Rogue stood outside the front gates of the impressive mansion that was the home of the X-Men, her enemy. But now she needed their help, or to be more precise, she needed Xavier's help. He was the only one who could help her now, that was, if he ordered his team not to kill her. She was frozen to the spot in her green hooded cloak as the X-Men all stood in front of her, a barrier between her and their home. Their body language making it clear that she would not pass.

They looked absolutely livid, ready to deliver the kill shot at the slightest movement from her. She wanted to run, its what she did best, but knew she couldn't so she stood her ground and tried to force herself to speak. "Ah, ah need ta speak ta Professor Xavier." She managed to stutter out. This seemed to stir up more animosity in the group.

"Why? Ya gonna try and kill him too?" The Wolverine snarled, his adamantium claws glinting dangerously in the remaining sunlight.

Rogue willed back the tears. She hadn't meant to kill Carol Danvers, her hand had literally been forced. But she couldn't live with the furious mutant tearing apart her mind any more. Hell, Rogue had even attempted suicide but found it impossible with Ms. Marvel's powers. So now she was here, seeking the most powerful telepath in the world's help.

"Please." She begged weakly.

"I think you should leave Rogue." Cyclopes, the leader of the X-Men told her diplomatically.

Rogue noticed the sky had started to darken and at his words a flash of lightning had split the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. It was obvious that they would rather see her suffer as much as they had in the last month than offer her any sort of help. Rogue looked down to the ground, would she always be a such plague? With a nod, Rogue turned and walked away. She let the tears flow freely now but remained silent. Her only hope had rejected her with such obvious disdain that she desperately wished she could just curl up and die in some dark hole.

XxX

Jean watched the retreating form of Rogue, she hadn't exuded any of the confidence she normally had on the battle field. She even seemed like a lost child almost.

"Can you like believe her?" Kitty asked outraged from beside her to the group as a whole.

Jean said nothing but her teammates spoke freely. "Ja, how dare she show her face here!" Kurt spoke up. He was normaly accepting of all those around him and remained forgiving to even the most hate filled of people. The acid in his tone surprised her.

It had been a month since Rogue had killed Carol and the mansion was still mourning the loss of one of their most beloved team members. Jean hadn't seen it happen personally, she had been on the other side of the battlefield at the time, but over the last month she had caught glimpses of people who had seen it projecting their hurt and anger. Rogue had gone from possible Brotherhood threat to public enemy number one in the span of three minutes.

"She ever comes here again and I'll kill her." Logan growled so low that the threat sounded more animal then human. Jean was surprised Scott didn't scold him and give him the 'X-Men don't kill' lecture he normally did.

The rest of the X-Men apparently agreed because there were various 'yeah's' and a few 'I want a piece too'. This was not how Xavier had trained and taught his X-Men. They all turned to go back into the mansion when they were sure that Rogue was leaveing but Jean couldn't help but glance back at her and what she saw surprised her even more than when Rogue had asked to speak to the Professor.

Her slim green clad form was shaking with silent sobs of anguish, the emotion so strong that, even though she wasn't an empath, she could feel. Jean bit her lip for only a moment before opening her mind and reaching out to her with her telepathy. Her mind was a jumbled mess but Jean was able to catch one thought or rather mantra. "Please God, just let me die." That sentence alone made up her mind. She would see the Professor and see what his views on Rogue were. Right now her teammates were too full of hate to help this little girl who was so obviously in need of help.

Jean walked briskly past Scott and the her other teammates, ignoring the odd looks they gave her. She made a bee line for her mentors office and didn't even bother announcing her arrival with a knock. She shut the door quickly behind her and turned to face the Professor who was watching her with a small smile on his face. She swore he could see into the future sometimes.

"Professor, it's about Rogue." She started. He nodded and motioned for her to take a seat. "I believe that she truly needs our help. I know I shouldn't have but I took a quick peek into her mind." She explained. "Its absolute chaos, whatever has happened to her is serious.

"I know the others are still hurting from Carols death at the hands of Rogue, I am too." Jean said and bowed her head before raising her head and fixing Xavier with a determined glare. "But I can't ignore a plea for help, you taught me that."

During her explanation, Xavier had come to rest his elbows on his desk and had his hand steeped in front of him. "Jean, out of all my students and all the years I have been fighting for mutant equality, this is perhaps my proudest moment." A sudden weight lifted off her chest as she saw that the Professor was willing to help. "You saw through your own pain and put someone who needed help more than yourself first. That is what I have been trying to engrain into all my students and that is what being an X-Men is truly about.

"Now, I'll need you to convince her to come back so that we may help her." Xavier said. Jean opened her mouth to voice her concerns about her comrades when Xavier held a hand up to stop her. "And don't worry, I'll tell the team."

Jean smiled and in a moment of pure happiness she stood up and rushed over to give him a hug. "Thank you Professor! I'll go look for her now, you wouldn't by chance be able to point me in the right direction?" She asked hopefully. While still a better then average telepath, she was no Charles Xavier.

"Try the park." He said with a chuckle and Jean rushed off as though she were a fourteen year old girl again instead of the nearly thirty year old woman she was.

