A/N: 2nd part, complete. So, some Rogan as stated, but never fear Remy is here! I tried to include M parts without being too far from the original tone of Ch. 1, but of course the rating has to change and I hope you guys don't hate it. I went through this one pretty quick, so if you see any mistakes PM me or review it and I'll fix it. Thanks. ~Anna L.
35 YEARS LATER
Rogue pushed her way past Storm when they got back. "Rogue!" Storm tried calling after her, but Rogue kept going.
In the end, it was Logan who didn't respect her privacy. Anyone could have called that a mile away. "Hey, kid. What's wrong?"
"I just—I just don't feel like I belong here anymore." Rogue bit out, pulling off the gloves of her new uniform. It was her favorite by far, green and white with a handy hood. But not even fashion could make her happy enough not to be upset with Logan right now.
Logan sat down on her bed and sighed. "It's me, kid. You've got a little too much of me in yah. It's the wanderlust."
Rogue put a bare hand at his temple and brushed the hair from his forehead. "Does it ever go away?"
He grabbed her hand and held it to his heart. His blue eyes seemed to pierce her, as always. "Never."
They didn't discuss the other thing that Rogue had gotten too much of: his healing factor. 35 years and she barely looked a day older. Maybe a little curvier, longer hair, no longer goth. But she could still pass for a teenager while her teammates grew every day. She never would have guessed Scott would fill out so nicely. And Jean looks every bit the lovely mother she is.
It was not a new source of resentment, not for her or her teammates. It was one of the reasons she was starting to feel so out of place. She even looked younger than Jubilee now and Jubilee was easily the youngest and least experienced one of team. It was easy for Logan, because he'd always looked a little older, a little timeless. Rogue didn't.
Logan tugged on her arm until she fell into his lap. He'd been the one to help her find herself, to help her touch again. Charles had her practice with Logan every day until she finally learned how to control her powers. Logan was the only one who could withstand her touch for any good amount of time, and the only one who would get back up after. He'd been reluctant at first, for her sake, not his, but finally he agreed.
For the longest time after she'd learned to control her powers, he was still the only one she would touch because she was so afraid of touching someone else.
As a result, intimacy just happened. It was their secret. He knew her better than anyone and she knew everything about him. His was a comforting embrace. She loved feeling him, in any way she could, but she didn't think she loved him. At least not in the Romeo-and-Juliet sense of the word, and that was what Rogue really wanted. This was a casual thing for her, and for him, too, she knew.
Deeply casual, she'd say if anyone ever asked. She didn't know if that made sense, but Logan was the only reason she was still alive today. The only reason she hadn't just given up and gone completely off the deep end. Sometimes he felt like family. Really sexy, desirable family. But no one could ever ask.
They both knew that their friends would find it deeply wrong. He was old enough to be her father, a few times over, actually, and he sometimes acted like it. As far as everyone was concerned, his relationship with Rogue was just as innocent as his was with Jubilee, and they were both fine with that.
The only one who'd ever known different was the professor. He'd found out, and Rogue was pretty sure he'd been horrified. But he had to have known that he was the one who'd forced Logan to work with Rogue on her powers. It was his fault. That was probably why he'd never said anything. Now he was dead. Since Jean couldn't read either of their minds no one else would ever find out. That was fine with them.
She straddled him and started kissing him. Everything felt better and less scary when Logan held her. He was so strong, so sure of himself. How could anyone know that he was so unsure, about everything? Rogue knew. They were the only ones who'd ever really understand each other. She let herself become lost in his touch.
When she woke up in the morning, he was gone.
Later that week she told Logan about her plan to leave, to back to Mississippi. He hadn't bothered to convince her otherwise at first. He just started kissing her. They fell into bed together easily. It was almost a habit now, to take comfort in one another.
Her eyes opened when he shifted. She was lying on his warm, naked chest. Their skin perfectly melted together.
"You can't just leave, Rogue." He said as he stroked her arm.
"Why not? You did." She closed her eyes and listened to his lungs fill with air.
"Those kids need you." He insisted.
"What? My team? My students?" She scoffed. "They'll never respect me. Not the way they respect you or the formidable Scott Summers or Jean Grey." She rolled her eyes.
