Years since Rogue's powers returned: 35-36
Chapter 52: Robin Hood and Maid Marian
The next few days were something of a whirlwind of activity, what with Gambit and Vanessa's family all eager to meet William (and hear the story of how Gambit ended up doing the delivery), and getting proper medical checks done to make sure that mother and son were healthy. William's eye colour was confirmed: black sclera and brown irises so dark they almost looked black. Gambit admitted when the subject was brought up that he had been born with black sclera and red irises as a baby, though he refused to discuss the matter any further when the Randalls queried why his sclera was no longer black but light grey.
"Nessie," Gambit said quietly one evening, leaning against the door frame of the nursery as Vanessa settled William in his crib. "I need to talk to you about something."
Vanessa glanced up at him and grabbed the baby monitor, making sure it was on. It hadn't escaped her notice that Gambit had been a little withdrawn lately.
"Okay," she said agreeably as she made her way out.
Vanessa closed the door gently behind her and followed Gambit into their bedroom.
"Alright, here's the thing," Gambit said as Vanessa set the baby monitor down on her bedside table. "I want to teach William my trade."
Vanessa froze briefly, then slowly turned around to meet Gambit's eyes.
"You're not serious?" she demanded.
"I'm very serious."
"Remy, I get that you're a thief, and why, and that you've no interest in changing, and I love you all the same," Vanessa said firmly, "but I do not want our son to be a thief."
"I never said I wanted him to be a thief," Gambit insisted. "I just want to teach him the skills."
"I fail to see the difference."
"Really? You know martial arts, Nessie," Gambit pointed out. "Knowing how to fight is neither good or bad. It's why you choose to fight that's the critical factor. Are you doing it to defend yourself? Others? Or are you using it to bully people?"
"Oh come on. What possible use could picking locks have outside of stealing?" Vanessa demanded.
"It's very useful when you misplace your keys."
Vanessa gave him a bland look. "Remy..."
"I have to do this," Gambit insisted.
"Is Jean-Luc putting you up to this?" Vanessa asked suspiciously.
"It has nothing to do with him. I just... I have to."
"Why?"
"My own peace of mind," Gambit replied quietly. He reached out and took Vanessa's hands. "I know that you and I will do everything within our power to protect our son but sometimes 'everything within our power' isn't enough."
Vanessa felt Gambit's grip on her hands tighten and shake.
"I have to know," he went on with a hint of desperation in his voice, "that if the worse case happens that William can escape on his own."
"Escape," Vanessa repeated and looked searchingly into Gambit's eyes. "You're afraid someone might try to experiment on William like they did you?"
"Yes." He shook his head. "And you can tell me until you're blue in the face that things are different for mutants now. That it won't be a problem. That we don't have anything to worry about. But it doesn't matter. There's no rational argument you can make that will change how I feel. I need to do this. Please."
Vanessa closed her eyes, highly conscious of Gambit's shaking hands. She let out a long, slow breath and opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off.
"It won't be that bad, I swear," he said earnestly. "And the skills themselves are really good for developing other stuff. Like picking locks is good for manual dexterity, and picking pockets is good for developing steady hands. Any good surgeon needs to have steady hands, same with a few other professions."
The fact that Gambit's own hands were shaking so much while talking about steady hands made Vanessa wonder just how badly he'd been traumatised.
"Climbing is just a good skill to have. Oh and technology's a bit of a coin flip; on the one side we use a lot of tech, same with the rest of the world these days, so being able to understand and utilise tech is an important skill," Gambit went on hurriedly, determined to convince her. "On the other side, we also look at ways of getting around tech or accomplishing things without relying on machines, which is also really important because people rely on tech way too much these days. They just don't seem to know how to do anything when the computer breaks down. And—"
"Remy," Vanessa cut in, lifting one hand to press her fingers to his lips. "It's okay. You can teach William, and any other kids we might have, how to st—teach them 'thief' skills."
Relief was written all over Gambit's face like someone had taken to him with a thick black marker and even drew a love-heart where the dot of the "i" was supposed to be.
"Thank you so much," he said, embracing her warmly.
In hindsight he realised that he should have had this conversation with Vanessa long before now, but until he'd seen William's eyes, it hadn't even occurred to him that this was something he was afraid of.
"I just don't want to hear about them stealing. And there'll be no skipping church on Sunday," Vanessa said firmly as she hugged him tightly.
"Done and done," he replied, and added slyly: "Note to self, teach kids how to not get caught."
"Dork. You're lucky I love you."
"I know."
"Oh wow," Rogue said as Gambit lifted William up so that she got a good look at him and his beautiful dark eyes. "He's going to grow up to be a heartbeaker with those eyes. I'm sure of it."
Gambit chuckled lightly. "You think so, chère?"
"Absolutely. A girl could lose herself in those," Rogue replied with a sly grin. "Besides, if the eyes are any indication, he's going to inherit your good looks and charm too. No daughters will be safe."
"Heh," Gambit replied, shifting William to hold him more comfortably. "Well, I guess I'd better teach him how to charm fathers too."
"Sounds very wise," Rogue said with a chuckle.
