First of all let me say that I love your reviews. Secondly, please give me more. Whenever I read a particularly funny or grin-worthy review, I immediately run back to my story and type another page so I hope that's a good incentive for you.
Third, Hot Slinky, please leave some kind of email so I can reply to your great comments once in a while! I love privately responding to my reviewers, and I love your reviews! I'm so glad that you get excited when I update.
And a big thanks to everyone who has mentioned that they enjoy my writing style. I haven't pinpointed what that is just yet, but it gives me hope that one day I'll be able to write a real fiction story and maybe get published. So if you have any comments/suggestions for me I'd really appreciate it.
I'm also both heartened and dismayed that so many of you have mentioned that this is "the best story I've read in a long time." It thrills me because, WOW, what a compliment! But, at the same time I'm sad because that means I've probably read all the good ones too.
Somebody else update for Pete's sake! I really like "Flight" right now, plus the gal updates practically every day so bonus. But yeah, we need another "Giddy" or "Love of My Life." I created a community for "M" rated ROMY stories I really enjoy, but a gal can only read the same thing so many times you know?
Shout outs go to Sassy, Psylocke, SkyRogue, Roguechere, gambitfan, Chica D.L.O. Café, Hot Slinky and Arian69; I absolutely LOVE getting your reviews and I'm so grateful that you give them so often. Especially Sassy though for her constant full page(s) of comments, it absolutely makes my day.
In fact, it makes my day so much that I get inspired to write IMMEDIATELY after getting reviews like those. So thanks to Sassy and the gang for helping me catch the writing bug again!
Anyhow, thanks again for the great reviews. Here's another chapter.
Warning: This chapter sort of pushes the line between T & M. There are a few bits of "crude" language and partial nudity, but nothing too graphic or bad. Technically there aren't any "shield thine eyes (or ears)" moments, so I hope that helps. Let me know if I've overstepped.
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When Rogue awoke, she was tired, sore, cold and very, very cranky. She blinked a few times and moaned softly as she tried to remember exactly how many 18-wheelers had hit her. She had to get more pain meds from Dr. McCoy – the man was really slacking if this was the best he could do.
She kept her eyes shut tight and ran her bare hand over her dirty face, down her bare neck and along her bare shoulder.
Wait, what? That was WAY too much bare even for the med bay.
The sensation of skin on skin brought recent events – albeit very fuzzy recent events– crashing to the forefront of Rogue's mind, and her eyes shot open as she recalled the few details she could clearly remember.
Waking up in a strange place, sans clothes, and being called "my Queen" by Apocalypse…
Being rescued by the dreamy-eyed – er, DEMON-eyed Cajun Acolyte…
Jumping 10 stories off a mountain and landing in a freezing river…
Nearly drowning…
And that's about where it got really fuzzy. She could vaguely remember lots of water and being really, really cold, but it was generally a big black blank. Oh well, she figured, the Professor could fill her in later.
Groaning again, Rogue pressed both of her bare hands against her eyes as she tried to block out the sun.
Sun? There shouldn't be any sun in the med bay.
Except that she wasn't in the med bay, she realized with a start.
Her stomach did a back flip.
If she wasn't in the med bay, where was she? And why wasn't she in the med bay?
Her eyes focused a little and she could make out the side of a mountain that was partially covered in shadow as the sun sank behind it. There were trees above her and rocks below her. And lots and lots of big blue sky everywhere.
Forget the med bay, she wasn't even in the mansion. She was outside, on the ground.
She slowly connected all the puzzle pieces and took a guess at what might have occurred. Anxiety struck hard and fast and she bolted upright.
Instantly, she knew three things:
One: she was very dizzy and very nauseous.
Two: the X-Men had not yet come to save her.
Three: she was very, very naked save for a long brown duster that had been draped over her body.
With a small yelp of surprise, Rogue snatched the cold, wet garment back up over her chest as she tried to think of why she would being lying unclothed inside the mouth of a cave in what appeared to be the middle of woodland, nowhere.
As she gauged her surroundings and struggled to figure out exactly what had transpired to bring her to this point, she nearly dropped the coat once more when she was startled out of her stupor by a jovial Cajun voice.
"Evenin' chere!" it called from her left.
