Hiya folks!
Thanks for reading! I've enjoyed the helpful reviews and glad to see so many following along!
Bologna21 – Thanks for the anonymous review advice! I'm new to the site and didn't realize you had to enable it. Very helpful! Glad you're enjoying!
Crack 4 sure – Thanks for pointing out the Kitty error. For those who missed it, I claimed Kitty teleported, rather than phased in chapter 2. Whoopsie daisies. I get a little too excited sometimes. ;P I'll try to be better about getting my facts straight. Everyone needs an editor, thanks for the help!
gambitfan85 – glad you're enjoying the story! I promise Belle is not going to ruin everything. Basically I'm using this twist to get Remy and Rogue alone together for a little bit. Only a few chapters and we'll head back up to New York to get this show on the road!
It was all too familiar. Twisted oaks windin' up outta murky water, seeming to bend undah the weight o' the moss that hung off like a heavy curtain, the musky smell o' swamp water and ol' trees. Even in November, Louisiana couldn' get cold enough to ward off the toads, crickets and cicadas makin' a racket in de brush. Every so often we pass a small house or cabin along the banks and a whole host of critters would be swarmin' the lanterns. Critters never seem to get bored with lanterns.
De air hung heavy all around, and to me it was a mos' comfortable blanket. Say what you wan' to bout Cajun country, but s' always gon' hold a special place in mon coeur. S' my home, plain an' simple. As de little johnboat wound its way through the shallow water, I realized jus' how much I missed dis place. Five years wit'out Mardi Gras. Now dat's a shame. I couldn' help but wonder if Mardi Gras missed me too. We were such a great team, she an' I. If only dat Ash Wednesday wouldn' get in de way.
Fin'ly we drew near de place. De home o' de T'ieves Guild don' look like much from de outside, and dat's deliberate. Still looks big, but it looks old and rickety, like it ain't been lived in fo' a long time. Look like a place you might need to get a tetanus shot befo' you go inside. Appearances can be deceivin', an deceivin'… why dat's a t'ieve's forte.
I knew what lay beyond the rotten siding an' rusted rails. De place was big, beautiful, well lit, decorated wit' de finest taste. I could walk around dat place blindfolded, and had to a couple o' times. Ah grew up here. Dis was de only place ol' Gambit had ever called home. De only place dat I'd ever been happy.
Merde. Dere was still a part of me dat was happy to be back, even after everyt'ing, after all dat happened. Dat same part dat wanted to run in wit' a big smile an' hold ev'rybody tight. Ev'rybody's got a Peter Pan hidden somewhere. But not dis time. Not ever again. Remy done grown up, an found out dat a spade's a spade.
I jumped out o' de boat, pullin' it up onto de shore so as not to lose it. I doubted I'd be leavin' again anytime soon, but hey, here's hopin'.
"Ya really came. I'd wondered if ya would." That deep husky voice poured out like honey. I knew it could be both soothin' and intimidatin', dependin' on de situation.
"You didn' leave me no choice. And if ya hadn't been expectin' me I wouldn't have gotten dis far wit'out bein' stopped." I turned to face Jean-Luc LeBeau, leader o' de T'ieves Guild…my papa.
"Choice? What choice did you leave me, petit vaurien? (Little rascal) I was startin' to t'ink you never come back." Dat's what he always called me as a kid. What's he t'inkin'? Dat playin' cutsy was gon' make ev'rything go away?
"Don't call me dat Jean-Luc. I ain't so little anymore. And you coulda let me be. I wasn't gonna come back. And next chance I get, I'm leavin' again." He hates it dat I call him Jean-Luc. De day after it happened, I stopped callin' him papa. Haven't called him dat since.
"You can never leave really, can ya, Remy? No matter where you go, no matter how far ya wander, de bayou, de big easy, dey keep callin. Yo' a t'ief Remy. Always have been, always will be. Yo' only makin' dis harder on yo'self."
"No. Yo' makin' it harder on yo'self. Remy is not a t'ief. Dis is not Remy's home. You ain't Remy's father. While you busy bein' exactly de same, lots o' t'ings have changed. What was, ain't. And dere's no goin' back. Yo' a bad man, Jean-Luc LeBeau. I'll be damned if I turn out like you. So you best be tellin' me what ya want so we can get dis over wit'."
