*
A/N: I think I now have an idea of where I want this to go. =)
*
For Amanda…
*
Chapter 3*
*
*
The Darkholme siblings stood back to back, both breathing heavily. Most of the men who tried to kill the two of them were already on the ground.
They were tired and sore, and they still have to go to school.
"Good. The two of you are getting better," they heard their mother say, but her voice was flat, lacking the proud tone that most parents have when their children had done something remarkably exceptional. "That's enough. I'll see you after school."
Almost immediately, their surroundings shifted, revealing a metallic room with android creatures smoking and smoldering on the ground. The Brotherhood War Zone, a combination of Magneto's control of machines and Mastermind's illusions.
Kurt slid down and sighed in relief. "I was almost convinced that she was trying to kill us."
Rogue laughed. "And that would be different from our other training sessions, how?"
Kurt grinned as he let his sister help him stand up. "I've got bruises on my bruises." He admitted. He checked his watch. "Alright. I still have twenty minutes before breakfast. A hot shower is definitely in order." With that, he ported out of the room.
"Oh, no!" Rogue groaned. She broke into a running start. She and Wanda had kitchen duty for breakfast!
*
*
*
Kitty groaned as she rubbed her aching backside from the Danger Room floor.
Gambit leapt in front of her and deflected a volley of painful metal balls by twirling his staff. He then charged a card and sent it whirling to the machine that shot them.
Unfortunately, he must have miscalculated as the card produced an explosion bigger than he anticipated.
The X-Men that were in the room—himself, Shadowcat, and Cyclops—were thrown back by the intensity of the blast.
"Alright, kids, that's enough for today." Wolverine growled to the communicator.
"That was so cool!" The new recruit, Ice Boy to Wolverine, gushed. "I can't wait to try that out!"
Wolverine ignored the younger boy and shut off the training sequence. Good thing he saw Gambit shielding half-pint from the discharge with his body, otherwise, one Cajun would have to go to school missing a limb. "Hit the showers, all of you. You still have school."
From down below, Gambit extended a hand towards Kitty. "You alright, petite?" Gambit asked as he straightened up and pulled Kitty to her feet.
"What on earth was that, Gambit?" Cyclops demanded as he got to his feet. "Are you trying to kill us?"
"Non, Scooter." Gambit looked at him seriously. "Gambit's sorry." He shrugged as he made his way out of the metal room.
Cyclops's jaw dropped. Did Gambit just apologize? To him?
Gambit shook his head as he walked away. He looked at his hands in disgust. This was the reason Jean-Luc sent him to Xavier.
"Hey, Remy!" Kitty ran after him.
"Oui, ma chere?" He asked as he turned around and waited expectantly for the younger girl.
"Uh, thanks for helping me back there," Kitty told him.
Gambit shrugged. "It be Gambit's fault there was an explosion, petite," he replied.
"Oh." Kitty sighed.
Gambit shook his head. "Gambit's powers, they grow so fast nobody could keep up, not even Gambit."
"So you, like, have another power?" Kitty asked as she walked with Gambit towards the top floor.
"What do you mean?"
"You said powers, plural. I mean, like, can you anything else aside for making things go boom?"
Gambit looked at his small friend in admiration. So she does have something between her skull aside from air. He would have to watch himself around her. "Non," he replied. "Just a grammatical slip. Gambit, he doesn't have a good grip on the language as much as he wanted," and apparently, he doesn't have a good grip on his powers either, the reason why Jean-Luc insisted he go train with Xavier.
*
*
*
"What kept you?" Wanda glared at her as she mixed the egg batter a little more forcefully than necessary.
"I'm sorry," Rogue apologized as she panted from her running, her hair still wet from the fast-shower she had just taken. "War Room training with Kurt."
Wanda didn't reply.
Rogue nodded as she bent down to get the frying pan from a cabinet below. She then turned on the stove and placed the pan on it. She carefully poured out oil.
"So, how was it?" Wanda was now taking the raw hotdogs out of their plastic packages.
