"Well, dat was a fun trip," announced Gambit as he strolled through the mansion's many corridors. The rest of the X-Men were close by, and Jean couldn't help but smile at Gambit's cheeky optimism. Though admittedly, the entire team was feeling a little more relaxed after the confirmation that Stryker would be arrested.
Logan let out a small snort as he turned off down a corridor of his choosing, "Oh sure, big fun," he muttered before skulking off on his own.
"You know it!" called Gambit cheerfully to the retreating Logan. Rogue playfully whacked Gambit on the arm at his teasing. He glanced down at her, but noticed her grin. He stopped walking, Rogue joining – the rest of the X-Men walked around them without paying much attention. It didn't take long for the corridor to become deserted once more and Gambit took the opportunity to sidle up to Rogue. "Now that we're all in good moods, chere, how about a lil' celebration?"
"Remy.." Rogue warned in a whisper. She had never let him get close to her in public – for none of the mansion, save Logan and possibly Charles, knew of their relationship. If it could be called that. Rogue felt like it came out of nowhere, sneaking up on her and catching her by surprise, right when she least expected it.
Gambit pulled back with a small frown, "Fine," he murmured. "But c'mon, chere. Let's do somethin' fun. Remy wants ta try out the Danger Room, can we go check it out?"
Rogue smiled gently, nodding her head, "Alright, you go down there and get yourself ready. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."
"Sure thing," he murmured, giving her a charming smile before he turned and strode off back down the corridor. Rogue watched him leave with a small chuckle, then heading the opposite way towards the ladies toilets on this floor. She couldn't be bothered to travel up a staircase just to use the one in her room. She meandered around the corner, going into thoughts over how she should confront Bobby. She felt guilty for it – though she had never admitted this to Gambit, who seemed to think it was some game. Bobby might have been the one who stood by her when she was untouchable but Rogue never really felt like she loved him. She was just appreciative; gratified that he would ever show interest when she had become a lesser shadow of her former self. She wrung her hands awkwardly as she walked, trying to find the right words she could ever say to explain her recent behaviour.
She walked by the closed door of the ground floor kitchen, impassive to the sounds of laughter that came from within. She strode right past, her thoughts still well and truly locked on Bobby. That's why, when heard the cry of 'Bobby!' did she freeze still. She blinked and glanced about her. Was she hearing things? The sounds of scuffling came from the kitchen and she curiously backtracked her steps till she reached the closed door. She paused, before grabbing the handle and barging in like she was in a hurry and was unaware of anyone inside – it looked less suspicious that way. She didn't want anyone to think she was eavesdropping.
However, she froze still as she stepped over the threshold. The door handle was clasped tightly in her palm and she was staring at those inside. They too were staring right back at her. Bobby was there, but so was another. Kitty Pryde, a former roommate of Rogue's. Normally, this wouldn't be surprising, the two had always got on, and they had been friends before Rogue even joined the mutant school. But the problem was, their arms were enveloped about each other. Or was, because they had darted back from each other in a shot as the door burst open.
"Rogue!" called Bobby in a would-be welcoming tone. It was so falsely cheerful Rogue wanted to throw him out of the window there and then. She swallowed, her throat feeling a little constricted. She automatically felt angry, cheated. But then her mind began working – this was the perfect excuse. They were even now.
"Bobby.." said Rogue quietly in an uncertain sort of voice. For she wasn't sure of how she should sound.
Kitty was glancing between them with wide eyes whilst Bobby seemed to cave in on the spot instead of throwing denial at her. She appreciated this, for she wasn't ready for a long shouting match on who saw what. "I'm sorry, Rogue," he sighed defeatedly.
Rogue decided against playing this out – it wouldn't benefit either of them. So simply, she nodded her head, this action receiving her stares like she had just stripped in front of them and done the hula. "It's alright," she told him quietly. "It's for the best, y'know? Things have been bad for a while.. and this is where it ends."
"Are you sure?" he asked as he edged towards her, eyeing her as though this could be some impostor.
