Hey everyone! I like Rogue and Remy type stories, so here's one of my own. Please don't flame me!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Xmen, however much I wish I could.
Chapter One: Would It Work?
Rogue twirled a white blond streak of hair around her finger absently. She was currently staring out at the sunset from her balcony. The breeze blew gently around her, making her smile briefly. The dying rays of sunlight hit upon her emerald green eyes and caused the person watching her to see the bright green flames dance in their depths. She raised an eyebrow.
"Kurt. Stop ya hidin'. Come out here ya blue fuzz ball," she said, her mouth quirking in a knowing and yet cynical smile. The person that stepped out of the shadows of the next balcony over smiled sheepishly. Kurt, otherwise known as Nightcrawler, was a teleporter with blue fur. He had pointed teeth and a whip like tail that ended in an arrow. Also he was German.
"Mien Schwester. I vos not hiding," he said defensively.
"Sure Kurt. An' Kitty isn't fazed inside tha curtain," she said sarcastically. There was a small yelp and Kitty Pride, a.k.a Shadowcat, fell over. She raised her head and smiled sheepishly as well.
"Well, since you were, like, depressed at dinner, we thought we should, like, see if you were okay," Kitty's normally bright and happy face disappeared and she was actually frowning in concern. Rogue frowned herself.
"What do ya mean? Besides tha fact that ah can't touch anyone, everyone thinks ahm ah freak and, oh yeah, ah have problems controlling mah powers in danger room sessions, why would ah be depressed"
"Mien Schwester has a point. Keety, ve should just leave her alone," said Kurt, completely missing the sarcasm and glancing at Rogue.
"Oh, but I have the surprise, like, waiting and everything!" Kitty pouted. Rogue whipped her head around.
"Surprise? What surprise?" she demanded. Kitty's 'surprises' generally were…well, surprises, to be frank. Rogue had been on the end of several and became wary of the term if it came out of Kitty's mouth and if it had to do with Rogue herself.
"Come with me and, like, you'll see!" the bubbly girl squealed, grabbed Rogue by her sleeve-covered arm and dragged her downstairs to the front entrance. Rogue kept looking over at Kurt pleadingly, but he shook his head and shrugged sympathetically. The door was flung open and Rogue was again dragged by her arm socket to the mystery destination but this time to the garage that was large enough to fit five cars. Rogue saw the person at the door and nearly raced over there herself. Scott Summers was rather cute in a preppy guy sort of way, but Rogue had been crushing on him since the first time she had laid eyes on him. Jean Grey, another member at the Xavier Institute, must have had some idea about Rogue's crush (being telepathic as she was) and had been trying to get his attention of late. And it had been working.
"Hello Rogue. I see Kitty and Kurt have told you about the surprise," he nodded and smiled at her. She nodded and blushed.
"Well, I decided I have been ignoring you of late and got Kitty to grab you so that we could go for a ride in my car. The destination is a surprise though," he winked. She fought down a dreamy sigh and followed him into the garage. As she did, she turned to give thumbs up to Kitty. However, Kitty looked uneasy and just smiled weakly. Rogue was baffled by her roommates' behaviour but squashed the feeling as she got into the car beside Scott. The car pulled out and they were soon driving along a countryside lane. Rogue looked around in delight. She marvelled at the summer blue sky with those fairytale fluffy white clouds and the sun-dappled green trees lining the road. Soon, Scott pulled up beside a lovely stream that had a large sprawling oak beside it on the grass. He opened the door and went around behind the car and pulled out a basket from the trunk. He then came around to a baffled Rogue and smiled.
"Picnic?" he offered. She smiled and nodded. They sat beneath the oak on a blanket and ate the delicious food that had been packed, talking about various things in between. After a while, Rogue sat back and just enjoyed the view. She was on a picnic in a beautiful setting with a guy she liked. It was perfect.
"So, what was tha purpose of this?" she asked with a small smile in Scott's direction. He shrugged.
"You're a nice girl Rogue and I thought you deserved to be treated like the woman you are," he said simply.
"Really? Ya think that?" she asked cautiously. He nodded. He frowned.
"Just a sec," he said and he pulled out his mobile. He walked off a bit and began to speak. Rogue was confused. Why talk to someone else if he just wanted privacy for the two of them? Intrigued, she crept after him and hid behind a bush.
"C'mon guys. I can't do this anymore. Rogue's a nice girl and all that, but she's just a kid. I know it was to make her feel happy instead of depressed for a while, but I don't want to give her false hopes," he said and waited. Tears welled as Rogue tried not to cry out loud. A kid? False hopes? Who the hell did he think he was?
