Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.
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For the pattering of one trembling beat of her heart, Rogue thought he was running, feared he might be breaking every promise he'd ever made. But that was all nonsense because there was no way he'd leave his P'tite behind. Burnt rubber hung in the air with the alluring aroma of gasoline and exhaust, a leftover from the reckless stunt Remy pulled that left them sitting on the shoulder with his bike rumbling away beneath them like a restless horse chomping at the bit.
"Never did I think when I came here that it live up to its name, the City of Angels, but I find a few, neh?"
Los Angeles City Limit the sign read, nearly four million souls in all calling it home. All she wanted was to see the Pacific when she picked it, but the tension she felt in Remy said he'd been running when he ran out of road.
"Must have had one looking out for ya." Rogue whispered, hugging tight to him for a very different reason as they sat on the side of the road, trying to ease away whatever nightmares he'd been reminded of.
He laughed at that, nothing bitter or fake in it, just the laugh of someone who was tired of running. She knew how that felt, she'd been running when she first saw some such same sign telling her she'd made it at last. She could never imagine just how her life would change because she wanted to see the ocean, to feel the sun warmed sand between her toes. Listening to the beat of his heart, her check resting against his back feeling comforted by his presence, Rogue smiled thinking it beat for her.
Setting back out on the open road, Remy left a cloud of dust hanging where they had been, all their regrets left behind on the dirty shoulder where they belonged.
"I don't think I was looking for a second chance when I came here." For the roar of the bike, Remy didn't have to yell because she could hear him plain as day.
Her fingers stroking his side told him neither had she, LA was nothing more to her than Hollywood, headlines in a newspaper that painted it as something more than Meridian ever was. It was sandy beaches and palm trees and faces she knew from the TV, it was somewhere she could get lost and forget about everything that had happened to her.
Tears came to her eyes thinking about how she'd hurt people again without meaning to, all because she was different without ever asking to be. But she wasn't alone now, fate had stepped in, just maybe the same guardian angel that had looked after Remy sparing a moment for her.
Life happened along the shoulders of the road they travelled, passing by as easily as any tourist searching for the strange in the everyday, watching it happen from the safety of Remy's bike. The landmarks she recognized became touchstones to her time in LA, passing by the bus station that had been her last stop, all she had to her name a ratty knapsack and the clothes on her back.
She'd been alone then wandering down the streets simply searching for the beach, the crowds that milled along them now nothing to be scared of as she had been then. More and more she came to know where she was, holding close the fond memories she made with her own guardian angel, a scrappy little skater girl.
The Pacific was close enough that she could hear the lapping of the waves, smell the sea spray in the air that said they would soon run out of road. And when they did Remy pulled over, parking his bike by many more, offering her his hand to help her down.
"I sat somewhere around here." Rogue whispered, walking with him as he they got lost down the sandy shore of the Pacific.
All she had to do was listen for it to know they were close, somewhere close there was a skate park full of that once counterculture showing off, lit up against the night by brilliant floodlights. She had preferred the shadows then, felt safe lingering at the edges where she could be ignored and forgotten by the crowd that came to watch them.
"You ever think about what you would have done if..." Remy asked, tapping out a cigarette to save himself from having to give voice to everything left unsaid.
If Victor hadn't happened. She didn't want to imagine what would have happened if she hadn't met Jubilee now, because then she wouldn't have met Remy. It was a chance encounter that felt like fate, that made it bearable to endure everything that had happened to her because of it. She'd been broken ever since Meridian, they fixed her then and now together again at last they could heal from everything that had been done to them.
"All I wanted was to see the ocean, to sit on the beach and figure out my next move was. I didn't even know where I was gonna sleep that night." Rogue confessed, expecting another night spent on a bench with her knapsack as a pillow.
Her stomach growled from remembering how hungry she'd been that night, walking past restaurants fighting the temptation to steal the scraps left behind at the empty tables. His laugh soothed away the memories of how scared she'd been, little girl lost in the big mean city.
"Maybe we get a taxi for the rest of the way." Remy whispered in a voice so quiet it was meant for her alone, tossing his cigarette to the sand as he lead her away from all the reminders of her first night.
Alone like any other couple enjoying an evening out, Rogue laid content in his arms staring out the window as the taxi wound it's way through traffic. The address Remy gave the driver was meaningless to her, except that his smile promised her there would be no mistaking it this time, that it would truly be that date she was owed.
