Y'all know the dilly yo, that I don't own these characters, marvel or anything else. Sometimes I wish I did, but wishing ain't having… oh well. Y'all know the drill.. blah blah blah.
This story doesn't really fit in with the X-Men Evolution timeline at all nor would I try to make it to. However, in this story, Gambit was an acolyte, and Magneto disappeared. Oh yes, and the first meeting with Gambit and Rogue and the card and the whole media thing still happened. Oh, and Evan doesn't exist in this story or he's off with the morlocks because I don't really need a whole bunch of characters to incorporate into the story, since this is really a ROMY story. Everything else is all A/U but in a beautiful way. Enjoy!
Author's Note: I deeply apologize for the seemingly slow process of re-posting. I am not re-writing everything, I am simply editing it and perfect my work, while adding in necessary tidbits here and there to understand the characters better. I'm sorry if people's patience is waning, but I really do appreciate all of you for re-reviewing my work. It does make this situation a little less painful… anywho, I hope people will stick with me through this. Thank you for all those who have given words of encouragement and support. I hope answers some of the questions from some of the reviews. If not, simply ask me again in the review, and I'll make sure to address it in the next chapter. Thanks!
Somewhere I Belong
"Ya don't fucking care. Ya don't fucking care. Ya don't fucking care." She chanted to herself quietly as she paced around the room.
Since she felt the unexpected ache last night, she had not been able to sleep until the early morning when the hurt finally subsided. Now, it was mid-afternoon and she had figured out whose pain it had belonged to, and she was not happy about it. There were absolutely no reasons why she could or would possibly feel his pain. It was incomprehensible since nobody should directly feel another person's pain. The only possible explanation for it all was that they had a connection that was beyond her own reasoning. But, Rogue refused to believe it because even that notion seemed rather ridiculous. Yet, perhaps why she profusely denied the idea of a 'spiritual' connection with Remy was because that it scared her beyond belief. She didn't know Remy LeBeau. She didn't like Remy LeBeau. She didn't want to have anything to do with Remy LeBeau. But here she was, with a connection to Remy LeBeau that she wasn't even sure what it was or if it could be severed easily. The fact that she could feel his pain worried her since that meant that he was probably able to feel hers. She would become vulnerable to him.
Vulnerability was a curse in her case, and she would be damned if she was that to him.
"Ya fucking have enough t'deal wit' it on y'own. Ya don't need his problems on ya. Ya can't care. It's too much of a risk." She continued to mumble to herself.
"Talking t'yourself, chere?" A voice interrupted her.
She looked up and saw Remy dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans with distinctive bags under his eyes and a roughness around his face, which indicated he hadn't shaven yet. He looked tired.
"What's it to ya?" She intuitively asked without even thinking about it. It was her defense mechanism to give arrogant responses whenever someone tried to ask her something that had the slightest indication of trying to get to know her.
He just shrugged, showing indifference. "Actually, no'ting. Forget it." He replied nonchalantly and he plopped himself down on the couch in the recreation room. He found the remote control and started channel surfing, looking for something interesting to keep his mind off of thinking about the past.
She observed him carefully. She knew something was hurting him inside, and she would know because she felt it. Part of her wanted to know what it was, the other part just wanted to stay away from him. However, with him in the room, the connection she felt with him became undeniably stronger and she didn't like it. It was too tempting. It was a disaster waiting to happen. She couldn't risk it. It wasn't meant to be in her life. She couldn't get too close.
Yet, she had to at least know one thing.
"Hey, ya doing okay?" She asked simply.
He looked up at her, surprised by the concern in her voice. "Mmhmm. Remy'll be fine. Just need sleep, oui?" He replied lightly.
She looked him over once more before leaving the room. "Whatever ya say then." She said over her shoulder.
-xoxo-
The two of them were standing in front of the Professor's desk, with their mouths opened in shock.
"Ya can't be serious, professor??" She asked him with bewilderment.
"Remy will have t'agree wit' de fille on dis one, sir." Remy added in, still surprised with what the Professor had wanted them to do.
