Author's Note: Thanks to all who read and replied. I love you all! ^___^ BTW College is fun.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men
~*~*~*~
Chapter 10
A Meeting of Comfort
Gambit took her home on his motorcycle. It was early evening and the sun was ablaze with color as the shadows slowly moved into the town. It was around five and everyone would be home from school and from different practices so someone was bound to see her with him. But she didn't care. There were a hundred different things on her mind then. If she got in trouble for missing school again or being caught with his, she honesty wouldn't care.
Gambit pulled in front of the Institute and turned off the motorcycle's noisy engine. Rogue pulled off the helmet and carefully clambered of the vehicle, her legs weak and humming.
"Will you tell Piotr that I'm sorry about his mama?" Rogue asked him, handing the helmet over to him.
"Oui, chere," he answered softly, his dark eyes looking distraught.
"Thanks." She leaned over and slowly placed a tender kiss on top of his head. She felt him wrap his strong arms around her waist, pulling her in closer for a few moments. He was trembling a little. She closed her eyes, savoring the bittersweet embrace, and held onto him tightly.
"I'll see you at school?" she asked, slowly withdrawing.
He nodded his head and quickly revved up the engine once more. With a little wave, he drove out into the street. She watched him until he disappeared from her sight. With a heavy sigh, she turned around, feeling tears sting her eyes.
To lose a mother, she thought sadly. She didn't know Piotr's mother, hardly knew Piotr himself but that didn't matter. It was still made her unbelievably melancholy just thinking about it. Piotr was probably very close to his mama and losing her must have hit him hard. Rogue tried to wonder what it felt like to lose someone close to her. It would be horrible.
The more she thought about someone dying, the more the guileless tears came to her eyes, overflowing and pouring down her ashen face. She just hoped that she didn't have to lose someone so soon or at least be able to say goodbye if it did happen. Poor Piotr, he never got his chance.
"Rogue, like, you're finally home!" Kitty's voice spoke up. Rogue looked over and saw her standing on the other side of the gate. Kitty's eyes grew wide with surprise when she saw the other girl. "You're, like, crying! What in the world, like, happened to you?"
Rogue couldn't find her voice to speak, too troubled by her thoughts.
What if one day, she thought immediately, Kitty wasn't around anymore? What if things got too dangerous and Kurt or Logan died? Of course her housemates were annoying and stupid at times but they were her family and her closest friends. They trusted her and she trusted them. She couldn't think of living with one of them gone forever because they were all such a big part of her life. That was enough to break the tight shield she had erected around her heart.
With her thoughts making her all the more miserable, Rogue hurried through the gate and threw her arms around Kitty, startling the younger girl.
"What's wrong? You're, like totally freaking me out!" Kitty sounded shaken, frightened, but she didn't push Rogue away. Instead she wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug, knowing that Rogue really needed her then. "Tell me, like, what happened! Are you hurt? Did, like, Remy hurt you or something?"
Before Rogue could answer, Logan was suddenly by their sides, roughly tearing the girls apart. Glowering with angry, he held the teary-eyed Rogue by the shoulders in his strong grip and snarled, "I'll rip his fucking arms out! What did that damned punk do to you?"
"N-n-nothing," Rogue stammered quickly, wide-eyed and pale. "Remy didn't hurt me."
The stormy anger in Logan's muscular body quickly withered after her words sunk in and he immediately unhanded her as if he were burned. "Damn," he cursed. "I thought…I smelled him on ya, kid…What happened?"
"He…He…Piotr's mama died," she told him, his voice weak and unsteady. Before Logan could stop her, she fell against him and sobbed quietly against his broad chest. "It got me thinking about things, Logan, like would happen if my friends died…what if one day, Kitty or the professor, or anyone else, wasn't here…"
She felt the gruff Logan slowly exhale and awkwardly wrap his arms around her quivering form, not knowing what else to do to comfort her. "Shit, kid," he murmured in his deep, guttural voice. "There's no need to think about stuff like that."