We only hurt de ones we love I guess. Anger is mos' potent when s' mixed wit' hurt. Jean-Luc done hurt me in ways ya can't say sorry fo'. De damnable t'ing is, I still loved him.
His jaw tightened and his eyes turned to slate. Guess de pleasantries are over.
"De T'ieves Guild is not'ing to sneer at Remy. We still got our pride. An' you are one o' us. I'm keepin' Belle till you realize dat."
"Quoi?"
"She ain't harmed. She ain't gonna be harmed. Unless you decide to leave."
"How long you plannin' on keepin' her?"
"Till you take de oath." De oath. De one dat would bind me as de heir to de T'ieves Guild. Jean-Luc wanted me to be his successor. Dere was a time when I considered it. Dat time had passed.
"Jean-Luc why can' you jus' let dis go? You got a house full o' scamps who would jump at dat chance, I already tol' ya no. What's is gonna take?"
"I'm not going to take no fo' an answer. It's not a matter o' who wants to be de next leader. It's a matter o' who I choose. I chose you. I'm willing to do what it takes to make you change yo' mind."
"I'm not changin' my mind!"
"Yes you are. You can take yo' time about it if ya want to, but dat's longer dat Belle's gon' be away from home. In de meantime you live here, eat here, and you get back to living de t'ief life. You'll come 'round."
Dis man makes me so mad I could charge up his pants jus' to hear him squeal. "Where is Belle?"
"Why in de hell would I tell you dat?"
"Cause you need ta prove dat you got her, and you haven't hurt her."
"Ah. Missed de femme did ya? I know she missed you."
"No. I didn' miss any o' ya. But I got a responsibility ta her."
"You be seein' her once a month. You never know where she's kept. First visit is tomorrow, so you better come in an' get yo' beauty rest."
Too mad to say much else, I shoved my fists inta my pockets and stormed past him towards de house.
"Remy, dere's one mo' t'ing I need ta say."
I stopped but I didn't turn around.
"What?"
"Remy I'm sorry. I never knew…I never meant fo' you to be caught up in dat."
We bot' knew what he was talking about. Sinister. I spun around.
"Dat, comin from you, comin like dis, means not'ing to me. You say sorry cause you wan' me to fo'give you, not cause you mean it. Non! Je ne vous pardonnerai jamais! Vous n'etes rien a moi! (I'll never forgive you! You are nothing to me!)"
Ev'ry man has his sensitive spots. Even me. What happened between me and Sinister…that's one thing I'll never learn to keep calm about.
"Remy I need ya. Can't you figure dat much out? We were dere fo' you when you needed us, remember dat?"
I didn't listen, just kept walkin' toward de house. I opened de doors to a hero's welcome. Dere dey all were. Ma famille. Tante Mattie, Henri, Mercy, Emil. But I had Morlock faces swimmin' in front o' mine, faces I fought ev'ry day to keep from my t'oughts. I stormed past all o' dem wit'out a word, up de stairs and to my room. My feet still knew de way wit'out t'inkin about it. I slammed de door shut behind me, but den I heard a sound dat surprised me out o' my own reverie. A baby started cryin'.
Baby cries are a strange t'ing. You hear de sound, and you got to find out where it's comin' from. Make sure de little one is ok. Even if yo' in an airport, you hear de bebe, you look round, once you see de parents holdin' dem, you go back about yo' business, but not before.
De sound was comin' from de room next ta mine. Used to be Etienne's. I walked in and turned on de lights. De room was completely different. In place o' de posters, magazine's, and dirty laundry, dere were teddy bears holdin' balloons on de wall, toys in ev'ry corner. Against de wall by de window was a crib, and inside dat crib was de screamer. I made my way over dere, unsure o' what to do. I don' have a whole lot o' experience wit' babies.
"Hey dere lil one. You all right. Remy didn' mean ta wake ya. Stop all dat racket an' go back to sleep, petit."
I patted him on de head, and he opened his eyes to look at me, still clenchin' his baby fists, gasping fo' breath. But den a hand came up on my shoulder, gently pullin' me away. It was my bruddah, Henri.
