That night, Rogue smiled slightly as Ororo handed over a plethora of antibiotics and other drugs and even managed a small, "Thank you."

Ororo patted Rogue gently on the shoulder and turned to go.

"'Roro, wait," Rogue called to her friend suddenly. She waited to continue until her friend seated herself on the edge of the bed.

"Ah," she cleared her still raspy throat, "Ah wanted t' thank you for takin' care of me. Ah haven't really been in mah right mind, and Ah just wanted t' say how grateful I am to ya."

Ororo smiled gently and took Rogue's hand in both of hers. "I am always here for you if you wish to talk my friend. Sometimes the best medicine is simply a listening ear."

A knot formed in Rogue's stomach and she had to glance down for a moment to escape the woman's gaze. Storm's powers may have lied in the weather, but she was extremely talented at eliciting information as well.

"Ah know. There's just, there's just not much to talk about, ya know. Can't change the past, and there ain't any memories to really reflect on. When Ah've processed it a little more, maybe Ah'll take ya up on y'r offer, but right now…"

"I understand my friend," Ororo smiled empathetically and gave Rogue's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Where is everyone, by the way?" Rogue was more than eager to change the subject and get a feel for how the others were doing. "Seems the first time in days that it's been so quiet 'round here. They're not... they're not avoidin' me, are they?"

She tried to keep her voice even, tried to make it seem like she didn't care or that she was just laughing it off. Instead she sounded insecure, vulnerable, and weak, and she hated it.

"No," Storm smiled. "Wolverine and Scott will likely be gone for a few days. Jean took the others out for the evening and they will be back in the morning. It is just me you, and Beast for now."

Rogue forced a smile and squeezed Storm's hand lightly. "They're all out huntin' for those men, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," the weather witch sighed. "We all want to see them brought to justice for what was done to you, Rogue."

"Ah know, 'Ro, ah know. But when's this crusade gonna end? Ah wasn't conscious long enough t' remember anything useful and we got no leads. You know Ah'd love t' see 'em rot in those MRD cells f'rever, but we can't sacrifice what really matters because of one person, not when there are other mutants and people out there who need our …"

At that moment, the emergency response lights began flashing outside in the halls, and Hank came on the speaker a few moments later.

"Storm, we are needed downtown. There is an anti-mutant rally that is getting out of hand and officials are concerned by the numbers of protestors on both sides. Wolverine has requested that we assist the local authorities right away and Jean's team will meet up with us."

"Rogue…?" Ororo started with a concerned look.

"See what Ah mean? You two are gonna be out there all by yourselves dealin' with those bigots because everyone else is out lookin' for dead ends. I'm bettin' Wolverine ain't even gonna bother goin' out there – he'll probably only head out IF they're needed as backup. Hell, Kitty shouldn't even be out there with her concussion, and he's even got her on duty because of me!"

Beast's voice flitted over the speakers once again before Storm could reply. "Ororo, are you on your way? It is rather urgent according to the police scanner."

"Go, 'Ro. Stop worryin' so much about me and get back t' bein' an X-Man. Go!"

With a final squeeze of Rogue's hand, Storm nodded slightly and ran out the door.

XXXX

It took Rogue a good ten minutes after Storm and Beast left for Rogue to climb out of the hospital bed and get dressed in something presentable. She ended up just going for some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt in the end. Her uniform was far too tight for her pitiful range of movement.

She had grabbed a duffel bag (with wheels, of course), and filled it with her uniform and other essential clothes, all the medicines Hank had prescribed for her (antibiotics, creams, powders, etc.), and borrowed some cash from the emergency drawer. As soon as she was able to get herself situated with a job and a place to live, she would pay the team back. Finally, she called a cab and left her friends a note on her hospital bed.

I love you all, but I can't let what happened to me get in the way of what's really important. The Professor is trusting the X-Men to save the world and change the future, and you can't do that if ya'll are consumed with findin' mah attackers.

Logan, let it go and focus on the mission. Xavier needs you to lead the X-Men and you can't do that when you're gone all the time. If my powers ever return, I may even come back and rejoin the team, but until then I'm a liability. I'll check in with ya'll soon, and maybe come visit once things are settled again.

Lots of love,
Rogue

She knew it was cruel to leave in the middle of the night while everyone was gone; she doubted, however, that the others would let her go at all, let alone in her current condition. She really should have put the trip off for at least a few more days and given herself more time to heal, but wasn't likely to get another chance like this for a long while.

Logan would probably track her down within a few hours, but it would be harder to drag her back than it would be to make her stay. She'd never have a shot at leaving while the others were around, and if they caught her trying to sneak out she'd never be left alone again.

XXX

It was 1:00 in the morning - around two hours after Storm and Beast had been summoned away from the mansion - when Rogue finally found herself at the train station, wrapped in her favorite brown coat with her travel suitcase at her feet.

