Chapter 8
Things didn't even start to retain some sense of normality until at least Tuesday, where the new students followed their old friends somewhat reluctantly through the gates of Bedford High, bar Evan, who was still by no means ready to face the outside world again. As had been thought, Mystique went to register her new charges as students the day before, and people now began to talk of the old house as though it were some kind of youth scheme place.
Things had been subdued in the house, to say the least. But beneath all the shock, and all the sadness, there were two groups of kids both insanely curious as to seeing what their peers got up to in their absence. Bobby in particular could not help but be a little pleased to see Rogue and Scott and the other X-men again. Though the shock and the numbness of what had happened that day hadn't even begun to fade yet, he couldn't help but be a little glad that his old friends would be there for him when the inevitable did happen.
The others, though slightly less glad to be there than Bobby, were still observing their new surroundings with curiosity. The events of a few months ago had completely bewildered them, and they had known Rahne's death to be nothing more than a senseless tragedy. When Rogue had come storming into the hall that day, and she and the others had left, they hadn't the slightest clue as to why, and the professor had never sought to enlighten them. Most of them had in fact expected to see Jean with them, when they had once more burst through the doors of the mansion.
So it was with some small fascination that they now found themselves standing outside the gates of another new high school, trying to put behind them so quickly the various terrible scenes of the last fourty eight hours. The worst of these had probably been the memorial service held for Storm and all those who had perished so little time ago. Logan lead them in their mourning, looking more gentle and expressive than most the young mutants were ever likely to see him. He spoke not only of a brave and noble woman, but also of somebody who had been a good friend to him. Evan watched the proceedings, his face half hidden in shadow, and most tried to ignore the tears which were obviously coursing down his face. He hardly spoke at all for the rest of the day.
Taking this into account, it was hardly surprising that he did not join the others at school the next day. But the new students were anxious to try and retain some sort of normality, and those who had previously been living in the house saw no reason as to not go back.
The older mutants went into the school feeling both protective of the new arrivals, and eager to get back to things. Kitty was reminded of the fact when she saw Lorna and her gang waiting by the entrance for her, she could see their fake smiles from a mile away. Plastering a similar expression onto her tired face, she hugged her books close to her, and made her way towards the giggling group of girls.
Despite all her pretensions, Lorna just couldn't stop her eyebrow rising a little when she saw her 'friend'. Tired dark lines hung suspended from her eyes, and creases of worry marred her normally perky face. Now she thought about it, Kitty hadn't shown up at school yesterday, neither had her friends. Lorna would have been overcome by curiosity, if she actually cared.
'Rough weekend Pryde?' she asked, just a little snidely. This caused the other girl to colour a little, and the others to join their leader in showing their subtle disdain. Kitty pretended not to notice.
Lorna smirked a little. 'Hope you're going to be all right for Friday,' she said, then her face darkened as she saw Kitty's blank look. 'Friday, remember? My party?' Kitty seemed to snap out of it, and stammered back that she'd be fine by then. This seemed to be enough to satisfy Lorna, as she gave a school nod, before sweeping around and leading the others into the school building, stopping only to throw a nasty look at Rogue.
Standing by the car still, with Lance and Pietro, Rogue took note of the dirty look Lorna gave her before walking into school. She sighed slightly, and looked up at the two boys with a silent appeal in her eyes.
Pietro wrapped his arms around her. 'Don't worry, Kitty will see her for what she really is sometime soon.' He didn't know if this was actually true, but it certainly sounded comforting. Rogue leaned into him a little and nodded her head slightly. Lance was still watching the closed door with dark eyes.
The school bell rang, and Rogue hoped that Bobby and the others would be okay on their first day at Bedford, especially whilst still coming to terms with what had happened that Sunday. She kissed Pietro once, hitting him somewhere between his chin and his mouth, and then made to leave inside, when she caught sight of Lance's face behind him.
She told Pietro she'd follow him in, and watched him walk off, one eyebrow raised pointedly in Lance's direction.
When she was sure her boyfriend was out of earshot, Rogue turned to the other boy. 'What is it?' she asked, even though she had a vague idea already what the answer would be. But apparently, Lance just wanted to set up a time for them to talk, and Rogue agreed to meet him, somewhat reluctantly, just outside the school that lunchtime. At least this was something she could explain to Pietro without having to lie. Her close relationship with Lance was something Pietro had long ago come to accept.
She said her goodbyes, and made her way off to class, her mind hardly less clouded than it had been recently. If she herself didn't really understand what was going on, how could she explain it to anyone else?
Scott was not having a much better time of things. After the drama of the weekend, he put the thing with Lydia to the back of his mind. It came leaping to the fore however, when he saw her standing further down the hall, a slightly preoccupied expression on her lovely face. Scott strode towards her purposefully, so purposefully in fact, that he rammed into an opening locker, thereby alerting her (and everyone else's) attention to his presence.
If he thought he was going to get sympathy for his aching head, he was very wrong. Lydia took one disgusted look at him, before walking up to him, raising her shoe, and stamping down hard on his foot before marching off down the corridor.
Scott prolonged the sharp stinging in his foot to run after her and call out her name. Lydia turned to face him, her hair swinging from side to side angrily.
'What?' she snapped.
Scott launched into grovelling straight away. 'Lydia I am so sorry, but the girls, I mean, the boy in my room..'
'Who, Kurt?' she asked, and Scott nodded hurriedly. He worked out that he couldn't tell her he had been frozen in his room all day with his closed, so he wouldn't blast the door open, so he decided to think on his feet.
'Yes Kurt,' he said, still nodding, 'You see, he got really sick, and we were worried about him being contagious, so we all had to stay indoors, and.'
'And that is the biggest lie I've ever heard! Do you think I'm stupid or something?' she shouted, not really caring that she was drawing a crowd. Scott made a gesture to start speaking again, but she cut him off.
'No, don't talk to me, in fact don't even look at me. Not until you can give me a damn good reason for why you stood me up, instead out spouting out the lamest lie I've ever heard!' she ended up screaming out loud, before breaking through the crowd and storming off. This time Scott did not dare follow her. He made his way through the whispering masses, and slunk off in the opposite direction, head hanging in gloom.
The new students of Bedford met together that lunchtime with the old, their minds slightly more pleasantly occupied than they had been recently. They could not really help swapping stories of their mornings, and silently comparing their new habitat, to that of Bayville. Like those who came before them, they felt that the similarities between the two schools were startling, but this didn't stop them from being a little bit excited.
Rogue smiled at them, before Lance motioned for her to move away. She whispered into Pietro's ear where she was going, and watched his slightly perturbed look as he nodded. The two of them walked off together in silence, Kitty watching their progress with slightly narrowed eyes. It was still hard for them, despite everything.
Lance kept walking, and Rogue kept following, until they stopped at a quiet spot, about five minutes walk from the school gates. He came to a halt, and waited for her too to stop before he spoke.
'I'd ask you if you knew what this is about, but I know you already do, so I won't.' he said, needing a point to start off from.
