Street Livin’ - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Courtney
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 14

As expected, wake up calls occurred at 7:00. Remy was figuring on a tap on the door, but what everyone at the institute experienced simultaneously was a psychic nudge.

“Betsy!” Jubilee hollered from next door, even though only the neighboring rooms heard her. Remy had to admit that it was a tad bit more effective than a physical call. Not one to have ever been ordered around by anyone ever, he would have rolled over and ignored a simple knock on the door. This way did cause a tiny headache though.

He sat up and saw Rogue still slumbering. He poked at her covered shoulder. “Time t’ wake up.”

“Hmm?”

“Y’ didn’ feel Betsy wake ev’ryone up?”

She shook her head and yawned. “Might have somethin’ ta do with mah castle,” she said proudly.

“Pro’bly. Gon’ have t’ get me one o’ dose. Her goin’ in t’ my head gave me a headache.”

“Ah’m sure she didn’t mean ta give ya one.”

He shrugged. “It’ll go ‘way. C’mon, let’s see what dis place has for breakfast.”

She grinned and hopped off the bed. “Ah could go for a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with lots of syrup an’ butter. Ooh! An’ bacon, too!”

Remy took a deep breath. “I c’n smell dat bacon all de way up here.”

“Ah wonder who’s cookin’… smells like they’re doin’ a great job.”

“Dey pro’bly order de stuff in. Too many kids f’r jus’ one person doin’ de job.”

“Hmm, raht. Didn’t think of that.”

The two made their way to the expansive dining room where many of the students had already helped themselves to the buffet of food. Rogue took no time in discovering the pancakes and that there were, in fact, chocolate chip ones.

Remy watched her fill her plate up and hope she could fit it all in that tiny body of hers. She’ll bulk up in no time… speakin’ a’ bulkin’ up… His eyes floated over the large assortment of food and couldn’t decide where to start. His devil eyes would focus on one thing and in turn his stomach would growl in anticipation. His nose wasn’t helping either. The smell of Danishes and then bacon and then fresh fruit and then cinnamon buns - - he couldn’t choose! He decided to just pick up anything his hand grazed over.

“Gumbo,” a low voice broke him out of his revelry of senses. He turned and was face to face with Logan.

Remy kept his gulp quiet, but he had a feeling Logan heard it “Somet’in’ y’ wanted, homme?”

Logan glared with cool blue-gray eyes, but didn’t say a word. He snorted though. Remy suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Is dis ‘bout last night?”

“I dunno. Is it?”

“I know y’ saw me on de roof.”

“An’ heard Rogue,” he added. Not once did his eyes leave Remy’s. The young Cajun was so tempted to drop his plate and run, but something told him that letting Logan not scare him would piss the older man off more.

“Y’ point?”

“Ya should know the rules by now, especially goin’ downstairs past 10.”

“We weren’ downstairs, dough.” He inwardly grinned, but kept his face as innocent as he could manage.

Logan was not impressed. “You know what I mean.” He unsheathed the claws in his left hand and stabbed the sausage on Remy’s plate.

“If y’ wanted some y’ could’ve asked.”

Logan actually cracked a smile. He pulled his claws from the greasy meat. “Somethin’ tells me that you an’ me are gonna get along just fine.”

“Was pokin’ my sausage up necessary in dat conclusion?”

“It was. Here,” Logan took the plate from him. “I’ll eat this one, just get yerself another.”

Remy nodded and grabbed an empty plate. After loading it up with his fill of sausage again, he asked “Why y’ bein’ nice now?” He followed behind Logan as they picked up their various things to eat.

“I don’t like followin’ the rules here either. Everyone has this impression that Chuck’ll kick whoever out that doesn’t follow the rules. He comes off as stern, but he’s just don’ his job as father of all these kids.”

“So… jus’ because I’m some punk kid who reminds y’self of a younger you, y’ gon’ take it easy on me?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Gumbo. Yer gonna learn like everyone else why I’m the Wolverine around here.”

“De Wolverine?” He bit back a laugh. “So y’ve got some messed up nickname. Y’ don’ scare me in de least.”

Logan moved his face closer to Remy’s, close enough that Remy could feel Logan snorting air onto his nose. “You spent a few years on the streets so you think you’ve seen it all? You’ve got yer whole life ahead of ya. Just wait till ya see what the rest of the world is like.” Remy took a step back. After that comment, he was speechless. No way could he think of some cocky comeback to something that extreme. The guy had a point.

