Chapter 20
Remy silently cried the entire way home. At points his face would be lost in the palms of his hands, or he would be staring forlornly out the window. To say the least, he was a complete and utter mess. Sarah almost cried as well. She felt horribly guilty about bringing up Rogue. But then again, they would have never known of her capture otherwise until they were back at the institute.
They were only a few hundred feet away from the main gates when she spoke up again. "Remy? Who is Victor?"
He didn't respond, his mind regressing back to the office building so many, many months ago. It took every bit of his training and control to not charge the Jeep like the walls of his past home.
Merde, why wasn't I dere? If I wasn' t'inkin' wit' m'dick she would be safe.
"Remy… don't blame yourself…"
"How can' I?" He suddenly screamed. "Dis is all m'fault. I promised her a thousand times ov'r dat I would always be dere f'r her an' keep her safe an' dis is what happens!"
"Who exactly are we dealing with?"
"Rogue an' Kurt's stepfat'er."
"… Wasn't he M.I.A. for like four years?"
"Oui."
"Whoa." Sarah was about to ask what could have possibly brought him out of hiding now, but like Remy would've known the answer. "Did he do something bad to Rogue that no one knows about?" She asked timidly.
Remy's jaw trembled as he thought of his poor Rogue… in the arms of that maniac again. "H-he… abused her when she was younger," he said so quietly Sarah had to lean closer to hear him.
Her eyes went wide. "In what way? Just like hitting and stuff?" Remy somberly shook his head. "Oh… wow. That's… not good."
"No shit."
"Well, look at it this way! He won't be able to hurt her that way. He can't touch her without hurting himself!" She tried sounding upbeat so Remy could somehow see that things maybe weren't that bad.
"He'll still hurt her. I know it." By that time, they'd pulled up to the institute. Without a word to Sarah, Remy got out of the Jeep and ran to the spot he knew Rogue had to have been at. He followed her path of small footsteps in the snow all the way to the edge of the forest. His heart stopped at what he saw.
Her footsteps had backtracked a little bit, as if she were heading back into the house. Larger, more ominous footsteps had crept up behind her in long strides. Ignoring that he was kicking up snow and ruining the perfect layer of white, he picked up his pace and knelt down to where Rogue's footsteps stopped. There lay her walkie-talkie, crushed. A few inches away, her journal had been haphazardly thrown. I have t' know if she knew he was comin'.
He reached and gently picked up the notebook, shaking the snowflakes out of it. He felt guilty for wanting to read it, but he had to know. Even if it was the tiniest bit of fear that leaked out from her hand to the pen she was writing with to the paper, he would feel better knowing she tried to run – that she had the chance to run. Not knowing where to start, he found the top of the latest entry and read. First he started off smiling about Rogue's perception of the sleepover. It was cute. He probably would've done the same thing if he'd been up before her.
'Oh my Gosh… I did not just make that comparison…'
Remy's eyebrows raised. Then he reread it. Holy shit… maybe de ot'ers are right about Rogue havin' a crush on me. He continued reading out of curiosity to see if he could prove them wrong.
'This isn't good. I shouldn't be feeling things like this. It's Remy!'
"Merde," he muttered. His eyes couldn't help but keep reading now.
He read and reread the part about Sarah. 'Hell, I know it's just sex. I've touched him, I know.' He didn't realize that his relationship with Sarah had caused her so much toil. 'In the highly unlikely situation of my over-imaginative mind that Remy would ever feel for me like I think I do for him… how would I touch him?' "Y' wouldn' need t' touch me, chere," he whispered unconsciously.
'I wonder if I'll be untouchable forever.'
Rogue woke up groggily, not even wanting to open her eyes. She felt very enclosed, like the world had completely shut down on her. She felt cold, her shivers reaching all the way to the marrow of her bones and back out again. A whimper unconsciously escaped her lips. "…remy…"
She ran her hands along her arms in a short-willed attempt to get herself warm and realized her hands and arms were bare. She ran her hands along the rest of her body and soon found out everything was missing except her underclothes. Her face contorted with a swallowed sob as she curled herself up into a ball as well as she could. "Please, God," she prayed. "If ya can hear me… help."
