(A/N: Ok, like I said at the end of the last chapter, this chapter, and chapter 11 were going to be one chapter, but I felt so bad making you guys wait so long, I broke it in half so that you would have something to look at. So I took the last bit of last chapter to start this one, because in actuality, they were going to be one chapter, this will help me with the writing, you know, the 'flow' of it all… ect ect… I just wanted to tell you that, so you didn't go crazy re reading stuff. See how much I care ^_^
You guys might even want to go back and read the last chapter, not just to remember what happened, but because this is more of a continuation of last chapter, instead of one by itself
Ok, just so EVERYONE knows, this chapter is dedicated to *ishandahalf* for waiting so patiently for the 'roof talk'.)
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Chapter 12
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Rogue sighed inwardly as she slowly woke up, but the comfortable feeling the dream had given her had not passed. Her eyes stayed shut, as she relished in the warmth the dream had left her.
"Chere?" Gambit whispered as he ran a hand through her hair.
Rogue smiled and turned a little in the chair. Maybe the dream wasn't over yet.
"Chere?"
But it was over. Then what was this? Who was this?
Rogue opened her eyes and saw Gambit sitting on the arm of the chair she had fallen asleep in. He smirked down at her, as a look of shock crossed her face. She opened her mouth, about to yell at him, when his hand went over her mouth. He hushed her as he gestured over his shoulder to the mass of sheets on Kitty's bed. She nodded, and he removed his hand. Gambit took her hand, and helped her up out of the chair. He pulled her gently to the window's balcony. "You ready chere?"
"For what?" she whispered.
"We going to the roof."
Rogue nodded, and Gambit cupped his hands and offered them to her. "Come on." Rogue put her right foot in his hands, and pushed off of him to get onto the lower edge. Rogue pulled herself up, and brushed off before turning to offer her hand to Gambit to pull him up. Gambit laughed at the gesture. He jumped off the balcony, and into a nearby tree branch, from that branch to another, and from that branch to the roof. He smiled as he landed and straitened himself up.
"I could have done that…" Rogue said as she crossed her arms.
Gambit laughed, and shook his head lightly. "Of course you could have."
Rogue rolled her eyes as she walked higher onto the roof. Gambit followed her until they made it to a relatively flat area. Remy sat down first. Rogue followed suit, after only a slight hesitation, situating herself about a foot away from the Cajun. An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
Rogue felt her gaze fall to the roof, as she slid her knees to her chest. "So…"
"So…" he said uneasily as he looked up to the stairs. "Something on your mind chere?"
"I guess,"Rogue thought for a moment, unable to remember her exact words. She had decided earlier what she was going to say to him, but now the words were gone. "You remember Friday night, when we were on the roof? Well… you said… you said some things… and I just…"
"What do you want to know Rogue?" he asked solemnly, as if knowing what would come next. As if knowing he would have to explain.
"I just… Why do you care about me?" Rogue's voice rose with anger. "Why are you trying to get to know me? Don't you know what my mutant power is?"
"I know what you can do."
"I don't think you understand!"
"I understand more than you know."
"I already told you, if you can touch someone, then you can never understand."
"Just because Gambit can touch people now, doesn't mean he was always so lucky." Gambit said as he leaned back onto the roof and laid his hands behind his head.
Rogue stared out in front of her a moment, before turning to face him. "But…"
"But what chere? You think you the only person with troubles?" Gambit gave a light laugh. "You think you the only person who hurt people in the past? People you didn't mean to?"
"No, I just," Rogue shook her head before continuing. "Your powers are nothing like mine, how could you not touch people?"
"Not just touch chere… couldn't be near them." Gambit sat up and then looked at Rogue with sympathetic eyes, before bringing his eyes back to the sky. "Didn't even have what you got now."
"What happened?"
"Little over a year ago, my powers to charge things… went crazy. I couldn't control my self, and some people got hurt…" Gambit dropped his gaze back to hers, as she contemplated his words.
"Oh… But," Rogue seemed unsatisfied with his explanation. "What happened? I mean, how can you touch people now?" Her face suddenly became annoyed. "Don't give me some story about 'practice, and learning control', cause I'm sick of hearing that from everyone here."
"No chere, Gambit took the easy way out." He shrugged his shoulders as if cringing at the thought. "And he regrets it every day…"
Rogue noticed his reaction, and waited a moment before asking him anything else. "What did you do? What happened?"
"A man… 'helped' Gambit. He gave Gambit… surgery…"
"What kind of surgery?"
Gambit took a deep breath before continuing, "A type of…brain surgery…"
"And then you could control your powers?"
"Kind of… I guess." He looked down towards the roof, as if lost in thought.
There was a long pause before anymore was said. Rogue studied his face. 'If it worked for him…' "Maybe…"
"No!" Gambit snapped out of his self-loathing to stop her mid sentence. "Don't even think about that chere. You don't want to get involved with him."
"But if it worked for you-"
"No!"
"But you just said-"
"Said you don't want to get involved with him, with what he does." He shook his head. "No, I won't let you."
"You won't let me? Excuse me? When did you get any say in what happens in my life?"
"When you think about doing something stupid like this, that's when Gambit gets a say." He said it forcefully, yet not loud, and Rogue seemed to calm down.
"But I thought this guy helped you?"
"Maybe at the time, I thought so too, but trust me chere, it's a bad idea."
"Why? What happened?"
Gambit gave a light laugh as he shook his head a little. "You asking a lot of questions chere. A lot of question for someone who don't like to answer any."
The urgency erased from Rogue's face as she slouched a little. She felt ashamed. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It's ok Rogue, but if you gonna ask Gambit anymore questions, you gotta answer some yourself."
"Oh… well, I'll answer your questions, but only if they aren't about my name, or where I'm from."
