Disclaimer: Okay, still don't own X-Men and I'm defiantly not making any money off of this so no one sue. You won't get nothing but a headache. And I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of it's references or quotes or anything else you recognize from elsewhere. Oh, but I do own Ebony and the story idea and probably any characters you don't recognize. Yay me. And I don't technically own Sakura and Eric. My friend Megan does. So let's all thank her. Everyone together, THANK YOU MEGAN.
Authors Note: Everyone, y'all need to go and read Mercury Dream's stuff. It's really, really, really, really, really good. (Did I mention really?) A Rogue's Touch and All Grown Up are my favorites but the others are all really good as well. So go read her stuff to. Now, quickly! Oh, and if any of you didn't already know, Ishandahalf has posted a fic that you all need to go read too. And sorry for the wait y'all. Been busy this past week.
'text' internal speech
dreams
Wandering Souls
Chapter 37: Shopping is a girls best friend.
"Hey Rems, have ya seen mah necklace…" Rogue's voice trailed off as she entered the room. Remy stood in front of his dresser. The top drawer was open and he had some cloths in his hand as he looked over at her expectantly. He was stripped down to his uniform pants, having just finished a danger room session. His chest was bare and sweat ran slowly down his muscles. Rogue licked her lips as she admired him from across the room.
"Chere?" he asked after a moment, smirking at her expression.
She shook her head slightly and looked up at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Hey sugah," she smiled at him. "Ah have a question."
"Oui cherie?" Remy asked, leaning against the dresser.
"Why are yer pants still on?" she asked, letting her eyes linger in certain areas as she shut the door behind her.
"Ah could be askin' y' de same mon amore," Remy said as Rogue walked briskly across the room and into his open arms. His lips descended on hers and the two became lost in each other for a moment until a loud voice broke through there reverie from the hallway.
"Hey, you," Madison's voice called to someone in the hallway outside of Remy's door. "What's your name? Wait, it's not important. Have you seen Rogue? We have a shopping date." It had been two weeks since graduation and Madison was hell bent on doing some summer shopping.
"You're going, like, shopping?" Kitty's voice replied, full of excitement. Rogue groaned and buried her head in the side of Remy's neck. "I, like, have to go."
"Is this the one that made Tony say like?" Madison asked.
"Yeah," Sakura's voice replied.
"Great, you can come," Madison continued. "But first can you tell us where Rogue is? And if you say like at all during it, I will put a bullet between your eyes."
"Remy's room," Kitty replied fearfully.
"Good, thank you. Be ready in half an hour," Madison replied before barging into Remy's room with Sakura behind her. "Come on. Now."
"But Ah lahke it here," Rogue mumbled, into Remy's warm skin. His arms draped easily around her hips.
"You're breaking the eleventh commandment." Sakura chided. "Thou shalt not miss a shopping trip." Behind them Kitty was nodding euphuistically in agreement.
"I'm going to, like, go tell Amara and Jubes." with that she was gone.
Madison glared and settled a hand on her hip. "When did we say they could come?" She turned her attention back to Rogue. "Now, come on. We have to get ready. Or I should say you have to get ready."
"What the hell does that mean?" Rogue growled, spinning and looking at the two girls, delivering her patented death glare. Madison and Sakura stood un-phased and glared right back at her.
"Well, look at us and look at you," Madison said indicating her outfit for the day. She'd chosen a black leather mini skirt that had a slit up to her hip over a pair of sheer black stockings with metallic blue thread sewn threw them and her knee high black leather stiletto boots. Her shirt was a blue spaghetti strapped metallic blue midriff that showed off her sapphire belling button ring nicely. Around her neck was a blue velvet choker with matching sapphire pendent in the center, a three inch black leather band adorned her left wrist. Her ears were studded with sapphires and her hair was pulled back into a black banana clip, cascading in black and indigo streaks, with her make-up flawless.
