Marie didn't leave his bed as soon as she woke up the next morning. Remy was still asleep with his arm lazily thrown across her. She didn't want to leave until he woke up. Somehow sneaking out while he was still asleep seemed inappropriate and cruel. There was too much history between them now to just sneak away like it all meant nothing.
They had made love several times throughout the night and Marie made sure to burn each one into her memory forever. It was bittersweet. They both knew it was over, both had known it would eventually come to this. Remy never once tried to talk her into staying with him past the night and she was grateful. She didn't want to explain her reasons. She didn't want his view of her skewered by thoughts of her awful mutation.
Last night had been the perfect ending and she didn't want anything to ruin it or mar the memory. Still she couldn't chase away the feeling of it all being incomplete, like she had missed something very important, something she should have done with him for their last time.
He stirred from his slumber, languidly lifting his head up from his pillow. God, he was cute in the morning. His hair stuck up on the side of his head that he'd slept on, leaving him with adorable rooster tails. Marie smiled as she reached out to tame his hair. She never wanted to forget any of this. He didn't speak; he just let her play with his hair until it was smooth. For the briefest moment she wished she could wake up every morning like this. It was almost seven o'clock. She'd need to leave soon or she'd risk being caught.
"I should go," she said softly.
He only nodded silently. She gave him one last kiss and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. After a few minutes he reluctantly let her go and she slowly got up from his arms and got dressed. Her hand was on the doorknob when he called her name. Her heart broke. He was going to beg her to stay and she couldn't bear it. She slowly turned to face him, forcing back a fresh batch of tears.
He was smiling at her.
"Je t'aime et je n'aimerai jamais un autre," he said, still smiling. The morning sun played softly across his features.
She felt a tear slide down her cheek. He was telling her that he loved her. Still, he was letting her go.
"I just wanted you to know, Chere. J'existe seulement pour toi."
It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.
"Thank you, Remy." They were the only words she managed to get out before more tears spilt down her face.
She turned away from him and opened the door; closing it behind her for the last time. He spoke in French to spare her feelings and still convey his own. He had thought that she didn't know the language. She would never get the chance to tell him that she did know French.
Marie went back to her own room and in the safety of her own domain, she cried until no more tears fell. She was never supposed to fall in love with him. How could things ever be the same between her and Bobby when Remy LeBeau would always own not only a piece of her heart, but a piece of her soul as well? This was a mistake. Everything was a mistake.
Remy wasn't sure what to do. Part of him wanted to chase after her and make her stay with him. Make her leave Bobby. The other half loved her too much to keep her if she wanted to leave. She had made her decision and it wasn't him. It was Bobby. He knew from the start that he had only ever been on borrowed time and she was never really his. It still didn't dull the pain or lessen what he felt about her.
She hadn't snuck out while he was sleeping. She had stayed until he woke up. It all meant something to him. It meant that in the end, she had come to care for him. Even if she didn't love him, she cared. She even cried when she left.
He had complicated her life. In the beginning there was only Bobby and in the end there was Bobby and there was him. Marie would never forget him, he knew that. Living on in her memory was the best he could hope for. He hated that even when it was over, he couldn't just straight out say what he wanted to in plain English.
He tried convincing himself that it all sounded more romantic in French. Truth was—he was scared to bare his soul to her. She didn't return his love, so there was no point in saying it in a language she would understand. But he did say it, and that in itself counted for something.
He didn't want to get up out of bed. He wanted to stay here and wallow in misery. She was really gone this time and he had done nothing to stop her. If he'd any regrets about any of it, it would be that he didn't try to keep her. In the final battle for Marie's heart he had given up and let her walk away. Walk right back into Bobby's arms.
He looked at the clock. It was half past seven. Remy groaned and pulled the covers back over his head, praying for sleep to overtake him so he wouldn't have to think about Marie. He set his alarm for twelve, when practice would start, and proceeded to drown out the world.
It was four o'clock when he awoke. Shit. How had he managed to sleep for another four hours? And why did it have to be that song on the radio? The one he danced to with her. He slammed his hand down on his clock radio, cursing himself for sleeping through the alarm. He rolled out of bed and went down to the Danger Room.