Rogue shrugged. "I like morning sessions better than the ones I have absorbing people," she made a face.
"You like anything more than absorbing people," Wanda said as she turned to the stove. Her eyes widened. "Rogue!" She cried out in exasperation. "We just need oil to fry things in, not swim in it."
"Oh," Rogue shrugged. "Did I put in too much?"
Wanda rolled her eyes at her culinary-inept friend.
"I guess I'll just put back some," Rogue grumbled as she took the handle of the pan. "Ouch! Hot."
"Try the potholder," Wanda growled as she turned to put back the hotdogs that they weren't going to cook back in the fridge.
Rogue looked around but didn't see the potholder. But she did see a dish towel. Shrugging, she took the dish towel and wrapped one side of it on the handle of the pan.
When Wanda turned around, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Rogue! The towel's on fire!" She cried out.
Rogue yelped as she quickly put down the pan. She then threw the towel on the sink, unfortunately, the window curtains, which was gently being blown by the wind, caught fire. It immediately spread.
"Wanda! Do something!" Rogue yelped as she looked around for water.
"You are so helpless," Wanda glared at her as she tried to stop the fire with her powers. But it only made the fire bigger.
"Wanda!" Rogue cried out.
"I'm trying my best here!" Wanda shot out. "Fire's too unpredictable for me to control."
Rogue then used Magneto's control of magnetism to pull out
the valve of the faucet. Water came pouring out, but it was right at them, not
towards the burning curtain!
"Rogue!" Wanda spluttered out. She then directed a hex beam on the running water, making the water change directions, this time on the curtains.
"Whew." Rogue said relief as the fire died down. She then commanded the valve to return.
Wanda looked around the ruined kitchen, not to mention their ruined food.
"Um, I guess that means take-out for breakfast," Rogue said weakly.
"Irene's so gonna kill you,"
*
*
*
"Mmmm, smells good," Jean sighed as she sat down to breakfast that morning.
"Yeah, you can bet Kitty didn't make breakfast this morning." Bobby shuddered, obviously remembering the day before when Kitty attempted to cook for them.
"Hey!" Kitty protested as she bounded in the room.
"Breakfast is served, mes amies," Remy declared dramatically as he walked into the room carrying a platter of pancakes.
Jean giggled as she saw him wearing a large, frilly apron. On any other boy, it would have looked ridiculous, but on him, it looked adorable.
"For the belle fille," Remy said as he set a plate of pancakes and bacon before Jean.
"Merci," Jean murmured.
"So, Bobby, ready for your first day of school?" Scott asked as he walked into the room, buttoning his shirt and glaring at Remy, who had commandeered his seat beside Jean.
Bobby grimaced. "Don't remind me," he was not looking forward to school. After all, he was a new kid, and a freshman at that. He was so sure that he's going to be beaten up by bullies that day.
"You cooked?" Scott asked suspiciously as he forked himself the Cajun-made pancakes.
"Oui," Remy replied smoothly without taking his eyes from Jean. "It's a bit simple for Remy, he prefers things hot and spicy,"
"Er, right," Scott replied as he took a tentative bite, not noticing that Jean's cheeks were turning to the color of her hair. The pancakes were actually pretty good, but he doesn't know if that was because Remy was a good cook or simply because anything would taste better after Kitty's cooking. "Where's Evan?"
"The last I saw of him, he's still in the shower," Bobby replied innocently.
"Yeah, screaming about the water being ice cold," Kitty glared at Bobby.
"Who, me?"
*
*
*
"Hey, why are we having cereals for breakfast? I thought Rogue and Wanda are in kitchen duty." Pietro complained as he picked up a now-empty carton of milk. "Not that I'm complaining," he quickly amended when he saw his sister glaring at him.
"Ask Rogue here," Wanda muttered.
"Hey, momma chewed me out enough already," she grumbled.
"I like cereals for breakfast, yo." Todd said. "Especially if my angel cheeks prepared it for me," suddenly, his chair tipped over and he found himself on the floor, courtesy of Wanda's hexes.
