**Hope you enjoy it. This is my first attempts at writing an entire story.

**Also I edited it some more, so there are a 'few' minor changes. Nothing big.

Harmless Flirting

Chapter One- Late Night Street Fights

"Speech"

/Telepathy/

Thoughts or Other Language

It was a cool, dark night. The sky was black and the streets were dead with silence. Jean-Luc Lebeau cruised down the streets of New Orleans in his black Mercedes-Benz. He was on his way home from another late night meeting between the guilds. These meetings were beginning to become a constant nuisance. He peered out his window at the nightclub across the street. Even into the early hours of the morning, the club was still at full blast. 'Well it's good to know I'm not de only one awake at dis ungodly hour.' Jean-Luc thought to himself. He was more than sick and tired of these late night meetings between the guilds and only prayed that Mattie had some food waiting for him. As he slowly made his way down the deserted streets, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Down at the end of the street was a young girl running full speed into a dark alley. Not too far behind her came three exceptionally large men dashing to catch up with her. 'Merde' Jean-Luc thought. He immediately braked his car and ran into the alley after them. As soon as he caught up with them, one of the thugs went flying through the air and landed painfully onto the concrete ground in front of him.

"Come any closer and ya'll be getting' the same thang he got"

Jean-Luc lifted his head towards the sweet southern voice. Even through the darkness he could see her. She must not have been any older than twenty. The woman had long, thick auburn hair that was tied up into a loose ponytail. But what stood out the most about her were the two strands of platinum white hair that framed her angelic face. Jean-Luc stood to the side to observe the girl, but was prepared to defend her if it became necessary.

"Oh you're going to pay for what you did. Don't think it's going to be so easy to take us out," growled one of the large men.

Jean-Luc watched as the man charged the girl full speed. He repeatedly threw his fists into the air hoping to strike the girl, but she seemed to have blocked every one of his feeble attempts. His movements were uncoordinated and unbalanced; signs that he could be intoxicated. Just as the drunk went to strike her again, she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her, ramming her knee into his stomach. He fell to the ground clutching his stomach. Before the fallen man could even attempt to look up at the girl, she kicked him hard in the face. The man hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. Jean-Luc could hear the crack as the man's head hit the concrete, knocking him unconscious. The girl blew a hair out of her face and got back into her defensive stance.

"Two down and one ta go. Do yah wanna join them?" she asked the remaining man with a smirk.

The man picked up a pipe from the ground and raced towards her preparing to strike. She easily dodged out of the way, and bent to trip him. On his way down his foot hooked into hers, and brought her down on top him. Her cheek grazed past his for a brief second, causing them to scream out in agony. Jean-Luc stood there frozen.

"Mon Dieu…" he whispered to himself as he moved out from his hidden spot..

The young girl looked up at Jean-Luc. Her emerald green eyes filled with pain and agony. Their eyes locked for a brief second before she passed out on top of the unconscious man.

-oOo-

As the morning light peered in through the curtains, it settled on the young girl who laid motionless in bed. The sudden bright light caused her to awaken from her heavy slumber and a yawn to escape her lips. The young girl raised her arms above her head and stretched out across the bed. 'Ow! Damn does my head kill. What the hell happened ta me?' she thought to herself. After a couple seconds of pondering her eyes shot open. All the events of the night before came pouring in from her memory. The bar, the chasing, the fight and the pain. The girl clutched her head as memories from her attacker poured into her mind. The dirty bar. The drinking and smoking. The fight in the alley. The pain from her mutant powers. She lay there for a brief moment until her headache passed, trying to shove the grubby man's thoughts into a far corner of her mind. After relaxing for a few more minutes, she sat up and swung her legs off the bed. Her eyes travelled around the unknown room.

"Where th' hell am Ah!?!"

"I'd be more than happy to answer any of your questions child, but may I ask you to refrain from shouting," a voice said from behind her. The girl instantly jumped up off of the bed and took a defensive stance. She was prepared to fight, even with her massive headache. Her so-called attacker was an old tanned woman. She was wearing an apron and had her grey hair tied up in a neat bun. "There's no need for dat. I'm only here to tell you that breakfast is ready." The older woman said with a warm smile.

"Who are yah and what do yah want wit meh?"

"My name's Mattie, but feel free to call me Tante Mattie. And you are in the house of Jean-Luc Lebeau. He's the one that found you unconscious last night."

