I am sorry it took sooooo long to update. Seeing as I had a massive writer's block a while ago, getting to put down my ideas on "paper" proved to be a bit more difficult this time around for some reason. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. Enjoy.

By the way, I still do not own any of the characters, Marvel does.

Anna wakes up to the sound of someone breathing next to her. She doesn't open her eyes though, afraid she might still be in her cell, afraid she dreamt about her escape and meeting Remy, afraid she is still a prisoner and that Erik is the one lying next to her. She listens carefully to the breathing. It's slow and deep, not at all like Erik's, which was always laboured and winded, as if he just ran a marathon. She cracks an eye open to peak out and what she sees puts her at ease.

There is a bit of sunlight shining through the curtains in the windows of the spacious room, touching the comfy queen size bed she rests in. She slowly turns around to see the most perfect man she has ever seen, sleeping peacefully beside her. She feels excited to have him this close to her, and confused at the same time. She knows he shouldn't be here, but since he is, she's going to take advantage of looking at him.

She's never been this close to a man without being afraid of it hurting. He's not moving, except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. She brings her eyes to his chiselled face, just studying it. Making sure he is still asleep, she continues her visual exploration, bringing her eyes down his throat, to his chest. Even in slumber, his athletic body looks incredible. She knows he works out, hell, she works out with him, but this is almost ridicules, he could put some models to shame. His abs are hidden by his hand but she notices a small trail of hair leading underneath the bed sheet. She's biting her bottom lip as she brings her eyes back to his face again, to make sure he is still sleeping. His breathing hasn't changed, so she continues where she left off. She wonders about what is hiding there, not having to imagine too much since the very evident bulge tells her that he is well equipped. She doesn't stay on that spot too long as her eyes travel the rest of his body to finally stop on a foot that is peeking out of the blanket. She lets her eyes travel back up his body, still listening to his breathing. She would probably die of embarrassment if he caught her staring at him.

Her gaze settles on his face again and she feels him moving a bit in the bed, telling her that he's going to wake up soon. He opens his big brown eyes and smiles at her.

"Morning" he manages to say.

"Morning yourself. Did you sleep well?" Then it hits him that she really is in bed with him. "Anna?! Mon Dieu, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't be here." He attempts to get up but she stops him.

"Remy, it's ok, really."

"No, Anna, it's not. I totally forgot you were here last night when I came home. I was just so tired and I couldn't wait to get some sleep -"

She kisses him to quiet him down a bit. It's awkward since it's her first kiss but she thinks she made her point. She pulls slightly away from him. "You wouldn't shut up." She explains. Then he kisses her back, only this time, it's not awkward at all, on the contrary, it awakens her whole body, a sensation she's never felt before. She just can't seem to get enough as she brings her body closer to his. He breaks the embrace. "That was some kiss, " she gasps. She moves in to taste his lips again, but he moves away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"Remy, it's ok."

"No Anna, it's not. This can't work -"

"Because you're gay." She ends.

"Quoi!?" he starts laughing. She looks at him, confused, thinking that he must really be tired. "What makes you think I'm gay?"

"I would think it's pretty obvious."
"Please, enlighten me." He's looking at her with that smile.

"You sing in the shower; you dance when you do dishes; your cooking is incredible;" she sees him giving her a strange look, begging her to continue. " You're not married, or have a girlfriend. There are no pictures of any women, except the one of your mother in your study." She stops for a second, to think of something else. "You never came on to me and I've been here, what four months. And, and you have pink underwear."

He shakes his head from side to side, a huge smile on his face. He is laughing on the inside but feel he has to square this off with Anna.

"When have you seen my underwear?" Intrigued by what she'll tell him, he props his head on his arm.

The blush on her face immediately appears. She was hoping he wouldn't ask her about this.

"Anna?"

"I saw you wearing them the other day. You were leaving the bathroom and I was coming in. They're pink, Remy. Pink!"

"Oui, je sais (1). They were a gift from Mercy. She said it was supposed to bring out my feminine side, whatever that means. They're actually kinda comfy. Is that all the points you have in your hypothesis?"

"Well you haven't brought a girl over since I've been here. Doesn't that point to the fact that you're gay?"
"In all fairness, Anna, I haven't brought a guy over either. Doesn't that point to the fact that I'm straight?"

"Oh my God." She averts her eyes away from him. "I feel so stupid. You're not gay, are you?" she asks, slightly moving away from him.

"No, not gay. Totally straight. Anna, I'm still the same guy who helped you out when you needed me, the same guy who let you cry on his shoulder when you needed it, the same guy who left a week ago. That hasn't changed."

"But what you said, after you kissed me."

"Anna." He takes a deep breath. "You've been taken advantage of by men for a while, and I don't want to be like that. I know you still have nightmares from time to time and I do wish I could take them away from you. But, the fact still remains that I don't think you're ready."
"What if I am?"
"Would you let me court you if you were?"

