Okay, first of all, I'm really sorry for the late update but I'm really busy these days. These exams just won't let me go. I'm bone-tired and I've still got more exams to go. Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read. This chapter is basically the same one with a lot of changes.

Chapter Two

Remy LeBeau

"Are you eighteen?" The guy behind the counter asked me in a loud voice. There was a lot of noise but I heard him alright. He was a burly man with short blonde hair and a crooked nose.

"Oh God, not again," I groaning and shoving my ID in his face. He looked at it, shot me an apologetic grin and placed my drink in front of me.

My back ached from sleeping in the car last night and still, I was barely out of town. Man, I wanted to die.

I was skimming through the messages from the mansion, while sipping my drink when I heard a guy shuffle out of his seat further down the bar into the seat next to me. I stiffened a bit keeping my gaze down and pretended being engrossed in my phone. Jubilee had most of the messages lined up, telling me to get my ass back home, another from Bobby asking me where I was and one from Kitty who wanted to apologize breaking my relationship with Bobby, but explaining that she really liked him. Go have him for all I care, Kitty.

"Not from around here, I believe," the guy beside me said. He had a thick Cajun accent.

"Look, I'm not—" I stopped mid-way when I actually saw the guy's face. God, he was handsome. I looked away quickly.

"I'm not…?" He asked, arching an eye-brow.

Quickly, I changed my sentence. I was about to say that I wasn't in the mood to have any company, but what I said was, "I'm not from around here."

"Remy," he said, extending a hand.

"Rogue," I said, shaking hands with him. Every part of me was covered so there really was nothing to fear.

"Rogue?" He smiled. "What kind of name is that, chère?"

I smiled. Logan had said something along the same lines all those years ago.

Quit thinking about Logan, Rogue.

"Well, that's what I'm called."

He nodded. "And you are alone?" He asked.

I smiled. "I'm better off that way," I replied.

Remy raised an eye-brow, but I simply sipped my beer going through the last of Jubilee's rants.

I was finishing my beer when the Manager of the bar came up to Remy.

"Isn't your time up, son?" He asked him in a whisper, smiling at me. In spite of his attempt to keep his voice down, I could distinctly hear each word that he said.

"Yes, Sir," Remy drawled, making me smile. He worked here.

Remy nodded to me once, finished his drink and walk up to the table where a few guys were playing cards. That was a new introduction. The last time I was here, there was no cards table. Neither was there a pool table. Or the cage at the other end of the bar. People were cheering loudly there as two sweaty men fought each other for their lives.

"Has this place been renovated?" I asked the bartender loudly over the cheers.

"Six months back. Owner died, his son took over. Expanded the place, added perks."

"Oh," I said, finishing my glass. "Another one, please?"

The bartender nodded and went off to bring more beer. Just as he moved, I saw a vacancy advertisement behind him. For a bartender. Maybe luck was favoring me.

When I got my new drink, I enquired about it. "Is there a vacancy here? For a bartender?"

The guy nodded eagerly. "Yep. I'm leaving you see. Have to go up North."

"And who recruits?"

"The Manager you just saw? I'm Tim, by the way," he extended his hand. I shook it, smiling. "But weren't you just twenty?"

I nodded my head.

"What if we don't tell that one detail to my Manager? You see, I'm in a hurry. I should have been home by now. The Manager won't let me out without a replacement. Refused my pay."

"Oh. And I am in need of a job, really. So, I'll keep quiet," I said, giving him a small smile as he smirked.

Tim nodded and went to the other customers, as I turned in my seat and saw Remy. Clearly, he was winning, if the heartbroken looks of the others and Remy's smug smile was any indication. Just then, Remy looked up and smiled at me. He raised his eye-brows in my direction and raised his cards-held hands towards me. Then, he placed his cards on the table and everybody clearly groaned. Then, he placed his cards on the table and everybody clearly groaned., probably meaning that he declared that win to me.

Wow. I watched as a new game began and Remy shuffled the cards. Everybody started placing their bets, but all I saw was Remy, who suddenly looked up and caught me staring.

I quickly looked back at my drink biting my lip as the game proceeded.

As I watched, I couldn't suppress not appreciating Remy. Remy was a total expert at cards! The way he made them fly back into his hands, every single freaking time had me clapping from where I sat. Metaphorically. Not that I was actually clapping.

