Chapter Twenty-Eight:


God, there is nothin' on television, Rogue muttered to herself as she clicked the remote again, desperately searching for something decent to watch.

Sighing, she tossed the remote across the room and flopped back on the bed in defeat, drawing her robe tighter around her, even though the room was pretty warm. It was the evening after they had camped out in the woods, and, true to his word, Remy had managed to get them a hotel room.

It didn't bother Rogue to share a room with him, not in the least. She had been living in the same house with him for months, she had his thoughts in her head, she knew he loved her. More importantly, she knew he respected her. Besides, she had come to depend on him so much that she wouldn't have been able to sleep well if they had gotten separate rooms.

That morning, they had made their way into town, and Remy had sent her off to do some window shopping for an hour or so. When he joined her again, he had a wallet full of cash to use to buy the things they needed. Rogue had to admit, he was good at what he did.

They'd purchased clothes for the both of them, eaten breakfast at a little outdoor cafe, and then gone and checked into a nearby hotel. Rogue would have settled for a Motel 8, but it was obvious Remy was accustomed to the nicer things in life, by the large room he'd booked for them at the Hilton. Rogue wasn't about to complain, whether she admitted it or not, she had gotten used to living the easy life, too, by living at the Institute for so long.

Glancing over at the other bed, Rogue sighed. She wished Remy would hurry up and get back. She was bored, and she missed his company. But he was right, they needed more money, and wherever they decided to go, they needed transportation. Rogue didn't even want to know how he was going to pull that one of.

Besides, his absence had given her time to shower and do some thinking. It was amazing how much clearer you could think after a nice, long hot shower. Rogue had washed her hair, which had grown several inches over the past few months, and climbed out feeling refreshed and more relaxed than she had in days.

She'd donned the white bath robe Remy had swiped for her from the honeymoon suite of the hotel, much to her amusement, and plopped down to watch some television while she waited for Remy to return from his thieving.

Of course, the only thing on television had been more anti-mutant protests and debates, Congressional hearings on the so-called 'mutant crisis', and interviews with celebrities about their stance on the mutant issue. In a matter of two minutes, Rogue had decided that she was never going to see another movie made by at least six different actors.

Who would have thought there would be so many bigots in Hollywood? she mused darkly, rolling her eyes. A few actors had said that they weren't worried about it, that mutants were people, too, the same as them, which made Rogue feel a little better. It wasn't much, just a small percentage of the country that seemed to feel that way, but it was a start. It gave her hope for a better future between mutants and humans.

The island fire was on the news, too, though, of course, the truth about it was covered up. The official story was that it had been a mutant base, and that, instead of letting the government examine their base, the mutants had decided to blow it up. Reports were flying around that the island had been packed full of nuclear weapons and such for mutants to use against the human race.

Rogue wished she could say she was surprised. But with the public in an uproar about mutants, with the media displaying such a negative attitude towards them, she would have been shocked if they did anything else.

Curiously enough, though, there was one reporter who seemed to be openly okay with mutants being among the human population. Rogue decided that Trish Tilby was a name she would try to remember.

"Ah could use a drink," Rogue muttered, rising from the bed and floating through the air towards the small kitchenette in the corner. Remy had shut the drapes before he left, just in case. As he'd reminded her, it wouldn't do for someone to see her using her powers. She hovered down to the ground when she reached the refrigerator, her bare feet touching down lightly on the cool floor.

Peering through the shelves, she settled on a soda. As she was shutting the door, the hair on the back of her neck bristled in forewarning, her sixth sense flickering suddenly.

She glanced up as Remy slipped in the open window, emerging from behind the curtains as silently as a ghost, his dark uniform allowing him to move with the shadows. "Ya know," she drawled. "Ya could have scared me senseless creepin' in like that."

Remy grinned at her. "Remy can only hope, chere."

"What's that?" Rogue asked, nodding at the small black pouch in his hand as she moved towards him, taking a sip of her soda.

