DISCERS CONCORDIA/RECONCILIATION

Chapter 1

Rogue dropped from the sky exhausted. The pain in her left side was agonizing. It was always that way. She was so hard to injure, that when she was it was nearly unbearable, not being used to the occasional injuries that most of her other teammates garnered.

Oh lordy, her teammates... Storm, Psylocke and Colossus dead.

Everyone else injured and fleeing in different directions. Hopefully to eventually regroup somewhere...

Rogue had to stop for a moment, even though she was near her destination in Louisiana. She saw a bayou forest below her and flew onto a sturdy cypress branch and sat down, leaning against the trunk and let the sobs free again. It had been like this the whole day. She had been flying around in a seemingly aimless flight pattern. It was intended to throw off anyone tracking her. But it hadn't been the straightforward picture she had planned months ago in the event of an emergency such as this. She kept having to stop, the pictures replaying in her mind how horribly her teamates died...

Taken out by Marauder clones, and Mr. Sinister himself. In our own home, no less. Ah just know if Remy was there we wouldn't have been.

The blame for everything weighed on Rogue. Jean and Kitty both gave damning looks to her for what happened. All she ever heard from both of them and Betsy too, was how ineffectual she was as a leader. They had done the same thing to Remy before he left...

Remy left the X-men, after having failed on a mission and sick of arguing constantly with the other X-men. He went back to the Thieves Guild. The Guildmaster postion was pushed upon him at nearly the same time he took one of the team leader roles in the X-men. Rogue had argued then about the inadvisability of taking on two leadership roles at once. But he at least had the guts to finally stand up to the X-men and tell them, "Fine y' don' wan' me here, I'll go. Fight over who's goin' be de leader wit'out me." Rogue's shame flushed her face, she hadn't exactly been that suppotive herself, telling him he was stupid to try to be leader of two groups at once.

The Guild position had been forced on him, but he had more respect there. As well as family ties. She hadn't seen him since he'd left. They hadn't parted on the best of terms. She made her feelings of smug justification at his failure, and resentment of the guild drawing him away from her quite open. They had a bitter argument and both said some rather ugly things to each other. She replayed every word said and despaired of ever repairing their friendship. She had to though, he was her last hope.

Rogue took to the air again, determined to make it to her destination, her mind now on the man she wanted to see, but feared his reaction to her arrival. Ah sent him an apology, by way of Tante Mattie, `cause ah didn't know where he'd be. He never said a word though. It's been almost a year...He must hate me. Her eyes blurred again with more than physical pain and exhaustion.

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She saw Tante Mattie's bayou home below her finally. Rogue hoped she was home right now.

The door flew opened as soon as Rogue collapsed on the front porch. "Oh child you made it! I felt you on your way and stayed home this mornin'!"

Tante Mattie lifted Rogue up gently and carried her to the tiny bedroom.

As soon as Rogue felt her body touch the mattress she let her exhaustion take over and drifted into a semiconscious state.

Not gonna hurt her, an' will help me do the healin' work bettah. Tante Mattie thought as she began her work.

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An hour later an angry Remy Lebeau knocked on Tante Mattie's front door. She knew he would be angry and had for that purpose made sure the door was left closed even though it caused the heat and humidity to build. The bedroom had a room fan blowing and an open window. Rogue slept on through the aggressive knocks.

"You're not comin' in Remy till you got dat temper under control." Mattie told him, through the door, in the voice young Remy had learned years ago brooked no argument.

Remy counted to ten and let his breath out slowly. "She have no right t' put y' in danger comin' here!" How could Rogue presume to bring whatever she was running from now here, and on Tante Mattie's head. The only person here that would take her in, no reservations. Remy's let months of simmering rage at Rogue's parting insults crest and then ebb. She had sent him a long, rambling apology. He had almost charged it up and turned it into dust, but something stopped him. Remy shook his head in annoyance he knew what it was, like a fool he still cared about her.

"Remy LeBeau! You should be ashamed! She come here because she trust you and love you! She hurt real bad too!"

That changed things entirely. He couldn't chase her away if she had been badly injured. If she came here rather than the medlab at the mansion something had happened to the X-men. Maybe she came to warn him...

"Tante. Let me in. I have t' talk t' her and see what happened."

The door opened slowly and his foster mother stepped aside.

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Remy looked at the woman sleeping on the bed. As if she sensed his presence her eyes flew open and she gasped and tried to flee. But her exhaustion and Tante Mattie's healing potion-liberally dosed with a herbal sedative made moving too tiring and she only managed a few inches before she flopped back down on her back. Her eyes were huge with fear at her helplessness. It brought back childhood nightmares she struggled to shove back into that dark closet of memories best forgotten.

Rogue had been awake since Remy had shouted on the porch. She wished she hadn't come. She had hoped Tante Mattie would send him away. He sounded so angry. When he stood in the doorway staring at her she felt she had to leave, flee from this man that hated her so. Now her temper, as always, began to push for control over the fright.

Remy felt the fright radiating from her. She had never looked at him that way before, like she thought he would hurt her. Pain lanced his heart. No woman had ever looked at him that way. It made him feel a monster. He knew he had to do something fast to calm her. He stopped moving toward her and spoke as soothingly as he could.

"Rogue, it's okay. What happened t' de X-men?"

Her face reflected extreme pain and grief. Remy knew from that look someone was dead. Her words came out in short bursts as she held her barely restrainable feelings in check.

"Fight. Took us by surprise at night. We were all asleep, except for Colossus. He was on security duty. They got him first. Before he could even raise an alarm. Took out our security systems without us knowing..."

Remy started shaking inside. He only knew of one person who could gather a team that could overcome the X-men security that effectively and quickly.

Rogue continued, "Psylocke's dead too, and..."

Please don' say it Rogue, don' let it be her...De only person after you dat it would kill me if she was dead... Remy thought desperately.

"Ororo."

No! Remy's mind screamed in anguish.

"It was-"

"Sinister!" Remy spat out the name in rage.

Rogue was silent and watched as Remy's anger cooled to a calm grimness. She knew that meant he was making his own plans of how to deal with Sinister. Plans she fully intended to be in on. But that was for the future. She watched Remy's face change again as he came back to the situation at hand- her. Now he moved to her bedside and lifted her out of the bed, covers and all.

"Too dangerous f' you t' stay so out in de open, ma cherie. Takin' you to my place t' recover." His look was fiercely protective. Rogue was too tired to argue right now, and besides if she were with him it would be that much easier to make sure she was part of whatever his plan was.

"Tante" Remy turned to woman now standing in the bedroom doorway. "Get word out t' de Assassins dat plan mechant is on"

The woman who had acted as his foster mother gave a sharp nod and began gathering her most portable and necessary items. After alerting the Assassins she was to join the thieves in their well protected and specially devised underground headquarters.

Mechant? Rogue had to think for a moment. Then it clicked, besides meaning bad, it was a synonym for sinister, in French.