"Whoa." Kurt ported in the dining room. "Has anybody seen the kitchen?" He asked with a shake of his head. "It's like a war zone there."
"I'd rather not talk about it," Rogue muttered as she bit into her muffin.
"Seriously, we need to talk to Mystique about hiring a cook." Lance said. "I hate cooking and I hate all of your cooking, no offense, guys."
Rogue nodded. "Yeah. And if we continue to recruit more members, then cooking for a large people would become a full time job."
"Yeah, that and that Rogue's bound to kill someone." Pietro added his two cents worth.
"Well, Kurt, I guess that means you'll have a heart to heart with your mother later." Lance continued.
"Ye—what?"
"Ok, let's go." Lance interrupted before the fuzzy elf could protest as he crumpled his bag and dumped it in the bin. "Don't wanna be late for first period again. We don't want to get in the principal's bad side, right?" Lance said as he sauntered outside.
"Last one out is a rotten egg!" Pietro called as he zipped out after Lance.
"Wait up!" Todd cried out as he hopped out to the garage.
"Hey! You guys expect us to clean up after you?" Rogue angrily called out.
"Todd is riding to school with us?" Wanda asked, wrinkling her nose.
*
*
*
The freshmen students of Bayville High ducked in fear as a particularly large man made his way down the hallway.
He was large not just because of his height but also because of his mass. And yet, the people around him knew that the massive amount of flesh of his body was not just fat but muscles as well.
One unfortunate freshman who was too slow from running away was grabbed by the collar and hauled to the man's height.
"Ulp,"
"Can you tell me where the principal's office is?" Te large man, who looks old enough to be a college student asked.
Not trusting his own voice, the freshman nodded and lifted a shaky hand and pointed to the general direction of Madame Darkholme's workplace.
The man broke into a grin, scaring the freshman more than ever. "Thanks," he set the younger boy down and went off his way.
The freshman's knees gave out.
*
*
*
"H-here's your coffee, Rogue," a shy freshman tentatively handed a large cup towards the sophomore. Everyone knows that Rogue loves a hot cup of coffee to start the day.
"Thanks, sugah," she replied as she took the coffee from the freshman. She gave him a smile that almost made the freshman swoon. Satisfied, and with a goofy grin on his face, the freshman run off to his friends.
"Ugh." Jean shuddered. She hated the way Rogue used her admirers to get what she wanted.
"Hello, Red," Rogue greeted her.
"Must you do that?" Jean asked her, cursing the fates that assigned her locker right beside Brotherhood's princess.
"Do what?" Rogue asked innocently as she juggled her books and coffee in one hand and twirled her combination with the other.
"Use freshmen kids who didn't know any better to do things for you,"
Rogue shrugged. "Well, I guess it's more fun to pit guys who obviously have a crush on you against each other, sugah, but it just ain't my style."
Jean spluttered. "I am not pitting Scott and Duncan against each other." True, the two never saw eye to eye (no pun intended), and if one believes the rumors circulating around, it had everything to do with Jean Grey. But those were just rumors!
Rogue looked shocked. "Was I talking about you?"
"Rogue," Jean said in a threatening way.
Of course, Rogue, who had been subjected to Mystique's threats more than a million times, was not the tiniest bit intimidated. "Of course, now that the Cajun Casanova's here, things are gonna change, right, Red?"
"Did I hear two belle femmes talking about this lowly thief?" Remy asked as he possessively draped his arms around Jean and Rogue.
Jean fumed. Just as he was adorable with breakfast this morning, the insufferable way Remy treats women, like they were mindless beings waiting to be swept off their feet (preferably by him), was beginning to irritate her. Just what is it he was thinking, playing both her and Rogue?
"That's a dangerous game you're playing, Cajun," Rogue told him with an unreadable smile.
"Remy can handle it, cher." He replied confidently.
"Good. It's been a while since someone played the level of our game, right, Red?" Rogue asked as she slammed her locker shut.
