"Urgh this is pointless!" Jubilee frustratingly dropped herself face fist into her book.

"Come on, the sooner we finish this paper for the professor the sooner we can get some sleep." Kitty yawned across from her on one of the many library tables. "Especially since we have the training tomorrow after classes."

"Don't remind me Kitty." Bobby groaned from his position next to her. "Bad enough we have both Logan and Ms. Danvers breathing down our necks during training, now we gotta work with Gambit too."

"Hey that's not fair." Kitty raised her head to frown at him. "From what I can tell Remy seems pretty nice."

"I bet he does." Bobby annoyingly huffed as he began to work on his paper.

"You're calling him that too?" Jubilee pouted in her seat and tapping her pencil against her cheek. "I think I'll start calling him that too then."

"Can we please get back to this?" Bobby gave them both a stern glare. "And besides I don't understand why we have to work with him."

"Maybe because he's part of the team." Jubilee slowly grinned when he silently shook his head knowing she had a point. Curiously leaning her chin on her palm, she was fully aware that all she was doing was finding any excuse to delay her homework. "What were you guys doing on the computer anyways?"

"O-oh that's…just research is all." Kitty forced her nose back in her book hoping that they wouldn't ask her more about it since she wasn't that great at keeping secrets, especially around Jubilee.

"Seemed like a little more to me." Jubilee winked.

"It's not like that." Kitty snapped her head up aware of both boys glancing up from their papers.

"He is pretty hot." Jubilee dreamily sighs. "Time travel aside. You gotta admit that for his age he looks pretty damn good."

Smiling Kitty nodded. "Can't argue there."

Snapping her book shut, Rogue sharply stood from her seat on the couch closest to the window and made a beeline for the door. "I'll see you guys later."

"Oh ok…" everyone's surprised stares continued to follow her until she could be heard walking up the stairs to the girls wing of the mansion.

"Besides…" Kitty waited until both boys reoccupied themselves with their work before leaning closer to Jubilee with a sly grin. "I don't think it's me he's interested in."

-X-

The next day after classes Rogue exited the locker room dressed and ready for training in her regular black leather uniform. She was in the middle of putting her hair up in a ponytail on her way to the Danger Room when she temporarily stopped the minute she saw Remy standing outside the doors leading into the same room while securing his black boots. He still wore the same long dark brown trench coat he was never without and his black sunglasses. But instead of wearing regular clothes, underneath he wore black armor with a hint of dark fuchsia and black pants with a utility belt that held the usual 'X' symbol, completed with a pair of black fingered gloves that seemed to miss covering three fingers on each hand.

She had to admit that the new uniform did look rather good on him. But it wasn't something she was willing to say out loud.

Feeling eyes on him, she could see him glance up for a brief second before getting to his feet and briskly walking into the room without a word.

Releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding she felt relieved that she didn't have to talk to him right now. Especially after yesterday, she could see he was clearly into Kitty and should feel happy for her but a big part of her couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in the bit of her stomach at the thought.

Maybe it was the fact that she was still upset about him keeping the secret from them, or maybe it was the fact that she didn't know him well enough to say whether or not he would be good for Kitty and nothing else she constantly tried convincing herself.

Or maybe it was the fact that deep down it was still Kitty.

She couldn't lie, it still hurt remembering the way she saw them kissing outside that time after they ice skated, which was one of the reasons she left in the first place to get the cure.

The cure that could possibly be wearing off now.

With that in mind she hesitantly strolled into the Danger Room nervously fidgeting with her long black gloves which ironically now made her feel safe. 'I need to talk to Mr. McCoy.' She thought, making plans to go see him later. Maybe he could help.

"Rogue, so nice of you to finally join us." Carol Danvers impatiently continued to sternly stare at her as Rogue made to stand next to Piotr and Jubilee while Remy stood next to the teacher with an unreadable expression as he stared directly at her from what she could tell. Rogue knew that the Shield Agent wasn't particularly fond of her or maybe she just expected more from the girl which could be a reason why she constantly pushed Rogue past her limits. She really wasn't sure which one it really was but didn't feel like being on her bad side. "Well now that we're all here, we can finally begin the training exercise." Removing her eyes from Rogue, Carol Danvers spoke over her shoulder. "Simulation 637 on."

