A/N: I'm a horrible person! Lol. I swear I was going to get this chapter out before I went on vacation but I couldn't. Sorry! Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing the last chapter. Special thanks goes to libby k cause she's just sooooo awesome. You are too nice to meI swear! You were totally reading my mind though when you reviewed cause at that point I was sad cause i had only like a couple reviews. :( You cheered me up though. Lol. Thanks soooo much. Now, I hope you all like this chapter. It'sexeptionallylong and wasespecially hard towrite for me. I only added little things here and there that differ from the episode. Anway, please puhhhh-lease review! XD
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 5- Rescue
If it weren't for the fact that Julien looked mighty trigger happy, Remy figured the situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. His father was as skilled a fighter as he was, maybe more, though Remy would never tell him that. So he was more then ready for whatever the two wanted to throw their way. Needless to say, having expected no less then the equivalent of a bar brawl to occur between the two patriarchs and sons, Remy was more than a bit shocked by the arrival of Rogue.
An angry snarl came over Marius's face as he pointed back to the room Jean-Luc had been held captive in. "Get back in dere!" he snapped.
So focused on Remy and Jean-Luc were they both, Marius and Julien forgot to look after themselves. Suddenly, the two Assassin's faces contorted and they crumpled dazedly to the floor. And in their places stood Rogue, her ungloved hands held out before her. Remy had never been happier to see her, though the look on her face suggested she was less then thrilled to see him. He understood. He hadn't been forgiven yet.
"Let's go!" Rogue said urgently, turning her back to them and starting to pull on her gloves.
Remy looked down at the ground. He felt ashamed of himself. Here he was having used Rogue for his own agenda and she was still willing to help him. He didn't deserve it.
Behind him, Jean-Luc sounded both amazed and intrigued. "Y'mean, she do all dat, with jus' de touch of a finger?"
"F'rget it!" Remy told him, sweeping after Rogue who moved comfortably down the hall.
Up ahead, Rogue was sliding her last glove into place as she peered around the corner of the hall. Remy made to move up behind her when suddenly a shot was fired from around the corner. He jerked away and rolled to the opposite wall just in time to evade a shot coming from behind them. Remy gulped. He hadn't taken the time to analyze any exit routes when he had entered the building. Y'getting' sloppy, LeBeau, he thought idly, crouched down low to avoid the shots being fired at them from both directions.
Beside him, Rogue noticeably tensed up and her eyes widened distantly. When she suddenly popped up off the ground, the look in her eyes was hard determination. "This way!" she told them, heading through an opening even Remy's sharp eyes hadn't noticed.
"How she know?" Jean-Luc asked, sounding stupefied.
"Trust m'," Remy said, getting up from his crouch and turning to follow Rogue. "She knows."
As the three of them ran down the corridor, Remy spared a glance outside. It was getting real windy out, something that rarely happened this time of year. Something was going on and Remy had only an idea of what it could be. All he knew was that the cards had been dealt and for the first time he wasn't sure they had the winning hand.
Rogue was vaguely away of Gambit and Jean-Luc running behind her, so intently focused on finding the correct exit for them. This turned out exactly as Gambit had planned. She was helping them escape utilizing the knowledge she had stolen from Julien and Marius about the house. The look of surprise on Gambit's face when she had shown up suggested that he never thought she would be rescuing them. Rogue herself was having a hard tie with it. She was still furious with Gambit for even thinking he could use her. Part of her knew though, that small portion of her anger came from Gambit's own psyche. He was mad at himself for using her and that in turn fueled her own temper.
Rogue knew that she had another motive for coming back. She was looking for redemption. Leaving Gambit alone in the mansion with who knows how many Assassins would be doing the same thing she had done to Mystique. From what she knew, he was more than capable of handling himself, but she knew the layout like the back of her hand at the moment. She needed to do this.
Ahead of them, Rogue spied the exit she wanted to take. Suddenly though, two men appeared, blocking the exit and holding guns. Rogue halted in her tracks, throwing out both her arms to stop Gambit and his father from going further. She was glancing around quick to see if there was another way when the whole house started to shake. Rogue's eyes darted around cautiously. In front of her, the two thugs looked confused and started edging away from the door. Without warning, the door was ripped off of its hinges and a strong wind engulfed the room causing Rogue to fall to the ground. She watched in a mix of alarm and amazement as the house was being ripped apart. As the wind suddenly shifted into a more concise shape, Rogue realized immediately what was happening, especially when the whirlwind gathered the two thugs and pulled them up and away.
Rogue made her way to the destroyed exit and suppressed an big grin at the sight of Storm hovering above the house. Beside her, Jean-Luc looked up at the weather witch in awe.
