A/N- I do not own Marvel or their characters - or any of their likeness- so please do not sue. I am, however, Batman. But that's a totally different story. Classed as a "Romy/Rogan/Ryro" with very loose definitions. Perhaps mostly Romy... and not as much Ryro...

The Hand

Prologue.

His heart pounded in his ears as he attempted to asses the situation, the smell of thick smoke and charred building assaulted his nostrils with every breath. Never before had he found himself in such a circumstance, and that was saying a lot for a man of experience such as himself. If he hadn't lived the past few days out and seen it with his own mutated eyes, he'd have passed it all off as nothing more than a bogus ghost story. Possibly an episode of Twilight Zone. But never reality. And now as he stared into her green eyes watching her try to hide the fear that flashed across her face in a very characteristic act of forced bravery, time stood still just long enough for him to evaluate whether or not this was in fact just one long, elaborate dream. The entire scene before him was so completely surreal, he didn't even know what to do.

His eyes shifted, and he stared at the person pointing a gun directly at her, the look on that face prompting the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end, sending a cascade of icy shivers down his spine. And he stood there, dumbfounded, looking from one face to the other. With no clue as to what to do.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, yanking him backwards roughly, vaguely acknowledging Logan's gruff voice telling him it was time to go.

It was the sound of the gunshot that snapped him out of his stupor, his eyes blinded by the glittering blue light emitted from the stupid contraption that got them into this mess in the first place.

They should never have even been here to begin with.

Idle Hands

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, the kind Remy enjoyed spending with a deck of cards out in the field behind the institute, practicing his aim and scoping out the beautiful mutant ladies as they took a dip in the outdoor pool. And that's exactly what he would have been doing if they hadn't all been summoned to sub-basement for some emergency meeting. He leaned against the windowsill and looked out longingly at the perfect spot in the shade of a big, leafy maple tree. The sooner they all got this meeting over with, the sooner he could claim his territory.

"Come on..." He grumbled to the closed door behind him, he raised his voice slightly to voice his discord. "It's a meeting, not d'prom!"

The wooden door swung open with enough force to smack against the doorstop and Pyro stepped out into the hall with a frown.

"Alright then, let's get this crap ovah with." He breezed by Remy without stopping and began stalking down the hall with his hands shoved in his pockets and a pout fixed on his face. Remy rolled his eyes and fell into step behind Pyro.

The two of them and Colossus had joined up with the X-men after Mags disappeared nearly two years ago. Colossus had jumped in feet first, being instantly accepted and fitting in nicely from the start. Pyro was the polar opposite, basically
treating the place like a means to an end. He participated as a fully functional member of the X-men willingly enough, but the formality of it all was far too overwhelming for him. Remy was somewhere in the middle. He wasn't exactly thrilled about the meetings, but the training was pretty fun. He wasn't complaining. If these guys were willing to put up with him and give him a place to stay, it was reason enough for him to participate.

"Hey... thanks for waitin'..." Rogue gave his left bicep a firm punch as she scurried up along side him. She narrowed her heavily made up eyes when he chuckled at her attempt at pain.

"Don' take it personally Roguey," He shrugged casually with his hands in his pockets "y'know I'm built like a house."

She simply rolled her eyes as she adjusted the seam on one of her elbow length, black satin gloves.

And then of course, there was Rogue. She'd been the one to convince him to quit goofing around and prove all his nay-sayers wrong. For some reason, she believed in him. And oddly enough, she made him believe in himself too.

"Ah could clobber you if ah wanted to, but ah don't feel like gettin' blood on mah new shirt." She said with a nonchalant shrug.

He laughed at her simple threat, coaxing out the tiniest of smiles from her. "So we still on for our poker game tonight? Pyro's all excited... thinks it'll be easy t'win some cash off a chick."

"As much as ah'd love to kick his ass an' rub it in, unfotunately ah can't make it."

Remy frowned. "Why not?"

"It's nothin'." She tossed her hand in the air with a quick head shake. "Just... it's nothin'."

A sly grin formed on Remy's face as he inspected her expression. "You ain' blushin' chere... are you? Where you goin'... somewhere embarrassing? Strip club?"

Rogue's face twisted up into a dramatic show of disgust.

"Jus' make sure you bring plenty a'singles."

She burst out laughing and gave him a swat "Oh mah sweet lord Cajun. You'd never catch me in one a'those places. Not in this lifetime. Ah wouldn't know what ta do with myself."

He grinned, draping a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Well, after fillin' out all the appropriate paperwork, one would assume dat you just hop up on d'stage an' get t'work..."

Rogue snorted. "Wouldn't you just love that. Then you'd make me introduce you to all mah colleagues."

Remy laughed and squeezed her gently. "Well, when you're right, you're right."

