Chapter 3: Home Coming
A few hours later Rogue pulled up to the mansion got off her bike and opened the door. She knew everyone would be at breakfast. She opened the door to the kitchen, it was just like she pictured, the younger students fighting over the food, the older trying, and failing, to hide their laughter. Everyone looked up as the door closed behind her.
"Rogue!" cried Kitty flinging herself on her old roommate before she noticed that her friend's arms were not covered. She stepped back immediately looking at hands in confusion.
"Hi guys," Rogue said smiling. She grinned at Kitty "Don't worry you'll be fine"
"But I touched you"
Rouge ignored her and turned to the rest of the students. "Is this all the welcome Ah get?" she drawled.
"Rogue where have you been" said Jean running over to her.
She smiled "Around," she turned to the Professor. "Professor, if it's alright Ah'd like to rejoin the team."
"Of course Rogue. But I must ask, why are you not covered."
Rogue smirked; before anyone could blink she was standing in front of him her hand gripped around his. "Don't need to anymore."
Everyone gasped.
"How?" breathed Kurt
"I practiced. 'All mutants can control their power, they just need to practice.'" she said quoting Remy. She smiled again. "Ah missed you guys" that was all it took. They ran to hug and greet her, she skirted the questions about where she'd been, and laughed with her family again.
After about an hour of nonstop hugs she pulled back from her friends "Professor, if you don't mind Ah'd like to put my things away."
"Of course, Rogue. I trust you can find you're way to you're room"
Her 'yes' was cut off by the door swinging open. Logan entered "Charles the most beautiful bike I have ever seen is outsi-"
"Logan" Rogue said happily she stepped forward to hug him, he quickly stepped out of her reach. She sighed, "You're mad at me." she said simply
"No, stripes, you aren't wearing proper attire." he said gruffly gesturing to her clothes.
She laughed happily. Before he could react she put her hand on his cheek "I would never hurt you on purpose, Logan"
Logan's jaw dropped. She laughed again. "So, did Ah hear right, Logan likes my bike."
"Your bike?" he said gruffly
"The bike outside Ah think you said it was the 'most beautiful bike you'd ever seen'" she smirked
"That's yours?" he demanded
"Isn't she gorgeous" Rogue said dreamily, staring out the window at her bike.
"Where did you get a bike like that?"
"Gift" she said simply. "Ah'm going to put my stuff away and shower guys, Ah'll be back in a minute."
She turned and walked out of the kitchen leaving a very happy group of mutants, and one extremely worried Professor.
Entering her old room, she dropped her bags on her bed and looked around. It was just as she remembered it. Kitty's make up and music lay everywhere. Her clothes were in a pile on the floor, her bed unmade, after living in Remy's spotless house for over 3 months it was odd coming back to the noise and mess of the mansion. 'Ah guess Ah'll just have to get used to it.' she thought pulling open her wardrobe and beginning to hang her new clothes. Kitty entered 5 minutes later followed closely by Kurt.
"Hey guys." she said as soon as Kitty phased through the door.
"Hey sis"
She put her last piece of clothing in the closet and turned around. "So what have you guys been doing for the last couple of months?"
"Oh you know the usual," said Kurt. She looked at him closely.
"You're lying, baby brother"
His mouth dropped open in shock "vhat?"
"Ah said you're lying." She repeated simply "If you can't tell me fine, but don't lie to me."
Kurt was about to respond when a knock sounded at the door. It was Logan. "Hey Stripes, the Professor want to see you and the rest of the X-Men down stairs. Pronto."
Rogue sighed. "And here Ah was hoping Ah could stay the interrogation until tomorrow." Sighing again she followed the others out of the room and down stairs.
Entering the living room Rogue saw the rest of the X-Men sitting on the couches and waiting for her.
She raised a hand in greeting. "What's up?" she asked knowing the answer.
The Professor answered. "Rogue, we would really like to know where you have been."
Rogue took a deep breath and sat down. "After Ah almost killed ya'll, Ah used the last of mah strength to teleported out. A mutant found me and nursed me back to health. He said he could teach me how to control my powers. So he trained me."
"And man we ask who was this mutant was"
"No" she said simply.
