X-men Evolution Fan Fiction ❯ Starting Today ❯ Chapter 13

AN: And now for something slightly different. I don't know who “La Vie En Rose” belongs to, but it sure isn't me.

O-o-o-o-O

Jean dreamed of fire.

Not matches, or candles, or bonfires even, but something that could only be considered stellar in scale. Her universe burned. Heat so intense that nothing could remain within its scope.

Nothing but her.

Yet she did not find this frightening. Worlds fell to ash within her sight, anything living succumbed to the beautiful flame, but she survived. The fire was part of her, the heat running through her veins like nothing she had ever felt before; intoxication on a divine scale. Nothing could stand before her glory and survive. She was the heat, she was the flame, she was the fire and the resurrection, she was...she was...

But she always woke up before that name came to her, that true name that defined everything she was. Everything she had yet to be. And she always felt cold upon waking, missing that fire that hadn't really been there.

It started shortly after her power surge. Her telekinesis had improved, her telepathy stronger, and she discovered that with some practice, her mental shields grew to a point where she could even keep out the Professor. At one point she would never have dreamed of blocking him; he was her mentor and she loved him like a father. But once the dreams started, she felt that there were just some things that needed to be kept private. He would never understand about the fire, would want to delve deeper and find some way to prevent it. She knew it was coming; these were not just dreams, they were a message, a foretelling of her destiny. She was of two minds on this; on one hand she knew she should tell the Professor, that something this powerful was dangerous and he needed to be informed. On the other hand, part of her wanted the fire, craved it. She was so cold, she needed that heat in her veins; it warmed her more than anything ever had, more than friends, more than family, more than love. This part of her felt a tiny bit of shame for wanting something that had so much potential for evil; after all, what good can come from a destroyer of worlds? And for this reason she couldn't tell Professor Xavier. She was one of his most prized pupils; he would be disappointed in her and she didn't think she could take that. Also she knew that there was no way to prevent the fire's coming, if he tried to take that from her, as he most surely would if he knew, than he would only get hurt.

So she dreamed her dreams, and worked on her strength for the time when she would never be cold again. Tonight was one such night. She practiced slipping in and out of the minds of the other students without being noticed. For the most part, it was easy for her to do and the thoughts that went through the minds of her friends were simple and pleasant. Kurt dreamed of Kitty; Jean wondered if he knew that Kitty dreamed of him too. Evan dreamed alternately of skateboarding and beating Pietro to a pulp; Scott dreamed of her. She often found herself lingering on Amara's dreams; the princess also dreamed of fire, and Jean could find herself relating more to her and the Acolyte Pyro. Did he dream of fire as well? Somehow she was sure he did.

Wolverine's dreams were painful; after one night of reliving his experiences of Weapon X through his nightmares she decided not to go through his mind again. Ororo's were elemental in nature; but as she tended to favor wind and water over fire Jean found them a little too cold for her liking.

Moving on, Jean touched upon the one mind she usually had trouble reaching; the psyches in Rogue's head made her very hard to read and since gaining control over her borrowed powers (something no one else seems to have picked up on yet) she was now able to make mental shields matching Jean's own. Normally Jean when able was to get through at all she would find the girl experiencing the dreams and memories of those she had absorbed, but tonight she was awake. Awake and...

...singing?

Yes, for some unknown reason the Ice Queen was singing in the shower. Wait, what was she doing taking a shower so late? Curious, Jean prodded a bit further, careful not to make her presence known in Rogue's mind. The girl was very sensitive to telepaths. Jean saw images of Rogue kissing an incredibly handsome young man through a scarf, dancing with that same man in a club, talking with him in a park, dancing with him again at Mardi Gras, and finally the pair standing in awe of each other as the man handed her a charged card.

Charged card?

Jean realized who the young man was now; he was Gambit, Magneto's Acolyte. The one Rogue had complained about fighting back at the Sentinel fight. Apparently she's forgiven him for that. Jean thought to herself. Not that I blame her, he's very good looking. What on earth was Rogue doing seeing an Acolyte though?

What should I do? Rogue's dating the enemy. It's not like when Kitty was seeing Lance; Avalanche is small potatoes compared to a mutant like Gambit.

Jean realized there was little she could do though. Rogue had done an admirable job covering her tracks so far, and the only way Jean could reveal Rogue's secret was if she revealed her own secret about what she had been doing with her powers. Rogue would be pissed, and that girl was not someone you wanted as an enemy. Not only that, but the Professor would be disappointed in her for going into other people's minds uninvited and it would eventually lead him into the subject of Jean's dreams and there was no way she could let him know about that. So she was stuck for now. She couldn't tell anyone what she knew, but she could keep an eye out for Rogue. She trusted Rogue's judgment, but Gambit was still an agent of Magneto and there was no telling what could happen.

Jean smirked to herself as she settled down to sleep.

Well I guess she's over Scott now.