He kinda gave me an unsure smile, and den went to de bebe, scoopin' him up outta de crib like it was de mos' natural t'ing in de world.
"Hey now, Sebastien, tranquillite, s'il te plait. Tu dois dormir maintenant. (Sebastian, quiet please. You must sleep now.)"
He bounced de bebe around de room until he quieted down, lying still on Henri's shoulder. I was astounded. Didn't take Charles Xavier to realize dat dis was Henri's child.
"Yo a papa."
"And yo' an oncle."
I missed it. I missed de birth o' my bruddah's child. I guess I naively jus' sort of assumed dat not'ing would ever change at dis place, whether I was dere nor not. Now I was realizing for de first time dat I was missin' de lives o' my family as much as dey were missin' mine. But den, dis wasn't really my family.
Henri carefully laid little Sebastien back in de crib, and motioned fo' me to go to my room. I did as I was told. Henri followed me but stopped in de doorway.
"I'm not gonna keep you up Remy. I know yo' not in de mood to talk. And I know yo' not happy to be here. But I do wan' you to know dat I'm happy yo' here. I missed ya, and I'm mad at ya fo' makin' me miss ya. Ya weren't dere when Mercy an' me got married. Ya weren't dere when I found out dat I was gonna be a papa. Ya weren't dere when Tante Mattie had cancer. Ya weren't dere when Emil went to jail fo' two years. You gotta undahstand, we mad at you too. You were part of our family. But families, dey love one annuddah unconditionally. No matter what. And no matter what you do, you always gon' be my petit frere. And what I wan' mos' fo' you is ta be happy. I'm on yo' side in all dis. So whatever decision you make, you let me in on it, I'll support you. But Remy Lebeau, you leave me in de dark again and I'm gonna hunt you down an' rough you up, you hear?"
"Henri –,"
He raised a hand ta stop me.
"We got time fo' talkin'. Go to sleep. We got t'ings to do tomorrow."
I didn' sleep dat night. I stayed up, t'inkin. I t'ought about all de mem'ries in dis place, all dese faces dat still meant somet'ing to me. De truth was, I wasn' all dat surprised to be back. I knew I needed to get out o' dere when I did, but the idea that I never intended to come back is a little bit o' a lie. I hadn't really t'ought dat far at all. All I knew is: I never intended to come back 'gainst my will. But here I was anyway, and I wasn' ready to be back. So rather than dwell on all dis confusin' nostalgia, I turned my t'oughts to how I was gonna get out o' here. Long as dey had Belle, I couldn' go. So free Belle, free myself. I had ta find out where dey were keepin' her.
Dat proved easier said dan done. T'ieves are tricky people, I'll give dem dat. We met once a month, as promised, but I was always taken blindfolded and couldn't so much as find a whiff o' Belle dat Jean-Luc didn't mean me to.
Seein' Belle was an experience. I was dreadin' it. Belle was technically my wife, but we'd spend less than 12 hours o' our married life together, and it had been five years since dat. Soon as we were found out, bot' guilds came a-callin. Belle's bruddah, Julien from the assassins guild, was de one dat found us. Were weren't armed. He didn' care. We started scrappin', and he pulled a sword on me. Julien Boudreaux was a sight to behold wit' a sword. Might be de mos' scared I've ever been in my life. I didn' want to fight him. I didn't want to hurt him. Belle and I naively hoped dat our marriage would unite de guilds, stop all dis fightin' and killin' and warmongerin'. Later, I realized dat I was more in love wit' de idea of unitin' de guilds dan I was wit' Belle.
I kept dodgin' him, throwing punches here and dere, but Julien was one fast homme. Fin'ly he landed a blow, slashin' me in de ribs. I staggered back, and fell. He raised his arm in front o'him, gettin' ready to do me in. I raised my feet to kick him in de elbow, deflect de blow. But den Belle, who hadn't known what to do wit' her husband and bruddah fightin' dis way, screamed at Julien. It was jus' enough to grab his attention. His head turned and his arm lowered. When my kick connected….dat sword…it didn't go where it was supposed to.
Dere was blood everywhere. Belle started screamin' an screamin'. Julien staggered inta her arms, blood from his torn throat coatin' her hands and clothes. I hadn't so much as been in a scrap since de Morlocks. I couldn' live wit' what happened in dose tunnels…what I allowed to happen. All dose lives on my conscience…I knew it was one experience I never wanted to know again. Yet now here was someone else, dead by my hand.
