Chapter 9

[Living Room Cam 1:15 pm]

Henri and Mads are sitting on the muscular couch just as smug as ever.

"An' we're back," said Mads grinning.

"After dat petit excursion yes'day, Rogue an' Remy are still sleepin'- "

"But dat doesn't mean de fun has ta end." said Mads, "Las' night Belle paid Rogue a visit, non?"

"Oui, Mads," said Henri, "an' she brought de photo album wid her!"

"Let's watch," said Mads lifting the remote.

[Cut to-Guestroom 9:30 pm]

Rogue is laying on the bed staring at the ceiling with her hands behind her head. She appears very relaxed, probably still riding buzz after ½ that wine bottle. Then a knock comes at the door.

Rogue sat up, "Come in."

The doorknob turned slowly and Belle walked in cautiously, clutching a leather bound book to her chest, "Mind if I come in?"

"No, whay?" Rogue was needless to say surprised.

"I jus' tought dat you might like to hear some Remy stories where he's not always de 'ero, non?"

"Liahke, what stories?" asked Rogue.

Bell smiled, "Move over."

She walked over and sat down on the bed next to Rogue. Belle opened the album and pointed to a spot on the page.

"Whay, is Gambit passed out in the back of the jag with only a towel around his waist?" asked Rogue in utter confusion.

"So glad you asked." Belle began, "Dis was taken durin' Henri's freshman year at de university. It was de first party o' the year an' Jean Luc 'ad business out o' town. 'e told Henri to watch Remy while 'e was away."

"Lemme guess, Henri took Gambit with him and didn't notice when he wandered off."

"Oui," said Belle, "4 bruskis, beers, 6 shots of vodka, a Tiajuana carwash an' tree 'ours later Henri found 'im passed out in de back of de car."

"So whay is he in a towel?"

"Actually we 'ave non clue. All we know is dat somewhere along de course of de night a group of freshmen decided to go streakin'."

"O.K." said Rogue slowly.

"I tink it's a guy ting." said Belle.

"Did Jean Luc ever find out?"

Belle turned the page and pointed to another photo, "Oui, dis photo was taken at de 'osptial jus' afta Remy 'ad 'is stomach pumped. Remy's de one in de bed and Jean Luc is de one wid Henri by de collar.

"Did Jean Luc hit him? He has a black eye."

"Non, dat was Tante Mattie wid a rolled up news paper. Did she let 'im 'ave it!" said Belle as she pointed to another photo.

"Are they asleep on the couch?!"

"Oui, it took dem both de better part of a week to recoop."

Rogue stiffened, "Don't tell me. You want me ta ask him where the towel come from, riahght?"

"I know Mads, Henri and I would appreciate it," said Belle as she fingered the page delicately.

"Somethin' tells me there's more to this than yer tellin' me." said Rogue looking over at Belle, "What is it?"

"Only after you ask 'im," said Belle as she closed the book lightly.

"Alraight, when?"

"Tomorrow night he's takin' you out ta dinner, ask den, but be sure to distract 'im first, so you catch 'im off guard."

"Don't worry, Ah have something in miahnd." said Rogue with a smile.

"Welcome to de dark side," said Belle leaning back against the headboard as she smiled at Rogue.

[And now I return you to that steaming hunk of a couch]

"Fin'ly tings be getting' interestin'," said Henri with smile from ear to ear.

"Lon' story short," said Mads, "Remy's takin' Rogue to de most exclusive restaurant de state. An' don' worry we goin' on location!"

"Daddy jus' 'appens to own de restaurant." said Henri.

"We called de Matre de and he had a camera set up at deir table. An' oui bein' de owners son I own his ass."

"An' what an ass it is!" said Mads excitedly.

Henri shot Mads a weird look, "I tought you 'ad a girlfriend?!"

"I do, now."

"Now?" Henri was intrigued.

"Oui,"

"So den how would you-" Henri trailed off while he crossed his arms.

"We 'ad a one night ting back when I was experimentin',"

"Experimentin'?!" Henri couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Oui. Porquoi you getting' turned on or sometin'?" Mads asked sarcastically.

"Quoi?! NON!-It's jus' Philipe never said anytin'," Henri said quickly.

"Of course he didn'. After dat night wid him I knew dat Franchesca was de only one fo' me."

"Mads, you broke up wid Francesca a mont' ago!" exclaimed Henri.

"I don' see how dat's relevant!"

"Suuuure," said Henri narrowing his eyes, "An' when am I gonna meet yo' new girlfriend, Simone-" Henri would have gone on, but Mads slapped a hand over his mouth.

"SHHHHhhhh! What de matta wid you?!" scolded Mads, "Daddy doesn't know about her, yet!"

Henri laughed as he leaned back on the adorable couch, "Hey you ever want to shoot a documentary one night on de yo' relationship wid her call me. Jus' tink o'me as furniture!"

"Folks, dis about to get ugly again," said Mads to the camera. Then she turned back to Henri and proceeded to strangle him.

