My fingers are crying. So, so sad typing this up. IT'S ENDING! WAAAH! *sniff*
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Remy felt like a lemming.
That was the only way he could think to describe it.
One moment, everything was fine and dandy- He had an itch, he scratched it. He was thirsty, he drank. He was hungry, he ate. But, over some course of time, he was assuming it was sometime since his red eyes met her green ones, all of those natural instincts had started to desert him. He had an itch, would it hurt her if he scratched it? He was thirsty, had she already had enough to drink? He was hungry, had to make sure she had had her fill first.
And in the end, it had backfired and he ended up making her absolutely livid with him.
And then a bigger, more experienced lemming said- 'You know what'd be a great idea? If you jumped off a cliff!'.
And here he was.
Standing in front of her as she fumed.
Ready to just leap off the damn cliff in the hopes she'd let him lounge in the waters below with her instead of drowning.
He seriously doubted the logic behind this 'plan'.
"Alright, everybody to the booth!" Wolverine called out quickly, seeing that Rogue was very rapidly losing a battle with her restraint. "You're gonna want to take notes on this one." He commented as he shooed out a protesting Storm.
"She's going to kill him!" Ororo pointed out shrilly.
"Not kill ." Logan tutted. "Maim, maybe, but not kill."
"But!" She started again before she was pushed out of the door, sealing Remy inside with a very pissed off Rogue.
A grim smile stretched across Rogue's lips as her eyes fell into shadow.
Remy set his shoulders, wincing as pain shot through his arm and across his chest.
Well, here went everything. He was going to jump off that damn cliff and hit every rock on the way down.
The metal of the Danger Room distorted into a empty warehouse as someone up in the control booth gave him something to work with other than the deck of cards and bo. Neither of which he was planning to use.
Remy heaved one last sigh as he turned to the girl.
"Rogue," He started to try and talk to her.
Apparently, however, the change in the Danger Room signified a little red flag that had 'GO!' written across it in bold letters.
Rogue sprang forward, hands contacting the floor as she vaulted herself back up, heels connecting with Remy's jaw, cutting off his sentence. She twisted and landed in a crouch as he hit the floor.
"Rogue," He coughed, trying again.
"Get up!" She snarled, hands coming down on the back of his jacket, dragging him upright. "Fight me!"
"I ain't gonna fight you!" He snapped.
Her fist pummeled into his good side.
"Fight me!" She demanded again.
"Non!"
She crouched down, kicking his feet out from underneath of him. The wind was knocked out of him as he hit the floor, leaving a dull ache throughout his ribs.
"Fight me!" She screamed a third, and no doubt a final, time.
"Make me." He growled back.
"Fine." She smirked darkly as she flew into an axis kick aimed for his neck.
"Merde!" His hand shot out and caught her ankle, stopping it's descent to his throat as he shot into an upright position, forcing her to pivot on her heel to accommodate the height her foot was forced to. "You better start playin' nice, chere," He said seriously, keeping a firm grip on her ankle as she jerked.
She pouted. Her full lips pressed together into a cute frown that distracted Remy, making his grip go momentarily slack. "Or what?" She mewled, batting her eyelashes. "Are you gonna punish me if I don't behave?"
"Q-quoi?" He stuttered. Hell, he didn't even know how he stuttered on a 'Q', but this woman was making him all sorts of confused.
She cackled an evil laugh as she spun out of his grip into another kick that struck just below his stomach.
He grunted and stumbled backwards.
"You fight dirty, chere." He groaned.
"Don't call me 'chere'." She growled, launching forward with her shoulder right into the same spot she had just planted her heel, wrenching forward his good arm and flipping him down to the ground. "Manipulative bastard." She ground out as an after thought.
That was the point Remy stopped playing the fool.
He planted one hand firmly on the ground, pushing himself upwards as he spun out his legs, aiming to knock her down.
Rogue leapt forward over him, avoiding his trick.
He twisted his body in the air, planting his feet the same moment Rogue did.
"Now we're getting somewhere." She grinned with malice.
"I don't want to hurt you, chere." He breathed honestly.
"A little late for that one, now aren't we, swamp rat?" Her eyes narrowed.
Well, he walked right into that one, didn't he?
As he was busy wincing, it seemed Rogue was completely done playing games.
She charged forward, fist cocked back.
Remy caught the fist before it struck his cheek, stepping forward into her body and elbowing her harshly in the ribs in an attempt to pacify her.
She locked her heel into the back of his knee and pulled forward, sending him careening off balance. At the last second, he twisted, taking her with him in his ascent to the floor, which he quickly used to his advantage as he struck the ground first, flexing his back so they flipped again and he landed straddling her stomach.
"Now, that's better." He nodded with a grin, pinning down her wrists.
Her eyes seethed green fire.
"Sonofa-!" She hissed, bucking her hips forward so that she could wrap her legs around his stomach, yanking him off of her.
"Ow, chere." He whined, rubbing his head when he hit the ground.
"Don't call me chere!" She shrilled, fist actually striking his face this time.
"Oof!" He fell to the floor, head dizzy, nose bleeding.
"You're holding back!" She accused.
"I don't want to hurt you." He repeated, announcing each syllable clearly.
"Then you should have told me the truth!" Rogue screamed, launching forward again.
"I wanted to!" He tried to explain, but it was so, so hard when he was avoiding fists and boots that looked like they could crush his skull.
"Then why didn't you?" She demanded, taking a step forward into a round house kick.
"I was afraid you were gonna get to riled up about it!" He admitted, taking another blow.
