Somehow, she knew exactly where the closest hotel was. It was in Julien's memories that she absorbed, but so was his attitude. She felt bad for the way she treated that guy Remy, that's what he called himself, but in Julien's memory she had picked up the name Gambit. They were sworn enemies. That much she knew.
She had knocked Julien out and Remy knew it, but she couldn't tell him how she did it. That would have been revealing too much, and she didn't want Remy to think ill of her. She didn't know why she cared so much, and she was, in a way, on the run and didn't want to make ties with anyone.
Finally, she came to a small establishment. It wasn't fancy, but hopefully they had a vacancy. She just wanted a nice soft warm bed and a hot shower. Then tomorrow she could decide where to go from here.
She entered the lobby, or what she thought would pass for a lobby. It was a simple and small room, with white washed walls and basic block tiles on the floor, no carpeting. The front desk looked like it had not been painted in a while.
"Ya wanna room?" the man behind the counter asked before Rogue had the chance to speak.
"That would be nice," she said in a sarcastic tone.
"We got a few vacancies," he said, "but ah need ta see the cash first."
"Sure," Rogue said. "No problem." She reached into her bag and took out a few bills. "This enough?" She had two hundred dollars waving in the guy's face.
"Yeah," the man said. "Nice doin' business with ya."
He handed her the room key and directed her to the last door down the hall. She walked in and took in her surroundings. It was an adequate room, and the walls were painted a pale cream to slightly contrast the beige carpet and off-white furniture that consisted of the dresser chest, bed and nightstand. There wasn't anything unique that stood out. It was a plain design of painted wood that worked more for durability than character.
She quickly closed the door and walked over to the bed and plopped down on it. She was exhausted, and her bones were stiff from sitting on that bus for hours, but she wouldn't be able to relax until she took a shower to ease her aching muscles. She thought that a nice hot bath would do the trick, so she got up and walked over to the bathroom door and opened it. There was a tub, but it was small. She grabbed her bag and walked into the bathroom and turned on the water and was happy to find a bottle of bubble bath and poured it into the tub and got undressed.
Slipping into that tub was the best feeling she had in days and made her forgot about everything. The night of the party was just some weird nightmare she had. This feeling of warmth was the only thing that was real. She didn't know how long she had been in that tub, but she was starting to drift off. Besides that, the water was starting to get cold.
She reluctantly dragged herself out of the tub and dried herself off with one the towels that she found hanging on the rack. She used another one for her hair. She left home in such a hurry that she didn't even think of taking her hairdryer or any other personal items. She towel-dried her hair as much as possible and used the small comb that she always carried in her purse.
She put on her nightshirt and walked over to the bed, laying her bag next to the nightstand and crawled under the sheets with the only thought in her head was of a good night's sleep.
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Back in the lobby of the hotel, the night clerk looked up from his desk to see a young man enter through the front door. He looked surprised and stood up from his chair to greet him.
"Remy LeBeau, what are ya doin' here this time a night?" he asked in surprise. "Business slow?"
"Hey, Lucas, can't Remy jus' come for a visit?" he asked. His eyes carefully scanned the area. "Gotta ask a favor."
Lucas didn't look happy by the request. "Remy, I gotta deal goin' with the Thieves' Guild. Ya ain't here ta shake me down for more money, 'cause if ya are ah'll take it up with Jean Luc."
"Ain't not'ing like dat, Lucas," Remy said, trying to reassure him. "Dis one's personal." Lucas looked intrigued. "I saw a young woman come in here not too long ago. She get a room?"
"There was a girl came in not too long ago," Lucas said. "Paid cash up front."
"How much?" Remy asked, looking him straight in the eye.
"A hundred," Lucas said, but looked away from Remy steel gaze.
"You lyin', Lucas," Remy said. "How much she give you?"
Lucas saw Remy pull out a card. His eyes grew wide with fright as the card started to glow bright. "Okay, okay, two hundred."
The light from the card slowly died down until it fizzled out. "Dat's better," Remy said. "Now give me three hundred."