Suddenly, a cheer went around the noisy bar, drawing my attention to the cages in the back. I saw a man lying still on the floor while another stood towering over him, his hands raised, challenging the two dozen people around the cage to come fight him. I looked away. The scene was all too familiar, what with Logan wanting to fight anywhere he saw a challenge and worthy opponent.

When will you shut up about him?

While finishing the remnants of my drink, I finally made the decision. This place had a past with me and I wanted to be in a place I knew. Somehow, it seemed like a relief from started again at a new place all alone.

Then, I noticed a girl behind the bar and called her over.

"Hey, I'm Rogue," I introduced myself.

"Stacy," she said, smiling.

"I was thinking about applying for the vacant job for a bartender here. And since you are one, can you suggest me some place to stay? I'm actually new in town and I think I'll be staying for a while."

"I live in this apartment with a friend of mine, downtown. Its a few minutes' walk from there. I think you can get a place in my building itself. There is a free apartment there."

"Okay," I nodded my head. "Thanks."

Finally deciding, I got up from my seat. Tim winked at me in encouragement, making me smile. Then, I went up to the Manager who was lingering towards the back, talking to some customers. I had to cross over the cage area before reaching him, which was really an effort. I could actually picture Logan standing there, smugly smiling over how he cleanly bowled the huge man out.

"Excuse me?" I began, looking at his breast pocket which had his name tag which said Michael Portman. "I heard that you have a place here? For a bartender?"

"Oh, yes. Do you wish to apply?" He asked in a very professional way, his face expressionless.

I nodded.

"Do you have any experience?"

"Actually no," I answered. "I'm new in town and I saw the vacancy advertisement here."

"Okay. So– "

But he was interrupted as somebody called for the Manager. He turned to me, his face never changing in expression. "Why don't you come tomorrow before the place gets busy? I've got a lot of customers to attend to."

I nodded. "Sure."

He nodded his head at me and went towards the source of the call, while I came back to my seat trying not to look at the cage. It was one part of the bar I'd have to ignore and learn to live with at the same time. I didn't believe anybody would ever think of looking for me here. Especially Logan. Why would he remember anything? The way we first met here, the time I climbed into his truck. Those things happened a long time ago. He had gotten over me so fast, it'd be a real miracle for him to even think of finding me here.

When I moved back to the seat I tried to avoid looking at Remy. Just like the many things in my life, he was better of without me. I quickly paid for my drinks and left for my car again.

I roamed around the town for the rest of the evening, landing in a couple of places from memory. Somehow, I thought the place was good enough for me. Maybe, after gathering a significant amount for myself, I could go South, visit my home town. That would be good. I could go to our vacation house and go see on a few of the best spots – the Grill, the town park and maybe just wander around. I could probably sneak up a look at my parents too and see how they were doing. All that happened between us was a long time back and I really wanted to see how they were doing. That would be nice. Being alone was nice.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, Ethan was a teed bit excited at seeing new things. He wanted to go see this entertainment park I passed by, but I hated rides, really. I could ride a jet, beat a handful of evil mutants, pretend I'm okay, even when I'm no, but i couldn't ride rides. They scared the hell out of me. They just did. So, going alone was just out of question.

By the time I sat in this posh restaurant for dinner, I was dead tired. I ordered the most expensive delicacies to my fill, not even paying, since I deluded the waitress and the guy behind the counter into believing that I had paid, so that she didn't get into trouble for me not paying.

At the end of my wanderings, I ended up at a motel, taking up a decent room. I changed into my pajamas and shirt and pulled back into my duvet, shivering a bit from cold.

After a day's work at the Billy's Bar, a exhausting job, I realized exactly what it meant to be a bartender. Of course there were some perks, such as getting friendly co-workers and this cute uniform, but the job really was fatiguing. Finally, I exited the bar at around half past one. My shift started from about three in the afternoon to eight in the evening. And after dinner, it began from ten until late – till about one in the morning. Stacy had the same shifts as mine.

