AN: FINALLY! Here it is! Way too many days later than I had originally planned, but still it's here. Just a warning this chapter has a lot of filler. However, it's like the movie Gone with the Wind. You can't fast forward through the boring parts, or it just doesn't make sense unfortunately. I've been sick the last little while, so working on this has been a little bit difficult, and that's why I got it out so late, also their was a lot more work than I had originally participated. But, enough making excuses for myself. I hope you enjoy all my hard work. Sorry if this chapter jumps around too much. I am trying to cover more ground in my chapters so I can keep the story going.
Disclaimer: I only own Terry, so far. Everything else belongs to Marvel and their respective owners. Thank You.
Take Away My Skin
Chapter 10 Admittance
Not much had changed at the mansion in the days following the introduction of the new house mates. Emma spent most of her time with Terry and the Professor, in the large circular room where Cerebro was kept, working on her telepathic abilities. Laura, or X23, the majority of her time training in the Danger Room, or helping Logan with his bike and the numerous other vehicles used by the X-Men. Carol seemed to he everywhere. She always made it seem as if she was doing something of great importance. However, she took every opportunity she could to annoy Rogue. This appeared to go unnoticed by everyone except for Soda. The whole situation between the two girls was extremely unnecessary. Aside from all of that, things were slowly beginning to revert back to normal. Well, as normal as a house full of teenage mutants could be.
Unfortunately for Rogue, she had not seen much of Soda since the meeting. He was either training, or with his new found friends at the Brotherhood house. Of course, almost every time he came home, Logan would have to have a 'little chat' with him. These chats always seemed to end with yet another extremely long Danger Room session for the blonde boy. After those grueling sessions, he rarely left the confines of his bedroom.
It was around ten o'clock one night when Rogue finally got fed up with being by herself. Kitty was never much company to her, since he couldn't stand talking to her for too long without wanting to claw her own face off. She quietly tiptoed down the hallway towards the boy's rooms. She was trying not to draw any unwanted attention to her presence. She did not need anybody else butting into her own personal business, and the other people in the house were just too darn nosy for her liking. She finally managed to reach the blonde's door unnoticed. She knocked on the hard wooden surface. To her dismay, she received no response from within. She frowned and knocked a second time. Once again, she received no answer. Growing slightly irritated, she turned the knob and opened the door a crack. She peeked inside the small crack.
Soda was sitting on the foot of his bed. Once again, he had seemed to have lost his shirt. The article in question was lying on the floor not two feet from him on top of a small pile of clothes. She rolled her eyes at the mess in the room. Papers littered the floor, and the waste paper basket by his desk was overflowing with crumpled up balls of horrible assignments, or bad ideas. His laundry hamper had tipped over, spilling his dirty clothes out onto the floor. In one corner, he had placed his back pack and school stuff. Numerous item were strew across the top of his dresser, and the desk serving no real purpose but to cause a mess. It was just like him to leave everything wherever it falls. He held a small think blue notebook, which was placed in his lap. He was scribbling furiously on the small pages, a lit cigarette hanging loosely between his lips. It almost appeared like it was about it fall from his lips and down onto the bed below. However, he was so absorbed in his current task that he did not even notice. A small pile of ash had actually appeared on his lap from his failure to ash it himself.
She quietly slipped into his bedroom softly closing the door behind her in order to avoid being detected just yet. She did not wish to disturb his sudden inspiration quite yet, whatever it may be. He did not appear to notice her just yet, and she intended to keep it that was for a few moments longer. She smiled and tiptoed over to the blonde's bed avoiding the creaky floorboards beneath the gray carpet. She peered over his shoulder in an effort to read his messy scrawl from a distance. She shook her head realizing that the effort was useless.
"Tha professa will be pissed if he knew that ya were smokin' inside," She remarked placing her hands on her hips.
Soda jumped in surprise at the sudden sound of her voice. He quickly slammed the notebook shut, dropping the cigarette from his lips in the process. He cursed and grabbed it from the sheets before it could begin to burn them. He threw it into the small glass of water he had resting onto of his keyboard. "Jesus Christ," He said placing a hand on his chest. "Don't sneak up on a guy like that Rogue."
