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:
I am a very bad person. Due to some events that I could've prevented, but didn't, I omitted two names in my answers to reviews last time I posted. I am so sorry. I only learned about it when I was checking the review board right before I posted this. My sincerest, deepest, most humblest apologies to Miss Poisonous and to Lady Starlight so kiss my ass. And to make up for my inadvertence I dedicate this chapter to you two. Hope you find it in your hearts to forgive me. =)
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To Miss Poisonous and to Lady Starlight.
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Chapter 16*
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"John!" Lance bellowed. "Get out of the kitchen and let Fred cook in peace!"
"But mate," John's muffled protest was followed by the sound of pots and cans crashing.
"Allerdyce!" Fred shouted threateningly.
"Sorry, mate." A sheepish John apologized. "Accident."
Lance bit back a groan as he dejectedly left the kitchen to the dining hall. "I don't know why I bother."
"Lighten up, Lance," Pietro grinned at him as he zipped towards the kitchen table where Rogue and Wanda were poring over a large piece of paper. "If you don't relax in the next five minutes, you'll turn into Summers."
Lance growled but didn't say anything.
"What's with him?" Pietro asked as he sat down beside Rogue and sneaked a peek at what Wanda and Rogue were looking at.
"His Pretty Kitty." Rogue replied absentmindedly.
Pietro snickered which earned another dark glare from their team leader. Pietro cleared his throat and valiantly attempted to change the subject before Lance could clobber him. "What's that?" Pietro asked as he tugged on the paper so that it'll be right before him.
"I'm giving you two seconds to give it back." Wanda let the implied threat hang in the air.
"Eep." Pietro gulped as he shoved the paper back.
Lance cleared his throat. "If some people pay half the attention they pay in rumors then they will know that this is a blueprint of the building they're constructing downtown."
Pietro made a face.
"Friends of Humanity my ass," Rogue muttered as she read the label that Mystique had scrawled at the bottom-right corner of the page.
"According to the army guy Rogue absorbed—" Lance paused and frowned. "Wait. Rogue, where's the fuzzy dude?"
"Don't ask." Came the grumble.
"We need one more for this. Do you think he'll be up to it tomorrow?" Lance asked her.
"Don't ask me, ask him."
Lance made a quick decision. "We'll just replace him then. Who do you think of the three stooges is up to it?"
"Well, we've trained Fred and Todd longer," Pietro offered.
"Not Toad." Wanda immediately answered.
"How about John?" Rogue suggested.
"He's too unpredictable." Lance mused. "Fred?"
"He could work," Rogue nodded. "A little intimidation from The Blob won't hurt us none,"
"Alright. Fred it is then," Lance murmured.
"But can you leave Todd and John here alone in the house?" Pietro asked.
Lance paled at the potential disaster that the two could get into in such a short amount of time. "Think we could get Jason to baby-sit?"
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The Prince of Thieves gracefully dropped to the ground, having just disabled the famed motion and heat detectors of the Bayville Museum.
And then he saw them, the object of his heist. Two twin emeralds that were just delivered that morning to the Museum as part of the Egyptian exhibit that was to be opened in two days. The emeralds were supposed to be the powerful and magical eyes of some god they have worshipped.
The thief grinned as he moved towards it, carefully, slowly, gracefully. He lifted the glass case and took the emeralds in his hands, admiring them. He then placed them in a black bag and into one of the hidden pockets of his battered trench. He replaced the case and went back out the way he came in. Piece of cake. He could do that in his sleep.
Once outside, the thief walked casually back home, as if he wasn't carrying two stones worth millions of dollars in his pocket. He brought out a cigarette and smoked the rest of the way.
He didn't really need to lift the emeralds. He just got a call offering a contract over them, nothing definite. If he was back in his hometown, he wouldn't even dream of accepting it, not because he cannot do it or because the price was too low. It was because there was no challenge. It would be like the proverbial candy from the baby.
But he was bored and he felt that if he didn't steal something soon, he'd get a bit rusty. But once again he proved to himself that stealing was like riding a bike. You'll never forget once you learned how.
And if he was really true to himself, there was another reason why he accepted the job.
