Aprilangel413: I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the wait but I, and I know this is lame, lost track of time. But here's the next chapter.
Remy and Rogue sat at a quaint little outdoor restaurant on their date. It had turned out to be an early dinner date since it would be movie night at the mansion and it was Rogue's turn to pick. Rogue turned her head and gazed at the park across the street. Then a black van sped down the street interrupting Rogue's train of thought. She was jolted back to reality, but not by the van. It was the man that was driving the van and the fact that it was headed towards the mansion that worried her.
"Remy we gotta go!" Rogue stood and started to the entrance.
"Chere what's-"
"Let's go!" Rogue grabbed Remy by his jacket and yanked him away from the table.
Luckily Remy left some money on the table so the waitress allowed them to leave. Rogue got to Remy's bike before he could and Remy found himself clinging to Rogue so he wouldn't fly off of the motorcycle.
Lilly looked out the window in the rec room as a large black van pulled up to the mansion and a man with gray hair and an eye patch came out.
"Who's-" Lilly began to ask.
But X-23 grabbed her by Remy's coat and pulled her away from the window. X dragged Lilly up the stairs and to their room. Once there X pulled out her back pack and started shoving clothes into it.
"What's go'n on X, who was dat?"
"Nick Fury, the head of Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, S.H.I.E.L.D. He's going to take me and make me a weapon again. I've got to leave, I've got to run," X-23 moved around the room frantically as she spoke.
Suddenly X-23 froze. She jumped over the bed and grabbed the doorknob. X opened the door and threw a punch at whoever was coming in. Lilly heard the sound of metal hitting metal and quickly figured out who it was.
"You two, follow me," Logan ordered.
X-23 was tempted to run but she couldn't leave Lilly to face Fury alone. They reached Xavier's office and upon entering spotted Fury, Xavier, and the rest of the adults. X and Lilly sat down in two empty chairs. Again X was tempted to run, but it was the same reason that again made her stay. Xavier looked from Fury to the two young mutant girls.
"Mr. Fury here says that you two decimated a S.H.I.E.L.D. building on your way here. Is this true?" Xavier questioned them.
Lilly looked down at the desk and X-23 looked past Xavier out the window. He didn't need to read their minds to figure out the truth.
"Well-" Xavier began but was cut off as Logan and X-23 turn their heads towards the door only moments before Rogue barged in followed by Remy.
"Wha's go'n on?" Remy asked, trying to catch his breath and sound calm at the same time.
"X-23 and your sister here destroyed a S.H.I.E.L.D base, and I'm here to take them into custody," Fury barked at Remy.
The conversation continued. Logan and Remy arguing with Fury, Xavier and the rest trying to stop the argument and negotiate. Lilly ignored the noise and looked to X-23. Her dear friend still hadn't moved her eyes from the window. In fact it looked as though X hadn't moved since she sat down. She looked fearless, confident, and strong, but Lilly knew X-23 better than that. Lilly knew that on the inside, deep down, X-23 was terrified. Ever since X-23 had escaped the clutches of Hydra she'd begun to discover the feeling of emotions. And once Lilly entered the picture the process had sped up significantly. One of the new emotions that X-23 had found was fear. She was afraid that Lilly would hurt herself again. X was afraid that Logan would be called away and never come back. But what she feared most of all, above everything else, was being turned into a weapon again. As a weapon she wasn't a person at all, she'd be alone and no one would care. That was something that she refused to go back to.
Lilly turned from X-23 to the adults and then back to X. Nothing good ever came of adults talking, or arguing. Action had to be taken, and soon. Lilly stood, knocking the chair over, and pushed passed the crowd of adults. They stared at her blankly as she threw the door open and walked out. The room had fallen silent, that was of course until Nick Fury opened his mouth.
"Where does she think she's going?" He asked.
X-23 got up and went after Lilly. X tracked Lilly's scent back up to their room, where she found the young mutant immerging from the room with a backpack. Lilly passed by X-23 trying to pretend that she wasn't there. X-23 followed Lilly back to and down the main staircase. The crowd from Xavier's office had moved to the base of the steps. X-23 heard Lilly take a deep breath and then stare unwaveringly into the eye of Nick Fury.
"Take me," Lilly's voice was void of all emotion, her eyes lost whatever courage they'd previously found and Lilly looked to the floor.
"Wha, non way!" Remy yelled into the air, not sure who to be mad at.
Rogue, and the other adults reacted similarly. Logan stood in silence shooting daggers at Fury with his eyes. X-23 copied Logan in the way that she was silent, but she looked at Lilly with desperate heartbreaking eyes. X had learned of Lilly's plan the second the red and black eyed mutant disregarded her in the hall.
"It was my idea ta destroy da base. Not X's, she had noth'en ta do wit it. It was my fault an my fault 'lone. Take me an I'll take both da punishments. Serve all O da time, wit ou' a single argument," Lilly again looked up at Fury, "Jus leave X-23 ou' a dis. Don try ta catch 'er, don come here look'en foh 'er, don even tink 'bout her. Forget she exists an I'll go peacefully."
