I walked into the shadows of the garage. Papa was pushing the demo bike back against a wall. He didn't even flinch when the door slammed shut behind me. I tried to call out to him but my mouth went dry. So I propelled myself forward into the middle of the room.
He turned but said nothing. He didn't even look me in the eye. He crossed his arms and waited.
"Can we talk?" I asked quietly. He pulled a chair over to him and sat down across from me. I looked around for another chair before pulling one back to the center of the room and sitting down too. I reverted to studying my thumbnail.
"So talk." He said without emotion. I fumbled for the right words to say, how to start this conversation. Deciding the beginning would be the safest bet I took a deep breath.
"Ah left." I stated not daring to look him in the eyes. "An' der ain't nothin' dat can make dat go 'way." I stopped and waited for him to say something, anything. But he didn't, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and sat in silence. "T' be truthful don' know if Ah would make dat go 'way if Ah could. Ev'ry day when Ah wasn' heah, Ah wanted t' be. But Ah couldn' come back knowing dat Papa would be wit' her."
"Den why did you?" he asked. I'm not sure if he realized how much I was trying not to cry, but if he did he certainly wasn't pulling any stops. Then again, why would he.
"B'cause Ah t'ought dat if...if Ah came back dat evryt'in would be okay 'gain." I lied, hoping he wouldn't catch on. I cursed myself as I heard my voice wavering. I bit my tongue and tried to contain my emotions. I could do this without crying, I reminded myself, I could.
"Try de truth dis time." Papa said. I nodded, he could always see right through me, I'd forgotten that part about him.
"Bobby was comin' back. He was movin' back an' he was de only t'ing dat I t'ough I could count on." I said with a shrug. "'den ah came back an' you didn' wan' me no mo'."
There was a pause as I waited for a comment while I looked at me hands in my lap. After a couple beats I looked up to see Papa looking at me.
"Don' really care 'bout why you came back cherie, wan' t'know why you left." Papa said slowly.
"She came." I said. That was the simplest explanation that I could muster under these conditions, unfortunately, judging my Papa's silence it wasn't good enough for him. "She came an' den everyt'in changed. You changed, we changed. An' I didn' like it. Den' I tried t' be okay wit' her. Ah did. But de firs' t'ing she tells me is a lie? Dat ain' right. Den' everyt'in, everythin' I knew turn out t' be a lie." I paused trying to gather my thoughts when my mind was rampaged with the memories that didn't belong to me. "Yo' powers didn' randomly come back Papa, I opened de book an' dey came back. an' she didn' leave t' be a waitress in California. She left an' went t' become a crim'nal. She became de one t'ing dat you fight against. An' you two didn' randomly lose yo' powers. You died Papa. An' she wouldn' let you go!" by this point I was on my feet walking around trying t process all the memories that I had swirling around in my head that didn't belong to me. To be honest it was starting to give me a headache. "She wouldn' let you go an' den she lef' you t' die. Dats not somethin' dat ah can forgive so easily!"
"Those aren' yo' concerns chile." Papa said as I watched the anger build in his eyes.
"She lef' you. Den she came back. Den she lef' gain. Den she came back an' den she lef' me. Now she back an' you t'ink dat she'll stay?" I yelled. Somehow, the louder my voice got the more I thought I could get through to him.
"What makes Gambit sure dat you'll stay?" he screamed at me standing up. I took a step back, my legs hitting the chair. I wasn't expecting that.
"She came an' den you didn' need me no mo'. So ah left." I said finding my chair and sitting down slowly. "You only need one podnas."
"So Kale did de one t'ing dat would hurt Papa de most?" he said his eyes blazing as he glared down at me.
"Didn' know dat you would notice." I said with a shrug. That was a straight out lie, but what was I supposed to say? Was it weird that I was jealous that my 'mother' made Papa happier than I could?
"All Gambit evah wanted was for us t' be un famille! Dats it! De opportunity comes an' you lef...not Rogue." He said, his voice softening.
"We were a family wit'out her." I stated. He stopped and sat down, raking his hands through his hair. At least I had gotten through to him. I didn't dare talk next, I couldn't think of anything else to say, plus I had a headache.
"Papa waited his whole life for Marie t' come back." Papa said in a hoarse whisper, that I could barely hear. I looked at him and watched the tears fall from his eyes, breaking my heart as they hit the floor. "If...if Kale jus' knew her like Papa does..."
"But ah never will Papa." I said before I could stop myself. "Ah'll nevah understand why she could leave us. She don' wan' me Papa...don' you see?"
The sight of any man crying would bring me to tears. But sitting in front of me was my father, the strongest man I had ever known, my rock, and the one man that I thought would never break. And he was crying. He was crying and he wasn't making any attempt to stop the tears from falling. And I couldn't make him feel any better, and what was worse was that it was my fault.
"Dats not true p'tit." Pap said softly.
"Dats what you don' see Papa. She lef' b'cause of me. Den she came back an' de first t'ing dat happens is dat Ah leave." I tried to explain. "Papa has nevah lied t' me."
"Nevah had reason to." Papa said looking up at me.
"Den why would she?" I asked, wiping my hand across my eyes, ridding them of tears. "Why'd she have t' lie?"
"Don' know." Papa said with a shrug. I just nodded.
"But Papa still stood b'side her." I said letting a new batch of tears fall. All I wanted was for him to reach over and wipe the tears off of my face. Take me in his arms and tell me that everything would be okay and we could burn her at the stake first thing tomorrow.
"Oui cherie. Papa stood by Marie. 'Cause Papa tol' her dat Kaley would come 'round, dat everyt'in would work out. Papa t'ought dat if he stood b'side her den Kaley would too. An den der would jus' be de rest of 'em t' convince." Papa said looking at me and explaining everything. I stopped to think about that. Why the hell hadn't I stood beside Papa?
"Sorry." I said again. "Don' know what else t' say, but ah don' trust her."
"Didn' ask you to cherie." Papa said leaning back in his chair. "Only asked Kaley t' trust Papa."
That hit me hard. Like a two-by-four right in the center of my chest and I looked up at Papa only to have something else hit me. This was all my fault. I thought I was being righteous and good and all I was doing was betraying the only person that ever meant more to me than life itself. That thought didn't sit so well with me. Then the tears started to fall again and I couldn't look him in the eye.
"Dis don' make nothin' better." I stated finaly and rose from ym chair. "Ah'm sorry ah bothered you."
"Woah now p'tit." Papa said. I stopped and looked up at him with questioning eyes. "Jus' 'cause we don' agree don' mean dat dis didn't help. Now Papa knows where Kaley stands." He stood up and stood in front of me.
"But it didn't fix anyt'in." I said trying to stop crying. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity Papa wrapped his arms around me pulled me into a hug. My arms wrapped around his waist and I hugged him back.
"Sometimes t'ings don' need t' be fixed. Dey jus' need t' get out der." He said, leaning down to kiss the top of my head. "Now, no mo' tears. You got t' make up time wit' Logan, an' Papa has a meetin'." I just nodded against his chest and silently prayed that he'd never let go, and this moment could last forever. Of course it didn't and he released his hold on me. "Go p'tit, Papa will see you soon."
I just nodded and left the garage. Maybe it would get better, maybe it would get worse. I had no idea, and that didn't sit well with me.
A/N: Review if you want more.