A/N: Here is chapter 2! I do not own X-men Evolution.
Chapter 2: Freedom
It took hours, but finally the two southerners stumbled upon civilization, both exhausted. Rogue at some point had fallen asleep but not for long. Remy decided it was a good time to find them a place to stay so they could both rest. He places her down against a brick wall in an alleyway, then peers out. "'Ll be right back." He says, but before he could leave he felt her small hand grab his.
"W-wait! Yer leavin' meh heah?" Rogue's shaky voice brought his eyes to turn to meet her scared ones.
"'M gon' go find us some shelter. 'Ll come back." Remy reassures her.
Rogue felt his hand gently let go, then he was gone. She felt a pang in her chest as she waited. It felt like forever to her as she waited, her mind telling her he abandoned her, just like the X-men. Trask's voice repeating that sentence in her mind. Rogue felt tears pour out, her hands covering her head and her body slowly sinking to the ground. "Why is everyone abandonin' meh?" She whispers to herself as she shakes.
Rogue gasps softly as she felt strong hands gently grab hers and bring her back to reality. "Hey, 's okay, jus' me. Told y' 'd be back." Remy gives her a sympathetic smile.
Rogue sniffs, him noticing she was not doing good mentally. It makes him despise Trask more and more. "A-ah… ah thought ya abandoned meh…" Rogue chokes out.
"But 'm heah now, yeah?" Remy knelt down in front of her, gazing into her eyes. "I found us a place t' rest up. Why don' we go dere so y' can relax?"
Rogue nods. She wipes her tears away, hating how he had seen her cry on more than one occasion. Remy smiles at her then helps her up. Rogue hobbles down the street, hanging onto Remy as they went. She looks around, her eyes darting around on guard at her surroundings. "W-where are we?" She asks.
"Roseville, California." Remy responds.
They arrive at a motel in a few short minutes, Remy taking them to the room he got them. Rogue sits down on the bed, feeling how soft it was after having a hard cot over the past couple months. Remy lets her get settled, then starts to leave again. Rogue sits up, yelping softly from her hurt leg. "Stay heah an' rest." Remy turns.
"Where are ya goin'?" Rogue tries to gain her voice back but there was still some fear in it.
Remy walks over to her, stopping in front of her. "'M jus' gon' go get us some food. Y' trust me, right?"
Rogue shakes her head. "N-no, ah don't, cause ah bareleh know ya! Ah can't trust anybody anymo'!"
"Rogue, I promise, I won' jus' leave y' heah by y'self. An' 'm gon' keep remindin' y' till y' do trust me."
Rogue looks away, biting her lip. He gently puts his hands on both sides of her arms. "'Ll be back."
Rogue nods without looking at him. He leaves the room and she gets up and hobbles to the bathroom to look at her appearance. Flipping on the light, she makes a face at how she looked; torn x-suit, disheveled hair, small bags forming under her eyes, skin flushed with small bruises dotting parts of her body, make up gone. She was a total mess and was not who she used to be. Sighing, Rogue hobbles back to the bed after washing up a bit, laying down on her bed and hugging one of her soft pillows. She tried not to let her mind wander too much as she waited for Remy.
A few minutes later, Remy enters the room with a few bags, Rogue sitting up in relief. "Figured y' should eat somet'in' an' I found y' some new clothes." Remy gives her a small smile.
Rogue looks into the bag once he handed it to her-blinking in surprise, seeing a light, dark green, long sleeved shirt, black jeans, some converse and a pair of pajamas. He hands her food too, to which she mumbles a thanks. Rogue happily eats her food, knowing her body hasn't had any good food in a long while. Remy sits on his bed and eats his. They both eat in comfortable silence until Rogue finished and looked at Remy. "Are ya gonna take meh back ta Bayville?" Rogue asks.
Remy looks up at her, surprised by her question. "I… can't."
"What?! Why not?!" Rogue makes a face.
"It's not safe. De X-men sent me t' rescue y' an' t' keep y' away from dem fo' de time bein'." Remy explains, turning his gaze down.
