Title: A Stranger's Touch: Allied Strangers
Rating: PG
Summary: A bond between two people can take many years to develop. Or a
few weeks. [First part in what will hopefully be a series]
Type of fic: Story
Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and places are not mine. They
belong to Marvel and/or Marvel Studios, WB, Film Roman (I think), and whoever
else claims rights to them.
Distribution: FF.net and Random Thoughts. All else, please just ask.
Author's notes: Sorry there's quite a bit, and with more to probably
follow!
#01 - / denotes psychic thoughts /
#02 - This is pretty much - and very much - an AU story, however a lot of the
stuff that's happened in Seasons One and Two WILL be included. Not all, but
some.
#03 - My accent-writing ability extends only to "Ah" and "mah". I suck
at it majorly.
#04 - This story is under the assumption that the Brotherhood members do NOT
know that Mystique and Ms Darkholme are the same person, and that it was
Mystique who recruited all the members. Remember - AU.
***
Allied Strangers
Chapter Three
As usual, he found Rogue waiting for him outside the front door. Although they all had breakfast at the same time, she was always ready ahead of him. Lance figured that it was probably because the boys allowed her access to the bathroom first. And more often than not, she was already dressed and ready for school before coming down to breakfast.
'Ready to go?' he asked, leading the way to his Jeep.
'As Ah'll ever be.' Rogue sighed. 'Do you think Ms Darkholme will notice if Ah don't show up for school today?'
Lance turned towards her. He knew how much she disliked the kids at the school, the way they treated her, and felt bad for it. He repeatedly told her to ignore the jerks, that they were stupid and didn't know any better. She would nod and agree but he could still see how much it upset her. 'She'll notice, believe me.'
'It would be nice though, don't you think? Just to not have to care about homework or worry about those dumb kids at school.'
He jumped in behind the wheel and watched as she climbed into the passenger's side. 'You mean you don't do that already?' Lance was pleased to see a smile on her face.
'You know what Ah mean,' she said.
Lance frowned in thought. It was a Monday, the worst day of the week. It wasn't as if he had never cut school before. At his last school he had held the worst record for attendance and tardies. He didn't care. He grinned, jamming the key into the ignition and turning on the engine. 'Let's do it!'
Rogue looked at him in surprise. 'What?'
'Let's blow this town, just head off somewhere for the day.'
She blinked. 'But… what about Mystique? Won't she get mad? And Ms Darkholme isn't going to be very happy.'
He shrugged. 'I doubt Mystique will care too much, and as for Ms Darkholme, well, detention ain't so bad.'
Rogue bit her lower lip as if contemplating her options. Then, she turned back to him with a smile. 'Ah'm in.'
Lance threw the Jeep into gear and all but squealed out of the driveway. He whooped. 'That's my girl!'
*
Mystique scanned the attendance record for the day, keeping an eye out for specific names. All the X-Men were in school. She sneered. Always the perfect ones. However an unexpected cross was marked beside an unexpected name. Rogue.
'Damn.' She hurriedly searched for the seniors list again and easily found the name she seeked. A cross against Alvers, Lance. She swore.
Mystique leaned forward and pressed the button to activate the PA system. 'Todd Tolensky to the principal's office! Todd Tolensky to the principal's office right now!'
She stood and started to pace as she waited for the freshman. She tried not to think of what could be happening between the two older Brotherhood members, knowing that at least it wasn't anything physical. Maybe there were just cutting school. Mystique's nose flared at the idea. How dare they!
A timid knock sounded on her door, interrupting her thoughts. 'Enter!'
As usual Toad's smell preceded him, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She walked towards the windows and opened them further as the student hopped into one of the chairs in front of her desk. 'Whatever it was, I didn't do it, yo!'
'Don't worry, Mr Tolensky, you're not in trouble,' she told him. 'I wanted to ask you about your two absent friends, Rogue and Mr Alvers.'
Toad looked crushed. 'Absent? Like they skipping school and they didn't ask me? Yo, that's not cool.'
'Mr Tolensky!'
'I mean, I don't know nothing about that, Ms Darkholme. They always leave the house early and I didn't see the Jeep when I left this morning. See, they always come to school together.'
Mystique frowned. 'I see. When you see them again, be sure to tell them to visit me in my office first thing tomorrow.'
'Sure thing, Ms Darkholme.' He just sat and looked at her, as if waiting.
'You can go now.'
Toad shrugged and hopped out of her office.
However she kept near the windows for a little while longer, thinking. She hadn't been blind to the growing bond between Rogue and Lance. Mystique knew she should be pleased about it, but she was apprehensive. She could feel Rogue's uneasiness around her and knew that the girl still held questions about what had happened in Mississippi. She had to be careful around the girl. She was still fragile and one wrong move could have her running to Xavier and the X-Men.
