Chapter 13

It had been a week since Rogue had left the x-men, and she honestly enjoyed the acolytes much more. Pietro was cocky beyond belief but not bad, John was completely psychotic but a really good friend and when you needed to have fun he was perfect, Piotr was very kind and artistic despite his appearance, and Remy… well, he was Remy. Sabretooth was… well, he was just avoided at all costs and great fun to annoy. Magneto rarely came out of his office but had been surprisingly kind to Rogue, actually more so than to Pietro, and gave her private lessons on her powers. Not having to go to school was another upside to being on the Acolytes.

Things had been going so well, in fact, Rogue had let her guard down quite a bit. Which, as always, eventually led to disaster. It had been a good day, Rogue had been able to use some of the powers from people she'd absorbed, and Magneto had been pleased. Leave it to John to ruin the mood. "So, Roguey, what was YOUR family like?"

"What?"

"Your family. We know that Gambit was adopted into some weird guild-y thing, Piotr was raised by Russian farmers, and I was raised by a nice Australian couple that despised the ocean and lived in the desert with all the pretty fires and kangaroos, but what about you?"

"I lived in Mississippi."

"And?"

"End of story. I wasn't a thief or a farmer or a pyro nor did I have any siblings." She was being brief and sending all signs to shut up, but sadly John didn't grasp that concept.

"What about your parents?" he had never sounded quite so annoying. "It can't be that bad. Just tell us something about your daddy. You look like an ideal daddy's girl, are you one?"

"Mah father was a complete ass and Ah would be absolutely fine if he rotted in hell for all eternity." With that Rogue stormed out and went into her room in hopes that everyone would get the hint and leave her alone. Soon someone was knocking on her door. Probably just Piotr making sure she was ok, Rogue hoped. He'd acted sort of like a big brother to her and she appreciated it, so that would make since.

"Rogue? You ok?" came through the door.

"Pietro?"

"Can you please just open the door?" Sighing, Rogue went over and did as he requested. "Well? Are you alright?"

"Ah'm fine." Damn it, she'd meant to sound more convincing.

"Wanna talk about it? I mean, I know what it's like to have family problems; my dad's a mutant terrorist and my mom died in labor."

"No. No, Ah don't wanna talk 'bout it, and no, ya don't understand."

"Then help me. I care about you Rogue, we all do. Well, maybe not ALL of us, but Sabretooth doesn't count as a person, only as a cat, and cats don't care about much."

She offered him a weak smile, but didn't stop his worrying at all.

"Look, Rogue," he grabbed her arm in a friendly manner and didn't notice her flinch, "I really want to help you but I can't if you don't tell me what's wrong. No one can help if you block us out… What's wrong?" She had tensed up incredibly, and when he'd taken his hand off her arm then put it back she flinched again, this time noticed. "Are you ok?" She purposely took his hand off her arm before replying.

"I'll be fine."

"Meaning you're not, but you don't want to talk about it even though it would help." She didn't say anything to that, which he took as proof that he was right. Inspired, he decided to continue. "It won't hurt to talk, and if you need help…" just in case, he pulled up her sleeve, to make sure he hadn't hit some cut. It wouldn't surprise him at all if she cut herself, and he wanted to have some idea of what he was getting into. What he saw was completely unexpected. Black and blue were playing up her harm, and the bruises were the shape of hands. Blushing, Rogue pulled the sleeve back down. "Who did this to you?"

"No one. I… it's complicated," she spoke softly, but he heard her none the less.

"Rogue," he said it more gently than ever before.

"It's not recent, ok? …Back at the institute, when Bobby got mad…"

"That bastard. …Oh, god. It wasn't the first time, was it?"

Rogue was blushing, and spoke even more quietly than before. "No. No, it's not. My dad… he never did like me, and when I got my powers…" She was looking down and he was surprised to see that she was shaking slightly. The Rogue was crying. So he did the only thing he could do. Pietro just embraced her and let her tears run down his shoulder, surprised to find that their bodies fit together perfectly.

Several minutes later, Remy walked into Rogues room to check on her now that she'd had a chance to cool off. Much to his surprise she was in the arms of Pietro, crying. Making a mental note of this, Remy left the room. Pietro, however, would hear about this again.

Rogue's cries eventually ceased, and Pietro gently let her go, treating her like he was afraid she'd break at any moment. It was almost funny that he was worried about that; she'd been broken a long time ago. Rogue laughed slightly at that thought he had, but Pietro didn't notice. It did not occur to Rogue to wonder how she heard his thoughts.

The next day, Remy was up bright and early. Time to have a little heart to heart with Pietro. He walked over to the boy's room and knocked loudly. Pietro murmured something unintelligible and Remy decided to come in. "'ello, Pietro. Why y' still 'sleep? Late night?" Pietro glared at him from his bed. He had no desire for Remy to see him nude, or even know that he slept commando. "'s funny, Gambit wen' inta Rogue's room, wanted t' make sure she was okay, saw 'er cryin' on y'. Y' got sometin' to share wit' Gambit? Cuz if Mags hears 'bout dis he might not be so happy."

"WhatwaswrongwithRogueisnoneofyourbussiness,youdamnfuckingCajun.IfRoguewantedyoutoknowyouwould. Maybeshejustdoesn'ttrustyouenough." Remy just blinked, and Pietro slowed it down for him.

Remy grabbed a card and charged it, holding it right in Pietro's face. He had an insane expression on his and Pietro knew that Gambit was being serious. Few people would risk their lives for someone's secret being kept, and Pietro was not one of those few. Upon discovering Rogue's family history, Remy stormed out of the room. He had some research to do.

I have no clue how I came up with this, but let me know what you think. REVIEW! I was going to wait till 25 to post this but I decided not to. I will, however wait to post the next chapter until after I have 25 reviews. I actually have a plan for the next chapter, and it will be a short break (sort of) from all of the seriousness of this chapter. SO REVIEW! Oh, and thanks to everyone so far who has reviewed, you're all amazing and I keep on forgetting to thank you, so now I remembered. As for Bobby, I have plans for him... laughs maniacally then looks around and runs away