Whipping their heads around they could see the room suddenly change completely into downtown New York although with various buildings already in ruins and gunshots that could be heard in the far distance.

"The point of this exercise is to minimize the damage while takin out your opponents. The way you do that is by either taking their flag that will be tied around their waist or besting your opponent."

"Doesn't sound too bad." Jubilee quietly hummed.

"Today you'll be paired off by a team of three, luckily for you since you have a new member." Ms. Danvers gestured over to Remy who had already pulled out a small metal bo staff from his coat that instantly extended in his hand and giving a dramatic bow before glaring up at the monitor room where he knew Logan must be watching. He had to admit that thanks to Hank McCoy his staff looked as good as new and, based on what the doctor had said unbreakable too.

"It'll be fair, and we get to see how well you work together." Ms. Danver continued speaking as he returned his attention to the group in front of them. Once she paired off the teams, she told them they had five minutes to plan before the exercise would begin. "Remember the training ends when each member is taken out." She reminded them before flying off.

"Easy enough." Rogue smiled at Jubilee as they began running off in the opposite direction Kitty, Bobby and Remy had gone.

"Especially since we have the big guy on our side." She patted Piotr on the shoulder.

"So, what's the plan." He gave her a small smile as they hid behind a building.

"Ok well knowing Bobby he will try and keep his distance and wait for his opportunity to use his ice. Therefore, I think his best opponents would be…"

"I got it." Piotr grinned.

"But we still haven't seen what Gambit's power is?" Jubilee printed out. "What's up with that?"

"And we don't know what kind of skill sets he has…" Rogue quietly thought to herself. "And on top of that we have Kitty who will be the hardest to get."

"Because of her power." Piotr nodded in agreement. "She'll be the most difficult one to catch."

"She could come right out of one of these walls and we wouldn't even know it!" Jubilee suddenly realized while they all began cautiously looking around and protectively holding their belts. "Not cool."

When they heard Ms. Danvers' voice echoing throughout the room informing them that their five minutes were over, they trustingly groaned.

"Just great, we're going to die."

"Jubes!"

"Sorry!" she quickly grinned while rubbing the back of her head. "I mean we're going to win yay!"

Shaking her head Rogue began running with Jubilee while Piotr followed the trail of ice going down another path.

"Be careful!" Rogue shouted to him from over her shoulder as she continued racing down another building until she turned the corner to realize Jubilee was nowhere in sight. "Jubes!" she franticly began whipping her head around but found her nowhere. "Damn it!"

"Now is dat any way for a lady to speak?" Whirling around she was startled to find Remy sitting on the edge of the top of the building with one knee up, inclining his head. "Bonjour."

"Where's Jubilee?!" She dangerously narrowed her eyes as she took a defensive stance watching him with wary eyes as he thoughtfully hummed to himself and began lazily pacing the rooftop while twirling his staff.

"She finally speaks." He lowly drawled while eyeing her the way an eagle would his prey. "I believe Kitty - or should I say Shadowcat is keepin' her busy." He watched her ball her fists before quickly continuing to run. But she didn't get the chance to make it very far when he gracefully jumped down landing in a crouch in front of her, before slowly getting to his feet with a cocky smirk. "Where you goin' Rogue? De funs just startin'."

"Out of my way Gambit." She said between clenched teeth and made sure to keep her distance as he slowly began strolling towards her. "Or else."

"Is dat a threat?" He playfully mocked. Twirling his staff from side to side made her take quick steps back and freeze when he abruptly stopped to point the end of his staff only mere inches from her chin. "Didn't know de Rogue had it in her…"

"You don't know me." She defiantly raised her chin higher which just made him tilt his head to the side with a hint of a smile.

"S'pose not. Dat don't mean I don't want to find out." He teasingly began trailing the end of his staff down along the side of her curves until he lightly tapped it against the belt that held her flag. "So hows 'bout you hand it over real nice an' slow hein?"

