Partners in Crime (X-Men ROMY)

Chapter Two

Chapter two

Remy arrived back at the apartment to find the chips cleared up and Rogue doing acrobatics over the furniture, trying to get from one side of the apartment to the other. She smiled meekly when she saw him.

"I hope you don't mind, but those chips were annoying me. I figured that I already did the floor test, so you wouldn't mind if I cleared 'em up."

"Thanks, chère, I wasn't much looking forward to the clean up."

Her smile turned brighter, pleased that she hadn't angered him.

"How you getting on?"

"I'm not," she admitted. "Which ever way I go, I always end up too far away from my door."

"And what about going the other way?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Bedroom to kitchen."

"I don't see how that'll make a lot of difference."

"Because you can take a longer run up from the bedroom. Try it."

It took her three tries but with a longer run up of twelve feet, she was able to leap the nine or so feet to the couch. Of course she crashed over it and landed on the floor, but she had made it. She went to try again.

"Non, not today," he said, taking her covered arm and leading her away.

"But I nearly had it."

"No, you did have it, now you just have to practice. You looked at it from a different angle and figured out another way. That's mostly what being a thief is about, finding other ways to get what you want. But don't obsess about it or you get stuck in the problem and can't see a way out. Tomorrow we'll put some mats down so you can practice making that jump without hurting the furniture, then you can give it another try."

Rogue nodded. "Okay."

"I got some bagels for lunch, that okay? Yours is turkey, you're not vegetarian or allergic or something, are you?"

"No," Rogue smiled. "I love turkey."

"Good."

They settled on the couch and Remy turned the news on low in the background.

"So," Rogue began slightly hesitantly. "Where'd you get that power inhibitor?"

"Stole it," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Where from?"

"A military base in Canada. Mon père stole one for me to use when I was training."

"So why did you steal one? Did you expect to have an apprentice?"

"Non, but it pays to be prepared. First of all I tried to find a way to counteract its effects plus, if a mutant ever comes after me, I want a chance to even the playing field. I figure like you, most rely too much on their powers, which gives me the advantage."

"That's not evening the playing field, Cajun, that's tipping the odds in your favour."

Remy shrugged but his smile was unrepentant. "Is it my fault they rely too much on their gifts?"

He had a good point actually. If they ever did catch up with her, they would probably use one of their power dampeners on her, and she was no match for highly trained black ops soldiers without her powers.

"Did you find a way to counteract it?" she asked.

"Oui."

"How?" she leaned closer, eager to hear his answer.