"Fair enough," Gambit smirked as he thought of a good question. "So?"
"So what?"
"Was Remy any good?" He smirked wildly as he raised an eyebrow at her anger and confusion. "In that dream you had about moi."
Rogue laughed as she remembered the first dream she had had about Gambit. The blush eased out of her cheeks. "Oh THAT dream? Nothing happened in that dream, you were just kind of… there…"
"Wait, what do you mean 'in THAT dream'? Gambit was in more than one?"
Rogue became speechless as her jaw dropped. This reaction only caused Gambit to smile more. "No, that's not what I meant."
"You mean that's not what you meant me to hear." He said bluntly as he continued to smirk.
"Yes… but… just shut up!" she said forcefully as she crossed her arms and tried desperately to stop blushing. "I don't want to talk about it…"
"But rules are rules chere…" He said as he leaned a little closer to her, making her make eye contact.
The embarrassment escaped her face as her lips curled into a smile. "I'm sorry, I never got any rule book," The words seemed to flow out of her mouth as she recalled their first conversation. "Besides rules were made to be broken."
Gambit smiled as he remembered who had said those words first. "So I've heard." Gambit leaned back on his hands as he looked back to the stars.
Rogue took a deep breath. "What happened after you got the surgery?"
Gambit's smile faded. He paused a moment, fighting whether or not to explain. "Gambit was in Essex's Debt."
"Essex? Is that the guy who…"
"Yes."
"Oh…" a moment of silence fell between them before Rogue continued. "I kind of thought it was Magneto or something." She said nonchalantly, mostly to herself.
"What made you think that?"
"I don't know." Rogue laid back, onto the roof, as she searched her mind for the words. "You don't seem to really… follow Magneto's rules, I mean, why would you be hanging around me if you did. And you don't seem to respect the man too much, calling him 'bucket head' and all." She laughed lightly as she remembered the events earlier that day. "I thought maybe in exchange for the surgery, you had to work for him…"
Gambit gave a soft laugh. "No chere, you way off."
"Then why do you work for Magneto?"
"I don't."
"What?"
"Don't work for Magneto." He paused as he took in, and let out a slow breath "I work for Essex."
Rogue didn't understand at first, but soon all the pieces came together. "Essex has you working for Magneto…" Gambit nodded. "Why?"
"Don't know for sure. Was told to keep an eye on Magneto, figured this be the best way."
"When will you be out of his debt?"
"Couple days." But Gambit knew better than that. He knew no matter what, Essex would always have a hold of him. No matter how many times Gambit was told he was free, Essex would have another job for him. Essex would always have a grip on Gambit, and there was nothing he could do about it.
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(A/N: do da la do-do da la do (another Wayne's World flashback moment))
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The pale man walked down the long dark corridor leading to his lab. Upon entry, a swift silence fell over everyone inside the room. He stood in the shadows, while a small man with thick glasses and a lab coat brought him a folder filled with papers. "Here are the latest results Dr. Essex."
Sinister looked over the papers inside the manila folder. His eyes flashed slightly as he handed the folder back to the small man. "Fine work." The other scientist in the room took this as their cue to leave and they filed their way out the door. As the small man with glasses turned to leave, a heavy hand fell onto his shoulder, and a chill went down his spine. "He will be here in an hour, have all arrangements been made?" the words seemed to slither coldly out of his mouth.
The small man took in an unsteady breath, before nodding and walking over to a long metal counter on one side of the room. He picked up a small box off of the counter. "Yes sir, we finished it this morning."
"Good." The pale man's eyes glowed as his smile revealed a row of sharp jagged teeth. "Gambit should know better than to try and sneak behind my back." Sinister picked up the box out of the man's hand. "He is a fool! Did he think I wouldn't find out?"
"I don't understand sir, with all the technology we have, we could easily make-"
"Silence! Your place is not to question my decision! Nor is it even possible for you to understand."
The small man said nothing, but it spoke volumes. He seemed to plead through the silence for his own life. Sinister dismissed the man with a wave of the arm. "When Mr. LeBeau arrives, show him to my office."
"Yes sir." The small man with glasses tried to walk calmly to the door, and couldn't help but give a sigh of relief when he was out and in the hallway.
"Fools." Sinister continued, "Gambit must be taught a lesson. I could easily kill him, but that is not necessary. No, better to crush his spirits and keep him alive. And it is best to crush his spirits, by crushing her hopes." Sinister's laughter echoed through the lab, and filled its hollow metal shell.
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(A/N: do da la do-do da la do (I miss old school SNL))
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"How late is it?" Rogue asked as she stretched her arms above her head. She yawned as she brought them back down to her sides.
"You getting tired Chere?"
"Not tired," Rogue turned to face Gambit, and their eyes met. She smiled softly, and he returned the gesture. "Just sore." Rogue broke the eye contact as she stretched a little to one side. A sharp pain hit her in her left side. She slowly rubbed the offending rib.
"You hurt?" Gambit raised his hand to her side, but she flinched away. Gambit frowned as he pulled his hand away. "Just trying to help…"
"I know… I just… I'm not used to anyone getting close enough to touch me."
Gambit nodded, seemingly accepting her answer. "What happened?" he gestured to her side.
"I guess I got hurt in the training mission I did today."
"Let Gambit take a look." Gambit reached his arm foreword again. He paused a few inches away from her side, and looked up to her eyes. "I won't hurt you chere." He whispered softly.
"That's not what I'm worried about."
"I'm wearing gloves…" Rogue nodded hesitantly as she looked down from his eyes to his hand. Slowly, Gambit gently placed his hand on her side. He held it there a moment before he pulled the bottom hem of her shirt up a little so that he could see the area of her skin right below the ribs. There was a prominent bruise. Gambit ran his thumb gingerly over the purple-ish area of skin. Rogue bit her bottom lip and inhaled swiftly at the feel of his touch. "Sorry chere, did that hurt?"
