Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews ;) Just a few things before we get started... The missing translation from Chapter 19 is as follows: Réveillez-vous, le bel- Wake up, beautiful one. Hope that helps ;) The next post is on the shorter side, but don't worry, there should be another post up later on if I get time ;)

~BQ

Chapter Twenty-Four:


"Remy LeBeau!" Rogue shrieked. "Ah swear Ah'm goin' t' kill ya!"

Remy just laughed, splashing more water at her, spraying her cutoff jean shorts with ocean foam. "Promises, promises, chere," he snickered with a smirk. "De words, dey keep on comin', but Remy, he don' see not'ing t' back dem up."

"Why ya li'l swamp rat!" Rogue shouted with a grin, lifting off to ground and flying straight at him hard. He tried to duck, but she'd known that's what he would do, so she had aimed low. She caught him under the arms and rose higher into the air, taking him with her.

Remy yelped in alarm, staring down at the ocean below with wide eyes. It was all Rogue could do not to laugh at the expression on his face.

"What was that ya were sayin', sugar?" she drawled.

"You wouldn't," Remy declared.

"Wouldn't Ah?" Rogue asked with a sly smirk.

Remy hesitated a moment, his eyes darting from her face to the water below, then back up to her face. "Dere ain't no way you'd do dat," he decided.

Rogue shrugged. "Suit y'self. Don't say Ah didn't try t' warn ya."

And with that she let go.

Remy cried out in shock, and, though she knew he wouldn't admit it, as touch of fear, as he began to plummet towards the ocean. Rogue waited a full ten seconds before pushing into a dive, following like a speeding bullet. She passed him and turned around, throwing out her arms to catch him just before he hit the surface.

"Gotcha," she said with a broad grin.

Remy scowled. "Dat ain't funny," he declared, folding his arms and lifting his chin indignantly.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Rogue said, rolling her eyes.

"Baby? Remy ain't no baby, chere," Remy retorted with a smirk, leaning in so that their noses were almost touching. "Remy mo' man dan even you can handle, p'tite."

Rogue snorted. "Cajun, need Ah remind ya that Ah am holdin' ya over the ocean a good twenty yards from shore?" she asked dryly.

Remy got a thoughtful look on his face. "Dat be a good point, p'tite," he conceded. "Remy goin' t' jus' be shuttin' up now, oui?"

"That would be the smart thing t' do, yeah," Rogue snickered.

"What is dis 'smart t'ing'?" Remy retorted with a lopsided grin. Rogue smiled, shaking her head, and Remy leaned back in her arms. "Dis be de only way t' fly. De real first class."

Rogue chuckled. "You jus' like the view, swamp rat," she accused playfully.

Remy eyed the neckline of her green tank top. "Dat be true," he confessed with a smirk that made it impossible to be annoyed with him. Rogue rolled her eyes. She had taken to wearing less concealing clothing now that she didn't have to worry about accidentally touching anyone, much to Remy's delight. She had never seen the boy drool as much as he had in the past few days.

"Don't make me drop ya, Gumbo," she warned playfully.

Remy made his face the portrait of innocence. "Why on earth would you wan' do a t'ing like dat, ma chere?" Of course, no matter how innocent he may appear, Rogue could see right through it to the darkness buried under the surface. It was in his eyes, and she found herself forever staring into them.

He's the only boy Ah ever known who had fire in his eyes, Rogue thought, shaking her head. Silently, she turned and headed back towards shore, Remy nestled comfortably in her arms. It was touching how deeply he trusted her to carry him to safety, even after she'd dropped him from the sky only moments before.

"Dis nice," Remy commented as they neared the beach, the wind ruffling his hair. "Remy like flyin' wit' you."

"Ah gathered that, sugar," Rogue replied with a smile as she descended from the sky slowly. Remy cocked his head up to kiss her gently as they landed.

"T'anks fo' de ride, chere," he said with a wink as he jumped down to his feet.

"Anytime, sugar," she replied with a grin. She glanced up at the darkening sky and sighed. "We'd best be gettin' back. It's late. Harmony prob'ly has dinner ready already."

"Aww, do we hafta?" Remy asked with a pout. His eyes glittered as he leaned in closer to her. "Remy was hopin' we could continue dis li'l excursion."

Rogue smirked. "Sugar, if we ain't there when they sit down t' eat, ya know that Evan an' Pietro are likely t' come lookin' fo' us."

Remy scowled, running a hand through his hair in defeat. "Dat li'l speed demon ruin all Remy's fun."

Rogue rolled her eyes. She'd told Remy about the kiss she'd given Pietro, of course, mainly because she wanted to be honest with him, but also because she knew he had a jealous nature at times. She'd seen it in his memories, in the piece of him that still resided in the farthest corner of her mind, and she'd decided it wouldn't be a good thing if he were to somehow hear about it from someone else.

He'd naturally been a little bit jealous, and a little bit annoyed, the insecurities he kept buried deep inside showing through a tiny bit, but he'd understood. Besides, as he'd cockily reminded himself, Pietro only got one kiss, he'd gotten a whole lot more than that.

