The reviews are in and due largely to the fact I feel bad if I don't, I have replied:
silverbells: Maybe they will be in trouble, maybe they won't. I guess you'll never know...Unless you read this chapter that is...O.o
Cult of Misha: Oooo, long review :) Glad to hear you liked the chapter so much. I won't keep talking so you can go one and see how Rogue explains everything. Enjoy :)
tara: Cliffies; author's dreams, reader's nightmares :D
IvyZoe: Fear not, for soon the father saving will begin. As for our dear little Head Remy, he will pay us a visit in this very chapter :)
Meraculas: Hey, I've heard worse than damn you believe me :)
EmeraldKatsEye: Worried it's gonna go Cajun Spicey...Erm...You might wanna skip at least chapter 12 and 13 then, possibly even 14 /
enchantedlight: Hope the update came soon enough for ya :)
smiteme: Glad you approve of the cutlery trick :) Thank ya much for reviewing.
DOOMpenguin43: Oooooo, cool name :) Thanks for reviewing.
Bubbles1612: The Logan and Remy tussle will come eventually, just not now. It needs some time to stew and develop in my head :)
Silent Doom: Scott, Logan and Jean have all come back. Doesn't really need the whole school does it:) Good to hear it was kinda suspensful for ya. Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the last one :)
Green Bird 2071: Scott does have a lot to deal with doesn't he? Ya gotta feel a little bad for him. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Shaishe: Yes, yes, it is fun. Even more fun to read people's reactions to them lol :)
texasgrrl: Eh, trying to throw you off the scent, it was worth a shot :) Hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long.
Chica De Los Ojos Cafe: Maybe she could teleport away. It's a possibility...You'll just have to read on to find out...:)
ObsedianFox13: So glad you're liking the story and feel free to babble. I like reading people's babble :)
Friend to All: Good to know that reading the lst chapter cheered you up :)
hesquidor: Lol, same here :)
Nicki: Hope the update came soon enough :)
Freak87: (sings) You write, giant reviews! I dig, giant reviews! We dig, giant reviews! Chicks dig, giant reviews! Yeah...Sorry, it had to be said :D Okie dokie, once again, loved the review. Glad to hear you're still wondering about the shopping bags. They weren't mentioned for a reason last chapter so it wasn't just me and continuity errors :) Jean has come back as well though you'll see this in this very chapter. As for the teleporting away, I think it's a little more than obvious that that's gonna be the escape method...Dude, I need to work on my cliffies :)
Xtreme Nuisance: Ooooo, the sandwich thing made you want a sandwich? Did you get one? And if so, what type? Sorry, I'm just weirdly curious about that kinda thing :D I'd be the same on the killing situation, especialy if it was with someone like Remy...(drools)
So here we all are. Chapter 10. The big 1 o. And you know what? I don't think this is even half done yet. I've still got to officially write down the chapter plans but I see this going on for more than another 10 chapters. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Suppose it'll be a good thing if I can keep up the good work and keep you all entertained. Could be a bad thing if I start to get bored and/or writer's block starts to set in (touch wood.
Oh well, enough babbling about boring stuff from me. Hope ya'll enjoy this latest chappie :)
Oh mah Gahd! Logan's back! Whah is Logan back? They ain't meant to be back for another three hours at least! And Ah'm lahke this with Remy! This is so bad in so many ways. What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO! Okay, calm down. There ain't no reason to get all freaked and aggitated. Just think straight. Calm down, think straight and act the moment you decide something...
Though you maht wanna hurry up. Just a suggestion.
Both reacted immediately. Remy rolled off of Rogue and began to gather the scattered cards while Rogue used magnetism on to door handles to drag the doors to the sitting room shut, not only hiding them from view but also acting as an extra obsticle to slow down the teachers and Logan. Once Remy decided that picking up the cards was too fiddley, he simply began to charge them enough so they exploded but didn't give off too loud a bang or do too much damage. They scorched the carpet but that was about it. Once all the cards had been dealt with, Rogue took hold of Remy's hand and pulled him to his feet before teleporting them away seconds before the doors flew open...
Logan burst into the sitting room just in time to see the wisps of black smoke start to fade away. Scott and Jean soon joined him but hung back by the doorway.
"A teleporter." Jean sighed as though it should've been obvious the whole time.
"And a pyro." Scott added, noticing the patches of scorched carpet.
