Hello and Welcome

I do not own the Xmen nor the song mentioned by The Brothers Osborne.

Music: At one point the song Ain't My Fault by The Brothers Osborne is playing and pairs well with the flow of the scene so feel free to start the song when it comes in the episode.

Trigger Warnings: This episode discusses Human Trafficking and contains Violence

After years apart Gambit is called by Logan to rescue Rogue from an undercover mission in a mutant trafficking ring. She's not at all how he remembers her or her powers and finds that maybe she will be the one to rescue them all. Old flames reignite. Rated for extremely graphic content.

Remy will sometimes let out a few phrases and curses in French. In this chapter are the following:

Oui Yes

mon ami my friend

vieil homme old man

Zut damn

Connard asshole

Stupide stupid

ta gueule shut up

ma cherie my dear

Cher dear

Ain't My Fault

The dark amber liquid sloshed around the glass as he turned it in his half gloved hand. Quickly he shot the sweet whiskey back and placed the overturned shot glass down on the bar top with its five previous mates. Behind him the speakers loudly pumped out music, heavy on the bass, across the over crowded bar. He turned and scanned the nightlife once more; a solid mixture of local drunks and college kids looking for a good time in various forms. His red orbs settled on the sound of the door swinging open followed by slamming shut which went unnoticed it seemed except for him and the bartender. He had been expecting this visit. Remy spun around to the bartender who handed him his final shot and rolled his eyes. "Can't blame me." he shouted over the music "Last time you drank this much you charged your stool and that shit costs money." Remy shrugged his shoulders but nodded in acceptance as he finished his drink and topped off his pyramid of empty glasses. As he fished out his wallet and placed a hundred on the counter he turned to face the shorter man who he had not seen for over two years.

He expected him to look annoyed at having been called so late in the night or early in the morning; he wasn't quite sure which. Instead though Logan walked across to him with one outstretched hand as he used the other to signal the bartender for what he assumed was his usual. Remy took the older man's hand in his and shot him a cheeky grin. "Oui mon ami long time no see."

"Right. I seem to recall seeing you around the halls of the Manor for sometime before you disappeared." Logan walked through the crowd to an open pool table and began to rack up the balls. Remy followed silently; his eyes meeting multiple interested women along the way. Not tonight he thought "Frank knows about me and the school." Logan said as he gestured to the bartender who was walking off after delivering his Guinness personally. My guess is he thought you were an out of towner mutant in need of help or something like that."

Remy took a pool cue off the wall, lined up his shot, and took it sinking the solid red. "Someting like dat." he said as he moved around the table for his next move. The two men continued their game in silence until Logan accidentally sunk the eight ball. "Gettin' rusty vieil homme?"

Logan shrugged and leaned against a high top adjacent to the pool table where his second beer was waiting. "Think I'm about a hundred and seventy six give or take."

"No. Don' look a day over one ten mon ami." Across the bar Ain't My Fault by The Brothers Osborne began to play loudly.

Logan let a small smirk pass his lips before returning to rack a new game. "You know when you call someone to come for a visit they normally don't require a search through town for the visit to actually happen."

"No shit? News to me. Been in town bout t'ree days. Zut." He moved to join Logan at the table but instead was blocked by a large intoxicated man who stood a head taller than him. "Oui someting you need help wit connard?"

The man scratched the brown stubble around his chin and opened his mouth to speak; a wave of alcohol flowing with his words. "You can get out of our bar." From behind him Remy could hear his two friends snickering and muttering "and our town"

Remy took a deep breath and looked over to Logan who took a long swig of his beer and leaned against the pool table now watching the interaction unfold. Logan shrugged his shoulders "Just some drunk locals."

"Stupide too." Remy's red on black orbs dropped from Logan to his shoe as the man before him spit down upon it. "Evidently he might have a small knowledge of French?"

Logan shook his head. "Na it was close enough to understand."

