Chapter 2

Rogue sat in the passenger seat of the car and watched the scenery run past the window. Not for the first time that day she wondered why she let herself be talking into this little road trip with a guy she's only known for less than a day. But then, she did have a history of hitchhiking, and last time she'd gotten a lift with a guy who owned a motorcycle it didn't turn out too badly. She smiled to herself. If Logan was back at the mansion she knew she'd have at least one friend there.

She spared a glance at the older man in the driver's seat. She definitely couldn't figure him out. The whole 'damsel in distress' thing was kind of cute, but seriously? Rogue was having some trouble believing he didn't have some ulterior motive.

"T'inking we stop fo' lunch soon," Gambit said. "Mebbe teach yo' how ta play some poker no?"

"What shall we play for? French fries?"

"Works fo' me."

Rogue laughed.

Half an hour or so later they found a roadside cafe. After ordering, the pair located a table indoors, away from the windows. They ate, then Gambit pulled out a pack of cards, which he shuffled and dealt and began to explain the game.

"This seems unnecessarily complicated," Rogue sighed, eyeing off her cards and trying to figure out what kind of hand she had.

Gambit chuckled.

They were easily playing poker for an hour before Rogue gave up in exasperated disgust. Gambit laughed at her, but took her hand and kissed it.

"You'll get the hang of it, cherie."

"Ya have more confidence than me."

He grinned at her, and still holding her hand, walked with her back to his car. Before they got there, however, something rattled and rolled just between them. A canister, small though it may have been, swiftly and decisively filled the air before them. Though they both tried to get out of the gas cloud, they both breathed in enough to subdue them long enough for a couple of masked men to finish the job of rendering each unconscious.

Gambit was rudely awakened by a bucket of water being thrown over him. He coughed and spluttered and then realised he was dangling by his arms. His legs also felt bound together tightly

"I'd look down before I charged anything, Gambit, were I you," said a familiar voice.

Gambit shook his head, trying to throw some of the water away and looked down. He clenched his jaw to keep from swearing. His legs weren't just bound together, they were tied around a long, thick metal spike. If he were to charge what bound his hands to release him, there would be no way he could escape impalement.

"I thought you might like it," the speaker said smugly. "Oh, where are my manners? Here's your girlfriend."

It was then that Gambit saw Rogue, tied to a chair. A bucket was thrown over her and she too coughed and spluttered as the cold water woke her up.

"What?" she questioned, blinking.

"Ahh m'dear," said the speaker. "I'm afraid you've fallen in with the wrong man. You see, he stole something that belongs to me, and unless he gives it back, well, you'll suffer the consequences."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Gambit cut in.

"Don't play games with me," he snarled. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Gambit pretended to consider.

"You're not still mad about Eleanor are yo'?"

Rogue raised her eyebrows as their captor actually growled. Whoever this Eleanor was, Gambit had sure hit a nerve.

"Fine, you want to play games with me Cajun? I can play games," said the speaker.

He walked back, looked down at Rogue and pulled out his knife.

"Let's start with a finger, shall we?"

"You should take muh glove off first," Rogue advised, trying to sound nonchalant. "Y'know so ya can see where you're cuttin'. Which finger, by the way? First, second or third joint?"

Their captor looked taken aback and Gambit hid his grin. She sounded so casual about it.

"I hadn't decided yet," he said as he began pulling off her glove (not that easy when part of it was tied down). "Although, I don't think it'll come to that. Gambit can't stand to see pretty ladies get hurt. Especially not on his behalf."

"How very chivalrous," Rogue nodded. "Wanna know a secret?"

He snorted.

"Sure."

"Ah'm not a lady."

Her hand now free, she touched his. Their captor didn't even have enough time to look startled ash her power kicked in and started absorbing him. He slumped to the ground, but contact was maintained. The absorption was slower than usual, but faster than it had been the night before, so Rogue waited, wanting him to stay unconscious for as long as possible. Meanwhile, her mind filled with images as she downloaded his psyche. His name was Reece Cooper. Abruptly she looked up.

"You slept with his girlfriend?" she asked Gambit.

"Ex-girlfriend," Gambit corrected. "He seemed t' have trouble with the idea dat Eleanor had left him."

Rogue grunted, then sighed impatiently.

"Waiting fo' somet'ing, chérie?"

