Disclaimer: I do not own Gambit, the X-Men or any related references to said universe. Marvel owns them.
Gambit having met up with his better thing to do, swung side by side his lady love, Rogue. They had driven to one of the local parks and quickly claimed two of the adult swings, the cloudy weather keeping most park-goers indoors. It was summer though, and the weather was warm so the Southerners felt blessed by the clouds—at least it kept screaming toddlers at bay.
Rogue faced the sun, or where the sun would be should there be a break in the clouds. Gambit faced oppositely, his face leaning close against the aging chain. Going in opposite directions they pushed themselves slowly, their long legs trailing, deepening the sand pits formed by earlier occupants.
"I thought we were gonna have ta build an ark with all the rain we've been getting lately," Rogue commented idly. "Glad it's finally dried out."
She closed her eyes, feeling the soft wind pass by, eddying around her jeans, teal patterned long-sleeve shirt and gloves. She inhaled the clear fragrance of air mingled with grass and earth, scents that couldn't travel with her at the heights she usually flew. She gave herself a small moment to long for the scents and sights of her hometown in Mississippi before bringing herself back to reality. Turning sideways she opened her eyes to another sensory delight, the grinning visage of her fellow languisher, Gambit. The overcast sky did nothing for his tousled brown hair and she wished for the sun for a moment, knowing it would pull out the vibrant reds that normally hid in his dark brown hair.
"Have to take y' word on dat one chere, haven' been able to take my eyes off y'," he drawled, eyes following her form suggestively.
"Stuff it, Swamp Rat," she spoke crinkling her nose, giving him a light swat on the shoulder as he smirked back at her. Wondering if he had noticed her perusal of him and was mocking her for it.
"Easy chere," he yelped, "'M fragile non?" he joked. "Was jus' commenting on what a gorgeous companion I had to spend my day wit'. My mistake. De absence of Danger Room recycled air must be getting to me. Maybe we should go back to de mansion?" he ribbed leaning closer a devilish sparkle in his infamous red on black eyes.
"Doncha dare," she said leaning back just that much farther to the side to keep the distance between them even, "Ya know that Scott probably made his rounds by now, if ya voluntarily step back in there Scottie will cow-tail the rest of us in there too! I've had just about enough training for…" she paused, "well let's just be on the safe side and say the rest o' my life."
"Ah de ever vigilant and oh so boring days of growing up an X-Men," he said, smirking at her.
"I don't think I would choose the word boring. We had our share of villains, even back then," Rogue said reflectively.
Gambit rolled his eyes, "Dang chere, y' talk as if it was forever ago, y' ain't dat old yet."
"Thanks for that vote of confidence LeBeau, but ya know what I'm saying. Time isn't always felt in years," she said trailing her hand down the chain, not noticing when flakes of rust dirtied her gloves.
"Dat's very profound," Gambit commented, "steal dat offa Beast?"
Rogue gave an exasperated sigh that held more kindness than anger, a giggle lurking beneath her voice, "Just shut up."
"Fine, fine, if y' just gonna plagiarize dats fine. 'Course when de cops come, I'll have to confess everyt'ing I know. I'm sorry chere, I'm much too pretty to go to de big house," he said with mock solemness.
"Yeah right Cajun, it doesn't even count cuz I didn't write it down, or sell it or nothing like that. 'Sides," she continued archly, "plagiarizing is stealing, more ya cup o' tea than mine."
Gambit's easy grin dampened a bit and his neck bowed ever so slightly before bobbing back up again to full strength hoping to forestall Rogue's next statement. His joining the X-Men hadn't been an easy decision. He gave up some of the best and most exciting parts of his life. Namely, being a thief. He hadn't been able to stop cold at the gate of the mansion either, it had been more of a dwindling process. It was not exactly an addiction—he wasn't a klepto—but it was giving up something he loved, and had trained for his entire life.
Fitting into the moral code of the X-Men had been a challenge, and at times, it had seemed he would be better off on his own. His need to protect Storm kept him on at first, and later the company of Rogue. It didn't seem to matter to any of the X-Men that he had given up such a large chunk of his life for them to feel comfortable. They still saw him as a scoundrel, a thief, it made all his effort seem worthless. Of course receiving verbal smacks from the others wasn't anything new. The repetition did not stop it from being at turns, irritating, frustrating, and saddening. The X-Men tried to make him ashamed of what he felt was his most defining characteristic. What's worse, was that he was beginning to believe it, because there were things in his past that he was ashamed of. And maybe had he never been a thief, those circumstances would never have come about.
The X-Men told him he couldn't be a thief. He stopped. And yet, to them he would always be a thief.
"Remy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Rogue said exasperated able to recognize the mental loop Remy had thrown himself into.
"Hey chere, Gambit knows. It ain't a big deal," he said.
"Look Gambit…I know ya don't wanta talk about Bobby and everything, but since ya already in a bad mood," she joked. "How is ya arm holding up?"