The girl stared at the woman in disbelief. "Ah have ta go," she said as she tried to step towards the door, but as soon as she did she felt a sharp surge of pain run through her head again. She fell back onto the mattress, clutching her forehead. 'Or not.'

"You really should lay down. I'll go fetch you some water and Advil. Hopefully that will take away some of the pain. Maybe then, you can try to eat somethin'." The older woman gave one more comforting smile before exiting the room.

Not wanting to be left alone in a house she had no knowledge of, she sucked up the pain and went out in search of the older woman. She traveled down the long and narrow halls gazing at the pictures that hung along it. There were portraits of old men and old women, even family photos. Judging by their wardrobes most of these pictures must have been taken an extremely long time ago. 'This place must be pretty old,' she thought to herself. She travelled to the end of the hallway, where she reached the grand staircase. She descended down the red carpeted staircase, admiring the enormous crystal chandler along the way down. 'Ah don't know if ah should be happy or freaked out ta be in a place lahke this. This place seems almost surreal '. She followed the sound of running water and found Tante Mattie over the kitchen sink.

"Hello child. I'm glad you decided to come downstairs. I have your Advil and water on the counter over there."

"Ummm... thank yah," she said as she walked over to it and downed the pill and water.

"So, do you mind if I ask what your name is and how old you are? We didn't find anything to identify you, so we decided to wait till you woke up." The girl eyed the woman suspiciously. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm not going to make you. It would be nice to have a name to call you by though," She said giving the girl a heart-warming smile.

'Lahke ah'm gonna tell her mah real name.' she thought "Yah can call meh Rogue and ah'm nineteen. "

"You're so young. What were you doing out there all by yourself?" Rogue started to shift alot and Mattie could tell the question had made her uncomfortable.

"So… is it just yah and Mr. Lebeau in this enormous house?"

"Well there used to be a lot more of us, but now mostly everyone has left. Jean-Luc has two sons, Henri and Remy. Henri is married and lives with his wife Mercy, and Remy is off on some trip and should be returning in a couple of days."

At that moment, Jean-Luc entered through the kitchen door carrying a newspaper under his arms. "I see our guest had awakened. I trust you slept well?" He asked her while taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Lahke the dead," she mumbled to herself. Jean-Luc gave her a disapproving glance before returning to his paper. Rogue studied the older man. He didn't look very young but not too old either. He was dressed in a striped grey suit and wore black loafers on his feet. 'So this is the guy who found meh. A businessman? Interesting.'

"So have you decided how long you plan on staying with us…" he asked, unsure of a name to call her by.

"It's Rogue, and not very long at all. Ah plan on leavin' shortly after breakfast."

"What! So soon?" Mattie asked.

"Yeah, Ah really should get goin'. Ah've extended mah welcome longer than necessary."

"Do you have anywhere to stay? Or money?" Jean-Luc inquired.

"Well no not exactly, but ah'll…"

"Nonsense, you will be staying here for the time being. Until we can reach one of your parents." Mattie interrupted.

"Ha, Ah'll do a tap dance for yah if yah can find one of mah parents that give a damn about meh"

Jean-Luc gave her another disapproving look. "So where were you coming from?"

"Mississippi, Ah left home shortly after school ended," Rogue explained.

"Well I won't take no for an answer. You're staying with us for the time being. No ands, ifs or buts about it." Tante Mattie said firmly.

"Plus if it makes you feel any better, you can earn your stay here. I could always find something for you to do to help out." Jean-Luc proposed.

Rogue just stood there for a while, thinking over the offer. 'Well it sounds very reasonable, but can ah really trust these people. Ah just met them. Remember what Momma always said. Ah shouldn't let mah guard down with anyone.'

"You don't have to answer now child. You can come tell us whenever you've decided." Mattie said with a reassuring smile.

"Ah'll think about it."

"Good. Well I'm off to work. Do have a nice day Rogue" Jean-Luc said gathering his newspaper and started heading towards the door. When he reached Rogue he gave her a simple nod before heading out.

"By the way Tante Mattie, ah kinda forgot ta tell yah that ah'm a mutant. And if that's a problem, ah understand. Ah can leave."

"That's no problem at all dear. We already knew. Jean-Luc figured it out when he witnessed you fighting. His son Remy is a mutant also."

"Oh." Rogue said blankly.

Tante Mattie wiped off her wet hands on her apron and looked up at Rogue, giving her another smile. "So let's get you settled in, shall we?"

-xXx-

Translations:

Merde- Shit

Mon Dieu- My God

**So what did you guys think??? Review and comment so I know whether this is hit or miss