AN: Enough messing around! Things finally get interesting…you didn't think this would be a simple Romy angst fic did you? Muwhahaha
Sorry for the late update. My internet was down all weekend L but I'll update again on Friday, I promise!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and all other twisted thoughts.
Alyx: Hehe thanks :0) I'm actually almost done with this fic, I'm updating miles behind what I'm writing, I did that so that when I get writers block (which I have) it won't effect the updating…which I already managed to mess up!
Remy's Angel: Thanks so much for reviewing every chapter. Sorry about the quotation marks, I'll be (to steal from Caliente) UBER careful from now on! I kinda like that the other X-men nose in about RR, I think it's realistic that their friends would be dying to know what was going on, but you're right, it could definitely be annoying! As for the RoLo, I know I said I'd try to write some in, but I honestly can't. I wish I could, but I can't think of anything to write. I'm completely open to suggestions from any RoLo fan as to what to write…In fact…tell ya what, email me at simplydevilish85@hotmail.com with paragraphs, or situations, or quotes involving RoLo and I'll do my very best to add them to my fic and of course you'll get credit for it. And because I'm feeling nice, that goes for all you Kurtty fans as well! Anyone else? As for the stargazing, that will be important in the next chapter, you'll see J
Keltic Dream: all my chapters are going to be about 1500 words from now on I believe, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. That's just the way I had to break it down so sorry if that's too short for you! LoL, hot potato with Joseph? We'll see J and you're right about something explosive happening as well. This isn't just a Romy fic ya know! There's a plot too!
Jukebox: You guys should start your own little "we hate joseph club!" Glad you liked the romyness! Nah, I won't turn Joseph evil, I want to keep it as close to character as possible while still make him annoying to the RR fans out there!
GiniaTM: hehe I love the little fights they have in the comics as well, I think it shows their sass :0)
T.: Don't worry, Joseph takes a bit of break from the limelight now that the plot is starting.
Demonic-Gambit: The voices are all yours! I'll talk to them about rates, but they're dying to get outa here, it's a little cramped. You're another Romy supporter huh? My my there certainly are a lot of us!
Chacreed: Like I said, feel free to email me with RoLo suggestions; I'm completely open to ideas!
Caliente: now that I've stolen your UBER word, I guess I can't complain that you didn't update...but I will soon if you don't get a move on! To hold me over, I'm going to reread bishops chapter in Mutant Diaries, I think that's my favorite...
Ishandahalf: ::takes notes...right...effort is bad...got it:: LoL it amuses me to no end how much you hate Joseph! And I got another gold star! That's TWO! ::shines stars proudly:: I'm afraid the Joseph bashing takes a back seat frow now on, but there are moments, I promise!
Rogue151: LoL Jean and Ororo kicking each other around the place? It could happen! As for the action, you'll just have to wait and see!
The Lankey Yankee: I don't think I'm being unfair to Joseph because basically, I can see his point. How would you like it if everyone hated you because of something you supposedly did but actually didn't? I think he has a right to be upset and uncomfortable with a team that have known, and got on well, with each other for years. I don't think it's whining. And I decided that in my fic, he was going to be more assertive than he was in the comics. After as, as a Magneto clone (which he doesn't know he is yet) he should have some of Magnetos backbone. I don't think he was a fool…he's taking a chance, challenging Gambit. Showing Rogue an alternative. Why not? And if you still don't agree, I'm going to get Ishandahalf on you! :) just kidding!
So…for all you out there who didn't read my responses to my reviewers, I'm going to say it again…
Email me at simplydevilish85@hotmail.com with paragraphs, or situations, or quotes involving RoLo and I'll do my very best to add them to my fic and of course you'll get credit for it. And because I'm feeling nice, that goes for all you Kurtty fans as well! They can be from comics or things that you've thought of yourself. I'll take anything, don't be shy! You could stick it in a review if you wanted as well.
Some things to be aware of…
telepathy
thoughts
emphasis
Honor and Consequences By: The Sphinx Minx"What's that?" Scott said suddenly, pointing to the night sky. They all looked up at the bright blue speck that was growing larger.
Storm rose from the ground; "I will clear the clouds so we can view it better."
