18

"Wait, so ah don't get on with this red head, Jean, but we're friends?" Rogue questioned Remy.

As time had gone on, many more of the thiefs had called it quits for the night. Others had decided to stray and, as Remy had pointed out to her, cause some mischief. Rogue actually felt bad as she now understood why Theo's job role was so difficult. Two of the other sober thieves who were the guardians for the night had to take off to track down their missing marks. Theo stayed at the bar with them since he had been assigned to them, but he'd made a deal with the other two that he'd keep an eye on their remaining thieves and keep them in one place which was proving to be a lot more difficult a task as they became drunker.

"Y' deux didn't seem t' have de best of relations, but y' were always there for each other when y' needed it," Remy explained, his easiness back.

Since a lot of the thieves were making a break for it and the others who were in the same bar as them just couldn't seem to sit still, Rogue was able to learn a lot more about her past from Remy since there were hardly any interuptions. She actually found herself enjoying herself a lot more too once Remy began to relax.

"So what is she like? She a valley girl like Kitty?" Rogue asked.

Over time, Remy's contacts had seemed to burn away and his ebony and crimson eyes were back. It had become too late at night for any one to really pick up on Remy's eyes and no one was asking questions. Rogue found his natural eyes easier to look at than when he had his contacts in.

"T'ink de old you described her as little miss perfect," Remy said mimicking Rogue's voice.

"Ah sound nuthin' like that!" Rogue stressed, unable to stop her laugh at his mockery.

"Sure y' don't," Remy said, sitting back in his chair.

There was a cocky edge to his smirk which gave his sarcasm away. Rogue shuck her head at him. She had stopped drinking after the second or third bar and Remy had helped her figure out what her non alcoholic go to drink usually was. He kept to bour bon, but didn't seem drunk or tipsy. Oddly, she'd felt the alcohol wear off, but she still felt bubbly.

"Well I'll be, Remy LeBeau in de flesh!" a masculine voice came.

Remy glanced over his shoulder to see a man approaching him, large smile on his face.

"Jerome, been a while," Remy let on.

Rogue glanced at the man who approached Remy. He'd had quite a few people, men and women, approach him tonight. Somehow, the more people who approached him, the more relaxed Rogue felt. Etienne's and Jac's comments about Remy being a ladies man seemed to be falling more out of mind as more people approached him. Rogue saw that Remy didn't seem to treat a single one of them differently. He was friendly to all of them and, as Henri said, they all seemed like clients he'd done work for on the side. Seeing him in this new light of simply being just a people person (and a very charming one at that), Rogue let her gaze fall around the bar.

"An' who be dis fine creature?" Jerome asked, bringing Rogue's attention back to the table.

She shot a small smile at the pair who were looking at her.

"Dis be de enchanteur beau is Rogue. She in town on a visit," Remy explained.

"Well, it be very nice t' meet y' Rogue," Jerome said, holding out his hand.

Rogue raised hers and let him kiss the back of her gloved hand.

"Likewise," Rogue said, eyeing Remy since he hadn't introduced Jerome to her.

"Jerome be one'a de best Jazz players in New Orleans. Just got back from'a world tour, non?" Remy said.

"She's southern," Jerome acknowledge, an even large smile appearing on his face. "Trés bon! " he said, turning his attention back to Remy. "Oui, de monde be one beautiful place."

Rogue had raised an eyebrow at that first statement, not quite understanding why her being southern was of interest. She let her eyes glance back around the bar, feeling like she was missing something.

"Erm, Remy," She said, interrupting him and Jerome's conversation.

Remy didn't seem to mind as his attention fell straight to her.

"Where are the others?" Rogue asked.

Just after Rogue said it, there were a couple of screams from the street outside.

"Moi Deui!" Remy stressed as his chair scraped backwards and he ran towards the exit.

Rogue followed suit quickly after Remy.

"Idiots!" Remy cursed in french as he saw the scene outside unfolding.

Outside, crowds had gathered around in a circle and were quickly beginning to back away from what they were circling. At the end of their street, a fight was breaking out. Rogue gathered why Remy cursed as he'd pointed out before they entered their newest bar that the street at the end of theirs was Ripper's terrortory.

Rogue watched Remy take off towards that street. She tried following Remy, hating the bodies she had to fight through to get to the clearing on the Ripper's street. As Rogue reached the front of the clearing, she saw Theo, Emil and the two other thieves in a fight with some of the Rippers. Or, she guessed they were the Rippers. From the looks of it, the Rippers were winning. They had Emil and the two unnamed thieves down on the ground, beating them.

Theo was putting up a fight, but he was outnumbered. That was when Remy came out. Somehow, even though he had been drinking throughout the night, he was almost as sober as Theo. Remy pulled out his bo staff Rogue didn't know he had and extended it to block a blow Theo was about to receive from a Ripper.

For a time, Rogue just stood as part of the crowd, watching the fight. That was until one of the Rippers tried attacking Remy from behind.

"Look out," Rogue screamed, but found her body had moved before her voice.

