Is This Love...?


Part 4


Training Begins


The close banging of thunder awoke Rogue that next morning. She raised her head from her pillow and glanced over to the open window, seeing water splattering violently against the windowsill. Sighing, she hauled herself up and padded across the room with her still sore blistered feet to pull the window shut, gazing through the glass at the heavy curtain of rain coming down across the Xavier estate.

The summer storm had been predicted, they always seemed to get this kind of storm in Bayville after a few days of intense summer heat. The sky was so grey, it almost looked like it was late evening.

She pulled a thin satin robe over her flimsy lace bralette and short set which she'd been wearing to bed, and she headed down.

The kitchen table was busy, and the smell of bacon, toast and coffee was thick in the air. Rogue moved to the counter to pour herself a cup of fresh hot coffee, and moved to the table to find a spot, settling for a chair between Kurt and Bobby.

"Still hungover?" Bobby teased her.

Rogue threw him a look, "No."

"You were so wrecked on Saturday night," Jamie said across the table, "Gambit had to carry you up the stairs."

"Ah'm well aware," she said quietly. "Where were you guys anyway, yesterday? Never saw hide nor hair of you when me, Jubilee an' Tabitha needed help cleanin' the foyer."

"Busy," Jamie remarked quickly.

"Doin' what?" Rogue scoffed, "Ah never saw you all day."

"We had to take our tuxedos back," Bobby explained.

"They were in bed nursing hangovers, themselves," Tabitha entered the kitchen, her body clad in incredibly small denim shorts and a cropped top that could barely be called modest.

"Lies," Bobby muttered.

"And doin' laundry," Tabitha threw a look at Jamie, "because someone pissed their bed when they were drunk."

"I spilled a glass of IPA," Jamie muttered.

"In your bed?" Tabitha asked smugly.

"I had a bottle in there - I knocked it over," Jamie frowned at her.

"You weren't even supposed to be drinking," Kitty spoke up from where she was sitting on the counter, a coffee cup in her hand; Rogue noted how distracted she seemed and she still looked as if she hadn't slept yet.

"Neither was Tabitha," Jamie pointed out.

"You'll get your punishments, soon enough," Logan walked into the kitchen, he was sweaty from what had clearly been an early morning workout, "a lot of crap needs doing today so I hope you're all well-rested and ready to go."

Bobby groaned, "I don't see why we need to be punished. You know in the UK, it's legal to drink at eighteen?"

"Yeah, funny thing about that...we're not in the UK," said Logan.

Ororo approached with a dish filled with bacon, "You broke the rules and now you'll pay the price. There is a lot of glassware that has to be properly cleaned before we can put it back into storage in the basement. Bottles that need to be taken to the recycling plant, the grounds need cleaning, and there is a lot of laundry to be stripped and washed now that our guests have all gone."

"Has Magneto left yet?" Tabitha asked, "I wanted to talk to Wanda about something."

"They've left," Ororo said, "But Gambit remains."

"Gambit?" Kurt raised his head, "why is he hanging back?"

"He's joining," Jubilee spoke up, she was chewing on a piece of bacon. "Heard him and Magneto arguing downstairs last night."

"I heard that too," Kitty sighed, "Magneto was furious with him."

Rogue noted Logan's dark expression as they spoke about Remy's joining.

"He better toe the line," Logan muttered, "things aren't as lax here as they are in Magneto's camp. He better get used to rules and discipline."

"Lance is staying too, right?" Kurt asked, glancing towards Kitty.

"Yeah, whatever," Kitty slid down from the counter and tossed her leftover coffee down the sink, "I have to go get ready for training," she announced and without much more said, she left the room.

Guess she doesn't want to talk about Lance yet, Rogue supposed as she sipped her coffee. "We're still training then?" Rogue asked, she picked up a slice of toast and buttered it.

"At ten. You should probably let swamp-face know," Logan grunted. "Make sure he's there early, he needs to be briefed about the rules before he even sets foot near the Danger Room."

Rogue finished buttering the slice of toast, "is he up?"

"Haven't seen him up yet, so I doubt it," Ray spoke up. "Since he got here, he's usually in bed until eleven."

