3. HARD TO BE AN OUTLAW
Remy sat alone at the kitchen table in the LeBeau Manor. He had had a rough night's sleep in the aftermath of the X-men's raid on the place, sleep had even eluded him after more than his fair share of whiskey. So there he sat, eating a bowl of cereal at two thirty in the afternoon as he battled a hangover.
When Emil plopped down next to him, Remy didn't even flinch. He was too tired, his head hurt and his palms throbbed where the medical tape pressed against his cuts.
"So I was up all night," Emil began without any formal introduction, "But I t'ink I've found everyt'ing dere is on dis Rogue." he said, opening his laptop and clicking furiously on the keyboard.
"Shhh," Remy whispered hoarsely, "Inside voice."
Emil leered at him in annoyance, "I am usin' m'inside voice. Don' get drunk on school nights." he said in irritation.
"Jus' tell me what'choo found." Remy said in exasperation as he stuffed his mouth with more Frosted Flakes.
"Well," Emil began, "She don' got any finger prints in any government database, so I have no idea who she really is, but I got enough fo' a successful movie franchise on her Rogue alias. T'sum it up, dis girl really is a Rogue. She ain' got no clue which side she wants t'be on. As a teen she ran wit' de Brotherhood o' Mutants but awhile back she flipped an' started workin' wit' de X-men. Accordin' t'SHIELD as of 2006 she was a 'possible ally' an' 'potential Avenger material'. Somet'ing happened though, 'cause she's currently red-flagged. When I tapped int' de X-men's servers, I found dat she ain' been an active member in over trois years. Now she seems t'be free lancin'. Not'ing big an' not'ing anyone 'sides me can tie her to." Emil said smugly.
"Good work, E." Remy muttered into his cereal, "Anyt'ing else I oughta know 'bout her?"
"Well, she is like you." Emil said offhandedly.
Remy looked up curiously, "Like me?" he repeated rather tautly, the spoon pointing at Emil dangerously.
Emil shrugged, "Ya know, a mutant... She's a dangerous one too." he said shutting his laptop.
"I figured. Don' jus' anybody run wit' de Brotherhood o' Mutants." he said pointedly. "Now don' leave me in suspense." Remy snapped, "What can she do?"
"Accordin' t'SHIELD's profile, she can absorb people. Like deir t'oughts, feelin's, abilities... it renders dem unconscious." Emil added, nervously running his fingers across the keys on his laptop.
"Absorb people?" Remy repeated, "Like a sponge?"
Emil nodded, "De file says dat she does so t'rough touch, so mind yo' distance 'round her."
Emil continued to talk about something meaningless, but Remy tuned him out as the cogs in his mind began to meld and turn. A skin based mutation explained why she was always wearing gloves when he saw her... then again, if she were always wearing gloves that could only mean one of two things; she had control only when she focused or she had no control at all. Suddenly, her interests in the matter became clear.
The third party she was working for was herself.
Rogue was more like him than he- or Emil- had realized.
The next day Remy assigned an apprentice thief to locate and follow Rogue about her day. Young Marcel was only too happy to accept the task. Donning his Thieves Guild issue trench coat, Marcel took to the New Orleans streets, looking for a woman with green eyes and peculiar dress for the humid climate of the fair state of Louisiana.
By a stroke of luck, Marcel managed to spot her in the midst of a crowd in the French Quarter. Really, it was that green bandana that decorated her hair. Marcel followed Rogue as she mozied around the Quarter, doing her fair share of window shopping. Marcel rolled his eyes at her on more than one occasion, tourists.
Marcel did his best to blend in with the ebb and flow of the foot traffic around the Quarter all while keeping his distance from Rogue. Every now and again she would stop in front of yet another shop window and inspect her appearance through her obnoxiously big sunglasses. This high maintenance habit seemed to go against the personality profile that Remy had briefed him with before assigning him to this mission.
Deciding he looked suspicious wondering around the Quarter with no apparent agenda, Marcel looked to higher ground to continue to his watch. Taking a sharp right into an alley way, Marcel scaled the side of the building using the gutter to help propel himself up. When he pulled himself to the top of the roof, Marcel scrambled over to the edge to peer down at the crowds below. It wasn't hard to spot his mark (bless that green bandana). Now all he had to do was wait for her to do something interesting so he didn't have to report to Remy empty handed.
Marcel watched as Rogue pulled out her cellphone, he could only assume she was checking her appearance in the reflective screen. Marcel's shoulders fell in disappointment, he had hoped for a more interesting mark . Rogue slipped the phone into her back pocket and decided to stop into a cafe for lunch. Marcel sighed and sank down to a sitting position.
