Misfit- Chapter 4
Disclaimer- Again I own nothing, zip, nada, squat. It all went in the divorce.
Anything but ordinary3: But you've never been married?
Oracles Maiden: well, ok I haven't been married but I still own nothing. Well except Lizzie.
Anything but Ordinary3: Oracle!
Oracles Maiden: Ok she owns herself, and wandered fully fledged into my mind.
Notes- Ok So thanks again to Anything but Ordinary3, check out Retribution X and the stories of our associates and reviewers ncsgirl, ZilentZombie, Xx-Disturbed-xX and Darkthedestroyer. Oh PS. I don't condone underage drinking in clubs, so don't kill me. After all it's a personal choice
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In the sunshine that had been calling her all afternoon Lizzie finally felt at peace. It was the light that always comforted her… she couldn't understand how people could find solace in the dark. The dark was cold- it enveloped you and you disappeared, the light made others see you and let you see. But there was something deeper than that to why Elizabeth liked the light- she just didn't like to think of it, it made her have nightmares… Just like telepaths did.
So now with the thoughts of the lesson and having to tell everyone what she could do out of her mind she could relax… and that meant only one thing. The Elizabethans. She reached into one of the big pockets of her jacket, well to tell the truth it was one of her fathers, she'd just commandeered it. The pocket contained a pair of tinted sunglasses and a paper backed history book.
The one thing Lizzie didn't like about the Americans was that they had no sense of where they came from. American history was in black and white compared to English history- the blood of the civil war, the sweat of the industrial revolution, the Celts in their tartan, the Elizabethans in their jewels. That was Lizzie's favourite because it had given her her name, that's why she read it. Plus she'd read most of the other books on history she owned.
She sat on the grass, her back against a tree, sunglasses perched on her nose as she started to read about how Elizabeth the first had burnt the Catholics and saved the protestants that her sister had burned before her rise to the throne. Lizzie knew all this already though- History was the one lesson she listened religiously to.
The sound of the other students in the background made rather a big distraction to her reading, but she couldn't stop their fun, nor could she stop them making sounds… well she could but it was too much work for a lazy afternoon.
Rogue and Bobby were just as happy about the beautiful day they were having. The day was finished now that the final lesson was done and neither could be bothered to think about homework on a glorious day like this.
"Wanna try and wrestle the intake for the foosball?" Bobby asked, and Rogue shot him a disappointed look.
"You really wanna be inside on a day like today?"
"Rogue no offence intended but you're gonna die in this heat in those clothes. At least if you're inside then there's the air conditioning."
"I like being outside Bobby!"
"Well can't you take off your gloves or…" He reached to them attempting to remove any clothing that he considered too much for this weather…
"Bobby don't…" She warned. "I don't want any accidents." She pulled her gloves up a little higher, ignoring the beads of perspiration appearing on her upper arms.
Truth be told since the incidents of Alkali lake Rogue and Bobby had had a strained relationship at best. Most of the X men had changed but all tried to get on with life like normal. But it wasn't. Not without Jean.
"Look, I'm going to go inside. If you want to join me I'll be in the rec room."
The two glared as they parted, Bobby to the Rec room and Rogue deeper into the gardens. She paused for a second watching the boys playing basketball again. Colossus was monopolising the game because of his size while the other players ran around him like insects.
The boy with the cards from earlier, what was his name thought Rogue… Remy that was it, he was back sitting in the tree firing his ammunition at the small stone wall, watching it crumble away and fall with each explosion. She watched as his face crumpled into a smile with each stone that fell… he was fascinating.
Then her attention was grabbed by a figure by one of the trees. A woman in sunglasses positioned so that the branches of the tree parted and light fell onto her body propped against the trees sturdy trunk. As hair fell over her face with the slight movements of her head she pushed it back with her hand not looking up from the pages of the book she was reading.
Rogue decided to go talk to the new girl, hoping that she might help with the girl's loneliness.
As she got closer she saw the girl glance up more frequently, until as she stood over her she was staring up at her.
"Hi." Rogue Smiled.
"Hello." The girl smiled, then turned back to her book.
