John's eyes narrowed in anger and he jumped at Remy, unable to hold back his rage at the man. Tackling him to the ground, on top of him, he grabbed his shoulders. "You stupid, jackass, son of a bitch! You let her get away?" John lifted Remy's shoulders and thrust them back down, hard against the floor. Remy's head banged against the tile harshly as John grabbed his shirt to do it again. "You blundering, retarded, fu-"
"She was kidnapped! Dere was nothin' Remy could do!"
"WHAT?!" This statement was obviously not the right thing to say. It just made John angrier. He slammed Remy back down against the tile, not really caring about the Cajun's health. Remy winced. John made an inhumane dying animal sound as he lifted Remy's shoulders to further injure Remy's already bashed head.
Pietro grabbed John's arms and held him back. "Killing Remy won't get her back."
If looks could kill, Remy would be dead. John stood up off him, but not before backhanding him hard so that Remy's head snapped to the side. "We need to get her back!" John thundered, held back by Pietro, he could only glare at Remy.
Wanda leaned on the kitchen counter casually, picking at the dirt under her nails. "I don't see why. Wasn't the point to get rid of her?"
John's murderous gaze turned upon her, every look a challenge. "NO! It wasn't! We need to get her back now!"
Remy wiped blood from his split lip. "Johnny's got a crush, y' see."
Wanda's eyes found Remy's momentarily before she shook her head, returning to her nails. John tried to break Pietro's grip and jump at Remy again, but Pietro held tight. "Come on, John. Calm down. I'm sure she's alright. If they kidnapped her, they must want her for something."
"To hold as bait for Remy!"
"Dat's probably true." Remy stated calmly, licking his lip. "Den why disappoint? Remy jus' show up an' save de fille."
"Not without us!" John heatedly added.
Pietro frowned. "Do you even know who took her?"
"Well, see dat's de problem. De black dressed fella wasn't an Assassin, so we can count dem out." Remy ticked off on his fingers. "Maybe it was Bandit. He did steal Henri too. Y' can go see when Remy goes t' save Henri, if y' want." Remy stood. "Remy has t' visit his dad."
"You can't just leave!" John protested loudly, pulling out of Pietro's grip. "We need to go save her! Now!"
"Calm down, homme. We save de fille in due time; Remy misses her too." John glared at him, Remy hurried on. "Remy's gotta get de printouts o' de place we invadin', heh? Dat only make sense, t' know de basics before chargin' in." Remy dusted his duster off.
"You better be back soon." John's voice was low and dangerous; Remy had never heard John speak like that.
"Within de hour, Remy promise. He won' let Roguey wait." He left, leaving a fuming John behind to well in his anger. John slammed the door to his new room, claiming that he'd kill anyone that touched the door before Remy got home.
Pietro sighed and sat down at the table, rubbing his head tiredly. "Wanda, what if I said I've spoken to dad?"
Wanda didn't even look up from her nails. "Then I might kill you."
"What if I said he's sorry?"
Wanda's eyes did flash up this time, holding a dangerous glint. "If you're in contact with Erik and haven't told me, I'm going to kill you."
"I'm telling you now." Wanda's hands balled into fists. Pietro's chair started to curve in around him. "Stop, Wanda. Be mature about this."
"Mature?" The chair zapped back to its original shape, but Wanda's anger didn't fade. Her eyes almost seemed to flash scarlet. "You want me to be mature about it? He nearly killed me, damnit Pietro! You know what I've been through! That man you so lovingly call dad has raped me off all my trust and my life! What have you been hiding from me? Where is he?" Wanda was seething. She had thought Pietro was on her side with the matter of their father, yet now she discovered that he'd been seeing him all along?
"I don't know where he is. He just shows up occasionally and we talk." Pietro was being way too calm. Wanda was ready to murder him on the spot.
"About what?" Wanda's eyes flashed scarlet again. "His latest schemes in using me?"
