X-Men: Revolution

by J.HunterFiction

Kurt once made his way to the Real World and learned that up there life he knew was a cartoon. Right now he's back to Evo in company of 2 individuals and has to re-live every single episode. As expected, knowing the future can be a heavy burden and a great responsibility. KurtxOC, realistic approach, I know it's long but it'll be so worth it

9. 3 - Rogue - 1 of 2

X-Men: Revolution

Episode 3.0

Rogue

+6.09.1995, Fri, 9:38PM, Caldecott County, west Mississippi+

Eden Lake Party House was one of the rare places in this area where you could just come and have fun. This neighborhood and everything around this half of the county was full of people who aimed for the win, at the same time it was quite deserted, so pubs weren't around every corner. Eden Lake itself was proud of the attention it'd get from the local youngsters.

It's name came from the fact that the building was set on a construction above Laguna lake for the most part, and the building itself was surrounded with a pedestal-like balcony with a great view on the lake - edgy hills surrounding it and filled with thick flora hills coming down towards the lake rapidly. There were no other buildings in the area so Partyhouse's owners didn't need to worry about disturbing night silence, meanwhile the rapid hillsides sent echo around the entire lakeside. 'Who am I?' echoed in the night vividly.

Most of the teens present at the Party House were students of Caldecott County Public High School who came to celebrate winning a spot in Mississippi's football finales, their team - "Claws" - would stand against the best teams of the state. For some it was a reason to celebrate, for others an excuse to dance some, but at the end of it all everyone had quite fun.

The team's winger - Cody Robbins and his pal Thai Grand - the quarterback, weren't too interested in dancing. At the current moment they were settled by the bar, sipped on sweet soda drinks and excitedly chatted about the match. It was mainly Thai who talked though.

Thai was the more talkative of the two - almost impossible to shut quiet. Energic, fast, that's why he was the perfect quarterback. And despite his mother was from China, he definitely had his height and silhouette after father - body that allowed him to smear his opponents on the field even though he was relatively slim for a footballist.

Cody was rather calm. Though almost a head shorter than Thai, in comparison to most of teens his age he seemed tall. His body was build according to the well known imagination of a sportsman - board-silhouetted, with the right proportion of body fat to hard muscle, wide shouldered however with relatively weak legs. In the play he was doing very well with his arms, not legs, and he was content with it. During regular classes he tried his best, but he just wasn't the type who can grasp something that doesn't either interest him or look like it could find a good use on the field. Despite overall average marks and sport-centered focus, he was a nice and shy boy.

Now his eyes searched the crowd for somebody concrete, but the hope she'd come began to slowly abandon him.

"Dude, focus!" Thai reminded him as he waved his hand in front of Cody's face. "I just told you that I witnessed UFO and you won't even blink to save your life!"

"Uh, yeah. That's very interesting..." Cody nodded once as he turned his back to the dancefloor.

"Listen, these lights musta been aliens" Grand assured.

"Sure" Robbins sighed. He knew Thai long enough to expect such revelations at least twice a weak, and they didn't anymore take much impact nor wake belief. "Ever though it'd be a plane?"

"A plane, don't kid me" the black haired boy stood up from his chair. "I know what a plane looks like, and it was different, more like this" he began to draw some figure in the air, all excited. Cody shrugged and Grand's face dropped. "Somebody drove a stick up your ass today or what?"

"No, I just hoped to meet someone here. Whatever, I'll go breathe some fresh air" Robbins stood up and headed towards the 'blacony's' doorway. Thai was at his side in fractal of a second and with his hand firmly grasping Robbin's shoulder he went on with explaining his point of view;

"These lights were not a plane, seriously" he assured with hand over his heart. They managed to pass through the dancing crowd and cool evening air met them at the balcony. "Aliens. There's no other explanation."

But Cody stopped listening to him at that moment, because once they left the crowded room and the balcony stretched above the lake was around them he saw the girl he waited for - standing there, by the balustrade, back to him.

Thai noticed the attention switch immediately and knew what that means. He patted his friend on the arm. "My Cody dude seems head over hills. One evening he lost all colour and went mattress-flat!" Grand laughed. "Sister! We're losing him! Hurry, reanimate!" he gesticulated with theatrical voice.

Robbins jerked away his arm from the other boy's grip. "Don't kid around. I'm just... waiting for the right moment and I don't want to hurry" he stated hesitantly, which gained him a critical smile.

"Cody, glaciers move faster than you" he stated. "She's right there, standing here" he pointed at the girl's back. "You're staring at her all week long, you blow off the party... Do you at least know her name?"

The blond haired boy shrugged with a weak smile.

Grand face-palmed hard. "You moron! This must come to an end now" he grasped Robbins' team blouse's sleeve and pulled him towards the balustrade and the girl. "Come on!"

"Thai, I-" the boy tried to argue, but Grand already pulled him halfway to the point and then pushed him across to it. Cody stumbled and caught his balance only a meter behind the girl's back, which granted him her attention. She turned around.

He stared at her terrified with the idea that he's supposed to start a chat. However she caught his eye with her entire persona - rebellious attitude, provocative clothes, heavy make up. She wasn't like other girls - easy and simple, no. She was complicated and to him - tempting. Mysterious.

She caught his attention long time ago, but he never before found the courage to talk to her. Now he was given no other choice. The pale girl rested her hands on the railing, facing him with a critical look. "Wha' are you about?" she asked.

Cody stood straight and gave Thai a check-out glance. The black haired boy gave him thumbs-up with a grin. Robbins pulled himself together and - moving his hands around nervously - he stammered out;

"You dance? I mean- do you wanna-? I mean with me. Like together..."

The girl turned away her gaze for a moment. Then she looked at him apologetically. "You know, I'd rather just stay here."

"Uh... I understand" Cody's gaze dropped with resignation.

The girl laughed shortly and looked at him with a nervous pity. "Heh, it can't hurt after all. We can hit the dance floor for a bit."

Robbins all lighted up and smiled happily. The girl went ahead of him towards the Party House's doorway, and the boy followed her - high-fiving Thai as he went.

Colorful lights contrasted to the black ceiling, neon-lit bar was full of imaginative glasses and mugs with alcohol-less drinks that were served to the teens by young barmans and barmaids. Not many people sat, almost everyone had fun on the dancefloor to the rhythms of electric guitar melody flowing from the speakers.

Cody and the girl, who told him her name was Rogue, found a piece of dancefloor for themselves and began to dance. Thai watched them keeping a huge distance. He wouldn't expect anything different from Cody.

So Thai approached one of single girls sitting at the bar - a blond girl in high boots and short dress. He didn't remember meeting her ever before but it didn't matter. He didn't have to say anything, he just bowed slightly and offered his hand, and that was enough as he led her to the dance floor and began to dance. He purposely moved the dance towards Cody and the goth girl.

Being close enough he said low over his shoulder: "Move closer to her."

Cody's expression made it clear it was a completely new idea to him.

Thai rolled his eyes. "Come on, move it" he pushed his friend towards the girl. Unfortunately gentleness wasn't one of his talents and Robbins didn't just get closer to the girl but he literally fell onto her and both of them fell to the ground, making some people around them laugh.

Thai face-palmed. Maybe at least it'll work like in the movies and his buddy will get the girl after all.

Cody quickly crawled off the girl, completely red on his face and feeling assured that he completely screwed his chances with her. "I-I'm so sorry" he tried to fix it somehow, he reached out to help her get up.

And the moment he grabbed her wrist he felt something strange - as if electricity rushing throughout him, creating strange flashes of light in his head. He felt like his entire life was flashing in front of his eyes. He felt his muscles spasm, but he couldn't let go of her wrist that was the source for this strange, painful experience.

Until she jerked away from him. The last thing he saw was she moving away from the place he soon collapsed into and darkness filled his world.

When Thai saw his friend in pain and then fainting he immediately forgot about the blonde he danced with. His fearful eyes laid on the pale goth girl who got up onto her shaky legs and held her head in her hands.

"My head... all those pictures..." she looked down at Cody, at his open, but not seeing eyes. "What's happening to me?" she whispered. "Who am I?" she looked down at her hands and Thai instantly knew it was her who did something to Cody. "Who am I...?" the girl asked again.

First of Thai knelt by Cody, people surrounded them asking if he's alive, but Grand quickly checked his pulse and sighed with relief - his friend was at least alive. "But what's going on...?" he asked himself, but realized he knows exactly whom should he ask the question. He lifted his angry gaze at the goth girl. "What did you do to him?!"

There were tears in the girl's eyes, but it wasn't enough to convince Thai that she was innocent. She turned around and ran towards the door - Thai didn't take two seconds to think about it as he got up and outrun her, standing in the door.

