Disclaimer: I've borrowed the X-Men for my own devious purposes, cuz I sure don't own them… I don't think I'll be giving them back though.
A/N: When the rabbit of chaos is pursued by the ferret of disorder through the fields of anarchy, it is time to hang your pants on the coat hook of darkness – whether they are clean or not… Sorry, I watched the Spice Girls movie at midnight, after consuming massive amounts of cake.
SweetRevenge151, demiducky25, PomegranateQueen, PsychoRomyChica, Sweety8587, Silver Ink, pyros-gal, SickmindedSucker, EviltwinAlix, TheRealMai, IloveJamesK, flowerperson, Anamaniax, darkstorm5000, enchantedlight, sleepy26, Rogue4787, TheDreamerLady, Raven2687, Dreamcatcher89, and Pandora's Sorrow – As always, your reviews made me smile! So how about some thank-you toothpaste, so we can all have blindingly bright grins?
IvyZoe, samurai shoes, silky black, RgGOTH, Sungirl (of Sungirl and Meowiegirl), Beer'n'chips, and Adri – Yay, looks like my plea for new reviewers worked! Glad you all joined the party, thanks for the lovely comments! Hope you keep 'em coming. (ish glares pointedly at you)
melancholic – Hey, you reviewed, I'm so proud! Well, it was all worth putting off studying for math, right? I'll take the blame if you fail – but at least you'll fail happy after reading this stuff, right? For your question about Remy talking to Rogue, you can read the response to UniversalAnimeGirl if you wish, cuz I don't wanna type it out again! Ooh, glad you're writing a new fic – you mean, after you get working on ours, right? ;-) Fuffier and fun sounds quite appealing! We can have a twitchy competition, but be warned, you're going up against the master!
Speck – I suppose that is a fairly good reason, so you're saved from the guillotine – but just barely, ya hear? Frankly, I can't resist British accents, they're so very droll! Pip pip, cheerio!
missy42 – That was a good review, you're forgiven! I love the power of guilt trips, I can't resist them either. But gosh, am I really making you all look bad with my quick updates? What are ya gonna do about it? Hmm, maybe… Update? ;-)
Calliann – Crap, with all that computer radiation I endure while reading fics, I'll probably end up growing extra arms or something… Oh well, then I'll be able to type faster! Huzzah. And yeah, you better update, hint hint!
Orage – Yes, Xavier would have seen those rather graphic memories – twice. Quite the voyeur, ain't he?
Aro – Hah, you do what I do, read fluffy parts and ignore badness… Quite a pathetic pair, aren't we?
UniversalAnimeGirl – Curses, you've discovered my dental conspiracy! I mean… what dental conspiracy? ;-) As for Rogue in Remy's memories answering some of his questions and talking to him – essentially, it is his mind, so he can manipulate things. He can have her say what he wants to hear, what he thinks she'd say, or maybe what he already knows, stuff like that. Basically, he's having a conversation with his memory of Rogue, ultimately controlled by him. I hope that makes sense… If not, a wizard did it.
ASGT and Kat Maximoff – We've already discussed the illegitimate children, so that's all set… Oooh, Tim Curry rocks my socks too! Have you ever seen Muppet Treasure Island? I think he should only take roles that let him wear tights, he has the nicest legs, I'm jealous!
heartsyhawk – I think more tissues would be a safe bet – but ooh, you won't know whether they'll be drying up tears of sadness or tears of joy, will you? Only I know for sure, bwa ha ha!
giggleboxsam – Argh! Thanks for alerting me to that, it's fixed now… Wow, I majorly screwed up that sentence! I proofread it over and over, and still I manage to miss things like that… Shame on me.
Ms.Rogue LeBeau – Is Gambit actually gonna be in X3? I've read that he might have a cameo, that he'll just be in the trailers, that he won't be in it… Argh! He better be in it! As for who should play him… I think Johnny Depp would be a great choice, but then that'd just be weird for a romance with Rogue, since he's so much older… Bah humbug. There are rumours that Orlando Bloom might play him, which would be hot… Who do you think?
Alyxandria – Frost was one of my faves, until I had to do an Independent Study on him for English… Somehow the mystique of his work dwindles when you have to analyze his poetry to death… Now I'm obsessed with Dante Alighieri – I'm currently reading The Inferno, it's great. I'll have a Dante quotation coming up soon. Glad you get excited to see my updates! I feel the same way about yours, hint hint!
Argh, I've been trying to centre that little row of dashes that separates the scenes, and it won't work! I hate the world.
