Rainy Day Road Trip by Melfina Lupin

Author's Note: OMG! I'M SO SORRY FOR THE SLOOOOOOOOOW UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!

**coughs**

Well, thanks to everyone who reviewed except for one that made me want to stop writing all together. =) This is the last chapter and hopefully all your questions will be answered!!! I hope you enjoyed this little story. OXOX ^__^I love you all even if you hate my guts because I took my sweet-ass time with this chapter. -___-

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men

~*~*~*~

Chapter 9

The Problem with Conclusions

Kitty's head was pounding violently when she finally came too. For a brief moment she thought that she had fallen asleep in her hotel room but upon opening her misty blue eyes, she automatically panicked when she saw in complete darkness. She frantically blinked for a moment, trying to clear her vision but nothing worked. She thought that she was blind but as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness Kitty could see that she was in a very dark room. Squinting through the dimness, she tried to look around but the movement only aggravated her lacerating headache to the point where she thought she might be sick. What was she doing there?

Then it came back in a flash. The two mysterious men coming into their room and drugging Rogue and her with a spray.

Okay, Kitty, just calm down, she told herself firmly as she started to get panicky. You've been through worse. Just think of Logan's training sessions.

She immediately paled and her anxiety doubled, knotting up her stomach.

Okay, bad idea. Think of Scott's training lessons.

She took a couple of deep breaths to make the feeling go away and to slow her pounding heart. She was positive someone would have hurt the constant beating and come to see what it was. After a moment, she realized that she was lying on a damp, dirt floor on her side with her hands tied behind her. It looked a though she was a small cellar room no doubt a couple of feet below the ground. Chilled and dirty, Kitty frantically sought out her friend.

"Rogue?" she whispered softly through the ringing silence. "Rogue, where are you? Are you okay?"

Craning her neck, she found a second lifeless shape, just a mound of shadows, a couple of feet away. Like Kitty, Rogue was prostrate on the freezing ground but she wasn't moving. She was still unconscious. Kitty gulped and felt tears come into her eyes. She didn't know if Rogue was hurt or not.

Kitty didn't know what was happening but she knew that they were both in trouble. She could try to contact the professor but that wouldn't do any good since she didn't know where she was. She had to phase out with her powers and get back to the hotel. She would have to leave Rogue behind too. Kitty barely had the strength to phase her own body let alone Rogue.

Summoning her faltering strength, Kitty concentrated and phased her hands from their tight binding. The rope had dug into the flesh, causing bleeding and bruising, but she had other problems to worry about. Quickly, Kitty hurried over to Rogue and rolled her onto her back.

"Rogue?" she hissed, gently shaking the older girl in vain. "Rogue, please wake up!"

Rogue didn't move and she was frightening pale. Kitty bit her lower lip and brushed a couple of dirty wayward locks from out of the girl's face. She really didn't want to leave her.

There was a muffled voice outside the door to the cellar. Kitty looked up sharply before jumping to her feet and passing through a wall to freedom just as the door opened.

~*~*~*~

Remy was charging down the side streets on his motorcycle as if the devil were on his tail. Trembling and pale, Remy hardly breathed and his heart hardly beat as he gripped the handles wit his hands, his trench coat tails flapping wildly behind him. He was scared. Rogue was danger. Remy repeated screamed at himself mentally for his own stupidity. It would be his fault entirely if something happened to her. Why did he see this coming? What would be do if something happened to her?

Frowning, he knew that he shouldn't talk like that. Part of him thought to sound the alarm with the X-men. With them, he could find her as soon as possible. He knew he needed to see the professor but he really didn't want them meddling in his precarious affairs. If was his fault Rogue was gone and now it was his obligation to save her.

Remy was about to turn a sharp corner when something caught his attention in the corner of his eyes. Glancing side-ways, he saw Kitty running frantically down the street. Her face was tear-stained and pale and her clothes grimy as if she had been rolling around in the ground. Taken back by her sudden appearance, Remy swung his bike around, the wheels screaming in protest and burning on the rough surface of the street, and rode towards the girl.

