My Heart in Your Hands
by Princess of Monkeys
Chapter 20
They sat in a strange silence for a while, before Rogue shook herself out of it. "Ah don' wanna talk 'bout me anymore. 'Sides, din't ya have a story ta tell me or somethin'?"
Drawn out of his thoughts, Remy said "Dunno 'bout dat, chere. Remy only said mebbe y' hear de story." She scowled at him, in no mood for his games, and his response was "A'right, a'right, Remy tell y' de story bout de girl dat tried t' kill 'im. But mebbe y' should get more coffee- it be a long story."
Rogue stared into her cup, realized it was empty, and went to do as he'd suggested. Given time to marshal his thoughts, Remy stared into space. What he wouldn't give for a chance to go back in time, to do it all over again, to keep everything from going wrong... _Would you give up Rogue?_ The thought came to him suddenly, and he had to say no. Even for the chance to set things right, to go back to his home and his family, he wouldn't give her up. Even if she wasn't sure she wanted him, it didn't mean he was changing his mind about her.
Rogue returned with her fresh cup of coffee, and sat back down in her chair. She didn't say anything, just stared at him, waiting. Without any more stalling tactics, he began. "De Thieves Guild be real, chere. Remy was raised t' be a master thief, adopted by de Guild Father 'imself."
"Yah, ya told me this part already," Rogue interrupted. He gave her a hard look and continued. "De Assassins be real too, and dey always be startin' up trouble wit' us. Dey hate us, we hate dem- nobody even know why anymo'! But dat girl y' saw in y' head, de one be tryin' t' kill me- dat be Belladonna. Dat be de girl Remy s'posed t' marry."
Rogue, who had just taken a sip of her coffee, nearly spit it across the table. "What?" She sputtered in shock. "Y' were gonna get married? Who'd be crazy enough ta marry you?"
"Mos' femmes find me irresistible. Don' know what yer problem is. 'Sides, was an arranged marriage, chere. But Bella din' have a problem wit' marryin' Remy."
"Whatevah. So if she was all gung ho ta marry ya, why'd she try ta kill ya?"
Looking pained, Remy stated "dat be why Ah told y' it be a long story, chere." He took a sip of his own drink, long gone cold, and made a face. "'M father a'ready had a son- 'm brother Henri. Us an' a cousin, Etienne, we were always workin' like a team, always runnin' around causin' trouble t'gether."
Rogue was surprised to hear him talk about his family. Sure, he'd mentioned being adopted before, but she'd never really thought of him as having a home, a family back in Louisiana. He was just Remy, just one of Magneto's henchmen in that regard- who ever thought of the bad guys as having families?
Remy went on. "De Guild, dey din' care 'bout de whole mutant thing. Ah was born lookin' like dis, but de powers, dat came later. Probl'y de worst powers t' have for bein' a thief, explodin' things, but it jus' be somethin' to deal with." He decided to tell her all the stories about how he learned to control his powers later- that is, if she ever wanted to see him again after this story ended. "Since Remy be de youngest son of de Thieves, an' Bella be de only daughter of de Assassins, de Guilds figgered a way t' have peace by marryin us off."
"It din't bother ya none, havin' yer whole future planned out for ya?" Rogue asked unexpectedly.
"Livin' in de Guild... y' followed orders, y' did what y' were told. 'Course, me an' Henri an' Et, we broke 'em right an left, but dat was different, little things. Somethin' big, like peace.... Y' don' try t' mess dat up."
Rogue nodded. She thought she understood what he meant. "But still- ya din't even know her?"
"No chere, Remy knew her. Me an' Bella knew 'bout de whole marryin' thing all our lives, pretty much; we were jus' kids when dey came up wit' de idea. Ah'd see her 'round all de time- seems everybody else be fightin', be dealin' wit' some kind 'a uneasy truce, but me an' her were jus' friends. Makes sense t' be friends, if y' got t' marry de girl, non?"
"Yah, Ah guess." Rogue understood the following orders part well enough, but she just couldn't wrap her mind around the arranged marriage part. It just seemed so archaic, even for the south- like something she'd study in history class, not something that had happened to someone she knew. "Wait a minute- Swamp Rat, ya ain' actually married, are ya? 'Cause that'd be pretty wrong, yer married an' yer hangin' out with me."
"No, Remy said Bella be de girl he was s'posed t' marry. It nevah happened. Jus' let me tell de story, a'right?"
