Ororo Munroe otherwise known as Storm waved and smiled at some of the younger students rushing past her on their way to dinner. If you had asked her back when she was their age if she could ever see herself in a place like this, she would probably think you were crazy. Never in her life did she even know a place like this even existed until the professor brought her here. Now she never wanted to leave, she only hoped Remy would eventually see it that way too.

As she approached the entrance to the kitchen her pace somewhat slowed when she saw Kurt, Warren and Hank outside the doors huddled up and talking to each other in hushed voices. "And here I thought I had to tell the kids to behave." She warmly smiled when all three quickly straightened their posture. "What's going on? What's with all the whispering?"

"I um…" Clearing his throat Hank stared back at an equally nervous Kurt whose tail seemed to be flicking side to side in panic. "Not sure how to say this…"

"Well, whatever it is can't be good if the three of you are acting this way." she raised a brow observing the way Kurts tail began to move faster.

Quickly snatching Kurts tail, Warren discreetly shook his head at the other man.

"Entschuldigung." Kurt sheepishly said lowering his head.

"Not as sorry as they will be." Hank muttered under his breath so only he and the other two could hear him.

"Guys what's going on?" she gave an uneasy smile as she watched them communicate with their eyes to decide who would be brave enough to tell her.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

Frowning Kurt turned his head to see both men apologetically stare back. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but something told him that he just got the rough end of whatever this was.

"Sorry man." Warren placed a comforting hand on Kurts's shoulder.

"Oh I see the game now…" Smiling Kurt nodded in understanding but immediately dropped it when he realized what that meant. "Oh no…I am it."

"Guys?" Ororo's patience was thinning as some of the last students ran by.

"It's alright lad I got it." Hank stepped forward making sure to remove his glasses in the process just in case she lost control of her powers. "It appears I'm the bearer of bad news today…"

"Hank?"

"Well, um it seems we're unable to locate Mr. LeBeau…"

"But isn't he with Logan?"

"He was…" Warren slowly responded remembering how Logan had asked him to keep an eye on the kid while he spoke with Storm earlier, but by the time he made it there he was long gone.

"Just great. Does Logan know?" Rubbing her growing headache, she made to turn on her heels to try and find him until Hanks voice once again stopped her.

"I'm afraid not." Sharing an unsure expression he decided to tell her the rest of the problem. "And neither is Scott's car."

"What?! I can't believe this." Ororo felt the wind pick up outside and instantly had to remind herself to keep control of her emotions.

"Now Ororo stay calm."

"How do you expect me to stay calm? And how could you not tell me this?!" snapping her mouth shut when her voice began to echo down the hall she eagerly waited for them to explain.

"Well, we we're hoping they would be back by now." Kurt quickly said.

"They?" Snapping her eyes back to Hank Ororo willed the gods to grace her with more patience than she currently had. "Who is they Hank?"

"Storm."

Upon hearing Warrens stern tone, she snapped her white eyes at him making him jolt back. It took her a minute, but she managed to force her powers to withdraw unless she wanted the Mansion damaged as well as everyone inside. "This is bad, if Logan finds out…"

"Well not as bad as when he finds out who probably went with him." Warren winced knowing this wouldn't go well with anyone.

Closing her eyes Ororo didn't have to be a genius to figure out who they were referring to. Especially not after last time. "Rogue. Rogue went with him?"

"We believe so…since Jubilee and Kitty can't find her anywhere."

"Three men. Three full grown men couldn't find the time to tell me that two of our students are missing." She huffed as she frustratingly tossed her hands up. "What could possibly have stopped you from telling me or-"

"Hey what's with all the ruckus?" Logan quizzically frowned stepping up from behind her as all four shrieked in terror. "Did I miss something?"

"Not it!" Kurt proudly grinned making everyone stare at him in return.

-X-

It's already been a few hours since they left the Xavier Institute with the weather not at all looking too kindly at their departure. It was already coming close to dinner time, close to where their absence would surely be noted. "Great." Remy silently cursed under his breath as the radio continued to play quietly in the background.