Gambit smiled down at William. His smile faded as he looked back up at Rogue.
"What would you say things are like for mutants at the moment?" he asked quietly. "I don't always keep up with the finer points of politics."
"Hmm, hard to say. I don't think there's really any one universal stance at the moment," Rogue said thoughtfully. "There's a lot of fear and hate in both directions I think, but there's acceptance too. En Sabah Nur and Sixth Element have a lot of people running scared. They're being a little too efficient at taking over their parts of the world, with inadequate resistance, and they both have strong anti-baseline human policies. So of course, a lot of people in North America and Europe are afraid about them turning their attention there, or any mutants already existing in those countries will try rising up as well."
"Some people have, haven't they?" Gambit asked with a slight frown.
"Yeah, but the X.S.E. and similar organisations have been doing a pretty good job of putting a stop to that," Rogue replied with a nod. "That's gone a long way to helping the acceptance, both the fact that these organisations exist, and the fact that they are protecting the ways of life for their respective people."
Gambit nodded and looked back down at William.
"What about mutant experimentation?" he asked quietly.
Rogue was silent before replying: "I don't think we're going to see an end to that any time soon. The perpetrators might change, and so might their purpose in research but... People can be real scumbags."
"Yeah, that's what I figured."
"In more positive news," Rogue went on. "There's a lot more acceptance for mutant kids in schools than there used to be. Especially now that laws were put in place regarding mutant insurance and schools are no longer barring mutants from attendance because they can't afford the premiums or whatever."
"Well, that's good to know," Gambit said. "Huh, school. Never thought of that."
"He will have to attend one day," Rogue said slyly.
"Yeah." He looked at William critically. "Nope, I just can't picture him school age."
"Heh. I'm sure that—" Rogue cut herself off as she sensed telepathic activity from Quentin. She sighed irritably and mentally slapped him away from the mind he had clearly intended to intrude.
"Quire again?" Gambit asked, noting her abrupt silence.
"Yeah," Rogue replied irritably, once she'd finished giving Quentin a mental tongue lashing. "He's really annoying. He's always getting up to something during my off hours."
"Do you even have off hours?" Gambit said, only half joking.
"Apparently not," Rogue grumbled, then snapped her fingers and smiled brightly. "Blake's show is starting soon! Just two weeks away."
"Ah, yes, that's right," Gambit replied. "I was going to try and catch that."
"I'm so excited."
"I can tell. Am I going to hear about it the next two times we talk?" Gambit asked with a sly smile. "And every time an episode airs?"
"It's entirely possible."
Tabitha sat down at the little table in the quiet cafe where Mercy had elected to meet. A cup of coffee, still hot, was already waiting for her.
"So," Tabitha said after they'd exchanged the usual pleasantries. "What's the job?"
Tabitha always liked taking jobs from Mercy. They were usually challenging and profitable ones.
"No job this time," Mercy replied. "I'm here to offer you an invitation."
"Invitation?" Tabitha repeated, lifting her coffee to her lips.
Mercy smiled, a delighted gleam in her eyes. "Yes. I'm here to invite you to join the Thieves Guild."
Tabitha spat out her coffee back into the cup. "You serious? Wait... You're a member too? I knew Remy was..."
"Oui, I am, Remy is, and so is Joan," Mercy replied with a knowing smile.
"You know Joan too?" Tabitha exclaimed.
At no time during her dealings with Joan did Tabitha suspect that she might be at all associated with Gambit and Mercy.
"I do." Mercy confirmed. "You have to know three members for three years—and sufficiently impress them—before you can be invited to the Guild."
"Yeah, I seem to recall Remy saying something about that," Tabitha replied thoughtfully. "So... you're serious? You're really offering me an invitation to join the," her excited voice altered to a conspiratorial tone, "Thieves Guild?"
"Yes."
"I am soooo in," Tabitha said. "Where do I sign?"
Mercy chuckled and pulled out a phone from her pocket, which she held out for Tabitha to take.
"We prefer to avoid a big paper trail," she said. "This is officially your first piece of Guild tech. It's a secure line, the number is untraceable and our techs work hard to keep it that way. There's an app on the phone called 'membership'. Just run that and follow the prompts."
Tabitha blinked in surprise as she slowy accepted the phone.
"That's it?" she asked, feeling like it was all too easy and somewhat anticlimatic after she'd been drooling over Gambit's advanced tech for so long. "No initiation ceremony or anything?"
"No need. If we didn't think you had what it took to be one of the elite, we wouldn't be inviting you. What do you think the last three years were all about?" Mercy replied, reaching for her coffee. "We'll make arrangements for you to formally meet the Guildmaster and make your oath of loyalty to the Guild within the next couple of months alongside a few others."
"Guildmaster. That's so cool!"
"Otherwise the only time the full Guild gets together is once every seven years," Mercy went on. "That's when we initiate new full members. The membership fee for being a full member is steep and it went up a bit recently, but the benefits are worth it."
Tabitha was intrigued by the faraway look in Mercy's eye. Mercy caught herself before Tabitha could inquire and went on:
"That's three years from now. But I digress. The membership program will collect personal information from you, like your fingerprint and retina. This is so we can wipe your existing criminal record."
