Log :: A Separate Entity ~ Remy & Betsy (backdated)

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Remy pulled his car into the mansion garage and parked. The little rental looked out of place amongst the luxury cars that made up the Professor's cars and the vehicles of many of the mansion's residents. One of the odd side-effects of a rent free lifestyle was that many of the staff trended towards high end cars. He pocketed the keys and walked in, making a brief stop at the Professor's office to update him on some of their existing intel that might impact the school. Afterwards, he followed the directions to Betsy's suite.

She hadn't spoken much to her former co-workers since Genosha, and they had tried to respect that. But now it was time to get a few answers if possible.

She almost didn't sense Remy but once she had noticed him making his approach, Betsy couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. The cold sensation crept up her spine and had only gotten worse as she felt Remy travel up the stairs.

Betsy had spent the last few weeks cocooned in her quarters, gathering what little time and strength she had on keeping up appearances on campus, to help ally suspicion. Make-up could only do so much to hide the dark circles under her eyes, her even paler skin, and the utter shroud of sickness that surrounded her.

Was it a surprised that Remy came calling? No. Did she curse his timing? Perhaps a little. Betsy opened the door before he had the chance to knock, squinting into the brightness of the hallway. Why stand and linger on ceremony? It'd be over soon enough and she hadn't the bloody time.

"Well, you look like merde, Betts. Remy would have brought flowers, but I heard dat Haller is de jealous type." Remy said jokingly, trying to keep things light, in contrast to the sunken look she gave him.

"I know, this flu...it's lingered." Betsy offered a noncommittal smile at his joke. "At least part of him would. All things considered, you look well."

"All things considered? Remy missed a major flu epidemic or something?" She hadn't invited him in, so he settled for crossing his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "Figued dat we needed to have a talk."

"I'm surprised you haven't heard," she offered, casually. "City transit is like an influenza pipeline." She took a brief moment to size Remy up and exhaled. Betsy stepped aside, giving him enough room to enter. "Of course, do come in."

Her room was dark, a small sliver of light cut through the curtains. The only way source of light in the room. Betsy offered Remy a seat, the portion closest to the light. "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea?"

"Coffee, merci." Remy's eyes flicked around the room. This wasn't like Betsy at all. The room was more like a cellar; a place to hide. Telepaths always came with a random factor in terms of stability.

With a nod, she entered the kitchen. The sounds of the kettle on and coffee beans grinded down Betsy called out to him. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, dere's an awful lot of materials on de network dat had been you specialty. Transitioning dat over is one part." Remy said as he sat down. "Dere's de other question whether or not you coming back. You were one of de people dat started dis thing, Betts."

There was a soft clank of dishes from the kitchen. After a few moments, she emerged with two cups, handing Remy his coffee and keeping one for herself. She sat down on the armchair adjacent to him. "I've been working to consolidate everything, years of work, into something discernible for you. As to whether I'll be returning to work, I'll have to get back to you on that. I hope you understand, there are things in flux for me and I'm not sure how it'll all play out. And right now, I'm not in the best shape to aid anyone."

"Dis isn't the flu, is it, Betts?" Remy took a sip from the mug. Betsy wouldn't just drop things without a word if something else wasn't happening. "Dere might be ways for us to help if you need it."

"If this was more than the flu, believe me, I'd make a better attempt at hiding it." Offering a small smile, she added jokingly. "Besides, I know you can't keep your mouth shut when it comes to gossip. The Brownstone is worse than high school in that regard." She drank some of the coffee, taking solace in the mug's heat for a moment, then added. "Thank you for the offer. I'm touched, truly."

"We're spies. Professional nosy bastards is another word for de job." He shook his head. "I want you to know dat Remy don' believe half of what you just told me." It was delivered with a half smile and a slightly mocking tone. While he needed Betsy to properly sequester things if she wasn't coming back at any specific time, he understood her desire for secrecy. It was the other side of the job after all. "But, you know where to go if you need us. And you better. 'ro will have words for you if you don't. What are you going to do here in de meantime?"

"I know." Betsy laughed, wide, warm, and happy for a brief moment. And then, it came to her. Remy is family. This man had wormed his assassin heart into hers and had become family. "No idea, honestly." Her smile fell, slowly. Betsy placed her coffee cup on the small table, keeping her eyes downward as she spoke. "You should probably take extra care out there. Avoid all my old contacts. Avoid anyone that knew me, probably implement extra security measures at the Brownstone. Actually burn anything you think I've touched, burn it to the ground. Never mention my name to anyone outside these walls. And if you think you see me out of the corner of your eye, you run."

"Always thought dat dating Haller was a sure sign of insanity. Good to see dat confirmed." He said dryly.

"Might be." She grimaced. "I know this might seem odd to you but after years of..." Betsy closed her eyes, exhaled loudly as she forced herself to release the tension in her body. "She knows every secret, every contact, every friend I had out in the world and one day, I know she will come for me but not before burning my world to cinder." She opened her eyes again and smiled tightly. "I'm no longer an asset. I've been compromised the moment Essex took her out of my bloody head and gave that bitch a body. So, please, do me this kindness and watch out for yourself and the others."

