DISCLAIMER: If I owned any of this I'd be suing Marvel for using without permission. I'd also be filthy rich and able to afford hand transplants. So clearly, I don't.
(Ladies and Other Creatures, this is your Author speaking. Welcome to Fiction Odin Only Knows How Many from Chapters One until Whenever I See Fit To End It. We shall be starting at a OMFG level of roughly ten cookies, going up to a level of twelve and a half cookies if we encounter anything dramatic. Your Co-Author today is a tube of local anaesthetic and an insane will to type. As some of you know, I was silly enough to sustain rather large and annoying chemical burns to my hands the day before yesterday which is why this update is by my own standards shockingly late. Burns being what they are make doing everything and anything very difficult and they refuse to close up due to other medical issues I unfortunately have to live with. Therefore we are operating by the aforementioned insane will to type for you people and the good graces of the local anaesthetic my hands are currently slathered in. Now, to the thanks: Anon goddess, who was kind enough to tell me to take a break, honey I did but I had to update, it was eating away at me I'm sorry... LadyMageLuna you are a star and I hope you're doing well and that you enjoy this. Laceylou76, hope you didn't miss me too much and that this doesn't disappoint. Irual, hope you enjoy this too. Bloodypassion you continue to be a sweetie, hope you like this well enough. TitansRule hope I enlightened you in my reply, I certainly did my best and I hope you like this, let me know. Valnar, thanks a bunch, hope you got my reply, it's embarassing as all hell but when I was hitting send a wound cracked and out poured an interesting amount of ooze that needed immediate attention so I ended up smacking the keys and I hope your reply reached you, if not, excuse me and let me know, okay, I'll get right on it. Sweetest Symphony, likewise I hope you got my reply, if not let me know, and you're new aren't you so welcome and thanks for reviewing, hope you like this and please tell me^^ Rogue-scholar07 here it is, hope you excuse my lateness and let me know how you get on. All of you, I apologise, circumstances and bla bla bla, things were rough there for a while but I carry on endangering my healing for you lot so you better bloody well review. If you like. Seriously. Come on now.)
~Scarlet Letter~
And So It Begins.
~***********************************************************~
The nightie she had borrowed from Rogue was flame red and silky soft, falling in waves from her hips and pooling a little around her feet. Kitty had offered her a loan of her clothes but they weren't the same size and Wanda had never liked pastel colours so she had declined on the grounds of the size and Rogue had stepped in and offered the garment she was now wearing.
"Ah know how red makes ya feel better," she'd said softly, smiling as she'd handed it over, and it did. The dress also fit like a dream, which helped. The face looking back at Wanda in the mirror was scrubbed clean now – the makeup from before that had smudged and run completely gone, and her skin was a dewy white. Her eyes were red-rimmed still, hours of crying had taken their toll, but it didn't matter. She felt strange walking from the little bathroom to the med bay again, the clinical feel of the place unsettling for her, and she cast her eyes over to the other bed where John had been earlier. He was gone. She hoped that he had left of his own free will, that he had been awake and well. Dr McCoy had been very kind and told her everything she asked to know regarding her projection and how it had affected the rest of them, the rest of mankind, even. She had cried for them, but she hadn't the strength to cry anymore. The atmosphere of the med bay sapped her energy as surely as any sedative she had ever been given in the asylum, and she sat on the edge of her bed and wrapped her arms around herself. Nothing smelled right. Nothing felt right. She wanted desperately to go home, to sleep in her own bed in her own room with her candles lit and her music playing. Her house that smelt like laundry and food and her 'family'. The Professor had called them her family, the boys, and she supposed to some extent it was true. They were her brothers. It felt wrong knowing that they were enduring this night in strange, uncomfortably unfamiliar surroundings just to be nearer her. She felt guilty. And cold. And...
He sat down beside her, warm and solid, and she looked up, arms loosening around herself, half expecting it to be Lance or Pietro even though she knew it wasn't. He wasn't looking at her, his eyes shadowed, downcast, hair even messier than usual, and she felt guilty for that as well for some reason.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and he turned his head a little and looked at her, his eyes as warm as the rest of him.
"What for?"
"Everything..." His question was confusing her. Almost as though there was nothing at all to feel guilty about, like he had nothing he could think of that she might be wanting to apologise for.
"There isn' anythin' ta be sorry about, luv."
"I killed people..." He smiled at her, sadly, sweetly.
"You didn' do anything on purpose, luv. You're innocent. It wasn' your fault."
"I feel so..." She had been so certain that she had no more tears left, but now they came over her again and when he put his arms around her she leant into them, slipping her own around his waist and crying into his shoulder, wishing she could just stop, not wanting him to see this.
