Always Relied on the Kindness of Strange Femmes - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Diamonde
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 3

Rogue was pleased at how nice everyone had been once she'd explained everything. She hadn't really touched anyone that much, figuring she should get used to it. But she could, any time she wanted, which was very nice. She was also enjoying other sensations. She'd gotten so used to wearing gloves almost all the time, she hadn't realised how many everyday tactile experiences she'd missed. She'd had a lot of catching up to do. But now she had done it and was after something different. Something she'd been dying to get in her hot little hands for ages. And there he was, sitting in front of the TV.

"Warren? Could ya do me a lil' favour?" She smiled charmingly.

"Sure. What do you want?"

"The wings."

"What?!"

She blushed a little bit. "Those big white things on your back. Ah always wondered what they felt like."

"Oh." He stood up, turned around and spread them out.

Rogue reached out and patted the soft white feathers. They felt lovely, so she gave in to temptation. Rogue wrapped her arms around one and buried her face in it. "Ummm." The feathers flickered under her cheek, and she realised she'd startled him.

Elisabeth Braddock raised one perfect eyebrow. Rogue was happily hugging Warren's left wing, looking like a contented child. He was looking over his shoulder, bemused.

"Like them?" Betsy asked.

Rogue's eyes opened and she smiled. "Yup. Ah am absolutely overcome with jealousy." She let go with a sigh. "Ah've wanted to do that ever since Ah clapped eyes on 'em."

Psylocke smiled. "Most women do."

"Excuse me? They are actually mine, you know." Warren waved his arms to try and attract attention back to the rest of him.

"Don't be silly. They're mine."

Rogue giggled. "Yeah. Everyone knows that."

Knock knock knock.

"Ah'm comin', Ah'm comin'." Cannonball swung the door open to a stunningly beautiful woman in faded jeans and a white T-shirt.

She lifted her sunglasses onto the top of her head and smiled. "Surprise! Remember me?"

He smiled back. "How could Ah forget? Ah don't think Ah've ever been that embarrassed in mah life."

"That's okay, I forgive you. I always forgive the cute ones."

Sam went slightly pink.

"Well? Can I come in or not?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry."

She walked in like she owned the place, and (although Sam would never have admitted it) a rather interesting sway. "Nice house."

"Ah suppose it is. Once you've seen it demolished an' rebuilt a few times ya tend t' stop lookin'. Anyway, were ya here for any particular reason?"

"Oh, yeah. Is Rogue here? I wanted to see how she was doing, touch-wise."

"Sorry, she's shopping with the other ladies. But they should be back soon, if ya want to wait."

She shrugged and smiled. "I'm in no rush. Who's around?"

"In this house? No one except Beast, who's in his lab, and Iceman, who's still asleep."

"Well, it's just you and me then. Suits me fine." She winked. "Don't worry, I'm hardly any trouble."

Sam looked incredulous.

"I'll consider that a compliment." She gave a beautifully wicked grin.

"Mah pleasure. Ah was just about to have some lunch, ya want anythin'?"

"I never turn down food. Lead the way."

Vedis smiled to herself as she followed. Her only regret was that he wasn't wearing spandex like last time she'd had the opportunity to do a little 'window shopping'.

"My my," she murmured softly to herself.

"Like what ya see?"

Vedis looked up and realised he was looking back over his shoulder at her with a slightly amused expression. She actually blushed, then wondered why. She never blushed.

"We're ba-ack!" Rogue looked around. "Hello?"

Faint laughter drifted past. Silently they sneaked towards the kitchen, deciding that what killed the cat would be hard pressed against the X-Women.

"Ya think that's bad? You should have seen Paige when she was two. 'Mobile scream' is the politest description Ah can think of. Not polite, Ah'd say 'right royal pain in the ass' just about covers it."

"No way. Marie once decided to run away in the supermarket. Me and Remy look all over the place, until we see this crowd all looking up. There she is, she'd somehow managed to climb up the shelves and is sitting on top with the big teddy bears. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life."

