Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Xmen. I wish I did but I just don't so get over it. Because I never will. Nor do I own any of the music.

Yes, that was a great chapter.. I had everything all nice and explained in that one. T'was great it was. *reminisces* Thanks to all those who reviewed.

SassyGrl024: Thank you for all dem compliments!!! Man, Special I feel. *yoda* Sorry for the mishap and thank you for telling. Glad for you to want Remy and Rogue back together. But we just can't be having that…now can we? MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Star-Of-Chaos: Oh yeah, major sucking up should be in order, but it won't.

Anime Addicted: Oh the drama, oh the realness..kinda

Rogue4787: Man, I loved that review so freaking much!! You made me feel so special. I could just cry. Glad to know that everything pieced itself together now.

RogueChere: Thanks; glad to know you like it.

Heaven's a Lie

Chapter 6: Drunken Stupor

The mansion was darker than usual. Rogue glanced over at Logan, who merely shrugged at her.

"Well, home sweet home."

Rogue took a deep breath and summoned the courage from somewhere.

"You think they're mad at us?"

"Oh yes."

She threw him a smile that said a lot and climbed out of the Jeep.

Gambit met her face to face as she opened the front door. She gasped,

"Gambit, hun, listen-"

He slipped a card out from up his sleeve and charged it slowly.

"Get outta mah way p'tite."

She pressed a hand against his chest.

"Gambit, will yer stop and listen for a sec?"

He shoved past her and descended the steps toward Logan waiting beside his Jeep. Gambit stopped a few feet from him, the card buzzing in his hand.

"Don't do it, Gambit." Wolverine advised coolly.

"An' why the hell not?"

"If you would stop an' listen to her-"

Gambit gripped Logan by the collar and shoved him back against the Jeep. In an instant Logan felt the claws extract. He pressed them up under the Cajun's chin and sneered.

"Get off a meh, now."

Gambit raised his lip in a snarl.

"Ah should kill yer."

"You wont get the chance and you know it."

"Boys!"

Rogue caught hold of Gambit and yanked him back away from Logan, she threw him against the steps.

"Lawd, Gambit, will yer calm down!"

"You can't protect him Rogue."

Gambit threatened as he climbed to his feet.

"What? What the hell are you talking about. Get some a' that spice outtah your damn skull and listen!"

"Ah don't need to hear whad you gonna tell me, cher. You think ah can't smell him on you! Ah know exactly what happened, don't waste your time trying to lie."

"Gambit, Remy... Do you think ah could do that to you?"

He smiled crookedly.

"Ah know you could, cher."

He climbed the steps and slammed the mansion door behind him. Logan retracted the claws and stood staring at the door for a few moments.

"This could get interesting."

**************************************************************************************************

The tension was what you might call suffocating. Few words were passed between Logan, Rogue and the others. In Xavier's absence the weaved quilt of the team was slowly dissapating.

"Hey."

Logan greeted Rogue as she breezed into the kitchens. She stopped and looked at him warily.

She frowned. He was seated at the counter, a single claw protruding from his flesh. She watched as he proceeded to skin an apple with that claw.

"Can I do you for something?"

He asked after several minutes of silence.

"Ah was jus' on the hunt for a snack but ah think ah'll pass... You gonna eat that?"

He lifted his gaze and smiled, amused by her apparent innocence.

"What else am ah going to do with it?"

She pulled up a tall chair and slipped onto it.

"Isn't it, y'know, un-hygienic?"

His smile grew.

"The story goes I use these things to cut. Cut anything, flesh, metal, even bits of spaceship when ah can get my hands on it. These claws, kid, retract back into my skeleton, back into my skin. I'm less likely to catch anything from an apple than I am.... an alien, for example. Ah aint that bothered."

Rogue swallowed.

"Ah see."

He sliced the apple in half.

"Want a bit?"

Her face screwed up in disgust.

"Think ah'll pass on that one, Wolvie."

She was about to get up and leave when his stare demanded her attention.

"You getting the cold shoulder?"

"Am ah! Ah can't do anything without eyes burning into mah back."

"Yeah, know that feeling. So, how do you reckon we set things straight?"

"You want me to tell them the truth?"

"Not if you aint ready."

"Well, ah aint."

"Okay, alright, don't ruffle yer feathers. We gotta do something, ah don't trust that Cajun, he's probably making a voodoo doll as we speak."

Rogue rested her elbows on the counter surface and searched his face for a sign that he might have an answer.

"Ah gotta go after Jason." She finally said.

Logan neither agreed nor disagreed.

"I'm guessing he has to be a Mutant. You killed him right, well he ain't dead any more."

She nodded.

"Maybe Xavier has something on him."

"It's a start..."

****************************************************************************************

"You can hack into this thing?"

Rogue asked as she glanced over her shoulder at the door behind them.

"Rogue, you know me."