A silence followed while she digested that, and when Remy saw she wasn't going to comment again, he went on. "Bella had brothers, and dey din' like Remy none. Bella nevah bothered 'bout de whole mutant thing- she jus' thought de bein' able t' explode stuff was a great trick. But her brothers... dey be a whole different story. Dey din' want dere little sister marryin' any thief, an' especially not de freaky one wit' de demon eyes. Me an' Henri an' Et were always fightin' wit' 'em. It was nevah any big thing, but one night everythin' jus' went wrong."
He took a deep breath. "We w' all out in town one night, an' dey jus' attacked us f' no reason- we were jus' in de wrong place at de wrong time Ah guess. Ah nevah knew why- mebbe 'cause Bella was wit' me at de time, an it made her brothers mad t' see us t'gether. One 'a her brothers grabbed Bella, made her watch, an' de others all jumped on us. Ah don' remember anythin' 'cept one moment. Bella's oldes' brother, Joseph, he had Remy cornered, swearin' he was gonna kill Remy, no sister 'a his was gonna marry a dirty thief. Ah had a rock in 'm hand, an' Ah charged it 'an threw it- Ah wasn't tryin' t' hit 'im, jus' tryin' t' scare 'im off." He stopped for a moment, unable to continue, and Rogue felt like she knew what was coming, knew what he was going to say. Part of her wanted to tell him to stop, not to tell her the end of the story, but it was like watching a train wreck- she had to know, had to hear it.
He continued, looking anywhere but at her. "De rock, it blew out de window Joseph be standin' by. An' all de glass- he be standin' too close- he died, right dere, an' Bella- she saw de whole thing."
Even though she thought she'd known, thought she'd been prepared, Rogue was in shock. Her first impulse was to just get up and run as far away as she could- he was a murderer! He was a killer, someone had died because of him.... _But it was an accident! What if it happened to you?_ She fought her first impulse, and stayed, and thought it through. _He's not a bad guy, even if he's on the wrong side, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to help me. He could have killed me with that card and he didn't. People make mistakes- and with powers like ours it's hard not to. Hell, if I held on long enough to someone, I could end up killing them! And all the battles we've fought- none of us ever thinks about who else could get hurt. It could happen to anyone.... It could even happen to an X-Man._ She still wasn't okay with it- how can you ever be okay with knowing that someone you're close to is responsible for a person's death?- but she didn't hate him.
With aching slowness, she reached her gloved hand across the table, and let her fingertips rest across the back of his hand in the lightest of touches. He looked up at her in surprise- she had actually touched him, had actually dared to reach out to him after what he had just told her? All he could do was stare at her.
"Remy, Ah know it was an accident. Ah know ya din't mean ta kill nobody."
She'd used his name. Not his code name, not swamp rat, but his name. And her simple declaration of belief in him shocked him more than anything else in his life ever had.
But, fatalistically, he thought _she still doesn't know the whole story._ Still looking at her, her hand still resting atop his own, he said "But Remy ain' done yet. De Assassins- dey put out contract on us. She was de one t' be carryin' it out. An' she got t' both of 'em- she killed Et, made him suffer. M' brother, he still be alive, but only barely. An' Remy- Remy ain' got a family no more. Ah ain' nobody's son no more- dey took it all away. De Guild renounced Remy, struck de name from de books an' everythin'. An' den it's back t' warrin' again, an' it be open season on Remy. So when Magneto came rollin' inta town, offerin' me an easy out, Ah took de best option available at de time."
Instead of pulling away from him as he'd expected her to do, she gripped his hand tighter. "Rem, ya cousin an' y' brother- that ain' ya fault! Ya can't see the future, know what's gonna happen- none of it's yoah fault. It was an accident. Ya ain' a murderer. Ya can't blame yoah self." She was still holding his hand.
He looked at her, amazed to hear absolution instead of condemnation. She didn't hate him, didn't fear him- she had given him a chance.
She spoke again. "That's jus' so wrong. Ya lost ya family an' everythin' ya evah had ovah this girl, an' ya nevah even got ta marry her. Sure ain' how all those stupid romances are s'posed ta work out, huh?"
