Here it is you guyz. Their first date! Hope you enjoy!
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CHAPTER 19
Love is in the Air Pt. 1
"So where is it yer takin meh Cajun?" Rogue asked over the roar of the engine.
"It be a surprise petite." He answered simply.
She rolled her eyes. "Ah'm a little too old fer surprises dontcha think Cajun?" She asked.
"Non, y'can neva be too old fo' surprises." He assured her.
She smiled a little and he sped up a bit after turning onto an empty road off the highway.
She felt herself sliding off the bike slightly and she quickly tightened her grasp around Remy's waist. Remy grinned at this and continued at the fast pace.
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Kitty walked downstairs with an envelope in her hands. She saw Logan sitting on the couch, watching the football game. She smirked a little. 'Looks like Chloe didn't get to watch her show tonight after all.' She thought, feeling a little sorry for the girl but then realized that she was lying on the couch, entertaining herself with a magazine.
"I'm like going to the post office now." Kitty told anyone who was around her to let them know she was leaving the house.
Scott beeped his horn impatiently. "Come on Kitty, Jean and I are going to miss the movie." He yelled into the house.
They would have been at the movies already if one of his tires hadn't run over some broken glass in the road and they had to go back because the spare had just been used after a battle.
Kitty took this chance to get a ride into town.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Jeez Scott hold your horses." She said, phasing into the backseat. Jean was sitting up front and the other two mutants didn't look too pleased that Kitty was taking time away from when their date started. It started after she left.
"Ready!" Kitty said, clicking on her seatbelt.
Scott turned on the car and was about to drive through the gates when almost all of the other students came outside with envelopes in their hands.
"Hey wait up." Bobby shouted.
"Kitty can you drop off our letters to our families while your there?" Amara asked hopefully.
"Sure." Kitty said, and before she knew it she was buried under about sixty letters.
"Families?" Kitty asked them.
"Families, friends, pen pals, old neighbors. You know." Jubilee answered.
Kitty just rolled her eyes.
"Why don't you just hand me a sack and a blue cap and like make me a mailman?.girl..person." Kitty said sarcastically.
"the kids looked at each other before Kurt bamfed away and back in seconds with a blue baseball cap and a shopping bag.
"Good Idea." Bobby said to her as Kurt tossed the bag on her lap and put the cap on her head.
Kitty scowled at him for taking her seriously. He on the other hand had gotten a kick out of it.
"Can we go now!?" Scott asked, annoyed. He'd been looking at his watching for the past five minutes.
"Yes. Let's get out of here before they decide to have me drop off boxes too." Kitty said.
"Hey good idea." Ray said, getting ready to run in for a box.
"Oh no you don't. We're out of here." Scott said, kicking it into high gear and driving out of the institute at a fast pace.
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"Here we are mon belle femme." Remy announced, getting off the bike and holding out his hand for her to take when she got off.
She ignored the outstretched hand and helped herself down.
Remy smirked at her. This was going to be fun.
"Where are we? Ah don't remember seein this place in the Bayville restaurant directory." Rogue said, recalling the time they were so bored that her Kitty and Kurt had ended up spending the afternoon looking through the Bayville Yellow Pages.
"Dat probably be cause we aint in Bayville." He stated, walking over to the building.
It was a quaint little structure that was made out of wood and not the normal cement or plastic you saw in the city. It had a brick chimney on the top of the roof with smoke floating out of it and spreading into the air. The lights were on inside and you could hear people laughing and music playing. You could tell that the people inside were all having a good time.
Rogue stared, dumbfounded at the sign a few yards back. She squinted her eyes and read Crownsville.
"CROWNSVILLE? You drove us to Crownsville? That's two counties away!" She exclaimed, turning around to face him, only to find that he was already walking up to the doors of the eatery.
Rogue hurried and caught up with him and grabbed him arm. He stopped and contained his smile before turning around and looking at her innocently.
"How the hell did you manage to get us to Crownsville? We couldn't have been ridin fer more then an hour and a half." Rogue estimated.
"Forty-five minutes actually, but who's countin?" Remy asked, smirking at her reaction.
"How'd we get here so fast?" She asked.
"Remy knows a few shortcuts." He answered.
She cocked an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically.
"An' maybe he went a lil faster den de speed limit mighta wanted him to." He said, putting on an innocent face.
She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Well we're still alive. Ah'll give ya that. Now lets get inside. Its gonna start rainin." Rogue said, looking up at the clouds that were getting darker by the minute.
"Oui, Dis place be de best in de state. Remy comes here all de time. It be like a second home ta come home to fo' dinner." He said.
"Really? Didn't Magneto eva feed ya guys?" She asked.
"He supplied us wit food if dat be what ya mean chere.but would you wanna eat sometin made by a pyromaniac flame controller?" He asked her. We used up eight fire extinguisha's in de first five weeks o' livin dere." He said, putting a look of disgust on his face as he reminisced about the burnt cooking.
She laughed at his expression. It was an actual laugh and it made Remy's soul rise right out of his chest and float back down with like a feather. He smiled at her laughter. It was music to his ears. She was starting to open up.
Remy quickly, yet gently took Rogue's gloved hand in his bare one and laced their fingers together. She flinched at his move but he squeezed her hand comfortingly and she smiled and decided to let it slide just this once.
Her smile grew as the thunder in the background increased and the sun started to go down as the two mutants walked, hands intertwined, into the small diner together.
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Scott's car came to a slow stop in front of the post office as Kitty hoisted the bag of letters over her shoulder and got out of the car.
She still had the blue hat on and decided to leave it on. She decided to wear a blue sweater that day so it matched her outfit and with the hat covering her face partially, she had less of a chance to be noticed by any anti-mutant citizens of Bayville that may have caught her on the news.
"I feel like Saint Nick." Kitty remarked grumpily to the other two as she adjusted the sack over her shoulder.
"So? What's wrong with that? Everybody loves Santa Clause." Jean said humorously.
"I'm Jewish!" Exclaimed.
"Oh yeah." Jean recalled as her and Scott tried to contain their amused looks.
"Here, I want you to take a taxi home if you miss the bus. It's getting too dark for you to be out here by yourself and it's too far to walk back to the institute anyway." Scott said, handing her a ten-dollar bill.
"Okay." Kitty said, exasperated. She could take care of herself but she saw the logic in Scott's thinking.
"Happy Holidays Mrs. Clause." Jean said kidding before she and Scott sped away to the movie theatre a few blocks away.
"Ho, Ho, Ho!" Kitty said sarcastically in a grumpy, annoyed voice.
She slumped into the almost deserted post office.
She couldn't see the people's faces, only their feet and legs because Kurt's cap was two sizes too big for her head.
She stopped in front of one of the indoor mailboxes and scooped up a handful of letters from the sack and dropped them into the open slot.
She took another handful of letters from the bag and whirled around to dump them into the slot when someone intercepted her. She bumped into him and causing the letters to scatter all around her. There had to be at least fifteen of them on the ground.
She groaned before bending down and kneeling on the ground, trying to gather up her lost mail. The students would be peeved at her if one of their letters hadn't been mailed.
She had picked up six when she spotted a seventh under the table. She reached out her hand to retrieve it but instead of touching the letter her hand met with another hand.
He was kneeling and she saw that it was the man she had bumped into and he was holding some of her letters. 'How sweet.' She thought. 'He's helping me pick up my stuff. Now why aren't there any guys out there for me like that?' She mused.
"Uh.thanks." She said, taking the letters from him.
"I'm sorry. I did not mean to make you loose your things like that." The man said in a foreign voice that she could tell she knew from somewhere but she wasn't sure where exactly.
"Oh no, it was my fault. I should have been watching where I was going." She said.
She still couldn't see his face.
"Your welcome." He said, taking a step away from her and taking out a letter of his own.
He gently tucked it into the slot before getting stamps from the front desk.
Kitty had finished with all the letters and was about to leave when she slipped on a letter that she hadn't seen and would have skidded and fallen flat on her back if two strong arms hadn't caught her in the process.
"Are you okay?" The person asked. She heard that it was the man she had bumped into before.
"Yeah." She answered, picking herself up, embarrassed. She shoved the letter into the slot and dusted off her jeans.
"I'm such a klutz today. I guess its just one of those day." Kitty trailed off, seeing the man's face.
Her hat had fallen off her head when she slipped and she could see fully now.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something but found that her mouth was suddenly dry. She gulped down the dryness but could only say one thing while pointing a finger at him.
"You!"
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"Remy! Good ta see ya. We'll get you your regular table in just a sec alright sugah?" The young hostess said to him cheerfully. Rogue noticed that her mood had brightened incredibly when she saw him.
"Non petite. Dis time Remy gonna need ta sit somewhere wit two seats." He said, holding up the hand that was intertwined with Rogue's.
Rogue blushed at this. She liked being invisible. Remy was pointing her out.
"Oh Ah'm sorry. Ah didn't see ya there Sugah. A table fer two fer Mr. Le beau and his date." The teenage girl said a little more formally. She had a southern accent and it reminded Rogue of her life before she was a mutant briefly.
'They really do treat Remy like a part of the family here.' She thought to herself as they waited for a table. The girl was so informal it was like he was a brother. And then when Rogue was brought to attention she went back into service customer mode.
Remy smiled at her and she hurried off into the kitchen.
Rogue heard the other girl tell the people in the kitchen, "Remy's back ya'll. And he brought a girl." She said excitedly. They all made sounds of happiness at the news of his arrival. Rogue smiled and saw that Remy was smiling as well.
"When was thah last time ya came here?" She asked, laughing.
Remy's face grimaced for a few seconds and she saw it too but he soon replaced it with a smile.
"Jus' b'fo' his parents.jus' befo' Chloe came." Remy said, not wanting to say the first part. It would ruin the mood and he didn't want Rogue or anyone else feeling sorry for him.
She winced inwardly at her blunt stupidity and slapped herself in her head.
Remy was surprised when he felt Rogue's hand squeeze his comfortingly the way he had done for her, minutes before.
He looked down at her and saw that she was smiling up at him, her emerald eyes sincere.
He smiled back and felt a majority of the sadness he was feeling at the moment lift from him.
A minute later an older looking woman who was probably in her mid-forties came over and greeted them.
"Oh Remy it's so good to see you." She said in a motherly tone, opening her arms for a hug. Remy smiled at Rogue and hugged the older woman. She held him in an embrace the way a mother did with a child that had been away in college. She let go, smiled at him and smacked him hard on the side of his head with a folded up newspaper.
"Ow! Merde Denny, what was dat fo?" He asked, rubbing his head and squinting at her.
"Fer takin off all of a sudden without givin us any notice. I swear child one of these days your going to give us a heart attack. We were worried sick about you. Thought you might have been attacked by one of them Anti- Mutant people." She said standing up straight and scolding him.
"Sorry, sorry. You all should know Remy betta den dat. Y' know dose humans couldn't keep up wit him." He said cockily.
