Partners in Crime (X-Men ROMY)

Chapter Six

"I made up a big batch of gumbo a few days ago, so why don't you grab a shower while I microwave you a bowl?"

"Sounds good to me, chère."

His muscles were stiff from lack of use but a hot shower helped. By the time he was finished, his stomach was growling and he dressed quickly and made his way to the small kitchen.

She had two bowls of gumbo waiting with sliced white bread. Remy would have preferred fresh bread but right now, almost anything looked appetising. They ate in awkward silence and Remy began to fear the worst.

"Rogue, other than how to steal, you didn't happen to see anything else when you absorbed me, did you?"

"Like what?" she asked as she played with her food, refusing to look at him.

"Like things I ain't too proud of."

She finally looked up. "I saw flashes."

"Like what?"

"Well... are, uh, are you married?"

Remy sighed. "No. Did you see anything else?"

"Like I say, flashes. I saw you in morning suit, a white dress, a red stain, a woman getting arrested and blaming you, an explosion..."

Remy didn't have much of an appetite left and pushed the rest of his food away. Probably best he didn't eat too much in one go right now anyway. He took a deep breath.

"The arrest is the shorter story. For my master tilling I was to steal a painting from the Louvre, single handed. I researched and discovered that a young American called Genevieve was interning in the restoration department, so I arranged to meet her, wined and dined her. She loved her job and freely told me all I needed to know. Then I stole her ID card and altered my appearance with holographic technology, so I looked just like her. Thankfully she was also very tall and wore heels, so in flats, no one noticed that she'd grown an inch or so. I drugged her for the day and took her place, leaving that evening with the painting."

"And they arrested her?" Rogue sounded shocked.

"I honestly hadn't considered that. I was 17 and I needed to pass the Master test in order to marry Bell. I was cocky, over confident and reckless." He let out a long sigh. "I was careful not to be caught on camera as I took the painting but when they mapped everyone's movements for the day, they came up with her. I also hadn't accounted for the fact that I'd develop feelings for her... I passed my masters test, but seeing her arrested was one of the worst moments of my life."

"She knew it was you, didn't she?" Rogue remembered Genevieve looking into her (or rather Gambit's) eyes as she was led away in handcuffs, her expression filled with pain, asking him 'why?'.

"She didn't have any proof, but yeah. No one else could have drugged her morning coffee, or stolen her pass card. I think my face as I saw them arrest her was the final nail in my coffin."

"So did they convict her?"

"No, I managed to muddy the waters and bribe enough officials so that they dropped the charges. I'm not proud of what I did and believe me, I learned from it."

Rogue processed that for a few moments.

"Okay, so what about the wedding?"

"That is an even worse story," he said, his voice a low monotone.

Rogue waited patiently for him to continue and when he didn't, she got up to make some coffee. Suddenly he began talking but she didn't stop what she was doing, lest it change his mind.