In the Rain by Nicole

Chapter 1: A Meeting of Enemies

Author’s note: I recently got hooked on watching x-men: evolution and I really like it! But I was wondering about Gambit. Where was he? I was watching an episode with my friend on evening and there he was - Gambit (Remy) in all his Cajun glory! **drools**

I was so happy! ^_^ I wanted to write a fic about Rogue and Gambit because they are perfect for each other. ^_^ But be warned! If you like Jean, don’t read it! I hate her so I bash her a lot!!! **sheepish smile** Happy Reading!

BTW, I didn’t write in Kurt, Remy, or Rogue’s accent. That would take so much effort and I can hardly do it but I tried! **sobs** Just add them in when your reading, s’il vous plait!! ^_^ Oh, and I added a couple lyrics from Garbage on a whim. ^_^ And words in ( ) are the English translation of some French dialogue.

  ~*~*~*~

Outside the Xavier Institute, a dreary rain fell down from a sulky overcast to the even drearier landscape. For the time being all outside activities of the school had been moved to a dryer spot within the building or had been cancelled altogether. It was not an easy thing to teach all the students at once inside the institution. The building was big but not big enough for ice blasts or hot firewalls! Rogue was one of the luckier ones who class had been called off. So, instead of hearing a boring lecture about the importance of working as a team during a battle, she was locked away from the world in the room she shared with Kitty.

One side of the room was neatly kept and that belonged to Kitty Pride. The bed was neatly made and not a single article of clothing littered the floor. On the other side, however, there was chaos and this side belonged to Rogue. The bed was disheveled and appeared as if a wild animal had slept on it; an accumulation of books, CDs, and loose papers were piled around the bed like a wall, and dark clothes had been tossed around like trash.

Meanwhile, Rogue’s radio was blasting the melancholy arias of Garbage as she read a comic book on her black satin covered bed. Well, she really wasn’t reading the book. Blindly, she stared at the vivid pictures of the vivacious women and brawny men, too deep in thought to pay attention to the plot. She thought about Scott and how much she liked him. She also thought about Jean Grey, thinking she didn’t deserve Scott at all. A snob like her didn’t deserve anyone who was kind and gentle like Scott Summers. What did he see in Jean anyway? She wasn’t pretty. She was too tall, thin, and her hair was too perfect. No one was allowed to have hair like that unless you were in a L’Oreal commercial. Plus, she had no flaws whatsoever! That really pissed Rogue off. Everyone fell for Jean’s ‘I’m little miss perfect’ trap but Rogue was the only one to see how much a snotty bitch that girl really was.

“Oh, she really pisses me off!” Rogue screamed in frustration as she flung her comic book across the room. “I hate her! Why does everyone love her so much? Why is show so damn perfect? It makes me sick! Arg!!” She slammed her fists into the closest pillow she could find to vent her anger, imaging it was really Jean’s flawless face. “She’s such a bitch!”

After a moment, Rogue’s ire calmed down and she caught her breath, running a gloved hand through her brown and white hair. There was no point in being upset on her free day. It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and Rogue had the day to do whatever she wanted. She didn’t have to see Jean in any lessons or run into Scott and share an embarrassing moment by becoming all numb and reddening like a tomato. She didn’t have to think about the couple and ruin her day. And, best of all, she didn’t have to worry about any lesson plans!

Rogue climbed off her bed and knelt down by a disordered pile of her belongings, trying to find something to take her mind off her troubles. She rummaged through the paper, finding something to read, when she came across a French book. She recalled how much she hated that language and frowned in displeasure. She also remembered that she owed the teacher some homework that was way overdue. Rogue sighed, settling down to rummage idly through the thick book.

‘Bonjour, chère.’ Someone had said that to her. Rogue paused, wondering why that suddenly popped into her head. She suddenly remembered who it was and her heart began to race unexpectedly. It had been a young man who said that to her with an irresistible accent that made her insides melt into mush. He had spoke French to her and he had been a mutant, too, and almost blew her hand off with his charged card. He was one of the Acolytes but, God, he was hot! The first time she saw him, she was been strangely enthralled by the mysterious man and his thick and unusual accent. It wasn’t the true French accent of dropping the ‘H’s and choking on the ‘R’s. It was more like the Cajun accent of Louisiana. She didn’t hear much southern accents up in New York and just thinking about it made her miss her home in Mississippi for a moment.