Her glassy, unfocused eyes narrowed to slits as she glared murderously at the boxer clad Acolyte. Thankfully her vision was too fuzzy to really notice his finely toned pecs and abs or how the sun glistened off his gorgeous tan and made his tousled hair shine brilliantly.
"You," she growled, but it came out as more of a wheeze and she suddenly realized how hoarse and sore her throat was.
Gambit was carrying a makeshift spear, but his wide smile vanished as he noted the homicidal look on Rogue's face.
"Now, chere, lemme explain," he held up his hands in surrender as she struggled to wrap the duster tighter around herself.
"Explain?" she asked, trying to stand. She found the motion nearly impossible, however, as both nausea and fatigue washed over her. She settled for kneeling instead.
"Ya UNDRESSED meh!?" she shouted, trying to sound fierce despite the husky grate to her voice.
"Chere," Gambit began, observing the way her tinted cheeks paled significantly when she'd attempted to stand, "ya don' understand. Gambit had t' do it."
"Had to MAH ASS, Cajun!" she shrieked and picked up a small stone. She lobbed it at him, but missed by several feet as it went soaring into the trees instead.
He watched it fly by with an amused smirk on his face and started walking toward her again.
"Well, it is a fine ass, petite, but dat ain't d' issue, eh?" He marveled at the way her blush started at the tips of her ears and spread all the way down to where his coat covered her chest.
Enraged, she held the coat up to her throat with one hand and began chucking rocks toward him in rapid succession with the other.
Her aim was much improved this time and eventually Gambit had to drop his stick to protect himself. He deflected the first few, but as she built up steam and stamina, he was forced to simply duck and cover.
He darted behind a tree as the small but heavy stones thumped continuously against the trunk.
"Rogue, y' don' understand," he started again as she continued her assault. He pressed his back up against the tree and sighed.
He knew she wouldn't take it well.
"Oh, ah understand all rahght!" she shouted again, "yer a filthy stinkin' pervert! Ah can't believe you! Oh wait, tha's right, you're an Acolyte. Ya already tried t' blow mah hand off once, an' ah KNOW yer always followin' me around, so this is prob'ly rahght up yer alley!"
He winced. What kind of a thief was he if a mere girl could sense his presence.
Another heavy rock collided with the tree and vibrated through to his skull.
"It ain't like dat at all!" he yelled back, "you were freezin' t' death. If Gambit didn't find a way to warm y' up quick, y' mighta died from hypothermia. Jus' go feel dat dress a yours – it's still soakin' wet and Gambit don't even know how long it been out t' dry!"
There was a moment of silence before she bit out, "you move from that spot, swamp rat, jus' one little peek an' ah will rip both o' yer heads off!"
Remy grimaced, but smiled nonetheless. At least she was back to her normal pissy self again.
"Not 'n inch, Gambit swear," he promised and she grumbled something derogatory under her breath.
Seconds later he heard her crawl across the stones to where the dress was draped over a rock just inside the cave.
"Well no wonder the dang thing's still wet, ya moron, it's sittin' in the shade 'stead of the sun! Why didn't y' move these out so they'd dry?" she asked, exasperated, but somewhat calmed.
"Cause de sun's goin' down an' unless y' wanna put 'em in out dere in de open like a big fat flag dat says 'here we are,' Gambit don't suggest movin' it much."
"But we WANT to be found! The X-Men …"
"De X-Men ain't comin' chere," he explained gently as he came out from behind the tree and carefully tried to approach her again.
She had finally managed to stand and was leaning heavily on her left shoulder against the mouth of the cave.
"Dey don't know where we are and neither d' we. You got no powers and I can't use mine without bein' found by 'Pocalypse. So unless you got some sorta communicator hidden where d' sun don' shine, we on our own, petite."
With pink cheeks, she glared and looked away in a huff, which gave him a brief moment to study her.
She held the collar of his duster all the way up to her chin and used the same arm to anchor the garment across her chest. Her other elbow secured the opposite side and her left arm was wrapped around her waist. The coat fell strategically over her lower extremities, but her right leg remained exposed all the way from her foot to the top of her hip. Her arms and legs were still sporting some good bruises and scrapes, but she had some color in her face and limbs again and no longer looked like death warmed over.
He wondered why she still hadn't put the coat on completely, but guessed it was because she was warmer without it. The material was still damp, cold and slightly muddy, which was never a good combination for someone recovering from mild hypothermia. Plus, it was an easy 80 degrees out and she'd probably be better off without the sodden garment.
