The Girl with the Gloves
Rating: K
Genre: Romance and Adventure
Chapter: 7-Prison Break (Part 1)
"Oooh…Merde," Remy murmured as he started coming around. His head felt as if it had been smashed and grated through a pile of rocks and his arms and legs felt dull and numb. A sick bile rose through his tongue and his vision felt blurry, with all the colors and objects rushing into each other like wet paint. He was lying down on somewhere hard and solid and lights blared at him from every direction. He was about to get up when something hit him on his forehead.
"Ow!" Remy whimpered. He groped around to find the unknown thing that hit him and his fingers closed around a small, plastic brush.
"Brosse?" he said dazedly. He still felt lightheaded and his vision swam.
"You stupid swamp rat! Wake up!" Someone's voice whispered urgently from across the room. He knew that voice. It was feminine and dripping with Southern accent but at the same time he still felt very confused.
He shook his head and tried to clear his vision. From across the room he could see a wide-eyed, red-haired, white-striped belle femme. Rogue.
"Swamp rat! Gambit! Remy LeBeau!" Rogue said urgently.
Remy immediately snapped back to focus at the mention of his name. He remembered everything, down to their first meeting at the bar all the way to the disastrous events that took place in the Smithsonian Museum Showroom. Remy's vision cleared and he saw that Rogue was walking—more like crawling though since the ceilings were unbearably low—her way towards him. Remy quickly fumbled around his trench coat. The first thing he searched for was his cards, which were (much to his relief) just hiding inside his left pockets. His Bo staff which could contract and retract at will was at one of the other pockets. The two keys however had gone invariably missing. Remy sighed in frustration as Rogue scrambled next to him.
She looked very belle despite the fact that she looked worn down and tired. Her hair was a rat's nest and she looked pale and clammy but that did not mean that Remy did not find her attractive.
"Ah…chere. Good to see that you're yourself again cher," Remy sighed in relief after realizing that Magnet was no longer controlling her.
Rogue scowled before spotting her brush and saying snippily, "Shut up. And gimme mah brush. Mah hair looks as if I've survived a hundred of Storm's winds."
Remy smiled, happy that he had gotten his fiery Southern belle back. He handed her brush back with a flourish and said, "All yours, cher. Although I must say that you look damn belle even if Stormy tossed you up and down in a hurricane."
"Whatevah. Anyway, we've got bigger things to worry about," Rogue said. She looked nervous. She started to fidget as she brushed her hair. She gestured for Remy to look around.
Remy's eyes widened as soon as he took a closer look at their surroundings. They were in a big room painted in nothing but white. The walls were unadorned, there was no furnishings and a big, glass window that stretched from the ceiling to the floor stood at their front giving Remy the impression that he was a zoo animal.
"Where the hell are we?" he whistled. He tried to stand up but he bonked his head against the ceiling. He sat back down and squatted next to Rogue.
"Oops. Did ah forget to warn you, Sugar? The ceilings are kinda low," Rogue said in a mockingly sweet voice.
"You're one cruel but fine femme, Rogue. If it weren't for de fact that you are one hot fille, I'da blown you sky high for that comment," Remy said as he smiled. He gave her a wink.
"Oh, another thing. Your powers don't work here," Rogue deadpanned.
"What?" Remy sputtered.
"Magneto's got some kinda force field that neutralizes our powers," Rogue informed him.
"And how do you know, cher? You've been touchin' me?" Remy asked impishly. He didn't tell Rogue but that prospect made him giddy.
Rogue's cheeks colored and she threw the brush at him again. It hit his eye and Remy cried at the impact and said, "Ow!'
He rubbed his eye and said, "No need to get dangerous cher."
"No need to get assuming, swamp rat. And 'sides, the only reason why ah found out was cause John came to visit me. Ah tried to drain his powers but they wouldn't work," Rogue said looking worried.
"John? Who's dat chere?" Remy asked, trying to keep the jealousy in his voice down. Something about the way Rogue said the name "John" hinted that they must have had more of a history than he first imagined.
