Chapter 10: Showdown at the Big Game

                The sun had just set the night of the Big Game. The stands were overflowing with fans - Bayville was playing its number one rivals for the championship. The X Men were also in attendance - Jean, Scott, Kitty, Kurt, Rogue, Evan - with Ororo and the Professor. Jean waved enthusiastically at Duncan, the star quarterback, while Scott grimaced unnoticed. The game had not yet begun.

                Rogue sat bundled up - the weather was slightly cold tonight - wearing a dark gray long sleeved shirt with a green hooded sweatshirt, black pants, the ensemble completed with her trademark combat boots, gloves, and a thin scarf. It was nice to get out - the Professor had made her stay indoors the past few days to ensure her health. She glanced around, not certain Remy would show up, but hoping so anyway.

                Remy was all ready there, of course, and had taken bets on the game from several people. He had plenty of time to waste, though, and had managed to get his folding card table here with a few lawn chairs. With just that he had a little poker parlor set up behind some trees, shading them from the large lights of the football field. Toad, Pietro, and Avalanche occupied the other chairs, and Blob had to settle for the ground as Remy dealt out the cards.

                "All righ' now, mes amis, de game is seven cahd draw, de Suicide Kings is wild, ante be two dollahs, an' one dollah minimum on de raisin'." He picked up his hand once he was done and the game commenced.

                Kurt fidgeted in his seat. "Vhen is zhe game going to start?"

                "Like, calm down, Kurt. They're still making announcements."

                Kurt fidgeted some more before standing up. "I'm going to find somezing to eat."

                Behind the band stands there was a concession stand, but the line was way too long. Kurt groaned. He took to wandering. Glancing down, he noticed his clothes started to blur and flicker. Perfect time for his inducer to start going on the fritz! Kurt ducked into the shadow of the trees, tapping the watch wildly until his human appearance blinked back on.

                "Phew.."

                Then a sound reached his ears, and the familiar odor of.. Todd Tolanski. Kurt followed his ears to the card game between the Brotherhood and none other than Remy LeBeau. Kurt teleported into a tree, watching with an amount of pleasure as Remy cleaned the Brotherhood out of their money.

                Remy swept back another pile of money. Each of the Brotherhood had some money as well, Remy wasn't dumb enough to win every game straight in a row. He'd leave on top, though, in the end. Then Toad narrowed his eyes on Remy as the Cajun shuffled again, and snap, out comes the tongue, right into the sleeve of his trenchcoat. Remy jerked back instinctively and out fall several cards, one stuck to Toads tongue. The others stood and Pietro sneered.

                "So, trying to cheat us, huh? We'll show you. Blob, make sure that our buddy here is comfortable." Remy tried to get up and run, but the massive Blob soon shoved him back into his chair and held him there, using his massive bulk to pin Remy down in his chair. "Well boys, where should we start?" Pietro asked.

                Kurt's eyes widened. With a *bampf!* he was back under the bandstands.. Glancing quickly to see if anyone had seen him, then ran quickly up to where the others were sitting. Kitty blinked at him.

                "Whoa Kurt. Like, where's the fire?"

                "In zhe woods!" Kurt lowered his voice. "Zhe Brotherhood are in zhe voods with Remy. It doesn't look good." He didn't want to tell them why exactly Remy was there. That would be tattling, after all. Besides, it wasn't so important right now. Kitty, Rogue and the others stood. They followed Kurt under the bleachers, then held hands. *Bampf!* They reappeared just near where Remy was. Scott lifted one hand to his sunglasses.

                "Ready?"

                "Whenever ya are," said Rogue. With that, the six X Men rushed the clearing. Evan popped a spike off at Pietro, his favorite rival, while Kurt teleporting on top of Blob's back, flicking him with his tail.

                "Miss me?"

                Kitty, given her past experience with Avalanche, attempted reason. "Lance, cut it out! We don't want to hurt you."

                The Brotherhood were all thrown off by the new distraction and Remy capitalized on it. Blob reached a hand up to swat at Kurt and Remy slid away from the other easily enough. He reached into his trenchcoat and out came his pole, which he quickly charged up before telescoping it straight into Blob's stomach. BAM! Blob teetered precariously backwards and Kurt teleported away. Remy was thrown back as well, right into Avalanche. A loud cheer came from the direction of the field, kick off. No one would hear them now with all the noise from the stands.

