Part 14: No Goodbyes
Ah had been loungin' in the tv room with Merci, watchin' one of her "stories" as she liked to call them. It had sort of become the mornin' ritual, and there wasn't much else foah me to do. Sebastien was crawlin' around on the floor where his toys were littered, and ah was keepin' an eye on him.
Merci watched soaps the way ah read books. She was thoroughly engrossed, and her face foah once was perfectly plain. If she was angry, her mouth curled into a grimace and her shoulders went rigid. If she was happy, her hands came together and her eyes lit up. The romance scenes she sighed aloud and pressed one hand to her chest.
My favorite kind of days were when she couldn't resist talkin' to the screen.
"NO! Don' you believe dat Rachel! Christian only loves you!"…"Snake! You sniveling snake! So help me you gon' get yo's!"
These kinds of outburst were usually followed by a rebuke from Mattie in the kitchen, where she spent most of her time.
"You watchin' that trash in there again Merci? You gon' rot yo' brain! Someone should talk to dat husband o' yo's."
Then Merci would stick her tongue out in the direction of the kitchen and turn to me.
"Hahn. Like de LeBeau's are so high and intellectually mighty. Henri won't admit it, but he likes dis story as much as I do. You like stories, Rogue?"
"Ah gotta say ah was never really big on tv. Daddy kinda had the corner on that market. Ah do love a good book though."
"Oh? What kinda stories you like to read?"
Ah blushed just a little bit, but then ah realized Merci was watching soap operas. Not much room to judge.
"Well, really just about everythin'. But ah'm particularly partial to adventure and romance."
Merci raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"So maybe yo' a Jane Austen fan from time to time?"
My enthusiasm wasn't faked. "Of course! Ah love the language, the old world, all that jazz."
She grinned at me encouragingly, and hopped up and went to the bureau where they kept their films. Amazingly, she retrieved the British mini-series of Pride and Prejudice.
"I always felt dat Colin Firth was de only real Mr. Darcy, n'est pas?"
Oh yes. Yes he was. She popped the first DVD into the player and put it on.
"Merci we don't need to interrupt yoah show. Why don't we put it on later?"
"I wouldn' hear of it. We gon' be sisters you know. It's all about compromise. De vocab will be good for Sebastien…and besides I jus' know Tabitha's gon' walk into dat trap and I don' know if my blood pressure can take it dis mornin."
Ah laughed. It was easy to like Merci. And foah some reason she seemed to like me. Minutes in, Mattie came in with some tea and cookies.
"You ladies mind indulgin' an old crone fo' a while?"
"Don't you talk like dat Tante. If you weren't a blood relative o' every man here you'd give us a run fo' our money."
"Hmph. You sot heads can keep dem. I jus' wanted to say good mornin' to Colin Firth."
We erupted into laughter.
We were happily watchin' the first dance scene when Henri popped in, back from a run.
"You in here cheatin' on me again Merci?"
"Every second you were away."
He glowered at her playfully before he went over to ruffle his son's hair. His eyes stayed carefully away from Merci when he asked, "Did Tabitha fall fo' it?"
Merci turned her head and gave me a wink that only Ah could see. Ah stifled a grin.
"I t'ink so. I turned it off to watch dis instead."
"Well…now dat I'm back…I better find a way to run off all o' dese scalawags you been spendin' de mornin' wit." He glanced up at the TV screen. "Monsieur Firth, we meet again. Allow me to demonstrate once more why she's MY wife and not yo's!"
And with that he scooped Merci up over one shoulder while she called him names and hit him repeatedly in the back. A drew a breath. God was he strong! He didn't even look phased! He turned, and with a bow of his head said simply, "Ladies," before chargin' up the stairs, the sound of his boots echoin' in the corridor.
Ah sighed without realizin' it. They were all just…so happy.
"You t'ink dats bad…wait till yo' married. Remy is de romantic one."
Ah stared straight at the TV screen, but in spite of my dang self ah blushed. Mattie chuckled quietly to herself.
