This is long overdue.a long forgotten one-parter that goes after "Self- Possessed" and "Under Lock & Key". It's independent of what actually followed in the rest of the season.just a scene I would have liked to see. Hee hee hee. Some slight romy action.

P.S. I own nothing.

The Rules of the Rogue (1/1)

I was sitting up in bed, arms crossed, a feeling of irritation pervading my every pore. I was sick of being here. White, sterile walls, medical tests, visitors asking how I was doing, Kitty's cooking. I could not take it much longer. I would have gotten up and left, if it wasn't for the hospital gown that refused to close in back. There could be potential embarrassment if I was seen wearing this. I mean, my hospital gown actually matched the bed and walls. They were all utterly ugly and boring and embarrassing to be seen in. A Rogue must always avoid embarrassing situations. It's a rule.
I couldn't hold still. The Rogue AKA Twitchy. I swore if I wasn't given my clothes back or allowed to leave in a manner that didn't require me holding together loosely tied, thin cloth over my butt, I might scream or resort to using my makeup to draw pictures on the white walls of the Xavier Institute's Medical Lab.
The other guys had gone on a mission. To London. Lucky ducks. I want to leave the country as much as the next girl. They were NOT staring at boring white walls. THEY were saving lives and kicking bad guys. The kind of things a Rogue should be doing.
I listened to the utter lack of noise. My "guards" had gone to bed. Kitty's food knocked Kurt right out and Kitty always needed her beauty sleep. The others should be home soon. Maybe because of my lack of attempting to flee from the boringness of the med lab and from my serious and extensive effort to calm my mind (not that there was a lot to stimulate it in this part of the mansion) Xavier would grant me the gift of my clothing and I could leave. Fat chance. But, even a Rogue needs some hope.
I wanted Logan to come back. He understood better than anyone. We were both loners. It's not like we could stick together through these situations. That would defeat the purpose of working so long and hard to win the title of "Loner". But he would sit by me for a little while and I could pretend like I didn't appreciate it. He'd understand.
Noise. I almost couldn't believe that the X men had returned. I listened closely to the barely noticeable sound of people moving around the floor above me. With time some of the noise began to originate from the lower level of the institute. I'd bet good money they were heading to the one room I didn't want to ever see again, the place with boring white walls, the med lab I currently occupied. And me without actual clothes on. My lucky day. Professors Xavier and McCoy entered, briefly glancing at me. I remained unmoved, arms still crossed, white and brown hair falling in my face.
I could have continued my stoic routine, but the professors were followed by none other than Magnito, who was leaning heavily on - Gulp - none other than red-eyed-explosion-causing-hot-man. Figures.
I'll have you know, I worked really hard to conceal my surprise. The Rogue must always appear tough and indifferent. I was torn between attacking and kissing Mr. demon-eyes. Perhaps a combination of the two would do. But now wasn't the time or the place. So, instead I chose to remain aloof. Good Rogue like behavior. I briefly ran a hand over my hair, getting it out of my eyes. After all I had to keep an eye on the bad guys.and try to memorize demon eyes' handsome features. Hey, it beat the white walls hands down. Gawd, please don't let me have bed head.
Demon eyes was helping Magnito onto a bed while Professor McCoy observed the older weakened man and began to pull a machine or two towards the newly occupied bed.
Time to make my presence known. "What happened Professor?"
Xavier looked at me. "Instead of stopping Mesmero, we played into his hand. Magnito is exhausted, but beyond that, there were no major injuries."
I nodded. And here I was all ready to give up my hospital bed for anyone in need. Guess I was stuck with the stupid thing. "Yeah, but why are they here?" I whispered to the professor and nodded towards the bed where the other 3 occupants of the room were clustered. Xavier sighed, "It seems the world is in danger. We must combine efforts and stop the apocalypse.
"Oh." There's not much more a Rogue can or should say when such news is revealed.
The burden of Magnito gone, Demon-eyes turned to me. I fidgeted uncomfortably in a non-obvious way. It's not that I didn't want his attention. But, I mean, I have issues right now; including a lack of real clothes, bed-head, an inability to touch, not to mention my recent mental breakdown. What a sucky word, "breakdown."
I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable due to the red eyes.looking at me and my bed-head hair. I didn't let my discomfort show of course. Can't break my own rule.
"What bring you here petite?" He was walking towards my bed. This couldn't be good.
"The beautiful architecture. Go away." The rogue can never be accused of being impolite or longwinded.
"Ouch Chere. You wound me. Why are you so mean to Gambit?"
My eyes were rolling. "I'm sure you had it coming. And since you want to discuss our attempts to hurt each other, you're the one that almost blew off my hand." Gambit. He calls himself Gambit. The boy refers to himself in the third person. Oh brother.
"Not Gambit's fault you were distracted by his good looks."
More eye rolling on my part. This was embarrassing. But probably not as bad as running out of the room clutching my hospital gown closed over my back. I endured. "Why are you here?" The Rogue knows when to change the subject.
"Gambit watching over his boss." Demon eyes said, his back to Magnito as Professor McCoy worked on the gray-haired man.
"Yeah, I can see that." The Rogue is always willing to be sarcastic, even from the discomfort of a matching hospital gown and bed.
"Why are they keeping you down here, Chere?"
The actual answer of "Oh, I had trouble controlling my powers, causing over $45,000 in property damage and a mental breakdown" just didn't seem cool enough for the Rogue. So, I went with a non-committal shrug. When the rogue can't be precise, be vague.very vague.
"Remy keep you company in this place."
Oh boy. A nervous twinge ran through my chest closely followed by a fluttery feeling. Had to be my heart. Gawd, I was glad not to be hooked up to a heart monitor. Wait. There's that reference in the third person again. Who's Remy? Pick a name dude!
"No, Remy will keep me company as he is paid to do." came a tired and disgruntled voice from the only other occupied hospital bed.
Remy turned to go back to Magnito's side, but not without a smile back in my direction first.
Do not blush. The Rogue does not blush when totally hot men hit on her. She must remain unaffected.
Left alone on my half of the med lab, I was able to be somewhat comfortable again now that the freakish, chill-causing, demon-like, sexy, red eyes weren't concentrating on me anymore. So, the world was in danger. The X-men, myself included, were going to have to team up with the bad guys, including a certain tall, dark, and demon-eyed thief, to save the world. Who could have seen that one coming? Not me. But, it could definitely be interesting. But, I'm not going to act surprised or interested. It's one of the rules of the Rogue. And who would I be if I didn't follow my own rules?