13. I AIN'T NO QUITTER
ONE YEAR LATER
With the help of Pierce, Remy had managed to escape New Orleans with his limbs intact. It had not taken long for word of his imminent fate to reach him. Unsurprisingly, Marius wanted his head on a pike but Jean-Luc and Henri (probably more so the latter) had convinced the Assassin's Patriarch to settle for his exile from New Orleans, with the punishment of death if he were to return.
In a twisted turn of events, Remy had gotten his way. He had been able to run away, forced to actually. Since his life with the Thieves Guild was over, Remy, under the pseudonym Gambit, had traveled the world. In his wake he had left a legacy of thievery, tragedy and mind blowing sex. He had traveled to Chicago, Paris, London, Cairo, Johannesburg, Sydney, Rio and various other places around the globe.
Yet somehow, his final destination was a place that hadn't even been on his itinerary (not that he had had one). His final stop on his international tour was New York, more specifically, Westchester, the home of Charles Xavier and his esteemed X-men.
Gambit had been there for just over a month, but the X-men had yet to warm up to his presence. He couldn't blame their questioning of his motives, even he was wondering what the hell he was doing. He hadn't made the best first impression on quite a few X-men either. The first time he ran into Northstar he nearly shit himself. The man looked pretty damn good for a guy he watched bleed out in his childhood home. Jean-Paul had promptly avoided him and no one was interested in explaining to him how Jean-Paul had survived Rogue's impalement.
Rogue… She wasn't the entire reason that Gambit had found himself on the X-men's door step. He joined partly out of boredom, partly out of curiosity and only partly to find out more about her. Gambit hadn't directly asked anyone about her, he figured she was a sore subject and also didn't want to look like a stalker. However, after one night of snooping around the mansion (he couldn't help himself) he had stumbled across a vacant room that he was positive had once belonged to Rogue. He thought that because there were pictures of her with various other X-men and because of the various pairs of gloves that lay around the room haphazardly. Everything in the room was coated in dust, but the X-men still left it untouched. He wondered if they were optimistic about her return or if they just couldn't bring themselves to accept the truth.
The most interesting thing he'd learned about Rogue was what she had been hiding under the bandana. While in her room, Gambit picked up a picture of her, Wolverine and Kitty. Rogue had her arm wrapped around Wolverine's neck in a half hug. With a bright smile on her face, Rogue gave the camera a peace sign with her free hand while Wolverine had his arms folded grumpily and Kitty gave him bunny ears. The thing that stood out most in the picture was the white streaks of hair that outlined Rogue's face.
The thought of her reminded Gambit of the afternoon that he showed up on the X-men's doorstop.
He stood on the stone porch outside of a grand oak door as he tried to convince himself to make a move. Either he needed to knock on the door or he needed to walk away, and not just stand there like a creep. After a little bit of mental coaxing, he knocked.
In reality he didn't have to wait very long for the doors to open, but in his head he felt like he had been standing outside for an eternity. When the door did open, it did so slowly. A small Asian girl peeked through the crack in the door, regarding him cautiously.
"Can I help you?" she asked, eying him up and down, and liking what she saw.
"Oui, 'm lookin' for de Wolverine." He replied nonchalantly.
"What'ca want with Logan?" she asked suspiciously. "Typically, people who come looking for him aren't good news… then again, they don't usually knock either." She reasoned aloud, opening the door wider ever so slightly.
"Made it a point t'knock dis time." Gambit said to his own amusement. "'Sides, he an' I got a mutual friend… 'm kinda passively lookin' for her an' t'ought he may be able t'help."
Jubilee put a hand on her hip, "Logan doesn't have any friends. Let alone mutual ones."
"Jubes? Who's at the door?" Another girl walked up behind Jubilee. This one was a petite brunette that Gambit recognized as Shadowcat. Kitty turned her gaze to him and regarded him icily, "What are you doing here?"
Jubilee looked at Kitty in confusion for her sudden rudeness, "Uh, Kitty? Wanna explain?" she asked scratching her head.
