Hey guys, we're finally back! Sorry about the wait. It's been a bit hard for me to write this chapter, cause I don't really want to change anything accidentally. My sister, on the other hand, is on fire. She's been so great with this chapter. So, review responses.

JYNX': No worries about us abandoning the story. We'd never do that.

To everyone whose ever asked us if this is going to be a romy: Of course it is!

And thanks to all of you who have stayed with us through the long wait!

The Girls

"Tell me it's not about her!" John demanded, dragging Remy away from the others and speaking a low, rough, voice.

"About who?" Remy asked, confused.

"Rogue, Marie, whatever you call her, dammit!" John swore. "Tell me it's not about her or I'm walking."

"It's not about her." Remy said weakly. "It's not entirely about her." He amended at John's glare.

"Dammit Remy! Now we're taking two things." John put his hand to his forehead and walked in a circle agitatedly. "And when push comes to shove, what are you going to pick? And remember, Rogue doesn't split eleven ways!"

Remy looked at him seriously. "If this goes according to plan, I'm not going to have to make that decision." He paused. "Remember when we started? We said we'd play like we had nothing to lose. Well, I lost something. Someone."

"You better be right about this." John told him. "You better be right."

---

Remy walked into the restaurant, immediately spotting her. Walking over to the table, he put a hand on her shoulder. A smile played across her face as she turned towards him. "You're thirty seconds late. I was about to send out a-" she noticed who she was talking to. "A search party." She finished belatedly.

"Bonjour Marie."

"It's Rogue!" she snapped. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Remy's out."

"Out?"

"Of prison. Didn't you notice the night I went out for cigarettes and never came back?"

"I don't smoke. Don't sit!"

Too late.

"They say Remy's paid his debt to society."

"Funny," she said venomously, aiming to wound "I never got a check."

Remy ignored the last comment and had picked up her left hand, studying it. "Where's your ring?"

"I sold it." She snapped. "I don't have a husband. Didn't you get the papers?"

The hurt in his eyes was unmistakable for one fraction of a second, before being covered over by his flawless mask. "Last day inside."

"Told ya Ah'd write."

"Remy'll make this quick chére. He's moving on wit' his life, wants y' wit' him."

"You're a thief and a liar."

"Only lied 'bout being a t'ief. An' Remy's stopped."

"Stealing?"

"Lyin'."

"Argh!" Rogue growled.

---

Scott was talking to Pietro, after having talked to his casino manager, saying that there was something important he wanted to ask of Mr. Maximoff.

"The fight is on Saturday, is it not?" he asked.

"Would you like me to get you some tickets?" Pietro asked courteously.

"No. Frankly, hand-to-hand combat is a bit vulgar for my tastes." He grinned in his head at the veiled insult. "I have a briefcase arriving that night, a black one, whose contents are very dear to me."

"We have the house safe."

"If you'll excuse me Mr. Maximoff, the house safe is for brandy and grandmother's pearls. I'm looking for something a little more…secure."

---

"Those people ya steal from, they have insurance. They get made whole again. How am Ah supposed ta get my five years back?"

"You can't. But please chére, not with him."

"Spoken like a true ex-husband." Rogue looked at him. "Ah know this is hard for ya ta understand, but try and get your tiny brain around it. Ah'm with Pietro now."

"Does he make y' laugh?" he asked, red eyes burning.

"He doesn't make me cry." She watched as he got up and flicked a card, one that landed at her feet. She bent and quickly scooped it up, noticing that it was the Ace of Spades. She shivered slightly. It was a promise, then, what he'd said earlier. He was claiming her as his. Well, he could try, but she hadn't been his property five years ago and she sure as hell wasn't going to up and leave what she had worked so hard to rebuild after that fiasco. She was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't notice Pietro walking up behind her.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh- just somethin' from Remy." She replied. "Mah ex." She clarified when he looked confused. "He just got out. Of jail."

"Ah." Pietro said. "And was it a pleasant reunion?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Nah."

He smiled reassuringly at her. "How about I make it up to you later?" Rogue wished he were this romantic all the time, but half the time he was at his "baby", and the other he was busy fixing things. Romantic times were few and far between, unlike when she'd been with- she cut that train of thought off. Ya went down tha road seven years ago. She chastised herself. And just look where it got ya. Stay out of there for yer own safety.

---

Tabby was playing with the crystals that she was going to use to blow the vault door open when the lights flickered out. She had been watching the TV as Pietro was demolishing another building that he'd forced out of business. She swore and ran out of the room, putting the "Do Not Disturb" sign up.