Logan smelt the air. Sulphur, burnt nylon, smoke and a scent that was definately human but wasn't familiar. In other words, it didn't belong to anyone at the school. Too caught up in memorising the stranger's scent so that he could hunt him down and rip him to shreds, he failed to notice that Rogue's scent also lingered heavily in the atmosphere.
A sudden bamphf out in the front hall caught Logan's attention and he ran from the room, roughly barging past Scott and Jean. Upon reaching the hallway, he looked up just in time to see the tail end of a brown tench coat fly around a corner...
Remy and Rogue reappeared at the top of the stairs, over looking the front hallway. Rogue quickly pulled Remy into motion and they took off down the corridor which would eventually lead them to her bedroom. As they ran down the various corridors, Rogue's eyebrows knitted together in concentration. She focused on the metal rings of her shower curtain and moved them along the metal bar across the top of her shower, effectively pulling the plastic sheet across the gap. She then switched her attention onto the shower faucet.
"Where are we goin'?" Remy whispered to her urgently, making her lose her focus.
"Hush! Ah'm workin' on gettin' you out okay?" She hissed before going back to her previous task. She managed to turn the faucet enough to turn the shower on but it was hard to do, being so far away from it and only a little bit of it being made from metal. The all too familiar ache in her head started, which was going to make it even harder to concentrate. None the less, she gritted her teeth and she and Remy once again vanished...
Logan wasted no time before charging forward again and acending the stairs as quickly as possible. When he reached the top, he took off down the same corridor Rogue and Remy had taken. He ran down one corridor after another, his anger dulling everything but the scent of the stranger. Turning one more corner, he saw the wispy black smoke again and froze in panic. The intruder had teleported away right in front of Rogue's bedroom...
They appeared out on the street, just outside the school walls.
"Go!" Rogue ordered harshly. Then, without another word, she vanished again. She popped back up inside her bathroom which was repidly getting very steamy due to the hot shower which had been running for aminute or sonow. Rogue took all of half a second to consider what she was wearing and upon deciding she was wearing nothing that she was overly fond of, she teleported into the shower, fully dressed.
Once inside, she used Remy's power on her clothes to effectively un-dress quickly and destroy any evidence that she's been anywhere near Remy. Logan was certain to pick up on his scent and she wouldn't be able to deny she'd come into contact with him if it was all over her. She grabbed a bottle of shampoo and squeezed some out into her cupped hand which she quickly rubbed over her head. She then grabbed a bar of soap and hurridly lathered up her body with one hand while the other hand worked the shampoo in her hair. It wasn't until she was thoroughly soapy that she realised something and groaned. She'd forgotten to ask Remy about her shopping bags!
The sound of running feet approaching him snapped Logan out of his freeze. He dashed up to Rogue's bedroom door and tried yanking it open before he remembered it was locked. He let out a frustrated and impatient growl as he released his claws, intending to simply rip the door down. However, as he drew his arm back, he heard the click of the lock as it slid aside, ultimately un-locking the door. A very quick glance over his shoulder showed him that Jean and Scott had finally caught up. It only just had time to register though before Logan charged into the room...
Rogue turned off the running water once she was free of soap before jumping out of the shower and grabbed a nearby towel. She quickly dried herself, speeding up even more when she heard her bedroom door bang against the wall next to it, signalling that at least Logan had arrived. Once she was suitably dry enough, she grabbed her bathrobe from it's hook on the bathroom door. After she had managed to pull it on, she took in a breath to prepare herself for one of many possible scenarios that was about to happen and then unlocked and opened the door...
Jean and Scott followed Logan into Rogue's bedroom, fully prepared to fight/handle a hostage situation/track down a kidnapper. When they entered though, they were surprised to find the room was empty, even of Rogue.
"Did they take Rogue!" Jean gasped.
"No. The guy never came in here." Logan grunted after checking the air.
"Where's Rogue then?" Scott asked moments before the bathroom door opened and a damp-haired Rogue entered the bedroom, followed by a cloud of steam. She looked at each in turn with convincing confusion before giving them a sickeningly sweet and innocent smile.
"Ya'll are back early." She chimed cheerfully.
You didn't leave the room?
How could Ah? The door was locked.
And you didn't hear anything?
Ah was in the shower.
I hardly think the sound of running water could've drowned out the sound of something practically ripping the dining room door apart.
The shower radio wason and Ah was singin' alon' to it.