'Are you asking because Pietro told you to, because if he thinks I'm any more likely to tell you.'
'I'm not asking for Pietro! I'm just..' He paused to kick a nearby tree root in frustration. 'I'm worried about you, everyone is.'
She didn't say anything, so he went on. 'Two phone calls; two phone calls that have both upset you beyond belief. And every time someone asks you about it, you lie, you say you can't tell us. And what was the deal with Sunday? We followed you because we trust you, but honestly Rogue, who can believe that you decided to head to Bayville just because you had a dream? And how did you know what that thing's name was? You don't talk, as much anymore, you won't tell the people closest to you anything. What is wrong with you?'
She was looking down at the ground whilst he was speaking, but when he finished, she raised her head. 'I can't tell you.'
Lance felt like banging his head against the tree now, but he held himself back by taking deep breaths. 'And why can't you tell me.'
This seemed to make her think for a moment. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, and then her forehead creased slightly. She shook her head a little bit, as if she didn't understand something herself. 'I don't know.'
'But you won't deny that there's something wrong?' Lance prodded gently, determined to have something to take away from this conversation.
Rogue looked at him in the eyes. 'No, I won't deny there's something wrong. That would be stupid of me. But I can't explain it. I can't explain how I knew those things on Sunday, or what it was about those calls that upset me so much. I just can't.' she looked at him with a lost expression, and Lance felt his anger begin to dissipate.
'Well then,' he said patiently, 'what can we do to help you?'
To this she shrugged her shoulders again. 'I don't know, just be there for me, I guess. Sometimes I feel like.' she blinked as her eyes began to feel prickly, and Lance felt he was making progress.
He pushed her further. He couldn't see her face, for she was now looking at the ground again. 'What do you feel like?' he asked gently.
Rogue raised her face, and he saw the tears in her eyes. 'I feel like I'm sixteen, and I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders.'
It was all the hint Lance needed. He rushed forward, and swept her into a hug. Rogue returned it gratefully, resting her chin in the crook of his shoulders. They stayed in that position for a few moments, and then she spoke softly into his shoulder.
'Don't you just wish sometimes, that it would all stop?'
Lance didn't really know what she meant, so he made a soothing sound but left her question unanswered. After a while, Rogue broke away from him, wiping her eyes.
'I have to stop doing this' she said, giving a mirthless laugh. 'I can't keep on crying like this.'
'Of course you can,' Lance replied easily, 'it would be weird if you didn't. I'm here for you, you know, whenever you need someone.' He trailed off, thinking about what he was saying. Rogue meant so much to him he didn't even want to contemplate it, but she was also his best friend's girlfriend, meaning he had to leave some things between them, despite how much he wanted to help Rogue out. This was the other boys place, not his.
'And there's Pietro too,' he said quickly, 'You know that this is killing him don't you?'
'Of course I do!' Rogue replied forcefully, 'Knowing what I'm doing to him, it's killing me too! But how can I explain something to him that I understand myself.'
'You could tell him what it is you know, he could help you to understand.' Lance suggested. Having resigned himself to keeping some distance between himself and Rogue's troubles, he decided to plead on Pietro's behalf, knowing this would indirectly help the person he thought of as his baby sister.
She looked at him with a lost sort of expression. 'I don't know. I can't explain it. But I can't tell him, not now at least.'
It was the same sort of vague answers Lance had had before, and he knew it would be useless for him to push her any further, in case she got mad at him. The conversation on that subject came staggering to a halt, and instead they moved on to the slightly less serious subject (only slightly), of Kitty and her new friends.
On this they were both in agreement, caught between disbelief at Kitty being so blind, and open hatred for Lorna and co. when trying to decide what to do about it however, both of them were stumped, beyond of course acts of violence which would hardly help the mutant cause if carried out.
They made up their minds to see what happened with this party on Friday, to which of course they hadn't been invited. Lance was a bit worried about Kitty being around so many jocks, but he agreed not to go to the house and spy on her, leaving Kitty to deal with the situation on her own as much as possible. Both of them were decided however, that should revenge against the preppy girls be necessary, they would be more than happy to be the ones to carry it out.
They started walking back to school, talking about pretty much everything, and steering clear of any serious subjects as much as possible. By the time they got back to school, they were talking not about how the new students had come to be in Bedford, but about how they would settle in now they were here. Rogue for one was very glad that Bobby was here; of all the things she'd left behind in Bayville, he had been the one she'd missed most.
Bobby was in fact guiltily enjoying his first day at the new school. He felt free of the duties and responsibilities he'd had back at the institute, where people had expected him to be the one to lead. He'd lived up to their expectations mainly because he hated knowing if he didn't he'd disappoint them, and also because he'd promised Rahne. He had followed the task he had laid before himself rigidly, but it had worn him down, and now he was looking forward to being able to blend into the back ground just a little bit.
He and Amara were making their way toward Math, a subject that made Bobby's face screw up in disgust. He still had yet to really talk to Rogue, which he was also kind of looking forward to. She'd probably been his best friend before she'd taken off, and he was pretty certain that it had been the professor who had been at fault instead of her, but he had always been afraid to ask him. He hadn't been the same since that day.
The two of them found the room together, and waited until the class filled up before finding empty seats. The teacher had still to arrive, so they tried to involve themselves in the talk surrounding them. As they were new kids, the others were fairly happy to oblige.
'Hey,' said one girl, her blonde ponytail bouncing enthusiastically as she spoke. 'I'm Susan, and you are?'
'This is Bobby, and I'm Amara.' His friend made the introductions, and Bobby watched apprehensively as Susan leant back to the girl next to her. She whispered something to her, and both girls nodded and burst out into giggles.
The other looked up at Bobby from under her thick fringe, and gave him an impish smile. 'You're so cute!' she burst out, and they burst into laughter again. Bobby felt the heat creeping up his face, as the other girls quietly voiced their agreement and the other guys in the class were starting the smirk a little.
Amara gave him a little nudge. He looked at her, and she gave him a little wink, to let him know he had an ally. Bobby felt a little better.
Susan moved on swiftly. 'Say, did you guys hear about what happened in that town on Sunday?'
Her friend joined in eagerly. 'Bayville I think. The whole place was destroyed, loads of people died.'
Susan hung her head seriously. 'Slaughtered like animals, it was terrible.'
Bobby could feel Amara tensing up by his side.
Susan didn't seem to sense her discomfort. 'The police think it was mutants that did it, wouldn't surprise me.'
Bobby could see where this was leading, and by the way that her hands were now shaking, he felt Amara could as well.
And the girls still hadn't had their last word. 'I hope they get what's coming to them. They deserve to pay for what they do to us!'
'They should blow them up, see what they think about the way they treat normal people when it's done to them!'
This was enough. Amara started crying, much to the shock and surprise of the Math class. The teacher who had finally stumbled into the room watched with ill-disguised curiosity, and Bobby put his arm around her comfortingly, thinking fast because the class was now silent and waiting for explanations.
'Her parents were killed in the attack.' He explained softly, so Amara couldn't hear and question his lie. The others all reacted.