He sat himself down in front of the computer terminal and began to decipher it's code.

Rogue watched eagerly. They were already in trouble in more than one way, she was just dragging Wolverine further and further into her mess. Still, she wasn't dragging him kicking and screaming. In fact if she didn't know him better she might think he was enjoying the whole thing.

Ten minutes later he was in but there was nothing in the files about Jason or anyone even similar to his description. Logan told her it didn't mean anything, a few well played moves and a bit of luck and a Mutant could remain undetected forever.

"Thinking about Gumbo? I wouldn't waste your time."

Rogue flashed him a warning.

"What is it with you two. Anyone would think something happened to make you both hate each other."

"I never said I hated him."

She caught up with him as they walked towards the Library.

"Alright, sugah, why don't you like him?"

"I'm not getting into this. We already got ourselves a rift in the team I don't want to go and make it worse."

"Maybe he got a bit personal with Jean, ah know how he can be with women."

Logan ignored her. "I'm gonna pull in a favour and see if we can track him the old fashioned way."

Typing in a number in his computer, he called up the number for Trask. Those two went way back, considering he was probably the one who had inserted the adamantium in him. Though they weren't on a friendship basis, they did respect each other.

The fax buzzed between them and churned out several pages. Logan gathered them up.

"Three attacks in the last three weeks. Young women."

She snatched the data out of his hands.

"Mah lawd, they're dead, all of them."

"All with the same M.O."

She remembered his face as he leered over her. She should be dead along with the rest of them.

"How many since then...?" She whispered.

And he had definetly aged, he looked way older at the pier the few weeks before as he had done all those years ago.

"Does it say where the attacks were?"

He snatched the data back.

"Yeah..."

Finding a map he spread it over the table and pinpointed the locations. They were within five miles of each other but that still left a huge area to search.

" We ain't going t' find him, are we Logan?"

Logan turned to look at Rogue.

" It's highly unlikely kid, very unlikely."

********************************************************************************************

She was drinking again. She knew it was becoming a bad habit of hers. But who cared really. Obviously not the other Xmen and definitely not Gambit. He had chosen to ignore the hell out of her throughout her entire return back to the institute. No matter how many times she tried to tell him the truth, he would just shoot her down.

It was all becoming overwhelming. The data she and Logan had only confirmed the truth that she had knew along time ago but chose to run away from. She was a nothing, an empty vessel. She could never love or be loved by another. Why had she survived all those years when she should have died? What was the point?

Angrily wiping away the tears at her face, she glanced around the room.

What time was it? Was it three in the morning? Sighing, Rogue gave up trying to figure out the time, instead she turned her attention back to the window, the darkness of the room enveloping her.

Storm was ignoring her…denying her existence. Gambit, she would be lucky if he had ever spoke to her again. They had all trusted her and she betrayed them. She wasn't even worth the air she breathed.

" Chere?"

Jumping slightly, Rogue turned around. Her gaze fell upon Remy, who was standing in the doorway. His body blocking the small bit of light that would flow into the room.

" Remy…"

Turning her gaze away from him, she slumped down lower in her chair. She couldn't look at him right now, she didn't deserve to even have him in her presence.

Why did Xavier even bother to help her, she would have been fine..

Looking back up, she saw that Remy was already gone. She could feel her chest heaving painfully, she was alone again…she would always be alone.

Tears began to stream down her face as she continued to think of how worthless she truly was.

" Why must I live?…"

********************************************************************************************

" Where is Rogue?"

Storm glanced around the room at the other Xmen. Everyone was on edge, except for Beast who seemed to be immune to everything.

" Gambit…"

Gambit held up his hand to stop Storm in mid sentence.

" Why y' askin Remy, why don' y' ask him?"

Spoke Remy, as he pointed over at Logan.

Logan glared over at Remy while clenching his fist.

" I don't know where she is, Storm."

Beast stood up and spoke.

" I found an empty bottle of Jack Daniel's in the library this morning, along

with a shot glass."

Storm glanced over at Logan. He shrugged passively at her.

" Well Logan?…"

Logan rolled his eyes at her stupidity. Beast held his hand up before Logan could retort.

" Then I think we should assume that she was the one that drank the contents."

" I saw her…" Remy mumbled lightly.

All eyes turned on him.

" She was in there…she was uh..err…pretty drunk…"

A growl came from behind him. Turning around, Remy saw Logan staring at him with intense hostility.

" And you left her there alone?!"

Remy shrugged him off.

" She don' need me…"

Logan became furious.

" She needs somebody!…"

He almost blurted out the truth but stopped himself before he could. Remy didn't take notice but merely sneered at him.

" Y' be just as good a comfort t' her den anyone else here.."

Logan's temper began to flare dangerously.

" Listen here, Gumbo, you need to get your priorities straight!"

