1. Chapter 1

**A/N So here's the sequel to Noctambulism. It isn't one hundred percent crazy strictly necessary that you read that first, but I seriously advise that. On that note, most important topics should be brought up soon so if you decide eh, don't feel like it, life goes on.**

**Apostasy **

**Chapter 1**

"_It has been six months to the day since the mutant terrorist known as Magneto launched his attack on Boston. Over 4,500 people are assumed dead, though experts say those numbers could be much higher."_

The news reporter's face disappeared, replaced by a series of images. A bombed out police station, the rubble surrounding what used to be an office building, a very shocking stain of red on the cement, thousands of people running in the streets streaming toward any way out.

"_Among the destroyed buildings are churches, office buildings, military locations and clinics that supported the so-called mutant cure. Magneto has rekindled the terrorist group known as The Brotherhood. The exact number of mutants with Magneto is not known, but it is estimated that at least 1,000 have rallied to his cause, with more pouring in everyday._

"_The military has so far been unable to enter Boston, every attempt foiled by mutants protecting the borders of what Magneto is calling the 'free mutant state'. It is rumored that an airstrike was ordered two days ago, but interference of some kind caused the bombs to detonate early, miles above the city. As Boston is on a harbor, Magneto has many options for obtaining food, goods and anything he needs to keep the city running._

"_Many mutants have been drawn to the Brotherhood, fighting or sneaking into Boston. The largest surge was seen when hundreds of mutants fled to Boston after the riots of New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles where a total of three humans were killed as well as over 60 mutants in total. The last six months have also seen a dramatic 59% rise in crime against mutants, most of these crimes violent, though less than 1% make it to trial. In fact, last week, despite multiple eyewitness testimonies and incontrovertible evidence, Michael Ettle, a Florida man, was found not guilty of brutally murdering his mutant neighbor. Hours after the verdict of not guilty, Ettle was found stabbed to death in his own home._

"_Cities such as Tallahassee and many small towns scattered across America have publically proclaimed mutants are no longer welcome. Because of this, many mutants have become targets of mob and vigilante justice. Mutant safe havens have been erected in cities such as Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. Also, many pacifist all-mutant camps have been set up in the deserts on the western half of the country, the inhabitants preferring to retreat from the violence seen in most communities."_

"Well at least their closer to de truth dan dat Fox News bullshit," Gambit said, turning off the news. "What did dey say last week, mutants in America are all part of a mass conspiracy t' overthrow de world's governments?"

"Yes," Storm said wearily. "Something along those lines."

The X-Men, Logan, Storm, Hank, Jubilee, Rogue, Gambit, Bobby, Pete, Kitty, John and Emma were gathered, all looking ragged. The past six months had them running all over the country, stopping riots, anti-mutant violence and, of course, saving and taking in kids. In fact, they became so overwhelmed that they'd had to start a second school and safe haven in Seattle, the one mentioned in the news. Warren had volunteered to run it with, surprisingly, Betsy aka Psylocke. She, like John, had been deeply disturbed by Alcatraz and Magneto's new plan. After telepathically sizing each other up, Emma declared her trustworthy.

"No one mentioned the massacre in Maine, either," Jubilee pointed out. "Mutant on 'normal' person violence is everywhere, not the other way around. God forbid a mutant be the victim."

"Well that's what we're doing here," Storm said. "Teaching them to be no one's victim." She and Logan left the room, followed by Kitty and Pete a few minutes later until eventually the entire room emptied. Many went off the bed, but Gambit went to an empty office to work on even more modifications for the mansion. Over the last few months he'd made more and more security changes until the mansion was as fortified as a military base. Now though, with the number of hate crimes against mutants on a disturbing rise, he was abandoning subtlety for safety. The next morning, he, Logan, Pete and a few others were heading out to build a very strong wall around the property, one that Gambit insisted would make them immensely safer. He was having trouble deciding on exactly what features he should include. Guns that send out debilitating but non-lethal rubber rounds? Definitely. Power-dampening nets? Maybe. He was jerked out of his musings by his phone ringing.

"Bonjour Henri," he answered tiredly.

"_You sound exhausted,"_ Henri said.

"Saving de world does dat t' yo'," Gambit commented.

"_How disgustingly noble of yo',"_ Henri said cheerily. "_Yo' need t' get back t' some honest thieving_."

"Probably," Gambit commented.

"_Anyways, Christmas is in a month-"_

"Henri…"

"_-and yo' know how Mercy is. If yo' don't show up deux years in a row, she'll probably fly up and kidnap yo',"_ Henri finished.

"Yo' know what de situation is like Henri, yo' know what de mutant community is going through," Gambit said. "It's not like I can just up and leave."

"_It's de holidays,"_ Henri insisted. "_I'm sure dey can make it without yo' for a few days. Dey managed just fine for years before yo' came along. Plus, yo' can bring dis supposed girlfriend of yours."_

Gambit sighed. "I'll talk t' Storm, but I make no guarantees."

"_Fair enough_," Henri said. _"Yo' know…dis new mutant crisis is turning yo' into a much more serious Remy LeBeau. I'm not sure how I feel about it."_

"I know. I'm not sure either," Gambit said. "Au revoir."

Gambit groaned and ran a hand over his face. How could he justify the trip home to Storm, to himself? Oh hey, I know the world is going to hell in a hand basket, there are hate crimes and riots everywhere, but I want to go home for Christmas anyways, can I get a few days off? Gambit snorted. Right, that'd go well.

Gambit decided he was done for the night and made his way to the staff bedrooms. He hesitated at Rogue's door, not wanting to wake her, then decided he was so light on his feet that he'd be fine and made his way in. He and Rogue had started spending at least half their nights together a few months ago, alternating between their two bedrooms. The amount of time spent together increased with the horror they saw. Gambit briefly worried she was only drawn to him in response to those horrors but quickly dismissed that thought. They both knew they were based on something stronger than fear.

Gambit stripped down until he was just in pajama pants. He carefully crawled into bed behind Rogue, draping an arm across his waist. She shifted slightly in her sleep, worming her way closer. Gambit drifted to sleep to the slow rhythmic beat of her heart.

Rogue woke before Gambit for once and took the opportunity to study her lover as he slept. She loved the look of peaceful serenity he only seemed able to achieve when sleeping. There was no amusement or teasing edge, just relaxed peace. All too soon he stirred, as if he instinctually knew she was awake.

"Good morning," he said, lazily tracing circles around her shoulder. She curled herself tighter against his body, tucking herself under his chin.

"Good morning to you, too," she answered. "When do you boys have to get started on those modifications?"

Gambit shrugged. "Whenever I feel like it," he said. "I talked t' Henri last night…I promised I'd ask Stormy about us spending Christmas in N'Awlins." He said this slowly as if unsure what her reaction would be. He needn't have worried, she broke into a gentle but genuine smile.

"I think that's a good idea," she said. "You miss your family, it's important you spend time with them."

"It's selfish of me t' try and take us away at a time like dis for something as trivial as a holiday," he said.

"It's not trivial at all and it's not selfish," she said softly. "It's about happiness, everyone deserves happiness, even in the worst possible times."

Gambit pulled her tighter against him. "I love you," he said into her temple.

She placed a kiss on his neck before answering. "I love you, too."

He smiled wider. "Yo' don't know how exciting it still is t' here yo' say dat."

"Mm, nice try. Go talk t' Storm."

Gambit was more than a little nervous to speak to Storm. He wasn't sure why, it wasn't exactly like he was shy. With a start, he realized he was worried about disappointing his old friend. He tapped hesitantly on her door.

"Come in," came the muffled reply. Gambit let himself in, pausing right inside the door. Storm looked up from her desk, eyebrows raised. "Remy, can I help you?"

"Oui," he said. He cleared his throat. "Uhm, I wanted t' ask if there was a way Rogue and I could, er, go home for Christmas," he finished somewhat lamely.

Storm's face twinkled in a knowing smile. "I think that can be arranged," she said.

Gambit blinked in surprise. "Just like dat?"

"Remy," she said, leaning forward. "I know your family. I know how close you all are. Do you know how rare that is? Especially for mutants? Most of us don't have that and probably never will. Go and see them. I don't blame you for that at all."

Gambit smiled. "Thank yo'."

Storm smiled back and turned her attention to the papers on her desk. "You're welcome. But get your butt outside to start the upgrades."

Holiday preparations were a nightmare. Luckily, most parents grasped the gravity of the current political climate, acknowledged it was dangerous for mutant children to be shuffled all across the country and instead opted to come to New York for Christmas. Unfortunately, there were always those parents that believed their children were safer with them no matter what, that they could protect their kids singlehandedly from a mob of murderous angry bigots. And of course there were families that had no idea that their children were mutants. It was an absolute logistical nightmare.

Rogue and Gambit left the day after all the students were gone. Both were uneasy about air travel given the tendency to shoot mutants first and ask questions later, so they opted to take the train to New Orleans. Slower, but less security intensive. Gambit kept his sunglasses on the entire time. Rogue only partially succeeded in quelling down the rage bubbling in the pit of her stomach at the man she loved having to hide part of who he was.

Henri met them at the train station in New Orleans, insisting that he meet the supposed long term girlfriend. His jaw dropped with such force that it nearly unhinged it. Gambit was highly amused by the time he and Rogue reached his brother, hand in hand.

"Staring is rude, yo' know," Gambit said.

Henri continued to stare regardless. As if suddenly his manners dropped back into his head, he took her hand in his, laying a kiss on her knuckles. "You must be de beautiful Rogue. And here we didn't think yo' existed."

Rogue smiled. "Henri, exactly as Remy described you," she said. Henri laughed loudly.

"When we're in public, refer t' us as Remy and Anna," Gambit said, dropping his voice and glancing around at the crowd as if they'd suddenly burst out torches and pitchforks. "Yo' can't be too careful."

Henri's face became solemn as he nodded. "Absolument. By all means, let's get out of de public."

Henri helped haul Gambit and Rogue's luggage into the nice but non-descript car. The drive to the LeBeau mansion was mostly spent by the brothers swapping stories, but eventually Gambit asked about the mutant climate. Henri sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Not great," Henri admitted. "It's not as bad as other parts of de country by any means but still disappointing. I expect more from de people of N'Awlins."

"Sometimes they can be shockingly intolerant," Gambit sighed. "Outright attacks?"

"A few," Henri said, pulling into the mansion's long driveway. "There's an anti-mutant group that's gaining speed. We're very careful about what jobs mutants are given now. It's a damn shame."

"Oui," Gambit said sadly.

They walked into the LeBeau mansion, Rogue was shocked at the sheer size and grandeur. Gambit chuckled at Rogue's face, pressing a kiss to her cheek. He hauled their bags to the room they were going to share, Rogue trailing behind, doing her best to soak in everything in the beautiful house.

The room was no different. Dark wood furniture and deep red walls gave Rogue the impression of a businessman's expensive study. She flopped onto the bed, letting out an 'oomph' of air. Gambit grinned, crawling in next to her.

"Sleepy?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, eyes closed. "I don't know what it is about traveling but afterwards, I'm always exhausted. I mean, it's not like I walked to Louisiana from New York, but I'm just wiped."

Gambit laughed. "Here, roll over," he said. She opened an eye to give him a skeptical look but followed his instructions anyways. Gambit moved to straddle Rogue's lower waist, careful to keep his weight off her. Cracking his knuckles, he leaned over and began to work at the knots in the muscles of her back. She groaned involuntarily, bringing a grin to Gambit's face.

"You're perfect," she mumbled.

"I should've recorded that," Gambit joked. "De first and last time I'll ever hear those words from yo'."

"Absolutely," Rogue confirmed, voice getting hazier. It only took a few minutes before she'd completely drifted to sleep. Gambit slipped to her side and siddled up to her.

He was back, he really got to spend a week and a half with his family, in his home. The beautiful woman he was madly in love with was with him at his side, this was about as good as it was likely to get. No one was even trying to kill him, things were looking up.

He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. They still had a good three hours before they had to head downstairs for dinner, he figured he could afford to talk a bit of a nap. He settled down next to Rogue and closed his eyes .Basking in the rare moment of pure relaxation.

Christmas was always a grand affair for the LeBeaus, and this year was no different. In fact, they seemed to up the ante, building their very own North Pole in the backyard. They even got their pictures taken with 'Santa'. Henri complained about having t' wear the Santa suit for hours. Christmas Eve and Christmas were grand events, but the day they needed to return to New York was rapidly approaching. Rogue adored Gambit's family and they her, but she was really starting to crave time alone time with Gambit.

Once she'd voiced this, her wish was his command. Gambit whisked her out of the LeBeau mansion and to the French Quartier, one of his favorite districts. He parked and held the door open for Rogue. She stepped out with a smile, though it dimmed a bit at seeing he had on his sunglasses. In his hometown at night he couldn't merely take a walk without worrying about a persecutor.

As if sensing what she was thinking, he took her hand in his, rubbing her knuckles with his thumbs. "It's okay, chère," he promised her. "I've been wearing de glasses for years, even here."

"It's not right," she said.

"No, it's not," Gambit agreed. "But right now, it's not looking like we'll have a choice in the matter."

Rogue merely nodded. He was right, but that didn't stop her from being pissed. As she said, it wasn't right. They walked aimlessly for over an hour, occasionally stepping into a bar or shop.

"You're right," Rogue conceded. They were sitting on a bench, looking at the city around them.

"I told y' dat y' would like it," Gambit said. "And I make a habit of not being wrong." Rogue laughed, leaning her head into his shoulder.

"Remy!"

They turned at the sound. This voice belonged to an obviously drunk man stumbling out of the nearest bar. His friends stumbled out behind him. "Remy, I haven't seen you in a long ass time!"

"Freddy," Gambit nodded, recognizing the thief.

"Guys," Freddy said, motioning to his friends. "We got ourselves a mutant freak over here!"

"Excuse me?" Rogue asked, voice cold and dangerous.

"Oh excuse me!" Freddy said. "Mutant freak and his mutant bitch."

Rogue was standing in a flash, followed hastily by Gambit. Freddy was drunk but he was ready. So were his twelve friends. They jumped on Rogue and Gambit, mercilessly hitting, kicking and scratching any surface they could. Of course, this only lasted the few seconds it took for them to be absorbed, blown off or thrown off by Gambit and Rogue. The rest ended quickly, the drunken men either unconscious or running away.

Rogue was breathing heavy, more from cold fury than exhaustion. Her face was already starting to bruise brilliantly. One glance at Gambit showed similar results on his body. "Rogue…"

"Let's just get cleaned up and get the hell out of here."

The drive back to the LeBeau mansion was filled with silence and Rogue's cold fury.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thanks to everyone that reviewed and favorited and alerted for this story, makes me all fuzzy inside. **

**As for the Fox News comment, some were offended by it. Fox has a documented problem with fact checking and misinformation. The comment was nothing about conservatives versus liberals, nor am I saying where anyone should fall in that category, the comment was simply about existing problems in a specific journalism outlet.**

**Anyways, thanks to everyone who's reading, here's chapter two.**

**Chapter 2**

The train ride back to New York was long and silent. Rogue's face had blossomed into a riot of bruises and Gambit now sported a cut on the side of his head and a few bruises of his own. Their injuries earned them a few odd looks from fellow passengers, but once they were seated they managed to avoid any more unwanted attention.