He wanted to see the emeralds up close.
For lately, he had been dreaming of them. Emeralds. Two emeralds, in particular. Emeralds that were so deep and so soulful that you could drown yourself in it. Two emeralds that were hypnotizing, that was just begging to be stolen.
But the two emeralds he had stolen were nothing like the emeralds that were haunting him even in sleep. He slipped his hand in his pocket and fingered the stones in it.
Nope.
These emeralds were easy to obtain. The ones he dreamed about, the ones he longed to stare at all day, in order to obtain those, he must have the rank of a Master Thief. That was the challenge.
The thief grinned as he dropped the cig on the ground and crushed it with his boot.
He is yet to face a challenge that he cannot overcome.
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"Are you sure about this?" Rogue asked even as she peeled the gloves off her hands.
Wanda nodded, her face betraying no emotion.
The two Brotherhood women had often talked of Rogue absorbing the Scarlet Witch's powers, but it was always postponed for a variety of reasons. One of which was that Wanda was afraid that once Rogue knew who she truly was, she'd stop being her friend. Not that she would admit that to her fellow Goth.
Rogue knew on some level that Wanda had reservation about her borrowing hex powers. And she was quite willing not to do it. But Mystique had been adamant. Rogue was to absorb Wanda's powers sometime in the near future. But it didn't have to be tonight. She doesn't think that she'll need the hex bolts for the mission tomorrow. She had quite enough powers as it is.
But Wanda had insisted they do it now before she loses her nerve.
"Alright," Rogue took a step closer to her friend.
Wanda took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Here it goes," and Rogue bare hands touched Wanda's face for the first time.
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The reason Lance Alvers was in a bad mood was currently seated uncomfortably inside the office of Professor Charles Xavier, trying in vain to fully fold his large frame in one of the single chairs made for medium-sized people.
"Mr. Rasputin, I trust that your tour around Bayville had gone well?" Charles Xavier smiled serenely at the large man.
"Da." Piotr Rasputin nodded. He had gone out that afternoon with one Kitty Pryde. She was gracious enough to go with him and for that he was grateful. But she did have this tendency to dominate the conversation, not that he had a lot to add. He was a quiet man by nature, coupled with the fact that he had a limited English vocabulary. He understood the language well enough, but he sometimes had trouble expressing himself. And the way she drives…
"Kitty tells me that the two of you had your first adventure,"
Piotr reddened. "I am sorry, professor," he said, his head hung in shame. "I know it is my first day, but the man was disrespecting Miss Pryde."
Xavier smiled paternally.
Apparently, while driving around town, Kitty had decided to drop by an ice cream shop, horrified that her large companion had never had a root beer float in his entire life. Unfortunately, the two of them had run into Lance Alvers when they went out of the shop.
Disaster was only avoided by the timely arrival of the newest Brotherhood recruit, St. John something-or-the-other, who had dragged Lance away, babbling something about a sale on collectible lighters.
"Don't worry about it," he assured the young man.
"Thank you."
"Feel free to go up here anytime you want to talk to me. My door is always open." Professor X continued. "And any other adults for that matter."
Piotr nodded. "Thank you." He repeated slowly, careful to pronounce word, his voice thick with the Russian accent. He stood up and shook Professor X's hand.
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Rogue crumbled into a heap on the ground, clutching her head as memories began to assault her.
Wanda, on the other hand, had staggered backwards until she reached the wall which propped her up. "No!" She cried out. "Stop! Please!" Tears began leaking from her eyes.
Rogue shook off her daze as her head snapped up. "Wanda?" She pulled on her gloves and stood up. "What's wrong?" She began to walk over to her.
"Stop! Don't go near me!" Wanda screamed as she stood up slowly. "How could you?" She demanded.
Rogue looked shocked but she was clueless as to why her friend was acting like this.
"You lied to me!" She cried out. "You all lied to me!" With that, she whirled away and stalked off.
"Wanda! Wait!"
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"Come in," Remy called out as he replaced the two emeralds into his black pouch and tossed it carelessly on his dresser. It was only eleven. He'd hit the museum as soon as it closed. Nobody even knew he was gone.
