I know, I know, it's been what, 2 months now? I'm truly sorry, but I've been dealing with a really nasty bout of depression since before November and it finally hit me hard right after Thanksgiving. I nearly lost my job because of it, but now I am back and working on my story once more. Cross your fingers for me and hope that nothing else hinders this thing. I anticipate MAYBE 10 more chapters depending on the size of my updates and I'm hoping to get a giant one out before the end of the month to make up for all that lost time.

In the meanwhile, I know it's short, it's probably not good, and it's not been edited 18 times like usual, but it's here.

Hope you enjoy it and PLEASE leave me some feedback!

Love & Light,
Wiccamage

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"So… what now?" Rogue asked timidly as she leaned heavily against the trunk of a large Douglas fir.

They had waited for about an hour after the mechanical guards had left the area to start moving again, but Remy insisted that they move slowly at first and rest every half hour or so to allow her ribs to recover.

Rogue was wearing Remy's coat again, this time over her dress, and she had to admit that the extra layer of clothing made her feel much more secure. Remy had also insisted on tying the dress scraps around her ribs for a little extra support and the wet makeshift bandages were helping quite a bit. The cold helped soothe the burning pain and the pressure kept her breathing low and steady, insuring that she wouldn't intake too much air and make her lungs expand beyond their current capacity.

Rogue snapped back to attention when Remy motioned for her to sit on a small rock by the river and with a roll of her eyes, she hesitantly complied.

Moving behind her and untying the bandages, Remy sighed. He'd had a while to think on their situation and their next move, but with Apocalypse possibly lurking around every corner, it was going to be difficult.

"Well, first of all, we keep moving," he said finally as he unwrapped the black fabric from Rogue's waist and turned to dip the scraps in the river once again. "Den, we rest, den we keep moving."

Rogue huffed and rolled her eyes again, "Gee, what a great idea. Why on earth didn't ah think a that?"

"Cause Gambit be d' brains behind dis operation, dat's why," he declared with a knowing smirk as he kneeled in front of her and began rewrapping her ribs.

Rogue gasped sharply as the cold absorbed through her dress and chilled her barely warmed skin.

"Y' all rightchere?" Remy asked. His hands stilled on either side of her waist and the warmth of his palms instantly contrasted with the freezing cloth.

He stared up at her with slightly furrowed brows and a trace of a frown on his face. His eyes shone with genuine concern for her and the tenderness of his gaze made Rogue swallow hard.

She forced a small, nervous smile and nodded.

"It's cold's all," she replied quietly and continued to stare into his eyes.

"Bad cold or good cold?" he asked, a teasing smile unfolding on one side of his mouth.

"Good," Rogue whispered, lost in his entrancing eyes, "definitely good."

They were frozen that way for a minute more before Rogue noticed that Remy's fingers were lightly caressing her sides.

Dazed, she let him continue his ministrations for a moment before they traveled down to the curve of her hips and she jerked from his grasp suddenly.

"Oh!" she cried out as the movement jostled her ribs painfully and her arms reflexively covered both her ribs and her sides.

Remy backed away instantly and tried not to reach out for her. "Dieu, m' sorry chere, Remy didn't mean t' hurt ya."

"Ya didn't, ah mean, ya sorta did, but not really," she stammered nervously as she blushed slightly.

Remy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ah mean, ya didn't hurt me, it was just when ah jerked away it…" she trailed off as a wicked smile plastered itself across Remy's face.

"When ya …jerked away, eh? Are you… are you ticklish chere?"

"NO!" she exclaimed as her hands tightened slightly around her sides.

She was not ticklish! Absolutely not! There was no way that she, tough, mean, pseudo-gothic, kick-your-butt-in-a-heartbeat Rogue, was ticklish. She simply couldn't be that girly.

Remy's smile faded slightly, but his eyes still danced with mischief.

"D'accord (okay), whatever y' say Rogue," he said casually and moved to start on the bandages once again.

As his fingers trailed along her ribs slowly and deliberately, however, Rogue skirted away from him once again.

