****A/N This does involve some canon from the new canon series 'House Of X' and 'Powers Of X' and contains info from them. Please read first if you don't want spoiled! *Also, I own no X-Men or Marvel content*
What would you do if you knew you lived multiple times? What would you do if you knew you lived multiple times? What would you do if you
"What is reality, anyway?" It was a fair question for the Caldecott, Mississippi native to ask. Her mutation allowed her to peer into people's lives, like doors. She had touched people whose mutant abilities changed reality. Rearranged it. Made it new. She had seen through the eyes of the first mutant, frontwards and back. That was why Hank McCoy had so graciously offered to tutor Anna Marie, better known as Rogue. Apocalypse's intrusion on her life had put her a whole semester behind.
She stared at him from a cropped, black X-Jacket (one she said was cheesy when she first saw it), gloved hands folded in her lap. She's still drawing her makeup dark, but she can't color over the beautiful woman she's growing into at her own pace. She does still cut her signature hair, even if she no longer straightens it. Hank flashes a toothy smile, so different from Logan even though they are both 'feral'.
He closed the textbook he'd been reading from. "I would say, reality is what we make it."
House Of Evolution
-x-
Maybe, he'd always known this day would come. Man, historically, feared what they did not understand. Tried to eliminate it, cure it. Now, he and the institute's administrators were crammed in his office discussing one thing: The mutant cure. And for once, they were certain it wasn't a scheme or trap. The cure was developed by the telepath's very own love, Moira MacTaggert. And, while the cure was very harmful to their species, she would never release unsafe medicine. It worked.
Charles Xavier barely knew what to think, but his teachers had strong opinions of their own.
"We can't tell the kids about this," Logan snarled, adamant for his voice to be heard. "Some of them are not mature or secure enough to know!" He argued. They all knew who he was really referring to, one conflicted and impressionable stripe haired mutant. She was slowly growing into a woman, but one he worried about all the same.
Charles' head was steeped on his fingers, deep in thought as he heard everyone's points. Their perspectives were invaluable. "Life is too long for one's body to feel like a prison, Logan." Hank answered, sympathetic to Rogue and the Morlocks' plight. "There are many a reason one might want such a thing, even if we cannot understand it." Logan growled, the sound vibrating in his throat.
"This ain't sexual orientation or gender studies, Hank. Those, are choices youngin's get to have. Not to change what they were created, as!" He pounded a fist on Charles' desk. "The message, everything about it is wrong." He exhaled loudly, like a bull.
"I have to agree with Logan. This is sending a dangerous message that our plight, our powers are curable... That the human condition is not the issue, I cannot agree." Ororo hung her head, Warren beside her.
"I don't know, guys. This could end up saving a lot of lives. I wanted to be anything but a mutant, and I was almost ready to do anything not to be. Some people, some kids might be able to find a safe way to be happy." Logan turned his head in disgust. There was nothing wrong with having an X-Gene. When the world was ending, nobody complained then. It was sick, and he would go down protecting the school from this.
Hank only sighed. "And Charles, what do you think?" The telepath only sighed. His dreams had been seeming more like visions, disturbances through time as some unknown force tried to contact him.
"I empathize with your sentiments, Henry." Logan bared his teeth instinctually, but Ororo cautioned him with a hand on his shoulder. "But, the world of human and mutant relations is not where it should be for this to exist." He explained sadly. Mutants as a race could be wiped out, leading to the bleak and barren futures he was forced to see through Apocalypse. "But, I would like to speak with just Wolverine. Potential missions..." The stout man's face lit up.
This was his area of expertise. "Oh, I'd love to go, Charles. Personally smash all those vials, myself." He rubbed his hands together.
"That wasn't what I was thinking." He wheeled away from his desk and looked out the window. "Logan, I don't want a huge disturbance or destruction to Moira's lab. You know, she's..." He cleared his throat. She still wasn't an easy topic to talk about. "She's precious, to me. Anyways, I'll only be sending one. And you already know who it is." The man was already shaking his head, rage creeping through his body. "Rogue."
"Chuc-"
"She deserves the choice, Logan. More than anyone. She still has nightmares most nights about Apocalypse, her crushing isolation... None of this is a secret." Logan scrubbed his face in frustration. He knew better than anyone that the girl still had a lot of struggles. And though he desperately wanted to help her, he wasn't sure how. This kept him up pacing at night.
"There's nothin' wrong with her, Charles." He answered, shaking. The man frowned sadly.
"You know that I do not think so, either. But, she has pledged so much to me and my dream. Who am I not to further hers?" Logan grappled with his temper. Rogue was one topic he always got his way about.
"Being a normie's her dream?" The telepath's eyes darkened, slightly.
"You know what I meant. I care about Rogue's happiness, Logan. And that means allowing her the adult privilege of choice, regardless of what I think. If you love the girl half as much as I think you do," Logan stiffened at that. It was obvious they were the closest at the school. His vow of protection ran deep for her, because she seemed to get used and hurt at every turn. But, he was still embarrassed when confronted with the fact of how his relationship changed her, for the better. "You will do the same. Trust her, Logan. No matter what she chooses."
He jammed his hands in his jacket's pocket. He didn't like any of this, one bit. But he knows she would never forgive him if she found he hid it from her. She would just have to decide. He had worked with human S.H.I.E.L.D Agents before. He didn't care if she could fly or lift buses over her head. His mission had always been to love and accept her unconditionally, and the cure went against that. "Fine. But, let me talk to her." Charles nodded, almost seeming relieved to have that duty taken.