'Oh my gosh!' Susan said, 'Poor girl! And she's back at school already!' she spoke so loudly as to make Amara start and look up. Bobby gave her a meaningful stare, to say he was doing some explaining, and she resumed crying without another word.
Susan's friend had even less discretion than she did. She sat up straight, struck by something she thought was a realisation, and leant over to talk excitedly to Bobby. 'That's why you're all here isn't it? That's what that house is now. It's an orphanage!' she sounded almost triumphant.
Bobby didn't hasten to correct her, and just hoped he'd be able to put the story around everyone else before they were all questioned en masse. He felt terrible lying like this, but what else was there to do?
He asked permission to take Amara outside for a few minutes to calm down, and the teacher readily agreed. She and Bobby left the classroom amidst whispers and meaningful stares from people who knew now that they were not the normal new students.
Yep, thought Bobby as he led Amara away. This place is exactly like Bayville.
The adults of the house didn't have nearly as much to keep them occupied that day. Logan got up fairly late, and made his first priority to check on Evan. He found him much as he expected he would, quiet and still in complete shock. This was going to take him years to get over.
He made his way somewhat reluctantly down to the kitchen, where he knew Mystique was. Unlike the younger mutants, he just wasn't as well equipped to put years of animosity behind him, despite the fact that he now owed Mystique a great deal.
He scratched his head slightly. A lot of things had confused him in the past few days, so much so that he didn't want to think about it right now, if ever. He was surprised to say the least, when he came to the bottom step, and felt the wafting aroma of pancakes and syrup floating through the bottom floor of the house.
Logan walked into the kitchen, feeling a little bit incredulous. Mystique was standing over the hob, intently flipping what looked to be some of the most appetising pancakes Wolverine had ever seen.
She looked a little bit thrown by his sudden entrance, as though she wasn't used to interruptions at this time of the day. 'I was just going to call you down. Do you want some?' she gestured towards the pan, and Logan hardly hesitated a moment before mumbling his assent and sitting down at the table. Mystique placed a plate before him, and heaped a few pancakes onto the plate, before putting the bottle of maple syrup in front of him.
Logan ate eagerly, and couldn't stop himself from making a sigh of satisfaction when the food touched his mouth.
If he didn't know any better, he'd have said Mystique had looked pleased at his reaction to her cooking.
She turned back to the pan, and spoke to him over her shoulder. 'After cooking for nine kids day in day out, I can safely say I have mastered the art of pancakes.'
Logan didn't really know how to reply to this, so he carried on eating in silence. The lack of conversation was half awkward, half companionable, and neither really made a great attempt at conversation. Neither of them really had it problem with it either.
The students came back from school in mixed spirits that night. Kurt and Tabby were both trying to push aside their grief by being as high spirited as ever, and the newer students were both coming to terms with their new situation, and quite excited to be talking about it. Bobby had told them all what had happened in Math, and instead of being angry, most of them were impressed by his quick thinking, and surprised that they themselves hadn't thought of that explanation before. Stares of sympathy from people were almost the same as stares of curiosity.
Pietro and Rogue were behaving much the same as Tabby and Kurt, trying so hard to pretend everything was normal, and making it painfully obvious that this was not so. Lance watched them from behind, standing with Kitty and listening to her talk about her friends so blankly that he didn't notice the change in tone as she was speaking. Eventually Kitty realised he wasn't paying attention, and gave him a light kick in the shins as punishment. Lance was slightly surprised she hadn't kicked him harder.
Fred and Todd had decided to stumble though the day in their usual good-natured daze, and were probably the most normal of the group at that moment in time. Scott on the other hand went into the house silently and shut himself in his room. He did not come down to dinner that night.
Kurt decided to risk seeing him a little while after dessert, and left the larger but more subdued kitchen to venture upstairs and see his friend. Knocking softly, even though it was his own bedroom, he walked inside and found Scott sitting miserably on his bed, head held in both hands.
Kurt plopped down beside him, completely at a loss. He settled for patting him lightly on the back, and making a general enquiry as to what was wrong with him.
Scott gave him a withering sort of glance, before staring at the floor and looking as though the world were about to end, which gave Kurt a good hint as to what was wrong with him.
'Did something happen with that girl you like, Lydia?' he said, giving himself a mental pat on the back for remembering the name.
Scott sat up straight, and flung a pillow listlessly across the room. 'Yeah, something happened, or more, it didn't?'
Kurt furrowed his brow a little. 'What?'
'She thinks I stood her up! All thanks to your damn sister. I was meant to meet her for a date on Saturday, and now she doesn't want to have anything to do with me!' He held his foot for Kurt to inspect, and he saw a plastered toe, which he could only guess was the result of his conversation with Lydia.
'Didn't you tell her why you couldn't make it?' he asked helpfully. Scott gave him a look that clearly said he'd never met anyone as stupid before in his life.
'Yes I did, I just told her that my friend got mad because we all snuck out and went drinking, and so she used her mutant powers to ice us in our rooms for the day.'
Kurt had the grace to look a little abashed, and Scott resumed his morose staring.
'Can't you make up something?' he asked.
'Unfortunately, I'm just not that good at lying; I haven't really had much practise at it. And she won't have anything to do with me now. I've blown it. The first girl I've really liked who liked me back, and I've blown it.' he threw himself on the covers in desperation.
Kurt had no idea how to remedy this, but was saved from replying further by Rogue, who appeared in the door. Scott took one look at her, before turning over and lying face first in the covers.
Rogue gave an enquiring look in her brother's direction, and he launched into explanation. 'Your freeze thing meant he missed a date with that Lydia girl.'
Rogue too looked very sorry. She approached the bed cautiously, fully aware that Scott probably wasn't happy with her at the moment. 'I'm so sorry Scott, is there anything I can do to make this better.'
Kurt replied for him. 'Not really. She chewed him out and stamped on his foot.'
Rogue visibly winced, and Scott looked at Kurt angrily. 'That bad huh?' she asked. Scott was praying the elf would say no more of his troubles.
'Worse.' Kurt said. 'She said she didn't want anything to do with him from now on.'
Scott looked between the two of them in frustration. 'Must you tell her absolutely everything? This is bad enough as it is.'
'We're family.' Rogue retorted.
'Family share.' Kurt added flippantly.
Scott threw himself back onto the bed again.
Rogue and Kurt made their way quietly out the room, and gave each other guilty looks in the hall way.
'This is all my fault.' Rogue said, leaning against the wall.
'True' Kurt agreed. Rogue threw him a warning look.
'I wasn't even really mad at him, and now I've ruined it all for him. We need to sort things out between him and Lydia, she seems like a really nice girl.'
Kurt looked at her in confusion. 'We?' he asked faintly.
Rogue responded with a firm nod. 'Yes we. You are going to help me whether you like it or not.'
Despite the fact that he was the older brother, having a little sister who could throw a house at you without really breaking sweat kind of cancelled out the age factor, and Kurt readily agreed to Rogue's suggestion. He nodded reluctantly.
