The best Remy could do was stare at her. Words were lost on him. Never in a million years had he expected her of all people to open the door to the last place Logan had been. It shouldn't have been possible. She had been down south, he had left her in Louisiana, not New York, but here she was staring at him as though he were a ghost come back to life to haunt her. He could only imagine how this must look to her. The words 'crazy stalker' echoed through his mind. If he didn't say something fast, the door was going to be slammed in his face.
"Hello, I…" He paused, not entirely trusting his voice to work. "I'm looking for Logan."
In a blind moment of stupidity, he opted to act as though he didn't recognize her. It would save him from the awkward questions that would follow and it would save him from appearing like a stalker and looking like he'd tracked her down from Louisiana to New York.
"Oh…" She paused, studying his vacant look carefully. "He's not here right now," she answered slowly.
"But he is here, right? Like he lives here?" Remy pressed urgently. It was a shame to be so insistent with her, but he'd been searching for Logan for far too long. If this turned out to be another dead end he'd have to keep moving.
"Yeah," she answered with a slight frown, slowly realizing he wasn't here for her. "He took off for the weekend. He'll be back on Monday."
"Do you know where he went?" Remy asked abruptly.
"Not really, usually up North," she answered back tensely. The tone of her voice implied that she was a little put out by his attitude.
Remy's shoulders slumped in frustration. Somewhere up north could be anywhere up north.
"Look…" She hesitated as a small bit of sympathy passed through her eyes. "If you need to see him immediately, your best bet is to stick around Xavier's."
She looked like she'd eaten a bug saying those words to him. He doubted very much that she wanted him here. He was immediately under the impression that he was 'a dirty, little secret' to her. It was obvious that she had moved on from being that strange, sad girl in the bar months ago and that she didn't seem keen on acknowledging that she knew him at all.
Remy decided that acting like he didn't know her was his best course of action. Had it not been for the look of sheer shock on her surprised face seeing him at the door, he would have thought she hadn't recognized him at all. The fact that she was pretending she didn't know him told him all he needed to know about the situation.
They had never happened.
"I wouldn't want to impose," Remy answered politely as he turned to leave. He wasn't here to cause trouble or complicate her life. "I'll just come back on Monday."
He caught the look of relief on her face that he had decided not to stay and knew he was doing the right thing. He desperately wanted to ask her what she'd been up to since they had last met, and why she seemed so much more confident and in control. But more importantly, why she wanted to deny she knew him.
The answer came, disappointingly, in a man who snuggled up inquisitively behind her with the comfort and familiarity of a lover.
"Rogue? Who's at the door?" the man asked.
Remy cringed inside. That was the name she had given him months ago. It sounded foreign and unnatural coming from another man's lips. It was really best that he leave now, Remy decided as coolly as he could. He had no right to be angry or shocked that she was with someone. He had no claim to her at all—yet, a swell of silent rage hit him unexpectedly. He immediately liked it better when she was a pleasant memory he could call up at will, yearning only for him.
Panic swept over Rogue's body the moment she felt Bobby brush curiously up behind her, eager to see who was at the door. She fought the urge to slam the door in Remy's face and say that 'it was no one' but then that would look suspicious.
There was no way Rogue could let Bobby find out about that night. Not after she'd lied. Not now while they were trying to figure out whether they were serious about their relationship. They were on the cusp of coupleville. Guilt seeped in through every pore as Bobby held out his hand in his usual friendly manner to the 'stranger' at the door.
"Hi." He smiled warmly as Remy slowly took his hand. "I'm Bobby Drake. Welcome to Xavier's. If you need a safe place to stay, you came to the right place."
"Remy," Remy introduced a little haphazardly. "And actually, I'm just passing through," he replied, turning to leave. "I'm a friend of Logan's and he's not here so—"
"You're a friend of Logan's?" Bobby questioned excitedly. "He'll be back by Monday at the latest. You might as well stick around. We can always use another mutant willing to help out."
Remy gave a quick glance over to Rogue, who now refused to meet his eyes. He'd always been good at picking up on people's feelings, and right now he was picking hers up loud and clear. She did not want him around.
