Let's see...what do we have here? Marie was staring in vain at the contents
inside the fridge. None of them had changed since she opened the door five minutes
ago. The idea was to make a romantic dinner, but knew she couldn't cook. There
were a few recipes she'd had a fair amount of success with; she was especially
good with alfredo from a box with Parmesan cheese added at the end. It tasted
almost like it did at a restaurant. Nothing in the kitchen right now
was sufficiently premixed for her to do anything with. Remy could. That miserable
swamp rat was a genius in the kitchen. How'd he learn to cook like being borderline
homeless most of the time? It wasn't fair.
The refrigerator door swung shut once more. Maybe a nice romantic take out dinner?
Nah, if she was going to do that they might as well go out.
The sound of another door opening, this one came from the front hall.' It wasn't really a hall, just a foot worth of linoleum before the living room.
She called out as she started walking out of the kitchen, "Bon jour, cher." Remy always got the cutest silly grin on his face when she spoke French. No sooner had she made it a few steps than the object her affection enveloped in a death lock bear hug.
"Bad day?" she surmised from the strength of his grip.
"I'm going to kill those kids," he moaned into her shoulder.
Xavier's had turned out to be less of a research institute and more a home for runaway mutants, mostly teenagers and younger. For the most part, Remy didn't mind his job at the Institute. But some days the students were more...energetic. And they broke stuff, a lot. "Aww...poor baby." she crooned sympathetically and smoothed his hair down.
He didn't lift his head, but continued lamenting into her shoulder, "It's getting warm enough that we decided to start up the sprinkler system again and guess how many pipes are busted? You can't guess, because I haven't been able to count them all yet! I dug up half the grounds today and will be digging up the other half tomorrow."
"Well, that just happens sometimes in winter," she half-heartedly attempted to reason.
"Just happens...Ha! I bet I know exactly who did it too...Miserably little...." he trailed off muttering unkind things about whoever the student in question was.
This was amusing because Marie could just imagine what kind of trouble Remy had got into as a kid. "Like you never caused trouble when you were a teenager."
His head lifted up long enough to look indignant. "I never had someone else to clean up my messes. Had to do it myself..." more mutterings.
Again, trying not to laugh at his pain', "Well, It's almost all over. That conference is next week, and then-"
"Next week? It's in two days. Next week is our anniversary. You've forgotten about it already," he said with mock hurt.
The six month anniversary of the day they met. "I did not! I forgot the stupid conference!" She shot back defensively as she swatted him in the arm.
The 'conference' was a huge conference on genetics and mutant politics. Scientists and politicians from all over the world would be going to San Francisco for three days, including the headmaster Xavier and several senior teachers. With most of the resident telepaths gone, Remy figured this would be the best time to infiltrate the large basement complex that was a large part of the mystery of Xavier's.
Having the run of the grounds, Remy had worked up a pretty good layout of the mansion, and whatever was in the basement was even bigger than he first thought. There'd still be plenty of other assorted mutants at the school, but it was the best chance he was going to get. Marie was more than a little nervous about the whole thing, but Remy insisted that he had pulled off harder jobs before.
She couldn't help it; she loved him so she worried. He wasn't going to get away with that anniverary remark, though. "Just for that comment, I'm making dinner tonight."
A look a playful terror on his face."I didn't mean it. I'm sorry," and he caught her up into his embrace again.
"Ok, I forgive you." she said magnanimously. "We can go out tonight, instead."
That did sound nice, but, "It's kinda been a long day,-"
"Alright, I'll just see what's in the fridge-," turning and walking back toward the kitchen
"Is that a threat, chere?" he asked in all-seriousness.
She turned and crossed her arms, "Do you need a threat to spend time with
me?" questioned airly with a pretend pout.
A grin spread across his face, despite his best efforts. She was so cute when she pouted. She was so cute when she did anything.
Starry Night....
The sun had set already set hours ago, but if it hadn't, this been have been
a stunning place to watch it. As of now, the view was stars set against the
indigo velvet night. Also a nice view. Far enough away from New York that the
diamond stars were unobscured by the city haze. Remy and Marie's apartment was
in the city, but here was their favorite spot. A cliffside that over looked
the county with the metro lights small against the horizon. They had found it
their first week in New York while taking a ride in countryside.
