MAGNETIC ATTRACTION

Part Eighteen

Rogue couldn't concentrate.

She had an essay to write for one class, two books to get through for another, and four scenes to memorize for her Drama class.

Wanda was blasting loud goth music from her bedroom downstairs; normally, Rogue wouldn't have found reason to complain, as she actually liked the particular band and was partial to loud music like this in general. However, in this case, the music did nothing to aid Rogue's concentration, and the noise of sawing and hammering and drilling downstairs as Magneto, Pietro, Lance and Piotr worked together on the gymnasium project was becoming quite unbearable.

Rogue decided to creep out of the warehouse using the back way, through the door next to her bedroom which led to the balcony and the fire-escape stairway down to the field behind the building.

Ah need to get away from this place, it's drivin' me crazy, she thought with a sigh as she dumped her book bag into the back seat of her car, then climbed into the drivers seat.

As she drove to the Bayville Bean Box coffee shop, her thoughts drifted to Remy, and the argument she'd had with him. Since the day she'd met him, she'd had various reasons to be angry with him, but she'd never been as furious with him as she was tonight.

His accusal of her compromising Piotr's health simply to benefit herself out of desperation to see her powers cured had cut her to the bone, and she wasn't sure how she would ever quite forgive him for speaking to her so coldly.

As she carried her book bag into the coffee shop and found a free table, she wondered if Remy was actually aware of how much he had changed within the space of few weeks. Leadership was said to change people, and it certainly had changed him.

He used to be so...easy going, Rogue thought dully as she ordered a coffee and a chicken sandwich. As she took her books out of her bag and laid them out neatly on the table, she thought to the look on Remy's face after he'd said the things he'd said. He'd been dumbstruck. She had seen in his eyes that he hadn't meant to word it this way.

Doesn't matter how he could have worded it, he thought it. He thought Ah was that selfish, Rogue thought unhappily as she opened her notebook and began working on her essay.

Leaving the warehouse had only helped with part of her problem, which was the peace and quiet she needed to work on her essay. Getting away, however, did not help her escape her thoughts and regrets about the events that afternoon.

Maybe Remy was right, Rogue thought as she flipped through her Romeo & Juliet script casually. Maybe Ah shouldn't have let Magneto talk me into using Piotr in that way, even if he did volunteer. Ah knew better. Why did Ah let Magneto do that? Why did Ah listen?

She closed her script and shook her head in disgrace herself. Remy was right. Ah listened because Ah am that desperate to fix my powers. Ah knew what'd happen to Piotr...and Ah went through with it. Remy had every right to be pissed with me.

"Rogue..."

Rogue raised her eyes, quite surprised to see Scott Summers standing there having just entered the coffee shop himself. He seemed just as surprised to see her, although she supposed that neither of them should be surprised, seeing as there were only three coffee shops in Bayville, this being the best – and most reasonably priced – of the three.

"Scott..." Rogue said, her voice slight.

"I...I haven't seen you around..." he said, standing awkwardly by her table. "Not even around campus."

Rogue shifted her books out of the way, "Ah've been around..." She said.

"How...how are you?"

"Ah'm fine," she nodded, "and you?"

"I'm...good," Scott said, voice slightly strained.

Rogue put her books in her bag, "would you like to join me?"

He looked around the place for a moment, examining how busy it was even for a Wednesday evening, then gave a shrug, "maybe for a moment or two. I have to pick Jean up in about twenty minutes."

"Oh?" Rogue asked.

"She's been volunteering at a nursing home a few days a week."

"Oh," Rogue responded almost silently.

"There's a few residents there who don't have families or friends to visit them, and so...you know Jean..." Scott shrugged a little.

"Yeah," she responded. She knew Jean all too well, and while she supposed she should have admired Jean for her efforts to brighten the day of a visitor-less old-person, she still had that nagging dislike for Jean none the less. "Ah just...don't get how she does it."

"How she does what?" asked Scott, he stared across the table at Rogue. She could tell the burning question of whether she would come home any time soon was somewhere on his mind and that he was desperately trying to not ask.

"All this voluntary stuff. Hospital work, charities, two hours a week at the animal shelter, spendin' time with autistic kids on weekends..." Rogue reeled off, "she has college work – she's pre-med for gods sake – not to mention training and the chance that she could be called out into the field at any given time. How does she find time for it all and a relationship?"

