Disclaimer:As ever, everything's Marvel's, except Xav and my imagination :D
Remy tore his gaze away from the star of the Shi'ar homeworld, and back to Rogue, who was staring at him. Her eyes wandered down to his cheek, and she lifted a gloved finger, and ran it over the star-marking there. She shook her head.
"Ah don't beleive it," she whispered. Remy cocked his head, noticing Rogue blink at the avian gesture.
Remy smiled, sadly. "Why not, chere? Is it any big surprise, after ev't'ing else dats happened to de X-Men?"
Rogue shook her head. "The rest o' th' X-Men ain't you, shugah."
Remy wondered at that for a moment, their eyes locked. The momentwas then was interrupted as the little girl spoke up. "Mommy?" She was holding the gift-wrapped box to her chest, and looking confused, cornflower eyes filling with tears. Rogue knelt down to her, stroking a lock of hair from her face. "He looks like-"
"Ah know, honey. He is yoah daddy." Remy blinked, her words echoing in his ears. My daughter...? Feeling panicky and unsteady, he crouched down, hand on the ground to steady him. Was this some sort of extremely horrible joke? Or... He looked at the little girl with wonder. She did resemble him. His eyes used to be that shade of blue. And the hair. And he and Rogue had made love in Antarctica. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to breathe. When he opened them again, the girl flung her little arms around his neck. At that moment, Remy knew, without a doubt, that she was his. He had never felt so at home, never felt so accepted and so right. The panic dissolved as he smiled helplessly, a tear of joy running down his cheek. The little girl let him go to look at Rogue accusingly.
"You said Daddy was dead." Looking at Rogue's striken face, Remy answered for her, any past actions forgotten in his rush of joy in finding he had a family.
"She t'ought I was, cherie. I..." He wondered what to tell her about the last time Rogue had seen him. "I was in a real dangerous place, and would have died, but de Shi'ar saved me. D' y' know 'bout de Shi'ar?"
The little girl nodded. "Like what Auntie Lil is?" Remy nodded. "I seen pictures of her, and she got pretty marks like that." She touched Remy's cheek, and he smiled.
"My momma was Shi'ar," he said, and she nodded sagely, as though she understood. "An' I been on Lil's world f' de last four years. I didn' know 'bout you, dat's why I wasn't here. I wish I had been. I don' even know y' name."
"Xavia. An' Mommy and the X-Men have looked after me." She paused, then talked like she was sharing a secret with him. "But it would been better if you was there." Remy smiled, and looked up at Rogue. She was smiling, but her eyes looked sad. She met his eyes and the smile reached them.
"Ah'm glad ya okay, Remy. Ah-" she paused, and looked at Xavia, seeming to decide to wait until they were alone to talk, not wanting to upset the girl. Something seemed to catch her eye, and she stared in shock, standing. Remy turned, and saw Carol, looking similarly shocked, and angry. Before either of them could say a word and start a cat-fight, he slipped into Commander stance, and started.
"Carol, I tol' y' t wait wit' de ship." Carol turned her blue eyes from Rogue to look at Remy.
"I know, Remy. But Bishop told me you'd gone into the city, and I was worried about you. He's with the ship." She glared at Rogue again, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Carol." His tone was full of warning, and Carol didn't ignore it. He turned back to Rogue. "Chere, we need t' talk t' de X-Men. Lilandra needs y' help."
Rogue nodded slowly, and took the gift-wrapped box from her daughter and tucked it under her arm. "Alraht. Ah'll take ya. We were just gonna go home anyway." She took Xavia's hand, and the girl held her other one out to Remy, who took it with a grin. Glancing at Carol, she had an eyebrow raised. He raised his own in return, and she shook her head in exasperation.
Rogue lifted an arm with a bunch of keys in her hand, and a car beeped as it's alarm was taken off. Remy noticed it was a new car, a nice black Toyota. Whatever had happened, the X-Men still had money. Rogue unlocked the doors and got in. Xavia pulled Remy into the back with her, and Carol frowned and got into the front. Remy ignored the atmosphere and strapped his daughter in. He blinked at the thought. His daughter. And he hadn't been there for the first three years of her life. For a moment, he felt terribly guilty, then washed it away with the thought that he could be here now. If Rogue wanted it. He frowned. Maybe Rogue was with someone else, and they wanted to be her daddy. He shook his head. It was his daughter, and he loved her already. She seemed to like him, too. He'd have to talk to Rogue, he mused, and just hoped... Hoped what?
"What's it like were Auntie Lil lives?" Xavia asked, interrupting his train of thought, and looking up at Remy with curious blue eyes. "I think it be really pretty, with palaces and stuff."
