Chapter 3

Despite returning home at what Gambit considered an unreasonably early hour, all four X-Men were so tired they could hardly see straight during morning training. Logan seemed to decide that this was entirely Gambit's fault and expressed his displeasure with extra laps. Gambit tolerated this with good humor. He and Logan understood one another remarkably well: Logan understood that Gambit would sooner have skipped Christmas than Mardi Gras, and Gambit understood that Logan had to make an example of him or Bobby Drake would be sneaking the younger students to Manhattan every other weekend. So Gambit was punished, justice was satisfied, and Bobby and Amara got to drive because Kitty and Kurt didn't trust themselves behind the wheel of the X-Van and Jean's SUV.

Amanda was similarly zombified, but was nonetheless in a great mood and declared that she wouldn't have missed that party even if it had meant skipping sleep for a week. This was in spite of being grounded for a month for sneaking out with the parentally-forbidden Kurt. Gambit spent the lunch break giving her tips on how not to get caught next time she needed to sneak out. Rogue spent the lunch break drinking massive amounts of Coke to keep her brain in working order.

She and Kurt were together for European History, the last class of the day on Wednesdays. When the final bell rang, he accompanied her to her locker, she accompanied him to his, and with their backpacks bulging with schoolwork they headed to the parking lot where the team assembled after school.

Kurt tossed his backpack into the van, but didn't climb in after it. Rogue, halfway through the passenger door, paused. "Ain't'cha comin' home, Kurt?"

"I've got some things to do in town," explained Kurt. He couldn't blush through his image inducer, but he was looking at his shoes and scuffing the toe of one very awkwardly against the pavement. "I'm gonna get home on my own."

"Scott's gonna be mad if yeh miss training."

"He already knows. Ze Professor said it vas okay."

Kitty, in the driver's seat, leaned over to hear the conversation better. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing much."

"C'mon, Kurt!"

"I . . ." He swallowed, and seemed to be considering just vanishing from the parking lot to avoid finishing the conversation. "I'm going to Mass," he finally muttered. "It's Ash Wednesday. It's important."

Rogue stared at him. She'd always had the vague impression that Kurt was, well, religious . . . or at any rate, the vague impression that he went missing every Sunday morning . . . but she'd never really thought about it very much. His manifest embarrassment at such a simple thing made a twist of guilt form in her stomach. He was her brother, and she'd never even bothered to ask.

"Oh." Kitty leaned back into her seat and fastened her seatbelt. "Okay, then. See you at dinner."

"Thanks." Kurt stepped away from the van and headed across the parking lot.

"Wait!" Rogue slipped her bag off her shoulder, swung it into the van, and ran after Kurt. "Kin Ah come with you?"

Kurt turned and stared at her. "To Mass?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yeah." Rogue could feel herself blushing scarlet at her own daring. "Am Ah not allowed, or something? Ah ain't Catholic."

"No, you're allowed. I just didn't think you'd vant to."

"Well, you're mah brother. If it's important tuh you, Ah wanna come."

Kurt grinned at her. "I'd like zat."

"Moi, aussi," Gambit declared, tossing his bag in after Kurt's and Rogue's.

"You, too?" Rogue echoed, staring at him with more astonishment than Kurt had displayed when staring at her.

"You're going to church?" Kitty echoed. "Are you Catholic, too?"

Gambit raised an eyebrow at her. "What part'a 'Cajun' were you not understandin'? 'Couse I'm Catholic."

Kitty shrugged. "Okay, whatever. If all three of you are staying, the rest of us can take the van, and we'll leave you the SUV."

"Good plan," Gambit approved.

"Bobby, Sam, over here! We're leaving the SUV for these guys."

"Can I pick the radio station?" asked Bobby, taking the passenger seat and slamming the door behind him.

Gambit stepped aside to let Amara climb into the back seat, then closed the door after her and gave the van an encouraging smack. Kitty pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"You're goin' tuh Mass," Rogue repeated, as incredulous as ever.

"Didn'say I was goin' t'Mass. Said I was Catholic, an'I am. An'as such, I've heard de Mass already. Lotta times. Enough. So I'm goin' to de auto parts store t'get some stuff I need for my bike, an' I'll meet y'all outside de church in an hour so you kin gimme a ride home."

