A/N: Ok you've had to wait stupidly long for this chapter so I've made it about 6 pages long on word, hoping this will tide you over for a couple of weeks before I can update again. Read, enjoy and review because it will push me to write the next chapter.
She battered her eye lids open with her newfound energy. At first the image was hazy and she felt her eyelids close again demanding more sleep even though she did not need it. She would have given in too if something large, blue and hairy hadn't caught her attention. Opening her eyes once more and remaining as silent as she could she observed the room, its walls were cold and steal like, a metal tray with medical equipment lay near the furry blue figure. Her body shuddered against her will at the sight of them. She stayed quiet as fear grew inside of her, her mind screamed for her to run. But at the same time it tried to reassure her that she couldn't possibly be back there, not after she tried so hard to get out. She felt a stinging sensation in her arm as she tried to move, an IV drip was found at the end of looped tubing. Panic spread like wildfire in her veins, it wasn't possible, her skin was impenetrable this wasn't possible.
"I see our patient is up, and how are you today?" The person that spoke was a sight to behold he was broad and larger than life, it appeared that his whole body was covered from head to toe in a thick layer of blue fur, he even had claws on his padded paws. "I know it takes some getting used to." He spoke softly as he watched her take him in her eyes wide with panic and her mouth slightly parted. He turned his back on her for a second and reached for the tray with the medical equipment. When he turned back she was up and out of bed staring at him like a frightened animal as he held a simple thermometer. "Calm down there, getting all wound up isn't going to help." His voice remained level and calm and he seemed neither angry nor surprised by her actions. One part of her brain was screaming at her to calm down and be rational but the other was more convincing to her and it had only one message, get out alive. He approached and tried to take her arm, the action was as deadly as she was. She instantly lunged at him pushing them quickly to the other side of the room and into a collection of shelves. Her IV line thrashed about like a whip before dropping to the floor after being forced from her body. Deep red liquid seeped from her arm as she got up and ran off towards the doors she had spotted as glancing around the room.
Remy wandered along the corridor with a white rose he had picked from Ororo's private garden, damn he'd pay for that later. He planned on giving it to Rogue weather she had woken or not. He shuddered as he walked along the shiny, cold corridors of the mansion basement, it reminded him too much of a place he never wanted to think about again. He stopped and shook the thoughts from his mind and back to more pleasant ones of the beauty he had bumped into one night earlier that week. He looked at the rose once more as he turned the corner and mocked himself.
Ya gone soft Remy, fallin' for some belle femine ya barely spoken t'. Then something hit him as he reached for the infirmary door, literally.
Rogue ran into a masculine figure she had not been aware of and they tumbled to the floor. "Fallin' for Remy so soon Petite?" The stranger asked as she quickly shuffled backwards and up against the wall.
"You! Ya helped me, how could ya bring me back here?" She demanded. He glanced at her with a furrowed brow of confusion as Hank McCoy stumbled up against the frame of the doorway.
"Quite a lively one." He huffed as he tried to catch his breath after being winded by her blow.
"Why did ya bring me here?" she demanded, never moving from her spot on the wall. She glared at them both with an intense hatred but even that couldn't mask her fear.
"Petite Remy think ya need t' calm down, he brought ya here 'cause you were hurt, dis be de infirmary" He glanced to Hank who looked thoughtful.
"Perhaps that is not what the young lady is confused about." He suggested, "Remy exactly where did you pick her up ?"
"On de ol' road north of here in de forests, and dere be no need t' say it like she be some kind o' curb fillie. Why ya ask anyway mon ami?" Remy followed Hank as he walked back into the infirmary. He paused and extended a hand for her to cling to but she would not take it. "Come on Cherie a little bit o' trust from us and a little bit from ya in return? Not dat much to ask for, non?" He asked but she did not respond she just stared at his outstretched hand. "We didn't chain ya down or put on an immobilising collar, for long, least ya could do is show de same respect back, non?" She considered what the man had said to her and he was right they had taken no action against her and she had no reason not to trust them, other than a bitter past of betrayal. Steadily she gently lifted her body from the wall and shuffled slowly back into the medical room. Both the men seemed a little more relaxed at her new found agreeable temperament.
