16
Rogue stared at him blankly before her eyebrows slowly perked up. "You want what now?"
Joseph chuckled and kissed the back of her hand. "I want you and Cole to come. I'm allowed to put together a team to work with me. You'd be perfect Anna... you have your own experiences to draw from."
"Ah'm not exactly the academic type Joe." She smiled, looking back over her shoulder at the group of quiet on-lookers. "Excuse us for a sec." she guided Joseph out to the hallway.
"You're one of the smartest people I know. Besides..." He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and gave her a soft smile. "I don't want to leave you behind again."
"Ah don't know Joseph... ah just got back. Ah couldn't up an' leave everyone again. What about Kurt. An' Kitty..."
"My contract is only for a year, and you'd be free to leave at any point. And you could visit, whenever you want."
Rogue looked down and shook her head. "Joseph... it's not that simple..."
He pushed a white hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. "I know." He lifted her chin gently and furrowed his brow. "I know it hasn't been that long Anna. But I really think we have a chance to make it work this time."
She smiled "Just give me some time to think about it. Alright?"
"Of course. Take your time." He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "If you need me, I'll be down in the danger room."
XXXX
"He wants you to what?"
"Ah don't want to talk about it right now Kit." Rogue shook her head, glancing down the vacant hallway with her back against the wall.
"Well, you're gunna tell him no right?" Kitty shrugged and leaned against the wall across from Rogue. "I mean... right?"
"Ah don't know what ah'm gunna tell him yet." She sighed.
"You do realize that this is entirely unfair to..." Kitty pressed her lips together and shot out a breath. "Me. Right?"
Rogue blinked at Kitty for a moment before slowly raising a questioning eyebrow.
"You know, since I just met Cole and everything. And I love him like he was like... my own?"
She rolled her eyes and nodded "Ah know... ah understand... you can stop now."
"And not to mention the fact that I'm like, totally secretly in love with you."
Rogue's face twisted up as she stared at her friend before shaking her head. "Okay Kit, now it's just gettin' weird."
Before Kitty could push any further, the door next to Rogue opened and Cole stepped out with a big cheesy grin. Rogue moved away from the wall, running her hand through Cole's hair with a smile.
"How'd it go?" She looked from Cole up to Professor Xavier. "How's he doin'?"
"He's progressing." Xavier said with a slight nod, inviting Rogue into the office. She left Cole with Kitty and followed Professor X over to his desk. "We're focusing on learning techniques to control his emotions. I believe that once he has a
better handle at that, it will become easier for him to control his power."
"Is there anything ah can do to help?"
"Continue to explain your emotions to Cole. It's hard enough for a grown adult to understand the full extent of their feelings, let alone a five year old boy." Xavier smiled "But you've been doing a fine job in this area so far, so I have no concerns with it."
Rogue gave him a distracted nod as she chewed her lower lip. "Professor, can ah ask you somethin'?"
His warm smile was all the answer she needed to continue.
"Joseph asked me t'go with him to Muir Island." She let out a breath and sat down in the chair at the Professors desk. "But ah came up here so that Cole could get help."
"That's not a question Rogue." he informed her with the hint of a smirk playing on his lips.
"Ah wanna make sure that ah'm doin' what's right for Cole. Do you think he could get the same kind of... treatment... out there?"
"Well," Xavier leaned forward, resting his folded hands on the desk. "There is a possibility that he might actually get better treatment out there. They're rapidly expanding their staff, and learning new techniques every day for teaching mutants
how to control their abilities. I don't think it would be a bad idea at all."
Rogue pursed her lips and nodded with a hum. "Okay. Thank you."
"Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that's what's best for him right now."
"So... you don't think we should go?"
"I didn't say that." He smiled. "I simply meant that this isn't just your decision to make. Perhaps you should ask Cole what he'd like to do?"
She nodded again as she stood and moved towards the door "Thanks Professor."
Rogue shut the door behind her and wandered down the hall, her mind racing to compile a list of pros and cons, bogged down with the stress of the situation. What she really needed was to punch something. Or a nice, stiff drink.
Where was Logan when you needed him?
"Hi Momma!"