"Actually, I am quite serious. It would be beneficial for both of you." The Professor explained.
"But.. but.. why can't ah just train wit' all the others or even Logan?!?!" She asked in exasperation. Did I just say Logan? She thought. I must be desperate.
"Because stripes, I have some things to take care of up north. Plus, this will gave you a good reason to wipe that smirk off the Cajun's face from time to time." Logan replied as he stared at the suddenly smiling Cajun.
"Quit it!" Logan growled at him, which just made Remy smile wider.
"Actually, it's not a bad idea once Remy t'inks about it. C'mon chere, we can have some one on one time toget'er, oui?" He said and turned his attention to Rogue, giving her a wink.
"UGGGGGGGGGH!!!! NO, OKAY!" She yelled at him, which just added to his amusement.
"Rogue, lower your voice please." Professor Xavier requested.
"Sorry, Professor. But really now, ya can't be serious about this." She pleaded her case once more.
"Aww.. Remy be hurt now, chere. Ya don't want t'spend some quality time wit' dis red-eyed handsome devil?" He pretended to pout as he looked into her eyes.
She just glared at him. "Ya got the devil part right, at least." She snapped back.
"Ouch, dat hurts." He mockingly said as he pretended to clutch his heart.
She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the Professor who was trying hard not to laugh at the two.
"Rogue, you and Remy will run training sessions together from Monday to Friday after lunch. On Saturday mornings, you and Remy will both join the rest of the team for the group training session. Do any of you have any questions?" He asked.
"Yes! Why do we have to do training sessions together?" Rogue asked for the fifth time since they've been there.
"I've already explained that, Rogue, but if you insist on asking again, it's because you and Remy can make good use of the danger room while the students are at school. Since you have graduated last spring, you've been training by yourself in the danger room and have become quite the strong fighter. However, you cannot fully develop your abilities unless you have an opponent to train with. Remy here has just recently joined the Institute and his skills and abilities are highly developed, yet he needs to learn how to work within the boundaries of the X-Men and adapt to the danger room sessions. Both of you aren't in school anymore so you might as well make use of the danger room together. I have a feeling that both of you will learn something about yourself from each other in the process." The Professor calmly explained to the both of them.
"Fine, Professor. But it don't meant ah have t'like it." Rogue muttered and crossed her arms.
"C'mon chere, y'know y're gonna love de time we gonna spend toget'er." Remy suggested in a low sexy tone.
She gave him another look of disgust. "Ya so goddamn cocky. Ya know what? Actually ah don't completely hate the idea of a danger room session wit' ya, it'll give me the chance t'kick ya ass!" Rogue retorted and stormed out of the room with Remy right behind her, still flirting with her.
"You sure this is gonna be a good idea, Charles?" Logan asked apprehensively as he watched with an arched eyebrow at the two young adults who just walked out of the room.
"Definitely, Logan. Those two have a stronger bond than I first realized. It's only a matter of time before they figure it out themselves." Professor Xavier replied reassuringly.
"Fine, but I'm not cleaning the danger room when they rip each other apart." Logan muttered.
-xoxo-
The chilled air was beginning to hurt when she breathed in, but she remained sitting outside. Her body was beginning to get numb from the cold as she tugged at her thin jacket, but it didn't provide any more warmth. She didn't care all too much though. She liked the numbness; it prevented her from feeling.
She looked into the pond she was sitting beside. She caught a glimpse of her reflection but dropped a pebble in it to scatter it. She did this every day. Whenever she needed to get away from the busyness of the mansion, she would walk out about five kilometers north of the mansion and settled down beside the little small pond hidden in the forest. She enjoyed it there. She didn't have to pretend to be the tough uncaring girl that everyone thought she was.
Where she was sitting was where she was able to let her guard down.
No more hiding, she was simply able to be.
She brought her legs closer to her body and wrapped her arms around them. She let her head fall on her knees and then she allowed herself to remember.
The warmth of her embrace was heavenly. She buried her head into the woman's shoulder as the woman sang softly to her.