"Even if you look so young, you don't have to act so immature." Logan tugged her off him and sat up to go. They never stayed together too long in case someone figured out.
She'd never had a morning where she woke up in the arms of the one she loved. She rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. She tried not to let him see how much that statement had hurt her.
He tugged on pants and turned to her. "So make them respect you, kid. Are you really that afraid of some hard work?"
Rogue clenched her jaw and stared pointedly away from him. He should know that it seemed like her whole life had been nothing but hard work. "You should go. Jean's probably looking for you." She regretted her words as soon as she said them.
He gave her a stony look and left without saying a word.
She closed her eyes and slapped a hand over 'em for good measure. Lately, she'd noticed his eyes had been following the redhead telepath. His thoughts were elsewhere when they were together and Rogue knew him well enough to know they were on Jean Grey.
She'd chosen to hurt him because it hurt her to know that he loved Jean when he couldn't even love her, not really. What's worse was that Rogue knew the old guy didn't have a chance when Scott Summers was around. Rogue smiled grimly. If she remembered correctly, she'd been in the same boat when they were younger.
She fell back onto her mussed pillows and blankets and decided to give life at the institute one last chance. If she was honest with herself, the prospect of a team of her own intrigued her. A way to start over new. It seemed like she was always in need of a fresh start.
She watched them with a scowl on her face. Training a new team had been Scott's idea and she was still none too pleased. She watched as attempt after attempt failed. She finally decided to act. She tapped Sam Guthrie on the neck, making sure to take only what she needed.
They watched in awe as she launched herself at the sentinel, targeting its power core at full speed, thanks to cannonball. The giant red robot fell. She saw pixie scramble to get out from under it.
Rogue delicately landed as the giant crashed. Cannonball's powers faded soon after. "Y'all learn anything?" She only took enough time to see their new looks of interest and respect in her before she turned and walked away, swaying her hips a little.
They hadn't respected her when they were introduced to their new team leader. They didn't trust her, either. She was hoping their first mission together would show them just how wrong first impressions can be. When she heard about a sentinel attacking the innocents of Genosha, she knew this little outing would be perfect.
The jet was waiting to take them back to the Institute. Sam, Cannonball, came running to catch up with her. "You mean I coulda done that?" He asked, grinning.
Rogue knew the kid was interested. She turned to him with a smirk, not sure if she would tease him, flirt back, or shoot him down. Maybe even all three at once. He had a charming accent and usually Rogue was a sucker for those down home boys, but…
But then the ground shook and another sentinel landed. Rogue shifted into battle stance immediately. She noticed something from the corner of her eye. "Sam, stop!" She screamed.
The lughead was already en route and nothing could stop him once he—Rogue winced. Nothing, it seemed, but a giant revamped sentinel arm as it swatted him out o' the sky like a fly. Even if the kid had landed true, she could tell this was an updated, much harder to kill version of the classic gloom and doom red robot. The reports had been wrong. There hadn't been one sentinel, there'd been two.
Rogue started running forward, towards the kids, because without touching someone she was powerless and robot metal did not skin-to-skin contact conduce. She was blasted by a shot from the sentinel before she even made it close.
She flew even farther from them and hit her head when she landed on the ground. She tried to rise but her vision blurred and she fell back. She turned her head to see her group of kids. She heard their panicked screams. She hoped like hell they remembered her first lesson—assess the situation. Sam sure as shit hadn't.
The sentinel started to advance.
Rogue bit her cheek until blood flowed and her teeth mashed together. She managed to half-sit up on her elbows. She heard more shouts and was shocked back into stillness when she saw what was happening.
A man in a long tan coat stood in front of the sentinel. He was throwing something that seemed flat that exploded on contact. It reminded Rogue of Tabitha's powers. She saw Pixie hunched behind him and fought irritation, even in her hazy state. X-Men shouldn't hide. Then she remembered these were just young kids she'd thrown into a battle they weren't prepared for and tried to fight her guilt, instead.
The man easily dodged all of the sentinel's blasts. She'd never seen someone so agile. He used a bow staff to help him jump and evade while leading the hulking scrap of metal away from the kids. He continued to launch those objects until it seemed he'd made contact and the sentinel came crashing down.
