Bright Lights
An X-men: Evolution fanfic by Lavender Gaia
Editing and Assistance by Lavender Gaia so you guys don't have to wait anymore.
Chapter Six: Hope
First draft: September 18, 2005
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution or any of its characters. They are all property of Marvel.
Dedicated to Travis for cheering me up when I was lonely and giving me strength to finish this.
Ray smirked as he entered the Ice Palace, Kurt in tow behind him. "Hey, you have a camera?"
The blue boy shook his head. "No, why?"
"Because I need to get a shot of Drake in that hat."
It was true. Bobby was forced to wear the uniform, which included a folded white hat. Still, he looked at home there. Ray had always known that Bobby was a people person—a lot more than he was at least—and from the looks of it, he liked making the little kids happy.
Kurt grinned and walked over to the counter. "Hey, Mister, can I have an ice cream cone?"
Bobby looked over from where he was mixing a strawberry milkshake. "Oh, hey, guys! What's up?"
"We just finished buying all the stuff for Sam's party and dropping it off at the girls' place. Now, tell us again why we bought all the stuff on your list?" Ray asked.
He pretended to be offended. "Because, my boy, I've been here, slaving over a cold cone and trying to earn money for us to live off of!" Bobby handed the milkshake over the counter to the woman who had asked for it. "Here you are, ma'am. Have a nice day!"
Ray and Kurt exchanged a look. "Ja, you know, that might work if the Professor didn't pay for everything."
"Well, Amara likes going out and she's used to pretty things. And isn't she worth it?" He smiled at them, but his eyes said, 'Agree with me or I'll freeze you in your sleep.'
"Of course," Ray rolled his eyes. "We all love Amara. In a completely platonic way, of course. But you could have done your own errands."
He shrugged. "Alright, alright. How about I get you guys some ice cream instead? We're starting to slow down and I'll just take my break now. Whatcha guys want?"
"I'll take some Rocky Road!" Kurt requested, taking a seat at a nearby table.
"You got mint chocolate chip?" Ray smiled.
"You bet. Just give me a sec." Bobby went to fill their orders and after telling his fellow worker that he was going on the break, he sat down with his friends. "So you guys got everything on the list?"
"Yes, everything. Stop worrying. It's all gonna go fine and Sam'll go off to get rich and famous remembering all us little people." Ray leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Lucky man, doesn't have to go to college anymore."
Bobby glanced over at him. "Sam's going back. What problem do you have with college anyway?"
Ray shrugged. "It's school. I hated high school. And middle school. Now elementary wasn't so bad, we got naps. But whatever." He dug a spoon into his ice cream.
"I'm enjoying it!" Kurt said excitedly. "Rogue and I are taking German together and I like teaching her stuff. In fact, I'm supposed to go help her with the reading this weekend."
"Doesn't she have a date with Warren tonight?" Berzerker asked.
Bobby nodded. "Yeah, and Kitty has a date with that Riley Egan guy tomorrow." Kurt jabbed his spoon into the Rocky Road. "You ok with that, elf?"
"Yeah, I just…Never thought he was her type. I don't want her to get hurt." He sighed. "I miss Amanda. But I heard from her the other day, and she's doing really well."
"At least be glad you had a girlfriend," Ray groaned. "Ice Man took the only New Mutant girl that decided to stick around."
"Oh, that reminds me, Amara told me the funniest thing the other day," Bobby began, only stopping when his roommates glared at him. "What? Just because your love lives suck doesn't mean I can't be happy!"
Kurt glanced at Ray, then pushed Bobby back towards the counter. "We think you need to get back to work. Your girlfriend won't be too happy if you get fired and can't buy her all those nice things that she can afford on her own, right?"
Bobby picked up their ice cream bowls whether they were finished or not. "The green of envy doesn't look good on either of you."
The two rolled their eyes at him and Ray even threw a tossed up napkin at their friend before leaving to go back to the apartment. When they got off the elevator at the eighth floor, Kurt saw a service man standing in front of the girls' apartment. "Can I help you?" he offered.
