Wolvie Femme * Dates:
Remy ran his hand in his hair thinking it would be nice to get out for a while especially after seeing what his sister would be dealing with tonight. He was glad his date would be much simpler as he heard the feminine giggling coming from Rayne’s room. He sighed and rapped on the door.
“De hommes are downstairs ladies,” he called to the closed door.
Rayne tossed the door open to face her brother and he saw the nervous look in her eyes.
“You’ll do fine Cricket,” he hugged her to him right in front of the curious eyes of Jubes, Kitty and Rogue. He felt her sigh and relax some in his embrace as he whispered in Cajun that Jason seemed to be a nice guy.
She pushed away lightly to look up at him and smiled. She sighed and turned to face the girls. She put her hands by her side. “Ah’m ready!”
They nearly knocked Remy over trying to get past him to get down the stairs. Remy luckily had jumped back to avoid being trampled by the over zealous girls. He saw Jubilee eying him appreciatively as she passed. He shook his head with a wry grin as she ran to catch up with the others, ‘too young.’ He sighed ruefully thinking of Hayley downstairs who didn’t look to him to be much older than these girls, ‘how’d Ah get so old so fast?’ He mused to himself with a chuckle as he heard the squeals and girlish giggles as they exclaimed over the gifts Jason had brought Rayne.
Wolvie Femmes * Dates:
Remy ran down the stairs quickly. The sooner the kids were on their way, the sooner he and Hayley would be out on their own for the evening. That thought pleased him immensely.
Amid the giggles from Kitty, Jubilee and Rogue Gambit found Rayne holding the box with the chicken in it and looking rather frazzled. Jason’s expression wasn’t far off. When Hayley saw him she asked him politely to take the chicken to the coup in the back yard. Not wanting to involve himself in any female entanglements, he did as he was asked. He took the box from Rayne, walked out into the back yard, set the chicken free, and walked back inside the house to the kitchen to discard the box.
Hayley met him in the kitchen to put water in a vase for the flowers Jason brought. She noted that he was folding the box up into the crusher. “Where did you put the chicken?”
“In de back yard like ya told me chere.” He grinned and hoped he wasn’t going to be berated.
“I can see it now.” She looked at an invisible magazine; “On the front cover of Forbes. ‘Adam’s Estate, Gone to the Birds;’ with a full color picture of chickens running around the yard.”
“Don’ worry, Ah’ll get rid of it tomorrow.” He laughed softly wondering what else Bobby had told Jason to do, and with that reminder he washed his hands. Twice!
When Hayley and Remy walked back out to the foyer everyone was by the door ready to leave. Bobby still had a smirk on his face and Remy noticed that Rayne was watching him closely. Gambit shook his head at the thought of having to pry his sister off the boy. ‘No tellin’ what she’ll do when she figures out whom all told Jason what to do tonight.’ He coughed to cover a slight laugh; “Everyone ready?”
“Have a nice time,” Hayley said as she wrapped her arms around Remy’s waist.
Gambit’s eyes glowed faintly as he caught Jason’s eye, “Make sure ya have her back by 11 ya hear?”
Jason nodded quickly, “Yes sir.”
Rogue grabbed Bobby by the arm and led the procession to the suburban parked out front.
Jubilee complained, “Do we have to go in that ‘old farts’ mobile?”
Bobby rolled his eyes, “It was the only vehicle left that wasn’t someone’s personal car.”
They filed in the truck and Remy waved to Rayne as the suv pulled away. “That reminds me chere. Maybe after dinner we can go collect my ride. I think Ah’d like ta have it here with me now that we’re moved in an’ all.”
Hayley scoffed, “What is it with you men and your bikes?”
Gambit laughed and pulled her in close seductively, “We know women can’t resist a good ride chere.”
“So, is it true what I heard, that you slept with Justice Adams?” Jubilee said gleefully once the suburban was out onto the street.
Rogue slapped her on the arm. “Why did you say that?”
Jubilee looked hurt as she rubbed her arm. “So sue me already, I’m just curious.”
Kitty snickered, “About Justice.” She made goo-goo eyes at Jubilee.
Rayne turned bright red, “Ah didn’ sleep with him.”
Jason, who was sitting in the front passenger seat was very still and quiet while Bobby drove.
Jubilee retorted, “That’s not what I heard girlfriend.”
“Shut up Jubes,” Rogue said and punched her arm again.
“Nothing happened,” Rayne said quietly keeping her face turned towards the window.
Jubilee wasn’t going to let it go though, “Nuh uh! Give it up. Tell us what happened.”