"He's an old friend. Why are you asking swamp rat? Jealous. Sugar?" Rogue asked teasingly.
Remy grinned at her mischievously before saying, "You know me cher. Remy does not like to share especially when it comes to his filles, no?"
Rogue scowled at him and snapped, "Don't be too full of yourself, Swamp Rat."
Remy flashed her an arrogant grin before saying, "How long was I out? I swear I could use some good ol' fashion gumbo right now."
Remy rubbed his stomach. Rogue rolled her eyes and said, "About a few hours. Ah woke up an hour earlier than you. John won't tell me where we are but I'm pretty sure it's almost evening."
"There's dat John homme again," Remy pouted.
Rogue ignored him, leaned closer and said, "We've got to find a way to bust out of here before someone else visits."
"Don't think I know it, cher. Remy'll just blow the damn glass up," Remy cockily said, forgetting for a brief moments that their powers don't work in their zoo-like cage. He crawled over to glass, hoping to charge it.
"Now step back, chere," Remy instructed.
Rogue's eyes widened and she shrieked, "Remy! Wait! Don't—''
BOOM!
Remy was thrust backward as he felt an electric shock as soon as he touched the glass. He gave a startled yelp as he slammed against the wall. Alarmed, Rogue scrambled over towards him. She touched the side of his face and muttered, "You okay Swamp rat?"
Remy was in a bit of a shock as soon as Rogue's hand clasped his face. She wasn't wearing any gloves. She was touching him with her bare hands! It took a long time before he could register Rogue's warning that Magnet had somehow managed to make their powers inactive in this prison. Ideas—some which were lewd, some which weren't—started forming in Remy's head of the many possibilities this could lead for Rogue in her powerless state. Possibilities with him. Remy smiled dazedly.
"Swamp rat! Swamp Rat! Remy? Hey, Remy, are yah okay?" Rogue said as she shook him.
"Mmm-hmm…." Remy said, still deep in thought.
"Remy! Snap out of it! We've gotta get out of here!" Rogue peevishly said. She shook him hard.
"What! Huh?" Remy said snapping back into focus.
"I said we need to get out of here. So you better not go all unconscious again on me boy," Rogue said annoyed.
"Cher….we have no powers in dis prison, no?" Remy demanded.
"Yes, we don't. I've already told yah!" Rogue peevishly snapped.
Remy, much to Rogue's surprise, clasped Rogue's hand and coyly said, "Then dat means that there are other parts of my body you could touch, cher…"
Rogue's face reddened yet again. She narrowed her eyes at him and snapped, "You are so full of yourself!"
Gambit blinked innocently and said half-teasingly, "Just looking at all the possibilities, cher."
Rogue huffed, before whirling around and retreating to a far corner. Although the effect she wanted wasn't quite achieved since the ceiling was so low so she had to resort to crawling. Remy chuckled. It was scary but amusing to get Rogue flustered in different kinds of occasions.
"Aw…don't be like that Rogue! I was only teasin'!" Remy pleaded after realizing that Rogue was severely annoyed with him. She did not talk or look at him for a very long time.
"Ah swear if ah didn't need yah help to get out of here, then ah'd kill your ass and gut yah spleen through yah nose!" Rogue threatened through gritted teeth.
"Hey, we can't use our pow'rs, the walls electrocuted and I can't even stand on my own two feet! I gotta feelin' that we be stuck here for c'est loin fois. We might as well amuse ourselves," Remy said suggestively, trying to be charming.
Rogue growled and said, "Oooh, you're impossible."
"I belive dat it's called being charming, chere," Remy shot back.
"Would yah stop being so infuriating for awhile and focus on having a plan to get us out of here!" Rogue demanded.
Remy sighed and conceded but not before adding, "Fine. Remy'll start cookin' plans up. But chere, I won't do it until you sit beside me."
Rogue frowned and glared at him.
"Well, how am I suppose to explain t'ings to you if you're a hundred miles away?" Remy demanded.
"Yah are so annoying sometimes, ah swear I'm this close to absorbing you lifeless!" Rogue hissed as hurried over to Remy's side.
