Chapter 5
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"Oh shit."
One never actually thinks that their actions will come back to bite them in the ass someday, throwing caution to the wind, just assuming all will be well, that the thrashing you gave to someone will come back to you three fold, and yet, here he was, facing those very people. 'Karma is such a bitch.' Remy thought to himself, warily eyeing those individuals that stood in his brothers' house. He vaguely registered when Haley toddled off somewhere. This was the last thing he needed, what with his powers acting all wonky, the incident at the bank...wait, that had to be it, they were going to turn him over to the cops, well, he'd like to see them try!
A jingling sound brought him out of his little trace. Looking down he saw his niece looking up at him, holding a small piggy bank and grinning.
"You said a naughty word, Onca Remy!" She knew what that meant. The rule that Mercy had made was that if anyone swore in front of Haley, they owed the little girl a quarter, and she loved getting to feed her piggy quarters! They made such a nice jingle sound.
Sighing, Remy reached into his jeans pocket and produced a quarter to feed piggy. Haley started shaking her piggy bank and danced around to the little tune it made, giggling like a maniac. Remy smiled down at her, ah, to e young like that again. But then, he was never so carefree as a child, living on the streets defiantly robs you of that luxury.
The sound of someone clearing their throat brought him back to his current situation. Looking around at those he had wronged as a member of Magnetos' Acolytes, he figured he had a few options. One, he could just start blowing random stuff up and drive them off, but then he was vastly out numbered, and he had Haley to think about. Her parents would murdalize him if any damage came to their home or daughter. Option two, he could find out what they wanted, and talk it out like adults. There had been a time when option two wouldn't even enter into the equation; he'd just start blowing shit up. But, he was technically an adult, so he should probably act like it for the time being.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She barely registered the cuss word that escaped his mouth before he could stop himself. Rogue stood on the porch, not really liking the idea of inviting themselves into a strangers' home. Looking in the doorway, she got her first glimpse of him in five years. He seemed different somehow, not just in appearance, which had certainly changed; his hair was longer, and he had gotten rid of the goatee. But probably the biggest change was the small child that was now beside him, holding a small ceramic pig in her hands, and his manner towards her. He seemed so loving and kind, an almost anti-thesis to who he had been.
A million thoughts ran through Rogues head at that moment. 'Is the girl his? Did he get married or maybe he just knocked some girl up and this is his visitation day or something.' That train of thought abruptly ended when she heard the child refer to him as 'Onca Remy'. 'Oh thank God, it's his niece.' She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. The thought of Remy having a child almost made her want to scream, though she wasn't entirely sure why. 'I haven't seen him in years, why on earth would he not have a steady relationship, or a wife, or kids.' She started silently grinding her teeth at that idea, she knew she shouldn't be acting like this, she wasn't with him, she never was, but that didn't stop her from imagining all sorts of wild scenarios as to what he'd been up to since they last met.
Looking at his face, she could practically see him working out a problem in his head. After a moment, he reached down and picked up the little girl and held her like he was afraid to let anything happen to her. He was about to open his mouth when a voice from behind her made it's presence known.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Mario's Pizza!" The delivery guy made his way onto the porch and called into the house, seeing as the door was open and there were people milling about, he felt it silly to go ring the bell.
Remy made his way over to the door, maneuvering himself past Piotr, to where his and Haley's dinner awaited them. Upon reaching his destination of the front door, he spies someone off to the side; someone he hadn't seen in five long years.
Rogue. He should have know that she'd still be with the X-Men, she had made that whole 'family' comment when he was with her last. Either way, he was not prepared for the sight before him. She was defiantly taller, and had certainly 'filled out', as it were. Trying not to stare at one particular area for too long, he looked at her face, noticing that she was without the super heavy makeup that she had donned back then.
"Ah-hum." A voice brought him back one again to the present. The pizza guy was wanting his money. Balancing Haley in one arm, he pulled out the money he had removed from his wallet before his unexpected guests arrived. Handing over the cash, he accepted the food with his free arm and was about to go back inside to feed Haley, when Rogue reached out and took the pizza from him.
"Here, ya look like ya got your hands full." Remy smiled at her in thanks and led her into the living room, where he placed Haley on the couch.
"Can I have pizza now?" She asked, looking up hopefully.
"'Course you can petite, jus' let me getcha a plate okay?" Remy smiled and patted her head. Making his way to the kitchen, he was stopped by Cyclops putting a hand out in front of him.
"We got a few things to discuss with you Lebeau, starting with a certain 'accident' that happened this morning." He stood before Remy, arms crossed over his chest. If it wasn't for the visor covering his eyes, Remy was sure he'd be able to see the anal-retentive leader of the X-Men glaring at him.