"I couldn't help it," she whispered, distraught.
"Just don't think about it, all right? It won't happen, not while Xavier or I'm around," Logan assured her. "Now quit your sobbing, kid. You're getting me all wet."
Sniffing pathetically, Rogue pulled away and wiped her eyes, smudging her dark make-up no doubt.
"Damn now I hate to do this to you, kid," he said, looking both inept and contrite. "But you're grounded."
"Huh? Like, why, Mr. Logan?" Kitty spoke up, insulted for Rogue's sake.
"She skipped school again and," he sniffed the air and frowned with displeasure, "she saw the Cajun rat."
"Oh, but it's a love thing, Mr. Logan!" Kitty explained to him. "If you were, like, in Rogue's shoes you would have done the same thing! Some things are, like, more important than school!"
Logan glared at the younger girl. "Keep talking, half-pint, and you will be joining Rogue in the Danger Room," he growled and succeeded in quieting her. Her turned to Rogue. "After dinner, kid, meet me in the Danger Room for a session and don't be late. You are grounded for the rest of the week. After school I want you moping, washing, dusting, everything. Got that?"
Rogue simply nodded. Before he turned and walked away, Logan sighed and delivered a small awkward pat on the top of her head.
"Don't worry yourself over it," he muttered.
When he was walking away, Kitty stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Rogue's waist.
"Come on," she said gently. "Let's go inside, okay? Forget about, like, being grounded. We'll, like, have dinner and then you can tell me all about you day with your hunky Cajun boyfriend after your session."
Through her drying tears, Rogue smiled at Kitty.
"See? It's definitely a love thing," the girl said, nodding firmly. "Just the mention of Gambit makes you happy."
~*~*~*~
Sweaty and achy from the rigorous training in the Danger Room with Logan, Rogue made her way up to her room as quickly as her tired bones would let her. She still wore her black and green uniform, too weary to change down there. All she wanted to do was take a nice long shower and go to bed.
"Damn," she muttered, slowly rubbing the ache from her shoulder. "Logan sure didn't hold anything back tonight. Even if he can bust through stone walls and battle psycho robots doesn't mean I can too."
"Hey, Rogue!" a voice called out to her from down the hallway. "Wait a sec, will ya?"
Frowning, Rogue turned around and saw Kurt looking over at her. "What do you want, elf man?" she asked as she crossed her arms. "I was on my way to take a shower."
Kurt was unfazed by the icy animosity in her voice and quickly hurried down the hall towards her.
"I haven't seen you all day! Word is that you skipped school," he replied, smiling.
"Yeah? So what?"
He shrugged. "Did you get in trouble?"
"Logan grounded me."
"Really?"
Rogue nodded. "Till Saturday."
"That's not bad, Rogue. I was on probation for an entire month. A few days means nothing." A look of worry crossed his face. "Listen, Rogue," he murmured, moving closer to grasp her elbow in his hand. "Kitty told me that you and Gambit are going out. Is that true?"
Rogue frowned. "What if it is, elf man? Are you going to tell me that it's a bad idea like everyone else?"
"No," Kurt quickly said, shaking his head. "It's just that I'm worried. Kitty told me that he almost lost it…"
Rogue frowned. "Jeez, can't Kitty keep anything to herself?" she asked herself. "Don't worry about me, Kurt. Remy's a very nice guy. He just has a…a troubled past."
"I don't want him to hurt you, Rogue," Kurt replied honestly. "If he does, he'll have to deal with me!"
She laughed in spite of herself and replied, "What would you do? Teleport him to the next town? Don't worry about it, okay? Besides, Logan has first dibs on the Swamp Rat if he hurts me. I don't know what would be left of him then."
Kurt nodded. "All right, Rogue," he murmured, turning around to go back to his room. "Just be careful."