Marie's had been in a good mood all night and it contagious. Remy had long ago forgotten all about pesky children he wanted to kill. Now his only concern was the few scattered clouds obstructing the view. They were currently stationed under a large, spreading oak tree, with Marie in front of him lounging back in his arms, her head leaning back against his shoulder. She had a bit of difficulty sitting in her dress. It was one of her shorter ones that Remy hardly ever saw her wear, but he wasn't complaining; she looked stunning.
"We should move out here. Then we could see stars like this every night."
"It be a heck of a commute for you, chere. I, on the other hand, could just retire' from my illustrious career." Commuting to Xavier's was pretty bad itself, but a necessary evil for the moment.
Softly laughing, "You volunteered. You insisted. I would have been perfectly happy to-," that train of thought derailed, as her boyfriend had started running his hands down her arm and kissing the side of her face, on the hairline of course. Involuntarily, her mother's comment about creativity' popped in Marie's head. Just as quickly, she shut it out.
"Mmmm...you're trying to change the subject," and he was doing a fabulous job.
Soft breath of his laugh tickled her ear. "Just don't want a beautiful night like this to go to waste," he said as one hand meandered to her waist. It was a beautiful night, still a little chilly, as winter made its exit, but they were both oblivious to the cold right now.
Turning to him, she brought her face to his. "Close your eyes," she
whispered with more than a little mischievousness in her voice and a grin.
That earned a her questioning look, but he complied, wondering what she was
up to. Then he felt it. She kissed him.
He was surprised, but didn't flinch, because her touch was worth a little nap. And she had absorbed him once and didn't leave him, well, not for long anyway, so he wasn't worried. He was happy she was finally getting over her fear of touch. What took a few seconds to register was that he was still thinking all of these things. That meant he was still conscious. She didn't absorb him.
The shock of that thought is what finally caused him to open his eyes and break the kiss. Even under the shadow cast by the oak, Marie's face practically glowed, her smile beamed so brightly.
"Surprise," he heard in an understated whisper.
Still in shock and at a loss he stated the obvious, "You did it."
Strands of two-tone hair fell into her face when Marie nodded excitedly, her already huge smile threatening to split her face in two. "I've been working on my control. I didn't want to tell you in case I couldn't do it. I didn't want to get your hopes up," words tumbled over each other in an excited but still near whispered rush. "Last week I finally started to get the hang of it. I haven't worn my gloves to work for the past two days. I was going to surprise you on our anniversary, but I couldn't wait."
Before he could respond, she leapt forward kissing him again and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. And he didn't complain in the least. In fact, he held her tighter. The fabric of her dress shifting under his fingers as he pulled her closer, if that were possible. The way he had wanted to do almost since the day they meet.
Her body shifted back a bit, separating them by a few centimeters, but she continued to drop fluttery kisses around his face and neck. Reluctantly, his grip loosened as she settled comfortably into the crook of his shoulder. Marie sighed contentedly, relishing the warmth of his skin. He didn't want to let her go, after being denied her touch for so long it was hard. And he wasn't sure if she didn't want to rush or if her control wasn't total.
She continued the explanation that had been cut short in her burst of enthusiasm,' a little slower now."I kept thinking to myself, what was different. What happened to make me lose control? How did the amnesia make it better? Then it just hit me, I had to forget to be afraid." Looking up, her eyes glowed as well as her smile, "Course, that's easier said than done...it still took me while..."
He matched her smile, "But you did it. I knew you could."
"Yeah..." her radiance dimmed a fraction, "I'm not sure how far I can push yet...so far, it's been working...I mean, I could try...but I don't know what I'd do if I hurt you again..."
It was little disappointing to hear, but he kind of expected that remark, "I
said I'd wait forever for you and forever isn't looking as long as it sounds."
and he meant it. Sometimes a mutant could take years to learn control, and he
had been ready to wait that out.
The radiant smile smiled returned and the mischievous glint returned to her brown eyes. Tilting her head back up to face him and see his luminesent eyes, she leaned in close. "It won't be forever," and she leaned in even closer.
Alarm clocks, that was the thing Remy hated most about his job. Getting up early enough to need an alarm clock. Well, that and the annoying kids... and that Monroe woman who left long lists about how to take care of the gardens, even in the wintertime, and...well, the alarm clock was the worst. One sleep heavy hand smacked the electronic torture device and it ceased being an annoyance.
Beside him, Marie stirred and mumbled something incomprehensible, her small form lost in the blankets on his bed. When they were first apartment hunting, he had figured they would get a one bedroom. They loved each other, they were moving in together, why not? Marie, on the other hand, had wanted two bedrooms. She was very distraught about the possibility of zapping him in her sleep. Remy went along with her, but more often than not, he found an excuse to be in Marie's room. In his opinion, there really was no reason to be afraid. There were blankets, she had nightgown with long sleeves.