"Ah, well then this explains a lot." The blue giant mumbled to himself as he tapped away at the keyboard. She was amazed that with such large paws and the cat like claws on them that he could even use a keyboard.
"Care to share mon ami?" The young man with them asked. The blue giant beast stood from his seat and twisted the computer screen so that it was visible to the two other bodies in the room.
"This is our mansion." He pointed with a large claw at a bird's eye view of the building they were housed in. "And this over here is where I am assuming you were located just a few nights ago when you had the good fortune to bump into this lovely young lady." She was surprised that his tone of voice was genuine and he seemed to hold no resentment towards her from her earlier actions.
"Den she came from dis building here?" the young man asked at he pointed to what looked more like a kind of concentration camp or prison. She studied the map, sure the mansion and 'prison' weren't really all that close but she wanted to kick herself for how easily she could have gotten to safety. "Ya said somethin' 'bout it explainin' a lot, Remy don' understand."
Remy. She thought to herself the name did seem familiar and so did he, her memories were a little too vague for her liking but she built together what she could in her mind. She remained quiet, scared that this was all just some well planned trick and at the same time in awe of how trustworthy they were with her.
"Yes, perhaps if you asked her nicely enough she might let me show you her 'markings'" she scratched subconsciously at the spot one would measure for a pulse on her right wrist as the beast spoke, she knew exactly what he was referring to and she was ashamed of what it meant. Remy glanced to her but she refused to meet his gaze and he was forced to ask.
"What markings dey be petite?" She swallowed the lump in her throat and held out her right arm, palm up. The beast stepped out from behind his desk with a strangely coloured light tube. He ran it along her arm a strange icy blue light was traced along the path he directed it in, stopping just above her wrists. Tattooed under her skin were the symbols 007.
"Remy never seen one wit' a star before. Ya know what dis means Hank?" The larger man shook his head.
"I've only ever seen the same one as you." He admitted as he placed the light back into his desk draw.
"It means ah ain't used for field work." She mumbled just loud enough for them to hear. Both turned to her, confusion in their equally unique eyes and astonishment that she had spoken. She looked up her eyes watering slightly. "Ah was used to con influential men into bed an' jus' for the tiniest piece of information." Her tone was bitter and her darting eyes filled with deep self hatred.
Remy glanced at the woman he had admired for the past few days as she had lay unconscious and he could see why she would be given such a task. She was undeniably beautiful and unique, a prize any rich and mindless male official would inevitably wish to claim as his own. Regardless of weather or not she had truly wanted the same. It made his blood boil just thinking that some man could have had his own wicked way with her and that she would not have been able to so much as protest for fear of her life. He could see Hank giving her a similar sympathetic look as she fought away the tears and rubbed her nose on the back of her hand.
"Excuse Remy mon ami, but do you think dat maybe de patient be well enough for a walk." The beast stifled a small laugh which earned him a confused glare from the girl.
"After her little out break I think that she is quite possibly more than ready for some exercise." She smiled in thanks at the large beast, thankful that he held no grudge for her earlier actions. He turned his back on them and returned with a damp cloth. "Here, this should take off that blood." He told her as he handed her the cloth and signalled to her arm. Remy glanced at the arm worriedly.
"She alright?"
"Oh yes, she just pulled out her IV earlier, nothing to worry about. After all it appears she didn't need it as much as I first thought." She held out the cloth for him to take from her.
"Thank ya." She spoke in a small whisper of a voice and the beast smiled at her as he took the cloth.
"Any time." She smiled again before Remy took her hand in his own. She leant away from the hold worried that he would try and get too close.
