Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike
Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.
Through the Years
Chapter Twelve: Return to the Magnetic Pole of the X-men
Rogue took a look around the now empty living room. The furniture in the house was gone, except the couch that they were using as their bed, and the last few remaining boxes were stacked as they waited for the movers. When Beast told the LeBeaus about Rogue's pregnancy he mentioned that it would be easier for him to monitor her using equipment from the lab in the Mansion. The Shi'Ar technology he had there was more advanced than anything he could transport back and forth monthly to California. Also, he wanted to be able to monitor Rogue constantly, not just on a monthly basis. He felt partly responsible for the major miscarriage she suffered a year ago. He felt that if only he had the proper tools with him or if he could have monitored her more carefully, he could have prevented it from happening. Deep down he knew there was nothing he could have done, but it still didn't stop him from thinking "what if…"
Of course Gambit and Rogue were sad to leave California. Being so far away from the Mansion allowed them to forget their superhero past and just live their lives as Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau. Rogue was especially heartbroken about leaving the beach house in Valle Soleada; it was here that she first came to terms with herself after losing her powers; it was here that she found peace with herself and with her Remy. She exchanged addresses with the friends she made in California like Paint and Marie D'ancanto, hoping to maintain the bonds that they shared while living in close proximity. Rogue's last day at the auto shop was also hard. She promised to write to the guys and send some baby pictures providing all went well with the delivery. The guys knew how hard the loss of the last baby had been for their Anna, so they understood her need to move back east near her "family" and the specialist doctor.
The beach house had sold within a few weeks on the market, why shouldn't it? It was the perfect size and the perfect location, and Rogue was going to miss it terribly. One thing was for certain when it came to moving back to New York: she did not want to live in the Mansion again. She had a taste of freedom living on her own and as much as she loved the others, she "didn't wanna live in the same house as them 24/7". The smiled when she realized Jubilee always said the same thing every time she came home from college on a break. The Professor had a solution to this problem. Many years ago, when Scott and Jean got married, he had a house built just off the Institute property in case they wanted to live out of the actual mansion but close enough to be there every day. Jean and Scott had opted to remain in the Mansion and the house down the street remained uninhabited. Xavier often thought of renting it out, but never got around to it. Now that Gambit and Rogue were moving back, he was glad that he never did get all that paper work filled out. The LeBeaus were more than happy to live in the blue house off the Institute grounds. That way they were close to the Mansion (only a 10 minute walk, 5 minutes by car, a minute if Rogue flew), but far enough to have some privacy. Once they had it decorated the way the wanted and settled in, Rogue knew that this new house grow to be the home that they both needed.
The next few days were long and difficult, most of their stuff had been shipped on ahead, but there was still one moving van of boxes that would be traveling to New York and would arrive a few days after Rogue and Gambit. Gambit couldn't help but laugh at Rogue when she was fed up with how slow the movers were loading everything. While they were inside the house bringing some boxes from the kitchen Rogue took it upon herself to load the couch onto the truck. When the movers asked how it got in there, she just smiled and gave them one of her patented innocent Southern Belle looks. Once he had her alone Gambit expressed concern for her doing such heavy lifting while she was pregnant, but she reminded him that with her super strength, that couch was no heavier than lifting a few books off of a coffee table, but she did promise to be more careful. After all, she didn't want to jeopardize the pregnancy in any way, but she knew it would be hard keeping her from doing things that she was so use to doing. For instance, normally she would just pick Gambit up and fly him to New York, after all she had flown across the Atlantic before in record time, so this wouldn't be any different. But Dr. McCoy and Gambit persuaded her that the stress of such a trip may be too much, so Rogue agreed to ride in "one of those metal chickens" with Remy. She would have rather taken the car but Beast drove it back to New York a few days before so it would be waiting for them when they got there. Gambit found it funny how Rogue had no trouble flying outside of an airplane, or even if one of the X-men was controlling the Blackbird, but she seemed rather nervous flying on a commercial jet with hundreds of other passengers and someone she didn't know at the controls. He also knew his wife's low tolerance for being in crowds probably didn't help the situation.
