Her Queen of Hearts 10
She turned the knob and pushed the door open, gazing into the empty room. Rooms in the Mansion that were unused always had their windows shut but were left unlocked, and of late there had been no new additions to the X-men family. She stepped into the dark, stuffy silence, quietly closing the door behind her. The scent in the air had barely changed over the year. His unique cologne and a general freshness of mint still hung within the walls. She walked over to the bedside table and pulled the lamp chain, dimly lighting the room. Her eyes spotted the thick novel that forever lay on the same table. She picked it up for the thousandth time with delicate fingers, always recognising the cover as the one he was reading a few days before his arrest. She dusted it and flipped the first few pages, glancing over the lines. There were no dog ears at the corners nor were there any wrinkles on the spine. It was the thief side of him to keep objects in the same state as if he had not touched them.
Holding the book to her chest, she roamed her eyes about the room. There was the bed. She remembered ever spending nights there, sleeping peacefully in his arms, and his head resting above hers. She shuffled to the closet and opened it. They had cleared his stuff long ago, putting them in a couple of boxes and at her request, kept them. She had also asked to leave them in her room, but they reasoned with her and put the boxes in the Mansion's storeroom, where all forms of forgotten junk made their home. She stared at the empty hangers then closed the doors.
She sat on the soft bed and kicked away her boots. She rolled onto the bed and opened the book, upholstered by the pillows. Stretching her legs out, she absorbed herself once more in the story he was reading.
When she awoke, she gasped and leapt from the bed. She checked her watch – 0625 hours. Shit, she was late!
She laid the book back on the table and scrambled to her room, throwing on her uniform and scrubbing her teeth at the same time. In six minutes, she was flying to the gym where Logan was watching the clock intently; just because it was her nineteenth birthday today did not mean lateness was tolerated.
Sessions with the Professor was as usual, only that for the past two and a half weeks, they had been focussing on controlling her powers and not anything else. She found this fortnight the most difficult time in her bloody life.
You had called for this session, Rogue. Although I would rather have you rest on a weekend.
I know. I know. I just want to give myself a birthday present.
Come, Rogue. Try this again.
Professor –
Drilling, Rogue. Drilling; the key idea is persistence.
It is not working.
Patience, please. This will take time. You are not just confronting your power and the fears that obstruct it.
Not again.
But you have to handle it. You can pass this barrier.
I think I have reached my maximum time already, Professor.
Bring in longer memories. Perhaps they could help outstretch your ten minutes.
Okay. Let us see how this goes.
She pitied the Professor for having to deal with her pessimistic nature. She was never able to see the good side of things most of the time. When she had withheld her powers for the first time, she was unhappy that it was only for five seconds. The next session, the time doubled, but still did not satisfy her. The time kept doubling at each session until she hit ten minutes. That limit upset her. The value was too painfully familiar. Hence, every time she withheld her powers and the timer the Professor held ticked to ten minutes, that memory would sear itself into her mind and completely throw her off.
Today is Saturday. It is her birthday. She is nineteen today. She is single. She is disappointed. Today is her birthday.
Kitty and Kurt had put a celebration together, along with Scott and Jean, to give the birthday girl something more quiet and respectful. They had kept in mind what had happened since her last birthday. Everyone had brought either a present or a card to wish her the best. But first was dinner.
Kitty and Kurt had disappeared as soon as the table was cleared, returning with an amazing cake. It was firstly huge-mungous. Secondly, it was in the shape of the Mansion. Thirdly, it had the X-men family picture on it.
Kitty could not wait for her best friend's response. "Well?" she cried, "What d'you think?"
"I – I..." Rogue was gobsmacked.
"Vell?" Kurt jibbed in. "C'mon, sis! Vat d'you think?"
"It – It...It's beautiful." she said softly, a crooked smile curling itself on her lips.
"Kurt and Kitty did the baking." Jean responded with a hand on her shoulder.
"Ya. But Jean did the picture on the cake." Kurt corrected.
"But you guys shaped the cake." Jean said back.
