Complicated Situations
Chapter Six: Day One, Part Six
by PrettyGothGirl

All Standard Disclaimers Apply
Spoilers: Post X-Men, not X2, X3 or Origins Compatible
Summary: Jean-Luc picks a fight over the marriage that neither Marie or Remy remember but are quite happy about, Tante Mattie is forced to intervene for she has some questions of her own.
Author's Note: A big thank you to my beta reader, Lost and Never Found. This story is dedicated to Mariamcardoso who wanted some sexy Romy lovin'. Hope this is enough for you! My apologies in advance if I get any of the Voodoun wrong. I tried to keep it as general as possible. Only one more chapter of day one left... I don't know if I'm sad or happy.

Last time in Complicated Situations... Marie made a splash with her wedding dress, Logan returned with Hank and just as Marie was about to explain more about her father figure... Jean-Luc entered the room.

Marie shut her mouth. Given how little Jean-Luc seemed to know about mutants and what the rest of the world called 'the mutant situation,' she didn't want to reveal anything that he didn't already know.

Jean-Luc scowled. "Are you done causing an uproar in t'is house?"

Remy's face, which was still confused from Marie's amused statement, didn't become any less confused at this confrontational question. "Uproar?"

Marie crossed her arms and muttered. "We really need some time to ourselves, Sugar." This was getting ridiculous.

Jean-Luc ignored her. "T'is isn't a natural situation and Ah'm tired of the two of yah actin' like it is."

Remy and Marie looked at each other. Marie raised an eyebrow. Remy's eyebrow rose in return. "Mais, dat is a little odd." He said. It hadn't ever even occurred to him not to act like he was happy and to not treat Marie with the respect (and other things) that being his wife deserved.

"Ah'm at a loss to how Ah'm supposed to be actin'." Marie pressed her lips together. "Should Ah have vapors or somethin'?"

Jean-Luc still seemed intent on ignoring Marie. "Dere was yellin' a few moments ago getting' all de servants goin'. What is goin' on?"

"And now there's gonna be more yellin'." Marie said in a low voice.

"Marie and Logan were just havin' a fight. Nothin' unusual." Remy reached to put his cigarette back in the ashtray. "He ain't happy eit'er."

"They could form a club." Marie added, keeping her tone low.

Jean-Luc's eyes narrowed as he saw the bandage. "And what is dat?"

Remy glanced at the bandage and blinked. He'd completely forgotten about it in under thirty seconds. Marie's company was far too interesting for something like a little puncture wound to be even a distraction. He blinked again, as if suddenly realizing that someone taking a blood sample from him might be a problem. "Umm."

Jean-Luc roared. "Who was here and what happened, Remy?"

Marie leaned her head back and groaned. "Yep, more yellin'."

Remy's eyes flitted to her exposed neck and he tightened his fingers on her hips. Jean-Luc's anger heated his brain like fire he couldn't and shouldn't ignore it no matter how tempting kissing down her neck looked. He forced his attention back to his father. "Logan returned wit' a Doctor. He wanted a blood sample, routine tests for chemicals."

Jean-Luc exploded into a string of expletives in French. Marie's head came back up and her eyes widened. Jean-Luc returned to English. "How could yah let someone take a blood sample from yah? Where is yer head? Yah know how dangerous it is! Lettin' some crackpot Doctor come in-"

"Doctor McCoy is not a crackpot!" Marie snapped, her own eyes narrowing. "He's a fully trained and certified medical and scientific Doctor!"

"No one takes blood from mah son wit'out permission!"

"If yah are that concerned, then yah should have had it done hours ago!" Marie screamed back. "Doctor McCoy knows what he's doin'! He's the leadin' mind in the investigation of mutant genetics and Ah trust him with mah life!" It was the truth. Some of her escapades had not ended as well as others.

"Stay out of this yah no good punk brat!" Jean-Luc screamed at her.

