Warning: read every little word! Or you might get lost!
****
A pale face looked back at Rogue from the mirror. Her eyes were unusually bright, there were large dark circles around them, she hadn't slept the whole night. Her hair was wet from the shower, matted to her head. She touched her face, the skin seemed tight around her skull, and without her make-up, she looked haunting. It looked like a permanent mask of fear. She sneered at her own image, tightening her towel around herself. She hated that face, those skinny pale arms, the skeleton like fingers grasping the top of her towel. But it was something else she wanted to see.
Rogue hadn't regained her room that night, staying in the living room. Before anyone had got up yet, she'd gone to the bathroom to clean up: she felt filthy after Gambit's touch.
Rogue took a couple of steps back to be able to fully look at herself in the mirror. With a cold resignation, she slowly let the towel slip from her shoulders... She turned around, making her back face the mirror. She looked over her shoulder into her reflection. She nearly sobbed. She'd been right.
There was an awful scar running down her neck and back, following her spine. She looked away in anger. Not only angry at her reflection, but also disgusted at herself. She'd let herself be cut up by someone, to have control... She'd let herself be cut up by Sinister, Gambit's only fear. And those red eyes came back to her, not those blazing eyes that were Gambit's, but colder ones, mean... She'd seen them somewhere, somewhere in the month she'd been missing. She was sure of it.
Then she realised what kind of person she was: a traitor. Always that traitor. She'd first left the Brotherhood for their nemesis, the X-men. She'd left because she thought that Xavier's dream was the 'right' dream, peace and all. Had she left for something more, unconsciously? Had she thought that Xavier was the one that could give her control? Rogue had hoped so. But she had found nothing to help her at the Institute, and had moved on. Had she really believed in Xavier's dream in the first place? Had she mistook it for something else? No, it was exactly what she had made it out to be: just a dream, maybe it was just another lost cause.
Rogue quickly got dressed, her hair still wet. She then applied her make up: she left out the white cream, her face was pale enough, and just added the dark eye-shadow. She finally picked up the last piece of her clothing: her gloves. These were long and black. She put them on, it was her way of hiding from the others, make them think she was still the same untouchable Goth.
Rogue took a step out when she was assaulted by two figures: a crying Kitty and a happy Kurt. They jumped on her, hugging her fiercely.
"What the." Rogue cried out.
"Rogue! You're, like, back!"
"Mein sister! We missed ya so much!"
Rogue finally managed to get her breath back, stepping out of the big hug.
"I was, like, so pleased when I heard you were back yesterday! But I didn't want to wake you up! You looked so peaceful sleeping!"
"Where did you go? What did you do! Tell uz!" Kurt exclaimed.
Rogue was lost for words. Here were probably her best friends, Kurt and Kitty. They looked so genuine, had they worried that much for her?
"Ah." she started.
"Let's, like, talk it over breakfast!"
"Go'd idea, Kittycat, I'm starving!"
So Rogue was dragged along to the kitchen, as she tried desperately to come up with a lie. She couldn't tell them what she had done, they would hate her for it. They looked so happy at the moment. She couldn't spoil it, not like this.
The kitchen was now full, Jean gave Rogue a warm smile, as Scott came to her side to shake her hand (he was always so formal).
Bobby whistled: 'You better not get this girl annoyed! Understood, Newbies?"
A little troop of girls and boys that Rogue had never seen before were at the end of the table. They looked at Rogue worriedly. They stared at her, frozen on their stools: a small girl with very curly blond hair, a boy about ten with wood-like skin and another girl, looking quite transparent. Rogue must have looked like a skeleton to them. She wanted to sneer at them and scream: "So what! Never seen freak as big as meh?" But Rogue did nothing of it, just gave them a dark look before sitting down at a stool Jubilee had specially got off for her. Kitty and Kurt were still by her side.
They passed her the milk, the cereals, a bun. Rogue was the centre of attention that morning, she hated it. She just wanted to sulk in a dark corner, but that liberty was taken from her as Sam, Jubilee, Forge and all the others started to shower her with questions.