Last night officially marked the last time she had to worry. Long sleeved nightgown or not. The pile of blankets shifted again and an arm poked through, quickly wrapping itself around his waist.
"morning..." Marie mumbled as she buried her face into his shoulder, looking like she was going right back to sleep.
"um-huh..." mumbling back. It was too early for coherent conversation. Felt like it anyway. They hadn't gotten back home until very late last night, or early this morning. Stayed out late celebrating.'
"Still tired?" From her new resting place, Marie's voice drifted up still heavy with sleep. Another incoherent mumble was the only response. "You can call in sick. We stay right here all day." she said wistfully.
What a glorious thought. Moaning in protest, "I can't. This is the one day I have to go," but not moving yet.
"Today's that conference, isn't it?"
Finally crackng an eyelid open, "Tomorrow's the conference. But tonight is when Xavier and them are leaving."
"You don't have to go," she said quietly, almost plaintively. "We don't need that place anymore." A bare finger traced circled across his chest, proving her point. She was right, strictly speaking. His own fingers slowly danced up and down her arm. Her powers were almost completely under control, he could leave today and never look back.
Though he'd really like to do just that, "There are little kids there, amour. I don't think they're in trouble, but if something happened because I wasn't-,... I just want to be sure." his red and black eyes burned with an intensity, and sadness, not often seen.
Two slender arms wrapped around him. Feeling guilty that she hadn't thought of the situation that way, "Let me help you. I know,-"
"Subtly's not my strong suit." they both finished together.
Propping herself up to look at him and pressing forward still, "Sometimes you don't need subtly. Sometimes you need a battering ram. What if you find out something is going on there? What will you do then?"
"The original plan was just to tell you not to go. But now...Don't worry, I won't do anything tonight, without my trusty battering ram." that earned him a half hearted, somewhat sideways, punch in the shoulder. "We'll think of something."
Resettling herself back to her original spot, "I just have bad feeling. Remember what happened the first time I kissed you?"
He smiled, even though being tossed off a building wasn't one of his favorite memories. "Your mom likes me now. So there's nothing to worry about."
"No, she doesn't. She only tolerates you because of me." Exhaling in finality, she looked up again, pleading in her brown eyes.. "Just be careful, please." The uneasy feeling was still there, but she was just being paranoid. A hand reach out, tangling in her hair and bringing their two faces together. Don't worry, an internal voice chided as she tried to lose herself in the kiss. Everything will be fine.
Half a Memory...
This was break number seven in the sprinkler system. Seven down... lots more
to go. Muttering curses under his breath about that popsicle kid, who was always
running around with his snowballs and ice slides, never once thinking about
the landscaping...Remy had planned to come up with an excuse to stay late and
slip out unnoticed. Now he didn't need to think an excuse, he was going to be
here forever. At least, this would all be over soon. Tonight he would discover
Xavier's deep, dark secret or lack thereof and his time here would be done.
Well, maybe not, but he hoped so anyway. Then Popsicle could freeze all the
pipes he wanted and it would be some else's problem.
Xavier himself had already left for San Francisco. Summers, Grey, McCoy and supposedly Logan would be leaving tonight. That took out both of the major telepaths and plus McCoy, the people who seemed to be downstairs the most. Big obstacle out of the way. While he tried to avoid the staff themselves, Remy had perfected the art of learning a lot through second hand information and observation.
Logan, he might duck out at the last minute. That would make things tricky, because Logan, sometimes called Wolverine, was a tracker and definitely one of the more shady characters at the Institute. Usually, though, he could only stay on the campus for so long before he ran out for a beer or something. Gambit would have to move then.
Two months he'd been here and Remy still wasn't sure what to make of this place. On one hand Xavier really did seem like a nice guy. On the other hand, there were a lot of secrets here and he was pretty sure one or two of the staff members were on the FBI's most wanted list. The kind of people Marie's momma' might know. But they didn't seem to be affiliated with Magneto. They were always talking about tolerance, harmony and all that kum-ba-ya stuff. Maybe they were a softer, splinter-type group.
That wasn't even the most interesting secrets of this place. To him, that was a story he had heard about a girl who had gone to Xavier's and had disappeared one day, about eight, nine months ago. How she had disappeared, ran away or not, he couldn't be sure. Nobody liked to talk about her. Like saying anything about her up was bad luck or something. From what he had heard, her and Marie's stories were similar. The girl sounded too young to be Marie, but it was interesting...
