Please Enjoy
Chapter 18 of
Taunting Repartee RM'd
Spread Your Wings
Rogue woke the next morning, a little groggy, but still bright eyed with anticipation. She glanced at the clock and saw it was only 5:39a. Her alarm had been set for 5:45am. She reached over to deactivate the alarm before pulling the covers off of herself. The extra six minutes meant she could linger in the shower, before grabbing some coffee and reporting to the Danger Room. The real question was, would the Professor give her command of the team today? It may be on the itinerary, but not necessarily for this morning.
Either way, Rogue walked over to the dresser to retrieve fresh undergarments and blinked as she saw a pen resting on top of the piece of furniture. She hadn't placed that there.
'Erik must've,' she reasoned as she picked up the pen and fiddled with it between her fingers. 'But why?' she asked herself.
She felt her eyes widened as she dropped the pen back on the dresser and reached down for the bottom drawer. She pulled at the drawer and found, once again, that it would not budge.
'This thing opens,' she realized as she stood back up and glanced at the pen. 'I don't got time to figure it out right now. Not if I wanna enjoy my shower,' she thought as she reached down to grab what she needed. 'Ain't like I got any use for-' she thought before pausing. 'What's he got in there anyhow?' she asked herself.
She felt her face blush wildly.
Nope, she had no business in that drawer at that moment. What she needed was a nice long calming shower and a large cup of coffee. Especially after a lack of sleep the night before.
Besides, she needed to focus on the Danger Room session.
'Make me proud,' his voice rang in her head.
'Ah will,' she thought with conviction.
A short while later, Rogue walked out of the elevator toward the Danger Room's control center, with a disposable cup, filled with coffee, French vanilla creamer and several generous scoops of sugar. She had already scarfed down a muffin, satiating her hunger, while in the kitchen, when they had been told to report there instead of inside the Danger Room only ten minutes beforehand. As she had taken the elevator ride by herself, she suspected she would be the first to arrive. Also, starting in the control center, usually meant someone would be expected to stay behind and observe.
She blinked.
The Professor had already seen what happens when he stacked the deck in her favor. This would be the inverse. If she was right, she wouldn't actively participate in the session. Rather she would be expected to issue orders and leave it to her teammates to execute her plan. Maybe she could issue additional directions from the control center?
'No, if Prof really wants ta make this difficult, I'll only be allowed to issue one set of orders,' she thought as she pressed the button to open the door.
She took a sip of coffee as she walked into the room, she was the first to arrive. Only Mr. McCoy was there, hard at work in front of the large monitor that displayed a satellite fed, topographical map. From the looks of it, Mr. McCoy was manually adding details to the map in real time. The scenario wasn't ready yet.
"Am I too early?" Rogue said, announcing her presence.
"No, not at all," Mr. McCoy said, his pleasant tone contradicted by how swiftly a series of keystrokes were inputted: the map was promptly removed from the large screen and she saw a smaller screen, outside of her immediate view, light up.
She took another sip of her coffee as she pulled up the map in her mind. Even unfinished, she could gauge what the mission might be. There were two cylindrical buildings flanking a sparse open space. Before he switched screens, she saw that he was manually adding, what seemed to be a massive square, taking up most of the center of the Danger Room's available space. However, she only saw the preliminary draft and she could be mistaken about the plans. The buildings' location did resemble the maze they'd traversed last Friday, which lent credence to her tactical acumen.
'Might be based off of the same template,' she thought as she walked up to the window and saw the Professor, Logan and Ororo all standing where the large opening in the middle of the room would be. They were wearing dark jumpsuits and she managed to see the Professor gesturing towards where one of the cylindrical buildings would be placed.
Right, whatever the objectives were they would be guarded by living opponents, instead of holograms. Two buildings most likely meant two objectives.
She blinked and saw the Professor glancing up at her.
"Good morning," he mouthed. She smiled and waved at him before she saw the Professor place his fingers on his temples.
"Ya sure I ain't too early? I can wait outside," she offered.
After a pause, he said, "That would be tremendously helpful."
"Yeah, I don't mind," she said as she stepped back from the window. 'Already got what I need,' she thought as she left the room.
She wondered if they would have enough time to change the set up or the location of the objectives.
