Disclaimer: The characters belong to Marvel. Not this Marvel...the other one.


***

He stepped out of the hall, broken shadows playing on his face. Then the light of the living room illuminated him fully; at first glance he looked the same as had a few months ago. He stood straighter, though, shoulders back, and his demeanor as a whole was more serious and severe. As he looked down on Rogue speechlessly, she noticed for the first time how similar they looked, with the same green eyes, thin frame, and cleft chin. It was mostly his scar that distanced their physical resemblance.
"Hello Mara," he said finally.
"Hi Graydon," she murmured.
"I can honestly say I didn't expect to see you here." His voice was hard and cold, having lost all trace of its southern accent - politics weren't the only things he'd been learning at Princeton.
"Where...where's Irene?"
"You tell me. Not long after I arrived at school I called home, but the phone just rang and rang. I kept trying, but finally it got disconnected. Eventually I found out that you were both gone." He grinned, though there was no amusement in his eyes. "I guess after you left, Mother found no reason why Irene should stay here. I only came back to put this place up for sale."
"Ah shoulda told ya ah was gone."
He laughed humorlessly. "Oh, yeah. You could've told me the whole damn story. How you ran away after you nearly killed some poor kid. Oh, yeah, Mara, that would've been great. A real load off my mind!" He closed his eyes, shook his head, and laughed again. "My own sister, a mutant!"
"How'd you know?"
"I have connections now; I can find out anything I need." Graydon walked over and stood right in front of her. "How could you be this way?? Why?"
"Ah didn't choose to be like this!" she cried.
He spit the words out as if they were bitter. "My own sister...everything I've ever done has been to make life better for you. And this is the way things turn out! My sister - a damn mutant, just like Mother! Just like him!" Graydon stopped and placed his hand on his chest, the fury in his eyes turning to sadness. "You've broken my heart, Mara," he declared softly. "Things can never be the same between us."
"It doesn't have to be this way!" she shouted.
"But it does. It really, really does." He sighed shakily. "Now tell me you love me."
"Ah love you, Graydon," Rogue whispered.
His face was distorted with pain. "I love you too, Mara. And now you're dead to me."
He turned on his heels and left the room.

***

The next day Pietro was waiting for her at the Bayville train station.
"That was fast," he remarked. "And I know fast."
"Well, the old place wasn't like it used to be." Rogue smiled weakly. "Ya know what they say - ya can't go home again." She looked at him, scrutinizing. "Ya knew when ah'd be here again."
He shrugged. "Call it a gift."
"Maybe you're telepathic, too," she offered teasingly.
"Sure!" He laughed. "And you're Jean Grey's best friend! But seriously...something happened, didn't it?"
"Yeah." Suddenly, for the first time, Rogue began to cry. "Yeah, something happened."
"Rogue..." Awkwardly, Pietro put his arms around her. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault! Ya told me not to get hurt," she sobbed.
"You wanna tell me about it?"
She shook her head and stepped away from him. "Not right now...ah'm not ready. Maybe some other time."
"Okay, it's a date."
She wiped her eyes. "Did anyone even notice ah was gone?"
"Yeah, your X-geek friends. Summers even asked Lance if we knew where you were. Like we'd kidnap you or something! I was just surprised they didn't figure out that you'd gone off on your own."
"Ah guess ah'd better get home...the mansion, ah mean."
"You know, you still have another home. With us."
"Really?" Rogue smiled softly, genuinely. "Never would've thought you guys'd have me back."
"We would in a minute! Well, Tabitha'd have a problem with it, but who the hell cares what she thinks?"
"Thanks, Pietro." She hugged him. "Ah'm goin' now."
And walking through the exit, she started off, in the direction of home.

THE END


Author's Note: Thus ends my first fic. Just in case you don't know, Graydon Creed is the human son of Mystique and Sabertooth and later becomes the leader of an militant anti-mutant organization called the Friends of Humanity, doing a whole lot of bad stuff to mutants. So what'd ya think?? Should I continue writing these things??