Disclaimer: I do not own the song "Naked", it belongs to Avril Lavigne.
(A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, thanks for all the awesome reviews, I really appreciate it, as usual, hope you all enjoy this chapter:)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Rogue jolted up, her heart racing, she looked frighteningly at her surroundings, all in one swift motion.
For a few agonizing seconds the room she was in whirled around her and her mind couldn't process any information, than it all came to her in a head splitting rush.
Rogue swung her legs over the side of the recovery bed in medlab, Beast was watching her intently, she responded to the attention with a sharp glare as all of the doctor's thoughts and feelings washed over her.
Voices roared in her brain, but soon settled as her newly acquired powers sorted and filtered them until she was able to turn off her telepathy, having full control over her added mutation.
Now she realized that he was talking, his seemingly jumbled words giving her an intense headache, so she took care of that too, by shutting him out, literally, no one knew it but one of Mesmero's powers was being able to turn off the five senses, sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.
She wondered how long she'd been out, deciding to probe Mr. McCoy's mind for the answer, but instead coming up with something unexpected, there was one question that the doctor was focused on at the moment, and she took the liberty of answering it.
"No, it didn't" she turned her hearing back on and was greeted by stunned silence, she ignored it and continued, "Your theory's wrong, Mesmero's powers wont help control my original"
Pity, that was the main emotion she felt radiating off of him with her words.
Rogue could care less though, it wasn't as if touch mattered that much to her anymore, despite what he and all the others thought, she had experienced that something she had once treasured so much, could bring unbearable pain, and she never wanted to go through that again.
She was focused on another problem right now anyway, she had killed someone, but she didn't know how to react, it had given her, her control back, her mask, her walls, three times as strong as they had ever been, and she had extra power, which she was using without guilt.
She wondered what this made her, *Guess I must be following in my mothers footsteps* thinking like that used to infuriate her, but now she was confused, was she really the cold blooded killer Mystique had trained her to be?
Hank started speaking again, this time his words were intelligible, "The rest of the team is asleep, you were unconscious for six hours"
Rogue frowned, hopped off the recovery bed, and proceeded to walk out, "And where do you think you are going?" Beast asked, stepping in front of the door and blocking her exit.
She raised a hand and brushed him aside with her kinetic force, "To my room" she kept her hand up, warding off his concern and inquiries.
She knew the Professor would not be to happy about this, so she was going to take up this argument now.
Rogue was glad it was past curfew, only Storm, Wolverine, and the occasional Acolyte would be roaming the mansion, and using her new powers she could easily avoid even them.
She arrived at Xavier's office and she knew he'd been expecting her when he beat her to the talking, "Rogue, it would be against my better judgment if I did not ask you to return to medlab"
"Why can't Ah stay in my own room? Mesmero's gone, the key is in our possession, the odds are in our favor, why can't ya'll just concentrate on that instead of questioning my mental stability?"
"No one is ques-" "Save it Professor, Ah'm a telepath now; you think Ah'm whacked" there was a stubbornness in her voice, promising an unrelenting argument if she didn't get what she wanted.
"Rogue, please" the Professor tried not to let his frustration show.
Rogue stood her ground, but not wanting to upset her mentor, offered a compromise, "Listen, if you'll let me stay in my own room and start going back to school, Ah'll check in with Mr. McCoy twice a day until you think Ah'm 'functioning properly'"
Xavier considered this, "There is one more condition I would like to add" he proposed, "No missions, I will allow Danger Room sessions, but nothing outside the Institute except for school"
She nodded, "Thanks, Professor" and she left, sneaking up to her and Kitty's room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Rogue felt exhausted and thought sleep would come as soon as her head hit the pillow, sadly, it wasn't that simple.
She starred at the ceiling, welcomed darkness enveloped her, she was afraid to close her eyes, the images still haunting her.
Glove coming off, skin meeting skin, the limp body of her opponent, the enemy, a terrorist of minds.
Shouldn't there be a certain sense of justice? She was the good guy, he was the villain, she had saved the world by destroying a definite threat, so why the black hole feeling?
Rogue rolled over and glanced out the window, she had an unobstructed view of a full, pale moon.
Tears, the same color as that moon, dripped silently, always silently, down her face, she cried herself to sleep as she had done so many times, her mask never seemed to want to stay in place, even with her reinforced shields.
