This is a shorter chapter than the last, but I figured that was better than taking forever to post a longer one.

Off with her Head...


The pounding of boots on the pavement echoed loudly through the deserted streets. Now wasn't the time for stealth, now was the time for speed, speed to get out of town before those freaks regained consciousness. Please don't be there...Remy knew Marie should know better than to go back to the motel. It would be the first place they looked. He still wasn't sure how dangerous that woman was, but Sabretooth he knew. And Sabretooth wasn't after him, he was taking orders from the woman who was very interested in Marie. In the millions of things that run through a person's head during stressful situations, he remembered hearing that Sabretooth had been working for Magneto.

Magneto he didn't know, but had heard of. The guy wasn't exactly low profile with trying to blow of the Statue of Liberty or whatever it was he had been doing a while back. From his reputation, Magneto thought of himself as a freedom fighter and wannabe mutant saviour. But, more often than not, he ended up just stacking up casualties and property damage. He could understand why Creed would like working for him, but why would Magneto want an animal like Creed? The guy probably wasn't the humanitarian he thought himself to be. Was Creed still with Magneto? If so, why did he what Marie? Being hounded by a super terrorist and his crew might have been traumatic to send Marie running to Madripoor. Maybe. But I still think chere could take him, she handled his goons pretty well.

The motel door was within sight now, no signs of anyone following, yet. That was only a matter of time though. Again, he prayed fervently that chere hadn't flown back here. Unfortunately, she didn't think logically when she was in one of her "moods," and this was the worst he'd ever seen her. As the door flew open, he saw that his bad hunch was right. She was here, huddled in a corner, eerily reminiscent of the "nightmare" incident.

"Marie, we have to get out of here. Sabretooth and the rest of them won't stay out for long. They may be working for a guy named Magneto. I don't know what he wants, but can't be good-," he knelt down to be level with her eyes. Although he couldn't see them; her arms were covering her face with her hands resting on her head. She almost, almost looked asleep, she was so still. Hadn't moved a fraction of an inch he slammed the door open. He reached for her hands so he could talk some sense into her.

With her arms over her face, she couldn't be able to see well, but she saw enough to know he was near. When he reached out she let out an awful shriek and lurched sideways away from his hand. "DON'T TOUCH ME! DO YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE HIM! OR LIKE HER!" The unnaturally calm was gone, replaced by near hysterics. Her hands had fallen away and he could see her face now. It was still the pale, sickly green with hollow yellow eyes. "Please, please don't touch me. I don't wanna hurt you, too," hysterics giving way to tearful pleading.

None of this made any sense, but there was no time to figure out what was going on, "You won't hurt me, chere. But I promise, I'll stay away," he backed up a bit and held his hands up. "See? I don't know what's going on, but we don't have time to figure it out. We have to leave before they- "

"They won't come here. Mystique gave em orders to stay back, she didn't want to scare me off.. The both of them were only here for recon and back up, in case you were trouble. But Creed jumped the gun, she's gonna be plenty mad. She'll want to give me time to calm down before she tries talking to me again."

Mystique, that must have been the woman. Must be another one of Magneto's people. A shapeshifter, if he remembered right. He actually tried to stay away from all of the typical mutant craziness, but it was still a pretty small world when it came to mutants, especially alpha class. It was almost impossible to avoid hearing about each other, especially when one frequented the criminal underground, like he did or used to anyway. "Which one did you "hear" that from," his telepathy suspicions were more than confirmed now. That power would definitely come in handy right now, if she knew what they wanted...

She held up her hands, which had taken on a fainter shade of that horrible green, "Which one do ya think?" he assumed she was talking about the green guy. He was called Toad or Bullfrog or something stupid like that.

"But I still ain't a path," she paused and then swallowed, like she was gulping for air. Wish I was. I'm a vampire," her eyes were tearing up again and she shut them tight. Putting her face back into her hands she said through muffling fingers, "I don't read minds... I suck them out,... thoughts, memories, energy, powers..." she paused looking at her hands again and her voice lowered to a near whisper. "And you saw what happens when I do."