Kitty interjected, “Maybe it’s not a good time to talk about it Jubes.” She pointed to the seat where Jason was.
Jubilee snapped her gum, “Oh, right.”
“Justice is a very nice man. He wouldn’t do anything like that.” Rogue said pointedly.
Rayne sighed aloud, “We were just playing cards and it was late and we fell asleep. That is all that happened.”
“Ah HA!” Jubilee almost jumped out of her seat. “Confession at last so you DID sleep with him.”
Rayne was getting angry. She turned towards Jubilee with eyes glowing, “Ah said that nothing happened. Don’t you ever say anything to hurt Justice.”
Jubilee looked hurt, “Hurt him? Why would I want to do that? He’s an absolute GOD!” Her eyes glazed over, “What I wouldn’t give to see him in the buff.”
“JUBILEE!” Kitty and Rogue yelled, and Rogue punched her arm yet again.
Rayne sighed and turned her face to the window again to watch the lights in the dim of the evening.
“Ok,” Jubilee said while smacking her gum. “Then how about what I heard about…OW!”
Rogue punched her arm hard enough to make her shut up. She didn’t want Rayne to feel like a bug under a microscope, and she was concerned that Jason would be angry with Rayne about anything he might hear from the conversation, although she was sure that he had heard the rumors as well.
Kitty changed the subject. “Where are we going to eat?”
“Outback.” Bobby said as he glanced in the rear view mirror.
Kitty looked at her watch, “Are we going to be able to make it?” She knew how crowded restaurants around there were on Friday nights.
Bobby nodded, “Jason called and told them to put us on the waiting list. By the time we get there they should be ready to call us.”
Rayne
glanced in the side mirror again and noted that the same vehicle had been
behind them through several turns. Her heart thumped in her chest. She didn’t
want anyone to get caught in the situation between her and Essex. She tried to
think of what she could do if they stopped at the restaurant and it was him. As
she was concentrating the suburban stopped and the engine was turned off. She
looked around and saw that the vehicle had parked just a few spaces down from
them. Every muscle in her body ached from want of fleeing but outwardly she
tried to appear calm. She took a deep breath and was about to tell them to be
on alert when she saw Reg get out of the car. “Reg!” She blurted out, overjoyed
it was not
The others turned to see Reg Grundy walking towards the door to the restuarant. Rayne, still filled with relief, jumped out of the truck and ran over to him. “You don’t know how glad Ah am ta see you, mon ami.”
Reg looked around as if he had just been woken from a dream. “Where’d you come from?” Then he saw the others coming out of the suv. “The yanks have landed.” He snorted.
Bobby came up and shook his hand followed by a dejected looking Jason. Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee came up giggling. Bobby reached for the door saying to Reg. “We have a table reserved already, your welcome to join us.”
Reg looked as if he were going to decline but the girls pleaded with him until he gave in. When they made it up to the desk the hostess told them they had their table ready, so one by one they walked to a far corner where two tables had been pushed together.
After they
were seated Jubilee blurted, “You’re from
Reg calmly sat back in his chair, “Yeah, me mum an’ dad gave birth to their bouncing baby boy in ‘Oztralia’. As for having an accent, you bloody yanks have the ‘accent’.” He grinned and looked sourly at the glass of water that the waitress set on the table. He caught the waitresses attention, “G’day shelia, I’d like a beeyah please.”
After the waitress ran through the list Reg grumbled under his breath, “Nothin’ but a bunch of yank piss water.” He cleared his throat, “I thought this was an ‘Oztralian restaurant?”
The befuddled girl retorted, “It is.”
“Then where’s the friggin’; “‘Ostralian beeyah’?”
“We have
Fosters. That’s from
Reg snorted, “That’s just something we make for the yank tourist. You don’t have any VB?” The blank look from the waitress told him that answer. “V.B. y’know Victorian Bitter?” She kept her hopeless look and he sighed. “Well then, what do you have on tap?” The girl ran through the list again and Reg picked out an ale.
Before the waitress stepped away she asked him for his ID. He looked at her and sighed, “What’s a poor aussie have to do for a drink around here?” He dug through his pocket and brought out his wallet. He flipped it open and showed her his driver’s license.
She wrinkled her nose, “I can’t use that. It’s not an American license.”
Bobby snorted water out his nose and the others looked at one another barely containing their laughter.
Kitty rescued the girl with a friendly smile, “Excuse me, but it is a picture ID and it shows his age. That should be all that you need, right?”
The girl nodded her head and walked away slowly.
When she was out of earshot Jubilee gasped. “Nuh uh! I’ve seen dumb but she is dumber then dumb.”
