Disclaimer: The story is mine…the characters belong to Marvel. I will notify you if this ever changes.
Archive: Sure, just ask me first at smokhea@aol.com
*Special Note*: Thanks again for the feedback. I've noticed that a lot of you really like the humor in the story and I'm glad (It's real fun to write). However, this is primarily a Drama piece; but I'll try to continue with the light moments.
For people who do not see their favorite character in the story so far, don't worry. All the people that were present in the first chapter will have a spotlight in the plot.
Continuity: This is set in Comic-verse. X-Xtreme X-Men has not happened. Scott is not dead. I guess you can pinpoint it as months after the Trial. Gambit is back and all is well…maybe…
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Chapter 3
Not Just Yet
(Remy/Rogue)
Rogue sat on the medical bed with her head looking down at the white tiles of the Laboratory floor. She now had the bracelet on her hand, but did not activate it. Henry showed her how to operate the device a few minutes earlier, however, she couldn't bring herself to turn it on. As a matter of fact, she was barley listening to him going over the rules of the device; her mind was elsewhere trying to sort through all the voices in her head. The bracelet was wrapped around her left hand, as she twirled it around with her right hand.
"You called, chere?" Rogue looked up abruptly to see Remy in front of her. "Sorry, if I scared you." He whispered.
"Nah, sugah. Ah should have been paying a li'l more attention." She flashed him a small smile, "Then again, you could have stomped in a li'l louder." The smile vanished from her face as he picked up her gloved hand. He had done this many times before, and each time he did she'd wish she could feel his hand without the gloves.
And now Ah have the chance. All Ah have to do is press this tiny button, and mah dream will come true. So why am Ah not doing it?
"Nice piece of jewelry, chere. Didn't know you had a charge card wit' dis much credit." He said with a sparkle in his eye.
"Beast gave it to me." She saw a look of worry on his face, but soon was replaced with a smirk.
"I guess me and Beast should have a petite talk. Looks like nobody told him you're supposed to propose to a lady with a ring, not a bracelet." She laughed.
"Silly!" She turned serious again. "It's not just a bracelet. It's a re-formatted, newly designed, Genosha collar." Remy lifted up her wrist and stared at the platinum.
"Get de fuck outta here!" He smiled. "Dis is a Genosha collar? Ol' Hank has out done himself dis time." Remy couldn't keep the smile off his face.
Could dis be? Rogue is now able to control her powers? Well, maybe not control her powers, but dis is a step in de right direction. But still someting isn't right. He looked back at her. Dat's it. She doesn't seem as happy as I t'ought she'd be. Matter of fact, she doesn't seem happy at all.
"You wanna talk 'bout what's bothering you, chere? It might make you feel better." He was sincere in his request; she could see it in his face.
"Ah'm really glad that Beast took the time to make this for me. Ah didn't even ask him to, he did it all by himself." She glanced back at her wrist. "Ah just wished that Ah could have done it on mah own, you know?"
"Jus' 'cause you have de bracelet, doesn't mean you still can't try to control your powers on your own."
"Ah can control my powers…sometimes, if Ah have to. If Ah concentrate really hard, Ah can hold it off, for a while." She looked away from him as if he caught her in a lie. "Well, only three seconds at the most. Ah could never do that before, so it's a start."
"Yeah, of course." He agreed looking into her wide child like eyes. He sat down beside her on the bed and put an arm around her shoulder. She let out a sigh.
"Ah know Ah bitch and complain about mah mutant powers at times. But you want to know a secret? As much as Ah hate 'em, Ah love 'em." She saw he was a little confused, so she pushed further.
"It might be hard to understand. The absorption power is not on the top of my list, but Ah love being able to take flight whenever Ah want to. Ah love being able to disobey the laws of gravity. Ah love the fact that Ah am the only person on this team that can go toe to toe with the Juggernaut without breaking a sweat. The absorption power, mah true mutant power, is the reason why Ah can do those things. It would just be nice if Ah could, you know, control it." Remy let her sentence fade into the silence for awhile, before he spoke.
"So, what are you gonna do?" He asked rubbing his hand back and forth from her shoulders to her arm.
"Ah think Ah'm going to keep it for awhile." She looked back at him. "I'll continue to wear the bracelet for Beast's sake. After all he did go through at lot of trouble to make this for me." She said with a hint of amusement. "But Ah won't activate it, at least not now. Anyway, it will give me time to look over this big booklet he gave me with all the 'do's' and do 'not's' of this li'l machine. Ah'm gonna have a long night."
He smiled. Rogue focused on his lips. She could count on less then one hand the number of opportunities she had to kiss them.