"Somet'ing fo' mon pere," Remy explained, opening the bag to reveal a rather large looking diamond. Rogue's eyes widened, and she nearly dropped her soda in shock.

"That's a diamond!" she cried.

Remy gave her the patient look one might give a four year old. "Oui, chere. Dat's a diamond. Swiped it from a jewelers down on de strip." He started towards the bed, then stopped, looking back at her with a worried frown. "Dat sit okay wit' you?"

Rogue shrugged. "Ah don't really care about that. Ah was jus' in shock. Ah've never seen a diamond that big. Well, except fo' the time Jeannie and the others robbed all those museums."

Remy raised an eyebrow.

"They were bein' controlled by a telepath called Mesmero," Rogue explained, following him across the room as he opened the duffel bag by the bed that held their clothes and stuffed the black pouch into the bottom of it, carefully shifting their clothing on top if it.

"Remy t'ink dat you X-men get in t' trouble too often, hahn?"

Rogue smiled. "Ah think Ah hafta agree with ya on that. We do seem t' have some sort o' magnetic pull for danger an' all. Comes with the uniform, Ah s'pose."

"Speakin' o' which," Remy said with a sly grin. "Did I ever tell you dat X-men uniform dey gave you was très flattant."

Rogue snorted. "Such a charma, Monsieur LeBeau. What on earth am Ah goin' t' do with ya?"

Remy moved towards her with a smirk. "Remy have a few ideas on dat, p'tite."

"Oh, is that so?" Rogue asked with a smirk of her own as she draped her arms around his neck.

"Oui, dat so," Remy murmured as his lips descended onto hers. Rogue moaned softly into his kiss as his arms wrapped around her waist, drawing her closer. Her head swam as Remy's lips moved over hers, her entire body tingling. Kissing Remy was like nothing she had ever known, and every day for the rest of her life she would be grateful to Magneto for making it possible.

When they pulled apart, Rogue was dizzy, and from the expression on his face, Remy was, too. "So," Rogue said, floating back to sit on her bed. "How was ya evenin'?"

Remy smirked. "Very prosperous, p'tite." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rather large wad of cash. "Enough here t' last us fo' at least a week."

"An' that transportation ya were talkin' 'bout?" Rogue asked.

"You ever ride a motorcycle, b'fore, chere?" Remy asked with a grin.

"Logan had a bike," Rogue replied, forcing herself to ignore the pain in her chest when she thought of Wolverine. "He let me ride on the back sometimes an' Ah've taken it out a few nights on my own." She smiled weakly. "He don't know that, o' course, but still."

"Den you be right at home on de back o' de Harley I swiped, hahn?"

Rogue groaned. "Why am Ah not surprised?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"Because I'm a t'ief?" Remy suggested with a grin.

Rogue rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully in the chest, which, of course, knocked him back across the room due to her super strength. She winced, mentally smacking herself for forgetting about the ratio of her strength to his.

As luck would have it, or maybe it was because of his natural agility, Remy landed on the other bed, grinning up at her. "Dere be a reason fo' dat, or you jus' like throwin' me down on de bed?" he asked with a wink.

She couldn't help chuckling at that. "Ah swear, sometimes ya just too cocky for ya own good, ya know that, Cajun?"

"Guess Ah jus' a natural people person, non?" Remy retorted, stretching out on the bed. "Dere anyt'ing good on the television t'night?"

"Nothin' but anti-mutant trash, sugar," Rogue replied with a sigh. "Ah swear, it's like they can't find anythin' better t' run than that garbage."

"De people, dey t'ink it of interest, chere," Remy reminded her gently. "So long as we be in de public eye, dere always gon' be pieces on de mutant race."

"Ah know," Rogue sighed, laying back. "It's jus' so frustratin', turnin' on the television an' seein' nothin' but how badly people want us t' be locked up in cages an' strapped down t' lab tables."

"D'you see now, den," Remy asked. "Why Magneto be t'inking de way he does? He jus' don' want us all t' end up slaves or lab rats."