"Um, only if you're Rogue," the delivery man read off the address tag.
"Actually, I'm her brother. I have a key and can put whatever it is in her apartment." He brandished his key ring helpfully.
The man nodded. "Ok, just sign here." Kurt took the pen and scribbled a few lines on the electronic pad; those things never cared what you put anyway. "Have a nice day, sir."
"Ja, you too!" The elf opened the door to his sister's apartment, calling out, "Hello? Is anyone home?"
Rogue walked out of the bathroom towel-drying her hair. "Oh, hey. Ah thought there was someone at the door."
"You have a package," he told her, putting the large box on the coffee table in front of her.
She frowned at it. "What is it?"
Kurt shrugged, sitting on one of their chairs. "Open it and find out."
Quickly, she ripped off the brown paper revealing only a white box underneath. She pulled off the top and her jaw dropped at the contents. It was a gorgeous deep purple dress. It was long enough to cover her arms and legs and still be classy. Matching heels and gloves were in the bottom along with a note. She pulled it out and read it aloud, "Rogue—I promised you a dress. I do hope you like it. If the measurements aren't correct, blame Kitty, I got them from her. See you later, Warren."
"Wow," Kurt blinked, taking it all in. "That was really nice of him."
"Yeah…it was." Rogue's eyes swept over the dress again, wondering if it was really ok to accept such an expensive gift. She doubted she'd ever owned anything like this before.
"So?" Her brother prompted. "Aren't you going to go put it on?"
After a moment's hesitation, she nodded and headed to the room she shared with Kitty. "I'll be back in a second." Closing the door behind her, Rogue shed her old bathrobe and unzipped the back of the dress, stepping into it as carefully as possible.
It fit like a glove. Apparently, Kitty had done a great job of getting her exact measurements, so much that Rogue wondered what had gone on in her sleep. The material hugged her curves, the see-through gauze of the sleeves showing off her strong arms while the gloves looked elegant. It even seemed to give her more cleavage than usual. While Rogue knew that she wasn't a drop-dead gorgeous beauty like Jean, her heart swelled in relief that she did the dress justice.
Gingerly, she walked back into the living room. "So how does it look?"
Kurt looked over from where he had been raiding the fridge. "Oh, Rogue, you look beautiful!" he told her sincerely. "That dress is perfect for you."
"Ah do like it," she admitted, admiring herself in the gilded mirror above the mantle of the fireplace.
"You know what I have to do, right?" He grabbed the disposable camera Tabitha had left in the kitchen. "Pictures!"
"Aw, please don't!" Rogue protested. "Ah certainly don't look that good!"
Kurt pouted. "Please? Just for me?"
She sighed, but stood still long enough for him to snap the pictures. "Alright, don't you have somewhere else to be now?" Rogue grumbled, hoping he could take the hint.
"Ok, ok, but you have to let me know what happens tomorrow. And tell Warren that if he hurts you, I'll kill him."
"It's not like that," she told him with an eye roll. "We're friends. Ah'm just going because he needs a date."
"Ja, whatever. Have a good time, I'll see you later." With that, he teleported out, hopefully to his own apartment.
Rogue collapsed on the couch, careful not to wrinkle her dress. Warren wasn't set to pick her up for another hour or so, but that knowledge did nothing to stop the butterflies in her stomach. To keep her mind off what was going to happen, she pulled out one of her textbooks and set to the reading assignment.
Before she even realized it, the doorbell rang. It was past eight o'clock and none of her roommates had come back yet, but since they generally had lives of their own, this wasn't unexpected. Rogue got up to answer the caller.
"Didn't I tell you to always check before you answer the door?" Warren grinned at her. "But of course, looking as amazing as you do, any attacker would have to stop and stare first."
"Flatterer," she blushed, locking the door behind her. The pair went downstairs, where one of the Worthington limos was waiting. Rogue slid in the backseat and took a sniff of the air. "What's that smell?"
He grinned. "I figured that they food they have at the party really wasn't going to be your type, so I stopped and picked us up some burgers." A large white cardboard box was handed to her, as well as a towel to cover her clothes.
