A tear catches my cheek. I wipe it, blood. I was used to it. It was the only way my pain came out anymore. Blood. It was pretty symbolic. Death perhaps. I couldn't blame my insides for , they'd done so much for me, went with me through so much, they deserved a break. I was supposedly the fallen child of the family. After the incident of my boyfriend practically dieing when I bearly even kissed him turned everyone on me. They hissed my name under their breaths like some horrible disease, they even considered putting me up for adoption. They didn't but crazily enough, someone did call, and said his name was Exavier. He wanted to speak with me in private on a Friday, no parental accopmanyment. It kind of creeped me out, but I accepted. He told me about some institute he had in Spain, and wanted me to go there, and he said I was gifted. Heh, I personally laughed at that. This? A gift? I didn't think so. He told me that I would learn how to control it, whatever it was, so I couldn't hurt people, but I never could be in normal society again, which I wholeheartedly agreed with, they never understood me anyway. But before I could go, I ran away to New Zealand. Don't ask me how I did it, because I seriously couldn't tell you. I knew no one, so I camped out the best I could in the woods, but suddenly several days later, a guy by the name of Wolverene found me, and told me that Professor X told him to come "retrieve" me from the forest. That he was worried about me. God I didn't even know this Professor X person, let alone Wolverene, who I happened to think was pretty cute. He took me to the airport in a truck. Then again he seemed vaguely familiar. In fact, I remembered him and this truck distinctively. "Do I know you?" "Dunno," He looked at me. "I do know you!" He looked slightly taken aback. "I snuck in the back of your truck once, and you took me with you to..." I noticed my hand on the door of the car. Stupid! My head hissed at me. You made- Oh shut up! I said to it. "'Scuse me?" I blushed. "Oh, nothing, I'm sorry, see, I can read peoples memories, or thoughts through fingerprints." He nodded. He didn't seem to find it weird at all. "What are you at the institute for?" I asked, but wished I could take it back almost instantly, realizing what a personal question it must've been. Instead of being offended though, he clenched his hand into a fist, and silver metallic claws protruded from his knuckles. "Cool," He smiled. "It freaks most people out... Most anyway." I smiled. "Not the least bit creepy." He gave me another smile. He was more then cute, way more. He had lime green hair, gray eyes like mine, but his were more blue, they were deep too. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the light. I closed my eyes, and it turned green. Every single light after that was green. "What's your name anyways?" "Rogue," I answered. I felt the truck getting alot warmer. "Weird name," "I named myself, when I discovered I didn't really have one, everyone called me something else, but I hated it." "I like it though, it's kind of mystical." I smiled. "The Airport, ugh, I hate plane rides." "I'm kind of freaked, I've never ridden one before." "You'll be okay, but I'll be with you, so..." He turned in, and parked the truck. When we got out, and locked the doors, I turned around, and it had disappeared. "Spain." He muttered. We weaved through the crowd, and sat in the seats with our tickets. He pulled a box of Tic-Tacs out of his pocket, and popped one. He offered the box, and I took one. Yum, the white kind. I thought. I tapped the foot to the music in my head. "What song?" He asked. "Spit," "KITTIE's pretty cool." I tried to keep my happiness from exploding, and just reaching over, and kissing him, damn he was so perfect! "Yeah, I like them alot." He smiled. And slightly chuckled. Oh, no, could he read my thoughts? "Rouge, they called us." "Oh, all right." I got my bag, and we got on the plane, sitting in a rather big seat. The grin he had was still on his face. "Can you read thoughts?" I asked before I could stop myself. "Um..." He was deciding whether or not to answer. "Yeah," I was so embarrassed, I had no way of hiding my face while I turned red. He looked out the window pretending something was more fascinating then my face. "Thanks," I said, while I felt it go less red. He averted his gaze, and muttered something inaudible. "Huh?" I asked. "I...Like you too." His face tinged red slightly. I didn't think aww because I knew he would be embarrassed. So instead I said, "That's really sweet." He put his hand ontop of mine, I didn't want to pull away, but I was afraid. Strangely enough, I didn't have to. It felt so weird for someone to actually touch me, I really liked it. He turned my hand over, and ran his fingers over the lines. "You're the first person to touch me in almost a year." "Why?" He asked. "I usually put people in commas when I touch them." "That's strange I can touch you." I nodded. I was so scared you'd start choking or something." He smiled. "Don't stress it." After a couple hours, I grew tired, and fell asleep on his shoulder, I originally was on the seat, but I guess my head kind of ended up there. He shook me awake. I opened my eyes and the lights in the plane were out. I cultivated a flame in my hand, and looked around. "What happened?" "Dunno the plane just went out, and there's been no announcements." I looked down the isle, and a cloaked figure with it's hood up swept past, stopped, and looked at me. As my eyes began to roll back, my flame turned to ice, shattering on the floor. I was falling through a white mist, and I heard myself screaming. A picture came into view of that boy I had kissed, going into some type of convulsions. "Devil girl!" Some hissed at me. I ran out of the room, and down the road, hiding in central park. Someone was shaking me, it was Wolverene, obviously the lights were back on. "Rouge, Rouge! Are you okay?" There were tears on my face, along with cold sweat, I was shivering. He helped me back up into my seat, because I ended up sprawled out in the isle. When I sat up, tears leaked warmly out of my eyes, I wiped it, blood. My hands were smeared with it. "What the hell?" I looked down at my hands horrified.