'Now if Gambit could just convince her, too…' he thought with a smirk.
Her face was streaked with dried dirt and clumps of mud and debris were plastered in her hair, but it was still thick and shiny despite its current condition. The white and auburn locks were starting to curl at the ends and he smiled as he realized why she straightened it so religiously – the subtle waves gave her a sweet, feminine look that softened her features and made her seem much more approachable.
Rogue looked up from her examination of the ravine to catch him staring openly at her. He tried to hold back a grin as she glared evilly and adjusted the coat again.
"Meanwhile," he continued unfazed, "Apocalypse is still lookin' for you. Probalby got minions all over tryin' to find you. Imagine he want his 'Queen' back pretty bad."
She paled.
"Don't call me that," she demanded quietly, but looked considerably shaken as she chewed on her bottom lip.
"Ah don't understand what that maniac would want with me anyhow…" she wondered out loud. Little did she know, that was a very loaded question and it was really a matter of how much she wanted to know and was prepared to hear.
"Well, petite," he started to explain, but there was a sudden loud crash from atop the cliffs that stopped him.
Rogue turned her head toward the noise with wide, curious eyes.
"What in the Sam Hill?" she asked aloud and tried to get a better view, but she stopped as she turned to look at Gambit. He was sprinting toward her with fear in his eyes and, startled, she took an instinctive step back.
"Gam…?" he cut her off as he clamped one hand over her mouth and the other around her waist. He scooped her up in one swift motion and ran to the back of the cave with their clothes in tow.
"Mmm MMM!!"
She tried to wiggle free of his grasp and fight him off, but he held tight to her small frame and dropped to his knees where a small three by four foot alcove was concealed in a recess of the cave. It was well hidden and fairly deep – most likely the home of a small woodland creature at one point.
He set her on her knees for a quick second, but kept his hand over her mouth as he threw the clothes in the back of the cave.
With the hand that wasn't trying to hold up the trench coat, Rogue tried prying Gambit's hand away from her mouth while he was distracted. She reached up and started to pull when he grabbed her roughly by the arm and jerked her exposed back against his own scantily clad body.
She tried to elbow him in the gut and he hissed in her ear.
"Soyez silencieux! (Be quiet!) Dat's Apocalypses' goons!"
She stilled immediately and he finally released her as he backed into the hole and sat with his legs crossed. His back was hunched slightly to avoid hitting his head and when he was as far back as he could go he waved for her to join him.
"There's no room!" she mouthed silently as her eyes darted to the cave's entrance, but she bent her head slightly to see if she could squeeze in next to him without touching.
Anxious and impatient, Remy lunged out and grabbed her around the waist again. He spun her as she fell forward and in less than a second, she was plopped down in his lap with her back against his chest.
The ruckus outside intensified as the trees surrounding the ravine began to crash down too. Rogue tried to cover herself as best she could while she shrunk against Gambit and pulled her knees up to her chin.
The feeling of his exposed chest on her naked back was almost enough to distract her from the present situation, but not quite. Instead of feeling afraid or worrying about being caught like she should have been though, Rogue was just plain irritated.
Her very first, real skin to skin contact was like this? She had always daydreamed that when she finally got control of her powers she'd simply saunter up to the first X-Boy she saw (preferably Scott) and plant a nice big kiss on the lucky guy.
Instead, she got this: huddled up completely naked and powerless in a damp, cold cave with the most arrogant, handsome, cocky, slimy, sexy, perverted, no-good Acolyte in the bunch.
'Well,' she thought as Gambit pulled the corner of the trench over her exposed hip, 'at least it's better than Pyro or Sabertooth – they'd have just killed me instead.' She remembered the hungry look in Sabertooth's eyes during their last encounter and shuddered. 'Or worse.'
It was also probably better than being with one of the X-Boys; they would have let her freeze to death rather than risk touching her, powers or no. Except maybe Scott or Logan; they wouldn't let her die of hypothermia, but the thought of Logan doing what Gambit had done made her feel queasy and she could only imagine how long it would take Scott to get up the guts to actually undress her. Plus, it would have been very awkward afterwards.
She rolled her eyes. It had probably taken Gambit less than 30 seconds to get both their clothes off and she didn't want to even consider how much of her he saw. The sheer notion made her blush furiously.