Kitty shoved a finger in Gambit's direction, "This is the guy that stole the inhibitor collar last summer." She hissed.
Jubilee raised an eyebrow as she started to put together Gambit's veiled words, "Man," she sighed, "Anna always gets the best missions." She said wistfully, giving Gambit another once over, not even trying to hide it.
Gambit held up his hands placidly, "I come in peace. I jus' wanna see de Wolverine. No funny business, I swear."
Kitty glared at him, "Logan isn't here. You wanna talk to someone, then I'll take you to the Professor."
With nothing to lose, Gambit took her up on her rhetorical offer and met with the pretentious sounding Professor X. Gambit took to the seat adjacent to the Professor's desk and harshly judged everything he saw in the office from the cherry oak desk to the matching bookcases,
The Professor regarded him in amusement, "Mr. LeBeau, I must say that I never thought I would see you in my house during the daylight hours."
Gambit didn't respond to the jab because, frankly, he deserved that one. "Oui. 'm lookin' fo' someone. Wolverine." He clarified.
The Professor smiled, "No, I don't believe you are looking for Logan. At least, that's not your end game. You are searching for Rogue. I am sorry to inform you that she is not here. Neither is Logan. But I implore you to stay a while, Mr. LeBeau, I think you could find quite a home here with us."
Gambit knew that it wasn't a con, but damnit if he hadn't pitched lines similar to that to unsuspecting marks. In another life, Professor Pretentious would have been a great con-artist. "Merci, but I don' t'ink yo' crew would appreciate m'bein' here." His thoughts drifted back to the pink haired girl with the extruding bones.
"I respectfully disagree. Many of the people here have faced similar dilemmas and have become vital assets to our team." Professor Xavier said sincerely.
"I dunno…" Gambit said doubtfully.
The Professor held up his hand, "Before you say no, why don't you stay a while. We can see if you and the X-men are a good match... If not, Logan will return, eventually."
With the Professor's suggestion in mind, Gambit stayed. He'd run through numerous Danger Room sessions with Cyclops, who wasn't too bad of a guy, but Gambit wasn't a fan. The two seemed to share this sentiment about each other, a respectful "You're good at what you do but I don't like you" gray area.
Gambit also run across the pink haired girl, Sarah was her name. The girl was rightfully wary of him, but she had been the first person to accept him as a member of the team. Maybe it was because he had saved her from Jean-Luc or maybe she bought into Xavier's idea of second chances and whatnot. It didn't matter, Gambit was grateful to the teenager for holding the sins of the father against him.
After about three weeks with the X-men, Gambit decided that he didn't totally hate the whole going straight thing, and he decided to throw his name in to go out on actual missions. However, with most of the team still wary of him, he didn't get to go out on the big boy missions. He knew with time that would change. In the meantime, he had to work on proving himself, and he was okay with that.
Currently, Gambit sat in the Rec Room of the X-Manor. More specifically, he sat on the floor of the Rec Room, in front of the large TV with a controller in hand as he proceeded to whip Bobby's ass in a first person shooter game. When Gambit killed Bobby's avatar for the fourth time, Bobby threw his controller down in frustration.
"I thought you said you've never played!" he whined childishly.
Gambit shrugged, "I ain't. But I've watched m'cousins play plenty o' times. I'm a visual learner." He replied smugly.
Bobby glared at him, "Best five outta nine."
Gambit raised an eyebrow, "Yo' really t'ink yo' can beat me de next five times in a row?"
"S'matter, Gambit? You chicken?" Bobby mocked, bending his arms and flapping them.
"Non!" Gambit said indignantly, starting another round.
Bobby was about to pick up his controller to give it another go when he suddenly shuddered and then sighed. He pressed the pause button and stood up, "Let's go Gambit, just gotta telepathic page to the War Room."
Giving him a dubious look, Gambit ditched his controller and followed Bobby, "Dat's awfully convenient fo' yo, I was jus' 'bout t'have a five-peat."
"When we get back you are so on." Bobby muttered.
