Disclaimer: I still don't own X-Men

AN: Sorry, sorry, sorry that this update took so long. I have been soooo busy this last week. I won't bore you with the details but Saturday especially was exciting. Went to Jet City Comic Show in Seattle. Got some good things, met Paul Tobin who writes for Marvel. He's just put out a novel about super heroes, people should check it out if they're interested. It's on kindle and stuff. But I went for the old fashioned, autographed copy.

Anyways, back to the fanfic... the story is going at a much slower pace than I expected it to. It's not bad but by chapter 7 I had been planning on action having happened and throwing more Romy stuff into the mix. As it is, conversation and thoughts are being dragged out and I'm having fun throwing more Cecilia into the mix. Could be that I"m excited for Astonishing X-Men this Wednesday. This is going to be a good month for Gambit ^_^

Alright, hopefully my next update won't be another week and expect some action soon. Thanks to all of you that have been patient with the beat of my story so far


"So what do we know about Apocalypse currently?"

In contrast to his hasty flight, Remy came striding purposefully out of his room, adjusting the collar on his coat as it trailed behind him. His hair was still slightly wet from the shower and he shook a couple of locks out of his eyes, looking over the people gathered in his living room. Strangely it was Magneto and Cecilia that had clumped together near the window while Rogue sat idly on the couch. Didn't look like anybody had been speaking yet a cold hush fell over the room as Remy stepped in.

He looked at them all expectantly all the same. Tough crowd, apparently.

"That he's dead?" Rogue offered finally.

"Dat's what we thought last time," Remy said, giving Rogue a pointed look. She didn't look away but he was still pretty certain he caught a shiver. Definitely certain of it when she leaned forward to grab up her cup of coffee.

"And what does this have to do with anything?" Magneto asked with a twinge of annoyance. Of course he couldn't stand waiting through riddles without getting impatient. Probably didn't help that Remy was making eyes at his girl.

Poor chap was just going to have to get used to it. Remy made eyes at every girl and he'd gotten quite comfortable with Rogue again. Being around her at the school all the time while her 'boyfriend' was on the other side of the country… Definitely helped to create a friendly atmosphere between the two. Plus he was just Remy LeBeau.

Still the question brought to mind an answer that suddenly made him uncomfortable with his audience. Most importantly… he wasn't sure how comfortable Cecilia was with all of this. She'd come in here in a fright because of what happened at the hospital. And she hadn't been very pleased with seeing him going over the video feed when she woke up.

A small voice in the back of his head just said he was ashamed. That the darkness in the corner of his head was getting free and Remy didn't want Cece to know. To know what he was capable of with those powers… or that he might somehow be involved with the nightmare she'd lived through. Remy had been burned too much in the past by being connected to terrible things and having it come to light.

But more important was Cecilia's comfort.

"Chere," Remy spoke up, turning his gaze from Rogue. He saw the femme sit up straighter before realizing he wasn't talking to her. Instead his eyes landed on Cecilia, cupping a mug in her hands by the window. "Y'don't gotta be involved. Take a shower, relax, de apartment is yo's for de day."

Chocolate brown eyes dropped down to look into the mug, weighing the options in her mind. Remy was pretty certain she hadn't been expecting it and she frowned a bit. She was tempted, Remy could tell. But whatever thoughts she had, however, led her to raise her head and shake her head.

"I ran once," Cecilia said. "Thanks, but no. I think I can play with the big kids, Gambit."

Remy chuckled, taking a couple steps forward to place his hands on her arms. Leaving only a little bit of space between them and ignoring the others in the room while the red of his eyes became more intense.

"Oh, I know y'can. I was just afraid y'might look Remy look bad."

Cece slowly loosened the fingers of one hand from her mug of coffee, looking up into his eyes. Then in one sudden movement she smacked the back of her hand into Remy's chest, pursing her lips.

"Told you it'd get you smacked."

The room filled with an unusual silence. For the most part Remy was enjoying it, wanting to take that hand and kiss the back of it. But the more things kept silent, the more aware he was of Rogue's eyes on them. It started to feel like Cecelia's gaze stayed glued on him in an attempt to avoid the rest of the people, her lips twitching slightly.

"So what have you got figured out?" Cece asked finally.

It broke some sort of spell on the others in the room since Magneto moved at that point, sighing slightly as he moved to the couch. Remy pulled back only enough to lean his back into the wall, pulling out a deck of cards to bridge them between his hands.

"Not much," he admitted. "Only just caught dat girl saying 'Apocalypse' before… dey showed up." He nodded toward the couch, though he'd been tempted to say Cece had been the interrupting factor. Certainly hadn't complained with the intimate gestures that had pulled him from thinking too heavily. Couldn't really recall the last time Remy had been in that sort of position… he and Rogue had been apart for so long it seemed like a lifetime ago.

"What girl?" Rogue asked.

"How could she be saying anything?" Cece spoke over the top of the southern gal. Didn't seem intentional but Rogue still got a sour look on her face, teasing a bit of a smirk out of Remy. "She was deaf and… and she was in so much pain…"

"Deaf ain't mute," Remy said, focusing his eyes down on the cards in his hands. "'Sides, she didn't necessarily have to know what name she was sayin. Might've just been her lips moving."

"And you can read lips." Cecilia snorted a bit though she had a smug look on her face. Probably had forgotten to take into account that Remy was a thief. Things like reading lips was second nature by now. "So she says something that you translate is 'Apocalypse.' How do we know he's involved?"

That brought a small frown to Remy's lips, the cards slowing down and finally stopping in one hand. "I can feel it."

