Tes'ral didn't know whether to squeal in glee or terror. Two imperial guards now stood in his doorway, the crests of the house of Neramani glinted cruelly off the breastplates of their uniforms, winking in the light of his private chambers. The news they brought was the source of his current dilemma. How was he to know that out of all his possible enemies, that bumbling idiot D'Tar would be the one to trace his transgressions.
Silence permeated every particle of air in the room, so heavy that Tes'ral wondered if a squeal could even be heard over it. He noticed that the guards boots made no noise as they moved towards him. His master, of course, would be pleased to hear that the X-Men had left for the Crystal. The plan was in its final stages, and soon all would be complete. But, Tes'ral would not receive his promised reward now that he had been caught.
The guards took aim, slowly lowering weapons at his chest. His burden now felt like a lead weight, but Tes'ral was well aware of the punishment he would receive if he confessed. Quickly and fluidly, like only a skrull could manage, he dragged his sleeve across his mouth, wiping away the strands of drool that hung from his chin. Almost instantly his body hit the floor, the pills had taken effect faster than he had expected. Either way it was Tes'ral who got the last laugh, he died with a sneer on his face and the knowledge that now nobody could end what had begun.
* * * * *
"Everybody take a deep breath, I don't know how long this will take!" Kitty shouted through the comm unit that linked her together with both teams. She felt Storm's grip tighten on one side, and Jean's on the other. Slowly Kitty then began the process of phasing with the nothingness of space, and passing that along the line. It was draining, and Kitty dreaded when they would reach that halo and she would have to adjust the particles more to align them with whatever energy it was that was reaching out for them. Once the atom's in her body reached the correct frequency she felt their response, it was almost like a *click*, pressure that normal people don't even realize objects exert on their bodies disappeared. In a way it was freeing. She waited until she felt that pressure dissipate from everybody before she gave the order to start forward.
Phased as they were with the emptiness of space, the radiation halo from the M'Kraan moon was a very physical experience on the first encounter. Sweat stung in her eyes while Shadowcat felt the environment around her, allowing her body to become just slightly more solid before reverting into the high-energy pattern that the radiation was following. In the back of her mind Kitty wondered if during this exercise she too became radioactive, or if it was simply mimicking the action of the molecules. She'd have to run that by Xavier so they could test it later. Once again the apparent pressure felt along the line of her teammates dissolved and Kitty pressed forward, her helmet visor doing its job and protecting her eyes from the violent purple flashes all around her. The strain was becoming awful, it seemed like she would never reach the moon before her teammates ran out of oxygen. For the last time Kitty hit a patch of interference, and looking closely she realized her prayers had been answered. At last they had reached solid ground.
* * * * *
Ailon and A'nok sat in stunned silence staring into the eyes of Mird'lan for what could have been hours, had Mird'lan not unceremoniously slapped them both. "Impossible!" Ailon remarked, rising from her seat to begin a jerked pacing across the chamber floor. "No! How! Can't be!" She remarked at odd intervals with her steps, her head bobbing each time.
"My dear, you are chirping." Mird'lan remarked, a smirk gracing his lips, twisting his scar into an evil parody of a smile. "The simple fact is it's true. I have witnessed the broadcasts myself."
A'nok remained impassively silent for a brief instant more, processing everything he had heard before slowly opening his mouth to pass judgement. "You are a true traitor, brother. First us, now your new master, you betray everybody you seem to help. Why should we trust you now?"
The smirk transformed into a smile, and for the first time a spark of life entered Mird'lan's dull eyes. "Good question, brother. Do you remember when we were children? Jonjel Vratonal had been tearing pages out of the school books, and our teacher said none of us would get play time until the guilty party was caught?"
A'nok nodded slowly. "I don't believe he every forgave you for turning him in," he remarked, grinning slightly at the memory of the look on Jonjel the bully's face.
"No, and I had the bruises to show for it, but I did get play time." Mird'lan stood swiftly and made his way to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me I must get back to my master before he notices I have gone." With that Mird'lan disappeared out the doorway.
"What was that all about?" Ailon asked, irritation coloring her question. "He never did answer your question."
