Disclaimer- X-men, Natalie Merchant, Pride and Prejudice, Chicago…whatever else, I don't own…don't own ANYTHING!!! Buahahaha ::coughcough::
Ophelia was the rebel girl
A blue stocking suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes
"Where'd ya pick this chick up? The city morgue?" The voice was deep, husky and filled with the sharp Chicago accent, and even though her eyes were closed in an attempt to block out the blinding pain, Rogue could still feel the grainy texture of the concrete beneath her, pressing into her cheek and leaving imprints that she knew would be there for a while.
"C'mon Max, she ain't dead!" A whiny voice cut through the still pounding ache that beat its tattoo through Rogue's head.
"Hush up Billy, what Max says goes. Ain't that right baby?" this voice was like the feminine version of Gambit's, pure, unadulterated sex. It positively oozed sensuality. Just thinking about Gambit slightly eased the white noise behind her eyes.
"Wh'tever Billy, ya just desperate for a lay." The voice was quiet for a second and Rogue could practically feel three sets of invisible eyes traveling all over her body, "though, ta tell ya the trut' ya might have been better off just leavin' her in the morgue, dead or not she looks a bit frigid." A high feminine giggle punctuated this statement. That's it, no two bit mafia wannabe, his whiny lil minion and their cheap ass floozy is gonna make fun o' meh!
Trying desperately to keep silent, Rogue slowly lifted her eyelids, her glittering eyes taking in the sight before her. Where the hell was she now? As an X-man, Rogue was used to the weird, but her life had definitely taken a twisted turn lately. First she was going to become a nun and now she was in speak-easy hell!
The trio standing before her was the stereotypical 1920s group, but there was still something oddly familiar about them. The big guy was obviously the leader, he was wearing a pinstriped suit and spats, his brown hair parted and slicked back away from his classically handsome face; he had his arm wrapped around the thin waist of a redheaded flapper, who's heavily lined light green eyes seemed to have a hard glint to them. Their little partner made every used car salesman look like the height of fashion and hygiene. He was short and thin, his hair was blonde and greasy and the slicked back look that worked so well for Max only served to make him appear half finished; his suit was a sickly brown color and was ill fitting.
Gazing at her surroundings quickly, so as to not attract any attention, Rogue was forced to suppress a chuckle. An alley? Really, can you think of anything that could be more cliché than meeting in an alley in the dark of night? The walls around them were a gritty brick, the street light casting shadowy tendrils deep within the alley, throwing the trio into a vague relief. There were trash cans overflowing with God knows what, the accompanying smells and, at the sound of a distinct squeak Rogue had to fight the urge to wriggle away, apparently rats as well. Rats…she hated rats; their wiggling noses and long skinny naked tails. Rogue unconsciously shuddered before keeping still. Above her, Max, Billy and the unnamed female were still discussing her fate.
The redhead tossed her short, bobbed hair and pouted up at Max, "Well, if she's really dead shouldn't we get rid of the body before it starts to stink up the place?" Rogue quickly shut her eyes when they looked her way, quietly she flexed her fingers and toes in case she had to jump up and make a quick getaway.
"No"
Billy leered at the woman, "She ain't dead Janet, just out stone cold. I figure when she wakes up she'll be so grateful I saved her life, she'll be dying to repay her debt. Right Max?"
Rogue shivered, who knew what they would want her to do. Where did they find her anyways? And what happened to the nuns?
"Billy, pick her up and take her to my place. She can stay there till she wakes up" stepping into the marquee produced light, a smile graced his appearance, a smile that didn't come anywhere near his eyes. Light brown and as cold as the Arctic they seemed to sear straight into the soul, and burn it from within.
"But Max! We don't need her, you got me!" Amazingly enough, the sultry tone of Janet's voice could take on a surprisingly high whiney pitch. "I can do the job just as well as any cheap, half dead, frigid girl!" Bristling, it took all of Rogue's training to not jump up and give her such a punch so that no amount of makeup would be able to cover up that black eye. Then, as if lightening had struck her, Rogue figured out how the trio was so familiar.
Ah'll be damned…its Scott, Jean and Bobby!
Then before she had the time to tense up, the smarmy Billy/Bobby scooped her up and carried her to a car. Course since she was still "out of it" apparently they had figured that she didn't need to be among people and therefore take up space, and so he packed her into the trunk, carefully gagging her mouth and tying her arms and legs in case she woke up. Remarkably, throughout the entire process, he somehow avoided skin to skin contact.
Damnit, I need tah know if mah powers are back. It's the only way nuthin'll happen tah meh. Hallucinating or not, Rogue didn't want to be raped if she could help it. And with her limbs restricted, lord knows putting up a fight would mean biting randomly. She could only hope she'd take a chunk out of something valuable.
The car trip seemed to take forever, but that might have just been because she was about to gag from the combination of lack of fresh air and her body order. Now she knew what really happened when a person forgot deodorant. Never again will ah pick on Amara and Jubilee for all their obsessions with sprays and perfumes…ugh, ah think ah'll join 'em.
After an eternity the vehicle slowed, which was great for Rogue since her legs and arms were beginning to cramp in permanent positions. Sick and tired of playing dead, Rogue was ready to confront her kidnappers. So when Bobby/Billy opened the trunk, the first thing he saw was two flashing eyes glaring at him.
"Oh damn…MAX!"
Noticing the peeved expression on the girls face, Billy panicked. She wasn't supposed to wake up yet! How were they supposed to explain their plan to her?
"What is it now Billy." Frustration plain on his face, Max left Janet pouting by the passenger side to see what had gotten Billy in a tizzy this time.
"Well, um, she's uh-"
Frustration quickly shifted into outright anger, "Spit it out already Billy." But all the spluttering minion could do in response was gesture inside the trunk.
By this point Rogue had figured out a way to wriggle the gag from her mouth, and proceeded to glare at the head honcho, "If yah don' mahnd, mah arms are killin' meh. And if yah don' get meh outta here NOW, ah will be kickin' someone's ass." Rogue then smiled sweetly and struggled to sit up so that she could face her kidnapper instead of being scrunched in the luggage compartment of a dinky car.
"Well well, what do we have here? Billy, Janet she's a southern belle. Imagine that." When he smirked it was all Rogue could do to not smack the grin off of his face. To her, he was still Scott Summers, and therefore worthy of being smacked around. And so was his doppelganger.
"So? I don't care if she's a New York heiress. She smells" whined Janet, as she sniffed in Rogue's direction, "And bad. Don't they take baths in the ghetto or wherever she's from?" She smoothed down her extensively beaded dress and threw Rogue a glance that screamed disdain.
"Ah sugah, why don' you come over here and ah'll show yah where ah'm from. Oh, and is that yah lipstick or are yah teeth naturally that color?" Rogue smirked as the redheaded Barbie gasped and yanked her hand mirror out of her purse to check her lipstick, before turning her focus to more pressing issues.
"Now then, ah don' care who the hell yeh think yeh are, but if someon' don' tell me what the hell is goin' on and why ah am bound in the trunk o' a car, ah'm gonna get testy."
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"I'm sorry Kitty, but there is nothing that can be done right now. I have tried contacting the Professor and Storm repeatedly, but for some reason they aren't available. Now then, why don't you take Remy and get him out of that infirmary and out of the mansion? He hasn't been upstairs, or hasn't even taken a shower since it happened." Beast grimaced, his finely tuned senses could really only take so much. "And if he doesn't take a shower soon, I'll be forced to bring Logan into it and I don't believe that Remy would like to be hosed down by Logan."
She couldn't help it; Kitty had to giggle at the mental imagery. Kurt on the other hand, who had come downstairs to visit his sister, looked thoughtful.
"Vell, ve could alvays drug his alcohol and then drag him into the shower before dousing him, but we'd need someone strong enough to carry him and…" he stopped and looked sheepishly at Kitty and Hank as they stared at him surprised. "Vhat? Like you weren't thinking it as vell, ja?"
"Kurt, that's like, one of the best ideas I've heard in a long while."
At their joint chorus of 'Huh?" Kitty smiled, and shook her head, "Like, don't worry alright? Shadowcat's got an idea that'll, like shock Remy out of his Rogue induced funk." And with that she pulled her cell phone from her back pocket, excused herself and dashed towards the subbasement elevator. The last thing they heard before she disappeared upstairs was, "Hello? Yeah, it's me. Listen, we've got this problem with…you've heard huh? Think you can, like, come over?"
Beast watched the perky brunette as she bounced down the corridor jabbering into her phone, "Kurt, my fuzzy friend, do you have any idea what that was about?"
He shook his head in wonderment, "Nein, but its Kitty, hopefully it'll help Rogue. Or at least get Remy to take a shower and possibly some sleep." His tail whipping erratically behind him, Kurt followed Dr. McCoy down to the infirmary and Rogue's room. Sitting next to her was Remy playing solitaire.
His cinnamon colored hair was greasy, face unshaven and drawn; his eyes were red rimmed. Which was really quite a feat for him, but he was in no position to appreciate irony. Earlier Bobby had come down to visit Rogue, apparently Logan had threatened him with even more Danger Room sessions after he had learned that the Iceman hadn't yet paid his respects to the teammate he'd injured. Course when he had left, it was with a new accessory. A rather large black eye, compliments of one pissed off Acadian. The sting in his hand was nothing compared to the satisfaction he'd felt when his knuckles had connected with Bobby's nose and the crunching noise it had made. Chuckling, Remy moved a two of hearts over on top of the ace; that was really a sight he'd remember for years to come, Bobby whimpering and cowering on the ground as blood gushed out of his nose.