I never wanted to kill anybody. I hate killin'. Still my soul is dirty. Can' never be clean ag'in. It's like dere's somet'ing inside me dat's just evil, dat can't be contained. Like my destiny is full of death and decay, and no matter what I choose, dere's no escapin' it.
Belle and I were so young. I was 20, and she's turned 18 not less than a month before. I didn' know what to do. So I ran. I ran as fast as I could. Didn' take anyt'ing wit' me. Didn' say goodbye to anybody. I'd stayed gone all dis time. Hadn't seen or spoken to Belle since.
Yet de mornin' after I arrived, here I was, standin' in front o' her again. De guards were standin' a ways off, blockin' any way of escapin', but givin' me an Belle a little privacy at de same time.
She had grown up, but she was still de same Belle I remembered. Blonde tresses wavin' down a lil' ways past her shoulder, clear ivory complexion makin' de blue o' her sapphire eyes all de more intense. She was still petite, but her curves had filled out.
"You look beautiful, Belle."
"Dat all you can t'ink to say?"
I shrugged. Kinda hard to start a conversation on dis footing. She kept lookin' at me, searchin' fo' somet'ing in my face, but I don' know what.
"Why'd you leave me, Remy?"
"Chere…"
"I've waited an awful long time to know. I know why ya left to begin wit', but why ya never came back fo'me?"
"Didn' t'ink you'd wan' to see me."
"Remy, what happened was an accident. And if it hadn't happened, Julien woulda killed you. I miss my bruddah, and I'm so sad dat he's gone, but as much as I'd like to I jus' can' blame you fo' it, any mo' than you should be blamin' yo'self."
I shrugged again. I haven't quite sorted out my feelings on dis subject, so I didn' have much to add to de conversation.
"I'm glad yo' back, Remy."
I looked up at her. Of all t'ings I might have expected, dis wasn' one o' dem.
"You know, I've worn yo' ring all dis time."
Oh surely she can' be sayin' dis.
"I t'ought maybe you forgot all about me. But you came back, jus' ta come to my rescue. Dat means you mus' still care, at least a little."
She came closer to me. I stepped back.
"Belle you can' be serious."
She frowned.
"Remy yo' still my husband."
"Belle…I care bout you, s' true. But a lot has happened between den and now."
"I don' care bout dat. You're here now, wit' me."
"You got to listen to me, chere. I'm not gonna let anyt'ing bad happen to you, but I'm not yo' husband. De guilds will never let us be together, and even if dey would, dis is not de life I wan'."
"Den we start a new life, together."
"Belle, chere. You've grown from a pretty, sweet girl into a beautiful, noble woman. Dere's no man dat wouldn' bend over backwards to be wit' you. An' you deserve a man who's gonna love you unconditionally, wit' his whole heart, who's gonna make you de whole reason fo' his livin'. Belle, I ain't de one. And you ain't de one fo' me. I pinned all my hopes fo' a better life fo' my family on you, and I'm sorry. I fooled myself inta t'inking dat I loved you, but I didn't really, not dat way. I'm so sorry fo' dat. I wish I could make it diff'rent, but now de best I can do is be honest wit' you. Now I'm not going anywhere till I know yo' safe, but once you are, dat's all."
Big tears welled up in dose blue eyes, but she blinked dem away and looked at me all de harder.
"No Remy. You and I are jus' beginning. What we shared was somet'ing special. You jus' need a lil mo' time to remember."
I sighed.
"Can' say I didn't try."
Mos' o' my time wit' Belle was spent dis way. She kept reminiscin' bout de past, and I kept tryin' to convince her dat de past was jus' dat: de past.
Rest o' de time I spent doin' t'ief business. Why people keep bringin' high profile artifacts and jewelry to de big easy is beyond me. But easy come, easy go, I always say.
There were a few odd t'ings bout my situation dat I didn' understand. Months passed, an' dere was no noise from de Assassins. Belle is high rankin' femme in de Assassins Guild, so why dey keepin' so quiet? I brought dis up ta Henri, since he was "on my side" and all dat. He says he guessed dey were plannin' somet'ing big, or else dey were afraid o' what would happen ta Belle if dey tried somet'ing. Maybe. Maybe not.
