All respects to Fox and Marvel for X-Men.
The story takes place a year after X-3.

Against All Odds

Chapter 1: Prelude 12/21

The sun was just barely peeking over the ocean, casting bright light over the eastern side of the Charles Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. It was early November, hinting ever so slightly that winter was already beginning to take place of the crisp autumn air. As the early morning sun rose, a select few members of the X-Men rose with it. Logan was already heading to the Danger Room for one of his early morning solo sessions, Ororo was putting together a plan for the day, Bobby was dragging himself to shower and prepare for another horrifying Danger Room session with Logan later on in the morning, and Kitty was already in the kitchen starting coffee for the adults who needed it and breakfast for the students that wanted it. Meanwhile, on the western side of the mansion, a familiar young woman stirred. Only the glow from the trees further on the property illuminated her deep green curtains. A few rays of light peaked in, reflecting off one of the many motion detectors in the trees. The light gently landed upon strands of white contrasting greatly with the wavy auburn locks they rested upon. A pair of pale green eyes fluttered open briefly before closing up tightly.

Too early…way too early…

Rogue's thoughts were exactly right. The time was only 6:53 a.m., meaning she didn't have to be up for at least another hour, which meant another hour of sweet dreams and fantasies of finding someone she could actually be with without hurting them, but she could only lie there curled up in her emerald green sheets holding her black comforter close, recalling the events of the past year. Scott had disappeared, Jean had returned and gone crazy, killing the Professor in the process, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants revolted in response to the cure, and Rogue herself had taken it in hopes of rekindling the dying relationship between her and Bobby, but to no avail. Bobby had finally lost interest in Rogue and turned to Kitty, tearing both the girls. Rogue had done something drastic specifically for him and Kitty wasn't comfortable with going behind her friend's back and dating Bobby, not only that, Kitty actually preferred the company of Piotr Rasputin, commonly known as Colossus.

To Rogue's surprise, the cure didn't seem to last more than three months before her power returned, though she didn't seem to notice until a Danger Room session with Logan when she went to grab him and pull him away from a Sentinel's range of fire. He wasn't angry with her, but about as surprised as she was when he felt the familiar pull of his regenerative powers and memory of slaying Jean flowing quickly into her mind.

With a sigh and a wave of her hand, Rogue pushed away all the memories and sat up, her auburn hair now falling in a beautiful cascade of messy curls flowing gently down her back and over her shoulders. Only a few minutes had passed since she'd last looked at her clock. A desperate groan escaped her lips and she threw her sheets off her warm body, the sudden rush of cool air creating a wave of goose bumps on her bare legs. Rogue swung her legs over the side of her bed and sat with her feet resting silently upon the area rug that covered the hard wood beneath her bed. Dropping her head and letting out a small exasperated sigh, she stood, speaking with her heavy southern drawl.

"This is gonna be a long day…"

* * *

The sun, as it was shining out over the water, sent rays across the yard, a few of which landed upon the chiseled features of a man well into his 20's and reflected brightly on his dark sunglasses. He scoped out the yard of the institute, spotting each of the motion detectors as they glittered in the sun. With a smirk, he leaped stealthily onto the grass, his long trench coat flapping behind him and hitting him softly in the calves. He avoided the motion sensors with great skill, but what he didn't account for was the cool breeze flowing off the water and gracefully floating across the grass. As the cool air danced around him, his hair blew around his face and his coat rustled behind him. As he avoided one motion sensor, his trench coat managed to trip another. Camouflaged machines quickly sprang from their hiding places, a few charging while others immediately began firing. Cursing silently to himself, the man began dodging paralysis lasers and flying disks, moving sluggishly toward the mansion before him.

* * *

While Ororo finished up setting a schedule for the day, an alarm began to buzz letting her, amongst others, know that a motion detector outside had registered something solid in the yard. Dropping what she was doing, Ororo rushed out of her office and down the steps calling to Bobby and Kitty, both running to her aide along with Logan who flew up to the main floor from the Danger Room below. All four of them rushing through the French doors ready to fight. Of course, Logan was the first one heading toward the intruder. Ororo stopped at the sight of a tall man in a long trench coat almost dancing around the lasers, breaking the disks with a long bo-staff, and throwing random glowing objects at the machines, blowing them up one by one. Immediately her arms went out to hold Bobby and Kitty back, both shooting her confused expressions.

"Storm, what's up?" Bobby asked her, his arms returning to normal as his ice faded. Ororo didn't answer.

"Logan! Stop!" She called out to her teammate as he closed in on the intruder. He froze at her words, standing only about 10 feet away from the man in the trench coat, who turned quickly and smiled at Ororo.

"Hey, cheré! Ya wan' help ol' Gambit out?" His words were stained as he jumped away from another laser aimed for his leg. Quickly, Ororo ran to one of the small machines and punched in a code, lowering all the functional machines back into their hiding places. She ran to the man as he retracted his long bo staff into a small tube, tucked it away into his coat, and bent over, his hand resting upon his knees.

