Author's Note: Yadada, accents not being typed and the whole deal w/ the asterisks

Disclaimer: you know the drill


Essence of Soul

Chapter 1

**It's been about 3 weeks since the others and I were rescued from Magneto and the new brotherhood… I can still remember vividly everything that happened there, even the first day I awoke and heard his voice…**

"Come on, let me play with this one," Remy LeBeau approached the gothic girl who had her arms tied to her side and was hanging from the ceiling, along with the other captives. He caressed her face with a glove-covered hand. Rogue moaned and awoke at the touch; opening her eyes, she gasped and kicked at his head, knocking him a few feet away.

"I'll give you something to play with," she muttered and tried to writhe free from the rope around her.

"She's feisty," he chuckled and rubbed his sore jaw, "I like that…"

"Cool your jets, Gambit," Colossus said as all the captives were cut down, most of which were still unconscious. Rogue winced when she impacted with the hard, cold floor. She quickly noticed that her restraints were loose and she immediately ripped them off her and jumped up before any of them could grab her.

"Don't try anything, chere," Remy approached her with extreme caution, he still didn't know what her power was.

"Come any closer and I'll zap that cockiness right out of you," she warned.

*Well, at least now I know what she can do…* he smirked and noted her gloves. He'd already gotten a sample of her fighting skills and didn't want any more. Rogue could tell he was up to something so she decided to make a break for it, but before she could do anything he'd thrown her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" she pounded on his back fiercely. She was just about to pull off her gloves when she was dropped into a cell like a sack of potatoes.

"Calm down, chere, nothing to worry about," he knelt down next to her. She leaned away from him slightly and glanced to the side. Remy took her gloved hand in his and kissed it softly before standing again. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked down at her hand and then back at him.

"What's your name?" she whispered.

"Remy LeBeau," he winked at her, locking the door before he left.


**…The next day they strapped me down on a cold steel table and forced me to absorb several mutants' powers at once. I felt like I was going to pass out, I could hear the heart monitor beeping rapidly, my breath was ragged and quick. I can still feel the cold of the table and it sends a shiver up and down my spine.

I remember struggling with all my might to get loose of those restraints, but I was paralyzed with fear and the rush of all the powers coursing through my blood. Remy was in my cell waiting when they were finished toying with me.**

"Why are you here?" she asked, her voice slightly raspy with wary and her eyes red and puffy from the many tears she'd shed. She stood in front of him, staring up at his face, trying to stay calm.

He said nothing only swept her over his shoulder like he'd done before, receiving a gasp from her. She again began to struggle against him as he walked out of the cell and passed one of his friends.

"Where you going with the chick?" he asked.

"Who're you calling chick?" Rogue snapped.

"I'm going to teach her a lesson about respect," he smirked and walked past him to the pool in the back that led to the woods.

"I'll teach you a lesson!" she removed her glove and lifted his trench coat, planting her palm on his back. She produced a look of confusion when nothing happened. He chuckled and placed her down on her feet.

"Nice try, chere, but you see this?" he pulled back her choker to reveal a device strapped to her neck. She reached up and fingered it, not quite sure what it was. "It cancels out your powers."

"I don't like this thing," she frowned and was about to pull it off, but was stopped by him.

"Ah, I wouldn't do that, chere," he smirked.

"Yes, well you see that's the beauty of this, I would," she was about to reach for it again, but he grasped her hand.

"It's attached to your jugular vein, tear the device out and the blood supply to your brain goes with it," he said. She looked at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Why do you torture us so much?" she asked. Remy sighed and glanced away from her. She frowned and pushed him away from her; she dived into the pool and started to swim to the other side in hopes of escaping the prison.

"Shit," he muttered and started running alongside the pool, watching her carefully. Unfortunately for him, she was a fast swimmer and made it out of the water before he could reach her and ran towards the woods.

Not knowing where she was going put her at a disadvantage and allowed him to catch up to her. He pounced on her, grasping her shoulders, and held on to her as they tumbled over each other. He pinned her to the ground and looked down at her, gasping softly.

In the water, her make up had washed away and it was only now he'd seen her natural face. She was more beautiful than he'd imagined.

"Get off of me, Cajun!" she squirmed underneath him.

"Promise to behave?" he raised an eyebrow. She growled and struggled even more only to see that she was severely outmatched by him.

"Fine," she said through clenched teeth. He pulled her up and held her hands together behind her back. He reached up with his free hand and stroked her cheek.

"Just cooperate and it won't hurt as much," he whispered and walked her back to her cell, kissing her hand before he locked the door. He pulled out a small device from his pocket and pushed the button on it. Immediately, she could feel her powers return to her and she watched as he disappeared again.

**For days in and days out they woke me up at the break of dawn to enhance my powers even more. They'd been making me reach into my memory and retrieve recent powers that I'd absorbed so that I could use them again when I needed to. Well… at least they were doing something productive.

Every night, Remy would come to my cell and kiss my hand before he'd leave. And just when I'd begun to lose hope, they came. My friends came rushing through, explosions everywhere to save us all.

At the time, I was again on that wretched cold steel table absorbing more powers than I could handle at once. That's when they rescued me and brought me back to some sort of warehouse… apparently the Institute had self-destructed, thank god everyone had made it out. I was glad that I was back, but in some weird way I wished I were back with them… maybe it was because I knew he was there…**