Thanks again for the awesome reviews! I'm glad you guys seem to be enjoying the LeBeau family. This chapter is not the most action packed, but I figured I'd slow down and develop the dynamic between our little duo, Rogue and Remy. Hope you enjoy the banter!
Brains-in-a-nutshell – Thanks for the kind comment about the baby. Sebastien is based on my nephew, he'll be one year old in September and "Banbury Cross" is his favorite game. He cracks me up too!
It was strange, having Rogue in dis place. S' impossible fo' me to walk through dis house without a million mem'ries playin' in my head, and now dere she was, super-imposed over the ghosts.
Dat first day was stressful. Rogue and me got separated an' grilled, and I jus' had to hope dat she was holdin' up ok. Me, I love a little game o' cat and mouse.
But finally, de sun set, and darkness came to de bayou.
In my defense, part o' de reason dat I wanted to share a room wit' Rogue was because I wanted to look out fo' her. From my experience, anyt'ing could happen in dis house, and usually did. Moreover, I knew dat de game was jus' beginning. Me, I been playin' fo years. Jus' wanted to make sure de chere got de hang of it befo' she went off on her own.
De uddah part o' de reason was jus' plain fo' fun. She's cute when she's mad. But maybe Rogue would go a little softer on yours truly undah the right comfy, cozy circumstances. Seemed to work in de past, anyhow.
When I got to my room, Rogue was already dere, pacin' by de window.
"Fear not, yo' knight is here." I said wit' a flourishin' bow.
"Remy, you and ah need ta talk." Her face was all seriousness.
"Whatever about?" I dropped onto de bed, stretchin out and putting my arms behind my head as a pillow. Yeah I looked good. Did it on purpose. Man's got to have a little fun ev'ry now and den. All work and no play makes Remy dangerously reckless. Dat and I was in a great mood. Fo' de first time since I came down here, t'ings were lookin' up.
Rogue definitely looked. I could have pretended not to notice…but I didn'.
"Dere's room fo' two here, chere, if you like what you see."
"Remy ah have spent the past day bein' grilled by crazy people. Please be forewarned that mah patience is at an all time low."
"Jus' offerin'."
"And ah'm not stayin' in here with you."
"Mais oui, you are. Got to look after my bride-to-be."
She was gettin' mad all right. Adorable.
"Ah agreed ta help you get out of here, Cajun, not become yoah own personal slave. Ah'll do what ah want or ah'll change mah mind and catch the next flight north, how'd that be?"
"Heartbreakin'. Come on now chere, s' no big deal. Remy's not gonna try anyt'ing."
"Because ya cain't or because ya don't want to? Nevermind, ah don't even wanna know. It's not about that. Ah'm just not spendin' the night with ya."
"You worried about what my fam'ly gon' t'ink o' you?"
"Foah spendin' the night with you? No. But foah lyin' to them about wantin' to be part of that family…yeah. That's botherin' me a lot Remy."
Her eyes were actually concerned. I sat up. Play time was later. I took out a cigarette and started to light it.
"Yoah gonna smoke in here??"
I couldn't help but laugh.
"You sho' are persnickety chere."
"Ah am NOT persnickety!"
"Oui, you are. I guess I'm so used to smokin' in my own room I didn' t'ink about it. Don't worry chere. I'll leave yo' lungs unsullied." I saluted her, jus' to get on her nerves.
"You know you really oughta quit."
"Mon dieu, woman! Don' you ever stop?"
"All right, all right. Ah agree we got bigger problems right now." She started pacin' again.
"Why you so worried bout my family?"
"Because Remy ah'm just not a liar under normal circumstances, much less when it's gonna hurt somebody."
"Who's it hurtin'?"
"How can you be so thick-headed? These people think ah'm comin' here as a daughter, a sister, a friend, and ah'm here as a spy! That doesn' sit so well in mah stomach."
"Don' forget chere, dese are de same people dat are holdin' my wife hostage until I do whatever dey wan'. An' you never said any o' dat to dem. Far as dey know, yo' leavin' wit' me when I go, never to return."
"Remy…Merci referred to me as 'Tante Rogue'. Is the baby in on the whole scheme?"
"Keep in mind dat dese people are tryin' desperately to find ways under yo' skin. You can' let dem do dat."
"Merci?!"
"Merci is a t'ief, same as ev'ryone here. Lyin' to each uddah is one o' de ways we bond. T'ink o' it like a chess match. De whole battle takes place upstairs, not on de board."
"Yeah but yoah a thief too. Does that make me a player or a pawn?"
