A/N: Okay, this is the longest chapter I've ever written. I've worked hard on it, you guys. I'm not trying to complain, but I'm kinda upset with the lack of feedback. Last chap was the first time I didn't get a single review on the story. I'm not going to lie and say it really doesn't matter as long as I'm expressing myself. It's way better in my brain, and I'm typing it because I want to share it with you. "The Lull" was way popular. Maybe I should update it and advertise "Butterflies and Hurricanes?" (Lol, did you know I'm studing Advertising?) So please review. I know that way more people read it than review it. You don't have to register now, it's way easier. So please, if you don't like the story, drop me a word. I don't wanna embarrass myself here. Thank you, enjoy the story! It kicks off where it last ended...
Disclaimer: If I owned the X-men, I wouldn't have to write on .
More men were circling Rogue, some of them carried heavy weapons – chains and baseball bats. She was cursing out loud now.
"Whatcha mouth, yeh mutant hoe", the man nearest to her spit out.
"You shoul' pro'ably follow your own advice, homme", an unfamiliar voice pronounced about twenty feet behind Rogue. "Dis ain't no way we talk t' a lady down 'ere". She turned around to see a tall lean figure emerge from the shadows, something glowing unevenly in his hand. In his hand, he had a stick, some kind of bo-stuff, perhaps. There was something about him that made Rogue immediately think he was a mutant – his eyes glowed weirdly in the dark of the night, just like his hand. She couldn't see his face, but his whole appearance, his eyes, his duster and knee high boots associated with danger. The man closest to Rogue, the only one who's face she could make out, looked puzzled if not scared.
"Those freak stay together, dontcha? Git outta here, mutie", he uttered.
"You might wanna take it back", the black figure replied, not moving an inch, "now y'all step away from th' girl an' run while you still can", he said darkly with a thick Cajun accent. The men laughed. It sounded ugly. The biker ignored him and started for Rogue. "Wrong move", the ghost's glowing hand went up and in a second Rogue's attacker was thrown back at his friends, and Rogue landed on her butt, though safe. Like a tiny explosion just happened.
"Jesus Christ Almighty! What the hell was that?"
One of the men trying to run up to the young mutant, but got knocked out with the bo-stuff that merely touched him. It seemed to sober the men a little. They started leaving hurriedly.
"Dat went well", her savior said, a smile in his unexpectedly smooth voice, "you okay, chere?" he asked, shortening the distance between them. Rogue backed away instinctively, and he stopped. "You welcome", he said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry, Ah'm just a little-", her voice sank in the sound of police sirens.
"Merde", the mutant was now close enough for Rogue to think he was in his early twenties. She noticed a thin straight nose and messy brown hair. "Quick", he made a sign for Rogue to follow him. She did, leaving with a total stranger sure looked better then being caught by the police, who were looking for her for three days now. They ran through almost empty dirty streets and lanes, the young man seemed to know where they were heading. They stopped a couple of times to hide in the doorways or behind trash bags, if they heard a car. Her savior, however, never looked back at her on the run, as if he was only looking out for himself, and sometimes she was way behind him. She even almost got caught in some car's headlights, but it probably weren't the cops. Ah, just half a week ago she was a good obedient student with a prospective soccer career and some sort of a family. Now she was an untouchable outlaw. She tried to hold back tears. It wasn't the right time to pity yourself.
The young man dived in some sewer that was sticking out in a gutter surrounded by trees, Rogue followed him. She crawled on her knees until she slammed into him. She muttered a 'sorry'. He put a finger to his lips, basically telling her to shut up. In a gentleman's way. But she would be annoyed if he didn't just save her. The sound of sirens was barely heard now, thank God. Rogue felt like she could break the silence.
"Thank you", she said in a low voice, "you saved mah life".
"Can't walk past a damsel in distress", he said silently, yet cheerfully. Then the familiar pinkish glow appeared and lighted the tunnel. The glow came from an object in the man's hand – a playing card, nine of spades, to be exact. How weird. She could make out his features now.
