Chapter Eight

Kitty groaned as one of the books from the rather large stack she was carrying fell onto the floor.  She glared down at it as if that would somehow make the book jump back up onto the pile.  It didn't move however, not that she had really been expecting it to but it would have been nice.  Why couldn't she be born a telekinetic?  And where the heck was Jean when you needed her?

Resigning herself to having no choice but to pick up the book, she quickly bent to set the other books she held on the floor.  Putting the fallen book on top of the others, she carefully picked them back up.  When she stood the pile tilted to one side and the top book slid slightly.  She glared at it, daring it to even think about falling again.  It stayed where it was though and she breathed a sigh of relief and went on her way towards the mansion's library.

She had only managed to take a few steps before she saw something coming at her out of the corner of her eye.  Her head snapped to the side and she screamed as a little brown mouse came racing right for her.  The books crashed to the floor and she took off towards the kitchen.  She spared a quick glance behind her only to see that the mouse still followed.  She screamed again and leapt onto the kitchen table.

"Kitty!  What's going on?!"  Scott bounded into the room, one hand at his glasses, ready to blast away any intruders.  He looked at Kitty, huddled on the table.

"Ewww, like, there's a big ugly mouse chasing me."  Said mouse came into the kitchen and ran headfirst into the counter.  Scott raised an eyebrow at Kitty and walked over to the, now still, remote controlled mouse.

"You mean this mouse, Kitty?"  He had to fight to keep the smile off his face.  She stared at him in shock for a moment.

"Kurt!  Bobby!  When I get a hold of you two!"  A muffled bamf was heard from around the corner as Kurt and Bobby teleported away.

"I think we should put the mansion on red alert as long as those two are together," Scott suggested, only half joking.

"Or just have it declared as a war zone," Kitty agreed.

#

Roberto and Remy jerked back to awareness, having been nearly asleep still cuddled together on the bed, when Kurt and Bobby teleported into the room.

"What de heck is going on?"  Remy demanded at their abrupt entrance.  But Roberto already knew, he could see the glee in their eyes.

"What have you two done?"  He sounded almost afraid.

Bobby grinned at them.  "I said 'Let there be pranks!' and, then, there were pranks."

"You should have seen the look on Kitty's face!"  Kurt started laughing again as he thought of it.  Roberto and Remy looked at them in barely concealed terror.  Bobby rolled his eyes at them.

"Don't look so scared.  We won't bother you two."  They both let out sighs of relief.  "Wimps."

Kurt flopped down next to Roberto on the bed.  "So, does everybody get to hear about you two?"

Roberto looked over at Remy warmly and smiled.  "Why not?  I've got nothing to hide."  What he said was truth and Remy smiled back at him, knowing and glad that Roberto was not ashamed of him.

"So who's up for a game of cards?"  Bobby asked, taking a seat on the bed as well.  Remy grinned.

"I am always up for cards, mon ami."  He withdrew a pack from his pocket and began shuffling expertly.

"Just remember no playing for money."  Remy's face fell.

"Y' take all de fun out of it dat way."

"For you maybe," Roberto said.

Remy let out a very long sigh.  "Fine, we'll play y' cowards way."  He dealt out the cards for a game of gin and was surprised as hell when Bobby, not only won this hand, but the next five as well.  They were starting the sixth game when Bobby spoke up.

"Can we change the no playing for money rule?"  He was met with three sets of glares.  "I'll take that as a no."

Remy shook his head.  "I gotta go," he said, laying his cards down and standing.

"Sure walk away.  You just know that there is no beating me, for I am the king of cards," Bobby crowed, waving his hand towards Remy.  He couldn't help but notice the flinch back as his hand got rather close to Remy but a rare bout of common sense told him it would be best not to say anything about it.

"Where are you going anyway, Rem?"

"Got a training session."

"Then I'll see you in an hour?"

"'Course, cher.  We got somet'ing t' share wit' de people, non?"  He took Roberto's hand into his own, kissed the back of it and took his leave out the door.  Roberto's knees felt curiously weak even though he was sitting and he couldn't help the smile the flitted across his lips.  It vanished though when Bobby spoke.

"What's going on with Remy?"  Kurt also looked interested in the answer.  Roberto quickly covered his surprise and looked at him critically.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid with me, man.  Do you think that I'm blind?  He flinched like I was gonna hit him!  There are bruises around his throat!  That shirt doesn't cover them when you get close to him."  Bobby looked at Roberto almost accusingly, eyes narrowed.  "You didn't-?"

"No! I can't believe you would even…"  he let himself trail off; disgusted and angry that Bobby would even come to that conclusion.  Kurt put a placating hand on Roberto's arm before he could storm out of the room.

"Then tell us what is going on."

