What? You mean Zari didn't fall into an alternate universe where she isn't able to update anymore?

Fear not! I have returned from the horrible alternate universe without internet to bring you the Romy-est chapter this story has seen so far! Not to mention Kitty meddling involved! Mwahahahaha!

I seriously couldn't help myself with this chapter. Hehehe. Also, it is a bit longer than the other chapters, but I'm sure you guys don't mind.

Enjoy!

~Zari

Chapter 26: No… Maybe.

The movie started and they all watched the beginning. The movie was The Philadelphia Story.

Kitty and Lance stopped paying attention to the movie after only the first few minutes and quickly began whispering sentences to each other.

Rogue ignored them and tried to focus on the movie. She decided after a little while, that this whole idea wasn't so bad. This might have even been a good date… if she wasn't there with a traitor that called herself a friend and the man that nearly had her fooled into thinking someone would love her.

Remy looked up at the screen without ever once attempting to speak to her. Rogue snuck a glance at him. He was good looking, sexy, relaxed… No. She wouldn't let herself think of him like that.

Rogue focused her eyes on the screen. She didn't hate him. That's why it hurt so much when she found out that he was married. Even if what he said about the marriage was true, he had still lied to her before. He was flirting with her when he asked for her help rescuing his father, she didn't care what he said.

About a third of the way through the movie, Rogue saw Kitty and Lance get up out of the corner of her eye.

"Where are yall goin'?" she asked, unamused.

Lance continued walking away, but Kitty stopped and looked at Rogue nervously. "I… um… need to find a little girl's room."

Rogue lowered her eyebrows at her. "Okay, then leave your keys here."

Kitty looked at Rogue worriedly for an instant and then faked a pout. "What? You don't, like, trust me anymore?"

Rogue shook her head. "No, actually."

Kitty pulled her keys from her pocket and tossed them onto the blanket in between Rogue and Remy. "Can I, like, go now?"

Rogue smiled at her, satisfied. She would leave the keys where they were. There was no need for her to reach toward Remy to grab them. They were safe in her eyesight. Kitty wasn't going to ditch her here.

Kitty skipped away after Lance.

Rogue felt the awkwardness in the air as she and Remy drifted into aloneness. She couldn't help but stray a glance at the keys every once in a while.

"You t'ink they gonna run off, Chère?" Remy asked her, nearly laughing.

Rogue felt her face flush because he had caught her. At least he hadn't assumed she was trying to check him out. "With a thief around, why would ah?" she told him. She felt proud that she was able to come back from that so quickly, but she made a point not to look at them again.

Kitty returned quickly, without Lance. She trotted up to the blanket, and Rogue eyed her warily. Kitty lifted her purse and shook it at Rogue. "I needed lady products," she told her.

Rogue took a glance at the keys and then turned back to the movie. She didn't need Remy bothering her about her eyeing them again.

Kitty trotted away again.

Rogue didn't want to consider why Lance had to go to the bathroom with Kitty.

Remy began laughing suddenly.

Rogue turned and looked back at him. What was he doing? "What's funny?"

Remy grinned at her and then looked away. "It' not'ing. Watch da movie."

Rogue lowered her eyebrows at him. "Speak, swamp boy!"

Remy shook his head and didn't look at her in the eyes at first. "It' jus' dat… I'm da thief," he looked up at her with his glowing red eyes, "but you' da one dat stole my heart."

Rogue lingered on his eyes longer than she should have. If she was listening to her own thoughts and feelings, she believed him. Every stupid, love-struck, foolish, suave thing he said, she believed it. She hated that. The little Remy inside of her was screaming that he said things like that to any woman he met. He couldn't be trusted. He was a liar, and a cheater, and… so innocent looking in the glow of the setting sun. Why was she looking at him again? Why couldn't she stop?

Remy smiled at her. It was his usual cocky smirk, but there was something else behind it. What was he thinking? She wished she could read his mind instead of being trapped with his already processed thoughts.

Rogue felt her heart start beating quickly against her chest. What was happening? He hadn't gotten to her this much before. She had been perfectly careful not to fall into his… His thoughts! His thoughts had been what were protecting her from him all along. Before she had absorbed him, she had foolishly fallen like this before. She looked away from him and back to the movie screen. She couldn't let him see her doing this. She must have looked like a lovesick puppy. She thought back to the first time she had seen Remy:

I had my glove off, ready to drain everything from whoever Magneto had sent out to fight us. Logan's training was kicking in and I was going to grab this mutant flunky and teach him what X-Men were capable of.

