X-men Evolution Fan Fiction ❯ Starting Today ❯ Chapter 15

AN: In case anyone is wondering, there's no Apocalypse here. I don't feel like dealing with him.

O-o-o-o-O

“What?!” Rogue felt like someone had come and hit her upside the head with a bat. Feeling glad that she was sitting down, she covered her face with one hand for a minute while she tried to calm down the voices that had started screaming at her at the news. Her beloved Irene, the woman who had taken care of her for as long as she could remember, was a mutant? Not only that, but was involved with Mystique? She shook her head quickly; still trying to clear her thoughts, then looked up at Remy again.

“Wait. You said Irene was Mystique's companion. What do you mean?”

“Well, I don't know anything about who blue and fuzzy's father is, but rumor around the Brotherhood is that Mystique plays for both teams, and she and Destiny are more than friends, if you know what I mean.”

“Holy shit. I had no idea. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but, I just had no idea. Irene never mentioned much about her life before I came to live with her, now I guess I know why. No wonder she wanted me to go to Mystique when my power manifested. I always thought she had been deceived, like Mystique did to me. Now... holy shit.” She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to hit something. She wanted to do ANYTHING, but all she could do was just sit there and feel her head spin from shock.

“Oh God, Remy...”

“Shhhh...petite...it will be okay.” He sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. Rogue sank into his chest and closed her eyes, not feeling the strength to do anything except breathe. What do you say when you find out you've been played like a puppet, with the people you care about having pulled the strings?

“I don't know what to do Remy...” The pain in her heart reduced her voice to a whisper.

“Cherie, you don't have to do anything if you don't want to. Those two, they don't run your life anymore. You got away from them, and now you're doing something good with your life, what you think is right. They can't play you anymore.” Remy's voice was soft as he tightened his arms around her and rocked her gently, his cheek lying against her hair. “Maybe I shouldn't have told you about this, petite.”

“No, Remy, you did the right thing. I needed to know. Thank you.”

“Maybe you should talk to Xavier about it, see if he can help you.”

“No, I can't. He's going to want to know how I found out, and I just can't let him know. He might not let me see you again, and you've been more honest with me than anyone; I don't think I could take that.”

“I'll be here for you Rogue; Xavier can't keep me away.”

“Thank you Remy.” Remy leaned back against the tree and Rogue relaxed against him, taking comfort in his warmth.

The next couple of weeks were relatively quiet. Rogue tried to call Irene eventually, but the number was disconnected. Being a pre-cog, she wondered if her guardian had foreseen Rogue's finding out the truth about her and Mystique's relationship and had dropped out of sight. The one letter she sent wasn't answered, and Rogue decided that Irene must not have had the courage to face her about the truth. You raised me not to be a coward, Irene. I never thought you'd end up acting that way.

Eventually she was able to bury the pain and keep on going. If Irene didn't want to be a part of her life anymore, than that was her problem. Rogue had family and friends now who truly cared and were honest with her.

Ah but Rogue, if they're truly your friends, why aren't you honest with them?

Damn that little voice in her head. She knew it was her own, not anybody else's. The one that helped keep her anchored when all the other voices got out of hand. And they were doing a good job lately. She may have been able to bury the pain caused from learning the truth about Irene, but the psyches were getting harder to control. She was careful never to use her borrowed powers in front of anyone else, but since the incident in the Danger Room where she'd blown up that Sentinel, they had been popping out occasionally on their own. Luckily she'd been alone most of the other times this has happened, though. Logan had been watching her a little more closely since then though, and it was getting harder to sneak out to see Remy. So other than a second battle where she managed to wipe the floor with him, she hadn't really seen him other than a few times in the park after school. She did take him out for coffee to make up for the beating she had given him though. She couldn't tell if Logan knew she was lying when she said she was going out to see Risty, and she hated lying to him, but it beat telling him she was going out on a date with an Acolyte.

Speaking of Risty, Rogue hadn't seen too much of her lately since the truth about mutants was exposed. She was in school, but since they didn't have the same classes currently it was hard to get a moment alone with her. So she was surprised when Risty came up to her at lunch today.

“Rogue! How are you?”

“I'm okay Risty. Haven't seen too much of you lately.”

“I'm so sorry about that Rogue; an old friend came into town that I haven't seen in ages. But what about you? You're looking a little peaked. Are you sleeping okay?”

“Well, I had a bit of bad news lately; turns out someone I thought cared about me was lying to me. It shook me up a bit but I'll be alright.”

Risty looked a little taken aback at that. “That really stinks luv. But I know just how to make you feel better. I've got two tickets to that Rivets concert tonight. Come with me and we'll have a blast making fun of all the geeks in the audience.”

“I don't know, Risty; you know I don't do well with crowds...”

“Oh come on girl, it'll be great!”

Rogue smiled. “Okay, you talked me into it.”

“Fabulous! I'll see you there!” Risty gave her a quick hug and dashed off as the bell rang to end lunch.

Rogue had a date to meet Remy at the park so she made her way there quickly after school, feeling better than she had in a couple of days. She had missed hanging out with Risty; the British teen always seemed to know just how to make her laugh and lift her spirits. Other than Kitty, she was one of Rogue's best friends, and pretty much her only friend who wasn't a mutant.

Remy was leaning against her usual tree waiting for her, and gave her a smile as she approached.

“'allo Chere. Have a good day in hell?”

Rogue rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, I'm so much better for my time spent in those hallowed halls of learning. Algebra and mutant discrimination are just my favorite subjects. The idiots are getting smarter too; they've graduated from using markers on my locker to scratching their insults with a knife.”