XXXX

The two walked through the stainless steel automatic doors that lead to the sub-basement conference room a few seconds after Pyro, moving to the round table filled with their teammates all waiting for them. Rogue raised her eyebrows and
muttered something inaudible under the sharp gaze from their team leader, Logan.

"I heard that." He grunted as she meandered around the table to a free spot between Kitty and Jean. Remy sat across from her next to Pyro. No sooner than his butt hit the hard metal chair, did Professor Xavier grin and fold his hands.

"Thank you all for coming on short notice, this won't take long at all."

Pyro heaved a sigh and slouched down in his chair, crossing his arms firmly over his chest.

"Wait Professor." Kitty furrowed her brow as she glanced around the room. "Forge isn't here."

"Forge has requested to sit this meeting out in the interest of his most recent project."

"Wish I'd thoughta that..." Pyro muttered to Remy who simply smiled in response, earning both of them a glower from Logan across the table.

"That ol' time machine thing again?" Rogue raised an eyebrow doubtfully and gave Kitty a wordless sidelong glance. "He's been workin' on that hunk a'metal for a year."

"Yes well, it seems he's had a breakthrough. And since he's requested to acompany the team on this next mission, he wanted as much time as he could get before leaving to tie up any loose ends regarding his research."

Remy leaned back in his chair as he listened to Professor Xavier begin his information session. Hopefully, the good Professor wasn't exaggerating when he said he'd keep it short. He could just hear that sweet maple tree calling out his name all the way to him in the the sub-basement. His gaze fell on the beauty next to Rogue, her red hair falling gently around her shoulders. She nodded as she scribbled something down hastily on a notepad she'd brought with her to the meeting.
Summers was one lucky bastard. If they were still on opposing teams, he'd certainly have fun seeing how long it would take to break her with his wile charms. He noticed Rogue smirking at him through his peripheral vision. She shook her head and silently called him a creep, reading his dirty thoughts with nothing more than pure experience. She knew him far too well.

Remy wagged his eyebrows and turned his attention back to Jean with an approving nod just as Jean's head snapped up. She narrowed her eyes at him, a furious blush breaking out over her ivory cheeks, prompting Rogue to clap a gloved hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing as she quickly turned her attention back to Storm, who was now selecting a team for an abrupt mission.

"Jean, are you taking this down?" Storm crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow as Jean turned to face the ivory haired woman at the head of the round table. "You seem a little distracted."

"Of course!" Jean nodded, her blush deepening slightly as she averted her eyes back down to her note pad.

From the bits and pieces Remy had caught through his daydreaming about a naughty little Jean Grey, it seemed there was a mutant in Texas who'd shown some interest in joining the institute. Why they couldn't just hop on a train or an
airplane and get here like everyone else did was beyond him. Some people had a tendency to be a tad dramatic.

Storm had listed off the four mutants who would be traveling down south along with her and the Professor; Forge, McCoy, Jean and Scott. Part of him kind of wished he'd been selected to go, and not because the sublime Jean Grey would be there.

Truthfully, it was because he wanted to see for himself if everything really was bigger in Texas, and if this included the rack size of sexy cowgirls. Having Jean there would have just been an additional bonus.

With a resigned sigh, he pulled out his deck of cards and discreetly shuffled them under the table, waiting for the meeting to come to a close.

After another five minutes of discussing team strategies and bickering over danger room training times and sparring partners, the meeting ended. Remy caught up with Rogue, tugging on her elbow gently until she turned around.

"Y'know, you sure are lucky. If Jean hadn't been called t'zip off across America suddenly, she'd have whooped you're sorry Cajun ass all the back down to the Bayou." She said with a cocked eyebrow before a smirk suddenly spread across her plum tinted lips and her expression darkened. "Whatever you were thinkin' about there seemed pretty bad. She went redder than a sunburned tomato."

Remy grinned silently before Rogue gave him a poke. "Alright, knock it off now."

"What... you brought it up." He shrugged. "Anyways, dis... thing yo'doin' tonight. Y'never said what it was."

A chuckle from Rogue's left drew his attention to Kitty, who had pressed her hand against her mouth and tucked her chin to her chest.

"More like, 'who'." Kitty snickered, garnering a sharp glance from Rogue.

"It's... kind of a date."

Remy frowned. "What does dat mean... kind of?"

She let out a sharp breath and rolled her eyes. "It's a date."

"With who?"

"Just this guy ah met... his name's Joseph." She said with a small smile. "He's really nice."

Remy's face twisted with recognition. "Joseph? D' moron dat keeps comin' around t'see d'Professor... too wimpy to join, too lost t'stay away..."

"He's not wimpy, he's checkin' out his options."

He eyed her with a frown "I guess so..."

"An' what is that supposed t'mean?"

Remy stammered for a moment before throwing a hand up in the air "D'guy's got white hair!"