'Prolly not,' she thought confidently as she sipped her coffee. The session started in less than fifteen minutes, after all. She pulled up the map in her mind and continued to study it. Could she anticipate what would be on the map? Maybe, but she didn't want to act based on false assumptions. No, she should focus on what she knew and adapt as she gained new information.
Rogue leaned against the wall next to the control room's entrance, with her left foot propped parallel against the wall. Her left hand was held over her chest cupping her right elbow. Her right hand held her nearly finished coffee as she considered her options. Assuming the map wasn't changed, there would be two objectives and thus two squad leaders required. Scott and Jean were the obvious candidates. 'I should put Kitty with Jean and Kurt with Scott for mobility,' she thought. No matter what the mission was, that assignment of skills would work in their favor.
"Good morning, Rogue." A cheerful voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Mornin' Jean," Rogue said, looking up at the other girl and saw a questioning glance on Jean's face. "They ain't ready yet," she explained.
"Oh, how long have you been waiting?" she asked.
"About five minutes," she answered. Jean hummed thoughtfully before she walked past her and pushed the button, the door opening.
Rogue sneaked a peek into the room and managed to see that Mr. McCoy had the map back on the large monitor, before the door closed behind Jean. She leaned back against the wall as he pulled the updated map up in her mind. There were even more details than before. She had been right about the field and the two cylindrical towers, now had conical roofs. He was still working on additional features toward the north end of the map and it seemed like there was an increase in elevation where he was modifying it. Maybe a hill of some kind?
"Not yet," Jean said with a shrug as she exited the room.
A few minutes passed, as more of Rogue's teammates converged in the hall. Numerous conversations occurred simultaneously as the hallway grew more and more crowded. Once she saw Kurt, she smiled and waved at him. He waved back before turning to talk to Kitty. They hadn't talked about it, but she knew they were both anxious about the DNA test. She made a mental note to remind herself to ask the Professor about the timetable of the results. With that thought stored away, she leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes, as she considered a number of squad allocations; each additional mutant who exited the elevator caused her to adjust.
'Just how many people are participating this morning? That's almost-' she thought, sipping her coffee, as another ding of the elevator caught her attention and with it Scott and Jamie exited.
"The Professor said to report to the control room," Scott reprimanded.
"Not to me," Jamie said.
"Just pay attention next time," Scott said, dismissing his claim.
"I did," he whined and Rogue raised an eyebrow.
'Jamie's a good kid. Not like him to lie,' she thought as she watched Scott walk up to Jean and Evan.
"Man, this is a lot of people for a Monday morning," Evan commended, as he scratched the back of his head.
'Yup, everyone's here,' she thought.
"How are we supposed to have a full session before school?" Jean asked.
"Maybe it's a briefing," Scott said.
"Maybe," Jean agreed as they looked around. They shared a concerned glance with one another. It seemed she wasn't the only one worried about the younger students' inexperience. Most days they were lucky if they refrained from breaking something within the mansion. Sending them on a covert mission was laughable. The Professor couldn't actually expect them to-
She blinked.
'Unless I make 'em the distraction. They're more likely to follow orders if I just set 'em loose and tell 'em to have fun.'
She blinked again.
It wasn't just the younger students she had to worry about. This would be her first time in command. What if her plan wasn't followed? What if they all googled off and didn't take the session seriously? The Professor would assume Friday was a flux and never give her command again. She'd be wasting her shot.
'I ain't Magneto. People ain't gonna do what I tell 'em to just 'cause,' she thought. 'Okay, Kurt and Kitty will,' she amended. 'But how do I get everyone else to?' she asked herself as she tapped her foot against the wall.
She glanced around the room as she reconsidered her squads.
Jean, Kitty and Amara would be the first team. They'd had a blast as the Bayville Sirens, they should fall right back into it and want to achieve the objective, whatever it was.
Scott walked up to the room's entrance.
"They ain't ready yet," Rogue reiterated.
"Don't mind me for checking," he said dryly, as he entered the room anyway. Rogue tried to sneak another peek at the map for any added details. The bright light on the monitor, informing her Mr. McCoy had placed the map where she could've seen it. However, with the tilt of Scott's head, he seemed to understand what she was trying to do and moved his broad shoulders directly into her line of sight.
