xXxXx
The second night fell. Gambit insisted that they needed to find a safe place to stay before looking for a way of contacting the X-Men. They entered the first inn they found. Apparently the only one in the small town.
"Ah almost believed you when you said we were gonna look for an Embassy" Rogue said as they drew nearer the inn.
"C'est sûr!" Gambit exclaimed with over-the-top irony. "Dey'd be happy to help two young American citizens stranded on a hostile land... in case they weren't mutants."
Rogue shut up. She was too exhausted to keep on arguing, especially after running straight into his arms mere minutes earlier. In the moment of affliction, Rogue did not think nor hesitate. Now she tormented herself questioning whether she had gone to him for protection just because there was no other option or she had really believed that Gambit could have kept her from harm somehow. And he did protect her, which made her feel modified and petrified.
They got to the inn's door. Rogue halted. "You really too proud to ask for help?"
Gambit turned to her; his face as tired as hers. "I've always done better on my own, chère. And you know you ain't in no position to talk about pride" their eyes were locked for a moment.
Rogue crossed her arms and peeked into the inn, thinking it would be redundant to say they had no money with them as she saw Gambit step in and head to the reception desk. She watched him talk to the receptionist and also when he handed him a key.
Gambit motioned to her to come in. Rogue stepped closer with a questioning and incredulous look on her face. They went up a short wooden flight of stairs that made noises at every step, and soon afterwards, they got to a narrow hall.
"15... 14…" Gambit counted down at every door they passed by "13. I t'ink dis is the one. Hope you're not superstitious, chérie."
"Let me guess..." she said, leaning into the wall next to the door with her arms crossed while Gambit struggled to open the door, which seemed to be stuck. "You used that charm trick again. What do you think they'll do once they find out we got no money?"
"Mince!" he exclaimed, shaking the door that would not open. Breaking into it would have been faster than trying to use the key.
"You want me to get help, sugah?" she asked in pure sarcasm.
Gambit turned to her with a smirk. Then he applied pressure and at the same time pushed the door up, and finally got it to open. With a broad grin of satisfaction, he got out of the way so Rogue could get in as he extended his hand in a gesture that meant ladies first.
"Unbelievable" he said, once they had stepped into the room. Rogue could not decide whether his indignation was true or plain mocking. "I've broken into safes, high-security mansions without breaking a sweat an' now I was dis close to being defeated by a fifty-year-old door."
"C'est la vie" she said, with a teasing smile, then looked around.
Two single beds, one single door that should lead to the bathroom, a window and, on the ground, a washed-out carpet. At least, the room seemed to be clean.
Rogue moved closer to the window and opened it. It was old and made of wood so Rogue pulled it up hard thinking it would be stuck; however, it opened easily. The room smelled like it had been closed for some days. All in all, it would serve to spend the night, take a shower and wait for rescue.
"You still haven't answered mah question" she remembered as she turned to face him. Gambit showed her the money.
"How?" she questioned with a look of surprise.
"What do you think?" he asked rhetorically, with a disagreeable face. "You didn't look surprised when I said I've broken into all kinds o' places. Didn't t'ink you would care. Besides, we need dis money more dan the person I... got this from" he added, defensively despite himself.
Rogue took a few steps towards him; a neutral look on her face. "It's not that, Gambit. Ah know you've stolen it, that's obvious. Ah just don't know how you did it, Ah mean, you left mah side for less than a minute" she all but gave a laugh. "How'd you do it?"
Gambit smirked as he took a couple of steps towards her. "Dat's a secret" he said as he let his voice drop a notch. "An' I don't go about revealing my techniques to anybody, not even to a pretty girl like you."
"Oh, is that so?" she said, playing along. At that point, it was perfectly clear to her that, to Gambit, flirting was as natural as speaking.
"Oui. Unless... you ask me nicely. Den we can negotiate a price" he added with a voice as sly as his smile.
"Or maybe a touch is all it takes for me to find out all your secrets" she said, starting to get into the game. Her surprise was overwhelming when Gambit frowned and backed away suddenly. She should have been bothered by her own remark, after all, she was the one who would go back to being untouchable sooner rather than later.
Silence reminded Rogue that she was not there on vacation. "Can we go find a phone now, boss?" she asked, trying to keep a light tone.
Gambit smiled at the contrived accent she used. Nonetheless, it lasted only a second, for he soon became contemplative.
"What's wrong?"
"I dunno" he answered staring away. "Somet'ing tells me we better wait. Somet'ing doesn't seem right."
Rogue wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. If that was a plan to keep her there, she would sure find out about it sooner or later. But the real question was why he would do that. She did not have the faintest idea but wanted know where it was going.
"What do you suppose we do, then?"
