Of God and Man
Disclaimers: See chapter 1. I ain't gonna repeat my self except to say thanks Stan.
A/N: Rogue's home. Remy's in trouble now. He don't know it but they're gonna have problems with a religious issue. Could this be the final straw for my favorite X couple?
Feedback: Yes Please. I need all the pats on the head I can get. I have no life.
Chapter 5 The Sex Ed Teacher
Remy LaBeau was used to doing for himself. He had grown up in the alleys of New Orleans where he was responsible for himself from a very early age. He had been taken in and adopted by the Thieves Guild after trying to pick the pocket of it's leader. Jean-Luc LaBeau had felt sorry for the young waif because he was such a poor thief and decided to teach him how to do it right. Years later, he was a skilled acrobat, fighter and thief and his father was insufferably proud of him.
Remy's mutation was apparent at birth, black eyes with fiery red irises. It was the reason he had been dumped by his parents. It also was the reason he was such a good thief. His mutation gave him incredible flexibility, agility and the ability to take the potential energy stored in an object and convert it into kinetic energy. Things had a habit of going 'boom' around him.
He joined the X-Men after a series of unfortunate events led to his expulsion from New Orleans with a warning to never come back. Remy was a pragmatic man and decided to make his fortune elsewhere. The X-Men seemed to be the lesser evil. That and he wanted to get into the pants of the beautiful Rogue. The fact that her skin would suck the life force out of him made the chase considerably more interesting. Getting into her bed would take all of his empathy and not a little imagination. She has resisted his advances for a long time and Remy loved a challenge, but after all these years, he had still not been able to kiss her and remain conscious long enough to remember it. Needless to say, he hadn't made it into her bed yet.
That's not to say that she never took a lover. Joseph had been able to avoid being drained by her powers and they had enjoyed a sexual relationship. Unfortunately, Rogue's carnal knowledge of Joseph had made it more difficult for Remy after her lover's apparent death rather than easier. Rogue now knew what she was missing and craved it even more but she couldn't take the risk of killing Remy with her powers. Her resistance became phenomenal.
Remy was content to play with her, coming close enough for her to feel his hot breath on her skin but never touching. He would go to the prostitutes in town when the tension got to be too much but as long as Rogue never found out, he was okay.
Rogue, however, was in hell. She had taken time after Joseph's death to mourn but soon found that she missed the closeness and the sex she got from him. She had never thought of herself as a sensual woman but he had proved her wrong. Now, with Remy playing games with her, she was regretting getting involved with Joseph in the first place. She had been much better off not knowing what she was missing.
Carolyn had been present when Rogue returned to the X-Men and saw Remy's reaction. She could tell that the Cajun thief loved her and was sure that Rogue loved him. She wasn't sure why their reunion was so cool but she promised herself that she would get to the bottom of this mystery. The first person she thought of was the mansion gossip; Jubilee.
"What's with Remy and Rogue?" Carolyn asked her as they lounged beside the pool. Logan had to go to the city for Xavier and canceled her training for the day. He had left with the warning that she would have to work harder tomorrow to make up for the missing day. She was so not looking forward to tomorrow.
"They've been in love for as long as I can remember," Jubilee told her. "Rogue's powers make it so she can't touch anyone without draining them of their life force or with a mutant, their powers."
"That sucks," Carolyn remarked. That would be like being damned to hell while still alive. "Has Hank tried to do anything?"
"Hank tried for years to help her. He's too busy with Legacy to work on it now. Rogue was involved with someone for a while. His own powers resisted hers so they were able to have a relationship."
"What happened to him?"
"He was killed in South America trying to save a bunch of kids. Rogue was real torn up about it for a long time but she seems to be better now."
"And Remy still wants her even after she left him for another man?"
"You know," Jubilee said as she turned on her side to look at Carolyn. "I think he's glad she had Joseph. I'm not sure Remy would know what to do with a virgin. Now that she's not, he can figure out how to get her into bed."
"Maybe that's why he avoids me," Carolyn mused.
"He avoids you because you were a nun," she told her. "Remy was raised Catholic but hasn't been to church in years. I think he's afraid you'll bring the wrath of God down on him."
"Ah," she sighed, "the post Vatican II confusion. I'll give him space but I want to meet Rogue."
"Why don't you go up and see her later," Jubilee suggested. "She's two doors down from you. I'm sure she'd want to get to know you."
