"Alternate Ending"

13: SMOKE

ONE YEAR LATER

Remy LeBeau, in the months that had preceded had taken up the mantle Gambit. Under his Gambit pseudonym, he had traveled the world and left a legacy of thievery, tradegy and mind blowing sex in his wake. He'd traveled to Chicago, Paris, London, Cyro, Johanasburgh, and various other places all around the globe.

Yet somehow, he managed to find himself here. In New York. Specifically Westchester, on the steps of the Xavier Institute. Of all the places he thought he would end up after his exile from New Orleans, this wasn't even on the list. However, he had demons he had to face, demons he had to at least attempt to redeem. Then there was always the demon that he had to find, but that was at the bottom of his redemption list.

With that in mind, he knocked on the door.

In reality, he did not have to wait long for the door to open, but in his head, he felt like he had been standing on the porch for an eternity. When the door opened, it did so slowly and a small Asian girl regarded him cautiously.

"Can I help you?" she asked, eying him up.

"Oui. 'M lookin' fo' de Wolverine." Gambit replied nonchalantly.

"What'ca want with Logan?" she asked suspiciously. "Typically people who come looking for him aren't good news... But then again, they don't usually bother to knock either." she reasoned, opening the door wider ever so slightly.

"Made it a point t'knock dis time." Remy said to his own amusement, "'Sides, he an' I got a mutual friend. Ain' really lookin' fo' her, but I figured I oughta check dis place out." Gambit shrugged.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Gambit."

She raised an eyebrow, "What's with no one using their real names?" she muttered under her breath, "My name's Jubilee."

"Bon t'meet'ca Jubilee." Gambit said, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. Jubilee blushed and stuttered something incoherently as she stepped out of the way so that Gambit could enter the mansion.

"Just uh, wait here. I'll go get Logan." she sputtered, still bright red.

Gambit smirked as he watched her run off. He took the moment to inspect the foyer around him. It was elegant with its ceiling height and wide open space, not to mention the great interior decorating. Even the steps were beautifully crafted with a red carpet running up the center, and then there was the somewhat gaudy crystal chandelier that hung over his head. Gambit whistled, he was slightly impressed. Slightly.

His thoughts started to drift to places that he wished it wouldn't. He vaguely wondered if Rogue had ever stood where he currently did and admired the view as he was. How many times had she occupied this same foyer? Shared laughs here? Shouted accusations?

On second thought, Gambit decided that coming here was a bad idea. He turned to leave, changing his mind about his redemption, but was interrupted by Wolverine's voice.

"Where ya think yer goin' Gumbo?" Wolverine growled.

Gambit turned front and center. Wolverine inspected him "Remy LeBeau, I'll be damned. Didn't expect ta ever see ta again. 'Least not under circumstances that didn't involve a fight... Will this involve a fight?" he asked almost hopefully.

"Non." Gambit shook his head, "I come in peace."

"Pity" Wolverine said as he continued to stride over to him. Logan stopped just short of him and crossed his arms. "But why come at all?"

Gambit shrugged, "Ain' got nowhere else t'go. Figured I'd explore m'options."

Wolverine sniffed the air, "Ya can lie all ya want, Cajun. Just know that I can smell 'em. Now what'ca really doin' here?"

Gambit sighed and shuffled his feet, "Lookin' for redemption, fo' answers, fo'..." he trailed off.

"Rogue?" Wolverine guessed.

Gambit's face darkened. "In a way, oui."

"Broke ya heart, didn't she?" Wolverine cooed in amusement.

Gambit's eyes widened then narrowed, "Don' act like ya don' wanna find her neither. De way she'd talk 'bout yo', yo' two obviously were close."

Wolverine raised an eyebrow at Gambit's accusatory tone. "What can I say. I seem ta attract sassy little girls with Daddy-issues. I take 'em under my wing an' do my best ta prepare them for the harsh reality... come with me, Gambit." Wolverine beckoned him as he started back up the marble staircase.

Gambit decided he had nothing to lose by following Logan- besides limbs- so he did.

"Ya wanna be an X-man? Fine. Ya wanna pine after Rogue? Fine. But'ca can't do both. An' ya can't be an X-man purely fo' Rogue's sake either." Wolverine said matter of factually. "Ya become an X-man fer yaself, fer the mutant population. Not in attempt ta track down ya unrequited love."

"Unrequited love?" Gambit repeated, scoffing as he did so.

Wolverine sniffed the air, "What'd I tell ya 'bout lyin' Gumbo?"

"Wasn't unrequited." Gambit muttered, still following Wolverine through the halls to what could be his death.

"Really? Then ya know where Rogue is? She's tried ta contact ya?" Wolverine asked over his shoulder.

"Well, no. But-"

"Listen, Gambit. All I'm sayin' is that if yer lookin' fer her, be prepared for where ya find her an' what'ca find out 'bout her. Rogue's a three dimensional person. She makes her own decisions."

Gambit made a face, "Ya speak rather amicably 'bout her, considerin' how ya'll left t'ings in N'Orleans."

Wolverine shrugged, "She's still m'girl. No matter what happens."

Gambit blinked, "Mebbe 'm not cut out t'be a good guy after all." he muttered.

Wolverine chuckled, "Never said I was a good guy. Me an' ya, we're a different breed from the righteous do-gooders that inhabit this place." Wolverine motioned to the walls around them. "We're more o' anti-heroes."

"Didn't realize y' fancied yo self a philosopher Misure Claws."

