Bonjour all! I'm back once again! I'm sooooo glad so many people liked the first chapter. I figured it was a logical place to start and all. Thanks to everyone for reviewing! You all made my day each time I got a little thing in my mailbox saying I got a review. So now I bring you chapter 2 of Part 4 of the Romy Chronicles. It's a lot longer then any of the other parts and the last chapter. I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: The characters and plotlines of X-Men Evolution unfortunately don't belong to moi. Also, this idea of chronicling certain events in a character's life doesn't belong to me either. Full credit goes to Deandra who writes awesome Lord of the Rings stories. I got this idea from her and I suggest you go read her stuff.

Chapter 2- Freedom

The ground was moving underneath her, of that much Rogue was sure of. Her hands and ankles were tied together and if she had been more aware she probably would have been panicking. At least she was warm. Something rather heavy had been snugly draped around her. She had been struggling for the last couple of minutes to open her eyes, but they were still fighting against her, thick with sleep.

As Rogue gained consciousness, she slowly remembered her last seconds of awareness. That dirty, rott'n Cajun! she screamed mentally, sure that if she opened her mouth, no soundwould come out. He kidnapped meh! She remembered exactly what happened now. She had just decided that she wouldn't be able to take school today and had just turned around to go back to the Institute when Gambit had grabbed her. Lahke he has permission tah put his filthy Swamp Rat paws on meh, she thought, still fuming.

Rogue concentrated hard trying to fully rouse herself. Her green eyes fluttered open and she took in the sight around her. She was in a boxcar, her back lying against the wall. Much to her surprise, she was wrapped in Gambit's signature trench coat. And the man of the hour was currently standing next to the open boxcar door, looking outward. Her anger at him increased ten fold as she watched him. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Gambit seemed to notice that his captive was boring holes into the back of his head with her glares and turned around to face her. "Aww, chére, y're awake," he said, giving her a smile that for once wasn't riddled with arrogance. Unfortunately for him, that didn't lessen her glare any. "Now, now, don' be givin' Gambit dat look," he told her, turning his back to her and facing outside again.

She struggled with her bonds a little, trying to find a way to get out of them. "I've been watchin' you for weeks, Rogue," he said after a moment's silence. Rogue felt a spark of angry shock. What is he, a stalker?, she thought. Gambit continued, "You're such an unhappy girl, chére."

Rogue, who was beyond annoyed and therefore not thinking straight, tried to get herself free by lunging at her kidnapper. She didn't get very far though, landing hard and awkwardly on the floor. Well thaht was smart, she chided herself mentally. She struggled to face Gambit. "Is it any wonder?" she asked him. "Just what d'you want with meh?" she queried, finding it to be a very valid question. She fought to stay calm as her voice cracked slightly.

Gambit of course had the nerve to chuckle at her. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, gazing down at her, amusement evident in his red eyes. "Gambit don' want nothin' from y', chére. It's what you want. Gambit jus' be openin' the door for y'," he told her, gesturing to the door of the train. He was speaking in that 3rd person that both intrigued and annoyed her. Ah mean, who does that?

Rogue was confused though. "The door tah what?" she asked rather forcefully.

In a gesture that surprised her, before answering Gambit knelt and shifted her into a more comfortable position leaning against a crate. He looked at her for a second. "Freedom," he finally stated. "De chance t' jus' walk away," he said, motioning again to the open boxcar door. Freedom. It had been a foreign concept to Rogue. Sometimes it even felt like she was trapped in her own body. "An' Gambit knows from experience dat de firs' step is always de hardest, so he's jus' givin' you a little push," Gambit said, smiling charmingly at her.

For some reason the smile seemed to infuriate her even more. "Untie meh!" she demanded, struggling against her bonds again. If there was one thing Rogue hated, it was feeling vulnerable, and tied up like she was, in the hands of Gambit no less, made her feel more vulnerable then she ever had.

He gave her a universal 'don't worry' gesture. "I will, I will. Soon as you realize dat dis Cajun's doin' you a favor," he told her with a shrug. He turned back to the open door again.

