still standing! ( open. )

[bamon]

<sub>The firey redhead glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Noticing it was three am in the morning, a smile fell upon her full lips. The perfect time to work out in the danger room. She preferred doing it when no one was around. Mostly because it was often not just a work out physically and improving her fighting skill, but also it tended to be a little like therapy for her. With everything she had been through, the danger room was the one place she could get it all out. Not just physically but also vocally. As fun as it was having Charles Xavier check out her head, there were some things Rogue just needed to do alone. Then again, she had more then enough alone time. If her ability didn't put everyone off then the fact she had been in the Brotherhood previously, would definately make sure others steered clear of her.

Running a hand through her flame licked hair, she got out of bed and padded over to her en-suite. After washing her face, and cleaning her teeth she put up her hair into a rough ponytail. Stripping off her pjamas, which consisted of a long sleeved top and pj bottoms, she put on a pair of black elbow length gloves. She threw on a dark grey bra, dark grey underwear, pair of black jogging bottoms, a long sleeved black polo neck top, dark grey socks, and a pair of black ankle length leather boots. Happy that she was covered up as much as possible Rogue left her room and headed towards the elevator. It didn't take too long to get down to the danger room. She headed towards the lockers first, exchanging her top and jogging bottoms for the usual X-men skin tight black catsuit. She chuckled a little as she put it on, wondering if Charles had really meant for the uniform to make the females look like dominatrixes, because it did tend to do that. With the uniform on she went into the danger room and got the computer to start the simulation where she would be against Mystique in an abandoned village in the desert.

Rogue watched as the scenery came to life before Mystique appeared right infront of her. She supressed a growl before lunging for the blue skinned mutant. With the force of the lunge, thanks to the super strength she got from Carol, the pair slammed into the ground so hard it produced a crater.

"Ya manipulative harpy! Its all ya fault!"

Rogue snapped, punching Mystique square across the jaw. Within seconds Mystique had changed form to look just like Carol Danvers - pin pointing a significant weakness for Rogue. She hesitated, and it was the hesitation that gave Mystique the opportunity to kick Rogue hard in the side, sending Rogue out of the crater and away from Mystique. Rogue let out a brief cough, clutching her side a little although she was more in shock then anything else. Growling at herself in fustration she jumped up onto her two feet, sending a glare Mystique's way as she began sauntering towards the woman she had took in as a daughter.

"I may have manipulated you Rogue, but at the end of the day it was you that did all those horrible things. You sent Cody into a coma, you almost killed Carol Danvers, and you did all those jobs with the Brotherhood. I didn't hold a gun to your head to make you do it, now did I?"

Mystique purred, hitting Rogue right where it hurt. How could a fake Mystique still have this power over her? Rogue hated it, and whats more she hated Mystique. She also hated the fact if it came to it she could not kill Mystique. She may have made Rogue do awful things that had now layered her soul in guilt and shame, but Mystique had still took her in and treated her like a daughter. Mystique had made her feel wanted, as had Destiny. They had even made sure she didn't get arrested when the rest of the Brotherhood had.

Rogue flew towards Mystique, grabbing her and flying up into the sky. Once a decent height, Rogue let go of Mystique only to give her a roundhouse kick. She watched as Mystique went flying only to slam through several buildings. Unfortunately she then heard the computer's voice saying the simulation was complete, and with a reluctant sigh she flew herself down to the floor as the scenery disappeared to reveal the metal made Danger Room.

As much as Rogue wanted to put all the blame on Mystique and Destiny she just couldn't. Rogue had let them manipulate her, and she had done all those bad things. She still had a heart and her head, she could have refused. All those times she could have refused but she had let her pain, sadness, and guilt consume her until it was used as anger to do all those things. As much as everyone may not forgive her, it was the fact Rogue couldn't forgive herself that really got to Rogue.</sub>

[gambit]

***

It was obvious Gambit was still uncomfortable here, as the Cajun awoke for what seemed like the thousandth time at three in the morning since he had gotten here. Remy's instincts had told him this place wasn't for him, this mansion, this school, these people. As much as he appreciated the effort Storm went to bringing him here, it wasn't for him. Taking orders, working alongside people. In his experience, the only thing that happened to people that worked with him was they ended up dead, and as much as he may not have liked Cyclops, or Wolverine... or a majority of the men he was forced to work with, he wouldn't see any of them dead. Enough people had died because of him over the years, he didn't want to add another to his already guilty conscience.

