Chapter Seven- An Anticipated Meeting

Mortimer looked up at the girl standing at his bedside. He recognized her; he had carried her all the way back to base like a sack of potatoes. He had no idea that the girl was still alive, however. He sat up, leaning on his elbows.

"May I ask what you're doing in here?" he asked, staring her down. She already looked uncomfortable as it was, almost to the point of embarrassment.

"Your dinner," she said, pointing sheepishly to the sack.

"Where's blue-boy?" he asked, his brow raised. "Did he get stuck in that dimension he zips through? Now wouldn't that be interesting." He said, sporting a wicked smile.

"He and Storm are practicing in the danger room." She said softly.

"Oh, really? Cause I miss the pleasant conversation. The conversation being a look of moral outrage, getting a bag chucked in my face, then that wonderful smell of his that never seems to leave this blasted room," he said, rummaging through the bag.

"I'm Rogue." She said, trying to strike up a pleasant conversation

"...Rogue." He said, looking up at her. "As in a pirate, or a 'I'm just a misunderstood gothic teenager'? Never mind. Don't answer that. I can tell by your...ah...premature-greyness. I'm Toad, as you have probably have already been informed. You'd best be going. I don't want to keep you from sharing with your friends how scary it was to be in the same room as a criminal such as I." He said, wicked grin still in place. It only took Rogue's slight blush to see that what he had said was true. "Sayonara." He said, flipping through a magazine that he had found. Rogue left without a word, thinking to herself. He didn't seem as despicable as Magneto, Mystique or Sabretooth. There was something about him that seemed all too human.

She and Bobby sat together at dinner, but she seemed lost in their conversation.She was obviously distracted, and she didn't quite know why. A collective gasp went through the commons as the lights flickered out, and died.

Mortimer raked webbed fingers through his hair, looking out his window edgily. He was past the point of stir-craziness, and that air-headed little girl hadn't helped matters. It took him awhile to notice the grinning, beautiful face staring in at him.

He did a double take, and suddenly, the window, which had been heavily alarmed and locked several times over, slid open. A woman stepped inside, her hair was long and dark, stopping short around her elbows. Her eyes were a light violet, fang tips poked out under perfectly rounded red lips. Two cattish ears were perched on her head, both were tilted curiously forward, as if waiting for a response.

"Mortimer Toynbee, I presume?" moonlight refracted off glistening fangs.

"Who the hell are you?" he spat.

"My name isn't important. I've come to take you away from this place." She said, whipping a strand of hair behind her shoulder with a clawed finger.

"Why should I trust you?"

"Why shouldn't you? And when else do you think you'll get an opportunity like this, Mort? You don't think that they're planning on letting you go, do you?"

"Good point." He muttered.

"Now hurry up. The blackout I caused won't last forever." She crawled out the window with a definite feline grace, and landed several stories below without a hitch. He followed her, and they ran across the property, not bothering to look back. A motorcycle that looked like it was about to fall apart waited for them on the side of the road.

"So this is our get-away car?" he said skeptically.

"What were you expecting, a helicopter?" she scoffed. "Perhaps a flying car or a Mercedes Bendz? If you'd rather take your chances back there..." she said, pointing to the mansion, which was now coming back to life. He stared at the woman in front of her with curiosity.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Because I can." She said, hopping on to the front of the motorcycle. He took one last look at the mansion, at the opening front doors, various X-Men pouring on to the grounds, and he slipped on behind her, putting unsure arms around her waist.

They stopped at a gas station about three hours later. The felinoid walked in to the store, her ears fully viewable, while Mortimer put up his hood and stuffed webbed hands in his pockets. She completely ignored the glare from the cashier girl, and bought several bags of candy corn, and two donuts. She walked outside, tossing the greasy snack and one of the bags of candy to the unsuspecting amphibian, who wrestled his arms out of his pockets just in time to stop them from nailing him in the face. She sat down on the curb, and began munching on the candy as if it were popcorn. He followed suit, nibbling on his donut.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

"You sure are persistent."

"Does that mean you're not going to tell me?" she laughed.

"Not a chance. Or at least; not for awhile." She put the remainder of the food in the small storage container on the bike, and hopped back on. "You ready?"

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I'm hoping all of you can guess who Mort's mystery rescuer is. Hehehe. Thanks for the reviews...and CHAPTER EIGHT IS IN PROGRESS!!