Disclaimer: I have decided that the lawyers deserve a break from me so I will not try to obtain the certificate; this time. Happy New Year!!

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

(…)- extra facts/actions (some)

((…))- author's/my own thoughts

'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally

Chapter 42: The Southern Belle and the Spicy Cajun; Part 2- Medical Aid, Trap, and Discovery

Hallway #23, Asteroid Evolution, Orbit of the Moon, Milky Way Galaxy- May 16, 7:45 PM

"Yah know Mystique," drawled Rogue as she watched her foster-mother take shallow and slow breaths. "Yah're lucky yah have a small hint of healing capability in yah, 'cause otherwise yah would be dead right now. Pity yah have that healing capability, though." With these words Rogue removed her foot from the unconscious form of her foster-mother and walked over to the syringe. She stepped on it and crushed it into a million small individual pieces, the black liquid oozing through the small cracks in the boarded floor, which when Rogue looked at it more closely saw to be made of metal.

"Now to get out of here," muttered Rogue as she turned to face the door but found herself staring into the face of Gambit.

"Gambit, wha' in tha hell…" began Rogue angrily, thinking it was another trick, but as she made a move towards the Cajun she noticed the blood coming from his mouth and the slash marks covering his chest, arms, and hands, his gloves not present. His trench coat was gone and what was left of his clothes was hanging in shreds. She felt concern for him well up inside of her and instead of taking out her anger on him she moved carefully towards him and softly touched his face, failing to register the fact that she had no gloves on.

"Remy?" asked Rogue carefully, noting that his head moved a little at the sound of her voice, his eyes fluttering a bit. "Remy, wha' happened?" Rogue watched as Remy tried to answer but his legs chose to give out on him at that moment and he collapsed into Rogue's arms. Rogue, knowing that he was in danger of dying, quickly flew him over to the bed that had held her prisoner not too long ago, placed him on it, and then ran to where she knew she had a first-aid kit in her real room.

'If this room is a replica of mah room, then it should have tha first-aid kit that Ah kept here… ah, here it is!' thought Rogue excitedly as she finished throwing stuff out of her closet and found the first-aid kit.

Rogue ran back to Remy and took out antiseptic solution, gauze, a bottle of water, rubbing alcohol, and bandages. She began to clean his wounds, wincing as she heard him groan in pain. Rogue also removed what remained of Remy's clothes, leaving the pants on and wrapped bandages around his chest. Rogue poured antiseptic solution onto a piece of gaze and applied it to his arm, visibly wincing as Remy yelled in pain. She finished cleaning the rest of his wounds and then wrapping them in the bandages she had available.

As she finished she felt Remy's hand suddenly grab hers, which was still bare of any covering. Rogue closed her eyes and waited anxiously for her ability to occur, but to her surprise she felt nothing.

"Wha' in the…" muttered Rogue in surprise and shock as she felt nothing...no pull, no screaming, no energy surge from an absorption of Remy from her abilities. Rogue slowly opened her eyes and stared at Remy's hand, which continued to touch hers, and she heard him mutter, "Rogue…"

"It's okay, sugah," whispered Rogue as she let the sound of her name roll out of his mouth wash over her. She realized that she liked how her name sounded when it came from him, and slowly realized that she cared about him as more than a friend.

"Hmm… Ah don' know how, but yah've somehow wormed your way into mah heart, Cajun," whispered Rogue as she gently removed Remy's hand from hers and finished bandaging his face, putting the final touches on a particularly nasty cut near his right eye. She then began to put away the supplies she had used. She put the first aid kit on the nightstand table, and on seeing the still broken syringe on the ground near an unconscious Mystique she walked over to the broken tool. She knelt and using her hands, knowing that her invincibility protected her from both the glass shards and the remnants of the liquid, brushed the broken glass into her hands and dumped it into the garbage can present in her room. She then turned her attention to her unconscious foster-mother.

"Bitch…" muttered Rogue as she looked at her and then having thought of what to do her next walked over to her. She then picked her up roughly and carried her to the still-open closet door. She threw Raven inside, tossed everything she had previously thrown out in her search for the first aid kit in on top of her, and closed the door, and as a second thought locked it.

Just as she placed the key in her jacket pocket she heard Remy groan and turned towards him. She watched as his eyes fluttered open and he tried to sit up, but gasped at the pain he felt at trying to do so.

