Chapter 11:
Back With Rouge:
The roar of the blood circulating her veins was the only sound Rogue could hear as she continued to fall through the layers of the school. It seemed like an eternity ago that she had passed through the Professor's office and managed to gasp in some precious air. Now her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen and she had to clamp her hand over her mouth and pinch her nose to stop herself from trying to breathe.
Just as Rogue started to worry about suffocating, she left whatever solid layer she had been in and fell into, what she quickly realised, was Cerebro. The first thing she did was take in several gupls of air in an attempt to sooth her aching lungs. That done, she suddenly noticed that she was close to crashing into into the platform in the middle of the sphere. She attempted to teleport but instead of vanishing like she usually did, she simply gave herself an unbearable head ache. She cried out, half in pain and half in surprise at the pain, and somehow managed to remember to brace herself for the impact of hitting the metal below. The impact never came though and she passed through, continuing her decent towards the base of the sphere.
Fear washed over Rogue as she considered the possibility of never stopping and falling until she died. She shut her eyes in dread as she got closer and closer to the bottom of Cerebro. She decided that whatever would happen, would happen. If Head Remy wasn't able to stop it in time, well, there was nothing she could do about that. Then, the familiar sensation of teleporting was felt by her. Seconds later, she fell from about a foot in the air onto something flat and cold.
Opening her eyes, Rogue saw she was on the platform and staying on it, not sinking through it anymore. She may have liked falling, but only when she could breathe and knew she could stop herself.
"Well, that would've been fun, if it wasn't so completely terrifying." Rogue grunted silently, remaining still on the cool metal, the ache in her head blocking any urge to move any time soon.
"You okay chere?" Head Remy inquired.
"Ah'll live." Rogue muttered, rolling onto her back and staring up at the curved ceiling of Cerebro. "Whah wasn't Ah able to teleport when Ah trahd?" She questioned, her tone now more relaxed and lazy thanks to Head Remy's help.
"Kitty's power was still in effec'. You don' have enough control to use more dhan one power at dhe same time yet chere." He explained as he continued to help calm and soothe Rogue's pain.
"Oh..." Rogue hummed, just to show she had caught what he had said and had understood it. A brief silence followed before Rogue got the nerve to go back to the previous topic of Head Remy's recent distance. "Remy, abaht what we were talking..."
"Rogue, can you hear me?" The Professor's voice suddenly interrupted her. Rogue groaned at the second interruption of the afternoon and seriously considered ignoring him and just carrying on with what she was saying. She knew better though and reluctantly accepted the delay.
"Yeah, Ah can hear you."
"Are you all right?"
"Ah'm fahne."
"Where are you?"
"Insahde Cerebro." She answered without thinking. She surpressed another groan soon after once she realised her mistake. Now she couldn't just slink out and go back to relative norm. Now, she had to wait to be let out in front of a dozen people. She wasn't injured despite the fall but then still have to suffer an examination from Hank.
"Okay. Don't worry Rogue, we're coming down to get you." The Professor reassured. Rogue bit back the urge to mutter "goody" and the link between her and the older mutant faded away. One completely sure the link was gone, she wasted no time in going back to her conversation with Head Remy.
"Remy..." She started to say.
"Remy know what you wan' say chere and he's gon' start off wit' an apology." He said, cutting off her sentence. "Remy didn' mean to make you worry and for it he is truely sorry."
"Whah weren't ya talkin' to me in the first place though? Ah don't understand. Did Ah do something? Say something?" Rogue asked sadly.
"Non chere, weren' your fault. You didn' say or do anyt'ing. It was all Remy. It's all his fault. He was selfish. T'hought dhat jus' not talkin' was better dhan lyin'." Head Remy explained, not realising what he was admitting until it was out of his mouth.
"Lahin' abaht what?" Rogue inquired, her tone clearly conveying her confusion.
If he had time, Head Remy would've groaned at the predicament he was now in. As it was, he just went straight into considering his options. He could
1) tell her THE truth,
2) tell her a modified othertruth or
3) just tell an all out lie.
He immediately dismissed plan 1, long ago realising the real truth wasn't an option. He didn't like the idea of lying to her but he also didn't like the idea of revealing the other truth. Either way though, he'd have to lie at least a little. In the space of a few seconds, he weighed out the pros and cons, evaluated his self-confidence and double checked both findings. Only then did he make his decision though not completely right, a half lie was way better than a complete lie.
"'Bout how Remy feel for you chere." He answered soon after Rogue had spoken. "Been in your head for t'ree mont's now and it took less dhan half dhat time to him to fall and fall hard...You ever been jealous of yourself chere? Remy have. Strange feeling."
There's the truth.
"Dhat's why Remy been keeping his distance..."
That's the lie.
"He was jealous and too ashamed to admit it."
That's a half lie.
"Ya...Ya lahke me?" Was all Rogue could stammer out in response.
"Oui chere. And it hurts so much to know I can never really have you." He admitted.