Froggy had keeled right over. That honestly sounded like a cool power to have, although why she hadn't had it for the past few months was puzzling. He tried reaching for her hand again, slowly, to show her there was nothing to be afraid of, but she jerked it quickly away. "Are ya crazy, swamp rat! Didn't I just tell ya, didn't you see...Do you want to end up like her?"

"Her." That was the second time she had mentioned "her." A "her" who couldn't be frog boy. "Who?" he inquired very softly.

Very softly she responsed, "Carol. Do you what to end up like Carol?"

Still keeping his voice low, "You are Carol-,"

She gave a hystical little chuckle, "No, I'm not. That's not my name..That's why it never sounded quite right...I...stole it from her,... just like I stole her powers," she was yanking her hair back almost violently from her scalp. "I can't fly...I'm not strong... all I do... is steal bits of people's souls," she had started curling back up inside herself again and a hollow laugh broke free. "At least, we know what I was running from now." Her head ducked down completely and she tangled her hair in her fists.

She was running from her power? That didn't make any sense and then he remembered frog boy falling over. "What is that, chere? What happened to Carol?" it really wasn't his business and honestly, he didn't care. He was only trying get her to talk about it, so he could then tell her it wasn't her fault and they could leave.

"I killed her," the strange calmness was starting to return. Only it sounded less like calmness and more like a cold deadness saturating her words.

"You remember that?" had her memory finally come back?

A slight hesitation, "No...not really...I do remember that when I 'absorb' somebody, they usually wake up in a little bit and get their powers back. The longer I touch em, the longer they stay...asleep. I still got her powers...it's been so long...she must be dead," her voice kept getting softer and coarser throughout her ramblings, he strained to hear her.

Coming closer, but not attempting to touch her this time, "You don't know that chere. Anything could have happened. Whatever did happen, it was an accident-"

"How can you know that?" came out bitterly and frightened.

"Because I know you." her stillness tricked him into believing she was starting to calm down and he began to move forward a little bit more.

"NO! DON'T!" she jerked back so violently, she slammed against the wall. "I TOLD YOU! I CAN'T control it. That's why I had those stupid gloves...why I always wear them... I'll kill you too. I don't want to...please stay away."

When she mentioned the gloves, he got an idea. Her gloves were still lying discarded on the bed, but he was still wearing his from going outside into the cold. Using his pickpocket sleath, he slipped one gloved hand over the tips of her fingers. "Look, see...It's okay...it's okay. I'll be careful." She looked questioningly, but didn't move, torn. "You can control it, you have been controlling it, for a long time," His other hand slowly reached for arm, careful to show her he wasn't near any exposed skin.

Shaking her head, wanting to believe him, but not ready too. "I don't know...I don't know how I did that...I can't...That's why it felt wrong when we kissed. Because I shouldn't have be able to do that...I don't know how I did..."

They were in the middle of crisis, but his heart lept a little at hearing that. It was her powers that felt wrong, nothing to do with him, or them together. Now if they could just get rid of Magneto's henchmen and soothe the minor breakdown...Trying to be very calm and logical, "You're just upset. You're control's off because you're upset. That used to happen to me, too sometimes," he tried to smile, but it withered. He pulled her in instead, wrapping both arms around her shoulders. His ever present coat was on,so that shouldn't scare her. "Take deep breaths, chere. If Mystique ain't coming back, then you ain't got nothing to be afraid of no more." The rise and fall of her chest slowed. "You calm down, and everything'll be fine again," Acting calm had always worked before when she was upset. This was a whole new level of upset though. He felt her inhale even deeper into his jacket, the shudder of her shoulder started to lessen. "Everything's ok now." It wasn't, but it was a useful lie.

Tears that had been threatening finally overflowed. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt her...hurt anybody..."

"It's ok, you didn't do nothing wrong,"

"I want to believe you, Remy, but I-," He shushed her before she could say anything else and ran a hand through her hair, soothing down the angry tangles. If they could just get through this night, they could deal with everything else later. Everthing else meaning Mystque, Magneto and what Marie had been planning to say if she had made it back to the motel uninterrupted.

