Warning: Revelations, teenage angst and emotional outbursts. Includes coverage of 'Shadowed Past'.

Rogue was having an awful day.

Since her incarceration, followed by the loss of her car the night before, she'd spent her day locked in her room. Mystique had stripped her of her basic human rights. Whilst she was in prison, someone had boarded up her window, now she couldn't even look outside. When she needed a bathroom break, she had to knock on the door and pray that someone was close enough to hear it.

Her bathroom time was restricted and it was usually Fred that was her guard. Dinner was brought to her on a tray but her stomach was too tied up to enjoy it. Then at night, when exhaustion should have reigned supreme, her dreams were filled with the archetypal horror settings of a haunted castle, a desperate chase through haunted woods and a woman's plight from blood-thirsty wolves.

She was holding something in her arms but as the wolves struck, she loosened her grip and the bundle was lost into the depths below...

XxX

The first day back at the school after her stint in prison, Rogue felt dispirited. Somehow she made it through the morning classes, though not without a summons from the office and a lecture from Miss Darkholme/ Mystique about productivity.

"This really isn't good enough and your attitude will not excuse you."

Rogue glared back at her.

"Have you nothing to say about this?"

"What do you want me to say?" Her voice was monotone and devoid of any emotion.

"I expect you to be able to carry yourself in a respectful manner."

"Then you expect too much. Can I go now?"

She was on her way back to her locker when she all but crashed into someone, sending her belongings scattering across the hall.

"Ah'm sorry". She murmured.

"Here, let me help you." The speaker had a German tilt to his voice and as she looked up to see Kurt she was struck once more by the memories of her dream. Surely such a thing could not be possible? Surely no-one could be so cruel to an innocent. A child, an infant even?

He was looking at her, expecting her to say something. But she wasn't sure what.

"Are you ok?" There was something so innocuous about the words, that made her want to cry but at the same-time, there was comfort. Too bad Lance arrived before she had a chance to reply. He seemed to think Kurt had been the one to knock her down, which was too laughable for words.

"Back off Lance, this was my fault."

"Well, we need to get to class. Can't have you going AWOL again."

She shrugged herself out of his hold and proceeded to follow him.

XxX

Gym was the last class of the day and Rogue's distraction made her an easy target and an easy out. The weather was awful and classes had been combined, meaning Jean Grey was among the many. Rogue knew she had very limited time and although it went against all her principles, she knew she'd have to let herself become victim to the ball-game they were playing. She deliberately blocked and invaded spaces that in previous weeks she would have avoided, all the while avoiding eye-contact with any of the X-Men, as she tried to avoid attracting attention.

Her efforts soon paid off as she made a move causing her opponent to miscalculate the distance between her and the net. Having being benched, she took a shot at talking to the girl in her mind, steadily raising the volume of her thoughts.

"Hey, telepath?"

Jean heard a buzzing the first few times, but she was too focused on the game to pick up the signals.

"HEY TELEPATH!"

She looked around, convinced someone had spoken.

"Don't make it obvious! Ah thought you were supposed to be smart."

"Rogue?"

"The one and only. I need to get a message to your buddy Kurt."

"Can't you tell him yourself?"

"Ah would, but Ah doubt Ah'd get much opportunity." Jean watched as Rogue looked off to the side. The same side where Lance and Pietro were standing. "As far as I know, they're not telepathic."

Jean sighed. "What's the message?"

"I need to know what he knows about his birth."

Jean narrowly missed having a ball thrown in her face and the teacher blew the whistle. "Grey, where's your head at?"

"Just ask him, things may be more complicated, we may need to make contact."

XxX

After school, Lance had been there to escort her to his jeep along with the others. Something had transpired during Gym class, but as there was nothing concrete to report, he was uneasy about reporting it. Pietro on the other hand, had no doubt at all and had mentioned the sensations to Mystique. Therefore, Rogue was surprised when she wasn't immediately taken up to her room.

"What's going on?"

"New orders from Mystique. You might as well get comfortable. You're not going anywhere."

"But Ah have homework. Ah can't be expected to concentrate whilst you have the TV on!"

They gave her no answer, leaving her to stew.

XxX

It was late by the time she was allowed upstairs and despite her exhaustion, the dreams were back. This time, rather than being an observer, she was the lady running from the castle.

The baby cried in her arms and was most definitely blue. She tried to change the point where the bundle was thrown, but something else forced her and baby Kurt fell once again.

