7
Rogue woke up to a pounding headache. She could feel anger. Sabretooth's anger, she realised. He was prowling around her head, not liking being stuck in there. Rogue had to deal with the headache of Sabretooth's anger for a moment, before she could find the energy to muster up Emma's power and put him in a cage. It was a weak one, like Pyro's and Colossus' cages, but she just couldn't find the energy to strengthen them at that moment.
Rogue began to open her eyes, blinking a few times as she took in her room. Then she thought, how did Sabretooth end up inside my head? I never absorbed him, did I?
She had brief flashes of Sabretooth's memories and Magneto demanding he healed her broken leg. Rogue glanced down at it, going to see how bad it was. She moved it slightly, not feeling as if it was broken. Then she heard from someone somewhere in her mind what Sabretooth's abilities were. She also noticed how long her hair was now besides her and how hairy her leg looked underneath the bandages. She realised her uniform had been cut open near the top of the leg. Whoever bandaged her up didn't undress her which she was happy for. But still, she wasn't happy to be banged up in her room again, physically tired as hell and with a massive headache.
Rogue began to smell food and realised how hungry she was. She tired to sit up in her bed, but even that felt like running twenty miles. She managed to lean against her headboard before she gave up trying to go any further.
There was a knock at her door. Rogue wasn't looking forwards to whatever company she was about to receive and hoped it wasn't Magneto or Sabretooth.
"Yeah," she called out.
Her door opened and there stood Gambit with a tray in hand. She was sure her she was looking at him oddly and questioningly since that's how she felt seeing him there. He just smiled at her.
"Bonjour Cherie. Nice to see you awake." He said as he walked over to her bed.
"What you doin' here?" Rogue asked. She wasn't too sure what she was thinking. Her head was a mess just then. She kind of wished it hadn't had been Gambit at her door now. She sure as hell didn't need him messing with her while she felt so low.
"Bringin' ya some bon mange, non?" He said.
"English?" Rogue said.
Gambit seemed to make himself comfortable on the edge of her bed. Rogue didn't like this, but didn't want to waste her energy getting angry at him for that so she kept quiet.
Gambit placed the tray on Rogue's lap, making sure she had it before he let go.
"I made your dinner." He said.
"You made it?" Rogue asked.
"'course. Who else you think does de cookin' 'round here?" he asked with one raised eyebrow.
Rogue just blinked. She hadn't thought Gambit was a cook. Did that mean her food last night had been cooked by him too? It hadn't been bad. In fact, it'd been good. Rogue glanced down at her food. It smelled and looked good. She picked up her fork and began eating.
The chuckle that vibrated through her bed brough her out of her happy daze at having food.
"What?" she asked the chuckling Gambit.
"Just nice to know you got an appetite, is all. How you feelin'?" he asked.
Rogue paused a moment…was Gambit being… nice to her?
"Erm, fine, I guess." Rogue said.
"You took quite a beatin'. Had us all worried there for a moment." He said.
"All?" Rogue asked, continuing to eat.
"Oui. Pete was broundin' 'round pissed at what happened. Never seen the homme that annoyed after a trainin' session. You musta done something to the man, Cherie." Gambit said, showing his teeth as he grinned.
"Oh…" Rogue said, looking down at her meal. Was Colossus really mad at her for touching him? She thought he wasn't that mad when she told him she was going to absorb him, but then again, she hadn't meet anyone who'd been alright with her after she'd touched them. She felt sad that she'd now lost that friendship with Colossus. Well, whatever friendship she could have had with him.
Gambit eyed Rogue, beginning to catch on to what she was thinking. He was pretty sure she wasn't herself at this moment in time. She wasn't yelling at him to get out of her room like he figured she would be and she was showing quite a lot of emotion on her face.
"De homme was mad at what Magneto did to you," Gambit said.
Now Rogue eyed him, looking slightly bewildered.
