4

Rogue was sat on the guest bed, letting her fingers trail across the embroidered pattern in the quilt covers. Merci had stayed with her for some time, explaining that they had nothing to feel unearthed about. Unfortunately, she hadn't left Rogue with much faith about that.

Merci's began her rampaging about Jean-Luc before they had even reached the guest room. The man infuriated her and for good reason. Rogue listened fully to what Merci had to say about him. Merci told past stories about Jean-Luc basically trying to block her from Henri in the beginning of their relationship and push her nose out of everything just because she had been a waitress with seemingly no talent.

When Henri started bringing Merci home, Jean-Luc would separate the two and then provide Merci with a car back into the city, claiming something had arisen on Henri's part and he asked for her to be sent away. Of course, Henri never did so and never knew about his father's lie. That wasn't even the only time the man had intervened. There were other times Jean-Luc tried framing Merci as a cheater and gold digger by hiring escorts and planting family jewels in her possessions. Luckily, the pair managed to make it through all of Jean-Luc's hoops, mostly, thanks to Remy LeBeau.

Rogue found it comforting to hear how Remy had been the one to track Merci down after Henri was heartbroken the first time that she had, seemingly, just upped and left without saying anything. Remy had been the one to learn how Jean-Luc had intervened. When he did, he arranged it so that Henri's and Merci's paths would cross again. When it came to the escorts and the missing family jewels later on down the line, again, Remy had intervened.

Learning about Jean-Luc and Remy LeBeau's characters from Merci's past was an insight Rogue was glad to have. Merci had managed to make Jean-Luc sound like an aristocrat and Remy like an unusual hero. Of course, hearing how Jean-Luc had tried to get rid of Merci gave Rogue cause to worry. Worry since the mansion was in Jean-Luc's name and he could kick her out whenever he wanted to. Although, Rogue might have said earlier in the kitchen that they didn't need to do so much for her, she realised that, if she was forced out she would have nowhere to go and that terrified her. The power Jean-Luc had over her fate scared her. Merci had been employed, capable of supporting herself, independent and making his son happy when Jean-Luc decided to turn her away because he didn't see her as being valuable enough. Rogue couldn't even scratch the surface of what Merci had brought to the table so how on earth was she going to survive Jean-Luc?

Hearing how interfering and good hearted Remy seemed to be though gave her a little hope considering he was the one who was supposed to know her. Although, those questioning looks of his earlier made her question that. She even questioned if the LeBeau brother's had enough power and will to keep her with them.

"Hey, I know that look! Don't y' be goin' worryin' none!" Merci snapped at Rogue, pointing her finger at her.

Rogue explained why she was on edge about Jean-Luc and Merci tried her best to reassure her by claiming she wasn't going anywhere. That Henri, Tante and Remy would defend her. Then, that brought her to Remy.

"Remy… Is he the one with the, erm…" Rogue trailed off, unsure if she was being rude by bringing up his eyes.

"The red an' black eyes? Oui, dat be him. Handsome devil, ain't he?"

Rogue blushed at that, turning her head away. Of course she wasn't going to say that she'd noticed what Merci had a long while ago.

"He didn't seem ta recognise meh," Rogue said, trying to move the conversation on.

"Sure he did! He just be confused as hell when first seein' y'. Not every day some légende shows up on y' door step wit' memory lose," Merci said.

Rogue couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous that sounded.

"Henri'll clear up de confusion. Make it so y' stayin' put. It probably be tomorrow when y' can speak with him though, so there be no point in broodin' tonight. A girl needs her sleep, so get tucked up an' sleep!" Merci demanded, finally leaving Rogue alone to pull at her bedding.

Of course, there was a lot to take in from the past few hours and a lot of unanswered questions running around Rogue's mind which she was trying to sort through. Sleeping seemed to be one of the last things on her mind when there was so much more going on. But, she did feel a pull in that direction. Her body was screaming out to her that it was tired and wanted to rest. Laying half way down on a satin bed wasn't helping her fight against her demanding body.

"Hope I ain't interruptin'," came a deep voice from the doorway.

The voice shuck Rogue. She hadn't even realised Remy was there or that the door Merci left a jar had been opened fully. The ebony and crimson eyed man leaned against the door way as casually as he did downstairs in the kitchen. There was a resting smirk on his face and a glimmer in his eyes that made the end of every nerve in Rogue's body feel hot.

Rogue pushed herself up a little on the bed.

"Why ya here?" Rogue asked.

She saw Remy's smirk grew slightly and he snorted a little, amused.

"Y' do remember I live here, non? Or y' losin' memories by de second?" he asked.

Rogue stared at his smirk for a time. He seemed to be a lot eaiser with her now then he was downstairs. She wondered why. She also hoped she hadn't just been rude.

