See part 0/5 for disclaimer. Please send comments to claire at or i can forward them for you, my address is in my sig file. The 'Of Mutants And Immortals' Arc Welcome To The X-Men, Kavik. Hope You Survive The Experience! Part 5 by Claire L. Fenwick Sunday, 2:34 PM Kavik grabbed the things she had unpacked and threw them on to the bed. Walking into the bathroom, she went to the sink and splashed some water on her face. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. "Jesus, 'Vik, what the hell were you thinking of when you agreed to come here." She spoke to the reflection. "It's been a bloody disaster since you arrived." "I hope you don' mean dat about *everyt'ing* dat's happened." Kavik jumped at the unexpected voice and spun around. "Didn't anyone tell you to knock?" Kavik snapped at the man standing in her room. "Or does sneaking into a room come naturally to a thief?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Remy LeBeau's face remained impassive at that remark, although his eyes took on a hurt look. "I'm sorry, Remy." Apologised Kavik. "It's just that coming here was a mistake." "You didn't t'ink dat las' night." Remarked Remy. Kavik smiled in spite of herself. Remy sat down on the bed "Look like you packin' t' leave, Chere." "Yep." Came the answer from the bathroom. "Why?" Kavik appeared in the doorway to the bathroom and stared at Remy. "'Why?'" She repeated. "Why do you think? You saw what happened to Rogue when she touched me. She knows what I am." "We all mutants here, Chere. Dey'll understand if you tell dem wha' you are." "No! Mutants are hunted and killed by people for what they are. You think it would be any different for Immortals if we were found out. Only a few years ago, someone started killing us because they thought we were an abomination in the face of God..." Kavik shuddered involuntarily as she remembered the renegade Watcher, James Horton. "I lost some good friends back then. I'm not going to be responsible for our discovery. We have lived among you for thousands of years, undiscovered. I can't be... won't be the one to change that. The only reason you found out was because you saw what happened last night." Remy looked at the woman before him. He'd only met her the day before, but he didn't want her to leave. She was like no other woman he had met; made him feel like no other woman had. And that intrigued him. "At leas' wai' 'til Rogue wakes up. Find out wha' she knows." "I can't do that. I can't take the risk." "I was hopin' you'd stay round for a while. I t'ought dat maybe we could get to know each ot'er a little better. Get a little closer." Kavik laughed. "You don't get much closer than last night." Remy stood up and slipped his arms around her waist. "We could always try, Chere." "It's tempting, Remy, don't think that it's not. But I can't." Kavik pulled away from him and walked to the window. "Wha' will you do?" Kavik didn't look at him. "What I've been doing for the past 500 years. Move on and put this down to experience." Kavik took a deep breath before continuing, her voice quiet. "Remy, for 500 years I have lived like this; for thousands of years we have lived like this. A family. A clan. Drawn together by a bond that outsiders can't understand. We live in a private world, part of, and yet separate from the rest of humanity. You get so used to covering up and lying that trusting people, trusting mortals, becomes difficult. Some of the Elder Ones used to believe that we were meant to walk *among* mortals, but never *with* them. Maybe I was a fool to think they were wrong." Kavik paused. "Maybe we all were." She whispered so quietly that Remy barely heard her. Quietly Remy stood up and walked to the door. He opened his mouth, but there was nothing else to say. Silently, he opened the door and walked out of the room. Kavik heard the door close behind him. She wanted to stop him, but couldn't find the words. Remy LeBeau had affected her more in the past 24 hours than she would care to admit. Sunday, 4:37 PM Rogue opened her eyes, and looked straight at the blue, furred form of Dr. Henry McCoy. "Wha' happened?" She whispered. "What do you remember?" He asked. "We were in tha Danger Room, tryin' ta catch Kavik. She dropped Warren outta the sky. Ah got mad, and ah..." Rogue's voiced trailed off. "Oh ma God. Ah touched her." Rogue's eyes widened and she sat up. It was then that she noticed the unconscious form of Ororo lying on one of the other beds. "Wha' happened aftah that? Wha' happened ta Storm? Ah don't remember anything else." Hank looked at Rogue. "We're not sure. Something happened when you absorbed Kavik's power, and you went out of control." Hank glanced over at Ororo. "What happened ta Storm? Ah did something ta her, didn't ah?" Rogue's eyes had a pained look in them. "Here, it's best if I show you." Hank brought a monitor over to Rogue's bed and played a recording of what had happened in the Danger Room. When it was finished, Rogue turned to Hank, her face white. "Is Ororo going ta be okay?" She whispered. Hank nodded. "She'll be fine. She's just sleeping off a sedative. She'll