Disclaimer: All of the characters mentioned in this story are owned (sadly) by Marvel. I didn't ask permission to use them, so if that's a problem… then why is there such thing as "fan fiction"? ;)
(1) Notes: This is an idea that has been haunting me, threatening to suffocate me if I didn't write it. -strangles self inwardly- Anyway, I owe most of my inspiration to Neurotic Temptress, her fantastic AU fic, "After Midnight" causing all these thoughts to start tormenting me, thus the result of this… thing. I thank her for converting me fully into a Rogue/Gambit shipper, and they, as you might see, are the characters this story is centered on… but I've got a lot of plans for this. Be nice, read all of the works of Neurotic Temptress… and make me happy! :)
I want to apologize in advance for any wrong facts I may present here about anything (I'm too lazy to research ;)), so if you'd be up to it, please correct me, it that's the case. I just wanted to add that all of this is a product of my imagination, with references to the comics, of course. Since this is an AU story in which none of the X-Men are mutants, I might have to make a few changes with regards to some of the characters'… unrealistic characteristics. Does that make sense? But I swear; I'll try to remain true to their origins! Please tell me if you find any unnecessary OOC-ness, and… I'll quit blabbering now. :)
Legend: unaccented thoughts, foreign words (could be the other way around, if the character thinks in another language), flashbacks, (translations/author notes), ::written words::, emphasis when words are italicized… did I forget anything?
Limelight by melancholic
1. Just Another Face
The sun's rays were merrily streaming down on the cold, gray pavement, brightening the view of the emerald green eyes that were boring upon them. It was your typical Hollywood day, thought Marie D'Ancanto, sure that what she was observing at the moment truly fit that long, stereotypical description of one of California's most famous locations, seeing the crowd that had gathered outside one of the main studios downtown.
She was aware of the reason why all sorts of people were shoving others incessantly, struggling to enter that huge, colorful tent in which some of the biggest stars of the age were gathered under. Shaking her head amusedly, she watched her best friend, Jubilation Lee, her arms flailing wildly in the air, as if hoping to be singled out from many of those who were praying to be selected as extras, in what was anticipated to be the summer's greatest hit, Genesis.
Marie was aware of Jubilation's (as she put it affectionately, "Jubilee" or "Jubes") aspiration to become an actress, her blue eyes sparkling with the mere thought of being in front of a camera. Marie had tried to talk her friend out of it, seeing that someone with such talent like herself should focus her energies on dreams that were somewhat achievable, but her friend's naturally stubborn attitude wouldn't hear of it.
"I've got to start somewhere, Marie! There's someone out there waiting, hoping to discover talent like mine… and I'm not just gonna sit while he looks around, totally oblivious to me, you know!!!" Marie had scoffed, interest coming to her when she had remembered that Jubes had used a "big word." Jubilee's vocabulary usually consisted of pizza, parties, Blue's Clues, and lot more things that definitely had nothing to do with oblivion.
To be honest, Marie didn't want to describe Jubilee as shallow, although her current actions were forcing Marie to arrive at that conclusion. It all started when announcements came that the critically acclaimed, Academy award-winning director Charles Xavier declared his plans for a new movie, one that surely brought a lot of curiosity along with it. It would be about the evolution of humans to a new level, a stage that would bring about fear, uncertainty, and hatred in a society in which, Marie could quote, "Hated what it didn't understand."
The plot of this film was about a gang of prejudiced mutants, coming from various backgrounds, but despite their differences, a mysterious man, whose only dream was to have both humans and mutants peacefully coexist in this world, brought them together. Many had said that Xavier himself was insane for coming up with this kind of project, which was seemingly related to his artsy film about a man becoming a Juggernaut, a result of touching some cursed crystal in a cave. Back then, they perceived him as the typical wacko, but surprisingly, this shot the Xavier brothers, Charles and Cain (the star of the aforementioned movie), into stardom. And people had a reason to be more excited about this one, since it had the singer-turned actress Alison Blaire, fiery redhead Jean Grey, British model Betsy Braddock, millionaire actor Warren Worthington III, Oscar winner Ororo Munroe, and last, but definitely not the least, the one whose name caused the most screams to erupt when said: Remy LeBeau, in the cast.