"Until Ah'm sure he is gonna be in a coma for awhile. Ah'm getting bored though. Ahh, for the good ol' days where it only took a few seconds," Rogue chuckled ironically.

Gambit chuckled.

"Well, while yo' doin' dat, I'm gonna see if I can't get outta dis mess."

He looked up and grabbed hold of the ropes binding his hands. Once he was certain he had a good grip, he hoisted himself upwards as far as he could, in an attempt to lift his legs over the spike.

"Dis would be so much easier if I could bend my knees," he muttered to himself.

Rogue watched as he fought to gain those few extra inches he needed to get his legs up. She was actually rather impressed he could haul himself up as far as he did. Must have some amazing upper body strength going for him. She sighed, getting tired of waiting and and started rocking the chair. It was reasonably solid, but not really heavy enough to hinder her ability to move it. A few swings and she'd hit the floor.

"Yo' okay, chérie?"

"Fine," Rogue grunted. "Now, where's that knife?"

"On the other side of Cooper there."

"Ta muchly."

She started scooting around, dragging the chair with her as she jerked towards the knife. It required a great deal of wriggling and hauling, but she finally managed to get close enough to it to grasp the handle with her lower hand. Then she got started on the rope binding her hand. Although it was thin, it appeared to be rather durable. Either that, or movies just made it look easier than what it really was.

Having decided that Plan A wasn't going to work, Gambit formed Plan B. Since he couldn't get his bound legs completely over the spike, and he couldn't charge the ropes directly on account of his metal boots being in the way, he would simply have to use the spike to cut the ropes for him. He leaned as far backwards as he could managed whilst still maintaining his height, lined up one the the loops of rope with the spike point and let himself drop. He felt the ropes slacken and grinned smugly to himself. A bit of leg wriggling and the ropes finally dropped to the floor.

Gambit then began to swing back and forth and once he felt he had enough momentum, charged the ropes binding his hands. The ropes broke and he dropped to the ground, landing soundly, and a good metre away from the spike.

"Need a hand chérie?" he inquired, kneeling by Rogue said.

"Sure, thanks."

Gambit appraised her work with the knife as he touched the roped with his finger, charging them lightly. Enough to break the ropes, not enough to hurt her.

"Yo weren't doin' too badly there," he observed.

"Ah'd love ta be able ta do that though," Rogue said, although her eyes were more on his altered ones than on the ropes. "Although Ah guess Ah could if Ah ever decided ta absorb ya."

Gambit didn't know what to say to that, instead breaking the ropes around her feet. He offered his hands to help her up and Rogue took them.

"How long's he gonna be out fo'?"

"Haven't the foggiest," Rogue shrugged and pointed. "We want ta go that way."

"D'accord."

They headed for the door, then Rogue paused, considering.

"Locked. Four guards on the other side, two across from the door, and one either side."

"I'm t'inking yo' be a very useful person t' have around, chérie."

"You're not so bad yourself. Door swings outwards."

"I'll take the guys across the hall. Can yo' get the guys either side?"

"Sure."

Gambit touched his finger to the lock, charging it and destroying the locking mechanism. He pulled out his telescopic metal staff, extended it and pushed the door open. Rogue sunk low to the floor, stuffing her gloves in her pockets. Both stood to either side of the door. Gambit took some playing cards from his pocket, and charged them while pushing the door open with his staff.

Rogue slid out the door and put her hand up the pant leg of the nearest guard and wrapped her fingers around his leg at the same time Gambit threw his cards out the door. The guards barely dodged in time, unable to react in time with their guns before Gambit disabled them with his staff. Rogue kicked the door shut and followed that up with kicking the legs out from underneath the last guard. She knocked him out with a kick to the head even as Gambit finished disabling his opponents.

"Not bad," Gambit commented as Rogue stood.

"Yeah... this way. Fire escape."

"Sounds good."

They began moving in the direction of the fire escape when they heard voices behind them. Gambit grabbed Rogue's wrist, dragging her to the side. Hurriedly he charged the window, breaking it. He contracted his staff and put it back in his coat.

"We're four storeys up," Rogue hissed at him.

"Then we'd better move quickly," Gambit replied, stepping out into the ledge.