"Kitty!"

The girl gave a startled jump and spun around. "Remy!" she cried out, half sobbing as she ran over to the stationary bike. "They have Rogue!"

Remy pulled the trembling, breathless girl into his arms. "Shh, chere," he murmured, holding her close. "Do you know where?"

"In a factory somewhere," Kitty replied, his big blue eyes full of tears. "I don't know. It was dark. People were chasing me. I barely got away. Rogue…I left Rogue there. She was unconscious and I couldn't bring her with me! Remy, we've got to, like, go get her! Those people are dangerous! They might kill her!"

"We will Rogue, chere, don't you worry. Get on. I'll take you back to the hotel," Remy replied, and Kitty carefully climbed on behind him.

The ride to the hotel was a quick one since there was no time to lose. He helped Kitty off and was about to speed off once more when Kitty stopped him.

"Wait, Remy! Shouldn't we get the X-men?"

"This is my business. I don't want them in it."

"Please! You can't handle this by yourself, Remy. There are too many people holding Rogue hostage. It's too dangerous. Please, let the Professor and the others help you!"

Remy frowned, not liking this one bit. He was never one to confide in others expect Rogue.

"If you don't let us help," Kitty began, looking like she was about to cry all over again. "I'll tell the professor. I don't want you to go alone. We care for Rogue as much as you do, too!"

"Yeah, but I was the one who got you all into this mess, Kitty."

"So what? We're family and we look after each other like one!"

He finally sighed and quickly shut off the humming bike. He got up and muttered, "Let's do this quickly, all right?"

No one was about inside so they made quick work of making it up to Xavier's room without incident. But before they could knock, Ororo stepped out of her room and sent them a hard look when she noticed the distressed duo. When she saw the state Kitty was in, she frowned and quickly hurried over.

"What's happened?" she demanded in a no-nonsense voice, pulling her hands on her hips. They tired not to cower in her intimidating presence.

"Rogue's in trouble," Remy began quickly, bracing himself for the witch's terrible wrath. "It's my fault. She was kidnapped by my rivals tonight."

Even if she didn't know whom Remy was talking about, a look of extreme concern passed Ororo's mocha-toned face. "Talk with Xavier," she ordered in a voice the left little room to argue. "He'll know what to do."

"Should I go with him?" Kitty asked.

Storm shook her head and grabbed Kitty's hand in her own. "Not yet, child," she murmured softly. "First clean up and then you'll meet the professor. Remy, without a doubt, must wish to talk with Xavier alone for a moment."

Remy sighed and watched as Storm led the shaky Kitty back to her room. Feeling chills run up and down his spine, he turned and regarded the lustrous door with the utmost apprehension. He hesitated for a moment, nervous as to what Xavier might say to him. Well he needed to act fast if he wanted to save Rogue before anything happened to her. Pushing his fear away, Remy bit his lower lip and quickly knocked. He hoped that he hadn't caught the older mutant at a bad time.

Of course he could always turn-tail and run for it. He was about to do it when a voice entered his head, freezing him on the spot.

'Come in, Remy.'

He jumped when he was the voice resound in his head but quickly regained his composure and hurried inside. Xavier was sitting in an overstuffed chair by the fireplace. He was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a red robe with a thick book on his lap. But it was forgotten as Xavier was staring at the young Cajun with polite curiosity. Usually Remy was nervous around the composed gentleman but forced himself to cross the room and get to the point.

"I'm sorry, professor," he started quickly, "But Rogue's in trouble."

Xavier quickly closed the book. "What sort of trouble, Remy?"

Remy sighed and dropped into the empty chair facing the older man. "Two years ago I was the head of the Thieves Guild here in New Orleans and we had a long and bitter feud with the Assassins, another guild of thieves. When I was 16 I married the daughter of the head of the Assassins to end the war. On our wedding day, I killed Belle's brother and had to get away. Now Belle has come into power in the Assassin Guild and is looking to kill me. I came down here to try to talk some sense into her. I saw her tonight but she had already kidnapped Rogue and Kitty."

