Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 18
Chapter 4: Changed Your Tune
When Rogue stepped through the bedroom door holding more of the Xavier's logo'd clothing she'd taken from the laundry closet downstairs, Remy was still undeniably naked, sitting on a chair in the corner, he had one ankle propped upon his knee, his arms lightly folded.
He just looked at her, but did not say a word. He watched her close and lock her door, and then cross the room to put the clothes on the bed.
"You can change while I go brush my teeth," she said, trying to avoid staring at him, she felt the hairs on her neck prickle with anxiousness. So much skin exposed there, and he always made being naked seem so appealing.
"You don't wanna stay and watch?" he wiggled his eyebrows.
"You've sure changed your tune," Rogue walked over to the window which had still been left open and she closed it firmly and pulled the drapes.
He stood up, naked and unashamed, "Remy LeBeau can play a thousand tunes when the mood takes him."
"God, could you BE any cheesier?" Rogue asked rolling her eyes.
"Fine, you want me to drop the cheesiness? I just thought it'd make things easier for you," he shrugged. "You want me to be serious?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she pretended to be more interested in having the drapes sit perfectly together rather than look at him. Her mind was telling her to turn and drink in the image, and yet, she didn't want to feel that urge.
"Fine," Remy said, "it's been…" he glanced at the clock, "nine months, twenty six days, twenty-two hours and fifty-five minutes for me. How longs it been for you, Chere?"
Rogue rolled her eyes, "ask a stupid question, and get a stupid answer, swamp rat."
"This time, no one's gonna walk in on us, like Kitty did all those years ago," he reminded.
"I thought that you weren't in the mood."
"My mood shifts more than the sands of a stormy desert," Remy shrugged, he put his hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him so she'd look him in the face. "I wasn't interested at all…'til…you…" he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him firmly, "were takin' my shirt off."
Rogue leaned back, she didn't want her face to accidentally brush against his, "you said you'd lost interest."
"I did. Since the time in that shower on my twenty-first birthday I've felt like no woman's touch ever satisfied me the way yours did. But right now…you're makin' me…" he trailed off, trying to find the right word.
"Ache…?" she said softly, looking away.
"Yes…" he replied, "I haven't felt this…way…for a while…and it's you that's doin' it to me…" he breathed. "You've lit this fire in with me…fire hasn't been there for a long time…barely been smoke since I left you last time."
Rogue looked away, "I don't know, Remy…"
"We're BOTH consenting adults," he said, "it isn't wrong this time like it was all those years ago," he reminded, "and no one is going to walk in like before…" he added. "Besides…" he smirked, "I never got to finish what I started the last time."
"That was because you pissed off before we got another chance," Rogue reminded.
"Touche," Remy murmured near her ear, "If you don't want to its fine. No harm in askin' though, right?" he asked.
Rogue put her gloved hands on his arms, he was right, there was no harm in asking. She didn't have any obligation to him - and he knew that too. But, it struck her that he WAS asking, and he didn't usually ask at all. In fact, any sexual encounter or talk they'd ever had in the past was usually initiated by her. This made things suddenly all the more appealing.
"Something wrong…?" he asked, she hadn't spoken in a few minutes, she'd looked away into space, seemingly deep in thought.
"Yes," she murmured, "you're makin' me ache," she looked back to his eyes.
They both smiled a little, but had little time for much else, it was at this very moment the watch Remy was wearing began to beep loudly. He frowned at it, "what's up with this?" he asked curiously
Rogue took his wrist and raised it, "it's a comm watch, swamprat."
"I knew there was a catch to a free watch," Remy sighed. "Remind me to never take anything the Professor offers freely."
Rogue looked at him, "you're bein' sought after by the looks of it. Better respond."
"Alright…how?" he asked.
Rogue touched the miniscule buttons on each side of the watch, "there," she whispered.
"Gambit here," Remy sighed into the watch trying to fathom out where the microphone in it was exactly.
"Gambit, we need you on a mission…" came Ororo's voice, an urgent sharpness in her tone. "Come down to the blackbird immediately. You can change on the flight."
"On my way, 'Ro," Remy sighed.
Rogue took her fingers off of the watch, "you better go."
"Chere…I—" he was about to apologise but before he could, her gloved fingers were upon his lips.
"It's okay. It's our calling…" she reminded, "be safe…" she murmured. "And I'll wait for your return."
