A/N: I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, and did a couple of rewrites. Carol's history is pretty much canon, but I took some creative liberties and made it slightly non-canon. Also, here's a bit of trivia: It was generally assumed and alluded that Carol and Captain Mar-vell were lovers, this is in fact not true, according to Captain Marvel (.). Instead, Mar-vell was in love with medic Una, who is also from Kree.

Now, on with the story.

Oh yes, read and review, please!

Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me…yada yada yada

WLB – Chap 15

When Carol opened her eyes, she was lying in Angela's bed, and there was a warm body next to hers. She stretched and froze when said body moved closer. Her eyes widened. There was a warm male body next to hers on the bed. She turned her head carefully and studied the man in the bed. Gambit. The love of Angela's life.

Her eyes widened. Did Ms Priss…? She lifted the covers, not sure what she'd find and wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that both she and the Gambit were still fully dressed. She debated with herself silently, before beginning to slide out of the bed.

She was almost at the door when he spoke. "Where y' goin' chere? It's y'r room, non? Remy leave."

"Why do you always refer to yourself in third person?" she asked, curiously. "Is it some kind of disorder?"

"Remy t'inks dat we've had t'is conversation b'fore," he mumbled into the pillow.

"Maybe you had this conversation with Angela, but you sure as heck didn't have it with me."

He sprang out of the bed in an instant. "Merde!"

She rolled her eyes. "Keep your pants on." She paused, a wicked smile blooming. "Actually, if you check, you'll see that your pants are definitely on. As are mine. Looks like neither of us got lucky last night."

He stared at her from across the safe expanse of the bed, but recovered quickly. "Dat depends on what y' count as lucky."

She snorted out a laugh. "If you're going to spout out something along the lines of holding her in your arms all night, I can promise you that I'll hurl on that beautiful jacket of yours."

"How y' know t'at Gambit was goin' t' say dat?" he wondered out loud.

"Didn't they tell you?" she widened her eyes. "I'm psychic too. Angela and I have heard every single thought in your head. I gotta tell you," she lowered her voice as his jaw fell open, "yours is the most interesting by far."

When he just continued to stare at her, she rolled her eyes and turned away. "Lighten up, it was a joke. I can't read your mind, because I'm not psychic. Happy now?"

"Why y' talk like dat?"

"Like what?" he huffed impatiently.

"Like y' some angry person, when y' actually not. Like dat."

"You don't know me, Cajun boy," she retorted angrily. "If you did, you would know never to try to analyse me, especially before I've had my coffee in the morning!" She yanked open the door. "Get out. You can have Angela back tomorrow morning."

He left the room silently, head bowed in thought. Behind him, the door slammed shut and he winced. Looks like t'ey bot' have a temper, he mused. Maybe Remy get that petite som' coffee. His decision made, he headed down to the kitchen.

*************************************************************

"You know," she said contemplatively, "just because you brought me coffee doesn't mean I like you, or that I'll put in a good word for you with Angela." She took a deep gulp of the beverage. "In fact, my putting in a good word for you is likely to ruin any chance of you having a future with her."

He smiled. "T'anks, but no t'anks, petite. Remy never needed 'elp in dat department."

She snorted. "Believe me, I know. She knows too. That's one of the reasons she left." She tapped her head.

If what she said affected him, he showed no reaction. Instead, he sat down comfortably on the grass. "Tell Remy 'bout y'self, petite," he said, patting the spot next to him.

She stared at him in surprise. "Why?" she asked suspiciously. The only other person in the mansion who had expressed any interest was the professor, and Carol suspected that that was a way to get inside her head and figure out her thought process.

"B'cause Gambit's curious," he shrugged. "Gambit is always curious."

"And that's it?" she asked incredulously. "You're curious?"

"Bien."

She laughed harshly, a biting sound that cut through the otherwise quiet day. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

And she told him her story. Once she started, she couldn't stop. She told him about her father, who loved her, but who had always wished that she'd been a boy. She told him about her mother Marie, a quiet woman who was content to stay in the background and her brother Joseph Jr, but who they called JJ or Jr. She told him about her favourite brother Steven, who'd died in battle. And then she told him why she'd joined the military. Her family assumed that it was because her father didn't believe in higher education for women, but Carol knew that if she'd wanted, she would have gotten a scholarship. No, she'd entered the military because Steven had been in the military, and she'd known that he'd have been proud of her.

She spoke well into the afternoon and she still wasn't done. Grabbing some sandwiches from the kitchen, they made their way up to the roof. She told him about her powers. "I'm not really a mutant, you know. I was an Air Force Pilot, a damn good one. Then I met Captain Mar-vell," she said this wistfully. "I'd been in love before, who hasn't? But he…changed me." She turned her head to study Remy. "You know what I mean, don't you?" It was a rhetorical question, one that didn't need an answer.

"Mar-vell was an alien, a Kree warrior," she continued, "but he looked human. I was assigned to investigate him, but we became friends. Many believed that we were more than friends, and I will admit that I wished we were too, but he was always the perfect gentleman. If he cared for me as someone more than a friend, he never showed it. But because we spent a lot of our time together our relationship was misconstrued. His superior Colonel Yon-Rogg, a man he was supposed to look up too, kidnapped me, thinking to use me as bait to get Mar-vell. Mar-vell came after me, and we were caught in a Kree Psyche-Magneton device explosion. He shielded me, but in the process, my genetic structure melded with his, and I became a hybrid of human and Kree genes, possessing all of his knowledge, training and powers. He stayed the same," she added, "but I didn't."

"And I became Ms Marvel."

She stopped, realising that she'd talked herself hoarse, but it was a good feeling. For the first time in months, she felt lighter, freer and she turned to study the man responsible for that. Remy hadn't her interrupted instead he had listened to her, an expression on intense concentration on his face while she talked.

She looked up at the setting sun, and then back at him. "Thank you."

"Fo' wat, petite?" he stretched.

"For listening. You didn't have to, and I know you weren't curious. You were being nice. So, thank you."

He didn't deny it, just nodded and stood up. "Y' know, ma cherie is a lot like y'. Dat's not an insult," he said, when her eyes fired up, "Remy's Rogue de best of filles." He nodded at her and left.

She watched him go, lifting herself into the air. She circled the roof, hesitated, then called him. "Hey, Gambit!"

He poked his head back out. "Quoi?"

"She's still in love with you, you know. So don't give up." She didn't wait for an answer and flew away from the mansion. There were some things she needed to think about, and she did her best thinking while flying.