Work Text:
Gone Too Far
Rogue floated down gently, smiling softly as she took in her surroundings.
The ballroom was bathed in beautiful pinks and purples, and soft music seemed to hug everyone around her. There was something warm and comforting about the event, momentous and yet serene despite the crackling pops of the fireworks beyond the open doors. It was a welcome that suggested promise, that ushered the nation of Genosha peacefully into a world of greater things.
She reached out, a whisper of a memory taking her hand and twirling her.
For a moment, she felt colder, and her lungs felt tight. She was alone, guided but not for herself, trapped in movements that felt wrong somehow.
But then she looked further into the room, and the sun came out beneath her feet.
Down below stood her favorite person, her favorite face looking up at her. She was too far to see his eyes clearly, but she wondered if they were sparkling mischievously, the way they always did.
Rogue was surprised to feel her own eyes stinging, a sort of desperation gripping her heart.
She couldn't stay up here, so far away, when Remy was down there.
She descended, floating to him and cupping his gorgeous face. She saw that his beautiful eyes were shining brightly, and his smile was soft, no hint of the cheeky half-grin that he usually wore on his lips.
She leaned in, kissing him, the way she had always wanted to. It felt strange and unfamiliar, and yet right in every way.
Remy took her in his arms, spinning her gracefully, guiding her across the dance floor. She seemed to tingle where his hand rested on her waist, and her hand—her bare hand—felt safe in his.
She smiled at him in delight, knew that her smile could never capture everything inside her.
It was always so much easier to show her rage, her grief.
More tender emotions had always been precious, hiding under her poison skin, but she'd paid before for showing her soft underbelly.
With Remy, she'd paid for not showing it until it was too late.
He suddenly spun her out, her hand separating from his.
Her heart clenched with utter panic, a fear too big for their surroundings, and yet entirely unshakable.
But then he grasped her hand, pulling her back, and she was home again.
He held her in his arms from behind, and it was magical, a hug that felt like everything she had ever needed.
Remy leaned in, tightening his grip on her, and she sighed as she felt his breath against her ear.
"Remember, chere-" he said, his tone unexpectedly jarring.
It was a warning, though she could not say why.
He spun her back toward him, and the Remy she knew was gone.
His skin was gray and lifeless, and his hair was bone white.
His firm grip was cold, and his lips felt like ice as he kissed the back of her hand.
"Some things be deeper than skin," he finished, a satisfied smirk on his face.
A piercing light seemed to burst from her hand, and a purple decay sparkled like the cosmos as it stabbed through her chest. The rot was somehow stunning as it seemed to fester and grow, consuming her skin, shooting from her eyes and mouth as she screamed.
A pink inferno began to devour her body and soul, and after a moment there was nothing left.
It was dark, an abyss so frigid that it seemed to reach into her lungs, shutting out any chance for air. Her heart couldn't seem to beat, and her skin was on fire.
Tears streamed down her face, as though her pain might make any damn difference in the wasteland around her, inside her.
"Don't cry, chere," rasped a familiar voice.
She gasped, finally able to gulp in air, and she sat up with a cry.
"Remy!"
It was a choked back sob, a scream that wouldn't escape.
She looked around frantically, couldn't seem to see a thing.
"Rogue," someone said soothingly. "Slowly."
"But- Where-" she wheezed.
Her vision finally cleared, though her head still ached, and she couldn't make the images in her mind make sense.
Ororo was sitting next to her, and Hank hopped down from a pipe nearby, righting himself.
Ororo stood, putting a hand on Rogue’s arm.
"You are alright, my dear."
"But Remy- Please-" she begged.
"Breathe, my dear."
Hank examined her eyes with a flashlight, or tried to.
Rogue shoved his hand away.
"Is he still here?" she asked frantically.
"Yes, he is still here," Ororo reassured her. "You have not been out long."
Rogue turned and gave Hank an inquisitive look.
"What happened?"
"I believe that you fainted. Possibly from shock. Though I am not altogether certain it was not due to a lack of sleep. And nourishment."
He gave her a knowing look.
Rogue ignored that, though he wasn't wrong. She'd barely eaten or slept in weeks.
"But you have not been unconscious more than an hour," he continued.
"But- How'd you even know to find me?"
"An alarm went off, so we hurried to the cells,” Ororo explained. “You collapsed outside Remy's—Death's—cell. We were unsure whether our prisoner was to blame-"
Rogue gasped.
Had they hurt him?
"Is Remy okay?"
"Yes," Ororo said gently. "He is fine."
"You're sure?"
Ororo patted her arm again.
"I am sure."
Rogue let out a sigh of relief.
The door swished open, and Logan entered.
"How's the invalid?" he asked wryly.
