Author Notes,
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Chapter 1, "New Beginnings"
By: RogueBHS
A/N: HELLO! This story, as it must be noted, is a sequel to my first evo story, Drowning which recieved a lot of good reviews. I thanked them in the final chapter of Drowning, but I have to thank those that reviewed on Drowning yet again. I can only hope that you find this story as good as the last. Now, my little "tid bit" story as I'm calling it, the Christmas Special for Drowning, takes place inbetween Drowning and this story. So you might possibly need to read those to understand a little bit of the interactions going on. This kicks off around May, which would place it at 5 months after the Christmas special on a timeline. That shouldn't be too awfully confusing. I hope. LOL.
ALSO, I do include a few characters from the comics (you'll find out who as they're introduced) and I'm TRYING to keep them close to their comic-counterparts. If you happen to be an "expert" on one of the characters and think I need to change how I write them, then PLEASE let me know. I need the critique, as I know my characterization is a bit off on some. Speaking of the comics, I'm afraid I turn Rogue into a more "comic" version. SORRY! Alright, enough of me blabbing, you want to read don't you?! Hehe...why else would you have clicked on the link? ;)
The sound of laughter carried across the waters of the pool, arousing the curiousity of the person sitting there, casually lounging and reading a book, soaking up the rays of the midday sun. The book was lowered, and the face lifted, watching the two who were playing around on the other side of the olympic-sized pool. The red-head let out a sequeal of laughter when the brunette boy caught up with her, lifting her into the air and twirling her around before gently letting her feet touch the solid ground again.
Unlike it might have in the past, the display of affection didn't bother the one who had been reading, but then, that probably had something to do with the handsome guy heading her way. Lowering her sunglasses to admire the fine build of her Cajun boyfriend, the green eyes of the young woman known only as Rogue sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting her own good humor. Letting her unpainted lips curve into a smile, Rogue twisted on the lounge chair and let Gambit get a good look at her in the black and green long-sleeved one-piece swimsuit.
It might have been her imagination working overtime, but Rogue could almost swear she could feel his red-on-black eyes watching every little move she made. Finally moving into a full, sitting-up position, Rogue tilted her head, noticing he wasn't in his own swimwear. If anything, she mused, he looked ready for a ride on his motorcycle.
"Ya know, sugah, it's a little hot t' be wearin' jeans ain't it?"
The cajun shrugged in his lazy way, grinning. "Dat your way o' tellin' me dat ya t'ink I be hot, chere?"
Rogue laughed. "Don' flattah yo'self Swamp Rat. Ya know perfectly well what Ah meant."
Gambit nodded, still grinning. "Oui. I did at dat, but had t' see if I could get ya t' admit ya t'ink I'm hot." He winked, just to tease her, as he loved to do. "But t' answer de real question, no, it ain't too hot for jeans. Grow up in de South and you be bound t' learn t' cope wit de heat jus' fine. You aughta know dat one, Roguey."
Rogue nodded as well. "An' mah way o' copin' happens t' be takin' a swim when Ah get too hot." She eyed his attire again. "Seems you got another idea in mind though."
Gambit nodded. "Not'ing more refreshin' dan de wind in your face, chere. You wanna come wit me?"
Rogue raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think Ah'm gonna abandon th' pool jus' t' go ridin' around with a Swamp Rat lahke you?"
Gambit shrugged, then stepped towards her. "I was t'inking we'd make a day of it...jus' you an' me. Take de bike out for a ride, den jus' do whatever we feel like doin. Mebbe even eat out or somet'ing..." He left the last bit hanging, knowing that she loved getting away from the mansion as much, maybe even a little more than he did. He also knew she'd jump at the chance to spend time with him, since there had been so little spare time lately.
Before Rogue had a chance to answer, a young brunette came running out of the mansion, and skidded to a halt in front of Rogue and Gambit. She paused, trying to catch her breath, thankful that neither Southerner bombarded her with questions immeadiately. Once she was breathing normally again, she looked up, noticing that Gambit was watching her with amusement.
Slightly annoyed by the youger brunette's staring at her boyfriend, Rogue put a hand on her hip and pushed her more goth mannerisms into play. "Somethin' important ya came out heah t' tell us Kitty, or did ya come t' stare at Remy?"