Jean grinned, glad that someone was putting man in his place. She, too, was tired of the testosterone level in the Institute. "Right." Now with a common enemy, the rivals had made an unspoken truce. "Are you sure you can handle the two of us, Remy? 'Cause Rogue and I, we aren't your typical women." She raised a challenging eyebrow. "We might be way out of your league."
Rogue turned to Remy. "Be careful playing the game, lovah. You just might get burned." With that, Rogue handed him her half-empty cup of coffee and walked away.
"I'll see you around," copying a move Rogue had done a number of times on Scott, Jean teased Remy's chin with the tip of her index finger before walking after the sophomore girl.
"Dieu," Remy murmured as he took a sip of Rogue's abandoned coffee to calm his nerves. Ol' Bayville High was beginning to appeal to him very much.
*
*
*
"Hmm," the large man looked at the piece of paper he was holding then to the locker he was facing. "Same number," he muttered. "This must be it."
He looked around and saw quite a number of students milling around their own lockers, waiting for the first bell to ring.
He twirled the combination of his locker, unfortunately, he underestimated his own strength, he accidentally wrench off the whole locker door.
There was a moment of shocked silence.
Finally, one brave (or stupid) soul let out a snicker. And that led to most of the students laughing.
The face of the large man slowly turned red.
"Don't laugh at me!" He exploded as he grabbed the first thing he could put his hands onto—the lockers. Without exerting much effort, he was able to wrench off the wall and pick up the heavy row of lockers. He swung it around violently. "Don't laugh at me!"
But by now, most of the students had screamed in fear and run off.
"So," a cool, collected voice interrupted his tirade, "You must be Fred Durkes,"
Fred looked up and saw a brunette guy with his arms crossed, wearing a brown shirt and jeans with rips on the knees. Beside stood another guy with silver hair, leaning casually on the wall as if he was bored. It was obvious that he didn't scare the two one bit.
Fred decided to play it cool. "Yeah, so?"
*
*
*
"Get away from me!" Wanda snapped as she bodily shoved Todd away from her. She then stalked to the wash room.
"She likes me," Todd sighed as he hopped over to Lance and Pietro's cafeteria table. "I love it here, yo." he declared as he deposited his small frame into the seat opposite the two guys.
"Yeah, yeah," Pietro muttered as he took a bite out of his burger.
"So, when will I meet the boss man?" Todd inquired as his tongue shot out and captured a fly.
"Do you mind?" Pietro thundered. "I'm eating here!"
"When he gets back," Lance replied, ignoring Pietro's outburst. Lance noticed that a few envious glances were being thrown towards Todd.
"I need a cool codename," Todd was saying.
Pietro snorted as Lance ignored the two of them.
The students around them were wondering what a new geek like Tolanski was doing hanging out with the two bullies of Bayville.
Todd had been the subject of an attack from a junior tormenter earlier, but Lance had found them, saved Todd, beat up the junior, and threatened to beat up anyone who would dare to touch the new Brotherhood boarder.
It just hadn't make sense.
"Oh, hey, Rogue!" Todd greeted the newcomer eagerly.
"Hey, Todd," Rogue greeted as she squeezed in beside Lance.
"Like I was saying, I need a cool codename, yo. Maybe Dragon Man or something."
"How 'bout Tadpole?" Pietro suggested.
That was another mystery. What does the freshman geek possess that enabled him to share a table, not only with Lance and Peitro, but with Rogue as well?
*
*
*
"Like, I'm sure glad they got him," Kitty shuddered when she saw Todd capture a fly and eat it.
Scott shook his head. "Think about it, Kit," he started. "They have another mutant to brainwash, another mutant to stand between us and our dream."
Yeah, the dream of peaceful co-existence between mutants and humans. Kitty wasn't sure she believes that such was possible. But still, that was better than an all-out war, right?
Scott's tirade about the dream was interrupted when he saw Jean holding her tray, looking for a place to eat. He started to raise his hand to get her attention, but Duncan stepped in his line of vision.
