* * *
Sometimes Ah think Ah must absolutely certifiable. It seems like th' best explanation for my actions. Why else would ah be headin' back north with the Cajun? Maybe bein' in his presence was what made me crazy. Ah'll admit he did help me find the guns Xavier kept in his office "just in case." Maybe Ah couldn't have done that by myself. He jus' charged up some o' those playin' cards and bang!
"That your only power?" Ah asked him. Ah'll admit, Ah was tryin' ta bait him a little.
"You tell me." He turned an' Ah saw a flash of somethin' red in his eyes. Then, it's hard ta describe, but a little like lyin' in bed an' feeling like you're fallin' out. Ah dragged my eyelids down ta blink it away.
"So what's that?"
He charged another card an' tossed it expertly into the shrinking pile o' rubble where Xavier's office used ta be. Ah silently resolved never ta play poker with him. "Don't know what t' call it. Suggestion? Hypnotism? I make people do what I want."
That threw me. "So maybe Ah'm only lettin' ya come along because ya bewitched me!"
He laughed at that. Ah didn't find it reassuring. "Beb, I use de charm on you, you can't think straight 'nough t' ask dat question. You'd be eating outta my hand."
Ah rolled my eyes. "Take a breather, Cajun. Ah'll finish this." He backed away obediently. Ah smiled. First reasonable thing he'd done since Ah'd known him.
A grim job, goin' through the debris, but bein' girly about it wasn't gonna do me any good. Ah lifted chunks o' rock till my back was sore and my arms shook and Ah couldn't lift anymore. Then Ah rested an' started again. The sun was sinkin' in the west when Ah found the box. Ah dragged it outta the ground, too tired ta carry it. Ah found Remy a little ways off. He'd started a fire and was shufflin' cards like he had nothin' better in th' world ta do. Ah watched him, fascinated by his hands, the way that they moved the cards between 'em quickly in arches an' valleys. Under his fingers it seemed they could do anything.
Those fingers on my face.
"Like what you see, beb?"
Ah snorted and walked toward him. The box clattered on the ground. "You gotta line for everything?"
"Only for you, chère."
"Right." Ah dropped the box by his feet, close enough so he had ta jump away.
"T'ink I've had 'nough blunt trauma fo' one day."
"Can ya do anything with this, or are ya only good for card tricks?"
"Alohrs pas (of course not), stand back." He touched the tip o' his finger ta the locked box, just a brush really. There was a flash and a puff o' smoke.
"Thanks," Ah said grudgingly. The guns inside the box were frightening, but Ah swallowed my fear and picked them out like Ah did it every day. Ah didn't look at Remy when Ah handed him a gun. He caught my hand, but Ah pulled it free. The last thing Ah needed was for him ta touch me accidentally.
"Sit down chère, you're dead on your feet."
"I cain't. We have ta keep movin'."
"You even know where t' start looking?" Ah let him pull me down ta the ground.
"Eat. Feel better." Food appeared like magic from his pockets.
"Where'd ya get this?"
"Eat." He handed me a packet. Ah looked down.
Twinkies. Fat Free Twinkies.
Ah started ta laugh. First the sound was in my mouth and moved down till my whole body shook with it. Ah looked at Remy. "Twi.twi.twinkies," Ah gasped. Soon he was laughin' too. Sometimes that's all ya can do if th' situation's desperate enough. We laughed so hard we had ta lean against each other for support.
"Haven't laughed like that since I was comin' up," Remy said once we'd got control o' ourselves again. "Un bon pomeè (laugh so hard you can't catch your breath)."
Ah looked at him and thought again 'bout how dazzlin' he was, in the light from the fire his face looked strong, its hollows deep in shadow. His eyes were bright, lookin' right at me. Ah knew Ah'd have ta watch myself around him. Ah looked away, concentratin' too hard on openin' my Twinkies.
"I t'ink I got an idea how you can find your friends."
"Oh, what's that?"
"Magneto." Ah was instantly alert and on my tired feet. Everything had been so confused, Ah'd almost forgotten who Remy worked for. "Non, non, hear me out. If anybody know how t' find Trask, he be de one."
"Ah think Ah know how much Magneto wants to get his hooks into me."
