4. ONLY PRETTIER

Rogue was sitting at the same booth she had inhabited on the night that they first met. Remy noticed her right away but did his best to not seem eager to speak to her. His first stop was to the bar, where he got two drinks then made his way nonchalantly over to her.

Slipping into the adjacent booth, Remy slid her one of the drinks.

As Rogue caught the drink, Remy took note of how her body winced when she made sudden movements. He noticed that her face was pretty scratched up as well. Her bottom lip was busted, her right cheek was bruised and her forehead boasted more than one scrape that Remy could tell had been oozing blood earlier.

Remy leant against the wooden table, continuing his inspection of her with interest.

"Gotta say, Chere. When I heard yo' got in a fight, I didn' realize it'd been wit' a semi." he said, resting his head on his hands.

Rogue raised her eyebrows, "By tha looks ah it, my opponent was tougher than yours." she nodded to the medical tape around his palms. "Tha X-men pay ya ah visit after all?" Remy could tell by her tone that it was a rhetorical question. That didn't stop him.

"Dat dey did." he replied, taking a swig of his drink "Made quite de ruckus." he set his glass down on the table haphazardly.

Rogue scoffed, "Jus' be glad that's all they did."

"Guess yo' would know what dey're capable o', since dey were once yo' friends." he said pointedly, gauging her reaction.

Rogue looked up from her drink and shrugged, "It was ah phase." she said with a wave of her hand.

"Non." Remy shook his head sternly. "Goin' straight ain' a phase. Tell me, how am I 'posed t'trust dat yo' ain' gonna stab me in de back at de end o' de day?" Remy didn't know why he was asking her that.

"Ain' no guarantees in our line o' work, Sugah. In fact, ya shouldn't trust me. Ah sure as hell don' trust you. However, Ah do trust that ya don' want tha X-men ta take back what'ca stole. So trust that Ah am ah woman scorned an' tha X-men are at fault." her tone was bitter and something within Remy emphasized with her hatred toward her once adoptive family.

Remy looked on at her unfazed, "An' jus' how did de X-men earn yo' hatred?"

Rogue's face was stone still when she answered him, "They offered me answers an' when Ah got there, all they had fo' me was more questions."

"Dis 'bout yo' powers, non?" he inquired as he attempted to put together the puzzle.

Rogue winced again, this time not from physical pain. "Seems like ya've finally done ya own homework."

"Circumstances changed an' yo' warnin' suddenly wasn't so ominous." Remy said in his velvety smooth voice that he used to get his way.

Rogue smirked, "So ya've come here askin' for my help after all."

Remy shrugged, "Mebbe. We'll see."

Rogue's face darkened, "Don' think fo' ah second that Ah'm here purely fo' revenge an' charity. 'We'll see?', Sugah ya ain' got time ta see nothin', 'cept maybe Wolverine shreddin' ya ass inta confetti"

Remy didn't falter at her snap, he merely smiled at her. "Chere, yo' wanna work fo' de Guild? Den yo' gonna haveta prove ya ain' an X-man in disguise."

Rogue's face twisted in disgust, "Ah don' wanna be ah-part o' ya Merry Men, Ah shouldn' havta go through an initiation."

Remy cut the cute and gave Rogue a deadpan look, "Here's de deal. Dis whole t'ing stinks o' a set up. Don' t'ink dat I don' spot a third party when I see one. De way yo' look at me, I wouldn' be surprised if yo' whole plan was t'screw over m'Guild. Dere ain' no reason why I shouldn't walk away from de table right now. An' if yo' don' do de 'initiation' den yo' can have a good night, Chere, 'cause we done... business wise." he wiggled an eyebrow at her, insinuating something he knew she would scoff at.

Rogue scoffed and Remy smirked. He was beginning to understand how she ticked. "Ah sure as hell ain' gonna beg fo' this job. All Ah want is ta screw tha X-men an' get paid while doin' it." Rogue looked Remy right in the eye as she said, "Ah don' wanna screw you."

Remy couldn't help but laugh at the double meaning of her statement. "So we gotta deal, den?"

Rogue nodded slowly as she pulled a pen out of her jacket pocket and wrote a number down on the napkin between the water stain where her drink had been sitting. She slid the napkin across the table into Remy's awaiting hands. "Ah want half after yo' trainin' run an' half after Ah successfully ward off tha X-men. Ah expect cash."

Remy enjoyed her no-nonsense tone. The girl knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to show it. He had to admit, he was beginning to have mixed feelings about her. "If yo' deliver on both ends, den we gotta deal." he said jovially. He felt a rush of excitement coarse through him, he wasn't sure why.