Rogue noted his use of first person and that showed major levels all on it's own. She suddenly felt realy guilty about all the people in her head. All had once been a part of a real person, all had thier own thought, feelings, opinions and all of them had, lives of their own before they joined her against their will. Now they all sat in her head with nothing to entertain them but old memories of how they used to be...How much they all must have hated her...
"Ah'm sahrry. Ah am so sahrry." Rogue said quietly, her voice laced with guilty tears, as she sat up and bowed her head.
"I know you are mon cherie and dhat's why I don' hate you." He answered gravely.
Suddenly, the electronic voice of Cerebro welcoming the Professor came and the doors to the chamber began to slide open. The conversation ended with Remy's last truth and left both of them feeling oddly happy.
For Rogue and Kitty, the afternoon was spent in the med lab, recooperating from the "incident". Apologies had been swapped, events were made light of and all was immediately forgotten between the two. Jubilee had been down to see them but only stayed a short while before leaving to head out shopping, claiming she was going to buy "get well" presents. Rogue and Kitty both knew it was just an excuse but neither had said anything. No point in spoiling their friend's fun. They were both discharged at four o'clock giving them plenty of time to find Ororo for their French homework, do some other homework and still have time to get down for dinner at six o'clock.
Now it was dinner time. Rogue wasn't sure if she was pleased or not. Dinner was really the only time the entire school was in one room and, considering the afternoon's events, she knew all eyes would be on her and Kitty. She really didn't want to spend the entire meal explaining what happened again and answering the questions of her peers. She felt like all she had been doing recently was answering people's questions and she was sick of it.
Rogue and Kitty entered the dinning room and Rogue cringed only slightly at the memory of the ruined door, which had since been replaced, on the other side of the room. Both scanned the room quickly to see if Jubilee had arrived before them and saved seats. Seeing their friend wasn't in the room, they found their own seats, being sure to save an extra one for Jubilee when she finally turned up. Right from the beginning, various students began to try and ask about what had happened but were severly glared at by Kitty if they asked anything more intrusive than "You guys okay?". After gathering their food from the various bowls and plates set out on the table, Kitty and Rogue made idle conversation with each other.
"Neither of them are mature enough for a monogamous relationship..." Kitty said to Rogue quietly, giving her, opinions on the others around them. Rogue was only half paying attention though. Getting Head Remy out of his "depression" as she liked to call it. Was like opening a flood gate and now he just wouldn't stop talking about everything and anything. So, the other half of her attention was busy listening to Head Remy explain why cologne is so much beter than after-shave.
"...Jus' had a nice, relaxing shave..."
"...I mean, just look..." Kitty said
"...Dhen dhe after-shave goes on..."
"...Only a physical attraction..."kitty pointed out
"...Starts to hurt like Hell and no homme likes un-neccessary pain..." head remy mentioned rubbing his chin
"...All over each other all the..."
"...Say you have to suffer for beauty don' know anyt'in'..." Remy said smiling
"...C'Mon! Do we really have to put up with seeing them..." kitty said disgusted
"...Isn't just perfume for hommes..."
"...Don't like each other, they just like making out..." she said rolling her eyes
"...Don' sting..."
"...And that's why Bobby and Tabitha won't last the month." Kitty joked
"...And dhats' why cologne is so much better dhan after-shave." Remy said triumphantly.
"Now, as for why Logan'll never get Jean away from Scott..."
"Now, as for why after-shave even exists..."
"Hey look! There's Jubilee!" Rogue exclaimed, purposely being loud as to effectively end both conversations she was having to endure, as she waved over to her other friend who had just entered the room. Jubilee waved back with a suspicious amount of enthusiasm and practically ran over to them.
"Guess what! I got you a date!" Jubilee squealed happily to Rogue as she sat down next to her.
"Should we still guess?" Kitty asked, poking fun at Jubilee's phrasing.
"Wait, ya got me a what?" Rogue demanded with a frown, trying her best to ignore Head Remy who was furiously spouting questions for her to ask.
"I got you a date. Isn't that great?" Her friend giggled excitedly.
"With who!" Was all Rogue could get to come out of her mouth.
"A friend of mine who I saw while I was out. He's a great guy. Really nice for a human." Jubilee assured her.
"A human!" Kitty hissed, angry on behalf of Rogue. "You got her a date with a human!"
"You do realise that I'm still grounded for another three and a half weeks right?" Rogue said trying to thinking of any excuse that she could muster.
"And what about her skin! I swear do you ever think?" Kitty muttered darkly.
"Okay, first of all, yes, a human. If that's a problem for you Kitty than I'm surprised. I thought you were better than that. Secondly, the being grounded doesn't matter, he's happy to wait. Third, it's one date and what do you take Rogue for? I'm sure she isn't the type to kiss a guy on the first date anyway, skin or not. Finally, that last remark Kit; ouch." Jubilee said, her tone taking on a sulky quality for the last sentance.