"Well, well, well, look who came to welcome us home."

Rogue turned slowly to see Quicksilver and Toad sauntering across the platform toward her. "Shit," she swore in her head. She had no powers and limited mobility; she was not in any condition to fight these bozos right now.

"Todd, Pietro," she acknowledged, just barely keeping the contempt from her voice.

"And what might YOU be doing out at this hour, ROGUE?" The two Acolytes stopped and dropped a pair of duffle bags a few yards from her – close enough to feel threatening, but not close enough for her to touch them.

Good. Then they hadn't heard about her … condition. There was still hope that she could get them to leave without a confrontation. She made herself seem as tall and imposing as possible, even going so far as to imply a threat by rolling up her sleeves.

"Tryin' t' catch a train. You?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she attempted to look intimidating while she kept her aching ribs in check. McCoy had been right, she REALLY shouldn't be moving around much.

"Like we'd tell you," Pietro retorted as he and Toad took a defensive stance.

Nice. If they felt threatened enough to presume a fight from her, then maybe she could just trick them into leaving.

"Aw, Pietro, ah'm hurt. And here ah thought we were pals," Rogue quipped as she cocked her head to the side, displaying her best pouty face.

"You'll be lucky if I don't let you have it right here and now for double crossing us, Rogue. My father's got a special grudge against you for messing up his war." Pietro sneered as he picked up his bag and continued on past Rogue. "It's a shame we're needed elsewhere, or the Acolytes would really let you have it."

Rogue was about to heave a sigh of relief for Pietro's determination to walk away, but her mouth couldn't quite stay on board with her body's desire to let it lie.

"Acolytes?" she mocked, "Please. Your father and his Acolytes are all washed up, Pietro. Your sisters kicked your sorry butts to the curb after the X-Men wiped the floor with you. The lot of ya are just a bunch of school yard bullies who'll never amount t' nothin."

She could have kicked herself, and barely managed to keep from wincing at her own stupidity.

Only a couple of feet from her now, Pietro turned, his eyes narrowing dangerously before he straightened and seemed to think better of it. But he'd spotted her black eye and the bruising along her face.

"Quite a shiner you got there, skunk head. Looks like someone finally got the best of Rogue, huh Toad?" Pietro and Toad shared a low chuckle. "I'm surprised Logan didn't try to heal you – or did you two get in a fight again?" He took a few steps closer and this time Rogue took a fighting stance, dropping her left foot back and swiveling slightly to make herself a smaller target.

Why the hell did she leave the mansion in the first place? This had to be one of the worst ideas she'd ever had – running away in the middle of the night when she could barely even walk – what was she thinking?

"Did your friends finally see you for the back-stabbing bitch you really are, or what?" Zooming around to stop in different spots, Pietro reached out randomly and flicked her hair into her face, but Rogue remained still.

"What's the matter, Rogue? Too scared to fight back when you're all alone?" Pietro mocked as he continued to dart in and out. "You need the X-Men to save you from a couple of Acolytes?"

"What ah NEED is for ya'll t' get outta mah face," she growled. Her ribs and leg were aching terribly and she really didn't know how much longer she'd be able to stand. The pain radiating from her abdomen and pelvis was nearly debilitating, and wished she'd never left the mansion in the first place.

"Or what?" Quicksilver taunted as he quickly poked her in the shoulder and raced back to stand with Toad.

"Or," Rogue snarled, "you might just find yourself explainin' t' daddy that you let ANOTHER one of his plans out of the bag. Don't think he'd be mighty happy 'bout that, d'you?"

"Hmph," Pietro sneered, but the doubt on his face was evident. "Come on, Toad, let's go. She's not worth it, anyway." With his duffle bag slung over his shoulder, Pietro turned to walk away.

Toad however, was more than eager to stay and celebrate his 'victory.'

"You're lucky, Rogue," he taunted as he hopped around in front of her. "Otherwise I might have really beat you down, like…" Toad somersaulted in the air and swung his arm wide as he landed, accidentally connecting with Rogue's tender stomach.

"Ahhh!" Rogue screamed as she fell to the ground, clutching her middle.

"Oops…" Toad backed off quickly while Pietro rushed over to see Rogue writhing in pain. "I swear I didn't mean … I barely touched her!"

"How interesting," Pietro cut off his companion. "So the little Rogue's not so tough after all, huh?" he sneered, kicking her in the stomach for good measure.

"UH!" she moaned as a tear leaked from her eye.

Pietro roared with laughter. "Well, maybe I can have," he lashed out again and connected with her lower back, "a little fun before we meet the others." A third thud to her spine elicited another low moan.