---

Remy was watching Rogue as she stood next to Pietro on stage, staring so intently he didn't notice the person behind him.

---

Tabby glanced around the corner of the sewer tunnel and swore. Those idiots! They just had to go and blow the fuse the day before the heist! And now those stupid technicians were fixing it. She shrugged and stepped under the lamp, startling the young technicians.

"Hey boys, time to say good night." With that she released her cherry bombs and the three of them collapsed, unconscious. She quickly fiddled with the wires and put them back in their original positions, so that she could still pull the plug the way she planned. Without turning, she reached down for one of the guard's radios so she could tell the casino everything was fixed. Her fingers didn't hit cloth when they were supposed to. She frowned and turned around, nearly jumping out of her skin.

"Well, you guys get around, don'tcha?" she said. The woman stepped forward.

"Hello BoomBoom."

"Callisto." Tabby replied coolly. They'd never really got along when they were younger, probably because Callisto had thought that Tabby had had a crush on Evan. Tabby scoffed inwardly at the thought. Then she paused. She had sort of like Evan back then- but things change in ten years.

"Need some help?" Tabby was shocked out her thoughts. The Morlocks were going to help her? The group had always disliked the "above-grounders", thinking that they weren't real thieves. Hey, just because they wanted to live like street rats didn't mean she wanted to.

"Umm…sure." Tabby replied. "I need someone to radio in that it's all fixed down here, and it needs to be a guy. And I need somewhere to stash these guys for a few hours until I can get Jean to wipe their memories of me."

Callisto nodded to the others. One of them- Scaleface, picked up the radio and told them it was 'all good down here boss' while the others removed the technicians.

"Thanks." Tabby told Callisto.

"Tell Evan we say hello." Callisto said in answer, before her and her group disappeared. Tabby stared after them for a few minutes before heading for the manhole she had come down.

---

Tabby was cursing under her breath as she stormed into the warehouse that was their head of operations. Amara was the first one to notice her and stopped dead after one of the flips she had to do in order to reach the vault door.

"Sorry 'Mara." Tabby said, stripping off her shirt, as it smelt like sewer waste. "We got a problem guys."

"What? The heist is tomorrow!" John said.

"Yeah well, I managed to fix it. Almost. Jean, there are a few guys down in the sewer- I need you to wipe their memories about this afternoon and make them think they fixed the wires."

"How am I supposed to find them down there?" Jean asked.

"Oh, right. They're with the Morlocks. Seems like we're not the only ones who like Vegas this time of year." Tabby, just in her bra, was rummaging around in the bags that the other's had brought, looking for a shirt that would fit her, so she didn't notice the surprised looks.

"Thanks Tabby, got them." Jean told her when she turned back around, decked out in one of Scott's shirts.

"Great." Tabby said. "Thanks for the shirt Scooter, I'll return it after I get back to the hotel and have a shower. I reek."

"Uh, welcome." Scott told her.

"Later!" Tabby said, exiting the warehouse.

"Okay 'Mara, one more time." John told her.

---

Tabby jumped when there was a knock on the door.

"Evan!" She said angrily when she opened the door. "Don't do that! You're gonna give someone a fucking heart attack!"

"Sorry. Just wanted to come and see how you were doing. Whatcha thinking about?"

Tabby grabbed a towel and tried to dry her hair. "I was just thinking about why Callisto and I didn't get along." Tabby answered Evan.

"You never told me." He replied. "Why was it?" He had moved closer on the bed, and Tabby suppressed a blush at his closeness.

"Um…, it's not really all that important." Tabby replied.

"Come on Tabs, you can tell me." He said.

"Well, you know," her voice faded. "That's all." She finished.

"What's all?" Evan said, blinking. He turned to look at her and Tabby was nervous at how close they were. She turned away abruptly and managed to whack Evan in the face with her hair, which was still wet with sewer water.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Evan asked, using a towel to dry his face.

"Think of it as payback for the pool." Tabby said flippantly. "I'm having a shower, so go away."

"I'll see you at dinner then." Evan said. "Later Tabs."

---

Just go up to her Summers, and say- aw hell! Admit it, you've always liked her and what you saw yesterday was just confirming it- and how much you want to get to her before somebody else. Scott sighed. Arguing with yourself was pointless- how could you lose an argument with yourself?

"Hey Jean?" he called as she was leaving the building.

"Yeah Scott?" she asked, turning.

"I was, well, you know, going to get a drink later, if you'd like to, um, come."

