AN: Okay, let me first start by apologizing that this took so long to post. I'm in the middle of mid-terms, and it's hell. HELL! So if I post irregularly blame it on the curse which is higher education. I know that the last chapter was really short -- sorry, I couldn't help myself, it was just such a great cliffhanger moment! Consider it payback for all the times you've left me wondering.
To ishandahaf; Pyro Lady; Southern Devil; Vagabond 2; and skittles: thanks for reviewing, and I hope you continue to do so -- it's good that it gets written down, cuz I'm not sure I would be able to hear you over the sound of my rapidly inflating ego.
Ishandahaf: Of course there will be ROMY! Is there any other way? You think I would keep someone as hot as Rogue with someone as nerdy as Iceman? I think not -- Gambit is too hot to be single. (no offense to the Iceman, but I'm sorry … it's just not meant to be.)
Pyro Lady: Hmmm… haven't really thought about it, guess you'll just have to keep reading and reviewing. Here's a hint though -- Wolverine will definitely get over his Jean crush, if you've read the comic books then you know who he marries in the future, I'm gonna go with that plot line. And I know it was short! Jeez… don't any of you have midterms? I'm SORRY!! And hey, your spelling is great, where are you from? (I have a thing for languages, Spanish and German are my double major subjects).
Vagabond 2: yeah, I know… I'm not sure that he would have been that accepting either, but it was a desperate situation, and the back of his house was on fire, so I think he would be able to let Gambit call and explain later. I KNOW IT WAS SHORT! You people… you'd think you actually liked this story! What are you, like, interested or something? Hehe… sorry, just a little ego-stroke there. It helps me get through the day.
Skittles: Thanks! You have good taste in authors at least, if not candy ;o).
Little white dots. That's what Gambit could see. Tiny, angry, bright dots swimming in front of the face of his captor.
The hand around his neck was like an iron vise, and as time moved on, slowly, Gambit stopped struggling, and started worrying.
"Well, kid? What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" through the white dots Gambit saw the feral grin of an animal.
"Logan!" a voice, echoing through Gambit's air-deprived mind was raised in protest. "Put him down, and escort him to my office, thank you."
Logan - Gambit assumed that was his name - growled and dropped him on the roof. There was an explosion of white as all the dots came together in ecstasy over the sudden rush of oxygen to his brain, and Gambit sprawled on the tiles grasping at anything in an effort to make the spinning stop.
His vision cleared, and he slowly sat up, looking at the older man with apprehension as Logan walked past him.
"Come on, kid" he said "and don't try to run away. I could catch you, and that would be unpleasant - I don't think you want me to become unpleasant."
Gambit stood up, straightening his coat, his heart pounding in his throat - he had never been caught. Not once. And now here he was, with some freakishly strong man leading him by the nose to a voice Gambit had heard in his head.
They got off the roof the same way that Gambit had gotten onto the roof - the older man's grumbling in his ears the entire way.
The house was darker than Gambit thought it would be - only one light was on in the house, and it was shining through the crack between the floorboards and the bottom of the door which they were approaching.
Gambit walked, his demon eyes on the back of the one called Logan, strutting along, completely confident that there would be no escape attempt - which was true. There would definitely be no escape attempt. Where would he go?
They reached the office door, and Logan swung it open, grinning at Gambit, and pushing him into the room.
"Mind your manners, bub, or you're gonna get grounded" he growled, baring his teeth, and shutting the door. Leaving Gambit alone in the room with an older, distinguished looking, bald man - who happened to be confined to a wheelchair.
'No wonder he didn't meet me on the roof' Gambit thought to himself, without a hint of sarcasm.
The man looked up, as Gambit walked through the door, putting down a book he had been reading. With Gambit's keen vision, he saw that it was the collected poetry of T.S. Eliot.
" 'For I have known them all already, known them all --; Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, ;I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;' -- beautiful, isn't it?" the man asked, quoting The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, "if a bit obscure. That's always been one of my favorite poems. Please, sit" he continued, gesturing towards a chair which was directly in front of him, "make yourself at home."
Gambit made his way to the chair, the lump in his throat dissolving.
