Sorry this took so long. Between family crises and Hallowe'en and getting a new job, I had no spare time whatsoever. Well, I actually did, but I didn't feel like making use of that time for writing after my great-grandmother died. I was too distracted.
Disclaimer: Because Tainz hasn't had time to sift through the entries into the name the disclaimer contest, I still don't know which names she thinks are the best, and the voting list hasn't been made. Therefore, the contest is still open. She doesn't own any recognisable characters in this story.
Tainz: Just this once, I'm gonna skip out on shout outs. It means I'll have twice the work to do next time, but I'm just not feeling like it, and I want to get this posted ASAP.
************************************************************************
It was almost noon the next day before Kurt and Rogue were ready to go shopping. Neither of them had brought up Kurt's antics of the previous night, but the subject weighed heavily on both of their minds. Kurt knew that Rogue was worried about him, and Rogue knew that Kurt was scared of what she might do to deal with him.
As they went out to the car, they both turned at a shriek from the neighbour's house.
"Not now," Rogue groaned under her breath.
The shout had come from the elderly woman who lived there with her husband. The couple who had killed Rogue's cat.
The woman appeared on the porch, eyes wide and hands flailing. "What is that thing? Some kind of demon?"
Rogue winced as Kurt froze. "No, Mrs. Sloane, this is mah brother."
"Your brother? That... that thing is supposed to be related to humans?"
"Mutants are humans." Rogue's voice was hard and cold. "And Kurt is not a thing. He's a person, just like you are."
"I most certainly am not like you and your kind. You're all freaks, and the sooner the government has you all killed, the better."
Rogue gritted her teeth and unlocked her car. She was determined to just keep moving and get herself and Kurt away before the current situation got any worse.
The woman kept yelling. "Those people on the news, the ones that ran the Place, they were absolutely right. They'd get my vote anytime they came forward. They ought to be commended for their service to society."
That was enough for Rogue. Kurt was standing there, unable to even move, he was so shocked. Mrs. Sloane was coming to the fence that lined one side of Rogue's yard.
"Get in the car," Rogue growled at Kurt, her voice sounding more than a little like Wolverine's had.
Kurt didn't move.
"Get in the goddamned car." She sounded so furious that Kurt couldn't help but obey.
Rogue, instead of getting in the car like Kurt expected her to, ran at the fence and vaulted over it, landing right next to Mrs. Sloane. Mrs. Sloane screamed and started backing away, but stopped suddenly when she realised that Rogue was going to follow her.
"Ah've taken your crap for too long." Rogue stood a good six inches taller than the woman, but the old woman would have been terrified even if Rogue had been a midget.
Rogue peeled off a glove and stared at her hand contemplatively. "Do ya know what mah power is?"
Mrs. Sloane shook her head.
"With a touch of mah bare hand, Ah can kill someone. Ah can drain their life, their thoughts, their memories right out of them and if Ah hold on long enough, they'll die."
Mrs. Sloane gulped. "Please... Please... Don't...."
Rogue slid her glove back on. "Ah don't want your slimy, disgustin' thoughts in mah head. Ah'm not gonna touch ya."
The woman's body seemed to deflate with relief.
"Ah am gonna ask ya this. What makes ya think you're better than us?"
"I am human. You and all those like you are some kind of animals."
"Whoever told you that was wrong. We've lived in the hell you created for us. Compared ta what Ah dealt with growin' up, you're nothin'. Absolutely nothin'. We have feelings, ya know.
"When ya killed mah cat, Ah cried. When people like ya bombed out mah home when Ah was a teenager, killin' just about everyone Ah loved, Ah wanted ta die. Ah cried for weeks. When Ah found out that the people you just stood here and commended, the people who tortured mutants, had captured mah brother and tortured him for ten years, Ah wanted ta track them down and kill them. But Ah didn't. Because Ah'm not like you. Mah Professor, the best adult Ah ever had in mah life, he taught me that people like you are just ignorant and we can't hold that against ya. Do y'understand that?"
The elderly woman nodded silently.
Rogue's face relaxed and her tone became more reasonable. "Now, Mrs. Sloane, you're not ignorant any more. Next time ya insult mutants like ya just did, Ah'll call in the Hate Crimes division and the MPS, got it?"
The woman nodded again, then darted back into her house. Rogue walked wearily back to her driveway and got in the car. She slumped into her seat and saw Kurt staring at her with wide eyes.
"You didn't have to do that for me," Kurt said softly. "I don't vant to be any trouble."
"That wasn't just for you. That was for mah cat and mah gardens that she's killed and for mah goddaughter."
"Your goddaughter?" Kurt raised an eyebrow.
