All characters owned by Marvel Comics

Author's note: Mature audiences only on this chapter. Things get rather heated between everyone's favorite Southerners. Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter Four

Beloit, Kansas wasn't quite the armpit of America, but close enough. The town wasn't on SHIELD's list, but it connected two dots on the Magneto map and had come up under a big red flag during Remy's internet search of police reports. A motel had reported a suspicious man, and according to the account the man, a nice man who kept to himself, had paid cash for an entire week but vanished before his stay was up. These things probably happened all the time, but what the housekeeper had found in his room, what had tipped Remy to the statement, had been scary enough to get the local authorities involved. The report had been filed two days ago. Remy hoped the phrase 'continuing investigation' meant the room hadn't been disturbed yet and that SHIELD hadn't gotten wind of it.

They had landed Snow's fancy Cessna at the Moritz Memorial Airport. The pole barn that served as the airport's terminal wasn't big enough to have rental cars, but luckily a nearby Enterprise Rent-A-Car had dropped them off a vehicle. One of Remy's aliases, Mr. Mark Wright, rented himself a sensible crossover vehicle and they all crammed inside.

They left Pietro, lawyered up in a three-piece suit complete with blackened eyebrows and wig, near the local police station. Remy was hoping Quicksilver could bully his way in, get a view of a hard copy of the police report and any evidence that had already been collected.

Wanda and Lorna, now a brunette, went to some of the surrounding stores and shops to search for potential witnesses, anyone that had contact with who they assumed was Magneto during his stay. They had dropped Remy and Rogue and their backpacks at the motel. Rogue was currently at the front desk renting a room, Remy leaning on a pillar outside the entryway. They really had no intention of staying the night, they couldn't waste that much time, but they needed to try to get into the room Magneto had potentially stayed in, and needed an excuse to be in and around the motel so as not to arouse suspicion.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he caught sight of a room on the second floor crisscrossed with yellow-police tape. Unless there had been a murder today, the room was still as Magneto had left it. Maybe they would get lucky. There were four cars in the parking lot, only one with out of county plates. It was a weekday, out of season for construction work. The motel was nearly deserted.

He uncrossed his arms and pushed the sleeves of his red flannel shirt up his forearms. He tugged angrily at the waistband of the skinny jeans Wanda had inexplicably gotten as part of his civilian disguise. His Ray-Ban sunglasses and black boots made him feel like an idiot college student, but from the appreciative smile the petite brunette housekeeper walking by flashed his way he knew he had to look pretty damn good. He smiled back as she headed up the rickety metal staircase. And, speaking of idiot college students…

Pulling his sunglasses down onto his nose to look in the glass doors of the lobby he saw Rogue leaning suggestively over the counter as she talked to the skinny college-aged male running the front desk. He'd have to make it a point to thank Wanda for Rogue's outfit. She looked like a bored movie starlet hiding from the paparazzi, all she was missing was a Starbuck's latte. She wore a belted grey mini dress with buttons down the front, the dress covering black leggings and Doc Marten boots. A sheer black grandpa-looking cardigan hung loosely on her slim frame, and a black and grey leopard print scarf was looped around her neck, leaving a nice window between it and the neckline of her dress. Gloves were a necessary addition to the outfit, and they had hid her white stripe with a beanie stocking hat, worn like the kids wore them, not really pulled down like a winter hat but sort of plopped on her head with the white hair all stuffed inside it. She looked hot.

Remy shook his head and made himself look away. His jeans were a little too tight and staring at the cleavage spilling out of her dress under that scarf was not helping the situation. Pulling his cell phone from his pocket he shot Rogue a quick text. Checking housekeeper let u know if I get in. Making sure the phone was on vibrate, he headed upstairs after the motel employee and almost ran her and her cleaning cart over as he stepped off the staircase and rounded the corner.

"Excuse me, Miss," he said gallantly, laying on a fake deep-south accent, extra thick. Mark Wright was from Kentucky. "Let me help you with that." The young woman blushed when he maneuvered the cart forward on the shaky walkway.

She smiled at him from under blunt cut bangs. "Thanks, but I can get it from here." She waited expectantly for him to relinquish control of her cart heavy with mini shampoos and towels.

"It's not like I'm doing anything else right now," Remy shrugged and smiled affably. Better to play the 'aw shucks' card rather than 'lady killer' in a small town. "Just waiting on my sister to check in. She's taking forever. She likes to talk. A lot. Girl could have a conversation with a brick wall." He pushed the cart towards the next room and she followed.