"Mostly you, actually." Pietro disregarded everything shouted after the first question. "He was only trying to help you, Wanda."
"And look where it's gotten me now." Wanda cried out wryly, gritting her teeth at the mere thought of Erik. "I don't want his help, or yours, for that matter. The next time you see him, you better tell him to stay away." Her voice was a low hiss, snakelike. "If I so much as think I see him, he's dead and you better watch your own life, Pietro. Being my brother will only protect you for so long. If you have more secrets, you don't want me to find out." She turned and left, slamming her own new bedroom door.
Pietro dropped his head into his hands.
-----
Remy LeBeau was going to be married. Another weird thing, he actually wanted to be. Remy deeply loved Bella; she was his best friend as a child and they trusted each other above all others. Although Remy was what some might term a 'player', that didn't mean he didn't have morals. Remy just had fun occasionally, but his heart was really only meant for one girl.
When Jean-Luc had first found out about their friendship, he had been furious. Remy befriending an assassin was simply unheard of. The Thieves and the Assassins were rivals from way back, they hated each other. Yet Remy had unknowingly befriended Bella, daughter of Marius Boudreaux, head of the Assassins Guild. Worse yet, Remy had found out Bella's shady background and still they remained friends. The prospect was too much to take for Jean-Luc.
He forbade Remy from going out to see her, but Remy never listened. It got to the point that Jean-Luc tried to keep Remy in the house, to which he was unsuccessful, when he finally realized the full reality of the situation. Remy could be used to bind the two families.
Remy didn't care that his father was manipulative or that his idea of marriage was simply to bind the two families together. He loved Bella and would have married her anyway, even if Jean-Luc hadn't agreed. Jean-Luc met with Marius and they fought out their differences there, ultimately agreeing on the wedding of the two to bind their arguing guilds.
But everything had not gone as planned. The two families sat down in the Assassins Guild for dinner on one such night, to bond more and arranged the marriage. It was on that night that Julien sought out Remy to show him exactly what he thought of Remy marrying his sister.
The night ended horribly. Julien drunkenly came in, pointing a gun at everyone until his eyes fell on Remy. Remy knew that an assassin with a gun was a bad thing. A drunken assassin with a gun was even worse. Julien aimed at the back of Henri's head, Remy's brother and best man, and threatened to fire. Remy didn't doubt that he would.
It all passed in a blur. Remy charged the cards too high; they exploded too close to Julien's face. Julien had been killed.
The wedding was immediately called off; the Thieves and the Assassins were back to fighting with each other. Remy was banned from New Orleans, a compromise both families came to after the event. Remy had gone to see Bella after.
Easily climbing up the wall and flipping into her room, he found her on her bed with an array of tissues surrounding her and the box in front. She was crying softly, not loud enough to be heard outside the room, but enough to dispel her completely distraught feelings.
Remy sat down beside her and only then did she look at him with those red-rimmed, hollow eyes. She was hurt. Hurt beyond her very first kill or when Remy did something stupid, which he always seemed to be doing, she was truly crushed. After Bella had been through her first few missions, she had never cried, not that Remy had seen. Watching her cry was too much.
They couldn't be together because of the mutual family hate between them and he couldn't run off with Bella because he'd scarred her so deeply that she might never be able to forgive him. Sure, she knew he was only protecting his brother, but she was heartbroken. Remy, who brought her such joy and happiness, also brought her heartbroken sadness. The two could not clash. Remy and Bella could never be together.
Having made his final goodbyes, Remy left his family, his home, his Bella all behind.
---
Rogue kept her eyes tightly shut as she came into consciousness. She clearly remembered the events of the night before. Her shoulder throbbed, a constant reminder as to the shot that had pierced her skin. She was laying on something soft. Was she on a bed?