"Yeah, Remy mentioned you could do that. Can't wait," Tabitha said happily, looking forward to having her two previous arrests wiped. "Hang on, how do I know you're not going to use that information for identity fraud?"
"Because of the most important rule of the Thieves Guild: We will never betray our fellow members," Mercy said firmly, looking Tabitha right in the eye. "We're not simply a cooperative group of thieves. We're family. We do not betray each other. As a regular member, should you betray another member, you will be excommunicated from the Guild. If you ever were to be even invited to become a full member—regardless of whether you accept the position or not—the penalty is death."
Tabitha fell silent as she considered this.
"Guild loyalty is considered the most important value of all," Mercy said. "We do not tolerate betrayal."
"What if someone didn't like you and framed you?" Tabitha asked nervously.
"It's been known to happen," Mercy conceded. "And it's also happened that someone had accidentally harmed another member in some fashion. Fortunately such incidents are rare, but we do fully investigate them when they happen. You will not be excommunicated or executed for an accident, although depending on exactly what happened there might be reparations to be made."
"Hmm," Tabitha said. Gambit had mentioned something at one point about loyalty being important. "Well, I guess if you guys are a bunch of hypocrites, you're no more or less corrupt than anyone else in the world."
Mercy chuckled. "You're not the first person to be dubious about how serious we are about this. Oh, and since we're on the subject, after you've completed the sign up, someone from the investment club will probably contact you."
"Investment club?" Tabitha asked after a sip from her coffee.
"Yes. One of the applications on the phone—don't worry, the membership app will go through all this in detail and you can review it at any time—but we have a database where we keep track of our member's various major financial investments. Having stock in a company, stuff like that. The app I'm taking about is how you access that database, and you have to check it before you do a job just to make sure you're not screwing over a fellow member. Some members like to pick their own investments, while others decided to create and join the investment club."
"Remy said something about having investments," Tabitha said with a frown.
"Remy's one of those who likes to pick his own things. He's had good luck that way," Mercy said. "The investment club have a few members who are really into looking into that kind of thing and with so many people all invested in the same companies and properties and the like, it really cuts down on the list of off-limits targets. That said, if you wanted to do a job at some place that only one member has a stake in, you can contact them personally and there's a chance you may be able to go through with it, depending on what their intentions are with the investment. If it's an investment club property, you can just forget about negotiation."
"This sounds really complicated."
"I know, but it's actually pretty simple. All you have to do is type in the name or some identifying number or other information for the mark you have in mind and see what comes up. If no one has a stake, you're good. And in practice," Mercy said reassuringly, "you are far more likely to get a green light than a red one. But like I said, the investment club will probably contact you when you complete the sign up and invite you to join them."
"Is it a good idea?" Tabitha asked dubiously.
"Well, I'm probably biased because I'm a member, but yes," Mercy replied with a grin. "It's a good idea to diversity and I just haven't got the same interest and patience of people like Remy to pick my own things."
"Alright then," Tabitha said and looked down at the phone. "So, all I have to do is go through this membership app, and I'm in?"
"Pretty much. Like I said, it collects personal information," Mercy said, paused briefly, and went on: "It will also tell you all about Guild loyalty and let you know what the membership fee is. I don't recall what it is for regular members off the top of my head, but it's a yearly fee. You get a special, introduction rate this first year. It might seem expensive, but there's a long string of benefits that come with it. Access to special tools-"
"Yeah want those," Tabitha said, her blue eyes sparkling with delight.
"We also keep on top of the latest in security and how to bypass it. Though sometimes that requires pooling ideas from all of us, not just the techs. And of course, if you ever need extra men for a job, you know exactly where you can find some trustworthy souls to watch your back."
Tabitha smiled, feeling like she was understanding just why loyalty was so important.
"Well, I guess I'd better get started," she said, preparing to hit the 'membership' icon on the phone.
"Wait until you're in private," Mercy said, amused but understanding Tabitha's eagerness.
"Oh, right. Good idea."
In the middle of the night, Quentin sent out his mental probe and started investigating the minds of his fellow inmates for dirty dreams. He was just dipping himself into the mind of one of the female inmates when he felt Rogue's mental probe latch onto his and drag him out.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded as she proceeded to haul him back to his body. "You know what? Don't answer that. I'm just going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were just being a voyeur again. But I swear, if I find out you were doing anything different, I'll throw you out the airlock!"
"You're bluffing. You wouldn't do that," Quentin replied, deciding not to fight her on this occasion. "What are you doing up anyway?"
"None of your damn business," Rogue snarled at him as she tossed him back into his head.
She wouldn't tell him, but last time she'd put him into a coma, she had upgraded his cell and lined the walls with psionic sensors. Psionic traps had their limitations and on someone as powerful as Quentin the consequences of triggering one were laughable. Nevertheless, the sensor part of the technology could still be useful. Rather than triggering a feedback loop, the sensor would instead advise Rogue of any time Quentin sent a mental probe pass the walls of his cell. Sure, it wouldn't help if he was out in the rec room, and she was sure that sooner or later he'd find out their presence and may even figure out a way around them. But until then they would be a valuable aid in alerting her as to when Quentin was getting up to mischief. She'd never would have realised he was making night time excursions without them. This development concerned her greatly.