Rogue went for the: "Tour of the Country", "Wanted som' time t' mah self", "sort things out". And they all took it in without question, nodding here and there to Rogue's story, commenting on some things, asking some small detail that Rogue was quick to invent. She lied to them quite well. All believed her, except one; a sceptic Logan who was at the end of the table, a cup of coffee in hand, pretending to read the new-paper when actually he was listening attentively. Rogue didn't miss this last detail, Logan could catch a lie a mile away.
Rogue remembered her conversation with him, the night before, she suspected that he knew what she had actually done.
Then it was Rogue's turn to ask questions.
"Professor X is in Massachusetts with Miss Monroe..."
"Logan's been going crazy keeping us out of trouble!"
"I bet there's something between Logan and Ororo..." Kitty whispered in Rogue's ear.
Logan shocked on his coffee from across the table, giving the evidence of the relationship between the two adults clearly.
"McCoy left two weeks ago," the older man said putting down his newspaper. "For some new job in a big lab. So it'll be a bit hard if ya want him to examine you, Stripes."
Rogue flinched, had he seen her neck with the scar?
Rogue tried to detach herself from the talking mob, to become smaller and more insignificant: she wanted to get away from the kitchen. Her guilt level had raised to higher grounds, and she just couldn't stand it anymore.
She finally managed to slip away into the living room and out in the garden.
It was broad day light, but it was still quite dark: a storm was preparing it's self above Rogue's head. The clouds were of dark grey, the bitter wind of beginning of December was blowing strongly. Rogue put her arms around her and continued her walk. Ororo Monroe must have been away for a long time for the garden to get this bad. Weeds were taking over the delicate flower beds, the hedges were all deformed and dying. It was a mess. Rogue could remember the last time she'd gone jogging out here. It had been peaceful and welcoming. It was now cold, ruff and shrivelled.
She walked passed a bench intertwined with brambles, making it impossible to sit down anymore... a burnt down tree. Everything seemed to have changed a lot. She came up to the lake.
Rogue crouched down next to the water. Taking one of her gloves off, she plunged her hand in it. She enjoyed the cold touch, the ripples leaving her hand as she would caress the liquid, the transparent drops on the tip of her fingers as she took it out of the water, and then the faint drip drip when they would fall back into the lake. The noise soothed her, creating a melody with the whistling of the leaves in the wind. Even if everything looked dead, it was still enjoyable sitting next to the lake. No, some things hadn't changed.
Rogue finally took her hand out of the water; it now felt numb. She dried it on her trousers and was about to put her glove back on, when someone took it away, warming it with his own hands.
Rogue looked up into Gambit's red on black eyes. She was too tired to fight; the night had worn her out.
"What do ya want, Swamp Rat," Rogue said taking her hand away from his grasp, putting the glove back on.
"To see ya, chere," he said, putting his hand on her back. Rogue flinched away.
"Don't touch meh," she warned him getting up. Gambit followed suit. "Ah want some answers now."
"Ask." He put his hands in his pockets.
"Where have Ah been, this past month?" Rogue wanted to be sure of what she'd done.
Remy sighed, looking away. "Remy told ya t' refuse Sinister's invitation, but chere was desperate, and finally accepted."
Rogue nodded, she remembered that part all too well, the pain... that throbbing pain in her head, making her lose her mind.
"Chere and Remy met again..." he paused. "Remy had dis last job for Sinister, t' repay fo' the control he'd given meh ove' mah own power, long ago." He was lightly dropping his usual manner of talking in the third person. "Remy 'foir'ed that..."
"Ya what?" Rogue asked, not understanding his gibberish.
"Didn't get de job threw..."
"Why?"
Remy crossed his arms, looking away. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about that part. Rogue winced inwardly, he'd already explained to her once what kind of job Sinister made you do.
"'Kay, just tell meh why Ah'm not in his lab anymor'," Rogue told him impatiently.
The sky above them started to grumble, lightning strikes swept across the grey clouds. The air started to get colder. The leaves were swept up from the ground, dust flying in the air. Rogue squinted as her eyes pricked with the small particles. Her hair flew across her face, she quickly put it back behind her ear.
"He's finished messing with ya genetic code... Ya've got control, exactly what ya wanted, chere," he said rather bad-tempered.
Rogue winced; it was her turn to look away. No one understood what hell she'd been living... Gambit must have seen Rogue's angry look, for he apologised.
