All of this story takes place after X3: The Last Stand. Do not read unless you have seen the movies, as spoilers are obvious.I own nothing pertaining to the X-Men or Marvel universes or characters. I will borrow some quotes and some ideas from other sources. However, they will not be copied directly from their source.
However, if there is a song that the story claims Rogue/Marie has written, it is going to be one of my own poems (I don't do good at thinking up tunes, so a poem would work for a song), and thus is mine.
Please read and review, as this is my first fan-fic and I would like to hear other people's opinions. Also, if you have a complaint, please state it as such. I would like to hear if I have made any mistakes, especially if they are something along the lines of inconsistencies, spelling, grammar, or something that has contradicted the movie verse (please, please tell me ASAP), however I would not like to hear any non-constructive criticism if I have not thoroughly earned it. (For example, saying my story sucks without telling me why). If you don't like it, don't read it.
And before anyone says anything, I know the beginning isn't very good; that's the hardest part of the story and all I can say is it'll get better as the story goes on. The main point here is that I started about a month or so after the third movie, so if you don't understand it, I recommend just going back and reviewing the last movie and you should be able to pick up the pace from there.
Speaking of mistakes, in order to convey accents, I have purposely used incorrect spellings for some of the words that the characters have spoken: Rogue/Marie, and later Gambit/Remy, in particular.
Because this is a FAN fiction and I expect any reader to know all of the characters as they have been presented in the movies, I do hope no one will be offended if I do not introduce all of the characters individually unless they are from one of the comic book series or another source. If you are, then I must firmly request that you read another story. This one is mine and the ideas in it are mine as well. It is not a continuation of any other story, even if the title suggests that it is. I'm just not good at titling stories.
"Speech"
"Whispers or emphasis"
'Telepathic Speech or Thoughts used for a Conversation'
'Rogue's Absorbed Psyches'
Writing
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Although she wasn't a real member of the X-Men anymore, Marie had been allowed to stay at the mansion as a student, as she had a full-paid scholarship and nowhere to go. That didn't do her much good. While Headmistress Ororo Munroe had let her keep her old room, and the other teachers had accepted her, that didn't mean that the students would just leave her be.
Still, she hadn't heard them talking about her. Not at first, that is. Marie had been too busy with Bobby to notice. Then she had passed a group of students on her way back to her room. She heard one sentence, completely on accident, and it turned her world upside down.
"Sure, Rogue was brave to fly the jet; it's Marie who was the coward."
That was Marie's first cue that something was wrong.
Immediately, Marie wanted to ask Jubilee what they were saying. Jubilee was always at the center of gossip; surely she'd know what Marie was missing.
Quickly Marie took the stairs two at a time, rushing towards the girl's dorms as fast as she could without attracting undue attention.
Perhaps if she hadn't hesitated, Marie would have forgotten about it and gone on. However, hearing Jubilee's laugh coming from their room, Marie couldn't help but wonder what they were joking about. With her ear to the door, she listened as everyone talked. All of it was mean, with no truth behind it whatsoever. What they were saying was nauseating...
And it was all about her.
Marie listened for as long as she could stand it. Finally she pushed open the door to the room that she shared with both Jubilee and Kitty. Jubilee sat in the company of a large crowd of girls, but Kitty wasn't among them.
As soon as the door opened, everyone fell silent, looking at Marie. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and her skin was drained of color. It was obvious what she had heard.
Everyone in the room parted as Marie passed, seemingly oblivious to them. Seeing the opportunity to escape, the girls stumbled to their feet and left the room.
There were many times in the past few years that Marie had changed. She had gone from being an innocent southerner, to being a runaway mutant, to being accepted despite her power, through a slight depression, then to being human again at a mutant school. And those were only her known changes…
Each change had been sudden and distinct, but this was Marie's most rapid change ever, from relatively normal to depressed and hollow. That moment, she stopped caring about the place she had once called her home and the people she had considered friends. Instead of screaming at Jubilee or any of the other girls, she started plotting. Some of her past identities had been a runaway.
Perhaps it was time to get in touch with her past…
Marie no longer knew how long ago it was that she had become a normal human. It seemed a lifetime ago, but for her time had slowed down. She had lost a lot of herself that day. All of it, she had claimed, was for herself. It was what she wanted, not her boyfriend. For her, not for Bobby.
Every logical sense she posessed told her she couldn't do anything from Bobby. With her mutation, her aging had slowed down a lot. She should've been nearly fourty. And her mother… Well, her family tree wasn't so noble as most peoples' were. Bobby was part of a cover, and it was a cover that she needed Bobby to help her keep, wether he knew it or not. She wouldn't give up something as precious as her mutation, not for a lie.
Or so she thought, because now she wasn't so sure. She had fully rejected her mutant name, calling herself by only Marie. She wasn't a mutant anymore, so the name "Rogue" no longer fit. But she also didn't feel like the innocent girl from the south, so in a way she wasn't really Marie anymore. Besides, Marie would've graduated from college ages ago. Or was that Anna?
