Rogue's Avalon Chapter 4
Rogue was sitting in a seat she had traded with some woman so she could be with Serena through her first "air" ride. The trip was only suppose to last an hour an seventeen minutes, but they had to circle the airport for a while as air traffic control ruled that the bomb on level D3 had been defused.
Rogue thought back to an hour before. Serena had introduced her to Tom and Clara. Rogue explained she was heading to Avalon and that she would take charge of Serena on one condition. Clara and Tom had looked at each other worriedly and then Clara spoke, "We'll do anything we can for Serena, she's suffered enough, but we don't have much…" Her sentence trailed off as Rogue began to giggle.
"Naw sugar, ya don't quite get it. See yawl give me Serena's plane ticket, and yawl take this here detonator and we'll be square." After a minute of shock, Tom carefully took the detonator from Rogue while listening to her instruction on how to hold it; in the mean time, Clara was handing Serena her plane ticket and explaining how important it was that she not lose it.
When she had picked up Serena and placed the small girl in her arms, an ordinary looking middle aged woman had approached them. "Don't' you worry about anybody remembering ya, you're lucky; there just happened to be two telepaths' here who are covering for ya. Get going, and we'll see you there."
Rogue "heard" Serena's, *Thank you. * Then the woman had turned around, smiled once to the both of them, and walked away. Rogue, with Serena in her arms, walked back the way the two had just come, past the two bodies that laid on the floor, and eventually to their plane, where they were currently seated.
Turning her head to the left, Rogue saw that Serena was gazing up at her, "What is it, Bright Eyes?"
A shocked expression passed over the small girls face, followed by a quizzical smile, *Why Bright Eyes? *
"'Cause ya have the most beautiful eyes Ah've ever seen." The unsure smile manifested into a true one, and Serena wrapped her arms around Rogue's muscular one, and placed her cheek just above her elbow, *I like that name. *
The stewardess cam by a few minutes later and Rogue received a blanket, pillow, and two packets of honey-roasted peanuts a little while later.
Instructing Serena how to place the pillow so the girl could still look out the window, Rogue wrapped the blanket around Serena's delicate body. At the girls expression, Rogue answered, "We're probably gonna be here fer a while, and it's gettin' kinda late. You and Ah are gonna have a big night ahead of us, so Ah want ya ta get a little sleep before we get ta where were goin'. The blankets' 'cause it's gettin' kinda chilly in here, and Ah don't want ya catchin' a cold."
Rogue finished tucking Serena in and then picked up a packet of peanuts and opened it. Handing the packet to Serena she told her to eat a few and then try to get some sleep.
In less than two minutes the nuts were gone, and Serena was sleepily telling Rogue how wonderful they were, and that peanuts were now her favorite food.
An hour later, and half way to Montpelier, Vermont, Rogue acquired eight more packets of peanuts. Stuffing them into her bomber jacket pockets, she turned once to watch Serena sleeping soundly and then waited for their real journey to begin.
* * *
Very little had happened to them at the Montpelier airport. They had claimed their baggage, Rogue's three suitcases and one trunk--all stuffed past their warranty--and Serena's worn and tattered handbag. Rogue opted to carry it, all which signified her as a mutant, so she let Serena take off the hood of her sweatshirt.
The gift shop, which they stopped at, was the highlight of the airport, and possibly Serena's first and last toy shopping spree. After picking up a large and sturdy suitcase she handed it to Serena, "Ah want ya ta go over behind this aisle, take a look, and tell me what ya see, ok?" At her nod, Serena went and did as she was told; Rogue was a step behind her.
If it were possible, Serena's eyes became huge as she took in the largest selection of toys she had ever seen, Rogue bent down next to her, "With that there suitcase in yer hand, Ah want ya ta fill it with as much'o this stuff as ya possibly can. That way, we'll have stuff ta play with on our new home."
When Serena had sufficiently studied Rogue's face and determined she was telling the truth she went to work. After fifteen minutes, a lot of cramming, and $173 later, they left the airport in a marked up $300 taxi, and headed to a spot in the country thirty miles away.
* * *
The transportation vessel was different than Rogue thought it was going to look like. A huge, four story, soup can looking construction, stood erect in the middle of an open field. Two twin doors seemed to be the only way in or out of their salvation carrier.
Serena had her small arms wrapped around one of Rogue's as the two stood starring up at their "Soup can to home," as Serena put it.
At Rogue's insistence, Serena was in constant telepathic contact with Rogue. The idea was to always be able to locate the little girl in the tidal wave of mutants.
As a fair guess, there were about five hundred mutants milling about next to the transportation vessel. Rogue scanned the crowd, she didn't see anyone she recognized, save for Voght, whom Rogue guessed was the overseer of this particular vessel.
Running into her would not be a good thing, Rogue thought.
Suddenly Serena looked up at her, *Why would it be bad? She looks nice. *
Rogue wasn't sure how to tell Serena about her past as an X-Man, so she opted for the simple answer. Getting down on her knees, she told Serena the simplest of truths, "That lady, Voght, she doesn't know me real well. An' she doesn't know that Ah've changed mah views on a lot of things. If'n she saw me before Ah could explain that Ah've changed, she might get mad at me; and that wouldn't be good at all. Do ya understand?"
With Serena's nod of comprehension, Rogue stood, took her hand, grabbed their luggage, and walked the two of them to a densely populated spot on the field. The more people, the less chance of being seen. Serena smiled at Rogue's thought, and hugged her new teddy bear tightly. The name 'Vermont' was across the brown bear's tiny sweater.
* * *
Voght's rules had been simple to the crowd. As Rogue had put it, the "Get in, sit down, shut up" method. Serena had only giggled.
After Rogue had deposited their luggage where they were told to put it, she took Serena's hand and they both entered the "Soup Can."
Immediately, Serena had been afraid. As she looked around at all the seats that lined the walls, she grabbed tighter to Rogue's hand.
Putting the child into her arms, Rogue flew up to the very top row, just as Voght had told all the flyers to do. Slipping Serena into a seat she adjusted the overhead bar and seat belts to snuggly hold the tiny girl in place.
As Rogue was finishing with the last clasp, Serena spoke up in a voice of fear, *You're not going to leave me when we get to our new home, are you? *
She had known Serena was afraid, but she had just guessed it was because the vessel was so large. She hadn't realized it ran deeper than that.
Reaching past the bar and safety straps, Rogue caressed the little girls' cheek. "Ah promise ya Serena, Ah'll stay with ya fer as long as Ah can. Ah'll never leave ya, as long as Ah have the choice ta make. OK?"
Serena gave a weak nod, and then a weak smile. "Ah'm gonna be in the seat right next ta ya. Ya just keep with me mentally, an' we'll be able ta talk. And don't ya worry about anythin', everythin' is gonna be fine."
Moving into her own seat, Rogue settled in and waited for the tug of lift-off. She chatted with Serena about all her new toys; and about how it was ok that Vermont wasn't strapped into his own chair, he'd be fine as long as she held on real tight.