"Do you really think we'd let you come with us looking like that?" Sakura asked, standing in emerald green silk Capri drawstring pants, a muted gold silk halter top that ended with a three inch wide band of gold lace. Her toned stomach played peek-a-boo, as did the thin gold waist chain with a tiny golden dragon. Black open toed high heel sandals, Eric's dog tags, and bangles finished off the outfit along with her usual multiple earrings. She wore her hair loose and wavy about her shoulders and her make-up was smoky and slightly seductive.
"Whats wrong with what Ah'm wearin?" Rogue asked looking down at her torn black jeans, black sneakers and purple off the shoulder sweater.
"Do you have to ask?" Madison asked cocking an eyebrow. "Now come on," she reached out a hand and pulled Rogue from Remy as Sakura turned to leave, small, thin scars covering her exposed back.
Rogue took in a breath. It was the first time she'd seen Sakura's back since the group had returned. She held back with Madison as Sakura headed into the hall. "What happened?" she whispered.
"She got caught," Madison replied, angrily. "And we weren't as fast getting her out as we should have been."
Rogue knew she shouldn't ask, but did anyway. "How long?"
"Over a month," Madison replied. "We'll talk about it later. Come on." With that, she pulled Rogue out into the hall and caught up with Sakura as they headed towards Rogues room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue fingered the purposely mused strands of her hair one more time before taking a step back to look at the whole effect. She was dressed in low rise blue jeans and a black halter style shirt that left a large band of her mid-drift exposed. Over the shirt fell two long silver chains that draped over her chest and clinked softly on her upper stomach. She flexed her toes again in the open toed black high heels with single strap across her toes and one clinging to her ankles.
"Perfect," Madison stated approvingly. "Now can we please go?" she asked, securing her guns in holsters built into her jacket.
"What are those fer?" Rogue asked, pulling on her duster.
"Sales," Madison answered. "Always be prepared."
"Are ya lettin' her take those?" Rogue turned to 'Kura, who simply shrugged in response.
"What is that?" Madison asked turning to look at Rogue as they followed her down the stairs. "I mean what does a shrug mean exactly?"
"Ah don't know but it's a good question," Rogue said as they suddenly hit the wall that Sakura had become outside the porch.
"Hey, what's your deal?" Madison asked before following her friends gaze. "Wait, never mind."
Rogue turned and looked as well, her breath catching at the sight before her. Jubilee, Kitty, Amara and Wanda stood staring at Logan, Eric, Tony and Remy. All four of them were shirtless and sweaty as they worked on their respective motorcycles. Madison let out a long whistle. "Yummy," Sakura added and Rogue had to agree. With the exception of her father of course.
Madison and Sakura sauntered over to their respective eye candy. Eric looked up at his girlfriend and didn't speak, he just rose and pulled her into a passionate embrace, his hands exploring all over her body, much to her enjoyment.
Madison, sadly, didn't get the same reaction as she walked up next to Tony, who was focusing on his carburetor. "Whatcha doin baby?" she cooed, running a pair of perfectly manicured nails over his bald head.
"Working," he replied, grabbing a wrench, never taking his eyes off the machine.
Logan looked up and smirked at him, as he saw the hurt, rejected look pass over Madison's face. 'Boy's never gonna learn,' he thought as he kept working.
Rogue walked over to Remy and placed her hands on his shoulders. "We're leavin. Do ya need anything?" she asked leaning over and kissing him sweetly on the lips.
"Non," Remy replied looking at her appreciatively. "Ah'll have what Ah want when y' git back."
Tony looked over at Remy and Rogue, and cocked an eyebrow. Slowly he turned his head and looked over at Sakura and Eric who, at this point, were pretty hot and heavy. Then he heard the audible tapping of Madison's boot against the gravel behind him. Slowly he turned to meet the gaze of his incredibly unhappy girlfriend as she stood glaring down at him, arms crossed over her chest. He smiled charmingly up at her, hoping to curb her wrath. "Yes baby? Did you want something?"
"I want you to get your fat ass off that ground and notice me damn it!" Madison growled, causing the girls behind her to try to keep from snickering.