"Y' don' have t' pretend t' be asleep, chere. Jus' be careful not t' move y' shoulder too much, don' want t' undo de stitches." Rogue knew that voice, or at least, now she did. Her eyes shot open and fell upon a woman sitting on the edge of the bed. She was a beautiful woman, lean and small, but tall at the same time with long, flowing blond hair and bright blue eyes that shone like stars.
"Belladonna."
"Jus' Bella, fille." Bella leaned back against the bedpost at the far end of the bed; she turned her head to the side so she was facing Rogue. "'M wonderin' how such a fille might know me? I didn' dink Remy spoke o' me t' others."
"Remy didn't tell meh anythin'." Rogue added quickly, afraid of disalluding the woman and somehow not wanting Remy to be in trouble either. "Ah…saw it," Rogue didn't know how to describe it without telling Bella about her mutation. "In his memories."
Bella seemed to consider her for a minute. "Y' a telepath?"
"Not exactly, no."
Bella relaxed back against the bedpost. "Well, fille, dere's some dings I'd like t' talk about. How's dis, if I answer y' questions, y' answer mine, heh? We'll have story time an' nobody gets hurt."
Rogue swallowed uncomfortably. "Okay…"
"Now, first ding first. Y' jus' another one o' Remy's girls o' what? Y' outfit gives y' away as such." Rogue glanced down at her clothes and became painfully aware of the stripper outfit she was wearing. Bella must have noticed her look of disgust. "Bad drinkin' night fo' y'?"
"No…kinda…it's a long story."
"Why don' y' recount it t' me? I'm awfully curious."
Rogue didn't know why she just trusted Bella immediately, but she did. Maybe it was because the woman wasn't holding her at gunpoint and maybe it was because Rogue wasn't already dead, she didn't know, but she trusted Bella. "Ah was out drinkin' because mah boyfriend jus' broke up with meh." Bella gave a small smile. Rogue quickly hurried on. "Ah don' normally do that or nothin'. Ah'm not really even sure how Ah got ta the bar, it jus' happened."
"O' course." Bella winked.
"But since Ah never really drank before," Rogue stressed the part. "Ah got drunk pretty easily an' then Remy came in."
"I don' doubt that." Bella gave her a smile that was almost a replica of Remy's smirk.
"He took meh ta his home an' Ah passed out."
"Good fo' y'." Bella commented, "Y' woulda regretted it if y' didn'." Rogue frowned and Bella's smile widened. "Jus' sayin'."
Rogue speculated. "Fohr bein' his old girlfriend nearly wed, ya really don't seem ta care much about his…infidelities."
"Y' know 'bout how we were goin' t' be married?" Bella was genuinely surprised as Rogue nodded. "Y' see dis in another vision?" Rogue nodded again. Bella pursed her lips for a second before motioning for Rogue to continue. "Explain 'bout dat later. What happened t' y' after y' passed out?"
"Well, when Ah was sleepin' Ah suppose he touched meh 'cause Ah had his memories and powers when Ah woke up."
Bella frowned. "He touched y' while y' were unconscious?"
"Not lihke that." Rogue realized what the other woman thought she meant. "No, he jus' brushed the hair outah mah face an' Ah absorbed him. At least, that's what he told meh."
"Oh, alright. Y' should believe him dere, Remy's a player but he don't assault women like dat." Bella assured her.
Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Ah don't know, he doesn't stop at much."
Bella chuckled, seeing that Rogue was reminiscing on past experiences. "No, he doesn't." She paused, "What's dis absorption ding y' speak of? Y' a mutant?"
Rogue fidgeted, suddenly uncomfortable. "Yeah…"
"Well chere, dere's nothin' t' be ashamed o' in dat. Lotsa mutants out dere. I'm one."
Rogue's eyes zipped up from the blanket to Bella. "Ya a mutant too?"
Bella nodded, "Yup,"
Rogue returned her gaze to the blankets. "Mah mutation sucks."
"What is it dat y' do?"