"You ain't got any hold on me homme, and you certainly will not talk like dat while there is a petite present." Remy hissed at him. "You wanna talk? Fine, we talk, but you do anyt'ing to upset my niece, and you'll get a second stick shoved up your ass to go with the one you already have. Got it?" Pushing past Cyclops, he went into the kitchen and retrieved the plates and napkins for himself and Haley. Heading back to the living room, he motioned for the lingering mutants to follow him. When they got there, they saw Rogue sitting on the couch with the child who had opened the door. They seemed to be having a lengthy conversation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Watching Remy go to get a plate for the little girl, Rogue turned her attention to said child. She certainly was an adorable little girl, with pretty blonde curls and bright blue eyes. Kicking her flippered feet against the couch, she turned to look up at Rogue.
"Would you like to sit down?" She asked the lady before her. The lady looked kinda startled at the question, but sat down beside Haley anyway. "Dat's better, now we can chat." She didn't exactly know what it meant to 'chat', but she had seen her Mama do it lots of times, it didn't look to hard.
Rogue was a little surprised by the girl's polite invitation. After making herself comfortable on the plush sofa, she turned to face her little 'hostess'.
"What's you name?" the girl asked her.
"Oh, my name's Rogue, honey."
"Dat's a funny name. Why did your Mama name you dat?" It was an innocent question, but it made Rogue feel a little awkward.
"I'm not sure why she did, I'll hafta ask her one day." Deciding not to explain to a little girl about her messed up family, Rogue tried steering the conversation away from her. "What's your name?"
"Haley Lebeau." She answered simply. "I'm four and a half. You have pretty hair." This took Rogue a little off guard. Hell, the whole situation had caught her off guard. He she was, sitting in the living room of a very posh house in New Orleans, 'chatting' with a four year old. There was still the matter of the incident that occurred this morning to deal with.
"Thank you sugah, that's very nice of you to say." Rogue then noticed that Haley was still holding the piggy bank. "Is that your piggy?"
"Yeah! He's full of quarters and makes pretty sounds when ya shake 'im!" She then demonstrated this for Rogue.
"Now how does a little tyke like you get so many quarters?" Rogue asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Every time a growed-up says a bad word, I get a quarter! But I don't say de bad words, Mama'd kill me dead!" Haley expressed very dramatically the 'kill me dead' part.
"Well, that's good, you shouldn't say bad words."
"Dat's what Onca Remy says, but he's given piggy more quarters dan anybody!" Throwing her hands in the air as is exasperated, she nearly let piggy fall off the couch.
"And ya ain't supposed to follow my example, petite. I hear any bad words come outta your mouth, your Mama's gonna hear about it." Remy had returned with the plates, as well as the rest of the X-Men close behind. "Ya'll can take a seat, I gotta get her fed." He said, gesturing to Haley. "What kind you want petite?" She pointed to the plain pepperoni. "A'right, here ya go. If you ain't fed and cleaned up by de time ya parents get home, ya Mama'll kill me dead." He muttered to himself. Rogue tried to hold back a laugh at this' obviously Haley was following his example in some respects.
"Somet'in' funny, chere?" Remy asked her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. She did have a chance to answer, as Cyclops took the opportunity to grab everyone's attention.
"Look, we have things to discuss, and I'd like to get it over with, so if you don't mind..." Gambit glared over at him in warning to watch his tone. This was going to get worse before it got better.
"Scott would ya just chill out already? Geez, it's not like Gambit's been any sort of violent since we got here." Kitty spoke up from her spot on the floor on the other side of Rogue. The tension in the room was starting to get to her.
"Kitty, I really don't think..." He was cut off by a small gasp
"Kitty?! Where's a kitty?! I want de kitty!" Haley exclaimed, bouncing around on her seat. More than anything, Haley wanted her own kitten, but her Papa was allergic to them. But if there was one already here...
"Oui, dere be a kitty here! Here kitty, kitty...Come play wit' Haley, please?" Remy looked apologetically at the human Kitty. She was about to tell him off, but after seeing the look on his face, decided to play along. Kitty made her way over to Haley and sat in front of her. "Ya know what a kitty likes, petite?" Haley shook her head, no. "Dey like to be petted." Haley eyes lit up and she reached over her pizza to pet Kitty's hair. Kitty felt a little silly, but the little girl was too cute for her to do anything about it. Besides, she was helping the situation, sort of.
"Okay, now can we get one with this?" Scott was starting to get annoyed with the whole situation. He didn't want to be here, and he certainly didn't want to be making pleasantries with a former Acolyte.