You shouldn't be able to kiss anyone, Carol grumbled darkly.

Carol? Rogue snapped. Be quiet, would ya? She closed her eyes, focusing hard on the psionic layers of her shields, and tugged them back into place. She was getting pretty good at keeping them up all the time, but she was going to need a telepath to get them up permanently.

Just one more reason to hope that they found Professor Xavier and the others soon.

Something which, though she wouldn't admit it, Rogue was beginning to doubt they ever would. It had been months since the Institute was destroyed. It had been months of searching on Magneto's part.

And still they had found nothing.

"Carol?" Remy asked knowingly, a concerned frown on his handsome features.

Rogue nodded, deciding to leave out where her train of thought had drifted after that. "Guess Ah forgot t' block her out t'day. Ah think keepin' her locked up drains the both o' us, not jus' me. She sounds weaker every time she speaks up."

"Dat's good den, right?" Remy asked. "She not able t' bother you as much?"

"Yeah," Rogue agreed with a shrug. "But what Ah wouldn't give t' get a hold o' Jeannie or the Prof right 'bout now. Ah could use a telepath t' go through mah head an' clear her out once an' for all."

Remy nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "Well den, one o' dese days, we gon' hafta find you a telepath, non?"

"That would be great," Rogue replied with a smile. "But until then, Ah guess Ah'll hafta settled fo' makin' Carol uncomfortable."

"Oh?" Remy asked, raising an eyebrow wryly. "An' jus' how you gon' do dat?"

"Ah have a few ideas," Rogue said, rising onto her toes to tilt her head up as he bent his down towards her. Their lips had just brushed together when Remy jerked back, his eyes scanning their surroundings. "What?" Rogue asked, her entire body tensing. "Remy, what is it?"

"Don' know yet, chere," Remy replied quietly, his eyes flickering from side to side. "Somet'ing ain't right, dat's fo' sure. I jus' don' know..." his voice trailed off and his eyes widened in alarm. "Chere, get down!" he shouted, shoving her back towards the trees.

Rogue rolled back into the woods, Remy at her heels. "What the hell is wrong with ya?!" she hissed. "What's got ya so..." she trailed off as she, too, spotted the worst sight she could have possibly imagined.

Moving along the coastline, their looming forms dark and ominous, was a pack of Sentinels.

"Get back t' de house!" Remy ordered, reaching into his duster and pulling out a pack of cards.

"Are ya crazy? Ah ain't leavin' ya t' fight 'em on ya lonesome!" Rogue cried.

"Remy can take care o' himself, chere, but dat not what I mean. I gon' follow you back, jus' need t' be watchin' our backs," Remy said, giving her a sharp glance. "Yo' job is t' get t' de house fo' they do. You gotta warn de others, girl. Let Remy take care o' Remy, hahn?" He offered her a cocky grin. "Dose Sentinels get too close, I jus' blow dere heads off."

"Alright," Rogue conceded. She glared at him. "But if ya get y'self killed, Ah ain't never gonna f'give ya, ya hear me? Ah mean it, Remy! Don't ya go playin' the-"

He silenced her with a swift, but passionate kiss. When he pulled back, he grinned. "Fo' luck," he explained. "Now go! An' make sure you stay beneath de tree lines so dey can't see you! Don' want you gettin' yo'self shot down, comprenez?"

Rogue nodded and rose into the air. "Be careful, Remy," she called softly.

He grinned up at her. "Always, chere. Always." Then he disappeared into the foliage, and Rogue turned and headed for the house.

Remy's right, she told herself. Ah gotta warn the others. Ah gotta trust him t' stay alive. If there's one thing that boy can do, it's survive. Ah got the memories in mah head t' prove it.

Still, that didn't make her worry any less, and when she heard crashes in the forest behind her, followed by the sounds of Remy's trademark explosions, it was all she could do not to turn back. But she had to warn the others, she knew that, and Remy knew it, too. As soon as she warned them, she'd go back for him, and they'd face the Sentinels together.

Pouring on a burst of speed, she ducked her head as she plowed through the tree tops as fast as she could. She could see the edge of the forest ahead, could see the top of the roof in the distance.

"Mutant target acquired," a robotic voice boomed behind her.

Aww, hell, she thought.

A blast of plasma fire shot past her, disintegrating a patch of trees to her right. "Great," Rogue muttered. "Ah can take a few o' those hits jus' fine due t' mah invulnerability, but the others won't stand a chance against those guns o' theirs."

She forced herself not to wonder about Remy.

Up ahead, the house swam into view, and she saw St. John and Evan outside, tossing the football around and talking to Piotr. Not bothering to slow down, she took a deep breath, and screamed for all she was worth. "SENTINELS!!!!!!!!"

The affect her cry had was instantaneous. The football fell lifeless to the ground. Evan loaded his body with spikes. Flames leapt to life at St. John's hands from the pack on his back. Piotr shifted into his armored form.

And just in time, as four Sentinels, surrounded the house.