Wolverene's *POV* I just kind of looked at her, not sure what to do or say, so I handed her a Napkin/Tissue thing from my pocket. She licked it, and wiped the remaining blood smears from her face. She shoved it in her pocket. "Thanks," she said. "No problem," She leaned her head back on my shoulder, the fragrance of her hair kindly meeting my senses. It smelled smooth, and sweet, but I couldn't put my finger on the scent. "That was scary, all I heard was screaming, and seeing this boy I bearily kissed, go into convulsions." "Yeah, those things have the strangest effects on people." "What are they?" I asked. "No one really knows, but they suck all the happiness out of you, and they can suck your soul out of your body, so I've heard. *Rouge's POV* I cringed. "You'd be alive without your soul, you'd just walk around, and have no sense of yourself." "Why were they on the plane then? I mean, none of us did anything wrong." "Professor X is looking for someone I guess, they've been here before, but eh, it was a long time ago." I stood up, and walked down the isle, looking from head to head. "Rouge, what are you doing?" I didn't reply, I kept walking glancing left and right. "Rouge!" I turned around, smiled, and vanished. Once Wolverene went back to his seat with no hopes left of finding me, I reappeared right next to him. I pulled out my Journal, and began scribbling down names, times, and dates. "What-" I snapped my Journal shut, and shoved it back in my bag. "Don't worry, I'm just observing, a little outward, but I'm observing. Things I don't want to forget, or things that I think might come in handy later." He nodded. I dug in my bag, pulling out a book on meditation. I flipped through the pages, skimming, and reading. Wolverene's deep eyes grazed over my shoulder, looking at the picture of the ocean. "Chakra's huh?" "Yes, energy centers. Really quite fascinating." He kept peering, and I kept turning, rainbow auras blossoming onto the pages. I looked at him and smiled. "Pretty crazy stuff." "Yeah, definitely." I knew he wanted to kiss me, but I wasn't going to let him on that easily. "So," I started, he looked at me. "What's this institution place like?" "It's big, nice and big, the campus is green, fountains, dormitories, it's really nice." I smiled. Our plane landed an hour later, we got off, and got back in his truck. We rode up the side of a mountain, and it curled up, and up, and up, until we reached a place that looked like a gigantic mansion. We pulled into the gates, and once we got out, the truck disappeared again. When we entered, he gripped my hand. We walked up several flights of stairs, and he knocked on a big oak door. "Yes?" Asked a familiar reply. "I've got Rouge Professor, can I come in?" "Certainly," He opened the door, and there he sat. Professor X himself, a smile on his face. "So nice to see you again Rouge." I smiled nervously. "Nice to see you too." "No problems I expect?" He asked Wolverene. "None sir," "Good, very good. Now, Rouge, could you step out of the room for a moment, I need to talk to Wolverene." "Sure," I opened the oak door, and walked out into the hall, and sat down. *Wolverene's POV* "Now, I want you to room with her, for her own protection." He began. "Yes, I know, but do I have to keep this from her?" I asked him. "Yes, at least until we know...She's safe on her own." "But aren't we treating her like a child en-" "It's very likely she could be killed, I don't want to be taking any chances. She knows nothing about her past, how she came to be, she's been an orphan all her life, we can't just completely dump all of this on her." "She bound to get suspicious, she's very observant." "We can cover this up as long as we have to." "But sir-" "It's a little too late to object. I understand you're forming a relationship, but I couldn't plan her life for her now could I?" "But what if she asks?" "You'll lie," "But, I can't...I couldn't." "It's either a life or truth, I'm pretty sure you'd want to save her rather then kill her." "It's not like she'll go looking for it, I mean, with me there to protect her..." "I won't have it. Now go, and show her a good time, no word of what was said here." I nodded. *Rouge's POV* The oak door opened, and there he stood. He came over, and helped me up. "Here we are... Come on, let's put your um... things away." He noticed all I had was a bookbag, and a duffel full of things. We walked into a nice room, a King Size canopy bed, with draperies hung around it. I tossed my stuff carelessly onto the floor next to the bed. My bags had my name on them in blood red. "Where to first?" I asked. "There's a nice forest across campus, lets go." I followed him, Journal in hand, with my cloak on, across