She looked around. She could see nothing in the distance except darkness. And water. It was depressing. She just hoped that things will look better in the morning.
Lance turned to look at her. "Kitty? Why are you still up?" He frowned.
"Can't sleep," she admitted. "How about you?"
Lance shrugged. "Just thinking,"
Kitty walked up to Lance and placed her hand on the railing in front of her. She looked out, trying to look for a piece of land, a fish in the water, something, anything aside for the vast expanse of ocean. "The Brotherhood means a lot to you, huh?"
"Yeah,"
Kitty sighed. "I wish they'd be OK."
"They would be," Lance told her confidently. "Have faith in your teammates,"
Kitty nodded. "You're right."
Lance gave her a smile. "Of course I am." He said arrogantly.
Kitty smiled back and in that moment, Lance felt the peace that had been evading him since they found out about Irene's disappearance. It was then that he knew that everything was going to be fine. For he would do everything in his power to make her smile like that at him again.
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Pietro's and Remy's spheres made it safely to the ground when it opened. Scott and Jean weren't so lucky.
Rogue, realizing that her energy was all but spent a few miles from their destination, gritted her teeth and brought the team as far as she can. They had reached land before she gave in to her exhaustion. Fortunately, she had the presence of mind to open all five spheres before losing consciousness.
Jean quickly used her TK to lower herself, Scott, and their orbs safely to the ground.
"Roguey!" Pietro shouted out in worry as he calculated where Rogue would fall down and quickly zipped there to break Rogue's fall.
However, at the last second, Remy had shoved him off. Rogue fell into the waiting arms of the Cajun.
"Allo, ma sleeping belle," Remy grinned.
"Why you," Pietro glared malevolently at Gambit, but unwilling to do anything while Rogue was in the other man's arms.
"We made it," Jean sighed in relief.
"Yes, but just barely." Scott's mouth was set in a grim line. They were only half-way to their destination. Sure, they made it to the place where they agreed to spend the night, but he doubts was beginning to set in his mind. Would Rogue have the energy to take them all the way tomorrow?
"She'll pull through," Jean quietly told him, aware of the plague eating at him. "She's got as much riding on this as we do. And Rogue, she never strikes me as a quitter."
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"How are you feeling?"
Rogue groaned as she struggled to sit up. "Like a truck just hit me," she replied. "Where are we?"
"In the middle of nowhere, cher."
Rogue sighed as she opened her eyes. It was dark save for a small fire burning before her. Then, everything came crashing back. She sat up. "How long had I been out?"
"A couple of hours," came the reply. "It's about three in the morning. Save your strength, petite. You'll need it for the trip tomorrow."
"How about you?" Rogue asked, now fully awake. She couldn't see the Cajun's face, just his silhouette, but she can see the red of his eyes burning.
"It be Remy's turn to keep watch," he replied as he gestured to the three sleeping figures next to them.
"Oh." Rogue drew up her knees and hugged her legs. "You might as well get some sleep," she told him. "I'll take my turn,"
Remy smiled at her, though he knew she couldn't see him. But he could most definitely see her. "You need your sleep more than Remy does,"
Rogue made a face. "I know. But I always find it hard to fall back to sleep after waking up."
"Alright. If the femme doesn't want to sleep, then maybe she can keep Remy company,"
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Scott slowly woke up to the sound of sweet sound of birds chirping, of water happily flowing, and people quietly laughing.
"I can't believe you did that!" An indignant voice with drawled with a distinctive Southern accent. "That's disgusting, Cajun!"
"Remy knows that." Came the laughing reply. "But you try telling that to his cousin."
"Men are pigs!"
Scott slowly reached for his glasses and put it on before sitting up.
"Morning, Scott," came a cheerful drawl.
"Morning, Rogue," Scott greeted her as he looked around. The place was less depressing in the morning that it was last night. "Had a good sleep?"
"Yep." Rogue replied almost cheerfully.
A moan from one of the lumps nearby informed Scott that Jean was slowly waking.
"Made us breakfast," Remy offered as he indicated to the fish skewered by a thick piece of twig cooking on the fire.
"Got hungry earlier," Rogue explained. "So Remy caught fish from the stream nearby."
"So, you know call Gambit Remy, henh?" Remy smirked. "Maybe Remy can now call you Roguey."
"Nobody calls Roguey Roguey but me!" A quick voice protested. A quick swish of the wind made one stick of fish to disappear and the fire to die down.
"Good morning," a sweet voice called out.
"Morning, Jean," Scott grinned as Jean popped out of her sleeping bag.
"Something smells good," Jean said as she took in a breath of the aroma. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she didn't have anything to eat last night.
"You're in luck, mademoiselle." Remy told her with a dramatic flair. "Remy's taking care of the femmes this breakfast,"
And that made the alpha male in Scott and Pietro bristle. If Gambit was taking care of both ladies, then where does that leave the two of them?
"I'll get us something to drink!" Peitro immediately offered as he zipped off.
"And I'll look for a fruit or something," Scott mumbled as he began to wander off.
Remy grinned. "Ah. Remy and two belle femmes. Just the way he likes it."
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Scott! Something's wrong! Scott, who had been dozing lightly, bolted upright. Unfortunately, he was currently traveling via the silver orbs which severely limited his movements. His head hit the metal wall. "Jean?" He asked aloud, as he touched his injured head. Then he realized his mistake. He projected telepathically.
It's Rogue, some—"What the—" Scott frowned as he felt his telepathic communication with Jean suddenly cut off. Jean! Jean! What happened? Before he could do anything else, the orbs opened—in mid-flight.
"Everyone, get out of the orbs!" A voice distinctively Rogue's shouted.
"Rogue?" A dazed Pietro called out. Apparently, Scott's wasn't the only sphere that opened.
"Now!"
"Do what she says!" Scott heard Jean say.
At that, four mutants jumped from their spheres into the sea below.
Scott resurfaced first. "Jean?" He looked around, knowing that swimming isn't one of Jean's beast attributes.
A cough and a splatter. "She's right here, homme." Gambit said as helped Jean stay afloat.
"What on earth happened?" An angry Pietro demanded.
"Swim to shore!" Jean shouted indicating to the nearby island.
"Alright," Scott said as he took the lead.
They almost made it to the shore when they heard the metal orbs splashed down the sea.
Scott looked back. She saw Rogue descending to the sea with the last orb at a pretty fast rate. Then, as if in slow motion, he saw the orb hit Rogue's head, rendering her unconscious.
"Roguey!" Pietro screamed.
But it was the Cajun who reacted first. Making sure that Jean can now reach the shore on her own, he started swimming back to the orbs.
Pietro growled as he ran towards the sea, using his speed to walk on water.
"Maximoff, what are you doing?" Scott screamed as he saw Pietro sink in the water because he wasn't running fast enough.
"I'm trying my best here," Pietro grounded out in frustration.
"It's not his fault, Scott." Jean said quietly. "There's something wrong with us. Rogue lost her powers, that's why she had to let us out. I lost mine, too, I can't hear your thoughts anymore. Pietro lost his. And I'm willing to bet that you and Remy did too."
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~tbc