I do not own X-Men: Evolution in any way, shape, or form. All I own is my idea. Please do not sue, for it will just be a waste and money in trying to find a lawyer.
Compromise
"Rouge?"
A pair of glassy, emerald eyes looked over to Hank. You could tell she had been crying. Her hair was in tangles, while her puffy, pink cheeks were stained with dried teardrops.
"Yes?" she asked quietly.
"I am not saying that I approve of an abortion, mind you," he told her. "But it is your body, and now that you are eighteen, you have the right to decide what happens to it without the Professor's or my objection on the matter."
Rogue's conscience overwhelmed her with disgrace and guilt. She remembered never meeting her parents and being stuck in an overcrowded orphanage with a bunch of kids she didn't know, and adults who didn't even know her or care about her well being anyhow. A young girl, only about seven or eight, looked through her blurred bedroom window. Snow fell from the sky and gently hit the concrete sidewalk. A man, woman, and child about her age were walking down the deserted street, hand in hand. The girl smiled and the man gave her a kiss on her forehead. What had the older boy, Johnny, called those people? Oh, yes, a family. Deep inside, she wished she had a family---people to encourage and take care of her as she grew older. But that would never happen. Her mother had died in childbirth and her father had left without a trace. Every birthday, she blew out her candles. And every year, she desired the same thing... a family.
And then came the fateful day when Mystique adopted her. Not that you could call Mystique a family or anything like that. No, she was only out to nurture Rogue's powers. She left the nurturing of her soul up to Irene, her associate. That was the only good thing that ever happened to her---meeting Irene Alder, the woman who became her best friend.
As she remembered all the pain and torture she had endured during her childhood, her conscience screamed back at her. Who was she to condemn children---especially her own---to death? She wanted her kids to have a chance at life and to live it to the fullest, with their mother and father guiding them the whole way. But at the same time, her heart refused to let go of her own adolescence, and that meant disregarding everything, even the tiny beings living inside of her body.
"Ah'm gonna think on it, Mr. McCoy," she said.
She retired to her room without even a single goodbye. With every step she took, sadness filled her heart. 'What am Ah gonna do?'
She quickly jogged up the stairs of the Institute. To avoid the intrusion promised at a boarding school with about fifteen other residents, Rogue locked her door and leaned back against it, gently sliding down until she sat on the floor. 'What am Ah gonna do?' she asked herself again. 'When will someone notice that Ah still need someone ta take care of meh?'
A loud knock interrupted her thoughts. "Chère?"
"Go away!"
"Remy just wants t' talk t' y'. That's all he be sayin'."
"Ya just did, Swamp Rat. Now, Ah don't wanna talk right now, so leave... meh... alone!"
She heard a dismal sight through the thick oak of her door and thought that Gambit had finally come to his senses and admitted defeat. This was not the case, as she heard a loud, sizzling sound near her ear. Hurriedly, she turned around and was petrified to find that her doorknob was being charged. Without delay, Rogue dove underneath her desk. Tiny splinters of metal flew through the air, one barely missing her leg as it darted past her.
Once she could be sure she was not in any more danger, she crawled out from beneath her desk and angrily faced the Cajun who grinned down at his handiwork. "Ya broke mah door!" she yelled at the top of her voice, getting his complete attention.
Remy's smile transformed into a pout. "Y' broke Remy's heart. How could y' even t'ink 'bout an abortion, chère?"
Rogue glowered. "How dare ya? Ya ain't goin' through this? Do ya know how stressful this is... ta be carrying three babies and deciding on their future as well as mahne? And ya have the nerve ta ask how Ah could think about an abortion? Ya think Ah wanted this?" she asked, gesturing to her belly. When he didn't answer, she continued her outrage. "No! Ah didn't. So don't ya dare ask meh that! Don't ya dare!"
"Remy knows y' don' want t'," he said quite calmly.
"Huh?"
"Remy knows y' don' wanna kill the bébés. He can feel it... it's tearin' y' up inside."
Rogue eyed him cynically. "How do ya know that?"
"Remy is a low-class empath---someone who can read others' feelings. Y' scared, frightened of the future because of y' past. Remy wants y' t' know, he feels the same way y' do... rejected by his original family, unwanted by his foster family who only wanted to develop his mutation, and unfitting in a world that hates mutants. But y' don' have t' be scared, chère."
"Where did ya find all this information about meh, Swamp Rat?" she asked suspiciously.
"Remy has his ways. Hacking int' files is one his specialties. And Remy can tell y' tryin' to avoid the real reason he be talkin' t' y'. Now, are y' goin' t' go through wit' de abortion or not?"
"Are ya gonna help me raise them?" she asked.
He smiled. "Of course. On Remy's honor.""Fahne. Ah'll tell Mr. McCoy Ah won't go through with it, okay? Now, get outta of mah room!"
Remy gently took hold of her gloved hand and held it securely in his own. He lifted it into the air and looked deeply into her eyes as he laid a small, lingering kiss on her knuckle. Rogue's heart fluttered for a moment. She had never engaged in such romantic activity before and it all felt so exciting.
He walked out onto her balcony and stood on top of the railing. "Au revoir." He waved goodbye and jumped off, disappearing before her eyes.
Rogue stared down at the hand he had kissed.
'Ah'm startin' ta fall for him.'