Rogue slapped Jube’s arm as Bobby busily wiped his face.
Jubilee looked dreamily at Reg, “I could listen to you talk all day.”
Reg shrugged and looked at Rayne who was sitting very quietly. “You like your new home?”
Rayne shrugged, “It’s fine.”
“Fine?” Jubliee interrupted, “Oh, My, Gawd! It’s a palace! You are sooo lucky to live there.”
Rayne frowned, “It’s nice.” She squirmed, feeling out of sorts, “Anywhere Remy is, is fine with me.” Looking at her hands she said, “Not that Ah’m not grateful for having such a nice place to stay. But…”
Jubilee added, “But nothing. I’d LOVE to live there!” She wiggled in her seat, “Shah, I’d have all those nice clothes and things bought for me too, and, get to see Justice.” She sighed deeply and sank into her dream without another word.
Kitty and Rogue sniggered. Rogue reached under the table and grabbed Bobby’s hand and they exchanged looks.
The waitress came back with a beer and Reg intercepted it on the way to the table top. He took a testing sip then with a slight smile he downed the whole glass. With a satisfied sigh and a quick lick of the lips he shoved the glass towards the waitress, “I’ll have another thank you.”
Rogue looked puzzled, “But you’re driving home. Should you have so many and drive?”
Reg raised his eyebrows, “No worries shelia, we Aussie’s can hold our ‘beeyah’.”
“We are going to a movie after dinner. Would you like to join us?” Bobby said.
“What movie?”
“The remake of dawn of the dead.” Rogue responded.
Rayne gasped, “The movie about zombies?”
Kitty smiled at Rayne, “Did you see the first ones?”
Rayne shook her head violently, “No!” Images of Edval as a zombie made her stomach churn. “Ah’d NEVER watch such a thing.”
“Ohh kay,” Kitty said, “Guess that’s out. Any suggestions?”
“Well,”
Rogue added thoughtfully, “They are showing
Rayne noted them looking at her for confirmation. “Dat’s fine, just no zombies.” She smiled faintly and cut her eyes over to Jason who was being extremely quiet. She knew he was nervous and probably well aware now that things he was told to do for the date was a joke. Rayne truly wanted to talk to him to make him feel better but she felt so out of place herself. Finally she looked at Reg then back to Jason and started talking about the only thing she felt they had in common. “Can Ah ask ya’ll somethin’ about de lab?” By everyone’s reaction she thought she’d just told them she was an alien. They looked from her to one another. Reg gulped down his second beer and Jason looked harder at his water glass.
“It’s just that,” Rayne began again; “There are so many holes in mah mem’ry. I remember some…images mostly. An’ Ah was just wonderin’ what all happened there.”
Of course Kitty, Rogue, Bobby and Jubilee weren’t there so they had nothing to say. Jason kept his gaze on the water glass and Reg ordered two more beers.
Rayne continued even though no one offered any information. “Ah remember seeing Jason.” At that Jason looked at her sharply and his face went pale.
Rayne undaunted continued further, “Ah sorta remember you;” Pointing at Reg. “Ah remember a woman with purple eyes mostly.”
“Dianna,” Reg finally piped in. “Chief lab mongrel.” He shifted in his chair and cupped his glass. “Only thing I knew is that they were experimenting on mutants. I don’t think there were any ‘flatlines’ there.” He drank the last drop of his beer and sat back. “Don’t know why the bastards were doing what they did, but I hope they all get the chance to have their balls squeezed in a vice sometime.”
“Jason?” Rayne pointed looked at her date sitting there staring at his glass. “What do you remember?”
Kitty interjected, “Um, maybe this isn’t such a good time to talk about this stuff.”
“There will never be a ‘good’ time shelia, but your right.” He pointed at the servers bringing their food.
Rayne sat back in her chair to accommodate the salad being put in front of her. She watched Jason wondering why he hadn’t said a word since they sat down. Suddenly she felt very ashamed. He had gone through so much to take her out and here she was bringing up something he probably would rather forget.
After the servers left everyone quietly started eating. Rayne could only pick at her salad because of the knots in her stomach and throat.
The waitress walked up and noticed that it was very quiet. “Is everything ok? Can I get you anything?”
“Another ‘beeyah’ please;” Reg said gloomily.
“But you’ve already ordered two” the girl reminded.
“I know.” Reg said with a smile and handed her his empty glass.
With a lack of any other request the girl walked away.
