Chapter 35: Happy Halloween

                "Come on, Rogue! Everyone's already down there!"

                "Just one second!" Rogue leaned into the mirror, pursing her lips as she applied a dark shade of makeup.

                It was Halloween, and the students of Xavier's institute were looking forward to tonight's party. Kitty's Mardi Gras party for Remy's birthday had been a hit, so the girl had taken every opportunity to throw one. She'd even tried throwing one for Logan's birthday, but as one can imagine, that didn't go over too well with the old man.

                Today, the mansion hallways were decorated with black and orange streamers, and the ballroom was once again illuminated with appropriately colored lights and jack-o-lanterns. Skeletons and bats hung in the doorways, and one student named Peter - whose mutation involved producing spider silk - even created large webs in the corners of the room. Unfortunately, he'd also taken to spraying web at other students, too.

                Kitty had dressed up as a cat. Who saw that one coming? She wore a pink leotard with fluffy white tails and ears, and white tights. Rogue wasn't sure what to do.. People joked that she dressed as if it were Halloween all year round. So, she opted for the 'Spiderella' look. She wore a mid length black skirt which tapered at the back, with a black shirt with a diving neckline, and it exposed some of her midriff. The collar was upturned for a Dracula effect. Underneath it all she wore body tights, fishnets that stretched not only across her legs, but her torso and arms too. Ankh earrings and a spider pendant finished off the look.

                "Rogue!"

                "OKAY!"

                Adding the final touches to her dark makeup, Rogue followed the girl downstairs, where Rhyth was once again spinning.

                Remy leaned against a wall in a very nice three-piece suit, his hair slicked back, and he even had two cigars tucked in his breast pocket. Logan had sold them to him at a largely inflated price. Remy was 18, but the law of supply and demand just left him with the short end of the stick. He laughed with Bobby and Evan as he waited for Rogue to join the party.

                The two girls finally emerged, walking down the steps. The crowd took this as a sign that the party would now officially begin, now that the coordinator had arrived. Kitty was intercepted by her usual gaggle, and Rogue made her way across the dance floor to where Remy was. Bobby and Evan didn't seem very surprised in her costume, but they thought it was daring to be sure. Rogue looked Remy up and down.

                "What are ya supposed ta be? Gigolo Ken?"

                Remy chuckled and looked at Bobby and Evan.

                "How droll, hm? Remy's a rich yankee fat cat, 'course, he all full of self importance an' has tons of money from his Wallstreet ventures. I's all very fascinatin, of course."

                The other two couldn't hold back a few small laughs at his very manner. It was hard to imagine the boy from the bayou as a businessman.

                Rogue smirked, walking forward to straighten his lapel.

                "Ah'm sure it is."

                She glanced away from him to look around at the job Kitty had done. The refreshments included a radioactive shade of green punch, Halloween shaped cookies, and a huge bowl of candy. The girl sure knew how to tickle Rogue's sweet tooth. At the head of the dance floor, Rhyth spun a remix of the Halloween classic 'the Monster Mash'.

                Remy smiled and let her have at it... He really didn't know what to do, dressed all fancy like this. He was sure anyone knew better than he did.

                "Say, chere, how would yo' like ta go get Remy a glass of punch, hm? He really appreciate it if yo' did..." He looked her over as he asked, then gave a nod and his best pleading look.

                Rogue gave him a quizzical look before shrugging.

                "Sure."

                She gave a last glance at Bobby and Evan before turning and walking away. She passed Jean and Scott on her way, who seemed to have gotten back together. There was really no real reason that kept them apart, especially since Scott's plan as using Rogue as a rebound girl were utterly crushed when she and Remy were known publicly as an item. Rogue returned shortly, handing Remy a cup of the strange green punch and sipping one of her own.

                Remy smiled and took it gratefully.

                "T'ank yo', chere... Remy was gettin' real t'irsty... unlike yo' an' de hostess ovah dere, de rest of us been waitin down heah fo' awhile."

                He sipped the punch and Bobby nodded. "Yea, you need to tell Kitty not to spend so much time getting ready. You shouldn't be late to your own party, after all."

                Rogue grinned sheepishly, hiding it by taking another sip of her punch. She glanced up as she heard the beginning of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'.

                "Well Ah sorta held her up a little.. But don't blame me, Ah told her ta go on ahead. She wasn't havin' it though." She gestured appreciatively around at the party. "Maybe she'll grow up ta be a professional, a weddin' planner or somethin'. She's into the sappy stuff like that."

                As if on cue, a slight breeze passed around the group, and a cocky voice issued from next to Rogue.

                "Then maybe she can plan our wedding, Roguey."

                Pietro Maximoff smirked confidently at them, leaning one elbow on Rogue's shoulder. He wore his usual street clothes, unnecessarily tight jeans with a black tee shirt that clung snugly to his musculature. His silver-white was slicked back, as always. It must be for the aerodynamics.

                Behind them, Kitty could be seen ushering in Lance, the only member of the Brotherhood that had actually been invited. Todd Tolanski hopped in behind them, helping himself to the webbing on the ceilings.

                Remy looked at Pietro, then cleared his throat.

                "Remy gonna give yo' two seconds - an' dat should be plenty fo' yo' - ta step back an' keep yo' hands ta ya'self like a propah gentlemen."

                He pulled out one of his cards and flipped it between his fingers, smiling amiably.

                Pietro quirked one silver brow at the Cajun, grinning curiously. That sounded like a challenge.

