G'Day.
Shout out time!
Caliente: Thank ya kindly, but the reason Rogue and Gambit are talking about her death casually, is cause they never met her.
Seven1: Truth to be told, I'm really debating about the Ro/Lo thing…. I'm not a big fan *dodges the projectiles* I can't help it, I like her with Bishy! Come on! Stormy and Bishy! What a pair! You can blame that on my buddy, she said that if Logan went for Storm it's cause he's settling for her, since he can't have Jean. And I think we can all agree you do not 'settle' for Storm! '^_^'
Ishy: Always a pleasure
Sue P. : What'd I do to Kurt? I didn't think I did anything, remember most of what he's saying is right outta the comics. Kitty, well, I'm not her biggest fan either.
The-Basket-Case: I'm honoured! Thank you!
To everyone else: HUZZAH! Love you guys! Drinks are on the house, but I need to see some ID first…. :
Okay! That's done!
Rating: PG-13 It's officals guys and gals, (although I don't know how many guys there are out there reading this…) the rating has just gone up… not my bad!!! Really it's not!!! Meh! It's not 'R' yet… that's for later! Heeheee….
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except everything…
A good hunk of the dialogue is taken right outta the comics by Chris Claremont, I have no claim over them. The conversation between Rogue and Storm, I wrote and anything with Gambit I wrote. Just thought I'd clear all that up! '^_^'
That's it!
I Never Knew
Chapter Four: Bird of Flames…
TheWalrusWasPaul
There were few moments in the lives of 'normal' humans that were actually completely and totally peaceful, even fewer in those of mutants. For the X-Men peace was a fantasy, almost as unobtainable as Xavier's dream of a peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. For once however fate seemed to be turning a blind eye to two young X-Men, forgetting for just a moment that should be saving the world and humanity and just letting them be themselves. Be young, and very much in love.
They were laying together on her bed, the double doors to the balcony were wide open, letting in the pale moonlight. He lay on top of her, covering most of her body. Her long auburn curls were sprawled around her pillow, each and every strand reflecting the silver moonlight. She could almost feel his eyes on her body, so intense was his lust filled gaze. He ran his hands over every inch of bare flesh, making her shiver in anticipation. She couldn't believe how amazing he was making her feel with only the most basic of touches. She'd never imagined that a lover's touch would be like this…A low moan escaped her parted lips and he chuckled at her.
"You see? It isn't the other one you want. It's always been me…" he whispered into her ear as he ran his hands up and down her sides.
She moaned again and turned her face to his, asking him to kiss her without words. He was happy to comply and as his lips descended on hers, she saw stars. Every part of her seemed to be focused entirely on his kiss, she could feel nothing except the fluttering of her stomach and his lips on hers.
When he pulled away he ran a hand over her cheek, "See? You are for me, not him." His hands trailed up her flat stomach to her breasts, he ran his hands along the undersides before slowly making his way up. He lowered his mouth to one taunt nipple and smirked to himself as she began to arch into him. "You can't go to him, only me…" he whispered to her as he raised his lips to hers once more.
She could say nothing as he kissed her again, and again and again….
~*~
She woke with a start, her chest heaving and her face flushed. A hand came up to cover her eyes as she thought back on the dream. Who had she been dreaming about? It couldn't have been Remy, there had been no accent. So maybe it was Logan…? Rogue shook her head, she couldn't remember.
She placed a hand over her heart and tried to calm her breathing as a sudden wave of sadness overcame her. All those wonderful things she had felt in her dream, she could never have them. Her damned mutant 'gift' wouldn't allow it. Tears began to form in her eyes but she quickly blinked them back. She did not cry. She was the daughter of Mystique and she did not cry.
"Ah know Ah don't cry…" she whispered out loud, "but that doesn't mean Ah don't wanna…"
~*~
"Rogue chere, I don' know how you can eat all dat and still be hungry." Remy 'Gambit' LeBeau mussed as he watched the newest X-Man clean up the breakfast dishes. She'd participated in the regular morning pancake eating contest and by some miracle had beaten both himself and Colossus. Kitty had looked ready to throw up as she watched Rogue consume inhuman amounts of food, while Ororo simply shook her head and focused on her tea. Kurt had been there cheering them on, laughing as Remy was forced to give up or throw up, he chose the less messy option. Peter had been next, finally admitting defeat with a smile and a shake of his head. Rogue had let out a triumphant shout and grinned from ear to ear, teasing the boys about losing to a girl. That had been the very first time the team had been able to sit down without any visible hard feelings between them. It was the first step to Rogue's complete acceptance and the end of her time as a probationary member of the team.