"No… Its ok"
"You'll be fine, it's not that bad." Gambit pulled his hand back to his side slowly.
"I know, I just…"
"You just don't want me to touch you, right chere?" Gambit tried to hide the pain in his voice, and for a moment, wasn't sure if he had.
Rogue looked down to her hands, despising the gloves that covered them more than ever. "No not you… just anyone in general. I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Do you really like to be alone like this Rogue?" Gambit asked as he moved foreword on the roof towards her. "Being alone, all the time?"
"Doesn't matter if I like it or not…" Rogue felt the heat of anger rise in her throat as she took a deep breath.
"Chere…?" Gambit asked hesitantly after noticing her sudden change in mood.
"It ain't fair Remy, It just ain't fair."
"What isn't fair?"
"Being a mutant, being an X-Man, just life in general. It ain't fair. I get hurt slugging it out against some equally pathetic mutant for a place in a world that doesn't want any of us. A world in which I don't have a chance of finding happiness." Rogue felt tears form behind her eyes, but willed them not to flow down her face. "Fine. Life as an X-Man. I can deal with that. It's the personal side of my life where everything falls apart." Rogue turned to face Gambit, but dropped her eyes to the roof. "All I ask, all I need, is somebody to hold me. Stroke his fingers through my hair. Promise me that everything's gonna be fine. That all the cuts and bruises are worth it in the end." She looked up from the ground and into his red eyes for a moment, before rage found its way into hers. She clenched her hands into fists as she turned to look away from him. "But that's never gonna happen."
Gambit gave an audible sigh as he reached his hand into his pocket. "Wouldn't bet on that chere…"
"What?" Rogue turned slowly towards him after wiping away what tears had escaped her eyes.
Gambit hesitated a moment, but soon pulled his hand out of his pocket and reached it out to her. "Here…"
Rogue looked down to his hand, it appeared to be a watch, much like Kurt's image inducer. "I don't understand…"
Gambit smiled softly, trying to hide the pain from his face. "It's a gift."
"What is it?" Rogue asked as she slowly picked it up out of his hand. After closer inspection, it still looked like nothing more than a wristwatch.
"Don't know how it works… but when you put it on… it'll negate your powers… Rogue, you'll be able to touch …" Gambit saw the immediate mix of confusion and joy in her eyes.
"But, how did you…"
"Does it really matter chere?"
Rogue looked at him, and the joy in her eyes was gone as she pushed the watch back to him. "Did That Essex make this?"
Gambit looked somewhat defeated as he slowly nodded.
"Then I can't take this, it will put you back in his debt. Wouldn't it?"
"But Rogue-"
"No buts, I won't help you dig your own grave."
"But isn't this what you wanted?"
"Not like this I don't" Gambit reached out and put his hand over hers. She tried to pull away, but he held tight. "Please Remy, Don't make this harder…" His eyes peered into hers, and she felt a wave of weakness flow through her.
"Please chere…"
"I can't keep this Remy. You have to bring it back to that Essex guy." Rogue tried with all her might to fight against him, against herself. "But maybe we could… just… try it out…?"
Gambit gave a smile of relief. "Of course, we could just, try it out. Essex doesn't have to find out." Gambit pushed her hands back to her, with the watch inside them. "Go on chere…"
Rogue nodded shyly as she looked down to the watch in her hands. Slowly, she undid the band and wrapped it around her wrist. She fastened the band, and kept her eyes on the watch. "I don't feel any different…"
"There is one way to find out." Gambit said as he placed his gloved hand against her face. Slowly, he pulled her closer to him, as he leaned in himself.
"I don't know Remy-"
"Shh…" he whispered as he closed the space between their lips. Rogue flinched at first, but when the draining feeling that she expected wasn't there, she leaned into the kiss.
Gambit ran a hand through her hair, and smiled inwardly. 'Essex doesn't have to find out, I can just bring it back to him and say she didn't accept it.' Gambit leaned back onto the roof, as Rogue lay on top of him.
Suddenly, Gambit felt a strange pulling sensation from the back of his head. His eyes shot open as he tried to push Rogue off of him, but his strength was gone. He struggled, but to no avail. 'What the hell? The watch isn't working?' suddenly Gambit could hear laughter in his mind, a very distinctive laughter, it was Essex, it was Sinister. 'A trap?' he thought as he tried with his last strength to push Rogue off of him.
'This is amazing! I'm actually touching someone! Scratch that, I'm actually KISSING someone!' the words seemed to ring through out Rogue's mind. 'What the hell is he doing?' she thought as she felt him squirm a little underneath her. 'Maybe that's how they kiss down in New Orleans…'
Suddenly Rogue felt her powers kick in. Like being hit with a powerful wave. She could feel all of Gambit's thoughts rush into her head. 'No!' she screamed inside her head as she pulled her lips off of his.
"Rogue…" he said weakly, before his eyes shut, and his head rolled to one side.
"No!" she screamed as she stood up. Her hands went to the sides of her head, as her mind tried to sort through all the new memories. Which ones were hers? Which ones were Gambit's? Suddenly she felt a tingling in her hands. She took them off of her head, and held them in front on her. She looked down to see her gloves glowing. She stared at them a moment, before they exploded. Rogue stumbled backwards a few feet, and almost fell off the roof, but she grabbed onto a chimney. The chimney began to glow, as a loud crackling noise filled the air. "NO!" she screamed.
The door leading into the mansion swung open as Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Storm appeared in the doorframe. "What's going on-" Wolverine began before his attentions went to the glowing chimney Rogue was holding onto.
