Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine... Never will be. Too bad, so sad... Life goes on.

Rating: PG 13( language)

Characters: Rogue/Bobby, Remy, Jubilee, Kitty, Professor Xavier, St. John, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Logan _____________________________________________________________________

Part 1

Rogue gently took the old dog tags off her neck. She stared at them longingly. She opened the wooden box carefully and placed the necklace inside, " Ah'm sorry Logan, but Ah can't wait any more. Ya aren't comin' back. Ah know that now." she said to herself quietly, " Five years is too long to be alone." a tear rolled down Rogue's cheek.

There was a faint sound of teenaged laughter down the hall, becoming louder as the teenagers got closer. There was a slight knock on the door. The door opened and Rogue was greeted by her friends, " Hey Rogue? Are you coming or not?" an excited Asian girl asked.

Rogue wiped the tear off her cheek and put a smile on her face, " Ah'll be down in a sec. Y'all think ya can wait that long?"

" Ok, but I'm only waiting a second!" the group walked away.

Rogue closed the box and locked it. She placed the key in a vase she put dried flowers in and sighed. She stared at the box one last time and placed it under her bed. She walked out the door and ran down the stairs and into the garage. She was greeted by a gang of mutant teenagers.

" Finally! Jeeze! Now let's go!" the Asian girl, also known as Jubilee whined.

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Part 2

The movie theater was packed. People were starting to sit in the aisle, " Ah sure am glad we got here early." Rogue commented.

" Yeah! And if you weren't ready like, a minute earlier, we would've been sitting in the aisle!" Jubilee remarked.

Rogue smiled then frowned slightly, " Are you OK Rogue? You haven't really been much like yourself lately." Bobby Drake, Rogues best friend asked worriedly.

" And when have Ah ever been mahself? Sometimes Ah don't even really know who the real me is! Ah've got so many people in my head it's almost like Ah don't really exist." Rogue sighed angrily.

" Don' tink dat way chere! Dere's a Rogue up dere somewhere. You jus' need to concentrate to find it." Remy Lebeau, the newest member of the group stated.

" Yeah!" Kitty Pryde chipped in, " You're you right now. Those other people can't just take over! Can they?"

" How do ya know that this is me?! Ah mean, it could be anybody! It could be Magneto, or Ms. Marvel, David,"Rogue stopped, sighed and looked over at Remy," It could be you Remy, or maybe even... maybe even..." Rogue struggled with the name, " Or Logan. There are so many more and Ah sure don' know who ah am, so how can you?"

" Rogue, I've known you since before most of those other people got in there." Bobby pleaded, " I know the real you."

" Besides, I'm pretty sure dat ain't me in dere chere. I'm right here!" Remy laughed.

Rogue's eyes teared over, " Listen y'all, let's just enjoy the rest of the night. Ah don' wan' ta talk 'bout this anymore." she turned to stare at the screen just as the movie began. The rest of the group turned to look at each other. Bobby sighed and put his arm around Rogue, careful not to touch any skin. She flinched skightly.

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Part 3

" Professer Xavier?" Bobby knocked on the large office doors the next morning.

" Come in Bobby." the professer invited him in.

" I'm worried about Rogue... but you probably already knew that." the professer nodded," It's probably also no secret that I care about her, a lot, and I just don't want her to do anythimg supid."

" I understand. You're not the only one today who's come to see me about her. I also feel the confusion in Rogue's mind. It's filled with all sorts of painful memories some of which are hard to determine whether or not they're hers. Many of them are filled with pain, anger, confusion, hate for ones self, but the most powerful is sadness. She feels alone in the world. That is understandible."

" But she's not alone! She has me! She has all of us!" Bobby argued.

" Hmm, that might be so, but imagine seeing the fun you all have. You can horse around, touch. The only people who she has ever cared for and touched have been seriously hurt, killed, or have even left and she blames it on herself. Touch is something Rogue does not have. Something that she would kill for."

Bobby sighed, " I think you're right. There has to be something that I can do!"

" Maybe you're right, but that is something that you have to figure out by yourself."

" Thanks for the help professer." Bobby said before he left the room.

"Hey Bobby what's up?" St. John asked when he noticed his friend walking down the hall.

" John, can you help me get the others? Just not Rogue, and meet me in the game room. Got it?" John nodded and ran up the stairs.