XxX

"X-men, please report to my office." Xavier asked of his team through a mental link.

He wondered how best to tell his team that their most hated enemy would now be living under the same roof with them. His dread and irratbility grew as they all straggled in one by one, they were still discussing their outrage over Rogue coming to the institute gates. He waited until they were all in various spots in his office, some standing, others sitting. Cyclopes, Storm, Beast, Wolverine, Iceman, Shadowcat, Colossus, Psylock, Nightcrawler and Emma were all before him waiting patiently.

"When I first started this institute, it was to help those mutants in need, no matter their background or their past transgressions." He started, looking each and every one of them in the eye. "Today I realized that I have failed you."

He was met with furred brows and questioning gazes, but no one spoke up. "A mutant who was truly in need of our help came to you and you turned her away with death threats and hateful words." He held his hand up to signal silence as several opened their mouths to voice objection. "Do not pretend none of you have done things in your past that you don't regret. She is a lost child in over her head and only one of you was able to see past their own problems and put someone else first."

There was silence as he surveyed their angry and guilty faces. "I have asked Jean to try and convince her to come back, I hope for your sakes as well as hers, that we aren't too late." And with a great swell of disappointment he dismissed them.

XxX

Rogue had managed to lock herself in the women's bathroom at the park, for tonight it would be her home. She was huddled up on a small wooden bench in front of the stalls, it would probably get below freezing tonight, maybe if she was lucky she would die in her sleep. She clutched her head as another wave of pain and screaming erupted in her mind. She felt the tears slide down her cheeks, Rogue had never been one to cry but this was just too much.

She needed release, the psyches in her head screamed for her death and now after all these years she wanted to die. The world was a better and safer place if she wasn't a part of it, the only problem now was that she had Carol's powers. They would come and go at odd times, usually when she was in a stressful state, which made it difficult to end her life. Had she really been that terrible in life to not even be granted death?

She was brought out of her thoughts as she heard a knock on the locked door to the bathroom. Rogue hoped if she ignored the person they would just go away. But since when have the fates ever smile on her? The knocking continued, this time a little more determinedly.

"Rogue? I know you're in there, open the door." Came the calm and confident female voice of the knocker.

Fear gripped her chest, was it her mother come to beat her for leaving? No it sounded like one of the X-Men, Jean Grey if she wasn't mistaken. But that wasn't much better, she had probably come for retribution for her fallen comrade. Rogue couldn't force herself to move she was so paralyzed with fear, she was trapped in what would probably become her crime scene.

There was a sigh from the other side of the door and Rogue heard the lock click open. This was it, she would die here in this dingy bathroom. It was what she deserved, after all the people she had wronged, she deserved to die like a rat in a public bathroom. Her body wouldn't be found for days and would probably be frozen and she would be buried as a Jane Doe.

XxX

Jean pushed the door open and was greeted with a terrible sight that would probably haunt her for years to come. On a small wooden bench sat Rogue, she was facing the door and had her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were red and puffy and there were tear tracks down her dirty cheeks. Her face looked almost hallow and sunken compared to that day on the battlefield only a month ago.

"Rogue, what are you doing in here?" She asked as she gestured to the dirty bathroom.

"Ah, needed a place ta stay, Ah promise Ah'll be gone before mornin'." She stuttered out in a panic.

Jean felt a great swell of sympathy for the poor girl. She looked to be younger then Kitty who was only nineteen, how could one so young feel so much pain and be so lonely? "No Rogue," Jean hopped if she kept using her name that maybe she would be able to establish a kind of connection with her. "I want you to come with me, Professor Xavier wants to help you." She said taking a step forward.

Rogue flinched at the movement and licked her dry and chapped lips. "But, Ah thought yall didn't want ta help me." She said.

Jean hung her head a little in shame. "We were wrong Rogue. As X-Men it is our job to help those in need and you need our help." Jean took another step forward and again Rogue flinched, this time her eyes darted to . "Can you please forgive us?" She asked and held out a hand to the girl.

Rogue gave a short nervous laugh and looked away. "Me? Forgive ya? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" she asked quietly.

Jean took another step forward and for a third time Rogue flinched and pushed herself into the wall behind her. "We've all made mistakes, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve help." Rogue looked up to her and she had a glint of hope in her eyes that seemed so hollow. "Rogue, I promise I won't hurt you."

"Ah've caused ya team enough pain," She said after a moment. "Ah don't wanna cause anymore. It was stupid ta go ta y'all."

Jean sat down so that she was eye level with the teen, "Rogue, please come with me." She begged, she just couldn't let her go now.

Rogue bit her lip and after a moment nodded. Jean let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. She held out her hand and waited for Rogue to take it and after a full minute she finally did. Jean feared that reaching this girl would be one of the hardest things in her life.

A/N

So as some of you know this is an old story that I had put up for adoption last year. Recently inspiration struck and I figured I'd have another go at it. I'm going through and tweaking things hear or there but for the most part it'll be the same. Hope to see some reviews on this and if you are wondering about my other story, Silver Lining, I put something on my profile about it. I'll publish a new chapter once a day.