Author's Notes: I want to appologize for the incredibly long wait you all must have suffered. I'm very sorry and hope I don't have this problem in the future seeing as how it's now summer vacation. As for my excuse, I place the blame for my writer's block on the Final Exams of my school. And now here are the shout-outs:
Lucky439--I'm glad you love it, I know I didn't update soon, but I hope it's still awesome.
Evilerk73--I'm glad you like Rogue! Yes, I am using the X-treme team. No, there isn't 'something going on' with Storm and Logan, but I *do* have a romantic sub-plot in the works for Ororo, but that's only if I don't get too bogged down with the main plot-line concering Franklin, Remy, and Rogue. We'll see how it goes. (Hint: Look at my shippages in my bio.)
Nurotic Temptress--Ok, so I have some pretty pathetic excuses for not updating, but how does Final Exams sound? Because I'm pulling hairs off my head from the tention of not knowing if I survived my Latin class or not. But despite it all, I have provided you with this chapter....you could at least say 'thank you'. {gives sad puppy dog eyes}
Wishful Thinking--Thanks for being so understanding about the lack of updates. As for standing up to my beliefs, thank you. It's so hard find people who support me in this long life journey of living by a moral code. For this reason, I've always considered myself a family writer. I don't believe parrents should have to be afraid of their kids reading any of what I write. X-men should be enjoyed by all, not just a select few. As for story plot lines, thank you for the compliments and commentaries. They're incredibly appreciated.
Darkthedestroyer--I'm glad to have another person who enjoys my work. I understand about not reviewing often, I have a hard time getting around to it as well. As for the Doc Doom plot-line...I JUST MIGHT END UP USEING IT! I'm not certain for the moment, but it sound like a really good idea. I thought of using a plot-line involving Sinister, but I know it's been done a thousand times...Doom however...sound pretty original. Kudos to ya for thinking of it.
T.--As you can see, Remy has given a great deal of thought about Franklin warming up to the other members of the team...he even deals with it this chapter!
Tidmag--I'm glad you like it more than you thought you would. As for justifying his actions, Remy's had a lot of trust issues with the X-men in the comics, more so than in the original animated show. By the little conversation with Storm, I showed that the X-men have learned to trust him, and are proving that trust by encouraging his raising of Franklin. As for Fantastic Four, I'm really not sure of what I'll do with 'em yet. I don't feel that I'd be able to write them very well, so I'm thinking of never bringing them back. But, that's yet to be decided so the Richards, Grimm, and Storm still have a chance so far.
escape_into_a_daydream-- I also, have had a difficult time finding stories where author's decided to keep those two southerners apart till they tied the knot. But from your review, I now know that we're not alone, there just aren't many of us. Thank you for your immensly encouraging review and commentaries. Here's hoping that you enjoy this next dose of 'cajun spice'! (Sweet web name by the way, I do it all the time.)
____________________________
CHAPTER 6: Name-calling
____________________________
____________________________
"Robo-Ben. That's like Ben Grimm, ain't it? The Thing o' the Fantastic Four?" Rogue asked in Franklin's room.
Franklin nodded solemnly.
"Uh-huh. Unca Ben sometimes liked to stay up late jus' watchin' out for alla us. Robo-Ben does the same thing for me, so I named him after 'im."
"Do ya give names to any of ya othah toys?"
"I gotta bear I named after unca Johny, but that's it. The rest of 'em have names that always end up changeing. 'Cept for my new computer. I couldn't guess what I wanted to name it, but I do now."
"An' what's that, Sugah?"
He smiled.
"Roguemy."
She smiled back.
______________________________
The next day, Remy carefully watched Franklin's reaction to the other X-men. He seemed to like Storm enough, remembering her from his time with the McCoys. He didn't seem to mind Sage or Wolverine much, seeing as how Wolverine avoided him because of the mechanical dog and Sage--as the boy had said--'didn't do much of anything'. But with the way the dark man never smiled and toted around his large XSE gun 24/7, Bishop seemed to frighten the boy a bit.
Remy pondered this. For the moment, the X-men were here to stay, and it wouldn't do for Franklin to be living in a house filled with people he was scared of. If only he could get them to bond a little...
"Bish?"
"LeBeau?"
"Y' t'ink y' could take Franklin out f'ice-cream today? De rest of us gon' be busy, and de kid needs a lil' free time."
