Disclaimer: Me owns nothing.

Star-of-Chaos Yeah, probably, but Remy doesn't want anyone to know he's a thief. Maybe she'll learn a little trick though...

Ishandahalf Oh yeah, he is sneaky...He feels bad about the ordeal with the Assassins, not about him being a Thief. He remembered something fun too (the jewels) and he loves being a rat and a thief.

Dark Elf3 Thanks for the tip, I hope I made it better. Tell me if it's still wrong (maybe tell me which sentences). My English isn't all that...Me not from English speaking country.

Miya Reino Ah yes, Romyness...I'm possibly the worst Romy writer in the world. But that's okay, I'll give it a try. :)

Rogue14 I won't write a sap. Oh, you didn't mean that...Well, here's more. :)

Chere I wanted to show Remy's not just a random thief; he calculates every single step he makes. Including evading Logan's nose. He'll get to shine all right...

Shadow-Spider Global domination? Unless that is super-drool I'd say you need working on controlling your Pyro-addiction. :) You make me feel guilty that he's not showing up in this story too much... Maybe I'll give him some more room...somewhere...

Leann More is on the way. Hope you like this incredibly mushy chapter...

Willa. j. You'd be surprised... Nah. Remy's a sneaky thief, always was always will be.

Piotr's Girl In my newest story-idea he'll be paired up, but i have no clue with who…Maybe you got ideas…

Lladyred01 That's how I like picturing the mighty Wolverine :). Remy's a sneaky too-sure-of-himself thief.

A/N Tad bit messy, but I hope understandable chapter. And this is about as Romy as I can get.

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You've been down for a while...why not smile?

Fissie

''Chere!'' Remy cheered as he saw Rogue walking down the hallway.

''Cajun.'' She acknowledged.

''Wan' go out t'night?'' He said optimistically.

''No.''

Remy was slightly surprised by her refusal. She had enjoyed herself two days ago, hadn't she? So why didn't she want to go out? ''No?''

''You understand English, don't you?'' Rogue's voice sounded like a sneer.

''Why not?'' Remy was still a bit phased.

''What? We had dinner, so now we have to go out or something? What logic is behind that?'' Yes, she was sneering alright.

''De logic dat I thought y' had fun, an' I wanted y' t' have more fun.'' Remy said, not hiding the surprise in his voice.

Rogue looked him in the eyes with a hard angry face. ''Ah don't need fun. Ah need you to get out of mah sight.''

Had he reading all the signs wrong? Were his instincts betraying him? He had truly thought she had liked him. ''Chere, I thought...'' He reached out to touch her arm.

''Get away from me. You thought wrong.'' She turned around and walked away from the stunned Cajun.

That was certainly unexpected. Slowly, Remy started remembering one or two things about women. He remembered that they were pleasurable creatures that were nice to look at. All had their own personalities and their own beauties and beauty flaws. Variation is the spice of life and Remy had certainly enjoyed many of them.

He also remembered not trying to understand women. It was a terrible mistake that many men made. Trying to understand women is like trying to understand Einstein. It ain't gonna happen. The only difference is that Einstein didn't even understand himself and women somehow do seem to understand their raison d'être. Remy remembered having given up on finding that reason, but now he was faced with the fact that he wanted to understand. He wanted to know what was bothering Rogue. He liked her very much; he wanted to understand what was going on with her.

Surprisingly, he found that he actually did understand Rogue. Was he unraveling the mystery of women? Was he uncovering his feministic side? He did a quick re-check...Nope, he was still very much straight. Still, he understood her. He could comprehend what she was thinking. In a few short moments, Remy had figured that Southern girl out:

Rogue didn't want to go out with him, because she was starting to like him as much as he was starting to like her. She was afraid to like him too much, because that would mean she had to face the fact that she couldn't touch him. Understandably, she didn't want that to happen. ~Wow. 'M feelin' so Oprah right now.~ But at least he knew what to do, more or less. He would go to her, talk to her and have a quality Oprah-moment with her. ~Later.~ At some point in his life.

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The rec room

Remy had found out that memories were more easily triggered when he found some association with them. That is why he was now playing darts all by himself. He needed to know what the ordeal was with the dart.

Unfortunately, throwing darts is about as boring as shooting hoops. ~Triple twenty, triple twenty, and triple twenty.~ In his mind he added a very British accented commentator shouting. ~One-hundred and eighty.~ He took the darts and went back to his spot. ~~Triple twenty, triple twenty, and triple...~

''It's a very powerful poison.'' A man said to Remy, who was still very confused.

