I have not had time to answer the reviews that came in. My grandfather died on Tuesday, and we've all been focused on funeral plans and helping my grandmother arrange things. But thank you all for the awesome reviews. I will answer them when I get a chance. I hope you enjoy the chapter. MidnightManic, hold on for one more chapter and you will get your answer. Let me know what you think.

Layla

The motel room was tiny, even given their previous night's stops, and not in the best section of town. Rogue leaned against the tiny dresser as she gave Logan directions to the motel they'd found for the night. Focused on converting their eastbound path into westbound directions for Logan, she wasn't paying any attention to Remy until she felt his hand brush against her lower back as he slipped past her into the bathroom to grab a shower.

Her voice caught just for a moment in surprise at the touch. Thankfully Logan was focused on remembering her instructions and didn't notice her momentary lapse. Her eyes rested on her image in the mirror, focused on the spot near her hip where Gambit's hand had touched her. Silently shaking her head to clear it she finished giving Logan the directions and then tossed the phone on the bed opposite her.

Rogue pulled her book from its place in her bag determinedly. She didn't want to think about why she was suddenly so nervous about having Gambit and Logan in the same room. She flopped down on her stomach on the empty bed and tried to focus on the sorcerer wreaking havoc in her book.

She tossed the book down in frustration after about thirty seconds. She was being stupid. He'd simply brushed his hand against her as he passed. One of those courtesy gestures people made when they had to squish into someone else's personal space to pass. It didn't mean anything.

But it had been so casual. He hadn't even thought about it, just gently rested his hand on her back above her hip bone. He hadn't hesitated or made a production out of keeping his hands away from any possible skin contact. In fact, Gambit hadn't even looked at her. His eyes and been looking forward, in the direction he was going.

When had she and Remy gotten so comfortable that they thought nothing of touching each other as they passed? Even better question: Had anyone been that comfortable with her since her mutation had manifested? Or been willing to push her boundaries enough to put themselves in that situation?

It was the last thought that stuck with here. Logan didn't make a production out of touching her. Neither did Kurt. Or Storm. Or Kitty. But they only touched her in times of serious stress. After a battle, a reassuring hug that she wasn't alone while in the Med lab, an arm around her after her 'kidnapping'. But in general no one touched her.

Because she nearly always pulled away when someone tried.

Touching her was risky, so she made it clear that no one should. And touching was sign of an emotional bond. Emotional bonds were dangerous. They meant she could get hurt when the other person left her or betrayed her or used her. It was safer to keep everyone at a distance. No one could hurt her that way.

She frowned fiercely at that thought. It made her sound like some complete hermit living in a cave somewhere. And that wasn't true. She had a family and friends. Maybe she wasn't the most social and open member of the family, but she belonged with the X-Men. And because Logan, Kurt, and Kitty were her friends and family, they respected her desire to limit touch. They understood that to her the consequence of touch could be extremely high and respected her choices.

And yet somehow, in three days…was it really only three days? In three days Remy had managed to gently push past her barriers. He had no problem with touching her, mutation and all. He'd been the one to pull her into bed that first afternoon. She blushed at the thought. It sounded much more seductive and sexual when phrased that way. But he had pulled her into bed with him. To ease her fear and disorientation caused by the nightmares, he'd held her close. He'd known she was afraid of hurting him, addressed it by telling her not worry, and then held her without a second thought.

And she'd liked it. She'd spent the entire drive from Vicksburg to Monterey mentally working through her feelings on the subject. That was the great thing about motorcycles. No conversation to maintain. Of course she hadn't come to any useful or clear conclusions during that time. She'd finally given up and settled for the idea that having his warmth nearby was reassuring.

Part of her rebelled against that idea. She was Rogue: tough, untouchable and forced to be content with being on her own. She wasn't supposed to like having Gambit hold her while she slept. She wasn't supposed to need someone to keep the boogeyman away. She could take care of herself. But she couldn't deny that it had been nice. So had the card games and the shared planning and tactics. And the smiles and the flirting. Except for the blushing part. She could do without that. But she had to give him credit. She smiled more when she was with him.

For three days it had been just the two of them. Stuck in an awkward, high stress situation. They'd been depending on and trusting each other because they had to. And just like the first time they did well together, had fun in spite of the situation. But they'd never really been together when they weren't alone. They'd always connected when it was just them.