O-o-o-o-O

Remy was on fire. Lying on his bed, the Acolyte base quiet around him in the dead of night, memories of his night with Rogue refused to leave him. It had taken all his willpower not to take her home with him and reduce her to ashes with his desire. Now he lay with an erection in his gloved hand that throbbed to the point of pain. His touch became hers as he strove to drive her out of his mind and ease his suffering. He could still taste her through the scarf, feel her body against his; hear the noise she made when he stopped kissing her. “Si doux”, he whispered, “Si beau” (so soft, so beautiful)

Finally driving himself over the edge, a strangled noise escaped his throat as he closed his eyes and saw her face. At last he could sleep.

The next morning the other Acolytes were greeted with the not-so-unusual sound of Remy singing in the shower. It was a good thing none of the others spoke French though; otherwise they would seriously their Cajun cohort's state of mind.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
il me parle tout bras
je vois la vie en rose
il me dit des mots d'amour
et ca m'fait quelque chose
il est entre dans mon Coeur
une part de bonheur
dont je connais la cause
c'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui, dans la vie
il me l'a dit, l'a jure, pour la vie
et des que je l'apercois
alors je sens dans moi
mon Coeur qui bat

Des nuits d'amour a plus finir
Un ground bonheur qui prend sa place
Les ennuis, les chagrins s'effacent
Heureux, heureux a en mourir

(Hold me close and hold me fast
the magic spell you cast
this is la vie en rose
when you kiss me, heaven sighs
and though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak
Angels sing from above
Every day words
Seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose

I thought that love was just a word
They sang about in songs I heard
It took your kisses to reveal
That I was wrong, and love is real)

As Remy left the bathroom, feeling clean and happy with the world, he met up with Magneto in the hall, who had a slightly bemused, slightly disgusted look on his face.

“If you're done serenading us Gambit, perhaps you could get ready for work. We're testing Charles' students today, and I need a thief, not a lounge singer. Then again, your voice might help out in battle...” The last sentence was muttered as Mags moved down the hall past him.

Who knew the Master of Magnetism had a sense of humor?

O-o-o-o-O

Rogue leaned her head back against the seat of the X-van. Buckethead had decided to start the day off by attacking an anti-mutant demonstration in town. He certainly knew how to ruin a weekend. She closed her eyes as she listened to her teammates around her talking about kicking Acolyte ass. She thought about one Acolyte's ass in particular she'd probably end up having to kick. A shame too, it's such a cute ass... She thought to herself.

She wasn't looking forward to having to meet Remy in battle, but they were both practical people and she was sure he wouldn't take it personally. Besides, even though he had since apologized for it, there was still the matter of that charged card to pay him back for. Not TOO badly though.

The scene was a mess. Mags had brought the Brotherhood along for the ride and Avalanche was taunting Cyclops as he dodged the visored mutant's optic rays; Scott's aim thrown off by the earthquakes Lance kept sending his way. Amara had made the mistake of facing Pyro in her Magma form, and he was having fun making her belly dance, the look on her face anything but seductive as she tried to free herself from his control. Wolverine and Sabertooth had their usual grudge match going on, and Rogue would have been happy to watch Sabby get his hairy ass handed back to him if she weren't looking out for a certain thief who seemed to be missing from the action. A small explosion a few feet away from her brought her back to her senses though, and she saw Gambit leaning against a building to her right.

“You're getting sloppy Chere; didn't you get enough sleep last night?” He smirked as he approached her, staff in hand.

Rogue backed into a defensive stance and whispered so that no one else could hear, “I don't want to fight you Remy, but I will if I have to.”

“That's good; never let your guard down.” He moved forward quickly and swept her off her feet with his staff, pinning her to the ground with his hands. His voice lowered. “I'd rather not fight you either, petite, but I also don't want you fighting anyone else. This way I keep you safe. Make it look good; knock me out if it looks like things are winding up. If you must fight someone else, choose Piotr. There's a deck of cards in each pocket of my coat.”

“That's good to know Swamp Rat, now get off of me.” She got her feet up under him and pushed him off, then jumped back up ready to fight. It was almost a stalemate as they fought each other. Since she trained to avoid using her mutation as little as possible, her hand to hand skills were excellent and she had little trouble keeping up with agile Cajun. Anyone seeing them fight would have a hard time believing they had been in each others arms the night before. The insults ran hot and heavy as they dodged, punched and tackled; neither sparing the other, ranging from Rogue's questionable taste in fashion to Remy's skills in bed and in speaking English.

Eventually though, things started winding down. Logan had managed to knock out Sabertooth and Bobby freed Amara by trapping Pyro in a cube of ice up to his neck. Rogue took a quick look around and decided it was time to end it. Managing to pin Remy down to the ground, she removed a glove and whispered, “Okay Swamp Rat, anything you don't want me knowing right now, block it quick.” With that she reached down and touched his face with her bare hand, Remy surprising her by not flinching.

“Good night Chere”, he whispered before he passed out.

Rogue climbed back into the van with the others, then started laughing all of a sudden, a bemused look on her face. Jean gave her an inquiring look.

“What's got you so amused, Rogue?”

“Nothing. I just got an image from when I knocked out Gambit. I didn't know Acolytes sang in the shower.”

O-o-o-o-O