Learning to Deal
I don't own X-Men Evolution (or X-Men for that matter) characters or anything concerning the show, comics, ect. No suing! Be civil in reviews (if there are any).
"Why don't ya just leave her alone?" Timothy muttered toward Sydney as he did his homework.
The older teen just shrugged with a smirk at his lips, "Why should I?" He leaned over to Timothy and whispered conspiratorially, "Besides, ever think that I might actually like the girl?"
Timothy snorted, he knew Sydney's habits concerning love; he flirted in his own antagonizing manner, played the class clown, and drove the girl away or drove her insane enough to kiss him before realizing that there was someone better than Sydney out there.
"Leave Rogue alone, she doesn't even like ya," Timothy warned his tone a bit threatening. "You're nothin' but trouble for her anyways, so just drop the act and find yer next crush."
Sydney looked offended, placing a hand over his heart as though he had just been wounded. "Ouch! That's was uncalled for Timmy, you shouldn't presume that my feelings and interest in Rogue is all an act."
Rolling his eyes, Timothy went back to his homework, he had to make progress on something and Math seemed to be more promising than Sydney.
"Turn that up Joe!" Sydney requested, turning to yell at Joe, who had the radio playing softly in the kitchen.
As requested, Joe did turn up the radio and the diner was filled with the sounds of 'Fishing in the Dark,' a somewhat old, "country" song that didn't sound country at all. Timothy groaned; he couldn't stand the fact that his uncle listened to country only when there were other types of music on the radio in South Carolina.
Marian, upon hearing Sydney request the music to be turned up, whipped her head around to scold the young man until she heard the song and noted how the customers did not seem to mind the music; she shrugged it off. One is only young once so she figured she'd let Sydney have his fun for the afternoon.
"You and me going fishing in the dark, lying on our backs and counting the stars…where the cool grass grows," sang Sydney as he got off his chair and danced his way toward Rogue, who tried not to notice his approach.
Rogue couldn't help but notice Sydney when he was directly in front of her, keeping her broom from sweeping at the dirt on the floor.
"What are ya doin'?" she demanded.
Snatching the broom away from Rogue, Morph propped it up against the nearest table as he kept singing the song. "Down by the river in the full moon light, we'll be fallin' in love in the middle of the night, just movin' slow...stayin' the whole night through, feels so good to be with you."
"Morph…" Rogue began in a warning tone as she backed away from the teen.
Taking advantage of Rogue's unnerved behavior, Morph grabbed her closest hand and pulled her close to him. Casually resting his hand on her waist, Sydney led Rogue in a little dance while singing.
Rogue had danced a total number of five times in her life and only once with a guy, Cody…
"Let go of meh," hissed Rogue threw clenched teeth.
With a grin, Morph twirled Rogue under his arm then pulled her back in close by him, making Rogue even more grateful that she wasn't wearing her off the shoulder shirt. Still despite the piece of cloth between her skin and Morph's, Rogue felt uncomfortable with his hands upon her waist.
"Morph, let meh go," she warned again before he could spin her around, twirl her under his left arm, then under his right, and dip her.
"Come on Rogue, loosen up a bit, and have a little bit of fun," Morph stated, waggling an eyebrow a bit along with a charming grin. Pulling Rogue upright from the dip position, Morph saw the impressed yet scolding look Timothy was giving him.
"Ya should really let go of meh sugah, before Lucas kills ya," Rogue whispered in Morph's ear after she caught sight of the Scottish man standing at the door. He must have entered while Morph had been leading Rogue in the dance.
Instantly, Sydney stiffened and released Rogue, giving her a tense smile.
"That's not funny Rogue," Morph whispered, "he's a lot more powerful than what he leads on about."
Rogue's eyes widened slightly but she prevented from questioning Morph further when his smile became forced and his body more erect. "Lucas, how're ya doin' buddy?" Sydney greeted his friend, as the Scottish man came up behind Rogue.
Lucas casually placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder, much to her discomfort, and ignored Sydney's eyes slightly narrow into a glare. Noticing Morph's little glare and the cause of it, Lucas motioned with his hand to follow him.
"I need to have a word or two with you, Morph," Lucas told him, "privately."
Glancing at the hand Lucas still had on Rogue's shoulder and Rogue's uneasy expression, Morph mutely nodded. He was relieved when Lucas removed his hand from Rogue and headed toward the door.