But Logan was on his way. He'd be there in just a few minutes. And Rogue wasn't sure how a third presence, particularly since it was Logan, was going change the way she and Remy interacted.

They'd made no promises to each other. They weren't in any kind of a relationship. They were together because for the moment they had to be. But that didn't mean that once this was over it would still be that way. She had her life, and Gambit had his, whatever that meant.

But there was no way Logan wouldn't notice the easy way she and Remy moved around each other. Some of that could be written off due to spending numerous hours together in close proximity on a motorcycle. But other things, like that little brush of his hand against her waist, which she probably wouldn't have thought anything about if she hadn't been on the phone with Logan at the time, were going to stand out. Logan noticed everything and would have no problem asking her exactly what it meant.

And that was the problem. She didn't have an answer to give him. She wasn't even sure there was an answer she wanted to give him.

If Remy left after the Marauders were dealt with they'd both be fine. She'd keep the cards he'd given her as quiet reminders of the fun they'd had, but that would be all. She would go on as she had been. And Remy would do his thieving thing. No doubt he would surrounded by beautiful women in no time.

She'd miss him for a few days if he left. And probably the next time she had a nightmare. He'd most likely end up with the distinction of being the only man she'd ever slept beside.

But what would happen if he stayed? She'd offered him the Professor's ever-present welcome. But she hadn't thought through what it would mean if he stayed.

They'd be team mates and friends, hopefully. But how would she feel when a touchable, beautiful woman caught his eye. Instead of the women being undefined figments of her imagination, she'd be able to watch as he lived up to the reputation that surrounded him. Somehow that seemed a lot harder now than it had at the restaurant in Vicksburg. Watching as the flirty warmth he always used with her was pulled away and turned on another woman.

The whole issue with his marrying Bella Donna had been easy to handle because she hadn't seen him in months. Yes she'd been attracted to him, but a months old illicit rescue mission hadn't given her any hold over him. It was a pretty idea, not reality. But the nights sleeping tucked up next to him and the card games and quiet conversations had moved their relationship from cautious but friendlyish acquaintances into something a little more solid. Sort of. Maybe.

Rogue grimaced as she heard the shower turn off. She needed put her brooding away now. She pushed away Remy's psyche which was trying to comment on her musings, not wanting to hear his opinion. Hearing the bathroom door open, she quickly turned her attention to her book, her eyes on the pages but not taking in the words.

She could hear Remy moving around but didn't look at him. She was so focused on not paying attention to him that Logan's quiet knock on the door made her jump in surprise.

She heard Remy snicker at her response and glared at him, more heat in the glance than she'd intended, and out of the corner of her eye she saw his head tilt to the side as he studied her. She opened the door to the hotel carefully, keeping herself hidden inside the room and out of sight of anyone who might be watching.

Logan stalked in, his eyes taking in the details around him. Rogue risked a glance at the room as she shut the door and mentally gave herself bonus points for choosing to read on the bed without the cell phone. At first glance it appeared that she'd claimed the far bed, her book and the mussed comforter stating her presence, while Gambit's dirty clothes were on the other bed as he packed them away into his bag.

"You okay, Stripes?" Logan asked looking her in the eye.

"Ah'm fine, Logan," she said with a small smile and rolled her eyes.

He turned his dark eyes on Gambit and Rogue silently watched the two appraise each other. Finally Logan growled out. "Yer lucky I know you didn't start this."

Gambit smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You kill me now, just leaves more work when you deal with the Marauders."

Logan snorted. "Been down that road, kid. Handled it before."

Remy nodded his head slightly without breaking Logan's gaze, acknowledging the truth of the statement. His empathy picked up Logan's cautious suspicion and Rogue's growing annoyance. He turned the conversation to something more relevant. "You find anything promising?"

Logan relaxed his intimidating posture a fraction and moved to lean against the wall across from Gambit where he could watch both of them. Rogue leaned against the door, not standing near either man. It felt an awful lot like two pit bulls eyeing each other before a fight and she didn't want to end up in the middle any more than she already was.

"Lots of national forest just south of here. Not a lot of population. We manage to keep it on the ground and we should be good. You two leave them a trail to follow?" Logan asked.

Rogue nodded once. "We paid for the room with the Anna James credit card. They know we're here."