"Go back to sleep," she said.
Rogue then proceeded to mentally glare at Quentin as he wrapped his mind around her probe. His mental form approached hers and moved in close.
"I was just practicing," he said, deciding to go for it. "I was doing it for you."
"Uh huh," Rogue replied, going about the business of disentangling her probe.
Quentin reached out and took her arm.
"Yeah,"he said, putting on his best seductive voice. "I wanted to be better so we could be together."
Rogue paused and looked back at him. He wasn't seriously trying to make a move on her, was he?
"Look at us, Rogue," Quentin said. "No hazmat suit. Just your mind and my mind."
Rogue caught her breath as Quentin touched her face. She knew that the apparent skin to skin contact was all in her head—all in Quentin's head, rather—but it felt real. She lifted her own hand and wrapped it around his.
"You're a little young for me," she told him.
Quentin smirked. "So I should ask you out after I turn 18 in six months?"
"You're still too young for me," Rogue insisted as she backed off. "And it would be highly inappropriate for me to have that kind of a relationship with one of my inmates. Now, be a good boy and go to sleep. And don't go making yourself at home in any more minds."
Rogue pulled out of his head with no resistance from Quentin. She felt a little shaken as she returned to her body.
Gambit unlocked the front door, carrying an overnight bag over his shoulder. A part of him felt a little bit guilty about leaving home so often to do work, but he couldn't just sit on his hands all day at home. He was still trying to figure out what was better: longer, infrequent "business trips" or shorter, regular ones.
"Nessie, I'm home," he called as he entered their house.
"We're in here," Vanessa called back from the kitchen/dining.
Gambit bypassed the stairs to enter the kitchen/dining, where he found Vanessa and her mother armed with a laptop, magazines, notepad and pen. The baby monitor was also sitting nearby.
"Ah," he said as Vanessa got up to greet him. "Wedding plans?"
"Yes," Vanessa replied, wrapping her arms around him to give him a proper hug and kiss in welcome. "How was your trip?"
"Yeah, it was good," Gambit said after kissing her lips gently. "Glad to be home though."
"I'm glad you're home too," Vanessa said. "And so's William."
"Good to know," Gambit replied with a grin and gave a nod to Mrs Randall. "And how are you?"
"I'm quite well, thank you Remy," Mrs Randall answered. "Just helping Vanessa making wedding plans."
"Mum's the only wedding planner I need," Vanessa said, giving Gambit something of a smirk with her arms wrapped around his midden.
Gambit chuckled and kissed her nose. "If you say so, ma chère. Now, I'm going go do dump my stuff and take a shower."
Rogue rubbed her temples as Bobby appeared on the screen at her desk. He raised his eyebrows at the sight.
"Hey Rogue," he said. "Long day?"
"Quire," Rogue replied irritably, closing her eyes and rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Ah. Sorry to hear he's still giving you crap," Bobby said sympathetically.
"Yeah, well, y'know," Rogue said with a sigh as she finally placed her arms on the desk. "He really shouldn't be up here in the first place. And yes, I realise we don't have any other place for him, and he's probably safer here anyway, but he's an impressionable class-freaking-five telepath and we stuck him in a prison. A prison. I'm sure that's basically asking for him to reoffend later."
Bobby let out a long, slow breath. "Yeah, probably. We're working on trying to get some alternate solutions—for mutant criminals in general—but I'm sorry to say things are going to get worse before they get better."
"Then let's get it on record that if it weren't for my multiple doses of super and enhanced speed, I'd be way overworked here," Rogue said. "Need. Alternate. Solutions. I'm not doing this for the rest of my life."
"I'm not going to expect you to," Bobby assured her. "But I do need to ask a favour. It's a big one."
"Hit me."
Bobby took a deep breath. "Sixth Element and En Sabah Nur are at war in the Middle East. Not just their armies, but actually En Sabah Nur himself and a number of the higher ups in Sixth Element."
"I see," Rogue replied with a frown.
"The Powers That Be in their infinite wisdom," Bobby went on cynically, "have decided that this is our chance to rid ourselves of both problems. They're going to be dropping bombs on the Middle East. And not just any bombs."
Rogue's eyes widened as Bobby rattled off the various long range nuclear missiles on the list.
"No way," she said.
"Oh yeah," Bobby replied with a slow nod. "I tried telling everyone that it was a bad idea. I've got plenty of people who can contain those kinds of things, and that means En Sabah Nur and Sixth Element do too. They didn't listen. Well, not enough people listened. I guess there's a lot of European countries close to Sixth Element and En Sabah Nur territory who are pretty scared right now."
"You'd think they'd be worried about nuclear warfare fallout too," Rogue said. "Alright, what did you want me to do?"
"I've got people—well, the X.S.E. and our sister organisations—in all the key positions," Bobby said. "My concern is that the appropriately powered mutants in the Middle East are just going to turn the bombs around and send them back. So we're trying to cover everything. Problem is, we don't have enough people to cover everywhere. I was hoping I could send you a map of the vulnerable areas and maybe you could keep an eye out, just in case? They're all low-priority places; none of them are anywhere near any launch sites or politically valuable sites. I really don't think they'll send the bombs there, but just in case... Would you mind?"