"Don't think I haven't asked that question myself," Scott responded, he asked a passing waitress if he could have two Lattes to go. "Sometimes there's very little time for me...but, you know...it's a sacrifice."

"She'll burn out before she's even twenty," Rogue responded.

"At least she's trying to make a difference," Scott admitted, "I can barely keep up with one voluntary position and my class work starts slipping to ridiculously low standards."

Rogue snorted, "tell me about it. And Ah don't even have a part time job or a charity to work with."

"Life with the Acolytes starting to affect your grades?" asked Scott; Rogue couldn't help but notice how hopeful he sounded.

"No. My grades are fine," she confessed. In truth, her grades had not slipped at all, which she found surprising herself, considering the lack of sleep, the disharmony at home, and her Professors insisting on advanced course work.

"How is it living with them?"

"They're at each others throats, sometimes," Rogue shrugged, "but Pietro and Lance were usually that way back when Ah was with the Brotherhood."

"How's Tabitha?"

"She's fine," Rogue forced a smile. "She's...you know, same old Tabitha."

"Tabitha told Kitty that you guys train with a home-made obstacle course," Scott admitted.

"Not everyone has an endless budget and access to technology that isn't technically supposed to exist yet," Rogue reminded, "we make do."

"That's it as far as your training goes?" Scott asked, "nothing further than that?"

"Ah'm really not at liberty to say," Rogue composed herself. Why is he pushin' for information? Is he tryin' to make a point that Ah'm not gonna learn anything with them? That home made obstacle courses should be beneath me?

Scott tapped his fingers absently on the table as he looked around the coffee house. "I'm surprised to see you here..."

"Ah needed some time away to study."

"They drive you crazy?" asked Scott, Rogue couldn't help but notice how hopeful he sounded of this.

"No, it's just that tonight it's noisy. There's a lot of maintenance being done to the warehouse, and it isn't quite quiet enough for me to concentrate," Rogue confessed, "so Ah came here. Besides...this place has the best coffee."

As Rogue stared at Scott Summers, she could see a distorted reflection of herself in his ruby quartz glasses. She wondered if that was how Scott saw her now, a distorted version of what he'd known.

"Are you ever coming home?"

Rogue drew her breath, she tried to contain her anger, tried to imagine spilling it into a bottle and putting a cork in the neck. It wasn't working. Rogue sighed and put her bag on her shoulder intent to leave.

"Come on, hold up," Scott grabbed her arm gently and prevented her from doing so. "You can't blame me from asking."

"And you can't blame me for wanting to walk away."

"Rogue, you're my friend. I don't want to see these people screw you over and use you."

"You think Ah'm honestly goin' to stay there and let myself get used? Ah can take care of myself," Rogue fumed as she yanked her arm away from him and began to move towards the door. "You know that."

"You know what I think?" Scott asked.

"Too damn much," Rogue responded irritably.

"I think that you know you're going to get hurt...but you're so damn convinced that Magneto is going to help you with your powers that you don't care."

Rogue stopped in her tracks; she could feel her face tensing as she tried to hold onto what little control she had left of her emotions today. She hadn't told Scott about her reasons for leaving to join Magneto. Where had he gotten that information? She felt her stomach flip at the thought of perhaps Logan, or the Professor telling him. Or had Jean? Had Jean read her mind and told him?

"Who told you?" she stammered nervously.

Scott snorted, "you think I can't put two and two together, Rogue? You don't think I know what Magneto can do? I should know. I lived through it. I don't want to see the same thing happen to you..."

She looked away from him, "if it were you..."

"If it were me?" Scott stood up and moved towards. "If it were me, I'd deal with it...just like I've had to with my powers...just like Jean has to with hers..."

"You'd...deal..." Rogue repeated, the anger began rising up within her, she felt her body flush with the fury. She threw her hands out and pushed him backwards a few feet until he stumbled into the table they'd previously been sitting at. "You'd deal?!"

"Rogue...I-"

"You have no idea what it's like to deal with the things Ah do every day!"

"Rogue-" he tried again, but she interrupted.

"Sittin' watchin' people like you and Jean havin' their happy little romances, knowin' that Ah might never know what that feels like. Spendin' every moment bein' on edge when Ah'm around people because Ah'm so scared Ah'm gonna hurt them. Afraid that even their accidental brushin' up against me is gonna fuckin' kill someone!"

