When There's No One To Catch You
By Untouchable
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A new take on how and why Rogue joins the X Men team. What happens when you're forced to remember what you'd rather forget? Rogue's life is turned upside down time and time again, and this time it may never be turned back again. This story pretty much follows that story line of the cartoon up until the school trip where Rogue joins the x men. This is my first story, so take it easy on me. It will eventually be a Rietro, but it may take some time. Rogue and Kurt are also real siblings in this story. I figured if the WB can mess with the storyline, so can I.
Disclaimer : Don't own them. Wouldn't want to. They look like they'd be a lot of work.
Note: Pleeeeeeease read and review. I'm new. I'd like to know what you think.
When There's No One To Catch You
PROLOGUE
"No. It can't be true," she said, as her face twisted into an expression of confusion, and disbelief. "It can't be. He, he's dead. You told me he was dead!" The girl known as Rogue backed away shaking her head as she looked upon the face of her mother; the face of Mystique.
"Believe it, girl. You have to admit the resemblance is there," stated Mystique in an even, calm voice. Her pale eyes flashed in the darkness of the room as she gazed upon the young girl in front of her. She watched as Rogue backed away from her, alternately clasping her hands and running her fingers through her streaked hair. She watched as the girl's brilliant green eyes narrowed and glazed over. And she enjoyed it.
Rogue looked steadily at her mother. She could see the gleam in her yellow eyes, and could almost sense what was to come. "It's not fair!" she exclaimed as tears began to build up in her eyes. "It… it's just not fair," she repeated more softly.
Mystique cast the girl a deadly glare. "You think it's not fair? You? How do you think I feel?! I lost him so long ago and was left with you! A useless, weak, ungrateful child! He was the one I wanted! He was the one I should have had! He was the one I could have loved! But I was left with you, and now," she paused to catch her breath and regain her composure, "And now he's with the enemy. Now he's back from the dead, and I can't even have him."
The room grew silent, and the two stood there, staring, each trapped within her own thoughts. The silence was broken by the sudden sound of thunder from outside. A storm had been building for the past few days, and it looked as though it was about break. The blue-skinned woman turned her attention back to her daughter, who had backed away further and was leaning against a wall for support. "Well, girl, I'll just have to make due with what I've got. I'll teach you to show some gratitude to me for not getting rid of you when I had the chance." With that, Mystique left the dim room, and the brotherhood house, and disappeared out of sight.
Rogue remained silent and stiff as she stood alone in the large, cluttered living room of the brotherhood home. It can't be true, she thought to herself, it's not possible. He was supposed to be dead. And he's been here all along. I've been fighting him, for God's sake!
So caught up in her own thoughts, Rogue failed to notice the entrance of four boys enter the room from behind a partially closed door. They cautiously crept up to Rogue as she stood there, eyes unfocused and breathing unsteady. The boys all glanced nervously among them, each silently demanding another to speak up. Finally, Lance stepped closer to the girl and hesitantly whispered "R.. Rogue?"
No response.
"Rogue, can you look at me?"
Nothing.
The boys again exchanged worried glances, at a loss for what to do. Fred stood at the back of the small group, shifting his weight from one leg to the other and causing a slight tremble in the floor. Lance and Todd both shot the Blob a quick look with a clear message: Cut that out or I'll kill you! The large boy stopped moving and held up his hands in defeat. When Avalanche and Toad had turned back around, they found that Pietro had moved closer to the Rogue and was attempting to get some response from her.
"Rogue?
Silence.
"Roguey? Rogueness?" This time he was treated to a small look from the girl, and what appeared to be something between a small smile and a scowl.
"Ah told you a million times, Pietro, call me that and Ah'll hurt you," she said in a low, soft voice. She stood up from the wall and slowly pushed a strand of white hair out of her face. "So, just leave me alone." With that, she tried to push passed the barricade of boys that stood between her and the stairs. Pietro gently grabbed her arm as she pushed him out of the way. Rogue turned quickly to face him, this time with a scowl that couldn't be mistaken for anything else.
"Ah suggest you let me go, Pete, before Ah'm forced to make you," she said, though the severity of the threat was lost in the shakiness of her voice and the tears that were still building in her eyes. The boys couldn't stand to see that kind of pain and sorrow in the face of their "baby sister," and Pietro promptly let go of her arm. Rogue held onto Pietro's gaze for a moment longer before heading once again for the stairs. She quickly retreated to her room, leaving the four boys downstairs in the dark. The rain had started outside, and a small, annoying drip had begun to fall from the ceiling.
