Disclaimer: Marvel owns every character mentioned in my story...they even own a bit of me...or my heart at least...I'm making no money doing this...I do this...for fun...

Rogue knocked lightly on Warren's door in the pre-dawn light that crept through the hall window. She knew he had to be hung over but she had to speak with him immediately. She knocked again.

When the door flew open it wasn't the usual angelic countenance that Warren wore that faced her. He looked more like a demon than an angel. "What?"

"Good morning to you too, sugah," Rogue replied before sliding past him and into his room. "Ah need the keys to your New York apartment."

Warren sighed and shut the door. Without the light from the hall the room went from shadowy haven to gloomy and doomy. "Why?"

"Ah thought Ah could stay here until we leave but Ah can't. So, Ah wanna stay in your apartment until we can go."

"Why are you still pretending that you're going?"

Rogue turned from where she'd been looking through the blinds of the window surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I walked past your room last night, Rogue. Hell, me, Kitty, and Jean all walked past. We know. I know. I don't expect you to come with me, Rogue," Warren said bitterly. He had been so close, so close to having her with him. And then Remy had gone and fucked it up for him again.

"Really? Cause Ah am going."

Warren scoffed. "Why? You got what you wanted. You and Remy are 'together'. That's what you've wanted for four years. Why do you need me?"

"Ah don't. But Ah can't stay. Last night was a fluke. It was just him thinking that this was his last chance to fuck me. That's all. Ah wanna leave."

Warren studied Rogue and wondered how she could be so blind. Even piss-poor drunk last night he had seen the look of jealousy and envy in Remy's eyes. Remy was as in love with Rogue as Rogue was with him. Did Warren really want to tear these two apart just so he could have a chance with the woman he'd had a crush on for five years?

"Here are my keys...ummm...you can take my car for now..." Warren said as he handed Rogue his keys.

"Thanks, Warren. Don' tell anyone, okay?"

Warren smiled. "Not a soul."

Rogue smiled and picked up the bag she'd left outside the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll have my travel agent send you the travel arrangements."

"Yeah," Rogue nodded and walked away. Was she really making the right choice? As she passed her doorway, she couldn't resist a peak into her old room. There, sprawled across her bed was Remy. Even sleeping he was an immense presence. Rogue was tempted to go in, to touch him one last time, but she stayed her course. If she touched him she doubted she'd have the resolve to do what needed to be done. She couldn't stay. She wasn't willing to play this game again.

Six Months Later

"Mail call! Mail call! All students report to the front hall! Mail call!"

For two minutes that diatribe repeated, thoroughly making hung over Remy regret ever joining a team with two of the most powerful telepaths on the planet in it. Every afternoon, without fail, that nice little mental yell paraded through his head and thoroughly drove him mad with pain. Finally, Professor Xavier was happy with the amount of people in the front hall because he stopped the mental announcement.

Upstairs, in bed, Remy thanked God for it. He had once again over-imbibed in spirits last night and was already regretting it. However, he was growing used to it, seeing as it was something he had been doing more and more often lately. All in pursuit of getting her out of his head.

Covered only by his boxers, Remy rose from bed and groggily headed towards the bathroom at the end of the hall. Unfortunately for him, outside his room were two of the younger members of the school, both girls. Their loud giggles alerted him to the fact that even boxers weren't enough covering for walking around a school. Swearing, he dragged on a robe and braved the hallway again.

The girls were gone, probably off telling their friends that they'd seen Remy without clothes on, so Remy headed for the shower. After bumping into Kurt, Scott, and Logan, the last two telling Remy to put more clothes on, he finally reached it. Only to walk in on Storm.

The weather witch was just stepping out of the shower when Remy waltzed in and they both froze. Remy studied the ebony woman before him and for the first time that morning, smiled. "Mornin', Stormy."

Ororo smiled back as she drew a towel around her body. She wasn't embarrassed by the situation as some others would have been. She was approaching her forties but knew that she was still quite attractive. Besides, he had already seen her body. They indulged in a brief affair not long after he'd joined the X Men, but that had ended many years ago. "Good morning, Remy. I find that sometimes, it's good to knock."

Remy laughed and closed the bathroom door. "And miss dis sight? Not for all de diamonds in the de world, chère."

"Oh, Remy...flattery gets you no where," Ororo replied while running a brush through her hip length hair. She felt his eyes on her and knew that he still found her attractive. Tempting as it was, she knew that nothing would come of the attraction. Everyone in the Institute was still painfully aware of just who it was the Remy yearned for. Every night, if not on a mission, Remy left the mansion for hours and would return drunk out of his mind. When his teammates could, they got him into bed and all had heard just who it was that he called for in his drunken stupors.

