Hot Bayou Nights
Chapter 3
Tension

Remy blinked hard, not quite believing his eyes. He knew that it was Rogue, but the way she was dressed was completely unlike her. Her long smooth legs were free for everyone to see along with that flat little perfect tummy of hers. It was almost indecent by Rogue's usual standard of dress.

"What're ya doin' here?" he finally managed to ask.

Rogue shrugged. "Ah was in town, doin' some sightseein'."

"Really?" Remy arched a brow at her. "Ya played tourist all day?"

Rogue nodded, curls bouncing. "Yeah, pretty much." She hitched a thumb in her belt loops and lifted her sunglasses up onto her head. "So what're ya doin' back here? Ah thought ya weren't allowed back."

Remy shrugged. "What Marius don't know don't hurt him."

Rogue nodded tightly and her disapproval was obvious. "So. . . .Ah didn't realize your B & E skills had gotten so obvious."

Remy chuckled slightly, smirking. "I'm not breakin' in." He said. "It's my house."

"Your house?" Rogue repeated, unbelieving. "Ah highly doubt that."

Remy shrugged and picked up a little plastic container of nails up from the ground. "Believe what ya want, chere."

"Fine then, if it's really your house, can Ah crash here for tanight?" Rogue was taken aback by her boldness. What on earth possessed her to say that? Sure it might have crossed her mind (along with a few other racy things) when she first realized that this handsomely half-naked man was Remy, but she couldn't possibly spend the night here. There was too much bad blood between them. Even when they were together, they argued too much to be healthy and that was made only worse after they had broken up.

Remy was thinking along the same lines as Rogue. He blinked in surprise at her, her sudden forwardness unexpected. He knew it was probably going to be a mistake, but his sense of hospitality to help a girl in need was winning him over. Factor in that she was also a fellow X-Man and that all X-Men had some sort of sense of family, camaraderie and all that other crap that Remy wasn't too particularly fond of, and his decision was practically made for him. Besides, Rogue could be kinda snarky when she was in a bad mood and would probably gossip about it to all the other X-Girls once the team was back together. And it was never a good thing to incur the wrath of all the X-Women at the same time.

"Dere's a few extra bedrooms upstairs." Remy replied, hitching a thumb over his shoulder. "Take yo' pick."

"Thanks, sugh." She smiled. As she walked, more like sashayed, by, Remy couldn't help but turn and watch her go by. After all it wasn't everyday he got to see the former star of his daydreams dressed so revealingly. It gave him bad ideas. Good thing his full schedule for tonight kept him out of the house.

By the time Remy was done fixing the lattice, it was time for him to start getting ready for his date. He showered and then shaved, humming to himself as he put on a bit more aftershave. He dressed himself in a deep red dress shirt and black slacks. As he came down the steps, he saw Rogue in the living room watching TV.

"Dere's some take-out and delivery menus stuck on de fridge if ya need 'em." Remy said, leaning up against the wall.

Rogue looked him over briefly. "And just where are ya goin'?"

Remy smirked to himself. If she thought that he was going to stay in all night just because she was staying over, then she was sadly mistaken. "Me?" he smirked outwardly. "I got me a date t'night. Gonna stay out real late, so don't wait up." He shot her a wink and was gone.

The first night that Rogue spent at Remy's house became the standard of operations so to speak. He left in the early evening to go out with some girl and didn't return until very early in the morning and sleeping until the afternoon. The afternoon after the first night Rogue stayed over, Remy had suggested that Rogue crash at his place for the foreseeable future, rather than live out of her green, corduroy bag. 'Been livin' out a bag fo' most yo' life chere, why don't ya stop and take a break for a while?' were his exact words. Rogue hadn't needed much more persuasion than that considering she didn't like hotels all that much. The thought of who had slept in the bed before her and what they had done in it always hung in the back of her mind. Rogue sipped her lemonade as she eased back and forth in the rocking chair on Remy's porch. Remy was mowing the lawn, or trying to at least with a rusty old manual push mower.

"Ya know, I t'ink dis would make a lot mo' sense if de one wit' super strength and invulnerability out of us was mowin' de lawn in 99 degree heat." Remy said, panting slightly and wiping his brow with the back of his arm.

Rogue smirked and shook her head. "Ah would love ta sugh, but Ah can't."

"What ya mean, ya can't?"

Rogue hadn't told Remy that her powers had decided to take a vacation of some sort out of some half baked fear that he'd want to jump her bones as soon as he found out he could. "Ah mean, Ah'd just end up as sweaty as ya."

Remy shot her a crooked smile. "So?"

Rogue glared at him. "Just for that, ya ain't getting' any lemonade that Ah made."

Remy only looked momentarily offended that she had made lemonade without telling him. "I t'ought dat ya didn't get hot and stuff like dat cause of dem powers ya got from Carol?"

Rogue shrugged, spreading her hands wide but said nothing.