Rogue felt too angsty telling Bella all about her mutation. She gave the woman the shortest version she could think of to cover the subject. "When Ah touch someone, Ah absorb their memories, personality, traits, and powers. They become lihke another person in mah head. Ah can't control it."
"Condamner la fille. Dat bites." Bella paused again, "Dat how y' know 'bout Remy an' me?" Rogue nodded, keeping her gaze down at the blanket. "Dat a toughy. Y' strong fo' dealin' wit' it, y' know," It occurred to Bella. "I don' even know y' name yet, fille."
"Rogue."
Bella didn't even blink at the name. "Rogue, den. Go on wit' y' story, we gettin' sidetracked."
"Apparently Remy wasn't the only one livin' there. John, Pietro, and Wanda also resided in his house. So when Ah tried ta leave, they decided that Ah knew too much from touchin' Remy. From there, things jus' got outah hand. Ta make sure that they weren't traced back ta their location, they decided ta go on a road trip. Ah tried ta run a few times, but Ah always got caught and hauled back in. Wanda doesn't lihke meh at all an' almost killed meh a few tahmes. Remy always wants ta touch me and lately, since he picked out mah outfit an' Ah didn't have nothin' else ta wear, Pietro's started lookin' at meh too."
"Take de compliment, chere. Y' a very pretty fille." Rogue self-consciously drew her legs up against her chest.
"Ya sound lihke Remy." Bella chuckled, Rogue continued. "John's the one Ah know from before, so he's nice ta meh, but he's not always around. Someone called Remy an' told him ta come down here so we turned down an' ended up here."
"Funny where a few drinks can land y', heh?" Bella chuckled softly.
"Uh huh." Bella seemed to notice her curled position.
"Y' want a new outfit, chere?" Bella stood and went to her closet without waiting for a response. "'M sorry, I'm jus' havin' trouble takin' y' too seriously while y' wear dat." Rogue knew she had noticed and silently thanked her lucky stars for someone generous to kidnap her. Which brought about a good point…
"Bella…" Bella didn't turn around as she rummaged through her stuff.
"Oui?"
"Why did ya kidnap meh?" As grateful as Rogue was that she wasn't dead and Bella apparently didn't have any intentions of shooting her or anything drastic, she still wondered why the woman before her would want to kidnap her.
"Y' see, dat leads int' my question. I want t' know why Remy's back." She turned and threw some clothes on the bed, lying down on her stomach on the bed as if she were idly making conversation with an old friend.
"Couldn't ya jus' ask Remy that?"
Bella shook her head gravely. "Non, if de Guild knew Remy was back, dey'd kill him on de spot." Rogue blanched.
"Who was shootin' at the car then?"
Bella gave a lopsided smile, grinning apologetically. "Sorry dat hit y'. I tried t' drow his shot off Remy, but was jus' a fraction o' a second too late. It hit y' instead."
"Who was it?" Rogue asked again, unconsciously reaching towards the back of her shoulder.
Bella shrugged. "Ol' Thief's brother. Donyell ran off from de Thieves Guild an' formed his own guild. De Convicts. Dat was his brother Dwayne."
"Oh…" Rogue was surprised by her lack of caring. "Does that happen often?"
"Non, he's jus' resentful. Tryin' t' become a power like de Thieves o' de Assassins."
Rogue shifted, it occurred to her. "Ya an Assassin."
"Oui."
Rogue hesitated. "Ya…" She plunged in. "Ya didn't want ta be?" It was half-question, half-statement.
Bella lifted an eyebrow at her. "Would y' want t' be?"
"Ah suppose not."
"It was a long time ago. I was jus' a little fille at de time, didn' know any better. Follow in de footsteps o' de family, all dat. Y' can' jus' not do it, y' know? But times a'changed. I'm no longer jus' a little fille, y' get used t' it after awhile. I'll be head o' de guild when my dad's gone."
Rogue chewed on her bottom lip nervously. She didn't quite know what to say to that. "Anyway, back t' my question. Do y' know why Remy came back?"