have a headache for a couple of days, but that's all." Rogue's body seemed to sag in relief. "Rogue," Hank walked over to the young woman. "What do you remember about absorbing Kavik's powers?" Rogue looked up at Beast. "Nothin', Hank. The last thing ah remember before wakin' up in here is arguin' with Kavik." "You don't remember anything?" Even when the absorbed powers and memories had faded, Rogue usually remembered everything that had occurred. "Nothing." Rogue looked confused. "Ah don't understand, ah've never blanked when using ma powers. Ah can usually remember bits of memory, like a fadin' dream. But this time there's nothin'." "Don't worry about it." Hank reassured her. "I've checked and there's nothing medically wrong with you. And Charles carried out a light telepathic scan and there's nothing wrong with your mind either. So try and get some rest." Rogue nodded, but Hank didn't think that she believed him. Even though, she still lay back on the bed and tried to rest. Sunday, 5:13 PM Dr. Henry McCoy looked up from his computer screen to see Charles Xavier enter the infirmary. "Hello Charles." A soft voice came from behind them. The two men went over to the dark skinned woman. "Ororo, you're awake." Said Henry, surprised. He had expected the sedative to last a couple of hours more. "How are you?" Asked Xavier. "I'm fine," Ororo answered. "I've just got a bit of a headache." "I'm afraid you'll have that for the next day or two. But apart from that you'll be fine." Ororo looked over at her friend in the other bed. "How's Rogue?" "Physically she's fine." Replied Hank. "I have no idea why she blacked out." "Has she explained what she thought she was doing when she knocked Storm out? It looked like she thought she was holding a weapon of some sort." Hank sighed before he answered Xavier's question. "She has no memory of what happened while she had Kavik's powers." "None?" Repeated Xavier. "She says that it's a total blank from the moment she touched Kavik to the moment she woke up in here." Hank glanced over at Rogue's form before returning his gaze to Xavier and Ororo. "How's Kavik about what happened?" Hank thought that being attacked by a fellow X-Man on your second day in the mansion was hardly an auspicious start. "Packing." Came Xavier's succinct answer. "What?" Asked Hank. "She's packing to leave?" Xavier lowered his head and sighed. "Well, it's hardly the most perfect of beginnings, is it? Kavik's only here one day and already someone in the mansion knows her fears, her dreams, her inner most secrets. We all have things that we don't want others to find out about us, especially a virtual stranger." Xavier paused and Hank interrupted him. "But everyone in the mansion knows about the pasts of the others. Gambit, Wolverine, even Ororo, have had..." Beast looked for the right word, "...'colourful' pasts." Ororo smiled at hearing Hank describe her past as 'colourful'. She had been a thief, a pickpocket, and a Goddess. She thought. Hank continued. "Even Rogue's past has been chequered." Hank referred to Rogue's foster mother, Mystique, and the time Rogue spent with The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Charles nodded. "But we only know as much as people tell us. There are things in Wolverine's past that nobody knows about. And look at how Gambit reacted when Rogue absorbed his memories, when she discovered the things he had kept hidden." "And it wasn't as if they had just met." Added Ororo. "Gambit and Rogue had been involved for a while before they kissed in Israel. Remy has so many things in his past that he has kept hidden, even from me. When the X-Men survived the events brought on by Legion, the knowledge that Rogue knew all about his past almost destroyed Remy." Ororo paused, she had seen a flicker of pain cross Xavier face at the mention of his son, but then it was gone. "There are things Remy has done in his past that he would rather die than let people know about." "And I dare say there are things in your past that you haven't told anyone." Xavier addressed Ororo. "True." Admitted Ororo. "And even if I did tell someone, it would be my choice. Someone wouldn't have come and ripped the secrets out of my mind." Ororo looked directly at Hank. "Think of it from Kavik's point of view. How exposed and vulnerable she must feel." "I've known Kavik for years, and I've always felt that there was something she didn't want anyone to find out about her. I'd assumed it was that she was a mutant, but maybe I was wrong. Whatever it is, it's serious enough to make her decide to leave." "But ah don't remember anythin'!" The pained cry came from the other side of the room. The others turned to see Rogue sitting in her bed with her knees huddled to her chest. "Ah've got ta see Kavik. Ah've got ta explain." "Rogue, I want you to stay here for tonight." Hank walked over to the distraught young woman. "No, Hank, ya don't understand. Please, ah've got ta see her." "But, Rogue..." "Let her go, Hank." Xavier interrupted. Hank looked at Xavier, then sighed in surrender. "Very well, Charles. But," he said, turning back