Disclaimer: None of the mutants belong to me. Anything familiar you read below is most probably not mine either.
A/N: This is going to be short. I'm sorry. I just entered my junior year and my classes are harder than ever. Usually, I go home with just enough energy to fall into my bed. All my free time are spent catching up with my academic backlog (yes, I've only been back to school for three weeks and I already have a backlog!). I've been drained of my creative juices. sigh I'm not inspired! ;) So, this is the best I could come out with. But don't worry, though stuff would be slow in coming, I'm making sure that they would be coming. I'm not giving up yet. Who knows, maybe classes would be suspended one day and I can finally write to my heart's content. Here's to wishing.
Props to littlefreak for getting my arse in gear!
Jean Grey's powers went wonkers. Rogue came in to help, mostly as a favor to a certain persistent Cajun. When she gets home, Lance accused her of betraying the 'Hood to the X-Men. Rogue denies it. Raven, on the other hand, was reminiscing her affair with the departed Destiny by reading her diaries. Raven learned that it was time for her lover's prophecies to unfold. Remy, despite warnings of a certain speed demon, returned to Rogue's room to offer her his company.
Chapter 18
Rogue could barely keep her eyes open.
"Don't fight it, chere," Remy told her softly, gloved hands stroking her soft hair. "Go to sleep. You had a long day."
The two were intimately intertwined on her bed, her protected by her blanket, he by his favored trench coat, talking softly, comforting each other, being there for the other.
For the life of him, Remy had no idea how he got there. He went into her room earlier, intent on checking on how she was doing, maybe get into a good-natured bicker or two, and then leave. Staying in her bed, though really, really tempting, was not in his plans, at least, not for that night.
But here he was.
And there she was. In his arms. A perfect fit.
Rogue shook her head. "I don't want to sleep. The nightmares will come,"
"Shh. Remy's here." He said. "Remy'll look after you."
Rogue let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. Moments later, her drowsiness won. She was asleep.
Remy was quite content to hold her and watch her sleep. But trained ears warned him that someone was approaching. And that someone would not be happy to see him there.
Not that he cared.
But Rogue might.
Man, was he whipped.
Sighing with regret, he skillfully untangled Rogue from himself and rolled out of the bed.
With one last longing look, Remy exited through the bedroom window.
Mystique walked into her daughter's room and closed the door softly behind her.
It has begun. The process that would painfully wrench her daughter from her had begun and she was helpless to anything about it, if Destiny's Diaries were to be believed.
But Mystique was never one to simply sit back and watch things happen. If only Irene had only been more specific in her prophesies. If only her lover told her specifically what to do. If only…
A low moan came from Rogue's bed.
"Rogue," she immediately rushed to her daughter's side.
Sleeping on the bed, eyes tightly shut, a look of pure terror on her face, Rogue looked desperate to be wakened from her nightmare.
Mystique carefully shook her daughter. "Rogue, wake up! Rogue!"
"NO!" Rogue shot up, eyes open in shock.
Mystique's eyes widened as she felt Rogue's bare hand on wrist, grasping the limb as if her life depended on it.
A moment of shock passed between mother and daughter.
And then The Rogue's power kicked in.
Mystique felt the pull of her daughter's powers taking her own and immediately struggled to pull out. But Rogue, in a half-conscious state, had a death-grip.
Finally, the older Darkholme succeeded. But the damage was done.
Mother and daughter were both gasping for breath. Mother a little weak, daughter very confused.
"Rogue?" Raven tentatively checked on her daughter.
"No!" Rogue shouted in horror when the elder woman tried to comfort her. "Stay away from me." Slowly, confusion turned to anger.
"Rogue," Mystique assumed that her daughter was pulling away as usual because of her powers. "I'm here."
"I said stay away from me!" Rogue screeched as she scrambled off the bed. "You knew!" Her voice laced with venom, now fully-awake, she turned on the woman she grew up calling mother. "You knew."
"What? I knew what?"
"That Irene was going to die!" Rogue's emerald eyes sparkled with barely-controlled fury. "She warned you that if you continued your plans, she was going to die! And you let her! It's all your fault!"
Mystique's eyes widened in horror. "I did it for you!"
"You did it for yourself!" By now, Rogue was screaming at the top of her lungs.
Raven restrained the urge to slap some sense into her daughter, one, because they were both uncovered and two, it wouldn't change the way she feels. "You will not speak to me that way."
"I don't have to speak to you at all." With that, Rogue ported out.
Mystique closed her eyes in pain, wondering how things had gone horribly wrong with just one simple touch.
"Scwester?" Kurt ported on the rooftops where she knew her sister was brooding since early that morning.
The whole Brotherhood was awakened by the confrontation between mother and child first thing in the morning, but all of them knew better than to try and interfere. Both women had a temper to be reckoned with. And together, that was the stuff nightmares were made of.
Rogue was seated Indian-style, her hand grasping her head as if she was in pain.
"It's so loud, Kurt," her voice was no more than a whisper. "It won't stop. I can hear everyone, everything." Slowly, she looked up and turned to him. "I can hear you."
Kurt's eyes widened as shock slowly registered on her sister's eyes.
"I can hear you," she repeated sadly. "Why, Kurt? Wasn't the Brotherhood enough?"
Kurt closed his eyes in shame. "I couldn't take it, Rogue," he said slowly. "It kept me awake all night. I don't want a war on our hands. Who knows, maybe their dream of peace is possible."
