Title: Through Open Doors
Author: Erika
Feedback: funhapjoy@yahoo.com
Pairing: Bobby/Remy
Disc: Iceman and Gambit are part of the X-men franchise and they belong to Marvel Comics and their associated companies.
Rating: Slash m/m
Summary: It follows Beginnings. The morning after, how will the rest of the team react?
Beta readers:
Mofalle, who came up with the title, provides the accents and has threaten to invade Canada if I don't behave ... (And I will too) /Shakes head. Meanie beta./
Anika, who captured all those nasty errors. And Marion who does a really good 'Grr' and who made it fun capturing all those D's.
Warning: Contains short icky m/f scene.
Website: http://www.crosswinds.net/~carlajane/EEpart00.html
Mailing list: http://www.egroups.com/group/EvilChild

Through Open Doors
by Erika

It was nine in the morning and most of the X-men could be found sitting around the kitchen table. A comfortable silence had settle among them, broken now and then by bits of everyday conversation. Nobody yet knew what to say or how to ask Warren where he had taken Bobby the day before. Since the discussion in the hallway yesterday morning, the X-men had pretty much kept to themselves refusing to discuss what was utmost on their mind.

While Jean and Hank had been busy keeping Rogue occupied, Scott and Logan had spent most of yesterday programming new training scenarios in the danger room. Later in the evening, Jubilee and Storm had tested the boundaries of the new training program. Everyone pretended it was a normal day, like they had not witnessed Bobby and Remy having sex in the hall.

Now? Now they all anxiously awaited the confrontation that they knew would take place between Rogue and the two young lovers, Bobby and Remy.

"What are we going to do?" Storm asked, finally breaking through the silence.

"I talked to Rogue last night," Warren confided to his teammates. "She is not taking this too well and I fear she may..."

"Hurt Bobby?" Jean asked.

"Yes."

"Do you really believe that she would hurt a teammate?" Scott needed to know. Last night he had an interesting conversation with Jean regarding the three participants in this melodramatic relationship. He was concern over some of the anger Jean had detected within Rogue. He needed to know, if someone else had also detected such behavior in Rogue. Hopefully this would give him some insight into Rogue's mental state, making it possible for him to decide what ought to be done.

"You didn't see her last night, Scott. I think it is best if we keep her apart from them. I would be willing to move back to the mansion and train solely with her," stated Warren.

"So, ya could put the fear o' God into her?" Logan glared at Archangel daring him to refute the question.

"If necessary." Warren would be damned if he was going to hide his intentions. Bobby was his friend. The least he could do was help Bobby control Rogue.

"Remy seemed pretty hurt last night," Jubilee told her teammates. They all turned around and glanced over at her. She shifted in her seat, "um ... I bumped into him and told him that Bobby had left with Warren."

"My friends, we have to decide what is our best course of action. We cannot choose sides, to do so would surely isolate Rogue at a time she most needs her friends. Such isolation may force her into a course of action that she will later regret." Hank told his teammates, confident they would come upon an agreeable solution.

"I guess there is only one thing that we can do ..." Storm started to say.

"And that is?" Warren asked her.

"We need to stay out of their affairs," seeing that Warren was about to again interrupt, Storm continued. "I suggest we keep a close eye on things, but we need to trust them and give them the space they need to solve this for themselves." Storm, shared a glance with Jean and nodded to her.

"They are our friends," Jean explained. "Our team mates. We owe them that much. If we interfere, it would seem as though we are not taking their relationship seriously. But I suggest we keep a close eye on Rogue, especially during her first meeting with Bobby."

They all fell back into silence when Jean telepathically warned them Rogue was approaching the kitchen, and by the time she entered the room. They were busy discussing everything from the latest football scores to Prof. Xavier's new finding.

An hour later Warren and Jean were still in the kitchen. Warren was planning to surprise Betsy and wanted Jean's advice. They were distracted when the kitchen door slowly opened to reveal Remy. This was the first time anyone had seen one of the lovers. Remy simply sat down next to them and began filling a plate with leftovers from breakfast.

He ate in total silence, not an unusual occurrence for the Cajun. As Warren got up to leave, Remy finally spoke.

"Warren, we need t' talk."

Warren had been expecting this, Remy probably wanted to thank him for getting Bobby out of the stressful situation yesterday. As far as Warren was concern Bobby was his friend, his kid brother. A mischievous making kid brother mind you. Yet, Warren admitted, he would do anything for Bobby.

He waited for Remy to finish eating and followed him as he made his way to the Danger Room. "Remy?"

"Get in." Remy said calmly.