That last question caught her by surprise. Court her? What is he, stuck in the middle ages?

"Court me?" She has to ask.

"Yes, a lady deserves to be courted. Do I have your permission?"

"Why? So you can sleep with me? Cause you had your chance a few minutes ago and you blew it." She looks away briefly. "Is it because you don't find me attractive or something?"
"That's not the point. It's not about me, Anna. It's about you, if your ready or not."
"And the courtship? What if I decide later on that I don't want to sleep with you? It would have been for nothing. You would have spent all that time and effort into something that might not happen."
"Might not." He replies with a smile. "You didn't say never. And I don't think it would be a waste of time, whether you decide to choose me as a lover down the road or not. Courting you will be an adventure. Are you willing to take it with me?"
"Ok." She looks at him, a slight grin on her face. "If you're gonna start courting me, you might as well get out of my bed, cause I'm not gonna share."

"About that. You're gonna have to be the one to leave first. You never let me finish what I started to tell you when I woke up."
She gives him a confused look and nods.

"I came home last night. Got undressed, took a shower, and came to bed."

"Yes, I know that."
"Non, you're not listening."
"Yes I am. You got home, took a shower and came to bed after."
"Did you hear me say I got dressed?"

The shock that's plastered on her face makes him chuckle.

"You're naked!" Her face feels hot and she can't stop thinking that only a few minutes ago, she was eyeing his whole body. Knowing that he was naked under the bed sheet, she never would have taken the chance to look at him that way.

Him moving the sheet a bit, in an attempt to get up snaps her back to reality. "Unless you're ready to see me in my birthday suit."
"NO! No, I'll go. I'll go and make coffee. Umm, yes, coffee." She stammers.

A hot cup in her hands, Anna finally has her breathing under control. She doesn't know what possessed her into kissing him, but now she can't keep it off her mind. She can't wait to kiss him again, wondering when it'll happen. Funny how she thought she would never want to be touched by a man and here she is, almost begging him to kiss her again. She hears him coming out of the bedroom, her eyes on his face. She's almost sad he decided to wear a shirt, she would have loved to see those abs again.

Remy walks slowly up to her and reaches for a cup of coffee. She brings herself closer to him, almost willing him to kiss her again, but he moves away.

"Anna, if I'm going to court you, you have to play fair too. There are some 'rules' to this."
"Rules?"

"Yes. I will not touch you unless you ask me to. And when you do, it will be because you're ready to be with me. Not before that. Understand?"
"What?"
"I'll need to hear you invite me to your bed. I will be a gentleman in the meantime, no kissing, no touching. I will give you all the space you need."

She agrees to his conditions, still not sure how it'll turn out. How long can someone go without sex. She wonders when she'll be ready. The next time she kisses him is when she's going to sleep with him. Seems like a big step between the two. Can she be ready to do one to get to the other?

"Anna!"

"What?"

"I asked you if you were hungry. I can make something for breakfast."

They agree on pancakes and Anna has to ask what took him so long to get back from the heist. He tells her of his misfortunes, about the guard and the cop. How he would have stopped at a garage the day after the drop-off to have the light fixed. "But that doesn't account for 8 days."
"I didn't tell you about the flat tire on my way back. The spare barely got me to the garage the next town over. The guy couldn't fix it that day, I had to wait the next morning."

"But you never called."
"I broke my cell phone after talking to Roger. I don't know how it happened, but it fell to the ground and broke into a lot of pieces. Seeing as it was just a disposable phone, I could have bought another one, but I just wanted to get back home."

"And, what else? You couldn't call me when you got to the garage?"
"I couldn't make any long distance calls. It would have appeared on his bill at the end of the month and I didn't want anyone to know where I was exactly. In case they figured out I'm Gambit. Then to top it all off, there was a roadblock outside Shreveport. The cops were doing spot checks on seatbelt. You can't imaging how happy I was that I didn't have the painting anymore.

"Wait a minute. You left on a motorcycle, how did you end up in a car?"

"A friend of mine has a junk yard where I stash my "getaway car". It's now in a million little pieces. Nobody can connect it to me. And before you worry, the junk yard guy gets paid well to keep his mouth shut."

"Oh." She still can't believe all that happened. "But what about the other days?"

"It did take me two days to get to the painting and drop it off at Roger's rendez-vous point. Two days to come back home was what I had anticipated, but…"

"Shit happens." She ends for him.

"I guess. The main thing is I'm home, in one piece and that part of my life is over."

"I hope so. I don't think I could go through something like that again. I was worried sick."

"I'm sorry for making you worry." He walks closer to her, but stops himself before her grabs her hand. He wanted to be able to comfort her but he's afraid that if he does touch her, it will be the end of his promise to her.

(1) Oui, je sais. - Yes, I know.

What does Remy have planned for Anna?