With such an obvious air of unwelcoming thoughts coming from her, he was startled when he heard himself answer, "Sure, if it's no trouble."
He'd barely finished his sentence and Bobby was ushering him into the house at record speed, grateful for the help. He was rambling on about some woman called Storm being off as well and teaching schedules being down right hectic. Remy had no idea what he'd just signed himself up for, and worse, he had no idea why he'd done it.
He didn't have time to meander about, helping some mutant school. He was on a mission. Finding Logan was of the utmost importance, and yet again he found himself waylaid because of her. She didn't even want him here and suddenly he was agreeing to stay.
It was as though his body had completely overruled his head in some sort of inner mutiny. He really should just come back on Monday when Logan would be back. He shouldn't have agreed to stay. He tried to talk his way out of staying, but Bobby had already heard the original 'yes' and that was all the man needed.
Despite the cold shoulder he was receiving from Rogue, who only eyed him carefully and silently, he had to admit that Bobby was a pretty nice guy and the mansion itself was spectacular. It came as no surprise to Remy at all why Rogue was adamantly keeping up the ruse of not knowing him. He stumbled across her by accident and she seemed to have a good thing going on here. Remy had no intention of ruining that for her.
In the long run it helped that he finally had some sort of closure on her. It would help him remain focused on the task at hand. She was in a relationship and happy, and that in turn should have made him happy.
It didn't.
He liked Bobby, he did, it was just that he couldn't shake the jealousy that ignited up inside as Bobby casually laced his arm around Rogue. Remy had to remind himself numerous times that it was none of his business and the only reason he was here was because of Logan. He wasn't here for another crack at her, nor was he here to admit she'd been the greatest night of his life.
He should have been glad to find her with another man. It meant that he had no distractions. It meant she wasn't available, and it meant that he could keep moving along as he always had as Gambit, the mysterious mutant con man with no ties to anyone anywhere.
Still, as Bobby rambled on about what they did at the mansion and how they tried to band together and fight for equal mutant rights by standing up and defending the defenseless, Remy couldn't help but feel a little awe inspired. He'd travelled the globe back and forth and had never come across such a place as this in his life.
It made sense that Logan would end up in a place like this. Despite his gruff, ass-kicking attitude and lone wolf persona, Remy always had an inkling that behind the rough exterior, Logan was a freedom fighter of sorts. How could he not? In Remy's youth, the man had single handedly taken down an entire empire bent on mutant experimentation.
An idea passed through Remy's mind quickly. Perhaps Logan wasn't such a lone wolf anymore, and Remy's problem could be solved much quicker with more like minded mutants as Logan. Perhaps Bobby, and dare he assume, his lovely Rogue, were such mutants. Perhaps Remy had come across a gold mine of help. With this new idea in mind, Remy started to pay closer attention to Bobby's constant chattering.
Rogue was upset for no real good reason. It was obvious that the guy didn't recognize her, and in that she should have been relieved. Instead, she was inexplicably angry and hurt. She remembered him so vividly that in her dreams he seemed almost tangible. She couldn't help but feel offended that she had failed to make a lasting impression on him, especially when he had done just the opposite on her. Seeing him even after so many months, she was ashamed just how accurate her memory of him had been. She remembered every detail about him, right down to the way his hair naturally parted, to the way his jeans fell on his narrow hips.
He looked good, if not better than he had the night she'd met him. She should have known better than to think a man as attractive as him would remember an inexperienced virgin such as she had been. He hadn't even batted an eye when Bobby had draped his arm around her. He hadn't even given her the typical guy 'once over'. Despite her best efforts not to care, she was just seething inside. It was ridiculous to even care about the guy. He didn't remember her, so her world, although temporarily disrupted, was safe.
No one would know what had transpired between them, because only she remembered it. It still made her want to slap him for erasing her so quickly from his memory. It had only been a mere few months. How many other women had he been with since then in order to completely forget about her? She reckoned it was probably a fair amount. He was most likely some low life scoundrel who made it a lifestyle to pick up bar floozies. After all, wasn't that how they had originally met?
