Matchmaking: Rogue and Gambit

Summary: Part 4 in the series. We know how Scott and Jean got together, but what about Remy and Rogue? Who brought them together? How did Rogue come to be so obsessed with matchmaking anyway? See the very first matchmaking story unfold as the legendary southern couple are brought together!

Disclaimer: X-men is not mine

Warning: AU, OOC, language

Pairing: Romy, slight Jott, Amyro, Joseph/Rogue, Belladonna/Remy

A/N's:

I'm afraid updates will be far and few between. Partly because I'm more focused on other stories at the moment, and also partly because I'm not interested in the X-men, X-men: Animated, X-men: Movie, or X-men: Evolution (basically just X-men period) fandom right now and haven't been for a few months. I'm aware of the long wait you have all undergone for this story, however, so I'll try to give it as much quality as possible.

Prologue

"Hey, Jean?" Scott questioned one sunny Tuesday morning. It felt nice to not have school anymore. To make matters better, working as an instructor in the institute meant no unnecessary trips to a college thousands of miles away unless he decided to leave. With Jean staying and lacking any real desire to drive so far and rarely see the people he'd come to think of as family, Scott decided to stay.

"Yeah?" Jean looked at him curiously, smiling at her boyfriend lovingly. It seemed so long ago they had first gotten together, all thanks to Rogue's matchmaking skills. Now, Ororo and Logan, Kitty and Piotr also enjoyed the coupled life, and it had all been thanks to the local matchmaking mutants, as Kitty had taken to calling them.

"I know this is kind of random..." Scott paused and thought about how to voice his question. Deciding to just blurt it out, not like it was anything personal, at least not for Jean, he looked at his girlfriend curiously. "How did Rogue and Gambit get together?"

"What do you mean?" Jean asked, pausing in her reading to truly give Scott her undivided attention.

Scott rested his head on his hand and looked boredly at the ceiling. "Well, I mean I know how almost everyone else got together. I helped with a couple of them, but how did Rogue and Gambit start? I never heard the story."

"Oh..." Jean bit her lip. In all honesty, she had no clue how the two came together either. She hadn't paid much attention to the southerner during her initial entrance to the X-men. As much as she hated to admit it, she had acted just as skeptical and cold toward the older mutant as Logan. In the beginning, only Xavier truly accepted Rogue's sudden change of heart.

Scott looked at his girlfriend. Surely she would know, right? He knew Gambit hadn't come until after Rogue, though not long after, and Jean had been one of the first students recruited by Xavier.

"To be honest, I don't know..." Jean looked at her hands, blushing in embarrassment and shame. Scott's eyes widened behind the glasses, and he frowned bewilderedly.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Jean sighed and turned away, shaking her head. It was too shameful to remember her past attitude.

"Well, if she won't explain it, I will."

Jean startled at the new voice, and Scott spun around, one hand on his sunglasses just in case it was an enemy. He relaxed, though only slightly, when he spotted the voluptuous blonde behind him. Groaning internally, Scott spared a brief glance at his scowling girlfriend before Emma tackled him in a strong hug, nearly suffocating him with her breasts.

The redhead felt her fists clench when she saw Emma shamelessly rubbing on her boyfriend. She didn't hate the blonde, but Jean was pretty sure what she felt came close. Why did Emma insist on flirting with Scott whenever popping in for a surprise visit, which seemed to happen far more often after the trip to her spa a few months previous.

"What? You know how they got together?" Jean asked skeptically, raising a brow and grabbing Scott's hand almost forcibly when Emma released him.

His hair was a mess, and his glasses slightly skewed, not enough to show his eyes though, but he seemed fine otherwise, if not a little disturbed by the whole episode. Jean huffed. He was probably getting used to the treatment, as Emma made it a habit to greet Scott like that every visit.

"Of course I do, silly girl." Emma smiled mockingly at Jean, sitting comfortably on Scott's other side. Jean guessed the younger boys already brought her things inside since she hadn't goaded Scott into doing it for her like last time. One time when she truly appreciated Emma's good looks and ability to ensnare almost any man within seconds. "I'm the one who got them together. Don't you remember, Jeannie?"

"Really?" Scott perked up. He looked hopefully at Emma, eager to hear the story. The blonde chuckled and ruffled his hair, scooting closer, too close for Jean's comfort, and almost cuddling against the younger man's side. Scott tilted away from her nervously, but otherwise he stayed in the same spot, too anxious to hear the story to bother with moving.

"Really," Emma said. "I still remember it like it was yesterday. Remy had just shown up at the mansion, and Rogue, while she'd been here for a while, still suffered the loathing looks from those already here."

Scott frowned curiously, questioningly. He wondered why anyone would not like Rogue. Sure, she could be a bit eccentric at times, but for the most part she was always nice and helpful. Certainly more so than Remy.

Emma chuckled upon seeing the expression and shook her head. "I see I'll have to explain a little about Rogue's past first. Rogue, you see, came to the mansion after leaving the Brotherhood behind. You may not know this, but she's adopted – by Mystique."

Scott's eyes widened upon hearing that, but he nodded for Emma to continue. He figured it must be something Rogue didn't mind anymore, otherwise he knew Emma would never tell him without her permission. The blonde brushed the hair from her eyes and leaned back, smiling fondly.

"There was another mutant here then, named Joseph. He was a handsome fellow and, as it just so happens, he was Rogue's."

Even Jean found herself leaning closer, curious to know the story she had been around for but had ignored due to her own negative emotions. Emma grinned when she noticed she had their attention and she cleared her throat, signalling the beginning of her story.

"It all began on a Tuesday..."