MAGNETIC ATTRACTION

PART TWELVE

"Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords. Look thou but sweet, and I am proof against their enmity," Remy read idly from the script Rogue had propped against the menu holder of their window table at the Bayview Diner just eight miles outside of Bayville. He sighed, "I have absolutely no idea what the hell I just said."

"Does it matter?"

"Do I actually need to sound like I know what I'm talking about?" Remy asked. "Can you actually act to this?" He had an odd feeling in his dream he'd spoken similar lines, but at that point, he'd been almost sure he'd known what he'd been talking about then, and Rogue had definitely understood them too.

"What you're saying here..." Rogue explained, she had one of the small pencils Remy had grabbed handfuls of at Ikea on Sunday morning; she was gently pointing it towards the section of the script, "one mad look from Juliet would be worse than bein' run through with twenty swords by her crazy family. But one loving look from her...well...it says that it's worth it, that if she looks at him that way, then...he feels invincible..."

"I see," he responded. "Okay, so..." he gestured to her.

Trying to hide her thick accent as best she could, she sighed, "I would not for the world they saw thee here."

Remy tilted his head, watching her. He thought she was rather good considering how thick her accent and how husky her voice usually was. She sounded so different, much like she'd sounded in his dream.

She leaned forward a little to whisper the explanation, "she'd do anything if it'd stop her family from knowing Romeo was there."

"Ohh," he nodded, "okay..." he dug his fork into his blueberry and banana pancake stack and took a bite. "I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes, and but thou love me, let them find me here. My life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love," he read off, mouth still full of pancake.

Rogue laughed at this, "that was the worst reading of that line Ah have ever heard..."

"I think I get this line," Remy admitted, gesturing to it with his fork, "something about hiding in the dark, but if she doesn't love him, he should just let her family find them there and kill them, because he'd rather be dead if he doesn't have her love."

"Pretty much," Rogue nodded, she took a bite of her own food.

"I know Shakespeare is supposedly...you know...the shit and all that. But...no one falls in love that fast."

"Sure they do. It happens all the time."

"Maybe in movies and on television," Remy shrugged, "in real life though, it just doesn't happen like that."

Rogue stared across at him, "so you've never felt that?"

"Can't say I have," he shrugged. "Fallin' in love is just...you know, akin to the way a crazy fan follows around a rock star, that need to be liked, and noticed. It's desperation, not passion."

"What about romance?" she asked casually. "You date a lot, so surely you've had your share of it."

"Romance is all fine and dandy, but if I talkin' smooth like this Romeo guy, it's generally to get a girl to...y'know..."

"Fuck you," Rogue replied, rather crudely for him.

Remy couldn't explain why he didn't like this word coming from Rogue. It didn't sound right coming from her mouth. "To...give in," he worded a little more appropriately for her.

"Ah know what you meant," Rogue chewed her food slowly. "What you meant is to get a girl to blow you, fuck you, ride you like a horse and put you back in the stable wet," she remarked even more crudely.

He'd been having a hard time keeping his mind away from sex during their time together today, but now it was damn impossible. Did she have to be so...graphic? Her description made him flush, although he hoped his tan was deep enough to hide it, and he had to slyly reach beneath the table to pull on the crotch of his jeans to allow himself a little more room.

"Well...Yeah, but you don't have to be so crass about it."

She gave an odd laugh, "seriously? My talking like this is crass compared to the stuff you've done in your life?"

"You shouldn't be so graphic. It's such a turn off," he admitted uncomfortably.

"Oh, Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't know Ah was turnin' you off," she rolled her eyes.

Opposite, actually, he thought, waiting until she'd taken her eyes away from him before he glanced down to his crotch to check how noticeable his problem was. He adjusted the hem of his sweatshirt to hide it, should it become more obvious.

"Are we going to continue with this or what?" she gestured to the script.

