Ishandahalf, Blackrougefillie, azycat, Totally Obsessed47, eviltddy, flowerperson
Kendokao: ooh, I am so flattered that you say "intriguinjg plot and excellent writing". I'm glad I haven't lost my touch after all this time. Yeah, I know, I really have to stop making Gambit flirt with Jean...and, uh, heh, it doesn't stop here. Freak87: very intuitive speculations there, my friend. You'll see in this next chapter.
Zen Master White Dragon: You really do sound like a Zen Master whenever you write a review. So sagely and full of helpful comments. Oh, yes, it is hard to keep the dialogue interesting and appropriate to the characters--but it's coming, oh is it coming. I'm glad you thought the whole Scott-getting-angry wasn't overdone. I've read lots of fics where it was and it kind of bothered me. I figured for my own fic I could make it the way I think it should be. Love your reviews--keep them coming! Twin Pessimists: Faye - thank you! Thank you! Believe it or not, I'm glad you got scared. Lol. Marie - I'm brimming with happiness from your comments. The chapters were coming as slow as they are now, but I think that's because it's getting all the more intense. Are you really twins? Gren44: I'm glad you think it's worth it. I'll keep at it then. Spelling, eh? Hmm, I'll have to watch that and proofread. Sweety8587: You just about sent the longest review I've gotten so far. Wow. 4k. And full of interesting theories and speculations, too. I just have to say, you know me too well. But I can't give anything away because the chapters are coming nicely and the plot is unfolding appropriately. But I'll just give you this much: you're not far from the mark, sweety.
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She looked peaceful when she slept, when she did not try so hard to keep the mask on her face. The ever-ubiquitous scowl could not hold sway. Her usual layers of make up, no doubt put on to appear tougher, darker, and therefore stronger, had been wiped clean. Without the violet hues covering her eyes and lips, she appeared rather angelic.
Remy could still feel her snuggle against him, remembered thinking how strange that was, when she had always been irritated whenever he was close. He sat in the chair, listening to the steady rhythm of her breath, the steadfast bleeping of the monitors.
"Y're one troubled fille, chere," he said with a sigh. He could not imagine what it felt like to lose control of one's own body, not being able to touch. He knew he needed touch, thrived on it, prided himself at his dexterous skill with the stroke, graze, and caress of the fingers.
Knowing she lived her days with harassment from multiple psyches only made him feel sorry for her. How did she do it? Where did she find the strength to keep going? With her untouchable skin, it was inevitable that she would become so introverted, so bitter towards life and those that would wish to be closer to her. She was afraid of hurting them. She was invariably haunted.
"An' I t'ought I had't bad," Remy muttered. His eyes followed the curves of her face. The bridge of her nose, the domes of her eyes, the feathery lashes. Her neck was slightly arched as she rested on the pillow, revealing a throat of soft, pure skin and delicate collar bones that traced across to her shoulders. "I came t'a conclusion, chere," he said, knowing she couldn't hear. "You an' I, we ain't dat different--we kinda de same." He stopped as if waiting for her to reply with a witty remark.
She continued to sleep.
"Both have messed up fam'lies," Remy laughed dryly. He ran a hand through his hair. "Both used fo'our powers. Y'know how much dat sucks."
She stirred slightly, tilted her head ever so subtly toward him as though agreeing.
"Life's been hard on us," he continued, looking down at the floor. "People've dis'ppointed us so much dat s'hard t' trust, hard t'open up. But den I realized somethin': y'have it good here, chere. Dese X-Men, dey're y'fam'ly. Dey care 'bout you and y'shouldn't push dem away like y'do, otherwise, you really will end up alone." He sighed, shaking his head. "Sometimes, I wish I could have fam'ly again. Like back in de bayou before all dese crazy mutant wars started happenin'. When times were jus' simple, when Henri an' Lapin, an' I could jus' relax without t'inkin' 'bout all de guild pressures. We could jus' be t'ieves an' actually have fun wit' it. Ignorance is de best t'ing, neh?" He almost laughed at the absurdity of his wishes. "Think I'm jus' a crazy swamp rat, huh, chere," he asked. "Maybe y'right. 'Specially with dese useless thoughts."
"No, Ah don't think that."
Startled, Remy looked up and saw her green eyes looking softly at him. He didn't know what to say, confused that she was not glaring or scowling.
Rogue closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. They looked healthier after her long rest. "And those aren't useless thoughts, Remy," she said hoarsely. "Ah know how you feel, about wanting family." She sighed and looked around her room of the Infirmary.
"You got it, chere," he told her. "All around y'. Granted, half o'dem are gone right now but dey'll be back."