Remy tried to sound serious. He couldn't sound scared or confused in front of any Assassins. ''I didn' know dat. I jus' flung de dart back at him.''

Marius who sitting behind his desk in the large study was raging mad. He stood up and banged his fists on the table. ''You killed my son!''

''It was self defense.'' Remy tried. He saw Belle sitting on a chair crying. Would she ever forgive him? 

''That does not bring him back!'' Marius was angry and bitter.

From the corner of his eye, Remy could see his father's stern serious look. He knew better than anyone what that look on his face meant. Concern, worry, anger, fear. Fear.

~I killed Julien.~ For a few seconds could think of nothing else. He had been thrown out because he had killed Julien.

Ever since he overheard Mattie and his father talking about Belle and their kiss, Remy couldn't stop thinking about what the old woman had said. ''And what better way to bring the Guilds together then with love?'' Those were her words. And she was right. If they were together, it might bring the Guilds together. That would be perfect. Remy wanted nothing more than the needless bloodshed on both sides to end. He didn't want to loose more friends and more family due to a stupid feud between the two Guilds.

But now one of the reasons he stayed with Belle was the reason he had to leave. He had killed Julien.

That's why he had been thrown out. A stupid fatal accident. He put all the memories together. His father had been pained when the decision came to expel him. And Belle did not forgive him. That realization hurt him. He had thought she would've be more supportive. But apparently he had been naïve to think such a thing. ~Once an Assassin always an Assassin.~ He thought resentfully.

Then it struck him. ~I killed an Assassin and I survived.~ That was a pretty surprising fact. Assassins didn't take deaths on their own side very lightly. Perhaps he should be grateful for being thrown out of his home. True, it wasn't the best of fates, but it beat death at any time.

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Medlab

No one had seen Hank for a few days yet. That could mean two things. Three actually. One, he was on a congress somewhere in the world. Two, he had confined himself to his laboratory for some serious research. Or three, he had accidentally messed up an experiment and he was now lying dead on the floor amongst broken Erlenmeyer glass. But since he did send up a weekly report to Xavier, the residents of the Xavier's mansion presumed the second option was the correct one.

Hank was trying to fix the purple device they had found on the docks. He was determined to find out what it was and how it worked. Maybe he could have it working again, somehow. Or at least find out why Magneto was so determined to destroy it. 

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As evening fell

Remy skillfully climbed up to the roof without much effort. He had done these types of things many times before. Rooftops were like a second nature to him. He walked to the western side of the roof when he spotted a familiar figure. A very nicely shaped familiar figure.

'''Ello, chere.'' He spoke.

Rogue turned around. ''Oh. Hi.''

''What's y' doin' up here?''

She shrugged. ''Just looking at the sunset. What's your excuse?''

''A girl more beautiful den any sunset will ever be.'' He said as he sat down next to her. Now is as good a time for an Oprah-moment as any other.

''Charmer.'' She pretended to sound annoyed.

''An' you like it.'' He sat closer and she inched away.  ''Admit it.'' He inched closer still and kissed the top of her head. ''I know I do.'' He kissed the scarf around her neck. ''A lot.''

''Don't.'' Rogue said in a sad tone of voice.

He sat straighter up and smiled. ''Why? 'Fraid y' might like it?''

''Ah just don't want your mind haunting me twenty-four seven.''

''How would dat be any different from now?''

Rogue sighed. ''If you're just here to annoy me, leave.''

''Why you so upset bout dis?'' He reached out to her and put a lock of hair out of her face, carefully, not touching her skin, proving she had nothing to fear.

She moved her head away and found herself answering honestly to the swamp rat next to her. ''Because you're making me want what Ah'll always have to do without.'' A bit shocked about her own confession she continued. ''It's not fair. Ah was fine 'till you showed up.'' Ah, the truth was coming out.

''You were fine?'' Remy played the innocent clueless guy.

''Ah didn't want anyone near me. Ah didn't _need_ anyone near me.'' Her voice unconsciously sounded frail.

A small smile appeared on Remy's face. ''An' now y' do?''

''Just go away.'' She turned her back towards him and hugged herself. She was determined not to cry. Determined.

But Remy wasn't one to give up easily. ''Maybe I'm jus' tryin' t' let y' see y' don' have to do widout anythin'.''

It was quite for a moment.

''Ah'll never be able to kiss.'' She whispered to the wind and the night more than to the guy sitting next to her.

