In the Rain by Yui
Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the slow update! My computer was acting up and I got lazy. ^__^ Anyway I really want to finish this story for you guys since so many people like it! Btw, is John's name St. John? If so, I'm sorry I'm just using the John part. ^^;
Disclaimer: I don't own the x-men. I merely borrow the characters for this story ^^
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Chapter 7
A Meeting of Questions
"Man, I can't believe that all three of you guys got sent to the principle's office!" Rouge laughed she lead the way to the cafeteria through the crowded hallway with Gambit by her side. "If I didn't know better I'd say you guys are a bunch of trouble makers."
Gambit smiled wickedly at her, amused by her banter, and replied, "Are you forgetting, chere, that you were there as well?"
"You're just a bad influence on me, Gambit. Before you came I was a goody-goody," she said, making him chuckle.
"It's a sin to lie, love," he told her.
Rogue tried to look insulted. "What? You don't believe me?"
"Not one bit," he answered, shaking his head.
She just stuck out her tongue in reply. "So how the rest of your morning classes at Bayville High?"
At her question, Gambit offered a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his urban hair. "Boring as hell," he admitted with a slight pout.
Rouge snickered. "I could have told you that."
Gambit winked at her and quickly pulled her into his arms in the crowded hallway despite her yelp of surprise. "But it's much better with you, chere. Though Gambit did mange to have some fun in gym class. You should have been there. John set the climbing rope on fire."
Rogue was stunned. "Are you serious?"
"Oui, chere," he replied, smiling. "But there was no damage. The little ember was put out with the extinguisher. Still it gave us a good laugh."
"Damn, you guys cause more trouble at this school than the Brotherhood," Rogue teased.
"The Brotherhood, right. They are the ones Mystic commands, non?"
"Yeah. They can be pretty unruly sometimes. You might wanna be a little cautious of the Brotherhood at school," Rouge told him. "They might wanna start somethin' with you."
"Gambit should tell Pyro that soon," Gambit said with a grin. "He'd pick a fight with anyone who looks at him the wrong way."
"John seems really hot-headed," Rogue put in.
"He can be sometimes but he is always genuine and honest," Gambit replied. "It's a good thing Piotr is so nonchalant. Nothing can really faze him, not even John's colorful vocabulary."
Rogue smiled. "And where do you fit in?"
"Oh, I be the suave gentleman with enough charm to seduce just about anything, I suppose," Gambit told her, winking.
"Whatever!" Rogue exclaimed with a wide smile, gently punching his arm. "You also forgot cute but egotistical, Gambit."
"You think Gambit is cute?" he asked.
"Did I say that?" Rogue teased, frowning in contemplation. "I meant adorable."
"Like puppy adorable?" He looked faintly alarmed.
"Of course! With your big brown eyes and your big flopping ears!" Rogue laughed as her hand snaked up to tug at Gambit's ear playfully.
"Ep!" Gambit quickly evaded her touch and jumped back, holding his ear.
"Oh, are you ticklish?"
"Like, Gambit would really trust you with that information, chere!" he laughed.
"Lair," Rogue accused. She moved closer to Gambit with an impish smirk turning up the corners of her mouth.
Gambit quickly stepped out of her range. "Stay away from Gambit," he told her. "He knows what you are going to do."
"All right. Fine," she pouted, clasping her hands behind her back. "I won't tickle you anymore. I promise."
"That's a good fille," he replied with a smile as he pulled her back into his arms. He lowered his face to hers and continued, "If I be cute like a puppy you should know that a pup has a very curious tongue." To demonstrate, he stuck out his tongue and acted as if he were going to lick the side on her face.
"Get away from me!" Rogue yelped in surprise. Laughing she pushed Gambit away from her. "Bad puppy."
Unfortunately she wasn't looking who was behind Gambit and he ended up bumping into the biggest jerk in school, Mike Colby, and a bunch of his stupid posse. Mike was an overbearing football player and was known for picking on his fellow mutant schoolmates ruthlessly.
"Hey, watch where you are going, dick!" he exclaimed, scowling menacingly at Gambit. Ready to push him into the lockers, Gambit turned sharply around and jumped backwards with the grace of a cat, before Mike had the chance.
"Just as accident, ami," Gambit replied when he regain his footing next to Rogue. "No need to get your panties in a knot."
