The Last Stand
Chapter 2: Friend of Yours?
By: Rogue-Slayer13
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of X-Men; they belong to their respective creators.
Summary: How the third movie would've went if Gambit was in it.
NOTE: I had to change some stuff in this story in order to work in some new ideas.
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Remy drove back to his apartment, which wasn't too far away from the park. He pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine on the bike. No sooner then he had, Rogue hopped off the back of the bike and looked up at Remy's building nervously.
This is crazy. Rogue thought to herself as Remy got off his bike and headed toward his building. This is crazy and dangerous and I'm probably going to get myself killed.
"Y' coming, petite?" Remy asked with a slight grin.
On second thought, he seems really nice and he hasn't tried to kill me yet. Rogue thought as she grabbed her bag and followed Remy up to his apartment.
"Here it is," Remy said as he opened the door to his apartment and turned on the nearest light. "It isn't much, but it gets me by."
"I like it," Rogue commented as she looked around the apartment, which was actually nicer then she was expecting. "Not exactly the bachelor pad I had in mind."
Rogue was expecting the apartment to look like one of the guys' rooms back at the Institute, which were usually messy and full of boxes of half eaten pizza and dirty laundry. This place was the exact opposite; it was actually clean and hospitable to live in. The front door opened up into the living room, which was separated from the kitchen by small bar-type counter that had barstools around it. A hallway, which Rogue assumed lead to the bedroom and bathroom, came off the living room.
"Is dat a compliment or an insult?" Remy asked as he took his coat off and tossed it onto a nearby armchair.
"Definitely a compliment," Rogue replied, sitting down on a nearby barstool. "Most teenage guys have food in their rooms that's almost as old as they are. Not to mention the mountains of dirty laundry they have lying all over the place."
"Ah, but chere, de purpose is to leave it lyin' around until it can walk itself to de washing machine," Remy joked with a grin as he sat down on one of the barstools across from Rogue. "It saves on time and effort."
"I bet," Rogue stated as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"When'd y' tear your glove?" Remy asked, as he pointed to the aforementioned item.
Rogue paused in pushing her hair back to glance at her hand. "It must've happened when that creep knocked me down," Rogue said as she ran her finger over the torn palm of her glove. "Man and this was my favorite pair too. Oh well, I've got others in my bag."
Rogue took off the torn pair of gloves and set them on Remy's kitchen counter, before pulling her sleeves down over her hands and crossing her arms over her chest. The last thing she needed was to absorb the guy, who not only saved her ass, but who was also going to take her to get the cure.
"It's getting' late," Remy commented.
"Kinda," Rogue replied with a yawn.
"Y' can sleep in de bed and I'll sleep out here on de couch," Remy said as he nodded toward the couch.
"Ya don't have to sleep on the couch on a count of me," Rogue replied as she stood up. "I mean, this is your apartment and I don't mind sleeping on the couch."
"Nonsense," Remy said with a wave of his hand. "You're my guest and what kind of gentleman would I be if I made y' sleep on de couch?"
"I really wouldn't mind."
"But I would," Remy said as he stood up as well. "Now de bedroom's down de hall on de right and de bathroom's right across from it." Remy gestured in the direction of each room as he mentioned. "And I won't be offended if y' feel safer lockin' de bedroom door."
"All right," Rogue said as she headed toward the bedroom. "Night, Cajun."
"Bon nuit, Cherie," Remy replied as Rogue shut the bedroom door behind her.
Remy turned and was about to head into the living room when his eyes fell on Rogue's discarded gloves. Postponing any thoughts of sleep, Remy picked the gloves up, and idea forming in his mind.
Her favorite pair. Remy thought as he ran a gloved thumb over the tear in Rogue's glove.
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Rogue woke up the next morning and looked around the bedroom for a second, momentarily confused by the unfamiliar surroundings until she remembered where she was. Rogue smiled as she thought back to the night before. Despite the whole getting attacked part, it had actually been a fun night and Remy seemed like a really nice, not to mention hot, guy.
What's wrong with you! A voice inside Rogue's head scolded as she got out of bed. You hardly know this guy. He could turn out to be a total creep for all you know!
"Ah, shut up," Rogue mumbled to the voice as she got dressed and headed out of the bedroom.
Rogue walked into the living room, to find Remy sitting at the counter reading the newspaper.
"There's coffee here in the kitchen if you want it," Remy said, not turning around to look at Rogue.
"Okay," Rogue replied as she walked into the kitchen. "My lord that smells good."
"Of course it does, I brewed it myself," Remy said with a smile.
"Good thing you're not full of yourself or anything," Rogue teased playfully as she came over with her coffee and sat down next to the Cajun.
Remy grinned at her from over the newspaper and Rogue noticed that his sunglasses were still on.
"I've got somet'ing for y'," Remy said as he reached over and picked something up off of the barstool next to him. "I remembered dat y' said dey were your favorite pair, so I fixed dem for y'." Remy set Rogue's gloves down on counter in front of her.
"Ya didn't have to do that," Rogue said as she picked up the gloves and looked over at Remy.
"You've said dat a lot sense we've met," Remy commented as Rogue put the gloves on.
Rogue looked down at her palm where it was hardly noticeable that the gloves had been torn the night before. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Remy replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Ya know, you've said that a lot sense we met," Rogue pointed out with a grin.
"Come on, y' better finish your coffee if I'm gonna take y' to de clinic," Remy said with a smile as he got up and grabbed his coat. "Y' can leave your stuff here and we'll come back for it after you're done."
