Chapter 11

It didn't take Gambit very long to figure out what Henri was up to. All of a sudden, every time he needed to go to the store, Henri would find something for him to do and Mercy would be conveniently on her way out. Neither did it take much brain power to figure out why. Initially, he was very much annoyed, but Gambit, never being one to pass up a challenge and having precious few of them lately, quickly turned the situation into a kind of game.

First, Gambit started by simply not informing anyone when he was going out. He would just leave at his whim, sometimes for the sole purpose of leaving. Henri countered by setting up meetings with different people at any time of day he pleased with varying levels of notice.

When Henri started filling up his days, Gambit decided he needed to start sneaking out at night.

"Umm, Remy," Rogue said when she saw him preparing to go out the window in their lounge room, "you are aware that just out that door and down the hall, there's an elevator, right?"

"Oui," Gambit replied cheerfully. "It's more fun this way."

"Uh huh," she said drolly. "Where are you going anyway?"

"Just going to get some fresh air really," Gambit replied with a shrug. "I'm tired of being cooped up."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Rogue replied, her eyes back on Olivier while he played with the mobile above his head.

It was only at the sound of Rogue's weary voice that it occurred to Gambit that she might be feeling the same way.

"In fact, I feel weird saying this," Rogue went on, oblivious to Gambit's thoughtful silence, "but I'm actually looking forward to Wanda and John's wedding more as a chance for a change of scenery than, you know, actually celebrating them getting married."

Gambit laughed.

"When is their wedding anyway?" he asked.

"Beginning of October," Rogue replied. "The fifth or something. I forget the exact date."

"Right, we'll have to make sure we get hotel reservations -"

"Already done," Rogue said smugly and then gave Gambit a mischievous smirk. "I got us a room with a spa in it."

"I like it already," he replied. "Anyway, I'm going to go. Can I get you anything?"

"A surprise," Rogue said after a moment's pause.

Gambit chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."

He climbed out the window, down the wall and made his way to the garage where his motorcycle was. He drove into town, no particular destination in mind, with his head full of thoughts about Rogue. In between looking after Olivier and being tortured - sorry, trained - by Henri, he felt like he never left the Guild Hall. But Rogue was in the same situation; in between looking after Olivier and her own thief training, she felt like she never left either. Now that he thought about it, it was like he hardly ever saw Rogue these days. He'd definitely have to do something about that. Hell, if it weren't for Olivier, he would have asked her to join him in sneaking out.

Gambit parked and wandered along the street, doing a little window shopping.

It wasn't like they were short of baby-sitters, so in theory Gambit could ask any one of the volunteers to mind Olivier while he and Rogue had a night out. In practice, Gambit rather suspected that Henri wouldn't be beneath using Olivier against him if it meant keeping him in.

Gambit sighed as he gazed idly at a display of new release DVDs. There was no reason to worry about Assassins being out to get him; as long as there was no discernible pattern to his movements, any further attacks would be opportunistic ones, and Gambit was confident that he could see one coming a mile away. It wasn't like he didn't have practice.

He hadn't told Rogue what was going on. Rogue did do her own share of risk-taking, so there was a chance she'd see where he was coming from, but ultimately he didn't want to worry her.

He definitely needed to find a way to get them both out of the house though. October was three months away and that was a long time for them to be stuck inside 24/7.

Eventually, Gambit got bored with his wanderings and made his way home. For Rogue he had bought a box of chocolates with a teddy bear attached; she had asked for a surprise, after all, and the last thing she would expect was for him to add to her teddy bear collection.

He made no secret of his return home either; when Gambit arrived in the LeBeau wing of the mansion he made sure Henri knew he'd gone out.

Gambit could hear Olivier's fussing first thing in the morning over the baby monitor. There was a groan on the other side of the bed, and then a dramatic sigh as Rogue reluctantly hauled herself out of bed. Just as Gambit was thinking he'd be able to catch some more sleep, he heard Rogue's voice over the baby monitor, talking to Olivier. He pulled the pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the noise, but finally gave up, got out of the bed and dressed.

Gambit wandered into Olivier's room, where Rogue was now seated on a lounge chair with Olivier. Olivier had been moved into his own room when he started sleeping through the night – or at least most of it. That didn't stop him from requiring breakfast at six in the morning, though.

"Bonjour, ma chérie," he said after a brief yawn.

"Morning, sugar," Rogue replied.

"I see he's happy," Gambit said with a nod towards Olivier.

"Yeah," she drawled.

Gambit chuckled lightly and then knelt down to the side of the chair, resting his arms on the arm.

"I was thinking, chére," he said, "you and I haven't really been having much alone time lately. What do you think about going out tonight? I'm sure Mercy wouldn't mind looking after Olivier for us."