"I will," she promised. She watched him walk back to his room and was ready to head to make her way to her own when she saw Scott's face frowning over at her through the doorway of his bedroom. She immediately stopped and glared at him. (A/N: I don't know who Scott shares a room with! Is it Kurt?)
"What do you want now, Summers?"
His frown deepened but he didn't say anything. Shaking his head, he slammed his door shut. Rogue sighed and found her room.
"I've been, like, waiting for you for, like, ever!" Kitty exclaimed as soon as Rogue walked through the bedroom door. The younger girl was sitting on her bed, dressed in her pink pajamas, and all but bouncing from her barely contained anticipation. "What took you so long? I, like, totally want to hear about your day!"
Rogue groaned and quickly moved inside her closet. She stripped out of her hot uniform and put on a pair of cotton boxers and a tank top.
"Do we have to talk about it now?" she asked. "I really want to take a shower and head to bed. Logan was tough on me tonight."
From her bed, Kitty pouted. "Please? It'll take you like five minutes!"
Rogue smirked and closed her closet door. "You really ought to read a romance novel, Kitty, if you want to hear about romance," she replied.
"Read? As if! What should I, like, read when this lovely little drama is unfolding, like, right underneath my eyes? Soap operas don't even, like, come close to this!" Kitty said. "A mysterious man with an even more mysterious past. A young heroine trying to love him through all the obstacles. This is exciting stuff! Now get your butt over here and, like, talk already!"
Rogue sighed but sat down next to Kitty nonetheless. "Well, want do you want to know?"
Kitty smiled and quickly remarked, "Gambit wasn't at school today."
"I know."
"Why?"
Rogue sighed, remembering that Kitty didn't know about Gambit's history. "You know how we suspected that Remy was linked to the gangs down in New Orleans?"
"Yeah."
"Well, um, we were wrong," Rogue said. Kitty looked confused. "It turns out that he's a master thief. Not only is he linked but he ruled a Thieving Guild."
Kitty's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Really? I don't, like, know what that means but he must have been pretty powerful down there, right? Did you ask him why he left?"
"He…he did something bad."
"Like what? Steal something?" She looked unimpressed.
"No. He killed someone," Rogue whispered. Kitty gasped, the color draining away from her face. "Magneto found him and promised that he wouldn't go to the police if Remy agreed to be on his side. Last night, I read something about the gangs in New Orleans in the paper, and joked about then with Gambit."
"I know that part. Gambit got mad and left. Was he took angry to go to school today or something?"
"I don't know. John and Piotr told me that he didn't come home last night and that got me really scared. I kept seeing him lying in a gutter somewhere," Rogue answered, shuddering. "They said the Remy never wanted me to find out about his past because he thought that I would hate him for it. I said I didn't and they said that Gambit needs to know that the girl he loves still cares for him."
"'The girl he loves'?" Kitty echoed. "Rogue! He loves you!" Smiling, Kitty pulled the other girl into a tight hug. "That's, like, so sweet!"
"Do you want to hear the rest or not?" Rogue asked, struggling to get out of Kitty's tight hold.
"Of course! Like, spill it! This is so much better than any romance novel!"
Rolling her eyes, Rogue continued. "I left school and found him at this southern restaurant. He was sulking in the corner. I told him that I knew about what happened and blurted out that I…" Rogue blushed and sheepishly whispered, "I blurted out that I love him too."
Kitty gasped, his eyes quickly turning glassy. "Did you mean it?"
Rogue nodded. "I told him that I loved him and didn't care about his past."
"Oh, that is so Pretty Woman! What happened after that?"
"Er…" Rogue face became much warmer.
"Oh no! You didn't, like, go back to his house while everyone was at school and made out or something, did you?" Kitty asked, teasing.
Rogue groaned and slowly nodded.
"What?!" Kitty quickly grabbed a pillow and smacked Rogue over the head. "You did? Seriously? Rogue, you are so mean if you're, like, pulling my leg!"