"Sorry chere, Ah didn't mean t' say that. Remy not comfortable with de subject..."
"Whatever, Swamp Rat," Rogue said as she started to leave.
"Wait, Dee's something ya must know, chere."
"What?" Rogue asked, her back turned towards him. The dead leaves rustled around her feet with the growing wind.
" Ya're at the Mansion, becaus' Remy took ya here. Ya kind of escaped the mad Scientist. Ya psyche's, most are closed away. Dat's why ya can't hear dem..."
Rogue stiffened up. She felt Gambit approach from behind.
"What would ya know about it..." Rogue gritted her teeth; this was going around in circles.
There was another lightning strike.
"Chere told meh so," he whispered huskily by her ear. Rogue felt herself shiver with pleasure. "Remy be in ya head..."
Rogue turned around, facing a grinning Remy.
"Of course, chere can't remember, but Remy asked ya t' abosorb him," he said matter of fact.
Rogue looked at him sceptically. "If ya trying t' play 'round wi' meh, it ain't working, shugah" she said cocking an eyebrow.
Remy winked at her, lifting a hand. "Watch..."
His hand was gloved in leather, some fingers were bare for some unknown use, these gloves didn't have the purpose of warming your hand. He snapped his fingers, and to Rogue's disbelief, they started to disappear, his handsome face blurring, his body seemed to fall into dust, flying away in the wind. Rogue lifted her own hand, trying to grab him, as if it would keep him by her side.
"Remy!" she cried out.
Rogue felt a too familiar arms circle her waist. "Right here, chere."
"How? What did ya do?" she blurted out.
He reluctantly took his arms away. "Chere absorbed Gambit, not whole like Remy asked ya, but enough just to render Remy unconscious fo' a while."
"Why?"
"Ya head be a better cell than in Sinister's cellar. Remy told ya, he didn't go threw with da job." His haunting smile came back. "Ya kiss well, chere..."
"Taht's it!" Rogue declared. "Ah'm leaving! Ah'm not getting messed up by ya."
She walked quickly away, not looking back next to the lake where she'd left him. She passed the dying hedges again, heading to the Mansion.
Just as she closed the door behind her, it started to pour cats and dogs outside; the scenery quickly disappeared behind curtains of water. Rogue smirked with satisfaction, wherever Gambit was now, he was getting drenched, not even his trench-coat would be able to keep the water out.
"Gambit not be tangible, but wouldn't mind seeing chere wet..."
Rogue jumped out of her skin, turning around. She had the impression her heart had been ripped out of her chest. It wasn't possible, it couldn't be possible! There, right in front of her; in the hall; was Gambit. He stood leaning against the stair's banister, a cigarette in hand, the smoke curling upwards.
"Wolverine's going t' smell that straight 'way, ya know," Rogue told hiim with a certain pleasure, crossing her arms. "Ya done like a rat..."
Gambit took a drag, before his cigarette disappeared into fin air.
"Not likely, chere. Remember, Gambit only exists t' ya."
Rogue turned away into the living room. It wasn't possible, she couldn't have absorbed him...
She looked over her shoulder and sighed in relief, he'd gone. It was only an illusion.
Cries of victory took Rogue's attention back to the living room. She smiled faintly. Jamie was sitting on the couch next to a new recruit playing some game on the X-box. Two Jamies held up their arms, yelling happily.
"Ya cheated! Ya got... 'yourself' t' help on only one joystick!" the black boy complained.
The two Jamies stuck their tongues out at the poor boy that was having problems to decide on which Jamie he had to look at while talking.
The small Multiple Man stopped when he finally saw Rogue.
"Rogue!" the two Jamies cried out running over to her. With their small arms they hugged her.
"Get off before Ah hit one of ya and get another another Smurfit out!" Rogue protested, but she was actually happy to see the young boy.
She ruffled both of their hair.
"I thought you got kidnapped! Did you manage to escape? What did the baddies look like? Did you kick their butt?" They both asked.
Rogue chuckled, it was nearly the truth, but her worries were momentary forgotten as she looked down in Jamies's brilliant blue eyes.
'Nah, Ah didn't get kidnapped." Not exacly...
Jamie pouted. But he quikly cheered up again. Do ya want t' play did knew game, where you're a mutant and..."
