Quick pre-chapter note: I learned the hard way to not post chapters hungover. Turns out, I posted the last two chapters too hastily and didn't realize until a week later that the whole chapters weren't posted. I could blame the website for the mishap, but it's my own fault for neglecting to double check.

That said, if you haven't already, please go back and reread chapters four and five before continuing onto this chapter. Everything will make a lot more sense if you do! Once again, you have my sincerest apologies for causing such a muck-up… ugh.

Also, this chapter is organized in a strange fashion. It skips around a lot due to a majority of it being written in flashback form, so hopefully it's not too difficult to follow. Enjoy!

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Standing On the Edge of Summer

A Hole in the World

The trip home from Egypt proved to be long and irritating. Remy knew from the moment that Magneto stormed off in a magnetic rush that things would just turn from bad to worse.

Or would that be worse to worst? Or worse to incomprehensibly awful? Whatever, Remy scoffed. All he wanted to do was go home to his apartment and curl up in bed for an undefined amount of time.

The Acolytes made their way back to the United States leaderless, unsure of what to do next. There was no word from Magneto on what their next move was after he jetted off to Mexico to face off against Apocalypse's glowing pyramid.

"You blokes get the feelin' that somethin' bad is happenin' right now?" St John asked as he polished his fuel tank idly.

Piotr snorted from across the aisle. "What could possibly be more wrong zan what is happening now?"

"Jus' because you an' the boss had a tiff –"

"That madman has kept me from my family for too long! The first moment I get, I am finding out where he has been keeping them and I am leaving." Remy watched as the Russian crossed his large arms across his equally as large chest and turned his hard stare forward. John rolled his eyes and continued to polish the dusty Egyptian sand from the crevices of his fuel tank.

"Will you two shut it?" Sabretooth growled from the back. "There ain't no use in moanin' 'bout any of this. We'll go back to Bayville as planned an' go from there."

"An' what if de boss man isn' dere?" Remy asked, turning his head towards the large feral man. His opinion of the man known as Victor Creed had only gotten worse as time progressed, especially with the time he spent with him traveling to Tibet in order to find Apocalypse's resting place.

And Rogue.

"What makes you think that, Cajun?"

Remy shrugged, turning his face forward again. He was so tired. His body was used to running on what seemed like endless waves of adrenaline thanks to his powers but his mind just couldn't take it any longer. Exhaustion threatened to overcome him at any down moment he had. Between being taken over by Mesmero and becoming his pawn in order to steal the spider key, and then the trip to London, along with basically road-tripping it with Sabretooth and Wolverine across the world, not to mention two weeks in Egypt was not what he called pleasant working conditions, his entire being had completely worn itself out.

'M not one t' talk, dough. I can t'ink of someone who's had it jus' a li'l bit rougher dan me…

They hadn't spoken or seen each other in a friendly environment since that moment she had sprinted away from him and his motorcycle weeks before. He was so sure that things were looking up for them, that they would be able to keep in contact and let their friendship grow back to where it used to be six years before, but unfortunately, life wasn't so innocent and naïve anymore. In fact, it turned out that life was a fickle thing that had much different ideas in store for both of them.

The times he had seen her over the last few weeks weren't anything that either of them would look upon joyfully. In fact, neither of them could explain all the details without feeling angry or lost at the missing pieces…

-----

It had been a touch disconcerting seeing himself caught on camera. He had always managed to elude video surveillance equipment effortlessly, as if part of his mutant power had been to disappear from sight in the event of a recording device. He knew Magneto had a few planted around his bases, just in case. And for fun, Remy would spec them out and avoid them with ease.

However, the one time he'd been caught on camera couldn't have been more timely.

"I think she likes ya, mate," Johnny teased over Remy's shoulder as he watched himself fall to the ground unconscious under the vampire kiss.

Her vampire kiss.

Rogue's power absorbing and energy draining vampire kiss.

He stared unblinkingly at the monitor. She'd kissed him.

"Too bad ya don't remembah a lick of it either. Must've been some kiss ta knock a bloke like you off ya feet," John continued as he snickered endlessly. Remy could even hear Piotr chortling in the back of the surveillance room.

He ignored it as his finger slipped over the rewind button, freezing the frame just as Magneto discovered all his Acolytes had been taken down by one seemingly fragile, but very possessed girl.