"I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl"
Rogue closed her eyes as she relived the only true innocent happy moment in her life; her only memory of her mother. Then her eyes tightened.
"Daddy, please. Ah'm sorry." The little girl cried as her father flung her against the wall once more.
"You're not my daughter. Get out!" He yelled at her. He yanked her hair and dragged her across the floor. He opened the door and tossed her out.
"Don't come back, girl, or y'll be sorry!" He growled before slamming the door on her face.
She ran hard. She ran as far as her eight years old leg could take her. She collapsed in front of a woman with dark glasses.
"No need for running anymore, child." The woman had said and extended her hand for the little girl to take.
Her eyes flashed opened. She didn't remember much of her childhood. She couldn't even recall her father's name but she remembered that after her mother's death, her father had started drinking. Then, he started hitting.
She didn't blame him though. She accepted it long ago. She wasn't meant to have people in her life. She was a curse to them. She was a curse to herself.
It was her fate to be alone.
-xoxo-
Another step, another intake, and he flicked the cigarette aside. He stomped one foot on it and began walking. He decided to explore the mansion grounds and learn the different paths, in case he needed escape ways. He memorized the trails as he continued walking deeper into the forest.
Her blonde hair flowed freely around her as she ran towards him. She wrapped both her arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss.
"Remy takes it y'miss him?" He asked and gave her smug grin.
She pulled away from him and pretended to be indifferent to his return. "Eh.. not really," Was her response.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Not even a lil', chere? Remy's sure been missing you, t'ough." He whispered into her ear. She let out a little moan as he began to bring his hands slowly up her abdomen.
"Fine, maybe a lil'." She replied quietly. Taking initiative, he remembered kissing her soft lips.
She tasted like honey.
"Stop it Lebeau! Stop fucking t'inking!" He mumbled to himself. He thought it was love then. How stupid and naïve he was, he thought.
He stood over the man with a bloody sword in his hands. She was in tears as she ran towards the body lying before his feet. She wrapped her arms around the body and said repeatedly, "Julien, it's okay. Julien, please be okay."
"Bella, I.." He began as he saw the tears running down her face.
She looked up at him with only hatred in her eyes. "What de hell did you do, Remy?!?" She screamed at him.
"I'm sorry. Dis wasn't supposed to happen." He tried to explain.
"I hate you." She responded.
"Y'don't mean dat. We love each ot'er, Bella." He said with desperation.
"I don't love y'. Never did. Leave!" She bellowed at him as she continued to cradle her brother's body in her arms.
The words still echoed in his ears. His heart still ached just thinking about it. He had lost her. The only love he had ever known he had lost.
"Papa, I'm sorry." The young man looked at his father and said.
"Sorry doesn't cut it, Remy. Y'possibly just started a new war wit' de Assassins. And over what? Over a femme! How can ya be so stupid? I t'ought I raised y'better den dat!" His father yelled at him.
"But… Papa, I'm sorry. Please." The young man pleaded with his father.
"You've disappointed me, Remy. You don't have a home here anymore." The man said before turning his back on his son.
It was so easy for him to cast me aside, he thought. Why wouldn't it be? I was never his real son, Remy justified in his head. Everything that he thought was ever real in his life turned out to be a lie. His family was never really his.
And Bella never loved him. That was what hurt the most. He thought he had known love, had felt it, had lived it. But she didn't love him.
No one ever had.
"Get yourself toget'er Lebeau! Stop feeling sorry for y'self!" He mumbled and continued to walk deeper into the forest.
Then he saw her.
She was sitting, curled up by a small pond. He quickly hid behind a tree, hoping she didn't notice him. He peered at her from behind it.
He could see that she was cold.
Sad.
Vulnerable.
Oh no you don't! Don't fucking go get all priss-like over another girl again, his head warned him. Turn around and walk away. That's what you're supposed to do. Don't start caring about another person, you only look out for yourself from now on. No more of that love-shit, His head instructed him.
Remy took one more glance at Rogue before he found the necessary strength to walk away.
He had no more intentions of gambling on another person again.
There was simply too much to lose.
------------------------------