"We'll drill that out of him," Logan muttered.

"Where is he going to sleep, anyway?" Jubilee asked, "We don't have enough single rooms as it is in this place."

"Jean will be moving into Scott's room once she gets back – that'll free up space," Kurt supposed.

"Nuh-uh. I'm getting first dibs on Jean's room," Tabitha decided.

"If anyone is to get first dibs on that room, it will be Rogue," Ororo spoke up, returning with a dish of sausages, "as the oldest. And as your new second-in-command."

"Wait, what?" Kurt turned to Rogue, "second-in-command?!"

Feeling her cheeks growing hot, Rogue picked up a piece of bacon and a sausage from the table and she wrapped her now slightly soggy toast around them.

"When were you even going to tell us?" Kurt demanded.

"Ah completely forgot..." Rogue said honestly as she stood up, "Ah better go wake up gumbo," she picked up her coffee, deciding to take it with her. She didn't want to hang around and listen to the objections about her being second-in-command. She'd expected a slightly more formal announcement from the Professor but it seemed Ororo had quashed that plan.

"Why you?" Tabitha demanded.

"Ah don't know, ask Cyclops," Rogue retorted, "He's the one who decided it. Ah didn't have anythin' to do with it."

"Why didn't you tell me though?" Kurt pouted.

"Ah didn't even have a chance. It literally only happened last night and...Ah didn't think it was a big deal."

"Why can't you or Logan lead?" Tabitha asked of Ororo.

"We have to be here to help with the other students – when they go in the field, we will be their supervising leaders," Ororo explained.

"Besides, you're all adults now," Logan grunted, "time we stopped holding your hand and let you get on with things. You need to learn to be independent of the instructors in the field."

"So we can't even ask for help?" Bobby asked, looking worried.

"We'll offer tactical support here at the base," Logan decided, "But as for in the field, you're on your own."

Rogue left the kitchen, sipping her coffee as she walked and quickly eating her breakfast. Great, just what Ah need. Ah'm bein' made leader while Scott is away, and Ah'm also bein' thrown to the wolves...Logan and Storm won't be there to catch me if Ah fall. Ah don't know how to lead a team...this is gonna be an absolute disaster, she thought miserably as she headed to the west wing where the dorms were, where Remy was still staying. She finished her toast and coffee as she walked, and left the cup on the table in the hall and knocked light on the door and waited.

No response.

"Remy, you up?" she called through the door.

After getting no answer, she turned the handle and peered around the door to the bed nearest the window which Remy had taken. He was stretched out on his bed on his stomach, one sheet barely covering his waist down to his thighs.

She stood observing him for a moment, admiring the fine line of his spine, his deep tan, his perfect skin (save some freckling around his shoulders) and the shape of his strong legs.

His face was serene when he slept, and there was something slightly vulnerable and beautiful about his expression. She moved closer and prodded his shoulder with her gloved finger.

"Time to get up."

He didn't even stir.

"Hey, c'mon."

Still not a stir, the hair in his face slightly shifted with his light breath but there was no other movement. For one moment, anxiety caught her and she wondered if somehow he might have died somehow during the night. Some natural death...a sudden heart attack like the ones she read about so much on the news. She remained still, watching him, trying not to breathe, listening for his breath, observing closely for movement.

Nervously, she sat upon the edge of the mattress and took a hold of his shoulder and gave him a hard shake, "hey!"

His eyes fluttered open and then closed, and as he moved slightly beneath her hand she felt her heart jump a little. She felt suddenly quite foolish for thinking he might have died and she shook her head inwardly at herself.

"Chere?" he mumbled half into his pillow.

"Yeah, time to get up."

"Time is it?" he asked in a grumble, his eyes squeezed shut, he rolled his neck a little and she heard a definite cracking of his bones.

"Nine fifteen."

"'S early. What is it?" he rubbed his eyes.

"We're trainin'. Logan said you should be there. You wanted to be recruited, training is a requirement."

He rolled over onto his back and stretched, "I only fell 'sleep 'roun' five."

