Summary: The art of seduction turns into a full blown war when the flirty Cajun and the fiery Southern Belle agree to a bet neither is willing to lose. Romy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men nor am I affiliated with Marvel in any way.

Author's Notes: Playing on Rogue and Remy's collective stubbornness and mutual attraction in this one. As per usual I do not speak French and rely on internet translators and friends. I also write my Romys with minimal accents, we all know our leads have them. Please use your power of imagination. It works better than all my misspelled words and apostrophes.

Gambit held his book higher to his face in annoyance. He never should have come back to Bayville. He should have just gone somewhere else, except that Bayville had work for him. Not the pleasant sort of thieving work he enjoyed the most, but work in the way of babysitting. Magneto had hired him as the new 'keeper' of the motley crew he called his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Evil Mutants, what a joke. He scoffed silently. More like Brotherhood of Annoying Dime Store Mutants.

He had more evil in his one little pinky compared to this group. No finesse or discipline in any single one of them. He supposed that was why he was here. He should have just sucked it up and joined his former comrade Piotr with the X-men, except he'd screwed up his chances by 'borrowing Rogue for an extended amount of time' a while back. She hadn't seemed to mind all that much, but her team apparently had.

As usual, and like a history lesson he never seemed to quite learn, he'd found himself back in his father's company having his powers exploited for the Guild… again. Up until he left New Orleans… again, and found himself back under Magneto's command… again. He rolled his eyes in disgust. His life had become a worn out, broken record at the tender age of nineteen.

"Laaaaaance! You are suuuuuch a jerk!" The high pitched whine of Kitty Pryde broke through his thoughts, making him rub his temples. God, if only he had a roll of duct tape right now…

Babysitting. He had honestly taken a job babysitting a bunch of whiney, troublesome mutants. He shouldn't complain too much about it. Magneto was paying him handsomely for the job.

Still, why friggin' Lance Alvers had to go ahead and date one of the X-men was completely beyond him. Not only were they playing for opposite teams, but honestly, if he was going to date an X-man it sure as hell wouldn't be the whiny, shallow Kitty Pryde. The girl didn't even have a proper set of breasts for Christ's sake.

He knew who he'd go after…

"Kitty, ya just better shut the hell up, and Lance stop being an ass!" Rogue's angry southern drawl barked and it was the sound of angels singing on high to him.

He licked his lips slowly behind his book. The only reason he tolerated Kitty's frequent visits to their common house was because she was always escorted by the forever stunning Rogue. The girl of pure perfection. The real reason he'd come back to Bayville.

She was built like a vision straight from every salacious fantasy he'd ever had. She had it all, looks, brass and brains.

And breasts, he added shortly after. Now taking the time to peer over his book inconspicuously and give her a slow once over with his eyes. As if she had him on radar or something, her eyes turned sharply and narrowed in his direction. He shot his eyes down quickly, back to his book.

He hardly ever spoke to her or her to him. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her; it was just that he didn't really know what to say. They had made a very brief connection when they had been together in New Orleans, and since seeing each other again, things were awkward.

So, he acted cool and aloof, while she acted haughty and temperamental. Both sort of ignoring the other's existence in a polite dance around the subject of whether or not they were friends. He didn't see how they could be; he was put in charge of the Brotherhood chapter in Bayville. They were sworn enemies. How Professor Xavier could let his mutants mingle with the riff raff of the Brotherhood made no sense to him at all. The man couldn't honestly believe that these people would eventually join up with his team.

It occurred to him then that the X-men were allowed to mingle probably as spies, keeping an eye out on what the Brotherhood was up to. He'd have to have a talk about that with Magneto.

He glanced up from his book again. Rogue was stretching her arms over her head, her back arching, naturally pushing those perfect breasts up to a perky attention. A slow tingle of delight coursed through his body.

On second thought, Magneto had allowed the interaction thus far, so there was no need to bring it to his attention as something bad now. Who cared if they were spies? He could get a dose of Rogue's perfection on almost a daily basis. His job would be absolutely unbearable if he didn't have her to look forward to. There was no point in causing trouble, besides, the Brotherhood on occasion actually teamed up with the X-men to fight together.

