Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the voices in my head, and they're for rent if anyone feels they don't have enough
The Lankey Yankee: Nice name! Thanks very much, it would appear you and I have a similar sense of humor…be sure to let me know when your Gangs of New York cross fic is up. Thanks for adding me to your favorite stories list!
GiniaTM: aww thanks, I love being a favorite :0)
T.: Ah see…you're glad Joseph is just a friend, but he has other ideas!
Caliente: Aww did you think I would have Remy and Rogue fight?? Maybe later…but this is a good chapter for all you Joseph haters out there :-) And you're right, it is a small house, for mansion, imagine what happens when they are crammed into a cabin!
Ishandahalf: LoL, your reviews are great, they always make me laugh! Thanks for the gold star ::shines star proudly:: If you think Joseph was bad before, you're gona HATE him by the end of this chapter! But you won't have to kill him, Remy's more than ready!
AN: Just so you all know, I'm going to try to update every Friday :0)
Now, don't forget!
Thoughts
Emphasis
telepathy
::actions::
"Honor and Consequences"
By The Sphinx Minx
Joseph stepped off the plane and took a deep breath. He loved the fresh air, the nature. It was starting to get a little stuffy on the jet, claustrophobic even. But then, the atmosphere on the plane was so tense, it was no wonder he felt almost dizzy.
So everyone knew he was falling for Rogue…that certainly didn't help matters. He had heard about Gambit and Rogues past from various people, almost everyone had a story to tell about their rocky relationship. Everyone except Storm and Wolverine.
When Joseph asked Storm if she could help him learn about the team, she happily obliged, giving him a brief history on each team mate, but she tactfully told him no more than was necessary. It was "an incident" in Caldecott County that drove Rogue away. Remy's past was described as "complicated, if you want to know more, I suggest you ask him, I don't want to give you any incorrect information. Let's just say Remy has a history as a thief and a charmer.
Joseph had of course heard this before but it didn't help him learn anymore about the Cajun or how he captured the rogue's heart. Wolverine was even less helpful. He knew Wolverine still didn't trust him but he figured he'd risk it. He approached him one day in Harry's "Well bub, not knowing much about my past means I don't go diggin up other peoples, don't seem fair." Wolverine knocked back the rest of his beer, wiped his mouth, and left the table then.
Well that certainly put me in my place Joseph thought. He had no guilty feelings about falling for Rogue, he was entitled to a life as much as the next guy, even if he is, or was, or isn't Magneto. As far as he concerned, Remy was just what Storm said, a thief, but Joseph intended to fix that, to return Rogue's stolen heart.
Then, breaking him from his thoughts came Cyclops shout "Joseph! Line up, we're passing the luggage in a chain!" This seemed like the stupidest thing to do in Josephs opinion. Why didn't everyone just carry their own bags? But he soon learned that the luggage passing was a game, more than anything. Rogue, being last on the place was the first to handle the bags.
"Y'all ready?!" she shouted. They formed a pretty long time from the jet to the cabin. Rogue, then Gambit, to Wolverine, to Psylocke to Cyclops to Phoenix and then Warren to Storm and finally Joseph, who practically ran off the plane and was closest to the cabin. They were spread about 10 meters apart.
Rogue grabbed the first bag; an old rucksack that looked like it had been through the mill a few times. Rogue winked at Remy, and threw him the bag so it flew high in the air. As Wolverines bag fell to earth, a lone sock fell out. Remy waved away Wolverine when he went to pick it up. Joseph didn't understand what everyone thought was so funny; people were laughing and snickering behind their hands. Remy picked up the bag and yelled, "Here ya go Wolvie!"