Roberto looked between them for a moment, seeing that they both genuinely wanted to help.  "I can't.  I promised I wouldn't."  He shook Kurt's arm off and turned to leave.  "Just…don't say anything about it to him, okay?  I'll find a way to help him."  Bobby and Kurt shared a worried look as Roberto left.  Surely there had to be something they could do to help?  Their thoughts were shattered though as the door slammed open and Kitty stormed into the room.

"You two are, like, so dead!"

"Not if you can't catch us!"  Kurt taunted and teleported him and Bobby away, their worry over Remy momentarily forgotten.  Kitty remained fuming for a moment before turning to find where they had gone.

#

Xavier looked up from his desk as Scott peeked around the corner.  "What can I do for you, Scott?"  Scott stepped fully into the room and came to stand in front of the Professor's desk.

"I needed to talk with you about something."

"Of course, what is it, Scott?"

"It's Remy."  Xavier nodded for Scott to continue.  "I just finished a training session with him.  He said that he would only be coming on the weekends from now on.  He wouldn't tell me why, just that he was needed at home."

"This concerns you?"  Xavier raised an eyebrow.  Admittedly he hadn't had much contact with Remy since he had first come to train at the mansion.  Scott seemed to be doing fine with the training on his own and Xavier had seen no reason to become more involved.  Remy had been doing well here, had even managed to make friends with some of the students.

"There's something wrong with him.  He avoids everyone in the mansion except for Roberto, Bobby, and Kurt.  I went to point something out to him in the danger room today and he flinched like I was going to… hit him… Professor, do you think he's being abused?"

Xavier looked up at Scott in surprise.  "Abused?"  Xavier thought this over.  "Roberto had mentioned to me when he first met Remy that something was wrong.  You may be right."

"How can we help him?"  Scott asked genuinely concerned.

"I am not sure that we can," Xavier said slowly, contemplating.  "We can not force ourselves on him, it will only make him run but we can offer our help." He shook his head sadly.  "Though, I do not believe that he will accept it."

"But, we can't just do nothing."

"No, I agree."  Xavier fell silent again as he thought.  How could they help Remy, if indeed he did need helping, without driving him away?  "He and Roberto have become… close.  I'm sure that if anyone could help Remy it would be him."

"So, we're just going to take a wait and see attitude?"  Scott's tone was skeptical; he obviously did not think that was such a good idea.

"For now I believe that it would be best."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I think you're wrong about this.  If we wait to long, it might be too late."

"He doesn't trust us enough to take the help that we would offer, Scott.  Trust Roberto in this, he is the one that Remy will turn to if he needs help."

"All right, Professor, if you say so."  Scott turned and walked out of Xavier's office stopping momentarily when he was in the hall.  "But, I still think you're wrong," he mumbled to himself before heading to his room.  He had some thinking to do.

#

"So, Rems, ready for dinner then?"  Roberto asked once Remy had returned from his training session.  Remy looked back at Roberto, who was sprawled over the bed doing school work, somewhat nervously.  He knew what Roberto was really asking, "Are you ready to tell everybody?"

He shrugged his shoulders, trying to look indifferent.  "Yeah, sure."  In truth, he wasn't ready at all.  He felt about as nervous now as he did when he first came to the mansion.  But, Roberto was unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on how one looked at it – becoming very adept at reading Remy no matter how much he tried to act like everything was fine.  He knew that Remy was nervous.

"It will be okay, Rem.  They don't mind Kurt and Bobby being together so why would they have a problem with us?"

"Non, dey'll just have a problem wit' me," Remy said, self-depreciatingly, hanging his head slightly.  Roberto finally got off his seat on the bed and walked the couple of steps over to Remy.  Taking Remy's chin in his hand, Roberto kissed him firmly, drawing back to look Remy in the eyes.

"No, they won't."  Why couldn't Remy see just how great he was?  But, Jean-Luc had shattered his confidence and Roberto knew that it would take time to rebuild.  Maybe realizing that not everybody had a problem with him would help.  He grabbed Remy's hand and began tugging him out the door.  He smiled as Remy finally stepped up beside him and slung an arm around his shoulders.

As they stepped into the already packed kitchen, the conversation hitched for a moment as everyone noticed them, Remy's arm still around Roberto's shoulders and so obviously together, but then the conversation went on as before, nobody seeming to care all that much except for a few curious looks.

They took seats at the long table and joined the others in piling food onto their plates.  Most of the noise died down as people began eating, though there was still a fair amount of conversation around the table.  Roberto looked up as Hank, who was sitting next to him, cleared his throat.

"So, I am to assume that you two," he pointed at Roberto and Remy, "are now officially an item?"  Everybody at their end of the table stopped mid-conversation to turn and wait for Roberto's answer.  He never got the chance as Remy answered instead.

"Oui, dat we are," he said with a smile.  Roberto looked over at Remy in surprised delight that Remy had had the courage to answer.  He was still a little nervous but only someone who knew him well would be able to see it.  Looking across the table, Roberto saw Kurt and Bobby grinning at them.