"Sans doute (without doubt), but I find out for you, hein?"
"How do Ah know ya won't turn me in ta Magneto?"
"You don't."
Ah looked at him hard. "Will ya?"
"No."
* * *
Rogue likes control, I had figured dat much already. After th' conversation about Magneto, I had de devil of a time convincing her I wouldn't kill her in her sleep.
"Ah want ya ta wake me up in three hours so Ah can take the next watch," she told me. I put on my best sincere face.
"Of course." She settled on de hard ground best she could. "Fais do-do (go to sleep) beb. Don' worry." I wanted t' touch her hair again, wonderin' if she'd let me. She didn't like me touching her and dat only made me want to do it more. Like I say, de perversity of it.
I looked up at de stars and wondered when my life had gotten so tangled up. De life of a t'ief is no easy one, 'specially de life of a Guild t'ief, but compared t' dis it seemed easy. I got t' t'inkin' mebbe I shouldn't have burned all de bridges. I could have stayed home, inherited de Guild, married Belladonna. Cake, dat's what it would have been, jus' cake.
Rogue sighed in her sleep. I was amazed she could sleep so well. De ground wasn't too comfortable. "What you dreamin', chère?" Even out in de open, t'inkin' 'bout de Guild, Jean-Luc an' Belladonna I could feel de old cage comin' down.
'Man has to take responsibility, Remy,' Jean-Luc had said.
'Mebbe I want t' choose my own responsibility, not take on yours wit'out reason.' Don't t'ink he was in de mood t' hear me. I might as well been talking to a brick wall. T'ought I'd found what I wanted wit' Magneto. Wrong again. I shook my head. Mebbe I never find it. Mebbe it don't exist. Panic clutched in my chest.
"La peur vient fort avec la nuit (fear becomes stronger with the night)," I muttered.
Rogue stirred. "Y' say somethin', Kitty?"
I stroked her hair, wonderin' who Kitty was. "Fais do-do." She settled, leaned her head into my hand. Make me seem like a schoolboy if I tell you how pleased dat make me.
Dere was gray in de sky an' birds chirpin' in de trees before I realized dat Rogue's clothes were all wrong. I slipped away t' find some others, certain I'd be dere and back before she woke. Merdeux (crappy) rich neighborhood too high and mighty t' dry clothes de old-fashioned way. Took me long time t' find anyt'ing. By de time I got back, Rogue had worked herself into a fine state.
"What the hell d'you mean runnin' off like that? Where'd you go?"
"Laisse be'ton (let it drop) beb," I said, throwing her de clothes--faded pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
"What's wrong with my clothes?"
I looked at her torn uniform, raised an eyebrow.
She looked down. "Oh."
Silently, she go into de woods wit' de clothes. I was learning t' read her silences den and I knew she was sorry. She come out wit' her face scrubbed clean, she could be any normal innocent girl. I remembered de strength in her hands. Nonedeless, I felt sorry t' be takin' her so near de lion's den.
She tossed me an early apple from de armful she carried. "Merci." We sat down.
"Why didn't ya wake me?" she asked in between bites.
I polished de apple on my sleeve. "Tried to, beb, but y' were snorin' and droolin' t' beat de band."
"Ah was not!"
"How you know? You be asleep."
She bit her lip and glared at me. I finished my apple off in t'ree bites. It was sour and hard as a fist.
We off soon after dat. Rogue set a wicked pace dat I figured she couldn't keep up, but de hours pass as dey do and she didn't slow down a bit. Like she possessed. Mostly we didn't talk, more often I had to hurry to keep up and dere be no time for talking. Was gettin' on to four in de afternoon b'fore we picked up our first ride--back of a farm truck heading two towns up. We climbed in back wit' de corn.
"Y' have more luck wit'out me, neh? A pretty girl, all alone and helpless."
Rogue slid a sideways look. "Or you without me. Ah saw the way those farmer's daughters were lookin' at ya."
"Dat upset you, beb? I only have eyes for you." Scared me when I realized I was only half-kidding.
"Do whatever ya want with your own time. Ah just don't want ya gettin' distracted."
I leaned back, folding my hands behind my head. "No danger o' dat." We looked at each other for a moment. "I got a question, chère."