(The vivacious couch subsides in to the darkness, but fear not it shall return!)

[Cut to the restaurant]

The picture comes through snowy at first, but clears rather quickly. The waiting area of the restaurant comes through. Mads sits on part of the waiting wrap around couch-like bench as she rifles through a tool box, while Henri works with a small laptop. The two look up and wave at the camera. Both are dressed in electrician outfits.

"If you 'adn't figured it out we hacked into de security system," said Henri.

"Remy and Rogue are on de secon' floor, we bugged de center piece for audio," explained Mads.

A man in a tux crosses into the frame with two menus under his arm. He freezes mid step and looks at Mads.

"Madeline," he said coldly.

"Philip," said Mads rather sheepishly.

"Sometin' tells me dis won' end well, so wid out further ado-" Henri stuck the 'Enter' key.

[Cut to second floor of the restaurant]

Remy and Rogue sit at a small, secluded table on the second floor. A circular white table cloth goes all the way to the floor with a square gold table cloth that goes only half-way to the floor. The table is directly next to a railing from which they can over look the lower level of the restaurant. A live jazz band plays on the first floor as waiters scurry here and there carrying oversized trays and a multiple bottles of wine.

Remy is wearing a black suit and his usual sly smile. Rogue is in a deep green, strapless gown with long silk evening gloves to match, it's nearly backless and so tight it looks like it's painted on.

"Yer Dad owns this?" Rogue asked in disbelief.

"Oui and a few others," said Remy nonchalantly.

"And Belle's Dad owns a hotel?"

"An exclusive chain, porquoi?" asked Remy picking up one of her gloved hands.

"Ah'm just trahyin' ta keep it straight Sugah, that's all," said Rogue coyly.

Remy was caught a little off guard, "What happened to Swamp Rat, Chere?"

"Ah just figured since we we're out in public Ah should tone it down a bit."

"Remy'll let you have dis one, Cher," he said with a confident smirk.

"What'er ya smilin' about?" asked Rogue.

"Notin'," replied Remy as the waiter came over.

"Bonjour, Monsieur LeBeau, mon nom est, Pierre," said the waiter as he handed the handsome couple menus.

"Uh-" Rogue shat a look over to Remy; the entire menu was in French and there were no prices on hers.

"Don' worry," Gambit said as he turned and proceeded to speak to the waiter in French. The waiter collected the menus and walked off.

Rogue looked at Remy, "Whadya say to him?"

"Quoi, you don' like surprises?"

"Depends on the surprahse," said Rogue narrowing her eyes.

Gambit chuckled, "When you gon' trust Remy, Chere?"

"When Ah'm good an' ready," said Rogue with a smirk.

"Would dat be sometime before de end of dinner?" Remy asked hopefully, while he massaged Rogue's plam.

"Ah don't know we'll have to see, but keep that up," said Rogue looking at what he was doing to her hand, "and there's a pretty good chance."

[Cut to waiting area]

Henri is frantically typing on his laptop. Mads and Philip (Fill- eep) are staring at each others. Waiters mill around in the background trying to look busy, while coat check girl crossed through the frame to go out on her cigarette break.

"Mads we're loosin' audio!" said Henri frantically, "Mads?"

Mads was still staring at Philip.

"MADS!" yelled Henri.

"Quoi?" said Mads coming back to the real world.

"Are you wid me?!" asked Henri, impatiently

"Oui, porquoi?" responded Mads.

"We're loosin' de audio! De microphone musta touched de water in de vase."

"Merde!" cursed Mads as she rushed over to the computer screen, "Yo' right!"

"Wat we gon' do? We can't jus' walk up dere!" said an exasperated Henri.

"Don' panic! We can handle dis-as lon' as we don' panic-" said Mads frantically.

"Mads are you panickin'?" asked Henri with a trembling voice.

"Oui," sobbed Mads, "75% percent of de grade down de drain."

"I'm gonin' in," said Philip straightening his overcoat.

"Wait, take dis," said Heni handing Philip an ear piece, "I can talk to you wid dis."

"Alright," said Philip with the calm of a man who is about to walk into a suicide mission.

"Get in, get out-no questions, no answers-whatever yo' diversion make it as seemin'ly normal as possible-" Heri said with dire urgency.

"We're dependin' on you!" said Mads.

"Don' worry I'll tink o' sometin'," said Philip as he walked toward the grand staircase.

"God speed," said Henri as he pushed the 'Enter' key.

[Back at the table]

The first course has just been cleared as Philip walks up to the table and cordially tops off Remy and Rogue's champagne glasses. Then he promptly heaved the center piece over the railing and replaced it with another. Remy and Rogue exchanged dumfounded looks.

"Quoi?" asked Philip casually as he put a different colored center piece on the table. The mic was back in full swing.

"Whay did you do that?" asked Rogue.

"You feelin' alright, Philip?" asked Remy.

"De center piece din' match de fillies' gown-new policy!" he said as he made a hasty exit.

"Dat was-"

"Odd," offered Rogue as the two watched him walk away.

