I just wanted to say thanks for the reviews!! I am glad you liked the 1st chapter. If you want more info on Living Dead Dolls search for them on google. The doll from chapter one is in the series 5 collection. You will be able to read the poem from her box there.

I still do not own X-men, so please do not sue!

Thanks!

Gambit had a problem. A girl problem. Shaking his head he absently started to shuffle a deck of cards. The problem was that he NEVER had girl problems. "Dis girl gon' be tricky," he muttered. He had been leaving little gifts at the Xavier school for a week now. Magneto would not approve, but what Magneto don't know don't hurt him he mused.

She interested him.

Magneto had briefed them on the mutants taught by Xavier. He had seen their pictures, heard about their powers, but nothing could have prepared him for face-to-face combat. They were better than Magneto had given them credit for. They fought with purpose and for a cause. Not like the Acolytes, a group of misfit drifters and criminals with no real loyalty to anyone.

He had come face to face with Rogue. He would have, under different circumstances, used his charm to sweep her off her feet, but the belle was an enemy. Knowing she was dangerous he used his charm to put her off her guard and to buy him some time. But when it came time to take her out he couldn't do it. 'What a mess,' the thought, flipping the deck over and slipping four cards through his fingers then slipping them back in the deck.

She had this hard look to her, but when he was able to break past that defense she became soft and dreamy. Thinking back he remembered how her green eyes had grown heavy, how her lips parted as her breath caught in her throat. He groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands, "'Dis girl hauntin' me."

The card he gave her only had a slight charge and while she was busy tossing it away he made his escape. He would never hurt a woman. That was not his style. Days later when his thoughts kept drifting to Rogue he made his decision.

He had a passionate streak and a flair for the dramatic. The plan was to soften her up with gifts, keep her guessing then work his way in and get her out of his system for good. He did not have room in his life for long-term relationships, he reminded himself, but a nice fling with a beautiful woman was appealing. Her skin was a slight inconvenience, but he was creative and he knew that she was going to be worth any trouble.

The last gift contained something that would leave little doubt as to his identity.

He needed to make his move soon before she grew tired of the game. Approaching her would be difficult and a seed of doubt began to sprout. What if she rejected him? What if she turned her back on him? Frowning he banished the doubt from his mind. 'Since when am I so afraid of a girl?' he thought.

"Since you met dis' one," he said softly.

"So, like, do you think you will have another gift today?"

Kitty had chattered about the mysterious gift giver all day. Rogue sighed, as she was tired of indulging Kitty's fantasy that some tall dark stranger was going to come and sweep her off her Doc Martins. She knew now that the gifts were from that sneaky, low-down acolyte. The playing card from the gift was in her back pocket. She had panicked when some of the girls had come into her room to see her latest gift and she hid the card. Now, the next day she was not sure she wanted to tell anyone about it.

"Listen, Kitty," Rogue stopped and looked at her friend, "Ah'm tired of talkin' about this secret admirer, ok? Ah'm sure whoever it is will get tired soon and stop, so please for the sake of my nerves give it a rest."

"Listen, Rogue," she continued on, "this is, like, the coolest thing I have ever seen! This is the kind of stuff you read about in those sappy romance novels. Why not enjoy it?" Kitty looked perfectly serious. "If I were you . . ." Rogue cut her off, her temper getting the best of her, "But you are not me, and Ah don't like games. Let me deal with this mah way."

Rogues tone was harsh and Kitty looked hurt, but she nodded anyway. "Ok Rogue, I will let it go."

Rogue smiled at Kitty. "Thanks. Ah ain't interested in anyone anyway. Especially considering … you know." Suddenly she did not want to go back to the institute with Kitty. She needed to escape. "Ah think Ah am gonna go by the book store before Ah go home. There is a new vampire novel out that Ah want to buy. How 'bout Ah catch you back at the institute, ok?"

"Sure." Kitty said, some of the cheer returning to her voice, "I know how you totally love those creepy blood sucker books." Kitty turned to leave and added, "Rogue, I don't mean to push you, and I don't claim to know how you feel, but, like, try to enjoy this . . . even for a little while. You totally deserve it!"

She shrugged indifferently, putting the anti-social mask firmly back in place. Kitty had surprised her with her parting comment. Maybe she needed to give her friend more credit.

Waving her goodbyes she turned toward town.

She had waited six months to buy the soft cover version of The Deadly Kiss since the hardcover had been more than she could reasonably afford. She felt a strange kinship to the fantasy vampires she read about. In a way, she thought, she was a vampire. The book had always been a good escape for her, and she wanted escape desperately at the moment.

'What am Ah gonna' do?' she wondered as she walked off the school grounds and on the road that lead to town. She pulled the card from her pocket and looked at it. How could he have gotten past the security system, how did he know the kinds of things she liked? Why risk getting caught by the enemy just to mess with some girl? She needed answers, but she had no idea how to find this guy, or even what his name was.

"Lord, girl, you are in a mess!" She shook her head and slipped the card back in her pocket.