The scene replayed again, quickly and in reverse. Remy floated up from the ground as Rogue's lips pulled away from his. He watched as she disappeared from beside him while he looked around for where she'd gone. They tumbled backwards and it almost looked like Remy had kicked her off his legs instead of her leaping onto him her with her arms extended menacingly. He was raised off the ground roughly from where he'd landed with her telekinetic launch – all the while, he had been talking to her.

Remy tried reading his lips, but couldn't discern a thing with the rewinding tape. He had noted the conversation before, but was so shocked by her attack that he didn't acknowledge their moving lips. She jumped away from him with her arm extended again, as she'd been scratching towards him for the tiniest piece of exposed skin. He stood behind her as she covered herself in metal with Piotr's powers.

Remy touched the play button just as Rogue's bare hand collided with St John's face. "Y' know, homme," he said as he threw a smug smirk over his shoulder in Pyro's direction. "At least I went down in style. All y' got was a nice slap in de face."

"He is right, you know," Piotr spoke up, his heavy footsteps sounding as he stepped up behind Remy and pointed to the screen. "Remy put up ze biggest fight, da? Zen again, she did sneak up behind me…"

"An' ya didn't hurt the sheila either, did ya, Gambit," John quipped, hoping to take the attention away from him. Though joking, his voice was just on other side of accusatory.

Remy shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not in m' nature t' hurt a belle femme, Johnny. Even if she is comin' at me with dangerous skin…" His eyes looked to the monitor again. He watched as his lips mouthed "Anna" and he silently thanked Magneto for neglecting to have audio included in his surveillance. By the reactions of his teammates, they were more interested in her actions instead of what could have possibly been said. Remy sighed with relief but tensed up again as he watched himself collapse under the touch of her lips once more…

-----

Anna frolicked down the hill, her sandals swinging in her hand as her feet skipped through the wild grass. She held her empty hand up to shade her eyes from the sun as she peered ahead to the tree. Remy was already there, standing casually against the tree's trunk.

"Remy!" she called, catching his attention. He looked up from the dirt he had been kicking with his sneakers. With a smirk, he lowered his ever present sunglasses. He pushed off against the trunk and began walking in her direction. Anna noticed a bag slung over his shoulder as she grew closer to him.

Upon her curious glance to the bag, Remy's smile grew as he pulled the strap off his shoulder and let it fall to feet. "What's in there?" Anna asked, leaning down with Remy as he unzipped it.

"I brought a few t'ings t' keep us occupied so we don' have t' go anywhere f' awhile."

She raised an eyebrow. "You packed a picnic? But Ah just had lunch…" she said regrettably.

"I did y' one better'n dat, fille," Remy snickered, extracting a few items. First he pulled out a large, brightly colored towel, and then another. Anna bent over the bag more as Remy slipped out a little brown bottle. He presented it to her. "Forty SPF," he explained. "It's too hot f' you t' be layered t'day, so Mercy recommended dis. An' it's waterproof so we can go swimmin' too."

He handed the bottle to her and she examined it closely. After reading the back thoroughly, she threw a glance over her shoulder to Val's house up the hill. "Ya think this'll work?"

"Mercy says it doesn' even matter over fifteen, but I tol' her it was a special case," he said with a wink, producing a giggle from her.

"Doesn't it take a half hour ta soak inta yoah skin or somethin'?" she asked warily as she tossed the bottle back and forth between her hands.

"Oui, an' dat is why," he began as he reached into the bag once again. "… I brought dese." Peeking out of the bag were some of Lapin's comics that Remy had failed to give back. He had intended to by that day, but as it was, he hadn't seen much of his cousin Emil for that last week. Remy attributed it to all the time he'd been spending with Anna, but in the end that didn't really bother him. As far as Emil knew, his comics were washed out in the Mississippi Sound, so a few extra missing days would be of no consequence.

"Oh!" Anna gasped with delight as her eyes grazed over the covers. "Ah love Spider-Man!"

"Den how 'bout y' get y'self covered in dat stuff so we can read dem," he suggested, slipping the books back inside before slinging the bag over his shoulder again.

Anna grinned brightly and picked up the towels from the grass. "You had everythin' planned foh today, didn't ya?"

He smirked, fingering the strap on his shoulder. "Dat ain' even de half of it, Anna."

"You have somethin' else planned?" she asked excitedly, matching his pace as they walked under the shade of the tree. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise, fille. C'mon," he said, dropping the bag carefully once more. "Get y' lotion on."