She ran, jumped and flew into the air as she kicked the Ripper who was about to attack Remy from behind in the chest. Remy had glanced over his shoulder to see Rogue watching his back before focusing on the two Rippers in front of him.

"Get them outta here!" Remy commanded Theo.

Theo didn't pause for a second and began pulling and pushing the other thieves till they began to make a run for it, out of the Ripper's territory.

Remy felt Rogue's back hit his as they became surrounded and blocked in by the Rippers.

"Great, now what do we do?" Rogue questioned Remy, seeing how the other thieves just took off and left them.

"Hand over the girl an' we might let y' walk," One of the Rippers said.

Rogue's eyes went large at hearing that. She had no idea why the Rippers wanted her.

"Not gonna happen," Remy said, moving to block a few attacks.

"Shortly after Remy had been attacked, Rogue found herself dealing with her own attackers. She managed to dodge one attack and trip the first attacker, right before dodging a second attack and punching the guy in the stomach.

"We can't fight all of em!" Rogue snapped, as the circling Rippers grew closer.

"Give moi y' hand," Remy demanded.

Rogue didn't hesitate. She threw her hand back and felt Remy start to pull her. Somehow, she clicked on to what was happening as Remy began to swing her around. Rogue lifted her leg and kicked the Rippers who had encircled them in the face. Remy brought her to his side when he could, his hands coming to land on her shoulders.

"Go!" he snapped at her.

Rogue began to run, thinking Remy would run with her. A seconds after she realised Remy wasn't right beside her, she turned to glance back at where she had left him. As she turned, she was just in time to see some kind of explosion go off. Rogue went to shield her head, unsure where the blast came from or what it really was.

She felt a hand grab hers and her body being pulled forwards as Remy began to run with her.

"Come on Rogue," he said, leading her as they both ran away from the Rippers together.

At first, Rogue didn't care where they ran as long as they could escape, but it quickly dawned on her that they were running further into Ripper territory.

"Where we goin'?" Rogue asked.

"Just keep runnin'," Remy said, still guiding her through New Orleans.

Unfortunately, for them, they still weren't out from underneath the threat yet. As they ran, a jeep filled with men with guns rounded the road. Remy and Rogue stopped in their tracks as they were spotted.

Remy pulled them to the left and made a break for an ally way just as bullets were shot at them. Rogue let out a little squeal as the bullets were fired, but it was muffled by Remy's tugging. They found shelter only temperarally in the ally way. They were brought to a hault as a wall blocked their path.

"Come on," Remy said to Rogue, realesing her hand and putting his hands together in front of her.

Rogue took the hint and used his hands as a step to get over the wall. Her second foot went out to use the wall to bounce off it to the other side. Before dropping onto the floor on the other side, Rogue caught hold of the wall and dangled from it.

Remy, after giving Rogue a boost, jumped up at the wall, managing to reach the top of it so he could pull himself up.

Rogue reached out and grabbed a hold of Remy, pulling him over the wall with her just as more bullets were shot at them.

The two took up their previous position on running. They ended up in various situations where the Rippers almost had them cornered, but, each time, they managed to slip away and avoid them.

As they ran, the pair found themselves entering a swamp. As they began stomping in muddy waters, Rogue began to recongise where she was.

"Over there, we can hide," Rogue said, leading Remy over to a tree she had found with a hole in it. Rogue entered the tree trunk first and Remy followed. As he did, he reached out and began pulling at a bush that was near the tree. He managed to rip some of the plant by its roots and have it shield them from view.

Inside the tree trunk, Remy and Rogue panted. The hole was small and increably tight, but neither seemed to care about the tight space as they tried to get their breathes back.

"Do ya think-"

Remy silenced Rogue by putting a finger to his lips. Rogue did as she was told and listened out as he heard the Ripper's passing too. At one point, when Remy believed the Rippers had gone, he poked his head out of the tree truck to have a nosey around.

"We should be fine here for a little while. How'd y' know dis was here?" he asked Rogue.

Rogue shrugged her shoulders, "Ah saw a family of foxes leavin' it last time ah was here."

"Y' mean, y' been in des swamps before?" Remy asked.

"Yeah. Remember ah told y' ah woke up in a swamp? Well, the place where ah woke up ain't far from here." Rogue said, pointing towards the direction she came from when she first wondered out of the swamps. "Ah've got no idea how we're gonna get outta here though." Rogue said.

Remy nodded his head, taking in the information before glancing out from the tree truck again.

"Looks like they be far enough for us t' make a move. Keep low chérie an' watch out for any branches. Dun't wanna give em any means t' find us." Remy said.

"Wait, is that safe? Goin' out there?" Rogue asked.

"We on our own out here. We either sit an' wait for em t' find us or we get movin' back t' thief terrortory where we got back up. Come on, while de coste is clear," Remy said, taking a hold of Rogue's hand and pulling her out of the fox hole with him.