"But babe, I'm all oily and greasy, and you look too damned good for me to ruin it," Tony tried, not wanting to tear himself away from his baby.
"That's the biggest load of shit I've ever heard," Madison glared back at him. "You just love that piece of shit more than me."
By this time Eric and Sakura had cooled off and were watching the all too common display. Eric mostly entertained himself with nuzzling her hair and planting kisses on her temple.
"Wow, is he always in this much trouble?" Amara asked surprised that anyone could get into more trouble than John.
"Yeah pretty much," Sakura replied, running her hand slowly over Eric's abs. At this point Meranda and Ororo came out to see what all the commotion was about. Logan rose and kissed Ororo tenderly before returning to his bike.
"See, even he stops to kiss his girl," Madison replied incredulously. "What the fuck is that?"
"Babe come on!" Tony said exasperated. "This carb isn't going to fix itself."
"Fine. Don't kiss me. I think I'll just go and get my hair done, again. I am rather bored with it," Madison smiled evilly. "Hey Storm, you wouldn't mind not being the only one with that color would you?"
"No of course not child," Ororo replied slightly confused as she watched Tony pale.
"You wouldn't do it," Tony said rising and spinning to face his shorter girlfriend. "Not again."
"I will if you don't kiss me," Madison threatened, before she was pulled into a passionate embrace, his lips crushing hers and his hands resting on her hips.
After a few minutes Rogue kissed Remy once more before walking over and taking Kura's arm and heading towards Madison. "Come on y'all," she said gabbing Madison and pulling her from Tony's arms, dazed and incredibly happy.
"But I want to stay," she moaned as Sakura nodded vigorously.
"Eleventh commandment remember," Rogue reminded, pulling them to the X-Van.
"And how do you not have grease all over you?" Jubilee asked as they boarded the vehicle, Rogue sliding behind the wheel.
"Practice. Years and years of practice," Sakura said smirking.
"Why can't I drive?" Madison said from the passengers seat, pouting and looking longingly over at Rogue's mustang.
"Cause we want to live," Sakura said plainly as Rogue backed out of the garage and headed for the road.
"Oh kiss my ass," Madison grumbled. "I know how to fucking drive."
"And how much darvacet are ya on again?" Rogue asked smirking as they headed for New York.
"I'm not on it anymore," Madison grumbled defensively. "Haven't been for over a month."
"Well sorry, but I still want to live," Sakura stated. "And not all of us are invulnerable."
"So, what are we buying today?" Amara asked leaning back next to Jubilee and Kitty. Wanda and Sakura sat directly in front of them while Rogue drove and Madison rode shotgun.
"Fun things," Madison grinned evilly.
"Like what?" Kitty asked curiously, leaning forward.
"Well that depends Kit," Rogue answered, focusing on the road.
"Yeah, how do you feel about crochless underwear?" Madison asked seriously.
Kitty paled drastically and leaned back into her seat as the rest of the van burst into laughter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So what happened to her?" Rogue asked, startling Madison from her daze. They'd been at the mall for a couple of hours now and had successfully maxed out several credit cards in the process. The others had headed over to the food court while Rogue went with Maddie to look at some pants they both had their eyes on.
"Long story or quick and ugly version?" Maddie asked, still eyeing the pants, picturing herself in them and deciding if she liked what she saw.
"Whatevah ya think Ah need ta know," Rogue replied, staring at her.
Madison let out a long sigh and looked up at Rogue, her vampire eyes (AN: Think Buffy guys) gleaming at the memory. "It was about nine months ago. Right after you joined Xavier's. We were in New York, keeping tabs on you. Living out of the warehouse, and well, gotta put food on the table right? So we were taking different jobs. We got a mission one day. Real easy one," here she stopped and leaned on the rack, staring directly at Rogue as she spoke. "Drug lord, asked us to get his daughter back from one of his associates. Pay was good so we took it, never thinking anything of it. I mean hell, we took on worse when you were still with us so we went in. It was my fault. We were too damned cocky," Maddie shook her head slowly and looked away. "I never thought it'd happen again but that's another story," she paused for a minute and looked around, shooting a glare at a sales clerk who was making her way over to them. The woman quickly made a u-turn and headed back to her register and Madison continued. "So we go in and get the girl. Young little thing and we decide to split up. I take the girl, thinking I'm more likely to be in danger if I have her. We each go one way, and have a meeting place already set about a mile away. You know how we operate. So we get there and it's me, Tony, Eric, the girl, but no 'Kura."
