Part 7: Sleeping Beauty
Dat night wit Sinister was one o' dose nights dat you don' forget so easy. Not only was de whole t'ing unpleasant, but confusin' as anyt'ing. One minute asleep, next yo' awake but don' know where you are. All you know dat yo' wit Sinister. I hate dat man. So you start ta brace yo'self fo' what's ta come, only ta find out s' not you he's after. S' not often an homme gets de drop on Remy LeBeau, an I mu's admit s' not my fav'rite t'ing.
So dere we were, two to a cell, wit' no answers cept dat somet'in bad was bout ta happen to Rogue.
But let me get a word in on my cellmate, Psylocke. S' true, we spent a night together, but not'ing happen. Me and Psylocke were gettin' closer all the time, an' s' not like I wouldn't have, undah normal circumstances. When Psylocke came ta my room in de night, I'll admit dat at first I was pleasantly surprised. However, Betsy had been out on de town; a combination o' night magic and cocktails had put some ideas in her head about how to end her evenin' out: wit' Gambit. But in his own way, Gambit a gentleman, an I wasn't about ta let it start dat way. I kissed de femme, held her, let her sleep it off, but dat was it. I prefer bein' on de side of de night magic, but sometimes ya got ta do t'ings de right way. Turns out I was right, Psylocke didn' really want dat, least not yet. I tol' her ta come back an' talk ta me again the next night if de idea still appealed, but she didn'. In dat case, my place at de X-men would have become somewhat awkward had I taken her up on her offer. C'est la vie.
Also true is dat I had been avoidin' ma chere. S' not like I had never cared about a femme before. Quite far from it. Gambit cared about lots o' femmes. Never did like ta see a lady mistreated. But s' been very few of dem dat I had real, true, feelings fo'. De truth is dat I didn' want to care fo' Rogue, not like I was doin'. I've learned plenty about myself over de years, an' one t'ing I know better dan anyt'ing else is when I'm in danger. So I gave myself a little breathin' room from her.
Why didn't I want to care? Couple o' reasons. I t'ought I liked my life de way it was. I liked de freedom of doin' what I wanted, goin' where I wanted ta go, and not lookin' back, least not mos' o' de time. In my experience, really carin' about somebody is a chain you put on yo'self. No matter how far you get, dey still got a hold over you. Given previous liaisons, I much preferred dependin' on myself dan on anyone else. Dat an' I was startin' ta get de impression dat maybe Rogue was t'inkin' more about me dan she was lettin'on. Every so often I managed ta say or do somet'in an' dere was dis wide eyed look she would give me, dis kind o' vulnerable side. I liked Rogue. I didn' want anyt'ing bad ta happen ta her. Fallin' in love wit' a man like me would definitely be a bad t'ing.
Back to de night in question. Jub'lee kept runnin' at de mouth, prolly cause she was scared. At first, Psylocke wasn' bothered by de scrambler, till Charles tried to push past it anyway. Den dey put de prof in dat machine tingy, an' reset de scrambler to a stronger setting. Dat took care o' Xavier and Psylocke all in one blow. Afta dat she was dead ta de world, tryin' ta keep hold on her thoughts. Hank was mos'ly tryin' ta figure out a way ta help de prof, but ta no avail. He wouldn' risk messin' wit a machine he didn't undastand with Xavier still in it. Plus he just gets distracted when a machine impresses him. Nature o' de Beast.
Gambit knew better dan to try de locks. I known dis Sinister guy, an I know s' no use. So, much to my humiliation, we had not'in to do but sit dere and wait ta be rescued. After a while, we got Rogue. Jus' Rogue by herself. An' she was bein' uncharacteristically passive about de whole t'ing. Didn' even put up a fight. Didn' look good ta Remy. Looked like everyt'in was going ta Sinister's plan thus far. Den she grabbed my hands. Two t'ings happen ta Remy when she did dat. First, I was touched, and unexpectedly. She was comin' here, at great risk ta herself, jus' to save us, ol' Remy included. And Sinister's no joker, maybe I more dan anyone had some clue o' just how disagreeable he can be, an' still she was de one tryin' ta comfort me. Dat was when I really started ta worry. Next t'ing dat happened was dat Rogue slipped somet'in between my fingers. She gave me a meaningful glance, an' den went back about her business o' dealin' with Sinister.
