Author's notres: -sniff- I can't believe it! I'm gonna be so sad! This story is coming to an end! This was originally meant to be the last chapter, but I've lengthened it out over two chapters (prob because I don't want my story to end!) This has become my favourite fic! And I plan for it to end with such an end that it'll make you guys laugh, cry and sigh! Please Please review!
Ch15: Bleeding to the CoreXavier entered the infirmary and looked at Remy's unconscious body. He'd kept Remy sedated overnight for fear that Remy might do something drastic in the depressed stare he was in. Not that drinking, not insomnia and feeling nothing but guilty for Rogue running away wasn't drastic enough! Honestly, Xavier wasn't entirely sure on how to make Remy feel better without using his powers to alter Remy's memories. And being the moral man he was, Xavier just couldn't do that. He knew the only way for Remy to be back to the normal suave and collected young man he used to be was to find Rogue and sort things out with her. But there in lay the problem; Rogue was nowhere to be found. Xavier had searched and searched for her using cerebro, but America was a large country, and Rogue could have gone anywhere.
"Don't worry, Remy," Xavier said to the unconscious young man, "We'll find her."
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In the kitchen, Kurt was again preparing Logan's breakfast. Instead of Remy sitting across from him at the bench, Kitty, Scott and Jean were there. "Man!" Kurt exclaimed, dropping the two slices of toast on the tray. "Zis is stupid!" Kurt crossed his arms. "I don't vant to be ze one to give Logan his meals. I hate zat guy!"
Scott, Jean and Kitty stared blankly at their blue friend. He'd been complaining the last few weeks about being given the responsibility, but it was the first time he'd mentioned that he hated Logan. Kurt looked at his three friends, who were just sitting there, stunned. "Vat?"
"It's just like, you've been complaining about giving Logan his meals, but you like, never said that you hated him!" Kitty explained. Jean and Scott nodded in agreement.
Kurt crossed his arms. "Every time I port to his room, I have to port right out of zer or else I'm scared I'll start an argument wiz him for seducing my sister!" Kurt growled. "And zen what happens if he stabs me like he stabbed Remy! He almost killed Remy! If it wasn't for Rogue, Remy vould be dead!"
Scott nodded. "Point taken," he commented. "But someone has to bring him his food.."
All four of them sat silently. None of them wanted to bring him his lunch. Then Kurt looked at Kitty. She realised he was staring at her. "What?"
"You can phase through ze door.." Kurt began to suggest, but was cut off by Kitty.
"Like, No frikk'n way! I'm not going to give him his breakfast! I can't like, even look at him without getting grossed out!"
Scott nodded. "The thought of Logan with Rogue is just.."
"Hey!" Jean scolded. "Are you saying you hate Rogue too?" Jean glared at Scott. She was surprised her boyfriend would even talk about Rogue like that. Scott after all, did have a crush on Rogue when they first met.
Scott was surprised by Jean's outburst. "What the!" He put his hands up defensively. "I didn't say that! I meant-"
"Rogue's our friend!" Jean exclaimed, cutting Scott off before he could explain. "She hid her relationship with Logan because she knew you guys wouldn't be able to look at her the same again!"
Scott put his hand on Jean's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Jean, We're not-"
Jean didn't want to hear it. She moved her shoulder away from Scott's hand and stood up. "No! What's going to happen when we find Rogue? You're all going to be happy she's back, but then you guys are forever going to look at her differently! Logan's the one who's really in the wrong, and Rogue's not the-"
"Jean! JEAN!" Kitty squealed, stopping Jean from continuing her rant. "We all still love Rogue!"
"Yeah," Kurt backed her up. "Ve're not going to view Rogue differently. Ve all vant her back."
Scott nodded. "Finding her is the big problem!" The others nodded in agreement. "Where do you guys think she went?" Jean, satisfied that her boyfriend still saw Rogue as their friend, sat back down next to him. This time when he put his hand around her shoulders, she let him. She looked at Scott and he smiled at her, glad that his girlfriend wasn't mad at him anymore.
