Disclaimer: Nope, the X-Men aren't mine…
Thanks for the reviews. The only reason I'm not posting all of the chapters at once are because they're still being edited by talented friends. But please be patient, it's worth it.
Chapter Two
The X-van slowed down to a stop and Rogue glanced out the window and saw the old abandoned Bayville warehouse directly in her view. "Raght, this is original. Can't we ever recruit a new mutant in their home fa once?" Rogue muttered out loud before nimbly stepping out of the van and stretching her numb limbs.
The regular route to the warehouse would have normally taken twenty minutes, but because Scott believed that he knew a short cut, the ride lengthened on to nearly an hour. "Alright team, we don't know if this mutant is hostile or not, apparently her powers just emerged yesterday. Jean and I will take the front entrance; Kurt and Kitty you both take the side entrance, and Rogue you sneak in the back. Okay, lets move out," Scott commanded sternly and before anyone could protest to the arrangements, he grabbed Jean's hand and marched towards the entrance.
"Rogue, are you like, going to be okay going solo?" Kitty questioned.
"Yeah Ah'm fine, you two poof out of here," Rogue smirked and watched the pair hold hands and disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Rogue quickly maneuvered her way to the back of the warehouse and found the back door's charred remains in a pile of ash. "Looks like someone got here before us," Rogue muttered under her breath before silently slipping through the darkened doorway.
From what Rogue could tell the warehouse had three dusty levels, was inhabited by rats, and contained five dim lights casting distorted shadows across the walls surfaces. She slid into the nearest shadow behind a large crate and scanned the area as best she could, searching for the new mutant, her teammates and the enemy. She heard a noise directly above her and spotted a swishing blue tail through the grating as well as a pair of pink sneakers right next to him. At least she found Kurt and Kitty.
She then caught another movement in the far right corner and witnessed Toad quickly climb down the wall and hop into the nearby shadows. 'Tha brotherhood is here, Ah should have known,' Rogue thought absentmindedly, 'but no one on their team has tha power of fire… ah shit, Magneto's Acolytes.'
Rogue immediately became more alert and scanned the warehouse over once more. This time she spotted a metallic elbow glinting from the upper level and could barely make out Colossus's figure amongst the shadows. Directly to his left, Rogue saw the small flick of a flame before it quickly disappeared, barely giving her a glimpse of the fiery redhead Pyro. "Where's tha blasted Cajun," she muttered quietly under her breath, her eyes quickly darting around the warehouse.
"Allo chere (Hello dear)," a thickly accented voice whispered into her ear directly behind her, "lookin' for Gambit?"
Rogue tightened her fist and was prepared to turn around swinging punches when one strong arm secured her own arms behind her back while a gloved hand clamped down quickly over her mouth. "Ah, not quick enough chere, Gambit be too quick for y'," his stated smugly.
Rogue rolled her eyes and slammed her foot down hard onto his foot while slamming her elbows into his ribs. She smiled against his firm hand over her mouth when she heard him grunt in pain. Rogue bit back a sigh when he didn't loosen his grip and continued her struggle.
"Shh, now stop y' strugglin chere and look around y' like y' were before. Don't y' think it's odd that none of us have found de fille (the girl) we came here for?" Gambit ordered and tightened his grip on Rogue.
Rogue continued to struggle against his painful grip, let out an angry sigh before biting down hard on his hand so that he removed his hand from her mouth. Drawing in a breath of fresh air she muttered, "What's yah point Cajun?"
"Gambit's point is there's probably somethin' in her mutation that enables her ta hide," Gambit smugly replied, all the while shaking his hand back and forth as if that would relieve it of the pain.
Rogue opened her mouth to shoot off a sarcastic retort when the main doors of the building were suddenly thrown open with a loud bang. The fighting pair turned their gazes to spy Scott and Jean confidently walk through the doorway.
Rogue let out a sign of annoyance; those two REALLY know how to sneak into places. "Don't yah dare say anything Gambit," Rogue threatened and turned her face towards him to give him her most lethal glare.
