Log: Remy/Betsy

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Also backdated.

Betsy is waiting when Remy wakes up one morning, and they discuss the reprecussions of Florida, the team, and his resignation.


She realized the whispers were growing louder last
night. In the middle of an interesting passage of her
novel, Betsy sat back, her eyebrows
disappearing into her hairline as she listened in.
Fragmented thoughts forced themselves into dreams,
memories were surfacing beyond the subconscious.
Betsy looked down at the still form, lying on the bed.
His skin pale despite the flush on his face. Jean
informed her that Remy stirred a few times while she'd
been gone.

There was a quick movement of the eyes and she felt
the shift from dark to light.

"Is it Christmas?" Remy said suddenly, jolting awake.
He sank back into the pillow, groaning as he did so.
The transition from dreams to wakefulness had been
jarring, a residual effect of the magic that had
healed it. It was like switching realities in a
heartbeat.

"Not quite," Betsy managed, placing the book firmly
between the chair and her backside. "I'd ask how you
were holding up? But that'd be a bit redundant." She
took a moment, regarding him, keeping her expression
calm except for her eyes.

"Oui, dat might even be considered in bad taste." He
muttered, looking at her. His left eye was cloudy, the
bright red banked and the black gone musty grey. "Dey
let you in or you left a body in de hallway?"

"Not so much," Betsy said with a smirk. "Seems all I
needed was a short skirt and my winning personality."

"Ah, dey put Cain on guard duty den." Remy chuckled
and eased himself up in the bed a little, leaning so
his back was propped on the pillow. "Shame dey didn't
send de food tray down."

"Yes, yes. Cain has done right by you. He's
steadfast in defending your honor against unwanted
advances. Or Jubilee's adamant wish to make sure
you're put together." She stood up and walked around
Remy's bed to his left, bringing the food tray into
view. Unphased, she brought it over his lap. "Your
appetite is back? Impressive."

"Back? It more den dat. Think dat Remy ate my body
weight last meal." LeBeau said, starting into the
plate piled high with roast chicken and rice. He ate
quickly and steadily, quickly demolishing the meal.
"Dat Grey said dey going to open up de room to
visitors tonight. Guess you decided to beat de rush?"

"I've been around," Betsy managed casually enough.
Which actually translated to -- I've been here
since we found you, a broken heap in Florida, and for
odd timing went upstairs to relay the information you
gave me to the powers that be and missed having my
soul sucked out. Lucky, that.

"Dat's lucky for me den. How did you know dat Remy
needed help? I got my communicator on but..." Remy
shook his head. "I guess de building lying on me won
out. Who knew?"

"I'm sure if we hadn't interrupted...." She paused,
her smile faltering slightly. Betsy was holding back
the other feeling that outweighed her concern. So,
she played on. She bit down on the feeling of sore
betrayal and anger at being left behind. "You would've
given the building a good talking to."

"'fraid I didn't have de air for dat." Remy paused
between bites to puntuate his comments with his fork.
"Come down like dat. No time for anything."

"Well, you're here now." Betsy straightened up in her
chair, amused at the speed he inhaled his food and
managed still to not choke on it. "Jake and I have
managed to save most of our work, so it wasn't a total
wash." So what now?

"Jake hasn't run for it yet? I'm amazed." Remy said,
having expected the shapeshifter to have bolted back
home the second he learned that LeBeau was
incapacitated.

Betsy bowed her head again and laughed out of sheer
exhaustion. The wanker already knew. "I'll give you
that. Jake's getting a bit twitchy."

"He will. Dat homme not a bad man, but de only reason
he came back is because he was scared what I might do
to him for using de Professor's contacts as his own."
Remy finished off the plate, looking around for more.

"One moment," Betsy stood up and picked up the tray
from the stand, walking out of the room. She came
back a few minutes later, another hot plate in hand
and placed it in front of him. "You should've brought
me with you," she said resolutely.

"De Brotherhood knows you. Safer to scope it out
myself." It was half a truth and half a lie. LeBeau
had gone down by himself since he was legitimately the
best pointman. Also, his range of abilities gave him
the best chance of escaping the Brotherhood if he'd
blundered on to them. But Betsy was right. He'd gone
alone to escape the mansion, and hadn't wanted to face
her or anyone else about his decision to quit.

"That's shite and you know it." Her jaw
tightened, as she put another hard stop to her anger.
It wouldn't do her well here. "You quit without a
word. Tuck tail and ran."

"Something like dat, oui." Remy's voice was flat. If
he'd regretted his decision to leave, it wasn't
obvious in the tone. "We got de information on Lorna,
and I went to confirm it. On my own. No right to ask a
team dat I wasn't in charge of to come wit' me."

"But you had all the right to ask a friend." Dark
amethyst eyes met his expression with fierce
determination. "You may have fooled yourself into
believing that all your time here was done while
trapped in your own personal isolation. But judging
from the responses of those here and elsewhere, you've
failed in that quest as well."

Remy took a deep breath, counted to ten mentally and
let it out. "I couldn't do it." His voice was quiet,
almost inaudible. A grim chuckle leaked out. "Gambit,
de bogeyman of de assassin world, and now I find out
dat I can't take risking de lives of others. Irony,
neh?"

"Indubitably so." She sat back in her seat, shaking
her head to herself. "So, if you've gone and quit.
The both of you are sticking me with the load then?
Fucking perfect."