"Come on cherie lets get ya somethin' t' wear." She looked down at the torn clothes she had been wearing the day she tried to escape and nodded. Remy looked over her for a few moments and she felt slightly uneasy with the way his eyes searched her body. "Remy think ya be about de same size as Betsy, lets go dere first." He pulled gently at her arm as he tried to get her to walk with him but she stood still continuing to lean away from him. "S'ok she not bite, mais she mite try an' get Remy but ya be fine." He sighed as he released her hand and approached her, stopping on the very edge of her personal space. "Lets try dis again, eh?" She wasn't sure what he meant but she made a small nodding motion.
"Not getting anywhere fast with this one are you?" Laughed the large beast and she blushed shyly as she glanced at the floor. Remy frowned but outstretched his hand, not quite touching the skin of her chin but guiding her eyes back to meet his regardless. When her eyes met his again he dropped his hand lower and left it extended for her to take.
"Remy don' mean ya no harm." He reassured her as she glanced between his eyes and his outstretched hand. Slowly she raised her own hand but hesitated just above his, she glanced back to the beast.
"Just let me know if this Cajun charmer gets a bit much, I know a friend who'd still like to have a word about his bike." He winked at her and she noticed how uneasy thesouthern man offering her his hand looked at the statement. She placed her hand in his, now reassured that nothing bad would happen. He smiled at her and slowly guided her to his side.
"Come on 'fore Logan realises Remy be in here." She smiled as he released her hand and let her walk alongside him at her own pace.
When they had climbed up the elegant staircase and made it onto the second floor they had walked down numerous corridors each as ornately decorated as the last until they finally reached a dark wooden door which she assumed lead to 'Betsy's' room. Remy reached out and knocked on the door. "Betsy, cherie ya got a moment Remy needs a favour." There was the sound of muffled voices before a young woman with purple hair and a scarlet scar across her right eye answered the door.
"What do you want Remy?"
"Remy jus' wanted t' know if ya had some clothes ya could led de fille." He responded and the woman glanced behind him at Rogue as she glanced at her from behind Remy. The woman's features softened as she invited them both in.
"Don't worry darling, that's just Warren." She signalled to the winged man silhouetted against the window. She glanced over Rogue as Remy had in the infirmary and Rogue shuffled close to Remy's side a little uneasy with her surroundings as the woman disappearing into a walk-in closet.
"Don' worry petite, Remy got ya." He reassured her as she looked as if she were reaching to cling to his arm. Betsy quickly returned with an arm full of clothes and she lay them out on the bed.
"Don't worry about giving anything back I've been meaning to clear out my wardrobe anyway.
"About time she did, everything spills out into the room anyway." The winged man moved away from the window and smiled at Rogue while Betsy gave him an intense glare. "I don't think anyone's told us your name." He informed her as he stopped near the fuming Betsy as she sorted through the clothes.
"Rogue, mah name's Rogue." She told them as Betsy rushed to her side and held a selection of clothes against her body. A little taken back by the action she shuffled back to Remy's side.
"Don't panic, you look like a deer caught in head lights." Betsy smiled at her reassuringly as she took her hand and guided her over to the bed. "These are the ones that I think will fit you but your welcome to take whatever you like." Betsy signalled to a pile she had formed on one side of the bed and then to another pile that was up for grabs. Rogue looked lost amongst the wide selection that had been thrown in front of her and Remy stepped in.
"Why don' we take it all den ya can try dem on an' decide, ya welcome t' use Remy's room." He smiled at her as he picked up one of the piles and signalled for Rogue to fetch the other; unsure as to how Betsy could have carried both piles all in one go. Betsy gave him a swift frown and Warren seemed to have quickly returned to the window.
"Don't you let him get a peak at you changing sweetie and if he does your welcome to my help beating him for it." She smiled at Betsy almost laughing at the joke and Betsy smiled back. "You take care luv." Rogue nodded as Remy hurriedly lead her away from Betsy before she could plant any more ideas in Rogue's mind.