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Once at the new house Rogue took it upon herself to start unpacking right away. She didn't like the idea of living out of boxes; she had a taste of home life in California and was eager to get it back as soon as possible. Gambit was so use to living on the move that the boxes didn't bother him one way or the other. However, he knew what it mean to Rogue to have everything in order, plus he didn't want her doing anything she didn't have to do, so he took it upon himself to climb ladders to hang lights and posters, and move furniture back and forth across the room (only to give up moving a particularly heavy dresser in which Rogue lightly shoved into place after he had collapsed in a chair "f'just a minute"). After a few days, the house was really starting to feel like home. When one walked in the door they were lead into a rather large living room with stairs off to the side. A bathroom and a coat closet were located down the hall as well as a bedroom (which they were either going to use as a guest room or office or something, they weren't sure yet). Through the living room was the kitchen and dining rooms. Upstairs there were 2 bedrooms with a bathroom attached to the master bedroom. A smaller bathroom was located next to the smaller bedroom. The smaller room was going to be the baby's room. Wooden stairs that were pulled down from the ceiling lead to an attic that spanned the width of the entire house, perfect for storage.
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After another day of unpacking and organizing, Rogue had grown very tired and gone to bed early. Tired, but not yet sleepy, Gambit made his way down the road to scope out things at the Mansion, perhaps con Bobby and Logan out of some money in a game of pool. It was night and he knew the gate would be locked and the security systems would be on full alert. As he approached the gate and placed his hand on a pad for an ID scan, he noticed the address 1407 Graymalkin Lane. He smiled recalling the countless memories that address conjured up. Once his ID was confirmed the wrought-iron gates opened allowing him onto the Mansion property. As the familiar building came into view he recalled the words he had said to Wolverine before he and Rogue were married: "No matter what happens, it always seems like we're being pulled back to dis place. I t'hought dat Magneto was de master of magnetism but it seems like dis old place has him beat, no?" Gambit grinned and realized how true those words were.
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When Xavier built the house for Scott and Jean it was the only one in close proximity to the Mansion. But that was many years ago and over time a few other houses had popped up on the surrounding pieces of property not owned by Xavier. Luckily they were far enough away from the Institute so that nothing was suspected of the activities that went on there. The LeBeaus had made a couple of trips to the Mansion to visit friends and so Rogue could be examined by Beast. They had only been there for a week but Beast had insisted on seeing her three times already, just for a few minutes to make sure everything was ok. "So far so good" was always his response and he even agreed to allow Rogue's visit to drop down to once a week after she got past this first trimester. Rogue knew Beast was just worried and she felt honored that he took so much time and energy to make sure everything with this pregnancy went as smooth as possible. One thing Rogue hated about this pregnancy was the morning sickness. She didn't have any with the first pregnancy, but this time she woke up like clock work at the same time everyday and rushed to the bathroom. Gambit also woke up, and had gotten use to helping hold Rogue's hair back if she wanted him near her, or making her some dry toast and tea afterwards if she felt like it.
This particular morning, exactly one week after they moved in Rogue insisted that Gambit take some time off from unpacking. She wanted some time to herself and she secretly knew that Bobby wanted a chance to win back some money Gambit conned him out of earlier in the week. So Gambit reluctantly agreed to spend a few hours at the Mansion while Rogue unpacked some light boxes of kitchen supplies. As Rogue was putting dishes away in the kitchen she looked out into the back yard. Remy talked of putting in a swing set for their son or daughter, and Rogue smiled at the idea. She just hoped that her powers didn't cause her to lose this child as well. She wanted to be able to build a swing set with her husband for their child someday. As she daydreamed she noticed that on the other side of the chain-linked fence that divided their property and the one behind them a woman slightly older than her was rocking a bundle in her arms while a little girl, maybe 6 years old, played at her feet. The familial scene made Rogue smile thinking that some day she would have her own little family just the way her new neighbor did.