"Oh? Your sister? Are you guys on a family vacation?" She asked and played nervously with her ponytail.

"Uh, not exactly." The cover story they had made up was weak, but it was all he could come up with on short notice. He was counting on his charm to fill in any of the holes. Remy bowed his head sheepishly and did his best Sam Guthrie. "We're looking for our uncle. He's missing."

A small hand flew to the girl's open mouth. "Oh no! I'm so sorry…"

Remy nodded his head appreciatively. "Thank you. He's a veteran, y'see. Served his country, did our family real proud." The girl nodded attentively. "He's good most of the time, when he takes his meds he's okay. But if he forgets…" Remy bit his lip and ran a hand sheepishly through his hair. "He gets real…obsessed. About…" He lowered his voice. "…mutants." The girl's brown eyes widened. "He gets real paranoid, thinks someone's after him, goes into hiding on his own. On the computer all the time, reading every newspaper he can get his hands on. The last spell he shaved all of his hair off…" The girl gasped and bit her lip to stop making any more noise. "I'm so sorry," he said to her, lightly touching her shoulder. "I shouldn't be laying this on you. I probably need to go find my sister. The police had called and said they had information for us." He smiled graciously. "I'll leave you to your work, I didn't mean to scare you." He turned to leave. She grabbed his wrist as he turned and Remy had to keep himself from smiling.

"No," she said, "wait. You're not scaring me, it's just…" Remy turned to her. She was chewing her lip and looking around nervously. Her eyes landed on the doorway decorated with yellow police tape. "They told us not to say anything…"

He clasped both of her hands in his and squeezed. "Do you know something? Was he here? Anything you could tell me... I don't want to get you in trouble, it's just we've been so worried, he's never been gone so long…"

She squeezed his hands back and then let them go, her eyes now determined. "Come with me," she beckoned and abandoned her cart, walking quickly down the catwalk towards the room. Remy followed, she pulled her key card from her apron pocket and stopped in front of the door. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, she inserted the key. The light turned to green and the lock clicked. She shooed Remy into the room and he ducked under the tape, amazed he could squat so low in his tight jeans. "Don't touch anything…" She warned as she followed and softly shut the door. The room was dark and musty and she made sure the curtains were tucked around the edges of the window. He didn't want to take his sunglasses off and reveal his unique eyes, but the lighting left him little choice. He stepped forward, but before he could remove his shades she snapped on the lamp and stood next to the nightstand gazing over his head at the far wall. The lighting was dim enough and she was far enough away that he merely lowered the sunglasses on his nose, hiding his red on black eyes. He looked questioningly at her.

"He was really nice to me, actually," she whispered. "He seemed okay. Just kept to himself. Had me bring him the newspapers every day. Didn't want his room serviced, but he tipped me anyway. I didn't see him for a couple of days, then his truck disappeared. I used my key card and found this…" She stood solemnly next to the bed and nodded towards the wall. Remy turned and his jaw dropped as he took in Magneto's handiwork. The description from the police report he had read online had not done it justice, their cover story hadn't been too far off at all. 'Obsessed' seemed apt. Pinned to the wall was a map of the U.S. surrounded by newspaper clippings. The clippings were connected to locations on the map by pieces of black string. He stepped closer and ran a gloved finger along the strings and recognized faces and places from the files they had received from SHIELD.

The girl shuffled towards the door. "I'll give you a few minutes to look everything over. It's pretty quiet today, but I'll keep a lookout and call the room if the police come. They were here yesterday, but maybe you'll find something they missed." Remy turned back towards her. "I hope you find him." She smiled and put her hand on the handle of the door. "I have to get back to work."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much I appreciate this…I didn't even ask you your name! I'm Mark." He smiled sheepishly and stepped towards her.

"Deena."

"Thank you, Deena."

"You're welcome." She opened the door a crack and looked out. Seeing no one, she ducked under the tape. "Don't be too long, Mark." She smiled tightly and clicked the door closed.

Alone, Remy flipped his shades up on his head and slowly scanned the room. He shook his head in frustration. If he couldn't use an image inducer to hide his eyes, they would need something else. Their color was too recognizable and unusual. He put it in the back of his mind and started his search. Shabby bedspread, place needed re-carpeted and the artwork was suitably tacky. His eyes returned to the wall of crazy Magneto had left behind. He stepped forward and turned on more of the lamps in the room. Fuck, he thought, and pulled his phone out of his back pocket, started snapping pictures. Most of the articles they already had hard copies of, but he made sure to snap close-ups of them anyway as passages had been underlined in black ink. He stepped back for a wide angle shot and a cold feeling crept into his stomach. This was bad. Beyond bad.

