Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men or the related characters and places. Marvel does, and they do not share.

A/N: This story will focus mainly on Gambit as an Acolyte and the development of his relationships with the other X-Men. Gambit and Rogue are a semi-established couple. Everything else is a surprise. So if it's not your cup of tea, jump ship now : )

"Scott?" Rogue asked quietly as she sat down beside him in the lunch room.

"Yeah?" he asked surprised at the soft tone of the Goth's voice.

"What do ya think about second chances?"

Scott frowned, not sure where this was heading, "Umm…"

"It ain't about us," she assured him and he gave a small sigh of relief he hoped was unnoticeable. He glanced around for the others, belatedly remembering Jean was busy reorganizing the costumes for the thespians club and Kitty and Kurt's class was on a fieldtrip. It was just going to be him and Rogue since Evan had taken off. Scott was still a little nervous and he rubbed his hand on his pants wiping off excess sweat as he looked around for potential eavesdroppers.

"Well, what is it about Rogue?" he asked concerned.

"Ya know about me and Remy right?" she asked. Scott nodded, while Rogue had tried to keep it a secret, it hadn't remained one for long that she was dating one of Magneto's Acolytes. Gambit, the guy who was a major enemy and had almost blown her up on their first meeting and several times since. Scott didn't like it, didn't understand it. But he was willing to listen to Rogue. Maybe she had come to her senses, or maybe Gambit had done something stupid and she was deciding whether or not to take him back. Then Scott could carefully steer her in the right direction.

Rogue fiddled with a strap on her gloves a moment, her gaze in her lap before looking up hesitantly, "Scott I think there's something wrong with Remy." Scott could personally think of many things wrong with Gambit, but he nodded for her to continue anyways, fearing words would spook her off.

"He…he…shows up with all these bruises in the strangest places…I'm worried about him Scott," she admitted.

Scott shrugged, "It's probably from training or a mission. "We end up with bruises all the time from the Danger Room, and he probably goes on a lot of missions he can't tell you about."

"Ah don't think so Scott," she said softly. Cyclops actually tensed, he'd never seen Rogue look so lost before.

"He usually tells me when he's gonna be outta town for awhile, so I don't worry. He hardly ever comes back from a mission with anything but a few scratches. And if he does he warns me about it, so I don't accidentally bump into it," she explained. "But lately," she paused, "I've seen a coupla really deep bruises. An' he had this gash that was like a mile long that he didn't want to show me. If it was just from training why would he hide them?"

Scott sat there stumped, "I don't know Rogue, maybe Sabretooth knocked him around too hard during training, or Colossus, and he just doesn't want to admit he lost," he offered.

"Mebbe," Rogue muttered putting a gloved hand to her forehead, "I'll see you later Scott," she said and grabbed her untouched lunch tossing it in the trash before heading out.

Great, thought Scott, now I'm going to eat lunch alone.

Rogue spotted Remy waiting in the parking lot by his motorcycle as he usually was. He was young enough he should probably still be in school, but like the other acolytes he'd decided not to enroll in Bayville High. That was the only plus Rogue could see for working for that maniac.

It had taken a few weeks of polite turndowns by Remy before the groups of teenage girls would stop hanging out by his bike as he waited for Rogue. A rocky relationship at best, between enemies no less, it didn't need any further complications.

"Hey Remy," Rogue called out with her soft southern drawl.

"Hey y'self petite," he said smirking and drawing her in for a quick hug "Y' up for a ride cherie?"

"I was hoping ya'd hang out with me at the Institute for awhile."

Remy grimaced slightly, once the other X-Men had found out the Rogue and he were a couple it had, well, it had gotten pretty rough. Several threats of disemboweling if he recalled, both from her foster brother and from Wolverine. Well technically one was for disemboweling, and the other was teleporting his still beating heart out of his body, but eh semantics. Once they figured out that he wasn't just playing with her, that he really cared, they had relaxed somewhat.

The X-Men had found out through trial and error that Gambit couldn't be kept out of the Institute if he wanted to visit Rogue. They had tried to make the pair stop seeing each other for a short-lived period of time when they realized that particular action only resulted in Remy breaking into the mansion and into Rogue's room late at night.

Giving in to the inevitable they had allowed the acolyte and thief into the mansion. Of course, only when he was there with Rogue, and never on anything but the ground floor, considering the sensitive equipment beneath and the bedrooms above. Gambit also hadn't failed to notice that the few times he had been over there was always someone else within shouting distance.

So if they really wanted any alone time it was not the place to be. The couple never even discussed going to Magneto's base, safety issues aside, neither of them wanted to spend their free time there. Remy was startled out of his extended reverie when Rogue snapped her finger's in front of his face.

"Hey Swamp Rat, ya with me?" she asked.

"Sure chere, sure, but y' really want t' go dere?" he questioned hoping for a negative.

"I'm sure," she said granting him a small smile, "Remy if any of them are gonna accept ya, ya actually have ta be there every once in awhile," she kidded.

He returned a weak smile, "Anytin' fo' my chere," and hopped on to the bike waiting until Rogue settled on behind him before revving up the engine and starting off.

Rogue clutched tightly to Gambit's stomach as he cruised the roads to the Institute. She was a better actress than she thought. She did want the other X-Men to accept him, but that wasn't the reason she wanted him to come along. Scott might not believe her, but she was sure someone else would be able to see what she saw.

She knew those marks he had gotten weren't from training, the pattern was just wrong somehow. She started to notice him wearing shirts with long sleeves or high collars, or refusing to take off his jacket or sunglasses. Despite his excuses she knew something was going on, somebody was abusing Remy LeBeau.

Gambit having taken the longer way to the Institute, wanting to delay it as much as possible, groaned audibly when he realized the only thing he had accomplished was arriving to a packed mansion. He spied Scott's sports car in the drive and parked a distance away from it, no way was he getting blamed if Scott's precious car got keyed again, there had to be tons of people that Scott annoyed.

Sliding off the seat the pair deposited their helmets on the bike and Rogue shouldered her book bag leading the way. Remy trailed behind far enough that she grabbed his hand, "Come on, it ain't that bad," she said rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Y' ain't de one who gets interrogated by Wolverine, non?" he quipped. Rogue threw a quick glance back at him. He could pretend to be fine all he wanted, she was getting to the bottom of this.