"What happened?" Rogue asked, her eyes glued to her friend.
"Shot. In the leg. Sound kinda familiar?" Maddie smirked and continued. They got a hold of her and tortured the shit out of her. We found her in a hole a month later. Would have been sooner, but the bastards kept moving her around before they thru her in a hole in the ground and left her there to rot," when she finished, the smirk was gone and anger had replaced it.
"Mah god," Rogue breathed after hearing Madison's story. "Ah can't believe she lived thru it."
"Yeah well, she almost didn't," Madison growled looking away, the guilt still evident in her eyes. "And even after we saved her, we almost didn't get her back."
"What do ya mean?" Rogue asked staring at her as they began to walk out of the s tore.
"She made herself forget to protect us," Maddie said sadly. "When we found her she didn't even know who we were, or who she was. We had to go into her mind to get her back," by now they'd reached the food court and spotted their friends. They slowly began making their way over across the crowded room.
"How'd ya git her back?" Rogue asked, still wanting more.
"Eric knew somebody. Listen, don't talk about it okay? It's still pretty fresh and upsets her. And my recent run in didn't help matters any," a strong protective note crept into Maddie's voice like it always did when she spoke of any of her team, Rogue included.
"Sure, Ah just have one more question though," Rogue said, her attention now focused on the table where their friends sat laughing and talking.
"Yeah?" Madison asked, smiling over at a cute guy walking by, as his eyes trailed over her body. She shook her head slowly and murmured, "Uh-uh," smirking at his disappointed look, before turning her attention back to Rogue.
"Who's he?" Rogue indicated a tall, lean yet muscular blonde haired man who stood talking, or rather flirting, with Sakura. His eyes trailed her body, settling on her chest mostly as he looked at one of her tattoos in mock interest as she went on about them.
"Oh, someone's being naughty," Maddie grinned as they finally made it to the table.
"Hey guys," Rogue said, bringing everyone's attention to them, including the annoyed look of the guy.
"Damn, what took you guys so long?" Sakura asked raising an eyebrow in their direction. "Buy out the whole store?"
"No, they rejected Tony's card. And I forgot to steal Eric's before we left," Maddie stated spinning a chair at the edge of the table and straddling it despite her skirt.
Sakura just rolled her eyes and turned back to her salad, the guy totally forgotten at the mention of her boyfriend.
"Did you want something?" Maddie asked glaring at the guy, daggers in her eyes.
He took one look at her contacts and quickly backed up into a chair. "What are you, one of those muttie freaks?"
Sakura glared at him deadly as the other girls froze, all looking at him with hate and anger on their faces.
"Actually sugah," Rogue drawled, taking a step towards him. "She's one of the only one's here who ain't. Now why don't ya run along. 'Specially since she's also one of the only one's hear ya should worry about hurtin' ya."
At this point Maddie had rose and stood next to Rogue, glaring at the guy. "She's got a point there," she said icily. Now run along Jethro." With that he backed up completely and took off across the food court. "Eat fast ladies," Maddie added as she and Rogue took their seats. "I'm sure we'll have company soon enough."
"Oh boy, mall cops," Jubilee said rolling her eyes and popping her gum.
Sakura just shook her head slowly, staring at Maddie.
"What?" Madison asked, grabbing a cucumber slice from 'Kura's salad.
"Nothing. I just can't take you anywhere," Sakura stated, finishing her salad.
