The Companion Picture - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Dandelion
Last updated: 12/03/2009 06:26:08 PM

Chapter 16

"One look of love and you may see,

it weaves a web over mystery,

all ravelled threads can rend apart..."

Remy sat looking at the ocean with a strange feeling deep in his soul. The woman he loved, the woman he lost, was sitting next to him. She looked beautiful and sincere and self-assured, and he felt empty inside.

He had nothing to give her that she didn't already have.

He looked at her again and opened his mouth to say something... anything. But the words never came. It wasn't as if he hadn't been practicing. A part of him so desperately wanted to believe that she would come back to him, that he continually played in his mind their reunion. It would be romantic and pure and *good*.

He couldn't seem to get anything to come out, though. <Why now?> He raged inwardly. <Why does everything fall apart when it matters the most?>

Rogue leaned her chin on her hand and regarded him with a slightly amused air. "Never seen you at a loss for words, Cajun."

"Whispering world, a sigh of sighs

The ebb and flow of the ocean tides,

One breath, one word may end or may start..."

Remy looked at her again and practically forced himself to say something. "What you doin' here, cherie?"

He could have kicked himself.

Rogue's eyebrow raised and her eyes flashed. "Ah know you didn't mean it like it sounded. But since Ah'm in a generous mood Ah'll answer your question. Ah came lookin' for you, you fool."

Remy cocked his head to one side, "You're right. I didn't mean it like it sounded. B'lieve me, chere, not'ing in dis miserable world could'a made me happier den seeing your face here. For real."

"You been dreamin' 'bout me, sugah? That's nice." Rogue's voice was seductive and smooth and unflinching. Remy could see she wasn't going to give an inch.

"Rogue --"

"No. None of that. You call me Brett, it's time Ah use my name again." She looked out at the blue horizon. "Been long enough. Haven't used it since Ah could touch."

"Your name is Brett?" Remy rather liked the sound of it. It was so Old South.

"Marjorie Brett, but Ah've always been partial to my middle name, so that's what you're gonna be callin' me. You call me Marjorie or anything like it, Ah'll fly away again and this time Ah *won't* come back."

Remy nodded, grinning. "You're not goin' to let me get away wit' anyt'ing, are you?"

Rogue's gaze was almost withering. "Ah let you get away with far too much as it is."

"Under the heavens we journey far,

on roads of life we're wanderers

So let love rise let love depart..."

He gazed at her appreciatively, "What happened to you, Brett? You not the same women what left me standin' in the rain in Seattle. You completely diff'rent."

"Not so different," she replied. "Just got myself together is all. Your devilish grin and sparklin' eyes aren't goin' to get you as far as they did before."

Remy leaned his chin on his hand, "Never got me very far as it was."

Rogue looked sideways at him with a light smile.

He sobered, knowing that if he was going to make any difference this time he had to tell her the truth, no matter how damaging.

He hadn't know what to do before, but seeing her now, smiling, offering him another chance, he knew he had to make things right. "I'm a traitor, Brett." He almost choked on the words, but he had to say it. He had to let her know now.

Her head whipped around, her eyes wide.

"What?"

"Sinister, he's comin' for me. He's the whole reason you were runnin'. He's the whole reason you ended up in Seattle. His theatre, his game, his mess, his scars. Everyt'ing you were afraid of was about him and what he done t'me, and what I let him do. He even found me after you left. Promisin' dat he'd make me pay up for what I owed him. Now, I'm runnin' away. Again." Remy took a deep breath. His chest hurt, he had held that in for so long.

"What did he make you do?"

Remy looked hard at the ocean. Did he have the strength to let go everything yet? No. Not even to himself. "Please, chere. Let me hold on to dat for a little while longer. I don' t'ink I'm ready to open up dat wound again."

Rogue looked at Remy, the words about Sinister sinking in. They came out in such a rush and with such raw, unfettered emotions behind them that her heart ached. She ached for him and his pain as surely as she feared for him.

He caught her sorrowful glance and ducked away. "I-I.. I don' wan' you t'hate me or feel sorry for me." His voice was low and almost sullen.

Rogue blinked back tears and offered a shaky smile. She reached forward and touched his arm. "Ah don't," she whispered. She cleared her throat and spoke louder, "Ah still love you, Ah just wanted you to know that."

He shook his head, "Cherie, you makin' a big mistake. I can't be trusted."

She shook him and forced him to look at her.

"Now, you listen here, Cajun. Ah'm sick and tired of finding every reason in the world *not* to be with someone Ah love. Sinister wants you, he's goin' to have to come through *me*, you understand? There is no way we're goin' to find quiet in all the chaos we live in, we have to fight for everything we get. Ah *want* to fight. Ah love you, Ah trust you, and Ah understand you. Once Ah stopped runnin' Ah was able to really feel what you felt.

"Our pasts do matter, we can't pretend that they don't. But Ah know that you're different now. You were with us all that time. You aren't the same as when you started."

"How you know, Brett?" Remy's eyes narrowed. "How you know I wasn't just settin' y'all up?"

"There are some things, Remy LeBeau, that you just can't fake."

Remy looked at Rogue for a long time. He looked for doubts in her eyes, but there were none. He looked for anger and judgment and saw neither. All he saw when he looked into her beautiful green eyes was someone who believed in him and was willing to fight for him.

Finally.

There was nothing in Rogue that looked down on him and the knowledge of that put something in him that had long ago been lost. And he would sooner let himself be dragged through nine hells before he let anyone hurt her again, himself included. "Je t'aime, ma cherie."

She smiled sweetly.