"Please," Scott tried, "Just let me speak-"

"No," Rogue pointed a finger at him, "you've had your say. Now Ah'm gonna have mine..." she warned. "You might not have control over your powers either..." she kept her voice low for fear of other customers listening in, "Your powers might be a pain in the ass, and a problem, and dangerous..." she listed, "but you can make all those problems go away with a convenient little discrete fashion accessory!" she reminded.

Scott's face turned red, he tried to speak but nothing would come out.

"Is there some kind of convenient little fashion accessory Ah can wear to make it so Ah could at least go out and not be afraid Ah'm gonna kill someone? Is there somethin' Ah can put on my finger, or my neck so that Ah can maybe just know for once in my life what it feels like to hold someone's hand?!" she demanded.

He took a moment, recomposing himself before he spoke, and when he did, his only answer was "no."

"You might think you get it," Rogue said, she clenched her fists, "but you don't. No one does, not you, not Remy...not anyone...none of you will ever understand."

"Rogue, please, just hear me out..."

"Ah've spent enough time listenin' to the people who know best for me...Ah'm sick of bein' told to just deal with things, to just tolerate my burden. Ah'm sick of playin' the role of martyr. And most importantly...Ah'm sick of bein' alone."

He sighed, shaking his head, "you already are, Rogue..." he gestured to the table where they had been sitting.

Rogue's stomach churned again, flipped harder, and her chest tightened with the emotion of that statement. She held back her tears, and turned towards the door, "Goodbye, Scott."

"Don't do this," Scott pleaded of her.

"Don't come around the warehouse anymore, Scott...and don't talk to me at college. Just...pretend Ah never existed."

As she left the coffee shop, she sighed inwardly and thought, it should be easy for him to pretend Ah never existed, he's had enough practise.

Remy sighed as he stared at the flower bouquets on sale at the all night market just sixty miles outside of Bayville. Colours burst from shiny foil and ruffled crepe paper, delicate velvety petals of roses and violets and orchids and lilies all seemed to turn into a rainbow-like haze.

He couldn't focus.

Coming here hadn't even been his original intention. Following his argument with Magneto, he'd decided to borrow Piotr's van and take a drive out in the rain, both for the benefit of getting out of the warehouse, and getting away from both Magneto and Wanda. He was almost sure Magneto would make him pay later on for his show of insubordination, and he was definitely positive, despite the arrangement he'd made with Wanda that she would come looking for him tonight. He wasn't sure with the state of his current sexual frustration that he was strong enough to hold himself back from just giving in and doing to her whatever she wanted him to do.

Slave to hormones, he'd chided himself as he'd driven along the highway. Momentarily, he'd thought about just carrying on straight out of the state altogether even if it would mean stealing his friend's vehicle in the process. Could just go back to livin' on the road, stay in motels, tealeaf my way through everythin' pinchin' wallets from greedy bankers on their coffee breaks at Starbucks, Remy had thought.

But it would have been exactly what he'd run from. A life of crime had always come naturally to him. It'd been an exhilarating life with endless opportunities at first. But exhilaration eventually had turned into despair; Remy had seen the path easy wealth and crime had led his family to, and he didn't want to join them on the path to temptation into drugs, alcohol and massive gambling debts.

For now, working for Magneto was possibly the most honest job he'd ever taken on, and the longest he'd gone without breaking the law. He supposed, in a way, he was impressed with his own ability to stay out of trouble this long.

His eyelids felt heavy as he reached out and tenderly brushed the petals of a large oriental lily; he leaned in to breathe in the fragrance but decided against the flowers. The scent was all wrong.

What kind of flowers do you buy a girl to say you're sorry for being a dick? He wondered as walked along the length of the display, considering vases and cards, and fancy paper, and what scent best said 'apology'. He'd never bought flowers for a girl. Once, he'd stolen flowers from a church yard to give to a date, and a few times, he'd picked a rose or two out of a bush while on a date to bestow upon the girl he was with.

But he'd never bought them. The idea of having to buy flowers had almost seemed pointless to him. Why buy flowers? They start dying the second you buy them, and falling apart, turnin' all brown and gross. What's the point? What sentiment is that supposed to give? It's like 'hey, here's something that's going to go brown and die in about the same time span my actual tolerance for dating you will'.

Regardless, he needed something, or his apology wasn't going to mean anything. He could say sorry until he was blue in the face, but he was sure Rogue wasn't going to take it seriously. He needed a gesture, something that said he'd put thought into this sorry, even if it was just something as simple as a bouquet of flowers.