'Good. I think what we need to do is get them alone together, somewhere where she can't really storm off, preferably out of school. I'll have a word with her too; make up something or other that she'll have to believe. I'll leave the idea of getting them alone together to you.' She looked pointedly at him, and Kurt rushed to offer his services.
Rogue brightened a bit. 'Excellent. Nice talking to you, oh brother of mine, but now I have to go talk to someone.' She strode off down the corridor, to where Kurt had no idea. It suddenly occurred to him how little he really knew about his sister. He lived with her, he got on with her, but he didn't know her really, not in the same way that Lance and Pietro and Kitty did. He supposed it was something both he and his mother would have to work on.
The sound of the door knock brought Bobby back from his half asleep state. He looked up sharply as the door creaked open, and gave a surprised smile when he saw Rogue's face in the door. 'Hey' she said lightly.
'Hey yourself' he replied.
She grinned, and walked completely into the room, sitting down with him. 'I'd ask how things were, but I know they're not good, so I don't think I will.'
'I could say the same for you.' Rogue gave a tired smile to that. Even though he'd only been in the house a couple of days, Bobby knew enough of her to know there was something wrong. She hadn't realised before just how much she had missed him.
'Tell me everything.' He asked of her, and so Rogue launched into an explanation of everything that had happened to her over the last few months. Bobby was the perfect listener. He looked shocked at the appropriate places, and laughed aloud when she told him about their revenge.
'You actually froze them in their rooms?' he said between gasps of laughter.
'It was pretty damn funny to hear their screams as we were driving away.' Rogue agreed. 'Though it meant Scott missed a date with this girl he likes at school, and now she doesn't want anything to do with him.'
'Wow,' Bobby said, 'He actually likes someone else. I thought he'd never get over Jean, or you.' He looked as though he were afraid he'd said something wrong.
'I'm actually quite glad to see him upset over someone else.' Rogue confessed. 'God that sounded harsh.'
Bobby laughed at her. 'Don't worry about it. I was the only one to hear, and I know you're a bitch!'
Rogue gave a mock frown, and used a pillow to bash him round the arm. Bobby picked up the other pillow, and joined in.
The fight was reaching epic proportions, when Pietro wandered into the room. He couldn't make out the figures at first through the flurry of feathers, and when the debris settled, he had no trouble in working out what had gone on. He laughed a little, seeing that Bobby was the clear loser of the fight.
He addressed the younger boy good-naturedly. 'Some advice. Never ever pick a pillow fight with her. It's just asking for trouble.'
Rogue raised her slightly empty pillowcase above her head, and arched her eyebrow at him. 'Care to try your luck?'
Within a second he was by her side, lifting her up in a fire mans lift. 'Don't worry, I'll give you time to recover.' Bobby laughed lightly as Rogue was carried out the room, banging her fists against her boyfriend's back in protest.
When they were finally on the upstairs landing, Pietro set Rogue down in an undignified heap, her hair mussed up all over the place. She folded her arms and scowled at him like a child.
Pietro rolled his eyes and crouched down on the floor next to her. Looking at her tenderly, he moved the hair out of her face gently, and leant in closer to her face.
Rogue was no longer scowling playfully now. She was losing herself in the eyes she'd lost herself in so willingly so many times before.
Pietro reached out his hand, and pulled something from her messy hair. 'You have feathers in your hair.' He said softly.
Rogue barely heard him, she reached out for him, and his lips met hers in soft embrace, growing in power and intensity until Rogue thought she would burst with love for him.
When at last they pulled back, both watched each other with glazed expressions and dreamy smiles, that reminded Rogue of what it had been like when they'd first gotten together, and just what it was like to love someone so completely. At this moment in time, she firmly believed there was nothing in the world that would ever prove too much for them.
From his eyes, she knew he felt the same. They were leaning in to kiss again, when there was a cough from behind. Sam was standing at the top of the stairs, with an envelope in his hand and a wistful expression on his face.
'Sorry, but um, Rogue, somebody found this on the doorstep. Must have been brought round whilst we were at dinner.'
Rogue took it with shaking fingers, making a pretty good guess as to what the contents of the envelope were, or more accurately, whom they were from. Without another word, she ran off down the corridor to her own room, slamming the door behind her and locking it without touching it, for she knew Pietro would not be far behind her.
Trembling, she removed the contents, and looked at the writing on the small slip of paper in front of her.
THE TIME HAS COME, MEET ME AT NO. 50 BAXTER ST. NINE O CLOCK.
The words were simple, and the instructions clear. Rogue could hear banging on the door behind her, and looked to the locked window. She ran to it and with both hands tried to force it open. It wouldn't budge.
The bangings were growing more insistent, and the door was starting to rattle slightly. Rogue tried once more to open the window, and then slapped herself on the head for forgetting who she was.
Without another moments thought, she teleported out of the room.
Pietro was now convinced he had the worst luck in the world. For the first time in ages, he had felt like he and Rogue were really together, properly, and now another thing had come along and shattered the happiness he had been feeling so little recently. He pursued her down the hallway with Sam, who looked even more confused than he felt, but by the time they arrived, even with Pietro's powers they had been too slow. The door was shut, and in all likelihood locked too. This was confirmed when they tried to forced the door, and it would not move.
They could hear her inside, running about the room frantically. Shouting her name, he and Sam ran at the door together, and his it with resounding thuds. It was beginning to show under the strain, but gave no other signs of giving in.
They tried again, and again, not noticing that it had suddenly gotten a bit quieter beyond the barrier. By this time, the noise had attracted the other members of the household, who watched the scene before them in varying states of shock and confusion.
A few tries later, Fred motioned for them to get out of the way, and ran at the door. It fell open before him, and they crowed into the forced room.
Immediately they all saw the same thing. That Rogue was gone.
Rogue was perfectly aware of the commotion that had probably been caused by her behaviour, and made a note to fix the door that would no doubt have been broken to get into the room by now. She, like Pietro, was cursing her luck, but she also felt a tugging sense of curiosity to get answers that she needed so much.
After teleporting a park in the centre of town, where most people wouldn't dream of going, she proceeded to go by the directions of those who weren't drunk to find out where Baxter street actually was. She found it fairly soon, it was dimly lit, and held identical housing lined up on either side of the street. Rogue moved along it as quietly as possible, coming to a stop by a darkened building, with a small 'no. 50' sign hammered into the ground. Rubbing her hands together, Rogue walked up the small driveway, and knocked once on the plain blue door.
It was answered remarkably quickly, even though she was a quarter of an hour early. A face appeared in the darkness, and as Rogue grew accustomed to the dim light, she recognised the face, and let out the breath she'd been holding in.
'Oh' she said resignedly. 'Long time no see Irene.'
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB
AUTHORS NOTE: Hoorah! That was the quickest I've updated in a while! Shorter chapter too, I kind of like them this way. Next chapter, I'm not too sure what's happening! I've decided to change something in this story, and I just have to work out where it will all fit in, so bear with me! Thanks, and don't forget, please please please review!!!