Oh, he looked like a Vogue model: well-built, clean-shaved, with well-defined cheekbones, pale brown hair that framed his sculptured face, an aristocratic nose and thin lips. He was probably over six feet tall and looked way more impressive up close. But one feature made him really stand out – his eyes. The iris was blood-red, and the white of his eyes was... black. They fixed on hers', waiting for a reaction. None came, just mere fascination. She thought she said 'wow' out loud. Overall he was very handsome, but the kind of handsome you don't want to meet in a dark alley in the black of night. Especially with his eyes glowing like that.
"You were worth the trouble, pretty-face", he said with a very Abercrombie & Fitch smile, his voice low and velvet. If there was any color to her face left, she'd blush. He probably had high standards. "M' name is Remy LeBeau by the way. That's for friends. My enemies call me Gambit". Oh, hell. A sexy European name, too. Nevermind the stupid nickname. 'Enemies' sounded tough enough to scratch that.
"I'm An- Rogue", her real name felt too Southern to her now, "nice to meet you". Considering the circumstances.
"Just Rogue?" the smile never left his face.
"Yeah", she paused, "how can I thank you enough?"
"A kiss would be nice", he half-joked, and showed perfectly white teeth.
"No, I'm serious. I don't have much money, but-"
"Ouch, you wound me, chere", Remy put his hand across heart in a mocky gesture, "didn't know I looked that poor". She may had blushed now, embarrassed. Perhaps not all mutants are poor and unfortunate. "Besides, my pleasure".
Silence hang. Gambit was still smiling.
"So..." Rogue started, "what is your mutant power?"
"I can charge any object with kinetic energy and cause it to explode in approximately three to ten seconds' time after I let go." He sounded like he had to explain it often. "Look", he threw the glowing nine of spades out of the sewer and it bursted into a small cloud of pink with a light clap.
"Wow", Rogue breathed out. Remy smiled proudly – he didn't seem to mind being a potential weapon of mass destruction.
"I usually use playing cards. They're easy to carry and become really fast and direct when charged".
"Looks tough, too", Rogue complimented. Remy slightly bowed his head to the side in appreciation.
"So what do you do, belle?"
"Ah-", she hasn't ever explained her mutation to anyone. "I dunno how to put it in words", she looked away, "when I touch someone, skin-to-skin, I... suck their energy in. God, it's hard to understand, I've only been a mutant for less than a week".
"You've been a mutant all your life. Dat's who you are." Remy stated thoughtfully. "So you're what, fifteen?"
"I'm sixteen!" Rogue shot, slightly offended.
"Sorry. I'm twenty-one."
"You're so old".
"I know, right? Please go on. I'm curious".
"Well. Ah've only used my power once. After I touched that guy, he knocked out cold. And it felt so weird. Lahke I was him. Like Ah knew everything about him, and what he was thinking about the last hour or so. Childhood memories. Secrets. It's... creepy".
"This must be hard", Gambit whispered after a minute's silence. He probably wanted to leave now. She didn't blame him.
"You have no idea".
"Does it happen every time you touch someone?"
"Ah guess".
"Does it last long?"
"It lasted a couple of days. The first hour or so was the hardest. It was easier after. But Ah still feel like, you know", she pointed at her temple, "like he's inside. It's crazy".
He looked at her gloves.
"What if you touch a mutant? Do you get their mutant power, too?"
"No idea", that never crossed her mind, "I guess so?"
"You wanna try?" Remy sounded excited.
"No!" she almost screamed, "it will hurt you real bad. This guy, he's still in a coma after what I've done to him".
"Sorry, didn't mean to bring that up".
"It's alright", he looked at her closely, "It really is". They dropped the topic.
"So what are you doing in our notorious city, river rat?" he asked slyly.
"Oh, Ah dunno, swamp rat..."
Westchester, New York. June 2010
The X-jet landed on top of the Metropolitan museum, unseen to both New Yorkers and the security thanks to the stealth mode. It was half an hour before closing, so the X-men had just enough time to prepare for the mission.
"Okay, people", Wolverine started, "our aim is a mutant who calls himself Mesmero. He's a powerful telepath, a mind-controller, actually. So we'll work in three groups, each with a telepathy-resistant member. Jean, you go with Storm and Forge. Rogue, you go with Kitty and Cyclops. I'm taking Beast and Iceman."
