Sorry this took so long to get out, but I've been busy moving into my new
place this past week and have consequently been without e-mail. Hopefully,
I'll have more chapters out soon.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and most of everything else belongs
to Marvel. I'm just having some fun with them. Honest!
Revelations: Part 13
Chris Votulle, August 1997
Bobby pulled the car into the bus station parking lot and glanced sideways
at Kali. She had been very quiet during the entire trip and even though
Bobby had tried to change her mind, she was still determined to leave -- and
to do so without him. He knew that he couldn't let her go off by herself,
but didn't know what he could do to prevent it. Using force was definitely
not an option. He debated calling Scott, but what could he do anyway? No,
this was his responsibility whether he asked for it or not.
"Thanks, Bobby, I can take it from here." Kali opened the passenger side
door and started towards the bus terminal.
"Wait! Kali, you can't leave like this. Please, just take some time to
think it over." Bobby was becoming desperate and his concern was obvious by
the tone of his voice.
Kali closed her eyes as if it would block out his words. She had learned to
push away others and repress her emotions. If you don't let yourself get
close to people then you can't get hurt. *And you can't hurt them.* She
was getting too close to these people and she knew it. "I *have* thought
about it and my decision is final. Please let me go quietly." She turned
her back to him and continued towards the station. "Say good-bye to Jean
for me."
He searched his mind frantically for any traces of such
a plan, but came up with nothing. In a fit of despondency, he opened Hank's
glove compartment and began rummaging through its contents. He knew this to
be where Hank kept his car phone. He didn't want to have to call Scott, but
unfortunately it was the only thing that he could think of. Maybe if he was
lucky he would get Jean instead. He leafed through the various registration
and insurance papers and finally came across a small, rectangular object.
He yanked it out of the compartment, but instead of holding a phone he found
himself holding Hank's image inducer and smiled.
* * * * *
The next morning Scott had assembled all of the mansion's residents in the
War room. He didn't necessarily think that this situation constituted an
emergency -- far from it. However, what needed to be discussed involved
just about everyone so it was necessary for them to be there.
"As you may have noticed, neither Bobby nor Kali are here this morning. In
fact, they have been missing from the grounds since late last night after a
certain incident in the kitchen." Scott glanced at Remy before continuing.
"We have not had any contact from them as of yet. This meeting is to
discuss the events leading up to their disappearance and determine what, if
anything, we should do about this situation."
"What exactly are the 'events leading up to their disappearance?'" Betsy
asked dryly.
Scott crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm glad you asked that. Gambit,
do you have an answer?"
"I was eating in peace. She attacked me. I retaliated. She ran away,"
Remy's face was expressionless as he returned Scott's steady gaze. "Oh, and
might I add dat no one has yet to explain to me exactly who dis girl is an'
why she's here in de first place."
"That's what I'd like to know," Warren muttered under his breath.
Jean gave him a dirty look before responding. "Remy, we're sorry for the
oversight. Things have been a little hectic here since last night. Kali is
a young girl whom Scott and I rescued from the streets of New York where a
mob was pursuing her due to the fact that she is a mutant. We had offered
her sanctuary here and the chance to learn how to control her powers.
However, she was rather hesitant in her decision to remain here and I
suspect that your run in with her last night may have scared her away for good."
"Jean, might I interrupt you for a moment?" Jean nodded at Hank as he rose
from his seat. "Remy, has your head been bothering you at all since your
'episode' with Kali last night?"
Remy shook his head. "Non, but what does dat have to do wit' anyt'ing?"
"Well, I've been forming a hypothesis as to the cause of your mental
collapse yesterday and I believe that I have at last found the solution I
have been pursuing. It seems that Kali and you have very similar mental
shields. I'm afraid I don't know the precise technical enumeration
regarding their performance, but it is my belief that somehow your
respective shields were causing destructive cerebral interference. In other
words, when the two of you were within a certain distance your mental
shields would attack each other and, consequently, collapse. This explains
why you are not suffering from the effects at the present moment, although I
am at a loss as to how this relates to your meeting last night. For some
reason, your 'battle' on the astral plane manifested itself into the
physical world. Do you know of any reason why she would want to assail you?"
"Non. Not at all."
Scott eyed Remy suspiciously. "Are you sure that you don't know Kali?
Maybe she recognized you from some earlier run in and thought she had reason
enough to attack you?"
Gambit clenched his teeth as he tried to control his anger and frustration..
"How, many times do I have to tell you? I don' know her. I don' know why
she would want to attack me. I don' know anyt'ing about her."
"Well, according to Bishop, the Witness knew her. In fact, he seemed to
know her very well."
"Is dat true, pup?"
Bishop looked extremely uncomfortable with the situation. "Yes. He even
had a shrine set up for her in his bedroom."
Remy actually seemed phased by this statement, but quickly resurrected his
ever present poker face. "Well, too bad dat I'm not de Witness. I'm jus'
Gambit. I don' know not'ing."
Scott sighed. "I realize that you're not the Witness, Remy, but you have to
try and help us out here. Maybe you do know something about her and you
just don't realize it yet. Bishop said that her codename was Sirius. Does
that ring any bells?"