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Part 4

Rogue lay silently on her bed. The wooden box by her side, un-opened. Logan, where are ya? Ya haven't written or called. Ah can feel it in mah mind. Ya aren't coming back and it hurts. What can Ah do ta make ya come back? Maybe not ta me, but ta the others. You could be an X-Man! Ah felt the thrill ya got when ya saved me. Rogue sat up. The room was quiet for the first time in a long time. Rogue sighed. " Maybe that's a good sign. Maybe they've decided ta leave me alone. Ah guess it's best that Ah don't get too close to anyone." tears welled up in her eyes, " Ah don't wanna hurt any of 'em."

The door swung open and in came Jubilee. She took one look at Rogue's red eyes and knew something was wrong, " Rogue what is it?"

" Nothin'. There's nothin' wrong at all." Rogue wiped her eyes.

" Listen Rogue! There is something wrong! Tell me what!" tears streamed down her face as well, " There are so many people in this school who love and care for you Rogue. I know you don't want to believe that, but people can't help but love you."

" Y'all don't know me! Ya never will! How can y'all love someone you don't know?!" Rogue broke down in sobs. Jubilee tried to comfort her friend by placing an arm around her shoulder, " Don't touch me!" the arm jerked off.

" I was just..." Jubilee began.

" Ah'm tired of all this! Just get out Jubilee. Ah wanna be alone right now." Rogue sobbed.

Jubilee got up, gave Rogue one last glance and walked out of the door.

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Part 5

" Jubes what's wrong?" Bobby asked, concerned with his crying friend.

" This is bad guys... really bad!" Jubilee gasped through sobs.

" What's bad petit?" Remy asked putting an arm around Jubilee's shoulder.

" It's Rogue. She's drifting away from us." Jubilees said when she finally calmed down.

" I know." Bobby said flatly.

" Den we pull her back." Remy said, removing his arm from Jubilee's shoulder. He took a deck of playing cards from out of his pocket and began to shuffle them.

" It's not that easy." Bobby sighed, " The professer said that she was confused. Confused about who she is, about who she was and who she will become. He also said that she was sad. And lonely."

" But she's not alone! She has us! She'll always have us!" Kitty argued.

" That's what I said. The professer told me that, that wasn't the only reason she was sad. She sees us, touching. She wants that. She wants to be touched without hurting anybody." I want to touch her. Bobby thought silently.

" She's lonely." John decided, " She has been ever since Logan left."

" Dat bastard! Leaving her like dat!" the card Remy was holding glowed a bright red.

That's it! She misses Logan! Bobby sudenly realized that his palms were becoming ice cold. Anger seared through his mind. He yelled in rage, " When I get my hands on that SOB I'm going to freeze him from the inside out! How could he have left her like that!?"

" Take it easy there ice boy! We don't want you to turn this place into a freezer!" John said trying to calm Bobby down. He suddenly realized that he had been forming fire balls in each of his hands. He threw them out an open window into the school pond, " Listen," he began, calming his own shaky voice, " We all care about Rogue a lot. It's normal that this would bother us so much, but what can we do? We should leave this to the professor and the other X-Men. They'll know what to do."

" I think John's right. Maybe we should tell someone besides the professor what's going on." Kitty suggested.

" Weird! Kitty, actually agreeing with John! This is definitely a serious conversation we're having here!" mr. Summers, aka Cyclops exclaimed as he picked up on the conversation. The students glared at Cyclops. His expression grew somber when he noticed Jubilee's tear streaked face, " What's going on?"

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Part 6

Once the story was explained, Cyclops ran up to the girls room to check on Rogue. He knocked on the door lightly. There was no answer. He knocked a little louder. Still no answer. He tried to open the door. It was locked. " Rogue, let me in!" there was no answer. He sighed, " I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to do this." he turned on his visor and blast open the door. Even after the explosion, there was no sound. "Rogue?" Cyclops asked an empty room. He ran over to the bed. There was a note on her pillow:

Y'all have been the only real friends I've ever known. I do love all of you very much and that's why I can't stay. Every time I get close to someone I hurt them. I can't do that to any of you. It's better this way. Your lives will be better off without me. I'll love you all forever,

Rogue

P.S. Don't y'all worry about me. I'll be fine. I promise.

" Shit." Cyclops muttered. He brought the note down to the students and handed it to Bobby who was pacing around the game room. Bobby read the note out loud and carefully placed it in his pocket.

The girls began crying, " Oh God Rogue! What are you doing?" Jubilee whispered.