"It's okay luv... It's okay... You didn' do it on purpose... You didn' know..." He stroked her hair and let her cry, holding her to him and feeling his heart break with every hitch of her breath, anger welling up in him for all the wrongs that had been done to her, had forced her into this unwilling role of murderess when really, she was the only victim he could see.
"I don't know why I feel so guilty..." she whispered and he sighed and pressed his lips to her hair, wishing he could make her feel just a little better.
"Because you're a good person, luv... You 'ave a heart, unlike some people. You care abou' others an' ya want them to be happy and safe... I know you didn't wan' any o' this and I know it hurts but ya can' blame yourself, it's not your fault... Please don' blame yourself..." She looked up at him, eyes full of tears, and he felt that if she'd just smile, if she would just smile once, everything would be fine again.
"Why are you here with me? I almost killed you..."
"I'm here because I want ta be here. And the good doctor wants me ta stay the night, jus' like you..." Her face fell and she looked down at the tear stains she had made on his black Tshirt.
"Hey..." He tilted her chin up so she would face him again, but her eyes slid away to look at the wall and he smiled.
"Even if I didn' need ta stay here, I wouldn' leave you here alone, okay? Ya have ta know that, Wanda." She looked him in the eye and he fell into hers without a second thought.
"You'd stay here... for me?"
"With you, unless they dragged me away kickin' an' screamin' a' course," he grinned at her to ease the moment and she smiled, a ghost of a smile, barely there but still beautiful.
"I'm sorry about... everything that happened... " He knew full well what 'everything' entailed.
"It's okay... It's been a bad day for you, you don' have to apologise fer anythin'..." It was true, he didn't care for apologies. There really was nothing to apologise for. What he wanted was to hear that she didn't regret it.
"Dr McCoy said... you were already having a bad day... when I... " she trailed off, the sentence leaving a clear opening for him to shuffle off all responsibility and take the coward's way out. But he'd promised...
"I've got a few issues, luv," he began slowly, not knowing exactly how to begin the speech that would decide his fate.
"The voices," she supplied, and he nodded,
"Right, them, and a coupla other bits an' bobs. I get... I have... I have hallucinations. An' when I do, the voices in my head – they get angry, and they – they tell me ta do stuff – and – " her face was so open, so innocent, so ready to accept anything he told her, and he hated himself for having to.
"And I can' always fight them. I'm not myself when I'm having them – I'm a different person - a right bastard – and I... I hate that part of myself. I can' control it an' I pretend it's not there, but when it is, I... I just... I do really stupid things. An' I can't feel things the way I should. Things that hurt make me laugh. Things that usually feel good hurt. And I'm shit scared, because the last little part of me that's still normal knows and I can't do anything about it... I'm just... trapped in my own head... So I lie about it and people just assume I'm a bit off... And... " Her hand on his cheek brought his eyes up to meet hers again, and he saw the understanding there. It should have been a heal-all to him, instead it felt like another wound was being carved into his heart.
"I know..." she said softly, her pale fingers cool and gentle as she pushed them through his hair, and he sighed.
"I don't care, John... I'm glad you told me but it doesn't matter... You didn't lie to me, you admitted you were hearing things, you told me, so it doesn't matter... You're not – you wouldn't – I trust you, okay?" she wasn't looking at him properly, seemed to be focusing on the contrast between her hand and his hair instead. It was distracting. It brought things back.
"I told you about the shadows, and the dreams – memories – " she corrected herself quickly, closing her eyes for a moment before continuing.
"And you're not a bad person... You were honest with me and you were nice to me... You weren't afraid of me like the others..."
"Only thing I'm afraid of is myself, and what comes with being me, luv," he said sincerely, and she smiled sadly.
"I know the feeling," she said, and he reached up and took her hand, spreading her fingers out and laying it flat against his.
"I'm sorry I didn' tell you everythin' before."
"You didn't have to. It was your secret to tell. I didn't need to know – everyone has things they want to pretend don't exist... Ghosts... I trusted you before. I trust you now. You never hurt me before..." He looked at her with an undisguised self-loathing.
"But I could. I could hurt you, Wanda. Maybe not even physically, but there are so many other ways ta hurt someone and when I'm not in control I know them all..." She smiled at him and leant her head on his shoulder.
"I'm the one who almost killed you, John... And if you did do something... It wouldn't be your fault... When I'm angry it isn't my fault. Pietro always says it's just an accident and we pretend it didn't happen when I break things or things start floating or whatever..."
"Your brother loves you, Wanda. He wants you ta be 'appy and he knows all that anger just makes things worse so he tries ta make it easier on you," John said, and she smiled.
