One-shot story that was sort of inspired by the song, "Hello" by Evanescence. Supposedly set years after the series, though there's no real indication of that. Some elements of the movie, including the city Westchester and the use of Rogue's real name.
X-Men Evolution and characters copyright Warner Brothers and Marvel Comics. Used without permission with no intent to sell.
The Consequence
playground school bell rings again
Kitty made the long walk back to the parking lot of the high school, adjusting her heavy backpack so it'd stop digging into her skin. Being a senior sucked.
She nearly avoided a group of boys on skateboards, grumbling her indignant remarks under her breath as she watched them skate past, completely ignorant of their surroundings.
She used to be like that. Not a care in the world, enjoying life as a ditzy teenager.
Then her body decided it was time to start phasing through walls, mutants became the focus of human hatred, and Murphy decided to shove his rule down her throat to deal with on a daily basis. She wondered if, maybe in a past life, she'd somehow managed to piss the theorist off enough to warrant his treacherous hypothesis.
Because, as far as she was concerned, everything that could go wrong definitely had.
Making it to the parking lot, she found her small car among the dozens of giant trucks and threw her backpack into the trunk. Well, she lugged it into the trunk, because she wasn't quite strong enough to throw something that probably weighed more than her.
As she shut her trunk she gasped and jumped upon seeing Kurt leaning against the side of her car. His holograph was on, making him appear "normal" to the other students of Bayville High.
Kitty hated it. Kurt should've been allowed to walk around without fear of his true appearance, and others' reactions to it. It just wasn't fair.
"Didn't mean to startle you," he said. His voice had been lacking its usual playfulness Kitty had always loved.
She shrugged off his apology. "S'ok. Want a ride home?" she smiled at him, feigning innocence.
"Uh-uh, it's my turn!" he exclaimed, reaching for the keys. Surprise became etched on his face, however, when his hand went right through them. "Hey, no vair!"
Kitty laughed, enjoying the little bit of fun they could have here, away from the mansion. She let Kurt try to grab the keys a few more times before melodramatically rolling her eyes and unphasing them, handing them over. "Fine, fine."
He gave her a smirk but grabbed her wrist before she could walk around to the passenger-side door. He pulled her back to him, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling his nose next to hers.
His holograph might have hid his true form, but Kitty could feel his invisible tail wrap around her legs. She smiled and kissed him tenderly.
A lot of things had changed in the past couple years. As they broke the kiss and Kitty made her way around the car, she caught a glimpse of the billboard across the street.
It said, "Mutant Registration: Protect Your Loved Ones from the Dangers of this World!" Below the headline was a hotline number, as well as a website.
Kitty sighed.
rain clouds come to play again
As Kurt parked the car on the long gravel driveway leading to the mansion, the light atmosphere between the two settled deeply into a more somber mood.
Kitty looked around the perimeter, unable to see anyone out and about. She wasn't surprised.
The Mutant Registration Act that had passed last year had made many students return home, their parents fearing that they'd get discovered and be forced to register.
Registration was like painting a bull's-eye on your forehead, and there wasn't a day that went by that Kitty didn't hear about some poor mutant that was killed by haters who had access to what was supposed to be private government files.
Those who had remained behind at the school either were very brave or had nowhere else to go.
For Kitty and Kurt, it was the latter.
As they exited the car Kurt went around to the trunk and grabbed Kitty's backpack for her. Kitty smiled at him, silently thanking him, and looked up at the sky when the distant roar of thunder met her ears.
It had been raining a lot in Westchester lately, and it wasn't because of some front. Storm's moods affected her surroundings, and she hadn't been trying very hard to control them as of late.
She had recently lost Spike to mutant haters.
Tears began to well up at the memory, and Kitty quickly wiped them away before Kurt walked up next to her. Together they made their way inside the large wooden door leading to the entryway, only quickening their pace when the rain finally began to fall.
has no one told you she's not breathing?
As they did everyday after school, Kurt and Kitty dropped their backpacks off in the library before making their way to the elevator, masked as part of the wall of the long hallway.
It dinged and silently opened, allowing both entry inside. Kurt pushed one of the buttons on the side panel, sending the elevator down.
Neither said a word to each other.
As the elevator dinged again and the doors opened, both made their way out into the sterile hallway. Up ahead Kitty could see Hank hunched over a microscope, busily glancing through the binoculars and scribbling notes into a journal. He looked up when they entered the glass room.
"Hello Kitty, Kurt," he said politely.
Kurt nodded to Hank but did not stop as Kitty did. He continued through the room, entering another glass room across the way. Kitty looked on, crossing her arms over herself from the chill that seemed to be always present in the medbay.
"No change?" she asked Hank, already knowing the answer.
Hank shook his head, watching Kurt in the next room sadly.
Kitty followed his gaze, swallowing hard as Kurt walked up next to the hospital bed, grasping his sister's hand in his own. He was himself now, as he had turned off his holograph as soon as he had entered the mansion and was away from prying eyes.
Rogue showed no sign of Kurt's presence next to her. The only residual sound Kitty could hear through the plate glass was the whooshing sound of the ventilation machine, currently breathing for her.
Some months ago Rogue had been taken, a victim of the Mutant Registration Act. Her power had intrigued scientists, and her inability to control it had made her the victim of countless experiments.
When the X-Men had finally found her, she had been a ghost of her former self, unable to comprehend who she was with the amount of personalities and thoughts of others swimming through her head.