There was just enough warning to the tone to snap Kitty out of her daze. Smiling brightly at Rogue, she nodded. "Yeah. Professor Xavier wants us to all, like, meet him downstairs. Something about some new mutants popping up all of a sudden or something." She shrugged. "But like, yeah...he sent me to get you guys." Seeing Jean and Scott on the other side of the Olympic-sized pool, Kitty waved to them, and Jean nodded, having just been told the message by Xavier himself.
Seeing her duty was complete, she smiled at Rogue again. "So, are you coming or what?"
Rogue nodded, then glanced down at her attire. "Yeah, jus' tell th' Professah Ah'll be down raght aftah Ah get some jeans and gloves on. K?"
Gambit pouted and put a hand on Rogue's back, leaning in to her a bit. "Aww, come on chere. Don' tell me ya gonna cover up."
Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ya know Ah've gotta, Remy. Everyone else'll be in shorts an' stuff, so Ah'm th' one that has to covah up. Its not that big a deal...Ah've been doin' it for a couple o' years now."
Rogue left Gambit no time to complain further, and strode off towards the house. Behind her, the Cajun shook his head. Her always covering up was something he didn't understand, no matter how hard he tried. The others knew all about her powers, and did their best to be careful with her if she wasn't covered fully. Granted, some times they could be almost too careful, going to the point of standing a foot or so away when she was wearing a t-shirt and shorts just to be sure that no contact was made. But then, he supposed, men just weren't meant to fully understand women.
Upstairs, Rogue was pulling on a pair of blue jeans that, thankfully, had the knees blown out. It wasn't much, but considering how often she had to cover up in the summer time, despite the heat, Rogue was thankful for any extra cooling she could get. Grabbing a pair of thinner black gloves off her dresser, Rogue paused to look in the mirror for a second.
It was a little over a year ago when she and the other X-men had been found out as mutants, and had been judged as "freaks" by the human population of Bayville. Thankfully, they hadn't been kicked out of the school, but the other students were constantly picking on the known mutants at the school. The X-men aside, there was also the Brotherhood who attended BHS (Bayville High School).
Oh, there were other groups of mutants around, to be sure, but they weren't known at all to the human public. There was Magneto with his Acolytes, and the Morlocks who dwelled under the streets of the city, not to mention thousands of others scattered around the world.
Mutants had been a well kept secret for so long, but no longer. And of course, pure curiousity had driven a certain group of humans into capturing Rogue, Evan Daniels, Hank McCoy, Logan and Fred to find out what made mutants what they were. Medical testing had been done, and the results of the testing done on Rogue had left her with a split personality and new powers to explore. But those tests had also proved Rogue, physically (but not emotionally), capable of murder.
Her born gift was the ability to absorb the pesonality, powers and, quite basically, entire psychic being of a person; an ability which had more than once proven to be a test to Rogue's mental strength. Now, however, Rogue also had the powers of young government agent who had been known as Ms Marvel aka Carol Danvers. The powers gained included the ability to fly unaided, even into space, super strength that was unequaled by any current member of the X-men, and nigh- invunerabilty. The latter allowed her to breath in space, have a high tolerence for most poisons, and a nearly unbeatable ability to "bounce back" from physical attacks.
But perhaps the most elusive of her new powers was the "seventh sense" of danger. It rarely made an appearance, as her nigh-invunerability could take care of most things, but it had saved her from being impalled on Wolverine's claws in the danger room once. Because of all of this that had been going on, as well as the appearance of her Cajun boyfriend, Rogue had changed greatly in the past year.
She had gone from a Goth girl, with a "back off" personality to a "normal" young woman with a personality that had earned her the new nicknames "Mississippi Marauder(1)" and "Southern Spitfire(1)" Along with that, Rogue had hit a growing spert, causing her to grow another few inches and fill out more as well. But there was one thing Rogue had refused to let change, and that was her hair. For the most part, her hair was a pretty auburn brown, but then there's her white bangs. Not dyed like some might think, but natural, pure white bangs. Because it would just look too "funky" longer, Rogue had kept her hair in between chin and shoulder length for as long as she could remember, and would continue to do so.
In the elevator that led to the lower floors, Rogue mused about how the humans had a split opinion of mutants, all because of the X-men. After the teen X-men had tricked Juggernaut, a powerful mutant, and beaten him, humans mostly respected the work the team did, but still feared all other mutants. But then, it'd probably always be that way. Stepping into the corridor of the level which housed the room that had been dubbed "The War Room" by Iceman, Rogue headed for that very room. The doors slid open in front of her, admitting her to the war room where her teammates were already seated.