"He wants us t' rule the world, as superiors t' humans," Rogue retorted. "Is that what ya think we should do? Rise up an' take our true place, as Magneto says?"

Remy shrugged, flicking a card in his hand distractedly. "Don' know 'bout dat. Remy like t' t'ink dat one day it be possible fo' us t' coexist wit' humans. As equals. But dat don' seem too likely, now do it?"

"It's goin' t' take time, Remy," Rogue said. "But it'll happen. One day."

"Den you keep hopin' an' believin' dat, chere," Remy said. "At least one o' us can."

Rogue sat up, a worried frown on her face. "Ya don't wanna continue with Magneto's plans, do ya?" she asked.

Remy blinked in surprise. "Non," he replied, sitting up to face her. "Dat hadn't even crossed Remy's mind. I may not t'ink dat yo' dream gonna come t' be, but I'd like fo' it t' happen. Dere's no sense in doin' somet'ing dat'll only ensure it never does."

Rogue grinned. "Why Remy LeBeau, Ah do believe Ah've begun t' make an X-man outta ya."

Remy snorted. "Wouldn't go dat far, p'tite, but Remy did t'ink 'bout what you said back at de base dat night, an' I t'ink dat maybe you got a point, non? Us runnin' 'round playin' de bad guy ain't gon' do not'ing but make de toy soldiers more anxious t' blow us all t' hell, hahn?"

Rogue lifted off the bed, floating over to hover just above him. He grinned up at her, a wry look in his eyes. Wordlessly, she lowered herself until she was just an inch or two over him, and reached out to cup his chin and plant a passionate, dizzying kiss on his lips.

She pulled away to head back to her bed, but before she could move more than a few inches, Remy's arms were wrapped around her waist and pulling her down on top of him. "An' what did I do t' deserve dat?" he asked with a grin.

"Proved that ya weren't as thick headed as Ah thought ya were," Rogue replied.

Remy smirked. "Guess Remy will jus' hafta surprise you mo' often den, chere."

"Careful, swamp rat," she retorted. "Ah may jus' surprise ya mahself one day."

"Oh, really?" Remy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, really," Rogue said with a grin. She tilted her head as if to kiss him, and leaned in to whisper softly in his ear, "Ah want ya t' show me N'awlins, sugar."

Remy blinked, his eyes widening. "You sure, girl?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers. "You sure dat's what you want?"

"Remy," Rogue whispered, her lips brushing his as she spoke. "Ah'm sure that's what Ah want. Ah want t' be with ya, and Ah want t' be with ya in N'awlins."

Remy grinned. "Dat makes dis ol' t'ief very happy t' hear."

"Does it now?" Rogue murmured against his lips.

In answer, he kissed her fiercely, pouring all of his love for her into that one endless kiss. When he pulled back, he grinned up at her broadly. "Chere, you have no idea."

"So we leave t'morrow then?" Rogue asked. "How long do ya think it'll take us t' reach N'awlins?"

"From here? I'd say 'bout a day or two," Remy replied, stroking her hair lovingly. "Not long by motorcycle."

"Good," Rogue said, yawning sleepily. "Remy, tell me 'bout N'awlins, would ya?"

"What you wanna know, p'tite?"

"Everythin'," Rogue said.

"You already know most o' it, chere. Got my mem'ries right dere in dat pretty li'l head o' yo's.You could read 'em like a book, if you wanted t'."

"Yeah, well, humor me, then," Rogue replied, snuggling closer to him. "Tell me everythin'."

"Everyt'ing?"

"Well, almost. Ah could do without hearin' 'bout Bella."

Remy grinned. "I t'ink dat we could all do wit'out hearin' 'bout her fo' now, hahn? But okay, if you wan' Remy t' be repetative an' tell you all de t'ings you already know, den dat's what Remy gon' do."

"Thanks, sugar," Rogue murmured as she drifted off to sleep.


Translations:
très flattant- very flattering