Her actual point , the reasoning behind this change of heart, was that within the month, Marie and Bobby had begun to fight. Both of them were still officially going out, but the shouting had become almost constant.
Today, though, Marie was, and had been, specifically seeking him out, going against every pacifist instinct she'd ever had, and she had lost most of her violent side even before her powers surfaced. Her decision to break up with him was only reinforced by her new need to get away from the school in any way she could. They were right; she didn't belong there, and she never had. They just didn't know why.
Soon Marie came upon Bobby talking casually to Kitty. They were in the rec room on the first floor, and through sheer dumb luck, they hadn't seen her. Standing just outside the doorway, Marie eavesdropped on Kitty and her so-called boyfriend.
"Bobby, she needs to know what they're saying."
"Yeah, well, don't you think I know that?" the boy asked, running his hand through his light brown hair. "But how are we supposed to tell her that everyone's been making fun of her behind her back? Even paranoid as she's been, she hasn't heard them. So how do we tell her what she hasn't heard?"
"I don't know," Kitty said, beginning to sound frustrated. She calmed herself quickly and glanced around. Marie ducked back just in time to avoid Kitty's cautious, fleeting look. "But if we don't tell her now, she's gonna be devastated when she does find out."
"Well, what do we do? I tell her, and she'll think I'm just using it as dirt for our fights. You tell her, and she'll think you were trying to break us up."
"No, Ah won'," Marie said calmly, stepping into the doorway. "Cause Ah was gonna do that. Break us up, that is."
Quietly Kitty backed off as Marie approached. Marie addressed her first, saying, "Ah owe you an apology, Kitty. Ah don' know what got int' me, an' Ah'm glad fer what'cha were tryin' t' do.
"As fer you, Bobby, Ah c'n see our… relationship isn' gonna work. An' Ah'm sorry 'bout th' possessive part'a that. Is're any way we can still be friends?" Marie asked Bobby, then looked over to Kitty as she added, "All've us?"
Both of them looked like they were about to burst from happiness. They hugged and Marie laughed. "Y'know, yall'd make a cute couple."
"Wait," Kitty said, backing up and looking suspicious. "You broke up with him, and you're setting him up with me? Why?"
"'Cause Ah've been thinkin' 'bout what Ah'm doin," Marie said, also pulling back. "Ever since… lately, Bobby an' Ah, well, we jus' don' make th' couple we used to. Bobby an' you like each other, an' there's potential there. Ah jus' wanna make up for some'a th' shit Ah've pulled, an' Ah always wanted t' see a happy endin', even if it isn' mahne."
Smiling, Marie turned around and left the new couple alone. Both Bobby and Kitty watched her retreating form closely with growing concern. Something was up with her, and as her friends, they wanted to know what.
-
As chance would have it, Logan stopped her outside her room. Of course, she knew it wasn't chance; Bobby and Kitty had probably gone ahead and found him to talk to her.
"Marie, you okay?" Logan asked. Marie looked out at him from under the white bangs that hid her face. For a moment, her eyes had become deep somehow, older. Logan couldn't really explain it. "Is it anything you want to talk about?"
"It's nothin'." Marie muttered. He knew she was lying, but it was her decision not to talk.
Logan put a hand on her shoulder as he said, "Remember, if you need to talk, my door's always open."
Marie had looked up at him, her scowl fading. "Ah know."
As he began to walk away, Marie called back to him. He stopped and turned back to her as she thanked him, then went into her room, closing the door behind her.
-
Marie couldn't sleep that night. Midnight had passed a long time ago, and she found herself wandering throughout the hallways. Finally she came to the Rec Room. Bobby and Kitty were sitting together, talking quietly to each other. They were plotting, Marie realized suddenly.
"Hey guys," Marie said suddenly from behind them. The two of them jumped, then calmed down as they saw who it was. "What'cha plannin?"
"Well," Kitty started, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to. "You've done this for us, so we wanna do something for you. Bobby and I…"
Bobby sent her a look, and Kitty sighed.
"All right, well, I came up with a nice little show for breakfeast tomorrow…"
"Please tell me you ain' gonna cook? Every'ne's got their own special talents, but cookin' ain' yours."
"Rogue!" Kitty hissed, then she started to explain her idea. When she was done, Marie let out a low whistle of approval.
"Bobby, Kitty here's a good girl with a lotta potential. For our sake, make sure you're th' worst influence she's ever had. This place could do with more'a this kinda excitement…"
-
Marie sat at her desk, a pen and several pieces of paper out before her as she wrote. Three luggage bags had already been packed and, with Kitty's help, hidden outside near the street. She had three hours until breakfeast, three hours to write everything she needed to say to everyone she cared about.
Logan came first. He had to, after everything he had done for her in the past. He had saved her, and though he denied it, he was more of a father than the man who'd helped raise her. Truth be told, her foster father had never been around.
