Author's Notes: Well, it's been forever since I've actually written any fanfiction, and this is my first time writing for the X-Men: Evolution fandom. This is an experiment at best. Basically, it's a speculative one-shot centered around Gambit from the episode Dark Horizons Pt. 1 and reactions to watching the tape of Rogue infiltrating Magneto's base. No, I'm not original. Yes, I am a Rogue/Remy shipper. No, I didn't put a terrible amount of thought into this (then again I never really do as I just write for fun and nothing more), and no I don't expect it's very good [/self-bashing. But I hope some Romy shippers can get a good kick from it at least, which really the whole point in posting, right? So yes. Enjoy! Reviews appreciated as usual.
No more drinking. No more bourbon. No more vodka. No scotch, whiskey, tequila. Nothing. Never again. Nothing was worth this sort of misery. The pounding in his head, the dry feeling left in his mouth which made his tongue thick; all of it was enough to keep him off the sauce for the rest of his life. He must've done a real number on himself this time; he couldn't even remember hitting the bottle at all. He remembered waking up, slipping out of bed and into his trench coat. He remembered hearing a loud crash and John cackling something or other, but when wasn't the Aussie running his maniacal mouth about something? He remembered going to see what was happening.
Nope, nothing about a drink. Good goin', coyoon, he thought to himself, groaning in agony as his migraine worked its way down to the back of his neck.
Opening his eyes wasn't even an option. He knew what agony awaited him should he slip his eyes open to the vengeful wrath of midday sunlight. He could feel the cold concrete under him through the thick fabric of his coat and under his fingertips. Grimacing at the thought, he tried to pull himself up, only to find his whole body was heavy with a tingling numbness. It took more effort than it should have to haul himself off the floor to lean against a crate.
"Well, look. It's Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice nap?" he heard John chuckle, his voice indicating he was not in the best way himself. "S' about time you woke up, mate."
Gambit reluctantly slit one eye open, only to be greeted by the exact pain he expected. "Easy f' you to say, mon ami," he groaned, gripping his throbbing skull while his eyes adjusted. "Did a Mack-truck barrel through here or what?"
"Hell if I know," John shot back. "Five minutes ago I was in your exact position, an' I still have no freakin' clue what's going on. Kitty-cat and the tin man still aren't exactly in commission, either." Gambit managed to look over to the other side of the warehouse, and confirmed John's claim. Sabertooth and Piotr were still passed out on the floor, their bodies like ragdolls.
"What say we light a fire under 'em to get a move on, eh?" John suggested wickedly, releasing a small flame from his pack. "I still owe Fluffy for tryin' to use my leg as a scratching post."
"Somethin' tells me you better not, Pyro," Remy replied lazily, not in the mood for John's jokes. All he wanted was an aspirin and a bed, but when he saw Magneto emerge from the security room, he figured he'd be getting neither.
"Good, you're both awake," Magneto said stoically. There was no hint of relief in the statement. But then again Gambit didn't expect it was said out of concern. "I take it you're not feeling 100 percent are you?"
"Non, never been better, Boss," Gambit sneered, using the crate to rise to his feet. "Pyro an' I were just havin' a little naptime, is all. All this war with the humans stuff can be so exhausin'."
Magneto didn't look amused. "Likely you don't remember what happened either."
Arching a brow, Remy wondered exactly was happening. "What's makes you say that?" he asked while Pyro walked up beside him.
"It seems we had a break-in. Thanks to you fools, one of those X-Men infiltrated our base and took us out one-by-one," Magneto seethed with repressed irritation. "It's your responsibility to keep our base secure. I don't know why I even bother keeping you all around if you can't handle a single intruder."
"Hey, now that's not fair!" Pyro interjected stupidly. "Whoever it was they obviously got the best a' you, too, so don't go pointin' finger at us!" Predictably, Magneto shot John the deadliest of looks, but Gambit saw Pyro had hit a sore spot, and Magneto didn't pursue it, lest he have to endure more hits to his wounded pride.
"In any case, we have the security footage. You two go watch it while I get Colossus and Sabertooth up." Without waiting for a response, Magneto walked off to the lifeless Acolytes, leaving Gambit and Pyro with little choice but to follow the order.
"What crawled up his knickers an' died?" John sneered, following the Cajun into the security room. The walls were lined with TVs and other equipment, with one large chair positioned in front of the main panel. Gambit eased himself into the chair and looked up to the monitor.
He smirked, seeing the tape was all set up for viewing. "I dunno, mon ami, but seems to me we about find out," Remy said, reaching out and pressing the large play button at the top of the panel. For a moment all that they saw was Piotr moving crates around, the glare off his metallic skin blinding the camera for a second.
