Rogue pushed her way through the enormous, crushing crowds that filled Penn Station, New York. Her hair felt dank and stuck to her head uncomfortably, her shoulders and hips felt slow and sore and yet none of that seemed to matter to the pale-faced girl struggling through the torrents of people in one of the greatest cities in the world.

Rogue had one objective in mind, to get to her brother. He needed her now and she could not ignore the churning of her stomach in anticipation of seeing him again and that of the immeasurable guilt she had felt all the way from New Orleans. The letter that she had received, just the other morning had shocked her to say the least when she realized it was from her mother.

Rogue's initial thought had been how had her mother found her, but as she read on through the letter she discovered that her younger brother Kurt was the one that needed the concern. He had, in her mother's words - become unruly after Rogue's sudden departure and had ended up in hospital before recently being sent up to a specialist doctor in Westchester, New York - which was exactly where Rogue was headed for.

She finally made it outside of the station and ignoring the vast and awe-inspiring architecture of the the Big Apple, waited in line for a taxi. To Rogue, it seemed as though time were of the essence and the sooner she could see Kurt, the less anxious and stressed she would feel. 'It's mah fault, if ah hadn't of left, Kurt wouldn't be in this mess now' was all that kept replaying over and over through her mind.

Eventually getting into a taxi and ordering the driver to take her to the address in Westchester as quickly as possible, Rogue stared vacantly out of the window and watched as the scenery altered from intriguing sky scrapers and hundreds of city dwellers, dodging they're way through the concrete streets - to contrastingly plain over-grown fields.

Her mind never letting up on seeing her brother again and his reaction to her sudden appearance. She thought back to that earth-shattering morning a few days ago - she had woken up after a restless night, taken a shower and dressed, had some breakfast and had not at any point managed to wake up her dead-to-the-world house mate slumbering on the sofa where she had left him the night before.

After that, she remembered picking up the single letter laying on the floor and was about to simply throw it onto the side table and rush off to work when realizing that it was a hand-written letter to her. With a little hesitation she had opened the envelope and read a brief letter from her mother about what had happened to Kurt and no sooner had she finished reading, Rogue had hastily packed a few clothes and essentials in a backpack, written a quick note to Remy and headed for the train station. Nothing had mattered more than the fact that Kurt needed her and nothing would stand in her way in getting to him.

About an hour later, the taxi-cab turned onto a tree lined street and rows of large, expensive houses that seemed to get bigger as the road went on until the car finally pulled up to a large set of exquisitely decorated, black iron gates. Rogue barely noticed where she was until the sound of the drivers voice talking into the intercom on the wall requesting entry through the imposing gateway.

After a few seconds the gates opened slowly and the cab drove what seemed like a mile up to the grand entrance. Rogue looked out of the window at the large Victorian mansion, if it had been any other occasion she would have been in awe, but Rogue was more nervous about seeing Kurt than how spectacular the mansion was.

After paying the taxi-driver, Rogue simply stood before the grand house taking slow, deep breaths, building up the courage to press the bell by the door and face whatever state her brother was in.

Eventually making her way up the few steps to the door she pressed the buzzer twice and took a step back and waited anxiously. Nothing happened, 'come on!' she thought impatiently. Finally after a few minutes the door opened and a young man with light brown hair, wearing a blue sweater, khakis and the strangest pair of red tinted glasses she had ever seen, stood before her.

"Hi. Can I help you?" Rogue stammered for a second, not knowing what to say.

"Uh, yeah. Ah came ta see mah brother. Kurt Darkholme?" The man looked her over warily, Rogue realizing what he was doing instantly spoke up.

"Ah'm his sistah, Rogue. Ah only jus' found out he was heah a few days ago an' ah'd really lahke ta see him. Please" The latter spoken with a pleading tone. Rogue was beginning to feel like she had been led on a wild goose chase until the man smiled warmly and opened the door fully to let her in. Rogue entered the large foyer and turned to face the man who had let her in.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to be rude but we have to be careful about visitors. My name is Scott Summers by the way, I work here," he said as he held out his hand. Rogue simply smiled politely and shook his hand.