"No, of course not," Rogue assured him. "I'll do my best."
Bobby looked relieved. "Thanks so much. We're really stretched thin at the moment."
"Yeah, I know all about that," Rogue replied agreeably. "And I imagine there's only so many kinds of mutants who can stop those kinds of things."
"Exactly. You have no idea how much I appreciate this, Rogue."
"You're trying to save lives, Bobby. Anytime you need me, I'm here."
Bobby had been sorely tempted to tell the world leaders "I told you so" when the bombing attempt went as he predicted. Somehow he managed to restrain himself, but it took a lot of willpower. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and Rogue hadn't even needed to intercept anything as Bobby's network covered all the right places.
They weren't about to give up on destroying En Sabah Nur and Sixth Element both at once, though, and scrambled to action, trying to think of some ways they could succeed in bombing the Middle East. Fortunately, En Sabah Nur and Sixth Element appeared to be more interested in fighting each other than banding together to take down the rest of the world.
Rogue continued to keep an eye on the situation as best she could. The two new empires had similar philosophies, though not identical. One of their similarities appeared to be that neither side cared to share the world with another. She did find it interesting that they weren't (at least not yet) of a mind to band together against the rest of the world. Perhaps En Sabah Nur was too much of an egotist? Rogue could see how someone who liked to refer to himself as God might put people off.
The X.S.E. had yet to identify En Sabah Nur's powers. Where individual members of both sides could be identified up to a point, En Sabah Nur had demonstrated a few too many abilities. No one was sure if he really had all those powers, or if he just had one power that allowed him access to the others like Rogue did. They'd seen him fly, brush off direct shots like they were nothing, teleport, change his size, and a number of other things they hadn't fully identified whether it was him or one of the people around him.
Sometimes Rogue wondered if she should offer to help out more directly. She knew such thoughts would only lead to her becoming the weapon of mass destruction she was afraid of, but at the same time, could she really just sit by and do nothing why so many people were suffering?
If she acted, would she really be so different from En Sabah Nur and Sixth Element? Sure, she didn't agree with how they were treating baseline humans but both sides claimed to be acting in the best interests of their people, seeking to save them from the lives of oppression they'd been living.
She didn't know what to do. All the options made her feel sick.
Rogue took a deep breath and teleported down to Earth. She had put Quentin into a coma before her departure and by her calculations he should be out for a good eight hours. James was under instruction to inform her if he woke up prior to her return. Things had been set up so that James could contact her on Earth.
She double-checked the address that was on the visor of her helmet, and then double-checked her location, making sure she had the right street and town, and more to the point, the right house. It was a very ordinary, two-storey suburban home of red brick, with a matching red brick fence. Rogue checked the number on the mailbox, which was built into the fence, and reassured she was at the right place she opened the gate and let herself in.
Rogue walked up the cement path that ran up between the driveway and the lovely green lawn to the front porch. With some apprehension and her heart pounding in her chest, she rang the doorbell. Moments later, the door opened.
"Roguey," Gambit greeted her warmly upon seeing her, and leaned in to give her a half hug as the air containers she was carrying made it awkward to get his arms all way the around her.
"Hey Remy," Rogue replied just as enthusiastically. "Congratulations."
"Heh, thanks," Gambit said, and held the door open for her to come in. "Everyone's here."
"Yeah, I expected that," Rogue said as she stepped inside, mindful of the air containers that they actually went through the open doorway and not the frame or the wall. "Is William with Vanessa?"
"No, he's here," Gambit said, leading the way to the living room. "Mercy's doting on him."
Rogue chuckled lightly and followed Gambit into the living room. Of the five people in the room, Rogue had only met one:
"Logan!" she said happily.
Logan, half dressed in his "merry man" costume, straighten up from leaning over the rest of his clothes on the lounge.
"Hi darlin'," he said, making his way over as Rogue quickly put her extra air containers down.
"Oooh, it's so good to see you," Rogue said as Logan moved in for a hug. "It's been forever. You never visit me anymore."
"Heh, yeah, sorry about that," Logan replied, hugging her tightly. "How've you been?"
"Good, good. Glad for an excuse for a change of scenery, that's for sure."
"So, you're Rogue, right?" said a red-headed man, also half dressed in his merry man costume. He held out a hand to her. "I'm Emil."
"Oh hey," Rogue said, and she pulled away from Logan to shake Emil's hand. "We finally meet."
"And this is Henri, and mon père Jean-Luc," Gambit said, quickly moving in to introduce everyone else. "And this is Tante Mattie."
"It's great to finally meet you," Henri said, holding out his hand as well. "We've heard a lot about you."
"Oh well, in that case, you should know I really like hugs," Rogue said, grinning at him.
"Oh yeah!" Emil exclaimed, and zipped in to quickly get a hug in before Henri could.
Rogue giggled and hugged Emil back, then got one from Henri. As Jean-Luc hugged Rogue, Gambit couldn't help but feel a little bitter than his father liked Rogue, but didn't want anything to do with Vanessa.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Rogue," Jean-Luc said.