After photographing every square inch and pocketing his phone, Remy began a thorough search of the room, hoping to find anything else of importance that the police may have missed. On his knees partially under the dusty bed his phone vibrated. A text from Rogue. Room 211. He sat back on his haunches and shot back Be right there. He stood and stretched. Nothing else of significance seemed to be in the room, just old newspapers and dirty coffee mugs. He turned off the lamps and slid a finger along the edge of the curtain, peeking out into the parking lot. He slowly opened the door and, looking in every direction, shimmied under the police tape. He hiked up his pants again and dropped his shades back into place.

211 turned out to be on the opposite side of the motel. Rogue opened the door before he even had a chance to knock and held it wide. "Where'd you disappear to, Cajun?" she asked. Closing the door she turned to face him and crossed her arms under her chest. A laptop was open on the bed and her heavy boots were piled on the floor.

His face split into a wide smile at the sight of her. He triumphantly pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped up the pictures he had taken. He handed it to Rogue and delighted in her shocked expression.

"You already got into the room? How'd you manage that? I thought you didn't want to try to pick a card-lock in broad daylight?"

He laughed softly, pulled down his sleeves and buttoned the cuffs. "No guild skills required, chere." He switched to his Kentucky accent. "Just a little down home charm." Rogue rolled her eyes and paced around the room, flicking through the camera roll.

Remy snatched the stocking hat from her head, her white stripe tumbling loose from its cage. "How 'bout you, girl? Any luck?"

She bit her lip and gestured towards the computer. "He's driving a blue bronco. Pietro was wrong I guess…he had it in the motel parking lot, and the same vehicle was found abandoned outside the police station that was the scene of his big blow-up." Remy sat on the bed and pulled the computer onto his lap.

"How'd you manage that?" He mocked and raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Oh, you know. Small towns are full of neighborly folk." She waved a hand airily.

"Right. Nothing to do with the top two buttons on your dress bein' undone?"

"Same as your charm having nothing to do with those tight ass pants you're wearin', sugar."

Laughing, Remy quickly read the police report Rogue had found on the abandoned vehicle. So, he's driving, not using his powers to fly. He looked up at the uncharacteristically quiet Rogue and found her standing still, her face ashen in the lamplight. Remy deposited the laptop back on the bed and came to stand in front of her. He placed his hands on her slim shoulders. She swallowed, unable to pull her eyes from the phone's screen. "This is definitely…obsessed," she whispered.

"I know, chere." He pulled the phone from her hands, flicking the ringer back on he tossed it on the bed next to the laptop. He rubbed his hands up and down the thin sweater covering her arms. "I don't mean to sound crass, but what were you expecting here? You read SHIELD's reports. He's lost it. A blind man could see this isn't going to end well."

She glared angrily at him and pushed his arms away a little too hard. "What were you expecting here, Remy? If you knew this was going to be a disaster, why did you insist on coming?" He stepped towards her again and ran a gloved finger down the side of her face.

"I think you already know the answer to that," he said huskily. Their eyes locked for a few heartbeats and he relished their closeness, the heat of her. "I just can't figure your reasons."

She pushed his hand down. "I don't want to hurt you, Remy, not when I'm just finding you again," she said thickly. "I don't know how to explain it to you, to make you understand. I'm not even sure why I'm here myself. All I know is I had to come." She was fighting tears and broke eye contact with him. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear any of this, her feelings, her love for the other man. "I need you to understand, Remy, I just…" her bottom lip trembled and her voice broke.

He took a step back and shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing her. "S'okay, chere. I think I get it, don't need you to explain. He saved you all those years ago. The attraction was there, he's crazy powerful, don't have to tell me power's hot. You were pissed at me and needed to sow some wild oats, maybe?"

"No, dammit! That's not it!" She grabbed his shirt front desperately. "Back…before you joined…you were right. Everyone stayed away from me. My friends, my teammates, they all were afraid of me. The girl with the poison skin. Nobody even looked twice at me, it wasn't worth the effort." Her laugh was short and thick with phlegm. "My coming here, my relationship with Erik, it's more than him saving me in the Savage Land. It's the connection I felt to him. In that damn jungle, for the first time ever for me, there was a spark. Someone let themselves get close to me, someone wanted to get close to me. It was like nothing I had ever felt…I had never allowed myself to feel passion before…" Passion. Remy winced at the word. She had never given any details of her time spent barely clothed in a jungle paradise with Magneto. He had never pressed her for details, no one really wanted the dirt about their lover's old flames. All he knew for sure was that she had been a virgin before their first night together in Antarctica, the suppression of their powers that lead to that coupling courtesy of Magneto, oddly enough, but beyond that…