Meanwhile, Rogue had taken a hefty amount of food and found a seat by the window. She was quietly munching on some bacon when she was approached by Jean. “Can I sit here?” She asked, motioning to the empty spot next to the younger girl.

Rogue was actually saving the seats on either side of her for Kurt and Remy, but she couldn’t find it in herself to say no to the very pregnant woman. She scooted over and said: “Be mah guest.”

“Thank you. If I had stood for another minute I think my knees would’ve buckled.” She laughed in a way that unsettled Rogue. It took her a second for her to realize that it was the same laugh as her mother’s, or something very close.

“You’re not mah momma, are ya?” Rogue asked suddenly. Jean’s jade green eyes twinkled at the question. “Ah mean, she can act like other people. You sounded like her foh a minute there.”

“Oh… I see. I’m not sure what to feel by that…”

“How come?”

“I either sound like the woman you despise or I have a motherly laugh.” She smiled in order to overlook her first comment. She knew the second she said it that it was stupid. She’d seen in the girl’s head of course. “I’ve been practicing everything,” she added to further push away the first comment. “Even my laugh.”

“Ya got it pretty good, then.” She continued eating after that. Jean bit her lip. Good one, Red. You’ve now succeeded in alienating the girl who trusts no one except her brother and some boy who is as much of an emotional wreck as her. She took a bite of her bagel.

“Are you excited?”

Jean wasn’t expecting Rogue to talk again. “Excited?” She repeated for clarification.

“About the baby?”

“Oh, yes. Of course!”

“What do ya want it ta be?” Rogue bit into her slice of cantaloupe. She giggled as the juice ran out of the corner of her mouth.

“I’m hoping for a girl.”

Rogue smiled. “What would ya name her?”

“Annabelle. Nathan if it’s a boy.”

“Ah like those names.”

“They’re nothing compared to ‘Rogue’.”

“Ah guess.”

“You don’t like your birth name anymore?”

“What makes you think that Rogue isn’t mah real name?”

Jean was quiet for a moment before shrugging slightly. “It’s just unusual.”

Rogue sighed. She didn’t like the discomfort she was experiencing with Jean. “It’s not mah real name, but mah real name isn’t me. Not anymore, anyway.”

“I can understand that,” Jean responded simply. She had expected Rogue not to disclose her real name. They ate in silence a tiny bit more.

“How long have you an’ Scott been married?”

Jean thought about it for a moment. She felt strange discussing these sort of things with a person she barely knew, let alone an almost eleven-year-old girl (Kitty had told her about the conversation in the gift shop), but then if she was going to get her to open up, she might as well divulge a few things that she wouldn’t mind telling.

She laughed again and it was sweet to Rogue’s ears. Her nose twitched as she fought back tears; no matter what she had told Remy the day before, she would miss her mother - - the woman she was when Victor wasn’t around.

“It was one of those things that starts out when you’re really young. I came here when I was fifteen. Scott was seventeen.”

“That’s not that young. That’s almost bein’ a grownup.”

Jean smiled again. “When it was that long ago it seems like it.” She sighed happily about reminiscing. “We were the best of friends. Nothing could separate us. I guess after awhile I realized was in love with him.” She continued to go on, Rogue only half-listening. Her eyes had drifted over to Remy, who was talking to Logan. Me an’ him are jus’ like Jean an’ Scott. Am Ah gonna like him – like that – somewhere along the line?

“-And we were married here seven months ago.” Jean finished. Her face suddenly lit up. “Rogue! The baby’s kicking!”

Rogue blinked out of her thoughts. “What?”

She grabbed Rogue’s gloved hand gently and placed it on her rounded stomach. Instantly Rogue felt the tiny pushes from underneath. “Ah never felt this befoh.”

“Are you the youngest in your family?”

Rogue nodded, keeping her hand over the still moving baby. “Just me an’ Kurt.”

“I got to feel my little sister like this when my mother was pregnant with her. It’s funny that I’m on the receiving end of it all now.” She laughed lightly again and Rogue slid her hand off the woman’s stomach and into her lap.

“How old were ya when yoah sister was born?”

“Four or five.”

“You can remember that far back?”

“With some things. The happier stuff, I guess.”

“That’s cool.” Ah remember lotsa stuff; none of it’s too happy, though. She suddenly felt very jealous of Jean, which was strange because of the large age gap. But it seemed like Jean had had it all and now she was forming her own perfect little family.

“Are you okay?”

Rogue looked up at her sincerely. “Ah’m fine, just thinkin’.” Jean could feel her closing up into her self-built shell, but she wasn’t about to ask Rogue what she was thinking about.

