A Rogue's Gambit (1/2) (Patreon)

Chapter Title: How I fell in love while I was working on developing the incredibly important (some are saying mandatory) ability to not explode (Marvel/MCU/Gambit Si)

Chapter 1/2

A card flickered between my fingers idly as I stared at the horizon, the sunlight just about to peek over its edge and hit eyes not so dissimilar in color.

A dark crimson red, probably the most and least original thing about me and maybe the only one I had that really identified who I was supposed to be. Ship of Theseus kind of bullshit: if you took and replaced everything but the eyes, could I still be Remy LeBeau?

When you knew how to speak before you could physically talk, you didn’t have the accent of everyone around you.

When you were raised in a street gang, but still at one point had law-abiding parents, you didn’t think the law was as optional.

When you had to be a thief, you still had a choice on what you stole.

My general rule?

Unless they were practically bleeding their money, I didn’t steal from them.

Not because it had kept my stomach full, but because I thought even now that I knew who I was and who I was supposed to be, I still only really knew two things.

I couldn’t be Remy LeBeau

But maybe I could be Gambit.

Unfortunately, before I could really decide on either of these important things, there was something substantially more important: I needed to figure out how to not explode.

And to do that, it unfortunately came back to the same logic.

I had to be a thief.

I glanced down at the window below me, looking directly into the apartment building where the businessman of import I found cheating on his wife would partition out the money he was taking in bribes. Bribes of the kind of cold hard cash because the man evidently had something against the money being tracked and wasn’t smart enough to do it in crypto.

Excellent criminal currency, also very easy to steal by getting the key, which people kept far less securely than you might think, but that was very close to the taking of candies from innocent babes.

In short, it wasn’t particularly exciting enough for me.

I felt the strangely cool cross of metal burning a slight imprint in between my pectorals and pointedly ignored the sensation.

Maybe it was a piece of Remy LeBeau still in me.

Blinking my red eyes, the world distorted around me as even as my physical sight vanished momentarily, the outline of the world shaded in red remained.

Perhaps it was strange that way, but this world always seemed to be bleeding red into my senses, the energy pouring off of everything around me, flexing through my limbs, my body

I frowned and blinked my eyes rapidly as I attempted to narrow my focus down; for a moment, it had felt like I was submerged in a red ocean, one of the interlocking rings on my pinky finger heating up a bit.

It felt a bit like dying, which wasn’t too dissimilar to how I’d be without the rings.

I dropped down through the pane I had carefully loosened and walked back through the room until I exited out into the man’s kitchen, where I shifted a frame I had marked earlier, then tapped the safe, finding where the locks had been positioned before by reading their energy and then releasing it to unlock the entire thing without even having pressed a keypad.

The safe door swung open, revealing a big case of what felt like cash, classic, along with a box of seemingly less important items leaned against the wall.

I stiffened a bit as I felt a now familiar figure land on the rooftop over my head.

Glancing longingly at the case, I shook my head and reached for the small box, putting it underneath my arm and then casually standing up, leaving the safe open before I walked back and hopped up with a light press of my feet and positively soared up, catching the frame of the skylight with an open hand and then flipping myself into a roll across the rooftop, my black trench coat swirling with my movement dodging several splats of web.

“Aw, Mon Chére,” I shook my head, chiding the red and blue-dressed woman who was looking at me in surprise from her crouched position, “You should know that a gentleman never lets the lady initiate when she hasn’t forethought the consequences.”

Spider-Woman groaned, shaking her head and stood up fully to a somewhat unimpressive height crossing her arms, “Damnit, stop flirting with me while trying to steal stuff; it freaks my brain out, I don’t know whether to hit you or hit you,” then she leaped forward attempting to snatch my shirt, but I let myself fall backward slipping around each strike meant to entrap me as the shape of Spider-Woman’s moves floated through my mind.

“Mon Chére, please,” I implored as I dodged, “I am a gentleman, but a lady can only give so many hints before I must inform her to stop playing with my heart.” I slipped underneath a grasping hand and then, with a light hand, grabbed her ankle, upending her on her back, “and make her intentions clear? Oui?”

Spider-Woman sighed, lying on the floor, her arms crossed, “I’ve met you literally twice, dude; for all I know you’re totally the type to lead a girl on making her think one thing,” she flipped in my grasp pushing off the rooftop and flying over my head as webs were launched at me and I spun chuckling into my own backflip as I made a grasping motion at the air pulling the energy out of the webs causing them to drop.

“And dude,” Spider-Woman continued, “You have to know webs are my thing, and you kept messing my thing up. Come on,” she launched a kick at me, seemingly instinctively forgetting what had happened the first time.

I sighed and tapped her ankle, and she froze in mid-air, and I shook my head disappointed at her, “Mon Chére, I told you earlier, physical attacks as such do not work on me; you must think outside of the box. You are in a dangerous profession, and I wish you would think much more of your health, if only for my sake, oui?”

I smiled and bowed before her as I pulled a deck of cards out, laying them through the air where they floated for a moment before I grabbed one seemingly at random and then pulled out a pen, signing a bright floaty purple, ‘Gambit,’ before placing it on Spider-Woman’s mask with a wink.

“Dude,” Spider-Woman groaned, “I could be a total freak show underneath this mask, or you could be; they may have made me spark-note the Phantom of the Opera, but I still remember the whole mask face thing; this cannot turn out well.”

“Aw mon chére,” I shook my head, smiling at her, “Does that not make our love more sweet?”

And then I took two purposeful steps back, confidently putting me in mid-air as Spider-Woman cried out in a panic and I fell, disappearing from sight.

-

No one ever explains how villains get away; it’s more art than science. You could be the smartest man in the world, who, as a matter of fact, was currently busy spending his time helping find increasingly expensive ways to make things explode, and in truth, your getaway could still suck.