Taking that as his cue to follow, Morph gave Rogue a gentle pat on her shoulder when he passed her.
Exiting the diner, Sydney glanced both left then right only to find Lucas leaning against a brick wall of a the neighboring building, which was a hair salon. Lucas just stood there with his arms crossed smugly yet irritated manner, Morph could see that this was not going to be a discussion he was going to enjoy.
Licking his lips nervously, Morph approached his boss-like friend and stood before Lucas, plastering on his patent smile and carefree persona. It was all a front and Morph knew it was a useless front since Lucas could read minds.
"What the hell were you doing in there?" Lucas demanded coolly rather than inquired.
Morph's smile faltered for a moment before he recovered. "I was in there to ask about volunteer hours and Joe had the radio on, so I began singing and dancing and…" Morph was extending and bending the truth, and he knew it, but he wasn't about to blurt out to Lucas that he had gone in the diner to strictly see Rogue, and perhaps try to flirt with her in his unique way.
"Let me guess, and Rogue just happened to be the closest person to you to dance with," offered Lucas with a smirk.
"Yeah," nodded Morph, praying that Lucas was buying into his slight fib.
Lucas' smirk faded into a scowl. "Don't take me lightly Morph, you may know what my powers are but you have no idea what I am capable of doing," he growled, causing Morph's grin to disappear and tremble a bit in fear.
Satisfied with the effect of his statement, Lucas added in a lighter tone, "The next time I tell you to leave someone alone, you do." Numbly, Morph nodded. "Good, now I have Carol taking care of Rogue, helping her decide a bit quicker. What I need you to do, other than leave her alone, is to keep a watch out for anyone suspicious who may be looking for the girl."
"Why would anyone be looking for Rogue?" Morph inquired, perplexed.
"She's a runaway, someone is bound to come looking for her but I don't want that someone, whoever it may be, to find her. Tell me when someone does come looking for Rogue and I shall deal with that person, personally," explained Lucas, his easy-going grin becoming a twisted sneer of anticipation.
"What do you plan on doing with this person?" Morph questioned, watching Lucas with suspicious eyes. What was the man planning?
"Oh…nothing damaging," he shrugged carelessly. Then he muttered, "Just going to set up some bait for the good Professor X."
Still eyeing Lucas with suspicion, Morph had the disturbing feeling that his friend was hiding his true intentions from him. The intentions Morph felt from Lucas were anything but wholesome and peaceful.
Rogue laid on the couch that night, flickering through the few stations that Marian had for the family television. There was nothing of real enjoyment on television.
Of course there's not gonna be anythin' good on, it's late at night an' it's local stations, Rogue scolded herself, setting the remote down when she found something that looked slightly promising.
"Ah would've thought ya'd be asleep by now," Marian's voice laughed from the staircase, startling Rogue momentarily.
"Ah couldn't sleep," Rogue shrugged as she watched Marian move toward her from the corner of her eye. The older woman came over and sat down at the end of the couch on the blanket by Rogue's feet.
"Wanna talk about it?" Marian offered, resting an elbow on the back of the couch and resting her head against her hand.
Pulling the blanket closer to her, Rogue shook her head negatively. She didn't quite know what was causing her to be unable to sleep. It could have been a number of things; the top one being Lucas and Morph's strange behavior, another being how no one had come looking for her from the institution-They must know where Ah am after that incident with Morph.
"Come on, confession, good for the soul an' all," urged Marian with that reassuring smile of hers as she playfully slapped Rogue's covered feet.
Still Rogue shook her head.
"Alright than Ah'll jus' have to guess what's eatin' at ya," sighed Marian, biting her lip in contemplation. "Now what could it be…? Ah wonder…"
Rogue watched Marian as she tapped a finger against her chin and chewed on her lower lip. The teenaged girl knew that if anyone was to figure out exactly what was wrong with her, it would be Marian, the woman had an uncanny ability to read people like open books.
"Well, it could be that you're either disturbed or confused by Sydney's 'affections' for ya, despite knowin' that you're a mutant," she suggested. "Or…it could always be that ya miss ya home, New York."
Rogue halted in curling her toes. Could that be it? she wondered. Do Ah miss the mansion an' what about the others? Do Ah miss them as well?
In the past weeks, Rogue hadn't thought too much about the X-mansion or it's inhabitance except when she was speaking to Marian about her crush on Scott and about the Cajun who wouldn't leave her alone. In fact, Rogue had pushed all and any thoughts of New York out of her mind as much as possible.