"Nah, Ah'm useless at those things."
"Jamie! I want a revenge match!" the other mutant yelled.
"'Kay! Coming!" Jamie declared joining his friend back in front of the TV. Rogue sighted to herself, Jamie finally had a friend of his own age.
"Ain't it cute, chere..."
Rogue nearly jumped out of her skin again. Gambit walked up next to her, by the door. His trench-coat had disappeared, replaced by some comfortable jogging trousers and a worn T-shirt. He padded up next to the two young boys, he was bare foot.
He peered at the screen. "Cool... Dis seems a good game." He looked over at Rogue who was like stone. His red eyes twinkled. "Sure ya don't want a game?"
Rogue walked away again, not saying anything this time. If she ignored him long enough, he would leave her subconscious. She went up the stairs, wanting to regain her room. To her despair, he was already at the top. She marched past him, pretending to not have seen him.
"Ya can't do like Remy didn't exist! Remy be right in ya head!"
"Yeah, yeah... That's it, and Ah'm the Queen of England... If ya wanted t' make a joke, ya psyches, find something beteh'..."
"Rogue, who're talking to?"
Rogue groaned: Jean.
The red head approached Rogue, a sincere expression on her face.
Gambit was still there. He whistled at Jean's figure.
Jean's pensive look disappeared. "Hey Rogue, I'm glad you came back," she told the Goth sincerely.
"Remy wouldn't mind a psyche like dis fo' company... Would chere mind absorbing her?"
Jean looked about, as if she'd heard something. Rogue wanted to hit Remy, just like the night before. She didn't want the telepath to get any nearer than physically or mentally possible. However, Rogue just cut the conversation that Jean was trying to make by strolling away to her own room.
"Great fo' ya!" Rogue called back as she opened the door to her bed-room. Rogue then slammed it behind her to show Jean that she didn't want to be disturbed anymore.
"What de hell!" Rogue hissed at Gambit. He was still there, sitting on 'her' bed. "Ya get out raght now!" she yelled at him.
Remy got up from the bed extending his arms as to prove his point. "Listen, Rogue. Remy can't get out, he be in ya head" he explained. "Dis Remy dat ya see, is Remy's psyche..." He waited for it to all make sense to Rogue. "Remy just a developed psyche, instead of just hearing Remy, ya see him too!"
"Where... where are the others?" Rogue babbled. Psyche voices were one thing, but seeing them? It was worse!
"Closed away," Remy said, sitting back down, crossing his legs underneath himself. "Sinister put dem away to not make dem influence ya." The smirk slowly came back to his lips. "He wasn't expecting ya to absorb Gambit again any time soon... Remy be de last and first psyche ya absorbed afte' de operation."
"Why would Ah do such a thing?" Rogue asked.
"Didn't da kiss prove enough?" His eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Prove that Ah was out of mah mind? Tell meh something new..." Rogue shot back.
***
Ok, take this slowly in...
Fuh!!! That was a long chapter, about 320 words! That makes about seven pages in Word....
Remy is a psyche, Rogue's been kissing him, god knows why (he's so hot for crying out loud, but there must be something else.) Logan is on his way to discover what Rogue is hiding, no Hank, or professor to help yet. She's on her 'own' for now (as much as 'on your own' can get with Gambit always walking about.) Nothing has changed towards Jean... Rogue still dislikes her.
Ok! That about sums it up for the moment!
Thanks for the Reviews! You're great! The last chapter actually brought more confusion that the previous one.... Mhhh... I'll have to see about that...
Oh, and Snitter, you weren't far from the matrix thing, it's a mini-matrix in Rogue's own head!
And all of you! The romyness is on it's way!!! But I suppose it's going to be hard/... in which Remy is Rogue going to fall in love? Psyche Remy or Real Remy? Both of them have separated ways (one is in real word, the other in Rogue's head), so they both have their own little story, they're starting to think differently.... (if you understand that!! it's my own kind of mumbling thinking technique: in one word: "berserk"!)
Well, I could have posted this yesterday morning, but my computer decided to not work.... Yesterday night it was the Login section of Fanfiction.net that didn't want to work.... So here you go!
