Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men…sigh….

Warning: There will be Scott and Jean bashing in this story, cause I really don't like them. If you like them and you still read this, don't be offended.

Chapter One

"Rogue! Like come on, get up… you're going to be late!" a high-pitched voice penetrated through the sleeping girl's dream.

Mumbling something incomprehensible under her breath, the girl rolled on her back to stare bleary eyed at the figure trying to wake her up. Squinting her eyes to glare at her disturber of peace, she spied a pair of red on black eyes staring at her suggestively. Shaking her head to clear the illusion, her eyes cleared to reveal her peppy, valley girl roommate, Kitty Pryde. "Ah'm up already," Rogue muttered and dragged her body out of bed.

"Well, you better hurry up, the meeting starts in like a half hour," Kitty chided and phased through their door on the way out.

Sighing in annoyance, the young girl sat back down on the side of her bed and contemplated her odd dream. 'Why in the world did ah have Gambit's eyes in mah dream,' her mind screamed in protest, 'ah hate that guy.'

'No yah don't,' another part of her mind taunted.

Sighing in frustration, Rogue grabbed her towel from the rack behind the door and snatched her uniform from the closet, her gloves were a given with any outfit she wore, before heading out towards the shower.

She was one of the many mutants who presided at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, a school for mutants. Her power is her curse; she can't make flesh on flesh contact with anyone. When she touches someone, she absorbs them and gains the person's life force and in a mutants case, their powers temporarily. Her power denied her the one thing she craved most in the world… human touch.

Still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Rogue found the bathroom empty and eagerly rushed in to claim the warm water of the shower. Her shower took longer than expected, for her mind kept straying back to those enticing eyes from her dream. Gambit's eyes, he had dared to wink or smirk at her with his red on black eyes many times during battles. Since he was one of Magneto's Acolytes, he fought against the X-men… but that didn't stop him from flirting with Rogue at every chance he got.

Groaning out loud, a now clean Rogue stepped out of the shower and pulled on her clothes in angry, jerking movements. Gambit's eyes… he tried to blow her up, why did she have to be thinking of him?

'Because he's sexy,' her mind teased.

"Ah've seen better," Rogue lied out loud and grimaced at the thought of talking to herself before picking up her toothbrush and vigorously scrubbing her teeth with a mint-tinted toothpaste.

'He also wasn't afraid ta touch yah,' her mind replied.

Rogue abruptly stopped brushing her teeth and hesitantly spit out the used toothpaste. That was the one thing she couldn't figure out about Gambit, he knew what would have happened if they touched, but yet, he still leaned in for a kiss during their first fight. Shaking her head in confusion, she raised her watering eyes to stare at her reflection; bright green orbs stared back at her. Her eyes were the only part of her face that could betray any emotion she was feeling, the rest of her face she kept hidden under thick, gothic makeup, which she was about to apply, when she was rudely interrupted. 'ROGUE! You're late! We're all waiting for you. This is a very important meeting, get down here now.' Jean's airy voice invaded Rogue's troubled thoughts.

'Stay out of mah mind!' Rogue yelled back through their physic link and with a huff left the bathroom, her makeup forgotten.

Rogue stomped down the main staircase, fuming with anger. 'Ah've told her again an' again, not to go into mah mind an' what does she do, she still goes in,' her thoughts screamed in fury.

'I heard that,' Jean replied in a cool, demeaning tone, her annoyingly high voice interrupting Rogue's current thoughts.

Grimacing, Rogue closed her eyes and concentrated on her mind shields, forcibly shoving Jean out of her mind and placing strong mental barriers so the nosy redheaded psychic couldn't get back in. She ran her gloved hands through her wet chestnut hair; two dramatic white stripes adorned the sides of her face. Sighing out loud, she decided that there was no hope for her hair this morning and stalked into the meeting room to be met with four very different faces.