Bishop glanced at the boy. Remy blinked at the man's facial expression. Was that intimidation he saw there?
"Why don't you do it?"
"Got a date wit' Rogue t'day."
"*All* day?"
Remy winked and put his hand to the side of his mouth, as if to confide a secret.
"Aniversary of our firs' date t'day...she t'inks I forgot."
"Why not Storm?"
"She got therapy, 'member?"
"Wolverine?"
"Helpin' her wit' it."
"Sage?"
"She'd analyze de ice-cream an' tell him 'bout all de fat dat's in it, an' why a kid should't be eatin' it. Y' t'ink I wanna put him t'rough dat?"
Bishop sighed.
"I suppose not."
Remy smiled.
"Merci, mon ami. Have a bon time!"
Once he was alone, Bishop sighed again. A child? How was he supposed to entertain a child for however so many hours? He'd never had a childhood, how was he supposed to know how to manage one? Bishop looked over at the boy. He was at eye-level with him, seeing as how the young Richards was floating above his anti-gravity toy. Finally, he gathered his courage and trudged over to the youth.
"This way, Franklin. Remy's asked me to take you out for ice-cream."
The boy leaned back on the anti-grav field.
"Do I havta?"
"Yes."
"Ok."
Bishop frowned. It did not make sense to him that the boy should agree to quickly to his commands. He then realized the child's nervous glanses towards the private XSE arsenal that he constantly kept on his person. Bishop sighed. The last thing he wanted was to have the boy's cooperation through fear. Slowly and painstakingly, he removed his most prized posessions from his trench coat. The lack of artilery seemed to set Franklin a bit more at ease as he took the large man's hand to follow him out the door. Despite this, the time-displaced mutant made sure to carry to hiddent pistols on his person...just in case of trouble.
_______________________________
"Don't get me wrong, Sugah...Ah *love* a night out as much as the next gal...but *why* are we here again?"
Rogue sipped her wine glass as she gazed across the table to her love. He had been acting rather strangely of late and she struggled to hear his explaination over the blaring TV set above the bar a few feet away within Harry's Hidaway.
"We're verifyin' an alibi."
"An' that alibi is?"
"Dat t'day is de aniversary of our firs' date an' dats why I need Bishop to take a Franklin off our hands f' a lil' bondin' time."
"What gave ya the idea that they needed bondin' time?"
"De two of 'em seemed a bit jittery 'round each ot'er...figured they ought t'learn t'play nice. An' besides, y'not de only one who enjoys a bit of quiet time wit' pleasant comp'ny."
He flashed her a disarming grin as he gently took her glove-less hand in his own. "B'sides, Chere," he continued, "We been needin' a talk f' some time now, oui?"
Rogue smiled. It hadn't always been like this. She could still barely believe at times that she was hearing his voice, soft and lulling to her ears, as it told her of his feelings and the things he knew to be true. Gone was the distrust of previous years, and in its stead, had grown an ever-strengthening bond. The emotions he made her feel no longer frightened her, so there was no need to pull away. The things she asked of the man no longer threatened him, so there was no temptation to lie to her. It was not the fact that he had asked to talk that had left her in awe, it was that he had made the request so easily, and with a constant love and trust in his voice and eyes. Finally, she regained her own sense of speach.
"Ah reckon you're right, Sugah. Been far too long since we've been able to carry a decent two-person talk, an' it's high time we remedied that."
Remy gave an outward grin as he nervously rubbed his free palm against his knee beneath the table. It wasn't that he wanted a misleading conversation with Rogue, simply that he didn't know how to breach the subject he really wanted to talk about. They'd never discussed it, and he'd only done it once before in his life. Even then, it had already been arranged for him. He stuck his hand in his trench-coat pocket. He cautiously played with the blue velvet box he kept there. Why couldn't this be as easy as it looked in the movies?
"An' speakin' of remedies, are ya'll alright, Remy? Ya look a little pale. An' ya've seemed a lil' bit jittery yaself in the past few days."
"S'not'in much, chere. Jus' had a lot on m'mind. Dat's all. But one o' de t'ings I been t'inkin' about, was our long term plans f' de future."
"Ya mean Franklin's education?"
"Non, What I mean t' say..."
He slowly slipped the blue velvet box from his pocket.