She chuckled, "Sorry, ah couldn' help mahself," She admitted with a small smile. "How come evertahme ah come in here, yar shirt seems ta go MIA?" She questioned curiously, crossing her arms over she chest and raising an eyebrow at him.
He shrugged in response, "I just don;t like clothes," He stated simply a small yawn escaping his lips.
Rogue blinked a few times before stifling a laugh. "Do ya have any idea how wrong that sounded?" She asked half joking.
Soda thought for a women before smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess it did sound kind of wrong," He admitted honestly.
"Ya think?" She said with a small chuckle.
He shrugged, "At least it's true," He commented rising from his seat on the bed. He picked up the glass with the cigarette butt inside, leaving the notebook on the bed. "I don't really like shoes or socks that much either."
"Meh either," She agreed sitting down on the edge of his bed. "Gives girls more ta natter on about."
Soda shot her a confused glance. "We're still talking about shoes right?" He questioned putting the glass down on top of his dresser.
Rogue couldn't help but laugh at this. "Ya, ah'm still talkin' 'bout shoes," She concluded regaining her slightly lost composure.
His cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Sorry, my mind wanders sometimes if I don't pay enough attention. That's why I'm not so good at school," He replied scratching the back of his neck nervously.
"What were ya writin' down when ah came in?" She questioned resting her chin on her knee, which was propped up on the bed, and reaching for the small blue notebook that rested only about a foot away from her.
"Just stuff," He replied swiftly picking up the notebook. "Just random ideas, nothing good," He stated tossing the book onto his nightstand hoping that it would escape her grasp, or that she would just drop it.
Rogue pouted at this, "Ya suck Todey."
"Todey?" He asked raising an eyebrow curiously at the name.
"Hey, if ya can call meh Roguey, then ah can call ya Todey," She stated firmly.
He rolled his brown eyes. "I only called you Roguey once, and you flipped out at me when I did," He replied crossing his arms over his chest.
Rogue also rolled her eyes. "Ah didn' flip out," She responded climbing off of the bed, and grabbing the small notebook haphazardly sitting on the blonde's bedside table.
"Hey that's mine," He cried reaching out to grab it from her. He really didn't want her reading some of that stuff. It held some of his most secret, and deepest hidden thoughts.
She moved the notebook out of his reach grinning mischievously. "Ah, don' care," She stated truthfully flipping through the small lined pages. Her emerald eyes canned over the crinkled pages reading the words that were carefully scribbled down on the worn pages.
"What?" He asked after a couple of minutes, his face red with embarrassment. The silence bothered him. She gave him a weird look before turning her eyes back to the page. Her smile had faded, and a thoughtful expression creped up onto her features. He suddenly felt very shy under her scrutinizing gaze. Even though it wasn't him she was staring at. But she was staring into his words, which was almost just as uncomfortable. It was as if she was looking past his exterior, and staring into his soul. It was some what unnerving. Waiting for her response, he picked up his laundry hamper, and placed all the dirty clothes back inside where they belonged, for now.
"How can ya sat that yar ideas are no good? This little part here is good, and this line here," She remarked pointing at the lines on the page. She turned the words over in her mind, and she was indeed pleasantly surprised.
"Which part?" He questioned curiously. He was quite surprised by her reaction. He had only ever let Starr or Ponyboy read his 'secret' notebook before. They had always given him positive feedback, but he always just assumed that it was just because they were his family, and they wanted to be supportive of his work.
"This part," She repeated adjusting her position, and turning the notebook around so that he could see where her finger was pointing.
He scoffed, "That's not good," He retorted picking his shirt up off of the floor, and tossing it into
the now upright hamper by the closet.
Rogue stood and smacked him on the head with the notebook. "Read it again," She hissed in annoyance throwing the small book back at him. It hit him squarely in the chest. "An' yar're tellin' meh that, that is crap?"
His eye scanned over the crinkled, messy pages and nodded. "Yep."
She shook her head in irritation and grabbed the book from his hands. "Anotha head aches, anotha heart breaks?" She suggested raising an eyebrow. He shook his head in disagreement. She let out a frustrated sigh and smacked him over the head with the notebook a second time. "Take tha damn compliment already," She cried throwing the offending book back onto the bed.