"Merde (Shit) did dat hurt," gasped Remy as he tried to catch his breath and sit up at the same time. He paused in his actions to take notice of his hands, stripped of their usual gloves, and the bandages covering his chest, arms, and hands, and felt his face, noticing that the blood that had been there was gone and bandages were also present.

"How in de world did Remy become bandaged up et pourquoi (and why) is Remy on un lit (a bed)?" asked Remy out loud, failing to notice Rogue's presence until he saw her out of the corner of his eye.

"Chère?" asked Remy in shock as he saw her looking at him.

"Remy, yah doin' okay?" asked Rogue softly as she continued to stare at him. She could feel herself start to blush a bit as Remy continued to stare at her, his red-on-black eyes not wavering in their intensity.

"Oui (Yes), Remy is all right, mais pourquoi (but why) are you blushing. Unless ma chère (my dear) is in love with Remy?" responded Remy as he continued to stare at Rogue, and then grinned one of his winning smiles, knowing that it had won him points with girls in the past. He watched as Rogue's eyes began to cloud over with anger and felt his confidence in his charms began to wane but kept hope that he would win Rogue over.

"For the last time swamp rat," spat Rogue as she strode over to him, putting emphasis on swamp rat, "Ah am not your chère!"

"Mais oui (But yes) you are 'cause you took de time to take care of Remy when he was injured, and if dat doesn't say dat you care 'bout Remy then Remy don't know what will… river rat," responded Remy seriously as he glanced down at the bandages that were covering his injuries. He knew instinctively that Rogue cared for him but knew that she would admit it to him in time.

"Well, yeah Ah had to help yah, sugah, but tha' doesn't mean tha' Ah care for yah and don' call meh river rat!" responded Rogue angrily as she stood beside Remy and stared at his eyes, which were watching her. Remy could see the sparks flashing in her eyes.

Remy shrugged and replied, "Dat may be, chère, mais (but) Remy knows dat you had to care 'bout Remy as a person, parce que (because) if you didn't, then Remy would still be hurt, non (no)?" He watched as Rogue started at these words and knew he had won the battle but not the war.

After a few minutes Rogue shook her head in mock defeat and moved to sit beside Remy in the chair she pulled over from her desk. After a moment of silence she asked, "Remy, how in tha hell did yah get hurt in tha first place?"

Remy sighed, knowing that what he was going to say was going to be a big shock, and would probably affect Rogue a lot. "Well," began Remy, "it all happened comme ça… (like this)"

FLASHBACK

En route to hallway #23, Asteroid Evolution, Orbit of the Moon, Milky Way Galaxy- May 16, 6:00 PM

Remy had been striding down the hallway on his way to see Rogue and make sure she escaped. He had been formulating a plan in his head ever since she had been brought to Asteroid Evolution, and knew that it was time to act. Remy had a plan: free Rogue, convince her he was on her side, save the day, win her affections, and then join the X-Men.

As he walked around a corner, he was greeted with a sight that froze him to the spot. There before him was a huge man, close to nine feet tall with blue skin and what looked like mechanical veins running over his skin. Talking to the man was Raven, who was gesturing madly. Remy, calling on his powers of empathy, was able to sense fear and despair coming from Raven, and knew instinctively that it was concerning Rogue.

Remy was about to go find another route to Rogue's cell, but suddenly the gigantic man whirled around and Remy was shocked to see the piercing red eyes that he had gazed into 10 years earlier- Apocalypse. Apocalypse brought his hand up quickly and shot an energy blast at Remy. Remy, not being able to move quickly enough, was hit dead on and screamed in pain as he felt his hands, chest, and arms being torn apart and felt the blood flowing out of them. He felt his gloves being torn to shreds, his coat being ripped away and torn into strips, his clothes being slashed revealing large gashes. He also felt his face begin to hurt like hell and bleed and finally the excruciating pain he felt when he felt a needle prick him in the back of his neck. Remy stood, frozen in shock and pain for a moment before collapsing on the ground in a heap, his wounds beginning to bleed and his now cut lip oozing. Before fading into unconsciousness he heard Raven scream, the shattering of a glass needle hitting the floor, and Apocalypse saying, "Welcome my Horseman of Pestilence."