Biting her lip, she pushed that thought aside as well as her French book, and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper. Since she had the time and the privacy, she wanted to sketch that handsome boy on paper. She was a pretty good artist. By that time, she had done a sketch of Kitty and one of Kurt and Logan. She knew that she could pull it off even with the image of his face already vague in her mind.

Rogue closed her eyes and recalled with all her might the young man’s untamed carmine hair, the stubble he had covering his chin, his handsome, angular face, his cocky smirk, and his strange eyes-black where the white was suppose to be with flaming red pupils. Demon eyes. She remembered those most of all with a shiver. It seemed that his eyes had enchanted her the most. They are peculiar but very beautiful.

Rogue vaguely wondered what his body looked like so she could draw his neck and shoulders too. The drawling was rough, barely done when she hardly even noticed that someone was looking over her shoulder. Somehow Kurt and Kitty had come inside her room, taken a sit on her bed, without Rogue having the faintest clue that they were there.

“Oh, he’s cute!” Kitty exclaimed out of nowhere, causing Rogue to jump and cover the picture immediately. Her face reddened, slightly embarrassed where her train of thought had been going and that she had been caught.

“Kitty?! God, you scared me half to death! What the hell are you doing spying on me!?”

“We came to see if you wanted to come with us to the movies,” Kurt replied, sitting on the other side of Rogue.

“Kurt!? How long have you guys been here!” Rogue shouted in incredulity, her hands shooting out to cover her unfinished sketch. “Why didn’t you knock or something?!”

“We did but you were too preoccupy,” Kurt replied with a sneaky smile, his eyes moving down to the picture that Rogue concealed. “Who were you drawing anyway?”

“Nobody you know!” Rogue snapped at the mutant.

“He looks totally familiar though,” Kitty said, trying to get a glimpse of the picture again. “Oh, let me look! Please? That guy is, like, a knockout! Really!”

“Oh, come on!” Kurt frowned, rolling his eyes in annoyance. “Stop drooling over a picture, Kitty!”

“What? Are you jealous or something, Kurt,” the younger girl shot back with a sweet smile. He just gave a heavy sigh of irritation and rolled his eyes heavenward. “Rogue, you’re a really good artist!”

“Thanks, Kitty” she murmured in reply.

“Now let me see it again! I’ve seen him somewhere before! I swear!”

“Oh la la! I think Rogue has a crush on someone!” Kurt said, smiling from ear to ear. “Rogue and Mr. Mysterious sitting in a tree…”

“Knock it off, fuzz ball!” Rogue interrupted, pushing the German boy off her bed. “I do not have a crush on anyone! Now get out of my room. Both of you!”

“You don’t want to see a movie with us?” Kitty asked, her eyes growing big and pleading.

“No!”

“Fine!” Kurt said. “Come on, Kitty. I bet Rogue plans to do something with her new boyfriend!”

Kitty laughed, climbing off Rogue’s bed. “Well, see ya later, Rogue!”

“Bye, Mr. Mysterious!” Kurt said in a high voice, blowing a kiss to the picture and batting his eyes.

Rogue frowned darkly. “Get out!” When they were gone, she sighed and looked down at her drawing. Her thoughts circled around the mysterious mutant for a moment. Then there was a hard knock at the door above the sounds of the music. Only when it turned into pounding did Rogue finally wake from her contemplation. It was Miss Perfect, Jean Grey, who was knocking at Rogue’s door. The very thought of that stupid bitch made her serene moment shatter into pieces.  

            “What do you want?!” Rogue shouted over the volume of her music. She was already annoyed that she had been disturbed once already. Jeez, it was her first free day in a week and people couldn’t get it through their thick skulls that she needed time by herself!

“Rogue, will you please turn your music down?” Jean was yelling out in the hallway above the loud music. “Some people are trying to study!”

“Then get some ear plugs and leave me alone!” Rogue shouted back resentfully. She jumped up and ran to her radio, only to turn up the volume. Jean yelled some more but it was too heard to hear was she was saying.

“Rogue, quit being stupid! Turn your music down or else I’ll do it for you!”

Rogue rolled her eyes in exasperation and challenged, “I’d like to see you try, you spineless Yankee!”

« You burn and burn to get under my skin
You've gone too far now I won't give in »

            She wasn’t surprised to see her bedroom door start to tremble then. Jean was using her powers to unlock the door. Rogue frowned but let the older girl do whatever the hell she wanted. The door swung open quickly and there stood Jean, fuming with anger in the doorway. Immediately Jean turned off the radio with her mind powers and glared venomously at Rogue, who was slipping on her black combat boots.

