Disclaimer: I don't own anything

FIRST ENCOUNTERS

He was growing tired of his search. Not one of these women had what he needed. Each one was dragged in like a restless animal reeking of fear and dried blood. His red eyes glowed fiercely through the darkness as he continued to hold back his hostility from his people. They did not understand what he needed and just as he kept denying these women, the relentlessly brought more. He began to wish that he did not have to destroy his wife, but he could not think of that now. It was her fault. She shouldn't have tried to take his thrown. He made her what she was and that is how she showed her appreciation, by trying to overthrow him.

After what felt like forever, something caught his attention. He noticed one of the women had white streaks in her hair, but he couldn't see her eyes. She was defiant. She pulled away from anyone who tried to force her before him. It was obvious that she was just turned, as he could see the fresh bite marks on her neck.

She did not know why she was forced to stand under the light, trying desperately to see something other then hands and arms that were shoving her back and forth. But it was pointless as the whole room pitch black other than the light surrounding her.

He stood up and made his way toward her, getting only a small glimpse of her emerald eyes as she tried to guard herself from being touched by anyone. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her, she was just too intriguing. His eyes must have been glowing, as she spotted him coming towards her. She stood her ground, not willing to go without a fight. So he slowly stepped into the light with her. It was only artificial, so it wasn't going to hurt him.

She nearly gasped in shock. She wasn't expecting it to be human, or anything remotely close to it. His eyes were unmistakably beautiful and perfect as the glowing red floated amongst the darkness of his eyes. His auburn hair was a little bit long, just brushing his eyes. He was more than obviously attractive, to say the least. He was completely engulfed in black clothes, including his trench coat. She wanted to speak, but felt as if she couldn't. She couldn't even move, as if she was trapped in his eyes.

The woman before him was covered from head to toe, but her clothes were dirty and worn, as if she had put up a fight. He had no doubt about that. But she was unmistakably beautiful. He had to have her. So he raised his hand and a robe was placed over her shoulders. Then he took her hand and led her down a hallway. She felt as if she was under some sort of spell that she couldn't break free from. She wanted to fight, scream, run, something, but her body would not allow her to.

He brought her into a room and led her towards the bed. He walked away from her and placed his trench coat on a nearby chair.

"What's goin' on?"

"You don't know?" he asked slyly.

"Who are ya? What do ya want with me? Where's that asshole who bit me?" The man before her merely smirked, as he made his way towards her.

"Da name is Remy LeBeau." he told her as he raised her hand and brought it to his lips.

"Out dere dey call me Gambit. An' dere ain't much dat I want chere." he told her as he raised his hand to her face. She wanted to pull away so badly, scared of his touch, scared to absorb him. But when he touched her cheek, nothing happened.

"As for dat asshole...je ne sais pas. If you'd like, later you can have 'im found and have whatever ya want done to him."

"How can ya touch me?" His eyes, that were staring at her lips, quickly moved back to her eyes.

"Touch you?" he asked curiously.

"My skin. You're not supposed to be able to touch me."

"You were a mutant?"

"Were?"

"Oui, now...now you be somethin' more chere."

"An' what would that be?" Remy chuckled slightly under his breath.

"You be dat fresh, heh? Didn't even stop to tell you anythin'?"

"Tell me what?"

"What's ya name chere?"

"Rogue." she told him hesitantly.

"Hmm." he began to take a good long look at her figure, obviously pleased.

"Rogue." he closed the space between them, their lips nearly touching. There was a hitch in her breath just before he kissed her. She did not even fight it. She couldn't even remember how long it had been since the last time she was touched, let alone kissed. She could feel herself falling deeper into whatever hold he had on her. He slowly pulled away, and she began to wish that he didn't. Slowly, she opened her eyes, trying to pull herself together. But the sight before her made her just about jump out of her skin. This man before her had fangs and looked as if he were the devil himself.

"What are you?" she whispered, lost in shock.

"Da same thing dat you are chere."

CHANGES

"The same thing I am? A mutant?" she said slowly, still not quite understanding. He began to circle her as if she was prey, making her feel uneasy, but she refused to show it.

"Never seen a horror flick chere?"

"Of course I have."

He began to walk over to a small bar, leaving her near the bed. Without speaking, he poured what she believed to be wine into two glasses. He slowly made his way back over to her, handing her one of the glasses, without ever taking his unique eyes off of her. She looked over the contents of the glass. It had a sweet aroma that she had never smelt before, causing her mouth to water, hungrily. He smiled at her genuinely.

