August 8, 1992

"Something wrong?"

Rogue turned away from the window. Max was standing in the doorway, his head cocked slightly. He looked a little like Scott when he did that. Sometimes she thought he looked like someone else though, and it sent shivers up her spine.

She had learned to dismiss the feeling. Max would never hurt her: he was a friend. She had only known him for a few days, but the similarities in their mutations meant that he was easy to get close to. Beyond that he was talkative and willing to share.

It wasn't romantic though. Max was kind, but he was two years younger than her. While it wasn't a big age difference, she didn't feel that way towards him. Rogue knew that he wasn't interested in her either: she wasn't sure how. They could commiserate and support each other, but not like that.

She just wished that Bobby would understand that. He had immediately looked at Max with suspicion, and she wished that he would stop. They weren't even dating yet and he was already acting like they were.

She blinked and realized that Max was still waiting for her.

"Logan left today," she said, her voice blank.

Max nodded and walked next to her.

"You were close, right?" he asked.

"Not really," she said, "Ah, ah suppose that ah didn't know him that well..."

"But that doesn't really matter, does it?" Max said.

He grinned at her.

"I heard some stories," he said, "It sounds like he cared about you."

Rogue tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"Ah hope so," she said, "He feels like family."

Max nodded again and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"He'll come back," he said.

"Maybe," Rogue said.

"No, he will," Max said, "Either that or my uncle will track him down."

"Why?" Rogue said.

"Why else?" Max said, "He stole his bike."

Rogue laughed. Max grinned and crossed his arms.

"His favorite one too," he said, "Give it a few weeks at most. My uncle's patience can wear thin pretty fast."

She laughed again.

"Of course, if it was my dad then he'd already be out after him," Max said, "My dad doesn't like anyone touching his bikes, and I think my uncle got all the patience in the family."

"Are they that different?" Rogue asked.

"Kind of," Max said, "I think that my uncle is a bit more by-the-book then my father."

"Did he go ta school here too?" Rogue asked.

"Yep, him and my mom," Max said, "She's like me."

"She is?" Rogue asked, surprised, "Then...how did she...?"

Max looked at her in confusion for a minute before he smacked his forehead.

"She can control metal too. That's all," he said, "The skin thing is kind of unique to me."

"Ah see," Rogue said.

"I kind of wish that I took after my father when it came to mutations," Max said, "But...I can't really control that I guess."

He glanced down at his gloved hands. Rogue straightened her own gloves.

"How are your exercises coming?" he asked.

"Not bad," Rogue said, "Ah think they're relaxin, but I don't think that they're helpin."

"Well, the Professor's helped a lot of people," Max said, "I guess we're just going to have to trust him on this, as difficult as it is."

He curled and uncurled his hands.

"More than anything," he said, his voice soft, "I just want this to go away."

"Ah know," Rogue said.

"I know you do," Max said.

He let his hands hang by his side. He glanced around to make sure that they were alone before speaking again.

"My dad always counseled discipline when it came to this sort of thing," he said, "He taught me some self-defense, things like that. My mom did too. They were both X-men."

The pride in his voice was unmistakable. Rogue smiled. It sounded like it was something to be proud of. She remembered the times when she'd been saved by the X-men in Canada in New York. They were people to look up to and admire.

"They were?" she asked.

"Yeah," Max said, "And my dad was the leader before Scott."

Rogue's eyes widened and Max laughed. He looked out the window.

"He started when he was about my age," Max said, "And...just thinking about that responsibility...it makes me want to try harder to beat this."

Rogue nodded. She wondered what it must be like to have a legacy like that behind him, and to not be able to do anything because of his mutation. She was glad that he was sharing with her. Once more it was easy to get close to him.

"And ya mama?" Rogue asked.

For the first time since she met him, Max hesitated.

"She made her debut in the Brotherhood when she was eighteen," he said.

Rogue's eyes widened. He looked over at her and narrowed his eyes in defiance.

"They saved her life when she was a little girl," he said, "They indoctrinated her and trained her and told her that they were doing the right thing."

His voice was defensive. Rogue chose her words carefully.

"Ya said she was an X-man," she said.

"She figured out that they were liars when she was in her twenties and broke away," Max said, "She still wanted to fight for the cause though, so she joined the X-men. They didn't trust her at first, but my dad vouched for her. They'd had to work together on the field, and he knew she was honest when she wanted to join."

"They worked together?" Rogue asked, confused.

"Sometimes the X-men have to work with the Brotherhood," Max said, "It's an unholy alliance, but sometimes there isn't much of a choice. But she learned something from those experiences, learned who the good guys really were."

Rogue paused. She knew Max was waiting for her to speak.

"Ah think somethin like that takes courage," she said, "Standin up ta the people that raised ya."

"Right," Max said.

He seemed relieved. Rogue gestured for Max to continue.

