Six
Nine Years Earlier
It was a rare day at Xavier's School for the Gifted and even Remy noticed it; the halls were quiet and the sun was shining. Even better was that he had the whole mansion to himself-as long as he shared it with Rogue-she was keeping close to home lately as the psyche of Carol Danvers had made a few attempts to take over the Goth's body. It was a war that Rogue was fighting with the Professor's help but Remy knew she was worried about Marvel taking over and hurting her friends. That was the other reason for his staying back; Remy wasn't about to let Rogue completely shut herself off-he'd lose the only person in the house he could be himself with.
As Remy had told Rogue when she'd tried to pack him off with the others that a day sitting back and watching cheesy horror movies with her seemed more appealing to him than a day at the beach with the others. Though Jean did look fetching in her bikini, the red head would have more than enough admirers to make up for Remy's loss. He'd had enough women who believed themselves to be God's gift to men in his time-compared to them Jean was a rank amateur. Remy found it more than refreshing to know that Rogue liked spending time with him and didn't want anything more from him-not sex, not his help, and certainly there was no political motivation either.
That was he thought smiling as he put together a plate of 'Nachos a la Cajun' to eat during their film fest; the best thing about Rogue, between her powers and her shadowy past she expected nothing from her friends. Well except honesty and loyalty and God help the person who didn't give the Southern Belle those two simple things. Despite himself Remy actually felt bad for Mystique. When Rogue got hold of her-the shape shifter would be lucky to only get pushed off a cliff this time. Especially since Rogue acquired super strength and flight from Carol Danvers on a permanent basis. "Don't mess with the Rogue" took on more meaning when backed up by a fist that could bench press a good 50 tons.
Over the sound of the microwave Remy could hear snorts of laughter coming from the rec room; moving on silent feet he peeked around the corner. Rogue was sitting on the couch sprawled out ready for the movies in her well worn jeans, Ozzy t-shirt over a long sleeved white t and her fluffy pink bunny slippers. Remy smiled at the bunny slippers-they had little tiny fangs if you got close enough to look; they'd been the first gift he'd bought for a girl who he wasn't sleeping with or related to and suited Rogue to a 'T'.
Coughing lightly Remy smiled as she turned around, "Remy never pictured you as a snorter Chére." He looked at the T.V and lifted and eyebrow at the program, "Anna-Marie Darkholme…Remy never pictured you as a lesbian either."
A pillow whipped by his ear at high speed causing Remy to duck out of it's way, "Don't be an idiot all ya life Swamp Rat," Rogue drawled and turned back to the T.V, "This is the funniest shit I've ever seen."
"Mais Chére," Remy sighed, "It's the Miss America pageant. You be watchin for de swim suits?"
"Non tu est fou!" She snorted switching into French naturally before jerking her gloved thumb at the screen, "Ah'm watching because it's funny to see these insincere clothes hangers try ta convince the world dey know what the hell they're talkin' about. I swear if one more of them says 'world peace' Ah'll pee mah pants."
Sliding down Remy made himself comfortable on the other end of the couch sharing in the laughter, "Remy knew dat you were de one who bought Ms. Congeniality 2."
"It was a boxed set with both of them," She snorted back before grabbing her pillow and holding it close, "Oh man…here comes tha host…talk about a bad toupee."
Remy chucked noticing the patch of grey at the front of the man's hair piece; he found himself unable to stay silent, "He look like he could be your Papa."
Rogue growled, "I'd rather shoot myself."
"Dough," Remy smirked, "Ya moustache is better than his Chére."
Despite being a girl who prided herself on her individuality Rogue's hand shot up to her upper lip as if to check that there was no offending facial hair there to find. She was already lunging for Remy when she lowered her hand, taking advantage of her new ability to fly. Remy was ready for her though and twisted away making sure to wrap Rogue in the throw from the back of the chesterfield before tickling her sides mercilessly. The pair rolled as Rogue tried to break away tears springing to her eyes as she laughed uncontrollably and tried her level best to return the torture to the Cajun. Suddenly they both stopped as their eyes locked; somehow Rogue had wrestled her way to the top and was straddling Remy.
Being so close to Rogue, feeling her warmth against his body Remy was struck with the urge to kiss her. Consequences be damned. It seemed wrong to him to waste such a lovely opportunity to see if Rogue tasted like the vanilla she always smelled like. He was raising himself up happy that she was making no move to stop him when the doorbell rang. Being on top Rogue jumped up shaking off the blanket wrapped around her.
"Ah'll…Ah'll get it." Her cheeks were rosy and Remy damned the idiot who interrupted such a picture perfect moment.
Rogue did her best to calm her flaming cheeks as she walked to the door; if she hadn't known better she would have said that Remy had wanted to kiss her. Shaking her head Rogue dismissed the idea; they were friends nothing more. What guy in his right mind wanted a girl who wouldn't be able to touch him? Pushing her hair from her face Rogue swung the front door open to growl at whoever it was interrupting her peace-usually just the sight of her death glare was enough to send girl scouts packing. Once she added in some gibberish and that usually took care of missionaries too.