"I said I'm okay, dat means I am. D'accord? Bobby an' what he t'inks o' me is one of my last concerns. I ain't sayin' I wouldn' like a bit o' retribution here or dere," Gambit mused shaking his head, "But it's in de past, non? Let's enjoy t'day 'fore some psycho mutant sprouts purple skin an' monster telepathy an' attacks N'York."
Rogue stilled for a moment honestly considering making an attempt toward their former jocularity but the lightheartedness slipped from her grasp faster than the Ming vase she'd broken last week.
"I'm sure they didn't mean it the way it came out. And I know Bobby, he wouldn't hurt anybody on purpose. Ya should have taken him at his word."
"Yeah, get right on dat," Gambit muttered, keeping the more vicious thoughts to himself. She could trust Bobby on his word, but not Gambit, he was the thief, the liar, he wasn't to be trusted.
His relationships with the majority of the X-Men were tenuous at best and tended to slid in and out of friendship at a moments notice from little altercations like this. His only real friend seemed to be Storm who had known him before his becoming a member of the X-Men. She never demanded more or less than she saw of him in that initial encounter. Gambit had spent plenty of time on both sides of the friendship fence with Rogue. Eventually he'd dug himself his own entrance under a loose board—surprised her every time.
Rogue herself was caught between conflicting ties of friendship and love not knowing whether to defend Bobby to Gambit, or Gambit to Bobby. Unsure, she did both.
"Sometimes it…I don't know. Maybe if they…" she dropped off for a second, clearly meaning and wanting to say 'I', "knew ya a little better then they wouldn't say such stuff. If ya opened up a bit more, they wouldn't be so quick ta judge, 'cuz they'd know," she finished lamely, eyes skittering into contact with his ruby ones before quickly zeroing in on some verdant stalks of grass.
"I don' care what dey t'ink of me, but y' know me Rogue," Remy said his normally odd but comforting whisky-smooth voice sounding at once soft and tired, "I've been here for a couple years already. Tru' battle, home-livin', petty-fightin' an' everyt'ing," he said not quite able to force the word love out his throat. "I don' know what else to do. Y' been to my hometown more often den I been to y'rs. If y' ain't figured m' out yet it be a little late in de game f—"
Rogue swallowed her instinctive anger that had started to bubble up. That Cajun did have a way of twisting things so he seemed like the victim. Maybe Bobby's version of events was correct after all. It seemed like all the 'them' conversations they had about the X-Men, always turned into 'them' the couple conversations. Although, she could probably blame this one on herself.
"Gambit," she said her voice an enforced calm climbing off the swing and standing, watching him squarely as he straddled his swing looking more like a willful child than the mercurial man she knew. "Sometimes it's good to know what's made a person, not just the end product. Ya get a better feeling of who they are."
"Y' lookin' for somet'ing to hate Rogue?" he asked smoothly rising to his feet his height advantage immediately apparent. "Y' need a reason to break t'ings off again?" he asked feeling colder even though he knew the weather had not altered a single degree.
"No!" she exclaimed startled, "No. Just dangit Remy, don't jump ta conclusions. I just want ta know more about ya. So I know when things come up like this."
"What, so y' know who to believe? Can' take de word of dis t'ief unless y' give 'em a background check? An' what if I said dat anyt'ing more dat I could tell y' about my past would break us up, make y' hate me, jus' like I said before?"
"Don't dramatize Gambit," Rogue said cocking her head slightly with a small head shake of annoyance, "not everything is life and death, there's no way it's all bad. An' ya know I care about ya, and I want this to work out. Believe me if I didn't… I understand some things are difficult to talk about," she continued being deliberately vague, an area she knew he reveled in, "but sometimes it helps to talk things out, ta share, ta trust one another," she finished.
"Y' want us to share?" he asked his confrontational stance shifting, dubiousness expounded by his arched brows.
"Yeah, problem?" she asked defensively, her mind supplying a singularly unhelpful thought…maybe the whole 'therapy' approach wasn't the best way to go with a guy as close-lipped as Remy. The professor, when he was home, certainly did not seem to get anywhere.
"Well?" Gambit asked after a few moments had passed only the twitter of a far off bird breaking their silence.
"Well what?" asked Rogue confused, her arms crossed against her chest belligerently.
"Ain't y' gonna say anyt'ing," Gambit gestured laying out a flat palm, "Y' know, share."
"I was waiting on ya," she responded stubbornly he emerald eyes glinting.
Gambit's own gaze, enchanting as always, never wavered, "Why do I always have to go first?" he asked softly.
Rogue's mouth opened startled, "Well I suggested it. I figured it was your turn."
"Really chere?" he cajoled, "Y' ain't exactly an open book. So why am I always expected to go first? Is it just cuz I'm de guy, or are y' not willing to put y' trust in a t'ief. Least ways not until y' get some kind of collateral."