"Don't you dare!" she cried as she swatted at his hands.

"Quoi?! (what)"

Remy withdrew from her slightly and raised his hands in the air. His face was the picture of innocence and even the look in his eyes was perfectly matched.

"Remy didn't do anything chere, don't know what y'r fussin' about."

"You know darn well what's what, you Swamp Rat!" she huffed and tried to move farther away from him.

"Now Rogue, Remy t'ought we went through dis already. Pet names are strictly reserved f'r after d' first date and y' haven't even let me take ya t' dinner yet."

She gaped at him for a moment and growled.

"Like ah'd ever let you! Cajun isn't exactly mah type, sugah!

"Sugar huh?" he grinned, "Well, mon coeur(my heart) I t'ink mebbe you don't even know what y'r type is. How many dates you had, eh?"

"Ah KNOW what mah type is thank you very much. And ah don't need t' date you ta know ya ain't it, HUN!" she countered.

"Touche, amour, (love) but y' still didn't answer my question. I didn't ask ifI was y'r type, just wanna know what y' t'ink yer type is."

He slowly raised himself up to her eye level and his expression turned serious as he placed his hands on her knees and leaned in until their noses were nearly touching.

"How many dates you had, eh chere? How you supposed t' know what y'r type really is if y' ain't never had one?"

Rogue's eyes flashed from shock to anger to sadness and back to anger rapidly before she finally lurched forward and pushed him roughly to the ground before continuing down the riverbank.

"That is NONE of yer business Gambit!" she yelled back as she crossed her arms over her chest.

It only took a moment for him to recover and with the wet bandages still in hand, he easily caught up to her.

"Oh come on, mignon(sweetie) I didn't mean t' make y' mad again. Just curious is all. T'ought maybe you'd be into de tall, dark an' ruggedly handsome men like moi (me)."

He fell into step beside her and smiled apologetically.

She didn't return the gesture.

Sighing, Gambit shoved his hands in his pockets and walked quietly beside Rogue, who refused to even glance at him.

He watched as she worked her jaw methodically, her mouth set in a firm line while she stalked along the shore.

"Y' know, I'd take you out in a heartbeat," he whispered quietly and Rogue's head whipped around to stare at him incredulously. "Dat is, if we weren't supposed t' be enemies an' all."

Rogue rolled her eyes and scoffed loudly, but turned away again.

"Whatdya say, petite, would you go out wit' me sometime? Peut-etre? (maybe?)" Gambit tried to keep his expression playful and nonchalant, but for some reason he couldn't quite comprehend, his pulse was practically racing.

Must have been the quick sprint, need to work out more…

Rogue snorted, but said nothing.

"Gambit'll take dat as a yes," he declared and pulled his cards from his pocket, fiddling with them.

"Ah sincerely doubt it," she finally said, jaw still firmly set but with a slightly less aggravated look in her eyes.

"Oh come on Rogue, are you sayin' dis sexy Cajun does nothin' for ya?"

Remy brought his arm up to show off the flexing muscle beneath the skin-tight uniform and Rogue focused on the endless sea of trees instead.

"Not a thing," she replied with such a straight face that she actually surprised herself.

"Humph," Remy grumped and folded his arms over his chest in a perfect imitation of a petulant child.

20 minutes later

"Come on Rogue, I said I was sorry. Y' can't STILL be angry over dat," Remy groaned as they continued walking – albeit slowly – along the riverbank. He had tried, unsuccessfully, at getting her to talk to him, or at least smile a little, but when that didn't work he finally resorted to pouting.

"I already told you I didn't mean to make y' mad."

"Oh really," she rounded without taking her eyes from the path ahead, "cause ya sure do it well!"

She afforded herself a quick, scornful glance in his direction, but, upon seeing the playful, boyish, yet still pitiful and apologetic smile, she quickly snapped her attention away again.

With an aggravated sigh, Remy fell back a step as he watched her storm onward. He walked on in silence for a while longer before sighing once again and grabbing Rogue's elbow, forcing her to stop and turn to him.

