Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See chapter 1…

A/N: Special thanks to Wolf skater for helping me with this chapter. Go check out her stories, they are ramtastic.

X-Mansion, about 8 hours after Rogue and Kitty left on their adventure…

Logan walked around the mansion for about the hundredth time that day but he still couldn't find the two girls he was looking for. Then he spotted Kurt. He ought to know where Rogue and Kitty where.

"Hey Elf where's Half-Pint and Stripes?" Logan called out to him.

"I don't know" Kurt said trying to play innocent.

Logan narrowed his eyes glaring at him. He could smell his lie.

"I know your lying so you better tell me the truth Elf" he growled.

Kurt's eyes went wide with fear. He knew Rogue would kill him for telling Logan but right at that moment Logan was scarier.

"Rogue and Kitty vent down to Mississippi vith Lance to go see Destiny and zen go to Louisiana to find Gambit because Rogue got a vision from Destiny that said she and him vould end up together and Jean and Kitty told her she should go find him so she decided to go and ve had to force her to let Kitty and Lance come vith her so she vouldn't be alone" Kurt said all in one breath as he cowered away from Logan.

"Hn" Logan grunted and walked away.

"Hey vhere are you going?" Kurt called after him.

"To go talk to Chuck about this" Logan told him over his shoulder.

"Zis isn't going to end well for me" Kurt muttered under his breath as he walked the other way to go find somewhere to hide from his sister.

"Chuck!" Logan bellowed, storming into the Professors office, interrupting a business call.

"I'll have to call you back." The Professor said, hung up the phone, and turned his attention to an unimpressed looking Logan. "How may I assist you this afternoon, Logan?" he asked pleasantly.

"Stripes and Half-pint skipped off to Louisiana with that Alvers kid to pick up that Cajun that kidnapped Stripes last year." Logan said and crossed his arms angrily.

"Yes, I was aware of this." The Professor said as if it were obvious.

"What?" Logan said with a snarl.

"I'm afraid so," The professor said as he wheeled himself around his desk to the fireplace, Logan following behind him. "Jean came to me this morning and informed me of Rogue and Kitty's trip, and assured me that Mr. Alvers would not let any harm come to them, as he is afraid of the consequences he would face should anything happen to them."

"What do you want me to do with Red and the Elf for letting them leave without trying to stop them?" Logan asked staring into the fire that seemed to always be lit in the Professors office.

"Nothing." The Professor said simply.

"Nothing?" Logan asked incredulously.

"Yes, we will not punish the two of them for encouraging a friend to find love." The Professor said before turning to face Logan. "If we try to keep them close they will only move further away. We must let them make their own choices and chose their own paths, whether it ends in loneliness or happiness, it must be by their own doing."

"Well, Chuck, I'd still prefer that someone at least watch them, in case they get in trouble." Logan said calmly.

"I will leave that task up to you. I have a phone call to finish." The Professor said wheeling back to his desk as an obvious dismissal, which Logan caught and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

In the Foyer…

"Elf! Where are you?" Logan yelled, looking around for the fuzzy, blue teleporter.

"Y-Y-Yes, Logan?" Kurt said hesitantly from the top of the steps.

"Find that girl and meet me in the hanger." Logan and turned to walk away before Kurt stopped him.

"What girl?" Kurt asked a little confused.

"The girl… X23." Logan said not remembering the name X had picked out for herself.

"Oh, you mean Laura?" Kurt asked.

"That's what I said, Fuzzball. Now go get her and meet me in the hanger like I told you to." Logan said and walked away as Kurt 'ported off to find Laura.

"Okay, X, this will be your first away mission. Are you ready?" Logan asked as he debriefed Kurt and Laura in the hanger before departing for their mission.

"Yes, Sir." Laura said standing up straight at attention, excited she would actually be going on a mission, which seemed impossible due to her lack of social skills.

"Our objective is to observe, do not make contact with the target or be seen by the target, as they cannot be aware of our presence. Is that clear?" Logan said as he paced in front of the two younger mutants, like a Platoon Sergeant would when debriefing his squad during formation.

"Yes, Sir!" They both said loudly before following Logan onto the X-Jet.

That night around 8 pm with Rogue, Kitty, and Lance near Irene's house…

"Uh, Rogue? You okay?" Kitty asked when she noticed the car wasn't going more than 20 mph.

