AN: Sorry about the wait! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it took me forever to write it. Enjoy
Logan woke up the next morning like he always did, at quarter to 4 in the morning. He liked to be the first one awake in the mornings and the last one to bed, that way he knew that everything was okay- nothing was wrong with his home. Walking- more like stalking- his way down the stairs he smelt coffee. Someone was awake before him.
Standing in the kitchen, like she'd never left, was Rogue, she had an apron wrapped around her tiny waist. Her hair was all up in a messy pony, a giant mass of curls. Obviously she didn't take the time to straighten it yet.
"Mornin' Logan," Rogue said without turning around, she just continued to cook whatever she was cooking for breakfast.
"Darlin'," Logan grunted. It was then that Rogue finally turned holding a plate with Spanish eggs- the exact type that Logan loved. "What are you doing awake?"
"I never lost you Logan." Rogue smiled, it was an angelic smile that caused her emerald eyes to twinkle sweetly.
"What do you mean by that?" Logan asked taking the plate from her to the table where she'd already set for the two of them. She'd obviously anticipated him joining her.
"I got you, and others, rolling around in my skull telling me what to do. Most of the time I try my best to ignore them- but never you, whenever you tell me something I listen, or at least now I do." Rogue answered cryptically, cleaning the dishes not once looking at him as she effectively told him she was schizophrenic due to her powers.
Before Logan could respond, Sean Cassidy entered the kitchen. "Anna, here you are. Do you know how worried I was when I woke up and you were gone."
"Sorry, Banshee, but I had to get up. Psych kept having this feeling." Rogue said as Sean made his way over to her side to give her a quick hug.
Jamie Marddox slowly opened his eyes. He felt like there was something he should remember about yesterday. But right now he was too hungry to try and figure it out. He quickly got dressed in a plain pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, and ran downstairs. When he entered the room he noticed that everyone else was already eating their breakfast. Jamie was always late for everything. There was one chair open and Jamie quickly ran to go get it, but he slipped and fell to the ground activating his powers. Suddenly there were three identical Jamie's sitting on the floor.
While everyone was laughing at him, Jamie noticed one of the newer mutants walk toward him. She looked crossly at the other mutants in the room. "Hey Sugar, it looks like there aren't enough chairs for all of you in here. How's about you follow me to the kitchen and we can have a nice breakfast there."
Every one of the students who had been laughing at him before now stared as the beautiful woman lead the three Jamie's into the kitchen.
"Damn," John muttered to Bobby Drake his best friend at the mansion. "How did the midget get the Goddess?"
"Um, it might be because we were laughing at him." Bobby responded reaching for some more cereal.
"So, sweetie, I'm Rogue," Rogue said as she put the apron back on. "What do ya want for breakfast?"
"I'm Jamie. You don't have to make me anything. It's not like laughing at me is a new occurrence." Jamie said as he watched the Southern Belle walked around looking for food. He noticed that the very front of her hair was pure white, just like Storms, but the rest was a dark brown and was wildly curly. The woman continued to prepare some more food for the young teenager. "You don't look like an Angel of Death to me."
Rogue turned slightly to see the younger mutant as he started to eat the pancakes she had made for him. She just smiled as him.
Jamie noticed Rogue tilt her head slightly to the side and her eyes slightly unfocused. "Oh, I love this song!"
"Um, there's no radio on…" Jamie said watching the woman now more carefully.
"I know that sugar, but I can hear all the frequencies, and sometimes I forget others can't." Rogue said smiling softly at him, "Don't worry, I may not be 100 percent any more, but I'm not crazy."
"Oh… What is your power?" Jamie asked, some mutants felt like this question was like asking a woman how old she is and not done. But Jamie really wanted to know.
"I've got many; I spent a few years in a FOH lab…" Jamie noticed her eyes started to water before she started speaking again, "But my natural power is absorption. Hey do you know where a piano is? I feel like playing."
Jamie nodded and led the woman to the music room.
Rogue followed Jamie into the music room and went straight to the piano. She'd played a little as a child, but it was really Nymph who was the concert pianist. It was one of the few things she didn't hate from her time in the Labs. The boy leading her around appeared to be thirteen, with thick brown hair and curious blue eyes. He reminded her of her son Joel. Not my son, I don't have a son… do I?
Sometime having multiple personalities in your head can have its problems.
"Here we are," Jamie said entering a room filled with various musical instruments. But what Rogue cared about was the white baby grand piano situated in the back corner of the room. "I don't think you should play the piano, its Storms and she's very protective of it."
"Don't you worry sugar, if Storm comes in, blame it on me." Rogue responded smiling at the young boy taking a seat on the matching bench.
The institute was filled with the sounds of Billie Joel's Root Beer Rag.
"Hey, you got a tattoo!" Jamie exclaimed, looking at the black bar code at the base of her skull completely in awe of it, but Rogue stopped playing the piano and looked at the teenager.
"Yeah, you know what it means?" Rogue answered. Her tone was particular; it wasn't something you'd expect from a 20 year old girl, who looked like she was enjoying life, but to a war vet, maybe even a war prisoner. She sounded dejected. Jamie just nodded, he didn't want to push his luck and make her mad at him. "It's a special tattoo. Very few mutants ever receive it. But it's not a good one. The FOH gave it to me one week after my capture when they figured out what I could do. My number do you see it?" Jamie nodded. "5425. That was my name for the three years I was there. For a while, it's what I believed I was called. Those three years, Jamie, I wouldn't wish on the worst person on Earth. The things they made me do, it was not a cake walk. So many people died because of me…"
"You know, you don't have to tell me this if you don't want to." Jamie said watching as one tear slipped from the corner of her left eye.
"Yes, I do." Rogue answered. "You have to know, if you wish to be my friend. You have to know what I've done. You called me the Angel of Death. I am. I can kill you with one touch, one simple twenty second touch. Something you do everyday and don't think twice about. In those three years, I touched over 75 people, most died. You know how earlier I told you I wasn't 100 there any more? I have them floating around in my mind. It's not pretty."
Jamie just looked at her. It appeared as though the thirteen year old was thinking over what Rogue had told him. "That's okay, your still my friend. You're the only one not to laugh at my accidental clones. You can't shake me now."