Suddenly the hairs stood up at the back of Rayne’s neck and she looked around the room. The dinning area was full and there were little kids walking around some of the tables. Nothing looked sinister but Rayne had a feeling of foreboding that she couldn’t shake. Her nerves couldn’t take anymore so she excused herself and went to the ladies lounge.
The lounge was empty so Rayne quickly splashed water on her face. She was dabbing her face dry when Rogue walked in.
“Are you ok?” Rogue walked over and put a hand on the counter.
Rayne took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. “Oui chere, just got a little hot s’all.”
“Look, I’m sorry I mentioned the scars on the others today.” Rogue placed her back to the counter. “I hope it didn’t bring back any bad memories.”
“Rogue?” Rayne wasn’t sure how to begin. “A-Ah, I mean, you know, Jason is really nice an’ all.” She fidgeted with the cuffs on her sleeves. “But Ah don’t know what ta say to him.”
Rogue stood straight and regarded Rayne. “Well, just be yourself and talk about something that you have in common.”
Rayne said dryly, “Ah tried dat chere. Didn’ work so good.”
“Oh right.” Rogue had wondered why Rayne brought up the lab. “Well, um…”
Kitty walked into the bathroom, “Hey guys what’s up?”
“Nothing,” Rayne said and walked out of the room.
Kitty looked at Rogue, “What’s going on?”
Rogue sighed, “She doesn’t know what to talk about with Jason.”
“Did you tell her to just talk about something they had in common?”
Rogue laughed, “She already tried, chere.”
“Ohhh,” Kitty understood. “Well, maybe we can help start a convo. Let’s go, the guys are wondering what is going on.”
Remy tried to think of anything else but Rayne as he drove the car to the restaurant. Hayley had been quiet but he knew she was just tired. They both needed this time away, a chance to do something ‘normal’.
Hayley looked out the window enjoying the lights and the pleasant weather. She smiled to herself as she looked at the handsome man driving her through the night. She had strong feelings towards Remy and could even picture herself staying with him a very long time, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was mellowing her out too much, if he was crimping her lifestyle. Earlier she would have gotten much more forceful with Rayne but she didn’t because of Remy. Her father would never have let her talk back to him like Rayne did to her.
She didn’t realize she sighed until Remy cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Somethin’ wrong chere?” Remy he asked.
“No, not really,” she looked on into the darkness that had deepened as they drove.
“D’ya still want ta go out?” Remy looked concerned then, “Are ya feelin’ ok?”
“Yes, I do,” she looked over at the warmth in his expression and smiled at him. “And it’s just some growing pains I suppose.” She reached over and touched his face lightly, “Although some things make all pains easier.”
Remy felt himself smile against her hand as he looked back to the road, “Here we are;” he gestured to the place as he began to turn. He found a parking spot and pulled the vehicle in. He saw Hayley reach for her door knob and scolded, “Hey! dat’s my job pretty lady,” he grabbed the cell phone and his wallet and hopped out of the car.
He saw Hayley acquiesce to his demands so he hit the speed dial on the phone as he walked around the back to open Hayley’s door.
“Hello?” the other end answered quickly.
“Justice,” Remy said softly, “Rayne’s off on her date.”
“Yes, she is,” Justice laughed.
“How do you know?”
“They’re at Outback and then will go to see a movie at the mall,” Justice chuckled. “There is some discrepancy as to which movie, but I think it will be an Austin Powers flick.”
Remy stammered, “H-hey whose sister is she homme?” Then he laughed, “Are you contacting her telepathically?” Gambit was shocked at the prospect of Rayne letting Justice use telepathy on her. He felt his heart sink thinking about how much Justice had done for his sister while he had been spending so much time with Hayley.
“No no! I wouldn’t DARE do that, again.” Justice grimaced thinking about how Rayne had tossed him against a wall for contacting her mind a while back. “I have a connection there in case I’m needed.”
“A spy?” Remy laughed, “Didn’ know ya had it in you homme!”
Justice laughed, “Don’t keep Hayl waiting or she’ll get angry.”
The line went dead and Remy shook his head, “sneaky telepaths.’ He laughed to himself as he snapped open Hayley’s door and she smiled at him as he offered his hand.
He looked at the bracelet and was thankful she hadn’t taken it off as he wrapped an arm around her waist walking into the restaurant.
When Rayne got back to the table she noticed that Jason hadn’t touched his food. She felt horrible that she was being such a bad date and wanted to talk with him alone. “Jason,” She said as she sat on the edge of her chair. “Would you go outside with me for a minute? Ah need some fresh air.”