Logan picked them up from the train station in one of the mansion's cars. He however wasn't as subtle about checking out their injuries as the train's passengers. "What the hell happened?" Logan asked gruffly, throwing their bags into the trunk.

"What does it look like?" Rogue snapped, climbing into the front seat and slamming the door.

Logan looked a question at Gambit over the top of the car. Gambit shrugged. "We ran into some anti-mutant drunks," he told Logan. "We took care of it."

Logan growled and glanced down at the car. "Is she okay?"

"Bruises, but other dan dat, she's okay," Gambit assured the other man. "She's been a bit, er, cranky since den."

"I bet," Logan said. "Let's get you guys back."

The mansion was still busy with post-Christmas buzz. There was a mixture of cleaning up and preparing to transfer students back to the mansion. A few stopped to look at Rogue and Gambit's injuries with poorly disguised curiosity, to which Rogue responded to with a loud "It's none of your business!" Logan raised an eyebrow while Gambit frowned. Sure, Rogue was known for her temper, but only if you worked her up to it. Right now it seemed to be ready to go on a flop switch.

Luckily, all the students that had left for Christmas made it back safely. It took more than a few days but there were no major incidents. A student received some heckling at the airport but a glare from Logan shut them up fairly quickly. Once everyone was back, there were still a few days left until classes started up again. Rogue was mostly found in the gym, the Danger Room or her bedroom. Students and staff learned very quickly that bothering her was something of a 'bring your own bomb shelter' kind of situation. Only Gambit seemed to be able to avoid her wrath and even he was walking on eggshells.

The night before classes started, Storm, Logan, Gambit and Rogue were gathered with the other X-Men, watching the news for anymore horrifying stories. There was a murder of a mutant out shopping on Christmas Eve but thankfully that was the only event.

"It's pathetic that the brutal murder of a father shopping for presents is something we consider lucky," Rogue said disgustedly.

"Yes, it is," Storm agreed, eyes dark.

"Considering de state of de world right now, we're lucky it wasn't worse," Gambit said.

Rogue nodded but was still obviously displeased. Gambit slipped an arm around her shoulders. She tensed for a moment against him before relaxing inch by inch. They spoke for a few more minutes before Rogue disentangled herself from Gambit and left, saying she had an early class.

Logan warily watched her go, then turned to Gambit. "Keep an eye on her," he said to the other man in an undertone so none of the others heard. "I don't know what'd going on with her, but I don't like it."

"I agree, mon ami."

Gambit was still teaching his very own Cajun French class, which was quickly becoming very popular. The students seemed to flock to his flamboyant teaching style, the possibility of a classmate blowing up and the fact that whenever they finished early or did well, he taught them seductive sounding phrases. One of these phrases roughly translated to "There are beautiful eyeballs on the door".

Rogue was still teaching Creative Writing and self defense classes, which also expanded rapidly. Girls were drawn to her compassionate nature and guys were always eager to see "Hot Ms. Rogue". Her compassion level was low lately though, as Gambit found out when he came to observe the last few minutes of her class before they went to lunch together.

Rogue was sparring with a teenage boy no older than 17. He kept throwing out halfhearted punches as if not sure he should actually be hitting her. Rogue didn't have that problem. She seized the boy by his arm and flipped him over, sending him flying into the mat, the stunned boy letting out an "oof". He looked up at her incredulously. She leaned down and offered the stunned boy a hand up.

"Never go easy on your opponent," she said to the class. "They won't go easy on you." Gambit raised his eyebrows. "Dismissed."

The class filed out, more than a few of them rubbing various injured body parts. Gambit wove his way through the students and to Rogue. "Bonjour chère," he greeted her, kissing her cheek.

"Hey," she answered. "Let me just change out of my sweaty clothes and I'll be ready to go."

"Normally I like it when yo' are sweaty without de clothes," Gambit said with a wink. Rogue gave him a tolerant smile as she grabbed her duffle bag and began unwinding her wrist wraps. "Chère, about what yo' said t' your class…"

"What bit?" she asked without looking up.

"De part about not being easy on your enemies," Gambit said.

Rogue turned to face him. "Was anything that I said untrue?"

"No."

"Then I don't see a problem," Rogue said.

"It just sounds like yo' are encouraging your students to be vicious," Gambit said.

"It's a vicious world," Rogue answered and disappeared into the locker room.

Gambit was expecting a frosty attitude from Rogue thanks to his comment but she didn't seem to hold it against him at all. In fact she seemed rather indifferent to the whole thing. They ate lunch in comfort, though Gambit, who'd had many experiences with Rogue's harsh moods was vaguely waiting for the other shoe to drop. To his surprise, they finished eating, she gave him a kiss and they parted ways. He frowned slightly, watching her make her way down to the garage.

Gambit didn't have much time to contemplate Rogue's attitude thanks to a sudden alarm. As part of his security upgrades he'd set a different alarm for different situations, the theory being it would cut down widespread panic that occurred when a generic klaxon went off. This particular alarm called all X-Men and senior staff to the War Room immediately. With a reassuring smile to a few nervous looking students, he quickly made his way to meet with the others.

When he arrived, Storm was standing in the front of the room with a grim look on her face, a look that unfortunately they seemed to see a lot of that look lately. Pyro was sitting next to Logan and looking rather uncomfortable. He'd been at the mansion for months now and just recently was deemed trustworthy enough to be let onto the team on a trial period. Logan was surprisingly okay with this, sensing a definite change in the ex-Brotherhood agent.

On the other hand, Logan lived in a state of general distrust unless it was specifically earned. The short list of people he trusted included Storm, Rogue and to some extent, Gambit, and a few others, so while he believed Pyro had to best intentions, he also tended to monitor him just in case. The constant attention from the Wolverine made Pyro decidedly uncomfortable and a bit fidgety.

"There was a riot in Georgia last night," Storm said grimly. "The people in this little town found a mutant girl with green skin. She was able to camouflage into any background like a chameleon."

"Was?" Gambit asked, referring to Storm's use of the past tense.

She sighed sadly. "They decided her skin must be the problem and it should be removed," she said. "They skinned her alive."

Rogue felt ill. Jubilee put her hand over her mouth and gagged like she might actually throw up. Even Logan looked disgusted.

"Did she…live?" Kitty asked horrified.

"She died," Storm said, then paused before adding, "She was 11." Gambit winced.

"Logan, Pyro, Gambit and Rogue are going to go down there," she said. "There are at least three other mutants in the woods outside the town being hunted by the mob. The rest of us will stay here and try to keep everything as normal as possible. And up the security level until the others get back, just in case.

Ten minutes later, Logan, Gambit and Pyro were strapped into the seats of the cockpit of the Blackbird with Rogue at the controls. Thanks to the occasional absorption of Storm, Rogue had become quite a good pilot. The X-Men had abandoned the dreaded matching leather uniforms after Magneto had taken over Boston. Once people started seeing the uniforms on them during missions, associating them with mutants, and they started to become targets. So matching leather uniforms were out and personalized gear was in.

Most appreciated this anyways. Gambit, who'd refused point blank to wear the uniform in the first place, retained his body armor and trench coat. Logan decided to keep it inconspicuous, usually just jeans and flannel. Pyro actually wore a lightweight fire-resistant shirt after accidentally catching himself on fire more than a few times. Rogue wore tight green pants and her mechanic boots, a utility belt around her waist and a beaten up brown leather jacket. Jubilee always joked that she looked like a sexy mercenary.

The trip was quick and silent except for the occasional location update from Rogue. No one knew exactly what to say. Even among the worst of the worst prisons, crimes against children carried a stigma and offenders often found themselves in a world of pain. And this town had gotten together and skinned a little girl alive. At the worst, they'd all helped. At the best, no one tried to interfere. Rogue's blood was boiling.

Rogue landed barely a half mile from the town and engaged the new countermeasures once they disembarked. Anyone who tried to approach before it was deactivated would instantly be zapped unconscious. They took off at the town at a run. They saw a group of men variously armed gathering at the edge of the woods. They veered that direction.

The group of men looked up when the four of them approached. An older man who appeared to be the leader took in their appearance with a critical eye.

"What the hell's going on here?" Rogue yelled.

"Y'all the grabbers from Atlanta?" the leader asked.

Rogue opened her mouth to respond but Logan cut her off. "That's us," he lied. Since Magneto's Boston situation, groups of human hunters had established themselves as mutant catchers. They were regarded as mutant specialists, though few were, and commonly referred to as grabbers. Gambit, who was still behind Logan, subtly put on his sunglasses to hide his eyes.

"What's the situation?" Logan asked.

"I'm Gabe," the leader said. "A hunting party went in yesterday, none of them have come out."

"How many?" Logan asked.

"Five. We were waiting to go in until you all got here," Gabe said. "At least three mutant freaks in the woods." He missed the muscle in Rogue's jaw twitch at that.

"Let's go," Logan said. "Spread your men out, we've got a lot of ground to cover."

The hunting party was 12 strong, not including the X-Men infiltrators. Logan, Rogue, Gambit and Pyro made sure to stay within sight of each other. Two hours in, there still wasn't a strong trail from the mutants they were looking for. There were small traces but nothing definite until they stumbled on the five hunters, unconscious in a pile. Gabe called them in.

"See to them," Logan said. "We'll keep looking for the mutants."

"Take four of my guys with you," Gabe said. "Safety in numbers." Logan had no choice but to nod and try to hide his irritation. "Hey! You guys stay with them here and make sure they're alive, the rest of you fan out and find the muties."

They split from the others and continued to traipse through the forest. Forty minutes later, Logan heard movement. He cocked his head to side and took a deep breath. Rogue noticed it a split second before Logan called them all in.

"I caught what looks like a trail heading east," he said.

"I didn't see nothing," one of the hunters said.

"This is what I do," Logan said, gruffly dismissing the man. "We head east." He turned to Rogue and tapped his finger to his palm twice, a signal they'd arranged long ago. He held his hand out for her to absorb, though it looked like he was handing her a small gun. When she grabbed it, she absorbed him slightly, exactly what he'd meant with the signal.

"They're going to backtrack and check on the hunters," Logan said nodding the Gambit and Rogue. "Let's move out."

As soon as Logan and the mini-militia were out of ear shot, Gambit turned to Rogue. "Where are we really going?" he asked, having observed the Rogue and Logan interaction.

Rogue quickly shuffled through the memories Logan had transferred to her. "Northwest," she said, picturing the real trail that Logan had picked up. "And quickly, before his senses wear off."

Thanks to Logan's quick thinking, Rogue and Gambit set off on the trail of the mutants. An hour later, just as Logan's senses were beginning to fade, she stopped. Gambit, ten feet from her, stopped as well. She stayed frozen when a small, pale object came flying at Rogue's head. She'd have to thank Logan for his reflexes, she barely had time to duck back and snatch the object from slight. She ran toward the bush the object emanated from in time to see a small, pink haired figure dash away.

Rogue followed hot on the mutant's heels with Gambit not far behind her. They both dodged the white projectiles though one managed to graze Gambit, cutting into the skin of his cheek.

The pink haired mutant skidded to a stop, suddenly confronted with a sheer wall of rock. The mutant turned and Rogue was face to face with a mutant girl no older than 12. She looked around frightened eyes darting from Gambit, to Rogue, to the white object in her hand, which Rogue now recognized as a kind of bone knife thing. The bone that matched the many bones protruding from the girl's skin.

"Whoa, it's okay!" Rogue said. She dropped the bone knife and turned her hands palms up to show she meant no harm. "Easy, we're not here to hurt you."

"Liar," the girl hissed. "I heard the big one say you're grabbers."

"Non," Gambit said, his hands also bare. He tipped down his sunglasses to reveal red on black eyes. "Believe me, petite, we are just like yo'."

Despite herself, the girl leaned forward, drawn in by his eyes. He thought he heard her whisper "Pretty" under her breath.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Gambit asked. The girl's eyes narrowed and darted between them. "I'm Gambit, and this is Rogue."

She still hesitated before answering. "I'm Sarah. I go by Marrow though."

"Marrow," Rogue said. "How many more of you are there out here?"

"Just two others," she said. "Ape and Pixie."

"Listen," Gambit said. "We can get yo' all out of here, we have someplace where people like us can be safe, but we need t' find dem and get yo' all out of here before dese nuts get a hold of yo'."

"We're living in a little cave that way," Marrow said pointing north.

"Lead de way," Gambit said. He and Rogue followed Marrow for another fifteen minutes until abruptly the girl stopped. She turned and let out a bird call, just a few notes. There was a rustling sound then a girl poked her antennaed head out from behind a bush. Slowly, she emerged, revealing a set of pale green and purple wings. She fluttered over and landed lightly next to Marrow but well out of the reach of Gambit and Rogue. She looked about 10.

"Who're they?" Rogue and Gambit turned to see a boy about 12 with a distinctly gorilla-like face emerge from the trees. Ape.

"We're mutants too," Rogue said. "We're here to help."

"They killed Chameleon," Pixie said. Her bell-like voice sounded sad.

"I know," Gambit said. "We're not going t' let dat happen t' yo'. I promise. We're going t' keep yo' safe."

It took a couple of minutes of talk and a few displays of power to convince the kids to follow them. Gambit and Rogue led the three mutants as quietly as possible through the woods. It was a few hours until they made it through to the edge of town. Luckily it was already dark out. Rogue and Gambit ran through the small town, towing the three kids behind them. They were pretty sure no one had seen them, but as soon as they were on board they activated the active camouflage that basically made the plane invisible. All that was left was to wait for Logan and Pyro.

Logan and Pyro weren't having fun. They'd led the hunters on a wild goose chase and back to the others and now they were getting irritated. The leader named Gabe's satellite phone rang and he quickly answered. Logan cocked his head to the side, his advanced hearing picking up the other side of the conversation.

"Pyro," he hissed. "Go." He nodded to the forest, back the way they'd come. Pyro didn't question, just slowly and as nonchalantly as possible moved into the trees.

"Gotcha," Gabe said and snapped the phone shut just as Pyro disappeared into the trees. Logan heard the cock of a rifle and turned slowly to face Gabe. "So I just got a call from town. Looks like the real Atlanta grabbers are there. So who the hell are you?"

Rogue and Gambit had been waiting for over an hour in the jet with the kids. Rogue was scanning the edge of the treeline when she spotted Pyro burst from the trees. She sat up straighter. "Gambit!"

About 20 yards behind him, Logan suddenly appeared, followed by the hunters. Gambit opened the back of the plane and stepped out so they could see where to run to. Pyro ran in, followed shortly by Logan. Pyro seemed to have escaped with only a bullet graze while Logan took the brunt of their fire, the back of his body stained red with blood.

"We're in!" Logan yelled to Rogue. "Get us in the air." He stumbled to the front and leaned on the back of her seat. Gambit strapped himself into the seat next to her. There were four distinct thuds as bullets dropped out of Logan's back followed by dozens of lighter tinkling sounds. Gambit glanced down to see pieces of buckshot littering the ground.

Gambit gave a low whistle. "Dey really wanted yo' dead, mon ami."

"Fuck 'em," Logan said. "As long as we're out of there."