Furiously smacking the metal staff away, she was about to tell him to go to hell when in one fluid movement he shoved her back hard against the wall making her momentarily wince. Before she knew it, he had both of her hands above her head and successfully pinning her to the wall using his hips. Gasping in shock she accidently managed to breath in his cologne and felt his breath tickle her cheek which just sent unexpected shivers shoot throughout her body.

"Got fire in you Chere. I like it." He murmured and tightened his hold on her wrist when he felt her resistance. Her eyes shone with such fury he could practically feel himself drowning in the pool of emeralds glaring back at him.

It only lasted a second when his reflexes kicked in when he felt her knee raise. He managed to block it with his own and quickly moved her knee aside before pressing his body flush against hers rendering her unable to do anything else but gasp and pant against him. "Goin' fo' de family jewels Rogue? Dats' playin' dirty." He impressively smirked inches from her face.

"Keep testin' me and see what happens." Grunting she tried to ignore the sudden heat on her cheeks to try and make another go to push him off somehow, but his smirk only grew as he raised her arms higher until he gripped both her wrists with one firm hand and she could feel his other slowly move down to the belt around her hip.

She tried to control her rapid breathing; she really did. But the way he kept his focus solely on her as her chest rose and fell against his own had her questioning her own reaction until she stubbornly shoved that aside, mustering up her most venomous glare. "Gambit-" Forcing another grunt out of her when she felt the snap against her hips once he roughly pulled the belt loose along with the flag.

"Dere." He wiggled the belt in front of her face. "Dat wasn't so hard now, was it?" His lips barely moved as he kept his hidden eyes fixated on her. The sound of it sounding smooth as silk as it pleasantly traveled through her body eliciting a slight shiver from her along with a deep blush returning to her cheeks.

Confusingly blinking a few times, it took her a moment to realize what the hell had just happened. Did he just steal the flag without her even trying?

"Wait…did you use your powers on me?" she frowned in disbelief.

"Maybe..." He lied. At first, he was really tempted to use his empathetic hypnotic charm on her but found it oddly surprising that he didn't have the need to.

"Training simulation complete." The computer announced.

Gaping, she harshly shoved him back when he released his grip in time to see the others running towards them. She wasn't sure if her heart had ever pounded so fast in her life, her chest still rapidly rising and falling as she stared back at him in shock.

"Hey man what the hell?!" Bobby shouted as he made to stand in front of her while glaring at Remy. "That wasn't the plan."

"Désolé mon ami, what can I say? Got distracted." Remy casually shrugged while repeatedly clenching his jaw and looking around as he retracted his bo staff and tugged it into his trench coat. He already knew what his objective was the minute he saw her standing out in the hall with her leather uniform on, disregarding any plans that were made once the training exercise began.

"Yeah, I can see that." He now turned to her. "Are you ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Of course not." She frowned at the question, ignoring Remy as he mumbled something in French which she could only assume was directed at Bobby. "Bobby this was just training. Ah'm fine."

"You heard de lady." Remy voice took on a dangerous tone when Bobby began walking up to him. "Might wanna step back homme."

"Should we do something?" Kitty worried whispered to Jubilee and Piotr.

Shooting her hand out to stop a concerned Piotr who was already intent on getting between both boys, Jubilee shook her head making sure to never remove her eyes from the scene in front of them. "Shhh no I wanna see how this turns out."

"Are we sure that's wise?"

"Yeah, I agree with Pete."

"You guys don't let me have any fun, do you?" Jubilee incredulously shook her head at the two before Bobby's voice cut in making all three return their attention to them.

"No, you know what I don't think I will." Bobby sarcastically smiled. "As a matter of fact. I don't want you coming anywhere near her again."

"Excuse me?" Rogue felt her anger flare up. Why was he suddenly acting even more protective than usual? And wasn't that her decision? Didn't he trust her? And this was training after all what difference did it make if they had to be opponents. Whether any of them liked it or not Remy was on their team now, so they had to learn to get along somehow. "Bobby ah can take care of myself."

