This chapter is mostly about Gambit adjusting to life in the mansion and the abuse he goes through because none of them like him very much, WITH A SURPRISE ENDING!

Enjoy!

Explosions of Every Kind Chapter 6: First Day

Gambit's first day as an "X-man" was no friendlier than the past few weeks he had spent there.

Rogue was still giving him the cold shoulder, even though he'd saved her life twice and she had saved him once. He still accredited that fact to Sabertooth, hoping he was correct but knowing in the back of his mind Rogue was regaining more control over her thoughts and actions everyday.

His initial day contained more of surviving obstacle courses and agitated teammates than wooing Rogue.

5 a.m. – Gambit's alarm went off. Something he was not accustomed to. He never used an alarm. Gambit assumed it was for breakfast, he was wrong.

Gambit walked down to the kitchen in his pj's, which were just a pair of navy blue sweatpants, no shirt, and found it empty. However, what he did hear were kids banging around upstairs trying to throw on their uniforms as fast as they could then running to the danger room to make sure they weren't late. 'Great,' he thought, 'well I'm already down here, minds well eat.' Subsequently Gambit walked to the refrigerator and scrounged around to find something he deemed worthy of eating. Nothing in the fridge was spicy enough for his Cajun palette so he decided to go to the danger room session with the rest of his "teammates".

Beast was running this session, and although the punishment was not as bad as Wolverine's would have been, Gambit learned not to be late again. Beast decided to turn the danger room hologram into a jungle infested with black panthers, hungry black panthers, and Gambit was the guinea pig.

One of the wild cats circled him, ready to strike. When it did pounce, Gambit whipped out his bo-staff and the cat bit it, breaking it in half. This was no bother to Gambit, he took one half in each hand and beat the machine disguised as a panther into a limp position, then to finish it off he kinetically charged the contraption's corpse and let it blow. He turned to the crowd of students and winked at Rogue.

She giggled like a school girl, surprising Gambit greatly. He thought he had scored some points with her, once again he was wrong. The real reason she was laughing was three more jungle cats were about to lunge at Gambit from behind. He was unaware of this until the cats were in the air; he twisted around in enough time to get pinned to the ground by the middle one. It growled and snarled in his face. But, he'd faced much worse than a few automated panthers before and kicked the underbelly of the machine causing it to buck up. He freed himself then sent explosive playing cards at one of the cats, forcing it to burst. Next, Gambit lunged for the second and kinetically charged the whole cat. Twisting around to kick it into the third panther, it slashed his arm with its jagged claws. Gambit's arm now bled; nevertheless the second cat went flying into the third in an immense explosion.

He turned to Beast, "Dat it?"

"For now," Beast answered while waving his hand signaling for Gambit to rejoin the group.

"What do y'think y'r doin' Cajun?" Rogue whispered callously at him.

"Bein' an X-man, Chere."

"Y'don't wanna be an X-man 'n y'know it."

"True," he whispered near her ear, "But I do want to be 'round you."

"Then go back t'Magneto 'n tell him t'pick a fight wit' the X-men."

"No."

She hated that word. Especially the way he said it, all smug and arrogant. Why did he have to be here? Constantly taunting her. Even though Rogue had enjoyed his company in the infirmary, that time was done and she wanted him to leave. 'Things were fine how they were,' she told herself, 'just seeing him in battles was all right. I don't know if I can take him being here 24/7.'

Even though he had rescued Rogue and put his life on the line for her, it seemed none of the X-men liked him.

"Okay," Beast announced, "We are in the jungle to practice teamwork. None of you have had breakfast right?"

The students grumbled in agreement.

"Good," he continued, "Because there is real food out there. The panthers guard it, and you are not only to steal food for yourselves, you are also to make a shelter. And here's the kicker, no powers!" He said the last part gleefully as if it was something to look forward to.

"Oh man," Bobby complained, "How long is this danger room session supposed to take?"

"Until you have survived. The Professor feels this will be a good team-building activity, so I hope none of you had plans for today," Beast stifled a chuckle. As he turned to leave the danger room he said, "Remember, work together."

Scott immediately took the lead and ordered, "Bobby, Rogue, Kitty and Jean go find the panthers and get food. Kurt and Gambit we're going to start on the shelter."