Rogue turned her head and looked at Gambit, a slow smile appeared on her face.

"I'd like that," she said.

"Bon," Gambit said.

He thought he knew just how to get around Henri too.

"... and we were hoping you wouldn't mind looking after Oli for us," Gambit finished saying hopefully to Mercy.

He was fairly confident that Mercy was in on Henri's scheme to keep him at home, and judging from the flicker of 'deer caught in headlights' that crossed Mercy's face, he was right.

"Well," Mercy said, "I think that it's a good idea for you two to try and make some alone time, important, even, but –"

"We already have plans for tonight," Henri cut in.

"Ahh," Gambit said, knowing full well that by 'already' Henri really meant 'just now', "well, I'll just see if Tante Mattie's free, then."

"I'll look after him," said Jean-Luc.

All heads at the breakfast table turned to look at him.

"Père?" Henri queried.

"Que? You think I can't take care of a baby?" Jean-Luc asked. "I raised you, didn't I?"

"Merci, Père," Gambit said while Henri coughed uncomfortably.

Jean-Luc inclined his head. "Where were you planning on going tonight? Anywhere in particular?"

"Non, hadn't decided yet," Gambit replied.

Jean-Luc took it upon himself to make a couple of recommendations and breakfast carried on as normal. The family finished their meal, and one by one started to leave until only Jean-Luc and Henri were left.

"I thought you didn't want Remy leaving," Henri said quietly.

"I don't," Jean-Luc replied, "but since he's stubbornly refusing to take the hint or even discuss the matter, then he shall be going out on our terms, not his. By the way, I do hope you were lying when you told him that you and Mercy had plans tonight."

"Not any more, I'm guessing."

Jean-Luc chuckled.

That night, Rogue and Gambit arrived via motorcycles at one of the casual dress, fine dining restaurants in the city. Gambit had rung up earlier that day to reserve a table just to make sure they had one. Their waiter had not long left them at the table with the menus when Gambit noticed Henri and Mercy sitting at another table halfway across the room. He groaned.

"What?" Rogue asked.

"Henri and Mercy are here," Gambit said.

"Really?" she asked. "That's quite the coincidence."

"Yeah... coincidence," he muttered.

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Something bothering you?"

Gambit paused and then came to the conclusion that there was no real point to keeping her in the dark at this point. Besides, Rogue liked to play games too.

"Henri's gotten all over-protective 'cause he thinks the Assassins are out to kill me," he said. "He's been making it difficult for me to get out of the house."

"You'd think he'd know better than to issue you a challenge," Rogue replied as she perused the menu. "Question: Are the Assassins out to get you?"

"Probably," Gambit said with a shrug. "But I'm not going to hole up inside all the time like some frightened little mouse."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would they be out to get you?" Rogue asked.

"Ahh, some of them don't agree with Belle's decision to lift my exile," Gambit said with a wave of his hand. "Henri's worried someone might defy her on the matter."

Rogue nodded in thoughtful silence.

"Okay then," she said finally.

"Okay?" he repeated with a blink of his eyes as he looked at her. "You're okay with people trying to kill me?"

"Of course not," Rogue said. "If one of them so much as looks at you funny, I'm going to wring their scrawny little neck."

Gambit laughed and Rogue grinned at him.

"Come on, sugar," she said. "You're talking to someone who used to hang out with people she knew would kill her if they found out she was a mutant. Besides, I know you. You might be a risk taker, but that doesn't automatically make you stupid."

"Not automatically?" he asked teasingly.

"Nah, your stupidity makes you stupid," she replied with a smirk. "If you're not worried, then I'm not worried."

He chuckled.

"Well, good," Gambit said. "At least someone has faith in my ability to take care of myself."

Rogue smiled and went back to reading the menu. Truth be told, she wasn't nearly as comfortable with the news as she pretended, but if Henri was worried enough to try and prevent Gambit from going out and following him when he did, Rogue wasn't going to add to that. She didn't want to end up wearing the 'nagging wife' label either.

Before too long the waiter returned and they placed their order. Not long after the arrival of their drinks, however, Gambit began to notice other Thieves. There was one by the bar and another couple at another table. Initially frustrated that their 'romantic night out' was being crashed in this manner, Gambit forced himself to ignore their presence. He didn't completely relax (he hated that feeling of being watched), but he was at least able to become reasonably comfortable as the night progressed.

"I'm thinking about getting a new bike," Gambit said after a sip of his champagne.

"Oh yeah?" Rogue asked.

"Oui, a custom job," he said with a nod of his head. "I've thought about it for awhile, but it didn't seem like such a good idea while I was out in the field; wouldn't want to draw attention because of my ride."

Rogue chuckled.