"I know... I know that now... But the point is that I have accidents too... But most of the time it's okay... So if you're okay most of the time... the accidents don't matter..." He could feel that she was trying to do for him what Pietro did for her, explain it, make it better, make it less than it was, and he couldn't keep his hold on all the reasons why sitting here with her was wrong. He felt it ebbing away, almost as though her words were corrosive to his beliefs, wearing them down until they seemed pale, shadowy, flawed things not worth keeping.
"You said my accidents didn't matter because I didn't do it on purpose. Then yours don't either. You don't do things on purpose, you can't help it. You can't blame yourself..." And there it was. Her ace in the hole. He couldn't argue with it because to argue was to admit that what he'd told her earlier wasn't true – was just an effort to cheer her up. He wanted to argue. He wanted to blame himself. But he couldn't do that to her. She'd caught him.
"Then I won', luv..." She smiled again and leaned against him, putting her arm around his waist and breathing deeply.
"Wanda... you're falling asleep..." She crinkled her nose.
"No I'm not..." she protested, but her eyes were closed and she sounded incredibly tired. He detached himself from her and tipped her legs up onto her bed, laying her head on her pillow as gently as he could before sitting next to her and letting himself stroke her hair away from her face. She looked at him tiredly.
"Don't leave me..." she asked, and he felt a strange tearing sensation inside. He wanted to stay. But he couldn't.
"I can't sit here all nigh', luv, McCoy will be havin' kittens if he comes in tomorra' an' sees that," he reasoned, and she frowned.
"Then lie down... I don't want you to leave me... I don't like hospitals..." He hesitated, eyes closed, inner battle raging.
"Please, John..." It was all over for him the moment his name left her lips, he knew he couldn't refuse her anything she asked. Lifting her a little and adjusting his own position next to her he moved her so that her head was pillowed on his shoulder and he was lying next to her, and she raised her arm to curl it around his waist, a little smile on her face as she sighed softly.
"Good night, John..." she said, sleep sweeping in to carry her away, and he looked down at her, cradled against him like that, and silently thanked the Professor for talking him into staying. He couldn't have borne leaving if it had meant not being allowed to have this.
~***********************************************************~
He woke by the hand of Dr McCoy descending on his shoulder and realised then that he hadn't really been asleep, merely dozing. The smile on the blue-furred man's face told of secrets and the keeping thereof, and he nodded briefly and sat up, moving Wanda carefully off him so as not to disturb her rest. The doctor pointed to the door and moved away, indicating he wished John to follow him, and he did so with some trepidation. Despite the friendly smile on the older man's face, he knew they probably had rules in this place against sleeping with a member of the opposite sex in your arms all night.
"So, son, she sleep all right did she?" Dr McCoy asked once he'd closed the door behind them, and John nodded.
"We had a chat an' then she nodded off. Abou' that – she and I – she didn' wan' ta be alone an' I couldn' leave 'er. She was cryin'..." bending the truth only slightly but enough to be allowed to get away with things was a talent. He had it in abundance. The doctor's smile widened.
"I'm glad you were there, then. It would come as no surprise certainly that the young lady is less than fond of places like this," he said reasonably, and John nodded, distracted.
"She told me she fel' better. She felt guilty, but we talked abou' that an' I think... I think she understands now."
"That this was not her fault, you mean? Yes, Charles spoke of her guilt. Completely misplaced, of course, she has nothing to feel bad about. She's the victim in all of this terrible business!"
"That's what I told her – withou' using the word 'victim'. It's not Wanda's thing," John explained, warming to the doctor's approach, and smiling a little.
"Good man! I knew it would be good for her to talk things through with someone – someone who understands." He glanced knowingly at John who shrugged.
"I think I understand more than I knew before... Thanks fer lettin' me stay with 'er."
"Son, if you hadn't volunteered we would have worked around it," McCoy said briskly, and John raised an eyebrow.
"What – strapped me down?" the twinkle in the doctor's eye belied his former briskness.
"If we had to, possibly," he said jovially, and John grinned.
"She'll want to go home, ya know."
"So she shall my boy, so she shall! She seemed well enough yesterday and she's got about the right lack of colour in those cheeks today so I see no reason why she shouldn't go home – provided those boys take care of her..." John chuckled.
"I think she'll have a hard time makin' 'em stop takin' care of 'er ta be honest!"
~*************************************************************~
The X-kids were well out of the way – Logan deciding the best way to move on with life and restore normality to the everyday routine was to put them through a gruelling, specially dreamt-up Danger Room session – so the 'hood boys had room to breathe in the mansion while Dr McCoy did some final tests on Wanda.