"Alright, fine, what ya want?" Remy obviously didn't like this any more than Scott did. Taking her boyfriends' hand, Jean decided to try and act as mediator.
"Remy, what Scott is trying to say, is what exactly happened this morning?" She tried to speak in a manner that would seem non-threatening, but it didn't appear that Gambit was buying it.
"Why should I tell you anyt'ing? I don' see how it's any of ya business in de first place." Damn spook, who the hell does she think she is? Remy was starting to get seriously pissed at this invasion of his life.
"Comrade." Piotr stated, placing a hand on his old friends' shoulder. "Perhaps we might step outside for a moment?" Feeling that he was right about Scott's inability to approach this situation delicately, he felt a one-on-one approach would work better. Remy looked hard at him for a moment, then concieded.
"Fine." He rose from the sofa and turned to face his niece that was still petting Kitty. "You finish ya dinner, 'kay? I gotta go have a chat wit' my friend here." The child nodded and took another bite of her pizza. "You ask de nice Kitty to get you another piece if you want it, 'kay?" She nodded again, and with that, Remy and Pitor made their way outside.
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As Remy left with Colossus, Kitty went back to her entertaining duties. This wasn't exactly what she had signed up for when she agreed to go on this mission, but it wasn't all bad. 'The kid is pretty cute.' She thought to herself. Haley was explaining the piggy bank to Kitty, just as she had for Rogue. Rogue however, was watching Remy leave. She was trying her damndest to sort through the vast swirl of emotions that was reaping havok on her mind and body. She had wanted to talk to Remy by herself, but at the same time, knew that Pitor would be the best one for this. She hoped to God that Pitor would be able to convince Remy to come back to the Institue with them. The Professor had told them that they had to get him to go with them by any possible means. After they saw the news footage, Xavier had gone to Cerebro to try and make sure it was in fact Gambit's mutant signature. Upon emerging from the massive machine, he told them to get Gambit to the Mansion. He had a rather grave expression on his face, but Rogue hadn't had time to think on it unitl now. Xavier wanted Gambit for something, but what?
Tired of waiting, she got up and went to aid Piotr in convincing Remy to come back with them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
God, he needed a smoke.
He should have known the day was going to go straight to Hell in a hand basket after the incident at the bank. He was willing to bet that if he had read his horoscope for the day, it would have told him the exact same thing. Turning to face his Russian friend, he decided to get this over with.
"What's goin' on Petey? Ya don't jus' wander on down to my neck of de woods for no damn reason. If dis is about my 'destruction of public property', and all of ya are here to trun me in, you can forget it!" Remy was getting more and more frustrated. He knew he had to calm down, but it wasn't easy with Piotr's stoic gaze upon him.
"Remy, I am not here to 'turn you in', and neither are they." He gestured towards the door. "I am going to ask about what happened though. You are not one to go about and damage a building for no reason..."
"Yeah, dat was Pyro's job." Remy laughed, remembering how much random destruction Pyro had caused back in the day. Sobering, he asked "How's ya family? Dey okay now?"
"Da, everything is fine now. Magneto cannot hurt them anymore." He got a faraway look in his eyes, remembering the Hell he had been in, not knowing if his parents and sister were all right. "But you are changing the subject. What happened today? Were you threatened? Did someone attack you?"
"Non! I fucked up, alright! It was a stupid reason, and it's not going to happen again!" Remy was about ready to lose it at this point. The strange thing was he didn't know why, Piotr wasn't being hostile, and yet Remy was ready to blow his stack. He could feel the energy start to build up again, like it had this morning. If he didn't calm down, he was going to have a very angry brother and sister-in-law ready to kill him for the smoldering wreck that would be their porch.
"Maybe ya oughta take a deep breath and calm down there hot shot." A new voice caught the men's attention. Rogue stood in the doorway watching as Remy struggled with retracting the charge in his hands.
"Hey chere, how's it goin'?" Remy tried acting calm and collected, but the raging war between his emotions and powers were evident on his face. Rogue made her way to him and took him by the wrists.
"Clam down. Just focus on one thing. Don't want ya destroying such a pretty house." Rogue said as soothingly as possible. She had seen in Remy's memories that he had had trouble when his powers first surfaced; there had seemed to be a connection between his emotions and the effect they had on his powers. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The glow of his hands began to fade, and the strain in his face was gone.
"Merci, Rogue. Don' know what happened dere for a minute." Remy ran a hand through his hair, trying to get himself together. He saw the looks of concern of their faces; his one-time teammate, and the object of his affections(sort of), from years back.
"This ain't the first time something like that happened, is it? Ya powers are actin' weird, aren't they?" Rogue asked, remembering what the Professor had told them before they left. Remy stared at his feet for a few moments.
