Look! It's a shirtless Remy holding a bottle of Chocolate sauce! Do I have your attention now? Yes? Good, here we go.
Thanks to: warrior zoe, inTHEgrid, Remy's Bride, Cemikey111, ishandahalf, musagirl15, RogueFreak, Monday's Angel, Burning Touch, romylover, GAMBIT-ROGUE, X-Storm, HopelessRomantic84, Shenelle and Kiana Epona, for taking the time to leave reviews.
Marvel owns all recognizable characters, I sadly own very little; but I put Remy on my Christmas list.
Chapter 12
She was disoriented; otherwise it wouldn't have happened and she would be standing over a pile of beaten thugs instead of pressed against a huge tree by the smelly ring-leader of some two-bit gang with a very sharp dagger pressed to her throat. He smelled of stale beer and was in need of a shower; he was probably in his late thirties but his hairline was receding rapidly and the rest of his gang, five in all, had the same look to them. They all had the same cockney British accents that made Rogue wonder why there were so many British people in the South of France.
"I guess good things do come to those who wait, eh boys?" the leader laughed. "We 'eard tell dat LeBeau an' Antoine 'ad a precious jewel 'oled up in that there 'ouse. But," his face took on a revolting leer as he looked her up and down. "Were they talkin' 'bout that bauble 'round ya neck or you?"
Their lascivious stares and cackling merely served to annoy her; while ugly, smelly leader man was laughing it up, Rogue brought her knee up and she hit her mark between his legs dead on. The man howled in pain as he released Rogue and she took off, dodging the other men. Running in so much snow proved too difficult for her as she did not make it more than a few feet away when she received a heavy blow to the back of her head and sagged to her knees from the pain. Black spots swam before her eyes as she tried to stand again but rough hands grabbed her from behind.
"Look 'ere y' lil' bitch!" the leader said through gritted teeth as two of the other men slammed her against another tree and made more pain explode through her as her skull bounced back against the trunk. "We was jus' going t' take the gem but you wanna play rough." Through her bleared vision, Rogue saw the man pull out a long knife from his boot. "Let's see what you're really made of, luv."
"No, mate," the man on Rogue's right ran a gloved finger down the side of her face and over her throat. "I say we find out if she really is a virgin; the fun way."
Rogue wanted to vomit; she wasn't sure if it was from the blow to her head or his suggestion or maybe a little bit of both. She never got the chance though as suddenly, the forest around them erupted in explosions stemming from a very familiar looking magenta energy, causing the men to let her go and as Remy jumped from the trees overhead to land beside her.
"Prolly not de bes' offer y' had all day, eh chere?" he said as he caught her before she could fall on her face.
"Took y' long 'nuff," Rogue slurred as she tried to prop herself back against the tree.
After Remy's initial assault, the men regrouped and came at him; leaving Rogue to sag against the tree, hoping she didn't vomit from the pain. She was pretty tough; normally with her powers, she wouldn't have needed Remy, she wouldn't have been hurt by a blow to the head and she would have at least been able to stand and fight beside Remy. The second blow to her head had made the pain nearly unbearable and her knees finally gave out beneath it. She doubled over and as she fought to stay conscious, she thought she heard someone whisper: "Stay out of the house!"
XXX
Swimming back to consciousness, she struggled to open her eyes; there was silence around her and she was no longer freezing. Rogue shifted slightly and knew that she was back in her room and in her bed. She made out the crackling sounds and smells of burning wood as she finally opened her heavy lids. She groaned as a dull ache shot through her head she suddenly wanted to go back to that blissful state of unconsciousness.
"Y' awake chere?"
"Remy?" Rogue squinted through the darkness; the only light in the room was from the fire. She made out his form standing by the mantle and after a moment, he came to stand beside her bed.
"Y' been asleep f'r almost nine hours now," he ran the back of his fingers along the side of her face and even slightly disoriented, the sensation gave her goose-pimples. "Y' had a slight fever too, but it break awhile ago."