Mike glowered, narrowing his eyes, as he looked Gambit's tall, willowy figure over as if analyzing him. "Hey, you're the fucking freak that almost blew up my girlfriend!" Mike accused after a second. "She told me everything. I'm gonna pound you into next week! No one treats Michelle like that and gets away with it!"
"A mere firecracker," Gambit told him without baiting so much as an eye. "No one dies of a firecracker."
"Whatever, mutant. She said that you lit up a card and gave it to her," Mike said, scowling in his plain hostility while popping his knuckles threateningly "We don't much like your kind here at school. Maybe I'll show you what we do to get rid of the freaks."
Gambit just shrugged apathetically. Rogue was on edge as she watched the scene by his side, the anxiety in the pit of her stomach growing every second. She knew that Mike was a big guy with a tiny temper but Gambit didn't. She did didn't know if he could protect himself if Mike choose to start a fight. With her stomach tightening in nerves, she realized that she didn't want Gambit to be hurt.
"Gambit, let's just go," she started to say. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the football player and his brainless lackeys. "Forget him. He ain't worth it."
"Yeah, listen to your mutant girlfriend," Mike teased with an ugly smirk on his face as he friends laughed as he forcefully stabbed a finger into Gambit's chest. "Get out of my face before I pound it in."
Rouge felt her face grow red in embarrassment "Shut up, Mike," she snapped.
"What is it, Rouge? Scared that I might hurt your boyfriend?" he questioned.
She frowned and slowly started to remove the glove covering her pale hand. She never thought to actually touch Mike with it (the thought of having a piece of him inside her was totally disgusting). She just wanted to frighten him a bit. "No. If anyone's gonna be hurtin', it's gonna be you, Mike," she threatened, flexing her naked hand.
"Chere…"
Mike sniggered. "Ooh, what are you going to do if I don't, Rogue? Shock me to death? Put me in a coma?" he asked. "Or are you going to give me a major boner because you're dressed like that?"
Rogue scowled, wanting nothing more than to ugly smack the smirk right off his face. But Gambit bet her to it. With surprising strength, Gambit grabbed the collar of Mike's expensive letterman's jacket and slammed his bulky body into the nearest lockers. Rogue as well as Mike's friends and the students in the hallway just looked on, too shocked to do anything else but watch in disbelief.
"Didn't your mama teach you to talk nice to the ladies?" Gambit growled, tightening his hold on Mike's jacket.
Rogue watched helplessly as Mike began to gasp for breath, his face turning red with lack of air. Her eyes shot back to Gambit, startled to see the steely hostility in his eyes. He didn't seem like the same Gambit to her anymore. What was happening to him? She'd never seen him act so dangerous, not even when they met on the battlefield.
"Let me go. You're so dead!" Mike wheezed out, his hands shooting up to scratch Gambit's own. "I'll get you for this, you freak!"
"Gambit doesn't think so," Gambit replied. He smirked as he charged Mike's jacket. The students watching gasped at the hot yellow sparks in surprise.
"Stop!" Mike gasped out, his eyes widening in fright. "It's too hot! It's burning!"
"Gambit, stop!" Rogue shouted. She grabbed a hold on Gambit's arms and tried to pull him away from Mike. "Don't do this! He ain't worth it!"
As if seeing Rogue there for the very first time, Gambit looked down at her and blinked. Then he slowly looked back at Mike and frowned. He uncharged the glowing jacket and slowly released him. Gambit stepped back as Mike dropped to the floor, panting and holding his bruised neck.
"You…stupid…mutant…"he gasped, throwing of his smoking jacket.
"Let's just get out of here," one of Mike's friends said, his voice shaken. They helped Mike stand and retreated down the hallway, Mike throwing a nasty look over his shoulder.
"Don't think I won't get you for this!"
When they were gone, the tension in the air faded a little. Rogue let out her breath that she had been holding and muttered, "Damn." With the show over, the other students slowly went on their way until she and Gambit were the only ones left in the hallway.
"Gambit?" she tentatively asked. He was standing motionlessly with his hands at his sides, still looking at the lockers were he held Mike. Rogue quickly pulled on her glove and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, chere," he replied softly, glancing down at her. "You shouldn't have seen that."
"It's all right, Gambit," Rogue told him, slowly rubbing his back. She was faintly relieved to see the deadly look in his eyes gone.
