Disclaimer—Don't own any of this stuff.
Chapter 5—Mercenary
Scott was muttering to himself darkly by the time he took a seat between Kurt and Evan. Kitty glanced up from her tray of food and frowned as Scott began stabbing his fork into his meal. The day had gone from bad to worse and he couldn't quite explain why. One suspicion however was that it had everything to do with Rogue, Lance, and the Brotherhood.
"Something wrong, Scott?" she asked after a minute. It wasn't often that their undeclared leader was pissed, so naturally her curiosity was piqued by this sudden transformation. An angry Scott usually meant there was an interesting story behind his anger. Kitty figured that it had something to do with Duncan and Jean like it normally did, or Bobby and Evan had done something zany again—like pull another prank on him.
"No. No, everything's just…peachy," grumbled Scott.
"Lance do something to you?" questioned Kurt inching away from the older teen. There was always the chance that Scott would start blasting optic beams around if he was pissed enough. Everyone at the mansion knew that was how he had ended up at Xavier's in the first place.
"What didn't he do? He's got Rogue wrapped around his little finger. I don't get why she's hanging around with the Brotherhood. We're the good guys—Lance and them are the school bullies!"
Evan rolled his eyes and turned back to his meal. "Does it really matter? Girls always go for the bad guys first, if we wait it out eventually she'll get tired of the bad guys and come looking for the good guys."
"You guys don't get it, do you?" Kitty gave an exasperated sigh before launching into her own opinion on the Rogue. "I think the Professor's right. Rogue is looking out for herself. Lance isn't one to take any bullshit, and if Rogue stays close to him, she's like guaranteed twenty-four-seven protection."
"Are you sure?" gasped Kurt sneaking a look over at the Brotherhood table. "Maybe they're paying her to hang out with them. I mean, she's kinda scary with her powers."
"Hence the reason why the Brotherhood would want to keep her around," agreed Evan.
Kitty shrugged. "Like sure, why not? Lance totally hates our guts. Scott's especially."
Scott scowled. "Great. Next thing you know Rogue's gonna beat the crap out of us to show loyalty to the Brotherhood."
"I'm not too sure about that," said Bobby taking a seat next to Kitty. "Rogue's in my French class…she's pretty nice once you get to know her."
The rest of the table stopped to stare at the blonde haired boy. Of all the zany things to come out of his mouth in the past, this one actually caught the group by surprise.
"What?" he asked.
"You talked with the Rogue?" demanded Kitty.
"Yeah, she's good at French…though, I think she really was laughing when I suggested she tutor me."
Scott shook his head with a small smile forming. "Bobby, if you can break the ice with Rogue, more power to you."
"What the hell does that mean?"
Kurt snorted. "As if you didn't know. Rogue has been labeled as Lance's girl. If he finds out you're flirting with her he just might want to take your head off."
"Or bury you in a landslide," added Evan. "Rogue has no clue you're an X-Man. The only ones she knows are Scott, Jean, Logan, Kurt and Kitty. Once she discovers that you and me are one of them, she's never gonna speak to us again."
Bobby groaned and buried his face in his arms on the table. "Great, first time a drop-dead gorgeous girl takes notice of me and now she's gonna eat me alive…unless Lance gets to me first."
"Like its okay Bobby. I can totally do a eulogy for you later," grinned Kitty patting her friend on the back.
"Ja, we can all add to it," agreed Kurt nodding.
Two tables down, Lance and Pietro were giving Toad a hard time for getting an A+ on his poetry assignment in English.
"An A, huh Toad?" said Lance casually.
"Yeah, I think the teach liked the words I used," replied Toad.
Pietro chuckled. "That or she thought giving you an A+ would make you skip the rest of the week of school. I'm telling you, Toad, you definitely need to take some more showers."
Toad glared at the speedster and look at Rogue imploringly. "You didn't think my poem was bad, didja, Roguey?"
Rogue smiled. "Of course not, sugar. I thought it had real feeling and all that jazz. The teacher knows talent when she sees it."
Lance groaned. "Aw, come on Rogue, don't encourage him. Next thing you know he's gonna start reciting poetry to us when the T.V. is broken."
"Would that really be so bad, Lance? A little culture?" demanded Rogue glaring at the dark haired teen. Lance frowned, but shook his head. He couldn't argue with Rogue no matter how much he disagreed with her. He was afraid that if he pushed her too far she'd stop talking to him, or go off with Summers and his Happy Days gang of morons. Rogue had a mind of her own and had proven that in calculus when she had actually aced the test she had been given. She wasn't dumb by any means, and smart girls like Rogue usually changed their minds about hanging out with guys like Lance before long…and he was in no hurry to move that along, so he kept his mouth shut.
But Pietro couldnt. "Gimme a break, Rogue. You don't have to lie to protect Toad's feelings. If you hate it just say so, trust me, Toad isn't gonna cry over it."
Rogue narrowed her eyes and then pushed Pietro face down into his plate of food. "Don't be such a cocky bastard, Speedy. You don't want to push my buttons," hissed Rogue as Lance and Toad froze in shock. With that Rogue got to her feet and headed back inside the school.