Anyway, the task at hand was more important. With most of the senior staff gone, that left Monroe, a few of the newer teachers and the kids, The kids would all be busy with homework or watching TV, not a problem. Monroe liked to stay outside as much as possible. Would probably be in her precious gardens. Shaking his head in mild disgust at all the gardening he'd been doing in the past few months. After he left this place, he was never even going to look at another rosebush or lily again.
Logan was late for his last auto shop class. It constantly amazed him that Chuck
had convinced him to teach. And it amazed him even more when the students called
him "Mr." Logan. Most of them had stopped that annoying practice,
but everytime there was someone new...He stopped suddenly as a breeze passed
and then resumed walking again, slowly.
Every so often he would catch Marie's scent on the wind. It always far too faint to be recent, but he would always stop for a second anyway as half a memory blew past. Only it didn't blow past this time, he stopped walking, again. It was still too faint to mean she was there. Was this a place she used to hang around a lot? It was just a section of lawn. Looking around he saw no benches, no trees for students to sit under and study or talk...Just grass...and some gardener guy, messing with a sprinkler....he kept walking, but in a different direction....the scent was incremental getting stronger....the pipe broke, the gardener fell back, not quite falling over...started muttering french? swear words...Logan kept walking...the scent was still there...not dissipating with the shifting air, like old scents do...it was still there...
"Can I help you with somethin'?" The guy had noticed Wolverine's approach and had stopped messing with the lawn to turn around...within a less than a fraction of a second he had transformed from auto shop teacher late for class to the brutal skilled assassin he pretended he wasn't. Gardener guy was pinned to the grass, two claws on each side of his throat, third awaiting the answer to the growled question, "Where is she?"
A half strangled, "What?" was the answer.
"I can smell her all over you, so tell where she is and I might not cut you into tiny pieces, bub."
Suddenly, the confused/surprised look on the man's face disappeared and was replaced by something much colder. "You have three seconds to starting singing, or-," he stopped. The sleeve of his flannel shirt suddenly began to feel hot. Looking over to his arm, the fabric had started to glow, a strange, almost pinkish color. His free arm cocked back to clock the gardener guy who was probably doing this, but his sleeve exploded and tossed him backward before he could. He registered the searing pain from the burns on his arm briefly, but only briefly. All of his attention was focused on charging his attacker.
Jean, get Cyclops, Storm, anybody! Get out here! He sent a frantic message to Jean, she was mildly "linked" to everyone in the mansion. He could easily take this guy, would relish doing so, but he didn't want the little weasel to have the chance to get away.
Remy had leapt up from the ground the moment Logan started backwards. But he knew that wouldn't keep the 'teacher' down. Normally he wouldn't run from a fight, but here he was soon to be out numbered and surrounded by little kids he didn't want to turn into collateral damage, even if some of them annoyed the heck out of him. As ran the other direction and threw the piece of sprinkler pipe in his hand. It glowed the same strange pink color Logan's shirt had. Instinctively, Wolverine ducked as the pipe flew toward him. It exploded a few inches above his head, so the blast did little but singe his hair.
Logan, teaches auto shop and self defense, also most likely to be a terrorist. Wonderful. Powers were enhanced senses and healing. Snikt. And those claws. He still didn't want to fight here, too many kids around. But 'teach' didn't appear to hare the same reservations. It didn't look like he had much of a choice. He was also completely out in the open, nothing but lawn around nd a stitch of cover in sight. This guy isfast, I have too be faster. Logan got in a glancing blow, it didn't hurt much, but it knocked Remy across the lawn. As he slid, he grabbed at clumps of grass, charging them to slow down the maniac trying to run him down.
The ground under Logan feet blasted upward unexpectedly, knocking him back again. A good ten feet further than the last time. This last blast seemed stronger than the other, Wolverine thought to himself as he landed ungracefully on the grass. The guy was getting desperate. Good. Wolverine's clothes were completely charred by now and his skin was giving off a very unpleasant odor of burning. Anyone else would have been dead. He was just very angry.
Remy had scrambled to his feet and started a mad dash across the grounds. The other teachers would be here to back up Logan soon. He had to make it to his bike and get off campus before that. Did they know what he was up to? Was the hairy guy talking about Marie? He had to be, there was no one else he could have "smelled" on Remy. So she did go here, and now Remy could see why she left. The most important thing was to warn Marie. Tell her these people were after her for whatever reason. He would call her once he made it to the road. No way he was letting that hairy psychopath anywhere near her.