Soda felt his cheeks begin to get hot again. "Thanks," He said meekly scratching the back of his neck nervously.
Rogue chuckled, "Ya really are too shy," She remarked walking to the bedroom door.
"Is that a bad thing?" He asked sheepishly.
She pretended to think for a moment before turning back to him and smiling. "Nope. In this town, it's nice," She replied honestly turning the doorknob, and preparing to leave. "Oh, an' rememba that we have an early mornin' trainin' session tomorrow."
Soda sighed. "Seriously?" He asked only to receive a nod. "But it's Saturday," He whined falling backwards down onto the bed.
Rogue laughed despite his reaction to the news. "Get used ta it, ya're on tha Alpha team now," She said opening the door a crack before Soda began to speak again.
"You know how uncomfortable these training sessions make me fell," He complained forcing himself back p into a sitting position. It was awkward trying to talk to her while lying down.
She shot him a weird look. "Uncomfortable? How uncomfortable can it be when ya're used ta trainin' with a beast like Logan?" She asked curiously.
"Ok, well other than Logan giving me the evil eye all day, you get all these buff guys showing you up around every turn. Even the girls manage to show you up. It's enough to make any man uncomfortable," He explained running a hand through his hair.
Rogue bit her bottom lip. "What do you mean by buff?" She asked holding back the chuckle that threatened to spill passed her lips.
"Just look at Scott and Logan! That should pretty much say it all right there," He stated crossing his arms over his chest.
She could no longer hold back her laughter. "Ya guys an' yer male egos," She remarked shaking her head.
He blushed, "Shut up."
She chuckled again, "Ah'm sorry," She said apologetically. "Anyway, ah should get ta bed. We have ta be up bright an' early tomorrow mornin'," She said opening the door just wide enough so that she could slip through the gap.
He smiled back at her, "Night Rogue." With that said, the gothic teen closed the wooden door leaving the younger mutant alone with his thoughts. He lied back down on his bed. "Maybe living here ain't so bad,," He mused to himself.
The next morning was brutal for the blonde mutant named Sodapop. The danger room session was way more intense than he had anticipated, and he had made way more errors than any of the other students had. It was frustrating. Lately, he had found great solace in his music, to from just being alone in his bedroom. Being in a house with over a dozen other mutant teenagers certainly made you feel antisocial at the best of times, no matter how happy-go-lucky you happen to be. Being alone was one of the greatest ways to escape from reality.
He laid down on his bed, on top of the heating pad he had been using lately to help soothe his sore muscles. He hissed in pain as his muscles cried out in protest of his small movements. He groaned pulling one of his smaller blankets over himself and settled in for a nice morning nap after that extremely intense workout.
He had only been holed up in his room for twenty minutes, and he was just beginning to doze off, when his door was violently thrown open. The doorknob slammed into the opposite wall bouncing back slightly by the force exuded from the door. Rogue quickly entered his room, automatically slamming the door shut behind her. She completely ignored his presence. She stood still for a moment before she began to pace the floor between his bed and the door.
"Should I tell her? I should tell her. She needs to know, but maybe she already knows," She trailed on without even acknowledging him in anyway, shape, or form.
"Hi," Soda spoke up tiredly. He was slightly confused by the goth's sudden entrance.
She turned slightly fuming. Her usually happy green eyes were a blaze with rage and hatred. She pointed at him. "Shut up," She snapped resuming her pacing.
Soda pushed himself up into a sitting position with a groan. "I'm sorry, but I would like to know why you are pacing around my bedroom," He asked with a shiver. His sudden separation from the soothing heat of the heating pad, caused him to feel quite shilled.
"Just be quiet, ah'm havin' a moment," She hissed in annoyance.
Soda rolled his eyes at her, "Just tell me already."
Rogue sighed crossing her arms over her chest, "Carol an' Scott keep flirtin' with each other, an' ah jus' found him kissin' Emma," She began walking over to the bed, and sitting down on the bed next to his feet. "Ah'm debatin' on whether or not ta inform Terry of his misdeeds. But ah don' know if she already knows, or how she would react," She concluded her voice dripping with uncertainty as well as sincerity.
