Card Shark

By ASGT

Summery: When Rogue runs into Remy at school, she can't remember who he is, until a suspicious Jean does her research and finds out who he is, and his intentions. Chapter one.

~

"I don't want to go to school, AGAIN. I don't see no point. There is no point!" Rogue whined at Kitty over the roar of her hair dryer.

"Get over it." Kitty replied, putting on her lipgloss.

"And why do you go then?" Rogue asked, turning to her room mate. "Is it the only place you can see Lance with out being reprimanded. Ooh, wait, I forgot. He's expelled! Kitty likes a rebel! Meow!" Rogue said, sneering at Kitty.

"You're just mad you don't have anything even close to a boy friend. You have a step brother, and a useless crush! And if you'll excuse me, I have to make Scott let me drive. Buhbye." Kitty said, phasing through a wall.

I I hate her. /I Rogue thought angrily, kicking a wall, leaving a scuff mark on it. Rogue took good care slamming the door, and storming through the halls.

"What's the matter this time, Stripes?" Logan asked gruffly, walking out of his room, his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Kitty." Was all she said as she slammed the yet another door.

"And students, today I'd like to introduce a new student today. His name is Remy Labeau. He's a transfer from New Orleans. Remy, please take a seat next to Rogue, the mutant with the frown. That's her." Mr. Lindquist said, pointing to the empty seat where Risty used to sit.

"Bonjour." He said, sitting down. Rogue looked disdainfully out of the corner of her eye at him. Dark red hair, brown eyes. not to bad looking.

"Yeah, hi. I'm Rogue. And I know your name." She replied, not looking up from her unfinished homework.

"Well then mademoiselle Rogue, I was wondering if after school y' could help Remy get caught up. He is horrible at European history. As a matter of fact, they didn't even take it in his old school, oui?" He asked, with his Cajun accent, referring to himself in third person, and throwing in French words here and there.

"Yah. Sure. After the last bell. Meet you in the Library then. Now if you'll excuse meh." Rogue turned back to her homework.

"Remy will see you there then."

All too soon for Rogue's taste, but all too slow, the end of school rolled around, and she was stuck in the library teaching Mr. New Orleans European history. She rolled her eyes as she flung her backpack on the table.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Rogue, you are already here." Remy said, as he sat down next to her.

"Listen, I'm in the middle of a tough time here, I just found out my best friend is a fake, and I found out who my adoptive mother is, and she is one of our worst enemy's. So cut it with the flattery. I ain't fallin for it." Rogue said, opening up her book.

"Mademoiselle Rogue." Remy stopped as she shot daggers at him. "Lovely name. Thief, it means, oui. Mademoiselle Rogue. Lady Thief. Thief Lady. Has she ever stolen anything?" He asked her, looking into her green eyes.

"Ah'm a mutant, okay? When Ah touch people, Ah steal their memories, and energy, and if Ah touch a mutant, then Ah steal their powers temporarily as well." She scowled, looking at him.

"Well, Lady Thief, you live up to your name, you have stolen Remy's heart away." He said this with such honesty, it startled Rogue.

"No. Ah haven't. Don't. The flattery ain't workin' at all, an' there's nothing ya can say to get meh to like ya. All right?" She slammed her book shut and stood up, slammed her book in her bag, and headed to the door.

"Remy is being honest. He truly feels this way. Why are you so protective?" He asked, standing between her only exit.

"Because. My best friend was mah worst enemy, Ah don't trust anyone. Ah could hurt you. An' Ah don't want to." She pushed past him, and ran down the hall, but stopped. He was fallowing her. "Stop fallowin' meh!" She yelled at him. Some girls who were gossiping looked up.

"Mutant-girl and Remy? Haha. Who could like an anti-social goth?" They laughed at her.

"Remy could." Remy said, looking at the girls. "Rogue! Wait up!"

"No!" She screamed at him. She was lucky most everyone had left for school.

"Wait!" Remy put on a quick burst of speed, and caught up to her. He pushed her slightly against a wall, and put his arm in front of her. "Listen to Remy, Rogue."

"No! Get offa meh! Get your filthy paws offa meh!"

"Rogue."

"Wait a tick, ya look familiar, but Ah just can't place it. Now, get away from me!" Rogue reached up and pushed him off. Surprised by the strength of the girl, Remy stumbled back on to his butt. By the time he got up, Rogue had disappeared.

