A/N: Well, here it is...a brand new chapter for you to read. Okay, there is a small conversation in this chapter that was in the last chapter. That is because I am attempting to put everyone on the same timeline. So this chapter starts the morning that Scott and Logan leave to track Rogue and Remy. They have already left before this chapter starts. Once again, not mine, and make no money. Please review. Thank you.
Teresa Cassidy and Rahne Sinclair meet Peter Rasputin and make their way down to the kitchen for breakfast.
"I thought Kitty was going to meet us this morning," Rahne says to Teresa.
"I did too, but when I woke up, she was already gone." Teresa shrugs. "I figured that it was her way to tell us to bugger off."
"That doesn't sound like Kitty," Peter offers.
"I know, but it's baseball season and she was watching the game," Teresa replies. "I think she's still upset about Bobby yelling at her yesterday."
"Gee, I can't wonder why. He was a complete tosser to her. If I was her..." Rahne's soft Scottish brogue trails off in silence as she stops dead in her tracks. Like something from a cartoon, Teresa runs into the back of the girl, and Peter follows suit, knocking everybody off balance to tumble haphazardly on the plush carpeting of the hallway.
"What the...?" Teresa and Peter both begin. They look up and follow Rahne's sight to Bobby Drake, snuggled comfortably on the sofa, with Kitty Pryde using him as a body pillow. "Well, that's new," Peter says softly behind Teresa's shoulder next to her ear. Both girls nod.
--
-- "Erik?" Alex Summers lets the word play on his lips. He runs a hand through his blond hair as a thought occurs to him. "You wouldn't happen to be Erik Lehnsherr, would you?""I would."
"Then why lie? The man, Creed, told me your name is Magnus."
"It is. My name is Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. Victor has been an associate of mine for quiet a while now. Back then I was called Magnus. The name stuck, I suppose."
"I guess it did," Alex agrees, at a loss for anything else to say. "Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Lehnsherr?"--
-- "What are you doing down there?" Jones asks, with Jamie Madrox in tow. Both boys are looking at the heap of international students piled on the floor at their feet.
"Shhh!" Rahne hisses, pointing into the room.
"What?" Jamie asks, craning his neck to look where the girl is pointing.
"We're just trying to figure out when this happened," Theresa says. Peter nods shyly, feeling the girl move underneath him.
"Last night," Jones answers plainly, pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"What happened?" Rahne asks excitedly. She never knows gossip first-- that's Jubilee's job--and Rahne is going to make the most of this opportunity.
"Well, it looks like they made up," Jones says matter-of-factly. "He broke up with Rogue the day before yesterday, I think. Anyway, last night he told Kitty that he couldn't tutor her 'cause he couldn't sit in a stuffy library all summer and not touch her."
"He said that to her?" Theresa asks in awe. Jones nods.
"Ach, poor Rogue." Rahne says, wriggling her way out of the bottom of the pile. Peter promptly raises himself off Theresa and offers the girl a hand, which she accepts with a blushing thanks. "We should go find her and make sure she is okay," Rahne finishes.
"But she's gone," Jamie says, wide-eyed.
"What?" Peter says, now loud enough to cause the couple on the sofa in the other room to stir.
"Yeah, I fell and stubbed my toe this morning on my way to the bathroom," Jamie explains. "One of my selves went to go get a drink of water while I got a band-aid and another me got antiseptic."
"Now that's multi-tasking," Rahne murmurs to Theresa, who giggles lightly.
"I walked past the Professor's door really early this morning, before eight. He was talking to Mr. Summers and Mr. Logan. He said Rogue and the new guy had taken off with Mr. Summers' motorcycle."
"Rogue's run away with the new guy?" comes an excited, girly voice from the other room. Everybody turns their attention to Bobby and Kitty, whom they assumed were still asleep. They are somewhat dumbstruck at seeing Kitty sitting on Bobby's lap.
"That's the rumor," shrugs Jones with an impish grin.
"So what can we do?" asks Theresa.
"What we always do," Bobby answers miserably. "Wait."