"Yeah, but it's not a big t'ing, I dealt wit' it before, I'll do it again." He tried to convince himself it would all be okay, but that was hard considering all the little 'accidents' he'd been having the past few months.
"Comrade, are you sure about that? What if the next time you, 'fuck up', your family is nearby, or that child inside? Are you willing to risk their lives because you are too stubborn to admit you need help?" Piotr's little monologue appeared to have an effect on Remy, until he spoke, of course.
"Ya said 'fuck' Petey." Remy looked like he was trying not to laugh. Rogue appeared to be holding back as well; she had never heard the Russian use any profanities since he arrived at the Mansion.
"It is a word that one hears on a regular basis in the country, you Americans are so..."he paused, searching for the appropriate word.
"Vulgar?" Rogue offered.
"Yes, that will do. But you are avoiding the subject again Remy. Are you sure you are willing to risk anyone else's lives?" Having Piotr's steel gaze on him, even without him being in steel form, was rather intimidating. Not that Remy would ever admit that to him.
"Look, I was your enemy for Christ's sake, what makes you t'ink I've even welcome at your little Mansion."
"We wouldn't be here otherwise sugah." Rogue said softly. Remy gave her a look.
"First I got Petey usin' bad words, and now the goth girl is usin' terms of endearment? I t'ink I just fell into de twilight zone." He turned and walked tot the end of the porch, taking in what he had been told. On the one hand, he was bored to death in his hometown, first time ever that's happened, and this would give him the chance to leave for awhile; on the other, if he did opt to go with them, he would be going to a place where he would be watched like a hawk, and would have to submit to their rules and ideals. Fight for the dream he had fought against while running with Magneto. It wasn't that he was against peace between humans and mutants; he just didn't see it happening in his lifetime. And while Xavier probably wouldn't succeed, he had hope, and that was something Remy hadn't seen many people have in a long time.
"I'm gonna need time to think about dis, weigh my options and whatnot." He turned to Piotr and Rogue. The both looked a little deflated, but didn't say anything. It was at that moment, that a black sedan came racing up the driveway. A man and woman threw open the doors and climbed out. "Hey, where's de fire huh?" Remy called out to his brother and sister-in-law as they came running up the steps.
"Mama!" Haley called out from the doorway, having heard the car pull up and came to see her parents. Upon seeing her daughter with a big piece of pizza in her small hands, Mercy Lebeau turned on her brother-in-law
"You gave my baby pizza!?" She all but shouted at Remy, her pale green eyes blazing. Remy backed away a little bit, not wanting to endure the wrath of Mercy.
"It was either dat or hot dogs! I caved, I couldn't help it!" Remy tried to plead his case, but Mercy had picked up her child and was trying to get the pizza away from her.
"Rem, we gotta talk." Henri pulled him back to the end to the porch. "We got a little problem, someone from de Rippers saw you at the de bank dis morning when it blew, dey went to de cops and told dem about you bein' a mutant and how it was probably you who caused the explosions! Dey police are just getting' a warrant for your arrest as we speak, ya gotta get outta here frere!" Remy paused for a minute, taking in what his brother had just told him. Turning to Rogue and Piotr, he gave them a half smile.
"So when do we leave?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: Holy poop on a stick! This is the longest chapter yet! Hooray for me! * Does a happy dance * Okay! So there ya go! Remy's on his way to the X-Men! Yay for that. I made this chapter much longer 'cause I was on a total X- Men high after seeing the previews for Uncanny #444! Damn it looks good! I can't wait til May! Alrighty then, things are probably gonna get a little nuts next chappie, since I will be introducing the first of the 'evolutionized' characters to the story. Whoo hoo! Fun stuff! Shout out time!
Ishandahalf: Cartoons are the shiznit! Who cares what 'they' think! I love cartoons, hell, I'm writing a fic about a cartoon for pete's sake! But yeah, had some Remy/Rogue interaction...probably not as much as you wanted, but it's sorta there! Right? There will be more now that Remy's headin' for Bayville.
PomegranateQueen: Updates rule, hope you enjoyed this one!
Nessie6: I hafta give you props, I used the whole swear jar idea, but decided that a piggy bank would be more fun! So thanx for the idea! Haley's answering the door is totally not safe, but she;s only 4, and I don't recall having much sense as a 4 year old myself, unless I was just a really stupid kid...maybe that was the case. Oh well! Hope you liked this uber long chapter!
Three whole shoutouts, yeah baby! Maybe I need to change the summary again...if any one can give me any hints about how to get more people reading this, I would be most grateful. I'm turing into a review addict!
Unitl next time!