Authors Note: Hey look guys, a faster update! Wow, go me. I'm so proud and hope you all are too. Sorry if it's not as action packed as you all hoped, but it's winding down now. There will be more action before it ends though. Spring break is less than a week away now. (Well, one week from today anyway.) And then a week of no school, yay! Still work, but no school. So hopefully more will be posted then. Until then, enjoy and read and review.
Authors Note: Everyone, y'all need to go and read Mercury Dream's stuff. It's really, really, really, really, really good. (Did I mention really?) A Rogue's Touch and All Grown Up are my favorites but the others are all really good as well. So go read her stuff to. Now, quickly! Oh, and if any of you didn't already know, Ishandahalf has posted a fic that you all need to go read too. And sorry for the wait y'all. Been busy this past week.
'text' internal speech
dreams
Wandering Souls
Chapter 37: Shopping is a girls best friend.
"Hey Rems, have ya seen mah necklace…" Rogue's voice trailed off as she entered the room. Remy stood in front of his dresser. The top drawer was open and he had some cloths in his hand as he looked over at her expectantly. He was stripped down to his uniform pants, having just finished a danger room session. His chest was bare and sweat ran slowly down his muscles. Rogue licked her lips as she admired him from across the room.
"Chere?" he asked after a moment, smirking at her expression.
She shook her head slightly and looked up at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Hey sugah," she smiled at him. "Ah have a question."
"Oui cherie?" Remy asked, leaning against the dresser.
"Why are yer pants still on?" she asked, letting her eyes linger in certain areas as she shut the door behind her.
"Ah could be askin' y' de same mon amore," Remy said as Rogue walked briskly across the room and into his open arms. His lips descended on hers and the two became lost in each other for a moment until a loud voice broke through there reverie from the hallway.
"Hey, you," Madison's voice called to someone in the hallway outside of Remy's door. "What's your name? Wait, it's not important. Have you seen Rogue? We have a shopping date." It had been two weeks since graduation and Madison was hell bent on doing some summer shopping.
"You're going, like, shopping?" Kitty's voice replied, full of excitement. Rogue groaned and buried her head in the side of Remy's neck. "I, like, have to go."
"Is this the one that made Tony say like?" Madison asked.
"Yeah," Sakura's voice replied.
"Great, you can come," Madison continued. "But first can you tell us where Rogue is? And if you say like at all during it, I will put a bullet between your eyes."
"Remy's room," Kitty replied fearfully.
"Good, thank you. Be ready in half an hour," Madison replied before barging into Remy's room with Sakura behind her. "Come on. Now."
"But Ah lahke it here," Rogue mumbled, into Remy's warm skin. His arms draped easily around her hips.
"You're breaking the eleventh commandment." Sakura chided. "Thou shalt not miss a shopping trip." Behind them Kitty was nodding euphuistically in agreement.
"I'm going to, like, go tell Amara and Jubes." with that she was gone.
Madison glared and settled a hand on her hip. "When did we say they could come?" She turned her attention back to Rogue. "Now, come on. We have to get ready. Or I should say you have to get ready."
"What the hell does that mean?" Rogue growled, spinning and looking at the two girls, delivering her patented death glare. Madison and Sakura stood un-phased and glared right back at her.
"Well, look at us and look at you," Madison said indicating her outfit for the day. She'd chosen a black leather mini skirt that had a slit up to her hip over a pair of sheer black stockings with metallic blue thread sewn threw them and her knee high black leather stiletto boots. Her shirt was a blue spaghetti strapped metallic blue midriff that showed off her sapphire belling button ring nicely. Around her neck was a blue velvet choker with matching sapphire pendent in the center, a three inch black leather band adorned her left wrist. Her ears were studded with sapphires and her hair was pulled back into a black banana clip, cascading in black and indigo streaks, with her make-up flawless.
"Do you really think we'd let you come with us looking like that?" Sakura asked, standing in emerald green silk Capri drawstring pants, a muted gold silk halter top that ended with a three inch wide band of gold lace. Her toned stomach played peek-a-boo, as did the thin gold waist chain with a tiny golden dragon. Black open toed high heel sandals, Eric's dog tags, and bangles finished off the outfit along with her usual multiple earrings. She wore her hair loose and wavy about her shoulders and her make-up was smoky and slightly seductive.