"Sure." She smiled. "I'd love to."

Two soft snickers came out of a nearby bush, unheard by the new couple. Yellow eyes turned to face blue eyes.

"So, something finally happens between them." Kitty said softly.

"Bout damn time." Kurt snorted. "From what I've heard and seen, they've been heading down this road for a loooooong time."

Kitty nodded her head in agreement. "Come on Fuzzy, let's go." She gently grabbed the front of his shirt and walked backwards out of the bush, and into the hotel.

---

Jamie was walking through the main suite they were staying in when he heard a noise coming from one of the closets. Thinking it was a mouse or something, he opened the door. And- "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Jamie was now scarred for life, and he bolted out of the hotel room, out of the hotel even. It was a miracle he didn't run into anyone on his way out. From the hotel room closet, a muffled curse echoed, followed by an 'oops'.

---

Remy called a meeting later that night, just to run over the details again. Much to everyone's amusement, Jamie could not meet Kitty's or Kurt'- eyes. Just as the meeting was about to get underway, Jamie noticed something, and piped up.

"Where's Scott?" Ah, the innocence of children.

Tabby looked around the room. "Yeah, I haven't seen Red either."

Just then, Scott burst into the room, his face red, hair mussed, and clothes slightly dishevelled. The room went silent, and everyone looked at Scott, and Scott looked at everyone. Twenty seconds later, the room was still deadly silent, and Jean had come rushing into the room, Her face was red, her hair mussed, and her shirt was on backwards. Again, everyone looked at Jean, and Jean looked at everyone. And then they looked at Scott. Then at Jean. Then Scott. Then Jean. Then- well, you get the picture. Someone was heard talking from the back of the room.

"Wow, Scooter finally got laid." A small red laser beam came shooting towards Tabby, who dove out of the way just in time. A spike came flying towards Scott, but a well-timed psychic shield deflected it.

"Woah!" Remy stepped into the middle. "No fighting. We have big plans tomorrow. Afterwards, you can fight as much as you like." A general grumbling was heard, but nobody tried anything. Evan went over to Tabby and help out a hand to help her up.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for your help back there."

Evan shrugged. "No big. Anytime."

"Okay, not to break up the love fest here," Remy glanced over at Jean and Scott, Kurt and Kitty, Evan and Tabby, and John and Amara . "But we do have work to do here."

Wanda looked at Jamie. "Guess you and I are the only sane ones here." Jamie nodded his agreement, although he wasn't sure about Wanda's sanity… especially when concerning her brother. But it was safer to agree with her. They stayed in the room to discuss for a little bit longer, then went off to their own rooms. Jamie had ended up sharing a room with Kurt and John, and desperately hoped that nothing-odd would be happening that night. He had enough to worry about as it was.

---

The next morning greeted them with bad news. "You've been red flagged." Jean informed Remy as he walked into the room.

"I've been what?"

"Red flagged. That means that as soon as you set foot downstairs, they're going to be watching you like hawks. Like hawks with video cameras." Remy rolled his eyes at the last part. Hones'ly…

"Any idea why?" Jean's voice broke into his thoughts.

Remy shook his head no. Could this be about the other night?

"Sure he does," Jamie scoffed from the other side of the room. Remy's head swivelled to look at the kid. "He was talking to Pietro's girl the other night, and it didn't look like a happy chat. She looked pretty pissed off afterwards, and I bet that's why he got red flagged."

"How did you know about that?" Remy demanded.

"I was following you," Jamie said nonchalantly.

"Why were you following me?"

"I told him to," John appeared through the doorway.

"Why did you do that?" Remy asked, his voice full of anger.

"I was worried about Rogue. About Marie. I wasn't sure if it would affect you, but it did. Sorry Rem, you're out."

"He's out?" Wanda gasped.

"Wait, who's Marie?' Jean asked.

"His wife," John replied.

"My ex-wife," Remy retorted.

"You're off the job Remy. I can't risk you jeopardising the entire operation."

Remy was silent for a moment, then swore and stormed out of the room, his trench coat sweeping out behind him. The room remained silent for a minute, then chatter broke out.

"Marie is with Pietro now?"

"She's too tall for him."

"How can Remy be out?"

"Vho is going to trigger ze vault?"

John held up his hand to staunch the flow of questions. "Kid," he addressed Jamie without looking at him. "You up for it?"

Jamie managed a tiny "Yes."

"Good. Go change into a suit and meet me back here in 15 minutes, got it?" Jamie hurried out of the room.