"And keep a listen," Kitty says, with a grin that matches Jones'.
"Sounds like someone's walking through walls again." Bobby grins at the girl in his lap. "That's the rumor." Theresa answers slyly. -- "And here I thought it was I who could help you."
--
Erik chuckles.
"My dig."
"Ah yes, your archeological expedition. Tell me, Mr. Summers, what are you looking for?"
Alex feels as if Erik's eyes are piercing deep into his soul. His first instinct is to flee.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lehnsherr. I don't think you can help me. I'm just going to go now. Maybe I can even reschedule my appointment with Mr. Worthington. I have to go," Alex says, with a straight-backed efficiency that effectively erases the last shred of doubt of who is standing in front of him. This could prove complicated, if Xavier is to know of him, Magneto thought to himself. As far as the aged mutant knows, his old friend is still in the dark, and for that, a part of him is grateful.
Alex turns quickly and places a hand on the wrought-iron doorknob. It won't budge.
"How long have you been hiding?" Magneto says in a hushed tone. "All your life, am I right?"
Alex stops. "I don't understand. hiding what?"
"My dear boy, you are a mutant, are you not?"
Alex turns slowly to face Magneto. "How did you know?"
Magneto chuckles. "Let's just say we can smell our own."
--
-- "How do we get in to listen?" Theresa asks in a furtive whisper. The group has gathered for lunch at the bar in the kitchen."We don't. I do." Kitty answers, watching the faces of her friends fall. "Like, it's a tiny closet," she answers.
"So when do we send you into this wee closet?" Rahne asks.
"When Mr. Wagner goes into the office," Peter answers. Everyone gives the large Russian a puzzled look. "Let's just say he has a--how do you say--a vested interest in Rogue." The rest of the table stil stares at the shy Russian. "Just, trust me on this."
"All right, Peter," Bobby says. "We'll just keep an eye out for Mr. Wagner."
"What do we do 'til then?" Jamie asks, still mopey. He's felt a little abandoned since his best friend Sam Guhrie went home to Kentucky for the summer. Kitty grins mischievously. "Anyone want to play Phase 10?"
--
"Is that why you're interested in my dig?" Alex questions.
"Yes, of course, your dig," Magneto says, carefully opening a folder on his desk. "It says here that you have an interesting theory concerning the Cave of Lescaux."
A puzzled look crosses Alex's face. "That's the basis of my Master's thesis, yes. It doesn't have anything to do with my dig."
"It has been years since you have even used your mutation, hasn't it?"
Alex sighs resignedly. "I used to go to the firing range when I was in high school," he answers, a nervous tinge to his voice. "I'd set up targets and try to scorch them from a hundred paces."
"Who found you?" Magneto asks with a smile, as if he has heard the story before.
"My mother," Alex answers quietly. "Actually, my adoptive mother. The woman who raised me. My parents died when I was four. But then of course, you probably already knew that, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did." Magneto says cordially.
"What else do you know about me, Mr. Lehnsherr?"
Please, call me Erik," he says, beginning to pace around his office. "I know you were fifteen or so when your mutation manifested. I know you've been hiding your mutation ever since. That takes an extraordinary amount of control, to be sure. I know that your power is solar-based. I know that it terrifies you."
"Why would it terrify me?"
Erik turns his attention squarely to Alex once more. "Because you like it. You enjoy the power, the precision, the strength. Don't you? It may terrify you, to be sure, but you love the power."
"How do you know this? How do you know that I like it?"
"Because we are remarkably alike, Mr. Summers. And I have a proposition for you."
--
Kitty's new obsession is a card game her mother sent her from home called Phase 10. Her mom thought Kitty would find the name cute. Theresa has been forced to play it ever since. Not that she minds too much--the game is fun, and a good way to put off studying.
Kitty, Theresa, Rahne, Peter, Bobby, Jones, and Jamie all sit around on the Persian rug across from the Professor's office, in an alcove with floor-to-ceiling windows, having moved antique tables and chairs out of the way to make room for the large circle of mutants all holding cards in their hands. Each wear expressions ranging from smug glee to confusion to downright unamusement at their hands.