"I think I'm done," Remy admitted. He didn't want to speak these lines any more, they were bringing back too many – albeit pleasant – memories of his dream about Rogue, and he didn't need that discomfort right now. "I'm not really good at all this running lines stuff. You know who would be good at this? Piotr. He's trying to get better at English, he'd probably love to run this shit with you. Plus he loves all that poetry and artsy fartsy crap."

Rogue sighed and picked the book up and closed it, she slipped it back into her bag, "Ah'm not sure he'd understand it, to be honest. Sometimes Ah talk to him and Ah swear he doesn't understand a word Ah say. He just stares at me like Bambi."

"He understands better than you think," Remy shrugged, "he gets words mixed up a lot though. The first time I met him, he asked me if I would like to try some American cock."

Rogue had been in the middle of taking a sip of her coffee, and she suddenly choked, spluttering a few drops on the table accidentally. Coughing, she put the cup down, "excuse me?"

"He meant coke. He wanted to know if I wanted to try some of the Pepsi he had bought. He thought it was called Cock...he asked me if wanted to try his American cock."

"You're a good lookin' guy, Gambit, Ah'm sure that's not the first time some guy has offered you that," Rogue smirked wryly.

"Har har," Remy stuck his tongue out at her. "Anyway, I declined, but I said 'surely it's Russian', and he said..." Remy cleared his throat, then feigned an impossibly thick yet impressive Russian accent, "'No, is definitely American Cock, it just came that way'."

Rogue began laughing, first in chuckles that were stifled against her fist, and then full blown laughter that Remy joined in with. Remy hated that when he found something hilarious, his 'real' laugh always escaped. Normally, he tried to use his practised, charming, almost quiet laugh, especially in the company of women. But when he couldn't contain his laughter, when something was just that funny, it became an almost goofy, gasping, near hysterical sounding laugh that seemed to make it harder for Rogue to keep from laughing.

It took a few moments for their laughter to die down, brief moments they would calm down, only to start uncontrollably laughing again. The diner staff glanced over at them curiously, trying to make sense of what exactly was so funny that they were making so much noise.

It was surely the funniest thing Rogue had heard in a good while, and while perhaps not many people would probably find this particular story, he could tell she found it hilarious, especially his impersonation of Piotr, which had nearly been spot on (which he'd had to repeat, just to appease her).

"Does he mess up words like that a lot?" Rogue asked, after their laughter finally died down, and they had managed to catch their breaths again.

"One time he asked me to go with him to Vagina to pick up some of his old paintings from a place he rented," Remy remembered fondly.

She coughed a little, "Virginia, right?"

"Yeah. Let me tell you, when we got to Virginia and found it wasn't called Vagina, I was very sorely disappointed. I thought it was maybe one of those stupid little towns I'd never heard of that just happened to have a stupid name..."

"You ever found other towns like that?" Rogue asked.

"Once while driving through Tennessee, I found a place called Sweet Lips. That was so awesome," Remy chuckled, "I went to the UK a few years ago to do some...you know, grifting, and I came across quite a few really weird places. They have the most fucked up names for places over there. I found a place called Wetwang one day, and another day I found a place called Titty Hill."

"Sounds rather kinky for a supposedly dreary country."

"The sad truth is, I didn't see a single titty in Titty Hill," Remy stated, feigning a rather disappointed expression. "In fact, I didn't see a single titty until I got to London. I did find quite a few Hookers in Hookersville in West Virginia while we were there getting Pete's paintings, though. He even sketched one of the hookers we met. He has that picture on his wall, you should check it out some time."

Rogue smirked, "okay."

"You ever found any interesting places in your travels?" Remy asked.

"Ah once went on a class trip to Kentucky and we stopped in for lunch in a place called Disappointment."

"Was it half as disappointing as it sounds?"

"It was okay. It wasn't spectacular. We only stopped for sandwiches. The sandwiches lived up to the town name."

"Ever been to Whiskey Dick mountain?" Remy asked casually, taking another bite of his pancakes.

"Uh...no."