"Is dat I'm dyin' t'know if y'd do dis poor Cajun de honor of..."
He was interruped by her wide-eyed glance over his shoulder, and turned around to look at the TV posted above the bar. It was a live-coverage report, and what he saw was enough to make his jaw drop.
____________________________
It had started out innocently enough. He had bought the boy the ice-cream as promised, a chocolate-raspberry flavor from the looks of it. Franklin had finally devoured the cone and had wondered off a ways to search for a trash can to throw away the paper that had been around the cone part.
Bishop, keeping an eye on the boy, had not noticed where he was walking himself. He bumped straight into an old woman who apparently, was in a particularly grouchy mood that day. She smacked him with her purse for his audacity, and continued to shout and scream at him for his carelessness. The scene had even gathered its own crowd of viewers.
Franklin, meanwhile, had finally found a place to dispose of the sticky ice-cream covered paper. Seeing that his adult companion was busy, he had proceeded to the nearby play ground. He didn't enjoy it for long.
It took the young Richards a few minutes to realize that he wasn't welcome. The children there were far bigger than he was and saw no reason to show any kindness to this strange kid who now threatened their space. Slowly but surely, Franklin began to feel that he was being circled. He looked around, franticly. He noticed the huge set of monkey bars on the far side of the play ground. He began to wish it would entrapped the children as they entrapped him.
The boy's wish was fate's command as the hostile youngsters found themselves entangled in a mesh of red-painted metal bars. They screamed for their parrents and directed the gathered crowd away from Bishop and the old woman.
The older mutant looked up from the lady to his young responsibility and hastened to his side. But it was too late to do much. He couldn't fire on a crowd of civilians to protect the boy from the cries of "mutant" that brushed the lips of the spectators. Just when the man thought things couldn't possibly get worse, he realized that there were news cameras in the crowd and that Franklin had disapeared.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Author's Notes: *Sigh* What is it with me demeaning the toughest fellas on the team? Wolverine gets bitten by a pup, Bishop getting smacked with an old lady's purse...I guess it's just another form of insanity for me. What? Ya'll are mad about Rogue and Remy? Blame Neurotic Temptress. This is her personal punishment for all those chapters filled with cliff-hangers. (gives sugary-sweet smile) Now get to work, kittens! Reviews tell me you want another dose of this fic! ^-^
Lucky439--I'm glad you love it, I know I didn't update soon, but I hope it's still awesome.
Evilerk73--I'm glad you like Rogue! Yes, I am using the X-treme team. No, there isn't 'something going on' with Storm and Logan, but I *do* have a romantic sub-plot in the works for Ororo, but that's only if I don't get too bogged down with the main plot-line concering Franklin, Remy, and Rogue. We'll see how it goes. (Hint: Look at my shippages in my bio.)
Nurotic Temptress--Ok, so I have some pretty pathetic excuses for not updating, but how does Final Exams sound? Because I'm pulling hairs off my head from the tention of not knowing if I survived my Latin class or not. But despite it all, I have provided you with this chapter....you could at least say 'thank you'. {gives sad puppy dog eyes}
Wishful Thinking--Thanks for being so understanding about the lack of updates. As for standing up to my beliefs, thank you. It's so hard find people who support me in this long life journey of living by a moral code. For this reason, I've always considered myself a family writer. I don't believe parrents should have to be afraid of their kids reading any of what I write. X-men should be enjoyed by all, not just a select few. As for story plot lines, thank you for the compliments and commentaries. They're incredibly appreciated.
Darkthedestroyer--I'm glad to have another person who enjoys my work. I understand about not reviewing often, I have a hard time getting around to it as well. As for the Doc Doom plot-line...I JUST MIGHT END UP USEING IT! I'm not certain for the moment, but it sound like a really good idea. I thought of using a plot-line involving Sinister, but I know it's been done a thousand times...Doom however...sound pretty original. Kudos to ya for thinking of it.
T.--As you can see, Remy has given a great deal of thought about Franklin warming up to the other members of the team...he even deals with it this chapter!