Smiling, Rogue murmured teasingly, "He has a tattoo on his upper arm and very gentle hands."
Kitty screamed and covered her ears. "Our little Roguey is growing up so fast," she muttered, shaking her head. Immediately an impish Kitty asked, "How far did you, like, go?"
"Err…almost positive that he knows my cup size?"
Kitty gasped. "You little tramp! Then what happened?"
"The phone rang."
"I hate when that, like, happens!"
Rogue shot her a quizzical look.
"Never really happened to me but I totally, like, feel your pain," Kitty quickly muttered, nodding. "So I guess he got up and answered? Then what happened?"
Rogue blushed with embarrassment. "I feel asleep."
"What?! You fell asleep?!" Kitty was beside herself with disbelief. "How could you, like, fall asleep with the most gorgeous man …er … flinging himself at you?!"
"I was tired!"
Kitty looked indignant. "You were, like, crazy!"
"I was up half the night worrying, Kitty."
Kitty shook her head. "I can't believe you, Rogue! You could have waited for him to at least, like, ditch the shirt or something! You missed your chance to, like, check him out! I bet he had, like, a really great body!"
Rogue could just see Kitty drooling and lightly smacked her arm. "Hey, he's my boyfriend!"
"Sorry. I couldn't, like, help it," she replied, smiling. "Gambit is totally hot!"
Rogue rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Whatever. When I woke up both John and Piotr were home and John was giving Remy a hard time for running away. Then Piotr got a call from Russia, saying that his mama had passed away. John and Remy were pretty upset about it."
Kitty frowned. "That's, like, so sad. What's Piotr going to do?"
"I don't know. I was going to ask Remy about it tomorrow."
"That's horrible," Kitty murmured, shaking her head. "I guess that news shook you up too."
"Yeah, a little," she admitted. "I kept thinking about what would happen if one of us died. Talk about depressing."
Kitty offered a small smile and placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder.
"I don't know what it is," Rogue muttered, "but I get this really weird feeling inside, like something's going to happen to one of us."
"Don't, like, talk like that," Kitty told her. "Remember what, like, Mr. Logan said. Nothing's going to happen as long as we have him and Xavier around. They will totally protect us."
"I know," Rogue replied softly. "It's just that I can't shake this feeling."
"I bet it's nothing. Maybe you're just, like, tired?"
"Maybe." Rogue sighed and climbed to her feet. "I gotta take a shower, Kitty. Then I'm going to bed."
"All right. I'll be downstairs in the kitchen."
"Hey, Kitty?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't mention any of this to Kurt, all right?"
Kitty blushed and nodded her head. "Sure, Rogue."
~*~*~*~
"Ouch," Rogue murmured under her breath when she felt a hand on her sore shoulder. She was standing at her locker the next day, her body in taut pain from head to toe, almost ready to head to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Sorry, chere," Gambit replied behind her, quickly removing his hand.
Rogue smiled weakly at him over her shoulder and said, "S'okay. I'm sore all over. Logan made me do a session in the Danger Room last night."
"So I guess that you got into trouble, then?"
Rogue nodded and closed her locker. "I'm grounded for the rest of the week because I skipped school again."
Gambit carefully wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, placing a little kiss on the top of her head. "Gambit's glad that you skipped."
"Me, too," she replied, blushing.
"But since you are grounded, Gambit can only see you at school now?" he asked, slowly leading them down the hall towards the café.
"Yep."
"That's tough," he replied.
She tired to nod but ended up wincing when pain shot through her neck. "Ouch," she murmured, frowning.
"You in a lot of pain there, chere?"
"Not a lot," she admitted, with a sigh. "Just a little."
Gambit smiled down at her and brought a hand to the back of her neck, the long leather-clad fingers slowly pressing down and rubbing the sore spots gently. "You are very tense."
"I know," she muttered, sighing with pleasure as he massaged her neck. "Can't help it. Everything hurts."