The drunk man opened his mouth "Filthy Muta-" but the rest of the words were lost as the pool cue that Remy had still been holding was brought up to meet the underside of his jaw with a loud crack. Behind him Remy could hear the man's comrades attempting to come to his aid; he went to turn to face them but Logan was ahead of him. With a simple release of a set of adamanitum claws from one hand the two stopped in their tracks.

"Fair fight boys." he said still not moving to help knowing he was not needed.

"Dat no fun." Remy whined to Logan as the man before him raised his fist back which Remy dodged with ease before he took the pool cue and jabbed it into his ribcage with another audible crack. At this point they were beginning to attract a crowd.

"Fine. No property damage Franks a good man and wrap it up we're heading out. Gonna go settle my tab." With that said his claws returned slowly into his now reddened knuckles and he waved on the two boys. "Have at him." Confused but still drunk they charged at Remy from behind who sidestepped them smoothly, turned his pool cue sideways, and rammed it into the back of their knees forcing them to the ground.

"Dis gettin' fun but sadly I must be takin' ma leave now ta gueule or how you say shut up an' remember dat a mutant jus' whooped yer sorry asses wit' no powers and drunk off his." Remy looked down at the two men on the ground and the first who was holding his side. "Dat be two broken ribs connard best get yourself checked out." He turned his back on the men to return his cue to the wall mount. One attempted to stand but was met with Remy's boot to the side of his face. "Dat prob' be a shattered orbital too. Night boys."

Remy on his way to the door passed Logan at the bar who had finished settling up with Frank. "Tell him he's banned for a week for fighting." he shouted over the music when Logan pushed another fifty his way. Frank saluted in appreciation as Logan followed Remy through the crowd and outside. The transition from the volume of the bar to the lack in the parking lot left his ears ringing. They sidestepped with ease past a man vomiting into a bush and around a couple deeply engaged against the side of a car.

"You're too many in to drive Cajuin." Remy waved a hand gesture in the air back to him before looking both ways and crossing the empty street with Logan still following. Once across he slowed his pace so they were able to walk side by side then removed a small hand rolled cigarette from a hidden pocket of his trench coat, lit it, and passed it to Logan before lighting another for himself. They smoked in silence turning from one street to the next before the motel that Remy had been staying at came into view. "You know my Jeep is back at the bar right?"

Remy shrugged "Den we walk back after we talk business. Remy assumed dat was da real reason you called me for a visit. I assume you need me to steal someting?"

"Something like that." he dropped and stepped down on his cigarette bud keeping his eyes down cast "Need you to steal Rogue."

When he looked up Remy's red on black eyes met his with confusion. "Come again?"

"Inside first." Remy nodded and led the way to his room. Inside he opened the mini fridge and passed Logan a semi cold beer and grabbed another for himself. They drank momentarily in silence which allowed for his mind to wander.

To say that Rogue hadn't crossed his mind over the last few years would be a lie. He had felt something for her; even before kidnapping her to get her assistance in finding his father in New Orleans. Once everything with Apocalypse had passed he even joined the Xmen becoming her friend, hoping for something more. However she continued to push him away due to her powers before leaving for college across the country without saying goodbye. He assumed most likely the distance and sudden departure was because of him but was never able to find out and only stayed on with the xmen for a few months longer before seeking a change.

"Care to elaborate now mon ami?" Logan sat at the small table against the wall while Remy continued to stand and leaned against another.

He drank from his beer before letting out a sigh of annoyance. "I told her that the mission was too dangerous."

Remy chuckled "You don' tell Rogue what to do even Remy know dat."

Logan frowned. "She found the case while at college. Some mutant kids, girls mostly, gone missing around campus. Cops thought nothing of it and ignored it saying they were simply dropping out."

"In ott'er words who cares jus' a mutant problem, no?"

Logan growled "Exactly." Remy pulled out the other chair and sat across from Logan as he continued "Well she did her research before returning home for our input and with Charles and Cerebro we were able to confirm where they were being held."

"Someting tells Remy it wasn't dat simple."