"They fell in love, got married, had me, and after a while my dad handed the reigns over to Scott," he said, "We live in Alaska now."

He shrugged slightly.

"My parents are still up there, along with my little sister," he said.

His voice became quiet.

"Is she alrigh?" Rogue asked.

"They say she's getting better," Max said, "I hope she's okay."

"The boy ah put in a coma woke up," Rogue said, her voice cheerful.

Max smiled at her.

"I hope they can visit soon, or I can go up there," Max said, "I miss them."

Rogue thought of her own family, the people who had looked at her with disgust after they had learned what she had done. Max looked over at her and frowned.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

She bit her lip. She hadn't told him about her family yet. She had only told Logan, and only in passing. The wound was still raw. Max had been very honest with her though, and she wondered if she should return the favor.

A second later she heard a crash from the hallway. Max jerked his head towards the door, his ponytail swaying behind him. He walked up to the door, Rogue behind him. They looked down the hall just in time to see John hit the floor and slide towards them.

Rogue had only seen John a few times. He was Bobby's friend, not hers. He looked angry though and got to his feet, wiping the blood from his lip.

"So mebbe that'll teach yah ta keep ya mouth shut."

She looked to the end of the hallway. A boy was standing there, his red and black eyes all but glowing. His hair fell in messy brown clumps around his face. He walked casually towards John, flipping a deck of cards from one hand to another.

"Unless, o course, ya wanna try again," he said.

John got to his feet. The boy watched in amusement as John began to walk away, flicking his lighter on and off. Next to her she felt Max relax and Rogue looked between the two boys. What had happened?

John turned on his heel quickly and sent a ball of fire towards the boy. Rogue stepped back as the boy nimbly dodged it. It hit the carpet and the flames started to grow. She saw Max gape at it before he ran for a nearby fire extinguisher.

"Are you both insane?" he asked.

The boy laughed and absently flicked a card at John. Rogue saw that it was glowing before it landed on John's chest. There was a small explosion and John was knocked back. He almost hit Max as Max pulled the fire extinguisher out of the wall.

Max looked at him for a moment before running over to the fire. He pointed the nozzle at it and began to put it out. Rogue watched as John got to his feet and the boy began flicking the cards between his hands again.

"Got somethin ta say?" he asked.

There was a flash of black smoke between the two of them. For a minute Rogue thought that the fire had somehow gotten out of control. However, when the smoke cleared she saw a blue mutant with pointed ears. His tail swished on the ground and he held up two three-fingered hands towards John and the boy.

"Both of you, stop!"

John looked taken aback at the new mutant's presence, but the boy just sighed.

"Kurt, why can't ya just let tings take deir course?"

"Because I don't want you to burn down the Institute!" Kurt said.

The boy snorted.

"Fine," he said.

Kurt looked at Max, who threw the fire extinguisher to the side.

"Everything alright?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Max said.

The boy rolled his eyes and shook his head. He stopped shaking his head abruptly. Rogue felt his eyes one her, saw a strange kind of curiosity in them.

"An who might ya be?" he asked.

She immediately drew back. The boy frowned.

"Sometin wrong?" he asked.

"What the- what happened here?"

From the other end of the hall Scott walked in, his hands clenched into fists. He took a deep breath.

"You know what, on second thought, we'll save it for the Professor's office," he said.

Scott turned to Max.

"Quick thinking on your part with the fire extinguisher," he said.

Max grinned as Scott turned around to glare at the boy.

"You should know better," he said, "You weren't taught how to fight to do stupid things like this! John's younger than you!"

"And stupider," the boy snorted.

Rogue couldn't help but chuckle. She tried to hide it behind her hand, but the boy saw it and winked. John got up, his eyes flashing. He flicked the lid off the lighter again, but Scott pointed at him.

"Don't even think about it," he said.

He gestured with his hand.

"Both of you, come with me," he said.

John shoved his hands into his pockets. The boy sighed and put the cards in his pockets. He winked at Rogue again.

"See ya round chere," he said.

He nodded his head to Kurt before he and John disappeared around the corner, following Scott. Kurt rubbed his temples.

"Hang tight Max," he said, "I'll go get some cleaning supplies."

"Sure thing," Max said.

There was another flash of black smoke and Kurt disappeared. Rogue leaned against the door frame before she found her tongue.

"Who were they?" she asked.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Max said.

She gestured with her hand.

"Well, the blue one," she said.

"Well, the blue one's Kurt Xavier," Max said, "He's the Professor's younger son."

Rogue's eyes widened.

"He has sons?" she asked.

"Two. And a wife," Max said, "The sons are usually away at school though, and his wife just got back from a conference."

Rogue digested the information for a moment. She bit her lip before asking her other question.

"An the one with the black an red eyes?" she asked.

"Him?" Max asked.

He shook his head dismissively.

"That's Remy," he said.