Beauty is in the red eye of the beholder
By: Black Enchantress

Disclaimer: As if you people would actually think that I own Marvel's characters. Why I bother to put this is beyond me.

*conscience talking* "talking" 'Thoughts' ~other mutant thoughts~ {{{in these brackets are what is happening in Rogue's mind}}}

This chapter is about after the battle with Magneto. Will Rogue wake up? What will they do now?

Chapter 20 ~ Chahnese food an' a cookie

"Well that's the last of them. Thanks for the lift." Logan waved a good-bye to Roger, the kind truck driver that had carried them to the Millinocket, Maine. Logan had just finished pulling out the last of the motorcycles out of the back of the truck.

Roger waved back and drove on down the snow covered road. A breeze stirred around the three, Logan shivered and Remy held the still unconscious form of Rogue tighter against him. Roger had been kind enough to drive them several hours, bring their motorcycles with them and not ask questions about Rogue. The only question he asked was if she was alright, Remy couldn't answer and Logan only nodded to the driver. Before them was the Katahdin Inn that looked a lot warmer then outside almost at Christmas.

"Wait out here with Rogue by the doors but out of sight." Logan said in a raspy voice very unlike his usual growl.

"Why? If we keep Rogue out 'ere she'll freeze t' death."

"And if the anyone sees her all bloody like that they'll ask questions. Nobody likes mutants it seems nowadays." Remy's face took on an expression of formulating a plan.

"But 'er jacket covers all de wounds an' her pants are black so nobody will see de blood."

"But your also covered in blood. Listen I'll make it as fast as possible and when I get the key I'll come back and get you. We'll head for the elevator and I'll block you form view from anybody else. No other visitors should be looking for a room at 2 in the morning." Remy thought a minute then nodded when he noticed Rogue's lips were turning blue and her skin getting paler.

Logan hustled into the Lobby and over to the counter were a baggy eyed female clerk was sitting behind the desk reading a book. She looked up from her book at the sound of the door opening, giving Logan a look up and down. The girl got off her stool and stood at the counter and near the computer.

"Welcom to the Katahdin Inn. How may I help you, sir?" her voice was filled with a hoarse quality from lack of sleep. Her short blonde hair swept into her eyes as she batted at it annoyed, her hazel eyes were blood shot.

"I need a room for three adults for a few days." The clerk clicked a few times and hit a few keys and scanned the screen.

"Okay you can have 214B. I need to see some I.D." Logan quickly took out his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out his license. She took it from him and looked at the picture and at him once then turned her attention to the screen and typed in his name. "Okay how many days do you plan on staying?" she popped her gum.

"Uhhh...8 days."

"That'll be $799.60 please." Logan handed her a debit card. She went into the back room. Logan turned around and waved at Remy. Remy quickly walked in and past the desk to the elevator. The clerk, Kim on her nametag, walked back as Remy's jacket floated out of sight. She handed him his card key, debit and license back to him and asked him to sign at the X. He hurriedly signed it and walked towards the elevator. He hit the button for the second floor and entered the elevator with Remy.

They walked into the hallway of the second floor, on the wall was a sign that said '150-200' with an arrow pointing to the right and underneath it said '201-250' with an arrow pointing to the left. Logan stirred Remy to the left and found their room on the right side. He slid in the card key and waited for the green light on the doorknob to go off. He swiftly walked in and held the door open for Remy then shut and locked the door.

The room was painted a navy blue with white curtains at the windows on the right side. In the adjoining room upon entering there was a sofa bed with a coffee table in front and a chair to the side by a lamp. Opposite the sofa was a tv with a vcr on a stand. Between the adjoining room and the bedroom was a wetbar with a microwave and a fridge. In the bedroom was a king size bed, two dressers, a heater, a wicker chair and the door to the bathroom.

Remy walked over to the bed and laid Rogue down gently, all the blood had dried on her and she looked even worse then she really was. Dried blood had mattered her hair and turned some white strands an orange color. The once whit tangtop she wore was now brown with old blood and her sweatpants were crusty. Remy took off his blood stained trench coat and gloves and threw it on the otherside of the bed. He walked over to the dresser and pulled out a washclothe and went into the bathroom while Logan went back downstairs to get their luggage.

