Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. I know that I've pointed this out before.
Summary: What if events in Rogue's life had played out differently? What if she never left the Brotherhood?
A/N: For the purpose of the story, Rogue is Mystique's biological daughter. Bear with me.


Chapter One

"Rogue, come inside, please. Irene is coming to visit, and she'll want to see you."

My six-year-old daughter was playing with her friends in the street, with me keeping a close eye on her through the window and one of the other parents watching the group. I recently enrolled her in a gymnastics class, and she had been showing off to one of the neighborhood boys. Cody, I think his name is.

Rogue waves goodbye to her friends and comes inside. She is looking forward to this meeting a lot more than I am. Though she is blind, Irene seems to sense my pain, and lays a hand on my shoulder.

There are two things that we need to talk to Rogue about.

The first is that Rogue is not my adopted daughter, but my biological one. It was just as much a shock to me as it was her.

A fever had been going around the community, affecting mainly children, and the entire town, with the exception of those who had already had it and recovered, was being tested for warning signs. Rogue's test had come back clean just this morning, along with a DNA test of Rogue's biological parentage, which nearly gave me a heart attack.

Several years ago, I had been acting as the wife of an Austrian count, in the border of Germany and Austria and eventually bore him fraternal twins, a boy and a girl.

The girl looked normal, with the exception of the white streaks in her wispy brown hair, but the boy had my very obvious natural looks. The count and the people of the nearby town were very superstitious, and I fled before the mob that came marching for my son.

I fled to an old friend, a mutant named Magneto, leaving my children with him for a short amount of time while I sent the mob off on a wild goose chase.

I returned to find that he had sent my daughter to an orphanage overseas, and had been conducting experiments on my son. I fled with Kurt, but fell when crossing a bridge, dropping him. He was found by a gypsy family, the Wagners, and I spent the next few years searching for my daughter. I had given up hope when Irene contacted me with news of a vision concerning a child.

The second thing is the news that Irene will become Rogue's joint guardian.

Magneto tells me that something has happened to my son, Kurt. The fashion-challenged, metal-obsessed bastard says that he is alive, though no longer in the circus with the Wagners, and that if I do a few jobs for him, then he will tell me where to find my son.

This is worrying. My son looks like me, but unlike me, he cannot change to blend with a crowd. In the circus, he drew no more than a few strange looks, as people believed that he was just in costume. But if the Wagners have left the circus… I need to find Kurt, and at least see if he is safe.

Does Magneto have some strange need to meddle with the lives of my children? Kurt being raised by the Wagners is mostly his fault to begin with!

I have learned my lesson from last time, and am insisting on being told every detail of a job before I go on it, and reserve the right to refuse one if I don't like what it entails.

Unfortunately, it seems that some of these jobs may take up to months to complete, and there is no way I am bringing my little Rogue along on missions! In ten years or so, maybe, but certainly not when she is only six!

I am broken out of my thoughts when Rogue bounces inside and immediately runs to hug me.

Over the two years that we have had together, Rogue has blossomed under my care. Dragging forth maternal instincts I didn't even know I had, Rogue has transformed from a stubborn, willful child, sad and lonely, to a bright little girl, shining with energy and life. Sometimes a bit too much energy, and she has kept the stubborn streak, but she is all I could ever ask for in a daughter. I start to speak, but Rogue has already noticed Destiny standing nearby. She squeals, and runs over to hug her as well. "Auntie Irene!"

Destiny laughs. "Hello, child. Be careful of the footstool."

Rogue blinks and looks around as she guides Destiny into the living room. "What footst-? " Rogue sees the mentioned piece of furniture just in time to avoid tripping over it. "How do you do that?"

Irene and I laugh again. "You will find out when you are older, little one. Now, your mother and I need to talk to you about something…"


Rogue's Point Of View

I don't remember much of my life before Mama adopted me, but I know that now I have a Mama who loves me and Auntie Irene who will helps after me when Mama has to go away. Mama adopted me when I was four. That was eight years ago, and I have never regretted a second of it.

I am standing on the sidewalk, waving goodbye as Mama has to leave on another one of her trips. I go back inside, still thinking about what Mama and Auntie Irene told me yesterday.

Mama says that I have two brothers, as well, but when I first asked if I could see them, Mama looked sad, and Auntie Irene said that one lives a long way away and won't come to visit, and that the other one had to leave when he was a baby, but I'll meet him again when I'm older.

They also told me about mutants.

Mutants are people with special gifts, but they have to hide their gifts, because humans (or 'Normals' or 'flatscans', but Irene disapproves of the last one, so I don't use it) will fear us and our gifts, so we have to wait for the right time.

Mama and Aunt Irene are mutants, too. Mama can change the way she looks, turn into an exact copy of anyone she likes. We've made it into a game. Mama will shape-shift and I'll try to pick her out in places like the park. Mama says that it will also help my observational skills.

Aunt Irene is what they call a Pre-Cognitive. She can see into the future. Guess that explains why I could never sneak out of the house without permission.