"You mean, he weren't mad I absorbed him?" Rogue asked, realising that her fitter was definitely down.
"Non. You had a broken leg and passed out. He heard dat Magneto attacked you and he became angry. Seems you got de man on your side," Gambit said.
Rogue looked away from Gambit, biting her tongue. So Colossus wasn't angry at her for absorbing him? She didn't know if she could believe that. Rogue then glanced down at her leg.
"Doesn't seem broken." Rogue said, although, she did remember it being broken.
"Oui, 'cause Mags forced Sabretooth to let you absorb his healin' abilities," he tried not to chuckle at the next part, "and, apparently, he gave you his furriness too."
Rogue realised then that Gambit was seeing her all hairy and beast like. She dropped her fork and sighed into her hands as she covered her face. She could feel with her still ungloved hands that her eyebrows were much furrier than she remembered.
Now Gambit really did chuckle.
"Is that a blush? Never thought I'd see you be so girly, Cherie. It be kinda cute." Gambit said.
Rogue dropped her hands, remembering who was in front of her and glared at his smile. She couldn't keep the glare up though and sighed, looking away from Gambit and at her hands. They were furry too with claws poking out of her fingernails.
"Guess I need a shave," she said, kind of kicking herself for not filtering herself again, but another question entered her mind, "how do I shave ma hands?"
Now Gambit laughed, "Can't say I ever needed to. Maybe it'll go away on it's own, non?"
"Maybe." Rogue sighed. "How are the others?" she asked.
Gambit shrugged, "Fine. Bit sore, but they be up and on their feet. Gotta say though Cherie, you impressed quite a few people there with your skills. Was de absorption of kinetic energy your own skill or someone else's?"
Gambit didn't expect Rogue to answer, but she did.
"No, it's someone from ma past that Mystique made meh absorb. The psyche's never seem ta go away once I touch someone and, well, I figured out how ta access their powers. Takes a lot outta meh and I get a bigger headache than usual when I use 'em as much as I do. Like now, it feels like theirs a parade goin' on up there that I never wanted to attend. Gets a bit crowded sometimes." Rogue muttered the last part, looking sad.
Gambit could feel Rogue's emotions. Her pain and upset. She really was dealing with quite a bit of misery due to her powers. Not having a quiet mind, fearing adding more to that, never being able to touch someone without fear of that. Well, he'd certainly change one of those things. Gambit reached out and squeezed Rogue's gloved hand. Rogue seemed to gasp, then stare at him in question.
"A belle femme like yourself shouldn't have to experience so much pain. I'm sorry Cherie." Gambit said, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it.
He watched Rogue's cheeks flare and blush. She pulled her hand back and looked away from him.
"Ain't no big deal. I just need time ta recover. That's all." She said.
"I see," Gambit said, standing up from her bed. Rogue glanced at him with those wide eyes of hers as he moved away. He smiled at her, feeling like he'd accomplished a victory. "Then I be leavin' you to your rest. Although, I would see Pete at some point. De homme's goin' crazy throwin' cargo 'round since knowin' you hurt. Don't go spendin' too much time with de homme though, non? You still gotta find time to be thinkin' of moi."
Rogue blushed red again which made Gambit smirk as he left Rogue's room and closed her door behind her. That was how it was supposed to go when he was around women. All the blushing and staring dumbfoundingly at him as if he was the greatest thing on two legs they'd ever seen. He knew, somewhere through that façade of hers, she was just like all the other girls. Although, he did doubt he'd do as much as he was for another girl.
Gambit let Colossus and Pyro know Rogue was awake before he left. She had school tomorrow and hadn't had the chance to get school supplies. He doubted she would be able to now, either, considering everywhere was closed. So he was heading out to make sure she didn't get in trouble with Magneto. She was a challenge, he had to remember, and he would just have to work a bit harder to break her and make her give into him. He was up for that challenge.
xxxxx
Colossus and Pyro had both visited Rogue after she'd eaten. Colossus didn't say much, he just looked sad. Pyro, though, came in laughing his head off.