She shut her added mutation off, giving him the advantage of sneaking in undetected, he was the only one who knew the reason she cried, he was the only one that could understand.
Rogue could feel him, powers or not, he knelt next to her, that was all, he didn't make another move, he was there, that was enough.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
_I wake up in the mornin'
Put on my face
The one that's gonna get me
Through another day_
Rogue applied her dark layer of make up, starring at the person that wasn't really her, she was acting as if nothing had happened, she was going to go to school as if her life hadn't taken a step in the worst direction imaginable.
_Doesn't really matter
How I feel inside
This life is like a game sometimes_
She waved off everyone's concern when she went downstairs, plastered on a neuteral expression, completely constricting with the girl that was bunched up in a ball behind her daddy's sofa, that's the state her mental image was in.
_Then you came around me
The walls just disappeared
Nothing to surround me
And keep me from my fears_
Rogue was beginning to think she would make it through today, maybe things wouldn't be so bad, maybe they wouldn't hurt as much, maybe her mask would stay in place.
That was until Remy came into the kitchen, gazes locked, time stood still.
_I'm unprotected
See how I've opened up
You made me trust_
It was only for an instant, but it felt longer, Rogue broke eye contact, thankful that no one else noticed the exchange, one crack, one slip, and they would see her, they would see what she was hiding.
He had seen already, it was a mistake, only it didn't hurt when he saw her, it always hurt with the others, not him.
_ 'Cause I've never
Felt like this before
I'm naked around you
Does it show?
You see right through me
And I can't hide
I'm naked around you
And it feels so right_
*I wonder when it ends? This hell they call a mind* she thought as Scott's car pulled into the school driveway and they all got out.
The insults started automatically, Rogue breezed by, hearing turned off, without a second thought, her walls up, walking with Kitty as if they didn't have a care in the world.
Her façade was dented though, when she found herself drawing red planets against black space for art class.
_I'm trying to remember
Why I was afraid
To be myself and let the
Covers fall away_
Rogue thought back to when this started, her mutation, she was twelve, he was her best friend, they'd known each other forever, his name was Cody.
She told him everything, things nobody would get the chance to know, because three nights before she turned thirteen, something had happened that made the girl isolate herself from everyone.
_Guess I never had
Someone like you
To help me fit
In my skin_
Thinking about Cody got her to thinking about Gambit, again, as she headed for lunch, half her focus diverted between internal struggles and keeping her telepathy tuned in the Brotherhood's direction so they didn't cause any trouble.
She hardly flinched when Remy slid in a seat next to her, she had sensed him, and now he was doing his best to flirt.
His mask was so typically covering the sensitive, understanding boy she knew as Remy LeBeau, but she still felt exposed, wary that her composure would slip while she was around him.
_I've never Felt like this before
I'm naked around you
Does it show
You see right through me
And I can't hide
I'm naked around you
And it feels so right_
Rogue and Gambit had started up their own little game of cat and mouse, advance, evade, advance, evade.
It was drawing the rest of the team's attention, Rogue had unfortunately sat down at a table right next to theirs, so the X-men were well within hearing range.
Pietro decided now would be a could time to annoy his father's goon, he sped up to the table that hosted the Cajun charmer and former 'Hood girl.
But before Quicksilver could get a sound out, he was pinned to the ground by an unknown force, Rogue smiled down a him, "Don't even think about it Speedy"
He looked at her with confusion and wounded pride, Rogue was glad that none of the preps seemed too interested that she was using her powers, the longer she tortured him the better mood she was in, "Didn't daddy tell you? Ah am now one of the most powerful mutants on earth, Sugah, and you just made your first mistake in tryin' to mess with me"
She levitated him slightly off the ground, his eyes widened, she smiled evilly and stood up, the X-men and Gambit looking at this display with amusement.
Suddenly the bell rang and kids started rushing back inside the building, Rogue gave a mock pout, "And here Ah was so looking forward to pulverizing your snotty little face, guess Ah'll have to take a rain check"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
The Brotherhood were the last people to enter the school after lunch, Lance, Todd, and Fred were snickering with uncontained laughter, "I would've killed to have gotten a picture of your face right then" Alvers chuckled.