"Yeah," Rogue replied, her grin fading as she looked down at the counter. She'd almost forgotten about why she was at Remy's in the first place, about running away to get the cure, about her and Bob—
"Y' okay, petite?" Rogue looked up to see Remy looking at her from in the living room.
"I'm fine," Rogue answered as she got up and put her glass in the sink, before heading into the living room. "Let's go." Rogue walked past Remy and out of the apartment.
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"Whoa! Where's the fire?" Kitty asked as she bumped into Bobby as he rushed past her in the hallway.
"The cure clinics opened half an hour ago," Bobby informed. "I figure if I hurry, I can try and catch Rogue before she goes in."
"Bobby, there's like a ton of clinics in New York City alone, how do you know which one she's going to be at?"
"I don't," Bobby replied. "I guess I'm just going to have to hit them all." Bobby turned continued on down the hall.
"Bobby wait!" Kitty called hurrying to catch up to him. "Two sets of eyes are like way better than one. Let me give you a hand."
Bobby looked at Kitty for a minute, before a small smile crept across his face. "Thanks, Kitty."
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The ride over to the clinic was spent mostly in silence and before Rogue knew it, Remy was easing the Harley to a stop a little ways up from the clinic. Rogue looked around and saw that both the sidewalk in front of the clinic and the one across the street were crowded with people, the former full of mutants hoping to get the cure and the latter filled with protesters. Police barricades separated one group from the other and a large number of police were stationed throughout the area.
"Y' sure about dis, chere? It seems a lil' extreme if y' ask me," Remy stated as he swung his leg over the bike and got off.
"I need to do this," Rogue replied, getting off the bike as well. "Besides, this is what I want." Rogue's tone was only half convincing and Remy eyed her for a moment.
"Well, let's go den," Remy commented as Rogue moved past him and toward the clinic.
Remy had been forced to park his bike on the opposite side of the street from the clinic and the only way across the street was through a throng of cure protesters. Rogue kept her arms close to her sides as she and Remy made their way through the crowd, which seemed to get rowdier the closer they got to the clinic. Her increasing discomfort gave way to panic when she looked over and noticed that Remy was no longer beside her. She frantically scanned the crowd for the Cajun and nearly had a heart attack when a hand clasped her on the shoulder. Rogue whirled around only to find Remy standing behind her.
"Ya nearly gave me a heart attack, Cajun," Rogue stated as she held a hand over her heart, which was beating rapidly.
"At de rate you're movin' it'll take us all day just to get across de street," Remy commented with a grin, which earned him a look from Rogue. "Come on, stay close to me."
Rogue held on tightly to Remy's coat sleeve as he deftly made his way through the crowd and in a matter of moments the two were on the other side of the street. Although the crowd outside the clinic was less threatening then the one across the street, there were still a lot of them and Rogue unconsciously tried to shy away from them as she and Remy stepped into line.
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"Wow, this place is a madhouse," Kitty commented as she and Bobby got out of the car a couple of block down from the clinic.
"Yeah," Bobby said as he surveyed the crowd around them. "I think divide and concur's gonna be our best chance. You check down there and I'll head this way. Come and fine me when you're done."
"Sounds like a plan," Kitty replied as she and Bobby headed off in separate directions.
Bobby made his way down the crowded sidewalk, trying to scan both the crowd around him as well as the group across the street for Rogue.
"Getting the cure so you can go home to mommy and daddy, Drake?" Bobby turned around and came face to face with John.
"I'm looking for someone," Bobby replied, glancing around the crowd for Rogue.
"Oh I get it, it's your girlfriend, isn't it? Figures she'd want the cure. She's pathetic!" John commented, smirking as Bobby clenched his fist and ice began to creep up his arm. "Go ahead Iceman, make a move." John lit up a fireball in the palm of one hand.
Bobby's frozen fist clenched and unclenched as the two stared each other down.
"Bobby I can't find —" Kitty dropped off mid-sentence as she caught sight of John. "Uh oh."
Bobby glanced over his shoulder at Kitty and then looked back at John for a moment before sighing and relaxing his fist.
"Come on Kitty, let's get out of here," Bobby said as he turned away from John.
"Same old Bobby, still afraid of a fight," John commented as Bobby started to walk away from him.
Bobby turned back around to reply just in time to see John unleash a stream of fire straight at the clinic. Bobby subconsciously put an arm out to keep Kitty safely behind him as the windows of the clinic exploded. The crowd around them started to dissolve in chaos as everyone began to hurry as far away from the burning building as they could get.
"Come on, Bobby, we should get back to the Institute," Kitty stated as she pulled Bobby away from the clinic. "I have a feeling this is only going to get worse."
Bobby glanced around for John, but he'd already disappeared.
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Remy had been standing outside the clinic with Rogue for what seemed liked hours, when he caught sight of something across the street out the corner of his eye. Remy turned his head just in time to see a wave a fire coming straight toward the clinic. Instinct taking over, Remy grabbed a hold of Rogue, wrapping his arms protectively around her just as the windows of the clinic exploded. The force of the explosion sent them both crashing to the ground, broken glass and debris raining down around them.
Rogue lifted her head into time to see a familiar figure turn and disappear into the crowd. "John."
"Friend of yours?" Remy asked as he carefully got to his feet and brushed himself off.
"Not anymore," Rogue replied as Remy reached down and pulled her to her feet.
"Why don't we get outta here before someone else comes and blows de place up?" Remy asked with a smile as Rogue brushed off her jeans.
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To Be Continued . . .
Sorry for such a long break in between updates. School's been crazy, but I'll try to update quicker in the future!
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