"Here." Gambit said gently, handing her a cup of some steaming liquid. She glanced up at him, mumbling a thank you before taking the cup, letting it warm her cold hands instead of drinking it.
Gambit nodded once, walking over to the opposite chair. He let out an "oof" as he took a seat.
It was quiet for a moment, the only sounds being the outside noises of the city.
To say it was an awkward silence was putting it nicely.
To say it was anything other than an awkward silence was lying.
The quiet reigned on, and in an attempt to soften the tense atmosphere, she took a small sip of the hot drink.
Her eyes widened for just a moment before she tried to swallow past the taste. She put the cup onto a table, hands fisting as she fought the drink down. She held in the coughs, forcing the bitter liquid past her gag reflex. The guy was nice enough to give her something warm to drink, the least she could do was be nice enough not to offend him by spitting it back up.
When Gambit glanced up at her, though, she failed miserably at her attempt and watched in horror as the small amount spewed out, sending her into a spasm of coughs and shakes.
"Oh god!" Gambit yelled, jumping up to rush over to her. She held out her hand, holding him back as she pounded her other hand on her chest, clearing the liquid that had slipped down the wrong passage.
"I'm…ok…trust…me." She said between coughs, eyes watering from the effort as she let out another cough. When it quieted down, she finally realized that Gambit was laughing softly. She glanced up only to see him clutching his stomach, trying to hold back the belly laugh.
Confused, she waited till he quieted down, trying to figure out what was so funny while at the same time trying to gain her bearings.
"I'm…sorry." He said between gasps, "the drinks down here are kinda strong. Your reaction was just priceless."
She didn't laugh, more confused than amused at the situation.
"That's it? That's why you're laughing so hard?" she asked, not meaning to let the anger slip past. But, the current situation was enough to make anyone angry.
She didn't want to be stuck back in time, messing up what already was a very fragile future. She didn't want to be married to Scott and she didn't even want to know what happened with Logan and Jean as a result of her union with the leader of the X-men. She didn't want to be hurting all over, gagging on the most disgusting liquid she probably ever drank In her entire life and she didn't want to be staring at a mutant that technically shouldn't even know of her existence.
She just wanted to be back in her time, happy, with Logan.
"I'm sorry." He repeated, the smile fading from his face as he studied her expression. He rose from his seat, shrugging out of his jacket as he threw it over to her. She caught it easily, the anger fading to be replaced by more confusion.
"Why'd you give me this?" she asked, holding the large coat out in front of her. It occurred to her that it resembled Temponaut's jacket, but, what were the chances? A large, tan coat wasn't exactly rare and anyone can buy one.
Gambit didn't say anything, only made a point to stare at her before clearing his throat, looking up at the ceiling as she glanced down at herself.
She felt the blush stain her cheeks, already pulling the coat back to her chest as she tried to absorb the fact that she was almost naked.
Well, the silk nightgown covered something.
"I'll, uh, be right back." Gambit said, walking out of the room. A minute later, she heard his heavy footsteps as he went upstairs. She was left alone for the first time in the past. Not crowded by people drinking in a bar, or high school kids, or even the presence of the one man she'd thought she'd never see again.
She wondered why she went back to Gambit. Sure, she'd been freefalling through the air, but the last place she thought she would land would be in the past.
She should be a Rogue pancake on the side of the mansion right now.
Still, why Gambit?
She shrugged off the question, standing up as curiosity took over her. Opening the jacket, she slipped her arms through, laughing softly as the coat dwarfed her small size. She was taller than most girls, but Gambit probably still had about 5 inches on her, not to mention at least another 50 pounds of muscle.
She shrugged off that thought too. If worse came to worse, she could take him.
She began to walk around what she dubbed the living room, considering the fact that it was the room that had the couch, coffee table and a somewhat sad excuse for a TV. She looked at the walls, frowning at the stained walls and dirty floors.
