"How did you find us?"
"I have m'methods."
"What the hell are you doing here, LeBeau?"
"As I've already explained to de pretty lady," he drawls barely acknowledging Dominick with a glance before turning back to Raven, "I wan' join y'lil operation..."
Dominick had come to her ten minutes ago to inform her of a meeting in Mystique's office.
"New recruit" was all he'd said.
The last person she had expected to see was Remy LeBeau.
She'd felt him a split second before she stepped inside the office and had stopped so suddenly Dominick had rammed into her. His shoulders had tensed when he felt her too and she had watched him fight with his body for a moment to stay relaxed, careless, unaffected by her presence.
It was easier for him to get himself under control, he'd known she'd be here. She hadn't had the chance to prepare herself and had stood frozen in the doorway, her mouth gaping open, her heart thudding painfully in her chest, blinking madly because it couldn't possibly be him. Not here.
But it was.
And he looked okay.
Better than okay.
He looked strong, beautiful, dangerous. He'd be an asset to the team was what he had been saying…
"Why?" Rogue whispers and he tenses imperceptibly for the second time since she entered the room.
She hasn't said a word until now and he has not looked at her once.
He still doesn't as he responds to her question.
"Dey kick me out."
"So you thought you'd come here?" Raven watches him from over her fingertips gently pressed against each other, her elbows resting on the arms of her chair. He shrugs.
"'M better suited f'dis gig anyway. De speeches 'ole One-Eye gave were nice an' all but issa pipe dream. I've lived in de real worl'. I know what iss really like, an I know it ain' wort' de effort of protectin' people who sooner spit on y'den tank ya." He flashes a grin and leans towards her. "I rather be on de winnin' team anyway."
Raven regards him coolly for a long moment.
Rogue holds her breath. Pyro flips his lighter faster, faster, dying to roast him, waiting for Mystique to give him the go-ahead, while Dominick stands as still and silent as a statue.
"You'll have to prove yourself."
Click-clack goes the lighter.
"What the fuck? You're not serious-"
"When I want your opinion, Mr Allerdyce, I'll give it to you." Raven gets up from her desk. "You'll have to be initiated-"
"Ah'll do it," Rogue says quietly. And he looks at her then. His eyes flicker once and he quickly turns back to Raven who nods.
"I'll show you to the training room, Mr LeBeau."
He follows Raven without another glance in her direction and Dominick says, "I don't think you should."
She watches him go, silent.
"Rogue, I'll do it-"
"I'll do it, Petros– he beat you last time-" St. John cuts in.
"Rogue-"
She turns to him and forces a smile.
"Ah know all his moves, Dom. Don't worry 'bout me."
He ain't gonna be a part of this if Ah can help it…
"Tell Mystique Ah'll be there in a minute… Ah gotta do sumthin' firs'."
She lies down on her bed, closes her eyes tight and tries to calm herself enough to get in.
He's alive…
He's alive and well and she hasn't slept through the night in over a month.
Every time she closes her eyes she's in his bed again, naked beneath him. The gauze dissolves with a kiss and then his mouth is on hers but there's no darkness. He just becomes… heavy. Too heavy. And when she opens her eyes he's pale, so pale, his mouth open, frozen in a scream. No fire in those eyes, no warmth in that skin. No breath whispering across her flesh, no heartbeat, no sound, just a deafening silence and her own scream like white noise.
Every night she kills him.
And Dominick knocks on her door when her cries wake him. He slips into her room and sits on the edge of her bed and gently places his hand on her foot over the covers and says, "It's okay, Rogue… shhh… shhh… it's okay…" He stays there all night, in a chair, or on the floor. She listens to his sleeping breath wondering if Remy is out there somewhere, if he's dreaming, if he's awake. Or if he's surrounded by darkness and only living in her memories, in her mind...
And now here he is.
Perfectly healthy, perfectly ready to switch alliances because he needs a room. He doesn't give a shit about mutant-human relations, he doesn't care who ends up on top as long as he's got a place to stay and a steady supply of cards, cigarettes and women.
He has no idea what they're going to ask of him here.
And she's going to make sure he never does.
She opens her eyes and she's back in the bedroom.
She approaches the battered closet door and it swings open in welcome. She steps into the darkness and calls out his name.
"GAMBIT!"
Her voice echoes, shakes the empty air.
He's not there.
Shit…
She turns to go and starts when she finds him standing right behind her, his eyes flashing, his mouth a hard line.
"Why should I help you?" he says.
"B'cause believe it or not Ah'm tryin' ta help you. Ya don't know what ya gettin' inta."