Rogue forgot about her own injuries and pain and pushed herself forward. She didn't think she'd ever moved so fast without anyone else's powers. She managed to knock Pixie away just in time. The metal monster landed down right where the girl had been huddled in fear. Right where Rogue's foot was now trapped.
Without accessing, Rogue knew the foot was gone, beyond what medicine could heal. She pushed Pixie out from under her and saw the girl was wet with blood, but none of it was the little fairy girl's.
She allowed the pain to swamp her and take her over, the last thing she remembered was the tall man's dark shadow helping the darkness swallow her.
Later, when Rogue started to come to, she felt someone grasping her cheek. She couldn't control her power drain when she was so weak. She moaned and flinched away from the contact because while it hurt the person she was touching, she also absorbed the pain she caused. She tried harder to jerk her face away, but a strong hand tightened and held her still partially by grasping the back of her neck.
She became aware of memories—she hadn't touched Logan like this in a long time and new experiences came rushing and slamming into her head in waves. She saw with a small, distracted sadness that he'd been with others.
Mainly, though, she felt more pain and anger. Did it never end with Wolverine? It hurt Rogue to try to live through his memories all over. A battle with Magneto finally filled her head, it felt like years. Had been years, for Logan. She saw herself in the stranger's arms. He was carrying her into the hospital at Xavier's, holding her with ease. He had to have flown the jet to get here. None of the kids knew how. Maybe Pixie had transported them.
Logan had smelled the blood first. Finally, Rouge saw that she had a cut across her forehead, where she must have fallen and hit her head. It looked like so much busted up skin. A large, circular burn was across her right shoulder about a foot in diameter. It looked bad. The man was careful not to touch it. That was good, because unconscious, her power had who it had.
But worst of all was her foot. It was almost completely flat where the sentinel had landed. Her green and white suit was stained and dripping with red. Pixie was sobbing hysterically behind the strange man. That girl really needed to get it together.
Rogue wished she could make the choice to look away from her mangled form, but Logan never did. She was subjected to what he'd experienced as his skin continued to press against hers.
His eyes were on her as he went through taking her into his arms from the stranger and laying her on the hospital bed. He grabbed her cheek.
Rogue's eyes snapped open as she came rushing to. She let go of Logan's hand. She noted absently that she'd been grasping it. He fell gasping to the floor. Rogue felt guilty, but knew that he would heal. She lightly bit her cheek and felt only smooth cheek cell walls.
Beast came in and she tried to sit up, but he lightly pushed her back down. "Now, Rogue. You have series injuries. You should rest."
"You know Logan's powers'll do me fine—" Her vision started to swirl and she looked down to see Beast putting something in a IV she hadn't noticed before.
"What're…ya…givin'…me…" Her head started to spin and his eyes might have actually been spinning for how the world started to look.
"Sssh, Rogue," he said, trying to sooth her. "Just something for the pain. Rest. You have to spend a mandatory night in the hospital at minimum anyway."
The last thing she heard was her friend ordering Logan's body off the floor and telling the nurses to make sure Rogue's rest was uninterrupted for the night.
She groggily opened her eyes and growled at her last thought. Hank shouldn't have given her anything. No doubt he'd given her enough to knock out a horse. Still didn't do much good with Logan's powers. He should have known she'd be fine.
Rogue shivered and looked around. Her hospital room was dark, but Logan's senses let her see better than she would have had she just had her own eyesight. It was cold because someone had left the window open. She frowned. That wasn't right. She sniffed the air instinctively—Logan's instincts, anyway—and immediately stiffened.
"Bonjour, chère."
Her hand had flown up in a fist to protect herself, but she sighed with relief when she realized she wasn't in danger and she wouldn't need claws. She hadn't touched him long enough to get those anyway, thank god. "You saved me." She said.
It sounded more like an accusation than a thank you, but he didn't let that faze him. "Name's Gambit., chère." He grabbed her hand and gave it a light kiss.
Her inner southern bell had her smiling despite herself. "And just what do you think you're doin' in mah hospital room, Gam—"
She was silenced by his mouth. Her eyes opened wide and surprised at the feel of his lips against hers. He'd not been content with just her hand and wouldn't stop until he'd swooped in to kiss her before she even knew what he was doing.