"Listen Rogue, we gotta stop doin' dis. If we're gonna get through dis, den we're gonna have t' work together, d'accord? (okay)"

Glaring, she raised a perfectly practiced eyebrow at him as her hip jutted out defiantly. Her arms twitched at her ribs as she moved to put one on her hip, but she apparently thought better of it, deciding to brace her ribs instead.

"I'm serious,petite. We could be out here for a long time. We can't contact anyone telepathically or Mesmero'll catch us. We can't build a fire or the guards'll spot us. I can't use m' powers or Apocalypse will find us.

Face it Rogue, we're up de creek here with nothin' but a pocket knife, a bo staff an' my coat. We might be out here for weeks, and once de new moon comes and goes, Apocalypse ain't gonna be lookin' to keep you as his pet no more. He'll kill us both an we prob'ly won't be lucky enough for it to be quick."

Rogue swallowed hard and paled slightly. Her shoulders slumped slightly as she cast her eyes to the ground, thinking hard. Remy watched as she bit her lip and her brow furrowed.

Suddenly, she looked back at him, full of questions.

"What's the new moon got t' do with it? Why doesn't he want me after that?"

Her eyes narrowed in a flash. Her body became rigid and, subconsciously, she stepped away from Gambit.

"How much do ya'll really know about this ritual? What aren't you tellin' me, Gambit?" She bit out his code name as if it left a bitter taste in her mouth and he cringed.

Her lips turned up in a small snarl as she watched him guardedly, her deep green eyes screaming accusations and distrust even after all they'd been through together in the last day.

Gambit held up his hands in mock surrender. It was a half hearted attempt at a joke, but mostly he didn't want her to bolt suddenly, or worse, slug him again.

"I only know what I overheard before I rescued you. It don't all make a lot a sense t' me, but I think I get the main idea."

"And what's that?" This time Rogue did move her hands to rest on her still cocked hips and she tapped her foot impatiently as she awaited his answer.

Resisting the urge to flinch when she moved her arms, Gambit suppressed a groan as he opted for a labored sigh instead. She was NOT going to like what he had to say.

And, she would probably express that dislike by taking it out on him.

Lowering his hands slowly, he looked her in the eye and tried to appear as reassuring and honest as possible.

"I PROMISE I'll tell you everythin' on de way, but right now we need to worry 'bout dose eyes a yours."

Her hands dropped from her hips in alarm and she took another step back. The hardened glare was swept from her face as her eyebrows shot upward.

"What about mah eyes?" She couldn't stop the 'deer in the headlights' expression from her face and the rollercoaster of emotion she was displaying almost made him want to laugh.

"Well," he replied, pulling yet another scrap of dress from his pocket, "since Apocalypse can apparently see through 'em when you sleep, we gotta make sure he don't know where we're goin'." He stepped toward her with the one end of the fabric draped over each open palm.

"And t' do dat, you," he punctuated by taking another step forward, "gotta keep 'em closed."

This time Rogue very nearly did run. He watched her legs twitch as her body became tense once again and she took a large step back as he took another forward.

"Don't you dare!" she cried, backing up slowly while keeping her bare hands out in front of her. She was falling back on her skin as a weapon. It obviously hadn't completely sunk in that she was powerless yet.

Well, she'd learn soon enough.

"Rogue, ya gotta trust me on dis. As long as you know where we're goin' so does he. An' if he can see where we are and where we're goin' den we might as well just raise de white flag now an' wait for him t' come get us."

Rogue pursed her lips together and cast her eyes to the ground. Maybe if she just didn't look up…?

"You know that tryin' to keep your eyes on de ground ain't gonna help either, right? Sooner or later, you're gonna look at de river or hear a noise or somethin' and den it'll all go t' pot."

She stared up at Gambit incredulously, wondering if the Professor had failed to mention that the card wielding mutant also had telepathic abilities.

"You know I'm right, Rogue. We gotta do dis."

The ex-mutant Goth watched Remy warily for a moment. She did NOT like the idea of being blindfolded around this man, let alone relying on him to be her eyes.