Just then ah heard a sound, like a quiet whistle. At first ah thought it was interference from the TV, but as it got louder ah strained to listen. Sabretooth's senses kicked in before ah realized it, and without thinkin' ah scooped up Sebastien and then Mattie and flew them out of the room and down the hall.
The force of the explosion knocked us forward a bit, but ah had the two of them cradled against my chest when we landed ungracefully at the bottom of the stairs. The lights flickered and then went out.
"Y'all ok? Y'all hurt?"
Sebastien's lip pouted outward. Ah'd startled him. Mattie grabbed him, looked him over quickly, and found to her satisfaction that he was fine. Then she looked at me.
"Take Sebastien down to de basement. We'll handle dis."
"With all do respect Mattie, why don't you take him?"
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't make de mistake o' t'inkin' dat I can' take care o' myself and my family."
"Not foah a second, but Tante, ah really doubt they can hurt me at all. And ah'm already mad. Ah'd hate to miss the fight."
She looked at me appraisingly, and then smiled.
"So its Tante is it?"
Ah opened my mouth and then closed it again. Ah guess it just slipped. Mattie grabbed Sebastien and hurried towards the basement.
"You be careful petit!" she threw over her shoulder.
The whole exchange took a matter of moments. Henri and Merci came thunderin' down the stairs, and ah didn't pause to wonder what took them so long.
Merci's eyes locked on mine, askin' a question Ah understood. With two fingers ah pointed downstairs and mouthed Mattie. She nodded and took a deep breath.
Henri opened what had been an ordinary panel in the wall, and tossed Merci a pair of handguns before he took out some kind of assault rifle. Me ah'm not a gun aficionado. Ah couldn't have identified anything beyond a .22 double barrel or a .38 special, and none of these weapons were those.
Merci caught them, her expression cool. Man these guys got down to business quickly. Henri didn't glance at me when he asked, "In or out Rogue?"
"In."
"What do you know how to use?"
Ah held up mah fists. "If the left don't getcha the right one will."
"In the basement wit' you."
"Trust me Henri. Anythin' more than that is an unfair advantage."
"Show me now or get in de basement."
Talk about puttin' a gal on the spot. Ah looked around, and then ah noticed the banister of the stairs. The end post was one solid piece of oak, with its cap beautifully sculpted in a sphere engraved in patterns almost like a pineapple. Ah took a deep breath.
"Sorry, but you asked." Ah plucked the globe off the post with a loud snap, and then crushed it between both hands, letting the splintered shards fall onto the floor. Henri's jaw dropped foah half a second befoah he started laughin'. In fact he laughed so hard it made me a little uncomfortable.
"R-R-Remy always….hahaha…needed…hahahahahaha...a girl dat could….whoop up on him! Hoohoohahahaha!"
Merci stepped forward and pinched him, but she was smilin'. Henri got himself under control.
"All right, je regrette. I'll take northside, Merci you take west, Jean-Luc is already coverin' the south window from the study, and Rogue, if you feel comfortable coverin' the big hole in the east, I'd be much obliged."
Ah nodded once and then headed the direction my legs were already itchin' to go.
When ah got there company was already startin' to climb over the glass into the room, which was a wreck. The whole dang wall was gone, coverin' the furniture and carpet with thick dust and debris. The place where just a few moments ago we were sittin' and enjoyin' some family time now looked like it had just suffered a natural disaster, or one of Logan's bad days.
Ooh…it was on.
Ah let them filter into the room and even waited, smilin' sweetly while they surrounded me.
When it was clear that the big guy was leadin', ah addressed him.
"Well hey there, sugah. You after somethin' special or just lookin'?"
"We don't want trouble. We're not looking to hurt anyone. We just want Lebeau."
"Gotta be more specific than that, but then, it doesn't really matter, seein' as none of the LeBeau's are up foah sale. Try back later, huh?"
He trained his rifle on me. Ah focused on bein' untouchable.