The summer sun has already set across the expansive grounds, and stars twinkle their presence through the glass onto the card game, before Ororo Munroe and Kurt Wagner stumbled onto the students.
"Phase 10 again, Kitten? I should have known." Ororo smiles.
Kurt offers a pre-occupied laugh. "I see our little Katzchen has made you play a hand too, liebling."
"What? It's a good game," Kitty pouts playfully. She feels her heartbeat rise in her chest as she watches her teachers be greeted by Dr. Hank McCoy outside of the Professor's office. The adults murmur to each other, nod, and enter.
"It's time," she whispers, abandoning the best hand she has had all afternoon. All seven students stand in unison, each wearing the exact same faces they do when they enter the Danger Room with Mr. Summers for training. They are working their own mission now, against some of the best- trained mutants in the world, and it's all their hides if they get busted.
"Ready?" Bobby asks Kitty. She nods her response. "Godspeed," Theresa says, reflexively crossing herself as Shadowcat phases through the wall.
--
-- ::Where do want to go?:: Jono Starsmore thinks aloud. He offers a mental smile Rogue can sense as he feels her stir against his back.::I really don't know,:: she replies.
::Are you hungry? Can't say I am, luv,:: Jono answers. ::I could watch you eat, though. What are you in the mood for?::
:: Anything, really. We should try and keep a pretty low profile for a while, though.:: She unconsciously rubs her jaw where she knows angry purple bruises are gleefully joining the other, older one, still mostly obscured by her glasses. ::I've been runnin' all day, sugah. I'm not sure how many more bar fights I can take today.::
::Fish and chips at my place, then,:: Jono says, taking a sharp turn onto a side street.
Rogue grins. ::You cookin' for me, darlin'?::
::Never learned how. Never saw the bloody point, really. I'm renting a flat above a fake English pub pretty cheap. The owner thinks it's a laugh to have a true Brit staying at his place.::
::Is it safe?:: Rogue asks.
::As safe as we get tonight.::
::Then, to your flat it is.::
--
Kitty releases a sigh of relief as she finds she has phased into the Professor's closet. The very first time she ever tried this, she passed into Xavier's liquor cabinet. Her hair smelled of Cognac for a week.She can hear bits and pieces of the conversation the adults are having. Words like mutant, Scotland, Magneto, sister, and Chicago are mingled with Germanic mutterings. Obscuring it all is frantic nervous whispers from her friends, directly behind her. The closet is stuffy, and Kitty is getting annoyed at her lack of information. She sticks her head through the wall to her friends, shushing them silently, as she reaches for Bobby's shirt. She forcably pulls him through the wall with her.
She places one finger across his lips and fans herself with her other hand. Bobby nods his understanding, and wills the air temperature around them to cool. Both of the young mutants then focus their attention to the conversation at hand.
"Do you know where they could be?" Hank asks.
"We believe they are still in the Chicago area," Ororo replies. "There is no reason to think otherwise."
"Is there any news about them?" Kurt asks, his accent growing thicker with worry.
Through the gap in the door, Kitty sees the Professor nod.
"There was a bar fight five minutes ago." Ororo says. "The Chicago Police Department suspects mutant activity. They are looking for three young adults--a girl with two-toned hair and two men, one with red-on-black eyes and one with leather covering his face." "Sound like anyone we know?" she asks with a quirky twist of the lips.
"Starsmore?" Hank asks.
Kitty gives Bobby a look. Bobby shrugs his answer--he doesn't know who Starsmore is either.
"It looks that way." Charles says.
"How did they know about him?" Hank asks, concern tainting his voice.
"Stryker had a file on him. Now, it's in Mystique's possession."
"The Brotherhood is looking for him." Ororo says.
"Why? Do we know that for sure?" Kurt asks.
"We don't know why," the Professor answers. "It's hard to track the movements of the Brotherhood with Cerebro. They have been taught extensively how to stay off the radar screen. It can be quite frustrating."
"They made an egregious error, however," Hank says with a grin. "They brought an immature mutant with them. His X-gene is still showing on Cerebro."
