Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.
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"What kind of school is this?"
Surprised, John looked up to see the last person he expected there, the new girl complete with the 'Don't Touch' warning. Snapping his lighter a few times as he thought, he watched her take a chair and pull it back a safe distance. Sitting out on the back patio, he needed a place to do some thinking earlier. Pushing across a bag of chips, he leaned back in his chair tipping it to just two legs.
"Mutant High, where there's no returns accepted on the gifts." John answered, looking around for her shadow.
"So, everyone here is...?" Rogue asked, waving a hand to encompass the school.
"Freaks like us? Yep."
"I'm sorry about earlier, it's just...I didn't want to hurt ya." Rogue whispered.
"Think that's the first time anyone ever said that to me. Can I ask you something now?"
"I guess..."
"Who did he take?" John asked uncharacteristically quiet.
"My friend."
"She cute?" John asked, sporting a shameless grin falling back into character.
Digging out her wallet, he watched her take a small photo out that looked to be the sort of the boardwalk classic photo booth. In it he saw a happier looking Rogue right beside a girl that looked like trouble. Passing it back, he had his answer, flicking his lighter a few times once again.
"She just taught me to skate, so I could fit in wearin' gloves all the time."
"Guess we'll just have to get her back." John said throwing a wink.
"What do ya mean?" Rogue asked, eyeing him in a new light.
"I've seen him eying the school up, between you and me I think he's up to something, something that wouldn't hurt having a little extra help." John whispered.
"Ya don't even know what yer asking." Rogue snapped.
"You're right, how about we take it from the top, I'm St. John though everyone here just calls me John."
"Rogue."
"Your friend?" John asked, nodding down to the photo she still held.
"Jubilee."
"Cute."
"She hate being called cute, homme."
Spinning in surprise at the new voice, he felt the fool thinking her shadow would be anywhere but nearby. Joining them and spinning a chair around to lean against the back, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tapped the bottom until one came up. Pressing it to his lips and nodding to the lighter in askance, he waited. Leaning over, John sparked the flint and steel calling a flame, leaving it burning as he stared at it as the first wisps of smoke wafted in the breeze. Finding the pack of smokes offered, he waved them off and snapped his zippo shut.
"You don't smoke?" Remy asked, nodding again to the lighter.
"No." John admitted, a question he was well used to by now.
"You just be a man that like to play with fire then, oui?" Remy asked.
Eyeing him and snapping his zippo open again, the spark had a flame dancing that he drew to cradle like a bird in hand as it burned. Drawing his dark shades low to reveal red on black eyes, Remy looked at him with an intensity in them that cut past all his bluster and leave him feeling bare. Staring back and refusing to flinch, the nod shared spoke more than any words could convey.
"Meet at the garage for eleven, we leave then." Remy said, getting to his feet to lean to Rogue for a whispered exchange.
"What did he say?" John asked after waiting for him to leave.
"He'd save my first time for the date..." Rogue whispered with a blush.
"I thought you said you couldn't touch?" John asked honestly confused, her blush running red with sudden indignation.
"Not that!" Rogue hissed in embarrassment, surprised to find herself laughing at the innuendo.
Grinning just the same, he saw a bit of the girl he saw in the picture and couldn't wait to meet her friend, a fellow troublemaker if he ever saw one. Whatever he had just gotten himself into, it was just the kind of thing to keep his mind off Bobby and Lorna, to keep his mind off trying to find his place in a school for freaks where he still felt like an outcast.
Snapping his lighter shut and throwing her a wink, he had to go get ready while Bobby was still busy in the den before the tattletale could tell on them all.
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"You're not gonna go pokin' around are ya?" Rogue asked, wishing Remy was with her.
"Only into the psyche that doesn't belong, finding a way to cage him within your mind to leave you in control again, and to look for some answers to just what Erik is up to." Charles promised.
"Erik?" Rogue asked, the name stirring a memory that wasn't hers, a meeting of Victor and an old man with steely eyes.
"Yes, known to the world as Magneto. I must tell you I called the number you saw in Mister LeBeau's apartment. It seems your friend is under his care now, safe and sound as he promised me." Charles revealed.