"She sure can." Remy slyly smiled which seemed to just infuriate the blond even more and make Rogue glare at him now.

"Oh, what now?" Logan groaned from his seat in the monitor room with a wet towel slung over his face.

"Seems the kids don't know the meaning of teamwork yet." Ms. Danvers disapproving shook her head as she continued to watch them down below.

"Yeah? What was your first hint?" Logan sarcastically said as he sat up letting the towel drop down to his chest. "What the hell?" Furrowing his brows he could see Bobby challengingly shoving the other boy.

"Come on." Ms. Danvers tiredly sighed and began walking out the door.

"Take it easy." Piotr stood in between them bouncing his eyes from one to the other. Yeah, he was a big guy but he also knew that in the heat of the moment that didn't really matter when compared to two severely pissed off mutants.

"Not tryin' to fight you." Bitterly smiling, it took all of Remy's restrain to stay where he was when Bobby shoved him again otherwise he knew things would end badly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Bobby!" Rogue shouted trying to get his attention, but it turned out to be futile as he shoved him again.

With a bitter half laugh Remy mustered all his control not to let all his anger and emotions from the last few weeks control his actions until Bobby shoved him again. It was then that he snapped, and his fury sprang to life as he began to shove back just as hard until it turned out to be a full-on fight.

"Are you kiddin' me?!" Rogue was fuming just wanting to knock some sense into both boys as they continued to throw punches at each other for no reason.

"Hey hey hey knock it off!" Logan ran in as soon as the Danger Rooms doors slid open.

"Now they've done it." Jubilee grimaced in preparation of what's to come.

Barely dodging a punch that was meant for the other boy, Logan began to pry them off each other with Piotrs help.

"What the hell's going on over here?!" Logan asked harshly, eyes dangerously bouncing between both boys.

"Both of them being idiots!" Rogue snapped.

"Yeah, I can see that Stripes." Logan made sure Piotr had a good grip on Bobby while he made sure to keep Remy at a safe distance. "Care to explain why?!"

Averting his eyes, Remy shook his head while wiping some blood from the corner of his mouth with his thump before inspecting it.

Looking back at Bobby Logan was surprised to see him also looking away refusing to talk. "No one willing to talk huh? That's fine with me." Logan growled.

"Just a friendly brawl is all." Remy replied, still feeling some leftover anger and without thinking looked up to see them all suddenly step back with the same look he'd seen one too many times. The same frightened look he received since he was a child whenever someone saw his eyes, the eyes of a devil.

"Alright well-" Logan already had a list of things to say until he heard the audible gasps coming from everyone in the room, and Remy's wide eyes taking in all of their faces before he stared down at the sunglasses on the floor.

"Désolé…I…" He repeatedly opened and closed his mouth as he backed away with his shades now in hand.

"Kid?" Logan slowly began walking towards him but stopped when he saw the young mutant shaking his head with his eyes clenching shut before turning and rushing out of the Danger Room.

-X-

Tiredly slamming her door shut, Rogue plopped face first into her soft mattress. After everyone got chewed out by Logan during training, she had no luck in finding where that Cajun had run off to.

She had found herself restlessly walking around the mansion and even going so far as to ask Storm if she'd seen him explaining what all had happened. She was of course worried but promised Rogue that as soon as she'd find him, she'd let her know if he was ok. But when it was time for dinner and there still was no sign of him, Rogue had concluded that maybe he ran off since he didn't necessarily seem like the type to stick around. At least from what she could tell.

That thought alone had bugged her. Groaning into her pillow she stopped when the slight rustling outside caught her attention.

Carefully sitting up she could see a dark silhouette through her window. And upon closer inspection she could clearly see the tail end of a trench coat as he continued to climb the large oak tree by her window until he hauled himself higher, successfully disappearing from her view.

"What in the world…?" she narrowed her eyes as she opened her window peeking her head out to see him disappearing onto the roof. "That slimy little swamp rat…"

Mustering up all her courage and after a few frustrating curses here and there, she tried her best not to fall clumsily to her death since she hadn't done this since she was back home in Mississippi. Eventually she found herself proudly grinning when she finally hauled herself up on the roof- albeit not as easily as he made it look.