"Well, I'll just tell her the professor wants me…yeah, end it on a happy note," he continued. Rogue scowled and crept away. She'd heard enough. She began to pack everything away and put it in the car. He came back and gave a puzzled look in her direction.
"Rogue? What are you doing?" he asked cautiously.
"Ah just realahsed ah have somethin' ta do. Priority an' othah stuff," she said quickly, but not looking directly at him when she spoke. If she did, she knew she'd start to cry.
"Uh, sure. No problem. The professor said he wants me anyway," he shrugged. Rogue clenched her teeth as she heard his rehearsed lie, but smiled and nodded. The car trip back was a bit tense and Rogue gratefully jumped out when they arrived home.
"Uh, thanks Scott," she said quickly, smiled fleetingly and dashed inside.
"Hey Rogue. How'd it go?" asked Kitty.
"It was okay," she faked a smile and fled to her room. Once there, she shut her door and began to cry, tears trekking their way down her cheeks. She lay on her bed and cried into her pillow. There was a tentative knock on the door.
"Rogue, child? It's Ororo," came a voice.
"Come in," she mumbled. The door opened and Ororo Monroe, a.k.a Storm, stepped inside, closing the door gently behind her.
"Child, they didn't mean to cause you pain," she said softly.
"Storm, they played mah emotions! Kitty knew ah have…had," she corrected herself, "feelin's for Cyclops an' she goes an' sets this up! He doesn't feel for meh what he feels for Jean! Ah felt lahke such ah schoolgirl beyond her depth," she snarled into her pillow.
"Honey, then I suggest you go and find your own depth," Storm said kindly. Rogue paused and raised her head to meet Storm's gaze.
"Ya mean fahnd someone else?" she said finally. Storm nodded. Rogue frowned. Simply get over Scott and move on? Forget her crush on him that she had had for as long as she had been at the institute?
"That mahght be ah good ideah," she said eventually. Storm smiled.
"Well, Kitty would like to know if you would consider coming with her to the mall. Kind of a present to ask for your forgiveness," she said softly. Rogue nodded. She could never stay mad at Kitty for too long.
"Ah'll just get mah purse an' be rahght down," Rogue assured the native woman. Storm nodded and left. Rogue got up and walked over to her mirror. Did she really want to move on so easily, despite what she had said to Storm? Scott Summers was everything she had wanted in a boyfriend, if she could have one when she got control of her powers. He was nice, kind, good-looking (to her anyway) and dedicated to keeping the X-men alive. So whom would she try to forget about him with? Noone fit the description she wanted. And who would go out with her anyway? Who was at her 'depth'? Noone, she realised. Sure, there were some that resented their powers and grumbled or complained constantly, but noone loathed their powers like she did. Noone was as dark and moody as she was. She glanced down at the black pants, shirt, gloves and zip-up boots she was currently wearing and sighed. No wonder no one came near her- even if she was an untouchable. She took one last look in the mirror and grabbed her purse before heading downstairs to the waiting Kitty.
After three hours, Rogue was getting fed up. The mall wasn't her place; she had only come with Kitty because Kitty wanted to make it up to her.
"So Rogue, what about, like, this one?" Kitty turned in the top she was wearing, which was pink and had the words 'Don't Hate Me Coz I'm Gorgeous' printed on the front in white.
"Actually, ah lahke that one. It looks good on ya," Rogue said, nodding.
"Yay! A choice by, like, Rogue!" she squealed and dashed back into the changing rooms. Rogue groaned and rubbed her temples. This was taking it out of her.
"Oui, de mall is de last place t' relax," an amused voice spoke. Her head whipped around and her emerald eyes clashed with the gorgeous red on black eyes of none other than Remy Lebeau, otherwise known as Gambit.
"What do ya want Swamp Rat?" she grumbled.
"Nuttin. Shopping, same as y'," he grinned.
"Ah'm not. Kitty is," she snorted, gesturing to the booth.
"Hi Remy!" was called from behind the curtain. Remy grinned.
"At least someone is glad t' see Remy," he drawled.
"Yeah, be thankful," Rogue backhanded.
"Y' wound ol' Remy chere," he said, an injured look appearing on his gorgeous features. Rogue could see the assistant looking over at Remy from behind him, her expression dreamy. Rogue made a face of disgust. Remy turned to see what Rogue was looking at and grinned at the assistant. The assistant giggled and blushed. Rogue rolled her eyes and turned back to the booth.