"I just hope dat if you do, you'd absorb me through de lips," Remy smirked.
"Just tell me what you plan to do!" Rogue snapped. She accidentally hit her head against the ceiling in frustration.
"You okay, chere?" Remy asked, saying the first genuine thing since he got there. Concerned, he reached out for Rogue's forehead and he rubbed it a little.
Rogue slapped his hand away though she looked more surprise than angry.
"Ah'm fine!"
"Den why so grumpy? I'm just trying to make sure that it won't be you who'll be unconscious dis time!"
Rogue looked sheepish and said, "Sorry. Ah keep forgetting that our powers don't work here. Instincts."
Remy apparently had completely forgotten about their short spat since he bumped his head against the ceiling and whined, "Mon Dieu! I swear, if Magnet was goin' to put us in a prison cell, why'd it have to be for toddlers?"
"Tsk, tsk. Such a shame that after all this time, you still can't get my name right," a cool voice said.
Remy and Rogue whipped their heads forward to face a very tall and imposing Magnet, scooting downwards to avoid the low ceiling. He had entered through their prison by simply going through the glass—literally. It was as if the moment he touched the glass, the glass immediately turned liquid and parted around him. He looked as if he was simply going through a screen of water. Outside a bunch of people gathered around them so Remy felt more like a zoo animal.
There was that naked, blue lady, the scary blonde who tried to blow him up, a tall man who looked had smooth, caramel coated skin and long brown hair tied in a ponytail, a reedy, silver-headed young man and the one at the very right was a boy who looked somewhere in Rogue's age. He was blonde, with his hair slicked back. He looked at them sympathetically.
"Enjoying your new home, I assume? I made so much trouble trying to make it…comfortable for you," Magneto chortled. From outside everyone snickered except for the blond boy. Remy automatically assumed that this was the John Rogue kept talking about. Remy immediately felt an aversion towards him.
"Comfortable for dwarves maybe," Rogue muttered under her breath.
"I'm sorry what?" Magneto demanded.
"What do you want with us?" Rogue said in a louder voice.
Magneto chuckled and said, "Why, we don't want anything bad to happen to you, of course."
"Den if dat so, why'd you dump us in a cage for all of yer cronies to see and you knocked us out with your dart thing," Remy piped up.
Magnet glared at him slowly before saying in a dignified voice, "First of all, Rogue was losing control of her powers, so it was imperative that I knock her out before she causes anymore damage."
Rogue scowled but looked guilty.
"And as for you, you would have caused a lot of unnecessary fuss so I had tried my best to avoid that," Magneto said, turning to look at Remy.
Remy frowned, "An' you had to knock me out?"
Magneto ignored him and focused all of his attention unto Rogue. Gambit grumbled.
"I don't want to waste my time talking to imbeciles. I'd rather spend it with something more…er…useful," he said smiling at Rogue with a strange expression. Beside him, Remy's mind was whirling a mile a minute. It had just occurred to him that once you entered in this prison cell your powers are completely rendered useless.
Keeping as quiet and as unnoticeable as he could, he carefully skirted around Magneto so he was now behind him.
Rogue made a face and snapped, "Whadya want from me now? Yah already tied me up on top of the Lady Liberty. Ah wonder what your impossibly disturbed head has planned for me next."
Magneto forced a smile though he tensed up considerably. He was losing what little patience he had left. Remy knew that he had to work fast.
"An offer that is difficult to refuse," Magneto said, trying to keep his voice amiable.
Rogue snorted and said, "Knowing you, ah know that it'd be nothing short of life-threatening."
"Please, you mustn't jump to ridiculous conclusions. I know that we have had our differences in the past but that does not mean we can't get along for the good of mutantkind," Magneto said. His voice sounded much too patronizing.
Remy rolled his eyes, trying to adjust his position while trying to divert attention. He hazarded a glance outside and was relieved to see that everyone seemed to be focus on Magneto and Rogue.
"When ah get outta here, ah swear ah'll knock your noggin against that goofy-looking helmet!" Rogue threatened.
"No need for threats."
