Chapter 6: Yonder Window

                Remy took his seat at the empty dinner table. The walk back had only taken twenty minutes at his new pace, but it was still something, and dinner was pretty much cleared out. He picked at his food, though didn't seem to have much of an appetite. Bobby slid into a seat next to him and leaned over, whispering.

                "So, uh, Kitty said you and Rogue went somewhere after school, and just went for a walk..

What's up, man?"

                Remy looked over at him, then looked around before leaning in towards Bobby... only to pull back and give the boy a wet willy at the last moment, much to the Iceman's chagrin... though Remy got his payback when he felt his finger freeze. He rubbed his finger a big and shook his head, then went back to being uninterested in his meal.

                "Remy ain' in da talkative mood, mon ami, maybe latah." Bobby grins and nods before rushing off to tell his friends he would be getting the inside scoop later.

                Rogue, on the other hand, came back much later.. close to 45 minutes after Remy walked in. Most of the students had cleared out of the living room and were in their rooms, where Rogue was headed. She passed Logan as she went down the hall.

                "Hey Stripes, you missed dinner..."

                The only answer he got was the slam of a door as Rogue disappeared into her room. He approached it and knocked a few times.

                "Stripes!"

                Logan sniffed instinctively. No blood, no injuries.. which only left one thing - the Cajun. With faint snarl Logan headed for the stairs.

                Remy had found a new game to swindle the kid: Craps. He smiled as Jamie tossed the bones and they clattered against the wall. Five, eight, twelve...

                "Seven! Craps, mon ami... Yo' know, dis game was invented by da French, in Naw'lins. Da Big Easy is da best place ta go an' play a good game o' craps."

                As he scooped up his money the students scattered. Remy saw a shadow slip over him, then that one sound they all dreaded hearing: Snikt, and the other hand, snikt! He stands, grabbing his dice, and turns to face Logan with a smile, only to be slammed into the wall, dropping money and dice, an adamantium blade pressed against his throat.

                "I really hate havin to repeat myself, bub. I thought I warned you about messin with Rogue." Remy gulped and blinked, then smiled slightly. "Remy been good, he didn' do nothin."

                Logan sniffed, then pressed the metal into the Cajun's flesh a bit harder. "I can smell fear, friend, and I can hear your heart beat accelerate. I'm a god damn human lie detector. Swing and a miss, three strikes and you're out, bub." Remy shuddered then smiled again.

                "W-well, dere may have been somet'in dat happened... Remy jus' lost his tempah... Didn' hit da girl or nuttin', jus tol' her off 'bout accusin' Remy of bein' a bad guy... Das all..." Logan sniffed again, staring into those red eyes, then stepped back, Remy dropping to his knees with a sigh of relief. Logan bent over and scooped up a few of the bills, stuffing them into one of his pockets.

                "Don't let me catch you husslin' again, Cajun." With that he walked out, headed back toward Rogue's room. He knocked a bit harder on the door. He was determined to get the whole story.

                "Stripes! You know if you don't open up I can break the door down, and I don't want to have to pay for that, so just open up."

                Rogue opened the door, now dressed in her nightgown and a sweater. One look at Logan in his less than tame state was a dead give away. Her tone became urgent, almost panicked. Kitty, thankfully, wasn't there at the moment.

                "What did ya say ta him, Logan?"

                He folded his arms across his chest, looking down at her sternly.

                "Enough about me, Stripes, I want to know what you two were doing out there by yourselves. And where were you two after school?"

                Rogue threw one hand up.

                "Why does everyone suddenly start accusin' us of messin' around! All we did was decide ta give Kitty French lessons - ask her yaself! And Ah was tryin' ta help him with his schoolwork - ya can't just throw him into Bayville High like he's used to it!"  Accusing, defending, accusing, defending; so goes Rogue on the merry go round that is Remy. "Ah don't need ya to protect me from him, Logan. It'll only make things worse!"