He dashed around to her front side and kicked her in the stomach again, extracted a more satisfying cry of pain. As he made to strike her a fifth time, however, she suddenly reached out and grabbed his ankle, yanking him to the floor.

He landed alongside Rogue with a thud, and she rolled to her knees with a groan, quickly grabbing her bag and hitting him in the head with it. As she attempted a second strike, Toad suddenly burst into action, snaking his tongue around her wrist and yanking her to the ground again. She yelped again as she collided with the wooden platform and the momentary reprieve gave Quicksilver just enough time to recover. He stood quickly and immediately caught sight of Toad's tongue still wrapped around Rogue's arm.

"Toad, you idiot, let go of her before…" He stopped suddenly, staring at Rogue with a mix of wonder and malevolence. Without warning, Pietro reached down and grabbed hold of her other bared wrist, yanking her to her feet.

She was caught between them with Toad's tongue pulling on one arm and Pietro holding the other. She narrowed her eyes and squared her jaw in a vain attempt to mask the fear she knew was written all over her face.

Pietro laughed again, this time loud and joyous. "Looks like this is our lucky day, Toad; we just got ourselves a helpless X-Man served up on a silver platter." With his free hand, he held her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Magneto is going to LOVE using you as his play toy." Pietro grinned down at her lecherously, "That is, right after I get my turn."

Visions of Gaspion and Leviath raping and abusing her surged to the forefront of her mind and she simultaneously screamed and tried to rip her arms away from their grip. With her good leg, she kicked Pietro hard in the groin and, as he released his hold on her, she flung Toad forward with his own tongue.

Abandoning her bag, she tried to hobble away as fast as her already battered body could carry her, but Pietro recovered much quicker.

She was pinned down to the filthy wooden platform before she could even take a breath.

Pietro wasn't heavy by any means, but even his meager weight against her pelvis and abdomen was excruciating. She screamed again – a shriek of desperation and terror – before Pietro clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Normally I like my girls vocal, but we don't want anyone showing up before I get through with you," Pietro scoffed.

"Too late, mon ami," A voice called from behind Pietro as the Acolyte was suddenly hurled off Rogue with the aid of a bow staff. Todd jumped forward, but was impeded by a small object exploding in his face. The momentary distraction gave Pietro a chance to recover though, and the speed demon charged the newcomer, sending him to the ground.

Rogue crawled to the wall as she watched the stranger roll onto his back. Pushing up with his hands, he launched himself into a back flip, tossed another couple of exploding objects at Pietro, and landed back on his feet in front of Rogue.

The man's bow staff was poised and ready, waiting for the Acolyte's next move. Pietro zipped around, too fast for the man to see, and Quicksilver secured a number of blows before the stranger could react.

"You wanna play with Gambit? Fine. Pick a card!"

Rogue gasped as Gambit introduced himself and tossed a dozen or so cards towards Quicksilver and Toad in a large arc. As the dust cleared, both men lay unconscious on the smoking platform of the train.

Gambit stood to his full height and squared his shoulders, cracking his neck from side to side before giving his bow staff a satisfied twirl and turning toward Rogue.

She had her knees drawn up to her chest with her duster drawn tightly around her. He noticed how small and frightened she looked, but as he met her eyes, he was surprised to see the look of determination and disdain on her face.

"Bon soir, Cherie," he called as he bowed gracefully at the intriguing woman before him. "My name is…"

"Gambit," she cut him off with a glare, "Ah know."

"Why yes, but m' friends call m' Remy. Remy LeBeau at y' service mademoiselle." He tipped an imaginary hat and smiled his most charming smile, sending as many good vibes to her as possible.

His smile grew as he felt her relax slightly, turning her attention instead to the unconscious Acolytes. "Ya do nice work," she complimented softly and she took a deep, calming breath.

"As do you," he replied and offered his hand. "I apologize for takin' so long t' come t' y' aid, chere, but y' seemed t' be doin' fine on y'r own dere for a spell."

So he'd just stood by and watched her fight, huh? Figures. Cocky SOB wasn't known much for helpin' folks out, but then again, he HAD stepped in once she'd lost the upper hand. He'd let her deal with the situation on her own and hadn't treated her like a glass doll, unlike everyone else at the mansion. Despite what she'd heard about this guy, she was starting to warm up to him - just a bit.

He was still standing there, still offering her his hand, and she bit her lip nervously. Her entire body ached so badly right now that she was afraid she'd pass out if she tried to stand.

"Ah, ah can't," she whispered into her knees, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Why," he questioned with a grin. "You ain't afraid of Remy, are ya?"

Rogue scoffed. "Course not." She wasn't frightened of him, so to speak. And she wasn't exactly nervous about the physical contact either, but she was a little anxious of his history and reputation. Just because he didn't seem threatening didn't mean he was sincere.