Amazingly no one argued. Rogue was still a bit on edge and hoped neither of her teammates would get on her nerves, or they might not be coming back from the panthers' cave. Gambit, on the other hand, didn't give a damn about his partners, he was just thinking of ways to get Rogue alone in a cozy little cot.

"Kurt, go find wood."

"Ay ay captain," Kurt joked then left into the jungle.

"And Gambit-"

"Remy, mon ami," he implored.

"I prefer Gambit. Scout out a good location."

"And what are you gonna do?" Gambit asked somewhat darkly.

"Gather necessary supplies," Scott chided.

Gambit huffed away into the jungle, hoping Scott would trip over a tree foot and get attacked by animals.

Meanwhile, Rogue, Bobby, Kitty, and Jean were having little luck finding the panthers or the food. But that may be because all Rogue could think about was Remy. She could no longer feel him inside her head and she knew why: his shade sacrificed himself for her, just like the real Gambit was willing to do. Suddenly, the image of their first kiss flashed in front of her eyes and she tripped over a root and fell.

"You okay?" Bobby asked.

Rogue lifted herself up and said, "Yeah, fine."

"Oka-" Bobby was cut short by the growls of a horde of wild cats. "No powers?" Bobby asked.

"No powers," Jean confirmed balling her hands into fists.

"Not a problem," Rogue said smugly.

Rogue rounded her foot into the side of one of the cats, as the other three took on ones of their own.

Hanging upside-down on a tree by his tail, Kurt was picking a bushel of bananas he had spotted. "Wow, I hope these are real," Kurt considered. His mind was also reeling, mostly of his sister. Kurt worried deeply for Rogue and felt he should warn Gambit to back off, but he'd be wasting his breath and he knew it. Kurt claimed his fruity prize and continued his hunt for usable wood.

Gambit was wondering around the jungle contemplating different ways to embarrass and demean Scott when he heard a fight in the distance. Hoping for some action, his blood started to pump as he searched for the source of the commotion. Gambit stumbled upon the goody-goody redhead psychic, the arrogant icebox, the annoying ghost girl, and his stubborn, emotionally damaged femme fighting off a multitude of wild cats. He wasted no time in assisting them. Whipping out a spare bo-staff he kept within his trench coat, Gambit used it as a pole-vaulter would and slammed feet first into a panther on top of Kitty. She blushed and thanked him.

"No problem petite," Gambit responded.

Rogue hadn't noticed he was there until she heard his voice. "Gambit?" she called.

"Oui mon chérie."

"Why are y'here? Ain't y'supposed t'be with Scott?"

"I find you t'be much bett'r company."

"Jus' go do y'r job lover boy and leave us alone," Rogue scolded.

"This," Gambit grunted while being leapt upon by a panther, "is more important."

She rolled her eyes and flipped the wild cat on her back that had attacked her from behind into the one on top of Gambit; in appreciation he tipped his head to her.

"I see the food!" Jean shouted, "Distract them so me and Bobby can nab it."

Kitty, Gambit, and Rogue drew the panthers' attention away and were soon circled by angry, snarling cats.

"Great plan," Rogue commented sardonically. She looked down at her hands, forgetting that since Sabertooth's shade was sent to the back of her mind she no longer had claws, she grabbed hold of one of the panthers by the neck. Her eyes glazed over and she looked as if she were in a daze.

"Rogue!" Gambit shouted as the panther slashed her arm and she began to bleed. Rogue didn't let go however or seem to really notice the blood trickling down her upper limb, instead she balled her hand into a fist and punched the jungle cat repeatedly until it was a mass of twitching, sparking dead machinery. All the other panthers fled. She stared down at it then began to blink slowly and regained her faculties.

"Wha-what did Ah jus' do?"

Her feet wavered beneath her and she fell backwards into Gambit, who caught her with open arms. "Y'okay?"

"Yea-yeah. Ah guess he's still in there somewhere, huh?" She tried to manage a fake laugh. This unnerved Gambit and he fastened his arms around her even tighter than before.

For a moment, she let herself go and be enveloped in his arms, but that moment passed quickly as Bobby and Jean came running back with arms filled to the brink with food yelling, "We got it! We got it!" Hearing this, Rogue quickly snapped back to reality and ripped out of his grasp. "Okay," Jean commanded, "Let's meet back with Scott and Kurt at the campsite."

'Shit,' Gambit thought, 'I was supposed to find the campsite for us.'