"Help Me!" Rogue screamed as she reached a hand towards them. Suddenly the chimney exploded sending her flying off the roof.
"Rogue!" shouted Kurt.
BAMF!
Wolverine and Cyclops ran towards the edge of the roof, as Storm Followed. Storm's attentions soon turned to the unconscious Gambit as they ran by him.
BAMF!
Nightcrawler appeared on the roof near where the Chimney used to be with an unconscious Rogue in his arms. Remains from the Chimney still drifted through the air as Wolverine and Cyclops ran to his side. Kurt looked beyond them to see Storm standing over Gambit. Rage began to fill his eyes.
"Get her down to Med Lab NOW!" barked Wolverine as he retracted his claws and pointed towards the door. Nightcrawler nodded.
BAMF!
Wolverine turned and ran towards the door. "Wait Logan!" Storm called out to him, "What about the boy?"
Wolverine gave a low growl as his claws appeared. "Just leave it to me…"
"No!" Stated Cyclops with a hand to his temple as he stepped in between Wolverine and the defenseless Gambit. "The Professor just told me to bring him down to Med Lab too."
Wolverine gave another growl as he retracted his claws and ran for the door. Cyclops and storm picked up Gambit and made their way to Med Lab.
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(A/N: Ok, so there you go, Chapter 11 part 2
This Chapter took SO much effort. *wipes sleep out of her eyes* Like I'm going to go take a nap right now! No seriously, you guys have no clue how much tweaking went into this. There was this one part that was so utterly our of character. But it NEEDED to happen for everything to make sense. ARG! It was SO hard making it all 'believable'. And then there was this other part… but I digress…
Just incase any of you forgot, I made a few references to earlier chapters. Like in Chapter 2, when they had their first real conversation, (with the rule book ect ect) and later in the 4th chapter I think it was, with the fire drill, when he finds out that she had a dream about him ect ect, and the last one was in the Wayne's world chapter, when she had another dream about him. Just incase you guys were stumped for those parts.
Just as kind of a side not, is anyone else bothered by the fact that when Kurt's image inducer is on, his shirt is tucked into his boxers? If you haven't noticed, do a google image search or something and check it out, I never really noticed it, and now it bothers me a lot. I think the reason it bothers me so much, Is because, now bear with me a moment, The professor programmed the image inducer to make him look like that, right? So the Professor PURPOSEFULLY programmed Kurt to look like he had his shirt tucked into his boxers… that's just kreepy
And before you go and tell me "Your reading into things to much.", "Its just a cartoon", or "Quit doing drugs!" let me just say, I am completely aware of the fact that it is a cartoon, and a children's cartoon at that. But still, come on… tucked into his boxers? That's not right!
Ok! On to Shout outs:
ishandahalf: OMG!!! Look at that, it's the roof talk!!! You must be so happy!! Well maybe you aren't because of the way I ended it, but the point is that the 'roof talk' happened. And I am sure that up until the last few paragraphs you were ecstatic, and that is enough for me! Well now you can look forward to the 'Med Lab talk' right? lol
Wiccamage: I heart you so much!!! O man thanks SO much for your help with this chapter. I can't even give you enough gold stars to do you justice. You really helped me out A LOT and I'm sure everyone here appreciates your efforts. And I'm so glad my medicine didn't cloud my judgment on that one part ^_^ and I think I am all better now, thanks to you ;) You, plus ice cream, sleep, and lots and lots of medicine lol!! Thanks again for helping me!
Nightcrawler03: I am SO glad you liked that part. It is one of my favorite little comedy bits in my whole story. Second only to the 'Leggo my Eggo' scene… and maybe the 'Cereal Bowl Races' scene… anyway, I'm glad you thought it was funny!
willowmaven: No, I never took German. I am part German, and can speak a few words/phrases, but nothing big. Like if I was stranded in Germany, I wouldn't be able to ask where the bus station is, but I could ask for the newspaper, or tell someone there was a thunderstorm coming, and I know what to say if someone sneezes, (but EVERYONE can say that) lol Thanks for helping me with this chapter! I'll definitely look for an opening for that quote, Its to good to pass up, I just didn't want to put it in here, where it would be over shadowed by all the crazy stuff going on, you know? I need to do it justice! lol Thanks again for helping me! I'll e-mail you again if I need any more help
Sarah Crysala: I hope that answers some of your questions, and I am SO glad you found the whole Kurt/Kitty/German thing funny. I love that scene so much.
Wizardess Gal: *jaw drops while green sandels stares at Wizardess Gal for a few minutes like a deer in headlights* Are you ok there sparky? I mean if me taking away your gold star privileges has caused you to go permanently insane then… you can have your gold star back *hands Wizardess Gal a gold star* and I guess you can have some chocolate milk… but no more sugar for you… in fact, you should go take out one of those little squares of carpet and have nap time… for like a year… P.S. I'm glad you're a happy purple cow ^_^
Rogue77: I am sorry it was a cliff hanger, It wasn't really suppose to be, but I guess this chapter is kind of a cliff hanger too… so… *gets on knees* I AM SO SORRY!!! I AM SO SORRY!!! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!! *Stands up* well that's enough of that. See you next chapter
icephoenix8: *green sandels checks her pulse* hey look at that, I guess you didn't kill me because I'm still alive. Yea for ME! Anyway, if you kill me, then you'll NEVER find out what happens. Hmmm… Just something to think about.