Things didn't even start to retain some sense of normality until at least Tuesday, where the new students followed their old friends somewhat reluctantly through the gates of Bedford High, bar Evan, who was still by no means ready to face the outside world again. As had been thought, Mystique went to register her new charges as students the day before, and people now began to talk of the old house as though it were some kind of youth scheme place.
Things had been subdued in the house, to say the least. But beneath all the shock, and all the sadness, there were two groups of kids both insanely curious as to seeing what their peers got up to in their absence. Bobby in particular could not help but be a little pleased to see Rogue and Scott and the other X-men again. Though the shock and the numbness of what had happened that day hadn't even begun to fade yet, he couldn't help but be a little glad that his old friends would be there for him when the inevitable did happen.
The others, though slightly less glad to be there than Bobby, were still observing their new surroundings with curiosity. The events of a few months ago had completely bewildered them, and they had known Rahne's death to be nothing more than a senseless tragedy. When Rogue had come storming into the hall that day, and she and the others had left, they hadn't the slightest clue as to why, and the professor had never sought to enlighten them. Most of them had in fact expected to see Jean with them, when they had once more burst through the doors of the mansion.
So it was with some small fascination that they now found themselves standing outside the gates of another new high school, trying to put behind them so quickly the various terrible scenes of the last fourty eight hours. The worst of these had probably been the memorial service held for Storm and all those who had perished so little time ago. Logan lead them in their mourning, looking more gentle and expressive than most the young mutants were ever likely to see him. He spoke not only of a brave and noble woman, but also of somebody who had been a good friend to him. Evan watched the proceedings, his face half hidden in shadow, and most tried to ignore the tears which were obviously coursing down his face. He hardly spoke at all for the rest of the day.
Taking this into account, it was hardly surprising that he did not join the others at school the next day. But the new students were anxious to try and retain some sort of normality, and those who had previously been living in the house saw no reason as to not go back.
The older mutants went into the school feeling both protective of the new arrivals, and eager to get back to things. Kitty was reminded of the fact when she saw Lorna and her gang waiting by the entrance for her, she could see their fake smiles from a mile away. Plastering a similar expression onto her tired face, she hugged her books close to her, and made her way towards the giggling group of girls.
Despite all her pretensions, Lorna just couldn't stop her eyebrow rising a little when she saw her 'friend'. Tired dark lines hung suspended from her eyes, and creases of worry marred her normally perky face. Now she thought about it, Kitty hadn't shown up at school yesterday, neither had her friends. Lorna would have been overcome by curiosity, if she actually cared.
'Rough weekend Pryde?' she asked, just a little snidely. This caused the other girl to colour a little, and the others to join their leader in showing their subtle disdain. Kitty pretended not to notice.
Lorna smirked a little. 'Hope you're going to be all right for Friday,' she said, then her face darkened as she saw Kitty's blank look. 'Friday, remember? My party?' Kitty seemed to snap out of it, and stammered back that she'd be fine by then. This seemed to be enough to satisfy Lorna, as she gave a school nod, before sweeping around and leading the others into the school building, stopping only to throw a nasty look at Rogue.
Standing by the car still, with Lance and Pietro, Rogue took note of the dirty look Lorna gave her before walking into school. She sighed slightly, and looked up at the two boys with a silent appeal in her eyes.
Pietro wrapped his arms around her. 'Don't worry, Kitty will see her for what she really is sometime soon.' He didn't know if this was actually true, but it certainly sounded comforting. Rogue leaned into him a little and nodded her head slightly. Lance was still watching the closed door with dark eyes.
The school bell rang, and Rogue hoped that Bobby and the others would be okay on their first day at Bedford, especially whilst still coming to terms with what had happened that Sunday. She kissed Pietro once, hitting him somewhere between his chin and his mouth, and then made to leave inside, when she caught sight of Lance's face behind him.
She told Pietro she'd follow him in, and watched him walk off, one eyebrow raised pointedly in Lance's direction.
When she was sure her boyfriend was out of earshot, Rogue turned to the other boy. 'What is it?' she asked, even though she had a vague idea already what the answer would be. But apparently, Lance just wanted to set up a time for them to talk, and Rogue agreed to meet him, somewhat reluctantly, just outside the school that lunchtime. At least this was something she could explain to Pietro without having to lie. Her close relationship with Lance was something Pietro had long ago come to accept.
She said her goodbyes, and made her way off to class, her mind hardly less clouded than it had been recently. If she herself didn't really understand what was going on, how could she explain it to anyone else?
Scott was not having a much better time of things. After the drama of the weekend, he put the thing with Lydia to the back of his mind. It came leaping to the fore however, when he saw her standing further down the hall, a slightly preoccupied expression on her lovely face. Scott strode towards her purposefully, so purposefully in fact, that he rammed into an opening locker, thereby alerting her (and everyone else's) attention to his presence.
If he thought he was going to get sympathy for his aching head, he was very wrong. Lydia took one disgusted look at him, before walking up to him, raising her shoe, and stamping down hard on his foot before marching off down the corridor.
Scott prolonged the sharp stinging in his foot to run after her and call out her name. Lydia turned to face him, her hair swinging from side to side angrily.
'What?' she snapped.
Scott launched into grovelling straight away. 'Lydia I am so sorry, but the girls, I mean, the boy in my room..'
'Who, Kurt?' she asked, and Scott nodded hurriedly. He worked out that he couldn't tell her he had been frozen in his room all day with his closed, so he wouldn't blast the door open, so he decided to think on his feet.
'Yes Kurt,' he said, still nodding, 'You see, he got really sick, and we were worried about him being contagious, so we all had to stay indoors, and.'
'And that is the biggest lie I've ever heard! Do you think I'm stupid or something?' she shouted, not really caring that she was drawing a crowd. Scott made a gesture to start speaking again, but she cut him off.
'No, don't talk to me, in fact don't even look at me. Not until you can give me a damn good reason for why you stood me up, instead out spouting out the lamest lie I've ever heard!' she ended up screaming out loud, before breaking through the crowd and storming off. This time Scott did not dare follow her. He made his way through the whispering masses, and slunk off in the opposite direction, head hanging in gloom.
The new students of Bedford met together that lunchtime with the old, their minds slightly more pleasantly occupied than they had been recently. They could not really help swapping stories of their mornings, and silently comparing their new habitat, to that of Bayville. Like those who came before them, they felt that the similarities between the two schools were startling, but this didn't stop them from being a little bit excited.
Rogue smiled at them, before Lance motioned for her to move away. She whispered into Pietro's ear where she was going, and watched his slightly perturbed look as he nodded. The two of them walked off together in silence, Kitty watching their progress with slightly narrowed eyes. It was still hard for them, despite everything.
Lance kept walking, and Rogue kept following, until they stopped at a quiet spot, about five minutes walk from the school gates. He came to a halt, and waited for her too to stop before he spoke.
'I'd ask you if you knew what this is about, but I know you already do, so I won't.' he said, needing a point to start off from.