Still on the topic of where Rogue could have gone to, Kitty suggested, "Beverly Hills?"
Kurt smiled. Poor Kitty constantly had expensive mansions and clothes on the brain. "No, somehow I don't zink Rogue would so somewhere so.."
"Pretentious?" Jean joked. Kitty gasped, mouth wide-open at Jean's remark. But Jean continued before kitty could protest at what Jean had said. "If I had to ever escape, I'd probably go somewhere familiar.."
Scott looked at Jean suspiciously. "Familiar? Thought about running away have we?" He joked.
Jean playfully hit him in the arm. "I mean that I wouldn't just catch a bus to anywhere! I'd go somewhere I'd been before," She explained.
Kurt had an idea. "Would she go back home?.. you know, back wiz zat blind lady?" Kurt wracked his brain trying to remember her name. It had been more than three years since they flew down there to recruit Rogue. Kurt then clicked his fingers when he remembered the name, "Irene! ..Destiny.. whatever she wants to call herself."
Scott pursed his lips in thought. "I don't think so.. I mean, why go back to that woman? She works for Mystique!"
"True," Kurt replied. "And we all know zat Rogue doesn't vant to go back to ze brozerhood and Mystique.."
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Logan paced up and down his bedroom. For the first time since being confined to his room, the elf hadn't brought him his food. Being restricted to his room, he couldn't exactly go out to the kitchen to get it either.
It was getting close to lunchtime now and Logan was getting frustrated. He was stuck in this 'cube' and hadn't even had any social interactions. He didn't know what to expect, being stuck in his bedroom, but he didn't expect to be by himself for so long. Still being in his bedroom obviously meant they hadn't found Rogue yet. 'I'd give anything to be out there, finding her myself!' Logan thought to himself. 'I would have tracked her down within days if stupid Xavier didn't lock me in here!'
There was a knock at the door. At first, Logan shit himself, thinking maybe it was Xavier and that he'd heard Logan's thoughts. It was after the door unlocked and opened, that Logan calmed down. "Ororo," Logan said as he saw his old friend enter the room. He smiled weakly at her, thankful that she wasn't Xavier.
Storm nodded, "Logan." She closed the door behind herself. "It's been a long time," She commented as she walked towards his bed. Logan watched as Ororo sat herself down at the foot of his bed. Logan followed suit and sat next to her.
He sighed to himself. "Yeah, it has." He ran his hand through his hair. "Still no luck finding Rogue?"
Ororo wasn't surprised that Logan was asking about Rogue. From what she'd heard from Jean and Xavier, Logan was infatuated with the poor girl. "Charles has been using cerebro day in day out for the last two weeks. Rogue's smart and hasn't been using her powers," she explained.
"We did train her well, didn't we?" Logan replied, trying to lighten the mood. His gruff voice unable to hide his sadness.
Ororo lifter her hand to Logan's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her friend, but then stopped herself before her hand touched his shoulder. She returned her hand back to her own lap, unsure of how to react around her friend. Logan went against everything Ororo stood for. She wanted the mansion to be a safe haven for the students. Logan, Xavier, Hank and herself were teachers at the mansion, and to her the student-teacher ethics still applied. She wasn't present when the argument broke out where Remy slipped the secret of Rogue and Logan's relationship, but found out pretty fast. Xavier filled her in on the situation when they realised that Rogue had run away.
"Logan.." Ororo began, unsure of how to ask the dreaded question. She looked at the floor. She didn't know what to do. In the end, she realised it was best to just say it. "Why did you do it?" She asked, finally looking into Logan's eyes.
Logan had a feeling that she'd want to ask him about himself and Rogue. There were many ways to answer the question and he could have her there all night explaining it. He leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Started off as alcohol and loneliness.." He replied honestly. "And then it turned to need ..and love.."