His sweet playful voice dragged her out of her trance. She grinned at him as he came to a stop in front of her and looked up at Kitty. "Hi guys..."
Kitty's eyes were wide and urgent. "Oh my god Rogue, you need to go down to the danger room now."
"Why?"
Kitty cleared her throat and rolled her eyes "You probably don't want me to say why in front of your son."
Rogue stiffened slightly and she furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? What's going on?"
"The way I heard it... Joseph needed a sparring partner. Wanna guess who graciously offered?"
"Momma... are you scared?"
"No." Rogue replied, keeping her eyes fixed on Kitty. "Not scared; anxious. Ah'm fine though." She finally looked down at him with a smile. "Ah just need t'go downstairs for a bit, alright? You stay up here with Kitty."
Cole nodded obediently and watched as Rogue disappeared down the hall.
xx
She walked as calmly as she could until she rounded the corner and out of Cole's line of sight before she picked up running. She punched the button for the elevator, a million thoughts flooding through her mind all at once. She hadn't spoken to Remy since that morning when Joseph asked her to move to another country with him, but she imagined he'd be less than pleased. To put it lightly. She saw a vivid mental image of Remy when he got really angry, which incidentally, wasn't all that often. But when it did happen...
She pushed the elevator button a few more times until the doors finally opened. She punched the button to take her down to the sub-basement, bouncing on her toes as she watched the numbers go down far too slowly for her liking. When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, she bolted out and down the hall running full tilt past Sarah and Jubilee. The danger room door opened with a swoosh and she skidded to a stop inside.
Logan, Joseph and Remy all turned to look at her in unison.
"Geeze Stripes... Where's the fire?" Logan furrowed his brow with a smirk when she doubled over with a hand on her hip, sucking in a deep breath.
"Little outta shape, non?" Remy's smirk matched the one on Logan's face.
She silently held up a finger as she allowed her heart rate to settle slightly before standing upright and forcing a casual smile. "Hey guys, what's up?"
Joseph put an arm around her, his brow creased with concern. "Is everything alright?"
"Oh yeah..." She shrugged and tossed a hand in the air, still breathing far too heavily to be deemed natural. "Ah'm cool."
"Really? You don't seem like you are." Joseph rubbed her back.
"It's been a while... that's all."
"Did you want to sit down or something?" Joseph motioned towards the seat at the control desk and she shook her head.
"No, ah'm fine." She glanced at Remy, her eyes settling on Logan who was still smirking. "So what's goin' on?"
"Nothin', just wrapping up a session." His smirk grew and he jerked his thumb towards the arena. "You could probably go for one too... work on your cardio."
"Oh blow it out your hole." She snapped, giving Logan a shot to the arm before glaring at Remy. "An' what are you laughin' at?"
He offered her an innocent shrug as he fought to hide his smile. "Nothin' chere." He turned his back on the two as he busied himself at the control panel.
With one more deep breath that finally brought her back to a regular breathing pace she looked at Joseph. "So you guys were just... y'know..." She held up her fists with a smile "Sparring?"
"Yep." Joseph grinned "Just the normal routine. I'm usually paired up with Summers, but I guess he and Jean are... busy."
She scrunched up her nose and shook her head with a small groan. "Ah... didn't need to... envision that."
Joseph laughed and shook his head. "Nobody does."
"That's good so... things went well? You're good? Y'know," She tossed her hand in the air "No internal bleeding or concussions, broken bones or anything?"
"What an odd thing t' ask Rogue." Remy said without turning to look at her. "Don't y'think yo'bein' a little paranoid?"
She stared at the back of his head for a moment "Yeah, I guess." She muttered, looking back to Joseph with a smile.
"Believe me, I can hold my own against Gambit." Joseph's arm tightened around her briefly as he offered her a wink.
"Anyways, I gotta go hit the showers." He kissed her temple before slipping out through the door.
The tension in the air was so palpable that you could almost touch it, and Rogue was actually shocked that Joseph hadn't seemed to notice at all...
"So uh, you an' Joe are pals now?"
"Pals." He laughed, still poking at the controls, back facing her. "Took everythin' in me not t'rip his pompous little head off."
Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. "Ah don't know what t'do here Remy. They have really good programs out there, an' it might be good for Cole. An' it'd be nice t'have a job. One that ah might actually be really good at. You can't be mad at him for that."
He nodded. "Yes. I can."
She pursed her lips, staring at the back of his head silently before clearing her throat. "Ah don't like it when you're quiet like this."
"Don't know what y'want me t'say here Rogue."
"Remy."
No response.
"Remy..."
He looked at her from over his shoulder, his face completely void of any expression at all. This was even worse than his crazy angry face as far as she was concerned.
She pursed her lips as she stared at him, a frown slowly creeping into her expression. "We need t'talk about this. Cole is your boy, ah wanna know what you have t'say."
"You want me t'give you my blessing?" He leveled his stare, speaking with an eerie calm that sent a shiver up her spine. "Y'want me t'convince you t'stay? What do you want?"
"Ah don't know what ah want." she said with a small shrug. "Just say somethin'."
He let out a breath. "Yo' a hiporcite."
She put a hand on her hip and arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"This is a completely different situation Remy. Ah'm not runnin' away from somethin'. Ah'm runnin' towards somethin'. So don't make me the bad guy here."
He stared at her silently for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "I didn't run away either. I had Belladonna, remember?"
She tensed up at the very mention of her name and shook her head. "It's different."
"How."
"Ah... care about Joseph. An' ah wanna be happy. Is that so wrong?"
He tipped his head to the side, his piercing stare staying completely steady. "Does he make you happy?"
She squared her jaw and frowned "That's not what this is even about Remy."
"Answer d'question."
Her frown deepened into a scowl and she shook her head. "This is ridiculous. Ah don't have take this from you."
He punched a button on the control panel that prompted the doors to slide shut and click locked.
"Looks like y'do now." He cracked a small smile as he took a step towards her.
Rogue looked down and shook her head for a moment before letting out a breath. "He loves me Remy." She looked back up at him with a small smile and shrugged. "He's a good man. With a good heart... he loves Cole, an' he loves me. So yes. He makes me happy."
"But you don't love him." he took another step towards her.
"Ah told you, ah care about him."
"Dat ain't d'same Rogue." he took another slow step towards her.
"It's just a little soon for me t'say... that. That's all."
He crossed his arms. "You sure?"
"Gambit, stop." She said flatly. "This ain't about us, y'don't need to put on some big macho show... markin' your territory kinda crap."
"Please." He scoffed, taking another step towards her, effectively closing the gap between them. "You don't think Joseph was fluffin' his peacock feathers 'round everyone dis mornin'? Askin' you in front of everybody was no accident."
"Around everyone, or around you?"
His silent stare served as his answer. Finally he shook his head with a frown. "Dat ain't what I'm doin' Anna. I just want you t'make sure yo'thinkin' everything through. Don't leave with him just t'spite me."
"Ah wouldn't do that Remy." She pressed her lips together and knit her brow. "If ah do decide to go... you have t'know that's not why."
He put a hand on the wall next to her to lean against as he moved in a bit more. "You still don't see it Rogue." He cupped her jaw, running his thumb down to the dimple in her chin. "You an' Joe... just lukewarm."
"Maybe you're right Remy." She held his stare carefully as she spoke. "But it's stable. It's healthy an' normal. What we did... was far from any of that."
"Y'put dat man up on a pedestal too much chere." He said with the hint of a smile playing on his lips. "He ain't perfect."
"He's pretty close." She lifted her chin slightly.
Remy hummed thoughtfully as he leaned down to her ear. "Dat so?" He pulled his hand from her chin and placed it on her hip "Cause d'way I see it-"
He smoothed his hand up her hip to the skin just above the hem of her shirt, winding his hand around to her back. "-he needs t'man up a bit."
"Of course that's the way you'd see it." She muttered, finding herself once again trying to keep her breathing at a normal rate. "Ah never understood why you disliked him so much."
He took his hand off the wall and gently slid it to the nape of her neck, moving his mouth to hover over hers. "Thought it'd be pretty obvious by now."
"Ah'm not doin' this Remy." she turned her head slightly and closed her eyes. "You think you can just charm everyone into gettin' your own way."