With nothing else exchanged between them, Gambit and Iceman made their way to the War Room and took their seats along with the other X-men.
Gambit tapped his fingers against the top of the table anxiously as he glanced around at all the faces in the room. For the most part, many of the X-men pretended he wasn't there. Storm shot him a comforting smile from across the table which did wonders to help calm him. He had never wanted a group of people to like him before, he hated dealing with the social anxiety of saying or doing something that would upset his peers and get him ejected.
Cyclops cleared his throat and stood at the head of the rather long table with his business face on. "We've finally received a ping on Cerebro from the Antarctic"
Jubilee perked up, "Logan and Anna? You think it was them?"
Cyclops shrugged, "We don't think it was anyone. But I know that this is the first lock on that strange mass since we sent them to investigate three months ago. Shadowcat, Northstar, Warbird, Iceman, Forge and Gambit, you're with me. Now to the jet, we're gonna go get our people."
Jubilee loudly protested her exclusion until Cyclops sighed in resignation and told her to suit up. It took about ten minutes, but they were all able to congregate on the Blackbird, ready to go.
On the plane, Gambit could have sat next to Bobby and continued to pester him about his losing streak, but instead he opted for the more awkward encounter. Gambit took the open seat next to Northstar.
The Canadian mutant ignored his existence as Cyclops took the Blackbird to the air. Gambit took a deep breath, no one said being a good guy was going to be easy, especially when he'd subsequently burnt a lot of bridges with the people who were supposed to be his allies.
"Northstar," Gambit said softly, "Look, homme, I get dat we've got some bad blood, but yo' gotta know that I didn' know Rogue was gonna do any o' dat. I didn' order it."
Northstar crossed his arms and leered at Gambit, "No, you look, homme, this doesn't have anything to do with what happened in New Orleans. I just don't trust you. It's only a matter of time until you want to settle the score."
Gambit pursed his lips and stopped attempting to converse with Jean-Paul. So he didn't like him. Gambit didn't really like Gambit. What bothered him was Jean-Paul's final sentence. Why would he want revenge? Because the X-men had attacked him while he was a part of the Guild? If he had wanted revenge for that he sure as hell wouldn't have joined in the first place, kind of counter-productive.
Gambit spent the rest of the flight to Antarctica pondering Northstar's strange statement.
"Holy Dinosaurs, Batman!" Jubilee cried in exclamation as she gaped out of the window. Jubilee's sudden burst pulled Gambit from his thoughts. He removed himself from his seat and headed toward the closest window to get a better look at what Jubilee was causing such a commotion about.
Looking out the window, Gambit understood Jubilee's elation. Just below them were herds upon herds of animals, but not any animals; Dinosaurs, actual living, breathing animals in the middle of a green jungle in the middle of an icy wasteland. Of all the weird things Gambit had even seen (and he'd seen quite a few) this one took the cake.
"There!" Kitty exclaimed, pointing out the window at something.
Upon further inspection in the direction Kitty pointed, Gambit noticed a stationary plane stranded in the middle of a clearing the jungle terrain. It looked like a smaller and more beat-up version of the Blackbird. He watched the jet grow larger and larger as Cyclops brought the Blackbird in closer to it. Cyclops landed the 'Bird smoothly next to the crashed mini-jet and dropped the cargo bay.
With the cargo bay down, the X-men flooded out into the jungle and over to the mini-jet, the first thing that hit Gambit was the humidity of the place. He was used to heat. Heat didn't bother him, but here the air was so hot and thick that it was almost difficult to breathe.
As Gambit tried to acclimate himself to the hellish climate of the jungle, Kitty ran past him and through the metal of the mini-jet. She was gone and back within a blink of an eye. When she came back out of the jet relief washed over her.
"No bodies in here!" she shouted in joy.
Cyclops exhaled slowly, taking a moment to compose himself. Then he nodded and switched into leader mode. "Forge get in there and see if it's salvageable. Warbird and Jubilee go south, look for signs of anyone, Iceman go west, Gambit east, I'll go north…. If that's possible right now. Northstar, stay here and stand guard. If you hear a cry for help you go. The comms link is down so we're out here blind. Be careful everyone. There could literally be anything in these woods. Go."
