Rogue's greenish-gray eyes scanned the food court for any signs of activity; it had been a trait picked up soon after joining the X-Men. She never knew when trouble could spark in an area, so she chose to keep a close watch on everything so she would be the first to see the disturbance and not be taken off guard.
There were no disturbances tonight, thankfully. Tonight, there was nothing but love-struck teens sharing fries and milkshakes, or parents with small children in tow. The mutant shifted in her seat uncomfortably as the food-court began to get a little crowded. Crowds were still not one of her favorite things, even though she had meager control over her powers. She still felt as if she were a disaster waiting to happen to the unsuspecting people of Bayville, even though most people had seen her face on the news and now recognized her as a mutant and tried to steer clear.
Mary plopped down unexpectedly with a smoothie in her hand. "I think I ditched Tabitha in the crowd." She stated as she scanned the swarm for her roommate.
"She'll make her way back. She has a knack for finding people." Rogue assured, her eyes still scanning.
Mary noticed the lack of emotion in her voice, and saw that her sister was more focused on something in the crowds of people. Speaking of crowds though, Mary was extremely thankful she had worn her long sleeves and gloves. In Alabama, the stores were never as crowded as this. Mary had bumped into God knows how many people… she was beginning to understand why Rogue never went out much. With their powers, they were too much of a risk. The two-tone stared out into the crowd as well, trying to locate the point of Rogue's interest, but she found nothing out of the ordinary. "What are you looking for?" She questioned curiously.
"Nothin' in particular. Just looking." Rogue assured before she tore her attention away from the mass of people and stared at her sister. "So how'd yah lose Tabitha?" She asked, mildly amused.
"I dunno. I guess I just slipped through the crowd. I'm short… short people have a tendency to get through crowds a lot faster… we duck under the arms and elbows." Mary elaborated as she saw Tabitha elbow her way through a line of people waiting to order and make her way towards the sisters. "Or you could do it like Tabitha." She snorted.
"Geez… you think people would move when they see you coming." Tabitha said in disbelief as she sat down.
"They were in line, Tabitha, yah could have gone around." Rogue retorted.
"Why would I have done that?" The blonde replied, nonplussed.
Rogue sighed in annoyance and shook her head. "Ah don't know. Never mind."
The trio ate their dinner without much disturbance beside the wailing babies coming from a nearby toy store. "I'm disappointed, tonight's a slow night. I was hoping for some action." Tabitha announced as they stood to leave.
"No way… Ah'm glad for a peaceful night for a change. Ah'm sick of running Danger Room sessions every other night, and the days we're off havin' tah train tha New Recruits. They're insane." Rogue responded as she grabbed her trench coat from the back of her chair.
"Hey…I'm in the New Recruits." The blonde responded with a huff.
"Mah point exactly." The older girl replied with a wry smile. "Besides, you'll probably be moving up in ranking soon… so chill. You'll be experiencing mah stress sooner or later."
Tabitha, Rogue and Mary headed towards the mall doors, window-shopping along the way. They were mere feet from the door when they heard someone scream. "Hey! Come back with my wallet you little punk!"
The girls spun around to see a small, pasty-faced teen bounding for the doors. "Toad." Rogue growled under her breath.
"Our old roommate. He's a member of the Brotherhood: a lame group of mutants that like to cause a bunch of trouble. They're fun to hang out… but being a member is pretty sucky. They had an insane shape-shifter for a boss… but now it's a white-haired jerk." Tabitha explained in a hushed tone to Mary as the boy came closer. She and Rogue stood their ground in front of the doors, creating a sort of barricade. Mary, on the other hand, had been pushed to the side to avoid injury.
Toad was a few feet away when he realized who was blocking his exit. He skidded to a stop and gave a broad smile, showing very unhealthy teeth. "Yo! Tabitha. How's it going?"
"Great Toad. How about you? I see you're in the pick-pocket line of work again." Tabitha replied sweetly while forming a few cherry bombs in her hands.
"Aww… come on Tab! Just a few wallets! The Brotherhood's gotta eat!" He whined.
"Then get a job!" Rogue cried exasperated. Toad looked at her as if she had just grown an extra head.
"No way yo! Anyways, gotta run! Mall security's gonna be here in a few seconds." He disagreed as he jumped over their heads and out the door. Rogue growled in annoyance and turned to follow him out, Tabitha and Mary following behind her.
"Toad! Yah coward! Get back here and face me!" She yelled. Toad turned and spat a green slime at them, which fortunately fell short and only further angered Rogue. She was for some reason strangely aggressive tonight. Perhaps it was the fact that all she wanted to do tonight was stay home with a good book and her headphone; instead she was dragged out to the mall full of screaming babies and discriminate people. Plus, Toad had pissed her off extremely.
