Disclaimer: X-men and the rest of Marvel's characters are not mine. I'm only borrowing them. Beth, however, is mine. So if you want to use her, please ask first. I'm sure to say yes.
A.N. Okay, well, I simply had to add chapter 13, even though it was the tiniest of all short chapters…but, well, I just had to give you something. I'm juggling between Beth and Romy, and I know there's probably a mixed audience, so I'll try to be fair to both, and concentrate a bit on each. Any comments, please send them to me, I love feedback, as long as it isn't flames. About my sudden silence, which lasted 5 months, well, it was because I moved house, and the internet connection just didn't get around to being put up—but I haven't given up on this 'fic, so you can keep it on alert if you're still reading it, as I will be writing more. A huge thanks to the people who commented on my last chapters, it is truly wonderful…well, you know the drill. Keep commenting and I'll keep writing.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"Hello. You've reached the office of Justin Marley. Would you like to make an appointment?"
"Ah…yeah…" Rogue let the nails of one hand bite into her sweaty palm and considered how she could say this.
"Umm, does, does Mr. Marley deal in all types of…people."
"Yes. He specializes in all people, special or otherwise, of all species."
"Meaning…meaning mutants?"
"Well, yes, that too."
She let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"And he's totally confidential?"
"Absolutely. By penalty of the law, he cannot discard or reveal any of the information which you give to him. You can even choose to attend your sessions under a false name, to discourage being recognized."
It was right then that she knew that she liked this guy.
When she walked into his office two days later she liked it, it was slightly posh, but comfortable enough, and she didn't have to wait long before she was ushered in and told to sit on a couch.
He was ashy blond, with warm brown eyes and an open nature. It took five sessions before he knew her life story, where she came from, the basics about her affiliation to the X-men, her diet and lifestyle and her fear…the fear of touching.
In fact, Justin was just what she thought she had needed.
She hadn't suspected anything…not a thing. He was a kind, generous lover, good in bed and out, as her momma would have said, the kind of person you called when you couldn't sleep at night. The one who always remembered your birthday when nobody else did…the sort of person you kept around.
And when you found him with another woman, you turned and you fled. You didn't break your heart further by trying to bash him up. If you hadn't seen it at the start, in these cases you just left. And once you had left, you went as far away as you could, and stayed away as long as necessary…
"How could you?"
"Oh, Deus, you're finally awake."
Rogue sat up quickly. It was Remy's voice.
He was sitting beside her. She found herself in a large double bed, black silk sheets wrapped around her.
"Did you miss me?" The voice was perhaps slightly sad, almost teasing.
"I…yes, I did. More—more, I think, than I imagined," she answered. She tried to keep her voice steady, her head clear.
"How did you find me," she asked. The puzzle was coming together.
He chuckled lightly. "My men found you. Said you didn' believe dem when dey said dey were from me. You gave 'em some fight."
"I was poisoned last night. I don't know how. It must have been the hotel food. I thought they were from the same people who tried to kill me, I had no way of knowing."
She was trying to get up, needed to think.
"What? Poisoned?" Remy looked alarmed.
"Who could have done dis? Last time I checked, 'y were as tough to poison as…well, as a Rogue."
"Last time you checked was five years ago, swamp rat. It seems that things have changed."
She wasn't feeling faint anymore, and any nausea that she had felt was completely over. She felt so strange.
"If anyone's trying to kill 'y, I'll know within de hour," he promised, getting up from where he had been sitting by her bedside. He reached out a hand and helped her up.
"Anyway, will some coffee help?"
"I hope so," she managed to answer.
It had been too quick. She was scared to look at him and break the spell, to see if he had in fact changed. They had so much to catch up on. So much to hide, now.
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Beth turned her head. Her eyes narrowed and she pressed herself into the wall as the figure approached.
It was a man. He stopped and sniffed the air.
"Elizabeth. Come outta there."
She slinked out of the shadows with an elegance far beyond her years.
"Yes, Logan?"
"I'm only going to ask you once." The snikt of claws echoed down the empty hall. "So you better answer right."
She lifted an eyebrow and gave him her best smile.
"What, exactly, do ya here?"
Her smile had turned cold.
"Perhaps…revenge for my mentor.
Wolverine snorted.
"Gambit ain't ya only mentor. There was someone before," his eyes narrowed. "Someone better."
"Maybe there was." She shrugged noncommittally, turning slowly as she prepared to walk away, like a person tired of a bored conversation.