Rogue had never in her life seen a person look less ashamed of himself.

"You're an awful person, y'know that? An' if there's a Hell, they've got a little cubicle in it all set out for you with your name on it and everything."

Gambit gave her a jaunty, cheeky wave as he strolled off towards downtown.

Rogue snorted. "Jerk."

Kurt shrugged. "Well, zat's his call. Come on. It's embarrassing to show up late."

Rogue fell into step beside him, discreetly lengthening each step with her flight powers to keep up with Kurt's springy, energetic stride. "Just promise me y'won't let me make a fool a'mahself," she begged. "Ah've never been tuh Mass before. Don't think Ah've even been tuh church in . . ." she paused and counted, "like four years."

"Don't worry. It's all written down in the book. Just stand up when I do and you'll be okay."

Though not one hundred percent comforted, Rogue followed him the two blocks down the street to what proclaimed itself to be Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was—thank goodness—warm inside, and also dim and quiet despite the large number of people congregating there.

Kurt dipped his finger into a little bowl of water that was bolted to the doorframe at the entrance to the sanctuary and crossed himself as he stepped inside. Rogue glanced around, hoping to see someone else come in without making the gesture to let her know it was okay to do so. Seeing no one, she dipped her middle finger into the bowl and touched it to her forehead, then her chest. Then she paused, unable to remember if Kurt had finished the cross right shoulder to left shoulder or the other way around. Would it be a satanic gesture or something if she did it backwards? Gritting her teeth against being struck by lighting, she tried left to right. Nothing happened to her, so she assumed that either she'd guessed correctly or it wasn't too big of a deal.

The chapel was pretty crowded. Kurt walked up the aisle to a bench near the middle where only a couple of people were sitting, dropped briefly to one knee, and took a seat. Rogue followed him. She wanted to ask if she'd got the cross thing right, but he didn't seem to think now was the time to explain anything to her. He folded out a little cushioned bench from the pew in front of him, knelt on it, folded his hands together and bowed his head.

Praying. Right. Glancing around, Rogue saw that many others were doing the same, but others were just sitting and waiting for the service to start. It would probably be okay for her to do either. Hesitantly, she lowered herself onto the bench and rested her forearms on the back of the pew in front of her. It was an awkward position, but she had a strong back and could hold the pose for a while.

She looked up at the crucifix displayed at the top of the room. The body of Christ, skeletal and obviously in a lot of pain, hung both passively and majestically from the lighter-wooden cross.

How does Kurt stay so cheerful if he comes here and looks at that for an hour every week? she wondered, biting her lip. What a goshawful way to die. To avoid looking at it, she bowed her head and stared at her clasped, gloved hands.

Hey, Lord, she began hesitantly. This didn't seem a very appropriate way to address God, but it was the way she addressed everybody and she couldn't think of anything better. It's, uh, me. Hi.

She felt very much like she'd been left alone in a room with someone who'd known her when she was little, but whom she couldn't remember at all. It was the same sort of awkwardness. I go by Rogue now, she explained apologetically. Kinda suits me better. I hope you're okay with that.

He seemed to be.

So, uh . . . I've been doing okay. Not great, y'know. I moved up here to New York after I found out I have these powers that make it so I'll never be able to touch anyone again. Which was, y'know, not great. But I wasn't all that touchy-feely to begin with, so I guess it's okay. And it ended me up at the Institute, which is good. It's a good place to live. It's like all of a sudden I've got more brothers and sisters than I know what to do with. More parents, too. But that's where I found Kurt. That was a pretty one-in-a-million chance, that his long-lost birth mom was my long-lost adopted mom and so we're, y'know, not exactly brother and sister but pretty close. I guess it was kind of a miracle, maybe. So thanks. Thanks for giving me a brother. I like him. And thanks for everybody else, too. Kitty . . . I don't know anybody else who'd put up with having me for a roommate. And Logan, 'cause he talks tough but is always there for me when I need him. And Scott, who's such a good friend, and Jean, who's a nice person even if she is freakin' perfect all the time. Sorry. And thank you for Remy. I dunno if I should be thanking you for him, because he'd kind of a scumbag, and he pretended he was coming here so he could skip training and go to the auto parts store, which he'll probably go to Hell for, but I'm glad to have him all the same. And when you're judging him, please take into consideration that he's saved my life a couple times and he doesn't try to tick Scott off nearly as much as he used to, and as far as I know he hasn't stolen anything since he came to the Institute. So, I guess that's it, really. I've got a pretty good life these days. Good home, people who care about me. Thank you for all that.