"Dammit." He muttered as he continued his flight. He had always been intimidated of Rogue and Tabitha. He knew the goody-goodies wouldn't let him get away with a few men's wallets, and he knew he had little to no chance of beating the two of them. He had to make it back to the jeep where Lance and Blob were waiting, and then he could let those two do the fighting.
"Yo! Lance! Little problem here!" Toad called as he neared the truck. Lance looked up from the magazine he and Blob was leafing through. The brunette scowled and hopped out of the car, Blob following shortly after.
"Rogue… please? Come on! We need the cash. It's not like they don't have more!" Lance argued when Toad hopped in the car. Mary had stopped a few yards back as Rogue and Tabitha made their way over to the car.
"No, Lance. Give me the money… now." Rogue demanded, her famous glare present in her eyes.
"Sorry Rogue, I can't do that." Lance replied angrily as he sent a small tremor that knocked them on their backs.
"Dammit Lance!" Tabitha screeched as she threw a handful of bombs at him. They landed at his feet and exploded, sending him flying into Blob. The larger boy caught him and set him down. Lance glared at the girls and stamped his foot on the pavement; it began to vibrate slowly but then began to quake with the force of a good-sized tremor. Mary stumbled to keep her balance, which was very difficult with the light pole that she was standing near falling over as well. Mary fell over, and soon after the lamppost did as well. It missed the girl by a few feet, and Rogue quickly spun around to see what the commotion was.
When Rogue saw the accident that had nearly taken place, she became enraged. She was up in an instance and had slammed her fist into Lance's jaw, she was not in the mood to use her powers and have Lance in her head for a few hours. He grabbed his face and stumbled back, muttering curse words as he went. "God, Rogue! It's just a human! She's fine." He defended himself.
"That's. Mah. Sister." Rogue snarled with the ferocity of a mother lion defending her cub. Lance, Blob and Toad stared at her, extremely confused. "Yeah, yah heard me." Rogue assured them before taking another step towards Lance.
"If I were you, I'd run." Tabitha called, a smile plastered on her face. She figured out a while back that Rogue was fun to tease, but it was insane to actually piss her off… Lance just did. (Sucks for him.)
Lance saw the look in his former teammate's eyes and decided it would be the best time to leave. He nodded to Blob, who charged and slammed into her at a speed surprising for his bulky frame. Rogue went flying and landed a few yards behind Mary in a crumpled heap. Lance, Blob and Toad took the opportunity to flee back to the Brotherhood house.
Mary and Tabitha saw Rogue land and rushed over to the incapacitated girl. "Rogue? Are you Ok?" Mary whimpered.
"Ah'm fine… Assholes ran away didn't they?" She asked as she sat up.
"Of course." Tabitha snorted as she and Mary pulled Rogue up. The two-tone was having difficulty walking, and leaned on Mary for support while Tabitha went to fetch Jean's car.
"So was that the welcome wagon for Bayville?" Mary joked.
"One of them at least." Rogue smiled faintly. "Try and steer clear of them… its hard tah tell if they'll get violent or not sometimes. Ah mean… we go tah school with them… Kitty kinda dated Lance. It's hard tah think if them as enemies." She shrugged painfully.
"So you and them are friends?" Mary asked incredulously.
"On good days?" Rogue replied, not sure herself. "Ah used tah be a member. They were Ok guys… not very organized though. They're fighting's kinda choppy and they have a hard time communicating. That was only 3 of tha gang though. Pietro and Wanda Maximoff weren't present. They're probably tha more dangerous of tha group."
Mary stared at the now deserted road the Jeep had driven down. "So why were you part of the Brotherhood?"
"Mystique had tricked me intah thinking the X-Men were the enemy. Ah was only with them a month or two… Ah didn't even really fight tha entire time Ah was with them. Ah'm just glad Ah got out." Rogue replied as Tabitha pulled up with the radio blaring.
"Ok! Let's go. I'm driving!" She exclaimed as she rolled down the window.
"How can you be like this all the time?" Mary asked.
"Like what?" Tabitha responded as Rogue climbed in the back, and Mary hopped in the front.
"Insane." Mary answered as they sped down the street.
&&
"Rogue, I can't believe you confronted the Brotherhood alone!" Scott reprimanded. Rogue had just returned from the Med Lab, where she had a few bandages put on minor cuts and scrapes on her body. Scott had set her, Tabitha and Mary down on the couch in the rec room to give them a stern talking to.