"You said you weren't gonna go poking!" Rogue snapped, surging to her feet.
"That was me actually, you were...under a lot of stress when we found you. Sometimes things...slip out." Jean admitted, offering an apologetic smile.
"I'm not liking mind readers much." Rogue growled, the rumbling rolling from her chest as she looked between the two.
"I'm sorry." Jean said.
"You trust him? She's really safe?" Rogue asked, turning the conversation back to the revelation.
"Safer yes, but still a hostage, his interest in both Lorna and you troubles me but I think just maybe we can find the answers we need to that phone call you made." Charles promised.
"What, what do I need to do?" Rogue asked, hugging herself though not relaxing enough to sit.
"Just relax and open yourself to me." Charles bid, gesturing for her to have a seat.
Reluctantly sitting back down and closing her eyes, not since that night on the beach had she ever really felt alone behind her own eyelids but now she knew without a doubt she wasn't alone. It was the feeling of someone in the darkness of a hall, only to spin and find noone there, the terror that drove her racing to find a light just to feel safe again. She fought against the urge to open her eyes, clenching her fists and teeth and feeling the bite of claws through her gloves and the tang of her own blood in the air. She ignored the gasp from Jean, but the strange comfort that filled her eased her tight grip for her flesh to heal.
"Erik, what madness is this...?" Charles asked with his horror betrayed by his scent.
"You said she's safe!" Rogue growled, snapping her eyes open to confront him.
"It's not her I am worried for, what he plans, we have to stop him." Charles said softly with distant eyes, a hand raised to his brow to massage his temple.
"Well I am, you all throw promises around to help us! Then help us!" Rogue snarled, her breath coming hot as she glared between them.
"We will certainly try, but I must impress upon you the importance that no matter what he does, you do not fall prey to his scheme. What he plans...is madness." Charles said, looking to her with imploring eyes.
"I, we just want our friend back! We didn't ask for this! You, you, you're the one that knows him, you stop him!" Rogue cried, turning to stalk off out the door and slamming it shut in her wake.
Left to stare at the marks in the door where she had gripped it, he took a breath and felt a hand upon his shoulder, Jean at his side looking on him in understanding.
"He's careful, the place I found is one he won't be returning to. I saw...what was done to the Senator, I saw what I couldn't dare look for with everything he had suffered. I fear he plans to go through with this, we must protect them as they're the key to his plan." Charles revealed, thinking of how far his friend had fallen.
"Should we go after her?" Jean asked, looking back to the door.
"No, I fear she won't trust us. Besides, horrible as it is to admit, we have to find Erik before he can ever harm them. Call Scott and Ororo, I'll meet you in the War Room after I've had a chance to talk to some who may be able to reach our guests." Charles said, a weak smile offered.
Taking his leave, he didn't need to be a telepath to find just the people he had to meet, the eldest of his students to ask them for help he was ashamed to have to ask for. Not that he didn't believe in them, he had faith in all his children, but he'd forever curse his crippled flesh having to trust them in his stead.
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Hearing the knock at the door, she waited sitting on her bed just staring out the window as she had passed the time. Walking in after peeking first, as if she needed an invitation, Mystique was as her real self with the exception of the clothes that blonde had worn earlier.
"Better?" Mystique asked, waving to herself.
Just nodding, it was, thinking the woman naked and strutting around shamelessly even stranger than her appearance. Walking off to the dresser and looking through the drawers, she picked out a few things and threw them to the bed.
"Get dressed, just put what you're wearing on the dresser, I'll get it washed later." Mystique said, walking off to the window to stare out to the street below.
Taking a breath and stripping again, the clothes fit perfectly right down to the jeans when she preferred shorts, hating the turtleneck but understanding the reason. Standing at the end of the bed for inspection, she coughed to let her know she was decent. Turning on her heel and looking down to her, she smiled and ran a finger through her short black hair.
"Perfect fit right?" Mystique asked, just getting a nod.
"Ready for a trip to the Empire State Building?" Mystique asked.
"Just you and me?" Jubilee asked quietly.