The bookstore was one of her favorite places to go. Books were never afraid of her. Books gave her the world and she loved them for it. Her taste leaned toward the sci-fi vampire books, but she had to admit a secret passion for romance novels.

A display in the back of the store was stacked with the coveted novel. She grabbed a copy and was going to the check out when she spotted the sign that said 'Romance'.

Sighing slightly at herself she made her way to the romance section. 'Ah'm here, might as well see if anything catches my eye' she thought, 'There is nothing wrong with reading trash. Ah like it and don't see why Ah can't buy a book if Ah like it,' but she did check the aisle before she started browsing. The last thing she wanted was a bunch of preppy bubble-brains at school catching her looking at romantic trash.

Remy had been waiting for her after school. He had hoped that she would be alone and was disappointed to see her exit with the girl that walks through walls. He watched her talk to her friend, she looked upset, but soon her cool facade was back and she turned to leave. Alone.

Remy silently thanked God and followed her. He watched her take the card out of her back pocket. "Dat is a very good sign for Remy!" he said. It made him happy seeing that she still kept his card. This meant she had not handed it over to Xavier. Yes, things were looking this Cajuns way.

She entered a bookstore and Remy waited a few minutes before he followed her in. He was scanning the aisles for her when he saw her trademark white striped hair. In the Romance aisle.

She liked Trashy romance novels, he noted mentally. Her lips were slightly pouted as she read the back of a book with a half naked man on the cover. 'Good,' he thought, 'if she likes dose books, she bound to like Remy.'

Sensing someone looking at her she looked up. At first she did not recognize him, but realization came hard and fast. Her eyes grew wide and nerves in her belly sputtered to life.

"Why chere," Remy said as he drew closer, "dat no way to be lookin' at an old ami, no?" He was idly shuffling a deck of cards.

Rogue drew herself up straight, hoping the fear, and the excitement if she was honest, did not show. "All Ah see is one of Magnetos' lackeys. Apparently you're swamp trash ta boot." She felt her hands start to shake and she gripped the book more tightly. The combination of his good looks and accent were doing something to her and somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if he was using his power on her again.

Remy chuckled, "And here I thought you would be happy to see Remy." He shook his head in mock dismay, but his eyes were lit with mischief. They were the strangest eyes she had ever seen. Last time she saw him his eyes were a deep brown, but now they were glittering red on black. The same colors as the wrapping paper on the last gift. Her knees were supporting her, but only just.

He was wearing a black t-shirt and faded blue jeans with a dark brown trench coat. The clothes seemed to be custom made to make every part of his body look good and he looked like the kind of guy who knew how good he looked.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Rogue did not care for the way he was looking at her, and how his look was making her react to him. She should be afraid of him. He was dangerous. Xavier had told her how lucky she was to have been unharmed in her fight with him. Half of her said to run, the other half wanted just to see . . .

"Gambit is my name, chere, but the filles call me Remy. Remy LaBeau." He made a sweeping bow, but did not take his eyes off her. She was just as he remembered her, but better in her regular clothes. Goth did not normally appeal to him, but in her black skirt, striped tights, Doc Martins, and green halter top covered by a black mesh shirt she looked almost good enough to eat. 'Maybe dat is a good idea,' he thought, his smile broadening.

Rogue saw the look in his eyes change from amused to almost predatory and took a step back. She did not want to seem weak so she raised her chin higher. "Ok Remy, now answer my other question. What do ya want with me?"

"Tell Remy, you like his gifts to you?" Her expression faltered slightly, but she managed to catch the slip. She was almost as good as he was at keeping her emotions hidden. "Maybe Gambit should have gotten you some of dese books instead, chere?" He picked up a copy of the book she was holding and read the title, The Maidens Gamble. He chuckled softly as her cheeks began to stain red through her pale makeup.

Anger and humiliation were starting to build inside her. How dare he make fun of her! "Ah know you were leavin' the gifts, ya'll left your callin' card, remember?" She could almost feel the card burning her skin in the back pocket of her skirt.

"Yes, petit, I know." He winked at her and patted his back pocket.

"So what is this? A big joke? Why are you doin' this, don't you know who Ah am, what I can do?"

"Oh, Remy know who you are, chere. De gifts a way to say sorry for what happened before. Remy hope we can start again, get to know one another . . ." He could sense that she was torn between her desire to flee and her desire to stay. "Maybe we see what happens, no?"

Her eyes narrowed and she said with force, "Ah'm sorry, but ya almost blew me up and you work for a MADMAN. It's gonna' take a lot more than one stinkin' flower and some candy to make me forgive ya, and Ah have no desire to get to know ah hired thug of Magneto's!! Stop waistin' ya time Cajun. Ah ain't interested." With that she put down both the books she was holding, reached in her back pocket and threw the card on the ground. "And Ah don't what this either!"

Then she ran. Remy watched her leave the store and smiled. He picked up the card from the floor and realized he had not felt this good in years.

She was interested in him.

Ok, another chapter in the can! Please R/R and be honest.