Chellerbelle: I had a lot of fun writing that. XD Puts a different spin on 'dirty talk', doesn't it? ):) Rogue has a bit of a problem, to say the least, in this chapter.

Team-JEdward2010: I know whatcha mean about those darn cliffy's, but ya gotta admit that it does keep one on the edge of one's seat, doesn't it? ;) It leaves me anticipating more when I hit one!

Courtneykutie: I felt it was a good place to leave off. Besides, it was after 3 am when I finally got to that part. :) Hang in there as we find out what happens to Rogue.

"Marie! W'ere are y', cherie? I'll come an' get y'." Remy is instantly alert at the faint voice on the other end of the phone.

"Where she is going is none of your concern." Mystique answers icily. "You see, we have unfinished business and I mean to see it completed."

"Y' lay one 'and on 'er an' I will dismemb'r y' m'self." Remy grates out furiously as he grabs his keys.

Evil laughter is heard before she retorts. "Tonight was your last night to see her. As of now, consider this good-bye." The call is disconnected.

He recognized the voice on the other end. He'd met Mystique before on a job that had gone wrong. He barely escaped that one. She purposely set off the alarm as she was leaving in the hopes that he would be caught, but being the master thief that he is, he got out through a vent before he was discovered. The next realization hits him hard.

"She's with the Assassins. That's where she's taken Marie."

He scrubs his hands over his face, his worst fears confirmed. He has to get her back, but how? After discarding several options, one begins to take shape in his mind. Running to his car, he quickly speeds out toward town.

The only reason he knows where the Boudreaux' live is because he'd had to attend a couple of fetes as Belle's date. He'd rather not remember those particular nights, especially the last time, since that was when Marius had announced their 'engagement'. He never bought her a ring, but she still insisted that they were meant to be, especially since she couldn't wait to be matriarch of the Thieves' Guild. "Best not to dwell on that unpleasantness. I need to put all my concentration on getting my Rogue back." He mentally sets his mind firmly on Rogue.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mystique couldn't believe her luck. After months of waiting for the right opportunity, she finally had the unappreciative snot right where she wanted her. Dumping her into the car she'd borrowed, Mystique climbs into the drivers seat and heads back to deliver on her promise. Julien strides out to meet her and tosses the unconscious Rogue over his shoulder, carrying her in and tossing her onto a bed in a small room. He grins diabolically. "She's even more beautiful than the picture. I'll have so much fun with her when she wakes up."

Mystique meets Marius in the library. "I have finally brought my daughter here. As soon as I get everything she owes me, she's yours to do with as you wish." She throws back the fifth of vodka she poured upon entering.

"Fine, fine. Fr'm w'at y've tol' me, she will make a fine addition t' de Guild." He states enthusiastically, the delightful thoughts of training his first mutant assassin running through his mind.

"I'm going to get some sleep, then I will see how she's doing in the morning. Hopefully, she will be awake by then." Mystique snorts indelicately as she saunters to her quarters.

A few hours later, Rogue opens her eyes to find herself in strange surroundings. The last thing she can recall is Remy's voice on the phone telling her that he was coming for her. Then the phone was roughly grabbed out of her hand. That's all that comes to mind at the moment as she attempts to sit up gingerly. She winces and places her hand to the side of her head as she gazes around the room.

"Remy wouldn' bring me to a place like this. He'd take me home right away." She concludes quietly. "So where am I an' what am I doin' here?" She asks herself as she slowly gets out of bed, gasping in pain as she attempts to put weight on her left leg.

"Oh great! Jus' what I need." She mutters to herself as she limps toward the door. "Whateva this place is, I don' like tha feelin' I'm gettin' from it. I mus' be losin' my min', here I am talkin' ta myself." She smirks slightly as she opens the door as quietly as she can and finds herself facing a long hall.

"Hmm...which way ta go now?" She questions herself as she steps out, doing her best not to be seen. Just as she gets to the end of the hall, she is roughly grabbed and a hand id clamped over her mouth.

"Leavin' us s' soon, bebe?" Julien breathes huskily in her ear. "Dere's no escape fr'm 'ere, s' dere's no use tryin'. Why don' y' come back wit' me an' we could get t' know each ot'er a whole lot bett'r." He gives her a meaningful look, making her immediately nauseated at its implication.

She turns in his arms, pretending to show interest. "Sure, sugah. I wasn' really tryin' ta escape. I jus' wanted ta explore, since I've neva been here."

