Rogue stared at the blank piece of paper. She was supposed to be writing an essay on the history of tea, but found the subject drier than…well…tea. It was better to be in her room than to see Bobby and Kitty together. It wasn't that she was feeling sorry for herself or anything, but she just felt as though she needed to be away from all of the pitiful looks that people gave her.

X-Men, please report to my office.

Rogue still found it odd being talked to in the head. She started to make her way to the Professor's office wondering why it made her so uncomfortable. It shouldn't…she had the voices of all of the people she had absorbed in her head…why would the Professor's voice be any different? She knocked on the mahogany doors and heard whispering voices inside.

"Professah? Can Ah come in?"

The whispering voices got louder and more hurried. Curious, Rogue opened the door and peeked inside. "Professah?" There was no one in the room that she could see, so she stepped in to get a better look.

The office was the same as it had always been: large wooden desk, large window with a beautiful view, everything in place. Rogue hesitantly closed the door. Normally, she was the first one to come to the meetings. She prided herself on always being on time. Movement caught her eye in one corner of the room. Before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed the person by the throat and put them up against the wall. All of that trainin' must of paid off aftah all…

The stranger held his hands up in surrender, a cocky smile on his lips.

"No sneaken' 'round dis place is dere, chere?"

"He is a friend Rogue. You may let go of him."

She literally jumped around to see the Professor coming through the door. The stranger put his gloved hands in his long trench coat. "You sure jumpy, chere."

The other X-Men started to file in and Rogue made her way to the back of the room to hear what the Professor had to say. She was embarrassed that she had attacked one of the Professor's friends, and flustered by the trench coat man's behavior.

"You may be wondering why I have asked you to come here. My apologies if I took you away from anything to important." Kitty and Bobby giggled as they whispered something to each other. Rogue looked out the window, trying not to see them and knowing the stranger's sunglass covered eyes were looking at her.

"You may have noticed that we have a guest. 'Gambit', as he calls himself, has come here to be part of the team…"

Rogue lost track of what the Professor was saying. A memory of Logan's was surfacing in her mind. Flashes of green, blood, and tubes clouded her vision. Using the control that the Professor had taught her, Rogue pushed the memory aside. She knew that she would have to deal with it later, but now was not the time or place.

"..and so I hope that you are all welcoming to him."

Rogue looked up to see the Professor finishing up his speech. Storm went up to give Gambit a hug, (maybe they know each other) and she whispered something in his ear. While the other X-Men went to welcome Gambit, Rogue approached the Professor as he was about to exit.

"Logan again?" he said in a low voice. He liked to talk normally when around the other X-Men, but Rogue would have preferred telepathy in this case. Rogue nodded, not trusting her voice. "Come to my office tonight at eight. I will try to help you through this one. For now I recommend just saving up your strength until then."

She slipped out of the room while the other people were talking about past missions. She was tired all of the sudden and wanted to clear her thoughts…she had the perfect solution. She morphed into a dog and ran out into the woods behind the school. No one knew that she had touched Mystique except the Professor, and she planned to keep it that way. Using her nose, she was able to find her sanctuary. A huge tree with gigantic roots stood before her as she morphed back to herself. One huge root reached for the sky before plunging into the ground. She had dug out the dirt between the root and the ground to create a little hollow.

She loved to sit there, even if it was winter. She stretched out her legs and laid down oblivious of the dark clouds to the west.

€

She dreamed of the time before Jean was killed. She dreamed of when she and Bobby were happy. She dreamed of what used to be…

She woke to darkness. "Damn, what time is it?" she mumbled.

A lighter flickered on. "Why, is' 10:00 P.M., chere."

Rogue jumped and hit her head when she saw that Gambit was in her hollow beside her. She also saw that she had taken her gloves off, which was why her hands were so cold. Rage boiled up inside of her as she saw how close he was to her exposed skin.

"Don't touch me!" He almost looked hurt as he lit his cigarette. He took a deep drag and the lighter flickered off. The butt of the cigarette cast a strange light in the hollow. Rogue saw that it had begun to snow when she was asleep.

"Gambit wouldn' hurt you, chere."

"An' how do Ah know that?"

Gambit exhaled tendrils of smoke into the fresh air. Rogue hated it; smoke reminded her of her so called 'dad'.

"Charles sent Gambit to find ya since you didn't come on time fo' your little meetin'."

Rogue cocked an eyebrow at the smug tone of his voice. She had no time for these sorts. Rogue took a deep breathe, and stupidly inhaled the smoke that was filling up her sacred crevice in the world. This would NOT be tolerated.

She grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth and 'bamfed' it into Bobby's bedroom. Killed two birds with one stone… Rogue thought of two love birds she knew and smirked. Stones can wait, she thought as she stood, Ah want a damned machine gun.

"Chere 's thinkin' evil thoughts…."

Her smirk grew wider as she bamfed back to her room, leaving a mystified young Cajun in her wake.