Whether I classified as a villain? I figured that opinions were hopefully still mixed; it at least wasn’t like I was an Avengers-scale threat, though they didn’t quite currently exist yet, and honestly, as much as I enjoyed trying on the thief role, it was still a means to an end.

Though that probably explained why Spider-Woman had it out for me, there really weren’t that many street-level villains around yet, at least ones that escaped her.

Still, I appreciated a good getaway; what I didn’t appreciate was one second leaping through the air, the next going through a glowing orange portal, and then spending a moment rolling across the wood floor before I got back to my feet in a slow, aggrieved manner.

“None of that,” came the Ancient One’s sharp but gentle voice, “I don’t give you room and board so you can pretend to be less capable than you are.”

I snapped to my feet in an oddly smooth motion as energy rippled across my body. “No, you give me room and board because I am too lovable not to trigger your maternal instincts,” I shot the woman an exaggerated wink and waited for a response from her calm, impassive face.

The woman regarded me for a couple more moments before she turned. “I would think the prospect of exploding our entire world would concern you more.”

Man, magic users had no fun at all.

I shook my head, “I get that; I’m hearing you.” I looked at her sincerely, “I’ve been aware of that fact for a very long time. I get that it still freaks you out, but I’ve told you that I’m pretty sure I can stop my heart before that happens.”

The Ancient One frowned, looking at me, “I do not wish for your heart to be stopped either, Remy, which is why I insist we do a bit more practice today, practice you seemed intent on skipping out on with yet another visit to New York.”

“Ah,” I winced, looking away now uncomfortable, “Totally, can I just drop off the box and my costume then?”

“Of course,” the Ancient One nodded, “I’ll see you in the courtyard,” she replied meaningfully with the intent and words of a woman who was not misunderstood on purpose.

I nodded my head and then walked to my room, stepping in and beginning to rapidly pull off the trench coat and black silhouette face mask, revealing a curtain of long, swept-back auburn hair I had to pull and tie back from my face, my red eyes narrowing as I glanced at the mirror out of the corner of my eye.

Pale skin with a couple of scars, muscles that I hadn’t worked for as so much appeared as I spent the energy beneath my skin, I stared at my face hard for a moment, caught off guard by the nineteen year old looking back at me, it didn’t really look like me but I also didn’t really know if what I imagined was what I really looked like in the first place.

I stepped out of my room after throwing on one of the cloth shirts the wizards here seemed obsessed with wearing, as I accelerated the air around me to a warmer temperature

I entered the courtyard only to wince as I saw Mordo having a staring contest with the air beside the Ancient One.

I walked forward and did what I best approximated as their bow, which the Ancient One did not react to, and Mordo continued to glare at me. “You are late; you do not take this seriously,” he growled at me.

“I took a trip to New York to sort out some personal stuff,” I shrugged, “Sorry, it kind of ran overtime.”

Mordo glanced to the Ancient One, who did nothing, smiling peacefully at the pair of us.

Mordo spun his staff, and for a moment, my eyes flickered to it, thinking of what could have been.

My hands twisted, and suddenly a deck of cards had appeared, and three found their way between my fingers as I sprinted at the other men.

His staff came rushing toward me, and I flicked one card at the staff end, blowing it back before I drove a hand forward, only to be caught frozen in mid-air by a twisting gesture of the man’s hands.

“Straightforward,” he reprimanded gruffly.

I flicked an idle finger at him, and he grunted as a flash of violet energy lashed off a second mandala that had appeared in front of him just in time.

I cocked back my bare arms, and they lit up pure violet, and I lashed forward a punch in a bright line of purple that hit another mandala, which erupted in a crack, the force not dispersed, sending Mordo sliding backward.

“Better,” he said simply and then stepped forward once again.

-

They say you meet your fate on the path you attempted to take from it, and considering that they consisted of wizards of very much real magic, I gave it even odds about fate too.

I had been sipping on a beer that was perpetually ice cold from the energy I had sucked from it, idly rationalizing that it wouldn’t affect my body anyway when she walked into my life.

She slammed into my arm with a paltry amount of force that I idly absorbed as I steadied the girl from how she had tripped across the slick and sticky floor of the dive bar, not reacting as she violently ripped her shoulder back in fear.

She had dark maroon hair that had a streak of white through it and thick eyeliner that stood out on long lashes framing heartbreakingly dark red lips, and soft-looking pale skin, only marred by the pure terror in her emerald eyes and the dark bruising around her eyelids.

My heart did not collapse inward, did not double beat, did not do much of anything but continue pumping iron-rich blood through my body.

“It’s alright, mon chére.” I smiled softly at the girl. “No harm done.”

Slowly, the girl nodded at me, her eyes mistrustful, seeming not to want to say a word to me, her eyes flicking to my hand on her shoulder that had steadied her.

I drew it back slowly, raising it high and away, smiling again, seeing the darkening of her emerald eyes. I slowly pointed at my own crimson eyes, “They are tres unique, yes?”

Oh god, I slipped into French again.

The girl nodded slowly, her emerald eyes just as dark, but perhaps there was the briefest flash of curiosity as she gazed at my crimson iris.

“A strange mutation, no?” I asked with an amused smile on my face.

She slowly nodded. “You’re not afraid of others seeing it?” she asked quietly.

“Hmmm,” I shrugged, “They are unique, no? Not all unique things need be hidden.”

She frowned and then slowly shifted to stand more in front of my table, crossing her arms uncomfortably. “You have a car, right? Could you just, like, drive me out of here?” she asked quietly, her voice stretching and twanging with her words.

“You often ask strange men in bars those kinds of questions?” I asked curiously.

The girl stared at me with a cold expression, and I saw her fingers flexing.