'Scott's gonna be a problem,' she thought, holding in a sigh, as the door closed after him. He was already jealous of her and angry at being upstaged as a leader. How did she ensure he didn't intentionally sabotage her during the session? She knew she was putting Kurt on his team, but who else would keep him on task?
She glanced around the hallway.
Jamie? No, too young. Scott would just ignore him and do what he wanted.
Rahine? No, too well behaved. She would follow Scott's lead.
She needed someone who might cause problems on their own. Someone who would make Scott step up as a role model. Someone would remind him how much he hated when his orders were ignored.
She continued to scan the hallway, until she set her eyes on Bobby.
'Perfect,' she thought before the door opened. She didn't bother trying this time, she'd see it again once they were invited in.
"They're not ready yet," Scott said.
"No kiddin'," Rogue replied. Scott let out an exasperated huff as he walked past her and back to Jean. She rolled her eyes as she pulled up the map again in her mind. Since she was splitting the team up into smaller squads, she needed to pick a rendezvous point. And if she was only allowed to issue one set of orders, how did she ensure everyone's timing for the retreat? A signal could work, but how did she-
She glanced over at Evan and saw he had his sports watch on. If she paired him with Jubilee.
'Yeah, that should work,' she thought.
A few more minutes passed before the elevator dinged and opened to reveal the Professor.
"Good morning everyone," he said.
A choir of "Good Morning, Professor," swiftly followed as he made his way down the hallway and stopped directly in front of her, where she stood next to the control room's entrance.
"Hello, Rogue," he said pleasantly.
"Hi, Prof," she said with a smile.
"After you," he said, gesturing toward the control room.
Her lips curled up in a prominent smirk as she kicked off the wall. She swiftly turned, entering the room, as she downed the rest of her coffee and dropped it into the little waste basket next to the entrance. She heard the Professor following closely behind her. Mr. McCoy was standing with a black box, held open from the front. Inside she saw a few communicators and instantly dismissed them. The fact that Mr. McCoy was handing out 'special' devices ensured they would be useless. Instead, she took in an unobstructed view of the large monitor where the finished mail was displayed. She now knew the circular buildings were actually two red farm silos. The large opening was a cornfield and there was another building placed in the far back of the Danger Room, it looked like a house. She might've been wrong about the objective locations.
She walked further into the room and glanced down into the Danger Room itself; and saw Logan and Ororo each standing outside one of the silos, each holding a large stick with crackling electrical pulsing from the top.
'Great, they've got tasers,' Rogue thought worried. Did that mean some of the students could be taken captive during the exercise? She couldn't let that happen. Also, there was something of interest in those structures, but the rural setting was causing her some confusion. What could they be guarding? A captive maybe? But everyone was here.
'Well, Jamie could be in as many places as he needs ta-' she thought before she felt her eyes widen. 'Jamie's a good kid,' she reminded herself as she quickly spun around and frantically looked at everyone in the room. All the students had piled into the room, forming a sort of semicircle around the large monitor. She looked up and down the roister, twice, just to be sure. What she saw was the Professor gesturing to Mr. McCoy in her direction. They were both studying her. "He's missing," she said.
"Who's missing?" Mr. McCoy asked, a little louder than necessary, and everyone turned to look at her.
"Jamie is," Rogue clarified.
"But he was just here," Jean said as she glanced around. "Jamie?" she asked as several students looked around and shrugged.
"What gives?" Evan asked.
"This is a rescue mission," Rogue explained.
"Yes, Rogue, well deduced," the Professor said before he turned his chair to face the group. "Jamie is indeed missing and your mission is to retrieve him," he said, everyone looking at the Professor, as Rogue walked up to the window again and surveyed the environment one more time.
'There's gonna be multiple Multiples,' Rogue thought with a sigh.
"And as time is of the essence, and Rogue made this discovery, she is in command," the Professor announced.
"What?" Scott exclaimed in protest. Rogue allowed herself an eye roll before refocusing on her thoughts. With the addition of the house, that made three different objective locations and no guarantee that only three Jamies would be found. They would have to search them all.
"Cyclops, had you discovered Jamie's absence first, you would be leading the team," he said.
