10:48 AM, Library
In moments like this one, Marie fervently wishes she didn’t live in a mansion full of mutants. She’s in the farthest corner of the library, the wall to her back, a bookshelf to her right, and an open window to her left. Logan’s instincts have been stronger more ingrained since the attack in California.
The carpet beneath her is soft, expensive, short. It must take forever to vacuum. Her gloved elbows are resting on her raised knees, fingers wrapped around yet another cup of coffee. Kitty and Jubilee are sitting on a loveseat across from her, curled up and quizzing her out of some magazine, trying to figure out if she’s seductive or not. They’re trying to cheer her up, and surprisingly it’s working.
She takes a long thoughtful sip of her coffee, and answers the question. “C.”
“Wow, really?” Jubilee asks, both of her eyebrows are raised.
“Ok. Let’s figure it out….” Kitty replies. Her eyes narrow on the paper in her hands, and she looks over at the magazine in her friends lap. “Wow, ok. Jubilee, you’re a ‘Full-Steam-Ahead-Seductress’. Here, read that part.” Jubilee quickly scans the paragraph, and scoffs.
“What, basically I’m a man-eating, desperate, whore? What the hell does Cosmo know anyway? It’s not like I sleep with them, jeez.” She’s annoyed and pissed, when she tosses the magazine at Kitty. Kitty, in turn, scans over her own paragraph. She promptly bursts into giggles, which has Jubilee grabbing the magazine back from her.
“What’s yours?” she asks, clearly confused by the other girls reaction. A still giggling Kitty points frantically at the page, and Marie finds herself mildly confused. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Jubilee groans.
“What,” Marie asks, finding herself irrepressibly interested. It felt really good to be a girl again.
“She’s a ‘Savvy Sex Kitty’, basically she’s perfect and does everything right. God.” She tosses the magazine back at Kitty, who’s finally managed to get the giggles under control.
“Ok Rogue, You’re a…” she trails off as she figures out the results. “’Flirt-o-Phobe’. Here, she says, tossing the magazine next to her on the floor. Marie sets her coffee cup on the floor next to it, and flips to the correct page.
“’You’re so skittish about letting you’re sexy side out, it’s in danger of extinction!’ Yay me!” Marie sighs and rolls her eyes, but a little giggle escapes her mouth. A slow smiles spread across her mouth as she stares at two of her closest friends. A knowing look passes through them all, as more giggles erupt from the group.
Jubilee, still giggling, lets out and indignant ‘Man-Eater!’, which causes a new wave of giggles from Kitty.
Marie struggles for breath as she tells Kitty, “They may as well have called you ‘Boo Boo Kitty Fuck’.”
Another long round of giggles is interrupted by Bobby subtly clearing his throat. “Hey Rogue, Dr. Summers said to tell you that ‘If you keep pouring all that coffee down your throat, without eating, you’ll be hooked up to an IV quicker than you can blink.’ So, you wanna go get a snack or something?”
“Sure Bobby, I’ll meet you there in ten.” She replies with a meaningful look at Jubilee and Kitty. When he’s out of earshot, she groans and rolls her eyes. “Great, now I’m gonna have to fend him off for the next hour.” She mumbles as she leafs through the magazine. She dawdles over the magazine, talking to the other girls for a bit longer before heading out of the library. She takes the long route, sticking to the walls, peering carefully around corners before heading toward the kitchen.
11:02 AM, Communal Kitchen
She smiles at Bobby as she walks into the kitchen. She puts the tea kettle onto boil, drops a tea bag into the water, turns to the Bose Radio mounted under one of the counters. She fiddles with the channels, finding her preferred station, noting with annoyance that Bobby is very obviously mirroring her movements to make sure he stays five feet away.
Another familiar stab of pain lances through her heart. She ignores it, in favor of turning the radio down a bit, and gathering the ingredients for a small fruit salad.
“You know Rogue,” she groans inwardly as Bobby starts speaking. “I think that this is something that you can overcome…” he trails off obviously at a loss.
Marie pulls a bunch of grapes from the bowl, cutting them into quarters and adding them to her apple and orange slices. She tries to tamp down the anger beginning to boil in her as she reaches for a chunk of watermelon.
