Chapter 1: Shirtless Remy is Always Good

"Hungry," Kitty sniffed. "So hungry."

Having not eaten anything since the night before, Kitty woke the next morning feeling very hungry indeed.

"Y'know," Bobby said thoughtfully. "The water in very clear here. I wonder if you can actually see fish?"

"What good will seeing fish do if we can't catch them?"

"Who says we can't?"

Kitty looked at Rogue, who shrugged. Bobby went to the water's edge and looked intently into the water.

"There's some," he said.

This said, he reached out and froze a section of the water.

"Hey Kitty, wanna catch a fish?" Bobby grinned at her.

Kitty joined him at the water's edge and peered at his ice block.

"Okay," she said. "So maybe we can catch them."

She phased her hand through the block and pulled out the two fish that Bobby had managed to freeze. Bobby produced his swiss army knife and proceeded to clean them.

"Not really sharp enough, or big enough," he bemoaned. "But it'll have to do."

Finally the fish were cooked, and their hunger pangs silenced. However, the lack of water - drinking water - was still an issue and so once they were done eating, the three X-men started along the beach.

"Our best bet for fresh water is ta hope there's a stream that flows into the sea," Rogue told them.

No one having any better ideas, they followed.

By midday they had found bananas, which they enjoyed, but still no water. They made sure they had an ample supply of the bananas as they continued on their way, but moved under the shade as the sun was quite hot. This was a particular issue for Kitty, who had no way to regulate her body temperature, unlike Rogue, who had her uniform; and Bobby, whose mutation granted him some control.

Rogue frowned and stopped. It took Bobby and Kitty a moment to realised and they turned to look at her.

"Rogue?" Kitty asked.

"Shh."

Bobby and Kitty looked at each other.

"There," Rogue said. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Bobby said.

"That popping sound," Rogue paused. "There it is again."

Everyone went quiet, then all three heard another 'pop'.

"This way I think..." Bobby said.

Cautiously, in an attempted to keep sound to a minimum so they could still listen for the popping noise, the three headed in the indicated direction. After awhile the popping sound grew louder.

Then they stepped into a clearing and stared at the sight before them. To the left was a cave entrance and to the right of it was a fallen tree trunk. A line of magenta light ran across the trunk went "pop" (although it was more of a bang now they were closer) and a skinny plank dropped off.

What really caught their attention though, especially that of Rogue and Kitty, was the man responsible for the popping. His back was to them, and his pants were looking rather worn. He was shirtless and his back and arms displayed a most impressive set of muscles. Not vanity-gym configuration, but actual "I use my body for physical hard work and it shows" kind of muscles. He wore boots and a pair of fingerless gloves.

"Umm, hi," Bobby said tentatively.

The man paused, the next line of magenta light fading fast as he turned around. His wild red-on-black eyes fell on the three. He stared. They stared back.

"Uhh, I'm Bobby. This is Kitty and this is Rogue."

"Mon dieu," he exclaimed. "Are yo' real?"

"We were the last time Ah checked, sugah," Rogue replied dryly.

"Remy," Gambit replied as he walked towards them.

Much to Bobby's surprise, Gambit then proceeded to give him a huge hug.

"Yo' have no idea how long I've been alone on dis stupid island."

He turned to Kitty and hugged her too.

"S'il vous plait, tell moi dat you're going t' get me out o' here."

Rogue attempted to back away but could not avoid being hugged by Gambit. Fortunately, as her head was the only part of her not covered, she was able to avoid absorbing him.

"Well, we're kinda stranded too, right now," Bobby said. "But we're expecting our friends will be able to track us."

They quickly explained about how they got here. Gambit, who had left one arm around Rogue's waist, listened intently.

"So, you're all mutants too?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kitty nodded.

They also went on to say what their powers were. Rogue fully expected Gambit to removed his arm and back off when he heard about her mutation, but instead he stayed right where he was.

"Untouchable?" he repeated. "Yo'? Ma chere! Dat must be the worst crime against humanity I've ever heard."

Rogue smiled, although she did stare.

"And you're still touching me because?"

"I'm not touching yo', I'm touching your clothes."

"I don't suppose you happen to have any water?" Kitty asked.

"Oui," Gambit nodded. "Desole, I should have thought. It's a hot day. Come."