I got a small room in a boarding house and was quite happy with the small amount of rent. It sure wasn't like my old room back at the Mansion, but I guess it worked for me. All the more, all my co-workers lived around me. Stacy lived a landing above, another girl and guy, who were a couple, Tom and Emily, lived a couple of floors above me. Even Remy lived down the street from my lodging. I also found out from Stacy that Remy was 'especially loaded in pockets' and had a 'huge apartment', complete with great furniture and a good number of paintings all around his apartment.

I looked down at myself. The uniform that I was supposed to wear was a black knee-length skirt and a white shirt with Billy's bar written across my breast pocket. I also had to wear an apron, which I left back at the bar. Of course, I had added a pair of arm-length gloves to the uniform, much to Michael's chagrin, who wanted his 'girls' to be in proper uniform. But in the end, he had to agree. Maybe, it had something to do with a particular boy's powers, which I had absorbed. It may also be due to a lack of staff. Yes, Tim had already left, happily, I might add, since he got his pay at last. Before going, Tim confided in me, with much horror I might add, that his paycheck was now amounting to a two month's pay.

Anyway, I wasn't worried about the pay, which was quite decent. My problem was more due to a certain Cajun, who wanted to be friends and have dinner with me. It is pretty weird that his timings at work were same as mine, the only difference being that he worked even past my time, going to even three in the morning.

I mean, sure having dinner with Remy would have been cool, but I didn't want to get to part where he asked me why I wear long gloves. He had already asked me that once, during one of his breaks, and I wasn't especially happy that I had to lie about it. I had to lie almost about everything and and keep fearing that he might catch me at it. If he asked where my parents were, my answer was a lie since I didn't know that in the least. If he asked what I did before coming here, the answer was again a lie since I couldn't tell him that I worked at the Mansion. If he asked where I had been staying up until now…you got it – I had to lie.

So, because I liked avoiding lying as much as possible and couldn't even tell him the truth at the same time, I was trying to keep away from him altogether.

Stacy, who liked calling herself a love-guru, was especially aware of Remy's gazes and kept notifying me when he was looking at me. I was already tired of her preppy talk which kept on revolving around how Remy was really cute and hot. It didn't help that she was right.

I liked Remy, don't get me wrong. He was sweet, smart and caring. Only, I was none of that. Maybe except the smart part since I don't consider myself dumb. But you get it. I just wasn't suited for him. He probably didn't understand that now. But I knew about it. Relationships and friendships – these things never worked for me.

And therefore, my chances at a normal life with a normal guy were nil, me being cursed and all. So I knew better than to fall for such a guy.

And then again, there was a problem with Ethan. Ethan found Remy really funny and wanted to learn all those tricks that he professionally performed, almost like a perfect art. He wanted me to go and ask him about his tricks, which I couldn't trust myself to do without a normal talk, leading to normal questions, to which I only had abnormal answers.

Yes, in conclusion, it was better to stay away from the really charming and attractive Remy LeBeau.

I sighed. It was my first day and I was tired as hell. I had never suffered as much cat-calling from grimy, sweating and leering men and even a couple women. I had been repeatedly called to serve a table at least a dozen times with drink jugs to fill the huge beer mugs and serve snacks. All the more, I knew I couldn't complain because there wasn't another option for me. I was low on money and I desperately needed the job because of the pay and the great tip.

Suddenly, someone called out my name and I turned around to find Remy. I frowned. I didn't want this now. I was so tired.

"Chère," he smiled wickedly at me, "What about our dinner date?"

"Uh," I hesitated. He was standing in the back entry and exit door for the staff, smiling at me. My heart did a flip back. Did I mention Remy is really hot?

Remy had a pack of cards in his hand. Maybe they were inseparable – Remy and his cards. What Remy did here at the bar, basically, was to make sure nobody won too much on the house. Yeah. He was actually employed because he played so well, that nobody could really defeat him, until he wished so himself – which happened occasionally and on Remy's breaks. I swear, people at that cards' table hated Remy and they didn't even know he was employed by Michael. It was a secret only a few knew and I knew that if it were to be revealed, the people on that table would take down Michael and Remy. Maybe not Remy, because I think with all those muscles, he'd probably have one hell of a time hitting people.

As I still wondered how I could subtly deny his offer without making it sound offensive, he started walking towards me. And before I could think up something real good, Remy was looking down at me, waiting for an answer. In all the hurry, I made a stupid and lame excuse. I mean, it wasn't even an excuse! "I have something very important to do today. It's late. I'm sorry, I'd have to leave."

