Hi everyone :)
I'm running out of interesting things to say for introducing the review replies O.o:
adrenaline addict: Yes, fluff, butt-kicking Remy. Not much else could've been fit into that chapter :)
Bubbles1612: 12- Yes, Remy was the culprit. No real surprise there though.
13- Yes, being hunted down by the X-Men. Not the greatest of past times :D
Chica De Los Ojos Cafe: Very pleased to hear you approved of last chapter so much. This update was bumped up to ASAP status just for you since you asked so nicely :)
ishandahalf: Remy fighting is too gorgeous a sight not to ogle :D There's a bit more ROMYness here but nothing major. Wait for chapter 16. You'll overload from ROMY goodness.
texasgrrl: I'm quite fond of the ending of last chapter as well. Very warm and fuzzy :)
Elle: Is thick a UK expression? Never knew that lol. Anyways, yes, I'm a UK girl. England to be more precise. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the story so much.
abril4: I can assure you there will be no more flirting from Remy with anyone else but Rogue. Last chapter was sort of their non-verbal agreement to me exclusive but that'll be more obvious over the next few chapters.
Friend to All: So many compliments there :) Thank you for your lovely review and I hope this chapter impresses you just as much :)
Shaishe: That's what I like to hear. Enthusiasm :D
chicita: Oooooo, I get a cookie :) I'm the same, I'm not sure if I prefer Head Remy or Real Remy. Probably feel like that because they're kinda different from one another aren't they?
jade: Good to hear you approve of the cuteness and sassing. Hope the update came soon enough.
Rogue gaL: The story ending there? Now, I know I'm evil ,but I'm not that evil :)
Silent Doom: I wonder where you had got to lol. Thought maybe you'd got bored with the story lol. Anyways, thank you about the condolences about Fuu :) I'm the same with friends hooking other friends up. However, Jubilee's just always struck me as the kind who would do that kinda thing. I'll stop taking up your time now so you can read the chapter. Enjoy :)
Freak87: That line was meant to be Logan but you're probably right about it not fitting too well. I might go back and change that line. This chapter is going to be a lot more like Cajun Spice but it won't be exactly the same. It'll be basically the same main events but with different filler bits and some of the dialouge I've borrowed as well. Confused? That wasn't too good of an explanation. Just read the chapter and then you'll get what I mean lol.
janey: I didn't think that was too bad a cliffy but I guess it was...Hehe :D
Thank you all for your reviews. As always, much appreciated :)
Again, apologies for the tardiness of the update. However, my media project is now officially complete and I also have 2 weeks off now for Easter. So, the next update should come more swiftly.
Okay, this is the final chapter of my Cajun Spice re-write for those of you who are curious about that sorta thing. Also, I was actually bothered to write out a plan of the chapters and their contents the other day and I figured out that there will probably be another 15 chapters left, give or take a chapter or two. So you'll all be stuck with me for quite some time yet :D
Just to warn you all, there's some naughty language ahead.
"Vhat do you zhink happened here?"
"I don't know..."
"It was whoever took Rogue. The whole area stinks of him."
"Do you think maybe Rogue tried to escape and this was how he reacted?"
"Don't think so. Can't smell any of Rogue's blood or fear."
"Well, we know they were here but how do we find out where they are now?"
"We track them. C'mon."
Rogue would be lying if she she said she wasn't grossed out at that moment. She and Remy were slowly coasting along in an old motorboat, which Remy had 'borrowed' from somewhere, through a smelly, slimey swamp. There were bugs hovering around everywhere and there were also more than a few alligators swimming around which didn't help improve the situation. However, always the good samaritan, especially where Remy was concerned, Rogue sat dutifully at the front of the small wooden boat with her coat pulled over her head, to stop the bugs from getting in her hair she insisted. With both Juli and some assassin called Pierre in her head, she knew where she was going by heart and also knew where all the water-mines were.
"Turn left here." Rogue instructed Remy quietly. Remy did as he was told and steered the boat carefully around an unknown mine beneath the surface of the water.
"No way Jean-Luc wort' dhis much trouble." He muttered as he peered over the side of the boat and caught a quick glanceof a mine.
"Ya really do hate ya father don't ya?" Rogue asked sadly, looking at him over her shoulder.
