Ororo peered in through the skylight at the mutants below. Her eyes were wide with fright and her jaw had dropped incredulously. Just what the hell was going on with Logan? His behavior was unthinkable. Not in a thousand years would she have even considered it. The very notion sickened her thoughts. Yet there he was, right before her eyes—holding hands with Mystique! Did Betsy give me hallucinations? Ororo wondered.
"Jus' what the hell is going on here…sir?" Peter finally stepped forward and challenged the clearly deranged Logan. Kitty was otherwise unable to utter the words herself.
Well, Ororo thought wryly, at least I'm not the only one who sees the irony in this alternate dimension. It's good to know someone else has noticed this anomaly.
Logan seemed put off by the question for a moment before looking over at Mystique. "Oh—right, Kitty, Peter, Mystique is my wife."
Ororo gasped audibly and put a hand up to her heart, suddenly feeling faint. What in the world was happening? Surely she must have heard incorrectly! Logan couldn't have uttered those words. And if he had—then he was mistaken, put under hypnosis somehow! Mystique lured him in and put in false recollections to his mind. That had to be it. There was no other logical explanation. Logan would never be with Mystique. And wife?! The notion was impossible. Ororo tried desperately to erase the thought from her mind entirely. Something felt terribly wrong, it was as if a cold grip had suddenly clutched her around the middle and froze her to the spot. This could not realistically be happening.
Ororo blinked away the black dots in front of her vision and waited half a moment for the faint feeling to pass. There was a reasonable explanation behind all this, she knew, and she would get it. If she had to beat Mystique into the dirt, by God she would. Ororo stuck her head back over the ledge to see who else was in the warehouse. Voices drifted up in conversation, but Ororo was focusing more on the people rather than what was being said. She had heard enough to know that something was seriously wrong.
Kitty and Peter were down there. Thank the goddess for that, once she had dropped the communication device she had had no way to contact them, but they were safe. Good children—she was glad they hadn't decided to interfere upon the scene inside when Shaw was talking to Logan.
Mystique and Logan were both inside too. Ororo tried not to spend time specifying on them. She had already seen too much and it made her sick. What was important was the fact that Logan was safe and alive, although deranged, he hadn't gone off and gotten himself killed. That was a plus.
Magneto, Rogue, and the red haired woman on the table were all gone. That was something to be concerned about. No little force could take down Magneto, Ororo knew that for a fact. She had been so close to finding and rescuing Rogue once and for all too, but that chance was apparently gone.
One boy zipped out of the room, but before he did so, Ororo recognized his stature and white hair. It was Pietro, Magneto's son. Charles had mentioned him a few times to her and she had seen a couple pictures. The boy in person was quite spectacular—his mutation was obviously very advanced and he was now a grown man. His stark white hair set off the look slightly and made him appear more childish, but Ororo could tell that he was at least twenty. It made her wonder when Erik had ever had time to have children. And with who?
But that was a mystery for another time. Ororo's eyes fell on a large unconscious mutant near the front door and she squinted, trying to identify him. She'd never seen him before, she deduced. He was huge and very muscular in his straps—armored top? Ororo couldn't make it out well enough to tell, but she could see a discarded helmet a few feet away from his unconscious body.
"Hey! Dat man attacked Rogue an' me!" A familiar accent suddenly floated up to Ororo's ears and her hands tightened on the ledge of the window. Was that—Remy? Ororo's eyes followed the source of the voice. It was! What was he doing here? Last she had heard, Remy had been down in Louisiana being a troublemaker like usual. How had he gotten involved with any of this?
Ororo breathed in slowly to absorb all this. It was almost too much to take in at once. She knew, well, if Betsy was right, then the mansion had been taken over. She needed to get Logan back into his right mind and claim it back. She didn't know what this whole thing was about, but it was wearing on her and she was ready to be done with it. When had things been simple? Ororo longed for things to return to what they'd been. These last few months without the professor and without a full staff of adults had been difficult. More than all that, she missed her colleges. With running the mansion and all, she hadn't been given proper time to grieve for them. It was all too much to take.