"Sugah, ya ain't gotta worry if Ah got the goods ta back up my claims. Now, gimme tha details."

Remy opened his mouth to answer her, but he was interrupted by the sudden presence of the bombshell that was Belladonna. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Belle's dramatic entrance, Remy kept an eye on Rogue. She didn't seem fazed by Belle's intrusion, in fact she looked intrigued.

Belladonna made it a point to never let her gaze drift from Remy as she curled up next to him, forcing his arm up and over her shoulder, subsequently marking her territory.

"Is this yo' latest whore, Remy?" Belle asked vehemently, running a hand up and down the side of his face. Remy was less than thrilled by her touch and did his best not to flinch away from her... actually, her presence angered him, so did her accusation. Not because he gave a damn what she thought of him- he'd made that very clear- but that she would insult Rogue like that...

Shaking the thought from his head, Remy honed back to earth and to the tight lipped smile on Rogue's lips. "Listen Sugah," she said, "Ah don' know who ya think ya're dealin' with, but Ah assure ya, Ah ain' tha kinda woman ya wanna cross. Now, Ah've already tussled with one blonde with ah inferiority complex, Ah ain' ah-fraid ta make it two. Show me tha respect Ah deserve or Ah will teach it ta ya usin' my fists." Rogue said dangerously.

Belladonna finally looked at Rogue, her tone venomous, "Ya t'ink yo' can take me?"

Rogue smirked, "Ta tha cleaners, ta tha bank, ta the woodshed, Sugah jus' tell me where ya wanna go."

Remy didn't even try to stifle the laugh that escaped from his mouth as Belle's mouth dropped. Those mixed feelings were slowly becoming unmixed by the second.

"I will peel yo' skin off wit' m'own duex hands." Belle snarled in retort. No one had ever dared to speak to her like that. Except maybe the man next to her, but even he never threatened her any real bodily harm.

Rogue snickered at Belladonna's threat, "Ah would very much like ta see ya try. Now, if we're done with this pissin' contest, ya fiancé an' Ah were discussin' tha finer points o' our business transaction." Rogue was about to stop there but thought better of it, she looked to Belle pointedly, "An' it don' involve prostitution, 'fore ya think ah gettin' smart."

Remy decided that then was as good a time as any to pop in, "Belle, dis Rogue. De Guild's recruitin' her fo' an extremely sensitive matter." he said, his voice a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

"Rogue?" Belle scoffed, "A bit pretentious, don'tca think?"

Rogue made a face, "Nah, Ah think it's eloquent with ah shade o' mystery an' intrigue. 'Sides, Ah didn' choose it."

"Did yo' Mere named yo' Rogue?" Belle asked, deadpan.

Rogue rolled her eyes, "If Ah say yes, will it make ya stop askin' me meaningless questions?" she retorted harshly. "Ya Momma named ya Beautiful Woman, don'tca think that's ah bit pretentious? Ah mean, Ah guess yo' personify it, but damn, yo' personality could wilt flowers."

Belle's head whipped toward Remy. "Yo gonna let her talk t'me like dis?" she snapped.

Remy looked at her boredly, "She ain' wrong." he said out of the side of his mouth.

Rogue rolled her eyes, how the two of them were supposed to be married was beyond her, "Listen up," she called Belle's attention back to her. "Ah ain' here ta steal ya man. Ah got no interest in him, 'kay? Matter ah fact, 'fore we go ta blows ovah ya pride, lemme let ya in on ah lil' secret." Rogue leant in and beckoned Belle to do the same. "Ah couldn't sleep with ya Fiancé even if Ah wanted to. Ah would kill him. An' I can' do that. Not yet at least."

Belle looked at her reproachfully, "Yo' some sorta Black Widow?"

Rogue shook her head, "Nah, she's a redheaded Russian who, frankly, scares me. An' that's Ah feat on its own, considerin' Ah ain' scared o' you."

Belle gave her a curious once over, all previous scorn temporarily forgotten, "Why can't ya touch 'em?"

Rogue took a deep breath, "Can' touch nobody- unless Ah wanna put 'em in ah coma." Rogue held up her hands and called Belle's attention to her gloves, "Now, can we please get back ta business. My time is very valuable."

Remy unhooked his arm from Belle's shoulder and scooted away from her, giving himself some breathing room. "Oui, Belle, would yo' excuse us. Dis official Guild business an' in light o' recent events I don' t'ink Jean-Luc would be happy if Marius was aware o' T'ief business 'fore we officially exchange playbooks."

Belle glared at him up got up nonetheless. For once, he was entirely right. Belle stood from the booth and smoothed out her shirt, sending Rogue a piercing look before throwing over her shoulder, "I expect yo' at de house tomorrow at noon fo' plannin'. Since de dates been moved up, t'ings need changed."