"You're not invincible you know. One of these days you're going to learn that the hard way." She told him.
Her attention turned from him as she just now noticed Rogue, who was watching the scene in front of her, feeling a little out of place.
"Well now who do we have here? It isn't often that Remy brings a girl with him." The older woman said.
Remy was about to open his mouth to introduce the two to each other when another voice interrupted them.
"That's because he's scared we're gonna scare her off."
Remy looked away from Rogue and Denny to see another teenage girl standing in the kitchen doorway in an apron and a short skirt with a pad and pen in her hand.
"Renee!" He exclaimed and his smile widened.
She just smiled back at him, her attitude seeming to go away with the smile that way growing on her face.
"Long time no see Swamp Rat." She said, walking over to him and giving him a hug. He lifted her off the ground and swung her around once a few inches from the floor before putting her back down.
"Bon t' see y' too River Rat." Remy answered. (Good)
"Dey finally promote y' to waitress huh?" he asked, looking down at her attire. "Yeah, oh and by the way thanks for that tip you gave me about waitressing. You were right. The shorter the skirt the higher the tip." She said to him.
He froze with a slightly guilty look on his face as he knew her mother, Denny, was right there.
"Yeah, thanks so much for that Remy." Deny said sarcastically.
"Well she's gotta learn de trade some time non?" He asked innocently.
The older woman rolled her eyes and continued to look over at Rogue.
"And what's your name Sugah?" Denny asked her, the motherly feeling about her returning when she started talking to Rogue.
"Mah name's Rogue." She said a little bit quieter then Remy had hoped. He had a feeling she'd be a little nervous but these people were good for curing nervousness.
"Well what'dya know. The Cajuns brought home a Southerner!" Renee said after hearing Rogue's accent.
"Oui, What can Remy say? He jus' loves de South." He said, grinning at Rogue.
"Well now why don't we leave ya'll alone and let ya order ya food." Denny said, pushing Renee away.
"Oh but I wanna see Remy get slapped by the girl." A voice came from under the table.
"Shut up ya moron." Another voice hissed.
Rogue looked utterly confused and felt even more out of place when she saw that everyone, even Remy seemed to know what was going on.
Denny sighed and rolled her eyes.
She looked to Remy who nodded with a grin and quietly made his way behind the cloth-covered table that the whispers were coming from.
Rogue was about to ask him what the hell he was doing when he put a finger to his lips and hushed the girls.
The other two watched in amusement as Remy lowered himself down to the hem of the cloth and quickly swiped it off.
He made a loud "garrrrrrr." Sound as if he were a bear or a monster.
Rogue heard two children scream and Remy snatched them from their hiding spot under the table and lifted them both up, swinging them around a few times high off the ground.
He set them down and they both hugged him. One was a small boy who looked about five and the other was a girl who couldn't have been more then four. The boy was the one who had given their hiding place away.
Rogue figured that out when he said "Mama Mama can we eat dinner with Remy tonight?"
"Yeah, we wanna show him how good we can color now and I want Remy to color with us." The girl said brightly.
Denny smiled and looked down at her son and daughter.
"No Tommy, no Jesse, Remy's got a guest with him tonight.
"Aw we know that." Tommy told her.
"Yeah, we'd share the crayons with her too." Jesse added.
Rogue couldn't help but laugh. They were so cute. And seeing Remy with them.it made her see him in a whole different light. How could this boy possibly have been one of Magneto's lackeys?
"Come on you two. Go show your colorin skills ta papa." Renee said, pushing them through the kitchen door.
"Will you be waitin on us chere?" Remy asked. He knew she wanted to eaves drop as much as possible.
"Well now that you mention it." She stopped when the bell on the door rang and a group of teenage boys walked in and waited for someone to seat them.
"On second thought Ah think Ah'll take a rain check. After all, ya'll should have some alone time." She said, grinning at the boys and walking over to them.
"Hey there boys. Mah name's Renee and Ah'll be ya server for tonight." She told them and began to flirt. "Merde." Sense when did she turn int' a teenaga? Remy only be gone a few weeks!" He asked.
That's all it took." Denny told him and showed them to their table.
They each sat on one side of the booth and looked through the orders.
"Ah'll send somebody ova ta take ya orders in a few minutes." Denny said before walking back into the kitchen.
"Well that was.different." Rogue said, trying to express her surprise, happiness, and humor with one word.
"Oui, dat it was." Remy said, smiling at her as she looked through the menu.
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Kitty was standing there staring at the man for at least a minute.
"Uhh.I um.I.you.you're." Kitty couldn't make out the words properly.
"Yes. I am." Colossus answered. She didn't need to say what she wanted to say for him to understand what she was thinking.
"Good day to you." He tried to think of a name but remembered none.
"Kitty." She answered for him. "Kitty Pryde."
"Yes, well.good day Kitty Pryde." He told her, turning to walk away.
"Wait!" She called after him as he walked out the door.
He stopped outside and turned to face her. 'Please don't make this harder then it already is Katja.' He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't of course. He'd never do anything to make her upset if he could help it.
"I just wanted to like.you know.Thank you." She said, getting shyer with each word.
He looked at her with curiosity and then decided on speaking.
"For what?" He inquired.
Kitty was puzzled. For the obvious of course. What did he mean for what?
"For like, saving my life and all back at the beach." She reminded him.
"Oh, right." He said, as if he had done the same thing everyday of his life.
"Your welcome Kitty Pryde." He answered.
"That's cute." She said.
"What is?" He asked at her randomness.
"You.I mean." She blushed at what she had just said accidentally.
"I mean the way you said my name. It was different. People don't usually use my last name with my first.unless of course you count when I'm in trouble or someone is yelling at me." She explained.
"Oh.sorry then." He apologized.
"No." She laughed a little and smiled at him.
"I mean it's a good kind of different." She told him.
"I see." He said.
"Hey um.I was gonna go get a drink at the Starbucks, do you maybe want to like go with me or something?" She asked, trying to sound casual but anyone could see it in her eyes that she was hoping he'd say yes.
"Just you know, for a minute or something. I have to wait to catch the bus anyways and I just didn't want to wait outside while it was getting dark." She added hastily, trying to sound less desperate. It didn't work.
He was about to say something when another person interrupted their conversation.
"Excuse me miss, but is this your hat?" A man from inside the post office called to her.
She walked up to him to get a look at the hat and realized that it was the blue cap Kurt had let her wear. "Oh like thanks sir." She said, taking the hat from him graciously.
"No problem young lady." The old man told her. She was such a polite young girl. They needed more of them in the world.
"Is there anyone with you? Its awfully late to be out here alone at your age." He asked.
"Oh well I was just talking to someone while I was waiting for the bus." She answered.
"Really? Who?" The man asked.
"Right over." Kitty turned around and saw an empty street and sidewalk.
"There?" She finished, wondering where the other mutant had gone.
"Well it looks like he's not here now and I hate to tell you this but you just missed the last bus for the night." The man informed her.
"Oh well then I'll just flag down a taxi." She said.
She reached inside her pocket and not only found no ten dollar bill but a hole.
"Oh great. A hole in my favorite pair of jeans and I loose Scott's ten dollars on top of that." She muttered to herself.
"You need to use the phone inside miss?" The old man asked.
"No, but thank you for offering." She told him.
She really was polite. The last teens that had come into his office tried to hold him up.
"My friends are watching a movie at the theatre a couple blocks away so I can just walk to their car."
She said to the man.
"See you, and thanks again for my hat." She told him, walking down the sidewalk.
"Uh.young lady!" He called to her. She stopped as he walked up to her.
He took the hat from her hands and put in on her head.
Kitty looked at him as if he were insane.
"Its best to wear something on your head.so your face is hidden by certain people." He told her.
She just stared at him, bewildered.
"Certain people that may not be ready to except things of the future." He explained, trying to get across his point subtly.
"Oooh!" She finally understood what he was getting at. She looked at him curiously again. "You don't mind? I mean you're not scared or angry?" She asked, realizing that he knew what she was.
"Now why would I be? You're a polite young lady and that's all I see. Now hurry along before it gets to dark." He said, winking at her and walking back to his office.
"Wow! That was a definite change in pace." Kitty thought aloud as she started her long walk to the theatre and Scott's car.
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"Mails here!" Bobby shouted as everyone gathered around him, taking their own letters.
Chloe sat with Logan still watching the game. She had gotten bored with her magazine and decided to try and understand the game of football sense she had nothing better to do. Unfortunately for Logan, he was the one who had to help her understand the sport, and it was in no way fun for him.
"So Why can't that guy just run with the ball while he's got it in his hands? Everybody's just standing there while the one guy shouts out numbers." Chloe asked.
"Its just a rule of the game." Logan answered.
This had been the fifth question she'd had in the last three minutes.
"Ouch! Are they allowed to do that? It looks like it hurt. Shouldn't someone bring out a stretcher or something?" She asked the older man.
"Yes they are, yes it probably did, and no they shouldn't because he aint hurt that bad." Logan answered gruffly.
He was trying to control his anger but she was annoying him during a football game and he'd just chugged down the only beer he brought back from the store to the mansion. He wasn't allowed to keep beer here with the kids but in this case he had the bottle with him at all times until he drank it, which was about three minutes after Chloe started asking questions.
"Is that good?" Chloe asked as a man caught the ball in his hands.
"Yes."
"Is your team winning?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because little girls keep asking them questions and distracting them from their game." He said, letting off his steam the most subtle way possible.
"Oh." She answered quietly.
There was silence for a few seconds and then.
"So why don't they just have the kids moved away from the players if they're distracting them?" Chloe asked naively.
Logan groaned as the commercials came on.
"Do not change that channel. And threaten anyone who comes near that remote a weeks worth of extra danger room sessions." He said gruffly, walking down the hall.
Chloe looked at her watch and looked down the hall where Logan had disappeared. She smiled with a mischievous look in her eyes and a somewhat evil smirk.
"Is he getting annoyed yet?" Jubilee asked as her and Amara stuck their heads into the room.
"Totally. He's about to burst. All I'm doing is asking questions about football. And he's getting so mad." She told the other two.
"Yeah but it'll all be worth it once its seven thirty." Amara reminded her.
"Yeah, but I don't know. I just don't feel right you know. Lying to Logan and all." Chloe admitted.
"We're not lying." Tabby said, entering the room. "We're just making the chances better for us then against us." She told the others.
"And besides do you think Badger would actually go for us going out to a party where there's gonna be college guys which means beer?" Tabby asked.
They all nodded a no.
"So all we have to do is wait for your friend to call and then we're outta here." The blonde told the others.
"Yeah okay, but I still don't feel right about it." Jubilee complained.
You steel the X-jet and take it for a joyride with the guys, yet you cant get the nerve to go out to one little party with the girls?" Tabbitha asked incredulously.
"Its not that. Its just that." Jubilee stopped herself.
"That she cant bare to be without her boyfriend Bobby." Amara finished.