Rogue swallowed and stepped out with him. The ledge was only just wide enough to fit her foot, and she wondered that Gambit could gain any footing at all. She probably should have put her gloves back on, but then again, they weren't exactly the best kind of material for this kind of activity. Not enough traction.

"Wow, could this ledge be any smaller?" Rogue muttered.

"Yep," Gambit replied.

His eyes searched frantically. If it was just him, he'd be on the ground by now. But he had Rogue with him, and he had no idea what she was capable of. Finally, at the corner he spotted what he needed, and moved as quickly as he could towards it, pulling his staff out again.

Upon reaching the corner, back pressed against the wall, he swung one leg around so he was standing with one foot on either side of the corner. His staff was is his right hand and he lifted it above his head so that it curved over the cable.

"I need you to hold onto me. Arms around my neck now, legs around my waist when we get it the air."

"Uh okay... How do Ah do this?"

"Left arm across my shoulders now, hold onto my right shoulder," Gambit instructed her. "Turn your fingers the other way. Okay, now cross your left foot over mine - step on the ledge with your toes facing me."

Just as Rogue did this they both head a shot. Gambit glanced up to see a face poking out of the broken window. Rogue had enough of the idea by now and pushed off the ledge with her right foot, swinging around on her the ball of her left foot, slipping her right arm around his neck and locking it onto her left. Fortunately the collar of his trench coat protected his neck from her skin. She averted her head to prevent contact with his face.

Meanwhile, Gambit grabbed the other end of his contracted staff and as soon as he felt Rogue was in place, pushed off. Indeed, with their weight dispersed the way it was, he had little choice in the matter. Together the two rocketed down the cable.

"Legs, Gambit hissed at her.

Rogue didn't need the reminder, although why he wanted her to wrap her legs around him, she had no idea. That is, until Gambit let go just metres before they would hit the telegraph pole the cable was attached to. They dropped, and it was Gambit's feet that landed first. His knees bent, absorbing the shock, almost falling forward but able to compensate in time. Gambit took a moment to catch his breath, and with his arms now around Rogues' waist, they helped each other to stand.

"Well, that was a rush," Rogue observed, pulling her gloves back on.

"Ha, yeah,"

"Wanna do it again?"

Gambit chuckled. He liked this girl.

"Know where we are?"

"Ah know where we are, but Ah have no idea how ta get back to the cafe from here," Rogue replied. "Taxi stand that way though."

Gambit considered even as they headed off.

"Dats where dey picked us up before chérie, dey might figure we'll head there," he considered. "Haveta get there first. Let's go."

He briefly contemplated hot wiring the nearest car and taking that, but they were still being chased and in any case without directions it seemed redundant.

Gambit and Rogue approached the cafe parking lot from the shadows. Fortunately, being a 24 hour cafe there were plenty of lights and cars and people there, but that also had the disadvantage of allowing any of the pursuers to hide easier.

"Stay here," Gambit said finally. "Watch me. If anything happens, yo' run okay?"

"Right," Rogue snorted. "Like Ah'm really gonna abandon ya."

"Serious, chérie. I gotcha int' dis mess, not gonna drag yo' any deeper. Stay here. If no problems, I'll stop dere t' pick yo' up," he said, pointing to a place on the side of the road.

"Okay."

With a stealthiness that surprised Rogue, Gambit made his way to the parking lot. At one point she lost sight of him but fortunately, they had parked near the fence, and it was easy for Rogue to find him again once he approached the car. He seemed to be taking his time about it too, which while Rogue understood his caution, it did make watching rather long, boring and tedious.

What surprised her though, was the fact that after he looked in through the windows, he hauled himself into the flat bed, opened the gate and collected the motorcycle. The gate went back up, and he rode off on his bike. Rogue frowned, but saw him heading to the pick up point, and ran to meet him. Gambit held out a helmet for her.

"Yo' said you've ridden before right?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah," Rogue replied. "What's going on?"

He explained while she put on the helmet and took off her gloves - they were just a little too slippery to maintain a good grip, but she didn't think there'd be any risk of them touching:

"All our stuff's gone. Pickup'll be easier to track dan the bike."

"All of it?"

"All. Sorry chérie," Gambit said apologetically. "I'll make it up t' yo'."

Rogue climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms securely around his waist.

"Mostly clothes anyway," she mumbled.

And they were off.