Knocking At Your Door

Chapter 4

By Kanshisha Tenshi

            Rogue sighed, sinking into the couch's deep, soft cushions.  She stared down at her bracelet, then at the anklet, and idly wondered if she'd need to be wearing both for them to work.  She thought back to the conversation after the shower.

            "Remy told you he'd find a way past yo' powers, chérie."

            "Where did ya get this?" she asked, breathless.

            "Dat's not important, petite.  'Sides, a fille should never ask her beau where he get her gifts from, non?"  She was too stunned to disagree with the 'beau' comment.  She wasn't sure she could breath, didn't know if her heart still beat, didn't trust herself to talk.  Finally she spoke, her voice shaky:

            "Remy LeBeau, do you have any idea how much this means t' meh?"  She swallowed hard, finally looking up into his eyes.

            "Not too certain, but Remy glad t' do it for you, chére."  She frowned, then looked at him suspiciously.

            "Hold it right there.  Ah knew there had t' be a catch!  What do you want for the jewelry, swamp rat?"

            "Mon Dieu, you recover fast!  Remy don't want nothin' in return..."

            "That's a double-negative."

            "O' course, if de fille would like t' accompany Remy on a date, he wouldn't mind."

            "So that's it?  All Ah have t' do for this is go on a date with you?  Sounds too good t' be true..."

            "Jus' like Remy," he beamed.  She rolled her eyes.

            "Ah'll have t' think about it.  Gimme some time, okay?  Ah'll seriously think about it.  Meanwhile, can Ah get by?  Ah've gotta get dressed..."

            "Remy also wouldn't mind a backstage-pass t' dat event."  She rolled her eyes and walked around him, still clutching her towel.

            Minutes later she'd emerged from her room, fully-dressed.  She was somewhat disappointed to find that the Cajun was not waiting for her outside, but soon recovered.  She'd headed down to the sitting room and now lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.  She'd already decided that going on one date with the Cajun was a worthy sacrifice for what he'd given her;  what she'd thought impossible, and had lost hope over, until now:  touch.  All he wanted was a date.  She felt as if she was getting the better end of the bargain.

            So what's his game?  She was interrupted by the sound of the television being turned on.  She jumped, startled.  She turned to find Remy sitting in an armchair with a sandwich, flipping through the channels with his remote lazily.  She looked at a nearby clock and saw it was 8 p.m.  She sighed, once again looking toward the ceiling.

            "Somet'in' wrong, chére?"

            "Nothin'.  It's just...it's Friday at 8 o' clock an' usually we get togethah an' watch a movie."

            "Movies, eh?  Dat gives Remy an idea..."

            "Nothin' stupid, Cajun.  Ah'm still watchin' you like a hawk."

            "Chére, yo' welcome t' do more dan watch," he replied instantly with a smirk.

            "Aw, knock it off," she groaned.  There was a long, awkward silence.  It was broken by Rogue, who was suddenly curious, "So why did you start workin' for Mags?"

            "Dat's pretty personal," he mumbled.  He thought for a moment, debating if he should tell her or not.  He figured that telling her would score him a few more points relationship-wise, so he threw caution to the wind and spilled his heart out.  "It has t' do wit' Remy's past."

            "Ah'm listenin'."

            "Roguie, what Remy's about t' tell you is top secret, d'accord?"

            "All right.  Quit delayin'."  He sighed, and continued:

            "You see, chére, Remy grew up wit' de T'ieves' Guild in N'Awlins."

            "So yer bad streak started early," she snorted.

            "You gonna keep interruptin' me?"

            "Nope."

            "Bien.  He was adopted by de leader o' de Guild, Jean-Luc LeBeau.  Jean-Luc raised him as he did his own son, Henri.  Well, de T'ieves' Guild was in dis century-old rivalry wit' de Assassins' Guild.  Remy had a friend in de Assassins' Guild, dough.  Her name was Belladonna, an' she was de daughter o' de leader--"

            "Wait a minute.  What 'bout yer mutation?"

            "Well, dat came in handy wit' de type o' work de Guild put me t'rough.  Dey didn't mind de eyes too much.  Anyway, Remy fell in love wit' Belladonna.  See, dey were plannin' on gettin' married someday not too far from right now.  But somet'in' went wrong when de clans were meetin' t' arrange it...Next t'ing Remy know, everyone's fightin', an' Bella's father's tryin' t' get Remy killed.  So, t' appease him, mon pere tosses Remy out o' de Guild.  Den one day Magneto came up t' him, offered him a job wit' de same line o' work he was used t', and...well, here we are now, petite."

            She looked at him skeptically, wanting to believe him but not sure.

            "Anyway, Roguie, two can play dis game, non?"

            "Did you just call me Roguie again?  'Cause that ain't mah name!"

            He mocked astonishment and betrayal.  "But, chére!  You call Remy all sorts o' names!  De least he can do is return de favor."  She sighed, relenting.  "So, river rat--"

            "Ah guess Ah deserve that one, too, huh?"

            "Oui.  So, why did ma chérie start workin' for de bald-headed mind-reader?"

            "Ah guess there's a couple o' reasons.  For one thing, his house was bettah than the Brothahhood's.  Also, 'cause Xavier seemed t' really want t' help me with mah powers.  We haven't gone far--in fact, Ah don't think we've gotten anywhere--but he is tryin'.  An' he doesn't want t' just help me.  He wants t' help everyone--t' control their powers, t' save the world, or t' bring about peace and coexistence between humans an' mutants.  Whatever suits the student.  And," she added quickly, "because there's more girls here mah age."  Remy chuckled.

            "Chére, Remy t'ink he gonna need a tissue!"  She threw one of the couch's pillows at him, scowling.

            "Shut up!"

            On the inside, though, Remy was thinking real hard about what she had said.

            Above them and at an angle, a camera Remy himself had installed watched the both of them, with Magneto on the receiving end back at his headquarters.

Author's Notes:  Okay, I admit, I'm lazy and a procrastinator.  This chapter wasn't as long as some of the others, but whatever.  At least I updated, right?  I'm kind of trying to drag it out a little so I can get more reviews. =)  I guess I wanted to write this chapter the way I did to establish the fact that he's considering it a little, but in his spare time he's been installing tiny cameras.

So was his story a bluff?  Was he serious, even though he referred to himself in the third person?  Will they go on a date like they both decided on?  Stay tuned--same 'fic time, same 'fic channel!