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B Oots – I keep updating, and keep ignoring my homework. Slackers rock!
Bunsdarien – Very happy you enjoy the story so far, and hope you like this chapter.
Chapter 6 – Rebound Foul
Sinister opened a tesseract into an alleyway in Oxford near a café where he knew Liz could be found most mornings; and there she was, eyes still swollen from crying. Since he was about to try and put his baby back together with none other than the man he disliked most for the role of Liz's 'man,' Essex had to make sure that she was unhappy. Remy, in his mind, was a last resort, and not something a person should logically want. Of course, his daughter was not the most logical creature in the world. Sinister groaned as he thought about what he had to do and then disappeared before Liz sensed his presence.
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Xavier's Office
"You have no idea how much I loathe Remy." Sinister said. "God hates me, I am sure of it."
"With everything you've done, are you surprised? If I were a deity, I would probably hate you as well." Xavier replied, sipping his tea. "How are we going to proceed with getting Remy and Elizabeth back together?" He said, when another explosion was heard outside.
"Does he do that all day?" Sinister asked, almost surprised. "Because, I can turn his powers off like a light switch, if you would prefer."
An appreciative, but pleading smile appeared on Xavier's face. "You'd do that for an old enemy?"
"Yes, but only because I need your help. It is crucial that we conceal our involvement in all of this." Sinister said. "Both of them would be infuriated if they learned of our planned role in their initial breakup or our attempt to put them back together."
Xavier nodded. "We should approach this primarily by exploiting Remy's weakness for Liz. He'll see how unhappy she is, and feel obligated to help her."
Sinister smirked. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I must be Remy Lebeau." Sighing as he put his teacup down, he became silent for a moment. "And how are we going to prompt them to forgive one another?"
"We could get them drunk." Xavier interjected.
"That's preposterous!" Sinister said, then thought for a moment. "But I see your point. Drunk people are needy."
Xavier smiled. "Liz is needy in a very different way. The same way Remy is. They'll end up —"
"Shut up." Sinister said, harshly. "The thought disgusts me in every way imaginable. I do not understand why you find my paternal pain to be so amusing."
"Because it's yours, obviously." Xavier replied as the two finished concocting a new plan.
Sinister cursed and left. 'Why must I do this? Remy disgusts me, and is the only way to make my daughter happy. Damn you…whoever you are to make my life this miserable!"
The next morning, Sinister climbed out onto the roof. "Hello, Remy."
"Why y'here? T'gloat?" Remy said.
"No." He sighed and sat next to Remy. "She's miserable. You need to go back to her."
"Non." Remy said. "Remy ain' interested."
"At least come with me and see how upset she is…she could really use your friendship." Essex said, needing to vomit, but suppressing the urge.
Remy chuckled. "She lef' ya, didn't she?"
"You find this amusing?" Sinister asked.
"Oui. Y'never gonna understand Lizzy, because y'her Pere, not her man. Y'stopped bein' her man when she got her first kiss." Sarcasm laced his voice as he took a long drag from the cigarette. "What does Remy gotta do t'make y'leave?"
"Give me ten minutes; we will go to Oxford, and then I will return you to this roof. If you see how sad she is, and still do not want to help her, then I will leave you alone." Sinister said, knowing Remy would be unable to deny her lovely blue eyes being as sad as they were.
"Merde. Let's go den, Casper." Remy said sharply as they walked through the tesseract and into the alleyway in Oxford.
"Now what?" Remy said impatiently.
"End of the alley, you can see right into the café." Sinister replied as they ducked behind the corner to hide from a couple that walked into the alleyway kissing. But this wasn't just any couple. It was Liz and Brian Braddock, the reputable Captain Britain, making out heavily.
"What da fuck!" Remy yelled, punching Sinister in the jaw.
"Remy?" Liz recognized his voice and angrily walked toward it's source, seeing Sinister and Remy in the alley, a look of shock on both. "What are you doing here? With him?" She said, pointing at her father. "And you! I told you I wanted to get AWAY from you. That means 'Don't follow me, Dad.' So what is this?"
Braddock took one look at Sinister and nearly leapt out of his skin. "YOU!" Liz grabbed Braddock by the arm when he tried to run. "That man is your father? Get away from me!" Liz let Braddock go, and he immediately left.
"Let me guess." Liz said angrily at her father. "You wanted to know how his powers worked. One more superhero with a crippling fear of dear old dad; one more relationship down the tube. And what is Remy doing here?"
Sinister and Remy just stared until Remy began to yell.
"What da fuck is dis, Sinny? Y'brought me back here t'show me how great Braddock is? Fuck you, Remy ain' interested in y'fucken' fille no more." He said.
Liz crossed her arms. "Not interested? We almost got married a month ago and now you're not interested? Good thing we broke up, eh?"
Remy got in her face. "Remy don' need y'pity love, Remy don' want it."
"Good, because I'm not offering, am I?" She yelled back as her father slowly beat his head on a brick wall. "I did notice that you managed to travel around the world and stalk me. Would you like to explain what that's about, asshole?"
"Non. Remy jus want y'and ya fucken' pere t'leave him alone." He said, sneering at her. "Guess dats too much t'ask. He'll be cuttin' me up and you'll be tryin' t'make me jealous with Capitan Perfecto!"
"Consider it done!" Liz yelled as she stomped out of the alley.
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Professor's Office, Five hours later
"It's not uncommon." The Professor said. "Sometimes, people try to replace their former lovers by initiating an inappropriately time relationship with someone else."
Sinister nodded. "She's on the rebound, then." He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. "Suffice to say that plan backfired on us."
"Indeed." The Professor said. "Did you really turn Braddock into a test subject?"
"Yes, I did. Turns out his powers are unremarkable, and vamped up by his suit. I was unimpressed." Sinister said, briefly explaining why Braddock was terrified of him. "He is all wrong for Lizzy though. Too…dominant. She would end up killing him, I have no doubt."
"What now?" Xavier asked, feeling lost as to how they were going to undo today's damage, as well as the damage they'd caused breaking them up.
"McCoy is close to Liz, maybe he could help if you explain our predicament?" Sinister stated.
Xavier nodded. "I will speak to him later."
"Good Lord, we have created quite the fiasco." Essex said, leaving Xavier in his office. After finishing some paperwork, he went down to Hank's office, prepared for the lecture he knew Hank was going to give. Hank's huge chair was facing the window, tipped back, like always.
"Henry, I need to enlist your help in a…delicate matter." He hurriedly tried to explain what happened. "Essex and I orchestrated the breakup between Liz and Remy, and now, we're trying to get them back together and encountering a formidable amount of difficulty."
"Hank?" The Professor asked when no response came. Slit! He heard a lighter, followed by the smell of cigarette as the chair turned around and revealed its true occupant. "Oh shit." He said, looking straight into Liz's eyes.
"Hello, Professor. Did you miss me?" She said, calmly as she crossed her legs on top of the desk. Xavier didn't answer, so she asked another question. "And what, may I ask, was your motive? My father is clingy and hates Remy, but what real benefit did you have? Keeping an Essex out of the X-Mansion? Protecting Remy from an 'evil' woman?"
"More or less." The Professor replied. "You are highly manipulative."
"Me?" She laughed and got up. "I'm not the one fucking around with everyone's lives. Tell my father to meet you in your office tomorrow morning at ten. I think we all need to have a heart-to-heart."