A word on this invulnerability business: invulnerable is a misnomer. Against psychic attacks, bio attacks, hell lots of things can hurt me just the same as anyone else. What I am is resistant to physical attacks, particularly inertia, but since that's a mouthful they just say "invulnerable". However this ability sort of fluctuates in strength. When I'm distracted, sick, or generally feelin' weak it's not as potent. Foah instance, remember back when we rescued Kurt, and ah got shot in the head? Well that bullet should have gone straight through mah skull and laid me out cold, but if ah'd been payin' attention it wouldn't have even grazed mah skin. What's more is that mah super strength often means ah can hurt mahself, even if other people can't hurt me. If ah go to hit someone as hard as ah can and hit a wall instead, it'll hurt. So we all clear? Good. Now you know why ah'm making a point of focusin'.
"We're here for Remy LeBeau. If you won't cooperate, then I suggest you stay perfectly still. I don't bluff."
"But you do smell like wet dog." Well he did. And he wasn't gettin' Remy LeBeau. Foah once ah was glad he wasn't around. Not that ah like havin' him around or anythin'. Shucks.
His eyes flared angrily, and he motioned for one of the lackeys behind me to go on.
"Ah wouldn't do it hon…"
His footsteps paused half a second before he continued. Why don't people take a lady serious?
Ah zoomed around and grabbed that joker by his shirt and slung him back towards the open window he came from, knockin' the other lackey over on the way.
Leader Lenny opened fire on me, but the bullets fell harmlessly beside me after rollin' off mah skin. Ah heard shots open somewhere else, guess we had another wave someplace.
"Now is that any way to treat a lady?"
Ah flew at him and gave him a fistful to the teeth. He careened backwards. The other two losers had jumped up, but their eyes danced unsurely back and forth between me and the leader, waiting foah some kind signal.
The leader glared at me, nostrils flaring with rage. "So the pretties have special powers now. How lucky for them." He said "pretties" like it was an insult.
"Why don't you do yourselves a favor and get out of here before someone gets hurt?"
Ah thought it was reasonable. They weren't goin' foah it. Ah have a sixth sense about these kinds of things.
"Unluckily for you, we have powers too."
Ah kept mah poker face on, but mentally ah crossed mah fingers and started recitin' "please no psychics please no psychics…"
Ah barely had time to move before huge spikes came flyin' outta the big guy with enough force to run a body through. Wow! He only seemed to be able to make two at a time, in opposite directions. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction ah guess. But man was he quick. As soon as he missed he drew them back and spat them out again, again narrowly missing me.
Ah dipped and ducked and was tryin' to think quick how to get this one outta mah hair when another one shot a sticky kind of goo out of his hands. It was clear purple colored, and the second it hit ah was feeling so sick it was hard to move. My stomach churned and bile came up in mah throat as mah lips went cold. Ah felt dizzy and mah head spun, mah vision feelin' fuzzy, like my whole body was hummin' in anticipation. Mah first thought was mortification…ah just couldn't let mahself puke all over the LeBeau's family room, even if it was horribly destroyed. Bout that time ah had to dive left again to miss another spike. Ah pulled mah jacket off, and with it most of the goo. Ah felt a little better but now ah was havin' to fly like a madwoman to double dodge everythin'. Ranged attacks, bah! The third buddy seemed to melt down into shadows, creating a crater in the floor that looked bottomless. It didn't take me long to realize they were going to herd me into it. Not going foah that.
Ah flew close to the bookcase, hopin' luck would be on mah side tonight. It was. The next spike that flew out embedded a full six inches into the wood, stickin' securely. He yanked with his full body weight tryin' to free himself, but it barely budged. That done, ah flew around behind Nausea Nellie and kicked him down towards the whole. Him being so slight ah hardly had to expend any effort at all. He yelled as he fell forward, and as ah suspected, the black hole rematerialized in half a second to the tall, gangly man it had been before. Ah yanked the lining out of the couch cushions and strapped the lackeys together to make sure there wouldn't be any more holes. Then ah gave mah full attention to their fearless leader, who was still pulling furiously against his bind. Ah kicked him hard in the stomach, taking his breath away, but also loosing him from the bookcase. Pretty sure ah cracked a rib or two, but that way he'd stay off balance. Once he was free he whipped the spikes back into himself, and the three of them ran foah the openin'.
