Just for my sanity, I think I'm skipping ahead about… 5 days. Its now Wednesday. Enjoy lol.
The weekend had passed without any further incident. Tabitha woke up early Saturday morning furious with Mary for stopping the fight. Mary responded back with a few bombs, still apparently angry with Tabitha for causing her hangover. The two were separated, and later Tabitha apologized and they were allowed to see each other without someone having to be there to break them up.
Rogue and the other inhabitants of the Institute had been worried about Mary after the absorption; the girl just seemed to hold Tabitha's personality longer than Rogue had. By Sunday, Xavier had called Rogue into his office to ask a favor of her…
Rogue spied her sister walking down the school hallway a bit after lunch. Xavier had asked her to observe her sister's behavior for a bit to make sure everything seemed Ok. He seemed to be worried about the psyches, but Rogue was sure that Mary could handle just the three that were in her mind. Rogue knew how the psyches worked; upon first being absorbed into the mind, they were loud and scared. The voices believed that they themselves were the person that was absorbed, and not residual parts of them. They would be scared, and once they realized they were trapped in someone's mind, they would become angry and search for a way out. Even though over time they realized they weren't actual people, they still fought for control of Rogue's body as compensation for being trapped.
They fought all the time. Fortunately though, over time they would weaken and barely become whispers in the back of her mind. They would lose their enthusiasm for the fight, and leave her alone. But… once someone new was absorbed, the process would begin again. Then, there were times when she was weak. That meant her walls would break down, and they would strive for control again. Every time she had successfully gained control over them, except for once… but that was when there were dozens of voices all acting as one. Right now, Mary only had three voices. She knew her sister could handle them, even if Tabitha was one of them.
No, she watched her sister for a different reason. Ever since last Friday night, when she realized her sister had a growing fondness for Pietro, she had been keeping an eye on her at school. She trusted her sister to watch herself around him, but she knew that Pietro might not. She wanted to catch that little weasel doing something wrong with her sister, and she would be on him in an instant to show Mary what he really was. She prayed he stumbled over this goody personality he had had for the past few weeks and his true mean spirited nature would shine through in full and Mary would see her mistake in liking a pompous, overblown, malicious self-centered prick.
So Rogue was a little vindictive, it was her little sister she was protecting.
She saw the younger girl stop at her locker and pack up for the next few classes, and saw in annoyance as Pietro sped up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and whirled around, terrified at the random contact. He apologized, and the two chatted for a moment. He patted Mary on the head playfully before speeding off down the hallway again. A growl actually emitted deep within Rogue's throat before she could stop herself.
"You know, that's kind of creepy." A voice called from behind her. Rogue need not turn to know who it was. Jean. Fortunately though, Rogue and Jean were somewhat fond of each other. Not too much, but well enough to keep Rogue from wanting to walk off without responding.
"Yeah… well it's mah sister… Pietro's flirting with mah little sister and Ah don't understand why." She sighed as she finally turned to face the redhead.
"Maybe he likes her?" Jean offered.
"You know as well as Ah do that that's not it." Rogue replied.
"Do you trust your sister, Rogue?" Jean asked after a moment. Rogue nodded. "Then she'll be fine. She can handle herself. She's your sister, and a heck of a lot like you… Pietro won't stand a chance if he tries to lay a hand on her." Jean assured.
Rogue stood there for a moment before she turned to watch her sister walk away. "Ah can't help it… she's mah first real family Ah've found. She's a part of me more than Kurt can be… she's blood. Ah just feel the need tah protect her." She tried to explain, but knowing that was only the surface of her emotions.
"That's why we call you the protective big sister." Jean laughed softly as she grabbed her books and prepared to walk away. "Just calm down a bit, Rogue… nothing dire will happen if you take your eyes off her." She assured as she headed for class. Rogue didn't respond, but narrowed her eyes as her sister walked out of sight. After a moment, she made her way to her locker to gather her books and head for 6th period.
&&&&
"So, Pietro, how's it feel to be restricted to just one girl?" Lance called from the tree he was propped up against. He felt like skipping 6th period, it just seemed pointless to him. He was never going to use History anyway, so it really didn't matter.
Pietro kicked a rock down the street and turned to Lance. "You know what, I hated it in the beginning… and if I think about it now, I still hate it." He informed as he crossed his arms. "But I started thinking, this could be extremely beneficial to all of us if the mission succeeds." He began, knowing he would catch his roommate's attention.
"Really? How?" The shaggy brunette inquired.
"Have you seen the looks the X-Men have been giving me lately? It's like their watching my every move! I know you and Kitty are still off and on for some stupid reason, and hopefully you'll play along with Magneto's outrageous plan and try and convince her that I've actually got… interest… in Mary." He said disgustedly.
"And why would I do that?" Lance snorted, uncrossing his arms and walking out into the sunlight.