She was standing at her locker and Kurt was on the other side. He walked towards her and in a split second, she pulled up her bare sleeve, enough for Kurt to touch her arm briefly, before being pulled away by Kitty and Jean. For the next few moments, her thoughts were not in the English language, but in Kurt's. She's was thinking in German and before the bell went, she dashed into the girl's bathroom, took ownership of a stall, pulled out a notebook and jotted down all the details about her dream, emphasising how she knew the baby was Kurt, but couldn't be sure who the mother was.

"Rogue, are you in there?"

It was Kitty and Jean. She finished up and passed the scrap of paper to the girls.

"Give this to Kurt. Hhe should be able to make sense of it."

"What's going on?"

"Ah've been having these really creepy dreams. Ah'm pretty sure they're someone's repressed memories."

"And you think this relates to Kurt?"

"Ah know it does. Ah can't explain it, but Ah know something is not right."

The were interrupted by another girl entering the bathroom.

"Excuse me, are you Rogue?"

"Why?"

"Erm one of the guys you live with asked me to ask you what's taking you so long?" The girl continued to look at Rogue, as though she was waiting for an explanation.

"Don't worry about it. It's a private joke between us. Can I ask you who it was?"

"Erm, it was the skinny blond boy."

"You mean Pietro? Yeah, I asked him before how comes he spends so much time hogging up the bathroom if there's little change. He's trying to pay me back, is all."

"Oh." The girl continued to look at her strangely.

XxX

Rogue wasn't surprised to be greeted with the same courtesies as last evening. Meanwhile, across town, Professor Xavier was with Kurt, trying to make sense of Rogue's scribbles. On Kurt's request, he had tried to siphen through the boy's memories but as he'd expected, there was nothing to be gained. Kurt had been an infant at the time and therefore, unable to harness any real recollections of the time. The only thing he could possibly do, was pay a visit to the Principal.

He arrived at the school the next day, to see Rogue stationed in a room off the receptionist's desk. But there was no time for questions as the door opened to reveal Mystique in her Miss Darkholme state.

"A visit from the eminent Professor Xavier? What can I have done to deserve such treatment?"

"I have some questions which you may be able to answer."

"And why would you think that?"

"They are quite specific, most of them focus on one of my young charges, but it would be quite impossible for him to recall them, given that he was an infant."

"I really have no idea of what you are talking about."

"Perhaps I should make this easier. They seem to pertain to some experimentation you may have been involved in. Either directly or indirectly?"

She scowled back at him. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I'm sure you do, especially as it was your son that was involved. What happened that night? What caused you to run?"

"Poor Charles, I believe all that time delving into other's heads has gotten you all muddled. Now if you excuse me, I have things to do."

He was on his way out, when he thought to try a different tact. "You know, the boy's mutation aside, he is truly remarkable and has turned out rather well."

Still there was nothing mentioned, but that did not matter. For when he mentioned experimentation, Mystique's mind had gone briefly back to that time and Charles was able to ascertain the co-ordinates, of which he mentally passed on to Wolverine, who was ready and waiting with the Jet.

On his way out, he spied Rogue once more, slumped over her make-shift desk. He knocked briefly on the door.

"May I come in?"

She looked up and for the first time, he was face to face with the girl who had Logan going out of his mind. There was a haunted look about her and a dullness of spirit.

He spoke softly. "We've never been properly introduced. My name is Charles Xavier."

She nodded.

"Why are you in here, rather than your regular classes."

Almost in a daze, she motioned her head towards the Principals office.

"Ah I see."

"She thinks Ah'm at risk of corruption from her cause." Her voice was gravelly from lack of use.

"I take it there is an element of truth in her fears?"

She snorted. "An element? Sure."

"I meant to thank-you for your efforts relating to Kurt. You've shown great ingenuity."

She shrugged. "Ah have mah moments."

He looked towards the door, "I wonder if you'll permit me to..."

But he was cut off with the hasty arrival of Miss Darkholme.

"How dare you interrogate my student. You should go, now."

Irritable at her guardian's presence, Rogue stood up from her seat. "He wasn't interrogating, he was only talking, something you wouldn't know anything about."

Mystique steeped closer and stood above her student. "Be silent."

But Rogue had had enough. "What's the matter Mystique? Are you worried about your reputation? Or have you got something to hide?"

The professor tried to interject but his efforts went unnoticed.

"How dare you show such disrespect." Mystique spat.

"Respect has to be earned Mystique and frankly you're too in debt to even bother."

"I took you in, didn't I? I gave you a roof over your head..."