"I'll take you to Professor Xavier, he likes to meet all visitors before they see the patients" Scott continued to jabber on as he led her through a series of oak paneled corridors until they reached an impossibly large door. Scott knocked twice and hearing a barely audible 'come in' opened the door and beckoned Rogue to follow.

To say she felt intimidated was an understatement. Rogue stared wide-eyed at the huge office and scanned the entire room of its amazing architecture and antique furniture before finally resting her eyes on a bald headed man sat behind an abnormally large desk. The man smiled and Rogue gave a shy smile in return before walking further towards the desk.

"Please have a seat Miss Darkholme," the man said as he gestured towards one of the ornate chairs in front of the desk. Scott left the room as Rogue seated herself in one of the chairs.

"I am Charles Xavier, I run the institution here and I hear from Mr Summers that you are here to see Kurt?" Rogue shuddered at the term 'institution', but realized there wasn't really any other way of describing the place.

"Yeah, he's mah brother". The professor nodded and moved as if on air from around the desk, revealing only his waist upwards, the rest of his body encased in a very, strange looking wheelchair of sorts. Coming to a stop a few inches in front of her, the professor held out his hand, which Rogue accepted politely. He examined the girl in front of him, there was very little resemblance to Kurt Darkholme, but she was an attractive young woman. She looked like she had been traveling for days. Dark circles were beginning to form under her eyes and her clothes looked creased and in need of washing. To keep her waiting any longer would be cruel, she seemed quietly anxious to see her sibling.

"Well, it's very good of you to come and see him. Kurt informed us about you, however he did not state whether you would be visiting or not. Kurt has made a lot of progress since arriving here, but he still has a long way to go. His outbursts have become more controllable over the last week or so, but what is more worrying is his lack of communication. Whatever the circumstances were before he came here, obviously affected him enormously. I think perhaps seeing you may help tremendously in his recovery." Rogue looked at the man, trying to retain her shock. She had no idea what had happened to Kurt to make him end up here.

"Why is he heah?" She asked gently. The professor took hold of her hand and looked directly at her.
"Kurt is here because he tried to kill himself. He took an overdose, though luckily he was found in time and taken to the hospital but on being discharged it was recommended that he get psychiatric help and so your mother brought him here". Rogue could only look on in disbelief as the words sunk in.

Kurt had tried to kill himself. Guilt tore at her insides, a lump grew steadily in her throat and at that moment all she wanted to do was be sick. The blood that flowed through her veins seemed to stop and she felt as though death had taken over her body. Charles Xavier observed this and tried his best to give a reassuring smile, but he knew that the news of a loved one attempting suicide wasn't exactly easy to hear.

"I will get somebody to take you up to him. He is much better, I an assure you" He said delicately after a few minutes. Rogue merely nodded mutely, a hole the size of Texas filled her stomach.

Ten minutes later, Rogue found herself stood in front of an oak door on the third floor of the Westchester mansion. Scott stood in front of her and opened the door to a blue room with a large window that looked over the enormous gardens of the estate.

"Hey Kurt, you have a visitor" He called, but there was no reply. Scott smiled at Rogue and stepped back to let Rogue enter the spacious room.

"I'll leave you two to catch up" and then mouthed to Rogue that he would be outside if she needed him. She nodded in return and looked on at the body on the bed, lying on its side facing the wall. Rogue took a few small steps forward and found herself struggling to say something.

"H. . hi Kurt" was all she could manage. There was deathly silence until the figure twisted ever so slowly in the direction of the voice.

The eyes of Kurt Darkholme instantly lit up at the sight of the young woman standing by the door.

"Rogue?" He asked in pure surprise. Rogue tried to give a warm smile, but wasn't sure what exactly this reaction meant.

"Oh my God, Rogue! Your here!" He leapt up and ran to her, embracing her with all the strength he had. Rogue was in complete shock before she finally hugged him back.

"Oh Rogue. I missed you so much, where have you been? I can't believe your here" Was all she could hear over from behind her as her younger brother harried her with questions, all the while never letting go of her. Rogue held on just as tight, trying to hold back the cascade of tears threatening to spill, she had to be strong.
"Ah missed you too Kurt" and she held on to him all the more. Rogue knew she had a lot of explaining to do, but she had failed him. He was here because of her and she swore to herself there and then, that she would never fail him again.