A quick thanks to all the reviewers for the last few chapters! You've been wonderful and although I don't get to reply to all of you, I hope you know I appreciate the time you take to review. Makes my time writing worthwhile!

Also, questions will be answered in due time. I don't want to give too many spoilers. Person who asked about the initials on Remy's pocket watch, you'll find out soon!

Chapter 28 – Adversaries

Remy felt breathless.

His heart had not ceased its frantic thudding in his ears and it had nothing to do with the thrill of a fight or the rush of a successful plunder of a rich vessel. No, this heart aching breathlessness came from the mere touch of a woman who had in a single hour managed to make him feel everything from warm admiration to utter uselessness. Those endlessly green emerald eyes looked back at him with such a storm of emotions and secret thoughts he had no key to unlock and it both maddened and enthralled him. It had been difficult to tell her what little he had been able to reveal. He had been left stranded for a moment as to where to begin only to find her comforting him, urging him to begin at the beginning when it should've been his task to offer her comfort…

"Dieu, y' have t' get a hold of y'self homme."

Remy shook himself as he stepped away from the concealed cabin door. He could not be thinking upon such things when there was the possibility of a battle outside these walls. He needed to clear his mind of his green-eyed lady wife and armour himself for a meeting he could not be unprepared for.

He allowed himself one last look at the door before stepping outside.

By the time he reached the main deck, the unfamiliar ship had come about and sailed beside them at a steady pace. The air was tense between the Mystique and the considerably larger vessel. While the Mystique was considerably smaller, made for speed and the ability to make a quick escape, this new vessel drew water to its heavy hull. The twilight sky with its pinks and golden hues reflected against the great ship, casting its colours against the honey-gold timber. Remy could not help but admire the giant as it sailed; even though he was certain her vast belly made speed a hard-won feat.

Remy shifted his gaze from the ship and watched as Captain Darkholme's crew readied themselves discreetly with their cutlasses on hips and pistols within reach. None made too much of a fuss nor kept their gaze away from the nearing ship or its visible crew. Captain Darkholme kept her crew steady and silent with merely a pointed look as she came to stand at the forefront in all her fiery-haired glory. She stood as the very model of command and control, ready for a battle should the need arise. Remy pitied anyone who was held at the mercy of Raven Darkholme's blade. Her hand did not shake as she sent the blade through a man's heart.

Remy returned from his musing when John came to stand at his side, his blade hand resting keenly on his belt. Remy subconsciously felt for the blades held on his person. One on his hip, while two smaller blades crossed across his back under his short-coat. A smirk played across his lips, recalling who now wore his favourite coat however it was quickly forgotten when his eyes set on a familiar figure. The ship was close enough now that they could see its occupants clear as day. The sight of the man who stood at the uttermost height of the main deck caused Remy to grit his teeth behind his ever-present smirk.

Logan had been right in his suspicions as to who occupied this new vessel.

"Good evening Captain Darkholme! I did not know you took stray passengers but here and behold, you appear to have much worse. You have a rat infestation."

Captain Darkholme stood forward and rested one hand against the rail and the other on her hip. Her cutlass was strapped close to her side but she needed no blades to wound. Her amber-coloured eyes spoke volumes of secrets but her lips curled in an enticing smile; like a lioness smiled at unsuspecting prey.

"Why Captain Magnus, I do believe you are just as charming as you were on our last encounter. But I know your elaborate act of attention seeking is not for my benefit. I trust you want a word with my resident rat infestation?"

Remy's lips twitched with amusement as they curled into a lop-side smirk. After a minute of being spoken of as if he were not present at all, Captain Joseph Magnus' eyes turned to meet his. A broad grin spread across the cur's face as he leant against the rail of his own ship.

"Captain LeBeau- This is an unexpected reunion. I thought in your absence these last three months that you had retired or better yet, died."

Remy willed his teeth to unclench as he came to stand at the edge of the deck. Captain Magnus stood at the railing with an unmistaken self-satisfied smirk spread wide across his face. Several of his crew chuckled in unison at their Captain's joke. Remy absolved to return the witticism in equal fashion even as his stomach tightened with silent hatred...

"Remy is very sorry t' disappoint an' old ami. As y' can see Remy is neither retired nor speaking to y' from de grave. Mais he did hope in his absence y' might have met de same end.Though he will confess, de latter was de preference."

Remy had the satisfaction of watching the two crews began to whistle and chuckle at his response. Captain Magnus' grin tightened but those calculating, silver eyes betrayed the action. Even from this distance, Remy could see the anger that boiled beneath the surface of the façade. And it gave him such a thrill of smug satisfaction he could not fake a smile to that effect. He grinned with pure satisfaction as Captain Darkholme's crew muttered and chortled amongst themselves.

