AN: This woulda been up much sooner had there not been vandalism to all the phone lines in my area. Yup, for once the lateness of an update isn't my fault. Thanks for all the reviews encouraging me to write this as it's quite different from anything I've done before so I hope you enjoy.

Authors recommendations: Wandering Souls by Calliann (and everything else she's written) and February Fifteenth by Ishandahalf.

Disclaimer: Barman's mine, any other person, place and company you recognise isn't.

Rogue: Vampire Hunter

Chapter 1

"Ah don' fuckin' believe it!" the woman slammed the newspaper down onto the counter and followed it with her head, resting her forehead against her bare arms. A soft chuckle sounded above her and she lifted her gaze -- somehow without moving her head -- to meet fathomless brown eyes, so dark they were almost black set in a handsome face and framed by soft curls.

"Bad day, Becs?" the man questioned softly. He was one of the select few she had trusted her real name to (him, Rahne and his wife being the only ones in New York who knew it) and possibly her closest friend. That was probably the only thing that saved him from her patented 'death glare'. Even master vampires had been known to run in terror from that look.

He raised a single dark eyebrow as he regarded her, taking in her slender figure, her angelic face and, most importantly, her impossibly sad, green eyes. Long legs clad in black leather, military boots on tiny feet, a red, spaghetti-strapped tank-top exposing the mass of scar tissue on her right collarbone and the intricate swirls of the tattoo running from shoulder-blade to middle finger on her left arm. Fingerless leather gloves that usually covered scarred hands lay discarded on the bar-top, leaving the cross on her left palm and the burns across her right hand in plain view. The black leather trench coat she always wore lay draped across the back of stool she was perched on. White-streaked, dark auburn hair hung in loose curls around her delicate, porcelain-pale features. Deep red lipstick and smoky, dark eye shadow served to emphasise her almost unnatural paleness. The entire look screamed 'danger', and it was for good reason, this was a woman with over a thousand vampire kills under her belt.

She pondered her friends question seriously, had she been having a bad day? Until that point no, she hadn't. As days went, in her life at least, it hadn't been so bad. She'd had a full eight hours sleep (something almost unheard for her lifestyle) and woken, rested and refreshed, to discover that Rahne had ordered all her favourite breakfast foods from room service, along with a pot of freshly brewed coffee. After that she'd examined her favourite outfit (an all black, long sleeved version of what she was wearing at that moment) had actually survived the hunt last night, then headed out to visit one of her closest friends, where she'd discovered that his unborn daughter was to be named Rebecca after her. Everything had been going surprisingly well until she'd decided to catch up on the news.

Without speaking she pushed the paper towards the attractive man on the other side of the bar and waited for him to comment. He took a few moments to skim over the article indicated before responding, "Oh. And this is a problem, why…?"

She gazed at him incredulously, he didn't realise what this meant? "This is a problem, Daniel," she made his name sound incredibly scornful, "because these bleedin' hearts idiots don' know shit 'bout vampires. They think vamps're jus' people wit' diff'rent sleepin' habits. Ah betcha they ain't nevah met a real vampire, if they had they wouldn' be preachin' 'bout how 'all creatures deserve to be treated as equals'. They're vampires for fucks sake, they exist solely to kill people!!! An' this Xaviah guy wants ta make that legal!" Her emerald eyes blazed with a righteous fury warring with disbelief that anyone could be so stupid. "This bastard want ta make th'… th' things that slaughtered mah entahre family, mah friends, mah neighbours… he wants ta make it so's Ah cain't kill 'em wit'out being called up fo' murder charges. Wondah if he'd feel th' same meetin' a vamp hisself, maybe seein' one in action."

Dan couldn't help but smile at his friend's reaction, though he knew he shouldn't, "I doubt it'll pass Bec, TV and movies have conditioned people to believe, and quite rightly, that vampires are evil. There isn't a single person out there who could make them believe any different. Not even…"

"…The worlds greatest telepath?" Rogue continued as he trailed off, the implications sinking in, "The man who, despite all odds, managed to have mutants accepted into normal society? Yeah, yoah rahght, whah would anyone believe a man who can make them believe whatever the fuck he likes!?!?!?"