Rogue smiled. After hearing all about Gambit's concerns about his family and Vanessa getting along, she was somewhat relieved that she wasn't having any problems.
"And it's a pleasure to meet you too," she replied.
"You sure brought a lot of air tanks," Emil said as Tante Mattie gave Rogue a hug.
"I need to breathe," Rogue replied, smirking at him, "and I'd rather not have to go back to the prison before the day's over."
"Oh you want to breathe, do you?" Emil asked cheekily. "Imagine that!"
Rogue chuckled.
"Alright well, you'd probably want to get dressed," said Gambit.
"You need to get dressed too, Remy," Tante Mattie said pointedly.
"I'm getting there," Gambit replied irritably. "C'mon Roguey. We can go upstairs and I'll introduce you to William and Mercy, and show you were your gown is."
"Okay."
She followed Gambit back out and up the stairs, leaving her tanks in the living room, figuring they may as well stay where they were for now. Gambit headed for the nursery where Mercy was watching her nephew play on the floor. Mercy looked up as they entered.
"Hi," she sad brightly. "You must be Rogue."
"Must be," Rogue replied as she moved further into the room. "You must be Mercy."
Mercy grinned. "That I am. It's nice to finally have a face to put to the name."
"Likewise," Rogue said, and tentatively moved to sit down next to William. She'd seen him over video-chat a couple of times, but this was the first time she'd seen him in person.
"Would you like to hold him?" Gambit asked, crouching down beside her.
Rogue glanced at him, then back at William. "Oh, umm, sure, I just... I've never actually held a baby before."
"Heh, know that feeling," Gambit said.
Mercy grinned as Gambit scooped William up off the floor, then held him out to Rogue.
"There you go, William," said Gambit as he placed his son in Rogue's arms. "This is your Auntie Rogue."
Rogue gave a startled smile at the unexpected title, and then looked down at the ten-month-old boy in her arms. William stared up at her with his big dark eyes.
"Hey William," Rogue greeted him.
Gambit smiled as William lifted one hand up to Rogue's helmet. His palm pressed against the visor and his little fingers flexed as if he was trying to grab hold of it. For a moment a twinge of anxiety hit Gambit, the first one all day that wasn't wedding related. He hoped that William wouldn't start crying or anything while Rogue held him.
"You know, your eyes are even more amazing in person," Rogue informed William. "Fathers everywhere are going to be hiding their daughters from you."
Mercy giggled and Gambit snickered as Rogue set William back down with his toys, not wanting him to bang his head on her helmet or anything. She stood.
"Anyway, I should get dressed," she said. "Or changed at least."
Sure she could have just shown up wearing her skin colour hazmat catsuit and nothing else but she always felt weird doing that, like she was showing up naked or something. Instead she wore a little green dress over the top.
"Yeah, that makes two of us," Gambit said, then grinned at Mercy. "Three rather."
Mercy smirked at him and gestured to William. "Four."
"Well aren't we all just a bunch of slackers."
In due course, Gambit found himself standing by a wedding arch in front of a number of outdoor chairs. The beautiful green lawn was only marred in a few select, well travelled areas by dirt, and there was a large number of trees that enclosed the area, hiding it from the main road and the car park. It was perfect for their Robin Hood theme.
Gambit had felt a little bit silly wearing his Robin Hood costume, but less so now that so many people were here, dressed in medieval style clothes. His groomsmen and immediate family were dressed up as the merry men while Vanessa's bridesmaids (and bridesman) and immediate family were dressed as courtiers. As part of her costume, Rogue wore a hooded cloak (she had insisted so not to spoil wedding photos with a 'space helmet' appearing in a medieval setting), and they'd created a cover for her air tank that made it look like a quiver of arrows. Gambit thought it was pretty cool how it turned out.
Henri spotted Gambit fidgeting nervously with his fingers while they waited. He gave him a nudge with his elbow.
"Nervous?" Henri asked teasingly.
"You wouldn't think so," Gambit replied mildly, looking straight ahead. "You'd think it would be accepted as a foregone conclusion."
"Heh, but see, now you're making it official," Henri said.
"Is Remy nervous?" Emil asked, looking around the party to grin mischievously at Gambit. "Knew we should have hired strippers for the bachelor party."
Gambit shot Emil a dirty glare. "I would have kicked your ass and sent them all home."
"I think it might have been worth it for the look on your face," Emil teased him.
"No, it really would not have."
"I don't know about that."
"Want me to smack him one for you, Remy?" Rogue asked from where she stood on the other side of Emil.
"Oooh, yes please," Emil said with a delighted twinkle in his eye before Gambit could reply. He stuck out his butt with a little wiggle. "Right here."
Rogue looked at Emil's backside, then at Gambit.
"How far do you want me to send him flying?" she asked mischievously.
"Not so far he can't get back here in time," Gambit replied with a grin.
"Say what—" Emil began.
But that was as far as he got. Rogue's hand came down on his backside and propelled him into the air. He flew about two or three storeys in an arc and landed on all fours by the building where the reception was going to be held. There were combined exclamations of shock and laughter from everyone watching.