Rogue took the jet higher until the horrible town was far beneath them. She glanced down at the growing pile of shrapnel at Logan's feet, her hands tightening on the controls. Gambit didn't miss the cold fury in her eyes as she looked back outside.

**A/N Yeah so I took HUGE creative liberties with Sarah/Marrow and the Morlocks. Ape and Pixie and both real characters by the way. I'm just…changing it a bit.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N It took me so long to type this because I was watching Harry Potter and kept accidentally typing lines from the movie into this. Whoops.**

**Chapter 3**

The three kids, Marrow, Ape and Pixie, were given a place in the dorms, which were rapidly becoming very crowded. Storm sent out an open invite, any student willing to relocate to the west coast school run by Warren and Betsy were asked to let her know. She made it clear that she wasn't trying to get rid of anyone, they were just running out of room and wouldn't have enough room until the additional wing was finished being built. A half dozen students volunteered, all a bit disillusioned with the east coast riots.

Pixie and Ape seemed to flourish in the all-mutant environment. The students tended to look at them like their mutations were awesome instead of scary. Marrow however was very uncomfortable with all the attention. She was sure the students thought she was hideous and their kind words were all full of pity. She retreated into herself, preferring not to talk to anyone. She did seem to forge a connection with Gambit though, seeing him as her savior. The same couldn't be said for Rogue, while she liked her just fine, Rogue's bouts of rage disturbed Marrow a bit.

Storm noticed the attitude of the girl and asked Gambit to talk to her. Gambit gave her a skeptical look. "I'm not really good with kids and emotions and all dat."

"You're very good with people," Storm said patiently.

"With women," Gambit said.

"You're good at reading all kinds of people, I've seen you play poker Gambit, don't try to deny that," Storm said with a smirk. "She has a connection to you. Just talk to her."

"So we're de new reincarnation of Rogue and Logan?" he asked.

"Yes," Storm said. "Just talk to her."

Gambit stuck his tongue out but agreed to speak to Marrow. He thought he'd have a bit of time to think about what to say to her but as luck would have it, he saw her the very next day. He was sitting at the desk in his empty classroom grading a few worksheets when he saw her pink head pass by the open door.

"Sarah!" he called out.

Her head popped in the door a few seconds later. "Yeah?" she asked.

"Come in," he motioned, beckoning her in. Marrow did as she was told and stood on the other side of the desk. Her bones were particularly prominent today, a cluster protruding from her collar bone and arms mostly. She tugged at her shirt self consciously.

"How are yo' doing?" he asked.

"Fine," she said. "Why?"

"You've been here a couple weeks now," Gambit said. "How're yo' liking it? Making any friends?"

Marrow shrugged, not quite looking Gambit in the eyes. "It's fine. Better than being killed in the woods."

"But?" Gambit prompted.

Marrow shrugged again. "But…people still look at me like I'm disgusting, like I'm a freak." Her eyes were solidly fixed on the floor.

Gambit leaned forward. "I think yo' are wrong on dat, petite. No one here thinks yo' are ugly, and dey certainly don't see yo' as a freak."

"Yeah?" Marrow said, looking a challenge at him. "And you're sure about that? I can't stop it, these bones grow wherever they want and there's no way to stop it. I know people stare."

"Generally, people here look because dey're interested in yo', did you ever think of dat?" Gambit asked. Marrow raised her eyebrows. "People stare at me too, dey like my eyes."

"I like your eyes, too," Marrow said.

Gambit smiled. "Thank yo'. I think your bones." Marrow looked at him in surprise. "People look at me and automatically stare at my eyes because dey're unique and awesome." Marrow laughed. "Maybe dey stare at yo' for de same reason."

Marrow smiled, though it wasn't as bright as before. "And what about the ones who stare 'cause they're scared? You can't tell me I'll never run into anyone like that."

"It's true, yo' will," Gambit conceded. "Yo' know what yo' can do? Go right up t' dem and kiss dem on de mouth."

"Yuck!" Marrow said laughing.

"Yeah, yuck! Yo' sure will show dem dat it's rude t' stare," Gambit said. "In all seriousness, dere will always be people who will be like dat. Yo' know what? Screw em. If dey can't handle how yo' look, dey don't deserve t' know yo' in de first place."

Marrow nodded. " I guess so."

"Good," Gambit said. "Now, going t' try t' make some new friends?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll try," Marrow promised.

"Good girl."

Marrow did try. There was a distinct lack of surly attitudes and snarky comments from her. It was a slow going process, her encounter with the townspeople in Georgia had spawned a fear of large groups of people, so while she wasn't openly hostile or mean, she was still quiet. It was an improvement, she even smiled a few times.

Another problem with the influx of people at the mansion was keeping up with food and supplies. Every week they needed to send people out for a massive supply run. This week it was Gambit, Rogue and Pyro's turn. They piled into an SUV and took off for Costco. They each took a flatbed cart and a page of the list given to them by Storm. Normally they wouldn't split up in public, but they figured they'd be safe in a giant, busy store. People are usually more concerned with their groceries than if the shopper next to them was a mutant. Usually.

Rogue ended up with half her cart stocked with packages of toilet paper and paper towels, and the other half was mixed with yogurt, snacks and giant bulk sized boxes of tampons and pads. Rogue shook her head and snorted. So this was why Gambit gave her this specific page of the list, so he and Pyro could escape the horror of female hygiene problems. Rogue made a mental note to give them hell for being babies.

When Pyro rejoined the X-Men, no one was overly excited to spend social time with him. His ex-best friend Bobby gave him the cold shoulder, which Pyro couldn't blame him for. Not that it really bothered him, he wasn't particularly interested in being Bobby's friend. He'd meant it when he told Rogue he was glad she kicked him to the curb (though he was sad to hear it was because he cheated), because while they all grew older, Bobby just didn't seem to be maturing much.

Oddly enough, Pyro and Rogue were repairing their friendship and it was becoming quite strong. This nearly floored many of the X-Men. Everyone knew that if you pissed off Rogue, run, hid and duck for cover because you'll never be safe or forgiven. And that wasn't even with anything major, nothing like abandoning the X-Men and 'turning to the dark side' as Bobby liked to put it. Nevertheless, Rogue and Pyro's friendship seemed to be going strong. Besides Gambit ,she wouldn't give anyone a straight answer as to why, saying it simply was none of their business.

Storm was not so accommodating. She begrudgingly accepted Pyro back but was very clear about how she felt about him. He tried to steer clear of her of her when he could, especially after she made some very explicit threats against him should he betray them again. It also wasn't unheard of for a clear sky to suddenly cloud and start pouring rain whenever he stepped outside.

Rogue finished her rounds through the warehouse and headed for the checkout line. Her phone started playing Jerk It Out by the Caesars, a song about masturbation. She gritted her teeth and answered, promising to kick Gambit's ass for changing her ringtone again.

"Hello?" she answered grumpily.

"_Rogue,"_ Storm greeted, ignoring the other woman's rude tone.

"Hey Storm," she said, apologetically. "Sorry, Gambit screwed with my ringtone."

Storm laughed. "_He changed mine to scream 'I'm kidnapped' every few seconds. Anyways, Logan has some big lesson planned for his Danger Room class tomorrow and asked if I'd help. I have a class, is there any way you could take it?"_

"Sure," Rogue said, starting to load the items from the cart onto the little conveyor belt. "Any idea what it is? Defense, power control?"

"_No idea,"_ Storm said and Rogue could picture her rolling her eyes. "_You know how Logan is, he likes his secrets. Or as he said, surprises." _

Rogue snorted. "Yeah, okay I'll see you when we get back." She hung up and moved up in line. Her purchases alone cost over $450, she couldn't wait to see how much Gambit and Pyro totaled out at. Rogue loaded her third of the supplies into the SUV and turned to put the cart away, only to see a man blocking her way.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What were you talking about?"

"What?"

"In line, what were you talking about, defense and powers?" he asked, taking a threatening step forward. He was a large man, the kind that was used to intimidating people with sheer size.

Rogue kept her ground and met his menacing gaze. "None of your business."

"Are you one of those mutie freaks?" he asked, still advancing on her.

"Yeah, I am," Rogue said, taking a step forward. Rage coursed through her veins, violence barely contained by her skin. "What of it?"

"Dirty freak," he hissed.

"We've established that, anything else?" Rogue asked coldly. Her hands twitched, instinctively forming fists at her side.

"Mutants killed my daughter," he growled. She could feel his hot breath on her face.

"But I didn't," she hissed. "So fuck off."

His fist connected with the side of her head, sending her onto the ground. She didn't pause, just continued rolling until she was on her back, just in time to see his boot coming down right at her head. Without hesitating, Rogue grabbed his ankle and twisted. The sickening crack signaled his ankle breaking. He screamed, collapsing to his knee. Hate overpowered pain and he lashed out with a knife. Rogue was quick enough to duck, the knife merely slashing a hole in her jacket. She rolled to her knees, lashing out with a kick to his ribs. The crack satisfied Rogue, telling her at least one was broken. Whirling to her feet, another kick hit his chest, jaw, and he was on the ground. Rogue crouched over him and punched the side of his head again and again, her hands slicked with his blood.

"Rogue, stop, Rogue!" Gambit was behind her, his arms wrapped around her and yanked her off the man. She thrashed violently against him. "Rogue, it's me, stop!" he yelled. She stilled in his arms, breath ragged.

Pyro crouched by the man. "He's unconscious!" he called. "But alive."

"Bon," Gambit said. He heard sirens, signaling the cops and an ambulance had been called and were close. "We need t' go now." Gambit ushered Rogue into the SUV, followed quickly by Pyro. Gambit whipped out of the parking lot, blood splattered and silent Rogue staring impassively out the window.

"We're ditching the SUV, burning it, and making our own way back t' de mansion," Gambit said. "Good thing I got de cars out of de school's name and made them untraceable."

Pyro nodded, agreeing. Rogue said nothing, just wiped her hands. Gambit glanced at her, frowning.

"Rogue," he said. "Rogue."

"What?" she asked, looking over. He face was cold, eyes set.

"Are yo' okay?"

"I'm fine," she said. She turned back to the window. Gambit shared a glance with Pyro. Neither of them particularly liked what they saw.

The three of them arrived at the mansion a few hours later, Gambit having made sure they drove erratically for awhile, just in case.

"We're back," Gambit called when they walked in the front door. He heard rustling down the hall, then Storm's voice.

"I've been calling! Where've you been?" she asked. She and Logan appeared in their line of a vision a few seconds later. Storm's eyes widened at the sight of the blood on Rogue's hands and face. She ran to them, followed by Logan.

"What the hell happened?" Logan asked.

"Rogue was attacked," Pyro said.

"The blood isn't mine," Rogue said to Logan, who was checking her over for wounds. Logan inhaled deeply, satisfied that the blood didn't in fact smell like hers.

"Then whose?" Storm asked.

"The bastard that tried to kill me," she said hollowly. She shrugged away from Logan and pushed past them. "If you don't mind, I'm going to wash this guy's filth off me."

Storm looked between Gambit and Pyro. "Someone tell me what happened."

"We didn't see everything," Gambit said, running a hand through his hair. "When we came out, he was about t' stomp Rogue's face into oblivion." Storm's eyes hardened and Logan growled.

"He was going to kill her?" Storm asked.

"I'd put money on it," Pyro said. "But as we all know, Rogue's pretty hard to kill. She flipped the fight of course and kind of…went berserk."

"Berserk?" Storm asked.

"She started beating de hell out of him," Gambit said. He flicked a hand into his pocket, taking out an ID. "I'm surprised she didn't kill Mr. James Benson. I'm going t' hack into de hospital database later t' see what's going on with him."

"Whatever it is, he deserved it," Storm said darkly. Logan looked at her in surprise. Of the two of them, it was usually his job to be violent minded.

Gambit raised an eyebrow. "Yo' think so?" Pyro looked between them, decidedly uncomfortable. Storm looked Gambit in the eyes, her angry face disturbingly similar to the set lines of Rogue's. Gambit took a step closer. "What happened t' de Storm dat fiercely protected her students-"

"I am!" Storm said.

"-while protecting dat which made dem human?" Gambit finished as if she hadn't spoken. "Yo' never would have been okay with Rogue nearly killing a man eight months ago."

Storm nodded. "Maybe not, but eight months ago we weren't being hunted and slaughtered," Storm nearly hissed. "So I'm fine with Rogue doing whatever is necessary to keep herself safe." She looked to Logan angrily, as if daring him to say anything against her.

"It'd be hypocritical for me to say anything. And we all know I'm okay with Rogue staying alive," he said. Storm glared, apparently not totally satisfied with his answer and turned and walked back down the hallway the way she'd come. Logan watched in deep thought, his face betraying his apprehension.

"Who would have thought you'd be the voice of reason here?" Pyro asked.

Gambit shook his head. "Not me. De world is getting stranger."

When Gambit climbed into bed, Rogue was already asleep. Her hair was still wet from the shower she'd taken to clean the bigoted James Benson's blood off her. He stroked her hair absentmindedly, trying to reconcile his friend's new attitude. He's known Storm was having a lot of trouble with the violence and persecution against mutants, but how could he miss her spiraling this far out of control?

He's known Storm for years, longer than anyone else, he should have seen the signs earlier. He'd been busy keeping a wary eye on Rogue's angry and destructive behavior that he hasn't noticed Storm's downward spiral.

He stared at the woman lying next to him, his fingers playing with her hair. Well, he'd been watching both of them for long enough, it was safe to say the time for observation was over, they definitely had a few problems. Now he should probably figure out what to do about it. He sighed. He'd talk to Logan tomorrow…but they both knew that Rogue and Storm were too strong for a stern talking-to to snap them out of the rage fueled pit of depression they both seemed to have landed in.

Gambit settled down next to Rogue, wrapping an arm around her waist. As he pulled the sleeping woman closer to him, he wondered to himself just how far Rogue had really slipped. How much of the woman in his arms was really Rogue, and how much was someone else all together?

**A/N For those who don't live near one/have never heard of it, Costco is a warehouse type store where you can buy stuff in bulk. Like a pallet of Ramen noodles. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Thanks to all reviewers, tfobmv18, China2009, Umbra8191, Warrior-princess1980, CaptMacKenzie, and Icelynne. Makes my day!**

**Chapter 4**

Gambit woke up earlier than Rogue, as usual. He pulled out his laptop, which had more firewalls and security measures than most CIA computers, and began the laborious task of searching hospital records for any trace of James Benson. The first six hospitals had no record of him, but finally he found active records for a James A. Benson at Bellevue hospital. A few minutes later he had James Benson's entire chart and any doctor's notes at his fingertips. He set up an alert to notify him whenever there was a change in his condition.

Rogue shifted, starting to wake up. Gambit set the laptop on the nightstand and leaned over, kissing her forehead. She smiled and made a grumbling sleepy noise in the back of her throat. "Good morning," Gambit said.

She readjusted, snuggling into his side. "Morning," she muttered.

Gambit had been worried she'd be in a bad mood after the attack yesterday but she seemed perfectly cheery. Which actually worried him even more than if she had been unhappy.