"No need to be in mah way when you have no business with me. Now get lost!" Rogue said.
"As a matter of fact, I do have some business with you and I assure you that it is of the utmost importance," Magneto assured and soon he launched into a very long speech. So far, Rogue only managed to catch the words "benefits", "muantkind" and "powers" before completely zoning out.
Rogue scowled, looked away from Magneto. Her eyes diverted to the side in hopes of looking at Remy for some support. She was growing a little worried that her companion had been knocked out again or had just decided to go mute, seeing as Remy had not spoken or interrupted yet—and knowing him, that was very uncharacteristic. Her eyes widened once she realized that Remy was now behind Magneto. She looked at him questioningly.
Remy looked at her, shook his head and waved for her to go on with her conversation. Rogue glared at him, trying to convey that she did not understand what he meant.
"Rogue? Rogue!"
Rogue's focus snapped back to Magneto.
"What are you looking at?" Magneto demanded.
"Nothing," Rogue lied.
Magneto whirled around and Remy immediately resumed into a pose that looked as if he could care less. Magneto looked at him suspiciously as Rogue quickly said, "Ah was looking at John! Ah was just seeing what the face of a traitor would like!"
John's eyebrows quirked upward, giving Remy the impression that everyone could hear their conversation from the outside. That gave him all the more reason to be careful.
"And what about him? Why is he looking at my behind?" Magneto asked, jerking his thumb at Remy.
"First of all, Monsieur Magnet—''
"Magneto—''
"—I have a name. Second of all, Remy does not like lookin' at all those people starin' at him. I'd rather prefer staring at yer mégot den lookin' at all those people like I'm some sort of animal," Remy said, his quick wit saving him once again. Magneto seemed suspicious though after a few minutes, he seemed satisfied with Remy's answer. Rogue breathed a sigh of relief as Remy mouthed, "No pow'rs."
Rogue's eyes widened in realization. She stared at him questioningly, eager to get more out of the plan.
Remy shook his head and with a wave of his hand, he sent one clear message: Keep Magneto Distracted.
"Hm? What was that you were telling me? Ah didn't get the last part," Rogue said becoming suddenly interested.
"I doubt you heard any part but—oh well, never mind. To get to the point I'm offering you a chance of a lifetime—''
Roge rolled her eyes and said, "And since ah know you, ah know your offer would probably be good enough for only one lifetime—that and including an early death—''
"I'm giving you a personal invitation to join the Brotherhood," Magneto finished.
Rogue gaped at him speechless. Remy looked back and saw that everyone outside leaned forward in anticipation.
Rogue seemed to have finally found her voice. She growled and snapped, "Are yah outta your mind! There's no way in hell Ah'd work for you! Yah tried to kill me!"
Magneto curled his lip into an uncomfortable smile before saying, "A horrible misunderstanding in my campaign to promote the superiority of mutants. Hardly worth thinking about right now. After all we must let bygones be bygones."
"Ah'd like to bygone your's and Mystique's ass for what you did to me!" Rogue snapped.
Magento looked at her sheepishly but plowed on nonetheless, "Believe me you would be so much better off with us than with those…X-men. Back there, they would try to suppress you, try to keep you from reaching your full potential. They're afraid of you Rogue. Can't you see that?"
Rogue faltered for the briefest of moment.
Then she got her fire back and said heatedly, "Stop talking shit, yah lowlife! Yah wouldn't know ah thing 'bout the professor! What he stood for! What he meant to mutants!"
She choked up a little at the mention of Professor Xavier.
Remy looked from behind him and saw that now everyone was so focused into Rogue's and Magneto's conversation that nobody would notice him even if he yelled "Magneto's got a boinky!"
Magneto's nostrils flared. He said, "I've known Charles better than anybody. And if there's one thing I've learned about him is that he continues to patiently persevere through his failing quest of saving and educating homosapiens—which is by the way, beyond pointless. They're brains are about the size of peas. And furthermore, he always had this mantra of blending into society. While it may be easier for others…some find it a lot more difficult to hide their…special gifts…"
Magneto's eyes trailed off to Mystique who was looking at Rogue and Magneto intently.