She blushed, handing him the bottle so she could peel off her long sleeved shirt. "You said somethin' about swimmin'?"

"Oui, if y' want."

"… Ah don't have a bathin' suit. Not here anyway. Val didn't buy me a new one when we went shoppin' last week," she explained with a scowl. "It sounds like it would be fun too," she pouted.

"We can improvise."

"We can?"

He smirked. "Please. I got dis handled," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

She took the bottle back from him with uncertainty. "If ya say so…" she trailed off as she poured a generous amount of the sunscreen in her hand.

Remy grabbed one of the towels from the ground next to Anna and laid it out for them to sit on. "I do. I've got dis all figured out."

"Why don't Ah like the sound of that?"

"Because I be a sneaky swamp rat?"

"That might be part of it," she giggled.

-----

Remy felt Creed move next to him first. Figure he'd be de one t' recover de quickest. Stupid healin' powers, he internally scoffed. Try as he could, Remy could only blink his eyes against the settling dust – his body would just not respond to his mental commands.

He shifted his eyes around. The others had begun to stir and rouse themselves awake, but they didn't move beyond that.

"Hey, fur ball," Remy coughed in Sabretooth's direction. "Help me up."

"Help yerself up," he growled in response, his body stretching languidly among the grainy floor.

"Putain chat," Remy muttered, willing his body to get up despite his protesting muscles. "… merde, merde, merde, merde!" he groaned as he managed to slowly roll over and sit up on his knees. "Ouch…" He ran a hand through his hair, shaking free the dust that had collected there. As he scrutinized the area around him, he heard a groan to his left and saw that it was Nightcrawler. The X-Man's tail twitched painfully around his legs and swished around in the dirt on the ground.

Remy laboriously pushed himself to his feet with a sharp groan. He hissed through his teeth as he took the few steps over to Kurt's stirring body. "Hey, mon ami," he whispered as he offered a hand to the blue mutant.

Kurt wearily looked up, his gold eyes dim in the pale light. "Was? Gambit?"

"Oui. Let's get y' up. We need t' get everyone movin'."

Kurt nodded weakly as he slipped his three-fingered hand into Remy's extended one. With a slow hoist, Kurt was on his feet, wavering slightly as he caught his balance.

"I need to find her," he whispered, his eyes looking past Remy to the chamber.

"Her?" Remy followed his gaze to the eerily glowing doorway. "Rogue?"

Kurt nodded once more. "Meine Schwester," he explained.

Now, Remy's German was rusty at best, but he knew what that meant. He almost asked Kurt when that came about since Rogue had always been an only child as long as Remy knew her. He realized that this wasn't really the time for family tree chit chat and figured Kurt would not voluntarily give up such personal information to one of Magneto's team. Remy scoffed, but couldn't help but wonder, what de hell happened t' her in de last few weeks?

"C'mon. Wolverine is down dere already. He ran ahead before Apocalypse came out an' smacked us down wit' whatever de hell dat power of his was."

"I hope she's alright," Kurt murmured as the two of them began a slow trek towards the chamber. Remy glanced back and noted Victor was helping up Magneto, who seemed worse for wear. The older man glowered at the assistance but allowed himself to be lifted up.

They stepped past the archway of the final door and Kurt froze. "What is it, homme?" Remy asked.

"Zat's… my mother," he whispered breathlessly. He took a step towards the stone statue in the middle of the room, the woman petrified solid was inescapably Mystique. He raised a hand to touch her arm. "Mystique…?" His contact was tentative, as if she would shift back to normal as a moment's notice and startle him.

"Dat's... y' maman?"

"Ja," Kurt replied, his eyes still fixated on the statue. "It's a long story," he murmured as an afterthought as his hand rubbed along her stony arm.

"An' y' said dat Rogue is y' sister…?"

Kurt whipped around, his tail flailing behind him angrily. "How does any of zat matter right now?" he snapped.

"Hey, Gumbo."

Remy turned around and never thought he'd be so happy to see Wolverine. One, it took the attention off his ridiculous question and two, there happened to be a certain body curled up in the short Canadian's arms.

"Logan," Remy responded curtly, his eyes on Rogue.

"Take her for me." He looked to Kurt, whose attention had turned back to his frozen mother. "Elf, I'll give you a hand with that," he told him, depositing Rogue into Remy's waiting arms.