Unfortunately the tiny blonde girl who looked like she should have been spouting about world peace with the other airheads at the pageant didn't scare off. Rogue was reasonably sure this could be due to some form of brain damage-no one with an IQ higher than Forrest Gump's would sit there smiling at Rogue while she glared at them. "Yeah," She channelled her inner Wolverine, "What do ya want?"
"Kin Ah talk ta Remy Lebeau?" The blonde offered another brilliant smile.
Rolling her eyes Rogue reminded herself to educate the Swamp Rat on letting his random bimbos know where he lived-that could cause all sorts of trouble. "Ah'm afraid he ain't here right now…Miss…"
"Boudreau…" The blonde offered, "Belladonna Boudreau…though most people just call me Belle."
Forcing herself not to grit her teeth Rogue smiled; though it looked more like a snarl, "Ain't that nice. Like Ah said though…Remy ain't here. Ya'll have to come back some other time…maybe ya might wanna call first…"
"Ah know," Belle sighed as if trying to level with Rogue woman to woman-apparently the bored face and hostile tone didn't paint the picture of welcome Rogue was trying for, "Ah shoulda called before commin' all dis way. Mais, its tres importante dat I talk wit Remy as soon as possible."
"And why would that be?" Rogue crossed her arms over her chest and glared; she really wasn't liking this chick one little bit.
Belle didn't seem to notice that fact though as she offered yet another smile, "Ah'm his fiancée."
"Come again?" Rogue nearly choked thinking she'd heard something wrong or that this girl was more than just mildly retarded.
Tossing her blonde hair Bella smiled, "His fiancée…Ah came up from N'Orleans ta talk ta him about…" She spotted something over Rogue's shoulder and beamed like a lighthouse, "There ya are Remy…Dis aime of yours said you weren't here. You sneakin' out again when ya not supposed ta?"
Spinning on her heels Rogue looked to Remy who stood just behind her doing his best impression of a dead fish. "Belle? What you doin' here?"
"Apparently," Rogue drawled clenching her fists at her sides, "She's come to see her fiancé. Please tell me I'm having a bad dream or this is some kinda joke you and Bobby cooked up."
He looked stricken for a second before taking a big swallow, "Non Chére," He tried to make his eyes tell Rogue just how much he didn't mean for this to happen, "Dis no joke."
"Aren't ya goin' ta invite me in Chér?" Belle looked between the two mutants not missing the thick enough to cut tension, "We got a few things dat need talkin' about."
Backing away Rogue held the door open and waved Belle inside, she kept her face as blank as she could possibly keep it. She started walking away from the living room and towards the Danger Room, "Sorry, come on in. If ya'll can excuse meh…"
"Rogue!" Remy tried not to sound desperate as he called to her.
Rogue turned for a second and gave a small sad smile, "Ah ain't going any where Swamp Rat. Ya'll obviously got things ta talk about and I don't want ta intrude. Ah'll see you later Gambit."
As he watched her walk away it wasn't lost on Remy that she'd used his codename instead of his real one or any of the nicknames she'd given him.
Eyes snapping open Remy had to bite his lip to keep from screaming; he'd forgotten how little leg room there was in economy class and banged his shins against the seat in front of him. He cursed his luck that there had been no first or business class seats available unless he'd been willing to wait another four hours. Rubbing one bruised leg gently he growled to himself; no amount of personal comfort was worth waiting to see his baby girl when she needed him.
Of course he wasn't counting on another blast from the past either. Remy had done his level best to forget that horrible day when Belle had shown up at the Institute. She couldn't have known about Rogue or his growing feelings for the Goth so it wasn't as if it had been planned. Belle had even confessed to liking the sullen untouchable; Remy had to admit in another freaky world the pair could have been friends. After all Rogue had managed to not kill Kitty, and the Chicago valley girl was twice the mallrat, fashionista that Belle was.
"This is your Captain speaking," A voice came over the intercom, "We will be landing at JKF airport in approximately ten minutes…"
The rest of the speech was droned out by the butterflies renovating Remy's stomach, ten minutes then another forty-five to drive to Bayville. One hour until he'd see Rogue again. Remy was tempted to kill his daughter for putting him in this position-maybe after he gave her a hug or perhaps the hug then the killing…Remy wasn't sure.
"Oh my god Jean!" Kitty nearly bounced around the kitchen where she and the pregnant telepath had holed up to talk, "Did you see the look on Rogue's face?"
Smiling Jean continued making her camomile tea while all the while she was as excited as Kitty inside, "You think that was good…I wish you could have read her mind. I never thought I'd say this but Wanda was right."
"I know," Kitty sighed and hopped up on the counter to swing her feet back and forth, "This is like so romantic. After all these years…they'll finally get together."
"You're forgetting something," Jean poured the pot using her TK, "Joseph."
Groaning Kitty's face fell a bit, "Like I know. But come on this is Remy we're talking about. Rogue has totally loved him from the moment they met."
"Hardly," Jean carried her cup to the table and sat down gently, "We've all heard about him almost blowing off her hand."