"Only because you manipulated me into thinking the X-Men were the enemy! But they're not are they? They look out for each other. They care about each other. You only care for yourself! You're a selfish Bitch..."

The hand made contact with Rogue's cheek for the merest second, but it was enough for Rogue to see the conversation that had occurred between the two adults.

"Oh my God, that's it, isn't it? You're Kurt's mother aren't you? Tell me, how old was he when you allowed him to be experimented on? Did you even bond with him or was that too much for him to expect?"

"Rogue!"

"Answer me!"

"I don't have to justify myself to you or anyone."

"How can you stand there, when the child you neglected and abandoned is in the very same building as you? How can you bare to know that he is existing in a world where you are the enemy?"

"Now you're being melodramatic."

"No, I may be a lot of things, but I have known the love of a mother. I have also known the loss and the pain that stays with you and never goes away. That's something you will never know, Mystique. You have no soul and you will never know the joy and security that will bring to your life."

Mystique was not unmoved by the adolescent's words and whilst outwardly she kept her composure, her inner torment was clear for the Professor to see, so was Rogue's.

He left the school unwillingly after Mystique made it clear that any other involvement would see him blacklisted. Whilst there were ways to over come this, he knew there would be more hassle. Rogue had retreated to silence and appeared calm.

He returned to his school, hoping that Logan would have an update.

XxX

When Kurt arrived home, there was a note in his room, inviting him to a meeting with someone who knew about his mother. There was no time to mention it to anyone, as the time was at hand. His absence was noticed almost immediately and the team were dispatched to follow in his wake, fearing that this olive branch bore the makings of a trap.

At the Brotherhood, the boys were in cohorts over some scheme of Mystique's. They had allowed Rogue to go up to her room but waited for the sound of a CD to echo, before shutting her in.

Bare seconds later, Rogue teleported out of the room, resting a single finger on Pietro's wrist for a scarce millisecond, leaving him bewildered as she sped out of the door.

"Please tell me that wasn't Rogue!"

The others deliberately neglected to answer Lance.

XxX

Kurt had arrived to find the hooded figure of Rogue's dreams.

"It's you. You're the one in Rogue's dreams. Who are you?"

Things happened quickly. Before the figure could reveal herself fully, Rogue came to a holt besides the boy.

"You need to leave. The others are on their way. She's set you up."

The figure spluttered in protest, pulling her hood down, revealing her identity, before she noticed the arrival of the Brotherhood.

"You're not supposed to be here!"

Fred was all-too-happy to announce, "Sorry Lady, but we've got orders."

They worked to separate the mother and son, steering clear from Rogue and her own powers. When the X-Men arrived, Mystique transformed into a bird and took flight, acting true to form. With the X-Men adding to their numbers, the Brotherhood were soon dealt with. Kurt was shaken by the revelation of the identity of his mother and turned to thank Rogue, but she had already disappeared.

He remained pensive the rest of the night.

Rogue, meanwhile, had not quite shaken the use of Pietro's powers. After the fight, she hadn't wanted to meekly return home and honestly hadn't thought to stick around to speak to the X-Men. Instead, her borrowed speed had taken her out of Bayville and further North. It was only when darkness arrived and her feet were aching that she was able to stop and seek shelter. She had limited money and very little charge on her phone - something her mother would have killed her for - and had no idea where she was. That was something Carole would have killed her for.

Rogue felt the grief and hopelessness of her situation. She longed to wake up and realise that the last few months had been a horrible nightmare. But that would never happen and that was something she would have to get over.

She wished she could forget about the people she'd loved and lost but despite everything, she only held on to them tighter.

Growing wearier by the second, she came across a park bench, in enough time to realise that the soles of her shoes were worn through. But rather than dwell on practicalities, she lay back and took a moment to enjoy the peace. The air was still that night and the trees stood stationary. As she looked up to the sky, she noticed how very vivid the moon was and whilst the rest of the sky was hidden by clouds and fog, some constellations were more evident than others. Astrology was a hobby her mother and Carole had shared, which was a surprise, given that Carole couldn't normally abide pseudoscience as a rule. However, the two would have loved to see such a night sky and so she looked on for them. That night, she found she was privileged to identify Orion, the hunter, Pegasus and Libra, the scales. It was also her mother's star-sign and for a moment she forgot the cold of the night, forgot that she was stranded on a park bench. She heard a noise in the background, which was enough to shake her awake as she looked up to see the sabretooth lion... No, wait, that wasn't a constellation. That was...