"You are so whipped, yo" Toad added, "I can't wait till she kicks your sorry butt" Blob threw in. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
(A/N: I'm not really satisfied with some of how this chapter turned out, but I rewrote it about three times so I hope you guys like it)
(A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, thanks for all the awesome reviews, I really appreciate it, as usual, hope you all enjoy this chapter:)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Rogue jolted up, her heart racing, she looked frighteningly at her surroundings, all in one swift motion.
For a few agonizing seconds the room she was in whirled around her and her mind couldn't process any information, than it all came to her in a head splitting rush.
Rogue swung her legs over the side of the recovery bed in medlab, Beast was watching her intently, she responded to the attention with a sharp glare as all of the doctor's thoughts and feelings washed over her.
Voices roared in her brain, but soon settled as her newly acquired powers sorted and filtered them until she was able to turn off her telepathy, having full control over her added mutation.
Now she realized that he was talking, his seemingly jumbled words giving her an intense headache, so she took care of that too, by shutting him out, literally, no one knew it but one of Mesmero's powers was being able to turn off the five senses, sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.
She wondered how long she'd been out, deciding to probe Mr. McCoy's mind for the answer, but instead coming up with something unexpected, there was one question that the doctor was focused on at the moment, and she took the liberty of answering it.
"No, it didn't" she turned her hearing back on and was greeted by stunned silence, she ignored it and continued, "Your theory's wrong, Mesmero's powers wont help control my original"
Pity, that was the main emotion she felt radiating off of him with her words.
Rogue could care less though, it wasn't as if touch mattered that much to her anymore, despite what he and all the others thought, she had experienced that something she had once treasured so much, could bring unbearable pain, and she never wanted to go through that again.
She was focused on another problem right now anyway, she had killed someone, but she didn't know how to react, it had given her, her control back, her mask, her walls, three times as strong as they had ever been, and she had extra power, which she was using without guilt.
She wondered what this made her, *Guess I must be following in my mothers footsteps* thinking like that used to infuriate her, but now she was confused, was she really the cold blooded killer Mystique had trained her to be?
Hank started speaking again, this time his words were intelligible, "The rest of the team is asleep, you were unconscious for six hours"
Rogue frowned, hopped off the recovery bed, and proceeded to walk out, "And where do you think you are going?" Beast asked, stepping in front of the door and blocking her exit.
She raised a hand and brushed him aside with her kinetic force, "To my room" she kept her hand up, warding off his concern and inquiries.
She knew the Professor would not be to happy about this, so she was going to take up this argument now.
Rogue was glad it was past curfew, only Storm, Wolverine, and the occasional Acolyte would be roaming the mansion, and using her new powers she could easily avoid even them.
She arrived at Xavier's office and she knew he'd been expecting her when he beat her to the talking, "Rogue, it would be against my better judgment if I did not ask you to return to medlab"
"Why can't Ah stay in my own room? Mesmero's gone, the key is in our possession, the odds are in our favor, why can't ya'll just concentrate on that instead of questioning my mental stability?"
"No one is ques-" "Save it Professor, Ah'm a telepath now; you think Ah'm whacked" there was a stubbornness in her voice, promising an unrelenting argument if she didn't get what she wanted.
"Rogue, please" the Professor tried not to let his frustration show.
Rogue stood her ground, but not wanting to upset her mentor, offered a compromise, "Listen, if you'll let me stay in my own room and start going back to school, Ah'll check in with Mr. McCoy twice a day until you think Ah'm 'functioning properly'"
Xavier considered this, "There is one more condition I would like to add" he proposed, "No missions, I will allow Danger Room sessions, but nothing outside the Institute except for school"
She nodded, "Thanks, Professor" and she left, sneaking up to her and Kitty's room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Rogue felt exhausted and thought sleep would come as soon as her head hit the pillow, sadly, it wasn't that simple.
She starred at the ceiling, welcomed darkness enveloped her, she was afraid to close her eyes, the images still haunting her.
Glove coming off, skin meeting skin, the limp body of her opponent, the enemy, a terrorist of minds.
Shouldn't there be a certain sense of justice? She was the good guy, he was the villain, she had saved the world by destroying a definite threat, so why the black hole feeling?
Rogue rolled over and glanced out the window, she had an unobstructed view of a full, pale moon.
Tears, the same color as that moon, dripped silently, always silently, down her face, she cried herself to sleep as she had done so many times, her mask never seemed to want to stay in place, even with her reinforced shields.