Rogue blew her bangs away from her face in agitation. This guy was really starting to grate on her nerves. She carefully maneuvered herself so she was back against the train wall once more, and as far away from Gambit as possible. Wherever we're goin', we bettah get there fast, Rogue thought to herself. Feeling herself tire, probably side effects from Gambit's knock out gas, Rogue leant her head back against the wall and shut her eyes. Gambit hadn't done anything to her when she had been asleep before, so she just had to trust that he wouldn't do anything this time. What that last thought, Rogue let her sleep deprived body succumb to its need.

Rogue woke up an hour later to the sound of cards being shuffled back and forth. Opening her eyes she found that her kidnapper was aimlessly shuffling a deck of his cards. He was sitting on a crate next to her but facing the wall. Gambit didn't seem to be focusing on anything but his cards, so he didn't notice that she was awake. "Could ya stop that?" Rogue asked him aloud.

Rogue mentally patted herself on the back when Gambit jumped at the sound of her voice. He recovered quickly though and gave her a slow lazy grin, while wordlessly stopping his fidgety hands. In place of shuffling the cards he began a game of solitaire.

She watched him for a instant. "What is it with you and cards?" she asked him with almost exasperated curiosity. He seemed to have an obsession with them.

"Well, chére," Gambit said, and Rogue rolled her eyes at the pet name. "It's like havin' 52 explosives, tucked away in one little pocket," he explained. Rogue contemplated this and was surprised to find that it actually made sense. Gambit shuffled his cards again before picking one out. "I always save her for last," he told her, holding the card out so she could see.

"Queen of Hearts?" Rogue questioned, giving him a strange look.

Gambit, being a true weirdo in Rogue's mind, kissed the card. "Mwah. My lucky lady. She's gott'n Gambit outta a whole lotta jams."

Again Rogue rolled her eyes. "Then Ah need a deck of those," she muttered sarcastically, thinking about one jam in particular that she could use help getting out of. Here she was in a boxcar on her way to who knows where with a guy who had a card fetish and had once tried to blow her up. Whoever says normal is overrated, should try livin' mah lahfe for a day, she thought bitterly.

"It is nice havin' someone t' watch over y' Rogue," the red-eyed Cajun told her, now sitting on the crate next to her. Suddenly, he got down next to her. "If y're willin' t' accept my help, I can untie y'," he said, looking her in the eye.

A plan began to form in Rogue's head as she contemplated his offer. "Okay," she said finally, looking away from him so he wouldn't see the micheivious gleam in her green eyes.

Gambit smirked to himself in success as she began to remove her bonds. "It's jus' time y' take charge of y' own destiny is all."

Rogue rubbed her wrists, glad they were free, and decided to put her plan into action. "Good idea," she said coyly. It this isn't takin' charge, Ah don't know what is, she thought. He never saw her foot coming. He kick to his stomach sent him tumbling across the boxcar and almost out the open door. Luckily for him, he managed to catch himself just before he was thrown out. Rogue didn't give him a moment's breath though as she used his staff to pin his hands in place. It was time he learned not to mess with the Rogue.

"Ah don't like bein' pushed in any direction, got it?" she asked, leaning out of the boxcar towards him. Her two-toned hair whipped wildly around her face.

The fact that he was half hanging out of the boxcar didn't seem to faze Gambit. In fact, he grinned. "Point taken," he merely said. Then he began to charge up the boxcar. "Now here's mine. Pull m' in or I blow dis boxcar of de tracks," he threatened all the while grinning up at her.

Rogue contemplated him for a second. Was he being serious? Yes, she decided. He had a wild gleam in his ruby eyes that she didn't trust. An aggravated noise in the back of her throat surfaced as Rogue pulled Gambit back into the boxcar by his uniform. "You're just crazy enough tah do it," she spat, glaring up at him.

His face was close to her as he retorted, "We do what we have t', right cheríe?"

That's it! she said to herself. She went to punch him but was denied by him again. He caught her hand effortlessly. Rogue decided he either had really good reflexes or he had predicted her doing it.

As he caught her hand he slipped off her glove and pulled her bare hand towards his face. "Go ahead, chére. Gambit's not afraid. Absorb m' thoughts. See for y'self dat I mean y' no harm," he said seriously, his eyes planted on hers.