Just then, Kurt stepped up to them, followed closely by Kitty and Bobby. “Hey, Sis,” he greeted Rogue. He figured the term ‘sis’ was better than slipping her real name. “We were going to all sit on the veranda out back to eat. Do you want to come along?”

She nodded, trying not to act too eager. She stood up and picked up her plate. “It was nice talkin’ ta ya, Jean,” she said, mustering up a sweet smile. Talking to Jean had made her think about everything. She couldn’t decide whether that had been a good thing or not.

In return, Jean smiled in a way that made her eyes twinkle. “You, too, sweetie.”

Rogue’s expression turned genuine. “You’re definitely gonna make yoah kid happy,” she said before following her brother and the others.

Jean’s smile wavered as tears came to her eyes. At that moment she promised herself that she would try to be the best motherly figure she could for the young girl.

Scott came up and sat down next to her. “Sweetheart… are you okay? You’re crying.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “Just hormones, honey.”

Remy fought to keep the scowl he was mentally projecting off his face. “So what if I don’ have all de experiences of a lifetime yet? Dieu, I’m t’irteen!”

“Don’t act like ya know the world inside out. You’re gonna grow up arrogant if ya do that.”

“I don’ need y’ tellin’ me how t’ grow up. I’m doin’ fine on m’own!” As Remy’s anger and annoyance built up, that all too familiar pain was back…

Logan smiled smugly. “And this ends lesson one.” He reached across the table and grabbed a handful of grapes. Wordlessly and quickly, he took Remy’s plate from him and dropped the grapes into his hands. Remy concentrated all his anger on the grapes and felt the pain go away. He tossed the grapes aimlessly under the table, hoping they wouldn’t cause too much of a mess. Though unfortunately for a certain Miss Frost… A shriek echoed through out the mansion as the gooey grapes exploded by her slippers.

“I suggest ya get out of here, Gumbo. We’ll finish our little chat later.”

Remy looked at him quizzically but did as he said. He grabbed his plate and almost collided with Rogue.

“We’re headin’ out back. Do ya wanna come?”

Remy glanced back at the fuming Emma. “I t’ink I should. C’mon.” He quickly followed her and the others out.

Ororo was already out there with Jubilee and Piotr, chatting amicably. She saw Remy and smiled. She waved him and Rogue over to the large, round patio table to which they were all to sit. “How are you two this morning?”

“A li’l freaked, actually…”

She laughed. “I saw you talking to Logan before I came out. Would that be the cause of your indifference?”

“Yeah,” Rogue piped up after swallowing a bit of pancake. “What were ya talkin’ ta him about? Did he see us last night?”

“He did, but dat’s not all.” He told the two girls about his conversation with the ‘Wolverine.’

“Ooh,” Bobby butted in, having listened as well. Much of the table conversations had ceased in order to listen to Remy talk. “He gave you the tough guy crap talk.”

“Is dat bad?” Remy gulped.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Kitty replied. “He does that just to let you know not to screw around with him.”

“Sounds like you have a new friend,” Kurt chuckled.

Rogue looked bewildered. “Wait!”

Remy met her eyes. “What is it?”

She laughed nervously. What if Remy starts making all these friends an’ fohgets about me? Ah’m sure Kurt was messin’ around, but what if Ah lose Remy ta these people? “Ah wanted ta ask if all the adults here are weird,” she said quickly. “Ah talked with Jean an’ Ah dunno. She was kinda creepy.”

Kurt smiled. “Jean’s harmless. If there’s anyone in this place you can trust, it’s her.”

“But she’s a spook. Y’ can’ trust spooks.”

“That may be the case for the others,” Ororo started. “But Jean is an honest person.”

“She sounded like she really wanted me ta let her in.”

“She is a good person,” Piotr said, speaking up for the first time. “I know this for certain.”

“Ah guess trustin’ her would be a better choice than Emma… you wouldn’t believe the garbage Ah got from her.”

“You touched Emma?” Kurt asked, confused.

Rogue nodded. “Ah know where she hides her drugs.”

“Drugs?!” Ororo and Kitty disbelievingly asked at the same time.

Rogue giggled. “She only uses ‘em once in awhile.” Her face fell a tiny bit. “When she disappoints her dad she takes a bunch of anti-depressants an’ stuff.”

“Whoa…” Bobby breathed. “You’re serious?”

“She’s ashamed. She actually doesn’t have that high self-esteem that she puts up for everyone.”

