Night had fallen at the Xavier Institute. In the dormitories, most of the
students were asleep. Some had their personal lights on and were
entertaining themselves with books. Two had sneaked into the lounge and
were watching the TV, quietly.
In Professor Xavier's office, a figure sat at the computer, tapping the keys on the keyboard, and pausing every few seconds to read the information displayed. Long hair tied was back in a loose ponytail, the fingers covered by gloves and a pack of playing cards nearby. The door to the office opened, but the figure at the computer didn't notice and continued to browse the computer files.
"Rogue?"
She jumped at the sound of the voice and peered over the screen. "Professor?"
"Rogue, what are doing in my office?" Xavier asked, wheeling further into the room.
She stood up and backed away from the computer, snatching the playing cards. She was still in her day clothes, so she shoved them quickly into her pocket. "I, um, I was."
"Remy LeBeau," the Professor read from the screen. He sighed and turned to his student. "You were looking at his personnel file."
Rogue looked at the floor and started towards the door. "I'm sorry, I'll go to bed now."
"Rogue, wait." Xavier called after her, but she was already out of the door.
In the dorm room, Jubilee, Siren and Kitty were asleep. Rogue sighed, she was usually very noisy and woke everyone up. Preparing to be shouted at, she started across the room. Surprisingly, she didn't make a sound. She was as quiet as a thief.
Instead of changing into her nightclothes, Rogue decided to sit by the window. It was only last night that Gambit had escaped, and already she was getting the cold shoulder. Bobby was avoiding her, the rest of the students were whispering whenever they saw her and the rest of the X-Men were scarce. She had seen Ororo briefly at breakfast, but that was it.
Everyone blamed her for Gambit's escape, and they were right. She'd been overconfident, and he'd taken advantage of that. His file linked to New Orleans, where he had been spotted robbing several properties. A thief. That probably explained why he'd been able to trick her back in the Infirmary. That was the reason why he managed to free himself.
'Is it working?' A voice in her head asked her. 'Have you convinced yourself that it wasn't your fault?'
She hung her head in shame and continued to look out of the window.
* * * * * *
Further out to sea, Gambit sat in the back of a speedboat, fiddling with his cards. The engine of his transportation was loud enough to drown out conversation, but quiet enough to not disturb his thinking. And all that was on his mind was the Rogue girl.
She'd released him from that Infirmary, with little or no charm on Gambit's part. She was gullible, easy to manipulate, just like any other young girl that age. Probably had her head caught up in the clouds about love and romance and the perfect man. That's what was fun about women, they believed that dreams could come true. That everything they'd seen in romance movies was true, all the kissing and talking about soul mates crap. Yet Rogue was different, because she couldn't have that. He'd found out first hand that if she touched someone else's skin for more than a few seconds, she'd rob that person of their memories and make them pass out. Remy had to fight hard to keep himself conscious after that kiss she'd given him.
His thoughts were interrupted when the boat came to a stop, right next to the docking bay of Magneto's island. He got up and walked towards the front of the boat, where a young blonde woman was leaning against the steering wheel.
"This alright, hun?"
"Couldn't have asked for better, cherie," Gambit replied. "Merci beaucoup for the ride." He smiled and traced his finger along her jaw as a sign of his appreciation. Then he climbed out of the boat and made his way towards the entrance.
Outside, John was leaning against the wall, smoking. The kid thought that it made him look tough, but in fact he looked stupid. He grinned when he saw Remy approaching. "So, the Cajun escaped. I never thought you'd be stupid enough to let yourself get captured in the first place."
"At least I didn't get my ass kicked by a snowman," Gambit retorted. "Anyway, Gambit got a few rewards for his troubles. One bein' a kiss from de girl."
"You got a kiss from Rogue?!" John asked in shock. "Lucky bastard."
"I try," Remy said smugly, snatching a cigarette from John, who had resumed staring out to sea. The Cajun coughed, as if to say 'Excuse me'. Realizing what he wanted, Pyro used the flame from his own cigarette to create a small ball of fire. He floated it over to Gambit, who used it as a makeshift lighter. After inhaling a few times, he headed inside to report to Magneto.
