The Last Stand
Chapter 3: Getting to Know You
By: Rogue-Slayer13
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of X-Men; they belong to their respective creators.
Summary: How the third movie would've went if Gambit was in it.
NOTE: I changed a few details in this story. Nothing too big, but you might want to reread the first chapter again,
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"Good idea," Rogue replied as she followed Remy across the street. Sirens could be heard blaring in the distance and people were hurrying in every direction. Remy glanced over his shoulder to make sure Rogue was behind him before making his way through the crowd.
"Now what do we do?" Rogue asked as the two made it back to Remy's bike.
"Dere's another clinic in town if y' still want me to take y'," Remy informed as he got on the bike.
"I think maybe we should hold of on that for right now," Rogue stated as she glanced back at the burning clinic across the street. Suddenly, she wasn't in such a hurry to be normal.
"Well, in dat case, why don't we get something to eat?" Remy suggested. "All dis near death stuff makes me hungry."
Rogue was about to comment, when her stomach growled. "Me too actually," Rogue replied as she got on the bike behind Remy.
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"Where are you going?" Storm asked as she stepped inside Logan's room.
"Where do you think?" Logan replied as he continued taking clothes out of the dresser and putting them in a duffle bag.
"She's gone, Logan, and she's not coming back."
"You don't know that," Logan replied curtly.
"She killed Scott and the Professor too."
"That wasn't Jean," Logan replied throwing more clothes into the duffle bag. "The Jean I know is still in there." Logan zipped up the bag and headed for the door.
"Listen," Storm said as she moved to block Logan's exit. "Why can't you accept the truth? Why can't you let her go?"
"Because . . . because—"
"Because you love her?" Storm finished as Logan turned away angrily. "She made her choice, now it's time we made ours. So if you're with us, be with us." Storm turned and walked back out of the room.
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"Y' never did explain to me what was so bad about your powers dat y' want to get rid of dem," Remy commented as he and Rogue sat in a nearby diner.
"You didn't give me the low down on your powers either," Rogue pointed out casually.
Remy leaned across the table. "I'll show y' mine, if y' show me yours," Remy stated as he raised his eyebrows suggestively.
Rogue rolled her eyes at Remy. "When I touch somebody, I absorb their life force, and if they're a mutant, their powers too."
"And y' can't control it, can y'?" Remy asked.
"No," Rogue replied as she looked down at her gloved hands. "And very few people want to get close to you when they think you're gonna kill them just by shaking their hand."
"That's their problem, Chere," Remy stated as he reached across the table and placed his hand on top of Rogue's. "Not yours."
"Thanks," Rogue said as she looked up at Remy and smiled. "And now I believe it's your turn to share."
"I can charge up objects and make dem explode," Remy informed as he leaned back in the booth.
"What about the sunglasses? I'm assumin' there's a reason ya always wear them."
"Most people don't like de way my eyes look," Remy replied as he reached up and took off his sunglasses. Rogue looked up and found herself slightly awestruck by Remy's eyes. Instead of being any of the typical colors you'd expect to find, Remy's eyes were a deep black with almost glowing red irises.
"Well, that's their problem," Rogue replied, repeating Remy's words from a few moments before. "Not yours."
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Storm let out a sigh and sat down at the bottom of the stairs.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Storm looked up to see Hank a few feet away from her.
"Hey, Hank," Storm greeted with a small smile.
"What seems to be troubling you?" Hank asked as he took a seat on the stairs next to Storm.
"I feel like we keep slipping farther and farther apart," Storm said. "This is a time when we should be standing together as a team, and instead we're scattered all over the place. How are we supposed to do our job when half of us don't even know what side they want to be on?"
"How we use our abilities and for what purpose is something we must all ask ourselves," Hank explained in a very Xavier like fashion. "You can't make other's choices for them. You must simply pray they make the right ones."
Just then the front door opened and a Bobby and Kitty rushed in, both looking rather anxious.
"What's wrong?" Hank asked.
"We went to the cure clinic to see if we could find Rogue," Bobby replied.
"Did you find her?" Storm asked, quickly getting to her feet.
Bobby shook his head in the negative. "No, but we did run into Pyro."
"He torched the place," Kitty added.