An organ started playing. Rogue looked up, said a hasty Amen, and scooted back into her seat. Kurt lifted the little kneeling-bench up out of the way, then took one of the books from the rack built into the back of the pew in front of them and flipped it open. "There. That's the Order of Mass. Just follow along."

With the book to guide her, Rogue didn't feel quite as lost, though the service seemed to jump around a lot. It also involved a lot of singing, at which she wasn't very good, unless it was some old Cajun song about something horribly depressing, but she muddled through without drawing attention to herself. All the same, she was relieved when they reached the Lord's Prayer. This was something she knew.

The priest, a tall, skinny man with a hooked nose, intoned, "The peace of the Lord be with you always."

"And also with you," answered Rogue with everyone else. She'd heard something fairly similar a couple of times now, and she was beginning to get the hang of it.

"Let us offer each other the sign of peace," the priest suggested.

Kurt turned to her and reached for her hand. "Peace be vith you, Rogue," he told her, a smile all over his sweet, little-brother face.

"Peace be with yeh, Kurt," Rogue answered.

A white-haired woman in the pew in front of her offered her hand and a smile. Rogue took both, thinking to herself that this was one part of the Mass she genuinely liked. She shook the hands of three other people sitting in front of her, then turned around to shake hands with those behind her. And through the doorway at the end of the room, she caught a flicker of movement.

She nudged Kurt with her elbow. "Look at that."

Kurt twisted inside just in time to see Gambit stride into the chapel and take an empty place on the last row of pews.

Rogue grinned. "He came after all!"

Kurt didn't smile. Instead, he turned to face the front of the church again, his forehead crinkled in sudden concern.

Rogue didn't have time to ask him what was wrong before the service started up again, so she bit her tongue and concentrated on keeping up in the book. When he went up to the front of the chapel, leaving her alone in the pew for a few seconds, she took another glance over her shoulder. Gambit was still there, not singing, but standing in thoughtful silence with his eyes fixed on her.

When they had all been instructed to "Go in the peace of Christ," Kurt knelt down again, but this time turned sideways, squeezing himself in between the pews. "Come here."

Rogue ducked down. "Everybody else is standin' up," she whispered.

Kurt grabbed her hand, and she felt a sudden jolt and a rush of hot, sulfuric air all around her. They'd teleported out of the chapel, onto the floor of the coatroom by the front door of the church.

"What was that for?" Rogue demanded. Kurt shushed her, and she lowered her voice. "Gambit's gonna be looking for us."

"I don't think zat vas Gambit," Kurt whispered, climbing quietly to his feet.

"Huh?"

"Didn't you see him? He didn't bless himself when he came into the chapel."

"So? I dunno if you've noticed, but he's not really a very good Catholic."

"Doesn't matter. Nobody raised Catholic vould come into a church without blessing himself. It's not something you think about. You just do it."

"Ah think you're crazy."

"Just let me take a look." Kurt slipped out of the coatroom and into the entrance hall of the church, Rogue scrambling after him.

Everybody was lining up go leave, shaking hands with the priest as they went. Some people were clustering around he entrance hall, chatting, so Kurt and Rogue's sneaking wasn't quite as conspicuous as it might otherwise have been. Dodging the crowd, Kurt edged to the door of the chapel and peeked around the corner. Rogue, checking guiltily to see that no one was watching, picked herself up off the floor a few inches so she could see over Kurt's head. There were still dozens of people in the church, talking and laughing as they waited for the crowd ahead of them to clear, but no Gambit.

"He's not in there," Kurt announced.

"Is there a back way or anything?"

"Probably someplace, but vhy vhould he use it?"

"T'be contrary, probably."

