Disclaimer: None of the mutants belong to me. Anything familiar you read below is most probably not mine either.
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A/N:
In case anyone noticed, I've been blending in elements from the comics, from Evo, and from the movie in this fic. Hope you don't mind. =)
* Chapter 15*
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A casual observer wouldn't have seen anything but a blur of red and black. He was so fast that he was almost invisible. No one would notice his arrival if not for the rumbling hum the powerful machine emitted.
But it doesn't matter if he could be seen. It doesn't matter if he could be heard.
For there was no one to witness his plight.
Save for three hovering helicopters nearby.
He was a hunter.
He was born that way, gifted with the advanced sensory organs that only the most powerful predators possess.
He was trained that way, both my men, by machines, by nature, and by himself.
He had lived that way, for as long as he can remember.
He was a hunter. His memories may be taken away from him, his past may be murky, his intentions may be questioned, but he will always be a hunter.
Not the hunted.
With a feral growl, he easily dodged the volley of bullets that one of the helicopters above fired.
Never the hunted.
Without warning, he veered his motorcycle to fishtail. He was now facing the helicopters.
Claws shot out both of his hand, as if in challenge to the huge machines. His sharp eyes made out the insignia painted on one of the choppers.
Either they were getting soft, or they were out to get him alive.
Those guys were never supposed to miss.
Slowly, one of the choppers descended.
And out stepped a man.
"Patch."
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Remy's eyes narrowed into intimidating slits as he discretely watched his surroundings. His eyes were made more intimidating by the fact that his image-inducer, which was on the fritz, was not turned on. However, it was hidden behind his dark-colored glasses.
"Hey, Rem." A honeyed voice greeted him as a pretty brunette plopped down his table. "Nice day to eat outside, huh?"
Remy tore his attention away from what had beholden his attention to turn to the girl. "Amber, right, chere?"
The girl beamed and nodded enthusiastically. She then turned to what Remy was previously staring at. Ugh. "They should be banned from attending school forever." She grumbled as she took out a brown paper bag, which contained her lunch, from her bag.
"Who?"
Amber gestured towards where Rogue was standing a few meters away. She was with the new senior who was becoming notoriously known in the school for his fiery hair and close-to-insane personality. There was a betting pool as to whether or not he was a mutant too.
The guy was in the middle of telling a story, using both words and exaggerated hand gestures. Rogue's laughter carried to their table seconds later.
"Those mutant freaks." Amber said with a dramatic sigh. "Rogue never told you she was a mutant, huh? And I just bet that the guy with her's a mutant too."
Remy, who was not in the best of moods to begin with, came up with a decision. "Care to reconsider your statement, chere?" He asked as he slowly pulled down his glasses.
Amber gasped. "You—" she stuttered. "You're—"
"A mutant freak." He confirmed as he slipped the glasses back on.
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"I can't believe you did that in Mr. McCoy's class!" Rogue said as her laughter quieted abated a bit. "On your first day too!" The furry blue mutant had revealed himself to be one immediately after Magneto's revelation, apparently to counteract the fast-growing reputations of mutants to be evil megalomaniacs. Raven Darkholme had no choice but to allow him to return to Bayville, not wanting to set a precedent for mutant discrimination.
"Rogue!" Kurt ported between Rogue and St. John, unmindful of watchful eyes. "I need to talk to you!"
"Well, sheila, it's been nice talking to you!" St. John cheerfully said as he waved good bye to her. He playfully ruffled Kurt's fur under his hologram.
"Ack! I have a date tonight!" Kurt protested as he struggled out of the red-head's reach.
"Tonight?" Rogue asked as after John walked away. "Don't we have training tonight?"
"That's what I want to talk to you about." He sighed dejectedly. "Can you cover for me tonight? You see, Amanda's been feeling neglected lately and—"
"So you're going to miss practice just for her?" Her eyes had narrowed into slits.
"What do you mean 'just for her?'" Kurt frowned. "She's my girlfriend!"
"I know that."
"So why the tone?"
"What tone?"
"The tone that said that she isn't worth missing practice for," Kurt replied. "You didn't mind me missing practice in the past, schwester. In fact, you used to cover for me all the time. What's the difference now?"