Kurt nodded in gratitude as Remy turned away from them. He slowly passed through the archway again, careful not to brush Rogue against the wall on his way. He glanced up, noting a few of the X-Men and Brotherhood members had stood up and were tending to any wounds sustained.

He looked down to the precious bundle in his arms, his red eyes dim with concern. "Rogue?" he whispered, unsure if anyone could hear him, let alone her. She groaned slightly, curling into him. With another quick check to the others to make absolutely sure no one was within hearing distance, he tried again. "…Anna?"

She didn't open her eyes, but her lips fumbled together lazily. "Hmm?"

"Y' okay?"

A frown crossed her pouting lips. "Peachy," she muttered numbly. "Where… where are we?"

Remy gulped. Of course, she didn't know considering she'd been possessed throughout the entire journey there, but would it do any good to tell her? He quickly decided no.

"We're on our way home, chére. Y' sit tight, hein?"

She nodded against his chest, sighing faintly. "Ya smell good," she murmured.

He couldn't help but smile briefly despite the situation. "Merci, Anna. Get some sleep."

"… kay," she said softly, yawning against his duster as he continued to walk.

-----

"Ya know, Ah never understood the Clone Saga," Anna mused as she flipped through the comic in her hands.

"I don' t'ink a lot of people did, fille," Remy snickered as he slipped his issue back into its plastic bag. He placed it back in his bag, taking out his watch inside and checking the time. "It's been 'bout forty-five minutes. What do y' t'ink of a swim?"

"Ah told ya, Ah don't have a bathin' suit," she responded with a pout.

He smirked, his hands sneaking into his bag again. "Dat's why I got y' dis." From inside the bag, he lifted out a girls' swim suit, tags still attached. The suit was bright green; a lavender and white floral pattern crawled along the straps and hem as well.

Anna's eyes were wide as she accepted it from him. "Where did ya get this?" she gasped. "Did ya steal it?" Upon his sly smirk, she squealed with delight. "Ya did! When? From where?"

"Not really from where… from who."

Her eyebrows just about shot up into her hairline. "Who?"

"'Member how I had dat dinner last night of 'great importance,'" he gagged. Anna nodded with a giggle. "Well, it was wit' mon père's… business rival. He came over wit' his kids – his son is a real piece of work an' his daughter… she's stuck up as can be. As it was… apparently she went shoppin' right before she came over." He smirked, allowing her to come to her own conclusions of the bathing suit in her hands.

She stared at the suit, her fingers rubbing the soft material. "Won't she notice it missin'?"

"De fille has t' have at least twenty more, five of which were in de bag as well, so non, she won'."

Anna's eyes grazed over the tag. "We're the same size," she observed.

"I really didn' know t' be sure, but y' look de same size, so I figured why not."

She examined the suit one more time before she looked up with a smile. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Y' welcome," he replied curtly with a pleased smile.

"Let me run ta the house real quick ta change. Val's at some meetin' or whatever so she won't know about it." She excitedly jumped to her feet from the towel they were sitting on. Before Remy could respond, she was running up the hill, swim suit clutched in her hand.

-----

No more than ten minutes later, she was back. Remy caught the slightest hint of the lavender and green strap around her shoulder as she bounced down the hill and stopped just in front of him. She caught his line of sight and pulled the strap back up, hiding it underneath her tank top again.

"It's a li'l big in the straps, but it fits just fine otherwise," she beamed excitedly.

Remy smiled along with her. "Bien. Now c'mon. I want t' show y' somet'ing." He stood up and pulled off his t-shirt. "How well can y' climb," he asked her.

"Real good. Ah have this tree in mah backyard that Ah climb up all the time. Reenie doesn't mind that Ah do it either."

"Y' t'ink she would get scared dat y' would fall," Remy noted thoughtfully.

Anna shrugged. "She says that she trusts that Ah know what Ah'm doin' an' that Ah won't fall so Ah just kept on doin' it."

"Weird… oh well. C'mon," he said again as he grabbed a lower branch on the tree and hoisted himself up.

Anna followed behind him, mirroring where he would grab and where he would place his feet. Her toes scuffed against the bark several times as they protruded from her sandals. She muttered "ouch" more than once during their trek up the tree.

"Y' okay?" he asked as he reached the branch he was aiming for.

"Yeah. Ah didn't wear mah climbin' shoes," she joked.

