18
Evan and some other Morlocks meet them at the meeting area. Rogue had soon passed the controls over to Scott at everyone's protest. She had been the best person to fly them out of there without getting caught or followed by any jets the prison might have had stored away or something.
When Rogue had given up control, all of the free X-Men began to see to the wounds of the ex-prisoners. There was not many extreme cases. Just obvious cases of neglect and beatings along with experimentations.
After they landed and had seen all the ex-prisoners to the Morlocks, Rogue hesitated to glance at Gambit.
One or two mutants had thanked him before leaving. Came right up to him and thanked him. Gambit had to smile back, understanding the little bit of hope they now felt. Although, it was a bitter sweet smile as he also knew they'd soon come to be living in fear again about going back to that hell. He understood them all too well.
Gambit had been staring at the entrance to the sewers where the Morlocks had left.
"Come on! We best get back." Logan commanded them all. He began saying how they'd checked up on them later after Kitty and Kurt burst into a conversation about how proud and glad they were to have helped them.
He felt eyes on him and turned to see Rogue glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
She blushed and turned away instantly when he looked back at her.
For once… Gambit felt dumbfounded. He was trying so hard not to get attached to this girl, but he just couldn't move. It was like she saw right through him. Well, almost all of him. There were parts she still didn't know. But back then, in the prison… she'd given him the will to go on. This beautiful, rather aggressive, but completely shy and innocent girl underneath all of that front was incredible.
Then, she glanced back at him and smiled. The smile was small and gentle. She turned to follow the others.
Gambit reached out for her arm, pulling her back.
"Cher," he muttered.
She looked back at him with those large, wide eyes of hers. He froze. What was he trying to say?
"You ain't gonna tell anyone what happened back there?" he asked, coming back to himself.
Rogue's hope seemed to falter. She shuck her head, "No… Just don't put em in that position again. If somethings troublin' ya Remy, come talk ta meh about it and I'll help ya." Rogue said, not quite understanding why she was being so nice to him. Hadn't they had a fight? Weren't they avoiding each other?
Gambit snorted at that. "You don't have to worry 'bout dat." He said, realising her arm and looking away at the jet. "Won't happen again."
Now Rogue remembered part of the reason they had been fighting. He was thinking of leaving. He'd told her maybe, but, from the sounds of it, his mind was made up. She didn't want him to leave, but she couldn't give him a reason to stay. "'cause you're leavin'?" Rogue muttered.
Gambit eyed Rogue, seeing her now glancing away, sad. It made him sad. But he couldn't stay. There was still more to do. "After we find out if Wolvie's contact come through for us, oui." He admitted.
Rogue nodded her head then proceeded to follow the others on the jet. Gambit let her go. Following only shortly after.
Xxxxx
The X-Men had done it. It had taken a few days of transferring the evidence to S.H.I.E.L.D. and for S.H.I.E.L.D. to finish shutting those prisons down and getting the mutants to a safe hospital. It was all over the news come Saturday morning.
All of the X-Men who were on the mission to free those mutants and more were in the dining room having breakfast when she watched the news.
The Professor glanced up at Logan after the main buck of the story had been revealed. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with this, would you, Logan?" he asked.
Logan sighed, not meeting the Professor's eye. "If I did chuck, then I'm sure as hell glad those mutants are free." He said before walking away.
Jean had set up a link between everyone that was involved.
Kitty and Kurt were hogging most of the conversation, going on about how epic they were. They also began to talk about how the mutants who were with the Morlocks might be able to come out of hiding and get help soon off S.H.I.E.L.D.
Rogue had zoomed out of the conversation, not much wanting to discuss it. Her eyes feel on Gambit. He had his confirmation. She wondered how long it would be until he upped and left?
They had continued to avoid each other once they got back. It wasn't as bad as it had been before, but there was something between them that was just making it awkward.
Gambit had gone back to training the newer mutants and visiting the Morlocks to make sure that the ex-prisoners had everything they need to get by. He'd kept himself so busy that he hadn't needed to make night time visits to female houses in order to keep the nightmares away. He just fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
But, somehow, revisiting that hell hole, had brought back memories he'd managed to bury away a little bit and he had been waking up from nightmares during the night.
He'd hardly seen Rogue. Maybe at breakfast or dinner, but they hadn't really talked much since. He wasn't too sure what to say to her. He wanted to talk to her, but he just knew it would hurt him.
Then, he spotted her eyes on him. He glanced back, shooting a little smile. She shot one back, but he could tell it wasn't a real one. She began to leave the room.