"So you betrayed us?" It was an anguished cry. She had thought Lance as insane, thinking that there was a traitor in the 'Hood. But the truth was right before her. Kurt had been tipping the X-Men about the various missions they were engaging in. That's how they knew when and where the
'Hood would strike. That was how they stayed one step ahead of the game.
Kurt lowered his head.
Rogue slowly shook her head. "I can't take this. I have to go," slowly, she stood up.
"Schwester,"
"No. Don't call me that." Rogue lifted off the roof and flew away from the place that she no longer felt was her home.
"Nightcrawler!" Kitty gasped as she saw the Brotherhood teen outside the mansion door, looking panicked and desperate.
"I have to see the professor," he cried out.
It's quite alright, Kitty. Send him to me.
"Like, follow me," Kitty said as she stepped aside to let in the teleporter. She led him to the Professor's office where she was politely thanked and was asked to close the door after she leaves.
"Kitty?" Scott frowned as she saw the girl lurking outside Professor's X's office.
"Scott!" Kitty reddened, having caught trying to eavesdrop.
"What are you doing here?" Scott's eyes narrowed behind the glasses.
"Er, nothing?" Kitty smiled innocently. "Oh, alright. Nightcrawler showed up half an hour ago outside the door and he's been in there ever since," she motioned to the closed door. "What do you think they're talking about?"
"Nightcrawler?"
"You know, blue fur all over, yellow eyes, smelly teleportation, and stuff."
Scott frowned. Why was a Brotherhood member the Institute?
X-Men, in my office right away!
Rogue didn't know how long it had been since she left the Boarding House. All she knew was that she had to keep on walking.
The voices in her head were louder than ever, yet she could not understand them. She can hear all of them talking at once, yet no voice stood out.
Rogue shut her eyes. "Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!"
In shock, people around her turned and stared.
"SHUT UP!" In desperation, she swung her fist with no direction. She hit the wall beside her.
The people were shocked when the wall to the store crumbled. A crack the size of a teen's fist was left.
"Mutie!" A woman screamed in panic.
As one, people hurried away from the mutant teen, voices loud, pushing and shoving each other out of the way.
"Shut the hell up!" An anguished rogue cried.
And beyond the voices in and out of her head, she heard something, a sound unlike others that were clamoring for her attention. A voice that could be her redemption…or her downfall.
A sinister smile crossed Rogue's lips as she recognized the droning sound as that of a motorcycle.
"She's in a very precarious mental state right now. Any extreme act from us may push her over the edge." The professor was saying.
All of the X-Men were present except Jean, who was still recovering, and Wolverine, who was on the road.
"In English, please?" Evan asked with a roll of his eyes.
"It means that she's a bit, you know," Bobby Drake made circular motions near his right ear with his index finger. "Cuckoo."
Nightcrawler growled with his sister being talked about that way. He was about to say something when he was beaten to it.
"Take that back, homme," it was spoken calmly, but a glowing card between his fingers depicted how upset the resident Cajun was.
"Hey, I'm just saying," Bobby shrugged.
"Shouldn't be talking to a femme like that, mon ami." He held up his card.
"Stop it, Gambit." Scott interrupted the two before Bobby says something that would push the normally easy-going Cajun over the edge. "We're wasting time here."
"That's right. We must find Rogue as soon as possible. I believe that the reason for her instability might be linked with Jean's." The professor continued.
"You mean her helping Jean made her powers all out of control too?" Kitty's eyes widened.
"It's a strong possibility." The professor said. "Either way, an out-of-control Rogue might be ten times worse than Jean's episode."
"Right." Gambit said as he turned around and began walking away. "Remy's gonna get himself a Rogue.
Gripping the handlebars of his bike, his head swiveled every now and then to look around him. No Rogue yet.
He did notice the lack of people. She must be close.
Suddenly, the hairs of his arms rose. Someone was near.
An inhuman growl tore through the air, noticeable even with the rumble of his bike.
And soon, he found himself falling, tackled to the ground with superhuman strength.
"Sabertooth," he growled.
"Hello, pup."
The Wolverine's eyes narrowed when he saw his bike fly through the air and crash into a nearby dumpster. "You're gonna pay for that." He said matter-of-factly.
"Why don't you make me?" Sabertooth taunted.
Wolverine sniffed the air. Something was wrong.
"What's wrong, boy? Scared?"
"Rogue." It was not a question. Her scent told him who she really was. Wolverine withdrew his defensive position. Storm had called him earlier, telling him about the rogue Brotherhood teen, telling him not to engage with her. He was not about to fight her because of Chuck's orders. That and he had a grudging respect for the kid for helping out Red. Rogue didn't have to, but she did, and for that he was indebted to her. And Wolverine always pays his debts.
The two combatants were interrupted when they heard a woman shout.
"Monster!" An elderly lady had just excited her apartment building.
Something jumped in Rogue/Sabertooth's face. "I am not a monster." She declared as she advanced threateningly towards the woman, fists drawn up, ready to do damage. Suddenly, she was running towards the defenseless human.
"Run!" Wolverine screamed at the woman who seemed to be glued on the spot. He, too, took off running and pushed the raging Rogue/Sabertooth away.
With another scream, the woman broke out of her trance and into a run.
Wolverine and Rogue/Sabertooth ended up in a tangle on the road. Wolverine was pushed out of the way with super human strength.
"I am not a monster," she repeated as Sabertooth's features wore off. "Not a monster."
And soon, Wolverine found himself staring at his doppelganger.
"I am a man!" With an anguished scream, bone claws protruded out of Rogue/Wolverine's knuckles.
As usual, reviews would be greatly appreciated! =) Speaking of which…