Rogue looked like she was failing miserably in her argument. She snapped, her voice sounding weak, "Prof understood that the only way to let other people understand more about us was to show that we aren't the homosapiens. He—''
Magneto sighed loudly and said, "Honestly I don't understand why you keep defending them. They don't want you. Not after what you did."
The words stung more than Rogue had anticipated. In her mind, Magneto's psyche began to stir.
Remy, seeing that Magnet looked very satisfied with himself and that everyone was so focused on Magneto and Rogue that no one seemed to have their reflexes alert yet, decided that now was the right time to act. Remy gave a small wave in an effort to get Rogue's attention but apparently what Magneto had told her made a bigger impact on her since she began looking at Magneto in a new light, completely ignoring Remy.
"Ah don't know what you're talking about," Rogue said struggling to keep her voice indifferent.
"Oh, but we all know exactly what I'm talking about. It involves a little birdie named Bobby—''
"Stop it!"
"They don't want you Rogue!"
"That's not true!"
"And if it's not true, then why did you run away?" Magneto demanded. His lips curled into a self-satisfied smile as soon as he saw Rogue's crestfallen face.
Silence.
Magneto held his hand out. Remy began to make small, little noises to grab rogue's attention.
"Come with us, Rogue. Be part of the Brotherhood. If you do join us, then we will release you from this prison cell and perhaps if you will it—'' Magneto's face melded into a look of distaste "—your boyfriend can join us too—''
"He's not mah boyfriend!" Rogue snapped, seemingly brought back from her reverie. Remy quickly used this to his advantage. He gave a loud cough, prompting Rogue to look at him. Remy nodded and jerked his head towards Magneto. Rogue nodded, and just as Remy was ready to punch the daylights out of Magnet, he spoke yet again.
"Become a member of the brotherhood Rogue. Peace was never an option. Your friend, John—''
Remy snorted loudly, clearly displaying his obvious annoyance with the fellow named John.
"—realized that a long time ago. It's time you wake up and understand it too. Join us. We won't shun you; get angry with you for your abilities. We'll embrace them. We'll accept you. All of you. Including your powers," Magneto purred.
Rogue seemed to have forgotten that they were supposed to take Magneto out.
She looked completely absorbed with Magneto's voice. With rising panic, Remy realized that she was actually considering this option.
Rogue slowly raised her hand and when it touched Magneto, he said triumphantly, "We're not afraid of you Rogue."
That was all that Remy needed. He yelled, "NOW CHERE!" and kicked Magneto at the legs.
Rogue seemed to have snapped back from her daze, because she pulled him forward, shot sideways and gave Magneto a kick to the side causing him to crumple on the floor.
"Not on your life!" Rogue scowled.
Behind them everyone stirred. The ground suddenly shook once Dominic balled his fists up, Mystique screeched, "Erik!", Tabitha and Quicksilver quickly sprinted off into somewhere with Mystique barking orders from behind them while John shot through the glass and tackled Remy unto the wall. Rogue, thinking quickly, hurried towards Magneto, grabbed him in a choking position before he could regain focus and hissed into his ear, "You're crazy as hell if you're thinking that ah'd actually want to be part of your twisted world."
Beside her Remy and John tussled.
Remy punched John in the gut and scowled, "Remy doesn't like you too much, égaler..."
"After Magneto kicked your ass back at the museum, what else could I expect?" John demanded as he doubled over and swung a kick at Remy.
"A fucking hit at yer dick, mon ami," Remy said and with that he slammed John against the wall. He pushed him harder, nearly suffocating him, causing John to give small, whimpering yelps.
Suddenly, Remy felt something cold and metal press against his back.
"If you don't want to die by bullet, I suggest not moving babe," someone hissed. Remy recognized her as the blue lady's blonde companion when they tried to steal the key.
He cautiously glanced at Rogue and was horrified to see that she was struggling against the strong grip of the large, Mediterranean-looking man while Quicksilver helped Magneto up.
"That's right, babe. Put Fyro down," Tabitha ordered.