"No?" Scott said raising his eyebrows.
"Ah promised Ah wouldn't say" she lied quickly.
"Like, why?" demanded Kitty.
"Because he asked me not to." seeing the looks on their faces she added, "He'd not bad, or anything like that. But Ah'm sure we can all understand the desire for animosity."
"Rogue, I must insist that you tell us" said the professor.
"Ah'm sorry Professor, but Ah won't tell you." She looked up suddenly "And if you try to get into my head you will regret it." Rogue growled shooting a glare at the Professor and Jean " Either of you"
"Rogue you must understand our situation. You come back after 3 months of being god knows where and you're acting very differently" said Scott "You might not even be Rogue"
She chuckled, "Ah supposed Ah can't blame ya" she stood and walk over to Scott "Just remember you asked for it" she put her hand on his bare arm. She felt his power drain into her. She removed her hand. Scott stumbled and raised a hand to his forehead. "Whoa" he said.
Rogue spun around and fired a blast from her left eye, shattering a vase that stood near by. "Ah am the only mutant who can steal other mutants power and ya'll know it." she said placing her hand on Scott's arm again, "Are you ok?" she asked
"Fine" he said collapsing into an armchair.
"Sorry, Ah might have taken too much. Re- my friend says that my powers still get jittery when Ah'm angry. Sorry."
"That's alright Rogue." Scott said as Jean came over to she how her boyfriend was doing.
She turned back to Professor X. He looked at her closely "Alright Rogue, you may go."
"Night guys, Ah'm beat. Ah'm going to crash."
"Night" everyone called back.
She walked to the stairs, turned around to make sure no one was watching then silently walked back to the living room. She listened carefully at the door.
"I dunno Charles," Logan was saying " It seems like Rogue, even if she is acting a little different."
"What about her scent?" Xavier asked.
"No scent. She doesn't smell like anything."
She could practically hear the Professor frown. "I want you all to keep and eye on her. Tell me if she acts oddly."
Mummers of agreement and scraping chairs told her that she needed to leave. She raced silently back to her room, threw on her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and was just getting into bed when Kitty came up.
"Hey Kitty, how'd the rest of the meeting go?"
"It was, like totally boring."
"Aren't they always" Rogue laughed.
Kitty giggled back.
"So, like, what did you do for 3 months?"
Rogue smiled "Ah trained." Kitty looked at her oddly "All day, everyday. It sucked. You think Logan's sessions hard. R- My friends were harder."
Kitty looked at her pleadingly "Who is he? Is he like totally cute?"
Rogue smiled "Definitely not bad, but Ah've never been a good judge of these things."
"We should go to bed. Ah've got to go beg Principle Kelly to let me back in school tomorrow."
Kitty laughed "Good luck"
The next morning Rogue woke up at 6:30, Kitty was still asleep so she quietly got up and changed. She slipped out of her room and went to the Kitchen. Professor X, Logan, Storm, Scott and Jean sat are the table sipping coffee and eating bagels. "Hey" she said.
"Good morning, Rogue" greeted the Professor.
"Morning, Professor." she said stifling a yawn.
""You're up early," Jean said.
"Habit" lied Rogue. In truth she hated waking up early, but she figured she'd better get used to it. "Are we doing anything today?"
"Danger Room Session tonight." grumbled Logan.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"No, why?" said Jean.
"Well Ah was wondering, if its alright with you Professor, Ah could go out for a little while today. Ah was thinking of trying to find Principal Kelly and beg him to let me come back to school."
"That's quite alright"
"Thanks, Professor" she said sliding into a seat, and poring herself a cup of coffee.
"Since when do you drink coffee, squirt?" asked Logan
Rogue looked up. "A couple of months, I kept falling asleep when I was supposed to be practicing so I started drinking coffee to help me stay awake. Habit now."
"You quite a few new habits" Scott said calculatingly.
She grinned 'You have no idea' she thought out loud she said, "Yeah, I guess I do."
Storm's next words were cut off by Kitty, Kurt, Bobby, Ray, Amara, Tabitha and Jamie opening the doors.
"Hey guys" Kitty said as she ran through Jamie to get to the table first.