He kissed her gloved fingers, "I'll be back," he promised. "I'll maybe just put my underwear back on though."
Remy got to the blackbird within the next four minutes, and he was the last to enter. The rest of his team were already there, seated, impatiently waiting for him.
"How long does it take YOU to respond, man?" Kitty Pryde asked with a slight smirk, she was in her uniform, looking pristine fully awake and ready for action – which was less than Remy felt.
"Why…are you naked?" Ororo asked as she gazed over her shoulder whilst preparing the blackbird for takeoff.
"I was in bed," Remy answered as he noted a box on one of the seats.
"That's your uniform," Kitty pointed out.
"An actual uniform?" he asked, "not the god awful synthetic stretch fabric thing that rides up the crotch?" he opened the box.
"A REAL uniform," Ororo said, "get dressed," she commanded firmly.
Remy pulled the uniform from the box, "are you sure I'm ready for this?" he studied the uniform for a moment. Black leather, intricately stitched and carefully designed for his exact weight, height and shape. The zips were finished in a decorative 'X' in a circle. The Xavier Logo.
"Whether you are or not, your information will be invaluable to us," Ororo answered.
Remy sucked in breath, "my information…?" he asked. He pulled the pants on, then slipped his boots on and buckled them securely. "What are we up against exactly.
"We are not sure yet. A disturbance involving three mutants was picked up by Cerebro only twelve minutes ago," Ororo said. The jet took off, and Remy fought to keep his balance as he pulled on his clothes.
Jean, who was in the co-pilots seat, pulled a small handheld computer from a pouch from her hipbelt, "One of them is an unknown mutant," she stated, "the other two are on the same register from Genosha – unfortunately the matches are only numbers…we can't seem to link them to names yet." she said. "The chips from the computers we managed to retrieve from Genosha before we left were so badly damaged. Cerebro can only decipher very little."
"You have the mutant registry files from Genosha?" Remy asked, he pulled on the top half of his uniform, it was snug, but comfortable. He zipped it up the front, looking ahead waiting for a response from Jean.
"Yes," Jean answered, although she thought this had been fairly obvious. "We've been trying to find a match for the last ten minutes. We thought maybe your knowledge would help us…"
Remy moved up to the front of the jet, "let me see…" he said.
Jean handed him the handheld computer, and let him see the numbers for himself.
Remy studied the numbers, and thought for a moment, "Early numbers…" he said surely, "zero-zero-zero-one…" he sucked in a breath, "I know exactly who that is," he looked at Ororo then to Jean, "it's Sabretooth…"
"How do you know?" Piotr asked.
"I spent over six years in and out of that place, I escaped enough times to have got around to look at their files," Remy said. "I know enough to get by…I was there when this all started…" he looked at them, "Sabretooth was the first to be taken in though…Magneto needed him – to trace me."
"Why you?" Jean asked. "Seems to me there could have been a dozen other more powerful mutants than yourself – no offence."
"No offence taken," he stated, "and I'm not particularly sure why me," he replied, although secretly he did know. "Probably my skills or…something. Bein' in the Thieves guild I was exposed to some highly sought after skills that aren't taught to just anyone. It's like magicians – their craft is shrouded in mystery and they never explain how it works…the Guild's Thievery is like that…which is why any of us are so highly sought after – probably why I was sought after."
Jean looked at him, she wasn't really sure she believed that, but for now it was the only response she would seemingly get.
"The other mutants, I think one of them might be Quicksilver. When Sabretooth came tracing me, Quicksilver was with him. I'm better than both of them when it comes to fighting, but they had MX2 in darts. Took me out quicker than I had a chance to fight…"
"These mutants are attacking a chemical plant – why do you think they're doing this…?" Ororo asked.
"To get our attention…or more than likely, to get mines," Remy chewed the inside of his cheek, "I destroyed all Genosha's technology with one kinetic blast. This could be about revenge…"
"Seems if this were about revenge, Magneto would be there."
"No," Remy said, "Magneto wouldn't come…it's beneath him now…"
"What about this unknown mutant?" Ororo asked.
"That…I'm not too sure about," Remy swallowed. Although he knew exactly who that unknown mutant was. He felt it within his bones. He'd seen his red eyes in the darkness from the window of Rogue's room. Yes, this had to be the work of Sinister.