The blond jock then started to lead Jean toward his table.
Scott's face fell. Great. He just couldn't catch a break with Jean. This morning, it was the Cajun and now, it was Duncan.
"Hey, guys," Bobby deposited his tray on their table.
"Hey, Bobby, how's your first day?" Kitty asked.
He shrugged. "It's OK. As OK as school was gonna get. Apparently, here, if you know Jean, people would think highly of you. All I had to do was mention that Jean Grey's my housemate and everyone wants to become my friend."
"Yeah," Scott mumbled not at all paying attention for he was busy spying on the jock table.
"Hey, Freddy, over here!" The all heard the unmistakable voice of Pietro call out.
The heads in the X-Men lifted simultaneously. They saw a large man holding a tray containing a surprising amount of food made his way towards the Brotherhood table.
"They got another mutant?" Evan groaned. "We're doomed."
"No we're not." Scott said firmly.
"Yeah, well, whatever," Kitty said. "But there's no harm in suggesting to the professor that he look for another mutant, right?"
*
*
*
"'Allo, chere," Remy grinned when he saw Rogue leaning casually against his locker.
"Swamp Rat?" Rogue frowned as she straightened up from her slouch. "I thought this was Scott's locker."
"Oui," He grinned. "The one below is his. The one on top is Remy's."
Rogue checked her watch impatiently. "Well, I guess you would have to do."
"Petite," he grinned. "You certainly know what to say make a man feel good about himself,"
She gave him a teasing grin. "I try my best, sugah,"
"So, what do you need Ol' One-Eye for?" He asked. "Remy's sure Remy can satisfy your needs much more,"
"Well," she said sexily. "Since you put it that way," her southern accent only got thicker. "I do need a favor,"
"Just say the word, cher,"
"Yeah, can you give something to Xavier? It's from Irene." Again, Rogue checked her watch, giving Remy the impression that the Southern lady was in a hurry. But he immediately lost his train of thoughts when emerald green eyes gazed into his fake brown eyes and smiled at him. She reached into her pocket and took out an envelope. "I don't know what's in it and it's supposed to be hush-hush,"
Remy took the note with a frown. "So Remy's supposed to give this to the professor?"
Rogue nodded. "Thanks, sugah," she said as she smiled at him. She started to walk away.
"Hey, cher!" He called out after her.
Rogue stopped and turned around.
"You sure Remy can't do anything else for you?" He asked.
"Maybe next time, sugah," Rogue laughed as she turned her back on him and walked away.
Remy leaned casually on his locker and contented himself with simply watching her backside retreat.
Oh, yes. Remy's hands itched to reach out and taste the forbidden fruit.
*
*
*
~tbc
*
*
*
P.S.
Thanks to the ff: Rogue Pryde (sorry I failed to mention your name last chapter. I uploaded the chap before I read your review. Anyway, thanks for reading this and RockStar), Katrina5 (Putting Rogue in the brotherhood so she can be bad's very fun to write. Hope it's just as fun to read), Michelle (Actually, this chap was half-done before I posted last chap. But I had to tend to my other neglected fics before this one so I was tad delayed. That, and RL interrupted. But at least it's done now), ishandahalf (a gold star collection? That takes me back. Hmm. So what do I do to collect 'em stars?), Syd (Ah, yes, to quote a reviewer, the funnest part of Aus! You get them to act in ways they usually don't. Yey! Seems like most people like Rogue bold and beautiful), Lady Starlight so kiss my ass (Wanda and Pyro…I read a good fic with them…if only I can remember the title. It'll come to me…anyway, Pyro? I'll try my best. But I only have one more spot in the X-Men team, and I really don't see him with them, although seeing Scott try to tame the pyromaniac would indeed be fun!), Mercury Dream (seems like you want me to jump in the Jean-bashing bandwagon? cracks knuckles evilly I can do that cackles and thank you for putting me in your favorites. I was floored. That cheered me up real good. Thanks.)