Logan was the only person left when Remy showed up at the door. Marie leaving him must have been written all over his face because Logan didn't even yell at him.
"Later than usual," Logan remarked.
"Yeah," Remy answered while charging up a few cards and haphazardly throwing them across the room. Logan only sat and watched as Remy continued to throw more cards, each more aggressive than the next.
He abruptly stopped and threw his hands up in the air. "It wasn't me, Logan."
"Maybe, maybe not. You know why I made you team captain?" Logan asked, changing the subject.
"Because I'm not a model citizen," Remy answered dryly.
"No. You're a fighter, Remy. You fight and you keep fighting, even when you should be down for the count. You keep the team moving because you never go down. For you it's never the end. This is the first time I've ever seen you just lie down and play dead, and frankly, I never thought I'd see it."
"She picked Bobby," Remy said exasperated. Why didn't Logan get it?
"Well, she was happier with you. I've known her the longest, so I should know. Half the reason I knew she was with you was because she had some life back in her."
"Yeah?" Remy shouted. "Well, it doesn't matter, none of it does! She's not mine, Logan!" He threw a handful of charged playing cards, watching them scatter and explode. He turned to Logan, anger fading into despair. "She never was," he said quietly, dropping his hands to his sides in defeat.
"Didn't stop you in the first place," Logan answered, giving him a long, hard look before he walked towards the door, leaving Remy alone with his thoughts.
Marie sat patiently in Dr. McCoy's office. Sam was standing beside her. He'd made her come. It was silly, the pain was already subsiding, but both Sam and Shiro had insisted.
It had been 3 o'clock when she was hit with a sudden onslaught of pain in the hallway on her way from the library. It was the perfect accompaniment to her already bad day. Doubled over in pain, she collapsed against the wall. Sam and Shiro had just left practice and came upon her, ghostly white and clutching the wall. Sam freaked out. It was Shiro who had enough sense to stay calm and suggest she see Hank McCoy.
Right now, Shiro was busy playing with a plastic model of the human brain across the room from her. If she hadn't been there to see it herself, she never would have known Shiro had a compassionate bone in his body.
Neither of the men needed to stay, and she had told both of them that, but neither would leave. Shiro had flat out told her they were staying until they were convinced she was alright.
All three turned their attention to Hank when he came back into the room. He glanced at both Shiro and Sam.
"If you gentlemen don't mind, I think Marie would prefer this conversation in private," Hank said sternly.
"It's okay, Hank. Sam already knows, and I suspect it doesn't matter anymore if Shiro does or not," Marie said quietly.
Hank patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Marie, but you won't be getting your extra half week. By the end of the next seventy-two hours you'll be a full mutant again." Hank's voice was strained. The room was quiet. Sam tried to give her a reassuring smile, Shiro only stared at the floor. They all knew this wasn't what she wanted.
When she left Hank's office, both Sam and Shiro still remained with her.
"You want us to go find Bobby for you?" Shiro asked gently. He'd been treating her like a baby chick since they left the office.
It was comical to see Shiro being so sweet, and Marie laughed. Both men looked panicked.
"Thanks, but no. I'm fine, really. I'm not going to break. I've lived the past three years of my life without touching people. I can live the rest of it that way."
It was weird for her to have Sam and Shiro following her around because they wanted to. Neither of them seemed to want her to be alone. She had finally gotten them to leave when she reached her bedroom door.
"I should really get some rest. It kinda takes a lot outa you, y'know?" she said to both of them.
"Yeah," Sam answered hesitantly. "Call us if you need anything."
Marie smiled and thanked them both, then quietly shut the door.
As soon as Marie closed the door. Sam turned to Shiro. "I need to talk to Remy."
"Yeah, we'll need to convince him to get her on the team, quickly," Shiro agreed. "Sheesh, seventy-two hours, poor girl."
Sam gave a worried smile. That wasn't exactly why he wanted to talk to Remy.
Author note: Remy's French: " I love you and I will never love another." , "I exist solely for you."