                Logan frowns, an angry frown of course, though there was something sad about it, too. He opens his mouth as if to say something else, then sighs.

                "I guess you're right, Stripes, I can't protect you forever..." His frown changes to a small smile, a rare thing for Logan. "Guess I've taught you well enough, anyway... A bit of advice, though: Force isn't always the answer, if that's how you try to resolve everything, you'll end up with lots of regrets. Maybe give talking a try... can't really help you there, though. Never was my thing."

                 He chuckles and pats her shoulder. "Good night, Stripes." He shakes his head and turns, walking out and for the door, pulling out a cigar. He needed something to calm his nerves.

                Rogue blinked before shutting her door... First he was demanding an explanation, then dishing out fatherly advice? Everyone, it seemed, was suffering from major mood swings - herself included, she would admit. Now she was in a worse place than where she started. At least it was the weekend, and didn't have to deal with school, or with anyone if she decided to stay in her room..

*~*The Next Day: Saturday, Evening*~*

                Remy walked quietly down the hall of the girls dorms. He'd heard that Rogue had barred herself in her room, and some were even pointing fingers at him. He had to get things cleared up. Couldn't let his good name go to waste or the boys may stop seeking his entertainment services. He looked left, then right as he approached the door to her room.

                He slide a lock pick into the opening and then the probe beneath it, moving the tumblers and something clicked quite quickly. Cheap locks. He knocked softly then just stepped in, closing the door behind him and leaning against it, not wanting to get caught in the hall... he just hoped he had the right room.

                Rogue was sitting on her bed, headphones blaring with a sketchbook in front of her with random human figures. She wore her favorite green, long sleeved wrap, but wore only shorts beneath, legs bared. She wasn't wearing gloves either, which only added to her panic at the sudden entry. Seeing who it was, she stood up quickly, looking at him accusingly.

                "What are ya doin'! The door was locked."

                She took her annoyed glare from him as she searched her nightstand for her gloves.

                He grinned and shrugged.

                "De school need ta invest in bettah locks. Dese is simple." He watches what she's doing, then shakes his head. "Don' worry bout getting' yo'self all gussied up fo' Remy, he ain' gonna touch yo', he jus gonna stay right heah. We jus' need ta clear somet'in up, Cheri."

                She paused briefly in her searching before snatching a pair of gloves from her drawer, slipping them on despite his promise. It was more for her personal sense of safety than his own. Rogue straightened to face him.

                "What's ta clear up? Apparently Ah've wrongly accused ya of bein' a lowly thief. Ah'm sorry, but folks who steal cars and break into people's rooms uninvited tend to fit the description!" She was getting ahead of herself even before he had his hand out on the table. Not exactly wise.

                "You weren't the one in that prison, so excuse me if Ah have a right to be suspicious of anyone!"

                He sighed and looked at the floor.

                "Yo' right, Cheri... Remy been tryin' ta be good... Ol' habits jus' hahd ta break is all... He want to apologize, dough. He got out o' control las' night. An'... Well, fo' everyt'in else too. Remy jus' cause trouble. Dat's why he be leavin'. Jus didn' wan' ta leave dis wit'out wrappin' it up."

                Rogue stopped, still looking at him incredulously.

                "Leavin'? Leavin' where?"

                The idea that he would ever leave hadn't really occurred to her. Even when she was mad or suspicious or annoyed with him, she did not remember ever wishing he would leave. Remy was just a fact of life, albeit a vexing one. And now he wanted to leave?

                He shrugged and looked around her room before he walked over to the window, just to see if it was a viable means of exit.

                "Da's right, Cheri... I's like Remy say, he try an' be good. Guess Remy jus' ain' no good at being good, so he jus' gonna leave. I's fo' de best, Cheri, he ain' really wanted 'round heah, eithah. Hell, yo' know dat, Cheri, he sho' yo' wan' Remy ta leave."