Ororo took one more moment to settle her nerves before popping open the skylight. She had to get to the bottom of this now, before things got worse. It was time to fix it all. She floated down the hatch and her eyes were white as she descended among the group of mutants.
"Ororo!" Kitty cried in surprise. Peter rushed up to help her land softly, but Ororo waved him off as her white misted eyes focused on Mystique.
"Raven." Thunder crackled above and a lightning bolt streaked down from the sky to strike at the blue mutant. It barely missed by a hair's fraction as Pietro raced up behind Mystique and tackled her to the ground. The lightning bolt left a black mark on the cement ground and Ororo moved to strike at Mystique again. She raised her hand to the sky—and was tackled to the ground by Logan.
"Storm, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Logan roared, pinning the struggling woman underneath him. Ororo writhed under him before her still-white eyes flashed over to Mystique again and Pietro quickly hauled her away from any windows or openings to the weather outside.
Logan grabbed Ororo by her shoulders and shook her firmly. "Storm! Get a hold of yourself! Goddamnit, woman!" Logan shook her harder. "Ororo!"
Ororo's eyes danced away from Mystique at the sound of her name and the white mist started to thin as her normally brown eyes returned. She blinked at Logan once, twice, three times before he seemed to register in front of her. Her eyes narrowed at him dangerously. "You've been bewitched, Logan!" Her eyes once again found Mystique and hardened. "She's twisted your thoughts!"
"Ororo, get a hold of yourself! What is this about?"
Her attack had earned quite a number of eyes. Everyone was looking at her. Kitty and Peter watched their normally calm leader with gaping mouths and unbelieving faces while Mystique glared back at her. Pietro himself didn't really seem too into the whole situation, now that Mystique was safe he was back at the side of the metal table on which a man lay unconscious. Remy was grinning characteristically.
"Perhaps de fille was eavesdroppin', no?" He smiled at Ororo knowingly. "It's good t' see y' again Stormy."
"Remy, stay out of this." Ororo commanded tightly. Her steely eyes fixed on Logan. "She's tricked you, Logan. She's obviously messed with your mind." She glared at Mystique once again, hate shining through her eyes. "Who did you use to trick him? Was it Betsy?"
Mystique smiled thinly. "You really don't trust the woman well, Ororo. After all she's done to show her worth, I would think you'd be more open to giving her a second chance."
"From the mouth of the manipulator." Ororo spat. "Tell me, oh trusting one. Taken any cure bullets lately?"
Mystique's eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm curious, what bothers you more: the fact that Logan loves me or that Rogue chose me over your little group?"
"What are yo-"
"Ladies, ladies." Remy interrupted. "Let's not kill each other, heh? We're both on de same team here. No reason why we all can't jus' kiss an' make up--"
"Shut up, Remy." They ordered simultaneously, then both glared at each other heatedly.
Logan snapped his fingers in front of Ororo's face to grab her attention again. "Listen, Ororo. I know what I saw was true—I felt what I saw and Mystique's not playing mind games with me. You're gunna have to accept that at face value. The only thing we have to discuss now is how we're going to get Rogue back."
Ororo's jaw set at the mutant above her. "Get off of me, Logan."
Logan's eyes flickered over to Mystique. "Play nice." He commanded. With that, he stood up and offered Ororo a hand to help her up. Ororo pointedly ignored him and stood herself, dusting off before she lifted her glaring gaze again.
"The mansion's been taken by Shaw's minions." Ororo caught Logan's eyes and stared him down. "We have to get back now and save the kids."
Kitty piped up. "But how do you know that, Storm?" She asked. "You were with Peter and me up until a few minutes ago."
Ororo looked decidedly uncomfortable with the question. "I have it on good authority."
"But how?" Peter asked.
