Rogue felt Gambit's body stiffen and jerk upright the moment he awoke beside her. She could feel the tension, betrayal and anger radiating off of him. She thought he even growled lowly in his throat. He threw his legs over the side of his bed in a fury, ready to stalk towards her room. He hadn't even noticed that she was lying quietly beside him in the bed. It was now or never. She had to make herself known and eradicate his suspicions and anger.
Pretending to be half asleep, she moaned softly in protest to him leaving. She inched closer to him, snuggling an arm around his waist and pressing her cheek up against his bare back. He sat frozen, completely rigid the moment he heard her. His breathing had gone much quieter. Rogue could only imagine the look on his face as she felt him slowly turn his upper body towards her.
"What the hell?" he mumbled under his breath and to himself.
Rogue could feel his eyes on her, staring down at her in utter confusion. She had been right. He was not expecting her to still be here. She heard him swallow hard and then scratch his head. Then, just as Rogue hoped he would, he carefully and quietly slid himself back into the bed and under the covers with her. His body was still tense, wary and not at all too sure of what to do. So he waited.
Rogue bided her time. Obviously Gambit was a reasonable man, he hadn't tried to kill her yet, or even attempt to wake her up. After about ten minutes, Rogue stretched her arms out and yawned, pretending to wake up.
When she made eye contact with him, she smiled shyly. "Oh good, you're awake."
Gambit didn't answer, he only stared.
Rogue gave another yawn and leisurely sat up, purposely letting his tuxedo shirt slide off of one of her shoulders. Gambit's eyes darted downward briefly at the exposed flesh and wide opening of the half buttoned shirt.
Rogue ran a hand through her tousled hair. "I-I'm really sorry about that." She did her best to look embarrassed and apologetic.
"About knocking me out?" he finally replied rather sharply.
Rogue let her lip tremble ever so slightly, a perfectly placed indication to imply that his words hurt her. She abruptly threw back the covers and got out of the bed. She nervously tugged one of her sleeves as she stood before him, looking as dejected as possible.
She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "I just knew this wasn't going to work. It never does." She looked up at him, meeting his eyes fiercely, showing just a dash of offense. "Sorry to have bothered you." With that, she quickly picked up her clothes from the floor, making sure to shake just a little to show how upset she was. Without looking at him, she made a beeline for the bathroom door. If all went well and according to plan, he would be feeling like a complete asshole right now.
She was about to open the door when he spoke up again. "Wait."
Rogue closed her eyes and let go of the knob. She was almost wishing that he would be an asshole and would just let her walk away upset after a very botched physical encounter. To his credit, he wasn't. For her, it made things that much harder because he was showing decency and compassion, even remorse...and she was playing him like a cheap fiddle.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. He frowned and scratched his head uncomfortably. "I...uh, I wasn't expecting you to still be here. I thought—"
"That I did it on purpose." Rogue finished quietly for him.
Gambit looked away. "Yeah."
"When I get really nervous or too excited—"
"You lose control of your mutation," Gambit finished, still not meeting her eyes. "I know." He glanced up her. "I read your file."
Rogue cleared her throat uncomfortably. There was still a chance she could get out of this without having to continue playing him. "This was a bad idea. I-I think it's best if I just go."
To her surprise, he nodded. He looked like hell doing it though. "Yeah." He sighed. "Look, for what it's worth, I really am sorry. I...I forgot about the difficulties surrounding your mutation. I didn't mean to be so insensitive or selfish."
Oh crap. Rogue had not expected him to be that noble or that apologetic. What was it about a man that could admit he was wrong that had her swooning? Um, probably the fact that it rarely happened in her life. 'I'm sorry' wasn't even in the vocabulary of half the people she'd encountered in her life. What was worse was that he shouldn't have been sorry at all. His first instincts about her were correct and she had manipulated him into thinking otherwise.
She gave him a small, awkward smile. "Well...I guess I'll, um, see you around."
"Yeah." He hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Hey, Rogue? Would you mind not mentioning any of this to anyone?"
Ah ha! There was the Gambit she was used to.
"No problem," she answered briskly before walking out of his room.
Once in the safety of her own room and finally away from Gambit, Rogue rubbed her hands over her face in distress. Never had she felt so dirty. She had officially sunk to a level that she had swore she would never get to. Up until last night, she had always thought of herself as a decent person. Now she wasn't so sure.
She tried telling herself that it had all worked out anyway. It was over. She and Gambit would never cross romantic paths again. Certainly not after this. He'd be insane to come back to her. What guy in his right mind wanted to get involved with a girl who would knock him unconscious whenever things became too hot and heavy?
Rogue groaned. She was a complete romantic disaster. She didn't know why she had thought she could pull off being a femme fatale in the first place. Even if her mutation hadn't have kicked in, it still would have been a disaster. She was awkward and clumsy at best. Her inexperience would have shone through in no time. At least with her losing control of her power, she didn't have the honour of looking like an epic fool in front of Gambit or explaining why a virgin had just up and jumped into his bed.