Oh! Don't forget! REVIEW!!!! :p
****
A pale face looked back at Rogue from the mirror. Her eyes were unusually bright, there were large dark circles around them, she hadn't slept the whole night. Her hair was wet from the shower, matted to her head. She touched her face, the skin seemed tight around her skull, and without her make-up, she looked haunting. It looked like a permanent mask of fear. She sneered at her own image, tightening her towel around herself. She hated that face, those skinny pale arms, the skeleton like fingers grasping the top of her towel. But it was something else she wanted to see.
Rogue hadn't regained her room that night, staying in the living room. Before anyone had got up yet, she'd gone to the bathroom to clean up: she felt filthy after Gambit's touch.
Rogue took a couple of steps back to be able to fully look at herself in the mirror. With a cold resignation, she slowly let the towel slip from her shoulders... She turned around, making her back face the mirror. She looked over her shoulder into her reflection. She nearly sobbed. She'd been right.
There was an awful scar running down her neck and back, following her spine. She looked away in anger. Not only angry at her reflection, but also disgusted at herself. She'd let herself be cut up by someone, to have control... She'd let herself be cut up by Sinister, Gambit's only fear. And those red eyes came back to her, not those blazing eyes that were Gambit's, but colder ones, mean... She'd seen them somewhere, somewhere in the month she'd been missing. She was sure of it.
Then she realised what kind of person she was: a traitor. Always that traitor. She'd first left the Brotherhood for their nemesis, the X-men. She'd left because she thought that Xavier's dream was the 'right' dream, peace and all. Had she left for something more, unconsciously? Had she thought that Xavier was the one that could give her control? Rogue had hoped so. But she had found nothing to help her at the Institute, and had moved on. Had she really believed in Xavier's dream in the first place? Had she mistook it for something else? No, it was exactly what she had made it out to be: just a dream, maybe it was just another lost cause.
Rogue quickly got dressed, her hair still wet. She then applied her make up: she left out the white cream, her face was pale enough, and just added the dark eye-shadow. She finally picked up the last piece of her clothing: her gloves. These were long and black. She put them on, it was her way of hiding from the others, make them think she was still the same untouchable Goth.
Rogue took a step out when she was assaulted by two figures: a crying Kitty and a happy Kurt. They jumped on her, hugging her fiercely.
"What the." Rogue cried out.
"Rogue! You're, like, back!"
"Mein sister! We missed ya so much!"
Rogue finally managed to get her breath back, stepping out of the big hug.
"I was, like, so pleased when I heard you were back yesterday! But I didn't want to wake you up! You looked so peaceful sleeping!"
"Where did you go? What did you do! Tell uz!" Kurt exclaimed.
Rogue was lost for words. Here were probably her best friends, Kurt and Kitty. They looked so genuine, had they worried that much for her?
"Ah." she started.
"Let's, like, talk it over breakfast!"
"Go'd idea, Kittycat, I'm starving!"
So Rogue was dragged along to the kitchen, as she tried desperately to come up with a lie. She couldn't tell them what she had done, they would hate her for it. They looked so happy at the moment. She couldn't spoil it, not like this.
The kitchen was now full, Jean gave Rogue a warm smile, as Scott came to her side to shake her hand (he was always so formal).
Bobby whistled: 'You better not get this girl annoyed! Understood, Newbies?"
A little troop of girls and boys that Rogue had never seen before were at the end of the table. They looked at Rogue worriedly. They stared at her, frozen on their stools: a small girl with very curly blond hair, a boy about ten with wood-like skin and another girl, looking quite transparent. Rogue must have looked like a skeleton to them. She wanted to sneer at them and scream: "So what! Never seen freak as big as meh?" But Rogue did nothing of it, just gave them a dark look before sitting down at a stool Jubilee had specially got off for her. Kitty and Kurt were still by her side.
They passed her the milk, the cereals, a bun. Rogue was the centre of attention that morning, she hated it. She just wanted to sulk in a dark corner, but that liberty was taken from her as Sam, Jubilee, Forge and all the others started to shower her with questions.
