Chapter 10: End Game

"Rogue?"

Rogue looked up, sleepy-eyed from her chair by Gambit's bed.

"Hi Logan," she said softly.

"Your eyes are back to normal."

"Ah'm hoping that's a good sign."

"I just spoke to the Professor. He says Gambit's going to be fine."

Rogue nodded.

"Thanks."

"You gonna stay here all night again?"

"Ah can't bring muhself ta leave. It was muh fault, Logan."

"What was?"

"Ah made a noise under the table. Vertigo recognised me. If I just kept muh mouth shut like he told me, this wouldn't have happened ta him. And now he'd been hurt, and in a coma and..." Rogue cut herself off, unable to finish.

Logan reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure that Gambit's not going to hold any of that against you," he said. "He put his life on the line saving ours. Frankly that's more than I ever expected from the man who sold out his own kind for a little - sorry, a large amount of cash."

Rogue managed a slight smile.

"Night, kid," Logan said.

"Night, Logan."

Gambit opened his eyes and found himself looking at the ceiling. He felt stiff and sore and he cleared his throat experimentally before attempting to sit up. He didn't get far before he conceded to staying lying down. There wasn't any rush. He turned his head and frowned a little before recognising the med lab. He turned his head in the other direction and saw Rogue in the chair beside him. Her head was drooping down like she'd fallen asleep.

"Rogue? Cherie?"

"Hmm?" Rogue mumbled lifting her head. "Remy! You're awake."

"And so are yo'," he teased.

Rogue giggled slightly.

"Are ya okay? How ya feeling?"

"I'll be fine. How long was I out fo'?"

"Three days," Rogue smiled faintly. "And Ah had your persona for one. Drove Emma batty with all the card flickin'."

Gambit chuckled, then immediately wished he hadn't.

"Two broken ribs, broken ankle, some singing on your right leg, but that should heal up with no scarring. The black eye spoils your good looks, sugah."

He grinned.

"Is everyone okay?"

"We're all fine, thanks ta ya," Rogue replied. "We dropped the Marauders off at the MRD, so hopefully they'll be out of our hair for awhile."

Gambit snorted contemptuously.

"Hey we can hope."

"Ahh, ma chere," Gambit said, reaching out for her hand. "Would dat we never had t' see deir likes again."

He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

"I must have dreamed o' yo'," he added.

"Funny ya should say that. Ah haven't been able ta get ya outta muh head either," Rogue teased.

"Désolé, I have spoiled the mystery, fo' yo'."

Rogue shrugged, looking away from him.

"It was the right idea at the time, although Ah admit Ah was startin' ta get worried. Ah always absorb life force faster when there's bad injuries involved. Well, yours could have been a lot worse. Hank thinks that ya narrowly avoided puncturin' a lung, but yeah. Ah was startin' ta wonder if you'd wake up."

"Have yo' been here all dis time, chere?"

"They made me leave the med lab for meals."

Gambit was silent for a moment.

"Well, cherie, now I know yo' must love me. Been a long time since anyone ever did the night long vigil by my side," he considered. "O' course, it's also been awhile since I needed one."

Rogue chuckled.

"Try not ta make a habit of it, swamp rat. This chair is murder ta sleep in."

"Yo' could always join me in the bed..."

"And now Ah know ya must be feelin' better."

"How can I not be, knowing you're here?"

"Charmer."

"Nice t' know I haven't lost my touch along wit' my face."

"It'll heal, and you'll look good as new."

Gambit smiled and traced his fingers across her lips.

"I want t' kiss yo' again," he admitted.

Rogue shook her head, but she was smiling faintly.

"Ya really are a glutton for punishment. Last time Ah kissed ya, ya ended up in a coma for three days."

"I've decided that oui, it is in fact worth it."

"Crazy boy."

"Y'know chere, dis mean yo' no longer have a reason fo' not practicing wit' me..."

Rogue eyed him skeptically.

"Ya serious?"

