X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ Origins ❯ Chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

Words between / / are thoughts or mental speak
Words between * * are flashbacks
Words between ~ ~ are lyrics to any songs that may be used in the fic

CH 20

“Alright people, listen up.” Scott stood in front of the team with a clipboard, casually gazing over all members to make sure he had their attention. “The purpose of this session is two-fold. First and foremost we want to build trust between our fliers and the ground-bounders. Secondly, we want to utilize Rogue’s abilities to draw on the powers of her team mates. Should one of us become incapacitated in the field, she can utilize our power to help the team. In essence, she will be our trump card in the field. Rogue..” he turned to face the southerner directly “..the professor wants you to practice some control. You’ve already been briefed?” At her nod of affirmation, he continued. “Good. You will drain Storm’s power, concentrating on blocking out the memories as much as possible. Your goal is to obtain only her mutant abilities, without harm to her, and maintain those abilities as long as possible.”

Storm looked apprehensive and Scott’s eagle-eyes didn’t miss it. “Storm, you’re still OK with this exercise? If it makes you uncomfortable we can try something else.”

Ororo straightened to her full height, lifting her chin. “That will not be necessary Cyclops. I agreed, and I will comply.”

Scott nodded solemnly, recognizing the sacrifice she was making for the good of the team and to help a team mate learn control. Turning back to the rest of the group, he waved one hand in Remy’s direction. “Remy will be practicing with us this time. He needs to learn how to work with us, and we need to learn how to integrate his powers. From now on, in the field, you will address him by his codename Gambit.” The clipboard came to rest against Scott’s thigh as he gave everyone one last glance. “If there are no questions, we’ll begin. Jean? Hank?”

Walking over towards the women, Hank adjusted his glasses. “Now my dears, do not be afraid. I will be here to prevent any damage.” He smiled to reassure the southerner.

“Rogue, I want you to concentrate. Remember what the Professor and I taught you. Focus only on Storm’s mutant powers. Actively block her life force and memories.” Jean came to stand perpendicular to the two women as they faced each other. Placing one hand to her temple, and the other to her swollen abdomen, she closed her eyes. “Begin.”

Rogue took a deep shaky breath and looked fearfully in Storm’s eyes. Ororo smiled warmly and brought one hand up to gently sweep back a lock of Rogue’s hair. “Do not worry child. I trust you.”

As if that was all the encouragement Rogue needed, she nodded and brought her own naked hand up to cup Ororo’s face. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to drain only the mutant powers. It was part of the learning process in order to ultimately control her powers and she was determined to do her best, not only so she wouldn’t hurt her friend, but also because it was only through control that she would eventually be able to fulfill a dream of hers; to touch another skin to skin. The pull started almost immediately. Sweat broke out on her brow as she concentrated more and more, gritting her teeth as she felt it begin to spiral out of control. Jean unconsciously rubbed her belly in time with the fingers rubbing her temple. Brows furrowed, she reached out telepathically to boost Rogue’s efforts, lending strength to the southerner. For a few minutes, they stood connected by flesh and powers until Ororo began to sway, a moan escaping her throat. It was almost too much for her and it took every ounce of Rogue’s resolve to hold steady. Finally, the memories started to come and despite the fact that Jean had not ordered an end to the coupling, Rogue jerked her hand away with a gasp. Ororo’s knees gave, but Hank was there instantly to hold her up, preventing her from collapsing to the floor. She was slightly dazed but not completely unconscious. 

Jean also staggered backwards, her size beginning to thwart her natural grace and balance. “That…that was well done Rogue.” She stuttered, needing a moment to reorganize her thoughts after such an expenditure of power. 

Rogue didn’t hear her, concerned eyes focused solely on the weather goddess. “Is she gonna be alright Hank?”

Hank took a moment to check her pulse before sweeping his weakened team mate into his arms. “She will be fine after she rests a bit in the observation room. We will take our leave now.” With that, he turned and carried Ororo from the room.