"Of course, Logan."
x
"Wake up, Charles. You've spent a hundred lives, dreaming. Dreaming... It's good to have a dream. But don't forget, it doesn't have to be the only one. Life is a series of choices. Dreams, if you really think about it..."
x
Rogue stared at near shoulder length gloves he'd bought her as a gift as though they were more interesting than what he'd said. A cure existed. One that worked, not one that was a trap, like last time. A mutant cure. Sure, why wouldn't Storm want to control the weather? Or never get hurt, like Kitty? But, Rogue wanted to touch. To have children, hold babies... The list went on.
She knows it took everything in him to tell her, and only because he knows best of all the girl doesn't do betrayal. He was puffing fast on a cigar, as she pulled one of his worn, leather jackets around herself. "A cure, huh." She said finally, her mouth refusing to say more. He stifled a sigh, his hands in his blue jean pockets.
"Yep." He doesn't meet her stare.
"And the professor wants me to go?" He nodded stiffly. Rogue arched a well groomed eyebrow. "Is this some official "get over it" sign, or somethin'?" She asked, her voice getting defensive. He turned on her so fast her eyes widened. A strange emotion shined deep in his, one she can't really place despite how well she knows him.
"Of course not, Rogue." She drops her stare, regretting the snarky comment all together. "He respects you. Thinks, before it's destroyed..." She looked up at him in shock. Rogue had never expected him to say it. They really did want to give her a chance to decide. Decide to change all she was.
"Logan-"
"Your choice," He cut in quickly, looking away. "But no matter what you do, what we think about it... We want you back, here. You're always welcome, here. It's your home, just... Don't forget that." It would've been such an easy decision, once. Rogue didn't get to make the peace with her powers like the others did. But, as she looked into Logan's eyes, she was rethinking that choice. For the first time, ever. Could they really love her, just as she was? Could she ever love herself?
This was all too much. Rogue didn't have any answers. "Logan, Ah gotta be honest. Ah don't know what to say." He smiled a little.
"I expected that response. Sure you're all good on this mission?" It seemed like an insanely huge responsibility on her shoulders. That almost seemed to go against everything Charles ever told her. But, she would just have to trust them.
"Ah won't let the professor down. Or you, Logan." He placed a large hand on her shoulder.
"If you make the decision for yourself, you can't let me down. C'mere, kid." He pulled her in a tight embrace.
"Thank you."
"Oh, but you..." Apocalypse's voice shakes buildings as he chuckles. All of the X-Men lay strewn about, all but one. The one who brought him there. Her, the one with the blood of the first one. Rogue. "No matter what happens to me, little one... You. You will be eternal." The look in his eye and the smile on his face don't make her feel like that's a good thing. She begins to cry, too weak to do do anything else.
Rogue shot up in her bed, no longer surprised by En Sabah Nur visiting in her sleep. She had it down to science, at least three times a week. She needed to get a glass of water, and then she could sleep. She rubbed her eyes, she was tired of this. And, her nightmares are worse as she thinks about her cure mission. She rifled a hand through disheveled hair and tried to shake her unease.
No matter what she did, she knew everything was about to change. She couldn't help but feel every memory that surfaced, each dream she had was for a very specific reason. Or, she was just finally losing it. After her life, that was an option. She looked out into the darkened room, Kitty snoring peacefully. She sighed. Nothing disturbed that girl, and she would always be jealous.
She slipped out of her bed quietly, like she could actually rouse Kitty if she tried. She managed to slip downstairs in a dark, oversized T-Shirt and prayed nobody was up. Logan could always smell a nightmare on her, and it made him anxious. Nightmares were encoded into her DNA, now. He didn't need to torture himself with hers.
She flipped a light switch and jumped when she saw Scott sitting at the table, staring into a carton of ice cream. He looked up and frowned. "I thought I was the only one up at this hour." He watched as she sat across from him, rubbing an eye. "Another nightmare?" She nodded, leaning her head on her hand.
"Waitin' for it to turn to soup?" She questioned, eyeing the untouched, strawberry ice cream. He chuckled dryly.
"Oh, right. Sorry. Got lost in thought." He rose and placed it back in the freezer.
"Y'don't say..." Rogue answered, feeling how badly she wanted a good night's sleep.
"I just got caught up thinking," Scott continued on, as if she asked. "Y'know... Like Apocalypse, or the next big battle we had to fight... Do you know how little control we had?" She cocked an eyebrow.
"No, Scott. I didn't." He eyed her seriously, worry lines etched on his face. She tried not to stare at growing muscles, the stubble pervading his face...
"I mean it. What if we lost to Apocalypse and he changed everything? What if this world is a result of something like that? I don't know, Rogue. We feel like too small of players, sometimes. There are things at force we can't comprehend, we're proof." She knew things were bad if Scott Summers was losing hope. "The professor is hiding things, again. I can tell. And last time," He cuts himself off, not wanting to talk the girl's ear off. She looked exhausted.
Rogue swallowed, since she was hiding something, too. It was better the team didn't know about the cure. They'd want to talk to her about it. "He means well, Scott. Jus', try to remember that." He watched as she plucked a banana and began peeling it, carefully. Then, he marveled at long gloves she even slept in.
"The road to hell was paved with good intentions." His glasses glinted in the light. He rose and Rogue watched as he went to return to the room that he and Jean 'secretly' shared. "Well, y'know... If this reality is fake or changes overnight," He turned in the doorway, standing in a purple shirt Rogue knew he thought was blue. He smiled. "It was fun."
Rogue smiled down into her lap. "Yeah. Here's lookin' at'cha, kid." She watched him retreat into the darkness, unsure of how he'd had the same, strange feeling.
What would you change if you could do it again? What would you change if you could do it again? What would you change if you could do it