Xavier looked at Remy sharply.

"Kitty escaped but Rogue is still with them," Remy continued. "She could be anywhere. I'm sorry I dragged you all into this mess and not telling you anything but I wasn't thinking. Now Rogue might be hurt…I need you're help, professor."

At first, the professor didn't say anything then he sighed and put his book away. "I'll search for her telepathically and assemble the team," he said. "We'll find her, Remy"

Remy was faint with relief. "Thank you, sir."

"There is no need for formal titles," Xavier replied. "We are a family at my Institute. In the future I hope you see that truth, honesty, love, and compassion hold a family together."

(Aww! **sniffle** Professor X's is such a softie)

~*~*~*~

"Time to wake up, ma petite chere," a soft, almost child-like voice was whispering to her. Rogue frowned, feeling the tickling sensation of a feather running down the bridge of her nose, annoying her and waking her up at the same time. "You've slept long enough. Now it's time to play."

Feeling more than a little drowsy, Rogue forced herself to open her eyes. At first she could hardly make anything out. It was really dark save a candle burning a couple of feet away from her. She was lying on the ground and a very small room. Turning a little she saw a pale face looking down at her. The woman was hunched down of the ground, looming over Rogue and smiling.

"There you go, chere," the woman purred, cupping Rogue's face in her cold, leather-covered hands. "Such pretty green eyes."

"Where the hell am I?" Rogue hissed, jerking her face out of the vice-like grip.

The dreamy-eyed woman puckered her blood-red lips and cooed softly. "Such a nasty voice for a sleeping beauty, chere," she murmured, shaking her head. "You are in one of my little hideouts 20 feet below the city."

Rogue stared at her and frowned. "I want to ask who you are but I'm pretty sure I already know."

The woman smiled but it was an impish snicker at the most. "I'm sure you do, pet," Belle replied, softly.

"What do you want with me?" Rogue demanded.

"I want to kill you, chere. But seeing as the other child got away, I know Remy will be here any moment. I'll probably shoot you in front of him before he can stop me." Belle shrugged. "Unfortunately I don't have the time to do all I wanted to you. But we don't mind. Just picturing the look in Remy's face as he sees you die is good enough. All we can do now is wait for the prince to show." Sighing, Belle sat down next to Rogue.

"We?" Rogue asked. She glared when she felt Belle run her thin fingers through her hair.

"Hmm-mm," Belle sighed. "Julien and I. We have been waiting for two years for this. We can wait a few more minutes."

Rogue couldn't believe her eyes. God, she's fucking nuts, she thought.

"This room isn't very pleasant to spend your last few hours in but I wouldn't want you to be in the next room," Belle muttered, pointing absentmindedly to the door. "Full of ill-mannered men. So we'll keep each company for the moment, all right?"

Rogue stared at her. "You are going to kill me, right?"

Belle smiled and stroked Rogue's cheek with the long white feather. "Yes. But it's Remy we want to hurt. We hold nothing against you."

"Are you going to kill Remy?"

Belle shrugged, her face an ambiguous mask of apathy and she continued to play with Rogue's hair. "We will see at the end of our duel, ma chere."

~*~*~*~

"Where did they take her?!" Logan snarled.

Remy would have been glad to answer it only Logan would ease up a little on his neck as he held him against the wall, ready to pound him mercilessly.

"Logan, that's enough," Ororo said sharply. "You'll kill him. Besides he doesn't know."

"That doesn't mean that he's not at fault they were kidnapped!"

"Logan, please."

Growling low in his throat, Logan let go of Remy and the young Cajun fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

"Damn, mon ami," he wheezed, rubbing his neck. "Look, I know I screwed up, all right? Let's just put that aside and get down to business and find out where Rogue before it's too late!"