Rogue turned and propped herself up on her elbow, sensing Gambit was deeply lost in thought. "Not that I'm trying to be vain or anything, but you don't normally want to go a morning without naked activities, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Gambit assured her. "Are yo'?"

She looked at him, confused. "Yes, why shouldn't I be?"

"Well, with de attack yesterday, I figured yo' might be feeling something," Gambit said.

Rogue shrugged. "There'll always be people like that, I'm not going to sulk about it."

Gambit looked at her. "I meant dat maybe you'd be wondering about his condition," he said.

She gave him a strange look. "Why? It was self defense. He deserves what he got."

"Yo' don't think yo' might have gone a little overboard?" Gambit asked. "He's in a coma, the doctors aren't sure if he's going to come out of it."

"Huh I put someone in a coma without my powers, how novel," Rogue said.

"It used to bother yo', de thought of making someone comatose."

"So?" Rogue snapped. "You'd rather it be me in that coma?"

"Chère, of course not," Gambit said.

"Really? Because it looks a lot like that to me. You think I should have let him beat and kill me?"

"Rogue, yo' know dat's not true," Gambit said. "Once he was down, yo' could have stopped. I saw your eyes Rogue, yo' were enraged. It looked like Logan when he goes all 'Wolverine'. Where is de kind, loving woman I fell in love with?"

"Oh, so you're saying I'm an animal?" Rogue yelled, throwing herself out of the bed. "Just like that bigoted fuck thought I'm a disgusting animal, right?"

"Rogue, yo' know dat's not true!" Gambit said. He stood and pulled on his shirt. "I'm going back t' my room. Let me know when yo' are done looking t' pick a fight."

Rogue slammed the door behind him and let out a shriek of frustration, slamming her fist into the dresser. Gambit was supposed to love her, not see her as an animal or freak. He should care that someone tried to kill her, not worried about her attacker! She glanced at his laptop, James Benson's information still displayed. Something about brain swelling, internal bleeding. She felt a twinge of something somewhere between discomfort and regret, but she shrugged it off quickly. This man had tried to murder him, her only regret was that he was still breathing.

She arrived to the Danger Room twenty minutes later to help Logan with his class. "Hey, kid," he greeted apprehensively.

"Hi," she said shortly, confirming what Logan had been suspicious of, that Rogue was in one of her moods.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Rogue grumbled.

"Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm asking 'cause I care about ya," he said gruffly, as if he needed to offset the sweet words with a rough voice.

Rogue's face released her scowl and transformed into something softer. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Forget it," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder for a one armed hug. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

She laughed. "Heart to heart with the Wolverine. I love you Logan, but you're not exactly Dear, Abby."

Logan snorted. "No, but I can offer beer and the override code to access MMA fighting channels."

Rogue laughed, a sound Logan was glad to hear again. "So what's this lesson you need help with?" she asked.

"We're moving on to a more…intensive kind of fighting," Logan said.

"You're getting your violence on?" Rogue asked with a smirk.

"Yep. I needed an assistant who I knew wasn't going to get hurt," Logan said. "You can absorb me and heal so we're set."

"But Storm was your first choice," Rogue pointed out. Logan looked away and cleared his throat. Rogue laughed. "You just get your jollies off on watching Storm kick ass, don't you?"

"Well class is gonna start soon so we should set up," Logan said, walking into the Danger Room. Smirking, Rogue followed.

The class was very different from the basics she was used to teaching the younger students. These were advanced tactics being taught to teenagers who has expressed an interest in joining the X-Men. He started with attacking Rogue and her having to evade, then vice versa. There was a collective gasp when Rogue landed a particularly vicious kick to the face, breaking Logan's noise. The class held its breath, waiting for the Wolverine's wrath.

"Sorry Logan," Rogue said with a wince.

Logan snapped the bone back into place and it immediately started healing. "No problem, stripes," he said. The classes stared it awe, shocked at the lack of anger. "So, the concept is basic enough, yeah? Pair off, start practicing the first attack patterns and evasive patterns."

"This was fun," Rogue said, surveying the class' progress from the side of the room with Logan.

"Helps keep the bloodthirsty at bay," Logan joked.

Rogue smirked slightly. "More than my younger class. They couldn't handle this, even if Storm approved."

"She might, if things keep going the way they are," Logan said darkly.

Rogue looked at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Come on, kid, you're smart, you've noticed she's been acting differently," Logan said.

"Maybe a bit," Rogue said. "She's been under a lot of stress, if you haven't noticed things are getting pretty bad out there."

"Don't get snarky, you know I've noticed," Logan said. "I'm just worried. People change in bad times. Sometimes they lose sight of who they are and what they really believe in. It's easy to get caught up in a the hate." Rogue shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Class over!" Logan barked. Rogue followed them out with just enough time to make it to her first class.

Gambit's morning wasn't nearly as exciting as Rogue's. After their fight, he'd gone back to his room for a shower. He loved Rogue, he loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone, but he loved the sweet and snarky Rogue, not the sullen and angry and violent woman she was becoming.

He had a few hours before his first class and used it to do some more research on James Benson. He found a few police records, one for battery against his wife and one arrest for a bar fight. He'd been ordered to attend AA meetings and counseling for anger. _Yeah 'cause dat worked out well,_ Gambit thought.

There was another file for his daughter, an Angeline Benson. Gambit winced when he read it. She'd died four years ago when she was 15. She'd been dating a boy who was in a gang. A rival mutant gang attacked them one night, killing them both. James Benson joined the known hate group Friends of Humanity soon after.

"Hey."

Gambit looked up to see Kitty and Jubilee come into his empty classroom. "Bonjour," he greeted.

"What's that?" Jubilee asked.

Gambit turned the laptop to face them. "Information on Benson," he told them. Their faces immediately slipped into seriousness.

"Is that the man that attacked Rogue last night?" Jubilee asked.

"Oui," Gambit said with a nod. "He's at Bellevue now. I'm keeping an eye on his condition."

"How is he?" Kitty asked.

Gambit sighed. "Not good. He's in a coma and bleeding into his brain." Kitty winced. "Oui, not good at all." Neither Kitty nor Jubilee seemed to know what to say. "I'm sure dat's not why yo' came here though, is dere something I can help yo' two with?"

"Oh yeah," Kitty said, obviously grateful for the change of topic. "We got a call from Warren and Betsy in Seattle. They had some anti-mutant jerks try to break in so they were wondering if you could send some blueprints and plans for security upgrades and all that."

"Sure," Gambit said. Jubilee and Kitty exchanged a look. Gambit looked between them. "Is dere something else?" he asked.

"Er, we were wondering…uh…" Kitty started.

"Is Rogue okay?" Jubilee asked bluntly.

Gambit gave a half smile. If he could always count on Jubilee for something, it was to be blunt. "Why do yo' ask?"

"We're not stupid," Jubilee said with an eye roll. "Look, we know she's been…different lately."

"Very different," Kitty added.

"Very different, scary, violent, mean, different," Jubilee said. "We're worried. What's going on?"

"Rogue is lucky to have friends like yo'," Gambit said, smiling lightly. "And yo' are right, she is having some problems lately. She's angry."

"We've noticed."

"Yes," Gambit said wearily. "At everything it seems. The hatred of mutants is hitting her hard."

Jubilee and Kitty nodded. "Anything we can do?"

"Well I tried t' talk t' her about it dis morning which turned into a colossal fight, so I wouldn't try dat," Gambit said wryly. "I'll let yo' know, in de mean time, just keep being her friends and, er, good influences."

Jubilee snorted. The idea of Gambit telling someone to be a good resource was just too much.

Storm's reaction to hearing that James Benson was in a coma was a bit better than Rogue's. "A coma?" she repeated.

Gambit nodded. "As of now, dey don't know if he's even going t' wake up," he said. Storm sighed. "I checked police reports for de incident, dey haven't identified her but she's described as a white female, early twenties wit' black or brown hair with blonde highlights."

"I think she shouldn't venture out for awhile," Storm said. She seemed tired again, which was entirely too common lately. She seemed to be going back and forth from enraged, to exhausted, to lost. Gambit suddenly reached forward and pulled his old friend into a hug. Storm was surprised at first but relaxed into his embrace. Gambit had a sudden thought.

"De way t' get rid of dat fear and sense of being overwhelmed isn't t' answer it wit' anger and hate," he said softly. "Yo' have enough strength without dat. You're better dan dat."

Storm pulled away from him, looking with a mix of dozens of emotions. He stepped away when the thunderous footsteps signaled approaching kids.

"Just think about it," he said. Storm sat with Logan in near silence throughout lunch. Gambit sat with them, making idle chit chat. Rogue ignored him when she entered the kitchen. She served herself a plate of food and crossed to the other side of the room to eat with Kitty, Pete and Jubilee. Gambit sighed and went back to picking at his food somewhat disinterestedly. Storm and Logan looked at him curiously.

"What'd you do, Gumbo?" Logan asked threateningly.

"Nothing," Gambit said, shoveling potatoes into his mouth. "We had a fight this morning." He looked at Logan briefly but he caught on. He filled the other man in on the fight later, both at a loss for what to do. This sort of thing was beyond their usual area of expertise.

Rogue and Gambit slept alone that night. She didn't go to his room and he didn't go to hers. Gambit missed the warmth of her body curled against his, but not enough to go to her. She was teetering on a dangerous edge, and whether she liked it or not, she'd needed to hear what he'd said. Hopefully she'd be able to look beyond her anger and pride to see his point.

That hope seemed rather misplaced when two more days went by without her speaking to him. The other teachers were extremely uncomfortable with this development. Rogue and Gambit never fought, so people weren't exactly sure how to act around them. Except for Logan who merely grunted when anyone brought it up.

The morning of the third day after their fight, Gambit decided this was ridiculous. At breakfast, he loaded his plate with eggs and bacon and made his way to where she was sitting. Without saying anything, he sat down next to her, leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead. She assessed him for a moment before giving him a kiss, a smile, and going back to her breakfast. They chatted through the morning like nothing had happened and snapped out of the fight. Neither apologized.

They continued existing like that for the rest of the week. Neither one brought up the fight, nor did they discuss anything that might create conflict. In fact, they seemed to spend a lot of time walking on eggshells around each other. But slowly, things were going back to normal, though this wasn't the way Gambit liked to settle disagreements. Nothing was solved, merely ignored.

At the end of the week, Gambit's alert went off on the laptop. Frowning, he abandoned grading papers and pulled the computer closer to him. It was an alert about the change of status in James Benson's condition. His injuries caused a massive stroke. He wasn't expected to live through the night.

Gambit groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking. After a few minutes, he picked up the phone and dialed. "Stormy, is Logan dere?"

"_Yes, he's here. Why, what happened?"_

"Put it on speaker, I want yo' both t' hear dis," Gambit said.

"_Okay,"_ Storm said a few seconds later. "_Go ahead."_

"It's James Benson. He had a stroke, it'll be a miracle if he lives for another day."

There was a silence on the line, then he heard Logan answer. _"Thanks,"_ he said. "_Let us know if there's another change, okay?"_

"Sure," Gambit said and hung up. He tried to push Benson out of his head as he taught his class, but he was vaguely distracted the whole time. He kept checking the laptop throughout the rest of the day, during mealtimes and class breaks, but there was no change. That night, he set up the laptop next to his side of the bed before settling down next to Rogue. She glanced at it curiously.

"I've been monitoring James Benson's condition," Gambit said.

"Oh," was the only answer he got. Rogue settled down into the bed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, chère."

Gambit was nearly asleep when the laptop pinged. He rolled over, reading the alert. As of 11:54 pm, James Benson was dead from stroke complications. He hadn't lived through the night. Gambit shut the laptop and exhaled slowly, closing his eyes.

"Rogue."

"Mph?"

"Roguey," he said again.

"What?" she asked sleepily, rolling over to face him.

"James Benson just died," he said.

Rogue was silent for a moment, looking at her hands. Then, "That's unfortunate." She rolled back over. Twenty minutes later, Gambit felt her breath even out as she fell back asleep. Gambit didn't sleep.

**Please review! It cheers my overwhelmed little soul.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N So, I have no good excuse for why this took over two months to get out, sorry all.**

**Thanks to reviewers, Umbra8191, allikat35, Warrior-princess1980, Anonymous and all others.**

**Chapter 5**

Gambit didn't sleep that night, instead pulling his sleepless body out of bed at 5 am and shuffled to the kitchen to eat. He was surprised when a few minutes later Pyro popped in. He saluted Gambit with a glass of water before pouring himself a bowl of cereal and plunked down opposite of the other man. Neither spoke for awhile until Pyro broke the silence.

"You seem disconcerted," Pyro said.

Gambit gave a snort of laughter. "Disconcerted? Yo' have word of de day toilet paper?"

Pyro smirked. "I write a lot, didn't Rogue mention that?"

"I remember something about dat," Gambit said. They were silent for a moment. "James Benson died last night."

Pyro groaned. "How'd Rogue take the news?"

"She said 'dat's unfortunate', den went back to sleep."

Pyro winced. "That's not good."

"Nope," Gambit said, shaking his head. "When I've tried talking to her, it ends in a fight."

"Hm," Pyro mused. "Want me to try talking to her?"

Gambit shrugged. "Be my guest. Be careful though, yo' know how stubborn she is."

Pyro snorted. "Oh yeah."

Storm and Logan joined them some time later, both looking surprised that other people were up so early. Pyro stayed on the other side of Gambit, far from the weather witch, which seemed to amuse Logan to no end. Storm didn't seem to be in the mood to fight though and merely wished them a good morning. Gambit just nodded in reply.

"What's the matter, Cajun? No smartass comment this morning?" Logan asked.

"No," Gambit said. "James Benson died last night."

Logan swore and Storm closed her eyes, looking horrified. Gambit was pleased at her reaction, it meant that the talk Logan had had with her may have snapped Storm out of her rage pit.

"This isn't what we stand for," Storm said. "We protect mutants, not kill people."

Gambit gave her a small smile. "It's good t' have yo' back." She gave him a slight smile in return.

"How's Rogue?" Logan asked.

"Entirely too okay," Gambit said. "I don't want t' cause her pain, but she needs t' feel something about this. It should bother her."

"I agree," Storm said.

"I'm going to try talking to her later," Pyro said.

Storm gave him a hard look. "Are you sure you're the right person to do that?"

Pyro met her gaze. "Actually, I think I'm uniquely qualified to talk to someone about going a direction they regret," he said. Storm held his stare for a moment before slowly nodded as if it was vaguely against her better judgment.

Pyro didn't run into Rogue until the end of the day. She was swamped with classes and Pyro had been recruited by Logan as a practice dummy for his class. It wasn't until late that night that he caught up with her. She was sitting in the lounge, a worn copy of H.G. Wells' fiction in her lap. She looked up at the sound of him coming in.

"Hey John," she said then went back to her reading. He grabbed a chair and dragged it until he was sitting opposite of her. She looked up. "Yes?"

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, confused.

"Okay, I'm going to talk about some man feelings here, so let me just say what I have to say before you jump in, okay?" he said. "I'm not hitting on you!" he added quickly seeing the look on her face.

She laughed. "Okay, go for it."

"Okay, it's about James Benson," Pyro said. Rogue moved like she was about to get up. "Wait, just hear me out please? I'm just trying to talk to you."