Once dey wandered back away, I had a chance ta look at what she had given me. A communicator! Dere was a plan après tout! Happy day…
"Dis is Gambit. You read?"
"We read you Gambit. This is Cyclops, you guys ok?"
"We fine so far, homme."
"That's great news Gambit. What's going on in there?"
"Well, he's decided not ta send any o' us out after all."
"That's bad news."
"Oui. You got a backup plan don't you?"
"Not a great one. Gambit, we've got to get in there."
"You do an we all dance de big kaboom."
"I know. Gambit, if we can get the scrambler off, I think we stand a shot. I think that's probably our best shot. You've got to find an opportunity to – ,"
"Quiet now Cyclops, dey comin' back. Remy'll try."
"Keep in contact."
Dey came in an' bound us all up, den marched us out ta where dey had Rogue on de table. Sinister was making one o' his record breakin' monologues bout de end o' de world or somet'in like dat, but Remy had uddah t'ings on his mind. I was watchin' my surroundings, tryin' ta find de right moment ta sneak away. Jub'lee was sort of snugglin' closer an' closer ta me. I knew she was scared but ah didn' have much time ta pay attention ta her. Plus all bound up an' gagged dere wasn' much I could do bout it. Not gonna be easy, wit Sinister an' all de nasty boys, plus Vertigo. Maybe she a member o' de nasty boys, but if she is, den dey need ta call demselves de nasty people.
Den I saw Rogue use her powers fo' de first time. Well, perhaps use is a strong word. I guess I saw her powers happen, instead. To be honest dere isn' much ta see, relative to mos' mutant powers. It almos' looked like de air was swimming over Vertigo's hands when she touched Rogue. But Vertigo's face told de story. Dat face was surprise, pain, an' fear. Any way you line 'em up, dat's never a good combination. De longer she held on, de more Rogue's skin seemed ta be humming, even almos' glowing, but her face looked but anyt'ing but serene. Her eyes were flitting around, seemed ta be seein' t'ings dat weren't dere, and her face said more plainly dat words could have dat she hated it. Dat she hated ta be touched.
'S a tres mal feeling, not bein' able ta help someone important when ya want to. But jus' as I was about to get desperate, I felt somet'ing tugging at my wrists. It was Jub'lee! Untyin' de bonds! Smart girl! Dat's why she got so cuddly. Say what you like about our lil' mall hopper, but she works well undah pressure. I t'ink she just got used to bein' in a constant state o' panic after a while. I felt de rope fall away, but I didn' move my hands. No need to draw any attention to myself. I just had to find my chance. Vertigo let go o' Rogue, an' den Rogue herself provided a distraction fo' me. Vertigo's nom de guerre is self-explanatory. Dat feelin' you get up high lookin' down, where you get dizzy and can't tell which way is which, dat's exactly what it felt like when Rogue let loose.
I was not immune. But I jus' kept movin', without really knowing which way I was goin'. Tell de truth, it was startin' ta wear on my stomach. But de further I got away, the less the effect. By the time she let up again, I was out de door.
I went down de hall, quick and quiet. Had ta find de scrambler, but first I had to risk a message.
"Cyclops I'm out. I don' t'ink dey noticed yet, but I gotta tell ya I don' know what a psionic scrambler looks like."
"Gambit do you know how the detonator works?"
"Looks jus' like a remote control, 'cept for it only has one button."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Sinister had it wit' him, but he gave it to dis Slab fella so he could concentrate on de monitors."
"How do you get the collars off?"
"Jus' a key, but Sinister has dat on 'im."
"Where's Rogue?"
"Dey hurtin' her."
"Dammit! Gambit we've gotta get in there."