She blinked.
So, the leadership position hadn't been a guarantee either, the Professor had only created a situation where she could assume command.
"And considering I had you retrieve Jamie from the lower level, I'm surprised you didn't notice his disappearance first," the Professor chided.
"I didn't-" Scott stuttered. "The session hasn't even started yet," he complained.
"Danger will not always announce itself, Scott. You must be vigilant. Both of you," he said, his eyes turning to Jean's.
"Yes, Professor," Jean said immediately.
"With that being said," the Professor continued as he moved his chair beside her. "There is a limited amount of time before school this morning. We could consider this a briefing and-"
"We got thirty minutes?" Rogue asked, interrupting him.
"We do," he answered. "However-"
"Yeah, I know. I'm staying up here, I havta deploy everyone else and I only get one set of commands," she said.
"Rogue, Beast is holding communicators for us," Scott pointed out.
"Don't mean there's gonna work," Rogue said, rolling her eyes.
The Professor raised an eyebrow as Mr. McCoy asked, "Charles?"
"I'm afraid, there's little point in handing them out Hank," he answered.
"Ah, expectation; the root of all heartache," Mr. McCoy lamented wistfully as he snapped the box black close. "They were meant to collapse mid session. In a dramatic fashion," he explained with a somewhat dejected look on his animalike form.
"Maybe next time, Mr. McCoy," Kitty said kindly and their teacher replied with a half smile of his own. She glanced down at the Professor and knew they both had the same thought; with the tactic exposed the faulty communicators couldn't be used.
"Perhaps in a few months," the Professor said, gesticulating/gesturing in dismissal with both of his hands before folding them in front of him.
"Or with the next class of recruits," Rogue suggested.
"That's more likely," the Professor said, nodding at Rogue in agreement. "Hang on to them, Hank. I won't allow your hard work to be wasted."
"Thanks, Charles," Mr. McCoy said.
"Rogue," the Professor said, turning back to her, "the team is yours," he said.
She took a deep breath before she began to relay her orders.
Only five minutes later, her teams were in place; Jean's team (Kitty and Amara) on the left, Scott's (Kurt and Bobby) on the right heading for the silos and everyone else heading into the cornfield getting into position to cause the distraction.
Rogue tapped her foot up and down as she watched the third squad consisting of three smaller teams get into position; Evan and Jubilee, Sam and Ray and Rahne and Roberto.
"Implementing a buddy system with the younger students was an excellent decision," the Professor said as Evan gave the signal and the younger students began using their powers in earnest, as they ran up and down the cornfield. All except Jubilee, who was waiting for the guards to notice before giving Jean and Scott's teams the all clear to proceed.
"If any of 'em get tased and taken captive that's it, right?" she asked as she saw both Wolverine and Storm leaving their posts to investigate the noise. The Professor nodded in response. "Couldn't let that happen," she said. 'Jean,' she called out telepathically. She wasn't sure if the Professor would count this as cheating, but she needed to check one thing.
'I can't sense Jamie anywhere in the Danger Room,' Jean informed her.
'The Professor's masking him then,' Rogue thought as she saw Logan and Storm enter the corn field. 'Thanks for trying,' Rogue. 'Stick to the plan and if ya do sense anything,' she thought as she saw Jubliee let loose a bright firework.
'Relay it to Scott,' Jean finished as she looked up and saw the signal. 'Don't worry,' she thought as she saw Scott's team head out. 'We'll find him,' she added before she cut off the connection and gestured to her team to move forward. Rogue's eyes darted across the room, where she could see Wolverine had encountered Ray and Roberto and Storm found Rahne and Sam.
Rogue let out a huff. This was it. Her plan was enacted simultaneously. Rogue stood with baited breath as she watched, knowing there was nothing else she could do to help, only wait and hope she had covered all the angles. Those tasers were still a problem, she only hoped Ray and Rahne could disarm their opponent as she had instructed them to.
"How did you know?" the Professor asked as Rogue watched Rahne, in her wolf form clasp her mouth around the taser's hilt, trying to pull it away from Storm, as Cannonball charged towards the X-Man with his powers. Storm was forced to let go of the large stick and like a dog with a bone, Rahne ran with it, playing keep away with Storm. Sam was laughing the whole time, taunting Storm as Rahne ran around. At least they were having fun, like she had intended. "Rogue?" the Professor asked.