Rogue hesitated. He was the first person she had ever met that didn't seem afraid of her powers. He actually wanted her to absorb him. She lifted her hand towards his face, struggling physically and mentally with herself. Did she really want to this? It would be so easy for her to do it. She settled for no though and tore her hand away from him at the last moment. Gambit intrigued her. She wanted to get to know him without the use of her powers. "Lahke Ah want you inside mah head," she snapped, pushing past him to where she had been sitting before.

"But don' y' remember, chére?" Gambit asked her, stilling standing up. He leant on his bo staff as he leered at her. "Y' already had dis Cajun in y' head."

"What're you talkin' about?" Rogue asked him, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. As far as she knew she had never absorbed Gambit.

"Aww, it wounds m' that y' don't recall our little kiss, Rogue," he said, holding a hand over his heart dramatically.

"Kiss!" Rogue exclaimed incredulously, her eyes wide open. "You better get to explainin', swamp boy," she told him, giving him a warning look. "And you bettah be quick cause I ain't a patient gal."

Gambit smirked at her. "Well chere, when y' were under Mesmero's control, y' kissed Gambit t' absorb him. Now, Gambit didin't mind de kiss at all, but y' knowcked m' out 'fore I could respond…"

As soon as he said Mesmero, Rogue's whole demeanor changed and she tuned him out. With an ache in her heart she remembered waking up hours after Apocalypse had absorbed her in the med lab. Logan and the Professor had been there to break it to her what had happened as she had no memory of it. She had realized that she had been unknowingly and unwillingly taken part in helping set Apocalypse free. And it was all thanks to Mystique and Mesmero. The thought had tore at her for days afterwards. It still tore at her now.

"Rogue?"

"It's all mah fault," the words came out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"What's y' fault chere?" Gambit asked, settling down on the crate next to her, the atmosphere having turned serious.

Rogue didn't look at him, instead choosing to watch the scenery flashing by the open door of the boxcar. "Apocalypse was set free because of meh," she finally replied, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.

"Dat ain't y' fault Rogue," Gambit said so forcefully that Rogue looked up at him. His red eyes glowed brightly in the gather dark. "Dat was stuff beyond y' control. What could y' 'ave done?" he asked logically.

Rogue was silent and didn't answer him. She was slightly touched though that he had said that. The only people who had told her it wasn't her fault were the Professor and Logan. Hearing it from someone else made her feel better. She decided to change the subject though. The topic was likely to make her depressed and there was something that had been nagging her the whole train ride.

"What makes you think Ah was ready to leave the Institute?" she asked him, looking down at the boxcar floor.

The sound of shuffling meant that Gambit had returned to playing with his cards. "Aww, it's been pretty obvious, chere," he told her. "Besides, I heard y' talkin' t' dat Nightcrawler fool."

Ignoring the insult to her brother, who probably would never speak to her again, she focused on the other half of what he said. "You've been spyin' on meh?" she asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He was looking down at her with another smirk on his face.

"No, jus' lookin' out for y'," came his smooth reply.

Rogue was startled for a moment. Why would he be looking out for her? The fact that she didn't need anyone looking out for her aside, he was supposed to be her enemy. Against her will Rogue felt her pale cheeks light up in a blush. She hastily searched for something to say. An insult or a threat. Unfortunately, all she came up with was, "So, uh, where's this train goin'?"

Gambit's reply was short. "Louisiana," he answered matter-a-factly, his voice somewhat distant.

The choice of destination caught her attention though. "Really?" she asked surprised, turning to him fully as he shuffled his cards once more.

His expression lightened as he caught her eyes once more. "I do believe dat's y're neck of de woods, ain't it?"

Rogue made sure that he couldn't see her face before she smiled. No one at the Institute knew how much she longed to be back down south. The warm weather. The food. The people. The Institute was her home, but even it couldn't replace her love for the south. She guessed that only a true southerner would understand. Maybe Gambit did. And maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad after all…

So? Was it crap? You can tell me if it was. Lol. I really hope you all enjoyed it! Anyway, I might have mentioned it before but I made a forum just for The Romy Chronicles. It's here in the Evolution page so if you guys could just check it out. It's basically for me whenever I need help and for you guys to like comment and stuff. Plus I'll come in and tell you all when I'm planning on updating or stuff about my next stories. It'd be cool if you all checked it out. Anyway, please review cause it'll be me soooooooo happy!