“You should give me a name first at least,” I pointed out, an amused smile on my face that covered concern; this girl was really putting herself in a bad place, and sure, if she was who I thought she was, she had a heck of a backup; it was still kind of sad.

“Anna Marie,” she said, shifting uncomfortably, and my gut twisted a bit; the next time the Ancient One told me to sit in Northern American Bars, I was going to very pointedly head south.

“Remy LeBeau,” I replied, shrugging easily, wondering if at some point I was supposed to be falling in love with this girl, whether I had a choice, whether she did; I had certainly been attempting to ignore her existence.

“You got a car, Mr. LeBeau,” Anna Marie drawled at me, and I smiled in seeming delight.

“I do indeed, though one not so beautiful as yourself,” I replied, grinning.

“You flirt with every girl you meet?” Anna Marie drawled, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at me.

“Only the pretty ones,” I replied, winking, though I wasn’t sure how it came across in the fairly dark bar.

Still, I thought I deserved credit for trying.

Anna Marie was about to say something back to me, her ruby lips opening only for my hand to shoot past her, gently but firmly seizing the hand headed for her shoulder.

“Monsieur,” I shook my head, “I must insist, perhaps inelegantly, that you do not touch people without permission.”

The older man scowled at me, and I spotted three other men beginning to move to assist him. “Back off, you Cajun fuck,” he grunted, and the thick acrid scent of spirits rippled across my nose.

I nodded my head pleasantly, which was the last motion he saw before a roundhouse kick sent him flying across the bar, titrated not to kill him, but I did have to make a good show of it.

His body hit a table, flipping with it, and the eyes of the bar immediately latched onto the sudden violence.

“Ah, my foot slipped,” I shrugged smilingly easily, “Perhaps a round has everybody forgetting this Remy LeBeau’s manners.”

I pulled out my wallet and filled a hand with paper before walking easily to the bar and settling it across the counter, whereupon the bartender, who had been scowling, looked a bit less dour, “And you be keeping some of that as well for the table, oui?” I asked, and the man nodded slowly, a small, almost unwilling smile on his face.

“Kind of you Mr. LeBeau,” he said gruffly

Anna Marie followed me like a trailing duck following its mother bobbing in a wind-swept lake. “Please, Mr. LeBeau,” she said.

“It’s Remy to my friends,” I turned, smiling at the girl, something more honest unfortunately making its way through onto my face, grabbing one of the cold beers and flipping off the cap with ease before I shook my head as Anna Marie attempted to grab one of the ones the bartender had put on the counter.

“You’re too young, Chére,” I said gently even as she turned to glare at me, “Drinking’s no fun when you're miserable anyway.”

“Mr.-“ I raised an eyebrow, and Anna Marie frowned before crossing her arms, “Remy, will you help me?” she said quietly, and I saw her emeralds flickering to my eyes again.

I smiled, “Chére helping pretty ladies like you is what this Remy does best. Where are you trying to go?”

Anna Marie shrugged almost morosely, “Anywhere not here,” she replied.

How far was Xavier’s?

“We’ll grab you something to eat on the way then,” I said calmly, and Anna Marie slowly nodded, seemingly taken aback by my easy acceptance.

I very carefully stayed outside Anna Marie’s body space as I walked around her, knowing her own potential issues, and I exited the bar feeling Anna Marie follow behind as we walked toward a deep red car that lay low across the ground; I could feel her engine thumping against my head, just desiring to show what it could do.

Anna Marie came up next to me. “That’s your car?” she said, her voice twanging again.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to shoot myself in the foot a bit more either.

“It’s the only lady love that a guy like Remy could remain faithful to,” I shook my head.

Anna Marie blinked and frowned at me. “Cross yourself and say that sugah ah don’t believe you,” she glared at me.

I sighed and shook my head. “It’s not like that, darlin; I just mean I’m no good for anything else,” I chuckled, amused, before unlocking the car.

“Now let me show you how I drive,” I grinned, waiting a moment for Anna Marie to buckle in before I let the engine purr to life and tore out of the parking lot, rapidly beginning to accelerate out of the town at a truly unsafe pace, passing by a sleepy looking police officer sitting in a car by the road who didn’t shoot us a second look.

Making friends with wizards truly was the way to go about things.

Hours of driving passed as Anna Marie eventually tired herself out from staying awake for who knew how long to fall into a deep sleep.

As we drove, I felt no need to glance at her, other than to check she was still breathing, felt no overpowering urge to give this woman my life to do as she pleased.

My smile slipped away, and I let my face fall pallid, and no words left my mouth for a long while

Wet green foliage trailed over the roads, as we roared down the pavement.

With the hum of my engine flicking back and forth, not on gas but my own power, though still having to be slicked with oil, we roared down the east coast.

The gates of Professor Xavier’s mansion slid open silently as I rolled through them, and already my favorite people in the world were standing cross-armed and in various degrees of interest or aggravation as I rounded the circle and pulled to a stop.

I looked to Anna Marie, who was asleep and who I had no idea how to wake for my own safety. I didn’t imagine it’d take much for her to use that deadly ability of hers, and given how long my own efforts had taken to control it, I was distinctly concerned about what would happen if she suddenly gained access to it.

I exited the vehicle, my eyes flicking to a red-glasses-wearing teenager around my age standing next to the bald man in a wheelchair, the redheaded teenage girl standing off to the side looking at the sky almost thoughtfully.

“Professor,” I said calmly, dipping my head, cocking my head to the students, “You didn’t need to assemble a welcoming committee; Anna Marie might not appreciate it.” I winced, shrugging.

Professor Xavier looked at me, his mouth framed in a kind smile. “I thank you for getting her for us, Remy,” he said.