Then there was Storm. No one could match her motherly kindness, and she was doing a good job of heading the school. She'd worry if Marie just vanished, especially right after the stunt Kitty and Bobby were about to pull.
There were shorter letters to some other kids, one to Jubilee of all people, and before she knew it, Marie was done.
With one and a half hours till sunrise and no time to spare, Marie curled up on her bed and fell asleep. Today was going to be a good day; she could feel it.
-
Kitty and Bobby entered the cafeteria through different doors but at the same time. Kitty looked over to Bobby for reassurance. His eyes caught hers and he gave her a small, reassuring smile. Immediately she relaxed and glanced at her table.
Both of them kept stealing quick glances at the stairs and at each other for ten minutes before Kitty spotted Marie. Marie quicly pulled out a stack of envalopes, each one with a name on it, and Kitty nodded to Bobby, making sure no one else had noticed their strange behavior. They hadn't, and Bobby got up and started to make his way over to her table. Marie, meanwhile was watching everyone else. Her timing had to be perfect.
Bobby stopped in front of Kitty, who set aside her orange juice and pushed away her untouched food. She stood up and Bobby leaned in, the stares from all around them making him slightly nervous. That is, until the two of them began to make out.
Every head in the room was turned to the new couple, allowing Marie to slip out easily. She didn't look back once as she closed the door behind her and sprinted away through the cover of the hedges, towards the glare of the rising sun.
-
Five full minutes had passed, and the kiss had ended after the first two. Bobby glanced down at his watch, then up at Kitty. "Think that's enough time?"
"Dunno," Kitty said, smiling. She looked around her a couple of times and burst out laughing. "Depends on how long it takes her."
Bobby was laughing too. "I can't believe you planned this."
"I can't believe she called it brilliant," Kitty admitted, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I mean, your girlfriend wants to leave so bladly that she dumps you…"
"And set us up together so that the two of us would forgive her paranoia," Bobby continued, smirking by now. "Which never picked up on the gossip until it had gotten really bad…"
"Which was what drove her away in the first place," Kitty finished, smiling. "Which was why I offered to give her a distraction to cover up her escape."
Bobby grinned and nodded as Storm and Logan stepped forward.
"Are you serious? Marie left?" Storm asked, concerned. Kitty nodded, still grinning but with a sad look in her eyes.
"She had some letters when she was waiting for us to start. I think she left them on the stairs," Bobby said, with the same look on his face. Kitty glanced over at Jubilee nervously, watching for her reaction. Everyone knew it had been Jubilee's fault Marie found out, and the poor girl had turned pale, tears streaking down her face.
One of the replacement teachers, Emma Frost, hurried to get the letters as Kitty and Bobby pursuaded Logan to wait and read his letter before he went after her.
His was the longest.
Logan,
I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I just decided to leave two days ago,
and I didn't want you to stop me. By the way, I took the cure for myself, so
I wouldn't feel so alienated. Everyone stayed five feet away from me when
they knew what I could do, and when I took the cure, everyone stopped
being scared of me. They started hating me, and I didn't notice. I ruined
everything, and I didn't mean to. It's true, by the way, that the road to hell
is paved with good intentions. I'm sure you've heard that one before. I'd
tell you where I'm headed, but I haven't decided yet myself. I'll call in every
once in a while, but not too often. Don't want you to follow my trail and stuff.
I just wanted to say goodbye, and thanks. You were like the father I never
had, and that meant a lot to me.
There was a lot of junk in it, including a very discriptive look into how she had found out about the gossip, minus names, and her feelings on that. Finally, and most importantly, there was the end of the letter.
By the way, I know you better than myself. I mean, you're pretty strong in
my mind. And once again, I just need to get away. Basically, Logan, I was
using this letter to stall you. I mean, everything in here is true and personal,
but I could have shortened it to maybe one page. You just read seven. I
don't have that much of a head-start, fifteen minutes at best, and you're a
brilliant tracker. I'm sorry, but I'm not coming back. I'll miss ya'll, especially
you, Logan. I trust you, and I'm begging you not to follow me.
With deepest love and regret
Anna Marie Adler
Slowly Logan straightened out his papers, folded them, and slipped them back in their envalope. Storm looked at him curiously, and he sighed.
"Kid's got a head-start. No way we're gonna catch her," Logan muttered softly, creasing closed the flap of the envalope as he spoke. Storm sighed and read over her letter again.
Ms. Munroe,
You were a great teacher, and a good headmistress. You've
helped me out when I needed it, and you've done so much for me. I'm
sorry I have to leave. I'm just not welcome here, and you need a close,
family relationship among the students. You're doing a very good job
as the headmistress, and I just don't want you to blame yourself for this
because there is nothing you could have done.
Goodbye,
Marie
Storm passed Logan her letter, short as it was, and he passed her his envalope and began to drag her to the headmaster's office, leaving Bobby and Kitty behind.
Slowly Jubilee pulled out her own letter and read it. It was one line long, with just this written:
Jubilee,
I probably shouldn't, but I forgive you. For everything.