Soda nodded thinking for a moment. "You should tell her. It's the best way to clear you conscience."
She sighed. "That's what ah thought too," She agreed pulling her legs up to her chest. "But Terry can be so unpredictable, an' ah don' think ah could handle a bad reaction ta tha news," She explained playing with the ends of her sleeves.
"Sometimes, you have to take that risk," He said allowing himself to relax a bit.
Rogue nodded, "Ok, ah'll tell her," She remarked kicking her legs slightly. "Ya do know that Logan has anotha punishment session planned for ya this afternoon right?"
Soda groaned pulling the blanket over his head. "Thanks for the reminder Rogue."
She frowned, "Sorry," She apologized standing. She leaned over and pulled the blanket down a little. She kissed the top of his head. "Poor muffin," She remarked placing the blanket back over his head. "Get some sleep ok?"
He nodded meekly. "I'll try."
She smiled softly, "Good."
A soft knock on the bedroom door was what awoke the blonde mutant some time later. He looked at the clock noting that it was not a little past two-thirty. He groaned as he pulled himself up once more. The grueling training sessions were beginning to take their toll on his body. His muscles screamed in protest when he moved them in the wrong way. He shouldn't be hurting this bad at his age. "Come in," He called to his unknown visitor.
Terry's head poked inside his room, a look of concern written on her feature. "You ok?" She asked.
He looked at her surprised. He had known that it wasn't Rogue since she just walked into his room half the time without bothering to knock. However, he did not expect Terry. "I'm fine." He replied with a small nod.
She frowned disapprovingly at the blonde's blatant lie. "You are a terrible liar Soda," She said taking a few steps into the bedroom. "It's obvious that you're in pain," She remarked crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll tell you what, I'll talk to Logan about your session later and I'll make you some tea. And just to make your day, I'll send Rogue up with it ok?"
Soda blinked a couple times. He gave her a strange look. Terry and him had never really talked before. To be honest, she kind of freaked him out. "Ok," He replied after a moment of awkward silence.
Terry smiled softly at him, sensing his slight uneasiness. "I can read your mind Soda. I am not stupid," She remarked leaving his bedroom rather quickly.
He shook his head in confusion. The whole conversation was too fast for his sleepy brain to process at a decent speed. The thought of someone else always knowing what you were thinking was rather unnerving. He thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, Rogue was looking for her," He mumbled to himself before letting out a big yawn.
The door opened again, and Terry popped her head back into his bedroom. "Why was Rouge looking for me?"
He smiled sheepishly at her, being careful not to think about the reason why. "I don't know," He lied.
Terry's eyes narrowed at him signaling that she knew he was lying to her. "Ok," She responded, once again leaving his bedroom.
Soda shook his head, "Telepaths."
"I heard that!" Terry yelled through the door 'causing Soda to jump slightly in surprised. That would definitely take a lot of getting used to.
Terry entered the circular room that contained the super computer known as Cerebro. As usual, the Professor sat at the console with Jean and Emma standing loyally at his side. They watched him scan the world for potential members of their quickly growing ranks.
"Tracking mutant signature," Cerebro's electronic voice rang out.
Terry walked up behind the Professor, nodding at Emma and Jean as she came closer. Out of the three girls, Terry had the most experience with the super computer, since her powers were quite a bi stronger and more developed than the other telepaths. "What's going on Professor?" She asked looking up at the screen.
The professor sat in his wheelchair, with his head tilted back. His eyes were closed and the helmet was resting carefully on his head. He did not open his eyes at the sound of the blonde's voice. "I am tracking a mutant."
"Why?" She inquired imitating Emma's current pose by crossing her arms over her chest.
"Magneto has shown great interest in her," He began. "He contacted me early this morning and asked if it were possible for me to track her for him," He explained opening his eyes.
"He has Mastermind, why can't he do it?" Jean snorted, not impressed with her mentor's response to the blonde's question.
Xavier's hands traveled over the computer's console. "Mastermind does not possess the mental capabilities to use Cerebro to the extent that Terry, or myself can," He concluded, his eyes remaining locked upon the screen.
Terry nodded ignoring the dirty looks she received from the two other girls. "Of course," She agreed with a firm nod. "What are we dealing with them Professor?"