"Five?" she blinked. "What were you doin' all night?"

"Drove down t' the ol' base t' get my shit..." he gestured towards the corner where a tote bag and a cardboard box was. "Didn' get back 'til after four am."

"You could have waited," Rogue said. "Was it really so urgent?"

"Magneto said t' get all my shit out before he got back there or he'd burn the lot," Remy yawned.

Rogue sighed, "it went well when you told him then..." she said sarcastically.

"As much as I expected..." he supposed, he tried to pull the pillow over his head but she yanked it away from him.

"Nu-uh. Trainin'. Get up now."

"I'm exhausted," he complained.

"Too bad."

With a grunt, he pulled himself into a sitting position and yawned again. "Y' migh' a at leas' brought me some coffee or somethin' t' get me goin'."

"You want coffee, you go down and get it," Rogue made a face, she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Ah'm not your maid."

Remy's puffy tired eyes glimmered with playfulness as he gazed at her, "Y' sexy in the mornin'. 'Specially wit' that bossy lil' attitude."

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes at him.

"Gettin' me all hot an' bothered..." he grinned at her as his bare finger pried a little at the opening at the front of her robe, "What's that y' got on un'er there? A lil' lace number?" he teased. "Victoria's Secret? La Perla?"

She slapped his hand away, "get dressed and be downstairs shortly..." she stood up, "Logan wants you to be ready for—oh my god!" she had only taken her eyes away from him for a moment and in that time, he'd gotten up and out of the opposite side of the bed and was stretching his body; his full erection drew her attention immediately and she felt her cheeks flush scarlet. Quickly she averted her eyes, both her face and body felt so suddenly hot she was sure she might be feverish right then.

"What is it?" he asked of her, in her periphery she could see him stretching his arms, his body pointed right at her almost obnoxiously.

Pretend to not have noticed, ignore it? Or just chew him out at about how inappropriate he's bein'? she asked herself.

"Somethin' wrong, chere?" he asked, sounding quite smug.

"You know what's wrong," she snapped, deciding to be forthright about it, still avoiding looking at him.

"Tol' y' that y' was gettin' me all hot an' bothered," he chuckled at her. "What did y' expec' comin' t' my room wearin' that? Got my hopes up," he jested.

"Just get dressed," she commanded, feeling furious and humiliated. She left his room as quickly as she could; she didn't stop moving until she'd gotten upstairs to her own room. Her body was burning hot with anger and embarrassment.

He's an exhibitionist, that's all. He's tryin' to get a reaction...he likes attention, Rogue told herself as she fished her uniform out and began changing. He wants to humiliate me, it's clear what he's doin'...he doesn't act like this 'round any of the others 'cause they're not like me. He's tryin' to get to me.

She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail quickly and left her room, getting into the elevator; it stopped on the dormitory floor and she'd known immediately he was going to get in before the doors even opened. She winced inwardly as she stepped backwards to make room for him. He was pulling gloves on as he got in.

"Heh, thought I was gon' beat y' down there," he tightened the velcro straps of his black gloves as he stepped in. Rogue pushed the button to go down to the sub-basement level where the Danger Room was.

"Why are you wearin' a trench coat to training?" she eyed him, trying to find a way to keep the subject away from what had occurred in his room.

"It's got pockets – a ton o' em," he shrugged, "An' these pants..." he pulled the right side of his coat away from his thigh to show her his pants, "not so many."

Although his excitement had definitely waned, now that she knew exactly what his body looked like that way, she couldn't stop thinking of it, couldn't get even that brief picture of it out of her head – she'd barely saw for a split second but it was still so clear in her mind.

How did he get rid of it so fast? Did he...? No, don't even think about that, she shook her head at herself in disgrace, rolling her eyes at the thought.

"What is it?" he asked, tilting his head, she realised he must have read her expression and noted something had bothered her.

"Nothin'," she replied snappily. You know damn well what it is, she thought at him irritably.

Her heart thrummed with nerves during the elevator ride down; the air was thick with tension on her side and she was aware of it. Remy, on the other hand, didn't seem to be remotely aware of anything but his own confidence and arrogance, he always seemed so comfortable no matter where he was and what he was doing, she'd never properly seen him look nervous or properly embarrassed once since she'd first met him years before.