Kurt squeezed past a few people and slipped back inside, heading to the pew where they'd seen Gambit. A cluster of middle-aged people were still there, chatting.

"Excuse me," Kurt interrupted. "Ve're looking for our friend. He was sitting right here, and he was supposed to meet us after the service. Red eyes?"

"Yeah, I remember him," offered one of the men, heavyset and balding, his red face creased with the shadows of many laughs. "I heard about that kid. I've got a granddaughter who just started at Bayville High this year who told me about him. Woulda made me mighty nervous, eyes like that, otherwise."

"Didja see where he went?" asked Rogue.

"No, sorry. Was just here a minute ago, wasn't he?"

"Thanks anyway," Kurt offered politely. He looked at Rogue, making a "Well, now what do we do?" face.

Rogue took another glance around the room, which was as empty of redheaded Cajuns as it had been the last time she looked. It was also beginning to be empty of anybody else. She dropped to her hands and knees to see if Gambit . . . or not-Gambit, as Kurt thought . . . had dropped anything of interest. He hadn't.

She climbed back to her feet. The chapel was now all but empty. "Should we go look for him at the auto parts store?" she asked.

Kurt shrugged, unable to think of a better plan, and together they turned to the door.

And just then, Gambit walked inside.

"Y'all done wid de hallelujahs yet?" he asked, grinning his unrepentant grin. He crossed the entrance hall and stepped through the door of the chapel. As he did, his right hand reached out, so casually that Rogue almost doubted he'd noticed the movement, to the little bowl of holy water on the doorframe. Head, heart, left shoulder, right shoulder, just as Kurt had done.

"I told you," Kurt told her.

Gambit's smile faded as he studied the two faces staring at him. "Quoi?"

"So the long and short of this is that Gambit skipped training and church," said Logan.

"That's the, uh, short of it," Rogue admitted.

"Uh-huh." He pointed accusingly at Gambit and announced, "You're in trouble, mister." Then he folded his arms again and returned his attention to Kurt and Rogue. "And you two saw a Gambit that wasn't there."

Kurt nodded. "He came in towards the end, and was there until everybody left. Then he was gone."

He glanced nervously at Rogue, who pressed her lips into a thin, worried line and looked away.

Logan sighed. "I know what you two are thinkin', so you don't have to say it. But it ain't that. There's a dozen ways you could've seen what you saw, and you both know it. So go take care of your homework and quit your worrying. I'll see what I can find out."

Rogue nodded. "Thanks, Logan."

The words were simple, but the feeling behind them was so fervent that she nearly blushed at the sound of her own voice. But Rogue had never been so grateful for Logan as she was at that moment. He understood her fears, and didn't hold her in contempt for them, and would slice them into pieces the second he could bring them within reach of his claws.

Seeing the struggle for calm that crossed her face, Logan reached out and hugged her. Logan was one of the few people that she would allow so close to her, and she silently consented to be hugged, and in her own surly way was grateful for the gesture.

When Kurt and Rogue had both left the room, Logan turned to Gambit. "You're changing the oil on every vehicle in the house, because it needs doing, and then you're cleaning up the observation room. And what they saw ain't for general chitchat. Comprends?"

"Oui, je te comprends." Gambit took his punishment in good humor, and gave his promise of silence with understanding. He left the room to change into something rattier that wouldn't mind getting motor oil on it.

Logan headed for Professor Xavier's office.

"Going out," he announced. "Back later."

It was the strict rule of the household that anyone leaving had to tell someone where they were going and when they would be back. Logan never broke this rule. Where he was going was 'out,' and when he was going to be back was 'later.' He'd been known to disappear into the Canadian backwoods for months at a time, or jump on nonstop flights to Japan, after informing the Professor that he was going 'out' and would be back 'later.'

"What's the matter?" asked Professor Xavier, looking up from the papers he was working on.

"Hopefully nothing. Keep an eye on Kurt and Rogue for me." He swung the study door closed and went to find his jacket.

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay! That free time I was expecting didn't quite materialize. So we are a day late and a dollar short, comme d'habitude (like normal).

And here's the French for the Day:

Quoi? What?

Comprends? Understand?

Oui, je te comprends: Yes, I understand you.