Her eyes lit up. "Oh, awesome. We don't get burgers like this too much; she doesn't do it too often, but no one likes to sit through a round of Kitty's 'You, like, know where that came from, right?'"
"I understand," he nodded. "Well, dig in."
As they ate and the driver drove them closer and closer to the party (though she did believe that they were going in circles for a while, seeing as they passed the FAU Schwartz building three times) she told him about how everything had been going since she and the team had moved here. "So Kitty's goin' someplace where your friend Riley tomorrow, and we're having a going away party for Sam on Saturday…"
"Whoa, wait a second," he interrupted her. "Kitty's going out with Riley tomorrow?"
Rogue raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah? What's the problem?"
"I…I just never thought he was her type, is all…" He twirled a cold French fry through what was left of the ketchup on his plate.
"Warren, for as long as you've known Kitty she's only ever had a thing for Avalanche. And if that's her type, then God help her. Good thing she's got nine lives," she rolled her eyes. "So what's wrong with your friend anyway?"
He shrugged. "I didn't say there was anything wrong with him. He is my friend. But most of the time he just goes for the beautiful women that are just after his money or the name recognition. Essentially, he's the billionaire playboy personified."
"And all this time Ah that that was you," she smirked playfully.
"Then I guess that would make you the beautiful flirt whose just after my money," he shot back just as playfully.
"Touché. But anyway, Kitty's perfectly capable of takin' care of herself. She needs a little fun in her life."
That was the end of that conversation and Warren knew it. "Alright, I guess you're right. She's a big girl." He glanced outside the window. "We're going to be at the party in a minute. Are you ready?"
Rogue had already packed up the remains of her dinner and popped a breathe strip in her mouth. "Ready as Ah'll ever be, Ah guess." She looked nervous, and didn't do too well to hide it.
"You'll be fine," he assured her, reaching across the limo to squeeze her gloved hand. "And if they don't, we'll both get a laugh out of it."
It made her smile and that made him feel better. "Alright. Let's get this over with then," she sighed, as the driver opened the passenger's side door. Warren stepped out easily; he'd done this all his life, and was also quite adept at helping lady passengers out, as Rogue was surprised she didn't land flat on her face or ass. It was a good start at least.
The Worthington's business partner's lived in the penthouse of a very fancy building with a French name. Rogue wasn't the least surprised, and wondered why rich people couldn't use some of that money to buy some originality or creativity.
"Remember, the hosts are Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery. They own Montgomery and Sands, which is going to become Montgomery Inc. in partnership with Worthington Enterprises since Sands died two weeks ago," Warren explained to her on the elevator.
"Ya'll just don't waste time, do ya?" Rogue mused. Warren didn't have time to answer or even be offended since the doors opened into the Montgomery's foyer the next second.
A butler took their coats and Rogue's purse, then ushered them into the living room after informing them that they'd just finished dinner and dessert was going to be set out in a buffet in the next minute or two. The rest of the guests were standing or sitting around talking. Rogue was glad that she had to wear gloves; sweaty palms were no way of making a good impression.
"Oh, Warren!" A woman who Rogue could only assume was Mrs. Montgomery came up to them and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "So good of you to come."
"It's great to see you again, Karen," he smiled. "This is my date, Rogue. Rogue this is Karen Montgomery."
Luckily for Mrs. Montgomery the smile was already plastered on her face. Like the rest of the fake parts of her body, it didn't move as Rogue held out her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Montgomery."
"Charmed, dear." It was a lie. "Excuse me for a moment. These caterers have no idea what their doing." This would have worked better if she had walked towards the buffet instead of towards one of her friends, immediately gossiping about the strange Southern girl her business partner's son had brought with him.
An idea occurred to Rogue. "Worthington, if this is what Ah think it is, Ah'm gonna kill you."
"As much as it may seem like a satanic ritual, I promise it's not," he smirked at her, holding out a fluke of champagne he'd picked up from a passing server.
"That's not what Ah'm talking about," she held the glass tightly but not tight enough for it to shatter. "If Ah'm only here for the shock factor, well…" The thought hurt.
