"Oh my god, we're outside Chicago!" A few minutes later, and still Rogue was in shock. "It'll take us days to get back to New York!"

She turned to look behind her, where Gambit was leaning against a road sign looking quite amused. "What the hell is so funny!?" she shouted at him.

"Nothin', cherie," he replied. "Just dat I can imagine worse situations."

Fuming, Rogue turned away from him and looked up and down the road one more time. She was stranded in the middle of no-where, unable to contact the X-Men and with her enemy who, apart from other things, was annoying the hell out of her. 'If he doesn't shut up,' she thought. 'I'm gonna drain the life out of his sorry...'

'No!' she shouted inside her head. 'Don't touch him again, you don't want his thoughts inside your head again.' Her anger turned to shock when she saw a car in the distance. She never took her eyes from it until it had pulled up beside them. Her shock quickly turned to happiness when the window opened.

"Hey dude, how much for your girl?" the passenger called out. He was in his twenties with short, blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for days. The driver looked almost the same. She assumed that they had probably been on a road trip or gone to see a band or both.

Confused, Rogue behind her, then back to the car. The passenger was checking her out, top to bottom. Then he caught her eye and winked. She took a few steps back in surprise.

"Gotta say," the guy continued. "I love the leather you've got her in."

She finally caught on and looked sidewards to Gambit. He was laughing! They were stuck in the middle of nowhere, on a deserted road and the only car to appear in the last half hour thought that she was a whore! Once the initial amusement had run its course, the Cajun approached the car.

"So," the driver leaned across to talk to him. "How much?"

"A ride into the city," Gambit replied. "Den we'll negotiate. Deal?"

"Deal," both of the guys agreed in unison, huge smiles on their faces.

Smiling, Gambit opened the back door and walked over to Rogue. She grabbed his coat and pulled him closer. "You don't honestly think ah'm getting in a car with two retards who think I'm a hooker, do you?"

"Its either dat or y' stay out here for the next ride."

'Why am I here?' she thought. 'Why hasn't Logan, or Bobby, or anyone else, realised that I'm not there?' Maybe they were lying unconscious back in the factory, or perhaps they were testing her to see if she could survive out on her own.

Sighing, admitting she was defeated, she pushed Gambit to the side. With as much dignity as she could summon, she walked over to the car, opened the door and sat down as gracefully as she could onto the seat. She folded her arms, crossed her legs and stared out of the window. There wasn't anything to look at, but she didn't want to look the guys, or Gambit, in the eye right now. The Cajun got in beside her and the car started moving.

"So babe, what do you do?"

"Excuse me?" Rogue replied, glaring at the driver in the mirror.

"What are your prices? Do I get a full service or do I have to pay for each bit?"

"Hey!" the passenger exclaimed at his friend. "Don't you mean WE? Do WE get a full service?" He turned to look back at Rogue. "Do you do one at a time or both at once?"

Her features fixed in a mixture of anger and shock, Rogue sat forward and clenched her fist in her lap, ready to knock the guys out. However, Gambit's hand on her shoulder pulled her backwards and his other held her arms in her lap. Uncomfortable with where his hands were lurking, she glared straight into his eyes until he removed them.

"We sort dat out in the city," he said socially, still staring into Rogue's eyes. "But trust me, mes amis, you in for one hell of a surprise."

"I don't believe you!" Rogue exclaimed as she climbed out of the car and ran to the drivers door. "First you hitch us a lift by telling some guys I'm a hooker, then you kick Will's ass at poker, then when he wins one hand, you blow both him and Pete away!" She quickly attempted to check Pete's pulse but failed as she couldn't feel anything through her gloves.

She took a step back and looked over the roof to Gambit, who was leaning casually on it looking at her. Sighing, mainly through exhaustion rather than annoyance, she tilted her head at him. "What?"

"Roguey," he said. "Has anyone told y'dat you're stunning when you're angry?"

His compliment was returned by a piece of scrap metal being hurled at his head. He ducked, laughed and poked his head above the roof. "In case you haven't noticed, cherie, dese losers are fine."

He slowly began to walk around the front of the car, keeping eye contact with her. "The car is fine too," he continued. "So whaddaya say we ditch dese boys and continue our journey?" he asked.

"We can't leave them out here," Rogue reasoned. "They're hurt and they'll probably get mugged."

"Not if we mug them first," Gambit reasoned in return. He was now only a few inches from Rogue's face, staring deep into her eyes. That both annoyed her and comforted her. Because as she stared back, she found herself attracted to his black and red ones. She'd hate to admit it, but she did.

"No, we can't do that," she replied, taking a few steps back. "They could get hurt, and its wrong, and-"

She was cut off by Gambit pulling her closely and kissing her passionately. Even as the memories and thoughts flooded into her mind, she continued to kiss him for a few seconds until suddenly pulling away. He scrambled for support on the car bonnet, but wasn't nearly as weak as the last time she'd kissed him. Perhaps if she touched somebody enough times, they became immune?

"So," he said, regaining his energy and his composure. "Wanna take the car and some cash?"

"Fine by me."

Authors Note: What can I say? I felt really guilty about leaving you guys in the dark. So I screwed my Romy head back on and churned out another chapter. Sorry if its not up to the usual quality!