"Whats wrong with what Ah'm wearin?" Rogue asked looking down at her torn black jeans, black sneakers and purple off the shoulder sweater.
"Do you have to ask?" Madison asked cocking an eyebrow. "Now come on," she reached out a hand and pulled Rogue from Remy as Sakura turned to leave, small, thin scars covering her exposed back.
Rogue took in a breath. It was the first time she'd seen Sakura's back since the group had returned. She held back with Madison as Sakura headed into the hall. "What happened?" she whispered.
"She got caught," Madison replied, angrily. "And we weren't as fast getting her out as we should have been."
Rogue knew she shouldn't ask, but did anyway. "How long?"
"Over a month," Madison replied. "We'll talk about it later. Come on." With that, she pulled Rogue out into the hall and caught up with Sakura as they headed towards Rogues room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue fingered the purposely mused strands of her hair one more time before taking a step back to look at the whole effect. She was dressed in low rise blue jeans and a black halter style shirt that left a large band of her mid-drift exposed. Over the shirt fell two long silver chains that draped over her chest and clinked softly on her upper stomach. She flexed her toes again in the open toed black high heels with single strap across her toes and one clinging to her ankles.
"Perfect," Madison stated approvingly. "Now can we please go?" she asked, securing her guns in holsters built into her jacket.
"What are those fer?" Rogue asked, pulling on her duster.
"Sales," Madison answered. "Always be prepared."
"Are ya lettin' her take those?" Rogue turned to 'Kura, who simply shrugged in response.
"What is that?" Madison asked turning to look at Rogue as they followed her down the stairs. "I mean what does a shrug mean exactly?"
"Ah don't know but it's a good question," Rogue said as they suddenly hit the wall that Sakura had become outside the porch.
"Hey, what's your deal?" Madison asked before following her friends gaze. "Wait, never mind."
Rogue turned and looked as well, her breath catching at the sight before her. Jubilee, Kitty, Amara and Wanda stood staring at Logan, Eric, Tony and Remy. All four of them were shirtless and sweaty as they worked on their respective motorcycles. Madison let out a long whistle. "Yummy," Sakura added and Rogue had to agree. With the exception of her father of course.
Madison and Sakura sauntered over to their respective eye candy. Eric looked up at his girlfriend and didn't speak, he just rose and pulled her into a passionate embrace, his hands exploring all over her body, much to her enjoyment.
Madison, sadly, didn't get the same reaction as she walked up next to Tony, who was focusing on his carburetor. "Whatcha doin baby?" she cooed, running a pair of perfectly manicured nails over his bald head.
"Working," he replied, grabbing a wrench, never taking his eyes off the machine.
Logan looked up and smirked at him, as he saw the hurt, rejected look pass over Madison's face. 'Boy's never gonna learn,' he thought as he kept working.
Rogue walked over to Remy and placed her hands on his shoulders. "We're leavin. Do ya need anything?" she asked leaning over and kissing him sweetly on the lips.
"Non," Remy replied looking at her appreciatively. "Ah'll have what Ah want when y' git back."
Tony looked over at Remy and Rogue, and cocked an eyebrow. Slowly he turned his head and looked over at Sakura and Eric who, at this point, were pretty hot and heavy. Then he heard the audible tapping of Madison's boot against the gravel behind him. Slowly he turned to meet the gaze of his incredibly unhappy girlfriend as she stood glaring down at him, arms crossed over her chest. He smiled charmingly up at her, hoping to curb her wrath. "Yes baby? Did you want something?"
"I want you to get your fat ass off that ground and notice me damn it!" Madison growled, causing the girls behind her to try to keep from snickering.
"But babe, I'm all oily and greasy, and you look too damned good for me to ruin it," Tony tried, not wanting to tear himself away from his baby.
"That's the biggest load of shit I've ever heard," Madison glared back at him. "You just love that piece of shit more than me."