Remy ran a hand down Ororo's arm and felt that he still had his morning erection. Grinning devilishly he pressed his body against her back. "How you feelin', Stormy? Up to a little action?"

Ororo smiled because then again, Rogue wasn't here, now was she? Ororo had needs too. Remy was very attractive, with his long lanky body and that tousled hair. His bedroom eyes drew her to him and the skills he had in the bedroom were legendary. Just as Ororo was thinking that maybe she would give in, just this once, someone banged on the door and startled them out of their reverie.

"Come on! How long does it take to have a shower!"

"Go away, Jamie!" Remy shouted, turning back to Ororo knowing that the moment was lost. "Chère?"

"No, Remy. We will not indulge this time," Storm patted his cheek in a maternal manner. "Besides...I do not like being called another woman's name."

Remy blushed, all too aware of his slip with Ororo a few months ago. They'd both been drunk but lord knew, the woman wouldn't forget or let him forget. "True. I don' think I'd like Logan cutting me to ribbons either, chère."

Ororo blushed and turned angry eyes from the mirror to him. "Who told you?"

"A little chatte."

"Kitty? She wouldn't...excuse me, Gambit. I have matters to attend to," Ororo said, storming out fully intent on giving Kitty a piece of her mind. Remy chortled to himself over the little mischief he'd just caused and continued in his morning ritual. After the shower, he headed to the kitchen for coffee. There were children running about and several adults trying to keep them in line. Remy laughed at the sight of his fellow X Men trying to keep hyper stimulated teenagers in line and continued to the kitchen. After breakfast, which had been over hours ago, the kitchen was off limits to the students, due to the number of fires and accidents when they were allowed to run rough-shod over it. When he walked in the room fell silent, or as silent as ten people could let it be. They all stared at Remy as if he had an extra head and he felt slightly disconcerted.

"What?"

"Nothing," five of them said, while the other half just shook their head.

Remy crossed his arms and glared resolutely from the doorway. "What?"

Just then Kitty came bounding down the hall behind him, singing obnoxiously. "Going to the chapel and I'm gonna get MARRIED! Going to the chapel and I'm- GAMBIT! Oh, my god! I totally didn't see you! Did you hear? We're totally invited to a wedding!"

Inside the kitchen, everyone prepared themselves for the outburst. Gambit didn't yell, however, merely asked, "Who's?"

"Archangel's! It totally doesn't say who he'd marrying, but like we all know-oh...oops..."

So Rogue was getting married. Big shocker. He didn't care. They'd never had anything that even resembled a relationship or even a friendship. So why was a there a boiling pit of hatred for Warren in his stomach?

"Really?" He replied, nonchalantly. "When's the wedding?"

"Ummm," Kitty looked around him into the kitchen uncertainly and the others stared obstinately. They were not getting involved. "In a week. We're all invited. The Prof said that we can't all go because some people have to stay and take care of the school."

Remy turned around and walked all the way into the kitchen, ignoring the stares everyone was giving him. "Interestin'."

"You're not...upset?" Jean asked, ever the concerned friend.

"Non, why would I be?" He grinned flirtatiously with her over his coffee before levying himself up onto the counter. He didn't notice that by doing so, his robe had slid open and he was flashing an excellent view of his chiseled chest and that light trail of hair that circled his belly button and slid lower...into an area just under his pajama pants. The girls noticed, and the guys noticed that the girls noticed.

Luckily, the professor chose that moment to wheel into the room. "Ah, I'm glad we're all together. I have some announcements. Instead of heading to Muir Island for the wedding later this week, we'll be leaving today. There are several matters that must be attended to at the new school and this is giving us the opportunity to test our new faculty over there. I've decided who's going to stay and who is going to go just a few minutes ago. Attending with me to Muir Island, is Jean, Scott, Kitty, Kurt, and Piotr. The rest of you will stay here-..."

"I wan' to go."

"Remy, I understand-..."

"I'm goin'."

The professor didn't need his telepathy to tell that Remy's resolve was complete. He sighed. "Alright. Remy will be attending as well. The rest of you are to stay and do your best to keep the students in line. I know that the larger number of them will make this difficult, so I'm authorizing the use of a higher number of Danger Room sessions, not to be overseen by Logan," the professor said to the light titters of his team. He pointed a finger at Logan menacingly. "I want my students alive when I return."

"Chuck, would I hurt a student?" Logan asked, an evil grin on his face.