"Dat woman can control de weather?" he asked.
Rogue motioned to her. "Meet mah family," she said proudly. And they were her family, not necessarily through blood but they were her family nonetheless. And she had never been happier to see them.
Unfortunately the reunion would have to be postponed as they were still trying to escape. The three of them started forward but shots from the roof interrupted them. Rogue ducked down cautiously looking up. Three floors above them a man held a blaster. Then, in a puff of familiar smoke, Nightcrawler appeared, looking every inch the protective brother he used to be.
"I'll take this!" Rogue heard him say, before teleporting away with the man's gun. She felt a strong rush of affection for Kurt at that moment. Never had she been so glad that he was her brother.
Above her, Gambit urged them on and Rogue stood up out of her crouch. The three of them rushed towards the dock, knowing that the only way out of there was by boat. Fire reigned down on them from the veranda but was quickly taken care of by Wolverine.
Rogue's heart beat erratically in her chest as she ran, knowing the Assassins wouldn't hesitate to harm her. From what she got by absorbing the two Boudreaux's, the Assassin's mentality when faced with a situation such as this was shoot first, ask questions later kind of thing.
Reaching the boats first, Rogue hesitated before one, but Gambit jumped right in, taking the controls. "No time t' lose, cherie," he told her, starting up the boat.
Rogue nodded, jumping down into the boat and taking the passenger seat. Beside them, Jean-Luc hurriedly untied the boat from its place at the dock before hopping into it himself. Seconds later, Gambit peeled away from the dock and the three of them went racing across the bayou. Rogue looked back t see Cyclops covering them with optic blasts before jumping into a boat Wolverine was driving. Unfortunately, three Assassin boats were also following them, and Rogue noticed a fully recovered and furious Julien controlling one.
"They're followin' us!" she yelled to Gambit over the sound of the motor. He nodded distractedly, steering the boat efficiently through the maze of the bayou. Suddenly Rogue saw something in the water ahead. "Watch out!" she warned, pointing out the water mine to Gambit.
He swerved hard causing Rogue to hold on to her seat. She heard an explosion behind them and turned to see one of the Assassin's boats sinking as a result of hitting the same water mine Gambit had just avoided. The other two Assassin boats were right on their tail though. Gambit tossed several charged cards, which seemingly appeared out of nowhere, back to the two boats, but the cards failed to hit their target. As Wolverine drove the X-Men's boat up alongside theirs, Cyclops blasted a tree handing above the swamp, causing a log to fall on the front of one of the boats, jettisoning its two occupants.
Julien never faltered though, and sped right past his fellow guild members. In an instant he had his bazooka raised and fired a shot in their direction. Instead of hitting their boat though, it hit the X-Men's. Rogue gasped as it tipped over but luckily, Nightcrawler managed to port Wolverine and Cyclops away. Rogue immediately directed her attention back to Julien. Both Gambit and Julien dodged several water mines before Julien pulled up parallel to their boat. He fired another shot and missed again. He pulled up behind them and fired. Another miss. Suddenly, he came up beside them again and, perhaps exceeding his patience level, rammed into them.
Rogue struggled to hold onto something, anything, but the speed boat tipped over, spilling her, Gambit, and Jean-Luc into the murky bayou. The water was warm and thick, and Rogue kicked her legs quickly, running out of air fast. Finally she surfaced, taking deep breaths. Gambit and Jean-Luc surfaced around her giving her a moment of relief. The moment didn't last that long. Making their way towards them and snapping their jaws loudly, and hungrily, Rogue though, were 2 large alligators. Rogue started to panic and began swimming away. She couldn't swim that fast in the swampy water though, and the gators quickly gained on her. Suddenly, Nightcrawler appeared and grabbed onto her, safely teleporting her onto dry land, where Jean-Luc had also crawled up on. Rogue gave a sigh of relief, smiling slightly at Kurt, who smiled back. Then she remembered that Gambit was still in the water.
Gasping, she turned back to the bayou where Gambit was a sitting duck in the water as Julien, still in his boat, circled him. Turning back to Kurt intent on telling him to port out to Gambit, she stopped mid turn as she heard a loud explosion. She jerked her head to where Julien's boat was now in pieces and Julien himself now swam in the water.
The wind around Rogue began to pick up as Storm created a whirlpool in the water. Gambit managed to swim out but Julien was trapped inside. Storm picked him up using the wind and carried him away. Probably back to the destroyed Assassin Headquarters, Rogue thought.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Gambit haul himself out of the water. He paused for a second to catch his breath but it seemed that that was a second too long. Wolverine towered over him and by the look on Gambit's face, he knew he was in trouble. Rogue cringed as Logan jerked Gambit up by the front of his trench coat.
