Replay: Slow Motion
Installment 19
Tears had formed in Rogue's eyes as she felt the Master of Magnetism's power full force.
"Rogue" Pietro called out weakly from his spot on the ground, grabbing his father's attention once again. With his other hand Magneto targeted his son.
"Look like you don' have no mo' hands to use" a voice said from behind Magneto before unleashing an onslaught of charged cards upon him. The attack knocked Magneto down to the ground and he was forced to release the two mutants.
"What do you think you are doing!" the man asked furiously from his spot on the ground.
"Savin' de damsels in distress of course" he made sure to emphasize the plural part of damsels. "Chere you alright?" Gambit asked but did not take his eyes off Magneto.
"Ya, I'll live" she said from her newfound spot on the ground while trying to catch her breath.
"Not for long…" but before he could act on his threat, Magneto was hit full force by his son. "You ungrateful, insufferable…" Quicksilver slammed him into the closest tree he could find before pummeling his face with quick fists. The boy was consumed with rage as his father attempted to speak between blows.
"Ah don't think ya should be tryin' ta make him angry right now." Rogue's voice pulled Pietro away from his homicidal thoughts. He moved back and looked at his father.
"Beggin' might be a better idea, non?"
"You look pathetic" the white haired boy scoffed. Magneto's eyes burned with silent rage as he looked up at the three younger mutants.
"We'll take it from here kid." Wolverine said as Scott came forward.
"I am not going anywhere with you."
"Guess again" Remy said as he hit Magneto with his staff, knocking him unconscious.
"Nice work." Logan stated.
"I do what I can homme."
"What did you just call me?"
"Umm…"
"Remy can Ah talk to ya over here for a second?" Rogue asked while pulling him away from Logan's murderous gaze. He shrugged apologetically towards the short and gruff man before following Rogue to another part of the park.
"Thanks for de save" Remy said as Rogue continued to drag him further away from the others but still hadn't stopped to look at him.
"Figure Ah owe ya" she replied letting go of him but still not turning around.
"…Chere"
"This day didn't exactly work out the way Ah had hoped." Rogue said before turning to look at him.
"Know what you mean." Remy replied as he tried to read her expression.
"Ah don't hate them Remy." she told him. "Ah can't." She could see the hurt and anger bleeding through his gaze. "Because, Ah was just like them before Ah met you." Remy's expression became one of confusion. Rogue took his hands into her gloved ones before she tried to explain. "Ah hated the idea of love. People would always talk about it and flaunt it in my face. Ah didn't understand it. Ah couldn't understand it. Ah didn't think Ah could be loved without bein' able ta touch anyone. So whenever someone tried to get close, Ah pushed them away. Even managed to convince myself that Ah hated them sometimes. Ah was so afraid Remy and Ah just didn't know any better. And that's all they are, they're just afraid." Tears started to form in her eyes as she launched herself into Remy's form and embraced him. It only took a moment for him to return the gesture.
"You have a big heart chere," he told her as he placed a kiss on the top of her head "much bigger dan Remy's…"he paused, knowing that what he would say next would be very hard. "Chere, Remy cares about you very much" he told her honestly, making sure to make eye contact with the southern belle "but he can't change de way he feels about you anymore den he can 'bout dem."
"Ah guess…Ah guess Ah can't change your mind." she replied sadly, looking down as he held her hand in his.
"No more den Remy can change yours." he said wiping the tears from under her eyes.
"We're both so stubborn," she whispered and Remy simply held her tighter.
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Pietro had gone looking for Rogue once Kitty had informed him that she had not returned to the mansion with the rest. He did not really know where to look and had resorted to zooming across the city and back. He had just about given up when he saw a lone figure sitting atop a high hill. He knew he had found her and went speeding up there. When he arrived, she was sitting cross-legged gazing out over the city.
"Rogue?"
"Hey Petey." Rogue turned to acknowledge him before turning back around.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah think Ah should be asking ya that."
"Well my father just tried to kill me, so, I'm thinking it's Friday." The joke did not receive any response from Rogue much to Pietro's disappointment.
"What are you doing up here?"
"Contemplating how much life sucks."
"In that case, mind if I join you?" he asked and waited for her reply.
"Why not? They say misery loves company." He walked over and sat down beside her.
"Remy left." he knew by the way she said it that she was not talking about a run to the corner store.
"He's an idiot." he told her.
"It was a mutual kind of thing Petey." she said quickly to his defense. He knew he should be happy. He knew he should be jumping for joy and singing at the top of his lungs. However, seeing the look of loss that shone through her deep emerald eyes stopped him from doing any of that.
"He's still an idiot." he said as he looked at her and she looked at him. "Rogue, I don't know if this is the best time or the worst time but, I wanted to let you know, that erm…wow this is hard."
"This has got ta be tha first tahme Ah've seen ya tongue-tied." she had with just a hint of playfulness in her words. Pietro who was feely slightly flustered decided to just go ahead and tell her.
"OkaywellIknowI'vebeenkindofajerklately,wellyouthinkI'vebeenbeingajerk,butthetruthisthatwell,Iwasn'ttryingtobeajerk,I'vebeentryingtoshowyouthatyourpowersdon'tworkonmeandsoIkissed youbuthatstupidcajunshowedupandyoustarteddatingsoIcouldn'ttellyouthatIlikeyouandthinkyou'regreatandeverything…" Pietro finally managed to bring himself to look up at Rogue and realized that he had been talking too fast. "Crap." he said and his shoulders slumped.
"Pietro are ya tryin' ta say ya lahke meh?"
"Yeah" he replied unsure of how she would take it.
"Ah lahke ya too sugah.." the words brought an instant smile to Pietro's face who was about to say something when Rogue spoke again "but Ah'll need some time. Maybe we could take things slow?" Slow. The mutant known as Quicksilver never took anything slow. Rogue briefly thought about the absurdity of it all. He did everything fast and he was the one person she could actually touch. Why take it slow? Rogue suddenly felt very awkward.
"Anything for you Rogue" he told her with a smile and held her hand in his.
As they sat on the hill Pietro could not help but feel like they were sitting on top of the world.
END.
Author's Note: Thanks everyone for your continued support. Hope you enjoyed.