I frowned at him. “I didn’t get her for anybody other than herself. I know what it’s like not having anything; I just don’t want that for anyone else,” I said, walking around the car and hesitating before I opened the door as I realized Anna was still asleep, leaning against it.

“Chére,” I tapped the glass lightly, “Time to meet some people.” Anna startled awake, looking about rapidly before her eyes landed on my face, and I mixed rogue and sheepishness with mastery in a grin, waving before tapping the door, causing it to unlock from the inside, before pulling it open and stepping back, gesturing broadly at the group of people on the steps.

“These people run the Xavier’s Home for Gifted Youngsters; they’re a place for people like us to master our abilities, get in control so we don’t hurt anyone,” I pointed at red-glasses-wearing teenager, “that’s Scott Summers, great guy,” I smiled warmly amused as the boy’s neck whiplashed at me as if he hadn’t been expecting that, he pointed at the redheaded girl, “Jean Grey, who claims to be unable to read my mind though she always seems to guess my cards right,” Jean sighed shaking her head lightly but almost playfully scowling at me, I pointed at the man in the chair, “the eponymous Professor Xavier, the guy in charge here, also able to read minds but believe it or not he’s more polite about it.”

Anna Marie frowned, looking at the people assembled before her, “You’re saying they’re like us?” she said.

“Mutants,” I shrugged, “because apparently that’s what we wanted to be called; Professor Xavier is supposed to be an expert in it.”

“I didn’t say ah was a Mutant,” Anna Marie stated almost sharply.

“Mon chére like can recognize like,” I replied, smiling softly at the girl.

Anna Marie frowned, reaching up and tugging a strand of her pale white streak, turning and looking at the grounds.

Anna Marie turned to look at me, “So what’s your role, sugah?” she asked, her lips turning up in some small amusement.

I placed a hand on my chest, staring solemnly at Anna Marie, “I do not in fact associate with these fine people; they believe my company to be far too gauche, much to their great loss; Remy’s more of a stray cat who comes to seek food and shelter from the cold while he deals with life’s many cruel mistresses.”

Anna Marie stared at me, crossing her arms, and her lips, which had remained down in a full red pout that seemed immovable by anything, twitched up slightly, “You’re incorrigible, too much of a tomcat by far, Mr. Remy LeBeau,” I could see her relaxing into the beat and I smiled playfully at her and then against my will I winked and saw Anna Marie startled slightly taking a back step.

Okay, I really overdid it.

I turned around, about to make my way back to the car, only to have to suppress a moment of surprise as Anna Marie grabbed the back of my jacket.

“Where are you going?” she asked quietly.

I grimaced, glad I was pointed away from her and so I could let the whole thing drop. “These people can give you a life, Anna Marie; you can trust them,” I said quietly.

“You’re leavin’” Anna Marie pointed out.

“I can’t have a life yet,” I admitted, and I felt her stiffen behind me, and against my better judgment I turned, and crimson met emerald.

“My mutation is dangerous darlin’,” I said quietly, “I’ve spent my whole life trying to control it and even then I got to be careful, it’s safer for people to not be around me.”

Anna Marie scowled at me, “It’s dangerous for me as well,” she stated.

My mouth faster than my head once again, “I’ll be back, don’t worry, you know stray tom cats like me always come back.”

Anna Marie’s grip tightened for a moment before almost hesitantly she released, “You make a girl a promise, you keep it, Mr. LeBeau,” she said firmly.

I tapped my head in a small salute, and Anna Marie released me so I could walk away.

-

“I promise you, I’m a changed man,” I replied, flipping through the air in a violet streak as I attempted to dodge webs attempting to entangle me, “I’m ready to make an honest woman out of you as soon as you pull off that mask!”

I heard a giggle that almost sounded aggravated behind me, though I knew that couldn’t be correct, as a string of web shot by my head.

“I’m sorry,” Spider-Woman called, “I have a sort of perfect record in busting two-bit thieves, so I can’t really let this one go.”

“My belle chére,” I groaned, flipping backward, “Your words do a great deal of harm to this gentle thief; he may be small-time, but to be called a bit player when his true goal is to steal your heart is far too much to bear.”

“You are the worst,” Spider-Woman exclaimed, coming in from seemingly nowhere as she attempted to embed me into a roof, “I mean, seriously, how many cheesy lines do you have?”

“Enough to win your heart if lady luck favors me,” I remarked, easily kicking off a rooftop and flying into the night air to land on a rooftop with my arms crossed as I looked down at Spider-Woman below me, who was standing on the side of the building looking at me.

Spider-Woman tapped her foot a couple of times, seemingly in thought. “I keep chasing you,” she said almost musingly.

“You do,” I supplied in confirmation.

“You keep getting away,” she said.

“I do,” I smiled in amusement, leaning over the roof to look at her, “Is my Belle Chére perhaps feeling the sting of the distance between us? Perhaps if she were amenable we could spend a quieter alone on a rooftop somewhere drinking a bottle of wine I ‘acquired’ with a certain degree of difficulty.”

Spider-Woman snorted and shook her head, seemingly ignoring me as she spoke next, “Your powers are bullshit in ways I am having problems comprehending.” Spider-Woman shook her head, “I mean they do not obey any laws of physics I have observed or learned.”

“They are,” I grinned down.

Spider-Woman heaved a groaning breath, “Can you at least tell me your name if you’re going to continue to behave this way?”

“Ma belle Chére,” I clasped my hand over my chest, “I thought you would never ask such a humble thief; tell me what prompted this question.”

Spider-Woman shrugged, “I haven’t met any other super-powered people,” she said quietly, “I mean I hear there’s this guy in Devil’s Kitchen whose put the fear of god into some people, but honestly he just sounds like a lunatic and so since you obviously have some kind of powers I just thought…” she shrugged awkwardly.