The place was quiet and empty. As he walked through the hallway and up the stairs, Remy felt like he was walking to his death. Maybe he was. Magneto probably wouldn't be happy that one of his group was captured. When he reached the door to the old man's office, he took a deep breath and went to open it. However, it simply swung open. At first, he was shocked, but then Gambit remembered that his boss was the Master of Magnetism, and the door was metal. Grinning to himself, he stepped inside.
"Mr LeBeau, welcome back."
"Good t' be back."
"Please, have a seat." One of the metal chairs in front of Magneto's desk slid to side, and Remy sat down. The older man walked out of a dark corner and seated himself opposite. "I hope they treated you well."
"Not complainin' - good food, comfy bed. An' the best interrogator they got was a girl who was easy t' charm. It was easy."
"Ah, you'd be surprised at what they can produce. But, that is not the point. I'll assume that you shared no information."
"Non. Not willingly, anyway." Magneto looked suspicious. "De Rogue gave me one of her kisses. Maybe she got some info outta me."
"Unlikely. Her powers are barely controllable, and I doubt she'd want to explore them further by delving into your memories." Remy smiled to himself, his boss was rather liberal with the insults, no matter how subtle.
"In any event," the old man continued. "As long as there were no real consequences, your brief capture can be overlooked."
"Merci beacoup." Gambit stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Once outside, he headed towards his own room. One of the great things about working for a guy as rich as Magneto was that you got food, accommodation and stuff like that free.
Once inside his own bedroom, he fell backwards onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. He'd been up for two nights straight, and he still wasn't tired. Sighing, he pulled out a pack of cards from his jacket and started shuffling them, something he always did when he was bored. He picked one from the top and took a look. The Queen of Hearts.
Once again, his thoughts returned to Rogue. He wondered what she was doing at that moment, whether she was confined to her room for letting out a prisoner, being quizzed about any residual memories she'd gained from him. Or maybe they were trying to forget the incident, and she was just acting normally. One thing was for sure, her little Iceman wasn't going to be pleased that she was using kiss as a weapon. 'Especially not on a charmer like you, Remy LeBeau.' He grinned to himself and continued to let his thoughts be taken over by the Rogue.
In Professor Xavier's office, a figure sat at the computer, tapping the keys on the keyboard, and pausing every few seconds to read the information displayed. Long hair tied was back in a loose ponytail, the fingers covered by gloves and a pack of playing cards nearby. The door to the office opened, but the figure at the computer didn't notice and continued to browse the computer files.
"Rogue?"
She jumped at the sound of the voice and peered over the screen. "Professor?"
"Rogue, what are doing in my office?" Xavier asked, wheeling further into the room.
She stood up and backed away from the computer, snatching the playing cards. She was still in her day clothes, so she shoved them quickly into her pocket. "I, um, I was."
"Remy LeBeau," the Professor read from the screen. He sighed and turned to his student. "You were looking at his personnel file."
Rogue looked at the floor and started towards the door. "I'm sorry, I'll go to bed now."
"Rogue, wait." Xavier called after her, but she was already out of the door.
In the dorm room, Jubilee, Siren and Kitty were asleep. Rogue sighed, she was usually very noisy and woke everyone up. Preparing to be shouted at, she started across the room. Surprisingly, she didn't make a sound. She was as quiet as a thief.
Instead of changing into her nightclothes, Rogue decided to sit by the window. It was only last night that Gambit had escaped, and already she was getting the cold shoulder. Bobby was avoiding her, the rest of the students were whispering whenever they saw her and the rest of the X-Men were scarce. She had seen Ororo briefly at breakfast, but that was it.
Everyone blamed her for Gambit's escape, and they were right. She'd been overconfident, and he'd taken advantage of that. His file linked to New Orleans, where he had been spotted robbing several properties. A thief. That probably explained why he'd been able to trick her back in the Infirmary. That was the reason why he managed to free himself.
'Is it working?' A voice in her head asked her. 'Have you convinced yourself that it wasn't your fault?'
She hung her head in shame and continued to look out of the window.