"I don't see anything," John complained, his short attention span already getting the better of him. "Fast forward and get to the part where one of those X-freaks supposedly lays waste to all of us." Something in his voice hinted at disbelief. Not that Remy wanted to admit a single X-man could take out all four Acolytes and Magneto. At least he liked to give himself more credit than that.
"Patience is a virtue, homme. We'll see soon enough which of Xavier's little angels came slummin," Gambit told the other calmly. "Then we'll…act accordingly."
"I like the sound 'a that, mate," Pyro grinned wickedly, already itching for a fight. As though right on cue, a shadow in the bottom corner of the screen caught their attention, but they still couldn't make out an identity. Gambit heard John mutter something inaudible but he was obviously frustrated with the video quality. Despite his inclination to agree with the sentiment, Remy's eyes remained glued to the large screen as the shadow got larger and they could make out a slight outline of a body. It looked slim, but the figure was still cast in the shadow of a stack of crates. Piotr was on the other side of the screen, carrying a crate over his head like a one man fork lift.
Suddenly the shadow leapt out across the room, making it all the way over to Piotr's standing place. Even Gambit had to blink at the leap; he only knew of one mutant that could make such a jump, but that little toad was no X-Men. For a moment he could make out a bit more of a shape as it stood next to Piotr, but much was still covered by the crate he held above. It looked a bit curvy, and Gambit thought he could see a heavy boot on the visible foot.
Non, couldn't be, he thought to himself, staring even more intently as the crate fell on the both of them. Not a moment later, the intruder broke out through the side of the crate, dragging a de-metalled Colossus out by the shoulder.
"Oy! It's that sheila what used to work for 'ole Refrigerator Magnet!" John exclaimed, pointing dramatically. Gambit didn't even react to Pyro's animated response, simply studied the video more critically.
"I can see that, homme. Now pipe down and maybe we can figure out why the belle fille decided to grace us with her presence," he nearly barked, his eyes focused on Rogue dragging the Russian across the floor. Suddenly, Sabertooth leapt out from a corner, colliding with Rogue and sending the girl sliding across the floor, nearly out of camera range. Calmly, Remy watched as Creed jumped to her body, claws extended for the kill, when Rogue's arm shot up to meet the attack, hand covered in familiar metal plating.
"She took him out by touching 'im, then used the power against us," Remy noted thoughtfully. "Very smart, cheri. You're a clever girl."
"Those two are pathetic. Lettin' a little girl like that take 'em out with one touch. It's just sad really," John said haughtily as Creed fell lifelessly before Rogue. "Bet the sheila had her hands full with me!"
Gambit smirked as a spark flickered on the side of the screen. "Looks like we about to find out, mon ami." Rogue took a few steps back, and Pyro entered the view.
"Whatta good lookin' mate that is," John boasted. "Let's see how she plays with fire, eh?" The screen turned a fiery red as Pyro shot a blaze at Rogue, engulfing her entirely. It looked basically over, and Remy could practically feel John beaming at his handiwork. But that smile came crashing down as Rogue emerged from the flames, fully encased in metal armor, consequently immune to Pyro's flame. When she reached him, she slammed her hand down on John's face, and then threw his lifeless form across the room like a doll.
"Hey, no fair!" Pyro argued. "Go back! I must've missed or something!"
"Looks like cheri knows just what to do with a little fire," the Cajun grinned, intrigued. "Just stomp it out." John simply pouted. But Remy's interest was captured again as he saw himself emerge from the center dome, clapping and looking like his normal calm self. "Well, well. This should be interestin'."
On the video, Gambit saw himself point his bo-staff at the metallic girl, only to be slapped away as she returned to normal. Remy took a moment to appreciate her new attire; Pyro's flame and the transformation had left her clothes rather ragged, showing nearly every bit of her but the bare essentials. Considering the girl's normal wardrobe, Remy figured it was the most anyone had seen of the girl in quite some time, and from how it looked on camera now, he could only think of what a tragedy that truly was.
Rogue stalked him across the floor, and he held his weapon readily, clearly expecting an attack. The camera followed them, acting on its motion sensors. She swatted at him, and he jumped on a nearby crate to avoid her touch. He seemed to have the upper hand here, but considering the state Remy had woken up in not 10 minutes prior, something must've gone wrong. Then he saw why. On screen, Remy was picked up, hovering above the crate on which he stood, and then thrown smack into a wall, then into the center dome. His body landed with what he imagined must have been a painful thud. Luckily, there was no sound on this tape, but he could still feel a pain in his butt from the impact with the floor.
"Eh, how'd she do that?!" John gasped. "Since when did she get telekinetic powers?"