"Erik too." Mystique said, trailing a finger across the hidden band.
Keeping her face fixed, the hope had been crushed, forcing herself to be patient for the chance that had to come. Looking to Mystique, she raised an eyebrow in silent question, mustering up her usually cockiness.
"Oh, it's my turn to change now isn't it?" Mystique asked, twirling around playfully.
The first thing she noticed was how the lady in blue started to slowly shrink and as she did so her blue flesh rippled and faded to a healthy tan. Gasping in shock and feeling stupid for it having seen the trick done twice now, she stood staring at herself and knew just why the clothes fit so perfectly. Yet with a wink Mystique showed she wasn't done, her form maturing before her eyes as she grew taller, her likeness in the span of time standing before her smug. The likeness was all too much for her, looking like another then, crying at the reminder.
Proving she had a heart after all, Mystique hissed a breath in light of just what she had done, looking to their reflections cast in the mirror to see her mistake. Walking up and taking her in a hug, resting her hand atop her head and letting the tears fall, she waited patiently looking a convincing mother to the young girl just as she had intended, all too convincing it seemed.
"For what it's worth kid I'm sorry, once all this is over you can go back to your folks." Mystique promised.
The tears were joined by sobs, clutching the woman and wailing, burying her face and hating how much it still hurt. Surprisingly gentle hands took her and picked her up, easily carrying her to the bed and curling up with her there. Looking up as she felt her hair stroked and hushed words of sympathy offered, she saw that likeness staring back down at her with a kind smile that looked to honest to be an act.
"You got my promise." Mystique tried again.
"You can't promise that, no one can..." Jubilee cried between heaved breaths.
"What do you...oh shit." Mystique swore.
"They're, they're dead." Jubilee said, dispelling any doubt.
The likeness of her mother vanished, but the embrace was renewed right along with some whispered words of apology. Unseen from the door with her face once again buried to muffle the sobs, Erik drew it shut with a quiet click and left them alone to find their composure, having that much time at least to wait before their trip.
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"You're going after him?" Ororo asked, leaning against the doorframe leading to the garage.
Given ten minutes, she was dressed and ready for business in her X-men leathers, eyeing the boy smoking on a stack of tires playing a game of blackjack with St. John. If her student looked caught in trouble, it was a look she was accustomed to and not at all surprised to find him in the company he was.
"Him who?" Remy asked playfully, his eyes telling a different story though.
"Your werewolf that took your Petit."
"You gonna stop me Stormy?" Remy asked, eyeing her and having a look out the window to the weather.
"We're going after Magneto." Ororo revealed.
"You know where he is?" Remy asked, honestly intrigued.
"We have somewhere to start looking, just like you." Ororo conceded.
"Well, you find him, you tell him he can't have my Rogue and you get our friend back. If he harm a hair on her head, I be seeing him real soon too." Remy said, the game called as he shuffled the deck and pocketed it.
"Likewise." Ororo said.
"I call right away, collect of course." Remy said with a grim chuckle.
"Just keep them safe, all of you." Ororo added, looking to John with concern.
"Back at you Stormy." John said, trying it on for size.
"That's Miss Munroe to you Mister Allerdyce." Ororo said, turning to hide her smirk and rejoin her friends and teammates.
Dealing a fresh hand and playing for pocket change, the tremor that ran through the school heralded the departure of the Blackbird, the jet that had spirited him and his Rogue across the country. Checking his watch and finding it hours early still, he gave a shrug and looked to the boy across from him.
"Guess there be no point standing on ceremony non? You got the keys?" Remy asked, John fishing a key ring out of his jeans.
"Yep, got everything I need in the back." John said, dangling them.
"Shame, seem too easy that way. What say we go find my Chere and we get on the road." Remy chuckled, slipping off the tires and heading to the door.
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"The metal detector didn't go off." Jubilee noted in the privacy of the elevator.
"Child's play." Erik replied, standing off to the side dressed in an overcoat and fedora.