Logan grunted at that and glared at Gambit, but didn't make a comment. He'd never been a fan of the 'Rogue pretending to be Gambit's lover' part of the plan. "Any idea how far they are from here?"

"Non. Last clue we knowin'ly dropped was in Memphis about going north to Chicago. Don't know if they bought it or not. They could be as far away as the Windy City or they could be in Johnson City with us."

Logan nodded, not surprised. "Charles is watching the area with Cerebro. If we get lucky he might be able to trace them. Assuming the worst, but most likely case they'll get here tomorrow."

Gambit nodded. "That's what I'm thinkin' too. Figure we gotta be up and outta here early. Leave a little note for them. They'll know I know they're comin' after the set up in Memphis. So we just set up and wait 'til they arrive."

Rogue snorted. "Ah love mindless waitin'."

Gambit smirked at her. "We can work on your poker game, chérie."

The smile that tugged at her lips was reflexive. She caught his gaze for a second, that easy air between them connecting for a moment, and then remembered Logan was watching. She forced her smile away and turned a neutral look at Logan.

Logan raised an eyebrow but made no comment. "You have a map?"

Gambit nodded once and fished it out of his bag.

The three of them crowded around the tiny table in the room as Logan pointed out the location that he'd scouted. He highlighted several of the natural defenses the area contained and pointed out the location where he intended Laura would park Velocity when he called her in.

Looking confused at that statement, Gambit questioned, "Who's Laura? I don't remember her."

"X-23," was Logan's only response, which meant nothing to Gambit. He turned to look at Rogue questioningly.

She shrugged, not knowing all that many details herself, and not wanting to get into specifics since she knew it made Logan uncomfortable. "Has claws and heals."

She caught the slight squint at Gambit focused on her, probably wondering why she was being abrupt. She gave him a small shake of her head and flicked her eyes toward Logan. Gambit accepted the gesture and let it go. Turning to look back at the map, Rogue muffled a sigh. The whole thing was too awkward, and she wasn't making things any better. Before she could make an equally awkward attempt to smooth things over Remy spoke up.

"So aside from your new fille and the plastic plane, what's the exit strategy?" Gambit's tone was deceptively calm as he addressed Logan.

Rogue looked at him in confusion, a sarcastic response dying on her lips when she saw the look he was giving Logan, that of a predator waiting to be turned lose.

She turned to look at Logan, not liking the way he was appraising Gambit. She liked it even less when he turned that look on her. She glanced at Remy to find him watching her with same expression.

"What?" she asked in sharp annoyance.

Logan sighed and pulled a small package out of a pocked in his jacket. He tugged on a twine string and let the package open to reveal three syringes. "Hank sent these. Strong enough to knock me out for three days solid. If we can, we use these. Knock them out with this and leave them for Fury. I don't want them anywhere near Bayville."

Gambit gave a grim smile. "And if we can't get close enough?"

Logan gave him a deadly one in return. "Then we do what we have to."

Gambit nodded. "Agreed."

Rogue looked warily between the two men, but said nothing. She'd known from the beginning that stopping the two Marauders might mean killing them. She didn't particularly like that thought, but after seeing what Essex was doing to his patients, Rogue couldn't really bring herself to be that upset by the deaths of two of his henchmen. But knowing that Logan and Remy were both so easily ready for that eventuality was a bit unsettling.

Not wanting to dwell on that thought she steered the conversation back to planning, and the three organized themselves for the night. Logan would stop by a nearby Wal-Mart and gather some supplies. He would fend for himself for the evening, avoiding being seen with the two. Rogue and Gambit would continue their pattern of grabbing a local dinner and then chill in their hotel room. The goal was to keep the Marauders from realizing that anyone was with them. They wanted the two hunters to only be aware of two opponents.

Their plans loosely decided Logan started to leave. He paused at the door and turned a leveling glare at Gambit. "You keep your hands to yourself, Bub."

Rogue felt her cheeks burn at his words. "Logan!" she hissed in angry embarrassment.

Gambit held his gaze without flinching. "I'm not trying to hurt her," he drawled as he leaned casually against the wall.

Logan grunted and tossed back as he left, "Just keep remembering that."

With a growl of annoyance and frustration Rogue stomped over to her bed and threw herself down. She could feel Remy's eyes on her, but he made no comment. For the first time since she'd surprised him in his living room an awkward tension settled between the two of them.