"Kit, hurry up or ah'll drag ya out in ya underwear!" she threatened. Inside a squeal was heard.
"Okay! Keep your, like, pants on!" she complained.
"Sometimes ah wonder why ah bother," Rogue grumbled.
"Coz y' love bumpin' int' Remy," Remy grinned again.
"In ya dreams Swamp Rat. Ya lucky Logan didn't come with us or ya'd be mincemeat rahght now," Rogue said loftily.
"Oui, but it be worth it t' see y' chere," he whispered softly as he leant forward a bit, and she had to lean back to keep distance.
"Look Swamp Rat, just leave meh ahlone," she sighed as Kitty came out with ten tops hanging over her arm.
"You, like, coming with us Remy?" questioned Kitty as she put five of the tops back. Rogue glared at him.
"Non, but Remy has some stuff t' do. Be seein' y' both around. Au revoir Kitty," he bowed- making her giggle, "an' y' Rogue." He turned and walked away casually. Rogue shook her head and followed Kitty to the counter. After paying for her tops, they went out into a bookstore so Kitty could get the latest romance novel in the series that she enjoyed. Rogue browsed the shelves and came upon a book that finally caught her interest. The spine was blood red and had the words 'The Curse of Touch' scrawled in silver. She pulled it off and riffled through the pages. It was about a woman who couldn't touch anyone else's skin because of a disease that she had and she was the only person in the world that had it. Intrigued, Rogue took it up to the counter and paid for it. Kitty did the same for her book and they left. After an hour in which Kitty accumulated two bracelets, three skirts and five new CD's, they drove off, Rogue feeling a pair of eyes watching her the whole time. She had a feeling it was Gambit, but whenever she turned, he was nowhere to be found. She had given up and kept walking. But the feeling had plagued her til they drove off. Once at the mansion, Rogue thanked Kitty and took her purchases up to her room, which consisted of the book, the new Evanescence album and a new purple lipstick. She lay on her bed and played the album while reading the book. Rogue began to read, getting absorbed in the book. The woman was about her age, with long black hair and blue eyes. Her name was Lily Jaspers. She had been working in her garden, when a curious spider had bitten her. But it had been no ordinary spider and noone had known it had even existed. Until then. Once it had bitten her, she couldn't touch another person without either of them feeling excruciating pain.
She had fled from her home and noone had seen her since then. She ended up living in an isolated forest, mourning for other human contact. Rogue felt tears sting her eyes as she continued reading. It was like the book was about her life. The book went on to say she had honed her disease, finally getting control in a few short months.
Rogues' eyes went wide. If the woman had honed her disease so that she could control it at will, why couldn't she? Rogue kept reading, wanting to know more, seeing if it would reveal the secret of the control. Halfway through the book, the character had met a man who had been searching for a rare species of animal. He instantly fell in love with her, but she hadn't gained full control yet. Only enough to keep her own pain at bay for a few precious minutes. Rogue was definitely intrigued now. How could she do it?
She kept reading, but then a knock announced a presence. She glanced up to see Logan and quickly turned down her music.
"Hey Logan. What's up?" she asked, her head cocked. She got up and put the book way, keeping her spot bookmarked.
"Danger Room session kiddo. But it's just you," he said seriously. She looked up at him in surprise.
"Just meh? How come?" she asked.
"I wanna see if we can get you up a level," he said finally.
"Ya mean, test mah boundahries?" she asked bluntly.
"Yeah. No offence meant Stripes," he added gruffly. She sighed.
"Fine, Ah'm coming," she grumbled and followed him to their destination. She donned her suit and entered the chamber. She then noticed everyone was watching through the control room. She scowled.
"Ya never said it was ah full view ta half tha school!" she shouted, her eyes narrowing to slits.
"Pretend they aren't here. Okay, you've passed level ten. I'm putting you on eleven," Logan called back and the simulation kicked in. It was a battlefield, complete with real-life figures of her teammates.
"Ugh. Please tell meh ah won't feel any pain if ah get shot," she grumbled as she stalking around a burning chunk of metal.
"Mien Schwester. Magneto has Logan," simulation Kurt informed her.
"What! Shit!" she cursed and dodged a flying mutant on her way to get to Kitty, who was slumped on the ground. She crouched over her protectively.
"Kit, come on. Wahke up!" she demanded. Nothing. She made sure she had no skin showing, picked her friend up and slung her over her shoulder. This was going to be one long simulation.