                "Ya know Ah never said that!" She shook her head, trying to think around this new bit of insanity. "You bein' here has nothin' to do with whether you're good or bad." Did she not just accuse him of being here for less than honorable reasons? "The Professah asked ya here so ya live a bettah life, it's not up to me whether you're allowed to stay."

                He chuckled and shook his head as he opened the window. He looked out a bit, then grabbed the nearby drain pipe. He shook it a bit just to test it, then pulled himself back into the room.

                "Well, Cheri, yo' don' need ta say nothin'. Remy know de signs when he ain' wanted. An' Remy ain' wanted. So he jus' goin'." He smiled at her. "De good life i's no fo' Remy, he guess. He jus' go back to da street He can make a livin' wit' his cahds, jus' like he used to. Or maybe jus' lift some stuff. Ain' so clean an' legal as school, but it get Remy money an' food, so he won' complain."

                Rogue's almost pleading expression briefly faded into anger. She moved around to the window, though there wasn't much she could do to block his escape.

                "Why are ya doin' this! It's not like everyone hates ya! The students, Bobby and Jamie and Rahne.. sure, ya take their money, but they admire ya! And the Professah, he's givin' ya a home. Why would you throw that away?"

                He smiled and shook his head.

                "Remy ain' throwin' nuttin' away, Cheri. He can' make it on de up an' up, anyway. He ain' smart enough ta get no job. Yo' jus' go on like Remy was nevah heah, yo' fo'get him soon 'nuff. Will yo' please move naw, Cheri? He need ta get on de road."

                "Well Ah think that's bullshit. Ya know ya have no real reason for leavin' except ta piss me off. If ya gonna leave ya ain't doin' it from here, you're gonna talk to the Professah first." To emphasize her point, she put one hand on his arm to keep him from jumping down the drain pipe.

                He sighed and put his hand over here, yet still he smiled, as if to comfort her.

                "Yo' don' have ta worry, Cheri. Remy make it on de street befo', he do it again. I's no problem fo' Remy. An' i's his decision, Cheri. He jus don' belong heah. He only gonna do bad fo' all da impressionale li'l kiddies. He no good fo' yo' eit'ah, Cheri. Remy is bad news."

                Her grip on his arm tightened, afraid he would leave at any second. She looked at him carefully with a worried look.

                "Is this about somethin' Logan said?"

                He blinked, then grinned and shook his head again.

                "No, Cheri... He scahed Remy, sho' nuff, but Remy nevah been one ta run away jus' from dat. He's t'ought it ovah an' he t'ink dis is best, fo' everyone... He t'ink da Prafessah agree, cause he ain' try an' stop Remy yet, but he got da powah ta know and do somet'in 'bout it."

                He made a point, but she refused to see the logic in it all. There was simply no point to him leaving.. and it was her fault. She was the only one who rejected him, but what could Rogue's opinion, one out of a thousand, matter enough to make him leave? She let go of his arm and took a step back, voice bitter and taunting. Her expression was angry and would seem sorrowful but for the absence of tears.

                "If you're so bent on ditchin' us, why haven't ya left yet?"

                "He had ta come an' make t'ings right wit' yo', Cheri... Remy didn' wan' ta jus' leave an' no' apologize fo' bein' a jahk." He put one leg out of the window and smiled at her. "Dough, if yo' is dis broken up ovah Remy leavin', maybe yo' give him a kiss befo' i's too late."

                Well, that was probably the worst imaginable thing to say to Rogue, especially at that moment. Her face contorted in anguish and rage, and before the Cajun could see what was coming, Rogue gave him a heavy shove out the window - not stopping to watch him fall before slamming the window shut.

                Remy yelled in surprise, cut off as he landed on his back, the air rushing out of him. After a couple of seconds he got up, brushing his trenchcoat off, and gave one last look up at Rogues window.

                "Yo' missin' da chance of a lifetime, cheri!" He chuckled and dashed off toward the perimeter, ready to hop the fence and be on his way.