Rogue almost chuckled. "Would be nice to have a normal life, a normal family," she said, eyes closed. "One where you got outta bed every morning and went downstairs for breakfast cooked by ya mom and ya dad's sitting drinking coffee and reading the paper..." She smiled at the thought. "And maybe your annoying siblings would be running around. Then ya'd go to school, talk to friends--no fights, no weird looks, no save-the-world battles--just school and friends. Then come home, do your homework, maybe go out...with a girlfriend, boyfriend...whatever way ya swing..."
"Always the femmes, chere," Remy smiled.
"Yeah," Rogue sighed, thoughts still dwelling on normalcy.
Remy raised an amused eyebrow, "Y'agree, chere? Didn't know y'were so open minded."
Rogue smirked and decided to take the bait, "Who knows? Maybe if Ah didn't have these dang powers Ah'd be able to explore a bit."
"Who'd you choose, chere? Maybe de bomb-happy blond friend of yours? She looks like de risky type. I'm gettin' lovely images in m'head."
Rogue grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "Ya dirty swamp rat!"
"'S all in de biology, chere," he chuckled. He set the pillow on his lap, resting his elbows on it. "Normal life be good, non? Can't help but t'ink it'd get boring after a while though."
"We just can't have it easy, can we?" Rogue said. "Everything's always so complicated. Makes my head hurt."
"That'd be de psyches makin' y'life complicatin', chere," Remy said, frowning. "How you handle dem anyway? I'd go crazy."
Rogue sighed, smoothing out her hospital gown. "Ah have gone crazy. The Professor helps a lot, with putting barriers up."
"Why doesn't he just wipe them out? If y'don' mind me askin'," he added.
"Last time he did that, it coulda killed me. Ah just remember wakin' up with a horrible headache. It's too dangerous, really messes up the neurons and synapses of my brain or somethin' or other." She shrugged as if that wouldn't have been a big deal. "But it was worth it just to be in control again. Sometimes Ah wonder if the Professor's ever gonna find a way to help me."
"Maybe y'oughta help y'self, Rogue," Remy said softly. "Maybe de answer to y'powers is in you all along."
"Then why can't Ah find it?" Rogue demanded. "Ya think it'd just come to me after all these years, after all the trying..." Her voice faded away as memories of hopes and disappointment returned. Times when the Professor thought he'd discovered the answer, times when she tried to touch but ended up absorbing anyway. She didn't think she could take another harsh thrust into reality. "It just wasn't meant to be and Ah've accepted that."
"Y'just go'n' give up?" Remy huffed.
Rogue frowned at him, "And what do ya think Ah could do that Ah haven't already? Ya think Ah want to stop trying? Ah'd be living my life without ever getting close to anyone. Ah'd be alone--but it's okay 'cause Ah've gotten used to it. There's no point is hoping for something that's never gonna happen."
Remy ran a hand through his hair, thinking about his family, his past, his future. "Sometimes hope is all y'have." He entwined his fingers in and out of each other, massaging the joints.
Rogue watched him silently. Then she asked, "Why'd ya team up with Magneto?" She noticed him stiffen. "What, Ah can't ask you anything?"
Remy smirked, "So, we playin' twenty questions, chere?" He was changing the subject.
"Well if ya don't wanna tell me just say so," Rogue bit off. She pulled the sheets higher and crossed her arms.
Remy looked up at the ceiling, noting that this girl was easily offended. Then he let out a breath. She had already shared a lot with him. "You've met my 'father'."
Rogue turned to him, eyes questioning.
"Jean-Luc tried hidin' how I'm a mutant. Didn't want people knowin' I was his secret weapon." He scoffed as if that was the stupidest idea to grace the mind of Man. "I was still strugglin' a lil' wit' dem, kinda hard t'hide how you're blowin' t'ings up after y'touch 'em. But Jean-Luc, he's a crafty one. Great wit' de lies, but not great enough. Dey found out, the Rippers--the Assassins, and jus' 'bout everyone else in our circles." His gaze turned hard.
"Guessin' they didn't take it too well?" Rogue offered.
"T'put it lightly, chere," Remy said. "Y'know how de whole race discrimination t'ing was so bad in de south? Well, kinda like that, 'cept dey hate mutants a hell of lot more. Dey say our flaw is more dan skin deep. And Julien hated it de worst. We've always been enemies but him findin' out jus'..." He didn't have to explain it any further and with a sigh finished, "Magneto was recrutin'. I joined up. Had t'get away from dat for a while."
Rogue looked down at her pale, ungloved hands. She did not remember her real family. Irene was the only true mother she could recall without recoiling in disgust. She didn't even want to think about Mystique. She looked at Remy with understanding, "Trust me, Ah know how it feels. Ya think the world's ever going to change?"