He lead the way inside his cave. It was dark but he charged a large rock to light the way. It was remarkably effective at lighting the room and he showed them a barrel not far from the entrance.

"Help yourselves," he said. "Only one cup though."

"You made this?" Rogue asked, looking at the odd barrel.

"Oui. Saves making trips down t' the stream all the time. I cut out a section o' a tree and blew out the insides."

"What are ya workin' on then? With the tree outside?"

"A fence. Fo' my garden. I felt it needed a homey touch," he replied.

"Cool... just what is your power anyway?"

"Bio-kinetic charging."

"Oh!" Bobby exclaimed. "Now I know why you're so familiar. You're Gambit, aren't you?"

"Oui. Yo' have heard o' moi?"

"You robbed us once," Bobby smirked at him. "We're the X-men."

Gambit stared at them, then started to laugh.

"O' all the islands in all the oceans in all the world, yo' had t' get stranded on mine! Well, X-men or no, you're welcome. You're even more welcome if yo' can get me home."

"Of course we'll take you back with us. We'll even persuade Logan not to kill you," Bobby said, only half joking.

"Bon," Gambit said, sounding pleased.

"Is this how you do all your lighting in here?" Rogue asked, gesturing to the rock.

"Non, I can see in the dark," he replied, then considered them carefully. "Suppose we'll have t' come up wit' another lighting alternate fo' yo' trois, no? Hmm... have t' catch some extra fish... Perhaps I should go after a deer t'night too..."

"There's deer here?" Kitty asked, passing the cup to Bobby.

"Oui. Have t' be careful though. Dere's a tiger dat has his territory here. He likes deer too."

"Tiger?" Rogue frowned slightly. "But Genosha is nowhere near Asia. How on earth did a tiger end up here?"

"I don't know ma cherie," Gambit replied. "But he is here and he likes deer. And as long as he likes deer he's not eating me so I try t' avoid going after his favourite food dat often. But dis is a special occasion no? T'night the fish, ahh, but t'morrow night? Venison. Because dat's how long it's going t' take t' cook."

"Sounds good to me," Bobby smiled. "Well, unless our friends pick us up before then."

"We can just take it with us," Rogue suggested. "No point in letting perfectly good deer go to waste."

"That works."

When they were done drinking, Gambit led them out again and decharged the rock.

"Yo' should gather some o' the long grass down dat path," Gambit said pointing. "Make the cave floor not so uncomfy t' sleep on. Yo' can't collect too much. Use my cart."

He pointed to a deep wooded tray with a set of four large wheels on it.

"How'd you stick everything together?" Bobby asked, marvelling at the construction.

"Believe it or not, it's all one piece. The wheels might look separate, but they've were actually carved int' shape and position and den sliced free so dey could spin. Go, come back as often as yo' need t' unload," Gambit instructed. "I'll make us some extra stuff fo' t'night. Not enough time t' make another bed at dis point, so the cave floor it'll have t' be, although one o' yo' filles may have mon bed if yo' like."

"Well, hopefully the others will - " Kitty began.

"Thanks, Remy," Rogue cut her off. "Did ya need a hand here at all?"

"Non, merci. Yo' go on ahead."

Gambit watched as the X-men departed down the path he had spent time clearing. People! There were people again! Oh joy, oh happy day! And with any luck, rescue! Although the idea of having to depend on others to get off this island rather galled him, after being here for... who knew how long now (he was afraid to check), he was more than happy to be grateful to Logan if it meant he got off this island.

"So, what do you guys think?" Kitty said dubiously.

"He's nothing like I'd expected," Bobby replied.

"Ah think he's been alone too long," Rogue commented. "C'mon, did ya hear the way he talked? Kept going off on tangents like he was thinking aloud."

"Yeah I noticed that too," Bobby nodded.

"He likes the sound of his own voice?" Kitty giggled. "That was really nice of him to offer his bed like that. I mean, hopefully the others will show up before nightfall -"

"Let's not count our chickens before they hatch," Rogue advised. "We should prepare like we're not expecting them to arrive any time soon. Ah mean, the celebrations were going ta take awhile. They might not have even realised we're missing yet."

"Oh, well, I suppose you're right," Kitty frowned. "But still after hearing about Gambit and Lorna, I was kinda surprised, y'know?"

"What thing with him and Lorna?" Bobby asked.