“It’s really not that different from before, right? People don’t come near you too much anyway. All you’d have to do was learn to control a few powers, like mine, and maybe Jubes’ and then you know, you could be near us. It wouldn’t be too bad you know.”
Marie slams the knife down onto the cutting board, the watermelon chunks now all but forgotten. “Dammit Bobby, listen to yourself. Standing over there, taking about how I should learn your power so I can get close to you. You can’t even let less than five feet come between us. You know, it only works in a two foot radius, there isn’t shit I could do to you from way the fuck over here. Quit the macho bullshit, it doesn’t suit you.”
She tosses the chopped watermelon into her bowl and throws the rest of the uncut fruit into the fridge. Quickly, she pours her tea, adds sugar, grabs her bowl and utensils and heads over to the small dining table across the kitchen.
Her back is straight in her chair, if Bobby has any sense in his head, he’ll leave. Let her enjoy her food in peace. Apparently he has none.
Seconds later, he’s kneeling next to her, reaching for her hand. She jerks away from him, pulling her hand to her chest as cold settles over her. With a sick sense of déjà vu, she looks down at the bare skin of her arm and sees solid ice. “Bobby!” she yells, bringing her gaze up to meet his.
Every part of her body is cold, it’s weird really, an odd sense of feeling normal and used to it, but being freezing and feeling like she should be chattering her teeth at the same time. Some part of her was barely aware that Jean and Logan had come running at her scream.
Bobby’s still kneeling next to her, trying to talk to her, stuttering over his words, with nothing coming out in the end. She can tell he’s amazed at her solid ice state, maybe even a little smug. Anger and fear burst through her in equal measures as she jumps to her feet, knocking her chair backwards. Bobby stands when she does, reaching out to her. Panic overwhelms her and she plants both hands on his chest, pushing hard. “Stop!”
He flies backward, hitting the wall, dazed, but still standing. Suddenly everyone’s attention is drawn from the dazed Bobby to Marie, who’s begun to shudder. Her breath is coming in rasping heaves, and the scream of pain that she tries to release gets caught in her throat and comes out as a strangled cry.
Jean flies to her side, Logan close on her heels. She whirls and stops him, motioning him over to Bobby. He reluctantly agrees. Marie’s aware of everything going on around her, feels Jean next to her, hands wrapped in a dish towel searching for a pulse. “Breathing and pulse are abnormal. Get him over here!”
A rough push from Logan has him barreling unsteadily across the room. It takes a few tense moments for her breathing and pulse to return to normal. The pain recedes and Marie can speak again.
“Tell her how to turn it off.” Logan’s voice is low and steady.
“You gotta think about it. Just will it back.” He manages after a few tries.
Marie concentrates and feels the ice melt away, a shudder rakes her form and Bobby backs up again. When he’s far enough away, Logan grabs him and tosses him back into the wall. “You and me are gonna have a talk.” She hears him threaten.
Her attention is pulled back to Jean, because the doctor’s talking again. Asking how she’s feeling, if anything hurts, if she’s has any leftover issues that need taken care of. Marie patiently answers her questions, and sits silently while Logan’s gaze rakes over her, knowing he’s listening and looking for vitals that Jean can’t see without his enhanced senses.
“What- what happened?” Marie asks, her voice shaky still but growing steadier.
Jean sits back on her heels, lips pursed thoughtfully. Logan leans against the far wall, waiting impatiently for Jean’s answer, golden eyes pinning Bobby to the floor where he’s slid down against the wall.
When she finally does, she’s speaking to no one in particular. “I think that in cases of mutations like Bobby’s, where there is a physical change in the body make-up, if she’s leaves their presence before she’s reverted to her natural form, there can be repercussions. For instance, what we’ve just seen. When she pushed him away, her body lost the ability to control the ice; therefore her internal organs began to experience trouble. The air froze in her lungs, her heart tried to reform, tried to pump blood.” Her emerald gaze was fierce when it landed on Bobby. “You could have killed her.”
By this point Jean’s unconsciously pulled Marie close, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, one hand rubbing the top of her head. The fear is beginning to calm, and the tears streaming down her cheeks are stopping. Jean dismisses Bobby with another glare, before murmuring comforting words to Marie. Logan takes the signal for what it is, and drags the boy to his feet, hauling him out of the kitchen and down the hall for a talk.