She wondered if it was strange to be kissing a stranger at midnight in her hospital gown, but she dismissed the thought. There was something familiar…She closed her eyes and was just about to kiss him back when he pulled away.
"I just came to wish you a goodnight, chère." He smiled at her still shocked face and turned to leave out of the window.
"Remy!" She called out, hoping to stop him.
He stopped, his back turned. His face titled just a little so that he could look at her, but she couldn't see his face. Not that she would see it all that well in this lighting, even with Logan's eyesight. "You remembered me, petite?"
She couldn't read the emotion in his voice and for some reason that really bothered her. "Ah don't go around just kissing people all the time, you know." She rolled her eyes at his French endearment. One would never know she was actually older than him by the way he talked.
He turned to give her a devilish grin. "So you remember my lips, Anna?" That seemed to be the most pleasing thing she could have said to him.
She laughed outright at his voice. There was a hopeful, almost promising lilt to it. "Ah'm surprised you remembered mine, t'be honest, Remy." He seemed like the type of man who didn't have trouble getting women to, ahem, open up.
He came close to her bedside and leaned down so his face was close to hers. She felt her heart beat a little faster. "You don't forget your first, chère."
Rogue blushed and looked down, but not for long. He was so close, she could make out the darkness of his eyes. She couldn't see their color in the dark and she found herself wishing she could see that alluring red glow. She wondered if it had changed or if it was the same as she remembered. "Is that so?" Was all she managed to say.
He leaned in closer until she could feel the heat of his face. "Oui." Then he pulled away to lean against the window frame and she nearly scowled.
As it was, her eyes narrowed. Rogue sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She stood. "You've got a lot to explain, Cajun."
Rogue tried to take a testing step and stumbled as she gasped in pain.
He looked up from the window swiftly. "Chère, let Remy help you." He rushed to her side and put an arm under one of hers to hold her waist.
She let him. She placed her right hand no his chest and the other at his waist. She gave an exaggeratedly deep breath.
As he helped her try take a few more small steps, she slowly let her hand slide down his chest, to his abs until they rested against his lower stomach.
He stopped and looked at her in surprise.
Rogue tried to keep her face demure, but she couldn't help but grin up at him.
Remy's eyes started to dance when he realized what she'd been doing. He tried to fight his smile. "Payback, non?" He asked. His eyes sparkled as he referred to the trick he'd pulled when he was just a boy. "Dat's fine, chère. You can touch Remy whenever you like." He grabbed her hand and pressed in harder into his lower stomach as he looked at her with fierce desire.
Rogue couldn't fight the intense drop of her stomach. She felt like maybe she'd fallen a couple hundred stories and she needed a second to catch her breath. She moved to face him, her steps perfect and her eyes locked onto his in the dark. Her hands both slid to his chest and grabbed his shoulders. His hands were still at his side, letting her do anything she liked.
She pushed him lightly until his steps were halted by the back of the bed hitting the backs of his thighs. She paused and gave him a searching look, but he was inscrutable. Except for the slight shine of his eyes that almost seemed like a dare.
She pushed him into the bed until he fell back on it. She roughly pulled off his shirt and he let her. She started to climb on his lap and continued to push him back until he was lying underneath her on the hospital bed. He just looked at her, curious as to what she wanted.
Rogue lowered herself until her face was pressed against his naked chest and her body covered his. "You're more comfortable than the bed." She whispered, not sure if he heard.
It was no longer cold in the room, even though the window was still open. Remy was warm enough for them both. She could feel his skin acutely through the thin material of the hospital dress. She felt his arms come around her body to hold her and she shivered.
Rogue felt herself start to drift off. Just before she fell asleep she felt him kiss her lightly on the forehead.
A pale light had her slowly coming to consciousness. She stretched out before her eyes opened. She was more comfortable than she could remember being in a long time. She pressed herself harder into her comfortable mattress—that wasn't her mattress! Her eyes flew open to see Remy beneath her.
Yellow brightness let Rogue see everything. She felt herself blush at the realization that he'd stayed the whole night. The first time anyone had ever stayed. It somehow felt more personal than anything she'd ever experienced. She looked away, hoping he wouldn't see how pink her cheeks were getting.
His eyes opened and he smiled. His eyes looked perfect in the soft light. He put his hand on her cheek and turned her face to him, not letting her hide. His hand slid from her cheek to her neck and down her shoulder and arm until he stopped at her waist.
