Ye Olde Authors' Note: To be honest, I don't like the first chapter, but I'm honoured that you guys did! And thanks so much to my reviewers tx peppa and Alierana, without them this chapter wouldn't be out as quickly as this. This is my first time writing an X-Men fic, so I'm unsure if I'm doing the characters any justice. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed. Plus, I don't know if the date I gave is correct, but oh well. Did they even have banks/bankcards back then? That said, please review!

Penny For Your Thoughts?
Chapter One

Rogue landed on her stomach with a bang, tangled up her white bed sheets. Lifting her head from the blue carpet, she glanced up at her bed, and was suddenly riddled disappointed when she came to the conclusion that the entire night before was nothing more than a dream, a figment of her imagination stemming form her hope of somehow helping her friends. Groaning, she untangled herself from her sheets, pulling herself up with a hand on her bed. Perching herself on the edge, she rubbed her eyes tiredly, berating herself mentally for believing such a foolish and dangerous power could exist.

It was still dark outside, and consequently so was her room, making her unable to see more than her hand waving in front of her face, and even then that's partly because she knew she was actually doing the action that her eyes allowed her to see the faint show of movement in the darkness that surrounded her. Throwing aside the sheets that had ensnared her earlier, she stood up gracelessly and stumbled her way towards her window, intent on opening it and leaning on the balcony that overlooking the gorgeous gardens at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

She was surprised however, to find that when she went to open the window her hand encountered a wall. Hissing in pain, Rogue cradled her fist to her chest, blindly looking about the darkened room. She knew her room at the School very well, and had many times walked about in the dark without a problem, locating objects, and opening her window in the pitch black so many times, that it had become a skill of hers. In addition, she had never miscalculated where her window was. Quickly backing up against the wall, she slowly began to side step her way around the outskirts of her room, keeping her back firmly pressed against the wall, for protection and for direction. Every now and then, she would bump into what she guessed would be a dresser, or a table, before she hastily made her way around it, keeping her hand on the edge of the object at all times, before pressing her back up against the wall again. She could not help but think the layout of the room seemed familiar somehow, like a distant memory. Although what made her feel uneasy was that she did not know if it was her memories or not.

Abruptly, her movements halted, her head cocked to the side as she realised how deathly quiet it the room really was. Straining her ears to hear any noise seemed to take a lot more effort that it usually did, but even then, all she could hear was the pounding of her heart, and the rushing of blood as it sped past her ears. There were no thoughts - other than her own - inside her mind, no constant buzzing reminding her of her Mutant nature. She was alone.

Hope bubbled up inside her, and she launched herself in the direction she knew the door was. Slapping her hand against the wall again, she fumbled for the light switch on the wall, pointedly ignoring the pain that was shooting up her arm, from her injured hand. Once her fingers brushed the edge of the light switch, her placed her hand on the switch itself and left it to hover there as she battled with the hope filling her chest, trying to diffuse the emotion so she wouldn't be too disappointed when she flicked on the light to find that she had just in fact miscalculated the location of the window and was too disorientated from her dream to recognise at first the suddenly disappointing surroundings of her room at School. It was a pointless endeavour, but one she attempted nonetheless.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and quickly, as if whipping of a band-aid, flicked the switch, and turned around. Leaning against the wall again, she slowly opened one eye. She gave out a strangled gasp and opened her other eye to take in the recognizable surroundings of her old room in her parent's house before she had been kicked out. Her eyes gazed at the well-known objects and features with undisguised wonder. Nothing had changed, she realised. Her wardrobe was still in its usual position near her dressing table; her bed was still up against the wall to the right of her door with the map hanging proudly on the off-white walls above it. Blinking in amazement, she stumbled her way towards her bed in a daze, climbing on top of her bed and forcing herself into a standing position, near her pillows. She traced the coloured threads delicately, the usual feeling of longing filling her as she gazed at the names of destinations she had yet to go to. Staring at some of the places in her map she could not help the smirk that graced her features when she realised she had already been to some of the places specified.

Should she mark them off?

The thought made her grin. Somehow the excuse, "Oh don't worry about it Mom, I have visited those places. I did it after you kicked me out for being a Mutant. Of course, this was before another Mutant - nice girl,you'd like her - with the ability to manipulate time sent me back in a potential life-threatening mission to save my friends." did not seem like one her mother would believe. Or find very funny.

Dropping to a seated position, she leaned her back against the headboard and directed her head to stare at the clock on her bedside table.

02:46am, Thursday 5th 1996

Judging by her calculations, she had exactly one week and one day until what was supposed to be her first kiss. Cody had been in a coma for about a moth after that, and during that time she had stayed with her parents, although they made it their unspoken mission in life to convince everyone they no longer had a daughter, and had consequently avoided having anything to do with her once they realised their daughter was most likely a Mutant. Her parents were your typical religious, old-fashioned Southerners, and were convinced they had upset God greatly to be cursed with a Mutant for a daughter. The first time her mother and father had spoken to her in weeks was on the night Cody had roused from his coma. Whilst she sat in her bedroom late at night she had heard her father's voice calling her from the living room. When she arrived, hoping to be told more about Cody's situation, she had been greeted with her mother and father standing side by side, showing a united front, an empty bag pack hanging from her fathers' hands, and a crisp white envelope in her mothers' hands.

