Rogue had had the worst sleep of her life. She'd hardly gotten a wink at all after she'd left Remy and returned to the mansion. What little sleep she had gotten was plagued by strange nightmares. Nightmares that she wasn't entirely sure were her own.
It wasn't the first time she'd had disrupted sleep patterns because of the memories she'd absorbed from others. She hated when things that didn't belong to her crept up into her subconscious in the night and took over.
Kitty had to wake her up for school, commenting the Rogue looked rough and shouldn't have been out so late. Rogue made sure that by the time she hit the breakfast table she looked right as rain. She didn't want Logan to think her poor sleep had been because he let her stay out late.
At school, she tracked down Risty as soon as she could. It was imperative that Rogue have someone be able to back her, should anyone ask Risty how the movie was last night. Kitty had been known to snoop into Rogue's life and the fact that she had gotten permission to stay out late would have Kitty wanting all the details.
She met up with her unusual human friend in the hallway and quickly pulled her aside.
"Hey, Rist?" Rogue began quietly. "In case anyone asks, you and I were at a movie last night."
Risty raised a curious eyebrow and Rogue could tell her friend wanted all the details of what she'd been up to last night.
"What movie did we go see?" Risty asked with intrigue.
"I don't know, just some run-of-the-mill slasher flick, I guess."
"And what were you really doing?" Risty pressed with a mischievous grin.
"I just needed to get out of the mansion for awhile. Some days it drives me nuts. I went out for a bike ride, that's all, but if anyone knew I was out that late by myself-"
"And here I thought it was a boy." Risty scowled in disappointment.
Rogue frowned.
"Rist, you know that's impossible, 'cause of-"
"Right, right, your mutation," Risty answered hastily. "It's hard to remember you're a mutant sometimes, Rogue."
Rogue smiled warmly. "Thanks, Rist."
It made Rogue's day to know that not everyone defined her by her mutant status. To Risty, Rogue was just like any other girl.
"To be honest," Risty continued sheepishly, "once you said you snuck out, I thought you were gonna tell me it was with that guy in Chemistry."
Rogue stared at her friend in shock, willing herself to find some sort of words to answer. She and Remy weren't that obvious to the public eye; at least that's what she had thought until now.
"What guy in Chemistry?" Rogue asked stupidly and Risty laughed.
"Come on! Are you serious?" Risty practically shrieked in amazement. "I'm talking about your new lab partner!"
"Oh, you mean Remy," Rogue answered dully and completely uninterested. "He's okay, I guess."
"You guys always look friendly in class."
"He's my lab partner, Rist," Rogue answered dryly. "And he happens to be very good at Chemistry, so being nice means I might not flunk the class."
Risty breathed a sigh of relief that didn't go unnoticed by Rogue. It was her turn to give Risty a quizzical look.
"Oh, don't look at me like that!" Risty answered. "I've heard some things about him around the school, that's all. I was worried that you might start liking him since he's the only guy you ever seem to talk to outside of your Institute buddies."
"Like what kind of things?" Rogue asked, trying to keep her tone light and gossipy.
"Not very good things," Risty whispered. "Look, if I don't move it, I'm gonna be late for class. We'll have to talk later."
"Yeah, see ya, Rist," Rogue answered perplexed. It wasn't like Risty not to divulge the latest gossip as soon as she heard it. It had Rogue wondering what sort of rumours were circulating about Remy and whether or not he knew about it.
The bell was about to ring and she hurried to her class. She would have to wait until second period to speak with Remy. After their conversation last night, she wasn't entirely sure how this was going to go over with him.
She avoided making eye contact with Remy when she sat at her desk, which was fairly easy since he didn't sit anywhere near her. He usually sat at the back of every classroom, and Rogue had realized that it was because the anti-mutant kids would throw stuff at the back of his head if he didn't.
Second period did not come fast enough and when it did, Rogue was on pins and needles as she waited for the halls to clear out so she could go meet Remy.
Once inside the drama room's storage department, she closed the door softly behind her. Remy was waiting for her on one of the antique couches the drama club used in many of their productions. His expression and demeanor were rather grim in comparison to his usual eagerness and excitement to see her. She swallowed hard and proceeded to approach him. He moved over for her when she reached the couch and she sat down beside him.
"So," she started nervously as an awkward, tense air filled the room. "Risty says there's all sorts of bad rumours circulating the school about you."
"I imagine that's coming from Piotr," Remy answered in a bored tone.
"I thought you said Piotr was a good guy?"
"Oh, he is." Remy mused. He seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts and not in much mood to discuss them with her. "You look tired."
It was classic Remy to change topic when he wasn't apt to sharing with her.
"I didn't sleep very well last night," she admitted.
Remy titled his head towards her with a slight frown on his face.
"Bad dreams?" he asked gently, and she could see the concern in his eyes.
"Yeah." She nervously brushed hair from eyes. "How did you know?"
"That's the only time you never sleep well. I've noticed it from time to time," he replied quietly. "I would have woken you up."