Aunt Irene also said that I am a mutant, though my powers haven't been activated yet. She doesn't know what my gift will be; only that it will make me very powerful, and that it will be activated by touching my skin.

Mama says that we will have to pretend that I have some kind of skin condition, and that when my powers activate, there will be a lot of people who will want me to join them.

This is giving me a headache.


Four years have passed since I learned about the existence of mutants.

Mama says that a powerful Telepath named Xavier is gathering mutants to form a team, a team that he is calling: the X-Men.

I nearly fell over laughing at that. I wonder how many recruits will change their minds about joining him when they find out what they are going to be called. It sounds like something out of a bad comic book.

Mama is also gathering a team, but she is collecting the Misfits that Xavier is passing over, the ones who would never fit into Xavier's upper-class lifestyle.

Mama and Destiny think that Xavier will come and try to recruit me when my powers show up. Destiny has it narrowed down to somewhere in the next few days.

Mama and Destiny and I all decided that I am not joining Xavier. Mama came home fuming about a month ago because Xavier got his hands on my brother Kurt before Mama could find him.

Magneto is not among Mama's favorite people right now. Not that he ever was to begin with.

Destiny says that when my powers activate, it will be very disorienting for me. She and Mama will have to do something drastic to even get my attention, and then we will have to put on some kind of show to give the X-Men some reason for me not joining them, otherwise they are unlikely to ever leave me alone.

That doesn't matter at the moment, though. Cody talked me into coming to a school dance, and I finally agreed, despite my usual avoidance of crowds.


I am outside, taking a breath of fresh air, when Cody approaches. It looks like one of his friends has poked him into finally asking me to dance.

Cody is my friend, but it was funny watching him stumble over himself trying to ask me. I thought about saying no, but he gave me the woeful look that makes anyone cave in seconds.

I was actually enjoying dancing with Cody, up until one of his friends bumped into him, knocking us both over. Cody helped me up, but that was when disaster struck.

Cody touched my bare skin, and then a jolt went through both of us, and the last clear thing I remember was seeing Cody collapse.


Destiny's Point Of View

I am sitting at home while Rogue is at a dance, then I get hit by a vision of Rogue and her powers. It will happen at the School Dance! Oh, my dear child, if I could only spare you this!

I immediately call Raven, who is originally due back tomorrow morning. Raven is approaching Hysterical as we talk on the phone and she returns as fast as possible. By the time I pick her up at the airport, Raven is not thinking clearly. She is also far from happy with Magneto for the timing. Rogue has run all the way from the dance to Cody's house, his memories still strong in her mind. By the time we reach her, Cody's parents are returning from their night out. Raven goes in to get her out of the house, while I wait outside, catching Rogue and trying to calm her down.

It is working, until Raven comes out of the house, but forgets to change back into her usual disguise. Rogue instantly panicked, and ran off again. It is times like this I could curse Raven for encouraging her love of athletics.

Rogue and Raven finally returned in the early hours of the morning. Somewhere along the line, Raven has shifted back to the familiar blonde identity that our small town recognized as Rogue's mother. We gently put Rogue to bed, as we did when she was younger, and the poor girl falls asleep almost instantly.

After making sure that she will sleep relatively calmly, Raven and I go back to the living room to discuss what happened, how we will help Rogue deal with it, and how to explain what happened. The circumstances in which Rogue's powers appeared have been somewhat traumatic, and we will need to discuss what to do next.

With all the witnesses, Rogue cannot stay in Caldecott County, and it would seem unusual for only one of us to go.


The next morning, we let Rogue sleep in. She deserved her rest, poor child. She finally came downstairs to the smell of a late breakfast, and her eyes lit up at seeing Raven, and we ate breakfast as a family, which I knew we would not do again for several months.

After breakfast, we sit down together, gently coaxing Rogue through what she remembers of last night. Most of it is a blur, but Rogue's clearest memories are of the dance, and of when she was teleporting all over the graveyard with her brother's powers. Perhaps it has something to do with being related?

Rogue is understandably upset when she finds out that Mystique had been impersonating the X-Men, but cools down fairly quickly. Raven has obtained a position as the Principal of Bayville High School, and that is where she and Rogue will be moving. I will be moving to the city and working in the stock market. We do not have Xavier's resources, after all, and one of Raven's recruits can cause earthquakes. One does not need to be a Pre-Cog to know that repairs for structural damage will be needed. Frequently.

Tomorrow, we will leave, and one path for the future has been chosen, for better or worse.

x

x

x

x

x


A/N: OK, Chapter One. Chapter Two is in the works and should be up soon. I am hoping to post one chapter a week, but between classes, looking for a job and a probable move, dates may vary a bit.
Meanwhile, take ten seconds to leave a review and tell me what you think. I really hate begging for reviews, but opinions and comments for possible ideas are very welcome.
Seriously, Chapter One has over two hundred hits and only five reviews. This story is on 6 alerts and 1 favorites list. If you have enough time to be reading fanfiction, then you have enough time to review it.

Thanks,

Nat