* * * * * *
Further out to sea, Gambit sat in the back of a speedboat, fiddling with his cards. The engine of his transportation was loud enough to drown out conversation, but quiet enough to not disturb his thinking. And all that was on his mind was the Rogue girl.
She'd released him from that Infirmary, with little or no charm on Gambit's part. She was gullible, easy to manipulate, just like any other young girl that age. Probably had her head caught up in the clouds about love and romance and the perfect man. That's what was fun about women, they believed that dreams could come true. That everything they'd seen in romance movies was true, all the kissing and talking about soul mates crap. Yet Rogue was different, because she couldn't have that. He'd found out first hand that if she touched someone else's skin for more than a few seconds, she'd rob that person of their memories and make them pass out. Remy had to fight hard to keep himself conscious after that kiss she'd given him.
His thoughts were interrupted when the boat came to a stop, right next to the docking bay of Magneto's island. He got up and walked towards the front of the boat, where a young blonde woman was leaning against the steering wheel.
"This alright, hun?"
"Couldn't have asked for better, cherie," Gambit replied. "Merci beaucoup for the ride." He smiled and traced his finger along her jaw as a sign of his appreciation. Then he climbed out of the boat and made his way towards the entrance.
Outside, John was leaning against the wall, smoking. The kid thought that it made him look tough, but in fact he looked stupid. He grinned when he saw Remy approaching. "So, the Cajun escaped. I never thought you'd be stupid enough to let yourself get captured in the first place."
"At least I didn't get my ass kicked by a snowman," Gambit retorted. "Anyway, Gambit got a few rewards for his troubles. One bein' a kiss from de girl."
"You got a kiss from Rogue?!" John asked in shock. "Lucky bastard."
"I try," Remy said smugly, snatching a cigarette from John, who had resumed staring out to sea. The Cajun coughed, as if to say 'Excuse me'. Realizing what he wanted, Pyro used the flame from his own cigarette to create a small ball of fire. He floated it over to Gambit, who used it as a makeshift lighter. After inhaling a few times, he headed inside to report to Magneto.
The place was quiet and empty. As he walked through the hallway and up the stairs, Remy felt like he was walking to his death. Maybe he was. Magneto probably wouldn't be happy that one of his group was captured. When he reached the door to the old man's office, he took a deep breath and went to open it. However, it simply swung open. At first, he was shocked, but then Gambit remembered that his boss was the Master of Magnetism, and the door was metal. Grinning to himself, he stepped inside.
"Mr LeBeau, welcome back."
"Good t' be back."
"Please, have a seat." One of the metal chairs in front of Magneto's desk slid to side, and Remy sat down. The older man walked out of a dark corner and seated himself opposite. "I hope they treated you well."
"Not complainin' - good food, comfy bed. An' the best interrogator they got was a girl who was easy t' charm. It was easy."
"Ah, you'd be surprised at what they can produce. But, that is not the point. I'll assume that you shared no information."
"Non. Not willingly, anyway." Magneto looked suspicious. "De Rogue gave me one of her kisses. Maybe she got some info outta me."
"Unlikely. Her powers are barely controllable, and I doubt she'd want to explore them further by delving into your memories." Remy smiled to himself, his boss was rather liberal with the insults, no matter how subtle.
"In any event," the old man continued. "As long as there were no real consequences, your brief capture can be overlooked."
"Merci beacoup." Gambit stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Once outside, he headed towards his own room. One of the great things about working for a guy as rich as Magneto was that you got food, accommodation and stuff like that free.
Once inside his own bedroom, he fell backwards onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. He'd been up for two nights straight, and he still wasn't tired. Sighing, he pulled out a pack of cards from his jacket and started shuffling them, something he always did when he was bored. He picked one from the top and took a look. The Queen of Hearts.
Once again, his thoughts returned to Rogue. He wondered what she was doing at that moment, whether she was confined to her room for letting out a prisoner, being quizzed about any residual memories she'd gained from him. Or maybe they were trying to forget the incident, and she was just acting normally. One thing was for sure, her little Iceman wasn't going to be pleased that she was using kiss as a weapon. 'Especially not on a charmer like you, Remy LeBeau.' He grinned to himself and continued to let his thoughts be taken over by the Rogue.