"Den you better tell me what dis scrambler looks like!"
Apparently, a scrambler looks like some kinda alien stereo system. From my limited understandin', it emits a frequency of sound beyond dat of hearing. You only vulernable if yo' a psychic.
"How do I turn dis t'ing off?"
"It's electrical, you've got to find a way to cut off the power. I don't know if it'll have a button or a switch."
Ev'ry once in a long while, de good lord chooses to smile on Remy Lebeau. I don' know what button or switch was what, but from Psylocke's condition I didn' really want ta pick de wrong one. Fortunately, de damn t'ing had a plug. Pulled it out, and I couldn' help but smile. Not ev'ry day do you get a problem dat simple.
"Done."
"Thank god. Jean, make Slab drop the remote. If we can get it free Kurt can try to grab it. We're coming in Gambit; try to meet up with us."
I started to make my way out o' de buildin' when I heard Rogue scream. Dat sound put a shot of adrenaline in my blood an' I turned right back around wit'out t'inkin. I jus' ran to dat girl as fast as I could.
When I got back to dat room, dere was chaos goin' on. Looked like Jub'lee had gotten everyone else untied, an' dey were tryin' hard ta get dat key off Sinister, but looked like he wasn' makin' it so easy. However, de collar dey had taken off Rogue was layin' on de floor next ta Vertigo. No one had noticed me yet, so I grabbed de t'ing. If I could get dat t'ing onto Sinister, maybe he'd be a lil mo'…cooperative. Unfortunately Ruckus caught sight o' me, an' let loose one o' dose signature rebel yells. Dat boy has quite a set o' pipes. Knocked me flat backwards just wit' de sound.
"Betsy! Heads up!"
I threw dat collar an' t'ank god, she caught it. Sinister was catchin' on ta my idea though.
"Ruckus! George! Stop her!"
Strange, Vertigo was still out cold, Ramrod right next ta her, but George and Slab seemed to be comin' back to life.
Suddenly everyone's attention was focused on Psylocke, an' she got hit with several diff'rent tricks all at once. But de opportunity wasn' lost on Beast. He grabbed Jub'lee an' launched her at Sinister. He might not have been able to use his powers, but never underestimate de physical ability o' Hank McCoy. Jub'lee hit him wit' enough force ta knock him down. She started rootin' an' pawin' at Sinister like he had de last chili dog hidden somewhere.
"I found it!!" she cried, but den Sinister hit her wit' one o' his concussive energy bolts an' she went flyin'. Slab was already givin' Hank enough ta worry about by den. George came to an' sent his arms flyin' over to where Jub'lee had landed.
After I shook off de sting, I jumped up to go after Sinister myself, but a puff o' blue smoke beat me to it. I didn' know Nightcrawler had joined de team, but dere he was, tearin' around de room so fas' I couldn' keep track of him. He got de key, and den he started flittin' around de room openin' collars. Now dis fight was lookin' better.
Me I had a score ta settle wit' Ruckus over dere. Once Nightcrawler put de ragin' back in dis Cajun, I went over ta where he was tormentin' lil Jub'lee. I didn' have my cards. Dey pretty much took everyt'in from us when we were captured, but dat didn' make no diff'rence. De loudmouth was wearin' a coat. I gave him a nice pat on de back, and dat coat exploded. I started ta go help Jub'lee up, but den I noticed de chere. Seems dey had taken her off de table, maybe hopin' ta take her wit' dem. What I saw in her face when she was layin' dere was enough to stop me in my tracks.
Gambit's seen death before. Sometime seem like he's jus' an old gamblin' friend. Once you see him, you never forget his face. And when I looked over dere, I t'ought Rogue was dead.
When you get dese kinds o' shocks...it's very hard ta explain later. One of dose t'ings you either know from experience or you can't possibly understan'. De world slows down, yo' vision tunnels, an' dere's nothin' cept dis one t'ing, dis one moment, dis one person in de whole universe.