Remy narrowed his eyes at her. "What're ya hidin'?"

"What? Can't a girl have her secrets?"

"Chere" Remy began, abandoning the ancient lawnmower and walking toward where she was seated on the porch. "If ya had any more secrets on ya, you'd be more complex dan de plot of Lost." He started up the steps and took a seat in the rocking chair on the other side of the front door. "C'mon, Rogue, dis is about yo' powers. Wit' all de grief ya gave me about dem, I t'ink I should know if somet'in' up with dem."

Rogue's mouth dropped open, apparently offended. "Ya arrogant son of a bitch! Ya got some balls on ya, ya know that? If there is somethin' goin' on with mah powers, Ah don't owe nobody an explanation, certainly least of all you!" With that, Rogue stormed into the house, stomping up the stairs. There was a few seconds of silence before the door to her room slammed shut so hard that it made Remy wince.

Merde.

Remy knew that letting Rogue stay at his place was a bad idea. The first sign had been those clothes that she was wearing when she seemingly just appeared in front of his house. Maybe she didn't like being covered up all the time, but for him, now that they weren't together anymore, it was a good thing. It kept him from noticing just how toned and fit and...well, all around sexy her body was. The second sign was the little standoff they had had after she had demanded to stay at his place. He still thought that maybe she had been half-joking when she had said it, but the look on her face at the time made him not so sure. So, he had had two signs staring him blatantly in the face and did he listen to them? No. Why? Remy liked to blame his adoptive father for it.

Damn you Pere fo' makin' me learn dat southern gentleman crap.

"Remy, will ya pay attention!" Henri shouted at him from above in the air duct. "Dat's de third time ya nearly got us caught!"

Remy looked up at his brother awkwardly. The floor below was censored so they had decided to break into this place Mission: Impossible style. Hence why Remy was hanging upside down from a rope that his brother was anchoring in the air duct above him. "You ain't de one wit' all de blood rushin' t' yo' head. Now shut yo' big mouth up." Remy returned his attention to breaking the electronic lock in front of him.

"Blood rushin' t' yo' head, my ass." Henri scoffed above him. "Yo' t'inkin' about a girl."

Remy looked up again. "Since when have I ever thought about a girl so hard dat it distracted me from my work?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly. "I ain't twelve anymo', ya know."

Henri laughed. "Ya still act like it."

"Fine." Remy pocketed his lock-picks and folded him arms. "Ain't no skin off my nose if ya don't get dis diamond. Pere don't even know I'm here helpin' ya, so it's yo' ass dat he's gonna rip int'. Ya really wanna talk about dis, 'cause I can go all night."

He could hear Henri's annoyed sigh above him. "Don't get yo' panties all in a bunch about it. Jus' wanna know what's goin' on wit' mon petite frere." At Remy's glare, Henri added. "Alright, fine, not another word about it."

"Bon."

There was silence for a long time, filled with the slight noises made from Remy's lock-picking. Henri kept fidgeting in the air duct; drumming his fingers, then tapping them, then it sounded like he was sucking on his teeth or something (Remy didn't really want to know). Finally, about ten minutes later, Remy had had it.

"Oh mon Dieu! Fine, if it'll make ya keep quiet her name's Rogue." He shouted, in a state of high annoyance with his brother.

"What's dat? Didn't hear ya, was too distracted by boredom."

"Her name's Rogue." Remy repeated.

"Who's name?"

"De girl ya been beggin' me t' tell ya about fo' de past twenty minutes!"

"Oh. So ya were t'inkin' about a girl."

"When I get up dere, I am gonna kill you."

"Oh hush, you'll do no such t'ing." Henri said. "So, Rogue, eh?"

"Oui. Dat's her name."

"Isn't dat de name of de femme dat you've broken up wit' about four times? De one dat can't touch?" Henri asked.

Remy nodded even though his brother could not see it. "De very same."

"So ya back t'gether wit' her or somet'in'?"

"Non."

"Ya wanna get back t'gether wit' her?"

"Dieu non!" Remy replied emphatically. "She stayin' wit' me fo' a while and she done not'in' but get on my last nerve."

"Let me see if I got dis straight." Henri said. "You livin' wit' dis girl fo' de time bein' and yet ya got no interest in sleepin' wit' her?"

Remy hesitated before speaking. "I wouldn't say no interest. After all, she's pretty damn hot--"

"Whoa, wait, how hot we talkin' here? Remember, I never seen dis femme, so I t'ink I need a visual aid." Henri interrupted. "Like Madonna hot or Lindsay Lohan hot?"

"Mo' like Angelina Jolie hot." Remy said. "Or Pam Anderson durin' Baywatch hot."

"Before or after de implants?"

"After."

Henri whistled low. "If you don't want her, I'll take her off yo' hands."

"I'm tellin' Mercy ya said dat."