"Depends on how much responsibility you wan' to take at de checkmate. Trust me. Dese people are not gon' take it hard when dey find out Remy lied. Jus' like I don' take it personal dat dey're lyin' right now. Yo' jus' helpin' me. You wan' to be a player you got to get in de game further than I t'ink you wan' to."
"All this makes mah head spin. Ah never was too hot at chess."
"Den you gon' have to trust me."
"Fine but ah'm not stayin' with ya."
"Chere what is yo' big problem wit' spendin' a night in de same room wit' me? Some girls would jump at dat chance."
"Yeah well some girls ain't Psylocke."
Oh-ho-ho!
"You been jealous, chere?" Dis was one cocky grin I couldn' control.
"Of what? Smellin' like cheap cigarettes and romantic rendez-vous at Taco Bell? Ah should say not."
Oh she was so jealous.
"Well you know petit, if you were jealous, now would be yo' golden opportunity to one-up de purple-headed ninja. So why not jus' take it and quit whinin'?"
"Ah'm not whinin', and ah'm NOT stayin' in here with you."
I got up and crossed over to her.
"We can do dis de easy way, or de hard way. Either way sounds like a good time ta me."
"Ah don't want you any way you come! Now back off!"
"You try to leave dis room an yo' gon' blow our cover. Now calm down and come here."
Her face was mad, but her fingers started fidgeting. Well which was it? Mad or worried? Now I was startin' to get mad.
"What is de matter wit' you? You don' trust me? You t'ink Remy would try to hurt you? I don' never go where I'm not invited."
"Well then what in tarnation do you think yoah doin' right now? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I've never spent a night with a man befoah? That maybe to other people, spendin' nights together is supposed to be intimate, no matter how you pass the time? That maybe ah might not want to have this happen under a lie?"
No. De truth was I hadn't t'ought about dat at all. And why I didn' put two and two together, that because Rogue was untouchable that she was also…untouched…I jus' don't know. De women I mos'ly run wit'…dey're not so sentimental. I'd never been around dis type befo'.
As usual, now dat Rogue had actually said what was on her mind, she was feelin' and lookin' vulnerable. De femme…she got so many walls. It makes me sad, sometime'.
"Chere…Remy didn' know. Calm down now, s' all right. Sit down and I'll be right back."
I went down de hall to grab a few t'ings from de utility closet. I came back with some sheets and duct tape. Rogue was lookin' at me funny, but she didn' say anyt'ing. I grabbed de chair and taped de sheets to de ceilin', makin' a wall down de middle o' de room, wit' de bed on her side and de door on my side.
"Could dis be an acceptable compromise?"
Her voice was small and unsure when it came out. "Remy…Remy ah'm sorry ah'm so silly. This is ridiculous."
"Chere can I come in?"
She laughed half-heartedly.
"Yes."
I pulled the edge of the sheet away to make a door, and went in, sittin' on de bed beside her.
"You aren't silly, chere. Yo' jus' too good fo' a swamp rat like me. I'm sorry dat I upset you. I didn' realize dat it meant so much to you. But chere, I t'ink its wonderful dat it means so much to you. And I t'ink its wonderful dat you hate to lie. I'm sorry I'm putting you through all dis, and I hope you know dat when it's over, Gambit's gonna owe you big. So don't start all dis talk about you bein' silly. You make more sense dan mos'."
"Ah didn't do this so that ya'd owe me."
"Then why? Jus' so you could get annuddah look at dis Cajun?"
She smiled and gave me a side long glance. "Maybe." Then she winked at me. While sittin' in my bed.
"Dis is so unfair."
I sighed and got up to go.
"Remy?"
"Mmm?" I turned back around.
"This is…this is really sweet of ya. Thank you, sugah." Her voice was sincere.
"Yo' welcome, ma chere."
I grabbed a cot and some extra pillows, den wit' a few careful 'goodnights' we settled in fo' de night.
But Rogue didn' stay asleep. I wasn' sleepin' so hot on de cot anyhow, so when she started gruntin' in her sleep it woke up me up.
She was tossin' and turnin'…pantin'. Dis was either a very good dream or a very bad one. Den she started wimperin'. Bad one.
"Chere?" I called out gently.
She didn' answer, but began whisperin' to herself.
"Please don't touch me. Oh gawd, please don't touch me."
Dat's it. Dis dream ends. Nobody hurts Rogue. Not even in her sleep.
I threw open de sheet.
"Rogue!"
Her eyes shot open, and she flew up outta dat bed and grabbed me by de throat, liftin' me off de ground. Surprised? Me too.
Her forehead was broken out in a sweat, and her chest was heavin' wit' scared breaths. Me I was hangin' out ta dry. Fin'ly her eyes softened and she seemed to actually see me.
