2014.04.11 - Unfortunate Implications

Rogue was typing away at her laptop, in her bedroom at the X-Factor investigations. She was sitting in her bed, cross legged with the device on her lap. She was finishing up a report with that day's findings with the teams current investigation.

Her outfit for that day was simple, a green flannel long sleeve shirt with a black knit dress underneath with a hood attached along with gray pantyhose and no shoes. Her brown leather gloves were placed aside so she could more quickly type. Rogue's hair looked windswept, and was tossed back into a low messy bun.

Her bedroom itself was small, but comfortable. Various band or photography posters hung on her wall, along with some small framed photos of interesting locations she's been to. One was one of the remaining photos from her life in Genosha, Rogue in a swimsuit with a few friends she had made and a visiting Leo Luthor. Industrial music played in the background.

Daimon was a bit nervous about some information he had learned about recently while in a divination trance. What he had learned had sort of scared him. And he didn't get scared easy. He went to the office and everyone was out, accept Jamie. Who he waved at made some devilish remarks to and then asked if Rogue was in her room. When he learned that, yes she was. He went up the stairs to her room.

He knocked twice rather loudly, "Oi! You in there, Anna Marie? Need to talk to someone about something. It's important."

Rogue called out through her door, "If it's about what pants make your ass look better I am /not/ doing that again. And it's the maroon leather ones. Come in."

Daimon opened the door and walked in, honestly his heart fluttered a bit. That was knew. Maybe it was just the trust he was about to lay on her. And the anger at himself that he knew he was about to lay something pretty heavy on his friend-cum-co-worker.

"Nothing like that, Anna. It's about that whole lock door mystery thing we're working on. I..."

Daimon looked at Rogue and closed the door to the room behind him, "I... you look good in that outfit, Rouge," he never called her Rogue, "Looks great on you."

Her laptop closed shut. Ok he hasn't called her Rogue since ever. Once he found out her real name was Anna that was it for him, apparently.

She placed it aside and slipped back on her gloves, sliding her legs to the side and patted the spot next to her on the bed. Small room, there wasn't a lot of seating inside. "Yer callin' me Rogue. That aint a good sign. Lay it on me, maybe Ah can help. Somethin' like that weird text ya sent me?"

Daimon sighed heavily. He usually loved giving bad news. Why was he upset about this. Did Daimon somehow have friends now? Him? The consummate loner who didn't like anyone more than it took for him to talk them into bed or to get their money?

This was all a weird feeling to be sure, "Okay yeah. It's about what I saw. Firstly, I scanned the body for magic. Nothing. So after that I took it on myself to enter a divination trance and focus on the time of the murder."

He looked at the ground and said, "Anna. How often do mutant powers repeat themselves in nature?"

Rogue thought for a moment as she grabbed her stuffed corgi plush and held it in her lap. She fiddled with it for a moment as she considered before answering, "Not a lot. There are always similar powers, Ah see a couple like mine for instance but aint always the same way. Or there are a bunch of telepaths. But it don't always work the same way."

She then realized she was a fully grown adult holding a stuffed animal in front of a cute gentlemen she regularly crushes over and tosses it over the side of the bed, "What are you getting at? You have like this worried look on yer face."

Gentleman? Please, Daimon has never been and will never be a gentleman. Though at Rogue's embarrassment he did smile a bit. That made it a bit easier to talk about, "The person who killed the woman had Jamie's ability to create duplicates of themselves. That's how they got in, they created a dupe through the crack in the window."

Rogue reached out, and touched at Daimon's leg and looked into his eyes. Her voice lowered, "Are you sure. Like completely 100 sure this is what's right? Like not just gettin' little specs of Jamie on the crime scene? You know like skin flakes? Ok Ah need to read up on some magik, might as well at this point yeah."

She connected eyes with him and smiled widely for a moment, but that faded as she looked forward, and rested her elbows on her knees and let out a sigh, "Because if yer sayin' is true. This ain't good, not fer anyone."

"It was a Point-Of-View vision. If he wasn't wearing a ski-mask I would know what the guy looked like right now," Daimon answered seriously, "It wasn't about resonances or after images. I saw him choke the girl. I felt the joy he was feeling in watching it happen."

A long deep sigh and he dropped down, squatting next to her so they could easily see eye to eye, "I was hoping that somehow multiplying was a common mutant and metahuman trait."