But it can't just be any bouquet, he realised. Rogue wasn't into floral patterns and pastel colours. She was a goth, she liked gothic things. He pondered momentarily if perhaps funeral flowers might be the best approach.

NO...that's far too morbid, he told himself shaking his head in his own disgust with the thought. He was positive even Rogue would be dismayed with that kind of an apology. What kind of sentiment would that leave her with? Hey, chere, here's a bunch of funeral flowers, so you think of death, just like the way you nearly left poor Piotr this afternoon...

In one almost desperate minute, he almost considered calling Wolverine to ask if there was a particular flower, or colour of flower that Rogue might prefer. He opted to not do this. He didn't need Wolverine knowing that this plan was getting very out of hand, and that, if anything, he'd probably only driven Rogue closer to evolution than against it.

Eventually, after much debating over all the different types of flowers, he happened upon a very pretty purple bouquet, deciding that it was – as far as he knew – one of Rogue's favourite colours, and that the scent was lovely and sweet, not quite as pungent, perfumey or as almost pissy as some of the more typical bouquets he'd been checking.

He was quite surprised when he discovered that he'd spent almost an hour picking these flowers – the time between entering the store and checking his phone and the time on the receipt upon completing his purchase revealed a full fifty-three minutes had been spent.

God, you're an idiot, he thought at himself on the way back to Bayville, every now and then glancing at the bouquet – complete with vase – which was buckled securely to the passengers seat. She's probably going to throw these at me...if I don't get smacked in the face with the entire thing – vase included – it'll probably be some kind of miracle.

He hated what he had said to her; it nearly physically hurt to think of the look on her face when he had said it. And now he wasn't sure how he was going to word the apology even when he did come to face her again. He'd thought of just not facing her, of just leaving the bouquet in her room, complete with an apology card, which he'd bought with the flowers.

No, this has to be made face to face. And I have to mean it, or she's never going to trust me and this is all going to blow up in my face.

Of course, in this case, he realised that he was sorry. He'd made many girls cry before and never felt one ounce of remorse. One single tear in Rogue's eye, and suddenly he wanted the world to swallow him up whole so he'd never have to see that again and be bombarded with the guilt that he'd caused it.

When he'd left the warehouse earlier, he had noticed Rogue's car had gone. However, as he pulled Piotr's van into the yard as quietly as possible, he noted that it was back where she normally parked it. She was home, at least. But that meant he couldn't just dump the flowers in her room without her seeing him. He'd have to face her.

Rather than go through the warehouse, he decided to walk around to the back of the building to go up the fire-escape stairs to get to the third floor balcony which would be ultimately also the quickest way to Rogue's room. He also didn't quite relish the idea of Wanda catching him with flowers for another girl.

She'd flip her shit...probably blow out the electricity in the whole damn place, Remy realised as he quietly climbed the steps. As he got to the balcony, he saw through the slightly open window that Rogue's light was on, and he could hear the somewhat low volume of the television. She was in her room.

He entered on to the catwalk cautiously, looking over the side of the rail to check for the others. It seemed the others had retired for the night. From where he stood, he could see that Pietro was down in the living area watching what appeared to be a scrambled adult channel; Remy could only see the back of the boy's head over the back of the couch and was grateful that was all he could see of him.

Remy stood at Rogue's door a moment, holding the vase of flowers, trying to steady his unusually unsettled nerves, and then knocked quietly, hoping she would answer. If she had heard the knock, she gave no indication, so he knocked once again, before he entered.

She was stretched out on her stomach across the bed, eyes on the screen. She momentarily raised her eyes from the DVD she was watching to see him, her expression darkened, she ignored him and went back to looking at the television again.

"Hi," he said, trying to sound soft, and charming. He was sure it failed, as all she responded with was a grumpy 'hmph'. He held the vase behind his back as he tried to think of how to offer them to her in a sincere and thoughtful way. He couldn't think of anything that would sound right, so he stalled. "What you watchin'?"

Rogue didn't answer, she kept her eyes glued to her film.

Remy looked around for the DVD case, knowing their must have been one since she had told him she couldn't get a proper signal in the room. He spied it on her dresser. "All This and Heaven Too, huh?" he asked.

She threw him a look, still not saying anything.

"Didn't figure you for a black and white movie kind of girl," Remy confessed as he moved into the room closer, kicking the door shut gently with his left foot.

