Chapter 7 of 12
"Hide"
By: RogueBHS
A/N: Sorry its taken so long to update! There's a lot of reasons for it, two of them being my internet was down for a week, and I was out of town for somewhere over 48 hrs. Butt, hopefully, this chapter should make up for the delay. Enjoy.
"To what do I owe this gift my friend?
My life, my love, my soul?
I've been dancing with the devil way too long
And its making me grow old
Making me grow old
Lets leave...oh let's get away
Get lost in time
Where' there's no reason to hide
Lets leave...oh lets get away
Run in fields of time
Where' there's no reason to hide
"Hide" by Creed
Scott stood by Professor Xavier's wheelchair as they looked in silence at the wreckage of the mansion. It could take a good while to rebuild the part that the public knew of, but the lower levels, thankfully, were mostly in tact. The lower levels would need some pick-up work, but not much...so the students could live down there in rooms that had been set up in anticipation of something similar to this. But not even the professor had thought things could end up as bad as they did.
When a shadow fell on the ground next to him, he glanced over his shoulder, and found Rogue heading his way. She glanced around, then moved into the professor's line of sight as well. "Jus' about all of th' stuff above ground was completely wrecked that Ah c'n tell from th' air, but Ah think we could do some of it ourselves probably." When the professor seemed interested, she continued. "With Roberto, Hank's an' mah strength, Jean's telekenesis, and th' othah's powahs, we could do a lot of the grunt work, an' leave th' finishin' touches t' th' experts. But that's jus' an idea."
Xaiver nodded. "And a good one, I'll admit, Rogue. But I think it would be best if we used our powers as little as possible right now. I was thinking of having the students do a bit of the work though, mainly in putting things inside back to the way they were...painting and what not. This way you all can set up your rooms, within reason, the way you wanted them."
Rogue's eyes brightened a bit, and she posed a question. "What about sharin' rooms when th' place is rebuilt? We still gonna have to do that?"
Laughing softly, the professor shook his head. "No. Atleast, not you and the other 'senior' members of the team. The newer students will, however be sharing rooms. Ororo has decided to take the attic loft instead of a room, so that leaves an open room for you, Rogue."
Rogue smiled, the first true smile Scott had ever seen from her. It was meer coincidence that Remy happened to be walking near when she smiled. Grinning the same grin that grated on Kurt's nerves, he spoke to Rogue as if the professor and Scott weren't standing there. "Ahhh...so de femme can smile."
Rogue blushed lightly, and turned her face away to hide it as best she could. Shrugging lightly once she turned back and the blush was gone, she responded. "O' course Ah c'n smile, Swamp Rat, even th' much fabled 'ice queen' has a raght t' don't she?"
Scott frowned at her refering to herself as the ice queen, as he had chided many a person, including Jean about it. Before he could say anything though, he saw that Remy was frowning as well. That was a bit of a shock.
"Chere, you ain' no ice queen. Dat I know. But, oui, you do 'ave de right t' smile, as ya said."
Rogue watched both Scott and Remy frown, scott with mild amusement, Remy with surprise. As he answered her, saying she wasn't an ice queen as far as he was concerned, she grinned just a bit. "Oh really? Well, sugah, obviously ya don't know meh as well as ya'd lahke t' think ya do."
Surprised at the new 'nickname,' Remy didn't answer her for a moment. Slowly, he grinned again. "Ahh...you wound me, chere. But, for now, Remy gonna let you off de hook. No promises for next time t'ough."
Rogue grinned full this time. "Gonna have t' catch meh first. An' Ah doubt ya could..."
What are going to do with your gift dear child?
Give life, give love, give soul?
Divided is the one who dances
For the soul is so exposed
So exposed
Lets leave...oh lets get away
Get lost in time
Where' there's no reason to hide
Lets leave...oh lets get away
Run in fields of time
Where' there's no reason to hide
There is no reason to hide
No reason to hide
"Hide" by Creed
The X-men, younger students and adults watched Rogue in sheer amazement as she withstood the beating she was getting from a full, unrestricted blast from Scott. At the Professor's command, Scott put the visor back on, and looked at Rogue. "Well, you definitely weren't lying about being invunerable. That's for sure."
She laughed, a sound that was gradually being heard more often around the mansions lower levels. Shrugging, she turned and looked up at the control booth. "What's next Professah?"
"A test of your flying speeds Rogue. We'll use the Blackbird for this test."
Rogue nodded, then walked towards the elevator with Scott. Glancing his way, she spoke softly. "Was that really your full powah or were ya holdin' back a bit Scott?"
Surprised, he looked at her as they stepped into the elevator. "Are you kidding? Of course that was full power."
Rogue smiled almost shyly. "Sorry. It jus' didn' seem lahke it t' meh. Guess Ah'm more invunerable than Ah thought."
Scott patted her on the shoulder briefly before the doors opened. "No problem Rogue."
Lifting off of the floor, Rogue floated along beside the others idly on the way to the hanger where the blackbird was housed. When she floated past Remy, she was shocked to feel a hand grab her ankle. Looking back, she saw the cocky grin of the Cajun X-man as he tugged her ankle yet again. Realizing he wanted her to land, she did just that. Falling into step beside him, she tilted her head. "Somethin' ya wanted swamp rat?"
He shrugged. "Jus' wanted de company of a tres belle femme. Dat a problem chere?"