His surprise was great when the shorter female pushed him aside with just one shove. He thought only Cody could do that... however there were more important things to wonder about than her moves. Like: who is she and what have she done to Cody?

Episode 3: ROGUE

Installment 1 of 2

+6.10.1995, Friday, half an hour prior, Bayville, New York+

"Kurt, come on" Fallen sighed as the boy handed her a glass of water before she leaned far enough to reach it. "I can do things myself."

"You need to rest."

"I've rested for almost a week now, I think it's safe to say that I'll be okay now" she sighed taking a sip.

She heartedly appreciated her boyfriend's care, but at the same time couldn't help but sigh at how much he overreacted, mistaking her slightest grimace being feeling ill and handing her every little thing as he insisted she should stay in bed and not even do so much as reach to the hospital drawer sitting beside it.

But truth be told she felt completely fine. The sores and weakness in her body wore off by the end of day three, even the Professor and Doc McCoy accepted the fact that she's okay, only Kurt still acted like she's on the brink of death. In fact it was only for the reason they never dealt with anything like this that she was told to stay in the infirmary for observation.

She ended up spending the last 6 days staying put, mostly in the infirmary bed. Food was delivered to her, anything else she wanted to grab from her room was too. She was to use infirmary's bathroom. She started to forget what anything beyond infirmary looks like, and it was frustrating.

But today was a happy day, as she was promised to be let out to get back to living her life before the weekend and returning to school on Monday. She would still be requested to report to the infirmary for daily checkouts, but other than that, she would be free to move around the mansion again.

She waited with anticipation, already dressed in grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt provided to her from infirmary's closet, her hair washed earlier that day and pulled into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She certainly didn't look like her usual self, considering the lack of black clothing or dark eye makeup, but she did plan to change that as soon as she gets to return upstairs to her room. As much as she appreciated being taken care of, she tapped her fingers against the bed's hidden railing in anticipation to be let out.

Looking at the door didn't probably speed anything up. The girl sighed and shifted her eyes back to Kurt.

"How are things going with Kitty?" she asked.

He moved his head from side to side a bit like he was weighting down the progress they made of Pryde's stay at the Institute. "Better than the last time. But I suppose that me not teleporting into her face and um… generally being in her face this time around could have helped a bit."

Harris smirked slightly amused. "You think?" she teased.

She only met Kitty briefly three days ago, when Pryde accompanied Jean to the infirmary. Grey introduced them, which Kurt was being salty about later on as he wanted to do it himself. However he quickly admitted that Kitty probably wouldn't appreciate it as much with her memory of him wiped anyway.

So Pryde was everything Fallen expected of her at the start. Petite, next-door-neighbor brunette speaking in a very valley-girl manner, but actually resolute when she's not rambling about your usual teenage-girl stuff. So far she didn't seem comfortable in her new life, but both Fallen and Kurt knew she'd come around to enjoy it.

Finally Doc McCoy arrived the infirmary and greeted them both. He was due to leave in two days, but until then he continued to keep an eye on Fallen's state and perform all medical exams on her even though, as he said in the meantime, he's not a medical doctor.

First off his approached the desk and injected himself with some fluid. Fallen and Kurt just exchanged short looks but didn't say anything. The man then joined them by the girl's temporary bed. "Alright, let me take your blood pressure and the other measurements."

She cooperated, knowing the drill all too well after this week. It took less than fifteen minutes and he began to put everything away.

"Everything's perfectly in norm. I would say you've recovered like the coma never happened."

"Sooo…" she smiled.

McCoy laughed softly. "Yes, medical arrest is over. Away with the cuffs!" he closed in to remove pulse monitoring bracelet device from her wrist.

The girl continued to grin as his wrist finally could feel the cool air. "Thank you for everything, Doc McCoy" she said slipping off the bed.

The man not only spent the week looking after her health but also provided her with literature, made sure she caught up with school materials brought to her by Kurt if they didn't do it right away, and generally often was her company when everyone else went to school. So she did feel like she has a great deal to thank for.

"No need to thank me" he responded. "Just go and live your life… cautiously, of course."

She smiled, but chose not to make any promises regarding the latter request. She turned around to face Kurt who got up from the chair beside her bed and waited with a wide smile on his face.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Heck yes."

"Your Professor is running a security test" Hank informed them. "He said he'd like the two of you to come watch it with everyone else in the control room."

They thanked and left the infirmary.

xXx

The two screens above control panel were split into four parts each, all displaying security camera view from a different spot at the outside of the Institute.

"Watch carefully" Ororo said to the three students and nodded her readiness to the Professor.

Everyone waited for a moment with eyes on the screens. Finally a dark silhouette moved along the threes on one of them. The character managed to avoid triggering any of the active traps, but the movement attracted motion activated camera and it began to track the man.

"Wolverine will attempt to burgle into the building, and I shall try to make it difficult for him" Storm said. She was the only one dressed up in her uniform, long cape fluttering as her hands moved across the panel.

The man on the security view was wearing a black suit, he looked just like a deeper shadow moving in already dense darkness. One of the many cannons installed around the gardens emerged from the ground and shot a web meant to trap him, but he ducked. It shot again, this time the man exposed his adamant claws and cut the web in half. Wasting no time he climbed up a ventilation grille and used one claw to unscrew it from the wall. Soon he was able to enter the building through the vent.

But that way in was secured as well. Now they had no cameras to see him, but they received notification that he triggered a couple lasers.

Suddenly another notification covered those; a Cerebro alert requesting immediate attention. Ororo looked over at Xavier. The man nodded. "I'll take care of it. Finish the test" he said and headed to the elevator in the back.

The woman switched the notification off and some new ones about traps triggered in the vents popped up. That didn't stop Logan from emerging on the other end of the shaft. They got a camera view of him again.

"Impressive. He got past the security using that route… But he can't get past me" Ororo said to herself and lifted her hand up, focusing on the sky above the Institute.

On the screen they could see a strong gust of wind open all windows in the room the man emerged in. The 'intruder' quickly returned to the vents where he couldn't be tracked so easily.

"He's good" Kitty commented.

"You're testing me, huh?" Ororo directed this question at the screen with a smirk. "Alright. Soon you'll remember why they call me Storm" she put her hand up again.

The control room's door opened, Fallen and Kurt entered. The girl waved her hand at the people who turned around to her, but neither of them said anything as they were clearly in a middle of something.

Everyone turned their attention to the screens again, where the evening sky darkened even more with dense, enormous clouds. All of sudden rains started to fall intensely, and strong wind swirled it around and into the chimney.

They couldn't tell where the intruder is exactly, but he was surely still in the vents, and Ororo could access them all through that chimney as well as block most of the ways out using the security control system. Soon she got her prey right where she wanted, the man was washed through the vents into the Danger Room below them in a pool of rainwater.

"You got a little wet, haven't you?" Ororo leaned to the microphone connected to speakers in the Danger Room. The five students walked over to the glazed walls to watch the man live now.

The man extended his claws and rushed towards the control panel for the door's lock, but Storm quickly switched on azot sprays that froze the water Wolverine was soak in turning him into an ice statue. However the effect was temporary and within seconds he broke the cold's hold on him.

"It is a little chilly" he muttered.

Monroe arched her brow. She knew it's all about testing their security, but she couldn't deny the satisfactory feeling of winning with the man, and now she needed to find another way to do it.

"It'll get warmer in a moment" she assured low and ran another program.

A panel in the simulator's walls shifted and a laser cannon emerged to instantly fire at the 'intruder'. Wolverine ducked the green ray and made his way over to the machine, close enough to jump right on top of it and tear his claws through the metal spaclp. Electricity dancer around the device and bolted through his adamant bones; the cannon then exploded sending Logan flying across the room.

He managed to land swiftly on his feet and turned to yell towards the control room; "That's all ya've got?"

Right behind his back a large tube emerged from the dead middle of the room, it extended long arms and began to turn like blades in a kitchen blender, except it had pilers at the ends. Like an amusement park ride, the arms were changing its height as well as turning around its own in addition to the spinning of the entire machinery. It looked difficult to avoid, but the man ducked one, pushed himself up using another and jumped towards the center. Getting on top of the tuble he proceeded to shred it's insides, clawing out the mechanical guts, tearing the wires. The mechanical ride slowly stopped raging and eventually went quiet and still.

That was when every single one of them heard Professor Xavier's voice in their heads;

*Stop, that's enough. For now that's all we can afford* he ordered. *Everyone gather in the control room. I'm on my way.*

Wolverine removed the mask from his head smirking. "Hey, when I give a demo, I give a demo" he headed for the door.