"So?" Kitty paced the room, "I phased Pete into a pile of rubble. He like still totally asked me out."
"Five years later."
"Potato; Potatoe;" Kitty stuck out her tongue, "That's totally just like...semantics."
The door bell ringing cut off Kitty from any further discourse and she hopped a sly grin appeared on Jean's face speaking volumes about who it was ringing the bell.
Grumbling as she stomped to the door Rogue had to wonder how in a house full of people she was always the one to answer the door. Sure, half the team was on Muir Island working with Moria MacTaggart but the other half were supposed to be supervising the children here for the camp. Just thinking of the twenty children Rogue had to suppress another growl. Someone had seen fit to start a food fight during dinner and Rogue hadn't had time to blow dry her hair and straighten it. Now it was getting as fuzzy as Kurt; Rogue hated having to wander around with her white girl afro.
Despite her ill humour Rogue had to smile thinking about the culprit who had started the gastronomic war; even without the eyes to tell her so Rogue would have known that Anna-Marie was Remy's kid. They had the same trouble making spirit.
Sighing Rogue tried to decide how she felt about the situation; on one had she was sorry to hear that Belle had died, if only because she knew what it was like to grow up without a mother and Rogue wouldn't wish it on any kid. On the other it was a little odd that Remy had named his daughter after her. Rogue supposed that maybe their friendship had meant more to him than she'd thought. Of course he still hadn't called or written her in eight years so Rogue guessed it could have been a fluke.
The bell rang again breaking Rogue's train of thought. Mumbling under her breath about the good old days of shooting trespasser on sight Rogue grabbed the doorknob and swung it open. "Whatevah it is that you're sellin' we don't want any…"
"How could you not want Remy Chére?"
Muhahahahahaha! How's that for a cliff hanger? Hate me? Hahaha. The Angst Wand enjoyed it's workout on this one. Now the shout outs for those nice enough to review...angry glare at the lurkers.
IvyZoe: Teehee...you'll have to wait a bit for Joe to meet Remy...but they will meet...trust me. Glad you liked...
Rogue14: Yeah...The earthquake is no laughing matter. Bright side...I am actually Canadian...and surprisingly enough...I'm not Pakistani either...or Indian...Nope. The pasty skin, freckles and red hair all point to my Irish hertitage very blantantly. But most of my good friends are East Indian...I've been throughly exposed to the culture. I even speak a little Hindi...not much though. Trust me it looks strange at the one Indo/Pakistani club night they throw here...I'm usually the only white person there...but I blend cause I can Banghra and sing along (Yes I know the words...) Thankfully everyone I know had their families come out of that mess over there safely...which is very important. Hmm...slum lords who use inferior products to build...must be American...but if they're Canadian and have an office in Toronto I'll leave them a gift. You thought I was evil before...now how evil am I?
The Rogue Cajun: I bet you still can't wait. Teehee...I love dramatic tension.
Ishy: You updated too! yay...I was even good and reviewed...aren't you proud. I was supposed to cook for ten people and three showed...I have turkey comming out of every pore...you want it it's yours...where do I send it now? You still in H-town? Normally I agree with you...I hate kids...they're annoying. But I'm writing a kid I wouldn't want to get rid of cause well...can't have Rogue not like her. Can we? Hope you enjoyed the Belle bashing in this...though I'm still going to let hte Swamp Trash Queen be a little sympathetic in this...sorry. EWWW...this is why I took theatre Ishy...so I never had to write papers about apes.
EE's Skysong: Yay...oh btw...what's "WSLATC" ?
AM Bookworm: Teehee... but there is some pretty bad love, Romy and Lit out there...you gots to be choosy. Glad you've been enjoying it fills my heart with joy to know that i'm a part of your procrastination. My degree says 'Theatre' but it really means 'Procrastination'. Trust me on that.
Simba317: Yay...I got a new reviewer! happy dance. I gotta agree with you on the whole Canuck vs Yankee thanksgiving...it makes no sense to have a HARVEST festival in the middle of WINTER. None. I've always said teachers are a form of evil that blankets the earth...of course my ex bf isa teacher...that might be part of it. Now that I've gone and made myself feel old. Drama? You think this has Drama? I'm being good in this one...it's only 1/4 the angst of a regular Kracfic. Check the lineup of people who have told me that my Cypher arc made them cry. This has been tear free so far and has been garunteed a happy ending to boot.But I am thrilled that you like it and hope you enjoy waiting to see how many of your predictions come true. And as I said to Ishy...I have tons of turkey left...too much...and I haven't even made the turkey soup yet. Agh. None of my friends is used to the Anglo-Saxon type thanksgiving either...which was why I got to cook a 15 pound monster.
hippiegurl1313: Another new reviewer! More Happy Dance. Tehehe...I like to keep people guessing but I let you have a little bit...hope you enjoy.
Gabrielle Myka: Yay...yet another new reviewer...Does the happy running man I'll get into that but I'm moving more towards the present. Really...Remy and Rogue weren't dating...they were just friends. But I'll drop the anvil of why they stopped talking soon I promise.