  “Rogue, why can’t you respect peoples’ need for silence and play your music at a normal level for once?” Jean asked from the door.

“Why don’t you respect my privacy and get the hell out of my room?” Rogue straightened up and ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her heavily painted eyes.

“Rogue, there is no need to talk like that,” Jean admonished, frowning as if she was a mother.

“Cut the goody-goody bullshit, killjoy. Your not my mother so don’t tell me what the hell to do.” Rogue put on her long black coat and stuffed her drawing into her pocket along with her pencil. She would finish it somewhere else in peace.

“Rogue, you are such a brat sometimes!”

“Piss off, Grey,” she grumbled angrily, brushing pass Jean as she walk into the hallway. In a second Jean’s telekinesis pushed her against the wall. “You, bitch!” Rogue seethed, impulsively focusing all her energy into searching her mind for a power she had absorbed. Red-hot beams immediately shot out of Rogue’s emerald-colored orbs and hit Jean square in the chest, knocking her off her feet.

            “That’s enough, Rogue!” the large, blue-haired Logan shouted as he ran down the hall and grabbing Rogue before she could pounce on Jean. Drawn to the commotion like a fly to light, Scott was also with Logan but was by Jean side in a matter of seconds. It was really pathetic.

            “Let me go!” Rogue shouted, trying to shake Logan off of her but the older man was much too strong to be pushed away by a sixteen-year-old girl. “She started it!”

            “Jean, are you all right?” Scott was kneeling by the stationary girl who was lying on the floor, her shirt almost burnt off. She wasn’t moving and her eyes were closed. Scott was holding her hands in his and was trying to wake her up. Like it or not, tears of longing quickly filled Rogue’s eyes at the site.

            “I said, let me go, Logan!” Rogue screamed as loud as she could.

            “Just settle down, Stripes,” Logan told her as she began to kick and punch him like a possessed woman.

            “Put me down!” The floor began to tremble as another stolen power of Rogue’s appeared. Logan lost his balance and she had a chance to escape. Without looking back, she was gone in a matter of seconds, running down the hallway as fast as she could.

~*~*~*~

            Hardly anyone was walking in the rain when Rogue hurried down the city sidewalks, shivering from the chill in the wet air. With her heavy wool coat wrapped tightly around her form for warmth and her hood over her head for protection, she made her way heedlessly down the empty walkway. She didn’t care where she was going. She just needed to get away. As she walked, she kept her head down and the soaked hood well over her face so that no one could see her cry. To have someone see her cry would have made her snap.

Why had everyone been so rude to her? Did they care if her privacy was taken away or if they were being unjust with her? Probably not. They always treated her like she was an outsider. There was no one there that Rogue could relate to. She was the only freak there.

            Of course, she felt bad for dealing with Logan that way. He had always been nice to her as well as Kitty and Kurt. Part of her wanted to go back to apologize to them but part of her made her cautious. No doubt, Scott had informed Professor what had taken place like some sad lapdog and the older man had some punishment for Rogue for her fight with Jean. Rogue would just wait until she cooled down long enough to return home and face the music. Otherwise, she might loose her patience and blow up at Jean again. That thought made her smile through her tears.   

            Rogue had finally come across the City Park. Only bums and drunks would be inside during a rainstorm but she didn’t care; she could take care of herself if the situation arose. The allure of the solitude and peacefulness of the park was too powerful to ignore and she didn’t care if she got sick walking in the rain.

Sniveling miserably to herself, she crossed the street and hurried through the gates of the park. No one was around. Immediately she veered to the right, waking on the wide muddy path and trying to clear her jumbled thoughts. It was peaceful there like she expected it to be and the trees overheard sheltered her from the falling rain. Her wet coat made her shiver though but she didn’t mind it. She walked on, getting deeper and deeper into the wooded area. Feeling a bit lonely, she pulled that picture out from her pocket after a while and looked at it as she walked.

            Who was that boy?

            Moments later, Rogue paused as she saw another piece of paper flutter passed her face. It fell to the muddy ground before her boots, to heavy to stay afloat in the air. She wondered where it came from as she bent over to pick it up carefully. It was thin and rectangular, almost like a card. On one side, there was a beautiful design of swords. When she flipped it over, she saw that it was a Queen of Hearts.

            “What in the world?…” Rogue murmured, staring down at the card as if it was from hell.

            “Excuze-moi, mademoiselle,” a gentle voice said from behind Rogue. Instantly she stiffened as if preparing to be attacked and turned around to face whoever it was. “But aren’t you going to be polite and say a kind ‘thank you’.”