"Awww, guys!" squealed Kitty, giving Rogue a well-received hug. "The birthday girl's crying!"
True enough, water ran down her light cheeks and she squeezed Kitty back. Kurt handed her a tissue. She took it, dabbed her eyes and stood in front of her cake. Logan produced a lighter, which he snapped the flame on. Rogue stretched out her free hand and motioned the flame to jump from candle to candle that outlined the cake.
"Somebody turn off the lights!"
The sight beheld was beautiful. The icing and cream glowed as the picture reflected the light to its spectators.
"Guys," Rogue cleared the lump in her throat. "I donno what to say. But I think I don't really deserve this. I mean, I've been hurting you guys since last year and – well, you really didn't deserve any of it. Yeah, I gotta say that Jean's put up with me pretty well cause of all the trouble I keep givin' her. Scott too, thanks. Kitty, thanks for the notes. Kurt, I couldn't have asked for a better brother than you. Professor, you really helped pull me through with all my power problems. And I gotta thank Storm for the extra lessons. And for the rest of ya'll too; I know I've bugged you with my mood swings and you all dealt with it. Thanks. But most importantly..."
She paused to walk over to Logan. Throwing her arms around him, the tears came back. "Thanks, Logan." she cried. "You – You really showed me...How that...That true friends...Be there for you. You – You were more than that! You were more like...Like my father than just a friend. I...You..."
He had returned the embrace, patting the girl's head in front of everyone.
"Oh God, thank you!" she finally said it. She did.
"Happy birthday, Rogue." was his reply.
She pulled away and was handed another tissue. She blew her nose as the lyrics to the song emerged from over twenty voices. She squeezed Logan's hand before turning back to her cake. She blew out the candles.
An applause and a series of hoots exploded as Rogue took up the cake knife and cut it in a corner. She made sure nobody in the picture was hurt as she dealt slices for everybody. Each of her friends had received their own faces on their piece as she unwrapped the presents in front of everyone. By popular demand, she read them out.
"From Logan: Hey, Rogue. Don't ever let me catch you taking my drinks." He gave her a simple but stunning necklace. She put it on right away.
"From Professor Xavier: Happy Birthday, Rogue. I am glad that you have come to the conclusion of pursuing the right path. I wish you all the very best for your future." He gave her a small but beautiful vintage lamp.
"From Professor McCoy: Happy Birthday, Rogue. You have done exceedingly well for yourself. I am glad that you have moved on and become such a strong young lady. May you do very well in your future!" He had gotten her a limited edition Sherlock Holmes novel.
"From Scott: Hey, Very Happy Birthday, Rogue. It's been great to know someone like you for so long. Thanks for being such a family member to the X-men. I know we irritate you easy. Don't sweat nineteen, okay? We're here for you!" He bought her a shimmering red scarf.
"Storm: I've watched you grow up into a beautiful and wonderful young lady. We love you so much, Rogue. Never give up while you're friends are here for you. Happy Nineteenth Birthday!" She gave Rogue a new backpack.
"Evan: Yo, Rogue! Oops, I wasn't able to go out and buy you something (don't need to say why) but I tried to make you this little card. Happy birthday, girl!"
"Colossus: It's only been one year, but I think I am okay with you, yes? I want to wish you Happy Birthday and hope you like this gift from Russia. It is traditional food. Happy Birthday, Rogue!" It was a box of lovely, neatly packed Russian sweets.
"Ray, Amara and Rayne: Hey, Happy Nineteenth!" A very simple card.
The list goes on as everyone had their turn to have their beautiful gifts revealed. Rogue bore her crooked but beautiful smile throughout the rest of the evening. The cake was finished and people began to yawn by two in the morning, while the birthday girl had hiccups from the drinking. One by one they left the dining room in its messy state, with brief reminders to clean it all up in the morning.
Rogue bid her friends goodnight and walked back into her own bedroom, carrying her birthday loot. She closed the door and dropped them onto the floor. Kicking aside her shoes and throwing off her clothes, in her underwear and gloves, she suddenly jumped onto her bed and buried her head in her pillow. No one could hear her sobs. No one saw her soaking her pillow. No one knew the words she said. No one thought she would be crying over Remy Lebeau.