He dumbly falls for her act. "We can do some explorin' aft'r 'm done wit' mine." His eyes roam over her body and he pulls her closer. Just what Rogue was hoping for. She takes her good knee and raises it to hit an extremely sensitive area. He falls to the ground in intense pain, because everyone knows that Rogue doesn't have a light touch when it comes to fighting.

Satisfied to see him howling and writhing, she hobbles away from him and right into the clutches of Mystique.

"I shoulda known it was ya that brought me here!" Rogue snarls and gets into her fighting stance.

"You owe me a rather substantial debt and I mean to collect here and now." Mystique informs her coldly.

"But why bring me here ta get it?" Rogue asks as fury ignites the emeralds. "Besides, ya prob'ly have more money than Croesus, what I took was jus' a drop in tha bucket ta ya." She wrinkles her nose in disgust.

"The point is, you stole from me and I will not sit idly by and allow it. You see dear, not only will you return every cent that you took, but you will also be punished for it. That is why you are here. This is the Assassins' Guild." She grins sadistically as Rogue's eyes widen at the sudden comprehension. "Since you've decided that you no longer wish to stay with me, I've decided to sell your 'services' to Monsieur Boudreaux, here." She indicates the man sitting calmly in the wing chair, who inclines his head toward Rogue. "Raven 'ere 'as info'm'd me o' y'r special abilities. W'en y'r 'ealed, 'm goin' t' put dem t' bon use, Marie. Don' be tryin' t' escape, o' it won' go easy f'r y'. Y'r mine, boug't an' paid f'r." He informs her, daring her to challenge him.

Her face becomes one of unrestrained rage. "I'm not a slave ta be bought an' sold! I will not be a murderer for hire. I don' believe in killin' people an' I refuse ta do it. One thing Raven didn' take inta account when she arranged this contract with ya is that I'm 18. That means she can' make these deals in my absence. I'm an adult now an' I haven' lived with her for months." She turns to Mystique. "Ya forgot that, didn'tcha. I guess your lil' contract is null an' void, isn' it?" She passes her a tight smile.

"Oh, but y' will be stayin', fille. I paid bon money f'r y' so y' 'ave no choice. I ain' lettin' y' go." He gives her a shrewd look.

"Looks like you have a new home, Marie." Mystique says lightly and returns upstairs. Rogue lets out a yell and charges Mystique, knocking her down as several men rush in to grab her. She easily fights them off, unintentionally impressing Marius and focuses again on Mystique. She doesn't care about her leg at the moment as she leaps onto the woman in rage, Mystique is ready, however and deflects the force of the jump, turning it to her advantage as she lands on Rogue's injured leg. Rogue screams in pain and lashes out, hitting the cruel woman squarely on the temple, putting her in a daze. Mystique sits back, holding her head and watching the girl attempt to move her leg. Mystique smiles savagely. She's pretty certain she heard a bone snap as she landed on her. Several more men surround Rogue as Remy climbs through the window. He heard the horrible scream and selected the right window, being careful to deactivate the alarm first. He angrily takes in the scene before him, his sight resting on Mystique. Stalking over to her, he lifts her up by the front of her shirt. "Y'r abuse o' Marie ends 'ere." He growls threateningly. "Y' ain' much o' a mere t' sell y'r own fille f'r money. I don' usu'lly 'old wit' 'ittin a femme, but 'm goin' t' make an exception in dis case f'r ma Marie, f'r ev'ry slap y' gave 'er." He releases her and backhands her. She gazes at him in icy fury. "How dare you! I will deal with my daughter in any way that I please." He backhands her again. "Y' should've been t'rown in prison years ago." She fights to remain standing, because these blows are in no way restrained.

"Marie belongs to Marius now." She informs him as gleefully as she can. He repeats the action one more time with such force, she spins and hits the floor, out cold. Remy then turns to Marius. "'M takin' Marie w'ere she b'longs." He informs him forcefully.

"De fille b'longs 'ere." Marius informs him coldly. "We 'ave a signed contract." He smiles wickedly.

"Up'eld by whom? Outside o' de Guilds, it won' be recognized, s' y' really 'ave not'in'." Remy explains idly. "Y' know as well as I do dat neit'er o' de Guilds 'old wit' slavery. Wond'r w'at de elders would t'ink o' deir patriarch makin' back-room deals wit'out deir knowin'?" Remy muses aloud.