The night stayed quiet and she remained in his arms for a long time. The goon squad never did show up. Maybe they would leave well enough alone, for a while at least. Marie could tell him what is was exactly that they wanted later. When she felt better. She never lifted her head from it place buried in his jacket, but the crying slowed and then stopped. Her breathing was very regular now and her heart wasn't rabbitting out of her chest

Leaning back, he placed both hands on the side of her face, making sure her long hair was between them. Resting his forehead on the top of her head, "You feeling better now?"

Her head was tilted up but her eyes were closed, but looking much more tranquil, "Yeah," she leaned back into him again, "I am. Thanks." He smiled, even though she didn't see it, as he brushed a few errant strands of hair behind her ear. Gently, he dropped a kiss on her temple, just to prove to her that everything was back to normal, but before he could say anything, the room started going dark and slipping away...


Cue the violins...

The bus was only half full and none of the other passengers had tried talking to her. That was good. She had spent most of the trip with her face to the window, forehead leaning on the cold glass, which endeavored to slowly leech the heat from her body. Maybe if she was cold enough, she would start to lose feeling. Forget that she was running away on a Grayhound to escape heartache, replaying a scene from some bad movie. All that was missing was a gray, cold rain on the window and a mournful soundtrack, something acoustic by Sarah McClaughin, or maybe violins. Sleep was intermittent through the hours. When her eyelids did droop closed, a faceless, black dream screamed out from behind them. Probably one of Remy's nightmares, she had grown somewhat accustomed to her own. The way they vaporized before she was ever fully awake.

She didn't know what the dream was about, nor did she want to. Those were his private thoughts that she had no right to invade. It was just as well that she left. They were both so screwed up separately, what would they be like together?

Somehow, everything that happened all made a perfect, horrible sense. The nightmares of course, but other things as well. The name Carol, that never sounded right, the days when she didn't "feel like herself", odd voices she could usually just shake off, drinking coffee black and then thinking it was way to bitter and getting some mocha cappachino thing instead. Every voice, every mood swing, every different cup of coffee, were they all different people whose minds had been sucked dry?

In some ways it was comforting. She understood the nightmare about Geneviex now. How she wasn't just seeing what happened, she was the maniac dangling the woman over the ledge of Notre Dame and laughing. At least, that was explainable now. She was having the psycho's "nightmare." Of course, to him it wasn't a nightmare, which was why it had freaked her out so much. How, when or why she could have absorbed that sadist assassin, she didn't even want to think about, but apparently it had happened.

Maybe Mystique had something to do with it, since she was working with the hairy freak now. She and her buddies were still around, but they weren't after Remy; he would be safe where he was. Number two good reason to leave. Number three being she didn't want to see the look in his eyes when he realized he would never touch her again. You would think that black and red eyes would be hard to read. But she could, she would know, she could tell. Oh, he would probably say it didn't matter at first, to make her feel better. He might even try to make it work, but it never would. How could he, could anyone, love someone they couldn't even hold hands with? Slowly, anything they had together would die in a lingering, painful death.

Leaning back from the window and against the seat, she stuffed her hand in her pockets, trying to get into a comfortable position. Inside her pockets she felt something, and withdrew a small piece of cardboard. It was one of Remy's cards, the Queen of Hearts. She smiled and started to tear up, again, at the same time. He must have sneaked it into her coat as she left on her little "walk." Hindsight being twenty/twenty, she regretted ever leaving in the first place. If she hadn't, she would still be with him right now, she'd still be able to touch...Looking at the card one last time- The Queen of Hearts, wasn't she the mean, crazy lady who kept yelling "off with her head?"... shut up, shut up...just please shut up. Eyes squeezing shut, she covered her face with both hands.

The "voices" had gotten worse since she had left. Before, at most, they were an annoying buzz. Now they were an endless stream, whispers, laughs, screams, all bouncing off the insides of her skull. Maybe it was because she remembered what they were now. She couldn't shut them out anymore, nevertheless she tried. Concentrating to block them out, like she always had. How many of them were there? It couldn't be just "Carol," although she was the loudest. Marie still couldn't remember her, what had happened, or even her last name, but she was undoubtably there.