Ororo gasps and Hank nods with a grin.
"Yes, Goddess. St. John Allardyce is in Chicago."
"I think it's time to call Logan and Scott." Charles says, activating the comlink.
A crackle of static from the com-unit embedded in the dash brings the attention of both Wolverine and Cyclops. "Yes, Professor?" Scott Summers answers crisply. Kitty feels Bobby's hand clutch hers tight in the darkness of the closet.
"Scott, how close are you and Logan to Chicago?" Xavier asks.
"Half an hour out," Logan answers. "She's not as fast as she used to be."
"Well, if she hadn't been set ablaze, she might be quicker," Scott retorts, bitterly. Bobby stifles a laugh as Kitty shushes him.
"Not my fault, bub. I had a nine-millimeter round in my skull at the time." It is Kitty's turn to be hushed as she lets out a gasp audible enough to bring the weather witch's attention for a split second before Kurt brings her attention square on her lover.
"Enough!" Cries a voice at the other end--a voice with a thick German accent. Both Scott and Logan look at each other. If Xavier has brought in Kurt Wagner, the news was about Marie--and it is probably not good.
Charles and Hank wear the same look as Scott and Logan. "Gentlemen, please. Ororo has been scanning communications for hours. Apparently there has been a bar fight, in Chicago. The bar is in ruins. They suspect mutant activity. The bar was splintered by some sort of blast. The eyewitnesses say they are looking for three mutants--a girl and two men."
"Wait," Scott questions. "Two men, Professor?"
"Starsmore's a mutant?" Bobby whispers. Kitty shrugs.
"Yes. I was afraid of this. A colleague of Dr. McCoy and myself contacted us two weeks ago. One of her students has gone missing. There was thought that he was coming to the United States. I think this is the other man."
"Well, who is he, and what can he do?" Logan asks, cutting to the chase. "His mutation is actually quite simple," Dr. Henry McCoy answers. "Then keep the explanation simple, Hank," Scott says, rubbing his temples hard.
Bobby grins. He's always liked Mr. Summers, and can sympathise with his frustration.
"He is pure energy," Dr. McCoy replies. "When his mutation manifested, it did so quite explosively. He demolished an entire building in north London. Also, for lack of better words, he blew out his entire jaw, and his chest cavity. His body is now totally devoid of most vital organs, save his brain."
"Good God," Logan's voice crackles slightly on the com-link.
Kitty can all but feel the man's frustration.
"How would we catch up to them?" Scott wonders aloud. "He doesn't eat, doesn't have to sleep."
"Ja, but Marie and Remy will," Kurt says, resuming his pacing.
"I have programmed the coordinates of the bar to the car's computer," Ororo says. "It will be your best starting place."
"Agreed," Scott says. "We'll notify you when we get there."
"Good," Xavier answers. "I will attempt to track them using Cerebro."
"Scott, Logan," Ororo says. "Be careful."
Ms. Munroe uses the same tone with Kitty when she begins to overdo it in the Danger Room. Nothing the girl has heard tonight worries her like that tone of voice. The seriousness of the situation settles home deep in the pit of Kitty's belly. The Brotherhood is after her friend, and it is time to figure out how to bring them back. She now understands the change in look Bobby and Peter now get when they go into the Danger Room. They both have been in combat situations and understand what it will take to get the job done. Kitty can feel it in her now. It gives her purpose. The next statement broke the heart of everyone who could hear it.
"And, bitte shöen, meinen Freunden, bring her back," Kurt adds before the connection goes dead.
Kurt sits into a crouch, his tail resting limply on the floor. Ororo drops to her knees in between Kurt's thighs. Hank goes to say something comforting, and is stopped by a gentle hand on his elbow. He turns to face Charles Xavier, and heeds the gentle shake of the Professor's head.
"We'll meet back here at eight tomorrow morning, if there is no pressing information in the middle of the night," Xavier says. "Ororo, we should also consider notifying the reserve teachers. We may need them." The remaining team members mumble their understanding and bid each other good night.