"He ain't Remy's fadher. Jus' 'cause someone adpo's yo', don' make dhem yo' family." Remy told her, a hint of bitter resentment in his voice.
"If ya really hate ya father so much, then whah are ya helpin' him?" She inquired reasonably. No reply came immediately as Remy simply stared at the ripling water over the side. Eventually, he replied:
"'Cause Remy a better person dhen Jean-Luc."
It was a somewhat confusing answer to say the least but Rogue decided it would be best to let the conversation go at that. She knew what it was like to have someone pry into the secrets of your life, be them past or present. She knew how annoying it was and she sympathised. If Remy didn't want to talk about it, that was fine. She'd respect his privacy. A heavy silence took them over and Rogue wasn't sure what to make of it. The conversation hadn't ended badly yet the silence was unsettled, as though they had argued and there was some snappy retort that had been left un-said. Just as Rogue was considering trying to start up a conversation, an image flashed in her head. She saw the out-look from a balcony at the Ripper's mansion. The view was of a horribly familiar area of swamp; the area that she and Remy were moving through at that very moment. From Juli's memories, she knew that balcony was always manned and those who manned it were armed with...
Rogue's head whirled to look in the direction of the mansion which was about a hundred feet away from them. She couldn't see any detail and she couldn't hear anything but bugs and water and other usual swamp sounds. Still, she knew what was coming and she knew it was coming now. Reacting almost immeditately, Rogue got into a crouching position and all but pounced on Remy. He barely had time to let out his strangled cry before he and Rogue toppled out of the boat and were submerged under the water. Seconds later, they were swept back in the water and heard a loud, though slightly muffled, explosion and saw the light of the yellow-orange flame as whatever had been coming collided with a tree.
Still under the murky water, Remy looked around himself in search of Rogue. He spotted her several feet off trying to shrug off her heavy coat which appeared to be weighing her down too much. Curiously, he found that his own coat was causing him no problems at all. He hurridly swam over to Rogue and helped her to shed her coat. They then swam up to the surface, each letting out huge gasps of air once their heads were above the water level. They trod water for a while as they replenished the air in their lungs and the energy in their muscles. After a few minutes, they headed in the direction of the mansion which was thankfully not too far away now since they had been carried a fair distance by the water. Upon reaching the land, Remy hauled himself out of the swampy water before helping Rogue out. He then quickly led/dragged her over to a natural, grassy ditch in which they could hide from sight in.
"That was mah favourite coat." Rogue muttered grumpily once she had settled into a comfortable position.
"Better dhe coat dhen yo' chere." Remy mumbled as he took hold of the tail-end of his trenchcoat and rung it out in an vain attemt to dry out the lining.
"It's still a waste." She insisted, copying Remy's actions with her hair. Remy obviously saw no need to reply to her final comment as all he did was get to his knees and carefully peer over the top of the ditch.
"Okay. Here's dhe plan:" Remy began to say in a hushed voice. "Dhere are 'bout twen'y men surroundin' dhe perimeter, ten o' which are guardin' dhe fron' entrance. If we run as fas' as possible at a t'irty eigh' degree angle, we can make it to dhat blind spo' before..."
Rogue stared at him in bewilderment as he continued to ramble on. He may as well have just been speaking French for all the sense she could make of his speedy and exact calculations. She knew that in the end, all he wanted was to get them inside the mansion so she took hold of his arm and, before he had a chance to question her, teleported them inside of the building. She misjudged their re-entery though. Instead of appearing somewhere nearby where Remy's father was, which would've been the most conviniant thing to do, they popped back into reality inside what appeared to be the cellar. Still, they were inside now and that's all that really mattered. Remy seemed completely confused by their new surroundings for a moment and gaped around at their new, dimly lit surroundings.
"Oh right..." He mused after a while. "Hey, why didn' yo' jus' teleport us ou' o' dhe boat instead of jumpin' into dhe water?" He inquired suddenly. Rogue stared, un-blinking, at him for a few seconds before frowning in annoyance.
"Damn it!" She groaned angrily. Remy grinned at her and looked around their surroundings again. It was a large, cold area with a dusty concrete floor and hard cinder-block walls. An old staircase was over in the right hand corner of the room and led up to a door which was probably the way into the rest of the building. Piles of boxes took up most of the room though what exactly was in the boxes was unclear as the only light they had was the weak glow of a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Remy headed over to one group of boxes and looked inside. He pulled out a bottle of something and held it up to the light.