Rogue wasn't discouraged "My names Rogue…" The girl didn't bat an eye. "What's yours?"
She looked up, over her sunglasses… "Elizabeth." She replied matter-a-factly.
"You been here long?" Rogue asked, taking a seat beside her, and trying to keep her attention with eye contact.
"'Bout 4 hours."
"You taken your things to your dorm yet?"
"Yep." Now she turned back to her book again. This time Rogue realised the key to the girl was in the book.
"The Elizabethans?" Rogue looked at her strangely "On a day like this your reading a school book?"
The girl turned and placed the book finally down after dog-earing a page to return to.
"It's not a school book. It's my own. I like history- especially this period."
"Why this one?" Rogue picked it up and flicked through the pages, various sketched pictures every few pages, here and there a photograph or print of a portrait of an important person.
"Hell this is when it all happened. The Spanish armada, the discovery of Australia. Everything" The excitement was sparkling in her eyes. "Plus no one ever does it very much in history. It's all world war one this, world war two that. This is what people should be learning."
"You really like this don't you?" Rogue asked genuinely surprised that she hadn't found a comic book stashed between the pages.
"'Time moves on every second, it's only through history we remember those seconds.' My History teacher used to tell me it and I guess I took it to heart." She paused.
"Rogue, huh?" She looked fascinated by her white streak, "I guess that's your 'Codename'" She made quotation marks with her fingers around the word codename, her clear painted fingernails sparkling in the light as she did so.
"Yeah." She smiled in return as the other woman shook her head in disbelief.
"You buy into all this 'Mutants take codenames when we are ready to accept our powers.' Bullshit."
"Its not Bullshit." Rogue leapt forward to defend the ideal. "Its right, we have to accept ourselves as mutants…"
"So we take on a name with some kind of cryptic significance? Sorry I don't buy into that."
Rogue and Elizabeth sat in an uncomfortable silence for a second before Elizabeth broke it.
"So what do you do? Why Rogue?"
Rogue shrugged "I just liked it."
"It's got nothing to do with your powers?"
"Not really."
"So what do you do?" she asked, perplexed.
"I can take other peoples powers, but only for short periods."
The girl looked at her unsure. "Really. So you could take my powers for a short time and I wouldn't have them?"
Rogue shook her head. "No. You'd still have them, but… it's difficult to explain."
The girl sat patiently as Rogue tried to think of words that clarified what happened.
"I take peoples powers by contact with my skin but it sucks the life literally out of a person. I don't just take their powers I take their memories- sometimes even physical appearance."
She looked at her with a strange expression, it wasn't fear it wasn't pity more a mix of the two… and a hint of understanding. "It must be lonely… not being able to touch anybody."
"I can't even touch my boyfriend, I kissed him once… he almost lost consciousness. The first boy I ever kisses was in a coma for a while, doesn't really make you very secure about yourself."
Elizabeth stared in thought. "I bet it doesn't. Hell if I kissed a boy though my dad would make him unconscious as well, of course he'd do it the old fashioned way."
Rogue laughed, causing the other woman to smile at the results. "I haven't seen that much about here. Only the intake tend to laugh… teachers aren't that funny. Need a humour injection."
Rogue stopped laughing abruptly, guilty. Elizabeth noticed. "Did I say the wrong thing? I'm sorry if I did…"
"No don't worry its not your fault." Rogue said, "its just… we lost one of the teachers, one of professor X's first pupils a little while ago. No ones really over it yet."
"Oh I'm sorry." And Elizabeth really seamed it, instead of those who said it just as a way of getting out of a hairy situation. Then she hesitated before finally asking… "How? If you don't mind me asking…"
Rogue took a breath. "These guys attacked the school, took a bunch of the pupils prisoner… the teachers rescued them but on the way out the jet wouldn't work…"
"Jet?" Elizabeth asked in shock.
"Yeah we have a jet." Rogue answered casually before returning to the story. "It wouldn't take off and this dam had burst so we were going to be under the water any second, but Jean went out and levitated us above the water… but she died doing it." Rogue just looked blank, reliving the details in her head.