"I've already talked with Kitty," Xavier announced to the room full of attentive mutants. "She says she was underground and a mile outside of the city. Near an old factory. Remy, do you have any idea where exactly that might be."

Remy frowned and nodded. "Yeah. Around that part, there are abandoned cellars that use to hold things for the factory. It seems like somewhere the Assassins would hang out. Then again they have many hideouts in and around the city."

"We will look there first then," Xavier planned. "Everyone, prepare to leave!"

~*~*~*~

"He doesn't want to fight you," Rogue told the crazed woman. "Believe it for not, he…he loved you…once."

Belle's pale face hardened. "What do I care, chere? Believe it or not, I never loved him," she whispered. "We were close friends, yes, but I never loved him. Being young and immature I followed my Daddy's orders and married Remy. But I couldn't stand by and follow orders when Daddy said that Julien deserved to die. I couldn't let Daddy treat his stepson's memory like that. I knew Remy had to be punished for the murder of Julien and that I was the only one who would do it."

"Why are you so obsessed with your brother?!" Rogue shouted in agitation.

Belle looked as if she were close to tears. "Because we were in love. When Daddy found out about our relationship he tried to put a stop to it by forcing me to marry some swamp trash. Julien was awfully upset, weren't you, Julien?"

Belle's eyes regarded a space beside her as if she were talking to her dead lover.

"Don't talk about Remy liked that!" Rouge yelled. "He ain't trash! He really loved you! He told me that Julien was trying to rape you on your wedding day!"

Belle sighed and turned her eyes back to Rogue. "He wasn't trying to rape me. He was just acting like he was too rile Remy up some. The plan was to have Remy break the peace contract signed before our wedding, with would ultimately end our marriage, so that I could run away with Julien. But things turned ugly very quickly. Julien wasn't suppose to die."

"But he was your brother!"

"Only by Daddy's second marriage," Belle replied. "Julien never liked the Thieves; pompous pricks who thought they could rule New Orleans-the lot of them. He couldn't stand the idea of me-Daddy's little princess- marrying one."

Rogue just shook her head. Man, this is too weird!

"I can see why Remy loves you," Belle continued softly. "I can see it in your eyes that you would protect him at all costs. You've a passion and strength that I never possessed. I've a feeling that if I unbound you hands you can take on everyone here and win." Belle smiled and continued to play with Rogue's hair. "It's a pity that we have to kill you."

"Remy will stop you before you do," Rogue argued.

"We'll see, chere." Belle turned her head when she heard a loud shuffling outside the door followed by gun shots and muffled voices.

'Rogue? Are you there? It's Jean!'

Rogue rolled her eyes. It was about damn time. 'Where the hell is my knight in shining armor?'

'Don't worry. He's here and so are the others. Where are you?'

'Disneyland…I'm in a small room with a lunatic!'

'Are you hurt?'

'No.'

Belle was on her feet in an instant; her blue eyes still secured of the bolted door. It sounded like a war was going on outside. If Rogue listened carefully she bet that she could hear Logan's growls and Kurt's 'bamph's. Bending over, Belle grabbed a hold of Rogue and pulled her up. Belle reached into her coat and pulled out a gun, cocked it, and aimed it at Rogue's head.

"Time for the finale, chere," Belle muttered with a sigh as she smiled ruefully to herself. "I promise to make it quick."

With that she dragged Rogue to the metal door and flung it open. In the second, much larger room, Rogue could see that the X-men were fighting the Assassins but when the two woman appeared things stopped almost instantly. Rogue frantically looked around for Remy. He was holding a badly beaten Assassin by the collar, his fist inches away from punching him in the face.

"Quite a party!" Belle laughed, seeming childishly delighted. "And Remy, you brought friends! That's lovely. Had I known I would have taken Rogue to my mansion and showed you all some real Cajun hospitality [1]!"

Remy frowned and flung the Assassin away. "Let Rogue go, Belle," he demanded. "Your fight is with me."

