'New Life, New Beginnings' by Samman

Disclaimer: The x-men are the property of Marvel and are used without permission. No profit is being made from this; this is simply a work of entertainment.

Author's Notes: I'm sorryyy it took me a while to update…I..uh…*gulp*…kinda got busy in..stuff.

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Chapter 10: Getting Along

How harder was it going to get? How many more complications were coming her way as she took life as it came. Why did things turn out so badly for her? Or was it only her talking that way? Had the others been through this as well? Was she over exaggerating the issue?

She beside her bed with her legs and arms crossed to herself. Pondering over matters was becoming a routine day by day as she sat there everyday, often crying to herself and letting her aggravation out.

Her nimble, covered fingers expertly tied the shinny auburn strands into a braid. She absently used her other hand to tug the front whites and browns behind her ear as she bit her lip thinking about how they had isolated her in the mansion. Her leader, Cyclops, had asked her to remain indoors until he gave alternative orders. Walking around inside the mansion everyday was getting just too boring now.

Now that Rogue had flying powers, the urge to fly out of the window and into the clear skies was driving her crazy. A small smile appeared on Rogue's lips as an idea struck her. She chewed on her lips for a second and a second later grabbed her sweatshirt, zipping it up to her torso.

Rogue tugged her small feet in her sneakers and opened the balcony door. When she slipped the door open, a breeze of wind flew into her face and she stepped out into the open staring at the darkness in the huge mansion grounds.

The instant she stepped out, her guts were tightened by a sick, awful feeling. What if they caught her going outside? The x-men were doing everything to help her, she thought, but isolating her for her own security was only scaring her away.

Pushing all the thoughts away, Rogue flew up into the air until she reached the rooftop. The front strands of her hair flew on her face as she hovered in the air. Just moments after planting her feet on the rooftop, Rogue realized that someone had already taken her place. She did not need a complete inspection of the person sitting in her spot…the cigarette was a prominent enough sign for her.

Gambit. Rogue made a disgusted face. Before she moved to give him a punch or too for taking her place, she felt his eyes on her. He had turned to look at her and she hadn't even noticed. Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Well...what 'ave we here." Gambit's red and black eyes shone brightly in the darkness that surrounded him. Almost scared the heck out of the girl standing away from him, he thought. "I t'ought y' were supposed t' remain inside." Gambit grinned at her and took a puff of smoke as he gazed at her.

Here we go again. "Uh..Ah don' think anyone could hurt meh where Ah'm standin' right now." Rogue looked at him irritated. She stood on the roof with her feet firmly placed on it and an arm against her waist. "'sides Ah can fly."

"Dats where y' wrong chére." Gambit shook his head. "It's not 'bout anybody hurtin' you, its 'bout you escapin' away from dem…or I should say us." He took another drag from his cigarette.

Although his remark seemed to have an effect on her, Rogue secured her composure. However, Gambit could already notice the sadden expression that was now appearing on her petite features.

"Where do y' think Ah'll go? Like Ah said before, Ah have no where ta go." Rogue stared into his eyes and played with her braid. "'sides its non of yoah business as to where Ah go as long as Ah'm stayin' in the mansion."

Gambit huffed loudly at her childishness. Ignoring her comments, Gambit patted on the space beside him. "Now dat y' up here, aren' ya gonna sit? Enjoy de view chére?" He nodded towards the vast land beyond the mansion grounds.

"Ah was gonna, but you took mah place." Rogue said defiantly while tugging a strand behind her ear. "So Ah'm gonna go and take a seat somewheah else." She walked towards the opposite side of the roof as Gambit watched her go with a ridiculous expression on his face.

"Now why y' avoidin' me, eh chére?" Gambit raised an eyebrow. "Is dat cuz of what happened last week?" Gambit asked her, referring to the fight she had with Wolverine on an early morning.

Rogue sat down and let her legs hang down the edge of the roof. "Ah'm not avoidin' you. An' this has nuthin' t' do with 'what happened last week'. Rogue said, accenting the last words with his accent and voice.

"Fine den." Gambit said and went back to his smoking. Without saying a word, he silently walked towards her with expert skill. After all, he had been a king of thieves. Crouching quietly behind Rogue's back, Gambit grasped her shoulders and shoved her forward slightly—but fast enough for her to jump back and grab him through anyway she could. "Ohmahgod!" was all she muttered.