When he realized, and eventually accepted, he wasn't about to drift off to sleep, just as he never managed to, Gambit was out of the bed in one sprint, and was pulling on a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt in another, a somewhat disgruntled look forming on his face. The Cajun never did like wearing clothes so informal, but seeing as how it was just him, and the four walls of his room, there wasn't anyone to see him dressed in so common a fashion. It was with that he realized there wasn't anyone awake either, not at this unearthly hour, so he sat himself down on the carpeted floor, and pulled his deck of cards out from inside the bedside cabinet. There wasn't a card game in this world Gambit didn't know how to play, and while poker was his favorite, it wasn't as much fun with just him, and no money to wager.

"Solitaire it is, den..."[/i] he mumbled to himself, dealing the cards, and lining them up along the floor. Even when it was just him, and a deck of cards, Gambit was still a sore loser, and after failing to win three games in a row, the Cajun soon grew fed up, and gathered up his cards to toss them back into the bedside cabinet again. Leaning his head back over the edge of the bed, and running his hands over his face, and through his shaggy brown hair, Gambit's ears started to burn when he overheard the sound of a door opening nearby. The Cajun was so bored, anything could amuse him at this point, and he was soon on his feet, albeit bare feet, and making his way to the door, opening it to peer down the hall. It didn't take him long to identify the figure disappearing into the elevator, nor did it take him long to follow either.

Storm wasn't the only reason he had so far fought his instincts to ditch the X-Men, but the Southern Belle who resided here provided a reason as well... probably a better reason than any. As he strolled passed the elevator, reading the monitor overhead, Gambit was able to establish exactly where she was going. Storm had escorted him down to the lower-levels on a few occasions, but she was the only one who did, everyone else here didn't trust him enough to allow him access to the most secret areas of this school, not Cyclops, and certainly not Wolverine. The Professor didn't really seem to have an opinion on whether or not the X-Men could trust Remy, he never said anything to indicate what he thought of the Cajun, he was simply silent on the matter, which suited Gambit, who had enough on his hands with the Boy Scout, and the rabid dog.

The elevator soon zoomed back up through the mansion once it had dropped off Rogue, returning to bring Gambit down next. He was soon drumming his fingers against his arms, folded across his chest, bopping his body against the cold interior of the elevator as it dropped down through the mansion, often stopping at various floors along the way down for some unexplained reason. But not knowing where Rogue had disappeared to, he wandered off in the direction of the control room of the danger room. After all, there was nowhere else she would be down around here, as impressive as the Blackbird was, he had doubts she would wake up at three in the morning to head toward the hanger. And there she was, wearing what he would have called a silly uniform were it on anyone else but her, but on her every single curve she possessed could be clearly seen.

Sinking down into the swivel chair, positioned in front of the control panel, looking out over the vast expanse of the danger room, Gambit looked on. Admittedly, he wasn't paying any attention to the hologram Rogue had choose to generate, Remy had much more interesting things to look at, such as the way the leather of those uniforms clung to Rogue's hourglass figure, accentuating the perfect hips and thighs that were otherwise disguised under the several layers of clothes she opted to wear. Her long legs already seemed all the longer, not to mention her bum and breasts appeared all the more alluring in something so skin tight. Did Rogue often wake up at this time of the morning as well? If she did then this was something Remy could certainly get used to waking up to. But Remy's ruby red eyes, happily settling on Rogue's voluptuous figure, were soon brought elsewhere, as he noticed what exactly Rogue was up against.

He had heard the others referring to the blue-skinned mutant as Mystique, and apparently her and Rogue had some kind of past, what that involved, the Cajun wasn't sure, until "I may have manipulated you Rogue, but at the end of the day it was you that did all those horrible things. You sent Cody into a coma, you almost killed Carol Danvers, and you did all those jobs with the Brotherhood. I didn't hold a gun to your head to make you do it, now did I?". Gambit had noticed that his fellow X-Men seemed to possess as much issues trusting Rogue, as they did him, and that, among many others reasons, was why he felt so drawn to the young woman. She didn't belong, and he didn't belong either. He watched as the absorption powered mutant grabbed a hold of the holographic image of Mystique, flying up into the air, and dropping her at an appropriate height, only to deliver a kick to her, sending her plummeting to the ground below again.