Many girls would find it very hard to glare at this gorgeous male specimen, but Rogue was not like many other girls. She was in no way swayed by his hypnotizing crimson on black eyes, his tousled auburn hair that just screamed for a girl's fingers to run through it, his alluring, smirking lips and that killer tall, muscular body that completed the whole package. In two words, Gambit was sex appeal and Rogue was convinced that his looks had no impact on her whatsoever… clearly, Rogue didn't know herself as well as she thinks she does.
"Chere, what makes y' think dis Cajun would say somethin'? Although, now that y' mention it, those two made a tres mal (very bad) entrance," he paused and looked at her face more closely, a flirty grin gracing his lips, "what is dis? Mon jolie fille (my pretty girl) didn't wear any makeup today."
'Ah knew ah forgot somethin' this mornin,' Rogue mentally cursed herself.
Gambit's eyes roamed over her face and still couldn't believe that this angel was Rogue, his enemy. He knew she was pretty, even with that thick makeup on, and he was attracted to her then. But now he realized why she wore that makeup, it was to push guys away from her… hell, with that face guys wouldn't care that she had untouchable skin.
He found himself lost in her clear green eyes and her tempting, soft, pink lips that just begged to be kissed. Already the wheels in his mind were turning, thinking up of all the ways to touch without skin on skin contact. And for someone who had such a creative imagination as Gambit, the list of ways to touch was endless.
Rogue suddenly became aware of how closely Gambit was staring at her face and was it her or did his bright eyes seem to turn a shade darker… he actually looked like he was attracted to her. Observing his reaction, Rogue immediately saw an opportunity open before her. She leaned back further into his grip, turning it into a near embrace. Rogue then slyly tilted her chin and gave Gambit a sultry look before fastening a heated gaze on his lips. "Gambit," she whispered close to his ear, "didn't yah father ever teach yah how ta treat a lady?"
A genuine look of confusion slipped over Gambit's normally expressionless face and Rogue felt his arms slightly loosen their hold on her as Gambit's hypnotizing red on black eyes stared intensely into her own emerald eyes. For a moment, Rogue believed that she could get lost in his eyes.
Somehow, Rogue miraculously snapped out of her daze to quickly pull the fighting technique she had been practicing with Logan all week. She deftly stomped on Gambit's foot, while elbowing his gut at the same time. Her surprise attack caused him to immediately release her from his hold. She then spun around and swung a right hook, connecting it with his stubbled jaw. Rogue smiled victoriously as Gambit fell to the floor face-first. She quickly hopped on top of his back and pinned his arms behind him.
The smile vanished from her face when she felt him begin to chuckle from beneath her. "An what tha hell is so damn funny? If yah couldn't tell Gambit, ah have tha upper-hand here!" Rogue demanded angrily.
Grinning, Gambit laughed, "Mon pere (my father) always told Gambit that some filles would be more aggressive than most, an Gambit's sure y' proved that today chere."
"Shut it Cajun," Rogue growled in annoyance.
She was soon distracted by Scott's voice echoing "hello" throughout the entire warehouse. Rogue watched both the Brotherhood and the Acolytes tense up in attack mode. "Dumb-ass," she muttered under her breath as her attention again resumed to Scott as he again repeated his greetings to the silent warehouse.
Gambit unexpectedly bucked under her, throwing her off of him. While she was thoroughly stunned lying on her back, he nimbly climbed on top of her prone figure, straddling her hips and firmly pinned her arms down at her sides. "Gambit couldn't agree more with 'y chere. T' forget about your opponent is a very dumb-ass thing t' do," he smiled sweetly down at her.
Groaning in disbelief, Rogue met his avid stare with her challenging gaze. " 'Y know chere, Gambit never expected 'y t' pull a stunt like that. 'Y do look tres belle (very beautiful) today chere. An since 'y tink it's d'accord (okay) t' play with Gambit's emotions, he believes some compensation is in order," he murmured as he thoughtfully stared down at her.
"What tha hell are yah talking about?" Rogue fumed, a hint of worry tinted the inner depths of her bright jade eyes.
"Gambit heard that one kiss from y' leaves a man weak in the knees," he smirked and fastened his gaze on her soft lips.
"Gambit, one kiss from meh will kill a boy like yah," Rogue dryly replied.
"Gambit's willing t' take de chance," he whispered and slowly leaned in to kiss her.
