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While Gambit attempted to disguise his feelings about what had happened between them by going out on the town for a "night of wine, women and wagering" with Bishop and acting frenetically cheerful, Rogue went back to the South - specifically, Pine Bluff, South Carolina - and tried to pretend to be normal. However, her plans were shattered when her mutant-hating landlady betrayed her to a group of antimutant activists. Kidnapped and bound, Rogue was saved by Joseph, who she then proceeded to knock through multiple walls, because she took him for Magneto. In the middle of their fight and for no apparent reason (other than his clear, manly manliness), she decided to trust him and later defended him against the Avengers, who were looking for Magneto because of his connection to Onslaught. When they heard was happening back home, they returned with the heroes to New York in order to battle the psionic entity.

On their return, the universal assumption among team was that Rogue and Joseph were a couple, or, at the very least, had romantic feelings for each other, and Gambit was no exception. He was well-aware of Rogue's history with Magneto, as he implies in the quoted conversation in X-Men #25, and had always feared that she was not completely over the supervillain. Consequently, he was jealous of them, as much as the fact that she was so clearly prepared to give Magneto (whose crimes were much worse than his own) a second chance:

JOSEPH: The carnage. To think that someone would so willfully terrorise innocent people. What kind of man could be responsible for such a thing?

ROGUE: A lost soul. A man driven t'desperate measures by those who would persecute him. We hafta do what we can t'save him and give him a second chance to make things right.

GAMBIT (THINKING): Tender speech, chere. I only wonder dis . . . You talkin' 'bout Charles or Magneto himself? Don' sound like your new friend much recollects de sins of his own past. How fair you reckon dat is?

The hypocrisy and irony of this speech was chilling. (Of course, it is possible that Rogue was acutely aware of Gambit's presence, as he was standing a few feet away at the time, and it was intended for him. Such a reading is, however, questionable and possibly a little optimistic.) Rogue was prepared to give to Joseph what she had denied to the man that she loved. In some ways, this was probably the most hurtful aspect of the affair. Gambit logically surmised it had little to do with what he had done - Magneto had done much worse, after all - and everything to do with whom he was. So, unsurprisingly, he was hurt and took the opportunity Onslaught provided to get a dig in at Joseph:

JOSEPH: We must do what we can to stop this madness.

GAMBIT: Especially, mon ami . . . Since it's your fault.

JOSEPH: My? What do I have to do with Onslaught?

GAMBIT: He's got a mighty evil streak - an' we figger dat comes from -

ROGUE: Watch your mouth, Remy! Shut it 'fore I shut it for (you).

Evidently, however, Gambit's supercharged conscience came into play about his treatment of Joseph. To a certain degree, he was able to empathise with Joseph's need to have a second chance as well as sympathise with his confusion and fear about who he was:

GAMBIT: Dere is a lot you don' know about de man you was, de life you led, 'fore you 'came who you are now. But dis ain't de time or de place to . . . .

JOSEPH: To see such fear . . . such hatred . . . What kind of man was I? In some way, as you've said, this is all my fault.

GAMBIT: Look, you ain't necessarily responsible for what happened in de past. Take it from me, mon ami, no-one knows more about de sins of yesterday - an' how dey dictate de penance of today - than I do.

Rogue overheard them and was both surprised and impressed by Gambit's compassion:

ROGUE: Remy, when are ya ever gonna stop surprisin' me? Ah know you don't like Joseph very much yet ya reach out ta him anyway?

Although she was clearly still uncomfortable around him, she also tried to reach out to him, to tell him that she still appreciated his good qualities:

ROGUE: Hey.

GAMBIT: Hey.

ROGUE: Ah . . . saw what ya did. It must have been hard on you.

GAMBIT: No, chere. Not having you in my life . . . ? Dat was hard.

At this point, they embraced and their relationship seemed to be on course again. As always, appearances were deceiving, as Joseph continued to pursue Rogue and she did nothing to discourage him. Feeling pity for him, she took it upon herself to help him back to a realisation of who he had been before the amnesia, which meant spending a great deal of time with him.

Inevitably, Gambit and Joseph were always going to clash and the breaking point came when Remy thought that he caught the other man in the process of spying on Rogue changing. The two men ended up fighting against each other, much to Rogue's outrage (and probable enjoyment, if you look at her fantasy of Magneto and Gambit fighting for her in the Magneto War one-shot) when she found out:

ROGUE: Y'all wanna tell me what you're fightin' over?

JOSEPH: I am sorry you had to see this, Rogue. Apparently, Remy saw me hovering outside your window and mistook it for something less than innocent.

ROGUE: Gambit, what have you got t'say?

GAMBIT: My pardon, chere, but I ain't forgettin' he was once Magneto! We don't know enough 'bout him to trust 'im yet. Y'see dat, non?

ROGUE: All Ah see are a couple o' grown men wrasslin' around like two bear cubs an' that don't do nothin' fer me. Took me a long time t'be comfortable knowin' Ah don't need to belong to nobody! In fact, Ah like it that way.

Apart from irritating Rogue, the fight had another result - Joseph told Gambit about the device which he had created to neutralise her powers and, believing it to be for her best interests, Gambit decided to concede defeat. If Joseph could touch Rogue, he had no right to insist selfishly on a relationship that was strictly and purely emotional. Consequently, on the night that Joseph planned to kiss her, he deliberately left, despite Rogue's thinly-veiled wish that he stay:

BEAST: As we've all decided to divest ourselves of the yolk of mutantdom in general and X-Menness in particular on this Christmas Eve, who would like to join me - my image-induced form notwithstanding - and the tempting Trish Tilby for dinner?

TRISH: "Tempting Trish Tilby"?

GAMBIT: Sorry, mon ami. Other plans.

ROGUE: ?! But, Remy . . . Ah hoped - Ah mean . . . Ah thought . . . .

GAMBIT: Merci anyway, chere. 'Sides, Rogue -- Poppa always taught me, "Three's a crowd."

However, in her usual stubborn fashion, Rogue refused to allow him to be a matyr and made her choice despite his noble intentions.

Onto next part . . .

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