White feathers glimmered in the dim light, and she froze, her eyes glimmered as careful calculations raced through her head.
"Two against one. Hardly fair, I would say," she said in the perfect voice of a young lady.
"We don't want to hurt you," Warren said coolly. "All we want is to know where you come from and what you want."
"Call it regulations, if you want. It's the norm, in the X-men, to know a little about our guest's pasts," added Wolverine. He advanced slightly. Angel had cornered her back.
"Anyway, will some coffee help?"
"I hope so," she managed to answer.
It had been too quick. She was scared to look at him and break the spell, to see if he had in fact changed. They had so much to catch up on. So much to hide, now.
"Remy…"
He turned to look at her.
"Why the contact lenses. There is…nothing to hide."
He smiled slightly. "Y' right, chere. Nothin' to hide."
With one swipe she had knocked Angel off balance. Quickly she dodged a large wing that swiped at her, then blocked a fist and threw a kick. She used her bo-stick as a lever to spring up and over Wolverine's head, did a back-flip to get out of his way. A sharp claw nicked her on the arm and she bit her tongue to keep from making any sound.
One of the contacts fell to the floor.
"Damn!" Remy bent to pick it up. His arm hurt as though a killer mosquito had just swarmed in and taken a chunk put of it. Looking into the bathroom mirror, he saw that he had one brown eye and one red on black. It looked as though the demon inside him was trying to come out, to show itself, to tear everyone apart—
The cold shock on her face felt like someone had filled a basin with ice-cold water and doused her in it.
The good thing was that it had worked.
A good kick to the windpipe threw Wolverine back, while a painful handstand on Angel's wings tumbled him over.
Logan had recovered and the elbow in her ribs felt like a bullet, while a kick aimed at the face forced her to twist back suddenly…
Gambit hit the tiled floor. His neck hurt as though he had just suffered severe whiplash, and it felt as though a piece of metal had just swung into his side. His vision blurred slightly, and for a minute he thought he saw—
A white wing bashed her over the side of the head, smacking her against the wall. Somewhere in the fight she had acquired a blood nose, and her fists hurt from repeatedly hitting adamantium. She caught one of Angel's wrists, twisted one of his arms over her shoulder and heaved him over her head with the use of a hip, making him land on his wings.
Wolverine blocked her next two blows, catching her ankle and twisting it around. She did a twirl in the air, but her second foot caught him straight in the face, coming down almost in the same second on his foot.
Someone had wrapped a pair of arms around him from behind and…feathers, it seemed, blocked his view. He tried to grasp them and tear them away, but there was nothing there. In his struggle with the invisible opponent he cracked the bathroom mirror with a fist. A few shards cut his hand, but he didn't notice.
She flexed her hand with a grimace. It felt as though someone had shoved shards of broken glass in it. She kicked at Angel, wrapped her feet around one of his ankles to trip him up. He unwrapped his wings so that he wouldn't fall, and she skipped free of him.
A hand hit her from behind, and she fell to the floor.
"Remy? What's going on?"
Gambit sprang up, only half conscious, and ran to the phone. One hand dripped blood as he snatched up the receiver and punched in the number of Xavier's Academy.
"Jean, get to Beth, she's in trouble!" shouted Remy.
"Wha—Remy, what is it?"
"Beth." He did a sudden double take. "She's a friend. I left her at Xavier's, but she's in trouble."
"How do you know?" Rogue frowned, confused as Remy opened the door to his office and quickly turned on a computer. A few codes later, he had accessed the security cameras of Xavier's. A quick search revealed Angel and Wolverine standing over Beth, and Jean making her way up to the second floor. Beth got up suddenly, took a flying kick at Angel, then jumped out the window, catching on to the rail of a balcony below.
"That's her?" Rogue asked, amazed at the young girl's feat of strength.
Remy frowned. "It doesn't look like it. I didn't teach her to do dat."
"Well, someone did," Rogue said logically. "She's very good."
"Yeah, she is." He was already making a special call, one he had avoided making in a long time.
"But not dat good."
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A.N.: Trust me, I am absolutely aware how weird this was. I just haven't gotten any enthusiasm or burning desire to write well yet. I think my muse slept in. sniff but here you go, chapter fourteen. Any ideas, comments, curiosities or corrections are welcome. Thanks, once again, for the many helpful comments. And keep at em! Oh, and I might as well add that I know that the fighting scene was a drag, but I was playing it out mostly in my head, and was too absorbed to get it all down on paper…as strange as that sounds, so you'll have to invent the action yourself. :-)