After Remy settled himself on the branch, he cautiously extended his hand down to help lift her up. "We're already here, so you'll be alright," he said reassuringly as Anna's hand held onto his. With a slight pull, Anna was sitting on the large branch with Remy near the trunk of the tree.

"This is so cool…" Anna gasped, her eyes following the branch to its tip hanging over the river. The branch was thick enough for the two of them to sit comfortably side by side with their legs dangling and kicking the thick air. "How did ya ever find this tree in the first place?"

Remy shrugged, kicking off one of his shoes to their towel below. "Jus' came across it a few summers ago wit' Henri. He would come out along here t' fish an' I'd go wit' him for de lack of anyt'ing better t' do."

Anna nodded as she observed her surroundings. "So do ya just climb up here an' sit?"

"No way!" he laughed. "Dis here is de best branch t' jump from."

"Jump?" she squeaked. Suddenly, she went rigid as she looked down from the branch to the gentling splashing river below them.

"Oui, jump! De river gets jus' deep enough t' jump from at dis height, plus de river bed is nearby so y' don' get caught in de current."

Her eyes were still warily following the river below. "…How often do ya do this?"

"All de time, fille. Relax." He kicked off his other shoe. "C'mon."

"Ah don't know, Remy…" Her grip on the bark beneath her fingers tightened as Remy stood up on the tree branch. His balance seemed unnatural as he steadied himself with ease and began a casual walk down the branch.

"Jus' watch me go, Anna. It's like you're flyin' f' a whole second or two. Haven' y' ever wondered what dat was like?"

She paused for a moment, contemplating on whether or not her sandals would join Remy's on the ground below as they dangled loosely from her stiff toes. "Ah have…" she answered timidly.

"Den what are y' waitin' for?" he said reassuringly with a smirk. "I promise I wouldn' do dis if it weren' safe."

Her wide eyes flattened into a neutral glare. "Oh really? Says the boy who likes ta live on the edge an' steal from people all the time?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "Fine. I wouldn' let you do it if it wasn' safe. Besides, do y' really want t' climb back down by y'self?"

"It wouldn't be the first time Ah climbed down a tree, Remy."

He sighed. "Y' on y' own den. I'll see y' at de bottom!" He mock saluted quickly her before leaping off the branch. He tucked his legs into his body midair and plummeted into the water below, laughing joyously until right before he hit the water so he could take a deep breath.

Anna peered over the branch, waiting for him to reemerge from the water. His head poked up a few moments later and he lifted his gaze to her. His copper brown hair clung to his head in a drenched mess as he grinned up to her brilliantly. "Did y' change y' mind?" he called up to her.

She looked down to her feet, which were bare. She'd registered the sound of her sandals hitting the ground faintly underneath the splash of Remy's body into the water without even realizing that they'd slipped from her feet. A small smile crossed her face as she carefully peeled off her tank top and dropped it, allowing it to float down to their other belongings. With even more caution, she stood up on the branch and slipped out of her long cotton pants. She held onto the trunk of the tree as she stepped out of them, and used her foot to kick them out of the tree as well.

"Jus' walk down de branch an' jump, fille! Don' worry 'bout fallin'!" he encouraged as he treaded water in the river below.

She nodded and let go of the trunk, testing her balance. The bark of the branch felt rough underneath her feet as she began a steady pace down to where Remy had sprung from. You can do this, you can do this, she chanted in her head, keeping her eyes on the branch in front of her. Anna had never had a fear of heights, but something about soaring from an unknown tree into an unknown depth of water intimidated her greatly. But if Remy could do it and he insisted it was safe, no problem.

If Irene could see me doin' this, she'd probably throw a fit, she thought offhandedly. Or worse, if Val saw me doin' it…

A new sense of vindication spread through her as a smirk crossed her face. The woman had continued to annoy her endlessly over the last week, protesting how much time she'd been spending with Remy and not at the house with Irene and herself even though it was supposed to be a vacation. Thankfully, Irene allowed Anna to go and play with Remy as she knew it was a rare opportunity for her to have a friend.

It's not like Valerie's mah momma anyway, she snorted as she reached the jumping point.

"Y' want me t' count t' three?" Remy asked from the water.

"Yeah, do that," she called down, her toes curling around the branch's bark.

"Okay, une…" She slightly bent her knees.

"Deux…" She bent her arms and prepared for her launch off.

