Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men Or Anything Related To The X-Men. I Do Not Own The Song "Why Stay?/A Promise" From The Musical Next To Normal.

Thank you to everyone who looked at the previous chapter. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your busy lives to look at this story and chapter. The chapter's title and a large part of Anna and Remy's argument was taken from the song 'Why Stay?/A Promise" from the musical Next To Normal. Thanks to Jehilew for a lovely review and also lots of help in the planning of this chapter.

Remy LeBeau was unsure of almost everything as he trudged through the mountainous terrain surrounding the outskirts of Meridan.

After watching Rogue's icy vanishing act, the entire mansion came unglued. Within seconds, voices were shouting down every hallway while men and women of various colors and mutations raced off to check each nook and cranny for one terrified woman. The X-Men, and even Lydia, had tried in vain to talk to Remy, to grab his attention long enough to assign him to a search party or something. But it all felt like more senseless noise in the growing panic.

Each word bounced off him and fell into the forgotten abyss without a single acknowledgment. Every plan they attempted to hobble together was nothing more than a giant waste of precious time to the fidgety Cajun. He didn't need their help, or their concern, and he certainly did not appreciate the pitying looks attempting to swallow Lydia and himself whole.

What Remy needed, was the woman who made both his heart soar and mind race. Their relationship wasn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. He knew down to his bones the condition of his mind was becoming as fucked up as hers. But it couldn't lay a hand on the simple fact she was the person he loved with more strength than his heart ever believed possible.

"Chere," He whispered the name when his red eyes finally spotted the pained woman.

She stood a short distance away on a flat rock that jutted out the side of the mountain trail. Surprisingly, she seemed somewhat steady. Her bare feet gripped the boulder with great force as if she expected some disturbance would soon try to rattle her frail body. He knew she'd heard him approach based on the swift tilt of her head and the slow rise of her shoulders.

Yes, Anna knew that Remy was only steps away, but she absolutely refused to turn and face him.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered, her arm's clutching her torso for warmth against the evening chill.

Out of habit, he reached out and gently touched her covered shoulders with toasty hands. The simple move scared the woman so thoroughly; she leaped off the rock and into the air.

Rogue hovered silently above Remy while he offered a soft apology, before slowly floating back to the ground. He'd figured she'd be jumpy, but the terrified green eyes staring unblinkingly into his own were unsettling enough to knock the words right out of his mouth.

"I've been looking for you," Remy gradually spoke up, not wanting to scare the woman away, "You gave Remy quite a scare, Rogue."

Anna looked away from his face, whether it was to avoid seeing the honest expression of care radiating through those ember colored eyes or just to keep herself distant from everything, he wasn't sure.

"I know you're scared…" Still treating her like an anxious forest creature, the Cajun outstretched his hand towards her.

"Stop saying that!" She growled ferociously, "None of you know!"

"Well then," Slowly, the hand dropped back to his side, "Talk to me. Tell me what I need to know to understand. I want to help you." Despite the rage hiding behind her hisses, Remy remained calm and focused every fiber of energy at his disposal into concern for the panicked woman.

She was quiet for a moment, and then suddenly demanded, "Why stay?"

"What?"

"Why do you stay?" She took a step towards him repeating the request in a louder voice, "Why not just go on with your life?! I know, you know, we all know you tried, but this won't work."

Remy furrowed his brows and the pain in his gut lurched with each syllable Rogue uttered, "Of course it won't work if you just give up and let him win!"

Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure why he was already yelling. It wasn't out of anger so much as pure panic. One look into those big green eyes and every nightmare Remy'd battled from the start of the entire Lenox ordeal flooded his mind until he was so far adrift he felt no one would hear his cries without the added vocal strength.

"You think I'm just giving up?" The audacity of his claim nearly knocked her over, "Do you have any idea how tired I am? How much energy it takes to stand here and not let the psyche screaming in my head tear everyone in my life limb from limb?! I can't fight this forever Remy!"

Two could play the dance of stubbornness, "That is why you have me and all your friends and family! Trust me. You have to trust that together we can fix this. We can make this better."

"And this is better? Hoping and hurting day after fucking day!" Anna's brows furrowed in matching frustration before she poked the man square in the chest, "Why not just end it with this failure?!

"They'd all understand it, Remy. They'd say you're better off being free!" She backed away from him, the bite of her words lost to a far more overwhelming self-hatred, "And maybe… I'd be better off free of me too…"

"A promise."

"What?" The words were soft as if her voice were still trapped within the depression of her mind.

"I promised that I was going to see us through anything this damned dimension throws our way."

Anna didn't speak at first. She did look back up to his face, despite the instinctual urge to hide the tears threatening to fall at any minute.

"You want to know why I stay? Why I will always stay right beside you?" He stepped forward and grabbed her upper arms. She didn't fight the hold, despite how firmly he clutched her and how powerfully Remy's eyes stared into her own moist pair. "I love you."

The simple phrase was the sweetest poison Rogue had ever experienced. She yanked herself from his grip and placed a hand on her forehead, as the ground suddenly became unreliable. In one single sentence, Remy LeBeau had brought her to the height of delight and the depth of terror. Anna shoved the mixing emotions as deep as humanly possible into the bottom of her heart.

"How could you say that?!" She asked in a hissed whisper feeling safest when anger flooded her bloodstream again. She knew the feeling well and didn't doubt she'd be able to tackle and control this creature far better than the swelling of matching affection for Remy attempting to break through her shields. "After all the crap I drug you through…and you say that you l…"

"I love you." He repeated, not willing to back down when she choked on the word.