"Ah don't know Jubes. Ah mean, thanks and all but Ah don't think it's a good idea." Rogue told her gently, the whole situation depressing her, serving as a reminder of everything; first kiss, Bobby, poison skin.
"Oh c'mon Rogue! It's been a month since Bobby. You need guy company. You need to put yoursef out there a bit." Jubilee persisted, her tone encouraging.
Rogue remained silent. She really didn't like the idea of this date and not just because of her skin. She liked Remy. It was Remy, if it had to be anybody, who she wanted to date. Plus, she was starting to feel bad about just talking about going out with someone else. Granted, they weren't actually dating or even involved and they had nothing verbal or otherwise that binded them together, but talking about made her feel guilty, like she was betraying him in some way. Kitty and Jubilee had begun to argue with each other about the arranged date but Rogue refused to take part and stayed with her own thoughts. She wouldn't go on the date so there was no point in discussing it in any way.
All of a sudden, the horrible sensation of being watched ran through Rogue, making her blood turn cold. Every muscle in her body tensed by instinct, allowing her a better chance to run away if necessary. Then in an instant, she whipped her head to the side in the direction the sensation was coming from. Her movements were so sudden though that she caught the attention of most of the people around her, including the teachers and Logan.
"What is it?" Logan asked her roughly, his eyebrows knitting together in concern though mostly everyone else interperated it as anger and or suspicion.
"Ah..." Rogue began, though she trailed off almost immediately when her eyes landed on a card floating to the floor in the entrance to the dining room. Remy? Was it Remy she had felt watching her? Why was he here again? Was he completely insane? Did he have a death wish? Logan would kill him if he caught onto his scent!
"Rogue." Jubilee mumbled whilst jabbing her in the ribs. Rogue pulled her eyes away from the entrance and turned to see that everyone who was in the room was now staring at her. The teachers, Logan, Kitty and Jubilee all looked at her with concern while most of the students either looked at her expectantly or as if she was nuts. Straight away she began to yell at herself for letting her thoughts run away with her, something which seemed to be happening more and more recently. A blush found it's way to her cheeks and she dropped her gaze to the edge of the table.
"It's nothing. Ah just thought Ah saw something. Ah didn't though...It was just mah imagination." She explained lamely, keeping her gaze firmly stuck onto the table edge. No one said anything in response and it was almost like a silent group agreement to drop it and just continue on with the meal. Rogue let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and tentatively raised her head. Everyone was once again eating and talking to each other though the teachers did occassionaly look over at her, especially Logan.
Discreetly glancing to her side, Rogue was surprised to find that the card she had seen flutter to the floor was no longer there. She faught the urge to adjust her position to get a clearer look, just in case the card was there but her view was blocked by someone's head. However, she eventually had to admit to herself that there was no card there and that made her wonder if it had ever been there. Had she actually just imagined it like she claimed she had? Did she imagine the feeling of someone watching her as well?
Rogue gave a tired sigh and rubbed her eyes. Could she be sure of nothing anymore? What was happening? Everything around her was so confused and jumbled. She just wasn't sure of anything anymore. She just didn't know.
The entire school was dark and eerily quiet. Moon light filtered in through various windows creating creepy shadows, the type that make your imagination work over time. The only sounds that could be heard was the faint talking of a television set and the light, gentle padding of bare feet on hard wood.
Rogue yawned quietly and scratched the back of her head as she slowly walked down the stairs on her way to the kitchen. She wasn't sure what the exact time was but it was either very late or very early, depending on how you wanted to look at it. She'd only been able to sleep for a couple of hours at the most before a severe headache woke her up. Head Remy explained it was because of the newest addition to her head. So, unable to sleep, totally bored and quite hungry, she was going to entertain herself with food.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Rogue turned to head down the corridor which led to the kitchen. However, when she passed the entrance to the sitting room, she saw the young boy who never slept, blinking his way through the channels on TV. She stopped at the entrance and watched the flickering TV.
"Can't sleep again huh?" The boy said to her without turning from the screen.
"Yeah. Ah was just gonna get something from the kitchen. Ya want anything?" She inquired through another yawn.
"No, I'm good." The boy replied simply.
"Kay then. Catch ya later." Rogue mumbled, leaving the doorway and continuing on her journey to the kitchen.
Maybe it was because she so sleepy or maybe she was too distracted by her pounding headache. But for whatever reason, as Rogue walked down the dark corridor to the kitchen, she failed to notice the eyes that stared at her and the presence at her side. So because of all this, it was quite a surprise for her when she was suddenly grabbed around the waist and yanked into a room, she wasn't sure which.
She instinctively tried to scream but a gloved hand came over her mouth and her loud protests were muffled to nothing more than a quiet, ignorable, drone. Rogue began to thrash around to try and get loose but after a few minutes, she felt a puff of something on her face and a strange, spicey smell filled her senses. She could feel her muscles weakening and her violent movement ceased. With a small groan then a small sigh, as she passed out.