"Look to love and you may dream

And if it should leave then give it wings

but if such a love is meant to be

Hope is home and the heart is free."

"Now," he murmured, placing a hand over hers.

"Now would you mind tellin' me how is it you're touchin' my arm and not drainin' my powers and mem'ries?"

Rogue blushed, "You're not the only one who's been dealing with the past, sugah."

"I see dat, you gonna tell me what went on?"

"Maybe," Rogue's eyes sparkled. "If you smile real pretty."

He grinned, "Vixen."

"Scoundrel."

"Minx."

"Rake."

"Vamp."

"Knave."

He caressed her hair gently, "Rogue."

They leaned close to each other...

"This is so sweet I'm getting cavities," a voice intruded humorously.

"Magnus," Remy said, without looking up. "I know I've mentioned dis before, but you're timin' stink."

"You have mentioned it, but I thought for propriety's sake, I had best interrupt."

Rogue got up and pulled Remy after her. She studied Magnus curiously, yes, he *was* different. It was so strange seeing him act like a normal person.

She went up to him and stuck out her hand.

"Hi. Ah'm --"

"Rogue, yes, I know." Magnus shook her hand, firmly.

"You know?"

He nodded. "Aside from the fact that you are vaguely familiar to me, I'd know you anywhere after hearing hours upon hours of a certain love-sick friend of mine describing you in detail." He leaned forward and murmured conspiratorially to her. "He's quite taken with you, you know."

Rogue looked at Remy with a smug look, "Is he now?"

Remy rolled his eyes and took Rogue's other hand, drawing her closer to him. "All right, all right, you can embarrass me later. Did you find anyt'ing?"

"I got some names," Magnus patted an envelope in his pocket. "We can start our search tomorrow. I think for right now, we had best get a room for our new companion."

"Well," Remy looked at Rogue, hesitantly.

"Guess she'd best know what she may be getting into." He took a breath as they started back to the hotel, "Well, Magnus is looking for his past, see..."

"And you know it's time to go,

through the heat and driving snow

across the fields of mourning

to a light that's in the distance..."

"You're goin' *where*?" Rogue exclaimed loudly, over dinner.

A few people glanced their way and she concentrated on her wine glass until they lost interest.

"You're goin' *where*?" She repeated, this time in a dramatic whisper.

"Bermuda Triangle," Remy answered. "That's where one of his bases was, and we thought we should go to one of them so that he might start remembering things."

Rogue was silent for a few moments. "Have either of you once considered that it might be best that Magnus doesn't remember what's gone before?"

Remy and Magnus exchanged glances. "It's been considered, Brett." Magnus replied. "In fact, Charles was of the opinion that I should never recover my memories so that I wouldn't be a threat."

Rogue's brow furrowed slightly. "Ah don't know. Magnus, you've always been plagued by things that you couldn't change," she let the sentence trail off unfinished.

Remy shook his head, "I know what you're thinkin', but really, this is Magnus' decision and he wants to remember. It's already started, he's remembered several things."

Magnus offered an icy smile, "None of them pleasant."

"It's different now," Remy continued, "I mean, Magnus may not remember everything, and he may gain full access to all of his memories. It doesn't matter either way, because this time he has something he didn't have before."

"Which is?" Rogue prodded.

"Someone who's not goin' to judge him either way."

Magnus nodded, "A friend."

"Ah thought Charles was your friend."

"Charles was only my friend as long as I agreed with him, that was never more apparent when I left the mansion with Remy."

Remy took a drink, "Charles should've concentrated more on the man that was rather than the man that should've been or could've been. He missed out on a lot, I'd guess."

Rogue looked at the two of them, "Ah'd say he's missin' out now." She shook her head. "If you had any idea, Magnus, how much he suffered over you, how much he considered your downward spiral to be his own failing." She sighed.

"That's his choice," Magnus replied. "It has nothing to do with me. Charles needs to wake up and realize that he is no more a messiah than I am. Charles is more than welcome to look upon me as his personal journey but I'm having none of it. He was a good friend. There were several times when I looked at him and I truly cared for him, but they never lasted. The few I remember never lasted anyway.

"You know, the dreams that I have, the memories that come back, they all really happened. I really grew up in a concentration camp. I really lost my family to the blind hatred of frightened and angry people. What I went on to do with my life is hazy. I am missing great pieces of who I was, but I can tell you one thing, a person who grows up with nothing usually carries it with them for the rest of their lives. You grow up and lose everything that means anything to you and it affects you. So if Charles wants to look at my life and my reactions as a failure on his part he is more than welcome to, but it is very egotistical of him."

Rogue sat in silence, looking at her plate thinking of her own life and wondering if Magnus may have a point. She didn't have much growing up, but she did have a little bit of love. It may have came from Mystique and Destiny and therefore may be suspect, but it was real to her and that's what mattered.

She wondered about Remy. She knew he had very little growing up, he obviously had a connection to Sinister and that would've affected him. She knew he was taken in as an orphan off the streets. Remy didn't have much either. "It seems you're both on a voyage of self-discovery."

Remy nodded. "Long overdue on my part, I know."

She smiled. "Ah've been on one of my own, mind if Ah join you?"

Magnus looked sideways at Remy and smiled to himself. Things were coming together.

"And your heart beats so slow

through the rain and fallen snow

across the fields of mourning

to a light that's in the distance.

Oh, don't sorrow, no, don't weep

for tonight, at last

I am coming home

I am coming home."

(Lyrics to "Hope Has A Place" by Enya from *The Memory of Trees*; Lyrics to "A Sort of Homecoming" by U2 from *The Unforgettable Fire*)