It really was better to end it this way. Remy didn't need to deal with another one of her nervous breakdowns. He'd surely had enough of those. After waking up, he'd see she wasn't there, maybe be worried and try to look for her, but as he was looking, he would begin to realize that she was right to leave.

That's not to say she would never see him again, the boy was resourceful, and might very well find her. Probably want to give her money or something because he'd worry about her being on her own. Marie didn't want his money, she'd been mooching off him for long enough already. Must be a leech by nature. The other scenario, he would be scared, maybe angry, about her assault on his mind and he'd be glad she was gone...Maybe that would be for the best way. Because she'd never have to see him again. Just pretend the last few months never happened, that she'd never fallen in love...wait... no, she did love him. She couldn't lie to herself about that. Or maybe she could. She had apparently lied to herself about a lot of things, beginning with her name ending with her entire existence. Vaguely, she wondered if she would do it again...The fugue thing Remy had tried to tell her about. Maybe tomorrow she'd wake up in Moscow and start all over again, start living another stolen life.

The Benefits of Mass Transit...



A weak winter sun filtered through the window panes. It was very early morning in...where was she again? A quick look around the bus terminal the grayhound had just pulled into...New York. Why New York? It seemed like a good place to run away too. Lots of places to wander, big crowds to get lost in. And no one here would know or care, who or what she was. What better way to make up for all the lives you've destroyed than running off to New York to become a dancer on Broadway...I ain't gonna be a dancer..I just don't want to hurt people no more...The best way to do that is just not hurt them, Don't touch them. Think you can mange that? Or there always the Brooklyn bridge...Do you ever get tired of yapping?...An assortment of odd looks from her fellow passengers. The bus was unloading now and the people in line around her started drifting away leaving a four foot radius of empty space between them and the odd girl. Well, if you keep making people think you're crazy, that should keep them safe, I still think you should consider the bridge...Marie didn't bother responding, it wasn't worth the effort, it didn't help. One hand moved up to rub her temples. The pounding headache she had after absorbing Mortimer a.k.a, Toad,, funny name for a super villain, Mortimer, had grown exponentially worse since leaving Canada. Wait, jumping off the bridge won't hurt, hmm..maybe you could still drown...If I die so do you...You call this living? If this chatter kept up, she was seriously thinking about ramming her head against a wall to bring back the amnesia.

Stepping off the bus into the terminal, she looked around. It looked like a bus stop in a big city. Lots of concrete, high set, orangish, flourescent lights making everyone underneath them look sickly. Her eyes continued to rove as she slowly made her way across the pavement heading for where, she hadn't decided yet. The strap on her duffel bag slipped a bit and she pulled it up again. Hadn't even had a chance to unpack in Quebec before she was moving again.

During her last sweep of the station, her eyes ran a across a figure slumping back in one of the chairs. The person was far enough away that she couldn't see the face, but the posture she would recognize absolutely anywhere. Spinning around before he saw her, she started walking in the opposite direction. But she was obviously too late. A voice rang out from across the cavenerous room. "Marie!" Oh great, him again...Be quiet already...No, I'm sick that no good- shut up...Trying to ignore him, she kept walking, but heard a pounding staccato against the concrete. He was running to catch up with her, oblivious to the stares from the rest of the building and she froze. She thought he might find her, but so fast?

"Marie, wait, please," his footsteps slowed and he caught her arm, spinning her around to face him.

"What are you doing here, Remy?" not able to look in his eyes, she turned her head.

"Following you," a familiar reply, as unapologetic as the last he said it. "I said if you didn't come back, I'd have to assume something happened and come looking for you. Remember your new best friend is still out there. "

"That's why you were safer in Quebec-,"

"I don't care. I ain't afraid of those guys. Believe me, I've dealt with worse. You think you can vanish into thin air in the middle of a fight and I'm not gonna look for you?"

Without raising her head, " How did you even find me?"