My hood that hid my face didn’t hide the small frown that tilted my lips down for a brief moment before I once more got back into character, “My name is Gambit, ma belle chére, and I much prefer to play this game with you,” I said, smiling.

Spider-Woman coughed awkwardly, “Uh, well, thanks,” she hesitated before awkwardly shaking her head, “You know I have to, like, still catch you, right?”

“Oh,” I hummed, “But what if I returned my purloined goods to you right now?”

Spider-Woman frowned, crossing her arms, seemingly thinking it over, “You mean like willingly,” she attempted to clarify, “No tricks, you give them back to me?”

I nodded my head, looking at her curiously.

Spider-Woman frowned at me, “You haven’t done that before,” she pointed out.

“Maybe I’m feeling generous,” I replied, amused.

“And what would you want in return?” Spider-Woman asked cautiously.

I put a hand across my chest, pretending to be offended, “As if I could ask anything more from a beautiful woman like yourself than to simply honor my words with your ears.”

“Can it, Romeo,” Spider-Woman said dryly, “Seriously, what’s your angle?”

“Humph,” I snorted, “Truly I wished for nothing but if you insist,” I pretended to think before smiling, “Perhaps a single kiss on the cheek as a token of your affection?”

Spider-Woman literally choked, seemingly on her own spit, as she began to cough, “Dude,” she exclaimed, “You! Still! Don’t! Know! Who! I! Am!” she attempted to emphasize.

“Ah, but you do know this young fool,” I said, “My name is Gambit, so perhaps I am more prone to take a chance than many others, but judging by your sweet voice, I could not imagine the woman beneath the mask would ever fail to live up to my imagination.”

Spider-Woman hesitated, crossing her arms low across her torso and didn’t say anything for a moment, before finally, “How old are you?” she said quietly.

“Nineteen,” I said idly.

Spider-Woman took a deep breath, and oddly she looked so much smaller right now. “I’m eighteen,” she admitted quietly,

“If I may be so impudent, I had a question as well?” I let my voice trail off as Spider-Woman looked at me for a long moment.

“I’m not taking off the mask,” she said bluntly.

“Ah non,” I shook my head, “I was wondering why perhaps you are doing this?” The words left my mouth before I could really give them thought.

Spider-Woman shrugged, “Someone has to,” she said softly.

“Do you not have school, chére?” I asked.

Spider-Woman shrugged, “College,” she admitted, “Tuition’s a pain with being Spider-Woman and managing a part-time job, but I’m getting through it.”

“Madam,” I shook my head, “You need a night to relax,” I said.

“This is my relaxing,” Spider-Woman said sharply, “I am in fact very relaxed right now.”

I would have raised an eyebrow, but with my mask on, I knew it would be lost on her.

A giant light bloomed in the distance, and both of our eyes shot towards it. Several seconds later, the sound of sirens began to ring, and I glanced with interest at Spider-Woman.

“I am no longer relaxed,” she groaned and then sprinted away.

After a moment of hesitation, I followed, for no other reason than because, as much as I loved running from her, I also couldn’t help but love to watch her swing away.

-

I believed that the fact that New York City Ordinances did not prevent a woman from being named Olivia Octavius was proof enough of the grand conspiracy of crime within the city. Oddly enough, Spider-Woman seemed to actually agree with me for once, even though she had gone back to the same usual but futile attempts to arrest me the night afterward.

-

The concealed red glare of one Scott Summers brought absolute life to me as I sat leaning back at the large table, my boots lying across its surface.

Professor Xavier was talking about something or another which I had tuned out about a minute in as I contemplated the ceiling above me, watching the inert energy within them flicker.

Finally, the door swung open, revealing Anna Marie dressed in some kind of dark blue uniform highlighted with a yellow X.

Her eyes widened as she spotted me, then she seemed to attempt to firm herself up as she walked towards me.

My eyes drifted lazily away, locking onto Xavier as he finally began to get to the purpose for which he had called me across several state lines, “-when I talked to this man who called himself Logan, he told me that during his escape from imprisonment, there were some scientists of this organization that managed to escape with documents concerning this adamantium, I believe these documents to be within the possession of United States Government.”

“So you want a tief,” I purposely left the h off, “Like Remy to get his no good hands upon dis?”

“Exactly, Mr. LeBeau,” Professor Xavier smiled at me, and I looked at the man, wondering within the relative safety of my own mind what the chances were of this Xavier being more similar to his archnemesis and friend than I was comfortable with.

“That kind of fun is exactly why even a no good tief like Remy likes you,” I grinned at the man with a cheerful smile, “Remy hasn’t had that kind of fun in ages.”

“Your assistance as always is appreciated, Mr. LeBeau,” Professor Xavier even sounded like he meant it with that kind of grandfatherly smile.

Scary. Telepaths were Scary.

Even to no good thieves like me who were supposed to no sell them.

“Mr. LeBeau,” I turned around to meet eyes with Anna Marie, who was standing with her arms crossed, looking at me with a pretty frown on her face.

I shook my head. “It’s Remy darlin’,” I replied

“Then Rogue for me,” Anna Marie replied softly, “Please call me that.”

So she had picked her name.

“From your lips to Remy’s ears,“ I smiled, rolling backward onto my feet out of my chair that had seemingly frozen in its tilted position.

Rogue frowned, “You’re leaving already?” she said, and I heard the request without it being said.

“Professor here seems pretty concerned about some stuff, Chére,” I shook my head, my lips mournful, “This be the kind of stuff that people be needing Remy for, so Remy should be doing it.”

Rogue crossed her arms, hugging herself a bit, and her emerald eyes flickered away. “It’d just be for a bit,” she said quietly.