"How do you propose I walk around this forest without bein' able t' see Gam…" she took a quick calming breath as she forced herself to use his first name, "Remy."

At least he was being nice and not trying to goad her into a fight.

For the time being anyhow…

Rogue was quickly losing her patience, though. She was rather nervous about the idea of letting Gambit to guide her through the forest at all – let alone blindfolded – even if she did know how essential it was to their survival (not that she'd tell him that).

She was pulled from her thoughts, however, when he took another step forward and managed to trap her between himself and another fir tree.

Rogue barely suppressed a gasp as the Cajun Acolyte closed the small gap and very nearly pressed his body against hers.

There were only a few mere inches between them, but Gambit could still feel the heat radiating off of Rogue as she stared up at him, a mixture of anxiety, wariness, and that darn nagging something else shining brightly in her green eyes. She had stopped herself from gasping, barely, but couldn't help the way her mouth curved into a perfect "o" of surprise at his closeness.

He held the makeshift blindfold up and with his other hand he took hers. She flinched slightly at the abrupt contact, years of conditioning and fear of her skin overriding the new freedom of touch. Looking down at her open palm, he carefully placed the strip of cloth over her fingers and with a last piercing look into those soulful green eyes, he stepped back once again.

"I ain't gonna make you do nothin' you don't want, Rogue. But I think you know as well as I do that it's our only good option. You could try to play the Freddy Krueger game and stay awake, but that's only gonna last so long, and chances are you'll be droppin' off to sleep in seconds soon as we stop for a break. A body takes damage like yours did and it uses every chance it gets to rest and heal. Much as you don't like de idea of Apocalypse invading your dreams again, your body's gonna sleep whether your head wants to or not."

Rogue stared down at the cloth in her hand and scowled foully at it.

Darn him, but he was right.

She huffed, but pursed her lips in thought. "How am ah gonna navigate around all the boulders and trees and everything if ah can't see? It'll take us forever if ah have to creep along t' keep from fallin' on mah face!"

She crossed her arms over her chest again and leaned back against the tree, defeated.

"Don't worry chere, y' won't be walkin' at all," he stated as he tilted his head to the side and gave her another mischievous smile. "I'll be carryin' ya."

"Ha!" she half laughed, half snorted at his easy answer, but she noted the new seriousness in his expression and realized that he wasn't teasing this time.

"You – you can't CARRY me!"

"Why not, already did it a handful of times in the last two days, what with you playin' the damsel in distress and all."

That danged smile was back again and it was starting to make her blood boil.

"Those were special circumstances and you know it!" she rounded on him with her finger pointed at his chest, taking a meaningful step forward even though he refused to back down.

"An' so's dis. Me carryin' you now is just as necessary as it was all dose other times. More so, in fact." His easy tone and 'just prove me wrong' expression said more than words ever could.

Despite the nasty attitude and the standoffish persona she had created, Remy LeBeau didn't find her the least bit intimidating.

"Argh!" Rogue threw her hands in the air and tried to stalk away again.

Remy had other ideas.

Quickly, he grabbed her elbow and turned her again, this time making sure to press her flush against him.

He dipped his head and whispered quietly in her ear. "Look chere, I know you don't like dis, but it don't have to be so bad, eh? Besides, it appears t' me dat you got three t'ings workin' against you. One, y'r ribs are broken, two, y'r ticklish and three, I've already got so much dirt on you it'd ruin your bad name f'rever if I told anyone."

Rogue pulled back abruptly and glared venomously at the man.

"I'm just sayin'petite, I could always tickle y', tie y' up and throw y' over my shoulder before y' even get a chance to react; OR, if you'll go along wit' dis an' trust me, I promise I won't tell anyone 'bout how y' run around d' forest without any underpants."

Rogue's pace went pale for about 3 seconds before she blushed so red it nearly matched the shade of his eyes.

He suppressed a chuckle for her sake, but smiled grandly when she begrudgingly placed the blindfold over her eyes and turned around.

