Disclaimer: As usual.

Summary: The same.

Chapter Twelve

For all that they lived in a mansion with just about everything a teenager could ever want, Rogue frequently pitied the X-Men. The Brotherhood Boarding house might be smaller, its inhabitants not as refined, but at least they didn't have to get up at four a.m. for hours of training in a room that tried to kill you.

Also, the Brotherhood didn't have Tabitha Smith. Rogue had spent very little time with the girl, and avoided her if at all possible, but the tidbits of conversation from the New Recruits and the tales of woe from Kitty and Kurt had painted a clear enough picture. Rogue supposed that Boom-Boom was a nice enough girl (despite the questionable code name) but she never seemed to think, and paid no heed to the consequences of her actions.

Rogue hadn't forgotten Tabitha's impulsive words and actions in the soccer match that nearly exposed mutants, and that sort of thoughtless attitude was going to get Tabitha in a lot of trouble one day. If it wasn't Kitty complaining about how Tabitha had destroyed a cherished possession to try and make the brunette 'lighten up', it was someone else wondering if murder was always a crime.

This morning, it was Kurt as they walked to their lockers, describing how Tabitha had been goofing off in that morning's 'Rescue Training', thrown a cherry-bomb at a cliff, and nearly gotten them both killed, not to mention grounded. "…and now she is acting like she has a crush on me! If she laughs while she nearly kills me when we are just team-mates, vhat vill she do if we actually date? I vant to live!"

Considering Rogue had been hearing similar stories ever since Tabitha joined (Kitty running into the Boarding House and begging Lance to hide her had been hard to miss. As was the mini-earthquake when Pietro made a lewd suggestion about how to 'hide' the X-Girl) it wasn't hard to look sympathetic. "Ah hate to say it, but better y'all than us. Ah would've snapped and drained her by now. Whah hasn't Xavier done something about it yet, though? Ya and Kitty can't be the only ones to have complained."

The aforementioned girl ran up behind them. "We aren't, but Professor Xavier only says that we everyone deserves a chance, and that we have to give Tabby time to settle in and learn the limits. I just wish she'd stop testing the limits on my possessions! You'd think she could 'limit' herself to non-sentimental objects, like, ones that don't include my Star of David!"

Rogue winced. Kitty had mentioned that her mother had given her the necklace at her bat mitzvah, a ceremony Rogue knew about from Pietro, who had described it as one of the few times Magneto had actually shown any attention to him. She also knew that the Star of David in question had been a family heirloom, passed down from Kitty's great-great-grandmother, and meant a lot to Kitty, even if she seldom wore it. "Ouch. Is it salvageable?"

Kitty's angry scowl changed into a faintly evil smirk. "Yeah. I kinda, like, phased Boom Boom through the floor into the boys' locker room before she could do anything. I, like, don't think that'll stop her from doing it again, though."

Rogue smiled faintly. Who knew Kitty had an evil side, as obviously restrained as it was? All three mutants winced as Principal Kelly's voice came over the loudspeaker. 'All students please report to the Gym for a morning assembly.'

Assemblies were created by the unholy powers specifically to torture High School students. Rogue stifled another yawn as she half-listened to Kelly drone on about the latest School Fundraiser. "Good morning, students. Tonight is the big night. The Bayville High Carnival Fundraiser! Remember, all proceeds will go to help rebuild our gymnasium after last month's fire. So, we really hope to see all of you back here tonight!"

At Principal Kelly's last sentence, Rogue winced and the Brotherhood exchanged glances. The 'fire' in question had actually been caused by the Brotherhood and X-Men, after their powers had accidentally been revealed and had caused a riot during a soccer match. Professor Xavier had managed to wipe the Human's minds of anything unusual, but none of Bayville's mutant population liked the reminder.

Re-focusing on the present, Rogue went back to planning how to improve the Brotherhood's training, as she didn't want them falling behind just because Mystique wasn't with them. The Brotherhood might not be as good as the X-Men, but that didn't mean that they were going to be sloppy, either. Mystique had raised her daughter to be a leader, and Rogue intended to live up to that expectation.

When the X-Men and Brotherhood fought, the X-Men tended to go one-on-one against them. Scott usually targeted Lance, and Pietro and Evan tended to gravitate to each other. Having several extra minds in her head gave Rogue a certain amount of resistance to telepathy, and she was agile enough to dodge most telekinetic missiles. Blob's sheer mass made it harder for Kitty to phase through him (Rogue wasn't exactly sure how or why) and Toad easily matched Kurt for agility. so Rogue would need to work on both those pairings, and on going against random opponents in a fight. No need to drop out of the fight just because your usual target was absent, after all, and Heaven knew that no plan ever survived the first five minutes of a conflict, especially when mutant powers were involved.

The Brotherhood didn't have anywhere near the technology that the X-Men did, but Magneto had supplied them with some fairly good equipment when they had assisted him, and the contact for said equipment had yet to be informed about the Brotherhood's change in loyalty.

Now, how to adjust what they had into a proper training program? Rogue's train of thought was cut off as Todd nudged her, and she turned her attention back to Principal Kelly. How long was his speech going to take, anyway?

Murder was considered a crime, and the fact that Rogue had heard the same Assembly speech over the announcement system five – excuse her, six – times now would not be considered justification. Maybe if she reminded herself enough times, Rogue would stop daydreaming about the best way to strangle Principal Kelly with his own entrails.

Walking into her Chemistry class, Rogue sat down next to Kurt, who was muttering about 'yellow-haired maniacs', 'asking nicely' and a 'Social Studies book'. Pulling her own books out, Rogue sighed. On the other hand, at least annoying announcements were the only thing she had to put up with.

Kurt and the X-Men had Boom-Boom.