With his back to her, Gambit took some time to reply. "We better stay de night here" he said as he finally turned to her. "We're exhausted, starving, dying for a shower... we stay here tonight and den tomorrow, first t'ing in de morning, we go find a phone and tell them where we are."
"What if they're looking for us and need our help to find us?"
"What if they already found us?"
Rogue looked away for a moment, disbelieving. "This is insane; it makes no sense."
"Anyt'ing make sense in dis, Rogue?"
She did not say anything but ended up nodding. "But, Gambit..."
"I know it's too much to ask," he said as he moved closer to her, halting a few inches away from her; he struggled not to grab her by the arms. Rogue all but stepped back. "mais... trust me. Only dis once, Rogue. Trust me" he insisted with intensity.
Rogue was aware of the possibility that he was lying, but at the same time it was hard for her to believe that it was all acting. The mere thought of being used again hurt. However, if it was all a scheme, what was he up to? In one thing he was completely right: nothing made sense.
Rogue stayed silent for a few instants as his eyes stared at her. He knew what was at stake but was willing to follow his gut instinct, as he always did. All that mattered to him at that moment was to get her to trust him.
She was starting to feel uncomfortable. She could barely think straight. Suddenly she found herself believing in Gambit. There was something in his eyes, as if he was begging with them that she trusted him, only for that once, as if it was a matter of life or death to him.
Rogue saw herself buying into his suggestion, though she still had her doubts. "Okay. I trust you. We crash here for the night."
"Trés bien" he said with a sudden smile that took her by surprise. "I'll see if I can fix us somet'ing to eat."
Alone in the room, Rogue went looking for an earned shower. She did not have any clean clothes but made sure to find herself some towels. She would wash her clothes in the shower and then she would think about what to do.
She stepped into the simple bathroom and, before she could lock the door, she noticed there was no key. Great!, she exclaimed, making a face. Looking around her, she realized there was not even a shower curtain. If Gambit arrived unannounced, she would be helpless.
The most disappointing part of it all was that there was no mirror. She was dying to see her reflection. Judging by the burning sensation on her face it must be looking horrible. As inconvenient as Gambit was, Rogue doubted he would have told her the truth regarding her appearance, even if she asked him about it (something she did not intend to do).
After lingering in the shower, trying not to think of anything at all, Rogue wrapped a towel around herself and cautiously cracked the door open.
"Gambit?" she looked around the small room and saw that Gambit had not returned yet.
She sat down on one of the beds, which she unconsciously chose for herself, and dried her hair with the towel while she waited. She made a face again as she ran her fingers through her hair; it was still sticky.
Within a few minutes, Gambit returned. His face was looking better, she noticed. Though he was still tired, he had a fresh look to him.
"I took some time t' find something dat didn't look too exotic" he said, laying the bags down on the bed. "Here's some food. Ah! I got you dis. De best I could get in such short notice."
Rogue grabbed the bag thrown at her and found clothes.
While Gambit showered, Rogue got dressed. She found a simple, white tank top. Aside from the slight discomfort that the piece caused her for leaving part of her chest and arms exposed, it fit her well. Regarding the other piece – which at first glance seemed to be just a red piece of cloth –, she took some time to understand how it worked until she could finally dress it as a long skirt, which left her right thigh exposed. She spent a few minutes trying to change it, and eventually gave up.
Rogue was famished, but as she had wasted time on the clothes, decided to wait for Gambit to finish his shower before they ate. Not long after that, he emerged with his hair wet, dressed in a white tee and white pants, made of a light material. And, much to Rogue's surprise, he had shaved. There was even a tiny bruise on this chin.
"Waited for me. How nice o' you, chère" he teased.
Rogue narrowed her eyes at him. "How come you got yourself pants and Ah got this?"
Gambit shrugged the question off as he sat down on the bed beside her.
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Rogue spoke again. "Can Ah ask you something?" with his mouth full, he nodded. "Why didn't you use that... that trick with your eyes on me to talk me into not going after a phone?"
"Who says I didn't?" he retorted, suggestive, glancing at her with the corner of his eyes.
"Did you?" she knew he hadn't but wanted to know what kind of answer she would get.
"Non. I'd used it on you before. I'm not sure it would've worked so good a second time, and, 'sides, I wanted you to see for yourself dat dat was de best to be done wit'out letting yourself be driven by... emotions."
Rogue watched him, intrigued. "That's how you always act? Always using your head?"
"Dat's how it mus' be" he answered back dryly, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"That's not mah question."
He stopped and looked at her, gravely. "That's how a man like me must act. Oui, always using his head."
"A man like you?" she sounded more sweetly than she had intended.
Gambit hesitated for a second, breathing in. When he spoke there seemed to be some irritation in his voice. "A t'ief like me. Must be pragmatic and manipulative."