I went over to de femme, where she was layin' on de floor so still. I slipped my arm undaneath her, and pulled her inta my arms. Her face was so pale.
"Rogue."
I don' know why it is dat you say somebody's name when you t'ink dere dead, but you'll find dat you do. It's one of those natural responses dat no one should ever have ta find out about.
But de femme, she opened her eyes, lifted her head, an' my breathin' jus' stopped. Dere's only one shock greater dan findin' out someone's dead when you didn' expect it: findin' out someone's alive when you didn't expect it.
"Remy are you all right?" Was I all right? Her first thought was whether Gambit was all right? After what jus' happen?
Almos' laughed, I was so relieved. An' wrapped up in dat surreal moment, dat uddah worldly feelin'…I jus' didn't t'ink about it. I touched her face. Her skin was soft and cool. Den I felt it. You know how it feels when you prick your fingertip, an' den you squeeze? It feels a lot like dat, but ev'rywhere, all o'you, inside an' out. I froze, couldn' help it. She shoved me away from her so hard I slammed into the ceiling before I fell back down.
I blacked out fo' a while, don' know how long, but couldn' been more dan a few seconds. When I came to I still couldn' move. De strength had gone from me. Jus' as well, everyone else was on de floor too.
Rogue was floatin' in de air, even though her body was limp, an' de only way to describe what was happenin' is to say she exploded. The room was spinnin' wit' Vertigo's power, plants were ripping through de concrete floor in response to Ramrod's call, her body grew as Slab's can do, her arms and legs stretched to impossible lengths thanks to Gorgeous… she was cyclin' through so fast you could hardly recognize dat she was human. Shapeshifting, super strength, an' finally her eyes started glowin' red. The gloves she was wearin' exploded off her hands in a pink blaze o' kinetic energy. I don' know how long dis went on. I knew ev'rybody was screamin'. I knew I was still a rag doll from Rogue's touch. An I knew dat if somebody didn' do somet'ing soon, Rogue was bout ta kill herself.
Suddenly, she stopped, collapsed to de floor, an' dere she lay, starin' straight forward, not movin' a muscle.
Hank came from de back, holdin' de Professor, who looked infinitely tired.
"She is contained. Get her out of here Nightcrawler."
Kurt stood up, visibly shaken, but he nodded, grabbed her, an' all dat remained o' dem were wisps o' smoke. Sinister was gone, an' looked like de nasty boys were all funned out. Right now all de X-men wanted to do was go home. So we did, me wit' a little help from de Beast.
Dere wasn' much talkin' on de plane. Ev'ryone was pretty shook up. Us getting' out o' dere was more to do wit' dumb luck dan teamwork or plannin'. Me I'm used to dat, but not usually when de stakes were dis high. An' we had a big question mark layin' in de back o' de jet, starin' at not'ing on a stretcher.
I watched her, waitin' fo' de femme to show some sign dat she was fine. She wasn' asleep, not exactly. Looked like a machine dat somebody had turned off. I touched her hair, careful not to make anuddah mistake. She didn' do not'ing. I was at a loss, an' I didn' like it.
"What's de matter wit' her? She gon' be all right?"
"I can't answer that yet, Gambit," said the Professor.
"Den dere's a chance she won't be?"
"Gambit please, if you give me some time I will have answers for you."
"How much time will dat take?"
"Gambit leave the professor alone! He says he'll help her, he'll help her." Cyclops was clearly on de end o' his rope, but so was Remy.
"I wasn' talkin' to you. I was talkin' to de professor."
"Well save it. The professor's been through a lot tonight."
"So has de girl, an' seems to me somebody round here needs ta take her part, seein' as she done saved ev'rybody's life."
"I don't know what kind of fight you're trying to pick, but –,"
"S' not nice ta have people pickin' at you, is it? Aggravatin', when somebody jus' keeps demandin' answers rather than takin' yo word fo' it."