"Because, Lance, if the X-Men get off my back, my job of luring her away gets easier. The easier it is, the faster the plan goes. The faster the plan goes, the happier Magneto is." Pietro explained simply.
"And the happier Magneto is, the better reward we all get." Lance finished for him.
"Exactly." Pietro nodded firmly. There was a bit of quiet in which the two boys just sat and basked in the sunlight, pitying the fools trapped in class.
"So how is the plan going so far?" Lance asked after a moment.
"She's falling for me fast, not that I blame her." Pietro laughed and received an eye-roll from Lance. "If I could just get her away from her over-protective sister…" He didn't finish, but instead waved his hand in frustration.
"Dude, I know. I made the mistake of almost crushing Mary a while ago. Rogue laid me out flat." The brunette nodded in understanding. "I'll try and convince Kitty that you've seen the error of your ways and are now trying to reconcile with your past." Lance roared with laughter, receiving a glare from the silver-headed boy.
"Just don't overdo it. I don't need anymore suspicion on my part." Pietro ordered as he stood up and walked away.
Lance lay back in the grass, propped up on his elbows. If anyone were going to get the X-Men suspicious, it would be Pietro himself. The speed-demon was attracting major attention from the wrong people; even Kitty had mentioned his apparent fondness of the younger girl to Lance. If the boy wasn't careful, they would catch on… and while that would be hilarious, he knew it wouldn't be long before the X-Men ended up on the Brotherhood's doorstep looking for retribution.
He shook the unsettling thoughts out of his head and stood up and brushed the grass off his clothes. He heard the bell rang and knew that he better get to last period; he shared that class with Kitty.
&&&&
"Hey Kitty." Lance waved as he took his seat next to the perky girl.
"Hi Lance!" Kitty replied warmly as she pulled her book out. She looked up to the teacher and realized that today was going to be another study hall, for he hadn't moved from his chair since they all arrived. This meant chaos in room 204. She sighed and put her book away before turning to Lance.
"So, how's your day been, Pretty Kitty?" He smiled as she blushed at her nickname. She was gorgeous.
"Pretty well, I passed my trig test I thought I had bombed." She smiled. "Oh, and Scott and I had to nearly, like, hold Rogue back because we thought she was about to go on a rampage." She rolled her eyes at her roommate's attitude.
Lance gave a questioning glance and Kitty expounded. "Like, a few days ago there was sophomore party. You heard about what happened right?" She asked. He shook his head no and she wondered how he could miss out on the biggest thing to be talked about at school for a while. "Mary used her powers on Tabitha." She whispered below the roar of the class.
"She what?" Lance exclaimed, wondering himself how he missed this news.
"Yeah… Tabitha was, like, about to go homicidal and that's the only way Mary knew to stop it. But… anyways," Kitty skipped ahead to today's happenings. "That showed Mary as a mutant and she's been getting picked on all this week. Some idiot senior elbowed all the books out of her arms and Rogue happened to see it. She was about to attack, I swear. It was lucky I was walking her to class and Scott was nearby." She informed him with a nod of her head.
Lance was relieved to hear it wasn't Pietro that had almost been attacked, but his curiosity drove him to ask more questions. "Why's Rogue been so pissy lately?" He asked blatantly, not hiding his annoyance with the new personality.
"New family. She's being a big sister now. And, like, Pietro flirting with Mary left and right isn't helping her stress any." Kitty snapped back, defending her best friend. "What's up with him anyway? Mary's pretty much a carbon copy of Rogue… why not go for the older version?" Kitty scowled in disgust.
Lance was about to reply when he noticed the stares they were catching with their tiff. "Look… we'll talk about this later… I promise." He assured her, effectively causing the other classmates to stop snooping on their affairs.
&&&&
Kitty shivered in the cooling night air as she walked to the coffee shop to meet Lance. She wasn't sure of their relationship anymore. One moment they were cuddling and happy, the next they were screaming and yelling at each other. Right now, she thought they were more on a friendly level than dating. She was fine with that too. As soon as Lance decided to mature and commit himself to the relationship, she would be waiting for him.
He stood as she neared the table and planted a friendly kiss on her cheek. Her eyes shone and she returned the kiss once he pulled away. The two set down and waited for the server.
"Look Kitty, I'm sorry for snapping at Rogue earlier… I'm just defending a friend, ya know?" Lance apologized quickly.
"I understand Lance." She assured him as she took off her coat. "But you're right, Rogue is acting differently… and Pietro is aggravating her. You told me earlier we would talk… and we're here… can't you like, give me some insight?" She said, cutting quickly to the point for her sake. It was hard rooming with Rogue lately; ever since Pietro had turned his attention on Mary it had been a rant every night about it.
Lance was surprised by her blatant approach, but shrugged it off. "Pie's acting different lately. He had an argument with Magneto a few days ago, ever since then he's been acting weird. Kinda… outta it." Lance lied, feeling a small pang of guilt for doing so.
"Magento?" Kitty's tone changed from intrigue to suspicion.