Rogue rose a little and found she was straddling one of his thighs without realizing. Maybe she'd been doing it the entire night.
When she'd moved against him, she'd heard Remy catch his breath and felt him hold her waist in a hard grip. "Maybe you shouldn't move just yet, Anna."
Her stomach twisted when she realized that he was suffering from her proximity. She gulped. "Anna never really stuck." She told him in an attempt to distract him from her position on top of him.
"I think it suits you, chère." His hand played with a white lock of her soft hair.
Rogue couldn't say why that touched her so much. Someone who saw her as a human woman first, someone who didn't fear her, someone who trusted her, someone who cared enough to stay.
Rogue swooped down to kiss him again. He met her with an upturned face and their lips fit together perfectly. She let her hand play with the ridges of muscles on his chest while one buried itself in his thick chestnut hair. She involuntarily inched further up his body to get better access to his face, which forced her to ride him.
When he groaned at her movement, she pulled back.
Rogue sat there, snug on his lap for at least a minute, not sure what she wanted or even what she was debating. Her eyes drifted down from his face and she licked her lips involuntarily as she slipped her fingers across his bare chest. Eating up his bare skin not only with her eyes but with her hands. It felt like she was devouring him inside and out, and that was no mutant power. It was just her, just Anna.
She gasped at the strong pull in her stomach. She pushed her hips harder into him. Then she pulled away. "Even if all I could do is look at you, it would be enough."
Remy took hold of her hands and put them back on his chest. "But why settle, Chèrie?"
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Is that what you think Ah'm about to do?"
"I don't know, ma chère, do you want an old man like Remy? People, maybe they talk." He said, testing her.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "I'm older than you." She did the math in her head, he was 43. She was older. It made her cringe to think just how old. She should look like a crone by now. She put that thought out of her head and concentrated on Remy.
His eyes watched her with interest as her arms moved behind her to pull the bows behind her neck and back. She plucked the paper-like hospital gown from her body and tossed it aside.
His eyes widened and Rogue didn't know it would be possible for those red eyes to become more beautiful. She grabbed his hands in hers. "Remy!" She pleaded when all he did was admire her.
"Anything you want, Anna." He promised, his eyes moving up her body slowly to meet hers.
Her face was vulnerable with her next words. "I want you to touch me. Everywhere." She moved his hands up her body to show him just how she wanted him to touch her. Her eyes closed with bliss at the feel of his rough, unhesitant hands stroking her.
He only paused to drop a few kisses on her shoulder where a pale scar was still healing. If it was possible for a human to purr, that was what she did. Normally, she'd wonder if it was from someone else. Maybe too much Beast in her? But at the moment all she wanted was for Remy to never stop.
She told him as much in a demand as she began on his dark blue jeans. He complied.
He let her control him as she settled over him. He let her lead, but at the same time he held her close in a grip that let her know he wouldn't let her go as he meet her rhythm in perfect synchronicity.
They kissed slowly as they arced into each other. Anna pulled back at the last second so that her last comprehensible thought would be those of his beautiful red eyes before she truly lost herself in the pleasure.
She found herself collapse on top of him and grip his shoulders tightly as she suckled his neck. Her thrusts were shaky as she tried to continue to push into him weakly, wanting to give him some of the pleasure he gave her.
He kissed the side of her neck and face, lingering on her temple. He flipped them both over on the small hospital bed until she was beneath him.
She loved seeing him above her as he strived to work towards only her pleasure yet again. He stroked her hair and kept caressing her body until she felt the tremors start despite herself.
Remy moved in to kiss her as she came and the feel of her frantic muscles working him once more had him moaning pleasure as he allowed himself to lose control.
He buckled on top of her, but when he tried to move off, she kept him there with a surprising strength. "Will you stay?" She liked having him on top of her, sure, but Anna's words were deeper than the moment.
"Oui," Remy promised.
Anna let her eyes close. She relaxed and wrapped an arm around his back, securing his place on top of her. "Good." She said, smiling.
He dropped a kiss on her shoulder and kept himself half on top of her, most of his chest and one leg securing her beneath him. He nestled his head against her chest and she held him there.
There, they fell asleep in the place they first met.