Immediately, she on guard. "Ya can ask, but Ah'm not promisin' ta answer."
"Why de gloves?" I gestured toward the ripped brown t'ings. "Y' got claws for hands? Or mebbe it's for moisturizing? Exfoliating?" I tried t' remember all de damn fool t'ings Belladonna did wit' gloves.
Dat got a bit of a reluctant smile. "It's hard ta explain."
"Got two towns t' do it."
"Easier if Ah just show ya." Den she took off a glove, brushed my face wit' de tip of one finger. Co (wow)! Felt for a second like de life goin' outta me. She broke contact and I was gaspin' for breath.
"I see."
"It's my power," she said. She tried t' keep her voice neutral, but I heard de anger in it.
"I guess you don't see it dat way, non?"
"Ah guess ya can see why Ah wouldn't."
"I show you somet'ing too." I took a deep breath an' lifted up my shirt.
"What am Ah supposed ta be lookin' at?" Her voice was blasè, but dere was a blush in her face.
"Here," I said, pointing t' a bad one. "And here and here and here." All my scars, most hidden by high-necked clothes. Dey crisscrossed my skin like a crazy road map t' nowhere. She reached out a gloved finger and touched one. My heart beat faster. "Or dis one here." I tilted my neck so she could see de long streak. "Almost got my jugular, dis one did."
"How?" Was barely a word, so low and breathy.
I pulled down my shirt. "Don't t'ink I was born wit' de ability t' control my powers? Was a time I couldn't touch anyt'ing wit'out blowin' it up. Got dis one from a razor." I pointed t' de scar on my neck. "Safety blade mon chu (my ass)."
Dat got a laugh outta her. "Lemme show you something else." She picked up a pebble from de floor o' de truck and concentrated on it. Pretty soon it started glowin', she threw it out de back and it exploded. "Ah've been workin' on that, controllin' th' power once Ah've got it. Professor X was.is.helpin' me." She teetered on de brink of sadness again.
"We'll find dem, chère. Move heaven and earth t' do it."
God help me, I was serious.
Sometimes Ah think Ah must absolutely certifiable. It seems like th' best explanation for my actions. Why else would ah be headin' back north with the Cajun? Maybe bein' in his presence was what made me crazy. Ah'll admit he did help me find the guns Xavier kept in his office "just in case." Maybe Ah couldn't have done that by myself. He jus' charged up some o' those playin' cards and bang!
"That your only power?" Ah asked him. Ah'll admit, Ah was tryin' ta bait him a little.
"You tell me." He turned an' Ah saw a flash of somethin' red in his eyes. Then, it's hard ta describe, but a little like lyin' in bed an' feeling like you're fallin' out. Ah dragged my eyelids down ta blink it away.
"So what's that?"
He charged another card an' tossed it expertly into the shrinking pile o' rubble where Xavier's office used ta be. Ah silently resolved never ta play poker with him. "Don't know what t' call it. Suggestion? Hypnotism? I make people do what I want."
That threw me. "So maybe Ah'm only lettin' ya come along because ya bewitched me!"
He laughed at that. Ah didn't find it reassuring. "Beb, I use de charm on you, you can't think straight 'nough t' ask dat question. You'd be eating outta my hand."
Ah rolled my eyes. "Take a breather, Cajun. Ah'll finish this." He backed away obediently. Ah smiled. First reasonable thing he'd done since Ah'd known him.
A grim job, goin' through the debris, but bein' girly about it wasn't gonna do me any good. Ah lifted chunks o' rock till my back was sore and my arms shook and Ah couldn't lift anymore. Then Ah rested an' started again. The sun was sinkin' in the west when Ah found the box. Ah dragged it outta the ground, too tired ta carry it. Ah found Remy a little ways off. He'd started a fire and was shufflin' cards like he had nothin' better in th' world ta do. Ah watched him, fascinated by his hands, the way that they moved the cards between 'em quickly in arches an' valleys. Under his fingers it seemed they could do anything.
Those fingers on my face.
"Like what you see, beb?"
Ah snorted and walked toward him. The box clattered on the ground. "You gotta line for everything?"