He examined every inch of the page after he finished reading it for the third time. His emotions were on overload and it was becoming difficult to keep a clear head. He noticed between the paragraphs about it snowing and then how she got chills that her writing had different styles. She always wrote with an ink pen - it made her feel like she was writing in the 'old days', she'd told him - and the ink was thicker as she began that last paragraph, as if she'd stopped for a moment. There was also a blot on the line in between the paragraphs. The pen had sat there for a moment.
"Why didn' y' get away, chere?" He whispered to the book. It was then he heard multiple footsteps coming from behind him. He weakly glanced over his shoulder to catch the blur of pink and blue that was Sarah and Hank respectively.
"I notified everyone," Hank said, panting slightly as he knelt down next to Remy. "They should all be here within the hour. Professor Xavier and Ororo may be a little bit longer though."
"Dat's not gon' be 'nuff time," was Remy's harsh reply.
"We should collect the evidence and take it inside. It won't do us any justice to stay out here in the cold," the blue doctor propounded. He rested a hand on Remy's arm and the young man allowed Hank to help him up.
"Remy… your hands." Sarah pointed to Remy's now glowing hands. He was still holding the journal. He instantly dropped it - Rogue would hate him forever if he destroyed it. All her journals were priceless to her, and she would probably be quite angry with him if she knew he'd read it. What de hell am I talkin' 'bout. She's in fuckin' danger an' I'm worried 'bout her damn journals! Regardless, the book fell into the snow and Remy shoved his hands into his pockets, pulling out a playing card from each one. Within moments, both had exploded, dangerously close to Remy as he hadn't had time to throw them. Hank had recoiled from him and Sarah shrieked. His hands still burned with pain, even though he had released a substantial amount of energy.
A motorcycle was heard pulling up to the front. Then a roar echoed into the dark winter night. "Logan," Remy breathed.
"Where the fuck is he!" Logan growled as he rushed over to them. His nose was sniffing wildly, and he almost went past the trio onto the woods, but Hank laid a hand on the shorter man's arm.
"We cannot start a wild goose chase, Logan. Calm down. Once we get a more secure team together, then we can hunt him down." Sarah had told Hank everything she could in the inane babble she was crying. He heard the words "Victor" and "Rogue" quite clearly, however and started a phone chain. Jean and Scott were coming home from their date, thankfully Nathan was taking a nap, and the teenagers of the institute would be home at any time.
"What happened, bub?" This time it came out softer. Logan had gotten a very good look at Remy and could tell the Cajun was obviously upset. Ranting and roaring would get him nowhere.
"He took her. An' I wasn' here t' stop him."
Logan had gotten a nice whiff of the earlier arousal coming off both the present teens but didn't hold it against Remy. How could he have possibly known about the oncoming of her capture? Besides, Logan blamed himself. He said Creed would never touch her again – and now look what happened.
"Listen ta me, kid. While yer livin' under the same roof with me, I can assure ya that Creed – or anyone – ain't ever gonna touch you like that again."
"Thank you." She didn't look at him, ashamed to have tears stinging her eyes. Remy rubbed her shoulder softly.
Logan watched Remy interact with her. "Me an' the Cajun, then."
Remy looked up. "Quoi?"
"You an' me. We're now her protectors, got that?"
"Homme, I've held dat position f'r four days now. Y' jus' joinin' de club."
Remy took another card out of his pocket and charged it, slower this time. His powers were back to being in tune with his emotions and to say the least, it was becoming dangerous. He had the chance to throw it a distance instead of it blowing up in his face.
Hank, after calming down Logan and a few other students who had shown up, bent down to pick up the remnants of the destroyed walkie-talkie. Remy watched Hank's blue hand envelope the toy and his heart crumbled. He could practically feel the coldness of the snow as every little piece of his being flittered to the ground. He sucked in the brisk air and stomped ahead of everyone into the house. Sarah took a step towards him to follow, but Paige put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head slightly. The Kentuckian had watched her two fellow southerners grow up and she'd seen Remy's mannerisms. When he went off sulking, you left him alone.