"Oh Bobby I love you so much!" Chloe said, trying to imitate Jubilee.
"I love you too Jubes. I even made a giant heart out of ice to show you because that and telling lame jokes and pulling immature pranks are the only things I'm really good at." Amara said to Chloe in a lower voice, trying to show that she was being Bobby.
The two girls bumped together and fell to the ground laughing so hard their sides started to hurt.
"Very funny you two." Jubilee replied, scowling at the girls as she tried her best to make the blush leave from her face.
"Why didn't you just say so girl? We can bring him along, as long as he acts like a human being.I mean.you know what I mean." Tabby said, remembering that they weren't actually classified as humans to begin with.
"But then the other guys will want to come and when they're together they can't be trusted." Amara pointed out.
"We'll just take Bobby next time then." Chloe said.
"Guys the badger is on his way back." Tabby whispered.
"Its Wolverine." The man yelled from down the hall.
"Come on guys. We should go and make sure nobody is on the phone incase someone calls." Amara said, hinting the obvious.
Logan just rolled his eyes at their peculiar behavior. He did not want, need, or intend on figuring out teenage girls.
"Right, okay guys. See you later." Chloe said as Logan sat down and the cheerleaders started dancing around when the game came back on.
"Yikes! Aren't there rules against moves like that?" Chloe asked. She was running out of questions but luckily for her Logan was running out of patience.
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"So what did ya order mon chere?" Remy asked as a young girl that resembled Renee at an older age took their menus and left for their drinks.
"Lemme guess. Y' ordered de catfish an' de grits non?" Remy asked, but the whole way he said it made him sound like he was sure that's what she was ordering.
"What, ya think just cause Ah'm from the South that Ah order Catfish and grits? Ya think ya know meh so well dontcha?" Rogue accused.
"Oui."
"Yer so full of it ya know that?"
"Oui. So what did y' order den?" He asked, smiling at her.
Rogue was silent for a moment.
"None of yer business Swamp Rat." She retorted.
"Knew it." Remy said cockily.
"An' let Remy guess, ya ordered a diet root beer wit it." He guessed.
"No." She shot back.
"Really?" Remy asked curiously.
"Root beer. Not Diet." She told him.
He just grinned even more.
"Ah think Ah'm startin ta see why ya like ta come here so much." Rogue said.
The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. They were sitting near the fire but far enough away so that they weren't too hot.
Rogue had her left hand in her lap and her right hand on the table in front of her.
Remy took her right hand in both of his and held it lovingly while talking to her.
"Oui, Remy sees dis place as a home away from home, as do many of de otter people dat come out here. It ain' jus' de food dat be bringin people out here. It be de service an' de people dat work here an' treat ya like family." He explained, a smile growing on his face.
Rogue flinched a bit as he touched her gloved hand but kept her hand where it was.
"Ah see. So what did ya'll order then?" She asked.
"De same." He said simply.
"Remy! Remy! Look at what I made!" Jesse exclaimed, scurrying out of the kitchen, holding a piece of paper proudly in her hand. She went over to the booth that they were sitting at and climbed onto the seat with Remy.
Remy looked toward Rogue in a somewhat apologetic way but she just smiled to let him know there was no harm done in the disruption.
"Alright petite. Let's see what y' got here." He said, taking the picture from her and sitting her on his lap.
"See! There's mama and Renee and Jordan and Tommy and Papa and me." She said, pointing at each of her drawings of the people. "And there's you with you cards." She told him. I'm sitting on your knee like in the picture we took a while ago." She explained.
Remy smiled at her lovingly and patted her on the head.
"Yo' a regula Vango Mon petite.
"An' who be dis?" Remy asked, pointing to the drawing next to Remy.
"That's her." Jesse said, pointing over at Rogue.
"See there's your different colored hair and there's the pretty dress you're warring and your gloves." The little girl explained, showing the picture to Rogue.
Rogue's smile widened.
"And this is the title." She said, going back to talking to Remy.
"My Famlee." He read aloud. The four year old still couldn't spell very well but he understood what it said.
"Dis be de best picture Remy has ever seen." Remy told the little girl, winking at Rogue.
Renee stopped on her way to the kitchen to get an order when she spotted Jesse with Remy. She rolled her eyes and smiled before walking over to the table.
"Yeah. In fact why don't we go show papa and get it put up on the wall with ya otha pictures?" Renee said, taking the picture and picking up her little sister.
"Okay." Jesse said, clinging onto her sister's neck.
Renee gave Remy and Rogue an apologetic look mixed with amusement at the situation going on and headed back into the kitchen with the younger girl.
"Sorry bout dat chere." Remy apologized.
Rogue just laughed.
"What be so funny?" He questioned, grabbing her hand once more.
"Nothin. It's just that Ah see ya here with these people and then Ah think about thah first time Ah saw ya. They just don't fit togetha." She explained.
"Oh, Remy sees what ya talkin' bout. Remy be different den Gambit." He explained.
Rogue nodded her head in agreement.
After a long, uncomfortable silence between the two it was Rogue who decided to speak up.
"So.how is everything?" She asked, not really knowing how she wanted to say what she was thinking.
"Come again belle?"
"Ah mean with all that's been goin on with thah X-men, thah Acolytes and Chloe and all that. After ya got Chloe ya said things were pretty rough so Ah was just wonderin if they.ya know, were gettin' easier on ya." She explained. Rogue was trying to avoid mentioning the subject of his parent's death but this was a question she wanted to ask him and was hoping he'd answer.
Remy was silent but only for a second of so.
"It's been betta den b'fo. Now dat Remy aint workin' fo Mags an' all." He answered, staring into the glass of water that was given to him with the menus.
"Oh." Rogue said simply.
She didn't know why but she felt a little down at his answer. 'He said he was doin better. That was a good answer. So why did she feel like she was hoping for him to say something else.
"Tings got a lot betta when Remy came t' de X-men.Specially sense you be dere chere." He told her in a quiet, husky voice.
Rogue blushed as his breath tickled her ear. He was leaning over the table a little, as was she, so he was close to her head.
Rogue didn't realize it at that moment, and when she did she'd never admit it but that was what she wanted the Cajun to say for his answer.
"Ahem." Jordan, the girl who'd taken their orders before, was standing at the table, clearing her throat to let herself be known to the couple.
Rogue realized at that point just how close she was to Remy and quickly jerked herself, and her hand away from him and leaned back into the cushion of the booth.
Remy sighed in defeat and at Jordan's impeccable timing.
"Oh don't mind me, I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Jordan told them.
"You weren't. Trust meh." Rogue assured her.
"Oh, well then here's ya food. Eat up." She said, handing the two trays of catfish and grits to the couple.
"Knew it." Remy said again with a cocky smile.
"Aw just shut up and eat Swamp Rat." Rogue said, trying to avoid his eyes as she looked at her food.
It smelled and tasted just like the food back in Mississippi did. The aroma of the spicy cuisine brought back a few memories of her past but they were diminished as she started eating.
Jordan returned a minute later with their drinks.
"Sorry bout the drinks. Ah forgot ta bring em out." She apologized.
Rogue took the root beer and rank a few sips before continuing with her meal.
Jordan turned around and was about to leave when Remy stopped drinking his beverage and called her back.
"Hey! Remy ordered beer, not root beer." He told Jordan.
"Its not root beer. She has the root beer. You, my Cajun friend, have a diet root beer." She corrected him playfully.
"So where's mon beer?" Remy asked her.
"In the fridge in the back." She said as he started to get up.
"When your twenty-one." She finished.
"Says who?" He asked.
"Says Papa, that's who." She replied.
"But Remy be nineteen. Only a few years younger den 21 an' y' let Remy have wine an' beer all de time." Remy reminded her.
"Yeah but yer always alone when ya come and ya don't usually leave till late or morning when its worn off more." She explained.
"Sides, its one thing ta chance gettin yer face messed up in a bike accident. Its anotha to chance ya girl gettin' beat up with ya and Mama doesn't want nuthin ta happen to this one so sorry mon ami, no boos fer you tonight." She said, changing her Southern accent to a Cajun one when using the French words.
With that she smiled at him, put one of those silly straws in his cup and walked off.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kitty walked casually around the block to get closer to the Cineplex. The wind blew her hair back but it was humid out all day so it was like a giant hair dryer was blowing in her face as she walked.
She decided to take the short cut through the empty alleys so she'd be able to get there in time to catch Jean and Scott and to avoid any passer bys that didn't feel the same way about her kind as the old man at the post office did.
She heard the smashing of glass, garbage cans being knocked over and car alarms going off somewhere near by. 'Why was the movie theatre in the bad part of Bayville's busy downtown area?' She asked herself in her head.
She heard a group of men laughing and joking with slurred speech in a nearby alley. They had obviously been drinking that night.
Kitty looked at her watch and was surprised to see that it was only 7: 30. 'How could they be drunk already? Its so early.' She thought to herself again.
At that moment she didn't want to know. She heard the men approaching her and started walking at a much faster pace. She tried to act casual as if nothing was bothering her but she couldn't shake the eerie feelings she was getting.
"This place just screams rape, hold up, and murder scene." She said aloud, crossing her arms over her chest tightly and speeding up her walking.
'Maybe I should just risk the media and stick to the streets. At least there's more people out in the public there.' She mused.
She was turned directions and headed toward the nearest opening to the streets. She was about to go down the last block to get to the theatre when another unexpected gust of warm wind blew into her face. The strong current of air blew her oversized hat off of her head and it danced in the wind behind her.
"Hey! Come back here!" She called after it as if it would suddenly do as she told.
Forgetting that she was heading in the wrong direction, Kitty ran after the runaway baseball cap as it toyed with her, occasionally touching the ground and getting picked up again by the wind when she was closer to it.
She growled in frustration and raced faster after Kurt's baseball cap.
When the wind finally resided the hat fell to the ground and Kitty was about to retrieve it when someone picked it up.
"Hm.nice hat." The boy said, plucking it from the ground and dusting it off before putting it snuggly on his head.
He was about seventeen as far as Kitty could tell. She thought he may have been in her Computer class once but she wasn't sure.
"Hey! That's like mine." Kitty said, walking over to him.
He took the hat off and examined it.
"Oh it is, is it?" He asked, looking over the hat as if the material would give him an answer he needed.
"Yes. Now if you don't mind I'll just be taking it and." The boy took a step back when she tried to grab the hat.
"Actually I do mind. It looks better on me anyways." He said. His friends that were standing behind him all snickered.
'Oh great. Just what I needed tonight.' Kitty thought, annoyed at the boy's immaturity.
"Come on, just like give me that hat already!" She asked, a little pleadingly but mostly just sounding aggravated.
"Hey, I know you." The boy said after looking her up and down for a minute.
Kitty's eyes widened. "No.no you don't. You know someone who looks like me but you don't know me." She tried to assure him.
"Yes I do. You were in my computer class last semester. You're the one who crashed three computers all at the same time on a weekly basis." He said, starting to recall her identity.