Rogue went for the: "Tour of the Country", "Wanted som' time t' mah self", "sort things out". And they all took it in without question, nodding here and there to Rogue's story, commenting on some things, asking some small detail that Rogue was quick to invent. She lied to them quite well. All believed her, except one; a sceptic Logan who was at the end of the table, a cup of coffee in hand, pretending to read the new-paper when actually he was listening attentively. Rogue didn't miss this last detail, Logan could catch a lie a mile away.
Rogue remembered her conversation with him, the night before, she suspected that he knew what she had actually done.
Then it was Rogue's turn to ask questions.
"Professor X is in Massachusetts with Miss Monroe..."
"Logan's been going crazy keeping us out of trouble!"
"I bet there's something between Logan and Ororo..." Kitty whispered in Rogue's ear.
Logan shocked on his coffee from across the table, giving the evidence of the relationship between the two adults clearly.
"McCoy left two weeks ago," the older man said putting down his newspaper. "For some new job in a big lab. So it'll be a bit hard if ya want him to examine you, Stripes."
Rogue flinched, had he seen her neck with the scar?
Rogue tried to detach herself from the talking mob, to become smaller and more insignificant: she wanted to get away from the kitchen. Her guilt level had raised to higher grounds, and she just couldn't stand it anymore.
She finally managed to slip away into the living room and out in the garden.
It was broad day light, but it was still quite dark: a storm was preparing it's self above Rogue's head. The clouds were of dark grey, the bitter wind of beginning of December was blowing strongly. Rogue put her arms around her and continued her walk. Ororo Monroe must have been away for a long time for the garden to get this bad. Weeds were taking over the delicate flower beds, the hedges were all deformed and dying. It was a mess. Rogue could remember the last time she'd gone jogging out here. It had been peaceful and welcoming. It was now cold, ruff and shrivelled.
She walked passed a bench intertwined with brambles, making it impossible to sit down anymore... a burnt down tree. Everything seemed to have changed a lot. She came up to the lake.
Rogue crouched down next to the water. Taking one of her gloves off, she plunged her hand in it. She enjoyed the cold touch, the ripples leaving her hand as she would caress the liquid, the transparent drops on the tip of her fingers as she took it out of the water, and then the faint drip drip when they would fall back into the lake. The noise soothed her, creating a melody with the whistling of the leaves in the wind. Even if everything looked dead, it was still enjoyable sitting next to the lake. No, some things hadn't changed.
Rogue finally took her hand out of the water; it now felt numb. She dried it on her trousers and was about to put her glove back on, when someone took it away, warming it with his own hands.
Rogue looked up into Gambit's red on black eyes. She was too tired to fight; the night had worn her out.
"What do ya want, Swamp Rat," Rogue said taking her hand away from his grasp, putting the glove back on.
"To see ya, chere," he said, putting his hand on her back. Rogue flinched away.
"Don't touch meh," she warned him getting up. Gambit followed suit. "Ah want some answers now."
"Ask." He put his hands in his pockets.
"Where have Ah been, this past month?" Rogue wanted to be sure of what she'd done.
Remy sighed, looking away. "Remy told ya t' refuse Sinister's invitation, but chere was desperate, and finally accepted."
Rogue nodded, she remembered that part all too well, the pain... that throbbing pain in her head, making her lose her mind.
"Chere and Remy met again..." he paused. "Remy had dis last job for Sinister, t' repay fo' the control he'd given meh ove' mah own power, long ago." He was lightly dropping his usual manner of talking in the third person. "Remy 'foir'ed that..."
"Ya what?" Rogue asked, not understanding his gibberish.
"Didn't get de job threw..."
"Why?"
Remy crossed his arms, looking away. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about that part. Rogue winced inwardly, he'd already explained to her once what kind of job Sinister made you do.
"'Kay, just tell meh why Ah'm not in his lab anymor'," Rogue told him impatiently.
The sky above them started to grumble, lightning strikes swept across the grey clouds. The air started to get colder. The leaves were swept up from the ground, dust flying in the air. Rogue squinted as her eyes pricked with the small particles. Her hair flew across her face, she quickly put it back behind her ear.
"He's finished messing with ya genetic code... Ya've got control, exactly what ya wanted, chere," he said rather bad-tempered.
Rogue winced; it was her turn to look away. No one understood what hell she'd been living... Gambit must have seen Rogue's angry look, for he apologised.