He stomped inside, his hands flexing in and out of fists in an attempt to keep his power from being painful. His head was banging with everyone's emotions, even though they were still outside. Anger, confusion, fear, regret, sadness, pity. He needed release. He needed Rogue back.
BAMF!
Remy lifted his head to the sound. It'd been two weeks since he'd heard it. "Kurt?"
He was breathing hard. Remy couldn't see him. He scrutinized the shadows and found the bottomless golden eyes of Kurt. They were flaming. Kurt fell out of the shadows to the ground.
"Kurt!" Remy ran over to him. "What happened?"
"I teleported from school. Took ten times." His breath was labored.
"Merde, y' used t' only four times!"
"Don't you think I know that?" Kurt snapped, pushing his weight onto his hands and knees, still panting. "I'm going to have a major headache," he murmured.
"C'mon," Remy said, hoisting Kurt's body into his arms. He deposited him onto the couch.
"Any sign of her yet?"
"Non, no body's left yet."
"Why the hell not! My baby sister has been kidnapped by a fucking lunatic!"
Remy was taken aback. Kurt never used language like that. Release. "Calm down, mon ami." He felt like such a hypocrite.
"Calm down? I can't help but feel this way!" His eyes fell shut as he moaned his sister's given name. It sounded so foreign to Remy – he, himself, had never called her that ever nor had he heard it in four years. Kurt's eyes snapped back open. "Mom needs to know."
Remy nodded. As much as he hated the woman, she needed to know her only daughter was in danger. "I'll get de portable phone f'r y'. Stay here."
"No problem," Kurt muttered. Remy started to walk to the kitchen. "Be careful," Kurt suggested. He'd seen Remy's eyes and hands flare up but didn't say a word. Remy understood and nodded mutely as he walked away.
"If you can hear me… help." A tear splashed onto the cold stone floor. It echoed forever.
"It says it's been disconnected," Kurt said, staring unbelievingly at the phone.
"Maybe y' typed it wrong."
Kurt nodded. "Maybe." He clicked the phone off and then hit 'on' again. He punched the numbers in again, slower this time. Remy was amazed at how his three fingers worked the buttons. "I know I hit them right!" He gave Remy the phone and put it up to his ear. Sure enough, that damn automated recording rang in place of Raven's voice.
"Would she have told y' if she moved?"
"Of course, she would have! Why do I get a horrible feeling about this?"
"It could be not'in'… Maybe dey had a little earthquake an' de phone lines were knocked out? It is California after all."
"I don't know… you're probably right though," Kurt relented, sighing. He took a sip of the water Remy brought in for him.
Remy glanced back towards the front door. "D'ya t'ink we c'n go get her now?" He asked softly.
"I think Hank would want to wait until the heavy hitters got here." By heavy hitters, he meant Jean, Scott, Betsy, Angel and hopefully Emma and Sean. Emma had married a young man named Shinobi Shaw. His father owned the ruthless Hellfire Club, a country club that loved money and power – the two things Emma had craved since she was a little girl. Sean had taken a holiday over in Scotland for some time and met a cute geneticist named Moira. Details were sketchy on whether he'd proposed or not, but their relationship was close. Regardless, both had been away from the institute for a prolonged amount of time, so who knew if they would be interested in helping, or if they would make it in any orderly time.
"Remy?" Jean called as she hurried through the front door. Scott and Logan could be heard arguing loudly outside.
"We're ov'r here, Jeannie."
Jean whipped her heard towards Remy and Kurt on the couch, her hair flailing behind her in a blanket of golden red. "Oh, God, Remy." She ran over to him and enveloped him into a maternal hug. Remy wasn't as close with Jean as Rogue was, but it was still comforting to be held by someone. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here. I wish I could've been here," she murmured into his hair. She let go of Remy for a moment and repeated the motion with Kurt. She was sincerely upset. Remy felt her anguish coming off in undulating waves.