As if Gambit could sense her sudden discomfort, he playfully nudged her shoulder with his own. She turned her head a fraction to see him smile softly.
Well, maybe it wasn't so bad after all…
Gambit was able to make light of a difficult situation whereas Scott would have been a blubbering, blushing mess, and somehow, despite her current state of undress, she felt less vulnerable and more comfortable around the Acolyte than she would with any member of the X-Men.
Not that she'd tell him that.
"KaTHOOM!"
Rogue nearly jumped out of her skin when something very large and heavy crashed down in front of the cave. She actually dropped the coat for a split second and only hoped that Gambit hadn't noticed.
He had, however, noticed the close proximity of whatever was outside to their current position. He drew their legs farther in and shifted Rogue so she was seated across his lap with her back against the side wall and her knees near his chin.
He raised a silent finger to his lips and she nodded. By the amused smirk he gave her, she figured her face was the picture of utter terror, yet she didn't much care at the moment.
The thing outside moved again and judging from the way the stones groaned and cracked under its weight, Rogue guessed it was one of Apocalypse's giant stone monsters. She wasn't about to try and get a look though - the two she had encountered already were enough to give her nightmares for weeks.
The trees rustled outside and she could hear the stones shift and grate as it bent down near the mouth of the cave and tried to peer inside.
Rogue's heart was hammering away in her chest as she clenched her eyes shut tightly and prayed that they wouldn't be found out. Her bare arm was pressed against Gambit's chest and she could feel his heart thrumming in time with her own. Even though his face appeared calm and relaxed, she knew by his heart rate and the way every muscle was tensed that he was probably as frightened as she was.
Her breathing came in quick, shallow gasps as she felt eyes darting around the front of the cave and she wished she had some kind of a weapon just to hold for sanity's sake.
She felt Gambit's hand sift silently through the pockets of his coat as he extracted a deck of playing cards and a pocketknife. With a reassuring smile, he handed her the knife and held tight to the cards as she stared back at him quizzically.
When had he become a telepath?
The weapons proved unnecessary however, because a few moments later, the creature backed out of the mouth of the cave and began tromping through the ravine instead.
It was only when they heard the creature stomp away from the ravine and down into the valley below that Rogue dared to breathe again.
"Do ya think there gone?" she whispered in Gambit's ear.
"F'r now, peut-etre (maybe), but not f'r long. We'll stay here t'night an' wait it out, but we best be movin' again come first light," he replied quietly. His breath tickled her ear and created goosebumps over her arms.
She nodded, but still clutched the pocket knife to her chest.
"Won' be no dinner t'night, petite, je suis desole." (I'm sorry) He brushed an errant lock of white hair from her eyes and smiled apologetically.
"S'okay," she replied softly and shut her eyes. She was inexplicably exhausted and was just realizing how badly her chest and stomach hurt as she tried to find a better position. Remy's lap was comfortable and all, but the heat she could feel radiating from him was making her incredibly uneasy.
She must have grimaced as she shifted because Remy suddenly reached over and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. The gesture surprised Rogue and she opened her eyes to stare at him.
"Y' alright, chere?" he questioned. He was frowning as he studied her and his voice was positively dripping with concern. "Y' look a pale. Paler den normal even."
"Mmm," she pondered a moment, "don't know just yet. Ah feel a little queasy an' mah chest hurts fer some reason," she muttered quietly.
She had no idea why she was telling him all this, but she simply didn't care about anything right now. She was too tired and sore to put up a front and she figured he'd see right through it anyhow.
"S' normal I suppose. Y' been t'rough a lot Rogue. Try t' get some sleep, mebbe you feel better in d' morning." He brushed another lock of hair behind her ear and she managed a tired half smile.
"Kinda hard considerin' our situation."
"Here," he offered and pressed against the opposite side of the wall, "try curlin' up 'longside a me. You can use m' shirt for a pillow. Still a bit wet, but it'll do."
She simply nodded and extracted herself from Gambit's lap to lie next to him. She was careful to keep herself covered with the coat, but the notion of being so exposed next to the Acolyte didn't seem as horrifying anymore and she closed her eyes to settle in.
Within seconds she was curled up in a ball and sleeping soundly as Gambit kept watch.
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Lance was starting to get very uncomfortable.