"Not intentionally, but it's your subconscious that worries me. Ororo, you keep him in line. On a side note, I'd like you all to keep an eye on our newest recruit, Sam's little brother and sister. With their brother on staff I'm not sure they're understanding that they have to listen to the rules as well. Alright, my X Men, suit up. We leave in two hours."

"How could you do that, Betsy?"

"I thought it was funny, luv," Betsy replied while sharpening her practice swords. Rogue was on the other side of the room, well out of range for the swords. She had a feeling she was going to piss Betsy off.

"It's not funny. They're gonna think Ah'm marrying Warren!"

Betsy hesitated. "Now what's wrong with that idea? I'm doing it."

"Don' give me that tone. I don' want them to think Ah am! They're goin' to come here all excited and find out he's marryin' you!"

"So?"

"Kitty's probably going to get off the jet and scream at me about how happy she is for me, the professor will..."

"The professor knows."

"Yeah, but Ah bet he didn't let the others in on it! When Ah left New York, Warren still thought he was goin' to marry me and so did the X Men."

Betsy laughed, remembering the scene where Rogue made it very clear she wasn't marrying Warren...and how it had sent Warren into Betsy's arms for which she was eternally grateful to Rogue. "So? We'll give 'em a surprise! It'll be funny! Trust me!"

Rogue scoffed, and pushed her long hair out of her face. "Yeah, for you. Ah'm goin' to have to deal with everyone askin' me what went wrong or what happened."

"And then you get to tell them that you arrived and proceeded to fuck Sean into oblivion."

"Ah did not! Ah broke up with Warren and then I...dated Sean." Rogue replied, referring to the two months she had slept with Sean. To everyone around them it had seemed like lust at first sight that had morphed into a short-lived fling that most of the people on faculty loved to tease the two about. Rogue knew the truth, however. She had been trying to erase the feel of Remy on her. Trying to erase that night.

"Dated? Is that what they're calling it now?" Betsy looked teasingly over her shoulder and through her lilac hair at Rogue. Rogue glared back and picked up a stuffed angel doll to throw at Betsy. The mutant sensed it coming and used her katana to slice through it. "Damnit, Rogue! Warren got that for me at the fair."

Rogue grinned and left the room before Betsy could slice her up. The Brit was known for her temper and Rogue loved poking at it. In fact, Rogue loved everything about the new school. With her continually getting stronger control over her abilities, it was like a new start for her. No one was flinching when she came near, nor did anyone avoid her out of guilt, for control over their own powers or for being able to touch when she couldn't. Now, she could, and she delighted in it. For that, she was thankful to Remy. He had proven to her that her inability was in her head, and that with proper mental preparation she could touch for limited amounts of time. The longest continual contact without absorbing was two hours. After that she had to break contact for at least ten minutes. Then she could touch again.

Rogue walked unhurriedly down the halls. The dozen or so students they had here were very excited over the coming nuptials. At the moment they were all in class. If she remembered correctly, it was Mutant Ethics, taught by none other than Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto. He wasn't a permanent member of staff but flitted between here and the school in Bayville. Emma Frost, the Britain campus of Xavier's School for the Gifted headmaster, had felt it ironic to ask the aging mutant to teach a short term class on it. After all, who knew ethics better than the diabolical leader himself?

Speaking of Emma Frost, Rogue had to talk to her about an issue with the professor's visit. Rogue knocked on Emma's office door and waited until Emma called out to go in. "Hello, Rogue. What can I do for you?"

"Ah had a question about where everyone's going to be sleeping for the week," Rogue started as she sat in one of the uber cushy seats in front of the desk. "With the pipe burst on the east wing, we only have four spare rooms. The plumber says he'll have the pipe fixed today, but the cleaning crew can't get out here until Friday, and that's wedding day so I'm not sure we want them here then."

"Xavier has informed me of who is coming and I don't see a problem. It's going to be a relatively small wedding. The non-mutants are staying on the mainland."

"Ah know, but with everyone from the lab staying here now too, we're getting a bit limited on space. The east wing alone was six bedrooms, and the south wing is no where near finished. Which reminds me, some of the students have taken to playing around down there. Maybe someone should say something."

Emma smiled. "I'll take care of it, Rogue. So, what's really on your mind?"

Rogue knew that Emma didn't need to use her telepathy to see that something was wrong. She was probably broadcasting her thoughts to every telepath in the vicinity. "Ah...Ah'm curious. Who's coming from the X Men?"