Looking up to Mystique who wore that painful guise as she held her hand, she gave a wink as the elevator climbed high to the observation deck. Fighting against the urge to run a finger over the hidden metal band, she played her role as a daughter on her first trip up in the company of a stranger. New York at sunset with a view of the city, a promise of dinner and all the good intentions couldn't have her forget she was just a bit of bait to lure Rogue in for whatever it was they wanted to do. Biting her lip and remembering the promise she had made huddled under the table the night before, she'd watch, wait, and be ready when the moment came.
Taking a deep breath to blink away the tears, she wouldn't cry again, the woman next to her might look like her mother but she knew better. She'd been caught off guard, taken by surprise and reminded just how much she missed her parents. She just wanted to get back to her friends, get back to the West Coast and curl up with Remy in his hammock for a good bawl, work through her anger raising hell with Rogue out on the waterfront paths of the beach. She just wanted to go home.
"And here we are." Erik said, leading the way on from the elevator and onwards to the observation deck.
Life had taught her to live in the moment, take her lumps and just deal with it, enjoying the view as the sun set off on the distant horizon. She didn't care that they kept a close watch on her, she expected it, instead staring out to admire the city that could only be enjoyed from such a dizzying height. The thrill seeker in her had her wondering just what it would look like to look over the edge, to stand there feeling the wind against her face.
"We're in luck, even without them the Statue is visible." Erik said, offering change for the binoculars
Slipping the quarters in, she followed his gaze to Lady Liberty and thought how small she still looked sitting out there on her island. She ignored his hand on her shoulder, ignored Mystique coming close to lean and seemingly admire the view, just focussing on the now and looking off at other buildings.
"They sure can pick their photo ops can't they?" Mystique asked.
Peeking back from her binoculars, she saw that both had their attention on the island alone, turning her view back to it and noticing something going on at a nearby one, the distance still too great to see anything other than a swath of colour she took to be chairs and tents.
"They stand in her shadow to discuss our future, forgetting the words that she holds to her breast. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Freedom indeed, their talk of registration, what do you think they'll make us wear on our coats." Erik said with a voice of granite.
Forgetting the binoculars and staring up to him with his eyes distant, lost to that little island out in the bay, her instincts screamed at her to listen.
"What do you mean?" Jubilee asked in a hushed voice.
His smile was earnest but something about the eyes that looked down to her scared her, biting her lip and holding her ground under their weighty gaze. He reached to brush her hair and take her cheek in hand, his touch soft and gentle as a pain filled his eyes that looked to be lost for just a flicker of his lids.
"Nothing child, but I have a question for you? What movie featured this building so famously?" Erik asked, earning a shrug for his effort from the girl.
"King Kong, a film where they shackled a creature and put it on show, made a monster of it as it climbed to the very heights of this tower only to be killed when all it longed for was its freedom. I hope they don't miss the irony as they make monsters of us."
"What are you gonna do?" Jubilee asked, looking around the observation deck in new urgency.
"I think we're done here, the view is everything I hoped it would be. Come along, we promised you dinner, didn't we?" Erik said in a clipped tone, leading the way.
Looking to everyone just enjoying the view as she had only moments before, she wanted to scream at them to run, give them some kind of warning to the fear she felt in her bones. But with the hand guiding her along by her shoulder and the collar around her throat, she was forced to wait for the moment and hoped it would come soon.
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With John at the wheel, his Rogue taking the shotgun seat, he sat in the back with an eye to the door.
"Lets go homme." Remy said, breaking the silence as they sat with the garage door open.
Not needing to be told twice, John turned over the engine and gunned it out not giving a look back. Rogue he saw had her head out the window breathing deep, her eyes closed against the wind. Night was falling and as he looked back to the school he saw the lights turn on, wondering if it was a promise of invitation if only they turned back. It was something they couldn't do, finding an ally who was another outcast needing to cut loose.
"Don't go too fast, last thing we be needing be the Five O." Remy advised, a snap of his Chere's eyes caught in the side mirror.
"First thing I'm doin' when we git her back is take her ta that dinner, let her order whatever she wants off the menu." Rogue said with a fond smile, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
He had his own list of things to do, finding a new apartment on the beach unless through some miracle he could get his old one back without questions. Just curl up in his hammock and let her sleep soundly in his arms knowing she was safe and swearing never to let go again no matter what a fuss she made. A party with Cynthia was in order, and eying the boy at the wheel, he felt maybe there should be an introduction made between them.