"Well yeah but that was just because I was like trying to hack into the government files and.I mean yeah I guess I overdid it on the computer games." She said, trying to cover up what she had just blurted out.
"Suuure. What ever you say kid." He said looking her up and down again.
"What!?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest again. She was really uncomfortable the way he was looking at her like a hawk or something.
"Nothing. I just thought I saw you from somewhere else but I can't remember." He told her.
'Oh great, the one teenage boy that actually watches the news more then reading playboys and I run into him.' She thought bitterly, though it didn't matter weather or not he had watched the news.
Everyone at school was talking about who Kitty and her friends really were. Or rather what they were. She'd better get the hat and make an exit before he remembered where he'd seen her before besides class.
She tried to snatch the hat in that was now in his hand but he lifted his arm up over her head with ease, not having to stretch because she was so much shorter then he was already. He held it over her head and they all laughed at her feeble attempts to reach it.
Needless to say Kitty was getting very fed up and if she didn't hurry up she'd be too late to catch a ride with Scott and be stuck in downtown Bayville at night.
"Hey I remember where I saw you from now!" The boy announced, looking down at her as he stopped his laughing. Kitty finally caught the hat and snatched it from him.
"Good for you. Now if you'll excuse me I like really need to get going." She said as casually as she could before turning and walking away from them.
"Why? So you can go meet up with all your mutie friends and plan a conspiracy against human kind?" He asked harshly. His friends all stopped laughing and stood up straight, watching her suspiciously after what their friend had just accused her of.
"What? Who me? A mutant?" She asked, trying to sound a little shocked and outraged that he'd even think of such a thing.
While she was at school or with her friends then it was okay to admit that she was a mutant, but even though she felt bad about denying who she really was, she knew that it was best to deny then to get caught in a battle of four against one.
"Yes you. Don't deny it. I knew I saw you before. You were on the news and in the papers." He recalled.
"Okay I don't know what you guys are like on, but I can honestly tell you that I'm not who you say I am." She said, turning around to leave again.
"Oh no? Well then catch this." He yelled as he picked up a garbage can lid and swung it at her like a Frisbee.
She should have ducked, she could have ducked, and she probably would have ducked if her powers weren't phasing through things.
Unfortunately, she instinctively phased through the lid and it went spinning into the store window behind them.
When the boy accused her of being a mutant the people around them stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the teenagers. By now everyone on the street was watching, staring dumbfounded at what had just happened.
"I knew it!" The Boy scowled.
"Okay.look let's not like get too out of hand here. I mean yes I did just do what you saw but I really don't want this to turn into a.." The boy cut off kitty.
"MUTIE!" He yelled pointing over at her as everyone ran, screamed, bumped into each other or just stayed and watched her, yelling things like "Get the Mutie. Take down the evil."
".riot." Kitty finished what she was saying with a tone of annoyance, frustration, worry, and fear.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
~Ring Ring Ring~
"Is somebody gonna get that?" Logan asked, looking over his shoulder, away from the football game.
In a matter of seconds there was a group of girls crowding around the phone.
Amara shushed them all and answered the phone calmly.
"Hello, Xavier's institute for gifted youngsters. Amara speaking." The girl said formally. That was the way they were told to answer the phone whenever it rang.
"Oh you must be Conner. Hold on. I'll go check." Amara said into the phone before gently placing it down on the table and walking over to Chloe. She'd made sure her voice carried enough for Logan and Chloe to hear her from the next room.
"Chloe, Conner's on the phone." Amara told the girl on the couch.
"Really? What does he want?" Chloe asked curiously.
"Hold on. I'll go check." Amara said, running out of the room.
Logan rolled his eyes. This was getting way past annoying.
"Would you look at that? I haven't seen a play like that in all the years I've been announcer. I hope the people at home saw it because that was UNBELIEVABLE!" The announcer exclaimed on the television.
"What!? What just happened? Who did what?" Logan asked, turning back to the screen quickly.
"Um.the people in the blue shirts were tumbling over the people in the red shirts and the ball was in the air and..or was it the people in the red shirts were jumping on the people in the blue shirts and the ball was in somebody's hands? No I definitely think it was..um.." Chloe babbled on.
Logan shook his head at what had just happened. He wasn't going to get a good answer from the girl who was asking him questions about the sport every other minute.
"Forget it Kid." He said gruffly, turning his attention back to the game so he wouldn't miss anymore.
Amara came back into the room and looked from Logan to Chloe. Logan was ignoring her presence, trying to salvage what was left of his game.
"He wants to know if you want to hang out with him and his friends from school. They were going to go to the mall or something." Amara explained. "He also invited the rest of us to go too." She added.
"I don't know. I mean it would be nice to get out of this house but I'd have to ask the adults and everything so maybe I should just pass on it." Chloe said.
"You don't want to go out?" Amara asked, playing along with the girl on the couch.
"Well I do but I'm just starting to like this whole football thing and there's another game coming on after this one and I was gonna watch it with Logan. That way I can ask all my questions about the game and he'd answer them." She said a little louder then her normal volume, making sure that even with his super hearing, Wolverine still heard her load and clear.
Logan's eyes widened in what looked like fear but it wasn't a scared fear it was an 'oh god if she stays here through the next game my head is going to explode.' Fear. Either way he wasn't going to have that happen.
Logan stood up from the TV, walked over to the phone in the other room, followed by Chloe and Amara, and picked it up.
"You Conner?" He asked.
The person on the other end must have answered a yes because Logan continued to talk.
"Good, now listen up bub. Yer gonna pick up Chloe and all her little friends and take them out. No drugs, nothin illegal and if I find out you or one of your punk friends hurt or did anything the girls didn't want, I'll personally skin each and everyone of you." He told the boy. "Got it?" He asked gruffly. Amara and Chloe watched, hoping that Conner didn't get cold feet on them. Logan was less intimidating on the phone then in person but not by much. Conner must have said the right thing because Logan nodded in agreement.
"You'll pick them up in ten minutes and drop them off at ten o'clock, got it bub?" Logan asked into the phone.
"Well if I'm only staying out until ten then I might as well stay in and watch football with you Logan." Chloe interrupted them.
"I know, we can make a game out of the questions I ask you. It'll be fun." She said enthusiastically.
"Make that Eleven, but not a millisecond later." Logan said to Conner.
Wolverine slammed the phone back down on the hook and all the girls looked at him hopefully even though they knew what the verdict was.
"You've got ten minutes until he's here." He said in a low, gruff voice, trying to sound a little intimidating.
The girls all squealed and cheered in joy and hugged Logan before running up the stairs to get ready which took away any macho-intimidation he might have still had at that point.
Logan walked back to the couch and sat down, getting ready to watch the next game without any interruptions.
Though he was totally unaware of it, in the process of getting rid of the teenage girls for the night he had also helped set them up on a date-like night of partying with older guys.
He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, enjoying the relaxing silence.
"Logan you're a Genius." He said to himself, closing his eyes and soaking up the peace until his next game.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rogue looked around thoughtfully after dinner, waiting for the check to come..
'This really is a nice place.' She mused.
"Well mon chere, how'd ya like dinner?" Remy asked, dabbing his mouth with a napkin.
"Ah have ta admit Swamp Rat, Ah had a betta time then Ah thought Ah would." She confessed.
"Bon, den yo' gonna love what Remy's got planned next fo' his chere." He told her, standing from his seat and straightening his apparel as she did the same.
"Next? As in there's more ta come?" She asked, surprised.
"Oui. Remy tol' ya he gonna take ya out fo' some fun an' all an' dat be jus' what he plans on doin." He said, taking her hand. They had already said goodbye to everyone and they were about to leave when Jordan came up to the table to clear it off.
"What about the bill?" Rogue asked him.
"No need fer that hun. This ones on the house seein as how Remy's brought a lady friend back with him." Jordan told her.
"Remy told ya he's got it all taken care of." He assured Rogue but before he could leave Jordan tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oui petite?" He asked. "Ya may be out of payin for the food but the service don't count." Jordan told him.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "And de service, dat would be you, non?" Remy guessed.
"Ding Ding Ding! That is correct Mr. Le beau. Let's tell him what he's won folks." She said sarcastically in a game show host's voice.
Remy laughed. "Remy gets de point." He said, reaching for his wallet.
"Dese tips o' yo's are still goin toward de same ting as b'fo' non?" He asked.
"Correct." She said, as he handed her a hundred dollar bill and a fifty.
"She grinned at him and her blue eyes sparkled with happiness.
"Thanks Remy." She said, giving him a big hug and saying goodbye before walking into the kitchen, counting that night's earnings.
"That was an awful lot for a tip. What's it going to anyways?" Rogue asked curiously as they made their way out the door and toward his bike, hands intertwined again.
"Oh dat? It be fo' Jordan's college fund." He answered, getting his helmet out.
"College?" She asked.
"Oui. She got a partial scholarship t' de first college workin' on undastandin de X-gene an' evolution of humans." He explained.
Rogue stopped walking for a minute. "I didn't know there even was such a place. Shouldn't that be a bad thing? I mean if the people decide to use what they've learned against us." Rogue questioned.
"Non chere, dis be only fo' de non anti-mutant scholars. It aint open to de public. Dey find you, you don' find dem." He replied.
"So its like a secret or somethin? Like S.H.I.E.L.D? She asked, recalling Logan's friends from the past.
"Oui. Sometin like dat. Dey only take dose who were recommended by people workin' dere or students dat show potential. Stuff like dat." He explained as he waited for her to get on the bike.
"So like the whole secret agent thing?" She asked, feeling a little immature at her analogy.
"I guess yo' could say dat. Now come on chere. We best be goin' if ya wanna get t' de otta part of Remy's surprise." He said, turning on the engine.
She wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and with a loud, powerful roar of the engine, they were gone.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
GAH!
I so did not mean for this to be so long. There was a lot going on in this chapter I know, but don't worry, There's a part two to the chapter and it'll be up as soon as I finish it.
I sort of left you all at a cliffhanger here with Kitty and the other girls are all going out partying. How did you guys feel about the partying idea? Just wondering. Incase you forgot, Conner was in one of the earlier chapters so he didn't just appear out of thin air.
I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do this so I'm gonna do it anyways.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men: Evolution, Marvel does. And I don't know why people have disclaimers because not one of the people out there that write these fics do own X-men: Evolution, and if they are, then they should stop writing the fics and starts with the cartoons.
Okay I do own the following characters. Chloe, The old guy at the post office, Conner, the boy that was picking on Kitty, and the people at the Diner that Remy and Rogue were at.
Tell me what you think about this chapter okay? I really really hope I did it right but just to let you know I'm sick in bed and typing this on my laptop. That's why I'm posting it earlier then I would have and all.
Thanks for everyone's reviews. You Guyz seriously Rock!!!
Review this chapter please. Tell me what the second half needs and I might put it on. I've already got it planned out but there's always room for improvement. Trust me there is going to be Romyness in the next part of the chapter.