                Avalanche sneered at Kitty. "No chance, Kitty. This guy cheated us!"

                Avalanche took the opportunity to grab Remy, attempting to knee him in the back. Blob recovered from his wobble.. he wasn't the immovable for nothing. Toad, meanwhile, made a risky move. He leapt towards Scott, who missed a shot at him, and lashed out his tongue to snag his glasses. Scott moved back, eyes clamped shut. Jean concentrated, lifting Toad up and into a tree. Pietro dodged Evan's spike easily, zipping around to shove him onto his backside. He then zipped over to Rogue, though he didn't attack her.

                "HeyRoguey, we-miss-ya-at-the-house." Rogue aimed a punch at his jaw before he zipped away again. Rogue instead ran at Avalanche, who started to create a tremor in response.

                Remy fell with an agonized groan after taking the knee to the back and scrambled away as he felt the tremor start. He saw Pietro coming and shoved his pole forward and, less than a second later, the agile Quicksilver was in a heap. Falling at hundreds of miles an hour was not a fun thing, after all. Remy spun, grabbing one of his cards from the ground, where they'd spilt off the table, and whipping it at Pietro as he climbed to his feet. He zipped away quickly, though, so Remy returned his attention to Blob. He rushed the behemoth and jumped. He shoved his pole down into Blob's huge gut and vaulted up, swinging his foot around to slam his new size 16 Timberland right into the Blob's fat head.

                The Blob was still recovering from Avalanche's continuous tremor, struggling to keep balance before a foot to the face made everything go black. He was stunned. Pietro got up a bit slowly for him, clearing his eyes of stars. He began to run a furious circle around Kitty, Kurt, Evan, and Jean, creating a cyclone of dried leaves and twigs. Jean tried to focus on Pietro's lightning fast form, lifting him up, his legs still pumping furiously.

                "Oh man.."

                Rogue jumped into the air to avoid the tremor and landed right infront of Avalanche. He stopped just in time to grab her by both wrists, forcing her arms out to her sides.

                "Shouldn't have ditched us for the X Geeks, Rogue."

                Rogue sneered as he began another tremor, strong this time, ripping up the ground beneath the four other X Men. She looked to her side at the few inches of exposed skin at the back of her hand where the glove had rolled up. She struggled, aiming a sharp kick at Avalanche's shin. It didn't do much, and it wasn't meant to.

                He snarled and moved to twist her arm behind her back, which caused him to relocate his grip.. coming into contact with her hand. The color from his face drained and Rogue grimaced, trying to keep contact just long enough to render him unconscious.

                Remy jumped off of Blob as he started to fall, glancing down for a target. He had a perfect one as Toad freed himself from the tangled tree branches and jumped at Jean in hopes to free Pietro. Remy grinned and flicked a card from his left sleeve, charged, and whipped it at Toad. Bam! He rolled along the ground and Remy landed in a crouch. He closed up his pole and walked over to Toad.

                "Shoulda checked de othah sleeve too, mon ami."

                Rogue pulled away as Avalanche slumped to the ground. Toad nursed a hurting arm on the ground, playing possum as Remy approached. Then he snapped his head up and lashed his tongue out to wrap around Remy's ankle, giving it a sharp tug.

                Rogue looked down at her hands in brief mental overview of her borrowed power, then took aim at Toad. She sent a concentrated tremor at the ground Toad was on, a column of earth and rock jutting up and hitting him. Blob, blinking away the haze Remy's kick had rendered, picked up a huge fallen tree trunk and hurled it at Jean. She stopped it in midair, but Pietro used her lack of concentration on him to break free, zipping away and back to shove Jean into Evan. Blob took a few long strides and arrived at Rogue's back, snatching her up. He hesitated - he remembered the time they'd all spent together in Trask's prison, and she had been very kind to him.

                With that hesitation his legs were bombarded by small explosions. Blob yelled and took a few steps back as the others cleared away. The fighting stopped as they all watched, breaths held... CRASH! A tremor to rival Avalanche's shook the ground. There was silence before Toad hoped up on his chest and looked down at him.