"It was nice talkin' ta ya, Jean," she said, mustering up a sweet smile. Talking to Jean had made her think about everything. She couldn't decide whether that had been a good thing or not.
In return, Jean smiled in a way that made her eyes twinkle. "You, too, sweetie."
Rogue's expression turned genuine. "You're definitely gonna make yoah kid happy," she said before following her brother and the others.
Jean's smile wavered as tears came to her eyes. At that moment she promised herself that she would try to be the best motherly figure she could for the young girl.
"None of us could've known," Remy whispered as he stood up. His heart wept with Jean's. He concentrated on the loud voices outside.
"Remy, don't go there," Jean warned as she cradled Kurt's head. He was crying. Remy felt so weary after talking to him. Kurt's tiredness was radiating and seeping through Remy's shields.
He ignored her and kept walking. Jean knew what was going to happen before she had come inside to console the two males. And Remy wasn't going to be happy with what he saw. He had reached the door when Logan was revving up his bike. It took him a moment to realize that Logan was leaving after the heated argument with Scott. "What de hell?" Remy's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement as he watched Logan speed off. He was confused. It was better than realizing how angry he was. "De bastard left wit'out me!"
The others finally took note of Remy standing in the doorway. Scott was the first to move when Remy started taking long strides in the direction of Logan's bike. "No, Remy!"
Remy sprinted blindly towards the motorcycle, his anger boiling over. "How could he leave like dat!" Scott somehow collided with Remy and knocked him down onto the soft snow. "Lemme up!"
"No, Remy. You need to keep a clear head."
"How c'n I!" He took a deep breath nonetheless. "… Dat girl is m'life." The second sentence came out softer.
"I know, Remy. And I know I must sound like a total bastard for asking you to do such an absurd thing. But – running off like Logan will not get you anywhere." He rolled off of Remy then and stood up. He extended a hand towards him.
Remy accepted it and allowed Scott to pull him up. He unknowingly charged Scott's leather glove in the process. Remy's eyes blared red as he realized what he'd done. "Hold still," he counseled. Quickly, he stripped the glove off and tossed it. A year or so ago, he'd learned a technique in which he could absorb the kinetic energy back into himself, but it required release later on so as not to build up inside him. That was no good at that moment. He needed release now.
Rogue wiped her face when her tears subsided. She wasn't shackled by any means so the action was fairly easy to do. She blinked several times to get a feel for the dark again. She wished for Remy's light sensitive eyes at that moment so she could see where the hell she was.
She'd never been able to absorb and bring up physical manifestations, such as Remy's demonic eyes, Kurt's blue fur, Lorna's green hair, etc. It did make her think though. Ah've absorbed half the institute… Ah can send a distress call with someone's telepathy!
She closed her eyes, enveloping herself and her mind in complete darkness (as if she hadn't been before). She felt fatigue from before as her hand traveled up to where Victor had injected her with the serum that had knocked her out. A minute bump had taken residence on her neck.
Concentrate, a voice told her in the back of her head. It sounded like her voice, but softer than the usual pitch she spoke with, more eerie as well.
She nodded mutely, unconditionally agreeing with the voice. She took a deep breath, centering all her power in her head. Except… it wasn't there. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Once again, she focused all her power on opening the 'closet' in which she hid the powers of others. She pulled and pulled on the door – but it wouldn't budge. A sob escaped her throat with the effort she was exerting. Nothing.
"Oh, no," she whispered. She couldn't even feel anyone's memories but her own. She tried focusing on the last four years of her life, but no matter how hard she tried not to, her thoughts drifted to those of almost ten years ago.
"Bethie? Ya awake?"
She had been. She could feel the oncoming of the scheduled thunderstorm and they'd always scared her. She wouldn't have minded the comfort, but her stepfather had been acting strange since her and Raven moved in a week before. Instead, she just kept her mouth shut and feigned sleep. She was hoping he was just checking on her – her fear of thunderstorms was widely known – and that he would leave, convinced she was asleep.