"Ah happen t'find that very attractive!"

"Geeze Remy," Kitty's eyebrows perked up and she glanced at Rogue. "Jealous much?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line and let out a slow breath. "Not jealous. Concerned."

"This is exactly why ah didn't tell you." Rogue rolled her eyes and shook her head. "There's nothin' to be concerned about. Alright? Ah'm a big girl, perfectly capable of goin' on a date. You'll be fine with Pyro for the evenin' playin' poker." She stopped suddenly and raised a finger.

"Just one thing ah forgot. Y'all are gunna have t'find another place t'play."

"Why? You ain' gunna be dere anyways." He frowned, shoving his hands deep in his coat pockets.

"Well, not right away. But ah might be back later..." She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head. "... Accompanied...?"

His face twisted up as he stared at her. "What for? So you can sit dere an' stare at each other?"

Kitty gave him a smack on the arm along with her version of 'the look'.

Remy rubbed a hand against his forehead with his eyes squeezed shut and let out a tiny groan. "'Course. I'll take care of it."

A quick ride in the elevator brought them to the main floor, where Storm was busy leaving diligent instructions with Jamie on caring for her precious plants while she was away.

Logan gave the three a nod of acknowledgment before uttering a low chuckle "He'll only volunteer to do that once."

"We all learn the hard way sooner or later." Rogue added with a smile, her eyes wandering back over to Storm who was now explaining her instructions that she'd written out in exact detail, and reminding the 14 year old that this was 'A great responsability' as she phrased it. The elevator dinged behind them and Pyro stepped out, griping at Remy for not waiting for him.

Remy frowned at Pyro and shook his head. "You want someone to escort you around, get a boyfriend."

Both Kitty and Rogue laughed.

"What evah happened ta 'bro's before hoe's'?" Pyro put his hands on his hips and glared at Rogue. "That's right skunk head, I'm lookin' at you."

Rogue took a step forward, held back only by the strength of Kitty's hands as Logan let out an irritated sigh.

"You kids got plans for the evening I hope." He grunted. "Get ya out of my hair for a few hours."

Kitty nodded enthusiastically with a wide grin once Rogue had stepped back from her attempt on Pyro's life. "The girls are having a Meg Ryan marathon in the rec room tonight. We're starting with Sleepless in Seattle, then doing City of Angles and You've Got Mail, and then winding it all up with Kate and Leopold. It's gunna be like, so much fun."

"Yeah, I bet." Logan looked over at Rogue with a glint of amusement in his eye "You too?"

"It's tempting, but no."

"She's got a date." Kitty smirked.

Logan's eyebrows perked up and he crossed his arms. "A date?"

"Yeah." Remy nodded at Logan. "Ask her who he is."

"Who is he?"

Rogue narrowed her eyes at Remy before looking back to Logan with a sigh. "Uh... Joseph."

Logan eyed Rogue for a moment, looking over to Remy with a frown. "That white haired kid who's always comin' to talk to Chuck?"

"Am I the only one who thinks that bloke looks like Mags?"

Kitty shot Pyro a glare. "Yes. You are."

"Mmhmm. I don't trust him." Remy answered Logan before turning to Rogue. "D'guy's got white hair, Rogue. I think he may be albino."

"Is that so?" Storm came to a stop next to Logan, arms folded and a less-than-impressed expression gracing her delicate features.

Remy blinked at her, his mind racing to find the right thing to say that would suavely get him out of the hole he'd just dug himself. "Well on you Stormy, of course... I mean..." He fumbled a bit more before offering her a hand-caught-in-the-
cookie-jar kind of smile and lifting his hands, palm up with a shrug. "You make it look good?"

Rogue rolled her eyes "Smooth."

"What's an albino?" Jamie knit his brow, looking from face to face as he waited an explanation.

Kitty sighed. "It's a person with pale skin and hair, sometimes pinkish eyes, and visual abnormalities resulting from a hereditary inability to produce the pigment melanin." She rolled her eyes at Remy and shook her head. "And he is not an albino."

Jamie's eyes widened and he stared at Rogue. "Like a vampire? Why would you date a vampire?"

"Maybe, because..." She turned her head slowly to look at Jamie with an eerie twinkle in her eye. "I'm a vampire..."

She jerked towards him suddenly, causing him to instinctively flinch away.

"Well that'd sure explain a lot." Pyro muttered.

Storm laughed lightly, placing a calming hand on Jamie's shoulder.

"Alright Stripes, stop scarin' the kid."

Kitty threw her hands up in the air and glared at Jamie. "He's not a vampire," she aimed her glare over to Remy. "And he's not albino." She grabbed Rogue's gloved hand and tugged her towards the stairs. "We need to go get ready. We like,
totally don't have time for these imbeciles."