                "Blob? You... fell..." Suddenly Toad was thrown by a powerful optic blast, thanks to Scott, who had retrieved his glasses. Pietro was again lifted off the ground by Jean to keep him immobilized, and Evan pinned the still unconscious Avalanche up against a tree. Jean tangled Pietro up like she had Toad, hoping his superspeed wouldn't help him out in that case.

                There was another slight hesitation before Kurt teleported away and Evan ran, soon followed by Jean and Scott. Who knew what would happen if the Professor caught them back there? Or did he all ready know? It would be better to get back to the game, anyway. Remy took the hint as well, though he wasn't in quite as much of a hurry. He didn't see much of a need. He smiled at Rogue.

                "Well, p'tite, looks like we done heah, le's go."

                Rogue was dropped to the ground as Blob fell, and she rolled quickly out of the way. Picking herself up as the others retreated, Rogue looked disapprovingly at Remy.

                "What did ya go and do now?"

                He grinned and shrugged. "Remy didn' do nuttin..." He picked up a few of his cards so he wouldn't be defenseless until he got back to the institute and headed off into the small woods nearby, rather than towards the football game.

                Rogue glanced between him, the Brotherhood, and the football game.

                "Nothin'? Like hell!" Rogue decided to follow Remy, running after him. The pulled her glove back into place and straightened her sweatshirt. There were leaves on her clothes and hair. "Where are ya goin'!"

                He didn't say anything, just chuckled and glanced back at her before dashing into the darkened tree cover, trenchcoat flying behind him. "Yo' jus gonna have ta come an see!" His voice rang from the woods, though not from any discernable direction. The game was on, now.

                Rogue stopped in her tracks for a moment, looking in all directions. It was getting slightly irritating, but she wasn't angry quite yet.

                "This is no time ta play hide an' seek, swamp rat! The Professah's gonna kill us!" Rogue darted forward again, scarf flying. What she'd give to have Logan's senses now... that guy could detect a chipmunk a mile away. Another cheer was heard from the stadium - Bayville must have scored, Rogue noted idly.

                There was a rustling behind her, but if there was one thing a master thief was good at, it was not getting caught. Remy jumped up in the trees and quietly made his way from branch to branch as he slipped on a pair of gloves, then dropped down behind her. Grinning he tapped her on the shoulder.

                "Behin' yo', p'tite."

                Rogue whirled around to come face to face with the Cajun. Still slightly high strung from the battle she lifted her hands, prepared to defend or attack. She remembered who she was with, though.. and kept them like that. Her face was slightly flushed, though one might not be able to tell under the makeup, but her breathing was quickened.

                "What do ya think you're doin', ya don't want the Professah ta come lookin' for us here. Ah just got outta the joint!" She didn't feel like spending another week being grounded.

                Remy shook his head and sighed. "Yo' need ta loosen up, Cheri. If'n he wan'ed ta make us go back ta de game he could all ready, an' he all ready know dat we be out heah. Dat don' mean he gonna be mad. I's like dey always say, p'tite, boys will be boys... Remy t'ink da Prafessah know dat." He grinned and leaned back against one of the tree.

                "Just because the Professah knows we're here, doesn't mean he doesn't expect us ta go back..."        Still, Rogue stood idly, looking around at where they stopped. The cheering was in the distance now, and she couldn't see any lights from the stadium or the parking lot - as a matter of fact, the only light came from the moon, about a quarter full. Rogue began to remove the leaves and twigs from her clothes and hair.

                "Ah just hope the Brotherhood doesn't get loose an' find us.. Which reminds me. Were ya doin' what Ah think ya were?"

                Remy had pulled out the cash he'd managed to grab before the brawl started, including a bit he'd snatched off the ground with his cards, then looked up at Rogue. "Dat depends, Cheri, wha' do ya t'ink Remy was doin?"

                "Well Ah really didn't have ta ask.." She tapped her temple. "It was still fresh 'n Lance's memory." She wandered in a small circle before leaning against the same tree to Remy's right.