He had hoped that they would at least be out of New York before that happened, but that damn traffic was no joke. Lightly banging the back of his head against his seat he silently looked over at the sleeping girl next to him as her head lay resting away from him and towards the window.

He thought back to when he first saw her. Back when all of this started. She had been standing by the window during what he guessed to be her birthday if the information he had read about her was correct. Truth be told he hadn't planned to have her tag along yet again, but here she was snuggly wrapped up in his trench coat he had placed around her after she had fallen asleep not long after they had left the mansion.

Yet that sight of her like that had him smiling softly before he pushed back that uneasy feeling in his gut and tried to remain focused on the road ahead of him.

He never cared for goodbyes, never feeling the need to since all that did was cause a whole lot of trouble he didn't need. But yet something about this girl kept making him forget why that was such a bad thing, why he didn't just leave on his own when he had the chance or why he even agreed to take her with him in the first place.

Taking another glance at her he exhaled loudly as he refocused his attention forward, knowing full well why he did, and it took everything he had not to stop the car and kick himself for it. The thief in him told him it was a bad idea, yet he ignored it.

But despite that or what his own plans were…he knew that she needed this just as much as he needed it.

Even if she didn't know it yet.

The problem with all this however was the obvious fact that she would be a distraction plain and simple. And distractions was something he couldn't afford right now, especially since things seemed to be looking up now that Forge was around to help get him home where he belonged. It was only a matter of time before he'd leave this place, and everyone here would become nothing more than a faint memory.

He knew that from the beginning and he knows it now.

When he heard the faint rumbling accompanied by the darkened clouds overhead, he nervously began drumming his thumbs against the steering wheel. It wouldn't be long now before they hit the state line and then he could feel somewhat at ease before the rest of the X-men would be hot on their trail- especially with two psychics to work with.

It wouldn't surprise him if they thought he had kidnapped Rogue against her will which just made him silently chuckle. Somehow he doubted that this girl would let anyone take her against her will if she had any say in it. But then what else would you call taking someone out of the comfort of their home without telling them exactly where they were going? Which curiously made him pull out his phone, ignoring the various missed messages and calls he had received from Ororo and began tapping away at the screen. 'She gonna be one pissed off femme…' He wasn't sure if he was referring to Rogue or Storm or maybe just both. Either way he knew he had to prepare himself for his own funeral.

Another hour went by until she felt her herself silently stirring in her sleep before she buried herself deeper into the warm comfort of her blanket. It felt nice, almost reminded her of home in a way except it lingered with the faint smell of sandalwood, spices, cigarettes and that familiar cologne she remembered all too well when they were training in the Danger Room. 'Gambit…'

Jolting her head upright she repeatedly blinked to try and remove the fuzzy warm feeling that memory brought her along with her blurry vision.

"Ah de femme be awake."

Squinting her eyes she tilted her head enough to see him still focused on the road with a small smile on his face.

"Where are we?" Now sitting upright, she tried to look out the window, but it turned pointless when she realized how dark it had become. "What time is it?"

"A little past eight."

Covering her mouth to stifle a yawn she simply nodded before glancing down at the dark brown trench coat draped around her. 'Did he…? Maybe there actually is a nice guy in there somewhere.' Without meaning to she let her eyes wander towards the way his arms and shoulders flexed as he continued driving since it was one of the rare times she had seen him without wearing it-unless you wanted to count that time back in the infirmary which she refused to do. Who knows, maybe it was as precious as a security blanket for him.

That thought alone was enough to make her smile and look away right as he turned to her.

She did however, refuse to acknowledge the slow blush on her cheeks as she tenderly held up the coat to him. "Thank you."

Nodding he reached over and carefully placed it in the back seat before returning his gaze forward.

She found it oddly strange how quiet he seemed to be when she couldn't get him to be quiet long enough to try and ask him where they were going before.

"You hungry?"