He turned on the faucet and wet the washclothe with luke warm water. A lone tear slid down his cheek and into the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was even more messed up then usual, his black shirt was torn and he sported a cut on the left side of his cheek while blood clotted in it and dried a streak down his face. It was going to need stitches and it was going to leave a scar. It didn't matter, nothing really did if he lost her. A ivory toned, green eyed face hovered in his mind. That was his chere and not the dieing, pale, multi colored eyes that was on her knees before his former employer.

He wrung the excess water out of the washclothe and walked back into the room and pulled up the whicker chair from the corner and sat down pulling it in to the bed. He cautiously took her jacket off her and cast it with his own. Everything that was exposed was caked in the dried blood. Remy's heart contracted at the thought of all the blood she must have lost. He took the warm washclothe and gently stroked her bare hand till all the blood came off leaving a silky smooth complexion underneath. He worked up her arm and the started on her other hand and arm.

Logan walked in and dropped their bags on the sofa and walked into the bedroom. He saw Remy's back to him washing Rogue with a washclothe gently. Remy was too absorbed in his task at hand that he didn't pay attention to Logan's presence in the room. Logan went into the adjoining room and picked up the phone and ordered some chinese food. Logan grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom, soon Remy heard the shower go.

By the time he had gotten out of the shower the the chinese food had arrived. Logan dressed quickly, answered the door and paid the man. He brought the food into the room and showed Remy the bag.

"Do you want any?" Remy just closed his eyes and shook his head no. Logan looked at the food and reached in the bag and pulled out a fortune cookie. He tossed the cookie at the Cajun who caught it swiftly and gave a confused look.

"Wha' dis?"

"It's called a fortune cookie. There's a fortune inside the cookie. The cookie's hard so that the paper inside doesn't get destroyed." He gave him a smile and walked into the back room and shut the door. He walked over to the sofa and ate his dinner on the coffee table and turned on the t.v. Remy opened the package and broke the cookie in half. On one side said a frase in chinese with lucky numbers and on the other read a fortune. Remy put the cookie on the package on the table and read the fortune.

"Somet'in' special will 'appen tonight." he threw the paper on the floor with disbelief that anything special would be happening anytime soon. He picked up the washclothe and got back to work on Rogue.

Remy had cleaned all the skin that was exposed so that her skin was a skin color and not the brownish red. He found a rubber band and lifted her head gently and collected her hair into a ponytail. He gently laid her head back down on the pillow and went over to the heater and put it on high. Soon warm air blasted through the vents and Rogue's lips turned a slight reddish. Remy noticed that her lips were almost bloodless. He took her small hand in his and closed his other hand on top.

"Please, chere, Yo' got t' wake up..." another tear streaked down his face. "Que ce démon peut-il faire avec hors de son ange tombé pour le guider ? Je ne sais pas si vous pouvez m'entendre, mon amour, mais je pense que j'ai vous ai aimé pour toujours. Je ne peux pas me pardonner si vos derniers mots étaient amour pour moi et ne jamais savoir si je sentais la même chose. Je t'aime trop vous ai laissé partir sans combat. Please don' give up..." Remy turned his head and put a hand over his eyes and cried silently.

{{{Rogue was 7 years old again at In Caldecott, Mississippi at the park she used to play at. She was wearing shorts and a pretty green shirt. She walked through the hedges and into the clearing she knew so well. A giggle escaped her lips as she ran over to the tree and climbed up to the highest limbs. She saw a bird on her nest of eggs high in the tree. The bird was chirping away at her mate on some other tree. Rogue just gave the bird a smile.

Rogue hurried home to Irene for supper. She walked into the house and was greeted by the familiar smells of spices from Irene's cooking. Though Irene wasn't that much of a cook she still could make a warm meal and that's all that counted for Rogue. Occasionally she helped make dinner anyway.

"Irene Ah'm home!" she said in her little voice. Irene turned at the sound of the girl entering the kitchen and gave the girl a smile. Irene held her arms open to her and Rogue ran into them to give her a hug.

"Go wash your hands then we'll eat. Okay, sweetheart?" Rogue giggled in response and ran over to the sink and washed her hands.

Rogue rushed back over to the table and sat down across from Irene's seat. Irene came over with corn bread, fish and potatoes with spices. Rogue dug into her food as Irene smiled at the girl and slowly ate her own. When Rogue finished she cleared her place and the table.

"Go take a bath, sweety, and then get ready for bed." Irene said as she began scrubbing pots.

