(EDITED IN FEBRUARY, 26th, 2015)
Chapter 2 – A new friend and an old playing card
"Man, I hate these training sessions!" Bobby complained in a tired and exhausted voice as he and the younger X-men left the Danger Room nearly crawling over the metal floor.
It was supposed to be just another training day, when Logan finally decided to increase the level of their training after hearing their complaint on how their sessions looked like a five-year-old exercise.
"Are you guys feeling more adult now?" Scott shouted as the teenagers left the room to reach the elevator.
"Oh, just shut up, Summers!" Bobby replied ignoring the urge to flip his leader off. Instead, the brown-eyed boy decided to hit the bottom of the elevator with an angry punch. He shook his head and felt small drops of melted ice hit his face.
Scott and Kurt were almost unable to hold their laughter at the sight of their younger teammates. Jaime had one missing boot, Jubilee had smoke coming out of her hair because of her own fireworks, Roberto lost a part of his eyebrow one moment during their session due to Jubilee's poor aim and Ray's outfit looked unrecognizable with dirt covering its fabric – five holes were also visible and one of them exposed a small part of his (blue with lightning patterns) underwear.
Kurt couldn't resist anymore and soon found himself making fun of the rookies as they disappeared in the small elevator, leaving Jaime behind with the fear of a possible crowd forming inside the tiny space.
The blue-furred mutant and his friend quickly stopped their laughter as soon as a short, strong man appeared at the entrance door. His arms folded over his chest and a frown taking over his features.
"Real nice, kid," Logan said, resting his shoulder over the metal door jamb, the corner of his mouth soon moved into a suspicious grin. "Let's see if you still find it funny after your training ends."
Kurt's smile quickly faded from his face.
He sighed.
"I don't think I will, sir," he muttered to himself, approaching the entrance of the Danger Room after his teacher ordered every X-man remained to get inside.
"But I will," Logan also muttered in response to Kurt's complaining. He closed the metal door and walked to the center of the room to begin his explanation.
"This time, you'll learn how to survive in unknown places."
Scott looked at Rogue by his side with an eyebrow raised as both of them tried to understand what their superior meant. They just knew the mission would be horribly difficult, just like any other training with Logan was.
They missed that one time he seemed to start taking easy on them with dodge ball games and other fun tasks.
"What kind of – unknown places?" Kurt was the one to ask what everyone else wondered.
"Forests, deserts… places like that," he shrugged with arms still crossed over his chest.
"Wait, what?" Kitty quickly protested, "But we, like, already know how to do that! I mean, don't you remember that time we all went to find out more things about Apocalypse in the desert? Or when Mister McCoy took us to the redwoods? Why would we need to do that again?" she ignored the urge to say that, if this was the case, McCoy should be the one teaching them this lesson. She was sure he'd find a much simpler way to explain and put it into practice.
"But that's because you were prepared," Logan quickly replied, pointing his index finger to the small brunette in front of him. "Tell me, Half-Pint, what if the X-Jet breaks in the middle of the woods? Or a desert? Or a jungle? Or any other place with any kind of technology or communication devices? How will you make it?"
Kitty didn't reply and no one else knew the answer as well.
Logan smiled, glad that a point was made and he was the one who made it.
"So, let's begin," he nearly shouted, clasping both hands in a loud noise that echoed through the air.
Kitty, Kurt, Rogue, Scott and Jean left the Danger Room worse than the rookies.
"I regret making fun of Bobby, now," Kurt admitted between desperate attempts to breathe normally.
"Same here, man" Scott agreed, resting his hand over his friend's shoulder but quickly letting it go once the injured, blue mutant protested with muffled grunts. The tall, usually stiff leader felt that his situation wasn't any better than the colleague by his side. His hair, always flawlessly combed, had several locks pointing toward different directions, not mentioning the smoke coming out of the burned fabric over his left shoulder.
"Logan's getting crazier each. Passing. Day!" Kurt blurted when he sensed they were far from their teacher's hearing. Comments were made about the exhausting training, and each of them had something to say – be it of how tiresome it was to prepare a proper fire (no powers) or just to complain about Logan.
The only one who remained silent ever since the metal doors of the Danger Room were unlocked was Rogue. Her feet followed her friends as they made their way to the elevator. Her mind, however, couldn't follow their conversation and she avoided their gaze – which wasn't difficult since their distaste for the training kept their minds occupied.