She shut her added mutation off, giving him the advantage of sneaking in undetected, he was the only one who knew the reason she cried, he was the only one that could understand.
Rogue could feel him, powers or not, he knelt next to her, that was all, he didn't make another move, he was there, that was enough.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
_I wake up in the mornin'
Put on my face
The one that's gonna get me
Through another day_
Rogue applied her dark layer of make up, starring at the person that wasn't really her, she was acting as if nothing had happened, she was going to go to school as if her life hadn't taken a step in the worst direction imaginable.
_Doesn't really matter
How I feel inside
This life is like a game sometimes_
She waved off everyone's concern when she went downstairs, plastered on a neuteral expression, completely constricting with the girl that was bunched up in a ball behind her daddy's sofa, that's the state her mental image was in.
_Then you came around me
The walls just disappeared
Nothing to surround me
And keep me from my fears_
Rogue was beginning to think she would make it through today, maybe things wouldn't be so bad, maybe they wouldn't hurt as much, maybe her mask would stay in place.
That was until Remy came into the kitchen, gazes locked, time stood still.
_I'm unprotected
See how I've opened up
You made me trust_
It was only for an instant, but it felt longer, Rogue broke eye contact, thankful that no one else noticed the exchange, one crack, one slip, and they would see her, they would see what she was hiding.
He had seen already, it was a mistake, only it didn't hurt when he saw her, it always hurt with the others, not him.
_ 'Cause I've never
Felt like this before
I'm naked around you
Does it show?
You see right through me
And I can't hide
I'm naked around you
And it feels so right_
*I wonder when it ends? This hell they call a mind* she thought as Scott's car pulled into the school driveway and they all got out.
The insults started automatically, Rogue breezed by, hearing turned off, without a second thought, her walls up, walking with Kitty as if they didn't have a care in the world.
Her façade was dented though, when she found herself drawing red planets against black space for art class.
_I'm trying to remember
Why I was afraid
To be myself and let the
Covers fall away_
Rogue thought back to when this started, her mutation, she was twelve, he was her best friend, they'd known each other forever, his name was Cody.
She told him everything, things nobody would get the chance to know, because three nights before she turned thirteen, something had happened that made the girl isolate herself from everyone.
_Guess I never had
Someone like you
To help me fit
In my skin_
Thinking about Cody got her to thinking about Gambit, again, as she headed for lunch, half her focus diverted between internal struggles and keeping her telepathy tuned in the Brotherhood's direction so they didn't cause any trouble.
She hardly flinched when Remy slid in a seat next to her, she had sensed him, and now he was doing his best to flirt.
His mask was so typically covering the sensitive, understanding boy she knew as Remy LeBeau, but she still felt exposed, wary that her composure would slip while she was around him.
_I've never Felt like this before
I'm naked around you
Does it show
You see right through me
And I can't hide
I'm naked around you
And it feels so right_
Rogue and Gambit had started up their own little game of cat and mouse, advance, evade, advance, evade.
It was drawing the rest of the team's attention, Rogue had unfortunately sat down at a table right next to theirs, so the X-men were well within hearing range.
Pietro decided now would be a could time to annoy his father's goon, he sped up to the table that hosted the Cajun charmer and former 'Hood girl.
But before Quicksilver could get a sound out, he was pinned to the ground by an unknown force, Rogue smiled down a him, "Don't even think about it Speedy"
He looked at her with confusion and wounded pride, Rogue was glad that none of the preps seemed too interested that she was using her powers, the longer she tortured him the better mood she was in, "Didn't daddy tell you? Ah am now one of the most powerful mutants on earth, Sugah, and you just made your first mistake in tryin' to mess with me"
She levitated him slightly off the ground, his eyes widened, she smiled evilly and stood up, the X-men and Gambit looking at this display with amusement.
Suddenly the bell rang and kids started rushing back inside the building, Rogue gave a mock pout, "And here Ah was so looking forward to pulverizing your snotty little face, guess Ah'll have to take a rain check"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
The Brotherhood were the last people to enter the school after lunch, Lance, Todd, and Fred were snickering with uncontained laughter, "I would've killed to have gotten a picture of your face right then" Alvers chuckled.
"You are so whipped, yo" Toad added, "I can't wait till she kicks your sorry butt" Blob threw in. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
(A/N: I'm not really satisfied with some of how this chapter turned out, but I rewrote it about three times so I hope you guys like it)