Leavin'? Ah was happy to lend a hand. Ah hit Spikey across the back of the neck with the edge of mah hand, knockin him out cold. Ah grabbed him by the scruff of the collar befoah he hit the ground, and then grabbed the other two in mah other hand, flying them up into the air kickin' and flailin'.
Then ah launched them off into the trees. "AND STAY OUT!" Ah called after them.
"Rogue!" Ah heard mah name and looked toward the familiar sound. There was Gambit, lookin' up at me, a charged card fizzlin' between his fingers. Sadly, he was lookin' at me and not at the big ape with a tree branch comin' up behind him.
"Dangit-all Remy!" Ah flew as fast as ah could but the blow landed square across his back. He tried to scramble to his feet, but caught another one instead. Ah flinched with every blow in spite of mahself. He flipped himself over and threw a lit card squarely into his assailant's face, knockin' him backward at just the right moment foah me to hit him square in the chest with both fists. Normally ah try not to use unnecessary force, but in this case ah took the offense a little on the personal side. He flew off through the trees with a yelp, and then kept runnin'. It was quiet.
Ah didn't think. Ah just grabbed Remy by his lapels and pulled him upright, checkin' him over voraciously for any injuries.
"You hurt? You ok?"
"Lower."
Mah head snapped up to see that stupid, insolent, incorrigible grin. He was fine. And ah was becoming more of an idiot every second ah spent with him. Ah shoved him back down, not sure which of the two of us ah was more irritated with. He popped back up like ah knew he would, but ah had already lifted off and headed back to the house.
"Come on swamp rat." Ah threw over mah shoulder.
When we got inside, everyone was already yellin' their "I'm ok's." Ah listened to each voice eagerly, and finally when Tante Mattie came back upstairs holdin' little Sebastien ah let out a breath ah didn't know ah was holdin'. Thank God.
Ah knew all along that they would handle this kinda thing, but ah felt better now that ah was sure. Besides…the little guy was quick becomin' mah favorite sweetheart…well…almost.
"What happened?" Remy asked. Ah waited but the family did one of their "should we or shouldn't we?" looks. Ah didn't have the patience so ah spilled it.
"They came lookin' foah ya. Fortunately ya weren't here, but they must have gotten a tip somewhere that you were back in town."
"Morlocks you mean?"
"Guess so. Do Morlocks smell?"
"Mais oui."
"Yep. Was them."
Jean-Luc stepped forward, and as always his sheer presence commanded a type of awe and respect. Ah found myself takin' a step back to hear him speak.
"Where you been, mon fils?"
Every day that went by mah French got better around here. But Remy's answer surprised me.
"At Belle's."
"Den you know?"
"Oui."
"And you made a decision?"
"Yeah."
"I see." He looked at Remy sorta curiously. "You leavin' again den?"
"Fo' now."
What?? We're leavin? Now?! Of course ah knew that this was what we wanted all along…ah just thought it'd be a while longer. At least Jean-Luc seemed pleased with his answer.
"Dat's a little more optimistic dan I'm used to."
"Jean-Luc…papa. I don' want to be a t'ief. I will never lead dis guild. Dis will not be my home, or my life. But apparently no matter what I do, dis will always be my fam'ly. De safest place fo' you to be right now is away from me, and de safest place I can be is in New York until we figure out what dey wan'."
"Remy, you know we will protect you. We always look after our own."
"Yeah but you'll also lie to me and drive me crazy. And dis is de best way I know to protect you. But I won't let dis go. I will find a way to help you."
Ah was tryin' to fight off the dejection that was threatening to explode into full blown misery, when Jean-Luc looked at me.
"I wish you really had been marryin' my son. Fo' now I'll hold no ill-will against you. Consider us your friends, madamoiselle."
I blanched, unsure of what to think, but Remy laughed. "How'd you know?"
Jean-Luc grinned, but Henri answered. "You never kissed her, idiot!"