" Remy has 'is priorities straight, she fucking cheated on me!"

Logan shot him a glare that could kill.

" Have you even stopped to listen to her?!"

" Mon Dieu, Yes I have, Wolverine."

"Then you know why she's running scared? Then you know why she's reacting like this do you? Do you even have a clue, have you even considered that her reasons might be something different to what you've all assumed-"

"-Logan, do you know something?"

Storm asked softly. Her voice calming.

He closed his eyes and saw her on the edge of the hotel bed, trembling all over, crying.

"I er..."

He shook his head and left the room. In the Library he found the bottle Beast spoke of, the smell of the alcohol filling the air with a sweet tang.

"Rogue.... where are you?"

**************************************************************************************

The television flickered in the corner of the hotel room, on it a tape and been paused. The man leaned forward and caressed the screen with his fingers.

"Ah missed yah, Rogue. Mah you grew up good."

He'd watched the tape over and over. A news report he'd taken from the City Library. The X-Men. A collection of Mutants who fought for the side of the right. And there she was, his Rogue, his lost rose. There in front of him all of this time. He hadn't been sure he was looking for something until he'd finally found her again, now he knew what he had to do to make everything complete, to make it all make sense.

She was beautiful, and strong, a real challenge, not like the others who gave up too easily, oh no, not his Rogue. She was his, the only one to have connected with him. She'd killed him afterall, how much more personal could things get? His shadow, his companion. She was always meant for him, she was completion, she would make the pain go away.

Not long now, mah sweet. Oh no. There's no other way out.

*************************************************************************************************

Logan walked outside the mansion, he could've sworn that he had picked up her scent out there. Following his nose, it led him into the garage. Walking around, he eventually ran up on a crouched figure in one of the X-jeeps.

Logan opened the Jeep door and peered inside.

"Hey, you gonna tell me why you've picked my wheels as a hiding place?"

Rogue squinted up into the blinding sunlight. With a groan she shaded her eyes.

"Man ah feel like cold molasses. Urgh, mah head."

"Rogue, you have to tell them."

She sat upright and frowned.

"You seen me lookin' bettah right?"

"Rogue, are you listening to me?"

"Damn, see, ah aint so innocent. A pickled lizard all on mah ownsome."

He climbed into the drivers side and closed the door.

"You smell like a brewery."

"Wha thank you kind sir."

"What ever has gotten into the pretty little head of yours you need to sort it out now. Things will only get worse."

" What does it matter…Everyone would be a lot better off if ah were dead."

He gripped her shoulder and forced her to meet his stare.

"You've got people that care about you inside, they need to be told the truth. You owe it to them."

Rogue stared at Logan for a split second. He was right, but she couldn't go back yet, no not yet. She needed to find Jason, first. She would fix what she had done. But she needed more power, just enough for her to be able to track him down.

" Ah'm sorry Logan."

Logan glanced down at Rogue. What the hell was she talking about? He didn't realize what she was doing until she began to lean into him. She met his lips with hers for a second, or what seemed like a second. In that one moment she felt his mind rush into her, flush through her memories and replace hers with his. It was over before she knew it but he was unconscious.

" Don't worry Logan, ah'll be back."

*************************************************************************************************

When Logan finally regained consciousness, he found himself sitting on the garage floor with a blanket on him. Standing up, he shakily he began to recall the previous events.

He had went outside to find Rogue. She was brooding in the car and then the next thing he knew she was absorbing him. Why would she absorb….

" Great, just great…the kid is going off to fight Jason."

Sighing to himself. He began to head inside the mansion. What kind of friend would he have been if he'd let her go alone. Now, he disliked people who broke any kind of promise, people who neglected a trust someone had out in them. But in this instance he had no choice.

The group gathered round him and for once he wished Xavier were here. The faces of his companions stared at him eagerly awaiting the reason for this meeting. Gambit's expression had fallen solemn since the last time they'd spoken.

He told them what he knew.

These people were all he had, and how he hated to admit it. But they were also all Rogue and they would never let her down. This band of the mismatched, of the odd, or the powerful.

A silence fell about them when he'd finished. He waited, taking in the chill in the air and the quiet around him. He would never say 'I told you so' but in this instance they already knew they had been wrong and very wrong at that.

"This man is a killer, and to top it all off he's a Mutant. Rogue thinks she's going up against the man she met years ago, I'm guessing that he's much more than that now. She believes she's strong, she believes she can deal with this on her own and she may be right, but just in case she's wrong we need to find her."

"She's turned her locator off." Storm said softly.

Ah yes, another chapter done in record time!! You love me!! I knew I would strike a chord with this story!! *claps happily*

I think the next chapter may be the last, I'm not finalized on it yet. It will be posted today as well, I am sure.. Depending how fast I type.

Review for me Please!! Review!! Review!! Review Like Mad!!

~RoguesHeart~