The team split up and Gambit tread east through the brush of the jungle. The place was beautiful, it was full of exotic plants that Gambit was sure were thought to be extinct. As he went he did his best to keep his trench coat close as it kept collecting burrs and small insects. He hated burrs.
Scanning around him, Gambit kept his eyes open for any trances of a human presence. He saw neither twigs out of place nor any footprints in the mud. It was becoming a very daunting task considering he didn't know how far he would have to walk until he came across any form of human life, if he came across any at all.
After what had to be half an hour, Gambit grew weary of walking aimlessly through the jungle. The heat was beginning to wear him down and he walked sluggishly, his mouth dry. He looked for a nice shady spot to take a load off. He found one rather quickly at the base of what he thought was an old sycamore tree. As he started toward it, Gambit noticed that a beautiful bright purple flower grew at the base of the trunk. He kept his eyes locked on the flower as he ascended on the tree.
That was a mistake.
Gambit didn't know what had happened until it was too late. One second he was walking, the next there was a tight enclosing around his ankle and he was suddenly hanging upside down. Gambit hung there, annoyed with himself and the stupid trap. He could feel the blood rushing to his head, so he hoisted himself up to charge whatever it was the strung him up. Before he could get the job done, he felt a sharp object press against his back. He knew weapons wells enough to know a spearhead when he felt one.
"Don't move." The voice the wielded the spear ordered. The voice sounded eerily familiar.
Gambit returned to his original upside down position, letting his arms hang limply and his coat hang awkwardly around him. He waited for the spearhead to retreat or imbed itself into his back. It retreated. The wielder rounded him so that they were face to face.
He was amused and relieved at what he saw.
Rogue eyed him in annoyance as she kept the spear trained on him as if she were his enemy. Gambit knew in the back of his mind that she very well might be. The question was how had she ended up here?
"Whoa, whoa, Chere, it's me, Remy." He said cautiously, eying the spearhead that was far too close to his throat for his liking. While he hung there staring at Rogue, he caught sight of her outfit, or her substantial lack of one. What was left of Rogue's shirt clung to her breasts like a sports bra and her pants were reduced to what could pass as under wear. "You Tarzana, me Remy." He quipped.
Rogue swung the spear and Remy braced himself for impact. However, the pain never came. At least not in the way he had expected. Gambit fell to the ground with a loud thud, landing uncomfortably on his upper back.
Rogue had cut the rope.
She helped him to his feet and rolled her eyes at him. "Swamp rat, what in tha hell are ya doin' here?" she asked, sheathing her spear using the belt around her waist.
Springing to his feet, Gambit said, "Believe it or not, I joined de X-men. 'M here t'help rescue Wolverine an' some femme named Anna…." Gambit gave her a once over. And not just in a pervy way, he did so suspiciously while enjoying the view. "Yo' wouldn't have happened t'kill 'em?" he asked while rubbing the back of his neck.
Rogue crossed her arms, "Ya slow on tha pick up ain't'ca?" she mused.
Gambit blanched at her, "What'ca mean? It would make sense. Y'hate de X-men, no?"
Shaking her head at his hopelessness, Rogue got down to business, "Where's Scott? Did he lead ya'll here?"
"Oui?" Gambit said slowly as the gears in his head began to turn, "but why woul- Merde...You're Anna." He realized.
Rogue nodded slowly. "Good job, Ah'll give ya ah gold star after we regroup. Take me ta ya leader. X-man." She mused.
Gambit took the lead as they doubled back toward the base camp. Things were getting weirder and weirder by the second. How long had Rogue been back with the X-men?
They didn't speak at all on their way back, but periodically Gambit would glance back to make sure she was still there. He wasn't entirely convinced he wasn't hallucinating due to heat exhaustion. Leading Rogue back out of the brush, Gambit stepped aside when they caught sight of Northstar. Rogue seemed over joyed by his presence because she shouted his name and ran to him.