END FLASHBACK

"Puis (Then), next thing Remy knows, Remy is strugglin' to his feet et (and) is limping and stumbling towards ton (your) cell. Then, Remy see your visage (face) full of worry and Remy collapses. Then Remy wakes up to find himself bandaged up and to see tu (you) once more avec (with) concern on ton visage (your face). Then you ask Remy to tell you wha' happened to Remy, and Remy tell you, and now is de present time," finished Remy as he looked once more into Rogue's eyes, not knowing what to expect, but knowing something was wrong when he saw her eyes fill with tears. He became worried at her expression but became even more so when Rogue wrapped her arms around him and cried into his chest, wetting the bandages wrapped around his injuries. Remy slowly wrapped his arms around the sobbing Rogue and comforted her while at the same time savoring the moment, not knowing when he would have an opportunity like it again.

After a few minutes Rogue lifted her face off his chest and stared into his red-on-black eyes. She knew then and there that no matter what she felt or how she tried to hide it she could no longer hide the fact that she was deeply in love with the man named Remy LeBeau. She continued to stare into his eyes and on a sudden impulse she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Remy was expecting her to start draining his powers and life force, but on feeling nothing kissed her back. They stayed this way for a few moments, and then on breaking up Remy stared in amazement at Rogue, who suddenly stood up and walked over to the door, folding her arms across herself protectively.

"Wha' de matter petite?" asked Remy worriedly as he watched her shudder for a moment and then turn around to face her with worry etched on her face.

"Remy, Ah…" began Rogue but was cut off as she felt something, or someone approaching. She quickly unfolded her arms and took a defensive stance in front of Remy. Remy slowly swung his legs over the bed and got to his feet, wobbling a bit as he did so, and moved to stand beside Rogue. He noticed and felt her about to protest his actions but just as she was about to speak he heard voices speaking.

"Are you sure that it's them in there?" asked a voice that both adults listening could recognize as a male's.

"Of course I am, don't you believe what you saw with your own eyes?" replied a female voice a bit huffily, and Rogue's ears perked up a bit at the sound.

"If you say so…" muttered the male voice and then there was silence. Remy and Rogue just stared at the door and waited for it to come slamming open and an enemy to come in and start trying to kill them. They were surprised however when they didn't see anyone come in. After a few minutes of silence Remy and Rogue slowly relaxed their positions.

Rogue then turned to Remy and yelled, "Remy, wha' in tha' hell are yah doing movin' around? Yah were almost killed by Apocalypse and yah still try and move around like nothing's wrong? Yah are such an idiot… un cochon bête (a stupid pig)!"

Remy merely smiled and turned to face Rogue. As he stared at her, still smiling at her, he noticed out of the corner of his eye a claw… a purple claw to be exact, and moving subtly he drew a torn card from his pants pocket, charged it, and threw it at the claw. Both Remy and Rogue started on hearing a scream that Rogue recognized instantly, and watched as the claw then disappeared.

"Kitty? Kitty, if that's yah, then where tha hell are yah?" asked Rogue sharply as her eyes darted around the room, searching for the valley girl whom she considered one of her best friends.

As Rogue scanned the room Remy was staring with narrowed eyes at the area where he had seen the claw appear and then disappear as his card hit it. He started on seeing not only one claw, but four, two green and two purple, materializing, followed by wings, tails, and finally torsos. Remy stared in open-mouthed shock at the two creatures that had appeared in front of him. He tapped Rogue on the shoulder and as she turned to ask him what was wrong she too caught sight of the creatures and froze as well.

The creatures appeared to the two mutants to be a mix between human beings and gargoyle-like creatures, the green one a few inches taller than the purple one, with the green creature being male and the other female. What caught them off guard were the hairstyles they wore, the male having shoulder-length brown hair and the female having her hair in a short braid. Their uniforms were dark, but Rogue recognized Kitty's costume. She stared at the purple creature and realized with a shock that she knew the creature… it was Kitty.

"Kitty? Oh my gawd is tha' yah?" asked Rogue in shock as she took a step toward the creature she assumed to be Kitty. Remy cautiously watched her move towards the creature, and once more was prepared to shoot some of his cards at the creatures if he felt that they would harm Rogue in any way, noticing that the green creature was watching him in the same way.

As Rogue moved closer to the creature, with Remy watching like a hawk, the green creature suddenly started and directed his gaze from the Cajun to the closet, from which he could pick up the sound of screaming. After a few minutes, he narrowed his eyes and walked over to the door, and reached out a clawed hand to touch the door handle when he all of a sudden started back as he saw a cobra slither out from between the cracks in the door.

"Damn it, that's Mystique!" shouted the green creature as he watched the snake begin to slither towards the door. "Oh no you don't, Mystique!" shouted the creature as he lunged towards the snake but slammed onto the floor as the snake moved out of his way just in time to prevent herself from getting crushed.

