Title: Birthright
Disclaimer: I don't own jack-alright? So don't bother me with patents or legalities.
Rating: R For possible to come sexual content (I say this in everything I do :) ) and
language, slight mention of drug usage and excessive violence.
Summary: Rogue's life is turned upside down when she finds out about her past and possible future.
Author's Note: The whole Mystique trying to recruit Rogue didn't happen in this AU. Xavier found Rogue when she was sixteen, wondering the streets and screaming about voices in her head. She couldn't remember anything, even her own name-but she did seem to take a liking to the name Rogue for some reason. In this story it's only been a year since her recruitment.
Also, I am lazy, so I don't feel like reenacting her argument with Jean. You should get some clues about what happened, but it's not really important itself, what is important is that it's pissing Rogue off.
Pissed off RogueSarcastic Fun
CHAPTER II
He was Remy LeBeau-sly, charismatic Ladies Man, Prince of Thieves, Le Diable Blanc!
"An' don' you forgets dat, mon ami!" He'll tell you.
And as Prince of Thieves and the cocky Cajun he was, being sent to some Institute like an adolescent degenerate was not on his list of things to do.
But Jean Luc, his père, and the residing King of Thieves, was not someone you argued with.
Of course the Ragin' Cajun was not someone riddled with logic.
"Remy don' understand! Why I gots to go to some…Institue?" His red eyes glared into his father's dark brown ones.
While the old man would never tell his adoptive son this, Remy's red on black eyes had always unsettled him, they reminded him too much of Remy's real father. But Remy didn't know he had known him, and he wasn't about to get into that dead history this late in the game.
"Yo' powers be 'part of ya, Remy! An' I can't have anymo' screw ups like last time when ye blew ups dat paintin'! Can't b'lieve you did dat anyway! Merde! You gon' be the death of me, LeBeau!"
"Alright, Remy gets ya. Va te faire foutre!(1)!"
"Don't you curse in front o' me, Diable Blanc!"
The Cajun recalled the rest of the conversation with some amusement. He pretty much goaded Jean into that part.
The black car stopped and Remy looked out the rolled down window with disgust. Just as he had been expecting: a picturesque yard and disarray of preteens, teenagers and a speckle of roaming chaperones. All of them laughing and publicly displaying their powers, despite the fact that mutants were not a hot topic of the modern day.
Henry nudged him from behind to get out the car. Actually he more of…playfully pushed him out with his foot at the square of his back. Remy glared back at him, pulling up his dark shades with a ripped, fingerless glove.
"After I gets out o' dis prison hole, 'm gone kill you Henry." He snapped.
Henry pushed himself out after him.
"Look at my petite frère! All grown up and in the juvenile slammer! It really brise mon coeur(2)."
Remy gave him the finger and snatched the suitcase smoothly from behind him. Figures Jean Luc would have his brother "escort" him. Make sure he didn't run off to a brothel or skipped the country for a couple years.
Branleur (3).
"Welcome Mr. LeBeau to my Institute! I am Xavier, telepath and founder." The man in the wheel chair smiled cordially as Remy entered.
"Telepath?" Remy stammered.
Merde!
The Professor chuckled and Henry fidgeted from behind Remy.
"Well, I guess since I've made sho' ya didn' hop a fence o' not'n', ain't no reason fo' meh ta still be hea. I be going now! See ya soon, frère!" Henry slipped out quicker than Remy could turn around.
"Traitor!" Remy screamed out the door.
His brother only responded with the finger before zooming off.
"So then LeBeau, I suspect you didn't want to be here?" Xavier speculated with a grin.
"Was Remy dat obvious?" He shoved his hands into his trench coat pockets, he was tempted to smoke a cigarette, but he had a sudden impression that the telepath wouldn't find it amusing.
"Quite right." The telepath responded as if Remy had spoken his thoughts aloud.
"So den, mon ami. Where Remy gone be stayin' fo' da time bein'?"
"Fuck off, Scott!"
A harsh Mississippi accent trailed into the room. Remy turned towards the door to his right which was suddenly yanked open and almost tore off his shoulder.
A short, auburn haired goth with white streaks barged in, her fist balled and her green eyes hidden behind layers of black makeup flared.
"You at least owe her an apology!"
"Fuck her and fuck you! Okay? I don't need to apologize for shit, Scott."
Remy couldn't help but notice this time how she hissed his name sarcastically in a girlish voice-completely not her own.
"You made her cry, Rogue! I know this is a regular routine for you, but this is Jean we're talking about! She did nothing to-
The girl whirled around.
"Nothing? She did everything! She is not the victim! I am the victim! You don't even know what she did, One Eye! You don't even know! You don't know what it's like!"
The two had stopped a deadly short distance away from each other. The brown haired boy Scott was turning red with anger, his face streaked with lines.