After about an hour, Rogue had yet to emerged from the cafe. However, Marcel's attention was distracted from Rogue's extremely long lunch by the patriotic streak in the air as a woman in a flashy- and form fitting- suit ascended back down to Earth. Marcel recognized the woman as the one and only Captain Marvel.
He watched curiously as Captain Marvel scanned the crowds of the Quarter with great interest as she looked for something. Marcel felt his stomach turn; there was no way that her arrival in New Orleans was good for the Guild. Meanwhile, the people in the Quarter began to recognize her and began to mutter amongst themselves at her arrival.
While distracted, Marcel had missed Rogue's exit from the cafe. He caught a glimpse of her green bandana making it's way through the crowd, getting closer and closer to Captain Marvel. Her rigid body language clued him in that what was about to happen would not be pleasant. His eyes also narrowed in on her gloveless hands. Whatever was going on, Rogue meant business.
Marcel was up about two stories, but he was still able to get a decent view of Rogue and was able to make out any audible sounds. He watched in curiosity as Rogue's face twisted from surprise to irritation upon spotting Captain Marvel. Marcel was surprised when Rogue snuck up from behind Captain Marvel and lunged at her.
"It's ah shame we gotta keep meetin' like this." Rogue snapped as the pair fell to the ground.
"Rogue?" Captain Marvel asked incredulously, as she threw Rogue off of her. "The hell do you think you're doing... Did the psyches take over again?" her jaw tense.
Marcel made a face, so the Captain knew Rogue. How very curious.
"Nope." Rogue popped the p. "This is all me, Sugah." She said loudly as she regained her balance.
"I don't wanna hurt you." Captain Marvel said slowly as a crowd of people started to form a ring around them. Vaguely, Marcel wondered what he should do. He couldn't get involved with this fight... but surely Rogue was about to get her ass beat.
"Shame. Ah wanna hurt you." Rogue spat vehemently, dropping her bags and lunging at Captain Marvel once more.
From his vantage point, Marcel watched as his mark made a brash decision in the face of combat. Rogue lunged again. As the two tumbled to the ground, Marcel squinted to get a better look as the duo hesitated briefly on the ground while his mark was close to the Captain's ear. However, he quickly dismissed the thought when Captain Marvel shoved Rogue off of her and into a nearby wall.
Marcel flinched in sympathy pain as he heard Rogue groan. As she peeled herself off of the brick wall she'd just played chicken with, Rogue took a deep breath. Meanwhile, Marcel struggled with what his next move as her tail should be. Being a tail wasn't worth anything if there was no mark to follow.
Rogue made her way back into the fight, "That tha best ya got?" She mocked. "'Sides, Ah knew ya couldn't take me in ah fair fight."
The Captain's eyes narrowed, "Fair fight? Your hands are bare. You could take me out with a touch!" she accused.
Up on the roof, Marcel had the distinct feeling that not only was he missing some vital information to understand their banter, but also that these two women had something of a history with each other.
Rogue took her gloves out of her back pocket and put them back on her hands.
"Think ya can handle ah fist fight, Cap?"
"Better than you think you can." Captain Marvel snapped, raising her fists.
The two women started at each other and began to exchange blows. The fight itself looked more like a perfectly choreographed dance rather than a fist fight. Every punch was dodged and every kick was blocked as the two bobbed and weaved around each other as they attempted to land a hit. Finally, Captain Marvel gained the upper hand when she caught Rogue by surprise with a head-butt against Rogue's bandana and followed it with two quick right jabs. As Captain Marvel started for a left hook, Rogue leant back and dodged it. Falling to the ground, Rogue wrapped her legs around Captain Marvel's so to take the other woman with her.
From there it was a power struggle to see who would land on top. The two rolled and rolled, every so often, one would maintain an upright position long enough to land a couple of blows. After a few rounds of this, Rogue grew tired of the back and forth and when she regained the final advantage, she quickly ripped her glove off and grabbed the Captain's face.
Marcel could see the Captain's fear even from the roof. As Rogue held on, that same expression of fear began to fall off her face as she started to nod off.
Rogue lingered over the Captain's body, but with her back to him, he couldn't tell if she said anything else to her. Rogue stood up and looked around the crowd with a wild look in her eyes, "What'c'all lookin' at? Ya wanna be next?" she snarled, causing more than a few gawkers to flee the scene in fear.
Rogue clapped her hands together triumphantly. She replaced the gloves back onto her hands and picked up the bags she'd discarded and went on about her day like nothing was out of the ordinary.
Marcel continued to watch Rogue with intrigue. She was character after all, not just a boring old potential rat. She had just taken out Captain Marvel... that was an impressive feat in its own right. Marcel was actually about to go check on the fallen Avenger when a hand grabbed his shoulder.