"It's just like last time," he muttered to himself with a heavy sigh.
Rogue was confused for a moment, wondering what he meant, but she didn't push him to explain. "Let's just go to the cafeteria, all right?" she said. "Mike's a big jerk. Don't think about it too much."
"Maybe Gambit should go cool his head some?"
"No way," Rouge argued, vehemently. "I ain't gonna let you out of my sight. Mike and his friends might gang up on you or something. I ain't gonna let that happen."
"All right, chere," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper, as Rouge clasped her hand in his and led the way to the cafeteria.
"Man, you look like you've seen a ghost, Remy!" John exclaimed, popping up beside Gambit in the crowded lunchroom. "Hey, Rogue."
"Hi, John. We just had a little run in with some jerk football players in the hallway," she told him.
"Are you shitting me?" John asked. He sounded highly disappointed. "Was there a fight or something?"
"Oui," Gambit replied without much humor.
"And I missed it? Damn it! You have al the fun!" John griped.
Gambit offered a half-smile and asked, "Where's Piotr?"
"His sitting down, trying to decide what the hell the cafeteria ladies served us," he replied in a huff. "He says it's meatloaf but I say it's jelly meat. It wiggles, man! Wiggles! Meat ain't suppose to wiggle!"
Rogue chuckled at John's unchecked fervor and offered, "It's mystery meat. No one's sure what it is."
John's face twisted up with disgust. "Oh yuck! I should tell Piotr that. He eats just about anything. Hey, you guys wanna sit with us? We got a table all by our lonesome."
"Umm…" Rogue's eyes darted to where she normally ate with Jean, Scott, Kurt and Kitty and saw Scott's obvious disapproval clear across the cafeteria as he watched her. Rogue glared back at him. "Sure, John," she replied. "There's anarchy at my table at the moment."
"Great. Come on."
"Hey, Rogue!" Kitty called out, hurrying over to her, lunch in hand. "Can I sit with you today? Scott is, like, being a totally jerk!"
"Sure. But I'm sitting with Gambit and his friends today."
"That's totally okay," Kitty said, smiling at Gambit. "Long time so see. How do you like Bayville so far, Gambit?"
Gambit smile back and said, "Could be worse, chere."
"Do you mind me, like, butting in?"
"'Course not."
"Great!" Kitty exclaimed, blushing slightly. "Oh, like, hi, John."
The fiery acolyte suddenly looked like a frightened deer caught in headlights. His face glowed with a faint blush as Kitty flashed him a bright smile. "Er…hi, Kitty" he muttered. "Um…I'll show you to our table. You can meet Piotr too."
"Great. Like, led the way."
Rogue laughed as she watched John and Kitty walk away. "Does John have a crush on Kitty?" she asked.
Gambit smiled and said, "I can't spill his secrets, chere." He then grabbed Rogue's hand and walked over to the lunch line. When they got their lunch, they found their table and sat down. Kitty was talking to Piotr but the quite Russian only listened as he ate his meal without comment. John was busy poking the jelly meat with his fork, frowning when it quivered.
"Man, I fucking hate school and I've only been here a couple of hours!" John grumbled, now squishing the meatloaf only to rebuild it to look like a small fortress and Kitty and Rogue watched on in amusement. "The food looks like something out of a science lab. The teachers have no fucking sense of humor. It's fucking amazing you two girls haven't gone completely nutters."
"Watch your language around de ladies, John," Gambit told him.
"Shut up, Gambit. I'm sure de said ladies have heard worse."
"Touché." Gambit reached over and placed a large cup into front of John. "Here. Drink you nasty coffee and be quiet."
"Ooh!" John's eyes quickly lit up like candles as he abandoned fort to pounce on the cup. He chugged the bitter liquid down like it was water.
"Um…if that's coffee, should you, like, let him drink that stuff?" Kitty asked, a little nervous as she watched John inhale the drink.
"Yeah. He's kinda hyperactive already," Rogue whispered to Gambit, so John couldn't overhear. "That'll make him bounce of the walls."
Gambit just smiled and replied, "Coffee is just like water to him. His body doesn't know that difference anymore he's drunk so much of it."
"Done!" John suddenly called out, breathless, as he slammed the empty mug down on the table.
Kitty's eyes widened. "You're, like, totally kidding, right?"