Oh it was full misery now. Of course Remy didn't kiss me. He would never kiss me. No one would ever kiss me. Ah would never truly share a room with anyone. Ah would never be carried up the stairs by mah husband like Merci. Ah would never have a little Sebastien. This would never be mah life. Remy had asked me to pretend, and that's just what ah'd done. Ah'd pretended that this was mah family, and mah future. Ah'd made them mah friends. But like everything else in life that had been perfect and pure, it was nothing more than fantasy. Remy laughed along with his family. He didn't care that the pretense was ending. It was just a game. A little piece of me deep inside froze and then crumpled, and ah stepped away unconsciously.
Henri was watchin' me. His face became more serious and he looked almost worried foah a minute. He came over and clapped me on the back.
"But hey, dere's still time. Maybe next time you two come to visit, t'ings will be different. Hell, you'd be one sister I wouldn't arm wrestle, non?"
Ah smiled as big as ah could manage before ah moved away from his too friendly hands. Last thing ah needed now was to knock somebody out with mah dang powers.
"If you two are leavin', you'd better do it. Dey'll be watchin' fo' you to run," said Mattie, always the voice of reason.
With that we went up to our….Remy's room. He started flittin' around, gatherin' our things, non-chalant and non-affected. Ah had to pause.
Ah let mah eyes wander back over the wooden floor, the bed where ah had slept foah…how long had ah even been here? The cot, which still held his shape, the window which was often open and served as Remy's favorite seat, where he had reached foah me…
And finally the curtain he had made to keep us separate. Ah knew it had been my bidding. At the time ah thought ah was worried about accidentally touchin' him in mah sleep, an excuse which of course covered foah me bein' horribly shy about bein' intimate with anybody, much less when it was all a lie.
Now ah thought maybe there had been one more reason that ah didn't fully grasp. If ah had spent all this time sharin' a bed with the man ah was beginnin' to love, what would become of mah heart when we left?
Here we had been closest. This had been our place, where we spoke freely and came to know each other better. If nothing else, this was where we became friends. Real friends.
Ah would never see it again after this moment.
We would go back to New York, to our separate rooms and our separate lives. Ah wouldn't be important to him anymore. How did this happen? Ah was so careful, always so careful not to let mahself feel at home, because there was no home foah me. Now ah'd done it without even really realizing. Ah always had to leave, that's what made me Rogue.
Looking around this room, ah realized ah was havin' to give up more than this family, more than this house…the game was up, and ah had to give up Remy too.
The pain was familiar. It folded down inside me until it was a tight knot, and ah held it there with all the others. Ah wouldn't let them out. Maybe its just stubbornness. Maybe if ah let mahself really go through it ah would lose mah mind, or what was left of it.
"Chere…you all right?"
His voice called mah attention, as brought me back to the task at hand.
"Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Ready when you are." Ah doubt ah sounded convincing, but he was in too much of a hurry to bother me with it.
"Should we go and say goodbye?" Ah must admit ah was askin' hopefully. Maybe ah'm a masochist, but ah just didn't want it to be over just yet.
He grinned. "Our fam'ly never says goodbye. In fact, we're very creative at avoiding the phrase. Wanna give me a hand at keepin' de tradition?"
He gestured toward the window. Ah smiled. Good ol' LeBeau's. Ah couldn't help but look over mah shoulder though. His family didn't say goodbye because they knew they would see each other again. Ah would never see them again. Still, it was probably better.
Ah took one last breath of the New Orleans air, and then ah grabbed Remy and glided up into the sky.
The sky made me feel better. Ah know that flyin' isn't technically mah power, but still its nice. It's open and free, but you can hide and no one can reach you, unless of course it's Ro, but that goes without sayin'.
Ah soared up higher and higher, and foah a while we were silent. It was dark, and the clouds overhead were growin' heavy and foreboding. Me, ah liked a nice flight in the rain, but it occurred to me that perhaps mah cargo had a more feline attitude.
"Which way to the airport?"
"East. You'll see de lights easy dis time o' night."
Ah didn't respond, just altered my direction slightly.
"Yo' awful quiet all de sudden chere. Normally you get all chatty when we're alone."
"Oh?"
Mah non-committal answer frustrated him. "What's eatin' ya? You can talk to ol' Remy."