"Well, that's going to leave a mark," Henri said with a note of admiration in his voice.
"Eh, if he's got too much dirt on him I can clean him up in a blink of an eye," Rogue replied in dismissal.
"Hmm? Oh I was thinking more of the hand print he probably had on his butt right now," Henri clarified.
Gambit snickered at the visual that gave him. Emil stayed down for a minute and then slowly pulled himself up and tottered back to them.
"You gonna be able to sit down again, Emil?" Gambit asked Emil slyly as he got back in line between Henri and Rogue.
"Umm, yeah... maybe... I think so," Emil said, sounding a little dazed.
"Oh please," Rogue said scornfully. "I didn't hit you that hard. Telekinesis did more work than my super strength did. I'm not a sadist."
She also used her telekinesis to cushion his fall, but she felt no need to add that.
"Just how many powers do you have these days, anyway?" Logan asked curiously.
"Umm, I'm not sure," Rogue replied with slow thoughtfulness. "A lot."
"A lot as in, what?" asked Henri. "Five? Twenty? Fifty? A hundred? More?"
"Well, if we're talking unique abilities, we're probably looking at between fifty and a hundred," Rogue said, frowning a little. "But I have multiple doses of a lot of those."
"Do they stack?" Henri asked curiously.
"Depends on the ability. Usually not."
"Hmm," Logan cut in then with a sniff of the air. "They're coming."
And where Gambit had been pleasantly distracted from his nerves by listening to Rogue and thinking about Emil flying through the air, with Logan's words he was back to feeling nervous again. Moreso when they got the official announcement from those who didn't have an enhanced sense of smell.
Finally the music began, and the bridal party began down the makeshift aisle. Vanessa's friends Tayla, Topher, and Karen came down first and stood across from Logan, Rogue, and Emil respectively. Samantha came down and stood across from Henri. Finally Vanessa arrived, dressed as a very beautiful Maid Marian, arm in arm with her father who was dressed as King Richard. Gambit happily accepted Vanessa's hand as she joined him at the wedding arch, and they turned to face the pastor, who was dressed up as Friar Tuck.
Rogue felt torn as she watched the ceremony commence, and quickly switch on the mute so that she could still hear, but so that no one else would be able to hear her. Seeing the man she loved marrying someone else was the most painful thing she'd ever gone through, yet at the same time she'd never seen Gambit quite so happy and could never bring herself to deny him that.
It was very tempting to speak up when the pastor asked about anyone objecting though. Very, very tempting. Rogue was glad she'd muted herself.
"May I present Mr and Mrs Remy and Vanessa Randall," the pastor announced. "You may now kiss the bride."
Rogue teared up as Gambit swept Vanessa into his arms and kissed her soundly. She didn't know anything could be so beautiful and yet so painful at the same time. She swallowed hard and absorbed her tears back into her body as they fell down her cheeks.
"Wow, Kendall," Rogue said between courses at the reception as she looked the twenty-eight year old in her red and white costume. "You sure grew up since I last saw you. Which actually, sounds kinda stupid now that I'm saying it since that was only about twenty years ago. Of course you would have grown up."
Kendall grinned back at her. She looked so much like her mother it was uncanny.
"Does happen," she said. "You look shorter than I remember though."
Rogue chuckled and turned her attention to Laura, whom she'd never actually been formally introduced at all.
"And it's nice to finally meet you, Laura," she said. "I've heard so much about you."
"And I you," Laura replied.
"I love how your air tank looks like a quiver," Kendall said. "That's just awesome."
Rogue grinned. "Yeah, I thought the cover was a pretty cool idea too. I'm actually going to have to switch it over in a few minutes."
"Ah, yeah," Kendall replied with an understanding nod. "I can see how that would be a bit of a pest. One day, right?"
"Right."
Rogue continued to chat until it was time for her to switch the tank over, at which point she made a discreet exit. When she returned, the next course had started and she returned to her seat between Logan and Emil.
"It was good to see Kendall again, and finally meet Laura," Rogue commented to Logan as she sat down.
"Yeah, I guess it's been awhile, huh?" Logan said slowly. "Time gets away with you."
"It does."
Rogue fiddled with the gift that Vanessa and Gambit had left for each of their guests: a little bag of Fair Trade chocolates and a card representing a donation made on their behalf. Rogue's had a picture of a cow that was apparently being given to a family in need. Logan watched her run the card through her fingers and leaned in towards her.
"How you holding up, kid?" he asked discreetly.
Rogue glanced over at Gambit and then looked back at Logan. She shrugged.
"I'll be okay," she said, making sure the volume on her speaker was down low, knowing that Logan would hear without any problems. "I'm just... I feel stupid and regretful mostly. I could have told him how I felt and I chickened out and never did because I didn't want to deal with rejection. But I really should have told him, because even though I know he doesn't feel the same way, at least I could have had closure."
Logan grunted and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, closure's a good thing to have, and something we so rarely get."
He couldn't help but think of Storm at that moment and how she just disappeared on him. He knew a memorial had been held for her, but somehow it didn't feel the same without a body.