"Hey," a shy Jean Grey hesitantly entered.
Remy, who was lounging comfortable on his bed, grinned suggestively. But deep inside, he was thanking the merciful stars above that the redhead hadn't decided to check on him earlier. If she did, they would know that he was out and then they would know that it was definitely him who stole the diamonds.
"Oh." Jean blushed when she was that Remy's chest was bare and his lower torso was covered by a blanket. Her apology about disturbing him so late in the night died on her throat. She dared not think about what he was wearing down there, if any.
"Come in and be comfortable, chere." He said as he scooted over. "Have a seat." He patted the space on the bed he just vacated.
"Er, I'll be fine right here," she said as she rested her back on the dresser.
"Suit yourself. But if you change your mind," he wiggled his eyebrows playfully.
"No! No. I'm fine."
"So what brings you to Remy's room?"
"Oh. Yes. Right." It was obvious that all thoughts had left the flustered Jean.
Remy leered.
Jean shook her head as if to clear it. Once again, she was reminded as to just how different Remy and Scott were.
She had never seen Scoot the way Remy was today—half-naked (at least, she hoped it was only half!), lounging in bed, hair sticking up in the sexiest way, looking as if he just tumbled out of bed. Remy was, in one word, sexy, and dangerously so. That fact was only highlighted more by his smoldering onyx eyes.
On the other hand, Scott was safe where Remy was sinful. Scott was polite, conservative, never let anyone in his room unless he was appropriately dressed. He was the Boy Scout while Remy was the Big Bad Wolf.
"Chere?" Remy prompted again.
"Oh. Yeah." Jean shook her head, as if to clear it. "I heard you were leaving soon."
"Oui." He replied. "Goin' back home."
"Oh. For how long?"
"Don't know yet. Mebbe for a day, mebbe forever. It all depends."
Jean looked faintly alarmed. "When will you leave?"
"Just waiting a call from my pere. My father." He supplemented at Jean's confused look.
"Well. I just want you to know, it was nice having you here. And if ever you want to come back, you know the door's always open." She smiled at him.
"Merci." He said sincerely.
Jean blushed once again as she pushed herself up, indicating the end of their conversation. "Well, just want to clear that rumor up by myself." She waved and turned. "Night."
He liked Jean, and not just in the man-liking-a-woman way. She's not perfect, no matter how everyone thinks she is or how Jean herself pretended to be at times. Far from that. But she's a nice person, always ready to look for the good in a person, after all, she was able to endure that idiot, Duncan. And she accepts people as they are.
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"I see." Magneto mused. "So your absorbing her powers had erased Jason's works. She now remembers everything."
Pietro paled. He's doomed. No doubt about it.
"So what now?" Lance asked.
"We wait for her to make the next move." Magneto replied.
Moments later, the meeting was adjourned.
"Don't be so down, Schwester." Kurt tried to cheer her up after Magneto left. Only him, Rogue, Lance and Pietro were left in the meeting room. "She's still around. Just growling and glaring at everything that moves."
"I just hate to lose a friend." Rogue admitted.
"Don't worry, Roguey," Pietro patted her head like he does to a puppy. "We're still here for you."
"Yeah." Rogue grumbled. "Just remember, you'll be the first one she'll kill when she decides to snap."
"Oh! Is that my father calling?" Pietro asked loudly. "Gotta go, bye!"
"It's nice to know that you care about Wanda." Lance told her. "She needed a friend. She still does."
"Yeah. I remember when I was in Africa," Rogue started but trailed off when she noticed the weird looks her two teammates was giving her. "What?" She demanded.
"Schwester, you were never in Africa."
Rogue frowned. "What? I distinctively remember being in Africa!" She protested. "Maybe it was before our Brotherhood days so you don't know about it. In fact, they were worshipping me as a goddess…" Rogue trailed off as her eyes widened in realization. "Oh."
"Rogue, are you alright?" Lance hated to ask, knowing that Rogue hated to be reminded of her weaknesses, but as team leader, it was his duty to do so.