"Well… the guy is his father. They do speak." Lance explained quickly. "I don't know what they were talking about… but whatever it was affected him so much that he threw his cell phone that Mags calls him on out." The brunette informed her, not necessarily lying. Pietro had hurled his cell across the living room last night, and he was sure it was under the couch hidden deep under old pizza boxes.
"Whoa… I wonder what's going on…" Kitty muttered.
"I dunno… but he's seemed happier actually once he did that." Lance shrugged.
There was a small break in conversation when the waiter came and took their orders. Afterwards, Kitty looked deep in thought for a few moments. "…What if he's cut ties with Magneto?" She guessed.
"I don't know Kit… but it could be a possibility." He lied again, now wanting Pietro's blood for asking him to lie to Kitty. She was the only girl who didn't see surface things, she really saw into him. And he was lying to her. He prayed his actions wouldn't come back and bite him in the ass.
The conversation shifted from there, and he was glad. He shoved the earlier part of the conversation out of his mind and concentrated on the subject at hand. It wasn't his problem now; he had done his part. Pietro had to get the girl, and wouldn't be receiving anymore of his help.
&&&&
Lance arrived home late that night, but Pietro was still up clicking through channels on the TV. He perked up as the brunette walked through the door and stared at him as he walked into the living room. "Well? How'd the date go?" He asked, feigning interest. He just wanted to know if Lance talked to Kitty at all about him.
"I did it. I was 'convincing' too," He said, using finger quotes. "So don't get your panties in a bunch about it. I'm sure Kitty will go back and try and convince Rogue to lay off. But that's it… I'm not helping you anymore. You can get yourself killed, but you're not taking me with you." Lance replied firmly as he spun around and headed up the stairs.
Pietro perked a brow. "What the hell is wrong with him?" He muttered to himself. At least that part of the plan was done. Hopefully, Rogue wouldn't become even more suspicious and become a greater thorn in his side. Hopefully, he would be able to get the girl soon without alerting the X-Men… hopefully he would retain his sanity until then. It was hard for him to be pleasant all the time to someone he didn't personally like.
"God, she's a sophomore too. How low will I go to get this damn mission done?" He scowled as he put his head in his hands. "I've got to get this done… soon." He sighed as he turned off the TV and headed out. He didn't know where, he just had to run to relieve stress.
&&&&
"Kitty, what?" Rogue asked harshly as she was awoken by her roommate. "Couldn't it wait until morning? Cripes." She muttered as she rolled over and put her pillow over her head.
Kitty crossed her arms and frowned. "Fine then. I was just gonna tell you what I heard about Pietro tonight. If you think it can wait until morning, then like, go ahead… stay in bed." She said snappily, knowing full well she would get the two-tone's attention.
Kitty was right; Rogue sat up and looked at Kitty quizzically. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles due to wallowing in the bed, and she was without make-up. She looked… sweet. The brunette personally wished the Goth would stop wearing so much dark make-up; it masked her natural beauty. "Wha?" She asked.
"Like, yeah. Lance and I were having dinner and he mentioned that Pietro had a huge fight with Magneto. He threw away the cell Magneto calls him on, and since then Lance tells me that like, he's been a whole lot happier." Kitty summarized.
Rogue thought for a moment; it was difficult because she had just woken up, but she thought nonetheless. "What would cause a rip with Mags?" She asked, stifling a yawn.
"I dunno… I thought you might have an idea."
"Yeah… cause yah know… Ah would an' all." Rogue replied sarcastically.
"Oh, shutup. I could have not even told you tonight. I thought you might be happy to hear this." Kitty replied, annoyed.
"Ah'm sorry Kit… Ah do appreciate it. Ah'm just wonderin' if Ah should trust Pietro anyway. He just doesn't strike me as tha type tah be interested in Mary, yah know?" Rogue explained; her frustrations finally out in the open with her best friend.
Kitty shrugged. "People change Rogue… who knows?" She offered.
"Yeah, but tha Brotherhood?" Rogue pointed out.
"I totally get that Rogue… but you and Tabitha were Brotherhood at one point." Kitty countered as she made her way to her closet to change for bed. Rogue let those words sink in as she fell back into her pillows. It was true, both her and the bodacious blonde were on the opposing side once upon a time. Something had changed within them; the light had been clicked on and they realized where they truly belonged. Maybe Pietro could change?
…But then again… like father like son. She had always seen Pietro as malicious, proud and vindictive. What would make him want to change so suddenly? Would it even be possibly for him to change? The thoughts were both unsettling and comforting to Rogue as she lay there in bed. Maybe she would begin to lighten up on Pietro now; it would lessen her and Mary's stress… Pietro's as well no doubt.
She supposed she should be happy about the rift apparently growing between Magneto and Pietro, but something just didn't seem right in the back of her mind. Her thoughts were a contradicting mess until sleep slowly reclaimed her, but even then, the dreadful feeling didn't fade.