His fingers traveled over the keys typing something into Cerbro's database. Within a few moments, a file popped up onto the screen. A picture of a girl popped up along with the small file. The girl had long black hair that fell down passed her shoulders. Her eyes were a medium blue colour, and they stared at the group of telepath's with hatred that Terry had never seen in anyone's eyes before. Her complexion was so pale it almost made her look sickly. However, it also made her appear to be glowing slightly.
Cerebro made a strange beeping noise, "Name: Cecilia Strayer, Age: twenty-one, Location: Roaming," The computerized female voice called out.
"Why is he so interested in her?" Emma asked looking away from the screen, a slightly disgusted look on her face.
He shook his head, "I do not know. However, I intend to inquire about that," He responded taking the helmet off of his head and placing it on top of the console. "Magnus usually has a reason for everything he does, regardless of the situation."
It was around one o'clock in the morning, and Rogue found herself unable to fall asleep. Kitty had wandered out somewhere a couple of hours before leaving Rogue alone in their shared bedroom. The silence was very unfamiliar to Rogue. Especially since Kitty usually talked in her sleep. The absence of this common factor was probably the main cause of her present insomnia. With a sigh, she rose from her bed and sat down at the computer the Professor had given her for her birthday. It was definitely something she had desperately wanted. She clicked onto her Internet browser and began to search for some [possible reading material, that was not the usual celebrity gossip that got shoved down people's throats, just something to help pass the time until she felt tired. She wanted something that would not rot out her brain.
A quiet knock on her bedroom door made Rogue jump in surprise. No one was ever really awake passed twelve o'clock. At least not out and about anyway. "Come in," She called just loud enough for whoever was on the opposite side of the door could hear her.
Soda opened the door and entered the goth's bedroom. He was walking stiffly, but other than that, he seemed fine. He seemed rather relieved as he closed the door behind him. His disheveled appearance made her smile. "Thank god! I was worried that you'd be sleeping and I would have no one to talk to but myself," He admitted with a shy smile.
"Ya could call yar family," She suggested stretching in her computer chair. "It's only eleven there."
He shrugged. "I love my family, but I just feel awkward talking to them now. It's like I'm being banished for being different," He said with a sigh. "I can hear the disappointment in my brother Darry's voice when he talks to me," He confessed slowly taking a seat down on Kitty's bed. "It makes me feel like it's my fault that I'm a mutant, like I'm sick and need to get better. It really upsets me when my brother doesn't want me around anymore. Even if he says he does."
Rogue frowned at the dejected sound in his voice. She felt a small tug at her heart at the sad look on his face. She rose from her chair and walked over to him. She placed her hands on his knees, and she bent over so that her eyes were level with his. "Soda, look at me," She demanded. His brown eyes met her green ones. "There is nothin' wrong with ya. There is nothin' wrong with mutants. It's yar brotha who is wrong. If he loves ya as mush as he says he does, he would believe that too," She stated firmly.
Tears welled up in the blonde's eyes, and he turned to look away from her. Rogue cringed realizing exactly what she had said. She knelt down on the floor in front of him with a sigh. Er right hand reached up and turned his face back to hers. "Soda, ah'm sorry. Ah didn't mean that. People lahke that just make meh mad. It just takes tahme for regular people lahke Darry ta get used ta one of their family members being a mutant," She clarified gently running her hand soothingly along his back.
Soda nodded wiping his eyes with his sleeve, "I know, but it still hurts," He admitted.
She nodded as well. "Ah know it does, but at least ya have a family that cares about ya," She said continuing to run her hand gently down his back in comfort. "Most of us don' even have that."
He sighed, "It's just that and the pressure that Logan is putting on me to excel that is just wearing me thin. I just...I don't know if I can take much more of this," He admitted looking down at his feet.
Rogue sat down next to him. She held her arms open. "C'mere," She invited offering him as much comfort as she could.
He automatically moved over to her, and wrapped his arms around her torso. He buried his face in her chest, and took a deep but shaky breath. Rogue wrapped her arms around him. It felt nice for Rogue that he took such comfort in her presence. The two of them remained in this position in silence for about five minutes before Soda slowly pulled away. He remained looking at his feet, the sad look still apparent in his expressive brown eyes. Rogue rubbed his back comfortingly.