Kitty breathes a sigh of relief. Her head feels as if it is about to burst. Bobby looks to be in almost the exact same shape. There is a lot of information to sort through, and their friends are going to want answers immediately. Kitty takes Bobby's hand and begins to phase her and Bobby back into the hallway. She feels a large, heavy hand on her head pushing her back into the closet. With a disgruntled snort, she starts the phase back through again when Bobby grabs her wrist hard and shakes his head. She presses her ear to the back of the wardrobe and can hear Ms. Munroe's voice just on the other side of the plaster.
"I see all of you are still playing," Ororo says, looking at her students almost exactly where she left them. Kitty and Bobby are gone, their cards turned over, and Peter sitting with his back against the wall, cards in hand.
"Peter, what are you doing all the way over there?" Kurt asks. "Where's Bobby and Kitty?"
"They went to the bathroom," Theresa answers without looking up from her cards.
"I'm here because they were... peeking," Peter says, giving Ororo his most innocent smile. Few knew the truth--that smile is never innocent. Thankfully, Ororo is not among those in the know. "Well, don't stay up too late," Kurt says as he and Ororo make their way down the hall.
A small rap on the wall tells Kitty it's time to leave their hiding place. "My room. Ten minutes." Kitty says quickly, walking down the hall away from the others so everyone can come from different directions and not rouse suspicions from the group of already on-edge teachers.
--
Hours pass slowly despite the adrenaline coursing through Remy's veins. He jumps his last rooftop, finally landing on the roof of the safehouse. Lightly, he drops to the doorstep, and with a last glance around he begins to expertly pick the lock. In fifteen seconds, he opens the door.
For the second time in his life he is met with a fist full of claws so close to his throat he can nearly taste the adamantium.
Remy gives an easy smile to Logan. "Didn't we leave you in another time zone, mon ami?"
"We are not friends," Logan growls. "Where is she, bub?"
"Who you looking for?" Remy asks with as much charm and innocence as he can muster given the fact that he could swear his life is flashing before his eyes. Immediately Remy begins to work his fingers out of the riding gloves that he had lifted out of Logan's own pocket days earlier. He allows the glove to slide soundlessly to the floor, and slowly brings his bare hand toward Logan's fist.
"Touch him and I will hit you where you stand, do you hear me?" a stern voice says from somewhere behind Logan.
"You heard de homme, wild man," Remy says, dripping with smug bravado. "Let me go."
Logan grins evilly. "He was talking to you, bub. I wouldn't test him. Accuracy is part of his mutation. You wouldn't want to go screwin' around takin' chances on mother nature, would ya?"
::Maybe this is better,:: Remy thinks. ::Maybe dey could bring Marie back. Then again, maybe dey'd kill him on simple principle.:: Remy nods his head.
"Good, now tell me where Marie is."
"Remy don't know," the Cajun answers clearly.
"Tell him, or I swear to God I will send you straight back to the Bayou on the end of an optic blast," Cyclops says coldly. Logan looks over his shoulder at the leader of the X-Men and wonders what Scott has gotten himself into. Now with another member of his team in danger, he is afraid Scott is losing it. He likes it.
"I mean it. I don't know." Remy explodes. "I put her on de bike. I put her on de bike wit' de Anglais wit' no face."
"Who's driving?" Logan growls.
"Jono his name. English kid."
"You did what?" Scott steps quickly into Remy's view. balling his fist in Remy's shirt, he rips the boy out of the claws of Logan and pushes Remy firmly causing him to land on the sofa. "You put Rogue in the protection of a complete stranger and left him in control of where they were going?"
Logan crosses to Scott, who is advancing on Remy. ::Christ, now I have to be the responsible one here, Logan thinks. If he knew, Wheels would shit.:: He retracts his claws and grabs Scott's arm firmly as Remy takes a deep breath.
"Why did ya do that, Gumbo?" Logan asks, his patience rapidly thinning. "Had to. Couldn't risk her getting caught by de police."