"You can't love a monster, Remy!"

Anna placed both her palms against her closed eyes and tried to take calming breaths.

How many times had she foolishly wondered what it would be like to hear those words? She'd always known, in her heart of hearts, love for a person, a rogue, like her would end badly for everyone. She could only hope to save Remy from his stupidity before her own emotions tried to reciprocate his statement.

"You are not a monster." Remy moved forward again, his voice solid and strong like a life preserver tossed to a drowning man. "You're an unstoppable whirlwind of strength, intelligence, and beauty that leaves people quaking in their boots."

As Anna's hands slid from her face Remy took the initiative to step so close their chests touched.

The tears welled up in her eyes until Anna could no longer see Remy's face clearly. Why did he have to be so foolish? Why couldn't he forget her and save himself from this entire mess? Why did he torture her with fantasies that could never be?!

"I don't know even know what's going to happen tomorrow and… and you talk about this thing?"

"Love, Chere." The word had a freeing effect, and he refused to hide the emotion any longer. She needed to know she was loved now more than ever. "I'm talking about love."

"There you go again! Would you quit spouting off nonsense for one minute!" She wiped unproductively at the tears now streaming down her face.

"It isn't nonsense. Maybe you don't love me now, maybe you won't ever, but for me, this is love, Cherie. Real and unconditional..." Remy slowly stroked her wild curls; "You're right about one thing, Petit. None of us know what's going to happen in this life. And that," he leaned so close their lips were mere inches apart, "Is exactly why I won't spend another day pretending you are anything but my love et mon tres coeur (and my very heart)."

It felt, to Anna, as if the very sky was conspiring with the man to produce a clean slate between them. A large crack of thunder erupted overhead and a steady fall of rain washed over the pair. It was impossible for Remy to tell what were tears and what was rainfall, but it no longer seemed to matter. Her skinny arms clutched his middle tightly, as if she fully believed he'd vanish at any moment, while her forehead leaned against his shoulder.

"You're an idiot." She mumbled in heartbreaking humor as he held her shaking form against his chest.

"I know, I know," He laughed softly and tightened the embrace, knowing full well she could only be pushed so far in this state.

"I can't…" She started to try and formulate some response to his admissions, then stopped as a wave of dizziness overtook her. Her knees buckled, but Remy easily scooped her into his arms bride style. "Remy…"

"Non," He kissed the top of her head and started looking around the area for a small hiding spot. "It's okay. Just rest for now."

The weather wasn't the worst he'd ever dealt with, but the longer he could keep Rogue away from all of the noise and confusion of the mansion, the better. She was far safer with just him anyway. It was all of the outside forces that kept trying to poke at her, which set everything off. Maybe they couldn't stay hidden forever, but he could give her one night of peace. Just one night to rest before facing the uncertain future.

Thankfully, the rocky terrain offered a makeshift shelter a mere twenty feet up the trail. The floor was smooth, but the cave was unforgivingly small, forcing the pair to sit huddled together in the farthest corner from the entrance. Remy pulled Rogue onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her freezing body. She smiled softly at him, enjoying the warmth that always radiated from his muscular frame.

"Anyone ever tell you," She shivered and rested her head in the crook of his neck, glad, for once, for the thickness of her hair since it offered a shield between them, "You're a walkin' hot water bottle, Cajun?"

"Not the sexiest thing Remy's ever been called, but I'll take it as a compliment under the circumstances." The joke earned a small groan from Rogue and a short chuckle from himself.

As they sat in the silence, he battled an internal storm of fears and hopes. He couldn't admit he was pleased she didn't say those three words back to him right away, but he could understand the reluctance. Still, understanding it and enjoying it did not go hand in hand. Baring your soul and having someone cry in response still carried a decent sting.

Rogue's hand rested against his chest, as if she was trying to catch each beat of his heart in her memory. The sound was so steady and strong, that it easily started to lull her into a restful sleep. If only the whole world could be this consistent, she told herself as Remy planted a kiss on the crown of her head. If she only had some way to know, some inkling, that this could all be overcome. Then maybe, just maybe, she could have shouted back that all-important phrase.

She knew she felt it. Down to the depths of her body, she could feel that strange twinge of passion Remy LeBeau's twinkling eyes, flirtatious laugh, and warm embrace always brought out. But, she couldn't find a way to wade through the physical and mental dangers to tell him the truth. Each time she let him in, the risk to his life, one of the last precious jewels in her world, grew by terrifying heights.

If she really, truly loved this wonderful man, then telling him was the worst possible thing she could do…

Remy held his breath for a moment when Rogue's hand quickly left his chest. The movement wasn't fluid enough to convince him she'd simply fallen asleep. No, as he hummed a small tune to himself and massaged her back with one of his hands, Remy accepted she was trying to pull away again. It hurt, but he forced himself to ignore her reflex and merely keep their comforting embrace.

"Remy," She whispered.

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

After a moment of silence, Anna curled into a tighter ball in his arms and added, "Thank you for staying even if you had every reason to leave. I think I'm going to miss moments like this, wrapped up in your arms, more than anything…"

The words forced Remy into a still silence. His hand stopped rubbing and the comforting rhythm of his chest paused as well. It was an odd statement and he definitely did not care for the ominous tone coating the words, but at that very moment, in that desolate cave, Remy smiled softly and sought comfort where he could.

"I will always stay." His hand gently pulled her chin upwards and offered her a single kiss, "And you will always have my heart."