Rogue watched Belle saunter away with a tinge of morbid curiosity in her eyes. Remy, on the other hand, felt exhausted after dealing with Belle. With Rogue momentarily distracted Remy took the opportunity to gather himself. Composing himself, Remy looked back up to realize that Rogue was now inspecting him curiously. Remy didn't have to tap into his empathy to feel the emotion rolling off of her. It wasn't quite, pity... no, it was sympathy.

Neither of them realized they were staring into eachother's eyes for more beats than acceptable.

Rogue snapped out of it first, "That's quite ah girl ya got there." she said sarcastically

Remy blew an excessive amount of air from his nose in what could have been considered a laugh, "Shut up." his words held no malice, but were almost playful, "Now let's get t'de trust exercise."

Remy leant against his bike in the parking lot outside the Hampton Inn that the mark was staying in. In his ear he had a comms unit that linked him directly to Rogue and in his hands was his cellphone, which after a quick call to Emil was now transmitting the Hotel's security camera footage onto his five inch screen. He just needed to swipe to find the camera he needed. Briefly, he recalled his and Rogue's conversation the day before that had led to this "mission".

"De Thieves have influence all over de world." he stated. "Yo' name it we got our hands in de cookie jar- Presidential elections, Pius elections, match manipulation, pay rolled cops, yo' get de idea." a smile had threatened to peek on his lips, "We gain it t'rough many different methods. Bribes, insurance, favors, blackmail, yo' name it. Dat said, dere's a new player in Congress who stands t'mess alotta t'ings up for us, an' he seems impervious t'all de aforementioned methods. Now, we ain' de Assassins Guild, we ain' 'bout killin' threats if we don' have to, so we-I need yo' t'go in an' get somet'ing dat will earn us his silence."

Coming back to the present, Remy gazed down at the phone as he finally found a camera that Rogue was on. He grinned at the image of her in a maid's uniform. She had been less than thrilled when he had handed her it.

"LeBeau." Rogue's voice hissed in his ear.

"Oui, Chere?" he asked velvety, still watching her on the camera.

Rogue looked down in disgust as her voice rang in his ear, "What's tha bright idea o' putting Double D on my name tag?" she asked in annoyance.

Remy was glad she wasn't around to see the giant smirk that had erupted on his lips. "Chere, it says DD. Dat's pronounced Dee Dee." he replied cheekily.

On the camera, Rogue's fists balled, "Don'choo play coy with me Swamp rat. Ah know this was no accident."

"Non, dose D's were no accident." he quipped.

"Ugh!" Rogue grunted as she disappeared from that camera's view. "Ya're impossible."

Remy swiped through the camera views on his phone until he found one of Rogue entering the Hotel's pool. The mark was swimming laps in the far lane. Rogue took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and made her way over to him.

The man's name was Ernest Brightway, an Illinois Congressman in his late fifties who was in New Orleans for an event involving his favorite charity. Remy hadn't bothered to remember what the charity was, it didn't matter and he didn't care. He doubted Brightway cared either, bureaucrats were all the same.

Rogue tapped Brightway on the top of his swim cap as he came in for another lap. Brightway, startled, stood up in the water and looked at Rogue incredulously.

"Excuse me, sir." Rogue's voice was in his ear again, "Excuse me, Mr. Brightway?" her voice had lost its drawl and had become extremely shrill. Once she was sure she had his attention, she adjusted her bandana nervously, "Mr. Brightway, I'm DeeDee Price, Management has sent me to escort you back to your room. I'm afraid your room has been vandalized and we need you to come give your statement of all the things stolen to the police right away." her tone was urgent.

Brightway blinked, "Very well. I'll be right up. Let me change." he said hurriedly

Rogue shook her head, "There's no time, sir. We need to do this instant or else your claim will be denied. It's imperative we catch the police officers before they leave."

Brightway made a face, "Fine, fine." he conceded, pulling himself out of the pool and walking over toward a bench that held his towel and bag. He wrapped the towel around the speedo that he really shouldn't have been wearing. Sure, he was in good shape for his age, but that didn't mean he was in good enough shape for a speedo.

As Brightway slipped on his shoes, Remy started swiping his phone again to get a lock on where he knew they would be next: the elevator. He guessed as to which of the two elevators they would be in, and was delighted to see that he had guessed right as Rogue and Brightway entered the confined space.

"Rogue, has anyone ever told yo' dat yo' really pull off de maid look?" he asked cheekily.

Rogue looked to the camera in the elevator; the unamused look on her face was accompanied by her scratching her cheek using a very particular finger.

"Take dat as a 'non'." Remy mused.