"Why don't Gambit rub your shoulders doing lunch?" he offered.
Rogue closed her eyes in delight and smiled. "I'd love that. Gambit?"
"Oui?"
"Um…how's Piotr doing? He's not here today."
She heard Gambit sigh, the hand at her neck going still for a moment. "He's going out of him mind," he finally replied. "He contacted Magneto and told him what happened. But that bastard wouldn't give him leave so he can't fly to Russia to take care of his Mama's funeral."
Rogue gasped, indignant.
"So, Piotr has to make calls and get the funeral put together by phone. He won't even be there when they bury her."
"That's awful, Remy!"
Gambit nodded in agreement. "John was completely beside himself and almost cussed Magneto out on the phone. Luckily, we stopped him in time. If he wanted to, Magneto could really make John pay."
"You guys sure look after each other like brothers," Rogue commented nostalgically.
Gambit shrugged. "Feels like we are family sometimes," he told her. "We are there for all the ups and downs. We understand each other; we tolerate and accept. I guess that's as close to a family us poor mutants can have."
Rogue frowned, not liking the sadness in his voice. She grasped his hand and said, "No matter what happens, you and John and Piotr will always be family. Even if you're torn apart or defamed, you guys will always be close. And, hey, you got me too, right?"
"Yes, Gambit has de rogue." He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her forehead. "Merci, chere," he murmured quietly. (Thank you, dear)
"Have you found anything about John's plan?" she asked.
Gambit shook his head. "Nope. He won't say a word He's just hacking into every computer for some reason. He's looking for something but I don't know what he's up too. Just says that he needs more time. Whatever he's planning Gambit hopes that it will be enough."
"I guess we just have to wait and see," Rogue murmured. "Do you want to eat outside today? It's really nice."
Gambit smirked down at her. "Gambit thought that you Gothic filles hated the sunlight." (girls)
"I don't follow the stereotype," she responded saucily. "Now come on. My shoulders need a massage."
"Gambit, personal slave to the beautiful, voluptuous Rogue," he murmured under his breath. "Not that he don't mind at all."
She looked up at him as if he had lost his mind. "Voluptuous?" she asked, incredulous. "You think I'm voluptuous?"
"Oui," he replied, winking at her.
"Are you crazy, Remy?"
"No, chere," he said, smiling. "The moment Gambit first saw you he knew that you had a very passionate spirit. All it took was a little alone time with your favorite Cajun to help you find it."
Rogue blushed and rolled her eyes. "Let's not talk about yesterday, Remy. It's so humiliating!"
Gambit smirked and kissed the top of her head again. "But you enjoyed yourself, non? Besides Remy was just as content to hold you while you slept."
"Most guys wouldn't have appreciated their girlfriends falling asleep like that," Rogue said.
"But Remy isn't most guys, chere."
"That's true. You are the cream of the crop," she teased.
Gambit smiled down at her and asked, "The cream of the crop and your own slave, what more could you ask in a boyfriend?"
"How about someone who isn't the enemy?" a snooty voice of a female interrupted them.
Rogue and Gambit paused, looking straight forward, too nonplussed to say anything for a moment. Jean was standing before them, hands on her hips and looking none to pleased to see them together.
Rogue soon regained her wits, angry on Gambit's behalf, and snapped, "Who the hell asked you?"
"Well, seeing that you aren't listening to Logan or Scott, I decided to take the matter into my own hands," Jean replied haughtily. "Rogue, Gambit is the enemy and you are an X-men. You shouldn't be hanging around him. It's dangerous."
"The only thing that is dangerous is your face in the morning," Rogue answered. "Now, get out of my business before I…"
"Listen, Rogue, I'm your superior…"
"So? I don't care who the hell you are. Stay out of my life, Jean!"
"No, Rogue! I won't let you let down the team by seeing him!"
"You just can't stand to see me happy, can you?" Rogue replied. "You just can't stand that someone likes me for who I am when you have no one!"