He had received a number of curious, distrustful, threatening and even adoring glances from the various X-Men as he carried Kitty upstairs. The students were gathered in groups throughout the house and it seemed like they were all clustered in his path.
Wolverine had caught up to him in the basement and followed, claws extended, all the way up to the foyer before Storm had called for him.
"I'll be watchin you, bub," he'd growled menacingly before departing.
The Brotherhood had sniggered loudly when he passed by the living room and suddenly every X-Boy in the Mansion wanted a piece of him.
Glaring evilly from the stairs, Iceman, Berserker and Sunspot had all made fists to display their powers as he passed – a threat of what would happen if Avalanche didn't mind his P's & Q's.
The girls – that is, Amara, Jubilee and Rahne – all sighed and cooed through their tears and sniffles as he made his way into the girls' wing and even little Jaime had stopped him right outside Kitty's door.
"Watcha doin?" the young boy questioned quietly as he rocked back and forth on his heels. Tear tracks still stained his face and Lance's heart went out to him. He was too young to have to deal with death.
"I'm puttin' Kitty t' bed," he whispered back, "quiet, I don't wanna wake her up."
"Why not? Are you afraid she'll get mad at you or something?"
"Nooo…" Lance replied softly. "I just want her to stay asleep so she doesn't start crying again."
"Oh," Jaime said, almost crestfallen. Then, he perked up inexplicably with a wide smile.
"Kitty went to a concert with me once!" he declared proudly.
"Great for you," Lance rolled his eyes and tried to maneuver past the kid, who was getting annoying mighty fast.
"It was a date."
Lance held back a growl. Forget sympathy, he was going to slug this little brat in a minute.
"Ahem," Beast cleared his throat from down the hall. "Perhaps you could use a little assistance with that door?" he asked and smiled kindly at the boys.
"Uh, yeah, thanks," Lance shifted Kitty's sleeping form in his arms awkwardly. Her left arm was bandaged from the elbow to the shoulder where Beast had cut the sleeve away. The burn had practically melted the cloth to her skin and couldn't be removed any other way and Beast reasoned that the copious amount of pain medications he had given the girl was the most likely cause of her earlier outburst.
"Jaime, why don't you head down to the kitchen? I'm sure Ororo could use a few extra hands." Hank gently shooed the boy out of the way as he quietly opened the door for Lance.
"Sorry about that," he explained, "we're pretty close and everyone can get kind of … overprotective."
"Tell me about it. Wolverine's bad enough without everyone else making threats too," Lance agreed as he crossed the threshold.
"Ah yes, Logan. There's not much I can say about him except that he doesn't make threats, only promises. It's generally just best to stay out of his way and not make him mad."
Lance nodded with a gulp.
"Well, I'll just leave you be then," Beast grinned and started to close the door, "Oh, and Lance?"
"Yeah?" the boy turned to face the furry blue mutant with a half-smile.
"If you do anything inappropriate or hurt Kitty in any way, I'll let Logan cut you into little pieces so I can use your parts for my lab experiments."
Lance paled considerably as his smile vanished.
"Have a nice day!"
With that, Hank shut the door and left the visibly shaken boy to tend to Kitty.
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"Hey elf," Logan called as he approached the gazebo overlooking the ocean. After Ororo had chastised him for torturing Alvers and made him help with dinner as punishment, she had directed him to Kurt's hiding spot.
Kurt sat perched on the rail nearest the edge of the cliffs as he stared out over the water. The sun was beginning to set already and the sky danced with an array of pinks, purples, reds and oranges which were reflected on the tranquil sea. A calm, gentle breeze tousled the boy's hair playfully, but he took no notice of the scenery or the weather.
Logan slowly trudged over and rested his forearms over the top rail next to the boy. He sighed as he took in the hardened set of Kurt's jaw, the way his fists were clenched around the worn white wood and the way his tail lashed through the air.
They sat in silence for a few minutes when Logan finally hung his head and tried to find words to comfort the young man. What was he supposed to say to make the kid feel better when all he wanted to do was rip someone apart?
"Kurt, listen, I know this is tough for you…" damn he was bad at this.
"Don't try to give me a pep talk, Herr (mister)Logan, vhen you don't know a damn zing about vhat I am feeling," Kurt bit out with a snarl. Both his voice and accent were thick with emotion as he gripped the rail tighter.
