Summary: Italics are either thoughts or past memories. This chapter is told in Rogue's POV.
Disclaimer: Idea from Marvel and inspiration by katjen's stories. Title is from a Bob Dylan song.
Author's note; Rogue does not have the ability to touch as she did in Bad Touch. Lyrics are from China Doll by David Bowie. Lines from the poem are from Lorelei by Sylvia Plath.
Chapter 2: Melody
New Orleans
The ride was in silence. A jacket in Rogue's tote was slung over her shoulders. She started at the passing night scene.
Melody sat with san headphones on humming under her breath. Her arms lined in bracelets slid up and down as she weaved them through the open window. Jingling like wind chimes in the breeze.
Rouge leaned her head against the glass, the smooth surface felt cool like water. Water, the pool, sitting there his worn jacket wrapped around her body. She shrugged then winced. It was odd, Melody gave her a sideways glance…how calmly the girl handled …well everything… What was she doing here with her anyways… a telepath? Cold crept up her veins…the Brotherhood?" Can you hear me?
"Are you" her mind screamed.
Melody kept humming.
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The apartment was white and devoid of any color. Melody walked in and flicked her keys on the end table. She had made no attempts to help Rogue after her first attempt lead to a glare. "The bathroom is over there." flicking her hand to the left. "Knock your self out". Pivot turn. Even her walk was a dance.
Gawd her face. Blue bruises knotted across her temple. Evidently Lou was wearing a ring. Her eyebrow sliced. Her lip slightly split. She laughed bitterly. The sound bounced off the walls. Should ah be surprised? Rogue leaned wobbly against the tub, feeling the throbbing in her hip subsided. Took the white washcloth and ran in under the tap, blotting her lip. The blood swirled in the sink.
Melody was sitting on the couch when she staggered out, without headphones. Silently she handed Rogue a glass of water and a bottle labeled: Tylenol with codeine.
"Tanks". Rogue sat down on the opposite end of the couch. The situation began to sink in. Strange mutant girl…...still in New Orleans, rainbow hair, so surreal. The silence began to stretch taut over her body. She could feel her eyes on her, blinking towards and away from her. Melody was no longer humming but pulling at different colored strands of her hair into a braid. She blurted out the magic question. "What's your name?" Drawing her self in a cross-legged position, she picked up a pencil and began twirling it over her knuckles. Rogue brought the glass to her lips. . No poison, no smell…just water…and answered … "Rogue…"
The twirling stopped. "What?" she said sharply. Wha? Rogue eyed her suspiciously. Shining blue-green eyes looked squarely at her with both eyebrows raised. "That's not a name. That's a codename. A scowl past across her lips. "you don't have to give me a fake one…It's not like I'm going to run out and scream you're here." "Your…. not even from around here your accents different from the gu- the locals. So who would I tell?" Melody stood up and stomped across the room flinging the pencil which stuck squarely into the wall.
Dumbly wondering were the hostility had surfaced from, Rogue cleared her throat" Yah live here by yaself?..."
Melody stopped and turned her back to the wall. "yeah….I use to live with other's who had codenames, but not anymore." I hope you made them beg. Yes, so called teammates. Rogue wrapped her arms around her and closed her eyes. "Seems to me you know what I'm talking about…Rogue".
Her eyes flicked away but her voice softened. "My sister was about your size you can have some of her clothes. Yours are ruined. "
Rogue looked down at her stained clothes, coated from the blood and garbage. Ruined indeed. Wait a minute that was past tense. She lifted her head, opening her mouth to speak but was Melody gone. Communication between them so far had been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Rogue placed a hand over her eyes. Her head began to swim again.
She returned shortly with clothes bundled in her arms, "Like I said you can stay here or run out on the street" "There's a spare room down there." she set them down next to Rouge and blankly looked down.
Why is she doing this why isn't she.., "Aren't' ya afraid that ah'll hurt ya?" Melody's lips tugged into a sad smile that washed over her eyes. "No". A whisper. "No one can." "You look like you could fight me, but not now, not when you're so frail." That's why he targeted you." Her eyes lifted. "Can you see it?"
Tell me that you believe, because I could fall in love with you.
Rogue opened her eyes to the white ceiling. In a dreamy codeine induced sleep her arms were reaching out into the dark room. Groping for his warmth. Sharp reality rushed in. Her head ached; she rolled over to her side and delicately placed her feet on the ground. Inhaling deeply she could still smell the scent of the river through the open window. Still here Remy. The clock flashed 3am.
Gently pushing the door open she followed a light to the front of the apartment. Music was playing softly. Soft twangs from a guitar. She needed a drink of water….or another pain pill…or she should just leave. Rounding the bend, and hoping Melody was asleep in her room, Rogue entered the front room.
Melody was floating in the middle of the room.