'Are you asking because Pietro told you to, because if he thinks I'm any more likely to tell you.'
'I'm not asking for Pietro! I'm just..' He paused to kick a nearby tree root in frustration. 'I'm worried about you, everyone is.'
She didn't say anything, so he went on. 'Two phone calls; two phone calls that have both upset you beyond belief. And every time someone asks you about it, you lie, you say you can't tell us. And what was the deal with Sunday? We followed you because we trust you, but honestly Rogue, who can believe that you decided to head to Bayville just because you had a dream? And how did you know what that thing's name was? You don't talk, as much anymore, you won't tell the people closest to you anything. What is wrong with you?'
She was looking down at the ground whilst he was speaking, but when he finished, she raised her head. 'I can't tell you.'
Lance felt like banging his head against the tree now, but he held himself back by taking deep breaths. 'And why can't you tell me.'
This seemed to make her think for a moment. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, and then her forehead creased slightly. She shook her head a little bit, as if she didn't understand something herself. 'I don't know.'
'But you won't deny that there's something wrong?' Lance prodded gently, determined to have something to take away from this conversation.
Rogue looked at him in the eyes. 'No, I won't deny there's something wrong. That would be stupid of me. But I can't explain it. I can't explain how I knew those things on Sunday, or what it was about those calls that upset me so much. I just can't.' she looked at him with a lost expression, and Lance felt his anger begin to dissipate.
'Well then,' he said patiently, 'what can we do to help you?'
To this she shrugged her shoulders again. 'I don't know, just be there for me, I guess. Sometimes I feel like.' she blinked as her eyes began to feel prickly, and Lance felt he was making progress.
He pushed her further. He couldn't see her face, for she was now looking at the ground again. 'What do you feel like?' he asked gently.
Rogue raised her face, and he saw the tears in her eyes. 'I feel like I'm sixteen, and I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders.'
It was all the hint Lance needed. He rushed forward, and swept her into a hug. Rogue returned it gratefully, resting her chin in the crook of his shoulders. They stayed in that position for a few moments, and then she spoke softly into his shoulder.
'Don't you just wish sometimes, that it would all stop?'
Lance didn't really know what she meant, so he made a soothing sound but left her question unanswered. After a while, Rogue broke away from him, wiping her eyes.
'I have to stop doing this' she said, giving a mirthless laugh. 'I can't keep on crying like this.'
'Of course you can,' Lance replied easily, 'it would be weird if you didn't. I'm here for you, you know, whenever you need someone.' He trailed off, thinking about what he was saying. Rogue meant so much to him he didn't even want to contemplate it, but she was also his best friend's girlfriend, meaning he had to leave some things between them, despite how much he wanted to help Rogue out. This was the other boys place, not his.
'And there's Pietro too,' he said quickly, 'You know that this is killing him don't you?'
'Of course I do!' Rogue replied forcefully, 'Knowing what I'm doing to him, it's killing me too! But how can I explain something to him that I understand myself.'
'You could tell him what it is you know, he could help you to understand.' Lance suggested. Having resigned himself to keeping some distance between himself and Rogue's troubles, he decided to plead on Pietro's behalf, knowing this would indirectly help the person he thought of as his baby sister.
She looked at him with a lost sort of expression. 'I don't know. I can't explain it. But I can't tell him, not now at least.'
It was the same sort of vague answers Lance had had before, and he knew it would be useless for him to push her any further, in case she got mad at him. The conversation on that subject came staggering to a halt, and instead they moved on to the slightly less serious subject (only slightly), of Kitty and her new friends.
On this they were both in agreement, caught between disbelief at Kitty being so blind, and open hatred for Lorna and co. when trying to decide what to do about it however, both of them were stumped, beyond of course acts of violence which would hardly help the mutant cause if carried out.
They made up their minds to see what happened with this party on Friday, to which of course they hadn't been invited. Lance was a bit worried about Kitty being around so many jocks, but he agreed not to go to the house and spy on her, leaving Kitty to deal with the situation on her own as much as possible. Both of them were decided however, that should revenge against the preppy girls be necessary, they would be more than happy to be the ones to carry it out.
They started walking back to school, talking about pretty much everything, and steering clear of any serious subjects as much as possible. By the time they got back to school, they were talking not about how the new students had come to be in Bedford, but about how they would settle in now they were here. Rogue for one was very glad that Bobby was here; of all the things she'd left behind in Bayville, he had been the one she'd missed most.
Bobby was in fact guiltily enjoying his first day at the new school. He felt free of the duties and responsibilities he'd had back at the institute, where people had expected him to be the one to lead. He'd lived up to their expectations mainly because he hated knowing if he didn't he'd disappoint them, and also because he'd promised Rahne. He had followed the task he had laid before himself rigidly, but it had worn him down, and now he was looking forward to being able to blend into the back ground just a little bit.
He and Amara were making their way toward Math, a subject that made Bobby's face screw up in disgust. He still had yet to really talk to Rogue, which he was also kind of looking forward to. She'd probably been his best friend before she'd taken off, and he was pretty certain that it had been the professor who had been at fault instead of her, but he had always been afraid to ask him. He hadn't been the same since that day.
The two of them found the room together, and waited until the class filled up before finding empty seats. The teacher had still to arrive, so they tried to involve themselves in the talk surrounding them. As they were new kids, the others were fairly happy to oblige.
'Hey,' said one girl, her blonde ponytail bouncing enthusiastically as she spoke. 'I'm Susan, and you are?'
'This is Bobby, and I'm Amara.' His friend made the introductions, and Bobby watched apprehensively as Susan leant back to the girl next to her. She whispered something to her, and both girls nodded and burst out into giggles.
The other looked up at Bobby from under her thick fringe, and gave him an impish smile. 'You're so cute!' she burst out, and they burst into laughter again. Bobby felt the heat creeping up his face, as the other girls quietly voiced their agreement and the other guys in the class were starting the smirk a little.
Amara gave him a little nudge. He looked at her, and she gave him a little wink, to let him know he had an ally. Bobby felt a little better.
Susan moved on swiftly. 'Say, did you guys hear about what happened in that town on Sunday?'
Her friend joined in eagerly. 'Bayville I think. The whole place was destroyed, loads of people died.'
Susan hung her head seriously. 'Slaughtered like animals, it was terrible.'
Bobby could feel Amara tensing up by his side.
Susan didn't seem to sense her discomfort. 'The police think it was mutants that did it, wouldn't surprise me.'
Bobby could see where this was leading, and by the way that her hands were now shaking, he felt Amara could as well.
And the girls still hadn't had their last word. 'I hope they get what's coming to them. They deserve to pay for what they do to us!'
'They should blow them up, see what they think about the way they treat normal people when it's done to them!'
This was enough. Amara started crying, much to the shock and surprise of the Math class. The teacher who had finally stumbled into the room watched with ill-disguised curiosity, and Bobby put his arm around her comfortingly, thinking fast because the class was now silent and waiting for explanations.
'Her parents were killed in the attack.' He explained softly, so Amara couldn't hear and question his lie. The others all reacted.
