'I'm paranoid,' Rouge chided herself as she briskly continued walking. Kitty was beside her, seemingly just as much on edge as Rouge was.

'I'm not being watched, I'm not being watched,' Rouge repeated to herself as she clutched her book more tightly. Normally Rouge would never let herself get worked up, she knew how to handle herself, but this eerie feeling had been going on for three days now and Rouge could tell she wasn't the only one. All the girls kept glancing over their shoulders, hearing rustling in the bushes, feeling unseen eyes watching their every move.

Even while Kitty and Rouge had been in the bookstore Rouge could have sworn she had heard a certain Cajun whispering behind a bookshelf, but when she had gone to check it out, no one was there.

They came up to the gates of the mansion and Kitty, apparently to impatient to wait for the slow gates, took Rouge's hand and phased them through.

"Kitty," Rouge hissed, glancing around as they trotted up the driveway.

Kitty cut her off with her own whispered reply. "Yea, I know. Weird."

"No kidding," Rouge mumbled as she made her way to the door. She paused when she saw that Kitty wasn't behind her.

"Coming?"

Kitty shook her head. "No, I'm going to stay out here and read for a bit, it's a beautiful night."

Rouge shrugged her shoulders and entered the house, hearing the sounds of the residents. Peaking into the rec room, she saw Rahne, Jamie, and Sam playing a game as Amara and Roberto looked on in bored contentment.

She smiled slightly, seeing Jamie happy to be included in something with the older kids.

Rouge trudged up the steps, though still felt eyes tracing her every move. Opening the door to the room she shared with Kitty, Rouge placed her book on her nightstand and stretched out on her bed, her fingers finding the same playing card that she kept under her pillow.

"So Chere," an accented French drawl came from the doorway. "Still have the card I gave you?"

Rouge cringed. Figures the damn thief had already sneaked into her room and poked around.

"No, don't you remember? You tried to kill me and it blew up after you gave it to me," Rouge snapped, referring to the card Remy had placed in her hands the first time that they met, right before the X-Men had to fight the Sentinel.

"You know very well which card I mean Rouge, and by the way, if I had wanted to kill you, I would have," Remy said, an edge of bitter hurt in his voice.

"That's comforting to know," Rouge muttered.

Remy came into the room, turning Rouge' desk chair so that he could straddle it.

"Chere," He murmured, his large hand resting on top of Rouge's gloved hand. His fingers ran over hers, a slow and relaxing rhythm as his black on red eyes gazed into her green ones.

"Why are you doing this?" Rouge managed to ask, his demon eyes stripping her of her facade, forcing her to realize and accept what Remy already knew. That Rouge was his, however impossible them being together was.

"What am I doing? I'm being with you Chere," Remy answered with a slight smile.

Rouge gazed down at their connected hands, a deep ache in her chest to just feel his skin with nothing in between. Feel him.

'It can't happen,' Rouge reminded herself as she pulled her hand away, though Remy's held her, keeping her hand tightly in his.

"I meant what are you doing with me? Why are you trying to get close to me?" Rouge asked, forcing herself to look into his eyes

"Why are you trying to stop me?"

"Because nothing good can come from it Remy," Rouge said firmly.

Remy chuckled a little. "Nothing good? Everything good can come from it."

Rouge shook her head. "No, you're wrong."

Remy let out a sigh. "How does it feel right now Rouge?"

"How does what feel?"

"Distancing yourself so far from the world, so far from other people. Does it make you feel safe, secure, let alone happy?"

Rouge looked up at him in shock. How did her actions make her feel? Certainly not happy.

"Alone. It makes me feel alone." She barely whispered her answer, just breathed it gently.

Remy nodded. He'd never seen Rouge so vulnerable and he wanted nothing more then pull her into him and comfort her but he knew he'd be slapped silly if he even tried.

"It doesn't have to be that way Rouge," Remy whispered.

"There's no other way that it can be."

"Maybe physically, but there's more to people then the physical. I wish you would see that, because you're missing out on a lot. And I don't just mean with me, with everyone. With the whole world, and they're missing out on a lot too Rouge. Open yourself up to someone, you have to," He pressed.

Rouge shook her head. "I do. Kitty and Kurt, I'm close to them." Rouge thought on her best friend and her brother, two very odd people, who weren't afraid of her. Who no doubt loved her for all she was. Sure it had taken a while, a long while really. But she adored her adopted brother and now considered Kitty to be her best friend. They were the closest thing to family that Rouge had ever had and though she would never admit it in public, she adored them.

Remy chuckled in a bittersweet manner. "You and Kurt bonded over having a horrible mother and Chaton probably had to beg you to be friends with her and wouldn't leave you alone. And other then those two, you don't allow anyone close Chere."

"And why do you care so much?"

Remy smiled a bit and leaned forward, his lips ghosting against her cheek, sending a chill down Rouge's back.

"I care, because i simply do. Because I understand what being a loner really means. I can't explain what draws me to you, but I see in you, something I've never seen in anyone else before." Remy said slowly, losing all the charm that he was so well known for. He stood up and turned, heading for the door. "Good night Rouge."