Wolverine rolled his eyes and stated, "My point is that ta don' have ta be squeaky clean or do it 'cause it's the right thing in general. Ya can be an X-man, Remy. Ain' no one gonna stop ya, if ya don' do nothin' stupid that is. The question is, do ya wanna be an X-man, really?"

Gambit said nothing as he mulled over Wolverine's words.

They stopped suddenly in the middle of the hallway and Wolverine turned around, his arms crossed and a placid look on his face. "I need ya answer now. An' the real one, not what'ca think I wanna hear." he tapped his nose as a reminder.

After a few beats Gambit replied, "Oui."

Wolverine nodded, "Good." he turned to a door on the left and slammed his fist against it. "Stripes! Get up!" he shouted.

Gambit was taken aback slightly by the switch that Wolverine had flipped. He'd gone from a sentimental old friend to a grouchy son of a bitch.

"It's noon!" Wolverine growled, "Get'ca ass outta bed fo' I come in there an' pull ya out."

The door opened violently and a young woman with long brown hair and a white streak replaced the door. She faced Wolverine and glared at him,"In case ya forgot, we jus' got back from the Savage Land yesterday." she snapped, "Not everyone can bounce back as fast as ya. Tha Professor gave me tha week off an' Ah intent on utilizin' every single second o' it in m'bed."

Wolverine smirked at her, "Stripes, I wan'tca ta meet our newest recruit." Wolverine motioned to the man standing outside Rogue's slight line.

Rogue scowled at him as she turned sharply to rudely greet the newest recruit. She got one good look at him and froze. "Remy?" she asked under her breath.

Gambit blinked and eyed Wolverine in annoyance. That explained everything that had just came out of his mouth. 'Be prepared for where and what'ca find'. Smug son of a bitch.

"Long time no see, eh, chere?" Gambit asked.

Wolverine sent Rogue a smug look, "I gotta DR session in ten. Ya choices are either ta show Gambit here around an' takin' him to Chuck or ta join me. Enjoy yer time off." he said patronizingly as he left the two alone.

Rogue blanched at Gambit, "How didja find me?"

Gambit scoffed, "No offense, but I didn't come here for you." That was partly true. "Real question is, how much o'what I know 'bout'ca is a lie."

Rogue sighed and closed her bedroom door. She started to walk away but Gambit followed right after her, so she conceded. "Not much." she said resignedly. "Tha X-men an' Ah never had ah fallin' out. Ah was ah plant. We knew ya had ah weakness fo' beautiful woman, so we mixed that with ah challenge fo' ya ta conquer, plus we played on ya pity o' not havin' control."

Gambit's jaw clenched, "So yo' powers?"

Rogue nodded, "Yeah, it wasn't ah hard sell. Ah've spent tha majority o' my life without control over them."

"How long yo' had control?" Gambit asked absently, his mind racing with the new information.

"'Bout ah year and ah half." she wrung her bare hands together.

Gambit nodded, "An' de white streak?"

Rogue touched her hair, "Ah've always had it. Ah just kept it covered with that god-awful bandana."

Gambit pursed his lips, "One last question... De whole time, I t'ought yo' liked me. I was sure o' it... so tell me, was it real?"

Rogue missed a few beat and her gazed dropped to the floor in shame. "No."

When Gambit started to turn away from her, having enough answers, she caught his arm, "Not at first." she swallowed. "At first Ah thought'ca were a sonva bitch, always runnin' 'round on Belladonna, ya were smug 'bout everything ya didn, frankly ah peice o' shit." Rogue explained.

"T'anks fo' de peptalk." Gambit muttered.

Rogue glared at him for interrupting her, "Then Ah started ta notice ya changin' in fron o' my eyes. Ah gotta look at tha real Remy LeBeau. Ah know it was ya who covered me with that blanket... Ah realized that Jean-Luc was ah power hungry SOB who didn't really give a damn 'bout'ca. He only saw tha potential in ya powers, same as when he got ah look at me. Ah ain' no stranger ta that look... Ah started ta see how much ya resented being under ya family's thumb, but yet ya stayed outta this warped sense o' duty to tha people who'd gave ya tha only family ya'd ever known... An' Ah realized that ya were jus' like me, before Ah found tha X-men. Ah watched tha struggle in ya eyes. Then when Ah absorbed ya... Ah got tha rest.

"Remy," she continued, "Ya gotta realize everything ya thought ya felt fo' me, it wasn't real. Ah represented freedom ta ya, that's what'ca fell in love with. Not plain old me. Ya don' know plain ol' me."

Remy smiled but shook his head nonetheless, "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, de ways yo' eyes sparkled when yo' were determined... T'ings yo' can' fake. Rogue, I could go on." he whispered, stroking her cheek with his finger, "But if yo need proof, den I'm willin' t'do dat."

Rogue shook her head, "Ya don' know me." she repeated.

Gambit smiled broader, "Den let's start over, De name's Gambit." he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her bare knuckles. "But yo' can call me Remy."

Rogue made a face, but eventually signed in resignation, fighting a smile that twinged on her lips, "Everyone jus' calls me Rogue. If ya earn it though, Ah'll tell ya my real name."

~Fin (Again)~

A/N: AANNNDDD with this strikingly similar Alt. Ending, I have officially given you everything I have on this story from Gambit's POV. (In my original version Rogue lead Remy on quite a bit, but I didn't like that characterization so I changed it hence the unrequited love comment.)

Oh, and I'm sorry to report that I do not have plans for a sequel at the moment, only a Companion Piece.

I truly hope everyone enjoyed this story!
Again, Thank You to Everyone for reading!