"Ah wasn't alone. Tabitha and Mary were with me." The two-tone replied smugly.
"A lot of good that did you too. What if you had been seriously hurt? Mary was almost flattened too!" He continued on, his glasses flashing in the dim light.
"Look, Scott. Ah understand yah care. Ah appreciate that too, really Ah do. But there are going tah be circumstances in which the entire team won't be there when something happens. Tonight was a good example of that. We handled it tha best we could, and no one was seriously hurt. Ah should have been on better guard, but Ah wasn't. But we're fine! So drop it!" Rogue replied, the tone in her voice signifying she no longer wished to talk about it.
"Fine." Scott sighed as he uncrossed his arms, signifying that he was sorry for snapping at them and giving them a cue to either leave peacefully or speak up. Rogue took her cue and headed for her room. It had been a long day, and she was tired. Mary waited a few moments and then followed suite. As she walked down the dormitory hallway, she paused at Rogue's door and knocked. She heard a muffled reply and assumed that was door for 'come in'.
She pushed open the door to see Rogue with her headphones on and a book in her lap. Mary plopped down on Kitty's bed, her arm still cradled against her body. "So." She began.
Rogue tugged out the earpieces and raised a brow. "So what?"
"Are you really Ok?" Mary asked.
"Ah'm…fine." Rogue replied somewhat coldly. But she wasn't really. Her pride had been wounded along with her leg. She hated being beaten. Hated it. Lance was going to pay when she saw him next time. She would make sure she personally ripped his long hair out and shoved it down his throat. "Don't worry about it. Ah'm just kinda ticked about it." She assured. "Ah just guess Ah was being a little too overprotective of yah and Ah let mah guard down." She smiled.
Mary shifted. So it was her fault Rogue had gotten hurt. "I'm sorry." She muttered.
"Don't be. It wasn't anyone's fault." Rogue assured before yawning.
"You're tired… I guess those painkillers are knockin' you out. I'll let you sleep." Mary offered as she stood to leave.
"Thanks… Goodnight Mary." Rogue called as Mary walked out the door.
"Night! Sleep tight." Mary replied before heading to her own room and falling down flat on her bed, not caring to turn off the lights. "Today wasn't fun." She muttered to herself before rolling over and staring at the ceiling until sleep overcame her.
A few minutes after she fell asleep, the balcony doors flew open, and a breeze ran softly through her room. Pietro Maximoff quickly grabbed the doors before they banged and alerted anyone else he was here. He was sure the Professor had already noticed his presence, but it would take him a few moments to pinpoint his exact location. Pietro needed to confirm something quickly and leave before Wolverine stormed up and gutted him.
He tiptoed over to Mary's bed and stared at the younger girl's features. He hadn't believed Lance when the boy had told him Rogue had found her sister, and decided to take it upon himself to discover the truth. It had been a breeze bypassing the security; he was so fast the detectors couldn't sense him. The only problem he had encountered was finding the right room. He knew the girl's dormitories overlooked the backyard, but that was about it. He saw a light on in one room, and thought it would be best to start there. Fortunately for him, he had chosen right the first time.
"It can't be possible." He muttered as he fingered a few strands of her white hair… looking for a sign that it was dyed. Not finding one, he studied her face. She had Rogue's nose and ears… but her chin was a bit rounder. "I'm sure Magneto would find this interesting." Pietro muttered to himself before turning and speeding out the door once again. Mere seconds later, Logan opened the door swiftly but softly and peered in. Everything seemed as it should, but one sniff of the air proved otherwise.
"Yep Chuck, he's been in here. Why do you think the little brat would have broken in and not done anything?" Logan thought to Charles, who was sitting in the study.
Xavier propped his chin on his fingertips and tried once more to pinpoint the boy. While he wasn't able to find his exact location, Charles discovered that he was nowhere present on the grounds. "I don't know Logan, but he's left the grounds. There's not enough information yet to notify the students, the most it would cause is worry. I suppose you may as well leave before Mary wakes and finds you searching around her room. Thank you for checking on her." He informed Logan.
Logan snorted in disgust as Quicksilver's cologne wafted into his nostrils. He quickly scanned the room again for any signs of disturbance, and quickly walked to the balcony door and locked them. He was about to exit when a thought crossed his mind. "What if he comes back?" He highly doubted that a locked door would stop the persistent mutant. Logan looked around for some sort of barricade, upon finding nothing that met his criteria; he grabbed a nearby chair from a desk in the room and jammed it under the latch. He knew the chair would be little more effective than the lock, but at least it would alert the girls to his presence. Glancing once more out the windows, he left quietly and returned downstairs to finish his dinner.