Loved and Lost, or Never At All?
Chapter 13 – Midway
"O memory! Thou midway world
'Twixt earth and paradise,
Where things decayed and loved ones lost
In dreamy shadows rise."
- Abraham Lincoln
The bright lights of the carnival were blinking all around them as Remy and Rogue walked hand in hand down the midway, through a cacophony of noise. People were screaming and laughing all around them – there were a million distractions, but Remy was focused on the small smile that played on Rogue's face.
He was thrilled that she agreed to go out with him tonight, that ecstatic yet pleasantly nervous feeling churning in the pit of his stomach just as it always did whenever he saw her, or talked to her, or was near her… As usual, it had taken some cajoling on his part, but he knew that she would enjoy their outing. It would be nice for her to drop the cold, Goth façade that she wore around the others and just be herself for an evening.
It had been a slow process, but her mask had begun to slowly crumble away when she was with Remy, leaving him utterly bewitched by the beauty he saw underneath it – and it wasn't only her physical beauty either. She still kept some distance between them, however – Remy was doing his best to break her of that habit, wishing she would show her true feelings for him, like he did with her…
He hoped she realized that his feelings were genuine, and not just charming flirtations like they had started out – he cared about her. He knew she cared about him in return, yes, but was it deeper than that? Remy thought so, and he was determined to find out. Frankly, it unnerved him, not knowing exactly how she felt about him, when he had already hopelessly fallen for her.
"So, what y' wan' t' do now, chère?" he asked Rogue with a grin.
"Dunno, maybe a ride or somethin'?" she suggested.
"Well, since dere's no 'Tunnel o' Love', we'll have t' find somet'in' else…" he sighed dramatically.
The dimness of the evening and the flashing lights around them made it difficult, but Remy didn't miss Rogue's slight blush. She managed to compose herself quickly, and countered, "What makes yah think Ah'd even go on that ride with yah?"
"All de ladies wan' t' ride wit' dis Cajun," Remy shot back smoothly, leering teasingly at her.
Rolling her eyes, Rogue smacked him in the arm without even looking.
"Oww!" he whined jokingly – or at least, he tried to portray it that way. Rogue was quite strong... "Easy dere, chère. We both know dat y' love me, dere's no need t' get violent…"
"Yah wish," she scoffed, but the almost imperceptible smile that tugged up the corners of her lips betrayed her harsh words - that didn't escape Remy's keen eyes, and it filled him hope. She was good at hiding her feelings, just as he was – only now he was actually feeling something wonderful, some emotions he had never felt before, and they didn't want to remain hidden…
"All right, fine, mebbe we ride de Ferris Wheel den?" he proposed, steering her in that direction.
"Sure. But no funny business!" Rogue warned, wagging a finger at him. "Yah try anythin', an' Ah swear Ah'll throw yah off."
"Scout's honour, Roguey," Remy declared, saluting her with two fingers.
"Oh, there is no way yah were a Boy Scout, swamp rat," she said, giving him a look of disbelief as they reached the line for the ride.
"All right den, t'ief's honour."
"Thieves have honour?"
"Some do," he answered, as they stepped forward.
"Do yah?"
"Do y' t'ink I do?"
Rogue paused. She stared at him intently, as if sizing him up before she answered the question. Remy didn't even notice he was holding his breath as he waited for her response… But before she could reply, it was their turn to board the Ferris Wheel.
"Guess, we'll have t' find out, henh?" he smirked, holding out a hand to help her into the small compartment.
She accepted his hand, which he took as a good sign. A bar snapped in place to hold them in, and the ride began. It took them up and down again, around in a circle, with nothing being said between the two.
Soon they were stopped at the top while riders boarded below - Rogue took advantage of the view, looking out over the entire fairground. Meanwhile, Remy took advantage of the view he had of Rogue, never taking his gaze off her. She was smiling again, now that there was nobody around to see her. He felt it a shame – she had such a beautiful smile, one that should be shared with the world… But then again, he felt privileged that he was the one to bear witness to it.
Turning her head to the other side, she finally noticed that Remy was staring at her. She blushed again, turning away, but then he put an arm around her. She tensed at first, but Remy scooted towards her, bringing them closer together.
"Relax, petite," he whispered. "Dere's nobody here t' see us, it's jus' y' an' me, so enjoy de ride, henh?"
At his words, Rogue's body loosened up slightly. A few seconds later she sighed, and actually shuffled in closer to him. "Yah know, yah ain't that bad when yah're not bein' obnoxious," she muttered.
