Life, Love and Egg Nog

Chapter 2: The Angel
            (sings) IIII'mmmm bbbbaaacck (coughs from hitting too high a note), When I said this was going to be a short one what I meant to say was that this going to be fast one. I'm hoping to get this done before Christmas. I intend this to be only half serious, because I don't understand angst and if it was all serious that is what it would be. I must apologize; the last chapter was really rushed. I'm going to take a little more time on this one, but not much. (: P)

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            The covers began to stir and Scott Summers poked his head out from under them "Marie, what's wrong? It's four in the morning." He said as she noticed that all he had on was a pair of black boxer shorts. Rogue stood silent as Scott snapped to full consciousness "Oh, crap if I don't get out of here quick, people are gonna know what we've been doing." Said Scott as he grabbed his things, gently yet sensually kissed Rogue on the lips, and darted out of the room as quietly as possible. Rogue was left in a state of complete shock, but she something was different.

            Rogue quickly recovered from her shock and ran to the bathroom. She quickly ran to the mirror. Wait, since when did she have her own bathroom? She pushed that thought to the back of her mind and stared at the creature in the mirror. It looked like her, but it couldn't be. The person in the mirror's skin was not pale in fact it had healthy reddish color. Rogue looked down at herself and noticed her skin was the exact same color. Not only that her was toned and muscular; not the grotesque man-like body that most female body builders had but it had a very feminine shape to it. Her hair was long with a vibrant brown tint to it, her white bangs where still hung in front of her eyes. "You like what you see?" came a voice from behind her. Rogue nearly jumped out of her skin as turned to see that it was none other than her best friend Kitty Pryde.

            "Kitty, what are you doing here, it's four thirty in the morning." asked Rogue?

            "Jamie's waking everyone up banging on the doors. Scott asked me to come get you. We're opening presents." Kitty explained

            "Oh, I'll be right down." Rogue answered as Kitty almost walked out of the room but stopped short.

            "Are you alright? You seem a little jittery."

            "Yeah Kitty I'm fine, why?"

            "You just tried to walk out the door in you're under wear."

            "Oh, yeah. Heh heh."

            "Just put some clothes on, you crazy girl, and come down. Everybody, that is awake, is waiting for the Professor's daughter." Informed Kitty

            "Professor's daughter?" wondered Rogue

            "Yeah, he adopted you when you where two. Are you sure that you're all right?" asked Kitty with a funny look.

            "Ha, yeah. Just had a brain fart there. I'll be down in a little."

            "Ok." Said Kitty as she walked out of the room.

            Rogue tried to ward off the weird look that her friend gave her as Kitty phased thru the wall. Rogue heaved a heavy sigh of relief but soon got back to reality if it was indeed reality. She remembered that in dreams you're not supposed to feel pain; so she pinched herself. This decision was one she regretted as she had pinched herself hard and the pain was enormous. She was on the verge of a mental breakdown, but calmed herself. She calmly walked over to the closet and opened it. Her favorite outfit was not anywhere in sight. She searched the closet up and down, but still nothing. So she pulled out a pair of black jeans that had gold seams, and pulled out a large baggy sweatshirt, all the T's where either too small for her tastes or showed too much skin. She threw on the clothes and quickly tied the longer-than-what-she-was-used-to hair into a ponytail hurried to the main hall.

            Everyone was waiting, both those awake and asleep, her arrival. She treaded nervously as all eyes darted in her direction. "Come on Marie, We're opening presents!" called Professor Xavier. He then looked at the younger of the group acting as if they had gotten into the coffee bean stash the night before. "Go ahead!" said Charles as Jamie dove head first into the cache of presents. Rogue reached the source of the and that everyone was accounted for except for one, Jean. Jean did have a family, so Rogue assumed that that was where Jean was and sat next to Scott in a chair. Presents where handed out to everyone, but Rogue found her self preoccupied with the deference in the people around her. Logan looked as if he was younger than she knew him. He was clean-shaven and some of the scars that had been visible where gone. On the other side of the scale Scott was more ragged. Scott wasn't wearing the kaki/sweater combo she was used to, in fact he wore a pair of worn jeans and a tight tank top. Scott's face was also covered in stubble that managed to give him a rugged look. As she looked around the room only minor changes to those around her, but she stopped at Kurt Wagner. He stuck out like a sore thumb, as he was the only one who had a solemn expression.

            Rogue needed to clear her mind so she quietly excused herself and walked out onto the balcony. She took a deep breath of the cold winter air, but suddenly there came a voice from her side." So, how does not being a mutant feel?" asked a semi-high pitched male voice.

            "What?" wondered Rogue as she spun on her heel to a relatively short man with a balding head. "Who are you? And how do you know about that?"

            "Well," the man mused, "My name is Clarence, and I know because I was assigned to you. I'm your guardian angel. Now I know you don't believe me, so ask me any one thing." Rogue thought for a minute, but her mind kept coming back to Nightcrawler and his solemn face.

            So she asked "Why is Kurt so sad?"

            Clarence sighed; he had hoped she wouldn't ask that question. "Professor Xavier and Raven Darkholme are in a custody battle over Kurt. You see when Kurt was little Raven, also known as Mystique, was driven into a murderous rage when she found that two humans had adopted Kurt."

            "What happened?" asked Rogue

            "Well Raven lost herself with rage and killed Kurt's adopted parents, right in front of him. When she came to her senses she took Kurt and left him on the Professor's doorstep. Now after years in a mental institute Raven has decided that she wants him back."

            "Why did this happen?"

            "Because Raven was not concerned with you and you're mutant abilities she didn't adopt you." Clarence stated. Rogue was silent with thought; she could not believe what she had heard. Then she realized that she didn't know the man that told her this, but before she opened her mouth to protest Clarence interrupted.

            "There will be a time for more questions, Later. Now, just go enjoy your wish." In the blink of an eye he was gone. It was just as if he had never been there.

            "Marie, you haven't opened your presents, yet. Come down and join us." Professor Xavier spoke to Rogue's mind.

            "I'll be right down!" she answered as she rushed down stares.

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            End chapter 2

            Ok so I'm going to end up making this longer than I thought. Time to answer some Reviews:

BaneofJean: It was the most embarrassing thing I could think of at the moment for Rogue, so I put it in. Clarence is cool and I originally didn't plan to put him in but Clarence can thank you for his appearance. He is going to have a bigger part; BTW I love Unveiling

Aria: I'm glad you like my writing and I apologize for the serious turn in this part of the story. Personally, I like the Scott/Rogue pairing, but that is not what this is about. This story is about Rogue's gradual change of heart, not the pairing.

Dark Jaded Rose: I'll try to keep it as very little depressing as possible, but chances are it'll have it's down points, sorry. L