Book 2: Is Love Enough?

By: Kim Johnston

Chapter 2: Rogue.

Rogue made her way down the rusty, musty smelling, roach infested stairway
to the lower part of the building where she worked ,to keep the shabby place she
lived in, as a bouncer. Her boss was most impressed by her skill in fighting, though
only her sixth day.

"Hey Rogue!" Micheal yelled over the loud country music the radio was
playing, one of her favorite songs to relax to while she cleaned up for another busy
day of bartending.

" 'Ey." Rogue replied as she took her seat by the front door. "What should it
be lahke tanight?" She asked.

"Pretty busy. It's a Saturday, one of the most popular and best night's of the
week. I may need you to waitress too. Great tips. But, a lot of fights break out too. So be ready."

"Ah am suga." Rogue smiles softly.

"Wanna drink?"

"Diet sprite." Rogue says evenly.

"Oh, your gonna need something a lot heavier then that, trust me." Micheal
laughs and winks. "Trust me, I'll make you a drink."

-Later-

Rogue drinks up her third 'special' mixed drink and was hardly able to see
straight. "Can I do the song thing?" Rogue asked slightly slurring in speech and looking a bit red from the warmth of the liquor in her system.

"Sure." Michael says with a laugh and watches Rogue make her way up the
steps and onto the small stage where she chose the song.

"I came here to escape you..... To forget all my thoughts about you.

I came here to denie all my feelings inside!

I came to hide..." Rogue looks off to the window as the music plays then
starts again as cued.

"Now I understand that, that I never will!

I can never forget you, no matter how. Hard. I. TRY!

You mean too much to me and I could never forget you.

Not that I haven't tried.

But my heart is breaking... My soul is weeping

Knowing I can never go back!" Rogue looks away from the window and to her
listeners.

"What I'd give to feel your arms around me, your gentle kisses on my hand.

Your soft skin, pressed to me in a tight embrace

To hear your voice whisper in my ear!

The sweet nothing my heart urn to hear...

I came here to escape you..... To forget all my thoughts about you.

I came here to denie all my feelings inside!

I came to hide... yeah I came to hide.. To hide!" Rogue takes a few steps
back and looks down at the ground.

"But I can't. Your face and kisses hunt my ever step.

Burnt in my soul... Burnt in myself..." She lets her voice fade off as she
replaces the microphone and goes back to her station.

Rogue watches the news as they show images of the FOH, short for Friends
of Humanity; A group of Mutant haters, around New York throwing stones and
causing fires all over the place, especially at mutant safe houses.

"Damn mutant haters." Micheal snorts as she glances around the room.

"Yeah." Rogue says in a half laughing voice remembering Amara and the
blood bath of a place they had been in.

"Yea mean damn mutants." A man yelled, the chatter stopped. A few shouted
in agreement.

"No I men't what I said." Micheal says standing up straight and holding her
head high. "You can either leave or hush up."

"I'd like to see you make us." He says as 5 large men stand up beside him.

"She wont be makin yea." Rogue says walking over and stopping infront of
them. "Ah will."

"Try it sweety, lets see what your made of."

"Fahne, but Ah feel Ah should be a warnin yea, Ah aint made of B/S lahke
yea." Rogue says picking up a pool cue off the table and smashing it in her hand with no evort.

"Damn Mutants!" The man yells backing off. They yell threats as they back off
from Rogue.

-Outside-

"Burn it." A voice commanded. "They are as bad as mutants, the one's who
aren't."

"Yes, Mr. Creed." The man from before laughs as the other pull out gasoline
and matches. The rest threw bottles with gasoline and lit rags through the apartment windows and the bar windows as well.

-An apartment in the back-

Myua, Micheal's seven year old daughter sleeps peacefully in her bed. She
sleeps through the screams and cries of those who are on fire or trapped in a ring of fire inside. From the outside if she were awake she would hear her friends, neighbors and family yell out in cries of shock and horror as they fell from beatings or gunshots.

Myua was not awake and so speared these sounds, she was also 'speared' the sound of a fire alarm, since her mother had removed the batteries after cooking a few months ago.

Myua awoke coughing as the black smoke filled her room causing her to
become hot and caused her breathing air to be polluted. She wiped her eyes of
burning tears and crawled out of bed and over to the door, she reached a little hand out and touched to knob getting a good second degre burn on her hand. She yelled out and cried curled up in a ball away from the door.

"MAMA! MAMA!" She yelled out over and over till her throat hurt and she
couldn't see streight because of the thick smoke, the window had smoke all outside of it as well.

-Street-

The police hold back Micheal as she tries to get back inside the building. "I'm
sorry ma'am, we can't even go in there, it's to dangourus. Maybe you have over looked her, why not-"

"I HAVE NOT OVER LOOKED MY CHILD!" Micheal yells and fights
pointlessly against the fireman. Rogue pulls her off him and Micheal covers her face.

"Let's check again suga..."

"You don't understand! I can hear her! She's yelling out for me from her
bedroom floor! In my head I hear her!" Micheal cries.

Rogue looked down at her new friend and then up to the window she knew to
belong in her apartment, it was blocked my fire. She looked to her left to the newscasters and bite her lip. What was she suspose to do?

On one hand, save a life of a little girl.

On the other hand, her picture fling in the air and knocking out a wall on live
air would be everywhere. If anyone was watching she'd be found....

And every second made the choice for her, the death of a child that didn't
care if she was diffrent.

-Inside-

Myua cried her own tears as she whimpered wanting nothing but her mother. She sniffled loudly and tried to find fresher air. All of a sudden the wall to her left by 9 inches caved in and a figure appeared with a glow around it. Myua looked up at the figure as it aproched her and lifted her up with great ease and care. Myua sniffled and closed her eyes letting the 'angel' protect her.

The roof above them came down , but not in time to hit either as Rogue made another exit in a nearby wall. She flew down and placed Muya in her mothers arms before fleeing away from the scene, moving on.

Micheal held on to Myua's hand as she was on the way to the hosbitial. Myua moved the oxegen mask to speak in a harsh voice due to the burning of the smoke she asked her mother; "Was that my angel?"

"Today honey, she was both of our angels." Micheal says with a sad smile knowing that it had saved her daughter but ruined her new friends chance of staying in New York and having a normal life. The world would know her face.

-Later: Hospitial-

The nurse opened the door and let a man around 25 in. He held a teddy-bear and ballons with 'get well' written on them, along with another bag of treats. He smiled and the girl smiled back. "Bonjour, petite. Dis da room of da bella Myua?" Myua nods." Non, couldn't be. Gambit heard dis girl was bella but yea? Too bella!" The little girl laughed and Remy smirked hand over the gifts.

"Can I help you?" Micheal asks.

"Oui, where be Rogue?"

"What, I should know."

"Looky, Rogue be in trouble, she be in much trouble. Gambit be a friend, a personal friend. He makin sure she be ok. So you tell Gambit, non?"

"I don't know where she is ok?"

"Gambit don't buy it. Gambit and da cherie be close, real close. She left and now she be in trouble." Micheal looks him in the eyes and scans his mind.

"On her way to Nashville, TN."

Note: I tried to fix all the spelling and mistakes but I doubt I did. Also this is like a day late since I wasn't able to get to the library. We got out of school early due to the rain and flooding. Thanks for the wait. Hope you enjoy. Expect chapter 3 in about a week. I have started school again and have a lot of stuff to do now. But, I'll make a deal 5 reviews an update sooner. Ok? Love you all! Kim

I also don't own any of the X-men, unless I have created them. I'll only post this once since I know your smart!