~Leishy
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"Oh shit."
One never actually thinks that their actions will come back to bite them in the ass someday, throwing caution to the wind, just assuming all will be well, that the thrashing you gave to someone will come back to you three fold, and yet, here he was, facing those very people. 'Karma is such a bitch.' Remy thought to himself, warily eyeing those individuals that stood in his brothers' house. He vaguely registered when Haley toddled off somewhere. This was the last thing he needed, what with his powers acting all wonky, the incident at the bank...wait, that had to be it, they were going to turn him over to the cops, well, he'd like to see them try!
A jingling sound brought him out of his little trace. Looking down he saw his niece looking up at him, holding a small piggy bank and grinning.
"You said a naughty word, Onca Remy!" She knew what that meant. The rule that Mercy had made was that if anyone swore in front of Haley, they owed the little girl a quarter, and she loved getting to feed her piggy quarters! They made such a nice jingle sound.
Sighing, Remy reached into his jeans pocket and produced a quarter to feed piggy. Haley started shaking her piggy bank and danced around to the little tune it made, giggling like a maniac. Remy smiled down at her, ah, to e young like that again. But then, he was never so carefree as a child, living on the streets defiantly robs you of that luxury.
The sound of someone clearing their throat brought him back to his current situation. Looking around at those he had wronged as a member of Magnetos' Acolytes, he figured he had a few options. One, he could just start blowing random stuff up and drive them off, but then he was vastly out numbered, and he had Haley to think about. Her parents would murdalize him if any damage came to their home or daughter. Option two, he could find out what they wanted, and talk it out like adults. There had been a time when option two wouldn't even enter into the equation; he'd just start blowing shit up. But, he was technically an adult, so he should probably act like it for the time being.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She barely registered the cuss word that escaped his mouth before he could stop himself. Rogue stood on the porch, not really liking the idea of inviting themselves into a strangers' home. Looking in the doorway, she got her first glimpse of him in five years. He seemed different somehow, not just in appearance, which had certainly changed; his hair was longer, and he had gotten rid of the goatee. But probably the biggest change was the small child that was now beside him, holding a small ceramic pig in her hands, and his manner towards her. He seemed so loving and kind, an almost anti-thesis to who he had been.
A million thoughts ran through Rogues head at that moment. 'Is the girl his? Did he get married or maybe he just knocked some girl up and this is his visitation day or something.' That train of thought abruptly ended when she heard the child refer to him as 'Onca Remy'. 'Oh thank God, it's his niece.' She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. The thought of Remy having a child almost made her want to scream, though she wasn't entirely sure why. 'I haven't seen him in years, why on earth would he not have a steady relationship, or a wife, or kids.' She started silently grinding her teeth at that idea, she knew she shouldn't be acting like this, she wasn't with him, she never was, but that didn't stop her from imagining all sorts of wild scenarios as to what he'd been up to since they last met.
Looking at his face, she could practically see him working out a problem in his head. After a moment, he reached down and picked up the little girl and held her like he was afraid to let anything happen to her. He was about to open his mouth when a voice from behind her made it's presence known.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Mario's Pizza!" The delivery guy made his way onto the porch and called into the house, seeing as the door was open and there were people milling about, he felt it silly to go ring the bell.
Remy made his way over to the door, maneuvering himself past Piotr, to where his and Haley's dinner awaited them. Upon reaching his destination of the front door, he spies someone off to the side; someone he hadn't seen in five long years.
Rogue. He should have know that she'd still be with the X-Men, she had made that whole 'family' comment when he was with her last. Either way, he was not prepared for the sight before him. She was defiantly taller, and had certainly 'filled out', as it were. Trying not to stare at one particular area for too long, he looked at her face, noticing that she was without the super heavy makeup that she had donned back then.
"Ah-hum." A voice brought him back one again to the present. The pizza guy was wanting his money. Balancing Haley in one arm, he pulled out the money he had removed from his wallet before his unexpected guests arrived. Handing over the cash, he accepted the food with his free arm and was about to go back inside to feed Haley, when Rogue reached out and took the pizza from him.
"Here, ya look like ya got your hands full." Remy smiled at her in thanks and led her into the living room, where he placed Haley on the couch.
"Can I have pizza now?" She asked, looking up hopefully.
"'Course you can petite, jus' let me getcha a plate okay?" Remy smiled and patted her head. Making his way to the kitchen, he was stopped by Cyclops putting a hand out in front of him.
"We got a few things to discuss with you Lebeau, starting with a certain 'accident' that happened this morning." He stood before Remy, arms crossed over his chest. If it wasn't for the visor covering his eyes, Remy was sure he'd be able to see the anal-retentive leader of the X-Men glaring at him.