Mystique's mouth twisted into a cold smile as she observed Ororo's discomfort. "Betsy told you, didn't she?" Mystique shook her head as she walked up beside Logan and leaned into him provocatively, obviously irking Ororo. "You are a walking contradiction Storm—claiming to not trust Betsy, then taking her word on the mansion's troubles. Tell me: how can I become as sure as you always are?" She mocked openly. Logan gave her a dark look, but Mystique brushed it off.
"It doesn't matter." Ororo said coldly, her voice like steel. "Logan has responsibilities to the mansion that he will fulfill."
"Or—he's going to come after Rogue with me instead."
"Multiple students trump her crisis—the mansion is in danger and taken over by Shaw's hoards that are only there because of Rogue in the first place."
Logan gritted his teeth and held out his palms to both women, separating them and holding them away from each other by their shoulders. "Both of you, stop! This is getting us nowhere. Ororo-" he locked eyes with her briefly, "I'm going to save my daughter. She trumps all circumstance in my book." He turned his head to look at Mystique. "And you are going to stop causing trouble with her—understand?"
Watching the whole scene from the side, Remy leaned over to Peter and whispered. "De filles all got dere panties in a bunch, heh? Remy's gunna bet on Stormy— y' game?"
Peter and Logan both shot him a look that quieted him down before Logan released the women. "Now, Ororo—I know you have priority to the school so take the kids," he gestured to Kitty, Peter, John, and Tabitha "and go rescue your mansion. I've got a spongy bastard to take care of on this side."
"But I can help rescue Rogue!" Kitty complained. "I can break into whatever cell they've got her in!" She was ignored.
"Logan." Ororo commanded his attention with her grave tone and devil stare. "I understand your desire to help Rogue, but damnit, this is important. The kids are under Shaw's thumb and he's planning to use our resources for his operations. The operations that involve Rogue. You heard the man yourself—he doesn't want to hurt her, he wants to use her as a weapon. The men who've taken the mansion will know where his base is."
Logan growled at her. "We already have an informant." He gestured over to the unconscious man that Pietro was slapping, trying to wake. "You don't need my help to liberate the mansion."
Ororo almost shrieked in frustration. "I can't handle a team full of mutants myself, Logan!"
Logan gestured again at the kids. "Split up the team then and take who you want. Rogue is more important to me than everyone in that mansion." Logan paused. "But not Kitty. I'm taking her."
Beside Peter, Kitty smiled. So they had heard her!
"Whoa." John protested. "I am not going with Storm to help liberate the X-Mansion. I'm not on your team." Logan shot him such a dark look that any other man would have fell silent instantly at the intensity in his glare. John gritted his teeth back, challenging Logan.
"You'll do what I tell you to do, punk." Logan advanced on John and John flicked out his lighter. Before he could even light a flame, Logan swatted it out of John's hand and it went skittering off to the side. Logan grabbed John's neck and threw him against the wall offensively. John had a dazed moment of de ja vu before claws were at his throat. "And you won't cause trouble."
John didn't seem the least bit scared of Logan as he stared him down. Tabitha arched an eyebrow at him. "Aww, come on John. Don't ya want to see Bobby again?"
A cold glint passed through John's eyes at Bobby's name and he clenched his fists against his sides. "Whatever you say, Captain Claws." John sneered. Logan let the boy down and gestured at Tabitha.
"You're going with them."
Tabitha shrugged. "S' long as you get Mags to pay me, I'm down. 'Sides, Blue's at the mansion too, you know! I've had to save his cute little demony butt before, let me tell you. Hey—what about Juggs?" Tabitha asked, gesturing to the unconscious man on the ground. "And Longshot and Petra? I bet they could help."
"Do you know where they are?" Logan questioned.
Tabitha shrugged. "Went out on a date. I could guess where accurately enough. Probably Tony's Grill—Longshot's not one for big spending. He pushes his luck with girls you know, 'cause he can." Tabitha shot him a grin as if he were supposed to understand a joke she was making.
Logan turned away and nodded at Ororo. "There, you have six. Now go."
Ororo glanced over at Remy. "And you?"
