Chapter 8

/It doesn't matter anymore./ Remy sat in the same chair and watched the two do their work again. Just like last time. /No not like last time./ Because last time, Scott was the one to ask for help, now it's Rogue.

She never looked up at him even though he sat across from her on the other side of the room. In the hallways she ignored his presence. And in the few moments they were alone and he approached her, she walked away.

/What could I say anyways? Maybe I could have gotten her to understand why I hadn't told her. But would she ever trust me again? I don't think so./ Falling further down the chair he watched as Scott made her laugh, and how she acted like nothing was wrong.

But he could feel it. The sadness and the betrayal. All the rooms between them last night didn't stop the emotions from coming through. It kept him up all night, but she wouldn't know. /It's not like she would care if she did./

He could have left last night. Went to some bar and drink away his problems like he always done, but he stayed. He wanted to stay, to suffer for what he did. Before he ever came here he read what Magneto and Mystique had on her. He read how it was hard for her to make friends, being lonely, and even the one time that she... /She wouldn't try that again because of what I did. Are you thinking that because it's true or you don't want to be responsible for being the one who drove her to the edge?/ He ran his hand through his hair, being reminded again about her.

/Her life is full of crap just as much as mine is. You deserved some of things that happened to you. But what about her? She didn't deserve any of it./ His thoughts pulled him further down and he remembered what Mystique said about never hurting her. /You screwed up Lebeau, you screwed up big time./

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The school bell rang yet again, but she stayed with the same pace. She didn't care anymore. Kitty had bugged her all day about why she wasn't hanging around Remy. Actually everyone in manor asked her. It became such a regular occurrence for them to see Remy and Rogue together that they were shocked when she brushed right past him without saying a word.

Even the boys wondered what happened and automatically assumed that Remy had done something. She stopped them before they could start anything. All she wanted to do was forget about him, but he was a resident of the school so that wasn't going to happen.

Last night she thought over everything and decided that she wasn't going to be sad. Of course saying and doing are two very different things, but at least she's trying. Then she thought she would give him a chance to explain. That also didn't happen, but when she's ready she'll try, maybe. After all she did have to work with him on missions and other things. The plan sounded solid in her mind but the pain she felt when seeing him or thinking about him wasn't making it easy on her.

The slow pace still got her on time to class. Most of the students could tell when she was in a bad mood and leave her alone. Even Duncan laid off the name-calling and insults, which was a major surprise to her. When she reached the back of the room she spotted Devlin looking at her and giving her a somewhat awkward smile.

For the first time that day she gave a real smile back.

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/It feels so good being near her again./ Devlin was sitting next to Rogue on the grass talking about everything their minds come up with. They talked about school, rock bands, the recent award ceremony, and now their past relationships with people.

"Ah thought he liked me, but why would he keep it a secret that he had a wife." Some comforting words, got her to spill everything that happened yesterday. And she was doing a very good job of making Remy look like the worst person in the whole world. "Ah even met his wife. She was pretty and she loved him."

"Maybe he didn't love her?" /I can't convince her take me back like this. But how else am I going to get her to talk to Remy? I mean me. But not when I'm Devlin./ "Or he was forced to marry her."

"He wouldn't have gone along with it. And why are ya defendin him?" Her anger towards Remy was redirected towards the guy sitting next to her. "Is it because he's a guy?"

"No! I was just trying to suggest some scenarios about why he doesn't want to stay with her." The words weren't enough and he could see in her eyes how she was reexamining him, placing him in the same category as her ex-boyfriend. /Which is me./ "But I guess your right. I just don't want to believe guys could be like that."

"So ya wouldn't treat yar girlfriend like that?" There was a bite to her words like she didn't believe him.

"If I was married to someone who loved me. I wouldn't give her up. And same goes for any girl I date." /I just sold myself out. That's nice. Wait she's leaning in./

"Really?" Her eyes were wary, and he found himself missing the trusting gaze she used to give him. "If ah went out with ya, are ya goin ta treat me like a lady or use mah than leave mah?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" /She just broke up with me! How could she be asking me on a date? Isn't there suppose to be a month waiting period before she could date anyone else?/

"Not a date. But ah do want ta spend more time with ya, and less time at home." Her voice wavered at the end, making him wrap his arm around her comforting her with his presence. /At least I could spend some time with her. But she is probably going to be talking about how much she doesn't like me./ He was willing to go through it though, so he could be with her. /I've got it bad.../

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It was around six when he walked her to the end of the forest. When she was about to leave he had the strongest urge to kiss her hand or her lips. The thought that she was still touchable drove him insane. All the time they could have been together. She could have felt real long lasting touch, but was denied that, because of a mistake he made that finally caught up with him.