                "Ah'd scold ya, but we both know where that'd go." Self consciously, she readjusted her gloves and scarf, moving it around to cover more of her neck. She nodded at the cash. "How much did ya get?"

                He arched a brow and looked over at her, folding the money in half into a nice fat wad that he tucked away in his trenchcoat.

                "Why yo' askin, Cheri, t'inkin o' comin ovah ta de Dahk Side?" He chuckled and shrugged. "Remy got hisself a nice new coat is how much Remy got."

                Rogue tugged at the worn collar of his coat, making a face. "Why, when the one ya got is so stylish?" Hmm. Hold on there, Rogue. Take a few steps back.

                "If you're so sure the Professah knows we're out here, doesn't that mean he'd know you were gamblin' again?" She smirked, looking at the sky with less than pure thoughts. "Hate ta think what'd happen if that got back ta Logan..."

                Remy shook his head. "Sho' da Prafessah know, he also prob'ly know everyt'ing bout Remy's past, jus' ramblin' bout in his head an all, so he don' really mind..." He shrugged, not completely comfortable with someone knowing that much about his past, and he hoped the Prof respected his privacy enough not to dig too deep.

                "As fo' Logan... I don' t'ink Remy's gamblin' what he really worried bout... least, dat's not what he warn Remy fo'." He chuckled and grinned to himself. He wondered if Rogue knew how protective of her Logan was.

                Rogue wasn't aware of what Logan had said to him the other day, but had guessed from the way Logan had come to her room the last time she and Remy had that fight at the institute.

                "Yea, Ah'm sorry about that.. Ah guess it was easy enough ta tell from the way Ah talked ta him that we had a fight. He's just really... intense. He's not as bad as he seems, though. Ah remembered when Ah first joined the institute how he'd try ta talk to me, get me ta open up. But he wasn't patronizin' like everyone else. He's one of the few people who don't pity me for.. well, ya know."

                Remy arched a brow and turned to look at her more directly.

                "Yo' don' mind if Remy be serious wit yo fo' a second, do yo', Cheri?"

                He slid his hands into his coat pockets and pulled it a bit more closed, then looked around. He wasn't serious often, really, since most of the time he was either joking, flirting, or lying. He also didn't like to spread his bits of seriousness around too much, he had a reputation to uphold, after all.

                Rogue gave him a strange look at the question, wondering, afraid of what he was preparing to say. Good news, bad news, a facade? Rogue stood straighter, as if preparing to run.

                "Yea?"

                The Cajun grinned at her and shrugged before he looked up at the trees and leaned back against his tree again.

                "Remy don' pity yo' none."

                That was it. Perhaps a little anticlimactic, but to Remy, it was a deep glance into his soul, really. He just didn't share that often, and when he did, it was a big deal for him, no matter how trivial the information might be.

                Rogue paused, keeping her eyes on the ground. Well, there it was. Despite the way he tried to shrug it off, she could tell he was being very sincere. A little too sincere, in fact, for Remy LeBeau to ever act. It was a little disconcerting, but what he said was comforting. Logan had never really come out and said it - he was a bit too gruff for that sort of heart to heart thing - but everything in his actions said it all.

                Still now, and whenever she thought about Logan, and the few others who didn't pity her, it made her feel more able to be herself, without having to build a wall around her against the people who always treated her with the same special regard they might give to someone less fortunate. It was the way she felt - less fortunate - but it felt good not having to think about it. Rogue leaned back against the tree, folding her arms around herself.

                "Thanks."

                Remy nodded and smiled. That had gone well.

                "Don' go spreadin' round word dat Remy gone soft o' nuttin'. He jus' didn' wan' yo ta t'ink dat he like dose othahs." He sighed and jumped up to grab one of the branches. He grinned and swung idly as another faint cheer came from the game.

                Rogue glanced up and watched him, before reaching for a branch and pulled herself up, continuing to climb to the top.

                "The trees here are nothin' compared to down south.. There were these giant willows that grew down by the Pearl River.. We'd climb to the top an' jump off into the water." Rogue leaned out onto the bough of a high branch, almost expecting to see the rushing riverwater below. Another cheer resounded, and Rogue glanced into the distance, squinting. "Ah think Ah can see the scoreboard from here.."