'Oh my gosh!' Susan said, 'Poor girl! And she's back at school already!' she spoke so loudly as to make Amara start and look up. Bobby gave her a meaningful stare, to say he was doing some explaining, and she resumed crying without another word.
Susan's friend had even less discretion than she did. She sat up straight, struck by something she thought was a realisation, and leant over to talk excitedly to Bobby. 'That's why you're all here isn't it? That's what that house is now. It's an orphanage!' she sounded almost triumphant.
Bobby didn't hasten to correct her, and just hoped he'd be able to put the story around everyone else before they were all questioned en masse. He felt terrible lying like this, but what else was there to do?
He asked permission to take Amara outside for a few minutes to calm down, and the teacher readily agreed. She and Bobby left the classroom amidst whispers and meaningful stares from people who knew now that they were not the normal new students.
Yep, thought Bobby as he led Amara away. This place is exactly like Bayville.
The adults of the house didn't have nearly as much to keep them occupied that day. Logan got up fairly late, and made his first priority to check on Evan. He found him much as he expected he would, quiet and still in complete shock. This was going to take him years to get over.
He made his way somewhat reluctantly down to the kitchen, where he knew Mystique was. Unlike the younger mutants, he just wasn't as well equipped to put years of animosity behind him, despite the fact that he now owed Mystique a great deal.
He scratched his head slightly. A lot of things had confused him in the past few days, so much so that he didn't want to think about it right now, if ever. He was surprised to say the least, when he came to the bottom step, and felt the wafting aroma of pancakes and syrup floating through the bottom floor of the house.
Logan walked into the kitchen, feeling a little bit incredulous. Mystique was standing over the hob, intently flipping what looked to be some of the most appetising pancakes Wolverine had ever seen.
She looked a little bit thrown by his sudden entrance, as though she wasn't used to interruptions at this time of the day. 'I was just going to call you down. Do you want some?' she gestured towards the pan, and Logan hardly hesitated a moment before mumbling his assent and sitting down at the table. Mystique placed a plate before him, and heaped a few pancakes onto the plate, before putting the bottle of maple syrup in front of him.
Logan ate eagerly, and couldn't stop himself from making a sigh of satisfaction when the food touched his mouth.
If he didn't know any better, he'd have said Mystique had looked pleased at his reaction to her cooking.
She turned back to the pan, and spoke to him over her shoulder. 'After cooking for nine kids day in day out, I can safely say I have mastered the art of pancakes.'
Logan didn't really know how to reply to this, so he carried on eating in silence. The lack of conversation was half awkward, half companionable, and neither really made a great attempt at conversation. Neither of them really had it problem with it either.
The students came back from school in mixed spirits that night. Kurt and Tabby were both trying to push aside their grief by being as high spirited as ever, and the newer students were both coming to terms with their new situation, and quite excited to be talking about it. Bobby had told them all what had happened in Math, and instead of being angry, most of them were impressed by his quick thinking, and surprised that they themselves hadn't thought of that explanation before. Stares of sympathy from people were almost the same as stares of curiosity.
Pietro and Rogue were behaving much the same as Tabby and Kurt, trying so hard to pretend everything was normal, and making it painfully obvious that this was not so. Lance watched them from behind, standing with Kitty and listening to her talk about her friends so blankly that he didn't notice the change in tone as she was speaking. Eventually Kitty realised he wasn't paying attention, and gave him a light kick in the shins as punishment. Lance was slightly surprised she hadn't kicked him harder.
Fred and Todd had decided to stumble though the day in their usual good-natured daze, and were probably the most normal of the group at that moment in time. Scott on the other hand went into the house silently and shut himself in his room. He did not come down to dinner that night.
Kurt decided to risk seeing him a little while after dessert, and left the larger but more subdued kitchen to venture upstairs and see his friend. Knocking softly, even though it was his own bedroom, he walked inside and found Scott sitting miserably on his bed, head held in both hands.
Kurt plopped down beside him, completely at a loss. He settled for patting him lightly on the back, and making a general enquiry as to what was wrong with him.
Scott gave him a withering sort of glance, before staring at the floor and looking as though the world were about to end, which gave Kurt a good hint as to what was wrong with him.
'Did something happen with that girl you like, Lydia?' he said, giving himself a mental pat on the back for remembering the name.
Scott sat up straight, and flung a pillow listlessly across the room. 'Yeah, something happened, or more, it didn't?'
Kurt furrowed his brow a little. 'What?'
'She thinks I stood her up! All thanks to your damn sister. I was meant to meet her for a date on Saturday, and now she doesn't want to have anything to do with me!' He held his foot for Kurt to inspect, and he saw a plastered toe, which he could only guess was the result of his conversation with Lydia.
'Didn't you tell her why you couldn't make it?' he asked helpfully. Scott gave him a look that clearly said he'd never met anyone as stupid before in his life.
'Yes I did, I just told her that my friend got mad because we all snuck out and went drinking, and so she used her mutant powers to ice us in our rooms for the day.'
Kurt had the grace to look a little abashed, and Scott resumed his morose staring.
'Can't you make up something?' he asked.
'Unfortunately, I'm just not that good at lying; I haven't really had much practise at it. And she won't have anything to do with me now. I've blown it. The first girl I've really liked who liked me back, and I've blown it.' he threw himself on the covers in desperation.
Kurt had no idea how to remedy this, but was saved from replying further by Rogue, who appeared in the door. Scott took one look at her, before turning over and lying face first in the covers.
Rogue gave an enquiring look in her brother's direction, and he launched into explanation. 'Your freeze thing meant he missed a date with that Lydia girl.'
Rogue too looked very sorry. She approached the bed cautiously, fully aware that Scott probably wasn't happy with her at the moment. 'I'm so sorry Scott, is there anything I can do to make this better.'
Kurt replied for him. 'Not really. She chewed him out and stamped on his foot.'
Rogue visibly winced, and Scott looked at Kurt angrily. 'That bad huh?' she asked. Scott was praying the elf would say no more of his troubles.
'Worse.' Kurt said. 'She said she didn't want anything to do with him from now on.'
Scott looked between the two of them in frustration. 'Must you tell her absolutely everything? This is bad enough as it is.'
'We're family.' Rogue retorted.
'Family share.' Kurt added flippantly.
Scott threw himself back onto the bed again.
Rogue and Kurt made their way quietly out the room, and gave each other guilty looks in the hall way.
'This is all my fault.' Rogue said, leaning against the wall.
'True' Kurt agreed. Rogue threw him a warning look.
'I wasn't even really mad at him, and now I've ruined it all for him. We need to sort things out between him and Lydia, she seems like a really nice girl.'
Kurt looked at her in confusion. 'We?' he asked faintly.
Rogue responded with a firm nod. 'Yes we. You are going to help me whether you like it or not.'
Despite the fact that he was the older brother, having a little sister who could throw a house at you without really breaking sweat kind of cancelled out the age factor, and Kurt readily agreed to Rogue's suggestion. He nodded reluctantly.