"You might want to come take a look at this," Pete interjected as he appeared in the doorway leading to the rec room.
The others followed after Pete to find the majority of the mansion's residents already gathered in front of the TV, where Magneto was delivering a message.
"Today's attack was only our first salver," Magneto began his TV address. "So long as the cure exists, our war will rage. Your cities will not be safe. Your streets will not be safe. You will not be safe. And to my fellow mutants, I make you this offer: join us or stay out of our way. Enough mutant blood has been spilled already . . ."
What are we going to do? Storm thought to herself as she looked at the TV.
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Rogue and Remy were talking in the diner when something over Remy's shoulder caught Rogue's attention, causing her to stop mid-sentence.
"What's wrong, Chere?" Remy asked as Rogue got quiet.
"On the TV," Rogue replied motioning behind Remy.
Remy shifted in the booth so he could see the TV, which was programmed to the news channel.
"Today's attack was only our first salver," Magneto's voice seemed to fill the diner. "So long as the cure exists, our war will rage . . ."
"He's de one behind de clinic attack?" Remy asked as he looked over at Rogue.
"I had a feeling he was," Rogue replied, as the other patrons in the diner began to get more and more spooked by Magneto's threat.
". . . And to my fellow mutants, I make you this offer: join us or stay out of our way . . ."
"Maybe we should get out of here," Rogue suggested as she glanced around the diner. "We don't want to overstay our welcome."
"Good idea," Remy replied, leaving some cash on the table to cover the bill before following Rogue outside.
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Logan could hear the crowd cheering for Magneto as he made his way out of the woods and toward the clearing where the camp was. Not wanting to gather attention to himself, he grabbed a jacket from a nearby tent and slipped it on as he made his way through the crowd. It didn't take him long to spot Jean standing next to Magneto as he addressed the crowd. She looked up at him for a moment before turning and walking off into the woods, Logan following after her.
"Jean?" Logan called as he caught sight of her.
Jean stopped and turned to look at Logan, the two locking eyes for several moments. Suddenly, Logan felt himself sailing through the air and being slammed forcefully up against a tree.
"I'd know the smell of your adamantium from a mile away," Magneto informed as he stepped forward, his fist outstretched to hold Logan in place.
"I didn't come here to fight you," Logan commented through gritted teeth. "I came here for Jean."
"Do you honestly think I'm keeping her against her will?" Magneto inquired as he opened his fist and used his powers to drag Logan closer to him. "She's here because she wants to be."
"I'm not leaving here without her," Logan replied, wincing slightly at the pain of being held up by the adamantium in his body.
"Yes, you are," Magneto replied calmly as he flicked his wrist and sent Logan soaring backward through the trees.
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"What's wrong, Chere?" Remy asked as he came to sit next to Rogue on the couch. Rogue had seemed lost in thought and hadn't said more than a few words since the two of them left the diner that afternoon.
"Nothing," Rogue replied, looking away from the TV which was dominated by news coverage regarding the cure and the clinic attack. "I've just been thinking is all."
"About your friends back home?" Remy asked, cocking his head to the side as he looked at Rogue.
"How'd ya know?"
"Lucky guess," Remy replied with a grin. "I can tell somet'ing's been botherin' y' since we were at de clinic dis mornin'."
"Wow, cute and perceptive," Rogue commented with a ghost of a smile.
"So, y' t'ink I'm cute?" Remy asked, his grin getting bigger as Rogue suddenly realized what she'd said.
"I—I don't . . . it's just . . . I—" Rogue stammered, a blush quickly working its way onto her cheeks.
"It's all right, Chere," Remy stated casually, as he leaned in close to Rogue and whispered in her ear. "I t'ink you're cute too." Remy smirked at Rogue before quickly getting to his feet. "Well, I hope y' don't mind, but I'm gonna go take a shower."
"Not at all," Rogue replied in a slight daze, still processing what just happened, as Remy disappeared down the hall.
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To Be Continued . . .
I am so sorry for the ridiculously long wait between updates and I want to thank all of who've read and reviewed this story. Between school, a case of writer's block, and my computer crashing, it's taken me a bit to get back to this one. Hopefully, I'll have another chapter out soon, so keep your fingers crossed!
Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!