Later days people! -AngieX
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CHAPTER 19
Love is in the Air Pt. 1
"So where is it yer takin meh Cajun?" Rogue asked over the roar of the engine.
"It be a surprise petite." He answered simply.
She rolled her eyes. "Ah'm a little too old fer surprises dontcha think Cajun?" She asked.
"Non, y'can neva be too old fo' surprises." He assured her.
She smiled a little and he sped up a bit after turning onto an empty road off the highway.
She felt herself sliding off the bike slightly and she quickly tightened her grasp around Remy's waist. Remy grinned at this and continued at the fast pace.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kitty walked downstairs with an envelope in her hands. She saw Logan sitting on the couch, watching the football game. She smirked a little. 'Looks like Chloe didn't get to watch her show tonight after all.' She thought, feeling a little sorry for the girl but then realized that she was lying on the couch, entertaining herself with a magazine.
"I'm like going to the post office now." Kitty told anyone who was around her to let them know she was leaving the house.
Scott beeped his horn impatiently. "Come on Kitty, Jean and I are going to miss the movie." He yelled into the house.
They would have been at the movies already if one of his tires hadn't run over some broken glass in the road and they had to go back because the spare had just been used after a battle.
Kitty took this chance to get a ride into town.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Jeez Scott hold your horses." She said, phasing into the backseat. Jean was sitting up front and the other two mutants didn't look too pleased that Kitty was taking time away from when their date started. It started after she left.
"Ready!" Kitty said, clicking on her seatbelt.
Scott turned on the car and was about to drive through the gates when almost all of the other students came outside with envelopes in their hands.
"Hey wait up." Bobby shouted.
"Kitty can you drop off our letters to our families while your there?" Amara asked hopefully.
"Sure." Kitty said, and before she knew it she was buried under about sixty letters.
"Families?" Kitty asked them.
"Families, friends, pen pals, old neighbors. You know." Jubilee answered.
Kitty just rolled her eyes.
"Why don't you just hand me a sack and a blue cap and like make me a mailman?.girl..person." Kitty said sarcastically.
"the kids looked at each other before Kurt bamfed away and back in seconds with a blue baseball cap and a shopping bag.
"Good Idea." Bobby said to her as Kurt tossed the bag on her lap and put the cap on her head.
Kitty scowled at him for taking her seriously. He on the other hand had gotten a kick out of it.
"Can we go now!?" Scott asked, annoyed. He'd been looking at his watching for the past five minutes.
"Yes. Let's get out of here before they decide to have me drop off boxes too." Kitty said.
"Hey good idea." Ray said, getting ready to run in for a box.
"Oh no you don't. We're out of here." Scott said, kicking it into high gear and driving out of the institute at a fast pace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Here we are mon belle femme." Remy announced, getting off the bike and holding out his hand for her to take when she got off.
She ignored the outstretched hand and helped herself down.
Remy smirked at her. This was going to be fun.
"Where are we? Ah don't remember seein this place in the Bayville restaurant directory." Rogue said, recalling the time they were so bored that her Kitty and Kurt had ended up spending the afternoon looking through the Bayville Yellow Pages.
"Dat probably be cause we aint in Bayville." He stated, walking over to the building.
It was a quaint little structure that was made out of wood and not the normal cement or plastic you saw in the city. It had a brick chimney on the top of the roof with smoke floating out of it and spreading into the air. The lights were on inside and you could hear people laughing and music playing. You could tell that the people inside were all having a good time.
Rogue stared, dumbfounded at the sign a few yards back. She squinted her eyes and read Crownsville.
"CROWNSVILLE? You drove us to Crownsville? That's two counties away!" She exclaimed, turning around to face him, only to find that he was already walking up to the doors of the eatery.
Rogue hurried and caught up with him and grabbed him arm. He stopped and contained his smile before turning around and looking at her innocently.
"How the hell did you manage to get us to Crownsville? We couldn't have been ridin fer more then an hour and a half." Rogue estimated.
"Forty-five minutes actually, but who's countin?" Remy asked, smirking at her reaction.
"How'd we get here so fast?" She asked.
"Remy knows a few shortcuts." He answered.
She cocked an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically.
"An' maybe he went a lil faster den de speed limit mighta wanted him to." He said, putting on an innocent face.
She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Well we're still alive. Ah'll give ya that. Now lets get inside. Its gonna start rainin." Rogue said, looking up at the clouds that were getting darker by the minute.
"Oui, Dis place be de best in de state. Remy comes here all de time. It be like a second home ta come home to fo' dinner." He said.
"Really? Didn't Magneto eva feed ya guys?" She asked.
"He supplied us wit food if dat be what ya mean chere.but would you wanna eat sometin made by a pyromaniac flame controller?" He asked her. We used up eight fire extinguisha's in de first five weeks o' livin dere." He said, putting a look of disgust on his face as he reminisced about the burnt cooking.
She laughed at his expression. It was an actual laugh and it made Remy's soul rise right out of his chest and float back down with like a feather. He smiled at her laughter. It was music to his ears. She was starting to open up.
Remy quickly, yet gently took Rogue's gloved hand in his bare one and laced their fingers together. She flinched at his move but he squeezed her hand comfortingly and she smiled and decided to let it slide just this once.
Her smile grew as the thunder in the background increased and the sun started to go down as the two mutants walked, hands intertwined, into the small diner together.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Scott's car came to a slow stop in front of the post office as Kitty hoisted the bag of letters over her shoulder and got out of the car.
She still had the blue hat on and decided to leave it on. She decided to wear a blue sweater that day so it matched her outfit and with the hat covering her face partially, she had less of a chance to be noticed by any anti-mutant citizens of Bayville that may have caught her on the news.
"I feel like Saint Nick." Kitty remarked grumpily to the other two as she adjusted the sack over her shoulder.
"So? What's wrong with that? Everybody loves Santa Clause." Jean said humorously.
"I'm Jewish!" Exclaimed.
"Oh yeah." Jean recalled as her and Scott tried to contain their amused looks.
"Here, I want you to take a taxi home if you miss the bus. It's getting too dark for you to be out here by yourself and it's too far to walk back to the institute anyway." Scott said, handing her a ten-dollar bill.
"Okay." Kitty said, exasperated. She could take care of herself but she saw the logic in Scott's thinking.
"Happy Holidays Mrs. Clause." Jean said kidding before she and Scott sped away to the movie theatre a few blocks away.
"Ho, Ho, Ho!" Kitty said sarcastically in a grumpy, annoyed voice.
She slumped into the almost deserted post office.
She couldn't see the people's faces, only their feet and legs because Kurt's cap was two sizes too big for her head.
She stopped in front of one of the indoor mailboxes and scooped up a handful of letters from the sack and dropped them into the open slot.
She took another handful of letters from the bag and whirled around to dump them into the slot when someone intercepted her. She bumped into him and causing the letters to scatter all around her. There had to be at least fifteen of them on the ground.
She groaned before bending down and kneeling on the ground, trying to gather up her lost mail. The students would be peeved at her if one of their letters hadn't been mailed.
She had picked up six when she spotted a seventh under the table. She reached out her hand to retrieve it but instead of touching the letter her hand met with another hand.
He was kneeling and she saw that it was the man she had bumped into and he was holding some of her letters. 'How sweet.' She thought. 'He's helping me pick up my stuff. Now why aren't there any guys out there for me like that?' She mused.
"Uh.thanks." She said, taking the letters from him.
"I'm sorry. I did not mean to make you loose your things like that." The man said in a foreign voice that she could tell she knew from somewhere but she wasn't sure where exactly.
"Oh no, it was my fault. I should have been watching where I was going." She said.
She still couldn't see his face.
"Your welcome." He said, taking a step away from her and taking out a letter of his own.
He gently tucked it into the slot before getting stamps from the front desk.
Kitty had finished with all the letters and was about to leave when she slipped on a letter that she hadn't seen and would have skidded and fallen flat on her back if two strong arms hadn't caught her in the process.
"Are you okay?" The person asked. She heard that it was the man she had bumped into before.
"Yeah." She answered, picking herself up, embarrassed. She shoved the letter into the slot and dusted off her jeans.
"I'm such a klutz today. I guess its just one of those day." Kitty trailed off, seeing the man's face.
Her hat had fallen off her head when she slipped and she could see fully now.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something but found that her mouth was suddenly dry. She gulped down the dryness but could only say one thing while pointing a finger at him.
"You!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Remy! Good ta see ya. We'll get you your regular table in just a sec alright sugah?" The young hostess said to him cheerfully. Rogue noticed that her mood had brightened incredibly when she saw him.
"Non petite. Dis time Remy gonna need ta sit somewhere wit two seats." He said, holding up the hand that was intertwined with Rogue's.
Rogue blushed at this. She liked being invisible. Remy was pointing her out.
"Oh Ah'm sorry. Ah didn't see ya there Sugah. A table fer two fer Mr. Le beau and his date." The teenage girl said a little more formally. She had a southern accent and it reminded Rogue of her life before she was a mutant briefly.
'They really do treat Remy like a part of the family here.' She thought to herself as they waited for a table. The girl was so informal it was like he was a brother. And then when Rogue was brought to attention she went back into service customer mode.
Remy smiled at her and she hurried off into the kitchen.
Rogue heard the other girl tell the people in the kitchen, "Remy's back ya'll. And he brought a girl." She said excitedly. They all made sounds of happiness at the news of his arrival. Rogue smiled and saw that Remy was smiling as well.
"When was thah last time ya came here?" She asked, laughing.
Remy's face grimaced for a few seconds and she saw it too but he soon replaced it with a smile.
"Jus' b'fo' his parents.jus' befo' Chloe came." Remy said, not wanting to say the first part. It would ruin the mood and he didn't want Rogue or anyone else feeling sorry for him.
She winced inwardly at her blunt stupidity and slapped herself in her head.
Remy was surprised when he felt Rogue's hand squeeze his comfortingly the way he had done for her, minutes before.
He looked down at her and saw that she was smiling up at him, her emerald eyes sincere.
He smiled back and felt a majority of the sadness he was feeling at the moment lift from him.
A minute later an older looking woman who was probably in her mid-forties came over and greeted them.
"Oh Remy it's so good to see you." She said in a motherly tone, opening her arms for a hug. Remy smiled at Rogue and hugged the older woman. She held him in an embrace the way a mother did with a child that had been away in college. She let go, smiled at him and smacked him hard on the side of his head with a folded up newspaper.
"Ow! Merde Denny, what was dat fo?" He asked, rubbing his head and squinting at her.
"Fer takin off all of a sudden without givin us any notice. I swear child one of these days your going to give us a heart attack. We were worried sick about you. Thought you might have been attacked by one of them Anti- Mutant people." She said standing up straight and scolding him.
"Sorry, sorry. You all should know Remy betta den dat. Y' know dose humans couldn't keep up wit him." He said cockily.
"You're not invincible you know. One of these days you're going to learn that the hard way." She told him.