Remy slowly and reluctantly let go of John and held his hands up as Tabitha pressed the gun harder on his neck. John dusted himself off and threw the finger at Remy. Remy snapped, "Don't be pullin' dat on me, mon ami. You almost got yer ass kicked before dis fillie here helped you."
John glared at him and stormed off as Quicksilver looked outside to a panicked-looking Mystique.
"What next?" he questioned his father.
"We leave them to their own devices," Magneto gravely said and together they all piled out of the cage. Once the last person was out—which was John, who gave Remy one last angry look before leaving—Remy hurried over to the glass, touched it experimentally and was ill to discover that it would now electrocute him upon touch. He stepped back a little and stared woefully at his charred hands.
Magneto gave a mocking laugh and soon others joined him.
"How utterly wonderful," he said pertaining to Remy's burnt hands.
Remy scowled.
"I won't tolerate this kind of frivolity—especially after I've tried to help you," Magneto said looking at Rogue.
"You will stay here until you agree to our terms," Magneto said and with a flourish of his cape they left. However, Magneto stayed behind, long enough to say, "You cannot win if you are on their side Rogue. The only way to control yourself is with us."
And with that he stalked off leaving Remy with burnt hands and Rogue with lots to think about.
"Hey dum-dum! Wake up!" a sing-song voice called out.
Piotr, with his vision hazy, reluctantly stirred as a slim, cornsilk blonde shook him.
"Oooh…Shit…" Piotr said as he started to focus. He felt numb, cold and his whole body felt as if he was dunked into a vat of ice. He suddenly shivered, finally realizing that he felt ridiculously cold, as if he had buried himself into the waters of the South Pole. He was annoyed to discover that his attendant was Emma—and he was even more annoyed when he discovered that the professor was no longer in Emma's head so Emma was her usual annoying self.
"What happened?" he asked weakly. He felt extremely cold. Emma grudgingly handed him a cup of hot chocolate. Piotr realized, as he reached to grab it, that his shoulders were wrapped with a warm blanket.
"We found you frozen stiff. No, really. Literally frozen stiff," Emma said once she saw Piotr's disbelieving expression.
"No kidding," he said.
"I just said that," Emma said looking annoyed.
Suddenly, everything came flashing back to him. He looked around wildly.
"Where is she?" he demanded. He was sitting in one of the seats in the X-Jet.
"Who? Storm? She's in the control room with Nightcrawler. They left me with the task of taking care of you," Emma shrugged, her voice coloring a bit at the mention of him.
Piotr snorted before saying, "No! Where's Rogue?"
"Oh. Her. Well, that's what we'd like to ask you. When we finally found you after helping all those whiny people—'' Emma rolled her eyes. "—we found you as you were. A giant popsicle. So we brought you to the X-Jet, thawed you off, you fainted the moment we did—''
Piotr snorted.
"—and Storm and Nightcrawler decided to camp out in some woods somewhere while waiting for you to come around and well…here you are," Emma finished.
Piotr rubbed his head and mumbled, "I don't know what happened. All I remember is that I was arguing with that Gambit guy and well….I think I'm brain dead."
Emma flicked a lock of her hair and said disinterestedly, "Well, that's not a surprise."
Piotr looked at her annoyed and snapped, "I need to talk to Ms. Ororo."
He made a move to get up but he staggered, under the numbness of his legs. He nearly crushed Emma. Emma pushed him back down and said, irritated, "No."
"I need to talk to her. I know where Rogue is," he said insistently.
"No way. First—you can't walk and you're humongous. I don't want you crushing every single person that walks by you. Secondly—you wouldn't know where Rogue is. You need to take it easy. You were frozen for a really long time—''
"No! I'm serious! You may not know it, but when you're frozen it takes a long time to lose your consciousness. I've seen and heard everything that was going on. It just needs a little prodding and perhaps if I wait long enough the memory'll—wait. You're a telepath," Piotr said with a look of realization.
"Yeah, so?" Emma said a little nervously.