A slender hand squeezed Rogue’s shoulder. “And you? How much of the memories were you able to block?”

Rogue took a moment to process what had been absorbed before turning and smiling at the telepath. “A pretty good bit. I only got some of her memories from the last few days, and they’re kinda fuzzy. Mostly ‘bout the garden and stuff.” Taking another moment to feel the new powers flowing within, Rogue called upon the winds and gently, if not a little clumsily, lifted into the air. “Oh this is cool, y’all. Wish I could fly all the time!”

“Ok, great. Alright everyone, this is how it will work” Scott spoke up from across the room. “Those of you that can take to the air – Iceman, Angel, Rogue – it’ll be your responsibility to assist those that can’t, mainly Gambit, Jubilee, and Psylocke. Wolverine, Jean and I will be in the control room with Hank and Storm. Get ready.” With that, the three senior X-men also left the room and proceeded to the control booth. Once they reached the tower, Scott sat behind a computer console and pushed a few buttons to bring the program to life. Through the microphone, Scott said “Alright, cityscape scenario, standard level two attack drones. Engage.” 

Around the remaining team, the room began to shift and morph into a replica of a city with tall skyscrapers and neighborhoods in varying degrees of prosperity. The area immediately surrounding them looked like something out of a war zone, the ancient brick and concrete buildings collapsed in spots through age and neglect. Clumps of algae and mold clung to the sides of wooden doors and brick walls in alleyways, thriving in damp spots and shadowed corners; roaches and rats skittered to and fro among garbage laden sidewalks. For a moment, Remy’s head was dizzy. He wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to the holographic room with the life-like scenery. As he had been warned early on, it was only the safety protocols built into the system that kept anyone from being permanently damaged by what they faced in this room; safety protocols that could be turned off as Logan had pointed out. Darkened alleys and abandoned buildings with rotted out floors posed just as much danger as the drones they would be facing. 

“Ready sugah?” Remy started as Rogue purred in his ear. Again he had let his guard down as he marveled at the technology behind the Danger Room. 

“Whenever you are chere.” He gave her a wink over his shoulder before moving into position and drawing a few cards from his pocket. 

Lasers beamed from a side alley, narrowly missing the winged mutant as Angel took to the sky, Rogue following after as she called the winds to her. The drones came from all sides, firing multiple projectiles at the scattering X-men. Jubilee lowered her shades and sent a burst of fireworks at two of the enemy baring down on her. She popped a bubble of gum and grinned as the unit sputtered and blew apart. She had no time to congratulate herself however as another drone shot her from behind. With an “oomphf” she flew into the nearest wall, scrapping her knees as she landed on the asphalt. 

“PETIT!” Remy shouted and sent a barrage of charged cards towards the machine as it prepared to fire on the teenager again. It exploded into a multitude of pieces and Gambit rushed to her side to help her up. “You alright dere, fille?”

Coughing, she waved him off. “Yeh, it just caught me by sur….DUCK!” Remy fell to a crouch as she shot from both her hands over his head to destroy the Bot behind him. They looked at each for a moment, adrenaline beginning to surge, and grinned maniacally before separating to leap back into the fray.

From above, Bobby had seen the girl he adored take one in the back. But before he could sweep in and save her as he hoped, possibly earning himself much desired admiration, the Cajun had stolen his thunder. He scowled in the direction of the new team mate, ignoring the swirl of flying machinery around him. He followed them both with his eyes, an ice bridge arching in a mish mash of pattern as he struggled to keep them both in his sights. He didn’t like that she was constantly looking after the Cajun, nor did he like the Cajun’s eyes on Jubilee. “I’ll show him.” He muttered as he angled the frozen bridge towards the ground. 

“Bobby what’re ya doing?” Rogue yelled as she dodged another laser beam. “Get yor tail back up here and help us out.”