"My name is Charles Xavier, I am the headmaster of this school, and you must be thinking that this is very strange. I am sorry for the welcome you received - but you caught us off guard."
Gambit blinked, and shook his head, "I gotta say, 'dis be 'de mos' welcom' a tief' ever felt, after bein' caught on 'de roof of anoder man's house." Gambit gave his hand out to the Profesor, "my name be Remy Le'Beau, but people call me Gambit. If I may," he paused, and assessed the Professor's mood before continuing "why ain't you callin' 'de cops?"
The professor released Gambit's hand, and rolled around behind his desk before answering. "We've been expecting you here for some time now. A device I created allows me to enhance certain gifts I was born with, and I saw the altercation between you and Mystique -- we've been monitoring your movements ever since. It wasn't hard to anticipate where you would be going. Many young men and women like yourself come here for safety."
At this, the young thief raised an auburn eyebrow at him "Like moi?" he inquired.
The professor nodded, "Gifted. For instance, I have the ability to enter other people's minds, and pick out thoughts - as well as create them if I wanted to. You can turn potential energy into kinetic energy, as well as having the ability to keep me out of most parts of your mind without any effort at all." he paused for effect, and Gambit fought the urge to run, while simultaneously forcing himself not to sigh in relief that he didn't have to hide who he was from someone else. "We're mutants at this school -- just like you."
Gambit, at that point, did sigh, "I did be thinking 'dat maybe I was crazy. 'Dat 'dis place was jus' anoder illusion."
The professor smiled at him, and nodded sympathetically "it's hard, being what we are. You know this as well as anyone here -- I wanted to create a haven for mutants. One place in the world that they would be accepted, and would have no need for fear. You are more than welcome to stay, Remy. Think about it - a place where you can learn control over your gifts, find friends, and be safe from Mystique and prejudice."
Gambit had been looking at the floor during this speech, his hands deep in the pockets of his father's trench coat. It seemed like a long time since he had felt safe. Not that he put much stock in total security -- but he did like the idea of the home. Home to him was a sacred place, and he longed to find another one for himself.
When the professor finished talking, Gambit looked up at him, allowing all of his mental walls down. He wanted the professor to know that he was being totally honest when he spoke.
"I don' know where else I would wanna be more 'dan here. I am tired of runnin', and I do my bes' to help you keep 'dis place safe from intruders --" he grinned, and continued "oder 'dan myself, of course."
The professor smiled, "of course. But before you do that, we need to get you settled in -- and tomorrow we have to decide where to place you, or indeed if you need to be placed at all."
Gambit nodded, and the professor got a strangely distant look on his face, like he was not thinking about where he was.
A moment later, Logan walked back into the room. "You called?" he growled at the professor, and Charles' sudden distance was explained.
"Ah, Logan -- meet Remy Le'Beau. Formally, that is. I would like you to take him to the room we've had prepared for his arrival. He will be staying here with us, so play nice."
Logan looked at Gambit, and extended a hand "Nice to meet ya, kid."
Gambit stood up, and took the proffered hand with a smile " 'dis be one o' 'dem stories you gonna tell you grandkids, non?"
Logan grinned wolfishly, "Come on, Cajun. I gotta get my beauty sleep -- we're not all as pretty as you."
The next day, Gambit woke up with the distinct feel that he was being watched. He opened his eyes, and slowly sat up in his bed, his auburn hair a mess, and his red on black eyes sandy.
As he turned around, he immediately saw the source of his paranoia -- someone was watching him. Three someone's to be exact.
"Ah!" Gambit yelled, and started back, stumbling over the edge of his bed, and landing on the floor, and popping back up to stare back at them.
The spectators were three boys, maybe a couple years younger than Gambit was, sitting on the edge of the bed next to his. One of them had hair slightly darker than Gambit's own, and red tinted sunglasses on -- Gambit thought the kid probably had devil eyes like himself. There was a time when Gambit had never been without sunglasses.
The other kid was of average build with dirty blond hair, and ice-blue eyes. He was looking at Gambit with a small smile on his face, which gave him a very open and friendly expression. It was almost comical in it's eagerness.
The third boy was what had made him start -- for a minute Gambit thought that he was in the presence of Mystique again. He was smaller than any of the other, and he had blue skin, with blue hair, and now that Gambit was paying more attention, a tail.