Reaching to massage his Rogue's shoulders as she sat in front of him, he earned an honest purr from her and wondered just how far he could tread down that path. A kiss would be worth the pain if she longed to take him in that so very intimate way that still scared him just a bit. She took in more than his gift, his life and his lust, she took in memories and there were still those that he never longed to relive himself.
"Careful Chere, the Petit, she eat you out of house and home that way." Remy laughed.
"Worth it." Rogue whispered.
Admitting the same, after running for so long he thought he had a life worth fighting for, making a stand with the ocean at his back a fitting end if it came to that. Of all the women that had come through his door with his little Ange at their back, none had taken him as his Rogue, a fitting match to his thieving ways.
"Oui, it be worth it and more, many things." Remy confessed, running his leather clad fingers through her hair.
Her purr was replaced with a throaty growl, adding it to things he'd have to remember when he could fully explore them. Giving John a wink at the wheel, he felt he'd own the boy a drink once it was all over, just as long as the fire in his eyes matched what he saw there at the patio earlier. Between the three of them, Creed was in for a fight and he was playing for keeps.
"How long to New York?" Remy asked, already knowing but needing to hear it again as his impatience got the better of him.
"Not long, but it's a big city, where we going?" John asked.
"I got some ideas, after that, it'll be down to trustin' our guts and my nose. He's not the kinda guy folks forget, count on it." Rogue answered, closing her eyes and leaning out the window again.
He hated it but had to swallow it as a bitter pill, her calling on that animal trapped inside her to hunt him down. Swearing another promise he'd keep, soon as it was all over he'd have Stormy's friend cage that beast up for good, just leaving the animal behind for her to tame.
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The shower became her retreat, hiding in it with the spray going and drowning out the world. Hearing a door slam and thinking it odd, she shut it off and climbed out listening closely as the television played now. Towelling off and finding Mystique had kept her word, she dressed in her own clothes and slipped on the bought socks and shoes before peeking her head out of her cell.
"Hello?"
The living room was bare, but the sound of the fridge slamming shut told her someone else was there. Stepping on through her door and seeing a sports match on the tube, it was Soccer, correction, Football as her one friend always corrected her. Out of the kitchen came a man she hadn't seen yet, no way she would have forgotten him as he was green in a way that couldn't be faked.
"Well if it ain't the baby I'm sitting, want a bottle?"
Holding out a beer to her, she shook her head remembering how awful the stuff tasted, his laugh cruel as he strode past to fall limply in a cheer and have a long swig. Rushing off to the kitchen to have some space between her and him, he all but ignored her, stinking of paint and looking filthy as if he'd been working all day for a living unlike Magneto or Mystique.
"Who are you?" Jubilee asked, keeping most of herself behind the wall as she looked around.
"Mortimer Toynbee, but if ya go get me something to snack on I'll show ya why they call me Toad."
"Where's, uh, Magneto and Mystique?" Jubilee asked, turning back to head for a rummage through the fridge feeling an idea coming to her.
"Busy, so I get a break to keep an eye on you."
Biting her lip so hard she tasted blood, feeling the first real chance since her nightmare had started, she found her takeout bag down in the fridge right where she left it. Dinner was her choice and she chose Sushi, the joint almost as good as the stuff she got back home.
"You like Sushi?" Jubilee asked.
"That's raw fish ain't it? Sounds a treat luv."
Letting go of the breath she'd been holding in those seconds as she waited for his answer, she pressed her fists against her eyes and forced down the burning in them that might tip her hand. Trying to remember everything Remy had taught her, she did her best to get her poker face on and set her tray down on the kitchen table to grab a piece and peek back.
"Why do they call you Toad?"
"Throw the little morsel you got there and you'll find out."
Tossing it to him and expecting him to just snap it up in some inhuman display of a large mouth, she couldn't help her scream as a tongue lashed out to snatch it like a real life frog and much with a satisfied grin.
