Disclaimer: Don't own the X-Men. Do own both Blaze and Raven.
10
The fire and the transfer of power to a body not its own lasted only a few moments. A transient torrent of golden beauty that destroyed Splice and her clones with no mercy. The air cooled and the light softened, the mystic warmth that had illuminated Blaze-as-Rogue's features faded as Laura sighed her abject disappointment.
"Gone…" The Southern accent betrayed Blaze-as-Rogue's emptiness, her pain even though she barely whispered the words. "I'm cold again…"
"What the hell you t'ink you doin' woman?" Gambit bawled up at the brunette as he knelt on the ground with Rogue-as-Blaze's body wrapped up in his arms. Rogue was just coming to, dazed and bewildered as she held Remy's hand.
"Why is it so cold?" Blaze-as-Rogue asked no one in particular. "I don't understand…"
Logan raised a hand to keep Gambit where he was, stop him from biting Rogue's head off. Hesitantly Wolverine took a step forward through the charred corpses that surrounded them. Reaching out to touch the brunette's shoulder he asked her name carefully, unsure of the response. "Rogue?"
Blaze-as-Rogue's head snapped up and she suddenly understood. Her voice was sure and decisive as she knocked Logan's hand away and met his eyes. "No, I'm not Rogue."
"She lost it!" Gambit was near hysterical, only the weight of his wife's prone body against him was keeping him staying where he was. "She turn on us!"
"If you're not Rogue, then who are you?" A soft English voice asked, making Gambit squeeze Rogue-as-Blaze tighter. Rogue pushed Blaze's body into a more upright position, shoving Gambit away not quite callously as she met her own body's eyes. Jaw set, she stubbornly dared Blaze to ruin this all.
But Blaze had never been one for backing off a challenge, especially not from any woman held by Gambit. As the 'couple' stood to face her, Blaze-as-Rogue maintained Rogue-as-Blaze's eye contact. Her voice was strained and somewhat desperate but she made sure every word was clear.
"You know who I am." Laura began, raising her chin obstinately. Marie couldn't help but shiver slightly at the anger and hatred that crackled between the two women. But Laura wasn't done. "How could you? How could you do this to me?"
"Blaze done nothin' to you, you attacked her!" Remy snapped, trying to step in front of Rogue-as-Blaze to shelter her from any further madness. Blaze-as-Rogue was having none of it, raised the volume of her scathing acknowledgement that the secret was out. Screaming she charged forward and pushed Rogue-as-Blaze backwards into the dust again. The Southern belle trapped in the English woman's body slipped and fell, rolling to land on her palms as Blaze-as-Rogue loomed over her.
"You stole my life! You were my friend Rogue, an' you stole my life!"
Gambit had had enough, lifting the brunette away from the prone body of the redhead by her upper arms. Roughly he shook the woman he thought was Rogue and flung her away. Blaze managed to stay on her feet, cursing Rogue like a sailor and ignoring Gambit. Wolverine looked on with a scowl on his face, growling. "Anyone else confused?"
"She lost it!" Gambit was adamant and obviously freaked out. Red-on-black eyes wide he kept himself as a human shield between the two women. But Blaze-as-Rogue just kept screaming at Rogue-as-Blaze. "Tell them! Tell them what you've done! Go on Rogue, I dare you!"
"I…" Rogue-as-Blaze stood slowly, looking from the real Blaze to Gambit and back again.
"Then answer this," Blaze-as-Rogue was thinking on her feet, circling Rogue and Gambit so she could maintain eye contact with the woman in her body. "What's Jessica's middle name?"
"What are you doin'? Leave her alone!" Gambit tried to interrupt and was ignored.
"No ideas? It's Lauren, but what about Remy's?" Blaze-as-Rogue's tone was nasty and spiteful, and her eyes were shining as she watched Rogue-as-Blaze squirm. She was too angry to think about anything but trying to hurt Marie like she'd near-destroyed Laura.
"She don't have to prove nothin', you know that stuff 'cause you touched her Rogue!" Gambit was getting desperate. He'd never seen Rogue look so dangerous…
"Then why can't she answer the question? Humour me at least!" This time it was Wolverine who tried to get Blaze-as-Rogue to back off, reaching out one more time to the brunette.
"Rogue drop it already! You touched her, you got her memories and her powers and its left her weak. Get over it before you show yourself up anymore."
"Then let her prove it! Tell us where you married Gambit! Tell us!" There seemed no end to the questioning, and both Gambit and Wolverine were out of ideas and their depth. Gambit turned to Rogue with apologies in his eyes. "Maybe you humour her Petite?"
"I…" Rogue began again, scanning her scattered memories for any clue to protest her innocence even if it was a lie. She just couldn't give this up! Not Gambit, not Jessica, not the miracle of touch! "Um… Paris of course…"
"What?" Gambit gasped, searching Rogue-as-Blaze's brown eyes and gaping like a fish. Something was very wrong here… "Chere, you know that ain't right."
"But I…" Rogue-as-Blaze protested. Blaze-as-Rogue spoke again, voice smugly sarcastic over the rawness of her broken heart. "Tell her Rem, tell you 'wife' where you married her!"
Gambit didn't pick up on the fact that the woman he thought was Rogue was calling him by an abbreviation of his name Blaze had dreamt up. He hardly acknowledged that anyone else was there. He only looked at his 'wife' and filled her in, broken and afraid. "Ireland, where you was born… Chere how could you not…"
"Because she wasn't there" Blaze-as-Rogue spoke quietly, hurt rife in her words. "Because she ain't your wife." Finally Gambit turned to look at the woman in Rogue's body. It seemed she was the only one going to offer him any kind of explanation. Swallowing, Laura met her husband's eyes, losing herself in his gaze as she always did. He stuttered, trying to form questions when his whole world was so confused. "What? How? Why?"
"I don't know, I don't understand how she's done it…" It was too much for Blaze to bear, seeing the pain she felt mirrored in him. The anger dissipated and she could only sob his name. "Remy…"
Gambit turned from one woman to the other. From Blaze-as-Rogue's eyes that met his with such pain and eager love, to Rogue-as-Blaze's, lost and turned inwards as if they held some terrible knowledge. His voice too nearly broke into sobs as he spoke to the soul in Blaze's body. "What have you done?" Knowing that wasn't the worst of it all, he turned back to Rogue's body, to Laura. He could only whisper his question, knowing now his betrayal. "What have I done?"
"Now just hold on here one minute." Logan interrupted. He looked straight at Blaze-as-Rogue, and tried to get his head around the situation. "You're tellin' me that you're Blaze, and Blaze is Rogue?"
Nobody answered Wolverine. Rogue turned Blaze's face away and wept. It was over, all over. Gambit left her where she was, taking a small step of faith and trust towards the brunette. Could she ever forgive him? "Laura I…"
Blaze shook her head slowly, backing away as a fresh horror dawned on her. Gambit stopped in his tracks, hurt and unsure. Tears ran headlong down Blaze-as-Rogue's cheeks, as Laura suddenly knew the depths of this curse. Sobs came thick and fast as she tried to explain. "Remy…I can't touch you… I can't touch you…"
"Oh Laura…" Gambit went to her anyway, pulling Rogue's body to him. "I'se so sorry Petite, I didn't know, I couldn't tell…"
"I don't wanna hurt you…" Laura sobbed, staring up into Remy's eyes.
"You wont hurt me." He swore, hanging on to her with all his strength, kissing her passionately with all his heart…