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Who Knew
Part 2
There was a blue monster staring at him. He took it well and decided if he was indeed ill and being looked after at Rogue's Institute at the wish of Tante Mattie – perhaps for legal reasons? – it was likely best to assume everything odd was just a hallucination and to remain calm. So he went back to sleep.
~******************************************************~
Next time he woke, he woke from a nightmare of hospital beds and nurses with scalpels, and he sat bolt upright and grabbed the slim, white wrist of the Southern Belle hard enough to bruise, blind to who she was for a minute before he came fully to and looked at her. Her eyes were wide but not with fear. It looked more like hope – or possibly apprehension.
"Are y' alright? Ah didn' take too much?" she asked hesitantly, and he lowered himself back onto the pillows, mumbling.
"Non... seulement un cauchemar... Une rêve..."
"Okay... Y' were havin' a nightmare, ah know... 'M sorry, but Ah could see it all," she apologised for nothing, he thought. He wasn't sure what she was doing to him or what was wrong with him, but he was certain she hadn't harmed him so there was no need for apologies.
"Y' wanna know what's goin' on with you?" she asked, and he nodded. Talking was tiring and he wanted to know everything. Why she was touching him. Why he was there in the first place. Why he almost wished he could be ill for the rest of his days if it meant she were figuratively chained to his bedside, which she seemed to be. He hadn't woken once without her being there. She bit her lip, trying to figure out where to start, and he tried to focus on listening.
"Well, ah don' know all the details or anything but the Professor says yer powers flared up suddenly lahke about a month ago Ah think, an' y' couldn' control 'em so ya kinda broke down, if that makes any sense... Yer powers were eatin' you up from the inside an' y' sorta slipped into this weird delusional dreamworld and y' wouldn' wake up... Your Aunt was so worried she got yer dad ta call us up to come get you an' get you better again. She has that man so whipped Ah can' tell who's in charge around there, but she sure as hell makes a good cup o' coffee..."
She broke her little speech with a smile and he tried to return it. That sounded like Tante Mattie alright.
"Anyway, Ah've sorta been skimmin' off the excess power in you since ya couldn' handle it all in one go an' we were pretty worried when y' jus' kept makin' more o' the shit. Lahke Ah told the Professor, y' shouldn't be able to take mah touchin you this much but Ah ain' drainin' you lahke Ah normally would. You've got too much energy inside you fer me ta do any damage. Ah jus' keep the levels down so it doesn' get too much for ya. You gotta learn ta control it all over again or it'll take ya over an' you won' survive that..." He sighed.
"Damn," was all he said, coupled with an exasperated, slightly bored look at her.
"More trouble dan i's worth, non chere?" She laughed a little, sounding both bitter and understanding.
"Sometahmes Ah get t' thinkin' bein' lahke us really is jus' a curse, let's leave it at that," she said, rising to leave him too, and he caught onto her hand and said,
"Will y' be back?" She nodded and left almost silently, and he turned his face to the ceiling and sighed again. Guess it shouldn't have come as such a surprise that this could happen but he'd never even spared it a thought. He'd never assumed it could be an issue for him, not after he'd spent so many years learning how to control his gift perfectly, bend it to his will.
Maybe he just didn't know his own will...
~*****************************************************************~
"Stripes – how is he?" Rogue turned to face Logan who wore a strange look on his rugged face, the sharp contours softened into something he usually reserved for her and Kitty and the very few others whom he really connected with. Oddly enough, never Scott.
"He was just awake... Ah think he's takin' it pretty bad – not bein' able ta control it anymore..." Logan nodded.
"I can see why that'd hit him hard." She looked down.
"I guess when yah've always been on top of everythang it... it must be rough not having that anymore..." she said hesitantly, and Logan put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a half-hug that meant more from him than a full hug from anyone else in the house on a good day.
"He'll get over it. It's not your job to worry about whether or not he can handle his – you just make sure he doesn't blow up the mansion and Charles will take it from there. Even if the little rat does have some kinda mental block thing going on..." Logan sounded almost as though Gambit were cheating him somehow with the kinetic interference that rendered Professor X's telepathic abilities useless in connection with him. Rogue just sighed.
"Hey – if he gives you any trouble, or if you feel too tired to take this on you just say the word," Logan said seriously, and she smiled at him.
"Yeah, Ah know... Ya'll deal with it, raght?"
"I'll deal with it. Go and eat, your brother's been asking for ya." Logan turned away, releasing her, and left, and Rogue wrapped her arms aroud herself, suddenly very cold, and went in the other direction to her room. She didn't feel much like going to dinner. She wanted to go and check on Remy. See if he was still awake, see if he needed her – abruptly she realised she was basically planning out his care as though he were her pet and not a seriously ill mutant probably several years her senior. Well... Maybe not several... One or two, maybe..
