"Ah wouldn' make a habit of underestimating the Rogue if ah were ya, Cajun."
Remy ignored her warning and grinned happily. "I have t' say, cherie, I t'ink I'm enjoyin' gettin' my ass kicked a little too much."
"Ahem." Someone coughed.
The pair both turned their heads to look at the top of the stairs where the other five Acolytes all stood watching and trying their best not to laugh hysterically.
Rogue racked her brains looking for an appropriate explanation.
"Ah…" she began.
"Je suis desole, boss. De fille jus' can' keep her hands off moi." Remy said, putting on a very sincere voice. Rogue was scared they'd actually believe him.
"Shut up, swamp rat." She looked at him in utter distaste and then stood straight up ignoring Remy's raised hand looking for help up.
She sighed deeply and looked at Erik's smiling face.
"I'd leave the girl alone if I were you Gambit. I'd back her in a fight." Erik told his Acolyte.
Rogue smiled with her arms folded across her chest.
Gambit just smirked at Rogue's back.
Erik carried on talking to them. "There's a meeting in the lounge downstairs. If you two would be so kind as to join us. I have a mission."
Rogue couldn't help but smile even brighter. There hadn't been any action since she'd been there and she was definitely now in the mood for a fight.
She followed the group downstairs eagerly. When they reached the lounge she stood by the window in the corner.
"Well," Erik started, "I only need three volunteers so anyone who's not interested can leave."
Sabertooth and Mastermind left immediately. When Colossus saw that Pyro, Gambit and Rogue all wanted to stay, he left too. Erik turned to the remaining three.
"Perfect." He said.
Rogue, Gambit and Pyro were all sat crouched low on the high wall surrounding the mansion.
The mission was simple, in manner of speaking. Well, in fact, with the defences this mansion had, it was pretty difficult, but Rogue was definitely in the mood for a challenge.
They wouldn't be detected this early. The two psychics, Jean Grey, red-head from the mall, and Charles Xavier were out at some kind of conference in the city. This was the perfect opportunity for them. The only person who proposed a real threat of detection was a man by the name of Logan, or 'Wolverine'. The guy had a metal, adamantium, throughout his skeletons, had claws, could heal wounds at an extremely accelerated rate and had a good nose for intruders.
Rogue was supposed to deal with him, if there was any problems.
Pyro; the distraction. At the right time. Gambit would kinetically charge a card and let it give off a bit of a bang when Pyro was supposed to start firing up.
Gambit; the thief. What else? There was something in the lab that Magneto wanted. REALLY wanted. They don't know what it is which pissed Rogue off slightly but they need to get it.
Rogue; the manpower. Anyone got in their way. A few punches or a quick touch in Wolverine's case and they'd be on the floor unable to cause problems.
Pyro stayed crouched on the wall while Gambit led Rogue up to the mansion so they wouldn't be detected by a) cameras, and b) lasers!
They got to the side of the building with ease. Remy turned to his team mate.
"Can y' get us up dere, chere?"
Rogue growled slightly at the name but complied. She held on to his waist and ignored the smirk he expressed. She flew them up to the roof in no time and let go of him as soon as possible.
"Okay, we have t' b' very quick." The card he held in his hand began glowing pink. It was almost hypnotic. Gambit waved a hand in front of her face and she snapped out of it. A smirk was permanently planted on his lips now that he'd managed to put her in a trance. Definitely an achievement.
"Just do it." She told him.
"Y'r de boss." He threw the card in the air towards the garden and ran toward the door on the roof with Rogue following closely behind. They ran silently down a few steps to an empty hallway and Remy opened the second door on the right and slipped inside with Rogue. They heard a loud explosion and waited for the footsteps in the hallway just outside to leave.
"How'd ya know this room was empty?" Rogue asked quietly.
"Dis is Jean's room."
She almost admired his professionalism.
The hallway went quiet and the pair opened the door softly and started running again until they reached the end of it. Remy looked round the corner and let out a breath in relief. They were right by the staircase facing the front door. It was clear. Everyone was outside watching Pyro's show.
They both ran side by side to the opposite hallway. There was an elevator on the left and Remy pressed the call button.
The doors opened and a guy in a red visor stared straight at them. "You," he said.
Rogue threw a single punch and knocked him out cold. They got in the elevator with him and Remy pressed the button for the basement.
Remy grinned at Rogue. "Nicely done, cherie."
She couldn't help smirking.
They got to the bottom floor and sent one-eye back up. Rogue stood outside of the laboratory while Remy went inside to take the 'whatever it was'.
Rogue froze as she heard footsteps about to turn the corner. She walked further towards the footsteps and further away from the lab. She couldn't afford failure now. She knew this was important. She just didn't know why.