No such luck. "Bethie… I know you're not sleepin'…" He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. She always left the door open so her mother could hear her in case she was having a bad dream. The door was shut – the door shut – he shut the door.
She clutched her pink angel bear to her chest, her eyes wide open now. "Ah'm okay, Daddy," she whispered.
"Are ya sure? Your momma told me about how storms scare ya."
"Ah'll be all raht." She curled herself up into the tightest ball she could without being obvious. "Momma says Ah have nothin' ta be scared of so Ah should try ta sleep on mah own."
He silently slipped over to her bed, blonde hair draped over his impossible brown eyes. He leaned down till he was practically nose to nose with her. "You don't wanna be by yerself though, do ya?" His breath came out hot, tinted with negative vibes and the putrid scent of alcohol that sent chills up and down her spine.
Before she could fine the words to object, he had climbed into the small bed behind her, pulling her to his chest. It could've been a comforting gesture except for the warning in her gut. Every defense alarm went off in her head as she felt something hard press into the back of her thighs. Her mind screamed when his hand snaked up her nightshirt and pinched her tiny, underdeveloped nipple. If she had been older, her body more mature, and if the arms around her had been those of a lover, she would have felt inviting thrills. Instead, she felt incredible discomfort. At the moment he touched her not so intimately, her stomach convulsed and her bladder released any sort of fluid it may have had inside.
In simple words, Victor was furious. He sat up in bed, a scowl etched on his face. He grabbed her right arm forcefully and smacked her across the face with his free hand. "Don't you ever do that again." He stood up and walked abruptly out of the room.
She couldn't move – she couldn't cry. Her left hand switched between rubbing her cheek and cradling her quickly bruising arm. She spent the night awake, staring out the ajar door. What had just happened?
The room had begun to fill with the overwhelming stench of urine by the time the sun had risen. Only then did she cry. She felt disgusting – and it wasn't just because of the urine clinging to her legs.
"Bethany?" Raven pushed open the door, her natural blue skin blotchy and pale. "You okay, honey?"
She blinked at her mother, trying her best not to let her tears show. Victor's stern figure appeared in the hallway behind her mother. His hollow brown eyes glared at her, daring her to even peep. "Ah'm fine."
Raven nodded, her nose wrinkled when the stench finally smacked her in the face. "Beth? What happened?"
Her eyes flicked to Victor, then to her mother. "One of the thunderbolts really scared me," she whispered, ashamed.
Raven's eyes glanced back to Victor for her daughter to see. The younger girl nodded so slight she wasn't sure her mother had caught it. "We should get you cleaned up. Your brother's flying in today."
The mention of Kurt brightened her day. Raven nodded to Victor as she stepped into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. "Ah'm sorry Ah did this, Momma."
Raven helped her pull her nightshirt off her head. As she deposited it on the floor, she caught a glimpse of the dark bruises on her young daughter's right arm. Biting back tears and swallowing the bile that had risen in her throat, she pulled the girl into a hug. "Everything's going to be fine, Bethany. Just fine."
Ah can't believe Ah believed her.
Rogue felt nameless in the flashback. Sure, Victor and her mother referred to her by name, but since that moment in her bed, she wasn't a little girl – she was a thing. It. Neutral. Things aren't defined, they don't have names. As Rogue, she had a purpose – a meaning. Remy gave her meaning. He made her feel human again.
"What if Ah never see him again?" She murmured idly to herself.
Don't say that, hissed the same voice as before. You can't give in. You will be free again.
Rogue wanted to believe the voice, but she couldn't help but feel so lost… so alone. She thought she had been free before, but maybe she was just on a leash for four years and now she'd been dragged back. She bit her lip until it bled to keep herself from crying over the thought.
"Why haven't we left yet?" Kurt asked as Jean helped him outside.
Remy stood silently, still staring blankly at the path that led to the gates. He shrugged. He felt as if he'd been frozen in time – he had stopped thinking, didn't move, nothing. He concentrated on his breathing. It was the only thing keeping him sane. His emotions, to Jean, were boiling in a red cloud above his head. His aura was burning.