Remy nodded. "Oui, dere is. It's a lovely place. Maybe y'd like to see t' see it one day?" Her eyes widened and she nodded, and hugged his arm.
"I'm glad you're okay, daddy." She said, and cuddled up to him. Remy's chest tightened, and he felt love for his newly found daughter fill him. He kissed her hair, and could practically feel Carol's curiosity. But more than anything, he felt happier and more content than he ever had in his life. They drove along for a while, until they reached a long, sparsly populated road.
"We moved outta the mansion because it wasn't safe. People knew where we were," Rogue began. "A... A lot o' things happened, and because of th' kids, we decided we needed to go somewhere safe. An' the new house is connected to the mansion by th' tunnels, so we can get there easy enough." Remy couldn't help wincing as the words pierced him like a blade of ice, and he gazed out of the window. Panic was threatening, as Remy wondered what the X-Men would think. Would they have forgiven him? And what would Rogue have told their daughter? As he watched out of the window, they approached a smaller than the mansion, but still large house with a large front garden. The car wound up the drive and pulled into a garage. Remy got out of the car, and at her behest, picked Xavia up. He swallowed thickly, and pushed all of his worries to the back of his mind.
"You okay, Remy?" Asked Carol, squeezing his arm reassuringly.
With a sigh, Remy nodded. "Oui. What ev' de reaction is, I have t' face dem, f' de sake o' de Empire." He caught Rogue looking at him curiously, and looked at her questioningly. She turned to Carol, and passed her a small card.
"This'll get ya into the house. Ah've no doubt Logan's smelled ya already. Could ya take Xav in?" Carol's eyebrows raised, and she looked at Remy, who nodded, and put Xavia down, and stroked her hair.
"Go wit' Carol, chere. I need t' talk t' y' Momma." Xavia looked unsure, then nodded and took Carol's hand. Taking a deep breath, Remy leaned against the bonnet of the car, and watched Rogue looking at him. She really was beautiful. Motherhood had, if anything, made her even more gorgeous. She was a bit curvier, and there was knowledge and wisdom in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Remy knew it wasn't all good, and knew that some of it was his fault. "How've you been, chere?" A stupid, pathetically facile question for what he meant, but it would do. She pursed her lips and sat on the bonnet beside him.
"Ah missed you, Remy." He closed his eyes at that, and felt the familiar ache in his chest.
"Oui, chere. I missed you too. More dan I can say."
"Ah... Ah don't even know what ta say. Ah'm sorry. Ah'm so sorry." She sobbed, and Remy opened his eyes and looked at her, startled. Of everything he could've expected, the last thing was an apology for abandoning him to die. "Ah tole Xav that ah hadn't been able ta help ya. Ah wanted ta believe it."
Remy mulled this over, and thought it was fair enough. In that situation, Remy would no doubt have done the same. But there was something else that gnawed at him. "What did y' tell her 'bout me?"
Rogue's foot traced a pattern on the concrete beneath, and the two of them watched, intruiged. "Ah told her the truth." She looked Remy in the eye. "Ah told her that you were a good man, who'd done some bad things, but that ah loved you with all mah heart." Her breath hitched as she sobbed. "Ah told her that the day ah left you, mah heart broke. An' it did, Remy." She stopped, overcome by tears. Remy closed his eyes, felt tears course down his own cheeks. How did he feel right now? He pushed all illusions aside, and saw the truth as he knew it.
"I forgive you, cherie. Never really blamed you." He wrapped his arms around her as they both cried, letting go of the past.
"What are ya gonna do, Remy?" He opened his eyes, surprised at the question.
"What d' y' want me t' do?" She pulled back, and looked deeply into his eyes.
"Ah want you ta stay here. Be a daddy ta Xav, and maybe..." Her voice trailed off, but Remy knew what she meant. Maybe they could have a relationship, ignore all the mess of the past and start afresh. Oh, he hoped so. How he hoped so.
"How 'bout after we sort out de Shi'ar Empire, we sort out our lives?" Rogue smiled, and nodded, clutching his hand.
"Sounds good ta me. Shall we?" She gestured at the door Carol had disapeared through. Remy paused for a minute, and Rogue rightly guessed at his frame of mind.
"Don't worry 'bout it, Remy. They were angry. But when we thought you were dead, they forgave you. It rained for weeks after." Rogue referrd to Storm's control over the weather, and the fact that it often reflected her mood. "She really loves you, ya know."
Remy nodded proudly. "She's like a sister t' me." Assured by her words, he squeezed her hand and they started off to meet the X-Men.