Walking through the corridor after coming out of the elevator, the Southern heard a feminine voice calling from behind and she took one deep breath.
"Rogue?" Kitty called in a concerned, low tone.
The auburn and white haired female turned to stare at her short friend, who had several spots of dirt covering her delicate face. If the Goth wasn't feeling so desperate to reach the safety of her room, she'd have laughed a little at her friend's state.
Instead, her hands moved in a defensive stance and she hugged herself, trying to hide the shock on her features. "What?"
Kitty stared at Rogue longer than usual, light-blue eyes analyzing the woman in front of her. For a while, the small girl's heavy breathing was the only thing heard in the silent corridor. "Is there something wrong?" she finally asked; concern still evident in her voice. "You looked quieter than usual back there," her thumb pointed towards the place both girls came out as the mutant with intangible powers tilted her head with a raised eyebrow, "Did something happen?"
Rogue tried to keep her neutral expression, but her heart skipped a beat. A small drop of sweat ran through her temple and she attempted to hide the deep breath her lungs gave.
The memory of Mystique's thoughts invading her mind right after a strong headache still was fresh on her head – all of it took place as she tried to escape from a bear during the training session and she nearly fainted on the ground.
"It's nothing, Kitty," Rogue answered quickly, her eyes trying to keep contact with her friend's big ones. "Ah guess I'm just feeling tired. It was a busy day, y' know. Two surprise tests and the finals getting' close… Not to tell Logan's killer tendencies with his trainings," she shrugged.
Kitty raised an eyebrow, doubt visible in her narrowed eyes.
She knew something was wrong… but she also knew that if her stubborn friend didn't want to say what was wrong, there was no way she could find it out. At least not directly.
"Alriiight," biting her lip, she furrowed her eyebrows. "But, you know – if anything's wrong – you can tell me." The Southern let out a weak smile at that. "See you at dinner then."
And Kitty walked away, her messed ponytail bouncing over her head as she made way to her own bedroom.
A small sigh escaped the now alone mutant, her feet moving towards her own room. "Yeah, dinner… Can't wait," she mumbled.
After getting rid of the dirty uniform and moving towards the bathroom, Rogue took a twenty-minute hot shower to calm down. The water seemed to burn her skin and leave red marks on her whole body.
The pain somewhat distracted her mind.
Leaving the bathroom, she decided to wear her pajamas and go straight to bed.
The incident with Mystique's thoughts left her sick one more time, so diner was not an option anymore. Maybe, if she felt better later, she'd go down to the kitchen and eat a snack.
Her hands threw her gloves away in a released gesture, and her legs moved toward the chair in front of a wooden desk.
Rogue started her homework and finished it faster than expected, finding it rather easier to do.
Once her hands closed the backpack with all of the work assigned done, the Southern decided to read a little bit more of one of her unfinished books placed over the night stand. Pride and Prejudice was her choice – even though she read it many times already.
The book was enough to take her attention away.
Images of Elizabeth and Mister Darcy's arguments filled her head, and Rogue laughed in a low voice every time the main female made an argument that silenced Darcy for a long time.
She missed dinner without even noticing.
Making a little pause to take a sip of water, the pale-skinned sat on her bed and took the glass of water she usually left at the night stand and drank it quickly to go back to her reading.
Once her book was back in her hands, she opened it to notice a small piece of paper falling from between the pages. It landed on her lap and she raised an eyebrow, confused.
What was that?
Her fingers took the small object. Once they felt the smooth and cold surface of the paper, Rogue instantly remembered what it was.
The Queen of Hearts.
It was almost the same since he gave it to her. A smile tried to take over Rogue's lips, but in a second thought she held it back.
With his cocky smile and sneaky personality, Gambit invaded her thoughts. Red eyes in black quickly reminded her of that one episode which culminated with his fingers slipping the card to her hands without anyone, but her, noticing.
The idea that same card was something important to him (and maybe still is) didn't escape her mind. Maybe that's why she kept it. Because it was one of the only things she knew was real about him – that single piece of paper.
Rogue liked to think of it as an amulet, in a way. Not that she believed in those things. But it was special to him; different than the other disposable cards in his view…
And he gave it to her.