She smiled and placed her hand on his lap. "I know you would've, Sug."
Remy let out a deep breath.
"I don't want to argue anymore with you," he whispered. "I want our time together to be just us and nothing else. It seems that it's not a very plausible solution, though."
"It's getting harder to keep this up, isn't it?" Rogue asked. Suddenly she was fearful of the answer and where it would lead.
"Yeah." Remy gave a faint smile. "But I'm not ready to quit yet. I don't think I could."
"Me either." She inched closer to him and wrapped her arms around his torso.
"I don't want you worrying about me, Rogue," Remy said quietly into her ear. "And I don't want you mad at me either."
"I'm not mad at you," she answered quickly. "I'm just feeling lost right now, like I'm not too sure which side I'm playing for anymore."
"Yeah," Remy answered. "I know that feeling."
"I guess that's the problem with having a difference in opinion, but we could agree to disagree for a little while longer, right?"
Remy smiled and hugged her tight. "Yeah, cherie, we could."
Rogue was glad that they'd straightened things out and were back to normal, well as normal as they could be. With things tentatively resolved, the rest of the hour flittered away almost too quickly.
"Well," Rogue sighed, grabbing her backpack. "I'll see you in Chemistry."
Remy gave her a strange, fleeting look before his faced closed off emotionally from her again. He smiled brightly and answered, "Of course, cherie."
She tried to downplay his troubled expression, deciding that maybe, like her, he just had a lot on his mind.
It wasn't until lunchtime, when she sat in her usual spot in the cafeteria, that she realized what had been troubling Remy. She had been busy listening to Kitty trilling on about some new song she'd heard on the radio when a loud crash across the cafeteria startled her into looking up in horror.
While she'd been occupied, something had happened at Remy's table, something that had finally made Remy snap. Sure enough, Rogue looked up to see Remy aggressively towering over Duncan, who was pinned by the neck against the cafeteria table in which Remy had been sitting at. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Duncan's friends were on their way over to help him.
Someone yelled out, "fight!" and soon the cafeteria echoed in the chanting of that one word. Scott was already on his feet and about to head over to the table when Colossus reached it first. Rogue's jaw dropped in shock as the big man grabbed Remy roughly by his collar. In the blink of an eye, he threw Remy up off of Duncan and against the wall. She cringed when Remy's body made contact with the bricks and failed to get back up immediately.
Colossus had turned on him, and as the big mutant advanced towards Remy, Rogue screamed, "Leave him alone!" She was already pulling off a glove before her body moved swiftly towards where Colossus stood.
"Rogue!" Scott barked, but it was too late. Rogue had already reached the scene and stood protectively between Colossus and Remy.
"I know what you are," Rogue hissed in low voice so only Colossus could hear her, "and I guarantee that if I touch you right now, everyone else will know too. I suggest it's time you backed off now."
To her surprise, Colossus merely nodded before he stepped back and went to help Duncan up. The two disappeared back to their table, leaving Rogue alone with Remy while everyone watched what she would do. She slipped her glove back on and held it out to Remy. He never took it.
"Both of you!" Principal Kelly shouted from behind her, "In detention now!"
It took Rogue a moment to realize the principal was addressing her and Remy, not Duncan and Colossus, who were rightfully to blame. Rogue knew better than to argue and it seemed that Remy did to. He silently got up from the floor and allowed Principal Kelly to roughly grab his arm along with Rogue's. The principal proceeded to haul them off to detention.
A soon as they were alone in the empty room, just off of the staffroom that was used for detention, Remy turned furiously to her with sharp, blazing eyes.
"Just what the hell did you think you were doing back there?" He asked angrily.
Rogue stared at him in shock. This was hardly the reception from him she'd been expecting.
"Well, I thought that I was helping you!" she bit back, holding her temper. "A 'thank you' would have been nice, since I saved you from getting your ass pummeled in by that traitor!"
Remy ran his hands through his hair in frustration. The agitated expression on his face never went away. "Chere, it was a set up to get me in here! I'm a job right now!"
Rogue's jaw dropped in aghast. "You purposely attacked Duncan?"
"I didn't need much motivation," Remy admitted. "The guy has all but been asking for it since day one, so you can't really say it wasn't well deserved."
Rogue bit her lip, she couldn't really argue with that.
"So," she broached, stretching her arms. "What are we doing in here anyway?"
"We aren't doing anything," Remy answered sternly. "And I believe that we agreed that we didn't ask each other these questions."
"I'm not going to be an accomplice or anything?" she asked suspiciously.
"Depends on whether or not you cover for me if anyone comes looking." Remy grinned his mischievous grin before standing up on the desk he'd been sitting at. He slipped a small pocket screwdriver from his coat pocket and began unscrewing the screws from the air vent grate above him.
Rogue remained silent, watching him curiously, as he handed her the metal grate he'd removed from the ceiling. He proceeded to hook his hands along the vent's ledge and pull himself up into the school's duct work.