Not enough opportunities. And now, we are just friends. Ah thought it was a great idea when Ah suggested it to him, now Ah'm not so sure…Then again, maybe this is better. He won't be expecting anythin' from me, which is good because Ah'm still not sure Ah can give him what he wants…or needs.
"Rogue, jus' know dat I'm here for you. No matter what you decide, I'll always be here." He hoped she would take up his request.
"Remy, Ah…" A voice from the Lab Communicator interrupted her.
"Gambit, it's Cyclops…click…can you hear me?…click…" Remy turned back to face Rogue.
"What were you gonna ask me, chere?" Dat man has bad timing.
"Sounds like Cyke needs you. What Ah have to say can wait." She said, reaching up to press the 'talk' button on the communicator. Remy blocked her hand.
"Non, what Cyke has to say can wait. What do you wan' to ask me?" Reluctantly she began to speak.
"Well, when Ah do use…"
"Gambit…click…I know you're in there. Ice Man told me…click…come in…click…"
"Keep talkin', chere, I've heard enough of dat guy for one night." He felt his blood beginning to boil. What could be so urgent?
"Sugah, just answer him. You know he's not gonna stop until you use the communicator…" She said with a giggle. Her soft voice calmed him down in an instant.
"Gambit…click…I'm in the control room and I can see you in the Lab…click…answer me…click…"
Remy forgot that the lab had a camera, but hearing his leaders voice again pushed him over the edge.
Scott sat in the control room watching the monitor of the Lab. He watched as Remy jumped off the bed and walked toward the camera. His face was now in full screen. Although Scott could not hear Remy, he knew that he was yelling expletives.
"Gambit…click…I can not hear anything you are saying to me…click…use the com-link…click…"
"Oh, you can't hear me, eh?" Remy shouted looking into the camera. "I'm sure you can hear dese…" And with that Remy raised both his middle fingers to the camera.
Scott was fuming. What the hell is do damned important, that he can't come when he is needed?!
"You seem perplexed." Said Henry as he entered the Control Room. He looked at the monitors and noticed his medical lab in full screen.
"Just Gambit being difficult as usual. I need him to test out the Security Systems, however he seems more engrossed with Rogue. I thought they broke up?" He looked form Henry back to the screen.
"That they did. However, I've just presented Rogue with a revised Genosha collar. Right now I'm sure they need time to sort things out. After all, dear friend, even you have to admit that their relationship has always been rather…unstable. With this new dynamic inserted into their lives, they will need some time to sort through it. I'm sure you will agree that the Security System can wait a few moments. I'm sure you will also agree that they need their privacy." Henry picked up the couple of papers he was looking for and started to head for the door.
"Come back here Hank, we need to talk." Scott said before returning to the com-link.
"Great Remy!" Rogue said with mock anger. "Now, you've really pissed him off."
"I don't care…" Remy added with defiance.
"Gambit…click…after you are finished with Rogue, report to section 10-A with your tools…click…Cyclops out…click…"
"Woow, Ah wonder who drugged him." She laughed.
"I know. I guess I have to tell him to fuck off more of'en." His smile then faded, "So, what did you wan' t' tell me?"
"Oh yeah." She let out a huge sigh. "When Ah do decide to finally use mah bracelet…will you be there with me?"
"Do you even have to ask? Of course, chere." He never expected for her to want to be with him again so soon.
"Ah just had to ask. Ah mean, despite all the things we've been through, Ah've always considered you a friend, one of mah best at times. And that's what Ah'm gonna need the most." She reached over and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
Remy was glad, glad that she could not see the disappointment in his eyes.
Merde! She still wan' to be friends. I almost got carried away dere. Even t'ough I'm a li'l upset, I'm still glad she came t' me and not, god forbid, Bobby. As much as I hate t' admit it, she is close to him too.
"I'll be whatever you need me to be." He whispered in her ear. She pulled away from him and looked towards the clock across the room.
"Ah have to be on out door security tonight, now that the outer region systems are down."
"Yeah, dat's probably what Cyclops wan' me t' work on in the Security Room section 10-A. Wit' the Red Alert being active, my schedule is gonna be tight for awhile."
"So is mine…Ah guess we'll just meet up again when things start to cool down."
"Okay. You'll know where to find me." He picked up her gloved hand and kissed it. With the grace of a ballot dancer, he turned ever so swiftly and left the room.
All Is Not Well
(Henry/Scott)
"So let me get this straight…" Scott said with wary eyes. He had just finished listening to Henry's beaming report on his new invention. "You've been working on a prevention device for Rogue's powers for a long time and you haven't told anyone. Then you up and gave her the device without consulting me first?!"
"I take it you are not enthused by my accomplishment."
