She hovered in the darkness, not yet awake, no longer asleep. And for that second, for that one brief shining moment, Rogue prayed that it had all been a bad dream. That all of it, her mutation, the Institute, all the problems in her life, everything, had been some horrible nightmare, and that she would wake up back in Mississippi, in a boring old bed, the same boring old girl, going by the boring old name of Marie. But then the moment ended, time resumed its normal course, and the pain hit her like a wave.

"Ohhhhhh," she moaned softly. "My head…"

"Yeah, well, dat's ta be 'xpected," a slick voice crooned from nearby, "considerin' da bump you took." Rogue's eyes shot open and she flew upright. The sudden motion made her sick to her stomach, and her vision was blurry. "Easy dere chere," the voice crooned again, and Rogue tried to focus on the blurry shape as it moved around. "Dos bandages took a long time ta git on. Ah won' have ya pullin' 'em off just lik dat."

"Who…who there?" the runaway demanded, bringing her hand up to her throbbing temple…or tried to. That's when she realized her hands were bound together. "What the hell is going on!" Then it came back to her. The mugging, the men, the pipe coming down across her head.

"Now jus' tak it easy, dearie," the voice assured. Squinting hard, Rogue made her eyes focus, and the blurry figure, now a young man in dark glasses, looked down at her. "You don' wanna do yo'self more harm." Flattening herself back against the wall in one, fluid movement, Rogue took a quick assessment of her surroundings. She was in a dank smelling room, lit by a few bare-hanging light bulbs and the glimmers of illumination that poked through the single, boarded up window. Aside from her bed, the only other piece of firnature in the room was a rusty folding chair. The only way out was the door along the far wall. And the only thing blocking her way out was that…that guy.

"You keep away from me," she ordered, brandishing her still bound and gloved hands out in front of her. Remy, noticing a trickle of blood leaking out from under the bandages on her head, pushed her outstretched arms down easily and leaned in to inspect the wound closer.

Seeing the perfect opportunity, Rogue threw all her weight forward as she swung her arms upward, nailing Remy right in the base of his legs (c'mon, you know where). He doubled over instantly, groaning and berating himself for not having been more careful. Her prison guard otherwise preoccupied, Rogue pushed herself to her feet and tried to make a run for the door. Tried to because that's when she noticed her legs were tied too. Thrown terribly off balance, she tumbled back onto the bed.

Remy struggled to stay upright as he stumbled backwards, getting as far away from the crazy girl as possible. His breathing still ragged and feeling the need to regroup, he tried to calm the girl down verbally.

"Jus' tak it easy chile," the Cajun crooned, slowly edging towards the door, ears ringing. Crime, combat, easy women. Those things he could handle. Vicious, nut-crushing runaways with concussions? Those were not in his job description. Feeling the doorknob with his hand behind his back, Remy swung the it open with a dull CREEK

"Do not leave me in here!" the girl screeched, trying lunge at Remy once more. With a sickening crash, she fell to her knees, and the Cajun took the opportunity to dash out of the room without a look back.

Leaning against the door, while he locked it behind him, Remy caught his breath.

"Damn, dat one mean chere," he muttered to himself.

"What," a voice asked from down the hall. "She didn' tak being held captive well as you t'ought?" Henri LeBeau emerged from the shadows and sauntered down the dim hall to stand across from his foster brother. He looked as if he was highly enjoying the younger man's discomfiture.

"Wha', you kiddin'?" Remy asked, plastering on a jaunty grin "She loves me.". At that exact moment, the wall behind him gave a ferocious jump as if something had been thrown against it hard. Like a fist, for example.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"You sleaze-sucking, bottom feeders! Let me the hell out!"

Henri chuckled again as Remy buried his head in his hands.

"Oh yeah bro, she's crazy 'bout you," the older boy said, giving his foster brother a playful sock in the shoulder.

"What am Ah gonna do?" the Cajun asked in a hushed voice. "I did not sign up for dis," he admitted.