"Gambit?"
I choked in response. She dropped me.
"Oh gawd, sugah, ah'm so sorry! Are ya all right?"
After a few deep breaths, I managed to answer.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Gambit loves a good surprise ev'ry now and again. You didn' hurt me."
"Are ya shoah? Ah can go get help or-,"
"Chere," I stopped her, "it's all right. Calm down. Now…are you all right? Dat was some dream."
She sat back down on the bed, and hugged her knees to her chest.
"Just a dumb ol' nightmare. Sorry."
"What about?"
"Nothing."
"Rogue, can't you make it easy fo' me jus' once in a while?"
"You'd get bored."
"Once in a rare while, den."
She sighed. "It's not a nightmare. It's everybody inside still tryin' to get out. Easier foah me to deal with it when ah'm awake. When ah'm dreamin' it all just gets so confusin'."
"You still dealin' wit' dat mess from Sinister?"
"It's not Sinister's mess. It's mine. He just made the situation more difficult to control. Ah'm sorry ah woke ya Remy, but keep in mind befoah ya get all mushy like that ah've been dealin' with this foah eight months. Maybe bein' a strange place is makin' it flare up, but it's nothing new, and it's nothing to worry about. Just makes it hard to sleep sometimes. So go on back to sleep now, just yell at me if ah make a racket."
I didn' really know what to say, so I went back and laid down on my cot. Rogue laid still, silent on de uddah side o' de sheet.
"Rogue?"
"Yes?"
"Dere's somet'ing I wan' to say, but I don' want you to get mad or upset or anyt'ing. Particularly it'd be nice if you wouldn't yell at me."
"Ah don't yell at you."
"Yes you do."
"Do not."
"Chere please?"
"All right. Go ahead."
"I'm sorry."
"What the devil foah?"
"Fo' leavin' you alone all dis time. Not tryin' ta talk to ya or anyt'ing. And…I'm sorry if I hurt you when I touched you. Gambit, he would never hurt you on purpose."
She was quiet fo' what seemed like a long time.
"Ah know you wouldn't. Ah don't know why, but ah trust ya. Ah don't know why you do anything you do, but ah know that yoah mah friend. And you didn't hurt me Gambit. Ah was worried ah'd hurt you, but foah some reason when you touched me it didn't hurt."
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"Does it usually hurt?"
"Not like you'd think and sometimes more than others, but yes it hurts. Not mah skin, but me. Inside."
"Do you dream about all o' dem? All de time?"
"Most of the time."
"Did you ever dream about me?"
Silent again. I let it hang. Not a question to push. We sat there in the dark, listenin' to de sounds of de night pour in through de window.
"Yes."
So she had missed me a little. What do you know?
"I dreamt about you too."
"Remy, ah really don't know why you've been in such a mood lately, but please, don't flirt with me. Don't say these things to me. Don't talk to me this way. Please don't tease me."
"I'm not teasin' you. It's de truth. I'm not tryin' to get at you right now. I wanted to know whether you t'ought about me while I was gone, cause I know I t'ought about you."
"Remy…"
"I know. I pushed my limits. Go on to sleep now chere, I'll let you be."
She sighed. "Goodnight Remy."
"Goodnight Rogue."
I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I let de sounds o' de night take me out into de bayou, let my mind wander over old paths, tryin' to trick myself into goin' to sleep. It was jus' about to work too.
"Remy?"
"Oui?"
"Ah've been so mad at you all this time."
"I know."
"But now that we're here…it feels like you were never gone. Does that make any sense?"
"You sho' are honest when yo' tired petit. I'm gon' have to remember dat fo' de future. But I know what you mean. Maman always tol' me dat when someone is supposed to be in yo' life, den dey're never far away."
"How long has it been?"
"Since what?"
"Since you lost her."
"What makes you t'ink she's gone?"
"Ah don't know. Just heard it yoah voice."
"Well den…Marianne Lebeau, my Maman, she also tol' me dat when people are supposed to part ways, den you got to let dem go befo' you can heal from it. I had to let her go when I was jus' a scamp…five or so. Yeah, Henri was eight, so dat would make me an' Etienne five."
"Did ah meet Etienne?"
"Let him go when we were bot' sixteen. Don' say sorry chere. S' a long time ago."
Why'd she bring dis up? And why did I let her? She didn' say anyt'ing fo' a while. I figured she was jus' gonna let it lie. Den she came out from behind de curtain, an sat down by my cot.
"You wanna talk?"
"I could t'ink o' uddah t'ings on my top ten list."
"What am ah gonna do with you?"
"Again, let's consult dat list."