Tidmag--I'm glad you like it more than you thought you would. As for justifying his actions, Remy's had a lot of trust issues with the X-men in the comics, more so than in the original animated show. By the little conversation with Storm, I showed that the X-men have learned to trust him, and are proving that trust by encouraging his raising of Franklin. As for Fantastic Four, I'm really not sure of what I'll do with 'em yet. I don't feel that I'd be able to write them very well, so I'm thinking of never bringing them back. But, that's yet to be decided so the Richards, Grimm, and Storm still have a chance so far.
escape_into_a_daydream-- I also, have had a difficult time finding stories where author's decided to keep those two southerners apart till they tied the knot. But from your review, I now know that we're not alone, there just aren't many of us. Thank you for your immensly encouraging review and commentaries. Here's hoping that you enjoy this next dose of 'cajun spice'! (Sweet web name by the way, I do it all the time.)
____________________________
CHAPTER 6: Name-calling
____________________________
____________________________
"Robo-Ben. That's like Ben Grimm, ain't it? The Thing o' the Fantastic Four?" Rogue asked in Franklin's room.
Franklin nodded solemnly.
"Uh-huh. Unca Ben sometimes liked to stay up late jus' watchin' out for alla us. Robo-Ben does the same thing for me, so I named him after 'im."
"Do ya give names to any of ya othah toys?"
"I gotta bear I named after unca Johny, but that's it. The rest of 'em have names that always end up changeing. 'Cept for my new computer. I couldn't guess what I wanted to name it, but I do now."
"An' what's that, Sugah?"
He smiled.
"Roguemy."
She smiled back.
______________________________
The next day, Remy carefully watched Franklin's reaction to the other X-men. He seemed to like Storm enough, remembering her from his time with the McCoys. He didn't seem to mind Sage or Wolverine much, seeing as how Wolverine avoided him because of the mechanical dog and Sage--as the boy had said--'didn't do much of anything'. But with the way the dark man never smiled and toted around his large XSE gun 24/7, Bishop seemed to frighten the boy a bit.
Remy pondered this. For the moment, the X-men were here to stay, and it wouldn't do for Franklin to be living in a house filled with people he was scared of. If only he could get them to bond a little...
"Bish?"
"LeBeau?"
"Y' t'ink y' could take Franklin out f'ice-cream today? De rest of us gon' be busy, and de kid needs a lil' free time."
Bishop glanced at the boy. Remy blinked at the man's facial expression. Was that intimidation he saw there?
"Why don't you do it?"
"Got a date wit' Rogue t'day."
"*All* day?"
Remy winked and put his hand to the side of his mouth, as if to confide a secret.
"Aniversary of our firs' date t'day...she t'inks I forgot."
"Why not Storm?"
"She got therapy, 'member?"
"Wolverine?"
"Helpin' her wit' it."
"Sage?"
"She'd analyze de ice-cream an' tell him 'bout all de fat dat's in it, an' why a kid should't be eatin' it. Y' t'ink I wanna put him t'rough dat?"
Bishop sighed.
"I suppose not."
Remy smiled.
"Merci, mon ami. Have a bon time!"
Once he was alone, Bishop sighed again. A child? How was he supposed to entertain a child for however so many hours? He'd never had a childhood, how was he supposed to know how to manage one? Bishop looked over at the boy. He was at eye-level with him, seeing as how the young Richards was floating above his anti-gravity toy. Finally, he gathered his courage and trudged over to the youth.
"This way, Franklin. Remy's asked me to take you out for ice-cream."
The boy leaned back on the anti-grav field.
"Do I havta?"
"Yes."
"Ok."
Bishop frowned. It did not make sense to him that the boy should agree to quickly to his commands. He then realized the child's nervous glanses towards the private XSE arsenal that he constantly kept on his person. Bishop sighed. The last thing he wanted was to have the boy's cooperation through fear. Slowly and painstakingly, he removed his most prized posessions from his trench coat. The lack of artilery seemed to set Franklin a bit more at ease as he took the large man's hand to follow him out the door. Despite this, the time-displaced mutant made sure to carry to hiddent pistols on his person...just in case of trouble.
_______________________________
"Don't get me wrong, Sugah...Ah *love* a night out as much as the next gal...but *why* are we here again?"
Rogue sipped her wine glass as she gazed across the table to her love. He had been acting rather strangely of late and she struggled to hear his explaination over the blaring TV set above the bar a few feet away within Harry's Hidaway.
"We're verifyin' an alibi."
"An' that alibi is?"
"Dat t'day is de aniversary of our firs' date an' dats why I need Bishop to take a Franklin off our hands f' a lil' bondin' time."