Ororo realised how much Logan had fallen for Rogue in such a short time when he mentioned the word 'love'. "Oh, Logan.." She sighed. Having finally asked Logan the question that she'd been wanting to ask him for a while, she had nothing left to say to her old friend and left Logan alone, once again.
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Xavier sat at Remy's side as the young man finally woke up. Remy rubbed his eyes and surveyed the room. He realised he was in the infirmary, in the very room Rogue was in, only a few weeks prior when she saved his life. "Rogue," Remy whispered, thinking about his runaway girlfriend.
Xavier placed his hand on Remy's shoulder. "Remy, are you alright?" He asked softly.
Remy sat up, still feeling sleepy from the sedatives. "Yeah, think so," he replied. Thinking about how the last thing he remembered was being in the kitchen with the others, Remy asked, "What happened?"
"I felt it best to sedate you overnight. Jean, Scott, Kurt and Kitty were worried about you in the kitchen yesterday morning. Jean used her powers to put you to sleep. I'm sorry Remy," Xavier apologised. He saw the confused look on Remy's face. "I've been spending my days using cerebro to find Rogue and it's resulted in my neglecting you and the other students. I had no idea how bad this situation has gotten for you. I-"
Remy threw his hands up in the air. "Remy just fine, professor!" He explained, cutting Xavier off. Remy hopped off the side of the bed. He didn't want to hear any more apologies unless it was coming out of his own mouth and directed at Rogue.. "Remy want nothing more than to find Rogue." He said bluntly as he left the room.
Xavier didn't think he'd said anything to anger Remy. He wanted to go after Remy and see what was wrong, but Xavier already knew the root of Remy's problems were all surrounding Rogue and her disappearance. And so, Xavier sighed to himself and returned to cerebro. He felt guilty, knowing that the cause for his guilt was because he'd been spending all his time in cerebro and neglecting the students.
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Remy walked angrily out of the infirmary and towards the Rec room. He wasn't exactly sure himself why he got angry at the professor. He knew that the professor was just trying to help, but Remy didn't want to hear it. He wanted nothing more than to get Rogue back. It was written on his face as clear as day. Everyone knew it and that it was the cause for Remy's sudden shift in behaviour. He reached in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes, but they weren't there! "Goddammit!" He groaned as he realised that no doubt, it was Xavier who'd confiscated them off him when he was sedated. The inability to relax with a cigarette only made Remy more frustrated. "Remy can't stay here anymore! Need t' be out there finding Rogue!" He groaned to himself.
Remy finally reached the Rec room. Kurt, Scott and Kitty were watching TV on the couch and Jean was flipping through a magazine on the armchair.
Remy walked in and plopped down on the empty armchair opposite Jean and sighed. His depressed state was the opposite of the reactions from the other four, who were glad to have him back.
"Remy!" Kitty exclaimed. "Like, you're okay!"
Remy nodded and gave a weak smile in her direction. "Remy fine, Kitty. Just want Rogue back."
Jean stopped flicking through her magazine. "We all do, Remy. Don't worry. We'll find her, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, well," Remy groaned. "Staying here isn't going to.." Remy drifted off when something on the TV caught his eye. There was a newsbreak about a crash South of Bayville. The others looked at the screen when they realised Remy had found something more interesting than the present conversation. Remy said to himself "That near Rogue's hometown."
"..The motorcycle was found only minutes ago. The driver has yet to be found. Judging from the state of the motorcycle, it's a miracle the driver hasn't been found dead or seriously injured. Whether this was a case offoul playor a case of the driver simply losing control of the vehicle has yet to be determined…"
"Oh my God!" Kitty called out. Remy sat motionless, in utter shock. On the TV was Rogue's emerald green motorbike that they'd all pitched in and bought her for her 21st birthday only months before. The motorbike looked like it had tumbled numerous times and had smashed into a tree on the side of the road.
"Where… Where's Rogue?" Jean asked. "How can she not be there!"
