Offer: Chapter 2, or the Legal Route
"So, table for two then?" the hostess asked, grabbing two menus and walking towards the back of the restaurant before Rogue's shock wore off.
When she didn't refuse him, Gambit's grin widened and he held his arm out to her. Her lip curled in derision and she shoved by him, ramming her shoulder into his as she passed, hunger making her stubborn enough to refuse to be the first to leave. With any luck he'd get the hint and leave, though Rogue knew from prior experience she wouldn't be rid of him until he'd said his piece. True to form, the thief slid into the seat across from her and it was all she could do to keep from throwing the table at him. He matched her glower with his own steady gaze.
"Whatever it is you're on about it ain't funny. You know as well as I do that chance that's ever gonna happen for me is slim to none," she growled, her accent thickening in anger. He idly watched as she ripped the menu open and steadfastly ignored his presence.
"Not tryin' to be funny," he said.
At his soft tone Rogue glanced up at him. "Then why -"
"Drinks?" a bored teenager interrupted, tapping his pen against a pad of paper in irritation.
"Two whiskeys. Neat," Gambit said, never taking his eyes from her. The waiter wandered off without bothering to check for I.D.
Rogue pursed her lips and stared at the man in front of her. "The hell you going on about now, Gambit?"
He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. In the brighter light of the restaurant it was apparent he hadn't slept in days, let alone had a proper shower in twice as long. "Got backed into a corner I can't get out of by myself," he admitted sullenly. Before he could say anything else the waiter came back and set the drinks on the table, walking off before Rogue could ask for anything else.
"To family," Gambit said bitterly. He raised the glass in a mock toast before knocking back half the glass.
Rogue ignored her drink in favor of glaring at him from across the table. She was tired, hungry, and in desperate need of a shower herself after driving nine hours to the middle of B.F. Kentucky. Any patience she might have had was quickly beginning to evaporate. "Tell me what you want or I'm leavin'," she warned.
When the Cajun didn't respond, Rogue shoved her chair back and stood up. "Whatever it is you're playin' at, I don't want any part of," she told him, grabbing her bag and turning to leave.
The sound of a chair scraping against linoleum rang out as Gambit grasped at her arm. "Rogue, please," he rasped. "At least hear me out."
Rogue ripped her arm from his for the third time that night and gave him a long hard look. In the short time she'd known him Gambit had never looked this desperate for salvation. Ever since Blood Moon Bayou he'd always had an easy grin and a devil-may-care attitude that was the envy of half the guys on the team. His desperation scared her and despite her own misgivings about the thief she was concerned about the man in front of her. Lord only knew what he got up to when left to his own devices, but as far as anyone knew the man only had himself to rely upon. He'd long since cut professional ties with Jean Luc, but he'd never been able to cut out his family entirely. If things were bad enough for him to seek her out for help -
'He isn't your enemy, Rogue. All he needs is someone that will listen and believe in him,' Xavier's soft voice whispered. If he does need help that you aren't able to provide, we're only a call away.'
'Don't turn your back on him, Stripes,' Logan countered. 'He has no loyalties to anyone but himself.'
'Even though he saved Kurt in Alaska and totally injured himself in the process?' Kitty shot back loudly, her argumentative tone riling up the rest of the more fully formed psyches.
Closing her eyes tightly against the rising tide of voices, Rogue focused on drawing her mental shield around herself. It took far more effort now that she'd gotten into the habit of letting them chitter amongst themselves while on the road. When the voices were whispers once more, Rogue sat back down, pointedly ignoring the concerned look that crossed his face.
"Me askin' that wasn't just small talk, Gambit," she began, taking on the tone she usually reserved for training sessions with the new mutants. "Tell me what's goin' on, now, or I will be out that door in five seconds. Even if I have to take you out to do it."
Gambit sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he picked at the table. In this moment he looked like the twenty year old man he was and not like one of INTERPOL's top ten most wanted. In their line of work it was far too easy to forget just how young they were. It was easier to label him as an untrustworthy, selfish thief rather than to admit to the similarities between them. Despite her mistrust and misgivings about his intentions, he had proven time and again that he would be there when she needed him, so long as he wanted to be reached.
'And he did send you all those books when you were in the Medlab last time,' Kitty softly reminded her, slipping away before Rogue could react.
Her decision made, Rogue reached for her glass. "Just because I'm still here don't mean I'm agreein' to anything," she reminded him.
"Je connais," he murmured as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket. He brushed his thumb against its end and watched it burn for a moment, lost in thought. "M'ember the Rippers?" Rogue gave him a small nod when he glanced at her. "Don't know how much you picked up, but that's the street arm of the Assassin's Guild. Jean Luc's decided fightin' with them's bad for business and he's decided to offer up an olive branch."
