DISCLAIMER: I still do not own the X-Men.

The voices were getting louder and harsher. Out of breath, he had run as far as his small legs could take him. He crouched behind a bush and hoped that they didn't notice him there. Unfortunately though, his sobs gave him away and the small but angry mob quickly located him.

"She's over here."

"Be careful, she's dangerous."

"No kidding."

He gasped as a pitchfork plunged through the bush next to him.

"I swear, after what she did to my little boy, I'll stick that skunk alive."

He let out a scream and scuttled farther into the woods. He heard them following, struggling a little bit as they tried to make their way through the undergrowth. Being small had its advantages. He dove through a small opening in the trees and out into a small clearing, where he ran into a tall woman with blonde hair.

"AH!"

"Hey there, honey. What are you running from?"

"You tryin' to get me too?"

"Of course not. I'm here to help you."

He looked behind him. The mob was getting closer. When he turned around, the woman was gone. In her place stood one of the townspeople. He quickly shielded himself, waiting for the man to hurt him. Instead, he yelled to the rest of the mob, pointing in an opposite direction from where they were.

"She went that way."

He looked at the mob and watched as they switched directions without questioning the man. When he faced the man again, the woman was standing there once more.

"Wh...what's going on?"

"I can help you."

"How?"

"I know all about how you're different. I'm different, too."

"Ah killed him."

"No, you didn't. He's going to be ok."

"You can't help me. You can't touch me."

"Watch." The woman changed right in front of his eyes. Instead of the blonde haired beauty that first stood there, a red-haired blue skinned scaly woman stood in front of him.

"Wha? How'd ya do that!"

"I told you. I'm just like you. I'm a mutant."

"A moo-tant?"

The woman chuckled. "What's your name?"

He thought a minute. Two names came to mind, neither of which sounded right in his head. "Ah don't know. Cody. Maybe. But those big guys keep on callin' me a little Rogue."

Leaning back again, Xavier removed his hands from either side of her head. The sweat was dripping down his forehead and into his eyes, and he wiped it away with a nearby towel. When he began the task of wading through Rogue's mind, he never thought that it would be so cluttered. And there were many parts of her life that she had failed to mention before. He never would have guessed that her powers had actually manifested when she was only five. Or that she had inadvertently put her best friend into a coma. And he surely wouldn't have guessed that the person who had rescued her from an angry mob would have been Mystique, although he had always assumed that she had somehow crossed paths with the Brotherhood at some point in her life. How else would Magneto have known about her powers? But she had gone willingly with Mystique. Of course, she didn't know exactly who Mystique was, but that was hardly her fault. He wiped the last of the sweat from his brow and shifted his weight. Concentrating again, he began to sift through her mind.
He tossed the dart haphazardly at the small board, completely missing. As the magnetized tip hit and stuck to the metal wall, someone laughed behind him.

"Great aim, John."

He turned around and faced his new teammate.

"You think you can do better, Dom? Be my guest."

He bowed mockingly and Dominic Petros, codename Avalanche, demonstrated his particular ability. The floor began to shake and John stumbled, landing squarely on his rear end. He stood up, little more than his ego bruised, and started to walk away.

"You're such a loser."

Before Dom could send another vibration John's way, John whipped out his lighter.

"Don't even try it. I'll fry you so fast..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Sabretooth padded into the room.

"Meeting."

With that one word, he turned and made his way out of the room, leaving the two young men behind.

"His vocabulary is incredible," Dom deadpanned.

John looked over at Dom and laughed, clicking his lighter shut and pocketing it.

"Lets go before buckethead gets angry."

They walked down a series of metal corridors and finally came upon the conference room, where Magneto, Sabretooth, and Mystique were seated. John leaned against the wall, as Dom took an open seat.

"Nice of you two to join us." Magneto did not look happy. " I'm going to Europe for a week or so. Recruitment. When I return, there will be two new additions to the team. These individuals are of great importance to me and to the cause. Sabretooth will accompany me. In my absence, Mystique will be in charge. While we are gone, the two of you will be doing some housekeeping. I need the two storage rooms behind your quarters emptied out and furnished."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No. I'm not here to be a maid."

