Disclaimer:
Rogue and Remy "belong" to Marvel. Vicki and I are just
"borrowing" them. And if you don't like the story you could say we are
"ruining" them. Of course generally when you borrow things, you ask first. Unless you're my brother. And then you just take it when I'm not
looking and scratch it up so that when I go to play it, it conveniently
skips on my favorite song. Baltimore belongs to Maryland and Brady
Anderson belongs to me.

All descriptions of the many settings the story takes place in are based
on actual locations, and in most cases are quite familiar to at least
one or both of the authors'. Except when they're not.

Lastly, the email address listed for me in previous chapters was
incorrect, a mistake we have just recently discovered. So if you wrote
to me, and I'm not accusing anyone of having done so, and I didn't
respond, it was because I never received the message. Sorry about that.
However it will be listed correctly this time so if anyone has any
comments, questions or complaints feel free to drop either or both of us
a line @

Vicki- rogue79@mbox3.singnet.com.sg
Caroline-  sdillion@erols.com

And that's enough outta me!

And Vicki blurbs: "She's crazy! She's done so much for this chapter! I can
just kiss her!!!! Ain't she great?" :D

**Note: Stuff in _underscores_ are the thoughts of Rogue.



FREE FOR A SECOND
Part 6

Caroline Dillon
Vicki Lew
February 1998



Slow motion blurries the fuzzy forms that lurk in the recesses of her
vision. Figures brush past her, barely tangible, their exact shape
impossible to discern. Turning round in circles, she seeks an exit from
these muted creatures, but in all directions finds only more shifting
bodies.

Slowly, a sickening pain begins to rack her whole body and the restless
forms begin to converge. Striking out, she connects with nothing, still
vainly searching for an escape. Something catches her eye, a light. No,
rather a dim haze that is seeping in all around her. Gradually everything
fades into this fog that continues to increase in intensity, hurting her
eyes and giving her a pounding headache.

Blinking rapidly against the light, she manages to focus. The sunlight
pouring in through the window of the tattered room strikes Rogue directly
in the eyes, forcing her from her dream.

_Oww, damn!_

She groans to herself, trying to rub away the headache that seizes both
temples.
Her eyes stare long and hard at the ceiling.

_Where the heck am ah?_

Confused by the pain she feels, the hangover and the side effects of the
morphine she can't remember having taken. She winced as she turned over
painstakingly to her side, and-

She wasn't alone.

Her mind snapped into a crystal clear state and her body went into
auto-flight; she threw her good arm over the intruder's neck, using her
leverage to her advantage and choked him tightly, preparing to break his
neck. Remy's eyes snapped open as a tight arm encircled his neck. He tried
to sit up but from this position, his attacker had the upper hand.

"Chere?" was all he could get out before his air supply was choked off. It
was enough. Rogue halted in mid-twist, jarred by the sound of his voice.
She shook her head, hurting it more, but finally coming fully aware of
everything for the first time that morning. Her grip slackened and Remy
flew from her deadly embrace, jumping completely free of the bed. He landed
in a fighting stance facing her.

"What de fuck you doin'?!" he roared at her, eyes blazing.

She sunk back slowly onto the bed, utterly perplexed. Her face had gone
ghostly pale, giving emphasis to the mottled bruises.

"Ah.....Ah...," she stammered, obviously lost and frightened by what she
had almost done.

_No. What have ah done?_

The shaken woman went totally silent then, whispering, "Ah thought you were
another of them. Come ta kill me...Ah'm sorry,"

She looked dejectedly down at her hands, expression oddly stoic.

"Ah didn't know what Ah was doin'. Ah'm sorry..."

Sabine stopped talking and turned her body with difficulty, her back facing
him.
Then closing her eyes she took a deep breath and held it for a good second
before exhaling.

"...Sorry," she drawled slowly.

He regarded her skeptically, not relaxing his stance. But he did, however,
walk around the bed to look deep into her glazed eyes. He didn't understand
it, but he just knew in his gut that she was telling the truth...It was so
right that he could taste it.

"Well, ok den. Jus' don' do it again." He tried going for casual kidding to
lighten the whole situation and to make her feel better, but she didn't
smile. Cautiously he sat down on the bed. "Hey now, I said you forgiven,
you tried to kill me ' member? I be de one who gets to sulk, pas toi, non?"

"This ain't funny, Cajun. Ah was gonna snap yoah neck. First thing ah wake
up to do was ta kill. Heck, mah gut reaction to a confusing situation was
to kill. Ah ain't never been this messed up...Ah'm never gonna be free..."

_Lord, ah hate being like this. Ah hate what Ah am._

"Rogue. Look at me. J'admis, you really spooked me jus' now.  And I can't
say dat bein' choked to deat' is my favorite way to wake up. But I wise
'nough to know dat a person can't change demselves overnight. I'm a t'ief,
I got t'ieves instincts. When I see someting dat I wan', my first reaction
is to steal it. When I'm in a pinch, my first t'ought goes back to what I
was taught, what's become second nature. Jus' like you did."

_You don't understand, Remy. Ah ain't no simple thief. Ah'm a murderer. Ah
had mah choice an Ah took the easy way out. Ah was weak, too scared to take
mah chances in the real world. Ah did this to mahself._

"Girl, like it or not, you be an assassin. You got assassin instincts.
Somebody pounded dem into your head 'til dey was natural as breathin'.  And
now your mind has just forgotten any ot'er way. I make you a deal right
now. I won't hold dis against you, if you promise to try and t'ink more
wit' your head, and rely less on what dey taught you. We got a deal?"

