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Chapter 9: Explanations
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"You see," Rogue began softly, "Mr. Summers, Logan, and I were having a discussion in the classroom when Jean came in…"
Discerning that the young woman was leaving something vital out of her account, the bald man raised his eyebrows, prompting, "And…?" Rogue tried to fool him with a blank, innocent look, but the headmaster shook his head, asking seriously, "Why do you suppose Jean came in the room, Rogue?"
Shaking her head, her brows knitted in obvious incredulity, the girl bemusedly replied, "I don't know… But she did a quick mental scan of the vicinity before heading towards the classroom."
Scott's eyes narrowed at that remark, though none could see it, however much Rogue was glancing at him, concern and nervousness both clear upon her face. Sighing, the man realized that Jean had known that Logan had returned… and had entered the room pretending she had not and had no intention of seeing him – however much her actions belied the sentiments she attempted to convey. Taking notice of Cyclops' grudging acceptance of the situation, Xavier nodded for Rogue to continue.
"I had been feeling a little unwell and wanted to leave the room to work on my homework…"
"Why were you feeling ill, Rogue?" the Professor delved, knowing that with the circumstances, every detail was vitally important.
The girl swallowed, combing the strand of white hair to the side of her face with her fingers. "Just a thought…" she softly evaded. "My mind came up with a possibility that I didn't want to believe. It was a little nauseating, actually, so I decided to leave."
Scott assumed that Rogue had come to the same conclusion that he just had; something was occurring between Jean and Logan – something they likely should not be doing. Frankly, the idea made him feel a bit sick, too.
"Then?" the Professor encouraged.
Closing her eyes with a sigh, Rogue continued. "I was at the doorway when I felt it; Jean was trying to dig around in my thoughts again, Professor."
"Again?!" Cyclops exclaimed, shocked and a little outraged. Meanwhile, Xavier simply nodded.
Answering his heir's question, the Professor explained, "Rogue here has an extraordinarily complex mind; its structure is utterly unique, built to expand so that it can house shadows of the minds she absorbs. Somehow, it also makes her more sensitive towards perceiving psychic abilities – especially those being used on her. Because of this, she was able to sense Jean attempting to infiltrate her mind once before; however, in that instance, Rogue immediately contacted me to interfere in the proceedings." Here, the man paused. "I had thought that Jean had understood why she could and should not do so…"
Rogue grinned at the Professor in sympathy. "Anyways, this time, she wasn't just kicking the tires, so to speak; Jean was genuinely having a go at breaking down my shields…"
Confused, Scott wondered aloud, "Why would she do such a thing?"
The young woman's lips pursed. "Maybe she wanted to find out what I had thought about barely a few moments before…" The room was suddenly silent, everyone mulling over the girl's words. Shaking the idea off, Rogue continued her story. "As she was breaking down my barriers, I tried calling for you, Professor, but you weren't here… so I decided to do something a little crazy."
The brows of both men furrowed at her words. "What do you mean by 'crazy', Rogue?" the telepath inquired, concern coloring his words.
Rogue sighed heavily. "I took away all the mental walls holding back the psyches." Seeing the shock and amazement on the Professor's face, the girl hurriedly added, "And it worked! The psyches worked a bit like an immune system – they attacked the foreign presence in my mind, pushing Jean out of my head…"
His eyes growing wide in realization, Scott turned to the young woman, earnestly observing, "But after that, they began to attack your own mind, right?"
"Yeah…" Rogue remarked. "That was the part that didn't work out so well. I figured something like that might happen – well, not the manifestation of the mutant powers bit. But I couldn't just stand around letting Jean rape my mind. It was agonizing. The psyches were almost a relief, in comparison."
"Wait," the Professor moved to clarify. "Are you saying that after Jean left your mind, you exhibited borrowed mutant powers without having physical contact today?" Both man and woman nodded their reply. "Incredible," Xavier remarked, glancing at Rogue with amazement and admiration.
Smiling wryly, Rogue commented, "It didn't feel so spectacular on my end – especially with the psyches all trying to take over my body… Way uncool."
"Yes," the Professor agreed solemnly. "However, this indicates that you have the potential to utilize absorbed powers at any time – no matter how long ago you touched them. If you come to control your powers to this extent, you will only ever have to touch a mutant once in order to use their power for the rest of your life."
Again, another thoughtful silence cropped up. The collective awe over the potential power Rogue carried in her skin and mind was heavy in the air. Finally, the girl decided that it did not mean much to think about it – she did not see control in the near future anyways, so why dwell?
Wrapping up the tale, Rogue said, "After going through the powers… I was able to get a handle on the psyches – the experience with the mutant abilities was kind of therapeutic: it used up much of the psyches' energy so now they are quiet, docile, and easy to block out." Getting back on track, Rogue shook her head. "Anyways, I then warned Jean not to mess with my head again and went to my room to rebuild all of my mental shields."
"Good," Xavier commended. "And how are your barriers now?"
Smiling, Rogue replied, "Stronger each time I put them up."
At this, the Professor grinned proudly at her improvement. "I'm pleased to hear it, as well as gratified by your progress with your mental abilities. If you'd like, we could lengthen our weakly sessions to two hours so that we could see about finding the key to controlling your absorption powers…"
"I'd like that a lot, Professor," Rogue smiled widely, tempted to jump up and give the man a hug.
Nodding his head to ratify the decision, Charles Xavier then moved on to pleasanter things. "Now, Rogue… Your birthday is coming up in a few weeks," he observed. "What would you like to do? I ask you this because usually we just hold parties for the birthday-girl or boy, but it is your eighteenth year, and you don't seem to enjoy the parties much anyways…"
Cocking her head to the side in thought, Rogue smiled, "Can I get back to you on that one, Professor? I think it deserves some serious thought."
"Of course," the telepath agreed. "Now why don't you go to bed? I'm sure you could use the rest."
Hopping out of the chair lithely, Rogue beamed, "I will in a bit, Charles, but first I wanted to stop by the kitchen – I didn't get a chance to eat this evening…" The girl trailed off as she noticed both men staring at her. Eyes widening, the green-eyed young woman rambled, "Oh dear! I called you 'Charles', didn't I? I'm sorry, Professor, it's just that Erik always calls you by your first name… so it kind of stuck."
Shaking his head with a small, understanding smile, Charles Xavier replied, "It's perfectly alright – you can call me by my first name if you'd like. I don't mind. Now, why don't you get a bite to eat…" Rambling her thanks and apologies, the girl sped out of the office.
It was then that Xavier turned to look gravely at Scott. "Now, about Jean," the telepath began, "I think there's something you should know… But first, have you ever heard her mention the Phoenix?"
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