Disclaimer—Still don't own any of this stuff.
Chapter 10-Fur and Whiskers
Rogue woke up the next morning to the throbbing of her hand. Groaning she sat up and inspected her wound. The cloth was stained with old blood; she definitely needed a new one now.
God bless painkillers, she thought to herself as she opened the aspirin bottle on her nightstand. She quickly swallowed two pills and leaned back against her headboard.
Yesterday had not gone over very well with Magneto's mission. Pietro had made a mess of a simple task—the X-Men had to know what had happened by now.
What would Scott think?
At The X-Mansion
Scott and Jean exchanged wary glances as Xavier informed his charges of Juggernaut's escape.
"Wolverine, Storm, and I went to inspect the scene and came up with very few clues," sighed Charles rubbing his temples.
Logan merely grunted. "I smelt fear and I got a whiff of an overgrown fur ball. Not surprised either. Damn bastard works with old metal head. If you ask me, Magneto's the one behind all this."
"Please, Logan, do you have to be so crude in front of the children?" murmured Ororo placing a hand on his arm. Logan growled and pulled away from her touch.
"I'm afraid Logan is right. Magneto is indeed the most logical suspect for the time being. Though from what I gathered from the scattered thoughts of the scientists, I would have to say that Sabertooth did not pull the breakout on his own. Several of the esteemed men believe they say two teens running from Juggernaut. A boy with white hair and a girl of the same age," added Charles.
Jean frowned. "That would mean Pietro and Rogue. I see why Pietro would be involved, but Rogue? I thought she wasn't working with the Brotherhood."
"Oh please," snorted Kitty, "she seriously cannot live with Lance and them and not work for them."
Kurt nodded enthusiastically. "Ja. She has a temper—she's blown up at Lance and Pietro."
"She isn't on their side!" snapped Scott jumping to his feet. The room became silent as each person took notice of the fuming teen.
"Look here, kid," said Logan poking Scott in the chest, "you can date the girl all you want and claim you know her—but it doesn't change a thing. The Rogue is with the Brotherhood. She's bad news. Don't let your personal feelings cloud your judgment as an X-Man."
"It won't." Scott shoved past Logan and out the door of Xavier's office. Minutes later they heard a car start and take off.
"Aww man," moaned Evan. "There goes our ride."
Ororo smiled as she handed Logan a pair of keys. "It is your turn to carpool."
Logan snarled as he snatched the keys out of her hands. Kitty, Kurt, Evan, and Bobby quickly gathered their things and followed Logan out. Jean turned to follow but glanced back at the Professor once more.
How is he, Jean?
Pretty close to falling more than head over heels for her. He wants to be her knight in shining armor—he wants to rescue her from the clutches of the Brotherhood.
Charles nodded in understanding and Jean silently left the room deep in thought. Scott was becoming Mr. Right and all for another girl. She wasn't sure things could get any worse.
At School
The moment Scott pulled into the school parking lot he noticed Rogue sitting on the front steps of the school.
"Hey," he said softly taking a seat beside her. Rogue simply gave him a small smile. Scott eyed her bandaged hand carefully.
"I'm sorry," murmured Rogue as he looked away. Scott looked back into her eyes and found tears welling up.
"Don't be. Everyone makes mistakes."
"You make it sound so easy. You don't even know what I did!"
"Juggernaut," he whispered. Rogue nodded.
"Speedy would've killed himself. I was already there so I figured I could tag along. Everything got screwed up after that. The big guy wasn't too friendly outside of his tube."
Scott chuckled. "As long as you're okay, Rogue, I don't really give a damn what went down yesterday. I know you aren't working for the Brotherhood. You're too good for that."
"Thank-you." Rogue gave him another teary eyed smile and allowed herself to be pulled into Scott's arms.
She didn't deserve him.
Lance watched the scene unfold from within the school. Behind him he heard an amused chuckle. Turning, he came face to face with Pietro.
"Something funny, Maximoff?" demanded Lance.
Pietro shrugged. "It seems to me your Roguey is head over heels for Summers. I thought she belonged to you."
"Fuck off."
"Make me. Summers stole your girl, Lance. What are you going to do about it?"
"I said fuck off." Lance clenched his fists. Pietro raised his hands in defense and took a step back.