"Nothin' Gambit. Just thinkin' about New York."
He waited foah a minute. "So we're back to Gambit? Did I do somethin' wrong chere?"
Ah sighed. "No. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Then why am I in trouble?"
"Yoah not. Ah'm just thinkin'."
"Well what about?"
"What? Ah'm supposed to tell you everything?" Ah was mocking what he said the other night, about keepin' secrets. Ah hoped it would get him off mah back, but it seemed to amuse him.
"Yeah. Me yo' supposed to tell everyt'ing."
"How about how ah'm gonna keep Logan from killin you when we show up together?"
"He's not yo' dad."
"And yoah not mah fiancé."
"Touche. But who knows, you behave yo'self and stop bein' so stubborn, maybe I'll let you keep dat ring."
"You want yoah dang ring? Here, catch!" Ah slipped the ring off mah finger and threw it down towards the earth, and ah heaved Remy after it. That'll teach his sorry swamp rat self.
Ok, so sometimes he catches me off guard and ah overreact. Ah snatched him back out of the air after he fell a while.
He was breathless. "Sometimes…Rogue…you make it…hard fo' me."
Ah just shook mah head, but then with one deft movement, he slipped the ring back on mah hand. How the hell did he catch that stupid thing?
"Like I said, looks good on you. Sides' its de least I can do fo' you, after you rescued me and protected my fam'ly."
"Why are you so set on makin' this as hard as possible?"
"Makin' what as hard as possible?"
Ah didn't answer and he let me stew. Eventually we reached the airport, bought our tickets to a red eye flight, and boarded the plane, all in speculative silence. He watched me and ah watched Louisiana fade out the window.
His eyes drifted from mah face when he finally spoke.
"You know, I really appreciate what you've done fo' me Rogue. I know its no small thing."
His sincerity made me look up.
"Sure Remy."
"I also want you to know dat I won't forget it. You ever need anyt'ing from me, all you need to do is ask."
Ah shrugged and looked back out the window.
"And any time you'd like to come back and visit, you'd be more dan welcome."
Mah head jerked up too quick. He grinned.
"Hard leavin' de big easy, huh?"
Ah blushed.
"If anyone understands, it's me. But dere's still plenty you didn' see, under de circumstances. We got to have beignets at Café du Monde, night clubs, restaurants, and mon dieu all de food! You didn' spend more dan an hour in de whole French Quarter!"
Ah smiled in spite of mahself. Losin' New Orleans was the least of mah worries, but it was nice to pretend ah was goin' back sometime.
"And somebody's gotta help me figure out dis Morlock mess. Otherwise I might never again have a decent gumbo as long as I live."
He smiled at me, clearly pleased with his progress at cheerin' me up, and it made a small dimple in his cheek that took mah breath away. There's something you need to understand about Remy LeBeau if you don't already. He is god awful good-lookin'.
He kicked his seat back, tucked one of those airline pillows behind his head, and closed his eyes. Ah wanted to touch him. Bad. So ah locked mah hands under mah arms and forced mahself to look out the window into the black sky.
Later, the taxi let us out in front of the mansion, and ah had to admit ah was kinda glad to be back. Still sad to not be New Orleans, but ah was itchin' to see Logan, get in the danger room, and be around a bunch of mutants again. It had been hard keeping
mah powers a secret.
Surprisingly enough to me, Ororo was the first one out the door.
"Gambit! Rogue!" She threw her arms around him tightly, excitedly…almost like a small kid. The hug she gave me was much more formal, and ah noticed. After she had greeted us her smile faded.
"How dare you? How could the two of you just leave without saying anything?"
The question was directed at both of us, but her eyes stayed on Remy. Dangit was anybody in the world not in love with Remy Lebeau?
Remy smiled. "Sometimes dere's just not enough trouble to go around, Stormy. I didn't wan' to share."
She shook her head, but her smile returned.
"At least you had the decency to have Rogue come. That makes me feel better. She is very good at keeping people alive."
Ah balked at the compliment. Maybe she wasn't in love with Remy. Maybe that was just me.
