Enjoy!
Rogue sat at the marble counter, her fingertip slowly grazing the rim of the shot glass as she vacantly watched the rain fall.
She was waiting...it always seems like she's waiting.
Placing her elbows on the table, she lifted the shot glass, debating for a second whether it would be worth it. However, the Logan in her cheered, and she tossed the tequila back. Cringing, almost coughing, she took a deep shuddering breath.
Warmth flooded her, and for a thankful moment, all of her senses were dulled.
'Rogue?'
Rogue closed her eyes for a moment, pressing the back of her hand against her lips, before setting the shot glass down upside down.
She felt him sit down next to her, staring at her.
She thought she would have been used to that aspect by now… the staring.
'What are you doing?' he asked gently.
She felt the harsh laughter bubble inside her, but she fought the urge to snap at him.
'I do what I have to do...survive.' She said her eyes never leaving the glass windows.
'He's going to be fine, he's coming back.' He said reassuringly, assuming that was what she was talking about.
Rogue shook her head, that look of defeat in her eyes. Turning to him slowly, her eyes caught his. The harsh glare of the lights in the kitchen turned the specks in her eyes gold, 'I don't care…'
Fighting the urge to scream at his look of disbelief, 'I DON'T' she said harshly.
Pouring herself another shot. She took it, again, unable to stop the cringe that crossed her face.
Staring at the clear glass in her hands, she couldn't bring herself to look at him when asked, 'Why did you and I not work Bobby?' she asked so softly, 'we didn't even yell at each other. We just...broke, and neither one of us wanted to even fix it.'
Gesturing to him, 'I think it's a little sick and twisted...this psuedo happy family we all try to be.' She gestured to him with the glass, 'when secretly we all depise each other...or lust after each other'
Raising her eyes to his, 'Which one was it with me?'
silence hung in the air.
Rogue reached for the bottle, only to have Bobby grab her cloth covered wrist.
'Let me go Bobby' Rogue said quietly.
'How much have you had to drink already?' he demanded.
Rogue's eyes narrowed, trying to remember, four…five maybe. Not much.
'I'm still sane, so I haven't had nearly enough.' She responded, twisting her wrist and forcing him to let go.
Grabbing the bottle, she turned the bottle over and filled the glass, before pushing the glass towards him.
'Here, you're going to need it if you intend to sit here with me.'
Bobby glanced at it warily.
'What are you-'
'He's in my head?' Rogue interrupted, grabbing the tequila bottle itself.
Bobby would have asked who for the sake of keeping the conversation going but Rogue tossed him another glare, as if knowing what he was going to say.
Rogue laughed before taking a gulp from the bottle itself. 'His memories…are driving me insane. I can't think…I can't sleep…I can't fucking look in the mirror without wanting to scratch my eyes out.'
Her red hair hid the left side of her face.
Bobby stared at her, 'What about Xavier?'
Rogue laughed harshly, 'Yeah, Xavier seems to have all the answers for everyone else...everyone except me.'
Rogue drew her fingers through her hair, pulling the hair back for a moment, 'why does god hate me so much...?'
Just before Bobby could touch her shoulder, she suddenly whipped around and growled at him. 'Get the hell away from me ice-prick.'
Bobby jerked back,
only to stand up and stumble back. His bar stool crashed to the floor and broke the heavy silence on the mansion.
Rogue shook her idea, horror crossing her face at Bobby's look of fear.
'NOOOOOOOO' Rogue shrieked, falling from the chair to her knees on the cold marble floor.
Grabbing her hair she rocked back and forth. 'they won't stop, they don't want to stop.'
Bobby took a tentative step forward, before kneeling down and hugging her.
He could hear her mutterings, pressing his cheek against her hair, she moaned, 'he left me, he left me with all of these memories and I can't stop them, why can't I stop them. God, why????'
Bobby turned his head to see Xavier rolling in and Scott right behind him.
'She…' Bobby stopped unable to explain.
Xavier merely nodded, 'It's okay. Let Scott take her.'
Scott knelt down, letting Bobby move away. Rogue continued rocking back and forth, the metal cabinets shaking, some of the bending and curling at the edges.
The temperature in the room plunged, their breaths wispy in the cold.
Bobby looked around, 'I-I'm not doing this.'
Xavier shook his head, 'No, Rogue is.'
'But I didn't touch her!' he defended quickly.
'Rogue is having trouble controlling herself'. Xavier tried to explain while staring intently at Rogue.
'Rogue' Scott said softly touching her shoulder.
Rogue threw her hair back staring at Scott, 'He…left…me' She said, enunciating each word with a deep breath. 'I can feel everything he went through in my bones.' She gasped, before her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Rogue's eyes snapped open, her pupils dilated in the low light.
Her senses slowly flooded her mind and she realized she was standing in a dim doorway, staring in a room packed with mutants. All eyes turned onto her.
Hugging herself, she glanced from one side to another, trying to find someone familiar.
Nice hair
Rogue's eyes flickered to the side, her head pounding with their hatred, their fears.