"Rogue's a big girl, with impeccable training. She can take care of herself. We'd have come and got her. Why put her on my motorcycle with a complete stranger?" Scott asks, the calm, measured teacher's voice reemerging from the rage.
"I had no choice." Remy slumps further into the cushions of the sofa before looking up into the looming, furious face above. "You don't get it. I couldn't protect her. I knew I had to, but I couldn't. I saw what she did to de lab. I saw what she could do in de bar. She'd be locked up. You honestly think they'd let her keep her glasses? She would've been blind. I thought he could do it better. That maybe he could protect her, because I knew I couldn't. And I left him every means available to me, and that meant your bike."
"Here's what's going to happen, bub. You are going to tell us everything that went on in that bar, and we are going to find her," Logan growls, dropping himself in a chair waiting for the story to begin. "Don't leave anything out."
Without preamble, Scott's hand snaps out and pulls Remy up by his shirt with such force that it rips under Cyclops' fingers. The older man seems to take no notice. "Something you should know, kid. Something you don't seem to get. You want protection for her, don't you?"
Remy nods mutely.
"You're looking at it." Scott's voice rumbles from his chest. "We protect her."
--
"Ah haven't eaten in a while, sugah. Hope you brought your own." Rogue smiles, sitting on the floor. This a lot smaller than the safehouse-- cozier somehow, with less furniture, but it looks as if it is more lived- in, and it makes her feel safe.
::No need.:: Jono shook his head with a hint of melancholy, handing her the plate and placing the glass on the floor to her right. ::I don't eat, love. You'll enjoy that though, yeah? Smells just like home.::
"Why don't you eat?" Rogue asks dropping a chip into her mouth. ::It's the mutation, love. My body is filled with psionic energy. When it first manifested, it blew my bloody chest apart. I have no jaw, no throat, no heart, no lungs and no stomach. I should be dead, but the energy is keeping everything alive. I'm also a half-arsed telepath. Compensation for havin' no mouth. It's not that I have full telepathic capability--just enough to be able to talk to someone, and project images only to someone close.::
"Sweet Jesus," Rogue exclaims. "That's horrible."
Jono's eyes twinkle in what she takes to be a smile. ::It's not as bad as all that.:: Rogue gives him a critical look. ::All right, its complete bollocks, but I'm alive.::
"You seem to be taking this very well." Rogue says. "When my powers first came, Mein Gott, it was terrifiying."
::So just what are your powers, exactly? I know you kissed the bloke in the pub and he dropped like a stone, but there was the red lasers that came out of your eyes.::
"All part and parcel, ah'm afraid." She smiles kindly. "My power is that ah can drain a person's life force by touching them, if they're human. If ah touch a mutant, then ah can take their powers for a short or a long time, depending on how long ah stay connected to them. Either way, we stay connected long enough, and they're dead."
::Bloody hell,:: Jono replies.
"Yeah. And the optic blasts ain't mine; ah 'm just borrowin' them. They belong to my teacher. Ah can't control my power, so ah can't touch anyone without hurting them."
::Your teacher?::
"Yeah," she nods, "Ah live at a school in upstate New York. It's full of people just like us."
::Why did you leave?:: Jono asks quietly.
Rogue smiles sadly. "Ah was hurtin' a lot of people. Ah gotta wear these glasses for ah don't know how long. Ah still have my teacher's power 'cause ah nearly killed him this morning." She looks at the clock in the room; it reads 1:36. "Or yesterday morning, ah guess. Ah don't know. Ah'm so confused." Rogue rubs her hands on her face under her glasses.
::Why don't you get some sleep? I'll stay up and make sure no one comes to get us.:: Jono's eyes crinkle; this time she knows this is a smile to make her feel better.
"Ah'm sure we'll be fine. You can sleep too, if you want." Rogue yawns.
::Energy never sleeps,:: Jono thinks sadly. ::Here ya go.:: Jono takes a pillow from the other side of him and places it on his left thigh. ::I don't have a bed. I think with this, we've got it sorted though, yeah?:: he thinks, his uncertainess seeping through his telepathy.