The two kept their backs bent and made there way slowly through the forest with Remy in the lead. As they began to come out of the swamps, Remy stopped them behind some trees. The Rippers were trying to guard the swamp enterence. Rogue stayed quiet, not knowing what to do. Remy looked around for options and found only one way. Slowly, he began to lead Rogue down into the swampy waters. Just before he dived in, he pointed at where they need to go.

"T'ink y' can hold y' breath dat long?" he whispered.

Rogue nodded her head, then followed after Remy, slipping underneath the water and swimming like hell to reach the other side. Rogue's lungs were starting to give way as she approached the other side. She couldn't stay under water for much longer and found herself coming up for air before she had reached the other side.

Remy had her though. He'd reached out and pulled her in quickly, covering her month to keep her quiet and hiding them behind bushes so the Ripper's didn't see them. After a moment passed, Remy looked over the bush to see that the Ripper who had been looking their way had turned his head around to pay attention to something else which moved in the swamp on the other side.

Taking the hint that they were safe, Remy turned to look down at Rogue who was lay on his chest with his partly gloved hand still covering her month. He released how lucky he was that Rogue's wet hair had stuck to her face in sections where his gloves exposed skin. She didn't seem to notice this or even understand what could happen. She was just glancing up at him with large eyes, asking if they were safe.

Remy removed his hand from over Rogue's face and pointed in the direction they needed to go. Rogue turned to look the way he pointed and began to move. She felt Remy's hand on her lower back pushing her down when she tried to stand up fully. She got the message and the pair crawled on their hands and knees for a while until Remy believed they were safe.

"If we keep followin' these swamps around, we'll end up in thief territory," he said.

"Ah thought ya didn't know these swamps?" Rogue asked.

"I know ours. Come on. Theo probably be havin' his ear ripped off by now." Remy said.

Rogue frowned at that, remembering how Theo had offered to take her on a thieving job. He said he would protect her if she agreed to it, but then, he just ran out on her and Remy tonight when they could have used him watching their backs. She felt a little bitter and betrayed.

"Don'tcha think he deserves it? Well, not just him, but all of em?" Rogue asked, still keeping her voice low.

"Non chérie, I don't," Remy replied bluntly.

"But they left us t' fend for ourselves after we tried helpin' them out back there. Plus, they were in Ripper terrirory! They practically started this fight!," Rogue said.

"Wouldn't put it passed de Rippers t' have lured em out. They sneaky like dat. As f' runnin' off, Theo had a tough call t' make. Lot'a thieves took a good beatin' an' probably be needin' medical treatment. It be a though call t' make on Theo's part, but he made de right one. He got de others outta harms way an' more than likely went for help. He knew we could handle ourselves so he went where he be needed," Remy explained.

Rogue was silent after that for a . She felt a little guilty for being harsh on the others when Remy put it that way. She guessed Theo was in a very difficult situation. She wondered if she should, maybe, be happy that Theo trusted her to hold her own. But, then again, maybe it wasn't her he had trusted. He barely knew her after all.

She let the topic drop out of her mind for the time being, not much liking the tense atmosphere.

"So," Rogue said, brushing off a few muddy leaves off, "this is what ya call showin' a girl a good time?" she teased, trying to lighten the mood.

It seemed to work as Remy shot her a small smirk over his shoulder.

"Only when it comes t' you, chérie. Y' seem t' attract trouble wherever y' go." He said.

"Gee, thanks!" Rogue said, bitterly but there was an air of sarcasm to her voice.

"Could definetly give moi a run for mon argent," Remy said.

"Ha! From the stories ah've heard, we're definetly tied," Rogue said.

Remy seemed to pause for a second, a knowing smirk sent over his shoulder at Rogue which had her thinking for a moment. She let out a huff, rolling her eyes then made her way forwards.

"Ah hate it when ya do that!" she said.

"Do what?" Remy asked.

"Ya know what ya damned… damned," Rogue spun around, hands on her hips to face Remy as she searched for an insult, "damned swamp rat!" she snapped, struggling to keep a straight face as she looked Remy up and down.

"Swamp rat, huh?" Remy questioned, his eyebrow raised.

"Well, ya do look as if ya just crawled outta a swamp," Rogue said, barely being able to contain herself. He was covered from head to toe in mud and was dripping wet.

"An' y' look like a drowned river rat," Remy shot back on her, the gleam in his eye letting her know that his playful side was out.

Rogue snorted at that, turning so that she could keep walking.

"As soon as we're outta here, ya gonna tell meh what it is ah've done that makes ya think ah attract more trouble than ya, swamp rat," Rogue said.

"Landin' y'self in a den'a thieves after losin' y' memories ain't a dead give away, mon river rat?" Remy teased, continuing to follow after her.

"Shut up!" she said, shoving him playfully. Althought, the thought did cross her mind, that if, for any reason, she found herself wondering around another swamp again, she wanted Remy there to keep her laughing.

xxxxx

French Translations

Chérie - Darling
Enchanteur beau - Enchanting Beauty
Non - No
Tres Bon - Very Good
Monde - World
Mon Dieu - My God
Idiots - Idiots
Moi - Me
Mon argent - My Money