Desperado (X-Men - ROMY)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Remy awoke in a cage, cradled against Rogue who was already awake.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"Just over a day," she answered. "He kept you under."

"Are you okay?"

She nodded but he could tell that she was upset.

"What's wrong?"

"He made me," Rogue sniffed.

"Made you what?"

"Made me absorb you, drain you. He wanted you powerless so that he could get into your head."

The colour drained from Remy's face. "Did it work? Did he free my powers?"

"I don't think so." She began to cry. "I'm so sorry. I came here to help you, not hurt you. But I'm a vampire, I'll never be anything else!"

"No, cher, it wasn't your fault! You didn't have a choice."

"But I can be used against you."

"We can all be used against each other, ain't your fault. Besides, it didn't work."

"I could have killed you, he made me hold on for so long."

Well he'd only been out a day, so it couldn't have been too bad. Unless his healing factor had already come back and was helping.

"I'm not gonna fight with you, Rogue. You drained me. So what? I said I'd always come back for more and I meant it."

He was still too weak to sit up and comfort her properly, so he just held her, putting his hands around her waist.

"I'm never gonna leave you, cher, no matter how dangerous you think you are."

He couldn't believe how foolish he'd been in coming here, and how utterly stupid he had been to allow Rogue to accompany him. But he'd had to know. It had been a compulsion so strong that it had overridden all of his Guild training and survival instincts. He hadn't even thought what the outcome might be, what he hoped would happen or what he wanted to happen, he just needed to know if he was truly free or not. That much was understandable, he felt.

What was unforgivable was allowing Rogue to accompany him. In his haste to test his mental barriers, he had allowed her to accompany him, placing her in as much danger as he was. Now, he couldn't believe that he had been so reckless. He could well have lost her, and even if he was finally free of Sinister, he didn't think that he could live with that.

Rogue hadn't felt his compulsion and had probably been thinking clearly, or at least more clearly than he had, he realised. Yet she had come with him anyway, knowing full well that the outcome was likely to be far from good.

She had come anyway.

He felt something explode within his chest at that realisation. He couldn't put it into words, it was greater then he could express, more than he could understand, but he could feel it's meaning.

Rogue loved him, unconditionally and unequivocally. What's more, he felt the exact same way about her.

"Remy," Rogue bowed her head close to his ear and whispered as quietly as she could. "I can't get us out, he put something like forges inhibitor collar on me." She brought her hand around close his face, allowing him to see the unusual cuff she was wearing.

"Why didn't he put one on me?" he said softly.

"I think he only has one, that's why he used me to drain your powers. He was just putting it on when I woke up, he'd already used me to drain you. I've had it on ever since."