"I think she just snapped," muttered Pietro trying to wipe off his face with a napkin.
Lance grabbed Pietro by the neck and brought him to eye level. "Fuck off, Maximoff. If I see you make another jab like that at Rogue, I swear to God you'll wish you had never been born." Lance dropped Pietro back into his seat before stalking off after Rogue.
Across the lunchroom Pietro heard a laugh that could belong to none other than his archrival, Evan Daniels. "Looks like the new girl got the best of you, huh, Pietro? Didn't she like the moves you made?" called out Evan. Pietro turned to glare and fumed as the entire X-Men team burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, Daniels, you'll get yours. I promise."
Rogue was fuming by the time she reached her locker. Pietro had pissed her off. She generally liked the teen, but couldn't stand the way he treated Toad. So Tolensky was different. So was she. Mutants needed to stick together, not bring each other down. Rogue jumped in surprise as she felt a vibration on her hip. She glanced around to be sure she was alone, before pulling her beeper off her jeans. She pressed the button and frowned at the number. Apparently the mighty leader was giving her a call. Rogue sighed and placed the beeper back on her hip before opening her locker. She grabbed her messenger bag and pulled it over her shoulder. As she shut the door she came face to face with Lance.
"Hey," she acknowledged quietly. Lance simply nodded.
They stood in silence for a minute before Lance spoke up. "I threatened to kick Pietro's ass if he acted like a prick again."
Rogue gave a small giggle and leaned against her locker. "I don't think Speedy can live life without being an asshole," she murmured.
Lance sighed. "Rogue, I'm not very good at apologizing for anything, especially when it's not my fault. I just…I want you to feel like you belong with us, you know? You're great; you're not one to take anything lying down. Don't let Maximoff get to you. He likes to piss people off."
"You don't need to apologize, Lance. I'm just tired today. That and I don't think it's fair the way you guys treat Toad."
"I promise to stop." Lance gave Rogue a pleading look, and grinned in triumph when she smiled back at him.
"You boys are gonna be the death of me," she chuckled.
"As long as you don't leave us, Roguey."
"I think I'll be sticking around for a while." Rogue looked away from Lance's gaze and focused her attention on the locker across from her. "Hey, Lance? Is Mystique a real stickler for attendance? I have something I want to do, but I can't wait for school to get out."
"Naw, she hasn't yelled at me for all the times I ditched. Do you need a ride?"
Rogue smiled at Lance's offer but shook her head. "I'll be okay. Just' something I want to do on my own. I'll see y'all back at the house, alright?"
Lance nodded. Rogue gave him a reassuring smile, and squeeze of the shoulder before heading towards the school entrance. Lance leaned back against Rogue's locker as he watched her go. He was definitely hooked on his new housemate, and he had a feeling it was only going to get him a shitload of trouble down the road.
Rogue took the steps two at a time as she hastened her pace. She jogged across the street to the nearest pay phone and pulled out some loose change. She grabbed her beeper and quickly punched the given number into the pay phone. The phone rang once before a voice came on the other line.
"I need you to find someone for me," said Eric calmly. Rogue snorted.
"What, you can't find the guy on your own?" she mocked.
"He doesn't trust me, Rogue. His name is Caliban; he's part of an outcast group of mutants known as the Morlocks. Caliban has the ability to sense other mutants. I want you to ask him if he knows of any new mutants in Bayville. I need a new recruit soon."
Rogue frowned as she shifted the phone from one ear to the other. "That's it?" she asked. "You just want me to drill some mutant to find you another member for the Brotherhood?"
"I want you to enlist Caliban to your aid. Get him to work with you, for you—I don't particularly care which. Ensure that if any new mutants hit Bayville you will be the first to know."
"Sounds like a piece of cake, Mags," muttered Rogue dryly.
"I'm fairly sure you can be persuasive to a degree. Don't let him say no. We need this mutant, Rogue," warned Magneto darkly.
"Yeah, yeah. So, where do I find this guy?"
"He'll be hiding in the sewers. You shouldn't have any trouble with that. He's a pale, fragile looking man. He'll most likely come to you to keep you away from their hideout. I'll be in touch."
"The sewers? Are you crazy?" shrieked Rogue. She cursed when the dial tone buzzed in her ear, indicating Magneto had hung up on her. Rogue slammed the receiver back onto its cradle and kicked the bottom of the pay phone in anger. This wasn't how she wanted to spend the remainder of her day.
The Sewers:
Rogue looked around carefully as she entered a dark alley. She crossed her fingers and knelt down by the manhole. With baited breath Rogue pulled the manhole open and peered down into the darkness below.
"Mags is gonna pay for this one," she muttered to herself as she placed her feet on the ladder going down into the sewers. Once she was part way down, Rogue reached for the manhole cover and pulled it shut again. There was no point in letting people get suspicious about an open manhole.