He didn't respond, just looked at her out of the corner of his eye and thought _Yeah, I lost everything, but I think I just found something much better._ He could never say that to her, though, so instead, he settled for "dunno- mebbe everythin' s'posed t' happen f' a reason."
by Princess of Monkeys
Chapter 20
They sat in a strange silence for a while, before Rogue shook herself out of it. "Ah don' wanna talk 'bout me anymore. 'Sides, din't ya have a story ta tell me or somethin'?"
Drawn out of his thoughts, Remy said "Dunno 'bout dat, chere. Remy only said mebbe y' hear de story." She scowled at him, in no mood for his games, and his response was "A'right, a'right, Remy tell y' de story bout de girl dat tried t' kill 'im. But mebbe y' should get more coffee- it be a long story."
Rogue stared into her cup, realized it was empty, and went to do as he'd suggested. Given time to marshal his thoughts, Remy stared into space. What he wouldn't give for a chance to go back in time, to do it all over again, to keep everything from going wrong... _Would you give up Rogue?_ The thought came to him suddenly, and he had to say no. Even for the chance to set things right, to go back to his home and his family, he wouldn't give her up. Even if she wasn't sure she wanted him, it didn't mean he was changing his mind about her.
Rogue returned with her fresh cup of coffee, and sat back down in her chair. She didn't say anything, just stared at him, waiting. Without any more stalling tactics, he began. "De Thieves Guild be real, chere. Remy was raised t' be a master thief, adopted by de Guild Father 'imself."
"Yah, ya told me this part already," Rogue interrupted. He gave her a hard look and continued. "De Assassins be real too, and dey always be startin' up trouble wit' us. Dey hate us, we hate dem- nobody even know why anymo'! But dat girl y' saw in y' head, de one be tryin' t' kill me- dat be Belladonna. Dat be de girl Remy s'posed t' marry."
Rogue, who had just taken a sip of her coffee, nearly spit it across the table. "What?" She sputtered in shock. "Y' were gonna get married? Who'd be crazy enough ta marry you?"
"Mos' femmes find me irresistible. Don' know what yer problem is. 'Sides, was an arranged marriage, chere. But Bella din' have a problem wit' marryin' Remy."
"Whatevah. So if she was all gung ho ta marry ya, why'd she try ta kill ya?"
Looking pained, Remy stated "dat be why Ah told y' it be a long story, chere." He took a sip of his own drink, long gone cold, and made a face. "'M father a'ready had a son- 'm brother Henri. Us an' a cousin, Etienne, we were always workin' like a team, always runnin' around causin' trouble t'gether."
Rogue was surprised to hear him talk about his family. Sure, he'd mentioned being adopted before, but she'd never really thought of him as having a home, a family back in Louisiana. He was just Remy, just one of Magneto's henchmen in that regard- who ever thought of the bad guys as having families?
Remy went on. "De Guild, dey din' care 'bout de whole mutant thing. Ah was born lookin' like dis, but de powers, dat came later. Probl'y de worst powers t' have for bein' a thief, explodin' things, but it jus' be somethin' to deal with." He decided to tell her all the stories about how he learned to control his powers later- that is, if she ever wanted to see him again after this story ended. "Since Remy be de youngest son of de Thieves, an' Bella be de only daughter of de Assassins, de Guilds figgered a way t' have peace by marryin us off."
"It din't bother ya none, havin' yer whole future planned out for ya?" Rogue asked unexpectedly.
"Livin' in de Guild... y' followed orders, y' did what y' were told. 'Course, me an' Henri an' Et, we broke 'em right an left, but dat was different, little things. Somethin' big, like peace.... Y' don' try t' mess dat up."
Rogue nodded. She thought she understood what he meant. "But still- ya din't even know her?"
"No chere, Remy knew her. Me an' Bella knew 'bout de whole marryin' thing all our lives, pretty much; we were jus' kids when dey came up wit' de idea. Ah'd see her 'round all de time- seems everybody else be fightin', be dealin' wit' some kind 'a uneasy truce, but me an' her were jus' friends. Makes sense t' be friends, if y' got t' marry de girl, non?"
"Yah, Ah guess." Rogue understood the following orders part well enough, but she just couldn't wrap her mind around the arranged marriage part. It just seemed so archaic, even for the south- like something she'd study in history class, not something that had happened to someone she knew. "Wait a minute- Swamp Rat, ya ain' actually married, are ya? 'Cause that'd be pretty wrong, yer married an' yer hangin' out with me."
"No, Remy said Bella be de girl he was s'posed t' marry. It nevah happened. Jus' let me tell de story, a'right?"
