Memories of You

Chapter 4

-by Michiru

Rogue grabbed Remy's shirtfront, pushing her face in his.
"Ah! Ch�re!" His eyes widened dramatically.
"Don' ya 'Ch�re' me, sucker," Rogue growled. "Ya LIED ta me, ya rotten sonuva bitch! Y'all had the nerve ta lie ta me, lie ta ma face fer the last month. But, you ta lie ta me," her eyes flared eldritch green in anger, "That's unfergivable!"
"When did I lie, Rogue?" He asked, staying calm.
"What's going on?" Bobby asked, standing in the doorway. He was wisely keeping his distance. He had seen Rogue in some of her finer moods, and this was definitely one of the finest.
"Stay where y'are, Drake. When Ah'm done with this piece of human waste, Ah'll pick up with ya!" Rogue yelled.
Bobby's eyes widened, and he clutched his ice cream cone a little tighter.
"Rogue, Remy don't tink you have to call me 'uman waste," Remy said calmly.
"Yer right, LeBeau. Yer not even HUMAN. You took advantage of me. How long were ya tryin' ta time it, huh? How eager were ya ta git me in the sack? So eager that ya got the whole team ta lie ta me?"
"Rogue, Ch�rie, please, je ne comprende pas," Remy was trying to think fast. She found out something. Whoever told her would die.
"Oh, y'understand quite well, Cajun," Rogue smoldered.
Bobby slipped out of the room and ran for someone, anyone.

When Logan came into the room, Rogue was shaking the Cajun silly.
"Ya lied, lied, lied! Ya did' tell me 'bout ma powers! It's not a li'l thing, ya rotten scoundrel! Ya hid it from me! Ah'm just surprised it took ya this long ta git me in yer bed!" She was yelling at the top of her lungs.
Logan grabbed her arm, and pulled her away from Remy. The move was so unexpected, that she let go with a yelp, and was unresisting.
"You don't understand, Darlin'," he said, pushing her down on the sofa. "You don't know the whole story."
"Ah know what Ah know, Logan. Ah know that he didn' tell me a whole lot of stuff that Ah shoulda been told! That's ma life he was jerkin' around!"
"It wasn't just his decision, Rogue. It was the teams' decision not to tell you about that aspect of yourself," Logan looked calm and unruffled, hoping it would help Rogue calm a bit.
"Didja all have that li'l faith in me? That Ah couldn' handle the truth about maself?"
"Not little faith, Rogue. We have plenty of faith in you. But we've been there through it all, Rogue. Ororo, and I, we thought it best that you weren't given the news. You were happy. Really happy. For the first time. Is it any wonder we kept something from you that might hurt you? Make you unhappy?"
"Didn' ya think that maybe Ah deserved ta know? Didn' ya think someone outside the house might tell me?" She cried out. She furiously wiped at her eyes.
"We realized that might happen," Logan looked at her. "But we hoped it would be some time before it happened. Enough time that perhaps it wouldn't hurt you to find out."
"Surprise. It hurts. Ah thought y'all cared 'bout me," Rogue sniffed, tears rising in her eyes.
"Surprise is on you, Darlin'. We do care about you. That's why we did it. Yes, it's information about a great chunk of your life, but we believed you were better off without it. When this happened to you, we agonized over this decision. It was your life. But that's the reason we didn't tell you. It's your life, and you deserve to be able to put shit like this behind you. This was the ultimate way."
"Were y'ever gonna tell me?"
"Maybe, someday. If the power showed up again, maybe. Look, darlin', all we saw was that you were pretty chipper. Your power seemed gone. You could touch us. We could touch you. We can be as selfish as anyone. We were happy to see you happy. We didn't want to stop it. Your personality was affected, of course, but only in that the bitterness and hopelessness were gone.
"Can you really blame us? All you've ever hoped for is control of your power, or to have it totally gone. Well, you have that control. Just because you don't remember that wish doesn't mean that it's any less there."
He hands over her face, she sobbed. "Ah thought Remy..."
"No, Ch�rie," he touched her arm, gently.
"Don' touch me, Gambit. Ah'm still mad atcha."
"Ch�rie... Remy no mean to hurt you. Remy jus' couldn't tell you da truth."
"That's jus' the thing, Remy, sugah. Ah need ta know ye'll tell me the truth, even if it's gonna hurt. Till Ah can trust that ye'll do that, Ah think Ah'll just stay away from ya."
"Damn," he muttered. "You can't win, Gambit. She like a tap. Run hot, run cold, run hot, run cold...."
"Don' you go callin' me stuff like that, you damned Cajun! You LIED ta me!"
"I was told to. Dey want me to lie to you."
"Yer supposed to be ma lover, Remy. Yer supposed ta be the one who'll tell me anythin' Ah need ta know, whether Ah like it or not."
"Who told you, Rogue?" Logan asked, looking a touch peeved.
"I did," Mystique walked into the room.
"YOU!" Logan whirled around.
"Yes, Logan, me. Her mother," Mystique smiled almost ferally as she ran her fingertips over his cheek.
"Do you realize what you've done? You've made her miserable. Is that all you do? Go around making your children miserable? You're good at it."
"Oh, don't be stupid. I told her because it was her right to know. Now, are we going to fight every time we see each other?"
"Yes," he sounded grumpy.
"Omigawd..." Rogue looked startled. "Ah'm sorry! How'd ya get down?"
"A lady has her ways," Mystique laughed, then shifted herself into Angel's likeness, spreading the white wings slightly. She shifted back.
"Yer a... yer a..."
"A metamorph," Mystique finished for her. "I usually don't have the powers of the mutant I do, but I've practiced Angel a lot."
"You did this to her," Remy glared, eyes sparkling in anger.
"Actually, you did it. I was just the catalyst. Rogue, darling, I'd like to stay and help mop up, but I just got a call saying that I'm needed back at X-Factor HQ."
"Fuck up lives 'n run, n'est pas, Mystique?" Remy scowled.
"I'd reply, but I'm lady. Rogue, I'll call you soon," Mystique turned and walked out.
"Meddling creature...," Logan snarled.
"At least she told me. Ah'm goin' out."

She flew long and fast, in a direction only her instincts knew.
A tree standing next to a magnificent river looked as if it had stood against time forever.
Rogue, her back to the tree, relaxed slowly. The cypress trees slowly danced, the hot, humid breeze their partner. The water lapped at the shore, sparkling in the bright sun.
Rogue felt as much at home there as with the others.
"Ah guess Ah came here for some reason or another," she sighed to herself. "It's familiar. An' yer ma oldest friend," she patted the tree trunk.
"Perhaps it is," a familiar voice called.
"'Roro."
"I came to see how you were."
"Ah'll live."
"You came back here. Did you regain your memories?"
"No," Rogue shook her head. "Jus' found maself here. Is this a significant place?"
"You came here a lot as a child. It was your place to relax. It's a long way from New York."
"Ah needed ta get away. An Ah don' wanna talk about the lies anymore."
"I just need to say something. I don't believe they were lies. Maybe it was wrong to hide it from you, but Rogue, we love you. We want you to be at peace with yourself."
Rogue looked up, diamond tears glittering. "Ah keep cryin'."
"Then cry, little one. Allow yourself the luxury to feel better."
"Ya really think it's better that Ah didn' know?"
"At the time, we did. We were doing what we thought best. It wasn't an easy decision, Rogue, I promise you that. But we made it, and we take responsibility for that decision, Logan and I. You and I, we've been through so much together. You're part of my family. I want my family to be happy. Is that so hard to understand?"
"Oh, 'Roro!" Rogue launched herself into Ororo's arms, and cried.

end of Chapter 4