"Remy sees y' 'ave replaced the Silver Blade, Magnus. Did she grow blunt after a brush wit' de King's navy in dese past few months?"

Captain Magnus continued to glare with a façade smile across his lips. A small snort of distaste erupted from him as he spoke.

"I see you still speak in that archaic third person stance, LeBeau. I do wonder, is it because you feel the need to remind yourself of your name or that you like the sound of it so much that you must continue to do it?"

Remy grinned from ear to ear. Unbeknownst to Captain Magnus, he had grown out of speaking in third person some years ago but knowing the Captain's aversion for it, he made the effort to speak as such whenever they encountered each other. The smallest hindrance to Joseph Magnus' existence was worth the effort.

'Remy see's dat y' still favour de same hulk-like ships as de Blade was. Did y' wish t' compensate for somet'ing in…another area perhaps, oui?"

Remy had often been told as a boy that he knew exactly how to press one's buttons but had only mastered the art of knowing when and how far to press by the time he was a young man. He knew now that his control was slipping in the face of his old adversary but it was like he was making up for lost time. The angry reddening of Joseph Magnus' face was compensation enough in any case.

"I am quite pleased with the Silver Fury. She has twice the guns the Blade had. Thrice the guns the Devil's Revenge has if I'm not mistaken-"

"Then she should sink thrice as fast, non?"

There was a general murmur of amusement amongst the two ships; causing Captain Magnus to step back from the rail and rest his hands on hip and blade. He had been confident before, smug with the newness of his sizable ship and thrice the number of guns. He had suffered for it with just a few cut words. Remy couldn't help himself. When Joseph Magnus was concerned, anything that wiped the satisfied smirk off his face was worth its weight in consequence. If it were his ship- or rather, if Captain Darkholme wasn't there to supervise their battle of words, he would be ordering John to have the crew ready to see whether the surplus of guns on the Silver Fury could help sink her. He felt himself itch with the urge to take a blade to the cur before him. For it was long since his last fightand he had more than a few reasons to strike Magnus where he stood…but it was not to be this day.

"We shall attest that theory someday LeBeau only I assure you, it will be your vessel that sinks, not mine."

Remy made a point to chuckle heartily for his adversary to hear.

"Dat will be a cold day in hell, mon ami. A cold day indeed. What is it y' really wish t' speak of Magnus? Tis not my charming wit or Captain Darkholme's handsome vessel y' wish t' pay homage to."

Captain Magnus' demeanour shifted again, this time his arrogance was well placed.

"I heard you went to England to find yourself an English Rose for a bride, LeBeau. Is that true?"

Remy felt that breathlessness take him as all thoughts of outwitting the Captain diminished. Nevertheless he schooled emotions, forcing himself to not be affected by their influence as Rogue came to mind. Though he was certain he gave nothing away on the outside, his insides clenched with uneasiness at the knowledge that Magnus had heard about Rogue so soon. But how much he knew remained yet to be determined…

"So what if Remy did, Magnus? Y' wish t' profess y' congratulations? Very well den, Remy accepts dem on his et his belle femme's behalf."

"I came to see if I might give the bride my condolences. For she is either a very brave or a very desperate woman to take on the likes of Le Diable Blanc."

Again the satisfaction rolled off Captain Magnus in waves and Remy couldn't lie to himself and say it didn't affect him a little. The gibing continued amongst a flurry of amusement from Captain Magnus' crew.

"Is it true she slipped from your grasp in Paris? Did she realise her mistake when you carted her off from her English shores? Or did she finally get a good look at those demon eyes of yours and made a run for it?"

Remy's jaw tightened with tension. He felt John shift uncomfortably beside him, hovering to hold him back should he need to. If a gap of water and air did not keep them separated, Remy was certain John would be holding him back already. The blood in his veins quickened with the anger that followed Magnus' words, only years of schooling his emotions kept him grounded as he retorted. A smirk still fixed upon his face in spite of the coldness that laced through his words.

"Y' little spies in Paris did not keep y' well informed Magnus. Remy's wife has not left his side since our departure. Remy t'inks y' need t' hire y'self more reliable spies, non?"

Captain Magnus gave a hearty chuckle as he came to lean against the rail.

"Perhaps but that does not change the fact your little English Rose is not at your side at this moment! Where is she LeBeau? I would like to give a full account to Belladonna when next I see her."

Remy steeled himself against the promise, for he had no doubt that if Joseph Magnus knew of Rogue's existence, it was not long before Belladonna did as well. And that was an encounter he prayed would not occur too soon...

"Ma chérie has retired for de evening mais I will send your compliments on t' her. In de meantime, perhaps y' should go find Bella, non? Y' deux need t' catch up on your gossip, non?"