"With the way you kept going on about stolen powers, I didn't think you'd fly anywhere, so that only left a few options. The guy at the bus station remembered you, not many people there at 2 in the morning. And the day my Harley can't out run a Grayhound...I had to talk to you."

"There's nothing to say. You know why I had to go." She had cried enough for one night, she wasn't going to do it again.

For a blessed second or two he was quiet, thinking of what to say,"If there was something ..in my head...something you saw..." if possibly she looked away even further, not seeing the pained look on his face. Instead of saying anything else, he grabbed her nearest hand and shoved something into it. "Here, you'll probably need this..."

Looking down, she saw a strand of diamonds, part of the chain from the L'Etoile de Tricherie necklace. "I can't take this, this is Genny's necklace," she tried handing it back.

Pushing her own hand back toward her, "Let it do some good for once. Take it to a jeweler, say you found it in your grandma's attic, or someting like that. These are the smaller stones, nobody'll be suspious. You can find yourself an apartment, something with one of those full sized fridges you like," his mouth quirked into a sad smile

So this was how it was finally going to end. A traitorous tear or two leaked out before she could stop them, "I've already taken too much from you," one finally shove back toward him. "You'll be better off this way. Without me-,"

His eyes widened dramatically behind the dark glasses he always wore in public places. In his mind there were two reasons she could have left. Because she was afraid of hereself and what had just happened or because she was afraid of him. She knew alot about his past, but not in the gory, full techni-color detail she would have gotten after "absorbing" him. From the look on her face when he first saw her, he was sure it was him, but he was questioning that now. "I'm better off? If you saw something about me, something...to make you run, then I can't stop you. But if you've got some notion that I'm better off without you, because of Mystique or the touching thing-,"

"Touching thing?" she almost shouted incredulously. How could he dismiss something like that?

"Yes, the touching-,"

"That "touching thing" means that I'll never touch you, or anyone again. Ever." She was hung up on the touch thing? He felt a desperate, renewed hope surge up.

She continued, oblivious to his thoughts. "Have you really thought about that? Really thought about what it would be like to live that way? Because I know, and it's not something I would wish on anyone else," that sounded tough and resolved, didn't it?

"That's crazy. You can touch, I've seen you." he answered in an irritating matter of fact way.

"That's different! I...don't know how, but I can't do it now. You know what happened or did I cause too much brain damge?" He opened his mouth, but she cut him off before he could say anything , "My first boyfriend... I put him in a coma for three weeks. Do you want that to happen to you, too?"

His facial expression didn't change in the slightest, "I'm not in a coma. I was only out for maybe an hour, tops, or I wouldn't have been able to catch up with you."

She wanted scream, she wasn't getting through to him. "But it could have been much worse-,"

If her sudden flight into the night wasn't about him, then there was no way he was going to just let her walk away. "It still doesn't matter. You want to be completely hands-off until you get your power under control again, that's fine-,"

"What if I never get it under control?'" she said with an awful finality and started to walk away again.

"It still doesn't matter." The girl in front of him kept moving, "You doubt my love for you?" he wasn't sure if he wanted her to yell at him, or laugh or hit him or what. He just wanted her to actually look at him for once in the conversation.

"Stop saying that!" it came louder than she planned and a few more stares were drawn in their direction. "It's not funny, it never was," undignified tears threatened anew.

Standing where he was he responded quietly, "I'm not joking. I never was. If you found out anything about me..." he looked at her pointedly, and she ducked her head, still ashamed, "...you have to know that."

Finally, looking up, and doing a horrendous job of not crying, "I...tried not too," she really had tried to block out his thoughts, the ones she had stolen. To hear him say it out loud, words she would have longed to hear the night before. Words which now, made the inevitable so much harder, she knew with a dread certainty that they were true. "They're you're thoughts...I didn't have the right..."she ws speaking even softer than him, both for the obvious reasons and because the two of them had drawn an audience.

Two steps and they were within inches of each other again. "You know now."

"It doesn't change anything, though!"she moaned miserably. "If I love you, I wouldn't make you live like that."