''I jus' kissed y'.'' He leaned closer to her, speaking softly, without sounding patronizing or denigrating.

She turned around and faced him with a hard face. She was not going to cry. ''Through a scarf.''

''Still a kiss.'' He kept on speaking in the same soft voice, adding a slight sensual tone. ''An' much more romantic too 'f y' ask me.''

Rouge snorted and sat a few inches further away from him. ''Kissing a piece of nylon is _not_ romantic.''

Remy leaned back and looked at the night sky. ''Neider is exchangin' saliva.'' He wasn't whispering anymore.

Rogue smiled at the comment. ''If you put it that way...'' She joked. In truth, she wasn't at all convinced, but the need to cry had vanished and she felt happy for the moment.

Remy looked back at her and shrugged. ''Jus' sayin' dat y' can have an' do anythin' y' want.'' And with at wink he added. '''S long as y' have a bit o' imagination...''

It was quiet for another moment. The smile disappeared from her face. ''It's not the same.''

Remy sighed and stared at the distance. Now was the moment. ''Maybe not, but de way I see it dere's two things y' can do. One, y' brood an' brood 'bout what y'r missin' out on till y' sink into deep depression.'' He glanced at her to see if he had her full attention and continued. ''Or, two, y' get comfortable wid de fact dat, oui, y'r not normal, y'r different, so what? An' y' start findin' different ways t' experience similar things.'' He didn't wink this time. He was dead serious. ''Y' might not be able t' touch, chere, but dat no reason t' not be able t' like an' love. Dey be two different things.'' Remy considered changing his name to Dr. Phil.

Rogue processed the words. He was right. It was true. She wasn't normal. She was a freak.

Remy could see she was clinging on to the words 'y'r not normal'. ''I don' care what de professor say 'bout it, we're not normal, we're mutants. Not superior, not inferior, jus' different. But not normal.'' He still wasn't getting through. He took off his sunglasses and looked her straight in the eyes. ''When I was a li'l kid, people thought I was a devil's chile.'' She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. ''It's all dem voodoo an' vampire stories dat hang 'round New Orleans, make people paranoid. But dat's beside de point. Humans have white sclera. I don'. It's not bad, it's not good, it's different. But dere's no use pretendin' I'm de same as everyone else, chere, cos I'm not. No use t' gloom an' doom 'bout it eider.'' His expression relaxed a bit. ''So, 'stead o' sulkin', I bought a pair o' sunglasses an' continued livin'. I know it don' really compare to y'r problem, but I jus' wan' y' t' understand.''

Rogue nodded.

''Good. C'mere.'' He smiled and motioned her into his arms. She accepted and leaned into his embrace. Tears began falling from her eyes. Tears of sadness, of course, but also tears of happiness. She was confused. And falling in love.

She held on to him. He didn't tell her to stop crying or to 'let it all out' and she was grateful for it. He wasn't belittling her; he was simply comforting her.

Her tears stopped after a few minutes but he didn't let go. He started mumbling a song. Something French. She didn't understand the words but it sounded nice. And he wasn't letting go. And he wasn't disgusted with being near her. And he wasn't afraid of her powers. She needed this so much. She still didn't believe him one hundred percent, but she had found comfort in what he had said.  

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She felt his heart beat, slow and calm. She wished she could stay like this forever, but she was starting to fall asleep in his arms. It wasn't a bad prospect, but she had to go to school tomorrow, she needed proper rest. So she moved to stand up.

Remy immediately let go. If she wanted to leave he wasn't going to keep her from leaving. ''Where y' goin'?''

''To bed.'' She said.

Well, enough Oprah and back to normal. ''Lead de way.'' He smirked.

Rogue laughed. ''All that talk hasn't changed your character, has it?''

''Not a bit.''

''Well in that case, swamp rat: In your dreams.''

He tugged her scarf. ''Can I at least get a good night kiss?''

She wrapped the scarf round his head and mouth and kissed him. ''Good night.''

''Bonne nuit, chere.'' She left.

Remy stared at the window she had left through and tugged almost mindlessly at one of the looser panels of the roof. He recognized the feeling in his stomach and his head. ~'M startin' t' like dat girl too much...~ The panel he had been tugging at came off. ~Oops.~

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A/N Oh man, that was mushy. I don't believe I wrote that. Going to wash my hands now, hope it will come off. If it was a bit too much, tell me and I'll repost. I got tired rereading it, so warn me for any giant grammatical mess-ups.

Review and I'll sing you a nice French song. Yes, those exist.