Rogue stared back at him in fear and anticipation. No one had ever made a move to kiss her when they were aware of her powers; except for Gambit... he had to be completely insane. However, it was exciting, having a hot guy like Gambit… 'Wait a minute… did Ah just say hot?' Rogue's mind screamed in shock, 'no no no… Ah'm losing mah mind.' And under no circumstances did she want Gambit's personality running amuck in her mind, Rogue could just imagine the amount of trouble he would cause up there.
Snapping out of her internal arguments, she suddenly became very aware of how close Gambit was to her face and wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. Even though she knew her power would kick in and drain him, she was still curious to see what a kiss from him would feel like if only for a split second. So instead of struggling away from his grip, she relaxed in his arms and watched his eyes betray his emotions. He lost the mischievous glint in his eye and was shocked that she wasn't pushing him away. Then miraculously, the tension seemed to completely disappear from his face and a sensual smile curved on his lips as they hovered mere inches away from her lips. Rogue felt enraptured by his gaze and began to move her face closer to Gambit's, wanting to desperately shorten the distance between them.
Before the pair could kiss a bright ray of red light exploded into them. She felt Gambit's body ripped from the top of her and watched him slam into a pile of crates, disappearing from her gaze. Rogue immediately jumped to her feet, ready to check on the Cajun when she ran into Scott's wiry form. Rogue snapped out of her daze and realized that for a second she was worried about Gambit's well being, the thought brought a scowl to her face. "Thanks Scott, yah really helped meh," Rogue sincerely stated and her face once again regained its emotionless composure.
"Well, you didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight yourself," he scolded angrily before turning his attention back to the center of the warehouse, "I think the Brotherhood is somewhere around here, you obviously know the Acolytes are here."
Rogue clenched her jaw in suppressed anger at his rude remarks and irritatingly followed him back to the center of the room where the rest of the team was waiting. But instead of joining them in the middle of the floor she chose to linger off to the side, using the protection of a nearby pole to partially hide her position.
She watched Jean confidently step away from the main group, bring her hands to her temples and concentrate for a moment while she searched for the young mutant's name before announcing in her airy voice, "Penny? We know you're in here. There's nothing to be frightened of… we're here to help. My name's Jean, my friends and I all belong to a group of mutants called the X-Men. We all have special powers just like you do, please show yourself, we want to help you."
A long stretch of silence surrounded the group when a familiar male voice echoed through the silence, "Take the hint and leave Red, the girl obviously doesn't want to go anywhere with you."
Lance "Avalanche" Alvers proudly stepped out of the shadows and stopped a few feet away from the rest of the X-Men. He spoke again shouting, "Come on out guys, it's just the X-geeks."
Upon his command Toad, Wanda aka the Scarlet Witch, and the Blob emerged from their hiding places and soon joined him opposite of the X-Men. "The new girl is ours, so get out of here," Fred "The Blob," boomed.
"Yeah, scram, she's ours," Toad mimicked and hopped closer to his crush Wanda, who saw his approach and sent a hex bolt at his feet as a warning to stay away from her.
"I don't think so mate," a fiery red head grinned from a story above them all before leaping over the rail and landing roughly on his feet; his hands were already ablaze with fire, it was rather fitting his codename was Pyro.
"Oh yeah, your going to stop all of us," Lance smugly grinned.
"Dat is vhere you are wrong," a deep voice resonated throughout the warehouse; a large, muscular man clunked his heavy footsteps towards the landing and somehow managed to gracefully land next to his teammate; Colossus was a force to be reckoned with.
A fast, rush of wind streamed past the brotherhood and halted next to the other Acolytes to reveal the smirking, silver haired boy Pietro aka Quicksilver. "If y' want de fille, y' will have t' go through us," Gambit's silky voice replied as he seemed to materialize from the shadows to stand in the front of his teammates.
'How tha hell did he get over there… he used ta be right behind meh in those crates,' Rogue's thoughts shouted in annoyance as she fastened a trademark glare at Gambit.
Gambit met her glare with a lavish wink as he stealthily slipped playing cards into his hands, waiting for the opportune moment to charge them. Rogue shrugged off his flirty manner and stood next to her teammates, removing her gloves as she prepared for the inevitable fight… she would personally take Gambit down.