"Oui," said Remy, "mon ami is a bit off-"

"Naht compared to miahn," said Rogue.

"A toast den," said Remy picking up his champagne glass, "to bein' de only normal one's in de group."

"Ah'll toast ta that, Sugah," said Rogue lifting her glass.

*CLINK*

-------------------

"Normal one's my ass!" said Pietro in disgust.

"You cin say that again, Mate!" said the Aussie in retort, "And besides what happened to that documentary on Mads and her Sheila?!"

"PIG!" yelled Wanda sending a hex bolt in his direction.

Colossus laughed as the Aussie dove out of the way, narrowly escaping castration.

"Are you idiots totally bind?!" yelled Mystique, "He's all, but humping her leg!"

"Good thing they didn't go out for a casual dinner or he probably would be," said Mesmero.

*POP*SNAP*POW*

Mystique was out of her restraints, "Where's that KNIFE!"

THUD!

Sabertooth body slammed her pinning her to the ground, "I can't hold her for long!" he warned.

ZIP!

"OW!" yelped Mystique as syringe found its' way into her neck with an assist by the Master of Magnetism.

"What was that?" asked Wanda once she saw Mystique mellow out in seconds.

"Doximol (I didn't spell this right), a powerful tranquilizer." her father explained.

-------------------

Kitty leapt to her feet right after she heard the toast, "Rogue is like so dead!"

Before she had a chance to stalk off in search of Rogue, Logan pulled her back on to the couch, "S'down, Half-Pint, we all have a few questions for Stripes when she wakes up!"

"I'm a little worried about their friend, Philip," said Jean, "He seems a little-"

"Off?" ventured Scott.
"Where are they're parents, again?" asked Storm.

"OMG!" said Magma, "Who knew, Gambit, was totally loaded?"

"Are ve ever going to meet Mads' girlfrond?" asked Kurt.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Vhat?" asked Kurt, "I vas just curious, sheesh!"

-------------------

[Cut to the waiting area]

Philip returned triumphantly to a hero's welcome.

"New policy? Dat was some quick B.S.in' mon ami!" laughed Henri as he clapped him on the back.

"Wat 'bout you Mads?" asked Philip, "How'd I do?"

Mads grabbed Philip by the collar and started to pull him off camera giving only, "Coatroom, NOW!" as an explanation.

Once they were out of the shot Mads' shirt flew back into the frame and landed at Henri's feet.

SLAM! The door to the coatroom was thrown shut.

-------------------

[Back to Remy and Rogue]

The second course had been cleared as the handsome couple looked at the desert menu (a tray of all the choices held by the waiter)

"So, what's good?" asked Rogue.

"Evertin', Chere, porquoi?"

"Ah'm just havin' trouble decidin' that's all."

"Everyone does," the waiter chuckled.

"Don' worry Remy'll handle dis," he turned to the waiter and rather than point to something on the tray, spoke to the waiter in French again and watched as he walked back to the kitchen.

"Miahnd if Ah ask you a question, Sugah?"

"Fire away, my chere," said Gambit.

CLUNK! (Rogue's shoe hit the floor)

"Did you hear something?" asked Remy.

"No," said Rogue coyly.

"Remy coulda sworn-" he froze and put a death grip on his napkin.

"Ah was just wonderin' whea do you evah get that towel the niaght you passed out in the jag yer brother's first yeah of college."

Remy started to hyperventilate.

Rogue just smiled sweetly as Remy sat there clearly in distress.

The waiter returned with a covered platter.

"Mon diu!" he exclaimed.

"Uh, Sugah, yer about to blow yer hand off," said Rogue as she looked at the now glowing napkin in Remy's hand.

Remy looked down at his hand, then quickly shoved napkin under the platter in the waiter's hands. The waiter ran like hell and just after he reached the safety of the kitchen-

BAM!

Rogue grabbed the arm of a passing waitress, "Check please!"

-------------------

"Did she have her foot in his-" Wanda trailed off.

"That Sheila is good!" remarked the Aussie.

"Go Roguie!" said Pietro.

"She's worse than the old girlfriend!" remarked Mesmero.

Mystique on the other hand could see the image, but it was taking her much longer to process it. So she was no threat, for now! (Mwahahaha!)

-------------------

"OMG!" exclaimed Kitty, "Is her foot where I think it is?!"

"Vat's mine sister doing?!" shouted Kurt.

"Flamin' Hell!" yelled Wolverine.

"Well, this is a twist," said Hank adjusting his glasses.

"Indeed," concurred Ororo.

The newer recruits talked among themselves and then Bobby turned around and stated, "We don't get it."

"GOOD!" yelled Scott and Jean at the same time.

-------------------

Thank you all 4 being so patient with me. I know how frustrating it is to wait on ff. And if you guys didn't know Cartoon Network is now showing X- evo @ 10:30 @ night! Also thank you for your wonderful reviews I enjoy reading them immensely.

Stay tuned 4 Day 6: At the Movies