AN: Once again, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I am having so much fun writing this thing. It's really satisfying when you hear feedback, too. This chapter delves a little more into Rogue's past, the past that the movies kind of cheated us out of...
Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Home is where the heart is
At first, Rogue thought that maybe she didn't belong here anymore. Where mutants roamed free and sought safety from "normal". But then she realized, this was the closest thing she'd ever had to home. Thrown from foster house to foster house when she was a child, Rogue didn't really have anywhere to go. Her last foster family, the D'Ancanto's didn't really want anything to do with her.
At first she wondered if she could go to her first foster mother. After many years, Rogue still received Birthday and Christmas gifts from the woman. When Rogue had run away a very young age, the woman had found her, taken her in, adopted her, and thought of her as her own. A few years before she'd come to Xavier's, she had to give Rogue up for business matters, but had promised that she'd always keep in touch with her 'baby'. Rogue hadn't seen her in years. Since her mutation manifested itself, Rogue didn't really want to see her. Afraid that like everyone else, she'd avoid her like a plague.
No, Rogue thought to herself, I have a family here now. Besides, what would she think of me havin' been a mutant? What would she think of my having given it up? She always told me to overcome my problems on my own. Never to take the easy way out. Boy would she give me hell…
She sat on the bed in her bedroom. Night was slowly beginning to fall upon the mansion. Tossing a glance to the open window, Rogue was tempted to do something she hadn't done in a while: Sit on the roof in the breezy dusk air.
She climbed over the sill and onto the stone roof. There was a metal fence just at the edge of the roof that her legs fit perfectly underneath. She'd used this place many times in the past to gather her thoughts. She'd also spent some time up there with Bobby, when ever they wanted to be alone.
She sat, her arms hanging through the bars, pondering her life as she knew it, wondering what Bobby was doing now. If Hank was busy concocting something in his lab. If Storm was in her loft doting on her plants.
"You not t'inkin' 'bout jumpin', are y'chere?" An unmistakable voice whispered from behind.
"No," She replied plainly. "Just enjoyin' the view."
"Oui. La vue est belle. Est vous aussi, cherie."
"I see I'm gonna have ta find myself a new thinkin' spot." She giggled
"Nah. I won' bother y'. I jus' came up 'ere t'do de same t'ing." He said, taking a seat beside her. "And dat answers de question of 'd'y' speak Français."
"I was born in the Mississippi bayous, swamp rat."
He took a cigarette from his pocket, charged the end of it lightly until it glowed softly. "So what's a Mississippi River rat like y'doin' all de way up 'ere?"
"I got no where else ta go."
"Y'don' seem t' 'ave anyt'in' wrong wit' y'." He smirked, making her feel a bit uncomfortable.
"I did." She stared at the sunset in front of her. The purple hued atmosphere fading quickly behind the trees.
"Really? I doubt dat. An' what d'ya mean by y'did?"
"Ya know that cure thing?"
He nodded. "Gotcha."
"I kinda feel stupid right now. I mean, I'm not a mutant anymore and here I am. Still an outcast."
"Den why'd y'do it?" He took a drag off his cigarette.
"Dumb as it sounds, I wanted ta be normal. Ta be happy."
"Lemme guess. Y'not happy?"
"Not really. I mean, I had a boyfriend. I couldn't touch him. Seemed like the logical thing ta do. But then things kinda fell apart between us…"
"Wait, y'couldn't touch 'im?"
"When I touched people, I took their life force, their powers if they were mutants. If I held on long enough, I could kill them." She still didn't look at him.
"Wow. I s'pose dat would be 'ard t'ave a boyfriend, den." He took another drag off his cigarette.
"You have no idea."
They sat in silence for a while as the sun sunk below the trees, leaving the school in darkness.
"I guess dat answers de question of 'are y'available…'" He pressed the end of his cigarette on the roof smothering it and flicked it to the ground below.
"You don't quit do ya?" She looked at him now, his eyes glowing in the darkness.
"Nope."
"Nice try, but I'm not fallin' for a cheer me up." She laughed.
"You t'ink I'm kiddin'?"
Her eyes went wide. "Funny. I almost fell for that. No thanks shug. I don't take pity. I'm not that kinda girl." She got up, and stalked towards her window. "I don't get you men. Ya think that a girl will just give it up when ever she's vulnerable. Pigs." She climbed back through her window leaving him speechless in the darkness.
"You're friend didn't show up ta the movie." Logan said as he pulled out a chair for Storm at the restaurant.
"No," she said, her face falling, "he didn't. I think he may have over heard our meeting earlier."
"Ah."
"I don't want to talk about him right now, though."
"Whatever," Logan answered, sighing.
"You really need to learn proper date etiquette, Logan."
"Hey, I pulled out the damned chair for ya, what more do ya want?"
Ororo shook her head. "Logan, when you take a girl out to dinner, you don't talk about her cute friend that just arrived at the school. You talk about yourself. Or her."
"I don't wanna talk about me." He grabbed a menu and started looking it over. "Jesus, this stuff ain't cheap."
Ororo sighed. "Don't worry. I'll put it on the tab for the mansion."
"Good. 'Cause I don't have any money."
Ororo rolled her eyes. This is going to be a long night.
Raven Darkholme was not a subtle woman. Even if she was human.
She climbed out of a black Lexus, slammed the door, and strutted up the steps of the mansion. She pounded on the door so loud, Hank McCoy, seated in his favorite chair in the parlor, nearly spilled his tea when he jumped at the intrusion. He placed his tea cup on a table.
He rose, stretched and headed toward the front door. He pulled the heavy door back with ease. "May I help you?" He paused and focused on the black haired woman in front of him. "Mystique!"
"Yes," she answered. "Well, not yet anyway."
"What do you mean, 'not yet'?" Hank asked scratching his head.
"I received a phone call from Erik-"
"Wait," he interrupted, "Come inside. I'll assemble a meeting. The students don't need to hear this."
"Rogue wouldn't be there would she?" Raven asked, looking concerned.
"Of course. She's now an official member of our staff-"
"Don't let her," she pleaded.
"And why, pray tell, not?"
"It's about the cure."
La vue est belle. Est vous aussi,- The view is beautiful. And so are you.