"1917." He read, his tone impressed. "Well, dhey might be scum but dhey go' good taste." He replaced the bottle and looked over at Rogue. "Did yo' mean for us to be in dhe cellar?"
"Just be thankful we didn't end up inshade a wall." She replied as she began to walk over to the crude wooden stairs.
"Could dhat really happen?"
"Kurt's always insisted that it can and Ah ain't gonna trah and test it aht." She told him while climbing up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, she cracked the door open and peered out into the corridor behind. She squinted her eyes shut as they sudden change of light stung her eyes.She slowly inched them open letting her eyes grow accustomed to the new light gradually. Eventually, the light no long hurt and she was able to scan the outside comfortably. There was no one out there. She suddenly felt Remy's presence behind her and felt his warm breath on her neck as he leaned down to also look at what was on the other side of the door. "S'all clear. Let's go." She ordered quietly before carefully slipping out of the half opened door. Remy obidiantly followed closely behind.
"Wha' floor is he on?" Remy whispered as they crept through their third silent, empty corridor.
"Third."
"Yo' know what room?"
"Kinda. Ah know hah to get there at least. We need to fahnd the front entrance."
"Conviniant. It's right dhere." He said as they rounded a corner and saw the front doors a few feet in front of them. Two men stood either side of the doors, armed with guns, though obviously not paying any attention to their surroundings. Rogue and Remy quickly slunk back around the corner and out of sight. Rogue edged nearer to the corner again so she could look around it but still stay hidden.
Her original plan to simply follow the path she had seen when she'd absorbed Juli was more of less ruined now. They wouldn't be able to make it to the stairs, let alone go up them, without the two assassins at the entrance seeing them. Also, if there were men guarding the doors then they must have known that she and Remy were somewhere around and logic told her that there were probably many more men dotted around building. Rogue knew how Juli thought and knew that this was going to be hard to do without making a huge fuss. Teleporting them to a random corridor, or even a carefully selected corridor, just wasn't a good idea in this situation. Yet what else could they do? She really didn't want to absorb any more minds unless it was absolutely necessary. So that really only left the teleporting and hoping for the best option.
"Hah ya feel abaht takin' a stupid risk?" Rogue asked Remy, moving away from the corner again.
"Remy intrigued. Wha' would dhis stupid risk involve?"
"Teleporting to a randomly chosen corridor and quite possibly running into several assassins."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Does nothing un-nerve ya?"
"Course, plenty of t'ings. Remy's grandma, Remy's older sister, Remy's younger sister, Remy's aunt Venessa..."
"Basically just every female in your family then."
"Oui. Oh, and Belle."
Rogue frowned lightly when she realised she recognised that name. Joe had mentioned a Belle before. Didn't he say that Remy used to date her? Curiosity began to niggle away at Rogue's mind and she badly wated to know more but knew this wasn't the time. She'd get him to explain later. So, wordlessly, she took Remy's arm and they vanished again.
They seemed to be between dimensions for much longer than normal and Rogue's stomach felt fluttery, making her feel queasy. She started to wish that they would re-appear soon and the slow torture of nervous butterflies would end. However, when they did, she instantly wished they hadn't. The room theyre-appeared in was the kitchen, where nine assassins just happened to be taking a break at that moment. They all turned to face Rogue and Remy, the bamphf of their entery catching their attention. The few seconds of silence in which they all spent just staring at each other seemed to stretch on forever and was only broken by Rogue's simplistic statement:
"Shit."
That appeared to be everyone's cue to start moving. The assassins all leapt to their feet as Remy grabbed a soda off of the counter beside him. He shook it up quickly while charging it up at the same time. When a couple of assassins were in punching distance of them, Remy pulled the ring on the top of the can and pointed it away from him and Rogue and towards the advancing assassins. The carbonated liquid inside sprayed out straight into the assassins and they let out cries of pain as the nowboiling fizzy drink burnt their skin. Once the eruption of liquid stopped, Remy chucked the can at the assassins, grabbed Rogue's hand and prepared to run away.