"How is meine Schwester this morning Gambit?" Glancing to his left, Remy finally noticed that his fellow resident demon was perched on the chair beside his. Kurt's golden eyes were fixed firmly on Rogue, as if his attention would automatically bring some change, movement or sound.
"How d'ya t'ink bleu? It's been quatre jours and dere ain't been any change. Remy hate ta say it, but what we need is a spook. "Suddenly those golden eyes were focused on him, their intensity almost enough to make even Remy squirm.
"Ja, but vit de professor gone-"
"De prof can' be de only one in the country now can he?"
Hank's deep voice wafted from his office next door, "Of course he isn't Remy, nor is he the only telepath that would be strong enough to enter Rogue's head. Unfortunately of the three that could, or rather would, help the X-men one is currently the White Queen of the Hellfire Club in New York City. Another was in the United Kingdom, but she strangely disappeared a few months ago in Japan. And the third is the friend of our enemy, and therefore our enemy." Realization dawned in the red and black eyes, and was evident with the sudden bight fuchsia color of the pack of cards he'd been shuffling.
"Vhat? Who?" Kurt's usually calm voice was electrified with the possibilities. He was willing to do almost anything for his family; he and Rogue may not have been blood related but in his mind that did not make them any less siblings.
"That's like really easy. Isn't it big guy?" the light, jubilant tone of a petite x-girl entered the infirmary, a tall, solid piece of Russian male on her arm.
"Chatonne?" "Keety?"
Finally Hank left the comfort of his office and popped his head out, his fur all in disarray from the week of all-nighters, "Katherine Pryde, this is a surprise. To what do we owe the pleasure of Mr. Rasputin's company? And just how did you get past Scott and Logan?"
Kitty waved her hand in the air and rolled her eyes, "Psh, like it was no big, right tough guy? Piotr was the one I called after leaving you guys down here, told him to like meet me outside 'cause I said we needed his help. It was a simple case of ding-dong-ditch."
Kurt snorted and stared at her incredulously, "You ding-dong-ditched Logan?"
She smiled and the boys couldn't help but see the evil gleam in her brown eyes, "No, Scott. You should have seen how pissed he was, in fact when Jean distracted him we-, " Piotr shot her a glance and she swiftly changed her speech, "I mean, I phased his pants down. Who knew he wore Spongebob Squarepants boxers?"
Kurt burst out in a gale of laughter, grabbing his stomach and only the grip his tail had on the chair saved him from rolling on the floor. Hank joined in, the laughter causing his entire body to shake, and had to lean on Piotr who in turn was quietly wiping a tear from his eye, Kitty's retelling striking a chord in his funny bone. Even Remy chuckled at the mental picture.
"Spongebob eh? Dat's funny, Remy always figured Scotty boy for more of a Teletubbies guy." Remy turned in his seat and faced his former teammate, "So, why yo' here Petey-boy? De Chatonne need someone to do her heavy liftin' fo' her?"
Kitty glared at him, but when Piotr placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her she calmed down quickly and smiled prettily back up at him. "Nyet, my friend. Keety and I have been in contact since our teams battled Apocalypse. When I heard about what happened to her friend, I knew there was someone who could help."
Shrugging Remy replied, "Sho', mais, Remy don' t'ink dat Mastermind be too willin' ta help us, n'est pas? He be too worried about what ol' Bucket Head would t'ink." Passing a gloved hand over Rogue's slightly curling hair, Remy desperately wished for the first time that he hadn't played so many tricks on the monkey man with St. John when they were still living in the base.
Piotr shook his head, "Magento is away on business for the week. He wouldn't know."
"What about the pussy cat?" Everyone in the room swiveled towards the door surprised; no one had heard the footsteps through the hallway. Kitty moved protectively in front of Colossus in case Logan decided to try out his claws on Piotr's nonmetal form. Piotr smiled gently and wrapped his arm around her slight shoulder in an effort to get her to relax before facing the shorter man.
Piotr nodded his head to Logan," Da, even him. He took off five minutes after Magneto."
Logan looked thoughtful, scratched his head and looked over to Hank, "Can't hurt can it Furball?"
Beast coughed and adjusted his glasses slightly, "Well, technically speaking, yes. First off, we don't know if Mastermind will be willing. Secondly, how do we know he won't hurt Rogue once he's in there? And thirdly-"
Fist clenching the brilliantly glowing ace of spades Remy stood up, crashing his chair to the floor. He was glaring all around, "Remy'll get de monkey man over here and he'll make sure dat Mastermind won't muck around in Rogue's brain. De last t'ing Remy wants is for Roguey to wake up and forget everyt'ing…everyone." The card in his hand wilting and burning slightly around the corners, Remy nevertheless held onto it and stared as the glowed flickered across the card's face, destroying only the first out of fifty two that would be disintegrated before morning.
Piotr nodded in agreement, "Remy and I can talk to Mastermind and convince him."
Remy, baring his teeth, grinned maniacally, "Even if we have ta get some reinforcements." Shifting his gaze from the flaring ace in his fist to Nightcrawler, Remy just had one question. He smirked at Kurt's curious expression.
"What's yo' mère been up to lately?"
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Rogue had to admit, for being kidnapped she was being treated pretty damn well. After their little confrontation in the street Max had insisted they move the discussion up to their "HQ" (which was really just a small apartment that oddly smelled like sauerkraut and rum). So here she was, sitting on their lumpy, badly upholstered couch, and with her legs still bound. Luckily, she had convinced Billy that retying her hands together would culminant in the loss of quite a few vital body parts that he might want to use sometime in the future. Watching him scurrying across the room at the beck and call of Max and Janet, Rogue rethought her actions. Maybe he wouldn't miss a few body parts; with that greasy, nasty looking hair and scrubby clothes God knows he wouldn't be seeing any action in the near future, if at all.
Overall, she couldn't feel any remorse for the guy. After all, he was the body double of the biggest pain in the ass in the mansion. And Rogue couldn't help but continually shake her head at the niggling sensation that Bobby had some part in the reason she was in this wonderland trip from hell. But ah'll be damned if ah can remember just what the hell it is.
"Alright chick, let's get this straight. We need you. You need us. I don't care about your past, but you're going to worry about your future if you don't go along with us." Max was sitting across from her, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared across the three feet that separated them. Janet was standing behind him, her hand on her hip and her other hand playing distractedly with her lover's full head of brown hair.
Rogue sat back into the couch, grimacing as a couch coil dug into her ass, and crossed her arms before glaring right back into Max's eyes. And who knew Scotty had such pretty brown eyes? "And if ah don'? What'll yah do tah meh? Give meh cement shoes and force meh to sleep with the fishes? Sorry sugah, but ah don' look good as the Brahde of Frankenstein, and being waterlogged does not make meh happy."
Behind him Janet and Billy switched confused looks as Max replied, "The Bride of who? Look doll, I don't give a rat's ass about no fishes. We just want to hire your services." A low glint in his eye did not give Rogue a vote of confidence about their intentions.
"Ah am NOT a hooker you pervert, besides, ain't that what yah walkin', talkin' doll is for? Course the idea that she can walk and talk at the same time hasn't been proven yet, but hey! There's always hope huh?" She smirked at the flushed color that was steadily rising in Janet's cheeks. Hey if she wasn't allowed to piss off the real Jean, why not her skeezy twin?
"Look here you slimy little piece of southern skunk trash, you only-"
"Quiet Janet."
She looked scandalized, as if no one had ever said such a thing to her before. "But Max! Did you hear what she said to me?" She quickly went quiet as he shifted in his rickety chair to look her in the eye.
"Yes, it doesn't matter right now." Turning back to Rogue he looked at her hard and long, "Right now, she does." He smiled charmingly at Rogue, but luckily for her she'd been ignoring even more potent charms from a certain Swamp Rat for almost a year and was pretty much immune, "Now then sweet thing, what's your name?"
She stared at him dumbfounded. "Wait…wait…ya'll kidnapped meh and yah don' even know mah name?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Max's smile never moved and if at all possible grew larger, his teeth gleaming dimly in the darkened room. "Sorry about that doll, but see there weren't no time for pleasantries before. And now that we're all comfy cozy, let's do the introduction thing. I'm Max, the broad's my girl Janet and Bill's…well, Bill. Don't know what he's here for, he just showed up one day."
Rogue rolled her eyes, "No shit Sherlock, ah got that back when Ah was shoved like a sardine in the back of yah car." She shifted again on the couch, really what did they do to the damn thing that would make a coil attack her nether end like that?
"Max, if ya want…I can knock her out again." Max shook his head at Billy, "No, that won't be necessary. I get the feeling she'll be willing to go along with us in just a little bit. Now then, before we get back to business, what is your name girlie?"
"Call me girlie again and yeh'll see why it's such a bad idea tah mess with meh. Mah name is none o' yah business, but if yah have tah call meh somethin' call meh Rogue." Itching to kick his smarmy ass, her leg jiggled against the restrains in an effort to connect her boot with his knock off pinstripe suite and spats.
Sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms and legs, Max leered at the young woman before him, "Rogue huh? Nice name, listen Rogue, we need your help." Behind him Janet snorted and rolled her eyes, "Right, we need her help like we need the cops to find out-"
Never moving his gaze Max addressed Billy, "Bill, I think Janet sounds a bit tired. Why don't you take her into the bedroom while I talk to Rogue here?" Rogue just sat there watching the entire thing, Janet let out a wail of indignation as Billy grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her towards, she assumed, the back bedroom. Refocusing her sight on the man before her, Rogue glared at him.