"Oh my god! Now what? Another little traumatic story about how horrible it is to be you? How being a mutant destroyed your life and blah-blah blah and it gives you the right to destroy everyone else's? I think not Rogue. It gives you no right!"
She stopped talking. Her lips pressed into a thin line and her face turned suddenly calm but her fists were still balled.
The only thing more frightening than a pissed off Rogue was a strangely calm one.
She breathed in, breathed out and closed her eyes as if some answer would come from the darkness. But none came.
"I never said it did, Summers. This is me, I never asked you to pity me, or make an exception! This is who I am, Summers: a bitch, an Ice Queen with a fucking attitude and a pessimistic perspective. And it's not just because I'm a freak, or because I don't belong, or because I don't have anything in this world except for this miserable skin I'm in-but because it's who I AM! And you can tell your red headed bitch to stick it!"
She screamed and turned swiftly around right into Mr. Xavier's skeptical glare. There was a strange exchange of facial expressions before Remy realized they were communicating via mental speed dial, and he felt somewhat distressed being left out of the loop.
Finally her eyes settled on him, and though her cold stare was beginning to burrow into his brain, he flashed her the most brilliant smile he could come up with.
" Bon jour, chere." He bowed and took her left hand in his right, raising it to his lips.
She jerked it out of his palm with a snarl and look towards Xavier that displayed a look of utter disgust.
Another exchange of telepathic conversation was issued, this time it appeared to be more of an argument. Xavier kept his calm, shaking his head continually as the goth became red with fury under her makeup.
"Goddamn it! Damn it to hell! This whole fucking place can kiss mah ass!"
"Rogue! I must say I am getting a little tired of your antics and attitude."
"Like AH give a rat's ass!" She screeched, and one of the vases Remy had been admiring with thoughts of sticky fingers exploded.
"Didn't do it!" Remy stated matter of factly, "I didn't even have me hands on the damn vase yet."
"I know." Xavier said grimly, looking up at Rogue.
The room became deadly quiet. The Rogue turned towards the shattered vase with horror that was mirrored on the brown haired boy's face as well.
"Rogue, I think we might need to talk later." Xavier said
"No, we don't, I'm tired of this. You, swamp rat!" She turned towards LeBeau with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, chere?"
"Come with meh, Slick. Looks like Ah'm gone have to be yo' chauffeur for the day. And no tricks eit'er 'cause I ain't 'fraid o' kicking you Cajun ass." She turned quickly on her heel, marching off with her head high and not turning even once to see if the Cajun was following.
"She a brassy one, non?" The Cajun mused hurrying to follow.
"Xavier, you sure it wise to allow her to take him to his room? She might kill him on the way up." Scott said from behind Xavier.
"Rogue has to learn to be social, she's got to learn to control her temper as well. This might be a good place to start."
"What about what just happened now? Her powers…"
"That was Jean's telekinesis; I felt a flicker in her mind when she unconsciously used them. I'm afraid her powers are once again evolving."
Scott seemed surprised.
"E-Evolving? But didn't they already evolve?"
"Her powers are not like regular mutants, Scott. Even when we don't notice it they grow inside her, rapidly but steadily. She is, though she may not know it or believe it, the most powerful mutant on this planet."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Rogue jammed the key mercilessly into the doorknob.
The Cajun fidgeted uncomfortably behind her.
"So, what's it like hea in da In-
"Didn't Ah tell you ta shut up?"
"'Course, chere, but Remy don't listen to anyone anyway, so you might as well have not said it."
She cursed and practically pushed the door open, throwing the keys at the Cajun's face with a snarl. He caught them before impact and was about to make a snide comment before she spoke:
"Those are yo' keys, to unlock and lok yo' do' wit'. Have fun and welcome to Xavier's Mansion, Home of the Mutants, the Morons and your one and only Ice Queen." She sneered and headed quickly off.
"Thanks fo' the hospitality! I feel loved already!" He hissed at her turned back.
"That's a shame! 'Cause I sure as hell don' like ya, let alone love you." She snapped and was gone.
"Hate this damn place already." The Cajun mumbled flinging the door open.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
She had wiped off the makeup as soon as she'd stepped outside her window-actually, the rain had washed it away and she'd leaned into its cold embrace, feeling its ice touch caress her face and the makeup fall like thick rivers down her cheeks.
"When an Angel cries, its tears fall through the Heavens."
"But…why would they cry?"
"…Because it's real easy to break an Angel's heart, darlin', real easy."
She tried vaguely to remember where she'd heard that, but all she could pull forth was a brilliant pearl smile and stretched pink lips, and a smell she soon realized was the proverbial scent of eggs and bacon, popping and sizzling on an old stove. The rest was a foggy haze of irritation and displacement that troubled her sometimes to no end. It had been the first thing she remembered when Xavier found her-the first and the only.
