Southern Comfort

Chapter 6: Getting Control

By: Rogue-Slayer13

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of X-Men: Evolution, they belong to their respective creators.

Summary: Takes place from Cajun Spice and forward. Rogue returns with the X-Men, and Gambit decides to go abroad for awhile. What will happen when they run into each other again?

Note: Whole sentences in italics are thoughts, and single words are emphasis.

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"Ya know ya don't have to hide out here," said Rogue as she came out onto the balcony. "Kitty's out with Lance, and Logan's out with his poker buddies."

"What about de rest of dem?" asked Gambit as he dropped down onto the balcony from a tree branch above.

"Ah don't think they'll say anything, and if they do, Ah don't care."

"Gambit'd hate to see y' in trouble cause of him, chere."

Rogue smiled. It'd been several weeks since her and Gambit went on their first date, and things were actually going well.

"You're a sweet one, Swamp Rat," said Rogue as Gambit came to lean against the balcony railing next to her.

"Gambit been tellin' y' dat all along, chere. Y' jus' haven't been listenin'," replied Gambit with a smirk.

"Maybe ya just haven't been trying harder enough to convince me." Rogue leaned forward closing the space between her and Gambit a bit.

"Maybe." Gambit closed the rest of the distance.

Their lips were about to touch when Gambit pulled back with a sigh.

"Y' don' want me swimmin' around in your head, chere," said Gambit quietly, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Rogue looked up at Gambit in shock.

"Ah'm Sorry."

"S'not your fault, chere," replied Gambit.

Just then Kitty came into the room.

"Gambit better go," said Gambit as he stood up on the balcony railing. " bientôt, mon chere." Gambit jumped off of the railing, and gracefully landed on his feet, before headed toward the gates of Xavier Institute.

"He didn't have to, like, leave because of me," said Kitty as she came out onto the balcony.

"Ah nearly absorbed him," whispered Rogue, more to herself then anyone else.

"Huh?"

"Ah could've killed him." Rogue's voice rose as the gravity of the situation began to fully sink in for her.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kitty, a concerned look on her face.

Rogue looked at Kitty.

"Ah have to get control of my powers."

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"I'm honored that you've come to me for help," said Professor Xavier from his spot at his desk. "May I asked what's spurred this renewed interest in getting control over your powers?"

"Ah'm just tired of them," replied Rogue.

"Well, I'll certainly help as much as I can." The professor came around to the front of his desk. "We can start working on it after breakfast."

"Thanks, professor," replied Rogue as she got up from her seat.

"You're welcome, Rogue."

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Rogue met the professor in the Danger Room, which had been transformed into a peaceful place for meditation.

"I believe the root of your problem stems from the psyches themselves," said the professor as Rogue took a seat on a cushy floor pillow.

"What do you mean?" asked Rogue.

"Every mutant must concentrate to master their powers, and I believe the psyches are preventing you from doing that."

"How?" Rogue shifted into a more comfortable position.

"They may be producing psychic static, which messes with the telepathy needed to master your powers. So today, we're going to work on blocking them out, or ideally, removing them completely."

"Sounds good to me," replied Rogue.

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"How was your, like, power control practice?" asked Kitty as Rogue entered their room.

"Headache inducing," replied Rogue as she walked into the bathroom to get some Tylenol.

"Did you make any progress?"

"Not really." Rogue came back into the room.

"Oh." Kitty gave Rogue a sympathetic look. "Well, the Professor did say it would take some time. I'm sure you'll get it eventually."

Rogue sighed.

"Ah don't have eventually." Rogue sat down on her bed. "Ah can hardly think straight around Gambit, and look what it got me. Ah nearly absorbed him."

"Well, at least he can, like, think around you," said Kitty, trying to be helpful. "As long as one of you can think, it'll be all right."

"Ah either need to learn to control my powers, or Ah can't keep seeing Gambit."

"You're not, like, gonna break up with him, are you?" asked Kitty.

"Ah'll have to."

"Rogue, you two are, like, totally head over heels for each other. You can't just give up on that."

"It's not like Ah want to give up on it!" snapped Rogue. "Do you think it's easy for me to make a decision like this?" Tears began to fill Rogue's eyes.

"I'm sorry," said Kitty, not used to seeing Rogue cry. "I didn't mean to make you upset."

"You didn't do anything, Kitty," replied Rogue as she calmed down a bit.

Kitty walked over and pulled her friend and room mate into a hug.

"You'll get through this. Both of you."

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Rogue spent the majority of her free time working to control her powers. It had been two weeks since she first met with the professor, and so far all she'd managed to do was remove the non mutant psyches from her mind.

"Don't get discouraged," said the professor as Rogue let out an aggravated sigh. "These things take time and you've made more progress in these last two weeks, then all of our other attempts at controlling your power combined."

"Ah know," said Rogue as she got to her feet. "Ah just wished things would hurry up a bit."

"Is there a specific reason as to why you're in such a hurry?" The professor had a look that made it seem as if he already knew the answer to his question.

"Not really," lied Rogue. "Ah'm gonna go get something to eat."

The professor watched as Rogue walked out of the room.

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Rogue walked into her room that evening to find Gambit and Kitty playing a game of Go Fish out on the balcony.

"Hey Rogue! Now that you're here, we can, like, play something else," greeted Kitty. "Gambit's going to, like, teach me how to play Texas Hold 'Em. Wanna play?"

"Sure," replied Rogue as she walked out onto the balcony and took a seat next to Kitty, as Gambit took a box of poker chips out of one of his coat pockets.

"White chips are worth one, blue chips are five, and red chips are ten," explained Gambit as he distributed the chips. "I'm dealing, so each of you need to ante up two."

Both girls did as they were told and Gambit dealt out to cards face down.

"You're gonna to try and put dese cards together wit' de ot'er cards I deal out and try to make de best hand possible."

Gambit continued to explain the game as they played it, until he was sure they all knew how to play.

"How was, like, your time with the professor today?" asked Kitty as she bet on her cards.

"Better Ah guess." Rogue also bet on her hand. "Ah still can't touch anyone though."

"You'll get it soon, chere," replied Gambit encouragingly.

"Ah hope so."

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To Be Continued . . .

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