"Great, I'll pick up a bottle of Southern Comfort on the way home, we see what happens when we get there..." he cracked a smile.

"Haha, very funny," she crumpled up a napkin and tossed it across the table at him.

Remy smirked at her, but soon this smile dropped as he thought back to his dream. In his mind he could see her, naked, writhing on top of him, her eyes closed, mouth quivering as she moaned. "Just out of curiosity, since the subject of sex has been brought up," he began, he ran his finger idly around the rim of his coffee cup, "if things were different with your powers. Would you have ever...you know, with me?"

He was almost positive he didn't need to ask this question, and he chided himself for bringing it up when he was already so aroused. Just keep throwin' charcoal in that fire, huh? He thought at himself in disgrace.

"Are you askin' me if Ah would..."

"You know, just a casual fling. I'm not talkin' 'bout anything serious," he said lazily, trying to sound as if the conversation were more casual than speaking of pancakes or coffee.

Rogue raised an eyebrow, "You wish."

He wondered if he did wish it. It'd be an interesting experience, perhaps, to see if in real life she could live up to the expectations set by the dream of her.

"You totally would," Remy stated quite confidently, "you act like you wouldn't touch me with a ten foot barge pole, but if given the opportunity you'd be ridin' me like a mechanical bull and paintin' my toenails black."

Her green eyes stared blankly over at him, "Paintin' your...toenails?" she asked, her expression was growing slightly concerned. She thought he was mad, and he supposed he couldn't blame her. He realised he must have sounded completely cuckoo at this point.

"Don't ask," he shook his head, smiling to himself. He momentarily thought about telling her about the dreams he'd had about her, but he was sure it would make her extremely uncomfortable and right now, it seemed like she was just beginning to settle a little and relax around him. He could always tell her much later, he supposed, when she was more comfortable around him, and likely to accept such a subject being brought up casually.

"Can Ah ask a question?" Rogue asked of him, she took a brief sip of her coffee.

"You can ask me anythin' you want," he assured rather smugly.

"How come it was just you and me who had the issue with the alarms not goin' off this morning?"

Remy paused to think about this. He had to admit, the question had crossed his mind too. "It was just us, wasn't it? I know everyone else had their alarms go off, and they had no problems gettin' up. I set my alarm to go off at five am. I set it before I sat down on the bed last night, I know I dozed off accidentally without even gettin' into the bed, but the alarm still would have gone off regardless."

"See, that's just it," said Rogue, "Ah know Ah set my alarm before Ah went to bed too. Ah always do that before Ah lie down. Yet...it didn't go off, and when Ah looked at my phone this morning, the alarm setting wasn't even on my phone any more. The saved alarm I always use had been completely deleted."

Remy chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, then he reached into the inside pocket of his trench coat, pulled out his iPhone, and selected the clock application. He checked his alarm settings and frowned. His was the same. It hadn't just been deactivated...it had been deleted entirely. There were no presets there at all any more.

Someone was definitely playing games with them. But which someone? Pietro? Lance? It seemed unlikely that either of them would even make that much effort to be annoying. Tabitha was unlikely to do it, as was Piotr. Then there was Wanda...

Would Wanda do that to me and Rogue? Remy pondered. He wondered if she would even have a reason to do such a malicious thing. Probably. She does like messing with me, after all. She used to delete all the phone numbers in my phone to piss me off, and that was before we even started sleeping together.

He was aware that Rogue was watching him, and he brought himself out of his thoughts, "someone is messing with us."

"Who?"

"I don't know. It's probably just a joke...just a stupid mean joke, that's all. Someone clearly wanted Magneto all pissed off at us this morning...and it worked apparently. Don't take it too seriously and don't ask anyone questions about it back at home. All it's likely to do is start arguments or let whoever did it know that they're getting to you and they'll keep doing it. Whoever did it will eventually slip up somewhere. We can kick their asses when they do. Until then, just play innocent."

"Okay," Rogue agreed, she sipped her coffee.