Her attention turned from him as she just now noticed Rogue, who was watching the scene in front of her, feeling a little out of place.
"Well now who do we have here? It isn't often that Remy brings a girl with him." The older woman said.
Remy was about to open his mouth to introduce the two to each other when another voice interrupted them.
"That's because he's scared we're gonna scare her off."
Remy looked away from Rogue and Denny to see another teenage girl standing in the kitchen doorway in an apron and a short skirt with a pad and pen in her hand.
"Renee!" He exclaimed and his smile widened.
She just smiled back at him, her attitude seeming to go away with the smile that way growing on her face.
"Long time no see Swamp Rat." She said, walking over to him and giving him a hug. He lifted her off the ground and swung her around once a few inches from the floor before putting her back down.
"Bon t' see y' too River Rat." Remy answered. (Good)
"Dey finally promote y' to waitress huh?" he asked, looking down at her attire. "Yeah, oh and by the way thanks for that tip you gave me about waitressing. You were right. The shorter the skirt the higher the tip." She said to him.
He froze with a slightly guilty look on his face as he knew her mother, Denny, was right there.
"Yeah, thanks so much for that Remy." Deny said sarcastically.
"Well she's gotta learn de trade some time non?" He asked innocently.
The older woman rolled her eyes and continued to look over at Rogue.
"And what's your name Sugah?" Denny asked her, the motherly feeling about her returning when she started talking to Rogue.
"Mah name's Rogue." She said a little bit quieter then Remy had hoped. He had a feeling she'd be a little nervous but these people were good for curing nervousness.
"Well what'dya know. The Cajuns brought home a Southerner!" Renee said after hearing Rogue's accent.
"Oui, What can Remy say? He jus' loves de South." He said, grinning at Rogue.
"Well now why don't we leave ya'll alone and let ya order ya food." Denny said, pushing Renee away.
"Oh but I wanna see Remy get slapped by the girl." A voice came from under the table.
"Shut up ya moron." Another voice hissed.
Rogue looked utterly confused and felt even more out of place when she saw that everyone, even Remy seemed to know what was going on.
Denny sighed and rolled her eyes.
She looked to Remy who nodded with a grin and quietly made his way behind the cloth-covered table that the whispers were coming from.
Rogue was about to ask him what the hell he was doing when he put a finger to his lips and hushed the girls.
The other two watched in amusement as Remy lowered himself down to the hem of the cloth and quickly swiped it off.
He made a loud "garrrrrrr." Sound as if he were a bear or a monster.
Rogue heard two children scream and Remy snatched them from their hiding spot under the table and lifted them both up, swinging them around a few times high off the ground.
He set them down and they both hugged him. One was a small boy who looked about five and the other was a girl who couldn't have been more then four. The boy was the one who had given their hiding place away.
Rogue figured that out when he said "Mama Mama can we eat dinner with Remy tonight?"
"Yeah, we wanna show him how good we can color now and I want Remy to color with us." The girl said brightly.
Denny smiled and looked down at her son and daughter.
"No Tommy, no Jesse, Remy's got a guest with him tonight.
"Aw we know that." Tommy told her.
"Yeah, we'd share the crayons with her too." Jesse added.
Rogue couldn't help but laugh. They were so cute. And seeing Remy with them.it made her see him in a whole different light. How could this boy possibly have been one of Magneto's lackeys?
"Come on you two. Go show your colorin skills ta papa." Renee said, pushing them through the kitchen door.
"Will you be waitin on us chere?" Remy asked. He knew she wanted to eaves drop as much as possible.
"Well now that you mention it." She stopped when the bell on the door rang and a group of teenage boys walked in and waited for someone to seat them.
"On second thought Ah think Ah'll take a rain check. After all, ya'll should have some alone time." She said, grinning at the boys and walking over to them.
"Hey there boys. Mah name's Renee and Ah'll be ya server for tonight." She told them and began to flirt. "Merde." Sense when did she turn int' a teenaga? Remy only be gone a few weeks!" He asked.
That's all it took." Denny told him and showed them to their table.
They each sat on one side of the booth and looked through the orders.
"Ah'll send somebody ova ta take ya orders in a few minutes." Denny said before walking back into the kitchen.
"Well that was.different." Rogue said, trying to express her surprise, happiness, and humor with one word.
"Oui, dat it was." Remy said, smiling at her as she looked through the menu.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kitty was standing there staring at the man for at least a minute.
"Uhh.I um.I.you.you're." Kitty couldn't make out the words properly.
"Yes. I am." Colossus answered. She didn't need to say what she wanted to say for him to understand what she was thinking.
"Good day to you." He tried to think of a name but remembered none.
"Kitty." She answered for him. "Kitty Pryde."
"Yes, well.good day Kitty Pryde." He told her, turning to walk away.
"Wait!" She called after him as he walked out the door.
He stopped outside and turned to face her. 'Please don't make this harder then it already is Katja.' He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't of course. He'd never do anything to make her upset if he could help it.
"I just wanted to like.you know.Thank you." She said, getting shyer with each word.
He looked at her with curiosity and then decided on speaking.
"For what?" He inquired.
Kitty was puzzled. For the obvious of course. What did he mean for what?
"For like, saving my life and all back at the beach." She reminded him.
"Oh, right." He said, as if he had done the same thing everyday of his life.
"Your welcome Kitty Pryde." He answered.
"That's cute." She said.
"What is?" He asked at her randomness.
"You.I mean." She blushed at what she had just said accidentally.
"I mean the way you said my name. It was different. People don't usually use my last name with my first.unless of course you count when I'm in trouble or someone is yelling at me." She explained.
"Oh.sorry then." He apologized.
"No." She laughed a little and smiled at him.
"I mean it's a good kind of different." She told him.
"I see." He said.
"Hey um.I was gonna go get a drink at the Starbucks, do you maybe want to like go with me or something?" She asked, trying to sound casual but anyone could see it in her eyes that she was hoping he'd say yes.
"Just you know, for a minute or something. I have to wait to catch the bus anyways and I just didn't want to wait outside while it was getting dark." She added hastily, trying to sound less desperate. It didn't work.
He was about to say something when another person interrupted their conversation.
"Excuse me miss, but is this your hat?" A man from inside the post office called to her.
She walked up to him to get a look at the hat and realized that it was the blue cap Kurt had let her wear. "Oh like thanks sir." She said, taking the hat from him graciously.
"No problem young lady." The old man told her. She was such a polite young girl. They needed more of them in the world.
"Is there anyone with you? Its awfully late to be out here alone at your age." He asked.
"Oh well I was just talking to someone while I was waiting for the bus." She answered.
"Really? Who?" The man asked.
"Right over." Kitty turned around and saw an empty street and sidewalk.
"There?" She finished, wondering where the other mutant had gone.
"Well it looks like he's not here now and I hate to tell you this but you just missed the last bus for the night." The man informed her.
"Oh well then I'll just flag down a taxi." She said.
She reached inside her pocket and not only found no ten dollar bill but a hole.
"Oh great. A hole in my favorite pair of jeans and I loose Scott's ten dollars on top of that." She muttered to herself.
"You need to use the phone inside miss?" The old man asked.
"No, but thank you for offering." She told him.
She really was polite. The last teens that had come into his office tried to hold him up.
"My friends are watching a movie at the theatre a couple blocks away so I can just walk to their car."
She said to the man.
"See you, and thanks again for my hat." She told him, walking down the sidewalk.
"Uh.young lady!" He called to her. She stopped as he walked up to her.
He took the hat from her hands and put in on her head.
Kitty looked at him as if he were insane.
"Its best to wear something on your head.so your face is hidden by certain people." He told her.
She just stared at him, bewildered.
"Certain people that may not be ready to except things of the future." He explained, trying to get across his point subtly.
"Oooh!" She finally understood what he was getting at. She looked at him curiously again. "You don't mind? I mean you're not scared or angry?" She asked, realizing that he knew what she was.
"Now why would I be? You're a polite young lady and that's all I see. Now hurry along before it gets to dark." He said, winking at her and walking back to his office.
"Wow! That was a definite change in pace." Kitty thought aloud as she started her long walk to the theatre and Scott's car.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Mails here!" Bobby shouted as everyone gathered around him, taking their own letters.
Chloe sat with Logan still watching the game. She had gotten bored with her magazine and decided to try and understand the game of football sense she had nothing better to do. Unfortunately for Logan, he was the one who had to help her understand the sport, and it was in no way fun for him.
"So Why can't that guy just run with the ball while he's got it in his hands? Everybody's just standing there while the one guy shouts out numbers." Chloe asked.
"Its just a rule of the game." Logan answered.
This had been the fifth question she'd had in the last three minutes.
"Ouch! Are they allowed to do that? It looks like it hurt. Shouldn't someone bring out a stretcher or something?" She asked the older man.
"Yes they are, yes it probably did, and no they shouldn't because he aint hurt that bad." Logan answered gruffly.
He was trying to control his anger but she was annoying him during a football game and he'd just chugged down the only beer he brought back from the store to the mansion. He wasn't allowed to keep beer here with the kids but in this case he had the bottle with him at all times until he drank it, which was about three minutes after Chloe started asking questions.
"Is that good?" Chloe asked as a man caught the ball in his hands.
"Yes."
"Is your team winning?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because little girls keep asking them questions and distracting them from their game." He said, letting off his steam the most subtle way possible.
"Oh." She answered quietly.
There was silence for a few seconds and then.
"So why don't they just have the kids moved away from the players if they're distracting them?" Chloe asked naively.
Logan groaned as the commercials came on.
"Do not change that channel. And threaten anyone who comes near that remote a weeks worth of extra danger room sessions." He said gruffly, walking down the hall.
Chloe looked at her watch and looked down the hall where Logan had disappeared. She smiled with a mischievous look in her eyes and a somewhat evil smirk.
"Is he getting annoyed yet?" Jubilee asked as her and Amara stuck their heads into the room.
"Totally. He's about to burst. All I'm doing is asking questions about football. And he's getting so mad." She told the other two.
"Yeah but it'll all be worth it once its seven thirty." Amara reminded her.
"Yeah, but I don't know. I just don't feel right you know. Lying to Logan and all." Chloe admitted.
"We're not lying." Tabby said, entering the room. "We're just making the chances better for us then against us." She told the others.
"And besides do you think Badger would actually go for us going out to a party where there's gonna be college guys which means beer?" Tabby asked.
They all nodded a no.
"So all we have to do is wait for your friend to call and then we're outta here." The blonde told the others.
"Yeah okay, but I still don't feel right about it." Jubilee complained.
You steel the X-jet and take it for a joyride with the guys, yet you cant get the nerve to go out to one little party with the girls?" Tabbitha asked incredulously.
"Its not that. Its just that." Jubilee stopped herself.
"That she cant bare to be without her boyfriend Bobby." Amara finished.
"Oh Bobby I love you so much!" Chloe said, trying to imitate Jubilee.