"Ah wish Emma was here", Rogue muttered, and felt Jean frown in her peripheral vision. "Ah mean, if a telepath can't get inside mah head because of all the personalities, who says that Maxmara guy can't?"
"Mesmero".
"Yeah, whatever."
"You shouldn't doubt yourself, Rogue", Jean said, still tense, "I am right now trying to mind-control you".
"Hey!"
"Sorry, couldn't resist a practical invitation", Jean defended, definitely not looking sorry.
Rogue then felt a familiar telepathic nudge on the edge of her mind. 'Who's the handsome Cajun?' Jean's mental voice whispered inside her head. Rogue turned to the redhead, and the young women exchanged hateful looks. Jean was punishing her for bring Emma up. It was clear by her bitchy smile.
They waited for the museum to close. Meanwhile, Beast was handing out building plans with ventilation system and staff rooms. "Each team covers one floor", Wolverine explained, as he prepared communicators and other devices.
"Any luck with spotting our mutant, Forge?" Cyclops wondered, trying to look like he was actually in charge.
"Naw, not re- here's something", Forge immediately straightened in his seat by the laptop, "Someone hiding in the staff's restroom for an hour now, obviously not leaving".
"Okay, let's go X-men!" Bobby called out enthusiastically.
"That is so not your line, Bobby", Kitty mentioned.
New Orleans, Louisiana.
As Rogue told Remy about her foster mother and Raven, and how she ended up harassed in the streets of New Orleans, she realized Mystique might be worried about her whereabouts.
"Crap! Ah needa make a phone call".
"You can use my cell".
"Thank you!"
"Anything for a belle fille".
"Stop that", she asked, embarrassed.
"Stop what?"
"Ah know you're Cajun, but this don't mean you can 'chere' and 'fille' me".
"Remy jus' trying to be nice, 's all".
"Whatever", she whispered, not really annoyed, and dialed Mystique.
She told Rogue to immediately buy a hair dye and make-up, change in a bathroom and book a room for the night under Raven's name. She promised to pick her up the next day.
"Okay, see ya", Rogue sighed and hung up.
"What?"
"I don't wanna move to New York. This all looks suspicious. Ah'm not sure if I can trust her".
"You can spend de night at my place", Remy offered.
"Yeah, right. What kind of Samaritan are you?"
"I'm serious. My family owns a mansion on the outskirts. You can stay with us as long as you need. My father is very fond of mutant stories".
"And how do Ah know if Ah can trust you or your family? You look hood, nevermind the 'mansion'".
"See? I knew I look rough", that brought a warm smile to her face. He was actually trying to keep her in a good mood. That was sweet, coming from a stranger. "Plus, it's not like you can't defend yourself. And you've spent an hour in a sewer with me".
"True that. My back starts to hurt by the way".
"So how about a warm bed and Tante Mattie French toasts in the morning?"
"Okay. But only because of your 'tante'. She sounds like a good woman."
"She's all that", they started to stretch and prepared to leave the stinky sewer, "a shower would be nice, too".
"Hey, Remy. Thanks", he smiled, "I'm starting to believe in humanity again. Well, mutanity... mutanthood... mutants".
"You're welcome".
"So what kind of a family are the LeBeaus?"
"Oh, you have no idea".
Metropolitan museum.
"Focus, Rogue! This guy-"
"-can be anywhere right now, got it. Jeez, Scott. My head's hurting badly."
"On mission time, you call me-"
"Cyclops, yessir", Kitty sighed. The girls snorted.
"Don't get mad, we're just-" Rogue stopped in her tracks. She realized she no longer heard her teammates' footsteps behind her. Then something hit the floor. She turned around, only to see a knocked out Kitty with Scott towering dangerously beside her body.
"-kidding", was all she said before Scott's hand went to his visor, and a red lighted flooded her eyes. She hit the wall hard, her chest hurting terribly.
"Rogue to everyone, Shadowcat out, Cyclops under mind-control, Roman culture section, repeat, Roman culture section!" she yelled over the speaker. Cyclops was right in front of her now. This is bad, really bad. He grabbed the girl by the arm, as if helping her to stand up, and slammed her against the damn wall again, still holding her captive.