Scott Summers was sitting at a picnic table across from where Jubilee and Carolyn had set up their tanning post. He was not a happy camper. Most of the X-Men knew his history. He had been raised in a church run orphanage for a lot of his childhood and had been surrounded by nuns most of his life. He was used to nuns wearing habits that covered every inch of their skin except the face, a rosary dangling from their waist. He wasn't used to a nun taking over the health and science classes from Jean and teaching sex ed to a passel of rowdy mutant teenagers. And he really wasn't used to a nun wearing a bikini and sunbathing!
It didn't bother him that his wife, who was wearing an emerald green thong with a string bra top, was wearing much less than Carolyn. She's a nun for God's sake! She's supposed to be covered head to toe in black and white. Nuns aren't supposed to be in tiny bits of electric pink fabric lying in full view of everyone. The last illusion he had of the women who raised him after his parents died was falling apart. He felt robbed.
"She will tell you that she isn't a nun anymore," Jean whispered in his ear. A shiver of desire shot down his spine. She never failed to excite him when she whispered in his ear.
"Keep doing that and I'll need a cold shower," he murmured. She gave him a throaty laugh and sat down beside him on the bench.
"She's a very effective teacher," Jean commented. "She can control the emotions in the class which helps them to concentrate on what she has to say. In sex ed, she's able to dispel the embarrassment that most of the kids feel talking about sex. She can also keep them from becoming aroused. She's the best one for the job. I know you hated it when it was your turn to teach sex ed."
"Is she teaching abstinence or birth control?"
"Both," Jean told him. "She advises them to wait until they are older to make the decision but she insists that they use protection until they are ready for the responsibility of children. She's an excellent teacher Scott. Hank tells me there have been a run on condoms and oral contraceptives since she started teaching."
"Well, there you are," he exclaimed. "She's making them curious."
"Maybe a few but not as many as you'd think. Most of the ones seeing Hank have been sexually active for a while but were too afraid to ask for something. I think her attitude is healthy."
"You know who's been having sex?" he demanded.
"Yes, and no, I won't tell you. It's not your business."
"But they're children Jean."
"They stopped being children the day their powers manifested. You know that better than anyone." She turned to look him in the eyes through the ruby quartz lenses of his glasses. "We give them the illusion of a normal adolescence but they aren't normal, and they can't ever be normal again. We teach them responsibility with their powers but we can't give them a normal life. Sexual experimentation is a part of adolescence. It may be the last normal thing they ever do."
He took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. "Maybe you're right," he conceded, "but I still don't like a nun in a pink bikini. And I definitely don't like Jubilee in that little red thing she's wearing."
She couldn't help but laugh. "A fashion maven you're not," she said as she kissed his cheek. "I'm going inside and change. Wanna watch?" she said with a gleam in her eye.
He was up and out of his seat before she could finish her question. Arm in arm, they made their way to the mansion and to their room for a pleasant afternoon of marital bliss.
"Rogue?" Carolyn said as she poked her head into the open door.
"Yes?" Rogue said. Her bags were strewn over the room in various stages of unpacking.
"I'm Carolyn Gibson," she introduced herself. "Can I help you unpack?"
"Sugah, Ah'll take any help Ah can get," Rogue told her. "Ah didn't know how much Ah had until Ah packed."
"Jubilee told me about your powers," Carolyn told her as she opened a large suitcase. "Have you made any progress in control?"
"Not yet," she said sadly. "Sometimes Ah think Ah'm bein' punished."
"Oh Rogue," Carolyn said, "You're not being punished, you're being tested."
Rogue looked at her, questions in her eyes.
"God never gives you more than you can handle," Carolyn said as she sat on the bed. "You're a strong woman, Rogue, physically and mentally. God has plans for you. He hasn't told you what they are yet but I'm willing to bet that they are huge. Maybe you aren't meant to have children but you're not unloved. God loves you, Jubilee loves you, Remy worships the ground you walk on. Don't for a moment believe that you can't be loved."
"What about sex?"
"What about it? Remy hasn't had sex with you and he still loves you. Sex is important but not the most important part of a relationship."
"But Ah want a relationship with him," she protested.
"Have you asked God?"
"Ah'm outta practice but Ah pray,"
"Maybe you need to get back in practice," Carolyn told her wryly. "I use prayer to control my powers. Without it, everyone here and in the surrounding ten miles would be feeling my every emotion. Imagine the chaos that would cause."
"Ten miles?" Rogue asked astonished.
"It was only a mile when I first got here but learning control has extended my range. Now I can't pull it in any closer when I blast. I can, however, concentrate it on one person but it still takes me a lot of mind bending to do it. I'm not ready for the field yet but I'm a whole lot better than I was before I came."