ElizabethDarcy-RogueleBea: "I really liked this fic" liked? You don't anymore? *cries a little* j/k I'm sure it was a typo, or at least I hope it was. ^_^ I completely agree! Whenever people focus on any person in a story, it gets amazingly boring! I love my little comic relief bits I put in this story, and Kurt helps me with most of them. Like 'Leggo My Eggo' and racing for the front seat, and the Random stuff in German, I love them all so! Well I got a little side tracked there, but the point is that I am so glad you found it funny, I was very proud of myself for coming up with the scene
CherryShadowZ: Kudos to you for writing me a review that said nothing about my story/new chapter! Lol
You guys might even want to go back and read the last chapter, not just to remember what happened, but because this is more of a continuation of last chapter, instead of one by itself
Ok, just so EVERYONE knows, this chapter is dedicated to *ishandahalf* for waiting so patiently for the 'roof talk'.)
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Chapter 12
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Rogue sighed inwardly as she slowly woke up, but the comfortable feeling the dream had given her had not passed. Her eyes stayed shut, as she relished in the warmth the dream had left her.
"Chere?" Gambit whispered as he ran a hand through her hair.
Rogue smiled and turned a little in the chair. Maybe the dream wasn't over yet.
"Chere?"
But it was over. Then what was this? Who was this?
Rogue opened her eyes and saw Gambit sitting on the arm of the chair she had fallen asleep in. He smirked down at her, as a look of shock crossed her face. She opened her mouth, about to yell at him, when his hand went over her mouth. He hushed her as he gestured over his shoulder to the mass of sheets on Kitty's bed. She nodded, and he removed his hand. Gambit took her hand, and helped her up out of the chair. He pulled her gently to the window's balcony. "You ready chere?"
"For what?" she whispered.
"We going to the roof."
Rogue nodded, and Gambit cupped his hands and offered them to her. "Come on." Rogue put her right foot in his hands, and pushed off of him to get onto the lower edge. Rogue pulled herself up, and brushed off before turning to offer her hand to Gambit to pull him up. Gambit laughed at the gesture. He jumped off the balcony, and into a nearby tree branch, from that branch to another, and from that branch to the roof. He smiled as he landed and straitened himself up.
"I could have done that…" Rogue said as she crossed her arms.
Gambit laughed, and shook his head lightly. "Of course you could have."
Rogue rolled her eyes as she walked higher onto the roof. Gambit followed her until they made it to a relatively flat area. Remy sat down first. Rogue followed suit, after only a slight hesitation, situating herself about a foot away from the Cajun. An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
Rogue felt her gaze fall to the roof, as she slid her knees to her chest. "So…"
"So…" he said uneasily as he looked up to the stairs. "Something on your mind chere?"
"I guess,"Rogue thought for a moment, unable to remember her exact words. She had decided earlier what she was going to say to him, but now the words were gone. "You remember Friday night, when we were on the roof? Well… you said… you said some things… and I just…"
"What do you want to know Rogue?" he asked solemnly, as if knowing what would come next. As if knowing he would have to explain.
"I just… Why do you care about me?" Rogue's voice rose with anger. "Why are you trying to get to know me? Don't you know what my mutant power is?"
"I know what you can do."
"I don't think you understand!"
"I understand more than you know."
"I already told you, if you can touch someone, then you can never understand."
"Just because Gambit can touch people now, doesn't mean he was always so lucky." Gambit said as he leaned back onto the roof and laid his hands behind his head.
Rogue stared out in front of her a moment, before turning to face him. "But…"
"But what chere? You think you the only person with troubles?" Gambit gave a light laugh. "You think you the only person who hurt people in the past? People you didn't mean to?"
"No, I just," Rogue shook her head before continuing. "Your powers are nothing like mine, how could you not touch people?"
"Not just touch chere… couldn't be near them." Gambit sat up and then looked at Rogue with sympathetic eyes, before bringing his eyes back to the sky. "Didn't even have what you got now."
"What happened?"
"Little over a year ago, my powers to charge things… went crazy. I couldn't control my self, and some people got hurt…" Gambit dropped his gaze back to hers, as she contemplated his words.
"Oh… But," Rogue seemed unsatisfied with his explanation. "What happened? I mean, how can you touch people now?" Her face suddenly became annoyed. "Don't give me some story about 'practice, and learning control', cause I'm sick of hearing that from everyone here."
"No chere, Gambit took the easy way out." He shrugged his shoulders as if cringing at the thought. "And he regrets it every day…"
Rogue noticed his reaction, and waited a moment before asking him anything else. "What did you do? What happened?"
"A man… 'helped' Gambit. He gave Gambit… surgery…"
"What kind of surgery?"
Gambit took a deep breath before continuing, "A type of…brain surgery…"
"And then you could control your powers?"
"Kind of… I guess." He looked down towards the roof, as if lost in thought.
There was a long pause before anymore was said. Rogue studied his face. 'If it worked for him…' "Maybe…"
"No!" Gambit snapped out of his self-loathing to stop her mid sentence. "Don't even think about that chere. You don't want to get involved with him."
"But if it worked for you-"
"No!"
"But you just said-"
"Said you don't want to get involved with him, with what he does." He shook his head. "No, I won't let you."
"You won't let me? Excuse me? When did you get any say in what happens in my life?"
"When you think about doing something stupid like this, that's when Gambit gets a say." He said it forcefully, yet not loud, and Rogue seemed to calm down.
"But I thought this guy helped you?"
"Maybe at the time, I thought so too, but trust me chere, it's a bad idea."
"Why? What happened?"
Gambit gave a light laugh as he shook his head a little. "You asking a lot of questions chere. A lot of question for someone who don't like to answer any."
The urgency erased from Rogue's face as she slouched a little. She felt ashamed. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It's ok Rogue, but if you gonna ask Gambit anymore questions, you gotta answer some yourself."
"Oh… well, I'll answer your questions, but only if they aren't about my name, or where I'm from."
"Fair enough," Gambit smirked as he thought of a good question. "So?"
"So what?"
"Was Remy any good?" He smirked wildly as he raised an eyebrow at her anger and confusion. "In that dream you had about moi."