Not liking his foolish act one bit, Rogue slightly shoved him backwards with one hand knowing that her too much strength could be harmful. "What the hell was that?!"

"I t'ought you could fly—." Gambit asked grinning attractively and looking at her through the strands of auburn hair. The feel of her body pressing against hers thrilled him and unsurprisingly, he wanted more, however he knew she wouldn't let him near her than an arms length.

She was not quiet used to the super strength and flying powers yet, Remy knew from the various danger room sessions that had together. The clumsy falling from high-rise buildings and knocking robots haphazardly was what she had been doing in the danger room while Cyclops barked orders at her during their training sessions. Thanks to the least bit of training lessons that Mystique had given her, they came in handy for the girl sometimes, Gambit thought.

"Shut the hell up an' get outta mah sight." Rogue said annoyingly and turned her back to him. "Can' a girl have some time for herself?"

"'scuse me? Who was de one who came up here first?" Gambit said. Despite her gesturing protests, Gambit placed him beside her at an arms length. "'sides dis has been m' place ever since I joined de x-men. Kinda makes y' get y' mind off o' things."

Rogue glanced at him and turned back to look at the city ahead of her. "Yeah, thanks to yoah Wolverine f' makin' things easiuh for me." She said sarcastically. "Ah nevah would've come up heah if Cyclops hadn' put a curfew on me."

Before saying anything he looked at her angrily but lost himself in her sight. Her glittery green eyes shone against the darkness of the night and matched beautifully with her auburn and white bangs. He watched her full, luscious red lips as she spoke each word bitterly. "Now why y' sayin' dat? Is dat cuz of what happened last week?" Gambit asked her referring to the fight she had with Wolverine on an early morning.

"Uh…whadya think?" Rogue clenched her teeth and curled her gloved fingers into a fist, while staring at the grounds. "If you hadn't stopped me, Ah woulda broken his jaw or somethin'…only if you hadn't come between us." She gave him dirty look and went back to staring into nothingness.

"You woulda broken 'is jaw? Wolvie's? Y' must be kiddin' me." Gambit took another drag of cigarette and took out the smoke sideways.

"Ah intended ta do so. But again, thanks ta you." Rogue paused. "And Jean." She muttered through clenched teeth.

Gambit shook his head, she was just too naïve right now for dealing with all this, he thought. She would have to do so much to gain everyone's trust and moreover, for the x-men to be able to trust her since she had been with so many different people who did nothing but, harm her. In every possible way they could, emotionally and physically.

So for Rogue creating a barrier around herself was not surprising for them, Professor and Hank had warned them. Also, they had been given certain guidelines by the Professor as to how to deal with her.

"Yeah, kind o' gets annoyin', dat stuff dat Jeanie keeps on doin' wit yer head, no?" Gambit said tilting his head towards Rogue. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts but she abruptly looked at him.

She paused before speaking. "Yeah…Ah think so too." Rogue gulped nervously before speaking. "Y' know, lakh she gets into your head. Its kinda freaky." Rogue shuddered, the uneasy feeling added up the cold that was freezing her, Gambit could tell by the rosy color cheeks among the pale skin.

"The professuh too. The way they lakh get into your head just freaks meh out, not ta mention Ah already have one personality stuck in mah brain forevuh." Rogue shook her head pointing her finger towards her head.

Gambit took a moment to study her while she explored the beauty that surrounded them. It took time, but still, after numerous efforts, one could convince her to loosen up a bit. And he could already see the result of his efforts as she suddenly started talking to him with trust about other x-men.

"Y'll get used t' it soon enough chére," Gambit said. "How's she doin' up dere?" Remy knocked on her head slightly with his hand.

Rogue flinched from the touch moved an inch away, making it obvious that she didn't want to be touched. "She's fahne. The professuh and Jean got inta mah head 'gain and shut her off completely." She tilted her head and looked at him, "Why am Ah havin' this conversation with y'?"

Gambit allowed himself to take another long look at her before answering. Now that he got a chance to look at her completely, he found that her looks were driving him crazy. Her seductive way of tilting her head and her feisty green eyes were not helping him much here. However, like always, it wasn't just the looks of this newbie, it was the mixture of innocence and aggressiveness that drove him mad with desire.

"Y' askin' me, or y'self chére?" Gambit questioned grinning at her.