"Ouch... Mind-controlled or not, you're not getting away with it, Scottie", she hissed, still in pain, as she slammed her head against his, bringing their foreheads in contact, therefore absorbing Cyclops. She had to thank her coach for teaching her how to headball.
Her eyes hurt, probably due to Scott's power.
It was then that she saw a caped figure flash on the other side of the corridor. She used Scott's rays to stop him and ran to her victim, kneeling to absorb Kitty on the run. The man was trying to get up when Rogue jumped on him and phased him halfway down so that he was stuck between floors.
"Ah got 'im". She said triumphically over the communicator. It was unnecessary though – Wolverine's team was already here, closely followed by Jean's.
"Great job, Rogue!" Bobby tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hope he's in a talky mood", Wolverine grunted, "Storm, check on Kitty and Scott", he commanded as he tore Mesmero's cape down. The mutant's monkeyish face was completely covered with tatooed ornaments. He looked like a creepy clown from a 10-year old's nightmare.
"Your name", Wolverine demanded. No answer. "Jean?" Mesmero screamed in pain. Rogue shivered. "Let's try again. Your name!"
"Vincent", he hissed, breathing heavily.
"What the hell are you doin' here, Vincent?" Logan's question met silence. "Jean..."
"No! I'll tell you! Just keep her away from my mind", he waited for Logan to nod. "I was stealing an Egyptian diadem".
"Diadem? Out of everything here, why a diadem?" Bobby asked as he lifted an ancient silver crown from the floor near Mesmero.
"My Lord wants it".
"Who is your master?"
"Apocalypse."
"The end of the world is his master?" Rogue inquired.
"I believe our friend is talking about En Sabah Nur, an Egyptian pharaoh, believed to be the first mutant. But he died five thousand years ago", Mr, McCoy mentioned.
Mesmero laughed sinisterly. Rogue shivered once again. She already hated this guy.
"Foolish ape", he laughed at the Beast, "you do not know what is coming for you all".
"Look who is talking", Bobby whispered to Rogue.
"What's so funny, ugly?" the girl challenged.
"Lord Apocalypse is immortal. Thy spirit is eternal, yet Thou inhibits different bodies until Thou is strong enough to return to Thy body. And then Thou shalt walk the Earth to build a new world on your bones".
To Rogue, he sounded like a religious fanatic. It creeped her out. Another weird thing was their prisoner's talkativeness. It was odd considering he was practically giving his cards out. He was a powerful telepath, and telepaths tend to be smart. Plus, something told me the way he cried when Jean entered his mind was unnatural. She had to talk it over with Logan once they're done.
"And just how will an ancient chick diadem help him achieve it?" Bobby wondered.
"Not unless I gain the gem that used to be there", Mesmero nodded towards the hollow in the center of the crown.
"And just where is it?" Wolverine asked patiently. Mesmero looked at Rogue intently.
"She stole it", he hissed out. Rogue eyes widened in shock, and so did everyone else's. Logan, however, just hemmed darkly.
"What?"
"How?"
"Rogue, what is he talking about?"
"Oh, she knows what I am talking about. Back in 2008, Metropolitan museum Egyptian exposition in New Orleans. You and another master thief, one of the LeBeau boys", Mesmero spit out.
"What do you mean, 'another master thief', Rogue is no thief!" Bobby was practically yelling, "He's lyin', right, Rogue?" he looked at his friend, uneasy with her being still speechless.
"LeBeau? Does he mean Gambit?" Jean inquired.
"How do you know Gambit, child?" Storm wondered.
Rogue looked at Logan helplessly. He only nodded. She breathed in deeply, trying to collect herself. When she opened her eyes, she said:
"Remy LeBeau is my brother".
A/N: The hangover! Love 'em! I'm trying to be professional and realistic. Tell me if I'm doing a good job. Please review, point out my mistakes (I've noticed I had a few in the last chap but I dunno how to edit it without deleting the document). Again, do you think I need a Beta Reader. Hey' I decided to try and write Rogue's accent. I skip some words because I believe she doesn't always say "ah". Guess that's pretty much it. Please review. Critisism encouraged.