"Know what?" she asked, as Wolverine was getting closer to his targets, though as he was pretending to be a "human" security guard, his claws were retracted. His only weapon was the taser. Sunspot was doing a good job of staying hidden, with his mutation fully active, all ambient light was removed from his skin and-was he ducking down in the cornfield? Every time Wolverine got close to Ray, Sunspot would hit Wolverine with a blast of energy before quickly moving. Sunspot wasn't usually one to duck and hide, his strength giving him the confidence to charge head first into the action. However, Rogue had pointed out, during her briefing, how he could get a bunch of cheapshots on Wolverine and not get in trouble. She recalled his eyes lighting up with delight. Properly motivated, he was thriving under her command. Ray, for his part, was doing a good job of hitting the taser with electricity bolts, while Wolverine was forced to take or dodge Sunspot's energy bolts.
"Any of it?" he asked.
Couldn't he ask her this later?
Rogue's attention was already split between the teams. At least, Evan and Jubilee were standing still, both of them watching his stopwatch, waiting till they had to wrangle the teams toward the rendezvous point. And with the other two smaller teams, keeping their instructors busy, they weren't in any danger. So, her eyes dartted to the silos as Jean and Scott's teams emerged. Both Kurt and Kitty were carrying an unconscious Jamie over their shoulders.
"Rogue?" he asked again.
"I figured out you underestimated me on Friday. Figured this might be the opposite of that," she answered quickly, as she kept her eyes on the action. Not wanting to miss a thing.
"Next time, I won't bother with the theatrics," he said.
"Yeah, okay," Rogue said, barely taking in his statement. Her eyes were on Wolverine, as he let out a large grunt when he was forced to drop the taser as it overloaded and exploded. Sunspot and Ray highfived in celebration. Though, as Wolverine enraged, he got to his feet and caught them, the two New Mutants swiftly ran, laughing all the while.
"I'll provide you with a detailed description and give you an evening to strategize," he said.
She blinked.
"You're gonna give me command again? But the plan ain't- What if this doesn't work?" she asked.
"Rogue, it's your first time. I didn't expect perfection," he said.
"Oh," she said before she turned her gaze away from him, to look down at the session, Scott and Jean's teams had converged on the house. The two unconscious Jamies were left with Kitty and Bobby, while the rest of the team reformed under Scott's leadership. He gave the signal and he, Jean, Kurt and Amara stormed into the house en masse. While the new students were now taking turns carrying the taser, playing keep away from both of their instructors. The laughing was so loud, she could hear them all howling from all the way up here.
"That's Erik's influence," he pointed out.
"Probably," she agreed.
"Most definitely," he added. "Besides, we both know the mission will be successful," he pointed out. She blinked as she forced her gaze away from the action.
"Prof?" she asked.
"Rogue, it wasn't just how well you deduced the details of the session, though that was impressive. Do you know how difficult it is to get any number of teenagers to carry out a series of complex commands?" he asked as Mr. McCoy let out a huff in response.
"Well, I figured, they ain't gonna question it, if they're just having fun," she shrugged.
"Indeed," he said, thoughtfully, before he shared a glance with Mr. McCoy.
Rogue turned her gaze back down to the danger room, as Scott and his team came out of the house. Scott was now carrying one more Jamie over his shoulder. She saw Evan and Jubilee, watch the stopwatch countdown to zero and Jubilee let out the second signal, telling the younger students to head to the rendezvous point. Jubilee headed up the hill, while Evan ran back into the cornfield. He passed Rahne, on his way in, who had followed the instructions and immediately headed out.
"Oh man, it's over already," Cannonball said disappointed as the two other boys let out groans of a similar sentiment. Cannonball handed over the remaining taser to Ray, who overloaded it, before handing it off to Sunspot, who gleefully threw it at their instructors.
"Come on, let's move it, people," Evan said, as he met up with the younger students. The boys ran past Evan, who laid out a line of bones, further delaying Wolverine and Storms pursuit. Evan, taking up the rear, followed after the students as they ran out of the cornfield and up the hill. All of the teams swiftly converged, as they ran and made it to the rendezvous location.