Rogue shook her head, "Ah don't know eithah Gambit, but Ah am hungry!" she said as she dumped the last of the dishes into the sink and proceeded to raid the fridge.
"You gonna get fat." He said, leaning back in his chair and finishing the last of his black coffee.
Rogue got very still for a moment, then slowly stood up and turned to face Gambit, "You callin' me fat Cajun?" she asked in a tone colder then the coldest artic wind.
The colour drained from Remy's face as she glared at him. How could he had been stupid enough to so much as mention that word?! He made a mental note to start thinking before he spoke then turned back to Rogue, "Now chere, I said not'in' of the sort."
She glared at him for a few more minutes before shrugging and returning to her quest for food, "Good." Was all she said.
Gambit blinked in surprise and was about to ask her why she hadn't torn him limb from limb when a flash of orange caught his eye and he turned to look out side. "Mon Dieu!" he exclaimed.
It looked as though the entire sky had caught fire! Flames rose higher then he could follow, they were so bright he had to shield his eyes for fear of losing his sight. He took note of the location of the flames before jumping to his feet. That was the same place that the other X-Men were cutting down a dead tree, they could be in trouble. He quickly shouted to Rogue who turned around and gasped at the fire for a moment before coming to the same conclusion he had about their team mates. Without a word she burst through the double doors and flew with a speed she hadn't known she could reach into the fire.
~*~
Storm watched in horror as the bird of fire appeared. She remembered it, knew it too well. It was the Phoenix, the creature that had been responsible for the death of her dearest friend Jean Grey. But it couldn't be, the phoenix had been destroyed… hadn't it? Suddenly the bird was no more and Ororo was left with nothing but questions.
With a rush of wind Rogue set down next to Storm. She looked at her team mate in confusion and was about to speak when Storm cut her off.
"Rogue—above us—someone falling!" Storm shouted as she took flight, Rogue right behind her.
"This is very weird Storm." Rogue commented as they flew to intercept the earth bound person, "What's goin' on?"
"I wish I knew." Storm shook her head as a man fell into Rogue's arms. "I fear we shall soon find out."
Rogue looked at the man in her arms. He was fairly attractive, with swept back brown hair and a strong build. He was wearing the strangest sunglasses though, that was odd, she thought, there was a guy at the wedding wearing the same pair…
"Storm, Ah know this guy—it's Cyclops!" Rogue exclaimed in recognition, as she began her decent back to the ground. As she landed she found Gambit among the others, but while their eyes were locked on the man in her arms, his was on her. She shot him a look of confusion that he readily returned.
"Nightcrawler, take Cyclops to the infirmary--!" Storm was cut off in mid order as Scott Summers spoke up.
"There's no time for that, Storm." He said as Rogue set him on the ground. He wobbled on his feet a little, but seemed fine. "Did you see?! Do you understand?!" he exclaimed, finding his voice, "Dark Phoenix has returned."
The assembled X-Men fell silent. They remembered what it was like to face her once, to do so a second time… Only Rogue and Gambit were out of the loop. They were new to the team, and had heard little about the being of fire that had inhabited Jean Grey.
Suddenly professor Xavier's head appeared, glowing yellow and floating above them. It took Rogue a moment to realize that it was a psychic projection. Even if it didn't stop her from crying out in alarm.
"X-Men, Cyclops—report to me at once, in my study." He ordered and before Storm could give her confirmation, the apparition vanished as suddenly as it appeared.
"You heard him people let's move!" Cyclops ordered as the team sprang into action. They all rushed into the mansion with the intention of changing into their uniforms, all except Rogue and Gambit who already wore theirs, Rogue out of necessity and Gambit out of habit.
"What do you think's goin' on Remy?" Rogue asked as she moved to stand beside her friend.
He shrugged and dug into his pocket for a smoke, a nervous habit he'd picked up back home. "Don' know chere, I was tol' Jean Grey'd been Phoenix an' dat she died 'cause of it." He lit his cigarette with a flick of his powers and inhaled deeply. "I don' wanna t'ink 'bout why she's back."
Rogue shook her head, "What Ah wanna know is why they called her 'Dark Phoenix'." She grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Ah thought she was a good guy!"
