Chapter 1: Time.
Rogue sat nervously on the end of her bed. She could hear the distant chatter down the hall. The return of the school had raised everyone's hopes, but not hers. At the foot of her bed post she had a black bag ready and packed, from her journey home. Everyone needed to know where she had been, it would not be long until they asked. She took a deep steadying breath,
Come on Rogue, you can do this,
She jumped up when she heard her door swing open,
'Rogue?'
Bobby stood in the doorway, his fist grasping the door handle as if ready to make his sudden escape. Rogue noticed, her eyes slightly narrowing. Bobby's azure eyes glistened sadly as he took a hesitant step into the room.
'Rogue I didn't want this,' Bobby's voice broke slightly. Rogue's eyes widened, why was he acting like this,
'Excuse me?' she whispered silently.
'I didn't want you to take the cure,' another step placed him further in the room. Rogue's cheeks flushed slightly as she realised what he was finally getting at, anger trembled through her body,
'That wasn't your choice,' she muttered, 'it was mine, but I'd rather you didn't jump to conclusions,' Rogue watched as Bobby's eyes widened in surprise,
'You didn't? But I saw you.. I followed-'
'Yes! I know you followed me,' she interrupted, her voice raising slightly, 'If it wasn't for Johnny blowing the place up, I would have taken the damn shot!' She grabbed her bag and stormed past him. Bobby followed her down the hall,
'Where the hell do you think you're going?' he demanded, striding after her.
'I'm going to thank Johnny myself,' she grumbled.
'Pyro's dead,' he stated impassively, pulling Rogue to a halt. She slowly turned to face him,
'What?'
'He's dead. I'm sorry, we fought and he lost,' Bobby shrugged simply. Rogue felt her hands shaking around her bag strap, but she could not find the words to yell at him. Instead she carried on walking, holding back the tears that threatened to humiliate her, 'I didn't mean to!' Bobby called after her, 'I've finally discovered how to control my powers!'
'Leave her Bobby,' Logan's stern voice suddenly cut over him. Rogue smiled weakly as she pushed her way through the front doors, Logan always knew exactly what to say. She could feel sets of eyes stalking her as she trudged through the gardens, the gravestones were the most haunting images as she walked under the trees, they seemed to glare at her the most,
Sorry professor, but it's time.
Rogue had no idea where she was going. She summed up her options, but each came with a heavy drawback. It was back to square one, with the only improvement of her powers. The release of the bus shocked her back to reality. She dropped the coins into the drivers hand and sat at the back of the bus. She pulled out two black leather gloves and pulled them on slowly. She needed to get away from this area, from this place. Maybe to another town, or better still another country – she had the money she needed, this could be her opportunity. The bus lumbered its way towards the city, but eventually Rogue could see the colourless, ashen buildings rushing past her. The bus breathed at its final stop as the passengers filed out onto the busy streets. Rogue was the last to step of the bus, she adjusted her bag then marched towards the steps that dove underground.
The underground tube unnerved her slightly, she felt closed in with so many people pushing past her. The oversized clock stated her train would arrive in twenty minutes, allowing her a chance to sit down and contemplate her actions. She wondered if anyone would follow her, try to stop her at the last minute. She watched so many pass her, without a care in the world – trouble free, she ached for that so much. The tunnel was crowded, her eyes scanned under the florescent lights, until something caught her eye. At first she was sure she was seeing things, a ghost perhaps, but no.
It couldn't be..