"No Storm, wait!" Jean reached for her friend's ankle.
Suddenly, the blue light turned green and exploded. The light engulfed the forest, the cabin, and it's occupants. Scott closed his eyes to shield them as he heard Jean shout his name;
"Scott!" he opened his eyes to look at her, but could see nothing. She grabbed his arm as he heard a small crash and Betsy's exclamation "Bloody 'ell!"
Scott blinked a few times to clear his sight, but to no avail. A few seconds of chaos passed and Wolverine spoke.
"I've got Storm, Slim" he growled somewhere from his left. He heard Warren calling to Betsy frantically to wake up and Scott quickly realized the women must be unconscious.
"Who's got Rogue?" he shouted, as he tried to figure out who was behind this, whatever "this" was.
"Who d'you t'ink?" Came Remy's snarl from inside the cabin.
When Scott and Jean had left, Elizabeth offered to help Rogue clean up the mess from the flying dinner plates. Rogue was picking up the plate from in front of Joseph when the green light engulfed the team. She stood up, hands on either side of her head, clutching her hair. "Remy!" she gasped.
He barely heard her over Betsy's cry, but when the light had burst through the walls and roof, she had unconsciously stepped toward him, and for that reason, Remy was looking at her when she gasped his name and grabbed her head.
He felt a bolt of energy shoot through him painfully, but he never took his eyes off Rogue. He saw her eyes roll back in her head, her lids close, her arms dropped, and she tilted back, one stilettoed boot raised in the air as she fell backward toward the fire. He leapt forward, natural reflexes taking over, and grabbed one of Rogue's wrists. He touched the material of her usual elbow length gloves, covered by a long sleeve jumper and felt the drain that contact with Rogues skin usually caused. Not again, not ag—n…the familiar feeling of helplessness as his consciousness flickered; he was losing his self, his soul, to this woman. His energy flowed out of him and he struggled to pull back, to keep his memories, his feelings, his life force. As always, a futile attempt. But at least he knew she was alive. He mustered all his strength; it would do no good for them both to fall into the fire, and pulled her toward him. Already the draining was easing as he heard Scott call "Who's got Rogue?" and ticked off at the whole situation, his fatigue, his sudden power surge, the inexplicable light, he snapped his irritated response.
Remy looked over at Joseph, who was sitting up, gasping. Warren was looking at the bright red katanas in Betsy's hands. They were at least twice the length of usual manifestations, and she had never been able to manifest them while unconscious. Eventually, they flickered out of existence and Warren approached her cautiously. Logan entered, carrying Storm, and Scott followed, carrying Jean. Scott still had his eyes closed, but there was an eerie red behind them.
The men stood there, holding their teammates at a complete loss what to do. Their telepath was out of commission and they now had only one flier. Their leader appeared to be blind and Logan was acting unusually jumpy, jerking his head each and every way listening to sounds no one else could hear. Remy didn't feel the usual power fatigue after a touch with Rogue. He felt normal, in fact, he felt almost more powerful than normal. He felt as though if he didn't blow something up fast, he himself would explode.
Jean stirred first, and gave a little moan. Scott felt around for the couch and eased her down. She opened her eyes, which grew wide; she clutched her flame red hair and looked like she was in intense pain. "SHUT-UP!" she screamed. The image of the phoenix flared up from her skull, lighting everyone in a warm glow. They all froze; they had never seen Jean lose control like this. "STOP IT! SHUT-UP!" She started rocking as Scott knelt next to her, suspecting what was going on. He coaxed her to calm down and focus on rebuilding the mental barrier between her thoughts and the thoughts of the other people around her. It took around ten minutes for Jean to regain control. She was still shaking as she surveyed everyone around her. She focused on Betsy and closed her eyes. She didn't want Betsy to awaken to the sheer horror she did. Screaming vicious thoughts. Warped voices threatening to overtake her. Absolute chaos. She had never felt so vulnerable in her life. Jean Grey always figured she had relative control over her powers…until now.