He watched her, thinking of those lips on his in that dream. Every time he thought of it the throbbing beneath his jeans would become quite intense. It was getting so incredibly uncomfortable with it that he thought of excusing himself to go to the bathroom just so he could alleviate the problem. It'd only take about five or so minutes...I could always make up some excuse that I'd taken so long because my stomach was upset. She wouldn't ask questions.

"Why do you keep lookin' at me like that?" she asked nervously.

"Just thinkin'. It's been nice havin' you on the team with us," he lied quite well. "So...I know it's already been quite a stressful few days, but is there any chance you feel like sparring when we get back home?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. "We'll see. Ah do have a lot of stuff to read for class tomorrow."

Remy thought of how it would feel to spar with her once again, the intense energy, the being so close to her that he could deliberately find a hundred different ways to pin her and lock her down and claim it was all in the name of mixed martial arts. Maybe it's not a good idea, he thought dully as he stared out of the window. A familiar car was pulling up outside. A jeep. Lance Alvers' jeep.

"Oh great," Remy uttered.

"Huh?" Rogue turned to stare out of the window, seeing Lance Alvers and Kitty Pryde hopping out of the car, them reaching for each others hand as they walked towards the diner.

Upon their entry, they both seemed genuinely surprised to see Rogue and Remy there. Kitty's wide blue eyes were curious as she and Lance strode to their table, and she was the first to speak.

"Rogue...wow...hi."

"Hi," Rogue said; Remy could read her reaction a book, he heard the nervous tone in her voice and realised that she felt studied by her friend, Kitty was trying to sum up what exactly was going on here in this diner. "This isn't a date," Rogue blurted.

"Isn't it?" Remy asked aloud, gazing across at Rogue. He noted her immediate dismay and wished he hadn't joked; although there was a flash of anger in those pretty green eyes of hers, there was also an obvious tender sadness that his words had touched unintentionally, "and here I was pourin' my heart out to you about twenty swords and wanting thy love," he tried to lighten the moment.

Rogue kicked him hard beneath the table, shooting him an angry look, then she turned to look at the petite young brunette. "We were rehearsing Romeo and Juliet," she explained, she threw Remy one very brief look of warning. He decided not to mess with it, and keep his mouth shut for the moment.

"Yeah, I heard you got the starring role," Kitty admitted.

Lance was standing looking bored, his fingers twined with Kitty Pryde's. Remy saw Rogue's eyes fall on their hands, and knew she was wondering what something that simple might feel like.

"Ah may still step down. Ah know this other girl in the class wants to play Juliet...and she'd be better at it. At least she can actually act the scenes out."

Remy felt a pang of sympathy for Rogue. This must have been torture for her; something so simple as a kiss or a touch was impossible. He certainly couldn't blame her for coming to Magneto for help.

Maybe I should just give up on the idea of trying to stop her, Remy thought unhappily as he listened to Rogue and Kitty talk between each other about training, and how their friends were. When each friend was mentioned, Remy saw Rogue look more and more distant, her expression growing more and more sad.

Remy hadn't given the situation much thought before; it hadn't affected him. Taking money from Wolverine to talk her out of participating in a treatment that could potentially make things much worse for her had seemed fine at first. Now...he had to question whether it would be a mistake to try to talk her out of this.

For all I know, Magneto has perfected this idea...for all I know she could come out of this with what she wants. She could have the things she always wanted...who am I to stand in the way of that? Remy wondered as listened in and out of the conversation Rogue and Kitty were having.

Lance was the one to rudely interrupt the discussion, clearly feeling that he and Kitty had been standing there long enough, "this has been fun, but like...we're on a date, so...later."

Kitty gave Rogue and Remy a vague apologetic look and then followed Lance to a back table where they would be out of earshot. When they'd gone, Rogue gave a deep sigh and she stared down at the table, her eyes full of woe.