"Alraght Capone, Barbie and Mr. Collins are gone. So spill, why the hell am ah here?"
"How'd ya know Billy's last name was Collins?" Max asked, a calculating look in his eye as he looked her over again and this time with a renewed fascination.
"Never mahnd, did yah never read any in school?" Rogue shook her head, her hair gently whipping her face, loosely falling from her ponytail.
"Nah, dropped out when I was fifteen." He shrugged, and leaned back in his seat, "Now then, to business. We need your help."
"So yah said before." Here her eyes narrowed, "Question is, just what is it that yah want meh tah do? And what 'services' yah want."
He waved his hand negligently, "Nothin' sexual doll, that's why I've got Janet. She sure isn't a brain, but damn that girl is good…" he stared off into space for a minute, a dreamy glazed appearance in his face before Rogue reached over and snapped her fingers loudly beside his left ear. She always knew that Janet, er Jean was a glorified fembot.
"Enough, yah can drool over yoh pervy thoughts later. Tell meh why ah'm here!" She growled, straining against the bonds wrapped around her ankles. Her feet were slowly losing feeling and she wanted access to them before she forgot how to walk, or in Max's case, forget how to kick someone's ass.
He glared at her, peeved that she had dared to ruin such a good daydream. Hmm Janet in that skimpy lil red number from last week…wonder if I can convince her to show me her skills again tonight. His mouth quirked into a sardonic smile, "Besides, Rogue, I don't think you're woman enough for me." His eyes trailed slowly up her body, taking in the loose, grey, figure destroying habit and wimple, "No offense of course. Now listen up, lately there have been some problems with the local cops. They have information that we desperately need. And I think you're just the gal to get it for me." He raised an eyebrow in her direction, an effect that was supposed to be endearing but didn't affect Rogue in the slightest.
Mumbling under her breathe as she shifted on the couch once again trying to find a comfortable spot, Rogue fought for time as she turned his proposition over and over in her head. What could he possibly want? Did they know that she was a mutant? They hadn't said anything yet, but how else was she supposed to the information they wanted.
"And just how am ah supposed tah get this info for yah? Ah'm not superwoman after all."
Any trace of a smile disappeared from Max's face, as he stood up and began to pace around the room, "Now I think we both know better than that. Look Rogue, there's no reason to hide it. Jean, Billy and I are ones too." Rogue was suspicious, if he knew why didn't he just come out and say to her face instead of pussyfooting around the issue.
"Yah are? Wait…are ones what?"
Only the sudden tensing of his shoulders underneath the black and white pinstriped suit gave any indication of his frustration when Max picked up a figurine and stared at it as he replied to the girl squirming on his couch. "Cut the crap doll, you know exactly what I'm talking about." He turned around, his knuckles turning white around the glass figure in his hand. "We know exactly how 'special' you are, so don't act like I'm stupid. Why do you think we made sure that no one touched you?"
Her jaw dropped, "Yah know ah'm a mutant?"
"Mutant? Is that what it's called?" he asked puzzled, placing the much abused glass figure back on the shelf before walking towards her, "We never had a word for it really. We just knew that we were different. Some of us have been arrested for endangering the locals. That's what we need you for."
"Wait, how did yah know that ah was…well, what ah am?" Rogue was curious; Max was right she hadn't had skin to skin contact with anyone since they met. How could he know?
"There is another one of us that has the power to see the future." He sat once again in the chair before her, his face all seriousness, his inscrutable brown eyes fixed firmly to see her reaction.
Rogue was stunned, see the future? In the 1920s? The only mutant she knew that had this power was Destiny. Was Destiny even alive back then, and was she in the United States? "What's her name?" It wouldn't be Destiny, and where she was Mystique was sure to be skulking around somewhere.
"I dunno doll, never seen the psychic; only know what my sources tell me. They tipped me and mine off that a chick, that's you doll, would come around with a white stripe in her hair and the power to somehow get the answers we need, the only thing was that you couldn't be touched. I don't know how, I don't care. What I want is to help the people like us." Looking into his face, Rogue could see something that was so familiar it almost made her gag. Same ol' Scotty, still fightin' the good fight though he looks like a member of Capone's mafia; God even this sad clone of his needs a personality change.
Chuckling, Rogue matched his gaze, "God, ya'll never change. And Janet? Billy? Are they in on this too? What're ya'lls gifts?" Max shook his head and crossed his arms.
"No, you don't need to know that until it's necessary."
Shrugging her shoulders, she mimicked his movement and crossed her arms before her chest, "'Course how stupid o' me, ya'll are the mutant mafia. Everything's on a need tah know basis."
For a second, Rogue could have sworn that his eyes glowed a faint red. Course, don' it just figure. "Wait, let me guess…yah're power is tah shoot red laser beams from yah eyes." His eyes widened in shock, proving that she was right.
"Can you see the future too?"
Grinning wildly at his discomfort she shook her head, "Naw, yah're jus' a lot like someone ah know a lil too well. Now then," she raised her conjoined legs slightly into the air and gestured to them with her free hands, "how's about yah untie meh, and we really talk about what yah want."
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Two tall figures and a third, decidedly shorter, walked in broad daylight up the broken and weed infested pathway towards the Brotherhood's front door. The front yard was littered with random car parts from Lance's Jeep and a broken down and rusted lawn mower that obviously hadn't been used in a few years. The front door was painted a dulled red that must have once been a beacon for the home, when it had a happy family living there. Ignoring the tarnished brass knocker, the lankiest of the three figures rapped against the door firmly three times. The person that finally opened it was about five times as wide as a normal human and twice as tall and in his hands was a large mixing bowl that seemed to be filled with about three boxes of assorted cereals.
Wha' yo wan'?" Freddy Dukes mumbled through a mouthful of Lucky Charms, Cheerios and Trix. He was dressed, or rather not dressed, in a dingy looking wife beater and a pair of cliché heart printed boxers. It was all Remy could do to not shut his eyes tight and not open them till the large boy put something one that could cover everything, behind him Kurt was making a weird sound as if his gag reflex was working in over time. Piotr was stoic as always, standing beside Remy in silence.
"Mornin' Freddy." Remy smiled charmingly, the range of his emotions hidden behind his sunglasses, "We was wonderin' if a certain blue skinned, red headed bitch was around."
Blob swallowed his mouthful before replying, "Mystique? Yeah, I guess she's here. I dunno though, maybe you should talk to Lance." Twisting his bulk around, Freddy managed to scoop in another mouthful of cereal before screaming across the house, "LANCE!" Flying saliva covered flecks of random cereal bits speckled the room as if they were a bizarre Jackson Pollack painting, the one no one wanted to buy.
Standing beside him, Remy could hear Kurt as he muttered a disgusted, "Oh now that's just gross." Though he didn't say it, Remy agreed wholeheartedly; no wonder Freddy had to leave Texas, who'd want to deal with his eating habits? After Lance walked up, Freddy quickly moved his bowl where it might do the most damage, as close to his mouth as possible, and walked away shoveling it rapid fire, barely leaving time to swallow.
Glancing back into the house, Lance shouted at the Blob's retreating back, "Hey Blob eat that in the kitchen, last time you ate in the living room it took us forever to get the sour milk out of the couch." Then he turned back towards his unwanted guests, "What do you want X-geeks?"
Before Remy could speak up Kurt piped in, "First off, obedience training for Blob, that was nasty." Glaring at Kurt, Remy pushed him back behind him and spoke to the rock tumbler.
"Look, we jus' need de blue bitch. Is she here?" Gambit was getting annoyed, it was extra sunny today making his eyes extra sensitive and he hadn't been away from Rogue this long since she landed in the infirmary. His frustration just mounted as he noticed the look that came into Alver's eye.
"Why should I help you guys? You're keeping Kitty away from me; every time I call some idiot x-geek tells me she doesn't want to speak to me." He leaned against the door jamb and blew his wayward hair out of his eyes, glaring at Kurt, figuring it was mainly his fault.
To everyone's surprise Piotr stepped menacingly towards Lance, "That may be because she caught you kissing another girl." Remy and Kurt looked surprised, why hadn't they heard Kitty's telltale sobs after this had happened?
Lance glared at the much larger man as he straightened up and took a step towards the Russian, "Look, Colossus, I don't know who you think you are, but whatever happened is between Kitty and I."
Glancing at the dueling men, Remy could have sworn that he saw Piotr smirk at Lance. But a rapid blink and a double take convinced him he just needed more sleep, Rasputin didn't smirk at anyone.
"Yes, between Kitty and you…and myself." Lance gaped at him, Kitty talked to the muscleman? "You're lying, Kitty wouldn't tell you that."
Piotr cocked an eyebrow and his lips quirked into a smirk, proving that Remy wasn't going crazy. "Nyet? I believe that Kitty said it was, what is the name? Bam Bam…Boomer…" With each name Lance grew paler and paler, "Ah, I think it was Boom Boom, that is it. Did I say it right?" A weak nod from Avalanche confirmed he was, "Good. Now then, Kitty doesn't want to talk to you. Leave her alone." At this Piotr's hand shifted from the normal skin tone to his metallic form and he took a small step towards the hood, causing Lance's nod to firm up and pick up speed. Satisfied, Colossus resumed his position behind Remy allowing the mission to continue.
Remy smirked at the shaking younger man, "Now den, where is she?" He was enjoying the sight of Lance being intimidated by the Russian a bit too much.
