Scott jumped up as soon as he recognized the people on the screen. “What is this? When was this taken?”
Jubilee paused the recording and turned to Scott in a huff. “Look, I know you are confused. Maybe I should explain a little before we start this again alright? Is that ok with everyone?” She looked over at the other two to see if they disagreed. They both nodded in agreement so Jubilee continued. “My girl here has been having some seriously freaky dreams and nightmares lately. Not the normal ones she got from Magneto or Wolverine, but seriously freaky new ones. She TOLD me she couldn't remember them or that they were too FUZZY to describe, but you see they really shook her up after having them. I dunno if you noticed lately or not, but Rogue here's been real jumpy and twitchy and that is not normal for her. She finally got fed up looking over her shoulder all the time and wierding herself out thinking all her stuff in her room was being moved around when she wasn't there. She put a spy cam thingy in her room to record anything peculiar or to prove to herself that she was letting her imagination get to her.”
Jubilee reset the recording to start at the beginning. “I'm not going to tell you what's on this. You need to sit and watch it till the end. Then we'll discuss it. NO MORE QUESTIONS, NO MORE INTERUPTIONS. JUST WATCH IT AND DIGEST IT. GOT IT?” Jubilee restarted the recording and moved out of the way so everyone could see.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rogue didn't watch the video again, instead she decided to watch the men watching the screen. She wanted to see their honest reactions to what was happening before them. First she looked over at Logan. He was holding her hand in both of his, rubbing her knuckles at first, but as each minute passed, he got more and more still. It seemed that he was barely even breathing and she didn't see him blink in the longest. He just stared long and hard at the screen. His eyebrows raised as high as she'd ever seen, and his jaw clenched tightly. He let her hand go when he realized he was starting to squeeze it tightly. He ran his hands over his face then leaned down and rested his elbows on his knees. His arms dropped between his spread thighs and his fists clenched open and closed.
Rogue looked over at Scott sitting on one of the hotel room chairs. His back was straight and his arms were crossed over his chest. You couldn't see his eyes through his red sunglasses, but you could tell all his attention was on the screen right now. His lips were pursed and his head was nodding slowly. It was as if this was only confirming suspicions he'd been harboring for some time.
Rogue looked back at Logan and noticed a vein in his forehead start to throb, and his jaw was clenched tight. If looks could kill, her laptop would be in pieces soon. She hoped he didn't destroy her “baby”. That laptop was her lifeline to the outside world. The world in which she couldn't move about freely due to the nature of her mutation. Online she was just like any other person and a danger to no one. She didn't have to protect herself and others 24/7. The freedom it brought to her life, made each day more endurable than anything else she'd found. She still couldn't believe the vile things her “baby” showed the room right now. Her computer never brought her anything but joy before and she wasn't sure how to take this new development. She got up and started pacing in the space between the bed and the bathroom door, looking at the floor and trying to block the sounds coming from her “baby”.
Scott noticed her getting up and glanced over at Rogue. He watched her as she paced. His eyes followed her every move. He couldn't stand watching the filth on the screen anymore. It was causing him to have a splitting headache, and the temptation to open his link with Jean grew with each moment. But he promised not to open it, and he was nothing if not a man of his word. He would not break it now. He wasn't sure if the woman he saw on the screen could be his Jean. Perhaps it was someone pretending to be her, a shape-shifter or a secret twin, hell even a clone? Just because he'd had suspicions of her being unfaithful and her flirtatious ways with other men didn't mean she would act in such a reprehensible manor. And with HIM???? He'd never seen any sign of any misbehavior between the two of them before. With Logan he could believe it much easier, well an affair he could believe. What he was seeing now was just unexplainable. Impossible. Insane. So instead of watching someone who looked like his Jean (and possibly it was his Jean he admitted to himself) acting in such a manner, instead he watched the beautiful woman pacing in the room.
Back and forth Rogue paced. God how he wanted to go across the room and comfort her. The sanctuary of her bedroom had been violated in quite a malicious manner, and that had to be devastating. She then moved back towards the bed and curled up with one of the pillows up near the headboard. He watched silent tears start to run down her cheeks. Scott stood and settled next to her at the head of the bed and hugged her and the pillow close to him. She stiffened at first then collapsed in his arms. He ran his hands up and down the back of her shirt whispered soothing words trying to stop her tears. “Its ok. Don't worry, we'll take care of this for you.”
She sat back and look up at him with wide eyes. “You don't understand,” she whispered.
“Oh, I think I understand what you are going through. Betrayal sends a hurt straight to your soul,” he replied.
“No you really don't understand,” she said again. “There is a lot more to watch,” she turned towards the laptop screen and Scott turned to watch with her.
On the screen they watched as the bedroom door opened and in walked Rogue on the screen. “What the hell???” came from the laptop's speakers.
The bitch looked at Rogue and raised her hand, freezing the young woman where she had stopped. The door behind her closed on its own. Rogue's eyes moved around wildly, but no other part of her body would move. “Looks like we have a visitor. Shall we play with her?” The bitch asked the other one in the room.
“Oh yes we should,” they replied.
Scott said under his breath, “Holy shit.”
Logan stood up and his claws came out with a snikt. He started to growl lowly and his chest heaved with each breath.
Jubilee jumped up to the laptop and paused it again. “Calm down guys! CALM THE FUCK DOWN. There's a lot more to watch, you can't go nuts yet. It gets a whole lot worse from here on in. Now you know why I told you to bring some liquor. We need it. We need it fucking now.” She walked over to her purse and pulled out her wallet. “Look I'm not kidding. We need it. Logan, I'll go with you if you want, or you can take Scott with you. Rogue needs to stay here. She's not in any shape to go out in public. Can you calm down enough for that?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. You and me Sparky. Is that ok with you baby?” He looked over at Rogue.
She nodded in agreement.
“One-eye, I'm leaving her here in your protection. You had better not betray my trust. You get me?” he raised his claws to emphasize his words to Scott.
“I understand. And I get you. You have nothing to worry about.” Scott reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, tossing it over to Logan. “Bring me back some whiskey. I think I'm gonna need it.”
Logan nodded and headed towards the door. He looked over at Jubilee who then smacked herself on the forehead. “DUH! How could I have forgotten.” She reached in her purse and pulled out a small metal case and tossed it over to Rogue. “Start one of those while we're gone.”
Recognizing the case, Rogue smiled and waved goodbye to Jubilee as she and Logan went out the door.
“What's in the case?” Scott asked.
Rogue looked at Scott and smirked. She opened the case and pulled out a joint. “Care to join me?”
“You think I won't? You think I've never smoked one before?” He reached over and took the joint from Rogue's fingers and leaned over to the bedside table and picked up the book of matches and the ratty ashtray. He lit the joint, and took a couple deep drags, then handed it over to Rogue while smiling at her.
She smiled back and took her own hit waiting for him to start coughing. He let out his exhale and she did the same. She truly thought he'd be coughing up a lung by now.
“Yes,” he said, “I had quite a misspent youth, thank you very much.” He nudged Rogue and took another hit and they passed it back and forth waiting for Logan and Jubilee to return. Neither spoke aloud just smiling at each other and smoking in peace.