"Nothing."
Kurt was quiet for a moment. "And lately, Amanda was saying that you've been avoiding her. I told her that's just silly, but now, I'm beginning to wonder."
"I don't have anything against her." Rogue crossed her arms defiantly. "It's just that lately you've been slacking off in practice."
Kurt crossed his arms too. "And lately you've been addicted to them." He peered at his sister closely. "Tell me, schwester, how many people have you absorbed since yesterday?"
"One." Came the quick reply.
Kurt raised disbelieving eyebrows.
"Alright, two."
Kurt wiggled his eyebrows.
"Fine. Three. Mastermind, Shadowcat, and some army guy." Rogue uncrossed her arms but placed them at her waist. "And I'm not addicted. It's just that I feel that I'm so close to controlling my powers now."
"Why the urgency?"
"Kurt!" Rogue threw her hands upwards. "You of all people should know that I always wanted to control my powers!"
"Right. And why are you acting all obsessed all of a sudden? What changed?"
"Nothing!"
"And does this nothing talk with a Cajun accent?" He smirked.
"No way!"
"So why is my schwester sneaking glances to the lunch table over there?" Kurt gave a victorious grin as he gestured to the table where the Cajun in question was eating lunch with one of the cheerleaders.
"I have not!" She protested, turning red.
Kurt dropped the grin and sighed when he saw the cheerleader lean over and touch Gambit's bare arm. For once, the infuriating Cajun was without his brown duster. "Be careful with him, Rogue. I don't think he's one of those faithful ones, ja? But at least, he's an improvement over the torch you held for Herr Summers." He said seriously, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away.
Rogue's jaw dropped open. "I'm not—" she choked out. "He's not—" she tried again. "But—" she turned more and more reddish. "Argh!" She threw up her hands in confusion. "Stop turning the tables, Kurt!" She cried out. "This is about you and your missing training, not about me and my non-existent love life!"
"I know. So you'll cover for me, ja?" Without waiting for an answer, he ported off.
"Argh!" Rogue groaned. "Kid brothers!"
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Amber leaned forward, as if to get a closer look, but Remy had already covered his eyes with the glasses. "Wow." She breathed. Far from being repulsed, Amber actually felt more turned on. His eyes…Red on black…Sinfully beautiful…
But those eyes have turned away from her and went back to the woman with the two-toned hair.
Remy visibly relaxed when he saw that carrot-top was no longer with Rogue. Instead, Rogue was now walking to her brother.
A hand touched his bare arm which was on the tabletop. "Remy," a breathy voice interrupted Remy's reverie. "Your eyes," Amber smiled as sexily as she could. "They're like," she paused for dramatic effect. "Wow."
Remy frowned. "Don't think I'm a mutant freak?" He bit out.
Amber shook her head. "It's very seductive."
Remy gave a grin that melted Amber's bones. "Thanks, chere." He leaned over until his mouth was hovering near her ear. "See you later." With that, Remy stood up in disgust and walked away.
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"Ah, Logan, it's nice to see you again." A middle aged man with a patch over his eye bravely walked forward to meet the half-man, half-beast before him.
"What do you want, bub? I ain't in the mood for a tea party so better make it quick." Wolverine growled out even as he retracted his claws.
"We need answers." The man known in elite espionage circles as Nick Fury, cut to the chaste, knowing Logan's impatience well enough. "There was a break-in in the SHEILD headquarters last night."
"You must be getting soft in your old age, Patch." Logan snorted.
Fury grinned at Logan's affinity for nicknames, but he immediately lost his smile. "Either that or we're up against someone very, very good."
Logan's interest was stirred, as Fury knew it would.
"Left no trace. No nothing. If not for the erased files on known mutants—"
Logan growled. "You were keeping files on known mutants?"
"Not my idea, Logan." Fury said, unconcerned by the rage that suddenly burned in his companion's eyes. "But yes, we have been keeping files on mutants. Just some act of self-preservation. They'd rather know what we're up against."
Logan had a lot of objection to that, but he held his tongue, and his temper, and motioned for Fury to continue.
"If not for the deleted files, we never would have known that there was a break-in."
"Inside job?"