Warren entered the room and heard Remy lock the door behind him. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Having locked the door behind them, Remy now wondered, What am I thinking? If I hurt Warren, Bobby would surely kill me. Yet, he needed Warren to understand that Bobby was his. Bobby belonged to Remy, and Remy only.

"Homme..." Remy paused and regrouped his thoughts. "Where yah go las' night?"

Warren raised one of his eyebrows. "Out."

Remy shot him a glare, but Warren remained unmoved by this. He tried again. "Yah got back pretty late las' night."

"Yeah, well, Bobby is a bit heavy, so it took us longer to get back."

Remy was just about to defend his lover's addiction to Twinkies when he noticed Warren was trying hard to hide his ever growing grin. He scowled and Warren laughed. "You're jealous!"

"I am no such t'ing!" stated Remy angrily. "Damn it, Warren. Stop laughin'."

"The great Gambit, lover of all things on legs, jealous of me!" chuckled Warren.

"You asked for it homme..." said Remy.

Warren spread his wings preparing them for flight.

"Stand still, bird brain," Remy spit at him.

"Catch me first," taunted Warren flying above him, followed by "Bobby is so going to kill you ... Bobby is so going to kill you ..."

More than anything else that statement stopped Remy dead in his tracks. Warren, seeing his opportunity, tackled him from behind. He pinned Remy to the floor, grabbing hold of his hands and holding them above his head. "I don't really give a fuck what you think, Remy. Got it out of your system, now?" He waited for Remy to acknowledge him before he continued. "Bobby is my friend. You hurt him, and you will deal with me."

"He's a grown man. He can make his own choices." Remy snarled at Warren.

"You don't have to convince me of that, Remy. Hurt him and you die. Don't hurt him and I won't interfere. I will even throw in a bonus ..." Seeing Remy's skeptical look Warren continued, "I'll even help you deal with Rogue."

He let Remy go and got up, leaving Gambit sitting on the floor. Remy rubbed his wrists to circulate the blood.

"Why are you doin' dis?" The unasked question, 'What's in it for you?' clearly stated.

"I have my own reasons." Warren said. He instantly realized that if Remy saw him as a potential threat to his relationship with Bobby it might keep him from looking elsewhere. While it wasn't the best plan he could have come up with, in the short run it would test Remy's loyalty to Bobby. In the long run, it might help them build trust in their relationship. After all, he had been a bit concern that it had taken Bobby some time to answer the question, 'Does Remy love him?'

Remy was just about to respond when they both fell to the ground. Jean had just hit them with a telepathic scream. They helped each other up and rushed to the source.

Along the way they met Hank, Storm, and Jubilee. They rushed outside and what they saw next completely shocked them.

"Bobby? BOBBY!" Remy screamed.

My God! What have I done? Rogue desperately thought.

She clutched her chest, feeling the pain as her body tried to pump more blood into her damaged heart. Logan was looking at her, shouting to her, but she could not make sense of his words. She felt a presence at the back of her head, holding her in place. Immobile.

What had she done? She wanted to cry, but couldn't ... "Bobby!" she sobbed looking at his unconscious form...

Just this morning she had been laying on her bed, hearing Warren words. 'Don't you think you've done enough?' She hadn't known. She hadn't known she would do this, never this. Yes, she had been angry, hurt even, but Bobby was a teammate a friend. A friend, the word echo in her mind. Oh, god.

She did not mean it. She did not mean it, she repeated to herself. She wanted to close her eyes but couldn't. She wanted to block away the image of Bobby lying half dead in Logan's arm, but she couldn't move. She couldn't move.

When she had woken up this morning she had been angry, all she could think about was that she couldn't lose Remy, and that it wasn't too late. She could still salvage this ... there was still hope. If she could only convince Remy, get him away from Bobby, and talk to him, make him see that she was there. All she would have to do is get him away from Bobby and talk to him. That's all.

Finally tears fell down her face and froze half way.

She had meant to tell Remy that she would forgive him for fucking Bobby, that it wasn't his fault. He had been weak and Bobby had taken advantage of him. She had gotten up, dressed and made her way downstairs. Along the way she had tried to calm her fluttering nerves, especially after what she had witnessed yesterday by the staircase.

She had entered the kitchen noting quickly that her teammates were busy discussing the latest football scores. A part of her wondered whether Jean had warned them she was coming. She had been relieved to note that neither Remy nor Bobby were downstairs. She had not thought she could've handled it if they had been here to witness her humiliation.

Throughout the meal, Warren had ignored her, but she did not care. She would show them all that Remy was hers, and hers alone. Bobby had trespassed. By the time the day was over, she had silently vowed to herself, they would all know this.