"You've had it, bub!" Logan told him, slamming Gambit into a nearby tree. His claws came out and Rogue was sure he would have diced him into little pieces if she hadn't stopped him.
"Logan, stop!" she practically commanded. Both Wolverine and Gambit turned to look at her, making her feel self conscious. Why had she stopped him again? Really, he did deserved anything Logan wanted to dish out for all he had put her through. But still… "Please, leave him alone," she finally said.
Logan looked back at Gambit. Rogue couldn't see his face but she was sure he was giving Gambit a threatening look, though the waterlogged thief's expression betrayed nothing. Finally, Logan growled and, albeit reluctantly, retracted his claws, letting Gambit drop to the ground. "I'm gonna want some answers, Rogue," he warned, shouldering past her.
"You'll get them," she assured him, but looking towards Gambit who was ringing water out of his coat. "Everythin's okay." She walked to her Cajun kidnapped slowly, suddenly feeling very anxious. What would he say to her?
Gambit looked up as she approached. "Rogue," he started to say, but Rogue stopped him. She didn't want an apology at the moment. She didn't really know what she wanted.
"Don't," she said, tugging at the top of her shirt, giving her hands something to do. "Yah just did the wrong thing for the raght reasons." And he had. Using her had been as wrong as he could have gone, but even she couldn't deny that using her to save his father was as good of a reason as any. Make no mistake about it though, she was still ticked off. Rogue looked moodily across the bayou as there was a moment of strained silence between them.
"So, what now?"
Rogue turned back to him sharply. What did that mean? It sounded like he was laying out her choices in front of her without verbalizing them. Stay with him or go back to the mansion. And while the first choice intrigued her more then she knew it should, Rogue knew there was only ever one choice. "Ah'm goin' back with the X-Men," she told him, aware that they were all probably watching her and Gambit. "Ah don't care what you do," she said indifferently, turning away from him.
"Sure y' don't." He came up behind her and when he spoke she could almost feel his smirk. Arrogant little swamp rat, Rogue thought, though lacking any real edge, and looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
Suppressing a sigh, Rogue knew it was time to say goodbye. "Well, Ah better go," she said quietly, starting to walk away.
Nothing could have surprised her more when she felt his hand grasp hers. He gave her gloved hand a gentle squeeze. "Y' will be fine, cherie," he told her in an uncharacteristically serious voice. She half turned to look at him. "Y' got people watchin' over y'."
And then suddenly he was letting go of her hand and walking away. Vaguely, she was aware that she was clutching something in her hand, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from Gambit's retreating back as he and his father strided off into the fog. Would she ever see him again? She couldn't stop the hope that she would. There was just something about Gambit. Something that set him apart from anyone she had ever met. Suddenly she remembered he had slipped something into her hand. She looked down. A card.
"Hey, you okay?" Kurt asked, coming up next to her.
She flipped over the card the red-eye Cajun had left in her possession. The Queen of Hearts. I always save her f'r last, he had told her that morning on the train. M' lucky lady. And he was giving her to Rogue. Maybe mah luck'll change afterall, she thought, sighing. "Yeah, Ah think so," she answered, looking to her brother.
Kurt gave her a small smile and Rogue came to the happy realization that he had forgiven her for what she did to Mystique. And while Rogue still couldn't quite forgive herself, it was a start.
Kurt put his arm around her and for once, Rogue didn't flinch with the contact. He led her to where Logan, Storm, and Scott were waiting, Logan looking more than a little impatient. He opened his mouth to say something to Rogue but Storm cut him off.
"No, Logan," she said sharply. Logan's gaze jerked over to her. "Rogue's had a trying day. Anything you have to ask or say to her can be addressed in the morning," she told him, ignoring his unhappy growl.
Rogue shot Storm a grateful smile. Listening to Logan lecture was the last thing she wanted at the moment. No, all she wanted now was to go home. Somehow Gambit, without him knowing it most likely, had opened her eyes to the fact that she had a family at the Institute. People who cared about her enough to chase her halfway across the country. That morning she had seriously been thinking about leaving Bayville, convinced that no one would miss her. But the X-Men had proven her wrong. She would have to thank Gambit one day. If she ever saw him that was. As Rogue followed the 4 of them to where the X-Jet was, she had a funny feeling that they would meet again.
A/N: The End! At least, that's the end of this Part, Part 4 if you've forgotten by now. I think I said I had two more chapters but I decided I wanted to start Part 5 with what I had in mind. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. Also, I know I've advertised it before but I made my own forum for these Chronicles and I'd love for you guys to come chat with me there or whatever. Alrighty then, review, review, review! XD