            Rogue stared in open-mouthed disbelief. “It’s you!”

            Demon Eyes, the boy in the artwork, grinned smugly as he casually leaned against a large oak tree, not caring if he got wet. His arms were crossed over his chest and his long brown trench coat covered most of his body. But, unlike the first time they meet, he wasn’t wearing that black head covering. Rogue just stared in disbelief; her lips partially open in shock as she felt her heart began to race.

            “Oui, c’est moi,” he murmured softly in French. Rogue felt like melting when she heard that delicious purr in his voice. (Yes, it’s me.)

Demon Eyes straightened up, still smiling, and walked over to her. She didn’t think to move away or protect herself if he tried to attack her. He was, after all, the enemy. Wasn’t he? But he didn’t act like he was. He was too relaxed to attack her. Plus he was too charming. And so cute! Rogue couldn’t take her eyes off of him. It was just like the first time they had meet.

“No one here but Gambit,” he said, watching her look for the other Acolytes, “and Gambit ain’t gonna hurt you none. But what is wrong, chère?” he spoke as he drew closer to view her pale, wet face. “You are crying.” (chère is dear)

“It ain’t anything,” Rogue snapped back, waking from her speechless trance. “Don’t worry your head over it.”

“Bien, alors,” Demon Eyes replied smoothly (all right then). His unusual eyes moved from Rogue’s face to her chest and then passed her hips to her legs and back again to rest on her hands. The jerk was checking her out just she was too flustered to stop him. “Damn pervert,” she growled instead, glowing red and crossing her arms over her chest to protect herself from further inspection.

He gave a smug half-smile, cocking an eyebrow. “Quoi que. Vous êtes trop beau ne pas être regardé mais votre grand manteau ne vous fait pas la justice, mon joli,” he murmured in French. (Whatever. You are too beautiful not to be looked at but your big coat does not do you justice, my pretty.)

“None of that French crap,” Rogue told him impatiently. “I can’t understand you if your making some rude comment or not.”

He just smiled and said, “Gambit is not. Gambit is playing nicely with you.”

“Do you always talk in third person?”

“Not always.”

Rogue frowned and dropped her eyes to her hands and saw that she was holding one of his cards. It was his, wasn’t it?

“This is yours, right?” Rogue held it up for him. “Take it. I don’t want it.”

“It’s a gift from Gambit to you,” he replied, gently pushing her gloved hand away.

Rogue glanced at it again. “It’s the Queen of Hearts. How romantic.”

He shrugged. “Gambit would like too see this, if you don’t mind, chère.” Before she could react, he took the rumpled sketch from her numb hand and brought it too his face. Oh, God, no!

“It’s nothing…”Rogue muttered, her face glowing in embarrassment. “I was just…”

“So you are an artist,” he said softly as if to himself. “And a good one at that.” He looked up at her and grinned, his red on black eyes twinkling with amusement. “So what were you just doing that you had the urge to draw Gambit’s face?”

God, I just want to dig a hole and crawl inside, Rogue thought desperately. “It ain’t nothing,” she repeated firmly again. She reached out and took the artwork from his grip, stuffing it in her pocket. When she looked back at him, he was staring at her and saying nothing.

His intense watch made Rogue very self-conscious of herself. “What is it?” she snapped irritably.

“It ain’t nothing,” he replied, mocking Rogue. “What if Gambit wishes to draw your face later on? I need to memorize it, non?” He stepped closer, raising his hand to run his fingers down her face. She gasped at his intention and stepped away quickly.

“No! Don’t touch me!”

He stopped, hand in mid-air. “I see now. You must be that untouchable one that Xavier has,” he said coolly. “It must be hard to go through life, being unable to touch another person.”

Rogue frowned, shoving her hands inside her pockets. Untouchable? “I don’t need your damn pity. And I have a name, ya know,” she muttered darkly.

“Excuze-moi, chère.” He looked genuinely sympathetic. “What is it?”

“Why do you want to know, Demon Eyes?” Rogue snapped.

“Gambit is curious,” he said with a shrug, not offended at her harsh tone. “Gambit is wondering if you name is as beautiful as your face.”

“Flattery ain’t going to get you anywhere, buddy, and it’s Rogue. And yours is Gambit, right?”

“Oui. But please call me Remy Lebeau if you feel like it,” he purred softly.

“Remy LeBeau, huh?” She asked, smirking and thinking back to her French lessons. “Remy, the Beautiful, right? That’s some name.”