"I love you too Jubes. I even made a giant heart out of ice to show you because that and telling lame jokes and pulling immature pranks are the only things I'm really good at." Amara said to Chloe in a lower voice, trying to show that she was being Bobby.
The two girls bumped together and fell to the ground laughing so hard their sides started to hurt.
"Very funny you two." Jubilee replied, scowling at the girls as she tried her best to make the blush leave from her face.
"Why didn't you just say so girl? We can bring him along, as long as he acts like a human being.I mean.you know what I mean." Tabby said, remembering that they weren't actually classified as humans to begin with.
"But then the other guys will want to come and when they're together they can't be trusted." Amara pointed out.
"We'll just take Bobby next time then." Chloe said.
"Guys the badger is on his way back." Tabby whispered.
"Its Wolverine." The man yelled from down the hall.
"Come on guys. We should go and make sure nobody is on the phone incase someone calls." Amara said, hinting the obvious.
Logan just rolled his eyes at their peculiar behavior. He did not want, need, or intend on figuring out teenage girls.
"Right, okay guys. See you later." Chloe said as Logan sat down and the cheerleaders started dancing around when the game came back on.
"Yikes! Aren't there rules against moves like that?" Chloe asked. She was running out of questions but luckily for her Logan was running out of patience.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So what did ya order mon chere?" Remy asked as a young girl that resembled Renee at an older age took their menus and left for their drinks.
"Lemme guess. Y' ordered de catfish an' de grits non?" Remy asked, but the whole way he said it made him sound like he was sure that's what she was ordering.
"What, ya think just cause Ah'm from the South that Ah order Catfish and grits? Ya think ya know meh so well dontcha?" Rogue accused.
"Oui."
"Yer so full of it ya know that?"
"Oui. So what did y' order den?" He asked, smiling at her.
Rogue was silent for a moment.
"None of yer business Swamp Rat." She retorted.
"Knew it." Remy said cockily.
"An' let Remy guess, ya ordered a diet root beer wit it." He guessed.
"No." She shot back.
"Really?" Remy asked curiously.
"Root beer. Not Diet." She told him.
He just grinned even more.
"Ah think Ah'm startin ta see why ya like ta come here so much." Rogue said.
The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. They were sitting near the fire but far enough away so that they weren't too hot.
Rogue had her left hand in her lap and her right hand on the table in front of her.
Remy took her right hand in both of his and held it lovingly while talking to her.
"Oui, Remy sees dis place as a home away from home, as do many of de otter people dat come out here. It ain' jus' de food dat be bringin people out here. It be de service an' de people dat work here an' treat ya like family." He explained, a smile growing on his face.
Rogue flinched a bit as he touched her gloved hand but kept her hand where it was.
"Ah see. So what did ya'll order then?" She asked.
"De same." He said simply.
"Remy! Remy! Look at what I made!" Jesse exclaimed, scurrying out of the kitchen, holding a piece of paper proudly in her hand. She went over to the booth that they were sitting at and climbed onto the seat with Remy.
Remy looked toward Rogue in a somewhat apologetic way but she just smiled to let him know there was no harm done in the disruption.
"Alright petite. Let's see what y' got here." He said, taking the picture from her and sitting her on his lap.
"See! There's mama and Renee and Jordan and Tommy and Papa and me." She said, pointing at each of her drawings of the people. "And there's you with you cards." She told him. I'm sitting on your knee like in the picture we took a while ago." She explained.
Remy smiled at her lovingly and patted her on the head.
"Yo' a regula Vango Mon petite.
"An' who be dis?" Remy asked, pointing to the drawing next to Remy.
"That's her." Jesse said, pointing over at Rogue.
"See there's your different colored hair and there's the pretty dress you're warring and your gloves." The little girl explained, showing the picture to Rogue.
Rogue's smile widened.
"And this is the title." She said, going back to talking to Remy.
"My Famlee." He read aloud. The four year old still couldn't spell very well but he understood what it said.
"Dis be de best picture Remy has ever seen." Remy told the little girl, winking at Rogue.
Renee stopped on her way to the kitchen to get an order when she spotted Jesse with Remy. She rolled her eyes and smiled before walking over to the table.
"Yeah. In fact why don't we go show papa and get it put up on the wall with ya otha pictures?" Renee said, taking the picture and picking up her little sister.
"Okay." Jesse said, clinging onto her sister's neck.
Renee gave Remy and Rogue an apologetic look mixed with amusement at the situation going on and headed back into the kitchen with the younger girl.
"Sorry bout dat chere." Remy apologized.
Rogue just laughed.
"What be so funny?" He questioned, grabbing her hand once more.
"Nothin. It's just that Ah see ya here with these people and then Ah think about thah first time Ah saw ya. They just don't fit togetha." She explained.
"Oh, Remy sees what ya talkin' bout. Remy be different den Gambit." He explained.
Rogue nodded her head in agreement.
After a long, uncomfortable silence between the two it was Rogue who decided to speak up.
"So.how is everything?" She asked, not really knowing how she wanted to say what she was thinking.
"Come again belle?"
"Ah mean with all that's been goin on with thah X-men, thah Acolytes and Chloe and all that. After ya got Chloe ya said things were pretty rough so Ah was just wonderin if they.ya know, were gettin' easier on ya." She explained. Rogue was trying to avoid mentioning the subject of his parent's death but this was a question she wanted to ask him and was hoping he'd answer.
Remy was silent but only for a second of so.
"It's been betta den b'fo. Now dat Remy aint workin' fo Mags an' all." He answered, staring into the glass of water that was given to him with the menus.
"Oh." Rogue said simply.
She didn't know why but she felt a little down at his answer. 'He said he was doin better. That was a good answer. So why did she feel like she was hoping for him to say something else.
"Tings got a lot betta when Remy came t' de X-men.Specially sense you be dere chere." He told her in a quiet, husky voice.
Rogue blushed as his breath tickled her ear. He was leaning over the table a little, as was she, so he was close to her head.
Rogue didn't realize it at that moment, and when she did she'd never admit it but that was what she wanted the Cajun to say for his answer.
"Ahem." Jordan, the girl who'd taken their orders before, was standing at the table, clearing her throat to let herself be known to the couple.
Rogue realized at that point just how close she was to Remy and quickly jerked herself, and her hand away from him and leaned back into the cushion of the booth.
Remy sighed in defeat and at Jordan's impeccable timing.
"Oh don't mind me, I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Jordan told them.
"You weren't. Trust meh." Rogue assured her.
"Oh, well then here's ya food. Eat up." She said, handing the two trays of catfish and grits to the couple.
"Knew it." Remy said again with a cocky smile.
"Aw just shut up and eat Swamp Rat." Rogue said, trying to avoid his eyes as she looked at her food.
It smelled and tasted just like the food back in Mississippi did. The aroma of the spicy cuisine brought back a few memories of her past but they were diminished as she started eating.
Jordan returned a minute later with their drinks.
"Sorry bout the drinks. Ah forgot ta bring em out." She apologized.
Rogue took the root beer and rank a few sips before continuing with her meal.
Jordan turned around and was about to leave when Remy stopped drinking his beverage and called her back.
"Hey! Remy ordered beer, not root beer." He told Jordan.
"Its not root beer. She has the root beer. You, my Cajun friend, have a diet root beer." She corrected him playfully.
"So where's mon beer?" Remy asked her.
"In the fridge in the back." She said as he started to get up.
"When your twenty-one." She finished.
"Says who?" He asked.
"Says Papa, that's who." She replied.
"But Remy be nineteen. Only a few years younger den 21 an' y' let Remy have wine an' beer all de time." Remy reminded her.
"Yeah but yer always alone when ya come and ya don't usually leave till late or morning when its worn off more." She explained.
"Sides, its one thing ta chance gettin yer face messed up in a bike accident. Its anotha to chance ya girl gettin' beat up with ya and Mama doesn't want nuthin ta happen to this one so sorry mon ami, no boos fer you tonight." She said, changing her Southern accent to a Cajun one when using the French words.
With that she smiled at him, put one of those silly straws in his cup and walked off.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kitty walked casually around the block to get closer to the Cineplex. The wind blew her hair back but it was humid out all day so it was like a giant hair dryer was blowing in her face as she walked.
She decided to take the short cut through the empty alleys so she'd be able to get there in time to catch Jean and Scott and to avoid any passer bys that didn't feel the same way about her kind as the old man at the post office did.
She heard the smashing of glass, garbage cans being knocked over and car alarms going off somewhere near by. 'Why was the movie theatre in the bad part of Bayville's busy downtown area?' She asked herself in her head.
She heard a group of men laughing and joking with slurred speech in a nearby alley. They had obviously been drinking that night.
Kitty looked at her watch and was surprised to see that it was only 7: 30. 'How could they be drunk already? Its so early.' She thought to herself again.
At that moment she didn't want to know. She heard the men approaching her and started walking at a much faster pace. She tried to act casual as if nothing was bothering her but she couldn't shake the eerie feelings she was getting.
"This place just screams rape, hold up, and murder scene." She said aloud, crossing her arms over her chest tightly and speeding up her walking.
'Maybe I should just risk the media and stick to the streets. At least there's more people out in the public there.' She mused.
She was turned directions and headed toward the nearest opening to the streets. She was about to go down the last block to get to the theatre when another unexpected gust of warm wind blew into her face. The strong current of air blew her oversized hat off of her head and it danced in the wind behind her.
"Hey! Come back here!" She called after it as if it would suddenly do as she told.
Forgetting that she was heading in the wrong direction, Kitty ran after the runaway baseball cap as it toyed with her, occasionally touching the ground and getting picked up again by the wind when she was closer to it.
She growled in frustration and raced faster after Kurt's baseball cap.
When the wind finally resided the hat fell to the ground and Kitty was about to retrieve it when someone picked it up.
"Hm.nice hat." The boy said, plucking it from the ground and dusting it off before putting it snuggly on his head.
He was about seventeen as far as Kitty could tell. She thought he may have been in her Computer class once but she wasn't sure.
"Hey! That's like mine." Kitty said, walking over to him.
He took the hat off and examined it.
"Oh it is, is it?" He asked, looking over the hat as if the material would give him an answer he needed.
"Yes. Now if you don't mind I'll just be taking it and." The boy took a step back when she tried to grab the hat.
"Actually I do mind. It looks better on me anyways." He said. His friends that were standing behind him all snickered.
'Oh great. Just what I needed tonight.' Kitty thought, annoyed at the boy's immaturity.
"Come on, just like give me that hat already!" She asked, a little pleadingly but mostly just sounding aggravated.
"Hey, I know you." The boy said after looking her up and down for a minute.
Kitty's eyes widened. "No.no you don't. You know someone who looks like me but you don't know me." She tried to assure him.
"Yes I do. You were in my computer class last semester. You're the one who crashed three computers all at the same time on a weekly basis." He said, starting to recall her identity.