"Not bad, got any more?"
Nodding eagerly as if she were impressed with his show, she rushed back to her tray and laced many of the pieces with some soy sauce, nibbling on one herself. Grabbing the few packets she had asked extras of, she loaded one full of the Japanese horseradish thinking it might come in handy, never expecting an opportunity like this to come by. Taking two pieces and popping one herself, she threw the other for Toad to snatch up.
"Oh now that's good, still got some more?" Mort asked, washing it down with his beer.
"Yeah, bit more." Jubilee nodded, grabbing two more and having another herself as she tossed one to him.
"That's cool dude." Jubilee complimented this time, way better than catching skittles open mouthed like her skater buddies did.
She hated how impressed he looked, a compliment having him smile as if he'd never been offered one before. It made her hate just what she had to do, but life was a bitch and sometimes you had to be too, some words of advice CynJenn had given her. Smiling and grabbing the last two pieces, she ate hers and threw the last to him, vanishing with a lash of his prehensile tongue. The moment of truth came, watching him chew once, twice, and then scream.
"I'm so sorry!" Jubilee screamed herself, blasting him full in the face and hoping he wouldn't choke on it.
The door was next, not even caring as she bolted through and raced down the hall just like she had practised in her mind. Ten feet to the fire alarm, pulling it and rushing another twenty for the stairwell. She needed a crowd and a fire alarm would give it to her, it would get firemen and probably even the police out given how upscale the neighbourhood looked if the cars were anything to go by. Putting floors between her, she ran, ran with the fear of 'Uncle Vic' in her, the fear of what she had seen in Magneto's eyes, the fear of seeing Mystique again and wishing she'd never turn back to normal and let her pretend she had a mother again.
The floors vanished and soon people joined her looking right pissed off, dodging and weaving through them openly crying after all she had endured. She ignored the few that asked if she was alright, the ones that just told her it was probably just a dumb kid pulling the alarm, she let them see her just as some lost child and hated that it was exactly what she was. Rushing out the doors and not looking back, she expected at any moment that collar of hers would snag, her leash being pulled. She relieved that first night alone all over again, running away with just the clothes on her back and not looking back once.
Not even knowing just how many blocks she had put behind her, just feeling the burn in her legs and ignoring it, she pushed herself until she was ready to collapse. Finding the one place she felt safe against all reason, a cop's favourite donut shop, she rushed in and raced to the bathroom to puke, dry heaving painfully when she heard the door again.
"Are you alright?"
Clenching the toilet seat and feeling her fists burning so much they glowed bright, she just wanted to be alone for five minutes, really alone and just catch her breath. Peeking under the stall and seeing cop shoes topped in pants, she wanted to believe she was really safe but couldn't believe it after everything she'd been through.
"Miss?"
"Go away, just please go away..." Jubilee whimpered, surging to throw her frame against the door and try and lock it for all the good it did.
"I can't do that, you're Jubilee right?"
"How do you know that!"
Sparks were flying off her, snapping and crackling, her fists burning so hot she had to flush the toilet once and sink them in the cold water to find relief. The door was jostled and shaken, the lady cop not even making any fuss as she just laid down on the floor.
"We got a missing persons report, private school up in Westchester. Jubilation Lee, cute girl by the picture, it didn't do you any justice."
"I can't trust you, I can't. You don't know what I've been through, you don't know..." Jubilee whimpered, just wishing she could after seeing the kind eyes that looked on her with sympathy.
"No, you're right. I'm just a stranger, but in it we were given a number if we found you, strange thing is it's a Los Angeles number. Your principal said there's a woman out there very worried about you, and that you should call he. Cynthia was her name."
Gasping hard and knowing there was no way they could know that, she crawled out from under the door and let herself be taken in arms that held her tight as she cried in relief that it was almost over. Just a phone call to CynJenn and she could get a hold of Remy and Rogue, tell them to stay away and just come get her. Warn them all about Magneto, and just forget all about this nightmare.
"It's okay, you're safe now, we'll call your school and they can come pick you up. It's all over, I won't let anyone hurt you."
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