"You know what I heard?" Kitty taunted, more than asked, when Rogue was struggling with her homework. "What?" Rogue looked up, angrily. "That the new guy. Remy, likes you! Who, like, started that rumor?" Kitty asked, sitting on her bed. "No one. It's true. He said that Ah'd 'stolen his heart away' while Ah was trying to brief him on European history after school."

"Who would like you?" Kitty asked, still mad about earlier that morning.

"Apparently exchange students from New Orleans." Rogue replied bitterly, throwing her math books in her bag, and walking out the door.

"Where are you like going?" Kitty called after her.

"Ta get a chocolate sundae with Kurt. He said to come get him after homework." Rogue called bitterly down the hall. "You're not invited. Go. go. Go do something with Lance. Like." Her voice faded off, but Kitty swore she heard something rude.

"The nerve of her! Who does she think she is?" Kitty asked, kicking the wall right where Rogue had kicked it earlier that morning. Unfortunately, she got her foot stuck half way through the door, and fell over. "Um. Like a little help here, please?" Kitty called to the empty hallway.

"So you're saying zhat zhe new guy likes you?" Kurt asked, on his third ice- cream cone. "Yah. Don't know why. And Ah've seen him somewhere before." She replied, dipping a French fry in ketchup and drawing patters on her plate.

"Maybe he's a foreign spy coming to spy on our powers?" Kurt asked, licking ice-cream off his chin.

"Ah doubt it. Have you been watching James Bond or somethin'?" She asked, finally sticking the fry in her mouth.

"Ja. Halle Berry es hot!" Kurt chirped, Rogue rolled her eyes.

"You're not the only one. What about Amanda?" She asked, sipping her chocolate malt.

"She es great. One of the only people who don't mind us being mutants. She likes me better because of et." He said, a matter-o-factly.

"An' whay is that?" Rogue asked simply.

"Blue es her favorite color. And no one can resist zhe Fuzzy!" Kurt smiled at Rogue.

"Ya have a big ego." She laughed slightly.

"All right you ugly mutants, the bill comes to $35.50." The ice-cream man handed Rogue the bill.

"What's this, right down 'ere, past the regular tax?" She asked, pointing out the words 'mutant tax' to the ice-cream man.

"A new law. Mutant tax. We've got all of your pictures, and if one of them is in the group of ice-cream orderers, then we add the tax. Simple." The now evil ice-cream man laughed evily.

"Et's un-constitutional!" Kurt said, rising from his seat.

"So what? What are you going to do about it? Teleport outta here?" The now- evil-ice-cream-man laughed again.

"Ja. In fact, we might." Kurt raised his fists.

"No. Kurt, we can't do that! We'd get in trouble with the Professor, I AN' /I the law! An' you don't want Amanda to see you in jail, do ya'?" Rogue asked, digging in her pocket for the money and slamming it down on the counter. "See you around then, jerk." Rogue said, grabbing Kurt's arm as he teleported them out of the shop.

Truthfully, Kurt had only ported down the block. They then teleported to the mansion. "Hey, you two are like, on the news!" Kitty said, her foot was now free, the second they walked into the mansion.

"We are? Again? Oh man, Kurt! Ah told ya not to do that! The law I IS /I un-constitutional, but what do they care? They don't care!" Rogue yelled un-happily, as she sat down on the couch. Wait, no. Jean pulled her down on the couch.

"Just watch." Jean told her sternly.

"Fahne." Rogue said, angrily, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"Feet off the table, Rogue." Scott said. She grudgingly removed her feet.

"And in the local news to day, two mutants identified as Rogue no-last-name and Kurt Wagner were the first of many mutants to discover the new 'Mutant tax.' A law instated by the state today, that adds ten percent. They reacted with fury, and teleported out of 'Willy-B-Wallabee's Ice-Creamery'. Only a few shops have accepted the new law. A full list of those shops is on our website www.brandnewnews.org. I'm Tammy Seawell, and this is Brand New News." The lady, Tammy Seawell, said with a gleam in her eyes. Hank started humming 'Dirty Laundry.'

"That's terrible! Scott, can you get the list off the site? It's www.brandnewnews.org." Jean said, standing up.

"Right." Scott stood up and walked out of the room, only to return five minutes later.

"The list is long." Amara noted.

"Too long for my taste." Scott said, unrolling the list. Five pages. "Super-Mart, Slice of Heaven Pizzeria, almost every store in the mall."