Sitting in a yoga pose her arms crossed, her eyes opened but directed toward the wall. She gave Rogue a friendly greeting, "Hey couldn't sleep?"
"Ya can"
"Yep fly." "I really don't' sleep much. It kinda helps." Melody twisted in the air and moved onto her stomach and crossed her arms resting her chin on her wrists. Picked up a remote and turned the music off. "It's the one part I do love about my power. The only part."
Ah wonder. Thoughts went back to when she possessed Jean's power. The crackling energy she had stolen, her body rushing through the air, through the open window in Jean and Scott's room.
" Are you a telekinetic?".
"NO". Fists clenched. Melody's body became rigid and the room vibrated. Rogue took a step back.
Melody continued to float then had the decency to appear embarrassed. Weakly she questioned "What kind have you met… mutants?" Rogue swallowed, whispering "not too many…ones that were kind." Fuck you darlin'.
Melody looked out the window and sighed "my sister was a healer." Rogue turned. "You heard of them". Rogue nodded and her hand involuntarily went to her chest. "Yeah ah have," she said softly. "Healers are valued highly around mutant groups", Melody added dryly. A mask pulled over her face. "Why are you here?"
Why tell her anything you're…
"Ahm trin' t' leave actually". The words spilled from her lips surprising herself and Melody whose faced turned to curiosity. This was too much information that she was divulging, she needed to take the focus off of her.
" Was' that' your sister's room…". A sister. Someone to care for, she had that at least. Rogue had kicks to the head, roaming hands and loosing a friend to a simple kiss. A poison kiss.
Melody nodded "yeah"….the conversation was setting her on edge her hands were gripping one another tightly." "She's been gone six months now."
"Ahm' sorry. "
"It' s ok. She was young, about your age no older." Melody's hands went to the temples. She sighed and unbended from her position, gently lowering to the floor. Rolled her shoulders as to roll away the pain. It was apparent from her furrowed forehead, her clenched jaw. Sweeping up her headphones she made her way to the hall. Flick of her hair "night".
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Went to school. Up to you if you want to stay. – Melody
Rogue woke up late. After the late night chat, another pill and some ice helped her fall asleep. Argued with herself to leave but the shaking of her legs told another story. Waking up to an empty apartment with no mystery girl, she had every opportunity to leave. Staring out the veranda the horizon greeted her. The apartment apparently was on the outskirts of New Orleans and it appears, in a very posh neighborhood. Pushing the silk curtains aside she stepped out. The lawn was lush and blazed an emerald green. BMW's rode by as well other Lexus, Mercedes, convertibles, and lumbering SUV's. It seemed that Melody lived in luxury. Her TV was a projector hooked to cable. The stereo system echoed throughout the rooms. The bed soft. The sheets sheer and plush. Her thoughts drifted to Remy. He was probably here at one time, stealing jewels and charming his way through woman to woman. That security gate, no problem, the German Shepard he could handle it, the cameras would not see him, if they did he would flash a dazzling smile and disarm it with a flash of his hands and glow of his eyes.
The heat was sticking to her again….the nape of her neck was drenched. Peeling off her gloves offered a brief relief. She picked the note up off the table. Stay ..leave…run.? She ached all over but could move. The girl reminded Rogue of herself, unpredictable and moody. Except, she never reached out to help someone before, except for "Deborah" and Remy. Remy.
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She learned a lot about Melody. One she is very inquisitive. Two she was very agile and well trained and three she was prone to stubborn mood swings. Sarcasm continued for awhile with her name. "Well ROUGE it's out there...in the back room", but it soon ebbed away. Surprisingly, being a teenager and all, Melody went to school everyday. "I graduate in one year, might as well go". She had a job as well. She worked at a tattoo parlor in the heart of the city. Rogue would work the front desk as Ronny the owner taught Melody how to practice designs.
Non" girl! " yo' rush t' fas' with this'.. slower th' bet'er'. Ronny grumbled in annoyance Melody would sit with her tongue sticking out as she practice with ink and the needle on soft foam. "better you' glad tha' ahm' train' ya… ya probably stab someon'. Itsn' that right Stripe?"
Rogue nodded in affirmation. When she was introduced to everyone in the shop, Melody walked in the store, faced the heavy eyelined girls and boys, with the piercing scowls and spiked hair and stated "This is Rogue she's mysterious, thus her name". Nods and "hey" wus up?' all around. They took her in with no questions. A freak among freaks. They all wore their scars or angst with tragic frowns testifying their differences. I know something you don't know. I see the world differently than what you see. Rogue yearned to be tattooed. To scar outside what she felt inside. As she waited for customers she would take her glove off and slide her fingers up and down over the glossy pages of the designs. Imagining what the needle would feel like.
Melody laughed over Ronny's frustration. It was her giggling, happiness laugh. "Ronny' I wouldn't she snickered, every poke someone." The laughter was light and happy. It infected Rogue and it brought a smile to her face.