But then the simulation came to an end, and the holographic scenery vanished to be replaced by the sleek and metal tiles Gambit came to associate the danger room with. "Lookin' good, chere, lookin' good" the Cajun's fingers quickly found the buttons controlling the intercom, holding them down as he chuckled to himself, "Ah was, of course, referrin' to de simulation" he attempted, and failed to assure her.

***
TAG: Roguey
WORDS: 1,163
NOTES: OK... so I might have lied about the length

[/size][/center]

[bamon]

[/b]

Rogue asked, exasperated as she turned to face the direction of the control room. She couldn't see inside, the glass windows were too high and too far to make out much, but she knew he was there and could see her. Well, it was obvious with the intercom and all. She rolled her eyes when Remy clarified he meant the simulation and not what she was wearing. She of course knew he didn't mean the simulation. As much as she hated to admit it let alone say it, she knew Remy better then to believe that he meant the simulation. A man like him only paid to attention to one thing when a female was around - her body. Rogue never let Remy close enough for him to be able to touch her. First reason was because she knew - as far as she knew thus far - her touch could send someone into a coma or die. Second was, despite how much he infuriated her, how much she wanted to hit him most of the time, she feared just a little if she let him get close he'd end up ruining her. Probably in the best and worst ways too.

Shaking her head Rogue sighed before turning to head towards the door of the danger room which led to the outside corridor. She hoped if she was fast enough he wouldn't end up catching up to her.

"Ah dun care where ya look swamp rat, as long as it ain't at meh."

Rogue told him firmly just before she walked out of the danger room doors. Rogue walked across the hall, opened the door, and entered the female locker rooms. She thought briefly that she wouldn't be surprised if Remy had snuck in here on occassion to peek on the female members of the Xmen. As much as she wanted to rag on Remy's hounddog ways she knew in part she couldn't quite blame him for all of it. Unfortunately the guy was sexy as hell and dripping in sin. He had a lean muscular figure, strong arms, toned legs, a world class ass - although she'd never admit that -, a great smile, and best of all the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Even if Remy chose not to flirt women would easily throw themselves at him. For the most part she was glad she couldn't touch anyone. It meant she couldn't succumb to him anyway, which meant her heart was safe. On the other hand she did tend to feel jealousy when another female touched him. She hid it well.

She pulled down the zip from the top of her neckline of the front of her suit and down to her waistline. She pulled and pushed the sleeves off her arms and then wiggled as she pushed the rest of the catsuit down to pool at her feet. She kicked her feet out of it before putting the uniform away in her locker. She grabbed the clothes she had worn to the danger room. She pulled on the trousers and top on first, then pulled on the elbow length clothes and boots. She exhaled deeply once dressed, closing her eyes as she forced herself to not think about Remy LeBeau. Closing the locker door she made sure it was locked before walking over to the sinks. She turned on the tap, washing them with water and a lavender soap, before rinsing them with water again. Picking up some paper towels she put them under the water before turning off the taps. She pressed the paper towels to her neck, cooling her skin as she wandered out of the female locker rooms, completely oblivious to everything around her.

[/sub][/ul][/blockquote]

[gambit]

***

"How many times swamp rat do ah have to tell ya to get lost?", if Gambit wasn't already chuckling, then he would have been after that. There was no one else who could call him such a derogatory name, and get such a reaction out of him. Rogue always did though, she could call him any name under the sun, and all he would do in return was smile, that usual trademark smile of his. What made his position even better was that, while he could get an eyeful of her, she was seemingly unable to catch so much as a glimpse of him. "As many times as yah want, chere, yah know Gambit could never get tired of listenin' ta your voice" he snickered from the swivel chair he was still happily sitting in. Gambit was often told there were very few things he could take seriously, which was proven as he sat in the X-Men's holographic simulation training room, spinning around in a chair.