Rogue placed her hand over his and smiled sympathetically, suspecting what he was thinking.
After the main course, the MC called for the speeches. Henri went up first and thoroughly enjoyed himself by making fun of Gambit (and all without using tales of stealing or ex-girlfriends). Samantha spoke next, then Mr Randall, who gave the microphone to Jean-Luc upon his conclusion. Vanessa eyed Jean-Luc with some apprehension as he stood.
"Remy, Vanessa," he said solemnly. "This is a very special day and one you won't ever forget, though there may be times when you might wish it would be so."
Gambit narrowed his eyes, knowing what Jean-Luc was getting at.
"There's no such thing as a perfect marriage," Jean-Luc went on. "You will have your fights and disagreements, and it will get tough. You've probably already experienced a taste of how tough it's going to get. So, I would just like to take this moment to give you some advice on how to deal with that. Don't give up. Don't be too proud to say you're sorry. And above all, don't blow each other off."
That last comment got a few snickers from the less mature ones listening. Henri gave Emil a pointed jab in the ribs.
"There will be times, you see, when you feel you have to get something done, work late at the office or whatever," Jean-Luc said pointedly. "There will be times when you don't feel like doing something with the other that they really want to do with you. I can tell you right now that the things I regret the most about my own marriage were the times where I neglected her. When I worked late or blew off going to the theatre with her in favour of what I wanted to do. Don't do that. Don't ever do that. Remy, Vanessa is the most precious person in your life now. Remember to treat her that way. There will never be any task more important than spending time with her."
Vanessa couldn't see the tears in his eyes, but she could hear them in his voice. Belatedly, she realised she'd never really heard much about Jean-Luc's wife. As Jean-Luc finished off his speech with well wishes and a toast, she leaned into Gambit and inquired.
"Dad's a widower," he replied softly with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Oh." That knowledge settled things with Vanessa, who figured that Jean-Luc's speech were the words of a man who had lost his wife too soon.
The MC brought the microphone around to Vanessa then, and she happily gave her speech. Gambit's was the last, during which he thanked everyone for coming. Once the speeches had concluded, the MC declared it was time for the bridal waltz. Gambit took Vanessa by the hand and led her to the floor.
Halfway through the first dance, Gambit and Vanessa were joined by the rest of their bridal party. Rogue danced with Topher, who was dressed as a knight in chain mail, and was glad for the distraction. Watching Gambit and Vanessa dance made her feel a little jealous, especially after all the times she and Gambit had danced in her ballroom sims.
After the first dance, Gambit danced with Mrs Randall, and Vanessa danced with Jean-Luc. Vanessa still wasn't entirely sure what to make of Jean-Luc, only that there seemed to be a sadness in his eyes. She figured he was missing his dear departed wife and found she was unable to be anything but sympathetic towards him at that moment.
Gambit was hardly about to let this occasion go by without dancing with Rogue as well. Once he finished dancing with his new mother-in-law, Gambit sought out his best friend. Rogue was delighted to accept his invitation. While with Vanessa and her mother Gambit stuck with the more classic, simple steps, with Rogue they tore up the dance floor. After all those years of dancing together, they'd experimented and learned new steps and the only thing that threw them off was that Rogue was getting her air from an air container rather than a hose leading into a positive pressure systems in the roof as was normnally the case. Their dancing so impressed those watching, that they got applause as the song ended.
"Again?" Gambit asked Rogue with a grin.
"Sure. If I'm not stealing you away from your wife," Rogue replied, feeling a little bit sick with those words.
"Nah," he assured her as he pulled her into his arms again. "Nessie's not into dancing, and I want to make the most of you actually being on Earth for a change."
"Aw, well, aren't you so sweet?"
Gambit grinned at her, and as they began to dance to the next song, he wondered if it might be possible for her to visit more often. Thinking about it, he wasn't sure that Rogue would have a place to stay should she decide to visit overnight or something. Perhaps he should look into arranging an airtight room for her just in case her old place on the Xavier estate wasn't available.
Time came for the cutting of the cake and after that the rest of the evening seemed to go by in a blur. The cake was served and eaten, and then everyone gathered around to see Gambit and Vanessa off in the horse drawn carriage.
Rogue watched until she could no longer see them (no mean feat given her enhanced vision). She was sad for herself but happy for Gambit.
AN: For those who want/need reassurance:
Yes, Rogue and Gambit will get together romantically.
Yes, Rogue and Gambit will get together romantically.
Yes, Rogue and Gambit will get together romantically.
Yes, Rogue and Gambit will get together romantically.
Later. Much later. I'm actually writing up the first 50 years of their romance at the moment :)
Rogue and Gambit had to be in particular points in their lives before they got together, and there's a certain world subplot that had to be in a particular place before they got together too. This plotline has been in play since one of the early chapters. I'm really looking forward to everyone's reaction when it comes to fruition :) Right now, though, Rogue and Gambit both have stuff they need to deal with before a romance between them can work and be healthy. I'm sure that none of us want "co-dependant Rogue" and I haven't married Gambit off to another woman to torture you guys either.
[It's cool, really, I don't mind giving reassurance.]
