Warning This chap contains yet more descriptions of abuse.
Rowen felt herself being grabbed by the hair.
"You are not going anywhere my girl. Josh go upstairs. NOW"
XxXxXxXxXxX
Rowen hit the floor at force. She lay there for a second then got to her feet. She went to head back to the door, but her way was blocked by her mother. As her mum hit her Rowen's sunglasses got knocked to the floor. Her eyes started to glow as the power inside her started to show. Her clenched hands where briefly surrounded by cyan blue energy before fading as Rowen struggled to hide it. As she blocked the blows her mother reined on her the best she could, Rowen just wished that there was someone who would help her.
"Looks like it might rain soon. The girls been in there a while. Ya think she's ok?" Logan was lent against the bonnet of the car staring at the sky with a cigar in his hand talking to Remy LeBeau who was also smoking.
"At least dey have stopped shouting. Ask Jeanie. She's men' to be de telepath." The lad waved to his female companion who was still in the car on the phone.
"What Remy? I'm trying to talk to Scott."
"Contact de fille and fin' what is taking her so long."
"You're just as capable of walking to the door and finding out your self gambit." Jean started to get annoyed she knew what the Cajun was implying, but she did not enjoy prying on other people with out permission.
"But you have dat amazing telepathy at your service." Remy started to turn on the charm that had helped him get his way so many times before, except with jean.
Jean just shook her head and went back to her call.
"Mum Leave her alone." Josh was stood on the stairs. He'd tried to split up a fight between his mother and twin only one time before, and had his arm broken for the trouble. "Limbo just use your power to stop her. You don't have to hurt her."
Rowen's eyes widened (well as much as they could with bruises forming around them) in realization.
I forgot about the fields. God all this time and I could have stopped her.
Rowen threw her arms in air above her and started to stand carefully, forcing her mother away with the energy field at the same time.
"I'm going mum. I'm not the little girl you used to push around anymore. I can stop you. With out having to resort to violence…" As much as I would love to. "Don't worry. I wont be in touch." As she had done so many times before Rowen picked her glasses up off the floor, only to find they were broken.
Great. Now I can't go. I've got nothing to hide the black eye with.
"That's messed up you plan hasn't it. The second you stop what ever it is that you are doing, I will teach you a lesson you won't soon forget."
"SHUT UP MUM! Here limbo, have my shades. I don't wear them." Josh pushed his glasses in to Rowen's hands.
"Joshy. I thought you didn't want me to go."
"You're right. You can't stay. Will you be able to hold that field until you are out of the door?" Josh looked down fondly at his twin and handed her, her bag.
"I'll try. Thank you. You know where I am if you need me."
"Yeah. Now go."
Rowen sat in the back of the car with Remy looking through a photograph album. Jean had got in the front with Logan to give the two a chance to get to know each other properly. You didn't have to be a telepath to tell that they were attracted to one another.
"So why did you have a bald head when you were a chil' cherie? Had dat belle hair of yours not grown?"
"My mother used to shave it off. She wanted to make me look more normal."
"What do you mean by dat? It is dyed non?"
"Nope. It's natural blue. Now you know that you can see why my mother thought I was a freak."
"You're not a freak. You're a mutant. It's much better. Am ah right Logan?"
There was a grunt from the driver's seat of the car. Remy looked down at one of the pictures in the album. Limbo was on the shoulders of her dad. She can't have been much more that 7and she was grinning.
Le fille is so belle when she smiles. Ah wonder why she does not do it more often.
He looked back to the picture and a mark on the young girls arm caught his eye. He casually wiped the picture, expecting it to be a smudge, but nothing happened. He looked up at the girl sat next to him. Her eye was starting to go purple around the socket.
Merde. What is dat from? It definitely wasn't dere earlier. I couldn't stop looking at them. Dey are almost as unusual as mine. I wonder… Remy glanced back to the photo and started to put 2 and 2 together.
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Logan, Why do I have to take part in the training session? Can't I just watch? I mean, it's only my first one and I'm not that good with my powers yet?" Rowen had been following Logan around all morning trying to get out of the session as she was the feeling the effects of the previous weeks beating. Some how she had managed to keep her shades on to hid her black eye, and stay covered up to hide the bruises that covered her stomach, back and arms. Both with out too many questions.
"Ya going sparks. And ya taking part. Like it or not. Now get down to the danger room." Rowen scowled at Logan as he walked off to finish rounding up straggling students, then smiled. It seemed that Logan had nicknames for nearly all of the kids at the institute. And it made her feel accepted. She had become 'sparks' during the trip back when she had powered up slightly during a dream. Apparently she had been glowing blue and looked like a giant sparkler.
Rowen sat on the floor next to Remy in the danger room.
"Cherie. I don' mean to question your judgment but how do you expect to train in a jumper and jeans."
"Oh shut up. With any luck logan might let me off."
"Ah hate to be de one to disappoint such a belle fille but dat is not going to happen."
As Rowen got ready to respond Logan entered the room followed by a very disgruntled lad with Brown hair. Rowen tried to remember his name. She'd got in to a habit during the past week of trying to remember the name and powers of a person when she saw them.
That's Bobby. Or is it Sam. Which ever it is it's defiantly the ice boy. I think…
"Right sparks, you're up. And remember no powers. Including reading her energy to figure out her next move or what ever it is ya do. Go easy on her half pint. Don't want to send her to the hospital wing on her first day."
Rowen was suddenly brought back to reality. She stood and walked over to the short brunette in the middle of the room. As it had done so many times before, talk followed her path.
"Who do you reckon will win?"
"Kits obviously. She's better trained."
"How'd you know?"
"Yeah. Limbo looks like the sort to get in to fights."