"She must have been a brave woman to do that." Elizabeth comforted
"She was."
Again another silence was held but this one lighter… more comfortable than the last as rogue thought back on Jean Grey and Elizabeth mulled over the fact that the school had a jet. Until their peace was shattered.
During the talk about Jean neither had seen the approaching man with metal claws striding across the basketball court and towards them. Neither had seen the anger in his face of walk and the grunts of rage that echoed in his throat. When they did it was too late for Lizzie. He had snuck behind her and grabbed the back of her jacket and hauled her up against the bark of the tree, his claws held up to her neck.
"What in the hell do you think you're doin' out here, lady." The fear had knocked all the oxygen from her lungs and she struggled to answer without hyperventilating.
"Thought… the… lesson was… over…"
"Logan what are you doing?" Screamed Rogue at her friend who had the girl suspended half a foot off the floor.
"Making this little anarchist, a new breathing hole."
"What for?" she asked staying as far back from Logan as she could, she didn't want to antagonise him more.
"This kid walked out on her lesson."
"I was there for the whole of it…" Elizabeth protested now having got a little more air.
"But you didn't take part." Logan growled.
"You can't force me to show my powers off like some circus freak you know. I thought that was the point for this place, no ones strange here- isn't that what your professor said?"
"Logan she's right, you can't just force her to perform on cue for you, just cause you wanna know."
When Rogue said this Logan softened a little and dropped the girl back to her feet taking his claws away from her neck as he did so. He remembered having to show off his powers on demand to make a couple of dollars to get by. He'd hated it, but it had at least been his choice. He couldn't force her to do it.
She rubbed her neck as though it was sore. Then leaned down for her book. "Thanks Rogue." She said patting her on the shoulder before turning and glaring at Logan who returned the compliment.
"You'd better not get on the wrong side of me again girl."
"Don't worry… I won't." She said before turning on her heel and walking back across the court and off into the mansion.
"I don't like her…" Logan snarled at Rogue, who smiled.
"Looks like she got under your skin Logan." Rogue moved off towards the house too then stopped and turned back quickly.
"Did you see that?" She indicated at the mansions gates that were not too far away. There was nothing where she pointed.
"Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. There's nothing there."
Rogue was adamant. "I'm sure I saw something moving."
After a seconds more watching, she shook her head and moved off. However Logan remained for a second more. He hadn't wanted to worry Rogue but her was sure he had just seen a man in black hide in the shadow of the wall again. She hadn't seen it, her eyes weren't as good as his.
He didn't make any indication that the guy had given the game away just made a note that he should investigate when the man would not be expecting him to.
That night might be a good time.
Lizzie had climbed the stairs to her new home from home, the dorm she was to share with Digit, Aqua and Obsidian. The four beds were all laid out against the wall, one had a window above it- that was Lizzie's by choice.
There was a dress length mirror covered in stickers so that hardly any of the surface was showing. A vanity was there two, covered in all sorts of magical potions designed to make them more attractive to the opposite sex, or in Obsidians case hide her features under a layer of white foundation.
There was also a huge wardrobe into which they had all slung their clothes. Beside each bed there was a bedside table, Lizzie's was more cluttered than the others because unlike the rest she actually had personal affects that she had been able to bring with her. To runaways she guessed there was more important things than the people who shunned you.
"Look if you're ever in the city, there's only one place to go…" Obsidian was telling the girls as she made her bed as Lizzie entered and settled on hers. "Go to Le Bar Bat. My uncle Runs it. Tell the guy behind the bar my name and he'll serve you even if you are under age."
Lizzie unpacked her nightgown and slid into it, the effects of the jetlag finally getting to her. Then she slid in between the covers as the girls closed the curtains in compassion and slipped out of the room. The last thing Lizzie heard before succumbing to exhaustion was Obsidian explaining to the Girls that she wished that she could be there tonight, because one of her favourite gothic bands would be playing and she had always wanted to hear them live. Lizzie had, but she couldn't tell her because the second she remembered she was also fast asleep.
All together now, Re-View, Re-View, Re-view. Thank-you!