"Bed! Aww, can' Ah stay up longah?" Rogue whined.

"I said get ready for bed not go to bed. If you want you can read me a book." Rogue gave Irene a smile she knew she couldn't see.

Rogue hurried off and took her bath as quick as she could. She played around a few minutes and then washed her short hair quickly. She pulled the plug on the tub and rinsed her hair one last time and grabbed the towel. She wrapped her small limbs in the towel to keep warm in the seemingly cold room. She scurried off to her room and put on a night gown and sat on her bed with a brush in her hand. The small brush went through her short hair smoothly as she sang to herself softly.

"Lullay, Lullay, little one, sleep in the stars 'til the morrow, little one. Search all the forests, ride 'mong the trees then home with a smile on the mourn, little one." Irene stood in the doorway and listened to the little girls song.

"Where did you hear that?" Rogue jumped at Irene's voice as she appeared in her doorway.

"Ah don' really know. Ah always used ta sing it before Ah went ta bed." Irene came over and sat on the end of her bed.

"Do you want to read tonight?" Rogue shook her head no as she climbed into the covers and snuggled with her stuffed animals. "Alright then I'll see you in the morning." Irene kissed the top of Rogue's head and turned off the light as she left the room. Rogue's eyes closed as she sang the song softly to herself.

Rogue dreamt of a lady that had hair and eyes like her's. She dressed in dark colors and wore a black leather coat that went down to her calves. She also wore black gloves and combat boots.

"Marie?" "Mah name's not Marie. It's Rogue." the lady smiled. "Ah know, Rogue. Ah'm ya." the little Rogue gave her a confused looked and cocked her head. "Ah'm ya now. Don' ya remember?" Rogue shook her head. "Rogue this isn' real. Ya've gotta wake up now. Logan an' Remy need ya." "Who's Logan an' Remy?" the ladies eyes flashed with pain and little Rogue felt bad for saying that. Rogue was no longer in her bed but at the park and up in a tree. A boy came through the trees and right underneath her tree. He wore a worn brown trench coat and had red on black eyes. "Don' ya remember callin' him fruitcake?" little Rogue didn't answer continued to stare at the boy's eyes. Little Rogue leapt down from the tree and walked right up to the boy. "Bonjour, ma chere." Little Rogue reached up and touched his face with her little hand. "Remy?" little Rogue began to age before her own pysches eyes. She shed her little nightgown and doned on the outfit the pysche had on. She turned to her pysche, "How do Ah get out of hahre?" the pysche only smiled at her sadly. "Follow Remy an' open ya eyes." the pysche dissapeared. Rogue turned back to Remy's pysche. He took her hand in his and led her out of the trees and into a dark void. Suddenly a bright light flashed and Rogue had to cover her eyes.}}}

Remy turned his head away from his hand as he felt a grip on his hand. The grip became tighter. Remy looked at Rogue and gripped her hand back. Rogue's chest heaved a big breath as Rogue murmmered his name softly. Rogue's eyes slowly opened and blinked a few times adjusting to the light. Remy's face split into a wide smile. Rogue turned her green eye's to him and the smile she showed only him came to her lips.

"Oh, Remy." She struggled to sit up but forced herself not to show how much it hurt. Remy embraced her tight against him and laid his cheek on her head. A drop dripped onto Rogue's face. She looked up at Remy and saw that there were tear streaks down his face. Rogue wiped away the tears and reached up and kissed him softly. He embraced her again and whispered in her ear, something that sent shivers down her spine, not that she minded.

"I love yo', ma chere."

"Ah love ya too, Remy."

(a/n...Aww cute chapter. You know I actually researched the Hotel and everything including the price and what the room had but from there I made up the description. I have way too much time on my hands. Keep sending the reviews. ~Black Enchantress)

Translations ~ Que ce démon peut-il faire avec hors de son ange tombé pour le guider ? Je ne sais pas si vous pouvez m'entendre, mon amour, mais je pense que j'ai vous ai aimé pour toujours. Je ne peux pas me pardonner si vos derniers mots étaient amour pour moi et ne jamais savoir si je sentais la même chose. Je t'aime trop vous ai laissé partir sans combat. = What can this demon do with out his fallen angel to guide him? I don't know if you can hear me, my love, but I think I've loved you forever. I can't forgive myself if your last words were love for me and never know if I felt the same. I love you too much to let you go without a fight.