Chapter Three:


"Mmm," Rogue sighed, snuggling closer to the warmth surrounding her. The soft material against her face tickled slightly, but she didn't mind.

What she did mind was her pillow rumbling all of the sudden.

She frowned. Since when did her pillow rumble?

And when did it have a heartbeat?

She jerked away sharply, her head slamming into something hard. She yelped softly, cursing under breath as tears stung her eyes, her vision swimming.

Laughter echoed around her. "Careful, chere," a voice drawled. "De walls be made of metal. Dey gon' give you a pretty nasty bump if you keep bangin' yo' head 'gainst dem, non?"

Rogue rubbed her head, glaring at the man in front of her.

Then her eyes widened in surprise as she really looked at him. "You!" she cried, her jaw dropping in shock. "What are ya doin' here?"

The handsome boy from the battle against Magneto grinned at her. "Rescuin' de damsel in distress, so it would seem, non?"

Cajun, Rogue mentally noted, recognizing the accent.

"Why would ya do a thing like that?" she asked, wincing as she stretched her arms-only to hit more walls. Blinking, she turned her head and gasped.

Oh, no, she thought with a groan. No, no, no. Not another one o' these damn transport orbs! Ah hate these damn things!

What are you talking about? Carol asked, confused. What the hell is a transport orb?

Rogue ignored her, trying to steady her rapid breathing. The last time she had been in one, Magneto had kidnapped her off to Asteroid M. While she doubted that was where they were headed now, she refused to let Magneto use her in any of his twisted schemes, especially one against the other X-men.

"Remy take it by de look in yo' eyes, you know what dis t'ing is?" the boy who she was practically siting on asked, raising an eyebrow in a way that made Rogue's stomach flutter.

She wanted to hit him for it.

"One o' Magneto's transport orbs," Rogue growled softly, her eyes flashing darkly. "He was...kind enough t'give me a lift in one before."

Remy chuckled, and she found the sound quite lovely. "Dat sound rather unpleasant from de tone o' yo' voice, chere. You have my word dis trip won' be dat bad."

"Like the word o' one o' Magneto's henchmen means much," Rogue muttered.

"Remy prefers de term 'employee'," Remy replied with a lopsided grin.

Oh God, he's gotta stop smilin' at me like that, Rogue thought, her cheeks flushing slightly. That or Ah'm goin' t' hafta kill him.

Not like that would be anything new to you, though, right? Carol sneered. I mean, you already killed me. What's another victim?

"Shut up, Danvers," Rogue snapped. Only when Remy raised an eyebrow did she realize that she had said that aloud. She blushed twice as hard this time. "Sorry," she murmured in embarrassment. "They...uh...did somethin' t' me back at the base."

Remy nodded. "Figured dat, p'tite." He raised his eyebrow again. "Wit' yo' absorbin' powas, Remy be t'inkin' dat dey probably forced you t'absorb someone, non?"

Rogue blinked, startled by his insight. And also a little annoyed. She nodded curtly in response.

"But, chere," Remy said softly. It's been a full day since we left dat base. Why hasn't de affects worn off yet?"

Rogue looked away.

"Oh," Remy murmured, stiffening in understanding. "Merde. Dat not good."

"Yeah," Rogue muttered darkly. "Ya can say that again."

"Merde," Remy repeated. "Dat not good."

"Ah wasn't bein' literal, ya..." Rogue trailed off she caught sight of his broad grin. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Great, Ah'm stuck in an orb with a guy who think he's a comedian.

Who cares about that?! Carol yelled. He hears what you did to me and all he can say is 'that's not good'?!

Rogue winced.

"She yellin' in yo' head?" Remy asked, a concerned frown on his lips.

Rogue nodded. "She likes t' do that," she replied sullenly. "She ain't got nothin' else t' do 'cept drive me crazy. Not that Ah blame her. Ah'm the one who did this t' her, after all."

"Not yo' fault, chere," Remy said gently. "It be dat crazy li'l Trask's fault, non? He made you do it. Remy imagine he didn' give you much choice in de matter."

Oh my God! Carol shouted. What the hell is wrong with that guy?!

"Ya upsetting Carol," Rogue muttered, swallowing hard. "Can we please not talk 'bout her? Ah can't take much more o' her yappin' right now."

Yapping?! Carol shrieked, outraged. I'll give you yapping you little backwoods witch!