"You ain't got any hold on me homme, and you certainly will not talk like dat while there is a petite present." Remy hissed at him. "You wanna talk? Fine, we talk, but you do anyt'ing to upset my niece, and you'll get a second stick shoved up your ass to go with the one you already have. Got it?" Pushing past Cyclops, he went into the kitchen and retrieved the plates and napkins for himself and Haley. Heading back to the living room, he motioned for the lingering mutants to follow him. When they got there, they saw Rogue sitting on the couch with the child who had opened the door. They seemed to be having a lengthy conversation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Watching Remy go to get a plate for the little girl, Rogue turned her attention to said child. She certainly was an adorable little girl, with pretty blonde curls and bright blue eyes. Kicking her flippered feet against the couch, she turned to look up at Rogue.
"Would you like to sit down?" She asked the lady before her. The lady looked kinda startled at the question, but sat down beside Haley anyway. "Dat's better, now we can chat." She didn't exactly know what it meant to 'chat', but she had seen her Mama do it lots of times, it didn't look to hard.
Rogue was a little surprised by the girl's polite invitation. After making herself comfortable on the plush sofa, she turned to face her little 'hostess'.
"What's you name?" the girl asked her.
"Oh, my name's Rogue, honey."
"Dat's a funny name. Why did your Mama name you dat?" It was an innocent question, but it made Rogue feel a little awkward.
"I'm not sure why she did, I'll hafta ask her one day." Deciding not to explain to a little girl about her messed up family, Rogue tried steering the conversation away from her. "What's your name?"
"Haley Lebeau." She answered simply. "I'm four and a half. You have pretty hair." This took Rogue a little off guard. Hell, the whole situation had caught her off guard. He she was, sitting in the living room of a very posh house in New Orleans, 'chatting' with a four year old. There was still the matter of the incident that occurred this morning to deal with.
"Thank you sugah, that's very nice of you to say." Rogue then noticed that Haley was still holding the piggy bank. "Is that your piggy?"
"Yeah! He's full of quarters and makes pretty sounds when ya shake 'im!" She then demonstrated this for Rogue.
"Now how does a little tyke like you get so many quarters?" Rogue asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Every time a growed-up says a bad word, I get a quarter! But I don't say de bad words, Mama'd kill me dead!" Haley expressed very dramatically the 'kill me dead' part.
"Well, that's good, you shouldn't say bad words."
"Dat's what Onca Remy says, but he's given piggy more quarters dan anybody!" Throwing her hands in the air as is exasperated, she nearly let piggy fall off the couch.
"And ya ain't supposed to follow my example, petite. I hear any bad words come outta your mouth, your Mama's gonna hear about it." Remy had returned with the plates, as well as the rest of the X-Men close behind. "Ya'll can take a seat, I gotta get her fed." He said, gesturing to Haley. "What kind you want petite?" She pointed to the plain pepperoni. "A'right, here ya go. If you ain't fed and cleaned up by de time ya parents get home, ya Mama'll kill me dead." He muttered to himself. Rogue tried to hold back a laugh at this' obviously Haley was following his example in some respects.
"Somet'in' funny, chere?" Remy asked her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. She did have a chance to answer, as Cyclops took the opportunity to grab everyone's attention.
"Look, we have things to discuss, and I'd like to get it over with, so if you don't mind..." Gambit glared over at him in warning to watch his tone. This was going to get worse before it got better.
"Scott would ya just chill out already? Geez, it's not like Gambit's been any sort of violent since we got here." Kitty spoke up from her spot on the floor on the other side of Rogue. The tension in the room was starting to get to her.
"Kitty, I really don't think..." He was cut off by a small gasp
"Kitty?! Where's a kitty?! I want de kitty!" Haley exclaimed, bouncing around on her seat. More than anything, Haley wanted her own kitten, but her Papa was allergic to them. But if there was one already here...
"Oui, dere be a kitty here! Here kitty, kitty...Come play wit' Haley, please?" Remy looked apologetically at the human Kitty. She was about to tell him off, but after seeing the look on his face, decided to play along. Kitty made her way over to Haley and sat in front of her. "Ya know what a kitty likes, petite?" Haley shook her head, no. "Dey like to be petted." Haley eyes lit up and she reached over her pizza to pet Kitty's hair. Kitty felt a little silly, but the little girl was too cute for her to do anything about it. Besides, she was helping the situation, sort of.
"Okay, now can we get one with this?" Scott was starting to get annoyed with the whole situation. He didn't want to be here, and he certainly didn't want to be making pleasantries with a former Acolyte.