Remy shrugged. "Remy goes where de fille is at. Sorry Stormy." Ororo gave him a curt nod and turned to the entrance of the building. Her charges followed and they began to revive Juggernaut. Logan turned away, tracing his steps back to the table where the unconscious man still lay. It was time to get some answers.
---
Ahh, it felt so good. Rogue knew something was wrong. Her memories of before her falling unconscious were swarming her mind as she regained consciousness, but she didn't want to move from this spot. She felt warm and safe and cozy. Even with all the recent memories floating around her mind, Rogue didn't want to get up. She felt restful and simply wanted to go back to sleep.
Unfortunately, Rogue's rational mind argued against this. Rogue barely remembered much as she fell unconscious, but she remained aware of the fact of why she had fallen unconscious. Those mutants—the one's with Shaw—they had been restoring Wanda back to life. As if such a thing were possible—Rogue scoffed to herself, but at the same time she knew something had gone down. She had witnessed Wanda's body being restored and life being breathed back into her. There was also one telltale sign that something serious had taken place.
Wanda's psyche was no longer with her.
Rogue could only grasp at the complications of what that meant. Had it really actually worked? Rogue couldn't stand to get her hopes up too much—men like Shaw couldn't really be trusted, right? But then, where was Wanda? She wasn't with her, that was for sure, so maybe they had restored her to her healed body. Rogue grit her teeth at the thought, trying to squash her hope. She didn't want to be disappointed.
Rogue squirmed on the mattress she was on. Slowly, she opened her eyes and let them adjust to her surroundings. The light was only dim so it didn't take long before her eyes adjusted. Rogue kept her eyes only slitted open, cautious of anyone else in the room. As she glanced around discretely, she discovered that she was in a blue-walled bedroom. It was furnished nicely with oak dressers and comforting pictures of beautiful landscape on the far wall. The bed she was in was King sized and squishy, very comfortable, and she herself was hidden under a large blue comforter. Ya'd think they'd been expecting a boy. Rogue thought to herself wryly, studying the colors.
Rogue, be careful. Logan's voice warned through her mind.
Ah've got to stop wakin' up in other people's rooms. Rogue replied with a half smile. That's the real problem here.
Remy can understand y' dilemma. Remy chuckled softly. An' y' don't have t' worry 'bout bein' seen, chere. Dere's nobody in de room wit' y'.
What do ya suppose they're playin' at? Rogue asked her psyches, still unwilling to fully open her eyes.
Remy shrugged. Dey want y' t' be leader, no? Providin' nice surroundin's for dere future princess.
Rogue frowned and finally opened her eyes. She glanced around the room speculatively, but there was nobody else in the room, just as Remy had promised. Rogue's eyes locked on the only door to the room. Ah suppose that's the way a girl's gotta go.
Before she could even stand up, there was a loud noise that sounded like a whip cracking and a woman appeared at the foot of her bed out of thin air. Rogue started and jumped back in surprise, banging her head against the backboard of the bed. She winced outwardly as her hand traveled up to her throbbing head and she rubbed the area tenderly. Rogue glanced back up at the woman who'd just entered the room.
She didn't look to be much older than Rogue herself. Somewhere in her twenties, the woman stood a little short at five two. Her black hair was straight and combed back, falling over her back like a waterfall it came down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were bright and shone like topaz, a deep, crystal brown color that was almost yellow, it was so light. She was small and reminded Rogue a little of Kitty. She had a soft, innocent face and was smiling.
"I'm sorry!" The girl apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you!" She put the platter she held down on the edge of the bed and rushed over to Rogue's side. "Are you alright?"
Rogue pulled down her hand from her head and her eyebrows scrunched at the woman. "That whippy noise…?"
"Yeah, I'm really sorry. That was me. I make that sound whenever I teleport. I would have just came in, but I saw that you were awake and I just wanted to get here quickly." She bit her bottom lip nervously. "I wasn't really supposed to leave until you woke up."
They have video cameras. Logan speculated.
