The two of them had been riding for almost 20 minutes now. The cold air was whipping around Rogues body, sending a shiver down her spine.
Sensing her coldness, Gambit manoeuvred his bike and pulled up alongside a park entrance. Climbing off, he took off his coat and handed it to her.
Rogue looked him over. He had no wounds or signs that he had even been fighting that night. As he took of his coat to hand it to her she accepted it greatfuly, wrapping it around her cold body. "Thanks" she muttered under her breath.
Gambit watched her drape his coat around her small frame. It was definitely too big for her, but it suited her none the less. "That's al'right chere, Gambit don't want you getting cold now does he".
She eyed him. Without his trench coat on she could see him fully. He was very muscular, his uniform wasn't really leaving much to the imagination. The best way to describe him was like a Greek god. He looked good, and something told her that he knew this. "Ah mean thanks fo' helping meh tonight. An fo the coat."
Gambit grinned at her. "Remy never leave behind a demoiselle en détresse."
She growled and shot him an angry look. "Ah aint no damsel Cajun. Ah would 'ave been fine without ya help. In fact Ah would 'ave been in an out without a problem if ya had never of turned up!" she flung her arms in the air and started to walk into the park.
"If Remy hadn't of turned up to help you Chere, you would still be in that museum, fighting those X men an getting caught by the cops. But its ok chere, you can make it up to him..." he snuck up behind her and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into him, her face mere millimetres away from his. "With just a kiss".
Rogue was shocked. No one had ever tried to get this close to her before and it scared her. But at the same time, being that close to him felt good. She believed she could stare into those red on black eyes all night. But he didn't know her power, he didn't know her limitations. With a hard shove she pushed him away from her, regrettably. "ya cant touch meh. Ever" she stated as she turned to carry on walking.
This didn't stop his pursuit though. He just moved in again this time wrapping his arms around hers so she couldn't wriggle away. He wasn't stupid, he had read her file so he knew exactly what her power was and how dangerous this was. If he touched her she would get all of his thoughts, she would know exactly what he was up to and who he was working for. But they didn't call him Gambit for nothing. "you weren't this uncomfortable with Remy in that café the other day" he purred into her ear.
Rogue felt a shiver run down her spine but this time it wasn't from the cold. She didn't know what this feeling was. She was so scared that he was going to touch her. She had already absorbed the two X men that night and her head was already hurting bad. If he was to touch her, even accidental, it would send her over the edge and she would have a migraine for days. But at the same time she wanted him to kiss her. She had never met anyone who wanted to get this close to her, even after seeing what her power could do. He didn't know that she couldn't control it or how deadly it was but just this once she wanted to get the guy at the end, not the other girls. Not Wanda.
She sighed and used all her strength to wriggle free of his grasp. "Ah didn't know you were the enemy in the café the other day" she turned to leave, walking a little further into the dark park. Along the path they found a bench. Rogue was feeling pretty tired and drained so she sat down, followed by Gambit who was also starting to feel the strains of fatigue pulling at him.
"So évidemment there were a few details left out of our convocation the other day then non?" Remy said, taking a pack of cards out of his trench coat pocket that was still on Rogue. She jumped at his sudden contact but settled down again after seeing what he was doing.
"ya think?"
"maybe we should start from the beginning then non? My name is Remy LeBeau, Codename is Gambit. Moi can charge things up and make them go boom. Ah work for a team of mutants called the Acolytes." he looked at her and held out his hand as if wanting to shake hers after his introduction.
She looked at his hand, he was wearing gloves so there was nothing to be scared of. She took it and shook it. "My name is Rogue, code name is Rogue. Ah steal peoples life-forces, memories and, if they're a mutant, powers when ah touch their skin and ah cant control it. Ah work for a group called the brotherhood of evil mutants."
"Remy dont believe your evil chere. And what kind of a name is Rogue? What your real name?"
she looked at him questioningly. "of all the things there to question, ya miss out the one about meh draining peoples life forces?"
before he could answer, her phone range. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen to see Wanda calling her.
"Hey Wanda did ya'll get out?"
"Yeah I did, where the hell are you?"
"Some park, ah'm on my way home though, had to make sure no one was following meh."
"you mean the guy on the bike?"
"What guy?"
"The guy who's bike you climbed onto before the Feds showed up"
"oh.."
"yeah oh! Anyway please tell me you got the stone?"
Rogue reached down to her belt under the trench coat to feel in the pockets to find that they were empty. "oh shit its not there!"
"What do you mean its not there where the hell is it?"
"Ah dunno, ah must have dropped it when ah was trying to get out of there"
"well your gonna be in the shit house tonight, Mystique is back in town and she is at the house waiting to see you"
"oh Fuck, that's the last thing ah need right now!"