A pretty petit not bad at all.
'You new?' a deep voice to her right quieted the other voices.
Someone grabbed her arm, causing her to gasp in surprise.
Whipping around, she twisted her arm, forcing the hand to let go before it was broken.
'Whoa dere? Who you be?' a deep voice filled her ear.
Rogue looked up angrily, before she stared wide-eyed into red pupils. Those eyes widened slightly, and Rogue mentally shook herself. He was young.
'I'm looking for someone' she said coldly turning back around, hoping to shake the man off.
But as she slid between two bodies, the man followed her, 'and dat would be?' he said lightly, dodging an errant child before catching up with her.
She continued walking, glancing out of the corner of her eye for someone familiar.
'Not you' she threw over her shoulder her accent flaring up on the last syllable.
The man chuckled, 'southern belle, interestin', stepping up just behind her.
Rogue suddenly turned holding her hand out, her eyes flared bright orange as she mentally screamed into his mind, LEAVE ME ALONE
He bent over, clutching his head and gritting his teeth.
Rogue turned back around ignoring his pain, and caught the familiar sight of a boy she once knew.
Speeding up, she twisted here and there through the crowd, 'JOHN!' she cried out, reaching out her hand to grab him by the arm.
Suddenly turning, his eyes widened as he realized Rogue, of all people, was here.
'Rogue?' he questioned, quickly looking up to see if any of the other x-men were here.
As others around them took notice of the two, John looked down, frowning. 'Are you here by yourself? Where are the others?'
Rogue leaned in, barely whispering, 'I need to talk to you.'
'What are you doing?' Storm asked sharply, watching Logan march determinedly through the halls, towards the garage.
'I'm going to find her'
Strom's eyes widened in surprised, 'Jean?'
Logan turned down another hallway, 'Rogue' he bit out.
Storm picked up her pace grabbing on to his arm.
'And what about Jean?' she demanded looking him in the eye.
Logan hesitated, before shrugging off her grasp. 'I have to find her Storm.'
Scott and Emma appeared down the hall about to tell them what Emma had found, but Storm turned to Scott, 'tell him we need to find Jean.'
Scott opened his mouth, about to argue as well. Between Rogue and Jean, Jean was the most dangerous. Logan glared at him, and Scott knew it was stupid to try and stop him.
Scott turned to Logan, 'I'm coming with you.' he said searching his pocket for his keys.
Logan was about to argue but Scott impatiently replied, 'Logan, Rogue can help us, we need her back.'
Turning to Emma and Storm, he ordered, 'Emma, keep track of Rogue and Jean for us, keep in contact and tell me what you find. Contact everyone, and I mean everyone, if we want to stop Jean, it's going to take all of us. And check with our contacts, see if they noticed anything.'
Emma nodded, and as Scott turned to follow Logan, Emma could stop herself, 'Scott!' Emma hesitated, looking at Logan and Scott, 'I detected Rogue faintly, she's good, really good at hiding herself, maybe because of Jean's powers. But wherever she is, there's a massive amount of mutant power around her. I would guess hundreds.'
Rogue put her hand on the door, pulling back as if it was on fire.
Turning, she felt her stomach tighten. When did she turn into a coward.
Turning back around she stared at the door.
Shaking her head, she turned again looking towards the stairs to her room.
Hesitating, she turned back around and put her hand on the door. Turning it softly, she pulled open the door and let the late afternoon breeze cool her senses.
Stepping out into the back yard of the mansion, she closed the door behind her and let her eyes wander over the landscape. Trees lined the edges of the massive lawn, while statues, paths, and a large lake dotted the landscape.
Her eyes glowed hazel as the sunlight lit her face.
The autumn trees sent another brilliant wash of leaves to the ground making the once green grounds, brown, orange, red, and yellow.
Brushing her straight brown hair behind her ear, she stepped onto the grounds, following the familiar path she never took.
Knowing he already knew she was there, she stopped upon coming to the small clearing.
First paying respect to the stone before her eyes went to the man standing over it, his ever present cigar in his hand.
Stepping out from the trees, she cleared her throat, unable to help the sarcasm in her voice, 'So you're leaving.' She called out.
He kept his back to her, 'just wanted peace.' He growled.
Rogue shook her head, 'is that another euphemism for cowardice'
Logan tilted his head slightly, detecting that slight difference in her voice, a deeper, unhesitant use of words. Realizing this might not have been the same Rogue as before, he turned his head, and his eyes took in the woman that stood in place of the young girl. Dressed in blue jeans, a white collar shirt, and a long white coat over it, she was ages away from the southern girl as one could get. She looked the part of grown woman, and it took him a moment to realize this really was Rogue, the girl who had worn teeny bopper clothes a few years ago, now looked all grown up.
Shaking his head, he stared at her again.
She, on the other hand, took a step closer, 'Are you leaving soon?'
'Yeah' he drew his eyes from her, flicked his cigar, before turning back to jean, 'just wanted to say goodbye.'