"Don't you dare or I'll let Marius know where ya are." Henri threatened. "I mean, c'mon it's not everyday dat ya got a girl who's Pam Anderson Baywatch hot, right in front of ya and ain't completely nuts. Ya be stupid not t' at least try and bag her."

Remy laughed darkly. "Au contraire, mon frere. She is crazy, believe me. Dis girl got more issues dan National Geographic."

"So den what's yo' problem? If she's nuts, den why ya t'inkin' about her so much?"

Remy sighed. "Crazy as she might be, she still a friend of mine, kinda. So t'day I go and say somet'in'--I don't even know what--dat got her madder dan a wet hen. I'm t'inkin' mebbe I need t' go and make it up t' her."

Henri tittered disapprovingly. "Ya better watch yo'self, frere. Ya may not want her back now, but if you ain't careful ya gonna be headin' dat way real soon."

"Ah, shut up." Remy said. "Ya don't even got enough brains t' realize dat I been done wit' dis lock for ten minutes."

They almost got out without being detected. But then Henri screwed up and they ended up brawling with a couple of guards to get out before the real cops came. The sun was rising as Remy limped his way up the front walk to his house. Damn, he had fucked up that landing after jumping out that window more than he thought. Hopefully he'd be able to sleep off all of his aches and pains and maybe he'd be able to hide the bruise under his left eye with sunglasses. Rogue never did like it when he stole something and he didn't feel like putting up with her nagging.

"Looks like ya had quite the night."

Remy looked up to see Rogue leaning up against the doorway. Fuck, he was caught. "Rogue, I can--"

She held up a hand to silence him. "Ah know where ya were. Ah heard the sirens earlier."

Remy braced himself for a lecture. This was the part where she would go off on a tirade about how he could have gotten killed or caught and could be rotting in jail right now and all these other could-be's that weren't.

"C'mon, let's get ya inside and cleaned up. Ya look like hell." She held a hand out for him to take.

Remy looked at her bare hand and then up at her. "Did ya hit yo' head or somet'in'?"

"What?"

"Yo' standin' dere in a tanktop and short-shorts, not wearin' any gloves and ya ain't yellin' at me about thievin'. Who are ya and what have ya done wit' Rogue?"

Rogue bit her lip and made a reluctant face before speaking. "Mah powers seem ta be gone for now. Ah figure since Ah'm on vacation, Ah may as well enjoy tha freedom and relax a bit."

"Why didn't ya tell me dat earlier?" He asked, climbing up the stairs, leaning on the railing heavily.

Rogue shrugged. "Ah was afraid it would jinx it or somethin'."

Remy nodded understandingly and reached the top of the steps. "Ya wouldn't mind helpin' an Ol' Cajun clean himself up, would ya? I'd do it myself if I wasn't afraid I'd fall asleep standin' up."

"C'mon Swamp Rat, before ya hurt yaself tryin' ta be all brave for a gal."

Remy was quiet the entire time Rogue patched him up. He had a cut on his forehead and minor cuts on his arms apparently from jumping through a window in an effort to escape. She decided to bite her tongue and keep her thoughts to herself, after all it looked like Remy had had enough stress for one night. As she swabbed his injuries clean, she couldn't help but notice the muscles under his skin, how it was warm and firm with strength. She couldn't help but notice the stubble growing on his chin and jaw and the way he looked as his eyes drifted shut while she worked.

"S'soft." Remy said quietly when she was almost done.

"What?"

"Yo' skin." Remy said, opening his eyes. "It's soft."

A small smile curved Rogue's lips. "Thank ya."

"So what happened? How come yo' powers don't work dis time?"

Rogue shrugged. "Ah don't know. Ah don't remember what happened. All Ah know is that Ah woke up on the side of Interstate 59 on the Mississippi/Louisiana border."

Remy grabbed her wrist and held it as she tried to apply a band aid to the cut on his forehead. He felt this sudden and strong need to protect her, to go out and find whoever did that to her. "Quoi?"

"Ah know, Ah know. It's bad, but Ah can't for the life of me remember what Ah was doin' before then. Believe me, Ah've been tryin' ta, but all Ah can come up with is goin' ta some abandoned house in Caldecott."

"What were ya doin' in Caldecott?" Remy still had not let go of her wrist.

"Personal business." Rogue replied cryptically. Remy stared her down for more answers, but Rogue did not yield any. With a sigh of defeat, Remy broke eye contact and the lessened grip he had on her wrist. Rogue finished applying the bandage. "There. All done."

Remy stood with a slight grunt and a wince. He was bare inches from her when he did so, towering over her. His hand was still loosely wrapped around her wrist and he slid it down to grasp her hand in his. He then brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her bare knuckles. "Merci." He whispered, dark eyes staring straight into hers.

He dropped her wrist and Rogue swallowed. They stood there for a moment, the heat and tension between them seeming to warm the room. He moved in slightly towards her and Rogue closed her eyes and put and hand on his muscled chest to stop him. "Good night Remy." Without another word she turned and left for her own room.