Rogue hesitated, glaring, before sitting back down with a sigh. "Fine."

"Thank you," Pyro said and gathered his thoughts. "Rogue, you've always been strong, it's been obvious since the day you got here. But there's a difference between strength and…this. Not caring about a man's death, that isn't like you. You got sad when we hit a squirrel last week."

Rogue snorted a light laugh. Pyro took that to be an encouraging sign that she wasn't going to hit him. He wasn't leaned forward, hands clasped together.

"Be very careful of the road you're on, the place it leads to is lonely and dark," he said.

"Did you just steal that from Star Wars?"

"That's not the point. The point is I've been where you are, exactly. I felt the world was against me, I was being attacked from all angles, everyone wanted to kill me simply because I was born different from them. Magneto's doing the same thing, he's segregating himself from anyone who's different from him by bloody force."

Rogue's face reddened and Pyro winced at the growing anger in her eyes. "Are you saying I'm like Magneto?" she asked enraged.

"No, Rogue no," Pyro said placating her. "I'm just warning you, as someone who's been where you are, and done what you've done, you're on the fast track to becoming me. And you'll hate yourself for it." He took her hand in his, an act he knew she loved as he was one of the few people that never flinched at her touch once she gained control of her skin. He stared intently at her pained and confused eyes. "This isn't you, Rogue. This isn't the sweet girl we all love." He gave her hand a squeeze and stood leaving her to her thoughts. Once he left, Rogue closed her eyes, nails digging into her thighs before breathing out harshly.

Gambit was completing one of his least favorite tasks ever, the laundry. Actually it was the folding of laundry that he hated. He didn't mind actually doing the laundry, you just toss it in and the machine does the work, but the tedious task of actually folding clothes bored him to no end. He'd made a harmless joke about it being 'women's work' to Mercy a few years ago. He hadn't walked right for a week after. With a triumphant smirk, he tossed the last pair of socks into the drawer.

"Remy?"

Gambit turned at the sound of the voice from the doorway. Rogue stood, hands clenched and unclenching at her sides. She was breathing heavily, her face filled with an emotion he couldn't decipher.

"Chère?" he asked, moving cautiously toward her.

Rogue's breath left her in a harsh sob, her face suddenly consumed by grief. "You were right, Remy." Tears leaked from her vibrant eyes. Remy was there in an instant, pulling her to him.

"Sh," he said softly, trying to soothe her.

"Remy," she choked out. "You were right, you were all right. I made a huge mistake, I am such a terrible person, I am so sorry!"

Her tears fell like liquid guilt, stinging Gambit. He pulled her off his chest, a hand gently on each side of her face forced her to look directly at his eyes. "I never said dat, and never will yo' hear me say dat," Gambit said firmly. "Yo' aren't a bad person, you're a wonderful person dat's made some mistakes."

"A wonderful person who made a mistake," she cried nearly hysterically. Gambit kissed her forehead and enveloped her in his arms. "I killed him," she moaned. "And I didn't even care, what's wrong with me?"

Gambit rubbed circles on her back, trying to think of what to say. None of what she'd said was wrong, she had attacked and killed a man and until this moment showed no remorse. No amount of nice words would change that.

"You can't change what's happened," Gambit said finally. "You're right, nothing can make up for what's happened. All you can do is live as 'good' as possible."

"It won't change anything," she muttered into his chest. He kissed her cheek.

"No, it won't. But yo' know it was wrong, yo' aren't some mindless killing machine."

"No, I'm not," Rogue said. Gambit watched as she pulled herself together. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "And I can't make up for it but I'm still going to try."

"How?"

"I don't know," Rogue said. "Any way I can, any small act of atonement." She sighed and looked at Gambit with a sad smile. "I love you."

Gambit kissed her temple. "I love yo', too."

Gambit breathed easier that night. Rogue in his arms was an immense comfort now that her conscience had made its reappearance. He hated that she was hurting, but he was also very glad. Which made him hate himself a little bit. Her nightmares were back with a vengeance, something that had been absent for the last few months. Gambit sighed and rubbed her back, easing her back to a deeper sleep. He'd have to find Pyro and thank him.

The change in Rogue was immediately noticeable. People were still careful to tread lightly around her for a few days, but once they realized she was more or less coming back to her old self they jumped right back to her with open arms, literally in Jubilee's case.

Rogue was sitting with Pyro and Gambit eating a quiet breakfast when Jubilee plopped down next to her. Rogue glanced over to see Jubilee staring at her with a wide grin. Rogue raised her eyebrows at her friend.

"What, Jubes?"

Jubilee squealed and launched herself at Rogue, who had no time to brace herself and ended up trapped in a rather violent hug. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, Rogue!" she screamed. "I've missed you so much!" She squeezed Rogue harder who was now finding it a bit difficult to breathe. She patted Jubilee on the back and shot a confused look across the table to Gambit and Pyro who were both looking highly amused. "I'm so glad you're back!"

Rogue looked at Jubilee with a mix of a smile and confusion. "I didn't go anywhere, Jubes," she said.

"You kind of did," Jubilee said. Rogue nodded slowly.

"I guess you're right," she conceded.

Gambit reached across the table and took her hand in his. "Don't worry, chère. We're just glad t' have yo'." Jubilee and Pyro nodded in agreement.

They finished eating and Rogue was pulled away by Jubilee for a long overdue girls' day. Pyro and Gambit watched them go, both extremely grateful Jubilee never tried to assault them with girlie frivolity. Pyro made to pick up his dishes when Gambit stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Can I borrow yo' for a moment, mon ami?" Gambit asked.

"Sure," Pyro agreed after a beat, sitting back down. Gambit hadn't been as close and accepting of him as Rogue had been, but he'd also never had the harsh feeling of betrayal the rest of the X-Men associated with him. So overall he'd been at least on friendly terms with Pyro. Pyro worried for a second that Gambit was about to become decidedly unfriendly but his face was void of any anger so he dismissed the idea. Plus he couldn't think of anything he could have possibly done to piss of Gambit.

"Whatever yo' said t' Rogue de other night worked," Gambit said, skipping preliminaries.

"Oh," Pyro said, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I guess so. It wasn't just me, everyone had been kinda trying to get through to her."

"Oui, but yo' did," Gambit said, cutting the other man off. "Yo' got through t' her when I couldn't so thank yo'."

"Oh, er, you're welcome," Pyro said, pleased but still a little uncomfortable.

"How'd yo' do it?" Gambit asked curiously. "I don't need details of course."

"Oh," Pyro said, and Gambit could swear he blushed a bit. "I kinda might have paraphrased Star Wars a bit…"

Gambit burst out laughing and clapped the other man on the shoulder. "You're all right, monsieur falmey," Gambit said and left the table, still laughing. Pyro caught Logan looking in their direction with a raised eyebrow. Pyro gave him an exaggerated giant smile and a thumbs up. Logan rolled his eyes and went back to his conversation with Storm.

The next few weeks ran rather smoothly. There weren't any violent outbursts in the community so the X-Men were able to focus on teaching their students instead of running off every few fays to one disaster or another. It had only been a few weeks but given the fact that there had been attacks daily for awhile, two weeks without any incidents seemed like a vacation. The students at least felt a great sense of a weight being lifted as if they could finally breathe again.

Storm had thankfully also snapped out of her depression when Benson died, though she retained her feisty spirit. She, Logan, Rogue and Gambit weren't as happy about the quiet in violence. As sad as it was, they grew accustomed to the horror, and the sudden lack of activity on both sides of the mutant fence made them all decidedly uncomfortable. They knew it was only a matter of time before the peace snapped and they had a feeling when it did, it would be harsh. They were monitoring as many information outlets as they could, waiting for any sign of changes, but beyond that there wasn't much else they could do.

_It was hot, hotter than it had been in a long time. Part of that had to do with the lack of air conditioning, though mostly it was due to the fact that twenty mutants were shoved together in a small room with no ventilation. Men, women, and the young, it made no difference._

_The door creaked open a bit, those who could scrambled to their feet, though some couldn't manage, weak from the lack of food and the muggy heat._

"_Watch it," came a growl. "Back off, or no food today."_

_The mutants backed away from the door and a picnic box filled with stale and moldy sandwiches was slid in. The starved mutants, many so gaunt they were nothing more than bones with some skin slapped over them, converged on the basket. One boy stood, glaring at the man in the door. Suddenly he launched at the open door right at the man with the gun. Electricity shot from the mutant boy's hands. Having no training and no energy, his bursts missed. _

_The man slammed the butt of his rifle into the boy's jaw, sending him flying to the ground. A girl fighting for food screamed and ran to his side. "He's sorry!" she squeaked, trying to shield his body with hers. "He didn't mean it, he's just hungry he didn't mean it!" She put a hand out as if to ward off a blow._

"_He shouldda been more respectful then," the man drawled. "Shouldda but didn't."_

_He pulled a pistol from his thigh holster and without a second of hesitation fired into the 13 year old's head. The girl shrieked, her face covered in her older brother's blood. Crying, she threw herself over him, shaking and screaming his name._

_With an eye roll, the man grabbed the girl by the hair and yanked her up. He dragged a finger down her cheek. "Give me a reason, little one." She spat in his face. He dropped her with a growl. "Fine, mutie bitch!" he hissed. "You can join your brother!" He leveled the pistol and her three times through the chest. Silence spread through the cells, eyes fixed on the dead and bloody siblings. "Anyone else got anything to say? Good. Be grateful we let you live."_

_The blood ran in rivets, soaking the survivors._

The girl was screaming, tossing in her sleep. Marrow hesitated, then started shaking her roommate. "Astrid, Astrid wake up it's just a dream!" Marrow shook her a little harder. "Wake up, it's a dream!"

Astrid gasped, eyes flying open. "No, the blood…" She yanked away from Marrow, falling onto the ground in a tangle of blankets.

"Astrid, it's Marrow, it's just me!" Marrow freed Astrid of the blankets while the other girl finally realized where she was.

"Marrow! There was a cell, mutants, they killed them!" Astrid cried, tears streaming down her face.

"It's okay, it was only a dream," Marrow assured her.

"I'm a telepath," the girl said. "So believe me when I say this wasn't a normal dream."

"Oh," Marrow said, unsure what to do. "Come on."

Marrow led the shaking girl down the hall. The only thing she could think of was to go to Gambit, he'd said multiple times to come to him in she needed anything. Well she figured if this didn't qualify, nothing did.

Astrid stood in the hall, quivering while Marrow slunk into Gambit's room, approaching the bed. He was on his side, Rogue fast asleep next to him. He had always been a light sleeper, thief training and all, so when Marrow's soft footfalls approached his bed he was already awake. She reached out and tentatively touched his shoulder.

"R-Remy?" she whispered.

Gambit propped himself up on his side slowly so he didn't startle her. "Sarah?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What is it petite? Are yo' okay?"

"I'm okay," she said quietly. "My roommate had a dream, er, kinda. She'd a telepath. She thinks it's real and she's kinda scared…"

"It's okay, where is she?" Gambit asked, pulling himself out of bed.

"In the hall," Marrow said, following him out. "I'm sorry, I just didn't know what to do…"

"No, petite, yo' are more dan welcome, I told yo'. Whenever yo' need anything, come t' me," Gambit said, putting his arm on her shoulder.

Astrid was leaning against the wall, tears stained on her skin. Gambit squatted next to her. "Hey petite, Sarah tells me yo' had a nightmare?"

"It wasn't a regular nightmare," Astrid insisted. "I'm a telepath and it was like I was actually there…I think it's real. There were mutants locked in a cell, and they shot two kids!"

"Hmm," he said. "I think we need a telepath."

While Gambit didn't much relish the idea of visiting Emma especially in the middle of the night, she was the only way to help the girl. He sent out a mental call, alerting her they were coming though he was unsure if she would pick it up in her sleep. Nevertheless, as soon as he got to her door, Emma opened it, standing with a silky white robe wrapped around her.

"Gambit," Emma said coldly then turned to Astrid, the look on her face morphing to one of kindness. "Come Astrid, let's take a look." Emma led the young girl into her room.

"Yo' okay petite?" Gambit asked Marrow.

She nodded. "Yeah, I mean it wasn't my dream. I feel bad for Astrid is all," she said.

Gambit gave her a smirk. "Yo' probably are too worked up t' sleep now, no?" he asked. Marrow shrugged. "I think we may need a late night ice cream party."

Marrow's face brightened as Gambit led her to the kitchen.

**A/N So Astrid was actually a character in the comics if you're interested, I screwed with her age though and made her a lot younger. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N So somehow this story got out of my control and really isn't going the way I want it to…I'll finish it up but as my sister pointed out, I've written myself into a bit of a huge situation here with the whole angry rioting mob thing. I'll probably have to finish this world up with a different story later.**

**Anyways! Thanks again to reviewers and everyone who added this story to alerts and favorites after last chapter.**

**Chapter 6**

Gambit and Marrow were having their late night ice cream party after dropping Astrid with Emma when Logan came in. Marrow dropped her eyes to the side, still intimidated a bit by the large feral man. Well, large to her, though Gambit kept insisting that Logan was just a 'cranky little fuzzy man'.

"Hey, kid," Logan greeted her. Marrow squeaked a hello and busied herself with her ice cream.

Gambit glanced amused to her then looked at Logan. "What is it, mon ami?" he asked.

"Emma thinks Astrid was right, the dream was some kind of psychic telepath thing," Logan said.

"Psychic thing?" Gambit repeated. "Those were Emma's exact words?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "No, who actually listens to what Emma says?" he said dismissively. Gambit chuckled. "Anyways, after a little trip into Astrid's memories, she figured out it's a little town in Texas. Freaked out about all the mutants around them, grabbed them all and barricaded themselves in an encampment. Torture, and all that."

Gambit's face darkened. He placed a hand on Marrow's shoulder. "Maybe yo' should go back t' your room, petite," he said.

"Okay," she said. She paused in the doorway and looked back. "You're going after them aren't you?"

Gambit looked at Logan who nodded. "Yeah, as soon as Storm fills everyone in."

Marrow ran to Gambit and threw her arms around his waist in a hug. Gambit, mildly surprised, patted her on the back. "Be careful, okay?" came her muffled voice.

"Of course, petite. Wouldn't want t' scare dis pretty face." Logan rolled his eyes.

It didn't take long for Storm to gather a team. She would lead Logan, Gambit, Rogue, Pete and, surprisingly, Emma to Texas. Emma didn't normally go on missions if she could avoid it (Gambit attributed it to her 'laziness and desire to keep her slutty clothes clean') but as she'd already seen a vague layout of the compound in Astrid's mind, she knew she'd be necessary for success. Kitty, Jubilee, Pyro and Hank were charged with the care of students while the others were gone. Jubilee growled something about always being on babysitting duty.

"Yo' can take my place next time, petite. I wouldn't mind sitting at home once in awhile," Gambit said.

"Gettin' sloppy in your old age?" Logan grunted.

"Well, if dat isn't de pot calling de kettle an old fogey…"

A few hours later, Storm led the team out of the Blackbird, head held high and eyes dangerous. The team was suited up, Storm deciding that dressing to be inconspicuous was pointless in their numbers, plus she was damn tired of hiding. This was straightforward, they were bursting in, metaphorical guns blazing.