She leaned, peering around the corner at what looked like the kitchen. She only raised an eyebrow at the dirty dishes piled in the sink, a pan on the stove that she guessed probably never saw any action.
Talk about a bachelor pad.
She turned towards a tall archway when she heard footsteps coming down, hugging the coat tighter around herself as she walked towards where she thought the staircase was.
Gambit looked up as he came down, a smile crossing his face as he looked at her.
Rogue was struck with the thought that Gambit was actually very cute. No, that as an understatement.
Gambit was freakin' hot.
His eyes were strange, but mesmerizing at the same time, keeping her attention even when it seemed like all she wanted to do was look away. His hair was a dark mahogany, parted on the side and long enough to fall past the sides of his head, but short enough to end at a small V in the back of his neck. She had the almost irresistible urge to run her hands through the soft pelt. He had almost 5 inches on her in height, and now that his jacket was off she could see the corded muscle, the red and blue armor showing off a six pack and much, much more.
He wasn't wearing the black band around his forehead, something she remembered him wearing earlier before.
It wasn't the only thing she wished he wasn't wearing.
She swallowed softly, trying not to openly stare but at the same time wishing she had enough time to keep staring.
She broke her gaze when Gambit let out a chuckle, throwing something in her direction. She caught it once more, the jacket around her falling slightly open as she did so.
She dismissed her thoughts, calling herself an idiot for thinking such things. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about Gambit in that way, especially since she came back to help Logan, the man she truly loved. She just needed to get out of Gambit place, fix the past and get back to her glorious future.
"You have this fascination with throwing things at me." She said dryly, shifting the soft cloth around in her arms as she tried to look at them.
"I just think it wouldn't be such a good idea to get too close to you." Gambit replied back just as dryly. She ignored the blatant stab at her mutation, instead choosing to keep her attention on what Gambit had thrown her way. She raised her eyebrow at the clothes, confused as to why there were some of the…female variety thrown in the mix.
She raised the short skirt and long sleeved shirt to eye level, opting to leave the underwear and bra draped over her arm, whistling when she shifted her attention back to Gambit.
"Something I need to know about you?" She asked wondering why a bachelor had girl clothes in his house. Maybe a girl had left them at his place, but she wasn't buying the story since everything she saw in the house screamed that this man was single.
Gambit only sent her a very cynical look, rolling his eyes when she continued to smirk at the clothes she held in front of her.
"They actually belong to my w…sister." He corrected himself, deciding it would be a sticky situation if he brought up Bella Donna.
Rogue murmured an "mhm" before picking up the gloves that had dropped on the floor. She slipped them on her hands, laughing when her thumb, pointer and pinky fingers poked through. She raised the gloved hand in between the both of them, wiggling the bare fingers for effect.
"Sorry, they were the only pair I own." Gambit told her again dryly before clearing his throat. "You'd better go change…soon." He made it another point to look at her before turning around, his back to her. She glanced down at herself once more and this time rolled her eyes as she shrugged out of his jacket. She figured changing right there would save her some time and doubted Gambit would turn around and look at her.
Guys as cute as him never glanced her way anyway.
She dressed quickly, leaving the nightgown on the ground as she did so. She never wanted to see it again, especially since it was a grim reminder of a future that waited for her if she didn't change the past soon.
The long sleeved shirt was long enough to cover her arms, and the gloves did add more protection, but what she was worried about the most was the skirt. The skirt was shorter than she had thought and she was worried about the exposed skin and the consequences it could bring.
She tapped Gambit on the shoulder, telling him that he could turn around as she tried to tug the skirt down to cover her legs more. That left her mid-drift exposed and she let out a breath in exasperation.
Gambit turned and she saw his eyes widen for just a fraction of a second, his mouth dropping slightly. It only lasted for a short time before he composed himself and said with a grin, "you clean up nice, mon'ame."
"Yeah, right. I can't go out like this." She told him. He looked confused for a moment.
