Marie avoided Remy like the plague for a whole week and it seemed like he was keeping his distance too. They finally ended up running into each other in the kitchen late one evening, both looking for comfort food. She paused at the door as he sat at the counter in front of a plate of left over pizza, "Hey..."

He glanced at her and took a bite of his pizza, "Hey yourself...can't sleep?"

She nodded and timidly stepped into the kitchen. He didn't look like he was very happy with her...in fact, he seemed downright frustrated with her. She didn't want to lose his friendship, so she decided to confront the situation head on, "Look Remy, I'm really sorry-"

He cut her off, "Don't be sorry petit fleur...I should have never bothered. It's obvious you like punishing yourself."

Her mouth dropped open as she took a step toward him, "Excuse me?"

"You've been mopin' around here for five months, poutin' over a man who ain't even bothered to pick up a damn phone. He's probably fucked his way cross that country while you're back here, pinin' over him."

"Remy, I told you before, it's complicated."

"Think of it this way...the wolf man is practically immortal...he's got all the time to waste in the world, so who knows how long he'll leave you hangin'? You sittin' here wastin' the best years of your life. Unlike his, our lives are short, petit fleur."

He tossed his garbage in the trash can and left the room, leaving her to stare off into space contemplatively. Remy had a point. Marie was barely 25 years old, but she was still closer to death than Logan was. Her child bearing years had already started slipping away and he still hadn't made up his mind about the decision to have a family. Did he happen to forget that she's not immortal?

The next afternoon, Marie invited Remy to participate in a Danger Room session with her, partly because she was interested in seeing his powers at work, but mostly because she wanted to break the ice.

He fought with a long cane, which Rogue found extremely sexy. His movements were graceful and fluid...each step was purposeful and elegant, as if he were performing a dance of some sort. When they were done, they were both sweating and exhausted, but smiling and teasing each other over moving too slow during the simulation.

As their laughter died down, Marie looked at him, "You know, I wanted to thank you for being such a great friend these past couple of months."

He reached over and tucked some white hair behind her ear, "Happy to be of service."

She shivered slightly at his intimate gesture and looked down shyly, "I also wanted to tell you that you're right...I shouldn't be waitin' around for Logan while he completely disregards my existence. I need to make the most of everyday."

He raised a brow, "Feel free to make the most of me, mom petit fleur."

Marie blushed and playfully nudged him, "Come on, let's go shower and then you can take me out."

Two hours later, they were walking through the streets of Manhattan. Remy was looking up at all the bright lights, "A sweet little southern thang like you was livin' in the big city all alone for 3 whole years?"

Marie nodded and smiled, "Yep...I like it well enough, but nothin' compares to home."

"Don't I know it, doll. Ain't nothin' like a good ole rickety porch swing and sweet tea on a hot southern day."

Marie took him to one of her favorite hang out spots, a jazz & blues club near the professor's Manhattan apartment. As the music played, they talked, drank and ate tapas, something Remy ended up calling "tay-past", much to Marie's amusement. He glanced at the dance floor when Al Green's "I Can't Get Next to You" came on. He held out his hand to her, "Care to dance petit fleur?"

She hesitated, but the glint in his eyes made her give in. Marie took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor. As they began dancing, his hands slid around her waist and pressed himself to her as they swayed and rocked to the music. The words of the song swirled around them as they stared into each other's eyes.

I can make it rain when I want it to
Oh I, can build a castle from a single grain of sand
I, you see, I can make a ship sail on dry land, tell him, yeah

Ain't happy am I with all the powers that I possess, yeah
Girl, you're the key to my happiness and I
Can't get next to you, babe
I can't get next to you
I've been trying a long time

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the proximity of their bodies, or maybe it was the words to the song and the sensual beat, but before they knew it, they were making out on the dance floor. Marie already had both hands in his hair and was nipping at his bottom lip when he pried her off of him, "Whoa there...slow down girly. It wouldn't be proper if we kept carryin' on like this 'round all these people."

Her breathing was ragged and her heart was racing, "Oh...sorry."

"Don't apologize cherie. That was magnifique."

She blushed slightly, "Do you wanna get outta here?"

"Lead the way."

She took him back to the professor's Manhattan apartment. It had been vacant since she moved out of it after graduating from NYU. Luckily for Marie, it was still furnished...with a bed.

When they walked into the apartment, Marie dropped the keys on the table beside the door and removed her jacket. Remy walked in behind her, removing his trench coat and draping it across a nearby chair. She had walked to the opposite side of the room and turned around, smiling nervously as she took a deep breath.

Remy smiled nervously as well. They didn't know how long they had been standing there, but it didn't matter when they spontaneously crossed the room, throwing themselves into each other's arms.

They kissed passionately and stumbled toward the bedroom, articles of clothing flying off as they went. By the time they reached the bedroom, he was shirtless and her dress and bra was a heap on the floor somewhere.