"You okay?" Remy asked, he reached right hand across the table towards her left, but stopped immediately when he realised she was bare handed. He wondered what something like putting his hand upon hers was really going to do to make her feel better anyway. It would probably only make things worse in the long run.

"Yes, Ah'm fine..." she picked up her fork again, but pushed the remaining pieces of her pancakes around miserably. Remy watched her eyes shift to across the diner and he had to crane his neck to see exactly what it was that had suddenly caught her attention and made her face seem pale and hard. In the back booth where Kitty and Lance were half out of view, they were kissing across their table, oblivious to the world around them.

Remy turned back to look at Rogue, her expression was so clouded with hurt that he felt a churning deep in his stomach. Somehow it was that look on her face that made his arousal subside. He read her eyes and they said to him at that moment, even if it were shared with Lance Alvers, whom she had no real interest or liking for, she would have given anything to know what it felt like to be in that embrace.

"Can..." Rogue swallowed, suddenly averting her eyes, "can we get out of here?"

"Whatever you want, chere."

Rogue asked Remy to be the one to drive the car on the way back home towards the warehouse; rain patted against the windows hard, the windshield wipers frantically went to and fro to sweep it away from the glass. Rogue had her head pressed against the cold glass of the passengers seat window, staring out at the trees stretching across the side of the road.

Every now and then she'd glance towards Remy, watching as he lazily held the wheel, slouched in the driver's seat, his eyes seemed almost unfocused on the road ahead. She examined the profile of his face, drinking in the almost delicate features such as his slim nose, and slightly pouting lips, his dark, unnaturally perfect eyebrows, and his straight jaw. Some might say, he was a beautiful boy. Even with those unnatural black and red eyes of his, he was beautiful.

Had he been human and only human, then perhaps, he could have had a modelling career, or gone into acting. Despite his lazy drawl in the diner as he'd run the lines with her, she knew he was certainly capable of putting on a performance at times. He was a natural, it was what made him so good at the things he did sometimes.

Yes. Remy LeBeau would have likely become an actor, she decided.

"You ever wonder what you would have been if you weren't a mutant?" Rogue asked casually as she hugged herself against the cold in the car. The heater wasn't working and just blew chilly air from the dash; to keep the windows from steaming up, Remy had the driver's side window open an inch. The heater was just another thing he had promised to fix.

Remy glanced at her briefly, his expression conflicted. "I...I can't say I ever have. I knew what I was since I was a young one, so..." he trailed off, "I never really had any cause to think of it."

"So you've never took the time and just asked 'what if'?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "You?"

"All the time," Rogue replied, "There's lots of things Ah'd love to do. If Ah were human."

"You are human. You're just a human with powers," Remy reminded.

"Now you sound like the Professor," Rogue mumbled.

"And you're sounding like Magneto. The only thing seperatin' us from everyone else is just..." he searched for the right words, but Rogue finished the sentence for him.

"I know, I know, a genetic quirk."

"Exactly."

"Come on, Remy. There must be something you wanted to be before you decided to become...this."

Remy snorted, "you think I chose this life? Chere, this life chose me. Doesn't matter what path we take in life, the path leads us to where we're meant to be."

"So you believe in fate?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. "Sometimes I believe in it, and sometimes I think we make our own fate. My fate has always seemed to be tied to here. Doesn't matter how many times I leave Bayville...I always seem to somehow end up back here."

"You hate it here, don't you?"

"I used to," Remy shrugged, "it certainly doesn't have the charm or noise and the lively atmosphere of New Orleans, or the colourful people from the swamps. But it's growing on me...you know...the way that mold grows on a damp wall."

Rogue chuckled, "yeah, well, in that damp basement room, you better watch that the mold doesn't start growing on you."

"The thing I don't like 'bout Bayville..." Remy shifted into fourth gear, "is that...it's so...how do I put this..." he frowned, "it's like that ideal...the Norman Rockwell paintings, the pictures on the postcards...the photos on the magazines of the American ideal. It's quiet, it's sleepy, it's not a very exciting place to be."

