Whew! That certainly took a while, didn't it? Sorry bout that; first, FanFiction.net decides to suspend me for about a week because of a couple fics I wrote over a year ago, then I had problems with my laptop adapter (my dad fixed it! ^_^), then I went on vacation. Boy, did I need a vacation. Anyways, during the cruise my family took, I was able to find some quiet time to scribble down a few more chapters. This one, I believe, will appeal very muchly to those of you Rogue/Remy fans who've been after my throat since chapter 4.
klucky: Ain't Jamie cute? Umm…Xavier's an evil jerk all right. I'm not gonna say if you're right or wrong, 'cause it'll give some major plot away.
DaHippo: We do need more stories featuring the new recruits, don't we? Yes, Tabby and Ray are a rather… interesting duo.
Neva: *grabs out dictionary* conniessur…conniessur…Ah! I'm glad you like my approach. Once again, I'm not gonna say anything. Gotta leave some surprises for later, don't I? (yes, I got the Jamie crush thing from "Self Possessed", btw—and don't think I'm through with it yet!)
Eileen: Nice. I made someone who can't stand Tabby pity her? It's a start at least. I know I wasn't gonna give away spoilers, but…do you think I would really so something like that to Amara?
todd fan: I'll do my best!
ishandahalf: You know, you should really patent that phrase; this is the second time you've used it in a review to me for this fic. Oh, and I hope you're happy; Rogue and Remy weren't originally even supposed to BE in this chapter, but somehow ended up taking up over half of it! I even had to move a bunch of scenes over into the next chapter. *sigh* An authoress' work is never done…
Lady MR: *counts* Yup, I think you got 'em all for now. Once again, ain't Jamie the cutest little thing; I tried asking Marvel and KidsWB if I could trade him for my little brother (hey, they're about the same age), but they said no! Sniffle… Okay, here's the deal with RoLo. I am a big RoLo fan, but it would be really hard to slip it in here right now without drifting away from the plotline. Gimme a few chapters, and I'll see what I can do…but I can't promise anything.
Thanks to Chaos and Irina for your reviews, too!
[Random Quote: "You mean someone was actually desperate enough to become…MRS. Gambit?!"]
The next couple of weeks seemed to fly by for the Xavier Institute students. Ryo's 17th birthday came and went and though she had insisted on absolutely no party (not being too partial to them), a few of the girls had surprised her in the infirmary that morning with birthday muffins and presents. The most surprising thing of all was the fact that Kitty had made the double chocolate chip batch, yet they were the most delicious muffins anyone had yet to taste.
It was safe to say her cooking skills were definitely improving.
None of the students had been allowed outside the mansion gates since it had been rebuilt after the Sentinal episode, with the mutant alert still in high effect. Even school had been put on hold, due to the increasing concerns of the community. For days at a time, the Professor would be gone—sometimes taking along Storm or Wolverine, or even Beast—out speaking to various authority figures on behalf of the mutant population. It took a lot of persuasion on his own behalf:
"How are we to know it's safe for our children to be around such dangerous weapons?"
Xavier gave a lighthearted chuckle. "Weapons? They're not weapons; the majority of them are children as well, scared and outcasted because of something they were born with."
"But the Sentinals—"
"—attacked us, not you. Has it ever occurred to you that we mutants could be more afraid of you than you are of us? Why do you suppose we've remained hidden for so long?"
It was then another spoke up. "Then how do you explain the horrific display of weaponry and machines we discovered in the Xavier Institute basement?" he threw an array of pictures on the table as proof. "It looks like you had been preparing for war against humanity!"
Xavier remained calm, giving them all a knowing smile. "You said it yourselves before; many of these children are 'blessed' with unusual talents and-or powers. It may seem strange to you, but these machines are simply methods of teaching these children to have control."
No one else seemed to come up with anything to say. They looked at one another with blank, helpless expressions. Xavier took this as a good sign and continued.
"If there is still any doubt in your mind, come by the mansion some time. I'm sure the children would be more than happy to give you a demonstration of what it is we do with these so-called 'weapons.' Maybe you could even talk to a few of them, get to know just who it is you're considering a threat to society."
One month later, the school board gave their approval for the mutants to re-attend public schools…on a two-week probation.
A knock at the window startled the two girls as they were getting ready for bed that evening. Tomorrow would be the first day back at school, so the Professor has set curfew half and hour earlier than usual. Still, they hadn't been expecting anyone.
Kitty, being the first to recover, walked over to the locked window to let their visitor in. "Hey, Remy," she greeted the Cajun as he climbed through. "We haven't seem you in a while." As soon as he was in, she quickly closed the panes, shivering from the brief contact with the chilling November air.