"Ah dun care where ya look swamp rat, as long as it ain't at meh", he heard her growl one more time before making for the direction of the door, much to the Cajun's dismay, but he wouldn't let it show. "Keep walkin', chere, 'cause Ah just love ta watch yah go" he continued to chuckle, releasing the button of the intercom once she had vanished, and he would have been quick to follow her were he not momentarily distracted by the control panel laid out before him. Gambit could possess the mind of a child sometimes, especially when it came to technology. It wasn't something that frustrated him like other people, but intrigued him, and while Storm had brought him down here a few times thus far, he had yet to be left on his own down here. Something the Cajun would soon establish was for good reason.

His fingers found a dial situated at the corner of the panel, and after having a momentary 'oooh, what does this button do' lapse, turned the dial so a hose shot out from behind one of the metallic tiles, lining the top of the danger room. His curiosity still not satisfied, the dial was turned even more, only for a fountain of flames to shoot out from the top of the hose, which started twisting and turning from the pressure of the flames, scalding some of the metallic tiles on the ceiling, and even on the floor. "Ah didn' do nothin'" the Cajun clumsily mumbled, haphazardly pushing himself up from the seat, and stumbling through the doors of the control panel out into the corridor. "Dat's right, Gambit didn' do nothin', nothin' at all" he continued to mumble to himself as he made his way down the corridor, stuffing his hands into his pockets, flinching every time he heard the sound of metal being scraped inside the danger room.

So distracted was he in convincing himself he had nothing to do with what just happened, that he was completely oblivious to the swishing sounds the automated doors made down here, and wasn't aware of the locker room door whizzing opened, much less someone walking right at him, until he collided with them. "Ah... well hello, cher" his smile speaking volumes for the delight he felt being in Rogue's presence once again, and in that instant the chaos within the danger room couldn't have been further from the Cajun's mind. He even furrowed his brow in puzzlement, and arched his eyebrow in confusion, at the sound of something hammering against the door every so often. "Good workout? It sure looked good from where Gambit was sittin'" he grinned. As much fun as he got out of teasing the Southern Belle, mostly because she didn't respond to his flirting the same way most did, there was a part of him that really did mean every word he said to her.

"So, what has Roguey got planned for today, den?" he asked.

***
TAG: Roguey
WORDS: 663
NOTES: Not at all happy with this one

[/center]

[bamon]

[/b]

Rogue yelled. Only he could cause such devastation within seconds, and he hadn't even used his power yet! Panicked, Rogue sat down on the swivell chair and began forcing her brain into action. She could not let the danger room get destroyed. One, she'd never have a place to vent anymore if it had to get repaired. Two, it would be blamed on her since she had used her ID to use the danger room. Three, well... she was protecting Remy. She didn't even want to think about why. She forced herself to remember everything she had been shown about the control panel and began turning the dial down before flicking a few buttons. To her relief the hose had retreated behind its panels once more, and the metal panels which had been burnt were repairing themselves. Sitting there Rogue had half a mind to strangle his attractive neck. Closing her eyes, Rogue took a few deep breathes before she stood up and ventured to where Remy was.

"Touch a single thing in that room again and meh power or not ah'll make sure whatever excuse ya have for a manhood is torn off and put through a shredder. Do you understand meh swamp rat?"

[/sub][/ul][/blockquote]

[gambit]

***

"What's da matter, chere?" he asked, noticing she seemingly wasn't paying any attention to him, and if there was one thing Gambit couldn't handle, besides losing, then it was a woman ignoring him. Then, much to his ego's relief, Rogue's eyes were back on him again, but she wasn't annoyed, nor was she angry, Gambit couldn't quite describe the look in her eyes, and that was because no one had ever told the Cajun off before in his lifetime. What little time Remy had spent in school as a child, and it was very little, was spent forever out of trouble, and forever in his teacher's good graces, at least that was the case with the female ones anyway. To say they adored him was an understatement, and not once had he ever been caught for stealing his fellow student's lunch money, even though he was always guilty of the crime.

But then the Southern Belle was gone, sprinting down the corridor toward the control room, and confused, Gambit followed closely on her heels to see what the problem was. "REMY LEBEAU, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!", and Gambit was actually momentarily confused as he peered into the control room, staying outside for the time being. That was until he caught sight of what was going on in the danger room, the flamethrower violently swishing to and fro inside, burning and scraping everything within close proximity. "Oh... dat..." he simply responded, but slowly backed further away from the door, so only his eyes were visible as Rogue tried to remedy the problem. All he could think about was that he was in for a rollicking from Rogue, that the other X-Men would be furious with him didn't even enter in to the equation.