I released a theatrical sigh even as my gut did indeed actually sink. “Aw chére, don’t make a face like that; Remy’s heart can’t take it,” without thought, running on autopilot of the character I had chosen, my finger reached up, running softly along her cheek, bare skin against bare skin.

It was like caressing a vortex, absolute nothing trying to suck me in, and I lightly tapped it with my own energy in gentle reprimand and reward, like when I would gently chide a stray for getting too aggressive for food.

I pulled my hand back, staring at it in shock just as Rogue did, as did Professor Xavier.

I looked into bright, shocked emerald and smiled a cheesy smile that was completely plastered on, “This Gambit will be back before you know it.”

I maneuvered carefully around her frozen form, exiting to see a familiar dark-skinned, white-haired woman standing outside, her hand poised to knock, “I’m thinking you be Remy’s ride?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

The woman nodded impassively, “Yes,” she said.

“Then do Remy a favor and get us out of here; Remy thinks he may have made tings a bit too complicated.”

The woman nodded once, her eyes flickering back to the door before they returned to me, “Of course, Mr. LeBeau,” she said.

-

Sometimes I wished things could be easier for me, my situation as it were being in the middle of sandy dunes that while I found easy to walk atop of by freezing the particles as I walked across them while the sun beat warmly down on my head.

But while I was a thief, I was an honest one, and unfortunately, when a damsel asks a Gentleman to find her boss who may or may not be the affection of her heart in the wide expanse of the Middle East, a Gentleman was obligated to at least try.

Especially when the Gentleman was a referral from an organization that legally didn’t exist.

I glanced at the scattered bodies' limbs and blown-apart weapons of the ten rings men who were apparently on a similar assignment and then continued walking

I sighed, taking a drink of water, shifting my pack as I scanned the desert again, searching for the kinetic beats that indicated large multicellular life.

For some time I walked until I spotted the weak heartbeats of an evidently staggering man. I picked up the pace, sprinting across the sand, spitting it up from beneath my feet as I rocketed forward until I arrived on top of a dune and looked down to see a staggering handsome man with something bright blue on his chest that sent my brain into conniptions just looking at it.

“You be the man they be calling Tony Stark?” I called out, sliding easily down the dune to reach the base, as the man collapsed to his knees, staring up at me, with sunburnt skin, dried lips, and hazy eyes.

“You got the strangest eyes, most wonderful eyes I’ve ever seen,” the man slurred out, “As long as you’re pulling me out of here,” he finished qualifying.

I nodded my head, grinning at the man, “That do be the agreement, Tony Stark; it’s time to get you back to the femmes, huh?”

The man chuckled dryly, far too dryly actually; I could feel his lungs straining, and I grabbed him gently as he began to collapse while I flicked my ear, triggering the electronic in it, “Dis be the man you call Gambit, letting the boss woman know he’s found her amour.”

For a moment, nothing triggered in my ear, before a strained woman’s voice came through, “Stay right there, we’re coming for you,” she said.

-

I watched behind dark, wide-rim aviator sunglasses as Tony Stark blew up his life with the authority of a man who had seen the darkness of humanity and had then decided to up the ante.

A smile unwilling crossed across my lips as Tony Stark swore to end his company's arms dealing even as the room reeled back in shock.

Pepper Potts next to me also looked on in shock, but underneath it I saw the smallest bits of warm pride.

I nodded my head approvingly at her, “Your boss is Remy’s kind of guy; if you be needing something again, just let Remy know.”

Pepper Potts turned to look at me, surprised, “I thought you were a mercenary,” she said, seemingly confused.

I shook my head and grinned, turning away, “Remy be a tief, he couldn’t be anything else if he tried.”

I watched as a large bald man with a beard stepped forward, attempting to gain control of the room for a moment before I turned and walked away.

-

“What possessed you to walk into an active war zone searching for Tony Stark?” the friendly man who had politely identified himself as Phil Coulson sat across from me said, his suit still neatly pressed, an even, friendly smile on his face.

I smiled at the man, liking him immediately. “You see, Remy be the type of guy to do things like that because, much to his dismay, Remy is unable to say no to pretty women.”

“I seem to be the wrong type to be asking these questions then,” Phil observed.

“That you be,” I acknowledged.

“We had a question regarding what we’ve heard about someone named Spider-Woman,” Phil began flipping through his notes.

I frowned and wagged my finger, “Remy ain’t the type to kiss and tell neither,” I frowned reprovingly.

“So you have relations with this woman?” Phil asked.

I frowned and crossed my arms, “Remy wants to see his lawyer.”

“You’re not under arrest,” Phil pointed out, “You can leave at any time.”

“Remy knows; he’s just never been caught and has always wanted to say that.”

Phil Coulson’s smile became slightly more fixed.

-

I yawned, stretching my jaw till I heard a click, ignoring the rather tense-looking agent who was sat across from me, their hands tightly gripping a rifle as if it would have any use in the situation we were going into.

“Me tinks that it would’ve have been better to have left the angry green man alone,” I commented to them for lack of a better person to talk to and as the idleness of being inside this vehicle wore at me.

The agent looked at me once their hands tightened on the rifle before they looked away.

I sighed, boredom pounding against my skull as I let it rest against the vibrating metal behind me, yawning again.

Normally I made no exception about getting my nine to ten hours of rest every night, but when Nick Fury wakes you up in the middle of the night and says the word Hulk…

Well, even a two-bit thief like me got curious.

“I just be saying,” I rolled my head back to lean against my chair and closed my eyes.

-

The Angry Green Man was not an Octopus, which meant he had only two arms in which to attempt to obliterate me.

This salient fact occurred to me only after the capillaries in my face nearly exploded from the strain of attempting to drain one of his punches; I resorted to leading him away from the South American city he had been in the midst of destroying, peppering him with explosive cards while I attempted to mitigate most of the destruction he seemed to inflict by his very presence.

