It had been two weeks since she had woken up in Remy's lap and she had spent every waking second avoiding him like the plague. It had been an accident that they had both fallen asleep, it was absolutely mortifying that she had curled up to him in her sleep.
She had crossed a line in doing that because he had also been actively avoiding her at every turn. It was completely awkward to be in the same room with each other and others had started to notice.
Kitty and Jubilee were convinced that something big had happened between them. Jubilee liked the idea of Remy confessing their love for each other. Kitty prefered to think that Remy had kissed her. She couldn't bear to tell them they had fallen asleep on the couch together, who knows what outlandish tales they would spin then.
Instead she kept tight lipped and avoided him.
Except today that is.
Xavier had officially hired her as his secretary a couple of weeks back after she had first started filing for him. As such, she got her very own office right next to his that lead into his office. Well, one half of the room was her office, the other half was a waiting area for those who needed to speak with the Professor.
And right now Remy LeBeau was sitting on the sofa shuffling a deck of cards. The slapping sounds he made with the cards didn't bother her, it was like white nose almost. What bothered her was the tense silence that filled the room. It made it absolutely impossible to get any work done if her mind kept drifting over to Remy and how comfortable he had been. She hadn't slept that well in a long time.
A sudden pressure in her stomach shook her from her thoughts. It had come and gone so quickly that she had no idea what it was. She waited for the pressure to appear again and when it didn't she went back to her daydreams of Remy.
Work! She went back to work!
She had been addressing envelopes for prospective students that Xavier had picked up while using Cerebro. They usually never got a response as they were sent directly to the mutant who was detected to protect their privacy. Though usually they would get a handful of new students every year.
They was a flutter of pressure again in her belly that caused her to stop an loook down. What the hell was that? She waited a moment longer for the strange sensation to return before getting back to work.
"Ugh!" She glared back down to her belly as the sensation was back.
"Somethin' wrong, chere?"
She looked up to see Remy was watching her curiously from across the room. She had forgotten he was there.
"Nothin'." She said quickly and averted her eyes back to her desk.
The flutterings hadn't stopped though. She wiggled in her seat uncomfortably in an attempt to stop whatever it was.
"Chere?"
Rogue looked up again to see that Remy was still watching her. He stood up and walked over, stopping in front of her desk.
My, he was pretty.
"Wha's a matter?"
She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment as she considered telling him that everything was fine. And then it happened again.
"There's this weird - " She paused trying to tink of how to describe it. "Thing." Yeah that was real descriptive.
Remy raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, amused. "Thing?"
She heaved a sigh and pushed away from her desk to show him what she was talking about. Pointing to a section of her stomach as the fluttering started up again. "Theres like this weird flutteri' thing happenin' right here." She explained. "An' its drivin' me crazy."
Remy seemed to realize what was happening and smiled before walking around her desk and squatting next to her. He lifted his hand up and placed it over the sensation. His smile grew when it started up again.
"Tha's your lil' boy kickin' around in there, chere." His hand hadn't moved from her stomach.
A small, "Oh." was all she managed and put her hand next to his on her stomach.
Eyes still focused on Remy's, she smiled as her baby kicked out at her hand. It was one thing to see him floating around on an ultrasound, it was an entirely different thing to feel him moving around inside of you.
"Hey, Rogue, do you want to go out with us for - " Kitty had walked right through the wall and into her office tugging Jubilee behind her only to stop short.
Both their eyes went from Rogue, who was still seated in her desk chair, to Remy, who was still squatting in front of her, and then finally to their hands on her stomach. She could practically hear the innuendos forming in their head. She needed to divert their attention quickly before they had a chance to act on what they thought was going on.
"The baby's kickin'!" She blurted out.
Faster then Pietro Maximoff on speed, they were around her desk and pushing Remy out of the way so they could feel the baby kicking. They squealed in delight as their hands roamed her stomach.
She looked up to see some sort of emotion she couldn't place on Remy's face. Sure she had distracted Kitty and Jubilee, but she missed the warmth he ignited when ever he touched her.
The door to the Professor's office opened and Xavier rolled out. He sent a smile to Rogue before saying something to Remy, both retreated back into his office.
Rogue didn't know it at the time, but now that the baby had started kicking, everyone wanted to get a feel. Despite what most thought, she didn't actually mind being touched. She was perfectly capable of dressing herself so others were safe and everyone knew of her mutation anyway so there was no big danger. It did bother her however when Pulse tried to get in on tummy rubbing action.
The first time he did it she had wrenched away from him in the crowd of people. Rogue only saw the dark scowl on his face for a moment before the crowd surged and he was out of her sight.
The second time he had tried he had succeeded. She had been up late to grab a glass of water when he cornered her in the kitchen. Pressing her into the wall he had turned her powers off smashed his lips to hers. One hand, he used to hold her in place, the other hand roamed her body freely.
