I own nothing in this fic
Authors Note: I'm sorry about the wait, but I've had a major lack of drive to work on any of my stories. As in my muses decided to take a summer vacation and leave me behind (stupid punks). But I am trying to work on them as best as I can and I thank you for sticking with me for so far. Now on with the story.
"Ya should have known better then ta go out by yaself," said Rogue, angry about what Danny had done. She to had seen the news report last night and was relieved to know that Danny was not responsible for the thefts, but it still ticked her off that he just went off when he knew he needed to be careful.
It was the following morning at the institute during a three-day weekend, today being Friday. Rogue was in the living room with Danny while being watched by Becky, Max, and Kitty. All who also saw what had happened.
"I'm sorry," replied Danny, raising his hands defensively, "I honestly didn't think anything would happen. I expected Vlad to have done something by now, but he hasn't. And I don't know why. But I figured since nothing was going on, I would just check around. I didn't figure someone would attack me from behind like that."
Rogue growled, "but ya should have figure that if ya were by yaself, ya would have been an opened target. C'mon Danny, think."
"Rogue, I'm sorry," Danny, said again, "what can I do to make it up to you?"
She looked him over for a moment, then said, "from now on, ah go with you, every night ya go. Ya go without me, that's it. Am ah clear?"
Danny whimpered out a, "yes ma'am," to which Rogue gave a small smile.
"Good, now if ya don't mind, I'm going to go run another Danger session," said Rogue, "ah still got Toad and Quicksilver to try out. God ah'm going to hate this," and with that said, Rogue stormed out rubbing her head.
The three watchers just looked at the doorway she went out of in silence, then back to Danny as he crash on the couch with a relieved sigh.
"Jeez Danny," said Becky, "she really tore into you." Which was true, since Rogue had been yelling at him for almost ten minutes.
"But, like, we should have figured that last night," said Kitty, as Max rubbed her shoulders, "I mean, she nearly lost it last night and went after you when we saw that news report. I took Logan and the Professor a while to calm her down before she changed and flew off after you."
Danny sighed, "I screwed up, didn't I?"
"Your just figuring that out now," replied Max with a small smile.
It had been true. First Sam tore into him for leaving, Becky had been found crying because she thought Danny didn't want to be around her, Rogue just finished ripping him up one way and down the other, plus they didn't even know what happened when he had gotten home last night.
"I need to do something to make it up to her," said Danny, rubbing his chin.
"Like, good luck," said Kitty, "Rogue's not easy to cheer up when she's mad."
"I figured," replied Danny sadly. Rogue had kind of hurt Danny when she said what she did. He knew she was angry with him, but he didn't know she would just up and quit like that. And Danny had really found himself caring more for Rogue then he did for everyone. Nowhere even close to what he felt for Paullina, and he really liked her too. But with Rogue, he…he couldn't even explain it. He just couldn't see his life without Rogue.
At this point, Sam walked in and saw Danny, giving a small smile at his deflated form. "Rogue got to you, huh?"
Danny could only nod, then he sat up looking at Sam. "Sam, can you help me with something," he asked.
She looked him over, "Depends."
"Ideas for something to give Rogue to make up to her for what I did," he replied. "I don't need you to shop for me or anything, just ideas, cause well…"
"Cause I'm the only Goth that might have a clue to what she likes," asked Sam, smirk on her lips.
"Frankly, yes," replied Danny, standing up. "Please Sam, I don't know what to do."
Sam looked him over for a moment, and then gave a smile, "I'd go with dinner for two and a gift of some sort. Not flowers or some stuffed animal or even jewelry, but something that came from your heart. Might sound stupid, but girls like that kind of thing. And the more romantic the dinner, the better."
Danny thought for a moment, "what about having it here, like outside? Might take a bit of work but…"
"Yea, it would be work, but I'm more then sure it would be worth it," said Sam.
Danny thought for a moment longer, and sighed, "guess I better get to it."
Rogue was sweaty and smelled like that discussing Toad, but it was finally over with. She tested out all 16 powers that weren't hers. She wanted to try them all out to ensure the watch worked, which it did. She left those two for last because she didn't like the idea of Pietro in her head and she was just as useless with Toad's powers as Toad was. She also had problems with going off on Logan while in Sabertooth mode, and she couldn't be anywhere near Xavier if she went Juggernaut.