How does he do that? How does he just...never get nervous, never feel awkward? He's human...he has to feel those things like Ah do...

She turned slightly to look at him as the elevator continued moving down; he'd removed a pack of cards from his pocket and was standing shuffling expertly, his expression never changing.

"You're gonna overheat in that coat," she said, feeling the need to break the silence.

"Y' think I can't handle a bit' o' heat?" he kept shuffling, he gave a soft laugh, "I'm from The Big Easy, I'm very used t' the heat. An' further more...I like it very hot..." he eyed her, his expression smouldering.

"You'll be lucky if you don't get caught on somethin'," she remarked, turning her attention to their distorted reflection on the elevator doors.

"If I do," He turned to her, "then I'll shrug out o' it."

"How do you work in the field with that thing?"

"Are y' always this concerned about what people wear?"

"If Ah'm supposed to be in charge, anythin' happenin' to you is my responsibility," Rogue pointed out.

"Anythin' happen t' me, I'm sure no one gon' blame you f' it," his left hand shuffled the cards, his right hung at his side.

"Ah just...Ah want this to go smooth. The last thing Ah need is you gettin' snagged on somethin' in there and gettin' hurt on your first session."

"Stop stressin'," he said, his voice softening. "Stop worryin' 'bout things that out o' y' control. Life be a lot easier t' digest."

Rogue's stomach jolted as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. She took a deep breath and led the way out and began down the corridor, "Danger Room is this way," she directed.

"I never been t' this part o' the basemen' before," he followed her, "only parts I was allowed access t' go was the sickbay room an' the hangar."

Rogue took a quick glance at her smart watch, there was enough time to show him around the nearest rooms, she supposed. "Let me show you the War Room - best you know where it is now rather than later," she made her way to two doors; they slid open as she approached.

Remy paused, "door have face recognition?" he asked.

"Sensors, actually," she said, "face recognition is too risky now. If a shapeshifter manages to infiltrate the base, they could access everythin'."

"Like Mystique," he supposed.

Rogue felt a little sting from the mention of Mystique and she fought to show reaction.

"So where's the sensor t' let y' in? In your belt?"

"Under the skin," Rogue said, "Back of the neck."

"You're kiddin'," he eyed her critically seeming to be wondering if she was the one messing with him now.

"No," she replied, "safest way. Codes can be learned, memorised, stolen from your thoughts by telepaths..." she explained as she entered the War Room, Remy following behind her. "Face recognition, iris recognition, voice recognition...it can all be fooled by mutant powers and trickery..." she shrugged. "Individually implanted sensors was the best way to go."

"What about Cerebro?" Remy asked.

Rogue looked over her shoulder at him suspiciously, "what do you know about Cerebro?"

"I know it's a computer that can help the Professor locate any mutan' in the worl'...can amplify his powers..." Remy said, "I work f' Magneto, chere. Or did. Y' think he didn' tell me about how he help buil' that thing?"

Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek, listening to him.

"Magneto say that thing can recognise mutant signatures. Can't y' use that as part o' security."

"It takes a lot of power to run cerebro. Hank and the Professor thought about it a few years back, but ultimately, it'd take way too much power - it'd short the entire Sub-Basement. So sensors were used instead."

"How y' even power all this wit' out the governmen' findin' out? Surely all the power used here has t' be settin' off somethin' somewhere, puttin' this place on a watchlist."

"Sub-basement has it's own generators, it's powered independently. The mansion..." she pointed up to the ceiling, "gets it's power from the grid like everyone else – that way things look above board."

"I see," he moved in front of her.

"And as for the government...the Professor has help from people in very high places...a few allies who help keep anythin' about our location secret."

"An' y' trus' them?"

"It's worked so far," Rogue responded with a shrug.

A silence fell between them, Rogue let her eyes move round the room, remembering how strange and wonderous all the equipment had looked the first time she had entered this room. That had been at least six or so years ago - and since then most of the equipment had been upgraded.