Melody's tastes in food and clothes mirrored her apartment: expensive and luxurious. They shopped at the best stores. She went to the all natural food stores and when she found out that Rogue loved oranges she insisted on trying different varieties. Melody would flag down shop assistants and shoot questions at them to the point of a the poor cashier would stammer a reply "I'll get my manager". But everyone gave in to her in the end. A smile, a tilt of her head. When Melody smiled people gave in; she radiated a charm that no one could say no to.
She always moved but not in a nervous way. Flying in the room at night. Dancing with headphones on or off. Seventies Rock would pulsate throughout the apartment. David Bowie's seductive voice" Ah baby just you shut your mouth". Rogue grew to love the music. The silky quality of the beat. It drowned out her thoughts of running .
In the spare back room she found books on poetry. Poems that spoke to her.
It is no night to drown in;
A full moon, river lapsing
Black beneath bland mirror sheen,
Her nights consisted of devouring the poetry. Rogue would wake up with the book clutched in her hand folding the pages.
Melody began to teach Rogue how to defend her self with weapons, swords and knives. Rogue took it in but it was on the tip of her tongue she wanted to ask more about where Melody came from. How she knew how to stab someone with minimal blood loss. The question would be poised on her lips, but never came. Melody was respectful during trainings, keeping her distance from Rogue's exposed skin.
Rogue began to fall into a groove with Melody, unpredictable as she might be, but froze one night as she brought in a bo-staff.
"This was my sister's she used it a lot on the field, I figured since you don't like using your powers this as how they say- flourish pose- a good offense is a good defense." It opened with a shulk. Expertly spin it in her hands and tossed neatly in the air. She caught it and brought it around her back, lowering her body to the floor. "Once you perfect this you can knock them on their feet." Beaming with pride "It will help you a lot"
She began to shake and stood up knocking her book to the floor.
"Rogue what's wrong?"
Ah'm done for t'day… cutting her off, she went to her room and shut the door. Not even five seconds latter Melody knocked and walked in without a reply. "What is it? "
Hand on the edge of her glove," ah' tired' jus' wan' t' sleep".
"No, that's not it", she frowned. "I see you searching the streets" "for what?" It was true she would still scan for him, clench her hands when she suspected him around. Agonizing over the letter, just walk by the hotel.
"No one Mel 'ah wanna go t' bed". Rogue snipped.
"NO!" Slap of her hand against the door. "Your safe here that' why you stay. But you want to leave."" I see you always on edge, staring out the window. Who are you looking for?"
"Mel not r- why do' ya' have' to know'?"
"Obviously you don't' trust anyone. Your so quiet half th' time. I know …I know nothin' bout ya'. Melody's voice became rougher. Why what' ah know is: … stab with her finger. "ya like training, ya like to read', and youah lik' oranges! Yah problems an't goin't go away'. She has an accent. No matter how hard you run." Melody flung her arms above her head in frustration. Quieter now she continued, "why would I tell anyone you're here, when you can tell I don't want to be found?"
Rogue sat on the edge of the bed one gloveless hand covering her eyes. "How come your so smart and young". A sharp intake of breathe and "you have an accent as well."
"I was born in France." Rogue looked questioningly up. Melody sat down leaning her head against the door. "I left with my sister; her name was Becca, when I was six. I was taught not to have an accent. I practiced for hours, days even. It's not "non" it's "no". Don't say je desirer a danse, it's I want to dance. - Looking down she messed with her kaleidoscope braid. "Becca was patient, she tried to protect me." Now her hands were messing with the edge of the rug.
"My code name was Infinity." Leaning her head forward…"wasn't that lame? Not my choice though." She laughed sadly.
Rogue started at the bowed head. Melody was reaching out, lost, alone; hurt….her existence was this until Rogue came into her life. She was after all still a child, despite her façade. Rouge spoke softly. Ah didn't' belong with' any'one. Mah power stops that even more. When you said mah power glowed…when people came near, it made sense. The dam within her slowly began to stretch. Ah never' want'd an' thin' till him. But he isn't comin'. Ah don' wan t' leave. Ah jus' can'. The rush of emotions started to swirl faster. He was everyhtin' ah should run from, but ah couldn' stay away. "
Tears leaked out. "Ah though he be here." Then release. A sob. Rogue did not even feel the small arms wrap around her in a hug.
Mutterings against her shoulder. Bits and pieces penetrated her mind" I won't let you down Rogue." We can find what you are looking for." "We can look for him".
A feeling slipped into her body as those words rushed over her and penetrated her mind. "Wha' am ah lookin for?"
She pulled away. "It's Jessie".
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Well I'm attempting to get the accents right but it's tricky! Thank you for the reviews. This was a background chapter, don't worry Romy will occur. Next chapter ROAD TRIP!