“Heh, I never would have imagined that about her,” Ororo thought aloud. “Sometimes I just forget that she’s a real person like the rest of us.”

“Yeah, like the whole exterior image just pushes people away,” Jubilee noted softly.

“Makes me wish I were an empathy,” Ororo continued. “If I could feel everyone’s emotions I would be reminded that we are all human with feelings and desires.”

“What’s dat called?” Remy asked.

“What?”

“Dat feelin’ t’ing.”

“Oh, empathy?”

“Oui. Do y’ know how it works?”

“Yeah, Jean’s one,” Jubilee said. “We talked about it once. It’s sorta like reaching out and physically touching someone’s emotion, but all you’re really doing is taking the bits and piece of that person’s physiology and making a correct assumption of what they’re feeling. It’s not something everyone can do, though, since it’s technically more on a psionic level than anything else.”

“Jubes… I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak so intelligently,” Bobby said, standing up. “Excuse me while I begin construction on my dream snow fort in hell.”

“Oh, shuttup!” She laughed, sending a bright firework across the table from her fingertip.

“Oww!” He mock-cried as he took his seat again.

“Anyway,” Jubilee said, getting back on track. “Why do you ask?”

Remy shrugged. “Jus’ curious.” He felt eyes on Rogue, who was staring at him as if he had a hidden secret. He smiled and quickly whispered that he’d tell her later. She nodded, convinced for the time being.

Everyone broke out into conversations a few moments later. More students joined them to eat outside in the slightly cool air. Ororo pointed them out to Rogue and Remy as they took seats. “That there is Amara and Paige. Paige’s brother goes here, too. They usually go home on weekends to be with their family. Ooh, and there is Jamie. He looks really young but he’s almost 18…” She went on for a bit, telling them who to look out for, what powers they had and such.

Rogue noted to herself how nice Ororo was. She also saw how she was on the end and Remy was in the middle of two girls. She didn’t distrust Ororo, but she still had the plaguing fear that someone would take Remy away from her. That thought was enough to scare her to the point of tears, but she bit back on them. He wasn’t gone from her yet, so there was no reason to cry.

After breakfast, the students left to go to their classes that were either in the school or off the estate in a public school. Kurt opted for the institute’s schooling, of course. Remy and Rogue bother understood why after the previous night’s conversation with him. Ororo also attended school at the institute, as did Piotr and many more. A few of the older teens, like Bobby and Kitty, chose public schooling.

With nothing to do since neither were enrolled in classes, Rogue and Remy explored the outdoors. Kurt old them about a path that went completely around the mansion. It was fairly easy to find, especially since it started right outside the front two doors.

The weather was a bit cool, but Ororo had found a sweater for Rogue (since the most of the clothes they’d bought were left in New Orleans) and Remy located his trench coat and sunglasses from his room. He also took the time to move his other things into Rogue’s room as well. Now everyt’in’s good, Remy thought with a smile. The sweater was a little big on Rogue, but she managed.

The two walked around the side of the mansion, their eyes settling upon the expansive garden and woods that extended off it. “What do ya think is in the woods, Remy?” Rogue asked, fear eating away at the pit of her stomach.

“Not’in’ f’r y’ t’ worry ‘bout, dat’s f’r sure. I saw some of de security features of dis place. Here, wave.” He pointed to one of the trees that had a camera mounted on it, camouflaged to the normal eye, but spotted easily by Remy.

“Ah don’t see it – oh!” She smiled and actually did wave. “Ah guess there’s nothin’ ta be afraid of…”

“But y’ jus’ can’ help it, eh?” She shook her head somberly. “I’ll break y’ of dat habit. C’mon.” He grabbed her hand and jugged along the path past the gardens. Rogue kept pace for a while, but began to slow down. The found themselves in what could be called the backyard, though it stretched out for a half mile before merging into a bay.

Rogue’s mouth dropped in awe. “Wow. Ah don’t think Ah’ve ever seen so much land – an’ stood in it.”

“Do y’ wan’ go down t’ de bay?” Rogue nodded, but suddenly froze.

“Did ya hear those voices?”

Remy looked behind him and saw nothing, but his extra awareness did pick up oncoming people. Rogue gave him her hand and they found a bush to hide behind so they could see what was going on. Scott and Betsy came out, bringing a group of students with them. Kurt was among them, along with a few other students that Ororo had pointed out.

“Since the Danger Room has unexpectedly need some upgrades, your training will take place out here,” Scott announced.