When he heard that, Remy was elated – Rogue had actually opened up to him, and with so little prodding this time! It wasn't the most complimentary declaration, but it was a start… Not wanting to ruin the moment, he bit his tongue and just pulled her closer. Then the wheel began to descend, signalling their time to get off. Remy cursed silently – he didn't want this to end just yet!
While Rogue was looking away to the other side, he took a wad of bills out of his trench coat pocket – he showed them to the operator with a pointed look. The man beamed and nodded, and their ride continued. They went around a few more times, not saying anything, but the silence wasn't awkward.
By the time they got off the Ferris Wheel, Rogue had rested her head on Remy's shoulder, and Remy was on cloud nine. Walking past the operator with his arm around Rogue's waist, he slipped the man the money – the experience was well worth every penny.
"What now, Roguey?" he then asked. "Some games?"
"There's no way we'll win anythin', Cajun," Rogue stated. "They're all rigged."
"Dat dey are," Remy conceded. "But y're wit' a professional t'ief, remember? 'M sneakier den dey are."
She snorted. "That Ah don't doubt."
Remy led them up to a ring toss booth – paying the worker, he received three rings in return. He then turned to Rogue, who was watching him doubtfully, and said, "De point is t' t'row de ring over de pegs – dat's easy 'nough, 'cept de rings be just a bit too small t' fit."
He demonstrated his point by throwing one of the rings – his aim was accurate, as always. It soared through the air and looked like it would fall directly onto the peg, but being the wrong size, it bounced off instead.
"So how do yah plan on winnin' then?"
"Watch an' learn, chère."
Making sure that nobody could see what he was doing, Remy lightly charged up the ring, watching it glow – with the molecules excited, he then gently pulled at it, stretching the circumference. Now it was larger, but not noticeably so. Retracting the charge, he held up the improved loop and grinned at Rogue. Without even looking towards his target, he tossed it – it met its mark, landing precisely on a peg.
To his surprise, Rogue laughed, and began to leisurely applaud. "Ah gotta admit, Ah'm impressed. But what are yah gonna do with that?" she pointed behind him.
Remy turned to find the operator of the booth handing him his prize – a giant stuffed bear. He could hardly wrap his arms around it, it was so large - he settled for placing it on the ground in between them. "I won it f'r y', o' course! What kind o' gentleman would I be if I didn'?"
"Fo' meh?" she repeated, raising an incredulous eyebrow. "What th' hell am Ah supposed to do with it then?"
"Well, y' can name it Remy an' it can keep y' company when 'm not around…"
"It's not anatomically correct – are yah tryin' to tell meh somethin'?" came her retort.
He smirked. "If it was, all de ot'er bears would be jealous, chère."
Remy chuckled as Rogue's cheeks tinted pink at his insinuation, and proceeded to charge, stretch, and throw the last ring. The attendant scowled, forced to hand over yet another enormous bear.
"Another one?" Rogue yelped.
"Roguey, y' should know by know dat when de Ragin' Cajun does somet'in', he goes all out."
"Well, since yah're bein' so chivalrous," she said sweetly. "Yah can carry 'em both fo' meh."
"Mais, oui," he consented, his gentlemanly manners kicking in automatically.
Bending down, Remy picked up one of the bears and managed to stick it under one arm. Carefully leaning over to grab the other one, the first began to slip out of place. He propped it against his hip to keep it steady, but then the other began to fall. It went back and forth like that, with him growing all the more frustrated.
One dropped to the ground, and he grunted in aggravation. Picking it up again, he supported it against his chest, which blocked his view of Rogue laughing at him. Managing to shuffle the massive creature under his arm once more, he turned to her, but she was gone.
"Chère?" Remy called out loudly, only to surprise himself at the volume of his voice – the racket around them had stopped, and everything was quiet. "Chère, where are y'?"
He turned around on the spot, intent on inexplicably picking her out of the crowd like he always could, but there was nobody else around. When the bears in his arms disappeared, leaving Remy gripping thin air, he was once again struck with grim realization. Refusing to simply allow it to continue, he sprinted through the midway, hoping to find her.
"Rogue?" he cried repeatedly, straining his ears for even the quietest of responses. "Please, if y're still here, answer me!"
There were no replies, but Remy kept running, even as the carnival faded away from view and the blinking lights becoming dimmer and dimmer.
- X -
It was a surprisingly quiet night at the Acolyte base, which was especially shocking since four team mates were all lounging in the common room together. Piotr was in the corner painting silently, John had created a game of checkers out of flames and was playing against himself, and Pietro was watching television, flipping the channels as quickly as the remote would allow him to.