"Only for you, chère."
"Right." Ah dropped the box by his feet, close enough so he had ta jump away.
"T'ink I've had 'nough blunt trauma fo' one day."
"Can ya do anything with this, or are ya only good for card tricks?"
"Alohrs pas (of course not), stand back." He touched the tip o' his finger ta the locked box, just a brush really. There was a flash and a puff o' smoke.
"Thanks," Ah said grudgingly. The guns inside the box were frightening, but Ah swallowed my fear and picked them out like Ah did it every day. Ah didn't look at Remy when Ah handed him a gun. He caught my hand, but Ah pulled it free. The last thing Ah needed was for him ta touch me accidentally.
"Sit down chère, you're dead on your feet."
"I cain't. We have ta keep movin'."
"You even know where t' start looking?" Ah let him pull me down ta the ground.
"Eat. Feel better." Food appeared like magic from his pockets.
"Where'd ya get this?"
"Eat." He handed me a packet. Ah looked down.
Twinkies. Fat Free Twinkies.
Ah started ta laugh. First the sound was in my mouth and moved down till my whole body shook with it. Ah looked at Remy. "Twi.twi.twinkies," Ah gasped. Soon he was laughin' too. Sometimes that's all ya can do if th' situation's desperate enough. We laughed so hard we had ta lean against each other for support.
"Haven't laughed like that since I was comin' up," Remy said once we'd got control o' ourselves again. "Un bon pomeè (laugh so hard you can't catch your breath)."
Ah looked at him and thought again 'bout how dazzlin' he was, in the light from the fire his face looked strong, its hollows deep in shadow. His eyes were bright, lookin' right at me. Ah knew Ah'd have ta watch myself around him. Ah looked away, concentratin' too hard on openin' my Twinkies.
"I t'ink I got an idea how you can find your friends."
"Oh, what's that?"
"Magneto." Ah was instantly alert and on my tired feet. Everything had been so confused, Ah'd almost forgotten who Remy worked for. "Non, non, hear me out. If anybody know how t' find Trask, he be de one."
"Ah think Ah know how much Magneto wants to get his hooks into me."
"Sans doute (without doubt), but I find out for you, hein?"
"How do Ah know ya won't turn me in ta Magneto?"
"You don't."
Ah looked at him hard. "Will ya?"
"No."
* * *
Rogue likes control, I had figured dat much already. After th' conversation about Magneto, I had de devil of a time convincing her I wouldn't kill her in her sleep.
"Ah want ya ta wake me up in three hours so Ah can take the next watch," she told me. I put on my best sincere face.
"Of course." She settled on de hard ground best she could. "Fais do-do (go to sleep) beb. Don' worry." I wanted t' touch her hair again, wonderin' if she'd let me. She didn't like me touching her and dat only made me want to do it more. Like I say, de perversity of it.
I looked up at de stars and wondered when my life had gotten so tangled up. De life of a t'ief is no easy one, 'specially de life of a Guild t'ief, but compared t' dis it seemed easy. I got t' t'inkin' mebbe I shouldn't have burned all de bridges. I could have stayed home, inherited de Guild, married Belladonna. Cake, dat's what it would have been, jus' cake.
Rogue sighed in her sleep. I was amazed she could sleep so well. De ground wasn't too comfortable. "What you dreamin', chère?" Even out in de open, t'inkin' 'bout de Guild, Jean-Luc an' Belladonna I could feel de old cage comin' down.
'Man has to take responsibility, Remy,' Jean-Luc had said.
'Mebbe I want t' choose my own responsibility, not take on yours wit'out reason.' Don't t'ink he was in de mood t' hear me. I might as well been talking to a brick wall. T'ought I'd found what I wanted wit' Magneto. Wrong again. I shook my head. Mebbe I never find it. Mebbe it don't exist. Panic clutched in my chest.
"La peur vient fort avec la nuit (fear becomes stronger with the night)," I muttered.
Rogue stirred. "Y' say somethin', Kitty?"
I stroked her hair, wonderin' who Kitty was. "Fais do-do." She settled, leaned her head into my hand. Make me seem like a schoolboy if I tell you how pleased dat make me.