Rogue smiles a warm smile. "Don't mind if ah do." She scoots herself down to lay her head upon the pillow. Nuzzling down, she slips her right palm under his leg and sighs. When she was a little girl, she would curl up on the porch swing with her Daddy just like this as he watched the stars. She is asleep before Jono can reach the remote and turn on the telly.
--
-- "Wait, back up, Remy." Scott interupts. "What was that again?"The Cajun sighs, getting tired of the interrogation. "She jumped up on the bar and kissed de big guy."
"That's when she began to panic." Scott prompts.
"Oui, she say we gotta go."
"What did she say when she left?" Logan asks.
"She say be careful an' not get caught by her brother."
Scott snaps his head to the boy. "Rogue doesn't have a brother."
"That she knows about," Logan mumbles under Scott's glare.
"Her brother?" Scott repeats, trying to get her meaning.
"Oui, she say forget the police, and don't get caught by de brother."
Scott and Logan's eyes meet. "Brotherhood, Gumbo. Not brother."
"Who was dat guy?" Remy asks.
"Mom," Logan answers, knowing this little search just got more urgent.
"What?" Remy questions.
"Nothing," Scott snaps sharper than necessary.
"All right. Look, I'm starving. Let's take a break and get some food." Logan says.
"It's a little late, homme. Thinkin' Remy can still order pizza."
Scott shakes his head. "Not enough protein for Logan." Wolverine turns to offer a confused look to the man. "I still have Rogue in my head," Scott answers. "She knows a great deal about what you need."
"Yeah, she does." Then Logan says something Remy never expected. The Wolverine man smiles before his expression turns serious once more. "I'm still goin' to kill her for leaving."
"Join the club," Scott says, patting Logan on the shoulder.
--
-- "Did you honestly think we'd just let you take our sister?" A tall man asks coming nose to nose with Rogue."What you mean, mes amis?" Rogue asks before a punch to her stomach drops her to her knees gasping for air.
"You know exactly what the hell we talkin' 'bout," another man yells at her. She can now make out the forms of three large men. The one closest to her is carrying a lead pipe. She makes a blind grab for the pipe and misses. She gets hoisted to her feet and struck across the jaw for her trouble.
"Bella is our sister. You will not marry her."
"Look, Remy don't think you understand. I'm marryin' Bella. There will be no guild competition. There'll only be money for us all."
"Over my dead body. We settle this like Assassins, Thief. We just fight 'til one of us don't get up."
Rogue's swollen eyes open amid shrieks of rage. Her head is splitting and she does know how to make the sound stop. "You killed my brother, you bastard! He's dead because of you!" Rogue squints to see a statuesque woman with blond hair being held back by a large man whose arms are wrapped around hers.
"Well, you done it now," says an older man crouched at Rogue's side. Rogue turns her head to look at the man's face.
"What'd I do, Jean-Luc?" She slurs. New levels of pain explode behind her eyes as Jean-Luc laughs at his protegé.
"Why, I think ya just mighta pissed off the petite fille here, Remy."
"He was gonna kill me," Rogue says, trying to clear the dirt from her throat.
"She don't seem too worried about that too much now, does she?"
"I want his throat!" screeches Bella Donna, kicking hard at the man holding her away from the target of her rage.
"Bella!" booms a commanding voice from behind the blond woman. The entire alley falls into a silence as Marius Boudreaux, leader of the Assassins' Guild walks into view.
"Well, what we gonna do about this mess, Jean-Luc?" Boudreaux asks.
"It was a fair duel," Jean-Luc LeBeau says easily. "Everybody else say Remy didn't start it. I say we leave it up to Bella Donna. Julien was her brother, after all."
"Well, Bel," Marius says, "I suppose it's up to you. What do you want to do with your fiancée?"
Bella Donna wriggles her way out of the large man's arms. She straightens and smoothes her shirt across her abdomen. Rogue can hear the click of Bella's heels on the cobblestone of the alley behind the gin joint. She crouches down in front of Rogue and pulls her up by her duster so she is slumped against the wall.