Making sure no one was around he turned off the inducer on his wrist and the bike, returning it to its original color. Climbing on he was about to speed off when he saw smoke coming from the direction that Rogue went.

Jumping off his bike he ran in-between the tress and jumped in time to dodge a fireball being thrown in his direction.

"See ain't this fun Sheila?" As Remy reached the clearing he spotted John juggling a couple fireballs with his hands. /Trees, Pyro, not good./

"Whatever you say." Wanda Maximoff stood a good distance away, obviously realizing the risk the pyromaniac was. Nearer to him were Rogue and Kurt.

"Doesn't that scorch yar hands?" Rogue came closer while Kurt went in the direction that Wanda was.

"Not at all! I have complete control." The Cajun snorted remembering all the times that little sparks fell from the flames he held setting everything around him on fire. Conveniently never in his own room. "I can do this in my sleep. Want to come over and watch?"

The cold glare was the only reply Pyro got, but he didn't seem to mind. Instead his attention was towards the two across from him. The two looked like they were having a friendly conversation then Wanda said something that made Kurt hug her.

The place suddenly felt a lot warmer when Pyro created a huge fireball, and threw it towards the two. It sailed right past Remy and only his quick reflexes was able to save him from being scorched. As it sailed closer to the two it separated into smaller pieces, and the pieces took on the shapes of hearts. Slowly they surrounded Wanda making her smile.

Now Remy had heard some things about the ScarletWitch, one being that she was cruel, dark, and would kill you before she would ever let you touch her. Now she's been hugged, and has both smiled and laughed. Something wasn't right. Before he could figure it out, Kurt ported with Wanda next to the other two.

A feeling of jealousy and anger swirled around him. Concentrating he found the two sources of the emotions and was surprised that it was coming from Kurt and John, and it was all because of Wanda. /I thought Kurt liked the human girl./ Rogue was catching on to the situation even though the other woman wasn't.

"Kurt offered to port us to the Brotherhood's house." Wanda explained to John, who was staring at the tail circling her waist.

"I thought we were going to walk back together." Walking over he wrapped his arm around her waist, pinching the tail in the process. Kurt winced, but didn't let go of her.

"She doesn't vant to valk." Kurt's smile consisted of him just baring his fangs. When Wanda looked at him then it turned into a normal one. "Isn't that right?"

"My feet are really sore. How about I show you around later?" Rogue came up by Kurt and held his hand, while Pyro let go of Wanda.

"Sure..." They were gone before the poor guy could finish his sentence.

"Dat's rough mon ami." Remy decided it was time to make himself known. In all the time the two spent together, he couldn't remember a time that the other guy wasn't smiling. But now he stood there like a lost puppy who was kicked out of his home.

"Yeah..." Pulling out a lighter he set a tree on fire, but only a small smile touched his lips. "So how's it like being an X-Geek?"

"It's nice. Good food, warm bed. Not bad." They both just stood there and stared at the flames. "What yo' doin' here."

"Living at the brotherhood house now." The flames spread consuming another tree next to it. "Wanda she's nice right?"

"Pretty little thin' if she isn't glarin' at yo'." A branch fell to the ground igniting the grass. "Yo' got a thing for her?"

"Sort of, I thought I had her, but that blue furred boy showed up and I don't know." The flames grew, reaching a height of 20 feet. "Do you think I have a shot at her?"

"She be Magneto's kid, so yo've got to be careful." A couple bushes catch on fire creating a bigger flame then before. "Don't want to get ole buckethead angry."

"I know. So how's it going with you an the Sheila." Sirens from a fire truck could be heard approaching the area. "You know the untouchable one?"

"Not so good." Taking a leisurely stroll they left their fire filled surroundings. "Want to get drunk?"

"Sure." Orange-suited people appear carrying a huge hose. Just as they are about to spray it the fire dissipates leaving smoke and black dust. Scratching their heads the firemen shrug and leave the area.

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"What's, like, going on between you and Remy?" Rogue stabbed her food at the mention of his name, giving Kitty a clue as to what the situation is. "Did he do something?"

"Yeah he did somethin." The half-yell was followed by curses that would make Wolverine proud. They were currently in Rogue's room where Kitty brought her food when she didn't show up. Scott wanted her to bring it instead of the Cajun but it didn't look like he was going to anyways.

"So are you going to tell me or just grumble?" This wasn't the first time that Kitty hears her friend curse, and she doubt it would be the last.

"He, well... It ain't important." The sorrow filled words showed how serious the situation really was. Kitty couldn't even remember a time that her friend talked like that.

"It's important if you end up talking like that. Now dish. What happened?" The calming words got Rogue to tell her the gist of what happened at the club and the day after. She then finished off most of her food and placed it on the dresser.