Lance shrugged, "Dunno, last time I checked she was still AWOL. Ya never can tell with Mystique." From behind him, Remy could hear the faint sound of Kurt growling and Piotr shuffling his feet; tiredly he rubbed his eyes behind his sunglasses. What were they supposed to do now?
Quickly he snapped his fingers, his shaded gaze never leaving the younger man, "Nightcrawler, port through the house and see if you can find her." A loud bamf! and the nauseating smell of rotten eggs announced Kurt teleporting.
Lance's eyes widened, "Wha…? You can't do that! This is private property!" His hands stretched outward in a telltale sign that he was getting ready to attack before Gambit swiftly stepped forward and pulled the boy towards him with a death grip on his vest.
"Look, Gambit don' care too much about 'private property,' it don' go wit' the business. And if ya don' like it, call de cops and see how dat works." Avalanche's mouth dropped in a silent gasp as his vest and shirt suddenly glowed a bright fuchsia, "Now shut up an' let Gambit talk. Don' care about yo rights, don' even care if ya call de police. What Gambit cares about is that Rogue is hurt and we wanna know where Mystique be. Are ya gonna tell us or are we gonna have ta let you chat wit' Piotr? 'Cause Remy don' t'ink dat he's finished sayin' everything he wanted ta." A slow grin spread across his face as the distinct sound of cracking knuckles wafted across morning breeze.
"Rogue is hurt?" Lance's face was pensive and he was silent for a few minutes before meeting the trio's gaze, his face completely serious, "Why didn't you say so in the first place? She was a Brotherhood chick for a while, of course we'd want to help. But about Mystique, seriously she's been gone for a while. Might wanna check the school or Magento's place. I think she said that she wanted to do some recon."
BAMF!
"De weasel is telling ze truth, mutter isn't in there." Kurt announced as soon as the smoke around him cleared, "Unt, no one knows anything. But I think that Pietro is hiding something."
Rolling his eyes, the rock tumbler glared at Kurt, "Of course he is, blue boy, he wouldn't be Magento's son, Wanda's brother and Quicksilver if he wasn't" he snarled at the trio before backtracking into the house and slamming the door shut before Colossus could get to him.
Sighing, Remy turned to his companions, Kurt's tail was drooping despondently and Piotr was still watching the Brotherhood door. OK so they weren't any closer but at least they had another possible searching point, and hey, they had meant to go there anyways. Cocking an eyebrow in the direction of tall, dark and Russian Remy grinned, "So Petey-boy, what's dis about you and de Chatonne?"
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"Want some gin?" Glancing from her hands, which had been placed in the middle of her lap, Rogue came face to face with the slimy Billy. After Max had untied her legs, Rogue had spent the following ten minutes trying to massage the circulation back into her ankles while he had been in the back room. No matter how quiet it was and how hard Rogue strained her ears, she couldn't hear a thing between the three of them. It had shocked her that when Max marched out of the bedroom, behind him skulked Billy and Janet.
"Can't, ah'm not twenty-one." Bullshit, ah just don' wanna drink from anythin' here. God knows what kind of disease ah'd get.
He laughed at her mockingly before crashing onto the couch next to her and addressing his leader, "Ya hear that Max? The chick won't drink the gin 'cause she ain't twenty-one."
"Aw poor baby, does she want her bottle?" sniped Janet from the corner window, her back to the group as she tried to get the best light from the street lamp to see into her compact.
Rogue growled low in her throat, she didn't care how many local mutants needed her help, if Janet made one more comment she'd be drinking her tonic through a tube in the hospital. A heavy hand fell upon her shoulder making sure that she didn't launch herself across the room, a hand which was attached to their brown haired ringleader.
"Janet, babe, shut up. And Billy, for god's sake if she don't want the gin then she don't want the gin. Don't forget, we need her." His face was scrunched up in what Rogue had come to call back at the mansion his "constipation face," it was the face he always got when he was trying to be the team leader and think of a brilliant plan. Only it was so much funnier this time around because she was looking at Scott without his visor.
She sighed heavily before shrugged his hand off her shoulder, if he been leaning any harder on there she would have walked away with a definite hand print. "Look, screw the drink. What the hell do you expect meh tah do about the sitch here anyways?"
Satisfied, Janet snapped her compact shut and finally faced the group, "You didn't tell her Maxie?" Her green eyes were glittering down at Rogue as she walked across the living room, her blue beaded dress swishing around her body with every step, steps that were plainly calculated to catch Max and Billy's eye. At least this was plain to Rogue who could only roll her eyes while the guys visibly drooled; if she wanted out of this sad version of Arkham, she'd have to get her act together and fast.
"Look Powder Puff, he told meh. Ah just don' see how you expect meh tah do this." Max nodded even as he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of Janet swallowing every last drop of gin from the glass she had poured. It took a hard elbow to the ribs from Rogue to get him to concentrate again.
"That's right; I wanted to wait till everyone was out here before we talked strategy."
Next to Rogue, Billy yawned, stretched and lazily allowed his arm to fall behind Rogue and wrap possessively around her shoulders. Staring blankly in front of her it took every ounce of her willpower to not snap his hand off right then and there, "Ok Billy, we could do this the hard way or the easy way. Yah could take yoh hand back, with no injuries. Or yah could leave it there and Ah could surprise yah." Visibly scared, Billy swiftly retracted his much beloved limb, "Good move, touch meh again and next tahme yah won' get a warnin'." Turning her attention back to the avidly watching Max, Rogue glared at him, "Yah were sayin' 'Maxie'?"
"We need you, you know this. But what we-," and here he gestured at himself, Janet and Billy, "don't know is what exactly it is that you can do that we can't for ourselves." Janet tried tossing her hair, but it was so short that the effect that lost upon everyone present.
"Yeah, I mean, what is she going to do? Read their minds? Hello, tried that already." Sneered the redhead as she sat on the arm of Max's seat and crossed her arms.
Rogue smiled grimly at the flapper wannabe, "Nah, ah do somethin' much worse than simply poke around in someone's head. Wanna come here and Ah'll show yah?" Slowly and deliberately, Rogue rolled up the sleeves of her habit to illustrate the pale glow of her skin to the woman, "It won' hurt yah…much. But that's a chance we'll have tah take won' it? Besides, ah don' think that yah have too much in yoh head tah begin with, so it'll only take a second." Watching the happenings silently, Max sat back in his seat even as Janet tensed up beside him and Billy fidgeted in his seat at the tenseness of the atmosphere.
Janet gripped the back of the chair and glared at the other woman, "Don't you dare touch me you sad, unwashed piece of gutter trash." Glancing down at her lover she tried to appeal to his better nature, "Max, c'mon tell her not to come near me, you don't want me to be hurt do ya?" At his shrug and indifferent expression she jumped up and quickly ran to the other side of the room, as far from Rogue as she could possibly get.
"Aw is wittle Janet scared of Rogue? Poor sugah." She smirked at the taller woman and settled back into the couch, now much more comfortable since Billy had decided safety over sex and moved as far away as the tiny couch would allow. Elegantly, she adjusted herself and crossed her legs and smiled benignly at the redhead.
Glancing at his paramour, Max tried to talk to her, "Janet, c'mon hun. This is silly, if she's gonna help us we need to know what she can do." In indignation she threw her hands up in the air and glared at the two men, "And what about you two? Why does it have to be me!"
Billy smirked at her, "Maybe 'cause she hates you?" One look at Janet's face told the shorter man that it would be much safer for him if he relocated to another part of the apartment, and quickly. As soon as the dust cleared from his rapid escape, Max tried to rationalize the situation with Janet again.
"Look hun, we need to know what her power is and how it would help the plan. Besides, Billy's and my powers are too explosive, not like yours." His winsome smile showed off his glowing pearly whites, clearly wearing down Janet's resolve and fear until she reluctantly nodded to be the guinea pig.
Rogue manically rubbed her hands together and grinned at the nervous woman, "Wonderful sugah, let's get the show on the road." Looking at Janet, she widened her eyes in an attempt at an innocent look that'd had a ninety-eight percent success rate when she was younger trying to weasel cookies out of Irene. "Ok Roxie, first off try and hide any thoughts or memories that yah don' want meh tah see. And then the fun begins." Desperately trying to hide her devilish grin, Rogue lost the battle but was overjoyed to see the wariness in Janet's eyes.
Ignoring the diabolical exchange between the women, Max focused on Rogue, "Fine, anything else she needs to do doll?" He gently gripped Janet's hand in an effort to restrain her from dashing away like Billy had, course it wasn't much of a fight since he was a lot stronger than she was, but still it was needed. When she wanted to, Janet could run like the devil.
Rogue shrugged and replied, "Yeah, come over here. Ah can't work across long distances."
Max gave his girlfriend a not so gentle shove towards Rogue before leaning forward in an effort to not miss a moment of the process. Janet hesitantly stepped toward the shorter woman and stopped about three feet away, not knowing how close she really needed to be for it to work. Rogue shook her head, gesturing to the seat next to her, so she tentatively sat on the very edge of the couch cushion, beside the white-striped brunette. Scared, Janet whispered to Rogue, "What do I do now?"
Wordlessly, Rogue held out her right hand, palm down and stretched it toward Janet's. She didn't want to touch a large surface area if she could help it, a small touch on the back of the hand should do the trick. Glancing upwards through her lashes, Rogue noticed that Janet's foundation was running down her face, she was sweating from fear. "Relax sugah, it'll be easier if you don' tense up." Nodding, Janet raised her own hand and slowly presented it to Rogue. Taking a deep, cleansing breathe, Rogue concentrated on receiving only small pieces of information before she gently touched the back of Janet's hand with her pointer and index fingers.