"Are y' shittin' me about the sensor?" asked, breaking the silence after a moment.

"No."

"I really got t' get one o' those under my skin?"

"Yes. Hank will do it at some point soon."

"Y' playin' wit' me," he laughed, sounding a little unsure.

She shook her head, raising an eyebrow, "No...why would I play with you?"

"T' win' me up," he supposed, "f' shits an' giggles. C'mon, y' can't be serious. No one is puttin' microchips int' people's necks like they do wit' a cat or dog."

Rogue folded her arms, "you'll know soon enough when Hank comes to put yours in."

He tilted his head, observing her, seeming to be looking for a bluff. "Fine...if y' tellin' the trut', let me feel..."

Rogue sighed and turned her back to him, "fine, she raised her ponytail from her neck and tipped her head forwards, exposing her pale neck to him.

Remy rolled his gloved fingers across her neck, feeling for where the thing was.

"Here..." she reached back, finding his fingers and leading them to the exact spot under her skin where the tiny sensor was implanted, she pushed his fingers into the spot, rolling them for him. "Feel it now?"

"Oh...yeah..." he realised, sounding impressively surprised. "There's...somethin' there...lil' rice sized bump...can barely feel it."

"Yeah..." she pulled away and turned to him.

"It hurt goin' in?" he queried, raising an eyebrow at her.

"They use a big syringe to put it in, what do you think?"

"Ugh," he rubbed the back of his neck absently. "Do these things track you?"

Rogue turned back to him, "No...just open the right doors and give you access to certain computers and functions in the control areas."

"I see."

"Why? You worried we're gonna be checkin' where you're goin'?" she asked, feeling slightly amused by the idea he might be nervous about having his movements followed now he was joining the team. "Afraid we'll know when you're goin' to sleazy places, LeBeau?"

"If I'm goin' t' sleazy places, I'll tell y' outrigh', I got nothin' t' hide," Remy responded as he gazed around the room, looking around curiously, "so this the War Room I've heard so much."

"Yup," she followed him as he wandered a little. "This is where we do all the tactical work behind the scenes – this is also where all the official team meetin's are held."

"Y' sure got a lot o' computers," he whistled, clearly impressed. "Magneto has somethin' similar in our base - but not quite this extensive..."

Rogue touched one of the monitors lightly. "Computers are hooked up to every database we could need to access. We can access most stuff world wide, with a little work we can bypass certain things too."

"Kin' o' stuff can' y' access?" he wandered, fingers trailing the edge of the control panel as he moved.

"Anythin' where there's a mass database."

"Police?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder curiously at her.

"If needs be," she replied, following him.

"Can stuff be altered?"

"No...why? Got somethin' on record you're hopin' to make vanish?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Jus' curious as t' what kin' o' things y' all do here."

"Stuff can only be edited ethically," Rogue stated, "and only the Professor and Hank can do that if somethin' has to come to that."

"What d' y' mean ethically?" he asked, still wandering and observing the room.

"Like...we can only change somethin' in a government file if maybe they've found somethin' out about us, like the an address...or families locations – you know...somethin' that can compromise us. Somethin' like they figure out one of our real names..." she shrugged.

Remy raised an eyebrow at her, "they ever fin' out your real name?"

She frowned at him, "No."

"Will I ever fin' out y' real name?" he teased.

Rogue ignored him, "come, Ah'll show you the control annex to the Danger Room before we train," she left the War Room and led the way down the corridor towards the small elevator that led up to the control annex. She stepped in and moved back against the wall to make room for him.

"I've heard the Danger Room is like the holodeck in Star Trek," Remy admitted as he followed her in to the elevator. "That it can mimic environments jus' like the holodeck..."

"Eerily similar," Rogue said, "except way more dangerous."

"This technology shoul'n' even exis'," Remy realised. "Danger Rooms, computers can access any database...y' jet shoul'n' be able t' exis' an' stealt' silently and invisibly the way it does. If this shit all got int' the wrong hands..."

"Yeah, Ah know...it'd be devastatin'," Rogue nodded.