"Alright, fine, what ya want?" Remy obviously didn't like this any more than Scott did. Taking her boyfriends' hand, Jean decided to try and act as mediator.
"Remy, what Scott is trying to say, is what exactly happened this morning?" She tried to speak in a manner that would seem non-threatening, but it didn't appear that Gambit was buying it.
"Why should I tell you anyt'ing? I don' see how it's any of ya business in de first place." Damn spook, who the hell does she think she is? Remy was starting to get seriously pissed at this invasion of his life.
"Comrade." Piotr stated, placing a hand on his old friends' shoulder. "Perhaps we might step outside for a moment?" Feeling that he was right about Scott's inability to approach this situation delicately, he felt a one-on-one approach would work better. Remy looked hard at him for a moment, then concieded.
"Fine." He rose from the sofa and turned to face his niece that was still petting Kitty. "You finish ya dinner, 'kay? I gotta go have a chat wit' my friend here." The child nodded and took another bite of her pizza. "You ask de nice Kitty to get you another piece if you want it, 'kay?" She nodded again, and with that, Remy and Pitor made their way outside.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Remy left with Colossus, Kitty went back to her entertaining duties. This wasn't exactly what she had signed up for when she agreed to go on this mission, but it wasn't all bad. 'The kid is pretty cute.' She thought to herself. Haley was explaining the piggy bank to Kitty, just as she had for Rogue. Rogue however, was watching Remy leave. She was trying her damndest to sort through the vast swirl of emotions that was reaping havok on her mind and body. She had wanted to talk to Remy by herself, but at the same time, knew that Pitor would be the best one for this. She hoped to God that Pitor would be able to convince Remy to come back to the Institue with them. The Professor had told them that they had to get him to go with them by any possible means. After they saw the news footage, Xavier had gone to Cerebro to try and make sure it was in fact Gambit's mutant signature. Upon emerging from the massive machine, he told them to get Gambit to the Mansion. He had a rather grave expression on his face, but Rogue hadn't had time to think on it unitl now. Xavier wanted Gambit for something, but what?
Tired of waiting, she got up and went to aid Piotr in convincing Remy to come back with them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
God, he needed a smoke.
He should have known the day was going to go straight to Hell in a hand basket after the incident at the bank. He was willing to bet that if he had read his horoscope for the day, it would have told him the exact same thing. Turning to face his Russian friend, he decided to get this over with.
"What's goin' on Petey? Ya don't jus' wander on down to my neck of de woods for no damn reason. If dis is about my 'destruction of public property', and all of ya are here to trun me in, you can forget it!" Remy was getting more and more frustrated. He knew he had to calm down, but it wasn't easy with Piotr's stoic gaze upon him.
"Remy, I am not here to 'turn you in', and neither are they." He gestured towards the door. "I am going to ask about what happened though. You are not one to go about and damage a building for no reason..."
"Yeah, dat was Pyro's job." Remy laughed, remembering how much random destruction Pyro had caused back in the day. Sobering, he asked "How's ya family? Dey okay now?"
"Da, everything is fine now. Magneto cannot hurt them anymore." He got a faraway look in his eyes, remembering the Hell he had been in, not knowing if his parents and sister were all right. "But you are changing the subject. What happened today? Were you threatened? Did someone attack you?"
"Non! I fucked up, alright! It was a stupid reason, and it's not going to happen again!" Remy was about ready to lose it at this point. The strange thing was he didn't know why, Piotr wasn't being hostile, and yet Remy was ready to blow his stack. He could feel the energy start to build up again, like it had this morning. If he didn't calm down, he was going to have a very angry brother and sister-in-law ready to kill him for the smoldering wreck that would be their porch.
"Maybe ya oughta take a deep breath and calm down there hot shot." A new voice caught the men's attention. Rogue stood in the doorway watching as Remy struggled with retracting the charge in his hands.
"Hey chere, how's it goin'?" Remy tried acting calm and collected, but the raging war between his emotions and powers were evident on his face. Rogue made her way to him and took him by the wrists.
"Clam down. Just focus on one thing. Don't want ya destroying such a pretty house." Rogue said as soothingly as possible. She had seen in Remy's memories that he had had trouble when his powers first surfaced; there had seemed to be a connection between his emotions and the effect they had on his powers. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The glow of his hands began to fade, and the strain in his face was gone.
"Merci, Rogue. Don' know what happened dere for a minute." Remy ran a hand through his hair, trying to get himself together. He saw the looks of concern of their faces; his one-time teammate, and the object of his affections(sort of), from years back.
"This ain't the first time something like that happened, is it? Ya powers are actin' weird, aren't they?" Rogue asked, remembering what the Professor had told them before they left. Remy stared at his feet for a few moments.