There was a sudden rushing torrent through both girl's minds as images bombarded them; thoughts, feelings, memories, likes, dislikes, images, they all fluttered through Rogue's mind as she concentrated hard on not draining everything from the girl beside her. Max watched, stunned as his girlfriend brokenly moaned and slumped backwards, her head resting against the back of the couch, her mouth slack and Rogue removed her hand and shook her head in an effort to quickly sort the information. Sessions with the professor over the past year had helped a little bit with the absorption process, this time she hadn't gotten anything from the redhead other than general feelings towards Max, Billy and, in her case, hatred for Rogue. It wasn't a whole lot, but it was enough to knock her out for a few hours.
Opening her eyes, Rogue came face to face with the slightly frightened one of Scott Summers, no, Max something or other; who knew what his last name was. Who cared? "What, didn' yah enjoy the show?"
He swallowed, glancing hurriedly at Janet's lax body before looking at Rogue again, "What the hell did you do to her?" Not in any hurry to make any sudden movements in case Rogue felt the urge to attack him, he gracefully stood up and moved slowly towards Janet. He touched her face, turning it side to side to see if there were any physical changes and then grasped her wrist to check her pulse, which was slow but even. Rogue watched him look over his girlfriend and realized once again why she and Scott would never have worked out, he was too devoted to Jean.
"What did ah do? Ah showed yah mah power ya doofus."
He shook his head and continued looking over Janet, "No, I expected something…but not this. Do you always knock out your victims? What will happen to Janet? What happened?"
Tiredly, she nestled back into the lumpy couch and prepared for the lengthy explanation. In order not to freak him out anymore, Rogue slowly and deliberately rolled her sleeves back down and covered her arms. Once again she was a prisoner of clothing and her powers. It just figured that the serenity and freedom with the nuns was over. "What happened? The same thing that always happens when ah touch another person. Ah don' know how it works, but ah end up with the person's memories, emotions and personality. Ah have to stay covered up so that ah don' touch anyone accidently." She finished sadly, gazed down at her cloth covered shackled wrists. Would she ever know the freedom to touch again?
Nodding distractedly, Max repositioned Janet so that when she woke up she wouldn't have a crick in her neck, "What happens to the other person? If it's gonna hurt someone we'll find another way than use you." She shook her head before explaining, "No, usually the person isn' hurt. It knocks them out for a few hours then they wake up feelin' like they have a slight hangover." He nodded again and sat back in the chair that was facing the couch and Rogue.
"So we can use you. How long do you keep the memories?"
Rogue bobbed her shoulders quickly and cast her eyes down to the stained carpet, "Ah dunno, we think it depends on how long ah hold on tah a person foh." Glancing quickly at his face, Rogue could practically see when the light bulb became lit, his eyes glowed a slight ruby color as he gazed at her avidly, snapped his fingers and pointed directly at her, "Wait, that's why Janet couldn't read your mind. She said it was like running headlong into a solid steel wall of voices and personalities."
She nodded and held up her hands in a defeated gesture, "Yeah, and now ah know that she was a telepath with a small dose o' telekinesis and Billy can create and manipulate ice. Though honestly ah kinda already figured that out." The grin she turned towards him then was almost feral in ferocity, "And the next time yah want tah have my mind read, just tell meh. Ah'm sure Red would enjoy a romp through mah mind."
He gave a small nod before staring off into space, obviously not paying attention to her anymore, his expression once again that of the "constipation face" that Rogue loved to mock with Remy. Remy, god when was the last time she had thought about him? When ah was about to join a friggin convent…idiot. She shook her head in an attempt to change her train of thought; she did not need to think about him or the other x-men right now. But were they even looking for her? Did they care that she was wandering around doing God knows what God knows where? Suddenly restless, Rogue stood up and made her way to the small, dingy window in the corner; it was graced on both sides with ragged and age stained lace curtains that smelled vaguely of mothballs. Outside, Rogue could only see the slim streetlight and its weak beam of superficial light that radiated a low glow gently across the concrete, farther down the way she could barely make out a flickering building sign that, if she had seen it during the day read "SHOES FOR SALE," but at night the "S" flickered violently leaving the sign to entice passersby with "HOES FOR SALE." Stifling a chuckle, Rogue continued to casually watch the outside world, one so different and yet so familiar to the one she knew so well.
She was busy counting the number of pinstripe suits that were parading up and down the sidewalk so late in the evening when Max cleared his throat loudly. Turning around Rogue was greeted with his pale face watching her carefully, as if he were fearful that she might explode any minute. Frustrated at his reaction, Rogue grumbled beneath her breath as she made her way towards him, what did he expect from her powers anyway?
"Alraght Maxie boy, what's it gonna be? Tar and feathers, or boiled in oil?" She quipped tersely glaring at him, it was bad enough that normal people reacted to her powers badly, what did it say when mutants did also? "Personally, ah always wondered what it'd be lahke to be drawn and quartered, befoh yah run meh outta town think yah can do meh that one lil favor?"
Max ignored her immediate questions and spared a quick look at his pocket watch, it was well past midnight, and Billy had gone to bed about an hour ago. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Max rose from his seat and stood before Rogue. "Look doll, I don't care about your powers as long as they'll get us what we need. Janet'll be fine and you can do the work. All you need to do is walk into the police station and "interrogate" the cops, find out what we want, and then get out of there. We can handle the rest." His bloodshot eyes then twinkled as his mouth quirked into a mocking smile, "But first we gotta make sure that when they see you they won't just ship ya off to St. Anthony's, first thing tomorrow mornin' we're getting ya better duds." He started to hold out his hand then thought better of it before gripping her upper arm, the heat of it soaking through the rough linen of the habit, "Deal?"
Rogue just looked at him. They say that a person's eyes are the window to the soul, and usually Scott's soul windows were shuttered so tight that a nuclear bomb wouldn't scratch it. But Max's were obviously tired, red rimmed and she could see he was having trouble focusing on her. What the hell, ain't lahke ah got anywhere tah be foh a while. And they need meh, Xavier would have mah spandex if he knew that ah hadn't helped some mutants. Rogue nodded her assent, "Sho' thing. Besides, this ol thing is getting kinda itchy, new clothes'll be nahce. Just as long as they ain't Janet's, God knows what kahd of diseases ah could catch with those rags." Satisfied, Max gently pulled her along and left her in the guest bedroom, and before leaving her said they would wake her up at dawn.
Rogue was too busy soaking in the details of her new room and by the time she realized that he had said the dreaded word "dawn," he had already shut the door quietly behind him.
"Dawn?!"
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The sun had long reached its zenith in the sky, the shadows growing longer around the downtown Bayville buildings as Remy, Piotr and Nightcrawler (now with his image inducer back on) made their way towards Magneto's secret, not-so-secret base. There weren't a whole lot of people walking about as it was near dinner time for most families. Earlier in the day, after their rendezvous at the Brotherhood house, the trio had first stopped off at the local high school to see if Mystique were hiding around there, but after breaking in through the cafeteria kitchen window and raiding her office they hadn't found anything.
Struggling to keep up with the longer legged guys, Kurt bounced along behind them, panting, "Who knew that Magento would be so stupid to order his metal from Home Depot? Remy, my man, is there any girl you can't flirt with?" After they had figured out where the villain purchased his necessary metal, Remy had turned on the charm and convinced her to let me see his information.
Squinting through his sunglasses at the setting sun, Remy looked beside him at Piotr, "Do ya t'ink dat de Monkey Man'll still be at de base?" Piotr glanced to his right and shrugged at his friend and former teammate. "Right, course." Remy nodded, "We shoulda started at de base instead of de Brotherhood place." All three nodded, they had practically wasted a whole day searching Bayville for Mystique. Figures that the day any x-man actually wanted to find the shapeshifter she was nowhere to be found.
Walking along the sidewalk, eventually the three of them turned a corner and walked into an alley between a restaurant and a bookstore where Remy and Piotr had stashed their bikes. Though Kurt could port, they didn't want to risk it so he was going to ride bitch with Colossus. Just as Gambit was picking up his helmet to place it on his head, a violently clanging rang out from one of the garbage cans along the restaurant side. Startled, all three threw off their helmets and shifted into their various fighting positions.
"Meow?" from around the base of the tipped over can, flowed a slender, slinky black cat with large golden eyes. Kurt released a lungful of air that he'd unconsciously been holding, while Gambit watching the cat intently; Piotr ignored the animal and continued preparing his bike for the short ride to Magneto's. The animal slowly made its way towards them, as if it didn't know whether it was a good idea to go anywhere near this odd trio. Eventually, it stopped in front of Kurt, and purring, began to twine in and out of his legs, rubbing against the unseen fur. Smiling largely Kurt stooped down and slowly picked up the feline, his family in Germany had always had cats and he had missed them.
"Dat's a cute chat mon ami, " said Remy as he reached his hand out to pet the animal behind her ears, but quickly retracted his hand when the fangs and claws were flung towards him, "mais, it needs to lighten up on de cat nip n'est pas?"
When Gambit pulled his hand back, the cat calmed down and started to purr as it rubbed itself under Kurt's chin. "Gambit, let's bring her back ja? Ze Professor won't mind." Scratching his own chin with his unscathed hand, Remy watched the cat closely; there was something wrong with that animal. Then it hit him, it was too clean to have been living in the alleys and garbage cans.