"Ah don't. Ah'm sorry." And she was. Bella was genuine and honest to her. She would have told her if she knew.
"Dat's alright." Bella waved it off.
Rogue bit hard into her lower lip again. "Do ya…still love him?"
Bella looked at her then with a sad smile, reminiscing on the past. "Oui, I do. Circumstances ensure dat we can't be together an' despite de fact dat he has many flaws, numerous women one-nighters, drinks an' stuff, dat's okay wit' me. He's Remy."
That was really sad, Rogue thought. Bella obviously still loved Remy, and who knew, maybe he still loved her too, but they were never able to be together. They wouldn't ever get a happy ending.
The door slowly started to creak open. In a flash of a millisecond, Bella whipped out a gun, Rogue didn't even know from where, spun on her front arms, completely turning. She had it aimed, propped up against the pillows, and cocked before the door was even fully opened. Chalin stepped in.
Rogue vaguely recognized him from her dream. Long black hair ran straight down to the top of his shoulders and brown eyes glittered. He seemed completely unconcerned that he'd almost been shot. "It's jus' me. I didn' know y' had company."
Bella lowered the gun and dropped it on the pillow. "Dat's Rogue, Rogue, dis is Chalin."
Chalin gave Rogue an analyzing glance, his eyes falling on her choice of clothes distastefully. "Donyell wants t' talk t' y'." He informed Bella, tearing his eyes away from Rogue. Rogue shivered, the man had a cold stare.
"Is he here?"
"No."
"Den tell 'im no. I have nothin' t' say t' him." Chalin bowed his head respectfully and left.
Bella turned back to Rogue. "Get changed, I'll be right back." She snapped the safety on her gun and put it away on a belt. She left. Rogue glanced down at the clothes on the bed. She was anxious to get changed out of the outfit Remy had bought, but hesitant. It was strange. Bella had just kidnapped her and treated her as if she were a guest in the house. Most kidnappers had others ways of getting information.
Rogue changed out of Remy's outfit into a slightly clinging V-neck, long sleeved shirt and the jeans that Bella had laid out for her. Bella was a good head taller than her so the jeans fell partially under her feet, but generally fit. Although it wasn't particularly an outfit Rogue would have picked out, it was much better than the tight one that Remy had chosen for her. She was glad to get out of the outfit.
Shortly after Rogue had dressed, Bella came back into the room. "So, Roguey. Now what are we goin' t' do wit' y'?"
"Ya didn't plan on keepin' meh?"
Bella gave her a skeptic look. "'Course not, I jus' wanted t' know why Remy's in town. Simplest way t' go 'bout it was kidnappin' his passenger. Y' can stay if y' like, but nobody's keepin' y' here. Dough-I'd try t' stay away from other assassins, fo' y' own safety o' course."
"Cahn Ah make a call?"
"Sure." Bella took out a cell phone from her back pocket and tossed it to Rogue. Rogue fumbled with it, but caught it and flipped it open. Finally, she could call the X-Men to come pick her up and go home! Bella's kidnapping had been a blessing in disguise! She wouldn't have to put up with Remy's demoralizing jokes or Pietro's obsessive staring or Wanda's utter hatred of her. Rogue slightly regretting not having talked to John alone and separate, since he was so nice to her in telling Remy off. She wanted to tie up loose ends with him too, but oh well. At least she'd finally be taken out of this nightmare.
Her smile slightly darkened as Kitty was the one to pick up. "May Ah speak ta Storm?"
"Rogue?" Kitty's shock was evident. "Rogue! We've been looking all over for you! You're in New Orleans, right? The guys just left to go pick you up!"
Rogue frowned. "They did? How did they know where ta go?"
"I traced the call Storm made to Remy." Rogue rolled her eyes. Remy's cell phone untraceable, pfft, that would show him! "Rogue…I-I'm sorry."