A medium-built man turned the corner. He looked very muscular and strong though. He was wearing a leather jacket and a cigar was poking out of the top pocket. He didn't look surprised to see her. He just walked straight towards her.
"Rogue, right?" He said.
"Wolverine, raght?" She replied.
"So, what kind of a name's Rogue?"
"What kind of a name's Wolverine?"
"The name's Logan."
His courtesy, if he was capable of the thing, was met with silence.
"What do you want, kid?" He asked her.
"Figured ah'd check out the place that's got Magneto all hot and bothered."
"I know there's more to it than that." He said simply.
They stood facing each other for a few moments in silence.
"Why haven't ya made a move, Logan?" She asked him.
"I don't want to hurt a little girl."
Rogue snorted. "Ya can't hurt me sugah, ah'm invulnerable."
Now the wolf man snorted. "And I've heard that one before."
"Believe meh, ah'm a little different to what you've seen befo'."
"I guess that means I've seen it all now. Why haven't you made a move, Rogue?"
"Ya don't seem lahke much o' a threat."
He laughed. Not condescendingly, which she expected. Just a normal laugh. It took away his harsher features for just a second.
"Ah don't know what's so funny, sugah."
"What are you protecting Rogue?" He looked past her at the lab door. He took a step forward. Rogue stood up straight, totally blocking his path. "I don't wanna hurt you, kid."
"Ah don't wanna particularly hurt ya either, but ah'll do what ah hafta do."
He threw a punch at her head, aimed to knock her out, a mercy punch. Rogue was insulted. She dodged his fist.
"Pathetic, an' hear ah was thinking' ya were the biggest threat."
She threw about half a dozen punches herself, one after the other, which Logan dodged without so much as breaking a sweat.
"You're not a half bad fighter, kid." He complimented.
"Ya pick this stuff up." She told him.
He dropped to the floor to kick her legs from under her but she jumped over his leg and kicked him in the stomach. He slid a few feet away.
The lab door opened behind Rogue. Gambit walked out with some kind of circular metal casing which he slipped into one of the deepest pockets of his trench coat.
Logan jumped to his feet and saw him. "Gumbo," he growled.
SNIKT!
His claws slid suddenly out of his knuckles and he launched himself towards Gambit.
SNIKT!
The claws were retracted as Logan realised what he had done.
Rogue had jumped in the way, blocking Logan's path and his claws had gone straight through her chest.
"ROGUE!" Gambit yelled and ran up to her waist to hold her up.
Rogue was panicking. She saw it coming but she still did it. Her breathing was getting heavier. The pain was excruciating. She racked her brains for a solution.
Logan a.k.a Wolverine: heightened senses, adamantium skeleton with retractable claws, accelerated heal-
That was it, how could she have been so stupid?
She yanked off her right glove and reached up to Logan to touch his cheek. The man was so stunned by his own actions that he didn't even notice.
Remy did. He saw the veins through the wolf-man's skin. He saw him gasp and croak. He could only describe it as watching a person being sucked up. Like into some kind of a black hole but personified.
Rogue let go and let Logan fall to the ground limp. She made sure she didn't hold on long enough to kill him and then turned round to face Remy.
He saw her wounds completely healed. Like nothing had ever happened. Apart from the six holes in her shirt and the unconscious man lying on the floor.
She saw the mid-section of the torso of his suit covered in blood; her blood. She was glad she hadn't ruined his trench coat. He had held her too close for his coat to get in the way.
"Let's go." Rogue said, snapping Remy out of his momentary shock.
They ran back to the elevator, the doors opened with one-eye, now conscious. He looked prepared but Rogue definitely couldn't afford failure after all that.
She ducked out of the way of his beam of red light and Gambit punched him straight in the mouth. The shock made one-eye stop trying to burn a hole into Rogue and then Gambit punched him in the side of the head, once again, knocking him out cold.
The pair stepped into the elevator and on the way up, Rogue couldn't resist a jibe.
"Funny how ah could knock him out with one punch and ya had ta try twice."
Remy smirked and opened his mouth to say something but the doors opened, forcing him to concentrate on the task at hand.
The hallway and foyer were empty, thankfully, so they ran straight up to the large staircase and back to the opposite corridor where they came from. A door on their left opened and a young boy, no older than ten, came out. He stared straight at the two.
Rogue bent over to him and put a finger on his lips.
"Sssshh."
The boy nodded and walked back into his room whilst the two intruders walked up the steps to the roof and shut the door behind them once they were up there.
Remy walked over close to the roof's edge. "Y' really got some kind o' power o'er men, y' know."
"Ah know." She agreed.
Remy smirked again. "Pyro's gone but dere's still a few people out front. We'll wait till dey disappear, okay, cherie?"
Rogue nodded in agreement.
The two of them sat side by side next to the raised roof edge.
Remy opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. After about the fourth time of doing this, Rogue started to get annoyed.