"Uh…" Gambit began, "my name be Remy Le'Beau. I guess I'm to be in 'dis room wit' you."
The three boys nodded, and started offering an explanation -- all three of them at once. Gambit couldn't understand a word of it, and when the blue one started teleporting around the room, he started thinking maybe staying here was a bad idea.
"Hey!" the one with the red glasses yelled "Everyone stop!"
Immediately there was silence, and the guy walked over to where Gambit sat on the floor.
"My name is Scott Summers. I'm one of the students here." he began in the newfound silence, "the blue guy is Kurt Wagner, and the dorky kid on the bed is Bobby Drake. Also students at the school. Nice to meet you, Remy."
Gambit winced, regretting the fact that he had introduced himself using his real name. "Only 'de adults call me Remy -- you can call me Gambit."
Scott nodded, and Gambit couldn't help but think that he was kind of stuffy for a student.
'Like a 30 year ol' trapped in 'de body of someone 'dat be 18' he thought to himself.
Bobby got off the bed and went over to Gambit, and held out his hand, with a huge smile on his face "Hey! Like he said, I'm Bobby. Good to have a new student. All you guys were getting boring" he said, nodding at the other kids in the room.
Gambit took his hand, and was surprised to find that it was ice cold.
"Well," Scott interrupted, and Gambit used the opportunity to get up and pull a shirt over his head, " we better get downstairs for breakfast."
When Gambit had gotten dressed again in his favorite (and only) outfit, Black pants, black shirt, big trench coat, the boys escorted him to the kitchen, where they found that the day had already started without them. As they entered there was a palpable excitement in the air, which Gambit was willing to bet his only pair of pants that it had something to do with his arrival.
As soon as Scott cleared his throat, everyone in the kitchen turned around, nearly vibrating with their own nerves -- being an empath, Gambit was slightly overwhelmed at the amount of emotion in the room.
"People, this is Gambit, Gambit this is everyone." Scott said, nodding at the table which Gambit saw was filled with girls and cereal. One girl at the head of the table sighed, and rolled her eyes at Scott's introduction. Very green eyes, Gambit noticed, swallowing a strange lump in his throat.
"Well, gawd Scott -- don't hurt yo'self or nothin tryin' to be polite for our sakes. We can manage."
Her voice struck a strange note in his stomach which seemed to vibrate all the way to his toes, and back up to his throat -- creating another lump that he had to swallow down. Gambit was no stranger to romance, and he had been with some beautiful girls -- he knew that most women thought of him as attractive, but this girl… Something about her was so familiar, but he knew that he had never met her before. He would have remembered meeting a femme like her. She had brown hair, with a white streak in it framing her face. She had ivory toned skin, and a generous mouth perfect for kissing. Her frame looked as though it was made for Gambit to hold… but it was her eyes which truly made him stop and look at her. So large, and young, and sad. She had been through things which she hid from the others, but which her eyes could not lie about.
He barely paid attention to the names of the other girls, nodding perfunctorily at them as they were introduced, Kitty and Jean, and Jubilee. What was her name?
"And mah name is Rogue," she finally said "not formally of course, but I don't go by anythin else. Ah'm sure ya understand that, cuz you're name sure ain't Gambit."
Gambit cleared his throat, and ignored the sidelong glances he was receiving from Jubilee, "Some use' to call me Remy, but I'm tinking we both agree 'dat 'de names we have from before, only bring us pain."
Her green eyes flinched, and Gambit knew he had struck a chord with her. Somehow he knew, his life would never be the same now that he had met her.
Okay! So there it is people, the latest installment. I know some of it was boring, but I like to at least TRY to create plot. Trust me, his being at the school under Xaviers protection will be integral later in the story. Okay, so I know that I am not being true to the Evo story, but hey! It's my party, and I'll change whatever I want. Don't worry, I'll try to keep things interesting for you . BTW, I fixed the problem about anonymous users reviewing, I didn't realize I had set it up like that. So now you can review at will. So really, REVIEW!!! And I like long, glowing reviews which tell me how amazing I am, and how awesome the story is the best. REVIEW!!!