Finally, the situation was brought under control, as Rogue appeared to find the right switch, so the flamethrower withdrew, and the damage that had been done started to repair itself. But then came the thing Gambit feared most, Rogue marching toward where he was still partially hiding behind the wall. Funny thing was, in a matter of seconds, that fear dissipated. Gambit wasn't sure what had changed, maybe he just didn't feel like he was getting told off? Whatever it was, he didn't see the anger on her face, but the passion in her eyes, as she stood there and told him what for, and the only thing he could think of doing in that moment was grabbing her by both her arms, and pulling her lips directly on to his. And he damn near did too, but what he did instead surprised even him.

The Cajun took a step closer toward Rogue while she was still reprimanding him, his hand slowly reaching out to curl a loose strand of those white bangs around his index finger. "Ah do love it when you get angry, chere, 'cause Ah got dis funny feelin' in mah bones dat dere's dis fire in you dat only really comes out when you are, whatever reason yah had for goin' on an' hidin' it away in de first place" he didn't exactly whisper, nor did he speak out loud either, but he did keep his voice to a minimum so only Rogue could hear him anyway. As well as that, he kept his attention firmly focused on her, blazing red eyes gazing into dark brown eyes. There were times when Remy could have sworn there was a hint of green in there somewhere, only to find he was mistaken each time he looked more closely.

Sometimes he just used it as an excuse to allow his eyes to linger on her longer, not that Gambit ever offered an excuse. She wasn't much shorter than him either, Remy realized as he lowered his head so their eyes could meet. He wasn't fussy where such technicalities were concerned, but he did prefer it when he towered above a woman, in which case he could easily gather them up in his arms. With Rogue, such a trivial issue didn't present itself, he liked how he didn't have to stoop so low so they were at an even height, and he liked being able to look her directly in the eye without making so much effort, because there was nothing he liked looking at more than her eyes, sometimes he could even get lost in them... which was exactly what he did on this occasion, his lips now hovering mere inches from Rogue's, barely touching them, and barely seemed to be more than enough...

***
TAG: Roguey
WORDS: 758
NOTES: This wouldn't have taken me as long if I didn't change my mind roughly four times about how I was going to conclude this post, but do let me know if there's a problem, as I fear there will be

[/center]

[bamon]

[/i]. In the back of her mind she had this niggling feeling she should be remembering something important, something dangerous, but in that moment her brain was so foggy that she paid the niggling feeling no attention. She just had to move forwards half an inch and their lips would touch. She looked from his piercing red eyes that she found sexy as hell to his lips, and back again a number of times. Anne had never wanted anyone more then she wanted Remy LeBeau in that moment. He thought he had passion and fire in her... She had never really thought about that. She found herself blushing as she remembered he had said he liked it when she actually showed her 'fire within'. God damn it, she couldn't help it but Remy just did something to her that made her behave more like herself then anyone else had done before. She wasn't sure whether to hit him or kiss him for it.

On impulse, and clearly without her mind fully functioning, she grabbed the back of Remy's neck with her right hand and slammed her lips onto his. A second later Rogue managed to take a front seat, pushing Anne to the passenger seat, and pulled herself away from Remy as she realised she couldn't touch people. Not with her curse. However after she had backed up a few steps and looked at Remy in shock she realised something. When she kissed him she had felt all tingly, warm, and happy. None of the tingling however was from her power. Her eyes widened in shock. She had just experienced a normal kiss for the first time. Maybe it was a fluke, or she hadn't been paying attention when she touched him... or maybe she had touched him for such a short amount of time her power hadn't had time to do its thing? After all, she couldn't turn her power on and off, as hard as Rogue had tried in the past.

"Remy..."

She breathed, not sure what to do at this point. Shaking, Rogue lifted her right hand tentatively placing her index finger against his cheek. She didn't feel anything but his skin. Biting her bottom lip, her heart racing beneath her generous chest, she managed to lay her palm flat against his cheek. Her power didn't work on him. She could touch him. She could touch him with no bad things happening. She could touch him without putting him in a coma or killing him. She could touch someone! Her hand withdrew as if she had been burnt, and she didn't even realise she was crying with tears streaming down her cheeks. How long had she wished to be able to experience a handshake, a hug, a kiss... Now, she could. Sure, it was only with Remy but it was something. It gave her hope. She might not have to be alone forever. The usual dream of love, marriage, kids, and a real home may actually be something she could actually achieve in the future...