Scott leaned forward, as if leaning closer to the TV would help him to survey the wreckage better. "The way the bike is.. How would she be able to walk away from that?"
"Ve have to tell ze professor," Kurt exclaimed before porting out of the room and to find the professor.
Remy stared at the screen and searched in the crowd that were surrounding the crash, for any sign that Rogue was there, but he couldn't see her anywhere. "Rogue's out there somewhere. Remy has to go find her!" Remy said aloud as he got up off the armchair.
Scott got up also. "I'm coming with you."
Jean stood up also. "We're all coming with you."
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Rogue pushed her hand down on her side, just above hip, hoping to stop the bleeding. She didn't get cut badly, but she still needed to stop the bleeding. She limped through the forest towards the place she once called home. She turned around and saw the flashing lights of the police, ambulance and fire brigade in the distance. She knew the crash would let the Xmen know where she was. She knew how the law worked. The police would run the plates on her bike and find the address for the mansion. She'd also left her backpack there with all her clothes and her wallet. They'd soon figure out that she'd crashed right near her hometown.
"Let's hope.. They don't figure out Ah'm going back tah Irenes," Rogue groaned to herself. She coughed when she pushed down on her side a little too hard. Her eyes fluttered, struggling to remain open. She needed to lie down, but not yet. If she lay down now, she'd be found and returned back to the mansion. "Can't go back.. Ah won't go back to them.. Can't see the look on their faces again!"
She stumbled on a log she didn't see in front of her. "Can't lie down.. keep goin.." Rogue told herself, forcing herself to get off the ground and continue limping towards her old home.
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Remy ran down to the hanger as fast as his feet could carry him. Scott, Jean, Kitty and Kurt fell behind, going to the professor first to tell him about the news report and to see if he could find Rogue using cerebro (now that they had an area to pinpoint her in).
Remy didn't care whether the others said they were going with him or not. He was planning on flying the X-jet out of there as soon as he could, not even wanting to wait for the others to catch up before he took off.
He reached the hanger doors and punched the panel to open it. When the doors opened, Remy's jaw dropped. The X-jet had a huge dint on the nose of the plane. Forge and Bobby were both standing on a raised platform, and seemed to be fixing the dint.
"What th' hell happened?" Remy called out! He ran up to Forge and Bobby.
"Yeah.." Bobby looked embarrassed. "I tried to take the X-Jet for a spin, and kinda forgot that to take off, the hanger doors need to be open.." Bobby explained, red from embarrassment. "And Forge came over to help fix it.."
Remy put his hands on his head in defeat. The X-jet was un-flyable with a dint in the nose. It wouldn't be ready to fly until it was fixed. Remy wasn't prepared to wait that long. "You took the plane for a joyride AGAIN?" Remy yelled angrily. His reaction took the other two by surprise. "Why do you stupid kids keep trying to fly this thing?" Remy flew his hands up in defeat and stomped off, still yelling out loud. "Rogue could be DYING somewhere and we can't get to her coz of youstupid KIDS!"
Remy was almost out the door when Forge called out, "I'll be done here in a couple of hours!" But a couple of hours wasn't soon enough for Remy.
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Rogue breathed a sigh of relief when she recognised the front door of her old home. Irene kept her own mutant gifts hidden from Rogue when she was living there, but Xavier told Rogue how Irene has the ability to see possible futures. She guessed that maybe Irene knew Rogue was coming.
'Maybe she'd have some chicken soup ready,' Rogue joked to herself. She limped up to her doorway and knocked on the door. Almost instantly, Irene opened the door and if the woman weren't blind she would have seen Rogue bloodied and bruised standing in her doorway.
"Rogue!" Irene smiled. "I knew you were coming," She commented.
Rogue's eyes struggled to stay open. She was desperate to lie down, sleep or pass out. "Ah.. Ah know ah ran out on yah, Irene.. But can ah.. stay here?" Rogue asked, feeling guilty for running back to the woman who looked after her and then she ran out on like an ungrateful child. "Ah've got nowhere else to go.." Rogue whispered like an ashamed child.