She heard a giggle from inside and didn't bother to turn towards the window, prompting instead to breathe in the crisp, clear air that always seems to associate itself with rain. Her overly long gray shirt and sweat pants were soaked through, but she couldn't feel them after the first six minutes. Her bones had grown heavy and her skin became numb and callous-just like herself-becoming numb just to adapt.
She heard another giggle and then a distinct male chuckle and realized consciously (though she had already figured that out subconsciously once outside his window) that she'd traveled the distance of the Institute's roof to Scott's room for nothing.
She looked behind her, through the mist covered window, though why she did it she couldn't really tell. She was a glutton for punishment, or so her prescribed therapist told her. Not that she'd listen to one of Xavier's stick in the mud fuck offs anyway.
"Scott! Stop!" The red head giggled again, a noise Rogue was becoming increasingly peeved by.
Scott smirked and lifted her by the waist, planting kisses on her cheek in an inane fury.
Jean playfully punched his arm-eliciting another chuckle.
Rogue had had enough. She had wanted to apologize for yelling at him like that, but he'd probably just make this about Jean anyway. And she'd fall off the damn roof before she did that.
She looked down, her eyes already red from tears that rolled inconspicuously off her chin and down with the rain. From the roof she was practically high enough to break her back, neck and any limbs that might get in the way of her and the ground if she jumped.
For a brief moment it seemed like a brilliant idea, and her body responded, nearing deadly close to the edge and smiling all the while, but deciding against it at the last moment-pushing herself back onto the roof.
Today sucked-no wait, I take that back, she thought wryly to herself, smirking as she stared intensely at the ground, Everyday sucks, this day just sucked the worst.
Kitty's an annoyance, Jean's a bitch, Scott doesn't even recognize who I am anymore-he used to be my best friend for god sakes-and Xavier's a fucked up telepath who believes I need a therapist and Prozac.
She jumped forward, catching both hands tightly around a branch from the towering tree to her left, lifting herself up and swinging her legs onto another beneath her, reenacting the movement until her feet touched the ground.
She sneezed and her hair lifted, slapping and sticking against her face.
She just needed to go away for a while.
There was a shuffle behind her and she turned as a gloved hand shot out around her neck.
"You bitch! You almost killed me! Just like your damn mother!"
It was the man from the night before. The left side of his face was a total disaster, wide stitches crossed and intersected, his left eye was swollen and purple, his nose was crooked from the break she had happily administered the night before.
"What's your jiff about my mother? I don't fucking have one! Now let go a-hole!"
She kneed him in the groin and jumped back from his grasp. He cowered for a moment in pain but then blocked as her hand came swooshing down.
He shot out again, smacking her across the face and sending a harsh uppercut to her stomach. She hissed and back handed him, propelling herself over him by using his shoulder as leverage she kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling forward.
He lashed out with his foot but she jumped up and stepped on his ankle, sending his leg falling to the ground under the pressure. His other foot lashed out, kicking her hard behind the knee. She fell with a groan onto her elbows and he limped up, kicking her in the stomach with a heavy boot.
She winced and rolled over to the side in pain.
"Don't like that do you? Do you?" He kicked her again, this time in the face.
Her elbows gave way and she fell on her face, a parade of blood burst from her lip.
She huffed, her hands clutching the grass underneath her, blood flowed freely from her lips.
"You bitch!" She snapped looking at him with smoldering anger.
Her pain came rushing in. The frequent disgusted looks, their fear, Scott, Jean, her skin, her worthless life.
It came forth like a wave onto her conscious and the power it held with it exploded.
The white was warm and blinding and it cam exploding forth from her hands like milk white mist.
The man stumbled back with large eyes. His mouth agape and his hands raised in fear as it engulfed him in flames. He screamed and tore at his hair as if there was something raging within his skull. The flames warped around him and twisted and with a final scream of pain he disappeared with the light, a puff of smoke hung in the air.
Rogue stared with her mouth agape, still kneeling in pain on the ground.
"That's a good, girl," A silk voice said.
Rogue turned towards the standing woman. She was beautiful and somehow familiar, long platinum locks cascaded over her white blazer and a silver semiautomatic was held erect in her left hand.
She smiled a pearl smile that glittered under pink lips.
"No…" Rogue gasped in dismay.
"Do you remember? Bits and pieces probably. Poor dear, well, let me reintroduce myself." She laughed richly and bowed mockingly.
"I am Emma frost, the White Queen and now the only remaining overseer of the Hellions Club. But you may call me, mother."
Va te faire foutre!(1): Kiss my ass, Get stuffed!
brise mon coeur(2): breaks my heart
Branleur (3): wanker