"Trois!" And she jumped.

A thrilling shriek ran through her throat and past her lips as she tucked in the same manner that Remy had. She stopped screaming just before she hit the water, eager to take a breath before the river's murky water gave way to her body.

Underwater, she released herself from the ball she'd curled into and spread her limbs wide. The water was so warm but such a relief against the humid air! She smiled to herself as she felt her hair floating unrestrained around her. After another moment, she moved her arms to her sides and kicked her feet under her to reach the surface of the water.

Upon her head rising from the water, she took a deep breath and wiped her face as best she could of the water with her wet hand. She opened her eyes and looked around for Remy. She felt his hand grab for her wrist and allowed him to pull her closer to the river bed so the water wouldn't be too deep for her smaller frame. She turned and faced his grinning face.

"So, what did y' t'ink?"

She mirrored his smile, jumping onto him in the water. They sunk under the surface momentarily before floating up again. "It was awesome!" she squealed happily as she sputtered the water out of her nose. "Can we do it again?"

-----

He received a few odd looks from several of the X-Men as he carried Rogue closer to the group. Cyclops froze as he helped Jean up once he saw his friend curled up in the Acolyte's arms.

"Is she…?" he asked.

"Restin'," Remy finished, holding her closer. "She didn' say much, but dere's a good chance she doesn' remember dis."

Jean stood up fully and placed a hand on Remy's arm. "At least not now," she whispered morosely. She exchanged a glance with Scott and he nodded.

"Here, I'll take her now," he offered with a firm tone.

Reflexively, Remy's hold on Rogue tightened protectively. "If y' don' mind, I'd like t' hold her. I can get her down t' on of de planes down de last cliff while y' get situated up here."

Jean's eyebrows knitted slightly at Remy's request, but she put her hand on Scott's shoulder as a sign to back down. "If you don't mind," she said gently.

"Neh, chére, I don'," he insisted casually.

"Would you wait to go down until the rest of us are ready? You could lead us to the aircrafts…"

Remy nodded, feeling Scott glare at him from behind his visor. Remy flicked his red eyes in the X-Man's direction, a smirk pulling at his lips. "Jus' let me know when y' ready t' go." He carefully adjusted the slumbering Rogue in his arms more comfortably before striding past them. He hung back long enough to hear Scott ask why she stopped him from taking Rogue from Remy.

"Because I sensed his good intentions, Scott. He's not going to harm her. Now come on, we should help the Professor."

With a satisfied smile, he walked further away from them. He saw Pietro standing with John and moved towards them. "Y' guys alright?" he asked after he strode up to them.

"Li'l tossed an' turned thanks ta some mechanical statues, mate, an' not ta mention the instantaneous space an' time travel, but otherwise we're just dandy." John's eyes floated across the person in Remy's arms. "Hey, ain't that the sheila from the video?"

"Yeah… what are you doing with Rogue?" Pietro asked, peering over her sleeping body. "Is she okay?"

"Dat seems t' be de question of de hour, homme. I'm takin' her down t' one of de planes once everyone's ready."

"Well, lookit you, Mistah In-Charge," John laughed before wincing and wrapping an arm around his torso.

"Guess dey tossed y' 'round pretty good, eh mon ami?"

"It was crazy! They were relentless, mate! Pietro, tell 'im how they would not bloody die!"

"…Remy?"

Merde! He looked down and saw Rogue begin to stir. "Shh, p'tite. Y' friends'll get y' home soon," he soothed, glimpsing at his teammates momentarily. They exchanged smug glances.

"…but…"

"Shh, Rogue." S'il vous plait, be quiet!

"So you two are acquainted, I see?" Pietro asked haughtily, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Hey, she absorbed all of us, hein? Wouldn' be surprised if she knew somet'ing as simple as m' real name from dat," he explained with ease as he adjusted her in his arms again.

"Sure, mate. An' here I thought ya woulda said that not even the unconscious ones are safe from you," John joked again, laughing and grimacing at the same time.

"Well, I didn' say dey weren'," Remy smirked before turning away. When he had put enough distance between them, he whispered to her, "What are y' tryin' t' do, chére? Y' can' go an' get us in trouble by implicatin' de two of us wit' de boys like dat." He smiled despite himself.

"…Sorry," she mumbled with a yawn. She wearily blinked her eyes open. "Are we goin' home yet?" she asked slowly, her eyes trying to take in her surroundings.