"Well yeah but that was just because I was like trying to hack into the government files and.I mean yeah I guess I overdid it on the computer games." She said, trying to cover up what she had just blurted out.
"Suuure. What ever you say kid." He said looking her up and down again.
"What!?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest again. She was really uncomfortable the way he was looking at her like a hawk or something.
"Nothing. I just thought I saw you from somewhere else but I can't remember." He told her.
'Oh great, the one teenage boy that actually watches the news more then reading playboys and I run into him.' She thought bitterly, though it didn't matter weather or not he had watched the news.
Everyone at school was talking about who Kitty and her friends really were. Or rather what they were. She'd better get the hat and make an exit before he remembered where he'd seen her before besides class.
She tried to snatch the hat in that was now in his hand but he lifted his arm up over her head with ease, not having to stretch because she was so much shorter then he was already. He held it over her head and they all laughed at her feeble attempts to reach it.
Needless to say Kitty was getting very fed up and if she didn't hurry up she'd be too late to catch a ride with Scott and be stuck in downtown Bayville at night.
"Hey I remember where I saw you from now!" The boy announced, looking down at her as he stopped his laughing. Kitty finally caught the hat and snatched it from him.
"Good for you. Now if you'll excuse me I like really need to get going." She said as casually as she could before turning and walking away from them.
"Why? So you can go meet up with all your mutie friends and plan a conspiracy against human kind?" He asked harshly. His friends all stopped laughing and stood up straight, watching her suspiciously after what their friend had just accused her of.
"What? Who me? A mutant?" She asked, trying to sound a little shocked and outraged that he'd even think of such a thing.
While she was at school or with her friends then it was okay to admit that she was a mutant, but even though she felt bad about denying who she really was, she knew that it was best to deny then to get caught in a battle of four against one.
"Yes you. Don't deny it. I knew I saw you before. You were on the news and in the papers." He recalled.
"Okay I don't know what you guys are like on, but I can honestly tell you that I'm not who you say I am." She said, turning around to leave again.
"Oh no? Well then catch this." He yelled as he picked up a garbage can lid and swung it at her like a Frisbee.
She should have ducked, she could have ducked, and she probably would have ducked if her powers weren't phasing through things.
Unfortunately, she instinctively phased through the lid and it went spinning into the store window behind them.
When the boy accused her of being a mutant the people around them stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the teenagers. By now everyone on the street was watching, staring dumbfounded at what had just happened.
"I knew it!" The Boy scowled.
"Okay.look let's not like get too out of hand here. I mean yes I did just do what you saw but I really don't want this to turn into a.." The boy cut off kitty.
"MUTIE!" He yelled pointing over at her as everyone ran, screamed, bumped into each other or just stayed and watched her, yelling things like "Get the Mutie. Take down the evil."
".riot." Kitty finished what she was saying with a tone of annoyance, frustration, worry, and fear.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
~Ring Ring Ring~
"Is somebody gonna get that?" Logan asked, looking over his shoulder, away from the football game.
In a matter of seconds there was a group of girls crowding around the phone.
Amara shushed them all and answered the phone calmly.
"Hello, Xavier's institute for gifted youngsters. Amara speaking." The girl said formally. That was the way they were told to answer the phone whenever it rang.
"Oh you must be Conner. Hold on. I'll go check." Amara said into the phone before gently placing it down on the table and walking over to Chloe. She'd made sure her voice carried enough for Logan and Chloe to hear her from the next room.
"Chloe, Conner's on the phone." Amara told the girl on the couch.
"Really? What does he want?" Chloe asked curiously.
"Hold on. I'll go check." Amara said, running out of the room.
Logan rolled his eyes. This was getting way past annoying.
"Would you look at that? I haven't seen a play like that in all the years I've been announcer. I hope the people at home saw it because that was UNBELIEVABLE!" The announcer exclaimed on the television.
"What!? What just happened? Who did what?" Logan asked, turning back to the screen quickly.
"Um.the people in the blue shirts were tumbling over the people in the red shirts and the ball was in the air and..or was it the people in the red shirts were jumping on the people in the blue shirts and the ball was in somebody's hands? No I definitely think it was..um.." Chloe babbled on.
Logan shook his head at what had just happened. He wasn't going to get a good answer from the girl who was asking him questions about the sport every other minute.
"Forget it Kid." He said gruffly, turning his attention back to the game so he wouldn't miss anymore.
Amara came back into the room and looked from Logan to Chloe. Logan was ignoring her presence, trying to salvage what was left of his game.
"He wants to know if you want to hang out with him and his friends from school. They were going to go to the mall or something." Amara explained. "He also invited the rest of us to go too." She added.
"I don't know. I mean it would be nice to get out of this house but I'd have to ask the adults and everything so maybe I should just pass on it." Chloe said.
"You don't want to go out?" Amara asked, playing along with the girl on the couch.
"Well I do but I'm just starting to like this whole football thing and there's another game coming on after this one and I was gonna watch it with Logan. That way I can ask all my questions about the game and he'd answer them." She said a little louder then her normal volume, making sure that even with his super hearing, Wolverine still heard her load and clear.
Logan's eyes widened in what looked like fear but it wasn't a scared fear it was an 'oh god if she stays here through the next game my head is going to explode.' Fear. Either way he wasn't going to have that happen.
Logan stood up from the TV, walked over to the phone in the other room, followed by Chloe and Amara, and picked it up.
"You Conner?" He asked.
The person on the other end must have answered a yes because Logan continued to talk.
"Good, now listen up bub. Yer gonna pick up Chloe and all her little friends and take them out. No drugs, nothin illegal and if I find out you or one of your punk friends hurt or did anything the girls didn't want, I'll personally skin each and everyone of you." He told the boy. "Got it?" He asked gruffly. Amara and Chloe watched, hoping that Conner didn't get cold feet on them. Logan was less intimidating on the phone then in person but not by much. Conner must have said the right thing because Logan nodded in agreement.
"You'll pick them up in ten minutes and drop them off at ten o'clock, got it bub?" Logan asked into the phone.
"Well if I'm only staying out until ten then I might as well stay in and watch football with you Logan." Chloe interrupted them.
"I know, we can make a game out of the questions I ask you. It'll be fun." She said enthusiastically.
"Make that Eleven, but not a millisecond later." Logan said to Conner.
Wolverine slammed the phone back down on the hook and all the girls looked at him hopefully even though they knew what the verdict was.
"You've got ten minutes until he's here." He said in a low, gruff voice, trying to sound a little intimidating.
The girls all squealed and cheered in joy and hugged Logan before running up the stairs to get ready which took away any macho-intimidation he might have still had at that point.
Logan walked back to the couch and sat down, getting ready to watch the next game without any interruptions.
Though he was totally unaware of it, in the process of getting rid of the teenage girls for the night he had also helped set them up on a date-like night of partying with older guys.
He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, enjoying the relaxing silence.
"Logan you're a Genius." He said to himself, closing his eyes and soaking up the peace until his next game.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rogue looked around thoughtfully after dinner, waiting for the check to come..
'This really is a nice place.' She mused.
"Well mon chere, how'd ya like dinner?" Remy asked, dabbing his mouth with a napkin.
"Ah have ta admit Swamp Rat, Ah had a betta time then Ah thought Ah would." She confessed.
"Bon, den yo' gonna love what Remy's got planned next fo' his chere." He told her, standing from his seat and straightening his apparel as she did the same.
"Next? As in there's more ta come?" She asked, surprised.
"Oui. Remy tol' ya he gonna take ya out fo' some fun an' all an' dat be jus' what he plans on doin." He said, taking her hand. They had already said goodbye to everyone and they were about to leave when Jordan came up to the table to clear it off.
"What about the bill?" Rogue asked him.
"No need fer that hun. This ones on the house seein as how Remy's brought a lady friend back with him." Jordan told her.
"Remy told ya he's got it all taken care of." He assured Rogue but before he could leave Jordan tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oui petite?" He asked. "Ya may be out of payin for the food but the service don't count." Jordan told him.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "And de service, dat would be you, non?" Remy guessed.
"Ding Ding Ding! That is correct Mr. Le beau. Let's tell him what he's won folks." She said sarcastically in a game show host's voice.
Remy laughed. "Remy gets de point." He said, reaching for his wallet.
"Dese tips o' yo's are still goin toward de same ting as b'fo' non?" He asked.
"Correct." She said, as he handed her a hundred dollar bill and a fifty.
"She grinned at him and her blue eyes sparkled with happiness.
"Thanks Remy." She said, giving him a big hug and saying goodbye before walking into the kitchen, counting that night's earnings.
"That was an awful lot for a tip. What's it going to anyways?" Rogue asked curiously as they made their way out the door and toward his bike, hands intertwined again.
"Oh dat? It be fo' Jordan's college fund." He answered, getting his helmet out.
"College?" She asked.
"Oui. She got a partial scholarship t' de first college workin' on undastandin de X-gene an' evolution of humans." He explained.
Rogue stopped walking for a minute. "I didn't know there even was such a place. Shouldn't that be a bad thing? I mean if the people decide to use what they've learned against us." Rogue questioned.
"Non chere, dis be only fo' de non anti-mutant scholars. It aint open to de public. Dey find you, you don' find dem." He replied.
"So its like a secret or somethin? Like S.H.I.E.L.D? She asked, recalling Logan's friends from the past.
"Oui. Sometin like dat. Dey only take dose who were recommended by people workin' dere or students dat show potential. Stuff like dat." He explained as he waited for her to get on the bike.
"So like the whole secret agent thing?" She asked, feeling a little immature at her analogy.
"I guess yo' could say dat. Now come on chere. We best be goin' if ya wanna get t' de otta part of Remy's surprise." He said, turning on the engine.
She wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and with a loud, powerful roar of the engine, they were gone.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
GAH!
I so did not mean for this to be so long. There was a lot going on in this chapter I know, but don't worry, There's a part two to the chapter and it'll be up as soon as I finish it.
I sort of left you all at a cliffhanger here with Kitty and the other girls are all going out partying. How did you guys feel about the partying idea? Just wondering. Incase you forgot, Conner was in one of the earlier chapters so he didn't just appear out of thin air.
I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do this so I'm gonna do it anyways.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men: Evolution, Marvel does. And I don't know why people have disclaimers because not one of the people out there that write these fics do own X-men: Evolution, and if they are, then they should stop writing the fics and starts with the cartoons.
Okay I do own the following characters. Chloe, The old guy at the post office, Conner, the boy that was picking on Kitty, and the people at the Diner that Remy and Rogue were at.
Tell me what you think about this chapter okay? I really really hope I did it right but just to let you know I'm sick in bed and typing this on my laptop. That's why I'm posting it earlier then I would have and all.
Thanks for everyone's reviews. You Guyz seriously Rock!!!
Review this chapter please. Tell me what the second half needs and I might put it on. I've already got it planned out but there's always room for improvement. Trust me there is going to be Romyness in the next part of the chapter.
Later days people! -AngieX