"15 seconds," Gambit murmured. "Not bad, John."
John shrugged. "I've done better," he replied before turning back to his creation.
Not know what she just saw, Rogue found it hard to look away from John. He really was something.
"Man, I wanna fucking go home!" John announced, looking at the fork as if he was contemplating to slit his throat with it. "Why are we even here?"
"Magneto," Piotr replied, his soft voice heard by everyone. Kitty glanced nervously at Piotr.
"Don't think you came her to start anything, missy. Because we ain't," John told Kitty. "It's just that bastard has nothing for us to do so he tells us to enroll here while he's prancing around France! Why doesn't he tell us to steal diamonds or something instead? Anything is better than taking astrophysics. Blah!"
Kitty smiled a little and asked, "Um…Did you, like, work out your schedule, John?"
He frowned and replied. "Nope. I'm stuck with it until the end of the semester."
"I'm, like, sorry to hear that. Maybe I could, like, help you with it sometime? I'm pretty good with that stuff," Kitty offered. "You missed today's assignment and we have a quiz on Friday."
"Bloody hell! Really?!"
Kitty nodded. "Yeah."
"Damn it. I need all the help I can get," John murmured. "Hey, do you want to come over after school? The warden is away so I think it will be fine. Right, guys?"
"I don't have a problem with it," Gambit told him. Piotr shrugged.
"You guys have a warden?"
"It's bloody unfortunately," John told her. "You've probably seen him. You really can't miss the big loser. About Seven foot, long shaggy hair, smells like a wet dog."
"Sabertooth?"
John nodded. "He makes a very bad nanny. Of course we try to make his lot a living hell but what can you expect from three teenage boys? One time the shithead wanted us to train on a Saturday and none of us wanted to do it. So Piotr turned himself metal and grabbed Sabby, and tied him down outside, using a couple metal rods that Gambit charged up. And I put a wall of fire around the guy and we sat down and watched Sabby try to get free. It was priceless!"
Rouge laughed in disbelief. "You guys must be pretty brave to do that to Sabertooth." Brave and powerful, she thought.
"Brave? Nah, bored was more like it," John replied with a smile. "Picking on Sabby when Magneto's not looking is our hobby. 'Course Sabby will never tell Magneto that he's having trouble with the new recruits. Doesn't wanna sound like a fucking pansy."
"Do you guys, like, live together?" Kitty asked.
"Like one big happy family," Gambit replied.
"That's totally cool. Rouge and me live with a whole bunch of mutants too. It's like a boarding house."
"Neat. So you wanna come over sometime?"
"Sure. Just as long as, like, don't kidnap me or something like that."
"Well, if we did, you'd make the prettiest hostage I've ever seen, Kitty cat," John replied, winking over at her.
Rouge suddenly remembered something and her mood quickly turned sour. "Damn it. Speaking of tests, I forgot that there's going to be a test in French tomorrow!"
"Over what, chere?" Gambit asked.
Rouge racked her brain. "I think over a couple of verbs like avoir and faire and a shitload of vocab." She buried her face in his hands. "I'm screwed."
"Since Kitty is coming over, why don't you?" he told her. "I can help you with your French."
"Really?"
"It'll be, like, a total study group," Kitty said.
"Not bad Piotr doesn't have anyone to bring over," John put in, smiling at the stoic boy across the table.
"I wouldn't want to bring anyone over," Piotr said, looking up from his lunch. "Your cooking might kill them, or harm them internally."
"Hey!" John gasped. "No one's ever killed the bucket by eating instant rice!"
"But instant rice mixed with chili pepper and hot sauce might make someone stomach disagree with them very badly," Gambit said.
"If you don't like how I take my rice then you shouldn't let me do the cooking, pretty boy."
Rogue smiled to herself as the comfortable jesting flew around the table. It was just like the interactions of the students at the Institute. The Acolytes really seemed to enjoy being together, being a little family of brothers. And that was why it was so odd that they were with Magneto. None of them seemed particually bad, with the exception of Gambit's outburst earlier. If Magneto had a hold on the boys somehow, she just hoped that the professor would know what it was soon and help them out of their non-consensual fellowship with Magneto before it was too late.
~*~*~*~
Rouge was glad that the school day was finally over but that didn't last for long. She still had detention with that old Mrs. McPherson hag until six in the evening. Glowering, she threw her books into her bag and slammed her locker closed.