"Yeah," she said softly. "Because.." she paused, feeling her guilt come back, but she ploughed on, "because I've done the same with Remy.. and now, we both don't deserve each other."
Bobby looked stupefied. "I knew it!" he then exclaimed, staring at her. "I knew it!" he repeated as he looked around at Kitty to make her share this revelation of him being correct. However, he didn't sound happy.
"I didn't like the way you treated me, Bobby!" explained Rogue defiantly.
"What!" shouted Bobby, "I never pressurised you!"
"No, you pitied me! Held back, and you knew how guilty I felt. It shouldn't have been a relationship in the first place!"
Bobby glared at her, "Well you shouldn't have said 'yes' when I asked you out!"
"I liked the attention! But I didn't like you feeling sorry for me! Remy didn't pity me when I still had my powers. He treated me normally."
"Good for him," snarled Bobby. He reached round, grabbing a bewildered looking Kitty by the hand and storming out with her in tow. Rogue glared at him as he passed, but was soon left alone and in silence. So much for not having an argument.
"God." Rogue sighed as she rubbed her forehead. She hadn't meant to snap at him, things had quickly escalated. But the truth had finally spilled, and she felt better for it all. She turned and stalked out of the kitchen, deciding against the bathroom and heading straight on down to the Danger Room where she planned to have a thorough workout.
"Here she is," called Gambit cheerfully as he spied Rogue coming down the silver walled corridor towards the Danger Room door. However, his smile dropped when he saw how agitated she looked. "What's happened to my chere?"
"I saw Bobby," explained Rogue with a frown as she stopped in front of him. "Let's just say we're not goin' out any more." She savagely punched in the code number on the keypad, and the circular doorway split to reveal the console platform.
Gambit raised his eyebrows as he walked in after her. "Well, that's a good thing, ain't it?"
"Yes," agreed Rogue in a resigned tone. "I suppose so. It just wasn't all that clean cut."
"Break ups never are," Gambit murmured as he came towards the computer console. "Anyway, don't worry, girl. Gambit got no plans of leavin' yo' high an' dry." Rogue gave him a small smile as she leaned forth to tap into the keyboard the details of their stimulation. "So, how many times have yo' used this before?"
"A few times," replied Rogue during her typing. "But no one knows that. I saw Logan punch in the code one day, tried it myself and worked out the rest." She paused, eyes squinting at the nearby screen before she continued. "I was just fed up of being thought of as the scared little girl Wolverine picked up – I wanted to be ready for the X-Men."
"Makes yo' wonder what would happen if you could tap into all those abilities you sucked in," Gambit commented with an intrigued eye.
Rogue straightened from the console as it beeped and frowned at Gambit. "That's probably not a good idea."
"Yo' ever tried it?"
"No."
"Well then!" he said cheerfully. "Try it, see what happens. Things could get interestin'!"
Rogue glanced down at the keyboard, appearing to consider his words. "I'll hold off the attackers for now. Let you get used to the environment we choose. What do you want anyway?"
Gambit shuffled forward to look at the screen, reading the list of possible locations the simulation could offer. Some were quite boring, like the mansion grounds or New York streets, but Gambit opted for something a little more interesting. He fingered the option: "Woodland 5."
Tapping a button, Rogue allowed it to load and beckoned Gambit towards the nearby steps. "Don't forget, there's no enemies yet. Not till we request it."
"Righto," Gambit said with a smile a she followed her down the steps.
"And if you get hurt here, you're hurt outside too."
"Righto," he repeated, sounding far too casual. But Rogue shrugged it off, it was just his nature. She stepped forward off the last step, heading towards the blank space of the silver walled arena, but she fizzled out of view. Looking curious, Gambit stepped after her, only to find the bare arena dissolve into a lushly green woodland, complete with bird chirps and a blue sky above. "Breathe in that fresh air!" Gambit murmured as he inhaled exaggeratingly. He lowered down to flop back in the grass, staring up at the clear sky above.
Rogue looked round with a smirk, her hands on her hips. "This is a fighting simulation," she reminded him.