Belle quickly pointed her gun at the young man. "Stop. You'll ruin our plan if I have to shoot you now, Remy."

He stopped and looked at Rogue, desperate.

"Now then," Belle cooed, bringing the gun back to Rogue's temple. "I think it's time to end this all. Don't you agree, Remy?"

Before Belle could squeeze the trigger, Xavier wheeled himself forward and concentrated, coercing his way into Belle's deranged mind, wiping as many of her thoughts as he could. Instantly, she stiffened and jumped away, holding her head in her trembling hands. Screaming, she shuddered and dropped to her knees, almost unconscious. Remy was instantly as Rogue's side, pulling her into his arms.

"It took you long enough," Rogue muttered, savoring the warmth of her boyfriend.

"Shut up, chere," he muttered, kissing her forehead. "Are you hurt?"

Rogue shook her head and closed her eyes. "No."

Xavier was faint by the time he withdrew from Belle. However, the girl was far worse. An Assassin meekly walked forward the gathered her up in his arms. He looked at Remy. "No hard feelings," he whispered. "We were doing what she forced us to do. We'll take her to a hospital. The Assassins won't trouble the Thieves no more."

Remy nodded and the Assassins quickly withdrew from the shelter.

"I'm sorry, Remy, but couldn't restore her to original state of mind," Xavier said. "Her mind was already severely unstable."

He shrugged, holding Rogue tight in his arms. "As long as she doesn't come after me or the ones I love, I don't care, professor."

~*~*~*~

"That was some vacation," Rogue sighed as she stood next to Remy in the parking lot. Around them students flung their luggage into the vehicle, preparing for the long drive back to New York. It was Friday and they had school on Monday. "I was honestly surprised that there was a conflict."

Remy rolled his eyes and pulled the girl closer to his side. "You're ability to crack jokes in your side of being amazes me, chere," he teased. "You should be on sedatives after that ordeal."

"What can I say? I have a strong disposition. Besides the last two days helped more than enough with the post-traumatic stress part."

"How can lying around in bed all day, eating junk food help?" Remy asked.

"I'm not talking about that part, stupid," Rogue comment dryly.

Remy's face lit up with a smirk. "Oh, you're talking about the other part."

"You're a bright one."

"Hey, you two!" Scott called out from his car. "We're almost ready to leave. Hurry up!"

They both sighed.

"I don't want to leave, chere," Remy whispered.

"I know. But it won't be long before we're back. When should we tell them?" Rogue asked, nervously toying with the simple ring on her finger. Remy had bought it for her yesterday but she hadn't told anyone that it was an engagement ring. "We all ready told your family and everything."

"About our engagement? I dunno, chere. Either way Logan's going to beat the shit out of me. I'll be dead before the wedding."

Rogue smiled and hugged her boyfriend around his waist. "I wouldn't let him harm one hair on your pretty little head."

"Thanks, chere."

"No problem."

"Guys!" Scott called out again, frantically pointing to the pile of luggage that wasn't getting any smaller by the cars. "Luggage! Help!"

The ignored him and drank in the warmth and peace of the air for the last time with another nostalgic side.

"I love you, Remy," Rogue said after a moment.

"I know, chere," he replied, pulling her closer. "Love you too."

The (much anticipated) End!

Author's Note: In the comics Julien and Belle might have had incestuous relationships so if you think it's absurd here, read the comics or another story. =) Well that's it for this series. **sniffle** I promise myself I wouldn't cry. It's been a fun ride and I know this story is a little crazier than 'In the Rain' but I still hope that you liked it. If not, well that the way the cookie crumbles, right? **sniffle** I'm a fragile being. Please be nice in your reviews.

[1] tee hee! Do you get it? It's the title to my other Romy fic. Subliminal message? Moi? I might do a sequel to 'Cajun Hospitality' and call it 'Southern Comfort' where Remy comes and checks up on his favorite southern girl north of the Mississippi! But, then again, I make no promises.