"Don' insult mah friends!" Marie shouted back. She could care less if he insulted her, but no one insulted Hank, who happened to be the Secretary of Mutant Affairs and her good friend in front of her, the second being a great deal more important than the first.

"Yah have no idea of what he will do wit' t'ose samples." Jean-Luc shouted, this time directed at Remy.

"Hank will be extremely careful." Marie shouted and Remy had to grab hold of her more firmly to keep her from moving off of his lap and getting into his father's face.

"Yah don' know that!"

"He more than knows about the need for security."

"Like hell he does!"

"He's a mutant!" Marie shouted. Silence reigned in the room. Marie breathed hard. She reached up and brushed hair from her face. "Hank will be exceptionally careful. The mutant community knows what happens if someone unscrupulous gets their hands on even a partial strand of our DNA." She breathed out and her hands clenched into fists as some extremely unpleasant memories, hers and others, rose to her mind. "We know." She whispered. And it hadn't been all humans either. Mutants had messed with each other's DNA as well with results that were just as bad if not worse.

Jean-Luc glowered and managed to lower his voice. "Remy has a bad reaction to needles."

"Ah noticed." Marie said with a touch of scorn and rolled her eyes.

Remy stroked Marie's thigh. "Ah'm fine, Papa. Really."

Jean-Luc looked at him. "Do yah need anyt'in'?"

"Ah'm fine." Remy flushed. "Marie distracted me. Ah didn't even shake afterwards."

Jean-Luc's eyebrow rose.

Marie uncrossed her arms and put a hand on Remy's. "Ah wouldn't recommend mah method to anyone else. It's a bit personal." She glanced at Remy and smiled. He smiled back.

Jean-Luc had a bad feeling that he knew exactly what Marie meant. His teeth clenched however as he realized they were treating the situation as completely normal and routine again.

It was fortunate that at that moment, Tante Mattie bustled into the room and with one look at Marie and Remy making eyes at each other on the couch and Jean-Luc's face, she decided to intervene.

She turned to Jean-Luc. "What is wit' all t'is yellin' in here?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. Jean-Luc opened his mouth to say something but Tante Mattie cut him off. "Dere has been enough yellin' today. Yah are an adult! For shame, yellin' at Remy when he is so happy."

"Dat's de point! He's happy!" Jean-Luc roared.

Mattie's eyes narrowed. "Use yer inside voice, Jean-boy. We can all hear yah just fine."

Jean-Luc's voice came out strangled. "It ain't natural to be so happy when married to an utter stranger."

Mattie tilted her chin down. "As good as a point as dat is, dere is no point yellin' at t'em o'er it. T'ey have every right to be happy if t'ey want to be."

Marie scowled at Jean-Luc. "Are yah sure yah ain't been talkin' to Logan on the sly? Yah sound exactly alike."

Remy nuzzled her jaw. "Maybe it's de daddy instinct."

"Logan ain't mah daddy." She said. Remy snorted. Marie turned her head to brush her lips against his. "He's bettah."

Remy reclaimed her lips.

Mattie smiled and then glared at Jean-Luc as he made a face. "Where are yer manners, Jean-boy? My maman taught yah bettah and if yah can't find yer manners, go sulk in yer office and wait for Theoren to bring yah news."

Marie broke the kiss and she snickered at Mattie's nickname for Jean-Luc. Jean-Luc flushed, spun on his heel and marched out of the room. He'd leave them to their folly and get to the bottom of what insanity had come over his son without their help.

Mattie sat down and put her hands in her lap. "Now honey child, blossom, it's Tante's turn to ask questions, t'ough wit'out de yellin' dat everyone else seems to require."

Marie laughed. "Thank God."

Mattie nodded emphatically. "Dere is no need for dat. Ah do foresee more yellin' today t'ough. It just seems inevitable."

Remy sighed. "Ask away, Tante. We'll answer de best we can."

Mattie looked at Marie. "Do yah know what a gris-gris is?"

Marie blinked. "Some sort of spell? Ah ain't sure of the details."