She stared at him disbelievingly in return.

"Ya make it sound so easy...Ya think ah haven't tried? They know my every
move, for Christ's sake! These people want me dead! They're more than
willing to kill you too, if you try and stop them. How can ah ever relax
like ya want me to?" she almost screamed at him.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. You bein wound up tighter den a clock spring ain't
gonna do us no good. I know its gonna be hard, but you gon need ta at least
try." His eyes pleaded with her with sincerity.

"Ah want ta so bad..."

"Den stop bein' a coward and lis'sen to y'self for once," he admonished
gently but then popped her another grin.

_How can Ah listen to mahself when Ah don't even trust mah judgement
anymore?_

"You gon have to try an believe in y'self if you want a fighting chance
against these people,"

She looked at him, slightly shocked. It was almost as if he'd read her
mind...

"You don it before." She shook her head negatively. "Non? Den how you been
able ta keep alive for so long?"

_Touchè_

"How about dat deal?" he asked, lifting her head up with a lean finger so
her gaze met his.

She finally gave a small smile and said, "Deal."

Keeping true to her word, she listened to an inner voice and leaned
forward, kissing him full on the mouth. OK, maybe her head was the only
thing she was listening to as she found she had no real desire to pull
away. He was as amazingly attractive mentally as he was physically, and
with every minute she spent with him, she found it increasingly difficult
to resist him.

However, within moments she was forced to break the kiss, and brought a
hand up to her face.

"You ok?" he questioned.

"Yeah, jus with all that happened earlier, Ah got an adrenaline rush. Now
that it's wearing off ah'm hurtin' again."

She sat back, looking very grim as her hands once more found her temples.

"You hol' on. Remy get you somet'ing."

Re-inspecting herself she joked weakly.
       
"Didja happen to get the number of the truck that hit me?"
       
'Oh, I got his number alright,' Remy thought to himself as he handed her
another pill.  As she swallowed, he brushed the hair out of her face.
       
"Ah reckon we best get on the road. It won't be much longer 'til they
find us. If they aren't on the way already."

"T'ink you be right 'bout dat. Best pack up what we need and get movin'
'fore de medicine hits ya. You can rest in de car while I get us to where
we goin',"

"An' just where ARE we going, sugar?"
       
"Don' you fret none, ma chere 'tite choue. You like it. Trust me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remy's arm wrapped tightly around her waist was one of very few things
holding Rogue upright as they shuffled down the chilly early morning
street. With one arm slung over his shoulder and the other pressed to her
chest in a sling under Remy's trenchcoat that she now wore, Rogue struggled
as best she could to limp along side Remy.

She was grateful that there were precious few individuals out at this hour
to witness their awkward procession. Together, they hobbled along, Remy
murmuring encouragement to her, until they had entered a noticeably more
affluent section of town. Her vision began to run and her eyelids were like
the tide, covering more distance each time they closed. Her grip around his
neck began to slip.

"Remy..." she called to him not sure how much longer she could stay in
motion. Sweat beaded down her skin.

"Shhh, s'okay chere. We dere."

Carefully setting her down on an adjacent stoop, she heard him tread a
short distance away. Forcing her eyes open, she saw him standing beside a
gray BMW. If she hadn't known better, she would not have been able to tell
that he was picking the lock, instead of fidgeting with a stubborn key. It
took him mere seconds to open the door and disable to alarm. Just as
easily, he removed the club from the steering wheel. In less than a minute,
she found herself in his arms again as he carried her to the car.

"Why didn't we just take one of the cars back there?" she asked him as he
laid her down on the accommodating leather seat, reclining it for her
comfort.

"People back dere, dey need der car. Dey lose it, most likely dey never
goin' be able to replace it. Now de people in dis neighborhood, dat can
afford a car like dis, dey got insurance dat cover de loss. And even if dey
ain't insured, dey probably won't break much of a sweat payin' for a new
car."

"Mah word...A considerate thief," she chuckled, her eyes halfway shut. They
shared the little joke.

_Well, give him another point, Sabby... _

He moved to fasten the seat belt over her.

"No... that'll just hurt..." she managed before closing her eyes for the
last time.

"Ok, Remy drive real careful den."

He brushed her cheek with his fingers before hurrying around to the
driver's seat. Expertly, he hot-wired the BMW. Turning on some soft
classical music to mask the outside noises of the now awakening city, he
headed the car out of town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A light rain began to fall as they cruised through Baltimore on Interstate
95. He tapped the wheel in time to the song that played on the radio. He
glanced over at Rogue, who was fast asleep in the next seat. Once Rogue had
settled into a deep drug induced sleep, he had changed the station to keep
himself awake and occupied. He didn't care much for the selection of songs
the country stations played up this far North. It was more western and pop
than anything else, so he opted instead for  classic rock/alternative
station. However he kept the volume low enough not to disturb her, and
except for a few instances of her talking in her sleep, her rest had been
peaceful.

He glanced out at the gray city to his left, at the row houses smashed up
against one another. AT the liquid propane gas towers that hunkered down
just off the highway. And at the sweetly shaped italicized Domino Sugar
sign, that, unlit, gave off an air of melancholy. Right now there was
seemingly very little that was endearing