Chapter 1, "Darkness"
By: MidnyteRogue aka RogueBHS
A/N: This is a journal/first-person occurance fiction from Rogue's POV and another unknown person who's reading the journal. Hopefully its not too confusing. Try to see if you can figure out who the person reading is, that's part of the mystery.
The stench...God it was everywhere. Just like the darkness. Momma always had to pick the darkest nights to work. Luckily, I have good night vision. Not excelent. But it gets me by. I hear movement roughly 10 feet away. Focus, gal, focus. *Scuffle...pause...scuffle...scuffle... pause* A person. Either drunk, stoned, or hurt. With the stench its hard to tell which. Ah... a bottle, glass, just broke on the pavement. Its a drunk. Those can be fun to play with when I have the time.
Not tonight. Momma said this has to be done. And Nanna agreed. They know I won't fight them both on something like this. The drunk comes into range where I can see him. Curious, I lift the gun, looking through the nightscope. Dear God. Its the target, and I could've missed him all because I thought he was a damn drunk. Lining up the shot, for the first time in months, my hands shake. Momma said the guy had kids...kids damn it. One about my age. I feel my heart ice over. My daddy never loved me enough to stick around.
I take the shot. Its clean, precise...as always. Momma trained me to be the best after all. Before he can fall, I'm there, catching him. Can't leave any evidence. I turn at the sound of more footsteps. Fred's huge figure comes into the shadows, followed by St. John. St. John is holding a flashlight, thankfully. He shines the light on the bullet wound. Very little blood. Even better. I look up at Fred as he takes the guy, literally, out of my hands. He grins at me, that ugly leering grin that he knows I hate.
I stick my tounge out at him. Its immature, but then again, I am the youngest team member. Oh well. Atleast Momma didn't see. She always gets on to me about stuff like that. St. John has already started cleaning what little blood got on the pavement...its some special stuff momma got from a scientist that can erase all traces of blood. We buy it in ten gallon barrels.
Fred has already disappeared with the target, so I start to search for the bullet. It doesn't take me long with St. John's flashlight. It was imbedded in the brick that had been roughly twelve or thirteen feet behind the target. Its a tricky business...trying to make a brick look as if there hadn't been a dent. But with a little help from some clay on the ground and a special powder, the wall looks as good as new.
I glance up when Momma calls to me. She says its time to go. I glance at the wall to make sure it looks alright as it starts to dry, and then hurry out of that dark, stinking alley. I never want to go in another one...but I will. Its my destiny...my curse...my darkness.
It was her curse alright. One it took her years to overcome. It was her darkness as well. But the darkness would be eventually conquered by the light. The darkness has shown up from time to time, but very rarely. Her destiny however is a matter still under question. Some say she is to be the guardian of the witness. Others say she is to be one of the first to die...but if she is, it will be as a guardian of one of the X-men. Yet others say she will be a gene traitor. That she will let someone cure her of her powers. But I do not believe this last one. Rogue is an X-man through and through.
As I look over the page again, one sentence sticks out. "I feel my heart ice over." Jealousy. That's a common enough emotion. One Rogue has battled throughout her life. Jealousy over those who can touch, jealousy over those who have had a loving family...the list can go on. But I'm sure you get the idea.
The mission went well Momma says. I'd agree, but I haven't been able to say a word since we left that alley. It was clean. She smiles at me proudly. God...I don't know what I'd do without Momma some days. Her faith and pride in me keeps me going on the missions. She never had to take in the Rogue river-rat from Mississippi...but she did. I know that Nanna must have said something to make Momma take me in, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what.
Momma says St. John, better known around here as Pyro, and Fred, better known as the Blob, did good too, but the pride isn't there. I'm her pride, her protege...her daughter in every way that counts. She said the law wouldn't let her adopt me, but that didn't matter. She'd take care of me anyway...she loved me enough to do that. Time will tell. That's what Nanna says about everything.
Momma mentions a mission to be done in Mexico, and smiles when she says she hopes I'm up on my Spanish. I answer, returning her smile, "Si." She laughs. Momma doesn't laugh much, so I make a point to enjoy it when she does. Nanna smiles at me too. She may be blind, but she's good at using her other senses...including her prognative abilities. Momma and Nanna are mutants like me, which is why I know I can trust them. They know how it feels to be an outcast...a disease...a Rogue.