She had finished quickly, hardly touching her breakfast. She had soon found herself behind the rose buses near the pool. She breathed in their scent, closing her eyes and reflecting back on the dreams and hopes that had maintained her throughout all these lonely years.

She was in her room, laying on her bed, waiting for her lover.

Her dreams had always started like this, the smell of roses in the air, candles burning, the light of the full moon peaking through the windows. She would lay there waiting for him to approach her, naked underneath the satin slip she wore for this occasion. Finally she felt it. She knew the moment he caught sight of her and move towards her.

"Chere," he called and she found herself opening her eyes. She could deny him nothing. His fingertips grazed her hands and moved its way to her shoulder. She shivered at the contact. He smiled then he bent down to kiss her on the lips. He moved aligning his body on top of hers, spreading her legs to fit in more comfortably, all the while trailing kisses on her face and neck.

This is what she had always wanted, to feel him, to touch him as a lover would. He paused, grinning mischievously at her. He bent down again, this time he kissed her nipple through the satin that still covered her partially nude body ... *splash* ...

The sound of someone entering the pool pulled her away from her fantasy. The fantasy she always conjured up in her mind when she needed an escape from the brutal reality of her world, where touch was forbidden.

She made her way to the pool and that was when she saw him ... Bobby. Golden Boy. X-men official mascot. Prankster. Loser. Thief. All these words sprang to mind as she watched him swim from one end of the pool to the other.

He did this to her. He took Remy from her, humiliated her in front of her friends.

Oh, she had underestimated him. Everyone had. Underneath that boy next door façade, lived a back stabbing slut who would take advantage of someone who was lonely. Using their weaknesses against them. She was certain of that.

She had always feared she might lose Remy to someone else, to someone he could hold without fear of being destroyed. She never thought she would lose him to a man. Looking at Bobby as he swam, she wondered whether that was the attraction. Bobby was too pretty, like a girl, she angrily thought, he probably loves spreading his legs and letting Remy fuck him.

And maybe this was Remy's way of dealing with his frustration. Ever since Antarctica she had been keeping Remy at a distance, not wanting to be near him. Rogue was tired of the anger she felt towards him.

The constant stress had slowly eroded all her defenses. Four months ago she had escaped to the sanctuary of her brother's home, in need of Kurt's support. She had needed to be around people who wouldn't make her feel guilty. She needed to learn how to again look at herself in the mirror, without doubt and shame creeping into her eyes. Ever since Antarctica she had avoided all mirrors.

But she had succeeded. She had come back whole ready to reclaim her love, ready to begin their new lives when she was dealt another blow. It should've been her up there in the hallway with Remy. It should've been ... but instead ... she moved forward stalking her prey.

He had touched what was hers. He had fucked what was hers. Nobody took what belongs only to her. Nobody.

As Bobby made his way out of the pool and walked towards her all she could think of was to ask him, "Why?"

Why destroy their friendship? Why hurt her this way? Why should she let him live? Why ...

She had not meant to touch him. She had not meant to touch him, she cried, the tears falling down her eyes freezing into tiny icicles. And then her eyes froze, catching forever the pain hidden within.

When Bobby had woken up that morning, he found himself alone in his bed. His disappointment though was short lived. He turned and found a note on the pillow beside him. It was from Remy, asking him to meet him for a lunch date.

Bobby stretched lazily on the bed. He really should get up. He needed to talk to Hank, but first he was going to do some light swimming. He got up showered, changed into his swimming trunks and headed towards the pool area. His stomach grumbled. He'd bring some Twinkies along when visiting Hank, he decided.

He'd only swum a few laps when a part of him, call it instinct, noticed he was being observed. He stopped, turned around, and that's when he noticed her ... Rogue.

No time like the present, he thought. He was glad Remy wasn't here to see this confrontation take place, maybe they could have this talk like civilized adults. Seeing Rogue's angry expression, Bobby thought, maybe not.

"Why?" Rogue asked him angrily, not waiting for Bobby to get out of the pool.

Why, what? he thought. Why did he fall in love with Remy? Why now? Why did Remy love him and not her? Why was he wearing blue swimming trunks instead of red? Actually, the last question was a little harder to answer.

He shook his head, he didn't owe her any explanations. After all she had ended her relationship with Remy months ago. But knowing Rogue, if he didn't give her something, she would hound him. That was the last thing he needed right now.

He got out of the pool and made his way towards her.

"Damn you! Answer me! Why?" Demanded Rogue.