"Gambit you don't know -,"
"You sent dat girl in like a lamb to da slaughter, not so much as a 'bon chance'. Would you have done dat to Jean? Or Jub'lee? Remy t'inks non. I watch you people, you treat her diff'rent, like she some kind o' criminal, sometime like she downright poisonous. She jus' a girl, she young. She bound to make mistakes. She counted on you people to take care o' her, fo' whatever reason. Now t'anks ta you dey done hurt her, an' she might die cause o' dat decision you made. How does dat feel? Comfy?"
I expected Cyclops to get mad, ta hit back. I wanted him to. I needed ta do somet'in. I was scared, worried, hurt, an' helpless. Mos'ly I needed someone ta blame. But instead I had a very tellin' moment wit' Cyclops. He jus' sighed, rubbed his forehead with one hand, an' seemed to slump forward. It was de first time I started ta get a hint of jus' how tired de man was, or what kind o' ordeal this night might have been fo' him.
"You're wrong Gambit. If it had been Jean, I would have sent her. Jubilee, Beast, the Professor, myself, anyone I would have done the same thing, and I would have hated it. But I couldn't leave all five of you to die. That wasn't a choice. And I know Rogue's a kid. She's a good kid. She's confused, and she's got a temper, but she's sweet and she tries hard. But I do treat her differently. She's new, and she came from the Brotherhood. The team counts on me to lead, to see what's ahead. I have to be suspicious of her, particularly because I like her. I didn't want to send her in there tonight, and if she dies…if anyone of you had died, it would have been my fault. That kind of responsibility doesn't come to me lightly. Please understand, Rogue is a part of our team. We will do everything we possibly can for her."
"Scott it is decisions like you made tonight that convince me you are the best possible leader I could have chosen for the X-men," started the Professor, "And Gambit, it was your resourcefulness tonight that provided our success. The two of you have used the very best of your abilities to give Rogue the best possible chance she can have, and rest assured I will do no less. I would also like to recommend that neither of you underestimate the strength of our Rogue. While she was once a formidable opponent, she is now a fierce friend and fighter. I refuse to lose her to Sinister without a struggle. Right now she has too many different personalities vying in her mind. I have cut off the conscious part of her mind from communicating with her body, so as to prevent her from harming herself physically. When we return to the mansion, Jean and I will begin immediately trying to restore her mind."
It was de way de Professor said "our Rogue" dat calmed me. It may have been one o' de first t'ings dat made me wan' to join de X-men. He said it de way a father should say it, an' I couldn' help but realize how much he cared bout de chere. I believed dat he would help her, an' dat helped me. Either dat or he was usin' mind control on ev'rybody, but mos'ly he tries not ta do dat.
We got back to de mansion eventually, an' Rogue consumed my t'oughts. I saw her every day. S' hard to describe a psychic battle, cause dere ain't not'ing to see, but Jean and de Professor were dere nearly all de time. Dey even took turns sleepin'. Much as I could gather not bein' psychic myself is dat all de personalities Rogue had absorbed were fightin' fo' control o' de body.
Certain ones were stronger dan uddahs. At first Jean an' de Professor focused on tryin' ta help her fight inside her own mind, but dat didn't help. Den dey realized dat de strongest contenders were dose Rogue had touched, but who hadn't yet recovered. Since dere real bodies were still unconscious, dere personalities inside Rogue's mind were stronger. I know. All dis confuses me too. Anyway, de Professor used Cerebro to restore an' wake de minds of Vertigo an' Ramrod while Jean stayed tryin' ta protect Rogue. Eventually dey were able to sort of quarantine dese uddah consciousnesses, an' save her.
If you want real explanations, you got ta talk to someone uddah den Remy. I bullied as many answers out o' Jean and de Professor as I could, but some o' it didn' make no sense, an' dey got kinda exasperated wit' me after a while. What I know from my own experience is dat Rogue didn' move fo' almos' three weeks. Didn' move. I went to her ev'ry day, an' she never so much as blinked. An' s' easier to talk about now, knowin' dat she was jus' fine, but at de time, no one could say whether she was ever gon' come back out o' it.
