Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 3

The rest of the day was one big blur to Rogue. She did not recall anything taught in class or any of the idle gossip Risty had shared with her. She did not even remember if she had eaten or not. 'Damn it Pietro, what are ya doin ta meh?'She went and grabbed her bag from her locker before leaving the school. Making her way down the front steps, she caught a brief glimpse of the brotherhood out the corner of her eye. The four of them were headed towards their jeep and she went to make her way over there when someone called out to her.

"Rogue!"

"Oh…hay Risty…" she turned back around only to see the jeep speeding off. "Damn." she muttered.

"What's the matter girlfriend?" Risty asked looking in the same direction as Rogue.

"Nuthin'."

"If you say so. Wanna do something?"

"Ah don know Risty. Ah don really feel like doin' anythang. Ah think Ah'm jus gonna go home."

"I'll catch ya later then party pooper!" she said with a wave of her hand and left.

'Maybe Ah should go and see Pietro.' Rogue wondered, already headed in the direction the vehicle had gone. This was gonna bug her until she talked to him, so she picked up the pace and began a light jog. Not really paying attention she ran out onto the street, a car managing to stop inches from hitting her.

"Rogue? Watch where you're going!" Jean yelled from the red convertible.

"Huh? Oh sorry guys." she said looking back and seeing the rest of the X-Men in the car.

"Do you want a ride home?" Scott called to her as she started running again.

"No thanks Scott. Catch ya all later!"

"Oh. Okay." he said giving her one last glance and then driving away.

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She had been running for awhile now and was only about two blocks away. 'Almost there' she told herself. Then, the realization hit her. 'And what am Ah gonna say when Ah get there? Can Ah touch ya now? Thas jus dumb!' So caught up in her thoughts was she that she did not see the person rounding the corner at the same time as her. The two ran smack dab into one another.

"Hey watch where ya are goin'!" she said rubbing her elbow. 'What's with everyone taday?'

"You're da one dat…" he stood up and rubbed his butt then looked down at the person he had run into. 'Oh a femme' he smiled deviouslyI apologize Cherie." Rogue felt an in-voluntary shiver running down her spine. 'Sexay accent.' The sight standing before her took her breath away. 'WOW.' Standing before her was a man, maybe six feet tall, wearing a long brown trench coat over a tight black muscle t, dark brown hair that hung a little over his eyes…and his eyes….

"Stop right there mutie!" a voice boomed from down the street.

"Uh oh" the two said in unison. The guy leaned down and offered his hand to Rogue, which she took. Then pushing her behind him, he spoke over his shoulder. "Get out of here Cherie…it's about to get ugly." Rogue noticed him reach into his pocket and pull out a card. 'This guy must be crazay' she thoughtand stepped out beside him. Cracking her knuckles she replied,

"Good. Ah like ugly."

"Gurl, didn't you hear me- I said go. Dis ain't no place for a lady." he said slightly irritated. 'Oh brother' she thought rolling her eyes.

"Ya. Ya. Ah heard ya." she said, putting herself into a fighting stance. Then looking at him she added "and Ah ain't no lady." She then turned her attention to the fast approaching mob.

"Ma'am, I suggest you move away from him, he's very dangerous."

"Dat I am…." he replied eyes blazing; a warm glow began to envelop the card in his hand.

"And how's that?" she asked innocently, dropping her stance momentarily.

'He's a mutant!" a man yelled from the back of the crowd.

"Is that so…" apparent shock made its way to her face "well it just so happens..." she leapt up on one leg and used the other one in flying roundhouse style, hitting the man squarely across the jaw "Ah'm adangerous mutant too." The man dropped to the ground as they both looked at each other in complete disgust. Two men stepped forward and tried to grab Rogue.

"You're gonna pay for that bitch!"

"Nuh uh uh," the male mutant said waving his finger disapprovingly at the two "dats no way to treat a femme." He threw a glowing pink card at them. Upon contact the two men blew away in opposite directions. He then turned to Rogue and gave her a satisfied smirked, receiving a smirk in return. Suddenly he was tackled to the ground. Rogue went to go pull the man off the handsome Cajun when she was pulled away by two strong pairs of arms.

"Get offa meh!" she demanded.

"Or you'll what?" they laughed.

"Or ah might jus hafta kiss ya…" she said, venom dropping with each word.

"You ain't touching me freak." one of them replied.