Jean-Paul caught her in a flying hug, "Rogue! Thank God! We thought maybe…." He trailed off as he held Rogue out at arm's length
"Please," Rogue scoffed, "Like hell Ah'ma die in some prehistoric shit hole."
Northstar smiled but asked anxiously, "Where's Logan?"
Rogue took a step back from Jean-Paul's embrace and licked her lips while rubbing the back of her neck, "He's… he's gone berserk. Ah mean full on feral animal. Ah ain' seen him in ah couple weeks 'cause he ain' respondin' t'nothin'. He's all growls an' senseless violence."
"So nothin' new." Gambit muttered near the brush they had just come through, inspecting his fingernails dutifully.
His obviously correct statement was ignored and Northstar and Rogue continued to converse. "There's more." Rogue said solemnly. "Magneto's here. Or he was. He's got this asteroid base. Ah thought Ah could trust him… but…" Rogue trailed off. "He did this ta Logan. Flipped some kinda switch in his head. He wanted us ta join him but Ah refused an' escaped with Logan jus' ta have him lose is damn mind on me." Rogue pointed to three fresh scars down her stomach.
"How many times has dis homme taken a piece out o' yo'?" Gambit muttered in disbelief.
Rogue glared at him over her shoulder. "Quite ah few."
Northstar nodded, "Right. We need to find him."
"Easier said than done, Sugah. Logan is ah animal. He's as savage as this place is. Ah watched him corner an' take down ah T-rex. Even if we did find him, we wouldn't be able to talk sense inta him or even win ah fight with him. 'Sides, he'd smell us ah mile ah-way."
A loud shriek that vaguely echoed Logan's name from the west and scared most of the birds from the surrounding trees.
"I t'ink Shadowcat has found Wolverine." Gambit said wearily.
Rogue and Northstar exchanged horrified looks. Without a seconds hesitation he grabbed Rogue's hand and nodded mutely at her. Rogue understood what he meant. Northstar stumbled back for the briefest of second while holding Rogue's hand but managed to regain his composure quickly. Rogue withdrew her hand and Northstar straightened up and said, "Meet you there."
Northstar took off west. Blowing past the brush like it wasn't there; it looked like he was flying over it.
Turning to Gambit, Rogue said, "Wanna ride?"
Gambit smirked, "Oui, but not in de way yo'-"
Rogue grabbed Gambit's shoulders, "Don'ca dare finish that sentence." She hissed as they took after Northstar. "An' if ya sweat on me Ah will drop ya."
It only took two minutes for them to arrive on a scene that would have taken them at least half an hour to walk to. What they saw was the feral Wolverine swiping wildly at Kitty, but he never landed a hit because she phased through his advances. This angered Wolverine, his nostrils were flared, his face was red and he barred all this teeth. It was an unsettling sight.
Kitty tried to plead with Logan in between his attacks, but he would only growl in reply and take another swipe at her. Kitty was becoming more and more frustrated with her method and was also visibly upset about her teammate trying to maim her.
"Now what?" Gambit asked.
"Time for Logan ta take ah nap." Rogue said.
While Wolverine's attention was occupied with Kitty, Rogue darted toward him using Northstar's speed. She was able to sneak up behind him and grab his bare skin before he was even knew what was happening. She held onto him until his knees started to buckle and she caught his limp body.
Gambit watched on and wondered what kind of fucked up relationship Rogue and Wolverine had that they were constantly stabbing/knocking each other out. The X-men were a far more complicated bunch than he had realized.
Rogue heaved one of Logan's arms over her shoulder and motioned for Gambit to get the other. Together the two of them toted the unconscious Wolverine back through the forest. While they did so Rogue grunted to Northstar, "JP, go round up the rest of the team. The sooner Ah get outta this place, tha better."
Forge was able to get the X-jet up and running with little difficulty. As the team regrouped in the clearing, he stood basking in his accomplishment. After some resistance, they eventually split up into two groups. Forge, Iceman, Rogue, Gambit and the unconscious Logan rode in the X-jet while Cyclops, Northstar, Warbird, Jubilee and Shadowcat took the Blackbird.