Storm and Logan approached the main building, a huge log cabin-style structure that could easily fit hundreds. Gambit and Rogue peeled off to find a sneakier entrance and Pete and Emma made for some cover for Emma to do her thing. They crouched behind a well placed tree, Pete turning to his metal form in front of Emma to shield her from any potential danger.

Emma closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, sending telepathic feelers to the men inside the compound. _People,_ she corrected herself. Some of the 'vigilante' mutant hunters were women. Hate knows no gender. The last time she had tried this, she had dropped three of Magneto's mutant henchmen. Well, she'd be practicing since then and the average human was much easier to control than strong mutants. She lashed out, twisting the minds of ten humans who crashed unconscious to the floor.

Emma gasped, staggering to the tree. "Go," she said. "Ten are out, you're on your own for the rest of them. There should be around twenty, fifteen more noncombatants."

"I can't leave you here like this," Pete said with a frown.

Emma turned her cold, dangerous eyes to him. "Yes you can and if you don't, I'll make you. Go!"

Pete, with one last unsure glance her way, left to join the rescue. Emma slumped against the tree, eyes closed but mind alert. She smiled faintly, satisfied. _More than tripled last time's score._

Logan and Storm waited until they heard the sounds of multiple bodies falling to the floor, then the panicked and confused noises from inside, before they would throw the doors open. The sky was turning an ugly gray, golf ball sized hail starting to fall. Logan glanced at Storm, fearing another rage attack but her face was calm, collected and set in dangerous lines. Logan would've turned around running if she ever turned that look on him.

There was a hiss of static before Gambit's voice whispered through their earpieces. "Rogue and I are in through de back. We've run into no one yet."

"Okay Cajun, we're about to go through the front door, you two try to find the mutants while we distract them," Logan ordered.

The doors were thrown open before them thanks to Storm's wind. There was screaming as two men ran from the doorway. Logan and Storm sauntered in, the weight of the gray gale at their backs. At least ten people were in that first room, staring shocked at Storm's white eyes.

"We'd like a word."

On the other side of the massive building, Gambit and Rogue were searching rooms as quickly and quietly as possible. Luckily they hadn't been spotted yet, but unluckily all the rooms were filled with junk, not mutants.

"It's like a maze in here," Rogue whispered. Even Gambit was getting a little confused even though they'd all seen a basic layout from Emma.

Rogue felt a tickle at the back of her mind, almost like a psyche acting up. Then Emma's voice whispered through her, driving back the psyches. Rogue stopped, pacing a hand on Gambit's arm.

"What?"

"It's Emma…"

_Rogue I can guide you through._ Rogue could swear Emma's mental voice sounded tired. _You're close to a hallway with three branches, do you see it?_

"Yes," Rogue whispered. She turned to Gambit. "Emma's going to guide us."

_Take the left fork._

They followed Emma's instructions, weaving through the intricate hallways before a woman and child burst through a door next to them. The women saw Gambit's eyes and screamed. She clutched her daughter to her chest, begging for her life. Gambit and Rogue stared at her, perplexed.

"Um, we aren't going to hurt you," Rogue said as if telling someone the sky is blue.

The sobbing woman still clung to her kid, babbling. "Please, they said you are murderers, please…"

Rogue flinched at the word 'murderers'. Gambit knelt in front of her. "Ma'am, we aren't here t' hurt yo'. We just came t' get some friends of ours yo' seem t' be holding hostage."

Now it was the woman's turn to look confused. "Th-the prisoners? Sheriff Williams said they're killers and more killers are coming."

Gambit shook his head. "No, ma'am, we aren't here t' kill anyone. I'm just a humble Louisiana man with funny colored eyes."

"I think they're cool," the kid piped up. The woman glanced between them, obviously confused.

"Now, we just want de mutants, can yo' go back t' de room and keep quiet?"

She nodded slowly and they both backed through the door they'd come from. Rogue flinched, hand flying to her temple.

"Yo' okay?" Gambit asked.

"Yeah," Rogue said. "Emma's giving me an earful. She thinks we should have knocked them out instead of just putting them back in their room."

"De thief in me agrees with her," Gambit conceded. "But de way t' change a bigot's mind is not by blowing her and a kid up. Dis way she's thinking dat maybe we're not all bad."

Rogue winced again at the barrage of colorful expletives from Emma. "The cleanest thing I care to repeat is 'take the next right you pansy ass southern bag of trash'," Rogue said.

"Why Emma, I never knew yo' knew how t' talk dirty."

Pete had joined Logan and Storm in the fight. They were having a lot of trouble; it's hard to effectively use non-lethal force against opponents who were so determined to kill you. Someone had found a shotgun and was blasting so indiscriminately that he ended up shooting his own people, too. It was rapidly spiraling out of control. A stout woman with her eyes set on Storm was tossed by Pete into two young men who collapsed like bowling pins. Logan was about to switch to lethal force when a shard of shrapnel hit him in the ear, breaking his earpiece. Emma's voiced rang threw their minds before he had to.

_Rogue, Gambit and the captives are safe and making their way to the Blackbird._

"Time to go," Logan said. Pete nodded and in his steel form threw his fists into the ground, causing the floor to give way and blocking the assailants from following their retreat.

By the time they were back in the jet, the captured mutants were wrapped in blankets and being fed power bars by Gambit and Rogue. Emma was curled in a seat, eyes closed.

"Everything go smoothly?" Storm asked while strapping herself into the pilot's seat.

"Oui," Gambit called from the rear. "We got twelve, dey say de rest were killed."

"What about her?" Logan asked, nodding to Emma.

"Exhausted," Rogue answered.

"Our little ice queen tuckered herself out," Gambit said. "On one of de few missions yo' actually go on yo' were a big help. Why do yo' hold out on us and always stay at de mansion?"

"Maybe because the last time I went on a 'mission' we watched 5,000 people die," Emma snapped without opening her eyes. No one was quite sure what to say to the uncharacteristic display of emotion so Logan went to help Rogue and Gambit check over the mutants.

"How'd you find us?" asked a man in his sixties. He gratefully accepted the power bar.

"We had a little help," Rogue said. "A mutant girl had a dream about you and sent us your way."

The man nodded like psychic children were the most commonplace thing ever. "Thank her for us?"

"Of course."

"Where are you taking us?" asked the woman next to him a little warily. "Please, not back to Boston."

Rogue exchanged a glance with Gambit and Logan. "Back?" Gambit asked.

The woman shivered. "We were in Magneto's new all mutant state. Things were okay, we had a little house, we just existed. But one night a group of mutants came, grabbed us and teleported us all around the country until they sold us for weapons and supplies." The man places a comforting arm around the woman's shoulders.

Logan frowned. "Do you remember what they looked like?"

"Not really," the woman said, shrugging helplessly.

"We only really saw the teleporter after the first night and he kept us pretty drugged," the man explained.

"Hmm."

"So…where are you taking us?"

"T' a safe haven in Colorado," Gambit said. "Of course from there yo' can do whatever yo' want, but dey promised t' take yo' in and give yo' medical treatment."

"Thank you," the woman said, clasping Rogue's hand. "Thank you all so much."

Rogue smiled warmly at the woman. "Our pleasure."

The mutants were very nearly emaciated and freezing but there were no major injuries, at least none that they could treat. Injuries of the mind were a bit out of their depth. Their clothes were covered in filth and in some cases blood. The Colorado mutant safe haven was a converted ski lodge and town that had long since been abandoned in the mountains. They welcomed the mutants, rushing them to their medical building. The leader, a man named Thomas, shook Storm's hand with his taloned one.

"Thank you," Thomas said, his forked tongue slipping over his words a bit. "We'll take care of them."

"I know, you know how to reach us if you need us," Storm said.

Once the X-Men were alone in the jet on the way back to the mansion, Gambit, Rogue and Logan filled in Storm, Pete and Emma on what the mutant couple had told them.

"Are we sure they're telling the truth?" Pete asked. "We already are defending against human attacks, I don't want to have to defend against mutants, too."

"I agree, but they weren't lying," Logan said, tapping his face. "The nose doesn't lie. What do you want to do, 'Ro?"

Storm was silent for a moment before answering. "We need to tell Magneto." Eyebrows flew up. "I know we don't agree with what he's done, but he does have thousands of mutants in Boston that he needs to take responsibility for."

"I agree," Gambit said. "Dey should be warned. Magneto dragged them into dis mess, he better well have way t' protect dem."

The rest slowly agreed though it was difficult for them to actually want to contact the mass murderer. "Do we even know how to get in touch with him?" Logan asked.

"Katya does," Pete said. "She's been exploring back channels into Boston, keeping an eye on things. On Storm's orders."

They debated what exactly to say as they flew back, deciding the direct approach was the best way to go. Still in stealth mode, they landed back at the mansion. None of them noticed the plumbing van that had been parked down the road for the last three days.

Storm brought Logan, Rogue, Gambit and Kitty to her office to contact Magneto. Gambit made a crack about them being her presidential support staff. It took Kitty a few minutes to get a link, then the image of a startled man and woman appeared on the screen.

"Wanda and Pietro, I believe," Storm said in a cold greeting. They glanced at each other and struggled to hide their shock before turning back to the screen.

"X-Men," Pietro sneered.

"We aren't here to argue," Storm said, cutting off the beginnings of what she recognized to be a childish rant. "We need to speak to Magneto."

Wanda's eye trailed over the faces of the X-Men assembled and gave a curt nod. "As long as you keep the traitor out," she said, pleased at the lack of Pyro. Rogue and Gambit shared the briefest of looks, remembering that Pyro had mentioned a lady friend back in the Brotherhood he'd left behind.

Storm's head was held high and eyes sharp. She'd look intimidating on her own even if Logan wasn't standing next to her with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Gambit was once again struck by the sheer power Storm always seemed to be riding.

The Brotherhood kept them waiting for ten minutes, Rogue muttered something about a power trip before Magneto finally appeared, amused. "Dear X-Men, to what do we owe the pleasure?" he drawled. He took in Logan and laughed. "I see you know how to play tough when out of my range, Wolverine."

"We happened on a few mutants from Boston," Storm said.

"Well it's unfortunate but they are allowed to leave if they so desire," Magneto said.

"They didn't leave voluntarily," Logan growled.

"You seem to have a bit of a trafficking problem," Storm said. "They were taken from their home, teleported out of Boston and sold for supplies to support your commune."

Magneto's amusement slipped, a frown crawling to his face. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"We wouldn't contact a terrorist for a practical joke," Storm said. "We thought since you're responsible for these people, you should know."

Magneto nodded. "Of course. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Dey mentioned a south Boston suburb, I think yo' dubbed it de 3rd Quarter," Gambit said, sliding into view. "Male teleporter, average height, no ears and gray skin."

Magneto glanced to his side, making sure Wanda or Pietro had recorded that. "We will deal with this betrayal."

"Try not to make a mess," Logan said then looked at Kitty. "Cut it."

Kitty cut the video link and the collective group seemed to relax. "We've done our part," Gambit said. "De rest is up t' dem."

"Let's get back to our real jobs," Storm said, "taking care of our children."

In the plumbing van a few streets over, a man in a cheap blue suit dialed a number he'd never before used. It was a direct line to the newly appointed leader of the Mutant Control Task Force. He'd been told only to call if he finds a lead on the terrorist Magneto.

"_Trask," _the voice grunted.

"It's Agent McKenna, sir. The mutant school is Westchester just made contact with Boston."

There was silence for a moment then a small triumphant chuckle came across the line. "_Keep monitoring, McKenna. I'll make arrangements."_

"Yes, sir."

With any luck, this was just the break McKenna's career needed for a promotion.

**A/N Reviews get me through these endless rainy days.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Home stretch here, good people. Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favorites.**

**Chapter 7**

The week resumed slowly. The students weren't generally made aware of the X-Men missions if it could be avoided so classes continued in blissful ignorance. Storm received a call from the mutant safe haven in Colorado saying that after a few days of rest and food, the rescued mutants were thriving and were expected to make a full recovery.

Emma had taken to Astrid, offering her extra help with classes and offering private lessons to help her develop her telepathy. This raised a few eyebrows, most people surprised that there was a soft side to Emma. Gambit said her ice heart must be melting, a sure sign of the apocalypse. Astrid was nervous to go bed, scared of what she'd see and what Marrow would think of her. Marrow promised to wake her if she had a nightmare and assured the girl she wasn't scared of her at all. Gambit was pleased to see that Marrow and Astrid started spending more time together, even pulling Astrid into the close knit fold with Ape and Pixie.

Saturday's lights-out time was extended to midnight so the students could spend some quality time relaxing. They even started a bunch of games outside including badminton, basketball and races. They were told to use no powers, just in case. Logan was put in charge of races as motivation to not be in last place. When it got dark the students sullenly made their way inside, retiring to the rec room for a movie. Astrid and Emma retreated to Emma's room so she could begin to teach the young girl meditation techniques. Hank and Bobby drew the chaperone straw and stayed with the kids to watch Happy Feet. The rest of the X-Men gathered in the newly added staff rec room. Gambit had insisted he design it so of course it was complete with a bar, full sized poker table, dart board and massive HD TV. Storm was mildly horrified at the sight of the bar, worried about the impression it would leave on the younger students. Gambit placated her, reminding her that the room was always locked.

"Plus, if dey're not already scarred by Logan's cigars and beer, I think a little bar won't hurt anything," Gambit said cheerily.

Logan glanced at Gambit from his place by the pool table. "Don't even try it," he grunted. Storm rolled her eyes with a sigh and joined Logan for a game.

"Who's up for a game?" Gambit called, taking a seat at the poker table. Rogue sat next to him with a tolerant smile. Kitty, Pete, Pyro and Jubilee groaned.

"You wipe the floor with us every time!" Kitty whined.

"We don't have enough money to feed your addiction," Jubilee grumbled.

"We don't have t' play for money," Gambit said with a grin. With a flourish, he produced a bag of pretzels and a second bag of fruit snacks.

Kitty laughed as they all sat around the table, Gambit passing around food to everyone. "You're going to get us all fat," Kitty said.

"I'm sure monsieur Logan could give yo' some extra Danger Room sessions if yo' start t' feel out of shape," Gambit said innocently. Kitty gave an 'eep' and whipped around to look at Logan, who pointed his pool cue at her.

"I think I'll be okay," she said hurriedly.

Gambit chuckled and dealt. There was a low curse behind them as Storm sank another ball. Jubilee huffed at her cards and Rogue laughed.

"Jubes, maybe the reason you lose all the time is your 'poker face'," Rogue said with a laugh.

"We can't all have Gambit's!" Jubilee said.

"Speaking of poker faces," Kitty said. "Yours seems to get better each time we play. Is Gambit teaching you?"

"Non," Gambit said happily. "It's her natural talent of snarkiness."

"And the wonders of absorbing multiple people with poker skills," Rogue said.

"Isn't that cheating?" Kitty asked delicately.

"No," Rogue said, trying not to be irritated. "It's not like I pull out their psyches and have them play for me. It's just like if they taught me in person."

"I guess," Kitty said.

"It's a friendly game, anyways," Pete said mildly.

"Exactly!" Gambit said.