"Ladies," Gambit quickly stepped in, placing firm, restraining hands on Rogue's shoulders before she flew at the older girl. "Let's just calm down. Not very apropos to start a brawl in the middle of the hallway."
Jean rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you thought of that very same thing when you attacked Mike on Tuesday."
"That was an accident," Rogue angrily retorted. "Anyway, Mike was being a huge jerk. He deserved to have his big head deflated."
"Gambit didn't mean harm but he insulted Rogue," Gambit said. "Had to do something about his crude mouth."
"And beating him up was the way to clean up his language?"
Gambit sighed. "Listen, Jean Grey, Gambit doesn't want any trouble but he knows that you probably hate him only because he's with Magneto. What you don't know is that Gambit is on his side against his will."
"Oh, whatever!"
"That's the reality," Gambit urged, his voice dispassionate. "Magneto can be very persuasive and very forceful to get what he wants. And he wanted a team of skilled mutants and he got that even if he had to play dirty to do so."
Jean looked a little confused.
Gambit looked down at Rogue, smiled, and grasped her hand in his. "The truth is, Rogue means a lot to me. I could never hurt her. She's beautiful, caring, generous, loving, selfless, and a million other things." He looked over that Jean and said, "But the way you treat her makes me wonder how much you really know Rogue and care for her."
Jean frowned, looking insulted. "I do care for her."
"Then trust her and let her do what she thinks is right. As family, that's the least you could do for her," Gambit replied. As Jean thought about what he said, Gambit tugged on Rogue's hand and she looked up. "Come on, chere. Let's go to lunch."
They left Jean to her thoughts and walked to the cafeteria.
~*~*~*~
"Saturday night and here I am cleaning the bathroom floor," Rogue muttered angrily as she swashed the wet, disgusting mop to and fro across the tiled floor. "Not that I have much of a social life to speak of anyway. Still it would have been nice to do something with Remy or go to the mall with Storm."
Rogue paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from her flushed brow. Glancing over she saw her reflection in the mirror and frowned. "Like I look good enough to go anywhere tonight," she continued. She was wearing a shabby pair of gray sweatpants there were cut just below the knee, and large white T-shirt, old sneakers, and a dark bandana was tied around her head to keep her hair from her eyes. Oh, yes, she looked very fashionable.
"Stop stalling and start cleaning, kid," Logan spoke up, poking his head through the doorway to see her work. "You've got another 3 bathrooms to do and then the kitchen."
Rogue glowered and continued to mop.
~*~*~*~
Up in her shared bedroom, Kitty took full advantage of her time alone. On her mat and dressed in a pale pink leotard, she practiced her yoga in the quiet of the room. She usually did it in the gym but since Rogue was occupied somewhere else, Kitty didn't feel the need to walk all the way to the gym to stretch her muscles.
Humming softly to herself, Kitty concentrated as she bent over backwards and lifted one thin leg into the air. She breathed slowly and after a few moments adjusting to the position, she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and fingertips. Usually, she screwed this move up by losing her poise and toppling over. But tonight she was almost positive that she'd be able to pull it off since there was nothing to distract her.
She held the position for a few seconds and when her legs started to ache, she slowly began to lower herself. "Steady, Kitty," she murmured. "Don't wanna, like, break my neck."
A tapping at her window made her look towards it automatically and she quickly lost her balance. She fell to the ground in a pile of limbs.
"Ouch!"
The tapping continued. Annoyed, Kitty looked at her window. It was probably some stupid bird or bug. She didn't expect to see two vibrant red eyes peering at her through the thin curtains.
"Gambit?!" She quickly got up and hurried to the tall window, unlocking it and pushing it open. "Like, what are you doing here?"
He was leaning nonchalantly against the stone banister, dressed all in black. He flashed a quick smile and said, "Bonsoir, kitty cat." (Good evening)
"Er…hi," Kitty replied, blushing. "How did you, like, get passed the security system?"