"Neh chere, you know 'bout as much as I do." He took another drag before flicking the cigarette away, "But I know how we can be let into dis sick little loop o' theirs." He grabbed her hand and they took off after their team mates.
~*~
Gambit listened to the meeting in silence, now things were starting to come together. The red haired woman, it wasn't Jean Grey, rather it was Cyke's new girl, Madelyn Pryor. He rolled his eyes as his team mates shrugged it off as common knowledge. 'Wouldn' hurt if dey actually shared deir knowledge with de rest of us once in a while….' He thought to himself a little irritated by his being left out. He understood why they left Rogue out, she was still really new and had at one point been an enemy, they had every right not to trust her. But Gambit, he'd been an X-Man for a few months now! They should be able to trust him! 'I hate being one o' de youngest…' he thought to himself as he leaned against the wall and began flipping a playing card- the ace of spades- around his long fingers.
Rogue watched as Cyclops explained his concerns about the Phoenix and Madelyn Pryor. She couldn't quite keep her attention focused on him though. Her gaze kept shifting over to the short mutant in the corner opposite Remy. He'd returned from Japan in one hell of a bad mood, reluctant—or outright refusing—to talk to his team mates. Even her. She had to admit, she'd been hurt by his rejection of her company, but couldn't say she blamed him. He'd only just been left at the alter by what he considered the love of his life. She closed her eyes briefly and told herself that he would come around in time.
"…I sensed Jean's death, years ago.." the prof was saying as he lowered some funky looking helmet –cerebro, she'd been told- onto his head. "..but not this miraculous rebirth and I should have. Cerebro will amplify my psi-talent a hundred-fold." He explained to the assembled X-Men as he began adjusting some dials and knobs on the main control panel, "If Phoenix exists, this will enable me to find her." With that he pushed a red button and-
-screamed in pain as electricity ran though the wires connecting the helmet to the control panel, electrocuting him.
Rogue reacted before she knew what she was doing. "He's bein' electrocuted!" she exclaimed as she reached for the wires, "Ah'll cut the power—someone cut him loose, b'fore he fries!" with that she tore the wires from the panel and sighed in relief as she heard Colossus and Nightcrawler attending to Charles. There was a loud 'BAMF' and Kurt was gone, taking the Prof to the infirmary.
Rogue tossed the wires to the ground, 'Some evil mutant Ah am…' she thought to herself as she stared at the cables, 'Ah coulda jus' let him die, but Ah didn't hesitate t'save him. But Ah'm sure they still think Ah'm pure evil…. It just ain't fair. When do Ah get mah second chance?'
"Rogue?" It was Storm, the leader of the unofficial 'kick Rogue out' club, "That was a very brave thing you did." She said, her voice soft as she placed a hand on the younger woman's shoulder.
"Wha?" Rogue blinked in confusion, brave?
"Those wires, there was enough electricity running through them to do serious harm, even to you." Storm explained as she gestured to the cables with her free hand, "I admire the way in which you reacted. When we find ourselves faced with a crisis, it is more often then not our hearts that react first. I believe that here today, you have shown us the nature of yours."
Rogue felt her eyes fill with tears, that she valiantly tried to force back. She turned to face the weather goddess, "Storm.. .. Ah don' know what t'say."
"Then say nothing child," she squeezed Rogue's shoulder, "Perhaps it is us that have things to say to you." She bowed her head for a moment, her blue eyes closing, "I am as human as anyone in this room and as such am capable of error." Storm sighed and raised her eyes to Rogue, "I believe that I was too harsh in my judgment of you and if you will accept, I offer an apology." With that she removed her hand from Rogue's shoulder and extended it to her, meaning for Rogue to shake her hand.
Rogue smiled at Ororo and took her hand, "Thank ya Storm, y've no idea what that means to me…"
Storm smiled, "I believe I do Rogue." She turned to the other X-Men, who'd all stood by and watched the exchange in awe. "Let us get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all." She said as she left the room, her team mates following behind her and for once Rogue actually felt like one of them.
~*~
Gambit watched as Kitty tried to figure out what was wrong with Cerebro, "This is crazy!" she exclaimed, causing Lockheed, who'd been perched on her shoulder to jump, "The safety interlocks have been disengaged! Everything's reversed—the professor's powers were amplified, but instead of projecting his psi-energy outwards, cerebro reflected it back at him! It's almost like he did it to himself."