Her father had held up a hand when she was a few steps away in the universally recognised gesture for stop, the fear in their eyes and the way her mother had subconsciously hidden behind her husband as Rogue drew nearer was not lost to their observant daughter, and so she had stayed a fair distance away, any skin that used to be on display now hidden behind think jumpers and jeans with a pair of green gloves adorning her hands. She had made a point of standing near the door, her gloved hands stayed resolutely by her hands in an effort to appease her parents and offer them any comfort she could.

After a few minutes her father had spoken in a tone too formal for a man addressing his daughter, "Cody has awoken from his coma," he stressed, throwing the empty bag pack at Rogue's feet. "We think it would be best - and safer - for everyone if you left."

Rogue's mouth dropped in disbelief, her eyes darting to her mother, expecting her to speak on her behalf and to disagree with her father's words. Her mother avoided eye contact. Rogue had swallowed thickly before bending down and grabbing the bag. Spinning on her heels, she rushed up the steps to her room, sharply pulled open her drawers and proceeded to throw random clothes into the bag, her eyes too blurry with over flowing tears to really see what she was shoving into the bag.

Once the bag pack was too full for any more objects, she had flung it over he shoulders and quietly padded down the steps to her front door. Standing near the bottom steps her mother and father were watching her closely, the closer she came the more they drew back until their backs nearly hit the wall.

Placing the envelope on the cabinet near the door her mother nodded towards it, "For you," she explained, "And please place your house keys in the bowl before you leave."

Her mother's voice had not wavered, nor did she saw any emotion as she cast her daughter into the streets. Rogue merely nodded. She stepped forwards, making her way to the cabinet to collect the envelope and deposit her keys. Unfortunately, the cabinet was near her parents, and they had consequently made a hasty retreat as their Mutant daughter came towards them, deciding to take refugee in their living room, where all pictures of Marie had been removed. They didn't even stop to say goodbye. A single tear ran down Rogue's cheek as she watched her parents literally walk away from her. Shaking her head to disperse the tear and the memories that had flooded her, she had shoved a hand into her jean pocket, in search of the house key she owned. Grabbing the envelope of money - she had checked once she was a safe distance away from what she used to believe was her safe heaven - in one hand, she threw the keys into the glass dish on the cabinet before walking out the front door.

Her last memories of her parents was of them walking away from her in fear and disgust.

The feeling of resentment that had engulfed Rogue when she recalled these memories was not surprising, and definitely not unwarranted. It was with this thought - and emotion - in mind that she made the decision to still kiss Cody and alert her parents to her impending Mutation. Her parents had left her to do as she pleased after that, and she could use the time to prepare, without her parents hovering over her shoulder. Plus, she didn't think she could face her parents after the way they had treated her. Especially as she didn't have a reasonable excuse for her inevitable rude behaviour.

Decision made, she spent the rest of the night think about ways to help her while she stayed on the streets.

Her granddad had died a while ago, and the two were very close, so she had ended up with a majority of his money and possessions much to the displeasure of her family and friends. It wasn't a huge amount, just enough to allow her to live comfortably without a job for the rest of her life providing she made no extravagant purchases. Due to her hasty departure last time around, she had been unable to get the bankcard to the account holding the money - not that her mother would have willingly given it up. Her mother had kept the card in her purse, demanding to know the pin "just in case". Rogue had no doubt the money was gone in the original timeline by the time she had met Logan. The only way to rectify this problem however would be to either steal the card from her mother, and change the pin, or to simply order a new card and pin number directly from the back without her mother's knowledge. Deciding that the easiest way was the latter - at least then she wouldn't have to explain why the card was missing - she made a mental note to visit the bank tomorrow. Plus, the imagined look of horror on her mother's face when she realised the card no longer worked was too good to pass up. She knew her mother well enough to know that image meant everything to her, and therefore wouldn't make a scene about the card not working. She would most likely seethe silently, snapping at everyone else but not telling him or her why.

The next thing would be supplies, although she had no idea how to cover this topic - unless her idea about the card worked, however she did not want to become dependant on her granddad's money, and would prefer to bring some essentials with her to keep her going. She made another mental note to go shopping tomorrow and buy appropriate clothes for the streets. Also, to go to the town library and read up about survival skills. She could use all the help she could get.

The next problem on her list was that of her Mutation. She had no doubts she could get it under control, she had done it before, and remembered how to successfully train herself in how to turn her poisoned skin on and off. Her only worry was if she could get it done before her deadline ran out. It had taken her months during School, and she was hesitant to believe she could get in under control in a week so that she may be able to actually enjoy what would be her first kiss of this lifetime. Deciding this this all could wait until the morning, she settled down into her bed, pulling the covers back over her and loosing herself to the dreams of what could happen in the future.

Quick Question(s): How do you want Pyro's attitude towards Rogue to be in this timeline? Sweet, caring and kind to her but arrogant to everyone else? Or possessive, cocky and arrogant with the occasional fluff moment? Do you want Rogue to resist at first, or just fall madly in love with him? Personally, I like possessive and cocky best *Grins widely* Tell me in a review what you think.