Rogue laughed as she remembered the first dream she had had about Gambit. The blush eased out of her cheeks. "Oh THAT dream? Nothing happened in that dream, you were just kind of… there…"
"Wait, what do you mean 'in THAT dream'? Gambit was in more than one?"
Rogue became speechless as her jaw dropped. This reaction only caused Gambit to smile more. "No, that's not what I meant."
"You mean that's not what you meant me to hear." He said bluntly as he continued to smirk.
"Yes… but… just shut up!" she said forcefully as she crossed her arms and tried desperately to stop blushing. "I don't want to talk about it…"
"But rules are rules chere…" He said as he leaned a little closer to her, making her make eye contact.
The embarrassment escaped her face as her lips curled into a smile. "I'm sorry, I never got any rule book," The words seemed to flow out of her mouth as she recalled their first conversation. "Besides rules were made to be broken."
Gambit smiled as he remembered who had said those words first. "So I've heard." Gambit leaned back on his hands as he looked back to the stars.
Rogue took a deep breath. "What happened after you got the surgery?"
Gambit's smile faded. He paused a moment, fighting whether or not to explain. "Gambit was in Essex's Debt."
"Essex? Is that the guy who…"
"Yes."
"Oh…" a moment of silence fell between them before Rogue continued. "I kind of thought it was Magneto or something." She said nonchalantly, mostly to herself.
"What made you think that?"
"I don't know." Rogue laid back, onto the roof, as she searched her mind for the words. "You don't seem to really… follow Magneto's rules, I mean, why would you be hanging around me if you did. And you don't seem to respect the man too much, calling him 'bucket head' and all." She laughed lightly as she remembered the events earlier that day. "I thought maybe in exchange for the surgery, you had to work for him…"
Gambit gave a soft laugh. "No chere, you way off."
"Then why do you work for Magneto?"
"I don't."
"What?"
"Don't work for Magneto." He paused as he took in, and let out a slow breath "I work for Essex."
Rogue didn't understand at first, but soon all the pieces came together. "Essex has you working for Magneto…" Gambit nodded. "Why?"
"Don't know for sure. Was told to keep an eye on Magneto, figured this be the best way."
"When will you be out of his debt?"
"Couple days." But Gambit knew better than that. He knew no matter what, Essex would always have a hold of him. No matter how many times Gambit was told he was free, Essex would have another job for him. Essex would always have a grip on Gambit, and there was nothing he could do about it.
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(A/N: do da la do-do da la do (another Wayne's World flashback moment))
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The pale man walked down the long dark corridor leading to his lab. Upon entry, a swift silence fell over everyone inside the room. He stood in the shadows, while a small man with thick glasses and a lab coat brought him a folder filled with papers. "Here are the latest results Dr. Essex."
Sinister looked over the papers inside the manila folder. His eyes flashed slightly as he handed the folder back to the small man. "Fine work." The other scientist in the room took this as their cue to leave and they filed their way out the door. As the small man with glasses turned to leave, a heavy hand fell onto his shoulder, and a chill went down his spine. "He will be here in an hour, have all arrangements been made?" the words seemed to slither coldly out of his mouth.
The small man took in an unsteady breath, before nodding and walking over to a long metal counter on one side of the room. He picked up a small box off of the counter. "Yes sir, we finished it this morning."
"Good." The pale man's eyes glowed as his smile revealed a row of sharp jagged teeth. "Gambit should know better than to try and sneak behind my back." Sinister picked up the box out of the man's hand. "He is a fool! Did he think I wouldn't find out?"
"I don't understand sir, with all the technology we have, we could easily make-"
"Silence! Your place is not to question my decision! Nor is it even possible for you to understand."
The small man said nothing, but it spoke volumes. He seemed to plead through the silence for his own life. Sinister dismissed the man with a wave of the arm. "When Mr. LeBeau arrives, show him to my office."
"Yes sir." The small man with glasses tried to walk calmly to the door, and couldn't help but give a sigh of relief when he was out and in the hallway.
"Fools." Sinister continued, "Gambit must be taught a lesson. I could easily kill him, but that is not necessary. No, better to crush his spirits and keep him alive. And it is best to crush his spirits, by crushing her hopes." Sinister's laughter echoed through the lab, and filled its hollow metal shell.
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(A/N: do da la do-do da la do (I miss old school SNL))
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"How late is it?" Rogue asked as she stretched her arms above her head. She yawned as she brought them back down to her sides.
"You getting tired Chere?"
"Not tired," Rogue turned to face Gambit, and their eyes met. She smiled softly, and he returned the gesture. "Just sore." Rogue broke the eye contact as she stretched a little to one side. A sharp pain hit her in her left side. She slowly rubbed the offending rib.
"You hurt?" Gambit raised his hand to her side, but she flinched away. Gambit frowned as he pulled his hand away. "Just trying to help…"
"I know… I just… I'm not used to anyone getting close enough to touch me."
Gambit nodded, seemingly accepting her answer. "What happened?" he gestured to her side.
"I guess I got hurt in the training mission I did today."
"Let Gambit take a look." Gambit reached his arm foreword again. He paused a few inches away from her side, and looked up to her eyes. "I won't hurt you chere." He whispered softly.
"That's not what I'm worried about."
"I'm wearing gloves…" Rogue nodded hesitantly as she looked down from his eyes to his hand. Slowly, Gambit gently placed his hand on her side. He held it there a moment before he pulled the bottom hem of her shirt up a little so that he could see the area of her skin right below the ribs. There was a prominent bruise. Gambit ran his thumb gingerly over the purple-ish area of skin. Rogue bit her bottom lip and inhaled swiftly at the feel of his touch. "Sorry chere, did that hurt?"
"No… Its ok"
"You'll be fine, it's not that bad." Gambit pulled his hand back to his side slowly.