"Dat might be de case, chere. But I just can't do it.
I can't tell someone dat we going to protect dem in
exchange for dere help, and just hang dem out to dry.
Xavier acts like Wisdom is just going to come back one
day, instead of seeing dat he's using our network to
kill our people." Remy shook his head, his voice
helpless. "I just can't take dat lie to another widow,
Betts."

"And I'm suppose to?" She scoffed. "Doesn't seem right
fair of you to do this to me when I was only suppose
to 'help out with the paperwork.'

"I don't know. Dat depends on de professor, I guess."
Remy said. "I know it's not fair, but I don't see
another way."

"Right, which in Remy-speak means, you're screwed,
luv. No hard feelings." Betsy hunched forward,
rubbing her eyes irritably. "Excuse me, I'm tired, a
bit crabby, and obviously PMSing," she said rather
sardonically. "How did it all go wrong?"

"Wisdom walked out de door and no one was willing to
close it." Remy responded bitterly. He felt guilt over
Betsy's situation, but not as much as the anger over
the Professor. "The more we do, the more likely it is
dat we're going to get more people killed for no
reason. Wisdom's beaten us every time, and I don't see
a way to stop it."

"I guess you won't have to worry about it anymore
now." Betsy said, looking squarely at Remy's broken
face. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me.
Anything else you've managed to keep secret. I don't
want to run upon it and accidentally get myself
killed."

"De one thing dat leaving doesn't take away is de
worry, Betts. You know dat." She was angry with him,
and had a right to be, but Remy wasn't about to back
down. "De only way to do dis under de Professor's
restrictions is to lie to our contacts; treat people like things. Dat way
turned me into Gambit de first time. Not even for de
mansion am I going to risk going back to dat."

He turned over in the bed, working more of the pillow
under his neck. "As for de rest, you've got all de
information. De only hidden traps are specifically
mine, and dere's some things dat I'm willing to keep
private."

"Including your ickle 'meet-up' with Wisdom?"
Betsy raised a knowing eyebrow at her sulking
compatriot. "Keep your secrets. I hope you choke on
them."

"Dat was no secret. I got a little sidetracked before
I could file de report by a building landing on me."
Remy shot back. "Don't act like dis is running out,
Betts. You know dat's not true, just as much as you
know dat nothing dat leads back to de mansion isn't
hidden. I remember you making a hard choice on what
you felt was right once. At least give me the same
credit."

"Fine," Betsy gritted out. She gave Remy's back a
resigned look and shook her head. "You know, I hate
it when you do that. Just when I think I can't stand
you for one more blooming minute. You say something
horribly indisputable and I have to shut my gob. You
must know how unbelievably irritating that can be?"

"Dat's why Remy's popular wit' de femmes." He said
tiredly. "I wish dis wasn't dis way, Betts. I really
do. But I can feel de echoes around it. De little
voice in de back of my head dat tells me I know
another way to do it. So easy to take out Pete, stop
de worries wit' Magneto. Den all de justifications
come up; it's for de school, de students, Lorna. It
would be so damn easy."

Betsy was used to many things from Remy, but the
undercurrent of fear wasn't one. It was almost a
physical presence to her telepathy. "I did dat once.
I'm terrified of going there again. Because dis time,
dere is no second chance. Just de monster."

"I know you are," She said knowingly. "We all have our
burdens to bear, Remy. But I've learned, and rather
painfully is that --- what has transpired in the past
does not define who we can become. If at all, it
merely strengthens our resolve for forward movement,
for change."

"Or makes de roadmap for disaster." Remy shook his
head. "Non, I'm not going back to dat person, Betts.
Unfortunately, dat means walking away from de school
to make sure dat doesn't happen."

"I don't think you should be sticking your head up
your arse, looking for enlightment, either." Betsy
snapped. "Look, thinking about going back to New
Orleans and hanging about that voodoo witch
isn't going to solve anything."

"Maybe. Staying here and helping Wisdom kill people
isn't any more appealing either. Dere's still ways dat
Remy can help, without throwing away other people's
lives."

"Then you'll have to do what you must." Betsy said
quietly. "When you leave this time -- promise to do
so without running off, at least not until you leave a
forwarding address, yea?"

"Remy not 'bout to disappear, chere. Even if he's
acting like a blind amataur, Xavier's idea is still
worth fighting for. Not dat Remy going to be doing
much fighting now, but dere still things dat I can
do." Remy nodded. "Not even sure if de swamp is de
first choice yet. Other people to talk to."

"Alright." Betsy said, placating the man. She
refused to argue about the internal politics
apparently working within the underbelly of the
school. "But whatever you decide," she said, standing
up and moving toward his bed. Her hand going to
Remy's good shoulder. "Remember that I'll be there to
help. Whether you want it or not."

"Unfortunately, Remy have a headache, chere." That
earned an arched eyebrow from her and he smiled. "I
know, Betts. You not seen de last of LeBeau either."
Remy slid back down in the bed. "And now, I should get
some sleep before de doctors start yelling at me.
Amazing how much dying takes out of you."

"I'll leave you to it then." Betsy returned the smile,
giving LeBeau's shoulder a comforting squeeze, and
headed for the door. She turned back for a moment,
regarding her injured friend and before she did
something embarassing like sniffle, cry, or exclaim
how glad he was alive; Betsy left the room without
saying another word.