Dusting herself off, she frowned in disgust when she saw him a few feet away silently smoking a cigarette while glancing out towards the mansion grounds. From what she could see it looked like this wasn't the first time he came up here. To be alone maybe and not be bothered she guessed.

"Took you long enough."

And just like that all of her efforts of trying to be as quiet as a ninja flew out along with her pride of making it here in one piece. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Could hear you strugglin' a mile away." He quietly chuckled to himself, but she could tell he wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Wasn't strugglin'." She stubbornly huffed folding her arms over her chest, not at all taking kindly to the fact that it may have been true. She kept the stern expression on her face until he turned to lock eyes with her but found herself instead staring at her reflection through his shades. "You know, those things will kill you."

Scoffing, he looked down at the cigarette in his hand letting a good minute pass before he spoke again. "Why you here Rogue?"

"Nice night out for a stroll." She shrugged trying not to shiver at the slight breeze.

"Uh-huh." Returning his attention forward, he took a deep breath before putting his cigarette out when he heard her slow approaching footsteps. "Actually, I came up here so dat I could spend some time alone if you don't mind."

"So, is that what you're doin'? Is that why you're hidin' up here?"

"I ain't hidin'."

"Seems to me you are." She quietly sat down next to him as she followed his line of sight.

The silence that followed wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought. It gave her time and peace to think about all the events that have happened recently, understanding that maybe that's what he was searching for too.

"How's your boyfriend?"

She spared him a glance watching the way his jaw worked as he began picking at something on the shingles.

"He'll live. About same number of bruises as you from what ah can tell." She disapprovingly shook her head until she finally let all of her frustration out in a single exhale.

"My apologies Chere."

"Chere. Why do you keep callin' me that?"

With a small smile he only hallway shrugged. "Seems to fit. Why do you keep your accent hidden'?"

Completely caught off guard by the question, she stared at him for a good minute surprised that he'd noticed something like that.

Sensing the way she started fidgeting in her seat he only nodded before turning his head back to stare to the front. How anyone could not see the way this girl was suffering even with just the simplest question was beyond him. He'd only been here for a little while and even he knew something was bothering her. "Seems to me we have plenty of things we like to keep hidden."

"Like your eyes." She saw him instantly snap his head in her direction, wondering what all was going through his head but it didn't last long before he turned away again.

Inhaling deeply, she began playing with her sleeves as the memories of home began slithering their way into her mind. "It's not somethin' ah like to talk about or hide." She quietly explained. "But…way back then, when ah was younger…when my mutation took hold. Let's just say it wasn't a pretty picture.' She felt the heaviness in her chest begin to grow remembering that awful day all too clearly.

The day she had her first kiss with her childhood friend Cody.

Everyone called him by his middle name 'David' but to her he was always Cody. Always smiling and laughing at all of the things they did and one of the friendly people she knew. Your typical boy next door and everyone loved him. But she would never get to see him again and it was all her doing. "It's the only way ah know how to keep those memories out. To forget about my past."

"Yeah, well I got news fo' you Chere. It don't matter how much you try; de past is goin' to be a part of you whether you like it or not. No point in tryin' to forget 'bout it, no point in tryin' to hide from it neither. Because you can't. It'll always stay with you even if you don't want it to."

She knew he was just trying to make her leave by the hard tone of his voice but despite that, something told her he knew first-hand what he was talking about and couldn't argue otherwise.

"Is that what you're doin' Gambit? Because it seems to me you are runnin' from somethin'."

"Makes two of us non?" He tried to force one of his usual confident smiles but stopped when he saw her carefully watching him with a guarded look knowing it wouldn't fool her.

"Can ah see them?" she suddenly asked as she reached her hand out towards him to pull down his sunglasses.

Grabbing her covered wrist he adamantly shook his head. "No. You won't like what you see."