“Rogue, honey, are you okay? Do you want to go down to the Med-Bay?”
It takes her a few seconds to respond. “No, I’m- I’m good. I just want- can I- Can I just finish my fruit salad and my tea? Would- would that be okay?”
“That would be fine,” Jean replies, hugging her quickly before standing and helping Marie to her feet. “Maybe, after you eat your fruit salad, you should take your tea out onto the patio and enjoy the fresh air. Then, cut back a bit on the caffeine. I know you don’t want to fall asleep, but too much will make you crash. If you feel you need a lift, have some of the peppermint tea that’s up there. It will be a crisp wake-up to your senses, okay? ”
“Sure, Jean, sure. Can you be down in the Med-bay when I meet Logan there at lunch? I- I think- I’ve got some thinking to do before then, but I think I’ve made my decision.”
“Ok, remember, if you need me, just call out to me.” She says, smiling that beautiful smile of hers and tapping her temple. She squeezes Marie’s hand tightly, briefly, then departs, leaving her at the table. With a sound of disgust, she moves her food to the bar where she sat earlier with Piotr, devouring the fruit with a new gusto.
11:42 AM, Kitchen Patio
Marie gazes over the grounds, allowing the aroma of peppermint to heighten her senses just as Jean said it would. The expanse of green grass and highly maintained gardens seem almost sterile to her eye, and she absently wonders how much it all cost. She caught sight of a familiar blond blue eyed boy out of the corner of her eye and turned to him. He stopped, settling himself on the low wall that surrounded the patio, planted his feet on the grass, and studied the same panorama that Marie had been watching.
“Hello John,” she greets, before turning her attention back to the tree line.
“Heard about Bobby,” he remarks casually.
“Don’t want to talk about it,” she replies, “would rather just enjoy the view.”
She’s annoyed that her suffering as a block of human ice has already made it around the mansion. Although, to give them credit, she had been screaming pretty loudly at him. She casts another look at John, seated 20 feet away. She’s not sure if it’s in deference to her new power, or just part of his regular demeanor. Either way, she’s glad he’s far away, especially when he’s flicking that damn lighter the way he is.
She thinks John’s noticed either her irritation or her desire to be alone. Regardless, he leaves. She’s stepped closer to the wall, making sure there’s enough room for him to pass safely.
She focuses her attention back on the sterile gardens, thinking over the incident with Bobby. She knows that dwelling on her fear and pain isn’t going to do her any good, but she also knows that it’s all the more reason for her to let Logan try to heal her brain damage. Her heart begins to race and her palms get sweaty as her fear crashes through her. She can’t imagine living every day with the fear of getting within two feet of people for long enough to wreak havoc with their powers, hurting others and possibly killing herself.
Maybe it’s her sweaty palms wrapped around the mug, maybe it’s being wrapped up in her fear like she is. Maybe it’s just the plain self absorption and carelessness of a certain Cajun. More than likely it’s a combination of all three.
“Hello, chere.” Remy’s low pitched voice echoes in her right ear, loose strands of his hair brush against her cheek, as his fingers slide over her gloved elbows and up along her forearms. She jumps, startled, and feels the charge at the same time the mug slips from her hand.
The bright colorful light hurts her eyes, the noise is deafening, and she’s vaguely aware that Remy’s transferred his power to her as shards of cement embed themselves into her exposed flesh and easily slice through her clothes causing more injuries. She realizes that in her surprise at his nearness, she’s charged and released the coffee mug. An odd thought at having wasted a full cup of tea passes through her thoughts.
The next thing she’s aware of is falling into a heap to the cement, Remy’s above her. Shouting backward. Her mind is rather clear, but her senses are very muffled. She calls and screams for Jean, telling her where she is and what happened.
Sounds assault her ears as the deafness fades, but she still only catches words. “John” “Summers” “Wolverine” “Ok?” “Fine” They’re jumbled together and she can’t figure them out, but she knows that if Remy’s talking, then he’s ok. That bastard. She must have taken most of the force, after all, he was behind her. What was he doing anyway, from what she’d gathered, everyone had heard about the incident with Bobby.