"Governmen' coul' start Worl' War III an' win," Remy realised, "if they figured out how t' make planes that can go invisible an' don' get picked up in airspace..." he trailed off.

Rogue nodded, "yeah...it'd be...really an advantage for a surprise attack, that's for sure."

"Mus' make y' nervous sittin' on so much, knowin' y' coul' be raided at any time."

"We can trust you, right?" Rogue looked at him suddenly wondering if asking him in the team could be a mistake.

"Chere, I known all about the kin' o' shit y' got in this place f' a long time now. If I'd wanted t' sell y' out, I coul' have done it years ago..." he pointed out. "I knew exac'ly where it was located even if I ain' seen it wit' my own two eyes."

"You didn't answer..." she pointed out, meeting his eyes.

He gazed into her eyes, "Even if I said y' coul'...woul' y' believe me?"

"Ah, uhm..." she swallowed hard.

"If I coul'n' be trusted, chere, two nigh's ago woul' have been a lot more-"

The elevator doors opened into the control annex suddenly and Rogue felt relieved that it interrupted Remy from continuing with his train of thought. The Professor and Logan were already seated in their, setting up the program that they'd be training under.

"Hey," Rogue greeted, straightening her posture and trying to find her confidence a little, "thought Ah'd bring Gambit in to have a look see before the trainin' session."

Remy stepped forward to stare out of the large windows down into to a hologram environment of a war torn street. "Mon dieu..."

Rogue smirked a little, it was the first time she'd seen real shock on his face. "Impressive enough for you, swamprat?"

"It looks so...real," Remy admitted.

"It'll feel real too," said Logan, stopping what he was doing and spinning his chair towards Remy, "We're not gonna be gentle with you just 'cause you haven't popped your Danger Room cherry. No lube, no foreplay. Hope you like it raw, swampboy."

"Logan," the Professor muttered under his breath, glancing towards Logan with a frown.

Rogue tried to ignore the embarrassment of that comment and put her attention on Remy, looking for a reaction from him.

"Oh, don' worry. I like it rough," Remy remarked smugly, not fazed at all.

"Oh, ho ho," Logan laughed darkly, "you're gonna be in for a rude awakenin'. You'll be lucky to be walkin' after the poundin' you'll get."

"Logan..." the Professor tried again.

"Promises, promises," Remy snorted.

Wish the ground would just open up and take me right now, Rogue thought dully, she rubbed the back of her neck.

Logan stood, "come on, Gumbo, we need to run through some rules before you go in and lose your Danger Room Virginity."

Rogue took Logan's seat at the console, watching as the two men moved to the elevator. Just before the elevator doors closed, Remy gave her something of a smile before his face disappeared behind the sliding doors.

"He won't pull any punches," Rogue realised of Logan as she turned the chair towards the console.

"I'm afraid not," the Professor continued adding items into the program.

"Think he'll try and humiliate him?" Rogue asked concernedly.

"I think he'll try to humble Gambit, if anything," Professor Xavier supposed. "The impression I get from Gambit is that he doesn't humiliate very easily."

You can say that again, she thought.

"He has a tendency to showboat," Rogue admitted, "he's real full of himself – Logan is gonna use that to his advantage and try to get him down fast in the session."

"Make sure Gambit knows to watch his back – and if you can make sure you keep an eye on him," the Professor warned, "Logan is in a rather foul mood today."

"Isn't he always?" Rogue rolled her eyes, "Guess this time it's cause we let Gambit join the team without his approval...?"

"He doesn't trust him and thinks we may be in for betrayal," the Professor said, "he'll make things difficult until Gambit proves him otherwise."

"Do you trust him?" Rogue queried, gazing briefly at the Professor's concentrated face as he worked at the controls.

"Trust is something that has to be built, Rogue," Professor Xavier responded, "but if you're wondering if I sensed anything about his recruitment...everything seemed very above board and genuine."

"He said Magneto didn't take it very well," Rogue admitted.

The Professor grunted a little.

"Kitty and Jubilee said you guys were arguin' about it."

"Two members of the Acolytes are now going to be X-Men, and it doesn't sit well with my old friend."