It broke my heart. All dat fire, all dat fight, all dat tryin' could jus' go to waste at any second. An' fo' what? Some kinda science experiment. Wasn' fair. Near de end o' dose three weeks, it got harder to keep goin' back. I started really wonder whether she'd ever come back or not. Worse, some lil part o' me dat didn' even want to be heard out loud wondered if I was gon' come in an' find out dat she was gone. Dat we lost. But finalement, I came in one day to fin' Jean smilin'. Her eyes were dark an' her shoulders sagged, but when she smiled at me I knew it meant dat Rogue was gon' be all right. Instead of layin' on her back like a corpse, Rogue was on her side, clutchin' de covers an' curled into a lil ball. She was cute, an' even better, she was herself ag'in. I started ta rush over to her, but Jean stopped me.
"Remy please. She'll be ok, but she's exhausted. She's been fighting without rest since we got her back from Sinister. She'll need to sleep."
I looked doubtfully from Jean back to Rogue. It was mo' pout dan doubt really. I had been waitin' so long. I jus' wanted to hear her voice, find out fo' myself if she was ok. Jean shook her head at me.
"She'll be fine in a few days Remy. I promise. She's not in danger anymore, but she's got to rest."
"D'accord." I turned to go.
"I'm sure it will mean a lot to her. Knowing how you watched over her." Jean was giving me an encouraging smile.
"Who says de femme is gon' know anyt'ing about it?"
Jean seemed surprised. "Why would you not want her to know? You've been driving me crazy in here day after day, but it's been so sweet to watch you care for her. Everyone likes being cared for."
"I don' care bout dis girl. An' she don' need me carin' bout her. Mos' important, she don' need to be carin' about Gambit, n'est pas? She got you, de Professor, Logan…she got all o' you to worry fo' her. Remy LeBeau don' make no diff'rence one way or de uddah."
"Remy I don't think you realize-,"
"Petit, Gambit's a big boy. He can handle his own business. Don' need no help wit' it. Don' want no help wit' it. I made up my mind, now let's jus' let sleepin' dogs lie, non?"
I turned an' left her dere wit' an incredulous look on her face. I still don' know quite why I did dat. Somet'in inside me was just itchin'. I didn' want Rogue knowin' dat I was watchin' fo' her, an' I didn' feel like explainin' myself. I never feel like explainin' myself, but especially not when its some'tin I don' undahstand myself.
Rogue slept fo' days. I didn' go back to see her. Knowin' she was all right, dat was enough fo' me. I went about my business, an' when dere wasn' business, I found uddah ways to keep myself busy.
But business came callin' after all. Betsy an' I were precariously spendin' time together. Now I don' know if you know dis, but Betsy can be downright prideful. Turns out, her pride don' got hurt when I didn' take her up on dat offer I mentioned previously. Not only dat, but wit' all de drama on de team we were sort o' driftin' away from dat happy, playful pattern we established at de beginnin'. That, an honestly I was kinda losin' interest fo' some reason. Nevertheless, Remy was never one to turn down a pretty face.
So dere we were, out enjoyin' de night life. Loud music, a few drinks, an' some heated dancin' were helpin' me to rid myself o' some unwanted tension. Dat an Betsy's club attire were sufficient to distract me from my woes, even if only fo' a few hours.
Even though I'm mo' a jazz, Louisiana spice type man myself, watchin' Psylocke sling those taut limbs an' dat purple hair around to some heavy beat techno was provin' to be a more dan comparable substitute. Still, soon enough I needed a little air. De heat in dese kinds o' places always surprises me. Everyone gets packed in dere shoulder to shoulder an' soon as dey start to move de whole place lights up like a church oven before a Sunday social.