"Remy, I've loved you since the first moment I looked into those haunting eyes. I love you now more that ever, and I was proud to be yours." She slides her hands up Rogue's chest, hooking her hands in the collar of her duster, sliding it off her arms in a heap behind her. She gently takes Rouge's face in her hands and brings her mouth down on her lips. It is the softest thing Rogue has ever felt. Too quickly, Bella Donna stands and walks away from Rogue.
She watches as the blond woman walks over to the man who was once holding her back. She plunges her hand into an inside pocket of the man's leather jacket, slipping something onto her hand. Bella Donna turns and walks purposefully to Rogue.
What's left of Rogue's breath gets stuck in her throat at the look in Bella's eyes. It is if she is no longer human. Her red, bloodshot eyes are wild, and her blond hair gets caught in the wind. Rogue is reminded of Logan in a berserk streak, but with the rage only a scorned woman can harness. Rogue watches as Bella balls her fist. With every inch of woman and every ounce of rage, she connects her fist to Rogue's jaw. Rogue instantly hits the cobblestone, and can do nothing but watch the blood from her mouth pool and run along the canals formed by the cobbles. Rogue feels her chin being lifted slightly to look upon Bella's face once more.
"I don't love you anymore," the blond woman growls. She spits in Rogue's face, and drops Rogue's chin to hit again on the pavement. Bella turns around to stare at the men gaping at her.
"Both guilds are here tonight," she screams. "You want the fighting to end? It ends tonight. As a show of good faith to the Thieves' Guild, I will let Remy LeBeau live. He just can't live here. If anyone sees Le Diable Blanc in New Orleans again, kill him. If someone does not, it will be seen as an act of treason, and as God as my witness, I will deal with you myself." She turns to the two guild patriarchs. "Deal?"
Both Jean-Luc LeBeau and Marius Boudreaux nod.
Bella turns once again on Rogue, who watches as Bella flips a long sharp blade from her brass knuckles. She places a high-heeled boot firmly in the center of Rogue's back. Rogue has to bite back a scream as Bella grinds her heel between vertebrae. In one smooth move, Bella reaches down and cuts away Rogue's shirt from her back. Bella leans down and whispers almost sweetly into the other girl's ear, "You have twenty-four hours, chère. Get the fuck out of Louisiana." Rogue feels the blade bury itself into the flesh and muscle of her shoulder, and screams.
"Storm!" She feels strong arms wrap around her, pulling the girl into a lap to be cradled and soothed.
::Chamber,:: comes a small but distinct voice in her head. The pain is gone. The stones are gone. The woman is gone. Instead, her senses are filled with a smell of beer and fish.
"Chamber," she echoes meekly, feeling her heart begin to slow in reality. "Chamber," she echoes again, as tears and exhaustion claim her once again into the blackness of sleep.
--
-- Rogue's eyes slam open as she feels someone straddling her hips. "I always fantasized about seeing you like this," St. John Allerdyce says as he looks down at the girl trying to fight under him."John!" Rogue screams, wriggling her legs in an attempt to kick herself free.
"Oh girl, I always knew you had a thing for me," John snickers, grabbing at Rogue's wrists. "But I don't think this is the best time."
"Get off me!" Rogue screams.
"Shut that bitch up," says a gruff, feral voice from somewhere else in the small apartment.
"Gladly," John answers.
"Sweet dreams, sugah," drawls John in a mock Mississippi accent, placing a red cloth over her nose and mouth.
Rogue feels a bare hand slide across her stomach. Her eyes dart to see Jono tied up next to her, his back facing her, a gloveless hand stretched as far as it can go, resting almost expectantly on her stomach between her body and John's. Rogue can feel herself slipping into unconsciousness. She musters up the strength to open her mind as wide as she can and scream telepathically to one person to whom she already has the strongest connection.
::Scott!::
--
-- Scott is jerked awake, sitting upright on the sofa. "Logan!" Scott yells.Logan jerks awake in the chair, completely conscious, claws instantly drawn. "What is it?" Scott looks at Logan and blinks, trying to process the information flooding his brain. "Time to go. The Brotherhood has Rogue."