Turning around, Marcel caught sight of a pair of eyes belonging to the only man who wasn't a LeBeau that he feared. "Julien." Marcel gulped.
"T'ief." Julien replied stonily. "What'choo t'ink yo' doin' here? Dis Assassin territory. M'sister ain' married t'yo' scum o' an heir yet. So yo' ain' allowed here." he said in contempt. "Which begs de question, what should we do wit' 'em?"
Marcel's eyes widened as he attempted to flee, but was ultimately unable to do so.
Remy was getting ready to leave the LeBeau Estate for the Cellar when Jean Luc caught him by the arm in the entry way.
"Follow me boy, dere's been an incident." Jean Luc said stiffly.
Changing his direction, Remy followed his father to the Patriarch's official office that Remy personally never bothered to use. Once inside, Remy caught sight of a battered and beaten Marcel sitting in the chair adjacent to Jean Luc's desk
Remy's eyes widened, "Did Rogue do dis t'you?"
Marcel shook his head, "Non. Julien caught me while I was tailin' de fille. I wasn't payin' attention t'where I was... De fille's fight wit' Captain Marvel distracted me." he explained.
Remy blinked, "Rogue got in a fight wit' Captain Marvel? De Captain Marvel? De hot, blonde femme from de Avengers? Marcel nodded and Remy whistled, "An' did she win?" he pressed.
Again, Marcel nodded.
"Remy," Jean Luc snapped, "Dis ain' no time fo' admirin' de fille's work. Wit' dis incident, both sides are callin' for a war. Our boys want retribution for Marcel's sufferin' an' Julien's heinous act an' de Assassins see dis as an' attempt by us t'take what ain' ours... ironically." he half laughed.
Remy could feel the accusation in Jean Luc's words. "What's dis have t'do wit' me? Ain' m'fault he got sloppy 'cause a girl fight distracted 'em." Remy said indignantly, knowing that he too would have been distracted by a girl fight of that caliber... especially if there had been mud... he highly doubted there would have been mud... but if there had been...
"Ain' what I'm gettin' at boy." Jean Luc snapped, "Wit' dis incident, Marius an' I agree dat de weddin' ought t'be moved up. Yo' an' Belle t'wed at de end o' de month."
Remy recoiled from his father as if Jean Luc had slapped him. "Dat's two weeks." his mouth was suddenly dry.
"Oui." Jean Luc said impatiently.
"But Per-"
"Non, no buts. Yo' doin' dis Remy. Ain' no way yo' gettin' outta it. Try an' sabotage dis all yo' want, but yo' marryin' Belladonna if I gotta hold a gun t'yo' head. Yo' doin' dis fo' yo' family, fo' de Guild. Yo' Guild." his father's tone was finalizing.
Remy ran a hand through his hair and swallowed a rebuttal. "Fine." he sneered, "But dat still leaves our X-men problem wit' out a solution. Fence won' be back from Rome until middle o' de week after next. Which means we gotta hold onto de package. De only play we got is dis Rogue."
"An' why's dat?" Jean Luc said curiously, dismissing Marcel with a wave of his hand.
"She used t'be one o' dem." Remy said. Jean Luc started to scoff but Remy interrupted him, "Jus' listen, fo' once, hein? Dis Rogue, she knows how dey tick an' she an' dem had some fallin' out a few years back. She hates dem. Yo' heard Marcel, she took down Captain Marvel in de Quarter. Everybody knows dat Marvel is an Avenger who gets chummy wit' de X-men. 'Sides Rogue already predicted dey'd come, an' she says dey'll come again. Dis time, we can be prepared." he pitched.
Remy could tell by the look on Jean Luc's face that he was both doubtful and intrigued. "Everyt'ing yo've said t'me has been one convenient circumstance after another. An' enemy o' de X-men popping up jus' when we have our own issues wit' dem? A random Avenger in N'Orleans? Dis stinks Remy, an' fo' some reason yo' can' smell it."
Remy shook his head vigorously, "Non, sometimes de cards just fall perfectly int' yo' hand." He insisted, "Wit'out her, we won' be able t'stop de X-men. She's our trump card, our ace in de hole."
Jean Luc sighed, "I don' like dis Remy. I don' trust outsiders."
Remy looked him dead in the eye, "Yo' trusted me."
Jean Luc ran a frustrated hand down his face. "Go talk t'her. See what she's got up her own sleeves. If somet'ing don' seem right, leave whatever offer an' wash yo' hands o' her. Yo' want dis fille on board, den not only does she gotta prove herself a Guild ally, but she's yo' responsibility."