She clawed and kicked out at him like a wild cat until she had managed to push him back. Without looking back she ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She heard several doors slam open at once, but what really had her worried was the pounding of feet behind her.
He didn't know it, but his control on her mutation had slipped for just a second. She knew what his thoughts had been and it made her want to retch.
The angry form of Wolverine rounded the corner in the dark, his claws out. He took one look at her and rushed past her. She didn't slow down and rounded the corner, colliding into something tall and hard.
Looking up she saw the glowing red iris' of Remy. Her hands had moved to his chest on instinct to push him away but moved to circle his waist while she buried her head into his chest.
His arms hugged her to him a moment before he started moving her further into the hall. She could hear the furious snarling of Logan as he fought with Pulse. She could only assume that Remy was trying to get her away from it.
"Rogue." The voice of Jean appeared beside her and she took a moment to look over. "Come let's get you in your room." She said holding her arms out for her.
Rogue was slightly reluctant to leave Remy but when Scott told him to follow him he gave her a gentle push towards Jean. She allowed Jean to lead her back to her room and closed the door behind them.
They sat down together on the bed with her arms still wrapped around her. She hadn't cried even though she had been scared out of her mind.
"Its alright now Rogue." Jean soothed, rubbing her back. "You won't ever have to see him again."
Rogue nodded, closing her eyes. She immediately regretted it as the one thought she had been able to gather from Pulse floated to the surface.
"He used ta work for Stryker." She said. "He would find mutants and then pass it along ta Stryker. Now he works for Hydra and he promised them he would bring me an' the baby to them."
She could feel Jean go stiff when she told her. "I promise, we won't let anything happen to you or your child."
Rogue believed her. She knew the X-Men stood for good and all things righteous. But more than that, on some subconscious level, she knew Remy wouldn't let anything happen to her or the baby.
XxX
Jean glared coldly down at the unconscious form of Pulse. Never before had she wished such harm come to someone. It wasn't in her nature to feel such things. But this man had threatened her friends and her family and she wished him out of her sight.
Everyone in the room was projecting similar thoughts, some more aggressively then others. Logan had already picked out the perfect plot in a remote part of the Canadian Rockies. Scott was deciding on the best government agency to hand him off to and leaning toward SHIELD. Piotr was thinking of stranding him in the Russian Tundra while Bobby, Kitty and Jubilee were wondering if they could stick him in the Danger Room and override the no kill protocol. Ororo was thoroughly ashamed of herself for considering to desert him with a cannibalistic tribe she knew of in Africa.
She couldn't hear Remy's thoughts on what he wanted to do with Pulse. His power allowed him complete immunity from mental attacks or probing in the form of a static shield. Not even the Professor could get into his head. Though she could hear the angry, red buzzing from the static sheild just fine.
The Professor had probed Pulse's mind after Scott and Remy had managed to pull Logan off of him. As far as Pulse knew, Hyrda didn't know of their location and had only been interested in Rogue. Though they did want Pulse to hack into the Cerebro Database of mutants and bring it back to them.
"As of now we will be handing him over to SHIELD." Xavier said getting no arguments though everyone was thinking he deserved more. "Director Fury has already dispatched a team to collect him and should be here within the hour. Now I think everyone should head to bed."
Jean, Scott and Logan decided to stay with him while Ororo left to make them all a cup of tea. The rest went to bed with Piotr, Bobby, Kitty and Jubilee diverging up to the third floor where the graduates dorms were. Remy had a room with the teachers and would be near Rogue should she need someone. That was the only reason Jean wasn't going up there herself.
She felt only a little sham when she thought of this as another opportunity for the two of them to connect. Deep down she knew that the child Rogue was carrying came from Remy even though Xavier had reminded her over and over that they had no proof that pointed to Remy. She just knew it in her heart and couldn't help but try to nudge them in the right direction.
Remy had actually shown an interest in Rogue before news of the baby had gotten out. Some might think him shallow for backing off but Jean thought it mature. He was the type of man who wouldn't intrude in on a family like that. At the time everyone had thought Pulse to be the father, though she had her suspicions about the paternity even then. He had discarded his own interests so that Rogue and Pulse could have their family without him getting in the way.
But even after it was proven that Pulse was not the father, Remy still had kept a platonic distance from Rogue. And there was no use getting Rogue to make the first move as she was more stubborn than a mule on the subject of dating. She had admitted to Jean that she was iffy on the whole thing before because of her powers, and now that combined with a baby just wasn't worth it.
Jean was half tempted to gather blood samples from the two of them by force so that she could prove that Remy was compatible to father a child with Rogue. She of course wouldn't do it no matter how much she thought about it. Besides none of the plans she had come up with didn't pan out smoothly in the least.