Gambit shrugged. "A secret, ma petite chatte."
"This is really, like, dangerous. If Mr. Logan senses you, he will come up here and…"
"Don't worry, chere. Gambit won't get caught," he promised her. "Where's Rogue?"
"She's, like, cleaning."
"Good," Gambit murmured, nodding deeply. He stood up and reached into his long black coat and pulled out a card, which he handed over to Kitty.
"What is it?" she asked.
"La carte du amour," he replied, smiling. (The card of love ^___^)
Kitty looked down at the card in her hands. It was a King of Hearts and there was a message on the other side. " 'The king is missing his queen'? I don't get it but it sounds totally sweet, Gambit!"
He smiled and said, "Will you make sure Rogue gets it?"
"Yeah! Totally!" she eagerly replied.
"Merci, Kitty," he said, winking at her, and before she knew it, Gambit was gone in a blink of an eye. Kitty gasped in surprise and looked over the balcony to catch any signs of the retreating thief. But it was too dark to see him so she gave up, sighing and quietly shutting the window.
"Why can't there be, like, more men like him around?" she asked.
"More men like who?" Rogue asked, walking into the bedroom.
Kitty nearly jumped out of her skin from surprise and spun around, her blue eyes big as saucers. "Rogue, like, don't scare me like that!" she exclaimed.
Rogue rolled her eyes and closed the door. "Whatever."
"So…er…how was your day?" Kitty asked, watching as the other girl puttered around the bedroom.
"Boring," she murmured, pulling off her bandana and shaking her thick hair free. "Logan made me clean the kitchen two times! God, I just want a shower!"
"I have something for you that might brighten you day," Kitty told her, smiling.
"What is it?"
"Here," Kitty held out the card, her smiling widening.
Rogue looked slightly suspicious and slowly moved across the large room to join the younger girl by the window. She reached for the card gingerly and regarded it. After a few seconds, she sighed and smiled, her finger slowly tracing the words on the glossy paper.
"Gambit?"
"Who else?" Kitty laughed. "He, like, stopped by a few second ago before you walked in."
"He came here? Is he gone?"
Kitty nodded. "What's it, like, mean anyway?"
"The note on the card?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah."
"Hold on," Rogue told her, quickly walking to her nightstand. She opened the top drawer and searched through it. When she found what she was looking for she held it up. "When we met in the park, he gave me the Queen of Hearts."
Kitty wanted to melt right then. "Really?! Like, that's so romantic!"
Rogue smiled and said, "It's so cheesy. But I have to admit that I don't mind."
~*~*~*~
By the time Gambit got home, John was out and Piotr was brooding in the solitude of his room. The house was unusually silent and it unnerved him.
"Piotr?" Gambit called up the steps. "You all right, mon ami?"
"Yes, Remy," he heard the deep accented voice reluctantly reply a few seconds later.
"Are you hungry?"
"No."
Gambit sighed and moved away from the stairs. Piotr was a stubborn man and it would take more than Gambit to lead him out of his depression. He walked into the kitchen to pick up a late snack but the phone rang and he picked it up.
Probably for Piotr, he thought grimly.
"Hello?"
"Gambit?"
Gambit froze, hearing the familiar voice.
"That you Magneto?" he dreaded to ask.
"Yes."
"How is business in France?"
"Something has come up, Gambit," Magneto said over the phone. "I'm back in Bayville."
He frowned. "Really? What's up?"
"I want you to meet me at the headquarters in half an hour."
"What about John and Piotr?"
"Come alone. It's better to let Piotr sulk and John can't aid me. Only you can."
"Okay," Gambit murmured. "Gambit'll be there."
To be continued….
Author's note: A complete fluff chapter, mixed with a little angst and suspense. Ooh la la! I wonder what will happen! Next chapter will be the last! Hope you liked! Please review!