"My congratulations then."

"Thanks, Hank," Roberto said.  There seemed to be nothing more to say on the matter and conversation turned to other things.  Curious glances were still thrown their way occasionally, some wondering just how this particular pair had managed to get together, but nobody wanted to pry into something that was not exactly their business and so nothing was said.

It was nearly the end of dinner when Scott finally chose to make an appearance, though neither Roberto nor Remy had even noticed that he wasn't there.  Everybody noticed when he came in, though, as there was no mistaking the enraged expression on his face.  He cast his glance around the room before coming to a rest on Kurt and Bobby.  They cowered under his glare.  Scott began to stalk towards them, murder written on his face.

"Crap, retreat!"  Bobby barked out and they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Dammit!"  Cyclops swore.

"Scott!"  Xavier reprimanded.

"I'm sorry, Professor," he said, not looking sorry at all.

"Just what is going on?"

Scott huffed out an angry sigh.  "They glued my glasses to my head," he mumbled quickly.  There were a few giggles from around the table and Scott turned his glare on all of them.  Xavier raised an eyebrow at him.  Scott didn't feel like explaining it though.  "Do you have anything that will get them off?"

Hank stood and walked over beside him.  "Come with me, Scott, we may be able to find something."  Scott nodded his head and followed Hank as he led the way down to the lab.  Once they were out of sight, Remy and Roberto quickly excused themselves and began to walk away.

"Boys?"  the Professor called to them.  They both turned and waited for him to continue.  "Tell Kurt and Bobby to come and see me in my office will you?"

They both nodded.  "Sure, Professor," Roberto said.

#

Bobby peeked over the edge of the bed when Remy and Roberto walked into his room.  Seeing that it was only them, he breathed a sigh of relief and got up from the floor, followed by Kurt.

"The Professor wants to see you in his office," Roberto told them.  They shrugged, obviously expecting it.  "Don't you guys think that may have been going a bit too far?"

They looked at him in horror.  "Absolutely not!"  Bobby protested.

"It will wear off… eventually," Kurt said.  Roberto just shook his head.  "And we have some more good ones planned, we can't quit now."

"Jus' leave us out of it," Remy commented.  Bobby rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, you're safe."  Grabbing Kurt's hand, Bobby walked over to the door.  After checking to make sure that there was no angry Scott coming to kill them they stepped into the hallway and began to sneak down to the Professor's office.  Roberto shook his head and turned back to Remy.

"You up for a walk?"

Remy nodded.  "Sure.  Jus' as long as we aim it towards my house, neh?"  Roberto looked at him concerned for a moment.

"Remy-"

"Jus' don'," Remy cut him off, steel in his eyes.

"But you-"

"Don'."  Remy repeated.  Seeing the helpless anger beginning to form in Roberto's eyes, Remy stepped forward and traced his lips with a finger lightly.  "Can' I just forget about it for awhile?  Be happy?"

Roberto let out a depressed sigh but nodded.  "Alright."  He let a small smile slip through as Remy took his hand and they left the mansion together.

#

Bobby and Kurt walked dejectedly down the hall and into Kurt's room.  They had been grounded for two weeks.  Not that they hadn't expected it to happen, besides the look on Scott's face was well worth it and it certainly wouldn't stop them from doing any more pranks.  The grounding didn't bother them as much as the fact that they would now have not only Kitty but also Scott gunning for their blood.  It was a risk they had been willing to take and if they could go back they still would have done it all the same.

Once in Kurt's room, they collapsed on the bed together and laid in silence for a few minutes. Finally Kurt broke the quiet.

"Who do you think we should get next, then?"

Bobby never had the chance to answer as the door was swung open and Scott stood on the other side.  Bobby leapt up with a cry.

"It was his idea!"  he yelped, pointing at Kurt.

"What?  It was not!  You're the one that suggested we do something to Scott!"

"But you came up with the idea!"

Scott watched them in amusement for a moment.  "Hold on, I'm not here to get back at you."  They looked at him suspiciously.  "I just want to know where Remy is."

"Uh, I think he and Roberto left awhile ago," Kurt answered cautiously, not quite willing to believe that Scott wasn't angry.

"Why?"  Bobby asked.

"Just wanted to discuss his training with him," Scott lied easily.  "Thanks anyway."  He stepped back out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"He's planning something," Bobby said.

"Revenge?"

Bobby nodded.  "We're dead."

Kurt sniffed dramatically.  "Hold me," he whimpered in mock fear.  Not one to refuse Bobby jumped back onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Kurt tightly.  "Gott, too tight… choking…"  Kurt wheezed.  Bobby looked down at him amused.  "Need… mouth to mouth…"  Bobby laughed softly and bent down to kiss Kurt lightly.