Chapter 10, "Woke Up This Morning"
By: RogueBHS
A/N: Whoa. My muse is in high gear. I have to warn all of you that this story is taking a sudden U-turn. I am not going to change the past chapters, but Rogue and Storm are about to encounter some serious issues between them. This was inspired by a fiction I read on the Rogue-based fansite called "Down-Home Charm." The story is "Incarnidine" by Ruby Lis. Check it out some time. Hope you enjoy this, but it does get dark and deep from here on out.
By the way, PLEASE review. How else am I supposed to know what you do and don't understand about the story? And a thank you to my loyal reviewers, and especially to Randi who helped spark some of the inspiration for the remainder of the story.
I paid my last respects this morning on an early grave
Already said my goodbye...nothin' left to say
A tiny church, a tiny town and not a tear was spent
Not how I wanted it...I'm hating all of this
Now I know why I hide my love from you somedays
No I don't mind keeping this bottled inside me
You came along and tore this wall down around me
Looks like you found me...now I know why
I felt like shit when I woke up this morning
"Woke Up This Morning" by Nickleback
The thunder clashing and rumbling outside of the Xavier mansion should have been a warning; it should have been observed as the bad omen it was. Something angry and violent was raging right inside of the minds of two of the mansion's occupants. When left unsaid, words have a terrible way of twisting and turning themselves into things much darker than they originated as. The same can be said of emotions. A little bit of jealousy, or a spark of mild anger can turn into the darkest of emotions.
Up in her loft, Ororo was brooding over her latest conversation with Remy. Once again, he had turned to her for aid in his relationship with Rogue. Well who the hell said that she fully understood the younger woman?! Rogue was as much a mystery to the weather witch as she was to any one else in the mansion. There were, of course, a few oddball similarities between the two X-women, but why was it that it was Ororo who understood Rogue the best?
Down in her own room, Rogue was occupying similar thoughts. She knew very well where Remy had headed after their most recent arguement; straight to his beloved friend. And that same "friend" was also supposed to be one of Rogue's better friends. Wasn't that handy for the Cajun? He thought he could get free information out of Ororo concerning Rogue. Ha! As if the former goddess really understood Rogue.
Rogue was more than her name implied, and so much more than the X-men gave her credit for. She had once been Mystique's protege, and had the knowledge that went with that position. Oh, it wasn't locked away like the others thought it was. It was anything but forgotten. Her name meant "scoundrel" or "a michevious person," but there were other words that fit just as well. Of course, Rogue had never cared for the word "scoundrel." It meant someone who was immoral, mean or wicked. But then again, those words could describe her easily at various points in her life.
No one truely knew anything of the pasts of Rogue or Ororo when you got down to it, but the only one that they were concerned with was Rogue. Oh, how stupid they were. If they truely believed that Logan, Rogue and Remy were the only X-men who had blood on their hands when they joined the team...oh! They couldn't have been more wrong.
Storm had shed her own share of blood when she was worshipped as a goddess...and she had felt no qualms about doing so. After all, if you invoke the rath of a powerful woman, you will pay the price in some form or fashion. Some would say Rogue was the one who had killed in cold blood, but they had no idea how cold the blue eyes of a weather goddess could be. Ororo had done her best to become humble after she joined the X-men, but pride still reared its head when she wanted it the least.
The storm outside had been brewing for days; the storm inside, for years. There was so much that Rogue and Ororo had wanted to say to each other, too much that went unsaid. When "Woke Up This Morning" by Nickleback came on Rogue's CD player, it couldn't have been more fitting for the mood of her or Ororo.
Outside, thunder cracked loudly just before the house was plunged into darkness. There were the expected feminine screams from Jean and Psylocke who hadn't been expecting the loss of lighting, and unexpected quiet from the rooms of Ororo and Rogue. There wasn't a sound or hint of movement from those rooms even as the others gathered in the hallway and living room. Candles were lit, flashlights passed out, and team members accounted for. Minus Rogue and Ororo.
Curious, the other X-men split up and went to the womens' rooms, looking for the two missing ones. Without any findings, they returned to the main floor. Outside, lightning was dancing, constantly striking on the grounds of the mansion. When Jean went to the window to see what was going on, she was shocked to find Ororo out there, reveling in the forces around her. The lightning was dancing on her fingers, and her hair was slick from the pouring rain. Jean turned to the others, her face a little pale.
"Something isn't right...Ororo's out there. Its almost as if this storm is from her own will."
"That doesn't sound right, Jeannie. Roro's got a tight reign on her powers...almost as tight as Rogue. 'Sides, she ain't th' type t' let loose like this."
"I don't know why she's out there, but she is Logan. And she's definitely enjoying causing this storm. Something must be bothering her...something big."
Jean didn't know how right those words were. Without Storm's influence, the storm would have stayed mild, and just delivered a gentle, cleansing rain to the area. But Ororo's brooding and angry temperment had brought in the thunder and lightning, as well as the heavy rains. If Jean had known that the cause for Storm's temperment was outside as well, she would have worried greatly over what could happen. After all, letting two women with control over the elements fight during the middle of a storm that was already bad enough is anything but a good idea.
Outside of the mansion, a lone figure moved across the roof, watching the weather witch enjoy her power over the powerful forces of nature. Lightning flashed and was reflected in a pair of dark emerald eyes; eyes that had been crying salty tears earlier that day. Wind caught in the auburn and white hair of the young woman known only as Rogue, and nearly knocked her off of the roof. She had been seen by the very person she had hoped to evade for a while. At least long enough to get her mind and emotions back under control.