"Evenin', P'tite. How are y'?"
Now, many of her friends wouldn't hesitate in calling her a ditz, but Kitty Pryde certainly wasn't stupid. She noticed the tension in the room almost immediately; though speaking to her, Remy refused to take his eyes off of Rogue, who (in turn) refused to even turn to meet him. The younger girl took that as her cue to exit. "Actually, I'm a bit hungry. 'Think I'll go raid the fridge for something before bed."
With that, she phased out the door, leaving the two Southerners alone.
The silence was near deafening. It lasted for several moments before Remy spoke up, "How come y' been avoiding m', Chere?" blunt and to the point.
"Avoidin' ya?" She had expected the question, but not his tone. He sounded almost…hurt. Still, Rogue continued turning down her bed for the night. "Now why would ya say somethin' like that?" But her voice quavered in the slightest.
"Y' know why." He took a step forward. "Remy haven' seen y' since dat evenin' in de infirmary. I be worried 'bout y', Rogue." The last bit came out almost in a whisper.
A warning light in her head flashed. "Y'all don't need ta be; Ah'm perfectly fine. Goin' back ta school tomorrow an' everythin', ya know."
"Rogue…"
"Honestly, Rem, ya're just makin' a big deal outta nothin'," She laughed a bit nervously, inching towards the door. "That lil bug wore me out; Ah've been mostly sleepin' those past few weeks, anyways. Haven' seen much've anyone, act'ally."
"Rogue…" he tried again, his voice getting slightly more desperate.
She was pretty close to the door now. "Y'know, Ah'm kinda hungry, too… 'think Ah'll go join Kitty in her kitchen-raid." Remy sighed, and silence filled the room for a few long, agonizing moments. There was only one thing left he could think of.
Her fingers were mere inches from the door when his voice rang out, calm but strong. "Y' scared." She stiffened, completely halted in her tracks, "'s like y' been livin' in some kind o' dream world f'r so long an' sudd'nly woke up t' face reality." Rogue turned to look at him for the first time that evening, "Dat be de feelin' I get, at least."
The look on her face was some cross between amazement and disbelief with more than a little confusion thrown in. Hesitantly, she crossed the room until he was right in front of her, their eyes locked the entire time. It was clearly evident to her these were more than just mere observations on his part. "How do ya know all that?" she whispered. "How do ya know that's what it really is?"
"Dat lil card trick o' mine ain' de only one up m' sleeve," he managed to say with a grin before growing serious, "I also got dis t'ing called 'empathy'."
"Empathy?"
"Oui. Sort o' like bein' a telepath, 'cept I only get y' emotions. Usually, I c'n block it wit' shields an' stuff, but sometimes it tends t' sneak up on m' unexpected." When she didn't respond, he continued, "I didn' tell y' b'fore 'cause nobody knows 'bout it 'cept f'r me. Not exactly somet'ing I be all dat proud of."
"But that's just it, Rem," Rogue finally spoke up. Her voice remained just barely above a whisper and sounded a bit hoarse, though to her credit, it didn't waver. "This…empathy thing. Just add it up as somethin' else Ah don't know about ya." Those they maintained eye contact, her gloved hand managed to find his and she held tightly to it for all it was worth. "Ah'm not gonna lie to ya, Remy; Ah'm scared. Everythin''s been happenin' so fast, an' it took meh up 'till now ta realized that…Ah love ya, but Ah don't know the first thing about ya."
With his free hand, he gently stroked a few of her shockingly-white locks as she looked down. "I take it y' not in t' de whole 'Mystery Man' t'ing den?" He lightly joked.
"Remy…"
"Jus' kiddin', Chere." He watched his fingers intertwine with a few strands at a time, able to feel their silkiness despite his own pair of gloves, and found that he had missed the touch of her hair more than anything. It was so soft, so beautiful. And it gave him an idea.
Touch.
"Gimme y' hand, Rogue." He whispered.
"Hmm?" She looked back up. "What for?"
"Y' say y' don' know who I be? Dis be a way f'r y' t' find out." He moved to take off her glove, "I'll hold off m' power long 'nough f'r y' to absorb some of m' mem'ries."
Her eyes widened in shock. "Are you crazy!?" Quickly, she pulled her hand away. "Do ya have any idea what'll happen ta ya if Ah absorb ya? Ah could kill ya!"
"I know y' won', Chere. I trust y'." He stood absolutely still, determined to let her make the decision on her own. She stood, staring at the boy in front of her for what seemed like an eternity, the wheels spinning in her mind. Remy could see the internal struggle occurring through her emerald eyes.