She wasn't sure why she was worried about it in the first place. It wasn't like she had wanted or planned on getting down and dirty with Gambit. She hadn't had a choice. It was get caught as a spy or get caught in his bed.
Still...
She smiled absently despite herself. He'd been one hell of a lover...not that she'd had much experience to compare him to. It wasn't hard to close her eyes and still feel his touch. So soft, so warm, so utterly fantastic. It was almost a shame that they would never work; if not for the physical reasons, then at least for the professional reasons. He was a known thief, terrorist, mercenary and mutant MRD agent.
She was an X-man.
And she had better start acting like one.
She didn't have time to be worrying about some relationship that didn't exist. She was not that type of girl. Never had been. So why was she starting now?
Sure, Gambit had the body and looks that made a girl salivate at the mere sight of him, but that didn't mean that Rogue had to jump on the bandwagon.
But he likes you, her mind squealed wickedly.
So? Lots of other guys had liked her too, and once she had run them off, she'd never given them a second thought.
They never touched you like he did.
She tried to think as objectively as she could. It didn't matter that he truly, honestly liked her. She didn't like him. She had just used him. Just played with him, toyed with his emotions like he was nothing at all to her...because he wasn't.
She wasn't even sure she could face him again anyway after what she had done to him. He'd never know it, but he would always be an unpleasant reminder of just how far down she had sunk. She was becoming the very person she hated.
Just forget about it.
Forget about him, her and everything else involved.
Forget about everything she had seen in his head.
She jumped at the sound of knocking at her bedroom door.
"Rogue?" It was Jean-Paul.
"Just a minute!" she yelped as she quickly grabbed a pair of pants from off the floor and began shoving them on.
In record time, she flung open the door and let Jean-Paul in. He looked flustered.
"You got a message from—" Jean-Paul stopped abruptly and frowned when he actually looked at her. "Why are you wearing a man's tuxedo shirt?"
"I—"
Jean-Paul leaned forward and gave her a little sniff. His eyes widened. "More to the point—why are you wearing Gambit's tuxedo shirt? I'd recognize his cologne anywhere."
"You would?"
"Shared a bathroom with him for three years, but you're dodging the question," he trilled mischievously. There was a knowing twinkle in his eye.
"It's not like that!" she sputtered quickly. "Nothing happened!"
"Enough to have lost your clothes somewhere to be wearing his."
Rogue sighed in defeat. "Alright, go ahead...lecture me."
Jean-Paul smiled wickedly. "Actually I was going to grill you for details."
"Isn't this part where you warn me of the dangers of Gambit? You're terrified of him, remember?"
"Yeah, but he's not so scary when he's boinking my friend."
"We weren't boinking."
"So you keep saying," Jean-Paul replied, flopping down on his stomach onto her bed. He neatly tucked his hands under his jaw and propped himself up on his elbows. "I've seen that bare ass of his in the bathroom, no doubt you have too."
Rogue rolled her eyes. "You could have warned me about that."
Jean-Paul shrugged. "Didn't know you well enough at the time to bother." He grinned. "Besides, as terrifying as that man is, he has a great ass."
"No contest there," Rogue admitted, sitting down beside him. She sighed. She couldn't believe she was even going to talk about this. "I dunno what got into me. It was a bad idea and it didn't end well."
"How so?"
"Promise you won't say a word?"
"Cross my heart."
"I accidentally knocked him out with my mutation."
This was the part where she fully expected Northstar to burst into a fit of hysterical laughter at her expense. He didn't. If she had told this to anyone else, the laughter would have been inevitable. Kitty and Bobby would never have let her live it down.
"Oh, Honey," he answered with a sympathetic, furrowed brow. "I heard about your control issues."
"It doesn't matter," Rogue said stiffly, suddenly uncomfortable. "It's over and that's it."
Jean-Paul sucked on his lower lip. "I'm sorry it didn't work out. Even more sorry it happened with him." Jean-Paul suddenly sat up. "Well, he's a jerk and he wasn't worth it. Shame on him for not understanding."
Rogue sat silently. That was the problem. Gambit had understood and had been very apologetic once he realized she hadn't knocked him out on purpose. Had Rogue let things go any further, he most likely would have been more than willing to try again. It scared her. It scared her even more that she was considering telling Jean-Paul.
Jean-Paul noticed her silence and gave her a playful nudge. "Lucky for you, I know just how to cheer you up. You'll be bouncing back from this in no time." Jean-Paul's voice took on a sing song tone as he waved a piece of note paper around. "Guess who sent the MRD a message for you?"
"Who?" Rogue asked suspiciously. She doubted she left an impression on anyone of note in the past week, other than Gambit.
"Warren Worthington Junior!" Jean-Paul squealed. "Can you even believe it? New York's most eligible bachelor has become smitten with you all from a single dance!"