"Of course, now that I've been retired from the field, that's not really relevant any more," Gambit said, a thoughtful look on his face, "so I'm thinking I might actually get one made."

"Cool," Rogue said. "I always wanted to get a Ducati, but I couldn't afford one last time I was in the market. Not that I don't adore my Ninja. My Ninja's my baby."

"I thought Olivier was your baby," Gambit teased her.

"Oli's my human baby," Rogue replied primly. "My Ninja's my bike baby."

Gambit laughed.

"This is nice," Rogue said with a smile as she reached for her own glass of champagne. "We should do this more often."

"I agree," Gambit replied.

"This is going to sound stupid, but I've been missing you even though we've seen each other every day," she admitted ruefully.

Gambit chuckled."I know what you mean. What do you say we going out again this time next week? And every week after that?"

"Sure," Rogue replied with a grin. "I think that's a really good idea."

Jean-Luc, Henri and Mercy hid well any discontent they may have been feeling when they heard of Gambit and Rogue's plans. Mercy was even supportive of the decision and Gambit got the impression that Mercy might have been feeling a little 'caught in the middle' about the whole thing.

It wasn't all good news, however. Although no one actually prevented them from going out, they soon found they couldn't go anywhere without at least half a dozen Thieves following them. They weren't even all that subtle about it half the time, which irked Gambit no end. He and Rogue attempted to dodge them on multiple occasions (on the bright side, Rogue was getting a crash course on 'how to lose a tail). Sometimes they succeeded, sometimes not. Once they decided to go watch a movie and Gambit decided to just cut to the chase and buy tickets for everyone.

On none of these occasions did any Assassins try to hit Gambit, and as time passed Rogue found it easier to brush her concerns aside. However, just because none of them came after Gambit didn't mean there were no further incidents amongst the Assassins themselves. Another one of the new council leaders was murdered, and a second was critically injured. Unfortunately, all that Henri's contact was able to reveal was that Bella Donna was conducting some private investigations.

Gambit went ahead with his plan to have a custom motorcycle made; one of his many criteria was to hide the brake line in the frame. He also picked up a special gift for Rogue for their first wedding anniversary:

Rogue's face lit up as her eyes fell on the brand new Ducati standing in the garage, with bright a red bow attached.

"I... you... seriously?" she stammered.

"Uh huh," Gambit said smugly as he dangled the keys in front of her face. "Happy anniversary, Roguey."

He then had to chuckle as Rogue did a little dance on the spot.

"This is the coolest present anyone has ever gotten me," she said, bouncing over and giving her new motorcycle a hug.

"What is it with you and hugging inanimate objects?" Gambit asked. "If I wasn't so secure in my sexuality, I might start to feel inadequate."

Rogue laughed.

"Aww, Remy, you know how important touch is to me," she said, paused, and then looked over him with a coy expression on her face. "And speaking of touch..."

Rogue and Gambit stepped out of the restaurant on another one of their night outs. It was mid September and an extra-special day as Rogue had successfully passed the "locking picking with mouth" trial. To the left and right of them were four Thieves, and there were another two that had been in the restaurant with them.

None of them saw the Assassin on the roof across the street.

None of them realised the danger they were in as Gambit and Rogue walked over to their motorcycles, giving the sniper the best view and all the time required to line up the shot.

Bang!

Rogue fell back hard on the concrete, all the air completely knocked out of her from the force of the bullet hitting her chest. Blood started to soak her shirt.

"Rogue!" Gambit yelled, immediately on the ground beside her.

Her body reacted instinctually, which was good because Rogue was in far too much shock to consciously pull out Logan's psyche and set his healing factor to work. Nor would she have been able to grab Kitty's psyche either and phase herself and Gambit in time to prevent the second bullet from hitting Gambit instead of plowing into the concrete.

The Thieves lost no time. A van pulled up in front of the motorcycles, obscuring the sniper's vision. Two Thieves rushed to their side, but as Rogue and Gambit were still phased, they could do nothing to help them up.

"Remy," insisted one Thief, "we need to get going."

All the response Gambit could muster was a nod. He carefully picked up Rogue, his eyes never leaving her once, and allowed himself to be guided to the van. Evidentially Rogue must have realised she was now safe for as soon as they were in the van, Gambit noticed he could feel things again.

The van door was closed and another Thief was at Rogue with the First Aid kit.

"What in the world..." she exclaimed when she saw the last of Rogue's wound healing up.

Gambit didn't answer. He just cradled his wife in his arms.

Back at the Guild Hall, Gambit and Henri stood in the dining room with Jean-Luc, who was seated behind the table. Tante Mattie had taken it upon herself to look after Rogue, who, while physically fine, was still dealing with the shock. Olivier remained in Mercy's care.