It irked her how friendly Bobby was being to the guy. He may have been a friend of Logan's, but she had never heard of him, and she'd been close to Logan for several years now. She hated to admit it, but he did sort of look like someone Logan would have hung out with in the past. She couldn't prove the man was a liar, even if he did seem rather young to be friends with the ageless Wolverine. She also hated that he'd introduced himself to Bobby as Remy, the very name he had given her on their night together. It had to be his real name, because he certainly wasn't using the alias for her benefit.
"I'm sorry," Rogue began, interrupting the conversation between Bobby and Remy, who were becoming much chummier than she wanted them to be. "But how did you say you knew Logan again, Remy?"
The two men stopped their conversation and both looked at Rogue. She was almost certain that Remy had caught the emphasis she'd deliberately put on his name, but still no sense of recognition came from him.
"Actually, I didn't," Remy answered casually with a laid back, friendly tone. "Logan and I go a ways back. Haven't seen him in years."
Rogue narrowed her eyes at his attempt to disarm her with charming smiles. Bobby may fall for such dupes, but she wasn't about to. "How long of a ways?" she asked, jumping on his vague answer immediately. "Because you seem rather young to be an old friend of Logan's."
"Rogue!" Bobby hissed with embarrassment at her blatant attack on mansion's newcomer. "You were pretty young when you showed up with Logan too, you know."
"That was different," Rogue bit tensely.
"I was barely eighteen when we first met," Remy answered smoothly while holding his hands in surrender. "I helped him out a few times. I assure you, my desire to see Logan again as a friend is completely legit."
"No one doubts that," Bobby answered quickly before Rogue could speak. "Some of us are on edge after Magneto's war. It's nothing personal, right Marie?"
"Right," Rogue mumbled in attempt to placate Bobby. "I know Logan fairly well, and he's never mentioned you. Just curious, is all."
"Marie," Remy answered somewhat bemused as though he wasn't listening at all to her. "That's a real pretty name."
Rogue tipped her head up, catching Remy's eyes quickly, trying to discern the meaning behind them with no luck.
"Thanks," she replied back, studying his face for any sign of something.
Bobby's face went pale for a moment as he watched the two. A frown creased slightly over his brow. "Marie, did you not introduce yourself yet?" he asked, almost appalled.
Rogue quickly realized that she was acting very out of character around Remy and if she kept it up, Bobby would get suspicious.
"I didn't really get the chance," she answered feebly.
Her answer worked as Bobby's expression relaxed and he turned to Remy smiling with pride.
"I'd have introduced you sooner if I'd known," Bobby began apologetically. "Remy, this is our Marie, but on a feisty day, she goes by Rogue."
"Your mutant moniker?" Remy asked, holding his hand out to her.
"Yes," she answered, shyly taking his hand. "Rogue is my mutant name."
Remy only nodded slowly as he shook her hand and Rogue almost thought that there was some flicker of recognition in his eyes. Maybe he remembered her now. She found she was staring intently at him again.
"Nice to meet you." He smiled vacantly, shaking her hand as though they were strangers.
Her heart sunk and her mood darkened. He really had no idea who she was. Not that she wanted him to recognize her and say something that might give away what they had done months ago, but he had been her first and she'd never be able to forget him. It was disheartening to learn for certain that she was 'forgettable'.
Whatever thoughts he kept behind those eyes were his alone, and Rogue fought the itching urge to take his hand up in hers, or brush across him ever so gently and steal a bit of his thoughts, and possibly his motives, for being here.
It was true that her unpleasant opinion of him stemmed from her own wounded pride, a pride that she really shouldn't be concerned with considering the circumstance under which they had previously met. Where had her pride been then? It certainly hadn't been available to her as she scoured dive bars for someone who wasn't a total skeeve in desperation before her mutant powers resurfaced.
She crossed her arms tightly as Bobby led Remy throughout the rest of the house. She really should be counting her blessing right now, she scolded to herself, not silently cursing a man she had wanted to forget about.