See, T'ieves and Assassins are no stranger to hostage situations. We catch one anuddah, and if we don't kill one anuddah, we bargain. De first t'ing you try is to get de bargainin' chip back. You don' give up not'ing to de uddah Guild. Rule one. Unless o' course I missed somet'ing while I was away.
Dat and my gut started tellin' me dere was somet'in goin on behind closed doors. Whenever de t'ieves finish a heist, we split de loot. Shares are based on performance, involvement, and rank. A certain percentage always goes to de house, somewhere in de neighborhood o' 20 when I was last wit' de Guild. Now Gambit's no whiz at math, but seem like dese days more like 60 was goin' straight back to de house. I asked Jean-Luc bout dat, and he shrugged it off as increased expenses. I've always been suspicious o' a simple answer, particularly since de t'ieves had been more active now den I had ever seen dem.
I consulted wit' Arnaud, who normally keeps de books. I said I wanted to see how de expenses were doin', so I could try an' make up de gap. Books are supposed to be open to all T'ieves. Dey get to know where dere money is goin', but Arnaud tol' me I wasn't allowed, Jean-Luc's orders.
So much fo' dat. I found out where dey were bein' kept and snuck a peek. Mos'ly looked normal, except dere was a new account under liabilities….read H.G.W., and large chunks o' money were going to dis account ev'ry month. I logged dat away fo' anuddah time.
Six months passed and I had made absolutely no progress toward findin' out where dey were keepin' Belle. Dat was strange. Not even a clue? De bayous are big, but dat big? Gambit's good at findin' t'ings dat are hidden. Why couldn' he even pick up a scent? Be nice to have Logan around dese days…
I started to consider strikin' a deal wit de Assassins Guild. If I couldn' find Belle on my own, maybe I could find her wit' help. I was getting' a little desperate, t'inkin o' Belle bein' kept in captivity, away from her family fo' so long.
So one night when I had been sent out to do a little reconnaissance, I made a detour. De plan was to sneak inside and corner jus' one assassin long enough to give dem a message. I had one in mind too: Yves DeGallier. He was young, hot headed, and eager to prove himself. He'd jump at de chance to handle somet'ing himself, and wasn't likely to call fo' help. Moreover, he ain't much to scrap wit. Not yet anyway. Mos' o' dose assassins you jus' don' wan tangle wit'. I swung myself up into de trees around de estate, tryin' ta look into de windows; get an idea o' who all was home.
Dat's when I got a serious surprise. When I looked into de window, I saw Belle. Dey were all dere, havin' a big meetin' o' some kind, dere was no way in wit'out bein' noticed. So I did de only t'ing I could: I left.
Couldn'a been Belle. Dat don' make no sense. I t'ought.
But den, dat would explain why de Assassins wasn't after us. But what did dis mean? Particularly, what did dis mean to me? If I left, could Jean-Luc really hurt Belle? Was she really a captive? And if not what was she doin' workin' wit' de T'ieves?
I needed answers. Everyone was keepin' secrets from me. I didn' know who I could trust, or how far dey'd let me push before dey knew I was gettin' suspicious. Somet'ing was up, and Remy was gonna find out what, in a hurry, but how?
Dat's when I t'ought o' it. Her. She had a way o' gettin' at secrets wit' or wit'out cooperation. By now she should be right back to normal, jus' like Jean said. Would she come? If I asked her to come here?
If you t'ink dat all dese months went by wit'out me t'inkin about Rogue, you mus' be crazy. I tried not to t'ink about her, dat's true. I had enough on my mind, and I didn't even know if I'd ever see her again, much less how I'd feel if I did.
But I did t'ink about her. An awful lot more dan I wanted. I wondered if she was really ok, if de Professor had been right about her really trustin' me. I wondered what she was doin' all dese months. But most o' all, and much to my dismay, I wondered if she missed me.
Why should she? We'd only known each uddah a few stress filled months. Nevertheless, it had occurred to me on more dan one occasion dat I missed her. I missed beatin' her at rummy, missed her little temper, missed hearin' her say "dang" even.