"Gambit! Are you alright?" Ororo asked him, concern in her voice. "What on earth are you doing here?!" The man she called Gambit looked up at her from his bent position and grinned slightly.

"Gambit's okay, Stormy. I need a place to crash." He informed her. "Mon père isn't too happy wit' me an' don't really wan' me around." He stood up and shrugged, then stretched. "So, Stormy, who're yo' friends?" Gambit faced Kitty and smirked, an eyebrow peeking over his sunglasses. Kitty blushed under his gaze, Bobby quickly stepped before her and extended a hand with an intense stare.

"Bobby Drake." As Gambit took his hand, Bobby laid a thin layer of ice over Gambit's gloved palm, crawling slowly over the three bare fingers and the fabric of the glove that covered his middle and right fingers. This action caused Gambit to smirk a little wider and react with his own power to manipulate kinetic energy, quickly melting the ice from his had and warming Bobby's hand to the point where if Bobby hadn't let go, it wouldn't have just startled the young man, but seared his flesh. Gambit let a low chuckle reverberate in his chest before stepping toward Kitty and taking up her hand in his.

"De name's Gambit." He kissed the top of her hand softly, her previous blush deepening.

"Kitty…Kitty Pryde." Her name nearly caught in her throat. Gambit enjoyed watching young ladies squirm in his presence. Ororo stepped in to speak for Logan who still stood observing Gambit, his claws still fully extended and gleaming in the morning sun.

"Gambit, this is-

"Logan. I know who he is. We met befo'." Gambit gave a curt nod to the small bulky man who huffed and retracted his claws.

"Damn Cajun." Was all Logan said. It was obvious there was tension between the two men. Gambit chuckled again as Logan turned and began heading back toward the mansion. Ororo motioned for Gambit to follow along as she, Kitty, and Bobby trailed after Logan. He nodded and followed her as she walked.

Logan, as he passed a few of the rehidden sensors, shook his head. Looking up, he saw Rogue standing upon the steps, now changed from her night clothes into a half sleeve purple shirt and dark jeans, her long black gloves in hand.

"What happened?" She asked him as he approached her. He shook his head and patter her arm as he passed.

"False alarm," was all he said. Rogue gained a confused look at his words. She and Kitty exchanged a quiet "good morning" while Bobby avoided her gaze all together. Remaining quiet, Rogue watched Ororo approach with a man she'd never seen before. Ororo stopped just before her and nodded.

"Rogue, I would like to you meet a friend of mine." Ororo spoke softly as Gambit stepped forward and reached for her hand. Rogue immediately pulled her hand from his reach and slipped on her gloves.

"S'nothin' personal." Her drawl was enhanced as she spoke, a faint blush appearing as her gaze hardened. Gambit straightened and cocked his head to the side. Rogue only shook her head and held out her now gloved hand. "Name's Rogue."

"Gambit." He took her hand and kissed the top of it just like he had Kitty's, only with Rogue he lingered, finding himself curious as to why she wore her gloves. "From de south?" He questioned her. Rogue raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly.

"Miss'sippi. Judgin' by your accent, ah'd say you're from the bayou?" Gambit gave a nod of his own and gave a smirk. Ororo's gaze switched between the two as they spoke, then rested her eyes upon her Cajun friend.

"My office when you're done?" Her words were gentle. Gambit muttered something along the lines of "sure" and watched her leave. Gambit and Rogue stood in silence on the front steps for a moment or so before Rogue motioned toward the stairs leading up to Ororo's office.

"C'mon, ah'll take you up to see Storm." Rogue's tone was calm and soft as she took a few steps inside the mansion, resting her hand on the inside door handle of one of the French doors. Gambit followed suit and stepped in with her, taking the other door's handle and meeting Rogue in the center as they pressed the doors closed.

"What's wit' de gloves?" Gambit asked her as they began their trek up the stairs.

"What's with the sunglasses?" Rogue retorted in a flat tone causing Gambit to chuckle.

As they reached the top of the staircase, they stopped at Ororo's office door and Gambit turned to his guide, a grin painted upon his lips.

"You ain't de only one wit' secrets, cheré." Gambit spoke softly as he lowered his sunglasses and make eye contact with Rogue, his red irises gleaming brightly in contrast to his black sclera. Rogue's eyes widened and her mind filled with questions as Gambit searched her pale green eyes, then examined the white in her hair, sparking questions of his own. "You'll explain ev'ry t'ing t'me eventually." With that, he raised his sunglasses again and opened Ororo's office door and stepped inside, leaving Rogue standing there bewildered.

After standing in the empty hall in silence for a moment or so, a small smile crossed Rogue's lips and with a shake of her head, she turned and headed off to prepare for her day.

Author's Note: Okay, so this is basically my trial chapter, just to see what you all think.

I'm open to constructive criticism. I know it's a little slow at first, but I promise that it gets better.