Author's Note**
Me? Off our favorite smooth talking Cajun? Pfsh! Crazy talk. I'm just going to kill him a little bit. That's all. Nothing to worry about.
"So, basically yer sayin' that Miss Too-Many-Screws-Loose has taken off and Pietro thinks she's hooked up with some evil villain because God told him he was an idiot?" Rogue asked the next morning when the news of Wanda's disappearance was broken. No one else seemed particularly interested in the fact that Wanda was gone, except for Todd. He was sitting down and staring off into space like little Jimmy had just come up to him and told him they needed to go shoot Old Yeller. Everyone else was getting ready to journey to Egypt.
Professor Xavier tilted his head slightly to one side and folded his hands in his lap. "Not exactly but good enough."
Sighing, Rogue threw her gloved hands into the air. "Well now who's gonna be mah partner?" she wanted to know, shifting her gaze around the group gathered in the foyer. Her eyes landed on one person in particular and they narrowed. In response, Gambit tipped a hand to her and grinned broadly. Rogue glanced down at the Professor and the older gentleman nodded his head.
"Now Professor, Ah don't think this is the time for jokes."
"I'm sorry Rogue, but I need Beast and Storm to remain here and help me coordinate the younger students. And Wolverine threatened to tear my eyes out and eat them if I partnered him with anyone."
She folded her arms across her chest and scowled darkly. "That's jus' mah luck." Across the room she caught sight of Magneto speaking with Pietro and her eyes narrowed again. "Wha' about Magneto? What's he gonna be doin'?"
Xavier directed his gaze over towards the white haired mutant. "He will be remaining here."
"That shore doesn't sound like him."
He shrugged a quick movement of his shoulders. "He spoke at great length last night with Destiny and afterwards he informed me that he would not be partaking in the mission. He did not mention his reasoning."
Rogue kept her eyes focused on man of magnetism; she trusted him just about as far as she could throw him. Of course, now that she could pull up Fred's or Juggernaut's strength whenever she wanted she could probably throw him pretty far actually.
"Careful, cherie. You stare hard enough an' you'll burn a hole in his head."
Gambit's voice was low and warm just next to her ear. It tickled her neck and made her want to shiver, which had the adverse effect of annoying her. Annoyance was part of her self-defense mechanism. If she didn't get pissed off, then she might do something stupid like forget she couldn't touch people without draining the life from them. The incident from the night before was still fresh in her mind; luckily the Cajun's memories had faded fairly quickly. But the anger she always felt at her inability to do something as simple as touch remained.
"Can't ya take a hint, swamp rat?" she very nearly snarled, suddenly feeling in a very poor mood indeed. Both of Gambit's eyebrows lifted and confusion settled into his face.
"Gambit thought he was takin' de hint. De cherie did kiss him last night, non?"
Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Rogue started walking, not surprised at all when he followed at her heels. "Yeah, and Ah knocked ya out flat, don'tcha remember?"
Remy rubbed a hand over his chin and smiled reminiscently. "Gambit remember. Dat was one hell of a kiss cherie," he stated admiringly as the two moved from the foyer into a hallway, away from the others. Rogue whirled around and stopped, determined to get this thing settled once and for all so he would quit bugging her. She ignored the fact that she was saddened by the idea.
"Look, Cajun-"
"How come de cherie neva call Gambit by his name?" he interrupted, leaning up against the opposite wall. He said it offhandedly but Rogue could tell that it bothered him a little. It cut a tiny hole in her resolve and as a result she had to infuse bite into her voice.
"Mahbe 'cause Ah don't like ya."
His grin was sharp and quick. "Ah, but you can't fool a thief. Remy know de cherie be lyin'. He can see it."
Feeling a kind of frustration she had never felt before in her life, Rogue ground her teeth together and tried her best to forget the fact that the way he looked at her made her pulse jump.
"Look," she started forcefully, "Ah absorb people. That's mah power. Ah could kill ya jus' by touchin' ya." Her voice faltered slightly. It was always so difficult to realize that. That she'd never be able to be with someone without hurting them. She'd never be able to hold a child without gloves on. She'd never be able to have a child. As those thoughts ran through her brain, her face closed down. "So go find some other femme to play with," she suggested, turning to walk away.
But Remy was quick and he had style by the bucket full. He closed the distance between them before she could move and abruptly she found herself with her back against a wall and him just a few inches away. That heavy, spicy scent she had sampled the night before flowed off of him and she felt her cheeks flush at his closeness. His red eyes pinned her and held her in place more firmly than any physical hold could have. Without speaking, he lifted one hand to her face, bringing his bare fingers just centimeters from her skin. He traced the line of her jaw, over her eyes, down over her lips, then down the long line of her throat without actually touching her. She could feel the warmth from his skin and her heart pounded in her head.
"Feel dat cherie?" he asked, hoarsely. For all his suaveness, his fingers were shaking lightly, like a school boy approaching his first crush. Rogue didn't answer him, but he could tell that she could. He smiled again, but this time it wasn't nearly as confident as it had been before. "An' Gambit ain't even touchin' you. He won't hurt you, non."
Swallowing, Rogue pulled her eyes away and turned her head to the side. Something ached deep in her chest and in the pit of her stomach. "He's lyin'," she managed softly, not meeting his gaze. "He's hurtin' me right now."
There was silence and even without looking at him, she could tell he was considering. His body shifted after a minute or so and when she finally glanced back, he was gone.
*************************************
"What do you want me to do now, father, huh? What kind of secret mission do I go on next?" Pietro was asking Magneto excitedly, his brown eyes flashing. Magneto looked down at him and frowned. Oh, that's right. I've got to give Skippy here something to do so he doesn't screw up the universe.
"Here. This is extremely important Pietro," he stated, handing the speed demon a sheet of paper. Pietro hurriedly scanned it and found it was a list of items. A fairly long list of items. A fairly long list of . . . groceries?
"You want me to go shopping?" the son asked, looking up with a small amount of bewilderment. Scanning his brain, Magneto tried to come up with a better selling point all while thinking, hey, maybe the boy isn't quite as dumb as I thought he was.
"I want you to go hunting for me," he supplied finally, figuring that sounded much more important. And sure enough, Pietro appeared tremendously pleased with the replacement verb.
"Surethingfather!Iwon'tletyoudown!" His eyes searched the list again and he bit his bottom list, searching his tiny brain for thoughts. "Hey, do all these items have to be bought at different stores? Like the letters?"
His face completely blank, Magneto stared into his son's adoring eyes and thought, oh my god, it's like shooting a puppy. But hey, an evil overlord has to do what an evil overlord has to do, even if that includes shooting a puppy here and there. So to Pietro he answered,
"Yes."
And when his son speed off to do his supposed evil bidding, Magneto turned to Charles Xavier who wheeled up beside him a moment later and said, "Never have children Charles. It's just not worth it."
Charles Xavier smiled ruefully and spread his arms out. "I have an entire Institute of children. Sometimes I want to hang myself."
For the first time in a long time, Erik Magnus and Charles Xavier nodded to each other in perfect agreement.