"Remy?" She came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. She almost recoiled from the burn. Concerned, she sent forth a psychic probe, just to see if he'd let open his shields. Otherwise, she couldn't explain why so much of his feelings had been slamming into her. To her surprise, his shields were in the process of crumbling. His emotions and thoughts were leaking out through the cracks and those emotions of the others were colliding and smacking into his and finding their way behind the 'stone walls.'
He shuttered under her touch. It reminded her of how Rogue would react if someone would reach out for her from behind. Sometimes she would completely jerk out of reach of the person, and other times she would just slightly recoil from the hand in order to see who was behind her.
He turned to glare at her, but once he realized it was Jean, his eyes relaxed. They still glowed, however. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't worry about it." Her hand gently massaged his shoulder. If it affected him at all in the ways of calming his nerves, he didn't show it visibly. "Why don't you come inside? We're going to start strategizing in a minute or so."
"Why do dat? He could've hurt her by now."
"I know, Remy. Rogue is a strong girl though. She's been working with her powers for as long as you. She would know what to do in the case of an emergency."
"Somehow I don' t'ink dat's completely right. I can' help but t'ink she's feelin' hopeless an' alone."
Jean pursed her lips. "She has more will than that. I thought you would have had more faith in her than that."
"I do. More den y' would believe. Y' didn't see her when I found her all dat time ago, dough. She was so broken – if she had been older an' had de means to, I'm sure she would've killed herself." Coolly, he reached for a card in his pocket and began fumbling with it. He'd taught himself a trick of flicking it between his fingers without dropping it. It was very therapeutic. He'd tried teaching it to Rogue once but was less than successful. She'd refused to take off her gloves because she didn't want to hurt Remy and the card just didn't want to slide right between her clothed fingers.
The thought brought a smile to his face. Even though she knew she wouldn't be able to get it, she kept trying just to make him proud. She'd spent so much of her time with him making sure he was proud of her. She didn't need to prove anything to him though. It was enough that she grew out of her shell she first had when they moved to the institute.
He hadn't spent enough time impressing her. It was always what she could do for him. Sure, he may have given her a lifelong friend when they met in that alleyway, but she had done the same for him. Who knows where he would've been at that exact moment without her. Would he have even been alive? He closed his eyes for a minute. He pushed his confused thoughts of more-than-friendship with Rogue out of his head and focused on the task at hand. Weighing the options in his head, he knew what had to be done.
"Give me another moment," he told Jean. "I jus' wanna get some more air."
"Okay, Remy." She smiled and lifted her hand off his shoulder. She turned to Kurt, who was leaning against the front door. "You want to come back in?"
Remy was facing him as well, though Jean couldn't see him as her back was turned to him. Remy shook his head to Kurt, his red eyes filled with a growing plan.
"I think I'll stay out here with Remy. Seeing everyone inside is making me uncomfortable," he responded casually, though his eyes glanced to Remy cautiously. What is he planning?
Jean's smile didn't falter in the least. She oblivious, thought Remy happily. He knew his walls were falling down slowly. He'd done his best to hide his thoughts at that moment, and apparently it had worked.
"I'll see you guys inside then. Nathan needs to be checked on, I'm guessing." With another warming smile, she walked past Kurt and out of their sight.
Once the door shut, Kurt furrowed his dark blue eyebrows at Remy. "What are you thinking?"
"We're gettin' out of here. I'm not waitin' f'r dem t' come t' some decision dat may come twenty minutes t' two hours from now." Kurt was silent for a moment, his golden eyes shifting between Remy and the institute doors. "Are y' feelin' better now?"
"I am." With one final look to the mansion, he began walking towards Remy. "Let's get out of here before they realize we've left." Remy grinned from ear to ear. "Wait, how are we going to find her?"
Remy's burning gaze glanced to Sarah's abandoned Jeep by the front steps. "All de mansion cars are equipped wit' radios, right? We'll be able t' find Logan in case he's found somet'in'."
It was Kurt's turn to grin. "Let's go get my sister back." Within moments, they'd run down to the Jeep and were strapped in, ready to go.
TBC…