"Hey Rogue, where you going?" Scott asked.
Rogue glanced back at Scott, "I got finals real soon. I wanna pass this time." Rogue admitted.
"I can help you if you're having trouble with anything." Jean offered.
"Thanks, but I'm good. Just… need some space ta get ma head down." Rogue said, then left.
Gambit had watched her leave. He felt sad. He thought that Rogue, honestly, wanted him to stay and he was touched. But was it, still, just because Joseph had left her? Heartache, it didn't heal that quickly.
"You going too?" Kurt asked as Gambit went to leave the room.
"Got mornin' session." He said, leaving the X-Men behind.
Of course, what he mainly wanted was just a distraction to get his mind off Rogue.
Xxxxx
There was a knock at Rogue's door. It made her jump. She hadn't been concentrating, just day dreaming, but it still made her jump.
"Yeah?" she called out.
Then, Kitty and Jean were there, opening her door.
"Hey," Jean said.
Rogue raised her eyebrow, "What's up?" she asked.
"Well, its, errr," Jean began, sounding awkward.
Kitty looked awkward too, but she couldn't hold it in and just burst out: "It's Remy. He's gone!"
Rogue just stared at Kitty for a moment. A long moment. Then let out a "huh" kind of sound. So, Gambit was gone. Just like he said he would. Rogue…didn't feel too different. Just… numb. Numb like she had been feeling all week. All that rage and upset over Joseph, all of her annoyance and upset over Gambit, it had just formed into becoming some huge numbness.
"What do you mean huh? Gambit's gone! He must have took off this morning after the news. Aren't you, like, bothered by this at all?" Kitty demanded to know.
"Unless… you already knew." Jean said, picking up on what was happening after Rogue kept quiet.
"Wait, you knew he was leaving and you didn't say anything?" Kitty demanded to know.
Rogue refused to meet their eyes. It was none of their business after all. It was Gambit's decision. If he wanted to leave, he could.
"Whoa… You really did, didn't you?" Kitty said.
Rogue just shrugged her shoulders, "Doesn't matter if I knew or not. He wanted ta leave so he left. End of story."
"But, that isn't really the case, is it?" Jean asked.
Kitty and Jean had entered Rogue's room more and went to sit down. They'd guessed that Rogue might have had some idea where Gambit had run off to, considering, they were so close. Or, used to be.
"Something happened between you two." Jean declared.
"What! Don't be stupid!" Rogue snapped, standing up from her chair and going to glance out of her balcony windows.
"Whoa. Rogue, do you, like, have feelings for Remy?" Kitty asked.
Rogue snorted, "Yeah. Irritated. The creep was always so annoying. I'm glad he's gone!" Rogue snapped, still not looking at them.
"That's not really true though, is it?" Jean asked.
Rogue spun and turned on Jean now. "Are you in ma head? Cause, I swear, if ya are, I'm-"
"No! No! It's nothing like that. It's just… well, it's written all over your face. The way you two have been acting around each other. Well, in the past, anyway." Jean said, fiddling with her hands, looking uncomfortable. "Look, I know there was that thing between you and Joseph-"
"What thing! There was no thing! Everyone has gotta get this idea outta their heads that something happened between meh and Joseph! We were never together! He betrayed us for cryin' out loud." Rogue snapped.
"Alright, maybe that was the wrong way of phrasing it, but you did care for him. And he obviously cared for you. And you lost that. You were really hurt by that." Jean said.
"He betrayed us." Rogue said again, folding her arms and looking away.
"Jean's, like, totally right though Rogue. You cared for him and you were totally hurt when you found out he was gone. You can't say you weren't." Kitty said.
Rogue said nothing at all. She didn't have to admit anything to them! She didn't owe them an explanation. Sure, she did care for Joseph. He was her friend. A really good, close friend who was always by her side even when she pushed him away. He'd make her uncomfortable some of the time, but… before Gambit showed up and even after then, yes, she did question if she wanted to be with him or not in that way.
"Look, the point I'm trying to make is that you lost Joseph and it hurt. And, I'm sure, even after what he did, you still would have gone after him if we knew were he went. Gone after him and tried to bring him back here. You would have tried to help him. Smooth things over." Jean said.
"How do you know that's what I woulda done!" Rogue snapped again. "I probably woulda just brought him back here ta kill him maself."