"Sounds like someone wanted de prof outta commission…" Gambit mused, pulling his deck of card out of a pocket and began shuffling them. "Question is why?"
Storm shook her head, "We saw every move he made, there were no mistakes—" she said, referring to the start up sequence of cerebro, "the settings were correct."
"Well, they ain't now." Rogue said.
"Actually, Storm, there;s a simple explanation." Came the voice of Scott Summers, but something sounded off. Gambit watched in shock as his team leader became engulfed in flames.
"What is it—Cyclops!?!" Storm exclaimed, taking a step back, not knowing what to do.
"Would you believe…" the flames burned brighter still, Remy watched as they seemed to form an aura around Cyclops, almost as though there was another being inside him, trying to get out. "The end of the world?" With that Scott Summers slumped to the ground and the flames began to rise and solidify.
"Mon Dieu…" he gasped as the flames became another being, one he'd only ever heard stories about. It was her, the Phoenix—Jean Grey!
"Hi, guys!" she said, her voice eerily happy. Her eyes were blank as she floated above the X-Men, flames licking her figure. She wore the same red and gold uniform that Dark Phoenix had taken on. It became clear at that moment that this was not the dear friend the X-Men had lost, this was the being of death and destruction, risen from the ashes to destroy them all. "Miss me?"
Storm was the first to react, her hands began to crackle with electricity as she faced off against the Phoenix, "You may wear the form of our friend, demoness—but you are not her!" she shouted as lightning flew from her hands, barreling towards Phoenix.
The woman laughed as she bated away the lightning, "An impressive display, Ororo. But what makes you think your lightning will prove any more effective this time…" she raised her hands and pointed them at Storm, sending her own lightning back at her. "..than when last we fought?"
Storm cried out in pain as she fell to the ground, Colossus coming to her rescue a moment too late. "For mercy's sake, Jean—Stop it! You are killing her!" the Russian exclaimed as he took a swing at Phoenix.
Phoenix smiled a twisted smile, "Not really, Peter. Not yet." She said as she fed more lightning to Storm's fallen form. "I mean to play a bit first." She turned her gaze to Peter, "Your armored body makes you one of the most formidable X-Men, Colossus. But see what happens when I close my hand—thus!" with that Phoenix clenched her hand into a tight fist, and Colossus's body followed suit. He cried out as he felt himself being crushed by an invisible force that he was helpless to resist.
Gambit pulled out his bo staff- about to charge the Demoness even though he knew it would have little or no effect on Phoenix- when suddenly Kitty Pryde and Lockheed charged her. He watched through clenched teeth as the girl and the dragon were batted aside with ease. With a deep breath he withdrew several playing cards and charged them up.
"Didn' anyone teach you not t'hit kids?" he said as he threw the cards at her.
She arched an eyebrow and slowly turned to se where the attack had come from, "And who might you be? The new jester?" she laughed at her own joke and sent a wall of flames towards Gambit. He jumped and dodged, but could not out run the fire.
Pain exploded through his body as the fire encompassed him, his bo clattered to the ground and he soon followed. Sorry that he hadn't been able to save his team mates. Just before he lost consciousness he heard Rogue scream out his name and saw her charge Phoenix. He raised a hand towards her, trying to warn her to stay away from the woman of fire, but he was too weak. His red on black eyes watched as Rogue was thrown clear out of the room.
~*~
Rogue awoke a few moments later outside the mansion. She groaned and pulled herself to her knees, her eyes shut tight. That had actually hurt! Nothing hurt her anymore! She tired to get to her feet, only to fall right back to the ground. She couldn't stand up, and didn't dare trust herself to fly in this condition. Her eyes closed as she lay on the ground, completely helpless, if Phoenix returned she'd be at her mercy. Rogue shuddered at the thought, that woman was packing some serious power!
"Rogue!"
She slowly opened her eyes and turned her head in the direction the voice had come from. Not too far from her was Gambit, running towards her, his duster flying behind him. She tired to sit up, but found she could not.
"Hi sugah…" she said, her voice weak.
He knelt beside her and took her head in his lap, "You alright chere? Stormy's worried." He said as he looked her over for any obvious injuries.
"Ah'm sure it's 'Stormy' who's worried…" she chuckled lightly. "Just admit it, yer the one who's worried."