Her silence made the room seem chilly and unwelcoming. He gripped the vase in his right hand, contemplating how to make her forgive him.

"Is there somethin' you want or are you just here to piss me off some more?" Rogue finally demanded, she leaned up, fixing the collar of her dark grey leopard print pyjamas as it fell a little far too forward exposing more of her cleavage than she'd have apparently liked.

"I came...to...uhm..." he tried to take his mind away from her cleavage.

"What? Came to apologise? Ah don't need your fake sorry and your trying to pretend like everything is alright when it's not."

"I am sorry," he sighed.

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious...I haven't been able to stop thinking about what a jerk I was."

"Sure," she brushed her hair out of her face, her expression still dark and unhappy. "Those sound like words you've said a thousand times to a thousand other girls, and there was never any sincerity any one time."

He moved towards her as she knelt on the bed, sweeping his arm holding the vase towards her to reveal the bouquet of pretty purple violets and dyed roses.

"What's this?"

"It's...an 'I'm sorry I was an asshole' present..." he responded uneasily, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. Why am I nervous? He wondered. Probably 'cause I don't want this cracked over my head.

"Remy..." she sighed, her eyes fell to them; it seemed she wasn't quite sure what to make of this gesture.

"You don't like flowers..." he sighed.

She raised her eyes to his, an eyebrow lifting slightly, "you...bought me flowers..."

"Yes," he responded, he reached them out to her, gesturing for her to accept the gift even though it seemed she was unsure about this.

She tentatively accepted the vase, her eyes dropping to examine the flowers with eyes that were far more hurt than he remembered them being only hours before.

"I don't know how else to say I'm sorry, Rogue," he confessed, his voice barely a breath. "I didn't mean to say what I said..." he lowered himself to his knees and let his arms lean against the footboard of her bed.

Rogue sighed as she placed the vase upon the dresser, still looking upon the flowers. "It wasn't that you said it. It was...that you actually felt that way at all."

He looked down to her black satin bedspread, feeling quite defeated. He absently ran his fingers across the fabric of her black bedspread, thinking how much thought he'd put into buying it. How much he'd thought she may like the feeling of the cold satin against her skin.

I put more thought into buying this blanket, and those flowers than I've ever put into anything else my whole life.

"I don't feel that way," Remy pulled himself away from his thoughts. "I know you hate seeing people suffer and I know you wouldn't go out of your way to use someone just to test your powers out. I don't know why I said it...I think...I think I was just...stressed out. I never meant to lose my temper."

"You've lost your temper far too much because of stress, Remy. That excuse isn't going to fly much longer," Rogue commented.

"I know that. I can't do anything other than say how sorry I am. I didn't mean to take it out on you...I was pissed with Magneto...not you."

"You should have taken it out on him then."

Remy sighed, "I did."

Rogue gaped, "you what?"

"I went off at him big time. Probably lucky he didn't kick my ass. I'll most likely pay for it sooner or later. He doesn't like it when people talk back to him..."

"Ah can't believe you did that," Rogue shook her head.

"He manipulated you. I didn't like it," Remy responded.

"Ah see. You didn't mind when it was you manipulatin' me though," she pointed out.

For a moment he wondered if she had discovered his deal with Woverine. "Huh?"

"Back in Louisiana," she reminded, "jeez, is lack of sleep affectin' your memory now?"

He sighed as he lay his cheek against his arms upon the end of her bed, he raised his eyes to look up at her, "could be."

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Stress. Plus, my bed is a piece of junk."

"So go sleep on the couch," Rogue gestured.

Remy thought to what he'd seen as he'd glanced over the rail, "Uh...right now? No thanks."

"What's wrong with sleeping on the couch?"

"Pretty sure Pietro is jacking off in there right now. Seems to have found some kind of scrambled porn channel, I know I caught a glimpse of some pretty hardcore shit on that screen."

"Ew..." Rogue made a face. "Why can't he do that shit in his room?"

"Like you he can't get a signal from his room," Remy closed his eyes tiredly and sighed again.

"How...did you know that?"

"I put the thing in," Remy reminded, "didn't you tell me you couldn't get a signal, also?"

"Uh...no...Pretty sure Ah didn't."

Remy thought for a moment and realised it'd been in his dream that she'd told him this. His face went slightly hot and he hoped it wasn't too obvious. "I guess I must have imagined it."