However, the yells of the men had attracted the attention of several others and Rogue and Remy's escape route was barred by half a dozen armed assassins. Remy went for his cards and the six assassins raised their guns. The kitchen filled with the clicks of loading guns asRogue threw her arms around Remy and screwed her eyes shut in concentration. Six bangs rang out together just as Rogue and Remy began to sink through the floor. Sinking through the floor soon became falling through the ceiling as they passed into the room beneath the kitchen. They hit the floor of the new room hard on their sides and they both gave pained moans.
"Remy?" A surprised voice came from behind Remy and Rogue. They both turned their heads to see Remy's father, still tied to a chair. "Yo' actually came back!"
"I'm jus' here for you." Remy informed neutrally as he got to his feet and headed over to the older man. Jean-Luc's eyes fell onto Rogue who had picked herself up and was busy brushing herself off. A knowing grin spread across his face for a second and Rogue carefully raised her eyes to meet his.
"So you can fall through solid floorboards huh? Yo' ever t'ought of a life of...Hey! Watch it!" Jean-Luc yelled at Remy when he 'accidently' over the charged the ropes that bound his wrists and burnt his skin.
"Time to go." Remy instructed in a monotone as he left the now free Jean-Luc and headed to the door.
"Wai'! Don' yo' know where we are? We're in dhe middle of dhe Ripper's headquarters!" Jean-Luc exclaimed.
"So?" Remy sighed, stopping and looking over his shoulder.
"So! Dhis is our big chance! We can ruin dhem from dhe inside!"
"Yo' don' need me for dhat." Remy muttered, looking away again.
"No, but I do need your powers." Jean-Luc replied with a smirk as he laid his hand on Remy's shoulder. Before Remy could give any reply though, the door to the room unlocked and swung open to reveal Juli and Juli's father, each armed with pistols.
"Yo' toget'er. Good. Yo' jus' made my job a whole lo' easier." Juli sneered as he raised his gun to Remy and Jean-Luc, obviously not seeing Rogue who was further over to the side. Rogue used this to her advantage and raised her right hand. She then used her borrowed magnetism to pull the guns away from Juli and Juli's father's hands. The guns flew over to her and she caught them gently, one in each hand. She gave Juli a sneer of her own before moving closer to the wall and phasing her hands and the guns through the wall. When she pulled her hands out again, she no longer held the guns. Juli and his father stared at her in astonishment and Remy used their distraction against them and rushed forward. The two men didn't even have enough time to notice Remy before he knocked them both out with one punch.
"Yo' can do that as well! Yo' know, yo' really should consider..." Jean-Luc began to say.
"Don' even t'ink it." Remy grunted, wrapping a possessive arm around Rogue and ushering her out of the room quickly. Jean-Luc merely smirked again and followed as they all began to run down various corridors.
"How are we gon' find our way ou' o' here?" Jean-Luc asked as they began to turn a corner. The sounds of rapid gun fire in front made them all skid to a stop before they turned and dashed back around the corner. They all got to their knees or crouched just in case. Rogue glanced around herself nervously as the firing stopped. She watched nervously as Remy poked his head around the corner and immediately moved away when the guns started up again. She shuffled closer to Remy and Jean-Luc and linked her arms with them both.
"Get ready to faht if we have to." Rogue advised them before teleporting them all away. When they re-appeared again, they were all ready and willing to fight. Their enthusiasm was lost though as the main entrance, where they now were, was void of assassins. The three of them were the only ones in the room and there were no sounds, like footsteps or talking, to suggest there was anyone else near-by.
"Finally. Some good luck." Rogue sighed as they headed towards the doors. Suddenly though, the doors blew open with a violent wind to reveal a white eyed Storm and an angry looking Nightcrawler.
"Yo' were sayin'?" Remy whispered as they all froze. For a long moment, no one moved or spoke. Then, Remy suddenly grabbed Rogue around the waist and held her in front of him, his free arm coming up so his forearm was around her neck.
"What are ya doin'!" Rogue yelled angrily, her hands coming up to try and pull Remy's arm away from her neck.
"Remy jus' playin' dhe evil kidnapper." He whispered in her ear. "An' unless yo' wan' your teachers to fin' ou' you've been a bad girl and helped fake your own kidnapping, you'd best play alon'."