"Time to start shopping on-line!" Kitty said happily. "They have, like a bigger selection anyway."

"Let's go tell the Professor." Scott said, walking out the door, fallowed by everyone else.

"Stop fallowin' meh!" Rogue yelled for what seemed like the bajillionth time that day. "Are ya mah stalker or somethin'?"

"No. Remy is just in love." He replied, grabbing her gloved hand.

"What will make ya stop stalkin' meh?" She asked, angrily.

"If you go out with Remy, tonight, on Friday. He will take y' t' a candle lit dinner at 'Le Amor.' What do you say? Oui, or non?" He asked, not letting go of her hand, as she tugged at it.

"Fahne, Fahne, Fahne! Just stop fallowin' meh! An' Ah mean it!" She finally wrenched her hand from his grasp.

"Remy will pick you up at de institute at 6. Oui?" He asked.

"Fahne. Now stop fallowin' meh!" Rogue said, glad he let go of her hand, and she started walking down the hall.

"Ooh.. Mutant girl's got a date! This is. Odd. I wonder how much Duncan had to pay Remy to go out with that ugly pig?" The gossiping girls were back, as Rogue ran down the hall to lunch.

"Nothing. RemyI should be paying them to let me go out with such a goddess." Remy said, dreamily, opening his locker next to the girls.

"Riiight. Hey, Remy. If going out with mutant-girl doesn't work out. I'm always available!" The lead girl flipped her hair in an attempt to look dreamy. Her effort failed as she flicked Remy in face.

"Remy finally asked got you to like, go out with him?" Kitty asked, as Rogue munched on her sandwich.

"Yea. Tonight, at 6. This is going to be the worst night a mah life!" Rogue frowned. "'An it was all Ah could do to get 'im to stop fallowin' meh."

"Well, I think you're lucky. All I had was Lance. He took me to O'Daggons for burgers off the cheap menu! It was so. icksome!"

"Hello Mademoselle Rogue. Remy aloud to sit here, oui?" Remy asked, walking up to Rogue and Kitty.

"No. That was not part a the deal. Go awahy." Rogue didn't even turn around to look at him.

"But you are now Remy's girlfriend, oui?" "No. You misunderstood meh. Ah said that Ah would go out with you TONIGHT ONLY so you would STOP FALLOWIN' MEH. Ah do not rememba' sayin' anythin' about BEING YOUR GIRLFRIEND! GO AWAHY! PICK MEH UP AT 6, OKAY, BUT GO AWAY UNTILL THEN!" Rogue yelled at him, standing up to her full height. The courtyard was silent. "GO BACK TO EATIN' THIS IS BETWEEN MEH AN' REMY!" The courtyard broke out in whispers. "An' Ah hope that ya know what ya getting inta. It's called 'mutant tax.' An' ya don't want ya reputation to be tarnished because a hangin' out with a mutant like meh." Rouge sat down, as Remy walked away, looking sad. "Ah know that Ah've seen him before somewhere. Ah jus can't place it."

"So. Remy, are you gonna. like. make the moves on her?" Duncan asked, a while after Remy sat down at his table, for lack of place to sit.

"No. Remy respects her." He replied shortly.

"Oh, that's too bad. But if you do, I want the details man!" Duncan was an idiot. It was obvious.

"Remy doesn't think that will happen. Sorry to put down your hopes." Remy said, finishing his sandwich, and standing up. He put his trash in the trash can, all except a napkin, which he held on to. "See you later." He said, walked away, but tossed the napkin over his shoulder, which landed on the floor by the lunch table. KABOOM! The napkin exploded.

"Cool man." Was all Duncan said. "He put a firework in that."

~

A/N

Disclaimer: Marvel Comics owns the X-Men and related Characters. I own the evil-ice-cream-man, and the restaurants mentioned, and Mr. Lindquist was my 6th grade social studies teacher/homeroom guy. But he left.

LILY and ASGT together: MR LINDQUIST, YOU'RE A MEANIE!

~ASGT who is going to summer fest today with one of her BFF's and Mandy, and her BFF is none other than Ginny Brandybuck, the one who shares this pen name with her, and ASGT has lack of money, and will most likely be banned from METMA by being OT too much, because Jess is in charge, but you don't care.

~ASGT who is happy that ALR put her in her fic about the METMAians. "All hail Allex! Wait. that doesn't work, can I call you the pumpkin song?" Was one of my sample lines. Or something like it. I can't remember properly.