                "I'm sure she likes it. We go way back, don't we Roguey?"

                He looked down at her with the most arrogant smile she'd ever seen him wear. She didn't respond, instead stepping to the side to remove herself from him.

                "And what are ya supposed ta be, a New Kid on the Block?"

                "I'm supposed to be the man of your dreams, babe. Why aren't you wearing a costume?"

                He couldn't help but grin at his own joke, looking her up and down.

                Remy slid his arm around Rogue's shoulder and pulled her over to him. The Cajun didn't the Brotherhood in the first place, and he especially didn't like Pietro cozying up with his girl.

                "Yo' bettah look again, dere, boy-o, cause yo' jus' look like a foo' from where Remy standin'." Bobby and Evan laughed at that. They were ready for the Brotherhood to come at them as well.

                Pietro's chin tilted upwards and he crossed his arms, tapping his foot rapidly with another smirk.

                "Oh, I didn't know you were goin' with the Cajun, Roguey. How do you guys even fool around?" The speedster blurred from sight, reappearing behind Remy and Rogue, patting Remy's shoulder with a mocking sympathetic expression. "Hang in there, Hand Solo."

                And with that, he zipped away to bother someone else. Rogue was fuming.

                Remy chuckled at that, and he tightened his arm around Rogue. He knew she was far more likely to go and try to start a fight than he was, so he had to keep her on a tight leash. He leaned over and whispered to her, just to make sure.

                "Don' worry, chere, he jus' jealous dat yo' chose Remy ovah him..."

                Rogue kept her eyes locked on Pietro, who could be seen zipping throughout the room from person to person, or rather, girl to girl, shooting him death glares. The physical aspect of her and Remy's relationship was a sensitive subject to begin with. Rogue finally tore her glare away when Remy spoke, and she smirked up at him.

                "As if Ah had a choice."

                Remy smiled and led her over to a few chairs. He sat her down, then sat down next to her as he finished off his punch. He tossed the cup into the trash and pulled another chair over to use as a foot rest.

                "Say, chere, yo' been in dose therapy sessions too... Do yo' evah talk 'bout us wit' de Prafessah?"

                Rogue sat, looking down into her strange green punch. She'd only had a handful of sessions with the Professor so far, and she'd mostly talked about Carol. There were other things on her mind, too, including her and Remy, but she found it hard to concentrate on anything else while she kept having these dreams.

                "Well, no.. There's some other stuff we've been talkin' about lately." She looked up at him. "Why, have you?"

                He shrugged. He hadn't really touched on the subject much. Then again, the only time he'd gone in depth about anything had been his childhood. The rest he just seemed to skim over and keep attention away from it... or the Professor just didn't ask.

                "Naw... Remy ain' bothahed by it, yo' know?"

                Rogue glanced away at a passing six foot tall Cookie Monster, who was being led by Frankenstein. What Remy said came as a kind of relief, but she couldn't help but think it odd. She knew if she had given the same answer, it wouldn't be entirely true. How could he not be at least a little bothered by the touching issue? Granted, she didn't lose sleep over it. She was too busy losing it to something else.

                "Ya aren't?"

                Remy shook his head.

                "Naw... Every now an' den he get de urge, but he can still remembah... An' besides, Remy still care fo' yo', so he ain' gonna let a li'l t'ing like dat get him down."

                He smiled at her, sincerely. He wanted her to know that he wasn't conning her or anything. He was trying to be serious.

                Rogue smiled and looked back down, unable to hold his gaze for too long without tearing up from the sweetness of it all. She reached a glove hand to hold his, and across the room, Quicksilver sneered.

                                                                                      * * *

                Meanwhile, Wolverine stepped into the Professor's office. Xavier glanced up, pausing for a moment.

                "It's been quite some time."

                Wolverine's eyes flashed yellow, and his form slowly unraveled into blue skin and red hair.

                "Sharp as ever, Charles."

                Xavier's gaze was calm and in control; he had nothing to fear from her here. "And to what do I owe this visit?"

                "I want to know who tried to kill me three months ago, and why." She could tell easily that Rogue had not been herself, and didn't possess the kind of power she had wielded.

                Xavier nodded with a sigh. "It was a woman named Carol Danvers. They had Rogue absorb her completely during the experimentation for mutant soldiers. To be plain, they planned on using Rogue's powers, along with Carol's powers and espionage abilities, to assassinate both humans and mutants, while at the same time increasing her abilities.

                "Carol was actually working with Trask on the project before he betrayed her, and now she has ideas of her own. She's determined to exact her revenge, killing other mutants and building up an arsenal of powers to become unstoppable. I trust you've learned of Eric's alliance with her, and no doubt you were his first target. Shape changing would be an invaluable asset for her."

                Mystique's eyes narrowed, making no effort to mask her anger.

                "And now Magneto is probably planning on freeing his ally. We both know he'll just want to use her like Weapon X did. Charles, you can't let Rogue outside of the institute."

                Xavier clasped his hands together, seeming troubled.

                "As of now, she and Gambit are restricted to the grounds until they have completed their year of therapy, as ordained by the government. I can't stop her from leaving after that, Raven. We can't simply keep her locked up forever."

                Mystique rose, morphing back into Logan as she turned to leave.

                "Then you'll be abandoning her to them. Once they have the chance, they'll find a way to take her, or set Danvers loose once again. Until you can find a better solution, I suggest you take my advice."

                A muscle in her jaw flinched, and she left Xavier to ponder this new dilemma.