"Shock factor? You mean so they can spread around the fact that I'm trying to rebel and date women they'd hate?" He frowned at her. "Just what do you take me for, Rogue? I know we were joking about me being a playboy, but I thought that was just a joke."
She sighed, focusing her gaze on the hardwood floor under the beautiful shoes he'd picked out for her. "Then why am Ah here?"
"I already explained that. Out of all the women I could have brought tonight, I figured we'd have the most fun. We're supposed to be making fun of everyone else, not arguing amongst ourselves." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Why do you doubt this so much anyway?"
Warren led her to a white love seat in the corner of the room, away from too much attention. Rogue realized that as boring as the sofa looked, it was incredibly comfortable and the Montgomery's decorator got brownie points in her book. "At the Institute, I was never the one people chose, especially in the romance department. Not that I could blame them; who really wants to date a psi vamp?
"Scott was always in love with Jean; Kurt had a thing for Kitty, then Tabby, then Amanda, and still Kitty, if I guess correctly. Evan and I were never close. The New Mutant boys were always a little young and after Rahne and Jubilee left, it just seemed like a contest on who could win the fair princess's heart. Obviously Bobby won that. No guys ever showed any interest in me." Apparently it had been her turn to lie. She and a certain Swamp Rat had definitely been attracted to each other, but she hadn't seen him in ages, so according to her that didn't count.
He nodded slowly, then examined the champagne that neither of them had drank. "Then I propose a toast. To hope that one day we can find people who love us for who we are." The fluke was raised along with a blond eyebrow towards her.
Her glass clinked lightly against his. "To hope."
With a shared smile, they both drank to the future.
Rogue returned to her apartment about an hour later. They'd gotten bored soon after and elected to take a drive around New York City to show Rogue the sites from a nighttime view. Both of them agreed that it had been an extremely enjoyable night when the limo pulled up in front of her building. He helped her out of the car and she smiled at him. "That's for taking me, Warren. Really, Ah mean it. If you ever want someone to help you make fun of your dad's colleagues again, you know who to call."
"That I do." He leaned over, as if about to kiss her cheek, then stopped himself at the last moment and sat back. "Good night. Sleep well."
"You too." She walked towards the building, then, as an afterthought, turned around and blew him a kiss for fun. It was the closest he would ever get to the real thing, but she figured it'd have to do.
Kitty was on the couch waiting for her when she came in. "Hey, you! How'd it go?"
"It was nice," she sat on the other end and slipped off her heels. As usual, beautiful also meant uncomfortable as hell.
"By that grin on your face, I'd guess it was a little more than nice," Kitty yawned. "I'd love to hear all the details tomorrow, but I'm exhausted. Only wanted to stay up and make sure I didn't have to go kick anyone's ass before my date tomorrow."
Rogue was suddenly reminded of Warren's subtle warning against the date with Riley, but decided against mentioning it. No reason to bring down the girl's thunder. "Well, thanks, Kit. Ah'll be in in a sec."
Kitty stood up, stretching. "I'm glad you had a nice night, Rogue." She reached over, squeezing the girl's hand affectionately. "You really did deserve it. And Warren's a great guy."
Laying back on the couch and watching her friend leave for their bedroom, Rogue couldn't help but thinking that she agreed.
A/N: Sorry it took so long for this to come out. School has been swamping me with work. I have to outline the chapters of my law book that my teacher assigns and all I have to say about that is that whoever decided chapter 43 should be 42 pages needs to be shot. In the head. Repeatedly. Then beaten severely.
Next chapter will most likely be a mixture of Jean's meeting with the modeling agency and Kitty's date with Riley. Just a head's up. And I'll do my best to work some JOTT in there for all you crazed fans.
Questions, comments, reactions and reviews are greatly appreciated.
Review Responses:
DOJ: I tried to do a mix of Bobby/Amara and Sam for that chapter, and I guess it turned out pretty well. I always thought it was interesting how they paid hardly any interest in Sam till the last season, as he was always one of the most famous New Mutants. So I try to do my best by him when I can.