Irene loved Rogue like she were her own child, even though she was really only babysitting Rogue for Mystique. She couldn't physically see Rogue, but in her visions, she saw what Rogue looked like right now and all the injuries she'd gotten from the crash. Irene nodded, stepping out of the way so Rogue could enter the house.
Rogue walked over to the couch and sat down, wincing in pain as her back hit the couch.
"How did this happen?" Irene asked. It was a dumb question for someone to ask if they had already seen the future, but Irene never deprived Rogue of conversation just because she already knew the answer. Irene walked into the bathroom and wet a towel with warm water. She came back into the living room and handed the towel to Rogue so she could clean herself up.
Rogue took the towel and put it on her lap. She lifted her top and tried to clean up the cut she'd gotten, but groaned when she tried to lift her arms up. She figured that maybe she'd cracked a rib in the crash. "Ah haven't slept in two days," Rogue began to explain. "Ah originally started heading for New York, but ran into some anti-mutant group. They started following me when they realised ah was a mutant, so ah changed directions. Ah think ah lost them but ah didn't wanna stop until ah got here," Rogue gave up trying to clean herself up and held the wet towel in her hands. "Ah didn't stop to sleep in case ah hadn't lost them. That's why ah fell asleep when ah was driving. Next thing ah knew, ah lost control of the bike and was thrown off it. Ah landed somewhere in the forest. When ah realised where ah was, I tried to run here on foot," Rogue explained.
Irene nodded at Rogue's explanation. "You made the right decision coming here. I'm glad you felt this place was still safe for you. I'll go make you some cocoa to help you sleep," Irene explained, turning towards the kitchen.
Rogue groaned to herself as she stood up off the couch. "Ah'm.. Ah'm sorry, Irene," Rogue apologised.
Irene turned back around to face Rogue. "What for?"
Rogue looked back at the couch. "Ah've stained you're couch.." She explained, referring to the massive bloodstain she'd made.
Irene smiled warmly at Rogue. "It's alright, Rogue," she reassured the tired and distraught girl.
"Ah'll clean it for you tomorrow.. Is that okay?" Rogue asked.
Irene nodded. "You need to rest. If you can, try have a shower so you feel more refreshed before you sleep," Irene suggested before heading, once more, towards the kitchen.
Rogue nodded to herself and was about to head to the bathroom, but changed her mind and walked into the kitchen instead. She saw Irene doing just as she'd said; she was making Rogue a hot chocolate. "Irene?"
"Hmm?"
"You know what made me leave the mansion, dont'cha?" Rogue asked quietly.
Irene nodded, still preparing the hot chocolate. "We don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. All I care about is your safety now. Go wash up and then you can rest for as long as you need to recuperate."
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Left my childhood behind in a rollaway bed
Everything was so damn simple
Now I'm losing my head, losing my head
Trying to cover up the damage
and pat out all the bruises
Too young to know I had it so it didn't hurt to lose it
Didn't hurt to lose it, didn't hurt to lose it
But oh, I'll keep on rolling down this road
But I've got a bad bad feeling
It's gonna take a long time to love
it's gonna take a lot to hold on
It's gonna be a long long way to happy
left in the pieces you broke me into
torn apart but now I've got to
Keep on rolling like a stone
'Cause it's gonna be a long long way to happy
(Long way to Happy – Pink)
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Author's notes: well well well.. ONE CHAPTER LEFT! NOOOoooooo! My baby is coming to an end! I'm not gonna let this story lag and lag.. so I'm gonna end it. And hopefully you guys enjoy the ending. What will happen to Logan? Will they find Rogue? Will Rogue forgive Remy? Next chapter should hopefully be up in a couple of weeks. Don't forget to review! Let me know what you think about this chapter! I really am curious as to what you guys think!