Rogue jumped away from Remy as the window shattered and glass rained down on the bed. "Wolverine, no!"
It was too late. Logan was launching himself at Remy, pinning the duster to the wall with his claws. "I said, get away from the girl."
"I t'ink you be misunderstandin' the situation, homme." He struggled to pull his arms out of the duster, but it was fruitless. "And I t'ink you should be letting go o'my coat."
"Bamf!" and a smell of brimstone, and Kurt was next to her. "Are you okay?" he cried, pulling at her arm. "Did he hurt you?" His eyes widened as he took in her injuries. "What happened?"
"Let go," Rogue yelled, wrenching her arm away. "Ah'm fine! Wolverine, let him go!" She rushed over, tugging at his arms. He merely snarled and slammed Gambit against the wall again as Remy brought both legs up and kicked him in the throat. Logan stumbled back and Remy somersaulted over him, drawing out a deck of cards and charging them fiery red in an instant.
"I said you should let go o'de coat," he said, fingering the rips in the duster. "Don't appreciate havin' to tell you twice."
"Give me three minutes, bub, and I can put matching holes in you," Wolverine snarled. As the pair circled, Cyclops blasted the bedroom door down and ran in, Kitty at his heels. "Is she okay?" Kitty shouted, then broke off and came skidding to a halt as she took in the situation.
Scott aimed his visor at Gambit just as Rogue jumped in front of him. "Don't!" she cried.
"What in the hell you doin', kid?" Incensed, Wolverine continued to circle.
She pushed Remy further behind her. "You don't understand!"
"Why don't you explain it all, chere, b'fore I have to put yo' little guard dog in his place." Gambit said, not lowering the cards.
She whirled. "You. Shut up. You ain't helpin' matters." Turning back to the X-Men, she gave them a pleading look. "Just listen, please. You don't understand. He didn't do anything wrong. He was helping me." Shaken, she wobbled slightly, and before Wolverine or Kurt could steady her, Gambit had scooped her up and gently set her on the bed.
"See what you done to de fille," he shot over his shoulder at the team, looking straight at Wolverine. "She ain't in any condition to be gettin' upset."
She brushed him aside. "It's not his fault. Just give me a chance to explain."
"So explain," growled Wolverine.
"Yeah, Rogue. Where did you go? You can't just sneak off the grounds whenever you like," Scott started.
"Wait," Kurt interrupted. He crossed the room to his sister, crouched in front of her. "Are you okay? Your head…there's a big cut. Do you need anything?"
She smiled gratefully at him. "Ah'm all right. Ah'm banged up a little, but it's not as bad as it looks."
"Um, Rogue?" piped Kitty, "What are you, like, wearing?"
"My shirt, chere. It look nice, non?" He smirked, then sobered as he saw Rogue wince and Wolverine's claws snick in and out again.
"That's enough outta you, Gumbo. Kid, you better start explaining."
She took a deep breath. "Ah came into the city last night."
"How?" Scott demanded.
"Ah hitchhiked."
"Rogue, what were you thinking? That's like, totally dangerous." Kitty looked at her friend, stunned. This was not the Rogue she was used to. No makeup, clad only in a faded flannel shirt and gloves, hair damp and curling, bruised and battered, blushing furiously. She slid a glance towards Gambit, who didn't take his eyes off of Rogue. No, she mused. There was no way he was responsible for Rogue's injuries. Right now, despite the deck of playing cards still emitting a faint ominous glow, she couldn't imagine him hurting anything.
"Ah wasn't thinking," Rogue said softly. "I just needed to get away for a little while. Be somewhere that didn't remind me of everything." She pulled her knees to her chest, and winced a little, tucking the shirt around her. "I just wanted to blow off some steam."
"And the club?" Wolverine asked. "That's how you and the Cajun here blow off steam?" He wasn't blind to Rogue's outfit, the coziness of her situation with Gambit, or the looks the cocky kid was giving her.
She shook her head. "No. I went in for a drink." She ignored the stern look Scott gave her. "But someone was following me."
"Dere be three someones, actually," Gambit pointed out. Wolverine rolled his eyes.
"Does that count you, Gambit?" Kurt asked.
"Non, homme. I was followin' dem followin' her." Not strictly true, he thought. But close enough.
"Anyway," Rogue said pointedly. "They slipped something into mah drink, then approached me. Ah thought at first they didn't know about mah powers, but they did. Ah tried to get away…" she trailed off.
"The chere was fightin' pretty well, but dey knew not to let her touch 'em," Remy finished. "And they gave her enough of de drug that standin' up straight presentd a real challenge pretty quick."
"So where do you come in?" Scott asked.
"Right about de time de fille pass out."
"He fought them off, Scott. Then he brought me here. He…he saved me." She swallowed hard. She hadn't realized it before, not really. Hadn't thought about the what-ifs. Hadn't thought about the danger Remy had put himself in, just to help her out. "Ah'm sorry. Ah didn't mean to make you worry." She picked at the soft blue spread,
"Why didn't you call?" Kurt asked. "We thought something terrible had happened to you. And we were right."