Jason followed her out the front door and over to where some trees lined the parking lot. Rayne loved nature and the calming effect it had on her. She turned to Jason. “Listen chere, Ah’m sorry about bringin’ up de lab. And, Ah apologize for not being a very good date for you.” When Jason opened his mouth to respond, Rayne put her fingers near his lips to silence him. “Ah, asked you before why you wanted to take me out. Remember?” Jason cocked his head but remained quiet so Rayne continued, “The reason Ah said that was because Ah couldn’t believe someone like you would be interested in me.” She looked down at her feet unable to look him in the eye. “It scared me.”
Jason shifted slightly, “Aw, chica, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m just a green haired…” He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, a black haired softy.” He smiled broadly. “I won’t hurt you Rayne. Trust me.” He put his hand under her chin but quickly removed it when Rayne flinched. “Can’t I ask you a question?” She looked up at him with a slight frown. “Why don’t you like anyone to touch you?”
Rayne’s heart leaped into her throat. There was no way she could tell him why, so she said nothing and just stood quietly.
“Nevermind.” Jason took a step away. “Shouldn’t have asked, I’m sorry;” He turned and took a few steps before saying, “I do remember you from the lab. Well, I don’t remember much. It’s kinda like you said, images mostly.” He put his hands in his pockets.
Rayne wondered then if he felt some guilt associated with the lab and that was why he wanted to take her out. “You’re not interested in me because of the lab are you?”
“No,” he said honestly. “One night I saw you dancing in the rain. I had never seen anyone do that before. You were laughing and spinning and seemed so happy.”
“You saw me?” Rayne blushed.
“Yes, I was sitting on the front porch railing. I guess you didn’t see or hear me because of the storm.”
Rayne’s heart lightened up some thinking about that night. She truly had felt some measure of joy for the first time in a long time. She smiled.
“That’s much better.” Jason said with a smile of his own. “You have a beautiful smile Rayne. You should do it more often.”
Rayne was
embarrassed that he had seen her that night. ‘Ah can’t believe Ah didn’ see him there’ She
silently chided herself for being lax. Dropping her guard too much could be
dangerous, especially now that
“Jason,”
She wasn’t sure if she should say anything about
Jason’s smile faded, “What do you mean?” He kicked a fallen stick. “You’re not even going to give it a chance?”
Rayne felt horrible. She regretted saying what she did. “It’s not that chere. It’s just that…” She couldn’t organize her thoughts, “It’s just that Ah don’t think Ah can do it.”
Jason’s voice softened, “Do you think this is easy for me?”
Rayne looked at him and realized for the first time that it was possible that he was afraid as well; ‘how stupid Ah am.’ She dropped her head in shame. “Jason, Ah’m sorry.”
“For what?” He was worried that this was going to be is shortest date ever.
“For…” She was cut off then by a call from Kitty that they were ready to leave. Rayne reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm. “Ah’m sorry for being so self-centered. Can yo forgive me, chere?”
“We’ve been through a lot, chica. All of us from the labs.” He choked slightly as more images popped into his mind of his recent experience. He hated being a pawn of those evil people. More and more he was becoming aware that he had been forced to do things, and what he recalled doing in their service made him sick. “You said that you remembered seeing me there.” His heart skipped and pounded. He wondered if what she recalled was something bad about him and that was why she was afraid. “Rayne, I don’t remember ever doing so, but if I hurt you in any way please forgive me.”
Kitty called again for them to join the others at the truck but Rayne couldn’t move an inch. What could she say to Jason that would be truthful but wouldn’t hurt him? She never wanted to hurt anyone but always found herself in positions to do so and it made her angry.
Jason worried that Rayne’s silence was conformation of his fears. He had hurt her and she didn’t want to tell him so. Anger welled up inside him and his jaw clenched, “I’d like to kill those evil bastards!”
“No,” Rayne said softly, “That wouldn’t do any good. What’s done is done chere. We can’t change our past.” She looked him in the eye, “Don’t give them any more control over your life, ok?”
Jubilee shouted that they were going to be late and to hurry so Rayne turned and started walking towards the suburban. When she saw that Jason was standing still and she stopped; “coming?” she said with a slight smile.
Jason’s mind was a torrent of questions. He wanted to talk some more but he didn’t want to hold the others up so he started off for the car. As he passed Rayne she came over and walked next to him. Before they got halfway to the vehicle Rayne said in a low voice. “Ah guess it’s time we start living an’ forget de past chere. Doesn’t do any good ta dwell on it anyway. Only causes more pain.” Jason wasn’t sure if what she said was for his benefit or hers. For now he would have to wait to find out more answers to the questions that now filled his thoughts.