(An: Sorry for the slow updates; I've had this chapter written up for a while but it was saved on another computer.)

Remy skidded along a back alley, trying to decide what was worse: being chased by a mob, or being chased by a group of creepy people who could do impossible things.

He got his answer when he turned a corner and was confronted by a group of very angry Assassins.

He ran, just trying to get out of New Orleans. So that was why he turned the wrong corner and came to a dead end.

-

Rogue and Logan were having problems finding the mutant.

The professor had given them a tracker, but it only worked when he used his powers, and so far he hadn't.

They got to the end of a street and turned a corner. They heard the sound of shouting from an alley near the end of the street.

Logan sniffed the air. "A mob," he said his tone rife with disgust. "Stay here, Stripes."

Rogue scowled but leaned against the building.

-

Logan walked into the alley.

A teenager- the mutant- was being backed up against the wall by a large mob, most of whom were holding knives.

They looked like they wouldn't hesitate to use them, either.

One of them stepped out from the pack. His eyes were murderous as he advanced on the mutant. "Y' killed m' sister, batârd!"

"It was an accident!" the mutant replied. He looked very pale as his back finally hit the wall.

"Dat don' make Belladonna any less dead, now do it?!" snapped the first one. He took a few more steps until he was nearly at the guy.

A weird kind of desperation entered the mutant's eyes and he unfisted his hands.

-

Rogue fidgeted, waiting for Logan to tell her what was going on.

Then she didn't have to. There was a shout of, "Get de hell away from m'!"

And then there was a loud explosion as the side wall of the alley fell in.

Rogue dodged the bits of flying rubble and waited for the dust to clear before ducking into the alley.

Logan was ok; he'd just sliced any rubble that came at him with his claws.

A guy who was obviously the mutant was unharmed. He was in shock, his eyes flicking from the pile of bloody bricks that had been the Assassins, to his hands, to the gaping hole where the wall had once been. He made a strangled sound and collapsed.

"Ya all right, Logan?" asked Rogue, picking her way over to them.

"I'm fine, Stripes," said Logan. "I don't think the kid is though." He gestured at the mutant.

"What now?"

"Get the other X-men. Tell 'em to meet us back at the jet." He slung the mutant over his shoulder and headed out of town.

TWO HOURS LATER...

A very sore Remy LeBeau came to. He opened one eye. He was in the bayou. Funny, he didn't remember coming here.

He noticed how much his head hurt, and his hands itched like he'd stuck them in a poison ivy patch.

...His hands...

Remy gasped and sat up with a start. He checked the ground. Whatever he did didn't seem to affect plants, since there was none of that tell-tale red glow.

There weren't any of those people around, either, so he scrambled into one of the scrawny trees that inhabited the bayou.

From his vantage point in the tree he now saw the gigantic black jet parked nearby. There was a hissing sound as a door opened in the side.

The four people he'd seen earlier came walking out: the two girls, the guy, and the blue... thing. They were joined by a short, hairy man and the most absolutely belle girl Remy'd ever seen.

The new girl groaned when she saw he was gone. "Aw, man," she said in a thick Mississippi accent. "Why is it that whenevah we go to recruit someone they nevah stick around?"

"He's up there," said the hairy guy, pointing straight at him. He nudged the girl and she walked up to the tree, followed by the blue guy and the brown-haired girl.

"Ya wanna come down so we can talk?" the belle one asked.

Remy just stared at them, trying to figure out a way to get out of here without having to go past them.

"We're not goin' ta hurt ya," said the girl, sounding a little bit exasperated now. "Sure ya don't wanna come down?"

Remy continued staring down at them- her in specific. They'd go away, sooner or later...

-

"You, like, bored yet?" Kitty asked Rogue.

"Yep," said Rogue. "Kurt, get 'im. Wolfsbane, commere."

Kurt bamfed up into the tree grabbed the very startled mutant, and bamfed back to the ground.

When they got to the ground, the mutant backed up, babbling something about devils and insanity in French.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Wolfsbane, tackle him."

Rahne hesitated, then transformed. She jumped forward, knocking Remy over, and put a large red paw on his chest. She growled when he tried to move.

"All right," said Rogue, bending over him. "Are ya gonna cooperate now, or does Wolfie here have ta bite ya?"

-

Remy's response was a very rude suggestion in French.

The girl glared down at him. She had green eyes. "Sorry, Ah don't do that on first dates," she said. "Bite him."

The wolf-girl whined.

"All right, then don't," she muttered. "Ok. Mah name's Rogue. This is Kurt," she pointed at the blue guy, "Kitty," she pointed at the other girl, "And the one on your chest is Rahne. Back there's Logan and Sam. Now, then, we've introduced ourselves. Who're you?"

Remy just stared at her.

"No?" she asked. "Are ya goin' ta tell me or do Ah have ta knock ya out ta find out?" She took off one of her gloves in a threatening manner.

"Dat supposed t' scare m'?" asked Remy.

"Bite him," said Rogue.

Rahne bared her teeth at Remy.

"Well?"

"It very hard t' talk like dis," Remy said.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Wolfie, let up."

The wolf looked relieved. She backed up and became a human again.

Remy stood up, brushing himself off. "M' name's Remy. What do y' people want with moi?"

"We want ta help," said Rogue.

Remy snorted. "And 'm supposed t' believe dat?"

"Ah can still knock ya out, ya know," said Rogue in a nonchalant tone.

"She will," said the blue guy in a German accent. He bobbed his head fervently.

"All right, den, second question," said Remy. "Why in de world would y' want t' help m'?"

"Believe me, Ah'm startin' ta question that mahself," Rogue muttered.

"Stick to the script, Stripes," said Logan.

"Ah know, Ah know," Rogue muttered. "All right. Look. We're members of a group called the X-men. We're all mutants, like you, and- uh, do Ah really have ta say the next part?"

"Say it, Stripes," said Logan, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

"Ugh. Fine. 'And we want ta extend tha hand of friendship to ya,'" said Rogue disgustedly. "Xavier needs a bettah speech writer."

"...What?" asked Remy, blinking.

"We want ya ta join tha team," said Rogue.

"Right..."

(Well, it's not as good as the New Orleans comment but that is end chappy folks. Tune in next time as I mess with Remy's past, once again.. –evil laughter-)