In the glow of the light from many candles, two bodies twined together. Heavy breathing and moans of pleasure broke the silence. The woman raised her face as her lover laid heated kisses along her neck. Her long auburn hair hung down her back, the white streaks shining gold in the candlelight. As her lover continued to trail kisses over her skin she slid her body along his until his manhood rested at her entrance. The sweat from their bodies glistened as they slid against each other. As he thrust inside her the woman cried out, "Remy!"
With a loud gasp, Rogue sat bolt upright in bed. Sweat poured off her body as she tried to shake off the dream. Oh mah God.
Beside her Logan shifted in his sleep. Reaching out an arm for her and discovering she wasn't lying down, he dragged his head off the pillow to look up at her. "Marie?" His voice was heavy with sleep. "Somethin' wrong, baby?"
"No, Ah'm fine." Rogue hoped her voice didn't sound as unsteady as she felt. "Go back to sleep, Logan. Ah'm just gonna go downstairs and get some milk." As he lay back down she swung her legs out of bed. Standing up she walked over and grabbed a robe and tied it tightly around her as she left the room and made her way down to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of milk from the fridge while her mind replayed scenes from her dream. Shaken, Rogue sat down at the table with her milk. Running a hand through her hair, she took a long drink from her glass. What is goin' on with me? Just then Jean walked into the kitchen. "Rogue," she said surprised. "What are you doing up this late?" Rogue stood up and walked over to put her glass in the sink. "Just dealin' with mah dreams again."
Jean frowned as she noticed that Rogue was avoiding her eyes. "Nightmares again?" she asked carefully.
"Yeah." Nodding, Rogue turned to walk back to her room. "Good night Jean."
"Good night." Jean said slowly. As
Rogue left, Jean's brow knitted in concern. Ever since the Professor had
unblocked Rogue's memories, neither he nor Jean had been able to read Rogue's
thoughts. At best they could only catch glimpses of her mind. Generally, Jean
made it her principle not to probe a teammate's mind, but Rogue was giving off
signals like a siren. And the glimpses Jean was catching did not bode well for the
relationship that had blossomed between Logan and Rogue. Uneasy with what she'd
sensed, Jean decided to keep it to herself. It wasn't her place to meddle in
her teammates' relationship.
* * * Gambit woke with a start. Quickly,
he tried to lie quietly but he was too late. He'd already woken up his wife.
"Remy?" She sat up and looked down at him.
"It's all right, Belle. Go back t' sleep."
Belladonna doubtfully nodded, and laid back down.
Beside her Gambit stared off into the darkness,
his red on black eyes glowing as he considered his dream. In the silence of the
room he imagined he could still hear the sounds of lovemaking as Rogue moved
above him in the candlelight.
* * * "Rogue, look out!"
Rogue turned just in time to see the Sentinel's arm swing towards her. Moving too slow to get out of the way, she winced as it slammed into her, knocking her out of the air. She hit the floor hard. In seconds Wolverine was at her side. Leaping at the Sentinel, he used his claws to climb up to the neck where he promptly cut the wires that held the giant head on.
As the Sentinel fell to the floor, Cyclops ran over to them. "Rogue, I know this is just a training session, but we do this for a reason. If this had happened in the field, you could be hurt or worse! Just because you're strong doesn't mean you can take foolish chances like that. How long is this behavior-"
"Back off One Eye!" Logan snapped, interrupting Scott's tirade. Turning back to Rogue he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the Danger Room. Setting her down in a chair, he kneeled on the floor and took her hands in his. "Marie, are you all right?"
Rogue ruefully rubbed the back of her head. "Ah'm fine, Logan. Just let mah guard down that's all."
Wolverine frowned in concern. "Marie, what aren't you telling me? You've been waking up in the middle of the night for a week now and it's getting to the point where you're too tired to train anymore. Tell me what's wrong."
Rogue smiled and brushed a hand against his cheek. "Ah'm fine, really. Ah've just been having weird dreams, that's all. Nuthin' a good night's sleep won't cure."
Logan nodded, but the look of concern never
left his face. Something was going on, and he was going to find out what.
* * * Gambit felt a stab of guilt. He
hadn't told Belle about the dreams. Every time his dreams woke him up he'd
tried not to move, or wake her in any way, but she still seemed to wake up all
the same. Part of Gambit's mind marveled that she was such a light sleeper, but
mostly he felt guilty. He knew there was no way his new wife could know about
his dreams, but the look in her eyes and the change in her usually proud stance
were loud accusations to his conscience and his soul. Shaking his head, Gambit
swore he would do everything he could to make up his unspoken debt to his new
marriage.
"Remy!"
Gambit came out of his reverie at the sound of his name. Turning around he saw his brother Henri approaching.
"Remy, why didn't y' answer me, mon frere?"
"Sorry, Henri."
"Nevermind. Y' probably jus dreamin' about some femme." Gambit shot him a look, but Henri ignored it. "Listen, Remy, dere's trouble. De Assassins-" "De Assassins no longer de enemy, Henri. Belle and I are married now. Like it or not, we're united. Everyone is just gon have t' deal wit dat in dere own way." Turning abruptly, Gambit began to head for the door. Henri's heart sank as he watched his brother's retreating form. Leaving the room he himself noticed two Assassins whispering together as they explored the Guild's headquarters. Henri clenched his fists. No matter what had happened, he would never be happy with having Assassins on Thief property. He knew he wasn't the only Thief who wasn't comfortable with members of the "formerly" hostile Assassins Guild roaming around in the Thieves Guild Headquarters. Unfortunately, when they'd brought their complaints to Remy, the head of the guild had responded that to ban the Assassins from Thieves Guild property would not only be a show of bad faith at a fragile stage in the union of the guilds, but in Remy's marriage also. Remy's proposed solution was that the Thieves take advantage of the situation and explore the Assassin's headquarters. When the rest of the complainants had pointed out that, as Thieves, they had already explored the Assassins' property Remy had chuckled. He relented a little and agreed to a temporary solution. Only two Assassins would be allowed on the property at a time and they had to have the permission of Belladonna herself. The same held for the Thieves on Assassin property. Henri groaned inwardly. Everyone knew the solution was futile. Rules like that were laughable to people who belonged to organizations that were named for crimes. Remy used to know that.
Frowning, Henri wondered what had gotten into his brother. For a week now he had been acting strangely. It wasn't like him to be so trusting of the Assassins. Pondering the enigma, Henri continued walking. After a while he finally looked up and found he had walked to the other side of the mansion. He was outside the room Remy had been sharing with his new wife, Belladonna, head of the Assassins Guild. Suddenly, a thought struck Henri. Remy had married only two weeks ago and he had been determined to make his marriage work. Not only because Belladonna was a sweetheart from his youth, but for the good of the Guilds. It was a large responsibility. The Guild's future rested in large part on his marriage. If he had done something to jeopardize his marriage, he may try to make up for it by being lenient with the Assassin's Guild. A slight to Belladonna was a debt to the Assassin's Guild. And this slight seemed to be continuing. But what could Remy have done to endanger his marriage? Or who?