"As Ah recall you didn' sign up for any a dis'," Henri reminded him, fully sympathetic now. "What Ah suggest is dat you turn on dat ol' Cajun charm you always braggin' 'bout," he said, a smile just tracing the edge of his lips, eyes gleaming mischievously from beneath a fringe of black of hair. "An' if dat fails, den tink of it dis way: considerin' da way she looked when she come in here, at least she won' be able to keep dis up fo' long," he said optimistically, as the wall behind Remy jumped yet again.

An hour later…

BANG! BANG!

"Let me our, you scum!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"'She won' be able to keep dis up fo' long','" Remy muttered sarcastically juggling two hot bowls in his hands as he maneuvered down the hall. "Good call Henri…". Then, raising his voice, "Ya know, chere! You can bang in dere 'till the cows come, but you still ain't getting out. So for da sake ob your fists, and mah ears, why don' ya give it a rest a'ready?" There was a pause before…

BANG!

Rogue gave one more defiant bang before Remy heard her sit back down on the bed.

"Tank you." Balancing the piping hot bowls in the crook of his arm, the Cajun managed to dig the room's key from his back pocket and unlock the door without burning the crap out of himself.

"I though' dat maybe ya migh' be getting' hungry," he said, poking his head into the room before he entered, just to be sure he wasn't going to be ambushed. But Rogue was far from a threat in her current state. Pale and shaking slightly, she was huddled in the corner of the bed, back to the wall, glaring at Remy as he entered. 'She half dead, an' still she fightin',' he thought to himself. 'Damn, dat one feisty fille.' He put both bowls at on the floor and went over to the girl.

"Ah told ya ta take it easy," he chided gently, thinking about just how much trouble he'd be in if the kid died on his hands. "Ya los' more blood dan I eber seen before. Trus' me, ya lef' enough on mah clothes ta prove it." Another evil glare.

"Good," she panted. "Maybe I'll die and you'll get the crap kicked out of you," she shot back, but she couldn't hide the quiver in her voice.

"Tanks for da kind consideration, chere. Here," he thrust a bowl into her unsteady hands, hanging on an extra second to be sure she didn't drop it on herself. "Guarant'd ta pick ya right up." She wrinkled her nose.

"What the hell is it?" she asked, looking slightly repulsed. Remy couldn't help but laugh at here face.

"Remy's five star gumbo," he said flamboyantly, giving a little bow. "Best stuff you gonna find 'round des parts." That caught her a little off guard.

"Remy?" she asked. "You cook?" Was that disbelief he heard in her voice?

"Remy be my name chere. An' as fer da cookin', ya sound a little surprised, chile," he said, picking up a bowl for himself and sitting down in an old folding chair in the corner.

"You don't seem like the cooking type, that's all," she admitted, shrugging and looking away. With some difficulty she brought the bowl to her lips, figuring she was already at this man's mercy, so what was the point in poisoning her. "Hey, that's not too bad."

"Again, tank you," the man…that Remy guy said. "You know, you not so bad when you not screamin' or bangin' my 'nads. So, you got a name to go wit dat mean uppercut?" The girl didn' answer right away, and Remy was staring to think that she was giving him the silent treatment when…

"I don't have a name," she said finally. "Not anymore." Remy couldn't honestly say that he was surprised. He wasn't expecting an honest answer, but he needed to call this kid something other than chere. Anything would do.

"Er'eybody got a name darlin'. Jus; gimme somethin' ta call ya?" he pleaded..

"Rogue," she muttered under her breath. He leaned in closer.

"Pardon'?"

"I'm called Rogue."

A/N: Oh, so sweet. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. You have no idea how much I appreciate them all. And thanks DarkElf, for pointing that out. I always appreciate advice and constructive critcisim. I was in such a rush to get that last chapter up that I didn't proof-read it too well. But I plan on going back and editing when I get a sec. So thanks to everyone. Keep the reviews coming!

C'mon, hit the purple button! I command you!