Rogue had to agree with him there and so switched to herdamsel-in-distress mode. She continued to grab at Remy's arm and started to give small, pathetic gasps and cries of fear and effort. In reality, she was being terribly over the top with the whole performance but Storm and Nightcrawler seemed to be too worried to take any real notice.
"Let her go!" Storm ordered, doing well to make her voice sound strong.
"Now why wou' Gambit wan' go do a stupid t'ing like dhat for?" Remy grinned, pulling Rogue closer, just to add effect. Another moment of stillness passed before Nightcrawler suddenly teleported. Rogue more or less knew why he had teleported so she took the precaution of grabbing Jean-Luc discreetly and teleporting them all to a different part of the room moments before Nightcrawler re-entered in the spot they had just been.
"Uh, uh. Dhat's agains' dhe rules mon amie." Remy smirked condescendingly when he, Rogue and Jean-Luc re-appeared again. Rogue had to try really hard to stop herself from laughing. She had to admit, she was kinda having fun in some sort of sick, demented way. It was nice having the others think she was in trouble and trying so hard to save her. Plus, she could take the time to enjoy it since she wasn't actually worrying about the possibility that she might die. Unfortunately for Rogue though, her ability to enjoy the situation vanished when, through the open doors, she saw Cyclops and, more importantly, Wolverine charging towards them looking very, very angry.
"Logan!" Rogue gasped fearfully seconds before she teleported them all away once again. They re-entered about seven yards away from the mansion and Rogue immediately forced Remy into a run, Jean-Luc following behind.
"Why did you do dhat? Remy was jus' abou' to give yo' back."
"If Logan had got any closer, ya wouldn't have been alahve to give me back." She told him, glancing over her shoulder to see the four X-Men were now in hot pursuit of them. Remy also saw them and stopped abruptly. He turned and caught Rogue as she ran right into, using her momentumn to aid him in hoisting her up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Then, he took off running again. "Remy!" Rogue cired with a giggle.
"All part of the kidnapping service chere." Remy grinned. She gave another laugh but this one was cut short as the bangs of firing guns could be heard again.
Rogue lifted her head to see that dozens of assassins had made their way to the roof of the mansion and now seemed to be firing their guns at anything that moved. She saw Storm and Cyclops turn back to deal with them and she couldn't help wish that Wolverine had turned around as well. That was never gonna happen though. Fear for Remy seized Rogue and she knew it was time to end the "game".
"Mr LeBeau." Rogue called Jean-Luc, remembering her manners even now, as she held her hand out to him. Jean-Luc gave her a curious look but said nothing as he reached out and took her offered hand. Rogue concentrated on getting them as far away as possible. Only when she was convinced she was at the maximum distance she could manage did she teleport.
They re-entered quite a way off. They were still inside the mansion's grounds but they were at the very outskirts. Rogue felt an instant wave of fatigue once they had settled. Her head ached terribly and was filled with the loud chattering, yelling and screaming of those she had absorbed in the past. She didn't let it distract her though. After she had wriggled until Remy let her go, she started roughening her appearance.
"Ya both need to go now." Rogue ordered the two men as she ripped a long tear in her night-dress. "Keep going that way," she paused and pointed. "Until ya get to the fence. Ah think ya'll be able to manage yaselves from there."
"Yo' sure chere?" Remy checked.
"Of course Ah am. Ah ain't the one Logan wants to kill remember?" She answered, bending down to grab a handful of dirt and then using it to dirty her clothes and skin. Remy stared at her for a while before rushing over to her and sweeping her up into a hug. Rogue's eyes widened in suprise but then quickly softened as she returned the hug. "Take care Swamp Rat." She whispered to him gently, the teasing name not supported by her tone.
"Sure t'ing. Remy'll call yo' as soon as he can." Remy assured her in return. He kissed the top of her head briefly and then reluctantly let her go.
Rogue watched on somewhat forlornly as Remy and his father ran off in the direction she had told them to. Eventually, they faded away in the early morning mist. Part of Rogue couldn't help but long to go with them.
There. An ending that is no way, shape or form a cliffy. I bet you're all wondering what I'm gonna fill the next 15 chapters up with aren't ya? Only time will tell my friends. You'll all just have to be patient :D
Catch ya'll next time.
Hugs
Dream
(PS-Longest chapter so far! Whoop!)