“You know your French,” he said, with a nod. “But my name fits, non?” Rogue rolled her eyes at his cheeky smile as he gestured to his handsome face. “You can call me Demon Eyes, if you wish, then, ma belle fille,” he said, winking at her. “I wouldn’t mind.”

Rogue returned a small smile. “No, thanks. I think I’ll stick with Gambit.”

Still smirking, he took a step closer to Rogue, wrapping an arm around her before she could get away.

“What the hell do you think your doing?” she asked, alarmed at his closeness.

“You looked cold,” he murmured softly to her. “Pas l'inquiétude (don’t worry). I won’t hurt you none.”

Rogue closed her eyes, shivering both from the cold and his voice. She swallowed, her mouth had gone completely dry. He was close enough for her to smell the rain and the spicy cologne he wore that reminded her of the hot summer nights of the South. “You should be more worried about me, Gambit,” she murmured under her breath as she tried not to pay too much attention to his body and its effect on her.

He was pressed much too close to her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders that she picture his strong tall frame in her mind. But why wasn’t she mad at him? Why didn’t she back away? Secretly she told her how nice it felt to be held by someone even if he was the enemy. Her checks began to feel warn as she blushed so she looked down nervously. She didn’t want him to she her reddened.

“Something on the ground catch your eye, chère?” Gambit questioned with a smile.

“No. I just don’t wanna look at ya right now,” Rogue replied hastily.

That made Gambit laugh out loud in amusement. The warm, rich sound made her heart skip a beat and made her knees weak. She was suddenly glad that he had a firm hold on her or else she would have fallen to the cold ground. “Here Gambit is being a gentleman and you insult moi! La fille a une langue aiguë!” (The girl has a sharp tongue!)

“I’m just honest with ya, Cajun.”

“Of course mais (but) Gambit wishes to see your pretty face, chère,” he murmured in her ear. As though forced, Rogue lifted her face to his and he smiled like a shark ready to devour a helpless little fish for supper. “Your blush makes you all the more lovely to look at.”

“I ain’t some doll, ya know,” she retorted with a fierce scowl. “And I don’t want you to look at me like that.”

“But you are not trying stopping Gambit either, bien-aimé.” (sweetheart)

Rogue frowned at his response and his engulfing company. Was it just her or was Gambit getting closer and closer? That thought unnerved her a bit. She didn’t feel like sucking his life away and leaving the guy unconscious in the park. “Um, could ya give me some room?”

“Is Gambit making you uncomfortable?”

“Well, no, it’s just that…”

Suddenly Gambit’s free hand was wrapped around her waist with an impudent hand resting on her bum, pulling her further into the embrace. “How about now, chère?”

“Hey! What the hell do you think you are doing?!” Rogue asked, her temper unleashed at his advances. “I ain’t that kind of girl! Now let me go, you pervert!”

“Gambit ain’t going to hurt you none,” he told her with a gentle smile.

“Yay but I might hurt you, damn it!”

“Just relax, chère” he murmur quietly in her ear. His warm lips were close enough for his breath to tickle the skin on her neck. Rogue shivered and closed her eyes, torn between melting into a poodle of liquid lust or pushing the dangerous man away from her. Oh God, this can’t be happening! “Gambit sera très prudent avec vous.” (Gambit will be very careful with you.)

“There is that French stuff again,” Rogue said under her breath. “What the hell are ya saying?”

“Nothing much,” the Cajun replied.

“Will ya let me go now? I got to go home,” Rogue told him. “They might be worried about me.”

“Do you want Gambit to walk you home, mon joli?”

Rogue shook her head. “That might cause some trouble, ya know? But thanks anyway.” She started to move away but Gambit grabbed her gloved hand. She stared as he brought it to his lips and kissed the material.

“Gambit would like to see you again, Rogue,” he said softly, almost too soft for Rogue to hear. “Et bientôt.” (and soon)

She looked away. “Well that is your own good fault, Cajun,” she replied with a smirk, drawing back her hand.

“Au revoir,” Remy said, smiling and watching as Rogue turned and hurried away, folding her arms around her form as she went.

La Fin

Author’s note: So how was it? Good? Bad? I think I made Gambit too sweet and Rogue not mean enough. Oh well…**swoons** But Gambit sure made me want to have my own Cajun around! ^_^ Why can’t I have a cute Cajun guy pick me up? **thinks** It’s because I’m in the middle of nowhere, right? **wallows in self-pity** Well I hope you liked it! Please review! That would make me very happy!!!!

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