"Since she took 'em from that Jean girl," Remy concluded. "She's been usin' other people's powers the whole time. Looks to me like Rogue's doing a little power shoppin," he said, trying desperately to figure out why.
"Most sheilas go for shoes," Pyro sneered, then noticed Rogue leaping on top of the fallen Cajun, kept away only by his feet and staff. "Whoa. Guess fightin's her idea of foreplay!" he jeered, elbowing Remy slightly.
"Can't say I mind," Gambit smiled only slightly, but his mind was too caught up in watching the video to really think about the implications. A second later, he kicked her off him and off screen. As he rose, it was clear that he'd lost sight of her as he stumbled around screen, head turning in every direction for a clue. Behind him, the camera caught Rogue walking calmly up to him, and Remy didn't detect it till too late. He knew he would be her next victim, and as he turned he waited to see her hand slam into his face just like it had with John.
But all he saw was her lean up, her face uncomfortably close to his when he too fell before her, a puddle at her feet. Both Acolytes were silent for a moment, and as usual it was John to break the silence.
"…Oy, she really DID like that fight, huh?!" he sputtered.
"Hush up," Gambit ordered, but nonetheless rewound the tape to watch the scene again. He must have missed something. Rogue was not the type of girl to do what he thought she just did. But as he watched, he could see that a kiss was his downfall, brief though it was. One meeting of their lips had him on the floor, fast asleep. "Mon dieu," he uttered, leaning back in the arm chair. "Seems criminal that I get a kiss from such a fine fille and I can't even remember it. But kudos to her for knowin' my weak spot," he said calmly, trying to sort out exactly what made him so uneasy about the whole thing.
"Criminal for you? I got a metal hand slapped to my skull! Why do you get the fun way?" John pouted again, crossing his arm. "I warmed the sheila up. Literally. Where's my bloomin' kiss?"
"Maybe if you ask nice next time you see her she'll make it up to you," Gambit said slyly smirking at his friend, but secretly feeling some sense of pride. He knew enough about the girl to know that she'd only kissed two people in her life, and he was one.
Now if he could only remember what it tasted like.
Both stopped paying attention as Magneto entered the scene, as it was obvious what happened there. They knew enough now.
"Well, if that's the case," Pyro lit up a small flame and grinned in his usual maniacal form, "looks like I better practice my approach, hmm?"
Gambit was about to respond, but Magneto interrupted the banter, along with a groggy Sabertooth. "I don't know what that girl was after-" he started before being cut off by Pyro.
"Oh, I think I know," he said with a sly glance at Remy.
Magneto, expectedly, ignored the comment and continued. "But Xavier has another thing coming if he believes I'll let the girl off that easy."
"C'mon, now, Magneto," Remy said coolly, inspecting his bo-staff. "You of all people should know Xavier wouldn't condone this sort of behavior, and I have my doubts Rogue would do somethin' like this of her own accord." Rogue was a tough little cookie, but she wasn't the type to infiltrate Magneto's base, drop everyone, and walk away just like that. And the fact that she had Jean and the frog fellow's powers didn't settle right with him either. It wasn't her style; he knew that much, being the residential eyes and ears for his boss. "Rogue was a puppet. With someone else pullin' the strings."
"I realize that. Her powers alone wouldn't have wiped our memories," Magneto said, his tone turning darker. "There's only one mutant who has that sort of ability and could control Rogue."
"You don't mean that…Mesmero bloke, do ya?" John jumped in. "Why would he want the sheila stealin' our powers?" Gambit grimaced. This was turning big, fast.
"He's trying to open the third door. Rogue must be the key, and since the girl can now shape-shift, I don't think it would be a stretch to say Mystique's involved," Magneto reasoned. "Either way, the girl must be stopped, now. We're taking a trip to the Institute."
"Won't do no good there, m'afraid," Gambit shook his head. "I happen to know today's Bayville's graduation ceremony. We want t' find our Rogue, we go there."
"Very well. We'll be making a pit stop for the Brotherhood boys as well. They may be useful in capturing the girl and stopping her from opening that door." With that, Magneto walked out to prepare for the outing, along with Creed and eventually John. Gambit returned to the video for a moment, pausing on a screen where Rogue's face was fully visible to the camera. She looked cold and absent. No, this wasn't the Rogue he'd watched. This was a different Rogue, one clearly not concerned with her powers or her actions.
But despite all the foreboding doom lying ahead of them, part of Remy's mind pulled him back to see if there was any tiny sliver of memory of that one moment Mesmero had so unfairly taken from him. He could recall nothing, of course, but the proof was in the tape.
When this was all over, and Remy had given the mind eraser a good case of amnesia for himself (the hard way), maybe he'd show this little clip to the girl.
Or maybe he'd just keep it to himself.