I'm taking a number of ideas from Exiles, the Ultimate Marvel Universe, and what I think would fit to write this. Since it all starts in the X Men Evolution Universe, and this category has the best reviewer's (pumps fist in the air) I think this was the best place for this story. If people like it and review (cough) review then I might spin it off into different stories. Enjoy!!!



Set eight years after the events of "Under Lock and Key" the x men have fought a running battle with Magneto over the years, both sides never really losing or winning. In the time in between many things have changed, far too many to go into detail about in this moment. But here are a few key points.

After an attempt by Magneto to harness and channel into him the energy given off by her powers Wanda was placed in a coma. Upon waking Wanda decided to leave the Brotherhood and join the X Men who had been taking care of her since the incident. During her stay at the Institute romance blossomed between Kurt and Wanda, which explains their rambunctious five year old daughter Talia Josephine Wagner.

After the "Wanda's Powers" incident Magneto went into hiding of sorts since his henchmen Colossus, Gambit, and Pyro all deserted him. He hasn't been seen since, but rumors of his plans are now circulating in the mutant underground.

Seeing the error of their ways Gambit and Colossus turned against Magneto and Joined the X Men as off and on members like Angel. Pyro defected to the Brotherhood in the hopes of finding a more lucrative employment.

After Wanda awoke from her coma Pietro, who had been the key to his father's downfall, decided to leave his friends and sister for fear of Magneto seeking vengeance. Hitting the road he was surprised to meet Rogue a year later in a small town where she taught school children.

Days after Pietro left town Rogue realized that she was no longer happy with her life as an X Man and decided to leave the team. Scott first begged and then ordered Rogue not to go, but to no avail. A falling out of sorts occurred between her and the team. She took up teaching in a small town where her power was easily hidden and was somewhat happy.

Upon meeting the two struck an uneasy friendship that culminated into more when it was found that Pietro's limitless energy was able to sate her absorbing powers allowing them to touch. The two have lived together for the last 5 years with no involvement with worldwide events, such as the creation of the Ultimates.

*Hopefully this isn't too much to follow, but I should be able to make all this work in the long run.



Pietro walked into the bathroom with the paint can and brush, a determined look on his face and a silent mantra repeating in his head; Not this time, not this time, not this time..

In a blur he painted the small bathroom with utmost care, not spilling a drop or missing an inch until the walls were transformed from eggshell white to what Rogue called "Buttermilk Yellow".

More like corn on the cob yellow, if you ask me, Pietro thought to himself as he admired the walls before turning to admire himself in the mirror. And there it was. Three small, almost miniscule, drops of paint on the front of his t-shirt.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"What in sam fire?" Rogue asked herself as she removed the keys from the ignition and climbed out of her car. Walking up the driveway she pocketed the keys and looked up just in time to see a paint can fly out of the upstairs bathroom window. Summer salting in the air the can poured its contents at the perfect angle to completely drench Rogue in "Buttermilk Yellow".

"OH NO!!!"

Pietro said to himself as he ran down the stairs and onto the lawn as fast as he could after sticking his head out of the window to see where the paint fell.

Rogue looked down at herself and looked up at Pietro as he ran up to her and began gibbering as fast as he could in the speed lingo only she could understand, "Rogue I am so sorry, I didn't look where the paint was going and I thought you were going to be home later so I painted the bathroom like you told me too. But look, I have paint on me too! That's why I threw it out the window!"

Rogue stared at him blankly before raising her hand and saying, "Towel now."

Pietro was back in a second and explaining once again about how he hated getting paint on his shirts and that he wished she wouldn't kill him since he was doing what she told him too. All this washed over Rogue as she toweled off and thought to herself, I should have expected this, its been a month since he tried to put a whole pineapple in the blender.

As he ranted on and on and Rogue walked back to the hose all she could think of was the first time she had asked him to do something around the house.

"GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND DO SOMETHING!!!" Rogue had said, standing in the doorway with both hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

Pietro turned the t.v. off with the remote and sat up on the couch, "huh?" "When I said you could live here I didn't mean that I was gonna wait on you hand and foot, so why don't you fix something?"

"But Rogue.."

"Don't take that whiny voice with me," She had then thrown him a tool belt and pointed to the door to the basement, "To start why don't you fix that leak in the basement."

He had risen and walked to the basement door, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to see if she was still standing there. Once he was downstairs Rogue began grading the spelling tests for her 3rd grade class, listening to the cacophony of sounds that emanated from beneath the table.

GROAN

SQUEAK

SPLOOSH

ZIIIINNNGGGG

KKKKKKKAAAAAAAA-BOOOM

What the hell could he be doing, Rogue thought as she walked down the stairs, Houses can't go Ka-boom.

