Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men
In the kitchen, the only one looking angrily at his plate was Bobby, sitting in the corner with Piotr keeping him company.
"Now, this is cooking! Not some radioactive pancakes some people around here pretend to cook." Jubilee said out loud, giving a quick glance in Bobby's direction. He exhaled heavily, freezing his half eaten waffle and throwing it in her direction. Seconds before it hit her head, Logan passed the space between them and caught it with his claws, snarling at Bobby.
"Don't forget your Danger Room session today, bub." He said menacing.
At that Jubilee turned her head to look at Bobby and stuck her tongue out at him.
"That was very mature, darling." Betsy said from her place in front of Jubilee.
"Actually, I wouldn't have expected anything different from her." Lorna teased, finishing her beignets. Betsy shook her head and stared at the empty plates in front of her.
"Seems some people are gonna gain weigh if Remy cooks everyday."
"I won't mind. It's like the best food I had in years. And besides… I think he only cooked in the first place because he had some… motivation." Kitty exchanged a significant look with Jubilee and they giggled.
At a bigger table next to the window, Remy was sitting in the company of Ororo, Xavier, Scott, and Hank.
"So Remy, what do you think of the school so far?" Charles asked him from across the table.
"It looks pretty good, professor. It's good t' know dere's someone to look after all dese kids. And the place is great too."
"Yes, the main reason the Institute exists is to make sure these kids have someone to help them with their powers. Not all parents are comprehensive with their mutations, or even able to help."
"This is a haven to most of them." Ororo completed.
Remy's eyes were focused on his plate, so they didn't see the sad look in his red eyes.
"Oui, the world's pretty cruel t' mutants, especially the ones who can't control their powers." Remy said quietly.
"The world's not cruel Remy, they just don't understand. People fear what they fail to understand." Hank said.
'So they open your brain t' study y' and understand y'.' Remy thought bitterly, running his hand through his hair and feeling a small scar on the back of his head. Ororo saw his muscles tense and his eyes glow slightly. It wasn't hard to realize he had been through some bad moments in his life, and even his handsome face still carried some pain and even anger at some moments.
Ororo put a hand on his shoulder and whispered. "Whatever happened out there is in the past Remy. We all look after each other here." Remy lifted his eyes and met her blue ones, who looked sympathetically at him. There, he saw a sweetness he had never seen in his life and felt she cared, for real.
"Merci, Ororo." He said honestly. However, he knew whatever happened out there still wasn't in his past. It was a sad part of his present. Remy felt strangely suffocated at that thought, so he stood up and told them he needed to get ready for his training session in the Danger Room later.
After making it to her room, Rogue at last sat at her desk to read a book and relax. However, as soon as she found the page she had marked, Kitty phased through the wall, Jubilee by her side.
"Hey, hey!" Kitty waved at her.
"You thought you were going to escape, didn't you?" Jubilee asked, sitting on the desk and taking the book from Rogue's hands, receiving protests in return. "No. You promised to tell us what happened between you and Mr. Hotness yesterday. You said it was nothing but today he cooked you breakfast! Are we missing something?" Jubilee teased, sure nothing had happened but still feeling there was some kind of chemistry going on between her friend and Remy.
"Jubilee, nothing happened. He just gave me a ride." One look at her friends' faces was enough for her to know that they wouldn't accept that as an answer. "Ok, ok! After Ah left the sushi bar, Ah kept walking and found mahself in front of a bar somewhere. Ah was sitting on the sidewalk and a man started to bug meh, then Remy showed up right at that moment, coincidentally. Anyways, he shoved the guy away and offered meh a ride home on his bike. To be exact, he dragged meh home, 'cause Ah was planning on taking a bus or a taxi."
"So he like saved you! That's sweet!"
"Kitty, Ah didn't need to be saved! Ah'm not exactly a damsel in distress and ya know that."
"Whatever, it was sweet anyways." Kitty said and Jubilee nodded.
"Did he hit on you?"
"Jubilee!"
"Did he?!"
"Hmm… yeah. But he does that to every girl, so it's nothing new. Annoying, as always."
Jubilee's jaw dropped and she raised her eyebrows. "Annoying? Rogue, what's on your mind?"
"Rogue, it's so nice Remy protected you and then gave you a ride. It's something a gentleman would do." Kitty sighed, daydreaming.
"Remy what?!" Bobby's loud voice came from the doorway. Jubilee nearly fell from the desk and Kitty took her hands to her mouth. "He gave you a ride home?" Rogue closed her eyes for a second and stood to face him.
"Girls, please, Ah need to talk to him." She didn't need to ask twice. Kitty phased through the floor, taking Jubilee with her. "Bobby…"
"So you were with him last night?! We were all worried about you and you were coming back home with him? On his bike?!" He screamed, unable to control his rage. "Did you have fun?"