"I tink I know 'xactly what I'm do-"
She doesn't have time to argue.
She grabs him, she kisses him full on the mouth.
He resists for a grand total of two seconds.
His hands on her shoulders stop pushing. They cup, they grip, and her kiss is still hard, still rough but it's being returned. He holds her so tightly it almost hurts and her fists curled into the neck of his shirt bruise her collarbone as she presses herself even harder against him.
He flows into her, warm and electric and he makes no move to end the transfer. His fingers tangle in her hair, his arm curves around her waist as they kiss. His power thrums through her body white-hot and glowing beneath her skin until she's full to bursting. For a moment she considers letting him consume her, letting him burn her up until all that's left is a pile of ash.
Ash…
Pyro.
Pyro will fight in her place if she doesn't get back soon and Gambit will win.
That can't happen.
She shoves with all her might and he flickers like the last time as they break contact.
They stare at each other breathing hard.
His voice is husky when he says, "Y'ain' gon' win, chere," and she closes her eyes, thinking herself out of her head as she murmurs, "Ah let them get t'ya once… it ain't gonna happen agin. Ah'm gonna keep ya safe whether ya like it or not…"
An' if Ah hafta use ya own power against ya ta do it… so be it, sugah…
She opens her eyes, gets up from the bed in one graceful movement and pulls his trench coat out from the back of her closet. She slips a hand in the pocket and pulls out the deck of cards. Her fingers tingle at the touch of the smooth surface, the light sheen of plastic just begging to be charged and melted away. She feels his power surging towards her fingertips and she stops it.
Not yet.
She tucks the cards into the pouch on her belt. All she has to do is tag his ankle and it'll be over. She doesn't have to hurt him again, all she has to do to end it is tag him and they'll send him away.
They'll send him away.
Her step falters and the determination that had been surging through her just moments before fizzles.
She thinks of the stolen kiss that gave her his power. She had been the one to keep it angry because it was what she had expected from him… but just before she pushed him away he had tried to soften it, to slow it down… and the way he had looked at her just before she left him…
She pushes her hair out of her face, secures it with a band and whips open the door.
It don't make no difference if he f'gave me...
This Gambit, the one casually leaning against the wall of the training room and absently running through a few card tricks while he waits for his chance to blow her up is the real Gambit.
And the real Gambit despises her.
He can barely even look at her.
She glances up at Raven in the booth with Pyro and Avalanche. Raven holds up five fingers and the lights dim.
5…
"They tell ya what ya gotta do?" She tries to keep her voice steady, hard.
4…
"Yah." He pushes off the wall, comes to her.
3…
He leans down to her, his breath kissing her cheek. She closes her eyes. "I gotta touch…"
2…
"Y'ankle."
1…
His bo-staff appears out of nowhere and he sweeps it under her feet. She backflips over it, twisting her body to avoid the chunk of floor shooting up towards the ceiling, and turns a cartwheel before whipping back around to face him.
He's gone.
The lights flicker and die.
She reaches into the pocket on her belt and pulls out a card, charging it and holding it between her fingers as she searches the darkness for him. The pale pink glow throws just enough light for her to see where she is going and she hops over the gash in the floor in front of her easily enough, her footsteps barely making a sound.
Where are ya…
The lights turn back on and his shadow suddenly appears on the floor before her. She tosses the card behind her, over his head, and the explosion sends them both flying. She turns towards him in the air, trying to keep sight of him. He's sailing along right behind her.
He's laughing.
She grabs him by the collar of his coat and flips him around so he'll get the brunt of the wall. The faster he's knocked out the easier it will be to tag him.
He whips another card at the wall as she does it and immediately flips them back. It crumbles and they crash into the rubble, a tangle of arms and legs.
He presses her down into the floor, the chunks of cinderblock pushing uncomfortably into her spine. She bites her lip against wincing and he stares down at her, his body familiarly heavy, his mouth slipping into that easy grin.
She tries to shove him off and he tightens his grip around her wrists, presses himself down harder. She stops fighting. Being so close to him… being exactly where she was just before it all fell apart… it makes her eyes water, her heart clench.
"I'll give you m'heart if you want it… I know you tink I'm a liar…But I'm not. Not dis time. Not wit you…"
He tosses his hair out of his eyes, a shower of dust rains down on her face.
"Not wit you…"
"You good, chere…"
A hot tear slides down her cheek and she hates herself for it.
"Not as good as you though huh, Remy?"
She looks up at him, into his face just inches from her own, into his eyes. The cocky smile fades, the hard grip loosens. His lips part, he takes a breath about to speak and she swings her fist. It breaks free of his hold and cracks against his jaw. He falls back off of her and she dives for his foot.