"Marie."

Remy paused and turned to look at Rouge.

"My name, real name, is Marie." Rouge had only ever told Kurt and Kitty her real name, but asked them to never call her it in public, or even private. That person that was Marie, was dead to Rouge now. Was gone and buried deep within Rouge, a painful reminder of what she used to be, of the dreams that a carefree child envisions for themselves.

Remy smiled. "Marie. I like that. Beau Marie."

And Remy left, leaving Rouge alone, but feeling not quite as lonely.

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Kitty sat on the bench among some of the trees of the institute, reading silently to herself. A distinct scent wafted through the air and Kitty quirked her eyebrow, eyes still on her novel.

"Ya know, Ray, you can stop hiding from me now. I'm not nearly as dangerous as they say," she joked nonchalantly.

An embarrassed Ray stepped out from behind a tree, a cigarette held in his lips. He took a long drawl and held the smoke in his lungs before breathing out, watching the smoke dance and twirl in front of him.

"Remy get you hooked again?" Kitty asked casually, still seemingly enthralled in her novel.

Ray listened to hear the condescending tone everyone took while talking to him about smoking. Scott with his holier then thou attitude, or Amara's slight disgust or Bobby's 'you should really quit, it's not healthy' (Ray always had to bite back the want to say, 'Yea, well neither is being attacked by people who want to kill you') but was surprised when he heard none of it. Kitty was a health nut, eating vegetarian and doing all sorts of physical activity like yoga or dancing. He'd half expected her to run away from him screaming about tar lungs and holes in throats.

"Yea he kinda did. I'll put it out," Ray said as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth.

Kitty shrugged and put down her book. "Lance smokes, it doesn't bother me anymore."

Ray nodded before moving closer to Kitty. "Mind if I sit?"

"Not at all." Kitty smiled as he sat down next to her. She'd always liked Ray, there was something rough about him but undeniably loyal. When Bobby wasn't around, he immediately took leadership of the New Recruits, though he denied being leader material. She'd watch him when she and Jean would make up a simulation for the recruits, he was a good fighter, fierce and determined, but somehow still broken, not quite confident in his abilities.

"So, are you going to tell me why all the guys have us girls tagged?" Kitty asked.

Ray smiled slightly. "I guess we're not as sneaky as we thought."

"Yea, you're really not. But you're a change, I've had Kurt on my tail for the last two days," Kitty laughed.

"Yea, he's been kinda insistent on tracking you, almost as bad as Scott is with Jean," Ray mumbled.

"So what's going on? Why have you all turned into stalkers?"

Ray sighed. He felt bad about invading the girls privacy and his conscious was rather heavy ever since he'd seem a bit too much of Jubilee last night. He was tracking her when she had gone to use the gym to practice her gymnastics, but decided that doing all those funky twists, turns and flips was more fun in her underwear and bra. Of course he'd enjoyed the show, but he seriously felt like a creep lurking around in the shadows. He also had the mission impossible theme song playing on a loop in his head as he dodged behind trees and rolled around, trying to keep the girl at his one o'clock always.

"I can't tell you," Ray said reluctantly.

Kitty studied him for a second. "Alright, promise me something though."

"What's that?"

"Obviously, whatever you guys are trying to protect us helpless dames from is serious. But keep yourselves safe too," she said.

Ray glanced at her. "Sure we will Kitty, but you girls are going to be what's first on our minds."

Kitty chuckled a bit. "You men and your testosterone, spending way too much time with Logan."

Ray smirked a bit. "What are you reading?"

"Lord of the Flies," Kitty responded, turning the book so the cover faced Ray.

"Sounds gross," Ray gagged a bit. He hated insects with a passion.

"It's not about flies, it's about true human nature. What people are really like when all the chips are down and people become desperate" Kitty said.

"And what are people like?"

"Bad. Selfish, and ruthless," Kitty began, sighing a bit.

"Do you think that's true?" Ray asked. Kitty was an optimist by nature, she believed in beauty and goodness. Ray couldn't say that he agreed with her. He had seen more then the sheltered girl had and humanity was tainted to him.

"Yes, I do. Maybe not that people are bad, but that we are selfish, thinking of only ourselves first. I don't believe that there is truly a selfless act," Kitty began slowly.

"What do you mean? There are selfless acts," Ray countered, thinking of people who gave everything for certain causes. Martin Luther King, Dalai Lama and Ghandi came to Ray's mind.

"Not really. Say for example that I had to sacrifice my life for something. Would you call that selfless?"

"Well yea, you gave yourself for the greater good," Ray responded, becoming confused.

"Right, but I would do that because if I didn't do it, then I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Because I felt it was the right thing to do, that's not being selfless, that's being completely self fulfilling. People search for happiness, and every single action we take or thing we do is to make us, ourselves, happy. I'd gladly die for those I love, as I'm sure you would too, because if I didn't, then I wouldn't be happy. We do what makes us happy, no matter what the price," Kitty attempted to explain her perspective on human attitude.

