Chapter 4

Just as they were about to flee, they crossed the door only to be knocked down. Two men had been there for hours waiting for them. Somehow they were faster than the couple and injected a substance which made them fall to the floor almost instantly. The men lifted their unconscious bodies and carried them to a jeep. The driver sped away through the snow, leaving trail marks as it went. Abruptly, he pushed the brakes with all his determination as the car approached a spot marked with the letter E on the ground. The men exchanged knowing looks while Gambit started moaning and groaning. The drug effects were subsiding. He looked at Rogue, whose beautiful locks of hair were scattered everywhere, the strands lightly touching his skin. They had been both carelessly placed on the back seat, one over the other. He sighed at the sight of her. He loved her so much it hurt and he absolutely hated that they were being held captive by who knows who. He hoped it wouldn't be for long. He reached inside his coat, looking for his pack of cards. Hopefully, his powers would mysteriously return as quickly as they'd vanished. But he couldn't reach a card in time. Suddenly, they were violently shaken off by tremors.
"What's wrong?" asked a groggy Remy. "Where are you taking us?" he continued, noticing the vehicle was not running anymore. Something was bumping up from underground, pulling them down. Gambit angrily ordered the men to pull them back up. Just as he said that, as if on cue, the vehicle vanished through a huge gap on the ground.
Hours later, Gambit opened his eyes, only to realize he is lying on the floor, surrounded by absolute darkness. Wondering where he is, he groped his way through the space he was in. His brain worked hard around the lack of visual information, and found other ways to achieve the same, vitally important result: a detailed 3D map of his surroundings. The use of his overdeveloped sense of touch, a skill he had developed during his thieving career, was interrupted by a voice swiftly providing him with the answer.
"You're being held in a place of confinement until such time as your trial's commencement."
"Not so loud!" He barked.
The mysterious voice retorted that traitors who were brought to that place needed not bark orders. "When your lover was being loud and wild, you didn't complain, now did you?" The voice in the dark insinuated that he probably had the two of them under surveillance. "And before you ask me about her, don't you worry, your bitch is innocent of crimes against our kind. No harm will come to her. Besides, I wouldn't dare to hurt such a sweet piece of ass."
"Shut up! And wipe this filthy mouth of yours before you dare to talk about my chére again!" He lunged forward, feeling like ripping the head off the one who dared to speak evil of his love.
"She should be the least of your worries now, Gambit. I'll see you at your trial. You have no idea what I have in store for you."
Gambit didn't know but could well imagine. That mysterious man had to be talking about his role in the Morlocks massacre. He never had forgiven himself and was adamant he never would. And once again, he immersed himself in torment as he relived that fateful night inside his head and before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face.
X X X X

Rogue had forcefully joined Kitty and Storm in the room they were being held captive. She paced the room angrily while the other two women sadly watched.
"Anna, please!" Kitty pleaded.
"What?" She snapped out of the trance she was in.
"Stop doing that! It's driving us even crazier than we already are." Kitty complained.
"How can I? How can I just sit there with you guys, stare at the wall? I'm wrecking my brains here. I gotta find a way to find Remy, to free him. I have to…"
"Never mind Kitty, child. At first, we did the same. Trying to escape non-stop, then raging about not being able to. Then finally, we are here, motionless." Storm said emotionlessly. She continued moving her hands meticulously and observing them intensely as she did so. She had been constantly checking whether her powers would return.

Suddenly, a little gust of wind was formed inside the room. Yes, her powers were back. Ororo looked at her friends and each of the women grinned broadly, sharing understanding looks.

"You girls know what to do. Let's find Remy and get the hell out of here." Rogue commanded.

Just as her words were audible, Kitty swiftly grabbed her friend by the hand making Rogue and herself intangible, she passed through the walls.

…

Back in the darkened room where Gambit was being imprisoned, the voice came back to haunt him once again.

"You, Mr. Lebeau, you are the biggest coward of all mutantkind. But I can promise you this one thing, you will have a fate fitting your crimes."

"I know your voice, Sinister!" Gambit snarls. "Why don't you show your face? You seem to be a coward yourself, huh? It takes one to know one. Show yourself or I'll gladly add another minor regret to my list of major ones."