Scott watched as shredded pieces of the machinery continue to smoke, some disattached and fell to the floor. "Was it 'demo' as in demolish or demonstration?" he asked critically. "What was the point?" he turned to Storm who switched everything off.

"The point, young Cyclops, was to teach you something about finding the weak points in sophisticated security systems" the woman responded moving on to re-running the video feed from the test.

"That's right" Logan said emerging from the quick-access elevator into the control room. His clothes were torn, but there was no sign of damage to his body. "And I'd say ours needs a little work."

He stopped beside Ororo and looked at the video displaying him getting into the vents. "The vent's easily breached, gonna need to fix that. Maybe… electrify them or install poison gas sprayers."

The woman frowned looking at them with corner of her eye. "Wolverine…"

"Alright, alright" the man crossed his arms. "Knock out gas then."

Kitty shuddered. "Is it just me or is everyone else like, seriously freaked by all of this?" she asked. Everyone looked at her appearing completely calm. "Oh, right. It's just me? Great."

"Don't worry Katzchen" Kurt chuckled lightly. "It's all in order to keep us save."

The girl frowned and was about to question the nickname, but then the elevator's door opened and Professor Xavier joined them with a look of urgency on his face. "We have an emergency. Scott, get the Black Bird prep for launch. Since it's a weekend, assemble the full team. Except Fallen."

"Wait, wh-" the girl started to protest.

Scott cut in; "Yes, sir. What's the mission?"

"Cerebro has detected a new mutant in Caldecott County, Mississippi" the man replied.

Fallen immediately turned her gaze to Kurt. He responded meeting her eyes solemnly.

"My mental impressions from the scene indicate a highly disturbed individual" Xavier continued in a serious tone. "Our mutant is a danger to herself and possibly others as well. X-Men, we are dealing with a rebel."

xXxXxXx

+Caldecott County, Mississippi, 9:42PM+

This single family house was located in one of the calmer areas that not everyone could afford, however the district didn't really appear expensive, what you paid for was the privacy it provided. This specific house, just like most of them, was a ground floor level and surrounded by a little tree forest of its own front yard. A 20 ft path lead onto the front porch with a table, set of chairs and a bench sitting at its foot, usually shadowed by trees. That was where Irene liked to spend time in summer.

The salon's ceiling had brown and orange walls with big windows facing both east and west. There wasn't much to see in terms of furniture, but the couple armchairs and shelves sitting against walls looked expensive. Same as the old jukebox near the main entrance and the fireplace made of marble and red brick. Paintings in hand-carved frames ornamented the walls, and two big pots with evergreen flowers stood to each side of the kitchen's entryway. Nearby the fireplace was a mahogany table pushed against the wall with chairs, and directly in front of it were two leather armchairs with a small drawer in between them and a single cat figurine sitting on top of it.

They only lived here for the last five years after moving out of a much bigger mansion on the other end of the state. But though the place has changed, the people didn't.

Irene was now sitting in one of the two leather armchairs in the living room. She was a woman with dark blonde, or light brown hair kept short. Her clothes weren't very flattering but she made up with numerous bracelets, rings and two earrings in each of her ears. The last item to complete her look were dark sunglasses concealing her milky eyes.

She just sat there for a dozen minutes. She couldn't bring herself to do anything, too consumed in worrying after what happened before that. The vision that she had of Rogue sitting on a floor in some crowded place, someone trying to help her stand up. Of how the girl's face twisted in agony when their skins made contact.

Interesting, how with her world so void of sight the visions were always armed in rich visual overload. Her memories and even dreams consisted of sensations other than sight, like most blind people's after a while. She would dream in smells and emotions, she'd remember in touches and sensations. But the visions were so distinct from any of it with the way they presented themselves in flashes of images and overlapping sounds.

At least she always knew what they were. Otherwise she might blame it on a hunch or simply being paranoid over her daughter figure's wellbeing. But she saw it, which means the likelihood that it happened or is going to happen soon is extreme. And it certainly looked- damn, it FELT like Rogue absorbed that boy. In addition to her visions, sometimes the emotions they showed bled onto her, and this time it was sudden rush of panic and stolen identity.

Right after that vision she went for the landline and dialed the right number. She wasn't kept waiting for long.

*What's going on?* the voice asked.

"I'm worried about Rogue" Irene replied. She was a little shaken from what she felt in the vision. "I'm afraid her powers just manifested."

*Where is she?* the woman's voice was anxious and harsh. *Is she with you?*

"No, she left-"

*Why would you let her leave if her powers were to-*

"Listen" Irene interrupted her. "I can only see some possibilities. I knew what kind of power she will have, not when it was going to manifest."

After a moment of silence on the line, the woman on the other side spoke up in tired voice; *I hope that you made sure no one would try to approach her?*

Adler's hand slid down the wire to the two photographies placed on it. Obviously she never saw them, but she knew what they were. One of her and Rogue, other other of Rogue alone. The teen was wearing dark makeup and alternative clothing that didn't exactly scream 'approachable', just like the frown she was supposedly known to keep on her face. She wasn't satisfied with the fact that she had to raise her into taking on this hostile identity.

"Yes, I made sure. Her pale skin, the way she dresses… But- she's a teenager!" which to her meant that she should be able to explore her identity without having one being wired into her brain throughout her entire life. She should have the freedom to explore who she is as a person without being made to identify with something she might as well be not. "I couldn't lock her up away from the entire world-"

*I hope no one is going to try forcibly helping her, I want to take care of it myself. Are you able to make it to the airport an hour from now?*

Irene sighed with resignation. "You're coming. Of course."

*We need to act immediately.*

"I know" Adler admitted low, less than happy about it. "What about others? Xavier's people? They'll come too…"

*I'm not far. Airport in 45* she stated with intensity.

A brief grimace ghosted over Irene's face. "I'll be there."

Right after that conversation she made a second call to order the limo and their usual driver to pick her up. Now it was about time it would arrive. She was right, she could hear the sound of it pull up in front of the house.

She got up taking a deep breath before she headed for the door.

xXxXxXx

+Xavier's Institute, 10:02+

Fallen sigh sounded in the living room as she slumped down on the sofa after wishing everyone good luck and reluctantly agreeing to stay behind as they went to grab uniforms and hit the skies. Doctor McCoy who was resting in the armchair with a book lifted his gaze to her and smirked.

"You don't seem happy about not going" the man said.

She grimaced.

"I think you should look at the bright side" that scored him a critical, questioning look. He smiled and explained; "During your recovery you get to rest."

Fallen groaned and slid further down on the sofa. "I've had enough of rest for the rest of being stuck in the infirmary. I understand though" she finished softer. "I just- this recruitation is… I don't know, it's just a personal one. It's stressing me out, and I know it does Kurt, too. Probably more so."

"Oh" the man's eyebrows twitched with interest. "Is it someone special?"

The brunette bit her lip slightly. Given her promise to the Professor about not talking to anyone about the future and her origin she was hesitant to dig deeper into this. But McCoy already knew about them so she wasn't technically spilling any guts. And throughout that last week the man proved to know when to keep his mouth shut, so since no one but the two of them is in the mansion to overhear, it was most likely no one would even know if she spilled the greatest of secrets.

This matter however, wasn't so much a secret as a mystery that was soon to be uncovered, one way or another.

"She's kind of family" she replied low.

+Meanwhile, inside Black-Bird+

Wolverine sunk down in his seat, his arms crossed and knees supported against back of the seat in front of him. His eyes were closed as he urged his mind to focus on something other than being in a jet. The fearless man didn't like being off the ground. Jean, Kitty and Forge were sitting in the back, the first two contemplating what the new recruit would be like. Silvercloud chose to keep his mouth shut because while he didn't know exactly what these events were like, it was safe to assume that the mutant they're headed for was someone he met at some point in the original timeline. The fact that the person was described as 'rebellious girl' and that hinted him enough that he was almost ready to bet who it is precisely, too.

The more you know, the less you should say. In this case, anyway.

Which might be why Kurt didn't seem to say a word that wasn't necessary since the recruitation was announced. He was in the front with Scott, whereas the Professor and Ms Monroe sat directly behind them. Wagner was the main pilot - something Summers was ready to argue about, but the Professor said he taught the boy how to fly it in the meantime. Which didn't sound very convincing given the boy was at the Institute merely for a month, and nobody was allowed near the jet for at least 3 since starting to learn how to fly it. Xavier cut off this argument and conversation all in all.