As sudden movement hurt Rowen mainly tried to concentrate on stopping any of Kitty's punches from reaching her. At one point the other girl went to kick Rows legs out. She attempted to jump, but her leg didn't work properly. She fell to the floor and her glasses went flying. Without even bothering to retrieve them Rowen stood up and ran from the eyes that were fixed on her face.
She headed up to the dorms and carelessly bumped in to another student, Rogue, who had just got out of the shower having escaped the training session early. As their bare skin made contact all the thoughts and memories that had been plaguing Rowen's head went in to the other girl. Rogue stared after the fleeing girl.
Mah god. That poor girl. The pain. Her mother. An' ah thought mah family wa' bad. Ah've got to tell Logan.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Rogue walked in to the Danger room to find Logan and Remy yelling at each other.
"Gumbo, You walk out this training session and you're grounded?"
"Did you see de look on de fille's face Logan? Because ah did. She needs to talk to someone. Ah should have worked it out."
"Doesn't the way she didn't tell anyone give you the idea that she may not want to talk about it? What do ya want stripes?"
"Ah touched her Logan. Rowen. The new girl. It wasn't just anyone who gave her that black eye. It was her mum."
"Merde. Ah'm going to talk to her." Remy grabbed the shades off Logan and walked out of the room.
"Scott take over the session. I need to talk to Charlie."
XxXxXxXxXxX
Rowen face down on her bed. There was a knock at the door.
"Go away."
"Let me in cherie. Ah want to talk to you."
"Well I don't want to talk to anyone."
"Ah can help you."
"No you can't, no one can."
"Ah can. Ah know what you are going through. Ah've been dere my self."
Rowen flung the door open and stared at the boy stood there for a second. Trying to tell if he was telling the truth.
If he's lying he must be good at it.
She stepped back to allow Remy to enter.
"Merci, Ah believe dat dese belong to you." He handed back her shades.
"Thanks. Now talk."
"Can' you just read my energy."
"There are something's that I'd rather be told."
"Well ah'm adopted, and mon pere used to get a bit rough. If me or my brother Henry didn' do what he wanted he'd hit us. Ah understan' dat it's not quite the same as what you went through, but ah know. And if you want to tell me about it den ah'll here." He stood to walk out of the room, as he reached for the handle Rowen spoke.
"I was 6... The first time she hit me."
"Merde. Ah thought dat pere was bad, and ah was 13."
"I was playing on the swings with the girl who lived next door to us. I'd taken my shades off. They kept slipping down my nose and it was hard to get really high while I was holding them up. So I just threw them on the grass. I didn't think anything of it. It's not like Jenny was looking at me. But my mum was. She came round and pulled my off the swing and took me home. To start she'd just slap me. But as I got older and when dad walked out, it got worse."
"What about you're brother, Did he not try to stop her, or did she hit him too?"
"Josh was her favorite. He got everything I didn't. When he found out what was happening he tried to stop her. Until she broke his arm. After that he was too scared. I only hit back once. And ended up in hospital." Rowen started to cry. She'd never talked to anybody about what had happened before. All of the memories she had tried so hard to suppress had come flooding back.
"Ah'm sorry cherie." Remy wrapped his arms around the girl sat in the bad next to him. As he did she flinched in pain. "Let me look. Please. Ah won' tell no one, ah promise."
"Yeah, but what's a promise from a thief."
"How you know?"
"Read your energy as you told me your story to see what you were missing out." Rowen pulled her jumper off the best she could. Remy gasped as he saw the mass of purple bruises and scars down the girls arm.
"What are de scars from?"
"She threw me through a glass window. That's how I ended up in hospital. Josh took me when she had gone to bed."
"Your brother really loves you doesn' he. Must have been hard to leave him."
"It was. But he wanted me to come here. He knew I had to get away."
"Rowen will you please come to my office. I think we need to discuss something's. You may bring Mr. LeBeau too if it would make you feel more comfortable."
Rowen frowned for a second. "The professor wants to see me. He says you can come too."
"Logan will have told him."
"WHAT?"
"You bumped in to rogue on your way up here. She found out and came to tell Logan."
"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ME THIS EARLIER." Rowen stared out of the window. It had started to rain.
"Ah'm sorry cherie. You were upset and ah didn' think dat the prof would want to talk to you right away."
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Would you like to explain about your past limbo?"
Rowen slouched further down in her chair, begging herself not to start crying again. "I'm sorry sir. But I don't think I can. I just can't talk about it."
"That's ok. To start why don't you just tell me why nobody picked up on it earlier? At your past school for example."
"Because Josh was fine. It just looked like I was clumsy. It's also rare for me to get a black eye. She always… did it where no one could see, unless she was really angry that is."
"I see. There is another way I can find out about the abuse. I can use my telepathy. But I will leave the choice to you."
Rowen looked around the room to try see the reaction to this suggestion on the others faces. She gently surveyed each person, trying to read their energies with out them noticing too much.
"Ok. I'll do it."
It was like reliving every beating over again. She saw her dad leaving. She watched josh cling to their mother's leg while she just clung to the staircase. She felt the agony of going through the window, and the pain of sitting with shards of glass in her back and arms for over an hour while her mother watched TV. Eventually it was over. Rowen huddled down in the chair crying.
"I think you should go see Mr. McCoy Rowen. I have a feeling that one of your ribs may be broken." The professor sounded drained.
"I'll take her chuck. You need rest and she doesn't look in any condition to go on her own." Poor sparks. It must have been pretty rough if it's affected Charles in this way. Logan continued thinking to himself as he walked over to the girl and lifted her in his arms.
"Yes thank you Logan. And take her down the short cut. I don't think it would be a good idea if any of the students saw her in this condition."