I heard the footsteps stop right in front of the corner of the crate I was standing around the corner from. My heart was racing with adrenaline. I had one shot at this. I didn't know who this mutant was or what their power was. I had to be careful. I had to grab skin. I'd go for the face. That would be best.

I turned the corner quickly and reached up to grab his face. I stopped completely in my tracks when I looked up into those charismatic eyes. He wasn't attacking. He wasn't moving. He was surrendering though. Was this not one of Magneto's new mutants?

He looked down at me and smirked with a sexiness that made my heart flutter. He lifted a playing card, and handed it to me.

I took it carefully and looked to the front of it to read which one it was. The king of hearts. If I had any wits about me at the moment, I would have known that he was handing me an explosive card. I had already seen him throw plenty of them just a few minutes before.

He leaned closer to me as I looked up at him, hoping he'd say something… anything.

I moved back slightly by instinct. For the first time, I wished I didn't have to. I couldn't look away from his eyes. It was like he had cast some type of spell on me.

He smiled and stepped back. Did I do something to cause him to think I wasn't okay with what he was doing? He saluted me and turned to run away.

I felt my face involuntarily slip a smile onto it. I couldn't stop it. I watched him as he disappeared, and I looked down to the card that he had left me in my hand. It was glowing. No… it was going to explode. I threw the card away as it was about to explode. He was one of them. How had I let myself be fooled so easily? Why was it so easy for him? I would have to be careful around this one from now one.

"What' you thinkin' 'bout, Chère?" Remy asked her.

Rogue forced herself not to look at him. Even now, after everything that had happened, everything that she knew about him, she was still under his spell. She had never been like this with anyone else that she was interested in. She hadn't been so foolish with Scott even. What made him so different? Maybe she should leave his psyche in charge when he was around. It was safer that way. Rogue had just opened her mouth to say something when she was interrupted by the sound of an engine starting.

She stood quickly to see Kitty's car speeding off. She looked down to the blanket and saw that the keys were gone. Kitty couldn't have pulled that off alone. A thief must have grabbed them and given them to her.

"Kitty!" Rogue yelled in fury. How could she do this to her? She would never trust her like this again. Clearly her meddling had gone from annoying to merciless.

Remy looked up at her. "It' okay, Rogue. My bike' here. You can ride home avec moi."

Rogue nearly sighed at the sound of his voice when he spoke French. Why did that have to be so powerful? She released the sigh as though she was exasperated though. She looked down at him with an angry grimace on her face. "You knew about this," she accused.

Remy shrugged his shoulders. "You weren' talkin' to me," he said as though that excused everything.

Rogue folded her arms over her chest. "That just means you were too stupid to give me time to cool off!"

Remy stood and moved closer to her. "Three full days without a word, Chère." He took her gloved hand in his, and Rogue felt her heart betraying her, beating against her chest as though it were trying to escape her and join Remy. She had to hold it back. She knew what was best. Her heart didn't have a brain to save it from getting hurt. He looked down at her with his entrapping red eyes. "It was too much…"

Rogue wanted to run so badly. Her legs we begging her to move. Her brain was screaming at her that she was a fool to be still standing there. It was like her entire body was paralyzed as she looked up at him though. What was it about those eyes…

Remy smiled down at her and drew closer.

Rogue was helpless. She couldn't move. "Remy…" she managed to whisper out.

Remy grinned as he brought his face closer to hers. "Yes, Chère?"

Rogue broke eye contact as his psyche resurfaced itself. She covered her eyes with her hand and fought for control again. "Ah'm Rogue!" she thought to herself.

Remy looked down at her with concern. "Rogue?"

Rogue shook her head. "No," she said hoarsely. She looked up at him seriously. "Ah need to home."

Remy looked disappointed, but the stronger emotion at the moment was his concern for what was happening to her. "What' happenin'?"

Rogue covered her face with her hands. "Ah just need to be alone for a little bit."

Remy looked as though it was taking everything inside of him to do it, but he pulled his keys from his pocket and nodded in agreement and defeat.