Lilly finished and looked to the floor again. Xavier led Fury and Lilly back to his office where they sorted out the details of her punishment. Everyone else was forced to wait outside. Beast and Storm had to leave when Cannonball entered through the front wall and continued going. Then not a second after Cannonball's grand entrance/exit did five Jamies run into the room trying to escape the clutches of a soaking wet Amara. Logan looked down to X-23
"I better go handle that,"
X-23 nodded and then Logan began his slow chase after the wet flame princess and clone boys. Rogue leaned against the wall while Remy stood a few feet from the door. Having been trained to be cool under stressful situations Remy was fighting back the urge to pace and start rambling. For the second time since he'd been reunited with Lilly, Remy felt completely helpless, and he didn't like it one bit. As a LeBeau, even an adopted one, Remy was not raised to lay back and just let things happen in front of him. Remy walked up to the door and was about to knock it down when Nick Fury opened it. He walked right past Remy and out the door. Remy would have began to celebrate if it hadn't of been for Lilly following right behind Fury, refusing to look at Remy. Xavier exited his office and had to face the three angry mutants waiting outside of his office.
"What happened?" Rogue asked.
"We've come to an agreement," Xavier answered.
"Why's my sistah go'en wit him!" Remy screamed.
"Lilly will work off the debt with S.H.E.I.L.D on her terms," Xavier stated calmly.
Remy, Rogue and X-23 stood in shock for a moment.
"If you wish to say goodbye to her you might want to head out now," Xavier spoke and then the three mutants were off.
Remy burst out the doors first, followed by X-23 and Rogue. Lilly had just handed Nick Fury her bag. He walked around to the other side of the van, opening the back door as he went. Remy approached Lilly, tempted to pick her up and run. Instead he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her.
"Why are you do'en dis?"
Lilly didn't answer. She took off Remy's old jacket and held it up to him. She had her old jacket (the one from the earlier chapters before she joined the X-Men) underneither it.
"Hold onto tdis foh me," She looked up to him as if it were a question.
"Buh Remy gave you dis, it be yours now."
"Listen," Lilly grabbed onto Remys coat and pulled him down to her level. "I can't be your sistah in der. I can't tink of you cause dat will make me miss you even more. Please jus hold on ta dis 'til I get back."
Remy nodded and took his old jacket from her. Rogue was the next to say good-bye. She walked up to Lilly and stood ther for a second, still recovering from the shock.
"Rogue I know dat we have'n really seen eye ta eye all da time buh I jus wan you ta do one ting foh me," Lilly asked
"What is it," Rogue spoke hesitantly.
"Don break 'is heart, Remy nevah met anyone dat didn't wan him. He got a big ego, be careful a it an not ta hurt it. An jus give 'im a chance, he's a good guy," Lilly touched Rogue's arm, "if foh no othah reason do it foh me."
"Ah'll try and remember that," Rogue replied.
"You bettah," Lilly threatened jokingly.
Rogue turned and it seemed like X-23 was ready and waiting right behind her. The two of them just stood there for a second, not quite knowing what to do. Then X-23 did something that shocked just about everyone present. She jumped at Lilly and wrapped her arms around her. Lilly was taken aback, all the tears that had been building up in her were finally released. Lilly wrapped her arms around X-23 and held her tightly
"You're my best friend," X whispered, "I don't know what to do without you."
Lilly released X-23 and genially push X-23 away from her.
"You live," Lilly spoke quietly.
X-23 was speechless. But Lilly was for some reason at no loss for words.
"Watch ovah dem foh me," Lilly nodded towards Rogue and Remy." Don let anythi'n bad happen ta dem."
X-23 found herself nodding to Lilly's request. Lilly looked X-23 over one last time and then climbed into the back of the van. Nick Fury shut the van door and then walked around to the drivers seat. The front gates opened and Nick Fury drove the van out of the Xavier institute for gifted youngsters.
X-23 stood in front of a large glass window in the mall. Having passed the test with scores that even Jean could be jealous of X-23 would be going to school at beginning of the month. The girls of the house had decided to take her out shopping for new clothes. They also hoped that it would take her mind off of Lilly. It had been a week since she left. Xavier had made an announcement to everyone the morning after, leaving out some of the more troubling details. Rogue walked up to X-23. They both examined their own reflection in the glass for a moment before Rogue broke the silence.
"Ya must miss her a lot,"
"Yes, I do,"
Rogue looked at X-23's reflection in the window.
"What she did, it's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me." X-23 spoke softly, as if Rogue wasn't even there, "I've never known someone who was willing to sacrifice their own life for mine."
Rogue turned from the window and looked at X-23.
"I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank her," X-23 continued to stare at her reflection.
Aprilangel413: sorry for the delay. I was half way through writing it and then my workload increased. Review Please.