Shifting uneasily on the couch, Rogue crossed her arms in defiance, yet she didn't deny Marian's suggestion nor confirm it.
"Ah think Ah found the answer. Would ya like to tell me about yer home, the boardin' school?"
"It was a mansion…a crowded mansion," Rogue described vaguely.
"Crowded? Does Scott live there as well?" questioned Marian.
"Yeah, as well as Jean, his girlfriend, an' mah younger brother, Kurt Wagner," nodded Rogue, surprising the older woman with the mention of a brother.
Raising an eyebrow Marian voiced her thoughts. "You have a brother? Wow…"
"He's not mah biological brother, his mother adopted meh when Ah was four an' Ah never knew until last year. Before Ah moved to the mansion Ah was livin' with this blind woman named Irene." Rogue felt a foul taste build up in her mouth at the mention of Mystique, especially when the name and the title 'mother' were all linked to this woman who had betrayed and used her children time and time again.
Sensing the bitterness and edgy tone of the topic of Rogue's mother, Marian limited her response to a statement. "Sounds like ya haven't had the best experience with yer mother."
Noting how Marian had just stated her thoughts of Rogue's past rather than inquire about it, Rogue smiled gratefully at the woman.
"What of ya? How did ya end up in this town?" Rogue inquired, turning the subject far away from Mystique.
Marian got up and came up beside Rogue's head. "Move over, Ah want to lie down too."
Panic seized Rogue as she looked down at her attire, her orange draw-string pants with orange-green t-shirt. Instinctively, she shrunk in and pulled the blanket up to her nose to hide as much skin as she could.
Smiling comfortingly yet sympathetically, Marian pointed out, "Rogue, Ah'm in pants, Ah'm wearin' socks, Ah'm goin' to put up the hood of my robe, an' keep my hands on top of the blanket. There won't be any skin touching skin, Ah promise."
The teenaged girl seemed unconvinced for several seconds until she slowly lowered the blanket and scotched over to the back of the couch, on her side.
"Thank you," Marian said as she slipped under the blanket and on the couch, putting up her hood as promised and keeping her hands on top of the blanket while Rogue's were under the blanket.
"Now this is going to be one hell of a long story an' Ah don't want ya to comment until the very end, okay?" Marian warned and Rogue nodded her understanding. "Ah was a couple years younger than yourself when Ah hopped on a bus and ended up here, four months pregnant with my first son, Jonathan."
Rogue's eyes widened considerably.
"Yeah, my husband met me when Ah was pregnant with another man's child, an' that other guy had dumped me well before Ah ran away when he found out Ah was pregnant. James didn't care that Ah had made a mistake or that Ah was pregnant with another man's child, he still loved me for who Ah was. My…how Ah love that man," Marian smiled, staring off as though she could picture her husband in front of them.
Shaking her head a bit, Marian recalled herself to her tale.
Laughing bitterly, Marian continued, "If there's one thing ya've got to understand about this town, Rogue, it's that back when Ah first arrived, and even today, people are very traditional. Ah being pregnant out of wedlock was quite the scandal for the longest time and Ah was met with a lot of persecution, and not just from the older folks. No, while at school teachers and students alike would torment me, and James was my only protection along with his family."
Marian looked down at Rogue with a sort of grief tainted smile.
"So ya see Rogue, you an' Ah aren't very different in this town. We both have, or had in my case, faced persecution, but people get over things soon enough in this town. Their fear of ya will pass shortly an' this place will hopefully start to feel like home to ya."
There was a moment of silence that passed between the two women and Rogue laid there with her mouth hanging open in surprise.
Clearing her throat, Marian rose from the couch and with an uneasy chuckle, "Ah should go upstairs to bed, and you should get some sleep."
Not receiving an answer from Rogue, Marian turned around and made her way toward the staircase.
"Marian," Rogue spoke up, stopping the older woman, "you're right, we are alike, an' if it's any consolation, Ah think you're a great mother. Ah wish mah mother was more like ya."
"Good night Rogue," Marian smiled, genuinely.
"Night Marian."
Thank you to: moonshine4352, Chica De Los Ojos Cafe, Cult-of-Misha, ishandahalf, Jason, Minnaloushe, Alyssa-Anime-Angel, TheDreamerLady, and enchantedlight.
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