Had been feeling it since he talked to Betsy about not sleeping well. That dark presence in his head had been stirring more and more. Looking for a way to escape. Probably sensed its master and figured that'd be the way to break free… and Remy couldn't let that happen. No telling what Death would be willing to do.

Once again he considered telling Cece to step out on this. Because Remy didn't know if throwing himself closer to something attached to Apocalypse was a smart idea. Could just end up causing what he was trying hard to prevent. And then she'd be there, she'd know… More importantly, she might get hurt. Remy's fingers clenched reflexively around the deck of cards imagining being the cause of Cecilia being hurt or killed. Letting that poison Apocalypse gave him spread to his friend…

"What girl?" Rogue repeated, much louder.

Cecilia and Remy looked up, startled from their thoughts. Rogue was still sitting on the couch but she looked like she was raring for a fight, hands clenched in fists on her knees. Apparently her patience did not allow for conversations between Remy and Cecilia like nobody else was in the room. Though if Remy were to be Frank, Rogue just showed up on the doorstep. She hadn't been invited and he was just as wary to have her involved.

He found it to be for other reasons though. Not that Remy enjoyed the thought of hurting Rogue any more than hurting Cecilia. Considering he'd already done that several times, his stomach clenched sickeningly at the thought.

But he found himself questioning Rogue's presence here. Her reaction to seeing he was 'alright' like he might not be. That she was hanging around like she was involved with what was going on when, honestly, Remy didn't see any connection at all. Maybe he was wrong but he still didn't like it. It all made him rather uncomfortable, a nameless emotion flitting in his chest as he stared back at Rogue's hard, green eyes. Debating how to answer.

He decided not to with words. Instead he disengaged from the wall, striding over to open his laptop again, absently playing the video. Remy didn't look at it, or anybody really. But out of the corner of his eye he gathered Rogue and Magneto's reactions.

The latter was passive except for a firm crossing of his arms. Which considering he was wearing a normal button up green shirt and black slacks wasn't quite as impressive as it was in his Magneto costume.

It was Rogue that had a far more visceral reaction to the footage. Immediately she went pale, just like Remy might expect. After all, Rogue was an empathetic woman and seeing a young child suffer had to horrify her. But she kept rigid, watching until the very end. Her mouth fell open a bit, a hand coming up to cover the horrified expression. As Remy swiftly closed the lip of the laptop, Rogue turned her face away, eyes shut.

Wasn't until Remy turned back around to check on Cecilia that he realized what was missing from Rogue's reaction.

Tears.

Cece was over there fighting them off as she stared out the window. But not Rogue. In fact, Remy couldn't recall the last time he'd cause tears in Rogue's eyes. He'd never questioned it before, thinking that gaining control of her powers perhaps bolstered her self-esteem, taking away the need to cry so much. But maybe it'd been before that.

Or he was wrong about the reason. Maybe it wasn't a lack of a need to cry but Rogue had become hardened against the urge to cry. Like somewhere in her mind she'd convinced herself crying was a weakness.

The epiphany drew upon a part of Remy had usually stayed rather dormant. His hands fisted at his side in response, fighting against the urge to turn and grab her shoulders. Shake her and inform her that crying wasn't a weakness. It was alright to be scared and hurt… especially since he'd be there like he always was to hold her through the process.

But it wasn't Remy's place. Not only to hold her but to convince her that it was alright to cry. That it was safe…

That would be Magneto's and reflexively Remy sent him a bit of a glare. Nobody seemed to catch it but Magneto but he was unperturbed. He also did nothing to comfort Rogue and it made Remy's stomach churn in disgust. What kind of man was he that he acted like the woman he professed to love wasn't hurting right now?

Remy angrily pushed it from his mind, though, walking back to grab Cecilia's hand. He followed through on his urge from earlier and kissed the back of it swiftly. Calling her attention to him so he could watch her face soften but the conviction in her eyes harden. There'd be absolutely no convincing her to stay behind now. And he found himself temporarily glad of it.

Because Rogue would be just as stubborn.

"We just got back from investigating another girl's death," Rogue explained in a hushed voice. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a book to set on the table. "She was blind, just gone through surgery paid by this author who doesn't even seem to exist anymore. Got her eyesight back only to die a week later, her body twisted and broken, eyes completely melted. Logan told me about this one just last night."

Cece sighed, subconsciously still grasping Remy's hand. "So Logan does know."

"Dat means Betsy does too…"

Cecilia gave him a peculiar look that Remy ignored. He hadn't really meant to say it out loud but his head was working on the puzzle. Two girls on opposite coasts. One blind, one deaf. Both obviously gone through some sort of medical process recently. One saying the name Apocalypse, the other attached to a book.

Remy strode over to pick up the book, scoffing a bit at the title. Oh, there was a nice laugh. Almost like it was a joke meant to mock him. He found himself flipping it over, looking over the summary on the back. Fanciful little tale about a girl living in a world where the gates of hell had opened, unleashing demons that took control of the Earth. And the girl was forced to become a hero but there was a sexy guy that she ended up teaming up with… Usual stuff he could imagine some young girl being all interested in.

"Guess I should've grabbed some more of de girl's records while dere," Remy chuckled a bit. "Just wasn't counting on being caught by Wolvie."

"Give me one second to get dressed," Cece responded, setting her coffee down. "And I can go over there to get her records."

"Sounds like de place to start…" Remy murmured.

But an uneasy feeling was filling the pit of his stomach as he watched her head into the bedroom, his hand still clenched around the paperback book.