"Almost, Anna," he murmured. "Don' y' worry none."

"… You're not gonna leave me, are ya?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"I'll stay wit' y' as long as I can. I promise."

She nodded faintly as she closed her eyes again and her eyebrows narrowed in pain. "Mah head hurts," she whimpered after she buried her face into his chest.

"Try an' sleep," he advised in a soothing tone.

"Ah feel so… blank…" she murmured softly.

Unsure of how to respond to her, he glanced to the others briefly. Kurt and Logan were carrying the Mystique statue out of the chamber while Jean levitated the Professor into his wheelchair. Piotr was being unnecessarily checked for bruises and wounds by Kitty, while Storm tended to a gash across Bobby's forehead.

Once he was certain that everyone was preoccupied, he leaned his head down and pressed a chaste kiss on the top of her head. "I owed y' dat one, chérie," he whispered.

She sighed softly and Remy felt her breathing even out and deepen. She'd fallen back asleep.

-----

After two more climbs up the tree and two more jumps into the river, Anna and Remy were exhausted. They sat in the grass just off the river bank, towel dried to the best of their ability. Anna sat wrapped in her towel while Remy sat on his with his legs extended out in front of him.

"You're lucky ya don't burn," Anna commented, squinting underneath the bright sun.

He shrugged. "I do sometimes, but not often. But y' don' even know if you'd burn with how y' stay covered up," he countered.

"An' Ah'd rather not take mah chances, thanks," she smiled. Her hair was a tangled mess that she'd managed to towel dry enough so it didn't drip all over her, but she knew she wasn't going to get away with swimming. "Ah wonder what Val'll say when Ah go back," she mused aloud. "She'll probably get on mah case that I went swimmin' or somethin' like that."

"Why do y' care?"

"Because she annoys me, an' I wanna make her mad," she responded with a smirk. "She's been drivin' me up the wall the last few days. Ah'm just happy Irene has got mah back foh everythin', ya know?"

Remy nodded. "Dat woman is weird. Good t'ing y' only have t' live wit' her a li'l longer…" His eyes fell from Anna down to his toes wiggling in the sunlight. He wasn't looking forward to the end of the summer at all.

"Seriously." She turned and caught Remy's crestfallen gaze. "Ah'm gonna miss you, though," she added.

"I know, fille. This last week has been so much fun."

She smiled. "It has. Ah kinda don't want ta go back even though Ah know Ah'll have to."

"Oui…" he trailed off. He didn't want to think of her leaving. "Hey, are y' hungry yet?" he asked, hoping for a topic change.

Anna nodded. "Yeah… it's been awhile since lunch, plus all that swimmin'… what did ya have in mind?"

"Tante said she'd cook t'night if y' wanted t' come over," he suggested.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "Ah haven't been ta yoah house yet."

"An' I figure de break from Val will help too," he added with a smirk.

"How can Ah say no ta that?" she laughed. "Ah should tell Irene so she doesn't worry," she said, gathering the towel around her as she stood up.

"Want me t' go wit' y'?"

She smiled before she turned towards the tree to collect her shoes and clothes. "If ya want. Ah'm gonna get cleaned up while Ah'm there. Ah don't want ta track mud in ta yoah house."

He stood and picked up his towel from the grass. "Why? It wouldn' be de first time someone's done dat," he joked as he joined her under the tree.

"Shuttup, you know what Ah meant, Swamp Rat."

"Oui, I know." He slipped his feet into his sneakers and hoisted his bag onto his shoulder. "I'll come wit' y' dough. Dat is, if y' don' mind me trackin' mud in t' de house," he included slyly.

She shoved him with a giggle. "You can be so annoyin' sometimes," she cried exasperatedly.

"I t'ink y' f'get I'm a guy sometimes," he teased.

"As if that explains everythin'," she snickered as she picked up her discarded clothes. "C'mon, the sooner Ah get cleaned up, the sooner Ah can go home with ya!" She excitedly ran ahead of him up the hill.

He smirked as he ran to catch up to her. It was going to be interesting, to say the least…

-----

Remy stumbled into the elevator, drained of all energy and emotion. He fumbled for the button for his floor, pressing it lazily before leaning against the wall. How he had managed to drive his motorcycle home from the warehouse without crashing into anything and everything was beyond him. It was like he'd detached himself from his body and allowed the Harley to drive itself home.