Rogue's friendship – if it could be called that – with Lance was what was needed to bind her to the Brotherhood, so Mystique should be happy. But yet…something. Lance could never understand the depth of someone like Rogue, and Rogue could not afford to get too emotionally involved with anyone. Even if it was with the most loyal of the Brotherhood members.
Mystique knew that she had to do or say something before it was too late, but couldn't think of anything that would be subtle enough to still keep Rogue with the Brotherhood. Perhaps it was best to leave things as it was for now. Or perhaps Mystique just had to accept what seemed to be inevitable. After all, in the long run, it was for the good of the group.
*
'So, vere is the new girl?' Kurt asked, looking around the quad as he joined them for lunch. 'I haven't seen her all day.'
Jean frowned. 'Neither have I. And I didn't see Lance in English either.'
Kurt groaned. 'Oh, how I vish the Prof would let us skip school for a day! They must be having so much fun.'
Scott tried not to worry too much. So far none of the X-Men have managed to talk to Rogue during her first week at Bayville, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Every time anyone tried to approach her she would turn and almost run in the opposite direction. She wanted nothing to do with them. 'They might not be having fun when Ms Darkholme catches up with them tomorrow,' he said seriously.
Jean grinned at him. 'What's the matter Mr Perfect Attendance Record? Disapproving that a senior would cut school?'
Kurt started to laugh.
'Hey, what's so funny?' a girl's voice asked from behind Scott. Kitty. They greeted the younger girl as she sat opposite him at the table.
'Scott's not happy because Lance is teaching a younger student a lesson in truancy,' Jean informed her.
'Oh, right. That's, like, skipping school, right?' Kitty shook her head. 'I think he did that a lot at my old school, too. And you guys are talking about the new girl, right? Rogue? She wasn't in my biology class this morning.'
'Do you think Mystique will get mad at them?' Kurt asked, biting into his sandwich.
'I don't see why not.' Scott frowned. 'If she wants to discipline them, she would, but I guess we'll probably never know.'
'You know, I didn't think Rogue's so bad,' Kurt said.
Rogue's failure to join the X-Men had been a major topic of conversation since Mississippi, and for some reason they all seemed to dwell a lot on it. The adults', and especially Professor Xavier, obvious disappointment at having 'lost' her didn't help any of the kids too much. Scott wanted to ask them at why the one particular girl was so important, but couldn't do it. He had a feeling it was to do with her powers but didn't understand how it could be more valuable than any of theirs.
'Even though she's, like, always really moody and gloomy and dark?' Kitty asked.
'Well, not everyone can be so peppy and happy all the time like you, Kitty,' Jean teased.
Kitty giggled. 'I am not always so peppy!'
Scott looked at his team mates – his friends – and smiled. This was how things should be. Even though he couldn't imagine Rogue sitting with them, having lunch and laughing, she would still have been a nice addition to their family.
*
'New York sure is a big city,' Rogue said in awe, her eyes constantly moving from one object to another as she tried to take everything in.
'It's beautiful at night,' Lance said, his hand at her elbow as he guided her past the crowded sidewalk and into one of many huge malls of the city. 'You'll have to see it.'
She looked up at him. 'Ah'd like that.'
He nodded. 'Then it's a date. Okay, so now what should we shop for? For some reason Mystique has been leaving us quite a lot of money lately.'
Rogue shrugged, not used to shopping with a boy. Heck, not used to shopping with anyone close to her age. For as long as she could remember Irene had always accompanied her on shopping trips, often choosing everything for her. 'Ah'm not sure Ah know what Ah should be buying. Maybe we could get Todd some nice chocolates?'
Lance chuckled. 'Yeah, poor guy will be upset we didn't invite him along.'
'Chocolates it is then.' She started to walk off in search for any signs of a place they could find chocolates when she felt Lance watching her. She stopped and turned towards him, offering a nervous smile. 'What's up?'
He shook his head as he closed the distance between them. 'You know you're quiet upbeat for a Goth girl.'
Rogue looked away, annoyed at his words. 'Ah didn't choose to be like this, it's just the way things worked out,' she muttered darkly. 'Irene insisted that Ah had to be always covered, from mah face to mah arms and legs. Being like this just makes it easier to keep everyone at a distance.'
'Not everyone.'
She looked sharply at him. 'What?'
Lance shrugged. 'I said not everyone. Todd and I are okay with you.' He offered her a grin. 'In fact, I have a feeling that Todd kinda has a little crush on you.'
Rogue had never thought anyone could ever develop a crush on her, and she blushed at the thought. 'Ah don't think so. Come on, let's go get those chocolates.'
'You know, we'll probably have enough money to buy you something nice. If you want.'
She walked ahead, avoiding having to look at him. 'Ah'm okay.'end part three.