"Sorry chere, Ah didn't mean t' say that. Remy not comfortable with de subject..."
"Whatever, Swamp Rat," Rogue said as she started to leave.
"Wait, Dee's something ya must know, chere."
"What?" Rogue asked, her back turned towards him. The dead leaves rustled around her feet with the growing wind.
" Ya're at the Mansion, becaus' Remy took ya here. Ya kind of escaped the mad Scientist. Ya psyche's, most are closed away. Dat's why ya can't hear dem..."
Rogue stiffened up. She felt Gambit approach from behind.
"What would ya know about it..." Rogue gritted her teeth; this was going around in circles.
There was another lightning strike.
"Chere told meh so," he whispered huskily by her ear. Rogue felt herself shiver with pleasure. "Remy be in ya head..."
Rogue turned around, facing a grinning Remy.
"Of course, chere can't remember, but Remy asked ya t' abosorb him," he said matter of fact.
Rogue looked at him sceptically. "If ya trying t' play 'round wi' meh, it ain't working, shugah" she said cocking an eyebrow.
Remy winked at her, lifting a hand. "Watch..."
His hand was gloved in leather, some fingers were bare for some unknown use, these gloves didn't have the purpose of warming your hand. He snapped his fingers, and to Rogue's disbelief, they started to disappear, his handsome face blurring, his body seemed to fall into dust, flying away in the wind. Rogue lifted her own hand, trying to grab him, as if it would keep him by her side.
"Remy!" she cried out.
Rogue felt a too familiar arms circle her waist. "Right here, chere."
"How? What did ya do?" she blurted out.
He reluctantly took his arms away. "Chere absorbed Gambit, not whole like Remy asked ya, but enough just to render Remy unconscious fo' a while."
"Why?"
"Ya head be a better cell than in Sinister's cellar. Remy told ya, he didn't go threw with da job." His haunting smile came back. "Ya kiss well, chere..."
"Taht's it!" Rogue declared. "Ah'm leaving! Ah'm not getting messed up by ya."
She walked quickly away, not looking back next to the lake where she'd left him. She passed the dying hedges again, heading to the Mansion.
Just as she closed the door behind her, it started to pour cats and dogs outside; the scenery quickly disappeared behind curtains of water. Rogue smirked with satisfaction, wherever Gambit was now, he was getting drenched, not even his trench-coat would be able to keep the water out.
"Gambit not be tangible, but wouldn't mind seeing chere wet..."
Rogue jumped out of her skin, turning around. She had the impression her heart had been ripped out of her chest. It wasn't possible, it couldn't be possible! There, right in front of her; in the hall; was Gambit. He stood leaning against the stair's banister, a cigarette in hand, the smoke curling upwards.
"Wolverine's going t' smell that straight 'way, ya know," Rogue told hiim with a certain pleasure, crossing her arms. "Ya done like a rat..."
Gambit took a drag, before his cigarette disappeared into fin air.
"Not likely, chere. Remember, Gambit only exists t' ya."
Rogue turned away into the living room. It wasn't possible, she couldn't have absorbed him...
She looked over her shoulder and sighed in relief, he'd gone. It was only an illusion.
Cries of victory took Rogue's attention back to the living room. She smiled faintly. Jamie was sitting on the couch next to a new recruit playing some game on the X-box. Two Jamies held up their arms, yelling happily.
"Ya cheated! Ya got... 'yourself' t' help on only one joystick!" the black boy complained.
The two Jamies stuck their tongues out at the poor boy that was having problems to decide on which Jamie he had to look at while talking.
The small Multiple Man stopped when he finally saw Rogue.
"Rogue!" the two Jamies cried out running over to her. With their small arms they hugged her.
"Get off before Ah hit one of ya and get another another Smurfit out!" Rogue protested, but she was actually happy to see the young boy.
She ruffled both of their hair.
"I thought you got kidnapped! Did you manage to escape? What did the baddies look like? Did you kick their butt?" They both asked.
Rogue chuckled, it was nearly the truth, but her worries were momentary forgotten as she looked down in Jamies's brilliant blue eyes.
'Nah, Ah didn't get kidnapped." Not exacly...
Jamie pouted. But he quikly cheered up again. Do ya want t' play did knew game, where you're a mutant and..."
