Disclaimer: These characters that your about to see? Yeah, I don't own them. They're Marvel's.

Lucky439, Chris-X, Ishandahalf: I really appreciate your enthusiasm for the story guys. Thanks for reading. (Oh, and Chris, to find out where I'm from, read my profile.)

Harry: Your kind words and insight are always welcome, thanks.

Neurotic Temptress: Cyke is always paranoid. Is it well-founded? I dunno, we'll see. My muse rarely speaks coherently. Thanks for the spelling correction as well. And I don't think I did mention it in my last story, but no, they're not twins, and that's all I'm sayin'.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Needless to say, Rogue had had a very eventful day and fell into a deep sleep at its end. However, it was not a dreamless sleep.

Her dream was very white, and very bright, filled with seemingly endless halls of doors. Men and women in fresh white uniforms rushed up and down the corridor, oblivious to her presence. She walked down the hallway, looking in through the tiny windows on the doors. Each room held a man or woman, breathing but lifeless. Their eyes stared blankly at the wall before them. Finally, she came to a windowless room. In the windows place was a peep hole. She peered through it.

The lights flickered, giving the room an eerie feel. Between flashes, she could see a figure with dark hair. They were hunched over and seemed to be rocking back and forth. She reached for the handle, it was hot. She turned the knob, it gave, slowly.

The room itself was freezing. She could see her breath in between the flickers, causing her to see it as though through a strobe light. The figure was muttering something. The voice was distinctly feminine.

"I will wait…I will wait…he will come…" she said this repeatedly and much like the men and women in the stark white halls, the girl didn't notice Rogue. Suddenly the girl stood. She was staring straight at Rogue and she could see her more clearly. She was ghostly pale and extremely thin and her bones jutted out at odd angles. She had deep black circles below a pair of blood red eyes and ragged black hair. And on her forehead, between her eyebrows was a bright red diamond. The flickering lights made her all the more frightening.

The girl struggled forward, straining against the chains that held her in place and pulling at the straight jacket that wrapped her arms around her waist in warped sense of self love. She had an unnatural glare to her eyes.

Two men passed by Rogue and grasped the girl around the shoulders forcing her back into the chair. The girl screamed and kicked at the men, flailing her head at odd angles. Rogue could only stare in horror. One of the men jabbed a needle into the girl's arm, causing her to yelp once again. Realizing she had little time, the girl made eye contact with Rogue again.

"Protect them Marianna, protect them with your life," she pleaded as one of the orderlies pushed Rogue out, "No matter what it takes…"

Rogue awoke with a start, clutching the sheets to her. As an afterthought, she glanced over to Remy to see if she had awoken him. Luckily, he was still asleep. Her mouth felt very dry. She swung her legs around and onto the floor, careful not to wake her husband. She put on her slippers and her nightgown and crept quietly out the door and down the stairs. She made it down to the kitchen and halfway through her glass of water, she had a terrible thought. She put the glass down and rushed to the lower levels. As she suspected, Beast was still up, working on some new theory. When did the man sleep? She knocked lightly on his door, causing him to give a slight glance in her direction.

"Ah'm not interuptin' anythin' am Ah?"

"No, of course not," he assured her and he waved her into the room, "my door is always open. What is it that you need?"

"Well, Ah was thinkin'…"

"At three in the morning?"

"Couldn' sleep. Anyway, Ah was thinkin' an' the thought came t' me: 'What would happen to the baby if Ah used mah powers?'"

Beast thought for a moment, "You mean of course while your pregnant?" She nodded. "I really don't know. It may or not be harmful. I would assume that the baby would develop a type of immunity or protection to your powers, but this is all speculation. There are, of course, tests I could run, but I doubt any of them would be very conclusive. My best advice to you is to avoid using your absorption powers as much as possible throughout your pregnancy. You may also wish to consult Tante Mattie in the morning seeing as she knows more about these things than I do."

She sighed and nodded.

"I really wish I could be of more help, Rogue, really, but I simply do not have the experience."

"What about the nul-fields?"

He shook his head, "They may be more harmful than your powers. I have recently discovered some very unnerving information about cell degeneration among youths. Prolonged exposure can cause a variety of problems that I am unwilling to risk."

"Thanks Hank, Ah'll talk to Mattie in the morning."

He nodded and went back to his work.

Rogue did talk to Mattie the next morning over breakfast. The old woman chewed thoughtfully over her words for a few minutes. Finally she swallowed, took a sip of water, and cleared her throat.

"I t'ink petite, dat mot'er nature anticipated dis little problem an' gave de enfant some protection 'gainst yo' powers, but all de same, I t'ink yo' doctor be right. Don' use yo' powers less you have to, oui? Don' know what effects it might have."

Rogue nodded, "Thanks Mattie."

"No problem, petite, now tell me 'bout dis dream you had last night."

Rogue stared at her in shock, "How'd you know?"

"Simple, not'in' get past me, now what was it like?"

Rogue explained her dream very carefully to her while the woman spoke very little and nodded occasionally.

"Somebody tryin' t' tell you sumt'in', dough I'm not too sure what dat be. 'Dem' could be anyone or anyt'in'. Could be de X-men, yo' family, children, books, anyt'in'. You gonna have to interpret what de images mean t' you girl. Den you know who you supposed t' look after."

"Ah don't know, Ah think Ah knew the girl from somewhere, but Ah can't remember foah the life o' me where."

"It's alright girl, you figure it out in time."

Rogue nodded and left the table with her dishes. She saw Remy by the kitchen door, a smirk on his face. She squinted her eyes at him.

"You told her 'bout mah dream, didn' you?"

Gambit's eyes widened, "I…"

"It's alright," a voice reassured from behind her, "I wormed it out o' him. I could always tell when Remy was worried 'bout sumt'in'."

Gambit shrugged, "I knew sumt'in had you spooked last night, but I just let it go an' pretended t' sleep cuz I knew you'd tell me 'bout it when you were ready."

"Always such a sweet boy," Mattie muttered as she shuffled past, "troublemaker, but sweet."

Remy's face reddened and Rogue smiled. Remy scratched the back of his neck and smiled back. Stomachs full, the two set out to do their daily tasks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I realize there's not much drama here right now, but there will be. I'm sorry if it's a tad fluffy, but they're newlyweds for gods sakes! Also, I'm not going to do much with Miram either. I just thought it was silly for a woman as old as Mattie to be traveling by herself and she seems like a sensible enough person to know it. One more thing, I'm not going to spend too much longer on Rogue's pregnancy, because, as we all know, the really good stuff comes when the bouncing ball of trouble comes in. So within the next two chapters, we will see Baby Lebeau. There'll be a lot of jumping in this story so get used to it. Don't worry, I'll warn you ahead of time. 'Til next time, go review or I shall send angry hoards of midgets to steal your brain pans!