It felt wrong to lie to his students, but he still didn't feel convinced it would be any better if he told them that Kurt and the other two traveled in time and the boy learned how to fly the jet more like a decade ago than during the past month. He probably had more chances to fly it than Summers, at this point.

"Good that you remembered to turn on the latent mode. Often it can be crucial to how the mission will turn out" Scott still chose to keep a careful watch and instruct Wagner every step of the way. "What is the altitude?"

"10 thousand feet" Kurt replied sounding utterly unimpressed.

"Mai-"

"I'm maintaining" usually he was a very positive person, but the petty supervision got annoying by the time he even started the engine. With corner of his eye he could see that the other boy seemed personally offended so he took a deep breath and smiled at him. "Thanks for your help, but Herr Professor taught me well" he grinned at the man over his shoulder.

Xavier smiled back with slight amusement.

"Apparently." Scott's lips turned into a thin line. "I just wonder when did that happen" he added to himself. Conveniently, he tried not to question Professor Xavier's decisions, much less words, so he let it go. Instead he leaned over the control board and reported out loud; "I set flight type to F-A-A, we'll be sitting down in Jackson. Then we'll take the van."

Charles nodded with approval. "Very well, Scott. You're learning logistics quickly."

Kitty stopped discussing the new recruitee - that she was excited about since she could shed the 'newest girl' status - and was watching the boys in the front. She leaned over to Jean. "Scott is really… together" she said with admiration. "Cool guy!"

Jean looked back at her with eyebrow arched.

Pryde rested her cheek on her hand, her eyes still to the front of the jet. "He's totally handsome too."

"Handsome?" Jean turned to look at Summers. "More like stiff" she snickered low. "He's alright, but…" unable to pinpoint what bugs her so much about him she gazed at his profile. A smirk appeared on her face as she rubbed her chin with theatrically critical frown. "From this angle though…"

Forge sighed and slid lower in his seat next to them. God, are they obvious. Jean and Scott were meant to be, literally as it gets, but they were the kind of couple-to-be that made him cringe a little on the inside.

Kurt - although sitting all the way in the front - slightly rolled his eyes. While Scott didn't hear the conversation going on in the back, mostly due to being to busy bossing him from button to button, but Kurt's sensitive ears picked it up alright. He was torn between wanting to sing 'Jean and Scott are sitting in a tree' and waving his hands at the girl to remind them that he's there too and deserves one bit of attention as well. Or he could just get up and with dead seriousness push Jean and Scott against each other announcing 'now you may kiss the bride'.

Make some use of that 'priest side' of him he saw in the comics.

But guess he should just let everything play out naturally.

xXxXxXx

+Jackson-Medgar International Airport, Mississippi, 10:04+

The limousine was already waiting for a few minutes, standing next to the runway where only those owning a special pass were allowed to park. The chauffeur didn't ask questions. He worked for the Adlers for five years now, knew more than enough and was paid enough to keep his mouth shut about all of it.

With one window cracked Irene waited in the back listening to the sound of wind outside. There was the distant 'swish' of aircrafts at the further runways as they landed or took off. Finally a different sound echoed of a jet cutting through the air, sitting down and circling around to stop mare 20 feet away from the limousine. She could hear airport's workers bring over a set of stairs and her chauffeur stepped out to open the door for the arrival.

The woman stepped firmly down the stairs, her heels click-clacked against the asphalt, and the door to her left opened.

"You wasted no time coming here, Raven" Irene said as the woman made herself comfortable and the door closed behind her.

"Our organization is run by someone who's got quite a… fortune, Irene" she replied.

The limo started moving.

A slight movement was also visible over the woman's body and then its entirety began to transform; her short brown hair growing longer and turning intense red, her skin darkened into a navy sea-blue color, her eyes became yellow and irises turned cat-like and dark clothes became a bright white dress with skull-shaped belt, thigh-high boots and matching fingerless gloves.

Like this, she was best known as Mystique.

Her gaze became even sharper as she glared at Irene. "What happened? I thought I left her in your hands."

Irene sent an equally uncompromising look in her general direction. She would not let herself be blamed for cutting the girl some slack, even if it were to be the one thing they'd always argue about.

But there was no time to argue about that now, she was worried about Rogue. She started to explain quickly; "During a school party her powers manifested when she touched one of the boys-"

"-Absorbing his memories and physical strength" the redhead finished for her. She turned to look at the passing landscape. "Great" she stated sarcastically. "We're keeping her hidden for years and within five minutes it's all wasted."

She turned back to Irene and leaned in closer.

"We can't give her up. Especially to Xavier" she said. "She has a real potential, a limitless power" Darkholme clenched her fists and stared at them as if contemplating the said power.

Irene didn't see the gesture but felt the warmth and movement in front of her face, she gently pushed the other woman's clenched fists aside. Mystique withdrew, resting back.

"You're a clairvoyant, Irene" she said calmer. "Where is she going?" she asked low.

"I already gave the address to our chauffeur" Adler responded without hesitation. "Rogue's heading home. Or at least to what she now believes is home…"

xXx

+Meanwhile in the suburbs+

The area was decent, but neither very rich nor beautiful. Just the kind of neighborhood where teenagers can pitch in enough money to buy an old car and kids try to make some by selling homemade lemonade in summer or contributing to household garage sellouts. The nearly stereotypical suburban image with a hint of Caldecott's sharp mood.

She continued along the empty sidewalk, anxiously looking at the houses she passed. She wasn't sure under what address she lives, she couldn't focus enough to recall the house number or even the street, but she followed the faint memories of walking this sidewalk so many times.

That's how she arrived home.

It was one store house with neat lawn and an inviting light lit on the front porch. All other lights inside the house were switched off as far as she could tell, seemed like nobody was home. The garage was open though, and an old Dodge was sitting in front of it, currently in progress of being rebuilt. It lacked wheels and a few important elements from under the mask, and the old red paint was peeling off in more places than not.

She instantly felt relieved when she she approached the house, and yet at the same time she felt overwhelming sensation of something being very off. She remembered father walking through these front door to welcome her home after summer camp, she remembered picking this very Dodge with him, how the entire family rejoiced her team's victories.

And at the same time she felt that none of it belonged to her.

She was all shuddering.

But it was home, safe and peaceful place to rest. Desiring this safety and peace she approached the front porch and tugged on the door handle, but it was locked. She didn't need to think twice, it was almost like a habit when she reached up onto the roof and found a key hidden there. She opened the door and entered the empty house of Ribins family.

xXx

Mr and Mrs Robins weren't home for a simple reason - they all took off to the hospital after receiving a call about their only child, Cody. His mother was now sitting on a chair by his bed and held the unconscious boy's hand. She was looking at him in pleading manner while her husband stood behind her in solemn silence. The only person moving about was Cody's best friend, Thai, who circled the room about a hundred times by now, his hands in pockets of his blouse and shoulders tensed square.

Cody didn't move an inch since he was somehow knocked out at the party over half an hour ago. He was pale, the doctors didn't know what's wrong. He breathed normally, his heart was beating properly, but he didn't wake up for some reason and both - the boy's parents and his best friend refused to take an 'I don't know' for an answer.

Eventually a nurse entered the room - dressed in white shoes, stocking, a skirt and a green t-shirt with one chest pocket, like all nurses here. She nodded her greetings towards them with a small, compassionate smile. She was young, lean, her long, red hair sliding off her arms as she leaned over Cody.

"He'll be fine, right?" Thai asked with hope in his voice. "You will help him, won't you?"

The redhead nurse turned to look at him and nodded slightly. She gently replied; "He will be alright, we will help him" she promised and turned back to put a hand on Cody's forehead.

xXx

"Is this really necessary?" Wolverine asked sitting in the driver's seat of their Van parked in the hospital's parking lot. Scott was in the passenger's seat and everyone else sat in the back wearing uniforms and feeling ridiculous just hanging in the car.

"Yes, Logan" Xavier replied. "This boy, Cody, will help us find the girl. However right now he's completely unconscious" the man placed fingers to his own temple. "I need to make sense of the chaotic way his memories are intertwined with the mind of the mutant we're after. Without that we might as well be searching for her until it's too late…"

"How can this boy like, help us?" Kitty asked. It was her first 'mission' and she wanted to be as well informed as she could be.

"If I may" Kurt leaned over from the seat in the far back. "The girl is scared, she will want to go somewhere safe, but since she took on the boy's identity she will go where HE finds safe. We need to find out more about him to know what she will do."

"Ok, but why Professor can't read his mind from here?" Kitty crossed her arms looking back at him.