"Morning" Rogue drawled. "You guys are up early"
"Like, you too. You never used to get up this early."
"Habit. So Ah hear your guys have a Danger Room Session tonight." said Rogue. She looked at the Professor. "Am Ah invited, or is it to soon after Ah've come back."
"You are, of course, invited.," answered Prof. X
"Excellent." She stood up, "Ah hate to be a party pooper but Ah got to talk to Principal Kelly."
"Rogue its like 7:15 in the morning."
"Ya but by the time Ah find his house, and get there, the Ah have to get him to agree to see me. It will be at least 10."
"Rogue, maybe you should wait until Monday, I don't think he'd like it if you bothered him on a Sunday."
She sighed, "Ah guess you're right. Monday it is." she sat back down and poured herself another cup of coffee.
Rogue spent the rest of the day in her room reading a book and just relaxing. At 4 o'clock a knock sounded on her door. "Yeah?" she called
Logan entered "Class starts in 5 minutes, kid"
"Ahhh crap" she muttered flinging herself off the bed and pulled her uniform out of her dresser. "Thanks Logan" she yelled as she dashed to the bathroom to change.
5 minutes later Rogue skidded into the Danger Room "Sorry Ah'm late guys"
"Not to worry, Rogue. We just arrived ourselves " said the Professor.
"Man that was, like so totally hard. You're killing us Logan." complained Kitty an hour later. The rest of the group grumbled their agreement. Rogue nodded her head half-heartedly. 'That was nothing compared to one of Remy's sessions' she thought. She and Remy had decided before she left that she would perform at the level that she used to be, before training with Remy. 'It is always best to be under estimated' he would tell her over and over.
She followed the rest of the class up the stairs. Kitty collapsed on her bed as soon as she was through the door. Rogue followed suit, although she was perfectly fine. Kitty grumbled and went to shower. When she finished Rogue went in. As the water pored over her she thought sadly 'I miss Remy'
Dinner was a happy affair, the students complained continuously about the training session, while Logan ignored them.
"So, what did you think of you're first training session, Rogue?" ask Professor X
She looked up, slightly surprised; she scrambled to think of something to say. "It was alright."
"Not to hard, I hope."
"Just as hard as Ah remember, Professor" she said.
Dinner finished quickly, and her exhausted peers collapsed into bed. Not wanting to draw to much attention to the fact that she wasn't even a little tired she went to bed as well. Lying awake for hours thinking of Remy.
The next morning dawned bright and early, once again Rogue woke up much earlier that need be. Going down stairs she once again found the Professor, Logan, Storm, Scott and Jean around the table.
"Morning"
"Morning" they replied.
Sitting down and pulling a cup of coffee and the paper towards her she ignored the fact that they had stopped their conversation.
"Think Principal Kelly will let you back in?" inquired Jean
"Has to." she replied "Its illegal to deny a minor public education."
"Not if they're delinquent" said Scott.
"Who says Ah was cutting. Ah unfortunately had a family emergency that required me to go home for a while."
Logan chuckled. "Only you, kid. Only you could get away with that"
She grinned up at him. "I just hope it works" she said letting nerves that weren't really there creep into her voice.
"You need a ride to school today?" Jean asked
"No thanks, Ah'll ride my bike."
"I've been meaning to ask you about that, were did a kid like you get such a gorgeous bike?" Logan grumbled.
"Going away gift from my friend." she answered pulling a plate of donuts towards her.
"What of friend gives a $100,000 bike to a kid?"
She laughed, "A good one" she said fighting down a blush as she thought her best friend.
Logan surveyed her closely "Hmpf"
"Well Ah should go, Ah want to Principal Kelly as early as possible." She grabbed her book bag and stood up "See you at school Scott, Jean"
As soon as the door swung closed behind Rogue, Professor X turned to Logan, "Follow her"
He nodded and stood.
When Logan entered the garage to get his bike he barely had time to register Rogue swing herself expertly onto her bike before she zoomed off. He hurriedly jumped on his bike and followed her.