Grabbing some cards from his pocket, he ran past startled kids on his way to the grounds office where his bike was. Tossed a few cards back to slow down Wolverine. On the edges of his perception, he registered several forms closing in on different sides of him. He dive rolled just as a red energy beam cut the air above him. At the same time, the prickling static buzz of a psychic attack enveloped his brain. Two cards went to the source of the energy beam, and he simultaneously tried to shut out the psi attack.
Valuable half seconds were wasted when he countered the peripheral assaults. The original assailant, and his foot long claws, closed the gap Remy had managed to make. Logan lunged and the claws buried themselves in the ground where Gambit had been half a second earlier. Vaulting over Logan, and charging what was left of the man's shirt at the same time, he turned to see Summers with the energy beams. The first cards hadn't hit him, the next one did. Running again, but it felt something was tugging at him, slowing him down, as he did. He stopped suddenly and flipped backward, hoping to confuse whoever had him in their invisible grip. Likely Jean Grey, resident doctor and science teacher, and a TK/telepath. As he flipped, he threw another card toward her position and the grip disappeared. But no sooner had he landed, than the air burned and he was downed by a bolt of lightning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Da-Dum...clliffhanger ending. Will the X-Men finally find Rogue? Will Wolverine kill Remy before they have a chance? (play suspensful music here) This update was rather slow, even for me, but it's been a hectic couple of weeks.
I don't really know what exactly you can do with a garden during the winter, but Martha Stewart has a big long list, so I'm sure Storm could think of a few things.
Rogue151- I fixed those weird symbols. I've never quite figured out how to save
as html on WordPerfect. Italics always disappear. So I write in WP, than copy
and paste everything to Dreamweaver and format there. I lost/and or gained a
strange tag somewhere and everything went screwy. Stupid html tags doing weird
stuff...
SeaWench-That was a good idea,( he did kind of recognized a couple of them) but I went with something more violent instead. Guess I'm just too bloodthirsty. :)
Isandahalf- Poor guiena pig! :) I think Loin King sounds like a cool show, but guys in general seem to have a problem with any story involving talking animals. Lots of Romyness here. But just like last time, the big Romy section is followed immediately by a beat Remy up section. As for Rogue talking to Mystique, I think the Carol side of her has a lot to do with that. Carol was used to dealing with unsavory types from working with SHIELD, but she always knew she could fight it out if she had to. Rogue has never approved of Mystique ideology, but first and foremost, Rogue has been scared of her. Old' rogue would stay as far away from her as possible, just because she was afraid. Now Rogue still doesn't agree with Raven, but has no reason to be scared, because Rogue could kick her butt if she had to. So it doesn't bother her to talk to 'Momma' And don't worry Mystique still hates Remy. The not so bad comment meant that if she only knew him in passing, she wouldn't think he was so bad. But he's still not nearly good enough to be with her daughter
Fleecy-Rogue beating up the X-Men that has lots of fun potential. And it's a tried and true comic convention. Remy's had his shot, maybe Rogue will get hers. :)
Kim-She lost the dogtags somewhere between New York and Madripoor when she had her first breakdown at the beginning of the story. Mostly likely they're at the bottom of the hole in Madripoor where she crash landed. You don't understand Da Nang? :) Boy, how bad of a speller am I! :) You would be the expert here, so tell me how you would spell it and I'll change it. The last chapter was short, this one is longer.
Caliente- You win the cyber no-prize for thinking of the Logan angle. Yes, Logan could smell Rogue on Gambit. It would be a weak scent though, so Logan wouldn't pick it up unless he was right next to Gambit. (Comic Logan might be able to pick it up faster, but all of the movie versions of the characters are just a little bit weaker) That's why it took him so long. Wolverine was never around Remy before. He doesn't hang out with the groundkeepers, go figure. :) Yeah, the X-Men are just out of reach. It's the hiding in plain sight angle, she's so close but they don't know that.
Iluvangel- Thanks. Here you go, brand new piping fresh update. :)
Zeelee()- It's a puzzling oversight as to why one of best X-characters could be left out of the movie. So there is, tragically, a lack of Gambit/Rogue stories. At least the trend of Rogue/Wolverine stories is dying off (only to be replaced by Rogue/Bobby stories, but at least those make some sense.)