"I tol' ya already…dang it Remy I—"
"Yeah here we go again," Gambit muttered in disgust his fist flexing as it tightened around one of the chains, "We always get dis far and freeze. Always."
"Ya don't even know what I'm going ta say," she said crowding closer to poke an index finger into his chest.
"Non, but I heard it before," he muttered turning away.
"Listen here LeBeau!" Rogue exclaimed gathering a handful of his flimsy t-shirt and holding him in place, speaking through gritted teeth, "I am willing ta make some exceptions here, some. Only because I know ya got ta be brain-damaged."
"I am datin' y'," Gambit responded automatically.
"Ya better watch where yah walking Cajun," she threatened, willing him to remember just who had the super-strength in this relationship.
"What den," Gambit asked, "we jus' gonna stand here like dis till de rain decides to make a return visit?"
"Give me a minute," she muttered darkly, "I'm taking a leap o' faith here and I don't exactly see a pile of fluffy pillows at the bottom." Rogue slowly unclenched her fist, tugged on Gambit's shirt briskly in an attempt to straighten it and deliberately sat back down, emerald eyes seeming to lash out and tie him back down. Remy responded sitting stiffly across from her, silent, not even the creak of the swings infringing on the moment.
"I-I hear all these stories from the mutants we meet up with…and they say, they say how scared they were when their powers first manifested because they were all alone. No one to confide in or anything. Most of them didn't want to be a mutant, most of them still don't want to be a mutant," she said her eyes losing focus at a point past Gambit's shoulder. Gathering courage she forced herself to return his curious look.
"I think they were lucky. By themselves they couldn't hurt nobody. My powers came through like a run-away steam engine. Slam, ran right over Cody. I didn't even get a warning, neither of us did, just one minute we were kissing, the next…he was in a coma."
"I was gone for one day—one day," Cyclops ranted as he paced. "Alright Beast once more if you would, from the top," said Cyclops with what he felt was an extremely patient tone of voice.
"You said there was an emergency, which we have yet to get to the bottom of?" Beast said from his reclined position beside one of the many computer terminals in his lab.
"I'll fill you in later," Scott promised.
"Alright then, as long as you keep your word Fearless Leader. As you already know, you and I had made the new alterations for the Danger Room Weariness in Battle training sessions. You had your 'emergency' and left with Jean. You called the test off, and had the computer lock up the Danger Room. I came down to my lab to make a few last minute adjustments on the dampeners…though I'm not positive they shouldn't be called accelerators…"
"Beast?"
"Sorry, well that's about all," Beast said adjusting his glasses with a well-manicured paw, "I didn't find out anything else until Wolverine called down from Gambit's room. He said an accident had occurred, and he was the cause. I had a feeling Logan might not be here in the morning."
"I can't believe he just left," said Scott incredulously. "I knew I should have trusted my instincts and looked harder."
"No offense intended Scott, but one would think you'd get used to this by now. In any event I doubt Wolverine will be gone for long."
"Gambit's injury?"
"It isn't life threatening by any means; I am not certain why there has been such an uproar over it. Our dear Gambit received a pair of a certain Canadian's claws through his left shoulder. Once I found the injured party I basically had to hog-tie him to make sure he got the proper stitches, ointment, antibiotics etc. Heaven knows if he's actually taking them."
"I cannot believe this," Cyclops rejoined. "I had the Danger Room locked up tight. I'll give you three guesses as to who opened it Hank. How he got the others to go through with it when I specifically told them not to operate it without me, I'll never understand. Then we have Gambit who gets lazy in the Danger Room—slips—and blames everybody under the sun but himself. Who, is the one actually responsible for all of this in the first place, by opening up the Danger Room!"
"So I take it you don't see eye to eye with Gambit's view on the events," spoke Henry, smiling with a hint of fang.
"Of course not. Warren agrees with Bobby, and Bobby had no reason to lie or try to hurt Gambit. The man has so many ulterior motives he just assumes everyone else has them too. Rogue and Storm are the only one who stayed out of this madness, since they were at the store. All hail the chore wheel," Scott said, rotating his neck attempting to release at least some of the building tension. "How long before Gambit's physically fit for duty?"
"He's fought with worse before, with the Shi'ar equipment…not long at all. Provided of course that I can get him down here for the treatments. Gambit has an uncanny knack of avoiding this place when he's injured."
"Don't worry Hank, if he's up to this much trouble, he must have a lot of time on his hands. I'll make sure he gets down here, after I'm through with him anyway."
"Should I provide a beaker for you to put in the remains of our young Cajun compatriot?"
Scott's visor flashed, "Not this time, but I'll keep it in mind for later."
A/N: Yeah, as you can see, Rogue is rather vital to this story so to the anti-R/G out there… sorry… A thousand apologies that it took so long to get this chapter out. I'm having issues with the later chapters of this story, and I didn't want to have to rewrite this one later to make everything fit. So, we will see how it goes. : )