Emma raised her eyebrow, but didn't push. "Shadowcat, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. No, wait...there was a last minute addition...Gambit. He's coming to." Emma studied Rogue's face, watching as panic, horror, and finally resolve flitted across it. "Is that a problem?"

"No! Where are we putting them all?"

Emma sighed. "Since I've been informed that Ms. Grey and Cyclops are sharing a room, and Shadowcat and Colossus as well, we're going to have to put Nightcrawler and Gambit in the same room. The professor, of course, has his own room."

Rogue leaned back and considered the blonde before her and her motives. "Have you told Moira? That he's coming."

"I'm sure she's aware."

Rogue sighed. "You could have told her."

"I don't interfere in relationships, Rogue. What happens, happens."

"Yeah, sure. But Ah bet you ain't told him Lucas is here."

Emma froze and coolly studied Rogue as she leaned forward. "That is Lucas's business. If he doesn't want his father to know he is living here-..."

"Hiding here. He's hiding and you damn well know it. You also know that the prof is going to sense him the second he steps...rolls onto the island. Haven't you considered just what Lucas's intentions are?"

Emma rose coolly and walked around the desk. Kneeling in front of Rogue, she grasped the Southerner's hands. "I know you don't trust him, but he came to us for help. We are obligated to give it."

Rogue pulled away and stood up. "Not to murderers."

"Rogue, you know as well as I that mutants without control are dangerous. They don't intend to be. They just are. It was better that we keep him in stasis here than to let him go free."

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I got a flight class to teach. We'll talk later at the faculty meeting," Rogue said, leaving quickly. She knew now that she should never have talked to Emma. It wasn't that Rogue didn't like the woman, Emma was perfectly...civil. Rogue didn't like her motives, however, because it was painfully obvious that Emma was keeping things to herself.

Rogue strode out onto the open field in front of the school and studied the three students before her. They were the only three out of the fifteen current students who had the ability to fly for one reason or another. Since Rogue was the only instructor who could fly, that meant she was the only one to help them with that.

"Helmets on?" The trio nodded their heads. "Alright, let's fly."

All seven current members of the faculty and all fifteen students were standing on the front lawn talking when the Blackbird II landed. With a hand movement from Emma they straightened up and shut up. Slowly, the tension killing them, the students did as they were told. They were dying to see the X Men, who had become legendary in their young eyes from all the news coverage dedicated to them. Most didn't even realize that Rogue had once been that Rogue, one of the first members of the X Men.

The ramp lowered to the ground from the undercarriage of the jet and Professor Xavier wheeled himself down. Behind him, two by two, his X Men descended. Jean and Scott, holding hands, Kitty and Kurt talking excitedly while they looked around and finally Piotr and Gambit, both silent. Almost immediately, Remy's eyes locked onto Rogue. They stared at each other with twenty feet between them but both were remembering the last time they'd seen each other. Remy was remembering looking at her sleep, after their night of love. Rogue was remembering him lying in the middle of her bed, taking up all the covers.

Sean broke the contact by loping his arm around Rogue's neck and pulling her close. "Who's the redhead? She's hot." He whispered in her ear.

Rogue laughed. "That's Jean, and she's taken."

"Damn. Well, I guess you get to keep me company, ducky."

"Ah think you need to keep yourself company," Rogue grinned at him, trying hard to ignore the approaching X Men and one in particular.

"MEIN SCHWIESTER!" Kurt shouted, finally noticing his sister standing there. He transported over and picked Rogue up for a big hug.

"Jesus, Kurt! You tryin' to kill me!" Rogue yelled gasping for breath. By the time Kurt had put her down and moved on to meet the rest of the faculty, the X Men had arrived and been introduced. Rogue started to turn and join the rest of the people walking back to the mansion behind them, when someone grabbed her hand.

Rogue knew who it was without looking, but she turned anyways. "Welcome to Muir Island, Gambit."

"Bonjour, chère. Miss me?"

Rogue smiled, and it was sad. "No."

Remy jerked Rogue close and gritted his teeth. "Too bad."

He smashed his lips to her in a painful way that spoke of long nights of yearning and anger that was still raging. When he released her there was a bruise on her wrist and tears in her eyes. "I just came to wish you a happy marriage, chère. Den I leave."

Remy stalked past her and into the mansion, leaving Rogue once again to her choices and her mistakes.

Ah, another chapter. Love! Oh, sweet love! How you pain us so.

Just so you know...more lemons are coming...don't get your panties in a twist...and for anyone interested...this is also up on the adultfanfiction site. They loves it over there. I didn't write anything different though. Odd...most people tone it down for over here. Not me! I gots nothing to hide!