"It is not that simple, Rogue," Bobby tried to explain. "Remy and I were teammates, friends ... I don't know when our emotions shifted from friends to ... to lovers." There he said it, the one word that nobody used around Rogue. There was nothing he could do now, but to continue. "Rogue, you and Remy ended your relationship long ago," he reminded her.

"That's not true!" Rogue interrupted Bobby, but he just glared at her until she lowered her gaze to the ground. "Ah love him. We were gonna get back together," she whispered and Bobby wondered if she was trying to convince herself or him. "Ya'll took that away from me." Refocusing her anger, she glared at Bobby as she closed the distance between them.

Bobby stood his ground. If he caved in now, his relationship with Remy would surely be over. Rogue would be a constant threat unless he dealt with her. He stopped her attack just in time. Freezing the air molecules around her, he created an invisible shield that she would not be able to penetrate. She looked surprise that he had caught her so swiftly, but the fact was he had been expecting her to do something.

"I won't easily be bullied, Rogue, and I won't fight over Remy like a spoiled child. You ended it with him months ago, and now he is with me. You ended it, not him," he emphasized. "If you don't like the decision you made. You have no one but yourself to blame. You really didn't expect him to wait now, did you?" He knew, he was being cruel but she couldn't in all honesty blame people for her own mistakes.

Still holding Rogue in place, he made his way towards the chair reaching for his towel. As he dried himself off, he released her.

"Ah hate you!" She screamed at him.

"I know." He turned and walked toward the mansion.

What happened next surprised him. She touched him. She. Touched. Him. The instant that thought registered, Bobby's instinct took over. Long ago, Bobby had been mind raped by Emma Frost. That experience had taught him valuable lessons to which he had not forgotten. The biggest irony was that past mind rape now helped him create safeguards against another such attack.

During his demonic possession by Frost, Bobby had also discovered something very interesting ... memories are shared by both participants. The memories didn't just flow in one direction. So he used everything he knew about Frost's nightmares and threw them at Rogue. He then used his own knowledge of her and displayed for her in the open her own weakness and short failings.

Rouge was not a telepath, she could only absorb someone's powers and their memories. But the danger was that the longer one maintained the contact the greater the possibility that her absorption power could erase someone's memory, the greater the possibility one could loose themselves within Rogue. Become one entity with her.

But Bobby was lucky. Rogue had a singular purpose for this attack. She wanted Bobby's memories of Remy, so she was carefully searching through the information she was absorbing, trying to only get his memories with his lover. She wanted to know what it'd been like to live.

Well living also means dying. It meant experiencing pain and profound lose. Bobby hit her with all those memories, trapping her in an endless cycle of pain and suffering.

All of this took only a matter of seconds, but for Rogue and Bobby it was an eternity. He knew he could not hold out much longer. He had no choice. He began to freeze the veins that pump blood into her heart, but before he could complete this action. They felt a mental scream that forced them apart. He felt her tear away from him. As he fell into unconsciousness, he heard someone call out, "Bobby." He wondered, Who's Bobby?

"We need to give them time." Jean commented to Scott from the patio upstairs that looked down at the swimming pool area.

"I don't like this, Jean," spoke Wolverine from his hiding spot near the bushes.

Initially, all three had agreed that they needed to give the other two participants time to deal with whatever issues they wished to discuss. The possibility that Rogue could hurt Bobby was the one factor that had kept them here watching unseen but close enough to stop any confrontation.

"He seems to be holding his own," said Scott who was secretly pleased that Bobby had been training and developing his powers.

All three fell silent. A sigh was shared between them when Bobby turned around, leaving Rogue behind. What happened next surprised them. Rogue took off her glove and touched Bobby from behind.

"Jean!" Screamed Logan as he rushed towards Rogue, who was holding onto Bobby.

Jean concentrated creating a mental wall around Bobby's memories, fighting off Rogue's intent. Scott hit Rogue with optic beams, distracting her from hurting Bobby. That was the only opening they were going to have. Logan tackled Rogue down and in the next instant picked up a disoriented Bobby.

"If ya want Bobby, Yer goin' to have to go through me." Logan angrily shouted. Rogue was kneeling on the ground. Her hand on her chest. She appeared to be having difficulty breathing, but Logan didn't care.

He reached out to Bobby who appeared to be slipping into unconsciousness. "Bobby! Come on. Come on! Hold on buddy. We'll get ya look after."

Logan held an unconscious Bobby in his arms. He saw a dazed Jean and Scott approach keeping a weary eye on Rogue's still form. Suddenly the patio door burst open and the rest of the X-men poured through. They gasped at the sight before them.

Remy rushed forward and took Bobby into his arms. Logan thought it was interesting how Warren stood beside them. Ready to defend his friends from Rogue.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

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