'Goodbye' she tilted her head, testing the word on her tongue. Unable to help herself, she took a step closer, 'You wanted to say goodbye to a corpse…but you weren't going to say goodbye to me….' Finding herself mere inches from him, forcing him to meet her eyes.
She glared at him, 'Why on earth would you care so much for a woman who didn't even choose you?' taking another step closer to him, she was nose to nose with him. Well, nose to chest more like it, even with the high heeled black boots on.
'I saw you two, at the bottom of the jet.' She said, her voice low, almost a steely whisper, 'You actually told her you could be the good guy.'
He stared in bewilderment at her.
She, on the other hand, didn't care. 'I have your memories in me Logan' she said heatedly. 'I know everything. Everything you have ever felt.'
Suddenly he grabbed her shoulders, his mouth twisted in snarl. She drew her face back, a hint of fear on her face, shaking her he snarled 'you think you know everything about me, you know jackshit Marie'
'it's Rogue' she bit out wincing as his grip tightened on her shoulders.
He snorted, 'yeah, you keep telling yourself darlin'. You're just a little girl playing at little games. '
Unable to collar the fury in him, he lashed at her, 'what is it you want Marie' he shook her, 'huh, is it me?'
He growled, 'cuz' I sure as hell don't want you. I'm just the guy who gave you a ride. I promised nothing and I've had enough of your silly schoolgirl crush.'
Tears sprang to her eyes as she heard her worst fears coming out of his mouth.
Horrified at what he had just said, he stuttered, 'Rogue I'm-'
Rogue ripped herself out of his grasp, pointing at his chest, 'NO, YOU DON'T GET TO APOOLOGIZE. You're a coward. You hide behind your devotion to a dead woman, just so you can avoid whatever else there could be. She turned you down Logan.'
Logan jerked back in surprise, and all Rogue could feel was elation, 'You think we don't all know about it. What do you think was in my head when I woke up?' taking a step closer to him, her hand pressed against his chest, 'I was driven nearly insane with your memories.' She bit out, hatred lacing every word.
Wanting to drive the knife a little she deeper, she continued, 'what I had may have been a silly little schoolgirl crush, but you liked it anyway….you can keep telling yourself those small white lies, but I know Logan…I know.' She rubbed it in as she saw the look of guilt in his eyes, 'And if you really hate feeling that way about me so much, that's fine, be like that, but when it comes time to save me again.'
Rogue looked him in the eye, 'just let me die Logan.'
Rogue stared at Logan for the longest time, before turning and running through the forest, her red hair and white coat flying behind her.
John frowned, taking note of her pale face, dark shadows under her eyes, he grabbed her by her upper arm and pulled her to the door he was about to enter.
The man standing in front of them was a small man, but covered with tattoos all over his face. John nodded to Rogue, 'she's with me'
The man looked between the two of them for a second before unfolding his arms. With a grin, he suddenly turned to sand.
Rogue stared in astonishment as the sand merely brushed itself under the door and onto the other side.
John smirked at Rogue's look, turning back at the click of the lock. As the door opened, John tightened his hold on her arm and pushed her forward into the hallway.
Rogue looked over her shoulder, to see the Sand man shut the door close, sinking John and Rogue into complete darkness.
Rogue whispered slightly, 'where are we going?'
She felt the heat graze her cheek, before John brushed past her in the cramped damp hallway and continued walking down the hall.
His hand glowing with fire lit the path before them.
Shivering slightly, Rogue's shoes were muffled on the old musty carpet as she followed him.
Several turns through the back of the theater led them to a dark heavy wooden door in front of them.
John turned to her, 'You shouldn't have come here.'
Rogue looked at him for a moment before her eyes flicked to the door, 'I needed to'
John looked down at her, watching her straighten her back. The idiotic things he had done trying to impress her, that seemed worlds apart from where they were now. He wondered if she was still the giggling girl from the museum.
Looking her up and down, he shook his head, she was as far from the girl he remembered as he was from his days as a student.
Killing the fire in his hand, he knocked sharply on the wooden door, dust falling around them as it groaned and creaked.
Seconds passed and nothing happened, but as John raised his hand to knock again, the door suddenly swung open, landing heavily against the wall.
The fire at the other end of the room, Sabretooth growling in the corner, and Mystique petting a cat on the couch made it almost a cozy scene,
Magneto stood with his arms behind his back, staring into the fire.
'I wondered when you would come to me' Magento said calmly, not bothering to glance over his shoulder.
Mystique looked up, smiling in pleasant shock at the new girl by John's side.
John cleared his throat, ready to apologize, but Rogue beat him to it. 'Tell me how to stop Jean Grey.' Drawing out a file.
A/N: alright so I hope that everything has been explained as far as the past goes, as to why Logan and Rogue are angry with each other. Yay? Nay? let me know...and finally we next chapter will have some amazing action, as well as some cool twists and turns. I warned you everything will be thrown at this story.
So drop me a review. yeah?