Without a second thought Rogue stepped towards Remy. First she slapped him around the face.

"Thats for almost destroying the control room and risking ya life to get close to meh."

Then she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, her tongue not missing out on the action either, before pulling away.

"And thats for giving meh hope."

[/sub][/ul][/blockquote]

[gambit]

***

Before Gambit could move any closer, he felt a tight grip on the back of his neck, the tips of her fingers digging in to the back of his skin, pulling him to her so their lips crashed together. She could have taken his head clean off with the force behind her grasp, his lips could be bruised as a result of the ferocity she demonstrated, but the Cajun didn't care. It was over too fast, much too fast for his liking, with Rogue recoiling, taking a step away from him. Though he took the opportunity to suck in the mouthful of air he had been robbed of in those brief seconds, he wasn't exactly relieved, but he wasn't annoyed either. Looking at the expression on the Southern Belle's face, it was concern he felt. "Yah alright, chere?" he asked, fearing that he had done something wrong.

Gambit wasn't sure how Rogue's absorption abilities worked, whether he should have felt some kind of pull on his life force, but he had felt nothing in those moments, so he was left to assume they simply hadn't maintained physical contact for long enough. Could he have accidentally used his empathic abilities on her? No, he had always imagined those abilities would have no effect on Rogue anyway, with her own abilities having such a massive influence on her mind; he imagined she had some kind of mental block. In any case, Gambit always refrained from using those abilities on women; he only relied on them during his days as a member of the Thieves Guild. If Gambit was going to woo a lady, he didn't want to take any shortcuts.

"Remy..." he heard her say his name, and actually stopped breathing himself for a moment so he could listen to every single word she spoke. Then, as one tentative finger was placed on his cheek, he realized she was actually scared, or that was what he thought at least. Gambit didn't think he had ever seen her frightened, and he didn't think he ever would either. But once again, the Cajun was left a little baffled. Once again, he didn't feel anything resembling pain when she touched him, not when her finger touched his cheek, not when her palm rested against his cheek, all he felt was the warmth, the softness of her skin. For a moment all he could do was look at her hand, watch as it stayed on his cheek, completely still. It was only when she pulled it back that he realized she was crying, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Before the Cajun could demonstrate the fact he was an expert in comforting crying women, he received a full force slap across the face. "Thats for almost destroying the control room and risking ya life to get close to meh.", unfortunately, there were some things regarding women, especially this one, he didn't think he would ever figure out. "Ah won't try it again, no?" he half mumbled, hand furiously rubbing the cheek she had slapped. If it hadn't been reddened by the imprint of her hand, it certainly had been by now. Then he was enveloped by her arms, wrapping around his neck, and he felt the familiar puff of her warm breath, as her lips returned to his again. If this kiss was going to be as brief as the previous one, then Gambit wasn't intending to waste any time.

His own arms quickly came around her, managing to lift her up from the ground ever so slightly, and pressed her up against the metal tiles, lining the walls of the lower levels, while the tip of his tongue coaxed her mouth open, though not a lot of coaxing was needed it would seem. With one arm still holding her in place, bringing her closer to him so her breasts rested against his chest, lifting as they breathed together in tandem, Remy's other hand found those all too familiar white bangs of her hair, coiling one around her ear, tracing the outline of her eyebrows, the bridge of her nose, and the plumpness of her own cheeks as his fingers travelled toward her neck, stroking the pale skin there. The Cajun had no idea what she had been worrying about all this time, was this supposed to hurt him? If it was, it was the best kind of pain imaginable.

But then, just as his fingers moved over her shoulder, and trailed down along her arm, his hand searching for hers, he felt something, something he couldn't quite put in to words, poking, and prodding at his lips, his nose, and the tips of his fingers. Opening his eyes briefly, the Cajun noticed the veins under his skin had turned pitch black, as if someone had replaced his blood with ink. But that soon became the least of his concerns. It had been difficult for him to breathe to now, so absorbed was he in the softness of Rogue's lips, her hot breath in his mouth, and her wet tongue moving over his, that breathing became the least of his concerns, until he found himself gasping, though he tried to disguise it as best he could, the stubborn Cajun was soon forced to pull away from the Southern Belle, falling back, and smacking his head against the opposing wall.