He spreads his legs and she misses, tumbles back up against his chest. He pushes her off, getting to his feet and she rolls out of the way as a piece of ceiling lands where they had been.
"I dunno, chere, I say y'hol' y'own."
The dust floats around her once again, thick and impenetrable. She can't see him anymore.
"Stop callin' me chere!" She yells turning towards his voice.
The left…the left…
"What de fuck m'I s'posed t'call y'den? Y'never gave me y'name!"
The right now? He's on her right…?
She picks up a metal pole from the ground, yanks it out of the loosened cement.
"It's Rogue!"
She hears the flapping of his coat as he flies through the air and jumps back, his foot narrowly missing her head. The dust finally settles and he rises out of it, the bo-staff in his hand elongating again with a faint shuck.
"We gon' stick t'code names?" He smacks his chest with his free hand and says "Fine - Gambit."
She holds her pole close as they begin to circle each other. Blood trickles down her neck from the back of her head where she hit the floor. Her muscles ache, but she automatically pushes all the pain to the back of her mind as he has done. Her vision blurs for a moment, her eyes stinging, and she shakes her head, trying to stay clear.
He lunges at her then and she quickly brings her pole up blocking his move. She shoves him back, whipping the end at him and he leaps over it easily before coming at her again.
"Bet y'were surprised t'see me, eh?"
Cling.
"M'like a cat -"
Clang.
"Got me at leas' six lives left, so you get de urge t'lay one on me agin' feel free -"
Cling.
"Y'talkin' like Ah tried ta kill ya!" she snarls as the blow of his staff on hers shudders up her wrists.
"Didn'ya?"
"You kissed me!"
"An' y' really fended me off huh?"
She throws all her weight onto him. He stumbles and she gets him up against the wall, his own staff pressed against his Adam's apple.
"It was an accident!" She pushes harder, her eyes burning and blurring."Ya knew Ah'd be here Gambit…why did you come if…"
If ya hate me so much…
"Mebbe 'cause I still wan' y'so bad I can taste it…" he rasps.
He slips his leg between hers, smiles seductively even as he fights for breath...
She wants to kill him.
"Sorry, Cajun, " she chokes, "Ain't gonna work a second time…"
"It always works."
He suddenly hooks his leg around hers and squeezes until her knee buckles.
He shoves her back, and the piece of floor she lands on lifts her up, up to the ceiling. She turns her head to see Dominick in the booth, his hands pressed against the glass, his eyes worried. She looks over the ledge and Gambit is climbing up the side.
She rolls off and grabs onto him as she freefalls, taking him with her.
Oh mah God!
"Shiiiit!"
Ya can't fly ya idiot!
"Merde!"
They'd been too high up, they're coming down too fast, too hard…and once her head hits that floor…
She closes her eyes, waits for it.
And then he turns them.
He shifts his weight so he is on the bottom. She looks down at him and he looks up at her and an instant before they hit the ground she cups her hands under his head.
She cries out as her knuckles punch the floor, her face crashing into his chest.
They lay there for a long moment, neither of them speaking, barely breathing.
He coughs.
"Rogue…?"
His hands cup her shoulder blades, his lips at the top of her head. He gently rolls them over. He is above her again and she opens her eyes as something drops against her throat. She touches it, wincing at her broken fingers, and looks.
A quarter.
It hangs from a thin silver chain around his neck.
Jean Luc's quarter.
He's kept it all these years. He went back to that horrible place to find it after Storm had saved him…
Her face suddenly fills her mind, her sky blue eyes, her deep voice saying "You're a good man, Remy LeBeau… even if you don't believe it, I do, my friend. You belong here with us…"
Jean snorting behind her hands…
Betsy rolling her eyes, hiding a smile…
Hank laughing out loud…
Bobby slapping him on the back…
Logan tossing him a basketball, a beer…
Scott holding out his hand for him to shake…
Whether he deserved it or not they had all given him a chance.
"You're a good man, Remy LeBeau…"
Storm believed in him like Jean Luc had believed in him and that meant something to him. She knew it did.
She knows it does.
He hasn't switched sides at all…
He takes the quarter from her and tucks it back beneath his collar.
"Guess m'down t'five, neh?" he whispers.
"Gambit…"
His hand on her hip now, sliding down her thigh to her knee, carefully hoisting it up over his hip…
"Remy…"
He keeps his eyes on hers, flicker flicker burn, as his hand slowly travels down her calf…
And wraps around her ankle.
"Tag."