Rogue went to him in heady trance. How could she not? Gambit was calling her—he wanted her—and she whole heartedly believed it. The very things she had conjured up in her mind were now right in front of her, and very much tangible. He had gone through even greater lengths this time captivate her, and he'd succeeded.

She climbed onto her bed with him and was immediately welcomed into his arms. She knew she didn't stand a chance the minute she had turned on her bedroom light and saw him. Her winning streak was over, because right now, he was trailing his fingers lightly along the edges of her body and she was letting him. He was so close, closer to her than he'd ever been before. His warm breath teased her neck as she closed her eyes to focus on the rising sensations her body received from him.

"So, Chere," he was speaking thickly near her ear in his sexed-up voice, sending notes of pleasure through her very being. She could only manage to sigh sweetly in response. Rogue couldn't see his face as he nuzzled closer to her ear, but she was sure he was smiling as he spoke, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this one goes to me."

She opened her eyes languidly and gave him a purr of a chuckle as she gently reached for his face, cupping it between her hands. "I do believe that you are correct on that account," she answered. "I wouldn't let it go to your head though."

"Which one?" he asked with a jaunty wink.

"Remy!" she shrieked in good humour. "You're positively filthy!"

"Can't help it. You bring out the best in me."

"Oh, Lord." She rolled her eyes. "How many of those dirty puns do you have?"

Remy laughed. "That last one wasn't supposed to be one." He gave her a very sly look. "Now who's positively filthy?"

"Well, you started it," she answered indignantly with a flushed version of her famous smile.

"So long as my lower anatomy stays on your mind, ma cherie, you're giving me an advantage." He smirked.

"I don't think about your… lower anatomy!" she denied immediately with a bright red face.

"That's a shame, petite, 'cause I think about yours."

Before she had a moment to react, he pulled the end of the silk scarf she was wearing over her lips and kissed her over the fabric. Then in the blink of an eye, before she could even register what had happened, he was gone like a thief in the night. A very fitting comparison indeed.

She stared in a mixture of shock and wistful longing at the balcony door he'd just escaped from. She wondered how she'd lost her common sense, and the purpose of the bet in one swift moment.

"Rogue! Why is the door locked?"

Rogue jumped at the sound of Kitty's high-pitched voice cracking through her daze. She turned slowly from the balcony to see Kitty sliding through the locked door with a perplexed look on her face.

"Sorry, Kitty," she answered absently, turning her attention back to the balcony. She couldn't seem to stop staring at the last place Remy had been.

"Oh no," Kitty moaned recognizing Rogue's dazed expression, and immediately plopped herself down on the bed beside Rogue. "He got one in on you, didn't he?"

"'Fraid so," Rogue admitted.

Kitty pursed her lips in a thoughtful frown. "I suppose it had to happen sooner or later."

"Yeah, well," Rogue stated confidently, "I'm still up by one on him."

Kitty nodded in agreement before her face scrunched up in confusion. "How did you manage to get a perfect imprint of your lipstick on your scarf?"

"What?" Rogue glanced down at her scarf. Sure enough, the imprint was an exact carbon copy of her lips. "Uh, I don't know… wind blowing it up on my face, I guess," she stammered.

Kitty's eyes widened. "Oh My God!" she asserted excitedly. "He kissed you through the scarf!"

"Don't be silly." Rogue scoffed, averting her eyes.

"Oh yeah, then you won't mind telling me how he managed to seduce you, and why the door's locked," Kitty answered, unrelenting.

"You don't need all the details," Rogue replied defensively. "All you need to know is that he got a point."

Kitty was waving her hands around in a fit. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Rogue shrugged in confusion.

Kitty carried on, "He touched you."

"Not really, he'd have been out on the floor if he'd done that," Rogue answered with chagrin.

Kitty rolled her eyes impatiently. "You know what I mean. He got to first base with you," Kitty shot back in a superior tone. "Before it was only words, now he's gone and kissed you, thus, upping the stakes."

"So?" Rogue shot back. She really didn't see what the big deal was.

"So! That means you've got to bump up your tactics!" Kitty cried in exasperation.

Rogue could sort of see her point. The bet had progressed now from flirty dialogue to physical contact. She was worried, and suddenly very uncomfortable. Physical contact was something she flunked at.