Ignoring his fellow flier, Bobby swept in to take out several ground units around Jubilee and Gambit, earning himself glares from both as he effectively cut them off. He wasn’t following the rules of the simulation; he was supposed to take care of the enemy above. They were so busy scratching their heads over the deviation as Bobby stayed on the ground freezing the drones in all direction, that they missed several overhead units that rained down a barrage of ‘daisy-cutters’ on the two unsuspecting X-men. Psylocke and Angel were concentrating on their area and had not noticed, but Rogue saw. Yelling for all she was worth, Rogue managed to get Bobby’s attention just as the building surrounding Gambit and Jubilee began to collapse. Jubilee screamed and covered her head, while Gambit flung himself on top of her.

“HALT” Scott commanded, just as the first section of building caved in and was mere inches from crushing them. The scenery disappeared and they were once again in an empty room. “Drake, what the hell are you doing?” The team leader’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “You just got your team mates killed!”

Jubilee glowered and turned her back on him. “Hhmmph…idiot. We could have handled things.” Gambit wisely chose to remain silent. 

“Didn’t look that way from where I was.” Bobby muttered.

“Just what do you think you were trying to accomplish anyway?” Scott demanded.

“Yeh what was that all about? You really left me in a lurch up there.” Rogue chimed in.

Feeling rather defensive and embarrassed, Bobby flailed his arm in Jubilee’s direction. “They were getting creamed! If *somebody* hadn’t been so busy looking at the new guy’s ass, maybe they wouldn’t have needed the help.” 

Gambit’s brow rose, puzzled at that statement. He was fairly sure it was the ice mutant’s ass that the firecracker constantly stared at and lusted over.

“What the hell?” Jubilee huffed over her shoulder. “I wasn’t staring at no one’s ass. I know how to do my job, Bobby.” She finished, the emphasis on his name filled with sarcasm.

“Well, you didn’t look like you were doing a very good one. You were too busy looking at the view, and not paying attention to the sim.” He countered.

“Oh and I suppose you decided to swoop in and be the ice prince in shining armor? Puleeze, gimme a break.”

“I was TRYING to save your LIFE. Be a little grateful, why don’t cha.” Bobby whined.

Almost Gambit smirked. But the jealousy and tension, along with the anger and frustration were beginning to play a number on his shields. 

Jubilee rounded on Bobby “Listen here, freezer-burn. Why’re you all up in my business? Just back off already before I dance pyrotechnics off YOUR ass.”

“ENOUGH” Scott’s voice barked through the speakers. “Drake back off and quit showing off. We won’t have time for this kind of petty behavior in the field. If this had been an actual battle, all three of you would be dead.” Even through the icy coating, it was easy to see the blush the crept up on Bobby’s cheeks.

“And Jubilee..” her head snapped up to the control booth when she heard her name “..pay attention to the battle as well as your team mates.” She opened her mouth, prepared to shower a scathing retort to her team leader, then closed it again as she felt a warm hand squeeze her shoulder. 

“Leave it chere. You wanna look at Gambit’s ass, you go right ahead. Just don’ let it get you killed, neh?” Gambit whispered in her ear, then winked as she blushed prettily. 

The team separated, preparing to reinitiate the battle setting. The cityscape reappeared and the fight was on again. Everyone kept to their assigned areas, fielding laser beams and dispatching drones left and right. Fatigue began to set in as they moved into the final phases of the training session and Gambit felt his hold on his powers start to weaken. Rogue too was beginning to feel the strain, Storm’s powers slowly fading away. Scott had explained previously that the trust portion of the exercise entailed the air lift rescue scenario. One by one the flyers rotated, swooping or sliding down and scooping up their team mates, carrying them to safer ground. Gambit was the last to be ‘rescued’ and Bobby grudgingly hauled him several city blocks over, steadfastly ignoring the other man as he held onto his hips. After depositing him, it was Warren’s turn. With a quick glance and smirk in Rogue’s direction, the winged mutant dove in to grasp the upraised hands of the other mutant. Rather than flying horizontally through the landscape, he shot straight up. “Ready to fly Cajun?”

