Author's Notes & Disclaimer: Okay, first of all, I don't own any X-Men, sadly... (though I wish I owed Rogue and Gambit... Then I'd be able to have them together permanently!) Also, this fic is based upon an RP me and my best friend Niteflite are doing, so sorry for the confusing-and-barely-there plot! We've got an inkling of an idea for the plot, but it's slow coming. Also, because of its origins, this story is only about 75% mine. The other 25% of the credit belongs to Niteflite.
And if you wish to know the origins of the non-English in mine and Nite's fics... I'm her Spanish consultant, and she is the French consultant. That should tell you where to blame wrongs in the languages...
Shameless Plug: Go read Niteflite's X-Men: Evolution fic Languages, Explosions, and Monsters: Oh My! It's awesome!! Barrel-full of laughs with plenty of romance in there too!
L'amour De L'ennemiBy: Flyby Stardancer (and a little bit by Niteflite)
Chapter 1: Enemies
The sky was a light blue with hardly a cloud to mar it. Sadly, no one was enjoying it. A dark, overcast day would have been more befitting to those below it. Most of the students and staff of the Xavier School for Gifted Students were rummaging through the rubble that was once their beloved mansion.
Off a little ways into the forest sat the girl known as Rogue. She leaned against a truck and appeared to be studying the leaves overhead, though she was in fact lost in thought. So much had happened lately in such a short time that it was almost overwhelming. First there was the fight between the X-Men and the Sentinel. Then the mansion blew up, leaving all the people that lived there bare and unprotected to the public's witch-hunt and persecution. To top it all off, Professor Xavier had been M. I. A. Even with all of this weighing on her mind, Rogue's thoughts continued to return to that lackey of Magneto's with the sexy smirk and the hot red-and-black eyes. Frustrated, she groaned and closed her eyes.
She kept her eyes closed as she heard faint footsteps approach. Probably one of the others tryin' ta startle me. She waited for the unlucky person to reach her so she could show them why you leave the Rogue alone when she wants to be alone.
Meanwhile, the teenager know to his comrades as Gambit was meandering through the same forest. Magneto, his "leader", had assigned him to scout it for what he called "X-Men". He saluted mockingly to the air. "Mais oui! Bien sûr! Après ça, I'll be his personal trainer!"
After that outburst, he returned to grumbling, "Stupid Acolytes wit' der stoopid Magneto givin' stoopeed orders!" Angrily, he pushed aside a branch only to see what he least expected.
On the other side of the clearing sat the girl he had flirted with during the battle! Without even opening her eyes to see who it was, she called out, "If that's you, Drake, Ah swear Ah'll-" He gasped silently in shock, unconsciously letting go of the branch, which then whacked the poor boy in the face.
"Aaah!" At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Rogue quickly became alert. She then saw that it was not Bobby Drake, or any of her other teammates. Fallen onto his butt was the guy she couldn't get her mind off of. Rogue didn't even realize that her mouth was open in her surprise.
She is even hotter now than when she was about to attack me! thought the surprised teenage boy. Then, in as suave a manner as he could manage after being knocked on his butt by the branch, he said, "Bonjour, p'tite."
After a few moments, Rogue's brain returned from its little vacation and ordered her mouth shut. It took her several attempts at speech before her voice was found, and then she could only manage a weak, "H-h-hi..." Great going, girl! was the thought that accompanied the mental kick Rogue gave herself.
Gambit stood up, brushing forest debris from his clothes, eyeing her womanly curves. "Wha' y' doin' so far from 'ome?"
Rogue stood up as well, brushing her butt off. "Ah could ask the same of y'all."
The Cajun shrugged, trying to look casual. "Gambit got los' after dat las' battle. Kinda wanderin' around 'til Gambit find de way out." He shrugged, attempting to look casual as Rogue glared at him in suspicion.
"This is a mighty long ways from where that was, Sugah."
Gambit opened his eyes wide in a sweet puppy-dog look. "Gambit really lost, p'tite."
Rogue vainly tried to keep a hold of her suspicions, but they melted through her fingers like water at the look he was giving her. "Ahlright Sugah, where're ya tryin' ta go?"
It was then that the truth dawned on Gambit: he had completed the mission Magneto had given him. He had found an X-Men! "Gambit'll go wherever y' do, p'tite."
Then, out of nowhere, a blue and fuzzy elf appeared. When he saw Gambit he called out, "You're not Scott," then disappeared in a puff of sulfur smoke. This random occurrence caused an identical reaction in both southerners.
"Wha-?" Gambit, noting the other's distraction, used it to smoothly slide closer to Rogue, only stopping when he was a hair's width away from her. Rogue jumped slightly when she saw how close he was, but oddly didn't protest the invasion of her personal bubble. Oh mah Gawd... He's so hot, so sexy...