"Kurt! Put dat animal down!"
Holding the newly christened Süßholz (1), Kurt just stared at Gambit, "Why meine freund?" By this point, Piotr had abandoned the bikes and stood beside Remy, and was also watching the cat carefully. It was odd that the cat had tried to claw the Cajun, animals always loved him.
"' Cause dat ain't a cat!" He exclaimed, shocked, Kurt glanced down at the animal in his arms to find her watching him with a familiar glint in her eyes. Eyes that looked suspiciously familiar.
"Mutter?"
Gracefully, the cat leaped from Nightcrawler's arms and landed a few feet before the trio. Then before their eyes, her limbs elongated, she grew taller and stood upright, her silky black fur melted into her body leaving behind skin colored a deep and attractive blue. The fur on her head lengthened and flowed into a glaring red color, just as her teeth lost some of their feral sharpness. At the end of the instantaneous transformation, there stood the much hated terrorist mutant Mystique, mother to both Kurt and Rogue. And she was glaring at Gambit with death on her eyes.
"I should have aimed for your eyes you slimy piece of gator bait." The three males stared at the mutant terrorist shocked, before Kurt flung himself at her and wrapped his arms and tail tightly around her body. "Mutter! But ve thought you vere dead!" Gazing at the top of her youngest son's head, Mystique's expression softened slightly and she gingerly placed her arms around her, as if she was worried that the instant she tightened her grip he would slip through her fingers faster than smoke.
"No Kurt, as you can see I am not dead." After one last imperceptible squeeze, Raven let go of Kurt and faced the ringleader of the group, Gambit, "Now then, X-men, why are you following me, and it had better be a good reason or else. And you, Colossus, you work for Magneto, what do you want?" Focusing his unique gaze on the woman before him, Remy tilted his head towards Kurt, giving him permission to explain everything.
Kurt's grin at the sight of his estranged and resurrected mother dimmed a few watts, "Vell Mutter, it's like this, see, something happened and now Rogue is in a coma in the infirmary." He shuffled his feet dejectedly for a few minutes, his tail drooping sadly to one side, and refusing to look into the shocked face of his mother.
One minute Mystique was standing there with a blank expression on her face, the next she was shaking Gambit with her hands wrapped firmly around his neck, slowly squeezing the life out of him, "I knew it! You had something to do with my daughter being hurt, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?" Once Kurt and Piotr noticed what was happening they hastened to Remy's aid, struggling with the frenzied mother, trying to yank her off of Cajun, whose face was rapidly turning a raspberry color, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ROGUE?" But Remy could only struggle against the clawed fingers that were digging into his windpipe.
As Kurt tried to reason with his mother, and Colossus tried brute strength, Gambit tried a different method. As he was shaking from the combination of lack of air and the force of Mystique thrashing him back and forth, Remy desperately reached inside his trench coat and grabbed his bo staff. Quickly, he thumbed the button along the side, elongating it, then he slide it between her legs and with a swift twisting jerk, knocked her off balance, forcing Mystique to fall against the opposite wall with a rough bang. Cough and spluttering, Remy massaged his through and gasped for air as he tried to explain, "Remy didn' do nuthin'! He's spent de past quatre jours down in de infirmary wit' his chère in case she woke up. Gambit was protectin' de petite Chatonne when it happened." Realizing that at least for now Mystique was not going to attack him, Remy stashed his bo staff in one of his many pockets as he took a water bottle from Piotr with a thankful glance.
Kurt nodded, "Ja, I vas there just before it happened. Gambit was walking vit Keety and Rogue was ahead listening to her iPod." He shrugged helplessly at his mother, "It vas an accident Mutter."
Crossing her arms irately, Mystique glowered at Gambit, who was still gently feeling along his throat to make sure she hadn't drawn blood, "Fine. You didn't do it. Tell me who did and I will take care of them." She said, her hand lingering at her hip where a black leather holstered gun was resting negligently. Seeing Kurt shake his head, her expression only darkened. "Kurt! Tell me who-," But she was interrupted by Piotr, who, seeing that Remy could not yet talk, decided to fill in the details.
"Nyet Mystique. That is not why we looked for you." In a blink of an eye Mystique's patented glare shifted from being directed at Gambit to Colossus, but she remained quiet, her foot tapping lightly against the asphalt her only display of impatience. "We need Mastermind. Rogue is in a-," he glanced at what Kurt was mouthing to him and nodded, "-yes, a coma. She has not moved or woken for four days. Ze professor is out of ze country, and Mastermind is the only one who can help us, da?" She was still for a minute, her eyes dimmed as if in extensive thought before she nodded in agreement, her golden eyes cold. "Mastermind will not listen to us," Piotr said, gesturing to the three of them, "But, we think with you he will help ze Rogue."
"If that miserable excuse for an evolved monkey refuses to help my daughter," Mystique unlatched her holster and lovingly caressed the barrel of the gun, "then Magneto had better hope some of his parts are metal otherwise no amount of power will put him back together." Watching her warily, Kurt slowly made his way so that Colossus was between them, but Remy just stood his ground and grinned widely.
"Well den Mystique, Remy guess dat de monkey man deserves a visit den, n'est pas?" he said hoarsely, as he walked over to his bike and yanked on his helmet.
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"Y'all are just freakin' nuts. How can y'all be up at the crack 'o dawn and be standin' nonetheless, without any coffee?"
Janet rolled her eyes as she glanced at the shivering southerner, "Oh shut it you big baby, you're wearing one of my best dresses." Comfortable in her mink coat, she snuggled deeper into the soft fur and secretly mocked the obviously out of place Rogue. The two women were standing on the street just outside of Max's apartment waiting for the men and their back up before they executed the plan. Unfortunately for Rogue, it was around five in the morning and there wasn't a coffee shop to be found. If ah had to be stuck in any godforsaken city, why couldn' it be Seattle? Uncomfortable, she shifted in her low cut green beaded dress; she had told Max that she'd rather die than wear Janet's clothes and here she was wearing her dress, her shoes, her jewelery and even her elbow length cream colored gloves.
"Stop shifting, you look ridiculous." Janet sniffed delicately, "But at least you smell better." Grinding her teeth desperately, Rogue wondered what the court ruling was on premeditated murder in this time period.
"Where's Max, Billy and whoeveh?" Rogue said, turning towards the hated woman in an attempt to get out of the cutting early morning wind.
"Marcel, his name is Marcel," sighed Janet, a dazed, starry look in her eyes, "and he's gorgeous." Casting a disdainful look Rogue's way, Janet laughed lightly, "Don't worry Rogue, you won't have much to do with him. He likes his women sophisticated, worldly," she fluffed her short hair and sneered at the younger woman, "and touchable."
"Oh then he should love yah, yoh the type o' woman who's been touched lots o' tahmes, raght? By, how many different guys was it?" Rogue grinned into the breeze as she heard the unmistakable sound of grinding teeth float across the air.
"There you two are!"
Turning around, Rogue and Janet were greeted by the sight of Max and Billy, with another man walking slowly along behind them. He was taller than Billy, and thin, very thin. He had penetrating blue eyes and black hair that was on the longish side. But Rogue could definitely see why Janet thought he was 'gorgeous,' he was incredibly good looking.
Walking up beside the two women, Max wrapped his arm around Janet and introduced the newcomer to Rogue, "Marcel Nordetoile, this is Rogue, she is our prophecy gal."
Aggravated, Rogue just stood there as the man ran his eyes up and down her body in appraisal, then he smiled and gallantly grasped her hand and drew it to his lips, "Enchanté mademoiselle, we have been expecting you for a while."
Oh hell no, not another Frenchie! She gritted her teeth and smiled tightly back at him, "Hi, nahce tah meet yah Marcel." He nodded and then so quickly that Rogue couldn't track it, he turned his attention back to Max.
"She'll help?" at Max's nod, Marcel smiled at Rogue, his blue eyes watching her closely, "Good. Now then, Billy my boy, how about you take me somewhere we can talk, catch up and get some breakfast?" Rogue choked back a gasp as she noticed Marcel's gaze lingered a while on Billy, and the smile that came with such a caressing gaze. He's gay! It took all of her will power to not jump up and down, point at Janet and sing at the top of her lungs, "You were wrong! You were wrong!" Instead, Rogue defrosted her smile and watched Billy's reaction.
"Uh, er…um, ok I guess. I could go for some coffee." He had a deer in the headlights look at being singled out, but then turned to Rogue, his light blue eyes begging desperately, "How about you hot stuff, wanna get a cup or two?" she chuckled and shook her head, satisfied that it would just be the two of them then, Marcel winked at her and happily linked arms with the shocked mutant and started sauntering down the street.
Waving to Max and the girls he called back, "We'll be back in a while, don't wait up!" While Billy struggled to unlink his arm from the apparent death grip that Marcel had on it.
Rogue glanced at Janet, who appeared to have noticed nothing out of the usual, smirking she asked, "So, Janet, he likes his girls touchable huh?" Max chuckled, realizing that Rogue had picked up quickly on Marcel.
Janet nodded, "Of course he does," her expression turned puzzled for a second and her green eyes were quirked in a perplexed manner, "I just don't get why he hasn't hit on me yet. Most of the guys do at one point or another." Holding her breath, Rogue tried desperately not to explode with laughter.
Patting her arm, Max tried to console her even as he winked at Rogue, "It's alright Janet babe, so what if he doesn't have taste. You always got me hun." Cheered up she nodded perkily at her lover and then smirked at Rogue.