Rogue glared at him.
"Still able to fight lyin' down," she warned, her hackles instantly going up.
Logan just smiled at that.
"You're lucky you're invulnerable, kid. Hit the floor like a ton of bricks."
"Appreciate the sympathy," Rogue huffed. "Remy's really alright?"
Logan nodded.
"Reviewed the footage once we got you settled. Couldn't figure out why the alarm went off. Or what happened."
Rogue's eyes widened as she finally remembered.
"Did you hear him? He spoke- He said-"
Rogue’s eyes filled tears, and her throat seemed to close up.
"He told me not to cry," she choked out. "He called me chere."
Ororo rubbed her back in comforting circles.
"Do you believe me?” Rogue asked. “He's in there- I'm not goin' crazy-"
Logan held up a hand.
"We believe you."
Rogue clamped a hand over her mouth, no longer able to keep her tears from falling.
"Couldn't hear what it was, but footage showed him saying something right before you went down.”
Logan snorted.
“Soon as you fell, he put his hands on the energy shield and wouldn't pull back.”
Logan looked grudgingly impressed.
“Must have hurt like hell."
"But- Why?"
"We were concerned that he was attempting to overcome the suppression collar,” Hank said. “Or generate a charge somehow."
"But you don't think he was?"
Rogue was beginning to feel fogged again.
Ororo shook her head, though Rogue couldn't read her expression.
"No. We do not."
"Then- What was he doin'?"
"He may have been attempting to shut down the shield, but I do not believe he meant to cause you harm."
Rogue knit her brow.
"What aren't you tellin' me?"
"I do not want to get your hopes up, my dear. We cannot know what he is truly thinking."
"Tell me what happened!" Rogue snapped, her voice shaking.
"Guy looked terrified," Logan admitted. "After seeing how he was when we took him down-"
Logan shook his head.
"Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it."
"Then- He- Terrified for me?"
Ororo nodded.
"We believe so."
Rogue felt a fresh round of tears trickling down her face.
"Why didn't you want to tell me?"
"We do not know what was behind it," Ororo said.
“Huh?”
"Apocalypse's mind control is very powerful. And insidious," Hank explained. "Even as Warren healed from his time with Apocalypse, he had setbacks. As you know, his Death conditioning was not fully driven out so easily."
Rogue did know that. Better than most.
Long ago, she had saved him from Apocalypse using her original powers. And part of Warren Worthington, the part that had been tainted through and through, would always be inside her.
Rogue had attempted to do the same to Remy, had been willing to absorb every ounce of evil, to pry the rot from his body and soul. But she had not been successful, and much as she wanted to deny it, the team was right to be concerned at this evidence of great power.
"You think he's pretendin'," she said.
It wasn't even a question.
Ororo nodded.
"He is aware that he was scheduled to be transferred tomorrow. It is possible he wishes to stay and managed to produce whatever took you down."
"It ain't just that I fainted?"
Hank shrugged.
"It may be. And his worry may have been genuine."
"But?"
"We cannot ignore the possibility that this may have been a very clever ruse."
Rogue's chest felt like it was in a vice.
It couldn't be a lie. It couldn't be that he was biding his time, pretending he didn't know any of them.
Remy was in there. She knew it.
She needed it to be true.
She didn't think she could take it if it wasn't.
"What happens now?" she asked, resigned.
"We postpone his transfer and continue to monitor him."
"And I try to get him to talk again?"
Logan nodded.
"We all do."
"Guessin' you think I'm biased?" Rogue asked wryly.
Ororo gave her arm a squeeze.
"We believe you are hopeful. And you are not wrong to wish for Remy to reside in Death. Or to want him to return."
Rogue nodded, feeling a pit in her stomach.
Guess that means the clock is tickin'.
Two weeks ago, she would have felt resolute, would have been sure this was a battle she could win. But most of what she'd seen of Remy—Death—had dampened her spirits.
Ororo was wrong. Rogue wasn’t hopeful. She felt frantic, like she was standing at the edge of a cliff. And she felt entirely incapable of the task she knew she had ahead.
She tried to push her fears away. She thought of Remy's face, the way he seemed to glow with mischief so often and yet could be so gentle. How powerful and skilled he was, how the person he pretended to be captured so little of the heart that used to beat inside his chest.
Rogue wanted that heart to still be beating now.
Maybe all she could do was keep moving forward anyway.
She and Remy had gone too far together, had weathered too many storms for her to give up now. She had to try to find him inside the stranger that resided in their cells, owed it to both of them to at least make an attempt.
Rogue could only pray that, if Remy could be found in there somewhere, she would have enough time to do so.
Audio/Podfic Version
(read aloud by me!)
Length: 13:35
Listen: Gone Too Far mp3