'Good. I think what we need to do is get them alone together, somewhere where she can't really storm off, preferably out of school. I'll have a word with her too; make up something or other that she'll have to believe. I'll leave the idea of getting them alone together to you.' She looked pointedly at him, and Kurt rushed to offer his services.
Rogue brightened a bit. 'Excellent. Nice talking to you, oh brother of mine, but now I have to go talk to someone.' She strode off down the corridor, to where Kurt had no idea. It suddenly occurred to him how little he really knew about his sister. He lived with her, he got on with her, but he didn't know her really, not in the same way that Lance and Pietro and Kitty did. He supposed it was something both he and his mother would have to work on.
The sound of the door knock brought Bobby back from his half asleep state. He looked up sharply as the door creaked open, and gave a surprised smile when he saw Rogue's face in the door. 'Hey' she said lightly.
'Hey yourself' he replied.
She grinned, and walked completely into the room, sitting down with him. 'I'd ask how things were, but I know they're not good, so I don't think I will.'
'I could say the same for you.' Rogue gave a tired smile to that. Even though he'd only been in the house a couple of days, Bobby knew enough of her to know there was something wrong. She hadn't realised before just how much she had missed him.
'Tell me everything.' He asked of her, and so Rogue launched into an explanation of everything that had happened to her over the last few months. Bobby was the perfect listener. He looked shocked at the appropriate places, and laughed aloud when she told him about their revenge.
'You actually froze them in their rooms?' he said between gasps of laughter.
'It was pretty damn funny to hear their screams as we were driving away.' Rogue agreed. 'Though it meant Scott missed a date with this girl he likes at school, and now she doesn't want anything to do with him.'
'Wow,' Bobby said, 'He actually likes someone else. I thought he'd never get over Jean, or you.' He looked as though he were afraid he'd said something wrong.
'I'm actually quite glad to see him upset over someone else.' Rogue confessed. 'God that sounded harsh.'
Bobby laughed at her. 'Don't worry about it. I was the only one to hear, and I know you're a bitch!'
Rogue gave a mock frown, and used a pillow to bash him round the arm. Bobby picked up the other pillow, and joined in.
The fight was reaching epic proportions, when Pietro wandered into the room. He couldn't make out the figures at first through the flurry of feathers, and when the debris settled, he had no trouble in working out what had gone on. He laughed a little, seeing that Bobby was the clear loser of the fight.
He addressed the younger boy good-naturedly. 'Some advice. Never ever pick a pillow fight with her. It's just asking for trouble.'
Rogue raised her slightly empty pillowcase above her head, and arched her eyebrow at him. 'Care to try your luck?'
Within a second he was by her side, lifting her up in a fire mans lift. 'Don't worry, I'll give you time to recover.' Bobby laughed lightly as Rogue was carried out the room, banging her fists against her boyfriend's back in protest.
When they were finally on the upstairs landing, Pietro set Rogue down in an undignified heap, her hair mussed up all over the place. She folded her arms and scowled at him like a child.
Pietro rolled his eyes and crouched down on the floor next to her. Looking at her tenderly, he moved the hair out of her face gently, and leant in closer to her face.
Rogue was no longer scowling playfully now. She was losing herself in the eyes she'd lost herself in so willingly so many times before.
Pietro reached out his hand, and pulled something from her messy hair. 'You have feathers in your hair.' He said softly.
Rogue barely heard him, she reached out for him, and his lips met hers in soft embrace, growing in power and intensity until Rogue thought she would burst with love for him.
When at last they pulled back, both watched each other with glazed expressions and dreamy smiles, that reminded Rogue of what it had been like when they'd first gotten together, and just what it was like to love someone so completely. At this moment in time, she firmly believed there was nothing in the world that would ever prove too much for them.
From his eyes, she knew he felt the same. They were leaning in to kiss again, when there was a cough from behind. Sam was standing at the top of the stairs, with an envelope in his hand and a wistful expression on his face.
'Sorry, but um, Rogue, somebody found this on the doorstep. Must have been brought round whilst we were at dinner.'
Rogue took it with shaking fingers, making a pretty good guess as to what the contents of the envelope were, or more accurately, whom they were from. Without another word, she ran off down the corridor to her own room, slamming the door behind her and locking it without touching it, for she knew Pietro would not be far behind her.
Trembling, she removed the contents, and looked at the writing on the small slip of paper in front of her.
THE TIME HAS COME, MEET ME AT NO. 50 BAXTER ST. NINE O CLOCK.
The words were simple, and the instructions clear. Rogue could hear banging on the door behind her, and looked to the locked window. She ran to it and with both hands tried to force it open. It wouldn't budge.
The bangings were growing more insistent, and the door was starting to rattle slightly. Rogue tried once more to open the window, and then slapped herself on the head for forgetting who she was.
Without another moments thought, she teleported out of the room.
Pietro was now convinced he had the worst luck in the world. For the first time in ages, he had felt like he and Rogue were really together, properly, and now another thing had come along and shattered the happiness he had been feeling so little recently. He pursued her down the hallway with Sam, who looked even more confused than he felt, but by the time they arrived, even with Pietro's powers they had been too slow. The door was shut, and in all likelihood locked too. This was confirmed when they tried to forced the door, and it would not move.
They could hear her inside, running about the room frantically. Shouting her name, he and Sam ran at the door together, and his it with resounding thuds. It was beginning to show under the strain, but gave no other signs of giving in.
They tried again, and again, not noticing that it had suddenly gotten a bit quieter beyond the barrier. By this time, the noise had attracted the other members of the household, who watched the scene before them in varying states of shock and confusion.
A few tries later, Fred motioned for them to get out of the way, and ran at the door. It fell open before him, and they crowed into the forced room.
Immediately they all saw the same thing. That Rogue was gone.
Rogue was perfectly aware of the commotion that had probably been caused by her behaviour, and made a note to fix the door that would no doubt have been broken to get into the room by now. She, like Pietro, was cursing her luck, but she also felt a tugging sense of curiosity to get answers that she needed so much.
After teleporting a park in the centre of town, where most people wouldn't dream of going, she proceeded to go by the directions of those who weren't drunk to find out where Baxter street actually was. She found it fairly soon, it was dimly lit, and held identical housing lined up on either side of the street. Rogue moved along it as quietly as possible, coming to a stop by a darkened building, with a small 'no. 50' sign hammered into the ground. Rubbing her hands together, Rogue walked up the small driveway, and knocked once on the plain blue door.
It was answered remarkably quickly, even though she was a quarter of an hour early. A face appeared in the darkness, and as Rogue grew accustomed to the dim light, she recognised the face, and let out the breath she'd been holding in.
'Oh' she said resignedly. 'Long time no see Irene.'
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB
AUTHORS NOTE: Hoorah! That was the quickest I've updated in a while! Shorter chapter too, I kind of like them this way. Next chapter, I'm not too sure what's happening! I've decided to change something in this story, and I just have to work out where it will all fit in, so bear with me! Thanks, and don't forget, please please please review!!!
