Hey everybody, been a while since i wrote anything so i thought I'd better get back to it. Happy 2014, this is my first story of the year!

Please enjoy!

Death was nothing new to the X-Men, but for Rogue, it never grew any easier and this time she couldn't believe who it was.

Scott had called her personally to his office to tell her and she still hadn't believed it. Gambit, dead? The idea was horrible, foreign and awful. She had sat quietly in front of him for a long time. Scott hadn't said anything, maybe he hadn't known how, certainly she didn't know what to say. An overwhelming sense of disbelief and anguish washed over her, her chest felt heavy and for some reason she found herself unable to remember the last thing she'd said to him. She hoped it had been kind, the fought so often.

Eventually Scott had put a hand on her shoulder and asked if she was okay.

She nodded shakily, trembling slightly, she couldn't process her thoughts properly and everything was confusing.

"His family told us he. . ." Scott paused, seemingly going over a list of words he could use but evidently couldn't find one. He fell silent.

"Do we know how?" She asked.

Scott paused. "His father called this morning, said it was a motorcycle accident. They're taking care of him down south."

She nodded silently.

"Mr. Lebeau asked if you'd like to attend he funeral. He says he'll pay for your plane ticket to New Orleans. He said it would mean a lot to Gambit."

She nodded. "I'll go."

Scott raised himself from his perch on the edge of the desk and walked around to a phone. "I'll make all the arrangements, do you want anyone to go with you? Storm maybe?"

Rogue tucked her hair behind her ear in an effort to make herself more presentable. "I don't know. I mean if she wants to go then alright."

"I'll call her in now, I haven't told her yet." Scott paged Storm and there was an awkward silence between this and her arrival.

Storm entered looking as elegant as ever, she looked form Scott to Rogue and gave a puzzled worrying look. "Is everything alright?"

Scott sighed and Rogue sniffed. "No." She sobbed. "Remy's. . ."

Storm's lips parted. "He's what?"

"We got a call from his father this morning, he's. . . he said he'd passed on." Scott said.

Storm's brow furrowed. "How?" She asked.

"There was an accident while hew as riding his motorcycle." Scott said, casting a glance at Rogue who sat still, her chest rising and falling as she tried not to cry.

Storm's eyes narrowed. "I must go to him now." She said, turning and striding out. A few minutes later they saw her out the window as she headed south.

Scott ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Rogue in slight embarrassment and half shrugged. He was at a loss for words.

"I'm going to go pack." Rogue said throatily, getting up with some effort. For a minute he looked like he was going to offer her assistance and she hoped he wouldn't but then he nodded and picked up the phone.

"I'll make the flight arrangements. Please give the family the school's condolences." He paused. "And mine."

She nodded and turned,her heart hurt so much. She hurried back to her room and sank down on the bed, head in her hands. She shook with dry sobs, hair falling around her face and sticking to it as the tears came.

It didn't make sense, Remy was perfectly capable of handling himself n a motorcycle. She'd ridden with his multiple times. Suddenly she could feel the wind whipping through her hair and feel his back pressed against her just as if she were really riding with him again and the pain this memory caused was so excruciating she doubled over, holding herself almost in an effort to keep the warm feeling of back with her.

She was distracted from her grief by a knock on the door. It was Scott again and he held out a set of faxed paper. "I have your ticket." He said quietly. She took it and smiled weakly, the departure time was in four hours.

"I'll be read soon." She said.

"If you need any help-"

She cut hm off. "I'll manage."

He nodded and she closed the door. Sniffing, she mastered herself and drew out a luggage case from under her bed and began packing. She realized she didn't have an outfit planned and went through her wardrobe with astonishment before grabbing a black dress and folding it carefully added it to the suit case. With everything packed she looked around the room and then at the clock, they wouldn't have to leave fro two hours, she sank onto the bed and sat quietly, too drained to cry and too empty to do anything else. She watched the digital clock for over an hour before there came a knock on the door, it was Jean, she came in with a gentle smile.

"Scott told me." She said softly. "Are you alright?"

Rogue nodded. "Yeah. I am."

Jean sat beside her and gave her a sad smile. Rogue knew she couldn't fool a telepath but Jean didn't cal her on it and it was nice to have someone next to her. Jean gave her a careful hug and they sat together quietly until it was time to go and then Jean helped her carry her bags downstairs and gave her another hug at the door. "Give him my love." She said.

Rogue nodded and headed out to the car Scott had waiting. They didn't have much to say as they went, Scott didn't know what to say and she was afraid she wold break down if she opened her mouth. She thanked him at the airport and he saw her off and at long last she settled into her seat on the plane, looking around detachedly at the people surrounding her. She had basically shut down her mind, it was so much easier than the tide of thoughts constantly washing over her.

She asked for a blanket and closed her eyes until the layover in Atlanta where she wondered through the airport in a daze until her plane arrived.

The final stop off in New Orleans was a relief, the warm, humid air washed over her as soon as she stepped out of the airport. In a kind of haze she was glad it wasn't the middle of summer. Then she thought that that was a horrible thing to think because she shouldn't be glad about anything do with the situation.

She hailed a cab to take her to her hotel and once there took a shower and stretched out before calling Jean-Luc.

He picked up right away. "Hello?"

She hesitated. "Hello, this is Rogue."

He paused a moment too. "Ah, how are you?"

"I'm fine. I was calling about the time. . ."

He cleared his throat audibly. "Of coarse, tomorrow at ten, there will be a service at the church first and then we'll move to the cemetery. You'll be riding with me, that is of coarse only if that's what you want."

She nodded for a moment. "Yes, that's fine. Tomorrow at ten. Alright, I'll see you there." She paused. "I'm sorry." Her voice was barely a whisper.

There was silence then: "I'm sorry too."

They hung up and Rogue sat on the bed quietly before laying out her clothes for the following day. She looked at them for a long time before sinking down and crying again. To be here, in the city Remy had loved so much but without him was painful and even the bright sunlight streaming in from outside couldn't life her spirits.

Finally she hung up her clothes and lay down to sleep but the impending funeral of the next day and the grief she knew it would bring kept her awake and it was only with extreme force that she managed to clear her mind and sleep.

Thanks for reading, I'm sorry it's so short, the chapters in this may not be very long but i plan to update them every weekend if i can or as soon after if i miss a weekend so keep a look out! The Funeral is next chapter!