"That's nothin'. Twins in a supermarket? Two words. Opposite directions."

"Ooh. I don't even want to think about what she would have been like as twins."

Rogue couldn't help herself. She sauntered to the doorway. "Well, ain't this cozy?" She smiled and walked in. "Mah mah, is it just me, or is there an awful lot of sexual tension in this room?"

Vedis raised one eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Must be you."

At that delicate point Wolverine-the-ever-tactful came in through the back door fanning himself. "That was a good run. Any bee-" His eyes widened and he stopped, holding his hands out in front of him as if to hold the entire room away for inspection. "Whoa! There's enough pheromones in here t' stun an elephant."

Sam looked at him innocently. "We think it's Rogue."

Remy looked pensively at his roommate. Oh well, he had to say it sometime, and she was in a good mood. "Vedis?"

"Yes, Remy?" The 'organizing' face looked at him attentively.

"When you going t' grow up an' get a real job?"

"Excuse me?"

"Look, chere. I know I'm de last one who should be pointing fingers, but listen for a minute. Dis merc stuff is fine when you alone, but you're not. Maybe y' should stop doin' it all de time an' try somethin' else as well. Study if you want. But what happens to Marie if one dem odd chances catches up with you?"

She looked troubled. "I can get out of almost anything, Remy."

"It dat almost dat worries me." He sighed. Vedis did not look convinced. "You don' have to decide right now. Try a few t'ings, you don' like it, stop."

"I'll think about it." The tone was just this side of frosty.

"Just remember, chere. You don' see no old mercs around, and I only know of four dat retired."

She turned away and effectively closed the conversation. Well, he hadn't thought it would be that easy.

Remy waited patiently for Vedis to open the door. "Here." He dumped the full load of books and papers into her arms.

"What is all this?"

"Information, textbooks, dat junk. You going to college an' studying law. You pose as a lawyer, you'd make a good one. Prob'ly enjoy it, since you love arguments so much."

"How come nobody told me?" She staggered to the table and dumped her armload onto it.

Remy shrugged. "I went t'rough your files for de necessary papers, lied, forged a few t'ings an' your signature."

Vedis looked confused, and slumped down in a chair. "Remy, you go to all this trouble, lay that huge guilt trip on me… why are you so determined to make me go legit?"

"You're not de career merc type, Vedis. You just get hurt, an' take dat little girl wit' you. I'm not going to jus' stand dere and watch. Keep doing it if you want, but do somet'ing else too. Don' make it your life."

Vedis made one of her gestures, indicating he had better sit down. It looked like it was serious discussion time. "Remy, I'm going to be totally straight with you. Don't ever do this to me again. Now, I will admit that you're a lot older and more experienced in this than me. Because of that, I'll give it a try. I'm not making any promises. I want to quit, I do, you don't ask any stupid questions. Okay?"

He shrugged. "It's your life."

She was not, Rogue assured herself, going to visit Vedis just so she could touch Remy and see if she could make him jump. That would be mean, as well as slightly morbid. No, this was just an aunty visit. That satisfied her feelings of fair play, and she hummed as she flew. Of course, it might be terribly awkward, but Marie is so cute. And he might not even be home. But Bobby had given her an amused look and said 'Take a chance. Or maybe you're too chicken?' when he had spotted her dithering, and Rogue would not tolerate the thought of Bobby Drake laughing at her. Her memory and sense of direction didn't fail, and very soon she was peeking in through the window to see if anyone was home. So she told herself. The fact that she could see the light and from the other side of the street somehow slipped her mind.

The view was a horribly satisfying mixture of pleasure and pain. With all the light on the inside they couldn't see her, and she hovered silently without fear of being heard. Remy was dancing with a gorgeous blonde, who was giggling madly. With effortless grace, he swung her in a full circle. This was facilitated by the fact that her little blue sneakers were more than three feet off the ground.

"Mommy! Come watch me an' Uncle Wemy dancing!"