"I can go home today, right?" she asked carefully, and the jolly blue doctor smiled at her and nodded.
"Oh yes, my dear, certainly! You seem so much better today. As long as the boys make sure you get plenty of rest and you don't use your powers too much over the next few days I don't see why you shouldn't be just fine. Shock can be very hard on the body you know," he said professionally, and she nodded.
"Can – can I go and see them?"
"No no dear, they'll be in in a minute, Ororo was just overseeing breakfast. I gather they insisted on seeing you first and she had to be firm with them." Wanda smiled privately.
"You have to be sometimes," she said, her voice quiet and oddly sentimental.
"My dear – please forgive me if this is overstepping your boundaries, I would understand perfectly, but I feel I must ask – did something especially distressing take place between young St. John and yourself? The poor boy seemed guiltier than the whole Brotherhood put together and I feel certain it added to the length of his recovery...." he could tell by the subtle changes in her expression that this hit the mark, and he decided to press it home.
"You know that in many ways, he is a great deal more fragile than one might assume..." Wanda turned tear-filled eyes to meet his and he felt compelled to put a large blue hand over her clasped ones, reassuringly.
"Oh, my poor girl... You know that is there is anything you wish to unload, anything you wish to share, I am bound by oath to keep it strictly between the two of us. Anything you tell me will be kept secret on my part. And I assure you, at this stage, letting go of a few burdens might be the very thing you need, my dear..." She smiled at him, a grateful, watery smile.
"I just don't know what I'm doing," she said quietly.
"I feel so many things but I don't know what they are and then when I think I know by watching others who say they feel the same things, I get confused because they clearly don't and I end up even less certain than I was before... I see other people happy and I think happiness is exactly what they say it is but it feels wrong when they describe it... It's all so confusing..."
He looked at her with silent understanding and she hitched another deep breath and expelled,
"And I'm afraid that I don't know what love really feels like..." He squeezed her right hand and looked at her with very wise eyes.
"My dear girl, love is an abstract emotion that causes feelings of desire, happiness, sadness, lust, grief, envy and sometimes even hatred in us. I have witnessed the love you feel for Rogue and Kitty, your good friends, are they not?" She nodded hesitantly.
"And the way you and your brother and indeed the rest of the Brotherhood Boys get on, that too is a form of love. But I am guessing you mean the other kind, the love between two people that, say, Lance shares with Kitty?" She nodded again, her face taking on a creamy peach colour by way of blushing.
"My dear, that is something that comes to all of us. It can be painful, it can be glorious, most of the time it is an uneven mixture of the two, but the surest thing is that if you think it is there, it likely is, in some form or another. And luckily, it is something that you have plenty of time to discover. Your life is only just beginning, Wanda... Perhaps you should allow it to begin with people who understand you and who may be beginning themselves?" She smiled at him.
"Thank you doctor," she said shyly, and he beamed at her.
"Any time my dear. Now, shall we get those boys in here?"
~*************************************************************~
Remy and Rogue had been allowed to join the Brotherhood for breakfast, such as it was, and they'd agreed to help Ororo with whatever she needed helping with, which meant disciplining the boys, but really the only thing they needed to do was ask them to quieten down every once in a while and tell them that they couldn't go and see Wanda just yet, that she would come to them. So here they were, in the med bay, being lectured along with the boys on how to keep Wanda as calm as possible and that she was not allowed to do anything strenuous or stressful for a good long while. This meeting culminated in Freddy insisting he carry Wanda out and down the stairs to wait for Pietro to roll up in Lance's jeep, and Wanda insisting she could walk by herself and being voted down by Lance and Todd which meant that Freddy got to carry the infamous Scarlet Witch resplendent in a borrowed black Iron Maiden hoodie and a pair of ripped cargos courtesy of Rogue's wardrobe over the mansion's threshold, albeit the wrong way.
Kitty and Rogue would not be joining them straight off as Wolverine had insisted on Half-Pint and Stripes at least hanging around the mansion until lunch time when he'd get off Danger Room with the X-kids and enjoy his one-hour break before putting them through the outdoors obstacle course. Kitty was apprehensive about letting Lance leave like that after all that had happened, but Logan had assured her that he'd drive her over to the 'hood house himself once he was done talking to them since he had a few things to go over with Wanda. Rogue had lost track of Remy's whereabouts since he slipped from her side after helping Ororo clean up after breakfast and disappeared in a most disconcerting way, but she assumed he was either talking to the Professor or John and didn't give it much thought. Instead, she and Kitty were now stood next to Lance's jeep hugging Wanda goodbye and reassuring her that they'd be over to visit in a couple of hours.