"I think you hit your head when you fell chere." He smiled down at her, "Mabbe a little…" he admitted as he scooped her up in his arms, "Come on chere, we gotta get back in de mansion and figure out what we do next."
Rogue chuckled as she thought of how nice it felt in to be in his arms, "Ah think we're a little out matched this time Remy." She said, her strength slowly beginning to return, not that she was about to tell him that. She was quite comfortable where she was. Her arms wound around his neck and she leaned her head on his shoulder, this felt so nice, so right… like her dream…
So right….
~*~
They were gathered around the main computer a few minutes later, Kitty, trying desperately to contact the Starjammers. If the Phoenix had been terrorizing the galaxy, they would be the first to know. The problem was, the transmission was being scrambled, even with the technology they had obtained from the Shiar, they could not penetrate the interference.
"Phoenix's doing, my friends?" Peter asked, leaning over the back of Kitty's chair.
"Probably," Storm said, "Keep at it, Kitten. We must get through."
There was a beep and Kitty exclaimed, "Bingo! I'm getting a response!" she quickly punched in a few key commands and the screen came to life.
Rogue knew right away from the responses of the X-Men that this hadn't been what they'd expected to see. There was a man, half dead and sprawled on the deck of his ship. His clothing was torn and tattered, Corsair.
"X-Men… this is Corsair—hope you can see… hear me…" static interrupted him every so often and Kitty hit a few more keys, clearing up the transmission. "Phoenix attacked… no warming, less chance—other Starjammers, Lilandra…dead." There was a collective gasp, Lilandra was dead? The Shiar Empress and love of their own dear Professor's life, gone? "I'm only one left… my ship.. gutted wreck.. another pass'll finish us…" a control panel behind him exploded and he turned his head away from the scattering deris, "Here she comes! Tell Scott and his brother Alex—their old man is proud of them! Tell them I love--*" there was an explosion and the room fell silent.
Rogue watched the screen with a look of disbelief, she'd known very little about the Starjammers, but from what she did know they should have been able to escape Phoenix. And if not them, Lilandra should have managed to survive! Her heart went out to Scott, and she felt glad that he hadn't been here to see his father perish.
Kitty was staring blankly at the screen, she shook her head, curls going every where, and punched in a few more commands. The screen blinked back to life and the masked face of Captain America appeared. Rogue stepped back from the screen a little. She'd gone head to head with the Avengers before, even absorbed Captain America's powers. She wasn't sure she wanted to be seen right now.
Gambit watched her back away and arched an eyebrow.
"Avengers mansion, Captain America speaking…"
Storm moved to the front of the group and addressed the super hero, "I am Storm , leader of the X-Men. We need the Avengers' aid Captain, urgently!" her voice left no room for questions or doubt as to her motives. "The fate of the world—if not all creation— hangs in the balance!"
Captain America's face grew deathly serious, "Give me what details you can, Storm, I'll summon the others."
"The threat is Dark Phoenix, a former—Goddess!" she cried out as the ground began to shake.
"The ground—shaking—is it an earth quake?!" Rogue spoke up, thinking of Lance, her old Brotherhood team mate. But he had it been him, he probably would have had the mansion in pieces by now.
"Comrades—look at the screen!!" Colossus shouted.
Fire, more fire.
The Avenger's Mansion was engulfed in flame, they saw Captain America cry out just before the transmission went dead. No one moved for a moment. The Avengers had been their last hope, if they were gone…
"It's gone blank! The transmission has been broken!" Peter said, "Ororo, do you think--?!"
"See for yourself little brother." She said, calmly, too calmly as she pointed out the window in the direction of New York city, " For a creature who once consumed a world—five billion innocent souls—destroying a city is child's play."
There out the window, in the distance, the very same distance as New York, was a bird of flames. The creature turned its head to face the mansion, almost to look right at the X-Men. They could almost see the laughter in its eyes, as though it had known exactly who they would call and destroyed them. The bird tossed its glorious head upwards and suddenly the X-Men felt very much alone.
~*~
dun dun dun!
Next time:
The conclusion of this messed up Phoenix thing! And the wedding of Scott Summers and Madelyn Pryor! They say weddings are the place to fall in love… will it hold for our southern couple? And just who are these mysterious strangers that show up at the last possible moment? Long—what?! '^_^' Stay tuned to 'I Never Knew' to find out!!!! (wow, that was shameless…)
Review!!!!!!
See ya on the flip side,
TheWalrusWasPaul