Ororo raised up on the winds until she was level with Rogue, and her white eyes flashed. Her privacy had been intruded upon, and right now, that was unforgivable. Lightning struck only inches away from Rogue, yet the woman didn't flinch, didn't move, didn't blink. Had Ororo not been seeing things through a redish haze, she might have noticed the stains on Rogue's face were not from the rain washing away her makeup, but from tears. But anger had taken on a new shade, and it was one that the goddess had not expierianced in some time.
Niether woman said a word, but they stayed in place, simply staring at each other. Something inside of Ororo snapped, and her eyes filled with the sheen of a vengeful goddess, ready to strike. Rogue was still silent, still unmoving, and much to the goddess' chagrin, unafraid.
Inside the mansion, the occupants were unaware of the goings on up above them. Until, that is, lightning struck again, and the screams of two women intermingled on the night air.
I've been a loser all my life, I'm not about to change
If you don't like it...there's the door...mobody made you stay
There ain't a woman on the planet who can deal with it
Just how I wanted it...I'm hating all of this
Now I know why I hide my love from you somedays
No I don't mind keeping this bottled inside me
You came along and tore this wall down around me
Looks like you found me...now I know why
I felt like shit when I woke up this morning
"Woke Up This Morning" by Nickleback
Scott stood in the medlab, looking through the glass at the face of young woman who had come to mean a great deal to him, his mind racing with thoughts of what had caused this. It had been two weeks since the X-men had run outside, following the sounds of screams, and had been horrified at the sight. Ororo had been kneeling on the ground, her own body scraped and bleeding, with Rogue's head craddled in her lap.
*Flashback*
One look was all it took for them to spring into action. Rogue's body was mangled, bruised, and bloodied, but she was breathing. Scott had been the first to reach them, and with gentle coaxing, he had lifted Rogue's body and gotten her to the medlab quickly, with Beast hot on his heals. Remy had carried Ororo down, softly talking to her, doing his best to calm her down. No questions were asked, no demands were made. The only sounds were those of feet moving across the floor and of the needed instruments being gathered so Rogue could be aided.
Ororo had stopped crying when she saw Rogue again, and her face had gone blank, but the pain was evident in her eyes. Slowly, Hank had pulled the curtain closed around the area where he was checking over Rogue, and Ororo's eyes lowered to the floor. When Beast had returned to check over Ororo, she had remained quiet, her eyes now fixed on the curtain that hid Rogue from her view. Hank pronouced Ororo alright, and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he announced the fate of Rogue.
It seemed that Rogue had suffered a mild concussion, and that there were a few bone fractures, but nothing that she couldn't recover from. Her body was healing at a normal rate, as it seemed to have forgotten that it had Logan's healing factor. When Logan moved forward, offering to let Rogue absorb him, Hank shook his head.
"For now, her body doesn't even recognize the X-gene. Until she wakes up, all of her powers are in the off position. For now...she might as well be a homo sapien rather than a homo sapien superior."
*End Flashback*
Scott turned at a sound behind him, and smiled at Ororo. She had told him about all that had happened that night, and he had readily forgiven her. Ororo walked up to his side, and looked at Rogue. Her hand lifted to the glass, then her eyes shifted to him. "Has she woken up yet?"
Scott sighed heavily and shook his head. "No. Hank refuses to say why, even though he knows exactly why she's staying like this. Xavier tried to pry it out of him, and Hank adamantly refused, saying that the information fell under doctor-patient privilage, and he couldn't say without loosing Rogue's trust. He said we'd have to make due with the fact that her body is repairing the damage."
Storm looked back to Rogue. "I keep on thinking back to the way she looked at me, as if she was battling something inside of her. I don't think she came up there looking for me, not any longer. She was looking for a place to be free." Ororo smiled ruefully. "None of us have talked to her about her powers have we? I mean really talked to her. We know nothing of what it does to her, or how it makes her feel do we? She used to always complain when she had a 'headache,' but I imagine whatever she felt was much worse. But lately, its as if those headaches have disappeared. I have to wonder if that's the truth of the matter though." Ororo's blue eyes shifted back to Scott. "She's much stronger than any of us give her credit for."
Scott nodded his agreement. "Yeah. Believe me, I know. She's told me things...things I don't think even Professor Xavier knows about her..." He paused and shook his head. "She's been through things I don't know how she survived." His eyes moved to the woman on the other side of the glass. "She's a fighter. No...she's more than that. She's a survivor." He chuckled dryly. "When the rest of us are dead and gone, that woman is still gonna be going, strong as ever."
Storm slid her arm through Scott's, nodding her agreement. "I imagine she will be. I do not know what possessed me that night...what made me act so rashly against her. She knew what I was going to do, yet she didn't try to stop me. She could have called on any power to take me down before or with her, but she wouldn't. If any of us ever truely understand her, I honestly think she would no longer be the woman we know now."
Scott smiled at Storm. "She's always changing, Roro. We all are. We'll never fully understand any of the others, and more than likely, we'll never fully understand ourselves either."
"You have a point there, old friend." She let her arm fall away from his. "But, I do know one thing for certain."
Scott tilted his head, curious. "What might that be?"
"That its lunch time, and that if we dont' hurry, Bobby just might eat our share."
Nodding, Scott turned away from the glass and stepped towards Storm. "Then why are we still down here?"
"My thoughts exactly."
As they walked away, neither one saw the green eyes fluttering open behind the glass pane. Dry lips mouthed one word, then the eyes closed once more.