Once the last dish had been taken out of a box and put in the appropriate cabinet, Rogue decided that it was time to extend a little Southern hospitality to their new neighbors. After all, she and Gambit had already been there for a week. Making friends outside the X-men had been so wonderful in California, so why should things be any different in New York? Rogue took one last glance out the window at the neighbors before heading out the backdoor to meet them.
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Meanwhile in Washington discussions of the advancement of mutant scanning equipment and mutant rights yet again thrived on the floor of Congress. Like many controversial issues in the past, mutants and their rights were topics discussed in all branches of the government. This particular debate was being aired on CNN and all the major news carriers. A number of Representatives backed by anti-mutant groups were having a heated debate with a few pro-mutant Representatives. The star of the debate was a fairly young Congressman. Although he had only been in Washington for a short time, about two years, it was apparent that he was a powerful force to be reckoned with. Because he was only in his early thirties he held more liberal beliefs than many of the older Reps. He was also charming, charismatic, a family man, and a savvy politician, all of which earned him a rapidly increasing following. It was widely known that his passion for mutant rights came from the fact that his sister had been a mutant and tragically was killed at the hands of mutant haters when they were teenagers. Rumors circulated that when he gained more political experience he might even be groomed for the Presidency. He argued that mutants were essentially no different than regular people and therefore should not be treated as a threat:
"If we try to use technology to regulate mutant activities, how are we allowed to call ourselves a free nation? Doesn't America try to present itself as a nation accepting of all peoples? The inscription on the State of Liberty reads "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," don't those words extend to mutants as well? Every century has its persecuted group, must we perpetuate the hate further, or can we stop the hatred of mutants now before it grows into something that we can't stop? IF we do not stop the hatred now, what will become of our future, of our children's future?"
His passion stirred applause from those who agreed with him and jeers from his critics, both in the Congress and those at home watching the televised event. Once Congress had adjured the media swarmed the Reps as they left Capitol Hill. Questions were being asked to those who stood on either side of the debate and in the sea of commotion gun shots suddenly rang out and screams of "DIE MUTIE LOVERS" were heard before security could tackle the assailant. Medical assistance was there within minutes. A cameraman and a few Reps were hit in the crossfire but were not in any danger. Most would be discharged from the hospital in a few days. However, one Representative was visibility wounded more than the others. Television cameras panned to the body of the young Congressman who argued so passionately for peace moments earlier. He was announced dead at the scene less than ten minutes after the shooting began. Charles Xavier and many of the X-men watched in horror as the scene unfolded on television. Unfortunately Charles suspected this was only the beginning.
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Author's Note- When I posted the last chapter I didn't realize that ff.net doesn't allow certain symbols anymore so I can't use my usual design for separating scenes, so now I have to use boring old dashes. Oh well, good news, my internet at home might be fixed which means I can continue to update from my house, not as often as I do when I'm at the dorms, but you won't have to wait until September. YAY to my boyfriend for going to my house and fixing the computer :-) I'll know more when I go back home for summer break at the end of this week… Ok, I'm off to study for finals (or do more writing, you be the judge)
Star-of-Chaos- Oh you are too sweet! Thanks for wishing me good luck on my finals! :-)
Tammy- I think that both Dr. McCoy and Rogue are going to be very vigilant with this pregnancy but only time will tell what will happen!
Kitsu Lebeau- Yeah, Gambit's just that sweet of a guy! And I hope you enjoy the book if you get a chance to read it, since we keep talking about it, I might have to read it again too once my finals are done!
Ishandahalf- I totally hear you about finals, I mean don't schools realize that we have better things to do! In fact, sometimes professors make it seem like we are the only class they have and they each pile on the work! ARG, but that's off topic. Anyway, keep those fingers crossed because Gambit and Rogue are going to need all the luck they can get even though Gambit it is fairly lucky guy on his own…