"Seriously?!" She hissed. "After all that has happened all you can do is get jealous about the fact Remy brought meh home?"
"I told you to stay away from him! I don't trust that guy."
"He brought meh home, Bobby! He made sure Ah wasn't left alone in the middle of New York City at night, something Ah don't remember you trying to do. And what else did ya expect meh to do? Wander around the streets in search for a taxi?" Rogue exhaled heavily, fully aware that she was actually planning to wander around the streets in search for a taxi but Remy stopped her.
"You could've come back to the restaurant!" He said out loud.
"You said the things ya said to meh, ya watched meh leave without even bothering to rise your butt from that chair, and Ah should've come back to you?!" Her eyes widened in disbelief. 'Do Ah seem that stupid to him?' Rogue had to ask herself.
"Rogue, I was trying to make things work, but you totally freaked out about the trip with the others. I just wanted us to have a good time together."
"Us meaning you, meh, and half of the Institute?! C'mon, Bobby! Avoiding being alone with meh is not 'making things work'."
"At least I'm trying, Rogue!" Bobby said, opening his arms, hoping she would calm down.
"Oh, and Ah'm not? What, you think Ah'm making things hard?"
"You're certainly not making things easier."
"It's amazing how every single thing is mah fault somehow, isn't it?" Rogue shook her head and walked around the room in silence, thinking. Remy's and Jubilee's words came back to her mind while she twisted her hands nervously. Her heart rushed as if she was about to jump from a cliff when she at last decided to speak. "You know what? Ah need some time, Bobby." She whispered, facing the window.
"What?" He approached her slowly, sure he had misheard. It seemed he had just received an electric shock. "Rogue, wha-what did you say?"
"Ah need a break. We need a break. Because the way things are… it's not working." Rogue hesitated and then went on. "We need time to think things over, to fix our mistakes without having to blame it on the other; time to be alone with our thoughts so we… so we can figure out what we want to do."
"I know I want to be with you. Maybe things are not as well as they should but we can work on that." Bobby felt the need to hold her, even though he knew he couldn't. She would probably push him away.
"Bobby, we've said this before and yet here we are, fighting again. Ah'm tired." She kept her gaze focused on the sky, watching the clouds, trying as hard as she could not to cry. 'No more tears.'
Bobby took her hand and made her turn to face him. "Are you sure that's what you want?" He asked softly.
"It's what we need, sugah." Rogue answered. Bobby frowned and his blue eyes saddened. For a moment, he reminded her of the boy she met a few years ago, with the same innocent expression. He nodded, kissed her gloved hand and, after one last sad glance, left the room.
Rogue sat down and rest her head on her hands, her body strangely numb. And then, it started once again. The whispers, the feeling of being lost inside herself. She shut her eyes tightly. "Stop! Be quiet." She whispered, trying to regain control over her mind. She could hear them saying things that were hard to distinguish; the only clear thing was her name. 'Rogue, Rogue, Rogue…'
"Rogue!" Someone squeezed her knee and she snapped her eyes open. Jubilee was kneeling in front of her and was looking up, worriedly. "What's wrong?" She asked, taking Rogue's shaking hand in hers.
"Jubilee! Ah'm… feeling dizzy. Ah guess mah pressure dropped." Rogue said, and Jubilee helped her lay down then sat by her side.
"How did it go with Bobby?" Jubilee asked while playing with Rogue's hair absently.
"We decided… in fact, Ah decided to take a break." At that, Jubilee's jaw dropped. "Don't make that face! It's not like it was easy. Ah just couldn't stand the fights anymore. It was taking us nowhere! We need some time for ourselves to think properly about what we want."
"It's not like I'm criticizing you. I just think it's… wow! There you go, girl. Enough of letting him push you around." Jubilee gave her a proud grin. "After this, I bet he will start acting like the most angelic boy in the world to you, you'll see."
Rogue shrugged, taking her hand to her head. "It's not going to make a difference right now. Ah really need this break. His attitude won't change that. Not for now. Maybe in the future, let's see." She inhaled the cool air deeply and let it out slowly, her head lighter than before, but her heart aching. Eventually, Jubilee ended up going back to her bed to sleep a little more and, even though Rogue planned to do the same, after one hour of rolling on the bed she realized it wouldn't work. She rose, put her shoes on, and left the room. 'Ah need to let this stress out.'
Ten minutes later, she found herself in her work out clothes growling in front of the Danger Room. 'Busy. At this time in the morning, it must be Logan.' She wondered and headed for the control room, from where at least she could have some fun watching Logan fight. To her surprise, it was him she found there sitting.
"Hey, kid."
"Logan! Hi… Ah thought it was you training." She scratched her head and took a chair to sit next to him.