As usual, Gambit cleaned house, much to everyone's irritation. He shoved a handful of fruit snacks into his mouth before pushing his pile of winnings at Pete, Kitty, Jubilee and Pyro.

"Yo' can keep playing," Gambit said. He rose and took Rogue's hand. "We have some celebrating t' do if yo' get my drift." There was a growl from Logan by the pool table. Rogue giggled, saluted Logan, and followed Gambit.

Over an hour after Gambit and Rogue left the game, Emma was still tutoring Astrid. The young girl was powerful for her age, but undisciplined. Emma's goal first was to teach Astrid to shield herself from the thoughts of others. Astrid confided in Emma that sometimes other people's dreams seeped into her own. Worried, Emma taught Astrid through a very deep meditation technique.

When Emma and Astrid emerged, the latter was exhausted but her shielding was holding steadily. Emma watched the girl go, an odd feeling akin to worry spreading through her. Feeling a bit lethargic after meditating for so long, Emma stretched her psychic tendrils, then froze, something pulling at the corner of her mind. She reached out, sweeping the mansion's inhabitants aside and searching for the disturbance before coming back to herself with a hiss.

* * *

><p>During Emma's lesson, Gambit and Rogue had retreated to Gambit's room. Rogue collapsed on her back, breathing heavily. Sweat beaded her forehead as she clutched the bed sheets to her bare chest. She rolled her eyes to her side where Gambit was laying, propped on his elbow. Rogue grinned a lazy contented smile. With a satisfied smirk, Gambit flipped a strand of her white hair through his fingers.<p>

"Have I rendered yo' speechless, chère?" Gambit asked jokingly.

Rogue laughed and gave him a little shove. "You're so damn cocky," she said, rolling over to lie on his chest.

"Dat's de idea," he chuckled suggestively.

Rogue jabbed him in the stomach. "You never stop."

Gambit chuckled then calmed, arm wrapped around Rogue. These were the moments he lived for, the few blessed moments where there was no war or anti-mutant violence or riots. There weren't any X-Men or Thieves or outside world at all, the only things that existed were Rogue and him, without any thoughts of anyone else. All he wanted in his life was the feeling of Rogue's satiny skin beneath his fingers.

But like any wonderful moment, it was chased away too soon. Gambit's mind had his handy static shield that kept him free from telepaths so he didn't hear the alert that caused Rogue to shoot up in bed, sheet clutched to her chest. She grabbed the sides of her head as Emma's voice screamed a disjointed warning.

_Prepare yourselves, government at the wall!_

"Chère?" Gambit asked, immediately at her side. "What is it?"

"Emma, she says – "

Rogue's words were cut off as a loud klaxon blared through the room. "Someone's at de wall," Gambit said, recognizing the sound he's programmed. He and Rogue jumped out of bed and threw on the little clothes they had time for. Rogue scarcely made it into pants and a shirt, Gambit only bothering to don pants stuffed with cards. Storm's voice came across the loudspeakers over the sound of the alarm.

"_Students, report to your rooms and stay there, we are now in a state of lockdown. Teachers to the War Room."_

Rogue and Gambit wove their way through the streams of students. Thankfully the drills Logan insisted they run paid off and there was little panic.

"Remy!" Gambit turned to see Marrow running at him. She threw herself around his legs. "What's going on?" She was shaking and Gambit cursed internally, remembering the terror Marrow had felt when the woods were invaded.

"I don't know, petite," he said, crouching down to her eye level. "Dat's what Rogue and I are going t' find out. Go with Astrid t' your room, I'll come check on yo' when I can."

Marrow nodded and turned to run back up the stairs. Gambit stood to see Rogue with a slight smile before continuing to the War Room. Gambit noticed the light sheen to the windows as they ran past, a sign that Gambit's countermeasures were activated. For starters, anyone that tried to enter though a door or window would be electrocuted into unconsciousness. Gambit was especially proud of that one, cheerfully referring to the mansion as his own giant stun gun.

They met the others in the War Room. Storm acknowledged them with a nod. Seconds later, Jubilee and Kitty came skidding into the room. "Everyone's holed up in their rooms," Kitty said panting.

"Now, what's going on?" Jubilee asked, clutching a stitch in her side.

"We're not sure," Storm said. Logan flicked on the monitor behind her. Footage from the mansion's security cameras filled the screen. From what they could see, police had cars surrounding the grounds as well as government cars and vans. A mixture of cops, soldiers and government suits were stationed around the school. Lights flashed, guns were drawn, it was organized madness. No one was trying to enter the grounds though, for the moment they seemed merely to be creating a perimeter.

"They just got here," Logan said. "No demands, no contact yet, they're just sitting there."

"We put the school on lockdown when they were detected," Storm said. "If Gambit's security measures hold up, no one will be able to get in."

"Dey'll hold up," Gambit assured them. "Speaking of detection, Emma how did dey manage t' slip by yo'?"

Emma turned irritated eyes to him, displeased with her apparent failings. "I was meditating with Astrid, focusing on calming her mind," she snapped. "Why didn't your system detect them earlier?"

"We aren't assigning blame," Storm said firmly with a pointed glare at them both. "We need to prepare in case an evacuation become necessary."

"With all due respect or whatever, why aren't we evacuating now?" Pyro asked. Kitty, Jubilee and Pete looked uncomfortably at each other, obviously thinking the same as Pyro.

"We don't know their intentions yet," Storm said. "If we evacuate, it could get students harmed or killed. Until we know if they mean us harm, the best thing to do is to stay under lockdown."

"We might find that out quickly," Logan said with a glance over his shoulder. "Someone's trying to contact us through our network."

Gambit and Kitty went to the nearest terminal. "I'm going to redirect it to this station and confine it here so they can't get access to the system or anything," Kitty told them, typing away.

"Use de firewalls we went over last week," Gambit said. Kitty merely nodded and was quiet for a few moments.

"We'll be able to hear and see them but they'll only be able to hear us," Kitty said. "I'd prefer to keep our faces out of government files if at all possible."

Storm nodded. "Do it." A second later, a man's face appeared on the screen.

"Good evening, my name is Bolivar Trask, I'm head of the Mutant Control Task Force," the man said. His cold and disdainful tone gave his words a darkly sarcastic feel.

Gambit spoke before Storm could, not totally trusting that his friend was calm enough. "T' what do we owe de pleasure, M'sieur Trask?" Gambit's flippant tone seemed to displease Trask who obviously thought his show of bravado would be intimidating.

"You have been identified as hostile, dangerous mutants and possible terrorists," Trask announced.

"How'd yo' land on dat assessment?" Gambit asked conversationally. Storm was calming down but her eyes were still livid.

"You made contact with the terrorist known as Magneto. As a potential ally of a known terrorist organization, your facility has been surrounded and is in a state of quarantine," Trask informed them. His lips twisted into a half smile. "Any attempts to leave will be met with lethal force."

"You can't do this," Storm said. "It's illegal, we've done nothing wrong."

"So you deny being in league with Magneto?" Trask asked.

"We're a school," Storm said in a voice Gambit knew meant she was mentally adding 'you moron' to the end of her sentence.

"And it actually is perfectly legal," he went on as if she hadn't spoken. "It was signed into law this morning, a bill that gives the President authority to detain mutants suspected of terrorism for as long as necessary."

"That's unconstitutional," Storm said.

"These are dangerous times," Trask said.

"Dey are indeed," Gambit muttered.

"We will not attack you in any way nor enter your facility," Trask continued. "Until our investigation is complete, you will stay where you are. Later you will be evaluated and questioned."

"Questioned," Rogue repeated darkly under her breath.

"Until then," Storm said. She leaned over and cut the connection.

"They're trying to smoke us out," Logan said immediately. "They think cutting us off from the outside world will force our hand and make us leave."

"If we run out of food, dey might be right," Gambit said.

"No, we have enough stored to last us awhile," Storm said.

"Well eventually they won't be so patient, they'll cut water, power-"

"I know," Storm interrupted Logan. "But for right now we're okay. Have everyone be ready to evacuate if that changes though."

"You want to stay?" Jubilee asked. "Uh, isn't that a little nuts?"

"Until we need to leave, we stay put," Storm said.

Jubilee opened her mouth to argue but Rogue got there first. "I agree with Storm," she said. "We always have the new tunnels to escape through if we need to."

"If we leave now, they'll assume we're guilty and pursue us as terrorists forever," Storm said. "For now, we need to see how this plays out."

They nodded in agreement, though some wore frowns.

"Trask is leaving," Emma said, eyes focused in the distance. "The only thing I got off him was hate and excitement. None of the troops know anything more than we're 'terrorists'."

"So what now, boss?" Pyro asked.

Storm spared him a glance. "We continue with our lives."

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, Trask was frowning in his office. He'd assumed the mutants would have fled by now, which of course would make the mandate come into effect, giving him permission to take them all and do whatever is necessary. But the mutants had stayed holed up, seemingly content.<p>

Trask picked up his phone. Having started his career as a military scientist, he had all sorts of connections, one having given him full run of a very large lab.

"It's Trask," he grunted. "Get the bio-agent ready. We're going to a backup plan."

"_Sir, it's not been thoroughly tested,"_ the other voice squeaked. _"We don't know if it will-"_

"Get it ready if you value a career that doesn't involve being a Macy's perfume boy!"

"_Y-yes, sir!"_

Trask hung up and steepled his fingers together. These filthy mutants were in league with Magneto, he knew it. They stuck together, the freaks.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N I am appalled that it's taken so long for me to update this, my apologies!**

**Chapter 8**

Bolivar Trask was not a patient man. If he was, he would have realized that two weeks was not long enough to wait before attempting to flush the X-Men out. He would have waited longer, maintaining the perimeter around the school before trying to force their way in. But Trask was not a patient man.

* * *

><p>Despite the Mutant Control Taskforce's attempts to isolate the mansion from the outside world, the occupants were doing well. They were scared, but surviving just fine. Their power was cut, but the backup generators and energy generating mutants made that a non-issue. TV, internet and phone connections were also cut, but no one could keep Kitty from the internet so they were still connected to the news. Overall, they were functioning just fine.<p>

Mentally functioning was another thing. It was exhausting for everyone to be living in a perpetual state hyperawareness. There were dozens of students not sleeping, so much so that Storm was considering having Hank give the students something to help them sleep. The teachers took turns on a sentry duty of sorts, each sitting for hours at a time in the War Room staring at security monitors.

Gambit tried to lighten the mood by bringing all the students to the Danger Room for a game of hide and seek tag, which seemed to do them wonders. They actually had to carry a few exhausted kids to their beds.

Two weeks into their lockdown, Gambit called everyone to the War Room with the ominous declaration of, "Something's happening".

Gambit flicked to the security cameras. "Dis was a few minutes ago," Gambit said, flipping to an image of the soldiers stationed around the mansion as they crowded around two men. One of them was immediately identifiable as Bolivar Trask.

"What're they doing?" Storm asked, leaning over to examine the screen. "What's he holding?"

"It's some kind of gas grenade," Gambit said, eyes grim. They watched as some clumsy assistant accidentally set one off, surrounding them all in red smoke. Coughing, the men glared at the assistant, one soldier actually about to hit the man.

"What'd it do?" Storm asked.

"I didn't think anything at first," Gambit said. "Some creative computer work told me it's a gas developed by de Mutant Control Taskforce to pacify mutants for easy capture so it makes sense it wouldn't do anything to dem."

"How'd you find _that_ out?" Kitty asked.

"Petite, I'm really going t' need t' show yo' how t' get into government networks," Gambit said before turning back to the screen. "I assumed it had no effect on non-mutant humans but den…"

He switched the feed to real time. Soldiers were sprawled on the ground, leaning up against the mansion's outer walls, or doubled over. Trask himself was twitching on the ground. There was no sound but it was obvious from the twisted faces and the way they writhed that they were in pain. Everyone stared, unnerved. One soldier fell to the ground in an unmistakable seizure. A few men in gasmasks were running around between the dozens of soldiers on screen, trying desperately to assist the men. Two scooped up Trask and whisked him into a nearby SUV.

"They aren't planning on sending that in here, are they?" Jubilee asked, aghast.

"Dey probably were," Gambit said, his hand finding Rogue's waist. "I doubt dey can do much of anything now though."

Before he could finish the sentence, the men on the monitor abruptly stopped writhing. The closest man to the camera straightened, wide eyes darting frantically around him. He stared at the man next to him, apparently horrified, before seizing him and snapping his neck. Bobby and Jubilee gasped, Kitty hid her face in Pete's chest. Rogue merely paled and tightened her grip on Gambit's hand.

"Hallucinations," Hank whispered softly. They instantly knew he was right. Every soldier was freaking out, rushing around and batting at things that weren't there, much like a very bad acid trip. One rushed over to the nearest house and knocked the owner to the ground with the butt of his gun. Kitty squeaked in shock.

Pyro and Rogue exchanged a look and a sigh. "We're about to do something noble, aren't we?" he asked, though it sounded more like a resigned statement.

"We shouldn't," Logan growled.

"But we have to," Storm said. "They're hurting innocent people."

"Still the good guys," Pyro sighed dramatically, though he didn't look particularly upset.

They turned their attention to Emma. The telepath closed her eyes, reaching out to the soldiers in the streets. Everyone jumped as Emma winced and gave an audible gasp. When her eyes opened, the panic took a few moments to dissipate before she pulled her usual icy persona around herself.

"Hallucinating monsters, bombs, anything of the sort," Emma reported. "One even thought their daughter was being slaughtered by the Green River Killer."

"Everyone suit up," Storm ordered. "And remember, non-lethal force only. We don't want the country to see us murdering soldiers."

* * *

><p>Pyro was having a hell of a time. Fire was good for destroying, but not subduing. Luckily he was working with one-punch-Wolverine who metal skeleton was perfect for knocking people out. Hank was wary about handing out tranquilizers, unsure of the effect the combination would have, but everyone was armed with a dose or two to give a soldier as a last ditch effort.<p>

* * *

><p>It was the most disturbing fight Rogue had ever been in. Half the men she was incapacitating didn't even register her being there and the other half saw her as something of a four headed monster. A soldier tackled her to the ground, hands wrapping around her pale throat. Rogue gasped for air, hands clawing at the huge man. She was very well versed in many types of martial arts and would place big money on herself over any opponent her size, but sometimes two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle just was something you couldn't win against.<p>

"I don't want to do this," she coughed out before placing her ungloved hands on his face. Immediately the absorption began, draining the fear and life force from the man. He slumped on top of her, unconscious. Rogue looked up to see his body morph into a bleeding corpse, maggots crawling from empty eye sockets and dropping onto her skin. She threw the body off but it crawled after her, a bloody trail following like a slug's slime.

"Don't yo' love me anymore, chère?" it wheezed in Gambit's honeyed voice. Rogue screamed, scrambling on all fours until her back slammed against the brick wall. She was barely aware of the disjointed voices around her.

"What happened?"

"Absorbed-"

"-Hallucinating!"

Rogue swung blinding, hitting the nearest person. She wouldn't open her eyes, not willing to see another hunk of rotting flesh. She felt a hand on her shoulder and a presence at the edge of her mind but before she could react, she collapsed to the ground. The last thing she saw was a figure in white slump next to her.