"So ah called it off." Rogue curled up into a ball clutching a pink bunny to her chest. In any other situation it would have been comical seeing a gothic girl touching anything pink, but the broken look on her face just made her seem like a lost child holding onto something that comforts her.

"That's harsh, but you did the right thing." Coming up next to her, Kitty pulled the other girl into a hug hoping that would make her feel better. "You should talk to him, though. Maybe find out everything."

"Ah should, Devlin said the same thing, but ah'm not sure."

"Who's Devlin?"

"The new guy at school. Me and him have been hanging out, and ah told him about Remy, and he said that there might be something more ta it." Rogue went on to talk about Devlin and the conversations they had. Kitty then remembered the person and how he seemed to be pro-mutant, and not being jumped for being that way.

"Soooo do you like Devlin?" Kitty gave a broad smile.
"Depends. What do ya mean?"

"Do you like him as much as you liked Remy?"

"No...not yet." The look in Kitty's eyes made her add the last part on.

"Good! You're catching on. What I can tell is, that he likes you, you like him. And what you had with Remy wasn't so serious anyways. You only knew each other a week. So Devlin's the perfect guy to move onto."

"Ah know. He's nice and all. But ah don't want ta make him rebound guy."

"He's not rebound guy. Seesh Rogue, Remy was your boyfriend for a day, even less than that. You should move, but you know, take it slow. You might even like him more than Remy!"

"Ya sure bout this?"

"Positive. Test him out, see if he's really good guy then date him. Trust me nothing will go wrong."

"Fine, but what if he turns out ta be just like Remy?"

"Trust me, Devlin is nothing like Remy."

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All the teachers had arrived back a little after the students returned from school. Happy that the house wasn't totaled they went their separate ways to go unpack. But one of the teachers went a different way and paced in the hallway, unsure of what actions to take. There were so many questions he wished to ask, some of which he wasn't sure if he wanted an answer to. Sighing he knew what course he must take and approached the door. With his fist raised he lightly rapped on the door.

"Come in Hank." After all the months he stayed here he still wasn't used to it. Sometimes he wondered just how much the Professor read their minds. It wasn't like he was hiding anything, but it was still unnerving.

"Professor I was wondering if your friend on Muir Island has come up with something new on Rogue." /I said it. It's out./

"Nothing new. It seemed the machine just advanced her mutation allowing her to tap into the powers that she absorbed." The wheelchair moved from behind the desk to the fireplace taking up a more comfortable position. "She also said that your theory may prove to be correct, but it will take time before they can run some tests. Now are you going to explain what your theory was? "

Beast leaped into the air and landed on the desk a huge smile on his face. Hearing that put him in a better mood.

"There's no way to be certain right now, but given time and a little hard work she may be able to advance the powers that she absorbed." Jumping off the desk he landed near the fireplace, avoiding the flames that could easily set his hair on fire. "Other examples of people increasing their powers is Kitty being able to stay in a phased out state for longer periods of time and Jean lifting heavier objects with her mind. It's only a thought I had, but maybe Rogue could do the same thing."

"That would be a great accomplishment if she could." The Professor's hands came together forming a steeple. "Would she be able to surpass the abilities of the person she absorbed?"

"I highly doubt it, but she will get really close." Hank began to formulate more theories and ways to test them out. He was about rush out of the room when he remembered before he remembered another question that's been plaguing him and the other staff members of the school. "There is something else that I want to ask. Does Gambit also know of Rouge's new abilities?"

"Why would you ask that?" The Professor's smile faltered slightly and quickly diminished when Beast gave him a no-nonsense-I-want-the-truth look. "Yes, he has known for quite some time now."

"We, the rest of the teachers and I, know that they were together for at least part of the week that she went missing. And only I know that Gambit has complete knowledge about Rogue's enhanced powers." There was silence as the Professor thought over what he was told, and what he should say. Sighing he dropped his hands to his lap in a defeated gesture.

"You may ask as many questions you like, but some of them I may not answer. Either because I don't know myself or I feel it is best that not too many people know about. And before you say anything I do trust you, but you might end up giving the information away against your will." At first Beast was about to protest. In his mind he knew he wouldn't give out information about Rogue even under torture, but by thinking over what the Professor said he understood why the other man was so cautious.

"You don't want someone taking the information from my mind." A slight nod from the Professor calmed him down somewhat, and brought on a whole new set of questions he now had to ask. /Which telepath? Why would it want information on Rogue? Why is Gambit involved?/

"Why Gambit?" /If it was secrecy reasons then wouldn't Jean had been a better candidate?/

"There were many factors involved. His formidable mental blocks being one of them. Another being that Rogue would trust him more than say Jean." It wasn't news that the two didn't like each other very much.

"Wouldn't it have given them something to bond over?" Other then the usual quips about the other's lifestyles they weren't really that bad around each other.