"Gotta say Sheila, that's some mighty fire power you got there." He said.
Rogue felt a little strange at having both men just joking around with her or trying to show kindness. She'd… never experienced reactions like that after she'd touched someone. She wasn't too sure what to make of it. And when she said sorry, both men had turned down her apology. Rogue actually had to turn away to wipe away a tear at just how nice both of them were being about her absorbing them. Colossus had become concerned and tried moving to comfort her when he noticed her wiping at her eyes whereas Pyro just kept on joking about how cool it was seeing Magneto get zapped and how dumb she looked with massive eyebrows. Rogue's tears turned quickly to her laughing at Pyro and his jokes which eased Colossus.
Pyro had definitely been a big help during the conversation. He hadn't shut up about how awesome it was to know Rogue took Magneto on one on one and that it wasn't fair that he'd not been able to see it in person. But he'd found the surveillance footage and had been watching it over and over since. Especially the bit where Rogue knocked Magneto out of the sky.
Colossus had become annoyed at some points when Pyro spoke about him, stating Magneto was out of order.
But again, Pyro had piped in and joked it off which Rogue appreciated. Soon both men began to notice Rogue's eyes begin to droop. Both had noticed how drained and emotional she seemed.
"We best leave so you can gain some rest." Colossus had said.
"Oh yeah. Big day for you tomorrow, huh. First day at school and all." Pyro had said.
Rogue's face suddenly dropped. She forgot all about school.
"Oh crap," she muttered.
"What is it?" Colossus asked.
"I forgot all about school!" Rogue said, running her hands through her hair, "I didn't get any school supplies."
Pyro just laughed, Colossus looked thinking.
"Perhaps you can get them before school tomorrow?" he said.
"Yeah. Maybe." Rogue said looking down.
She'd been thinking over Magneto's attack earlier. She guessed it wasn't just practice. That had been anger and rage aimed at her. She… felt kind of scared of him. She didn't want to give him another reason to be mad at her.
Rogue bite her lip, not wanting to admit that, but she was sure that her face said everything. Other thoughts like how was she going to get to school entered her head. Where even was her school?
"Best not worry about that now." Colossus said, noticing how uneasy Rogue was becoming once again. "It's best you get some rest. It is late and you will need to be up early tomorrow. Do you know how to set your alarm clock? You have been late to quite a few things."
Rogue looked around her room, "I mean, I guess so, if I had an alarm clock."
Colossus went to one of Rogue's draws and pulled out a clock. Rogue's face dropped. Pyro laughed. Colossus set up Rogue's alarm clock besides her bed and set the alarm up for the time she wanted to wake up.
"Thank you." Rogue laughed, finding Pyro quite contagious. Especially when he was in her head.
xxxxx
Colossus and Pyro had left Rogue's room soon after.
"Boy, never realised how sensitive the Shelia was," Pyro said, folding his arms behind his head as he walked with Colossus back to the kitchen. "Ha, she laughed at my jokes though. She definitely isn't all bad!"
"I believe her emotions may be due to her powers," Colossus said.
"You mean, like, she'll get like this, laughing and crying over tiny little things, every time she lets loose like that?" Pyro asked.
Colossus nodded his head.
"Crickey. That's gotta be a bummer. Oh well. Least I'll be able to cheer her up each time, ah mate? Never met a Shelia who thought her jokes were so funny." Pyro said.
Colossus was silent for a time as he walked. Thinking.
"What's that look about?" Pyro asked.
"I am just thinking. She seemed scared of us when we first entered. Do you think it was because she absorbed us?" Colossus asked, feeling rather struck by how horrified Rogue had looked when they did enter her room.
"Probably. If I was her enemy or something, I'd be pretty pissed to be knocked down on my arse like, well, like Magneto." Pyro said, bursting into laughter again. He couldn't help it. He was forever going to enjoy the image of Rogue knocking Magneto out of the sky. It served him right for every time the crook had decided to use his powers to make a fool out of him, Pyro thought.
