Chapter 7 - If You Love Somebody, Better Set Them On Fire (1)
Rogue and Remy stood in the dark a foot from each other. The look in Rogue's eyes was beating at Remy's self control.
"How do we…?" He asked. Rogue shrugged.
"Ah dunno," She looked down at their hands and slowly reached out her gloved one toward his. She took it and looked back up him. She squeezed and he squeezed back.
Rogue had been lying in her bed staring at the ceiling not long before this, with nothing to think about but Remy. The ride home from the library had been unbearable. Logan began a lecture that continued on long after they arrived back at the institute. Not wanting to hear it Rogue had stormed upstairs and lain in bed for next few hours, "sorting stuff out". Ultimately her gut won and she slipped out the window.
In the dark bedroom she smiled up at him and, shaking, got on her tippy toes. Their lips met for half a second before Rogue pulled away. Remy felt tingles on his lips. No pain. Rogue had just managed to inhale when Remy pulled her back towards him. The tingles raced up and down his spine.
For no reason other than the need to breath they pulled away from each other. Rogue smirked, her eyes glowing red.
"On your tenth birthday your brother put worms in your piñata." The memory was vivid in her head. It added to the short list of things she knew about Remy's past.
In his passion Remy had forgot the consequences of her touch. A part of Remy wanted Rogue to know everything about him, all the things no one else knew. The logical Remy knew better.
But his logical self was long gone.
Remy's arms wrapped around Rogue's waist and pulled her into him. Rogue's arms went up around his neck. Her mouth curled into a smile she couldn't suppress. Remy, weak at the knees, fell back against the wall. He ignored the tingles that were growing sharper.
They both let go of any restraint they might normally have had. Their pent up passions had taken control. Though Rogue was getting a bit annoyed of all of Remy's memories that she had to push aside in order to remain in the present.
Some random visuals of New Orleans, a rather violent game of Spit (awesome card game) with Pyro, a leggy blonde chick. Rogue's head was beginning to hurt. She pushed away from Remy, who didn't let go too easily.
Remy was feeling dizzy now from the pain but it couldn't compete with actually getting to touch Rogue.
"What's wrong?" Remy asked wondering what on earth could be reason for them to part.
"Mah head hurts." Rogue clutched her forehead. The flow of memories hadn't slowed. Spit elevated to a fistfight between the two acolytes.
Rogue snatched her hand from Remy's when he reached for it. She was a few years in the past.
The room she stood in was dark and windowless. It was lit by a harsh light that hung from the ceiling.
She heard heavy breathing and looked up to see a man sitting with his hands bound to the chair he sat in. Even sitting he appeared huge. He was at least seven feet tall and his muscles bulged beneath his tattered clothing.
Rogue, in Remy's body, sat down in a chair across from the man and looked down at a file that lay on the table between them.
"Mark Hallet" She read casually and peered back up at the man. He didn't stir. Rogue sighed and sat back in her chair. "Where are yah from, Mark?" No response. "Would yah rather Ah call yah Sunder?"
Sunder remained silent except for his heavy breaths.
"This doesn't have to take long. You can just tell me where your friends are and then go back to your cell."
Sunder's bruised face scowled and he clenched his muscles. He struggled without success to break the ropes that bound him. It was only now that Rogue noticed the metal collar around his neck.
"Mutation Negator. Forge just came up with it." She said with a smirk. She glanced up at the two way mirror across the room. "Not gonna talk?"
Once again Sunder gave no response. Rogue stood up silently. On the table beside Sunder's file was a plastic bag. She took it and walked around behind Sunder.
"Where are the Morlocks hiding?"
With no response Rogue gripped Sunder's chin and pulled the bag over his head, pulling it tight around his neck. Sunder tried to keep calm but as the oxygen ran out his breaths got shorter.
The blood rushed to his face as he panicked. There was barely any oxygen left in the bag now and Sunder was using it up faster now with his frantic breaths.
Rogue pulled the bag up enough to let Sunder breath from his mouth. He gasped the air in.