Xavier answered first. "Cody's mind hard to read after what- Hold on" the man closed his eyes. "Jean got to him. I… I've got the address."

xXx

*Well done, Jean. Return to the van immediately, there's no time to lose.*

*On my way, Professor* Grey replied and turned to the people gathered by Cody's bed. "I assure you that everything will be alright."

She left closing the door behind herself quietly. Another - or rather, the actual nurse was heading to the room. The woman glanced back as Grey passed her, having never seen her before, but the redhead walked away quickly and disappeared behind the corner.

She glanced around and entered one of the storage rooms, quickly changed into her uniform and put regular clothes over it to attract no attention. She left the nurse uniform on the shelf and left, heading straight for the main door.

Already outside she jogged over to the black van parked by the staircase and got inside.

Wolverine wasted no time, taking off right after the door shut closed behind her.

"It's a dozen blocks away from here, but we should be able to make it before she leaves" Xavier said.

Jean nodded and began to remove her casual clothes from top of the battle uniform. Scott caught a glimpse of her doing it in the rear mirror and felt a pinch of warmth on his cheeks. Wolverine glanced at him with corner of his eye, muttered something inaudible and focused back on the road ahead.

xXx

The limousine pulled to a stop in front of the Robins' family house. Expecting her to step out immediately, Irene grabbed the other woman's arm to stop her.

"What now?" she asked. "You won't hurt her, right…? Raven, she's your-!"

"I know it very well" Mystique interrupted her harshly. "Don't worry" she spoke more gentle now but the cool to her voice was chilling. "Believe me" she placed her hand on Adler's shoulder, "she will come to us on her own. All she needs is a push in the right direction."

As she said it her body changed it's form completely. Her evil smile seemed even scarier now, that it was curving Wolverine's lips.

xXx

Sitting on the bed she held an album in her laps, watching the photographs carefully but anxiously. Various events were captured on them – birthdays, hiking trips, holidays, but most were of sports events – on the podium, with the team, during trainings…

"On all of those photos, that's... Me?' she asked herself. The person on the photos was a blond fit boy, while looking into the mirror she saw a girl, when she spoke – she heard a girl.

She glanced around the room.

In the minor darkness and the light casted by a lamp she turned on she could make out her familiar, yet stranger surroundings. Walls were full of music band and sportsmen posters, male clothing was sprawled in various places, prizes and medals were proud on a shelf. It was all hers and yet it didn't feel like it.

"Is it mine?" she wondered low. She closed the album and placed it down on the bed, then walked over to a drawer with a mirror. Photos from the podium and victory cups were standing in front of it; two second places back from middle school – for javelin throw and volleyball. One gold from high school, also for the javelin throw. That's when she gave up other sports and went full time into football…

Yet on the photos wasn't the she that she saw in the mirror. She remembered some of those events, but like she was a different person.

She looked into the mirror at the pale Goth with white bangs and heavy make-up. She knew her name was Rogue… Rogue Adler. She didn't remember or know more about her.

The boy in the photos is Cody… Cody Robbins. Her. Somewhat. Or is it? That's not who was looking back at her from the mirror…

"Which 'me' am I?" she whispered desperately, her hands supporting her against the drawer; she tried to collect her thoughts. She couldn't change her gender and looks like that, so she must be the person she sees in the mirror. But in that case why did she feel like she's also Cody? Why stranger memories mixed and overpowered her own like that? Which memories were truly her own?

The more she tried to focus the harder it became to put facts together. Who is Cody? A part of her? No… Cody… she was dancing with him. They were dancing and then he crashed into her… he did something to her. Since then he was a part of her, but he wasn't HER. He did something, crept inside her, and then lost consciousness… or was she the one who did this to him?

Broken and frustrated she furiously threw all the photos and trophies off the drawer. They crashed on the floor loudly. They weren't hers, he wasn't her, she wasn't him, it all didn't make any sense!

Suddenly the room's door opened crashing against the wall, the girl nearly jumped out of her skin turning to the door. A dangerous looking man was standing there, seeming ready to attack. Although short, he was muscular and threatening, dressed in some odd black and orange suit and a horned mask covering most of his face.

The girl stepped back with fear. "Who are you?! What do you want?!" she asked, not very surprised with how her voice was trembling.

"You, babe" the man stepped towards her. "I want YOU" his voice was threatening. She didn't understand why would he want her, she didn't know him, she didn't recall a faintest memory of him from any of the two lives she had stuck in her head

Suddenly blades emerged from his fists and with a roar he lunged in her direction. She was too scared to proceed this but she managed to duck and the man kicked a wardrobe instead, breaking the door of it. Not bothered by the failure he lunged at her again.

"Don't even try to escape, you are facing an X-Man, babe" he warned gesturing with his claws. "You stand no chance."

The girl wasn't going to wait for a Knight to come and save her; without taking her eyes off the man she picked up a piece of wood the wardrobe door was scattered into.

"X-Man?" she asked nervously, ready to duck him at any second. "I don't get it… Leave me alone!" she sung the wood at his head and bolted towards the door; all she knew for sure right now is that she needs to run away from him.

The piece of wood managed to knock him down due to coming as unexpected. The man – 'so called X-Man' – touched his head to make sure there's no blood and then got back up with a growl. With another roar he rushed onto the corridor just as Rogue was running down the stairs. She ran out of the house as fast as she could in hopes to find help.

'Wolverine' jumped over the balustrade landing on the first floor. "Just a few more tricks…" his looks transitioned into a blue skinned female in a white dress – "And you'll see…" another transition and she was an african-american white-haired woman dressed in a black uniform – "…you'll come to me without me even asking."

xXx

Once they arrived at the place Professor Xavier found in Cody's mind, it turned out to be a public area in his house, one he apparently remembered best. There was no time to be sorry or go back for more details, so Wolverine parked the van and as they emerged from it Xabier told them he wants them to split in search for the girl.

"Storm, Jean and Cyclops - you'll come with me, we'll try to find the house. Wolverine - you take the rest and-"

"Save your breath, Chuck. I'll follow my nose" Logan stated and looked at the three young X-Men put under his wing. "That is, WE will."

Charles nodded. "Alright. Everyone, let's go."

Wolverine didn't need to be told twice, he instantly headed in towards a narrow alley leading to another one that went along gardens in back of the houses. The man attentively watched the surroundings and houses peeking from above the backyard fences. Within the alley trash and useless crap was piled up against the fences, trash containers made sniffing for the new mutant both unpleasant and difficult. Not to mention he didn't know what she smells like exactly.

Kitty followed close behind him with Forge, whereas Kurt circled them time after time - sometimes falling a step behind, sometimes catching up with Wolverine, and occasionally jumped on top of a closed container to have a look above the fences.

"What are we looking for in a place like this?" Kitty asked. The area didn't appeal to her, neither did the darkness, so she ended up in a self-delivered comforting embrace. "I mean, like, who would want to hide here?" she sighed.

"The Professor sad that her mind is in chaos, so it's difficult to locate her. We're looking wherever we can" Wolverine responded with his eyes on one of the trash containers.

Pryde thought sarcastically that maybe he expect to find the girl inside. Much to her confusion the man actually began to sniff the air.

The young crew approached him with curiosity. Kurt asked; "Was, you smelled something?"

"Yeah…" Wolverine turned his face to them after another sniff. "I smelled fear."

xXx

She ran out through the back door because they were closer, even though she knew there's no way out of the garden. She had no time for this; she was pretty sporty, especially as Cody, so she decided to jump over the fence. She ran up to it and swung herself onto the other side just as a shadow was casted from the front door.

Behind herself she heard a female voice saying – "One well aimed bolt, one mutant down…"

When she looked back she saw a white haired woman in dark uniform with a cape. She didn't get to examine her because something was thrown in her direction and she expected nothing but trouble from the object. She jumped onto the ground just in time to avoid a blast of what seemed like electricity.

She fell rolling through the ground and at first she didn't notice that she stopped at someone's feet. Only after the person spoke up she noticed the black shoes, dark pants and a white can touching the ground. She looked up and felt something crush in her brain as the woman seemed extremely familiar but she couldn't quite place her face.

"Rogue…" the woman said. "It's me, Irene" she placed her hand on her heart. "It's me, remember...?"

"Who…?"

The girl was sitting on the ground feeling like there's no steady ground underneath her. The entire world was slightly spinning, darkness made everything look hazy, her thoughts were in a mess, some contracted with one another beyond reason.

"Hold on… Irene…" she repeated the woman's name. She knew it, she knew it was someone's important in one of the lives, that of Rogue. "I'm so lost, my thoughts are so strange" she hid her face in her hands wishing for nothing more but for all of this to be over. "They are chasing me" she said. She felt like crying. She didn't know whom she is, all she knew we that she's in danger but didn't know why.