                Remy started to climb higher as well. "What it say, p'tite?" He reached the top of his tree and sat on the sturdiest branch, still a bit lower than her. He didn't really have the view she did either. "An' yo' tell me if dat's good or non, cause Remy don' know de names o' de teams dat be playin."

                Rogue held onto the branch above her, stepping out a bit.

                "Bayville winnin' by six.. They're the favored team, but Ah suppose ya already know that."

                Rogue grinned and looked down at him. She knew him at least well enough to guess that Remy + football game = betting.

                Remy grinned and shrugged. "Like Remy say, Remy don' know nuttin' bout de football game... If de school's team got two ta one odds wit' a twelve poin' spread, Remy wouldn' know nuttin' bout dat neit'ah."

                Rogue actually laughed out loud, in full. It certainly wasn't something she did very often.. It was rare enough to see her smile.

                "Ya were right, ya nothin' but trouble."

                Rogue stepped backwards to the tree base, sitting down to straddle the bough and lean against the trunk. Rogue looked down at the bark, running her gloved hand across it, trying to make out the cracks and ripples through the leather material. For all she knew, she'd suck the life out of the tree, too.

                "Ah have another question for ya.."

                Remy steadied himself and jumped, arms stretched out, toward her tree. He caught a branch a bit down and swung with the momentum, only to come almost full circle and freeze in a handstand on the branch. He blinked and wondered how he would get out of this position, then just moved forward a bit and let go. He fell and grabbed the next branch, then hoisted himself up. Now rightside up he proceeded

to climb back up the lost distance.

                "What's dat, den, p'tite?"

                Rogue watched his acrobatics with an amused expression. Give him blue fur and a tail and he'd be Kurt's equal. She hesitated some more before asking her question.

                "Why'd ya leave Louisiana in the first place? Unless that's somethin' ya can't answer..."

                That'd be her luck. She wasn't sure why she was asking either.. but she knew so little about him. She knew a fair amount about her other friends at the institute. Not that it really mattered whether Remy wanted to talk about his past, but there were so many holes.

                He got up to a branch beneath her, then moved around the tree, getting up a couple of feet so he was at least closer to level with her rather than right below her. He sighed and leaned against the tree as he looked out toward the football field.

                "Dat's a bit... personal, p'tite..." He hesitated, whether he should continue, though she'd been a bit more relaxed with him now... "Dough, Remy guess dat Remy's père have some ta do wit' him leavin'... He jus' push Remy in a way Remy didn' wan' ta go, so Remy jus' chose his own way."

                Rogue nodded, watching the lights from the stadium. She suddenly felt bad for prying - no doubt Remy's past was pretty.. dark, in some ways. It wasn't any of her business.

                "Ah see. Ya don't have to talk about it if ya don't wanna. Ah was just wonderin'." Another few cheers resounded from the stadium, and the marching band struck up. Rogue glanced at her watch. "It's halftime already?"

                Remy smiled, as he didn't really want to elaborate about his secreted marriage, and the horrible consequences afterwards... his father should have seen something like that coming and known the marriage was a bad idea... oh well.

                "Guess so, cher, yo' wan' ta go back ta de game, o' ya gonna stay wit' Remy in de nosebleed seats out heah?"

                Rogue shrugged. She really didn't want to leave.. No doubt Kitty would have more questions. But if she didn't, they'd no doubt come looking for her to make sure the Brotherhood wasn't hassling her, and then they'd find her and Remy here, and.. well, they'd have plenty to question her about then.

                "Ah need ta go back.. Ah'll tell them Ah was talkin' ta Rahne." Rogue stood up, preparing to climb back down.

                Remy nodded and checked out the score board. "Remy prob'ly show up round da last qua'tah, less de othah team makes a comeback, den Remy see yo' back at de mansion." He chuckled and shrugged. "Besides, Remy really love dose hot dogs dey be sellin'."

                "Don't eat too many. Hate ta have a pudgy thief on our hands."

                With that, Rogue dropped down from branch to branch to the ground, jogging back to the stands. She was met with a group of questioning looks, though the Professor just smiled, and Rogue sat down to watch the second half show.