The Professor had had to shut her mind off when she began attacking them.
He had not been able to wake her back up.
Kitty watched Kurt's mouth move as he talked to his sister, knowing he was telling her about his day, like he always did. He did not need gloves to touch her anymore; whatever had happened during those six weeks she'd been missing, they or she had found a way to finally shut off her skin.
"Any messages?" Hank asked Kitty, causing her to tear her eyes away from the solemn scene. She glanced at him, shaking her head.
He was referring to Logan, who was trying to find more information on what they had done to Rogue. He'd been gone for almost a month now, half as long as they'd had Rogue back.
If anyone cared more for Rogue than Kurt, it was him.
hello
i'm your mind giving you someone to talk to
hello
She wondered if Rogue was even still alive. The EEG told Hank and the Professor that she was brain dead, and she couldn't even breathe on her own after the Professor had locked away all the personalities she had absorbed.
Kitty wondered if the people she absorbed during the experiments had managed to kill Rogue, at least on the inside.
Kitty didn't like that thought, however, and shoved it away as Kurt came back through the doors.
Her eyes lingered on Rogue's still form as they left Hank to his research. If she ever did wake up, she'd have a lot to face.
Mystique was a part of the X-Men, now.
if i smile and don't believe
soon i know i'll wake from this dream
Rogue had been in this silence for far too long.
The blackness seemed to always encompass her, and there was no up, down, left or right to tell her where to go.
She could sometimes here the Professor calling out to her, but more often than not she'd come face to face with one of the people she'd been forced to absorb.
And they were always vengeful.
There'd come a point when she had absorbed so many she couldn't find a way to control her body anymore. It was like she was in a dream, unable to wake and see the world around her. They had imprisoned her here, inside the darkest, deepest recesses of her mind.
She would walk around, never finding an end to her cell, but always still in the same place as before.
She was glad she wasn't claustrophobic.
Sometimes she'd feel a presence, but could never figure out where it was coming from.
She was so tired here. When she'd sleep she have no recollection of waking, or how much time had passed. She started to wonder if she was alive anymore.
Was this what being dead was like?
Soon she started to see the Professor appear. He walked to her, but he was so far away that she couldn't meet up with him. She called for him, but she couldn't hear if he responded.
But every time he materialized, more and more of the people she touched would come into her sanctuary, attacking her.
They'd tell her she was dead, and that they were her demons—she had killed them, after all. They'd bombard her with broken memories of all her worst regrets and fears, so much so that she'd beg them to leave her alone.
Eventually they would, letting the solitude of the blackness encompass her like a warm blanket. She began to cherish the silence and the void of thoughts she had more and more of as she began to sleep for longer periods of time.
don't try to fix me i'm not broken
When the Professor came back, she yelled at him to leave her alone. He had been closer this time and had told her that she could control them now—he had been able to wipe most of the personalities away.
He was lying, she knew it. She screamed at him, told him to get away from her corner of the world—she was happy here.
No worries, no fears, no nothing.
Just silence.
hello
i'm the lie living for you so you can hide
He told her she was needed in the real world, but she didn't believe him. What could she do to help anyone? All she did was hurt people. The other personalities had stopped coming to her inside her mind, but she could still feel them there, threatening her to stay or face their wrath.
Her demons, in every sense of the word.
This was the real world, for her. There was nothing better than being alone, never having to worry about anything. She started to forget what the real world was.
Where had she come from?
Who was the man that kept invading her space?
Who was she?
Another man came to her. He was strong and younger than the man before him. Said he loved her.
What was love?
He said he missed her—it was safe for her to come back.
Back from where?
He said he'd take care of her.
She was too afraid to speak to him. He was very strong inside her mind, and she thought that perhaps he was trying to take over her sanctuary.
So she ran further into the blackness, away from him.
She could hear him call after her, begging her to stay. Come back.
He called her Marie.
don't cry
The older man came back this time. He told her that this was not what her life was supposed to be like. There was so much more out there for her to experience.
He asked her if she was interested in where he had come from.
suddenly i know i'm not sleeping
He made her suddenly remember things. She was Marie, also Rogue. She was an X-Man. All these thoughts came swirling back to her, and she started to wonder how she could've ever forgotten.
Logan had visited her in her mind, with the Professor's help. He was hers, and she his. And she had forgotten it all.
The fear of what she had left began to well up inside of her. She screamed at the Professor, begging him to get her out of the silence—it was so hypnotizing.
He told her to come to him, and that he'd help her. She agreed, running towards him, desperate to leave the place that made her forget.
But as much as she ran, she could not catch up with the older man. He was always so far away, never closer, never farther.
He cried out for her to try harder. She did.
And then he was gone.
hello
i'm still here
She screamed for him, screamed for Logan. Why'd they leave her? She wanted out so bad now. She remembered, and being trapped in the darkness with these memories was worse than not feeling anything at all.
What had happened?
She kept running in the direction she thought the Professor had gone, but he never reappeared.
She slowed to a walk, eventually. She didn't know what to do anymore.
If she couldn't leave this place, she didn't want to remember.
The all encompassing darkness began to beckon her. She grew tired again, her memories becoming more and more vague. Time to sleep. Sleep always made things better. Right?
Wherever she was, whatever this was, it didn't matter anymore.
It was all she knew.
all that's left of yesterday