Mon dieu, Remy, I t'ink you found a friend. I t'ought. Friends, real friends don't come along so often fo' me. I don't take it lightly, nor get over it easy. And besides, t'inkin' dat what I felt fo' her was jus' friendship…well, dat made it all de safer fo' me to t'ink soft t'oughts bout her. Since we were friends and all. Friends miss one anuddah when dey apart. Friends would dream about one anuddah now and den. Friends would see each uddah's faces when dey closed deir eyes. Made perfect sense.
So I made up my mind to send fo' Rogue.
She came.
De coordinates I gave her were to restaurant on Bourbon Street. I couldn't very well send her straight to de T'ieves Den. Dat would jus' be stupid. And I figured if de femme is gonna travel all dis way, she might as well enjoy de atmosphere. Cajun Cabin is right in de French quarter, wit live music ev'ry night and real Cajun cookin'. Tourists also keep de place hoppin' at mos' hours o' de night, so s' easy to be inconspicuous. One o' my fav'rite hangouts. Coincedentally, it was also one o' my fav'rite places to take a date. Sheer coincidence.
I was late on purpose. I wanted to see her fo' she saw me. It had been eight long months since I left New York, wit' her sleepin' in de infirmary o' de X-mansion. Part o' me wanted to look her over an' make sure she was really all right. De uddah part jus' wanted to look her over, if you know what I mean.
I wasn' disappointed. De Cajun Cabin Restaurant is two stories, wit' a balcony overlookin de street. Dis is where she chose to sit, much as I suspected. De balconey's wrought iron railing was wrapped two and three times over wit' Christmas lights, givin' her face a candlelight type glow. She sat at a two seater table next to de rail, her arms crossed over her chest, lookin' down at de people on de street.
She looked diff'rent. She was slender, pale as porcelain. She was wearin a red tank top under a black denim jacket, who's sleeves were rolled up to the elbow. O' course, she was also wearin' long, thin black gloves that covered her arms. She'd obviously retired de ol' baggy blue jeans she used ta wear in favor of some tight black black ones dat hugged her hips in all de right places. She crossed one long leg over de uddah one and I had to bite my lip. The jeans were tucked into a pair o' embossed leather boots that came up mid calf, jus de smallest possible heel on dem. Her makeup was light but perfect. Eyeliner with a touch o' coppery eye shadow set off dose August greens and pulled out de red o' her tanktop. A little sheer gloss made her lips seem full and shimmerin, almos' beckonin'. She wore a thin silver chain around her neck with a single charm, barely peeking out the top o' her shirt. What a view it mus' have dere. In one word, she looked hot. Smokin' hot. I wanted ta….well, I did say "one word" didn' I? Movin' on.
Den I noticed de one t'ing dat disappointed me. Her hair was darker dan I remembered, a deep chocolate brown instead o' de coppery auburn, an her white streaks were gone. Dang. She done dyed her hair. I was kinda partial to dose white streaks. But no matter.
After I took an eye full, I sauntered over dere, determined to keep my eyes on her face fo' de rest o' dis affair.
"You lookin' fo me, chere?"
She looked up at me, but de look was less dan…inviting.
"You asked me ta come didn't ya?"
"An' I'm so pleased to see you chere. If you don' mind my sayin', de bayou suits you."
"Bout as well as New York suited you." Was dat..venom? What de hell? De femme hadn't smiled once. I guess I looked a little confused, cause he face softened up jus' a little.
"Gambit, why'd you ask me ta come? You seem to be in one piece."
"You were worried?" I smiled jus' a little and cocked an eyebrow.
"Ah was curious, let's say. But you should be worried, if ya don't get to explainin' yo'self. Ah didn't come all this way just ta make conversation."
I guess maybe de femme hadn't missed me all dat much after all. So I got down to explainin' de situation. She had questions, sure. Didn' know much about de guilds, or de feud, or my fam'ly. Certainly had a lot o' questions bout my wife. I didn' tell her ev'ryt'ing. Jus' what she needed to know. De Morlocks, Julien Boudreaux…she didn't need to hear dat.
"So that's it? You need a favor from me? You want me to use mah powers to get information foah ya?"
"Exactement."