"You didn't hear? Okay, so like, Remy totally seduced Lorna and she showed him all around Genosha. Then Kurt warned Wanda about him being the one who was hired to steal Magneto's helmet so Wanda looked for an excuse to have him thrown in the cells. And Lorna got him out, but made him promise to take her with him, except like, he set those bombs and stole the helmet and left without her."

"But Magneto still had his helmet..."

"That's because Lorna stole it back from him. And put a hole in his boat," Kitty giggled.

"Which is probably how he ended up here," Rogue mused. "Serves him right."

"Aww but he seems nice enough -"

"It's been four months since that happened. He's probably happy to see people again."

"Okay, well, you're probably right," Kitty paused. "He's got nice abs though."

Rogue paused, then grinned.

"Yes, yes he does."

Bobby rolled his eyes.

They found the long grass that Gambit had mentioned rather easily and got to work harvesting it.

On their final trip back to camp, Gambit was nowhere to be seen. There was a couple of buckets of fish in sea water, another bucket and a long wooden tray also filled with sea water and a collection of wooden plates, cups and forks Gambit had made sitting out on a wooden table. Kitty picked up one of the plates and ran her finger over it.

"It's all smooth," she reported. "Like, no splintering or anything."

"Given that he makes these by blowing stuff up, I'd say that's fairly impressive," Bobby nodded.

"He's had four months to practice," Rogue commented looking around. "Ah wonder where he is?"

"He did say he was going to get a deer earlier and that dawn and dusk were the best hunting times," Bobby reminded her.

"True."

"I can't believe I was sweating earlier and now it's cold," Kitty sighed. "Oh, Rogue, I was thinking, you should probably have the bed and then I can share the floor with Bobby and Remy, and they can keep me nice and warm."

Rogue laughed.

"Besides, with your mutation, it's probably better if you don't share anyway."

"Yeah, that's probably true. Wouldn't any flailing arms ta hit me in the face," Rogue said dryly.

"Exactly," Kitty said cheerfully.

Using the flint they had found earlier, Bobby got the fire started. Happily, Kitty sat down on a tree stump by the fire while Bobby fed it. How long they were there for no one could quite say, but it wasn't long before Gambit showed up, whistling to himself with a deer slung across his shoulders. There was a trickle of blood running down his chest, obviously from the wound across the deer's throat that had taken its life.

"Ahh, you're back," he said cheerfully. "And yo' got the fire going. Whatcha do? Rub deux sticks t'gether?"

"Naw, we have flint."

"Oooh stone age," Gambit joked. "I use my powers. I t'ink I would be so dead if I was human."

He chuckled to himself and dumped the deer unceremoniously on a second table, this one with holes. He charged the deer up along its belly and began to skin it.

"Ya just like blowin' things up?" Rogue asked. "Or don't ya have a knife?"

"Both," Gambit grinned at her.

"I have a swiss army knife," Bobby said.

"Congratulations. I hope yo' folks aren't overly hungry just yet. I just want t' prepare the deer fo' the marinade before I get the fish started."

"Oh we can get the fish started," Rogue said. "Those them in the bucket?"

"Oui."

"Bobby?"

"If I must."

"You're the one with the knife, sugah. Ah've never cleaned a fish in muh life."

"Okay fine."

"You've got marinade?" Kitty asked curiously.

"Fish swim in it. Amongst other things," Gambit replied with a nod and a cheeky grin. "Brine."

Bobby pulled out the fish and started preparing them for the fire. When Gambit was done preparing the deer he put the tray it was marinating in into a kind of cupboard intended to keep the wildlife away.. He then indicated the stones he used for cooking food on the fire for them to put the fish.

"I'll be right back," he told them.

He picked up a bucket that he had evidently dumped the inedible parts of the deer in and departed. He was back a few minutes later and wandered over to another, smaller, barrel of water. He used a bucket by that one to wash out his scrap bucket, and then filled up a second bucket with something in it Rogue couldn't quite make out. This done, he dunked a cloth into the barrel and started wiping the blood and guts off his person. Rogue frowned slightly, then realised that the cloth must be his shirt. Well, that explained what happened to it. Gambit spotted her looking in his direction and grinned.

"Enjoying the show, cherie?"

Kitty giggled while Rogue quickly looked back down at the fire. Kitty turned her head to look herself, then grinned at Rogue.

"I'd enjoy that show," Kitty said.