"Sure," She sneered. He deflected an elbow rocketing towards his intestines.
"Honest!" He tried again, twisting her wrist. "They said y'r powers were acting up and I didn't want to drive you into any sort of frenzy."
"Until you did it intentionally to save your own ass." She twisted out of his grip again, kicking out backwards as he leapt into the air.
"You think I did that to save my own ass?" He questioned incredulously, eyebrows shooting upwards with disbelief.
"It wasn't like you were giving a good god damn about me." She snapped, crouching down to the ground, panting slightly.
"I wasn't even sure I was gonna make it out of there alive!" He shouted. "The only way to make sure you were going to be okay was to piss you off like none-other!"
"Which is where you manipulated my emotions." She pointed out with lips contorted with malice. She sprang up out of her crouch, but he kept her back.
"You were being to damn understanding!" Remy accused. "It was the only way I was gonna get you good and mad! In case you didn't notice your soul was on the line!"
"That's because people like me are supposed to be understanding in situations like that!" She screeched.
"Situations like what?" He demanded. "We were being held hostage! What sort of stupid thing was running through your head that you thought you had to be understanding with me?"
She blushed, actions momentarily stopping as she ground the toe of her boot into the floor.
"Don't matter." She mumbled. "It ain't like it meant anything."
He paused. "Like what meant anything…?"
"The stupid thought that was running through my head." Rogue stared down at her toes, receding from the fire passion she had shown a few moments ago back into withdrawal. "Didn't mean anything."
"Chere," He went to reach out for her, but then though better of it as a new bruise yelped in pain and her eyes flashed. "Talk to me." He coaxed. "Help me understand."
"Or what?" She snipped half-heartedly.
"Or…" He thought about a plausible excuse. "I won't go t' the med lab after y'r through beatin' me." He stuck his thumbs in his belt loops and dared her to try and call his not-a-bluff.
"I don't care." She crossed her arms over her chest and avoided eye contact with him.
"Oh, really?" He grinned. "Then riddle me this- Why is it you saw fit t' hit me everywhere 'cept where I was hurtin'?" Every strike she had laid out against him had avoided his shoulder and chest. "Seems to me if you really didn't care 'bout me you woulda gone for those spots first."
The red hue of her cheeks deepened.
"Doesn't mean anything, swamp rat." She swore, still not making eye contact with him. "So what, I don't want to make you bleed, you still lied to me from the beginning."
"Technically, I only lied to you about twenty minutes into the beginning, when you asked me about my powers." He pointed out glibly.
Rogue struck out at him again with her fist, striking the wall as he rolled out of the way of the bone-crushing hit.
"Sonovabitch!" She shrieked in pain, pulling her hand into her chest.
It was only at this point Remy noticed the river of blood running out of her gloves and across her wrists.
"Merde!" He cursed, snatching her hand deftly before she could protest and stripping off her glove. Her normally delicate hands were red with blood that spilled out of her slashed knuckles. "What the hell have you been doing to yourself?" He demanded.
"Let go!" She pulled against his gloved grip. "I'll deal with it."
"Is this what you call dealing with it?" He snapped, temper starting to slip out of his grasp. "You didn't get this checked out? It looks infected!"
"Like you care!" She snapped right back, waiting for him to fall into the same trap Logan had earlier.
"I care more about you than I care about myself!" He shouted. Any restrain the had had on his temper broke. "That's what I've been trying to tell you, dammit!"
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted slightly, but it seemed words had deserted her.
"God forbid you listened to anything that's good for you!" He continued to rave. " And God forbid you let anyone get close enough to you to force you to stick around, huh? Bon Dieu, ma fille! There are times to be headstrong and there are times to admit you're wrong! And I ain't wrong this time! I'm tired of thinking I am. Mistakes are mistakes. Grow. Learn. Live! I made a mistake. Hell! I've made so many mistakes there should be a short summary of my life under it in the dictionary." He took a deep breath. "I forgave myself 'cause you made me. You have been my saving grace, chere. And if I ain't yours, that's the way it is. I'll say my goodbyes and walk out that door as soon as you forgive me for my mistakes too. 'Cause I care about you more than I care about myself. And that's the truth."
Rogue reeled from all of the new information her head was trying to process. The sudden need to sit down struck her and she woozily put half of her weight against the wall.
She mumbled something.
"What was that?" Remy leaned forward, trying to catch her words.
She mumbled again, only slightly louder.
"I can't-." He started to say.
"I love you." She said, mostly to her chest. "Thought I did. Then I thought I didn't. Now I know I do." And then added an embarrassed and meek: "Sorry."
"Sorry?" Remy wrinkled his nose. "In case I haven't made myself abundantly clear, chere, I love you too."
Rogue smiled, blushing a even deeper shade of red.
"Let's start over, shall we?" Remy suggested, taking her hand and laying a short bare kiss on her skin. "My name's Gambit. Thief. You can call me Remy."
Rogue leaned forward and planted a short bare kiss on his lips. "My name's Marie. Leech. You can call me Rogue."
And for the first time in a long time, neither one of them were bothered by the voices in their heads.
-Fin.-
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I'm such a sucker for adorable endings. It's my kryptonite. :D I don't think I can write an ending that isn't obnoxiously sweet. ...Sorry!... :D
I love you guys so much! Thanks for reading my (sappy) (and long as hell) story!
Oh, and before I forget- I do not own the X-men. (:C) I do, however, own this story. (It's better than nothing) But am making no money off of it. (Which again causes me to wonder why I do it in the first place...:D)
Annnnd now it's nap time.