"Whoa, chere," Gambit said behind her as she almost ran into him.
"Oh, sorry!" she replied, stepping back. "I didn't see ya there."
"S'okay. Gambit can be too sneaky sometimes. What's with the long face, chere?"
"Nothing," Rouge told him, sighing deeply. "I just have to go to detention again."
"That's too bad," he offered.
"Yeah. I have detention all this week. Anyway, it'll be a little late when Kitty and I get over to your house if you don't mind."
"That's not a problem, chere. Our house is always open."
"Good because I need all the help I can get with my French," Rouge replied, smiling.
"Are you two sure that you won't let Gambit pick you up?"
She nodded. "That'll probably make Scott flip out more. Don't worry. I have your address. We'll be fine. So, I'll see you later. Okay?"
Gambit nodded. "Until then." He grabbed her hand, pressed his lips against the smooth leather covering her knuckles before turning and walking away.
Rouge watched him leave, a deep brush covering her face. Gingerly she touched the spot he kissed with her fingertips and felt warmth run throughout her body.
"Oh, that was, like, totally sweet!" Kitty exclaimed, suddenly at Rouge's side.
"Don't tell me you saw that!" Rouge replied, mortified as her eyes snapped to Kitty's heart-shaped face.
The girl grinned and nodded. "Yeah and so did the rest of the kids in the hallway! Man, you guys are so cute together! I can't believe how, like, girlie you are with Gambit."
Rouge frowned, irritated. "I ain't girlie, Kitty."
"Whatever," she replied dismissively as she rolled her blue eyes. "You totally, like, blush whenever you talk to ore him. And you smile a lot more."
"Oh, god, really?" Abashed, Rouge's hands shot up to cover her warm face. "I blush?"
"Don't be embarrassed," Kitty giggled affectionately. "It's really, like, adorable. I bet Gambit thinks it's totally cute."
"Oh, god, now I'm cute? What next? I'm I gonna start wearing pink or something?"
"Whatever. Everyone is talking about how good you guys go together," Kitty told her. "Everyone thinks Gambit is your boyfriend."
Rouge paled, completely horrified by the news. "Everyone?" she asked. "But it's just the first day…we hardly…my boyfriend?!"
"Well, duh. When Tamara asked me if it was true that he was your boyfriend, I couldn't, like, deny it with you just being all chummy" Kitty said.
"You didn't! She's the biggest gossip in the school! Besides, Gambit and I hardly know each other, Kitty."
"So?"
"We are just friends!" Rouge argued. "Not even that. We just met over the weekend!"
"No one is 'just friends' anymore, Rouge. Don't you want Gambit as a boyfriend?" Kitty asked. "I totally thought you did. Why else are you guys always together? Why else would you, like, skip school with him? Why else would he, like, go shopping for you when you were sick? And, like, don't say it's dumb luck either. You totally know you like him and want to be his girlfriend. You guys are totally perfect for each other!"
Rouge frowned, crossing her arms in her mounting frustration. "Well, it would be a pointless relationship, Kitty! We couldn't touch each other! Were is the fun in that?"
"Well, maybe Gambit is not, like, interested in that?" Kitty suggested.
"Kitty, we've been through this before!" she argued. "Things like holding hands and kissing must cross his mind from time to time. Gambit ain't a saint you know."
"Yeah, and he isn't your, like, average teenage boy, either. And if touching means so much to you why don't you start taking some lessons from the professor to, like, control your powers? Jean does sometimes. It's not, like, impossible, you know."
Rouge shrugged. "I dunno. Listen, let's talk about this later, all right? I have to go to detention."
"Are we still heading over to their house later?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah. Can you wait here until six? We can walk over from here."
"Sure. See ya later!" Kitty said before turning and walking down the hallway. "I'll, like, be in the library."
"Okay. See ya, Kitty." With that, Rouge headed towards Mrs. McPherson classroom to endure three hours of hell.
To be continued….
Author's Note: It's finally done! Yay! But I dun know if I like the chapter much. It's not my favorite. Maybe I'm just being too critical. What do you guys think? Do you guys like it? 8 is on the way. (I have a cute idea for it) I swear I will finish this story! ^___^ Thanks so much for reading and being patient with me. I love you guys!