"Whatever," she shrugged, grinning at the redhead, not wanting to get into a cat fight she then addressed Max, "so sugah, what are we doin' now?"
He sighed heavily and looked at her," Honestly, the best time to actually do the job would be at night." Then he cringed, waiting for an explosion. He wasn't too far off.
"WHAT? YAH MADE MEH GET UP THAT EARLY FOH NUTHIN'?" Breathing hard, Rogue's face had turned a violent shade of pink and her hands were shaking. She had been dragged outta bet at the crack of dawn for this? With no coffee? Someone was going to pay!
"I know! I know! Relax though doll, there was a reason we got up so early." He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled at her, "Wanted to make sure you took a bath today, for instance. And those new duds." Beside him Janet snorted and Rogue could have sworn she heard being mumbled, "yeah, my new duds."
Tired and caffeine deprived, Rogue angrily crossed her arms and huffed, glaring at the culprit, "If'n ya'll expect meh tah help yah, then we gotta do somethin'."
In defense, Max raised his hands in an effort to calm Rogue, "Relax doll, I just said it was the best time, but it's also the time anyone would expect someone to do something. So we're doing the job this morning." He pointed to Janet who batted her mascara lined eyelashes at him, "Janet'll go in with you and distract the guards, and I'll wait out front in case Marcel and Billy ever come back from their coffee…"he coughed and glanced at Janet before continuing, "…date. All you have to do is flirt a lil and work your way into the records room, find the list of names and then get it back to us. Easy, right?"
Rogue's jaw dropped, "Easy? What, were you the kid who could do a Rubics cube in five minutes? That sounds…fun actually. "A calculating expression shone through her deep green eyes, "Fahne, let's do it."
Max nodded and grabbing Janet, who was busy staring at her image in her compact, the three of them started walking towards downtown. Janet whining all the way to the police station.
"Why do we have to walk? Why can't we get a cab? These are new shoes Max! If I break a heel, it'll be all your fault. And it looks like it's going to rain; do you know what rain will do to my hair?" Walking ahead of the woman, Rogue looked at Max.
"How the hell can yah live with that every day?" she asked, "Ah mean, if she was mah girlfriend ah'd kill her after the first date."
Glancing behind him, Max noticed that Janet was still complaining, he then looked at Rogue and grinned, "Yeah well, I could definitely understand that, but she's pretty hot in the sack." Rolling her eyes, Rogue debated in slowing down so she didn't have to walk with the pervert, but then she'd be stuck with the walking, talking blow up sex toy. Or she could speed up, but then she wouldn't have the damndest idea where she was going. Aw screw it.
About twenty minutes later, the three of them marched into downtown Chicago. Walking into a doughnut shop, Max sat in a booth and gestured for the girls to sit in the seat across from him. After ordering a couple of glazed doughnuts, he pulled from his inner jacket a map of the police building. Smoothing out the wrinkles in the obviously much viewed paper, Max spread the schematics on the table.
He pointed to the entrance, "Ok, here is the entrance, "he looked up to be greeted by Rogue's bored expression, "alright so it's obvious, I'm trying to make things easy for my Janet, 'k? Now then, the entrance is pretty much free of guards so you won't have a problem getting in the building, just schmooze a lil." Bored out of their minds, Janet was once again looking into her compact to make sure that no hair was out of place, and Rogue was busy drumming her fingers on the sticky table top surface and trying not to fall asleep. Damn do ah miss the x-men, they may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least missions aren't so low tech.
"Fahne, Max, we get it. Just tell meh where the records room is and then let's get tah it. Ah'm sick and tired of waitin'." He glared at her for a minute, for daring to interrupt his well laid plans.
"Fine. Go across the street and I'll be here when you get out. If you get caught, we'll get you out sometime tonight."
Rogue stared at him, her body half in and out of the booth, "Get caught? Sugah, ah never get caught." 'Cept for that one time when ah was stuck in Area 51, and then there was Apocalypse…aw hell, what he doesn't know won't hurt him. And with that she slid out of the tack booth and sauntered out of the restaurant without making sure that Janet was following her.
Once out on the sidewalk, Rogue stood for a second in the fresh air, breathing deep. It was still early in the morning, the sun barely haven risen by this time, fingers of light were caressing the various buildings and shops; though it was so early, there were people all around. And enough to make sure that Rogue and Janet weren't conspicuous when walking across the street. The only striking thing about them was the fact that they were two beautiful, tall, well dressed women walking into a police station. What could possibly go wrong, they were women after all, but who could suspect anything of such striking women?
Pausing just outside the station, Rogue nodded to Janet who then made her way inside and struck up a conversation with the portly officer at the desk. From her vantage point, Rogue could see through a window that Janet was definitely using her God given wiles, there was a lot of hair tossing and eyelash batting going on. Surreptitiously, Rogue adjusted her dress so that it maximized her cleavage, took a deep breath and then pushed through the revolving doors. Inside the building, it was pretty quiet. Apparently there was a lot of crime going on in the Windy City that day because the only cops around the entrance was the one that Janet was practically making out with and a slightly younger man, who appeared to be his partner, but he was also busy drooling at the redhead.
Quietly, Rogue ignored the trio and walked past them, straight through a set of doors that, according to the map, would lead her to the main area where the cops would normally work in their little spaces. If Max's report on the sudden spike in crime were correct then there should hardly be anyone in there. But just as a precaution, Rogue slowly removed one of her silky elbow length gloves. Placing it in her clutch, she glanced around the office; just as she had hoped there was hardly anyone in there. Off to the side was another door that apparently gave way to a stairwell.
Striding swiftly towards the door, Rogue cursed the noise her heels made, the loud and obnoxious click-clack. No matter how hard she had tried to argue with Max and Janet, they had insisted that she wear them, apparently it would look suspicious if she had walked around wearing flats or something. Whatever, they were stupid for a mission that demanded stealth. She was suddenly thankful for the foresight of removing a glove when, upon opening the door, Rogue came face to face with a short, red faced officer.
"Hey! What do you think-"He didn't get any farther, before he could announce her presence to the entire precinct, Rogue lightly touched his cheek with her naked hand; he didn't fight her and seemed to drop peacefully off into sleep. Gin, cigarette…gotta smoke…need a smoke…Betty, where'd she go? Wonder if she called…
Numb and a bit shell shocked, Rogue fiercely tossed her head to and fro, Ah'm Rogue damnit…ROGUE! She breathed deeply for a minute or two, concentrating on what the professor had taught her before this bizarre trip though wonderland. Just as soon as he had invaded, Rogue managed to force the man's, who was named Jerry Bennett apparently, psyche to the back of her mind where it joined the myriad of others she had acquired through the years. Poor Bastard, Jerry knew nothing about mutants, but his wife had just left him and hadn't left behind a note or anything and he was worried sick. One good thing she picked up though, was that due to a huge fire somewhere in south Chicago, the majority of the precinct and the fire department were there. Making this mission all but easy pickin's.
Slightly drained, Rogue bent down and propped the sleeping Jerry against the stairwell wall before gazing at the stairs she was supposed to climb. And in three inch heels no less. If the map was correct then the record's room was about three floors up. God help Max, Janet and Billy when she got out of here was her grim thought as Rogue mounted the first flight of stairs.
The going was slow, but at least she didn't meet anymore policemen; her head was still buzzing uncomfortably from Jerry. His wasn't a particularly strong psyche, but it was fresh. After hiking the stairs for a good fifteen minutes, her lungs were starting to burn slightly. When ah get back…ah'm gonna force Logan to put me through the workout of mah life. This is ridiculous!
Her prettily decorated green clutch was now nice and damp after being hauled up several flights of stairs, her heels were aching horribly and Rogue would have bet her first born that there was a blister the size of Alaska growing somewhere on her foot. Her dress, after having been shifted such a distance was now feeling about as heavy as a bullet proof vest plus firefighter gear, irritated, Rogue adjusted the dress yet again against her curvaceous frame. She paused for a few minutes, leaning briefly against the doorjamb, panting and trying to catch her breath. After one last deep gasp of air, she wrenched open the door quickly, glanced around, dashed through and quietly shut the door behind her.
The floor before her was deserted. Of people at least, everywhere she turned her eye though, Rogue saw rows and rows of filing cabinets and shelves stocked with incriminating evidence. Walking closer to the shelves, Rogue noticed that they were dusty and filled with cobwebs, further evidence that hardly anyone ever came up to this floor. Suddenly, her clutch slipped from her sweaty armpit and crashed onto the lowest shelf with a thud, which sent up a plume of dust into the air. Quickly she retrieved her purse and backed away from the dusty shelf, holding her nose and desperately trying to restrain a sneeze that was dying to escape. Unfortunately she lost the battle with her nose.
"ACHOO!"
The force of the sneeze blew her back a few inches, just enough to make Rogue knock into one of the many filing cabinets. Grumbling, she turned around while rubbing her lower back; when she had been knocked into it the drawer knob had struck her rather hard. She bent down to look at the label of the drawer card, but it was so dusty there was no way she could have read it. Blowing gently across the writing, the words "Special Case," greeted her.
"Bingo!" She said; grinning, Rogue dropped her clutch on top of the cabinet and then grasping the knob, yanked the entire thing out. Rifling through the paperwork, one in particular caught her eye. It was actually several pages, all tacked together. They were untitled, but glancing through them Rogue could see that every page was a list of names.
"James Woods, Ability to melt inanimate objects through physical contact."