"Technically it could be anything," Gambit countered. He then twisted onto his side and propped his head up with a hand. "Now, weren't yo' goin' to try accessing those other skills?"
"I never said that," Rogue told him with a light frown. She idly scuffed the grass with her boot. Indeed, she had been considering it, but she was rather scared by the prospect.
Gambit smiled up at her charmingly, "C'mon, chere. How bad can it be? Jus' try an' concentrate on what's in your head."
Though she was just intending to humour him by going along with his words, Rogue fell silent and closed her eyes and allowed herself to wander mentally to the memories of when she touched someone. With Bobby's recent argument, he quickly came to the forefront of her mind, and the kiss they had shared at his home in Boston. She could almost still feel his pleasantly cold lips. In fact, she could definitely feel coldness, and she opened her eyes to find a strange mist floating about her. She could make out the distorted form of Gambit staring at her.
She fought to not panic, but to control herself, and with all her might she fought the mist to take shape. Within a matter of seconds, the unidentifiable vapour was drawn into one spot, and began to noticeably harden. There was a dull thump as a crudely carved block of ice dropped onto the grass before Rogue's feet. Rogue stared at it in silence before she felt suddenly weak and crumpled onto the floor. Gambit scrambled to her side, his eyes being dragged away from the ice. "Are yo' ok?" he asked as he stared down at her.
"Yeah," murmured Rogue as she allowed herself to lie more comfortably on the grass. "I just feel a bit drained."
"Yo' did it," Gambit told her in awe. "Look at it!" He pulled round to pick up the ice from the grass and extend it to her. "It's real, cold ice!" he laughed triumphantly before dropping it back on the floor.
Rogue absently rubbed her head, "I don't understand," she said tiredly. "I thought my mutation had been disabled by the needles. This is still my mutation, if I can access powers."
Gambit leant over and touched her nearby arm, then confirming with a dazzling smile: "Yo' powers are still off." He sat back onto his rear, his head lifting to observe the bright blue sky above him. "Maybe yo' can turn them on an' off."
A hollow laugh sounded from Rogue. "No," she said simply. "I've never been able to do that."
"But maybe now you can," Gambit continued, his eyes back on her. "Yo' need ya powers to access other mutations – an' it seems to me like ya got better control over your powers in general." He saw Rogue roll her eyes disbelievingly but he pressed on. "Your dosage should have run out by now," he said in a low, mysterious tone. "You've been runnin' on empty for the past four hours."
"What?" said Rogue, now sitting up from the grass and staring at Gambit. He only gave her a cheeky smile. Rogue glanced about her, eyes flickering around in hard thought. "You're right!" she realised with a shocked gasp.
"An' I can still touch yo'," Gambit reminded her as he took her hand in his. "So, go on. Try it, chere. Turn 'em on. Maybe dis drug has speeded up the evolution of your powers indirectly."
Rogue watched him curiously, telling her mind to concentrate, but she wasn't sure on what. She focused on her powers, commanding herself to get her mutation working, trying to tell it to be activated just like she was trying to bend her fingers. She wanted her brain to take it as an action. Gambit was still holding her hand, and was yet to let go. But then there was a sudden gasp and he wrenched back his hand like he had been scalded. "It works?" she asked, staring at him.
Gambit nodded his head, "Good job I wasn't holdin' onto yo' too tightly, girl."
"But now I need to turn it off!"
"I have every faith in you," Gambit assured as he leaned forward.
Rogue stared into Gambit's face as she switched her mind back onto her mutation, she demanding it to turn off. Her eyes were now closed tightly, and she felt herself becoming weak from her attempts. She felt a light shiver run through her as though she was just been exposed to a cool breeze. Before she even had time to open her eyes, she felt a hot breath skim her lips as Gambit closed the distance between them and took her in a deep kiss. Her skin made no reaction to his touch, and Rogue proceeded to pull him closer, allowing them to drop back down into the grass of the surrounding woodland.
Let's just hope nobody catches them in the Danger Room..