"Ya'll meet her tomorrow night. She's mah other neighbours' youngest daughter. The baby in the picture on mah fridge. She was born a year after Ah moved in here and her parents decided ta have her tested for the x-gene."
"Is she a mutant?"
Rogue nodded. "They befriended me and learned a little bit about mah past, so they knew how much of a shock it is ta suddenly find out you're a mutant. They decided ta have her and their other two kids tested when she was born. It seems like she's a spontaneous mutation. No one else in the family has the x-gene."
"So they decided to make you her godmother because you could help her vhen she manifested?"
"Yeah. Her name's Julia. She's a sweetheart. So far, she doesn't have any visible signs of her mutation. She's a little behind on learning ta talk, but with Anna for her big sister, Ah don't wonder." Rogue laughed a little. "Anna's the oldest and she's.... very talkative. She reminds me of Kitty sometimes."
Kurt smiled sadly. "And the third child?"
"That's Michael. He's... handicapped." Rogue frowned, trying to think exactly how to put it. "He has a lot of trouble telling the difference between reality and pretend. He gets people and animals mixed up sometimes. He hasn't been able to even learn his alphabet yet, and he's almost six. He's a very nice, gentle boy, but he's not all there."
"I see."
Rogue shook her head. "No, but ya will. The question is, will Michael think you're a kitty, or a puppy."
***
Even ten years hadn't lessened Rogue's disdain of shopping, and of course they'd been at it for hours. She'd bought an entire new wardrobe for Kurt, along with a sewing machine so they could add tailholes to his pants, a nightlight, a small entertainment system for his room and a wide collection of different audio and video disks for him to play on his new entertainment system. As they entered the grocery store, the final stop on their shopping excursion, they heard an annoying beeping sound.
"Crap." Rogue started digging through her pockets, searching for something.
"Vhat is that sound?" Kurt asked.
"Mah comlink. Direct communication so that mah team can get a hold of me in an emergency." She pulled an earbud attatched to a little microphone out of her inner jacket pocket and stuck it in her ear.
"Agent Manning, we require your assistance in an interrogation." Kathy Angel's voice filled Rogue's ear.
"Why? The telepaths are more effective. They don't get their heads screwed up like Ah do when Ah 'interrogate' someone." Rogue grimaced. It seemed like every time that she took a day off, she got called in to work anyway.
"We've got a new informant in here with information about a planned assassination attempt against some major politicians. Apparently the informant has some training against telepaths, and the information is too sensitive to take any risks with him re-interpreting the truth."
"Politicians aren't even under our jurisdiction. That's what we have..."
"The CIA and the Secret Service for. I know. And it wouldn't be our responsibility if the informant and all alleged conspirators weren't mutants."
Rogue swore silently. The last thing that the MPS needed now was another major investigation. "Fine. Ah'll be there in 20 minutes. Just get a visitor's pass for Kurt so he can wait in the lounge instead of the car, okay?"
"We'll be waiting, Agent."
Rogue tore the earbud from her ear. "Damn it, Damn it, Damn it."
"Vas?"
"Apparently Ah've gotta go absorb someone ta get some information out of them."
Kurt winced. "Sorry."
Rogue shook her head. It just wasn't her day at all.
***
After Rogue had delivered Kurt to the lounge, Kathy took Rogue to her office and began her briefing.
"The informant claims that Raven Darkhölme has re-activated the Acolytes in light of the existance of the Place. Apparently, she's somehow managed to obtain the records as to which politicians supported the experiments and she intends to kill them all."
"Ah really thought Mystique'd decided to leave things alone," Rogue said sadly. "Ah figured the Acolytes were done once Magneto died."
"As did everyone," Kathy replied. "Unfortunately, she has yet to be captured, which makes this man's story plausible. Given Lehnsherr's mindset, it's entirely possible that Darkhölme decided to continue his work. She may have just been biding her time."
Rogue stood up. "Ah'd best just get this done. Which interrogation room is he in?"
"Yours. We took him there as soon as he admitted that he'd been trained against telepaths."
Rogue walked out of Kathy's office and towards the specially modified room that she used for all of her interrogations. It had a bed in it, for she person the questioned, as well as a whole range of restraining, sedating and power-inhibiting devices. Among the devices was the latest model of genetic inhibitor, the least painful so far. There was also a wall of one way, shatterproof glass that allowed others to observe the interrogation and stop her if something went wrong and she couldn't get control of the other person's psyche.
Before she entered the room, she stood with her hand on the doorknob for a moment, taking a deep breath to become completely calm. She looked to the other door, to the observation room, and saw Kathy go in, which was Rogue's signal to make an entrance.
Slowly, she opened the door and, before she could even see her subject, a familiar voice called, "Bonjour, chere."
************************************************************************
Please review and don't forget to enter in the name the disclaimer contest!