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Part 7

Logan,

It's because of you that I'm doing this. I can't stand you being in my head anymore! I don't want to see your nightmares! I don't want to hear what you're thinking about! I am tired of it all! I am tired of listening to all the people in my head. You've missed a lot Logan. I was going to graduate this year! Become an X-Man with Bobby and the others. You weren't even going to come to my graduation were you? You never write or call! The only way I know you're still alive is through my mind! You promised to take care of me! You weren't taking care of me when I touched Ms. Mavel, or when I kissed Remy were you? Did you even know how scared I was when I thought I had killed Remy? Do you even know who Remy is? Of course not! You weren't here.

Rogue

The note was placed in the wooden box next to the dog tags.

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Part 7

The road was just as she had remembered it. Loneliness swept over her as she remembered the last time she was on her own. Only that time she wasn't by herself. She had Logan with her. Even if he didn't want her there at first. Rogue didn't know what had posessed her to go back to Canada, but she did. Perhaps it was the hope of bumping into Logan again, but she hitched a ride from two grease-monkeys.

" Where ya heading sweet thang?" one of the men asked.

" Canada. Are y'all headin' up that way?" she asked in her sweetest southern voice.

" Well, we are now. Need a ride?" said the other man.

" It it's not too much trouble." Rogue got into the back, " There's just one thing Ah have to tell you. Touch me at all and you'll be sorry you ever lived. If you even live at all." a little bit of Logan swept through her mind when she said that.

" Sure thing babe. No touching."

Rogue glanced around the back seat of the car. There were stacks of old newspapers, a six pack of beer and a black box, " Hey, do y'all mind if Ah have a beer?"

" Not at all! Help yerself." one man said.

Rogue took a beer, it was another habit she had gotten from Logan. She glanced over at the black box, ot was probably filled with drugs. Just then, the two men looked at each other and nodded. The man driving swerved to the right and pulled over, " First things first sweets, we don't take orders from little girls." he sneered. Rogue smiled slightly. They had no clue what they were getting themselves in to.

" Now, now, Ah wouldn't want y'all to do somethin' ya might regret." she stated matter of factly. The other man laughed.

" Those are mighty big words for such a small thing!" he laughed. He got out of the car and opened her door. The other man followed. When the door was opened, Rogue flew out, grabbed both men by the collar and lifted them high above the ground.

" Ah guess Ah forgot to mention that Ah'm no ordinary girl." she placed the two men firmly on the ground and pinned them both to the car with one hand, With the other hand, she removed her glove, " Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way."

Shakily, one man asked, " And what might the hard way be? Mutant."

" Well, let's find out." she touched the man on the cheek and braced herself for the flood of memories. She felt sick when a purple haze clouded her mind. This man had been heavily on drugs. She released her grip and let the man slump to the ground. She hadn't killed him, that was one of the things she had learned at Xavier's... to control her powers, "Who's next?" she asked sweetly.

" Leave me alone! Please! Don't hurt me!" the other man wept like a baby. She smiled and threw him towards the woods. She took the other man and threw him too. Then, she got in the car and removed all of their things, the newspapers, the beer and the black case which she was now positive contained drugs. She began to drive. She knew that the professor would probably be putting on Cerebro to try and find her, like he had once before and decided to get far away from Westchester New York. Far away from the school, far away from people she could hurt and far away from her new life.

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Part 8

Cyclops, Storm, Jean and the professor had taken Bobby down to a room Bobby didn't even know existed. It was completely white, with steel doors, " Where are we?" he asked.

" Wecome to Cerebro Bobby. We're going to try and find Rogue with it. We've done it before and it worked. It might work again." Jean said warmly.

Bobby watched as the professor entered a very round room. He placed a helmet on his head and the doors closed.

A few minutes later, the professor came out, " Well? Did you find her?" Bobby asked nervously.



" Yes. She's driving along a deserted road in an unknown car." he began, "I'm not sure where she is going. I also know that she has touched someone. Her mind is cloudy so, I will assume it was someone on drugs. He was obviously touched for self defence, and wasn't killed. Storm and I will go in one car, Jean and Cyclops will go in another. Bobby, you will go in another."

" Thank you professor." Bobby felt a wave of nausea. He was going alone... in one of the X-Men cars to find Rogue. It would be his first, and hopefully not last, real X-Man mission. The professor nodded.

" Come on, I'll get you a uniform." Cyclops said. Bobby followed obediently. He was taken into another room he had never seen before. This one was also white. It had glass cases containing leather X-Men uniforms. Cyclops open one of the cases and handed the uniform to Bobby, " Can you use your power through gloves?" he asked. Bobby nodded, affraid to speak. " Good. Then you have learned something useful here!" he smiled slightly. Bobby grinned. He had always been known as the class clown, especially in Mr. Summers' boring classes, and he didn't alays get the best grades. However, ever scince he had come to Xavier's School For the Gifted, he had learned how to control his "gift" as Xavier put it, under all circumstances.