"Please," Rogue gasped out, shutting her eyes tightly and struggling to bring up her mental shields. "Just talk t'me. It helps t' drown her out if someone is talkin' t' me."

"Okay, chere," Remy said. "What you wan' Remy t'talk 'bout?"

"Ah don't care," Rogue growled. "Just talk, dammit!"

Remy chuckled. "Okay den. De name is Remy, Remy LeBeau. Go by de codename o' Gambit. How 'bout you?"

"Rogue," she answered gruffly. "Don't give no one my real name."

"Den dat be Remy's challenge, non?" he asked with a grin. "T'be de first person t'get de real name of the belle femme wit' de white stripes in her hair."

Rogue winced at the word 'stripes', her heart crying out for Logan. She forced her thoughts away from him, though, intent on focusing on Remy. If she let her thoughts wander, she wouldn't be able to block Carol out anymore.

"Ya welcome t' try, swamp rat," Rogue said through gritted teeth, concentrating on keeping Carol back with the mental shields that the Professor had helped all of his X-men create. Of course, the Professor had intended for them to be used as a defense against other telepaths, she doubted this was what he had in mind.

Ah'll hafta ask him for some help with this later, she thought, struggling not to let the tears in her eyes show.

"Swamp rat?" Remy echoed, feigning insult. He smirked cockily. "Dat somet'ing comin' from a river rat like you, chere."

Rogue favored him with the look that Bobby had dubbed her 'Death Glare', and when it had no affect on him, she scowled, which only served to make him grin even broader.

"Ah hate ya," she muttered.

"No, you don'," Remy retorted with a grin. "Yo' eyes don' lie, chere. You t'ink Remy is charmin', oui? All de femmes do."

Rogue rolled her eyes. Great, not only is he cute and funny, he's also cockier than Pietro. She winced again, this time at the thought of her former friend. Of the boy who had betrayed them all, X-men and Brotherhood alike. She had thought about him while in captivity, too, but those memories were anything but pleasant. In some ways, they were the most painful ones of all.

"Only in yo' head, swamp rat," Rogue grunted, averting her eyes to keep herself from admiring the attractive curves of his face. It wouldn't do any good to start falling for a guy she couldn't touch, especially not one who happened to be the enemy.

She groaned, shaking her head. Good Lord, what is wrong with me? Am Ah totally losing it? He's one o' Magento's cronies. He's nothin' but trouble.

"Why did ya rescue me?" she asked, steering herself away from dangerous waters. "Ah have a hard time seein' Magneto decidin' t' rescue an X-man."

Remy shrugged. "De boss man jus' tell us t'get you all out. He don' say why."

Rogue pursed her lips. So Magneto had ordered her set free. She wondered why. It wasn't like the Master of Magnetism had a soft spot for any of the X-men, and she had absorbed him on an occasion or two-one of which had ended with him dropping her from the top of a skyscraper. Why would-

She started, blinking. "Did ya say 'all'?" she inquired sharply. "As in, not just me but the other X-men, too?"

Remy nodded. "Dat be what it looks like. De boss man send us in t'get five o' you out. But we only get four, de other one not on dat base when we attack. Trask had 'im out somewhere doin' some kind o' experiment or somet'ing."

Rogue swallowed hard. There had been five of them, including Fred, captured by the Sentinels. Her, Evan, Hank and Logan. She thought that she might have heard Evan's voice during the escape, but she wasn't sure, She had been really out of it at the time, and might have just been hallucinating. She really had no clue who it was that had been left behind.

God, does it make me a bad person if Ah wish that it was Fred? she thought bitterly. She couldn't stand the idea that the person who had been left at Trask's mercy was any of her fellow X-men. Mr. McCoy was her favorite teacher, and one of the only people in the mansion who understood the mood swings and isolation brought on by her powers. Evan was her friend, one of the original six X-men. And Logan was...well, Logan. He was like a father to her in a lot of ways, and he was the only person who understood her.

She didn't want to even think about any of them being left in Trask's hands.

"You worried 'bout yo' amis, non?" Remy asked.

Rogue nodded wordlessly.

"Don' worry, non, p'tite," he whispered soothingly. "Everyt'ing gon' be okay. Jus' you wait an' see. An' if it not, den we deal wit' it, okay? Remy help. Dat de least he can do fo' a femme so beautiful, non?"

"Shut up, ya swamp rat," Rogue said, turning away so he couldn't see her blush. But for some unexplainable reason, his words made her feel a little better.

Translations:

merde- shit

amis- friends