Story Title: Checkmate
Chapter Rating: PG
Warning labels: Post Superman Returns,fusion media Rogue w/divergence of X-men timeline,X-over/AU
Disclaimer: I do not own Superman or the X-men. I make no money off of this and I promise to put the characters back where I found them when I finish.
Chapter Summary: Rogue runs away from home only to find herself in Metropolis.
Prologue
"Thanks for the ride Mr. Randy. Ah hope you make it back in time for your boy's birthday," she smiled softly at the scraggly bearded man in the denim shirt and jeans. The friendly trucker had let her hitch a ride with him from New York all the way to the edges of Metropolis. Even now the kindly man was staring at her with a concerned expression.
"Are you sure you'll be able to make it to your Aunt's place? She is expecting you in today right?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me none," she admonished him with a waggling finger and a big grin. "Ah'm a big girl, and Ah'll be fine getting into town on mah own. You just haul your load, and when you get home say happy birthday to your baby for me all right?"
"Will do Rogue. You take care now."
"Bye!" she waved a gloved hand at him and pulled up the hood of her jacket to keep the stiff wind off her cheeks. It was warming up, slowly edging from winter into summer but the temperature had a sudden drop from an oncoming storm that was going to be blowing in from the coast. She probably had a couple of hours before the rain hit if the weather station was accurate.
The middle aged trucker smiled helplessly at the cheerful girl who hoisted her bag and set off toward the city on foot. He felt bad about not being able to take her any farther than he already had, but he wouldn't be allowed to leave the weigh station for another hour or so and she was so determined to get going. That and he was headed in the opposite direction of the city, and the silly girl had refused to let him go out of his way once he had mentioned that he wasn't heading into the city proper; he was going to pass it on the highway that would lead him back west to Atlanta.
She was a sweet little thing, quiet, but friendly enough once you got past her initial reserve. Her strange hair had been enough to make him nervous about taking her along with him, but it had been a mite too cold and there was just something about her eyes, and that fading bruise on her left cheek bone, that made him itch to bundle her up and keep her safe. Wherever she came from was obviously no good for her. Hopefully she'd be better off where she was headed. At least she had an aunt in the city that was willing to take her in for a bit. And Superman was guarding Metropolis. Randy had already told her if she ever got into a spot of trouble, serious trouble, mind, while she was in Metropolis to just yell for Superman and he'd come save her. He hoped she'd remember that. He settled back in his seat and watched her until she disappeared.
Rogue walked down the road until she was out of sight of the weigh station, rubbing her arms through her coat sleeves the entire way. The wind wasn't cold enough to be freezing but it was brisk enough to raise the hair on her arms through the thin layers she was wearing. She'd have to get a new coat soon. The oversized greenish gray coat had seen better days. The edge of her right sleeve was fraying, the third to the last button was missing when she closed it, and there was a hole in her left elbow. She'd patched it before but the patch had fallen off first chance it had. She'd never been much with a needle and thread, no matter how her aunt had tried to teach her, and Mama- no, Mystique, had never bothered with Home Ec. studies. She had been the type to train you how to keep a gun rather than how to keep a house.
She hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder. With one last glance behind to make sure there was no one around to see, she launched into the air. Eventually she was too far up to be noticeable to anyone on the ground. She flew until she found a nice abandoned alley to set down in. Gratefully she sank from the sky into the alley that thankfully blocked the wind. Rubbing her face with her sweater and breathing into her cupped hands to try and return circulation to her frozen nose and hands she peeked around the edge of the alley.
Now there'd been businesses over that way, and a few motels as well. She still had some of the money that Lady Sage had leant her when she'd run into the older woman when she'd been in New York. The lady had been so kind to her and done what she could to help her to gain control of her abilities. Not the soul sucking one, of course, there wasn't anyone who could do a thing about that, but the other powers that she'd managed to accidentally steal. She'd even used her telepathy to help calm the personalities in the back of her mind. She rather wished she could have stayed longer with the other woman and learned more from her, but Sage hadn't wanted the man she'd been working for to find out about Rogue's powers, so she'd given her some money and sent her on her way.
Sage had suggested that she head to Massachusetts to join a school for 'special' youngsters, but Rogue had rejected that idea. Especially once she found out that the guy who owned the place was a friend and rival of Magneto. He was the reason that Ma-Mystique had adopted her. He was the reason Mystique had made her use her powers against Ms. Marvel. Now she was in her head, and if it weren't for Sage, she would be screaming at Rogue still. There was no way she was going anywhere near anyone who had any sort of ties with Magneto.
So that's how she now found herself strolling down the dirty side street to make her way toward the busy places she'd seen while she was in the air. Trash collected in little nooks and crannies. A plastic bag floated despondently in the gutter. A little pool of dirty rain water settled in the wrinkles of off white plastic, a silent witness of the rain that had pushed through the city only a few hours before she'd arrived. She'd have to hurry to get checked in before the storm rolled in tonight.
A hand fisted in the material on her shoulder and jerked her off balance. With a startled cry Rogue tumbled into a wiry body. Her beat up duffle bag hit the pavement with a dull thud. Rogue saw her snacks tumble out of the side pocket before she was whirled around and passed into another set of arms. She caught a passing impression of a handful of boys about her age. She got a better glance of the guys slinking in and upped that estimation by a few years.