"Hold your tongue!" the voice snaps and Gambit finds himself blasted by an energy beam. As he collapses to the ground, the voice announces that Remy is guilty and he will be found guilty in due time.

"But let's not be impatient. Everything happens in its right time, wouldn't you agree? Besides, there are still some players to this game that are still to arrive." And without another word, the voice leaves him as unexpectedly as it had appeared.

The silence was unnerving to him. Perhaps he preferred that voice teasing and abusing him than being left alone, drowning in the memories of that fateful night when he led the Marauders through the tunnels of New York to find the underground community of mutants known as Morlocks. He didn't know that was what he was doing. Something illegal, probably, or Sinister wouldn't have fixed him for something that included no profit, he had assumed at that time. Sinister was a man who liked to strike deals, he wouldn't have helped him just out of his good heart. However, Remy never bothered to know why exactly his boss wanted that special mission to be carried out. He was just paying his debt. Never in his wildest dreams would have he imagined something like that would take place. Why would anyone bother to go to such lengths to exterminate that bunch of mutants who was completely harmless?

No matter how much he analysed all the facts, in the end, he would always come to the same sad conclusion. The truth was that the massacre had only happened because of his participation. That horrific outcome was a result of his actions. That fact was irrefutable, or so he believed.

"What is this dark place?" Kitty asked.

"Remy? Remy? Are you here?" Rogue shouted.

"Not so loud, chére. I'm here. Right next to you, judging by the sound of your voice." He replied with a low saddened voice. Rogue brought herself to her knees and touched through the darkness until her now gloved hands found his face. He'd been lying on the floor.

"Remy, my love. I was so afraid. Are you okay?" She paused. "I was afraid of losing you." She sighed in relief. He was right there, she could hear him breathing, nothing could go wrong now, or could it?

"Kitty, could you leave us alone, petite?" A seemingly weak Gambit asked.

"Me? Why? How will you two get out of here? That's hardly the time to even consider…"

"Katherine, I need to talk to Anna, it's serious." He interrupted the young woman. His voice was grave and Kitty decided to give the couple the space they seem to need.

"Remy, what's this all about? Are you insane? Let's go. I want to get us safely out of here, as soon as possible." She spoke hurriedly, her breathing was restless.

"Chére, I'm not going anywhere." He whispered.

"What? What are you talking about? Of course you're coming with me."

"Chére, I want you to leave me here to meet whatever fate is reserved for me." His voice was serious and emotionless. He thought of how with her love came something else, something he never took a hard look at before: his conscience. He couldn't possibly keep leaving with the guilt, he had to pay for his crimes somehow. The voice in the dark was right.

"I'm not going anywhere!" She insisted. "I'm here to help you." She added assertively.

"Kiss me, chére. Kiss me one more time, one last time, I need you. I need your lips. Kiss me long and hard just like you did every time you wanted me to love you back in our little make believe happy place." He paused for a few seconds. Images of her naked body under his own, eyes closed, moaning loudly and proclaiming her love to him as he pushed hard inside of her flooded his mind. Feeling his heart ache with longing for her, he continued. "Chére, kiss me and use your power to suck me out of myself." So that was the motivation, she thought. No way she would comply with his demand.

"Sugar, I can't. I simply can't. How could I bring myself to hurt you? You know what that would do, I would be taking your…" He didn't let her finish her words.

"I want it! I want my memories stolen. I can't live with them anymore, chére." He pleaded.

He stood up with some difficulty and Rogue could hear him taking slow steps away from her. That was all she could hear, not another word left those lips of his, those lips which were her territory until some hours ago. She sighed in exasperation. Why wouldn't he just come with her and Kitty? Why was he making it all so much harder on them? When all they need was to be away from the hell hole where they found themselves and go back to the mansion, be together, spend day and night in each other's company, even if they couldn't touch, love was all they needed, right? Now he refused to follow her and talked this non-sense of deserving some fate or punishment. What for? Where was this moral conflict coming from? What could possibly torment him so much for him to ask her to kiss her, knowing very well what could do to him? Long and hard he said, he knows that could send him to a coma or worse, she pondered.