Vedis came in from another room, stretching quietly. "I'm watching, honey." She leaned against the wall, smiling.

The music finished. "Mommy's turn!" Marie burbled happily. "You dance wif Uncle Wemy."

"Alright. What sort of dance?"

"Mango dance!"

Vedis and Remy looked at each other and tried not to laugh. "Y' mean de tango, petite."

"Whatever." Marie ran over and changed the CD. "Dance!"

So Vedis and Remy did the tango, which Marie enjoyed. Rogue didn't like it so much. It looked like a scene from a Christmas movie, all golden light and pretty music. What were you thinkin', girl? You don't belong, he's moved on. You're the one who kidded yourself for years, that you were so irresistible he'd always be there. You sure had a high opinion of yourself. Eyes clouding, she left.

"Bobby? Next time, keep your big mouth shut."

He looked up in surprise. "Rogue? That wasn't very long."

"Let's just say I didn't wanna intrude on them playin' happy families." She stormed away. Bobby sighed. Some people were just determined to be unhappy. Or maybe… what was it Cecilia had said the other day? Some people are just afraid of being happy.

"So how's my little girl doing?" Raven leaned down and picked Marie up, enjoying the feel of a little person with little huggy arms. Graydon had never been this affectionate.

"Eddie caught a mouse! But he left it on the floor and mommy sweared at him."

"Oh, that must have been exciting."

"Yup! 'Specially for mommy."

"I bet it was." Raven looked over at Vedis and grinned.

Vedis made a face. "I had to step on its tail first thing in the morning, didn't I? Uugh. Gross."

Raven put Marie down again, and she ran off to find Eddie. "So how's my other little girl?"

"She seemed good. I wasn't expecting miracles, but it's a start." Seeing Raven's casual look around, Vedis smiled. "He's out, we can talk as much as we want. Marie knows not to repeat things."

"Good. Not that I wouldn't saw it even if he was here, it just means we'll get less defensive interruptions." They wandered into the kitchen, knowing without speaking that cake and coffee were what was required for this conversation.

"So what's your position on that whole… thing?" Vedis ignored the proverb and stared fixedly at the kettle. If she didn't intimidate it properly it'd take all day.

"Don't really have one. If they sort it out, they sort it out, if they don't then they don't. But I've been waiting for some sort of definitive closure for about five years now, and I'm getting a little impatient."

"Not to mention bored."

"That too." Raven hated being bored.

"Oh well, I have perfect faith."

"In what?"

"In life's tendency to continue. Something will have to happen eventually, so why worry about it? I've done my bit, stupid if kind as that probably was."

Raven watched in unconcealed amusement. "What you're really thinking is 'after what that bastard pulled on me he can work out his own stupid relationship'."

"Not at all." Vedis absently stole an icing rose, the picture of calm. "It was 'since the prick thinks he's so good at fixing my life he can sort out his own bloody problems, see if I care'. But what's new in your life?"

"Oh, same old same old. Go to exotic locations, meet strange and irritating new people and rip them off. Angel's apparently stopped caring about whatever it was you did, now that he actually knows you."

"No, he knows Julia. Sort of. He's never met the Huntress in his life. Vedis he wouldn't recognise either."

"If Vedis used her baseline form for once Remy wouldn't recognise her."

"Wht makes you think I even have a baseline, Raven? I might just be some sort of blob."

"Okay, you're a blob. But we look at Marie and discover that you're a blonde blob with a definite sex, and you get less blob-like."

"And how did you reach those insecure little conclusions?"

"If you didn't have a sex she'd have whatsisname's syndrome and be shorter. She's blonde, therefore she got a blonde gene from you. Since you're genetically engineered you're homozygous and your alleles are the same, so you have two blonde genes. Therefore, you must have fair hair."

"I was in a blonde form when she was concieved, so there. Doesn't prove anything."

"Yes it does, darling. I wasn't blue when Kurt happened, but he inherited it. I was in a me form, and he lookes like me. You were in a you form, Marie looks like you."