"Shit," he muttered as he gazed at her, "You gonna do anything about it?"

She slid off the stool without a word, an evil smirk pulling at her lips, and slipped on her jacket and gloves.

"Rebecca Marie Adler, you better tell me what you're planning to do girl," he demanded as her folded his arms across his muscular chest. It would have looked imposing had she not known that he was quite possibly the most non-violent person in the world.

She leaned forwards and patted his bicep gently, "'S prob'ly f'r th' best if'n Ah don' tell ya sugah, wouldn' wanna get y'all in trouble wit' th' wife," she nodded to the very pregnant black-and-silver haired woman who stood in the doorway between the bar and their private living quarters, "'Lo Kat."

"Becca," the woman greeted, "Whatever you're plannin' on doin', hon, you be careful. I won't have the time to plan a funeral for you if you get yourself killed, what with baby Becca here on the way."

Rogue simply smirked at the couple, pulled a pair of stylish sunglasses from her jacked pocket and stepped out into the bright morning sunshine.

As the southerner left their establishment (named oh-so-originally, The Bar) both Dan and Kat breathed a sigh of relief. While the pair adored the woman her temper had, on more than one occasion, caused them some major property damage, not to mention a small fortune in furniture.

"So…" the silvery-skinned British woman turned to her husband, "How long before she ends up in hospital this time?"

Dan wrapped his arm around her waist, pressing a kiss against the top of her head, "I dunno, Bec does has that super-healing thing going on," he looked down to meet his wife sceptical glance, "Ok, four days."

"That long?" she laughed softly, a pleasant, musical sound, "I'd say more like two, two and a half tops. By the way, if I'm right you're painting the baby's room as many times as I tell you."

A deeper laughter mixed with Kat's, "Whatever you say, love, and when you're wrong…" he leaned down and whispered something in her ear, earning himself a playful elbow to the stomach.

To be continued…

If anyone wants to have a little cameo or have an OC appear on either side just let me know what you, or they, wanna be known as, a brief physical description, any mutant or magical powers they may have, and a bit about their personality and I'll try to put you, or them, in. Be warned though, unless you specify that you want you, or them, to be doing something specific there is a chance that you will turn up as a corpse right away or be a helpless screaming victim then a corpse, can't have too many people running around or I'll lose track of them. You will, of course, be given full credit for any characters used.

This was actually going to be quite a bit longer, and with more interesting stuff in it, but it started to feel forced, it just wasn't flowing right, so I cut it off without any of the stuff I was planning to re-write the rest. At least you have a chapter though, and it was all barman goodness, so please don't hate me for the amount of time it took and the lack of actual plot.

And onto review responses,

Jukebox: Thanks hon, I shall.

Calliann: Darling, hello. Oh, please may I have Meranda and Madison (and Tony too if I'm allowed) but I don't think they'd be for body count, maybe a vamp hunting gang, along with an OC I've been sent and one or two of my own. The pout woulda worked had it not been for vandalism and downed phone lines.

Samantha: Wow, many caps there! I wouldn't call it research per say, more, well I like this show/book/movie so I'm gonna steal this idea from whoever. I have every chapter outlined not just the plot, so it should come quickly, hopefully.

Anee/Arain Rowan/Arin Ross: Anee, yup barman, I'm finding it hard not to write him in (anyone think I should create a barman fan club?) Arin, I agree wholeheartedly, vamps are always good, even when they're violent and killing people with the blood and gore and guts and viscera and… sorry, got carried away (and guts and viscera are the same thing anyway). Arain Rowan, I updated as soon as I could, and I'll have you know I wasn't lazy, this time.

Ishandahalf: I've yet to meet a X-Men fan who isn't a Buffy fan, weird huh? Yay, I pre-empted you, good for me.

RavenRamsey: We certainly need more Rogue and vampire fics, and here is one.

Rogue4787: Your OC sounds really cool, look out for her later (if Calliann lets me borrow hers then she'll be part of a vamp hunting gang if not she'll be a solo vamp hunter).

Until next time,

Mercury Dream.