"That connection," she continued, "it was immediate and it was intense. But events spiraled out of our control. We went our separate ways, life with the X-Men went on. Time came we confronted him again as an enemy and he acted…hostile…like nothing had happened during our time together, like there had been no feelings between us. He made me feel like I had made it up, that I was some wide-eyed innocent girl desperate for his affection. I was so angry, felt so betrayed, but I couldn't help caring about him because I had seen the good in him, had felt it strong between us. I think that's part of the reason he pushed me away. I had seen the man that he could be and it scared him. On Utopia, you and I weren't together, and suddenly there he was, playing the hero, all charm and gallantry…he acted again like the man I had only caught a glimpse of. He and I started flirting and that connection, the spark, was there again…"

"So, after he treated you like that - ignored you, strung you along, made you think you had made everything up – he crooks his finger and you fall all over him? Only after you learn to control your powers? That's messed up, girl!" Remy gripped her hands tightly. "That's not love!"

She shook her head. "I never said anything about love. Feeling connected to someone doesn't mean soul mates. I just want you to understand why I went to him…I was hurt and angry and confused by what Haller and Moira had put us through and I needed to feel wanted, to feel alive. I tried to talk to you about it, but you pushed me away and I felt so damn…alone. And he was there, and the connection was there, and he wanted me. So, hell, I thought maybe I owed it to myself, to that lonely girl I used to be, to see if there had ever been anything there. It was stupid, I know, and my carelessness nearly cost me everything, nearly cost me you. I think I came along on this mission because I consider him a friend and I cared about him, but nothing more. I never loved him, not like I love you, Remy. I just hope you can forgive me for not understanding what you were trying to tell me on Utopia, that we belong together."

He pulled her into his chest roughly. "Nothing to forgive, chere, we both made mistakes. We just have to work real hard on makin' it right," he whispered heatedly into her hair. He ran his hands up and down her back and held her tight. She pulled back from him and tipped her chin up slightly, green eyes shimmering, her lips slightly parted. He leaned forward and felt her tense up. Fuck. Her powers. He had almost forgotten. Inspired by a memory, he gently pulled the tail of her scarf free and held it between them as he pressed his lips to hers. It wasn't perfect, but he could feel her warm, sweet breath. He opened his eyes and met hers, asking for permission to continue. He didn't want to scare her away, to move too fast, but it had been too long. Her eyes burned and she pulled his face to hers. He kissed her again through their thin cover and she responded hungrily. One hand held the scarf to her face and the other crushed her body to his. He shifted the scarf to kiss down her neck into the hollow of her throat. He walked her back against the wall and pushed his growing hardness against her. She moaned as his free hand worked its way under the hem of her skirt. His mouth moved to her breast, circling her nipple with his tongue through the sheer dress. She reached between them, unzipped his jeans and ran a gloved hand along his length. "Anna…" he moaned at her unexpected forwardness. Been too long for her, too. She wrapped a leg around his waist and tilted her hips towards him. He curled her other leg around him and picked her up, shoving himself against her. Panting heavily they rocked feverishly against each other in a desperate need.

"Remy," she whimpered, her eyes rolling back in her head. He picked up the speed and held her around the waist with one arm. With the other he slipped his gloved hand between them, down the waistband of her leggings.

"God damn, girl," he moaned, nearly losing himself when the phone blared alarmingly from the bed. Ignoring it, he worked her in a steady rhythm. The ringing stopped, but Rogue's phone buzzed insistently from her pocket. They stopped and Remy dropped his head onto her chest in defeat. "Fuck," he muttered, Rogue fumbling breathlessly for her phone.

"Hello?" Rogue tipped her head back against the wall and tried to get her breathing under control as Remy untangled himself from her. Right. We're on a mission. "I think we've got all we can get here Lorna. Have you heard from Pietro?" She smiled sadly at him and straightened her dress as he grabbed his backpack and stepped towards the bathroom.

Damn. What was that? The Rogue he had first met had never been the one to make the first move. That girl had been so naive and so scared of her powers that anything he had suggested to work around them had sent her running for the hills. That Rogue would never have let him dry hump her against a wall, let alone give him a gloved hand-job. Not that he was complaining.

He heard Rogue's muffled voice through the bathroom door. "That sounds good, sugar. We're in room 211. We can show you what we've got, compare notes. Then we can get the hell out of this town….Yeah, the plane is way nicer than this shithole….Can you grab something to eat on the way through? We're starving! Thanks Lorna, see you in about a half hour!"