She clutched the pillow around her head and rolled around the bed, screaming into the feathers. She thrust the blanket onto the floor and whacked the bedposts with the wet pillow. Not a sound escaped her lips as long as her head was out of the pillow. She pulled the pillow over her head again.
She did not say it so no one would know. So no one would ask. So no one would try to help her anymore.
His face was on the cake. The family picture had him inside. His arm was around her shoulder. She had leaned her back toward him. Although trying to keep a distance, her other shoulder was touching his. Her sardonic smile would not convince anyone there was no mutual feeling between them when he had that all-knowing smirk – the smirk that had made her smile.
She jerked her head up and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. Sniffling a little and letting out a few hiccups, she toddled over to her closet. She needed to sleep. But first, her pyjamas, where the hell are they? She roughly opened her cupboard...
"You are way too tense, cheré. And I have just the thing for you."
...and fainted.
She blinked giddily, moaning as her world swirled with the different shades of darkness. She stared at the bare ceiling, feeling the softness of the bed beneath her and sheets over her. Her body felt so delightfully warm. She was encased in warmth. Her hands travelled over the other pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.
Other pair of –?
She jolted violently, grabbing at the hands that held her. She would have screamed the house down if one of the hands had not cupped her mouth and a whisper blew into her ear. A familiar scent wafted around her. It was cologne and mint.
"Rogue, cheré. No need to fight anymore."
The hand released her. She flipped herself around to face those beautiful red orbs.
She reached over and hit the light.
Oh, God.
Her almost naked body was stretched over the man whose grinning face had tormented her days and haunted her nights for the past year. He held her bare waist with gloved hands and was caressing her hair. Yet she would have thought it were his ghost. She clutched the sleeve of his maroon turtleneck. Beneath the fluffy cotton she felt his firm, powerful shoulders. She ran her gloved fingers over his neck and onto his face, tracing the chiselled angles with incredulity.
"You..."
"I missed you."
"This is not another one of them bloody dreams, is it?"
"It's the real thing, cheré."
"You died."
"I'm here."
"Don't lie to me."
He pulled her closer. "Go ahead. I'm not afraid."
She blinked twice then plunged into his mouth, passing his lips and pushing her tongue into his mouth in hunger. She caught his tongue and danced with it, twirling around it and licking it underneath. She pulled away just as quickly. Her eyes fixed upon his widened ones, listening to him panting.
"You're alive." She threw her arms around his neck. "You're alive! You're alive!"
"You...you've kissed me." he stammered, wrapping his arms around her once again. He hurriedly removed his gloves and fingered her skin.
"Talk to me, Remy!" She pushed herself above him to look into his eyes. Suddenly she seized his turtleneck collar. "Where's you been, huh? Why didn't you come back? Getting me all crazy and crying and...and for nothing! You – You!"
He gave a light hearted laugh, catching her wrists. "We do what we have to, right cheré?"
"Knock it off!" she growled. "What happened with you?"
"I'll tell you. But you wanna wear something? Of course, I love you in what you're wearing now. And that's a very nice necklace." His eyes inspected the perfect, slim curves poised over of him. Cocking his eyebrows suggestively and fingering his way along her side, he added, "Maybe a little more less...?"
"You've got ten minutes before I just suck your memories out!"
He hushed her, signalling her to keep her volume low with a slender finger over his lips. "Alright, cheré." he whispered. "Here's my death story. I never die. It takes more than broken lifts and a few guns to snuff me.
"So a scientist wanted to put me through tests, transporting me in some lift to an experiment room. But it jammed up and I was stuck in the dark. Didn't help to shout either.
"They had drugged me, so I had no powers. I waited then, hoping nothing was happening outside and this jam wasn't part of any experiment. In a few minutes, I knew I was back. They had put me in a bunny suit, t'was my prison uniform. So I stripped. Then my powers won't blow me up."
