Okay, so...I'm thinking this is the second to last chapter...yeah, that sounds good...once again...Much love to my two fav ROMY authors...Thriller and Eileen Blazer. Me and Thriller are two peas from the same pod, so you like me, you'll like her!
They walked up the hill silently, neither knowing what to say. Sideways glances and small brushes of touch were all they communicated with. It was awkward, almost unbearably so. Finally, Rogue broke the silence.
"So...nice night."
Remy smiled. "Dat's de only t'ing you can say, chère?"
"Well, Ah didn't think, nice fuck sounded right."
"Dat all it was?" Remy asked, lightly grasping her wrist and pulling her to face him. After the "incident" in the Hellfire Club it was almost gentle of him.
"Ah thought we settled this?" Rogue asked, evading the question.
"It ain' gonna be settled 'til you tell me how you feel, Rogue."
She avoided his eyes, not wanting to see what was there. "And how do you think Ah feel?"
Remy nuzzled her cheek as he pulled her closer. "I can only know what I feel."
"And that is?"
"Je'taime."
"Ah don' speak French."
"Insufferable woman..."
"Ah love it when you sweet talk..."
"I love you, Rogue."
"Ah know," Rogue smiled and started for the door. Remy stared at her before following.
"And you?"
"And me, what?"
"Your feelings?"
Rogue turned, but she was no longer amused. "Ah love you, too. But Ah've loved you for a long time. Doesn' really mean anything."
Remy scowled. "Means somet'ing to me."
"So? It didn't mean anything a year ago. Two? Didn' mean anything then."
Remy shrugged. "So I was stupid. You hold it agains' me?"
"Yes."
"You wound me," he explained mockingly.
They both stopped outside of the front door. Things were quiet, almost too much so. All the students had been sent over to the lab for the night. They were having a huge video-fest in honor of the wedding. It wouldn't end until tomorrow morning, though Rogue doubted anyone would stay up all night. She remembered the sleepovers at the Institute. Despite everyone saying they wouldn't, everyone was asleep before dawn.
"Ah bet."
"Seriously, chere. What we gonna do?"
"Ah'm not gonna do anything. Ah'm here, and Ah'm staying. Ah like it here, Remy. And nothin' you say is gonna change my mind."
"And if I say, maybe, I come here? Become a teacher?"
Rogue laughed. "What are you gonna teach, Swamp Rat? How to steal?"
Remy grinned. "Only hearts."
"That's comforting."
"Chère..."
The door exploded. Wooden shards went flying and had not Rogue been closer, they'd have shot straight through Remy. As she felt the slight stinging sensations, Rogue swore. Remy had flown backwards, but thanks to her powers she hadn't. Steady as a rock, she was.
Rogue turned to look into the darkened foyer and saw three figures there. One, a male, was dressed in archaic clothing. The other two were both women, dressed in black outfits that seemed more like lingerie than clothing.
"Hi! Ah'm Rogue. You're in my house."
The man laughed and stepped forward into the light. He was attractive, with a ruggedly handsome face and an obviously strong body. "And you're early. We weren't quite ready for you. Oh, well. We'll improvise."
He gestured to one of the women, and she stepped forward. The woman was tall, with pale skin and sable hair. She started to chant in a foreign language and there, in the middle of a foyer, opened a portal of some sort. Out of it spilled demons. Not imitation demons, like her brother, but real demons. As in from hell, demons.
Rogue took a step backwards out of instinct and watch as more and more demons spilled out. At her feet, Remy stirred.
"Wha's goin' on?"
"We're bein' attacked, Swamp Rat. Get up."
He rose and stood next to Rogue. Suddenly, the demons stopped rising from the portal and attacked. Rogue tried to throw up a telepathic shield, but something was interfering with her powers. She couldn't use her own or anyone else's. Within seconds the demons were upon them. Without her powers to help, Rogue panicked. She threw her arms in front of her face and waited for them to hit her. Behind her, Remy pulled his bo staff and prepared to fight it out.