"Get that snake!" yelled the creature as he got to his feet and ran towards the creature. He lunged again and again, missing each time as he landed on the floor with a loud crashing sound. Remy, not knowing what to do, just stood there, as did Rogue, but both were surprised to see the purple creature put her hands to her head and concentrate. They watched in amazement as the snake began to glow a dark purple color and then was moved to the bed and held there. Remy and Rogue watched as they saw metal links appear out of nowhere, glowing a dark green, and strap themselves around the snake, which was now being forced to change back into Mystique. Then the metal wrapped so tightly around the mutant that it seemed as if she was unable to breathe. Rogue moved as if to help her foster mother but stopped herself. Mystique changed into a cheetah, a mouse, a dog, anything she could think of to get herself free of her bonds but the links followed her every movement, and stopped her from escaping.

"You imbeciles! You let me the hell out of these bonds, before I wreak my vengeance as the Horseman of Pestilence!" screamed Raven as she struggled as hard as she could, trying to free herself. She even tried splitting herself into multiple bats at one time (one of her newer powers as a horseman of Apocalypse), but found that even when she was multiple forms of an animal at one time the chains still followed her and refused to let her go.

After a few minutes, Raven realized that it was useless to try and escape and became real still. She appeared to Rogue and Remy to have stopped breathing. Rogue stared at her foster mother for a few minutes and then suddenly began to move towards her, a hypnotic look clouding her face.

"Rogue!" yelled Remy as he tried to grab her wrist to hold her back, and would have succeeded if Rogue had not flicked her wrist and thrown him against the wall, causing him even more pain than what he was already feeling.

"Rogue…" whispered Remy as he watched the woman he loved move closer towards what he knew was a trap. He tried to get up to stop Rogue, but fell to his knees in pain, hands moving to encircle his chest for a moment then removed them when he felt the pain worsen when his arms applied pressure to his chest.

"Non! Ce n'est pas possible! (No, it's not possible)" screamed Remy as he slammed his fists to the ground realizing that he was helpless in trying to help Rogue. Remy ignored the pain emanating from his hands and body. He didn't notice Rogue toss the two creatures to the side after trying to stop her or the change in the air pressure around Rogue as she continued to move closer to Raven. He didn't even feel or hear the water as it began to come out of the walls, crackling with the energy Remy unknowingly released into it.

All of a sudden Remy felt his injuries begin to heal, the cuts and bruises disappearing along with his pain. Remy picked his hands up from the floor where they had been clenched a few moments ago and stared at them as he saw his gloves, which had been disintegrated in the attack from Apocalypse, begin to reassemble.

After a few moments he felt like he was brand new; he felt no pain; and suddenly knew what was wrong with Rogue and knew what was about to happen.

"Rogue!" shouted Remy as he jumped to his feet and ran to Rogue, pushing her out of the way as a beam of dark blue came out of Raven's eyes, as she had been watching Rogue come closer to her and had just been about to strike. Remy felt the blue beam hit him but strangely felt no pain… he felt like it was reflecting off of him and back to where it came from.

Remy heard Raven scream in pain as the beam hit her, and knew she'd been knocked unconscious. After a minute of wondering what had happened he noticed that there was water crackling with orange energy all over the room, and knew that he had somehow caused it. He stared once more at his hands, wondering how everything had just happened. He then spied Rouge out of the corner of his eye, and, worried, rushed over to her, not noticing that the two creatures were watching them with interest from where they were leaning against the door.

"Chère… Rogue, please tell Remy, or show Remy dat tu (you) are all right… s'il te plait (please)," whispered Remy as he cradled Rogue's body in his arms, gently brushing back some loose strands that had fallen across her face. On impulse Remy leaned down and brushed a small kiss on Rogue's lips, expecting once more to feel the sudden feeling that he was being absorbed, thinking the previous time had been a fluke. He was surprised to not feel anything; no absorption of his abilities, memories, or life force, but instead felt Rogue respond to his kiss. Remy kissed Rogue for a little longer; noting that Rogue had opened her eyes and found himself lost into their emerald depths. Neither Rogue or Remy noticed the water they happened to be sitting in begin to crackle with Remy's energy again but also the air as it blew around them, creating a whirlwind, lifting the water with it, enclosing the couple inside a tornado of water.

After a few minutes they broke apart, the whirlwind slowly dissipating, leaving them both staring into each other's eyes, while still sitting on the water-covered floor. They broke out of their trance when they heard someone clearing their throat. They looked up to find the two creatures staring at them, both with smirks plastered on their faces.

