Post by aquarius on Oct 13, 2024 8:54:50 GMT -7
First there had been Apocalypse. Gambit had been doing the right thing, and it had cost him dearly, he'd nearly paid with his life. Heck, he'd been looking at a literal fate-worse-than-death- thing, which was kind of ironic. He still woke up some nights, feeling like he could hear Death's voice whispering in the back of his mind. And it still sounded far too much like his own voice for him to ever believe he'd be entirely comfortable going to sleep again.
Before he'd gotten his head straight again though, there had been Nick Fury. Gambit was not really one to go out of his way to be patriotic too much, but saving the entire world was kind of different. That was almost business as usual. But it had meant more time apart from the X-Men - his true family - and most of all from Rogue. Back at Jean's funeral he'd finally admitted to himself how he truly felt about Anne-Marie, and he'd not had any chance to do anything about it in what felt like years. Heck, Jean was alive again thanks to... who knew?! he'd not been around to even ask how that happened. But if he went back right now, it'd be a mistake. His natural instincts were very different from what the X-Men were and what they needed from him, so he needed to get his head back in order so he could control himself enough and so he could trust himself around them.
Around her in particular...
There was only one place he could ever go to do the stereotypical 'finding himself', and that was New Orleans. He'd tried differently once only because he didn't want to be found, but Fury had found him anyway, and this time Gambit didn't really mind if anyone found him. If they were looking it was because they cared. That would probably help. But for now, he needed to be Remy Lebeau, the dashingly handsome legend of the underworld of New Orleans.
A few nights in town catching up with the latest news, finding a job that was suspiciously well paying for such a small task (always a sign of something they weren't telling you) a simple heist followed by the usual exciting chase, double and triple crosses and bluffs, with a few misdirections and obvious lies that had turned out to be true in an epic case of messing with the mark's head just for the sake of it, and Gambit walked (well, ran) out of the city feeling a little more like his old self. Now he was finally ready to work out who his new self was going to be.
In his trademark longcoat's inner left pocket he'd had a small ring since before the Apocalypse mess. For much of that time it had been kept company by a single playing card - a Queen of Hearts. One that Gambit had managed to hold on to during Death's fight against Polaris, something that had kept his self alive through his love of who it represented. He'd ended up sacrificing it when Death had tried to kill Rogue, it had been enough to make him miss his single attack. That had been everything Gambit had had, but it had been enough. The X-men had won, and he'd saved Rogue at the cost of his own life. Then they'd saved Gambit somehow, between all the telepaths and the eldritch unspeakable stuff in Magik's domain, Death had been exorcised from Gambit's mind. And now, he was finally free to act upon his freedom. As he got onto a motorcycle that didn't belong to him, Remy found himself actually feeling a sense of hope for the first time in as long as he could remember.
Before he'd gotten his head straight again though, there had been Nick Fury. Gambit was not really one to go out of his way to be patriotic too much, but saving the entire world was kind of different. That was almost business as usual. But it had meant more time apart from the X-Men - his true family - and most of all from Rogue. Back at Jean's funeral he'd finally admitted to himself how he truly felt about Anne-Marie, and he'd not had any chance to do anything about it in what felt like years. Heck, Jean was alive again thanks to... who knew?! he'd not been around to even ask how that happened. But if he went back right now, it'd be a mistake. His natural instincts were very different from what the X-Men were and what they needed from him, so he needed to get his head back in order so he could control himself enough and so he could trust himself around them.
Around her in particular...
There was only one place he could ever go to do the stereotypical 'finding himself', and that was New Orleans. He'd tried differently once only because he didn't want to be found, but Fury had found him anyway, and this time Gambit didn't really mind if anyone found him. If they were looking it was because they cared. That would probably help. But for now, he needed to be Remy Lebeau, the dashingly handsome legend of the underworld of New Orleans.
A few nights in town catching up with the latest news, finding a job that was suspiciously well paying for such a small task (always a sign of something they weren't telling you) a simple heist followed by the usual exciting chase, double and triple crosses and bluffs, with a few misdirections and obvious lies that had turned out to be true in an epic case of messing with the mark's head just for the sake of it, and Gambit walked (well, ran) out of the city feeling a little more like his old self. Now he was finally ready to work out who his new self was going to be.
In his trademark longcoat's inner left pocket he'd had a small ring since before the Apocalypse mess. For much of that time it had been kept company by a single playing card - a Queen of Hearts. One that Gambit had managed to hold on to during Death's fight against Polaris, something that had kept his self alive through his love of who it represented. He'd ended up sacrificing it when Death had tried to kill Rogue, it had been enough to make him miss his single attack. That had been everything Gambit had had, but it had been enough. The X-men had won, and he'd saved Rogue at the cost of his own life. Then they'd saved Gambit somehow, between all the telepaths and the eldritch unspeakable stuff in Magik's domain, Death had been exorcised from Gambit's mind. And now, he was finally free to act upon his freedom. As he got onto a motorcycle that didn't belong to him, Remy found himself actually feeling a sense of hope for the first time in as long as he could remember.