Remy nodded, agreeing. That's how she knew when you woke up, maybe. It might just be part of her mutation. You'll have to search for bugs later.
Bugs? Rogue blinked at the girl and she quickly reached over to the edge of the bed. "But I brought you food!" She continued, scurrying to get pass the fact that she wasn't with Rogue when she awoke. Rogue's stomach grumbled painfully loud at the mention of food and Rogue colored slightly as the girl grinned at her. "I thought you might be hungry." She pushed the tray closer to Rogue. Up close, Rogue saw the sandwich, chips, pop and cookie that were on the tray. The girl nodded at Rogue encouragingly, seeing the longing in her eyes. "Go on, eat."
Rogue's hand was already reaching for the food before the girl had said so. She was starving, she realized. Rogue tried to remember the last time she had a good meal. As the food touched her tongue, Rogue relished the taste and breathed in deeply, grateful for this accommodation.
The girl smiled shyly and sat on the edge of Rogue's bed, letting Rogue get into her meal before rushing into anything or asking questions or…doing whatever she was here for. When Rogue had finished the sandwich and started in on the chips, the girl began to talk again. "So, my name's Tessa and I'm here to guide you around the place. I'll show you all around headquarters and the base and the training areas. I'm also going to be the one to personally help you cope with and control every new power you absorb here as well as be your psychic replacement to help make sure your psyches don't go haywire again."
Rogue almost choked on the pop as she was chugging it down. She sputtered for a minute before swallowing it all and blinking at Tessa again. "What?"
Tessa seemed confused at her confusion for a minute before it dawned on her. She closed her eyes and silently berated herself. "I'm sorry again! I went out of order on that. I'm supposed to tell you about your purpose here first, then about the area. Damnit."
"Hold up." Rogue motioned. "What are ya talkin' about?"
The girl faltered again, looking perplexed. "Your purpose here—" At Rogue's blank look, she continued on. "For the deal you made with Shaw—choosing to lead us as long as we helped out your friend Wanda."
"Stop right there." Rogue commanded. Tessa snapped her mouth shut and started biting her lip again. "Wanda's okay?" Rogue asked doubtfully. "She's…alive?"
"Oh!" Tessa jumped up suddenly. "Oh! You must have been unconscious by then! I'm really sorry, I'm screwing this introduction thing all up. Wanda is fine—she's all healed up and kicking. Well, not kicking, but sleeping."
"Can Ah see her?" Rogue asked impatiently, also getting to her feet.
Tessa shuffled her feet nervously. "Technically I'm not allowed to bring you to her," she started, then quickly continued at the look on Rogue's face "but I can show you her."
"Show meh." Rogue urged anxiously.
Tessa nodded then held out her hand. A little projected three dimensional picture rose up from between her fingers and danced lightly over her hand until it took shape as Wanda. She was laying flat out on a metal table and her chest was steadily rising and falling. "That's not good enough proof—" Rogue started, but Tessa held up a hand and closed her eyes.
"Is there anything you want to say to her?" She asked lightly.
"Ah want proof that it's her—give meh proof."
Tessa's voice changed then. Instead of her light, friendly tone, a more familiar growl came through. "You shouldn't have done that, Rogue."
"Wanda?" Rogue asked in awe, not knowing whether to believe or not.
"No, it's the Wizard of Oz." Wanda's voice softened somewhat from its normal sarcasm. "I didn't want you sacrificing for me, Rogue. That's not how it was supposed to play out."
"It was mah choice." Rogue strained, her voice tight with emotion. "And Ah wouldn't take it back for anythin'." Rogue swallowed thickly, feeling overcome. "Why won't they let meh see ya?"
Wanda sighed deeply. "It's an insurance policy. They've put me under with some sedatives and they're going to let me go when you've completed whatever tasks they want from you. It's to make sure you hold up your end."
Rogue's breath caught. "But…they did it? They…they brought ya back?"
Tessa's head nodded with Wanda's wishes. "They did."