Pyro was clearly the most impatient one there for he initiated the fight by throwing fireballs at both the Brotherhood and the X-Men. After that, all hell broke loose. The teams immediately split up, each individual determined to settle his or her own personal scores. Lance and the Blob started a full out attack against Scott and Jean while Toad aimlessly avoided random attacks, not really fighting any particular side. Wanda sought out Pietro, whom she had a personal score to settle. Kitty and Kurt teamed up against Colossus and Pyro; neither side seemed to be gaining any ground.
And of course, that left Rogue and Gambit. The pair immediately charged each other, throwing kicks, dodging punches, avoiding both charged cards and bare skin. Rogue felt her lips turn up in a smile as she continued to fight Gambit, the only other person who put up this much of a challenge in a fight was Logan… it was always refreshing to be surprised by an opponent. "Chere," Gambit gritted through clenched teeth as he kept her bare hands away from his face with the help of his bo-staff, "wouldn't it be nice to meet each other on friendlier terms for a change."
"No Cajun, these are tha only terms Ah'm willing ta meet with yah," Rogue briskly replied before dodging a charged card.
"More tha pity, Gambit guess he'll just have t' make do with these fights," he smirked as he dodged a punch to the face. Grabbing her outstretched arm to pin her arms behind her and wrapped a strong arm around her curvy hips he whispered in her ear, "Chere, Gambit must know, are y' wearing anything underneath all of dis tight spandex."
Rogue reared her skull back and slammed it into Gambit's head, causing him to release her from his hold. "A lady never tells," Rogue sweetly smiled and sent a roundhouse kick in his general direction.
Unknown to the fighting teams in the warehouse; a small figure appeared on the top floor of the warehouse. The young girl could be no older than ten with her innocent amber eyes, long, flowing, black hair and bright white nightgown. She surveyed the dismal scene below her and felt an extreme surge of anger that these people were fighting each other when they obviously all had special gifts. Her anger triggered her immature mutation, causing her eyes to turn a dark shade of black and a bright white glow slowly began to emit from her tiny body. "Stop FIGHTING!" her small voice screamed throughout the warehouse and a blinding light exploded from her body to wash over the occupants on the lower level. The white light crackled with unknown energy, splintering boxes and shattering objects as it barreled towards the small group. The young mutants immediately stopped fighting to stare up in both fright and awe of the approaching light. The young girl returned to her normal state and sent them all a pitiful look before disappearing… invisibility seemed to be one of her many powers.
Lance saw the incoming threat and could only think of Kitty's safety and desperately began to search for her. He spotted her small frame being protected by Colossus's towering body that unflinchingly stood between Kitty and the bright light. Lance ran over to Kitty, grabbed her hand and pulled her towards Jean, the only one capable of protecting them. He failed to notice that Kitty had grabbed Colossus's hand as well on their way to the telekinetic mutant. Jean immediately set up a force field around all in her reach, however it didn't cover all. The Blob still had Scott in a chokehold, they were the first one the light touched, causing them both the immediately collapse in a dead faint. The next to fall were Pietro and Wanda, the siblings instantly became unconscious and fell to the floor. There were only two other mutants not protected by Jean's force field and that was Rogue and Gambit who unfortunately, had conducted their fight behind the cover of a pole. The pair had stopped fighting with the rest of the mutants and could only stand their ground and watch the light approach them.
Rogue sent one last fleeting look at Jean's force field and realized that there was no way she could reach Jean in time. Squaring her shoulders, she prepared to face the light head on; Rogue couldn't think of a better way to go.
Gambit, however, could think of many better ways to go. He had already given up the possibility of escaping this unknown light and just watched in awe, as Rogue stood up against that light completely fearless. "What a fille," he chuckled under his breath and then realized a truly fitting ending to his life.
Smirking, he grabbed Rogue's hand and quickly turned her around, pulling her soft, curvy body against his lean, muscular frame. Taking one last hard look into her confused green gaze he grinned, "Au revoir mon chere (Goodbye my dear)," and bent forward to capture her lips with his own. His mind briefly realized how sweet she tasted when the bright light washed over them and his world went black.
Well, that's all for chapter 2. I hope it was enjoyable and just wait until you see the future Romy scenes...