campus into a glorious forest. Green, green, green. He shoved me playfully. I shoved him back, tossing my journal, making it land on a stump. "You shove like a girl!" I yelled. He ran towards me, and I doged him. He grabbed me, and spun me around. I staggered dizzily, and fell, laughing to the floor. I looked at the sky, the trees spinning, the floor feeling like it was swaying. "Awesome," I muttered. "Yeah, I like it too," he came, and layed next to me. We both gazed at the sky for a while, not saying anything. My hair was full of brush, but I liked it anyway. I got up, and stood there looking at him. "You still shove like a girl." He smiled, getting up. "Are you sure?" "Definitely," I laughed. "Lets see then," He shoved me so hard, I fell hard to the ground. "Better," I said getting up. I tackled him to the floor, and we were rolling around, he ended up ontop of me. I struggled...No use. "You have to pay a toll to get up Miss." He said, a mischeveious grin on his face. I smiled. All I saw was a flash of blue eyes, and we kissed. It was my first real kiss, not anything like the one before. I felt like I was letting go of something, something I'd been wanting to let go of for a while. He pulled away, I wished he hadn't, but he did. "Now do I shove like a girl?" He asked. "Not even close."

It was Saturday, I woke up next to Wolverene, and I groped for my Journal on my bedside table. I opened it, and scribbled an entry:

"Dear Ryan, Everything's okay here at the institute, I met this cool guy Wolverene on my way here. He gave me my first real kiss, nothing like that other guy. I honestly think he's the one for me. Peace/Love/Harmony ~*Rogue*~ He woke up a while later, and ruffled his untidy hair. "Morning sleepy head." I said. "I'm not a sleepy head..." He glanced at the clock. "I am aren't I? But you're still here too..." I smiled. I got out of bed the same time he did, and I stood, and watched him walk into the restroom. I pinched myself. Nope, I wasn't dreaming. I looked down at my exposed stomach, a ruby glimmering from the center, and top of my bellybutton. I wished I had my tongue done. I felt in my mouth. I did... I guess I had forgotten. He came out in Jencos, Adidas, and a Muscle Shirt, his Dogtags hanging from his neck. He filled that shirt perfectly. He smelled like Adidas cologne too. I gave him a hug, and changed too. Into my nets, a Good Charlotte shirt, Vans, And a pair of baggy pants with draw strings everywhere. I put on some eyeliner on the bottom of my eyes. I put another ball ontop with a blue star on it. I brushed my teeth, I did my hair in buns with chopsticks in them, and sprayed on some of his Adidas. I walked out, and returned the smile he gave me, and kissed him. There was a knock on the door, he went to answer it while I licked my lips. *Wolverene's POV* It was Cyclops. "Whats up?" "Could you keep her out of trouble for a while." He glanced at Rogue. "Just keep her... You can go in the forest, just come back in a couple of hours." "But we were going into town." "Yeah, you can go, in fact I think that could be safer." "Why?" "Supposedly Mistique's after her." "Shouldn't we not go anywhere at all then?" "It'd be best if you didn't, but I had a feeling you'd go anyway." "No, we'll stay here." "Are you sure?" "Yeah, we can be around campus right?" "Yeah, sure, besides Professor X is taking care of it, but I figured you should know." I nodded, and as he left, I shut the door. *Rogue's POV* He turned around, and grabbed my hand, "Lets go." "Where are we going?" "Around," We walked, and talked for a while, and he ended up chasing me around campus. He finally managed to pick me up, and carry me to the Dormitory. He tossed me onto the bed, and I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe. Once I caught my breath, I looked at him, and got up. I smiled, and he kissed me. He pulled the chopsticks carefully out of my hair, letting it fall. He unfastened my cloak, and it fell in a puddle of black around me. I knew where this was leading, my head was screaming NO! YOU IDIOT! My heart was saying yes, I didn't know what to do. I tried to be sensible. But my head was spinning. I thought about it as best as I could, from all I remembered anyone teaching me. First rule, he had to have a condom, I wasn't that stupid. Then a question rang in my head that I hadn't thought of before. "Does he love you?" Oh, god, I don't know! I answered in my head. He stopped, and looked at me. Then I knew I remembered his face. "Logan?" I asked. "You found me out." "Why didn't you tell me who you were?" "I don't know, I guess I wanted you to remember first." I'd known him since middle school. "When I heard I had to get you from New Zealand, I was so