"Woo hoo! Look what we caught!" a raucous voice cried. Leering grins and agreeing sniggers greeted the statement. A few of them called out suggestive remarks about what they'd like to do with her when they got their turn. Rogue wanted to roll her eyes at the original dialogue, but was too busy reaching out her hands to balance herself against the new guy she found herself faced with. Messy dirty-blond hair, a very unfortunate attempt at trying to grow a mustache, and ripped and ragged clothes; the guy had an oily face and an even oilier smile.
Rogue's muscles tensed under her skin, coiling to strike out. Ah but how to most efficiently deal with them? If there was one thing Mystique had taught her to appreciate, it was efficiency in accomplishing a goal. And she'd have to keep an eye out for the guy with the knife while she was at it. There were so many ways she could injure them all, and without once exposing her poor abused psyche to their collective IQ point. She jerked her arm free and cocked it back to get ready to shove the heel of her hand into Oily's face when a voice intervened.
"You get away from her," a soft voice called dangerously from the end of the street behind her. Rogue, along with all of the scruffy street rats circling her, twisted and craned her neck to evaluate the new threat. All in all the new threat turned out not to be very threatening at all.
A slender woman balanced in a precariously wide stance on her stiletto heals A leash attached trailed from her left wrist across her left leg and behind her to the dog that curled its lip to reveal pointy little fangs in an intimidating manner. Or as an intimidating as a cute little ball of ginger fluff could manage. The short skirt of her white dress stretched tight across the woman's thighs, in a way Rogue would swear was about to rip at the seams. At least it would have if Rogue'd been wearing it. This woman acted like she'd been born to those clothes. Rogue bet she could totter up a mountain in those ridiculous heals if she had to, but goodness sake, what would a lady like her be doing in the mountains?
They all gaped at the newcomer in confusion.
"Looks like we got an even better catch than we'd first realized boys!" The guy with the knife crowed, slinking past Rogue to try and get closer to the woman framed in the mouth of the alley. Rogue did roll her eyes at this, but still took the time to follow through with her original plan to smack Oily in the face with her hand. He jerked back with a howl. The boy who'd first caught her wrenched her around by the shoulder yet again and started to grapple for a hold on her arms. The other guys lurched toward her, whether to grab her, or hit her remained undetermined as they were once again interrupted by the woman in the white dress.
"I said, get away from her!"
The words were not nearly as impressive as the really large gun she pulled from underneath her fluffy stole.
"And just for the record, this is real fox fur, so if I land on the ground because I'm blowing a hole in one of you little sleaze balls I'm going to be seriously pissed off!"
The first guy shoved her out of the way so he could take off running, and she could hear the other guys in the tailing after. Air rushed out of her lungs in a painful whoosh, and she lay there gasping for a second. Since she couldn't move at the moment she found herself looking for shapes in the peeling white paint on the brick wall she was sprawled next to. That one spot looked kind of like a bunny, or someone flipping you the bird if you looked at it from more of an angle. Her hands were stinging where she scraped them bracing from the fall, and that was the first pain she noticed when she began to regain her breath.
A little pink tongue lapped against her face. Ugh, dog breathe. She cringed from the eager attention of the Pomeranian. Gentle tugs pressed at her shoulders, pulling her upright into a sitting position.
"Pumpkin! Down Pumpkin! Oh I'm so sorry about her, she's still being trained. Ya know Ginger would never run around licking people like that! Hey, hey are you alright?"
"Ah'm fine." She shoved against the arm being offered as a brace, pushing herself to her feet to prove it. "Ah'm fine," she repeated. "Thank you."
They stared at each other silently for a moment. Then Rogue's eyes trailed to the gun still clutched in the woman's hand. She raised an eyebrow.
"A Desert Eagle?" she asked incredulously. The gun was almost bigger than the woman.
"Yeah I know. Makes me miss my Seecamp, but I stole this one off my guard so it's not like I was in any position to be choosey eh?" The woman fluffed her hair, the gun waving around in her free hand in a fashion careless enough to make Rogue edgy. Thankfully she tucked it back wherever she had hidden it before so she could pick up her dog.
"Well that's done then. I was about to get something to eat. What do you say; would you care to join me?"
"Ah have always depended on the kindness of strangers," Rogue quoted with a whimsical smile. "Oh, the name is Rogue, by the way."
"Rogue? What an unusual name. Is that on your birth certificate?" the woman asked, she raised the wriggling ball of fluff in her arms to eye level so she could give it a disapproving stare when it wouldn't stop squirming right away. Then she settled it back into the crook of her arm. Rogue's eyes followed the interaction while she answered.
"Anna Marie. Most people call me Rogue before we part ways, for one reason or another."
"Really? Hm, well my name is Kitty- Katherine actually, Katherine Kowalski. Now let's eat. I'm starving."
Ok, so hopefully that will set up for the fix in next chapter. A special thanks to everyone who reviewed. I don't have a beta and I get caught up in the making things fit togther, so all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.