"What are we gonna do, guys?" asked Todd. He sat crouched near the floor and stared at the top of the stairs where Rogue had just disappeared. "This…. This is big. And bad. And.."
"We get it, Todd!" interrupted Lance. He was also watching the top of the stairs; his hands nervously running through his dark hair. "Shit, you guys. I don't have the slightest clue as to how to deal with this one. Ugh!" He slammed his fist into a nearby wall, causing a tremor to run throughout the room. "I can't believe Mystique! How could she be so cold?! I could kill her!"
"No you couldn't, Rocky," said Pietro from behind him, "Don't get ahead of yourself. You don't know what's going on. Killing the bitch would only cause more damage. You gotta trust me on this one." The silver-haired boy narrowed his ice blue eyes. "You just gotta trust me." Pietro shook his head, causing his silver hair to fall over his face.
"I guess we have no choice but to trust you on this one. I know you and Rogue have known each other a long time, and you probably know more than you're gonna tell us. So, if you know her so well, why don't you tell us what we should do. How do we fix this?" Lance's eyes took on an almost pleading look that the others had never seen before. This was really serious.
"Yeah, yo. How can we fix this for her?" added Todd from the floor.
"This isn't something that we can just fix!" answered Pietro. "She just found out her long lost brother is alive and fighting on the other side! Jesus, guys, would you just think for a minute?" With that, Pietro sighed and turned away from them. The rain continued to fall harder and harder; the sound filling the otherwise quiet room. "We have to get her to talk to us. There's no telling what she'll do."
The boys carefully made their way upstairs and into the tiny room on the end of the hall. The door was slightly open, and they were suddenly worried by the lack of noise coming from the small space. However, upon entering the room, they were even more worried by the sight of Rogue packing her belongings in a suitcase that lay strewn across her disheveled bed. The girl was calmly moving from one side of the room to the other, packing away the small amount of possessions she owned. The lights were all out, and the dark room was only illuminated by the occasional bolt of lightning that streaked across the sky. In these bright glimpses of the room, the brotherhood could see the frightened look on Rogue's face and the almost unperceivable tremble in her hands as she packed.
"Rogue?" ventured Todd as her moved closer to her. "Rogue, what are you doing?" He got no response from the girl, just an apologetic glance.
"She's leaving us, Todd," answered Pietro as he locked eyes with Rogue from his place in the doorway. "She's leaving."
"What do you mean she's leaving?!" said Lance as he looked from Pietro to Rogue and back again. "How can she be leaving us?"
"She is in the room, you know," interjected Rogue as she zipped up her bag. She looked at her suitcase and then up to her boys with a completely heartbreaking look. "Ah have to go away for a while. Ah can't stay here. Ah… Ah can't be here when she gets back.." She stopped as her voice began to break and the tears that had been building in her eyes threatened to fall. No, she thought to herself, I won't cry. Not again. Not over her.
Pietro looked over the rest of the guys, each of them reluctantly nodding to him. He turned back to Rogue, his eyes sad, and his jaw quivering. "We understand, Roguey. We do." She looked up at the silver-haired boy, and he continued, "Are you going to him, then? To the X Men?"
Rogue looked back down and hesitated before answering "Ah think so. Ah don't know." She raised her eyes to look upon the boys, her boys, again. "Ah don't want to leave you guys, ya know that don't you? Ah just have to know. Ah have to know if…. If he'll take me. If I can be there with him. Ah just can't stay here with her. Not after this. Ah'm startin' to think Ah should have left a long time ago. Please.. please understand."
This time it was Fred to speak up. "We do, Rogue. We do understand. You have to go. Ju… just don't forget us, okay/" he said as he looked down and fidgeted with the bottom of his shirt. The others were quick to agree, and they each pulled Rogue in for a quick hug before they let her go.
"G'bye," Rogue whispered, and then she quickly turned and left the room with her suitcase. The boys didn't follow her out of the room. They didn't follow her from the house. They simply watched her leave from her window.
"They better treat her right," whispered Lance as he saw her turn the corner out of sight. "Or they'll deal with me." Freddie and Todd nodded and voiced their agreement, but Pietro stood silently, staring down the path that Rogue had disappeared down. His blue eyes were clouded and his shoulders slumped as he thought to himself, Be safe, Rogue, and find what you're looking for. He alone knew the importance of what was going to happen at the X Men's mansion. And he knew it was going harder for Rogue to deal with than the others could ever imagine.
Author: So….. that's the prologue. I know, it's slow coming, but there really will be an actual plot, I promise! The first chapter should be up very soon… I think. So pleeeease review!