Chapter 4- Born to Fly

Born to Fly- Sara Evans

Dixie caught Rogue mid fall and laid her on the couch. She scooted her chair closer to the couch and put her hand over Rogue's head. Her hand glowed yellow and Rogue's eyes snapped open. She sat up and looked at Dixie with wide eyes.

"Please tell me that was all a dream." Said Rogue. She quickly recoiled back as Dixie tried to pacify her.

"Rogue! Trust me if I had a choice I wouldn't be here. I had the same power as you do but I changed it Rogue! I know what you are going through. Please let me help you!" Dixie said getting up and following Rogue out the office door. She turned and ran down the hallway.

"Rogue!" she yelled down the hallway. Rogue just took the elevator down to X-Men hall. Dixie stopped in the hallway with a defeated look on her face. She turned to the door and walked outside not noticing Logan around the corner who had caught the whole exchange between the two women.

He looked torn then followed Dixie outside. He had to jog to catch up with her, when he did he found her sitting down in the middle of a garden.

"Wow, where did this come from?" he asked in wonder looking around at the palm trees and tropical flowers.

Dixie just sat there not moving. Logan, slightly nervously, stood behind her.

"There's no need to be nervous Logan. I'm used to rejection; she's not the first one to be nervous. Eventually every one goes away and I move on to a new place." She said that so heartbreakingly it moved even Logan. He wanted to know more about this woman. She challenged him, she wasn't like the X-Men, they were great but they were too touchy feely for him sometimes.

"Are you all right?" he asked sitting next to her.

She looked at him, "I'm a big girl Logan I'll be fine. You may want to go see Rogue; she's a little freaked out." She said with a snort.

"Yeah what happened between you two? I thought you were going to help her with her powers?" he asked pulling out a cigar. "Sorry do you mind?"

"Oh not at all." She said holding up her finger and a flame popped out, he quickly lit up his cigar, and the flame went out.

"That's not weird." Said Logan staring at her, while she was looking at the flower in front of her. "I thought you had Rogue's power."

She looked at him, "I do, but I changed it, now I copy people's power. I still can tap into the power-sucking thing but I prefer not to. I can stop the power taking process but I can make it to not hurt and they can still keep their powers." She said examining her pale slim hands. "I'm trying to help Rogue but …"

"But what?" asked Logan interested.

She looked at him, "You really want me to help her don't you?"

Logan nodded, "I can't remember anything from before 15 years ago. Rogue was the first person that I ever let –"

"Know you?" said Dixie. "You put up walls so no one gets hurt, but it never works. I tried for years but you end up hurting them more than you can imagine. Don't try to close them out Logan." She looked around at the mini oasis she'd made.

"It's beautiful. What are you going to do with it?" he asked as she plucked a pink lily and put it behind her ear. She looked at him with a smile and she took his breath away. Her smile radiated at him, her blonde hair swirling around her shoulders. They moved slightly closer but the moment was broken when they heard a twig snap. They both turned around and they lowered their guards when they saw Rogue and Bobby.

"Miss Southers?" asked Rogue hesitantly.

She looked at Logan then at Rogue. "Come on I don't think we quite finished our power discussion. Sorry Logan, we're going to have to finish our discussion another time." She got up and went to stand beside Rogue. "The name's Dixie. Let's say we finish this discussion inside. You're Bobby right?" she asked Bobby. She shook his hand. "Call me Iceman." He said covering their hands in an icy sheen. She smiled then let go of his hand. Suddenly his hand was encased in a block of ice. Logan snorted at him because he had tried the same trick when he first met him.

"Goodbye Logan." She said giving him one last look and leaving him in the tropical paradise she created.

"Yeah, bye." Mumbled Logan shaking his head and staring after her. He stared at the place where she had sat.

Dixie was walking back to the school beside Rogue, making small talk with Bobby. He saw Rogue throw her head back and laugh, looking more carefree than he had seen her in a long time.

He looked back at his hands and there appeared the same lily Dixie had in her hair, looking at it, he saw there was a note on one of the petals. He lifted it closer to him and saw her message.

Don't build that wall any higher Logan. Let the people you care for, care for you.

He looked back at the school and saw that Rogue and Bobby already went in. Dixie stood at the doors and waved. Then he heard inside his head.

'Trust me on this Logan; I have been living for 1,256 years I know what I'm talking about.' She sent him a telepathic laugh. 'That's why Rogue was a little freaked out.'

'Dixie I don't care how old you are, please just help Rogue.' He thought desperately trying to communicate with her.

'If she'll let me Logan. It's her choice.' She thought giving him a final smile then walking into the school, the door slowly closing behind her. However, not fast enough for Logan not to see her sashaying walk down the hallway.

X

In Xavier's office, Dixie had sat Bobby and Rogue down to talk about the procedure.

"Rogue, it's a simple procedure, I am going to do a telepathic reading to find your power center. Then, when I find it, I can just force it to act the way I want it to." She paused so Rogue could ask her questions.

"This procedure, will it hurt?" she asked, grasping her gloved hand with Bobby's.

"I don't fairly know. When I changed my power, I performed it on myself, I felt some discomfort but I don't know whether it'll affect you or me. But I will brace the pain so you don't feel it as soon as I can." She sat back in her leather chair knowing more questions were going to follow.

"How long will this procedure take?" this time the question was asked by Bobby.

"Well, Rogue won't be here for two or three days. If she wants the procedure I will be taking her to a remote location, so if Rogue's power unleashes itself. It won't affect any students. The procedure itself will take probably a day, and the rest of the time she will be recovering, and I'll be teaching her how she can access the taking power if she needs it."

Rogue sat up. "What do you mean if my power unleashes itself?" she asked worriedly.

"When I performed the procedure, I used a lot of power. So when the procedure was done, the power had to go somewhere, it went into the ground and made the ground some of the most fertile ground. My power even went so far as the desert creating several oases wherever it could."

Rogue nodded. "And I'll still have my power to access it, but what will you turn it to?"

Dixie sat forward, "This is where it gets cool. Okay, you'll not only be able to touch people, but your power will be tweaked slightly so whenever you touch people you just copy their power." Seeing Rogue and Bobby's confused look she elaborated. "All Right, remember when Bobby met me and we shook hands?" at their nods she continued. "Okay well he turned our hands icy, then his hand was in a block of ice?" again they nodded. "That wasn't Bobby doing that that was me." She said pausing to let them catch up.

"Rogue whenever I touch people instead of taking their powers I copy them. They keep their powers, but I have complete control over the power they transfer. It's like getting a toy but without even reading the instructions you know all the toy can do." Said Dixie leaning in closer to the couple. She grasped Rogue's free hand in hers.

"Rogue, this is a big decision. I want you to make it for you, don't do it for Bobby or anyone except yourself." Dixie got up and walked to the door.

"Rogue, take all the time you need I have a feeling I'll be here for quite a while."

She turned the brass handle and walked out the door leaving Rogue to make the biggest decision of her life.