"You're kidding." Rogue was appalled.
"Nothing to gain, lying to you. I dissolved the roof of the lift and crawled up the shaft. Found out I was a few feet from the experiment room. Forced the door open and came to a bright room, but nobody around. Ran around the walls and looked out the slit on the door. The way the gorillas – soldiers – were scrambling like chickens meant something wasn't right with this place. Waited for my chance. One of them came too close to the door where I was and I slammed it in his face. I stole his uniform and left him in the room, blowing up the lock first.
"It was too loose. They're twice my size, for the love of Dieu! I was halfway strapping up so the pants won't slip, then the alpha gorilla came yelling. Joined his pack and escaped in a pod into the ocean. I don't think anyone saw you, but I noticed three bodies floating above the sub."
He shot a grateful smile at her, "I knew you'd come for me. I'm so sorry, Rogue."
He lifted his hand onto her cheek, stroking the amazingly smooth skin. It was more than beautiful, it was virgin skin.
"Can we kiss, now?"
"What happened after that?"
He took a deep breath, "Just one, short and sweet?"
"Eagh." she grumbled. "Guess I'm depriving myself too."
She relented, leaning onto his chest and pulling off her gloves. Stretching her arms above her head, she touched his lips with hers. He licked her wonderfully soft lips, tilting his head to the side to push deeper into her. His ravenous tongue dived into her mouth and lapped under her. A fierce fight for dominance ensued when she looped around him, immobilising his tongue with hers. He pulled himself out and parted from her mouth. She crashed back into him almost immediately. He felt her try to push into him, licking his lips, especially at the corners. He kept himself closed and grinned. She pushed herself up with a moan so her head hung above him. Tapping on his teeth, she begged entrance into the place she had missed so immensely.
Oh, he had missed this so much.
"Short and sweet, I said."
He let a small gap. She cruelly forced him open and invaded him, running her wet organ over him and around him, leaving no room for him to escape her again. He submitted to her, letting her deal with him as she pleased. He trailed his avid hands down her back, over her thin bra strap and across the small of her back. He ran them back up, ravishing in the velvetiness of her pale skin. She opened her legs to lie comfortably on his upper body and to allow a certain lower anatomy more space. He groaned into her mouth, drawing circles in the small of her back. Lowering his hands, he fingered the silk of her panties and explored the fullness of her soft ass. A moan of pleasure escaped from both of them as he felt her roundness tenderly.
"Oh, Remy." she hummed onto his lips. "This is so wrong."
"It's not sex. So what?"
"Continue your story, please?"
"Seriously?" Upon seeing the burning curiosity in her eyes, he shrugged his shoulders. Then he noticed something. "How long have we been?"
Rogue sat up with surprise. Glancing at the clock at her bedside, she gave a startled look. "I've no idea."
"T'was more than ten minutes, cheré, definitely more."
"Oh, whoa."
He took her bare hand, entwining her fingers with a confident smile. He patted the empty space on the bed next to him, beckoning her to lie with. She slipped and lay down, snuggling up to his warm body. No longer embarrassed by the closeness of their bodily differences, she actually pressed herself against his black jeans, hands plucking the cloth of his turtleneck.
"Tell me more."
"Then the sub ended in some base in Arizona. No soldier was allowed to take off their uniforms and reveal their identities to each other. Must be about the secrecy and protecting themselves if someone were to betray them. Only a doctor could look at your face, then again, they wanted you to strip to check you. Of course then, I would've been in trouble. But when it was my turn, I took down the guards inside and the doc, taking the ventilator way out. I strolled the lobby, looking for a ride. Found two guards outside at the post with a bike. Told one to find the chief, the other that I was to scout the area. Took the bike and sped to some caves faraway. Walked to Las Vegas and won some cash. I always win the cards."
"Yeah, sure. Where'd you get the money to gamble?"
"Working." He grinned. "Getting by..."
She shook her head disapprovingly but her eyes shone. She remembered all too well what he meant – pick pocketing – he had showed her on their Blood Moon Bayou 'date'. It sure was a screwed up date, she thought to herself. How did love come out from there, she could not remember.