"Huh?" Turning to face him it took her a good minute to realize what he had asked since her brain was apparently still recovering from her sleep. "I guess." She quietly admitted finding the thought of eating dinner quite appealing at the moment. Especially when her traitorous stomach began growling which instantly made her face flush in embarrassment.

He pulled up to a small restaurant close by insisting they eat here which made her curiously wonder why here? Not to mention that whenever she would even attempt to ask about their destination, he would expertly divert the conversation to another topic as well as reassure her that he had already spoken to Ororo which seemed to ease her mind.

Once back inside the car she tried to make herself as comfortable as she could in this small space wondering what made Ororo suddenly give them permission to stay out this long. So logically she was under the impression that dinner was all he wanted to do again and that they were on their way home now.

Frowning to herself she did find it odd that he'd pick a place this far from the mansion. But with someone like Gambit, it was always hard to know what exactly he was thinking, especially when his eyes seemed to remain glued to the road as well as his phone.

Glancing down at her own phone in hand she could see another new message pop up from Bobby thinking that she should write him back.

"Dat boyfriend of yours?"

Snapping her head up she was surprised at the calmness of his voice as he still refused to meet her eyes. She found out that he was well at holding a conversation if you ignored his sly remarks every once in a while, not that she would ever tell him that. "Yeah. Guess he's just checkin' up on me." she quietly said as she looked down at the messages.

Bobby: Rogue, where are you?

Bobby: Call me

Bobby: Where the hell are you?

Her frown deepened as she shoved the phone in her jean pocket thinking that she'd write him later. Why was it that anytime she was out that that's when he would grow worried? Yet whenever she was around, she seemed almost completely invisible to him.

"Not gonna answer?"

"I will. Just not now." She deeply exhaled, momentarily closing her eyes. It wasn't that she was trying to avoid talking to Bobby, it was just that she wasn't in the mood to be at the end of one of his bad moods or arguments which would only worsen at the thought of her grabbing a bite to eat with Gambit again. And this migraine was starting to make her less willing to talk to anyone right now. Maybe once she's back at the mansion she could take something for it.

She wasn't aware that she had fallen asleep again until she slowly opened her eyes and was welcomed by the sight of nothing but the grey clouds gathering overhead blocking out the moon right before they could hear thunder not far away. "Gambit?" she whispered as she sluggishly began sitting up, trying to roll her neck to try and work out the uncomfortable kinks.

"Have a good nap Chere?"

Shooting him a small glare she tiredly rubbed her face. "Not really, unless you wanna count being watched a good nap." She mumbled trying to stretch her legs out as far as she could in the car with her butt already feeling sore from sitting so long. "How long have I been asleep?" she groggily asked as she let her eyes drift towards him. When he didn't answer she quickly diverted her gaze back outside.

"Sore?" he asked after a prolonged silence, taking a quick glance as she tried to reposition herself in the seat.

"A little." She admitted, missing the way his lip twitched to hide his smile. Pulling out her phone she silently cured when she saw that the battery on her phone had died. "Great."

Hearing the growing rumbling in the sky and the pitter patter of the heavy rain, had the small voice in the back of her head begin to panic. He on the other hand didn't seem to mind as he sat up a little to try and see through the rain that pounded against the window. 'He doesn't seem worried at all…'

'Shit.' Regardless of what she may think Remy grew more nervous as time went on and the rain picked up. He was fully aware of her eyes on him, which didn't do anything to help his growing anxiety. It wasn't until they passed a state sign that he cursed his luck and began bracing himself for the inevitable.

"Gambit?" As if begging for her attention Rogues eyes widened the closer the got to the state sign and remained fixated on it even after they passed. She tried to steady her breathing to try and calm her growing fear as her eyes landed on him. "How long have I been asleep? And where are we?" narrowing her eyes, she patiently waited as she folded her arms over her chest. "Answer my question Gambit."

"Technically dat be two questions Chere." He half smirked. "Which one would you rather me answer?"

"Gambit."