"Now ya take it easy sugah, and if any o' these lazy asses give ya any lip y'all just call us an' we'll be raght over, okay?" Wanda smiled gratefully at her friends from her seat next to Lance – Pietro had speeded on ahead to clean up the house for Wanda's return – and waved her hand.
"I'll be fine, you guys don't have to worry," she said softly, and Kitty fixed Lance with a beady eye and the patented Kitty Pryde Finger Of Accusation.
"Lance Alvers you treat Wanda like a princess because you know she's gonna like, totally tell me everything you guys do later when I come round!" she said seriously, and he blew her a cocky kiss.
"Don't stress it Kitten. I'll see you tonight, okay?" She giggled and winked at him.
"Okay, drive safely..." she cooed, and Todd rolled his eyes.
"Can we get movin', yo? Ma Projectin' Princess can' be sittin' out here all day!" he said haughtily, and Wanda raised an eyebrow.
"I should hex you but Doctor McCoy asked me not to use my powers so I'll save that one for later," she muttered, and Todd smiled winningly.
"Aw, Cuddlebumps, I know ya love it really," he said with an odd pride in his voice. Kitty assumed it was because he knew he was getting away with it.
"Right, good bye time is so over, let's get this show on the road!" Lance said loudly, cutting across the annoyed glare Wanda shot Todd and what they were certain were more comments from the grey-skinned mutant boy, and started his jeep, diving away at a moderate pace to allow for waving time. Kitty had taught him the importance of waving time. If she didn't have time to wave for at least a good twenty seconds, she got very shirty, as Pyro would put it. Shirtiness was never a good thing.
Rogue turned to Kitty who seemed satisfied with her allotted waving time, and grinned at her.
"Ya know y'all are such a couple, it's so sweet," she teased, and Kitty sighed dreamily.
"I know, isn't it great?" Rogue rolled her eyes.
"Has it's moments."
"Hey... Where'd your tall, dark and klepto run off to?" Kitty asked, shaking off the dreaminess and becoming her usual observant self. Rogue shrugged.
"With the Professor, Ah think. Why?"
"No reason – just wondered how he managed to get off the leash long enough to get out of eyeshot," Kitty giggled, and Rogue glared at her.
"That is so not funny!" Kitty pouted and Rogue caved.
"Okay, it's kinda funny... But ya know it ain' mah fault he's always there – it's just all really new, an' – an' kinda scary, ya know?" The last part called for lowered, tentative voices, and Kitty nodded sympathetically.
"I totally know what you're going through. I mean, when Lance and I first started this thing, I like, totally couldn't let him out of my sight, but it was, like, so weird having all those feelings at once. Got kinda confusing let me tell you! I think the first couple of weeks are really the hardest..." Rogue looked intrigued. Kitty elaborated.
"Okay, you know how me and Lance were kinda thrown together by, like, all those weird things going on at the time?" Rogue nodded knowingly.
"Well, I knew he was like this total bad boy and it wasn't such a good idea but he was totally cute and I couldn't not go for it," Kitty giggled, and Rogue laughed at her.
"Yeah, Ah get that part jus' fahne sugah," she said with another eye-roll, this one purposefully comical, and Kitty smiled and nodded.
"Right, so like, I thought that was why I went for it, and I totally had it all figured out. I wanted a fling with the bad boy, like, slumming it or whatever – "
"Oh mah Gawd Kit, ya little slut!" Kitty just giggled again.
"Shut up, you would have done the same thing!" Rogue considered this.
"Fair play to ya. Go on." Kitty wrinkled her nose in her equivalent of triumph and continued.
"But then I, like, got behind the bad boy thing and I started thinking about Lance as like, a person, not just a piece of ass – " Rogue's face was one big exclamation mark and Kitty rolled her eyes.
"Okay, get over this already?" Rogue held up both hands in a defensive gesture and Kitty went on.
"And I totally wanted him around, like, all the time, but I couldn't get why it felt suffocating, because it totally did but it was so great at the same time – and then when I stopped feeling like I needed to totally keep tabs on him like, all the time and just let it happen, I like, realised that we were supposed to be together like, all the time. You have to wait for that whole rush to blow over, like, it's like being totally addicted to this one person and once that ends you see if it's really going to like, last." Rogue nodded slowly, and she opened her mouth then pursed her lips as though wanting to sort the words perfectly before speaking them.
"So, lahke, the first few weeks are – a trial period? To see if it's just lust or whatever?" Kity nodded emphatically and put her arm around Rogue in a conspiratorial manner.