"Look, if ya wanna say somethin', jus' say it cause that gol'fish impression is gettin' on mah nerves."
"Why'd y' do it Rogue?" Remy asked her sincerely.
"Do what?" She asked, but knowing exactly what he meant.
"Don' play dumb, y' know wha', why did y' save Remy's life?"
"Ah figured ya maght come in useful fo' gettin' us outta here." She stated.
Remy stared hard at her face. She had opened up to him by saving him but she wasn't prepared to say why she did it. He didn't blame her. It'd only been ten days since she'd been an Acolyte and in that time he had constantly flirted with her and hadn't tried to talk to her properly. Tonight was the first time he had called her by her name.
He liked her. Genuinely liked her. She made him laugh and she reminded him a little of himself. She ignored his advances, she was strong and independent. To meet a woman genuinely like that is a rare treat for him. He hadn't noticed how much he liked her before. When he first saw her that early morning she was just another girl. Now, she was something much more.
She wasn't an open book like all the other girls he'd known. She was different. He'd never wanted to know so much about a woman.
Rogue turned her head a little and caught him looking at her. He smiled. Not a smirk or a grin. A smile. God, she loved that smile.
She shook her head to stop the thought developing.
She knew that she had given Remy a hard time. Yes, he was an arrogant flirt, a swamp rat and extremely annoying but they laughed together. They argued and fought together too but every so often one of his comments would really entertain her.
She'd been having such a good time with the Acolytes. She knew to treasure good times because with her, they were always very few and very far between.
It's not like she liked him in that way. St. John made her laugh too. Hanging out with Piotr, John and Remy was one of the main reasons for her choosing not to move on.
She wanted to give him a break. To let him know that she didn't totally despise him. That she even considered him to be…dare she think it?…a friend. But every time her mouth opened to tell him so, the wrenching feeling in her gut made her shut it again.
He noticed. "Got somet'in' t' say, Rogue?"
He called her by her name again.
"Ya wanna know why ah saved ya befo'?" Remy's eyebrows raised. "Ah did it cause ya're mah friend and ah don' want ya dead."
She pulled her knees up to her chest and stared at her feet. She sensed movement beside her. Her eyes moved towards the sight of Remy rifling through the pockets of his trench coat. And there were many.
He finally pulled something out of his coat. His cards. He shuffled through them and pulled out a card and handed it to Rogue.
The Queen of Hearts.
"What's this supposed ta be?" She asked him.
"The queen of hearts," he told her.
She looked at him warily. "Ah know what it is, what's it supposed ta mean?"
"I always save 'er fo' last, she's Remy's lucky lady." He said proudly.
Rogue just stared at him. "So why are ya givin' her ta meh?"
He shrugged. "Ah guess y' were Remy's lucky lady tonight, cherie."
She looked at the card and smiled. She slid it into the back pocket of her dull leather pants.
She looked back at Remy then got into a crouching position, facing the roof's edge. She stuck her head over the raised ledge. She sat back down. "Coast is clear, we should go."
They sprinted to the side of the building and Rogue put her hands around Remy's waist again to fly them down, again ignoring his satisfied smirk.
They manoeuvred out of the way of the cameras and lasers and launched over the wall setting off back to the dome.
Three quarters of a mile west of the mansion they stopped running and started down the back roads.
"Remy's curious chere." Gambit said.
"About what?" she asked.
"What y'r relations are wit' de femme dey call Mystique."
Rogue swallowed hard. "Does it matter?" She asked, well, more pleading than asking.
"Tell me dat, Rogue, and Remy will answer any question y' have fo' him."
That seemed fair.
"She's mah mother. How did ya end up as a thief?"
Remy was silent for a moment, trying to process the information. Did Magneto know about this?
"My adopted father, Jean Luc, is de head o' de guild o' t'ieves in N'awleans. Why did y' run from Mystique?"
Rogue hesitated.
Remy could see the struggle in her eyes. He decided to drop it. He could always find out this stuff another time. He wasn't exactly wanting to divulge the story of his life either. What would he achieve by pushing her to talk about something she obviously wanted to forget? He'd probably only scare her away.
He could see that him and Rogue had both drawn the short straw when it came to life.
They were two of a kind.
Delicious Romy-ness! I haven't got time to do some proper shout-outs but thanks to everyone who reviewed. You give me the strength to carry on! salutes
Oooooo, new reviewers. Much love to 'TheOneAndOnlyRogue', 'Nettlez' and 'lightdarkangel124'. Ok, I'm sorry guys, I thought I'd given you the whole of this chapter, I don't know what's wrong with this thing, but it's here now and bear with me for the next chapter cos I'm going to FLORIDA on my holidays so it could be a while before I update. Anywho, hope you enjoyed the chapter.