Ut oh. Rogue played stupid. She didn't necessarily want to have this conversation with Kitty over the phone while in an assassin's bedroom. "About what?"
"About…the whole thing with Bobby. I never meant for it to happen and I know that's the reason that you ran off in the first place. It's all my fault that this happened to you at all," Where did she come off with that idea? "If it hadn't been for me, you never would have ran off and been kidnapped." Oh, that's where. If she put it like that, it did sound like her fault, but Rogue rolled her eyes all the same. "And I'm so sorry, I never meant for this to come between us and me and Bobby, we just sort of…connected, I don't know how to say it enough, I'm so sorr-"
Rogue cut the babbling girl off. "Kitty, it's alrigh'. We'll talk about this more later when Ah get back, but it's okay. Don't kill ya'self over it. Ah've gotta go, alright?"
Kitty's voice was small, as if she almost didn't believe it. "Okay…"
"Ah'll see ya when Ah get home." Click. Rogue hung up. "Thanks," Rogue held out the phone for Bella.
Bella froze. Rogue squinted at her before she held a hand up to her mouth, motioning for silence. Rogue dropped her hand and stood up silently. Bella motioned for her to stay in place and grabbed her gun again, approaching the window slowly.
The window cracked open and a black hand was visible. Bella nearly shot it before recognizing the oversized palm and fingers. She sighed deeply and pushed open the rest of the window. "Jesus, Bandit. I almos' shot off y' hand. Haven't y' heard o' the door?"
Bella stepped back from the window and a man way too large for Rogue to expect to fit through the window stepped inside. He was huge, with long flowing black hair that almost matched his dark skin tone. At least six feet eight in height, he towered over them both in shear size. Rogue squinted at Bella. She was starting to believe that Bella's automatic reaction to point guns at people was a little too practiced.
"I had t' talk t' y'. Y' wouldn't take my calls."
"I've been busy." Bella gestured to Rogue. "With a friend." Bella didn't make introductions. Rogue assumed that 'Bandit' was not a man to make introductions to.
Bandit barely gave Rogue a glance before turning back to Bella, completely ignoring Rogue. "Bella, we need t' talk." He grabbed her arm slowly and traced the smooth skin with thickly gloved fingers. Bella dropped her gun.
"Bandit, stop."
"I wish y' wouldn't call me dat."
"I wish y' would stop touchin' me." Bella shot back, grabbing his covered arm with her hand and pushing it aside.
Bandit didn't seem to take the hint too well. He grabbed Bella by her shoulders tightly. "Bella, I love y'."
Bella backed up out his grasp, her back hit the wall, halting her progress. "Stop."
But Bandit wasn't listening. "Come back wit' me."
"No."
He leered in over her, his face inches from Bella's. Bella's hands started to glow bright blue. "No, Bella. Come wit' me." He leaned down and closed the distance between them, locking down on her lips. Bella's frame went ridged and her hands stopped glowing, her hair stood on end. She fell limply into his arms.
"Hey!" Rogue jumped at his back, tightly wrapping her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck. He looked alarmed for a second that she was in the room, but then the look changed. Almost carelessly, he reached back a hand and grabbed the back of Rogue's shirt, roughly throwing her forward against the wall. Rogue slid down the wall, her shoulder throbbing again in protest to its abuse.
Rogue tried to get up, but something hit her stomach before she could even attempt to stand. Rogue experienced a horrible burning sensation throughout her whole body as she was electrified. Her insides screamed and her bullet wound hurt ten times more than when she had actually been shot. Her limbs spasmed, hair stood on end, she couldn't scream, her throat was so raw with a fiery burning. Her already beaten body drained of every last vestige of strength she had. Tired and broken, her mouth opened wide in a silent scream of horror, her body gave up. She saw a thin cord leading from Bandit's sleeve as he reached down to grab her just before she passed out. Again, she was lost in oblivion.
A/N: Since you guys obviously like Cliffies so much, here's a new one! Tell me what you think!