Rogue looked to the side and played with her bangs, trying to push them behind her ears but they were too short, "No. Not not really. Haven't really heard of anyone like Jamie but Ah've seen others who can...duplicate powers."

Moment of silence as that actually included Rogue. She reached out with her gloved hand and grabbed Daimon's, "What do you think this means?"

"I don't know honestly. When we were talking about it in that big 'office meeting' and I teased it could be him, that was just me being a Devil's Advocate. It was also the most logical idea on the table. I didn't think it was true," Daimon sighed heavily there was a darkening of his red eyes and his red hair as he reached out and touched Rogue on the face with his bare hand. The spell he developed having gone active.

He paused as he touched her face and said, "Only other person I've ever read or heard about who can duplicate is some two-bit super-villain called Billy Numerous. But his MO is robbing mall stores and getting beat up by D-listers. Murder is sort of out of his game."

Rogue still unintentionally jerked opposite of his touch, but remembered his spell he's probably mastered by now. Her eyes widened, "Then we gotta talk to Jamie, and hell if he don't remember maybe Ah can touch him! Get somethin'. His dupes get...kinda wonky."

Her brows lowered as she remembered several times where a dupe had something different then the actual Jamie, "It's been known to happen. Like something in his own personality gets...enhanced, for one of these dupes."

She shrugged and added, "Or this Billy dude. Never heard of him."

Daimon looked at Rogue and actually smiled a bit, "I was going to talk to Jamie first but I was... scared. I was worried what the other guys would think if I started accusing him of stuff."

He titled his head a bit, "After all both Doug and Jamie have a thing for you, and they both can tell I have a ... that you and I've been close so they might view it as me taking out the competition."

Rogue smiled and reached out to touch his pointed ear with a gloved hand, not wanting to push his spell for longer then he needed to. "Daimon Hellstrom scared? Well Ah'd never think Ah'd see the day. Naw you did the right thing, comin' to me."

She let out a sigh, looking down at her lap then made eye contact again, "This, here Daimon is the drawback of bein' in a team like this. Sometimes you gotta ask the hard questions, and you just found yerself a rock-hard one. But ah'll stand by ya every step of the way. We'll get through this, yeah?"

At the last bit Rogue rolled her eyes and gently punched him in the arm, "/Really/? Really. That's so oversimplifying the situation it aint even funny. That shit don't matter, a woman died. Focus. And besides they...one date each whatever, don't care. Get the job done Daimon."

Daimon scoffed for a moment and then said, "Together. That's a good word. Doesn't seem as scary to accuse my boss of murder if I've got the infamous Rogue at my side."

He kissed her... on her forehead and then said, "You know the one who was in the Brotherhood of Mutants, took down the strongest of the Avengers, attacked a SHIELD records facility, and then disappeared."

He ran his hand down her shoulder and into her hand and said, "Yeah I trust you to have my back. But we can't confront Jamie in front of the others."

Rogue quirked a brow, "Wow yeah bringin' up them brotherhood days that's a great way to put confidence in me. Oh wait that's opposite. Yeah that's what...all of those subjects bring up."

She smiled sweetly though when he kissed her and reached out to touch at his waist, "But yeah you can trust me, hopefully you've known that but hey. And no, just um one on two at first would be better."

Rogue reached back to her hair nervously and took out her ponytail, "And them other guys, just...don't worry about them none. Aint like you got any actual /feelin's/ for me, don't worry about it."

Daimon smiled at Rogue, even if she didn't like the references to her past that he was making he was telling her one thing by referencing it. He trusted her. She was 'evil' once. She was bad, and he'd rather have her at his back than anyone else he knew because he knew one thing...

To the rest Daimon rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I spent two weeks learning how to create a porous energy field because I have no feelings for you."

He suddenly pulled his hand away from Rogue's face and said, "That stuff doesn't matter. Never has."

There was a silence for a moment as Rogue found some other object in the room to look intently at, "Yeah...clearly."

Rogue stood up from the bed and pulled down at her short dress, a small smile on her lips, "Regardless, I'm yer friend through thick and fin. And yeah if you've got something uncomfortable to say to our mutual boss then...well Ah'm there for that too. Yay team!"

Daimon smirked a bit at Rogue's words, "So talk to Madrox. Yay team and all of that noise."

He looked at Rogue and stood back up, letting Rogue have to look up at him again, "You set it up. I'll be there. You know how quick I can get to a location."

He shook his head and added, "I don't want it to be Jamie. I like the guy, a lot. That's why I didn't go to him yet."