excited, then I thought you wouldn't remember me." "Do you promise not to hurt me?" "Rogue, I would never do anything to hurt you. Never," It was Logan, I even remember his embrace, eventhough it was way better. I remembered his scent too, aside from the Adidas. I put my hair behind my ears, and fixed my shirt. Was I in love with him, or just intoxicated with the fact I could actually be with him, and he just so happened to be Logan, the guy I'd been trying to ask out for years, but lost him in the move? I couldn't let him slip away again. I fell into his embrace, it seemed better then before, maybe it was the anticipation, or the fact of all this being true, I knew I was in love with him, I didn't care if I was crazy, I wanted him to take me in his arms, and never let me go. Nothing happened that night, like I thought. I was kind of glad though, and nervous, I'd never even have been that far with a guy before, I personally thought I was rushing it. When I woke up the next morning, Wolverene was gone, but he left a note. "Professor X called us out, I'll be back in a while. Don't get into too much trouble. Love, Logan

Little did I know someone was watching me from the other end. *Mistique's POV* "So that's Rogue then?" She asked Magneto, watching her through a hazy crystal ball. "She's grown into a fine young woman." She said honestly. "Yes, but I can't wait to get a hold of that boyfriend of hers." He added. "You aren't touching him." She hissed. "Want to do it yourself then?" "No, I'm doing it for Rogue." "Rogue? But she's a Mutant, you can't side with them, besides they would think you'd betray them." "I'm doing it because,..." She faltered. "Because she's my daughter." Magneto spluttered the coffee he was drinking. "Run that by again?" "She's my daughter." She said slightly steadier. "How?" He asked. She posesses the power her father had, taking their energy. I didn't know what to do, so I put her up for foster care when she was one and a half. Honestly I was afraid of her, I couldn't touch her. She's still untouchable, too untouchable." "Exavier's got a close eye on her too. Besides, even if we could touch her, her boyfriend would tear you limb from limb." "He knows the truth, how Rogue came to be. He knows that Rouge's father raped me, because he could've killed me with his touch, but only if I didn't give him what he wanted. He was an evil man. I never even knew his name, he vanished, not that he would've given it to me, but Rogue doesn't even know who he is." Magneto had a broad grin on his face. "That was years ago though, I'd say-" She stopped dead looking at Magneto in horror. "How long ago did you say? One hundred years maybe? Yes, thats right, I remember, and you do know how I remember don't you?" "You bastard!" She said on the verge of tears. "That's right, Rogue's my daughter too." He gripped her hands, and she fell back out of the chair, twisting madly, and choking, as his twisted laughter filled the scilence. *Rouge's POV* I went, and got breakfast for the first time, the cafetiria was rather nice, they had anything you could ever think of. I went ahead, and had myself a huge bowl of cereal, and some eggs. I broke the yokes with my toast boredly gazing out the window, when someone sat in front of me, she had white hair, and dark skin, it was none other then Storm. "Wolverene's been looking for you." "Has he? How did it go?" "We didn't figure a think out actually." She replied pensively. "There were no clues, no person, but there was a very befuddled person, which in a sense was kind of good because he had no idea what happened, and we don't want the public finding us out now do we?" "No. Wouldn't they kill us?" I asked. "Actually they might, normal people are really afraid of the things they can't understand. Which really amazes me. Why can't they just have the initative to understand us. It's kind of like that whole White Tiger thing." "Uh, yeah, like that." I agreed uncertainly. "But then again, I like being kind of mystical to the public eye, I love the sparkle of fascination they get in their eyes when they look at you. It makes you feel, almost supirior to them, knowing about a whole other world that they will never know about. I've heard some people know, but they think the people that know about us are just a bunch of crazy old loons. I think it just hilarious sometimes. How ignorant people can possibly be." I nodded. "But won't those people try and find us, I mean what if they get proof?" "Proof? Honey, they could never get proof, Professor X has this place deadbolted to the human eye. They can see the institue, but they can't see us, so they think the place is haunted. Its really great I think they're so gullible. Ghosts! ha!