“Now,” Betsy said. “You’re going to have to be very careful as I project these thoughts into your heads. Your teammates are still around you and while the images will react to your attacks, they are not tangible.” A few students glanced at each other while others nodded in complete understanding.

“All right, let’s begin!” Scott said aloud. At once, all the students spread out from each other. What Rogue and Remy finally noticed were the uniforms they wore. All were generic black spandex with a golden ‘X’ across the chest.

“Do ya think this is mutant gym class or something?” Rogue whispered, not taking her eyes away from the students.

“Pro’bly. Maybe dat’s what dat big metal room is for.”

She looked at him. “The Danger Room? That doesn’t sound like any ol’ gymnasium ta me.”

Remy just shrugged and turned his attention back to the class. Rogue did the same.

Suddenly, they all started looking to the ground, but Rogue and Remy saw nothing. They jumped back and started attacking the thin air in front of them with their individual powers and fighting skills. Rogue’s eyes darted from the students to Scott to Betsy. Her hands fluttered by her temples, the psychic butterfly sprawled out and touching the heads of the students. Scott did not seem to see the images like the others were, as he was watching the students and making sure they didn’t hurt each other.

“What do ya think they’re fightin’?”

“Rock people, mebbe.”

“Hmm… maybe. Ah wish Ah could see.”

He laughed. “Neh, it’s more amusin’ like dis.”

One of the students that Ororo didn’t point out was shooting some sort of energy from his hands. It went through whatever he was fighting with ease, but it kept on going, almost hitting a green haired girl. Scott thought quickly and lifted up his sunglasses. A laser-type blast came out from his eyes and intercepted the boy’s power just before it hit the girl. She did not notice it at all as she moved some metal object that had been thrown about into whatever she was attacking.

“Alex, you need to cut your power short after the target has been eliminated,” Scott hollered as he lowered his glasses back into place.

“Lighten up, bro. I didn’t hit Lorna so what’s the big deal?”

“You still could have hurt her!”

“Whatever.” Alex ignored him and went back to shooting things skyward. Scott glared at him for a scarce moment before turning his attention to the rest of the students.

“Some of dese people seem like dey’re too old t’ be students,” Remy whispered, pointing to the guy whom Ororo had identified during breakfast as Sam skyrocketing into the clouds as an example. He looked to be at least twenty-two.

“Maybe he’s just here to get help with his powers like us?”

“Mebbe.”

“Ya kids enjoyin’ the show?”

Rogue and Remy simultaneously whipped around to see Logan hovering over them. “It’s yer fault they’re out here, Gumbo. They’re installin’ better security for the entire sub wing.” An unlit cigar hung from his lips again, much like the day before. It bobbled up and down with the movement of his mouth, begging to be lit and smoked.

“Dat’ll teach ‘em, den,” Remy replied, smirking. He expected Logan to give some sort of disapproving growl, but instead he matched Remy’s smirk with a feral smile of his own. Rogue gasped at the expression.

“What’s wrong, p’tite?” Remy asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“He smiled like Victor.”

The smirk was instantly replaced by a scowl. He knelt down in front of Rogue, making her a head taller than him, but that didn’t mean he made her comfortable. “He hurt ya, didn’t he, kid.” It wasn’t a question. He could smell Victor on the young girl in ways he never thought he would. ‘Hurt’ was an understatement.

Rogue could only nod. This man knew her ultimate secret without a single whisper or psychic probe. “How - ?”

He hushed her in a rather gentle way by putting a finger up close to her lips. He knew better than to touch her. “Listen ta me, kid. While yer livin’ under the same roof with me, I can assure ya that Creed – or anyone – ain’t ever gonna touch you like that again.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t look at him, ashamed to have tears stinging her eyes. Remy rubbed her shoulder softly.

Logan watched Remy interact with her. “Me an’ the Cajun, then.”

Remy looked up. “Quoi?”

“You an’ me. We’re now her protectors, got that?”

“Homme, I’ve held dat position f’r four days now. Y’ jus’ joinin’ de club.”

Logan chuckled. “Fair enough. Now get out of here. One, I’ve had enough mushy conversations in the last three hours for a year, an two, if Scott see ya he’s gonna be pissed.” Rogue timidly gave him a quick hug and rushed away, Remy close on her heels.

Logan got his pack of matches from his pocket, lighting the cigar as he watched the two run away. Shaking his head, he sighed. “I’m gettin’ wayyy too soft ‘round all these kids,” he muttered as he headed into the woods.