Rogue let out a pent-up sigh. "It's just that I've been going under stress lately with the war against humanity and absorbing people and everything," she closed her eyes. "I'm fine. Really. I have everything under control."
Lance looked at her doubtfully.
"Maybe a good night's rest would do you good, Rogue." Kurt suggested as he helped her on her feet. "We'll look for Wanda."
And Lance was informed just how tired Rogue was when she didn't protest and let herself be half-dragged, half-led to her room by her brother.
Things may have been going sour between him and Kitty but he would not let his family go down the drain yet again.
He repeated the vow he made to himself when she saw Kitty and her big block of a date. From this point on, he would devote himself and his energy to the cause.
He had to talk to Mystique about this, soon.
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"I have warned Mystique but she refused to listen."
Irene's words to him that fateful night came back to him as it always did every night.
"Our capture is only the beginning."
And yet at that time, he felt as if it was the end—his end.
"I see death and destruction and her in the middle of it. Her mother named her well."
Her powers were evolving, that much Xavier knew. And if he was to believe his newest informant, Mystique was assisting in every little way so that her powers would grow dramatically. But if there was one thing he knew about evolution, it's that it cannot be forced. One must let it go in its natural phase.
"I see her, all alone. With no allegiance, no strings, no control. She will do as she wants, and she would want to end the world."
Xavier's blood had run cold at end. End the world. And in that sense, she will be worse than Magneto.
"Mystique thinks she can control her. But she cannot. She would not."
Mystique was knowingly creating a monster.
"Is there nothing that we can do?" Xavier had asked. He had linked minds with Irene when she was having her visions. He had no doubt as to the accuracy of what she sees.
Xavier remembered the way his stomach clenched when Irene shook her head. His mind had began to ponder the options and came up with only one answer—kill her before she gets too powerful…end her life while they still can. But Irene had smiled indulgently, as if she knew a little secret.
"You know you cannot kill."
And he had known she was right. He could never kill, even if the whole world was at stake. And he could never ask his X-Men to do such a thing either.
"And even if you can, can you do the same thing all over again when the one that would threaten the whole world would be one of your own?"
He had been confused at that. Every night he had pondered at what that meant. But every night he had shrugged and believed that it was Irene merely posing a rhetorical question.
"But do not lose hope. For there is one that would make her follow his heart. She would listen to him and obey him completely."
Xavier sighed. He had an inkling as to who that him could be, especially after he made them share what had happened in the rescue operation.
And him was going back to New Orleans. He can't have that. He needed for him to be here in Bayville, where the Rogue would be. Irene wasn't too specific. But she did say that their capture would signal the beginning, though the fuse had been lit long before that. Checking his watch, he decided that it was too late to call, but would contact them as soon as possible.
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"WHAT?" Rogue demanded, her voice a few decibels and an octave higher. "You can't pull me out of tomorrow night's mission! You just can't."
"I can and I just did." Lance crossed his arms. "I am team leader."
"And I'm second-in-command." Rogue insisted stubbornly. "With Wanda out, you need me in."
"I need you to be a hundred percent." Lance refused to let his frustration seep out. Because is he lost his temper, Rogue would most probably throw a tantrum. And nobody wanted to see Rogue throw a tantrum.
"I am a hundred percent!" She insisted. "Only one psyche slipped yesterday, I've got it all under control now."
"You attacked Sabertooth this morning for no apparent reason." Lance told her calmly.
"He drank my coffee." Rogue replied.
"You also called him bub."
"I—" she stumbled for an answer. "Just some slang I picked up. From the Wolverine."
"Right." Lance shook his head. "I talked to Mystique about this. She agrees with me that we can carry out this mission without you. Kurt's with me. He'll be second-in-command."
"But—"
"And you've got sessions with Agatha Harkness about the voices in your head." He knocked on the top of her head twice.
Rogue waved him off. "I'm not going insane."
"Of course not. Been there, done that, huh."
"Shut up, saltshaker."
"Now be a good girl and watch over the house while we're gone. Make sure that John and Todd don't kill each other."
Rogue made a face but didn't reply.
"That's a good girl."
"I hate you."
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~tbc
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P.S.
