AN: I'm so ashamed of myself for leaving this chapter so long, but it was a hectic summer and college was busy, so here's the last chapter with my humble apologies. Happy Holidays to everyone!

The box glowed threateningly and beads of sweat broke on Gambit's forehead. Everyone's eyes were on the metal, they were mesmerized, Remy was the only one not looking at his hands and what they were doing, he was looking at Rogue, or what was left of her, on the bed.

If this worked -no- he corrected himself, when this worked, Rogue's powers and her psyche would both receive a boost. That "oomph" as Kitty called it, should be enough to help Rogue pull herself to the surface. She was strong; she would fight. Unfortunately, so would Carol. Gambit felt a strange pressure on his mind and repelled it, focusing on what he was trying to do.

Xavier closed his eyes, frustrated. He had been trying to help Gambit focus his mind, guide his power, but as usual the Cajun blanked him out. The Professor hoped Gambit knew what he was doing.

The metal glowed brighter and brighter until the others in the room couldn't look directly at it. It was an eerie scene; an outsider would have thought the man with the glowing red eyes was intending nothing but harm to the pretty young woman lying unconscious on the bed, helpless against the force of the metal that was shining onto her skin.

Internally, Rogue's mind was not at war.

The word war implies a sense of purpose, a certain order, a strategy, some would say there are even rules in war.

It was not war in Rogue's mind. It was chaos.

Every mind she ever absorbed echoed through her mind but some were stronger than others.

Kitty…Jean…Hank…Joseph…Ororo…Remy.

The X-Men in the room suddenly realized they were feeling a familiar drain on their powers, their personality, their soul.

Xavier, rolling his chair back, called to his students, "Move back! Her absorption power is stronger; I don't know how strong it could get! Move BACK!"

The others obliged, all but Remy, stumbled back from the bed and the glowing box.

Remy felt his control slipping, his fingers actually flickered and Rogue briefly opened her eyes. Ice blue.

Remy closed his eyes and tried to fight for control against Rogue's leeching, not for his own sake, but for hers.

The box continued to glow and he was vaguely aware of the others talking to him, yelling at him. But it was all very fuzzy. What were they saying? Didn't they know he was doing something important? He was trying to save Rogue! What were they saying? What was that annoying buzzing? His tired mind slowly reached the conclusion the others had been trying to tell him. If he kept trying to pull Rogue to the surface he risked getting completely absorbed by her. But if he stopped, they might lose Rogue forever.

In Rogue's mind, the wisp that was Carol was inundated with other psyches each arising from the swirl of grey to push her aside. Rogue stood, watching, as the psyches passed through her to attack Carol. They yelled at her, beat her, screamed "you stole me! You stole my life!" as the blonde fell to her knees and covered her head trying to protect herself from their blows.

Rogue felt herself growing stronger; she could feel her body becoming hers again. Suddenly, the psyches looked to her as if seeing her for the first time and they attacked. Gambit, Wolverine, Psylocke, everyone, she felt all their rage, their anger, their confusion, their anxiety, their feelings. But they couldn't stop her, this was her mind, her body, they were not going to stop her. As if sensing the strength of her will, the opposing whispers faded, raging at Rogue. All but one.

Gambit remained, nearly as solid as Rogue herself. She looked at him, surprised. "What are you doin' here?"

He ignored her question and instead looked over his shoulder. "She's gone."

"Who?"


"Carol."

"Oh."

"Chere, come back to us."


"What?"

"Come back to us, to me."

"Remy? How?"

"Rog-"

Unable to wait any longer, Beast grabbed Gambit's shoulders and pulled him back from Rogue's absorbing force. Gambit broke his contact with the metal and it stopped glowing.

The Cajun looked exhausted, he was pale and weak, but he rounded on Beast like a man ready to fight to the death. "What t'hell are you doin'!? I found her! I was helpin' her!"

Xavier spoke in Beast's defense, "Remy, we could not risk losing you. It would not have done Rogue any good to have absorbed you. Had she managed to pull through she would not have been able to live with herself knowing helping her had been your end."

"Dat was my decision t'make." Gambit snarled.

"Remy, you are my student, I am respon-" Xavier was cut off by a moan from the bed.

Everyone ran to Rogue's side and looked at her eagerly. Beast checked her vitals and announced, "We have to wait…"

Gambit knelt by Rogue's side, "C'mon chere, come back t'me."

Then he saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. Rogue opened her green eyes, looked at him and smiled.

2 weeks later

"So do you think those two are together for good now?" Kitty asked Ororo and they passed Rogue and Remy lying together on the couch whispering about something.

Ororo glanced at the two Southerners, "It is not our place to speculate Kitty."

"Yea, yea I know, but what do you think?"

"I think no matter what happens to those two, it won't always be good, but they will always be together."

AN: So that's it! A year later I finally finished! Sincere apologies for the late update…I'm sure I like this last chapter, it needs some polishing but it will do for now! Happy Holidays everyone and thanks to everyone who reviewed, you have no idea how you have helped me.