"What happened before ya got here?" She shifted a suitcase and sat down next to Carolyn.
"Oh," she moaned and covered her eyes. "It was awful. I caused two riots and an orgy in less than two weeks. When Charles and Jean showed up after the last riot, I ended up getting thrown out of the convent."
"Convent?" Rogue squeaked. "You were in a convent?"
"I was a nun," she admitted.
"And you caused an orgy?" she giggled.
"A dream," Carolyn said wryly. "Hey, I'm still a woman. Being an empath's a pain."
"Ah'm sure."
"Yeah," she laughed. "My shields have to be tighter than the Mother Superior's girdle."
Kitty heard high pitched laughter coming from Rogues room. She's back, she thought. I need to see her.
"Rogue?" she said as she poked her head into the room. Unfortunately, sitting on the bed was the woman who caused so much trouble three months ago.
"You!" Kitty hissed. "What are you doing here?"
"What is your problem Kitty?" Rogue asked. She'd never seen her like this. Kitty is usually so easy going. What did Carolyn do to make Kitty hate her?
"Ms. Pryde," Carolyn addressed the angry ninja, "I don't understand why you're still angry after three months. I hadn't learned to control my powers and I didn't target you personally. The entire mansion was affected."
"You nearly made me kill Jubilee," Kitty screamed. "Logan would have never forgiven me if I had. You're a danger to everyone, human and mutant."
"Is that what yer problem is?" Rogue demanded "Ya still want Logan?"
"He can still be mine but not if I kill his little pet."
"Kitty, Logan thinks of ya as his daughter. He can't be what ya want him to be," Rogue told her, trying to defuse the situation.
"She's right Kitten," Logan said from the door.
"Logan," Kitty gasped. "I..."
"I know what ya were tryin ta do," he said, his face closed. "I want ya ta talk ta Chuck."
Kitty stood there and looked at her feet.
"Now," he barked.
She nodded and left the room.
"I'm sorry ya got involved in this," he told Carolyn. "It's been a problem fer a while but this time, she's gone too far. I hafta do something now."
"I never wanted to come between you and Kitty, Logan."
"Nothin between Kitty and me," he grumbled. "She's got an attraction that ain't healthy. I've been hoping that if I ignored it, she'd ferget. I guess I was wrong." She could tell he was upset and started to project calm. "Stop it Carol. I taught ya that one. Right now, I don't wanna feel better." He left, leaving behind a cloud of sadness.
"What did ya do that made Logan yell at ya," Rogue asked curiously.
"You didn't feel it?" Carolyn asked in surprise.
"Ah know he was unhappy but he told ya to stop it. What were ya doin'?"
"I was projecting calm," Carolyn told her. "People feel it when I use my powers. Why didn't you?"
"Wasn't directed at me," she said with a shrug.
"My control isn't that good yet. Everyone feels it but not as much as the person I aim at." She was getting excited. "Could you be resistant to my powers?"
"Ah don't know," said Rogue. "Why don't ya try an experiment? Give me one of yer emotions but not anger. Ah have super strength."
"Okay." Carolyn reached down and pulled out happiness. Directing it as Charles and Ororo had taught her, she pushed it toward Rogue. Soon, she heard a student giggling down the hall but Rogue didn't even smile.
"What are ya sending?" she asked.
"Happiness," Carolyn told her.
Rogue shook her head. "Ah don't feel it."
She pulled the emotion back and damped it quickly. It wouldn't do to have the mansion fall apart in hysterics but she had trouble containing her excitement.
"You're resistant to my powers," Carolyn said, her eyes bright. "This is a first for me."
"You should probably talk ta Charles," Rogue told her. "He needs ta know that ya don't affect me."
"Yeah," she said "You're right. Boy, there's more to these powers than I thought." She returned to unpacking. "I better wait until he's finished with Kitty and Logan. I don't want a repeat of that."
"The life of a mutant is one of discovery," Rogue said as she pulled her clothes from a suitcase. "Ya won't reach yer full potential until yer about thirty."
"You're kidding!" Carolyn's mouth dropped open. "I'm alpha level now. You mean I could get stronger?"
"Ya could go omega or ya could have a secondary mutation or both. There's no way ta tell."
"Oh, you're full of good news," Carolyn said sourly.
They spent an hour unpacking Rogue's suitcases and sorting laundry. Carolyn's mind was troubled as they worked. Why hadn't Charles told her that she may have a power up or a secondary mutation? Why didn't he stress the importance of stronger shields? If she were to go omega, her present shields would be useless. What other secrets had he withheld? She was going to have to have a very serious talk with the good professor.