It was that moment that a tall, brown-haired boy with scarlet glasses chose to run into that very clearing. Seeing Rogue there he asked, "Anyone see Kurt?" Then he noticed the guy with Rogue wasn't exactly familiar. Instinctively, his hand went to his glasses. "Who're you?"
In response, Gambit made such a movement as to proclaim to the other boy that he was in possession of Rogue. Rogue of course didn't understand the guy-only sign language. (AN: And neither do I since I'm a girl!) "Depends on why y' want t' know."
"Scott!" cried out Rogue, partly in surprise, and partly in anger. "What're ya doin' here?! Go make out with Jean or somethin'!"
Somehow, despite the large distance between Jean and the mutants in the clearing, she heard Rogue's suggestion of activities for Scott to do. "I heard that!"
Immediately, like the 'perfect hero' he is, Scott jumped to Jean's defense. "You leave Jean out of this! What I want to know is what is that...guy...doing over here? He's the enemy!"
"Gambit resent dat!" was the immediate and indignant reply.
"He's mah business, Summers! Go **** Jean!"
"I heard that, too!" came Jean's voice from the same undisclosed distance.
In a slightly scornful voice, Scott said, "No wonder he's your business. How about finding out Casanova's name before you're all over him." He glared disapprovingly at how cozy the other two appeared to be.
On a sudden impulse, Gambit decided to trust Rogue, and piss off Scott for a bonus. "Gambit, LeBeau, Remy LeBeau."
"Huh?" asked Scott.
So Gambit said his alias and true name again. "Gambit, Remy LeBeau."
Rogue stuck her tongue out defiantly at Scott and began to finger one of her gloves in Scott's line of sight, silently telling him, "Back off, or else!"
For once, Scott did the smart thing and decided to get out of there and leave the two alone. Yet he could not resist calling back over his shoulder, "Fine, Gambit-LeBeau-Remy-LeBeau. I dare you to kiss her."
Remy yelled back at the retreating figure, "Don't t'ink Gambit won't!" He then turned back to Rogue and slowly moved even closer to her, glad for the excuse to kiss her.
He must not know what mah powers are! Rogue's eyes widened in surprise and she said softly, "Ya don't wanna do that..."
"Yes I do, Chère." She's probably afraid of going too fast. "Je t'aime."
"Ya really don't wanna do tha-" Suddenly, she was cut off by the feel of his lips on hers.
Remy swayed back and murmured, "Wow..." then passed out, landing on his back on the forest floor. Rogue wrestled with his powers for control, uncharging her gloves before they could explode. Then she yanked off her gloves so she wouldn't accidentally charge them up again and sat back down on the ground, sorting through the memories of his that had entered her mind. She was a bit surprised when she noticed that about half of the memories were of herself.
As she waited, a girl with short brown hair in two pony-tails and a green shirt with the shoulders cut out walked into the clearing humming "Danny Boy". The girl stopped suddenly when she saw Rogue sitting there and Gambit lying on the ground. Of course, she didn't know who he was as she had never seen him before. "Rogue... What happened? Can I help?"
"Not unless ya cam make powers Ah absorbed disappear faster," was the reply.
"Uhh, no, but I can help ya drag him to where the others are." The younger girl's physical appearance began to change. Fur sprouted all over her body and claws and fangs grew where none were before, yet she kept a humanoid shape.
Rogue said a bit nervously, "Uh...Rahne... It wouldn't be a good idea for the others to see him..."
Rahne picked Remy up easily. "Well, we're sworn to protect and defend, right? He looks pretty defenseless."
"Ya don't realize who he is, Rahne."
The younger girl shrugged and set the boy down, saying, "If you don't want to help him..."
"Not takin' him ta the others is helpin' him, Rahne."
Rahne considered this for a moment, then another thought popped into her head, "How long did you touch him?" It was then that Remy started to come around. He shook his head and moaned but didn't wake up yet.
"Not even a second," answered Rogue. "Ah think he's comin' 'round."
"Oh, right." Rahne then went fully into her wolf form.
Pushing himself up with his hands, Gambit shook his head again, this time to clear it of the cobwebs that had formed when he blacked out. "Y're quite a kisser." At that comment Wolfsbane (Rahne's alias) cocked her head and opened her mouth in a wolfy smile.
Rogue pulled her gloves back on while asking calmly, "Now do ya see why Ah told ya not ta do that?"
"Peut être," was the reply. "Are y' gonna introduce Gambit t' y'r teammates?" Bored as hell, Rahne sauntered off, still in her wolf form.
"Are ya sure 'bout that? They may react like Scott did. Wouldn't want ya ta get hurt."
"Gambit isn't helpless, Chère."
"Ah know, but..." Rogue trailed off, biting her lower lip and looking down.
"Gambit wish 'e could kiss y' now." He brought her hand up to his mouth and gently kissed the knuckles.
