This is the first part of chapter five. Rogue has run off and Gambit is going to follow her, even if she doesn't know it.

Rogue arrived at the bus station almost running the entire way. She wanted to get far away as possible before anyone knew she was gone. Logan would almost assuredly come after her eventually, but she was sure she didn't leave any clues as to where she was going. It would at least give her time. She made it to the bus station in less time that she thought it would take her. By the time she walked through the door she was out of breath, so she sat down for a moment to get her bearings. She had a bottle of water in her bag and took it out and gulped some of it down. It took a minute to calm down and breathed in and out until her body became still. She was ready now, so she walked up to the booth and saw an overweight bolding man sitting there.

"May I help you, ma'am?" the man asked.

"Ah need the next bus to Richmond, Virginia," Rogue said in a quiet voice.

"Sure, kid, next bus leaves at 1:15am. That will be seventy dollars."

"Okay," she said and pulled out four twenty dollar bills. She handed it to the man, and he passed her the ticket and ten dollars change.

She took a seat near the exit doors and waited for her bus. She was a little hungry and pulled out one of the muffins she bought earlier that day. She had almost forgotten she had them.

Even though she had less than an hour to wait it felt like an eternity. Part of her wanted to turn and leave the station, but she dreaded seeing any of her friends and mentors knowing they would learn of her plans. She had already failed them, so there was no turning back now.

There were a few people at the station when Gambit walked in and saw Rogue near the exit doors. He went up to the counter, concealing himself as much as possible. It looked like Rogue had fallen asleep. The man behind the counter looked pleasant enough.

"Can you tell me where dat girl over dare is headed?" Gambit pointed to Rogue but the guy just shook his head.

"The only place everyone else is going, Richmond."

"Den dat's where I'm goin' too," he said and put out a hundred dollar bill. The man handed him the ticket and his change. Gambit was careful to sit on the far side seat where he could still see Rogue, but she couldn't see him. He had no idea why she was heading to Richmond, but he was going to find out.

Rogue was jostled out of her sleep when she heard the sounds coming from outside and a man behind the counter's voice came on the loud speaker almost scaring her half to death. "1:15 to Richmond now pulling in!"

She rose groggily from her seat and exited through the station doors. Gambit followed behind in the small crowd of people. He didn't want her to see him, not yet anyway. Rogue was the first one on the bus and she walked all the way to the back seat and sat in the right corner seat by the window. Gambit spotted her almost immediately and sat on the opposite side. He cloaked himself as much as possible and saw that she was turned towards the window. Several people sat in the empty seat between them so he had ample coverage. Something told him if she did spot him, then there may have been a scene and he didn't want to confront her about her actions until he was sure that they were alone.

The ride took about six hours and in that time he kept his eyes on her. She had a book she was reading as normal and noticed she had some kind of journal she was writing in. He wondered if she wrote anything about him. Never before had he pursued a girl so openly, but something about her was different. Sure, he was attracted to her. How could he not be? She was beautiful even if she tried to hide it behind all her toughness, but she was also vulnerable in many ways. Something inside of him longed to take care of her and keep her safe, even if she intended on fighting him all the way.

He relaxed after a while and there were two people blocking his full view of her, but he could see she fell asleep but it wasn't a restful sleep. The two other people who were sitting in the back moved not wanting to deal with a restless but unconscious girl. Gambit slid over to where she was sleeping. He touched her hair slightly as she jerked twice. He was very careful not to touch her skin.

"Quiet down, chere," he whispered. "You're safe." She remained asleep but settled down until she was now completely quiet. "Good, stay sleeping."

She was curled up against her backpack sighing softly. He switched to the seat in front of her, careful to hide himself but still able to keep an eye on her. They would be reaching Richmond soon, and he planned to follow her indiscreetly, until he learned where she was ultimately going and why.

He almost fell asleep himself when she realized that the bus had stopped at the depot, and the driver made the announcement. Remy stayed put, seeing Rogue had woken up and was gathering her things. She had not even looked over to where he was sitting hiding his face just in case.

Once she passed him he rose to his feet, making sure to keep her in his eyesight. He exited still keeping her in sight and saw her enter the depot. She entered the bathroom and he waited around the corner for her to come out. It wasn't long before she reappeared and she exited through the door. Now, the chase was on.

To Be Continued...