"'cause that's just the type of person you are, Rogue. You help people. You care." Jean said, standing up and beginning to walk over to Rogue. "You might act like your all tough and everything just because you don't want someone to get close to you and get hurt, but really Rogue, we know you're a good person." Jean's hand was now on Rogue's shoulder. Rogue didn't move in fear of accidentally absorbing Jean. "You were there for me when I needed you. You know, that time when I lost control? And you didn't even like me back then. You're a good and caring person, Rogue. Even if you don't show it."
Rogue glanced away from Jean's eyes, wondering how the red head figured that one out when she barely spent time with her.
"Now, Remy's gone and we don't know why. Maybe, you do, but Rogue, he's one of us. Whatever he's facing, we can help him face it. We can face it together. But we can't help him if we don't know where he'd gone. You know he's better off with us and, I know, deep down, you care and want to help him too." Jean finished.
Rogue couldn't meet Jean's eyes. Her speech was moving and all, but she doubted anything she could say would change his mind.
"What do ya want meh ta do Jean?" Rogue finally said, eyeing the red head. "We don't even know where he is."
"Logan's, like, tracking him down now. He touch his bike so he can track him." Kitty informed them.
Rogue frowned. "Even if we find him, he ain't comin' back." Rogue said.
"Do you know why he left?" Jean asked.
Rogue sighed, "No. And, even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."
"Rogue, don't you think he deserves to know that, whatever it is he's going through, we're here to help?" Jean asked.
Rogue snorted, "I don't think he wants our help." Rogue muttered.
"Oh, for once in your life Rogue, can you stop being so stubborn!" Jean snapped.
Both Rogue and Kitty were taken back by this.
"It's clear as daylight that you two like each other. And yes, we've all noticed that the two of you have been avoiding each other lately as well. But for crying out loud, don't let him go just because of a disagreement between you two!" Jean said, more gentle now.
Rogue closed her lips and pursed them. She did wonder why Gambit was leaving. He'd told her maybe. Maybe he would leave. Maybe he would stay. He had never told her the reason why he might leave though. Not exactly. Was it because of her he was leaving? Had she pushed him away or something? Made him think he had to leave? If so, why didn't he mention that? There was just so much about him she didn't know. She didn't know why he left. She… never asked him. But…
"I… I already tried ta convince him ta stay and it didn't work. What makes ya think it'll work this time?" Rogue snapped.
Jean looked almost pitiful at her, "I don't know Rogue. But you have to try. At least, one more time, right? That, or if you can't get him to come back now, let him know he can always return to us if he ever needs help again."
Rogue was silent. Thinking.
"Yeah, come on Rogue! You don't want to, like, regret this or anything. What if, all he needs, is just us showin' up ta convince him to stay? What if he really doesn't want to like, leave. He's just facing something he doesn't think he can share with us?" Kitty had said.
This brought Rogue to think about how Gambit had admitted to her, to all of them really, how he didn't think we'd actually be able to get the job done that he wanted. But, he'd seen that they could… She wasn't sure. But here, Kitty and Jean were, trying their best to get her to reach out for him. She might not know why Gambit had decided to leave. She kind of doubted he'd tell her. But… didn't he deserve to know he could come back?
"Alright, fine!" Rogue snapped, "I'll try and talk ta him. But only 'cause you two are annoying the hell out of meh while I'm tryna study. Will you two back off if I do?" Rogue asked.
"Oh, absolutely." Jean said, knowing smile on her face.
"Yeah, like, totally." Kitty said, also with a smile on her face.
Rogue rolled her eyes as she made her way passed Jean and Kitty.
"You said Logan was tracking him. Has anyone taken a jet to find him?" Rogue asked.
"Errr, no. Not yet." Kitty said.
"Scott was planning to after Logan got a little closer I think." Jean admitted.
"Tell him don't bother." Rogue said, closing her door behind her and leaving Kitty and Jean alone in her room.
Xxxxx
Rogue get set up in one of the smaller jets by herself. She didn't ask Jean, Kitty or anyone else to come because she didn't think Gambit would respond well to a crowd.
Finally, went she was ready for take-off, Rogue reached out to Logan's phone using the jet communicator.
"Stripes?" Logan said.
"Which way he headin'?" Rogue asked.
"Looks like he's on the road back to New Orleans. I doubt I'll catch up to him any time soon. Tell chuck to ready a jet-" Logan began.
"I'm already on it, Logan. Relax. Just, tell meh the route he took." Rogue said.
"Stripes, he didn't leave because of something that happened between you two, did he?" Logan asked.
Rogue sighed into the communicator as she took off in the direction of New Orleans. "I don't know Logan. But I'm gonna find out and make things right if it was 'cause of meh. Now, what were those co-ordinates?"