"Deadly."

"That could be construed as a poor choice of words, Remy."

"I had t' sell my soul t' get my powers under control, Rogue. I don't want yo' t' have t' do the same," he said cupping her face in his hand and pulling her close.

"Ah don't want ta hurt yo'."

Gambit held her gaze, their faces barely an inch apart.

"Den don't," he said softly.

Rogue pulled back.

"Not now, Remy," she said, looking away. "Ah... Ah need ta think about this. And besides, we should wait until you're healed first."

Gambit was silent for a moment, then inclined his head in acceptance.

"So, you're finally awake," was Logan's opening line.

Rogue and Gambit looked up at him.

"It would appear so," Gambit replied.

"Rogue? Can we have a moment?"

"Will it involve claws?" Rogue answered with a slight smile.

"That's up to him."

Rogue shrugged and turned back to Gambit.

"Ah'll be just outside, sugah."

"I miss yo' already."

"Pshaw," Rogue dismissed, but she was grinning as she left the med lab.

Gambit didn't take his eyes off Rogue, and Logan didn't say a thing until he heard the door close behind her.

"If we hadn't had your warning of the Marauders' impending attack, we'd all be dead," Logan said. "Even your design upgrades improved our early warning alarm."

Gambit nodded.

"Dey would have waited until yo' were in bed and killed yo' while yo' were sleeping."

"Why?"

"I t'ink Sinister was probably a bit mad from the last time yo' tangled wit' him -"

"No, I mean, why did you warn us?"

"I'm a t'ief, M'sieu Claws, not a murderer. I couldn't let anyt'ing happen t' Rogue."

"It was all for Rogue, eh?"

"What makes yo' t'ink I'd put mon life on the line fo' anyone else?"

Had it not been for his conversation with the Professor, Logan may have bought that. Instead, he snorted and sat down in Rogue's chair.

"So, what are we to do with you?"

"As soon as your good doctor gives moi a clean bill o' health, I'll just be on my way."

"You know, I've been told our security could do with an overhaul. I don't suppose you happen to know anyone who can do the job?"

A slight smile appeared on Gambit's face.

"I might be able t' recommend someone."

"Rogue?"

"Hi Kurt," Rogue greeted.

"The meeting is about to start," Nightcrawler told her.

"Okay."

"Yo' best be off den," Gambit said.

Rogue squeezed his hand.

"Ah'll met ya up there," she said with a smile.

"The good doctor has informed moi dat I'm not t' get off dis bed..."

"Actually, he doesn't want you to try walking with a broken ankle while your ribs are also still healing," Nighcrawler pointed out. "However, I'm a teleporter, so you don't get to miss out on the meeting after all."

Gambit cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh goody," he said dryly.

Rogue giggled and got up off her seat.

"Ah'll meet ya'll there," she reiterated and left the room.

Nightcrawler approached Gambit.

"Can you sit up?" he inquired.

"Oui," Gambit replied as he moved to comply with the request.

"Good. That way I can teleport you straight to a chair."

"Dat would be convenient."

Nightcrawler put his hand on Gambit's shoulder, then paused before teleporting.

"Thank you," he said.

"What fo'?"

Nightcrawler paused before answering.

"For making my sister happy."

"Your sister?"

"Rogue and I... we share a mother. Albiet, Rogue was adopted, but nevertheless."

Gambit wasn't sure how to reply to that, but fortunately Nightcrawler teleported them before he had to. The teleport was quite move and Gambit didn't even feel a bump as he moved from the bed to the chair. There was a bit of a smell, but it soon passed. It was quickly apparent that not everyone was there yet, and Gambit pulled out his playing cards.

"Glad you could join us," Logan said.

Gambit inclined his head in lieu of shrugging. Soon the rest of the X-men arrived. Emma stifled a groan upon seeing Gambit springing his cards between his hands. Rogue was the last one to arrive, having needed to come all the way from the med lab, and took her seat next to Gambit.