But she pushed it out of her mind as she stepped into the female showers that were in the locker room, planning on scrubbing a couple of layers of skin off to get rid of Toad's smell.
After a while, her mind wandered to Danny. She hated herself for going on him like she did, but she was scared dammit. For all she knew, what had happened last night could have been the oh-so-great problem that Clockwork had told her about. And when she saw the news, she became even angrier with Danny for doing something stupid.
But she was also scared, very scared. Danny was the first person that Rogue had ever gotten close to in the pass few years of her life. He was her first kiss and she knew the future they would hold together, but was afraid of losing it. And she was scared about making the one choice she hated even more then her powers.
The choice between her life with Danny and ending the world. If she went with him, supported him, he would loss. She didn't even know if it was just her or everyone Danny was friends with. She wanted to help him, but at the price of their lives, she just couldn't choose.
"Kitty," came a voice that snapped the girl out of her thoughts. She looked up at the door that lead into her room to find her boyfriend Max.
Instantly she smiled, "hey Max, what's up?"
"Not much," he replied, "may I come in?"
"Like, of course," she replied. She placed her laptop on her desk as she was on her bed writing in her journal. She turned back to him with a smile.
"Kitty, do you know what today is," he asked quietly, just loud enough for her to hear.
She blinked in thought, nothing came to mind.
Max got the idea, and reminded her, "a month ago today, we went on our first date."
Kitty's eye went wide. Had that much time really passed between the two. She thought the math over, and he was right.
"Oh, my god, you right," she said, putting her hands over her mouth.
Max gave his normal shy half smile and took her in his arms, pulling her close, "happy one month."
Kitty smiled at the gesture, but was inwardly panicking. And she was stunned when he said he had a gift for her.
She looked into his almost white eyes, "you, have a gift for me? But I…"
"Its ok, I see that you forgot," he said, cutting her off. "I don't mind. Just, putting up with me is more then enough. I guess, it's a thank you as well as a sign of affection."
"What, is it," she asked.
"Close your eyes," said Max. She did so, and Max moved her in front of the mirror on her side of the room. Pulling a small box out of his pant's pocket, Max produced a gold chain with a golden heart locket. He put it on her, and when the chain was secure behind Kitty's neck, he told her to open her eyes.
She gasped at her reflection. "Max," she said softly, "it's beautiful."
She brought the locket up and opened it. She gasped again. Inside was a ying/yang symbol and the word 'the light in the darkness'. Seeing as how he was always down unless she was around and his shadow powers, it seem to fit perfectly.
"Do, you like it," he asked. Kitty answered by spinning around and pulling him into a deep kiss, putting so much passion behind it that it surprised Max.
When they broke apart, Kitty grinned, "Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me. I will make it up to you."
Max looked at her with concern, "you don't…"
"No," she interrupted, "you've given something that I will hold dear for the rest of my life. I will make up for this, right now." With that, she grabbed her purse, and head for the door, "you'll have your gift by tonight, even if I have to break ever rule to do it."
As she left, Max just stood there in shock. He didn't mean to upset her, and hope her could find a way to fix this.
That night, Rogue made her way up to her bedroom, to find something strange upon her bed. A blood red rose.
She blinked at it as she picked it up of the bed, "who that this?"
At the end of the question, the door's leading out to the balcony over seeing the backyard flew open, shocking Rogue. She stepped out to find no one there.
"Ok, wha's going on," she asked mostly to herself.
Until she heard Danny's whisper, "trust me, Rogue."
"Danny," she asked, and felt a pair of arms wrap around her stomach. Looking over her shoulder, she could see a faint outline of her boyfriend is his ghost form. "Wha are ya doing?"
"Just trust me," he replied, "you'll see." And they took to the sky.
As soon as they were airborne, they were coming back towards the ground near the gazebo a way from the mansion. Rogue was surprise at Danny's action, but was even more shocked to see the sight in front of her.
A romantic dinner for two with candle lights already glowing against the night sky, with the full moon of the horizon.
"Danny, why," she asked.
"I, I want to apologize for what I did," he said, coming fully visible. "I saw how much I had scared you, and I wanted to make it up to you."