A silence followed while she digested that, and when Remy saw she wasn't going to comment again, he went on. "Bella had brothers, and dey din' like Remy none. Bella nevah bothered 'bout de whole mutant thing- she jus' thought de bein' able t' explode stuff was a great trick. But her brothers... dey be a whole different story. Dey din' want dere little sister marryin' any thief, an' especially not de freaky one wit' de demon eyes. Me an' Henri an' Et were always fightin' wit' 'em. It was nevah any big thing, but one night everythin' jus' went wrong."
He took a deep breath. "We w' all out in town one night, an' dey jus' attacked us f' no reason- we were jus' in de wrong place at de wrong time Ah guess. Ah nevah knew why- mebbe 'cause Bella was wit' me at de time, an it made her brothers mad t' see us t'gether. One 'a her brothers grabbed Bella, made her watch, an' de others all jumped on us. Ah don' remember anythin' 'cept one moment. Bella's oldes' brother, Joseph, he had Remy cornered, swearin' he was gonna kill Remy, no sister 'a his was gonna marry a dirty thief. Ah had a rock in 'm hand, an' Ah charged it 'an threw it- Ah wasn't tryin' t' hit 'im, jus' tryin' t' scare 'im off." He stopped for a moment, unable to continue, and Rogue felt like she knew what was coming, knew what he was going to say. Part of her wanted to tell him to stop, not to tell her the end of the story, but it was like watching a train wreck- she had to know, had to hear it.
He continued, looking anywhere but at her. "De rock, it blew out de window Joseph be standin' by. An' all de glass- he be standin' too close- he died, right dere, an' Bella- she saw de whole thing."
Even though she thought she'd known, thought she'd been prepared, Rogue was in shock. Her first impulse was to just get up and run as far away as she could- he was a murderer! He was a killer, someone had died because of him.... _But it was an accident! What if it happened to you?_ She fought her first impulse, and stayed, and thought it through. _He's not a bad guy, even if he's on the wrong side, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to help me. He could have killed me with that card and he didn't. People make mistakes- and with powers like ours it's hard not to. Hell, if I held on long enough to someone, I could end up killing them! And all the battles we've fought- none of us ever thinks about who else could get hurt. It could happen to anyone.... It could even happen to an X-Man._ She still wasn't okay with it- how can you ever be okay with knowing that someone you're close to is responsible for a person's death?- but she didn't hate him.
With aching slowness, she reached her gloved hand across the table, and let her fingertips rest across the back of his hand in the lightest of touches. He looked up at her in surprise- she had actually touched him, had actually dared to reach out to him after what he had just told her? All he could do was stare at her.
"Remy, Ah know it was an accident. Ah know ya din't mean ta kill nobody."
She'd used his name. Not his code name, not swamp rat, but his name. And her simple declaration of belief in him shocked him more than anything else in his life ever had.
But, fatalistically, he thought _she still doesn't know the whole story._ Still looking at her, her hand still resting atop his own, he said "But Remy ain' done yet. De Assassins- dey put out contract on us. She was de one t' be carryin' it out. An' she got t' both of 'em- she killed Et, made him suffer. M' brother, he still be alive, but only barely. An' Remy- Remy ain' got a family no more. Ah ain' nobody's son no more- dey took it all away. De Guild renounced Remy, struck de name from de books an' everythin'. An' den it's back t' warrin' again, an' it be open season on Remy. So when Magneto came rollin' inta town, offerin' me an easy out, Ah took de best option available at de time."
Instead of pulling away from him as he'd expected her to do, she gripped his hand tighter. "Rem, ya cousin an' y' brother- that ain' ya fault! Ya can't see the future, know what's gonna happen- none of it's yoah fault. It was an accident. Ya ain' a murderer. Ya can't blame yoah self." She was still holding his hand.
He looked at her, amazed to hear absolution instead of condemnation. She didn't hate him, didn't fear him- she had given him a chance.
She spoke again. "That's jus' so wrong. Ya lost ya family an' everythin' ya evah had ovah this girl, an' ya nevah even got ta marry her. Sure ain' how all those stupid romances are s'posed ta work out, huh?"
He didn't respond, just looked at her out of the corner of his eye and thought _Yeah, I lost everything, but I think I just found something much better._ He could never say that to her, though, so instead, he settled for "dunno- mebbe everythin' s'posed t' happen f' a reason."