"Hey, we have a nightclub now, maybe that'll liven things up a bit," Rogue smirked.

"For me, maybe," Remy responded, "you got three more years to go until you can enjoy that though."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Ah have to admit, Ah wasn't too keen on Bayville at first either, but you do get used to it, and the quiet. And just when you think you're beginnin' to like the quiet, that's when things go crazy here."

"I'm surprised that nothin's went crazy already," said Remy thoughtfully. He slowed the car at a red light, and glanced over to Rogue, "it's been too quiet here lately."

"Ah agree," she adjusted the front of her t-shirt; being caught in the rain as they'd walked to the car had quickly soaked through her clothes and left her shirt clinging to her. She was aware of Remy glancing at her every now and then to see her doing this.

"You really should buy some new clothes. You've been with us a week and I've seen you wear that damn t-shirt four times. You didn't bring very much with you," Remy noted.

"Ah don't have much. Ah'm like you, LeBeau. Ah travel light."

"You shouldn't need to travel light, any more, chere. You got a home with us. Buy some new clothes, live a little."

"Maybe when Ah get some money together."

"Remy will buy you clothes. A whole new wardrobe."

"You're that desperate to waste money?"

"That desperate to see you stop wearin' that same damn t-shirt," Remy responded. "Why you never wear nice things?"

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Like, low cut? Lately you wear such frumpy stuff...you hide your body and you don't need to. You got a nice build, and great tits."

Rogue gaped at him, "How would you-?"

"I'm guessing," he responded, but there was a suspicious look just beneath that made Rogue ponder if perhaps he'd been spying on her somehow when she was getting undressed. "Look all I'm sayin' is...you have a nice body, and you should...dress like you do."

"What? You mean like the way Wanda dresses?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Wanda dresses a little too...uhm..." he thought about how he was going to word this, "well...like a dominatrix."

"And here Ah was thinkin' you liked that."

"Sure, I mean, it's nice seein' a bit of cleavage and leg..."

"That ain't all you see when the girl comes out wearin' those short skirts. Ah swear that girl doesn't wear panties..." Rogue shook her head in disgrace. She was almost positive of the fact. Wanda had been wearing a short skirt only the other day and had crossed one leg over the other while sitting in the mess hall.

Remy began laughing at this, he knew it to be quite true sometimes. It certainly had been the case yesterday. "You know..." he began, "She has a piercing," he admitted.

"Yeah, on her bellybutton, Ah saw," Rogue replied.

"No, I mean...a piercing," he said pointedly.

Rogue raised an eyebrow, "a piercing..." she repeated. "Where?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" Remy asked, rolling his eyes, "a piercing," he said again, making much more emphasis on it.

"Where?"

"Where do you think?"

"Her...?"

"Yes," Remy nodded.

"Why would anyone go through that kind of pain..." Rogue trembled a little with disgust.

"Heightens the pleasure whilst fucking," Remy responded rather casually.

Rogue didn't have any comment to make about this, she was certainly convinced it was something she wouldn't know any time soon at least. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she turned to look at him, "Wait...how do you know?"

"Huh?"

"How did you know about the piercing?"

Remy paused, and it was suspicious to her that he had to take the time to think about his answer. Had he been spying on the girl? After a moment, he finally replied with, "you said it yourself, she doesn't wear panties."

"You were looking?" she asked.

"Look, let me explain something to you about guys," Remy began, "We're all pigs. If there's even the remotest chance we're going to see female nudity of any form, especially on a good lookin' girl, then there's no chance we're gonna pass it up."

"Okay..." Rogue said, unsure.

"If a girl ain't gonna wear panties and sit there wearin' a short skirt, has a piercing that is practically glitterin' in the light and she didn't even bother to cross her legs when she sat down, then a guy ain't gonna feel guilty about throwin' a glance or two."

Rogue made a face, feeling a little sickened by the thought.