Storm continued, "Though she might have mentioned that that's where she was going."
Ah opened mah mouth to speak, but Remy beat me to the punch.
"My instructions, Stormy. Like I said, didn' wan' to share."
She cocked her head to one side and smiled mischievously. "The trouble? Or Rogue?"
He roared with laughter. Ah flushed and flinched. About that time Logan stormed out the front door headed straight foah us. His eyes were locked on Remy.
"Logan wait lemme explain!" Ah was surprised when he grabbed me by the wrist, without ever lookin' away from Remy, and dragged me off.
Ah kept yellin at him but he didn't answer until we got into the garage where he released me gruffly.
"Two things Rogue. First, we're either friends or we're not. So which is it?"
Mah jaw dropped.
"Logan, of course we're friends!"
"Yeah? We'll friends don't leave friends hangin'. I didn't know if you were dead, stupid, in trouble, nothin'! You didn't even have the decency to tell me you were leavin'! Just ran round to the Professor to tell him not to hunt you with his little toy. It was you and me before that damn Cajun ever showed his sorry face around here, and so don't be so quick to replace me."
"Logan don't you DARE take that tone of voice with me! How often do you run off and just leave me to hope foah the best? Bein' friends ain't a competition. Yoah mah friend. Gambit's mah friend. Gambit needed mah help, ah helped him. Ah didn't realize ah needed yoah permission!"
"And that brings us to the second thing. What's goin on between you and Gumbo? He makin' moves at you?"
"NO!"
"Then why do you look at him like that?"
"Like what?"
Oh gawd don't panic.
"Don't hand me a load of crap, kid. Since when do you jump at someone's beck and call? You trust him or else you woulda told me where you were goin. You didn't tell me cause you knew I would try to stop ya, because I don't trust him. And ya wanted to see him. You come back all starry eyed wearin' a ring. Now talk."
Ah had to take a moment to swallow so mah voice wouldn't come out hysterical.
"You are more than crossing a line here Logan."
"Kid I think you know by now how I feel about ya, and you know how well I handle stress. You shoulda been expectin' this."
Ah was expectin' him to be mad…not perceptive.
"There is nothin' goin' on between me and Remy LeBeau." Ah don't think. Ah don't really know. Mah voice apparently wasn't convincin'.
"Rogue listen to me. If LeBeau has been leadin' you to believe…leadin' you to want somethin'…look yer a smart girl. You gotta see how he feeds off that kind of attention. You wanna look, be my guest, but yer not the type who plays. I don't want him breakin' you up fer an ego trip. I don't want you breakin' yerself up cause you were bein' too stubborn to see. You got enough on yer shoulders. You know I'm not good at this, but I'm tryin' cause I care about ya. He hurts you and I'll have to break him. Then we'll have to leave the team, start over again, you wouldn't want that would ya?"
He was trying to lighten his words by teasin' me. Somehow Logan's rough kind of affection pierces me to the core. Ah'm never sure how or why, but it happens. His face watched mine, and he must have seen somethin' of the maelstrom swimmin' under the surface.
"Ah shit. I'm too late aren't I? I'll have to kill him."
"Logan please…its not his fault. Ah'm tryin'. Ah'm tryin' so hard. Ah know its stupid. Ah know ah can't hope foah that from anyone, least of all him."
"Well if I kill him you won't have to worry about it."
"Kay. You kill Remy, I'll off Jean, and we'll go live in Brazil."
He staggered back at mah bluntness.
"You can't not love her, can you? Even knowin'? It hurts you and ah hate it. Dangit ah hate her foah it! But deep down ah know its not anybody's fault, and there's nothin' ah can do to help but be there foah ya and let ya know ah care."
Logan just stared at me foah a while, then he came over an grabbed me roughly, pulling me in foah one of his tight feral hugs that almost never happened.
"I'm sorry kid. I'm too late and we're too much alike. But I do care about ya and I'm here fer ya."
Crap crap crap.
It was worse now that ah had admitted it to somebody. Ah really did care about Remy…that way…ah might even love him. Now what?
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