But of course he did, her rational part quickly protested. It's very clear he's a womanizer. It's a part of him, so don't you think you're somewhat special to this guy, because you'll end up disappointed. It's a normal part of him to do something like this: make everything wrong and then doing something that would get any girl to forgive him and fall in love.
She ignored it and put her card between the pages of her book once again.
A knock on the door prevented her to come back to her reading.
"Rogue! It's me, Kitty!"
It didn't take long for the skinny, blue-eyed mutant on her pink pajamas phase through the wooden door, without asking for permission.
Rogue narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything once noticing the urgency on her friend's voice. "The Professor is calling us at the visit room. He said it's something important."
"Alright," Rogue quickly kicked the covers out of her way and took one of her hoodies to prevent any accidental touch because of her exposed skin. Then she took the black gloves over the nightstand and the book she was reading some minutes ago.
Her stomach seemed to get better and she felt like going to the kitchen later and drink hot chocolate.
Both her and her friend walked down to the visit room of the mansion without talking much, the curiosity at what seemed to be so important preventing them to say something.
Once they reached the room, Rogue noticed they were the only X-Men missing.
Most all of her teammates were already on pajamas and nightwear, like her.
Professor Xavier, however, was an exception as he was still wearing his usual daily clothing along with Ororo and McCoy. His fingers were interlocked in front of his mouth, revealing that his mind was deep in thoughts as every other X-man seemed curious at what he had to say.
A simple smile took over his features and he finally opened his mouth to speak, "My students. I'm deeply sorry to interrupt you all – but it is about time for me to communicate something rather important."
"What is it?" Bobby, who stood at the corner of the room with his arms crossed and a tired look on his face, suddenly interrupted; his eyes widening in curiosity. "Logan finally decided to quit being our tutor?" the tone on his voice was hopeful to say the least.
Some of the X-men laughed and others tried to suppress it.
"I heard that, Ice Kid," a thick voice exclaimed right behind the tall dark-skinned woman with silver hair. Logan's figure quickly appeared from the corridor behind and walked towards Bobby, "Let's see if you'll remember I'm still your tutor after a nice trip running around the mansion tomorrow morning."
"Aww, man!" was the mutant with ice power's answer, his shoulders dropping.
Some of his friends laughed in a low tone, but the noises didn't escape the older mutant's hearing and he quickly added. "You kids there wanna join Ice Cube's fun task tomorrow?"
Their bodies stiffened at the same moment and the laughter got away from their mouths instantly. "No, sir!" they all answered together in a desperate voice.
Waking up two hours earlier than usual wasn't something they wished to do in any day of the week.
Xavier watched the whole scene silently, waiting for the right time to speak again. He cleared his throat in a sound loud enough to call everyone else's attention back to him. "As I was saying. It is time for you all to meet a new X-Man."
Silence filled the room. Faces directed towards him had surprised expressions and each teenager at the room seemed rather anxious and eager about the notice.
Tabitha was the first to speak. Her loud voice startled some of her colleagues as she looked at her Professor expectantly. "Awesome! Is the new guy a he or a she? What about their powers? It's not a lame one right?"
Xavier gave her a smile, appreciating his student's eagerness in a way. "Calm down, Tabitha. First of all, before introducing him," he smiled at her one more time for giving an obvious hint. "I want you all to understand that by now, he is our friend and it doesn't matter what he did in the past."
Scott suddenly stepped forward with a raised eyebrow. A twinge of suspicion filled his head as he asked with concerned, "You mean he is our enemy?"
The Professor quickly denied with a simple move of his head and answered with his always present patience. "He was our enemy, Scott."
His brown eyes moved toward the dark corridor behind Ororo and he seemed to be telepathically calling an unknown presence hidden in it.
Silence took over the room one more time, and some of the teenagers found themselves gulping at the idea that someone who previously might have tried to kill them was joining their group.
As a tall, strong-built figure moved towards the soft light of the visit room –his identity finally revealed – a heavy weight seemed to come out of each X-Men's shoulder. It was quickly replaced by cheer and excitement.
Kitty was the first one to greet Piotr with a tight hug. Her thin arms wrapped around his thick neck as she jumped to even their big height difference.