Vedis looked down at her coffee and smiled a tiny little smile. "She doesn't look that much like me. Okay, my genes show, but don't think you'd recognise me by her. If people don't realise that you're Nightcrawler's mother then there's no way anyone would connect Marie and… that other me-ish shape."

"How long has it been since you went back to it?"

Vedis looked thoughtful. "About… wow, nearly eleven years."

"I'd never be able to stand it. How can you be someone else for so long? Don't you ever even want to stretch in your own body?"

"I'm not anyone else, I'm still me like this." She pointed to herself, currently the slacking-off face. "It's my body no matter what it looks like, the shape it had when I first got to know it doesn't change that. What it does change is my mood. That body how I looked as a slave, and I don't like it." She drank some more and looked out the window. "I doubt it'd even feel comfortable after all this time," she said softly.

Raven wasn't fooled. Staying out of your own intrinsic shape for a long time put a lot of strain on your cells. For some people it was easier than it was for her, but is still wasn't natural. Not comfortable my blue behind. It's always comfortable, that's why it's your body. She's just got some little hang-up about it, and is going to hold off for as long as she possibly can. Then one day it'll all catch up with her and she'll change, no matter where she is or what she does. After that… chances are she won't be able to shift for ages, if ever. It was a horrible thought, being betrayed by your own body and losing you ability to make it do what you wanted. Come ON, Vedis. You don't need to do this to yourself. Do what we all do, pick yourself up out of the mud and get on with your life. "Vedis, if you don't go back once in a while your body will change by itself. It's like going to the toilet, you can only hold it for so long then it's taken out of your hands. The difference is, you know that you'll be able to shit again, but you might not be able to shift. Your body wasn't supposed to do what you're doing to it."

"I don't believe you."

"You'd better believe it, honey. Even if it doesn't trash you shape-shifting permanently, you won't be able to do it until your body recovers, which would be quite a while."

"I'll think about it."

"Do whatever you want. I'm not some little X-Man who'll make you do something for your own good. You're a nice girl and a good mercenary, so I've warned you. It isn't going to affect anyone except you very much, so why should I care whether you chose to keep your silly little phobia or not?" Raven laughed at her expression. "It's so cute the way you like to believe that everyone you like isn't as selfish as you know we are."

"Rogue! Phone for you!"

Rogue went into the Professor's empty office to use the phone there. Cyclops was the one who used it now but it was still the Professor's office, even if he had been off with Lilandra for more than a year. She put her hand over the mouthpiece and called out the door. "Got it!" She kicked the door shut and brought the piece of soon-to-be-obsolete office equipment up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Rogue? It's Vedis."

"Hi." If she was a little less than enthusiastic, Vedis didn't mention it.

"I know it's short notice, but I wondered if you'd be interested in looking after Marie for a few hours tomorrow. She'd love you to."

Rogue was silent for a minute. Vedis sounded a little uncertain, almost worried. Maybe… well, she'd be a fool to throw away a promising friendship, plus Remy wouldn't be there. And for a few hours she could pretend. "Okay. When?"

"Great. Umm, about eleven thirty? I should be home by three. I really hate to dump her on you like this, but something came up that I can't avoid."

"I understand. See you tomorrow."

"Okay. Thanks!"

Rogue sat behind the desk, staring at nothing much and wondering what on Earth she was doing with her life.

"Here's Remy's work number in case something happens, don't mind the cat, gotta go, bye!"

And so at exactly eleven thirty-three Rogue was standing all by herself with a small child. It was then that she remembered she didn't know much about looking after them, but Marie seemed perfectly comfortable.

"Well, um, what do ya wanna do first?"

Marie looked thoughtful, then her eyes brightened. "Let's watch the Lion King!"

"Okay." Rogue smiled. This would be easier than she thought.

"Goodie! Mommy an' Uncle Wemy won't let me watch it when they're home."

Rogue frowned. That was odd. "Why is that?"

Marie sighed as one accepting a great burden. "Uncle Wemy says that if he hears 'Hakuna Matata' one more time he's gonna go insane and run frough the Disney studios wif a machine gun. I like it."

"Oh." What could she say to that?

They'd finished the video, had lunch and were playing Hungry Hippos when someone came in the front door. Rogue, conditioned by years of living under the terrorist label, leapt into combat readiness and ran to see who it was.

Remy slipped his coat off and froze. A familiar presence tingled up his spine and he sighed. "Hello, Rogue."

"Remy? Ah wasn't expectin'… Vedis didn't say…"

"I got off early."

"Uncle Wemy!" Marie ran in and did a flying leap into his arms. "Didja bring me anything?"

Uncle Remy hugged her tightly and kissed on the forehead. "Sorry petite, nothin' today." His eyes closed and he rested his cheek on the tousled blonde curls with a sigh.

"That's okay. Me 'n Aunty Wogue watched the Lion King and played Hungry Hippos!"

"Really?" Remy opened his eyes and looked at Rogue, a small smile tugging at his mouth. "Fresh prey, non? Someone who hasn't had a chance t' realise how annoyin' dey are? How nice for you, petit."

Rogue gave a slightly timid smile in return. "Ah'm beginnin' to get the idea."

"Jus' be glad you didn't have t' deal wit' monsters."

"Monsters?" Rogue looked so confused and nervous that Remy had to laugh.

"De under-de-bed kind. Except Marie's live in de empty top cupboard."

"Not any more." Marie declared proudly. "Uncle Wemy scared them away! Uncle Wemy can be weally scawy at night." She nodded wisely. "I fink he was scawier that the monsters were." Remy looked slightly sheepish.

"Really? What did he do?"

Marie began to dramatically tell the story. "The monsters were gonna eat me. So I made a wun for it and got Uncle Wemy. I had to jump on him to wake him up, and then I had to push him off the bed to make him get up."

"I'd worked late, an' only been asleep for an hour." Remy felt like he should try and defend himself somehow. Marie ignored him.

"But he said he'd get the monsters for me, so we went back and turned on the light. He twied ta say that there wasn't any because you couldn't see any, but everyone knows that monsters wun away when you turn the light on."

"Well of course they do. Otherwise any ol' person could see them." Rogue smiled.

"Ezzackly. But they come wight back, so I said that and Uncle Wemy got angwy. He went into the kitchen, gotted a han'ful of nuts, turned the light off and waited for the monsters to come back. When I said they were back, he opened the cupboard, made the nuts glow an' frew them in. They made lots of little bangs! Then he slammed the door shut on the smoke and yelled. He said that if they didn't nasty-word-I'm-not-'lowed-ta-say off then he'd use bricks next time!" Marie smiled proudly. "An' they've never been back since!" Rogue laughed. Remy looked hurt.

"You find dat funny? You try bein' woke up four nights in a row an' see how diplomatic you feel."

"Oh, Ah probably woulda been worse." She smiled. Then she remembered that they weren't friends anymore and looked away, feeling flustered. "Ah… suppose Ah should go then."

"Hey!" Marie pouted. "You said we could go to the playground!"

"But your Uncle Remy's home now, hon. We'll go to the playground next time."

"Don't wanna go next time. Wanna go now!" She was obviously working herself up to a really good tantrum. "You promised!"

"I'm sure 'Aunty' Rogue will still take you. I don' mind." Remy threw Rogue a look. The joking of before was gone, now he was challenging her. Daring her to break a promise she'd made to his darling. "But only if y' stop yellin'." Marie quieted down immediately.

"Sowwy. Will you?"

"Of course." Rogue rose to the bait. He wanted to test her? Fine. "Now Uncle Remy can come too."

"Of course." The urbane manner never slipped, and his eyes were back to their normal inscrutable selves. Rogue could have kicked herself. She'd expected him to make some sort of excuse, now they'd just continue sniping at each other the whole time. But maybe she'd get a clue about whatever it was that she'd said to set him off.

The walk seemed endless, all the polite conversation had razor edges. But they arrived eventually, and Marie ran off to play with a group of other children, leaving her supervising adults in uncomfortable silence.

Rogue gave up and sat down on a swing, rocking gently and making useless wishes. She wished Marie hadn't made such a big deal of it. She wished she'd never agreed to the playground in the first place. She wished Remy hadn't come home early. She wished she'd never come at all. She wished he'd just say something! "What the hell is with you, anyway?!"

Remy jumped and looked at her in surprise, which rapidly faded to anger. "Me? Me?! I was fine 'til you pranced in, expectin' me to forget an' accept your perfect right t' be dere!"

"Ah did not! Ah did this," Rogue took a deep breath to calm herself and tried to sound rational, "as a favour because Ah like Vedis and Marie. Just your ego, assumin' everything Ah do has somethin' t' do with you!"

"It does have something t' do wit' me! I live dere!"

"Ah thought we were gettin' along okay. We were, then suddenly you decided Ah wasn't good enough. What made you do goddamn shitty all of a sudden?"

"De 'next time'. De t'ought of you becomin' a permanent fixture wasn't really dat appealing. You t'ink you can jus' pretend all dat history never happened?"

"Ah apologized. What more do you want?" Rogue sat back and folded her arms. She was sulking and probably looked ridiculous, but didn't care.

"What more do I want?" Remy laughed self-mockingly. Then took two short, tight steps, leaned forward and held onto the chains of her swing, pushing her back a little so that they were eye to eye. It was ridiculous of course, she was much stronger than he was. But still she felt a little intimidated, because he didn't look like he cared. "Oh yes, what more could I possibly want. Don' be so naïve!" He pulled away again and the swing lurched, Rogue squeaked as she nearly fell on her backside. Remy jerked an impatient hand through his hair, a devil-may-care gleam in the red eyes. "I loved you! An' God help me I still do. So what I want, is you either out of my life so I can try t' forget you, or…" He paused for a second and smiled humorlessly. "Well, in my bed would be a nice start." Without waiting to hear an answer or even see her reaction he turned on his heel and stalked towards Marie.

"You bastard!" Rogue jumped up and went to storm off herself. Then she noticed that most of the nearby parents were staring at her, and she realised how loud they must have been. "What are y'all looking at?" She glared around at them all, and they all looked down in embarrassment, or tried to restart their conversations. "And they say no one pays any attention in New York…"

Marie had to run to keep up, her uncle's legs were bigger than she was. She wondered what he and Aunty Rogue had had a fight about, then gave it up. She'd ask her mother, she always knew. But Marie had had enough of running, and stopped. Remy turned to look at her, and gave her hand a little tug. She shook her head resolutely. With a sigh and a muttered curse he swung her onto one hip and kept walking. Marie watched the ground roll away with interest, she'd had no idea he could walk that fast. It was actually rather fun, so she was a little disappointed when they arrived a few minutes later and he put her down.

"Remy? You got home early." Vedis smiled at him, then frowned as he just glared back and marched into his bedroom.

Knowing he was being childish and petty, Remy slammed the door after himself. Maybe he could just stay in there for the rest of his life. He sat down on his bed and stared across the room at the mirror, looking assessingly into his reflected eyes.

"You are a bastard. She didn' deserve dat, an' Vedis deserved it less. She never been anyt'ing but nice to you." His reflection nodded in agreement. "You just had t' try an' hurt her, didn't you? Did it make y' feel good 'bout y'self?" The mirror Remy shook his head sadly. "Let dat be a lesson to you. Jus' because you feel bad don' give you de right t' spread it around. You know what you should do now." Nod. "Get it over wit'." No movement. "Come on, y' embarrassin' me." He got halfway up, then sat down again. "Okay, one step at a time. Vedis." That worked. He got up and went out, finding Vedis in the kitchen. She raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"Well?"

"I'm sorry, chere."

"Thank you." She smiled, just to show that she wasn't really angry. "Want to tell me about it?" He did, feeling a little squirmy at the end. She gave him the reproachful look that he decided all women must be secretly taught somewhere. "That was cruel. But I suppose it's partly my fault, and I apologize. I had no idea it would bother you that much, I just needed someone to look after Marie, and no one else could do it. Besides, Rogue looked like she needed a some unconditional, accepting little-kid love."

"She does. It was bad luck, not dat I really believe in it."

"But if it wasn't bad luck, it must have been fate."

"Which hates me." Remy sat there. Vedis didn't reply, she just looked at him expectantly. "What? You not gon' argue wit' me on de nature of fate?"

"No, because you tried to draw me into that deliberately. Which means you're trying to delay something you should do. What is it?"

Remy sighed and stood up. "I have t' go apologize."

Vedis' eyebrows shot up. "You are going to go there and apologize to Rogue? My Lord, you're braver than I thought."

"Please don' make me t'ink 'bout it. I'm jus' prayin' dat Joseph don' answer de door."

All the way there Remy alternated between guilt and unreasoning terror. He nearly turned around several times, but eventually he pulled up in front of the familiar gates. For a few minutes, he forgot why he was there and just looked. He really hadn't spent that much time there at all, but so much had been crowded into it. So much to remember. He held onto the bars and rested his head against the metal, letting it all wash over him. He hadn't been back for four years. It hadn't changed, no matter how many times it was rebuilt, there was still that sense of past, a long chain of years spent watching over one family. Maybe the last of that line was a little more… rambunctious, but there that didn't really matter. One had to respect a place like that. Remy had seen a lot of old, grand houses in his time, but this one had always had something special that he'd loved. As he easily disconnected a few important wires and climbed over the gate, Remy felt inexplicably that it had missed him too, and was welcoming home its prodigal son. He skipped around the security system, mentally sighing. They were too predictable. Then he was standing in front of the huge front door, feeling like a small boy who has accidentally hit his baseball through a neighbor's window. Renewing his prayers that Joseph wouldn't answer, he knocked.

"Yes?" Bishop said, wondering why the alarms hadn't gone off. Remy yelped and dived sideways. Bishop jumped.

"Ah… is Rogue here?"

"I believe so. I will ask her if she wishes to come down." Bishop carefully closed the door, leaving Remy on the outside. If he was as intelligent as he pretended to be, he'd realise it was better for everyone that way.

"Rogue? Gambit wants to talk to you." Bishop sighed. He felt rather stupid talking to a door, but he wasn't going to open it and give her the opportunity to throw things.

"Well Ah don't feel like settin' mahself up for his temper again." There was a heart-rending snuffle, which Bishop ignored.

"He wouldn't come here to pick a fight, you'd have the advantage. It must be something else."

"Really?" She sounded curious. Bishop couldn't figure out why he cared if they talked or not, then logic came through. If they made some sort of truce, maybe Rogue would stop being so angry and not throw heavy breakables. Other people's cars, for example. Life was very nervous with her in this mood.

"He looked thoroughly cowed."

"Good." The door opened, revealing Rogue at her tragically injured best. "Where is he? Ah want a look."

"He's on the front steps."

Rogue casually strolled down the hall and looked out one of the front windows. Remy was sitting down, looking at the grounds and smoking. He was also looking like a repentant puppy. Rogue sighed. She was still angry at him, but he looked so cute. And very sorry. Well, if he groveled enough maybe she'd forgive him. So she wiped her eyes, just to make sure they were still red, and flew down. Remy looked up, even though she knew she hadn't made any noise. That was one of the mysteries that she'd always found so fascinating about him, but somehow no longer had the same effect. Maybe it was because he didn't look so self-assured and darkly dangerous anymore. If she had ever asked, Remy would have told her that he knew when she was around because of the hormone rush, but she never had.

"Well? Ya got somethin' to say for yourself?"

"Yeah." Remy exhaled the last of the smoke and squashed the butt under one boot. "I jus' came t' say dat I'm sorry for what I said. You didn't deserve dat, it was just me bein' an asshole."

"It hurt. You know about me an' touching people, you just dumped a whole heap of pressures on me that Ah don't need." That had to be clear, even if she did forgive him.

"But you can touch people now." By the tone of his voice that was somehow bothering him, although she couldn't think why.

"Yeah, but that don't mean Ah'm gonna jump the first guy Ah take a fancy to!"

"I guess not. It easy to forget dat you missed so much."

"Easy for you, maybe." Rogue pushed away the self-pity. She had a chance to rebuild her life now, feeling sorry for herself would just waste it.

"Poor belle." Rogue looked up, then realised he wasn't making fun of her or even pitying her. He felt bad for her. There was a world of difference. He reached out one bare hand, then stopped. "It okay to touch you, chere?" The old endearment sounded very nice, she'd missed it. One hand reached into her pocket and flicked the little switch that made such a big difference in her life.

"Is now." The hand tentatively breached the gap and lightly brushed her cheek. Her skin tingled in a barely remembered sensation, and she sighed happily. She brought her own hand up to cover his and leaned her cheek into it, eyes closed. Now that the first one was imprisoned, the other hand had to do the exploring. His right hand brushed her face, then stroked over her hair. Then it gently settled under her hair against her neck, thumb softly stroking the sensitive spot underneath her ear. Rogue shivered and opened her eyes. When had he moved closer? Whenever it had happened, they were now about six inches apart and he was staring at her. He looked as if he were trying to commit every detail to memory, and it was making her self-conscious. She pulled away. "Well, Ah guess Ah forgive ya." Her voice quavered slightly, like the rest of her.

"Merci." Remy was now feeling as uncomfortable as she looked, and he put his hands into his pockets to stop them shaking. But there was one little thing. "Could y' do me a small favour, chere?"

"What?"

Instantly suspicious, as always. Remy sighed and looked around. "Show me 'round de grounds a little? I missed de old place."

"Ah guess." Rogue was a little surprised, but what was the harm? She started to walk around the house. They walked in silence, except for occasionally pointing out an old landmark, or a new one. They stopped at the lake, out of sight of the boathouse on a little track that no one except Rogue and sometimes Wolverine ever used. Remy sighed and smiled as he leaned against a convenient tree.

"Some t'ings never change. Still a beautiful place wit' more beautiful women." That was a flash of the old Remy, apparently the penitence had worn off.

"And you're still too charmin' for ya own good."

"Would y' wan' it any different?"

"Oh I wouldn't take your little emotional shield away from ya, sugah." He looked surprised, and off balance, and Rogue smiled. For once, she could push him. "Don't try to look innocent, Ah know that that's part of your little way of keeping the real you separate from the rest of this nasty ol' world." Remy looked guilty as he stared over the water, refusing to meet her eyes directly. "But don't worry, Ah won't tell anybody." Now that she'd had the satisfaction, she could let him off the hook. Remy smiled at her, a sudden, genuine smile. If this hadn't been Remy she was describing, she'd have called it sunny. He squeezed her hand briefly in thanks, which made her knees go shaky, then stopped holding up the tree and brushed himself off.

"Time t' go, I t'ink."

"Ah guess so." Rogue felt both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed because he was going and she wouldn't get any more fluttery feelings, and relieved because they could get out of the emotional minefield. Of course, then they reached the gate and had to run through that last stretch.

"Well… 'bye." It sounded terribly ineffectual.

Remy wasn't worrying about it. "Goodbye, Rogue." He kissed her lightly as he might have done with any other close female friend and slipped out the gate. Neither of them looked back.

Two minutes later Bishop came out the front door, looked around carefully, then dashed forwards and swept up the cigarette butt. Even though he hadn't seen it he'd known it was there. Satisfied, he hurried back inside, successfully hiding compulsive tidiness once again.