As Rogue descended the last few rungs of the ladder she noticed a light headed her way. She stiffened her muscles as she waited in anticipation for the light to meet her. Within minutes Rogue was shielding her eyes from the flare of a lantern and the man holding it. He was a deathly white color, with the bluest of blue eyes. His entire appearance seemed gaunt and ill. After studying him, Rogue concluded that this was the man she was supposed to meet. This was Caliban.
"Caliban?" she asked. The man gave a small nod. He stared at the teen girl before him and then set the lantern on the ground. Caliban took a seat and waited for the teen to join him. He watched as the mutant known as Rogue eyed the floor with disgust before sitting cross legged in front of him.
Caliban gave a hoarse chuckle. "You are very much like your mother, Rogue."
Rogue froze. "You know who I am? And you knew my mother?"
"Yes. There isn't much I don't know. I live in the sewers, Rogue. Secrets from the topside drift down here more often than not."
"Then you must have a clue why I'm here," replied Rogue edgily. She didn't trust the man sitting before her. Anyone that could discern what she was about to say or do wasn't high on her list of people to trust without question.
"I suppose you are here to ask about your birth parents. I knew them well, your mother especially. She spent some time with us Morlocks before you were born. But who told you to come here, Rogue? Who sent you to question me?"
Rogue cocked her head as she considered what to tell the mutant before her. It seemed he didn't know everything about her just yet. That was good. In the end she decided to lie. There wasn't any reason to let people know her allegiances right away, even if she still wasn't one hundred percent certain about them herself. "I came for my own reasons. I'm curious to know why you're so special. They say you can sense another mutant. Is that how you knew I was here?"
Caliban nodded sagely. He could play along with Rogue if that's what she wanted. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to know who she was working for and why. Too many mutants had been harmed when it came to choosing one side over the other. If Rogue wanted to pretend she was on her own, then so be it.
"Then impress me, Caliban. How many mutants are hiding out in Bayville, how many that no one knows about yet?"
"So that is your game, Rogue? A mercenary for evil?"
Rogue didn't think twice as she grabbed Caliban by the shirt and pulled him close to her. Magneto had said to be persuasive, but she didn't think that would work with Caliban so well, but perhaps fear would. "Don't mess with me, Morlock. I'm not in a good mood today. If I hear you told anyone about my business associations, then you and me will have to get better acquainted, and I'm sure you don't want to be at the mercy of human scientists, do you?" challenged Rogue in a harsh whisper. Caliban gulped and shook his head. Rogue pursed her lips and let the other mutant go.
Caliban got to his feet and watched in fear as Rogue did the same. "You shouldn't have sold your soul to the devil," hissed Caliban wringing his hands together.
Rogue simply shrugged. "What I do with my life is my business. Now," here Rogue eyed Caliban with an evil glare, "let's get something straight, shall we? You work for meh. I expect to be informed the second a new mutant comes to Bayville, understand?"
Caliban eyed Rogue warily, but nodded in agreement. He no longer had a choice in the matter. He had gone too far with the Rogue, and how he was a pawn in a higher and darker game. But it was his choice to do so. He could easily disappear into the sewers and never be heard from again, but he couldn't let this child in front of him go it alone when it came to working for someone as dark as Magneto. She needed protection, and he was the only one who could keep an eye on her for the time being. "I will be in touch then, Rogue."
"Not so fast, Morlock. What do you know about my parents?"
"I…I don't know much. Your mother was here before you were born, and then she left. A year later she returned…but you weren't with her. I knew she had been pregnant. I also knew you'd be relatively normal for the first half of your life. But, your mother didn't believe much of what I had to say. She trusted another mutant with her heart and soul. A mutant by the name of Destiny. Destiny has the ability to see into the future. Your mother wanted to believe you were normal, that you had a chance at a normal life. That's why she gave you up. I told her it was a mistake. But given the choice between a seer and a seeker, who would you trust?" replied Caliban with a sigh.
"Who is she? My mother."
Caliban shook his head, his eyes widening. "Your mother knows where to find me, Rogue. She'd kill me and my people down here if I disclosed her identity to you. Believe me, I want to tell you. But if I did either she or Destiny would come and tear me apart. I am sorry."
Rogue rolled her eyes at the humble pleadings. She wouldn't push him, though she wanted to. "Keep in touch then."
"Of course." Caliban watched in silence as Rogue deftly climbed back up to the surface. He shrank back from the light of day and only picked up his lantern once Rogue had closed the manhole shut again. He gave a deep sigh as he headed back down the sewers. Life had just taken a turn for the worse.
Up on the surface Rogue leaned against the brick wall of the alley way. So her mother held power over Caliban too. Like mother, like daughter, thought Rogue to herself. Now all she had to do was wait for word from Caliban. In the meantime, Rogue was going to dig up a little dirt on the mutant called Destiny. If she could see the future, then maybe she could shed some light on the past. Or at least Rogue's past. And Destiny would do it, even if Rogue had to use her powers to get her way.
A/N—As of June 2, 2007, Chapter 5: Mercenary has been revised.