"That's why you saved me… because you were being pragmatic?" she questioned softly as she watched him, eager to know the answer, because that question insisted on being stuck in her mind.
Gambit fixed her with a stare as if confronting her. "What are you getting at?"
Rogue did not intimidate; held her eyes on his. "Why you doing this? Helping me?"
"Dat question again?"
"Perhaps 'cause you owe me an answer."
"It dat so important to you?"
Rogue looked away from him. She honestly wished to know the answer, but instead of saying yes, she silently said no; it did not matter. "Ah just... Ah, Ah kind of remembered some, some parts. I remember you running at mah direction, Ah remember seeing Wolverine smile at me and, and then you held me in your arms and Ah woke up on that beach."
"When'd you remember all dis?" he murmured; any sign of irritation in his voice vanished.
"On our way here. Actually, most of it had come back to me earlier, it's just... everything seemed so confusing. Ah couldn't tell apart what was real from a reverie. When Ah finally got mah head together, everything started to make sense. Ah think Ah got ahead of mahself when Ah chose to accuse you instead of trying to understand what was happening because it was easier than to admit that something was wrong with me" she paused as she watched him, puzzled. "You say nothing?"
"What you want me to say?" he asked with indifference.
"Ah don't know" she all but murmured without even trying to hide her confusion. "Ah thought you'd be happy to see me admit Ah was wrong."
"If dat's how you t'ink I'd feel, den you really know not'ing abou' me" he answered in a neutral tone, without looking at her face again.
Ashamed, Rogue could not muster the courage to say anything else. Suddenly, she felt stupid for what she said. It did not matter, she reminded herself. Though they had fallen on that beach on the previous day, everything that had happened there felt distant. Perhaps, despite herself, she tried to lighten up the conversation by bringing up an issue that had already died.
Exhausted, they lay down to sleep as soon as they finished their meal. The beds were not very comfortable, but given their tiredness, it would be more than enough for one night.
Rogue lay down with her back turned to Gambit. She could not bring herself to look into his eyes. Not for the time being.
Her only consolation was that she would be going home the next day. That was what she hoped for. Still, she had no idea how she would behave around Gambit the next morning. In fact, she never knew how. The sooner they went their separate ways, the better.
Gambit opened his eyes at once as if waking up from a bad dream.
For a long moment he did not move. He had no idea how he had ended up there. Looking around, everything was white. There was nothing at all. He found himself in an empty space, and, though he knew to be lying on his back, it felt like he was floating in the air.
There was nothing but emptiness. He felt neither heat nor cold, not even a breeze. He smelled nothing, saw nothing but brume obfuscating his vision.
Confused, Gambit managed to get to his feet, but without understanding how. He took a few steps, but did not feel the ground. It was as if gravity was nonexistent.
He walked, walked and walked inside a wall-less maze.
Suddenly he spotted a figure in the distance. It seemed to be a silhouette of a man.
"Hey!" he yelled, running towards the figure. Without moving its legs, it backed away and disappeared. "Anybody dere?"
"I'm right here" a voice came from behind his back but at the same time it seemed to be distant, echoing in the nothingness. "Listen–" there was a glitch "carefully."
"Who are you?" Gambit asked as he turned around, for he could not make out a face.
"Ru–" glitch "run."
"I don't understand."
"Hide. Hide. Stay-" glitch "stay away" glitch. "It's dangerous."
"What is dangerous?" Gambit yelled; however, the silhouette was drawing back, fighting to remain there.
Suddenly, it vanished again.
Gambit stood still, panting. He looked around him but there was nothing.
Then the figure popped up in front of him, less than an inch away. Gambit could finally see a face. "Do not let him find you" the voice said before disappearing not to come back again.
Everything turned whiter, so much so it was impossible to keep his eyes open. Gambit tried to cover his eyes with his arms when a piercing sound filled his ears. He covered them with his hands but it was too overwhelming. He fell to his knees, screaming.
Xavier moaned as he arduously took off the Cerebro's helmet with trembling hands. By his side, Jean helped him, although she seemed to be as exhausted as the Professor himself.
The others, who had been watching from afar, rushed to them. Scott was the first to reach them and assist Jean.
"How did it go?" Wolverine asked with affliction.
"More difficult than I had anticipated" Xavier struggled to say after a few seconds of suspense as he came around. "I hope Gambit understood. All we can do now is wait and hope for the best" and even with all uncertainty hovering above their heads, a sincere smile flashed Xavier's lips. "The little I saw proves they are together."
To be continued…
xXxXx
Glossary:
C'est sûr! – Of course!
Mince! – Damn it!
Oui – Oui
Mais – But
Très bien – Great
A/N: I want to say thank you for the reviews. It's because of them this chapter came out so fast.