"It's like a car accident...you just...can't look away," he explained. "it's just...human nature. And it's not just a gender thing. I mean...if some guy just comes out displaying everything, can you keep looking away? If I walked into the room, dick out, you think for one minute you would be able to not look?"

"Don't be getting any ideas, LeBeau. I don't remotely want to see what's hanging between your legs," Rogue warned, trying to sound far more confident about speaking of these things than she actually was.

"It doesn't hang," Remy remarked, a rather smug look stretching his mouth.

"Oh, Ah see, it's not that big then. Oh well, you're not the only guy in the world with that whole micro-penis issue," Rogue smirked, feeling rather pleased with herself making the joke.

"Hey, that wasn't what I meant," Remy responded quickly, his cheeks flushing just a little, "What I mean is that it stands-"

"Ah don't want to know what you mean," Rogue warned.

"I ain't never had a complaint about my size. Ever. And I'll have you know-"

"Remy...Ah really don't need to hear about your dick."

"Fine," he gave up, shrugging casually.

The rest of the drive continued in silence, Rogue noticed though as Remy quite slyly tried to adjust himself twice during the last leg of the journey. She supposed he was right. It was only human nature to look. Had he always had a bulge like that in his pants or was it just the way the fabric of his jeans was sitting?

No, that bulge was definitely solid, and judging by the way he threw the edge of his trench coat over it when he thought she wasn't looking, it wasn't something he particularly wanted her to see either.

She stifled a smile against her fist as she turned to look out of the passengers side window, realising what this was. She tried to stop from laughing, but she had very little success.

"What?" Remy asked, his eyes flashing in her direction briefly before turning back to the road.

"Nothin'," she shook her head. "Just...thinkin' about that whole thing with Piotr and the pepsi."

"Mind if I have a cigarette?" he asked, he took a long, deep breath and sighed it out again.

"No problem."

"Open your window a little more, at least you won't get completely suffocated," he instructed as he stopped at a red light.

Rogue pushed against handle of the window mechanism, and it – as it rarely ever did – barely budged. "It's a little stiff..."

Remy turned to look at her, his mouth falling open a little, he almost looked shocked. Rogue hadn't realised what she'd said at first, and then she suddenly caught on that he'd taken it more literally.

"The window..." she demonstrated by pushing against the handle, which wouldn't budge any further down than a centimetre.

"Oh," Remy replied, looking almost relieved, he leaned over her and tried pushing on the handle; he seemed to be having about as much issue with it as she had, despite he was obviously much stronger than her.

With his shoulder slightly braced into her breast, Rogue sat up straight wincing at the vague pain this left her in. The window budged a little more as he put all his weight into it, and then opened an inch as he slipped and fell across her lap awkwardly. He twisted himself to look up at her.

"Never been in this position in a car before," he confessed. "Usually the other way around, actually..."

"Remy, the lights..." Rogue nudged him.

Remy leaned up, his face almost touching hers; he turned to look at her briefly, and for those few seconds, Rogue almost felt that strange hypnotic pull that she'd had only once looking into them.

"The lights..." she said again, her voice barely a squeak, which made her feel immediately foolish.

"Oh...yeah..." he said, getting back in his seat properly, the car had stalled, and it took several attempts at trying the ignition before it would start once again.

"Let me guess," said Rogue, "you're going to fix that."

"Yeah..." he said, his jaw clenched. "I promise."

End of Part Twelve

Thanks to those who took the time to review over the past few chapters. It's always nice hearing from you guys.

I am quite distressed to learn that the reader known only at this point as "guest" feels that part ten depicted Remy as being raped by Wanda. That was never the intention of the chapter at all and I apologize if it even remotely came off this way as that was absolutely never meant (which is why I didn't feel it necessary to make any warnings about triggers). Certainly, he let Wanda use him, and he never at any point feels particularly like he's been a victim to assault. He was good enough to fight her off when they were in the field in an earlier chapter, and if he felt at any point particularly threatened then he would fight her off. In this case, he was just too lazy to do so.