"If you're concerned that you look ugly, Mon'ame, than Remy can tell you right now you look just fine—"
"No, I can't out like this. I need to be covered up. Like, covered up." She pointed at her legs and the exposed skin.
Gambit had no problem noticing her legs. God…did they go on for forever?
It only took him a moment to understand what she was trying to tell him.
He muttered a curse, telling her to wait one more moment. He disappeared back upstairs, leaving her standing alone in the foyer. It wasn't long, though, before he came bounding down the steps, a pair of silver and black boots in his hands and what looked like stockings.
"Here." He said simply, throwing them towards her once more.
"And who do these belong to?" she asked, more to herself than him.
He answered her anyways.
"Well, the boots are mine. An old pair I haven't been able to fit in since I was 14. The socks are my sister's." He didn't say anymore, just stood there looking at her expectantly.
She shrugged, pulling on the socks and boots. She was surprised to find they fit her perfectly. A little wide, but other than that, she would've thought that they were her own.
She glanced up at Gambit, surprised to find him eyeing her with an odd look.
"What?" she asked, picking up his coat from the floor.
He shook his head slightly.
"Nothing." He murmured, still silently commanding himself to take his eyes off of her, least she become freaked out by him. But, Gambit found it harder and harder to do with each passing second his eyes were on her.
She was…beautiful.
Her hair was a long, curled wave of dark chocolate, her body the same lanky build as he once thought in that dingy bar. The face was lean, eyes two pools of deep gold that seemed to hold the knowledge of a lifetime.
He blinked when he realized she had spoken, clearing his throat to try and cover the fact that he had been staring. "What?" he asked, convincing himself that his voice was almost nonchalant enough to feign disinterest.
"I asked, why'd you dress me up?" she repeated, ignoring the urge to let out a breath in exasperation.
"Well, other than the fact that Remy thought you wouldn't appreciate being half naked, you also kept talking about a 'mission' when you were out."
"A mission?"
He shrugged, reaching behind himself to pull out something from his back pocket. He brought it forward and Rogue watched the golden watch as it dangled in front of her eyes.
"You were clutching this when you said it." Gambit added, dropping the watching into her gloved hand.
"Well, that explains something." She muttered, clicking the watch open.
"I think you need to fix it. The hands don't move." Gambit told her, taking his jacket out of her other hand. He threw it around himself as he went to open the door, taking his eyes off of her for only a moment.
He turned to ask her what her mission was, already pulling out the small staff from the pocket of his jacket. He looked around, confused, when he saw nothing.
She was gone.
X
Everything in her body hurt. From her head to her toes, everything seemed to scream in agony. The only thing that didn't hurt was her butt, and considering that she just landed on it, that wasn't saying much.
She had landed in something confortable though.
She tried to open her eyes, but they felt as heavy as bricks. She heard beeping nearby her head and it wasn't long before it began to annoy her. She tried once again to open her eyes and let out a moan when the effort drained most of her remaining energy.
What the hell had happened?
All she remembered was talking to Gambit and opening back up the watch. From there, everything became hazy and distorted.
Oh goodness…
Did she travel back farther? But she hadn't even been thinking of anything when she opened the watch's face. She had just been making sure it hadn't broken in the fall and—
"Rogue?"
No.
No.
No.
It couldn't be.
"Rogue?"
There was no way in hell she was back to this already.
"Honey?"
She finally opened her eyes, finding strength from the shock and denial that reverberated through her body.
Scott sat next to her, eyeing her with such concern on his face, it scared her.
She turned her head, finally finding the source of the beeping, the sound increasing as her heart began to beat erratically.
She was still married to Scott Summers.
Damn.
THREE MONTHS?
OMGEEZERS! i am sincerely so sorry. I didn't even realize it had been that long! i did realize though that i can only focus on one story at a time (the case being i had 3 other stories open lol)
but no worries! it's spring break and i am back...i am just not sure for how long that's going to be. I promise i will try to get as many chapters up before i go back to school. PLus, i miss writing sooo much :[
R&R
Thanks guys!