"What gave ya the idea that they needed bondin' time?"
"De two of 'em seemed a bit jittery 'round each ot'er...figured they ought t'learn t'play nice. An' besides, y'not de only one who enjoys a bit of quiet time wit' pleasant comp'ny."
He flashed her a disarming grin as he gently took her glove-less hand in his own. "B'sides, Chere," he continued, "We been needin' a talk f' some time now, oui?"
Rogue smiled. It hadn't always been like this. She could still barely believe at times that she was hearing his voice, soft and lulling to her ears, as it told her of his feelings and the things he knew to be true. Gone was the distrust of previous years, and in its stead, had grown an ever-strengthening bond. The emotions he made her feel no longer frightened her, so there was no need to pull away. The things she asked of the man no longer threatened him, so there was no temptation to lie to her. It was not the fact that he had asked to talk that had left her in awe, it was that he had made the request so easily, and with a constant love and trust in his voice and eyes. Finally, she regained her own sense of speach.
"Ah reckon you're right, Sugah. Been far too long since we've been able to carry a decent two-person talk, an' it's high time we remedied that."
Remy gave an outward grin as he nervously rubbed his free palm against his knee beneath the table. It wasn't that he wanted a misleading conversation with Rogue, simply that he didn't know how to breach the subject he really wanted to talk about. They'd never discussed it, and he'd only done it once before in his life. Even then, it had already been arranged for him. He stuck his hand in his trench-coat pocket. He cautiously played with the blue velvet box he kept there. Why couldn't this be as easy as it looked in the movies?
"An' speakin' of remedies, are ya'll alright, Remy? Ya look a little pale. An' ya've seemed a lil' bit jittery yaself in the past few days."
"S'not'in much, chere. Jus' had a lot on m'mind. Dat's all. But one o' de t'ings I been t'inkin' about, was our long term plans f' de future."
"Ya mean Franklin's education?"
"Non, What I mean t' say..."
He slowly slipped the blue velvet box from his pocket.
"Is dat I'm dyin' t'know if y'd do dis poor Cajun de honor of..."
He was interruped by her wide-eyed glance over his shoulder, and turned around to look at the TV posted above the bar. It was a live-coverage report, and what he saw was enough to make his jaw drop.
____________________________
It had started out innocently enough. He had bought the boy the ice-cream as promised, a chocolate-raspberry flavor from the looks of it. Franklin had finally devoured the cone and had wondered off a ways to search for a trash can to throw away the paper that had been around the cone part.
Bishop, keeping an eye on the boy, had not noticed where he was walking himself. He bumped straight into an old woman who apparently, was in a particularly grouchy mood that day. She smacked him with her purse for his audacity, and continued to shout and scream at him for his carelessness. The scene had even gathered its own crowd of viewers.
Franklin, meanwhile, had finally found a place to dispose of the sticky ice-cream covered paper. Seeing that his adult companion was busy, he had proceeded to the nearby play ground. He didn't enjoy it for long.
It took the young Richards a few minutes to realize that he wasn't welcome. The children there were far bigger than he was and saw no reason to show any kindness to this strange kid who now threatened their space. Slowly but surely, Franklin began to feel that he was being circled. He looked around, franticly. He noticed the huge set of monkey bars on the far side of the play ground. He began to wish it would entrapped the children as they entrapped him.
The boy's wish was fate's command as the hostile youngsters found themselves entangled in a mesh of red-painted metal bars. They screamed for their parrents and directed the gathered crowd away from Bishop and the old woman.
The older mutant looked up from the lady to his young responsibility and hastened to his side. But it was too late to do much. He couldn't fire on a crowd of civilians to protect the boy from the cries of "mutant" that brushed the lips of the spectators. Just when the man thought things couldn't possibly get worse, he realized that there were news cameras in the crowd and that Franklin had disapeared.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Author's Notes: *Sigh* What is it with me demeaning the toughest fellas on the team? Wolverine gets bitten by a pup, Bishop getting smacked with an old lady's purse...I guess it's just another form of insanity for me. What? Ya'll are mad about Rogue and Remy? Blame Neurotic Temptress. This is her personal punishment for all those chapters filled with cliff-hangers. (gives sugary-sweet smile) Now get to work, kittens! Reviews tell me you want another dose of this fic! ^-^