I lef' Psylocke at de bar an' went out de side exit to a brick paved alley where a man can have a smoke in peace. Not'ing out dere but broken beer bottles an' a dumpster down de way. I leaned against de wall, breathin' in slowly an' den lettin' de smoke drift up toward a sky I couldn' see. Never can see a decent night sky in a city. Part o' de atmosphere I guess. I closed my eyes, holdin' still to cool off, an' let my mind listen to de sounds o' de city. I could still hear de low thud of de bass line driftin' out o' de club, but a good 90 percent o' all city noise is jus' cars. Tires squeal, brakes screech, horns honk, sirens wail, all somewhere in de distance. I let all dose mechanical sounds weave a song in my mind, tryin' to keep my t'oughts engaged.
"Remy LeBeau I was startin' to wonder if I'd ever find you."
It took me less dan two seconds to snap back inta reality, grab my staff an' grab de homme by de collar.
"Remy! I'm not tryin' ta hurt you! S' me, Arnaud!"
De man had his hands up, palms out. Was Arnaud all right. Arnaud from de T'ieves Guild, Arnaud from back home.
"Q'uest-ce que c'est, Arnaud? Why you here? I tol' all o' ya to leave me alone."
"Je me souviens, Remy. An' I would if I could, but dis I gotta tell ya. Got no choice. Message from ton pere."
"Il n'est pas mon pere. An' I don' want his messages. If I did I'd buy an' answerin' machine."
I dropped Arnuad an' turned away. Jean-Luc jus' wouldn' drop it. I'd left de t'ieves guild nearly five years ago. Hadn' been back to visit even once. Still, ev'ry often somebody would seek me out, try to get me to come back. How many diff'rent ways can un homme say non?
"He has Belle."
I stopped. Had no choice. Damn him. I turned around slowly, letting my eyes talk.
"Don't kill de messenger, Remy. I didn' want anyt'ing to do wit' dis."
"You a t'ief. T'ieves band togeddah."
"Well won' do you no good comin' after me anyway. Jean-Luc won' take no fo' an answer anymore. He say you come back an' work wit' yo' fam'ly or he gets rid o' de girl. He can gain a friend, or lose an enemy, de choice is yours."
I grabbed him by his shirt, shakin' him hard.
"How dis happen?! How he get Belle?! What do I have to do to get rid o' you people?!"
"You wan' to find out mo', you come back back to de bayou, an' you come by yo'self. We don' need no X-men."
I stared Arnaud down long an' hard, but I knew dere was not'ing I could do. Jean-Luc fin'ly found a way to get to me.
I threw him hard, jus' outta spite.
"What you gon' do?"
"You tell Jean-Luc I'll be dere in a few days."
"Non, I tell Jean-Luc you be dere tomorrow, or I tell you how sorry I am bout yo' wife."
I had bout three diff'rent ways o' killing Arnaud mapped out in my head, but none o' dem got me anywhere diff'rent.
"Fine, Arnaud. I'll be dere tomorrow."
"Bon."
An' wit dat, Arnaud disappeared into de shadows.
Had to cut my evenin' wit' Betsy short. I t'ink dat transgression was de one dat fin'ly sealed de fate o' our not-so-blossoming romance. Leastaways she tol' me to find my own way home, she would leave when she was good an' ready. So I took a cab. Had mo' important t'ings on my mind.
Soon as I got home, I burst in on de Professor.
"Gambit, what can I -,"
"Gambit got to leave. Tonight."
De Professor looked surprised an' concerned. "But why? What's wrong?"
"I can't tell you none o' dat. Wasn' even gon' tell you I was leavin' cept it occurred to me dat you might try to find me wit' dat machine o' yours, t'inkin' maybe I was in trouble."
"Are you in trouble?"
I grinned at him. "Peut-etre. But dis is somet'ing I got to do alone."
De Professor knit his eyebrows together an' folded his hands.
"Gambit, you are certainly free to leave whenever you need or want to. I swear I will not try to stop you, nor follow you. But I would like you to know that we value you here, that you are cared for, and whatever we can do to offer assistance we certainly will. I certainly hope you will be coming back to us when your personal affairs are concluded?"
"I don' know bout dat right now. Maybe not. Maybe so."
"Have we done something?"
"Non. Jus' can't see so far into de future right now."
Xavier put a hand to his chin an' looked at me perplexed.
