It had been a long, grueling flight from the Pan Pacific and all Rogue wanted to do was go into hibernation like a grizzly. The mission Fury had hired her for had seemed like a piece of cake until she actually had to go up against Viper in combat. She was one nasty bitch and had actually bit her at one point during their fight. Other than Creed, what kind of heathen bit another person during a fight?

Rogue absent-mindedly rubbed her forearm where old bandages covered the wound and the long sleeves of her shirt covered her deadly skin. Viper had actually managed to leave pretty deep teeth marks that had required a few stitches, even through her long-sleeved shirt. Hopefully, Fury would file her fangs down, or better yet, pull all her teeth out with pliers.

The image of a toothless Viper trying to gum her prison food caused her to smirk.

The cab pulled to a stop in front of the address her mother had given her. The green mansion was one of the many homes Raven had across the world and Rogue had actually lived here for about a month when she was younger. The mere memory of the little brat who had called her Pepe because of the 'skunk stripe' in her hair and pulled her pig tails made her glower. If she never saw Belladonna Boudreaux again it would be too soon.

She paid the cabby and crawled out, hauling her rucksack out with her. Trudging up to the front door at a slow pace, she hadn't been this banged up in a long time and was feeling the effect of not only her fight with Viper and her Hydra minions, but also the thirty-seven hour flight that had landed in New Orleans. What she needed was a nap, or a coma, either way she would be sleeping for the foreseeable future.

She twisted the knob and walked through the front door to be greeted up the over priced elegance that was her mothers taste in interior decor. Mystique had always said that she took after her father more than she'd like. Rogue had actually never met her father, a wild man who went by the moniker of Wolverine, though she had heard plenty about him over the years.

Rogue glanced around the empty entry hall and caught sight of the stairs. She had forgotten that her room was on the third floor of the mansion and didn't look forward to the trek up there. On the other hand, Rogue turned her attention to the drawing-room off to her left, there was a perfectly good couch not ten feet from where she stood. So, dropping her rucksack in the middle of the floor she sluggishly made her way over looking like a zombie with the moans of the half dead to pull it off.

Rogue turned and sat on the arm of the couch before letting herself fall back into the firm, but comfortable cushions of the couch, her legs dangling over the arm. Her stiff joints and sore muscles relaxed as she took a deep breath, her eyes already drifting closed. Rogue turned her head to face the back of the couch when she couldn't properly fall asleep with the sun shinning through her eyelids, but even then it was too bright. She groped around above her head until she found a pillow and planted it over her face, using her arms over top of it to hold it in place.

And with that, Rogue drifted off into the land of dreams.

XxX

Remy stepped out of the car, following his father and brother up to the small mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans. It was a beautiful house full of the antebellum charm this city was famous for. Unfortunately, it housed the mutant Mystique. Now, he had never actually met the woman, the reason he was so ticked off about meeting her now was because he had been forced to follow along like a puppy.

Sure, he had responsibilities to the Guild to go on visits such as this, but that didn't mean he wanted to. He gave a long-suffering sigh as he came to stand on the porch with the other two men, Henri turned around to shoot a glare at him warning him to behave. Remy rolled his eyes as soon as he turned back around.

The door opened and they were ushered into the foyer by a plump older woman in an apron. The woman made to usher the three into the den to await Lady Darkholme when the woman herself walked in. Her blue skin was a sharp contrast from her bright yellow eyes and fire engine hair, she was mutant and proud.

"Jean-Luc." She nodded cordially before the two leaned into each other so he could place the custom kiss on her cheek.

"Raven."

Her black spotted eyes turned to Henri and then to Remy. "My, your boys have grown up fast. Last I saw of you two, you were running around with your cousins reeking havoc."

Henri chuckled good-naturedly because when their father stepped down, it would be up to him to maintain their out of Guild contacts. Remy, who would have no such responsibility, merely offered a polite smile if only to avoid a lecture.

"Let us move this to the drawing-room." Darkholme said and led them into the room to the left of the front door.

Since Remy was lagging behind the rest of them, he was the only one who saw the look of panic on the maid's face as they walked into the room. Finally turning to join the others he saw that they had stopped just inside the room. Leaning to the side told him why.

There was a pair of slim, denim covered legs wearing boots hanging over the couch. Not something he had expected to see. Remy glanced over to see that Jean-Luc looked amused while Darkholme looked annoyed.

"Am Ah ta assume that this is ya daughter, Anna-Marie?" Jean-Luc asked as he rocked back on the heels of his feet.

"Her flight wasn't supposed to land until tonight. I assume she caught an earlier connection and didn't bother to tell me." Mystique didn't look pleased to see her daughter sleeping in the room where she entertained guests.

Remy moved over to stand beside his brother instead of partially behind so that he could have a better look at her. Someone, probably the house keeper, had laid a thin throw over her and added to the fact that she was clutching a pillow over her head, it made it impossible to tell exactly what her body type was. The only part of her that wasn't covered by the pillow or throw were her legs, covered in jeans, her feet, covered in work boots, her forearms, covered in a long-sleeved shirt and her hands, covered in black leather gloves. Odd choice of dress for the indian summer that had gripped their fair state this year.