She liked the talking, and the insinuating that she and Remy had easily fallen into with their flirting, but touching? That was an entirely different ball game. In one quick movement, Gambit had thrown her way out of her league. Sure, she'd touched his bare chest briefly, but that certainly didn't count as first base. To keep herself in the running, she either needed to get in a grander version of first base or move on up to second.

"This is awful." She sighed in defeat. "I don't know how to counter this." Not only that, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Kitty refused to admit defeat so quickly.

"Call him up and ask him out for a date," Kitty instructed. "Make it for the drive-in."

Rogue gave Kitty an uncomfortable look. Although she didn't know from experience, she knew exactly what went on at drive-in movie theatres. In fact, it was the reason they still existed today.

"The drive-in? Kitty, I'm not sure that's so good of an idea."

"No!" Kitty cried. "It's perfect! He'll already be assuming the same thing every guy does about the drive-in, which means half your work will already be done for you. Trust me, it really is perfect." Kitty grabbed the phone from her desk and pushed it forcefully into Rogue's hands. "Call him. Just trust me, we won't lose another round," Kitty assured.

Rogue wasn't so sure.


Lance was waiting for Remy at the front door with Toad not far behind when Remy arrived back at the Brotherhood house. The look on Lance's face borderlined on desperation.

"Please give me some good news, man," Lance pleaded. "Kitty hasn't let up since Rogue's got you twice—and in a row, no less!"

"Point for us, mon ami," Remy answered with a satisfied smirk. He was back.

"Seriously? How'd you do it?" Lance asked a little too surprised.

Lance's utter shock and disbelief annoyed Remy. Was it really that surprising that he had seduced Rogue? Try as he might to ignore it, Remy was offended and insulted that Lance doubted him.

"I just showed her that I can be very persuasive on some issues," Remy answered a bit more smugly than he normally would have. "This is me we're talking about, after all."

"Oh snap!" Toad shouted, clapping his hands in delight.

"Come on," Lance pressed suspiciously. "She's the bitchiest girl around. It's not likely she'd just warm up, so what did you say to her?"

"Now who said anything about me talking to her?" Remy bragged arrogantly, puffing up his damaged ego a bit. He'd show Lance that he still reigned supreme in his skills with ladies.

"Oh man!" Toad exclaimed with his already buggy eyes bulging further from his head as Lance smiled and slapped Remy on the back. "You are sooooo the man!"

Remy gave his trademark cocky smirk, only this time it was tenfold. "Never said I wasn't."

"Hey, Mr. Man," Wanda called dryly from the hallway. "She's on the phone for you."

Remy's smirk turned into a cocky grin. "See? Now she can't leave me alone. Trust me, guys, I've got this handled."

"Dude, you are so my hero!" Toad chirped as Remy swaggered over to the phone.

Wanda seemed less impressed with his antics and sharply jabbed the phone into his chest. Remy took it from her as she gave him a wicked glare. It was amazing how such a glare could conjure up feelings of guilt. He brushed it off. Wanda was just pissed because she had money riding on Rogue.

"Chere." He smiled into the phone. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She laughed and he melted at the sound. He loved that he could garner such a marvelous sound from her.

"I'm calling to ask you out," she stated shyly, "to the drive-in on Friday."

He swore his heart stopped. Suddenly he didn't want to be anywhere near Lance or Wanda, and certainly not Toad. She was upping the ante, and doing it very well.

"Ouais, sure. That'd be great, I'd love to," he answered, hoping he wasn't rambling again.

"Great, can you pick me up for seven?"

"Sure, no problem," he answered, not able to shake his sudden apprehension.

After Remy hung up the phone, he retreated quietly back to his room. He didn't like the idea of going to the drive-in with her at all. Well, that wasn't true, he liked the idea very much, he just didn't like it so soon. He understood he had less than seventeen days, and seducing a girl of her caliber in that amount of time was a rushed job, but he really didn't want to rush with her.

It was a problem that his feelings were interfering with the bet, or rather—the stupid bet was interfering with his feelings for her. It slowly began to dawn on him that nobody knew what would happen when the seventeen days were up, and the bet was over. For everyone else involved there would be a winner and a loser, money would exchange hands, and… that would be it. Everyone would go on with their lives. Except he and Rogue would be left with the repercussions of their actions, all for the amusement of people he didn't even care about.

What if they went too far and ruined what might have been before it even started?

Remy could steal a lot of things, but he wasn't sure he could steal back moments in time and undo them.