“Hehn? What you..” was all Gambit managed to get out before he felt himself swinging. Warren released his grip on the second swing, tossing the younger mutant through the air. Remy gasped, but quickly caught himself as he saw a smiling Rogue heading towards him. 

Tucking in his legs and flipping into a roll, he timed his showboating to extend two hands out to her just as she flew above. “Fancy meeting you here sugah.” She purred. He started to smile at her, expecting to be lowered to the ground until he caught the glint in her eyes as she stared at the billionaire above her. The winds responded to her as they zigzagged in a nauseating pattern. “This is where you get off swamp rat.” She released her hold, not having the strength to swing him outwards. Remy gasped again and saw the windows of the building to his right whiz by at an alarming rate as he plummeted towards the ground. It was at the third floor of the blurred building that he was pummeled from behind by the winged mutant; Remy’s breath gushing out at the impact. 

“Put me down!” Remy demanded, the panic beginning to build as they again shot through the maze of concrete towers in a stomach rolling path. 

Warren laughed, genuinely enjoying his game. “Now where’s the fun in that newbie? Gotta initiate you into the group somehow, right?” With that, he flipped the man sideways towards the nearest structure.

Impact imminent, Remy closed his eyes feeling the tenuous control over his powers slipping away rapidly. Mere feet from collision, gale force winds caught him up, pounding against him and ripping him into a new direction. Rogue was there again. She was about to make another of her dry-witted comments when she heard his rapid breathing, even above the roar of the winds. Her smile faded as she noted the terrified look on his face. His skin was pale, as if all the blood had been drained away, and he looked ill. “Toss him back Rogue.” She heard the winged mutant call after her, but she was beginning to think this game was a mistake.

In the control booth, Logan’s anger rose as he watched the display. “What the HELL are they doing?” he barked. Scott was calling over the speakers to end the session. Bobby had long since touched ground and stood there with the others as they watched the scene play out. 

Remy could feel them all. The strength of emotions assaulting him varied from amusement to concern, anger to lust. The tingle in his fingers was alarming, and his vision blurred as the flow of energy through and around him increased, humming hypnotically, capturing his attention; he could see the aura of energy around every object in his line of sight. 

Rogue realized that something was very wrong, and her growing concern for her new team member caused her to neglect her own body’s attempts to warn her. “Warren, I think we should stop now. This ain’t what I thought it would be. This…this was a mistake. I think we…” Without warning she suddenly lost her train of thought as Storm’s powers faded completely and Remy slipped from her grasp. “REMY!” she screamed as her own body became dead weight in the air. Bobby surged up to catch the falling southerner, as he noted the winged mutant heading for the Cajun. 

“I got him.” Warren grinned, slamming into the falling body and shooting straight up into the sky. There was no ceiling in this simulation and a drop from this distance would be very real; very deadly. Remy was overwhelmed, panicking and nearly hyperventilating as the emotions battered him from all sides. Laughing hysterically, Warren held Remy under the arms, his face turned skyward. “Think you could land on your feet from here, mon petit garcon?” 

The ground below seemed miles away, and with one last desperate effort, Remy placed his hands on both sides of Warren’s face, using his strength to force the winged mutant to look at him. Red orbs flashed brilliantly at ice blue as Remy’s charm lashed out, oozing over the other man like deep, slick oil. “You don’ wanna do dis, mon ami.” The words flowed like honey, the sounds of a rich timbre voice lulling the winged man into a hypnotic trance.

Warren was no longer laughing, lost in those exotic eyes as the siren’s song played him like a Stradivarius. “I don’t want to do this.” He heard himself repeat.