Remy didn't know why Magneto's son was at the base in the first place, but suspected it had something to do with cable television and the absence of annoying Brotherhood members. He paid little attention to the other boy, who grated on his nerves with everything he did – instead, Remy was killing some time playing solitaire, and was thankful that the others were quiet for once. That didn't last long, however.
John having won (or lost, depending on which way you looked at it) against himself, extinguished his fire and appeared bored. Much to everybody's chagrin, when Pyro got bored, he began to chatter inanely.
"Oi, Petey, what'cha paintin?" he asked the Russian metal man.
Used to his constant silence, John took no offence when he didn't respond – he merely moved on to Pietro. "Anythin' good on th' telly, Pie-pie?"
Again, the Aussie received no reply. Catching sight of his last target, he cheerfully asked, "How's them cards comin' along, Rem?"
Remy just shot him a look, and returned his attention to his game, flipping a seven onto an eight.
"Crikey, blokes, let's go out or somethin', instead o' just sittin' here like bumps on a log! 'M bored… Remy, yah up for a coupla drinks, mate?"
"Desolé (sorry), Johnny, not t'night," he muttered, turning over another card.
"Ahh, got another hot date t'night, eh?" John winked.
"Oui, as a matter o' fact, I do," Remy nodded, taking no notice of his friend's antics. Sometimes if you just ignored him, he'd go away…
"Who's th' shiela this time? Blonde, red head? Ooh, mebbe ya can set me up with a nice red head, red always reminds me o' fire, an-"
"Brunette, John. Well, mostly," he interrupted with a smile, knowing it was best to stop Pyro before he went into a rant. "An' it's de same fille as all de ot'er times."
"Huh?" came the eloquent reaction, John's mouth dropping open. Pietro had switched off the television and was curiously (and obviously) eavesdropping on their conversation, and even Piotr had paused in the middle of a brushstroke to listen to Remy's explanation.
"Y' heard me. She be de same girl." He was just as surprised as they were, really… He hadn't expected to actually fall for someone, but Rogue just felt so… Right. And who was he to go against that? Remy knew not to ruin a good thing, and he was fairly sure that he had found the best thing.
"Well, yeah mate, but… I mean… Damn."
"I believe vhat John vishes to say is zhat it is a surprise to see you vit one girl for so long," Piotr contributed, succinctly explaining his friend's reaction before turning back to his canvas. "Especially ze Rogue."
"WHAT!" shouted Pietro, swiftly jumping from the couch and startling the others. "You'regoingoutwithRogue?"
Remy blinked. "Come 'gain?"
"You're. Going. Out. With. Rogue?" he repeated, vehemently spitting out each word with forced slowness.
"Dat I am," beamed Remy, the goofy smile that appeared whenever he thought of her materializing unbidden on his face.
The silver-haired boy's eyes narrowed, and without another word, he sped from the room in a gust of wind that blew away Remy's cards.
"What de hell is his problem?" he grumbled, picking his deck up off the floor.
"Dunno, maybe th' git's got a crush on your shiela, eh?" John snorted.
"Y' t'ink so?" Remy questioned in surprise, a pang of jealousy already rising up from deep within him. That was a first, him feeling jealous…
"Seems like it, don' it?"
"Well, too bad," he scoffed. Pietro was no serious competition, he told himself. Remy saw some of the looks that Rogue directed towards Magneto's son – they were filled with annoyance and dislike. At the beginning, she had fixed him with those looks as well, but underneath it all, he was able to see intrigue and attraction… She didn't look at Pietro like that.
No, he was no threat to them, he was sure. Brushing it off, he told the others, "Now if y'll excuse me, I got de most belle femme in de world t' meet."
"Aww… Have fun!" John called out in a sing-song voice, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
"Always do," Remy smirked, heading towards the door until he noticed the room blurring. Stopping in his tracks and spinning around in confusion, he asked, "Mes amis (my friends), what were we talkin' 'bout again? I can't remember…"
He could barely see Piotr's lips moving as he answered, and he couldn't even hear his response… Looking back and forth in bewilderment, Remy watched as the room died away.
Another chapter bites the dust!
Next chapter – Remy tries a new approach to keep Rogue hidden in his memories.
Gosh, you know what are great? Reviews! And wow, what a coincidence – by pressing that little button down there, you can write me some! Funny how things work out like that…
Toodles,
- ish -