"You can help me. You can help me extract the some of my memories—''
"Piotr, as much as I hate you, I'm not very experienced yet. I could do you some serious brain damage," Emma informed him worriedly.
"That didn't stop you from invading everyone's mind," Piotr snorted.
"I'm not doing it."
"Rogue was taken by Magneto, Emma! Rogue and that Gambit guy! I saw the whole damn thing! But I sort of started feeling sluggish when they started talking about things but I definitely heard them! You have to help me! We have to save Rogue!" Piotr looked so excited he could crush his seats.
"Piotr…you're still weak…"
"I can handle it," he said persistently.
"You're going to be in so much trouble," Emma murmured.
""But not as much as Rogue," Piotr argued.
"Piotr…" Emma looked reluctant.
Piotr closed his eyes and looked as if he was bracing himself. In a firm voice he sputtered, "I'm ready. Do it."
Emma sighed, hesitant and with one cautious hand, she touched his face and her mind became one with his.
Rogue had not spoken for a very long time and that was starting to worry Remy a little bit. She had crawled off to one corner, explicitly stated that she did not want to be disturbed before staring into space for a great amount of time. Remy, too afraid to unleash her wrath kept well out of her way and soon he began to drift off and think about things too. More specifically, he was thinking about ways to escape.
Being trained as an expert thief had given him many life lessons on how to proceed about his way whenever he got in a jam. And this was surely a very big jam, something which he wasn't so confident of getting out of. He had no idea how they operated the electrocuting glass—how it suddenly becomes useless once Magneto or any of his cronies walk through it. Or how Magneto managed to shut off their powers. And even if they managed to miraculously get out of the cage, Remy had no idea where they were, or how they were going to get through Magneto's other securities. Remy rubbed his head and after deciding that depressing things like these weren't worth thinking about, he decided to focus his attention on getting Rogue back on track.
"Chere?" he called out.
"Whaddya want?" she snapped.
"Just checkin' on you. You haven't spoken since Magnet came along," remy said.
"Ah'm just tired," Rogue said, but by the inflection of her voice Remy knew that it was much more than that.
Without even thinking about it, Remy said, "Dat stuff Magneto said really got to you."
It was a statement not a question.
Rogue glared at him and Remy saw great anger in her eyes.
"Yah don't know squat!" she said.
"You're right. You're right. Remy has no idea what his talking about," Remy said holding his hands up, trying to abate Rogue's anger.
"Ah mean how would yah really understand what it feels like to be completely devoid of human affection! To kiss yah boyfriend and said him into a goddamn comatose! To be looked upon like some kind of leech or vampire or monster or freak—''
By now Rogue was on a roll. She was screaming, and yelling and making wild gestures with her hands. Her usually pale face became red.
"—and then ah just had to touch Amara too—''
"Chere!"
"—and Storm's just like Rogue we need yah quarantined or summat like that or—''
"Chere!" Remy said a little more forcefully. Rogue broke from her rant, gasping deep breaths.
"Shh…I know you're upset—''
"Ah'm not upset!" Rogue argued.
"But you need to calm down. Don't let dat Magnet get to you. You just wait. I'm gonna get us outta here," Remy said.
"Whatever,' rogue huffed.
"C'mere, cher. Yeh had long day," Remy said gesturing for Rogue to come closer.
Rogue didn't answer him. Instead, she turned around and faced the wall.
"Aww…cher, don't be like that—''
"Ah just need some time to sort things out. Ah don't if you've noticed but a lot of people are now living inside mah head and…and..and Ah don't know. Ah need to figure some things out first," Rogue sighed. He started panicking once he realized that Rogue's eyes had grown red. She was going to cry.
"Cher, Remy it's true dat Remy don't know much 'bout what's been goin' on with your life. But I do know how it feels to be treated like a freak, like an outcast. To be treated as if you're somethin' dat needs to be controlled. See, cher, when I first got my pow'rs I couldn't control 'em. Blew up everything I touched. I'm willing to bet that my affliction is so much more worse than yours," Remy said. Rogue turned an inch towards his direction but he didn't answer him.