As she attempted to ease herself into Betsy's mind, the woman known as Psylocke screamed in pain, still unconscious. Jean had slammed her way into Betsy's mind and she felt as though she would explode. Jean cursed herself for her carelessness and proceeded with caution. She eventually reached the part of Elisabeth's mind she was searching for. The part where a telepath builds a wall between their conscious and the consciousnesses they are in tune with. She saw Betsy; dressed in her Psylocke uniform, struggle to maintain the wall. Jean, who was in her Phoenix costume, saw the mental images of the other people pushing against the wall as it moved further into Pyslocke's consciousness. Jean knew what was happening, the same had happened to her. Her mutant ability had grown and her mind was not ready for the power. She moved over to Betsy, who was getting pushed back as the wall moved toward Psylocke, gaining more and more of her consciousness. As Psylocke was pushed back, the ground she slid over moved under the wall and fell, as though a waterfall, into a black abyss. Jean quickly formed a mental bond with Betsy and encouraged her as Scott had done to her.
As she was doing this, she felt a tug in the back of her mind signaling that another consciousness was awakening. It was Storm. Scott! Ororo is waking up, but it might not be pretty!
yes darling… we noticed the blizzard and the lightening bolts, anything we can do to help?
Right now, Betsy's my priority, her telepathy seems to have returned to a certain extent, and she was unprepared for it. She's much too dangerous and fragile to let her do this on her own. Get someone to talk to Storm, soothe her.
Like who?
I don't know Scott! Look, I have to help Betsy or her telepathy may drive her insane- and with that, Jean cut off the conversation, stinging Scott's brain.
"O.k…. we need someone to…erm…soothe Storm" Scott said awkwardly.
When lightening bolts had started coming out of Strom's fingertips, Logan had laid her on the couch where Jean had been. So far the only one showing no sign of resuscitation was Rogue.
"I'll do it," Remy volunteered "but…Rogue…"
"I'll take her" Joseph spoke for the first time, earning a glare from the Cajun, Joseph had done nothing to earn Remy's trust. But he hadn't done anything to show he didn't mean well either. A hurricane speed wind blew the windows out and as they shielded themselves from the flying glass, Remy gave in. He handed Rogue to Joseph and walked over the Storm, arm over his face to protect his eyes from the flying objects. Storm's eyes were wide open, but completely white. Her lips were moving, but no sound came out of them. She seemed to have lost all control of her weather manipulating abilities or maybe she was relishing in them. Remy knelt next to Storm, took her hand and started talking to her.
He decided the best way to reach Ororo's mind was to call up old memories that would hopefully snap her out of it. So he spoke to her about the first time they met, and various other memories.
Deep in Storm's mind, she was standing on a small patch of grass. All around her were various forces of nature. When she turned to control one of them, the one she turned her back on overpowered her. Sometimes, she felt as though she was going to freeze to death, or get blown off her little patch of grass. It was just her verse nature. Blackness surrounded her. Then suddenly, something flashed above her and Storm stopped her battle with nature to stare. It was like watching a giant television screen. *FLASH*
She saw herself sitting at a table smiling at her friends around her. It was her birthday and they were singing outlandishly, most off key, all at different points of the song
*FLASH*
She was surrounded by a beautiful garden…her garden, she realized.
*FLASH*
The memories started coming faster until they covered the blackness and smothered the storms around her. Ororo smiled as she saw each happy memory replay before her. Then she heard a deep rich laugh and Storm reached for the warmth. Her eyes blinked and when she opened them again, they were back to normal. She grasped the hand in hers and whispered a thank you to Remy. She sat up and looked around. There was glass all over the floor. She stood on shaky legs and Logan offered his arm to help her balance. Betsy was leaning against Warren. Joseph was laying a still unconscious Rogue on the couch Storm had just vacated. Jean was holding Scott's face, the red still burning behind his closed lids. Remy and Logan each seemed normal.
"So," Warren said, "anyone have a clue what is going on?"
Joseph was looking at Warren as he spoke, but he thought he saw Rogue open her eyes, so he quickly looked down at her. He figured he must have been imagining it because he thought he saw crystal clear blue eyes look back at him, but when he looked, they were closed. He was going to say something but decided against it. After all, Jean was no doubt in touch with Rogue's consciousness and would know before anyone when Rogue would come to.
AN: Ok…I know it wasn't the longest chapter in the world, but that's it til Friday I'm afraid!