A general disclaimer: the X-Men belong to Marvel, X-Men Evolution belongs to...whoever owns it...in any case, I don't own anyone mentioned within this text.
Author's note: Break it down...I'm not exactly sure the time in which my events take place, it may jump around from season to season, unintentionally, please don't hurt me on that account. I should state now that Rogue/Gambit is my OTP, but that doesn't mean I can't do Rogue/Scott (although I'm not a huge fan). Something I'm even a less of a fan of is Scott/Jean, but that could be popping up in here, too. Someone pointed out to me that in terms of Evolution, Rogue/Scott *is* canon...
Well, whichever, hope you enjoy. If you don't, feel free to flame me. I'll probably deserve it.
NeoVenus22
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Whatever Happens, Happens
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Chapter Seven: Rogue's Night
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"Well, you only touched him for so long," Kitty rationalized, "so he's probably, like, awake by now. Go check on him."
"Ah can't do that," Rogue said. The very last thing she wanted was to go and face Scott. She had no idea what to say to him.
"Look, Rogue, you have two choices. You go down now, or you wait until tomorrow morning to see him, when you're crammed in a car with me and Kurt and Jean. *Jean*," she added pointedly. "Either way, you're going to have to face him eventually. Might as well be now."
"But--" Rogue started to say, but Kitty gave her a gentle shove out the door.
As Rogue stood in the hallway, attempting to process, she heard the click of the lock behind her. They weren't supposed to lock doors in the mansion, and didn't really need to, considering they all followed the basic privacy rules, but they were there just in case. And apparently Kitty was going to abuse their existence, and keep Rogue locked out until she went to talk to Scott.
Rogue weighed her options. She could just wait in the hall for about half an hour, and then knock and Kitty would let her in. But Kitty could check up on her at any time, and if she saw that Rogue was refusing to be manipulated, she might just never let her back in. Besides, someone could come through the hallway at any time, and ask what Rogue was doing there, and even if she made up some sort of excuse, they'd somehow figure out that it was about her and Scott.
So really, she had no choice but to go and find the one called Cyclops. With any luck, he was already awake, and back in his room, so he wouldn't be there, and she could go back to her room with a good excuse.
"Really, now, are ya ever gonna face the boy?" she asked herself, setting off down the hallway. It's not like Scott Summers was particularly scary or anything. So why was she being a spaz about this whole thing?
Rogue pressed the button for the sub-basement elevator, and shifted her weight back and forth, humming off-key as she waited. Finally the doors opened, but they did so to reveal Jean Grey, leaning against the back wall of the car, arms crossed over chest, head down, red hair in a waterfall blocking her face. She looked quite sad.
But Rogue wasn't supposed to feel sorry for Jean. Ever. The girl had plenty of hero-worshipping cronies to do it, she didn't need Rogue.
Jean looked up, and an unreadable look flitted over her face for a fraction of a second.
"Oh, it's you," Rogue said dully, surprised to hear Jean's voice echo her own, with the same words.
"Not mah biggest fan, Ah see," Rogue said, forcing herself to be as nonchalant as possible as she and Jean crossed paths between the elevator doors.
Jean sighed. "Listen, Rogue, I know you and I don't get along, but I wanted to let you know that I really, *really* am sorry for what happened this afternoon. I should have walked away. But I didn't. I was wrong, and I'm sorry, and I know there's no real way I can make it up to you, and it's going to be hard to get your trust back ever, if at all, but..." She sighed again, and looked around the hall, as if the walls and tables might provide her with the words she couldn't find for herself. "I'm really sorry, is all."
Rogue, for once, didn't know what to say. Heartfelt apologies weren't in her repertoire, and even less frequently were they issued at her. And definitely not from a person like Jean. This whole conversation had one-in-a-million odds attached to it.
Then again, this whole *day* had been something Guinness-worthy, if not front page news. Maybe she'd just wake up in the morning and have to do the whole day over again, because it had all been one weird, crazy dream. Wasn't that the sitcom standby?
"Uh...well..." she said, and was embarrassed that she was reduced to stammering in Miss Perfect's presence. Where was her biting wit, her cold looks, her harsh retorts? They seemed to be kept at bay by Jean's abysmal look, this deep sadness that just radiated from her. "Well, thanks, Ah guess. Ah...Ah gotta go."
She sidestepped the psychic, and opened the elevator doors.
"He was...he was asking about you..." Jean said lamely, and Rogue didn't dare turn around, didn't dare become speechless in the face of Jean's sadness. So *that* was what this was about. Kitty had been right; Jean was *jealous* of Rogue. Rogue didn't know what kind of game Jean was playing, but she expected it was something about knowing the enemy better than knowing yourself.