" It ain't very encouragin' but my Tante Mattie used to say, 'Boy, you got one bon head on yer shoulders and you ain't shouldn't have to take anythin' from anyone 'cause yer goddamn special, yeh hear? If I see you become all grumpy jus' 'cause someone called ye Le Diable Blanc one last time I'll whoop your ass an' feed you to the gators," Remy finished.
"Yah blew up everything yah touched?" Rogue asked. She looked slightly hopeful.
Remy smiled, beckoned her to come closer and said, "C'mere to ol' Remy LeBeau an' I might jus' tell you."
Rogue looked annoyed. His accent had gotten thicker and somehow that made him more annoying.
"Why can't yah tell me from over here?" she demanded.
"'Cause you be too far away, cher. And I think dat I can't strain m'voice no more by hollerin' at you," Remy said. Rogue looked irritated but she scrambled over to his side nonetheless. She leaned against the wall and Gambit leaned against the wall and sat next to her.
"Now that ah'm next to you, will yah please tell me?" Rogue demanded.
"Sure, cher. But be warned. It ain't one of those pretty stories. It'd be depressin'. See, I got my pow'rs when I was thirteen years old. Came as bit of shock, ye know. I was tryin' to steal from a young homme, when my hands suddenly started glowin' an' I blew up de wallet I stole. Blew our cov'r. My père blew one helluva gasket. From den, we be spendin' so much on furniture 'cause I couldn't control myself. My friends were afraid to play wit' me and mon dieu! De filles stopped comin'," Remy said.
Rogue rolled her eyes at his last comment and said, "So what happened? What made you learn how to control it?"
Remy shrugged and said, "Mon père said one day dat dis was the last straw and Remy has to stop blowin' t'ings up. I practiced in secret, controlled 'em and finally, showed my père what I've done."
He said the last part a little too quickly giving Rogue the impression that there was something more to the story. But Remy's usually carefree face became closed and Rogue decided not to push it.
"That's it?" Rogue said skeptically.
"Dat be all cher. Dat's all what it takes," Remy said.
"But yah didn't tell me how yah—''
"Shh. Dat's enough for tonight. We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We gotta sleep," Remy said.
"How do yah even know that it's evening?" Rogue demanded.
Remy placed an arm around her shoulder and tugged her closer to him. Rogue flinched, struggled a little bit but in the end, she placed her head delicately on Remy's shoulder. Remy whined, "Magnet be one avarié homme, no? He didn't even give us pillows or bedsheets to sleep in. But I suppose it was nice of him to place us in one room…."
Rogue slapped his chest and snapped, "Shut up Swamp rat!"
"I'm just sayin'," he said defensively.
"Just lemme sleep," Rogue sighed. Remy suddenly started feeling sleepy himself and all the weariness of his body started taking a toll on him. After a few seconds of silence he realized that Rogue was clutching his hand tightly. Remy quirked a brow at her.
"Mind if ah hold your hand for awhile?" she asked.
"For you cher, you can hold any part of my body!" Remy said impishly.
Rogue growled and said, "Don't go thinkin' all lewd Swamp Rat. It's just that…ah don't know. It's been a long time since I've touched someone without sending them to a coma. Ah just wanna…know how it feels like before it's gone y'know?"
Remy stared at her with a confused expression at first but finally understanding gave away. He nodded and said sincerely, "Sure, cher. Hold m'hand as long as you like."
"What's going on?" Storm demanded. She scrambled to the back where she found Emma screaming and Piotr crumpled on the floor.
"What happened?" she gasped as she knelt down and touched Piotr's face.
The usually cool and collected Emma squealed, "It's not my fault. I tried to tell him that in his weak state it might knock him out but he wouldn't listen and—''
"What are you talking about?" Storm said.
"Piotr need me to extract some fuddled memories out of his head," Emma whimpered. Storm stared at her uncertainly.
"What kind of memories?" she said as she heaved Piotr up unto a chair.
Emma took a deep breath before saying, "I know where Rogue is."
Lots of thanks for the comments despite the lateness! It makes my heart swell three times bigger. Keep the reviews coming.