"Go to bed, Remy," Rogue commanded softly.

"Not 'til you say you forgive me..." he glanced up at her, his lids were so heavy he could barely even focus.

"What if Ah don't?" she asked quietly. "You really made me feel bad...made me feel like shit."

"I didn't mean to."

Rogue pulled her knees to her chest and hugged him, "the sad part is...as much as Ah'm mad at you for sayin' those really horrible things...Ah know you were right. Ah should never have gone that far. Maybe Scott is right...maybe Ah'm becoming selfish."

Remy leaned up, blinking exhaustedly, "when did he say that?"

"He didn't...say it...not in those exact words. But...he implied it. Implied that Ah knew Ah was gonna end up getting used or manipulated or hurt and that...Ah didn't care so long as Ah got what Ah want out of it. Ah guess it must be true if it's what you and he think."

"I...don't think you're selfish," Remy brought himself up to sit on the edge of her bed beside her. "I've never thought that about you."

Rogue snorted, "right...that's why you said what you said."

"I said what I said because I'm frustrated. I took it out on you...and I'm so sorry...I never meant to hurt you. You're the last person in the world I'd ever want to hurt..."

Her eyes fell to the floor as she listened to him, she didn't seem completely convinced of his sincerity.

"I bought flowers for you," he reminded, "You're the only girl I have ever bought flowers for. Doesn't that say anythin' about how sorry I am?" he asked hopefully

She met his eyes suddenly, looking quite surprised, "You've never bought a girl flowers before? But you've been on...I don't know...dozens if not hundreds of dates."

"I never bought them flowers."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"You're that important that I broke my rule and bought flowers," he admitted, "Never before, and perhaps, never again. But for you..." he gestured, "I make exceptions."

"Why?"

"I like being your friend. I don't want to lose that. You're the only person around here I feel like...I can actually talk to...and trust..." he admitted. He thought about telling her that she was the only person he felt was worth talking to, the only person that gave him anything to look forward to these days, even if it was just sparring, or hanging out at a diner reading lines from her drama class script.

Rogue sighed, "If you...ever...ever hurt me again..." she began.

"I won't," he drew an invisible cross over his heart, already feeling the immediate guilt of lying to her after so quickly promising he would never hurt her again.

"Okay, fine. You're sort of forgiven, but you're not off the hook yet. Flowers aren't magical, they can't make everything all better."

"I know. I'm sorry," he glanced towards the closed door, then to the television. "I'll find a way to make it up to you, I promise."

"You make far too many promises you don't keep, Remy. If you kept them, my car heating would work, and the window would actually roll down."

Remy winced, "I told you I'm not good with cars. I had a look but-"

"You made a promise and you better stick to it. Just find a way to fix the damn car, maybe then we can talk about my forgivin' you," Rogue suggested.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," he crossed his heart once again. "We friends again?"

"Ah guess," she rolled her eyes at him.

"Awesome. You mind if I stay and watch the rest of the movie with you?"

"Ah thought you were tired."

"I am. I just...really like...Bette Davis movies," he lied, thinking that he'd rather be up here where Wanda would never think to look for him.

"Fine," Rogue rolled her eyes at him once again and lay back on her stomach so she could watch the rest of the film.

Remy leaned back against her pillows, folding his arms across his stomach and sighing contentedly. He glanced towards Rogue, watching her as she watched the film. A horrible sinking sensation suddenly came over him as he realised that his feelings for Rogue had begun to evolve. This was more than just tolerance...he truly did enjoy her company more than he'd realised or ever thought he might.

These feelings? They were different. He'd never felt this close to a girl before. Never just enjoyed the platonic part so much, never been contented with it. It was the first time he'd ever wanted to get to know a girl inside and out without it being completely sexual.

The things Remy had always liked to do alone, the things he'd enjoyed solitude in such as seeing a movie, or working out, or going for drive...they now...were different. He didn't mind Rogue being there, he liked it. He liked her. She meant something to him...she'd become more to him than he'd ever expected her to become. It was now that he realised exactly what she was to him, and why it was going to make everything so much harder.

Great goin', LeBeau. You're being paid to betray your best friend.

End of Part Eighteen

Thanks to everyone for their awesome reviews. I'm so glad a lot of you liked Remy's calling Magneto out on his forcing Rogue to use her powers on Colossus, and that some are glad that Magneto is showing a little more of his ruthless side. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter, 3