"I...I think I'm getting used to it. I just don't know if I can handle it anymore. I've been here for almost two months now, and I would rather be at school than here," He explained scratching the back of his neck nervously.
Rogue nodded with a small sigh. "Sometahmes ah do too. Actually, if ah had neva met Scott, ah'd still be with tha Brotherhood," She admitted looking down at her bare feet in thought.
"Really?" He asked raising an eyebrow at her.
She nodded, "ah think tha only reason ah'm still here is because ah feel this sick sense of loyalty towards tha Professa, Storm, Hank, and Logan," She confessed picking at the edge of her friend's sheets.
"Why not the other instructors?"
"Jean and Emma. Enough said," She stated firmly.
Soda chuckled, "Yeah definitely," He replied, a small smile appearing on his face.
"Ha!" She cried triumphantly. "Ah ya ta smile," She stated happily.
Soda's smile grew into his trademark happy-go-luck grin. "Yes, yes you did," He admitted with a small nod.
"Oh, ah am tha masta!"
He laughed. "Yeah, maybe the master of doom and gloom, but definitely not the master at making me laugh," He teased running a hand through his messed up hair.
She pretended to glare at him. "Ok, Mr. Wise guy," She said standing up and beginning to tickle the blonde's sides.
He shrieked and tried to squirm away from her long gloveless fingernails. "No fair!" He cried as she forced him down in order to stop his squirming and make it easier on her. "I'm weak," He whined trying to force her one arm off of his chest.
She chuckled, "Not mah problem," She stated simply.
He laughed still trying to free himself from her torture. However, he move up at the same time Rogue had moved down. Unintentionally, his lips landed softly against hers. Rogue was surprised, but did not rush to pull away from the somewhat awkward lip-lock. A couple of moments passed by before Soda pulled away, his cheeks turning a bright pinkish colour. Rogue moved back allowing him the room he needed in order to right himself into a sitting position.
"Wow," was all Rogue could say as she stood up again.
Soda nodded, "Yeah wow," He agreed scratching the back of his neck nervously. An awkward silence passed over to two for a few minutes. Unable to take the silence any longer Soda sighed.
"Rogue, I've been wanting to tell you something for a while now, but I've been too much of a coward to say it," He admitted scratching at the back of his neck again.
Rogue nodded sitting back down on her roommate's bed. "Ah'm listenin'" She said her expression growing more serious than it had been before.
"I...," He stopped and took a shaky breath. "I think I..." He stuttered. He sighed again and took another breath to calm himself. "I think I'm falling in love with you."
Rogue fell silent, her jaw dropping slightly. That was definitely something she was not used to hearing. No on had ever told her that before. To be honest, his proclamation of love had both surprised and slight frightened the young gothic mutant. She found herself speechless and unable to respond to his sincere statement.
Soda looked around the room nervously for the minute of silence that had passed between the two teens at the mention of love. He cleared his throat and stood. "I think I should go," He said quickly, turning to leave the room heading for the door.
"No, Soda," She called after him causing him to stop in his tracks. "Ah was jus' shocked. No one aroun' here really lahkes meh in that way. It's always tha pretty girls lahke Jean or Kitty," She explained fiddling with her fingers. "Ah think ah'm fallin' for ya too," She admitted turning her gaze to the carpeted floor.
He turned to face her. "Seriously? You are not just saying that because I'm sad?" He questioned seriously crossing his arms over his chest and raising a curious eyebrow.
She shook her head. "No," She began resting her hands in her lap to cease their fidgeting movements. "In all honesty, ah really do lahke ya," She blushed her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. This really stood out against the contrast of her unbelievably pale skin. "Ah lahke ya a lot," She continued looking down at her own feet and closing her eyes. She felt so embarrassed that she had spat that statement out so bluntly.
Soda smiled walking back over to her. He stopped so that he was now standing in front of her. He gently tilted her chin up with his fingers. "Glad to hear it," He replied firmly locking eye contact with the southern goth. He slowly leaned down and softly kissed her lip once again. And for the first time, Rogue was not afraid to kiss him back.
Next: Mission Succubus