"Then you're not here at all. Pyro, you only have to clean out one of the rooms. We can use Avalanche's for the other. Avalanche, you have one day to g—"

"Ok, I'll do it. But I want you to know that I'm not happy about it."

"As long as it gets done."

Dom grumbled and crossed his arms in defiance.

He looked up at the building. It was bigger than any of the buildings back home.

"Here we are. Welcome home."

The tall blonde led the way to the apartment building's front door, where the doorman nodded his head and opened the door elegantly.

"Evening, Raven."

"Stephen." She nodded and gestured to him. "This is my daughter, Rogue. She's moving in with us."

"Oh, nice to meet you little lady." Stephen held out his hand, and he shied away from him, hiding behind his "mother."

"Don't worry, Stephen. She's just a little scared."

"Oh, well we'll have to work on that, won't we? See you around, Rogue."

The pair continued into the building and he looked around. The walls in the lobby were fancier than any he had ever seen.

"Am Ah really gonna live here?"

They had reached the elevator, and Raven pushed the button. She looked down at him and smiled. "Of course you are, honey."

He saw his own reflection in the polished metal of the elevator and started to twirl the white parts of his hair around his finger.

"Are you rich?"

Raven laughed. "In some ways, yes."

They boarded the elevator and he watched intently as Raven pushed the button for the top floor, as well as a security code.

"How come ya said Ah was your daughter?"

"Because you are."

"Am Ah?"

"Yes, you are. I've adopted you."

"So that makes you mah momma?"

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"Do Ah have a poppa?"

"Not exactly."

"Ok."

The elevator made a pinging noise, and the doors opened. He found himself standing in a small foyer. Directly ahead of him was a very large living room. To both the left and right, hallways stretched out. He watched as Raven changed into her true form, and motioned for him to follow her. She led the way down one of the hallways, and opened a door.

"This is your room. If you want anything in it changed, let me know. You can explore it later on, but for now I'll give you the grand tour, ok?"

He dropped his bag on the floor and nodded.

"Ok. Across the hall here are our offices."

His eyes got wide. "Ah have a office?"

Raven laughed. "No, One is mine and one is Irene's."

"Who?"

"Irene. She'll be home soon."

"Ok."

Raven led the way down the hallway, towards the elevator. They passed the big living room, and he peeked in, eager to see exactly what was in there. The second hallway contained two doors, one on each side of the hallway. Raven opened one of them and showed him a big bedroom.

"This is my bedroom."

She then turned and opened the door on the other side. "This is the training room. Don't use any of the equipment unless I'm with you, ok?"

"Yeah. Where does Irene sleep?"

"With me."

"Oh... ok." He was slightly confused, but decided not to press it.

Raven turned again and walked back into the front entry. She turned and walked into the living room. It was even cooler looking from the inside than it was from the hallway. His eyes flew around the room, taking as much of it in as possible. There was a big screen TV, a comfortable looking leather couch, a huge stereo system, and a bunch of other electronics that he didn't recognize.

"This is the living room. Through here is the kitchen. And right outside is the pool."

"Pool!" He ran to the plate glass door and slid it open, running out onto the roof. Sure enough, a huge pool sat there, the water shining. "Cool!"

Then, he noticed just how high up he was. "Unnh..."

"Afraid of heights?"

"Yeah. Real afraid."

"Don't worry. You'll overcome that soon enough." Raven walked over to him and picked him up gently, carrying him back into the apartment and setting him down on the couch.

"You want a snack?"

"Yeah, Ah'm starvin'."

Raven switched on the television and showed him how to change the channels, then walked into the kitchen. Finally settling on cartoons, he could smell her cooking what seemed to be grilled cheese and tomato soup. Closing his eyes, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

The Professor pulled back again, once again wondering just how Rogue had been able to conceal her connection with the Brotherhood from the numerous psychics in the mansion. Sure, he and Jean were polite about it and never entered anyone's minds without their permission (unless it was absolutely necessary), but some of the children didn't have enough courtesy or control to do the same. He shrugged it off and realized just how hungry he was. Looking at his watch, he decided that there was just enough time for him to have a grilled cheese sandwich.
A/N: Sorry it took so long! I'll try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week to make up for it, ok? Reviews are lovely, by the way :)