He reached into his pocket for his cell phone, realizing he hadn't checked it in days, if not weeks at that point. He had been sick with grief for Rogue and then everything with Magneto disintegrating by Apocalypse… he'd left it at the base and hadn't bothered himself with it. Flipping it open, he noted numerous missed calls spanning over the last three weeks. Miraculously the phone's battery hadn't managed to die over the duration of idle time.

As Remy scanned the missed calls and messages, he forlornly noted that none of them were from Rogue. Sighing, he counted the amount of calls from Belle, Emil, and Henri. Belle's last call had been two days before while Emil and Henri's centered around the last forty-eight hours. He looked at the voicemail menu.

Ten new voicemails.

"Merde, y' guys are killin' me," he groaned as he put he phone up to his ear in order to listen to the voicemails.

First message. "Remy, amour, it's Belle. Y' need t' call me as soon as y' get dis. De Council has gone mad wit' de news 'bout y' boss. One of our contacts found out an' told my guild. It's not lookin' so good, cher. Call me back!"

What de… Remy thought, pressing a button to reveal the next message. The elevator dinged above him, signaling that he'd reached his floor. As the doors slid open and Remy stepped out in the direction of his apartment, Emil's voice rang in his ear.

"Remy, dere is some fou merde goin' on right now. Where de hell are y'? Call us back, sur-le-champ!"

With his eyebrows knit in frustration, he fished in his pockets with his free hand for his keys while the other hand pressed next on his phone. He pushed the key into the lock without a second thought and pushed open the door, listening to Henri's message. It started out full of static and it took Remy a moment to discern what his brother had in fact said.

"Frère, de Assassins… dey have Papa."

"Dieu!" Remy gasped, hitting 'cancel' before the message could finish, along with the rest of the messages. He slammed the door behind him, pressing the speed dial for his brother as quickly as he could.

Remy glanced around his apartment as he waited for the phone to ring in his ear. Something didn't feel right… like he wasn't alone. His spatial awareness reached out around him, feeling a body practically on top of him from behind. He whipped around, immediately jumping into a defense position, the phone dropping from his hand as he deftly reached into his pocket for some cards.

However, his entire body went slack when he realized who he was staring at.

Curled up in the chair was none other than Rogue. Her eyes blinked wearily at him, her makeup smudged and trailing down her cheeks with the tears she had obviously shed prior to him being there. "Anna?" he whispered as he took a tentative step towards her.

She slowly sat up, detangling herself from the extra jacket she'd found lying around the apartment. "Ah'm sorry, Remy… Ah had no where else ta go." She avoided his eyes, embarrassed by the state he'd caught her in.

Instantly, he knelt beside her at the chair. He watched as she wiped away another falling tear, smearing her makeup some more. "Ah… Ah…"

"Frère? Remy?" Henri could be heard from the floor where Remy's phone had unceremoniously landed.

All his attention was focused on Rogue though. "Anna… how did y' get in here?"

"Ah… killed her, Remy," she responded numbly, refusing to look directly at him. Her eyes were wide with panic as she said those words.

Remy's eyebrows raised in confusion. "Quoi, chére?" He somehow managed to not shout the words at her but instead soothed them past his throat, despite his utter lack of understanding.

Finally, her eyes shifted to where he could see the gray-green eyes clearly locked with his. A lone tear slid down her cheek, but this time she didn't move to wipe it away. "…Ah killed Mystique."

-------------------------------------

Why, hello there, everyone! You know that one scene that you have in your head for weeks but you know you can't write until you get to that particular chapter? Well, that would be the last scene up there. I've had it in my mind's eye for SO long and I actually wrote it first before any other scene in this chapter, hehe.

That said, welcome to the cliffhanger. Enjoy your stay until I pump out the next chapter.

Hopefully the organization of the scenes didn't throw you off too much… I felt like being a bit more experimental with it this time around. Let me know how you liked that aspect of the chapter as well when you review. (smirk)

Umm… no real notes this chapter that I can think of that won't be explained come next chapter… If you have any real questions/concerns, feel free to ask away. The last thing I want to do is confuse anyone. Really. (smiles)

As always, love to you all, especially if you went back to reread the last two chapters previous to this. I still feel like a total idiot for messing that up as brilliantly as I did. (sighs) I learned my lesson though, no worries.

Okay, too much rambling. Till next time…

---- Courtney