Although Rogue had decided not to look back up again, when she spotted a faint magenta light in her peripheral vision. She frowned and looked up anyway. Gambit's body and part of his pants were glowing in some strange pattern. The light was faint, but reflected across and highlighted his well-built torso rather effectively. Then there was a noise, a rather quiet "pfft" and the light was gone.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Just drying myself," Gambit grinned at her as he sat down beside her. "I made the excess water go boom. Teeny, tiny, intsy wincy amount o' power fo' dat. Don't want t' burn myself."

"That's a neat trick," Bobby nodded.

"How are you not cold?" Kitty asked.

"In addition t' being able t' sense the kinetic potential in whatever objects I decide t' charge, cherie, I can also generate the stuff. The generation process keeps me as warm as I want. Told yo', if it weren't for my mutation I'd probably be dead."

"Humans have been stranded on islands and survived before," Bobby said.

"Oui... o' course, yo' only ever hear about the ones who did survive," Gambit pointed out. "Yo' never heard about the ones who died. Or drowned at sea before dey even reached an island."

"It's certainly a test of your ingenuity any way," Rogue said. "Didn't ya have anything when ya got here? Y'know, other than a boat?"

Gambit shrugged. "My tools o' the trade - most o' which ain't much good in dis environment. My staff got blown up in Genosha, more the pity, so I've had t' make a new one. Not as convenient t' carry around. Few o' packs of cards."

"You have cards?" Bobby asked.

"Oui. Dey're good fo' charging, although I haven't used dem fo' explosives here. Little hard t' get more. Plenty o' rocks though. Cards at least keep me entertained on those rainy days, no?" Gambit paused, then his face lit up. "Say, any o' yo' play poker?"

"I've played Texas Hold 'em on Facebook," Bobby replied cheerfully.

Kitty rolled her eyes.

"Ah've played the odd game," Rogue said. "Not enough ta remember all the rules."

"Ahh, I'll have t' educate yo' some," Gambit said cheerfully. "Can only play so much solitaire before yo' start going nuts. Even took up spider solitaire just fo' kicks."

"Do you need like, two decks for that?" Kitty asked.

"I have quatre. Actually trois and a half. Told yo', good fo' explosions."

"Wow. Oh that reminds me. We decided Rogue gets the bed, and I get to sleep between you and Bobby."

"Hmm, fille-sandwich? Must be you're lucky night, cherie," Gambit teased her.

"Actually I was thinking more about the fact that I'm the only one here who can't regulate their body temperature. The cold doesn't effect Bobby. Rogue's wearing her uniform. And now it turns out that you can keep yourself warm," Kitty sighed, then glanced at Rogue. "Why were you wearing your uniform while we were out on the town anyway?"

"It's comfortable and it covers muh skin, why would Ah want ta wear anything else?"

"But it was a holiday!"

"So?"

"You are such a party-pooper Rogue. One day I'm gonna dress you up and give you a make-over."

"Why?"

"Because! You never do that. And you're so pretty."

"Doesn't seem a whole lot of point," Rogue dismissed, then turned to Gambit. "Whatcha gonna do with that deer skin? I saw ya dump it in that bucket..."

"I've been attempting t' teach myself how t' tan hide," he replied. "O' course I have no idea how t' do it. Somet'ing involving salt. Anyway. Just been experimenting, trying to figure out how I can use it. Hoping I can make a sail. I've been experimenting wit' boat building too. Have a rowboat, canoe, t'ing, I use fo' fishing away from shore."

"Wait, if you have a boat, how come you haven't left?" Bobby asked.

"No sail, no storage, no direction. I hate dis island, but dying in the middle o the ocean don't much appeal t' me either," Gambit replied. "I have no idea which way Genosha or the States are. And until I find a way t' bring food, fresh water and have a sail t' steer my way I'm not going t' just leave. I'm not stupid."

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Bobby said.

"Evidently," Kitty giggled. "You spend too much time on the computer, Bobby."

"I do not."

"You so do."

"Not."

"Do."

"Not."

"Do."

"Yeah, they're always like this," Rogue said dryly.

"Dey sleeping t'gether yet?" Gambit asked.

"Eww, no!" Kitty cut in.

"Hey!" Bobby objected.

"Ahh, still in the denial stage," Gambit nodded.

Rogue chuckled.