Rogue checked the enemy list, "how's Lance doin' anyway?" she decided to ask, now that the subject of two Acolytes in the team had been broached.

"Lance is doing much better."

Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek, "Kitty said there's been drugs..." she admitted uneasily, "Ah...asked Remy but he was bein' kind of cagey..."

"Lance hasn't really specified much," the Professor said, "but while he's here, I'll be treating him as a patient, and anything relating to his condition as a patient...I can't possibly comment on, you understand that, don't you?"

"Of course Ah understand it," Rogue responded, "Ah'm just...worried."

"About Kitty?"

"Yeah, and about havin' a junkie in the house..." Rogue frowned a little.

"Rogue, can we please leave the judgements aside for now? That's hardly fair."

Rogue leaned forward on the console, she hated still feeling reprimanded. Even as an adult, the Professor and even Logan still treated her as a child, and whenever the Professor used that voice with her, he always made her feel as if she were twelve rather an an adult.

"How do you feel about your first day in command?" the Professor decided to change the subject rather swiftly.

"Anxious," she decided to admit honestly. "Ah'm not sure Ah'm cut out for this."

"You'll be fine," the Professor promised. "Scott wouldn't have chosen youto be second-in-command if he didn't think you were the best candidate."

Rogue hoped the Professor was right.


Training was torturous. The session was harder than it'd ever been before and Rogue had felt ill-prepared. She'd tried her best to be tactical during the session, tried to pay attention to what everyone was doing but it'd been impossible to have her eyes everywhere at once.

When the session was done, every muscle in her body ached although she'd escaped any proper injuries, unlike a few others. Tabitha had managed to get her ankle injured, and Kitty had been briefly knocked out by falling debris.

She'd tried not to be too impressed by the way Remy had practically sailed through the session. There'd been times he'd taken a few hits and spills, nothing unusual, she was sure Logan had made sure to personally use the room to track him and make him a priority target, but he'd somehow made it through.

As the others filtered out of the Danger Room post session, the environment faded to the huge empty vast hall it had been before, and Rogue noted Remy had settled against the wall near the door to catch his breath, one knee pulled up, his forearm propped upon it, a card flipping through his fingers absently.

His hair was soaked with sweat, clinging to his face a little, his face attractively flushed red from effort. The swelling from where Lance had punched him at the wedding had gone down now but the small bruise was growing darker every day.

Rogue wandered over, "hard enough workout for you, swamprat?" she asked, folding her arms casually and gazing down at him.

"I was jus' gettin' warmed up," he said lazily, looking up at her.

"Ah told you you'd be hot in that thing," Rogue nodded towards the coat.

"I jus' do so much I work up a sweat," he charged the card in his fingers up and tossed it away, it gave a small almost impotent whistle then a bang upon the steel floor, tiny pieces of cardboard were all that remained. He pulled himself up using his quarter-staff to get leverage and he leaned on it. "Any notes on how I did, boss?" he rolled his neck, his gaze on her was expectant.

"Yeah, you showboat too much," she replied honestly.

"That's half the fun," he rolled his neck again and followed her out of the Danger Room, walking with his staff dangling from his fingers, slightly dragging on the floor. "Anythin' else?"

"You did okay. You...worked well with the others, Ah guess," she shrugged, she folded her arms as they walked. "You need to be more aware of the others around you though. One of your cards caught Bobby's ice slide, you could have killed him."

"Maybe he shoul'n' have hit me with that ice ball earlier," Remy snorted.

Rogue had definitely seen that happen, but at the time there'd not been enough time to reprimand Bobby, they'd been fighting for their lives against a host of robot enemies. "That's what you get for cheatin' him out of seven hundred dollars at poker."

"Tol' y' he was a sore loser. He been givin' me the col' shoulder ever since," Remy replied. "Speakin' o' col'...why this corridor so col' anyway?" he asked, noting his breath misting in the air.

"Servers behind the wall that run the Danger Room have to be supercooled or they'll go on fire," Rogue gestured to the wall, "feel."

Remy put his gloved hand on the wall but yanked it back almost immediately, "it's freezin'..." he gasped.