"Dere is nothin' wrong wit it. You can drink it." he told her, then taking a drink of his own in order to show her that it was not going to harm her.

"If Remy was goin' to harm you, he would have done it already." That knowledge alone sent a chill down her spine. She could tell how serious that he was, and with whatever hold it was that he had over her, she was sure that he was telling the truth. She slowly took a sip, enjoying the taste more than anything she had ever had before. There was nothing that she could compare it to. It could easily make anything else taste like dirt. It was a little bit thicker then the wines that she was used to and had a slight metallic tang to it that did not seem to bother her in the slightest.

When she finished all of the contents of the glass, she looked up and noticed his heated gaze. Her heart began to race and her head began to pound. She didn't mean to, but she knew that she had dropped the glass. She clenched her head, wishing the pain to go away. It felt like her body was on fire. She couldn't help but think that she was going to die. What had he done to her?

But just as suddenly as the pain came, it went away. She opened her eyes, noticing that she was now lying upon on the bed. That man, Remy, was standing at the edge eyeing her up like some prize, as if she wasn't creped out enough. Rogue sat up slowly, still feeling a little lightheaded. As she did, she noticed that her hair had grown far past her shoulders and seemed to be a cascade of curls.

"What did you do to me?"

"Not a thing."

"What was in the wine?" He just smirked.

"Wine?"

"Yes. What. Was. In. It?" Rogue stated slowly, in her annoyance, hoping for an answer. She tried to stand, but wasn't fully ready for that yet.

"It wasn't wine chere."

"What was it then?"

"Blood."

"Blood?" she laughed.

"Blood? You expect me ta believe that?"

"Don't expect you to believe anythin' chere, other den da truth."

"So you're tryin' to tell me that you're a vampire?" she scoffed.

"Remy not tryin' to tell you anythin'. Already told you dat we are da same thing."

"Yeah. Mutants." One of his eyebrows rose at her refusal to believe him so he walked over to her with a mirror. It was very beautiful, obviously old. He handed it to her and she took it easily, not entirely sure as to what he was up to.

"Nice trick mirror ya got here." she said as she noticed that she had no reflection.

"No trick chere."

"What's goin' on? I want ta go home." A very annoyed Remy looked her over. He abruptly took the mirror back and slammed it against a side table causing broken glass to shatter across the floor. He reached down and picked a large, sharp piece and began to walk towards her. He regarded her with a cold, blank stare that made her want to run for her life, but in that same instance she could not move again. She couldn't even scream. She was completely trapped in her own body. He mounted her, laying her down fully on the bed, as he held down her arm and used the glass to cut a large gash. It hurt her, but still, she could not scream, she only felt the tears fall from her eyes. Once he was done, he threw the piece of glass down and turned her head to make her see. She watched as the wound quickly healed. Her eyes once again met his in fear. This couldn't be happening to her. This couldn't be real.

Remy let go of her, and slowly stood up, not exactly trusting himself in such a position with this woman. He could only hope that she would get over this quickly. That she would be what he needed rather then how Belladonna turned out in the end. Pointless killing of your own species was not something that he wanted to do again, even though it wasn't completely pointless. Belladonna was power hungry and did everything she could do to get more. He needed someone who would help him, who would lead with him, without attempting to kill him in the process. Sure, she's beautiful, but so was Belladonna. Although, he never felt that way watching her drink, let alone from a glass. Watching Rogue made him have to use a sense of control he never thought that he had.

Slowly, she sat up on the bed, staring at her arm, where he had cut her. Remy sat down on his knees before her, and took her arm. He licked the blood that had trickled down before the wound closed, never taking his eyes away from hers. Her eyes showed so much hurt and pain, let alone the emotions that she was projecting, he couldn't handle it. He stood up abruptly and made his way toward the door.

"Dere will be someone in here soon to help you...sort dis out. You will need some new clothes and other things." and with that he left.

Rogue sat there for a moment, still trying to make sense of it all. Finally, it dawned on her that she was in the room all alone. She ran to each of the windows, only to find out that they had been boarded and nailed shut. When she tried the door, it was locked from the outside. There was no exit, except for the door. But she knew nothing of what was past that door. She only knew that she had to find a way out, a way to get home.