Logan turned to face the boy as he tried to hold back his own emotions. "You think I don't feel it too? You think I'm not angry and hurt and … and SAD? You kids, all of you kids, mean a lot to me, but Rogue…" he stopped to clear his throat.
"Rogue was special. Real special. And it's okay to be angry and upset and to mourn, but don't… don't bottle it up kid, or it'll eat you alive 'til there's nothing left. Don't let your emotions consume you and turn all that anger and grief into hate and bloodlust. I know how yer feeling right now elf, and I'm tellin' you - let it out, then let it go."
"Let it go?!" Kurt turned on Logan, incensed. His fangs were bared and his yellow eyes gleamed in the retreating sunlight. With his tail thrashing over his shoulder and pure fury etched on his face, he looked very much the part of a true demon.
"Let it GO?! She is my sister! Mein schwester (my sister)!!! Und (and), Mystique, unsere mutter (our mother), hand delivered her to Apocalypse und now SIE IST TOT (she is dead)!!! Don't you DARE tell me you know how I feel! You know NOTHING of how I feel. You've never had a real family so you don't know vhat it's like to lose one!!
"HEY!" Wolverine bellowed over Kurt's tirade, "I may not have had a sister, or a bitch of mother, but the X-Men are MY family and that girl was like a damn DAUGHTER to me, so don't YOU dare tell ME that I don't know how you feel! I've lost just as much as you kid – we all have."
"Nein, (no)" he replied quietly, "you haven't."
With that Kurt bamfed away leaving Logan to mutter curses under his breath.
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Lance laid Kitty down on top of the perfectly made bed and carefully unlaced her boots. He set them quietly on the floor and moved around to the other side of the bed to turn down the comforter.
Leaning over the bed, he gently shifted her over and slipped her feet under the sheets. She stirred for a moment, but with a soft sigh, quieted once again. She was still dressed in her dirty & torn X-Men uniform, but that couldn't be helped at the moment.
Lance kneeled down next to the bed and fingered the soft, pink floral pattern quilt as he tucked it up under her chin. He reached his hand up and gently smoothed her bangs behind her ear before glancing around the room.
Kitty's side was filled with stuffed animals – puppies, kittens, ponies and even a little stuffed dragon that was hidden beneath her pillow. With a silent chuckle, he carefully pried the toy out and placed it under the covers with the girl. There were posters of Mandy Moore, Michelle Branch, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom on the wall and all of the décor – from the lamp on the desk to the rug on the floor – were doused with pink accents.
Rogue's side, on the other hand, was just the opposite. There was no sign of any stuffed animals, and it was quite plain and unordinary compared to the valley girl. The quilt was a simple cream color with matching pillowcases and no pattern to speak of, but the sheets and bed skirt were deep green. Her desk was clean and neat with no memorabilia or knick knacks and only a vampire novel lay on top. There were two posters on either wall – one of Evanescence and the other of Alanis Morissette.
Strangely, Lance noticed, not a trace of Rogue's Goth image had bled into her living space. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he might have mistaken it for somebody else's room entirely.
He released a deep, anguished sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. It was just so hard to believe she was really gone.
Looking back to the sleeping girl with her tear streaked face, he smiled and brushed a lock of wispy brown hair from her eyes and caressed her cheek.
"Sleep well Pretty Kitty," he whispered. As he stood to leave, he leaned over and gently kissed her forehead before turning to the door.
"Mmm… Lance?" Kitty called groggily as the boy was about to reach for the door handle. He immediately returned to her side though and, dropping to his knees beside the bed, took her hand in his own while being mindful of her injured arm.
"I'm here Kitten," he answered quietly.
She looked him in the eye for a moment – a silent question in her gaze – and when he frowned sadly and hung his head, her eyes filled with tears.
"Oh Lance, tell me it's not true. Tell me she's not dead." The slight girl hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry softly.
"Okay," he replied as he sat next to her on the bed, "it's not true."
Kitty managed a small, bemused snort and sat quietly while Lance rubbed soft circles over her back. Her right cheek rested on her knees as she stared out of the French doors at the beautiful setting sun.
She sighed and turned her head to gaze at Rogue's side of the room. As she looked around and took in the sparse décor, her breathing became shallow, quick & labored as she tried to keep from crying again.
She failed miserably.
"Oh Kitty."
Lance put his arm around the sobbing girl and pulled her into his lap.