They didn't. Rogue slowly lowered her arms and found her self in a bedroom set for seduction. It had large windows with curtains that were moving in the breeze, and a large antique bed in the center of the room. There was nothing else, no furniture, no lamps, but the bed was lit anyways. In it, a man was kneeling, naked. Rogue slowly walked forward, trying to see who it was but unable to make out his features because of the curtains.
Finally, she was within touching distance of the bed and pulled away the curtains. The man who had been in the foyer stared at her. With a jerk, he'd grabbed her hands and pulled her onto the bed with him.
"I could give you everything, Rogue," he said in a husky voice, as he slowly caressed her bare back. Rogue looked down at herself and realized she was covered by only a backless chemise. It was deep blue, so deep it was almost black. Next to it, her skin glowed.
Rogue came back to herself and glared at the man holding her against him, with both of them kneeling on the bed. "Who are you?"
"I am Sebastian Shaw, Black King of the Hellfire Club," he replied with pride.
"Hellfire...you mean the..."
"Yes. The place where all your friends are congregating right now. You've been set up, dear one. Join with me and I promise that no one will be harmed."
Rogue started to struggle, but even here her powers weren't working. "What are you talking about?"
Sebastian laughed. "I intended to take Jean Grey, for she is powerful, but now...I see that you are really more powerful...so many different abilities swirling inside you..." Sebastian dragged his hand down her face and where he touched, she remembered...remembered the first time she'd absorbed someone, the first time she'd done it on purpose, the first time she'd lost control... "Be my Black Queen, Rogue...I could give you the world..."
Rogue tried to shake off the effect he was having. "But...Remy..."
Sebastian flung his hand outward and the curtains drifted away. Rogue looked to where he gestured and saw Remy there, tied to the wall with chains. Demons were scratching at him, ripping pieces of his flesh off. He was still alive though. "See? Even now he's angry with you...he doesn't deserve you...you deserve more...you deserve me..."
Rogue struggled to go to Remy, but Sebastian pulled her back. "If you will not come willingly, I will take you. Choose the more pleasant route, Rogue."
"Chère! Listen to him! Save yourself! You mean nothing to me! You think I would sleep with your teammates and your friends if you did?" Remy asked, anger blazing in his red and black eyes as he stared at Rogue where she was held by Sebastian. Even as he yelled at her, Rogue knew it wasn't him. It wasn't his voice coming out of his mouth. Rogue understood now. Nothing seemed real. There were small inconsistencies everywhere. This wasn't real. It was an illusion.
Rogue started to fight back, this time with her mind. She hacked at the illusion until with a fizzle it broke. She came to herself and found that she was being held by one of the women. Apparently, when the door had blown open, the telepath of the group had jumped into their heads and perpetuated the illusion. With a mental slap, Rogue forced her out.
Across the room, Sebastian looked up when Lady Mastermind screamed. Rogue had used her super strength to throw the woman out the window and into the sea. Then she turned her anger to the Black King.
Rogue rose and barely spared a glance to Remy. He was still unconscious, but at the moment that was the safest place for him. "Why are you doin' this?"
"I'm doing it because I can," Sebastian replied, as they circled one another, each gauging the other.
"You're a mutant?"
"Yes."
"What can you do?"
"My dear Rogue, wouldn't you like to know?"
They attacked, with Rogue dodging his punches and landing a few of her own. They had no effect other than to energize him. Calling on Juggernaut's powers, she slammed her fist into his chest, expecting it to send him flying. However, it felt like she was slamming a pillow for all the force she put into it.
Rogue jumped back and tried to catch her breathe. He just laughed. Rogue finally got it though. He was absorbing the force of her punches. It was time for a new attack. Rogue calmed herself and all her emotions before facing her opponent again. Just as he lunged at her, she released that emotion, calling Storm's power to her and sending Sebastian sailing through a window with all the wind of the arctic. Even as he soared into the air, a lightning bolt was ringing down, singing him and while not killing him, she hoped at least winding him enough to let the others get here. There was no doubt that he would be back. The worst ones always were.
