Surprises

Come on, people! Almost 20 reviews! :D

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially the usual suspects- Silver, tokipocky…

Toki! Where are you? The last chapter hasn't gotten a peep from you! *gasp*

Some parts of this chapter have been adapted (read: blatantly stolen) from the WATXM episode, Aces and Eights. However, I changed it a little bit to fit my story… Sorry to anyone who isn't pleased by my use of creative license.

The next day, if anyone had stood in the Genoshian royal garden and stared up at the third storey window above them, they would have spotted a certain thief sitting on his window ledge, absent-mindedly chucking glowing cards into the bushes while staring blankly into the distance. Of course, he didn't really see anything; he was too busy reminiscencing about the events of the previous night.

He'd been up since four, unable to sleep due to the thoughts swirling around in his mind. He kept thinking about that fateful moment on the balcony when he'd kissed Rogue.

What had he been thinking? If she had absorbed him, his cover would have been blown and all hell would have broken loose once she learned of his dark secret. Granted, the skin-on-skin contact had been through a playing card, but still… If he hadn't been so cautious, he might have lost his mind completely and actually kissed her.

What unique trait did she have that made him completely lose himself around her?

He remembered the tempting way she had nervously licked her lips when she was talking to him. If he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he could almost fancy that he felt her lush mouth press against his as she gracefully let herself melt into his arms.

He would taste her sweet lips, taking his time with that sinful body of hers.

Gambit inwardly groaned at the dangerous direction in which he was thinking- he really didn't need that lust tainting his thoughts and risking his job.

But who was he to want Rogue Lensherr, really?

Not that he had doubts about his ability to seduce and tease her, but he was distracting himself and she was simply just another job- or at least, that was how he wished he could see her as. His plan all along had been to move in, swipe the necessary info and get the heck off Genosha before people started to become suspicious. He was supposed to be a mere ghost, dropping in on his targets' lives and vanishing afterwards, leaving no trace except shame and humiliation. That was the way of the Thief; the Code of his Thieves' Guild.

So what in tarnation was he doing, dallying around with Rogue?

A flash of movement near the rose hedges caught his eye and broke him out of his reverie.

Lorna, basket hanging off one wrist, was busy cutting yellow roses from the shrubs and tossing them into her woven basket. Probably for some flower arrangement in one of the many crystal vases that Magneto had pampered her with.

There was a lone red bud at the very top of the thorny hedge. The drops of dew on it glowed in the morning sunlight, making the whole flower glow in an almost surreal way. Lorna reached up for it, stretching her whole body and vainly trying to obtain it, but failing.

The whole scene looked picture-perfect like a fairytale come alive. A beautiful girl in a flowing dress, ethereal flowers with their vibrant petals completely unfurled, and the peace and quiet of the morning. Gambit let himself revel in the escapism that the quiet moment offered, before seizing the opportunity for yet another move on the unwitting princess.

He charged up a card and steadied his favored throwing arm (the right, although the left was capable too, in case of an emergency). Trois, Deux, Un… The magenta projectile was launched through the air and he held his breath in nervous anticipation, although there was no real need; all of his shots were perfect ones.

The card sliced through the stalk of the rose, and it fell into Lorna's outstretched hand. She looked up in surprise and smiled when she saw him wave at her from his perch at his window. If she hadn't swooned before, she certainly did when Gambit gave her a sly wink.

He leapt off the ledge and landed gracefully on his feet, as elegant as a feline. Pulling another rose out of his sleeve, but making it seem like the flower had appeared in mid-air, he held the flower between his teeth and bowed low with a sultry 'Bonjour, mon jolie chère.'

Lorna shyly curtsied in response.

He bestowed the rose upon her, flashing a charming grin at her blush. She was falling for him, hard and fast.

But his attention was diverted when he spotted a slender silhouette, sketchbook in hand, disappearing into the distance.

'Excuez-moi, petit,' he said with a suave smile to make up for his slightly hurried tone. 'Why don't y' wait f' m' in de foyer?'

She raised an eyebrow but scurried off all the same, and Gambit turned to pursue Rogue.

'Roguey!' he yelled, sprinting to catch up with the girl ahead of him.

'What?!' she demanded waspishly, spinning to face him and accidentally whacking him across the face with her auburn hair, causing him to wince. (1) She was still seething because of what had happened the night before and because of something she'd discovered in her room that morning. 'Why the hell did ya leave an Ace of Hearts on mah bedside drawer? How did ya even get into mah room anyway?' She may have been livid, but to Gambit, she still looked beautiful. Well, maybe that was because he could never see her as ugly.

He leaned against a pillar and started to rapidly shuffle one of the many decks of cards hidden over his body. 'I'm a t'ief, chère. Y' jus' lucky I didn't decide t' put it in y' underwear drawer.'

She stormed towards him and grabbed the front of his trench coat, forcefully shoving him up against the pillar.

'Don't ya dare, Cajun. And what were ya thinking last night? Why did ya kiss meh? Ah could've killed ya!'

'Wow, Rogue, I didn't know y' cared.'

'Ah don't,' she said furiously. 'But if ya die, not only will Ah have ta deal with mountains of paperwork, but Ah will also have thoughts of ya runnin' through mah head.'

'How'd that be any different from now?' he asked with a smirk.

'Ya're an idiot,' she snapped, abruptly letting him go and turning her back on him. If he put his hands on her again, she would consider slapping him.

She curled down under a tree and he sat down beside her, earning him a dark look.

She flipped open her drawing pad and contemplated what she would draw. Maybe... Hmm. It was just an idea, but... Drawing the Cajun didn't seem so bad to her.

The very moment this thought occurred to her, she mentally berated herself for starting to be obsessed with him.

Gambit squinted at the sketchpad she held.

'Y' an artist, Roguey?'

'Yeah. Don't call me that,' she replied shortly.

He was about to deliver a witty reply when a gunshot shattered the silence and a bullet embedded itself in the tree trunk, just a few mere inches away from his skull.

Mystique lowered her smoking UZI. Her gun was hot, but her expression was cold. 'It's nice to finally meet you, Gambit,' she said coolly, her golden eyes boring into Gambit's. 'Lorna has said so much about you.'

Gambit sneered at the veiled threat. Raven was implying that she would out the truth about him and Lorna if he continued fooling around with her and Rogue.

Rogue's suspicious gaze went from Raven to Gambit and back again. She could feel the crackling tension between them. The air was charged with volatile electricity, and she was at the heart of the storm, even if she didn't know it.

'Come on, Rogue,' Raven snapped, never looking away from Gambit's challenging eyes. 'I have something to discuss with you,'

That sounded ominous.

'See ya around,' Rogue muttered to Gambit, who quelled the urge to reach after her as she left with Raven.

In the privacy of Rogue's room, Raven gave her the big news.

Rogue stumbled backwards onto her bed, barely believing what she'd just heard her mother say.

'You are to wed Bolivar Trask, two and a half months from now.'

(1) Dedicated to Silver

I love cliffhangers.

Review! I don't post new chapters if I don't get any reviews for the previous one, because I'd like to know that someone out there -barring Silver- is actually reading this.