"Dat's not d'case Anna. I just know-" He brushed his lips along her jawline, stopping at her ear. "-Yo'weakness."
Her breath caught in her throat as he whispered and she swallowed hard to regain her composure. "Open the door Remy."
His hand slid from her back to her side, slowly inching it upwards in the process. "You sure?" He murmured before gently kissing her neck below her ear.
"Yes." She sighed, tipping her head to give him better access to her neck. "Ah'm sure."
"Okay." He pulled away slightly and moved back to linger just above her mouth.
"I'll go open the door." He whispered before tentatively closing the tiny space between their lips. Rogue hesitated momentarily before running her hands up his chest, along the tough leather of his uniform until she reached his neck, pulling his head in even closer.
Remy let his hands wander earnestly around the skin on her lower back as she arched it, pressing her body firmly against his. A small groan escaped his throat and he began following her lead, stepping backwards as she guided.
Rogue shoved him firmly against the bulletproof glass window next to the control panel as she raked her fingers through his hair. She lifted a leg and hooked it on his hip, pulling herself up his body and wrapping her legs around his torso. He groaned her name as she tipped her head back, letting him hungrily move down her throat and smooth his hands up her milky white legs to her thighs, around her hips to her backside.
"Don't forget, Remy..." She breathed into his ear before nipping earlobe, eliciting another deep moan from him. She leaned farther to the side away from his ear, freeing one hand from his hair to reach down to the control panel and punch a button.
The doors clicked unlocked and she unraveled herself from his body, placing her feet back on the ground. "Ah know your weakness too."
He blinked at her, watching as she spun around and moved towards the doors.
"You may wanna make your shower cold." she suggested without turning around, the doors slid open to allow her to leave and then promptly slid back shut.
He stood dumbfounded, staring at the closed automatic doors for a long moment before finally knitting his brow and giving his head a shake.
"Shit."
xx
Rogue stopped once the door closed behind her and let out a deep breath, taking a moment to get herself put back together. She smoothed her hands down her shirt and fluffed her hair before starting down the hall.
"Is everythig alright?"
She spun around, finding herself face to face with Sarah.
"Huh? Oh! The running before..." Rogue chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, everything's..." she let the sentence hang as she continued to nod.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look a little flushed." Sarah motioned towards her cheeks as she frowned.
"Yeah!" Rogue continued to nod. "Just uh, workin' on my cardio." She cleared her throat and jerked her head towards the elevator down the hall. "Well, ah gotta go... see ya!"
"See ya." Sarah called after her as Rogue spun around and started down the hall. She stopped at the elevator and pushed the button a few times before the doors opened and she stepped in.
Once they closed behind her, she finally let out the breath she'd been holding.
That was just too damn close...
A/N- First, I need to address my darling friend Starlight2Twilight (no association with the books. lol) who pointed out to me that I had been plaigerising our private conversations! So to you S2T, I grant you 30% of my profits. (What's 30% of 0? I think it's like 3 cents or something...) :)
That being said, I want to thank everyone for their wonderful reviews! I mean it you guys... some of you actually give me ideas, and make me THINK about what I'm writing... I know! AMAZING! lol
ALLREMS- That hypocrite line was in there for you ;) (Not because you're a hypocrite, but because of your review. LOL)
Hawaiichick - Yes. I'm TOTALLY sure he's done it in a much crazier place than that. But a) he likes to bug Logan. (But I ask you, who wouldn't? LOL) and b) interesting how Rogue's involved a truck too... hmmm? :D
Sparklesinthesun - I JUST finished writing this chapter when I got your review! And what an amazing review it was! I love it when people can remove themselves from the fact that they adore Romy and view the situation and the characters as they are. I'm not saying anything bad about Romy at ALL, but sometimes... they can act like morons. Hahaha... and I'm glad you like Cole! He likes you too. (OMG, also! I'm soooo happy you were shocked by who the baby daddy was. LOLOLOLOL!)
Also, I'll be going on "vacation" in a week (I say "vacation" because my little family will be staying with the in-laws for a month... so if you can consider that a "vacation"... lol) so I may not have as much time to write as I'd like. But rest assured, I will do what I can. :)
Looking forward to your reviews!
KC