Rogue couldn't look at him. She didn't want to see his disappointment. She had to regain control. She was going to make her own decisions from now on. No one else was going to be involved unless she wanted them to be… and no one's psyche was going to decide for her.

()

Remy felt Rogue's arms around his chest as he drove her home. He wanted her this close. He had wanted it under different circumstances though. He loved the feeling of her body heat against him. He held his thoughts from going any farther. He couldn't do anything further with Rogue. Not yet at least.

Rogue tightened her grip on him as they went around a corner, but it didn't seem as though it was out of fear… more like excitement.

Remy smiled as he continued to speed down the road. He was purposefully driving slower than usual. He wasn't going to get another chance like this anytime soon. He was going to enjoy this while he could.

Rogue moved off the back of his motorcycle faster than he wanted when they arrived into the mansion's garage.

Remy looked up at her, and grabbed her hand before she could move away. "It wasn' me, was it?"

Rogue didn't look at him. She seemed to be trapped in her mind at the moment. He knew that look. It was like she wasn't seeing what was in front of her. Like she was focused on something inside her eyes. "Ah'm just… confused right now."

Remy looked up at her understanding what she meant. It must have been her power after all. He wondered whose psyche was fighting for control at the moment. She had told him enough about her power to know that was what bothered her the most. A small part of him wished that she was fighting his. Not because he liked her being troubled by her power, but because that meant that he was still in there somewhere… and somewhere close to the top.

Rogue didn't look at him, but spoke again. "Ah wouldn't say no… if you wanted to do something like that again."

Remy was surprised at first, but decided he shouldn't waste this opportunity while it was presenting itself. "Saturday?"

Rogue smiled slightly as she began to walk away. "Okay."

Remy smiled as her fingers slid out of his. It didn't feel like losing her anymore when she walked away. He was at least guaranteed another day. That was all he needed. He needed a guarantee for just one more day each time she walked away. He could live with that.

She disappeared out of the garage, and he watched her until she was completely out of sight. He'd need to go to work for a little bit before he could sleep tonight.

Oooooo... Remy, you sly dog. By "work" you mean stealing wallets or a lovely heist with John, hm? Well, you never change do you? You're still hecka sexy though, so I'll forgive you. Hehehe.

I hope everyone liked this chapter. The next one will begin with Logan having a talk with Remy and possibly end with Remy having a talk with Bobby. Also, a mission is probably going to fall in between. We will see.

Thanks again to everyone who favorited and reviewed this story!

Rogueslove22 - Awesome! You caught it! It's a shame for everyone who doesn't know where my hidden quotes are from. They are heartbreaking! Let me know how this chapter was. ;)

stackles - Thanks so much! I work really hard to make sure the characters stay in character and try to stay on target with the original storyline. I hate reading a fanfiction that starts out in character and then drops out of character bombs everywhere. It ruins the whole aura for me. Makes me sad. So I work hard t make sure mine stay in line. Hehe. Glad to see I'm doing a good job. :)

clueless c - Kitty is wicked! She knows exactly what she is doing. She's smart enough to meddle her way into everything and make her clean getaway. Oh, and this chapter is about 6 pages long, in case you needed to know. ;)

blackberryhunttress - Haha! Glad you like Kitty. She's actually one of my favorite X-Men, so I try to make sure I write her in with dignity and the evil genius that she actually is. ;) Yes, Remy's thoughts were heartbreaking in the last chapter. I wanted to make sure to show just how real his feelings were. Especially after the whole fight about she-who-shall-not-be-named. It seemed fitting. Glad to be following it up with some heartwarming things though. Writing them apart sucks!

XxPiotr's GirlxX - Thanks! I was getting through the rain one day when I realized... The rain would be Rogue favorite thing in the world (besides Remy of course) because it could give her the physical attention that no one else could without getting hurt. I stole his crying scene, but it seemed to fit this part of the story so the comics will forgive me. :) I hope you liked this chapter just as much as the last!

Arian Gwyliwr - Gambit rules! I always loved him! My mom was a comic book junky, so I was brought into the world at an early age. I loved every comic he was in! Absolutely awesome! I'm so glad you like my story! It makes me feel like I'm doing the characters and the original stories justice. Hehehe. Let me know what you think of this chapter!

Until the next chapter!