Almost desperately, he reached out to her. His hands gently grazed her arms, while she was staring at the ground, once more. "I fell in love with you without hardly touching you. That won't change. None of your reasons' will ever change that. If you love me, don't leave me, ma cherie."

She thought back to the night before, how she was ready to turn around and run back into his arms, despite the risk Was she willingly to risk again? Risk trying to love him, despite not touching him? Could they survive that? Could she survive losing him? Expecting the annoying voices to chime in at any minute with unhelpful suggestions, she subconsciously braced herself. Curiously, they were silent, even Carol. The tiny cracks in the concrete were not providing any answers, so she slowly looked to his face.

Dark glass meant her gaze, but even from behind the sunglasses, she could see his heart in his eyes. This is why I left when he was still out, because I couldn't do it to his face. Once she saw those eyes, there was no other option, she did what she had decided to do several hours and a lifetime before.

He caught her when she unexpected jumped into his arms and he felt several tons of tension leave his body suddenly. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, he heard her whisper, "I do love you. Guess I should finally tell you that."

Whispering back, "I love you, too, cherie." The moment was oddly broken by a smattering of applause. The people who had been watching curiously, evidently appreciated the little lover's drama being enacted. Remy looked around a bit, smiling sheepishly, while Marie tried her best to hide in his coat.

"Kiss her, already!" someone, who sounded a more than a bit drunk, shouted, and a smattering a laughter followed. Well, this was New York.

Obliging though, Remy lightly kissed the top of Marie's forehead where the bangs covered her skin.

"Aww...That doesn't count!"

"Hey, you want a show, get cable!" More laughing and the impromptu crowd began to disperse.

"I really should have stayed in Canada," his now official girlfriend muttered into his coat lapels. At least if she was stuck in a bad movie, for now it had a happy ending.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was a little faster than the last update. Some Romy momenst and more plot next chapter, I promise. I kept Toad's name as Mortimer, he-heh, I'm evil. I like Evo but there are just not enough characters named Mortimer.

ishandahalf- I know, know, it was a long time between updates, I just can't find the time to write recently. Thank you for being patient, this chapter was faster, not bunny on crack faster, but still...Stupid, stupid brotherhood! But what do you expect, it's a Gambit/Rogue story, things can't be easy. There was a good dose of Romyness in this chapter though.

Muccamukk()- Good point about the being half dead, she used her powers on Pyro in X2 and she was fine and the infamous Bobby scene. I'm going to chalk it up to emotional state. She wasn't expecting to absorb Toad, so it was harder for her. Thank you for filling me in a Canada. More than I needed, but I love to collect odd bits of information. Never know when you can use it and helps me win in Trivial Pursuit :) If you take Ottawa first, you could eliminte the northeren front when you do go after New York. hmmm... Good luck with the comics, they seem confusing at first, but it gets better. :)

4Rogue()-It's funny, when I started writing the road trip, it occured to me that it was a little bit like how Gambit and Storm first met in the comics, but minus the Shadow King and the her being 10 years old part. Lots more Remy/Rogue interaction in this chapter.

Rogue15()- I was wondered about the slashes. Sorry about your spacebar, (darn computers.) I just have to say, you made my day when you reviewed each chapter at one time. I had like nine reviews at once because of it.:) I was hoping for a powers upgrade in X2, but alas...There still X3, where I'm also hoping for Remy as well...Don't know how likely either of those are, but I can dream.

Leigh- Here's the next installment, hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long.

Neurotic Temptress-Of course he was looking at the escalator and the lamp. How can you doubt him? oh yes, he's very smooth. :) He has a secret passion for interior design that no one ever mentions. The X-Men are still on the case, even if they aren't making much progress yet. They are a determined bunch, though. More angst than banter in this chapter, but Gambit/Rogue banter is the highlight of comic book reading, that's why the movie needs him.

Alwaysright-Yep, the touching thing has to do with Carol and the amnesia. Once in the comics, when Carol took over she could touch people even though it was still Rogue's body. I'm playing with that angle, but why her powers were dormant when Carol wasn't actually in control may take a little longer to get into. It won't be ignored though. A more Romyness in this chapter, but her "curse" is back in place.