Rogue smiled weakly. Angel was not smitten with her. Her team had found a means of getting in contact with her through Angel's father's connections. She could just imagine the stir this had created. Angel, for obvious reasons, refused to get involved with the MRD like his father had. The MRD, having no idea that Warren Junior was a mutant or X-man, was just itching to get their hands on another spokesperson/backer. Warren showing interest in Rogue was just what the MRD representatives needed to sway him in their direction. Or so they thought. Rogue was none too thrilled about the attention. The MRD would be paying closer attention to her now.
On the plus side, Rogue would be able to pass information on to the X-men without having to sneak around. That would certainly make her life easier. All she had to do was go out on 'dates' with Angel. That would certainly be easy enough. She'd be able to convey things at a nice normal pace, rather than rushed, hushed secrecy.
"You're speechless, I don't blame you!" Jean-Paul rattled on excitedly. "Oooooh, Gambit's going to regret messing things up with you now!"
Rogue felt sick. She hadn't even thought of Gambit. He still liked her. She could only imagine how he was going to take this news.
There was another knock on her door. She exchanged glances with Jean-Paul before getting up to answer it. She opened the door to see a very hung over Fabian.
"Gambit's called a meeting. He wants everyone in the kitchen now."
Rogue had a sinking feeling that Gambit had just received the same news she had. Somehow, she didn't think she was going to enjoy this meeting.
Fabian left and Northstar stood up. "At least if we're in the kitchen we can have breakfast, albeit a late one. I hate it when he calls those things in the conference room before we get to eat." He gave her a quick once over. "You'd better change out of that shirt."
Gambit was leaning up against the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in his hand when Rogue and Jean-Paul arrived. The twins were sitting at the far end of the table finishing up their brunch, while Fabian sat close by, just starting to eat. Rogue didn't make eye contact with Gambit as she followed Northstar's lead and poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a muffin.
The two sat at the other end of the table. Jean-Paul started eating immediately, but Rogue paused. Something was off. She glanced around the room. Longshot was missing. It didn't seem to bother Gambit. Strange for someone who was so annoyed with Longshot deliberately challenging his orders. Couldn't not showing up be construed as defying orders?
"So," Gambit began after a long sip of coffee. "First things first—"
The kitchen door swung open and Longshot entered the room. Rogue gasped, Jean-Paul stopped eating. The twins snickered. Fabian's eyes went wide before he hurriedly poured whiskey into his morning coffee.
Longshot silently limped to the table and sat down. A shiver went up Rogue's spine. Judging by the black, swollen eye, split lip and limp, someone had taught Longshot a very harsh lesson last night. Rogue had a pretty good idea who. She dared a glance at Gambit, looking for confirmation. His face was cold, vicious and unsympathetic. It confirmed her suspicions.
Gambit walked over to where Longshot sat and stood directly in front of him. He moved his fist so fast that Rogue jumped. So did Jean-Paul. Rogue heard the sickening crack as Gambit's fist made contact with Longshot's cheek.
Gambit spoke in a calm, dark voice, "I do not tolerate insubordination. I would've thought you'd learned that last night. Next time, show up on time."
"S-sorry," Longshot whimpered.
Gambit stepped away as though nothing had just happened. Rogue could only stare in shock. This was hardly the man she'd been with last night. Beside her, Jean-Paul was visibly shaking. Rogue put a gentle hand on his arm to help calm him. He gratefully gave her a weak smile.
Gambit picked up his coffee cup and took another sip. No one dared take their eyes off of him.
"As I was saying," he shot an angry look in Longshot's direction, "I've called this meeting to address some very important issues that have come up." He paused for effect. "First off, I am in charge around here. Anyone who would like to openly challenge that, feel free. Longshot did."
Nobody moved or said a word. Not even the twins, who Rogue imagined were just loving this. Gambit walked over to Fabian. The twins visibly scooted their chairs away from him—and just in time too. Gambit swung his hand so fast that Rogue couldn't quite believe what she saw. One minute Fabian was nervously gulping down his spiked coffee and the next, the cup was away from his lips and in Gambit's hand without spilling a drop.
"Second," Gambit growled. "I do not tolerate drunken behaviour while on the job." He hurled the cup against the wall with enough force that it smashed into tiny pieces. He pointed at the splattered coffee sliding grotesquely down the wall. "If it happens again, Cortez, that will be you."
Fabian could barely nod in understanding he was shaking so bad.
Gambit straightened his shoulders and gave his neck a visible crack. He returned to leaning against the counter. "Fenris," he addressed next. The twins gave each other nervous glances. "Trask called this morning. Phase two of his project is ready and he would like your assistance. I suggest you hurry."
Without a word, the twins got up from the table and scurried out of the room like scared little mice.
When the twins were gone, Gambit spoke to Longshot and Fabian. "You two have cleanup duties. An agent is waiting for you at the main building."
Both men got up and hurried away, visibly frightened of Gambit.
It was just Rogue and Jean-Paul left. Rogue tensed, wondering what Gambit would do next as he turned his attention to them.