Marius' face pales at the valid point raised. He also knows that Remy would be sure to inform them as rapidly as possible and for him, that's pretty quick! His face takes on a sharp expression. "I will rip up de contract 'ere an' now on one condition."

"No deals, Marius. I eit'er take 'er now, or I go t' de elders." Remy states flatly, unwilling to bargain with her life.

Marius reluctantly concedes, but not without one last parting shot as he gets up to leave. "Jus' r'memb'r t' be true t' ma fille. Y' will be marryin' 'er in deux mont's." He says evilly as he exits the room.

Remy disregards the words as he rushes over to Rogue, who is laying as still as possible.

"Marie! T'ank Le Bon Dieu dat I foun' y'." He tenderly slips an arm around her and helps her to a sitting position, being careful to keep her leg still.

"Remy!" She gazes at him in relief, then throws her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life. "I got run off tha road an' then I was brought here an'-" Her rapid-fire account is silenced when he places his finger on her lips. "Sshh...we talk 'bout dis lat'r, non? Firs', we need t' get y' t' de 'ospital s' dey can look at y'r leg. Dey won' enjoy de sig't as much as I do, but I c'n look anytime." He flirts teasingly and smiles victoriously as she chuckles.

"Ya neva quit, do ya Rems?" She queries merrily as she silences his response with a kiss.

"Not w'en I know 'm goin' t' get kissed like dat." He gives her a cheeky grin.

"Rems, can ya help me straighten my leg so we can get outta this place?" Rogue requests hesitantly, not looking forward to the pain.

"Can y' bend it at all, cherie?" He questions with concern.

She attempts to bend it, but whimpers in anguish. He can't stand seeing her like this. "Don' try anymo'. If y' can' move it, den I'll 'ave t' carry y'. I was goin' t' anyway." He informs her smartly. "Okay, 'm goin' t' get in fron' o' y'. Put y' arms aroun' m' neck an' 'old on." She obeys, cautiously observing her leg. He transports her to the car and gently places her in back. They drive to the hospital, where Remy carries her inside. She has x-rays done and it is discovered that due to the force of Mystique's landing, both the knee and tibia are broken. They place a cast on her just above the knee, all the way down to the foot. She is then taken home, where the residents rush to her, worrying and demanding to know what happened. Tante and Remy are the voices of reason. Tante clears them out of the way as Remy takes her to her room.

"Y' can talk t' Rogue t'morro'." Tante tells them. "She's 'ad a bad nigh' an' needs de res'. She'll answer y' questions den." She ends firmly, her tone brooking no argument.

Upstairs, Remy tenderly places Rogue on her bed and sits by her, taking her hand and holding it against his cheek. "W'en y' called, I was s' worried. Den dat....femme took y'r phone an' tol' me I would nev'r see y' again. Dat did it. I wen' crazy. I tol' m'self I wouldn' stop til I found y', Marie. 'M always goin' t' be 'ere f'r y'. Dat's m' promise t' y'. Will y' make me one, Rogue?" He inquires seriously. At her nod, he requests "Promise me dat y' won' go anyw'ere by y'self. I don' ev'n wan' t' t'ink 'bout if dat acciden' were any worse dan w'at it was o' if somet'in' terrible 'appened wit' dat bunch dat 'ad y'."

Rogue shudders and Remy has a moment of sudden intuition. "W'at 'appened dat y' didn' tell me, Marie?" He asks astutely.

"Ran inta this idiot, Julien." Rogue rolls her eyes.

Remy's face darkens at the mention of the name. "W'at did 'e do?" He asks harshly, then sees the slight astonishment on her face. His expression instantly softens. "Desole, Marie. It's jus' dat I know 'im an' 'e ain' someone y' wan' t' associate wit' f'r long, if y' catch m' meanin'." He reaches out and strokes her cheek.

"I know what ya mean. He wanted me ta go ta his room with him." She has never seen him so furious as he is at that moment. "Don' worry, Rems. I played along til tha righ' moment, then he got what was comin' ta him." Her wicked grin causes him to calm visibly and chuckle.

"'M sure y' gave de cur jus' w'at 'e deserved." He smirks delightedly.

She giggles, but he knows she's growing tired. "Y' need t' sleep, sweet'eart. I'll see y' in de mornin'." He leans over to kiss her, then makes to get up, but her hand on his halts him.

"Will ya stay with me til I'm asleep?" She asks with a childlike air.

He smiles and kisses her forehead. "Anyt'in' y' wan', ma Marie."