With Forge up in the cockpit with Bobby, Rogue and Gambit were left to babysit Logan's unconscious body. If he were to wake up it was their job to put him back to sleep until they could get him to the Professor for a mental cleanse.
So there they sat, next to each other on the side seats of the plane. Gambit sat with his arms crossed and his legs stretched out in the open space. After all the commotion had died down he realized that his year of passively wondering and wandering had paid off and he was finally face to face with Rogue again.
"So…" he said awkwardly, "You're an X-man again?"
Rogue was wearing his trench coat. Mostly because he offered and partly because the air conditioning on the jet was freezing and her lack of proper clothes made it a little bit uncomfortable. He liked the look of her in it. However at his words she gave him a concerned look, "Sugah Ah was never not ah X-man."
Suddenly Jean-Paul's words made sense. The X-men hadn't just attacked him, they'd manipulated him. Rogue had manipulated him. The thought didn't make him angry. It didn't even make him sad. It gave him a sense of relief as he finally understood what Rogue's game had been. He had finally solved the puzzle. Sorta.
"But yo' stabbed Northstar…" Gambit recalled in confusion.
"Only enough ta draw some blood." Rogue said defensively.
Gambit blinked, "An' tha fight wit' Captain Marvel?"
Rogue rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah may have lured her there then got her ta put on ah show." Rogue mumbled.
Gambit whistled, "Dat's impressive."
Rogue kept her eyes trained on her feet as she bundled up in his coat. "Yeah… Ah'm sorry ah-bout how it all went down but Ah had ta destroy tha collar an' Ah couldn't risk ya puttin' it all tagether." She said quietly.
Gambit shrugged, "I get it. Yo' were followin' orders. Sometimes yo' gotta do bad t'ings 'cause dey're de only option."
Shaking her head, Rogue said, "No. Ah coulda let'ca run. Once Ah had ya in my head Ah knew ya woulda let me walk away with tha collar… Ah had no right ta call ya ah coward for doin' tha same thing Ah've done more than my fair share of." Rogue said apologetically, her hands slipping into his coat pockets.
He hadn't expected an apology. He hadn't expected her to feel guilty. "Don' worry 'bout it. Yo' were right, can't run away from t'ings 'cause it's easier den facin' 'em.'Sides, I got what I wanted in de end anyway.
Rogue have him a confused look, "What'ca mean?"
"Belle left me at de alter. Gave de most inspirin' speech 'bout doin' what was best fo' herself, 'bout how she truly felt…. Now where yo' t'ink she got dat idea?" he said pointedly.
Rogue smiled. "Well at least one o' ya was smart enough ta take my advice." She pulled her hand out of the right pocket and looked down curiously at what she found in her hand. It was the Queen of Spades she'd left him. Rogue turned her confused glance to Gambit.
"I keep it with' me t'remind me dat runnin' ain' de answer." Gambit said quietly as a strange look crossed Rogue's face. "Rogue," he called her attention back to him, "Yo' powers, are dey still outta wack? Wit' de losin' control t'ing?"
Rogue fisted the card, crumbling it again. "No." she said softly. "Not any more…" she paused. "Ah've had control over my powers for ah-bout ah year an' ah half… Ah was puttin' on ah show for ya." She said in shame.
Gambit shifted uncomfortably. She had manipulated him far more than he'd realized. He should have been upset, but he was instead impressed at her stealth and cunning; two things that a man of his background could properly appreciate. "I see." He replied. Reaching up he twirled her white streak in his fingers, "gotta say though, I'm most disappointed yo' kept dese hidden." He added lightly.
Smiling Rogue swatted his hand away playfully. "Ah was tryin' ta keep myself discreet."
"Den yo' shoulda wore a bag over yo' head, cause dere ain' nothin' 'bout you dat's discreet."
Rogue rolled her eyes, "Are ya tryin' ta flirt with me, LeBeau?" she laughed.