Definitely need to see Logan.
She hears Jean mumbling now, calling for help, she’s fighting slipping into unconsciousness when she feels cold metal lift her off the floor. She sighs, knowing that at least it’s only Piotr, and that even if she manages to turn to metal, she knows how to turn it off.
She manages to keep her consciousness until they get into the Med-Bay.
‘Rogue.’
‘It’s Jean, in my head. Doesn’t she know I’m awake?’
‘Yes dear, but I figured it would be easier to talk to me this way.’
‘Hmmm, that makes sense. You want me to turn off the metal, I am metal right?’
‘Yes.’
‘That work?’
‘It did.’
‘Where’s Logan?’
‘He’s here, John went to get him.’
‘Jean, I’m gonna open my eyes. I want Logan to try.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, but let me call him over.’
‘Ok.’
When Marie opens her eyes, it’s like coming out of a haze. The blurry vision, muffled hearing, and pain hit her all at once. She blinks a few times, and her vision clears. Amazing she must have either shielded her eyes, or just got lucky. She survey’s her body, aches pains and cuts everywhere… yay.
‘At least I’ve still got my clothes on.’ She sends the thought to Jean.
‘Only because I didn’t have time.’ Jean responds to the barb.
‘Is this you, or me?’ She asks, the telepathy thing is kinda weird.
‘It is a bit weird, but you’ll get used to it. We’ll figure out who it is later, you said you wanted to call Logan over?’ Jean asks, helping Marie into a sitting position.
It doesn’t take long for Marie to locate Logan. She takes a sick sense of satisfaction at the sight of Remy pinned to the wall, standing on tiptoes. The view of one claw on each side of his neck, and the middle one really close to his Adam’s apple is very familiar and just as gratifying. She can’t hear what Logan’s saying to him, but she could probably imagine if she tried.
John’s leaning against the wall not far from them, that trademark smirk on his face and she wonders briefly if he realizes what he’s barely escaped. Then it dawns on her that obviously he has ‘cause he’s seeing the whole scene play out.
‘You let him break his nose?’ She asks Jean, when she notices the blood on Remy’s face.
‘No, apparently they had an accident on the way down. Remy almost killed you, I thought he deserved a bit of Logan’s punishment.’ She hears Jean chuckle next to her and rolled her eyes.
She surveys the scene again. Remy’s got some cuts on his face, but his trench coat must be made of real leather, because she can’t see much more damage on him. Next time, I'm not taking the brunt of any oncoming debris for you Remy.
“Logan,” she rasps. She’s taken more damage than she thought. He starts, and turns toward her, dropping Remy to the floor. He takes a few steps, then looks to Jean. He closes the remaining space quickly when she nods and steps away.
The feel of Logan’s arms around her, is something she’s missed desperately during her time of need. A hiss escapes her when she feels her wounds start to close. He pulls away slightly, looking down into her face as the bruises on her head heal. She sees relief and fascination in his golden eyes as he watches the small cuts spew forth pieces of cement and stitch themselves up.
She grimaces and hisses again as the healing finally finishes. “God, I don’t remember it hurting that bad,” she sighs, resting her head on his chest.
“That’s cause you never had to expel foreign matter before. The pain’s gone though, right?” he asks, his voice gravely with relief and concern. He pulls the scarf from her head and rubs her hair as she nods. She revels in the feel of him, twining her arms about his midsection tightly. He responds in kind then speaks to Jean above her head. “How do we know if it worked, Jeannie?”
Jean assesses her from where she stands at her desk. “It seems that she’s healed her injuries. We’d have to do a Cat Scan to check.”
Marie moaned and lifts her face from Logan’s chest. “Couldn’t you just come over here and let me try my hand at Telekinesis?”
Jean folds an arm across her chest, and taps her fingers on her chin. “I think it best if we bring someone who you haven’t had contact with in for that. We wouldn’t want to take any chances about you pulling forth my telekinesis, or Piotr’s metal from you arsenal of stored powers. What about Cypher?”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Another new chapter for you all! This ones got some more action in it!
Chapter End Notes:
Comments are love!!! Thanks for reading!