He'd love a team up right now in fact, he thought to himself as he watched the slight bounce her breasts made as her arms fell neatly back at her sides. What a sucker he was. He could abandon all sorts of duties and responsibilities for a nice rack. Especially hers.

He'd never met anyone who could hold his attention like she could. The untouchable Rogue. He didn't even know what her real name was. She was this sweet, intoxicating mystery, full of danger and unparalleled desire.

He had to stop thinking about her like that while he was in a room full of people, especially a room full of degenerate mutant boys. He immediately switched his thoughts to repulsive, disgusting things… like Dukes. It did the trick, and if he wanted to, he could now stand freely. Instead, he chose to remain seated in the only clean living room chair and pretend to read his book.

"It's true Kitty, admit it," Lance was arguing. "Men are far better at seducing than women are."

"Are not!" the tiny girl shrieked angrily.

Remy rolled his eyes again. God, those two had the stupidest conversations.

"Alright, an example to prove my point. Rogue vs. Gambit, you know he'd be the better seducer," Lance replied defiantly.

"What are you saying Boulder Boy?" Rogue jumped in angrily at the sound of her name, "That I can't seduce a man?"

Lance nodded in Remy's direction. "Not as fast as he could seduce a woman."

Gambit gave a small shrug. It was most likely true. He certainly had charmed his way in and out of various women's hearts.

"Ha! I bet if she really wanted to, she could seduce even Gambit in a heartbeat!" Kitty announced with fierce pride. "Couldn't you, Rogue?"

By this time Remy had put his book down, cocking his head inquisitively to the conversation. His darling Rogue's face had gone beet red and she looked flustered, trying to regain her composure and tough demeanor. He could tell she hadn't expected to be put on the spot or be dragged into this argument.

She scoffed, tossing her hair over her ear. "Course I could, that Swamp Rat checks me out every time I come here," she answered in a lofty tone.

It was Remy's turn to get flustered. "Je ne fais pas!" he shot back quickly and louder than he'd planned on. "You come here under the pretense of a chaperone just to see me!"

Her jaw dropped in outrage. "I most certainly do not!" she snapped.

"Well, there's only one way to settle this." Lance smirked. "I propose a bet."

Rogue shot Lance a look almost as dirty as the one Remy was shooting him.

"What kind of bet?" she asked before he could.

"Once and for all we can decide who the better seducer is. Man or woman. Rogue vs. Gambit. The winner can claim superiority over the sexes, and the loser has to… I don't know, do the winner's bidding for one week."

"This is ridiculous!" Rogue spat angrily. "Come on, Kitty, we're going!"

"Rogue," Kitty whined. "You can't back down now, you've already got the upper hand since he's been checking you out."

Rogue hesitated briefly.

"Gambit, you in?" Lance asked in an almost pleading voice.

"Absolument pas!" he answered with embarrassment as his feelings for the girl came into broad daylight. He hastily covered it with a taunt. "I wouldn't want her to embarrass herself falling all over me."

"That's it, Cajun!" Rogue growled fiercely. "You're on!"

Kitty cheered triumphantly. "Rules are as follows: seventeen days to complete the seduction. Also with five dates, the fifth date will decide who the winner is. Neither is allowed to seduce while in the midst of our jobs, and neither is allowed blackmail the other into submission. Both participants will respect the other's privacy and act with common decency," Kitty stated with authority.

"Why seventeen days?" Remy asked suspiciously.

Kitty smiled sweetly. "Because, Valentine's Day is in seventeen days!"

Both Gambit and Rogue rolled their eyes.

"Now shake hands!" Kitty barked. "I want a good, clean fight!"

Rogue begrudgingly held out her gloved hand towards him and he briskly took it, both shaking firmly, and both unwilling to back down or lose because both had their pride on the line.

Translations of Remy's French: "Je ne fais pas!" – "I do not!" and "Absolument pas!"- "Absolutely not!"