5. Switched

She pulled back with a jerk as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw that the woman was standing beside her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but I just thought that you maybe wanted something to eat."

The woman nodded in the direction of an open door, where Rogue could see the kitchen behind. She then cast a glance back on Gambit's body as she felt the hungry in her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything in a long time, so she was very hungry, but still she couldn't leave him. The woman saw the conflict in her eyes.

"Don't think about it. You can eat it in here."

"Thanks."

The woman disappeared for a second and came back with bowl of food, which Rogue gratefully took. The woman then took a chair from the kitchen and sat down to keep Rogue with company as she ate. The woman cast a glance over at Gambit's body.

"You really love him?"

Suddenly Rogue didn't felt, that she was so hungry after all, so she sat the bowl down on the nearby table.

"Yeah, I do, but I discovered it first, when it's too late."

"Please, tell me about him."

"Why?"

The woman stood up and walked over to the window.

"It's the best way to grieve. Realizing that the person isn't completely gone, but that he still lives in your heart."

Rogue looked into herself and realized, that Gambit still was alive in her heart, and that the love that they had shared together was stronger that life and dead.

"Thanks."

The woman turned around and sent her a smile.

"It's okay, but please tell me about him."

Rogue looked over at Gambit's body as the memories rushed through her mind. There were so many - both good and bad ones – so she didn't know where to start, but then she decided to start at with the end.

"He was always so sure about our love. Even in the very end as he asked me for a kiss and…"

The woman jerked back in surprised.

"You kissed him just before he died?"

Rogue, who was surprised over the woman's reaction, nodded. The woman almost ran over to Rogue and pulled her over to Gambit's body. She closed her eyes and for a couple of minuets she just stood there, but then she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Somehow he is still there… In you."

Rogue felt her heart beat faster.

"Can you save him?"

The woman took a deep breath.

"I don't know. I have never tried this with two people before. There can be all kinds of side effects, which… It could kill us all or something else. And still if it works, then there could also be side effects…"

One look at Rogue's eyes stopped her. She nodded and was just about to start the process, when someone broke through the door. Rogue looked up and recognized Storm and Wolverine. Wolverine began to run over to them, as Rogue looked over at the woman.

"DO IT!"

The woman nodded and started the process. First Rogue felt a great pain run through her body, but then it all stopped. It stopped just for a second, but it was long enough for her to see Wolverine's worried eyes. Then it all started again, so she closed her eyes. Just as she thought she couldn't withstand the pressure anymore it got worse, but then she saw him. He gave her the strength to defy the pressure for a time, but then it all turned black.

Storm and Wolverine could only look in horror as the woman began the process. Wolverine tried to run over to them, as Rogue's screams made the hair at the back of his head stand up, but then he was pushed back by something he couldn't see. He released his claws and tried to fight it off, but nothing happened. It just pushed him further and further back.

Storm couldn't keep her eyes away from Gambit's body as she suddenly saw his hand moving. Was it just something she had imagined or could it really happen? Before she could think further fell Wolverine in over her. The power, which had pushed Wolverine back, began to work on them both and it pushed them out of the broken door.

They were halfway down the driveway, when the power suddenly stopped pushing them back. It took them a couple of seconds realized, that the power really was gone, but then they were just about to run back to the house, when it suddenly exploded. They hided under Rogue's car as the pieces from the house felt down from the sky.

After some minuets had the dust vanished so much, that they could crawl out from under the car, and they ran up to what used to be a house. They rushed over to where they thought their friend would be and started digging. Storm didn't use her powers, as she was afraid the rest of the house would dash down on their heads, if she did. Wolverine instead used his claws like an obsessed man, which only became worse as he heard a moan from the rubbles. Storm helped him moving a big block and underneath it they found the three bodies.

Wolverine quickly jumped over and checked that Rogue still was alive. In the same moment did Storm the same thing with Gambit and discovered that he was alive.

"Gambit?"

To Wolverine delight opened Rogue her eyes, but he wasn't prepared to what she was going to say.

"Over here, chere, over here."