But instead of catching it, Logan snikted his claws, let the edge of the bag fall onto them and before the bag lost momentum, he quickly threw the bag to Betsy who hit it away with her telekinetic katana and hurled it at Scott who gave it a small blast of optic beam. Just enough to carry it over his wife's head into Warrens arms. The sock promptly exploded leaving bits of cotton all over the place and Warrens black face blinking. The team burst into laughter and Joseph understood. Rogue intentionally unlocked the bag to Remy could charge the sock and the X-Men version of hot potatoe ensued. Next thing, everyone switched places, running and flying all over the place. When everyone stopped moving the game began again, this time involving a fast paced bag passing with thunderbolts striking the ground around them, courtesy of Storm. More scattering, this time Jean made everyone think they were upside down with the ground above them and the sky below them, it made for an interesting game of catch. More shrieking and laughing as everyone switched around again. The game continued until every bag was outside the cabin door, none of them in proper condition anymore. As the team walked laughing and congratulating each other on their moves, Joseph finally started to feel a bit more comfortable. When he looked at the team, he no longer saw couples paired off, they were all mingling with each other, joking ad teasing each other. "Ya know who's the best at this game?" Rogue asked
"Kurt!" they all answered. Joseph was the only one who hadn't yelled the answer so Rogue explained "You try playing with a teleporter who's also an acrobat! Kurt thinks it's hilarious to grab various people and bags and rearrange them. He does it so fast that one second you're throwing the bag, the next…BAMF…the same bag is hitting you on the head.
"Oui," said Gambit rubbing his head "Kurt is de king of de travel game, he even has a lil song and dance he does when de rest of us are staggerin' around de place from dimension jumps n baggage bumps"
"It is truly a shame the whole team could not have a holiday together "Storm sighed.
No one could really think of anything to say to that, and they were silent as the filed into the cabin which was more than large enough for everyone. When everyone walked in, they were in a large living room with a stone fireplace. Beyond was a kitchen with many cabinets and a large fridge. To the left was a hallway. Betsy dropped her bag and ran down the hall "Girls bag this room!" she shouted in her soft British accent after flinging open one of the doors to reveal a bright room with a large bay window. There were two King sized beds, two large dressers, and a desk. The other girls filed in, dropping their bags in a pile in the corner. The boys followed them in admiring the room. When they turned to investigate the other room, Scott stopped to turn to Jean. "you know…I'd hoped, since we're married we'd be exempt from the boy-girl separation."
Betsy appeared over Jean's shoulder "Tut tut! Scott! You should know better than anyone…"
Rogue appeared over her other shoulder; "rules ah rules!" Jean shrugged as she laughed and said "Sorry Scott! And the three girls slammed the door in his face. The four other men stood in the hall looking at the door and listening to the giggles on the other side. "My God, you'd swear they were 16 again!"
Warren laughed "No, Scott, they always act like that, they just pretend to be grownups sometimes" The men laughed as they moved their stuff into the room. There was also two king sized beds and the men dragged out an additional fold out single bed from one of the closets.
All the X-Men met in the large sitting room later in the day. "So, my friends, what shall we do now?" Storm inquired.
"Well…" Logan started "I'm going fishing, anyone can come."
"I think we will, will we luv?" Betsy looked up at Warren who agreed, he was looking forward to some down time.
"I'll do de cookin for ev'ryone t'night" Remy volunteered
"Ah'll h-"Rogue began before being interrupted by Joseph
"Um…Rogue…I was hoping you could show me around the grounds since I've never been here before, if you don't mind?"