Mattie nodded. "Exactly dat, it's a spell made up in a pouch and hung around de neck. Different items in de bag give de gris-gris different purposes."

Marie's brow furrowed. "Ah don' remember any pouches. Wouldn't that sort of thin' be kind of obvious?" She paused. "Yah think that someone put a magic spell on us?"

Remy kissed her cheek. "It's a possibility, ma cherie. N'Awlin's is de home of Louisianan Voodoun."

"But," Marie waved her hand. "A spell."

Remy's eyebrow rose. "Yah are willin' to accept a mutant as a possibility, but not magic?"

Marie bit her lip. "Ah don' know if Ah'd accepted a mutant as a possibility." She muttered and squirmed. She hunched her shoulders and looked at Mattie trying to convey that she was sorry. "Still don' remember any pouches."

Mattie looked serene. "No one gave yah a pouch, or slipped one around yer neck when yah weren't lookin'?"

Remy shook his head. "Non, Tante."

"Yah didn't see one at de hotel?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Ah weren't lookin' for one but Ah didn't see one when Ah was searchin' de room for our t'in's." Remy said.

"There weren't any in the pictures. Or at least, Ah weren't wearing one." Marie tilted her head thinking. "Remy's shirt was all buttoned up so perhaps he were. Would bot' of us have to be wearin' one?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Mattie shrugged. "Depends on the gris-gris and how powerful it were."

"But dere weren't any in de room when we woke up. So, if dere were one to begin wit' someone would have had to come and take it off which would require knowin' where we were goin' and what we were doin'." Remy frowned. "Dat would take plannin'. And if someone did put one on me, shouldn't Ah remember at least meetin' ma cherie." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "So dat she would get in de influence of de gris-gris. Or shouldn't she remember meetin' me?"

Mattie shrugged again. "Depends on de gris-gris."

"T'ey probably already cleaned de hotel room." Remy pointed out.

Marie shifted in Remy's lap. "These things have a shelf life?"

Remy looked at her. "Oui. De person dat made de gris-gris can determine de length of time de gris-gris works and when it was supposed to work."

"Oh." Marie frowned. "So unless we could or couldn't find one conclusively, there's no way to prove if we had one put on us."

"Oui." Remy nodded.

Marie wanted to ask why they were asking these questions then, but decided it was probably best for once to keep her mouth shut. It seemed important to Remy and Mattie that they cover everything. "Oh." She said instead.

Mattie waved a hand. "Ah already have someone lookin' into de gris-gris angle at de hotel. We've looked through honey child's thin's but we ain't looked through yers honey blossom."

Marie furrowed her brow. "Ah'm confused."

"They don' know how long yah are stayin'," Remy explained. "And don' want to invade yer privacy wit'out permission."

"It's just a few clothes." Marie blinked. "Ah didn't see any pouches when Ah went for clean ones. Yah would know bettah than Ah. Yah can look if yah like."

"Merci, honey blossom. Ah'll do it mahself." Mattie said. Marie nodded. Mattie tilted her head. "Snakes."

Marie widened one eye. "What about them?"

"Did yah see any? Have a dream about dem? Have an odd vision of dem in yer memory?"

Marie blinked. "Ah'm sure if Ah looked hard enough Ah could find one." She paused. "Not off de top of mah head." She said quickly.

Remy shook his head.

"Was dere anyone singing, makin' music or dancin' around yah at any time recently?"

"Well, at de weddin'." Remy said. "But Ah don' know if t'ey were summonin' de spirits. Ah suppose someone could go and ask. Dat is if de entertainers remember us. T'ey may not."

Mattie's shoulders and head went back. Her lips pursed together. "Explain."

"Well, almost no one remembers us." Remy said. "At least, not de people dat Logan talked to. We know dat, say, de bridal shop had to remember us, and de jeweler and de photographer because t'ey sent t'in's to de house. We know Father Jerome remembers marryin' us, but as far as we know, no one else does." He shrank into the couch. "We didn't really get to ask de questions." He finished in a mutter.