Her eyes quickly roamed over the richly furnished room until they settled on the first person in the room. Scott, stick up his ass, Summers was giving her a disappointed stare and had his lips set in a thin, grim line. It was at times like these that Rogue wondered what kind of emotion showed in Scott's eyes; he had to keep them safely hidden behind his red shades to prevent red energy beams from shooting out of his eyes… his mutation.

Standing directly by his side was none other than Miss Perfect herself, Jean Grey. Jean was pretty, popular and her mutant powers included telekinesis and some psychic abilities. She also has a knack to get into everyone's business; it's easy to do that when one can read minds. The red head turned her cool green gaze to glare at Rogue. Not many could put up shields against her prying powers; Rogue was one of the exceptions and that annoyed the preppy girl to no end.

Rogue shrugged off the girl's disapproving glare to rest on one of her few friends at the institute. Kitty Pryde, with her bubbly attitude and caring manner, had managed to break through Rogue's isolated façade and develop a solid friendship with the Goth. Her powers enabled her to phrase through solid objects. Kitty stifled the giggle that threatened to slip through her delicate, pink lips as she watched the glare battle between Rogue and Jean. Smiling, Kitty tightened her light, brown ponytail and decided Rogue was definitely winning the glare battle, like always.

Glancing at the last person in the room, Rogue watched his yellow eyes light up in mischief as her half-brother, Kurt Wagner, twisted his fuzzy, blue face into a goofy expression. She bit her lip to prevent the smile from seeping through her nearly expressionless face as she tore her gaze away from the teleporter.

"Well, now that we're ALL here," Scott stated seriously, "the Professor just sent a message from Muir Island. He's located a new mutant with emerging powers in Bayville. He's asked us to go recruit her."

"Like, why haven't the Professor and the others returned yet?" Kitty asked, looking at her fellow mutants for an answer.

"The Professor, Logan, Ororo and the other students are undergoing training on Muir Island in Scotland. The professor has a few acquaintances there and they would have returned by now, but are having trouble with the X-Jet, so they'll be a few days late," Scott droned on, oblivious to the bored stares around him.

"Okay then, let's go recruiting!" Kitty shouted and jumped out of her seat.

"Last one to ze van iz a rotten egg," Kurt taunted and teleporter away with a flash, leaving a smoke like substance hovering in the air as well as the faint brimstone smell associated with his teleportation.

"Hey," Kitty squealed in protest and ran through the wall in the direction of the garage.

Rogue pressed her lips together to keep back the smile from slipping through at the sight of her friends' antics. She squared her shoulders and sent one more glare at Jean before making her exit towards the room. As she was about to close the door she glimpsed Scott pull Jean into a tender embrace and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. As much as Rogue disliked the pair, she couldn't help the twinge of jealously spreading through her whole body and she hurriedly made her way to the X-van. 'Ah'll never have tha type of relationship with someone,' her thoughts repeated through her head as she climbed into the vehicle.

Kitty sent Rogue a cheerful smile and pondered over her friend's somber expression until she saw Scott and Jean approach the van holding hands. Kitty rolled her eyes at their antics; those two always became touchy-feely around each other when they had a problem with Rogue. "Ignore them Rogue," Kitty whispered into her friend's ear as the couple climbed into the front seats, "they're only doing that to get a rise out of you."

"Ah know that… but no matter how hard ah try ta ignore them, it still hurts," Rogue shrugged and turned her watery eyes away from Kitty's searching face.

Kitty kept silent and took one of Rogue's gloved hands in her own, squeezing it gently. Rogue looked down at their joined hands in shock before a soft smile settled over her pretty features. 'At least ah have Kitty ta support meh,' Rogue's thoughts sighed as she settled back into her seat and prepared for the long ride, 'This mutant better be worth meh getting up this mornin.'

A/N: Well, there's chapter one. The whole story is almost complete and will be regularly posted every 2 days. There are going to be 7 chapters and maybe an epilogue. Have no fear, the real fun begins during the next chapter when Rogue and Remy... well, you'll just have to see.