“Please,” I implored, flipping off one of the Hulk’s punches even as my blood thrummed through me, the taste of iron in my mouth, “Monsieur Hulk, I understand you are upset, but communicating your feelings this way is not healthy for you or for me.”

The Hulk ignored my superb argument and once again attempted to flatten me.

-

I groaned, opening my eyes only to see a pale blue sky shaded by tree leaves and blinked several times as I wondered how exactly I had ended up here.

Looking down at clothes which were torn to shreds, I found myself even more confused as I also noted I was lying in a hammock.

Memory recalled at that point to inform me that, eventually, the Angry Green Man worked through his anger, I had asked to be dropped off by Shield back at my home, which they mistook for certain legal reasons surrounding some of the documents I had signed to be the X-Men’s home.

Which meant that, resolving to solve the issue at a more reasonable hour rather than early morning, I had found this hammock to sleep in.

I rolled out of it, landing on the grass with a thud, stretching my limbs out as my tired senses readjusted.

Walking across the lawn, almost stumbling still from how tired I was, I slipped in through the doors and began to make my way to the locker that I had been allowed to place inside the mansion. Of course, it wasn't particularly accessible unless you had already come back from Blackbird, which meant I had to traverse several more hallways than I particularly wanted to.

A door opened, and I felt footsteps behind me before they stopped, and I frowned and turned to see an open-mouthed Rogue with her hands raised in front of her lips, her emerald eyes rapidly traversing me.

It was oddly quiet for her, but then the cool breeze of air conditioning let itself be known, and I realized my armor was far more shredded than I realized.

How unfortunate.

-

I sat in Professor Xavier’s office once again, my arms crossed over my chest, my spare clothes within the mansion now upon me. Professor Xavier was looking at me with a furrowed brow, which seemed to travel his whole scalp, from its severity.

“Gambit,” he said slowly, and I startled at the somewhat official tone he had taken with me, “Why is Rogue refusing to look at you?”

I looked at Rogue, who was staring into space at the far wall, her face a mass of crimson that put my own eyes to shame, and then frowned at the man, rightfully aggrieved, “Why exactly do you not allow me to keep spare changes of clothes in more accessible areas?”

Professor Xavier steepled his fingers as he continued to look at me, unimpressed.

-

“This is the first time you’ve been back,” Rogue said quietly.

I blinked, turning away from my carefully cradled cup of coffee, which I had been idly staring into.

“That’s-“ I tried to think of a counter, “true,” I admitted.

Rogue nodded her head seemingly in thought, “Do you not like me, Remy?” she asked softly.

Instinct said to deflect, but her averted, pained emerald eyes made my gut twist.

“I don’t know you, femme,” I sighed, shaking my head. “Remy likes most people, regardless of whether they like him; you’re talking something else,” I said, still stirring my coffee.

Rogue frowned and stood up, straightening as she looked at me with crossed arms. “You’re not taking me seriously,” she frowned before her voice softened, “You can touch me, Remy; no one else can do that. You can touch me,” she said, fiddling with the words as if she could come to a different conclusion than I had.

My eyes flicked away cowardly, “It’s a big world, getting bigger all the time; I’m sure there’s men like Remy about, no need to jump into the first boat,” I said gently.

Rogue scowled, glaring at me fiercely, “I like you, Remy; you’re sweet, and you spend all your time playing the scoundrel, but I don’t believe it for a second; you’ve dropped by for days at a time to talk to me. You’ve helped me with schoolwork you claim to be no good at. You’ve been around every time we fought the Brotherhood by your claim of pure chance. That’s not the man you pretend to be.”

“Don’t be puttin’ too much good on Remy’s name,” I frowned at her, “Remy’s a tief, and he’s got a reputation.”

Rogue stalked forward slowly and then very carefully put her hands aside my waist on the counter, staring up at me with soulful emeralds, “What’re you afraid of, Remy?” she asked softly, her breath ghosting across my rapidly paled cheeks.

“Remy ain’t afraid of no one,” I said quietly.

-

Petra Parker flipped idly through the New York City night skyline, eyes rapidly flicking about amber brown searching for her quarry.

He was just…

There he sat, his coat huddled up around him, sitting on the rooftop of the Empire State Building, staring over the city, his legs kicking idly over it.

She landed with a thump next to him, crossing her arms, “What’d you steal this time, Gambit?” she said, portraying tiredness even as her body thrummed from the best part of her night, the part that made the mid-terms, and the part-time jobs she used to have, and Aunt May’s concerned inquiries about her personal life worth it.

“Gambit ain’t steal nothing mon chére,” she saw the outline of a grin on his mask, “Unless this tief finally managed to get your heart.”

“In your dreams, big guy,” she grinned back before settling on the roof next to him, hesitating a moment before she scooted a bit closer, “You seem down,” she said softly.

“Gambit plays a lot of games,” the man said quietly, “Sometimes he loses, he's used to it though.”

Spider-Woman crossed her arms, unsure of whether to press or not, before she decided she should at least start with the topic she’d been searching for him for, “You know Doc Ock from those months ago?” she said, “Some university student managed to reengineer a control chip for her arms so she’s not crazy anymore.”

Gambit chuckled, “More the shame oui? I love the crazy femmes.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Petra said dryly, before crossing her arms; her newly improved suit was more than enough to keep her warm, but she felt the need to anyway, “She was like twice your age; it wouldn’t have ended well anyway,” she felt the need to say.

Gambit chuckled, and this time it did sound a bit more like him, “Do not worry chére, my eye does not so easily stray from you.”