***
TAG: Roguey
WORDS: 893
NOTES: Hopefully this was worth the wait

[/center]

[bamon]

[/b][/i]

Rogue had said after the earth shattering kiss. She had been so lost in her own pleasure - the moans she had been releasing evidence of that - it took her a few seconds to notice the prominant black veins on his skin. She hadn't even felt her power kicking in. She had been so sure! Panic soon set in, tears rolling down her cheeks as he collapsed. She dropped to her knees at his side, reaching out to touch him when a memory flooded through her mind...

A beautiful blonde woman stood beside him, a smile upon her sensually perfect lips as the daylight flooded over her flawless hourglass figure. The one of a kind Vera Wang wedding dress clung to her torso like a second skin then flowed to the ground with all the elegance of any high society heiress. Her blonde hair was volumptuous and curled, her make-up flawless, and it just made her all the more perfect. She could easily be the most beautiful woman in the world and a supermodel. She was stood beside Remy infront of a priest and an altar. The surrounding scenery was glamoursly decorated and revealed a church filled with people. The priest spoke, finishing the wedding vows as the rings were put on and then the bride and groom shared a kiss. Belladonna.

Rogue blinked as the memory ended. At first she didn't want to believe it. Remy couldn't be married. He didn't have a ring, and he persued her so intently. He had made it seem that he liked her, maybe even had a deep crush on her... She didn't want to believe it but the memory said it all. A heart wrenching sob wracked through her body as she clutched the spot just above her breast where her heart was. She would never admit it and always fought against it but she loved the moronic poker player. How could he be married? How could he do that to her? Was she just another notch on his bedpost? Where was his wife and his wedding ring anyway? God, he must have laughed at her so much with his wife. Rogue balled her fists into her hair, sobbing again as she pressed her face against his chest. She wanted nothing more then to hurt Remy. To tear him apart, but deep down she knew she couldn't do it no matter how much he hurt her.

"Remy... how could ya do this to meh? Ah know ahm nothin' special... Ah know ahm not that pretty... but god... ya made meh feel... ya made meh hope... ya made meh like ya! Ah hate ya for this. Ah hate ya and ya perfect wife."

Rogue whimpered, burying her face harder into his chest as she sobbed knowing he couldn't hear her. She knew her ability was a curse and this only solidified her belief. She had never wanted to get rid of her ability as much as she did in that single moment. Her mutant name haunted her in that moment. She was going to be forever alone, wasn't she? She really would be a Rogue. Her heart was breaking inside her chest. She had really thought for a second that she could touch him, and now that hope was dashed. She had really thought Remy wanted her, even wanted to be in a relationship with her, and now she found out he had a wife. A perfect, beautiful, flawless wife he could touch. Why would he ever need her, Rogue? He didn't. She was just the untouchable girl. The one with the poison skin. The challenge no one could conquer. She would have let Remy conquer her as well. She would have let him take her innocence. What really hurt though was that Rogue knew even now she'd give him anything he wanted despite how thoroughly Remy had just destroyed her.

She was weak.

Hiccupping, Rogue slowly sat up straight before putting her hands at his arm pits. She dragged Remy to the medical lab, relieved when Hank helped her put him on a bed. She stood to the side against the wall and watched as Hank checked Remy over. She, of course, mentioned she had touched him although she said it was by accident and nothing else. She didn't want Hank to know what really happened. She didn't want anyone else knowing her humiliation. She stayed standing in the shadows, doing her best not to cry and dry her face. She listened as Hank mentioned Remy was fine and should wake up soon. Apparently she hadn't done any damage. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed. She nodded silently to Hank before forcing herself to turn around and leave the Med Lab. As she went up to her room her thoughts went to the option of running away. She had never felt welcome here and now she knew Remy was married she didn't feel as if anything was keeping her here. Grabbing her duffel bag from her wardrobe she began to pack her things, not sure where she would go but knowing she just had to leave.

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