Those fingerless gloved hands caressed the smooth skin of the blonde, gaze never wavering. “You wanna put Remy down now, gently.” Again, the red orbs flashed, reflecting like a danger sign in Warren’s eyes.

“I want to put you down now, gently.” Warren responded, easing to a stop from his upward climb. Absently nodding, his wings flapped wildly for a moment before he turned without thought back the way they had come. Silently Warren descended, his grip a few feet from the ground releasing Remy who, in a whirl of relief and panic, collapsed to one knee panting hard. Warren wavered, bringing one hand up to rub his temples as he closed his eyes, as if coming out of a daze. The team members gathered around, a circle forming unwittingly around the Cajun and suddenly it was too much. Transported to another place and time, the edges of his vision darkened at a scene from his past. They were closing in on him, hands reaching, grabbing, and pawing. Lust and hate. Sinister enthusiasm muted vague concern. Something inside of Remy shattered and he surged up to the surprise of the others, rearing his fist back and bringing it full force against the jaw of the blonde mutant. There was an audible pop as Warren’s head snapped sideways under the incredible force and he found himself on his back staring up in shock as the Cajun straddled him. He only had time to register the wild, panicked eyes. The pupils so widely dilated that the red iris appeared as a thin ring floating on a sea of black. It made Warren think of some kind of exotic solar eclipse of a red dwarf star; the pitch-black disc of a moon blocking out all but its dazzlingly-bright flaming corona.. 

Then from nowhere, Warren’s spinning mind noted a weapon; some type of staff lengthening above him. The Cajun’s arms stretched high overhead, his face contorted into pure rage and pain. It seemed to all happen in slow motion as the glowing staff came down, pointing towards his heart as if he had a bulls-eye painted on his chest. His wings, trapped beneath Remy’s feet, flapped and contorted as he tried desperately to wriggle free. Dully he wondered if the morticians would be able to repair the cave-in of his chest prior to his funeral showing. Vain until the end. 

But the piercing never came. A solid wall of muscle barreled into the boy from the side, sending both bodies sliding across the floor some distance from the others. The breath was knocked out of Remy as he stared up into golden eyes. Logan snarled; the two outer blades of one hand extended as he brought down his fist to trap the Cajun, the other hand knocking the staff away. The sharp edges of the blades sliced the skin on either side of Remy’s neck as thin as a paper cut. Blood oozed slowly from the fresh openings but neither man noticed. Both were panting heavy. The emotions of the others seemed somehow muted now as the feral laid his full weight on top of Remy. It was like there were no emotions coming from the older mutant, and he was somehow shielding Remy from the others. The struggle for breath was nothing as control slowly returned to the Cajun. The older man was still above him snarling as Remy suddenly realized why he could barely feel the man’s emotions. Most of what he sensed was wild, base-level and palpable. Underneath it all was the vaguest sense of concern, as if that emotion were buried deep within. With a clarity born of experience, Remy understood that Logan’s feral nature was in control. Once his breath evened out, Remy closed his eyes to avoid any hint of challenge and cautiously raised his chin, baring his throat to the older man. 

It was a universal sign that Logan’s feral soul understood. The golden tinge of his eyes faded to blue as his own breath slowed. Logan stared at the boy under him for a few minutes, frowning in surprise as he unconsciously accepted the body language on display. Most wouldn’t understand, wouldn’t be aware of this open show of natural surrender. There were few, least of all any members of the team, that would identify what Logan’s feral nature needed in order to rein it in. It brooked on instinct, spoke of intimate knowledge. If there were any doubts before that the boy had experience with ferals, they were all washed away in this one moment.

He retracted his blades, slicing even deeper into that smooth skin, and hissed as he violently shoved away from the Cajun, retreating past the questioning, concerned gazes of the others like rolling thunder to storm from the room. Hurt poured off of the man in waves and Remy opened his eyes to stare blindly at the ceiling, a soft sigh of guilt escaping his throat. There was no question; somehow he needed to fix this.

********

on to part 21

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