"Whoa now!" Pietro laughed nervously.
"Rogue and Scott won't be together for much longer. Trust me." Lance pushed past the speedster, knocking him into a nearby locker.
"Are you going to break them up?"
"I don't have to Ever read Romeo and Juliet? Rogue and Summers aren't meant to last. Just wait and see. I'll get her back."
Toad popped out of a nearby locker and watched as Pietro rubbed his throbbing back. "Yo Speedy, think Summers will kiss Rogue before Lance does?"
"Doubt it, Lance won't give them a chance. Besides, Rogue unleashed the Juggernaut. Scotty boy won't trust her for much longer. Not if I can help it."
"What are you planning?"
Pietro grabbed Toad by the scruff of his neck and dragged him down the hallway whispering a mile a minute.
Outside Rogue looked up with interest as a black minivan pulled up in front of the school. The X-Man known as Wolverine was behind the wheel.
"You didn't give your friends a ride?"
"No."
"I'm the reason, huh?"
Scott gave Rogue a sheepish smile as Kitty flounced past them muttering to herself about a stick up someone's ass. Both Evan and Bobby glanced at Rogue in silence. Kurt was the only one bold enough to stop as Jean gave a warning gesture to the sitting couple.
"You suck!" said Kurt. Then he marched into the school after Jean.
"Was he talking to you or me?" asked Rogue raising an eyebrow.
"I think that was a double whammy." Scott stood up and offered his hand to Rogue. The southern girl rolled her eyes in amusement as she walked hand in hand into school with Scott.
By the time Scott had walked Rogue over to her homeroom he was feeling ten times better. He had finally met a girl worth breaking some rules for.
"Scott, we need to talk," sighed Kurt preventing the older X-Man from entering his homeroom.
"What? Are you going to tell me Rogue's not worth it?" grumbled Scott.
"Is she? She's the enemy!"
"She's still one of us!"
"An X—"
"No!" hissed Scott. The two paused their argument as other students filed into the classroom. Scott motioned Kurt over by the broken drinking fountain so as not to be heard.
"She's a mutant, just like us," Scott continued evenly.
"She unleashed a dangerous mutant into society! How can you defend her for betraying the peace we stand for?" demanded Kurt with frustration.
"Rogue is an innocent. I know deep down she believes in peace, but right now she's scared. Wouldn't you be with her powers? When it comes down to it, I bet Rogue would protect an X-Man from harm—just like she watched out for Pietro and let Juggernaut out."
"Man, I hope you're right—or else we're all going to be dead following you."
Scott grimaced and headed towards class. He wouldn't let the German teen set him off at school. That's what the danger room was for.
Kurt shook his head in defeat and was set to enter homeroom when two pairs of hands grabbed him from behind.
Later That Day
Rogue slammed her books on the table upon entering chemistry. Behind her Lance was reading aloud from a sheet of paper all the reasons why she should dump Scott Summers.
Finally she snapped. "Stop it! Lay off me, Alvers, or I'll kick your ass!"
Lance made a face and crumbled the paper into a ball. He flicked it at Scott's head as he took his customary seat beside Rogue. Scott broke his pencil in half as Jean gripped his arm in restraint. Rogue and Jean locked eyes. Rogue bit her tongue from speaking and the red head let go of Scott. Now wasn't the time.
The teacher entered the room forcing the students to give him their attention. Dr. McCoy smiled brightly before launching into a long winded narrative on the latest assignment.
"Now, you each need to pair up into groups of two. Today is just the set up procedures and tomorrow will be the actual experiment. Well, hop to it!"
Oh boy, thought Rogue grimly as she rubbed her temples. Normally she would have paired up with Lance, but she wasn't so sure that was a good idea with Scott in the picture.
"Alright, Roguey," started Lance.
"Wait just a minute," cut in Scott getting to his feet. "I don't think that's such a great idea."
"Oh yeah? How come? Afraid she'll dump you for a real man?" Lance also got to his feet. Jean noticed Rogue squeezing her eyes shut. Apparently the southerner didn't like the attention.
"Come on, guys," insisted Jean stepping in between the two boys. "Let's be mature about this, shall we? What does Rogue want?"
"A smoke," muttered Rogue to herself. Jean was at a loss for words, enabling Scott and Lance to resort to the usual push and shove match.