"Den why don' you jus' let Remy help ya up?" He was looking at her with a puzzled expression, and she turned away from him, resting her head on her knees.

"Is it 'cause y'r an X-Man and we ain't 'xactly playin' for de same team?" He asked again, this time removing his hand and resting against his bow staff.

Rogue stared up at him in shock. "You, you knew I was an X-Man?" Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "And you still helped me? Why?" She couldn't believe that this thief whom Wolverine had spoken so ill of would willingly help anyone – especially one of the X-Men – without some sort of alternate agenda.

Gambit laughed, but it was soft and almost reassuring. "Remy be a sucker for a damsel in distress, chere. Don' matter who her friends are."

Just then, Quicksilver groaned and started to stir.

"Suggest we be goin' chere. Probly' don' wanna be around for a second round, n'est pa?" Gambit reached out to take her elbow, and this time she did shy away from him.

"Alright, den," he shrugged. "If you don' wanna come wit' Gambit, dat's fine. Ain' gonna force ya." He gave his bow staff a quick twirl, pressed a button, and tucked the now shrunken object into his coat pocket.

With another tip of his imaginary hat, Gambit bowed low once more. "A bientot, Cherie. Nice meetin' ya." He started to walk away when Rogue called him back.

"Wait!" She involuntarily reached out for him, and her legs dropped back to the ground. The sudden movement created a wave of pain through her body, however, and she doubled over again, clutching her midsection as she tried to bite back a cry of pain.

Gambit was instantly at her side, so close that their noses almost touched. "Je suis desole, (I'm sorry) petite. Remy didn't know you were hurtin' like dis. Sure didn't show it when you were given those boys a whoopin'." He grinned openly and she felt a corner of her mouth quirk upward as well.

"Can Remy pick you up, mebbe?" His request was soft and gentle, but not patronizing or earnest like when her teammates wanted to help. It was more like he was giving her an option rather than treating her like an invalid.

Biting her lip, she nodded slightly.

"Bien," he smiled again. It was warm and comforting instead of pitying or guilty and she found herself smiling back at him just a little.

As he snaked a hand under her knees, however, Rogue drew back with a slight intake of breath. She bit her lip hard to keep it from quivering, but her whole body was trembling. There was no way he'd miss that.

"S' alright," he coaxed gently. "Ain't gonna hurt ya chere. Remy's a southern gentleman." He noticed that she wouldn't look at him directly, and with the way she was shaking, she was likely scared out of her mind. He just couldn't understand why.

"You're from de south, too, n'est pas? Where from?"

Rogue licked her lips, but kept her eyes shut tight. "Mi – Mississippi."

"Ah bien!" Gambit called jovially, "Remy's from N'Awlins. Once a southerner, always a southerner, n'est pas?"

Rogue nodded, but still refused to open her eyes as she continued trembling lightly.

"New York's a nice place t' call home, but merde de winters! Remy'd take a nice monsoon over dis ice n' snow any day. Can' you just picture dose warm, rainy days? Y' could play in dat rain f' hours on a nice sunny afte'noon."

She smiled a little and her tremors died down slightly.

"I bet you was a tomboy, eh, chere? You ever go out an' catch frogs and crawfish in de rainy season? Remy used to catch buckets of 'em t' bring 'ome f' dinner. Least de crawfish. Not such a fan of de frog legs t'ough."

This time, Rogue chuckled a little and nodded, finally looking up at Remy. She was a little shocked to find he was carrying her out to the rather empty parking lot.

"You ever eat 'dose frog legs, petite?" He asked, meeting her eyes. "Bleh! C'est infect! (It's disgusting)"

She smiled again and relaxed in his arms, even wrapping her right arm around his neck for better support. He was warm and soft, and she wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in his arms. For the first time since waking up from her ordeal nearly two weeks ago, she felt safe and comfortable enough to rest without the help of a sedative.

It was a shame the feeling didn't last long…

XXX

So... Reviews please? Seriously, I'm dying. I posted Chapter 7, which wasn't the best chapter ever, but I only got, like, 3 reviews. It's really giving me anxiety. Good, bad, indifferent, just let me know what you really think. "I loved it." is nice, but not nearly as nice as, "I really liked how easily Rogue and Gambit interacted," or "I'm really not getting into the scenes between Rogue and the other X-Men. It just seems too awkward and drawn out." See, much better!

I would love to know what you think about this chapter, especially. Like it, hate it? What's your favorite scene/least favorite scene? Does anything feel forced or out of place? This is my favorite chapter so far. This one and chapter 9, that is. I had to break them up because they were way too long originally. This one is seven pages alone, so yeah.

Again, please let me know what you think or maybe what you'd like to see. I don't have any crazy ideas or details for upcoming events; I just know how I kind of want a few major plot points and climaxes to go.

Please, please, please review!