Chapter Nine:


The next morning Rogue woke up feeling better than she had in weeks. Her body didn't ache any longer, except for the emptiness in her heart where Scott and the others had been, and she found she was actually hungry for once.

When Carol realized that she was actually going to go downstairs and eat, she practically had a heart attack. About time! she cried. You probably weigh less than a hundred pounds now!

Ah barely weighed that t' begin with, Rogue pointed out as she yawned.

Shuffling through her memories, Carol raised an eyebrow. Huh, you really did. Geez, didn't they feed you all at that mansion of yours?

Rogue winced slightly at the mention of the mansion, but she forced herself to move past that sorrow. High metabolism, she explained as she rolled out of bed and made her way over to the closet to find something suitable to wear. Ah don't gain much weight.

I hate you, Carol muttered.

Ah gathered that, thank ya, Rogue remarked, turning to go towards her bathroom. She stopped, though, when she caught sight of something by the door. Frowning, she walked over and picked up the little red and orange flower from the floor.

"What's this?" she wondered aloud, reaching for the tag attached to the stem by a piece of string. Opening it, she found a little message scribbled neatly in French. Guess Ah should be glad Ah took French in school, 'stead of Spanish like the rest o' the X-men, right?

See? Carol asked after Rogue had mentally translated the note. Even the Acolytes think you need to eat!

He didn't say that, Rogue replied. He said that the others were poor company in the mornin' an' it would be nice t' have a pretty face t' look at for once.

So why did he ask you down, then? Carol sneered.

Rogue rolled her eyes and didn't reply as she headed for the door.

Wait! Carol cried.

Rogue stopped. What? she asked, annoyed.

You're going to go downstairs in that? Carol demanded, referring to the gray pajama pants and matching long-sleeved shirt that Rogue was wearing. The shirt was a little big on her, and she'd had to tie the drawstring on the pants as tight as it would go, but she figured they would do for now.

Why not? she retorted.

Now I know how your friend the cat girl felt, Carol muttered.

Kitty, Rogue corrected sharply. Her name is Kitty.

Whatever, Carol said, rolling her eyes. Look, at least take a peek at the clothes they gave you, alright? Maybe you'll find something better to wear than pajamas.

From the disdainful tone she spoke with, Rogue knew she hated the idea of going downstairs in the clothes she'd slept in. Oh God, she groaned. You're one of those girls, aren't you? But she went over to the closet and opened the door, anyway, kneeling down beside the neatly folded pile of clothing. Happy, now? she muttered.

Not really, Carol replied bitterly. I'm stuck here with you.

Don't worry none, Rogue replied. The feelin' is completely mutual.

Rifling through the clothes Harmony had given her, Rogue groaned. None of them were going to be her size, it seemed. And most of them were pink or purple, two colors that Rogue would rather die than be caught dead in unless there was no other choice.

For once I agree with you, Carol said. Hey, what about that one? That pair of black pants under the frilly sweater?

Lifting them up, Rogue frowned. Too big, she announced, checking the tag. It's a three. Ah need a one.

I hate you, Carol moaned again. Maybe there's a belt in there somewhere? That red tank top would look good with black pants.

Uh, no thanks, Rogue said. Ah think Ah'll stick with the pajamas Ah have on fo' now. Long sleeves an' all.

Carol paused, and Rogue could see the wheels turning in her mind as she realized why Rogue would do that. Right, she said coolly, a slight sneer to her tone. Wouldn't want to absorb anyone else, now would you? After all, three's a crowd, right?

Ah dunno, Rogue muttered. But two sure as hell ain't company.

She shoved the clothes back into the closet and shut the door, then headed out of the room, pausing at the mirror over her dresser to glance at her appearance and make sure that she looked somewhat presentable.

No makeup, she thought grimly. She smirked to herself. Ah wonder if Ah could get Magneto t' go t' the store an' get me some. She grinned at the absurdity of that thought, and chuckled at the mental image of the Master of Magnetism getting lost on the makeup aisle.

She stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door behind her. She spared the hall a curious and appraising glance, and found it surprisingly clean for a household containing several teenage boys. Ah'd hate t' see the condition their rooms are in, she snickered to herself, recalling how messy the boys at the Institute had kept their bedrooms.

She walked quietly down the hall to the top of the stairs, taking a deep breath. She could do this, it was just breakfast. True, it was breakfast with a group of people she barely knew, who were technically the enemy, but she could handle it, right?

A noise from down the side corridor caught her attention and she turned to peer through the crack in the door. Hank was there, talking to Magneto and Harmony. No, not talking. More like arguing.

She frowned, going absolutely still so she could hear what they were talking about.

"-has a right to know, Magneto!" Hank's voice cried.

"Indeed," Magneto agreed. "But now is not the time for such things to be revealed. Later, when things have settled, it will be time."

"I think now is the perfect time," Hank growled.

"You're wrong, Hank," Harmony said. "It's too soon. News like this could be rather traumatic, don't you think? It's too soon to unload something like this on someone so young."

Hank sighed. "I simply cannot believe that we did not see this before. We have blood samples for every student at the Institute on file. I can't believe we never noticed the similarities before."

Blood sample? Hadn't Hank taken a blood sample while she was in the med-room? Rogue swallowed. What were they talking about? Did it have something to do with her?

"You weren't looking for them, that is why," Magneto replied. "Charles had no reason to compare them, neither did I. It was mere chance that Harmony mixed up the samples and had to scan for a match in the computer. If she hadn't, we may have never known."

Rogue wanted to scream in frustration. Never known what?

"I must say," Hank said. "I am quite shocked she never acted on this bit of information. She most certainly knew. One would think she would have at least told her, as she told the boy."

"Raven is a unique woman," Magneto replied. "One cannot say why she does the things she does. Or why she does not do the things she does not do."

"I suppose you're right," Hank said with a sigh. "Although I feel bad that we are keeping this from her. She has a right to know. And she won't be happy when she finds out we didn't tell her."

"She will deal with it."

"You don't know-"

Footsteps drowned out the rest of Hank's sentence, and Rogue hurriedly moved back to the top of the steps just as the door opened and Harmony stepped out. The woman's eyes widened in surprise, but she covered it well, carefully shutting the door behind her as quickly as possible. "Hello, Rogue," she said with a small, guilty smile. "It's good to see you up and about at last."

"Ah was hungry," Rogue muttered.

"The boys are downstairs eating now," Harmony told her. "I'm sure there's still food left. If you hurry down, they might even share," she added with a wink before moving down the hall.

Rogue watched her go, then started down the steps, glancing one last time back at the room where Hank and Magneto were talking before disappearing under the alcove of the stairwell. As she drew nearer to the base of the stairs, male voices drifted up to her ears, and she couldn't help smiling at what she heard.

"Hey!" Remy cried. "Non! Stop dat! De rest o' us gotta eat, too, mon ami!"

"Fred, lay off, will ya?" Evan pleaded. "That's your fourth doughnut already!"

"I'm a growing boy," Fred's voice, not surprisingly muffled by food, came back. "I gotta eat."

"Dat's jus' fine," Remy said. "But save some fo' de rest o' us!"

"Yeah, mate," Pyro snickered. "Not all of us can survive without food, unlike the sheila upstairs. The rest of us need to eat."

Rogue smirked slightly. He was going to be surprised to see her come down for breakfast, wasn't he?

"Remy got a feelin' de petite belle gon' come down t'day anyway," Remy replied. "So at least save some fo' her, okay, Freddie? Girl need t' eat."

"She hasn't touched anything we've sent up to her, Gambit," Pyro pointed out. "What makes you think she's going to come down for breakfast?"

Rogue reached the bottom of the steps just in time to hear Remy chuckle. "Let's jus' say dat Remy got a feelin' 'bout dis, mon ami."