He draws in a slow breath before finally answering knowing there was no way out of it now. "A few hours from New York." He leaned forward to look up at the sky. "Seems we've been found out."

"W-what?" Confusingly blinking she sat up straighter as her eyes franticly looked around. "Wait you said that we'd be gone only a few hours."

"No, I said dis trip would take a few hours." He pointedly stated.

"Where are we going Gambit?" The warning in her tone did nothing to ease his discomfort.

"South."

"South? You mean home." She quietly said never removing her eyes from him. "No."

"Rogue-"

"No!" Adamantly shaking her head, she tried to find any way out of this car that didn't necessarily result in her death or quite possibly hurt and unconscious on the side of the road after trying to escape a moving vehicle. "Remy LeBeau you stop this car right now!"

His eyebrows perked up at the fact that she actually used his name. Meaning only one thing…that she was severely pissed. But that didn't stop the slight flutter in his chest.

"Afraid I can't do dat Chere." Hearing her frustratingly growl he tilted his head as he tried to see through the rain. "Look it ain't my fault you didn't listen ok."

"What?!" she half shouted. Was he seriously blaming her for this?!

"An' to be honest I didn't know you were comin'." He silently smirked as he briefly glanced sideways to see her shot him an incredulous glare which quickly made him clear his throat as he snapped his eyes back on the road.

If only she'd answered her phone. If only she'd listened to that small voice in her head that sounded like Logan repeatedly told her that this was a bad idea, then she would still be back in the mansion without worrying about where this lunatic was taking her. Did the others know? Right now, she wouldn't put it past him to have lied about that too. "Let me guess…the others don't know do they?"

"Well…" he gave a little wince which only had her wanting to reach over and strangle him if only her life wasn't literally in his hands right now.

"I can't believe you!" Her heart was racing with white-hot fury as she furiously staired forward. "You know what?! I take back ever nice thing I ever thought about you."

"You thought 'bout me?" his lips raised into a boyish smile as he briefly flicked his eyes to her.

"Gambit!" Uncrossing her arms she was having seconds thoughts about whether it was even feasible to be in the same car with this guy without wanting to kill him. "Ah can't believe you kidnapped me!"

With his mouth slightly ajar it didn't take him but a second to irritatingly pull out his phone. "Hey I ain't kidnapped nobody!"

That seemed to do the trick as she watched him roughly pull to the side of the road and glare at his phone. "What are you-wait…you actually looked it up?!" Her brows shot up in humorous surprise and she had to fight the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"An' I'm glad I did!" It was now his turn to glare at her, which completely took her by surprise yet again.

Since he'd been at the mansion he did nothing but be the charming guy that had all the girls swooning over him except her-which proudly made her hold her head high even as he wiggled his phone towards her. She had to admit that this was a side to him she found rather amusing but kicked that thought to the side since her anger overwrote anything that this sneaky Cajun might do.

"Look! Right here it says: kidnapping entails takin' someone away…" when he saw her about to gloat, he quickly added. "Illegally by force, or fraud in hopes of obtainin' some kind of ransom- which I'm not doin'!" he frustratingly said thinking that instead of a random, any rational person would want to give her back with that attitude of hers.

"That's exactly what a kidnapper would say!"

"I didn't take you by force alright. You willingly got in." he argued.

Pursing her lips she saw him taking a deep calm breath before staring straight ahead again. My god, even the frown appearing on his handsome face made him look good. What was wrong with her? She read enough books and watched enough movies to know never to have these thoughts especially with your kidnapper and someone who wasn't your boyfriend no less. "Ah'll remember this."

"As am sure you will." He huffed.

"And AH should probably tell you that I'd make a very annoying kidnap victim." Stubbornly folding her arms, she tried to keep as much distance between them as she could, thinking was she really a victim? An abductee? Hostage? Prisoner? Captive? Either way you wanted to word it she was currently stuck in a locked car with someone who was clearly crazy, and a liar based on what Logan said.