Irene… Irene raised her. She was like a mother to her…

"My love, don't worry" the woman said. Her voice as gentle but nervous. "Police is on the way. X-Men won't risk confronting them…" she reached her hand to her.

"X-Men…?" Rogue asked. This is what that man with claws said he is… an X-Men.

"Yes. Mutant hunters" Irene leaned down encouraging the girl to grab her hand. "Get up. A friend of mine is going to help you, I'll take you to her."

"I don't understand any of this" the teen grabbed her hand and wobbly tried to get up into her feet. "Everything is happening too fast… And I—"

Hearing footsteps - quick, of a runner - she looked in the direction the sound came from and fear welled up in her again.

The man with the claws was rushing in their direction, and if that wasn't enough he wasn't alone.

"It's him!" the girl felt desperate. "He attacked me!"

'And he will do it again' she thought, She was a target to him for some reason, and he will chase her. If she stays she will put Irene in danger as well - with this thought the girl pulled back. Her glove slid off remaining in Irene's hand, but Rogue had no mind to put into it as she bolted away yelling at Irene to run away.

Adled couldn't do anything at that moment, she just felt and heard a couple people rush past her and a hoarse male voice said; "It must be her!"

The girl was nearly cornered in a blind alley but she climbed one of the fences - she didn't know who lived there, but she couldn't possibly find herself in a worse situation that she was already.

The man with the claws and were with three other people - a girl, a young man and some blue boy with a tail, which didn't even surprise her all that much at this point because the chaos in her head was too much. All she knew was that they're keep chasing her and they're closing in.

"Please, leave me alone!" she called out in a begging voice.

The girl disappeared behind the fence. This hide and seek game began to annoy Wolverine but he was aware that the girl is terrified and runs because she believes that it'd save her life.

He came close to tearing one of the brats apart when he appeared in front of him all of sudden.

"Wolverine, hold on" Kurt lifted his hands to stop him. The man growled at him. "She seems to be afraid of you… Let me talk to her instead."

Logan growled again, but this time with resignation. He had to admit the kid was right, she seemed to only stare at him with such fear and he was the one she begged to stop following her.

Kitty stopped by them breathing heavily. Wolverine looked at them critically. "Egh… Alright. Just don't screw up, got it? And you two" he pointed at Kurt and Forge, "take half-pint with you" he now pointed back to Kitty.

Wagner saluted, though Pryde was too busy catching a breath to respond, she just exclaimed her anger at the nickname but she followed the boys.

"I'll find the Professor" Logan said. "Ah, and one more thing, Elf" Kurt turned around to hear him out. "Put on your fancy face, we don't need her anymore freaked out than she already is."

Wagner gave Wolverine thumbs up with a gin before giving Kitty a friendly nudge and nodding at her and Forge in the direction where Rogue went. Logan headed back and the two of them approached the fence. Kurt turned to Kitty; "Can you wait here? I'll give you a call when it's alright to come, 'key?"

"Why am I supposed to be left out?" Pryde frowned taking offence.

"Nobody's leaving you out. Me especially, okay?" he smiled at her apologetically. "Forge, you wait too. Too many of us are guaranteed to make her dash."

Silvercloud nodded, happy to just passively hang. Kitty sighed with resignation too. "Fine, just, like, don't take forever."

xXx

Rogue found herself in some strangers' garden. Yellow light illuminated it from the inside of the house, but she couldn't see anyone inside. She walked across it looking around for the best way out of it.

She turned around hearing an odd sound and jumped seeing a boy next to a swing hanging off a tree branch. He smiled at her and bowed dramatically. "Guten Abend, Fräulein" he said.

She didn't know where he came from or why he acted so friendly for no reason, but given the events from this entire evening - she didn't expect anything good from him.

Apparently her fear was visible on her face because he lifted his hands and spoke in a calming manner; "There's no reason for you to be afraid right now…"

She didn't trust him on that one bit. Not after almost being torn to shreds by that man with claws.

"What do you want?" she asked trying to control the quiver in her voice. "Do you live here? I'm leaving, so don't call cops or-"

The boy smiled at her sympathetically and shook his head. "I don't live here. I actually live at Xavier's Institute. He's a good man who wants to help you… I want to help you" he assured softly as he stepped towards her. "I know it's all confusing and it's hard to believe a stranger's words, but you do can trust me and my friends."

Kurt had this feeling of almost a deja vu due to being here again and talking to his sister. It was the first time they spoke in the previous timeline but back then it ended up in her running away from them again. But a lot has changed since then. He changed.

But not everything was in his control to begin with. Last time he was doing good until Kitty followed him and showed some bad attitude, so Rogue tried to get away and him trying to stop her only ended up in being knocked out by her powers. So much for his memory of that day, everything else he knew from stories and the actual show. Rogue supposedly used the power she absorbed from him to teleport away, and everything went downhill from there.

But he won't let that happen this time.

"I know that what's happening to you right now is scary and you don't understand it…" he said gently. He chose to keep a reasonable distance, give her space to feel safe. He knew so well what it's like to fear someone crossing into your personal safety bubble. "I've been there too, in that moment when you realize something in your life is wrong" he saw her expression softening. "I was alone. I didn't know who I am. I was afraid to show my face. Same as you, I didn't trust anyone… But if you give us a chance, I promise you that w-"

But that was when the girl's attention was drawn behind him, to where Kitty phased herself through the fence forcing Forge to follow with her. Pryde's face hardened as she looked Rogue up and down. "She doesn't look so tough" she said strutting towards her.

"Wait, Kitty! Don't!" Wagner stepped in front of her to stop her from tackling the goth. "We're dealing with it peacefully, alright?" seeing Kitty roll her eyes but stop, he started to turn around to Rogue again; "Sorry for t-"

But Rogue was already disappearing behind the other fence, having used that moment of commotion to flee.

Wagner inhaled with a grimace. "Great" he said to himself before teleporting after his secret sibling.

Kitty jumped a bit back when he teleported, but quickly regained composure and looked back at Forge with a slight frown. "I could have stopped her ithe young girl. "I don't think we are supposed to go with a 'first shoot, then ask questions' kind of way."

Pryde's fierce expression softened with regret. "Did I screw up?"

Forge's brown eyes turned to the edge of the fence where the two adopted siblings have gone. "We'll see about that."

"So… what now?"

Forge's eyes dropped on her again. "Why are you looking at me? Why would I know?!"

"I'm new!"

"Me too!"

"But you're like- older!"

Forge frowned down at her. He was in fact almost 10 years older than her, but he did not feel like he has the authority to make any decisions here, given it was as much his first mission as it was his. But guess it would be ridiculous to expect a 15 year old to do all the thinking here.

He exhaled and looked around. They sure shouldn't stand around in a stranger's garden and risk being spotted. Especially since the girl they 'burgled' here in for was gone. So they could either try to find the others or try to follow Rogue and Kurt. The latter seemed more likely to work out.

"Come on" he nodded at the fence Rogue jumped over. The siblings were probably quite ahead of them by now, and they weren't guaranteed to even have gone in the same direction that he and Kitty would chose, but the only thing left here was to make educated guesses.

But then again educated guesses were also why he almost caused his best friend's girlfriend to die recently, so it felt difficult to feel confident in going off of them.

xXx

With his sense of smell and hearing, it wasn't difficult for Wolverine to find the other team on the main street. Just as he was about to swing onto the public area from one of the gardens, he heard Xavier say that Cody's brain waves are fading from the girl's mind.

"It can mean that the effect of absorption is only temporary. If Cody's awareness disappears completely we might have a harder time finding the girl…"

Logan landed neatly on the pavement in front of the man. "Go ten gardens west from here. Kurt, Forge and the Half-Pint are trying to keep her there."

"In this case we need to get there as quickly as we can" Xavier said.

xXx

"They're not here anymore" Wolverine said after a few deep sniffs directed towards the fence of the garden where he left the young X-Men with the new potential recruitee. "They headed east."

"Do you think something went wrong?" Jean asked.

"Professor, can you locate them?" Scott suggested.

Xavier focused for a moment. "Odd. I can't seem to locate Kurt" he said low.

"Did something happen to him?" Summers asked.

"Shouldn't have left the damn kids alone" Logan growled.

Charles lifted his hand to ask for silence as he focused on Forge instead. *Forge?*

*Ah, heck! What- Professor?*

*Where are you?*

*Rogue ran away, Kurt followed her, we're looking for them. We're in front of a- Kids'r'Us store a couple blocks towards the town centre… Hold on, I think I see Kurt! I think he's knocked out or something.*

*We're on our way.*

"Everyone, hurry, they're straight ahead."

xXx

By the time Forge and Kitty ran up to him, Kurt already managed to get to his knees against a brick wall as he rubbed his head. His inducer was still on, but his tail limply laid behind him and the boy seemed dazed.