"Anyone hungry? Gotta use the bathroom? Or vomit?" Rogue asked them, going a little green in the face. They were outside the small southern town that Rogue had grown up in with Irene, and now she was getting cold feet.

"Rogue, you're not getting cold feet are you?" Lance asked, pointing out the obvious, as he leaned forward in his seat.

"No!" Rogue said defiantly, shooting a glare at Lance. "I'm just… nervous, that's all." She said with a shrug.

"Why are you so nervous? You, like, just saw Irene the other day, how is this different?" Kitty said, trying to be encouraging, and failing.

"Because it is!" Rogue said exasperatedly, "I spent almost five years in that house, knowing Irene like I do, she probably hasn't taken down any of the picture frames of me, and pictures of us together…" Rogue said, her voice trailing off as she reminisced about the time she spent with Irene. Kitty and Lance just looked at each other, by now the car had come to a complete stop in the middle of the road. "Either way, this was a bad idea. We're going home." Rogue said as she sped off and did a U-turn in the middle of the road.

"Are you crazy!" Lance asked as he got tossed around in the back seat.

"It's possible!" Rogue said, speeding off in the direction they had come.

"Rogue, stop the car!" Kitty yelled, earning the brakes being slammed and Lance hitting the back of her seat. "Put your seatbelt on, Lance, you'll, like, go through the windshield." She said before turning to Rogue. "What do you think you're doing?"

"We're going home. This was a stupid idea." Rogue said glaring out the windshield.

"Rogue, if you run away from your problems then you'll never be happy." Kitty said putting a comforting hand on Rogues arm.

"Kit, what are you talking about?" Rogue asked, Kitty opened her mouth to answer but Lance put a hand up to silence her, which got slapped away.

"Rogue, don't be stupid, face your problems head on, be a man about it. Jeez, rub some dirt in it!" Lance said encouragingly.

"Lance-" Rogue started to protest but was cut off.

"Rogue, don't be a pansy. Get there, talk to the old bag, then we can leave. You're acting like a school girl." Lance said trying to convince Rogue to go through with the plan.

"Fine, but we won't be there long. Maybe an hour." Rogue said as she turned around and continued to Irene's.

20 minutes later standing in front of Irene's front door…

"Knock on the door, Rogue, it won't bite." Kitty said when Rogue just stood there.

"Quiet, Kit." Rogue said as she mentally prepared herself to knock.

"This is ridiculous." Lance said as he reached around Kitty to ring the bell.

"You are so dead, Lance." Rogue hissed at him with a glare. Her attention snapped forward as the door opened to reveal a young boy, maybe around 13 or 14.

"Can I help you?" He asked, in a bored tone of voice.

"Who are you?" Rogue asked, not recognizing the boy.

"Who am I? Who are you?" He asked, obviously offended.

"We're here to see Irene, is she home?" Kitty jumped in before Rogue could start a fight with the kid.

"Mrs. Irene, some people are here to see you!" The boy yelled into the house.

"Let them in. I've been expecting them." The three mutants heard Irene's voice from somewhere in the house.

"She said-" The boy started before Rogue pushed passed him and into the house.

"We heard, kid." She said as Kitty and Lance followed her through the house and into the living room.

"What the heck, Irene?" Rogue said when she found her foster mother.

"It's very nice to see you, dear." Irene said sipping her tea.

"Cut the pleasantries, Irene, what do you think you're doing telling me that I belong with that filthy, thieving, swamp rat, creepy, stalker, Acolyte, moron Gambit?" Rogue said with disgust, as she cut right to the point.

"It's true. I've seen it." Irene said simply.

"Oh, I see, so because you saw it, it makes it true?" Rogue asked with a sarcastic sweetness to her voice.

"Yes, and whether or not you go to Louisiana to get him, you two will end up together and you will be happy. Trust me." Irene said setting her cup down on the coffee table.

"Irene, no offense, but the last time I trusted you Mystique took the form of various X-Men and attacked me before she convinced me to join the Brotherhood and continued to feed me so many lies I wasn't sure what the difference between Up and West was. So forgive me for being a little skeptical." Rogue said with crossed arms and a glare aimed at Irene.

"It all turned out for the best didn't it?" Irene said, looking at Rogue behind her sunglasses.