He shrugged, "De normal people have t'accept it, non? It'll jus' take a lil' longer than we'd all like. Sooner or later dey'll come around and realize we're jus' as human as dem, just better." He smiled.
Rogue smiled back. After a few moments she looked down self-consciously.
Remy watched her with slight amusement as she cleared her throat, looped white bangs behind the delicate curve of her ear. The silence that followed was comfortable for him but he saw her squirm on the med bed.
Then she asked, "How long have Ah been asleep?"
So immersed both had been in their talk that they had forgotten the present dilemma. T'ink I need more o' dis, Remy thought. Don' wan' think 'bout all de craziness happenin'. He looked at the clock and said, "Been a day an' a half now, chere. You've been restin' up real well after the furry doctor checked y'. Y'were really beat."
"Day and a half," Rogue murmured.
"Y'hungry? I came down here wit' food." He gestured towards the untouched tray on her beside table.
"Who was it?" Rogue suddenly asked, voice tense, eyes piercing.
Remy scrunched up his face in discomfort. "Chere, y'really wan' t'ink 'bout dat stuff right now? Y'just woke up--"
"Who was attacked?" Rogue demanded.
He hesitated but finally said, "De Magma girl and Shades." He saw her skin pale a few hues and almost reached out to her bare hands. "Dey'll be all right. McCoy's takin' care o'dem."
Rogue closed her eyes, feeling tears well up but not letting them fall. She quickly blinked them back. "Two of them? Two?"
"An' I saw her again," Remy said somberly. "She went after de girl first, den Cyke when he was tryin' to calm her down."
Rogue looked at him, suddenly afraid. "Why can ya see her?" she rasped. "What's wrong with you?"
Her words brought to him an unwelcome memory. He was at a restaurant in the French Quarter, reaching out to grab a fork when it became charged and exploded. The waitress stared at him in horror, stared at his demonic eyes. "What's wrong wit' you?" she had gasped.
"Remy--Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't mean... Ah heard them, the psyches. They got outta control because she was there, watchin' us." Rogue shuddered visibly. "Remy?"
"Yeah." He wasn't looking at her.
"She was there," Rogue said in an attempt to stress a point. "And you didn't notice because you were busy facin' off with Scott. But the voices in my head, they knew she was there, watchin' us like...like she was waitin' to make her move..." She put a hand to her head. "Oh, God, Scott and Amara...how's Jean handling it?"
"T'ought y'didn't like her," Remy said with a smirk.
Rogue frowned at him.
"S'obvious, chere."
"Ah wouldn't want her to be all depressed."
"I know, jus' teasin'."
"Now ain't the time."
"Sorry. But Red, she's survivin'."
Silence once again. Then Remy asked boldly, "Do'y' hate y'self, Rogue?"
She stared at him, aghast. "What?"
"Nev'mind."
"No, why'd ya ask?"
"When y'were...possessed, y'said t'ings. Talked in third person but y'were talkin' 'bout y'self. Called y'self poisonous, evil."
Rogue didn't look at him, "That was the personalities in my head."
"But do y'hate y'self?"
Rogue narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you?"
"Could never hate y', chere. Y'too amusin'."
"Ya know what I meant."
His gaze fell on his hands. He had no real answer and neither did she.
This was as strange feeling, a sort of connection, of confiding. Trust? He had shared with her more in these few minutes than he had with people he'd known for months. Thinking back, he thought it strange how it started. He was not one to share so openly, only having done so when he thought she wasn't listening. How long had she been listening? Oddly enough, he felt sheepish about talking to an unconscious girl. All the harrowing events of late had finally gotten to him. Maybe he just needed to get out of this place and go back to the base. Surely Piotr or St. John could amuse him for a while...
"Remy?"
He liked the way she said his name. He forgot all thoughts about leaving the Institute. "Yeah, chere?"
"Thanks for bein' here. For talkin'."
"Right back at y', chere."
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How's that to leave you guys? No tense suspense like the last chapter. I got a comfortable feeling of solace after reading this part. After all the horrible stuff that's been happening, something good blossoms from the mayhem. Doesn't Remy actually seem like a nice guy after this interaction? Yup, you suspected it, it's finally happening. Albeit, slowly. This isn't all that you're going to see. I'd like to say they're in the "friendship" level now--though there's always that sexual tension b/w them that's been there since the beginning.
I hate spellchecking these documents because with all the "dat" "dere" "dis" "ain't" "y'know" etc, there are a million "mispelled" words in each chapter. Talk about ridiculous....
Next Chapter: Austrian Hospitality - You finally get to see what's been going on with the Professor, Logan, and Storm.
Thanks for reading--Review!