Logan noticed that all heads turned their way as he and Rogue went back into her apartment. No one said anything, however, and the conversation barely paused as Logan reclaimed his seat on the couch. Rogue meandered around the room, carefully not looking at anyone.
“Remy has five vans available for transport. We think dere are at least six women in da building, plus kids and men. Dey use some kind of mutation suppressor, we t’ink, to keep the prisoners subdued,” the red-haired man was saying in what had to be a fake accent. No one really talked like that, right? What kind of idiot referred to himself in third person?
Logan tried not to glare at the man who must be the one Rogue and Jubilee were talking about earlier, the one with the “card trick.” He couldn’t help wondering how Rogue really felt about the man, though. She seemed friendly toward him—was that usual for someone you broke up with? Logan didn’t have much experience in that department since his usual preference had always been for one-night stands. Had they even been dating, or did they just fuck? Had Rogue had any other relationships in her year here? Did he care? Did he have a right to care?
Fuck. That girl was making his head spin more in one day than in the entire seven years he had known her.
“—Wolverine?”
Logan glanced at Scott, who had obviously just asked him a question. He had no idea what the question was, though.
“Oh, I’m sure Wolvie will be happy to be on distraction detail with Rogue, Remy and me, Cyclops,” Jubilee said, throwing a dark grin at Logan. “I bet he just can’t wait.”
When Logan just grunted Scott sighed and nodded. “All right, then the rest of us will handle the extraction,” he said. Logan let his attention wander again as the Fearless Leader went on to explain their plan to Remy.
Logan watched Rogue out of the corner of his eye, saw how she listened intently to what Scott was saying. She had always taken missions very seriously, so much more than him sometimes, but he knew she was also very aware that things rarely went according to plan. He could practically see the gears in her head turning as she began to spin her own alternate plans, her own just-in-cases. That was something he had taught her to do, and he felt the old familiar warmth of pride in her overlaying all of these new feelings—or maybe it was just new revelations about old feelings.
Rogue saw Remy out after a grueling hour of planning. It was odd, using her living room to plan a mission, but at the same time she couldn’t help but feel grateful that the X-Men had come. If anyone could help rescue Angie, they could. Rogue felt that the chances of a successful rescue had increased a hundredfold.
The sun was lower on the horizon, but not quite low enough for them to change into their uniforms. They broke up into their original small groups, talking quietly or watching TV. Sometimes the waiting was the hardest part of a mission. Patience was a difficult thing to cultivate when you knew someone was in danger and wanted so desperately to help. Rogue found herself listening to Jubilee’s bubbling gossip about the other mansion residents, smiling at the occasional protest when Bobby or Piotr heard her “ridiculous exaggerations.”
Finally the time came to change, and the women went into Rogue’s bedroom with their bags. Replace the soft pink walls and deep rose-colored bedspread with gray metal lockers and stark white paint, and it was as if the year had never happened, as if they were just suiting up for yet another mission. The women laughed and joked as they pulled on the butter-soft black leather. Ororo's eyebrows rose when she saw that Rogue's hands were bare. Rogue stared at her solemnly, and the weather goddess simply nodded slightly and finished dressing while Rogue redid her ponytail. Jubilee gave Rogue a thumbs up as she slid back into her sleeveless yellow leather jacket, the one accessory Scott had not been able to ban her from wearing with her uniform.
When the women emerged from the bedroom, they found the men in pretty much the same positions as they had left them, mysteriously already geared up. Rogue and Jubilee exchanged smirks while Ororo just sighed. The bags containing their street clothes were piled into the bedroom, and then it was time to head back down to the cars. This time Jubilee would be joining Rogue and Logan since they would be on the same team for the mission. There was a tense moment when Logan realized that Rogue still had the keys and had no intention of giving them to him, but after he resigned himself to the passenger seat they headed out to meet Remy and his thieves.
The trip was fairly short but silent in the SUV. Even Jubilee seemed unable to think of a topic that they could talk about casually, so she just sat back and stared at the two dark heads in front of her. Rogue knew that her friend was doing her best to read her profile, so she struggled to maintain a calm and serene expression despite the fact that her attention wanted to head more in the direction of the large man next to her than the road. Somehow they made it safely to the cathedral parking lot, however, where they were met by Remy and a few others in the first van. Remy clambered into the SUV, settling behind Rogue and giving his friends a thumbs up sign. The van pulled out first. Rogue and Scott followed in the SUVs a few minutes later. At various times on the drive towards the outer limits of the city Rogue caught sight of one or more similar vans, just as knew she would, and then they were on a rural route with very little traffic at that time of day, when most regular people would be sitting down to dinner. Suddenly Rogue was following a line of vans as if by magic, and she grinned at Remy in the rear view mirror.
“Y'all just have to make an impression, don't you, Remy?” she teased him.
Remy smiled slightly. “But of course, petite. Gambit knows how to impress,” he said.
Jubilee and Logan spoke at the same time. “Gambit?” Jubilee sounded amused, while Logan was incredulous.
Remy just nodded. “Oui. Remy goes by 'Gambit' while on a job,” the flame-haired man said with a wink towards Jubilee, who grinned.
Before Logan could make a comment, which she was sure he wanted to do, Rogue jumped in. “That's right, Gambit. Ah forgot to clue you in on our codenames. Ah still go by Rogue in the field, and Jubes is Jubilee because she won't answer to Sparky,” Rogue said, flashing a quick smile at her friend. “And Logan is known as the Wolverine.” Rogue's eyes raked over him as she returned her attention to the road once more. She felt the blood rush into her cheeks as she remembered the first time she had heard that name and how much—or rather, how little—had covered Logan's very fine back at the time. It really was one of her favorite memories, no matter how much she tried to deny it. “Scott is Cyclops, Ororo is Storm, Bobby is Iceman and Piotr is Colossus,” she finished breathlessly, telling herself that Logan wasn't staring at her, examining that tell-tale blush.
Remy was quiet for a moment before he said, “Huh. What kind of a codename is Wolverine?”
Despite the seriousness of their mission, Rogue burst out laughing. She was actually looking forward to the hour-long drive ahead of them now. It obviously wasn't going to be boring, although she really did hope that Logan wasn't going to gut Remy before they managed to rescue the captured mutants.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Okay, so I'm pretty aware that my Remy-accent probably sucks. The closest I have ever gotten to the Deep South, let alone Cajun country, was West Virginia, however, and I may have commented before on my lack of belief that accents should be documented in written form. So I'm sorry if it sucks. I did try.
Chapter End Notes:
So, how was that? I'm trying to keep the story moving along without stagnating at any one point too badly. How did I do?