"Oh mah God…" Rogue gasped. "Ah didn' know if-if they could. Ah thought…Ah don't know what Ah thought, but…"
"Yeah, you're not the only one." Wanda quirked an eyebrow at her that looked totally wrong on Tessa's face. The expression was Wanda's alone and the innocent girl before her couldn't quite take on all that Wanda was. "Rogue, be careful around these guys, okay? I want you to promise me something."
"It doesn't sound lihke Ah'm goin' to lihke hearin' this."
"You won't, but I want you to promise me."
"Maybe." Rogue started, but Tessa shook her head.
"No, Rogue, no maybe. You have to. I want you to promise that if things get dirty and bad for you that you'll get out of here, no matter if I'm captive or not."
"Ah can't promise that!" Rogue protested. "Ah won't!"
"Rogue—"
"No, Wanda! Ah'm doin' this fohr ya and Ah'm goin' ta go through with it, no matter what it costs meh. You didn't deserve to have ya life robbed from ya, but it still happened—well this is mah job fohr ya to make up fohr it. Ah won't give up."
"Then I can only pray that Pietro rescues me quickly 'cause you're going to need to get out of this place." Wanda was all too aware of Gracie's prophecy. Rogue would gain power—absorb many, lead mutants…and then be killed by her. She had no intention of ever letting that prophecy come to pass. "You can't trust this place. I'm sure there's stuff going on behind the scenes Rogue."
"It doesn't seem that bad right now. They did fulfill the promise to bring you back." Rogue pointed out.
"To use me as something to control you." Wanda shot back. "Which, by the way, is working great." Wanda tried to clear the anger from her voice. "Just be careful, Rogue, okay? You can't trust these people or their cause."
"Ah'll be careful Wanda. Ya don't have to worry about meh."
Yes, I do. Wanda winced. "Tessa's letting go now. I'll be around Rogue, don't doubt it. And I'll be there to get you out of this. I promise that."
With that, Tessa's eyes shut again and she shook her head vigorously. The little projection disappeared from above her palm and she glanced over at Rogue again. "See? Shaw doesn't hold back on his deals."
Rogue nodded slowly, sitting back down on the bed and thumbing through what was left of lunch. "Okay. Now what's goin' on here?"
Tessa smiled and sat back down on the foot of Rogue's bed. "Well, as you know, we're a part of a group known as the Mutant Champions. Our title pretty much describes what we are—we help out mutants who are in need of guidance and our main goal is to get mutants to co-exist with humans peacefully."
Rogue arched an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
Tessa nodded. "It's just like Xavier's dream—except we have more resources to accomplish it."
"Okay…well, why did ya'r 'peaceful' Shaw leader bring a gang of mutants up against meh an' mah friends?"
Tessa shook her head. "That's not it at all—that wasn't an attack force sent to get you. It was a negotiating retrieval team. Shaw already knew what conditions he wanted to offer you so he brought those mutants and others as backup in case you fell into trouble."
Rogue frowned. Tessa seemed to honestly believe what she was saying was the truth. Did the girl simply not know? Or was there more to Shaw's team than the X-Men had first expected? What if it was simply a team of peaceful mutants? "Uh-huh." Rogue started. "So why do ya need meh? It seems lihke Shaw's got a pretty good thing goin' here himself. Why trade over 'commander' to meh?"
Tessa bit her lip nervously. "There are some groups, mutant haters, who don't like the idea of mutants coexisting with humans. They do awful stuff to us—lock us in testing labs, build machines to destroy us, make 'cures' for us. Shaw knows that there are more powerful mutants out there than himself who could help our cause a lot more. You have unlimited potential yourself for unlimited powers. Shaw recognizes that and sees that you could protect us from threats like that. We've lost quite a few who fought to protect us against those kinds of humans…" Tessa looked down, obviously disheartened. She took a moment before she glanced back up at Rogue.