"Dammit, Summers—you just don't know when to quit, do you?" questioned Lance through clenched teeth.
"Almost as well as you do," shot back Scott. Lance growled and punched his archenemy in the gut just as Dr. McCoy came to intervene.
"Great," whispered Rogue feeling a buzz at her hip. "Just great."
Scowling at the feuding boys and Jean, Rogue decided to use the commotion as her escape. By the time Jean could inform any one of Rogue's absence, the Rogue was long gone.
On The Other Side of Town
Cigarette in mouth, Rogue tapped her foot impatiently waiting for Magneto to pick up the phone.
"Took you long enough," growled the man.
"School's a mess. I had to high tale it out of there before Jeanie spilled the beans."
"You would do well to rein in your frivolous lovers, Rogue."
"Fuck off, Mags. What do you want?" Rogue flicked her cigarette to the ground. She was losing her temper.
"Pietro is up to something. He and that mutant Toad have 'captured' an X-Man down at the park. I want you to put an end to their shenanigans."
"'Captured' an X-Man? Which one?"
"The blue one."
"Your boy is quite a handful, Magsy. I should get paid for this," chuckled Rogue.
"Just stop whatever it is they are doing, Rogue. I'll deal with them later. They are not to screw with the X-Men without direct orders—is that clear?"
"Crystal." Rogue hung up first and headed for the park. Today was not a good day to piss her off. And now Pietro and Toad would receive the brunt of her anger.
At The Park
Kurt eyed Pietro and Toad groggily from his position tied to a tree. The two mutants were pacing back and forth contemplating how to use Kurt to break Rogue and Scott up for good.
"This is stupid!" exclaimed Toad throwing his hands in the air. "He can poof outta here as soon as he wakes up."
Pietro paused thoughtfully. "I never thought about that."
"Better start," mumbled Kurt readying himself to teleport to a safe place.
"What the hell is going on here?" All three boys turned to see Rogue standing before them. Kurt gulped and froze with fear.
"N…nothing," said Pietro with a fake grin. He hadn't expected her to show up before he could come up with an actual plan. Rogue raised her eyebrows and punched her housemate in the nose. Kurt cheered as blood gushed out.
"Whoa!" Toad put his hands in the air and backed away from the pissed mutant. Rogue only glared at him as she went to untie Kurt.
"Thank-you," said the German gratefully. Rogue ignored him and turned back to Toad and Pietro.
"You boys are hopeless. What was the point of this?"
Pietro cupped his fingers around his nose, muffling his answer. "Trying to prove whose side you're on."
"Really now? To who? You, Toad and the fur ball?"
The teens froze as a deep growl reverberated from within the woods. Sabertooth stepped out from behind a tree with a malicious grin on his face.
"Bad day, bad day, bad day," murmured Kurt with torn emotions. Rogue had rescued him—he couldn't just leave her now.
"We having a picnic without me?" asked Sabertooth eyeing each teen carefully. Pietro took a step behind Rogue as Toad cowered behind Kurt.
"What do you want, Whiskers?" shot back Rogue warily. She knew he resented both her and Pietro for screwing up Juggernaut's release. Just because he worked for Mags didn't mean he wouldn't rough them up for fun.
"Maybe I'm hungry."
"Eat Toad—I hear reptiles are a good source of iron," suggested Kurt nervously.
"Nah. Now I'm not so hungry, but maybe I'll change my mind after I kill you kids."
Pietro was shaking in fear. "I'm out of here!"
Rogue fumed as she felt Pietro speed off for safety. Then she glanced over at Kurt.
"Get us out of here, blue," she ordered as Sabertooth cracked his knuckles.
"Huh?" Kurt snapped his head to look at Rogue and her words began to sink in.
"You heard the girl! Poof us outta here!" shrieked Toad shaking Kurt. The German quickly grabbed hold of Rogue's arm and transported them back to school. They looked around in relief just as the bell rang signaling the end of the day.
"Thanks," said Rogue. She gave Kurt a genuine smile before disappearing into the school to find Scott. Kurt was silent and pushed Toad to the ground before heading off to meet Kitty.
"Fine, leave me here," muttered Toad bitterly. "No one ever appreciates the Toad."
A/N—As of July 18, 2007 this chapter has been revised.