"Cher, wait, I." he tried I just slammed my door behind me leaving him in the hall. I didn't train with him the next day either, I figured a little silent treatment would do him good. He caught me outside my room that night though.
"Is there even a reason for me to stick around, Cher?" He asked me his hand on my shoulder, I scowled, he knew he'd get a straight answer now because I wasn't just gonna let him leave.
"Why were you sticking around before swamp rat?" I asked, he cocked his head raising an eyebrow at me as if to say duh.
"You know why mon amie." He told me, I'd picked up enough french from the few times I'd touched Gambit to catch what he meant.
"Then I guess you should stick around swamp rat, but I'm still mad at you so don't get any funny ideas." I told him going to hide in my room. I went to sleep early, rolling about from the nightmares, I woke up to the phone ringing.
"Hello." I said grogily, picking up the phone.
"Is this Anna Marie?" A familiar voice asked from the other end of the line.
"Ya, who is, Cody?" I asked finally registering who would still call me that.
"So you do remember me, I'm flattered. I'm in town, you were hard to track down, and I thought maybe we could do lunch, I missed you." He told me, I sat up in shock, had he really missed me, after what I'd done to him. I mean I'd known him since forever, but no one else that I'd thought that about had given a second thought to shunning me.
"Ya sure, do you know where professor Xavier's school for the gifted is, or should I meet you?" I asked him, I could here him laughing on the other end.
"I'm outside right now." He told me, I hopped out of bed and snatched up the nicest clothes I could find.
"Give me a minute, I'll be right out." I told him hanging up the phone, I got dressed and ready as fast as I could, rushing out into the hall running into Gambit.
"Where you going in such a rush Cher." He asked, I looked a little guilty, but I was still mad enough not to care.
"I have a date." I told him rushing off, Cody was waiting outside in his truck for me, I hopped in excitedly. He leaned over giving me a sort of awkward hug, I felt a small prick on my shoulder.
"I missed you Cody." I told him as we pulled out, he brought me to a little restaurant that was mostly empty.
"I missed you too. I don't know why you ran off, I never hated you for what happened, I knew it wasn't your fault, and I found a way around it." He told me leaning over and kissing me, I backed away in terror, but nothing happened. I looked at him in confusion.
"How, we, I can't, how?" I stuttered, he just smiled knowingly.
"It's this, I got it from a friend of trask's, he told me it would help suppress the mutant gene temporarily. He told me it won't hurt you, just help you." He told me, I looked at the small device he'd used, it looked like an insulin injector.
"I, wow, I can touch you, I, how can I get more of this stuff, so I can live like normal?" I asked, he reached over opening his glove box. He pulled out a little black canvas bag and handing it to me excitedly.
"The guy said that the period of power absence will get longer as you take it more often, but it shouldn't do nothing bad." he told me, I opened the little canvas bag looking inside, there were six other needles tucked in little holders.
"You mean I could be normal, I could touch people, even wear a bikini?" I asked, staring in wonder at the vials on my lap.
"Well I like the sound a that, this stuff'll make it so we can be together." He told me, I looked up at him, I didn't have an answer to that, I cared about him, I always had, but what about Gambit, I mean he liked me no matter what, even if I could never touch him.
"Ya, I guess, let's eat, I'm kind of excited to have a meal without gloves." I told him, he hopped out opening the door for me, we ate and talked and went for a walk, then he took me back to the school, I wasn't ready for anything more then that, I didn't invite him in, but he kissed me goodbye. I pulled away a little, and he left, but there was Gambit leaning against a tree, waiting for me.
He turned walking away without so much as a word, I rushed after him but he wasn't having it. It was his turn to slam the door in my face, I had been mad, but I hadn't meant for that to happen. I had wanted to tell him I could touch him, be with him, but I'd totally blown it.
I went into my room taking my third shot, Cody had told me I needed to take three today, and three tomorrow but then I'd only have to take them once every couple of weeks. Once when I had I went to bed, once again I woke up to the ringing of the phone.
"Hey, sleepy head, I'm here to get you." Cody's voice told me, I sighed sitting up, I had to tell him this couldn't happen, but I had to find out how to get more of the cure stuff he'd give me.
"Okay just give me a minute to wake up." I told him hanging up, I got dressed slowly, dragging my feet, I had no real desire to go break up with the guy I'd put in a coma.
"Headed out again Cher, do you really love dat idiot, I don't know how you can touch him me amour, but does dat mean so much to you?" He asked soothing my hair back his eyes full of pain.
"No, I, I'll explain everything when I get back sugar. Please." I told him, I grabbed him by the collar on his jacket pulling him down and kissing him. He was so shocked that he didn't even move for a second, but then when he didn't pass out he pulled me in wrapping his arms around me passionately, I'd never felt anything like it.
The way he moved against me like he was made to love me, he took my breath away his tongue slid against mine like liquid velvet. We only broke apart when I needed air, he held me to him breathlessly.
"Could get used to that vous belle déesse." he told me breathlessly, his hands roaming over my body hungrily. I loved the way he felt touching me, but I couldn't stay, I had to go take care of Cody first, it wasn't fare of me to let him think I still wanted to be with him.
"Cody's waiting for me, I promise sugar everything will make sense tonight." I told him running off to meet Cody. Gambit stumbled at my absents as I rushed out to the gate, Cody held the door open for me and I hopped in.
