AN: Well I hope everyone's heard the good news, Gambit's been cast in Wolverine Origin's, very very exciting, only question is, the movie's set 17 years before X-Men 1...so there's going to be quite an age gap between Remy and Rogue when we hopefully see them together in X-Men 4, it will be very interesting.

Healing

"So if you fight for the good of mutant kind, why did you agree to work for the friends of humanity and blow this place up?" Gambit asked Betsy as they sat in the infirmary together.

"They offered to pay me a ridiculous sum of money. I gather all I can for my brother, who fights for the rights of mutants everywhere. I chose the lesser of two evils." Psylocke told him. "Why do you do it? Why do you fight for humans that hate and despise you?"

"It's Xavier's dream. It's a part of being an X-Man. These were the first people to give me a home. A real family. Somewhere I belong. A woman that loves me." He replied.

"Somebody pass him a tissue. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." She said.

"Think what you like. Everyone's got to have something to hold onto." Gambit told her.

Betsy would never admit it but what Gambit had just described was sounding pretty nice about now.

"You're very lucky." She told him.

Gambit smiled at her. "You could have that too you know. I'm sure the Professor wouldn't turn you away. They'll need a replacement now that I have no legs."

"Don't say that. You'll learn to walk again, I know it." Betsy reassured him.

Rogue had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach as her and Emma flew to Muir Island in the mini-jet. Now was not the time to be leaving the mansion, she had to be there to keep an eye on things. In this timeline she was here to witness the accident but that didn't really change much. She had set Warren onto Betsy, but was that enough? Betsy was still alone with Remy when Rogue would be gone for who knows how long? She knew she just had to trust Gambit, but then they hadn't really talked about their relationship since the break-up; in fact they'd hardly talked at all.

Gambit's days were becoming more and more bleak. He and Betsy were the only two confined to bed rest now, and even she could move about. Ororo came to visit him with some freshly picked flowers. They talked about the repairs on the mansion and how they were almost completed. She asked about his legs. Sometimes he would feel a twitch in them for just a second, and then when he would try to move them, the feeling was gone. Then Storm asked what was really troubling him.

"Psylocke." He replied.

"Go on." Ororo told him.

"We've spent a lot of time together since the accident, we're alike her and me. 'Ro I'm starting to feel things; genuine feelings 'bout a girl I can touch. Only thing is…"

"Rogue?"

"Yeah, Gambit's felt things for that belle that he's never felt for anyone before, but I am only human, as much as Gambit hate to admit it."

Ororo took a deep breath. "My friend, that girl is crazy about you, she'll try to hide it and tell herself she's not but she does still love you. If there is a way for her to have a future with you Rogue will move heaven and earth to do it. The question you need to ask yourself is; are you willing to throw away every happiness you've had with her for someone you barely know? Rogue just needs more time."

Remy nodded. He had a lot to think about.

Four weeks had passed and Gambit was learning to walk again. He'd just completed his first session of physiotherapy without falling to the ground. Psylocke hugged him. "I'm so happy for you Remy." She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and before he could blink Betsy was kissing him. He pushed her away without hesitation.

"Gambit's flattered Chere, you're a great girl, but Gambit's heart belongs to someone else. I'm sorry." He had made his decision.

When Rogue and the White Queen arrived back a week later, they found the mansion buzzing with rumors of Warren and Betsy going out on a date. Rogue found Remy on his feet in the kitchen and couldn't believe it. She hugged him tightly.

"Look at you swamp rat. I've missed you."

"Gambit's missed you too Chere, when are you going to tell me what Muir Island was all about huh?"

"Well I thought I'd return with better news than I have I'm afraid. Emma took me there because she's certain my mutant powers can be controlled if she dug around in my head a little. Turns out that my powers are linked to my sub-conscious emotions. I could never control them because of something really traumatic happening when my powers were developing. My powers were the cause of that trauma so my sub-conscious mind didn't want to go near them, so I was never able to control them. And then when the professor put in psychic blocks to shield me from that trauma we had no idea what it was that was the root of the problem. There were too many distractions here so that's why we went to Muir Island."

Gambit nodded. "So the trip was not successful then?" He asked.

"Well not exactly, Emma thinks that the trauma was due to my birth parents leavin' me. Abandoning me because I was a mutant and then when I put Cody in a coma it was all too much. The professor blocked it out, and then when you left me it triggered all of those emotions of when my folks left, of when someone I love walks out on me for good, that's why my head went a bit crazy. When you and me sorted out those issues my mind calmed down, that trauma left, Cody and I saw each other again about a year ago so he's got nothing to do with it…" Rogue sighed, "Emma thinks I need to resolve my issues with my birth parents and go and see 'em, but I'm just not ready to do that yet."

Gambit hugged her. "Chere don't think you need to do anything on Gambit's account, I ain't gonna rush you into anything you're not ready for."

A week later Gambit was given a clean bill of health. It was nine o'clock on a Saturday night and the Mansion was empty except for Charles, Rogue, Beast, Gambit and Storm who sat in the living room. Christmas was fast approaching and the wind howled outside. Snow was falling thickly and the warm fire glowed in the hearth. The evening news had a breaking news story about rioting outbreaks in Caldecott County Mississippi. Rogue's head shot up from her pillow on Gambit's lap. Reports of mutant troublemakers were whipping the town into a frenzy. The professor sent Storm, Rogue and Gambit to investigate while he and Hank remained at the mansion for researching. Rogue almost went white in the face, she was headed home.