"No surprise dere." That got an amused smile out of him.

"It's true you know. For one thing Ah tend to talk a lot when Ah'm nervous."

"Rogue-"

"Also, Ah have a very small bladder, so I will need to stop for pee breaks pretty often all the way there." She watched his lips twitch as if finding her rambling amusing. 'The nerve of this guy…'

Usually, the thought of her mutation always frightened her, but she wouldn't lie and say that that wasn't of comfort in situations like these and one of the reasons she had left home in the first place knowing that if anyone tried anything they would be knocked out. Not that she was overly fond of the idea of them stuck in her head. But it was a little reassuring to know no one could lay a hand on her physically.

"Rest assured I ain't overly fond of de idea of you taggin' along either."

'What?' Offensively gasping she definitely heard the insult in there. How could he say something like that? Despite what she just told him she thought she was very kidnappable? - Was that even a word? Shaking her head she made a mental note to look it up later like he had done. And she was definitely not about to bring up the fact how Magneto who was one of the most dangerous mutants in the world had kidnapped her which made her quite desirable in her opinion. "Show's what you know…"

"Listen, I'm not makin' you come with me Chere."

"So, my options are either to let you kidnap me…" completely ignoring him cursing under his breath-or so she thought since she didn't speak French anyways- she stubbornly continued. "Or have you leave me stranded in the side of the road?!"

"Not kidnappin'." He argued shooting her an angry glare. They stared at each other for a stony minute until he bitterly scoffed as he turned away. 'Don't matter anyways. Don't seem like we be goin' anywhere right now. Not with this weather."

"Not with you I'm not, since I don't appreciate the whole kidnapping idea and all that." She mumbled as she followed his line of sight. 'This is what I get for trying to be a good x-man...'

"Are you done?"

"No, as a matter of fact I'm not." She huffed removing the seatbelt which seemed to suddenly want to fight her and the last thing she wanted was to keep that twinkle of amusement in his ruby eyes as she lost. "Because Ah'll have you know Ah'm also lactose intolerant, so Ah don't think me bein' locked up in here will do any of us any good. Especially you." She quickly added.

"Rogue, no offense Chere but I practically saw you inhale a bowl of cereal dis mornin'." He snickered as she turned to face him with a hint of pink on her cheeks. It was a good minute before she spoke again, and it was definitely not what he was expecting.

"Did you just tell me Ah'm fat?" Her brows shot up, amazed that he had the balls to infuriate her further. Dind't he value his life even a little? And ok so maybe he didn't quite put it like that….and maybe she was indeed lying about being lactose intolerant but her rationally angry mind told her that she had a right to feel that way which just made her bite her lip to keep from screaming. "Great, just add unwelcome stalkin' to the list why don't ya Swamp Rat."

Trying to hide his smile he opened his mouth to ask if there was even such thing as 'welcomed stalking' but realized with one look from her that that would only dig himself a deeper grave.

"I wasn't alright." Raising his hands off the steering wheel he tiredly rests his head back on the seat before slowly turning to look at her. "Look Rogue I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but if you want to go back dat's fine."

She took a slow steady breath as she watched him momentarily close his eyes realizing in that instant that he probably didn't get much rest either -what with him being under house arrest and all-which now she realized was too much of an easy punishment for the likes of him.

"T'ink dere's a small place to rest for a couple hours." The moment he heard her offensively scoff he tiredly shook his head. "Ain't goin' anywhere tonight even if we wanted to."

She couldn't argue that it looked bad outside and didn't protest when he silently drove them to a small Bed and Breakfast nearby like he said he would. When he pulled into the nearly empty parking lot he quickly got out of the car after putting his sunglasses on and only stopped when he realized she was still in the car.

Contemplating just staying here while he got his beauty rest had her rolling her eyes when she realized he had taken the keys with him. "Of course he did."