"Let me guess. You've the dove to deliver it," Rogue said slowly despite already knowing the answer. She knew first hand what went on in the Guild Master's head after the last time she'd been dragged into one of Gambit's schemes. The ghost the master thief had left behind had been well versed in the art of manipulation, so much so that a month after Rogue had absorbed him she found herself halfway home with stolen goods before realizing what she'd done. Once she'd finally put the pieces together, she'd sought out the Professor and together they'd been able to purge most of Jean Luc's psyche. At times he still appeared, whispering suggestions that even her mother would be proud of.
"Oui." Gambit nodded and pulled at his cigarette. "Only this time he's decided that I marry the heiress of the Assassin. 'For the good of us all." He gave a wry chuckle and sipped at his whiskey. "Un jolie petite chose who'd rather castrate me than say hello."
Rogue watched his face as he spoke, looking for any sign of deception. As if sensing her disbelief Gambit's psyche, barely a whisper even directly after absorption, brought forward an image of the woman in question. A blonde slip of a woman, no older than Rogue herself, who looked more the type you'd pay to babysit your kids rather than someone who'd slit your throat for a buck. Yet Rogue was far more aware than most that appearances weren't always what they seemed.
"And what does she want out of this?"
"Wealth. Fame. Blood, preferably mine," the thief said with a shrug. "Known her since we were kids. Thought I loved her once."
"And now?"
"Now I wouldn't even wish her on Tolansky," he said wryly.
Rogue snorted and sipped at her drink. "Sounds like she and I might get along."
At her words, Gambit leaned back in his seat and appraised her. Despite her discomfort, Rogue refused to fidget under his gaze. "You probably would," he decided.
Ignoring the implication of his words, Rogue cleared her throat. "If you don't want to marry her just tell them you're not gonna do it. They can't make you marry her if you don't want to."
Gambit snorted. "You forgettin' how the family works. You do what you're told. No other option if you want to live."
"Then come back to New York. The Professor will take you in. His offer doesn't ever expire."
He shook his head and flicked the ash off his cigarette. "And bring the Rippers up with me? Won't work, p'tite. They'll be after blood if I run, and won't think twice about killin' anyone in their way. I can't do that to you and yours after everythin' ya'llve done for me."
"And what makes you think they won't come after you or your 'new wife'?" Rogue asked, still trying to figure out why he'd ever think she'd agree to this.
Gambit shot her a conspiratorial wink and threw back the rest of his drink. "If she does go after me or my 'new wife' she'd be the one throwin' down the glove. Guild law states that anyone married into the family is off limits for thievin' or killin' unless agreed upon beforehand. And if that rules broken -"
"Exile," Rogue said, the knowledge spilling off her tongue as Julien whispered half forgotten tales of past guild wars in her ear.
He gave her a sharp look and nodded. "And the only thing Jean Luc and Marius agree on is that they're good Catholics who pay their tithes and say their Hail Mary's. And good Catholics don't ever condone bigamy. Or divorce. Leavin' me with only the legal way out."
"Betcha' ain't said that before," Rogue muttered.
Gambit smirked as he waved down the waiter for another round. While he ordered, Rogue played with the condensation on her glass. The story he'd laid in front of her was outlandish at best. At worst it was a fever dream of a man she already suspected to be recklessly insane on a good day. For all she knew this was yet another of his attempts to drag her into helping him with another questionably legal scheme. It wasn't above him to give her just enough rope to hang herself on his half-spoken truths and convenient omissions.
And yet he'd come to her with this ridiculous scheme. It wasn't as if it was the first, or last, time he'd asked for her help. Rather, it was the fact that he felt he was forced to go to this extreme, the consummate bachelor retreating to something he'd sworn off long ago. In all his other schemes he'd been brass tacks and bravado, so sure in what he was doing that everyone else went along with it regardless of whether it made sense. But now there was something else to it, something that he wouldn't tell her until they were neck deep in trouble and she needed him too much to be able to kill him when she found out.
Besides, it wasn't as if Gambit was lacking in options in the ladies' department. Hell, half the girls at the institute would gladly trip over themselves and each other to be able to have dinner with the man, let alone be propositioned by him. Jubilee and Amara had even gone so far the last time he'd visited of trying to spill drinks on him in the hopes he'd take off that dingy jacket of his for once. The question now was, what was the carrot in all of this? The thing that made him so cocky, so sure that she'd agree to his scheme.
Her curiosity finally got the better of her and she leaned back in her chair. "What's in it for me? What could you possibly offer that could tempt me into marriage and waltzing into a den of thieves to save your sorry ass?"
Gambit gave her a tight smile and despite her tough facade, Rogue found herself holding her breath as she waited for his answer.
"Simple, p'tite. Control."