Rogue watched the Professor nod at Mr. McCoy before he pressed a button; the session ended, as the danger room resumed its normal state.
"Well done, to you all," the Professor said, pressing a button himself to project his voice out into the room. "As the session ran late, everyone please report to the War Room at four this afternoon for the debriefing. Again, well done, and I hope you all have a good day at school," he said. "And Jamie, thank you for your help this morning. You can stop pretending to be asleep now," he added as all three Jamies jumped up.
"I told you he was faking it," Kitty called out and Rogue watched as Jean and Amara shared a laugh. In fact, everyone was laughing, smiling and talking as they were dismissed and heading toward the exit. Except Scott, who had a perturbed look on his face. Jean walked next up to him, before elbowing him playfully in the side as she smiled up at him. Scott reluctantly smiled back at her, as Jean looped her arm through his.
"Rogue," the Professor said and she turned to see him and Mr. McCoy were about to leave the room. "Why don't you take the elevator with us?" he asked.
"Ah-huh," she agreed before they turned to exit. She jogged after them, exiting the room herself.
"Rogue," Mr. McCoy asked as they walked down the hall. "Have you ever read "The Art of War?"
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Really?" he asked. "I witnessed some of Sun Tzu's code tenants at play. Not that some aren't universal but it wouldn't have surprised me if you've read it," Mr. McCoy.
"I wonder, Rogue, what has Erik told you of managing conflicting personalities?" the Professor asked.
"Kinda, well, conflicting personalities shouldn't matter if everyone's got the right motivation," she said.
"How do you mean?" he asked.
"Erik and I were playing chess one night and, he was using the pieces, like they can only move a certain way, right?" she asked as the Professor nodded along. "So, when you're planning your moves, if your bishop is on the other side of the board in danger from the queen and the only other pieces that could help defend it is a knight and a pawn, but they can't get ta the bishop in time. It's ain't any of the piece's fault if they get taken," she said as they got to the elevator.
"Erik said the limitations of how the pieces move is like dealing with people's personalities," she continued as the door opened and they piled into the lift. "If you put someone in a situation they ain't equipped to handle. That ain't the person's fault. It's the strategist's for not understanding their subordinates' capabilities well enough to secure victory," she said.
"And what does that have to do with motivation?" the Professor asked.
"Well, it's two-fold, right? If you know what your members are capable of, then you should also know what motivates 'em and if ya have enough subordinates then they're always gonna be someone who's motivation lines up with what needs doing," she said as she shrugged. "And if ya got all that figured out, then ya should be able to plan around anything," she said as the elevator door opened to her floor. "Or ya need ta recruit more," she said, shrugging again as she exited the lift. She turned back to see curious looks on both Mr. McCoy and the Professor's faces.
"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled they will say: we did it ourselves," Mr. McCoy said. "I was quoting, of course, General Sun Tzu," he supplied.
"It seems Erik has been instructing you in the Art of War," the Professor said.
"And that's a bad thing?' Rogue asked, her head cocked, as she tried to read his expression.
"Not necessarily," he said. "You really do have the makings of a fine leader. I can only apologize that Erik noticed first," the Professor said.
"Or maybe it's only 'cause of Erik's influence that I am," she said.
"No," the Professor said, shaking his head, "He does not define your capabilities," he said strongly. "He's just the first to try and cultivate them. And for that I am sorry," he said, almost repeating himself.
"It's okay," she said, not knowing what else to say. "Ya didn't know," she said before she watched him take a breath, and open his mouth to speak, only to hesitate.
"We'll see you in the kitchen when you're ready," he said, instead.
"Okay," she said, slightly bewildered, unsure what he had restrained himself from saying. He nodded as the elevator doors started to close. "Wait," she said as she stuck her hand in between, causing them to open again. "The DNA test?" she asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon," the Professor said.
"Okay," she said again, removing her hand. The door's closed, leaving her alone.
A few minutes later, Rogue was back in her and Erik's bedroom, fully dressed for school as she considered her last conversation with the Professor and Mr. McCoy. It wouldn't surprise her if Erik was imparting a General's knowledge to her. He did like to read. Her eyes glanced over at the dresser's bottom drawer. She wouldn't be surprised if he had a few books stored in there.