Moments late, Rogue broke the silence, "Ah really hope y'all know what ya're doin', Rem. If not, it'll be ya're funeral…literally…"
Slowly, she pulled off her right-hand glove, gently sliding the coarse material until it reached passed her fingertips. Flexing her fingers now that they were out in the open, Rogue reached up to cup his cheek. Almost immediately, the familiar glow took hold of her own skin, but what she found more interesting was the feel of coarse stubble on her fingertips from Remy not having shaved that day. She almost smiled at the touch, but he did, nuzzling a bit into her hold before closing his eyes in concentration. They both braced for whatever was about to happen next.
A spark abruptly occurred between the two, like a jolt of electricity passing between them. The transfer was almost instantaneous, and threw them apart like the repelling of identical magnetic forces. With her eyes clenched shut, Rogue found herself leaning up against the nearest wall for support. Her breathing was coming in deep, labored gasps and she suddenly felt extremely warm.
"Remy…" she cried out, not knowing in what direction to look with her eyes closed, "Remy, mah hands…they're burning…"
Picking himself up off the floor where he had landed, Remy quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a number of his playing cards. He was at Rogue's side in an instant, taking notice in the all-too-familiar bright red glow that had consumed her unprotected hand.
Holding up the deck, he whispered to her. "Hold on t' de cards, Chere. Dey absorb de energy." She fumbed blindly for a moment before her hands made contact with the cardboard-like material, sighing in relief as she felt the burning sensation leave. "T'row dem, quick!" Without further warning, she tossed the handful up into the air, hearing the faint fizzling sound of each card burning in mid-air, falling to the ground in a tiny pile of ashes.
With that crisis over, Rogue found herself hit with a sudden blast of images; lights and color, sound and smell, taste and touch…all her senses were attacked at once as Remy's memories swirled around in her head, trying to settle. It took a minute or so before she could even differentiate between them.
Nevertheless, she saw everything.
He was twenty years old, just three years her senior (that, right away, had surprised her; she could've sworn he was older), and abandoned as a baby because of his demonic eyes. Living much of his childhood on the streets of New Orleans (That explains the Cajun accent, she thought with a smirk), he survived by pick pocketing and shoplifting…until that fateful day he tried to steal from the wrong man.
Or the right man, depending upon how you looked at it.
Jean-Luc, from what Rogue could depict, was everything she would never have expected from the leader of a thieving guild. A loving foster father, he trained and honed Remy's pick pocketing skills, turning the frail boy into a modern day Prince of Thieves, but also provided a stable home and caring environment for him to grow up in, where he would become the muscular, agile Remy she had come to love. She learned of Henri, Remy's foster brother and closest friend, and instantly knew where the boy had learned his devilish charms. And there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she wouldn't love to meet his foster sister-in-law, Mercy, as well as this fascinating woman he and everyone else called Tante Mattie.
Then, there was Belladonna.
Rogue wasn't quite sure what to make of the girl. Certainly, she was everything Rogue wasn't, and had apparently played a very important role in Remy's life at one time. But the memory was short-lived, featuring little more than a Cajun backwards Romeo and Juliet-like story; though friends, there was no true romantic interest, even with the insisted proposal of marriage to join together his clan and hers—a thieving guild and Assassin's Guild.
She wasn't quite positive, having not paid much attention in Literature, but Rogue could have almost sworn their was some irony in there somewhere.
She saw the skyline of New Orleans on a clear night, the magnificent splendor of the French Quarters, and felt the comforting (if slightly unusual) surroundings in which he had grown up in, including those who had been a part of it. She could taste the Cajun food served daily, including Remy's all-time favorite: Gumbo. She also saw images of every victim who had been pray to his thieving, whether it be a mere apple from a cart or highly expensive valuables taken right out of someone's home.
But above all else, she saw what it was that Remy truly felt for her. And it made her go weak in the knees.
"Est ce vrai?" She whispered to him, her eyes still closed, "Is all this real?" She felt his hands reach for hers, guiding her back over across the room until they reached the window, slowly sitting down upon the sill. Only then did she open her eyes.
Staring into those hypnotic pools of red-on-black, she barely noticed the thin stream of liquid that trailed down on cheek. Remy gently brushed it away as he whispered, "As real as you and me, Chere." And just when she thought the moment couldn't have been any more perfect, he surprised her. Reaching deep into one of his many trench coat pockets, the Cajun pulled out a small, velvet box, navy-blue in color. It was slightly bigger than the size of her hands, she noticed as he placed it in them, and very flat.
She must have been staring at the box for a little too long, because the next thing she heard was an amused chuckle. "Go on. Open it."