He stripped his shirt off and tossed his toiletries kit on the bathroom counter. He was debating the merits of a cold shower versus finishing himself off when Rogue pushed open the bathroom door. Unembarrassed he turned towards her, his hand in his unzipped pants, firmly holding his still hard cock. She softly closed the door behind her and turned, her eyes hungrily raking up and down his body as he let go of himself.

"They'll be here soon, Remy," she said and stepped towards him. She reached out with her gloved hand and ran her fingers down his tanned chest and stomach. His hardness twitched at her touch and he moved a little closer so she could feel him. "We don't have much time."

"Don't need long to make you come, girl," he whispered raggedly.

She bit her lip. "We have to be careful, sugar. How can we…?" This Rogue was definitely different. She had lived for a long time now with the freedom that control of her powers had given her. She had changed, knew what she wanted and was gonna take it, t'hell with the consequences. He was inclined to agree with her. Mission or no, powers or no powers, it had been too damn long since he had made love to this girl and she looked like she needed it. He pulled his shirt back on and looked her up and down.

"Trust me?" he asked as he stepped towards her with an idea. She swallowed hard and nodded, he pulled on his gloves, tucking the shirt cuffs into the openings. He hiked up the hem of her dress and slid his hand into her leggings again. She moaned and leaned back on the bathroom counter as he worked her back and forth. He reached up and slipped the leggings off, running his hands briefly up her toned legs.

"Remy?" she asked warily when he hoisted her to sit on the edge of the counter.

"I want you," he whispered roughly. "I ain't afraid of your powers. I can make this work for us. We can do this." Her face was flushed and she nodded. He scrambled through his toiletry kit and found a condom. He pulled himself free of his boxer briefs and unrolled the condom along his shaft, her eyes watching his every move. "We'll be careful, girl, I promise," he said and pulled his boxer briefs back up and pushed his length through the front flap. "Double-bagged, eh?" he joked, settling between her legs.

"Our skin could still touch..." she looked at him worriedly.

"I don't care," he answered honestly. "All I care about is being inside of you one way or the other. If that means that it's my mind that is part of you, it'll be worth it. Your choice." It wasn't playing fair, but he rubbed his gloved fingers along her again and pressed them deep inside her.

She nodded erratically. "I want this, Remy," she whispered.

She arched her back and spread her legs, inviting him in. He grabbed her hips roughly and pushed himself slowly inside her. Their eyes locked as he shoved deep, pulling a shaky moan from the depths of their souls. His strokes were slow at first, making sure she was comfortable and that their protection was in place. She rolled her eyes back into her head and shuddered, wrapping her legs around him and pulling him further into her. Unable to control himself anymore, he pushed faster, pounding mercilessly against her, not caring if their skin touched or not. Anna cried out as he picked up the pace, his thrusts rattling the mirror behind them. Her breathing was heavy, labored. She tipped her head back and wailed his name. The scarf slipped from her neck and fell into the sink, exposing her breasts. A rosy pink nipple poked stiffly out of the edge of her lacy black bra. He wanted so badly to take it in his mouth, run his tongue around it. Oh god, he thought, groaning out loud, come girl, come! I can't hold it anymore! She panted heavily and grabbed her own breast as if she could read his mind. Running her hand along the seam of her bra she pulled the breast free and pinched the nipple. She bucked her hips up to meet him, moving herself back and forth. He reached in between them and rubbed his thumb along her while he hammered against her fiercely. His wild desperate thrusts sent her over the edge and she came, her violent shaking finishing him off in a shuddering, slick climax.

Panting, he pulled out of her and snapped the condom off. He stood still for a second, watching her in sweaty satisfaction.

With a shaky sigh she slid down from the counter. "My legs are wobbly," she grinned lopsidedly at him. Her hair was an unholy mess.

"Did my job right then." He wrapped the condom in a tissue and tossed it in the garbage can. "Little shaky myself, chere. They'll be here soon. We better get cleaned up."

Rogue winced. "Yeah, I guess. We're probably busted anyway, it smells like sex in here." They both laughed breathlessly. Remy kissed the top of her hair.

"I'll take a quick rinse off, give you a chance to calm down before you shower. You look like somebody just fucked your brains out." Smiling like the cat that ate the canary he stripped and turned the shower on full blast.

"Oh my lord!" He laughed as he jumped in and pulled the yellowed curtain, leaving Rogue staring in the mirror at the tangled horror on top of her head.