Dere was gray in de sky an' birds chirpin' in de trees before I realized dat Rogue's clothes were all wrong. I slipped away t' find some others, certain I'd be dere and back before she woke. Merdeux (crappy) rich neighborhood too high and mighty t' dry clothes de old-fashioned way. Took me long time t' find anyt'ing. By de time I got back, Rogue had worked herself into a fine state.
"What the hell d'you mean runnin' off like that? Where'd you go?"
"Laisse be'ton (let it drop) beb," I said, throwing her de clothes--faded pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
"What's wrong with my clothes?"
I looked at her torn uniform, raised an eyebrow.
She looked down. "Oh."
Silently, she go into de woods wit' de clothes. I was learning t' read her silences den and I knew she was sorry. She come out wit' her face scrubbed clean, she could be any normal innocent girl. I remembered de strength in her hands. Nonedeless, I felt sorry t' be takin' her so near de lion's den.
She tossed me an early apple from de armful she carried. "Merci." We sat down.
"Why didn't ya wake me?" she asked in between bites.
I polished de apple on my sleeve. "Tried to, beb, but y' were snorin' and droolin' t' beat de band."
"Ah was not!"
"How you know? You be asleep."
She bit her lip and glared at me. I finished my apple off in t'ree bites. It was sour and hard as a fist.
We off soon after dat. Rogue set a wicked pace dat I figured she couldn't keep up, but de hours pass as dey do and she didn't slow down a bit. Like she possessed. Mostly we didn't talk, more often I had to hurry to keep up and dere be no time for talking. Was gettin' on to four in de afternoon b'fore we picked up our first ride--back of a farm truck heading two towns up. We climbed in back wit' de corn.
"Y' have more luck wit'out me, neh? A pretty girl, all alone and helpless."
Rogue slid a sideways look. "Or you without me. Ah saw the way those farmer's daughters were lookin' at ya."
"Dat upset you, beb? I only have eyes for you." Scared me when I realized I was only half-kidding.
"Do whatever ya want with your own time. Ah just don't want ya gettin' distracted."
I leaned back, folding my hands behind my head. "No danger o' dat." We looked at each other for a moment. "I got a question, chère."
Immediately, she on guard. "Ya can ask, but Ah'm not promisin' ta answer."
"Why de gloves?" I gestured toward the ripped brown t'ings. "Y' got claws for hands? Or mebbe it's for moisturizing? Exfoliating?" I tried t' remember all de damn fool t'ings Belladonna did wit' gloves.
Dat got a bit of a reluctant smile. "It's hard ta explain."
"Got two towns t' do it."
"Easier if Ah just show ya." Den she took off a glove, brushed my face wit' de tip of one finger. Co (wow)! Felt for a second like de life goin' outta me. She broke contact and I was gaspin' for breath.
"I see."
"It's my power," she said. She tried t' keep her voice neutral, but I heard de anger in it.
"I guess you don't see it dat way, non?"
"Ah guess ya can see why Ah wouldn't."
"I show you somet'ing too." I took a deep breath an' lifted up my shirt.
"What am Ah supposed ta be lookin' at?" Her voice was blasè, but dere was a blush in her face.
"Here," I said, pointing t' a bad one. "And here and here and here." All my scars, most hidden by high-necked clothes. Dey crisscrossed my skin like a crazy road map t' nowhere. She reached out a gloved finger and touched one. My heart beat faster. "Or dis one here." I tilted my neck so she could see de long streak. "Almost got my jugular, dis one did."
"How?" Was barely a word, so low and breathy.
I pulled down my shirt. "Don't t'ink I was born wit' de ability t' control my powers? Was a time I couldn't touch anyt'ing wit'out blowin' it up. Got dis one from a razor." I pointed t' de scar on my neck. "Safety blade mon chu (my ass)."
Dat got a laugh outta her. "Lemme show you something else." She picked up a pebble from de floor o' de truck and concentrated on it. Pretty soon it started glowin', she threw it out de back and it exploded. "Ah've been workin' on that, controllin' th' power once Ah've got it. Professor X was.is.helpin' me." She teetered on de brink of sadness again.
"We'll find dem, chère. Move heaven and earth t' do it."
God help me, I was serious.