"Hey, where do you wanna go today?" He asked, I tried not to look him in the eyes as I answered.
"I kinda wanted to meet the guy who gave you these." I told him, he chuckled.
"Not exactly the romantic day I had planned, but whatever you want." he told me, we drove to a warehouse office.
"It's this one, you sure this is what you wanted to do today?" He asked, I looked down at my shoes feeling guilty.
"Actually, there was something I needed to tell you, I really like ya and all, but I, I kind of met someone, Remy, he, he was there for me when I really needed someone, and he really cares about me..." I started, Cody cut me off looking broken.
"You just don't even want to be with me, I knew it, you used me, you can meet Trask on your own, I'm going home!" He sneered turning away, I reached after him, but I knew there was nothing I could say. So instead I just turned to open the door to what I thought would be a little office.
"Cody told me you'd come." The man I thought must be Trask said standing in the middle of a large warehouse room surrounded by tall metal somethings covered in huge sheets.
"Ya, um he said y'all could help me." I told him, I kind of wished I hadn't taken my shot this morning, I kind of felt helpless, and he was kind of creepy.
"He was right, have you been taking the shot?" He asked, I just nodded. "Good." He told me pushing a button on a remote he was holding. One of the large metal things shed the sheet that covered it revealing a huge metal man, I stumbled back, and it's huge metal hand reached out shooting me with some kind of dart before I could react.
I looked down at it, it looked like the shot's I'd been taking, but it had a little more kick, I could feel myself getting tired, I tried to fight it, tried to run, but I couldn't.
"Gambit, help." I mumbled, falling to the ground as the world went black. I woke up in a small white room strapped to a table under needles on long metal arms. 'Professor, can you hear me, I need your help!' I thought frantically.
'Remain calm Rouge, where are you?" The professor's voice rang out in my head, I almost sighed aloud when I heard him.
'I, I don't know, Cody took me to a where house to introduce me to Trask one of the people who'd helped make me the serum, I, I just wanted to touch, to not be afraid, I'm scared Professor.' I thought, I could feel him smile mentally trying to reassure me.
'We'll find you rouge, hang in there.' he told me, I didn't know how I could though.
Gambit woke up that morning already frustrated, Rouge had promised him she'd explain last night, but she'd never showed. He'd gone to bed confused hoping things had gone late and he'd just missed her, but he still couldn't find her.
"Petite, you seen Rouge?" He asked as he passed Kitty in the hall, she shook her head looking frustratingly peppy.
"No, I think she stayed with Cody last night." She told him, he slammed his hands into his pockets not trusting himself to touch anything without blowing it.
"If she bothers to ask, tell her to call me if der's something worth waiting for." Gambit told her, it would be different if he felt at home with the x-men, but she was the only reason he was here, and he wasn't going to let her yank him around.
"Um, okay, are you like leaving or something?" She asked, he sighed turning back towards his room, his things were still neatly in his bag.
"Not much to stick around for petite." He told her, she lost her peppy smile.
"We're your family too ya know, it's not like she's the only one who wants to be your friend." She told him, he smiled weakly, but shook his head sadly.
"I know petite, but dis isn't my place." He said scooping his bag up from behind the door and heading towards the gate. He had made it to the front door when he heard Xavier in his head.
"X-men meet me in the war room Rouge has been captured." He dropped his bag right there running for the war room. He skidded to a stop turning into the room, Kurt, Wolverine, Storm, and Kitty were already there, and Scott, Jean, Beast and Collasus rushed in after him.
"Where is she?" He asked as he saw Xavier, he held his hands up for him to calm down.
"We don't know, it appears Cody had provided her with some type of power suppressing serum that he received from a man named Trask, Cody brought her to meet him and now she's in some kind of restraints and Cody is gone." Xavier told them, Gambit fumed, he was going to thrash Cody the next time he saw him.
I laid on the table scared and uncomfortable for a few minutes before anything happened.
"Ah, finally awake I see, it's time to rid the world of one more mutant, after this shot you won't ever be able to use your power again." Trask's voice told me over some kind of intercom, I struggled against my restraints I didn't like my mutant powers, but I didn't want to lose them.
"The doc want's to do some experiments after, I said we should just terminate you, he can dissect you after, but I guess I can wait a few days before that." He laughed, one of the needle arms came down as I struggled get away. It stabbed me in the arm despite my best efforts, it made me feel so weak. It was hard to even lift my head, my eye's drifted shut despite my best efforts.
Gambit waited impatiently in the x-jet for the others, he would have left without them, but he'd seen the layout of the place cerybro said she was, he wasn't going to be able to sneak in without a good distraction, which was the plan, but it was taking way too long.
"Finally, where you been, Rouge don't have time to wait mon amie." Gambit fumed as the rest of the team filed onto the plain.
"We can't rush this, we don't want to make mistakes that will get Rouge hurt." Xavier said Gambit knew he was right, but that didn't change how worried he was. When they got there, he and Logan jumped out behind the building, and the rest of them circled around to the front. Gambit was shaking with impatience as they waited for the distraction to start.
"Cool it Cajun, we'll get the girl back." Logan told him, he nodded curtly too focused to really listen.
"Dat sounds good in theory, but I'm still worried mon amie." he told Logan, Logan understood that feeling all too well.