* * *

><p>Gambit, on the other side of the mansion with Storm, didn't hear Rogue scream. He did hear dozens of horrified yells from the soldiers. He gritted his teeth as he whacked a man unconscious with the end of his bo-staff. Experiments and bio-agents, two of his least favorite things.<p>

He tried to remember it wasn't the soldiers' faults their government made a gas to incapacitate mutants, but it was hard as one tried to take a bite from his shoulder. He snapped his arm, landing a vicious hit.

* * *

><p>Kitty and Pete worked quickly, Pete's steel arms getting the job done fast, but Kitty's tactic of phasing through them and around in circles to confuse and disorient them before beating them over the head was working well, too.<p>

They stood, surrounded by unconscious bodies of the soldiers, the same soldiers who would killing kill them, all in the name of saving their lives.

* * *

><p>Jubilee blinded the last soldier, who was aiming his gun at a nearby house, with her fireworks before landing a roundhouse kick that would've made Logan proud, dropping the man. Storm knelt down and pulled the headset from the unconscious man and put it to her ear.<p>

"…_report! Captain, what's going on?"_

"Your gas had some side effects," Storm said into the mic. "I'd bring ambulances and restraints." She dropped the headset and ran with Jubilee and Gambit to the front of the school to regroup.

Gambit's breath hitched at the sight of Rogue crumpled on the ground next to an exhausted and groggy Emma. In an instant, he ran to her, skidding to his knees at her side.

"Rogue, chèrie, can yo' hear me?" he begged, pulling the hair from her face. "Rogue…"

"She can't," Emma said sluggishly. Pyro pulled the telepath to her feet and awkwardly supported her with an arm around the waist, hers over his shoulder. He made a valiant effort to keep his eyes away from her chest.

"Why?" Gambit demanded, wild eyes finding her eye lidded ones.

"She absorbed one," Emma slurred. "The hallucinations transferred to her…I knocked her out…to help…" Her eyes slipped closed and Pyro lurched, suddenly taking all of her weight.

Gambit turned back to Rogue, gathering her in his arms. Pyro struggled to get Emma in a similar position.

"Oh my," Hank said, coming around a corner. "Come on boys, let's get them inside."

All heads whipped to the side, an explosion and screams rocking the ground from blocks away.

"The hell…" Logan growled.

"I guess we missed some," Jubilee said. Storm nodded and they all ran towards the yells of terror, minus Hank, Gambit with Rogue and Pyro with Emma. They hauled the unconscious women inside, Hank directing them to the lab.

Emma was given a blanket and hooked up to sensors to monitor her. Rogue was given an IV (with a sedative ready just in case) and attached to all kinds of sensors, strapped to the bed by her arms and legs. Gambit winced at that.

"Is dat really necessary?" he asked, her hand clutched tightly in his.

"I'm afraid so," Hank said, glancing over. "We saw what happened with the men outside. Until we know if she'll be a danger to herself she needs to be restrained."

"I know, I know," Gambit said. He leaned over, forehead resting on hers, just listening to her breathe. Every time she twitched, Gambit's heart tried to escape through his mouth. He didn't know how long he sat like that, listening to the calming yet disconcerting beep of the heart monitor. He hadn't been to a hospital or lab of his own free will in years, but now nothing short of a nuclear bomb could move him.

It could have been minutes or hours, but eventually the rest of the team burst in. Pete was carrying an unconscious Jubilee who was bleeding heaving from her midsection, Logan was supporting a limping Storm and Bobby was holding a bloody rag to a gash near his ear.

"Hank!" Logan bellowed.

"Oh my," Hank hissed, running over to Jubilee. "Put her here, hand me that syringe there!"

Gambit saw the nasty hole in Jubilee's side and hissed, seeing parts of the human body that were never supposed to see light. Logan helped Storm into a sitting position on the last table next to Bobby.

"Kitty," Logan barked. Kitty ran forward, gloves already on. "You know how to stitch someone up?" Logan asked. She nodded, pale but determined. "Good, take care of Bobby."

"Couldn't wait to see my face, huh?" he joked weakly.

"I'm fine, Logan," Storm insisted.

"You leg's broken, I have to reset it," Logan grunted.

Storm nodded. "Fine, just do it."

"We're gonna get you some morphine first."

"Logan," Storm said, grip tightening on the feral man's hand. "Do it, then help Hank and Pete with Jubilee."

Logan growled but Storm's steel eyes left no room for argument. "Fine," he muttered, then leaned in and kissed her forehead. "One…two…three!" Storm made a grunting noise, nails digging into Logan's shoulder. Pyro winced, at the sight and turned only to gag at Kitty giving Bobby stitches before finally settling on watching over Emma.

"Squeamish?" Gambit asked the other man.

"Apparently," Pyro muttered.

"How'd yo' ever make it in de Brotherhood?"

Pyro leveled his gaze with Gambit's. "Stupidly."

Emma stirred, eyes fluttering open for a second before her hands flew to her head.

"Hey, you okay?" Pyro asked.

Emma gritted her teeth. "I need to put my shields back up before I drown in everyone's pain," she spat out through her teeth. Pyro shut up until Emma lowered her hands, face relaxing. "Okay, now, tell me what happened."

Pyro shifted. "I don't know really, Gambit, Hank and I stayed here to take care of you and Rogue. Uh, Storm's got a broken leg I think, Bobby a cut and Jubilee's…not good."

Emma nodded before her eyes slipped closed again. "Rogue should be out for at least three hours," she said, knowing Gambit would hear her. He didn't acknowledge her, merely continued to stare at his unconscious girlfriend.

There was chaos by Jubilee, a riot of red staining the floor at Hank's feet. "I have the bleeding stopped but she'll need a transfusion. Is anyone here AB negative?" Hank called. "Sooner than later is essential."

No one said anything until with a sigh, Emma's arm raised. "Seems to be the day for good deeds," she muttered. "It's just mental exhaustion," she assured Hank, sensing his hesitation.

As soon as Emma and Jubilee were hooked up and stable, Hank went to check on Bobby ("Kitty, marvelous work.") and Storm ("I'll need to cast that leg."). Eventually everyone filed out, having been tended to or no longer needed. Only Hank, Logan and Gambit stayed as well as the three unconscious women (Emma having fallen back to sleep). Logan hovered over Gambit's shoulder, neither man willing to leave. He glanced at Jubilee once in awhile, guilt stabbing him.

"What happened, mon ami?" Gambit asked quietly. Logan was quiet for so long that Gambit thought he wasn't going to answer.

"A couple of them went into an elementary school," Logan grunted. Gambit looked over alarmed. "All the kids are okay. One set off a bomb, I couldn't get there in time. Storm, Bobby and Jubilee caught shrapnel." Gambit winced, turning back to Rogue. "How's she?" Logan asked.

"No change," Gambit muttered. They sat like for the next few hours, neither man feeling the need to speak.

Rogue finally stirred, monitors beeping loudly. "Hank!" Gambit called. The blue man ran in from his office.

"She's waking up," Hank said, reading the screen with his fingers on her wrist.

Rogue groaned and her body jerked, trying to roll over against the restraints. Her eyes flew open, panicked and wide. She thrashed, trying to rip herself free.

"Chère! It's okay, you're safe!" Gambit said. "Deep breaths, it's going t' be okay." He whispered rapid French, trying to soothe her.

She blinked, panic ebbing away. "I-I caught I love you? I think…"

"Do yo' see anything scary floating around de room?"

Rogue scanned what she could see of the med lab. "Uh, no, just your guys' heads look pretty funny from down here."

Gambit ripped off the restraints from her wrists and ankles in seconds, gathering her in his arms. Rogue barely had time to wrap her arms around his waist before her face was crushed against his chest. "Don't scare me like dat again!" he mumbled into her hair. Hank coughed uncomfortably and turned back to check on Jubilee. Logan cleared his throat but Gambit paid him no mind.

"Gumbo," he growled. Reluctantly, Gambit let Rogue go only to be swept into a swift hug from Logan. "Don't absorb hallucinations again, kid," he growled before letting her go.

"Can I go?" she asked.

Hank nodded. "I have your blood samples to run, I'll let you know if there's anything bizarre. You're free to go."

Rogue's face turned to Jubilee. "I'll explain later," Gambit said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her out of the offending lab. Although she'd be knocked out for hours, she was suddenly exhausted. Gambit tucked her into bed, curling his body around hers. He breathed easily for the first time since he'd seen her on the pavement.

Rogue and Gambit didn't emerge until the next morning for breakfast. Storm was sitting in an odd position with her broken leg propped up on a chair. Bobby had to point the left side of his head to whoever was talking, the hearing in his right ear not quite back. Only Emma didn't look ragged, her white clothes and icy stare back in place.

Gambit and Rogue joined their table, both ravenous. "So we're all still here, no government raids in de middle of de night?" Gambit asked.

"Nope. The medics came, took the soldiers away and no one's been back," Logan said.

"Weird," Rogue said.

"Disconcerting," Emma said. "No doubt this will be twisted into another mutant attack on the military."

"Then why isn't de military back?"

No one had a good answer for that.

"How's Jubilee?" Rogue asked.

"Hank said with some physical therapy, she should be fine," Storm said.

"Oh, good."

Emma cocked her head to the side, her composure slipping and mouth forming a silent _o_.

"What is it?" Logan asked, half standing already.

"There will be no need for claws Logan," Emma said, trying to pull her expression closed. "But someone should open the gates. The president is here to pay us a visit."

No one at the table spoke, even the hushed conversations around them seemed much too loud.

"What?" Storm finally asked. "The president...of what, our country?"

Emma nodded. "He means us no ill will, he wishes to talk."

"…Talk," Logan repeated.

"Yes," Emma said standing. "And it's generally rude to keep the president waiting."

By the time the gates were opened and Emma felt the presence on the other side of the door, the kids were all in their rooms and told not to come out unless told. Storm opened the door to see two men in suits, the president behind them with six others behind him.

"Hello," he said, then lightly pushed through the secret service men. "I hardly think that'll be necessary," he said. The men glared but said nothing. "You must be Ororo Munroe, the headmistress." The president extended his hand.

Storm stared at it for a moment before slowly shaking the hand. "Yes," she said. "These are my colleagues."

They nodded, though no one was willing to give the president their name.

"Hank McCoy," the president greeted Hank. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well, sir," Hank said politely. "Though I must say your presence here is most surprising."

The president sighed. "Yes, I imagine it is. Is there someplace we can speak?"

"My office," Storm said. The president's secret service detail swept the room before letting them in, earning a growl from Logan. They kept eyeing him apprehensively as if the danger rolling off of him in waves was tangible. Storm took a seat behind her desk, the president taking another chair across from her. The rest of the X-Men perched various places around the room.

The room was dead silent. The president shifted minutely in his seat at the tension.

"You'll have to forgive us Mr. President," Hank said. "The government hasn't exactly been kind to us lately."

"I understand completely," he answered. "That actually is why I'm here. We have Bolivar Trask in custody."

"You have," Storm stated slowly.

"The incident yesterday made the news. They're saying it's a military training operation gone wrong. A lab stepped forward about the gas," the president elaborated. "The gas they'd developed was illegally made and Trask was warned it wasn't ready for use. We have taken him in for questioning."

"So you're not blaming us for this?" Logan asked bluntly.

"Of course not. In fact, I wanted to think you. The United States government owes you a great debt for what you did to contain the situation."

"How do you know what we did?" Storm asked.

The president smiled. "You aren't the only ones with security cameras. Not to worry, the tapes are being destroyed."

"That's good news, though I doubt it's why you came here," Storm said.

"You're quite right," the president sighed. "We're trying to quell the mutant fear that's being caused by the riots lately. I was rather hoping one of you would be willing to join me in Washington for a few months as an advisor and goodwill ambassador. A sort of face to the country."

There was a beat of silence before anyone spoke, then it was Logan who said, "You're serious?"

"We need to unite a country that's fallen into such chaos," the president said passionately. "And to do that, we need a united government, a united front."

"Well yo' can count me out," Gambit said from his perch atop Storm's filing cabinet. "I've been in de hands of government men before, never again."

"Same," Logan grunted. "I won't be part of some political ploy."

"I can assure you that's not what this is, in fact I've been told it's almost certainly political suicide." The president turned to Hank. "I could use your help with this Henry."

Hank was solemn but held the president's gaze. "If you remember last time, Mr. President, policy was made without me. I won't come back to be a poster mutant for the government."

"Nor would I expect you to," the president said quickly. "We need to better understand mutants and their needs. We need help."

"I'll consider it," Hank said slowly.

"That's all I ask," he said, then turned to everyone assembled. "That's all I ask all of you." He stood and the secret service converged around him. "If you'll excuse me, I have a function to attend."

The X-Men stared as Storm escorted the president out. "Well that was unexpected…" Rogue muttered.

"Oui." Gambit wasn't plastered to Rogue's side, but he was still close, as he always was when she was injured.

"I think I'm going to do it," Hank said.

"What!"

"Hank?"

"I seem t' remember dis ending badly last time, mon ami."

"The president's right," Hank said. "We need mutants and humans to be together on the same page with the same government protecting us all."

"It's your choice," Storm said from the doorway, arms crossed. "Our doors will always be open to you."

* * *

><p>Four months later, to everyone's surprise, the president's plan seemed to be working. Trask was awaiting trial. In conjuncture with Hank, programs were put into place to help struggling mutants. A mutant and human committee called the Living Being Rights Group was established to hold peaceful rallies and educational summits to promote peace and understanding.<p>

It was treated as a joke by many, but as it drew mutants and civil rights activists and young people to the cause, it eventually was hailed as the second civil rights movement. They even moved so far as the forced integration of mutants to 'human' schools. There were still riots, there was still violence, but slowly things were getting to a less hostile state. Luckily, the rights groups were heeding lessons from the first civil rights movement.

"Dis is going t' end badly," Gambit muttered. He was sitting in the rec room, draped over Rogue as they watched a news clip flashing between Hank, the president and mutants escorted by police into classrooms. "Dey're going t' get people hurt."

"It's better than it was," Rogue said, running her fingers over his hand. "There have been like half as many riots as last year, things are calming down."

"For how long though?" he asked. She turned to smirk at him.

"I thought cynicism was supposed to be my area of expertise," she joked. He smiled and leaned over, kissing her nose.

"And yo' do it so well ,chèrie."

She slunk down, laying herself across his chest, face rising and falling with his breath.

"_In breaking news, the president, in a move reminiscent of President Kennedy, just ordered the National Guard to step in to escort mutant children to school in places where the integration has been met with violent resistance. The president had this to say mere moments ago."_

_The image on the screen flashed to the president in front of the White House, Hank quietly at his side._

"_This country will not give in to hate. This nation has prided itself for years on being a land of tolerance, but we have magnificently failed. We will not condone the murder of American citizens and we will not punish all mutants for the actions of a few. My fellow Americans, I urge you all to reclaim the title of tolerance and earn the title of true, free Americans."_

Rogue and Gambit stared at the TV, trying to squash the evil, creeping hope that crawled into their chests at the thought that maybe things were getting better.

**End. Not my favorite, at all. Next will be better, I promise. **


End file.