"... wouldn't have happened if you hadn't insisted on having everyone follow me around like my own private Secret Service team!" Gambit shouted angrily. "But oooohhhh noooooo, you just had to announce to any interested Assassins where I might be at any given time."

"Remy –" Henri began.

"And now look what happened! Rogue got shot! We would have been fine if you'd just let us have a little bit of discretion!"

"It wouldn't have happened at all, if you'd just stayed at home," Henri yelled back at him.

"Oh right, stay at home," Gambit said scornfully. "At home, like a scared little mouse. Right, if I stayed at home every time someone threatened to kill me, I never would have left N'Orleans. I've lost track of the number of bar fights, attempted abductions, traps, bounties and everything else I've survived over the years. I even bested Deadpool."

"You paid him three million dollars not to kill you," Henri pointed out.

"I still survived didn't I? I'm not one of your boys, Henri. I don't need your mothering."

"No," said Jean-Luc, his quiet voice penetrating the argument far more effectively than a raised voice would, "you're my boy."

Both Henri and Gambit were rendered silent, Henri with a relieved look on his face.

"Henri was obeying my instructions," Jean-Luc went on. "We are fortunate that the Assassin shot the only one of you with a healing factor – borrowed or otherwise."

"Fortunate?" Gambit exploded.

"Oui, fortunate," Jean-Luc said firmly. "Fortunate that your foolhardy behaviour hasn't cost more than an evening's disruption."

"My foolhardy behaviour? You're the one who was having me followed everywhere!"

"This isn't just about you, Remy," Jean-Luc insisted. "You have responsibilities –"

"To the Guild, I know," Gambit interrupted in exasperation. "I'm tired of hearing about it."

"Actually," Jean-Luc said mildly, "I was going to say 'to your family'."

Gambit fell silent.

"Rogue in particular," Jean-Luc said, "but also to Olivier. Don't you think he deserves to have both parents?"

"Oui," Gambit said after a moment's pause, sounding deflated.

"You live here, you work here, you're safe here," Jean-Luc said. "You'll stay here until this matter has been dealt with –"

"This is supposed to be my home, Père," Gambit said, "not my prison."

"I know. It won't last forever; for one thing, Bella Donna is far too stubborn to let this situation continue indefinitely," Jean-Luc said wryly. "Which reminds me, we must remember to send a message to her tomorrow to inform her of what happened here tonight. She needs to know how far this has gone, and I rather think I want the Assassins to know that Rogue has been gravely injured, but we're expecting her to recover."

"The less they know about her abilities, the better," Henri agreed.

"More to the point, it will explain Remy's sudden absence of trips outside the Hall," Jean-Luc said with a tight smile at Gambit. "We wouldn't want them to think he was so easily cowed, now would we?"

"Like I care what they think," Gambit muttered. "You'll excuse me, but I want to see to my wife."

"Remy," Jean-Luc said as Gambit approached the door. "I know you don't like being caged in. We'll do everything we can to alleviate that. And... you have that wedding coming up, no? Where is that?"

"California," Gambit replied, looking at the wall through the doorway, rather than back at his father.

"Good," Jean-Luc said. "Go. Even if the Assassins knew your plans, they wouldn't expect Rogue to travel in her 'current medical condition'."

"Then too, a lot of their activity is centred here," said Henri. "They may not want to leave N'Orleans at all at this time."

"Roguey?" Gambit said as he entered their bedroom.

"Hey Remy," Rogue said softly from the bed.

"How... how are you doing?" he asked as he made his way over to her.

Rogue gave a half shrug.

"Starting to regret letting Oli have my bear," she said.

Gambit cracked a smile and ran his hand along her arm.

"Well, good thing I'm here, then," he said. "I'm way better than a stuffed bear."

The slightest smile appeared on her lips.

"I don't know why I'm so shaken up," Rogue said, turning onto her back as Gambit stood and got ready for bed. "It's not like I've never been locked into a great big death machine or stabbed in the back or anything before."

"Never been shot, though," Gambit pointed out. "And those sniper rifles sure pack a punch."

"First-hand experience?"

"Fortunately I was wearing body armour at the time."

Rogue grunted and there was silence until Gambit got into bed. He slid over and wrapped her up in his arms.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"For what?" Rogue asked in genuine confusion.

"For putting you in danger. I had no idea they were after you. They were only supposed to be after me."

"How is that better?" she demanded.

"Never said it was better," Gambit replied. "I said that's what was supposed to be happening."

Rogue sighed.

"I don't blame you for what some Assassin did, Remy," she said. "I just... I... You know what? I don't really want to talk about this anymore. I just want you to hold me, okay?"

Gambit leaned over and kissed her cheek gently. "Okay."