"Ah assume she is comin' ta the Ball this Saturday?" Jean-Luc asked and gave a meaningful glance to Remy.

Remy stared at him blankly pretending he didn't understand the meaning behind the look his father gave him. Ever since his twenty-first birthday two years ago his brother and father had been trying to set him up with women to marry. But he wasn't the marrying type, he was the love 'em and leave 'em type. God help him if he ever found himself in a relationship.

Mystique lifted one perfectly sculpted red eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're after Anna-Marie for your son too?"

Remy glanced down at the girl. If Jean-Luc was after her, then that meant she was of proper Guild marrying age. He wondered if she had her mother's coloring or even if she had the same mutation. Sleeping with a metamorph could be fun, it'd be like having a new girl every night. It sounded like a good idea, but there would undoubtedly be a down side to sleeping with a shape shifter as they were often too tricky for his liking.

"S'pose Marius an' Julian been by then?"Jean-Luc asked with a slight frown.

The two Guilds had never gotten along and the lesser ranks were often on the brink of a full-out war with each other if it weren't for the firm hands of their Patriarchs. How Jean-Luc and Marius managed to put up with them all was beyond him and it made him respect both Julian and Henri a little more for willingly taking on the role of guild master in training.

"Yes, Marius was here earlier in the week with his son." She said and moved out of the room, the men following her.

It had been odd talking about the girl as though she wasn't there when she had only been sleeping two feet away.

Remy slide a glance to Henri who was smirking smugly at him which he returned with a scowl. Henri hadn't been a fan of the old traditions until he and Mercy had met several years ago. Now, he was a firm believer that Remy would see the error of his way when the right girl came along. But that was the problem, to him, all the girl's were varying degrees of 'right'.

There was the right now girl who was perfect for a quick fuck up against the nearest wall. The right for tonight girl who would take him home for a couple of rounds before he would disappear before the rising sun. And then there was the right time girl who stayed on retainer and was always a good lay. There had never been a Mrs. Right though as Remy had every intention of being a bachelor for the rest of his days.

Mystique had led them out onto the patio that was part of the courtyard garden. The garden wasn't as big as the one at the LeBeau Mansion, but it was pretty just the same with its many rose and flower bushes. There was even a small pool near the back of the courtyard surrounded by greenery to make it look like some mystic pool that you would expect to see fairies flying around.

Raven took a seat in one of the wrought iron patio chairs and the LeBeau men followed suit. "So tell me 'bout ya fille. She still as scrappy as she was las' Ah saw her?" Jean-Luc asked as the house keeper from before brought out a tray of glasses and lemonade.

Mystique stopped the woman and told her to wake her daughter up and move her to her room before turning her attention to Jean-Luc. "Yes, she takes after her father for some inexplicable reason. The two have never met and it's almost as if he raised her." She said before serving the lemonade.

Jean-Luc chuckled at the apparent inside joke that he and Henri weren't privy to. Remy leaned forward to take his glass and took a sip. There really was no reason for him to be here other than to show him off to Mystique like a prized horse. He should have known better when Jean-Luc told him to change into something nicer than jeans and a tee-shirt.

"Tha's always the way, non?" He said amicably.

"It seems so."

Henri decided to speak up this time. "Ah don' remember meetin' Anna-Marie las' time ya were in town, is she a mutant like you?"

"Yes, though if you have any more questions about her mutation then you'll just have to wait until the ball to ask her." She said, hedging around the inquiry neatly.

While Remy couldn't care less about Anna-Marie or her secret mutation, both his brother and father took the hint with slight disappointment. For as long as Remy could remember, it had always been a race against the two Guilds to bring mutants with a supirior power into the family. He had heard Henri mention on the way over how the Assassin Patriarchs had been after Mystique for years. And now that her daughter was of proper marrying age it was time to try to marry her into the family.

He spent the next hour and a half listening as 'Raven' and Jean-Luc caught up with each other. Henri would throw his two cents in every now and then but Remy kept quiet, only answering when spoken to. He was sure he would get an ear full when they left but right now he couldn't bring himself to care. Remy was perfectly capable of choosing his own bed buddies and didn't need the assisstance of his family trying to set him up with someone more lasting.

Finally it was time to leave and as they walked across the front hall he glanced into the drawing-room to see the same pair of legs still hanging over the arm rest of the couch. He glanced at Mystique to see her glowering at the legs before she turned and finished escorting them out.

He was tempted to throw a card with a small charge into the room to give her a nasty wake up but decided against it. He was already walking on thin ice as it was with his father. He bid the metamorph a polite goodbye before following Henri and Jean-Luc to the car.

A/N

I do actually intend to finish my stories, I have the next chapter on most of them half way written. I work on them when I have time or when I really get in the mood for a particular story. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter so please review and let me know.