"No, I'm still running some tests with Gumbo." He pointed to Remy, who was surrounded by six flying humanoid robots in the Danger Room, only with his bo staff in his hands and, as Rogue couldn't help noticing, without his shirt and his usual trench coat. She observed carefully his every movement while he fought all the robots at once. His body moved with the grace of a dancer and agility of an acrobat while he dodged and attacked with precision, taking down the robots with his bo staff.
"Ah know this simulation." Rogue said when she spotted a red flag on the opposite side of the Danger Room. It was a racing simulation. The goal was to reach the flag in the lowest time possible without using powers, only a cold weapon of the person's choice. As the person destroyed robots, he gained points. Of course, the mansion's record belonged to Logan, with the best time as well as the best score: ten minutes and four seconds, with 300 points.
"How are you feeling today?" Logan asked, crossing his arms.
"Doing good, Ah guess." She stared at her feet. "Ah… Ah told Bobby Ah wanted a break."
Logan shot her a sideways glance and grinned. "He's still going to suffer in his DR session later, so cheer up!"
Rogue chuckled and pressed Logan's arm reassuringly. She leaned over the control panel to check Remy's time and score. "He's doing good."
"Yeah." Logan grumped, checking the chronometer too: nine minutes and thirty four seconds. 'He can't make it to that flag in less than thirty seconds. It's too far.'
Remy seemed to realize the same thing and made a quick decision. In a bold movement, he used his staff to lurch himself to the back of one of the robots flying around him, gripping its head. The robot started in the wall's direction. 'Think fast!' He put his staff in front of the robot's neck and pulled it to him, 'strangling' it and using it to make the robot turn right, maneuvering it as one would do to a bike. It worked when he was about to hit the wall at full speed. 'Damn, dat was close!'
Rogue let out the breath she had been holding when she saw the robot swerve the wall. She saw Remy struggling to make the robot fly in the direction he wanted, but he quickly figured out how to do it. Now, he was going straight in the flag's direction. He jumped off the robot's back just before it hit the wall behind the flag, and an alarm announced the end of the simulation when he took the red flag in his hands. His time was ten minutes and two seconds, with a score of 280 points. He smiled wide when he saw the chronometer reflected on the wall, and let himself drop to the ground as he tried to catch his breath.
Rogue bit her lip so she wouldn't grin at Logan. "What now? His time was better than yours, but with less points." She tried not to let him see how much she was having fun seeing his clenched jaw and death glare directed to the Cajun lying with a smile on his face a few meters below them. She knew just how much of a competitive person Logan was and she was sure he would try to beat Remy's time as soon as possible.
"He is good." He sounded even grumpier than usual. Logan patted Rogue on the shoulder and left.
Rogue stayed there a little longer, watching as Remy stretched out on the floor then stood and left. She waited a few seconds to make sure she wouldn't run into him in the corridor to the Danger Room, then programmed the simulation room to look like a gym and went down.
For five peaceful minutes she released her tension punching a sandbag. At each punch, her mind seemed to get clearer and more focused in the present moment. But her peace ended with the metallic sound of opening doors.
"Hey, chérie!" Remy waved at her and for a second Rogue was out of words, seeing the shirtless Cajun.
"Hi, swamp rat. Sorry, Ah thought you were already done with your training." She apologized.
"Nah, I just needed to get some water." He said and ran a hand through his wet hair to get it off his face.
Again, Rogue's voice failed to come out of her mouth on the first try. 'Speak! Say something.' "Oh. Ah'll come back later then."
"It's alright. We could run a simulation together, what do y' say?"
"Not today, thanks." She didn't feel in the mood for simulations. She just wanted to kick and punch something that wouldn't kick or punch her back.
"Well, we can share the gym at least. Ya don't need t' leave." He suggested.
"Fine. But keep your mouth shut." Rogue said, pointing a finger at him, and he smirked. She went back to punching the sandbag, while he sat down and started to lift weights. Against her own will, her eyes drifted to him whenever she stopped to catch her breath. Thankfully, he had his back turned to her and didn't notice she was looking. Rogue cursed herself for her lack of control. 'Why can't he just put a damn shirt on?' She kicked the sandbag as hard as she could.
Remy smirked to himself, while he felt the waves of distress coming from behind him. He wasn't really trying to get on her nerves, at least not today when he knew she was upset about her boyfriend. But the fact that he got on her nerves nonetheless was amusing. "You sure I ain't disturbin' y', chérie?" He asked from over his shoulder.
Rogue looked at him, surprised. "No! Of course not. As long as you don't make perverted comments, you're fine." She tried to be as honest as possible, but yes, the sight of a shirtless sweaty Remy lifting weights in front of her was definitely disturbing. She was able to keep training for about half an hour before he lay down to do some ab workouts. At that, she just gave up. "See ya later at dinner, Remy." She said, grabbing her towel and leaving the Danger Room as fast as possible, feeling a warmness that had nothing to do with the effort of kicking take over her body. 'Ah need a cold shower.'