"Well, good for him," Rogue said, the trademark indifference returning to her tone. "See ya later."
Rogue was grateful for the silence of the elevator, it gave her time to think; but not nearly as much as she would have liked, when the doors opened facing the Med Bay. Scott was sitting up, getting the once over from Logan. Rogue waited in the elevator car, watching. Logan nodded, and Scott hopped from the table, striding out of the room. He seemed surprised to see Rogue in the elevator, and she quickly realized how obvious it was that she was waiting for him.
"Hi," he said, looking taken aback for a few seconds, before his stunned look faded into a smile.
A smile for her. Rogue felt a heat rushing through her, and she couldn't help smiling back, although she felt ridiculously embarrassed. "How're ya feelin'?"
"Same as usual," he said. "It's not like this hasn't happened before."
The doors shut, but neither of them made any move to push a button.
"Um...Ah'm really sorry," she said lamely. "About what happened."
"It's not your fault," Scott assured her quickly.
"Well, it kinda is. Ah'm the one with the poison skin," she said, making a face, "not you."
"I knew exactly what would happen," he said. "It wasn't an accident."
"Ah told everyone it was," she said, "Ah didn't say that ya...that ya..." She fumbled, not knowing how to finish the statement.
"That I kissed you," he said bluntly, and Rogue looked away sharply.
"Yeah," she mumbled. They lapsed into silence, and after awhile, Scott moved to push the first floor button. As she saw his hand extending out of the corner of her eye, Rogue was filled with a fierce desire to keep this conversation going, no matter how much she didn't want to address the topic ever again.
"Scott?" she said quickly, and his hand stopped. He turned to look at her. "Um...why didja do it? Why didja kiss me?"
"I'm not totally sure," he admitted.
"Oh." Not exactly the answer she'd been looking for. But then, what had she really expected him to say? 'I'm madly in love with you'? Like that would ever happen. Maybe in one of Kitty's cheesy romance novels, but this was the real world, the real world where Rogue had to wear gloves constantly and avoid contact with other people, where her roommate could make herself intangible and phase through anything, where the boy she secretly had a crush on wore sunglasses made out of ruby quartz, because that was the only material that stopped his laser eyes from destroying everything he looked at. The real world, where the person who took you in turned out to be the last person you could trust, and where relationships were several rungs lower than secrecy and survival.
"But I don't regret it," he said softly.
Rogue opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, but knowing she had to say something...but the elevator doors swished open, and Logan stepped on. "You actually gonna use this thing, Shades, or just sit here all night?" he said gruffly, punching the first floor button with the first knuckle of his fist. Without turning around, he added, "Hey there, Stripes."
"Hi, Logan," she said, staring at his back. Another moment ruined by another of the X-Men. Rogue wasn't going to hold it against Logan, though, not like she was holding it against Jean. He hadn't known he'd been interrupting an important conversation.
They made the short trip in silence, and set off their separate ways to their rooms. Logan slept on the first floor, the students' rooms were on the second. As the high schoolers trudged up the staircase, Logan called after them, "Listen, Stripes, keep it in check, would ya?"
Their backs still to the front hall, and to Logan, both Rogue and Scott flushed. There was no way of telling if he actually knew what had transpired in the woods, and even if he did, he wouldn't say anything. Not to the Professor, or Jean, or either of them. Still, it was embarrassing.
Rogue didn't answer, but she didn't think Logan had expected her to. In turn, she didn't say much to Scott either, they issued mumbled good nights to each other, and went off to their respective rooms.
Rogue knocked on her door; Kitty opened it without question. "You talk to him?" she asked eagerly, sitting cross-legged on her bed.
"Yeah," Rogue said glumly, quickly changing into her pajamas and sliding under the covers.
"*And*?" Kitty said.
"An' nothin'," Rogue said. "G'night." She stretched out a bare hand, and clicked off the light.
As she retreated her arm back under the warmth of the covers (although it really wasn't that cold), she took pause to admire the moonlight illuminating her pale, exposed skin. Poison skin, like she'd told Scott. Skin that would never know the feeling of Scott's skin against it, nor anyone else's, ever. A life sentence for a crime that Rogue hadn't committed. Maybe in a past life...
Hazy images flashed in her mind, maybe scenes from that past life...no, scenes from someone else's past. Kitty or Kurt...or Jean...or Mystique...one of the Brotherhood, maybe...Scott...