"I know, I just…"
"You just don't want me to touch you, right chere?" Gambit tried to hide the pain in his voice, and for a moment, wasn't sure if he had.
Rogue looked down to her hands, despising the gloves that covered them more than ever. "No not you… just anyone in general. I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Do you really like to be alone like this Rogue?" Gambit asked as he moved foreword on the roof towards her. "Being alone, all the time?"
"Doesn't matter if I like it or not…" Rogue felt the heat of anger rise in her throat as she took a deep breath.
"Chere…?" Gambit asked hesitantly after noticing her sudden change in mood.
"It ain't fair Remy, It just ain't fair."
"What isn't fair?"
"Being a mutant, being an X-Man, just life in general. It ain't fair. I get hurt slugging it out against some equally pathetic mutant for a place in a world that doesn't want any of us. A world in which I don't have a chance of finding happiness." Rogue felt tears form behind her eyes, but willed them not to flow down her face. "Fine. Life as an X-Man. I can deal with that. It's the personal side of my life where everything falls apart." Rogue turned to face Gambit, but dropped her eyes to the roof. "All I ask, all I need, is somebody to hold me. Stroke his fingers through my hair. Promise me that everything's gonna be fine. That all the cuts and bruises are worth it in the end." She looked up from the ground and into his red eyes for a moment, before rage found its way into hers. She clenched her hands into fists as she turned to look away from him. "But that's never gonna happen."
Gambit gave an audible sigh as he reached his hand into his pocket. "Wouldn't bet on that chere…"
"What?" Rogue turned slowly towards him after wiping away what tears had escaped her eyes.
Gambit hesitated a moment, but soon pulled his hand out of his pocket and reached it out to her. "Here…"
Rogue looked down to his hand, it appeared to be a watch, much like Kurt's image inducer. "I don't understand…"
Gambit smiled softly, trying to hide the pain from his face. "It's a gift."
"What is it?" Rogue asked as she slowly picked it up out of his hand. After closer inspection, it still looked like nothing more than a wristwatch.
"Don't know how it works… but when you put it on… it'll negate your powers… Rogue, you'll be able to touch …" Gambit saw the immediate mix of confusion and joy in her eyes.
"But, how did you…"
"Does it really matter chere?"
Rogue looked at him, and the joy in her eyes was gone as she pushed the watch back to him. "Did That Essex make this?"
Gambit looked somewhat defeated as he slowly nodded.
"Then I can't take this, it will put you back in his debt. Wouldn't it?"
"But Rogue-"
"No buts, I won't help you dig your own grave."
"But isn't this what you wanted?"
"Not like this I don't" Gambit reached out and put his hand over hers. She tried to pull away, but he held tight. "Please Remy, Don't make this harder…" His eyes peered into hers, and she felt a wave of weakness flow through her.
"Please chere…"
"I can't keep this Remy. You have to bring it back to that Essex guy." Rogue tried with all her might to fight against him, against herself. "But maybe we could… just… try it out…?"
Gambit gave a smile of relief. "Of course, we could just, try it out. Essex doesn't have to find out." Gambit pushed her hands back to her, with the watch inside them. "Go on chere…"
Rogue nodded shyly as she looked down to the watch in her hands. Slowly, she undid the band and wrapped it around her wrist. She fastened the band, and kept her eyes on the watch. "I don't feel any different…"
"There is one way to find out." Gambit said as he placed his gloved hand against her face. Slowly, he pulled her closer to him, as he leaned in himself.
"I don't know Remy-"
"Shh…" he whispered as he closed the space between their lips. Rogue flinched at first, but when the draining feeling that she expected wasn't there, she leaned into the kiss.
Gambit ran a hand through her hair, and smiled inwardly. 'Essex doesn't have to find out, I can just bring it back to him and say she didn't accept it.' Gambit leaned back onto the roof, as Rogue lay on top of him.
Suddenly, Gambit felt a strange pulling sensation from the back of his head. His eyes shot open as he tried to push Rogue off of him, but his strength was gone. He struggled, but to no avail. 'What the hell? The watch isn't working?' suddenly Gambit could hear laughter in his mind, a very distinctive laughter, it was Essex, it was Sinister. 'A trap?' he thought as he tried with his last strength to push Rogue off of him.
'This is amazing! I'm actually touching someone! Scratch that, I'm actually KISSING someone!' the words seemed to ring through out Rogue's mind. 'What the hell is he doing?' she thought as she felt him squirm a little underneath her. 'Maybe that's how they kiss down in New Orleans…'
Suddenly Rogue felt her powers kick in. Like being hit with a powerful wave. She could feel all of Gambit's thoughts rush into her head. 'No!' she screamed inside her head as she pulled her lips off of his.
"Rogue…" he said weakly, before his eyes shut, and his head rolled to one side.
"No!" she screamed as she stood up. Her hands went to the sides of her head, as her mind tried to sort through all the new memories. Which ones were hers? Which ones were Gambit's? Suddenly she felt a tingling in her hands. She took them off of her head, and held them in front on her. She looked down to see her gloves glowing. She stared at them a moment, before they exploded. Rogue stumbled backwards a few feet, and almost fell off the roof, but she grabbed onto a chimney. The chimney began to glow, as a loud crackling noise filled the air. "NO!" she screamed.
The door leading into the mansion swung open as Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Storm appeared in the doorframe. "What's going on-" Wolverine began before his attentions went to the glowing chimney Rogue was holding onto.
"Help Me!" Rogue screamed as she reached a hand towards them. Suddenly the chimney exploded sending her flying off the roof.
"Rogue!" shouted Kurt.
BAMF!
Wolverine and Cyclops ran towards the edge of the roof, as Storm Followed. Storm's attentions soon turned to the unconscious Gambit as they ran by him.