He turned his back, his trench coat whipping over as he did, "'Night Rogue."

As he walked away the subtext was clear, he felt for her. He didn't feel like he could be with her, despite his own abilities.

He put his hand on the door to her room and did this very slight hesitation. He... didn't want to leave. With a look back to Rogue he said, "Take care of yourself Rouge."

To Rogue it would be even more clear... he was not coming back.

Rogue placed a hand on the door, and held it from closing, "Hun you aint got no plans for tonight. You've got no classes this weekend. Ah know, you tell me more then ya really should."

She gave him a look over and smirked, "Hang out. You already got all the bad news out in the open. We'll go find some dive or ah'll grab that bottle of whiskey Ah've got stored away downstairs."

Her strength is normal, but from a woman who clearly works out. She closed the door a bit more, "You ran into a tough decision, Ah get that. Bad day for anyone. But...aint the end of the world."

Rogue turned away and grabbed a small jump drive, "Plus it's complete retro but Ah made you a mix...drive? Wow no romance this era yeah? Choice amount of music to yer pleasing. Yer welcome."

Daimon took the jump drive in his hand and his eyes started to glow... his horns were starting to show as well, "Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Combi Christ, Daft Punk and Fear Factory"

"Honestly, Anna. I'm glad. I'm a monster and you to be honest. You treat me as a man."

He looked her in the eye, a little taller than her and said, "And I'm always going to appreciate that."

Rogue saw all of the eyes glow, the ears, and such. The spell was going too strong. Rogue stepped forward and kissed him hard, and passionately on the mouth, "Ah know. But don't push yerself."

There was a moment of silence as she pressed her cheek against the side of his, "Yeah, ah should be dead on account of my past. But here Ah am. Ah aint wouldn't be here if you weren't, to be honest if you kindly. But thems the breaks."

ogue broke away and let out a soft laugh, "But look on all my nonsense. Probaly got like ten dates tonight yeah? Get on outta here, be ready for that meetin' tomorrow."

Daimon shook his head, "Honestly," he pulled at the door slightly and didn't pull it open, "Honestly, no. I'm mostly all talk. Yeah I have my people on the side..."

Daimon touched Rouge's face again, the magical field still up and said, "Do you really think I'd waste all my time on you. Three weeks of research just to find the right spell?"$R

Daimon's hand never left her skin when he said, "Anna, you have always been special. And I can never give you up. I learned that much when I joined X-Factor"

Rogue rolled her eyes yet again, "Wow a whole three weeks? That's so comparable to an entire lifetime. "

But the pair were sarcasm more then honesty. She let out a breath and looked to the side, closing the door not to separate them but to keep the world out, "Am I? Well, do share and all that. Doubt you would otherwise."

Door close, "Aint anyone ever gonna know hm?"

Daimon said, "See. Knew you would treat it like that."

He picked up her stuffed animal and said, "Three weeks in mystic time is huge. For me the even understand your mutation and then come up with a solution for it."

He decided to pull Rouge closer to him rather than make their distance well known

Daimon looked at the door that was locked and she herself was holding closed and asked, "You never thought of it as you and me." His eyes rolled back into his head and said "Remy, Leo, Doug, Jamie, Magneto."

He looked at Rogue and said, "Yeah, Anna, I know where I stand."

Rogue's green eyes connected with his bright red concentrated ones, "Daimon ah always wanted you to be my guy, but that didn't ever seem to work out for you, so Ah left you yer space. Plus ah'm a mess so."

While Rogue knew the spell was up she brushed her lips against his open collarbone and let out a long sigh, "Wut's gonna change? You still, Daimon, are my hero. The man who listened to my nonsense and helped sorted me out."

Rogue, knowing the spell was still up reached out and touched at his side underneath his shirt, "But you actually listened to me, were there for me. So you...are amazing. My hero, so many words Ah can't think of. Heh, Ah've gone al and rambled on ya."

Daimon smirked. He didn't push away any of Rogue's touches, he didn't take away any of her. Because... like it or not, he was falling in love. He didn't even think he was capable of it. Yet here he was.

To the rest of what she said Daimon responded very simply, "I'm not a Champion. I can never be worthy."

He then laughed aloud again, "That's the funny part. You... Anna Marie Darkholme, deserves better than that."

A final smirk and Hellfire appeared around him, "Goodnight.... Sweet girl."

And with that he was gone. Disappearing into a Hell dimension.