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June 14, 2026 Rogue/Gambit Week prompt—I have a list.
A/N: Yes, I know I’m a day early, but I won’t be able to post tomorrow, and I am just so excited about this story! Hope you like it; comments and kudos are much appreciated!
Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men characters. All rights belong to Marvel Entertainment and I am not making any money off this story.
Only A Dream by BookwormDoll
“So,” Rogue drawls beside me.
“So,” I echo.
I haven’t been this close to her, or even alone with her, since I eft the X-Men. Hard to stay on a team where your once-archenemy is not only leader but also husband to the woman you love. I brush my hand against hers in silent question, but she pulls away immediately, taking my broken heart with her.
“Ah guess this is it,” she mutters.
“I guess so,” I pause, thinking about what I want to do next. I shift from my position standing beside her to standing in front of her, “Seeing as we won’t be seeing each other again, I don’t suppose you’d consent to a kiss goodbye?” My eyes dart to her lips.
I hold my breath, my heart thundering in her silence, “One for ‘de road?” I prompt.
She finally speaks, closing her eyes, “Remy. Please. I’m married to your best friend.”
Those words tear my broken heart, broken soul, into even tinier pieces, “He was my best friend, Chère. But ‘dat all changed a long, long time ago.”
She sighs and grabs my arms, “What am I going to do with you, Remy LeBeau?”
“I have a list,” I smirk slightly and bring my left hand up to cup her chin, “but I left it in my other pants.”
My breathing becomes ragged as I bring her face towards mine, giving her time to pull back, but she doesn’t. We were almost touching when Charles, Rogue and Magneto’s son, interrupted. Blink was carrying him and some part of me knew she planned this.
I couldn’t sleep that night. I was lying in bed with my current girlfriend, Lila Cheney, but she certainly wasn’t the woman on my mind. I carefully pulled the sheets off of me, trying not to wake up Lila. I pull on my pajama pants and walk over to the dresser. Rogue probably thought I was joking, but…I pull a piece of paper and a small box out of one of the pairs of jeans in the bottom of the drawer. I open the folded paper. It’s a list of everything I wanted to do with Rogue. Take her on a proper date, maybe go see the Statue of Liberty, give her a tour of New Orleans, bake her beignets, get married…I stared at that one, not even halfway through the list. I felt the tear slide down my cheek as I opened the box. Inside lay a ring with a bright green emerald set in the center, the same color as her eyes.
“That’s not for me, is it?” A voice sounds behind me. Part of me was still disappointed it wasn’t a southern drawl but instead a heavy New York accent.
“It wasn’t meant to be,” my voice breaks.
“How long have you had it?” Lila asks, wrapping her arms around my torso.
“Years. Long before she married Eric.”
“Why don’t you just get rid of it?”
“Because it’s a reminder…”
“Of what?”
“Of all the times and ways I’ve failed her, failed us.”
“Remy. You didn’t fail Rogue. She chose Eric and now she’s missing out. Now come on back to sleep.”
In one night, I did it all; went to the nicest restaurant in New York, saw the Statue of Liberty, toured New Orleans, got married. And the most important thing: I did it with Rogue.
It took me a minute to realize that I’m awake. To realize that what I saw was only a dream. And I guess it will always be that: a dream. A fantasy that will never come to fruition but only keep teasing me and reminding me of what I lost, WHO I lost. Reminding me of another list I have: a list of regrets. Another list that bears Rogue’s name. I should have just given her that ring when I had the chance. I look at the ring that I set on my nightstand, and right then and there I make my decision.
I knock on the door, heart racing and hands slightly shaking. Hope is all I have now. Hope that it’ll be her opening that door. Hope that’s answered when the door opens.
“Remy?” she mumbles, half awake. “What’re ya’ doin’ here?”
I get down on one knee and pull out the box with the emerald ring in it.
“Rogue. Anna Marie Raven-Lehnsherr. From the day I met you, I’ve been makin’ a list. A list of everyt’ing I want to do with you, everything I want you to do wit’ me. A list I never fulfilled and one I refused to look at for years. But it’s also a list hat I don’t want to leave undone. Maybe ‘dis is jus’ a dream. Maybe I’m on a fools errand tryin’ t’do this. But I can’t live without you, mon couer, not happily anyway. An’ maybe you’ll say non, but then least I won’t live my life wonderin’. So, Chère, will you marry me?”
Well she certainly was awake now. She opened her mouth, then closed it, unaware of what to say.
“Remy, Ah—” she stutters. “Stand up.”
I do so, lowering my hands to my side because I know what’s coming. ‘Or maybe I don’t…’ I think as she caresses the side of my face. I close my eyes and lean into her touch, my breath coming in short gasps. Before I can really process what’s happening, her lips are on mine, her hand pulling my head downward to make it deeper. I brace my hand around her waist and pull her closer.
“So…is that a yes?” I breathe out once we finally break apart.
“Remy…Ah can’t. Mah hands are tied. I’m married and we’ve got Charles. That was just…one for the road.”
I catch a tear that slides down her cheek, “Mon couer, how am I supposed to live without’you?”
“Ah have a list,” she murmurs and pulls a folded piece of paper out of her pajama pant pocket, “and Ah left in in these pants.”
She takes my hand and folds my fingers around the paper. Then she turns around, walking back inside.
“Bye, sugah,” she says before shutting the door.
“Bye, Chère. Mon couer et sa couer, tojoures. Tojoures.”
I then turn around to head back to the X-Ternal HQ, which was in the New Yourk Underground. Basically, the sewers. I open the piece of paper Rogue gave me and find that her ‘list’ consists of three things:
Keep on savin’ the world.
Be you.
And know that some part of me will always love you, Remy LeBeau.
The paper becomes damp with my tears and so I fold it and slip it into a pocket to preserve it. I need to be on my best alert for my next missing with the X-Ternals. The world depends on it, on finding the M’Kraan Cristal Magneto is certain will destroy the world if we don’t secure it. And so, I push my heartache aside and push forward for the X-Men, for the world,…for Rogue. How many ways could this mission go horribly wrong? Oh, I have a list. But how many ways could it go right? I’ve got a list of that, too.