"And Logan keeps bein' too busy yellin' for me to get any details about who he did and didn't talk to." Marie pushed her hair back. "Ah didn't realize it would be so important."

Mattie processed this. "Have eit'er of yah come to de attention of any of de Queens in N'Awlins?"

"Ah don' make a habit of shoutin' Marie Leveau when Ah shoot dice." Remy scowled. "Not dat Ah know of."

Mattie looked down her nose at him. "Or anyone wit' patronage of a Voodoun Queen."

"Dat don' narrow t'in's down!" Remy sputtered. "Not dat Ah know of. And if Ah attracted t'eir attention, why would t'ey spell me wit' forgetfulness and love?"

"Irony." Mattie raised an eyebrow. "Kharma?"

"Dat's a Hindu belief." Remy glowered at her. "And t'ey would have to have somet'in' personal."

"Cell phones come wit' cameras." Mattie pointed out.

"Mais, Ah don' know." Remy wanted to beat his head against the couch. He felt helpless. He hated feeling helpless.

Marie shrugged. "Ah just got here."

"T'is all just seems so random." Remy muttered. "Too random for a gris-gris to have been put on bot' of us."

"Dat leaves powders." Mattie murmured.

"Like drugs?" Marie perked up. "Doctor McCoy is lookin' for that."

Mattie beamed. "Bon." She stood and beat her hands together. "Ah'll just have a look t'rough yer t'in's honey blossom. If dere is anything dirty, Ah'll have laundry take care of it."

Marie flushed as she remembered that the dirty clothes she knew of were in piles on Remy's floor. She wasn't used to servants at all. Even at the school, the students did their own laundry. "Merci, Tante."

"Dinner will be served in a few minutes. Yah two best go get cleaned up and changed." Mattie smiled at them and left.

Marie looked after her. "Changed?" Her eyes widened and things started to feel a little slippery in her mind. "Ah don't have anythin' to change into." She whispered. She was so out of her league in this family.

Remy felt her panic like soda bubbles. "Cherie?"

She looked at him. "Ah don' have anythin' bettah to wear."

"Didn't Doctor Hank hand yah a bag?"

Marie's blinked and her face cleared. She put her face in her hands. "Ah forgot."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "We've all been busy, yellin'." He said. "It's okay."

Marie whimpered. "Ah just forgot."

Remy kissed her head. "Remy knows."

"Yah think whatever was done to us is still workin'?"

"No." Remy said.

Marie looked up. "We probably thought everythin' was perfectly normal yesterday and the day before."

He rested his forehead against hers. "Probably. Don' matter. Ah remember de bag."

She grinned. "Okay."

He twisted his head and kissed her. Marie's eyes closed and she moaned. He pulled away. "Come on, cherie. Let's go upstairs. We won't have time for sex, but Ah can watch yah get dressed."

Marie snickered. "We don't?"

"Non. No one is late for dinner." He wrinkled his nose. "No one."

Marie slipped off his lap and stood. "Yah are still a dirty man."

He stood up and grabbed her, pulling her out of the room. "De best way to be."

"Not enough soap in the world."

"Non."

"The solar system."

"Non."

"The universe!"

He laughed and she giggled and they laughed all the way up the stairs to their bedroom. He turned the handle. "And is dat a bad t'in'?"

"Only in certain circles. Ah've never claimed to be part of them." Marie sniffed.

He pushed the door open and grinned at her. "Bon."

She snickered and shut the door behind her. The room had been picked up. Her new bag was on the bed, but the bag she'd packed was missing, as were the clothes on the floor. The boxes with her wedding dress and jewelry were sitting in a corner. She bit her lip. The servants certainly were efficient.

Remy could feel her unease and he turned to her. "Cherie?"

"Ah ain't used to this." She muttered again.

"Cherie," He half smiled. "After a near ten years, Ah still ain't used to it."