To my surprise, her jaw squared off, and her eyes started glitterin' dangerously. It looked like she was gonna say somet'ing, but instead she stood up abruptly, knockin' her chair over, and started stormin' away downstairs. As soon as my surprise wore off I jumped up as ran after her, but she was ignorin' me. She stormed right out de front door and was bout to continue across de street when fin'ly I got a little heated wit' her. I mean really, what was goin on?
"Damn it, woman, stop making Gambit chase you around. What's de matter wit' you?!"
She stopped and turned on me, de wrath o' hell in her eyes.
"What's the matter with me? You wanna know what's the matter with me?"
Well…kinda..now maybe not. She started stompin' over ta me, and truth be told I t'ought she was gonna hit me. I stood dere cool like, lettin' her make her move. Instead o' punchin' my lights out, she grabbed the lapels o' my jacket and lifted me in de air. Guess it's a good t'ing I'm not scared o' heights. She flew me a few miles off from de starin' crowd, not sayin' a word, until fin'ly we landed on an empty roof, where we could have a little privacy.
Once we landed, she jus' sat dere, lookin' at me. I guess she was tryin' ta choose her words. I went to put my hand on her shoulder, but she shoved me so hard I had to stumble a few steps back. Granted, for her dat shows remarkable restraint.
"You couldn't even say goodbye? Couldn't leave a note? Anything? Couldn't even wait foah me to wake up? Or did that even matter?"
Boy she sounded mad. Of course it mattered, but I didn' say anyt'ing.
"Answer me, dangit! Don'tcha have anything ta say??"
"Chere, I t'ink dat right now, s' better dat Gambit listens to what you got to say."
She turned away from me, huggin' herself and takin' deep breaths. Finally she spoke, but she didn't look at me.
"You could've said something, at least let me know where you were going. Ah know ah wasn't your favorite person ever, but ah at least thought we were some kinda friends. Ah risked my life foah you, for cryin' out loud!"
Fin'ly she turned around, lettin' those emerald eyes cut like glass.
"You leavin' like that showed me ah was nothing. At least not to you. The only dang reason we're even talkin' now is cause you need me foah somethin', not cause you wanted to see me. You didn't wait to even see if ah lived or died, much less gave me a chance to explain."
"Explain what, chere?"
She clenched her fists at her sides and looked down at de ground fo' a minute. I could practically hear her teeth grindin'. Was she…was she gon' cry?
She fin'ly looked back again, and I could see angry tears threatenin', but she held dem dere wit' sheer will, not lettin' dem fall.
"Remy….ah didn't mean to hurt you. I would never hurt you. Not on purpose. Ah can't help it, ah just…" her voice was shakin', so she trailed off. She turned around again, starin' straight up and tryin' to breathe easy.
I understood what she was sayin'.
I took a few steps closer to her. "Rogue. All dis time…you been t'inkin' dat I left because you touched me. You t'ought dat you hurt me, dat I was scared, dat I was disappointed, dat I didn't trust you, jus' cause you touched me. Cause dat's why ev'ryone always left before, isn't dat right?"
She didn' answer, jus' bowed her head. I whistled, and moved even closer. Seemed safe.
"No wonder you been so mad at Remy. But chere, you been wrong."
She spun back around, eyes angry again.
"Don't lie to me. Don't toy with me to make me feel better. If there's one thing ah can -,"
What I did den stopped her mid sentence. From out o' my inside pocket, I took a secret. Somet'ing I hadn't even explained to myself. One long, white glove. Her glove. I took it de night I left, after dat talk I had wit' de Professor. At de time, I don't know what had inspired me to do it, but now I begin to undahstand.
"I kept dis wit' me all dese months. Took it when I left to remember you by. Rogue, I didn' want to leave. De one, de only reason dat I left was to try an protect Belle."
Dere it was. Dat big-eyed, vulnerable look she had started givin' me back at de mansion. It was my same Rogue, all right.
"And I didn' leave before I knew you were gon' be all right. I came to see ya ev'ry day. Yo' not not'ing to me, Rogue, you are quite possibly my fav'rite person I ever met. An I promise you, when dis is over, I'll go back wit'you. I missed you, chere. And I t'ink I've fin'ly figured out dat when it comes to me an' you…when it comes to 'us'… s' only a matter o' time."
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