"The first few weeks you make out and you hang out, but once that's over you'll see if there's really anything between you. Like, if you have stuff in common, if you can handle all his weird habits, if you totally hate his hair, whatever, all that stuff. If it doesn't bother you once you feel like you can totally be apart for more than a few hours without needing to touch each other, then it's the real deal."
"Lance and you ever have a rough patch?" Kitty sighed dreamily.
"Lance is like, my dream boy, I totally love him and he's so great. He bothers me sometimes but we always make up and I really think we could be together in like, years from now. But sure, we've totally had problems. Like, communication is not Lance's strong point and we misunderstand each other a lot. We need to work on that. There's always gonna be something, Rogue, it's never perfect. But the stuff that is, if that like, outweighs the not-so-perfect, then you know it's right..." Rogue nodded, hiding beneath her bangs, and Kitty gave her a light squeeze.
"Why? Something feel wrong between you and Remy?" Rogue sighed and turned her gaze to Kitty's open, interested face.
"Ah jus' feel... Insecure, Kit. Ah'm worried that he'll get tahred of meh an' mah issues an' fahnd some otha girl... Let's face it – if he sticks around here there's gonna be a lot of girls around him. An' he's got history..." Kitty nodded, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
"You think he like, just wants what he can't have?" Rogue nodded, a light pink flush in her cheeks that Kitty knew was Rogue's blushing look.
"Oh, baby, if he like, did just want that, then why does he look at you the way he does? I mean, I'd bet good money that he is like, this close to starting some kind of weird cult in your name, and he did go through all of that stuff for you..."
"Ah know, but... Ah've never had a real boyfriend, Kit. Ah put the first boy Ah ever really danced with in a coma because he touched mah arm. Ah thought Ah couldn' have a boyfriend, Ah thought Ah'd never be able ta fahnd anyone who'd jus' accept mah mutation an' live with it. Maybe even help me with it. And then he comes along an' ya gotta admit, he's hot!" Kitty nodded.
"He totally is," she agreed, and Rogue threw her arms in the air.
"Ah know, ragh'?! So what does he wan' with a girl lahke me when he could be off somewhere with the next Scarlett O'Hara an' both pockets full o' diamonds? Ah jus' don' get it!"
"Well... you're like, totally gonna hate me for this, but you know you're like, totally hot, right? I so understand why he'd go for you. You look great and I know I'm always trying to like, get you to shop with me and wear pink or whatever, but this look works for you and you're like totally sexy in that mysterious kind of way! Wanda pulls it off too. You both look so cool and – older, I guess. And I think Remy likes that, that you do your own thing."
"But he could fahnd any hot Goth chick anywhere who's her own woman an' jus' go for that! He can' touch me the way... the way you guys can, Kit..." Kitty smiled and lowered her voice.
"I really don't think he cares, Rogue. I think he's been sneaking around for so long and telling himself he doesn't deserve you that just talking to you and standing next to you is enough for him..." Rogue flushed a little again.
"Yeah, Ah – Ah know – but – but it won't be enough forever, will it Kit?"
"Baby, I always told you; you are totally gonna find a way to deal with your powers. Maybe you just need this extra motivation!"
"Maybe..." Rogue's voice was unsure but her eyes danced.
"And I think you deserve to enjoy the attention for a while... Once the first stages pass, you can see if you still feel it." Rogue pulled the smaller girl into a very sudden hug, and Kitty reciprocated, the Goth whispering in her ear, frightened, sounding so very young.
"What if Ah end up enjoyin' it too much an' he get's tahred of it?" Kitty hugged her back even harder.
"If he, like, breaks your heart we'll just have to hunt him down and kill him for you. I won't let him, like, dump my best friend. That is so not cool!" Rogue drew back, a tear twinkling in the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away quickly.
"Thanks fer bein' mah friend, Kit." She said softly, and Kitty made a dismissive gesture.
"Pysh! Best friend, Rogue, like, how many times? Best friend!"
~*****************************************************************~
"So, how do you feel about my offer – our offer?" Charles corrected himself in time and the young man sitting opposite him smiled disarmingly. Charles, however, knew better than to be disarmed.
"Remy tinks dat maybe y' wan' dis more f' ma petite Rogue den f' moi, is he righ'?" Charles made a grudging sound and said,
"I will admit that I am somewhat amazed at the level of trust she seems to place in you despite your formal acquaintance having been so short, and of course, my wish that she continue to grow and blossom into the young woman she has potential to be is a factor in my offer to you. Will you accept?" Remy shrugged, seemingly bored, but Charles knew he was far from it. Perhaps not quite intrigued but interested certainly.