"Rogue!" Her brother bampfed into mid-air above her and did a complex somersault that landed him in front of her where he gave her a bear hug and kissed her cheek.
"Kurt!" And – BOOM!
~*****************************************************************~
On the floor, thick dust swirling around her, covering everything, she coughed harshly and cast about for her brother. She thought she could hear him but she could see nothing, and then Logan was by her side, claws out, snarling, lifting her up –
"Kurt! Kurt! Logan – "
"Not now, Stripes, not now!"
Over his shoulder she saw Dr. McCoy lifting a bundle that was wearing her brother's clothes, but it wasn't him, was it? She realised Logan was running with her, taking her outside, and she wanted to question it but he set her down on the lawn and retracted his claws, checking her over for injury.
"Logan, Ah – "
"Take it easy Rogue, just take it easy. You had a little accident. Hank's got it covered but you're staying out here where you can't destroy anything until you've calmed down," the big man was saying, but she was trembling all over, she didn't understand what had happened at all –
"Did Ah do that? Did Ah – "She looked up at the smoking west wing of the mansion and the tears broke through.
"Ah didn' know – I don't know how Ah – Ah'm so sorry!" His arms were around her, rocking her while she cried, and she dug her nails into them, trying to release the doubts inside her, the fear that she'd harmed someone – harmed someone again without meaning to, again using mutant powers, except this time not her own, not hers, she couldn't make things explode like that. That was... Remy's. Gambit's power. That was what he did. Had she taken so much that his lack of control had slipped over into her? She'd have felt that though, felt the pull! There had been nothing, nothing to suggest that she had taken that!
"I know you didn't mean to, it was an accident now just take it easy and we'll go and see the Professor about this – "
"I am here, Logan. Rogue, please calm yourself. Kurt will be fine, you didn't hurt him. But we do need to ask Gambit a few things and for that we need your help."
"No..." Her eyes were wide with terror at the idea – they couldn't be serious, look what she'd done!
"Ah'm never touching him again! Ah'm never touching anyone again! Ah won't do it, Ah won'!" Tearing loose from Logan she stumbled to her feet and ran, and he started after her when the Professor said,
"Wait! Logan, let her go – you and I can ask Gambit what we need to know – for now I think she needs to be properly alone – if he'll let her..." Logan sighed and shook his head, doubt clouding his eyes as he looked up at the mansion, dust still settling around the west side.
"I don't like it, Charles. I don't like it one bit."
~*****************************************************************~
"Gambit can' do dat." The Professor narrowed his eyes at him.
"You are certain of this, Mr. LeBeau?"
"Oui. No organic materials. Can' charge dem." Logan growled under his breath at the young man who looked puzzled.
"Why? Why do y' need to know? Gambit won' do it for y' so y' have t' believe him."
"We need to know because it appears that Rogue's instabilities led to a minor accident earlier here at the Institute and she – "
"She charged and blew up her brother. Not badly, he's alive and he'll live, but we're asking if this is normal for you." Logan appeared to be keeping a very thin rein on his temper, and was somewhat thrown by the abject horror on the young Cajun's face.
"Merde... Rogue did dat? She shouldn' – we can' do dat! How did she – !" The Professor held up his hand to quiet him.
"We don't know why it happened – perhaps Kurt startled her in some way, we can't know until she's calmed down sufficiently to ask her and right now I think she needs a little peace and quiet. We were hoping you could tell us how, though, but if you can't – "
"Remy ain' charged notin' organic fer years – thought it was gone, couldn' do it anymore, never could since he firs' got de mutations an' learnt t' control dem. Rogue hasn't got dat – she'll have de blueprints o' Remy's gift, not de real ting, an' de starter package didn' come wit a user's manual," Remy explained, clearly very agitated.
"So you're telling us that when you were a kid you were blowing up things left right and centre 'til you learnt not to do that?" Remy treated him to a hateful sort of glare that didn't look quite sane with his eyes.
"Mon pere made sure Remy knew how t' control it. Rogue ain' goin' through dat. Y' find her, tell her t' stay calm an' she won' charge anytin'. An' tell her she can take it back. She can always take it back..." the glare had drained him quite considerably, and Charles gave Logan a pointed stare that meant 'we're leaving' that any sentient being would have understood.
"We didn' lose her," Logan told him, and the weary Cajun just chuckled drily.
"An' y' don' have claws neither, homme."
~*****************************************************************~