"What happened? Did she touch you?" Silvercloud asked as they reached him. "You ok?"

"You were lucky!" Pryde said. "That whole Cody guy ended up in a total coma. You, like, could have-"

"She didn't touch me" Kurt said seedily and then faintly gestured to an aluminium trash can lid on the sidewalk. It was dented.

Forge almost wanted to laugh. "Oh well, man. I'd ask how's your head, but seems the right question right now seems to be: how's your honor?"

Wagner ignored the ache in his forehead just to glare at Forge. "Very funny. Do you wanna test yours against this lid?"

"Guys, focus" Pryde rolled her eyes at the immature young men. "Where did the girl go?"

Wagner inhaled deeply as he climbed back to his feet and pointed faintly to an alley on opposite side of the street. "At least that's what I saw last. I lost it for a moment."

"Should we follow her?"

As if to answer Forge's question, Storm descended from the sky above. Her cape fluttered as she landed on the sidewalk just behind them. "Is everyone alright?"

"I've had better moments, but ja, I'm good. Thank you for the concern, Frau Monroe."

The woman smirked with slight amusement too, at his way of twisting her question to make it seem like addressed solely to him. The boy smirked back glad she got the joke rather than assume he was so full of himself.

"Everyone's almost here" Storm informed them. "Then we go after the girl together. Professor managed to catch a glimpse of where she's headed. It's a cemetery nearby."

'So I guess tonight was destined to lead us there' Kurt thought. 'Despite she didn't have my powers to get there'.

But he still hoped it can end differently.

xXxXxXx

Disguised as a falcon she circled above the street and watched Xavier's pupils trying to approach Rogue. She was relieved to see them fail. She couldn't let Xavier recruit her.

With low flutter of her wings, she landed on one of the pillars of the cementary's fence and watched Rogue walk along it, catching her breath. She was visibly nervous and kept looking over her shoulder before she entered the cemetery. She was afraid of Xavier's men.

Good. That was the point.

Mystique shapeshifted into a cat instead and jumped onto the ground. The girl turned around, startled by the soft sound, but almost immediately calmed at the sight of a red cat sitting in the dead middle of the cementry's entry.

She turned her back at it again and proceeded down the main isle. The graveyard was old and spacious, hosting both - deceased among the rich and the poor. The outer ends of it were for small stones or cheap wooden crosses, towards the centre were along the main isle were ornamented crypts and memorial sculptures of angels and Virgin Marys. In the very middle were family tombs and small shrines built for people who 'meant something'.

People rarely came here as it was slowly getting forgotten, the descendants of people buried here were already two or three generations down the line and laid their recently deceased on the newer burial ground at the outskirts of town.

Too old to be visited by families, and too new to be considered a landmark worth sightseeing, the Cemetery of Everlasting Peace became Rogue's oasis whenever she wanted to be away from people. Rogue's… yeah, it all started coming back to her. She's Rogue. Cody was this boy who somehow merged with her, but he wasn't HER. The difference between his and her memories and thoughts was becoming clearer now.

She sat down on the ground against one of the gravestones. It was cold against her back, and the cool wind helped her revive her energy and calm her wrecked nerves after those loud and abrupt events.

She regretted ever going to that party. She should have listened to Irene the first time she said 'no'. What was she even thinking? A party. Of course it wasn't going to end well! And she wasn't even interested in celebrating a sport victory to begin with.

If she stayed home, she wouldn't have a piece of Cody trapped in her mind, she wouldn't have gone to his house, she wouldn't have been attacked by the clawed man and that woman in a cape. It could have been another boring and predictable weekend.

For the first time in her life she actually wished that she was grounded for the weekend.

The red cat she saw before approached her and crouched four feet away from her. She reached out to him and wiggled her fingers a bit to encourage it.

The cat moved a bit closer and sniffed on her palm before moving back abruptly and just watching her cautiously. The girl withdrew her hand and looked at it. One of her gloves was left behind in Irene's hand.

She always wore gloves. She didn't even know why. That's just how it was. Just like her entire style - it was difficult to imagine herself in anything else. She grew into it from an early age, and Irene always got her more dark, alternative clothing to fill her wardrobe with, be it for christmas, birthdays, or just out of blue. She also never bought anything but gothic clothing. She found it suits the way she feels and the general gothic theme resonated with her in music and literature as well.

But the gloves were something she didn't completely understand until now. It wasn't something she inflicted on herself, rather something she was told to wear at an early age, and then it became a habit to always have them on. It became her trademark, no less than the stripe of her hair that grew naturally white.

Back at the party, Cody got knocked out and she stole a part of him when his hand slipped to her bare skin. She felt that it was her who did this. She felt it erupt on her skin like electricity. She remained conscious, so it must be right: she did it when he touched her skin.

"I think I'm starting to get it" she whispered to herself, still looking at the pale skin of her palm. She touched her own face, but didn't feel a thing. Then again, that wouldn't make sense.

Now she figured, maybe Irene and Ally knew she'd need the gloves to protect others from her. Or protect her from having them embroiled in her mind. Whichever it was, the real question is how could either of them possibly know this is going to happen?

She was never this confused before.

Her eyes moved to the red cat again. She reached out with the gloved hand instead and the cat didn't hesitate for long before approaching this time.

Rogue smiled sadly as she stroked its head. "Ya can sense danger, huh, little one? You saw right through me better than I could."

Suddenly the animal turned to look towards the gate. Rogue's eyes followed right after and she saw girl dressed in an odd, fitting suit that included a headpiece holding her bright red hair from her face. She was approaching calmly enough that Rogue didn't decide to instantly run for her life, however she did feel alarmed. The cat on the other hand raised itself before scurrying between the tombstones.

The redhead held her hands behind her back, her voice matching the gentle smile as she greeted her; "Hi."

Rogue had enough of 'meeting' new people for the night, but with everything that happened she wasn't even sure if this girl is actually a stranger. She still struggled to sort out which memories are her own and which are somebody else's, and who knows how many are just fabrications all in all and how many are lost completely.

She didn't feel sure of anything anymore.

"Do… do I know you?" she asked faintly. "My head's a real mess…"

"I can imagine" the redhead said friendly. Her calm, sympathetic mannerism were somewhat soothing, but Rogue couldn't recall being friends with her. "I understand what you're going through."

That was highly doubtful. "Who are you and what do you want from me?" she got up from the ground. She was ready to run for it. She was actually mentally preparing to be chased yet again tonight.

"Don't be afraid of me" the other girl responded. "I'm Jean. I won't hurt you."

"Ah already heard somethin' like that tonight" Rogue frowned slightly. "Then a girl in a custom similar to yours wanted to take me down."

'Jean' seemed to think for a second before she figured what she could be talking about. "Kitty. She's new and apparently a little too feisty for her own good. I apologize for her on behalf of our team."

"A… team?" Rogue asked hesitantly. That german guy mentioned something about that, but everything seemed so… confusing.

"Yes. Everyone on our team are special in their own way. Much like you learned tonight, that you are" Jean responded still sounding as friendly and calm, but at the same time somewhat understanding of the fact that Rogue's got a lot going on in her head and heart right now. "When we find out about these special abilities it's difficult to go through this alone. Hey… We want you to but I won't push on you to join us. But..."

That was something new tonight. A bit of control.

The redhead lifted her hand and at first Rogue jumped a bit, but then she saw a dark, oblong object in her palm. It looked a lot like a thick, boxy pen with a square button on top. "...If you ever want to talk, contact me using this device" the redhead's eyes almost closed as she dropped her hand, however the device hung in the air right where she held it before. It then floated towards Rogue.

The goth shifted back - surprised and definitely not happy to see another strange thing in a row. But maybe this is where the answers were. In the fact that she's not the only one weird snowflake around. Those memories she stole from Cody, maybe it was caused by something that more people have to deal with. And maybe those people will be able to explain it to her.

As the little pen-device hoved in front of her, she cautiously took a hold of it and felt its weight return to rest in her hand.

She looked at it and noticed what looked like a small speaker. Clearly some communication device.

"Must be the latest fashion" she commented in a slightly mocking manner. She didn't have any pockets so instead she slipped the device into her booth and let it hug it against her calf. Maybe she should trust the redhead, at least she wasn't trying to attack her, and wasn't that some progress from tonight's encounters…

"All of us have one of these" said a new voice behind the redhead.