"Ah don' know." Said Rogue irritated and flipped her long braided hair only to have it flip around the other shoulder. She looked at him sideways and made a disgusted face. "Yoah smokin' that thing again Gambit?"

"Yeah, what d' you care?"

"What makes y' think that?!" Rogue was taken back by his curt response. Ya'll really played with his patience sugah, she thought about it after snapping at him.

Gambit took another long drag of cigarette, now that he knew it annoyed the heck out of her, he did it purposely. "Believe me , dis stuff really gets t'ings outta y' mind."

"Yoah implyin' that Ah should try it?" Rogue said skeptically as she stared at the smoke coming out from his nose and lips.

Shaking his head, Gambit continued smoking as if it was his lifeline. "No chére, o' course not---"Before he could finish the sentence, she snatched the cigarette away from his lips.

"Le' me try this." Rogue said smiling mischievously and dodged her arm away as Gambit reached to take it back.

Gambit reached to grasp her hand. "No chére, dats not a good thin--"

"Rogue dodged again and before he could seize the cigarette from her hand, she attached the cigarette to her lips to take a puff or two. But the smoke reached to her esophagus and she started coughing miserably. It was only a moment and he snatched back his cigarette.

"What de hell d' you t'ink you're doin'?" Remy asked sternly as he firmly patted her back and steadied her with his arm.

Rogue regained her composed and started laughing uncontrollably. "Y'…y' didn't think Ah was gonna do it, didja?" She looked at him with smiley eyes at which Gambit only rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"But see, y' were the one who told me that it takes yoah mind offa things, right?" Rogue twitched her shoulder to get his arm off her and she was pleased to find that she succeeded in doing so. Propping up an elbow, she kept her chin on the hand in front of her.

Meanwhile Gambit stared at the red lipstick marks on the head of his cigarette, he smiled to himself and put it out. "Chére, dere be ot'er ways t' solve y' problems. Y' have a choice." For the thousandth time in a day, Gambit thought about the Mutant Massacre. It was a routine to think about it. Of course, he was not supposed to forget after killing a thousand people. But even after the x-men forgave him, deep down in his heart, he was still hurt, and only God knew of giving him peace inside by making him forget the Massacre.

Rogue brushed a strand away tentatively and looked at him with the slightest of concern, something that she had learned living with the x-men for two months. "Why are y' sayin' that?" She asked.

Putting on his best poker face and the lady-killer grin, Gambit turned to her. "It's--y' wouldn' be able t' understand it." Although he appreciated the concern, Gambit did not want to spill anything considering that she was only a new comer.

"Oh." Rogue bit her lip. They still treated her like a new comer, how long was it gonna go that way? "It's gettin' pretty late, Ah think Ah'm gonna go now." She got up started to leave.

"G'night chére." Gambit sat there thinking to himself. "Care t' give Gambit a lift chére?" Gambit said as he saw her hover above the ground, ready to fly down to her balcony.

For the first time in so many days, Rogue smiled. "Ah…don' think that might be such a good idea. The other's might think that Ah'm tryin' t' kidnap y' or somethin'. G'night." With one last smile, she flew down into her room only to have herself think about a good future with the x-men that seemed to be very distant at the moment.

"An' stop callin' me chére!" Gambit heard her voice as she slid open her balcony. He smiled to himself and got ready to hop down to his own room but decided against it since he needed to grab a bite first.

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Everyone sat in the TV lounge on the next day. They hardly got any warm afternoons to spend time together and enjoy anymore. But today, Scott, Jean, Ororo, Beast, Jubilee, Gambit, Bobby, and Rogue, all sat around the room trying to occupy themselves into something.

"Gimme the damn remote before I do something that you're gonna regret later…" Bobby threatened Jubilee with a mischievous look in his icy blue eyes. Although Jubilee seemed to be pretty preoccupied with talking to Gambit about something, she kept the remote behind her with a tight hand securing it.

"I don't think so, the x-files repeat will be on any minute now and there is no way I'm gonna give you the remote control." Jubilee said trying her best to ignore him.

Without a word, Bobby got up from the loveseat and lunged at Jubilee who sat on the floor. "Come ooon, just for today…you're wastin' my time here…" He grabbed her ankle and slid her down and tried to tackle Jubilee who held the remote tightly.