Rogue and Brightway continued to stand awkwardly in the elevator until it finally dinged at the correct floor and they filed out. Remy swiped through the cameras again until he found the one closest to Brightway's door.

"Where are the police exactly?" Brightway's question was muffled as he moved further away from Rogue.

"They should be in the adjacent room." Rogue explained diligently, "Now go and make sure you assess what's been taken from your room first."

Brightway nodded as they came into view of the camera. He slid his card through the handle to unlock the door. Not wasting a second, Brightway burst into the room, ready to search through it franticly. Rogue followed after him and shut the door behind her.

Remy stared at the empty screen on his phone. He doubted it would take Rogue very long to extract the information the Guild needed to roll Brightway. Then Remy started to wonder how Rogue's mutation worked. The file had said she absorbed thoughts and memories and even abilities, but where did they go after they served their purpose? Surely they didn't stick around... did they?"

Before long, Brightway's door opened again and Rogue exited. She kept her head down so that the camera couldn't see her face. Despite the grainy nature of the camera and Rogue's attempt to conceal her identity, Remy could tell that she looked shaken.

Rogue ducked into a service elevator that she had stored her actual clothes in. Remy knew there was no camera in that elevator and couldn't help but be disappointed at his missed opportunity. Instead of dwelling on that, he exited the program on his phone and slipped it into one of his pockets. Now he just had to wait until Rogue appeared.

"Everyt'ing good, Rogue?" he asked after a couple minutes passed and he'd still yet to catch a glimpse of her coming out of the hotel's back entrance.

Rogue didn't answer and Remy felt his stomach clench. Had she betrayed him? If so, why right then? What had she seen inside the mind of Ernest Brightway? Remy got off his bike to investigate and as he started toward the building Rogue exited out an emergency exit hastily, nearly running right into him.

"Rogue?" Remy said in surprise.

Rogue looked up bewildered, her eyes narrowed, "Who are you? Where is Jenkins?"

Remy blinked, Rogue didn't sound like Rogue. She didn't even recognize him. Remy grabbed Rogue's shoulders tightly. "Rogue, snap outta it. Rogue!" he said desperately.

Rogue's top lips curled, "Who is Rogue? I am Ernest Brightway. Congressman Brightway to you."

"Non. Rogue. Yo' Rogue... I don' really know all dat 'bout yo', but I know yo' don' take nothin' layin' down. Fight dis, Rogue. Come back... come back t'me." The words just flooded out of him.

Rogue's eyes looked at him, but they didn't see him. Remy continued to hold her arms as he searched her eyes. Her pupils were tremoring back and forth as if she were in some sort of REM cycle.

Suddenly, Rogue's eyes began to focus once more.

Rogue blinked a few times. She looked at Remy in confusion, "LeBeau?"

Remy nodded in relief, "Oui, miss me?

Rogue touched her temple, "Not really." She replied, pulling away from him.

A smile touched Remy's lips, "I don' believe dat." he lead her to his bike, Now get on, we gotta report yo' findin's t'm'pere." He motioned to his bike.

Rogue shook Remy's hands off her and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Yeah, he's gonna love this." she said distantly, climbing onto the bike.

"Umm, Rogue. Dat's my bike." Remy reminded her timidly, as she gripped the handle bars.

Rogue leered at him over her shoulder, "An' ya point is?"

"I...I get t'drive?" he said scratching the back of his neck.

"Not today. Ya ridin' bitch."

Remy looked at her deadpan, "Yo' don' even know de way."

Rogue shrugged, "Tap me on the shoulder fo' which way Ah should turn. Now give me tha keys 'fore Ah hotwire it."

She didn't look like she was bluffing about hotwiring his bike, so Remy tossed her the keys and begrudgingly got on the back of the bike. However, he perked up a bit when he wrapped his arms around Rogue.

"Ya better watch where ya put ya hands, Swamprat, or Ah'll throw ya off tha bike." Rogue threatened.

"Swamprat? Dat yo' version o' ah term o' endearment?"

If Rogue answered him, he would never know what her retort was, as she revved the engine so loud he could hear nothing else beside it and the ringing in his ear.

A/N: Sorry, I meant to post this sooner, sorry for the wait. It's also about 1 am my time, so I hope I caught any errors in my exhausted stupor.

So I've been toying with the idea of writing a companion piece to this story from Rogue's POV. The reason being that this story will be majorly Remy's POV with a bit of Rogue's for dramatic irony. The way I have this story planned we won't know what Rogue was up to until the very end. So, is this something you guys might be interested in? If it were to happen, it wouldn't be posted until after this story was done to avoid spoilers and because I don't have anything started for it yet, just a outline of possibilities.