Flashing an appolgetic smile at Professor Xavier for her tardiness, Rogue slipped into the seat in between Remy and Kitty, then leaned back as the Professor began talking.
A little over an hour later, Kitty and Rogue were walking down the hall, both of them with a towel in hand as they headed for the outdoor pool to finally get their swim in. Glancing at Rogue, Kitty smiled. "So, like, what do you think its gonna be like having a British chick in the house?"
Rogue shrugged lightly as she pushed the door open and stepped outside. "Ah dunno. But judgin' from th' way Scott was starin' at her photograph, Jean's gonna have t' fight for his attention for a change."
Kitty looked at Rogue in surprise. "Get out! Scott was staring at that girl's photo? Dang... and both of them are telepathic and telekenetic. Yikes. Watch out!"
Rogue and Kitty both laughed, stopping at the chairs to drop their towels and shed pants. Kitty cannonballed into the pool, sending up a spray of water that showered down over the edges of the huge pool. Shaking her head, Rogue dove in cleanly, then surfaced to push her bangs out of her face.
From the side of the pool, three of the others watched as they too got ready to jump in. Jean rolled her eyes, then sat on the edge, dipping her legs in as she watched Scott adjust his goggles before diving in as well. The third X-man who had joined them outside was an older woman who was more goddess than woman in the eyes of some. Ororo Munroe had the ability to control the weather and its forces, a power which had earned her the names "Wind Rider" and "Weather Witch," as well as her X-men codename Storm.
Ororo was stretched out on one of the lounge chairs, simply watching over the students as she let herself get a bit more tanned. When a forth figure walked up, Storm smiled at him, then motioned to the chair next to her, and the man took a seat, idly looking back and forth between the students and Ororo. When he said nothing, Ororo kept her silence as well, simply enjoying being outside.
Finally, the man stood, looking at the kids in the pool for a moment before he walked off towards the mansion, pulling a cigar of out his shirt pocket. From her seat, Ororo shook her head, mildly amused at the way Logan had gotten up and left before Rogue noticed him. Ever since the captured X-men had escaped, Logan had been keeping an eye on Rogue, despite her new powers. He basically refused to admit that she could take care of herself for the most part, and the other adults of the mansion thought it was very sweet...not they'd say that to Logan of course.
In the pool, Rogue splashed Scott, laughing when the wave her strength caused forced Scott to catch his breath and go underwater. Despite having a boyfriend of her own, Scott would always be one of the other X-men she was closest to. He had been the first to befriend her, and despite her original alliance to the brotherhood, he had never given up on her. Granted, Jean and Rogue got along reasonably well, especially since the most recent Christmas, but that didn't change that there was an underlying current of dislike between them.
From her spot on the side of the pool, Jean watched Scott and Rogue play in the water, splashing and laughing until finally Scott swam towards Rogue with a "menacing" grin. Rogue laughed, then squealed when he reached out to grab her arm. In order to get away, Rogue used her power of flight to raise out of the water, just out of Scott's reach. Still laughing softly, Rogue lowered herself onto the side of the pool and made a face at Scott, sticking her tongue out at him before she walked over and grabbed her towel to dry off.
She jumped when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, then sighed in relief when Remy spoke. "Now chere, don' tell me you be flirtin' wit' anot'er man. Dat kinda t'ing make Remy very jealous, ya know..."
Rogue smiled and pulled away from him, the turned to face him. "So what if Ah am? You flirt with othah girls all th' time, sugah."
Gambit pouted, then pulled Rogue back to him and slid his arms back around her waist. "Dat be true, Roguey, but ya know dis Cajun only love you."
His expression was so sincere when he said it that Rogue's playful mood just melted, and she smiled sweetly at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Is that so?"
Remy nodded, then gave her a squeeze. "'Course it's true."
Rogue's smile widened a bit. "Good. I love you too, you swamp rat." She pulled away again, then grabbed up her towel and jeans, flashing another smile to her Cajun. "Ah'll meet ya out front in 15 for that bike ride." She winked, then headed off for the house, leaving Gambit grinning after her.
A/N: (1) Two actual nicknames of Rogue's from the X-men comics, earned by her sassy, zero "BS" tolerence, over-all easy-going, happy personality. Of course, she's also the most emotional of the women, but oh well...have powers like hers and you're bound to be. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! My muse SHOULD be working for me again soon, as its been threatened, and has some deadlines to keep! Hehehe...