Although she would never admit it, Marie knew that Remy was another reason for Jubes' desperation to land a part in the movie. Marie found him good-looking, brown eyes which sometimes, as Jubes strangely noted, "glowed freakishly almost red", auburn hair which fell in perfect waves just to the level of his chin, making up his features. Added to that was his incredibly toned body, chiseled face, lean form… Marie stopped herself from continuing any further, not wishing to be a Jubilee clone at the moment. She prided herself for not being easily swayed by someone's physical appearance, or, in other words, not being like every other girl in North America was: Infected by the epidemic set by Remy LeBeau. And even now, she didn't know what she was doing here, waiting with Jubes outside the gates of Graymalkin Studios, amongst a frenzied horde of Remy Droids, the hot sun scorching her back as the line barely moved.
"Hey! Yo! Are you even listening to me?" Jubilee said impatiently, a hand waving rapidly in front of Marie's face, completely enabling her to lose her focus on anything, besides the colored rings on her friend's fingers, accompanied by the jiggling sound of her millions of bracelets.
"Yah already brought me here! What mo' d'yah want?" She responded, the Southern drawl clear in her tone. Marie then playfully rolled her eyes and covered her ears, attempting to protect them from Jubes' immediate imitation of her accent, which came out rather horribly.
"Ah'm just—" Jubilee interrupted herself by bursting into a fit of giggles, clearing her throat afterwards. "Dude, your accent is so damn hard to copy… anyway, why were you goin' all spacey-wacey on me? I think you're becoming scatterbrained…"
As her friend droned on and on about her un-Marie-like attitude, she was transported back to exactly three hours ago, both of them in the apartment they shared, clothes strewn everywhere because of Jubilee's panic over "not making the absolutely best impression" on Charles Xavier, for that part in the movie. Like he would notice her… We're all just faces in the throng, singing the same old song… And while she was thinking about all this, a stray sock emerged from Jubilee's tornado of clothes, hitting Marie square in the nose, causing her to inhale its sickeningly disgusting odor, which she suspected came from Jubilee's own feet.
"Fu—HEY! Was that mah new blouse?" She had said, glaring at Jubes.
"Yup! Apparently, it's now our new wash rag…" Jubilee grinned, pointing to the floor, where Marie's white top appeared, lying in a heap as it absorbed the orange juice that her ever-so-graceful roommate spilled moments earlier.
Instead of screaming in frustration and tackling Jubilee, she balled her fists and crossed her arms upon her chest, trying to keep her anger in check. She often did whatever she could not to show emotions of any sort, trying to prove to everyone that she was the strongest rock around.
"God, Mar… you're such a rogue!!!" Jubilee had said, pointing out her apparent personality flaws in that sentence. "You're so stiff and indifferent, it's like nobody can get through you, y'know?" She had joked, but she would never know that Marie had taken that seriously. Rogue, eh? At least I'm tough… And…
"HEY!" Jubes shouted into her ear, temporarily deafening Marie while jolting her back to reality all the same. "The gates are opening… OH. MY. GOD!!!" She shrieked, but this time, Marie's hands were readily clamped over her ears. The line was moving, people were shuffling about excitedly… and, at the sight of that big "G" that symbolized Graymalkin Studios; Marie suddenly felt her own brand of enthusiasm.
(2) Notes: Hi! Uh, I'm just popping in here to say that, asides from begging for reviews, I made minimal changes concerning the layout of the chapter, reworded sentences insignificantly, and switched "Westchester Studios" to "Graymalkin Studios" because the latter sounded better (doesn't it?), and naming a studio after an actual part of New York seemed all odd. O.o
I apologize in advance for the edits that I'll be making – I'm really like that, being all nit-picky and fussy about the small details. I don't think my edits will be too important, except for the usual rewording that is my bad habit. Rest assured that, if I make major changes, I'll note them here and make the world happy! Haha!
…Uh, please don't let this stop you from continuing to read! ;)