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Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
 
 
 

Betrayal - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Valerie Jones
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 38

Rogue woke to the sound of voices-- a man and a woman, with the continuous piping of children mixed in. She opened her eyes resentfully. The family was intruding on what she had always felt was her own private piece of Mississippi river bank. She sat up, wincing at stiff muscles. Despite her powers, the ground was still an uncomfortable place to sleep.

She was curled up at the base of her favorite tree. The old tire swing still hung out over the water as it had since her childhood. One of the couple's little boys was currently aboard. As Rogue watched, he reached the top of his arc over the water and let go, falling into the water with a yell. She smiled despite herself. There was something infectious about a child's joy.

The couple had not noticed Rogue. The tree grew out of a hummock of land that overlooked the small beach. It canted heavily toward the water, and looked like it might lose its grip on the bank at any moment and tumble into the river. Seated by the tangle of roots, Rogue was behind and above the family. She wrapped her hands around her knees and watched them. The couple had spread out towels on the bank and now sat side by side, watching the two boys who sported in the water. Watching them awakened the now-familiar ache. The two below her were engaged in a round of subtle flirting, from the brush of one shoulder against another to the sidelong glances they gave each other to the way the woman tilted her head back, ostensibly to bare her neck to the warm sun. Rogue wanted to run away screaming, but she couldn't move. She couldn't bear to interrupt the scene, as much as it felt like someone were driving hot irons into her belly.

One of the boys climbed out of the water and hurtled toward the man, throwing himself into his father's arms. The two fell backwards and the result was a brief wrestling match that ended only because the boy was giggling so hard he couldn't breathe. Tears misted Rogue's vision. Through them, the scene changed. The man took on a different visage-- taller, leaner. The voice became smoother, rich in its accent, and the laughter was one that she had heard only once, in that little Cajun restaurant in Greenwich Villiage. One magical night when he had thrown all of his problems away and had laughed freely at a joke she'd made. The boy in his arms would have red hair, of course, and a healthy dose of his father's penchant for trouble.

She watched as the second boy joined the fray, tears leaking down her face. They piled onto the man, clinging to him like little apes and screaming whenever he caught one and held him for a brief bout of tickling. The tag-team approach failed, unsurprisingly, and eventually ended when the man scooped both boys up and carried them into the river, tossing them into the water despite the screeching protest.

It had all seemed so possible, just a few days ago. Rogue sighed and wiped the tears away. Every time she closed her eyes she heard Tanya's screams, felt the wild hatred. It scared her more than anything ever had. Her nightmares were filled with fire and explosions and the imagined cries of those trapped in the flames. She didn't know how to live with that-- how to love that.

The commotion on the beach stilled. All four were staring skyward, the boys jumping up and down and pointing. Rogue craned her neck to see past the foliage that shaded her and was not entirely surprised to see Storm descending. She landed a short ways from the family, her blue cat's eyes scanning the area until she spotted Rogue. The people watched them for several long moments, and then went back to their swimming, though they were far more subdued. At another time, Rogue would have been encouraged to see that, but today she barely noticed.

"How'd ya find me?" she asked.

Storm smiled cooly. "Intuition." She climbed the last few steps to stand beside Rogue. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Rogue shrugged. "Help yaself, sugar."

Storm settled beside her, smoothing her brightly colored skirt and tucking her bare feet beneath the hem. Rogue snorted privately. Storm was the only person she knew who would fly halfway across the country barefoot.

After a moment, Storm opened her mouth to speak, but Rogue cut her off. "Save ya breath, sugar. Ah'm not goin' back there."

"You are leaving the X-men?"

Rogue nodded. She kept her gaze fixed on the toes of her boots so that she wouldn't have to meet Storm's eyes, and the disapproval she was certain she would find there.

"You left us once before Rogue," Storm reminded her. "It did not solve anything."

"Ah don't think there's any solvin' to be done." Rogue closed her eyes, fighting tears. "Ah just *can't* go back there." She felt Storm's arm encircle her shoulders.

"Remy needs you," Storm said quietly.

"Needs me!" Rogue exploded to her feet. "He *needs* a psychiatrist!" The tears that she had been trying to hold back burst forth. "Don't ya see, Storm? Ah have his memories. Ah *remember* bein' there." She held out her hands. "Ah *remember* doin' those things. Ah remember how it sounded and smelled and felt." Her knees buckled and she crumpled to the ground, arms wrapped protectively about her waist. "An' ah'm so scared. . . . . "

Storm took Rogue into her arms, rocking her like a small child as she cried. Then she took Rogue by both shoulders and stared directly into her eyes. "That is why you are the only one who can help Remy. Only you can truly share his pain." Her eyes narrowed. "It is a burden that no person can carry alone."

Rogue pulled free of the other woman's grasp. "What about you? Remy says you're his best friend."

Storm sighed. "I am doing what I can. But you have touched on the heart of the matter. I am. . . . only. . . a friend."

The two women sat quietly, watching the children play below them. Eventually, Rogue broke the silence.

"How. . . ? How could ah go back? Ah don't think ah could evah look him in the eye again, knowin'. . . . . " She trailed off helplessly.

Storm cocked her head. "How do you think Remy feels every time he tries to look any of us in the eye? Would it really be so hard to forgive-- and give him a chance to start over?"

Rogue stared at the gently lapping water. "How?"

Steel crept into Storm's voice. "The same way we forgave you when you first joined the X-men."

Rogue's head jerked up in surprise and she turned to Storm, suddenly at a loss for words. Storm's expression was compelling.

"If nothing else, then I demand this much from you, Rogue. I was willing to forgive what you did to Carol Danvers, and accept that you were making a fresh start with the X-men. Now I want the same from you in return, for the sake of my friend."

Rogue knew she was staring, jaw agape, but she couldn't help it. And she couldn't help but feel intimidated. Storm's anger was very thoroughly controlled, but she could sense it roiling beneath the surface. And worse than that was the deep stab of guilt that accompanied Storm's words. Storm was right and she knew it. She had no right to judge-- she was guilty of enough crimes of her own. Perhaps that was why Remy scared her so badly. It was like staring into a dark mirror of her own soul, forcing her to face herself as much as him. That made what Storm asked all that much harder. She had to forgive herself, too.

"Ah'll try," she told the waiting woman.

Storm's smile was brief, but warm. "Then shall we go home?"

Rogue shook her head. "Not yet." She stared at the river. "Ah want ta stay here fo' a while longer." She turned to Storm. "But ah will come home. Ya have mah word."

Storm nodded and rose. "I will be waiting." She rose on whispering winds that made the trees sway and bob. Rogue watched until her form had dwindled into the midday sky. Then she settled with her back to the tree trunk and leaned her head against the rough bark. She had a lot to think about.

 

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