"Oliver Reynolds, past recognition."
"Max Foster, sunlight manipulation resulting in optic beams." Seeing that one, Rogue's eyes widened, they even had Max listed, assuming his last name was Foster. But looking at the power listed, it appeared it was.
"Marcel Nordetoile, super speed."
"Aurore Nordetoile, super speed."
Rogue whistled as she flipped through, glancing at the names and powers. There were either a lot of mutants in Chicago, or else the police were holding these names for someone else with an even worse purpose. Humming to herself as she tucked the notes into her clutch, she shrugged lightly. It wasn't any of her business. She had done her duty and was now free. Gingerly, she replaced the file drawer. Hopefully no one would notice that the dust had been disturbed until it was far too late. Just as quietly as she had entered the floor, Rogue left.
Quicker than she climbed the stairs, Rogue practically flew down the stairwell. There was no one around to hear her and the sooner she was outside the building and the sooner she put the papers in Max's hands the safer she'd feel. And the sooner she could try and find her way home. At the base of the stairs, Rogue noticed that Jerry Bennett was still propped uncomfortably against the cinderblocks of the wall. Shaking her head, Rogue left him there. Sooner or later a fellow officer would come along and wake him up, or else he'd wake up on his own none the wiser. Just in case, she pulled her glove from her purse and pulled it back over her arm, silently mourning the loss of her temporary freedom.
Slowly opening the door leading from the stairwell, Rogue noticed that there were more officers back in the office wandering around than before. Silently cursing, she figured now was the time to practice the stealth that Logan had been desperately trying to pound into her brain. Soundlessly, she inched her way from the doorway and allowed it to shut, the click of the door knob barely making a noise. Quickly, Rogue took into account how many policemen were in the room and where they were. There were four at their desks, their heads all bent over and they appeared to be working industriously. Another quick glance showed her that there was another one over by the window; he could be slightly tricky if he suddenly decided to turn around.
Deciding to take a risk, Rogue moved as quietly as she could along the tiled floor with her heeled shoes. But apparently not quietly enough, one misplaced step must have been too loud because the officer at the window jerked his head and look right at her.
"What are you doing back here?" His hazel eyes traveled up and down her body, taking in her outfit slowly, "You're not an officer, ma'am." He was younger than Jerry Bennett, and much cuter too, with clean cut brown hair that was slicked down in the style of the age. His uniform fit his body just right too. Unfortunately, Rogue couldn't enjoy the sight overmuch because when he had spoken up, the rest of the officers had glanced up from their desks to see what had caused the interruption. Swiftly, Rogue decided to become what she hated the most, a weak female in need of help.
As if in surprise, Rogue raised her right hand and laid it against her chest, "Oh mah, ah'm so sorry gentlemen. Ah thought this was the way to the restroom." She smiled charmingly, her green eyes fluttering at the youngest of the men. His face relaxed instantly, and the other men smiled at her, as if understanding that it was an honest mistake. Inwardly gagging at this act, Rogue dropped her hand and moved toward the cute, young officer. "Would yah be so kind as tah help meh?"
Grinning foolishly, he tipped the brim of his hat at her, "Course ma'am, I'd be delighted to." Offering his arm to her, he nearly fell over when she gripped it, "You have quite the grip there, don't you ma'am?"
"Jane then." Nodding, he urged her towards the building entrance, holding the door open for her, all the while staring at her as if he had never quite seen anything like a woman before. Walking through, Rogue was happy to see that Janet was still flirting with the old police officer, turning towards her officer, she laid her hand gently on his arm.
"Oh thank yah so much, Officer…?"
"Jameson, um, Ken Jameson." He blushed at her touch like a young school boy.
Nodding, Rogue smiled to see his face flush, "Thank yah Officer Jameson. Well, ah see mah friend, we have an appointment later and need tah get goin'." Releasing his arm, Rogue moved quickly towards Janet, grabbed her arm and all but pulled her out of the building, never looking back to see the wholehearted wave that came from her new admirer.
Once outside of the precinct building, Rogue kept her grip on the now complaining Janet as they walked through the crowd. Cutting across the street, she dragged the taller woman around the corner before stopping to catch her breath. Panting from running in the much hated heels, Rogue looked at Janet, "Did they follow us?"
"No, but why'd you drag me out of there? He was going to give me the name of his young, good looking nephew!" she whined never looking at Rogue, and holding her own clutch to her chest, she dug through there searching for her favorite lipstick.
Rogue merely rolled her eyes and renewed her grip on the other woman's arm, "C'mon, Barbie. We gotta get back tah Max and report." And with that, the two women rejoined the flow of bodies, and made their way back towards the doughnut shop.
Walking inside, Rogue saw that Max was still sitting at the same table as when they had left him, but he had now been joined by Marcel and Billy. Releasing Janet once inside, Rogue made her way over to their booth and stood beside Marcel until he had scooted over enough for her to squeeze in beside him. When Janet had finally joined them and squeezed in between Max and Billy, Max faced Rogue.
"Ok, so how'd it go doll face?" irked, Rogue made a face at him.
"Maxie, don't you know that women hate to be called that?" Marcel chirped at him; he was, as Rogue noticed, practically glowing from the coffee date with Billy apparently. She sent him a grateful look which he cheerfully noted and winked back at her. Max shrugged and looked pointedly at Rogue for an answer.
She shrugged, and returned his look with one of her own, "Want an answer? Get meh some coffee first." Grumbling under his breath, Max nevertheless signaled the waitress who brought a round of fresh cups to the group. Finally content that at least something was right in the world, Rogue joyfully sipped at hers with her eyes closed so she wouldn't have to see the look on Max's face. Peeping one eye open, Rogue saw that everyone but Janet was staring at her.
"What?" she asked indignantly, "Haven't y'all ever seen a girl appreciate a cup o' coffee befoh?" Max glared at her, his brown eyes shooting daggers right into her green ones, "Fine, fine Maxie. Don't get yah panties in a twist."Both Billy and Marcel sniggered into their cups, Rogue took on more sip before focusing on the mission.
"Alrahgt. Yah information was raght, there were hardly any cops there. Somethin' tah do with a fire in the south side." She waved her hand in the air as if it didn't matter, "Janet went in there, did her thang. No issues with that, ah had no troubles until ah made mah way tah the stairs." Max raised an eyebrow at her, while Marcel, Billy and Janet simply stared, Rogue shrugged, "Met a cop by the name o' Jerry Bennett, took care o' that for now. Upstairs, found everything fahne." She opened her clutch at the table and pulled out the sheath of papers, handing them to Max as she said, "Found the list. And ah don' think that list is only for Chicago, there can' be that many mutants here just yet. Ah think there's more to it, but ah don' know where y'all might look."
Flipping through the papers, Max nodded as he found a name every so often that he recognized, "Good work, the both of you. This'll help mutants everywhere. Now then Rogue, for the next mission, we just need you to-,"
"No." She shook her head at his scandalized expression, "Ah said no Max. Yah said ah was involved in only one thang, the rest is up tah y'all." She forstalled his rant with a raised forefinger, while shaking her two toned auburn locks, "Ah need tah fahnd mah way back home. Y'all be fahne."
Marcel raised his hand tentatively, and relaxed when she nodded in his direction, "So, where are you headed then?" Billy nodded along with his question, but Janet had one of her own.
"Are you going to give me back my clothes?"
Rolling her eyes, Rogue stared in disbelief at the ditzy redhead, Ah don' know how the hell ah'll ever be able tah look Jean in the eye ever again when ah get home. "Yes Janet, yah'll get back yah clothes…skank." The last part was mumbled under her breath so only Marcel could hear, which he did with a snort. Addressing Marcel's question, Rogue shrugged, fiddling with her coffee cup between her gloved palms, "Ah dunno, ah jus' figured that ah'd make mah way down south somehow." He nodded and the entire table fell silent.
A few minutes later, Max grunted and slammed back the rest of his scalding hot coffee. Nudging Janet and Billy out of the booth, he stood up and motioned towards the door, "Well, if we're finished then I guess you'd better get out of town and on your way home." Agreeing, the five of them packed up their stuff and made their way towards Max's apartment.
There, Rogue "borrowed" one of Janet's overnight bags, which she grabbed when her back was turned. Inside of which she stashed the clothes she had arrived in and a few necessities that Marcel forced on her. After talking to him for a while, Rogue had to say that out of the group she definitely liked Marcel the best, he was the least annoying. Once everything had been stuffed in there, she fastened it and carried it into the living room where everyone was sitting on the couch. Strangely, her head was pounding lightly. Must have been Jerry earlier. Sometimes when she absorbed a person she got a headache.
Dropping her bag in the center of the floor, Rogue caught Janet's glare, "What?"
Janet huffed and crossed her legs, "Nothing. I just don't see why you have to wear my second best outfit to travel in. What's wrong with traveling in the rag that you came in?" She eyed the green ensemble sourly as she sipped at the glass of champagne in her hand. They had broken into the good stuff upon arriving at HQ.
Rubbing her temples, Rogue ignored Janet for the most part and instead focused on Max, "Alright, so who's giving me a ride to the train station?" Man this was a doozy of a headache.
Marcel looked at her closely, concern etched across his face, "You sure you're ok sweetie?" Rogue nodded, but when she opened her mouth to reply the entire world tilted, she slammed into the ground, and the last thing she knew, she had been drenched in a sweet smelling, slightly sticky liquid and a shriek pierced through her migraine.
"Oh! My champagne! Not my shoes!"