"Ah meant why ya visitin' meh? Is there somethin' wrong?" Rogue asked, not quite sure how else to phase what she meant.

Remy tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrow in question.

"Are y' losin' memories by the second?" he questioned again, this time, seeming more serious.

Rogue huffed, not knowing why his attitude was irritating her so.

"You're the only one who seems ta be repeatin' himself 'round here. Ya sure you don't need your head examined!?" she asked him.

It had felt right in the moment, but once those words left her mouth, she worried about what she had just said.

But this just brought out a chuckling from the man. That reaction to her rudeness wasn't what she was expecting.

"Guessin' dat be a non then," Gambit said, beginning to stride into the guest room.

Rogue felt the stress in her shoulders ease as Remy began to pay attention to the objects on top of the draw set rather than her.

"Ah remember everythin' that happened up ta the swamp. Nothin' before that. Ya been told 'bout that part?" Rogue asked.

"Oui, mon frére told moi everythin' he knows. Had t' go playin' with de Rippers wit'out me, didn't y'?" he questioned, turning to lean against the draw set now.

Rogue snorted at his phrasing of words.

"Ah t'ink we have different ideas of fun," Rogue replied, wondering if to ask more about them facing the Rippers together. It did sound like there was more behind that than what Henri had explained, but she wasn't sure.

"Don't know how true dat be chérie. Y' seemed t' like de jazz bar I took y' to last time y' be down here," he said.

"Jazz bar?" Rogue questioned, tilting her head as she thought back to her earlier wanderings around the French Quarter. "That wouldn't'a been Sacha's bar, would it?" she asked, remembering the hanging sign over that ginger man's head. She was sure he and his friends had come out of that bar whicht had jazz music coming from it.

"I see ain't all y' memories gone then," Remy responded, seeming a little disappointed, maybe.

Rogue, on the other hand, was in-between being proud she'd kind of remembered something and discouraged by the way Remy looked at her.

"So, ya took meh to a jazz bar?" she questioned, glancing around the room as Remy's gaze was making her uncomfortable.

"Oui," Remy said, keeping his head situated as he thought himself. "Y' agreed t' help mon out wit' some issues I had an' I agreed t' showin' y' a good time in return."

Rogue's cheeks flushed red as an "oh," slipped from her mouth.

Remy's smirk grew at the way Rogue's mind seemed to take that information. He decided to put her out of her misery before a vain burst in her face.

"Ouais, treated y' t' Mardi Gras, jazz, drinks an' raidin' the Ripper's mansion," he said.

"Ya mean, that's all we did?" Rogue questioned, hating how red she'd become. The fact that she was half lay down in a bed too didn't help the heat she was feeling. Rogue moved to curled up in a ball.

Remy was finding the whole scenario hilarious. Rogue sure did have a special way of making things interesting without trying.

"Didn't have much time for anythin' else when y' famille showed up t' take y' home."

"Mah family? You know them?" Rogue questioned.

"We've meet. Can't say we be well acquainted. They don't much like moi," he said, glancing away from her and beginning to mess around with a vase on top of the draw set. "They probably be up in cahoots 'bout y' by now. Best be returnin' y' t' em. Sooner the better," he said, folding his arms over his chest and now glancing at her.

Rogue's jaw had dropped open slightly. There were so many emotions consuming her. Curiosity about her past with Remy and her family. It sounded as if she had a caring family. She was confused though how she'd ended up the way she had if they cared about her. And then, hearing that last part, about returning her to her family quickly, it just made her feel like she was sinking. It felt like her heart was slipping down slowly and painfully into her stomach and she couldn't breathe until it finally arrived there.

"Ya takin' meh to em tonight?" Rogue asked, barely above a whisper.

Remy was trying to read her. Read why, out of all he'd said, that had been her go to. Wouldn't she be happy to be reunited with her family again? Maybe there was a bigger story behind everything. She did look vunerable and at a total lose. He spotted her worry and fear too. It made him question just how Rogue had ended up in the swamps with no memory and what happened to her.

"Not if y' ain't up for de two hour flight," Remy said, giving her a way out.

Rogue stared down at her knees, not understanding her feelings herself. There was just something about being whisked off to another house she probably wouldn't recognise or know anyone that just put her on edge.

"Do ya think ah could stay here for the night?" she asked, glancing back up at Remy. "Or, does Jean-Luc want meh out?"

"Y' be welcome t' stay as long as y' need, chérie. Just so long as y' famille don't come burstin' through our home, claimin' we kidnapped y' or nothin'."

"What? No, ah'm sure they'd understand that y'all were helpin' meh." Rogue said, bewildered by that image of her caring family. "Ah bet they'll be more thankful than anythin' y' family helped meh out an' gave meh a bed ta sleep in."

Gambit raised a sceptical eyebrow with some humour behind his eyes. "Sure, why would they blow open our front door?"