"Please." Pursing her lips she watched as his trembling hand loosened up on his grip. Slowly and ever so gently she began to carefully pull them down making sure not to touch him and frowned when she saw his eyes tightly shut in response.

"Please…let me see." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and with a sadden smile he slowly released her wrist and hesitantly opened his demonic eyes just waiting for the moment she'd run off like so many others have done before.

Gasping, she found her breath hitch staring back at two of the most mesmerizing, beautiful glittering ruby eyes she'd ever seen before he nervously began shifting them away. Gone was the overly confident boy she'd always seen and instead being replaced by something she'd never expected to see in him…self-consciousness and shame.

Turning away, he misinterpreted her shocked expression with fear and was about to snatch the sunglasses from her hands. "Rogue-"

"They're beautiful." She breathed out unable to keep her eyes from meeting his now surprised ones. She knew she shouldn't have, but without realizing it found her fingertips brushing some of his hair aside to get a better look at them. "Why would you hide somethin' like that?"

Slightly parting his mouth, he found himself speechless for once in his life. Too shocked to do anything but watch with wide shimmering eyes as she continued to stare at him with such utter awe that the rims of his eyes began briming with oncoming tears when he saw the corner of her lips turn into a small smile. "You're not scared?" He gave a hopeful smile scared that this wasn't real, that this was just a dream and that when he awoke none of this had happened.

"Why would ah be?" she softly replied. She wasn't sure how long they stayed that way until she slowly blinked back her shock after she felt her phone ringing in her pocket from an incoming message, quicky removing her hand which seemed to bring him out of the moment too. "Ah um…the way we reacted back there wasn't..."

"It's fine." He lowly mumbled returning to staring out at the grounds yet somehow found himself wanting to smile. "Nothin' dis one hasn't heard before." He scoffed remembering the many times he'd been called many things as a child that followed him all the way to adulthood just for the simple fact that his eyes didn't look like everyone else's. "Dis one been called many names in my days. Thief, Gambit, Le Diable Blanc, Swamp Rat to name a few." He raised an amused brow which made her try and hide a smile. "But never beautiful…"

"Well maybe you shouldn't hide them anymore."

"Maybe we both shouldn't hide." He quickly responded, which made her just warily stare at him before he glanced up at the dark sky.

"So, you're a thief huh?" she quietly asked after a few silent seconds had passed, aware of his gaze on her. "Isn't that…"

"Wrong?" he lightly chuckled after considering her question. "I s'pose it depends on your definition of right an' wrong." When she didn't say anything in response he continued on. "Stormy t'inks she owes me." He shook his head thinking back on the conversation he overheard in the meeting room. "Mais she doesn't know how grateful I am dat she's here."

"Well maybe you should tell her that." Her voice sounded so soft and gentle to his ears that it instantly filled him with a strange sense of comfort and understanding. "She seems to really care about you."

"Maybe." He nodded with a small smile.

"Ah mean ah don't, but she certainly does." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Is dat right?" his smile slowly turned to his little mischievous one before frowning and turning to her. "Rogue… I don't belong here."

"That's what everyone says when they come here." She swiftly stood dusting off her jeans and waited for him to fully turn to her from his seated position.

"I believe Icicle would agree with me."

"Bobby will come around, like they all will." She patiently saw him deep in thought knowing that he was still contemplating leaving. She knew she couldn't stop him, hell she barely even knew this guy. But what she did know was that everyone deserved a second chance in life. He just needed to understand that too. "Look ah know what it's like to be an outsider. But this place here… is a new start for everyone. So, seems to me you'll fit right in."

Silently watching her preparing to leave he couldn't help calling out to her again. "Rogue."

"Yeah?" she glanced back over her shoulder.

He found himself staring at her for a brief moment until he gave her a small grateful smile. He saw her trying her best to remain unfazed even as she began nervously shifting. "Thanks Chere."

"Ah didn't do anythin'." She determinedly shook her head as she turned to begin her long climb down. "And stop callin' me that!"

"You did." He slowly smiled to himself as he turned to watch the grounds again and softly chuckling every time he heard her quietly cursing on her way down.