to Rogue. "I want you to come here if you feel anything wrong." "Okay." Rogue nodded her agreement as Hank pulled the curtains around Rogue's bed to allow her to get dressed. Sunday, 5:42 PM Kavik MacLeod had just finished packing her suitcase and was about to go and ring for a taxi when there was a knock at her door. "It's open." She called. The door opened to reveal a young woman with a distinctive white stripe down the centre of her hair. "Ah was wonderin' if ah could talk to ya?" Rogue said, still standing in the doorway. Kavik was about to snap back a sarcastic reply when she saw the look on Rogue's face. Biting back the comment she'd been about to throw at Rogue, all she said was "You'd better come in then." Rogue walked in and looked at the suitcase on the bed. "Ah'm sorry." She whispered. Kavik didn't say anything. "What ah did, it was way outta line." Kavik could tell by the tone of Rogue's voice that her regret was genuine. "Ah know that it doesn't mean much now, but ah want ya ta know that ah don't remember anythin' about what happened. Ah can't recall any of the things ah absorbed from ya." Rogue continued. "Ah came here ta ask ya ta give the X-Men, and me, another chance." Kavik looked at Rogue. "I didn't know about you and Remy. If I had, I wouldn't have..." Her voice trailed off as she felt Rogue's gloved hand on her arm. "Remy and ah were over before ya came along." "You didn't sound too sure of that in the Danger Room." Rogue sat down on the bed. "Ma power manifested itself when ah was thirteen. A boy was kissin' me at the time. Ah put him in a coma. He never recovered." Her voice was soft and quiet. Kavik moved the suitcase and sat down next to Rogue. "I'm sorry. It must have been hard." "Ah resigned mahself ta being alone. Then Remy came along. He made me feel special. He was the first person who wanted ta touched me since ah was a girl." "Rogue," Kavik interrupted. "There's no need for you to tell me all of this." "Yes there is. Ah need ta. Ah want ta. Ah guess that ah never got used ta showing ma feelings. Ah tend ta bottle things up, until they kinda explode outta me." "I noticed." Chided Kavik. Rogue blushed. "Ah'm not tryin' ta excuse what ah did, but things have been kinda strange lately. Ah guess that ah just hit out at the most convenient person. Ah'm sorry. Ah couldn't handle it if ah thought that ah'd driven you away. Please, give it another go." Kavik stood up and walked over to the window. "What the hell. I've got nothing else planned." Rogue smiled. "Then you'll stay?" "Yes, I'll stay." "Ah'm glad." Kavik smiled reassuringly. Less than three hours ago she could have easily killed Rogue for what she had done. Now, looking at Rogue, all she saw was a frightened, young girl who wasn't sure of her own feelings. "Just one thing, do you love Remy?" She asked. Rogue looked at her. "Ah...ah don't know. Ah don't know if what ah felt for Remy was love, or gratitude. And ah don't know what ah feel for him now. Why?" "Because if you love him, I'll back off." "You'd do that, even aftah what ah did?" "Yeah, I would." Rogue didn't say anything. "So, I guess that we start again?" Said Kavik, holding out a hand. Rogue grinned and took Kavik's hand. "Ah guess we do. Welcome ta the X-Men." "Thanks." "Ah don't think that ah love him. Ah think that ah was just flattered that he paid attention ta me." Rogue said when she went to the door. Before Rogue could leave the room, Kavik called after her. "Rogue." "Yeah?" "Just after you collapsed in the Danger Room, you mumbled something. Do you remember what you said?" "No, ah don't remember a thing. Sorry." "Don't be." Kavik replied softly as Rogue closed the door behind her. "Don't be sorry at all." Sunday, 6:12 PM Remy LeBeau knocked on Kavik's door and walked in. "I hear dat you've decided to stay." He said with a smile. "Yeah. Rogue and I had a...discussion." "So does dis mean dat we can get to know one anot'er a bit better, Chere." Remy laid a hand on Kavik's shoulder. "I don't think so, Remy." Kavik gently removed Gambit's hand from her shoulder. Remy stood there, his face a mass of confusion. "Why not?" "Rogue's confused and she's hurting. She doesn't know what she wants." "I know wha' I want, Chere, an' it's you." "You saw what happened this afternoon. I just think that it would be better if we started again as just friends." Remy looked at Kavik, his eyes studying her entire face. He didn't want to be just friends, he wanted to be much more than just friends. But Kavik was right. He and Rogue hadn't yet sorted everything out from their time together. He knew in his heart that that that time was over, but he didn't want to go into a relationship with Kavik carrying any emotional baggage. "Okay, Chere, jus' friends. But you never know where friendship can take you." Kavik smiled. "True enough. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Monday, 12:47 AM Kavik lay in bed, looking at the ceiling. she thought, The End. (For now) {} {@@@##{}>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> {} **** Always running before the sun Suzy {ee0u4051@liverpool.ac.uk}