With a slight creak, the box opened to reveal a beautiful, hand-crafted necklace, the likes of which she had never seen before. The string was covered in cubical-shaped pearls which, at a closer look, were designed to look like miniature dice, each with different colored dots on them (the colors, she suspected, must have been made out of different jewels). But the pendant hanging from it was, by far, the most magnificent of it all: a fully colored, inch-long rectangle designed to look like a playing card.
The Queen of Hearts.
Rogue almost burst out laughing at the sight of it. Not very original in card selections, is he? But found herself too enchanted by the delicate carvings. "It's beautiful, Remy." She murmured in awe for a moment before looking up with an inquisitive smirk. "Y'all didn't, by any chance, happen' ta steal this, did ya?"
He feined a look of hurt. "Moi?"
"Don't ya try that innocent look on me, Swamp Rat," she grinned, "Ah saw ya childhood, 'member?"
Remy smirked at the new nickname, remembering immediately where it had originally come from. "Did I steal de necklace? Non. But de money t' buy it…well…peut-être."
A part of Rogue told her that she should have been angry at him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so. Damn boy's too cute for his own good. Instead, she opted for shaking her head with a sigh. "What am Ah ta do with ya, Remy LeBeau?"
"I have a list, but I left it in m' ot'er pants."
Not expecting the witty reply, she gawked at the smirking boy for a moment before playfully whacking him on the shoulder.
A bit later, Remy left, once more through the window, with a rather strange message for her, something that didn't make sense to her now but would later on. Shaking off the paranoia which had suddenly come over her, Rogue wearily climbed into her turned-down bed. She was more tired than she had first thought, most likely due to her recent illness. Fiddling one last time with the necklace (and knowing it would quickly become a habit), she carefully took it off and placed it on her dresser so it would be the first thing she would see when morning came.
Kitty returned soon after, glass of water in hand, to find her roommate sound asleep and looking more peaceful than she had in weeks.
"Pleeeeeeeease!"
A humorous sight greeted Rogue as she headed down the stairs the next morning, necklace around her neck. Ryo (having been let out of the infirmary two days prior) looked close to getting down on her hands and knees in front of Scott, who refused to budge. She wore her black high-tops and denim Capri's, but an oversized grey sweatshirt took the place of her usual top, no doubt to cover up the large bandages she still needed for her back.
Ray had already taken Tabby, Robert, Rahne, Sam and Amara off to school and Evan had left earlier that morning so he could skateboard; that left Jubilee, Bobby, Kitty, Jean, Scott, and Kurt (who was conspicuously absent at the moment). And Rogue herself, of course. "What's all the racket down hea'?" she spoke up once she reached the bottom steps.
"Ryo's trying to convince Scott to let her go to our school." Kitty whispered to her roommate, not taking her eyes off the display in front of her.
Scott sighed. "For the last time, Ryo, the Professor already ruled against it. Your powers are still too unstable for you to be able to attend public school. Don't forget; we're only allowed there on the condition we don't use our powers, even by accident."
"Oh, come on!" Ryo groaned in protest. With her hands on her hips she walked towards Scott, glaring at him. "Now you listen to me, Scott Summers. I have been here for close to two months now. I think I can manage to keep my powers in check enough to go to school." It was quite a sight to behold; though she was just barely a year younger than him, he still towered over her in height…yet she faced him head-on. It almost worked, too, until Kurt appeared.
Literally.
In a puff a smoke, Kurt bamfed into the room right in front of Ryo, startling her. The vase on a nearby table exploded as she threw her hands up in surprise, accidentally shooting a sonic blast. She winced at the sight of broken porcelain, then hesitantly turned back to Scott with the same expression.
He raised an amused eyebrow. "Keep them in check, huh?"
"I…ooh!" She squealed angrily, stomping her foot. She then turned to Kurt, pointing an accusing finger. "This is all your fault!" With that, she stormed out of the room..
The Fuzzy Dude blinked in confusion for a moment. "What'd I do?" he asked to no one in particular. Bobby walked over to him and placed a friendly arm around his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Kurt. It's probably just that time of the month or something."
"I heard that, Drake!" Ryo's voice shouted from the next room. Bobby visible gulped, earning a chuckle from the rest of the group.
Scott stepped forward, keys dangling from one finger. "Well, now that that's settled," he addressed the group, "Those of you who want a ride to school, we're leaving now."
Everybody headed towards the door. Bobby soon followed, cautiously looking over his shoulder.
___________________
TO BE CONTINUED…
*note—In case you couldn't tell, I gave mushroom-head many similarities in his past to the original Remy from the comics. The majority of it all comes from memory, being such a Gambit fan as I am, but obviously I had to switch and alter a few things around to "Evo-ize" Monsiuer LeBeau.