After he put on his uniform, Cyclops took him down to the basement of the school. He hadn't even known there was a basement! In the basement, there were cars of all sorts, a motorcycle and an enormous black jet. Jean and Storm, also in black X-Men uniforms, along with the professor were waiting. Bobby was amazed, " How come I didn't know about all this?"

" Hmm... Let a bunch of roudy, mutant teenagers come down to the basement, where there is extremely expensive equipement? Sounds like a great idea to me doesn't it?" Cyclops joked.

" Good point." Bobby smiled.

" Ok, first of all, I'm going to give you this," Jean said, handing Bobby what looked like a hands free phone, " This will keep you connected with us at all times. Also, me or the professor will always, in some way, be connected with you. If you need anything at all, or if you see anything just talk into the mouth piece. If there's no answer, try to picture it in your mind. Got it?"

" Got it." Bobby said, while securing the device in his ear.

" Good. Heres the key to the car. Yours is right there." she pointed to a black sports car, " There are a few extra things you might not be familiar with, so like I said, just talk into the mouth piece and someone will explain it to you. OK. Here we go!"

Bobby unlocked the car door and got inside. The car smelled new. Bobby felt privileged to be driving such a fine piece of machinery, " I hope I don't screw it up." he whispered under his breath.

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Part 9

Jean was right, there were a lot of features in this car that Bobby wasn't sure about, " Now, where the hell am I supposed to go?" he mumbled.

Just then, Storms voice came through his ear piece, " Alright, Bobby how are you doing?" she asked.

" Great. Just one thing though. Where exactly am I supposed to be going?" Bobby asked.

" Wherever you want!" Storm answered.

Bobby took many winding roads and was beginning to lose hope when he saw a black case on the side of the road. He pulled over and approached the case. He tried to open it but it was locked. He focussed his power on the lock of the box and froze it. Then, he kicked it and the lock shattered into pieces. The box was filled with bags of drugs, " Alright, I guess I am on the right track!" he got back in the car and continued on the road.

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Part 10

Logan sat at the bar, smoking his cigar when he looked up at the small t.v in the corner of the room, " ... It was obviously mutant activity. Said officer McDonald." Logan sighed when he heard that. Everything unexplained was mutant activity lately. Logan stared at the t.v when he noticed a close up of a black case. There were pieces of ice near by. Logan thought for a moment. He remembered Xavier's, there was a boy there that culd make ice. Bobby? He listened carefully to the news report, " Police also said that there were two bodies located in the woods. One was unharmed, but clearly in shock, ' It was a girl, she looked no older then 22. She was wearing a long cloak and had a southern drawl.' The other body was found in a coma." Rogue? What the hell is going on here?

Logan got up, it was time to visit a certain school he had left behind. When he left the beer, a black sports car pulled up. A young man, clad in a leather uniform came out, he brushed his fingers threw his blond hair, clearly distressed. Logan smiled, he remembered the uniform clearly. Just then the boy looked up and saw Logan staring, " Hey!" he called out. Logan could smell anger the anger in him. The boy got closer and Logan recognized his scent immediately.

" So your an X-Man now huh kid?" he growled.

The boy came up to him and snarled, " Don't call me kid."

" Hey. Cool it ice boy! You sure know how to keep a low profile now don't you. I saw your handy work on the news." he grinned.

" Listen, Wolverine." his voice had an edge to it, " You had better get out of my face before I turn you into a human ice berg!"

" Whoa! Been spending way too much time with Ol' one eye have we?" Logan was shocked with this kids attitude, " Or is there something you're not telling me?"

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Part 11

Bobby winced. " What's it to you?" he asked Wolverine.

" If it has something to do with the school, I have a right to know." Logan growled, becoming impatient.

" Why would you care? You haven't been there in five years!" Bobby was becoming more and more angry. He was fighting hard with his powers to keep them under control. Who does he think he is? Asking about the school?!

" Listen Bobby, if you're just going to... Wait. It's Rogue isn't it?" he finally guessed.

Bobby turned around and started towards the car. When Logan had mentionned Rogue, he realized that he was waisting time there. He had to find her. If it was the last thing he'd do, he'd find Rogue.

" Where is she? I saw something on the news, along with your little job. She touched someone didn't she?" Logan's questions were starting to aggrivate him.