Colossus took in what Pyro had said, hearing his own thoughts echoed.
"I thought we had disturbed her. Do you think she will continue to fear us?" Colossus asked.
"Nar," Pyro said, glancing at Colossus, "If anything, I bet she was fearing that we'd fear her and want revenge or something stupid like that. We set her straight though back there. Had her laughing her arse off till she was crying. It was such a beautiful sight!" Pyro sighed, dreamingly as he thought about how much Rogue had laughed at his jokes, "Hey, do you think the Shelia would go on a hot date with me instead of the Cajun?" he asked.
"I very much doubt that." Colossus said, turning and walking away from Pyro.
He had not liked the look on Rogue's face. How she had feared them. Feared their reaction. Pyro may have been a little bit crazy at times, but in other instances, he made perfect sense. This seemed like one of them. Colossus was glad that Pyro had been there to help Rogue realise that they were not mad at her at all. In fact, Colossus had been quite pleased with her. She had warned him of her abilities and that was more than anyone had ever done for him when facing an opponent before. He felt for the girl who was now sleeping. He felt sorry for her. Sorry that she had been attacked. Sorry that she'd been so scared about their reactions to her mutations. He also felt mad about that. About how she had probably lived a life of being feared and despised for her ability. He didn't want to think how some idiots might have sort out revenge against her for her mutation when all she truly was a scared, vulnerable girl. Colossus, somehow seeing Rogue so emotional and vulnerable, began to realise that he was going to try his best to make Rogue understand that he would never fear her or hate her as others had for her abilities. If anything, he was going to befriend her and protect that emotional and vulnerable girl the best that he could.
xxxxx
Rogue laydown in her bed and tried to get some sleep. She succeed until she heard something in her room.
Rogue opened her eyes and saw a dark figure heading towards her door.
"Who's there?" she demanded to know.
The body turned around and Rogue saw red eyes beaming at her. Rogue's eyes started to come into focus.
"Gambit? What are you doing here?" She demanded to know.
"Just droppin' off some things. Big day tomorrow, non?" he said.
Rogue sat up and looked around her room. She then saw that Gambit had placed a bag besides her bed. Rogue reached for it and opened it up. Inside, she could see notebooks and pens and other stuff.
Rogue turned to stare at Gambit who was smirking at her.
"You got meh school supplies?" she asked.
"You are going to school tomorrow, aren't you? Or you planin' on skippin' tomorrow to spend de day with moi?" he asked.
Rogue's eyebrow rose and she tilted her head to one side. "I'm goin' ta school. Well, that is if I can find it." Rogue said. She then reached out to the folders Magneto had given her to find the leaflet about the school. Maybe there were directions in there.
"I could take you if you want?" Gambit said.
"I'll pass." Rogue said, opening the booklet. There were instructions in there, but it looked quite far away. She still had to figure out how to get there.
"But ya could leaned meh your bike." Rogue said, eyeing Gambit, hopeful.
Gambit laughed then said "not a chance."
Rogue pouted, then closed the booklet. She'd just have to wake up extra early tomorrow and walk. Maybe she could steal a bike herself tomorrow so she didn't have this problem again.
"I best get back ta sleep. I'm gonna have ta wake up early tomorrow." Rogue said.
Gambit shrugged, "Moi offer still stands. I'll be around if you change your mind." Gambit said, turning to leave again.
Rogue sighed. She was sure she was going to regret what she was about to say, but…
"Thank you." She muttered out, refusing to meet his eyes. "But I still haven't forgiven ya for that stupid stunt you pulled yesterday!"
Gambit looked over his shoulder, smirking at her. "You're welcome," he said, ignoring her second sentence, "bonne night, Cherie."
Gambit said before leaving. Rogue lay down and went back to sleep.