I've got a new XME plotbunny in my head. If you want to check it out, go to triple w dot xanga dot com slash khayee. Then leave me a message as to whether or not it's worth fleshing out. I'll be posting a teaser there soon. Thanks and kisses! =)
And who asked for Piotr? =) I'm going insane with all the characters ambling around in this fic aimlessly. But it is recruitment time! Unfortunately, I want to focus on Rogue and the stuff that are beginning to happen in her head. So expect just a cameo from other characters, but I'll do my best to write 'em in.
And that's right, if the X-Men have the dream, the Brotherhood have the cause.
How did you guys find the responsible and concerned Lance? Too much? =p
I'm answering reviews again. For the record, if I missed anyone, it's because ff.net had gone bonkers these past few days.
Blink182dbzluver – thanks. You rock too. Did you know that ff.net sent me the notice to your review at least thirty-three times? Yup. That's right. I opened my mailbox and found that I had 70 messages. I opened the first thirty three and then they were all from ff.net, informing me of your review. Ha. So I deleted the messages that were from bot@ff.net. Just so you know. =p
Tevrah – I don't know yet if Rogue's going to touch soon. Possibly, no definite plans tho.
Bad-girl4- oh yeah! All insane people in the world unite! We should start a club. =) Rogue broke into SHEILD because they had declared war on everything they perceive to be as anti-mutant. St. John's just a cameo. Try to write a longer chapter with him next time. =)
PomegranateQueen – no concrete romyness in this chapter. I'll make it up to all of you in the next few chapters. After all, Destiny had prophesized that our Rogue would completely obey Remy! Hehehe!
Angelicstar2 – I'm saving Remy's reaction until he and Rogue meet. Can't wait to write that part!
SickmindedSucker – I finished this chap as soon as I humanly could. Don't hold your pee, it's bad for your health. My mom got sick because of that and I had to rush her to the hospital. Of course, we had to make stops at all the gasoline stations on the way because she can't hold it in too long. But she's OK now. =)
GambitsRogue – ooh. Kissy bits. Yup. Am planning on that. Not in next chapter tho. But maybe the one after that. ThankS!
GWFreak315 – I still haven't decided as to how they would "talk" to Rogue, if at all. Thanks for your correction on the German. I really appreciate it. My best friend in high school knows how to speak German, she studied there for about three years. But then, now, she's suddenly disappeared from the face of the planet, so I haven't got anyone to ask anymore. Rats. Now I'm missing her. =)
AthenaAlpha – well blushes uncontrollably maybe not everything…thanks tho.
Ishandahalf – Spiffy reminds me of Spuffy…Spuffy reminds me of Spike…Darn. Now I gotta pop over to the Buffy section and read myself some Spike fics. Man, he's hot! Ahem I mean, hey, I'm totally going to hold you to that one-shot, OK? See you next chapter, same bat-time, same bat-channel! Sorry. Couldn't resist, with the batman comic and all. Hey, do you know that I'm a batman freak before I got hooked on romy? =)
CajunBelle – Thanks. Aw shucks kicks dirt bashfully. Thanks for the compliment.
Caliente – update! Update! Update! Update! Update! No pressure, tho. Maybe I should change that to 'update now!' You know, I misread the 'Logan/Fury stuff' on your review as "Logan/Fury fluff." I was like, "WHAT?" and then dissolved to helpless snickers before I reread the passage. Logan/Fury fluff indeed. That gave me goosebumps!
Turquoise – Aha! So it was you who asked if Piotr was going to be here! At first, I was like it was either Jaime or Piotr who's going to be in. Obviously, I chose Jaime. But then I read your review and then I realized that unlike in the original evo where almost all mutants are in the X-Men, my Brotherhood has more members than my Xmen. So I decided to even it out a bit. Anyway, thanks!
Rogue4787 – Not much St. John and thankfully no Amber. =) Still confused as to how to do a Pyro but am figuring it out, hopefully. I read Aro's stuff. They're good. But I'm afraid that if I lift her version of Pyro, I might get accused of copyright infringement and be banned from ff.net. Maybe if I ask her nicely…
Star-of-Chaos – oooh…nice idea. Maybe he will. =)