"People here don't seemed t' think much o' ya." It was more of a question than a statement and Remy looked shocked at the sound of her voice. Remy opened the door at which he had paused and signalled for her to enter first.
"Dey jus' don' know how t' handle de southern charm. Ya were quiet back dere Cherie any reason for dat?" He told her as he lay the clothes on the bed. She raised a questioning eyebrow at his statement as she put the clothes she was carrying with those Remy had just dropped.
"Ah'm not really comfortable with psychics." She admitted as he nodded.
"Neither's Remy." He reassured her by opening up slightly aware that Betsy had more than likely tried to probe her mind. "Still dere be a few o' dem here but dey harmless so long as ya don' get dem mad." She smiled at his statement.
"Sounds like ya know from experience." She questioned him with a raised eyebrow but he ignored it and tried to change the subject.
"Anyway, Dere's a bathroom through dat door on de right ya more dan welcome t' use it." She nodded and smiled to suggest she had taken his answer as a yes when he handed her a folded towel.
"Thank ya." She spoke softly and he though he might have drown in her voice had a knock at his door not distracted his attention.
"I'm comin' in Cajun weather ya like it or not!" Before he could even open his mouth to protest his door was thrown open and a man of stocky build stormed into the room. "Ya better have a good reason for runnin' off with my bike or it'll be Cajun for dinner, bub." Rogue's eyes widened at the sound of the man's voice and grew wider still when he came into view. Remy was shocked when her surprise grew into a fierce frown and her emerald eyes shimmered with anger.
"You! Ya promised ya'd come back for us!" She lunged at the man and it took all of Remy's strength just to hold her back.
"Mais, dis ain't exactly how Remy imagined holdin' ya." Remy joked as she swung an arm free of his grip and he struggled to hold her where she was.
"Darlin' I'm sorry but I don't remember ya, should I?" Logan put up his hands in defence and admitted. Instantly she stopped struggling against Remy's hold and he felt a wave of grief take over the woman's body.
"Yeah ya should ya promised t' get meh out o' the programme almost five years ago." Logan's frown deepened as he tried to remember the girl. She sighed and hung her head in defeat as Remy continued to hold her upper arms from behind, more no for comfort than Logan's safety. Although he had to admit it would have been funny to see Logan knocked off his feet. She looked up with teary eyes, "Ya promised t' keep Creed away from meh." Remy could feel her fighting her emotions as she freed herself from his grip. She approached the stocky man calmly but a bitter snarl quickly appeared on her face. "So much for ya promises, eh sugah?" As soon as the affectionate term slipped through her lips Logan's eyes widened just as Rogue's had at the sight of him. He looked as if the floor had been pulled from underneath his feet and he leant against the doorframe a huge weight having been dropped on his shoulders.
"Ya the little girl with the poisonous touch ain't ya?" She kept her back turned on both men and fought away the tears, poisonous, was that still what everyone thought?
"Poisonous?" Remy's voice echoed Logan's statement and she bit on her lip to banish the tears the word brought.
"Yeah, ah hold on long enough ya'll become just another empty shell." She crossed her arms over her chest hugging herself as she stared at the world she could see just outside the room's only window.
"I'm sorry darlin', sorry I didn't help ya." She glanced over her shoulder as a tear slid across the smooth skin of her cheek.
"Sorry doesn't make up for years of abuse though, does it?" She spoke so calmly it sent a chill down both men's spines. She walked towards the window and opened it just enough for her to climb out. "Ya'll want t' help then ya should just forget." She told them sadly as she hovered just outside the window before soaring upwards. Remy ran over to the window and glanced back at Logan with a one sided smile.
"Dat went well don' ya think?" He raised an eyebrow and Logan grunted before leaving the room taking one last look at the window as he left.
Review and I'll update, you all know the drill. Thanks to everyone that read/ re-read the first chapter.
Bye for now