By this time Eric and Sakura had cooled off and were watching the all too common display. Eric mostly entertained himself with nuzzling her hair and planting kisses on her temple.
"Wow, is he always in this much trouble?" Amara asked surprised that anyone could get into more trouble than John.
"Yeah pretty much," Sakura replied, running her hand slowly over Eric's abs. At this point Meranda and Ororo came out to see what all the commotion was about. Logan rose and kissed Ororo tenderly before returning to his bike.
"See, even he stops to kiss his girl," Madison replied incredulously. "What the fuck is that?"
"Babe come on!" Tony said exasperated. "This carb isn't going to fix itself."
"Fine. Don't kiss me. I think I'll just go and get my hair done, again. I am rather bored with it," Madison smiled evilly. "Hey Storm, you wouldn't mind not being the only one with that color would you?"
"No of course not child," Ororo replied slightly confused as she watched Tony pale.
"You wouldn't do it," Tony said rising and spinning to face his shorter girlfriend. "Not again."
"I will if you don't kiss me," Madison threatened, before she was pulled into a passionate embrace, his lips crushing hers and his hands resting on her hips.
After a few minutes Rogue kissed Remy once more before walking over and taking Kura's arm and heading towards Madison. "Come on y'all," she said gabbing Madison and pulling her from Tony's arms, dazed and incredibly happy.
"But I want to stay," she moaned as Sakura nodded vigorously.
"Eleventh commandment remember," Rogue reminded, pulling them to the X-Van.
"And how do you not have grease all over you?" Jubilee asked as they boarded the vehicle, Rogue sliding behind the wheel.
"Practice. Years and years of practice," Sakura said smirking.
"Why can't I drive?" Madison said from the passengers seat, pouting and looking longingly over at Rogue's mustang.
"Cause we want to live," Sakura said plainly as Rogue backed out of the garage and headed for the road.
"Oh kiss my ass," Madison grumbled. "I know how to fucking drive."
"And how much darvacet are ya on again?" Rogue asked smirking as they headed for New York.
"I'm not on it anymore," Madison grumbled defensively. "Haven't been for over a month."
"Well sorry, but I still want to live," Sakura stated. "And not all of us are invulnerable."
"So, what are we buying today?" Amara asked leaning back next to Jubilee and Kitty. Wanda and Sakura sat directly in front of them while Rogue drove and Madison rode shotgun.
"Fun things," Madison grinned evilly.
"Like what?" Kitty asked curiously, leaning forward.
"Well that depends Kit," Rogue answered, focusing on the road.
"Yeah, how do you feel about crochless underwear?" Madison asked seriously.
Kitty paled drastically and leaned back into her seat as the rest of the van burst into laughter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So what happened to her?" Rogue asked, startling Madison from her daze. They'd been at the mall for a couple of hours now and had successfully maxed out several credit cards in the process. The others had headed over to the food court while Rogue went with Maddie to look at some pants they both had their eyes on.
"Long story or quick and ugly version?" Maddie asked, still eyeing the pants, picturing herself in them and deciding if she liked what she saw.
"Whatevah ya think Ah need ta know," Rogue replied, staring at her.
Madison let out a long sigh and looked up at Rogue, her vampire eyes (AN: Think Buffy guys) gleaming at the memory. "It was about nine months ago. Right after you joined Xavier's. We were in New York, keeping tabs on you. Living out of the warehouse, and well, gotta put food on the table right? So we were taking different jobs. We got a mission one day. Real easy one," here she stopped and leaned on the rack, staring directly at Rogue as she spoke. "Drug lord, asked us to get his daughter back from one of his associates. Pay was good so we took it, never thinking anything of it. I mean hell, we took on worse when you were still with us so we went in. It was my fault. We were too damned cocky," Maddie shook her head slowly and looked away. "I never thought it'd happen again but that's another story," she paused for a minute and looked around, shooting a glare at a sales clerk who was making her way over to them. The woman quickly made a u-turn and headed back to her register and Madison continued. "So we go in and get the girl. Young little thing and we decide to split up. I take the girl, thinking I'm more likely to be in danger if I have her. We each go one way, and have a meeting place already set about a mile away. You know how we operate. So we get there and it's me, Tony, Eric, the girl, but no 'Kura."