"But ah hafta know why they abandoned meh!"
"They didn' mean t', Rogue. Really. They want y' home, but 's t' dangerous fo' y'. Dey said if y' were t' be brought back t' de Institute, den anot'er catastrophic event could occur. So dat's why y' wit' me."
Rogue felt her heart sink, her gazing looking away from his. "So.. now what do we do?" She asks softly.
"Well, fo' starters, leave dis area immediately t'morrow, but also get y' arm and leg looked at."
Rogue just nods. As night came, Rogue changed into her pajamas Remy had bought her, surprising her that they were the correct size. She struggles with the bottoms, slipping a bit but catching herself. "Y' okay chère?" Remy asks on the other side of the door, hearing her slip.
"A-ah'm fahne." Rogue answers back then exits the bathroom. "Um… thank ya for everythin'."
Remy gives her a small smile. "No problem, chère."
He helps her to her bed, then goes to the bathroom to get himself ready. Rogue falls asleep quickly after she got under the sheets and her head hit the soft pillow, her body exhausted. Remy comes out in sweatpants and a t-shirt, noticing Rogue had fallen asleep quickly. He gets into his own bed and falls asleep.
Rogue dreamt nightmares that night like she has been for the past few months, her body tossing and turning and whimpering escaping her lips. She finally wakes up screaming and hyperventilating while sitting up in the bed. Remy jumps up, then notices Rogue's panicked state. He gets out of his bed and sits on hers and gently touches her arm, Rogue yelping and flinching. "Hey, easy. Jus' me. What happened?" Remy says softly, trying to calm her down.
Rogue shakes and tries to catch her breath, her eyes were wide. "A-ah'm sorreh. Ah had a naghtmare."
Remy frowns. "Do y' get dem often?"
"Ah've been havin' them fo' a long while… They don't stop…" Rogue wraps her arms around her legs. "They got worse after ah've been in the lab fo' a while."
Remy starts to move his hand to put it around Rogue, but pulls back last second so he doesn't overwhelm her. Rogue wipes her eye with the back of her right hand. "Ah'm sorreh…" Rogue says softly.
"Don' be, y' been through a lot. Why don' y' get some rest, chère." Remy starts to get up, but pauses when he felt a light tug on his shirt.
His red on black eyes look at Rogue, who was looking away from him. She looked like she was contemplating something, then she lets out a shaky sigh and looks up at him with her emerald eyes. "Do ya mahnd… stayin' till ah fall asleep…? Usually Ah just read a book until ah fall asleep but…"
Remy gives her a soft smile, sitting back down but next to her. "If 'll help, den sure."
He sits besides her, Rogue starting to relax very slightly. It was until a few minutes later that Remy started to ask her questions, just to see if it would help distract her mind. Rogue would answer them, then she would in turn ask him some questions to which he would reply to them. Eventually, Rogue fell back asleep, Remy yawns a bit then smiles as she was sleeping again. He didn't move though since he didn't want to wake her up again so instead he fell asleep where he was.
The morning sun shines through the curtains, Rogue still asleep while Remy had left to get them some things. He quietly enters the room, noticing Rogue was still out, which made him relieved a bit. A few moments later, Rogue wakes up and stretches to the best of her ability. "Mornin' chère." Remy greets.
"Hi." Rogue yawns. "What's that?"
Rogue looks at the bags Remy had brought back, then her eyes go up to his. Remy smiles. "Jus' some stuff fo' us when we hit de road and some breakfast."
They eat breakfast, then Rogue gets changed into the clothes Remy had bought her the day prior. She exits the bathroom, having to modify the jeans for her cast on her leg. The two exit the hotel room, Remy had also gotten them a car during his time out. He helps Rogue into the passenger seat, then he gets in the driver seat and starts the car. Rogue looked out the window as they drove off, relieved to be getting away but also worried Trask will find her again somehow. And so began their roadtrip.
A/N: Stay tuned!