"Well, looks like the thief and the southern beauty have gotten themselves involved with each other," said the green creature, his smirk slowly turning into a genuine smile. He then turned, reached out and took the purple creature's claw and, looking into her eyes brought the claw up to his face and kissed it softly, his eyes never leaving hers. After a few minutes of just staring into each other's eyes they both broke out into laughter.

Rogue, who had been getting angrier by the moment that two complete strangers, creatures in fact, had been watching her and Remy as they had shared a kiss, a true kiss, something she thought she would never be able to have. She quickly got to her feet, not noticing that the air had started to form a cyclone around her and her eyes changed from emerald to a clear white.

"Hey yah two," she said with anger lacing her words, "how dare yah laugh de la sorte quand j'ai eu mon premier baiser sans (like that when I had my first kiss without) absorbing tha guy's memories, life force, or powehs. Alors, si je vous ai été (So, if I was you), Ah'd run," said Rogue as she raised her arms without thinking and shot a gust of wind in the shape of a mini cyclone at the two creatures with the intent of hitting them. However she watched as her cyclones missed their targets, as the creatures disappeared and, unknown to her, moved directly behind her.

"Where'd they go?" asked Rogue as she lowered her arms, her eyes turning back to their emerald color and the wind around her subsiding until it was gone. She turned to Remy, who had moved beside her, with a questioning look on her face, and got a look saying he had not a clue, although Rogue could sense Remy's abilities were working furiously, trying to find the creatures' locations.

After a few minutes of trying to figure out how Rogue had missed her targets and where they had disappeared to Rogue asked, "Remy, how in tha hell was Ah able to kiss yah without absorbin' anything?" Rogue looked into Remy's red-on-black eyes, hoping that he would have an answer for her. Her hopes were dashed when he averted his eyes from hers and slowly shook his head no. Rogue bit her lip in an effort to keep herself from crying, thinking that the two kisses she had experienced were only flukes and she would never be able to truly touch someone for a long period of time.

"That's not true, Rogue. The two kisses you and Remy shared weren't flukes at all but a sign that you have gained full control over your powers," said a feminine voice from behind the two Southerners.

Rogue and Remy both spun around quickly, Remy taking a card out from his jacket and charging it. They didn't see any one behind them, but knew instinctively there was someone there; near them but unseen.

"Vous êtes où (Where are you)?" asked Remy as he looked around the room, using the skills from being an ex-thief to try and see some sign of movement from the space in front of them, but didn't see anything or anyone. Rogue's eyes darted around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from, but couldn't find any clues.

"Alright, yah two creatures, where in tha hell are yah?" yelled Rogue as she instinctively took up one of her favorite fighting stances and Remy charged a few more cards he had taken from his jacket, now having ten card-bombs ready for battle.

"Jeez, chill out Rogue," came the same voice from before, and this time Rogue's memory recognized the voice, identifying it in a spilt second.

"Kitty? Oh mah gawd, yah're all right! Ah thought tha' yah were dead; Ah mean, tha professor wouldn't let meh in and Kurt wouldn' tell meh what was wrong with yah, and… wait, what happened to yah and where are yah?" finished Rogue as she lowered her defenses completely and stepped forward, where she somehow sensed the voice had come from. Remy watched her, his cards still charged, and both of them watched in amazement as the two creatures materialized slowly, letting the two Southern mutants gradually adjust their eyes to what they were seeing.

"Kitty, wha' tha hell happened to yah?" asked Rogue as she stepped forward and stared in disbelief at the creature who was her best friend.

Kitty took a deep breath, but before she could explain what had happened she heard Remy gasp and the sound of the cards' energy being taken away then shuffling as they were quickly placed back inside his trenchcoat. Both women watched as Remy went to the green creature and stared at him for a minute.

"Lance, mon ami, is dat you?" asked Remy as he stared at his teammate and the man who had been marked a traitor by Erik not too long ago.

"Yeah, Remy, it's me," said Lance resignedly as he looked at the Cajun and cracked a grin. "The outside may not look too pretty, but its still me in here." Lance then hit himself lightly on the chest to prove he wasn't a robot and he and Remy began to laugh.

"Anyway, Rogue, here's what, like, happened," said Kitty as she began to tell her story, ignoring the two men. Remy and Lance stopped laughing and Remy and Rogue listened with rapt attention to learn what had happened to their teammates.