Rogue drifted peacefully into unconsciousness.
She dreamt in shades of red.
Author's note: Break it down...I'm not exactly sure the time in which my events take place, it may jump around from season to season, unintentionally, please don't hurt me on that account. I should state now that Rogue/Gambit is my OTP, but that doesn't mean I can't do Rogue/Scott (although I'm not a huge fan). Something I'm even a less of a fan of is Scott/Jean, but that could be popping up in here, too. Someone pointed out to me that in terms of Evolution, Rogue/Scott *is* canon...
Well, whichever, hope you enjoy. If you don't, feel free to flame me. I'll probably deserve it.
NeoVenus22
*** *** ***
Whatever Happens, Happens
*** *** ***
Chapter Seven: Rogue's Night
*** *** ***
"Well, you only touched him for so long," Kitty rationalized, "so he's probably, like, awake by now. Go check on him."
"Ah can't do that," Rogue said. The very last thing she wanted was to go and face Scott. She had no idea what to say to him.
"Look, Rogue, you have two choices. You go down now, or you wait until tomorrow morning to see him, when you're crammed in a car with me and Kurt and Jean. *Jean*," she added pointedly. "Either way, you're going to have to face him eventually. Might as well be now."
"But--" Rogue started to say, but Kitty gave her a gentle shove out the door.
As Rogue stood in the hallway, attempting to process, she heard the click of the lock behind her. They weren't supposed to lock doors in the mansion, and didn't really need to, considering they all followed the basic privacy rules, but they were there just in case. And apparently Kitty was going to abuse their existence, and keep Rogue locked out until she went to talk to Scott.
Rogue weighed her options. She could just wait in the hall for about half an hour, and then knock and Kitty would let her in. But Kitty could check up on her at any time, and if she saw that Rogue was refusing to be manipulated, she might just never let her back in. Besides, someone could come through the hallway at any time, and ask what Rogue was doing there, and even if she made up some sort of excuse, they'd somehow figure out that it was about her and Scott.
So really, she had no choice but to go and find the one called Cyclops. With any luck, he was already awake, and back in his room, so he wouldn't be there, and she could go back to her room with a good excuse.
"Really, now, are ya ever gonna face the boy?" she asked herself, setting off down the hallway. It's not like Scott Summers was particularly scary or anything. So why was she being a spaz about this whole thing?
Rogue pressed the button for the sub-basement elevator, and shifted her weight back and forth, humming off-key as she waited. Finally the doors opened, but they did so to reveal Jean Grey, leaning against the back wall of the car, arms crossed over chest, head down, red hair in a waterfall blocking her face. She looked quite sad.
But Rogue wasn't supposed to feel sorry for Jean. Ever. The girl had plenty of hero-worshipping cronies to do it, she didn't need Rogue.
Jean looked up, and an unreadable look flitted over her face for a fraction of a second.
"Oh, it's you," Rogue said dully, surprised to hear Jean's voice echo her own, with the same words.
"Not mah biggest fan, Ah see," Rogue said, forcing herself to be as nonchalant as possible as she and Jean crossed paths between the elevator doors.
Jean sighed. "Listen, Rogue, I know you and I don't get along, but I wanted to let you know that I really, *really* am sorry for what happened this afternoon. I should have walked away. But I didn't. I was wrong, and I'm sorry, and I know there's no real way I can make it up to you, and it's going to be hard to get your trust back ever, if at all, but..." She sighed again, and looked around the hall, as if the walls and tables might provide her with the words she couldn't find for herself. "I'm really sorry, is all."
Rogue, for once, didn't know what to say. Heartfelt apologies weren't in her repertoire, and even less frequently were they issued at her. And definitely not from a person like Jean. This whole conversation had one-in-a-million odds attached to it.
Then again, this whole *day* had been something Guinness-worthy, if not front page news. Maybe she'd just wake up in the morning and have to do the whole day over again, because it had all been one weird, crazy dream. Wasn't that the sitcom standby?
"Uh...well..." she said, and was embarrassed that she was reduced to stammering in Miss Perfect's presence. Where was her biting wit, her cold looks, her harsh retorts? They seemed to be kept at bay by Jean's abysmal look, this deep sadness that just radiated from her. "Well, thanks, Ah guess. Ah...Ah gotta go."
She sidestepped the psychic, and opened the elevator doors.
"He was...he was asking about you..." Jean said lamely, and Rogue didn't dare turn around, didn't dare become speechless in the face of Jean's sadness. So *that* was what this was about. Kitty had been right; Jean was *jealous* of Rogue. Rogue didn't know what kind of game Jean was playing, but she expected it was something about knowing the enemy better than knowing yourself.