"Gambit I realize that you are in some haste, but can you spare a few more moments to speak with me?"
"I can' tell you anyt'ing I haven't already."
"No, I will not press you for answers. It's not that. Please close the door. I will be very brief."
Close de door? Dis a secret? Remy jus' can' pass up a good secret. Character flaw. So I closed de door an' sat down.
"I wanted to talk to you about Rogue."
Damn. Shoulda kept walkin.
"What about her?"
"Well it seems the two of you have shared a rapport, become friends."
I shifted in my seat, but den put my poker face on. I wasn' giving not'ing away. De Professor continued.
"Personally I couldn't be more thrilled. Rogue is very slow to trust others, resists depending on any one else, and yet needs the same support and stability as any young girl her age."
"What dis got to do wit' me? Rogue got lots o' friends."
"Not quite. You see, there are people here who care about Rogue, probably more than she realizes. But I have learned a great deal about Rogue throughout these past few weeks, as Jean and I struggled with her inside her mind. You see the nature of her power is very perplexing; we have only just begun to understand how it works. I hope one day to be able to understand enough that we can help her to control it, but we aren't there yet. What I have learned is that Rogue herself has an unconscious influence on her own ability. Do you follow?"
"Not 'xactly, but I can pretend."
"What I mean to say is that Rogue's perception of the people she touches, her perception of herself, her mental awareness all have an effect on how her power manifests. This explains this disparity between Vertigo's experience and your own. Rogue's own dread of being touched, her fear of Vertigo, and her heightened state of awareness made her touch all the more potent. When you touched her, it was accidental, she was mentally exhausted, and therefore the effects were much milder."
"All right I get it but why are you telling me dis?"
"Because her perceptions continued to have influence once those entities entered her mind. Jean and I not only had to contend with the outside personalities in her mind, but her own personality as well. Her continued perception of Vertigo as an enemy gave the manifestation of Vertigo more power to cause damage. Not only this, but once Rogue's consciousness lost control of her body, every person she had ever touched manifested into their own phantom, a combination of their own selves and Rogue's interpretations of them. Even the X-men she absorbed while she was with the Brotherhood she perceived as being against her."
"How many people she been fightin' all dis time?"
"Dozens. However a rare few of these entities did not try hurt her. While I will not invade Rogue's privacy by describing them, I feel I must at least go so far as to tell you that you were one of them."
I was startin' to get confused again.
"What dis mean to me?"
"Gambit, you were trying to help her. In her mind you're one of the few people that she actually believes she can rely on, that she believes is on her side. This may have even been a reason why you were able to recover so quickly from her touch. This may be very valuable to understanding and controlling her power, but my concern is beyond that at this time. Jean and I have been able to protect and restore her subconscious mind, but we have not removed these influences completely. We don't know how this will ultimately affect Rogue's conscious mind. She will still have thoughts and memories not her own. We will still have work to do. And I think of any of the X-men, you are the most qualified to help her. I believe that she will need you when she awakens."
Karma is cruel. Gambit flirts wit' all de ladies, an' so all de ladies need him at de same time. I got lots o' tricks up my sleeve, but bein' in two places at once isn't one o' dem. De idea dat Rogue actually liked me, trusted me…dat had my head spinnin. How could I abandon a reputation like dat?
But in de end, Belle's life was at stake. I couldn' ignore dat. An' I couldn't live wit' failing dat girl again. I felt so tired. Hate choosin' between two evils. I stood up.
"I'm sorry, Professor. But I'm not an X-man. I got to go."
Xavier smiled, but I could tell he was disappointed.
"Very well Gambit."
I turned to go, but stopped again. I don't know what it is about de Professor, but when you let him down it's awful hard to shrug off.
"I want you to know dat I hope to come back…dat I want to come back."
"There will always be a place for you, Gambit. I do believe I'll make an X-man of you yet. We'll be waiting to hear from you."
"One more t'ing?"
"Yes?"
"I'd like to borrow a plane."
15