"Oh…ah…sure sugah" Rogue agreed
Do not worry Remy, there will be people in the area Jean reassured Remy telepathically. He gave Jean a small smile. He had promised Rogue after all that he would try to be friendlier to Joseph, but that didn't include letting him lead her into the woods on her own after nightfall. It was like something from a bad scary movie! Remy mentally laughed at himself As if anyone ever led the River Rat anywhere! She goes where she damn well pleases when she pleases! But the unsettling fact to Remy, and if they were truthful, to the rest of the team, was that if Joseph was really Magneto with repressed memories, or even a clone, what was to stop him remembering and taking out his rage on the closest unsuspecting X-Man? Which was why Jean reassured Remy. There was strength in numbers. It was only Jean's support that stopped Remy from refusing Joseph's invitation for Rogue. Which he knew would have only made her more determined
As Jean spoke to Remy, Storm volunteered to help Remy cook. As he thanked her, Jean once again interrupted his thoughts Remy, Logan wants you to know that he'll be around in case "the bub tries anything funny" Remy thanked her again and gave the smallest nod of his head to Wolverine to acknowledge that he got the message. He was greatly reassured, and not for the first time was he grateful for the X-Men, for all they did for him, and Rogue. An' as much as I don' like it, Joseph is entitled to de same chance Remy thought grudgingly as he stood to start preparing dinner. All the others stood as well to go to their various destinations. Rogue zipped up her knee high boots she had peeled off after their arrival. When she stood, Joseph held her jacket to help her get into. She quickly slipped into it, afraid his hand would touch her bare neck. "'k sugah! Lets go!"
They walked along in the crisp Autumn evening, chatting easily.
"So isn't the cabin nice? Ah can't wait for dinner, Remy's the best cook, even if he does like thin's a bit spicy bu-"
"Rogue, tell me about your past" Joseph didn't mean to be so abrupt, it was unlike him, but he didn't want the conversation to turn to Remy LeBeau. And he was craving Rogue, he wanted to know all about her, everything, he wanted to love everything about her.
"There ain't nothin' worth telling sugah, lets leave it at that"
They walked in awkward silence for a while before Joseph spoke again,
"Why don't you tell anyone your real name?"
"Come on sugah, a smart guy like you musta read Shakespeare "What is in a name…"
"Rogue, you don't really believe that is an adequate explanation do you?"
"Remy told me that once…We got inta a fight 'bout our pasts and ah told him ah'd tell him my name if it meant that damn much to him, but he told me he didn't care about the words, the name, he wanted to know the person the name belonged to, then he told me that Shakespeare quote"
They walked in silence for a while as Joseph tried to figure out how to explain that that was all he wanted too. He spoke again;
"You're lucky, you know…I don't think you realize how lucky"
"With Remy?"
"No!" Joseph spat how hard is it to get away from that blasted Cajun? "No" he repeated, calmer, "I mean you have the memories of your past, you know what happened, what you did. I have none of that. I'm only told of the atrocities Magneto committed and I'm being held accountable for them. I see the way Logan looks at me, the way everyone looks at me…except you."
Rogue decided she didn't like where the conversation was going so she made moves to head it off. "Give everyone time, be patient, none of us were accepted right away, you earn your passage on this team."
"But it's not fair, I didn't do the things everyone thinks I did. I have no memories. You should cherish your memories, even the bad ones. At least you have them. One day you'll forget your real name and then you'll realize I was right, don't deny or hide from your past, embrace it!
Rogue stopped walking. "Yea I got my memories!" She pointed to her head "and about four dozen other ones as well, ah have so many of other peoples, that ah'm afraid if ah think about them too much, they'll take over! If ah think about the little girl ah used to be, she'll take over, and ah don't wana be that lil girl anymore! ah'm Rogue! Ah'm strong! Don't tell me about mah life! Ah have enough voices up here! Don't talk bout things ya don't understand! How dare you judge me! Ah gave you a chance n this is what ya do? Stuff your friendship!
Rogue was shocked at the tears streaming down her face; she ran past Joseph toward the cabin and as she ran in, she collided with Remy who was going outside to call everyone in. He grabbed her by the shoulders and said something Joseph couldn't hear. Next thing, he heard a growl behind him, but when he turned, nothing was there. Joseph walked to the cabin where he met Remy at the front door
"Dat's strike one, homme, but dis ain't baseball, you make my fille cry again, n you out." He walked back inside
Joseph sighed, that didn't go well
Authors Note: Phew! That was a long chapter! The next one is much shorter, though. But it'll all average out in the end! Now I think after all that effort, I deserve a review!