Rogue glanced around the kitchen appraisingly, and was pleased to find it was actually fairly clean, though much smaller than the kitchen at the mansion. The boys were all spread out around the room, munching on doughnuts and other breakfast foods. Colossus was sitting upright in a straight-backed chair at the table, solemn and quiet as he ate his cereal. Pyro was sitting on the counter, facing the small color television and watching cartoons. Fred was seated in one of the large, plush armchairs that had been dragged in for him, and as he wolfed down another doughnut, Rogue wondered how long it would be till the chair broke under him.

There was no sign of Pietro, and for that she was grateful. She didn't think she could deal with him yet. There was also no sign of Sabertooth, which was even better, because she hated dealing with him period.

Evan was eating a pop tart at the end of the table, dressed in a navy shirt and pajama pants that one of the boys must have loaned him. They were all still in their sleep clothes, so Rogue didn't feel embarrassed to be in hers, but she was curious where they managed to find some to fit Fred.

It was Remy who her eyes instinctively sought out, though, and she could have kicked herself for it, especially since at that moment he turned to favor her with a broad grin, somehow knowing she was there.

"Bonjour, p'tite," he drawled. "Glad t' see you decided t' grace us wit' yo' presence."

The others all looked up in surprise.

Rogue blushed slightly and wordlessly took the seat Remy gestured to next to him. He slid a mug of steaming coffee over to her with a wink. She took a sip and cringed. "Needs more sugar," she told him.

Remy chuckled and got up to go find some.

The others continued to stare at her in surprise. "What?" she demanded, giving them her infamous glare. "None o' y'all ever see a girl in her pjs before o' somethin'?!"

As she knew they would, they all hurriedly turned away, looking back to their food.

"Pass de girl a doughnut, Freddie-boy," Remy ordered as he returned to the table with a package of sweetener. He tore it open and was about to dump it into her cup when Fred stopped him.

"Uh uh," Fred warned. "She doesn't like the fake sugar. Give her that and she'll be cranky all day."

Rogue groaned. "Thank ya, Fred. Ya make me sound like the Wicked Witch o' the West."

"I thought that was the Good Witch of the West," Pyro said.

"No, the good witch was the South Witch," Evan corrected, taking a gulp of his milk. Rogue smiled faintly, relieved to see that Magneto had apparently known that he needed to drink a lot of milk on a daily basis due to his mutation.

"I think it was the East," Fred mumbled as he held out the box of doughnuts to Rogue. She silently took one of the two remaining jelly-filled ones and put it on the plate Remy had slid in front of her.

"Y'all are all wrong," she said, shaking her head. "The Wicked Witch o' the East was killed when Dorothy dropped a house on her. The Wicked Witch o' the West was her sister, the one with the green skin. Glinda was the Good Witch of the North." She groaned, shaking her head. "An' Ah can't believe Ah know all that. Ah swear, Ah'm goin' t' kill Kurt for makin' me watch the Wizard o' Oz with him so many times."

"He was a little obsessed with that movie, wasn't he?" Evan smiled. He shook his head. "Man, he woke me up at like four in the morning one night shrieking about flying monkeys outside the window."

Rogue chuckled softly. "That was the night Kitty and Ah decided to get our revenge on him for that stupid li'l shaving cream stunt he and Bobby pulled. We got Jean t' use her TK t' levitate Rhane outside o' the window in the monkey costume. If ya think Kurt was scared, ya should have seen the look on Bobby's face. Had him screamin' like a girl."

For a moment the boys stared at her in disbelief, then burst into laughter. "De femme got a wicked streak, non?" Remy mused as he poured sugar-real sugar this time-into her coffee.

"You have no idea," Evan replied with a groan. He grinned up at her over the rim of his milk glass. "She can be downright evil sometimes, man. Spends way too much time around Logan. He's been a bad influence."

Rogue just grinned.

Translations:

mon ami- my friend

petite belle- little beauty

femme- woman