The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Chapter Forty Eight (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta… *kicks Customs agents*… InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are loverly and sparkled for archiving/hosting! ProPhile: *poke * Seriously, the last five or six… smut! Morgan: *GLOMP * Readers/Reviewers: *bounce * Foxy’s gone and we’re sad. *sniffle * But more ficcage to drown sorrows, mostly. Almost…


Rogue flexed her fingers experimentally, the digits cold without her gloves. She was not quite sure what had driven her to shed them on their way down the stairs, following the strange gray woman, but she had an overwhelming urge to do so, as well as remove her scarf and push up the sleeves of her mesh bodysuit; she forced herself to stop at the gloves, however, because Jubilee was walking entirely too close for comfort. They had gone down three flights of stairs and were now, according to Camille, at the correct sublevel. Jubilee had stopped questioning their path some minutes before but Rogue could tell that she was just itching to say something, dying to snap or pick or bitch or something, anything to break the silence and mystery surrounding the situation. She had stopped talking about Remy before they even went downstairs, Rogue noted. She was not sure if this was conscious on Jubilee’s part, but frankly she was glad. If she had to hear one more word about how worried her friend was or how she was sure Remy would help them, Rogue was going to scream. Loudly. Her fingers brushed the cool metal of the railing on the side of the stairs and she paused. Something did not feel right. It was wet, she thought to herself. Just enough to be felt, not dripping. More like condensation, she thought. “Hey, y’all… hold up a sec…” She crouched on the bottom step, Jubilee and Camille pausing a few feet ahead of her. She ran her fingers down the railing, looking up at the ceiling to try and detect an errant leak or other source for the water. “Damn it…”
Camille’s low voice broke the reverie. “It’s probably just the nature of the basement,” she shrugged, her webbed fingers flexing. “We should keep moving.”
Rogue rose slowly, her fingers still on the railing. “Why the hurry? She ain’t goin’ anywhere if what you said is true.”
Jubilee rocked back on her heels, her brows shooting up. “She does have a point, though, Rogue, I can kind of see hers, too…”
Camille sighed and shrugged in a perfect expression of “I don’t care” attitude. “She is not my concern any more than she is yours. I am doing as I was asked because I was told I could find help from your leader.” Her gills fluttered in the almost dry air. “I can leave…”
Jubilee narrowed her eyes. “ You have gills.”
“Yes, I do,” Camille said patiently. “You can touch them later.”
Rogue’s brows shot up. She was gloveless and could do this fast. Move slow, she thought, until the last second. “So where’s Roulette anyway? She ain’t my favorite person in the world but I feel obligated…” She looked past Camille as if she were scanning for some sign of Roulette. “Hope she ain’t hurt or somethin’.”
Camille frowned. “She is fine.”
Rogue caught Jubilee’s eye as the new woman turned to continue the trek into the heart of the basement. She hoped the younger girl could read her, tell what she was about to do, because she did not want Jubilee to get hurt in this. Rogue started forward as if following Camille benignly, closing the distance in a few strides. As her hand shot out, Camille turned. Rogue was not sure if she suspected something or if she was merely turning to talk to them, but she was able to avoid the draining touch by leaping back and surprisingly clinging to the wall. Jubilee threw up her hands, a spray of plasma sparkles erupting in the narrow hall. Rogue cried out and closed her eyes, avoiding her earlier mishap, but Camille was not so lucky. A harsh, strangled cry cut the room and she was temporarily blinded. Jubilee crowed shortly in pleased accomplishment and started forward to grab Camille but the older woman was quicker. Despite her lack of clear vision, she hit the floor running, her fingers trailing the wall to guide her as she took off for the recesses of the basement. Rogue growled. “Come on, Jubes…”
Jubilee broke into a run, keeping pace with Rogue as they followed Camille’s footsteps down the hall. “What was that about?” she demanded. “I got your back and all, but what the Hell?”
“She ain’t a telepath,” Rogue breathed, trying to hear footsteps. “I don’t think she’s on our side at all.”
“Why?” Jubilee asked, skidding to a halt as Rogue did at a juncture in the basement hallway. “What makes you think that?”
“Dunno,” Rogue sighed. “Fuck all. We lost her.”
“She can’t have gone that far,” Jubilee pointed out. “It’s a basement!”
“Jubes, if *we* can get lost in the basement at home…” Rogue shook her head. “Fuck fuck fuck.” She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her wits. “The metal’s all wet, like condensation or somethin’.”
“So? Maybe they have moisture issues…” Jubilee was frowning, though, thinking.
Rogue shook her head. “Just ed oed off somehow… like… like…” She shook her head again. “Wrong.”
Jubilee inhaled deeply, staring ahead of them down the hall. “We just going to let her run like that?” she asked lightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Like you said, it’s a basement… she can’t get far.” Rogue looked up and bit her lip. “Gimme a leg up.”
“What? Damn it, Rogue, it’s water! Get over it!” Jubilee knelt, though and laced her fingers together for Rogue to put her booted foot in. “You break, you die.”
Rogue rolled her eyes and stepped up, grabbing onto the pipe running over head. “It’s dry,” she announced, dropping back to the ground. “The water ain’t from the pipes.”
Jubilee groaned. “Jesus, Rogue, focus!” She snapped her fingers in front of her friend’s eyes. “Camille? Firestar?”
“Morlock.”
“Bitch!”
“No, Morlock!” Rogue snapped, grabbing Jubilee’s shoulders and turning her around to face the opposite direction. A pale, misshapen young man stood at the end of the hall, seeming to will them not to see him. “Hey!” she called. “C’mere!” He took off running.
“You haven’t played this game before have you?” Jubilee sighed.
“Oh, shut up and run.”