Rogue shifted to look but her eyes widened instantly when she saw the group entering the cemetery. "It's you…" she whispered with fear.

It was the white-haired black woman who tried to electrocute her not so long ago. She was accompanied by some tall boy and a bald man in a wheelchair, but Rogue's eyes didn't even brush over the males as she stared at the woman.

"No. You won't get me!" she felt her throat clench instantly with fear again as she turned to sprint the other way as far and fast as she could.

xXx

At first Scott wanted to follow the new mutant as he called over to her, but the wet ground failed him and he slipped, almost falling to his face. It slowed him down well enough that there wasn't much chance to catch up with the girl.

"I don't understand" Grey said with concern. "Everything was going well until suddenly-"

"She saw me" Ororo said in a lowered voice as she approached closer. Jean looked at her questioning frown on her face. Storm stopped looking to where the goth disappeared out of sight and looked her in the eye. "...For some reason she's afraid of me."

"She seemed exhausted" Scott tried to clean the dirt that got on him during his semi-failed recovery from falling flat. "She couldn't have run too far."

"Nice fall, Summers" Forge said as he entered the cemetery along with others who waited outside after their encounters with Rogue. They didn't want to scare her off since she could already be afraid of everyone who already approached her, but clearly their precautions proved not enough.

Scott decided to ignore the comment and kept his chin proudly up. "Should we follow her, Professor?"

Xavier responded with a nod. "Yes. But it seems Jean has the best chance of approaching her without the girl running away. If possible try not to get involved until we're sure the girl knows we don't mean to harm her."

"Yes, Professor, but we need to find her first. There's plenty of crypts she could use to hide" Jean gestured towards the isles filled with stone constructions.

Charles' eyes briefly swept the surroundings. "We need to split. Don't do anything hasty when you find her."

xXx

~EXTRA SCENES~

Mystique smiled triumphantly when she saw Rogue run away from Xavier's crew. Good, very good. Perhaps they almost got her to trust them for a moment, but ALMOST is a big pit where everything can still happen. She can still as easily take advantage of the situation as she did before, maybe even more so.

Especially since unlike the X-Men, Mystique did see where Rogue went to hide.

xXx

"Can't smell her thanks to the smell of decay" Wolverine grunted.

It was exactly what Professor Xavier expected. He himself couldn't sense her anxious mind due to the amount of stone that was difficult to penetrate even for telepathy. On top of that it was difficult to move his wheelchair through such mudd.

"We'll find her" he assured. He wanted to think positive. They came so close after all, twice. The third time must be the charm, especially since they do learn on their mistakes.

xXx

"This place is, like, so creepy" Kitty flashed the light into a crypt after crypt, trying their doors and peeking in through windows if there were any available.

Kurt responded with a reasonably light tone under these circumstances; "Death is natural" he was doing the exact same thing on the opposite side of the isle - checking every vault that could be entered. A lot of them were broken-into or sported open-door policy so there was plenty of tight spaces to hide.

"It's not about death" Kitty turned away from another construction. "Rather the, you know… dead" she wrapped her arms around herself cautiously keeping an eye on everything.

Kurt met her back on the isle and smiled faintly with a corner of his lip. "You know the saying, it's the living that we should be afraid of."

Pryde averted her gaze and lowered her voice more. "Say what you want, this place still, like, gives me chills."

xXx

Jean used telekinesis not to shift dry branches with her bare hands as it was impossible to otherwise get through this thick bush behind the main cemetery chapel. With the trees and tall grass it was difficult to notice all the cheap gravestones and handmade wooden crosses; she felt a chill every time she realized she stepped into another dent in the ground where earth collapsed over the buried casket.

What a disturbing thought that everyone will end up under other people's feet.

Meanwhile Scott was in front of the chapel and tried to figure out how to go about the search more strategically. The girl could have as well already fled the cemetery, and even if she's still here somewhere, she probably knows the area better than they do so they might as well not be able to find her without a good plan.

xXx

Mystique watched Xavier's kid in front of the chapel, herself disguised as a crow. She didn't want to draw his attention by sneaking past him, but from the height she could see there's a better way to go - a skylight once used to let the smoke out back when public cremations were still a thing. Right now it just led into the back of the chapel.

She landed on the roof and transformed into the goggles guy - Cyclops - before descending into the building with one swift leap. A cloud of dust swirled into air as she dropped down.

She heard Rogue's suppressed yelp of fear.

'Good' she thought. 'Be afraid'.

~END OF EXTRA SCENES~

xXx

Rogue peeked out from behind the stone altar when she heard a sudden 'thud' but seeing one of 'them' she ducked right back. It was the tall guy who came with that electrocuting woman.

"You thought you can escape, huh?" the boy's voice was hateful. She knew she shouldn't have trusted a that stranger girl, apparently she's his associate. "The X-Men never leave things undone" as if to confirm his words he tripped one of the marble candle stands and it loudly shattered on the ground as he approached.

Rogue wanted to withdraw but when it scattered right at her feet she lost her balance and fell back on the stone floor immediately starting to crawl away from the hostile 'X-Man'. He looked ready to kill her.

Which is what made it even scarier when she felt her her back hit another one of those candle stands. Unable to withdraw against it she got up and bursted running towards the exit.

Her heart raised to her throat when she almost crashed against the same boy right outside the entrance. He smiled at her, which she realized must be because he was satisfied with her running straight into what seemed to be his trap, but she pushed him away as hard as she could. Cody's strength still crickled in her muscles allowing her to push him off the stairs.

She waited for nothing and she was almost on her way before he hit the muddy ground below; then she heard what sounded like a shot from his direction. Unhurt but scared that he pulled out some weapon she looked over her shoulder only to see that it's some kind of a laser beam directed not at her but towards a high voltage line above them.

Fried cables sparkled to life and detached from the wooden pole. Rogue knew that with all the rain and puddles it will be nothing close to safe on the ground the second they meet with it. She made a quick decision to duck back into the old chapel and hope that the 'X-Man' will fry on the ground where he is.

But surprised kept coming and before she got to the top of the stairs the redhead from before emerged from the chapel. Back then she seemed okay, but now something spiteful glistened in her eyes.

"I tried, I really did…" she said and her voice confirmed that she's equally hostile to the guy who was struggling on the ground behind her. "But some people just can't be helped!"

Rogue stepped back, and when the redhead started to lift her hand she turned around and sprinted away, jumping past the boy, taking a sharp turn and yet again crashing into the redhead. The slippery ground and shock of seeing her again right where she was running caused her to slip and painfully fall to the ground.

The redhead quickly approached and was about to kneel beside her. "Are you okay? Don't move…" she sounded like she cared.

Rouge had enough of their games. She hated them from the bottom of her stomach for adding up to the confusion she already felt, for causing her to feel trapped time after time. She started to believe there's no running away from them, that they'd be around every corner, chase her until she's too exhausted to put up a fight. And she started to be just so. Too much nerves, too much feet, too much running and confusion. She only had the energy to crawl back anymore.

But there were another boy and the white-haired woman coming from the other direction. She was really trapped.

"You don't need to be afraid" the older one said. "Why are you running away from us, we want to help you…"

She sounded as caring as the redhead and seemed genuinely surprised at Rogue's fear. Good one, like she didn't try to electrocute her at Cody's house.

xXx

Forge fell a couple steps behind Storm and watched Rogue who seemed even more scared than before which made little sense to everyone. Except he vaguely remembered Kurt telling him years ago something about their shape shifting liar of a mother who messed up their first encounter with the girl. Pretty sure that's what happened he still didn't know what to do about it.

Should he blow their cover and try to explain to the scared girl that there's someone setting them up or what? He wished Kurt was here to make the decisions. After all it's his family matters.

He looked around trying to spot Wagner anywhere, but then he heard commotion of the females. Sharply turning his gaze back to them he saw that Storm attempts to reach out to the girl who desperately tried to get away. He analyzed it just in time to see Rogue flaunt her arm and grab the woman's exposed wrist.

Suddenly the air around them crickled with electricity and the two females screamed out at the same moment in shock and pain. His eyes widened at he realized what's going on. The air around them started to get frantic and Rogue seemed to choke on air for a moment before her hold on Ms Monroe broke and the woman was swept backwards as if hit by some invisible force.

His eyes followed her as she dropped unconscious into a deep puddle the size of an 20 ft pool, then his attention - as well as Scott and Jean's - was right back on Rogue whose eyes turned white as she proceeded to lift of the ground by sheer power of intense wind currents.

Dread settled in his guts as he realized that the terrified girl just absorbed Storm's formidable powers, and she was nowhere close to controlling them...

To be continued...