"What happened?" Rogue asked, her eyes glued to her friend.
"Shot. In the leg. Sound kinda familiar?" Maddie smirked and continued. They got a hold of her and tortured the shit out of her. We found her in a hole a month later. Would have been sooner, but the bastards kept moving her around before they thru her in a hole in the ground and left her there to rot," when she finished, the smirk was gone and anger had replaced it.
"Mah god," Rogue breathed after hearing Madison's story. "Ah can't believe she lived thru it."
"Yeah well, she almost didn't," Madison growled looking away, the guilt still evident in her eyes. "And even after we saved her, we almost didn't get her back."
"What do ya mean?" Rogue asked staring at her as they began to walk out of the s tore.
"She made herself forget to protect us," Maddie said sadly. "When we found her she didn't even know who we were, or who she was. We had to go into her mind to get her back," by now they'd reached the food court and spotted their friends. They slowly began making their way over across the crowded room.
"How'd ya git her back?" Rogue asked, still wanting more.
"Eric knew somebody. Listen, don't talk about it okay? It's still pretty fresh and upsets her. And my recent run in didn't help matters any," a strong protective note crept into Maddie's voice like it always did when she spoke of any of her team, Rogue included.
"Sure, Ah just have one more question though," Rogue said, her attention now focused on the table where their friends sat laughing and talking.
"Yeah?" Madison asked, smiling over at a cute guy walking by, as his eyes trailed over her body. She shook her head slowly and murmured, "Uh-uh," smirking at his disappointed look, before turning her attention back to Rogue.
"Who's he?" Rogue indicated a tall, lean yet muscular blonde haired man who stood talking, or rather flirting, with Sakura. His eyes trailed her body, settling on her chest mostly as he looked at one of her tattoos in mock interest as she went on about them.
"Oh, someone's being naughty," Maddie grinned as they finally made it to the table.
"Hey guys," Rogue said, bringing everyone's attention to them, including the annoyed look of the guy.
"Damn, what took you guys so long?" Sakura asked raising an eyebrow in their direction. "Buy out the whole store?"
"No, they rejected Tony's card. And I forgot to steal Eric's before we left," Maddie stated spinning a chair at the edge of the table and straddling it despite her skirt.
Sakura just rolled her eyes and turned back to her salad, the guy totally forgotten at the mention of her boyfriend.
"Did you want something?" Maddie asked glaring at the guy, daggers in her eyes.
He took one look at her contacts and quickly backed up into a chair. "What are you, one of those muttie freaks?"
Sakura glared at him deadly as the other girls froze, all looking at him with hate and anger on their faces.
"Actually sugah," Rogue drawled, taking a step towards him. "She's one of the only one's here who ain't. Now why don't ya run along. 'Specially since she's also one of the only one's hear ya should worry about hurtin' ya."
At this point Maddie had rose and stood next to Rogue, glaring at the guy. "She's got a point there," she said icily. Now run along Jethro." With that he backed up completely and took off across the food court. "Eat fast ladies," Maddie added as she and Rogue took their seats. "I'm sure we'll have company soon enough."
"Oh boy, mall cops," Jubilee said rolling her eyes and popping her gum.
Sakura just shook her head slowly, staring at Maddie.
"What?" Madison asked, grabbing a cucumber slice from 'Kura's salad.
"Nothing. I just can't take you anywhere," Sakura stated, finishing her salad.
Authors Note: Hey look guys, a faster update! Wow, go me. I'm so proud and hope you all are too. Sorry if it's not as action packed as you all hoped, but it's winding down now. There will be more action before it ends though. Spring break is less than a week away now. (Well, one week from today anyway.) And then a week of no school, yay! Still work, but no school. So hopefully more will be posted then. Until then, enjoy and read and review.