"Make sure ya tie it good at least, huh?" she grumbled. "And how, exactly, are you plannin' t' carry me?"

Remy smoothed the cloth down over her eyes and let his hands trail along the fabric across her ears and hair before deftly fastening the two ends together.

"Well, we could do it bridal style, but dat'd prob'ly compress your ribs too much and it wouldn't be too great on my arms either. Y' could sit on m' shoulders, but den y' might get hit wit' a branch. Or, I t'ink d' best option is if you ride piggy back."

He turned her gently around again to face him and caught the brief look of doubt on her face. "Dat good?" he asked as he checked the blindfold for defects.

"Yeah," she replied with a resigned sigh. "And ah guess yer right, that probably would be the best way to go," she colored slightly and though she couldn't see his face, she dropped her head, "but, uh, as y' already mentioned, that's gonna be a little, um…"

She covered her hands with her face quickly and made to turn away from him entirely, but he placed his hands on her bare shoulders and steadied her.

"Dere's nothin' t' be embarrassed about chere, it's just d' hand we were dealt dis time around. I promise I ain't gonna try and sneak a peak or cop another feel or anything, okay? We gotta take what we got here."

She nodded miserably, but still refused to raise her head.

Gently, he used his thumb to tilt her face toward him so he could better read her expression. "I'm gonna need at least a little smile here first though; otherwise I'll never have enough strength t' go on."

He smiled as she blushed faintly again, but this time the small touch of pink across her cheeks complemented the paleness of her skin instead of washing out her face entirely.

She shook her head slightly, but afforded him with a very small, but very pretty, tight-lipped smile that slowly spread and upturned one side of her mouth completely.

"Bien!" (good) he cried and, turning, bent down low in front of her.

"Reach y'r hand out – my shoulder'll be right in front of you." She did as requested and Remy couldn't stop the small thrill running through him as she ghosted her hand across the muscle there – feeling her way across his body.

"Now lean in close, but try to keep y'r ribs from pushing too hard against my back." Again, he waited as she followed his instructions, still blind, and leaned lightly against his back. "Your gonna need to lift one leg up an' wrap it around my waist," she hesitated slightly, "don't worry petite, I've got ya. Unfortunately, I need to use y'rderriere (behind), t' lift y' up. If I come up straight, I'll hurt ya."

Rogue sighed and, molding herself to him more completely, she slowly let her left leg glide up along his bent knee to his waist, where she rested it shakily.

Quickly & deftly, Remy reached back with both hands and held her bottom with as much gentleness & professionalism as he could muster as he rose up with Rogue on his back.

The nervous heat she was radiating was nearly enough to throw him off balance, but he checked himself as she tightened her grip around his neck when her other foot left the ground.

He could sense the tension and slight fear in her flexed muscles – nearly every one of them in her body were coiled tight as a spring – and he chuckled slightly as immediately wrapped both feet around his waist and clung to him.

With a quick grin, he reached his hand back and lightly pinched her exposed behind.

She gasped, jerked slightly in protest and removed one arm from his shoulders to thwack him in the forehead.

"You son of a…"

"Now chere, I never promised not to pinch, but I do promise dat I won't do it again."

She muttered something under her breath.

"What was dat?" he asked with in an innocent tone.

"Ah said, let's get movin' already!" she bit at him fiercely, obviously not airing what she was truly thinking.

With another unseen smile, Remy turned in a circle a few times to disorient his new passenger and began splashing through the river for extra effect.

Rogue grumbled under her breath above him.

"Stupid, cocky Cajun and his stupid grabby hands…"

The rest was cut off by her shrill shriek as Remy used his now free hand to splash cold water up at her.

"GAMBIT!!"

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"Fascinating new thing.

You delight me
And I know you're speaking of me

Fascinating new thing
Get beside me,
I want you to love me

I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're lovely and you're perfect
And that somebody wants you

I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're priceless and you're holy
Even when you are not new."

I'm hoping to incorporate that song into the next chapter - so I guess you can consider it a preview!