For now she would just have to hope her gentle prodding would be enough to get them started in the right direction.
XxX
Remy stopped before he got to Rogue's open door, his own being just a few doors further down the hall. He had been trying so hard to avoid her since Ororo had found them on the couch together and given him a lecture.
He knew he was in trouble three weeks ago when her baby had first kicked. The look in her eye of absolute amazement had drawn him in like a fly to honey. If Jubilee and Kitty hadn't barged in and pushed him out of the way he was certain he would have kissed her and dropped to floor unconscious with a smile on his face.
The more he was around her to listen to her sharp wit and laughter, the more he could picture himself with her in the long run. He wanted her, all of her and everything that came with her. He wanted the kid and her dry humor and sarcastic remarks. He wanted the white picket fence and maybe another kid in a few years.
But he wasn't what she needed. Since the father of her child was lost in the wind, she needed someone who could step up and provide her stability. He was most certainly not stable when it came to relationships, hell, he didn't even do relationships.
With a sigh at his own weakness, he moved forward to stand in the doorway. Rogue was sitting on her bed cross-legged with a brightly colored book in her hands. She looked up when she heard him.
"Ya, alright chere?" He asked.
She offered him a small smile. " Yeah, its nothin' new."
A frown formed on his lips. She shouldn't have to deal with it all. He walked into the room and took a seat at her desk chair. Any closer and he might do something he would regret. "This happen often?"
She looked back down to the colorful book in her hands and scanned the pages. "My powers manifested when Ah was thirteen." She told him not looking p from her book. "After Ah ran away, people started to approach me, wantin' me ta join their groups."
"Like who, chere?"
He finally caught sight of the book cover, 1001 Baby Names. Apparently she wouldn't be naming her kid after any of the boys here.
She looked up at him. "Well, there was Magento an' his boys, SHEILD and a few others. It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of me so Ah just stayed on the move. Lookin' back, Ah suppose that's why it was so easy for Creed ta take me."
He nodded. With a mutation like hers it was no wonder everyone was after her to join their said. "So after the babe, ya plannin' on stayin'?"
What the hell was he going to do if she wasn't around here any more? Now that she was in his life, even it was only a little part, he couldn't imagine his life without her. What if someone else tried to get her and the baby? If she was gone he couldn't protect her.
The X-Men, the X-men couldn't protect her if she was gone.
"Ah suppose Ah'll stick around." She said and looked back down to her book. "There's a really good chance the baby will be a mutant."
That's just what he wanted to hear even if it would be better if she could settle down somewhere nice and away from all this.
"Think ya might suit up with the rest of us?" He smirked and pictured her in those tight leather body suits. That was just a wet dream waiting to happen.
She blushed and looked up at him under those long lashes of hers. "Ah have been itchin' ta try out the Danger Room." She admitted a bit sheepishly.
He chuckled. "Maybe when Jean clear's ya, Ah'll take ya in there."
He would not mind rolling around on the floor with her at all. Hell he wanted to roll around with her on the bed right now. Her already tinted cheeks turned darker.
Shit. He was flirting again. He really was trying not to with her, but it was just so damn hard. He had never wanted anyone more then he wanted her.
He nodded to the book in her hands. "Got any names picked out yet, chere?"
Her blush disappeared and was replaced by a frustrated pout. "Ah'm in the L's an' haven't found anything Ah like yet." She said.
Remy stood up from the chair and walked over to flop down beside her. He deftly snatched the book from her and started flipping through it. "Ah assume you've already given Remy a lot o' thought."
Rogue giggled beside him and leaned over to try to get the book back. "About as much thought as Ah gave ta Robert an' Scott." She said sarcastically and made another snatch for the book only for him to continue to dangle it just out fo her reach.
Remy rolled away from her and held the book out in front of him, flipping a few pages to the O's.
"Give it back ya swamp rat." She giggled as he rolled onto his back and held it out above her head. Kneeling over him she put one gloved hand on his chest and reached out with the other.
He doubt she realized what a fabulous view of her breasts she was giving him. She was braless and each snatch she made at the book caused them to bounce around in front of his face in her tight shirt.
Time to wrap this up before she noticed his erection.
Letting her grab the book he sat up as she shuffled up to the head of her bed leaving him at the foot. He laughed at the look she gave him and stood up, artfully tilting his body so she couldn't see him.
"You let me know if ya need any help, chere." He said flashing her a smile that was all teeth.
Walking over to the door he turned and saw that she was frowning. "Night, chere."
She grinned at him. "Night, Remy."
He could have kicked himself. Stormy was going to kill him if she found out he had been flirting with Rogue again. He had been expressly forbidden from starting a relationship with her during this vulnerable time. Tomorrow he would be sure to show her he was nothing more than a friend.
A/N
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