"Three hundred," Lucas said sharply. "Why?"
"Two hundred belongs ta dat girl, and anot'er hundred for lyin' ta me."
"Remy, come on," Lucas pleaded. "Ah'm tryin' ta run a business here, and it's been slow. That's the first real customer ah had all night."
"Not my problem, Lucas, now hand the money over, or you're gonna be payin' for improvements."
"Fine," Lucas said and stomped behind the counter to the hidden cash box. He pulled out three hundred-dollar bills and handed them to Remy.
"Where's her room?" Remy asked.
"At the end of the hall," Lucas said.
"Nice doin' business wid you," Remy said as he started to walk towards the hallway. "Oh, and, Lucas, as long as dat girl stayin' here she stays for free."
"Sure, Remy, whatever ya say."
Remy walked off down the hallway to Rogue's room. He had a master key that he had gotten off of Lucas months ago. He quietly unlocked the door and let himself in.
The room was dark, but he could see just fine. There she was fast asleep. He approached her with caution. Looking at her made his heart skip a beat. She truly was an angel. He stroked her hair gently which caused her to stir slightly. Damn, she was beautiful. She turned over on her side facing him moaning slightly in her sleep. Oh, how he wished he was the one who had made her make that sound. To him, it was like an angel singing.
He looked around just then to see where he could put the money, where she would be sure to find it, but a place not too obvious. There, she had a backpack. He picked it up and rifled through it. He found a small box and opened it. He found that it was full of cash. This girl must not have been a typical runaway, not carrying a stash like that, but she was young, no more that sixteen he would guess. Whatever sent her running must have been bad. After what happened with Julien, any other teenage girl would have been on the first bus home, but something told him she was anything but typical. Something inside him wanted to protect this girl, but he didn't know why.
He put the box away after placing the money inside. He was about to leave when he heard her whimper in her sleep.
"No, don't touch me," she mumbled in her sleep. He looked back to see a look of fear on her semiconscious face. He walked back over to her. He knew any second she could wake up, and he would be caught. She would probably scream seeing a strange guy hovering over her, but he couldn't stand to see her having a nightmare, not if he could do something to sooth her anxiety. "No, please, don't," she whispered in her sleep. He wondered about what awful thing could have happened to her.
His half-gloved hand brushed slightly against her face, the skin of his small finger barely touching her. Some sort of static electricity passed through him, making him suddenly weak. What had just happened? Damn, it must have been the same thing that happened to Julien when they were in the alley. He didn't know what it was, but one thing was for certain, this girl was like him, a mutant.
That was another reason for him to take on the task of protecting her. If either the Thieves or Assassins got their hands on her, he knew the outcome wouldn't be good.
He staggered to the door, careful not to make any noise. "I'll be seein' ya, Chere," he whispered as he closed the door behind him. He walked back to the lobby to see Lucas look up from his newspaper and look straight at him.
"She didn't see you, did she?" Lucas asked him as he leaned against the counter. "Didn't hear no screamin' comin' from down the hall."
"Naw, she was asleep," Remy said, looking back towards her room. He looked over at Lucas with a serious look on his face. "You gotta do me anot'er favor, Lucas."
"Awe no, Remy," he protested. "You done near took all my profit for tonight. What you expect me ta live on?"
"You do dis, I'll see you be takin' care of," Remy said, slowly getting his strength back.
"Alright, what ya want me ta do?" he asked, letting out a deep sigh.
"Just keep an eye on her," he said in a low voice. As far as he knew no one else was around, but Remy learned long ago that he couldn't be too careful. Let me know when she leave and try ta find out where she go." Lucas groaned at the request, but then he saw Remy shuffling his cards. "You know how ta contact me."
"Fine with me, Remy, but what dat girl ta you? Or should ah ask?"
"Just do it, Lucas," Remy said as he reached the door. "Anyt'ing happens ta her, it's your hide." With that he walked out into the night, the only thought in his head was her, a girl he didn't even know the name of.
That's it for this chapter. Please, comment if you like and tell me what you think. The next chapter is coming soon.