What about the chocolate and peanut butter covered knives we found in the sink?
What abaht them?
They weren't there when we left.
Ah don't know, Ah wasn't there! How many tahmes do you wanna hear it?
Now Rogue...
It's been two hours now and the past one and a half hours has just been a repeat of the first half hour!
We just want to find out what happened.
And what makes you think Ah know! Ah've already told you, Ah didn't hear anything and Ah never saw anything! Don't you believe me or something?
Maybe we should wait for Logan to get back...
Whah! So he can take another two hours asking me the exact same questions as you two are?
I think maybe that's enough for now.
The last few days on Rogue's solitary passed without incident. Rogue was questioned about "the intruder" on another three occassions and each time she answered the same as she had the other times before. She knew they were trying to catch her out, especially Logan, and it was for that reason that she made sure to pay extra close attention to detail. She wouldn't allow herself to make a stupid mistake. She wouldn't allow them to find her out.
Rogue ran around her bedroom, lifting piles of things up every so often so she could check underneath. It was the day after her solitude had ended which meant normal classes could once again resume for her. That also meant that she had the same lunch break as everyone else and it wasn't until near the end ofsaid lunch break that she realised she didn't know where her French textbook for her next lesson was. However, forgetting that, it had been a pretty good day for Rogue so far. The morning had passed surprisingly quickly, maybe because her lessons were spent catching up with Kitty and Jubilee rather than paying attention and learning.
There had been boring bits though and it was at these times that Rogue had tried to strike up a conversation with Head Remy. The key word there is "tried". Each time she asked or said anything to him, he would give a frustratingly brief response before retreating back into her subconscious. It was really starting to worry her. She wondered if maybe something was wrong, like maybe he was fading away because he'd been in her head for too long or maybe there was something wrong with her. Everytime she thought of a possible explanaition though, she'd think of something that challenged the idea. If Head Remy was fading away, why hadn't any one else in her head faded away and if there was something wrong with her, why could she still use the powers of the others in her head? It was really confusing her and she hated it. She wanted to know what was going on. So, it was time to ask Head Remy. Just ask him straight out...
"Hey Remy? Do you remember where Ah last had mah French book?"
...After a conversation had been started though, of course.
"Check under dhe bed." Remy's voice replied in a monotone. Rogue moved over to her bed and got down onto her stomach beside it. She slid her arm underneath and felt around; sock, dust bunny, something furry, something sticky and gooey! Rogue yanked her arm out from under the bed with a cry of disgust. She brought her hand up for inspection and found it covered with something which she was glad she wasn't quite sure what it was. She gingerly peeled the glove off and threw it in the bin beside her desk. She'd get another pair before she left for class. She slid her hand back under the bed, making sure to avoid the area the stuff was in. After feeling around for another minute or two, she finally felt the hard, flat surface of a book. She pulled the object out and found that it was indeed her French textbook.
"Thanks Remy." Rogue said silently, getting back to her feet. She waited for a reply. When she didn't get one, she continued on. "Ya...Erm...Ya ain't been arahnd lately. Well, Ah mean, ya've been arahnd obviously, ya in mah head, but ya haven't spoken that much, not even when Ah start the conversation and Ah was just wondering if there was anything wrong or anything Ah could help with..." Pause. "And ya still ain't sayin' anything even when Ah'm rambling. There is something wrong ain't there?"
"Non." The answer finally came after another pause. The bell that signalled the end of lunch suddenly rang but that didn't distract Rogue from the topicin the least.
"There must be something wrong! Ya've been keeping to yaself since Ah absorbed Juli...Did...Did Ah do any damage bah absorbin' him?" Rogue gasped fearfully as she left her room and hurried down the corridor. "'Cause it took ya a while to get him under control when he stated playin' up that tahme and lahke Ah said, ya ain't spoken much since. Ya don't even sing in the mornings anymore..."
A wave of guilt washed over the Remy trapped inside Rogue. In his own selfish method of protecting himself, he didn't even consider it's effects on his host. His plan had been a simple one; reduce personal connections so he wouldn't have to lie anymore. He knew the consequences of Rogue finding out the truth and he knew it was vital to keep said truth from her, no matter how much he disagreed with it. He thought it had all been working fine, until just now that is. He felt like kicking himself for being so inconsiderate and not noticing that she was worried.