"she is going to be pissed"
"yeah thanks for that, ah'll be home soon"
she hung up the phone and sighed loudly. How had she managed to loose the scarab? She had picked it up and placed it in her belt to keep it secure. The only time she could think of loosing it was after jumping out of the museum and having that big cat man thrown on top of her. Now she had to go home and face mystique after loosing it. That was a fight she knew she wouldn't win. For as long as she could remember mystique had rarely been around. She was always off on her own missions for their cause, calling the house every now and then to send the brotherhood on small missions to retrieve something for her. Although she had always called her her foster mother, Mystique had done nothing to influence her upbringing. Irene on the other hand had been more of a mother to Rogue than Mystique. If she had a problem or something had gone wrong then she knew she could speak to Irene about it and she would understand, after all she could see the future so she would know what would happen before Rogue could even experience it herself. Rogue had no idea how Mystique would react, she was unpredictable.
"is everything okay Cherie?" Remy asked her from behind on the bench.
Rogue blinked, she had completely forgotten that the man was still there. "er, yeah thanks. Ah have to go." she stated before getting up, shrugging off his coat and taking off into the forest.
Remy sat there and watched her retreating figure run into the black of the night. He had heard her talking on the phone and felt her distress about going home. He sighed and pulled out a cigarette from his trench pockets, lighting it with his finger. He pulled his coat back on to him then reached into a concealed pocket of his uniform, pulling the scarab that Rogue and stolen that night. He felt bad about taking it from her, but he couldn't go home with nothing. Besides he is a master thief after all and couldn't have an amateur go home with the goods. He thought back over the night, how working with Rogue had been kinda fun. She was definitely better than most, but not as good as him. He sighed and started walking in the direction she went in. He figured he had better keep an eye on her, make sure she got home all right, plus it would be good to know where she lived for future reference.
He had finally caught up with her as she walked up a long driveway towards a large manor house. She paused as she looked toward the front of the house where a woman stood on the steps. Before Remy could get a good look at this woman she changed her form into a tall blue woman with red hair, wearing a long white dress. Mystique he noted mentally.
He watched on as Rogue began to walk towards her. Mystique began to descend the stairs at the front of the building towards her foster daughter slowly. As they got closer together he saw her pull out a hand gun and hold it at Rogues head. He thought about calling out, lighting up a few cards and throwing them but he couldn't give up his post otherwise Mystique would know that magneto was onto her. Instead he bit his lip and watched on.
Rogue new someone was following her. She could feel their eyes on her back as she made her way home. She could have stopped and called them out but decided against it. One way or another by the end of this night she would probably be dead, wherever at the hand of her stalker or Mystique. She was almost home when she got a strong scent of Cajun spices and cigarette smoke, the same smell that came from Remy's trench coat. She knew instantly that it was he who was following her and automatically she felt safe.
She was about to call him out when she looked up at her home. Standing on the steps outside the house was Raven. She watched how her small thin body with long raven black hair morphed into Mystiques tall slender and blue body with bright red hair. She wished Remy was there right next to her to protect her against whatever Mystique was about to do. But she couldn't call for him, she couldn't give him up like that, not to her. She walked up the rest of the driveway as Mystique walked towards her.
"Mama ah'm..." she stopped mid sentence as Mystique pulled out a hand gun and held the end to her forehead. Rogue gulped from the shock movement, but she was not scared.
"I gave you one job to do and you failed!" Mystique cried pushing the pistol at Rogue. At this point the rest of the brother hood stood in the doorway to watch the fight. The guys were enjoying the show, hoping to see Rogues brains shot all over the road. Wanda however did not want to see this of her best friend. She was ready to hex Mystique and the gun the second her finger moved on the trigger.
"Ah didn't fail. Ah stole it just like ya asked meh to." she stood her ground. She wasn't scared yet, Mystique wouldn't pull the trigger, they both new that. "Ah just didn't bring it home"
Mystique growled, bearing her teeth like a wild animal. She dropped the gun from Rogues head and Rogue let out a sigh of relief. As soon as her arm was down the other came up, punching Rogue square in the face. Seeing it coming, Rogue took the blow to her cheek. As she moved she brought her own fist up into mystiques stomach, punching her in the gut and winding her, causing her to drop the gun she was holding. As mystiques body coiled from the hit, Rogue brought her knee up, meeting Mystiques face. Mystique grabbed onto Rogues leg and pulled it from under her causing her to fall onto her back, she brought her foot down onto Rogues chest, breaking some of her ribs.
Rogue cried out in pain as Mystique moved away from her body. She was trying to sit up as Mystique returned with the gun back in her hand. Before Rogue, Mystique or Wanda could make the next move a loud voice came from within the house.
"RAVEN! That is enough." it was an order from Irene. All seven pairs of eyes moved to inside the house where the blind woman was moving towards the front door. "She did exactly what you asked of her, she was not to know it would escape her hold."
Mystique looked back down at her foster daughter and sighed. She stepped back and helped Rogue to her feet. Spitting out a mouthful of blood she looked her over. "at least your training and not completely wasting your time." she stated before leaving her alone.
Rogue was in pain but still she stood and watched the other woman leave. Yes, Irene was definitely more of a mother to her than Mystique.
The rest of the brotherhood members all went back inside to do whatever it was they were doing, while Wanda came down to help her friend inside.