"No. We arrived with a small covert team only to find everyone and everything gone. Somehow tipped off before we arrived. Our guess was a mutant on the inside sensing Charles possibly who knows." Remy lit another cigarette for each of them. "Well Rogue was pissed naturally; I couldn't blame her. I talked with her the night we returned back to the Manor over a few drinks like we're doing. She started to come up with this new idea for finding them so they wouldn't see us coming. Going undercover; getting herself trafficked. I told her it was a bad idea, too dangerous because of all the unknowns still."

"How did ma cherie take dat bit of advice?"

Logan ignored the term of endearment and continued with his eyes downcast. "Not good. The next morning she was gone. Found a note that she would be in contact soon. A few weeks later I got a message flashed across my mind psychically while cooking dinner." He looked over and registered the look of confusion on Remy's face "Not sure how she managed it either and I nearly burned the house down in the process. Well more messages like that came once a week until she told me she had to go deep under which I couldn't exactly reply no to. She said she would be in contact three weeks from that but that was a month and a half ago now."

Remy didn't like anything he was hearing and put out his cigarette in the ashtray between them. "How can I help?"

"We have her last location and from her intel the gang that is running the mutant trafficking ring. It's too risky for us to go, having been in that area once before. We don't want to risk them disappearing again. I need you to find her and extract her anyway possible before-" he stopped not wanting to finish his thought; his fear aloud.

"Understood. Let's go." Remy moved around the room and gathered his few possessions. They left the motel to collect Logan's jeep just as the sun began to rise. He barely registered the drive to the Manor, the brief reunions from those who remembered him, nor the words that passed Charles' lips as Logan handed him all the intel that Rogue had compiled thus far.

He let his mind wander in silent fear then rage until he was alone once more in a guest room upstairs. Without saying a word he walked over to the bookcase that was filled with volumes that were more for show than use. One by one he picked up the dust covered tomes and tossed them into the air with a small charge attached. Tiny pops followed by burning fragments of paper rained down upon him until the bookcase was empty and he sat on the hardwood grinding his teeth in continued frustration.

He had been so self absorbed that he had failed to notice the woman leaning on the doorframe. "You know some of those were first editions."

Remy looked over at the redhead and flashed a mischievous grin. "Good" He stood and crossed the room towards her with a flirtatious look upon his face. It had been over two years but he still recalled the one time they had enjoyed each other's company when she and Scott had been on a short break and a month after Rogue had left town. He reached up and went to move a fallen strand of red from her face but she lifted her hand and blocked him as she entered the room.

"There's something else you need to know about Rogue's mission that Charles and Logan are unaware of-well mostly Logan. I think Charles has some idea but would rather I take this burden on for him."

Remy didn't like the sound of this. "Go on cher." He watched as she sat down nervously on the edge of the bed and kept his distance across the room; sensing that was her wish.

"The mutant trafficking ring that she is wrapped up in Remy well it's-it's a" she paused and closed her eyes looking at the ground not wanting to meet his gaze. "It's a trafficking ring for woman who-you know-." She didn't need to finish.

Remy was silent so long that she opened her eyes and looked up at him; his face blank but his mind filling with more curse words in French than she knew how to comprehend. Remy can you handle this or not? She spoke across his mind. His red on black orbs looked over into her green ones and he mentally said back With my life I'm gonna get ma cherie out o' dis. Jean nodded and mentally gave over all the additional intel that the men had been spared thus far.

Remy moved to the bed as Jean stood to leave and closed his eyes just as she closed the door behind her. Leaving him alone with his thoughts; with her thoughts. Hello again ma cherie.

Hope everyone enjoyed

Reviews are appreciated

Next chapter has been written and will be posted in less than a week.

Preview

She looked down as the hand made contact with her and shuttered as it traveled under her top and over her bare breast. Remy could see the soft glow of a power inhibitor collar coming off of her neck and wished for nothing more than it to be shut off and the man whose hands were still exploring Rogues flesh to be killed instantly.