She had stood on the bottom landing, up to her ankles in water watching as Pietro's swam from one end of the basement to the other using a mask and snorkeling tube. Looking up he had seen her and yelled, "I AGGGNNOOSSSST ROOOOTTTT UUUUTTTT!!!"

"WHAT?"

Pulling the snorkel from his mouth, "I almost got it."

That had been 2 years ago and nothing requiring the water company had happened since, thankfully he also seemed to have an inborn since that kept him from fixing anything electrical the "Pietro" way. But occasionally things like this would happen.

Rogue finished washing the paint out of her hair and was surprised to find that Pietro was still talking; he usually shut up when she didn't reply to his questions. Placing a finger on her right hand on his still moving lips and catching the other in her left she said, "hush."

His rant interrupted Pietro waited for her to say something, but all she did was hand him the towel and walk into the house. Your sleeping on a park bench tonight, Pietro thought to himself as he followed inside. Rogue made her way straight to the shower and pulled off her clothes. Thankfully today had been a dress down day at the school so only a pair of jeans, a sweater, and her tennis shoes were ruined. Feeling the water wash over her she wondered what she was going to say to him once she got out, she wasn't going to throw him out, though that had happened before. No, she would probably go into one of her rants that seemed to scare him to death and then wait for the next disaster to happen.

In the living room Pietro paced back and forth, back and forth again and again deep in thought. The ringing of the doorbell interrupted his thought, something that did not bode well for whoever it was that had rung the bell.

Opening it he found a short middle age man standing on his porch. The man, who had been peering at the yellow splotch on the lawn saw him and asked, "Are you Peter Jones?"

Pietro rolled his eyes at the stupid name that Rogue and him lived under, "Yes."

The mans first impression of Pietro was that of a man who was very sure of himself, not cocky, but a man who had become aware of the man he could be with age. With his silver hair, strong runners build, and piercing icy blue eyes Pietro was somewhat intimidating with his cold and superior air. The switch between a bumbling speedster and cool prizefighter was best when dealing with people he did not know or wanted to know.

"I live next door and saw what happened with the paint, is there a problem?" the man quickly added, "I mean, its not everyday you see a paint can fly out a window."

Pietro narrowed his eyes hoping the guy got the message, "Just a bit of a bathroom painting accident, were fine thank you."

The man visibly quailed, "Okay, nice talking to you."

As the man walked off Pietro shut the door and peered out the window after him, making sure he went back to his side of the lawn. No matter what it was always the same, Rouge was the friendly one while he was the standoffish asshole at the party. He knew for a fact that everyone in the neighborhood considered him a crabapple, hell, he encouraged it so he would have more privacy. Sometimes it was torture to have to mow the lawn or get the mail at normal speed since he never knew who was watching. But living with Rogue made that all worth it in a strange wa-.

"Sh**!" Pietro said out loud, "What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do.."

Rogue stepped out of the shower and toweled off before dressing in a torn pair of jeans and a t-shirt and warily walking downstairs. I wonder what he's up to now, She thought.

Stepping into the kitchen she saw a blur in a cooking apron flying between the three tasks of cutting bread, boiling noodles, and cooking sauce. "Pietro?" she asked.

He stopped right in front of her for a second, "One minute I'll be done cooking in just a little while, I made your favorite, Spaghetti! I know we had it the last time when I tried to make pineapple juice and ruined your blender, but that was a month ago, so I thought to myself why not have it again?"

And back to cooking at the speed of light.

Rogue shrugged figuring that he would feel better if he made dinner so she went to the living room and turned on the t.v. It was the usual boring sitcoms and local news, so she was flipping channels when the phone rang. "I got it!" she yelled to the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Marie?"

"Oh hi Ms. Parker!" Oh god, she thought.

"Marie my husband just told me he saw Peter drop a bucket of paint on you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Ms. Parker, the truth is he put it on the edge of the window sill while the paint dried in our bathroom and the thing tipped over right on top of me. Million to one chance really."

"Yes.." Ms. Parker said not very convinced.

"We were just at dinner laughing about it," That should get rid of her, Rogue thought.

"All right, but you know if anything ever happens, I'm here for you." Why does that always sound like, If he tries to beat you run screaming to my house so we can scream together?

"Thank you Ms. Parker." Rogue put the phone back on its receiver with a little slam.

This wasn't the first time someone in the neighborhood had mistook Pietro's actions as abuse, and a nagging feeling told her that everyone thought that because he was a private person. Just because he preffered working around the house instead of a nine to five job like the other men in the neighborhood everyone thought there was something wrong with him. He had once looked for a job in town and returned that night saying, "none of them fit." What was wrong with that?