"Nah, Ah'm useless at those things."
"Jamie! I want a revenge match!" the other mutant yelled.
"'Kay! Coming!" Jamie declared joining his friend back in front of the TV. Rogue sighted to herself, Jamie finally had a friend of his own age.
"Ain't it cute, chere..."
Rogue nearly jumped out of her skin again. Gambit walked up next to her, by the door. His trench-coat had disappeared, replaced by some comfortable jogging trousers and a worn T-shirt. He padded up next to the two young boys, he was bare foot.
He peered at the screen. "Cool... Dis seems a good game." He looked over at Rogue who was like stone. His red eyes twinkled. "Sure ya don't want a game?"
Rogue walked away again, not saying anything this time. If she ignored him long enough, he would leave her subconscious. She went up the stairs, wanting to regain her room. To her despair, he was already at the top. She marched past him, pretending to not have seen him.
"Ya can't do like Remy didn't exist! Remy be right in ya head!"
"Yeah, yeah... That's it, and Ah'm the Queen of England... If ya wanted t' make a joke, ya psyches, find something beteh'..."
"Rogue, who're talking to?"
Rogue groaned: Jean.
The red head approached Rogue, a sincere expression on her face.
Gambit was still there. He whistled at Jean's figure.
Jean's pensive look disappeared. "Hey Rogue, I'm glad you came back," she told the Goth sincerely.
"Remy wouldn't mind a psyche like dis fo' company... Would chere mind absorbing her?"
Jean looked about, as if she'd heard something. Rogue wanted to hit Remy, just like the night before. She didn't want the telepath to get any nearer than physically or mentally possible. However, Rogue just cut the conversation that Jean was trying to make by strolling away to her own room.
"Great fo' ya!" Rogue called back as she opened the door to her bed-room. Rogue then slammed it behind her to show Jean that she didn't want to be disturbed anymore.
"What de hell!" Rogue hissed at Gambit. He was still there, sitting on 'her' bed. "Ya get out raght now!" she yelled at him.
Remy got up from the bed extending his arms as to prove his point. "Listen, Rogue. Remy can't get out, he be in ya head" he explained. "Dis Remy dat ya see, is Remy's psyche..." He waited for it to all make sense to Rogue. "Remy just a developed psyche, instead of just hearing Remy, ya see him too!"
"Where... where are the others?" Rogue babbled. Psyche voices were one thing, but seeing them? It was worse!
"Closed away," Remy said, sitting back down, crossing his legs underneath himself. "Sinister put dem away to not make dem influence ya." The smirk slowly came back to his lips. "He wasn't expecting ya to absorb Gambit again any time soon... Remy be de last and first psyche ya absorbed afte' de operation."
"Why would Ah do such a thing?" Rogue asked.
"Didn't da kiss prove enough?" His eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Prove that Ah was out of mah mind? Tell meh something new..." Rogue shot back.
***
Ok, take this slowly in...
Fuh!!! That was a long chapter, about 320 words! That makes about seven pages in Word....
Remy is a psyche, Rogue's been kissing him, god knows why (he's so hot for crying out loud, but there must be something else.) Logan is on his way to discover what Rogue is hiding, no Hank, or professor to help yet. She's on her 'own' for now (as much as 'on your own' can get with Gambit always walking about.) Nothing has changed towards Jean... Rogue still dislikes her.
Ok! That about sums it up for the moment!
Thanks for the Reviews! You're great! The last chapter actually brought more confusion that the previous one.... Mhhh... I'll have to see about that...
Oh, and Snitter, you weren't far from the matrix thing, it's a mini-matrix in Rogue's own head!
And all of you! The romyness is on it's way!!! But I suppose it's going to be hard/... in which Remy is Rogue going to fall in love? Psyche Remy or Real Remy? Both of them have separated ways (one is in real word, the other in Rogue's head), so they both have their own little story, they're starting to think differently.... (if you understand that!! it's my own kind of mumbling thinking technique: in one word: "berserk"!)
Well, I could have posted this yesterday morning, but my computer decided to not work.... Yesterday night it was the Login section of Fanfiction.net that didn't want to work.... So here you go!
Oh! Don't forget! REVIEW!!!! :p