Ray nodded slowly. "I see what you mean. Everything we do, we do for ourselves, even if we do it for other people."

"Yea, that's human nature. It all just depends on what will make you happy. But no human in the world is any less selfish then any other."

"I've never thought of it like that before," Ray said slowly. They sat in silence, pondering human nature.

Ray smoked his cigarette slowly, savoring the stale taste. He put the cigarette out and pulled out his pack of cigarettes, placing the butt in the pack.

He liked lounging around with Kitty. Seeing a part of her she showed only to Kurt or Rouge. For some reason he knew she was at ease around him, relaxed and real, which surprised Ray. Usually people felt like they needed to put on act around him because of his exterior. Ray's hair was different, died orange and spiked and he also had his ears pierced. Girls would try and act tough around him, as though they were really bad ass. So Ray often found himself surrounded by wannabe Tabitha's. Ray was a tough new York city native, different from Bobby who had grown up in upper class Boston, or the quiet and mysterious Roberto. And Sam was basically his total opposite, a quiet, shy and sweet farm boy. He liked all the guys for the most part, though it had taken him a bit to warm up to Roberto and Scott.

The ear piece on his ear crackled to life and Ray let out a yelp.

"Ray, how's Kitty?" Nightcrawler demanded.

Ray fumbled with his watch, cursing, while Kitty looked at him strangely.

"She's fine Kurt," Ray said into the small mic at the side of the watch as Kitty said 'oh' in comprehension.

"Nothing suspicious?" Kurt pressed again.

Ray rolled his eyes. "Don't you trust me? She's safe and sound man."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure! Go bother Remy, I think he ditched Rouge," Ray said, exasperated.

"Was!? Nightcrawler over and out, and take care of Katzchen!" The link between the two communicator cut out and Ray let out a sigh of relief.

"Did Remy really leave Rouge?" Kitty asked, concern in her voice.

"Nah," Ray smiled. "That was the only thing I could say that would get him off my back."

Kitty laughed a little and tilted her eyes toward the night sky, recalling all the times when she and Kurt would sit on his balcony rail (well Kurt would sit while Kitty would cling on to him for dear life) and watch the world pass them by. She supposed that there was always something there between them, even when she liked Lance and Kurt was dating Amanda. Something so deep that it felt like it resided next to her soul. And then through everything it become more and more pronounced and she held to it more desperately. With every other guy she liked it was different. They made her feel giddy and she'd dream of them, turning them into something so that they could fit in with the kind of future she'd envision for herself. She never did that with Kurt. She just knew he would be in her life always, and he didn't turn her into a giddy nervous pile of goo when he smiled at her. He turned her into a woman, someone strong and confident. As she grew and matured, she found that she liked that feeling better. It felt like an anchor that kept her grounded, giving her the strength she needed everyday or while they were facing a life or death situation. While fighting, one glance at Kurt by her side and she knew that she would make it through, that she still had too much life ahead of her to lie down and die in that battle. Her love for Kurt may be unrequited, but it still kept her alive.

"What do you think about when you look at the stars?" Ray asked, searching her face and then turning to the stars, looking as though he was trying to figure out a mystery.

"Everything. Why do you ask?"

Ray shrugged. "People seem to think looking up at a night sky while thinking about a problem will help them. In the city you don't see stars so when I came here I tried star gazing, it doesn't work for me. I mean they're pretty and all but I was still confused about my problems."

Kitty smiled a little. "I don't look at them to find solutions. Everyone has problems and questions about life, and we want answers. And then you look at the stars and the planets, and you wonder, how did it happen? Or how far does it keep going for? All that up there seems unbelievably impossible, but somehow it's there, and of course we question. Thousands of questions about that infinite space. And then you hardly think about your own concerns. It's like weighing an equation against an equation," Kitty said. She loved studying space, and astrophysics was one of her favorite classes.

"And long after we're gone, and the world faces new problems and prejudice, then those people will look at the stars and find some comfort too, comfort that the impossible is doable."

Ray nodded slowly. He could understand how that felt, finding solace anywhere you could get it. Trying to find beauty in life, whether it be in an object, or a scenic view, or a person. He saw the way Scott would look at Jean, it was the same look that Kurt fixed on Kitty, and even Remy now held that look for Rouge. Ray had seen it while they dodged conspicuously around the bookstore, earning glares from the bookkeeper. Rouge had been heading for the vampire novella as Kitty found the classics. They'd lost sight of Rouge for a few minutes and Remy's red eyes were filled with worry. Then Remy had 'the look' when Rouge emerged from behind a high shelf, flipping through her retrieved book. Ray wondered if he would ever look at a girl like that. He wondered if he would ever want to. He knew his friends, all of his friends, hearts would break, that's just the price you pay for falling in love. Perhaps Ray could love like them, maybe it would even be worth it.

Ray sighed and looked back up at the stars, weighing an equation against an equation and looking for comfort.