"Don' pretend y' concerned," Rogue joked weakly. "Ah'm alright. Ah think."
"'Course y' are," his thumb traced the column of her throat. "Take more den a bump on de head t' take y' out, hein?"
"It was two bumps but who's countin'?"
Remy chuckled. "Y' need anyt'ing?"
"Water."
Remy helped her sit and handed her a glass of water from the bedside table. She was able to drink half of it before she felt a bit nauseous and handed it back.
"Y' hungry?" he asked her as he helped her lay back down.
"No," she said more weakly than she would have liked. "Who were those men?
"People who don' like me much."
"What happened?"
"Taught dem a lesson in etiquette."
"They certainly didn't know how t' treat a lady."
"Dey know better now. Y' sure y' alright, darlin'?"
"Ah had th' strangest dream."
"Y' dream y' went back in time, Mc Fly?"
"No," Rogue couldn't help but smile at the movie reference, and then she frowned trying to remember. "It was about this girl . . . an' me."
"A girl? Y' getting' Remy excited."
"Pig."
"It was your dream."
"It wasn't like that, I was her or she was me," Rogue furrowed her brow, trying to wade through her fuzzy memory. Her eyes shot wide open and she sat up as she remembered. "It wasn't a dream!"
"Non," Remy sighed. "It wasn't."
"What's goin' on 'round here, Remy? Who's Olivia?"
Remy sighed again and sat down on the side of her bed. "She used t' live here."
"Used to? Where is she now? What is she that she can do what she did earlier."
"She be a mutant. A telepath."
"A pretty strong one if she got through mah shields."
"Dat she is. Got some pretty strong telekinetic powers too."
"She said Ah was in danger."
"She also paranoid."
"This doesn't make any sense, Remy. That room Ah was in, those tapestries, they all look pretty old. How is she-?"
"Y' remember de astral plane, de place de prof. told us about? Dat realm dat only telepaths can get to?"
"Yeah."
"Olivia's been trapped dere for a couple hundred years. About six years ago, she find her way out an' start causin' problems 'round here. Dat's why I'm here; it's why I brought you here. To find a way to stop her from tormentin' everyone. She be de one who broke de lock on y' door."
"This still doesn't make any sense, Remy. How could she stay there for all that time? What about her body? An' why is she causin' problems now? An' what about Horst an' Mrs. Appley? They were there too."
"I'll explain everyt'in', I promise, chere," Remy stood up, his face was unreadable and it unnerved her. "Right now y' should rest. Olivia shouldn't be 'round f'r awhile anyway; she stirs up a bit o' trouble an' den she stays quiet f'r awhile. She shouldn't bother y' anymore t'night."
"Alright, Remy," Rogue said after a moment of studying his face. He was keeping something from her and she knew it but she felt exhausted and was willing to let it go for the time being. "Ah trust you."
"Dat all I ask," Remy leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Rest now."
"Y' leavin'? Rogue asked as he straightened up and started for the door.
"I have some t'ings t' take care of," he said as opened the door. "If y' need anyt'ing, pull dat rope by de bed an' someone'll come."
"But . . ." Rogue looked up at the silken rope dangling by her bedpost, wondering why she hadn't seen it before.
"I'll be in t' check on y' later," he said as he shut the door.
"Y' were in an awful hurry t' leave, shugah," Rogue muttered as she stared at her door. "Ah'm trustin' y' an' Ah hope that ain't a mistake."
Rogue turned over on her stomach and settled down under the covers, turning her head to watch the dancing flames in the fireplace. She wanted to trust Remy but there were millions of questions swirling around her head. If he didn't answer her questions in the morning, she would take matters into her own hands and find out herself. She was too tired now . . . how could she be this tired if she had slept for nine hours? On the up side her head had stopped hurting . . . she groaned as she felt a familiar heaviness pulling on her. The water! Damn him, he did it again! Their relationship really was fucked up, she thought as she let the drugged sleep take her.