"You're not going to stop Kwannon by crawling into a hole and pulling it shut behind you, Betts." Remy sighed, leaning back. "De reality is dat it's not just you past we facing dese days. My ex-wife is de fucking Black Queen, and she'd burn down de city if she thought it would hurt us. We've got some kind of international Fourth Reich targeting us specifically, and dose are just de top two on de list. De only way to keep people safe from Kwannon is removing her from de equation."

"From your lips," Betsy commented, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I know we are always under a constant threat and your watchful eye keeps them from the brink but this is different, Rem. She watched, studied and learned us. Burning down the city is easier than breaking us, piece by piece. Hiding is not what I'm doing. It's praying. For all of us. Maybe God still has some mercy left."

"Look, Betts, Kwannon may have a lot of damaging information. But giving up?" He put down his coffee and put his hand on her shoulder. "Dat's fear talking. Dere's plenty of pieces she doesn't know, and we've got a few surprises left."

"When did you become the optimist in our little band?" Betsy clasped her hand over his and squeezed. "I must've been gone longer than I thought. Ororo must have had quite the affect on your disposition. Dear me, I might even call it, sunny."

"Fuck dat. Remy just got a problem wit' laying down and dying. For all dat she might know, Kwannon is still Essex' creature. We find out what he's up to, we find her."

"Easier said than done," she gave his hand a pat and pulled hers away. "Besides, I'm not doing much of anything until my body rids itself of this plague. Christ," she sighed. "I'm so fucking tired." Betsy allowed a small echo of the exhaustion she felt to seep out onto her face. "How are you? Truly?"

"Truly? I'm worried." Remy retrieved his coffee mug. "We're exposed in a way dat we haven't been before, Betts. And Wisdom isn't coming back. Dere's a chance, I suppose, but last time we talked, he was clear dat his nervous system is shot. Man's hands shook de whole time. Add into de whole thing de fact that Emma's funding us and has her own agenda, which has put at odds against ourselves already. I am very fucking worried."

Worried? She stood up straighter at the mention of Emma, Pete she knew about, but Emma..."What do you mean her own agenda? The Institute is a separate entity. Emma has no hold on it." "It's not dat clear cut. She's still part of de funding, and Doug is actually her 'White Knight', which means our data is potentially compromised." He took another sip, more out of habit than anything. "Dey kept us in de dark 'bout a deal made to install Belladonna as Black Queen; internal politics. De problem is dat Wisdom and Frost had an understanding. And people like Doug were recruited by Wisdom. Dere loyalty is to him, not me."

Remy actually laughed, although with a bitter edge. "It's not hard to see why dere's a fracture line either. As de White Knight, Doug's job is as Frost's adjunct. He spends his time partying wit de fabulously rich and depraved. Meanwhile, I send him to shitty hellholes to fuss about minor pieces of information that will one day get him killed. My sales pitch is a little weak in comparison, neh?"

"It's highly overrated." Betsy commented. "The parties, orgies, the fun." Her finger traced the rim of the mug. "Do you still trust him? Do you still trust him, Doug?"

"I trust dat he thinks he's trustworthy. But when push comes to shove? I think he will remember who he agreed to follow, and who he happens to."

"Dat's de problem. I can keep him out of de field, but it's Wisdom's call, and he's been less den receptive."

"Pete knows the risk and is forcing your hand," she sat back, a thoughtful look on her face. "What if you forced Doug's? Manufacture a situation to test his alliances. And it'll be a situation of your making but you'll be able to control it. It'll give you your answer. Internal pressure alone would force him out and you wouldn't have to make an active move, keeping the team's trust."

"Manufacturing dat situation means involving Emma, and dat's not a simple thing to do. I push too hard, and suddenly its not 'bout Doug's loyalties anymore. It's Remy versus Emma, and as much as I hate to admit it, we still need her. We don't have enough independent funding to run de centre, we need her company as a cover, and as you may have noticed, other den her, I'm all out of telepaths." He said wryly, although it wasn't accusatory. "Wit'out Wisdom backing it, de cost of isolate Frost could be X-Force."

"Damn, Remy." She shook her head, in disbelief, running her hands through her head.

"Dat's de long and short of it, Betts. We not exactly in de strongest position right now." He hadn't given up, but the scope of the challenges ahead of them was daunting to say the least.

She wiped her hands over her face, feeling even more drained. "I can't come back now but if it's money you need...I know the books and can help fund the Institute's extra-circular activities..."

"And I've got a dozen ways to tap into money. We both know dat it's not enough, and it would badly compromise our networks to try." He shook his head. "We need Emma or an exact duplicate. Unless you got a German clone stashed away, we're stuck."

"No, I don't." She leaned back into her seat, letting out a sad laugh. "I'd say you're royally fucked."

"Pretty much. And unless 'Ro relents and we agree to de whole 'international thieves' plan, dis is what I've got to deal wit'." He gave her a wan smile. "But we'll get through, Betts. Could use you when you ready to come back..."

"And I'd love to be there for that," Betsy cracked a wide smile at the idea. "If only to watch our lovely Ororo keep your dastardly plans in check. A herculean feat, I dare say." Her smile fell slightly, keeping the conversation going had taken a small toll. Betsy definitely felt weaker. "I promise a visit when I'm feeling better."