"*Serious*? Maybe it means dat she don' got a sense of humor. Wait a
minute -- dat's you, Scotty! What's she doin' stealin' your name?"
Jean felt the need to interrupt. "All right, Remy. I know that you're
frustrated, but there is no reason to go lashing out at others."
"Oh, dat's right. Stick up for your husband. He can pick on me all he
wants, but God forbid dat I try te stick up for m'self. Now you're startin'
too, Jean? Why doesn't everyone get their shots in now. Didn't you know?
Today's pick on Gambit day! Go ahead, I'm ready for anyt'ing"
Jean looked chagrined. "Remy, nobody is picking on you. If you would just
stop being so defensive, then maybe you could see it from our point of view.
This girl comes to live in the mansion. She seems to be adapting quite
nicely, but then you show up. Suddenly, you and her are trying to kill each
other in the kitchen in the middle of the night and by the next day she's
disappeared. Obviously, this has to have something to do with you. We're
merely trying to figure out what that is."
"I don' believe dis! Some crazy woman tries te kill me and you're all
jumpin' down *my* throat. What did I do? I was jus' tryin' te get a bite
te eat. Maybe dis has nothin' to do wit' me. What about Bobby? He's
missin' too, ye know. He never did like me much. Maybe he convinced dis
girl te take me out and when she failed, he ran 'cause he was afraid of
gettin' caught."
"Remy, that is absurd!" Scott was beyond frustrated and the tone of his
voice more than illustrated this point to the others. "You know that Bobby
would never do something like that. More than likely, he discovered that
she was leaving and he followed her to make sure that she didn't get hurt.
There is quite a bounty on her head. It could be dangerous."
Remy was about to counter when Logan unexpectedly interrupted the argument.
"It seems te me that yer goin' about this all the wrong way. Let's look at
the facts here. There's this girl. She sees Gambit and flips out. Then
she runs away. *With Bobby*. Looks like there's something awfully familiar
about this situation." His gaze wandered over to Rogue who was trying her
best to look invisible, yet failing miserably.
"W-what are ya gettin' at, Logan?" Rogue was visibly nervous.
"I'm just making a connection, darlin'. Why don't you fill in the gaps?"
"What's going on here?" Scott was desperately trying to figure out this
situation even as it continued to get more and more complicated. "Rogue, do
you know anything about this?"
She started fidgeting and bit her lip. "Ah -- Ah'm not sure."
Remy threw his arms up in the air. "Well, dat's a first, "he said
sarcastically.
"Remy, that wasn't necessary." Ororo shot him a disapproving look.
"Sorry, Stormy, but I'm not in de best of moods right now."
"How many times to I have to tell you? Do *NOT* call me Stormy."
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" All eyes turned and looked at Joseph in surprise. "Scott
did not call this meeting so all of you could start bickering at each other.
This is a serious situation and I suggest that we start treating it as such."
Remy sneered. "Oh sure. Let's listen to the megalomaniac."
"When did you learn such a long word?" Betsy retorted.
"Stop it now, everyone." Joseph did his best to hold on to everyone's
attention. "Can we all please try to behave and act like civilized adults
for a few moments? Surely it can't be all that difficult." He looked
around the room to make sure that no one was going to make some smart-alec
retort before continuing. "Now, I think that Logan made a very good point
before and we should pursue his line of thinking. Will you continue?"
"Well, all I was saying was that this is all reminding me a lot of the time
when Rogue and Bobby went off to Seattle. It also seems te me that Rogue
here knows a lot more than she's letting on."
"Why is everyone pointin' at me?" Rogue said defensively.
"Rogue, no one is pointing fingers. We're just trying to discover the
truth. Will you please give it to us?" Scott had retained his position at
the head of the room.
Rogue was shifting nervously in her chair. "Um, well it's sorta a long
story and..."
"We've got plenty of time," Logan interjected.
"But Ah promised Ah wouldn't tell no one!"
"Who did you promise?" Storm asked.
"Kali," she said simply. "She begged me not ta tell anyone."
"Rogue, if what you know is pertinent to this particular situation, I'm
afraid I'm going to have to ask you to break that promise." Scott's stern
gaze was lost behind his ruby tinted glasses, but Rogue could feel it
burning through her nonetheless.
Rogue didn't move.
"We're waiting."
"Well. Um, ya see, Kali. She absorbed my memories and started havin' these
nightmares and Ah think that maybe it was because of Gambit's secretive past
and that she's goin' crazy tryin' ta figure it out just like me except that
she knows even less than Ah do." Rogue rushed through her explanation as
fast as possible. "Or somethin' like that."
"Wait a minute." Scott crossed the room to face Rogue. "Kali absorbed your
memories? What, did your powers backfire?"
Rogue looked down. "No."
"Then what happened?"
"Ah'm not sure exactly, but she's the one who did it. Not me."
Gambit's eyes narrowed as he looked at Rogue and the way that she was
purposefully avoiding his gaze. "Did she absorb anyt'ing besides your
memories?"
Rogue felt a sharp stab of pain as her eyes moistened with tears that she
was trying desperately not to shed. "Yes," she whispered.