A'nok looked at her, mulling Mird'lan's words over in his head until they clicked into place. "Self-preservation, councilor. That is why we can trust what he says is true, Mird'lan's only interest in life has always been self-preservation."
"Then may the gods help us, A'nok. What are we going to do?"
"First things first, child." A'nok muttered, pulling himself to his feet. "We must inform the Majestrix, then may heaven help us I do not know what we can do. If he is this powerful already, I doubt anyone can stop him."
* * * * *
Frustration settled into every one of Lilandra's pores, filling her until she thought she would tear the head off of somebody or burst. Never before had she felt so...useless. Her empire was being threatened by a force she could not control, she didn't even want to think about trying to control the Crystal. Every lead, okay her only lead, had brought her to a dead end—literally. She had the body to prove it. But the look of pure hatred in the skrull's eyes gave her more questions and no answers. If one of her own councilors had been working for...whomever it was he was working for, how could she trust anyone? Was the whole council in league with this threat, or were they still too busy squabbling amongst themselves to pay attention to anything truly important. Would her guard turn on her and kill her in her sleep? There were too many scenarios to even ponder.
More than anything, the Empress of the Shi'ar Empire knew the meaning behind the word helpless. Charles had once tried to describe to her, in his darker days when his powers had abandoned him, what it felt like to not be able to do anything. How he had just wanted to lay down, to give up because whatever force was out there was too big and threatening to even bother putting up a fight. For once Lilandra understood that Earth expression that she had once laughed at, 'throwing in the towel'.
It was right when her self-indulgent sulk was getting past the point of pathetic and into the realm of hopeless itself that one of her guards approached and cleared his throat. "Councilors Ailon and A'nok wish an audience, your majesty. They say they bear information of the most urgent nature."
Lilandra sighed. "Tell them to leave the message with you, and that I will look it over at my convenience." The guard nodded and left as silently as a gentle breeze. She returned to her thoughts of desolation and hopelessness when sounds of commotion carried into her chamber from the hallway outside. Clips of words and phrases reached her ears. "Empress...I will...no must...cannot...let go!...Stop!...too important...need to." Now, no matter what her concentration was broken. Getting up, Lilandra dragged herself over the main doorway and pulled heavily to open the door. "What is going on out here?" She asked, seeing Ailon being held by one guard, while A'nok looked uncomfortably pinned to the floor.
"Empress...we know who is...causing the...problems...with the...Crystal." A'nok huffed out of a mouth pressed roughly into the hall's carpeting.
The English assaulted her ears, she had not expected to hear that language used again so soon in her presence. Nor had she expected those words to come from A'nok's mouth. Without sign of her earlier sluggishness, Lilandra rushed to her knees, grabbing A'nok's jaw roughly. "Who?"
* * * * *
"Anybody ever tell you, you pace like your mother?" Corsair commented over his shoulder to Cyclops, who was in the process of doing exactly what Corsair accused him of.
Scott opened his mouth, ready to shout something back at his father when Xavier moved between the two men. "Jean told me that she did not know how often she would contact us," Xavier stated. "We know that they have landed safely Cyclops, let's just be thankful for small things right now. Worrying will accomplish nothing."
His shoulders slumped in a sign of either defeat or concurrence. "I know, Professor." Scott sighed, running his right hand roughly through his hair, a habit he had developed back when his hair was much longer and more unruly than it was now. "Do you know how hard it is? Sending somebody you love out into danger because no matter what you know they're the right one for the job, that the job can't be done without them there?"
Charles cocked his head slightly to the side, a smile creeping across his face. "Of course, Scott. How do you think I felt every time I sent you original five out to face Magneto, or the Blob, or whoever the threat happened to be at the time? How do you think I still feel when you set out to face danger?"
Cyclops shrugged, letting the Professor's words sink in. "How do you deal with it, sir? After all these years, is it any easier?"
In a comforting gesture the Professor reached out and placed his hands on Scott's shoulders. "No." He let Scott go, turning away so his back faced Cyclop's gaze. "But I trust that I have given you all the training and support that you need in order to return home safely. I rely on my faith in the idea that none of you makes the sacrifices you make in vain. Someday Scott, the world will be a better place, and I have no doubt that it will be partly because of everything all of you have done. That is what allows me to sleep at night, and wake in the morning."