Jacx: There should be some JOTT in the next chapter. I can't have it in all of them or else this would be a JOTT fic and neglecting other characters is bad. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
Starrydreamz: I'm doing my absolute hardest to concentrate on every character equally while still providing a story. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Amazing redd phoenix: I'm so happy you like Bobby/Amara. It's a random pairing to see usually, but I adore writing it. I'm going to be doing a story just about the pairing eventually, so it's nice to know there are some people who might actually read it.
Mattb3671: Not too many people write about Sam and Bobby, so I thought it was my job to give them a spotlight. Glad you liked it.
Realtfarraige: I did do a bit on Ray in this chapter and after Kitty's date with Riley he'll definitely have more time. I'd do it sooner, but it actually coincides with the date. Doug does not know about his mutation at this time; he just knows he's really good at languages. Glad you like the Bobby/Amara and Bobby working at the ice cream parlor will be showing up as much as I feel like torturing him. Thanks for reviewing.
Simba317: Well, the Riley Egan I knew wasn't really all that bad news. I didn't particularly like him, but I kind of just used the name because in my mind it screams "Person who is richer than God!" I've always thought that Bobby was sort of a leader to Sam, though they were really close. Amara seemed to fill up Jubilee's gap when she left, leaving a nice trio (or quartet when Tabby showed up).
I Heart the Distillers: Here's a chapter about Rogue for you! The Brotherhood will be in here eventually, I do promise that. I have big plans for Lance, Wanda and Pietro, but they have to wait until I get across a few other major plot points before they can come in. I'm waiting for it too.
GothikStrawberry: As a very very minor spoiler, I'm going to tell you that you will be very happy with all of your ideas on who Kitty should be with. I'm very happy you like Bobby and Amara, it's fun for me to write since there isn't a lot of precedent for it. I agree with the fact that Sam's learned to fend for himself all his life, and doesn't like handouts. On the issue of Evan's skateboarding competition, you have to remember that most of these people were from Bayville or surrounding areas who knew that Evan was a mutant on a day to day basis. This was set years after the initial news broadcast, which I don't think Sam was really part of anyway. People he meets on the road probably won't remember him. I've personally never seen the 90s animated series, but I also like XME Jean better than comic Jean. She just seems like a more likeable sort (I do like comic Jean as well, though she could have lightened up on some major things).
Slickboy444: I think my goal here is overall to show that the X-men are people and they do have normal situations as well as fighting the occasional super villain and having to deal with the racism that comes with being who they are. You're quite right with the hints that Bobby likes to forget about Amara's home country as much as possible. As for Kitty's love life…well, you'll just have to see. I don't think you'll be too disappointed though.
I-Love-Richard: Sam will be back, I promise. He'll actually be playing a major figure in a plot I've worked out later on. Some of the Acolytes will be showing up later on, but they won't necessarily be there as baddies. I do understand that a lot of people are Romy fans and I'm not saying that it won't be in this story. I just like to try some variety.
Telepathic Angel: I'm happy you like Bobby and Amara. There should be some Jott in the next chapter and several to come.
Agent-G: I like the Teen Titans. They're the only other comics I really consider myself a fan of. I don't know too much more about other Marvel series than the average reader and movie watcher. There will be cameos from other Marvel characters wherever I can fit them, but I'm not going to try to write characters I don't know about and presume to insult their creators that way. It really wasn't a planned crossover, I just needed a name of a photographer and since I adore Donna (who as Wonder Girl and Troia was a New York superhero for many years) I put her down and added Starfire in for my kicks. As for other Marvel models, I just plain don't like Betsy and the fact that Mary Jane was a model completely escaped my mind.
Whylime: You could be right on there with a pregnancy, but I'm not going to say who, just to keep you guessing. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows all their motocross information from the Motocrossed movie. Makes me feel a little less pathetic.
AngelicFairy: Thank you for all the nice compliments! I'm very happy you're enjoying this!
Diaz F.: Kitty will be in the next chapter if Jean decides not to take up the whole thing. Most of the time, I really don't know until I'm writing it. I'll do my best though!