Bobby turned around and walked toward Logan, " You don't have a right to know. To me, your nothing but a speck of dust. I really don't know what she saw in you Logan." he spat, " At least I care about her enough not to just walk out on her like that."

At that, Logan growled and picked Bobby up by the neck of his leather uniform, " I didn't have a choice!" suddenly, he seemed to realize what he was doing and dropped Bobby. " I promised her I'd take care of her, so tell me what's going on!" he growled.

Bobby glared at him, then took the folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Logan. Logan read it and growled slightly. He crumpled the paper in his hand. He walked briskly towards a motorcycle, but before he reached it, Bobby froze it, " You're not going on that. Get in." he motionned towards the car, " I'm driving."

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Part 12

" Son of a bitch." Scott breathed as he listened through the ear piece to Bobby's canversation.

" What is it Scott?" Jean asked from beside him.

" He's back." he replied dryly.

" Logan." Jean guessed. Scott nodded.

" Storm. Our neighbourhood wolf is back in town. I'm going to catch up to Bobby." Scott spoke into the mouthpiece.

" I heard. I'll meet you when you stop." she replied.

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Part 13

Rogue sat in the car on the side of the road, near a bridge. She had run out of gas and there didn't seem to be a gas station in sight. She could fly, but she didn't want to be seen by anyone. So, instead she sat in the car and wept silently, " Ah can't take this anymore. Ah just want all of these voices ta go away." she took a deep breath. She got out of the car and walked towards the bridge. She pulled her cloak closer around her. The night air was much colder here.

There were car headlights coming up the road. " Ah'd better make this quick." Rogue sighed and slowly flew up higher and higher. When she got up high enough, she looked down at the water below her. She was high enough to pass out just before she hit the water. That was wgat she wanted though. Just as the car got closer to her, she let go of her flight and began to fall. As she was falling, she heard tires squeal and doors opening. Just before she passed out, she heard a familiar voice cry out, " Rogue no!" and then, blackness.

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Part 14

Rogue's limp body headed towords the water. Rage swelled through Bobby. He had to do something! With all the energy inside him, he leaped to the ledge of the bridge and formed an ice platform. He slid all the way down and caght Rogue just before she hit the water. He let his breath go, realizing he had been holding it all along.

He heard the screech of more tires and made another ice ramp up to the top of the bridge. Scott, Jean and Storm had just pulled up and were getting out of the car, " what happened?" Jean asked anxiously. She noticed an unconscience Rogue, drapped in Bobby's arms, " Put her in your car, we'll go back to the school." she instructed. Bobby obeyed.

Bobby handed the keys to Logan, suddenly feeling exhausted, " You drive this time." he still felt hostile towards Logan, but realized he was too tired to drive.

Back at the mansion, the others were waiting patiently for the X-Men to return. Jubilee began shaking uncontrolably when she saw Rogue, feeling both relieved to see her friend alive, and worried at the same time. Remy ran over to help Bobby with Rogue.

When things began to get back to normal, Kitty came up to Bobby, " So, what was it like? Being an X-Man?"

Bobby smiled, " It was the best thing in the world." he replied, remembering the feeling he had when he had stopped Rogue from falling.

The next night, Jean came in to see Bobby, " She's awake now. You can go in and see her if you want."

Bobby went in the infermery, " Hey!" he said softly.

" Hey! Yourself." she replied softly.

" Logan's back." he felt he should tell her.

" Ah know." she whispered.

" I... I thought you'ld like to know." Bobby became tense, and angry and sad all a the same time, " What were you thinking Rogue! What if I didn't see you up there? What if I had just drove right on by! What if... What if you had died? Then what!"

Tears filled Rogue's eyes, " Please... Ah'm sorry. Ah was just... Ah didn't mean ta hurt anybody. Ah thought your lives would be easier without me ta worry 'bout."

" You thought my life would be easier without you?! Rogue, you're what I live for! I love you! I always have! There, I said it." he sighed.

Rogue was shocked, " Ya love me?" she whispered, " Even if ya can't touch me?"

He smiled, " Even if I can't touch you."

She smiled back, " Thanks. For savin' me. Thanks for bein' there for me. Thanks for lovin' me."

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Part 15

Rogue opened the wooden box and took the dog tags out, " Here Logan," she handed them to Logan, " Ah don't need 'em anymore."

" No, you keep them." Logan tried to hand them back.

" Ah don't need ya to protect me anymore Logan. They're yours." she closed his hand. Ah have all Ah need right here. She glanced over at Bobby and realized that love was forever.