"Where are the Morlocks?" She repeated. No response. She pulled the bag back over his chin. She waited a moment till she felt he was close enough to suffocation and pulled it up from around his mouth.
"Where are they?"
Again there was no response from Sunder and she pulled the bag back over his chin. This time when she pulled it up for him to breath he only managed to stutter something.
"P-p-please, sto-
She pulled the bag back over his chin. Again and again she repeated this till Sunder was sobbing and pleading with her, but not giving away any information. She sighed and dropped the plastic bag.
She marched over to the lone door in the room and exited. Standing there in the dark hallway peering through the two way mirror stood a man in a white doctor's coat with greased back black hair.
"He's not gonna talk." Said Rogue.
"He's more loyal than I expected." The man looked from the mirror to Rogue. "Its alright, I've got the others working on something in L.A. that shouldn't fall through." He turned to leave. "Get rid of him."
After the man left Rogue opened the door the room. She looked at Sunder. He was hunched over in the chair still sobbing. Without a pause she reached for the handgun in a holster around her waist. She aimed and pulled the trigger.
Rogue flinched as Remy reached for her. The memory had only lasted a moment and Rogue was now back in Remy's bedroom.
"Chere?"
Rogue looked up him with his own red eyes, the look in them made Remy freeze.
"..rogue.." Was all he could mutter.
"No!" She snapped and pulled away from him. He let her go, still frozen.
xXx – Now for some comic relief…
"AARRGGHH!!" Echoed through the Acolyte base. Pyro leapt out of a closet on the first floor armed with a wiffle ball bat and pot on his head as a makeshift helmet.
"Ha! I caught you, Avalanche!" He yelled at the figure who was suspended in the air by the ankle. "Oooh, shit" He muttered after realizing that, no, he had not caught Avalanche, rather a three hundred pound, and rather pissed, feline. "Sorry, Sabertooth, I –
John was cut off by Sabertooth's roar, which in true cartoon fashion blew the Australian's hair back and covered his face in slobber. He turned on his heel and bolted down the hallway. Sabertooth struggled to untangle himself, with little success. He hit the floor, still tangled up in the rope.
He ran after the fleeing John but tripped a wire and a bookshelf came toppling down on him. Sabertooth roared in anger even louder this time and stood up, sending the bookshelf flying, and continued after John. On his way to the pyromaniac he tripped on a couple hundred marbles that happened to be lying on the floor, had a bucket of paint dumped on him, and dodged a dozen beer bottles that came flying at him.
Ahead of him, John kicked open the back door and leapt down the back steps. The sun was coming up over the neighborhood. John veered around the side of the base and went bounding towards the sidewalk.
As he reached it only then did he notice the figure he was headed for at top speed. He skidded to a halt an inch from her. Wanda looked at him in bewilderment.
"Hi, there" She said wondering why it was he was running for his life at seven in the morning. But she dismissed the question cause well, it was John, and smirked. "I brought bacon."
John took a moment to gaze at the airtight package that contained proof of God's existence, but was woken from its spell by the sound of the back door bursting open. He grabbed Wanda by the arm and jetted up the front steps.
After the front and back doors had been barricaded to John's liking (this meant that all the furniture on the first floor was blocking both doors.) he declared that it was breakfast time.
Wanda stood at the stove cooking bacon while John sat on the counter beside her, watching (it was her turn to cook).
"So why exactly does Sabertooth want you dead?" Wanda asked picking up a piece of finished bacon off the pan with a spatula and placing it on an empty plate beside the stove. John picked it up and popped it in his mouth.
"Well after yesterday I figured Lance'ld be coming down here."
Wanda smirked. "He won't be doing much of anything for a while." She placed another piece of bacon onto the plate, which John snatched.
"Oh?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow. Wanda looked away still smiling.
"You know I don't flog and tell."
Another piece of bacon was placed on the plate and gone a second later.
"Anyway, Sabertooth was unlucky enough to have a key to the front door and may have walked into a few 'hindrances' that were intended for Lance."