In time, they all met up in an open field of sorts that the trees and jungle circled. Kurt had several pieces of wood in his hands as well as many more being carried by his tail, and the bushel of bananas was held in his mouth swaying back and forth as he walked. Scott had procured many supplies also, while Bobby and Jean set all the food in a neat pile.

"Good job team," Scott commended, "I suggest small huts with palm leaves and other vegetation as roofs." He looked around at all the faces staring back at him and found only one with a smile on it: Jean. "Okay," he continued, "Let's get building, three to one hut, and four to the other." Bobby ended up sharing the hut with Jean and Scott, while Rogue, Gambit, Kitty, and Kurt took the other.

While raising up one of the walls of their hut Scott walked by Gambit and he purposely stood in his way so their shoulders hit. "You got a problem Gambit?"

"Non mon ami. I jus' t'ink y'should actually b'de team leader befo' y'start actin' like it."

Scott grumbled to himself then walked away before the two got into a fist fight and wreaked everything that had been built. Gambit chuckled, pissing Scott off even more.

Out of nowhere it began to rain… hard. Everyone knew this was because of Storm, it was a test. They quickly finished their dire little huts, grabbed some food and the necessary supplies for a campfire then huddled in.

In Scott, Jean, and Bobby's tent they had the fire going and were cooking and talking like friends do, not exactly enjoying themselves but staying in a semi-positive mood. Things in the other tent were different, but not in a bad way.

"Kurt, you like sure you know how to do this?" Kitty asked, she had never been camping in her life and was currently watching Kurt construct a campfire.

"Yes Kitty, I do," he smiled at her.

Rogue was sitting near the other wall, resting her head against it. Gambit came over to her and sat down, "Some first day."

She just tilted her head and looked at him, but made no response.

"Are y'sure y'r okay?"

"Fine," she answered emotionlessly.

"Hey," he placed his covered finger under her chin and tipped her head up, "What happened back dere?"

"Ah…" she shied her head away, "Ah lost control."

"We all do sometimes," he tried to console her.

"It's different, when y'guys lose it y'don't lose control of hundreds of different powers and personalities that weren't yours t'begin with. Gambit, it's scary. What if it isn't a machine next time? What if, what if it's you? Or Kurt? Or Jean?"

"Ch-" he tried to speak but was cut off by Rogue.

"Ah can't afford not t'be in control," she finished.

Before Gambit could get another word past his lips, Kurt shouted, "Ah ha!" He had gotten the fire started and Kitty was cheering.

Rogue stood up without another intimate word to Gambit and walked over to her brother, "It's about time," she joked, "Ah'm starving!"

"Fighting panthers on an empty stomach is like not very healthy," Kitty chimed in.

Soon after, the food was cooked and they were all sitting in a circle around the campfire eating.

Later on, the rain had let up and all seven met up outside of their shelters. "What now?" Kitty asked.

"Beast said we had to survive," Jean said.

"Haven't we done that?" Bobby scratched his head.

"I say we work on our huts and make them more resistant," Scott said with authority.

Remy stifled a snort, something about Scott annoyed the hell out of him, but then again he'd never been one to follow authority.

"Got a problem?" Scott sounded irritated.

"Course not," Gambit bowed, "sir."

That tore it. Scott lunged at Gambit and he side-stepped then kicked him in the back. Scott went after him again, but Jean grabbed his arms, "Scott! Calm down!"

Gambit laughed yet again.

"Come on Scott," Jean coaxed, "Everyone, let's search for more materials." With that, they all scattered into the woods except for Gambit and Rogue.

"Gambit, what are y'doin'?" Rogue shouted.

"In de guild, you gave respect t'de leader and de people that proved themselves better than you. Not t'little pretentious kids."

"Y'ain't in the guild anymore! And here we don't beat each other up t'show supremacy, we're a team." She stopped then looked sincere, something he hadn't seen in her eyes since he was in the infirmary with her. "Remy, y'r not here t'save me anymore. Y'r here t'be a jackass. Y'really think they like that any more than Ah do?"

"I'm here fo' you, y'have t'know dat."

"Ah do. And Ah won't let y'get hurt tryin' t'be wit' me. Its best if y'leave."

"No!" he shouted, "Don't y'see? I don't care if it kills me, I love you."

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And If you have any ideas for later chapters, I am not adverse to hearing them.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN XMEN/XMEN EVOLUTION