"I can't believe you did this!"
"You've seen Rogue struggle with her powers all these years. I cannot fathom why you are so upset."
"You could have at least waited until the professor came back, Hank."
"The professor will be gone for quite a while. I didn't think it was fair to have the bracelet sitting in my lab collecting dust, when it could help Rogue. Besides, you had just told us that there would be no missions for a while. This is the perfect opportunity for her to have her powers negated."
"You know she has dozes of psyches floating around in her head. You may not have noticed it, but in the battle today she absorbed two of the mutants; and you know how…odd…she behaves when this happens." He watched as Henry's expression changed. It was obvious that he was not aware of what happened in the battle.
"Yes I do. It becomes difficult for her to control her emotions. Maybe if I knew she had absorbed someone earlier I would have waited a couple of days before giving her the bracelet. Although, she seems to be handling herself well, I was just with her. If anything she is reserved. Rogue has significantly improved her ability to sort through all the voices in her head. As far as I'm aware she hasn't had a therapy session with the professor in almost two years."
"Hank, there are some thing you don't know about Rogue."
"I am her doctor, I'm sure I know more than you know."
"What I'm about to tell you is to be kept confidential, understand?" He asked, Henry nodded his head.
"There are certain things the professor confides in me about Rogue because I am leader of this team. As you know, Rogue was once an enemy of the X-men. The only reason this changed is because she needed help to control her powers. The professor initially intended to help her, however over time he thought better of it."
"He thought better of it?"
"Let me explain. Rogue, as you know, is by far the most powerful person on the team. Having the ability to take away mutant powers is dangerous when it is in the wrong hands. Remember what she did to Ms. Marvel*? Rogue never shared the professor's dream of mutant and humans living side by side. And what was even scarier is her mind could not be read. He thought that once he succeeded in helping her with her mutation, she would leave. Who knows where she would turn up…or who's side she'd be on."
"Rogue has been with this team for years now. You can't possible think she will leave the team at this time…or turn against us. We're her family."
"That's true. The professor long ago was able to trust her."
"Yet, he still did not help her with her powers. Why? There has to be another reason." Henry wondered out loud. Scott cursed underneath his breath. He thought about telling him a lie but knew Henry was too smart to be tricked.
"You're right, there is another reason. But I can't go into it now." Henry contemplated on what Scott could be referring to. Scott decided to change the subject.
"Did she operate the collar when you were with her."
"No. She will not turn it on tonight."
"What makes you do sure, especially now that she's with Gambit. This is a guy who can talk the panties off a nun." Henry was about to laugh, then realized Scott did not intend for his remark to be funny.
"The bracelet works on an eight hour clock. Once it is activated, it must not be turned off. Since Rogue has night duty in a couple of minutes, it wouldn't make sense for her to turn it on now."
"Let's hope not. I want a detailed report on the operations of the…bracelet. You are dismissed." Scott turned around to the lab monitor as Henry left the room. He watched as Remy and Rogue embraced. I can give Hank the reason in one word why the Prof. did not help Rogue: Gambit.
******
*Long ago when Rogue was still an enemy of the X-Men, she stole Ms. Marvel's powers. (Ms. Marvel was with the X-men at the time.) This is why Rogue is powerful and is able to fly.
Author's Note: "And that's the end of that chapter!" (Ten points if you can guess where I got that quote from)
Yeah, so Remy and Rogue aren't together, thus the title Not Just Yet. We don't always get what we want. I'm trying to build more on their character, and it's better to do it when they're not together. Don't you ever wonder why Remy puts up with Rogue sometimes? Why can't he just move on to another girl? Don't you want to know why Rogue always pushes Remy away. I'll try to answer these question as the story continues; and one of these questions is answered in the next chapter.
Even though this chapter had a bit of angst, don't worry; you can put away the tissue. I think Remy and Rogue are fun people when they are not suffering in love. This will come up in later chapters.
The Scott/Henry chapter originally did not exist. I went back and added it after other chapters were already written. For all those people who like Scott, don't think I'm painting him as the villain, give the rest of the story a chance. Scott has his reasons for not liking the bracelet idea. Do you think he's justified? Though, there is another reason he does not like the bracelet (Gambit), but that will be discussed in another chapter.
This is going to be a long story so buckle your seat belts. Don't worry the story is complete in my head (I won't leave you hanging) and as you read I've already finished a bunch of chapters on the computer, just waiting a bit to have them published.
Please review on what you think so far…
Next Time: Rogue and Scott reminisce on old times. And for the Logan Lovers, he gives Rogue a piece of his mind and gets a shock or two in return…
**Warning: To be on the safe side, I am going to up the next chapter to an R rating. (sorry