She glanced around, then motioned to Jean, Kitty, Jubilee, Amara and Tabby with her right hand. "Ah see a few othah gals around heah your age, why not ask them t' walk with ya?"
He took the hand she motioned with and just held it as they walked, surprising her. "De ot'er femmes may be pretty, ma chere, but none of dem are you. Guess what dis Cajun shoulda said was dat he wanted de company of you, Roguey. Not de ot'ers."
Stunned, Rogue stayed quiet, and left her hand in his. She felt his gaze still on her, but ignored it, refusing to look at him. As cute as he was, he had enough ego without her adding to it.
As the others reached the main level, Rogue finally let her hand slip from his, but that was no real surprise. Rogue and Remy listened silently as the Professor instructed Logan to fly the X-jet, and Hank to run the tests. When Hank walked over to Rogue, Remy took a step back, giving the large X-man more room.
Rogue raised an eyebrow when Hank held out a belt to her. "Ah already have one o' those on don' Ah?"
Hank laughed. "No. This has a few special modifications." He smiled. "If you can replace your other belt with this one, we can get started on the tests."
Rogue slipped off the belt that she usually wore and traded it for the one with the 'special modifications.' Looking to the professor, she titled her head. "What exactly are we testin' about mah flyin' ability?"
Professor xavier steepled his fingers. "We're going to attempt to test your flying speeds and agility for now."
Rogue nodded, then looked to Logan. "Ready whenevah you are."
Nodding himself, Logan entered the X-jet, settling at the controls while Hank entered with some odd looking equipment. Logan's voice came over the communicator once the door had closed. "Let us get off the ground before you take off, kid. K?"
"Ya got it Wolvie. Lets jus' get this ovah with eh?"
Logan's soft chuckle came over the communicator seconds before it was drown out by the sound of the X-jet taking off. Rogue glanced at the others, then sheilded her eyes from the sun as she watched the jet gain altitude. When Logan gave her the OK via the communicator, she took off, gaining speed and altitude quickly. Waving briefly at Logan as she passed, she grinned.
"Show off."
Rogue laughed softly at the gruff, yet teasing words from Logan as she picked up more speed yet. Lightly, she tapped the window of the X-jet, then spoke into her own communicator. "Tag Wolvie. Yo' it."
Logan watched her take off like a shot, then winced at the boom created when she broke the sound barrier without any trouble at all. "That kid better watch it. She forgets I've been flyin' for a good while now."
Hank chuckled, then stopped as the machines went to their maximum capibilities to try and keep track of her speed. "Oh my." He looked up at Logan. "She's already out flown the speeds the machines can trace Logan, I doubt you'll catch up with her now. You may want to activate the camera we had attached her her communicator."
Logan did so, and was more than a little surprised to see that Rogue was well above the ground...and above the flying limits of any airplane in altitude. He sighed and turned the jet back towards the mansion, wondering how on earth he was going to explain this to the Professor.
Rogue's voice came over the communicator, gaining his attention. "What's th' mattah Wolvie? Cain't keep up?" She laughed. "Guess your oldah then Ah thought then eh?"
Logan growled lowly at the insult to his age, then shook his head as he responded. "Nope. This plane can't keep up with you kid, even at top speed. Besides, if the camera image is any indication, you're up pretty damn high. I'm takin' th' jet back t' th' mansion, so just make sure ya get back b'fore Chuck sends out th' others after ya ok?"
Rogue laughed again, looking down at the land far below. "Alright, Wolvie. Jus' tell th' professah that Ah'll be back bah time fo' dinnah. Othah than that Ah won't make any promises. Its so wondahful up heah..."
Hank chuckled again, then spoke to Rogue himself. "Rogue, my dear, you've beaten the machines. Even they couldn't keep up with you. But we'll pass on your message to the Professor."
Rogue didn't respond, but simply went higher and higher, enjoying the freedom of being so far away from everything. There were no worries up here. Planes couldn't run into her, people couldn't touch her, and best of all...she could see the stars already. The air had a bit of a chill to it as she got higher, but that was no matter. Invunerability was kicking in, and fighting off the coolness. Rogue stopped flying and started floating, looking up at the stars. With the polution that carried over from New York City, the stars weren't as easy to see back at the mansion.
Up here though? God. She could stay up here forever just watching those stars. Despite herself, Rogue found herself wishing there was someone up here with her to see it...to enjoy it with her. The others would never understand unless they saw. The clearness of the sky... the chill of the air...the brightness of the stars...How could she describe it properly? Rogue had always been one to enjoy the senses she could use, since her sense of touch was such a curse if it wasn't guarded by gloves or other material. And up here, her senses seemed more alive than ever.
Sighing, Rogue let herself slowly drop down closer to earth and its dangers. Taking one last look at the stars, Rogue smiled, then shut off her ability to fly, free-falling from over 100,00 feet up. Rogue tuned in her sixth sense, and watched carefully for anything she might run into. Seeing nothing, she continued down, down...then pulled up and looked down over New York. The City was already ablaze with lights. Shaking her head, Rogue headed for the institute, enjoying watching the sunset as she did.
When Rogue landed at the mansion, all was quiet, and no one was outside. Heading for the elevator that would let her into the lower levels, Rogue stopped, turned and looked up at the sky again. Smiling, she stepped into the elevator, knowing she would be back up there again soon.