The Russian seemed surprised and shy at her sudden movement even if he also felt happy to see the little girl again after so much time apart. Yet, he never forgot her beautiful heart-shaped face and large, expressive blue-eyes. It was impossible to do that.
His hesitation finally left him, and the tall mutant returned the hug.
Kitty was the one to break the contact and her feet touched the ground once he released the grip around her body with a big smile on his face.
"Hey, Big Guy!" she said with a grin. "Welco-"
Her voice was interrupted as her other teammates moved towards Piotr to welcome him. Kitty nearly pouted but decided to hear what her new colleague had to say once he was bombarded with questions.
Rogue was the only one who was patient enough to wait for the entire crowd to disperse to give Piotr a proper welcome.
Placing her thin, gloved hand over his shoulder, the Southern gave him a genuine smile.
"Welcome to our crazy family," she said.
He laughed a little and her light-colored eyes were able to see the tiredness of the Russian man. He probably came to the Institute straight from the airport, without even resting properly.
"Thanks, Rogue," he answered anyway and seemed to hold back a yawn.
Another voice called the female mutant and she looked at Professor Xavier moving towards her once all of the X-men were obliged to come back to bed. ("You kids will have plenty of time to pester Tin Man later" was what Logan said as he pushed some of the teenagers back to their room – Kitty seemed the most irritated and upset of them all, but she eventually gave up, going away with a pout toward her teacher's direction.)
"Yes, Professor?" the young woman with white striped hair asked.
"Would you be kind enough to show Piotr his new room?"
She smiled. "But of course," she turned her head towards the tall man. Noticing three handbags placed in a corner beside the book shelf, the young mutant's gloved hand reached one of their straps and said, "C'mon, Big Guy" she gave him a light, yet surprisingly strong nudge. "Let me show ya your new room. Prepare yourself for a nice surprise."
She and a tired Piotr left the room, leaving Professor Xavier with a happy smile on his face.
As both mutants moved towards the male rooms section, Rogue opened one of the big doors and gestured for the Russian to come inside. She placed the handbag on the ground and opened the curtains and windows to let a little bit of fresh air ventilate the area.
A smile invaded her face once she noticed how Piotr had a dropped jaw. His eyes moved towards the ceiling that had a (rather big) chandelier hung right in the middle of it, then to the room itself with its large king size bed and armchair beside. Not to tell the big wooden wardrobe and desk placed near the wall opposite to his bed.
"Told ya," Rogue placed her hand on his shoulders once she was near him again. "Surprise."
Piotr still didn't seem recovered enough to talk so she took the chance to keep on explaining his new routine. "So," she started, taking the tall man out of his trance for a while. "Ya actually got lucky, 'cause that's one of the rooms with the best views in the mansion.
"By the way, breakfast's at seven. Lunch's on your choice – ya can eat out or in here, only you prepare it and wash the dishes. Our diner is usually at seven or eight p.m. We have training sessions with Logan, Ororo and McCoy at four p.m., four days a week, but I'm almost sure ya'll get to be one of our teachers rather than a student," she shrugged. "Also, Logan usually tends to make us suffer with early, surprise trainings before school, so don't get surprised if ya hear his voice through the speakers at six in the morning (or the Professor's). Ya can train by yourself at the gym or at the Danger Room – which is where we usually have our sessions. We're also the ones who clean the house, but we're usually selected by groups and that includes washin' the dishes and buyin' groceries once in a while. The rookies' curfew is around 10 p.m., so if ya suspect that one of 'em isn't around the mansion by this time, it's better to warn the Professor immediately – he's very attentive over these kinda things."
"Wow," for a while now, Piotr had been staring at the girl by his side with surprised eyes. "That's a full schedule, huh?"
Rogue gave him a small laugh. "Don't worry. Ah also suffered just like you," she smiled at him; her eyes followed his actions as Piotr took his belongings out of his handbags. "Well, if anything happens, feel free to ask any of us. Ah guess I'll be goin' now."
His light-blue eyes stared at the teenager as she made her way out of the room, "Alright then," he answered. "Thank you, Rogue."
She gave him one last smile before closing the door and leaving him alone with his thoughts and a feeling of relief filling his chest.
They were safe now, he knew… And it seemed like a huge burden disappeared from over his shoulders.
Magneto finally appeared to give up on him, now that they were not in danger anymore.