Rogue moved closer to Remy and, almost hesitantly, rested her head on his shoulder. "Ah know; me too..."
Though he wished they could stay like that, Gambit pulled back slightly. He couldn't think well with her so close. "What y' doin' out here, Chère? Why not wit' y'r amis?"
"'Cause they're annoyin' as Hell most of the time."
Thinking fast, Remy tried to lie smoothly, but ended up stuttering a little. "But... I-i wanted t' join y'r team."
"Y'all have ta talk ta Jean or Scott 'bout that."
Remy figured his best bet was to push the base idea. "But it's gettin' late..."
Rogue dismissed it. "Don't mattah. Not like we'd have much sheltah anyway."
"Really? Y' don't say."
Immediately, Rogue became suspicious once again. "Ya, Ah don't say."
Taking a change, Gambit moved closer to her. "Did I say somet'in' wrong?"
Rogue didn't buy it. "Ya may have jus' givin' yoah game away, Cajun."
Remy tried to save face. "What game?"
"Don't ya be lyin' ta me now, Sugah," said Rogue. "Ah know what y're tryin' ta do."
"Y' caught me," replied the Cajun. "I jus' wanted t' talk t' y' when we're not in the middle of a battle."
Rogue wasn't convinced, and so said sarcastically, "Right..."
"Glad y' agree, Chère." He then tried a different approach. "Y're belle."
She merely raised an eyebrow, not impressed by his sweet-talking. The southern belle knew that the boy was trying to cover his real motives.
Since he didn't get the response he was hoping for, Remy tried again. "Chère,...euhhh...y're belle."
This time Rogue realized the meaning of his words and blinked in surprise. "Ya think so?"
"Yeeeessss..." Remy noticed her surprise and murmured, "Très belle."
It took a few seconds for Rogue to recover, but when she did, she raised an eyebrow. "Tryin' ta win some points, Sugah?"
Immediately, Remy acted insulted and guilty. "Euhhhh...no?"
"Ya are tryin' ta win points!"
Remy's cheeks became like tomatoes, and he began to shuffle his deck of cards reflexively. "So?"
"Ya're hidin' somethin'," said Rogue.
The Cajun spread his arms in a gesture of innocence, asking, "Like what?"
Rogue asked firmly, like she already knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from him, "Why are ya really here?"
"Y' don' know?"
Still trying to get him to say it, "Somethin' ta do with Magneto."
Remy seized what he thought was his chance. "Yes. I-i quit his brotherhood."
The southern girl gave Remy a look that clearly said, "Ya're not gonna fool me," and said out loud, "Ya're lyin'."
That caused Remy to pause for a moment. "Non?"
Rogue didn't let up with the Look. "Don't try ta fool me, Sugah. Ah absorbed yoah thoughts, remember?"
"Y' did? I mean, y' did!" Remy paused, looking like a deer in headlights. "How much?"
Rogue still kept with the vagueness. "Enough ta know."
"Dis cat an' mouse t'ing is tirin', chère."
"Ya got that right, Sugah."
"So what d' y' know?" asked Gambit.
Smirking slightly, Rogue replied , "Oh... Magneto's orders, yoah...more-than-friendly thoughts, etc."
Remy smiled sheepishly. "Uhhh. Y' have de advantage dere."
Her smirk turned into a triumphant smile. "Of course, Sugah."
"Okay, Magneto is looking for...euhhhh...Charles Xavier. As to you, y' free Saturday?"
"Ah ain't gonna help Magneto in any way..." His question began to register in Rogue's mind. "Why do ya wanna know 'bout Saturday?"
Remy merely shuffled his cards smoothly and asked one word. "Date?"
This caused Rogue to raise an eyebrow and smirk slightly. "What do ya have in mind?"
"Sunset? Here?" Rogue's smirk grew larger.
"Sure, Sugah."
Remy reached out and gently took Rogue's gloved hand and gave it a courtly kiss. "'Till den, p'tite." He let go, leaving a Queen of Hearts in its place instead, causing Rogue to smile.
"'Till then, Sugah."
The Cajun thief backed into the forest and disappeared. Rogue leaned against a tree, still holding onto the card. After letting herself zone out a little bit, she walked back to the rest of the X-Men.
Second Author's Note: Phew... This was long! Longer than I normally write something. Don't worry though, I'll try to keep all the chapters above 1000 words. ^_~ And since I hate not knowing what people are saying in other languages, I've provided a list of all the non-English words/phrases used in this chapter, and will do so for the rest of the chapters. Hope ya enjoyed this first chapter, and please leave a review! ^_^
Translations:
mais oui=But yes
bien sûr=Of course
après ça=After that
p'tite=petite=small [one]
chère=dear
je t'aime= I like/love you
peut être=maybe
amis=friends
belle=beautiful
très belle=very beautiful
non=no