"The best?" Rogue said astounded. "After Mystique continuously lied to me the whole time I was at the Brotherhood, and trying to kill me and Scott, she posed as my friend so she could spy on the X-men and kidnap the Professor, then she used me to unleash Apocalypse on the world, and then had the audacity to try and apologize for all the crap she put me and Kurt through. But don't worry, Rogue, it was for the best. That is such crap!" Rogue yelled, not caring that she was letting the angrier psyches in her head influence what she was saying and how she was reacting.

"Rogue, you must understand something. When you were small, your parents lived in a back-to-nature community that was obsessed with reaching the Farbanks, a reality where all things thought to be of mythical origin are real, and when you were around the age of three, your mother, Priscilla, was the only human to ever reach the Farbanks, and when she did, she didn't come back. After months of searching, your father, Owen, gave up hope of ever finding your mother. Then one night, he just disappeared completely from the community and left you there, he was never seen again.

"The leader of the community decided it would be best if you were left in the custody of your mother's sister, Carrie, who was unaware of her disappearance. She, in turn, called Raven, to come and get you, as she did not want a reminder of her sister around her, as your mother was the irresponsible one of the two of them. After a few months, it was decided by the courts that Raven would receive custody over you, and so you came to live with me.

"I suspect that what led Raven to take you in at the beginning was, in her mind, a chance to atone for losing her son a few years before. It wasn't until I informed her of how your mutation would manifest that she became blinded with the desire to use you and your power to help her with her many conquests she would go after in years to come. I do not excuse what she has done, I only wish that you understand that she had good intentions in the beginning, and I hope you can eventually forgive her for the misdeeds she has committed."Irene said, trying to make Rogue understand her side of things.

As Irene told her story, Lance and Kitty walked around the living room looking at the various pictures that stood on the mantel above the fireplace and on the majority of the walls in the room. It seemed that all the pictures were of Rogue, either with Irene, by herself or with others the two didn't recognize. Then there was the portrait that hung next to the fireplace, across from where Irene was sitting in an old, faded armchair in front of the fire. They noticed a young looking Rogue, about thirteen, in an outfit similar to Kitty's, pastel green colored shirt with a sweater that was the same style as Kitty's pink one, only green and a few shades darker than the shirt. Her hair was longer and pulled back into a ponytail. Around her neck was a small, gold heart shaped locket. On Rogue's right was Irene, and to the left was a woman neither recognized.

"Rogue, is this you?" Kitty asked after everyone was silent for a time, pointing at the portrait.

"Yeah, but that was taken awhile ago. I was about twelve or thirteen then. Before Irene made up that phony skin condition and made me cover up every part of my skin but my face." Rogue said walking over to where her two friends were standing.

"What's that?" Kitty asked pointing to the locket.

"A locket. Irene got it for me a couple months before this was taken." Rogue said looking around at the pictures that decorated the walls. She didn't know why Irene insisted on having so many pictures when she couldn't see them anyway. She just assumed they were for others viewing pleasure. "Hey, Irene, can I take some of these pictures with me?" Rogue asked hopefully.

"Of course, my child, take as many as you'd like." Irene said, glad Rogue was no longer angry.

"Man, I'm starving, got any eats?" Lance asked as his stomach growled.

"Yeah, me too and tired." Kitty said, suppressing a yawn.

"Is it okay if we crash here tonight, Irene?" Rogue asked as she too noticed she was tired and hungry.

"Of course it is. You girls may sleep in Rogue's room and the boy can sleep in the guest bedroom." Irene said as she got up and headed towards the dining room.

"Dinner's ready." Said the boy that had let the three of them in from the dining room where he was setting the table for the four of them before going home for the night.

That night as Rogue lay awake in bed, she thought about all the questions she had for Irene, even Mystique if she ever saw her again. Most of her questions had to do with her parents. What were they like? Were they in love, like in the movies, where they stared deep into each other's eyes for hours without saying anything? Was she anything like her mom? Was she more like her dad? Which of her parents did she look like? Did she have a little of both features? Whose eyes did she inherit? As all these questions went through her mind she slowly drifted off to sleep, without a thought about how to deal with her upcoming premeditated kidnapping.

Ok, this thing ended up longer than expected, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about how it turned out, but any reviews I get will tell me how I did. Thanks for reading.