Hey guys back again with some more Romy mushness, as the gears are being set for events that will lead to some dark corners. For the previous chapter I did not get so many responses, so I'm guessing that it was not that well received. But hey… yhey can't all be winners now can they? :)

Anyways moving on to the good stuff…

Tayrion

The Queen of hearts

As Logan got out of the danger-room, he saw Rogue and Remy heading towards the mansion's gardens. He didn't like it one bit. He'd swore to Rogue that he'd always protect her, but now he realized that he couldn't save her from something she didn't want to be saved. He was certain that this would turn out badly and that she would end up getting hurt again, but he didn't know what to do without coming off as the crazy bad guy. She was almost as stubborn as him.

He headed towards Xavier's office. Xavier was waiting for him, as always thoughtful behind his desk.

"Hey Charlie. You said you wanted to see me after the training session. So what's it about?"

"Before we get to that Logan, I sense that you want to talk to me about something."

Logan frowned. "I told you. I do not like you snooping around in my head."

"I am not in your head Logan! You just seem to be less subtle than most. You were practically screaming it! I did not need to eavesdrop." Xavier immediately broke a smile to Logan.

Logan sighed, grabbed a chair and sat opposite Xavier.

"Charlie… I'm worried about Rogue. I do not trust the new guy. Something about him… I'm not sure what but I can practically smell it on him."

Xavier seemed thoughtful. "Can you elaborate more Logan?"

"I can't! I don't know a thing about this guy. It's just… You know how I always follow my gut instinct… well it's like that. I just don't trust him. He's going to end up hurting Rogue, if not worse, and I don't know how much more this girl can't take before breaking down completely."

Xavier considered what he heard from Logan very carefully. He seemed almost hesitant for a moment, before he began saying: " I'm ashamed to admit that I also started having doubts about Remy."

Logan was very surprised. "Ashamed? Why the hell would you feel ashamed about it?"

"Because it seems that my ability has made me lose my trust in people. Being the most powerful telepath, I'm used to feeling safe that if I so chose, I could learn what was in someone's mind. So it would be fairly easy to discover treason. For some strange reason, Remy's mind is sealed off from me."

Logan's eyes widened in shock. "What! Are you serious Charles? I was right then. He IS bad news."

"But don't you see Logan… That is not trust. Trusting people is all about faith. Believing in someone's worth without knowing for certain whether your belief is accurate. What we're trying to achieve here in the institute can not be done without trust."

Logan looked frustrated. "So what you're saying is that we let him hurt Rogue just because you have a moral crisis!"

"As for Rogue, I'm not so sure whether he is so bad for her."

Now Logan fought hard to keep his frustration in check. "WHAT!! Are you serious Charles? Even if I'm wrong and there's nothing sinister about this guy, you know as well as I do that a guy like him once he gets bored with Rogue- which he will when he realizes there's no way around her power- he'll forget all about her and that will crush her. I know his type."

Xavier now looked at Logan very seriously. "First of all what you just said is very insulting to Rogue."

Logan dismissed the thought straight away. "Oh come on Charley… you know damn well what I mean! Don't try to turn this around on me. And you know I'm right!"

"No I don't Logan! I don't know what Remy has in mind! I do not know what he feels about Rogue. All I know is that the past weeks Rogue was a mess and I feared for her. She was starting to think of leaving the team again and there was nothing I could do about it! And this morning for the first time since she arrived here she was alive and happy!"

Logan was infuriated. "Oh that's precious Charles! So to not lose another one of your precious X-men you'd look the other way! That's really nice! What happens then when we'd be left to pick the pieces of this girl back together again?"

Logan got up and started to make his way out of the office before the Professor called out to him.

"Logan! Wait and hear me out."

Logan paused momentarily but did not turn to face Xavier. Xavier kept on explaining his point of view. " What I meant to say was that for all we know, Remy might actually have a positive effect on her on the long run…"

Logan started walking again and reached for the knob of the door to exit the office, before Xavier concluded what he was saying which caused him to pause.

"…however… precisely because I don't want to take risks on Rogue, as I was the one who invited Remy here, I want you to do something for me."

Logan let go of the doorknob and slowly turned around to face Xavier, eyebrow raised, his interest now peaked. "Go on…"

Xavier smiled to himself. "I want you to go to New Orleans. I've taken the memories of the incident in the bar from Rogue, since she was the one who saw the whole thing, and I'll 'transfer' them in to your brain. I want you to track down and find what you can about the mysterious assailant that attacked them. So while you're down there you can keep your eyes and ears open for anything you can find for our new recruit."

Logan was now smiling from ear to ear. "Finally! I was starting to believe that you had totally lost it Charley."

"I'm not that proud of this Logan. It should be innocent till proven otherwise, not the other way around."

Logan chuckled. "Believe me Charles, that's the only reason why his pretty face is still unscathed."

"I must warn you though Logan… Your primary mission is to find what you can about the assailant. And if and when you find him, contact me. Do not attempt to confront him alone. He might be very dangerous. He took out Kurt and Scott."

Logan smiled. "Yeah, but pretty boy took him out from what I heard. So if he can do it I bet I definitely could." Xavier was about to protest but Logan cut him off. "…But, just to keep you happy, I will contact you."

Meanwhile out in the mansion's gardens Rogue and Remy were enjoying a walk under the beautiful morning sun. They walked close to one another but they always made sure that there was distance between them. Ever so often their gloved hands would fleetingly brush against each other lightly, trying to deny in vain that their ultimate destiny was to be intertwined.