Fury shook his head. "One of the perimeter cameras shorted out around midnight last night. Sometimes that happens so we didn't think much of it. The walls surrounding the base were wired with electricity. The inside's peppered with motion detectors, not to mention traps. There were guards every where, would've seen if someone flew in. Nobody saw, heard, or suspected a thing. We're thinking whoever broke in is either an extraordinary genius or most probably—"
"A mutant." Logan finished. "One that's quiet as a ghost."
"One with extraordinary hacking abilities. Our computer system's no lightweight either." Fury said. "We can check our files but, you know."
"Yeah. Your security screwed up."
"Can you think of someone who's talented enough to pull the job off?"
Logan dug into his pockets and came up with two cigars. "I can actually think of four." He offered one to the man before him.
"Want to know something, Logan?" Fury asked.
Logan shrugged.
"I was inside the computer lab all night." He confessed. "Didn't see a thing."
Logan gave a quiet growl. "You just narrowed my choices down to two."
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"'Allo, chere," Remy bowed down with a dramatic flourish, captured Rogue's gloved hand when he came up, and kissed her knuckles.
"Knock it off, LeBeau." Rogue rolled her eyes at the Cajun's theatrics as she pushed him off and strode away. "Not in the mood,"
"Well, chere," Remy grabbed her arm and spun her around so that they were once again face to face. He gave her an infuriating smirk. "What are you in the mood for?"
Rogue refused to acknowledge the Goosebumps that struck her flesh when she heard Remy's playfully suggestive tone. "Not for you, that's for sure,"
"Really? Then please explain to Remy why his chere kept sneaking glances at him while he's eating lunch?"
Rogue's mouth fell open.
Remy grinned as he gently maneuvered Rogue into a bench that was just vacated. "Remy's going back to the Big Easy soon, chere." He said, suddenly serious.
"What?" Rogue's eyes widened. "When?" She hated the slightly panicked tone in her voice but she couldn't help it.
And then she felt it, this unbelievable ache that tugged at the corners of her heart and slowly started spreading in her. There was this grief that threatened to overwhelm her. It was different from the grief that numbed her when Irene died, grief which she thought she had under her control.
Why would she feel pain because she was leaving? Was it because she would loose another one of her few friends? Or because of something else entirely?
Rogue gave herself a mental shake. Now is not the time or the place to analyze her feelings.
Gambit was no friend, that much she knew. What she felt for him is entirely different from what she felt for Pietro or Lance or any of the Brotherhood boys.
He was…He was a distraction. A smooth-talking, deviously charming distraction, but a distraction nonetheless.
"Soon." He replied as he studied her face intently.
"I heard ya the first time, Cajun." Rogue bit back a frustrated groan. "How soon is soon?"
Right. That what he was. An annoying, insane distraction.
The reason she was sad (she now refused to acknowledge it as grief) was because she would lose a source of entertainment. Yeah. That was it.
"Mebbe a few days," he gave a non-comitial shrug.
"Oh." Rogue leaned back, away from the Swamp Rat in front of her. "I see."
"Have anything to say?" He pressed, almost pleaded.
"Yeah." Rogue turned to him, her face serious. "Don't call me chere." Giving his chest a hard shove, Rogue stood up and stomped away.
Leaving Remy on the bench, a smirk on his face, shaking his head.
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"Gumbo!" Wolverine growled out as he stalked into the Institute.
"Like, hello to you too." Kitty waved at him with a roll of her eyes. Typical Mr. Logan. He was out for two days and he just lumbers right in without so much as a proper hello. Kitty continued her quest to the rec room. "Remy's in the kitchen. He's the designated cook."
"Hold it, Half-Pint."
Kitty turned to look at him expectantly.
"Have you been against the Brotherhood lately?"
"Not since we tried to recruit Todd." Kitty's forehead bunched up in concentration. "Thankfully the Brotherhood got to him first. I mean, can you just imagine Todd being here? Ew! And what he did to Scott! That was truly disgusting!" She turned and frowned when she saw her companion gone. "Mr. Logan? Hey, Mr. Logan!"
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Remy stirred his concoction and was just covering the pot to simmer when Wolverine stalked in muttering about being attacked by a pack of rabid Sabertooths and teenagers who wouldn't shut up.