“Glad to know,” Petra hummed, despite herself, a warm feeling stirring in her gut, before hesitating, “I actually got that scholarship you talked about,” she said quietly, “It’s kind of crazy but like I immediately got it, it pays for everything school, life, I mean,” she shook her head, “It’s like it was made for me,” she tested quietly observing the man next to her.

Gambit, to his credit, did not startle, a lazy smile showing through his mask, “Remy is always keeping his nose to the ground for the money, he’s glad that he helped.”

Petra nodded slowly, still looking at the man, “I-“ she hesitated, “I was kind of hoping that I could thank the guy who set it up, but it’s strange he’s this ghost and I’ve actually spent time trying to track him down but every time I think I’m getting close he disappears, I’m kind of worried he’s a criminal.”

“Maybe he is a tief?” Gambit suggested mildly.

“Thieves are criminals,” Petra felt the need to point out.

“Maybe he is an honest tief?” Gambit said a little quieter.

Petra smiled softly, “I only know one of those.”

Gambit grimaced and shook his head, “It was not subtle, was it?” he admitted.

Petra giggled, shaking her head, “No, it wasn’t.”

Gambit hesitated visibly before he reached up to his neck. “An honest tief always knows when they’re caught,” he said before pulling the black hood free, and Petra’s stomach tumbled as he revealed a charming, handsome face along with crimson eyes on a background of black.

“Oh no,” she groaned, “You’re hot.” The words escaped her lips before she even thought them through.

Gambit chuckled, smiling winningly at her, “My name is Remy LeBeau,” he said.

“Do you,” Petra hesitated, her gut clenching, “Do you know who I am?”

Remy LeBeau cocked his head to the side in interest before slowly shaking his head, “No,” he admitted, “I thought it’d spoil the surprise,” he said, grinning, in a small, faint smile.

Petra frowned, her hand fiddling with her collar, brushing against her mask.

Remy smiled a gentle smile. “You do not need to tell me,” he said. “I understand you are concerned over your identity, what it means for the people around you.”

Petra nodded slowly, still thinking, “Except,” she shook her head, “You still don’t really know me if I don’t.”

“Mon chére,” Remy said, and Petra’s chest clenched in a way she had thought she had gotten used to but now realized she absolutely couldn’t as she looked into his red eyes, “I will not think less of you, I have seen what you are up against in this city,” he chuckled dryly, “A small time tief like Remy could not possibly stand up to such odds,” he looked away before he looked back and his eyes widened in shock.

Petra idly realized she had pulled her mask off fully as she stared almost challengingly at Remy, her short, cut brown hair loosely tousled about her head, a small hesitant smile on her face that could never wear makeup due to her extracurricular activities.

Warm brown met red.

Remy coughed, and his cheeks noticeably reddened a bit. “You are beautiful, chére; who is this stunning creature I am meeting?” he asked.

“Petra Parker,” Petra said quietly, “I’m just a student at Empire State University; I got bitten by a spider; you probably know the rest.”

Remy nodded his head slowly as if still taking her in, “Mon chére, I must be honest with you: if you are about to confess your love, you must give me a moment; I must say something first.”

Petra nodded her head, her gut clenching.

Remy took a deep breath, “I have played the hearts of both you and another woman; I did not expect for either of you two to have feelings for me, it was not my intent to foment them, I was simply,” he hesitated before his face collapsed a bit, “Enjoying the role I had given myself of the Gentleman thief, I did not think anyone could truly fall in love with that.

Petra frowned at him, “So you don’t actually care for me?” she asked, her gut sinking fully.

“No!” Gambit said sharply, “I do care for you; you are simply amazing, Petra Parker. Even if you were not Spider-Woman, I would find you to be a woman beyond compare.” he flinched, “but it was wrong of me to play with either of your hearts; it was not my intention.”

Spider-Woman felt the cold, curdling sensation warm, and she smiled at the strange man. “So the thief steals two hearts unintentionally, there’s a joke I can’t think of yet.”

Gambit frowned at her. “This is serious, Petra,” he said.

Spider-Woman tried to control her lips and push them into a serious expression, but they wouldn’t cooperate. “I understand that, but you have to admit there is something absolutely hilarious that your womanizing has come back at you like this.”

Gambit looked affronted, “I do not womanize,” he hissed.

Petra nodded, “I get that, I’m hearing you, please understand you have made my life an actual embarrassing hell while you relentlessly flirted with me, so I’m saying this with love, deal with it.”

Gambit looked wounded, and Petra smiled at him, even more amused, before she leaned forward and brushed her lips gently against his cheek, “You’ll figure it out, big guy,” and then pulled back to look at the man who seemed absolutely stunned again, and she had to suppress another smile.

“I do not understand,” Gambit or was it Remy LeBeau admitted.

Petra sighed and shook her head, “Look, if you were talking to teenage me, I think I’d take your block off,” she admitted easily, “But I know you, Remy; you’re absolutely enough of an obnoxious flirt for it to become a problem for you unintentionally.”

Gambit nodded slowly in response, his eyes watching her with rather more caution than he ever seemed to give her before.

“So when do I get to meet her?” Petra asked curiously.

Gambit choked again.

-

Author’s Note: Here’s the first of two chapters of a “short” story I worked on as a break from my other stuff. I know that sounds strange. I’m not serious about this really; I just liked the idea. I don’t know if it’s enough by itself for an actual series, so I distilled it here in the first of two chapters of a (relatively) short story. I made SI’s take on Remy very much act like the Gentleman thief, but I’m not sure if I overdid it lol, his dialogue was particularly difficult.

If it isn’t clear, the timeline starts somewhere before Iron Man 1 and then runs from there (to the Avengers, which is about four years). Also, if it isn’t clear, I added and changed some things to adapt the X-Men to it, but honestly this is mostly character drabble. ATLA is in progress, should be soonish.