Piotr moved towards his bed once some of his things were finally settled around the room, and lay on it in a heavy sigh.
They are safe now, he kept on repeating to himself. They are safe now, and I am free.
He was exactly where he wanted to be.
Once the hot chocolate was ready, Rogue poured it into a mug and sat over one of the kitchen chairs. She placed some cookies on a plate over the table and quickly ate one of them. Her eyes went back to her book.
Her fingers moved its pages until she found the Queen of Hearts placed at the exact point she left. Taking the small piece of paper from inside her book, she put it over the table and started to read again.
It was an actual surprise when anyone came around at nigh to get a midnight snack or something similar – usually it was Kitty who did that, but even her former roommate didn't pay a visit to the kitchen and the big bottle of milk inside the refrigerator.
That was weird…
Rogue turned to look at the clock hanging over the door once she was done with her chocolate.
Ten past midnight.
She decided to place the dirty, now empty dishes over the sink (Kurt's time to wash them) and slowly moved to her room once her book and the Queen of Hearts were safe in her hands.
Most of the mansion by now was dark and quite. Lifeless, almost. And it wasn't that she liked it exactly, but Rogue could surely say it was much easier to walk around the giant building when she knew everyone was sleeping safely over their beds, away from an accidental contact with her skin.
In a quick and slightly excited gesture, the young Goth took off her hoodie and wrapped it around her thin waist as she walked through another empty corridor. She used a lock of her hair to hold the rest of it in a messy ponytail over her head.
To her, it was quite difficult to let so much of her skin exposed.
She hated it so much.
To be a living danger anywhere she went.
How many times did she want to visit a beach, but wasn't even able to wear something proper for the occasion? Always opting to wear black leggings and huge jackets…
Jackets, for the love of God! Who would go to a beach wearing jackets and long pants in a sunny, hot day?
Not only did this situation get on her nerves every time she thought about it, it also made her feel bad inside.
It's been a long time since she touched someone…
And the worst part was: she was forgetting how it felt. How it felt to give a simple hand shake, to sense the warmth of someone else's body reaching hers in a hug or in a simple handhold. It was all fading to her.
And she hated it.
Using the thoughts of everyone she absorbed to remember it was completely out of question. She would never do something like that. It wouldn't feel the same and it was just… wrong.
And everything gets even worse knowing that everyone else around her had this trivial privilege.
Rogue opened the door to her room, threw her hoodie in a random corner and jumped over her bed.
Her hands couldn't even pull the covers over her body. She just lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling and resting her head over her soft pillow.
She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
That beautiful, short, brown-haired girl looked at his dark brown eyes. He immediately blushed and moved his face away from her gaze.
C'mon, Lance. He told himself. You can't just keep looking at her like that and do nothing! She likes you now… Or at least she doesn't hate you like before.
He risked something different…
He moved his arm near hers when she seemed to be paying attention to Mister McCoy's class. It looked like an eternity until his fingers slightly touched the back of her hands. Her shinny blue eyes widened in surprise and moved into their now touching hands.
She blushed when she met his eyes. He didn't move his hands, though.
Kitty gave him a slight smile, which encouraged him to go further. This time he took her small hand with his big gloved one as quick as his courage could go.
She didn't move, but she liked it for sure.
As if it was some kind of natural reaction to their touching skins, they interlaced their fingers and it looked like his hands were made for hers.
They stayed like that during all class…
Her hand was so warm and smooth; he didn't want to let it go.
Rogue woke up in a second. She sat on her bed and desperately wrapped her knees around her thin, defined arms.
She calmed herself down through controlled, deep breaths. Lance Alvers thoughts on Kitty were the last thing she wanted to see right now… she didn't need it.
Well… looking at the bright side, at least he seemed to like Kitty for real.
What a surprise.
She rested her head over the pillow again and tried to fall asleep one more time.
No dreams haunted her this time.
(EDIT: 2nd PART) Ugh, honestly guys. I forgot about Rogue's accent (and Remy's and Kurt's for that matter) so, to avoid any kind of wrong or exaggerated spelling, I resorted to just what I know – if you have ANY references for writers about that, tell me, please. I've tried to make some research but any of the links I found around the internet were good enough to help. :/
Gambit will be IN the next chapter, so no worries XD