The other x-men sighed and watched at the two youngsters currently kicking and battling on the floor. "No! Y' want it cuz you're gonna watch 'what a cartoon show'—STOP IT Bobby I'm telling ya---ahhhh."

"Got it!" Bobby snatched the remote and quickly changed the channels as held the remote up high, from Jubilee's reach. "Please Jubes—"

"Go back a minute."

Bobby turned to look at their leader Scott who had intervened between the two x-men. "They had news alert on it. Change it, now." Scott said sternly and Bobby disappointedly threw the remote in the air, only to have Jean catch it telepathically. The room silenced as she turned up the volume to clearly hear what the newscasters were saying.

"—and the anti-mutant organization 'friends of humanity' have recently launched an attack on a base that they believe is a 'mutant base'. Highly secured and protected building, the mutant base seems to instigate the attack from inside as no mutants have been detected outside the building yet. According to a recent report from the head of the NYPD and the chairman of 'friends of humanity', it is believed that the fight has erupted due to a mutant's escape that was two months ago and that the mutant seemed to reside the building that has been attacked. We'll have some more live coverage on the 'Attack on Mutant Base' in a minute. This is Sandra—"

"It's Mystique's base." Scott said, as everyone remained in their positions, shocked and unsure of the consequences.

"Oh mah Gawd." Rogue clasped a gloved hand on her mouth. Two green, dazed eyes were fixed on a certain spot as she tried to maintain herself. Although Mystique had led her to commit a crime despite her knowing the consequences, Rogue had spent her childhood with Mystique until the friends of humanity had regained control of her. "Its….its 'cuz of meh. The mutant…who escaped…it's me.." Rogue's horrified eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at Scott searching for an answer.

"Scott, dear, the professor's coming downstairs, he's informed about the news." Jean said as she looked at the x-men in the room.

"So what now? We go save Mystique's ass?" Bobby questioned getting up from his place.

Ororo gave one sharp glance across Bobby's way, "I believe you all know that Mystique is Rogue's mother, you should have the decency to at least respect her. Besides, she's a mutant, and it's our right to help them when they need us, we can't let the friends of humanity harm them."

"So you think we should go down there?" Jean questioned Ororo quizzically. "We're putting Rogue's life at risk, they've attacked Mystique because they expect her to be there, I don't think it's a good idea. What do you say Scott?" She turned to look at Scott who seemed to be in deep thought.

"I say we're wasting time here thinking, our simple plan should be to go there, save Mystique, come back." Scott said as he stood up, getting ready to leave for combat.

"Ah…what about me?" Rogue said nervously.

"What about you? You're comin' with us." Scott replied confidently.

Ororo stood up and pondered over Rogue's statement before saying anything. "But the friends of humanity are looking for her, we don't want to loose Rogue again in saving Mystique. Either Mystique or the friends of humanity will try to get Rogue."

"No, Ah think..Ah'm gonna come with ya'll…Ah can't stay like this the rest of mah life. Ah have to face mah fears…" Rogue bit her lip and looked at Bobby who kept a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Not to worry my friend, not to worry, we'll kick their asses." Bobby said grasping her shoulders.

Gambit joined Bobby and shuffled his cards as his red eyes blazed with energy. "Yea…we' blowin' up dere asses t'night."

"Wolverine is coming with the Prof, you guys go get ready for combat and we leave in five minutes." Scott ordered the instructions and the x-men went their respective ways to get ready for a combat.

"Rogue?"

"Yeah Scott?" Rogue turned around.

"Don't worry Rogue, we won't let anything happen to you." For the first time, Scott didn't find it very hard to say two encouraging words to his new teammate.

Rogue's only reply was to smile good heartedly at him as she turned to go after the fellow x-men. Deep down in her heart, she didn't know what she was she going to do in her first battle, which was against her mother as well as against the friends of humanity-both of them whom she had left behind to find peace with the x-men. But something told her that it wasn't going to last very long…

To be Continued…

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Author's Notes: Dun Dun Dun…This is it for now. Oh and the scene where Rogue tries to smoke a cigarette, I haven't written it to encourage ya'll to smoke :) Its just for developing Gambit's character. So, nowadays, I'm trying my best to ahem *quickly* update these fics, so don't' forget to come back and check for updates…you might find a surprise update here and there. ^_^

Thanks for your patience and reading and reviewing.

Samman