Remy narrowed his eyes at me, standing directly in front of me now. "Really? I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

You see? What did I say about charming?

Then, he continued, "But you know, its one in the morning and not many restaurants would be open." I mentally reprimanded myself for not realizing that. Why didn't I make the stupid excuse for tomorrow? "So, what about tomorrow?"

"I, uh..." I faltered as I desperately tried to think of any excuse to escape this. "Remy, I don't– "

"By the way," he said, suddenly stepping very close, "Did anyone ever tell you that highlights," he suddenly fingered one of my white streaks, "Look very good on you?"

"Um," I said, lamely, fearing where this was going. One touch and he'd be on the floor. "I must go."

"Sure," he said, suddenly taking on a serious note. "But can I have a straight answer for once, before you leave?"

I gulped and nodded pathetically. For an untouchable like me, this close was unbearable. People hardly liked standing near me because they knew about my curse. And since back at the Mansion, people knew me, only Logan had enough courage to treat me normally, accompanied by the fact that only he could bear to touch me for more than a couple seconds.

But somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew where this was going. I was endangering Remy by standing so close to him. Involuntarily, I stepped back.

I saw with horror, when it happened. His finger brushed against my cheek ever so slightly as he tried to stop me from moving back. But the moment he touched me, he gasped and fell back. It was the barest of touches and I knew he was okay, that he wouldn't even faint or anything with the contact. But I also saw things playing like a movie in front of my eyes – flashes of cards, of things blowing up, no—him blowing things up. With a card.

No, a card glowing pink?

And then with a long staff. Fighting with it, defeating enemies and running.

More running.

And blood. Lots of blood on my hands. And then, running again. More flashes of faintly glowing pink cards.

And that's when I realized it.

"Oh my god," I whispered, bending beside Remy without touching him. He was lying on the ground, clutching his side, breathing heavily. "You're a mutant."

"And so," he said, between gasps, "Are you."

I helped him up without touching skin. "I can't hurt until I have direct contact with the skin," I told him. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Did you do that voluntarily?" He asked, looking at me, as if hurt.

I didn't get angry or anything at that. It was something I was coming on terms with. I just couldn't be normal back again. "No, I didn't. Why do you think I wear gloves and these stupid leggings?"

He nodded. "Sorry for over-reacting."

"Believe me, it wasn't over-reacting. And I know what I am saying. Plus, you are lucky you were in contact with me for mere seconds. Touching me for longer can kill you."

"How did you know I am mutant?" He asked, now shirking the dirt off his pants.

"When I touch somebody, I sort of draw their life force from them. I can draw memories, feelings, emotions. Whole personalities if contact is for a longer duration. I sort of get my own copy of them inside my head, which takes days to get rid of." He looked at me surprisedly. "Don't worry, I don't have you here," I said, pointing to my head. "But I did see a lot of other things."

"What kind of things?" He asked.

"Uh, I saw you blowing things up? With your cards? And you running. And a lots of blood. And pain and anguish. The feeling of " But I couldn't say anymore. I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable. But I had felt a lot more. Hopelessness. The feeling of loosing love. The feeling of never being loved again. Utter darkness. Helplessness. And fear.

He nodded. "I think we should think about that dinner again. We need to talk, chère."

This time I agreed obediently.

I know more people are adding this story to their alerts/favorites and I'd really like to have you guys' opinion and criticism. I don't mind if you tell me I've missed a comma somewhere or misplaced a full stop but do tell me about it. I've tried my best to remove all the errors from last time I posted this along with adding new bits to the story, but do point out where you see a mistake if you see one. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! And DO REVIEW. Makes me feel real good. Maybe I'll update more quickly if you guys review. I love reading and replying to your replies. So come on, click on the review button right down here and REVIEW.

Oh, and do you want me to post polls or something? Do you have better ideas about Rogue and Logan's characters other than the ones shown in the movie? I think Logan (Hugh Jackman) is great, but I could have worked with a better Rogue. Plus, she doesn't have much role in the movie. What do you say, huh? Tell me if you agree or not.

Thanks, guys. (: