Street Livin’ - REVIEW THIS STORY

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

Chapter 13

“It’s kinda cold tonight,” Rogue whispered as Remy sat down next to her. Both had their legs dangling over the side of the roof.

“Jus’ a bit. How y’ feelin’?”

Rogue shrugged. “Hard ta say. This power is so confusin’.”

“Dat it is. We should pro’bly tell dem in de mornin’ what happened.”

She scoffed. “Sure, so they can put me ta sleep again an’ poke at mah mind?”

“Dey wouldn’ do dat two days in a row, would dey?”

Another shrug from Rogue. “Can we just keep this ta just the two of us? Ah’ll try mah best ta keep it under control, Ah promise.”

“Chere, dat’s like me promisin’ dat m’ own powers won’ happen randomly.”

“Ah wanna do it on mah own though!”

He looked her straight in the eyes. “Rogue, how long y’ been doin’ t’ings f’r y’ own, eh? Let someone else take the responsibility. Dis is y’ time t’ jus’ start over an’ relax.”

Rogue broke the eyes contact as her bottom lip began to quiver. “That ain’t fair, Remy.”

“What ain’t fair?”

“So what if Ah want ta do this on mah own? It’s mah power, mah head, an’ Ah don’t want anyone invadin’ it jus’ ta find out stuff that Ah already know.”

He peered at her profile quizzically. With his one power he hadn’t tested much, the one he felt back in his old room, he reached out to Rogue. Felt her quickened heartbeat, her raspy breaths, and her fear. “P’tite,” he asked softly. “What’re y’ afraid of?”

“That they’ll know me inside out befoh Ah can even start ta get things tagether on mah own,” she responded in a small voice. “They’ll know everythin’ from Victor an’ Momma an’ where Ah hid the liquor from her an’ mah hidin’ spot in the tree three houses down from mah house an’ everythin’ they ain’t supposed ta know without me tellin’ them. Ah don’t want them ta know. Ah don’t want anyone ta know.” A silence hung over the pair for a few moments. “Ah didn’t even want you ta know,” she added almost inaudibly.

“Why?”

She sniffled. “’Cuz now Ah’m just this li’l jaded girl that everyone should feel sorry foh. Ah don’t wanna be that way. Ah just wanna be a regular kid. Now Ah have this power… it doesn’t help at all!” She smashed her fist on the roof in a sudden burst of anger. “Why did this happen ta me?!”

Remy quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Rogue, c’mon, shh, y’ gon’ wake ev’ryone up an’ den we gon’ be in a big mess.” She struggled for a second before relaxing.

“Why, Remy? Why did this happen ta me? What did Ah ever do wrong ta have this life?”

“I don’ have de answers f’r any of dose questions,” he answered truthfully. What was the point of feeding her a bunch of processed unoriginal knowledge on the facts of life? Instead, he added, “don’ ever t’ink y’ alone, dough.”

“Ah know… ‘cuz you’ll be there, raht?” She asked him, her voice tinged with hope.

“’Course. I’ll never leave y’, remember dat.”

“Ah will.” Awkward silence enveloped them for a few moments until Rogue spoke again. “Tell me what it was like on yoah own, Remy.”

He sighed. He really didn’t want to relive his lonely life, but he knew so much about Rogue and he was still a mystery in her eyes. “Y’ wan’ hear ‘bout de orphanage or de streets?”

“Orphanage.”

He bit back another sigh. Sometimes he couldn’t decide what was the worst part of his life: the orphanage or the streets. Either way, it was going to be hard to talk about openly. “I got t’ de orphanage when I was almost one. My maman had me, saw m’ eyes an’ booked. She left me on some bus terminal about a week after I was born. Some good Samaritan turned me into de chil’ren’s hospital. I stayed dere a bit, too. When no one claimed me after ten months or somet’in’ like dat, dey put me in de orphanage.

“I kinda grew up on m’ own, y’ know how kids are.”

“They saw yoah eyes an’ kept their distance?”

“Oui. Dey got a kick out of callin’ me de son of Satan. On Halloween dey wouldn’ dare go near me since I ‘had de power t’ bring my pere from Hell an’ make him eat dem’. Really unbelievable crap like dat. Dey were de ones who told me ‘bout m’ bein’ found at de station so I don’ even believe dat most o’ de time, but it’s de only story I got.”

“Was anyone nice ta you? Didn’t ya have any friends?”

“I had a couple adults dat looked out f’r me, but dat was it.”

“They were the only ones that kept ya from bein’ bullied? Till ya ran away?”

“Oui.” He fell silent after that.

Rogue watched his eyes dim as he somberly sighed. Carefully, she reached her arms up to his left one surrounding her. She hugged the arm closer to herself. “Ah’ll never leave ya alone jus’ because yoah eyes are different.”

“I know, p’tite. Merci.”

She smiled and cuddled more into his arm. “Remy?”

“Hmm?”

“… How’re we gonna get down from here?”

“Umm…” He glanced over the edge and saw Logan walking about. “First,” he said in a much more hushed voice than before. “We’re gon’ get ‘way from de edge because Logan’s out.”

Rogue nodded mutely and followed his lead. They quietly pulled their legs up from the gutter and shuffled backwards to a safe distance. “Now what,” she hissed.

“Still t’inkin’… unless you’ve got an idea.”

She shrugged sheepishly. “We could jus’ stay up here ‘till mornin’.”

“Somet’in’ tells me we get wake up calls here, door t’ door. We need t’ make it back t’ y’ room.”

“Raht… is climbin’ outta the question?”

“Not yet… too bad Kitty’s all de way downstairs.”

“Why?”

“Y’ could take her powers an’ get us t’ y’ room real quick.”

“Wait!” she exclaimed a bit loudly. She clasped her hands over her mouth and whispered “sorry”.

Remy glanced over the edge and saw Logan staring right back up at him. “Merde.” He quickly retreated from the edge. “I hope dat idea o’ y’rs s good because we’ve been spotted.”

“Ya know how Ah brought up yoah powers by accident befoh? What if Ah tried really hard an’ brought up Kurt’s?!” She was practically giddy with the thought of it.

“G’head, chere. If y’ t’ink y’ c’n.”

“Ah know Ah can.” She closed her eyes and thought of her brother. Mah brother is so smart an’ brave too… Ah wish Ah was wish him all those years when Victor - - Okay, thinkin’ like that was get me nowhere - - Kurt, blue, tall, furry, mah best friend growin’ up, even if Ah barely saw him… smart, taught me everythin’ Ah know - - Kurt, Kurt, Kurt - - She tried and tried to find his shadow in her head.

Finally, she saw a glimmer of royal blue that could only be his skin color. “Ah think Ah’ve got it, Remy…” He slinked his hand into hers. Kurt… Kurt… Kurt… wish Kurt was there… would’ve kept me safe from Victor… She chanted over and over in her head, her mind unconsciously linking her to Kurt…

BAMF!

They dropped from midair with a small ‘oomph’. “…Rogue… where are we at?” Remy let go of her hand as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. They were sitting on something soft.

“Ah don’t know…” She gasped as a figured moved abruptly in front of her.

“Who’s there?”

Rogue’s jaw dropped. “Kurt?”

“Beth?” He caught himself. “Rogue - - what’re you doing in here?”

“Ah’m still tryin’ ta figure that out.”

“…Why does it smell like brimstone right now? I haven’t teleported in hours.” He glanced to the clock. “You should be in bed! If Xavier finds out-“

“He won’t find out,” she said harshly. “Ah mean, ya’re not gonna tell, are ya?”

“Of course not. But he’s a telepath, remember?”

Rogue just shrugged in the darkness. She glanced to Remy. “Ya ready ta go?”

“We walkin’?”

She nodded. “Ah don’t feel like Ah have another in me.”

“How did you get here?” Kurt asked, not ready to believe what she was about to say.

“Ah teleported,” Rogue answered casually as if she were saying what color shirt she was wearing.

“… I thought I heard the others say it was temporary?”

“Dey t’ought wrong. Rogue wants t’ keep dis part quiet, too…”

“Dammit, Sis… you shouldn’t have been like this.” Rogue heard him curse again under his breath. “It’s my fault.”

“Wait… How is this yoah fault?”

“I should’ve been there for you… taken you up here with me so you weren’t facing this by yourself. I guess if I wasn’t there to see it that it couldn’t have been true… God.” Remy watched the elf bury his head in his three-fingered hands. “I prayed for you every day, I swear.”

Rogue bit her lip. “Kurt… Ah, don’t, Ah mean… it’s not yoah fault. Things happen foh a reason, raht? Isn’t that what they teach you at church?”

“You mean His purpose for everything?” He laughed bitterly. “I’ve never believed that with this appearance.”

“But y’ said before –“

“Yeah, being among friends make it better, but don’t you ever wonder why you couldn’t have brown eyes instead of red? Just think how different life could have been. It’s not something I brood about constantly, but when I’m alone watching others…”

Rogue swallowed the lump that had unknowingly formed in her throat. “Kurt… Ah…” Her eyes had by then adjusted to the dark and she could slightly see Kurt’s dark blue fur and the sheen of his golden eyes. She leaned up a tiny bit to wrap him in a hug. “Ah never thought how hard it could’ve been foh ya. The three of us have just had it pretty bad, heh?”

“Y’ c’n say dat ‘gain.”

She smiled despite herself. “Ah know you two from the inside-out now, an’ both of ya are more than blue fur and demon eyes.” She reached her other hand out towards Remy. He took her hand and squeezed it.

“I missed you, Bethany,” Kurt murmured into her hair. Rogue didn’t dare correct him. The moment would be ruined if she did.

After a few peacefully silent moments, Kurt asked, “Are you ready to go back?”

“Yeah,” Rogue yawned. She’d only been awake a few hours and the effort of her powers had drained her considerably.

Kurt nodded to Remy, who in turn said, “Ready.”

The demon-looking teen shut his eyes and though of Rogue’s room.

BAMF!

Remy and Rogue landed softly on her bed with a small bounce. “Goodnight,” Kurt whispered before he teleported away.

Rogue fell asleep shortly after the return to her room. Remy with nothing to do but listen to Rogue breathe gently, laid on his back beside her and tried to make sense of her new life. Needless to say, he didn’t get far before he, too, fell asleep.