Rogue finally turned to Remy, only to see the last remaining invader standing there. The woman had a knife poised above Remy's heart. "There's no point to doin' that. Ah'm not gonna hurt you. You're already beat."
"No, Rogue, he's beat. I am still strong," the woman said with vehemence as she pressed down harder with the knife, drawing blood.
"No, you are gonna be beat in a minute if you don't back up off my man."
"What, you're going to hurt me? The Black Queen?"
Rogue laughed. "Aww...really? Cause old boy out there just asked me to be his Black Queen."
The Black Queen's evil smile faltered. "Lies."
"Oh, no...why would Ah lie about that?"
"You seek to divide my loyalties."
"No," Rogue explained, "Ah seek to distract you...and look it worked!" Rogue had telepathically picked up a chair and with one mental command sent it flying into the woman's back.
Under the impact, though, the woman flew forward and over Remy, but leaving the knife impaled in him. Rogue stared in shock, before flying to his side. "Oh, baby! Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't mean to, Ah was trying to get her away!"
Rogue touched his chest and his face, but he didn't wake. At the front door, the X Men and the X Squad walked in laughing, only to freeze at the carnage. Scott, ever the leader, took charge instantly. "What happened here, Rogue?"
"We were set up! Please! Remy's hurt!" Rogue pleaded. Jean, the only one with medical expertise, knelt next to Rogue. With gentle fingers she studied the wound and the blade still in.
"I need to get him in the OR immediately. Kurt, teleport us to the lab," Jean commanded. As the trio bamf-ed away, Rogue rose with her lover's blood on her hands. There was only one person who could have betrayed them like this.
"Emma!"
The blonde smiled impishly. "Yes?"
Rogue shook with fury. "You did this."
Emma nodded. "Yes. I did."
"Did you think..."
"Do not worry, Rogue," the professor interrupted as he wheeled himself to the front of the group. "I have prepared for this eventuality. I was never sure that I could trust Emma, you see? It's one of the reasons I asked you to transfer here." Xavier gestured and Warren grasped one of Emma's arms, Betsy the other. "She's going to be put into stasis, right next to my son, who I put in there earlier without her knowledge."
"Proteus? You knew he was here?"
"Yes. If I had not taken action earlier today, I doubt you'd have been able to hold off long enough for us to arrive."
Rogue became extremely calm with his words, and all who knew her knew that that didn't mean the anger was gone. Now, she was thinking, and that could be more dangerous. "You knew? You knew she was going to do this?"
Xavier nodded, not realizing the danger. "I took precautions."
Rogue smiled grimly. "And Remy? What about him?"
"He was unexpected. I never anticipated his coming along. He changed the plan."
Rogue nodded. "Okay, Ah'll give you that...but if he dies...Ah'm taking it out of your hide, Professor." Rogue walked away and left everyone gaping after her.
The professor smiled. "She's gotten so lively since moving here. It's quite refreshing."
Enjoy! Last chapter...is next! Soon! Be warned!
Onto my readers:
The Dragonlugia, le Diable Blanc, andShannan: I told you guys you were addicted...when this story ends you're going to end up in withdrawel or something...oh, well...you could read the new JLU fic I've started...
IvyZoe: Totally! I could just imagine a drunk Jean getting rowdy with the stripper...it's the good girls that get the wildest at parties...
Ishandahalf: I hope you like how the "plot" played out...I told you it wasn't a real plot...I'm just using it to resolve the ROMY thing...they need conflict...without it, it's too quiet...
Thriller: I've updated...it's time for you to! And you're right, you're so not the only smutty one here...but I'm smutty everywhere...so...yeah...HI!
Kizsy: I'm glad you got all tense...I never know what my readers are feeling...well...wait...this is an Mature Fic...so I'm almost sure what they're feeling...eeww...so don't wanna go there...
And special thanks to everyone else who read and/or reviewed: Shaishe, Remylover, Musagirl15, and Chica De Los Ojos Cafe! Everyone is so awesome for reviewing and with such loving comments!