"Remy… you didn't tell me… How did ah end up in mah bed? Ah remember falling asleep on the roof and then there's a big blur."

"Well… you did fall asleep dere and I did my best not to wake you, but as de evening got colder you started shivering. So I carried you to your bed."

Rogue smiled to herself. "That was very sweet of you. And ah also wanted to apologize and say thank you for last night. Ah mean… Ah was downright rude to you and yet you didn't give up and stayed."

Remy chuckled. "Heh… Ever since my momma called me stubborn, I knew dat someday it would pay off!"

"The thing is Remy… Ah tend to push people away. Due to mah curse…" Remy noted the word she used. "… Ah… prefer to stay by myself. At least that way ah can't hurt anyone and no one can hurt me." Remy's attention peaked when he heard what she said last.

Could it be? …Is it possible it's some form of defense mechanism. Did someone hurt her in de past? If dis is true den it's a very convenient manifestation of her power… No control over it so dere's no way of letting de wrong one in… not letting anyone in for dat matter… afraid to trust de wrong one. I better talk about dis wit de professor.

Remy looked at Rogue sincerely. "Cherie… dat's no way to live and you know dat. You got to let yourself open. I mean… everybody have different ways to deal with difficult situations in their lives. Mine for instance is to try and pretend dat everyting's fine. I'm not saying dat it's de best way to deal wit tings, but at least it doesn't isolate me from other people."

Rogue looked back at Remy a bit hurt. "But that's the thing Remy… I can't pretend that nothing's wrong, because I can't hide from my nature!"

Her eyes started to become misty as the burden of her power once again came over her.

Smooth talking Remy… Merde… got to fix dis…

Remy gave Rogue a warm smile. "I know cherie… and dat's why I believe you're one of the bravest people I know."

Rogue dismissed what Remy said almost immediately, turning her head away. "Yeah right…"

Remy with his gloved hand lightly touched Rogue's face and turned it to look at him. Then looking into her eyes he spoke very sincerely to her. "Cherie I mean every single word I say to you. You have to know dis. You are extremely brave. Very few people could go through what you've been, and still hold it together. But… you cannot do dis alone. And don't get me wrong. It's not just you. Nobody could do dis alone. At least dat's my humble opinion. I tink dat what you have to do, is realize dat de most important thing is dat you're not alone. And when you are among people who care about you, be sure dat magical things happen."

Rogue was very moved by what Remy had said to her. She wanted to hear him tell her more, so subconsciously she threw a bait. "Thank you Remy, but I stopped believing in magic a very long time ago."

Remy widened his eyes in mock shock. "You don't believe in magic? Mon Dieu! I guess dat's something we have to remedy."

He took out of his pocket a deck of cards. "Ok are you ready? Dis is my best trick."

Rogue looked at him with amused suspicion as she nodded her head.

"Ok… take the deck and pick a card randomly. Then give it to me, but have the card turned at your direction so dat only you can see what card it is ok?"

Rogue nodded again, but as she was about to pick a card, Remy interjected: "I bet you gon' pick up de queen of hearts. It's my lucky card you know…"

Rogue smiled and picked a card. As she was giving it to Remy, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw that she had indeed picked the queen of hearts. Remy taking the card in his hand smiled. "From your expression cherie I'm guessing I was right."

Then he flicked the card upwards, which exploded in a small flash, and just for a moment it took the shape of a heart.

Rogue looked at him smiling with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. He just stood there smiling satisfied with himself. Rogue then went through the deck to make sure that it was an actual deck of cards and saw that it was and that the only card missing was the queen of hearts.

"How did you…"

"Magic cherie… I told you it's my lucky card. Put your hand in your pocket."

Rogue shot a suspicious look at Remy and slowly put her hand in the pocket of the jacket she was wearing. To her amazement she pulled out the queen of hearts.

"Magic is everywhere cherie, but it is especially strong among the people who care about you."

Remy's heart practically melted seeing Rogue smiling sweetly at him with her wide beautiful eyes sparkling from tears that slowly formed in them.

"Thank you Remy. This means a lot to me."

"You're welcome cherie… but now I want you to do something for me. A favor."

"What is it?"

"I want you to hold on to this card. I want you to carry it with you, so that it will always remind you that magic does exist and more importantly dat I will always be watching over you."

"But this is your lucky card."

"Exactly… That's why I want you to have it. I hope it is as lucky for you as it has been for me."

Remy slowly reached his gloved hand and softly wiped a tear that had started tracking its way down her beautiful face. To his surprise she didn't flinch at all. She just smiled back at him, making him feel that 'natural high' people keep talking about.

Then offering his hand to her, he urged her to continue their walk in the garden. Feeling happier than she had felt in a very long time, Rogue took his hand.

Xavier seeing them from his window walking hand in hand smiled and hope for the future rekindled within him.

To be continued…

Ishandahalf- you are my regular I see… J Thanks for the thumbs up! Really appreciate it. I tried to write Hank as he should be written but in the end I was afraid of getting carried away and writing too much for him. So I was not sure for the outcome. If you thought the previous one had uber-cuteness, what do you think of this one? J More healthy doses eh?

Shiranai Seto- Thanks for the compliment. I try to write him as I believe he should be written- now that I think of it as I want him to be written but that's another story- J Hope you like where this story is going, and hope you like the rest of the characters as well.