"Remy!" Rogue whispered angrily as he disappeared soundlessly through the vents. He didn't answer her, and Rogue seriously debated going after him. Her boyfriend had purposely gotten himself hauled into detention so that he could enter someplace else through the vents.
She tried to concentrate and visualize the school schematics to figure out where he was going. She groaned inwardly. It had to be Principal Kelly's office. It was the room over from the Detention Room.
Her body stiffened in fear as she caught the shadow of a teacher walk past the milky, frosted window on the detention room door. There was no way Remy could've gotten into this room easily with all of the teachers mingling around in their staffroom. It had been much simpler to cause a scene, and be brought in here instead.
The more Rogue thought about it, the more she realized just how airtight the plan was. Whatever Remy was doing was something that wasn't good, and it was something for Magneto. He had the perfect alibi if any suspicion led to him. Remy couldn't have possibly done anything because he was locked up in detention. Someone would have noticed him leaving the room through the staffroom… at least if she kept her mouth shut, Remy had an alibi.
As much as she didn't want Remy to get caught, she was thankful that her team, and not Magneto's, had acquired both Kitty and Kurt. Their mutations would have been perfect for this mission that Remy was on.
Rogue sat at one of the empty desks, fidgeting with her hair while diligently watching the hole in the ceiling. She still had no idea what she was going to do if a teacher came in here, was she supposed to cover for Remy, or was she supposed to rat him out?
She had never been directly placed in a situation where she might have to choose between Remy and what was right. It was blatantly obvious that he was up to no good, but she still couldn't bring herself to go and tell someone. She was torn in two, and it was her own fault. She sighed mournfully, plopping her chin into her hands and remembered why this had all started in the first place.
Once upon a time, she had had the hugest crush on Scott, but he had liked Jean better. It was actually one of the main reasons she had even started flirting with Gambit in the first place. It was nice to have someone reciprocate her feelings, or at least show interest in her. And as the flirting continued, she had been inexplicably jealous when Gambit flirted with the other girls during fights— not that his flirting with the other girls had lasted for very long.
For whatever reason, he had made a point to single her out in a fight and it had always made Rogue feel special. It made her feel like she was wanted and even valued all on her own. It was crazy to get such validation from an enemy, but at the time, Rogue had craved any kind of attention from a boy. It was disappointing to know that her neediness was the root of her and Remy's relationship, and the source of all the lies she had to keep coming up with to keep it.
Had she found someone who had showed interest in her at the mansion or at school, things would have been different. She had wanted Scott to be that person, but as nice as Scott was to her, he just didn't understand her or like her in that way. It was a huge shock when she realized that Gambit understood her perfectly. He understood exactly how she felt about things, how she wanted to be, and what she craved most in life. He liked her just for being her.
It was actually incredibly easy to fall in love with Gambit. Even when they were just messing around, there was always something about the way he treated her, or the way he would talk to her, that she just knew he understood who she really was. She fell for him quickly, but she knew the score. She knew they were in the basest of terms just 'fuck buddies'. She had never revealed her love for him. She wouldn't dare.
The day he had said it first, was by far the happiest day of her life. It was the day that she officially belonged somewhere and belonged with someone. She had needed so badly to be loved and although everyone at the mansion cared deeply for her, she never really got that sense of love that she had been craving. With Gambit admitting his true feelings, it was finally safe for to admit her own.
A soft rustling above caught her attention and she popped her head up towards the hole. Remy had returned; head first through the hole. To her relief, it was well before she was faced with the decision to actually have to cover for him. No one had come in, and for that, she was grateful. It was a close call in her books, because she still struggled with whether or not she would have covered for him.
She was silently furious with herself and with Remy as he slipped from the hole, landing swiftly on the desk. He made short time of replacing the grating and screws. He dusted himself off and looked rather pleased with himself. Rogue didn't ask and Remy didn't tell.
After a few silent and uncomfortable minutes, Remy finally spoke up, "I'm sorry you got involved in this. I never meant for that to happen."
"I'm not involved," Rogue clipped stubbornly. "No one came in—"
"No one had to come in for you to rat me out," Remy reminded her quietly. It was true. She could have gone to one of the teachers at any time and told on him. Instead, she had watched the hole in the ceiling, hoping he'd come back soon.
"It's my own fault for getting involved," she muttered.
"I didn't think you would," he answered.
"I couldn't help it. I honestly thought you were in trouble."
He smiled and inched his body closer to hers, resting his elbows on her desk. "Sometimes I think you're just too good for me, cherie."
"Can we talk about something else now? I don't want to feel torn in two anymore."
Remy only nodded. "Forget about this one. You never saw anything."
It was easier said than done. She couldn't forget about it. Instead of doing what was right, she had let Remy complete his job. This conflict of interests was beginning to take its toll. She debated whether or not she should tell her team what she had witnessed. The fact that she even had to debate that thought in the first place had her questioning a lot of things.