She glanced over at the time and was grateful she had eaten a muffin before the session. That gave her time to investigate before needing to join the others to leave for school. Not much time, though. She grabbed the pen, kneeling in front of the drawer as she examined it. She pulled at the drawer, of course, it didn't open, but she listened this time and- Was that? Yes, that was metal clinking against metal, but where?
She pressed her ear up against the drawer and-
Rogue blinked as she heard a knock at her door.
"Rogue, phone call," Kurt called out. Rogue scrambled to her feet, dropping the pen, as she hurried to the door.
"Hey," Rogue said as she opened the door to see Kurt standing outside her door, holding the phone to his ear, as blue smoke dissipated around him.
"It was nice talking to you too," Kurt said.
"Who is it?" she mouthed. Emma or Graydon maybe?
"Ja, I hope you have a nice day too, Miss Alder," Kurt said and Rogue's eyes widened with surprise. He shrugged at her before handing her the phone.
"Hi, Irene," Rogue said.
"Hello, honey," Irene said, her voice warm and sweet. Kurt waved at her, before porting away, giving her some privacy to speak with her foster-mother. "I know it's been a while, but I wanted to check in," she said.
"A while?" Rogue asked in disbelief as she closed the door. "We haven't talked in, like, a year," she pointed out.
"I know, honey, but you've been so busy growing and learning. I didn't want to get in the way of that," she said. Rogue dropped on her bed, like a pile of stones. Did that mean Irene knew about Erik- about-
"Didja tell Momma about my interview with Magneto?" Rogue asked.
"I didn't have to. She found out for herself," Irene answered.
"Okay," she said as she took a deep breath. So, Mystique had stalked her. She still- yes, she was still glad that had happened. Not that she was going to tell her mom about that. "Why couldn't I go live with Graydon and Emma when I was younger?" she asked, dropping all deception and pretense.
"Because then you never would've become an X-Men or bonded your little brother," she answered, as Rogue felt her eyes dart back and forth.
"Yeah, about that, why didn't Kurt grow up with us?" she asked next.
"Because he needed to become an X-Men, same as you, honey," she said.
"So, you want me to be an X-Men. Do ya think I should turn down Magneto's offer?" she asked.
"I didn't say that," Irene said. Typical Irene, speaking in riddles, barely answering a single question without prompting five more in its place.
"Then what are ya saying?" she asked.
"That I'm very proud of you," Irene answered. "You're on the right track. Keep going," she said.
"What's that supposeta mean?" she asked.
"Spread your wings, Anna-Marie. Show them all what you're capable of. Your plan to delay making a decision will be tolerated by both Magento and Xavier for some time. They are willing to watch you grow and learn from the other, under the assumption you'll eventually choose their side. Do not give either of them reassurances beyond what is required to keep their tolerance," she advised.
"I was kinda already doing that," Rogue pointed out.
"And I couldn't be more proud of you," she repeated before Rogue let out a sigh.
"About Kurt's father," Rogue said tentatively. It was Irene's turn to a sigh.
"I know," she said. "You'll need to be patient. He'll need to be patient," she said.
"But you know, right? Why can't ya just tell me?" she asked.
"Why doesn't Magneto tell you everything?" Irene asked before Rogue let out a sigh.
"'Cause then I wouldn't be learning anything," she said, groaning.
"I love you very much," she said, the smile returning to her voice. "Have a good week. It's going to be eventful," Irene said before the line went dead. Rogue allowed herself to collapse back onto the bed as she let out a long sigh.
Okay, she didn't know exactly what that meant, but considering the DNA test would be ready tomorrow and she was seeing Erik tomorrow night. Today was probably the calm before the proverbial storm.
She took a breath, needing to think this all over, but one glance at the clock on her nightstand, told her that she didn't have the time.
'Damn it,' she thought frustrated as she stood and stalked out of her room, unintentionally slamming the door behind her. She'd have all day to consider what this all meant. She just needed to breath and-
She had to decide on what she was telling the Professor this afternoon. So much of it was too new, too fresh. She needed to consider it before making any type of decision. And honestly, she didn't have time for that right this second. Not if she didn't want to be late for school.