BAMF!
Nightcrawler appeared on the roof near where the Chimney used to be with an unconscious Rogue in his arms. Remains from the Chimney still drifted through the air as Wolverine and Cyclops ran to his side. Kurt looked beyond them to see Storm standing over Gambit. Rage began to fill his eyes.
"Get her down to Med Lab NOW!" barked Wolverine as he retracted his claws and pointed towards the door. Nightcrawler nodded.
BAMF!
Wolverine turned and ran towards the door. "Wait Logan!" Storm called out to him, "What about the boy?"
Wolverine gave a low growl as his claws appeared. "Just leave it to me…"
"No!" Stated Cyclops with a hand to his temple as he stepped in between Wolverine and the defenseless Gambit. "The Professor just told me to bring him down to Med Lab too."
Wolverine gave another growl as he retracted his claws and ran for the door. Cyclops and storm picked up Gambit and made their way to Med Lab.
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(A/N: Ok, so there you go, Chapter 11 part 2
This Chapter took SO much effort. *wipes sleep out of her eyes* Like I'm going to go take a nap right now! No seriously, you guys have no clue how much tweaking went into this. There was this one part that was so utterly our of character. But it NEEDED to happen for everything to make sense. ARG! It was SO hard making it all 'believable'. And then there was this other part… but I digress…
Just incase any of you forgot, I made a few references to earlier chapters. Like in Chapter 2, when they had their first real conversation, (with the rule book ect ect) and later in the 4th chapter I think it was, with the fire drill, when he finds out that she had a dream about him ect ect, and the last one was in the Wayne's world chapter, when she had another dream about him. Just incase you guys were stumped for those parts.
Just as kind of a side not, is anyone else bothered by the fact that when Kurt's image inducer is on, his shirt is tucked into his boxers? If you haven't noticed, do a google image search or something and check it out, I never really noticed it, and now it bothers me a lot. I think the reason it bothers me so much, Is because, now bear with me a moment, The professor programmed the image inducer to make him look like that, right? So the Professor PURPOSEFULLY programmed Kurt to look like he had his shirt tucked into his boxers… that's just kreepy
And before you go and tell me "Your reading into things to much.", "Its just a cartoon", or "Quit doing drugs!" let me just say, I am completely aware of the fact that it is a cartoon, and a children's cartoon at that. But still, come on… tucked into his boxers? That's not right!
Ok! On to Shout outs:
ishandahalf: OMG!!! Look at that, it's the roof talk!!! You must be so happy!! Well maybe you aren't because of the way I ended it, but the point is that the 'roof talk' happened. And I am sure that up until the last few paragraphs you were ecstatic, and that is enough for me! Well now you can look forward to the 'Med Lab talk' right? lol
Wiccamage: I heart you so much!!! O man thanks SO much for your help with this chapter. I can't even give you enough gold stars to do you justice. You really helped me out A LOT and I'm sure everyone here appreciates your efforts. And I'm so glad my medicine didn't cloud my judgment on that one part ^_^ and I think I am all better now, thanks to you ;) You, plus ice cream, sleep, and lots and lots of medicine lol!! Thanks again for helping me!
Nightcrawler03: I am SO glad you liked that part. It is one of my favorite little comedy bits in my whole story. Second only to the 'Leggo my Eggo' scene… and maybe the 'Cereal Bowl Races' scene… anyway, I'm glad you thought it was funny!
willowmaven: No, I never took German. I am part German, and can speak a few words/phrases, but nothing big. Like if I was stranded in Germany, I wouldn't be able to ask where the bus station is, but I could ask for the newspaper, or tell someone there was a thunderstorm coming, and I know what to say if someone sneezes, (but EVERYONE can say that) lol Thanks for helping me with this chapter! I'll definitely look for an opening for that quote, Its to good to pass up, I just didn't want to put it in here, where it would be over shadowed by all the crazy stuff going on, you know? I need to do it justice! lol Thanks again for helping me! I'll e-mail you again if I need any more help
Sarah Crysala: I hope that answers some of your questions, and I am SO glad you found the whole Kurt/Kitty/German thing funny. I love that scene so much.
Wizardess Gal: *jaw drops while green sandels stares at Wizardess Gal for a few minutes like a deer in headlights* Are you ok there sparky? I mean if me taking away your gold star privileges has caused you to go permanently insane then… you can have your gold star back *hands Wizardess Gal a gold star* and I guess you can have some chocolate milk… but no more sugar for you… in fact, you should go take out one of those little squares of carpet and have nap time… for like a year… P.S. I'm glad you're a happy purple cow ^_^
Rogue77: I am sorry it was a cliff hanger, It wasn't really suppose to be, but I guess this chapter is kind of a cliff hanger too… so… *gets on knees* I AM SO SORRY!!! I AM SO SORRY!!! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!! *Stands up* well that's enough of that. See you next chapter
icephoenix8: *green sandels checks her pulse* hey look at that, I guess you didn't kill me because I'm still alive. Yea for ME! Anyway, if you kill me, then you'll NEVER find out what happens. Hmmm… Just something to think about.
ElizabethDarcy-RogueleBea: "I really liked this fic" liked? You don't anymore? *cries a little* j/k I'm sure it was a typo, or at least I hope it was. ^_^ I completely agree! Whenever people focus on any person in a story, it gets amazingly boring! I love my little comic relief bits I put in this story, and Kurt helps me with most of them. Like 'Leggo My Eggo' and racing for the front seat, and the Random stuff in German, I love them all so! Well I got a little side tracked there, but the point is that I am so glad you found it funny, I was very proud of myself for coming up with the scene
CherryShadowZ: Kudos to you for writing me a review that said nothing about my story/new chapter! Lol