Rogue started to speak, but Remy cut her off. "Ease up, homme. De chere jus' woke up. I brought her back here, cleaned her up, tucked her in. She hasn't even eaten breakfast, so maybe y'all would like to lay off a li'l bit. We were jus' discussin' her goin' home when you all broke in." Actually, he thought, they hadn't been talking about her going home. He had been working around to convincing her to stay a little longer. He smiled to himself, remembering the feel of her in his arms – light and warm, smelling of shampoo and something else, something uniquely her.
Hey, guys, Jean called. Is everything okay? Can I contact the professor?
Go ahead, Jeannie, thought Wolverine. Tell the professor we've found her and we're bringing her home now.
Tell him to have Dr. McCoy standing by, Scott added. Rogue needs to be checked out.
Done, she replied after a moment. See you in a few minutes.
"Right," Wolverine said aloud. "Let's go, kid." He jerked his thumb towards the blasted bedroom door.
"Wait – can't Ah get dressed first?"
He scowled, looking at her again. Not that the team uniforms concealed a great deal, but he – no one at the Institute, really – had ever seen this much of Rogue's bare skin. He didn't want to think how much more the Cajun might have seen.
"You've got five minutes. Say your goodbyes to Gumbo now."
She looked at Remy helplessly. Goodbye and thanks hardly seemed sufficient. He smiled broadly. "Don' worry, chere. I'll be seein' you again soon. Things in Bayville not so dull with you around."
Scott spoke in a low voice, so as not to be overheard. "Actually, Wolverine, I think maybe Gambit should come with us." He held up a hand to ward off the glare Logan fixed him with. "We need to find out more about these guys that attacked Rogue. If she was drugged and unconscious for most of the encounter, she's not going to be a lot of help. Gambit might be able to tell us more."
"So let's just get it out of him now. I don't want him runnin' loose around the institute." I don't want him runnin' loose around Rogue, he thought.
"I think we need to get Rogue back now." He looked worriedly at the girl, who was looking paler and weaker every minute. And I'm sure the professor will want to talk to Gambit himself."
As much as he hated to admit it, Logan knew Scott was right. "Fine. Gumbo comes with. But the minute Xavier's done with him, I escort him out. Personally."
Scott approached Gambit cautiously. "Seriously, man, thanks for looking out for Rogue."
"Pas de problem. Not a chore to look at dat girl, hein?"
"Look…we really need you to come back to the Institute with us. If we're going to find these guys, figure out what they want, we could use your help. You saw things and heard things Rogue didn't. I don't want them to have another shot at her."
Gambit watched Rogue. Kitty and Kurt were flanking her, talking softly. Rogue shook her head at something Kurt said, and her eyes met his. Her mouth quirked in an odd half-smile and she tucked a lock of white hair behind her ear. Being under the same roof as Rogue, even temporarily, held an undeniable appeal. So did the thought of taunting Wolverine. He stretched lazily, pulled out a cigarette. "I could come for a visit, sure. Least y'all could do, considering you pretty much demolished this place."
"Is it yours?"
"Sorta. It belongs to…my family." Close enough. A safehouse, in New Orleans or New York, was open to any member of the Guild, particularly the Prince of Thieves. He walked to the closet and grabbed a duffel bag, throwing in a few changes of clothes. He turned to Rogue. "See you on de plane, chere," he said, touching her cheek with a gloved hand. All three of the men narrowed their eyes at him, and there were ominous rumblings from Wolverine and Nightcrawler.
"C'mon…Mr. Gambit," said Kitty, jumping up. I'll take you up to the Blackbird."
He turned his most charming smile on her. "Thank you, chere. Couldn' ask for a nicer guide. Lead on." And holding out his arm for Kitty to take, he strode out of the room.
Wolverine watched him go. "We're not done talking, kid."
Her shoulders slumped. "Ah know."
"Let's go, guys," said Kurt. He turned back to Rogue. "Don't take too long, okay?"
"I won't," she promised.
A/N
To all -- Sorry for the tardy update. The two-year-old and her sister have both been trailing Toad-like slime from their noses, and life consequently grinds to a halt.
Lid'l Rogue -- You don't really want to kill Cliffy, do you? He's just looking for a little attention.
Ish -- I'll take "evil" as a compliment. After all, I've been working towards it for such a long time, it's comforting to know I've made some progress. The back-and-forth is pretty much done for now. Consider it my tribute to the late, great, pre-John Wells "West Wing." Good luck with the chem.
AthenaAlpha, One23Mad, WeebleWobble, SnowQueen2, Flamekiller, Destiny Phoenix, -- Thanks for the kind words. It's nice to know I'm not just sending out random bits of binary code into the universe.