Remy muttered a few curses in French under his breath and gave Rogue a hug. “I'm sorry Rogue. You sure you don't want me to teach them a lesson for you? Their mammas didn't raise them right; that's no way to treat a lady.”

“No, don't bother. They're not worth your time or energy. Besides, if anything happened I'm sure the rest of us would just get blamed for it, and things are bad enough as it is. I'll be okay.” Remembering her plans, her face perked up. “Hey, Risty and I are going to that Rivets concert tonight. You wanna come with us? She only got two tickets but maybe you could meet us there.”

Remy grinned at her. “That sounds great. And don't worry none. I can get myself in.”

She laughed at him, shaking her head. “I'm sure you can, as sneaky as you are.” She gave him a final hug and pulled away. “I've gotta go now, I need to get my homework done before the concert. So I'll see you there?”

“Oui, petite. I'll find you.”

“Okay, bye Remy.”

O-o-o-o-O

Remy was singing along to the band under his breath as he got up onto the balcony. He hadn't had any problems getting into the concert hall unnoticed, but he needed a higher view to find his Rogue. His Rogue. Yes, it was getting very easy to think of her in those terms, and it made him happier to do so. This sneaking around to see each other business was getting annoying, but since the alternative was not seeing her, he'd live with it. He'd come to enjoy her company more than anyone else's (well, when you live with Larry, Moe and Hairy that isn't saying much, but still), and if having to dodge Mags as well as most of the X-Men was the price, then so be it.

He finally spotted her down in the mosh pit, with a purple haired girl that he assumed was Risty. Remy had never met Rogue's friend; since she was a human Magneto had never bothered starting a file on her, but if Rogue liked her than she must be okay. He was about to turn to go down and join her when he saw the girl in front of Rogue start to fall off of the shoulders of the guy she was sitting on. Unable to move and knowing he'd never get down there in time, he watched in shock as the girl ripped Rogue's sleeve off trying to break her fall. And then all hell broke loose.

O-o-o-o-O

Rogue panicked when she felt the sleeve tear off her shirt; backing away, she bumped into the person next to her and they dropped to the floor. The crowd jostled her this way and that and she felt like a pinball, bumping into person after person and knocking them out. The roar in her head was monstrous as new voices continued to be added. Finally she was shoved to her left and she just barely made out Risty in the corner of her eye, trying to move away before she crashed into her.

The flash was monstrous. Different from everyone else. She felt the flow of power into her veins. Risty's a mutant? Then the memories started.

Mystique turning into Risty in front of a mirror.

Mystique and Irene playing with a pretty little stripe haired girl who couldn't be more than four years old.

Mystique and Irene discussing Rogue and the development of her powers.

Irene calling Mystique the night Rogue's mutation manifested.

Irene urging Mystique to be careful as the shapeshifter turned into Wolverine, to remember that Rogue was Mystique's dau...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

This was it. This was too much. This was the last straw. Rogue sank to the ground, shaking. Her heart shattered into a million tiny pieces as the psyches in her head screamed at a level that threatened to fry her brain. Hyperventilating, she searched desperately for the little voice in the back of her head, her anchor, the one that was always there for her in the past whether she wanted it or not, but found nothing.

Drifting in a sea of pain and near insanity, Rogue finally gave up and let go.

O-o-o-o-O

The scene was chaos. Remy's heart was near breaking as he saw Risty change into Mystique. Rogue seemed to have come undone somehow. Taking the shapeshifter's abilities, she proceeded to trash the concert hall, changing from Sabertooth to Juggernaut. Remy tried to get down to the main floor as quickly as he could, but the panicked crowd was making it impossible and by the time he got down there Rogue had made her escape from the building with the X-Men chasing after her.

Those idiots don't know it's her! Merde, they're attacking mon fille!

Grabbing his motorcycle, he raced off in the direction they had gone in. Parking at a discreet distance, he saw them surrounding a warehouse; Rogue up in the sky and kicking their collective asses with what looked like every power she had ever absorbed. For a moment he stood in awe, finally comprehending the sheer power his chere had. Merde, she been goin' easy on me.

Rogue's gaze turned his way and her eyes flickered in recognition for a minute, but the moment was lost as Wolverine tackled her, knocking her out of the sky. REMY! He could hear her voice resound in his brain, his empathic skill shook by the amount of pain she was in, so strong it broke his shields and he felt it without trying. He saw Xavier give him a look before rolling over to help Rogue as she lay shuddering on the ground. No one else seemed to notice his presence though. Xavier seemed to be going through Rogue's mind to save her and, unable to do anything now, Remy stood helplessly as Rogue shifted into each person she had ever touched, purging them from her mind, the last one being himself. Seeming to be completely emptied now, she collapsed into Wolverine's arms and lay there like a broken doll.

Not wanting to get caught hanging around by his enemies, Remy hid on the other side of the building and raised his shields, waiting until they were gone. His heart aching, he wanted to follow them, make sure she was okay, but he knew it was useless. What was he supposed to do, walk up to the front door? He'd figure something out, but right now he needed to get out of there before the authorities arrived.

This incident cleared something up for him though. He couldn't stay on the outskirts of Rogue's life anymore. He couldn't stand on the sidelines and watch the girl he loved get hurt, not able to do anything about it. For he did, he loved his little goth girl. She had wormed her way into his heart and there was no refilling the space she occupied. Whatever it took, he had to find a way to be a legitimate part of her life. Now he just had to figure out how to do that and stay in one piece.

O-o-o-o-O

Sorry, I don't quite remember what the name of the band from “Self Possessed” was; this was the only part I could remember.