Rogue was still talking, trying to find out what was wrong. Remy silently sighed and knew the plan had to be abandoned and he'd have to go back to lying again. Okay, yes, he was a thief and as a thief he was used to lying to most people he knew. He wouldn't have a problem with lying to the Pope if it meant he could get himself out of trouble. He couldn't lie to Rogue though. He'd been in her head for three months now. He knew everything about her. He loved everything about her and that was the problem...
Too wrapped up in his thinking, it wasn't until all most the last possible moment that he noticed Kitty, head-phones on and eyes down on a magazine, walking straight in Rogue's path. It was obvious that neither girl was paying any attention to where they were going and it was all to predictable that something bad was going to happen. He wasn't going to let anything happen without a fight though.
"Marie!" He yelled to grab her attention, interrupting her mid-sentence.
"What!" Rogue gasped a little frantically, her stream of rambling effectively cut off immediately. Her eyes refocused on the approaching Kitty and she skidded her rushed pace to an abrupt halt. Kitty however, didn't stop. "Kitty, watch it!" Rogue cried seconds before Kitty walked right into her. Her friend gave a surprised cry as she knocked into Rogue roughly and went falling back. Rogue reached out to stop her and, forgetting her hand was actually bare, grabbed Kitty's wrist.
Her power set in immediately and the shock stunned Rogue into stillness. She hadn't realised her glove was off and so wasn't prepared for the floods of thoughts, memories and emotions that surged into her. It wasn't until Kitty fell to her knees in exhaustion and jolted Rogue's arm down that she realised what was going on and ripped her hand away. She stumbled back a few steps, staring at her bare hand in horror and surprise.
"Kitty, Ah..." Rogue began to apologise but stopped mid-sentence when she curiously noticed she felt like she was sinking. She looked down herself and saw that she was actually sinking through the floor. She gasped in fear when she picked up speed and the floor reached her waist.
"Rogue!" Kitty cried, diving forward clumsily to try and grab hold of her. However, her hand simply phased through Rogue's when she went to take hold of it. Soon, Rogue had fallen completely through the floor and the only evidence she had ever been there was her fallen French book.
The end-of-lunch bell rang throughout the building and students and teachers alike headed to their classes. However, Logan, Hank and the Professor remained in the Professor's office, continuing thier discussion of Rogue which had been going on for about a half hour so far.
"Logan, at least listen to reason." The Professor requested, gently but firmly, after listening to the man rant for a while.
"What reason? I see no reason to think Rogue's nuts and so she doesn't need to see a shrink." Logan muttered in reply from his position leaning against a wall.
"We're not saying she is mad." Hank disagreed calmly, maturely putting aside the use of the term "shrink". "It is obvious though, that something is bothering her. Since she's ignored all oppotunities we've provided for her to talk to any of us, we can deduct that she may feel uncomfortable talking to people she knows. My only reasoning behind making an appointment with Doctor Makenzie is that it may be enough to encourage Rogue to get some things off of her chest, so to speak."
"Why would she feel uncomfortable talking to us? We're her family, she can tell us anything, she knows that." Logan inquired roughly, knowing he was clutching at straws because he was fighting a losing battle this time. He'd been allowed to punish Rogue with solitary and he doubted he'd be allowed to get his own way this time as well.
"She sees us everyday. If she ever told us something private, she'd have to confront the fact we knew it everyday." Hank explained. Logan held Hank's gaze for a few heartbeats before switching to look at the Professor who lightly nodded his head twice. After seeing that, logan quickly looked away before giving a low growl.
"I'm still against the whole thing," he told them, his voice reamining low. "But I ain't gonna stop you."
"I'll make the appointment then." Hank stated, his tone sounding almost regretful.
Hank left the side of the Professor's desk, where he had been standing, and went to head out of the room. All of a sudden though, a blurred form fell from the ceiling, right in front of him. A ragged breath caught their ears for a second before the form reached the floor and fell through it. The three men glanced at each other, each unsure of what they had just seen. The door of the Professor's office suddenly banging open made them redirect their eyes from one another to Jubilee who now stood in replace of the door.
"Kitty and Rogue have had an accident."
Ooooooooo, the excitement...Kinda O.o I'm not sure if you could call that a cliffy. It's a really boring one if it is :) Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this latest addition. Let me know what you think and stick around for the next chapter.
Catch ya'll later :)
Hugs
Wings of a Dream