Wanda scooped up the remaining bacon strips from the pan and put them on the empty plate. She then went into the fridge and gabbed the milk for the pancake batter. She turned back around and found all the bacon but one shriveled piece gone from the plate.
"I saved you one."
Wanda rolled her eyes and snatched the last piece. John hopped off the counter.
"What's on the schedule today?"
xXx
Remy sat on the fire escape chain-smoking. He was oblivious to the racket on the first floor, but he had watched Sabertooth run around the base in a rage banging on doors and windows before settling on sulking on the front steps.
The pile of cigarette butts at Remy's feet was growing. He hadn't smoked like this in the past month. There was a while there when he was happy.
Remy sighed. Another cigarette had burnt down to the filter. He reached in his jacket for his pack. Empty. He lay back against the windowsill.
This was what always happened. Why hadn't he realized that this time would end the same way? Why had he thought she would be different? Anyone he ever got close hated him once they new of his past. He shouldn't have expected her to be different. And yet, this was different. Her rejection left him more miserable than any other.
xXx
Below, on the front stoop sat a brooding Sabertooth. The beast had had enough of body slamming the front door and had decided to instead imagine all the ways he would torture John once he did find a way into the base.
As he sat there with a smile on his bearded face he did not notice the cloaked man who had seemingly appeared out of a dead end alley. The man walked up the giant cat and waited to be noticed. Sabertooth was having to much fun in a fantasy that involved John being strung up by his feet and so the man cleared his throat.
Sabertooth looked up and saw nothing but a black cloak and a pair of yellow eyes peering out from under its hood.
"Yeah?" the cat growled.
The man didn't say anything, just held out a manila envelope. Sabertooth took the envelope and the man slithered away.
xXx
Wanda giggled in a girlish way that made herself want to puke, but she couldn't help it.
"No, seriously. Why are you just hanging around here?"
John shrugged. "I dunno, With Magneto gone I don't have to do anything. I've got a roof over my head, free of rent, and money to last me a while. Why should I leave?"
"'gone'? You think he's dead?"
"You think he's alive?"
Wanda's eyes burned. "I know he's alive."
John stared at her from across the couch. "I saw your room."
"What?" She asked.
"Yesterday, your door was open and I looked in. You're still looking for him. Is that what all the maps are for? And the newspaper clippings?"
"You don't understand." Wanda defended. "I can't rest until he's dead."
"Why not? I get what he did to you, but what will killing him get you?"
Wanda stood up angrily. "You worked for him, you know what he's capable of! I'd be doing the world a favor!"
"That's not the point."
"Oh? and what is?!"
"I don't think its healthy."
Wanda growled and stormed off towards the door.
"Wanda," called John hopping off the couch after her.
The bookcase, recliner and three kitchen chairs that blocked the front door glowed blue and flew away from the door. John reached Wanda as she swung the door open.
"Wanda, can you just listen?"
"Not if your just gonna call me crazy!" She stormed out the door and down the steps past the fuzzy cat.
John, who was about to run after Wanda, squealed at the sight of Sabertooth, who grinned at the sight of him. The cat grabbed John by the collar and dragged him back into the base.
xXx
John shook in the chair Sabertooth had sat him in.
"Gambit!" Sabertooth called to the Acolyte on the second floor. He then took the manila envelope he had been given and pulled out a compact disc.
Remy arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
"Yeah?"
"The boss has sent us a video." Sabertooth said putting the CD into the DVD player.
"what?" Asked John.
"How Osama of him," Said Remy not quite as phased as John. (2)
xXx
(1) - This title is take from an awesome Dead Milkmen song which I thought applied very well to John and Wanda. Here's an excerpt:
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I were to say to you
I didn't set your house on fire
But it's just the way I am
You'll have to take it for a fact
Life can really burn you up
When you're a pyromaniac
"If you love someone" by the Dead Milkmen
(2) – yeah, I know, kind of off color.
A/N: Finally! Chapter 8 will be the last one :( but I'll be happy to be free of this. Next Chapter: Magneto's back!