"Yeah, but it's not a big t'ing, I dealt wit' it before, I'll do it again." He tried to convince himself it would all be okay, but that was hard considering all the little 'accidents' he'd been having the past few months.
"Comrade, are you sure about that? What if the next time you, 'fuck up', your family is nearby, or that child inside? Are you willing to risk their lives because you are too stubborn to admit you need help?" Piotr's little monologue appeared to have an effect on Remy, until he spoke, of course.
"Ya said 'fuck' Petey." Remy looked like he was trying not to laugh. Rogue appeared to be holding back as well; she had never heard the Russian use any profanities since he arrived at the Mansion.
"It is a word that one hears on a regular basis in the country, you Americans are so..."he paused, searching for the appropriate word.
"Vulgar?" Rogue offered.
"Yes, that will do. But you are avoiding the subject again Remy. Are you sure you are willing to risk anyone else's lives?" Having Piotr's steel gaze on him, even without him being in steel form, was rather intimidating. Not that Remy would ever admit that to him.
"Look, I was your enemy for Christ's sake, what makes you t'ink I've even welcome at your little Mansion."
"We wouldn't be here otherwise sugah." Rogue said softly. Remy gave her a look.
"First I got Petey usin' bad words, and now the goth girl is usin' terms of endearment? I t'ink I just fell into de twilight zone." He turned and walked tot the end of the porch, taking in what he had been told. On the one hand, he was bored to death in his hometown, first time ever that's happened, and this would give him the chance to leave for awhile; on the other, if he did opt to go with them, he would be going to a place where he would be watched like a hawk, and would have to submit to their rules and ideals. Fight for the dream he had fought against while running with Magneto. It wasn't that he was against peace between humans and mutants; he just didn't see it happening in his lifetime. And while Xavier probably wouldn't succeed, he had hope, and that was something Remy hadn't seen many people have in a long time.
"I'm gonna need time to think about dis, weigh my options and whatnot." He turned to Piotr and Rogue. The both looked a little deflated, but didn't say anything. It was at that moment, that a black sedan came racing up the driveway. A man and woman threw open the doors and climbed out. "Hey, where's de fire huh?" Remy called out to his brother and sister-in-law as they came running up the steps.
"Mama!" Haley called out from the doorway, having heard the car pull up and came to see her parents. Upon seeing her daughter with a big piece of pizza in her small hands, Mercy Lebeau turned on her brother-in-law
"You gave my baby pizza!?" She all but shouted at Remy, her pale green eyes blazing. Remy backed away a little bit, not wanting to endure the wrath of Mercy.
"It was either dat or hot dogs! I caved, I couldn't help it!" Remy tried to plead his case, but Mercy had picked up her child and was trying to get the pizza away from her.
"Rem, we gotta talk." Henri pulled him back to the end to the porch. "We got a little problem, someone from de Rippers saw you at the de bank dis morning when it blew, dey went to de cops and told dem about you bein' a mutant and how it was probably you who caused the explosions! Dey police are just getting' a warrant for your arrest as we speak, ya gotta get outta here frere!" Remy paused for a minute, taking in what his brother had just told him. Turning to Rogue and Piotr, he gave them a half smile.
"So when do we leave?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: Holy poop on a stick! This is the longest chapter yet! Hooray for me! * Does a happy dance * Okay! So there ya go! Remy's on his way to the X-Men! Yay for that. I made this chapter much longer 'cause I was on a total X- Men high after seeing the previews for Uncanny #444! Damn it looks good! I can't wait til May! Alrighty then, things are probably gonna get a little nuts next chappie, since I will be introducing the first of the 'evolutionized' characters to the story. Whoo hoo! Fun stuff! Shout out time!
Ishandahalf: Cartoons are the shiznit! Who cares what 'they' think! I love cartoons, hell, I'm writing a fic about a cartoon for pete's sake! But yeah, had some Remy/Rogue interaction...probably not as much as you wanted, but it's sorta there! Right? There will be more now that Remy's headin' for Bayville.
PomegranateQueen: Updates rule, hope you enjoyed this one!
Nessie6: I hafta give you props, I used the whole swear jar idea, but decided that a piggy bank would be more fun! So thanx for the idea! Haley's answering the door is totally not safe, but she;s only 4, and I don't recall having much sense as a 4 year old myself, unless I was just a really stupid kid...maybe that was the case. Oh well! Hope you liked this uber long chapter!
Three whole shoutouts, yeah baby! Maybe I need to change the summary again...if any one can give me any hints about how to get more people reading this, I would be most grateful. I'm turing into a review addict!
Unitl next time!
~Leishy