That made her smile and she shook it off, heading for the bed. She unzipped the bag and her eyes lit up at the packages on top. "Oh, presents!"

Remy grinned, but went for clean clothes. "No time."

Marie pouted and put them on the bed, counting, six cards and five gifts. They were even wrapped. She tilted her head and tried to remember who was at the mansion and who wasn't. Five seemed about right given that it was summer and most her friends had gone home lucky enough to have families and the Professor was in Europe. Most of the presents would be from the teachers anyways. She smiled again, and reached further into the bag and pulled out what was on top. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was some of her nicer clothes. Not something she would wear to church, but not something she'd wear to a bar or a club either, something prettier than her normal wear, something she'd wear on a date. And since most of her clothes were black, everything was pre-matched.

She pulled her t-shirt over her head.

"Hey!" Remy protested. "Remy ain't watchin'."

She turned around and looked down her nose at him. "If yah had the ability to protest, yah were watchin' Sug."

Remy already had his own shirt off and he crossed his arms. "Only 'cause yah moved."

Marie rolled her eyes and unbuttoned the zipper of her shorts. She hadn't realized he'd been serious about watching her get undressed. She looked down at her feet and had to think about a sexy way to take them off, despite the fact she was just going to have to put them back on. However, she didn't see any chairs to make it possible, so she pulled them off the same way she had when they had sex earlier and dumped them to the side. She looked up, caught his eyes and undid the zipper of her shorts, wiggling her hips as she tugged down on the sides. They landed in a heap at her feet and she stepped out of them and cocked her hips. "Yer turn." She said. Remy couldn't tear his eyes away from the way her black bra and panties with little bits of lace contrasted against her pale skin. Marie smirked and came over to him, putting her hands on the waistband of his jeans. "Unless, yah need help."

He grabbed her hands. "We really don' have time for t'is." He muttered.

She kissed him and he moaned, sliding his hands up her arms. She unbuttoned his jeans and slid her hands underneath. She broke the kiss. "If we don' have time, yah should think about wearin' somethin' underneath yer pants."

He cupped the back of her head with one hand and kissed her again. He didn't have a coherent answer to that. He pulled away, when it became apparent to him at least that if he didn't, they were going to miss dinner all together and someone, probably Emil was going to find them in the all together. Normally, he wouldn't care in the least. Today, however, he'd angered Papa enough. He licked his lips and panted. She pulled his head back down and kissed him quickly and when she broke it, he went after another kiss. His blood felt like it was on fire.

Then he picked her up and set her a foot away from him, every fiber of his being protesting. "Yer clothes are o'er dere." He said, his voice so husky that even he didn't recognize it.

She stuck out her bottom lip and tilted her chin down. "Remy!" Her hair fell over her shoulders and trailed over her face.

He took a step backwards. "Oh no, cherie. We have to go to dinner."

She tossed her hair. "Fine, just don' make any plans for later." She spun on her toe.

He worked out of his pants and realized she'd taken two steps and stopped to look at him over her shoulder. He lowered his eyelashes and smirked at her, meeting her eyes squarely. She blushed and stuck her tongue out at him. He raised his eyebrows and wiggled them. She turned redder, put her tongue back in her mouth and stalked back to her clothes, nose in the air. He grinned at her back, and reached for a pair of dress pants.

They got dressed in silence, stealing glances at each other, but not willing to say or do anything unless they forget all control and end up tearing each others clothes back off and giving into their hormones and feelings.

Remy finished adjusting his tie and Marie pulled her brush through her hair once and they looked at each other. He exhaled. "Ready, sha?"

She set the brush down and steadied herself. "As Ah'll ever be, Ah guess."

He held out his hand and she took it, feeling better as his fingers entwined with hers. They went out the door and Marie looked over her shoulder at it and wished they hadn't had to leave. The room seemed like a little sanctuary of sanity compared to the rest of the house. Remy squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

reviews are love, love me?

Next time in Complicated Situations... Remy and Marie try to survive through dinner and Marie finally gets to their presents!