Rogue frowned, not completely understanding what was so amusing. What did he know that she didn't? It was really frustrating.

"What they like? Mah family," she asked.

Gambit snorted at that and pushed up from the set of draws.

"Dat best be a question answered another day. Y' be tired, non?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"I answer y' questions in de mornin' Rogue. Y' ain't the only one done out from de day," he said, grasping the door handle and pulling it to as he went to leave the room.

"Wait," Rogue called, jumping up on the bed onto her knees.

Remy halted and turned to gaze at her over his shoulder.

"Ya can't just come in, talk about somethin' like that then leave meh hangin'. Tell meh somethin'," Rogue asked of him.

Sighing, Remy leaned back against the door as he turned to face the room some more.

"Alright, y' get a question answered for de night. But just one an' a small one at dat," Remy said.

Rogue leaned back on her heels, feeling slightly more reassured that Remy wasn't going to go flying off somewhere. What he'd agreed to though made it harder on her to think what to ask. Her family, he was refusing to speak about. She thought about herself. Wondered if there was a question she could ask about herself, but she wasn't too sure what she should ask. She didn't know much about herself to ask about and she didn't want to ask something small and seemingly insignificant like her age or birthday. She thought for a moment longer.

"How did we meet?" she came up with.

Remy gave nothing away on his face at her question. He just had that resting smirk applied to him and a pause as he thought.

"That ain't a small thing," he said.

Rogue shrugged her shoulders.

"How'm ah supposed ta know. Ya agreed ta one question. Just make it as short as ya can," she responded, moving to sit cross legged on the bed.

Remy snorted at her response, shaking his head slightly as he folded his arms, returning to leaning against the door frame.

"I be doin' a job in Bayville. Where y' famille be located. Henri told y' 'bout de work?" he questioned.

"Yeah, he told meh. So, you were doin' a job an' what?" she asked.

"Well, let's say there be people after mon who didn't like what I be up to," he said.

"Like the Rippers?" Rogue asked.

"They're be a bit more t' de thieves an' Rippers not likin' what de other does, but that's a story for another time. These people, they wanted t' stop mon job an' it be mon job not t' let em."

Rogue nodded her head, making a mental note to ask Merci or someone tomorrow what the deal was between the Rippers and the thieves if Remy didn't tell her before then. She let that thought settle and tried her best to keep calm and just accept what Remy was telling her without question.

"We were in a cargo field an' y' decided t' take'a wonder 'round there wit' y' famille when mon team collided with de ones who be tryna stop us. There were explosions of all kinds happenin' an' y' got separated from y' famille. Y' weren't one for bein' a damsel in distress though an' were on y' guard, willin' t' take on whatever threat approached y'. I spotted y' creepin' 'round some crates an' didn't think y' belonged there, so I went t' give y' a helpin' hand in stayin' outta trouble."

Rogue's eyebrow rose at this. The whole story just seemed so abnormal. But, then again her current situation seemed to be an abnormal one too. Did she have a normal life?

"Y' went t' jump mon, but y' stopped right 'fore y' did anythin'," he said, stopping and tilting his head as his smirk grew.

That smirk made her uneasy.

"Then what?" she asked, not liking the build up.

"Well, I guess y' could say it be love at first sight," he finished, smirking ever so smugly.

"Love?" Rogue questioned, her jaw dropping wide open in dis belief.

Was it true? Were they really in love? Were they a thing? Were they dating? Used to date? What?

"There be sparks flyin' 'tween us for sure. Literal sparks what broke us apart an' had us runnin' in different directions," he said, so enjoying her reaction. "Y' ended up back wit' y' famille. I ended up gettin' de job done, everyone walked away unshaved."

Remy stopped. Rogue waited for him to keep talking. To tell her more of the story, but it didn't seem like he was going to.

"That's it? That's how we meet? But what 'bout after? How did we, erm…" Rogue trailed off, not wanting to say the words that entered her mind.

"Y' asked for de story of how we meet, not how we became acquainted. An' dat be y' bedtime story for de night. De beaux réves, chérie," he said, closing the door fully, even after hearing Rogue's protests.

Remy couldn't help but smirk to himself as he put his hands in his pockets. His smugness didn't last long however as he walked down the corridor and around the corner to where he knew the man had been waiting.

"Enjoy de story?" Remy asked Jean-Luc.

Jean-Luc was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and a smirk of his own on his face.

"So, y' ain't sendin' her away after all. What changed y' mind?" he asked.

Remy was frowning as he made his way pasted his father.

"Don't push it Jean-Luc," he warned, "Don't push it."

xxxxx

French Translations

Oui - Yes
Légende -Legend
Non- No
Mon Frére - My Brother
Chérie -Darling
Ouais - Yeah
Famille - Family
Beaux réves - Sweet Dreams