"Well, good for him," Rogue said, the trademark indifference returning to her tone. "See ya later."
Rogue was grateful for the silence of the elevator, it gave her time to think; but not nearly as much as she would have liked, when the doors opened facing the Med Bay. Scott was sitting up, getting the once over from Logan. Rogue waited in the elevator car, watching. Logan nodded, and Scott hopped from the table, striding out of the room. He seemed surprised to see Rogue in the elevator, and she quickly realized how obvious it was that she was waiting for him.
"Hi," he said, looking taken aback for a few seconds, before his stunned look faded into a smile.
A smile for her. Rogue felt a heat rushing through her, and she couldn't help smiling back, although she felt ridiculously embarrassed. "How're ya feelin'?"
"Same as usual," he said. "It's not like this hasn't happened before."
The doors shut, but neither of them made any move to push a button.
"Um...Ah'm really sorry," she said lamely. "About what happened."
"It's not your fault," Scott assured her quickly.
"Well, it kinda is. Ah'm the one with the poison skin," she said, making a face, "not you."
"I knew exactly what would happen," he said. "It wasn't an accident."
"Ah told everyone it was," she said, "Ah didn't say that ya...that ya..." She fumbled, not knowing how to finish the statement.
"That I kissed you," he said bluntly, and Rogue looked away sharply.
"Yeah," she mumbled. They lapsed into silence, and after awhile, Scott moved to push the first floor button. As she saw his hand extending out of the corner of her eye, Rogue was filled with a fierce desire to keep this conversation going, no matter how much she didn't want to address the topic ever again.
"Scott?" she said quickly, and his hand stopped. He turned to look at her. "Um...why didja do it? Why didja kiss me?"
"I'm not totally sure," he admitted.
"Oh." Not exactly the answer she'd been looking for. But then, what had she really expected him to say? 'I'm madly in love with you'? Like that would ever happen. Maybe in one of Kitty's cheesy romance novels, but this was the real world, the real world where Rogue had to wear gloves constantly and avoid contact with other people, where her roommate could make herself intangible and phase through anything, where the boy she secretly had a crush on wore sunglasses made out of ruby quartz, because that was the only material that stopped his laser eyes from destroying everything he looked at. The real world, where the person who took you in turned out to be the last person you could trust, and where relationships were several rungs lower than secrecy and survival.
"But I don't regret it," he said softly.
Rogue opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, but knowing she had to say something...but the elevator doors swished open, and Logan stepped on. "You actually gonna use this thing, Shades, or just sit here all night?" he said gruffly, punching the first floor button with the first knuckle of his fist. Without turning around, he added, "Hey there, Stripes."
"Hi, Logan," she said, staring at his back. Another moment ruined by another of the X-Men. Rogue wasn't going to hold it against Logan, though, not like she was holding it against Jean. He hadn't known he'd been interrupting an important conversation.
They made the short trip in silence, and set off their separate ways to their rooms. Logan slept on the first floor, the students' rooms were on the second. As the high schoolers trudged up the staircase, Logan called after them, "Listen, Stripes, keep it in check, would ya?"
Their backs still to the front hall, and to Logan, both Rogue and Scott flushed. There was no way of telling if he actually knew what had transpired in the woods, and even if he did, he wouldn't say anything. Not to the Professor, or Jean, or either of them. Still, it was embarrassing.
Rogue didn't answer, but she didn't think Logan had expected her to. In turn, she didn't say much to Scott either, they issued mumbled good nights to each other, and went off to their respective rooms.
Rogue knocked on her door; Kitty opened it without question. "You talk to him?" she asked eagerly, sitting cross-legged on her bed.
"Yeah," Rogue said glumly, quickly changing into her pajamas and sliding under the covers.
"*And*?" Kitty said.
"An' nothin'," Rogue said. "G'night." She stretched out a bare hand, and clicked off the light.
As she retreated her arm back under the warmth of the covers (although it really wasn't that cold), she took pause to admire the moonlight illuminating her pale, exposed skin. Poison skin, like she'd told Scott. Skin that would never know the feeling of Scott's skin against it, nor anyone else's, ever. A life sentence for a crime that Rogue hadn't committed. Maybe in a past life...
Hazy images flashed in her mind, maybe scenes from that past life...no, scenes from someone else's past. Kitty or Kurt...or Jean...or Mystique...one of the Brotherhood, maybe...Scott...
Rogue drifted peacefully into unconsciousness.
She dreamt in shades of red.