The only thing that Logan could think of as he followed Rogue was that she rode fantastically. 'But then again, she was always pretty good on a bike.' He stopped as she pulled into the almost empty school parking lot. He watched as she walked into the main building. 45 minutes later she came out looking pleased. He hid behind a dumpster as she passed, although he was almost positive he saw her eyes dart to his hiding spot and a smirk play across her face. He started his bike and followed her again. 10 minutes later she stopped outside a small cafe. She sat down and ordered a coffee.
Rogue smiled as she sipped her coffee. She was well aware that Logan was following her, it was hard not to, he wasn't very good at it. 'Not like Remy' she though happily 'but then again Remy's good at everything'.
Looking at her watch she jumped, school started in 15 minutes. Principal Kelly had reluctantly welcomed her back to school, on probation, and while she hated the sniveling little man, she felt that being late on her first day back was not the best way to go. Throwing down some money she grabbed her bag and sped off to school, Logan hot on her tail.
Ignoring the stares of her fellow schoolmates she parked her bike in between Scott's convertible and Jean's SUV.
She pulled out her schedule and was just checking her first class when Kitty came running up to her "He let you in? That's like totally awesome."
Rogue smiled "Yeah"
Kitty grabbed Rogue's schedule "Hey we have first period together, come on we're going to be late" she said grabbing Rogue's hand and dragging her to her first class.
Kitty only let go when they had crossed the classroom threshold. " Ms. Carter, we like totally have a new student."
Ms. Carter turn to face Rogue. "Hello, I am Ms. Carter."
"Hi" she said with her thick southern accent. "I'm Rogue."
"Rogue? Rogue what?"
"Just Rogue" she answered.
The teacher looked at her with a haughty expression on her face. "Right, well, Ms. Rogue please take a seat. I believe the second on the left in open."
Each class was the same, the teacher looked at her with a sour look on their face, and told her to sit down. At lunch Kitty pulled her to a table, and they were quickly joined by Scott, Bobby , Amara, Jean, Tabitha, Kurt, Evan, and Roberto. She watched as they laughed and joked. She had missed them a lot. Smiling to herself, she excused herself to the bathroom. She was unsurprised when the door was locked behind her.
"Hello, Cheri"
"Hi, Remy" she said pulling him into a hug and kissing his cheek.
"How did it go?"
"Alright, they're a little suspicious of me, but Ah supposed that's only natural."
"Fear not, Cheri, Remy think that his Cheri will be fine."
She smiled up at him "Thank you, Remy" The bell rang "Dam! Sorry Remy Ah got to go to class."
"Remy knows this" he said bending down and hug her fiercely "Remy has missed his Cheri."
"And Ah have missed you" she said kissing him again.
"Fear not, love, Remy will come again soon."
She smiled at him again and exited the bathroom. Looking back one more time, into the smiling face of her best friend.
"How was your first day back?" Kurt asked as they walked out of the main building. "It was all right" she said. "Just as fun as I remember"
Kurt laughed "Come on now, sis, its not that bad."
"Ah suppose"
"Kurt!" a female voice sounded across the parking lot. It was Kurt's girlfriend, Amanda. " You want a ride?" she asked as she ran up next to him. Kurt turned to Rogue "Hey don't look at me." She said as she straddled her bike "Have fun, baby brother"
She just heard Amanda ask "Baby brother" Before she sped off. She hadn't gotten 10 feet before she heard "Rogue!". Rogue stopped and swiveled to face Kitty. "Can I like get a ride, Scott already left."
Rogue chuckled. She pulled the helmet off her head and handed it to Kitty. "Hold on tight" Kitty nodded and climbed awkwardly onto the bike and held fast.
10 minutes later Rogue skidded to a stop in front of the mansion. Kitty phased off the bike "Like oh, m god, I'm never riding with you again" she said jokingly.
Rogue laughed "You said you wanted a ride"
"Yeah but not like that" Kitty said as she marched into the mansion, Rogue following. Rogue paused before she entered her home. She turned around and raised her hand as if to say "I'll be ok".
A mile away Remy put down his binoculars and smiled. Yes he thought, his Cheri would be all right.
AN: Hey guys I hope you like it. Please review, Next chapter up later on today or tomorrow. I dunno for sure, depends on how fast I feel like writing. Probably Monday, though. My sister is coming home, and I gotta hang with her. :-)