OK, sorry it took so long to update, exams, urgh! And apologies for deleting the story then reposting last time, I somehow managed to miss the box that lets you change the chapters! I can be so dense sometimes!

ishandahalf, fuzuki, sydney, Jeanie*girl, xgirlrogue, Genocide, Denial, Owl Eyed Athena, night-cat333: thank you so much for reviewing, I'm glad you're enjoying it, and thank you so much for the complements, you really know how to keep me writing! (Lets just ignore the months between these updates, shall we?)

Deluca: thank you for being so honest, I know, I re-read the first chapter a while after I posted chapter 2 and it was, well, crap, to put it mildly. I'm really glad to hear that you're enjoying it more now, thanks again for reviewing. Oh, and I'm not at all used to writing from Remy's POV so if it's crap again, tell me and I'll re-write it once I've had some practice!

Lady MR: yes you are a pain in the ass, but a very useful one! Thank you for bugging me to do that, it really is so much better. Honestly, I re-read the first draft and I was cringing the whole way through! I definitely owe you one! And I know I could have stayed in Rogue's POV (and I'll be going back to her later) but 1. I wanted a chance to get a look in Remy's head (hey, who wouldn't!) and 2. if I had any kind of plot planned I would, but I don't really, so I'm going to go with these character's histories first and then maybe do a sequel of some kind which is actually a story, (not that this one isn't, it's just that it's looking at their lives from early on, but backwards, and it's not exactly original!) It's kind of a warm-up if nothing else.

beth: mail or review what you find confusing and I'll try and clear it up, I know there's nothing worse than reading through a fic and every few sentences thinking 'what???'. If any of that is due to formatting (or lack of) I know, it keeps ignoring that half of the text is in italics, does anyone know how to stop that? I know computers aren't exactly intelligent but that is really weird and really annoying!

Kiki Mo ToU: as I've said I live in the UK and the furthest I've seen in evo is the one with Mag's asteroid (couldren?), so I'm just going with the comics and the old cartoon, where he was, hence the not-quite-French accent! But if anyone knows different, please tell me (I hope not though, it's hard enough writing Cajun!)

Linkin-spike: no prob, I love your fics, no way am I better than you! (Thanks though, high praise!) Great that you're carrying on, I'm really looking forward to any updates.

Wow this is long, sorry! K, the next couple of chapters are going to be more from Remy's POV rather than Rogue's. I'm going under the assumption that Remy has his empathy and kinaesthetic sense, his ability to 'feel' physical changes around him (mainly movement but also temperature change, walls, spaces etc.) as well as his charging and charm power (he's really quite powerful actually isn't he?). I am also roughly sticking to his comic history, with some interesting changes of course!

Well, enjoy!

Chapter 4

Movement. The soft hiss of fabric sliding over fabric. Close. Someone was moving nearby.

And beeping.

Slowly at first, the mutant named Gambit awoke.

He tensed; there was someone here with him. Automatically he stretched out his senses to find the source of the movement, using his kinaesthetic sense to survey his surroundings for any possible danger. He could feel someone shifting under covers on the surface his head was lying on, possibly female. He concentrated; yes, he could tell by their shape and the way they moved, definitely female.

He must have shifted or stiffened slightly for she suddenly froze, her body tense and still. He swore inwardly, a few years ago he would never have given that away, it could have cost him his life. He concentrated on keeping his breathing deep and natural, praying she hadn't realised he had woken. After a few moments she relaxed again and lay back on what he assumed was a bed, keeping so still he almost thought she had fallen asleep.

She didn't move again so he risked shifting some of his concentration away from her to his own person. In a matter of seconds he had located all his weapons: cards in pockets and up his sleeves, a small blade strapped to his wrist and another in his boot and his bo-staff in a sheath in the small of his back. His arsenal also included various small metal objects scattered around his person that, combined with his speed and skill, could at least slow someone down.

He 'looked' at her again to see what she was doing. She still hadn't moved. She was just lying there, watching him so closely he had to stop himself from squirming under her gaze. Concentrating closely on her to try and ignore his discomfort he realised she had no weapons; in fact it seemed by her lethargic movements and rather sleepy body language that she had only just woken. In that sense he was lucky she was so close, it allowed him to sense such small detailed with his spatial awareness, over about five feet away he couldn't perceive anything much smaller than a football unless he really concentrated.

