Disclaimer: X-Men and X-Men the Movie do not belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Twentieth Century Fox. All changes in information were made for movie sequel purposes.
Author's Note: Right now character information is a bit vague, but that's because there will be a lot of flashing back later on in the series. So if you think something is wrong, it's either on purpose or a character's perspective/musings on something.
Chapter One
Rogue shut her history book, her last subject of the day. Then she followed everyone out of the classroom. Storm called her back.
"Yes?" she asked.
"The professor would like to see you," Storm said.
Rogue drew in her breath. Why did the professor want to see her? He rarely called his students individually unless they were in trouble, except maybe to check up on them a couple times of year. But that was usually scheduled and Rogue couldn't think of anything she had done wrong. She hadn't touched anyone since Logan left, so that couldn't have been it. She sighed to herself. Thinking about Logan always made her sad. She often wondered where he was, if he had found what he was looking for. Rogue knew the pain he felt. She only wished she could have done more to help him in the search. Only a couple of letters had come from him and only one of those was for her. She knew the professor could simply contact him telepathically. Maybe that was it. Maybe something happened to him. Or maybe it wasn't about Logan, but it was that he found a cure for her. Maybe… Her "maybes" were interrupted by Storm nudging her.
"Oh, sorry. Should I go now?"
Storm nodded. "I'll come with you." She had a mischievous glint in her eye, as if she was hiding a great secret. Rogue wondered what it could be. They walked through the mansion to the professor's office. Storm knocked on the door.
"Come in," Rogue heard him say. But no one had spoken aloud. They went inside. Rogue looked around the room. She always liked to do that on her rare visits here. Hung on the walls were numerous plaques, from his Ph.D. to military awards. Plus there were pictures of the professor in different countries. Rogue saw him in Scotland, Africa, and a number of other places she wasn't sure of. In many of the pictures, he was much younger and standing. Rogue often wondered what had happened that made him lose the use of his legs, but was afraid to ask him. Instead she'd let her imagination run away with her. If the professor knew what she was thinking, he didn't say anything to her.
She tore her eyes away from the walls. The professor sat patiently at his desk. Perched on it next to him was Jean Grey. Cyclops stood with his arm around her, a rare half smile on his face. Standing next to him was a man she'd never met and two teenage boys about her age. Rogue nearly gasped when she saw them because the man and one of them both had blue fur. They looked like monsters. Of all the mutations she had seen in the Xavier Mansion, she had never seen any who looked so, well, mutant. She averted her gaze, so not to be impolite and focused on the other boy. She almost gasped seeing him, too. He was extremely good-looking with long brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail and odd red on black eyes. He smiled at her. She blushed.
"I suppose you're wondering why I wanted to see you," said the professor, aloud this time. She nodded slightly.
"Well…" He looked over at the door. It opened and who should step in but…
"Logan!" Rogue exclaimed. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, carefully not to touch any part of his body with her bare skin.
He gave her a small squeeze and pulled away. "Okay, that's enough. You'll ruin my reputation," he said gruffly.
Rogue laughed. It was great to see him again. Now that he was back, she realized just how lonely she'd been without him, much more than she had thought. There was something about him that made her attached. Perhaps it was his promise to take care of her or simply because he was her friend and she knew she was his. The majority of this adventure started with him, and perhaps it would end with him and the other X-Men. Maybe she and her new friends at school would join them after they graduated this year. They already were thinking and planning about it, deciding on their mutant nicknames, wondering how it would be to fight for their rights and get them. Rogue agreed with them on how important that was, but she wasn't sure about the fighting. She experienced much more of it than Jubilee or Kitty or Bobby had. After what had happened with Magneto, she wasn't so sure she was ready for anymore adventure. But there was something more she wanted, that maybe, by some miracle, would happen: her powers would be gone, or at least controlled, and she would be able to touch another person once again. Mutant or not, the others had experienced so much that she wasn't capable of.