"I may have a few... misapprehensions, y' understand," he said pleasantly, shuffling a deck of cards with one hand and noticing the way Charles looked at the deftly moving fingers.
"Pardon, professeur, just a habit o' mine," he grinned and tucked them away – Charles knew not where.
"Quite, I understand," Charles said, in answer to the young man's statement rather than his assurances that he didn't mean to blow the mansion to kingdom come on a whim. Not that he had thought he would, but teeneagers were volatile at best. Which brought up another issue.
"Now, I have not been able to find any records that state your age, social security number, any of these things, and of course I am willing to place my faith in you and assume that whatever you tell me is the truth, but for the sake of any future cooperation between us Remy, whether or not you choose to accept my offer, I should like you to tell me the truth under any circumstances. If only so that I feel... more at ease with yours and Rogue's friendship." The young man considered him, his red eyes pulsing slightly, and Charles thought he detected mild amusement in them before they hardened again.
"Y' won' find any records on me, professeur. Mon pere saw t' dat. No social security number, no notin'. Y' know m' name, y' know what I do – well, some of it," he chuckled, a rich, pleasant sound, and Charles raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, non, non, non, monsieur Xavier, Remy won' tell y' no secrets – y' don' need t' know ev'rytin'. Y' know what y' need t' know already."
"So your age and current place of residence you do not find important enough to share with me?"
"If ole Remy tole y' he was twenty five, y'd believe him. If he wen' as low as eighteen, same applies. Remy don' play by de rules, professeur. Dat's one reason why I'm sore tempted t' decline y' gracious offer," the Cajun said matter-of-factly, and Charles steepled his fingers, as he was wont to do.
"I see... Remy, we are an open community here, but we are home to a good many minors at the present time, and while the older students are allowed a greater freedom than the younger ones, we do ask that all our students play by the rules. Both the rules of the state and this institution. Now, of course, the adult students are not required to do anything except abide by their own laws and try to set a good example for the younger students. Now, Rogue is eighteen and will soon be nineteen, therefore she is of course allowed a great deal of freedom – I know that Logan may not always find it easy to accept, but she truly is. If you are in fact old enough to act alone without the need of any legal guardian then all I ask is that you respect the rules of this Institute and try to show the teachers the proper respect. Ororo, myself and Logan, and of course Dr McCoy. Dealing with all of these teenagers can be difficult enough. If they sense that there may be a chance to undermine authority the battle will be truly lost"
The Cajun's smile was amused now, and he spread his hands wide in a gesture of innocence that almost had Charles believing it. Almost.
"Professeur, can we not say dat Remy gives it a shot, non? A trial period, see how dat works out. I don' need lookin' after, I don' need t' go t' school – in fact, I refuse t' do so, I know what I need t' know. Mon cours des études, c'est fini, an' I passed wit' honours."
"Your education as a thief, you mean?"
"Oui." Charles sighed.
"You do know that I cannot condone any illegal behaviour while you are residing here?" Remy nodded.
"Oui, mais en ce qui me concerne, je m'en fiche. You would never know anyway so why are we discussing dis, hmm?" Charles sighed.
"You are not making this any easier for me, Remy. All I need to know is, will you appear to abide by the rules of this mansion, this Institute?" Remy grinned.
"Je promesse, it will never trace back t' y, dat's even better," he said with the hint of a laugh in his voice, and Charles knew he would have to settle for that.
"Very well. How long a trial period do you feel is necessary for you to know your position?" Remy shrugged.
"Three weeks?" The young man nodded and rose, extending his hand to Charles, who took it and shook twice, firmly.
"Oh, and Remy?"
"Oui?"
"I hope you won't mind aiding myself and Rogue in her development for your stay..." The grin on the Cajun's face became almost blissful.
"Oh, professeur, je le ferai volontiers!"
~*****************************************************************~
He hadn't gone back yet. He was in effect skulking around waiting for Remy to finish whatever he was doing with the Professor so they could be off. He'd promised Hank that he would run into town and fetch his prescriptions like a good little patient so that they wouldn't have to worry about him having any more episodes. As if. But Remy had agreed to take him so he had to go. Unfortunately, that meant waiting in the hall unti his Cajun chauffeur had time to take him there and ferry him home afterwards. And even more unfortunately, this meant being right in the line of fire when the entire disgruntled pack of X-kids disembarked the elevator from their Danger Room session and entered the hall each intent on one of two things, food or a quick nap before their outdoors session began. Logan was not with them. Neither, it seemed, was any form of luck nor common sense.