Rushing out of the car and into the comfort of the small house she quickly let her eyes roam around the inside. The place looked cozy enough and looked like it was well kept despite how old it may seem. The curtains over by the window had your typical red and yellow flowers patterns sprawled all over it matching the tablecloth nearby and Rogue couldn't help but smile as she followed him towards the only person there.

A woman who appeared to look in her early sixties with an elaborate updo was sitting behind the reception desk, shifting through a stack of papers before looking up as the two approached. Her face instantly lit up with a beaming smile.

"Well hello there." Her smile only seemed to grow as she took off her glasses to set them down in front of her.

"Hi." Rogue politely smiled as the woman dragged her eyes towards Remy who tilted his head in a small bow.

"Bonjour."

"How can I help you?" she asked, bouncing her eyes between the two with an odd expression which made Rogue divert her eyes. "Do you have a reservation?"

Shaking his head Remy let his eyes wander around the lobby before turning his gaze to the nameplate on the desk. "Don' s'pose you happen to have any rooms available Madame…Agnes?" his voice sounded very drained now.

How long had it been since he slept? Rogue thought.

"For the both of you?" Settling her eyes on Rogue made the girl nervously fidget with her hands at all the thoughts that must be going through the poor woman's head, when the truth was that all she really wanted to do was get a couple hours sleep so she would have enough energy to beat Gambit black and blue and she couldn't very well do that with the way she was currently feeling.

Rogue's cheeks warmed under the woman's scrutiny before her eyes slowly moved over to a smiling Remy regardless of it not reaching his eyes at how exhausted he was.

The very moment she saw his mouth part, Rogue knew she needed to intervene before he said something that would make this situation even worse.

"Yes ma'am." Rogue answered politely. "Two rooms would be great. Thank you."

"Oh, I'm sure we do." Picking up her glasses the woman turns to a computer that looked about twenty years out of date. "Let me just check here and see what we can do dear."

Smiling in gratitude, Rogue just knew that Agnes would do anything she possibly could to get them two separate rooms even if it meant moving guests around. And it seemed that Remy already caught on to that and also didn't feel the need to give this woman a stroke or worse at the thought of the two of them sharing a room. So at least he had manners when it mattered, she thought.

"You're just in luck I so happen to have two rooms available." Agnes happily smiled and Remy could practically hear both women breathe a sigh of relief which only made his brows furrow.

"You're a life savor Agnes." Rogue grinned smugly as she turned to Remy taking enjoyment when she heard the older woman let out a small giggle of her own as she began looking around the desk until she found the keys she was looking for.

After paying the woman began printing out a receipt on her painfully slow printer. Pressing his lips together, he allowed the two women to lead the way up the stairs as he continued to look around. With every step he could literally hear the floorboards cry in protest.

As Agnes pulls out one of the keys, she jiggles the lock a little until the door finally opens to reveal a small room. "Your room is the one over young man." she said, eyeing Remy warily since he was still wearing his sunglasses indoors. "Enjoy your stay and get some sleep. If you need anything my husband and I are just downstairs."

"Merci beaucoup."

Once Anges could be heard going back down the stairs Rogue allowed herself to walk into the room. There was only a desk, a sitting chair in the corner and a small bed with the same floral pattern as downstairs.

"Well, dat was interestin'." He remained standing by the doorway as he watched the way she surveyed the room. "Thought she was 'bout to shove dis one in her oven."

"And that would be bad because…?" Raising her brow she saw him half chuckle. "Ah like her."

"Course you do Chere. You ain't de one on de receiving end of de woman's wrath."

"Another thing we have in common then." She bit back and it was pretty clear to him that he was still on the top of her kill list. Usually, he was on the top of a very different list when it came to women -which just continued to baffle him. This girl seemed to be completely immune to him…but hey, who didn't like a little challenge and that was one he was willing to take.

"Gambit?"

"Hmm?" Cutting through his thoughts he quickly blinked when he saw her standing directly in front of him now before slamming the door in his face. "Out of my room."

"Bonne nuit Chere." Smiling, he quickly shook his head before turning to walk to his own room in need of some good sleep.