Poked
By: Kryptonite
*****
*One Year Two Months One Day After*
" Rogue?" Rogue turned at the voice, eyes still closed from the exercise.
" Yeah?" She asked, hands still folding the clothes.
" Why are you packing?" Doc asked, stepping farther into the room.
" It's just laundry." She answered, finally opening her eyes to look at the boy. He smiled back at her, motioning to her neck.
" I see you've finally got your collar working." Rogue grinned at him, a glove-less hand reaching up to touch the cool metal.
" Took them long enough to get the frequency right." Doc chuckled, nodding his head remembering Dr. Langford agonizing over the procedure, taking two weeks to get the right scrip.
" Doesn't matter, they have it now. Hey. I'm heading into town in a little bit to donate some of my clothes. I don't need all of this stuff anymore, I was planning on dropping it off at Goodwill or something. Wanna come along?"
" I'd love to," Rogue stopped him before he could say anything else.
" It's okay. I'll see you when I get back then." Rogue spoke quickly walking out of her room with the laundry basket in her hands and the duffel on her shoulder.
" Rogue, I-" By the time Cody/Doc was out the door, Rogue was entering the elevator. He sighed, stopping himself from trying to follow.
" Doc?" A voice called from down the hall. Cody turned his head and smiled, before heading off to play with the littler kids.
*****
" Can I help you?" A voice called behind Rogue. She turned smiling at the woman.
" I'd like to donate these clothes. They're all in decent condition." The woman smiled back at Rogue and motioned for her to follow her.
" You are right," she commented once the clothes were pulled from out of the bag. " They are in decent condition." Rogue smiled as the woman thanked her. The young girl spent another half hour going up and down the strip, searching for some new clothes: jeans, shirts, jackets, skirts and the like.
*****
" Rogue?" Doc asked walking past her darkened room.
" Hmm?" She muttered, rolling over in the bed to blink owlishly at the light from the hallway.
" We were just about to get worried about you." He whispered, closing the door partially behind him.
" Been here for over an hour." She croaked, trying to wake up, her mind fuzzy.
" How's that collar working for you? Everyone silent up there?" Cody slowly walked closer. Rogue's mind flashed to another dark figure and she instinctively backed up. " Rogue?" He questioned when she didn't say anything.
" Just-" Rogue took a deep breath to steady her voice. " I just want to go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
" Okay." Cody spoke softly, making his way back to the door, opening it silently and slipping out. Rogue tried to get back to sleep after hearing the door click shut but found it difficult. Slipping out from under the covers she turned the stereo on low and angled it towards her head.
Sliding back under the thick black comforter Rogue settled her head down on the pillows, listening to the strains of classical instrumental music.
*****
Rogue bolted up in bed, coming to rest on her elbows, sweat drops rolling down her face. The comforter was tangled up around her sheets, one pillow was on the floor and the other was over her stomach.
Reaching for the pillow on the floor Rogue glanced over at the clock before groaning at the time. After three, I'll never get back to sleep!
Rogue placed the pillows back where they belonged and yanked the comforter back up to waist height. She closed her eyes and the last few seconds of her nightmare flashed before them. Snapping them open she silently cursed at Cody.
Why does this damn thing take so long to kick in? While Dr. Langford had never said that the collar would specifically block her memories it was supposed to help with nightmares, considering most of them were caused by the fragment personality in her mind.
The simplest things can trigger a memory. A sight, a smell, a sound. But is there anything that can truly block a memory? Yes the human mind can block out that which it does not wish to remember but, eventually the memory is drudged up, examined, poked. Nothing is left in the dark, everything is shone the light.
*****
A/N: So can anyone figure out who she was referring to? And just because Scott has 'seen the error of his ways' doesn't mean he's going to go running after her. I mean, she's coming back soon and he has no clue as to where to look other than a simple 'California' which is a pretty big state. To Roguechere, Julia, jupiterhime, Veronica, Karma (nice name), Tamara, RebelDream2222 and spikes-storm, chocolate chip cookies all around *passes out the cookies*. Rebel, I'm sorry about the whole steep drop thing, I really didn't mean to let you fall *grins*.
Obviously this is a back-post to the last chapter, happening considerably before it. Wonder what's going through Rogue's head? Doesn't it scare you when I'm questioning what's happening in her head? It should considering I'm writing this. I would say more about the whole Scott thing in the last chapter but I don't want to give anything away.
Have a good life everyone, catch ya on tha flipside.