While all those dark questions were whirling around the corners of her mind, Gambit kept taking his slow steps away from her until he hit a wall. He closed his, trying to find strength to do what needed to be done. He had to sound angry at her and push her away.

"Forget it! Forget about the kiss. That would just doom you too and I don't want anyone else to suffer, especially you."

"Remy, I…" She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, remind him that they had their life ahead of them. She wanted to urge him to quit the silliness and just let her take him out of there. But he would have none of it.

"Get out, Rogue. Just get out of here." He interrupted her.

"But…" She protested.

"Leave me alone, chére. What will happen here, I'll take it gracefully. Believe me, I deserve whatever is coming. Moreover, I… I don't love you. I never did and never will. I was just using you, I'm that kind of bastard. Now will you just let me face my destiny, alone."

"The hell you will!" She exclaimed. She didn't believe a single word he said. He could deny his love as much as he wanted, she was sure of it, she had felt it in his kisses and could see it in his eyes. She stepped purposefully towards him, towards his voice. "You're a terrible liar, Remy Lebeau. Now let's go." She said as she grabbed his arm and urged him to follow her. He refused, though.

Growing more and more impatient with his stubbornness, she sighed. She took a deep breath, trying to gather all that was left of her patience.

"Remy, I just found you. After the days of happiness we had, after all the years I've had known you, had feelings for you, the possibility of losing you... it terrified me. Now that I found you, I'm not about to lose you again. Whatever is eating you, we'll work it out together, preferably far, far away from here, okay?" She said calmly, hoping the softness in her voice would sooth him and make him see sense. He shook his head lightly at her words. She had no idea, she would never understand."Now here's what we're gonna do, you throw your arms around me, I'll knock this wall down, we'll fly and find the other X-Men who must have already reached us by now. And then, we'll get the hell away from this weird place. We'll be home in no time, and this part of our trip to Antarctica will be a distant memory. A bad dream."

She was so naïve, her innocence amazed him. She really thought everything was that simple.

"Sorry, chére, it sounds pretty, but it just can't be."

"Why? Why not?" She asked him. Tears ran down her face. She felt the saltiness of them touching her lips. The unwelcome tears, salted waters of her broken heart. "Don't you understand? I love you, Remy. Unconditionally! You know what that means? That means I just don't care what you did. I love you for you. There! Said it. Now will you come with me?"

"Love isn't always enough." Remy retorted.

"Yes, it is!" She insisted.

"Stop!" Gambit angrily shouted at her. "This is what will be: I built a house of cards and it's come down on me. I always knew it would. I have to go through this."

She could not believe his words, or what was happening for that matter. She had gone to sleep by his side, she had his arm for a pillow and now this. It had to be a nightmare.

"I never had anyone touch my heart like you did – never. Why can't I have that? Why can't I be happy for a change? Who says you have to do whatever this is, instead of spending your life with me?"

"I do. I, Erik the Red." The voice replies and the citadel's owner finally makes his entrance, accompanied by Spat and Grovel. "The mutant Gambit no longer deserves the life he now leads. The day of retribution is upon him!" Grovel asks his boss if he wants Gambit crackled in the head.

"Or lower?" Spat suggests. Erik the Red urges them to do with them as they please, and then bring them to the arena and wait for his return. He will prepare himself presently, he announces and departs. Just as Erik leaves, Spat attacks Rogue with her energy spear. His chére's beautiful body collapses to the ground almost instantly.

"Don't hurt her, please! She's innocent and doesn't deserve any of this. Please, please, don't hurt her, I beg you." Gambit pleaded.

"Pretty boy, can't you see? She can't possibly be more hurt than you've already hurt her."

X X X

I'd like to thank all of you who have favorited and followed the story and a special shoutout to those of you who reviewed: JasmineBella, VampiraRogue and SPARK187.

A special thanks to kataract52 who kindly proof read the first part of this chapter, up until Rogue joined Kitty and Storm. Then I left the story for days, sat down and wrote the rest of it in one go, so Kat's not to blame for the poor quality of the rest of the text :D

Anyways, please, please don't be shy and review. It makes my day and I love to hear your thoughts on the story.