"... cannot believe he scheduled them this close together, I mean... Eeeeeek!" He hadn't the foggiest what this particular X-kid's problem was, his first thought being that perhaps the kid had seen a mouse, for the slightly singed-looking girl of some dark-skinned, dark-haired ethnic group squealed like the devil was at her heels and clutched onto one of the lads present, a blonde fellow who fairly reeked of false bravado.
"Oh my God, it's one of them!" one of the other girls cried, and the blonde boy whom John had accurately predicted would be trouble with so many young girls present, conjured icy spikes around his hands and stood in front of the rest of them.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded agressively, and John sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Waitin' fer Remy," he said with infinite patience, looking at the girl half-hiding behind the annoyance with the blonde hair whose hands flared up with something that looked and smelled fiery. How interesting.
"That other Acolyte dude the Rogue brought back?"
"The very same," he nodded, both hands in his pockets and trying to look unthreatening.
"'Cept we're not Acolytes anymore. There's no such thing. I'm Switzerland now," he joked, and the blonde boy sneered in what John recognised as the universal look for the mentally challenged hormonally driven which meant 'I've no idea what you're on about, but I don't like you'. How exceedingly aggravating.
"You're what?"
"Neutral. I'm sure you'll get to that part in Geography or History at some point, don't worry," he said in a strained but friendly tone, and the girl huffed and the flaring extended above her elbows. He wondered briefly if he could put it out and whether that would hurt her.
"Amara! Bobby! What on earth do you think you are doing?" John looked across to see a tall, elegant woman with dark skin and snowy hair walk into the hall with a very angry expression on her face.
"We were just – "
"They were just – "
"I don't care! You are wasting your time off standing around here threatening guests in this house! Go to your rooms at once and change your uniforms. Out!" They vanished like fog on a hot summer's day, and the woman turned a smile on him that was indeed very lovely.
"John Allerdyce, is it? My name is Ororo – you might know me as Storm. I hope the children weren't too rude..." She shook his hand and he smiled at her, politely shaking back.
"No, think they've just got a little too much rivalrous spirit in 'em," he said in a tone that implied that he didn't mind at all when in fact he was seething inwardly and would have loved to give them all third degree burns in nasty places that would be tricky to heal.
"Good, I'm glad you didn't take it too personally. I had hoped they had learned their lesson after last night. This early session with Logan was to punish them for being rude to the Brotherhood last night, you see," she said mildly, and he smiled.
"Guess it's only fair. Not too big on discipline myself but I know when ta be rude an' when ta be quiet," he said honesty, and she laughed.
"Waiting for someone?"
"Remy. He's taking me to pick up a few things and then coming back home with me."
"Ah yes, you live with the Brotherhood now. Yes, Charles mentioned it. I believe our Kitty was singing your praises the other night as well – you drove her home?"
"Oh, that. Yeah, figured a bloke can' jus' leave a little Sheila ta fend for herself like that," he grinned, and she smiled wryly.
"Our young ladies are quite capable of taking care of themselves, but I do believe you won Logan over a little when he heard what you had done for the girl. He is almost as rivalrous as our youngest students..."
"Don't listen to a word she says, firebug, she's jus' tryin' to get on your good side – and don't accept any baked goods from her either – she'll steal your soul!" the gruff voice from the other side of the hall hailed them and Storm rolled her eyes.
"Logan – the kids don't seem to have learnt very much this morning. You clearly didn't work them hard enough if they had the energy to be rude to poor John here," she chided, and Logan scowled, looking at John with his cigar firmly clamped between his lips.
"You hearin' this boy? Hear what she says about me? Damn it woman, the kids may think you're the soft one but one of these days I'll show them the real you – firebug, you're my witness!"
"I saw nothin'," John insisted, and Logan's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Another one lost. I see where this is goin'. Well, I'm off ta see the girls, you stay outta trouble there Pyro!" John nodded and grinned lopsidedly as Logan stalked off, Storm giggling like a schoolgirl.
"For all his temper I've never seen a man who can eat as many cookies in one sitting as that one," she joked, and John couldn't stifle a chuckle at the thought of the mighty Wolverine bloated and wearing some form of 'Cookie Master' crown while he shoveled them down by the bucketload.
"Maybe I'll have ta challenge him f' the title someday," he said, Remy suddenly speaking in his ear.
"Mon ami, y' can' have cookies wit'out moi!" he said in a wounded voice and John shoved him lightly.
"Thanks fer everythin'," he said to Storm as the excited Cajun dragged him outside, and she waved, smiling.
"Take care, John!" she called, the door closing after them.
"You know, he's a good kid that one," Logan's voice sounded somewhere behind her, and she turned to face him, smiling sadly.
"I know."
~*****************************************************************~
P.S: Anyone need French translations, let me know in your review.