"We couldn't risk it. Gambit was the only one at the time." The Professor paused. "That's all I can tell you about why he knows."

"Were they together after the sentinel incident up to the time she got the Blackbird back or was it less?"

"They were together from the start. He looked after her until she was brought back here." The other teachers had assumed it was only a partial amount of time they were together. /So that would mean.../

"What were the sleeping arrangements between the two." The curious expression on the Professor's face led him to explain. "Logan would want to know."

"That was one of the things that I wasn't able to discern from my talks with the two. They had to have slept at some point or another so I would assume that they had separate rooms or sleeping areas." /Meaning he doesn't know, but doesn't want Logan overreacting and going straight to the source to find out./ "Is there anything else?"

"Just one more thing. How far has Moira gotten with the research on Rogue?"

"Not very far. As much as they could tell it would take the better part of a lifetime to fully understand Rogue's mutation." This wasn't new to him. Hank's original length of time was a full 100 years until he started working with Moira. But it was still going agonizingly slow.

"How about the part we are trying to correct." It had been their main priority from the beginning.

"It's isn't going so well either, another thirty years at best. She said it's a lost cause." The words brought the two men's thoughts down into a murky gray area full of doubt and regret for their young charge. Who over the months had earned their respect with her strong will and caring nature. The last being carefully hidden behind the dark clothing she wears.

"We can't give up. She came here asking for help." It was like that sentence was enough, that asking for help means you would get it. At least that was what Beast always thought.

"I know. That's why we won't stop. She is a part of this family." With a new sense of determination Mr. McCoy left the room heading straight for his lab to continue his work. /There has to be a way. There just has to be./

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A very drunk Remy stumbled up the stairs, not caring if he woke someone up or not. But his thief training kicked in and even in his drunken state was able to make it up the steps without even the faintest sound.

His mind was a jumble of thoughts, making him rely on his instincts to get him to bed. The last thing he wanted was to get a stern talking to by one-eye. Pulling open the door he stumbled in. The light from the hallway showed a figure sleeping in a bed. /Someone been sleeping in my bed./ Snickering slightly at his own thoughts he came up on the sleeping form and had to focus his eyes to make out who it was.

/Rogue. Course my first thought would be to go to her./ Pulling his ungloved hand out he brushed her cheek. /Sleeping Beauty. Now how did the story go?/

"De beautiful fille was cursed by a dark fairy to die on someday, but instead she fell asleep for a long time, only to be awakened by a kiss." Leaning down he planted a soft kiss on her lips. Waiting for what seemed like eternity to him, he finally gave up on her opening her eyes. It was then that he remembered the part about a prince to be the one to wake her. "I guess being de prince of thieves doesn't cut it."

A look of rejection on his face, he left the room more conscious of his surroundings then when he went in. The whole scene took him out of his drunken stupor and brought him back to cold harsh reality., and the pain that comes with it.

With one last look in the room he closed the door, admitting to himself that maybe it wasn't meant to be.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: This author's note is for the original chapters I made.

Author's Note: For those of you who didn't notice in the last chapter: ROGUE WAS USING HER POWERS! I was surprised not that many people caught it. So I have the explanation and if anyone thinks it's confusing then just say, and I'll try to explain it better in the next author note's.

And the whole updating thing. It's started on Wednesday, then went Thursday, then Friday, and now I update on Saturday. So I'm guessing by the pattern that my next one will be coming out next Sunday if anyone is wondering.

I think that's it so onto the reviews:

Star-of-Chaos: I think you were one of the only people who caught onto the teleporting thing. Good Job! I hope this chapter helps explain why, I don't think it's confusing, but I came up with it so it's sorta know it all already.

enchantedlight: Bella always did have bad timing. But at least the truth is out.

chinxy: She does get annoying with the whole jealousy thing. But she is a good person at heart. Just doesn't know when to let go. It is Remy that's she letting go of so I sympathize.

TigerStorm: I guess he did. No one can just do it the simple way, can they?

Caliente: The good times will return for a minute and forty-three seconds. It would make it longer. And it doesn't matter how long the review is as long as you review.

ishandahalf: The good times rarely last. And I have to go into a little drama. Can't make it too easy on them.

Lady Farevay: At least you review, so it's all good. And I update every week and maybe a day more. Also no matter how much I want to have an all out brawl between the two it has to be when Remy and Rogue get back together. Otherwise Rogue and Bella would team up to whoop Remy's ass.

DemonRogue13: He thought it was a wrong number, so he handed her the phone to make her happy and have her say "Remy's Girlfriend."

Rogue4787: I would guess the bella/remy fans, but in a romy stories, yes she only serves the purpose of wrecking the good times. Poor Bella, she's never going to get Remy if the Romy fans have any say in it!