"Gumbo," Wolverine suddenly turned to him.
"'Allo, Monsieur Wolverine," Jaime, who was seated on the counter, swinging his legs about.
"Scram." Wolverine dismissed the boy.
"But I'm watching Remy cook!" He protested.
"That be alright, petit. It's almost done anyway. And it's time for Spongebob, non?"
"OK." Jaime jumped down and raced off.
"Last night, a top secret government agency got infiltrated, was it you?" Wolverine demanded the moment Jaime was out of earshot.
"You mean the break-in inside SHEILD HQ?" Remy asked.
Logan growled.
"Sadly no. Remy heard about it through his contracts. though." Remy gave him a grin. "Heard about it though. And Remy's network had been going into triple overtime trying to figure out who it is. Remy's been planning on hitting the place, just for fun, but didn't get around to actually doing it. Someone beat him to it, then."
"You mean it's wholly possible to infiltrate the place?"
"Homme, nothing is impossible, henh?"
"So it wasn't you?"
"As much as it pains Remy to admit it, but no, it wasn't Remy."
"Your guild then?"
Remy wasn't surprised that Logan knew about his guild, just as Logan wasn't that surprised that the teen thief had already heard about the break-in. The Cajun had a hunch that the man before him had been around longer than the guilds itself, and would probably last way after the guilds. And he also knew about the man's honor. His secrets were safe, even from the prying mind of Charles Xavier.
"Non. That's why they want to send Remy home and figure it out. The guild's threatened. Don't be surprised if in a few days rumors would circulate that we did it. After all, we have an image to protect."
"Why aren't you worried?"
Remy gave a careless shrug. "There's no such thing as a perfect crime. The way Remy figures it, it's either a well-covered up inside-job or a rumor that SHEILD agents themselves circulated."
"It ain't." Wolverine said surely, leaving no room for discussion.
Remy also knew better than to question Wolverine or his sources. A frown crossed the younger man's face. "But who could pull this off?"
"Since you didn't do it that leaves me with just one person,"
Remy was flattered by the confidence that the X-Men instructor had in him. But his curiosity quickly enveloped the warm feeling inside him. "Who, then, homme?"
"Rogue."
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~tbc
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P.S.
See ya'll next chap!
So now I hope Rogue's mission was clear! Sorry to those I confused last chapter! =) When I was writing my replies to reviews, I haven't finished writing the story yet, and I thought I could explain it there. But I got all lazy and stuff and failed to write it in, unfortunately, I forgot to edit the reviews. Sorry. And speaking of reviews…
Caliente, I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of your fic/s. And I hope you get unblocked, that's no fun at all. And to make up for the void the lack of Romyness left last chap, I tried to write in Romy mush, just for you! And what's this I hear about you not being a Lancitty fan? =) Fortunately (or unfortunately), I am one. And when I reread last chap, I had this feeling that my version of Lance is turning into Scott. Yikes. Better do something about it stat!
Blink182dbzluver, yeah! I live to rock readers' worlds! Or something like that. =)
Ishandahalf, no! this wouldn't be a full-pledged Romy without the review of the queen of Romyness herself! Ok, I promise, the next time you come out with a story, I'll leave a nice, long review (and yes, this is my sneaky way of persuading you to resume your writing career).
Carla-p, once again, you made my day! Yey! Five consecutive reviews makes a girl feel special. Thanks for the constant shower of compliments, it definitely got my butt into gear.
Bad-girl4, Insanity's good, right? I mean, who is sane nowadays? Definitely not me!
Rogue4787, thanks for putting my mind at ease with the way I wrote Johnny Baby. He's not in this chap too much because I still have to tweak his character a bit. I mean, all he did in Evo was laugh and play with fire, at least, in the episodes I watched. I think that's all he did in the Uncanny X-Men animation too. Can't remember. Evo Pyro is nothing like movie Pyro. And I can't recall reading a comic with Pyro in it. I lead a sheltered life. Any suggestions?
Star-of-Chaos, another pyro fan! Let the pyromania begin! Maybe in next chapter? =) thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm thinking of giving him a bigger role, since a lot of people seem to like him a lot, but it would majorly deviate from my usual plans. But I'll see if I can fix it and stuff.