"What?"
"Remy, please."
"What? Tell me!"
A tear started making it's way down her cheek. "Mah powers. She absorbed
mah powers too."
Remy practically flew out of his seat giving up all pretenses of being
apathetic. "How could you?" He roared as realization set upon him. "How
could ye do dat to me, Chere? You t'ink dat messin' wit' Gambit's head is
all fun and games? Did you t'ink dat I wouldn't find out about it? If you
were havin' doubts, den you should have left me out of it! Mon dieu! I
never would have expected dis from you of all people. I trusted you."
"Ah'm sorry! Ah was confused -- Ah didn't mean to hurt you. And you have
no right getting mad at me for messin' with your head. Because of you mah
head is all messed up and you refuse ta do anythin' ta help me fix it. Why
can't ya just tell me what you're big secret is? Ya've hurt two people
already by keeping it a secret. How much more harm can ya do by letting it go?"
"Chere, if I knew what it was I'd tell you. Gambit's past is a mystery to
everyone, non? I'm no exception."
Before anyone could express their opinion on the matter, the ringing of a
telephone pierced the air.
Beast was the first to react. "Well, if no on else has the initiative to
respond to the telephone's summons, I think I will make myself useful."
Hank got up from the table and walked over to the phone.
"Hello? Robert?" Complete silence filled the room as all eyes fixed
themselves on Hank. "Slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying.
Where are you?"
"Chicago? What on earth are you doing there?"
"I see. And what is your destination?"
"I see. What do you propose we do about it?"
There was a long pause before Hank spoke again. "I hope you know what
you're doing, Robert. I'll pass the message on to everyone else. And
please, be careful." Hank hung up the phone and turned to face the crowd of
people before him. He was not looking forwards to their inevitable reaction
to the news he was about to give them.
"Ahem." Hank didn't need to gather everyone's attention since he already
had it, but he found himself stalling for time. "It seems that after the
incident last night, young Kali thought it would be best if she excused
herself from our presence on a permanent basis."
"You mean she ran away," Logan stated plainly.
"Yes. That is what I said. Bobby said that he couldn't get her exact
reasons for leaving, but apparently it has something to do with her past and
preventing her from hurting more people in the future. Oh yes, as for your
involvement Remy. He said that she attacked you because she mistook you for
someone else although he couldn't say who."
Remy looked at Scott. "I tol' you it wasn't my fault."
"I would hold off on that opinion if I were you, Mr. LeBeau." Hank was
swift in drawing the attention back to him. "It seems that Kali had Bobby
drive her to the bus station and was quite adamant that he return to the
mansion rather than continuing with her on her journey. So, in order to
pursue her and remain undetected, Robert used my image inducer to disguise
himself and purchased a ticket for the same trip. It appears that the bus
is headed towards Seattle, Washington and Kali is going the entire length.
Bobby doesn't think that it's a coincidence and I tend to agree with him on
this matter. For some reason, seeing Remy triggered a rather violent
response from Kali and resulted in her setting off to Seattle, of all
places. Now, the obvious question is what do we do about it?"
"We go ta Seattle, that's what. Ah'll be damned if Ah'm goin' ta be left in
the dark any longer. Remy, Ah don't know what you're hidin' but it's in mah
head now and Ah want it out." Anger was flashing in Rogues eyes as she
dared anyone to defy her.
"I don't think it's any of our business. Rogue here might have a personal
stake in this affair, but beyond that we shouldn't get involved. If Kali
doesn't want to live here, we can't force her back. She'll just run away
again." Logan leaned back in his chair casually.
"I think I would find myself agreeing with Logan if it wasn't for the
obvious relation to Gambit. We can't force Kali to stay here, but if she
left only to run into a danger that we exposed her to, then it's our
responsibility to make sure she isn't in serious trouble." Scott stated his
opinion matter-of-factly. "I think that we should send a team to Seattle to
investigate."
"I think that is a little premature, Scott," Ororo said. "Bobby is already
keeping an eye on the girl and he can contact us if either of them are in
immediate danger."
"Forget the danger. Ah want ta find out the truth!"
"So do I chere." Remy's voice was very subdued and his eyes were clouded
over while his face still remained unreadable. "I don' know what's goin' on
any more den all of you do, but I'm goin' te find out. Dis is about me so
none of you have te come if ye don' want to, but I'm goin' te Seattle te
finish dis."
There was a hushed silence before Jean spoke up. "I'm going with you."
"Well, ya know Ah'm comin' along."
"Okay, that's me, Jean, Remy and Rogue. I'd like to have one more person
along if at all possible. Would anyone like to volunteer?" Scott was
pleased to have his way, but disappointed in his colleagues obvious lack of
interest and ulterior motives. He was fully prepared to save the world,
even if he had to do it one person at a time. Why couldn't anyone share his
enthusiasm? Had they forgotten about what the dream stood for?
"I'll join you." Bishop slung his gun over one shoulder and straightened up
in his chair. "For security reasons."
Scott had his doubts about Bishop's incitement, but didn't say anything on
the matter. "Good. Then it's settled. We leave in the morning. Meeting
adjourned."
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