At lunch, Rogue dutifully listened as Kurt sulked at not being allowed to go to the Carnival. Seeing her brother suddenly turn pale and try to hide behind his milk carton, Rogue was confused until she looked around and saw Tabitha waving at them. Kurt sighed, obviously resigned to his doom. "Hello, Tabitha."

The overly perky blonde walked over and flung herself into the seat that Rogue had been saving for Kitty. "Hey, Blue! Got your social studies book right here, thanks! Whoa, nectarine smash, I love these!"

She grabbed the soda from Kurt, who managed to snatch it back before she could drain it. "Soda machine is right down that hallway."

Tabitha ran a finger along his cheek as she walked past. "Stingy boy. See you around."

She swept off and all eyes turned to the returned social studies book. Rogue barely managed not to cringe. Kurt and Scott didn't bother to hide their dismay. "Look, she doodled all over it, and she even dotted her 'i's with little explosions! My teacher already has it out for me; how am I going to explain this?"

Rogue sighed and leaned back. "It's tahmes like this that Ah really appreciate the Brotherhood. At least Ah can depend on them not writing all over my textbooks and messing around in training."

Scott frowned at her, then straightened to glare over Rogue's shoulder. "Don't rub it in, it's bad enough that she almost got Kurt killed this morning. Just be careful around her."

Rogue twisted in her seat to see what Cyclops was glaring at, and spotted Lance waving at her. Giving her brother a sympathetic pat on the arm, Rogue stood and made her way over to her team mate. Reaching him, she saw that the soda machine next to him was in bad shape, cans and coins scattered over the floor while the machine itself was smoking. "Run-in with Hurricane Boom-Boom, Ah take it."

Lance nodded. "Breaking rules and appliances. If I didn't know she'd drive us crazy in a week, I'd almost suggest her as potential Brotherhood material."

Rogue sent her honorary older brother a rueful smirk. "Don't even joke about that. Ah've got a Bad Feeling where she's concerned. She's gonna push too far one day, and it won't end up good for her."

Lance gave her a concerned look as Rogue blinked, surprised at the words from her own mouth. "I almost heard the capital letters in there, Roguey. Please tell me that it was just dislike, and not lingering residue from when Destiny visited up over the weekend."

Rogue frowned. "Ah don't know. Just keep an eye out. Hopefully, everything will be fahne."

The Bad Feeling had not dispersed by the final bell, and lingered through the new Brotherhood Training routines. Finally, Rogue decided to get out of the Boarding House and do something about it.

The Brotherhood boys chose to go out for the night, largely because Lance was meeting up with Kitty, and the others wanted to see how many times they could interrupt before one of the two got pissed and threatened their lives. Rogue simply rolled her eyes and borrowed Kurt's powers to go and visit her mother and aunt.
Rogue may have had better control, but that didn't mean she enjoyed public places, especially noisy ones like fairs. Besides, if anyone could help her figure things out, it would be Destiny.

Careful not to make a sound, Rogue phased through the door, scarcely daring to breathe. A single wrong step, and this already near-impossible mission would be blown to hell. She was almost there, just a few more steps and… "Hello, Anna-Marie."

Damn. Would she ever succeed? "Hi, Auntie Irene."

A tolerant smile. "Raven, Rogue just arrived. We were just about to have dinner, dear, would you like to join us?"

Rogue smiled back and went to set the table. Heaven knew that the Brotherhood were like family to her, but it was nice to have some peace and quiet for a change. Carefully hugging her mother in greeting, Rogue started to bring the two women up to date on everything that had been happening.

Returning home barely half an hour before she would have to leave for school, Rogue entered the kitchen to a scene of horror: Boom-Boom of the X-Men was sitting at the table, 'borrowing' everyone else's breakfast. Stepping back before anyone noticed her, Rogue lifted an eyebrow at Lance, who had just come down the stairs. Lance gave her an apologetic look, "She barged in and got settled before Pietro and I got back. At least Blob and Toad had enough sense to stop her from trying to take over Boss-Lady's room."

If Boom-Boom had tried that, there would have been trouble. As it was, Rogue was likely to be in a Bad Mood for a long time. Just to consolidate her bad mood, Boom-Boom chose that moment to look up, jumping from her chair and practically waltzing over. "Rogue, how's it hanging! You know, Rogue isn't the best name, how about we call you 'Stripes' or something? It goes with the hair."

Rogue sent the other girl a glare that, by all rights, should have incinerated her. "Mah name is Rogue, and it's staying that way."

Boom-Boom looked indignant and glared back. Rogue remained unaffected. A silver blur sped into the room, skidded to a halt at the sight of the girls facing off, and broke the sound barrier in his haste to retreat. After a few moments, Tabitha was the first to back down. "Whatever. I'm going out to celebrate getting away from the X-Geeks after school, though, so don't wait up!"

She started to walk away, but Rogue's voice froze her in place. "Ah doubt you're the only one celebrating that. We've got training after school, and Ah want you there training with us."

Tabitha glared at her again. "Too bad. Who says you get to order me around, anyhow? I can do what I want!"

Rogue was perfectly matter of fact, her face devoid of emotion. "Ah lead the Brotherhood, and this is mah house. You want ta stay here, you follow the same rules as the rest of us. End of Story."

Turning on her heel, Rogue grabbed an apple and left the Boarding House, ignoring the boys, who were trying to pretend that they hadn't been eavesdropping. There was a punching bag in the School Gym that was calling her name, especially if she wanted to make it through the day without strangling Tabitha with her own entrails.

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A/N: I know that Kitty's religion is only shown for about five seconds during 'On Angel's Wings', but this is more a tribute to my Great-Grandmother, who was Jewish, and who died eighteen years ago today.

Yeah, I know the chapter is short, but I just moved and I'm still getting things in order, so I don't know when I'll be able to post next. Review and tell me what you think.