Remy spent a considerable amount of time with foreplay. He laid her back on the bed and kissed his way down her body. He hesitated when he passed the dog tags, then gently flung them to the side as he resumed tracing her body with his lips.

Marie shivered and moaned as he pulled her panties down off her hips. He kissed her hips and belly button, taking his sweet time exploring her body with his mouth before he crawled back up to kiss her lips. She wrapped her legs around his waist and reached down, guiding him toward her entrance. She arched her back as she felt him fill her, a moan escaping her lips.

Remy slowly began moving in and out of her, whispering soft, sweet French nothings in her ear. He was sweet, tender and so passionate in every move he made with her. He took his time with her, gently caressing and kissing every part of her exposed body.

When they were teetering on the bring of orgasm, Remy gripped her thigh and lifted it up so that he could pump in deeper. They rode the waves of their climax as he gripped onto her body, whispering her name reverently.

Afterwards, she lay on her side watching him perform a card trick while he sat up on the bed. He was using his powers to manipulate the movement of the cards when she noticed his red eyes, "Your eyes always turn red when you use your powers?"

He nodded, "Lil' scary, I know."

"Naw...it's cool."

He shrugged and put the cards down before he gently brushed some hair out of her eyes, "I'm quite taken with you petit fleur..."

She leaned up and kissed him, "You ain't so bad yerself, cajun."

His smile slowly faded as she shifted, causing the dog tags she wore around her neck to clank softly.

They spent the night in the apartment and returned to the mansion early the next morning. They tried to avoid the walk of shame, but of course, the ever present Jubilee saw them walking in.

Jubilee tried not to give Marie a hard time about it, but she honestly couldn't help it...Marie's sex life was more interesting than a soap opera.

Gambit and Marie never defined their relationship, but the cajun was very quickly falling for her. For one month, they continued to date and have sex for a full month. Everything seemed perfect. Marie had a friend she could confide in...who she also happened to have sex with. She could tell that he was starting to resent Logan's unspoken presence in their "relationship".

He always looked at the chains and tried to move them out of the way every time they were in bed together, and he constantly found himself staring at them whenever they were together. They laid in bed one evening after making love when he finally decided to confront her Logan demon. He flicked at the tags, "Why you still wear these petit fleur?"

Marie's hand protectively clutched the tags as she stuttered slightly, "I...I've always worn them...since I was just a teenager."

"Why don't you let go of your past with him cherie?"

"Remy, it ain't that easy...we've been through this."

"Yes and I still don't understand why you're holdin onto him! He ain't here Marie...and he might not ever come back!"

Logan didn't know how to feel when he found out Itsu's murderer had been killed by the very same Ninjas he studied with under his former master, Ogun. It had been their way of honoring him after he disappeared once Itsu had been murdered. Most of them had gone into hiding or had been assassinated, so tracking down one of Ogun's ninja masters was damn near impossible.

He visited Itsu's grave the day before he was to leave Japan. He knelt in the dirt and put his head down, "The time I spent with you was one of the best periods of my life. You gave me peace and comfort...so I hope you have the same in death. I haven't been OK since you died gorgeous...but I found someone who made me better. Only problem is, I think I may have royally fucked up..."

During the entire plane ride back, he thought about how he was going to approach Marie. He knew she would be pissed and she wouldn't be easy to talk to. After all, it had been six months and he hadn't tried to contact her at all...and he'd been fucking every willing Japanese woman in the country. She had every right to be a complete and total bitch to him.

She had been taking a backseat to dead women during their entire relationship. First Jean, then Kayla, then Itsu. He had to make it up to her some way, even if it did mean starting a family with her.

Logan walked back into the mansion and looked around. It didn't look like a whole lot had changed, except for the fact that Kitty and Bobby had a baby crawling around the place. Jubilee almost fell down the stairs when she saw him standing in the foyer, taking in his surroundings, "Logan?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Sup Jubes...where's Marie?"

Jubilee's eyes widened as she began stuttering, "Uh...well, I'm not sure...um. I think she went to lunch with...um...Remy."

"Who the fuck is Remy?"

Logan didn't need to wait for an answer. He turned around and saw one of most horrific sights he'd ever seen...his Marie, smiling with another man's arm wrapped around her waist.

She stopped dead in her tracks and paled when she saw him, "Logan."

Remy's eyes flashed red as Logan's fist clenched, "Marie...who the fuck is this?"

Marie took a step between the two as Remy tensed and started toward Logan. She glared at both of them, "We are not doin' this here." She turned back to Logan and lowered her voice, "How dare you march back in here after 6 months of total silence and demand to know who I'm spendin' my time with!"

His nostrils flared as he glanced at Remy over her head, "You and I-"

She cut him off, "Not...now."

He seethed as she took Remy's hand and pulled him away, leaving Logan in the foyer with his anger.

Reviews please!