"I know Kit, I know," he soothed while stroking her hair and rocking her gently. "It's gonna be tough, but we'll get through, you'll see." He kissed the top of her head and rested his chin on her drooping ponytail.
They stayed that way until the sun began to sink under the horizon and cast a brilliant orange glow throughout the room.
Kitty's breathing was starting to even out and her sniffles became less and less frequent. She had nearly drifted off once more when loud, angry sounding, "BAMF" cut through the silence causing both teens to jump.
Lance fell straight off the bed onto his butt and as a result Kitty smacked her skull on the headboard.
"Ow!" they both cried in unison and turned to the source of the disturbance.
Kurt had landed between Rogue's desk and bed and whirled around to glare at the pair, "Get out!" he cried as his tail lashed out around him.
"Hey man, chill out." Lance raised his hands as he stood and took a step toward Kitty.
"Both of you, get out!!" he cried again and his eyes gleamed angrily.
"Kurt…" Kitty tried to reach for him as she climbed slowly from her bed.
"Ich sagte kommen heraus!" (I said get out) he shouted again. His voice was unnaturally vicious and it startled Kitty enough that she phased through the bed and fell to the floor in front of Lance.
The Brotherhood boy helped her to her feet gently, but he noticed that she was cradling her burned arm and biting her lip in pain.
"Look what you did you jerk!" The floor started to rumble as Avalanche clenched his fist and tried to advance on Nightcrawler. In return, Kurt snarled and took a step forward as well.
"Kurt, Lance! Knock it off right now!" Kitty screamed as she ran right through Lance to stand between the two boys.
"Lance, leave, please," she gave him an imploring look.
"But…"
"Now!"
Lance looked between the two and narrowed his eyes at Kurt before finally stalking to the door.
"I'll be right outside if you need me," he promised with a knowing look to Kurt.
Kitty gazed at her blue friend before turning back to Lance. "We won't."
The Brotherhood leader regarded the two cautiously, but nodded and left the room.
"Kurt…" Kitty tried again.
"Please leave Keety, I need to be alone." The blue mutant turned his back to the girl and cast his eyes on Rogue's part of the room instead.
"No, you like, don't," she demanded and grabbed his arm, trying to make him face her. "You've been alone all day and it's not good for you."
He ripped his arm from her grasp and finally turned to her with a snarl, "Oh, are you going to give me a pep talk too? Try to make me feel better about my sister being dead?"
"No," she replied quietly and hung her head. She sniffled a bit and then looked back up to him with tears in her eyes. She reached for his hand and he numbly let her take it.
"I don't want to 'feel better' about Rogue dying either," she started, "but, I am here for you. I can't tell you how to feel or what to think or how to go on, Kurt. And… and I can't tell you that I know how you feel, because I don't."
She turned her head away, but still held fast to his hand. "To be, like, completely honest, I don't ever want to know how you feel."
A single tear dripped down Kitty's cheek. "It sucks bad enough to like, lose my best friend. I can't imagine losing a sister too."
"I … I don't … Keety…" Kurt's knees buckled and the two dropped to the floor.
"She…she… Oh God, Keety, my sister. Rogue… Rogue!!"
Kurt's anguished cry reverberated off the walls as the boy finally collapsed into Kitty's embrace and the two sobbed together as they grieved for their lost friend.
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Ooookay! So, this was another long one for me. I know it's not much in the scheme of things, but wow does it ever take me forever to write.
So we hit 25 reviews, but they seemed so sporadic and weird that I think I'll just try my best to update every Friday. I waited an extra week this time because I had the entire thing done on Sunday, but I wanted reviews… :D Sorry. But the more reviews I get the sooner I'll post! I get really excited when I get a review, ANY review, and I immediately run back to my keyboard, work or no, and start up again.
I hope you all liked the ROMYand LANCITTY goodness. I tried very hard for you. Please keep voting for your favorite Kitty pairing and I'll do more. I've got another KIOTR scene coming up soon!
Thanks again for all the reviews – I'm off to start on another chapter.
P.S. I would LOVE to hit 200 reviews. I'm about 31 off right now so… yeah. Incentive? Bribery? Blackmail? Call it what you will, I just want my reviews. It really, really helps me stay motivated to keep updating.
See you next FRIDAY! HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! (OR Samhain for those of you who know of what I speak…)
Blessed BE!
Love and light,
Wiccamage