"Yeah, it's super cold," Rogue smirked. "You don't usually wear those," she noted of his gloves as they walked.

"Help me keep grip on my staff..." he held it up, "Magnetised, see," he released his fingers and the staff stayed firmly to his hand."

"Doesn't that make it hard to let the thing go?" she asked.

"Nah, all I got t' do is push this button hidden in the shaf'," he showed her the staff, "it demagnetises itself an'..." he pushed the button and the thing dropped to the floor with a clang. "That happens."

Rogue winced at the noise. "Ah guess Magneto designed that."

"Yeah," Remy shrugged and picked the staff up, "he clever. Figure out all kinds o' stuff."

She moved to the elevator and waited. Would Magneto know how to fix my powers? Would it be stupid to ask? Stupid to give him access to my powers that way? She wondered. Past experience told her that she couldn't completely trust him.

"Ah don't know how you could work with someone like that," she admitted.

"How y' mean?"

"He's so...fairweather. One minute he's fine, then he's hellbent on destroyin' humanity."

"He's got mental issues, what y' expec'?"

"Mental issues?" Rogue raised an eyebrow at him. That was an interesting way to put it, she supposed.

"PTSD, abandonment issues, trust issues...night terrors."

"Night terrors?" Rogue blinked.

"Yeah, you should see what he does t' a room if he has nigh'mares..." Remy frowned, "He won' talk about what he dreams, an' y' get hell f' askin'. My guess...he has nigh'mares 'bout the things he saw durin' the holocaust."

"Probably," Rogue supposed.

"He's seen more horrors than either o' us will ever see in our lives. Can't blame him f' bein' a little unsound, I suppose..." he let her go first into the elevator once it opened, he hit the button for level one of the Sub-Basement after following her inside.

She eyed the lit up button. "You goin' to check on Lance?" she asked, knowing that there was little on that floor he could access without the proper clearance.

"Yeah, I figure I better go speak t' him, tell him I'm stayin', try t' pep-talk his ass about how good things here is," he shrugged.

Rogue folded her arms, "Kitty is probably in there with him right now. Every time I turn around, she's gone to see him."

"She in love, she can't help it," he replied.

She stared into space, thinking about the way Kitty kept disappearing to be at Lance's side. She wasn't sure she'd ever felt a love that deep; even her feelings for Scott hadn't quite graduated to that kind of depth. She wished she could feel something that intense - the kind of love that made it impossible to stay away from someone. But at the same time, the thought of feeling that intensely about a man while being trapped in a body that couldn't touch...it was painful to imagine. She was sure to feel that love and be so limited, it would be torture.

It hurt enough to not be loved back. How much more would it hurt to have love but not be able to do anything about it?

"So," Remy turned to her, "what now?"

"Hmm?"

"Y' got plans?" he asked.

"Yeah, lots to clean up in the mansion, got to get all that beddin' off the beds the guest stayed in, got to clean out the guest suite where Magneto and the twins stayed-" she began to explain.

"How about t' night?" he queried. "What's y' plans?"

"Sleep," she supposed.

"How 'bout a movie...dinner?".

"Ah'm tired," she said.

"Aw, c'mon, we got t' celebrate my joinin' the team " he grinned, the elevator door opened on the first level of the Sub-basement and he walked out and turned to her, "Remy show y' a good time," he winked.

"Ah don't need your pity, Gambit."

"Pity?" he blinked at her.

"Look, Ah'm humiliated enough, okay, just...just cut it out," she shook her head. "We have to work together, it's hard enough to look you in the eye after what happen-" she stopped herself not really wanting to have to remind herself or him about it again. "Stop tryin' to wind me up like a tinker toy, okay?"

"That's not what—"

The elevator doors shut and Rogue sighed deeply, glad she didn't have to listen to his damn excuses any more. She pushed the button to go up to the mansion level and hoped that that would be the end of it.


End of Part 4


Notes: the story will gradually get more mature from part 5 onwards.

Also be warned, this is going to be quite a long story - it's near completion at about 320+ pages so far and part 5 ("The 'Mooners Return") is about 93 pages in so quite a bit of content to come.