He could sense no immediate threat from either her or his surroundings so he slowly lowered his mental walls just enough to allow his empathic abilities to brush her emotions. Instead of the expected swirl and flow of the average mind, he found this one incredibly hard to read. Not only were there impressive shields, but also it seemed as if the mind were not quite there, like the mental version of Kitty when she 'phased'. The glimpse that he got through this was of a surprisingly controlled mind, much less messy and 'colourful' than normal, and it was this empathic view that told him exactly who it was.

It was Rogue. Even from the brief view he had got he had recognised her, and the shielding and 'phasing' effect were hers as well. They had changed slightly since the last time he had 'seen' her, or at least enough that he did not recognise her at first, but that was definitely her.   

Now that he knew he was in no danger from her he allowed his focus to turn inwards, lowering the defensive guard that went up reflexively each time he woke. Searching back into his immediate memory he found that he had been half aware for several minutes, half roused by the sound sighing, but not enough to wake him fully. He inwardly berated himself; a few years ago a simple change in breathing rate would have woken him, now it took a movement to do so.

Mentally shaking himself he turned his mind back further.

~Flashback~

After eating dinner with the rather subdued X-Men Gambit walked down to the lab to watch Rogue. Although there no longer seemed to be any immediate danger McCoy still suggested that she be monitored daily and he had decided it was time he visited her again.

When he reached the lab it was completely deserted save for the sounds of the heart monitor and the humming of the machines. He had walked over and stood by her bed for several minutes, just watching the rise and fall of her chest and thinking how lucky they had been. He had nearly lost her.

If she goes, who dere be left t' flirt wit'? De others are cute, but dey aren't nearly as fun as mon chere. Remy managed to not notice how even he could not use the word 'dies' in his thoughts about her almost as smoothly as he ignored the phrase 'mon chere' Well, he was an old hand in deceiving himself, why stop now?

At that moment the sound of the door opening startled him from his thoughts.

~

Beast walked into the empty lab, humming absent-mindedly to himself. His spirits had lifted tremendously as soon as Rogue began to improve and he now bounced around the mansion as cheerfully as ever, unconsciously reassuring students and adults with his behaviour. Now, he moved over to Rogue's bed, checked and recorded her vitals and gave her a quick once-over just to make sure there were no noticeable changes. Yes, he thought, she would be awake in a couple of days and up and about in a week at most. He paused, smiling; it would be nice to have her up an around the mansion again. She wasn't exactly the life and soul of the party, but her presence was missed and her return would boost moral around the place no end. Humming to himself again he bounced out of the room.

~

Only when the door had hissed shut behind Mr. McCoy did Gambit step out from his hiding place. That had been close, he really needed to pay more attention to his surroundings although the fact that he had been fast enough to elude Beast reassured him slightly, guess I aint completely lost m' touch.

He wasn't quite sure why he hadn't wanted Hank to know that he was down here, maybe something to do with his old thief's instincts to always hide his weaknesses. Non, he thought absently as he walked back over to Rogue's bed. a t'ief's instinct is to not have any weaknesses. He frowned. Looks like Remy failed dere. His frowned deepened as he looked down at the sleeping girl. The truth was that he was beginning to care about all of these people, care what happened to them. That was dangerous, especially in his line of work. Y' need t' get outta here, he told himself, y' need t' get out before y' start to get close to dem. Y' get close y' get hurt, y' learned dat de hard way.

He sighed as he watched her, then settled in the chair by her bed to begin his nightly watch. It was part of the ritual; every night he would tell himself he was getting too close, that he should get out of the institute before he got them hurt… And then he would settle in the chair by her bed to guard her until morning. He would stay until around four and then go back to his room for a few hours sleep.

~End~

Except that that wasn't exactly what had happened last night, in fact he was fairly sure that he had never left the infirmary at all. And that lead to the conclusion that he was sitting in was the wooden padded one in the infirmary, and the soft surface beneath his face was Rogue's bed and… He stopped suddenly: that meant Rogue was awake! For a moment he suppressed the urge to get up and hug her, but he decided that probably wouldn't go down very well. He grinned inwardly at what her reaction would be to that. Instead he 'watched' her closely with his spatial sense and, after a moments pause to prepare himself, lowered his shields to her completely. Now, instead of just the overall feel and shape of her mind, he could use his empathic abilities for what they were really meant to do, to feel what she herself was feeling.

OK, before I get a page load of flames, I know this isn't as good as the previous chapters, but it's already been over a months since I last updated and I felt I should at least get something out! I've actually written it about 3 times, and trust me; this is the best version so far! The next chapter reads better so far, I promise. If you really think this is bad, or you have any ideas to improve (I've been over it about 5 times and I can't see anywhere else to improve, although it's still not quite right, grrr!) tell me!

Please review!!!!!! Thanks J

~v~