The mild retort managed to scratch the surface of Captain Magnus' smugness. He chuckled, shaking his head as pushed back from the rail to stand straight. He turned towards Captain Darkholme and gave a dramatic bow.

"Captain Darkholme, I wish you luck with ridding yourself of this vermin. I stand by my assurance that should you ask, I would be more than happy to help you with the extermination."

The word extermination drew his steely gaze towards Remy, as if to belittle him to the rank of vermin he believed him to be. In return, Remy merely smirked and returned his look with a dramatic, sweeping bow of his own. The Silver Fury's crew chortled and whistled with amusement before their Captain turned on them with presumably a most vindictive glare. Most of the crew stopped in their tracks before bowing their heads and moving along. The First Mate began to bark orders, ending their negotiations with the Silver Fury.

Remy didn't realise it until John rest a hand on his shoulder that he was trembling with tension. When the Silver Fury began to haul itself away and it's Captain was out of sight, Remy turned his back to it and stepped towards Captain Darkholme with a determined stride.

There were only a few people who knew about Rogue's existence; he had ensured that with the uttermost of his abilities. Raven's crew would not breathe a word for fear of their Captain and Le Diable Blanc's unspoken wrath…and yet a Pirate was a Pirate and there were some whose eyes and ears could be bought for the right price.

"How did he find out?"

The words were said with every ounce of cold calmness and yet he may as well have raised his blade to Captain Darkholme, for the affect was much the same. Captain Darkholme took a defensive stance with one hand rested against her sword hilt and set her fiery, amber gaze to match his own demonic glare.

"If you are inferring what I believe you are LeBeau, then I can assure you I need not call for Joseph Magnus to turn his overweight ship around to rid myself of your ungrateful hide."

The glare Wanda matched with her Captain's told Remy she would not be alone in her deed should it come to it either. Nevertheless, Remy did not flinch nor move for his place. After a few moments' hesitation, that sly smirk returned as he eased his accusations back. Raven's eyes softened- well, grew less hardened with anger as she eased her own stance.

"Magnus has his own set of eyes and ears strategically placed in Paris as you well-know. He took notice of your absence these past three months, LeBeau. The odds are that he has been following you long before Paris."

Remy sighed his aggravation; the only sign that the tension within him was deflating. He ran a hand through his hair as it blew about in the wind and into his eyes. He had known Magnus was likely to keep tabs on him but with the Delmar's own forces set against him these past several months, he admitted he had pushed the thought from his mind. Now he felt as if as if an invisible vice had been looped around his throat and now that he knew of it, it was as visible as it was close…too close. John's words broke his trail of troubled thoughts.

"Captain, he may not know as much as we suspect. He called her an English Rose. Our Rogue is more of a Southern Spitfire, aye?"

Remy gave a small chuckle of amusement at his friend's reassurance. He clapped his friend on the back with affection.

"Dat might work t' our advantage. Mais he knew dat she took off dat night. We can assume all we want mais what matters is t' find out exactly what he knows et if we should be wary of his interests."

He would be wary of Joseph Magnus' interests in any case. His past with the silver-haired Captain was not one well reflected by their last playful banter. The man had once been a childhood rival, a boy he grew up with for a time under the tutelage of his father and family. But when Jean-Luc had favoured him to carry on his legacy and not Joseph who had been there first and older by a few years, Joseph had shown his true colours and spat in the faces of all who had cared for him. Nine years had passed since since Joseph Magnus had left the LeBeau clan in favour of a life carved out of his own self-inflicted punishment and Remy would carve his own heart rather than trust Joseph with any knowledge of Rogue's existence. Again, he would have to keep his wife close and his enemy within sight.

Remy gave John a pointed look as he spoke once they were clear of the main deck and obscured by the stairwell.

"Soon as we reach port, I want t' know everyt'ing dat he knows et every trace looked into. No loose ends John."

John gave a determined nod.

"I'll be on it soon as we land, Captain. But you might want to go check on her now. If I know your wife, she'll be keen to know what all the fuss was about an' won't take kindly t' your dawdling."

A mischievous grin spread across his freckled face.

"Plus I think Logan might be sick of babysitting."

Remy matched his friend's smirk but as John strode away, he hoped that whatever he unearthed in his findings in Jamaica, it wouldn't be anything he couldn't handle.

That odd breathlessness took him again as he set his gaze on the dwindling sunset on the horizon. He rested a hand against the rail and took in the sight as the sun dipped into the ocean. The idea of having a treasure that was worth everything to keep was a new concept to him but he had a feeling he would grow used to it in the weeks to come.

Thanks for reading! Review please!

-Gams