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"Trust me." Two little word thrown around with a casual disregard by most left Rogue searching his eyes for the sincerity he had for them.
Offering her his hand, Remy lead her up to a fire escape at a mechanic shop now closed for the night. He always told her she'd know when it was a date and he was sure she wouldn't mistake what awaited her as anything less than bearing his soul so she could know his love for her.
"Close your eyes."
As foolish she might feel playing his games, a blush complimented her smile as she let him lead her the rest fo the way. Theirs was a night to be for them alone, nothing meant for a restaurant where they would have to hide behind the sensibilities of a world that had turned its back on them.
"Open them." Remy whispered at her ear, his breath tickling her as told by her sudden giggle and the shiver that ran down her back.
Rugs added decadence to the tar paper roof of the shop, while pillows laid invitingly around a low table bedecked in tantalising treats. For the candles that danced beneath glass, strings of white lights stood against the sky that knew few too many stars. Her gasp became the only thanks he needed for his efforts. Setting a record to play, every pop, hiss and crackle was an sublime imperfection to be enjoyed in accompaniment of the saxophone that sang to the night.
Her eyes held every question she couldn't bring herself to ask, how, when, but if she had to wonder why all she had to do was look into his own. Taking up a dish of strawberries, dinner could wait as he owed her a treat for suffering his silly games.
"And now, as the French say, bonne appetite."
Her tongue wetting her lips out of anticipation set aflame his desire to know them as intimately as the berry that fell past their silken kiss, losing himself in her blissful gaze that roused from him a lusty grunt. Yet his undoing nearly became her delightful moan of enjoyment, satisfying himself with the bite that tasted all the sweeter because it bound their lips together.
Finishing them off one by one, feeding one another as the music played, the last one was for her and her alone. Her eyes were dark and dangerous waters, her breath a sirens song he couldn't resist as they stood together swaying to the music. Clinging to faltering reason against the current of his own craving to kiss her, her lips hovered near in an invitation to do something reckless.
"Don't..." Rogue whispered, though her eyes begged him to ignore her protests.
"I trust you..." She couldn't hurt him worse than it would be to deny their wanton need.
It was a kiss that grew desperate, the beating of their hearts measuring out the moment that had them racing against a force as undeniable as the dawn. If he felt as though he would drown in her eyes, her kiss left him breathless as they parted at last.
"Remy..." Rogue croaked, her eyes veiled in tears that had nothing to do with sadness.
"I love you."
They were words tarnished by how he had mistreated them for so long, bandied about as if favours to be forgotten. Yet for how his heart ached for her it was as if he had never spoken them before. The very thing that kept them apart told his love for her that he didn't have words enough to express. Smiling against her tears, his Rogue waited for him to find his strength, dancing together until they could kiss again to say everything their hearts felt.
At last fatigue fell him like a spent lover, tumbling into the pillows that offered them a respite to relax, cradling her in his arms because he was loathe to let go ever again.
"What made you stay?" Rogue asked in the quiet that came after the record had played as the needle skipped away.
"I found myself on that same beach running from that past that finally caught up to me, so I put it down to a coin toss if I stay or go. Now I be thinking maybe lady luck was looking out for me that night."
Watching her rummage her pockets for a quarter, turning it over in her delicate fingers that he loved to steal between his own, she looked lost in thought as what question to ask of that lady of fate who had brought them all together.
"How about we make our own luck from now on, neh?"
Leaving their fate to him, Rogue passed off the quarter and he knew just what to do with it. Blazing purple as he flicked it into the heavens, it exploded in a sparkling star burst amidst a firecracker pop that made them long for home, finding it wherever they were as long as they were together. Stumbling to their feet, Rogue looked in askance of him with a tempting smile meant to sway him to her wish, as if he could ever deny her after confessing their feelings.
"One last dance."
Offering his lady a gallant bow, he excused himself for one moment to set the record playing again. If it was an encore she wanted, it was an encore she would get. His first kiss set the pace for all the rest, a chaste brush of lips warmed by their breath, tasting of the wine they had enjoyed with their picnic dinner. And again they said those three little words as if for the first time, never to know any tarnish for how precious they were to the each other.
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