* * * * *
For almost an hour now Iceman and Gambit had sat staring out the window of the Starjammer in mutual wretched silence. It was one of the few experiences the two could share in without feeling the need to compete, the experience of being completely helpless. Words were useless at this point; words were what started fights. There was no room on the Starjammer for a fight, and besides their hearts wouldn't have been in it. They were happy in their mutual ignorance of the other's true thoughts and emotions, happy merely to join together in their time of misery and bond in that weird uncaring way that only they knew how to find comfort in.
It was almost eerie how they unconsciously mimicked each other. Arms crossed heavily high on their chests, heads both leaning to the left, right leg crossed over the left, left foot tapping out the same rhythm. The only difference evident was in their postures. Iceman looked intimidating, heavy, as if any moment he might get up and stomp away. Gambit, on the other hand, exuded graceful tension, a coiled spring ready to jump at the first person to interrupt him in his sulking.
Surprisingly it was Gambit that was the first to let go, shrugging out of his earlier position he reached into the recess of one of his innumerous pockets pulling out a fresh deck of cards. Wordlessly he began shuffling, catching Iceman's still silent attention. Without a word, Gambit began to deal the cards. The two picked up their cards, and began their mute game without any acknowledgement as to what the game might be.
* * * * *
The three teammates entered the control room together. Rogue remained silent, listening to Jean and Remy make idle chatter on the way. How was Jean's vacation? Was Remy looking forward to moving into the boathouse? Jean would have to come help decorate. If she wasn't already nauseous then their small talk would have made her want to puke. Rogue swore if Jean broke into that sing-songy laugh one more time she'd throttle her. "It's actually really great that you're here Rogue." Jean said to her, a bit too sweetly. "You can help monitor our workout." Either she was going crazy, or Jean had emphasized that 'our' a bit more than was necessary.
Of course, two could play that game. "Sure thing, darlin'. Just take it easy on mah husband, wouldn't want him fallin' asleep tonight before ah'm done with him." She smiled coyly, letting the satisfaction warm her as Jean turned a bit red at the word 'husband' and Remy a bit white over her last statement. It was obvious he knew her a lot better than Jean, he knew when she was threatening and when she was just playing. That had been a warning for Jean, but Remy had no doubts about what tonight might hold for him. He knew not to expect a warm bed.
Jean's eyes sparked slightly as she turned back to Rogue on her way into the Danger Room. "Don't worry, honey, I'm sure there's plenty of energy in him for both of us." With that the door sealed shut, leaving Rogue to seethe through the observation window. She watched as Jean ostentatiously hugged Gambit good luck before the program started. Though Rogue did have to give her credit, once the program began, Jean was all business, as was Remy of course. It wasn't exactly the easiest program they'd ever run, though Rogue had seen Gambit out run much more difficult programs. The object was to reach the shut off switch. However, not only did the Danger Room act to prevent them from reaching it, the switch itself moved randomly throughout the room. A few times one or the other had been about to push it when it disappeared from right underneath their hand. To Rogue's satisfaction, it was Gambit that finally ended the work out by successfully flipping the shut down switch.
After a few cool down laps, both returned to the control room. "How'd I do, chere?" Remy laughed, coming towards her for a congratulatory hug.
He reeked of sweat. Normally that smell that Remy naturally exuded was enough to make her want to melt whenever they exercised together. This time, the smell just made her feel even more sick. "Don't come a step closer, Cajun. You smell awful!" Seemingly accustomed to her new reaction via morning sickness, Remy obligingly backed off. "Ya did good, sugah." She smiled at him, finally able to answer once the offending odor had retreated. He gave her one of his patented lop sided grins, and blew her a kiss in reply. "Oh, you too Jean." Rogue said off handedly, purposely continuing to stare at Gambit, and ignore the red head next to him.
"Thanks, Rogue." Jean said dryly. "Well, I'm headed off to the showers. I'll see you later, Rem."