"So you walked to Vegas?"
"No joke. In a ridiculous army uniform, people thought I was some war survivor, wandering around. But it got me the right clothes. And I'm clean – no whores, alright? But then some soldiers started crawling about. I flew to San Francisco and spent Christmas hiding. Soldiers were everywhere and cops were off donut break. Wore a cloth cap all the time. They found it fishy. So...I...Hmmm."
"What?" she asked quizzically.
"Don't get me all wrong, Rogue. But your amant became a fag for a while..."
"What?" she stated flatly. "What you say?"
"Y'know infamous 'Frisco... Yeah. Best way to blend in."
"You didn't..." She gestured with her hands.
"Oh no. No, no. But I nearly lost it when he got to close. I got to South Dakota on a bus trip in January to Pierre, then Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, backtracked to Kansas City... Cops were on in Louis... Jefferson City, Springfield, Louisville, Indianapolis, Washington D.C. then flew to New York. Took a bus to Bayville and snuck into the Mansion, undetected by all those sensors. Naturally..."
She poked his prideful chest.
"They still on you or what? You're hiding in my closet and all."
"No. Just don't wanna wake the house."
"Especially Logan?"
"Especially Logan." His finger traced the necklace. "But he gave you this. That's nice. And all the other trinkets – arranged on the desk if you wanna know."
She smiled. "Thanks. But can I just have you?"
He put his hand on the depth of her curve, made curvier by the way she lay on her side, propped up by an elbow. He ran his hands along the curve, sliding over her shoulder and down her arm. Reaching her hand, he laid a trail of kisses up her shoulder to around her collar bone. She sighed and lifted her head. With more access, he kissed her neck ever so slowly. Upon touching the skin just below her ear, she let out a moan. He nibbled the flesh right there, drawing more noise from her as she pressed onto him. He rolled over and lay on his back. Pulling her on top of him, he continued below her jaw, leaving light red marks where he had bitten her. His lips crawled to her cheek and reached the corner of her lip.
She laid her finger on his lips. "You're wearing more than me."
"To be fair or to be stripped?" He smirked.
"How many pieces you wearing?"
"Wanna find out?"
"You asked for it."
She pulled his turtleneck over his head to find a black, skin-tight shirt beneath.
"Minus one makes two. All's fair in love."
"You suck."
"Which one you ready for, cheré? The pants or the shirt?"
"If I choose your pants, there's still underwear. Or boxers?"
He shrugged his shoulders with a mischievous chuckle.
"Where'd you learn all this?"
"Dreaming you were here."
"What kind of dreams?" He waggled his eyebrows.
"Gimme that shirt."
Rogue knew she should not be doing this, stripping a man. Then again, she should not be in her underwear in front of a man. It was simply improper behaviour for any lady who considered herself virtuous. Here she was, a virgin, practically untouchable and raised by good people, sitting on a man's groin wearing only a laced black bra and matching panties. Ooh! But it felt too good to let the chance go. She wanted his body. She needed it so bad.
She peeled the shirt away. He eyes searched over his smooth skin and toned muscles. Where was the flaw? No awkward weakness? Are his abs for real? She ran her hands over his stomach, counting the knots that her fingers bumped into. She glided onto his firm chest and measured his broad shoulders, feeling the muscles in his forearms.
"You like?"
"Every damned thing you've got, I love."
"Next time, take the pants."
"Yeah, next time."
Bang! The door swung open and smashed into the wall. Rogue jumped and spun her head around.
"Don't think there's gonna be a next time," growled the bulky intruder. "Either of yah!"
He could tell so much from an alive but half-naked Gambit and a skimpily dressed Rogue sitting on top.
He turned his killer glare onto the indifferent Cajun, who had accepted the challenge and sat himself up, laying his hands on her thighs.
"Should I be glad you're back or put these up your ass?" Logan's fist clenched and his claws unsheathed themselves, gleaming in the light of the lamp.
"How about glad?"