For the first portion of the meeting Gambit was rather bored. They were very busy trying to discuss the whole Friends of Humanity situation and what they should do about it. He continued to spring his cards until Emma finally exploded and demanded that he stop, because not only was it very annoying, it was also noisy. Gambit's response to this was to start cutting the deck and flipping the small piles through the air in a juggling motion. This was enough to distract Bobby, who made no attempt to hide his fascination with the card tricks Gambit was doing so effortlessly.

Although Emma was the first to get irritated, she wasn't the only one whose patience was being worn thin by Gambit's blatant disinterest in what they considered to be a rather important discussion. In fact, the only one who wasn't bothered by it was Rogue, mostly because she was enjoyed the fact that Emma was struggling to hide her obvious annoyance.

"Do you have anything to contribute, Gambit?" asked Logan tersely.

Gambit clapped his cards back together, neatening the deck.

"All dis is quite entertaining, mes amis, but I don't understand why no one has pointed out the obvious plan."

"And what is the 'obvious' plan?"

"Didn't yo' say dat Graydon Creed is the leader o' the FoH?"

"That's what we believe."

"So why don't yo' just publicise dat his parents are mutants?"

Silence.

"His parents are mutants?" asked Warren. "You sure?"

"O' course," Gambit replied, looking around. "Victor Creed and Raven Darkholme, also known as Sabretooth and -"

"Mystique," Rogue said with a startled look at Nightcrawler.

"How do you know this?" Hank asked.

"It's all dere in his file."

"We looked in his file," Forge said. "Restricted access."

Gambit paused and looked at everyone.

"Wait... yo' can't get past dat?"

"Uhh no."

"Mon dieu," Gambit said, shaking his head. "It's a good t'ing I'm a t'ief no? Security is mon business. Tell moi yo' at least have a portable computer? I can access the file right now and yo' can see fo' yourselves."

Bobby passed on his laptop and Gambit accessed the database. It only took him two minutes to get past the security protocols and pull up Graydon Creed's complete file.

"It's true," Nightcrawler said softly. "He is my brother."

"Your brother?" Gambit repeated.

"Mystique is my mother."

Remembering the conversation with Nightcrawler earlier, Gambit shot Rogue a startled look. Rogue was shaking her head.

"Ah can't believe we're related to that... that... thing," she said. "Now Ah feel dirty."

"Really?" Gambit asked, grinning at her.

"Shush you."

"Well, now, this is an interesting development," Logan said smugly. "Print that out, would you, Gumbo? Now all we have to do is make sure it gets into the hands of the FoH."

"That's easy enough," Rogue said, her eyes glinting with delight, pointing to the roster. "Names and addresses."

"Will they even believe us?" asked Kitty.

"Send it anonymously. But in any case, it won't matter who it comes from," Hank pointed out. "A seed of doubt is all that's needed. We send this information to everyone on this list, you can be guaranteed there'll be those who'll demand an investigation."

"And all the work of the FoH will come to a grinding halt," Bobby grinned.

Having printed out the file, Gambit pushed the computer away and picked up his deck of cards again. He glanced over at Emma, who hadn't said a word since he'd opened his mouth. Gambit smirked slightly and with a practiced hand flicked a card at her. She started, having not seen it coming. A second card hit her.

"Do you mind?"

Gambit flicked a third card.

"No, not at all," he replied.

A fourth card hit her.

"Gambit!"

Five, six.

"Oui?"

Seven.

"Stop that!"

Eight, nine, ten...

"Now why would I want t' do a t'ing like dat? Yo' make such a tempting target."

Beside him, Rogue giggled.

Twenty years in the future, Rogue and Gambit were seated on a worm out picnic blanket. It seemed out of place with the barren landscape but they didn't mind. They held hands, neither wearing gloves, as they watched two children play together. The younger child, a girl with brown hair and green eyes. The older, a boy with eyes of red on black and a white streak through his hair.