Peering into the kitchen from her vantage point on the couch she saw the bewildered way he spun in a circle looking for the stirring spoon he had absently put in his pocket. He was the sweetest person she knew, and that fact that he was only sweet around her made it somehow "special."

And abuse?

He had never raised a hand to her, not once. The truth was the only time they had ever had a problem was when the tried to fix the leak in the basement. After the water company and team of 6 plumbers had left he had stood in the middle of the now empty basement scratching his head wondering what went wrong.

Seeing the men out the door she had walked calmly down the stairs and yelled at him, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"

"Rogue....I...."

"WHAT? WHAT? YOU WHAT?" with that she had slapped him full across the face, whipping his head around.

The look he had given her made her feel the shittiest in her life, nothing but pure pain and hurt showed in his eyes. The way he stepped back had driven the anger out of her instantly, "I'm sorry, Pietro. I'm so sorry!!!"

Taking him in her arms she had held him as they both sat on the cold floor, the tears streaming down Rogues face and into his hair. They sat there for five minutes before Pietro noticed the short sleeve short she was wearing and that he was in a wife beater, "Uh Rogue?"

"Huh?" she asked with a sniffle.

"When did you learn to control your powers?"

"What?"

"Our shirts..."

"Oh my god!"

After that they found, through trial and error, that he was the only one who could touch her without her powers kicking in. And no it hadn't been wild monkey love now that she could touch, she thought.

Their relationship had grown from uneasy comrades into friendship, and from friendship into love, or the closest thing Rogue had ever felt to love. Not paternal love, or love of a friend, but love for a person and all their little quirks.

As if picking up on her thoughts Pietro took a break from cooking to see what she was doing, and just watched her for a minute. The way she sat with her feet curled under her, the way she played with a lock of white on brown hair, the way she licked her lips....

Shaking himself he got back to work cooking what he hoped would be the greatest meal in all creation cause if it wasn't, he was royally screwed.

With the table set and food prepared Pietro walked casually into the living room and announced with all the bravado he could muster, "Dinner...is served."

Playing along with the little skit Rogue rose silently and made her way to the table for two that was lit with candles, their flames flickering over the wine he had poured. The spaghetti was on two plates the sauce in between since he could never remember if she liked a little or a lot.

After a silent dinner in which Pietro's normal heart rate of a resting five hundred beats per minute rose to his most strenuous three thousand per minute they sat sipping wine. Rogue set down her glass and opened her mouth but was interrupted by him, "Rogue I just want to say that today was an accident and I swear that I will never, ever, do anything like that again, I swear."

"Piet-"

"Rogue I swear that I wouldn't intentionally drop anything on you, now especially paint!"

"Pietro-"

"And I will do anything you want as long as you don't kick me out, please Rogue you know how the bums in the park freak me out-"

"SHUT-UP!" Rogue yelled.

Pietro stopped in min sentence.

"You nut, I'm not going to throw you out!"

"Really?!"

"Yes."

Thank you god, he thought as he sprawled in his chair and his heart slowed.

"But there is one thing....." Rogue said biting her lip in imitation of thought.

"What? I'll do anything!"

"Maybe it's the wine, or the candles, but for some unexplainable reason, I have the overwhelming urge to kiss you."

With a quick smile that was more like his normal self Pietro leaned forward and said before kissing her, "Anything for you."

Later they lay in bed in each other's arms, listening to the cool rain falling on the roof of their house. Rogue's ear pressed to his chest she listened to the beat of his heart that was almost hummed, in perfect rhythm with the perfect rise and fall of his chest. Pietro gently stroked her hair, finding this moment, the moment in which both their souls seemed laid bare to each other, the best of the night. Both fell asleep gently at the same time, both dreaming of how perfect their life seemed to be in this little house.

The next morning Rogue was up before the dawn as usual as Pietro lay in bed dozing. Wrapping her fuzzy pink bathrobe around herself Rogue looked at him and whispered, "I love you, ya nut."

In the kitchen the coffee was already brewing thanks to a timer built by Pietro with the pieces of an old clock. Noticing nothing amiss in the living room as she passed it and collected the paper from the door before sipping her coffee. Entering the living room she noticed for the first time the figure that sat silently on the couch in front of her, a figure that was Pietro's kin.

"PIETRO!!!!!!" She screamed as the figure rose and walked towards her.



I know this seems like a really slow chapter, but its going to pick up and quick I might add. If you hadn't noticed this is going to be a real Rietro story, following both of them. I plan on posting another chapter at the PG- 13 rating before branching off into two separate storys in the R rating. Hopefully this will hook me some readers first.

Next chapter; Who's the person related to Pietro? How will this affect Rogue and Pietro's perfect life? And why in the world did I mention the Ultimates?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!!!