"Can you be serious foah just a second? You always have somethin' on the tip of yoah brain to bounce back with. Yoah so strong Remy. So strong. And yoah smart as a whip. But needin' other people isn't gonna change that."
"What are you talkin' about?"
"You asked if ah dream about you. Ah do. Ah remember yoah memories. Ah feel yoah feeling's from time to time. And ah'm sorry about it. But there's this strange sensation about you, like yoah always lookin' at everybody and everythin' through an open window. You could go inside if you want, but you don't do it. You tell me about a dead mother, and friend, and of a captured wife, and you show me this family that you left behind without so much as batting an eye. You make light of the whole thing so that ah will too, but ah know there's more to it than that. You asked me to come here and help you, well ah'd like to do just that if you'd let me."
"I should never have touched you."
She hit a nerve. What else can I say? At de time it made me mad. Her pryin' into my life wit' her powers. Jus' cause she saw my mind didn' mean it was hers to play in. Not to mention dat it kinda came out of nowhere and took me by surprise. De show is much better if you give a man some time to prepare.
But when I said dat, her shoulders stiffened, and she looked like I'd jus' slapped her in de face. She jumped up and went back behind de curtain.
"Ah'm sorry. Goodnight."
"Rogue, wait-,"
"Goodnight Remy."
"I'm sorry all right? I shouldn't have said dat."
She didn't respond. I took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. Dis night started out so well. Now I sat still, tryin' to choose my words carefully.
"You know, dere's lots o' ways o' bein' close to somebody. S' not easy fo' you to be touched, Rogue. Even if de person doesn' mean to, dey hurt you inside. S' not easy fo' me to be touched either. You reachin' inside me like dat…it hurts. Jus' cause you saw somet'ing inside my head doesn' mean you know what its like. I know yo' mad at me, but I hope you can undahstand. If anyone can, you can."
Best I could come up wit' on short notice.
"Well whaddaya know, Remy LeBeau? We got somethin' in common after all."
"We got a lot in common. Jus' haven't found all o' it yet."
"Ah didn' mean to pry Remy. Ah'm not evenin' pretendin' that ah understand what you've been through. Ah was just tryin' to tell ya that ah'd like to."
"I can handle dat. And I didn' mean to snap at you. Look at dis chere, we resolved a conflict. We're makin progress!"
"Slowly."
"Progress is progress."
"Ah'm not gonna get any sleep as long as we're here, am ah?"
"Not if you don' let me get any."
"ME?!"
"Yes you. Goodnight Rogue."
"Ugh! Goodnight Remy!"
Two minutes later…
"Rogue?"
"UNH! No!"
"Please?"
"What?"
"What did you see in my head?"
"Brain rot."
"Come on chere…dey're my t'oughts. I got a right to dem."
I heard her sigh, and den roll over towards me.
"Ah don't exactly know. It doesn't always come in a linear fashion. You were worried about me ah guess. Then yoah mind sorta jumped to other times when you were worried. Ah saw a lot of the faces ah met here today, but only so much is sight. Some of it is feelins, thoughts, not all of it makes sense to me. Ah saw me, times we were on a mission or at the school, except through yoah eyes. You only touched me foah a second, ah really didn' get much. 'Cept an occasional cravin' foah a cigarette and some spicy food."
Relief. I chuckled.
"Ah did see a little girl though."
Damn.
"Just her face, but ah felt the way you do when you see her. She's…significant somehow, but ah don't know how. Ah won't ask you about her, but you asked what ah saw."
I knew who it was. And I wasn't gonna talk about her tonight. Rogue didn' know anyt'ing dat I wouldn' want her to, dat was good enough fo' me.
"Tanks fo' tellin' me."
"Shoah…Ah'm sorry, if ah saw somethin' ah wasn't supposed to. Ah…ah couldn't help it."
"You already said sorry. I already said s' all right. I might not like people in my head, but if somebody had to go in, s' a small comfort to know it was you. So stop all dis 'sorry' business."
"Goodnight then Remy."
"Goodnight Rogue."
Three minutes later.
"Rogue?"
"Ah hate you."
"I know dat, but dis is de last t'ing I promise."
"Promises from a thief?"
"Best I got at de moment."
"For the love of all that is good and holy what?"
"I didn' get a chance to tell you, but I'm really glad dat you didn' dye yo' hair. I was worried."
"As much as ah hate bein' a skunk-head, Ah hate the smell of ammonia worse."
"Yo' not a skunk head. Yo' beautiful. But Tante Mattie is right, you need to eat somet'ing ev'ry once in a while."
"Go to BED Remy!"
"Only de sweetest of dreams, ma chere."
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