She let go of Logan and gave a quick glance at the strangers. The boy was staring at her. Instead of blushing and looking away like she would, he gave her a charming, confident smile. For a brief moment, she imagined what it would be like to kiss him. She shook off the pretend feeling of his lips against hers. That would be silly. Was she that desperate that she would be fantasizing about a boy she didn't even know? But then, people did it all the time about famous people. Still, it wasn't the same. This boy was live, there, and just beyond her reach, yet she could do nothing about it without endangering his life.
The professor cleared his throat. Rogue blushed, hoping he hadn't been reading her thoughts. She noticed Storm and Jean looking slightly amused. She turned back to Logan. He didn't say anything, just shrugged. But she could tell he found the situation slightly funny too. This extremely tense, uncomfortable situation, with no event except just standing, staring and daydreaming. No one knew how awful it was for her, probably more mortifying than to any other teenager.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the professor introduced the three men. "This is Dr. Henry McCoy, an old student of mine." He indicated the older man. "He's going to be our new chemistry teacher, a field which we lack in."
"Actually, I'm more interested in bio-chemistry, genetics, that sort of thing. But I'm willing to help out the professor in anyway I can. And you can call me Beast, by the way."
Rogue smiled. She liked this furry creature. Clearly, he wasn't as dangerous as he looked. But that was the problem with mutants. Humans only judged them on their looks and the fact that they were mutants, not on who they were. Rogue felt slightly ashamed that her first impression of him wasn't very good.
"And this is Kurt Wagner." He pointed to the blue teenager with the tail.
"Nice to meet you," he said. He had a German accent, and wouldn't be too bad looking, if he didn't have the fur, the tail and vampire-like teeth.
"And, least but not least, this is Remy leBeau."
"Hello," he said. He also had an accent. Rogue had only heard it once before, but that was enough for her to assume that he was probably Cajun.
"Kurt and Remy are going to begin classes tomorrow. Would you mind showing them around? I'm sure you remember how unsettling it is to be in a new place."
Rogue nodded. "Sure, um, come with me." The boys followed her down the hallway.
"There's the dining room," she said, pointing to the other end of the hall. "And if you turn that corner, you'll reach the boys' rooms. The other side is all the classrooms. This door over here," she jerked her head towards her right, "leads to the gardens and pool and stuff. They're really nice, you should check 'em out during your free time."
Remy nodded. "I'll do that." He smiled at her.
Rogue turned to hide the blush that once again creeped upon her cheeks. "And, uh, here's the game room, where we usually hang out. Most people are probably getting ready for dinner now, but…" She pushed the door open. The room wasn't as empty as she thought it would be. Jubilee, Kitty and some other girls were lounging around the room, deep in conversation.
"Hey, guys," she said hesitantly. The girls were her friends, but she was still somewhat insecure around them.
"Oh, hi Rogue." They looked up.
"Um, these are Remy and Kurt. They're new students."
"Nice to meet you." Kitty stood up and shook their hands.
Jubilee quickly followed suit. "Come sit down," she invited them. They took seats on the couch. Rogue sat next to Remy, slightly away from him. The girls moved a little bit, keeping their distance from her. They were still nervous about her powers. Remy looked at her oddly, but he didn't say anything. She was glad. She didn't feel like explaining.
"So where are you guys from?" Kitty asked.
"Germany," Kurt replied. Rogue had guessed that already.
"I'm from New Orleans," said Remy.
"Oh, cool. I've always wanted to go there," said Jubilee. They quickly jumped into a conversation about places they were going when they graduated. Rogue sat quietly, thinking to herself. The others ignored her. Eventually, she excused herself and went back to her room. She didn't think they noticed she'd left. This may have been a school for mutants, but she would never fit in. Her powers made sure of that. It set her apart from everyone, humans and mutants alike, and made them afraid of her. She didn't want anymore people to be. She made a silent resolution to never tell anyone else about her powers, starting with Remy and Kurt. It was dangerous, but she felt she had no choice. Otherwise she wouldn't even get close friends, let alone the boyfriend she would have liked to have.
To be continued…