"That's what ya all think" she replied, twisting and turning out of their grasp she quickly removed her gloves. "Bring it on boys." One went to jump her, but she caught him mid-air by the wrist and slammed him to the ground. The other man stood with his mouth wide open.

"What the hell did you do to him?"

"He needed a time out." she said looking down at the now unconscious man. When she looked back up, the other guy was already heading towards her and punched her right in the stomach. She slumped over slightly, the man raising his hands to hit her again, when a glowing object flew and hit him in the face. She turned to see the mutant who had just finished delivering a blow to one of his attackers, his other hand still outstretched as if to throw another card. "Thanks." she mouthed. He ran over to her.

"You alright?" he asked concern evident in his features.

"Neva better." and she managed to fake a smile.

"DIE!" one of the mob members screamed, raising a gun. Rogue pushed Remy down just as a bullet flew past them.

"Time to go chere." He offered his hand again but her hands were un-covered. She shook her head and pushed herself up. 'What's wit dat?' he wondered but didn't have time to think further on the subject as the sound of another bullet was heard. The two ran at full speed turning the corner and running down the street. The sound of more gun fire prompting them on. She could hear the angry footsteps coming from behind them. 'Why'd Ah have ta do all a that runnin before?' she asked herself angrily but continued running all the same. The man turned at the next corner and she followed. 'Ah wonder if he knows where he's goin'?'

He turned around grabbed her by the arm and led her down an alley when he suddenly stopped. 'Guess not' she realized when they reached what appeared to be a dead end.

"Up."

"Huh?" she asked.

"Up." he said again pointing up to a fire escape.

"But how am ah…." She didn't even have time to finish before he began hoisting her up.

"Oh…" she replied, grabbing onto the railing.

"Nice view." he stated with a big smile on his face. As she finished pulling herself up, he leapt up onto the fire escape.

"Impressive." she said, not sounding impressed.

"I'm a man of many hidden talents." and the two continued up to the roof.

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They had been sitting up on the roof in silence for nearly twenty minutes. When they got up there, Rogue had propped herself up against some walling; only now fully realizing just how tired she was. The man remained peering out over the roof the entire time, never changing his position. When the silence had finally become uncomfortable, she decided to speak.

"They gone?" she asked.

"Been gone awhile now chere." he replied pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Then what the hell are we still doin' up here?" she asked confused.

"What you don't like my company?" he asked, facing her for the first time since they got up there.

"Hmph. Ah don even know ya name." she replied folding her arms and looking away.

"They call me Gambit." he replied sauntering towards her, using that oh-so-sexy accent of his. "But you, you can call me Remy." He went to pick up her hand and place a kiss on it but she pulled away. With all the excitement she had forgotten to put her gloves back on. She grabbed them and threw them on, embarrassed. "I don't bite." he told her pulling his hand away.

"No, no, it ain't that." she said.

"Then what?

"Well you see, its mah….mutation." she said quietly, facing the opposite direction, not able to look at him. " More like mah curse. Mah skin…it's deadly. All Ah have to do is touch someone and Ah absorb their memories, their powers…sometimes their very soul." She wasn't even talking to him anymore, just talking aloud.

"Don you have any control of it?" he asked, curious.

"No." she said, dropping her head. He eased himself down beside her.

"Maybe all you need is a little practice." Rogue let out a bitter laugh.

"Ha. Ya, well volunteers aren't exactly easy ta come by sugah."

"Why don you practice on me?" he asked. She looked up at his face and saw the mischief in it.

"Aren't ya afraid? Ah might hurt ya." she asked confused.

"I think, maybe it be worth it, non?" They both sat there looking at one another. 'He's so beautiful' she thought. 'She be an angel' he thought. 'Well if he's willingly ta let meh touch him. No. Ah don't want ta hurt him…but what if Pietro's right? He seemed to be telling the truth, and Ah wanna kiss him so bad.' She tried to convince herself it was okay. 'I'm gonna kiss her' he thought, and moved his face closer to hers. 'It'll be okay, it'll be okay…' she continued to tell herself as their lips met. 'This is wonderful' she thought 'Speedy was tellin' the truth!'she realized, never having been happier in her life. 'She tastes like strawberries'he thought before suddenly feeling a tug. 'OH NO!' Rogue thought, but it was too late, and he fell limp in her arms.

"Ah'm so sorry." she said cradling his head in her lap. "So sorry…"

TBC>