"But you—you can absorb any number of mutations. You could become really powerful Rogue, so powerful that we wouldn't need to sacrifice mutant lives to save others. That is what Shaw's striving to achieve—he wants to make you the best, unbeatable, so that you can guard us and keep us safe until we're accepted."
Rogue frowned. "In other words, Ah'm supposed to do the dirty work?"
Tessa flinched. "I wouldn't say it like that…"
Rogue's frown deepened. It was obvious that Tessa truly believed in what she was saying. She saw Shaw as a savior of their race. Rogue had reason to doubt Shaw's intentions, but really, what if the guy was a hero? Could she really put him down just like that based on no evidence? The guy had kept his promise to her and he hadn't really done much to break a trust—yet. But Rogue was wary. Things weren't often what they seem.
"So Ah'm around to take care of the problems." Rogue clarified. "That doesn't necessarily make meh leader."
Tessa shook her head. "No, Shaw will continue all our other operations to keep things peaceful and the balance in place. He just wants to train you up to be able to take on anything."
"Hmm." Rogue mulled over this. "Ya said ya were here to help meh…with psyches and powers Ah absorb? Explain that."
"Well I have a special mutation—I mean other than teleportation and my memory and telepathy and stuff—" Rogue nodded with her, her brow furrowing at the list. "My main power—or first power rather, is to sense mutant potential in people, activate it if they want, and I can advance mutant powers to the next level—to a controlling state. So what I would do is that—advance the powers you absorb so that you can control them with just a thought. It makes the learning process go a lot quicker and more or less, less painful for you."
"So ya's want meh to absorb a ton of mutants?" Rogue asked, alarm rising in her voice.
"Oh don't worry!" Tessa assured her. "We're going to take it slow. Just one at a time and master mutations like that. And you don't have to touch anybody for long. Just enough to get what we need—the powers you absorb are collected and stored forever so you don't need to worry about hanging on for long. And I'm going to help you with the psyches."
"Right." Rogue nodded slowly, trying to take this in. " 'Cause ya'r a telepath…"
Tessa nodded. "Yeah. Shaw said I'd make the ideal guide for you since we're going to be spending a lot of time training together anyway. That's okay with you, right?"
Rogue blinked. "Ah have a say in it?"
"Well, yeah." Tessa looked nervous again. "You could fire me on the spot if you wanted, since you're now the commander of our defenses and everything…please don't replace me." Tessa fidgeted. "I just want to help out—I thought maybe, you know…"
"Ya thought what?" Rogue pushed.
Tessa was decidedly uncomfortable. "Um…nevermind."
Rogue frowned. "No, tell meh—what?"
Tessa looked apologetic for even bringing it up. "It's stupid."
"Ah'll fire ya if ya don't tell meh." Rogue joked.
Tessa squeaked, missing her humor. "We could…you know, be friends since I'll be helping you and you're the captain of us all and I just thought if I was your guide and your trainer person that we'd, you know, connect more than you do to the other mutants here and we could maybe become friends and—"
Rogue interrupted the jittery girl. "Tessa calm down." Tessa hushed quickly. "Yes, we cahn be friends an' no that wasn't stupid."
Tessa jumped, smiling shyly. "Yeah?"
Rogue gave a rueful grin, amused by the older girl's antics. "Yeah."
"Okay—okay—sorry for wigging out there for a moment. It's just, I don't have a lotta friends here yet-I'm sortof new…well, ish, but people usually find me hyper or weird or they don't like my mutations so they avoid me and I just thought, since Shaw's assigning me to you and everything, you know, we would just…get to be friends along the way. And I didn't mean to sound so pathetic like this—I'm sorry about that too—I was just really excited when Shaw told me I would be the one to guide you."
Rogue smiled, laughing inside at how nervously exciting Tessa was. "Ah'm not all that special." Rogue told her. "Jus' another mutant tryin' to get by."
"And so humble!" Tessa exclaimed. "Come on, follow me! I'm supposed to give you a tour now." Rogue stood and followed the over-excited girl. It was time to get accustomed to her new living quarters.