Rogue put her arms around herself, "yes, ya did scare me. Ah, ah can't lose ya Danny, ah've never felt the way ah feel about ya."
"I know Rogue," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "believe me, I don't want to loss you ether. But, right now, lets just sit and have dinner, together."
Rogue smiled as he led her to the prepped table with a covered dish. Rogue smiled, "Ah hope ya didn't let Kitty cook."
"I want you to stay, don't I," replied Danny with his own smile. He removed the dish cover, revealing to her shrimp scampi with rice pilaf. She smiled at one of her more preferred meals. Together, they ate quietly, Rogue soaking up the atmosphere, as Danny couldn't keep his eyes off her.
As soon as they were finished, Danny stood up and presented his hand to Rogue, "May I have this dance?"
"But, there's no music," she replied to soon. A romantic piece came up out of nowhere, Rogue looking around. She spotted a stereo thought no one was around. She looked back to the waiting Danny, who had a nervous look on his face. "Ah would love to."
She stood and together then went out onto the lawn, wrapping each other with their arms. Together, no words for the longest time.
Rogue had closed her eyes, melting into a pool of emotions as Danny held her close. She took in his scent, and the rest of the world disappeared. This was her answer as far as she was concerned; she would stand by Danny, even if it meant her death. She couldn't explain this feeling, but she knew what it lead to, and she never wanted it to go away.
Danny just held Rogue close, unknown to the thoughts within Rogue's mind. He just wanted to be close to her, to hold her like this. He didn't even notice that they had stopped moving with the music.
"Danny," she said quietly.
"Yea," replied just as quietly, not wanting to loss this moment.
"My name, my real name," she said, " is Marie."
"Marie," he repeated.
She nodded, and then looked up to his eyes, "this is just between us. Ah…"
"I know Rogue," replied Danny, answering her unasked question.
Rogue smiled, and before the two knew it, they leaned into one another, gracing their lips with a kiss.
Max watched Danny and Rogue kiss when he heard a voice call his name. He turned to find Kitty, standing there with a smile on her face.
"Kitty," he said in surprise. He thought he wouldn't see her anytime soon, what with making her feel stupid, "look, I'm sorry about earlier, and if you don't want to talk to me I…"
"Like, stop right there," she said, raising a hand. "I'm glad you gave me a gift today, because in all the time I was with Lance, he never gave me a thing unless it was stolen, in which case, I would get in trouble for having it. You gave me something that means more the words could ever say. And, I did find a gift for you, so we can be even. So, let me give it to you, and I hope you like it."
She held out her hand to Max, and reviled to him a black dog tag with a black chain. He took it and saw a pair of cross swords engraved into the black metal. He smiled at Kitty, "thank you."
"Look on the other side," she side, urging him on. He flipped the tag to find another engraving, a saying of it's own.
"Darkness to protect the light," he read, a tear at the corner of his eye.
Kitty gave a small smile, "I, like, hope that you like it. I mean, after Lance, you've become my, well…"
When she droned off, Max looked at her, "your what?"
"My dark knight," she said with a blush on her checks. She continued while not looking at him, "I'll understand if you hate it. I mean, how could I forget a silly one month anniversary?"
"That's not important Kitty," replied Max, ignoring his warm cheeks, moving up and pulling her into a hug. "You are what's important. I, I care for you more then anything. The fact that you choose to even look at me makes my word brighter. And I love the tag, I think with us, it fits well. And, I do see you, well, as a beautiful maiden."
"You, do," asked Kitty, looking up into his eyes.
Max smiled, and the two kissed softly in the moonlight. A knight and his maiden, a love tail born of dark times only to shine out in the brightest light.
Mystique watched her daughter in the distance and sneered when she kissed the Fenton boy.
"Damn it Rogue," she mumbled out, "you know what's going to happen, so why are you getting so close? I guess I really am going to need to step in."
Her plan was already in motion, starting Monday, young Mr. Fenton's life will be turned to hell if he remained with Rogue. She already forced the Brotherhood boys into doing what she wanted, and the rest will be simple enough for Toad to finish.
By the following Friday, no one will want to be near Danny, including Rogue, at which point the most important part of her plan will take place.
And Danny Fenton would no longer exsist.
Hoped you liked it and again, sorry about the long wait, but I just haven't been up to writing much. And don't forget to R&R.