"Oui." Gambit replied unabashedly.
Rogue's face darkened at the sincerity in his voice. "Listen… when Ah absorbed ya, Ah got ah piece o' ya psyche… an' Ah know things Ah don't think ya'd want me ta know. Things that Belle confirmed..."
Gambit raised an eyebrow, "Yo' gonna haveta be more specific, chere. I can' t'ink o' plenty o' t'ings I don' want anyone to know."
Twiddling her thumbs together, Rogue said, "Ya feelings toward me, ya gotta know, everything ya thought ya felt for me… it wasn't real. Ah represented freedom ta ya. That's what'ca fell in love with. Not plain ol' me." Rogue said quickly.
Gambit smiled in relief. If that was the worst thing she got from him, then he had nothing to sweat. "I'm inclined t'disagree wit' dat. Dere was yo' sass, yo' ability t'take care o' yo'self, ya complete intolerance fo' other people's bullshit- mine inculded, de ways yo' eyes sparked when yo' were determined... Dose are t'ings yo' can't fake, Rogue. I could go on." he added, stroking her cheek with his finger, "But if yo need proof, den I'm willin' t'do dat.
Rogue shook her head adamantly, "Ya don't know me." She repeated.
Gambit's smile broadened. "Den let's start over. De name's Gambit," he took her hand and kissed her knuckles chastely. "But yo' can call me Remy."
"Gambit, eh?" Rogue mused. She considered Gambit's suggestion and figured she didn't have anything to lose. She tried and failed to fight a smile that appeared on her lips, "Rogue. But Ah guess ya can call me Anna if ya play ya cards right."
"What a coincidence. I am an expert at playin' my cards right." Gambit said seriously.
Rogue laughed at him, "You're an arrogant S.O.B., y'know that, Remy?"
Gambit smiled, "'Tis part o' my charm. And wouldn't'ca know, I t'ink dat's the first time you've ever used m'name."
Rogue wrapped the trench coat tighter around herself shrugged, "Would ya perfer Swamp Rat?" she quipped.
"Call me whatever yo' want, chere." Gambit chuckled.
"That's ah dangerous statement, Gumbo." Rogue grinned, bumping their shoulders playfully.
They drifted into a comfortable silence, both resting against the worn seats of the X-Jet. They pretended to not notice the frequent backwards glances from the cockpit. Bobby going as far to even awkwardly wink and throw up the "Okay" and signal.
As two sides of the same coin, each of them had faced long roads that lead them to the X-men. They both made mistakes, many of the same mistakes, but they were determined to right the wrongs of their pasts. Sitting there in the seats of the X-jet, both Rogue and Gambit finally felt as though they were where they were supposed to be.
"Hey Remy." Rogue spoke after a long while, glancing over at him nervously.
Gambit, who had been drifting in and out of sleep subtly jumped and hummed out a quiet reply.
"How long ya plan on staying with the X-men?" she asked out rightly, doing her best not to seem too interested in his answer.
Gambit opened his eyes and a smirk encompassed his lips, "A while."
~FIN~
A/N: So tomorrow I'm headin' south of the Mason-Dixon to visit a dear friend of mine. A fitting conclusion for an author as she wraps a story about her favorite (fictional) southerners, no?
Anyway, that's all for this one folks (Alt Ending to follow). Thank you to everyone who read it and all the positivity I received in the reviews. Special shout out to Lovely Smile (Thanks for all the enthusiasm) and Paulina Ann (I enjoyed your analyses) for being there since the beginning, also to Untouchable Hexing Witch. Seriously, all your reviews (and every review in general) made me giddily happy and helped keep me on track with this story. You guys, and everyone else who reviewed at all, rock!
Be on the look out for future stories from me. Possibly the Rogue companion piece or the epic of a story I've been working on for years (it's like 40 chapters (I have like 33 completed)) called Dis-continuum, which is set in the WATXM universe but I don't really wanna post it there because it's practically a graveyard. I know when I used to read fics religiously I rarely wandered to that category. I dunno, we'll see.