Remy nodded mutely and dismissed himself from Jean Luc's office before the two could catapult into a strongly worded argument. Now it was time to meet Rogue. Now it was time to see what the hell kind of game he was about to start playing.
If he hadn't started already.
At the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, amend that, Below the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, the team infamously known as the X-men sat in the briefing room that had long ago been dubbed "The War Room."
The team that had attempted to infiltrate the LeBeau Manor sat quietly in their seats as the remaining X-men waited for their official debriefing of what had happened and why they had come back empty handed.
With Wolverine M.I.A. and Cyclops in one of his brooding moods, Shadowcat took to explaining their failure to the team, starting with how she had phased the team into the house, moving on to Wolverine's fight with the red eyed mutant, her own surveillance of the Manor and finally, Marrow's capture and their forced retreat. "And after getting just a brief search of the place, " Shadowcat concluded, "we still haven't the faintest clue as to where they could be keeping it. Assuming they still have it."
Shadowcat pursed her lips and shook her head in frustration, "We misjudged them. That guy was ready to blow us all to smithereens." she recalled distantly. Looking to the Professor, her tone became skeptical, "You can't possibly still think we should try and recruit him?"
From his spot at the head of the table, Professor Xavier looked at his student placidly, "I believe Mr. LeBeau was merely reacting out of instinct, just as anyone else in his position would if their home was invaded. I do not believe that he would have actually blown Logan up." he said, resting his elbows on the table.
"What you think he may or may not do does not change the fact that he and his Guild are days away from selling our property to the highest bidder with no regard to the consequences to the mutant population." Cyclops bit out. "We have to go back. We can't let that fall into even worse hands."
Xavier held up a hand to silence Cyclops, "And we will, Scott. We just lost the battle." he said calmly, "The war is still afoot." Xavier's words did little to placate his students and peers. "We have to trust that everything will go according to plan."
"What exactly is the plan?" asked Jubilee impatiently. "'Cause that plan was attack first and think later. Did you let Logan do the planning?"
Xavier looked over at his youngest X-man, "That was a slight of hand, a Trojan horse, if you will."
"Um, Professor, last I checked, we didn't sneak an army into the Guild. In fact, it was more Beer Hall Putch than anything else." Iceman said dubiously.
Smiling, Xavier said, "I'm glad you actually learned something in your history class, Bobby. So, speaking in World War II terms, we'll be giving the Guild a war on two fronts."
"So we shall send in two teams for the next strike?" Beast asked, his tone dubious.
Xavier shook his head, "We still raid the Guild again, still with just one team. We'll keep our ranks more or less the same. Sarah, I'm sorry but you'll be sitting this one out. Instead, we need someone that the LeBeau's will have a harder time getting their hands on." Xavier's gaze drifted toward a particular mutant.
Northstar had not been paying much attention to the briefing when he felt Xavier's eyes on him. He quickly looked up and sputtered, "Who's getting their hands on what now?"
"Nice Jean-Paul." Cyclops said patronizingly.
Northstar shrugged sheepishly.
Forge shook his head, "Prof, no offense, but none of this makes any sense. If we're sending in only one team, how is this a war on two fronts?"
Xavier's response to the technologically inclined mutant was interrupted by Wolverine's abrupt (and substantially late) entrance. He looked even more irritated than usual as he announced, "Jus' got off the phone with Carol Danvers. It seems Rogue's gotten her hands deeper into this mess than we originally thought." he huffed.
"What the hell does she think she's doing?" asked Bobby to no one in particular. He ran an anxious hand through his hair.
"Apparently, she thinks she's attacking Avengers fer the fun of it." Wolverine growled. He turned his attention back to Xavier, "You let her leave. No, yer the one who sent her away. Didja see this one comin' Chuck?"
"Rogue is in New Orleans..." Storm said slowly, "Is that your play? Rogue is your second front?"
Xavier nodded, "She is. But we must approach this carefully. If we don't, we could lose her forever."
Wolverine didn't like that statement, his nostrils flailed and a growl erupted from his throat, "That ain' happenin'. Stripes is comin' home in one piece whether she likes it or not."
A/N: Something about Thieves Guild issue trench coats makes me laugh. I blame XTAS for that particular head cannon.
There was a question from tx peppa as to why Rogue was using a flip phone. The answer is that I initially intended this story to be set in 2009ish. That's about the dawn of the Smart Phone age. So it's entirely possible she hasn't made the transition over yet. More likely I just enjoy the more dramatic notion of flipping a phone shut opposed to pressing a button.
So, What is the Professor up to? Why was Captain Marvel in New Orleans? Why is Remy so insistent on trusting Rogue?