Rogue waited until the door shut to explode. "Rem! REM! What on Gawd's green earth is going on, swamp rat!" Gambit got about a syllable out before she interrupted him. "Don't you go givin' me excuses, either Cajun. Ah've been watchin' that hussy make googly eyes at you since she walked through our door. What, Scott isn't good enough for her anymore?!"
Up until that last sentence, Rogue had seen the anger build up in Gambit's eyes. It wasn't until she mentioned Scott that she saw the disbelief. "Y'really don' remember, do you?" He asked, latching onto her upper arms, holding her at arms' length so he could look into her face. Rogue didn't know what to say, how could she know she had forgotten something, since she obviously didn't remember it. She just shook her head no. "Rogue," Remy continued, then stopped as if deciding what to say. "Chere, Scott died three months ago." Gambit took her look of shock as wanting to know details, so he kept going. "We were fightin' Apocalypse, an' he knocked you an' Scott for quite de loop. Y'absorption was off, so y'took the full hit and got knocked unconscious. Was almos' in a panic tryin' t'find you. I t'ought you'd never wake up." Tears appeared in Gambit's eyes, and Rogue found herself compressing her reaction to his smell in order to hold him close. "Cyke," he continued, rocking her slowly. "He hit de foundations of an old parking garage, knocked de whole damn t'ing down on 'imself. By de time we got t'him it was too late..." He trailed off, letting Rogue fill in the last of the story.
"So why does Jean have eyes for you now?" Rogue asked, after the initial shock wore off. "This just isn't adding up in my head, Remy."
"She's hurtin', mon amour. Jean t'inks dat if you hadn't been controllin' y'powers den somehow y'would've managed t'dig Cyke out faster. She's tryin' t'make you hurt like she is, chere. De femme doesn't really want anyt'ing t'do wit me, unless y'r aroun'."
Rogue's head seemed to be spinning in circles. "Is she right, Remy?"
She felt him shudder against her. "Non, chere. Not unless y'could've magically reattached 'is head."
Rogue nodded into his chest. "Was that before or aftah?" she asked timidly, placing his left hand gently on her slightly rounded stomach.
For the first time since Jean had left the room Gambit's devilish smile reappeared. "B'fore. Celebratin' after y'woke up, dat's what led t'after."
* * * * *
Sam was slipping in and out of consciousness more frequently now. Logan wondered exactly how long he could hold out before he reached the end of his rope. He could understand how Sam felt, this place had a way of making your brain itch. Nothing followed any sort of logic, and it was increasingly disconcerting the longer Logan went without any sensory input other than what his eyes were telling him. Sam had begun talking to himself too. Clips that made no sense out of context, but Logan was sure there was a reason Sam was muttering these things. "Not today...time to go...wait I forgot...you coward." It was as if Sam was living a different life than the one going on when he was awake, if not aware. Logan was certain it was the first sign that Sam was beginning to escape into another reality, and a shiver up his spine told him that no matter what, the Crystal could not claim Sam. Something told him that would be beyond bad. Logan had learned long ago to trust his instincts.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I know, what gives. I actually updated two days in a row! And this is a pretty hefty chapter in terms of what I usually post. I'm so proud of me. Don't expect this to happen very often though. I do realize that I'm spending a lot of time dealing with this alternate Gambit and Rogue. No, it's not just because I'm a sucker for R&R, there is an actual reason which some of you more astute readers may already be guessing at. BTW: Who do you think is causing all this trouble with the Crystal? Intriguing...isn't it?
On to the list...
Neurotic Temptress: Next chapter now! Next chapter now! Next...oh...sorry got caught up in that rhythm you had going. Sorry you won't get a cat fight....yet. I mean Rogue can be pretty volatile, I'm just trying to see how much more she can take. But at least this is some sort of an explanation.
Katharra: Plot, where? Oops! How did that get there?! Bad plot, bad! I'm soooo sorry, promise it won't happen again ;) Glad you enjoy it.
LadyLyte: Well there you have it, that Jean is truly an evil person at heart. J/K. I'm a little concerned about your new favorite color though. Here's hoping your not as loony as Sam.
nobody's angel, T.: Thanks.
Jean1: You enjoy watching other people in pain and confusion? Should I be afraid?