Please enjoy
Chapter Two of
A Simple Favor:
On January 5th, 2002, Magneto continued his observation of Rogue. True to her word, the girl had not spoken to Charles about him.
He had watched her engage with her teammates and instructors without incident. He had watched her wake in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, her hand clasping her mouth shut as she fought not to wake her roommate and alert anyone to her panicked state. God only knows which of his memories the poor girl was forced to endure, but endured it she did. Without protest or bringing Charles' attention to the matter.
'Good,' he thought to himself.
Nearly two weeks of studying the girl had convinced him she was worthy of the trust she requested of him.
Though one thing did cause him to pause. The girl kept looking at him. He didn't know how else to describe it. He had rendered himself invisible and yet the girl was consistently looking directly into his eyes. And then promptly averting her gaze.
A product of her abilities, perhaps? Maybe the girl was aware of this power or his and somehow it allowed her to gauge his location?
'Nonsense,' he told himself as he stretched the crick in his neck.
A mere coincidence surely. Not that it mattered. Even if the girl was capable of seeing him, she wasn't going to tell Charles anything. She had proven that much.
And he had other concerns to pursue. Namely, his age. Time was starting to get the better of him and it needed to be dealt with. He would continue to check in on her, he decided. But sporadically. Time would tell if the girl truly could see him.
On January 14th, 2002, in the late afternoon, Rogue sat in the food court of the Bayville Mall, with Kitty, Jean, Amara, and Tabitha. They had picked a table in the far back corner, on the opposite side of the bathrooms. Thankfully, there was not a lot of foot traffic, given their disclosure. But they were far too open. And Tabitha, in particular, needed to keep her voice down.
She managed to keep a smile on her face as they explained but there was a singular thought that kept running through her head as her teammates filled her in on their recent activities.
'Why?' she groaned internally.
"Pretty cool, right?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah, totally," Rogue said, forcing herself to keep up the smile. "But, okay, just one question," she said.
"Yes?" Jean said.
"How are y'all keeping your faces covered up? I don't think ya mentioned that," she asked.
"Huh?" Jean asked as the girls all looked at each other with confusion.
"Why would that matter?" Amara asked.
"Y'all know being a vigilante is illegal, right?" she asked, dryly.
"So's stealing cars," Amara pointed out with a shrug. They weren't getting it.
"Rogue. Relax," Tabitha exclaimed. "You're overthinking thinking it," she said.
No, they were vastly underestimating the risk. She'd learned a lot this month about what happens when an individual takes the law into their own hands. And while she didn't condone Magneto's actions, at least he had the good sense not to leave any witnesses. Rogue felt a shiver run down her spine as she pushed back the faces of his many victims.
'Nazis,' she reminded herself as she shook her head, and refocused on the group in front of her. "Have y'all seen the news coverage on the Bayville Sirens? You're getting lots of attention. Way more than that band of thugs ever did. The police'll feel pressured into stopping y'all from doing what you're doing," she explained.
"Yeah, because we're better at their jobs than them," Tabitha said smugly. Kitty and Amara high-fived as they giggled. Rogue couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"Maybe but as that pressure builds, what's to stop one of those thieves from hiring a decent lawyer? And asking for immunity in exchange for a description of what y'all look like?" she asked.
"Yeah, right," Kitty giggled.
"That'll never happen," Tabitha objected. Though, Jean's face took on a concerned look.
"And when are y'all doing this? Kitty you've been in bed on time every night," she pointed out.
"After school," Amara answered.
"In the middle of the day? Are y'all trying to get caught?" she asked
"No," Jean said quietly.
"So, what would you do, miss-know-it-all?" Tabitha asked.
"For starters, only go out at night, when it harder for 'em to see y'all. Cover your face or at least your eyes. And maybe change how you wear your hair. Whatever, you can do to make it harder for someone to recognize ya," she advised.
"Maybe, we should stop?" Jean asked tentatively.
"Jean, don't let little miss doom and gloom get to you. We're killing it," Tabitha exclaimed as Rogue glanced over her shoulder. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on edge. She had the feeling that she was being watched again. It had been hard shaking that feeling since hers and Magneto's first conversation. But she was pretty sure he backed off about a week ago.
Though, if he was here, she didn't think she would mind this time. She almost wished Magneto would show up and give her friends a lecture about how idiotic they'd been.
'No sign of him,' she thought almost disappointed before she turned back to Jean, considering her question. From what they had told her, Bayville had an organized crime ring of car thieves. Who most likely had seen all of their faces. She didn't like it but. "At this point, no. Y'all need to finish what ya started," she said before she let out a sigh. "And I ain't letting y'all do that without me," she said.
"Wait, you're in?" Kitty asked.
"Really?" Amara asked.
"Well, someone's gotta keep y'all from ending up on the five o'clock news," she said.
"Yes," Kitty exclaimed as Jean let out a nervous laugh.
"But," Rogue said, drawing the word out. "We need to protect our anonymity," she said.
"Lighten up, Rogue," Tabitha said.
"No, she has a point," Jean said. "Maybe, we have been too reckless," she said.
'Thank you,' Rogue exclaimed in her mind.
"Both of you are taking this way too seriously," Tabitha said before she crossed her arms over her chest. "I changed my mind. I don't know if I want Rogue here. She's bringing down the mood," Tabitha pouted.
"She's just trying to help," Jean said, defending her.
"And I'm sorry, but when have you ever said no to shopping?" Rogue asked, her head cocked slightly.
"Shopping?" Amara repeated with interest.
"This is an easy fix. Y'all just need to accessorize," she said.
"Or," Kitty said, drawing out her word. "We can get entirely new outfits," she giggled.
"Oh my god, can we?" Amara asked.
"Yes, we can," Jean announced as she pulled out a credit card. Kitty and Amara broke out into giggles.
"Fine, Rogue can join," Tabitha relented. "But you have got to lighten up," she said again as they all stood and started to make their way out of the food court.
'Happy too. As long as no one gets hurt,' she thought. 'Or shot,' she added as she looked over her shoulder again. She saw a small figure with purple hair quickly duck behind a beam, out of her view. 'Risty?' she asked, confused. 'Right, I told her I couldn't hang out today. Ah, great. Now she's gonna think I'm mad at her,' she groaned internally.
She kept herself from visibly sighing as she turned her head forward and kept up with the group.
'God, how am I gonna explain this to her?' she thought. 'One problem at a time, girl. Ya just gotta take down a bunch of thugs and then you can hang out with your best friend again.'
A thought reminded her she had a favor she could call in if she wanted to. An easy solution to clean up this whole mess. The thought alone caused a conflicting rush of relief to fill her. He could make this go away but-
No, she shook her head, dismissing the idea. She wasn't wasting her favor on this. Rogue would handle this herself.
On January 16th 2002, Magneto had been rather preoccupied with his surveillance of the Fridge. But had managed to make time to watch the local Bayville News, when he had learned of the Bayville Sirens and their super-powered antics.
He'd set out shortly after dark and found the gaggle of teenagers trying their hands at fighting crime, of all things.
'At least, they're obscuring their eyes,' he thought. Though, Rogue's hair was far too distinctive, as far as he was concerned. She should have covered her head as well. A simple hat would have sufficed. Still, he was pleasantly surprised she had taken some measures to protect her anonymity. Perhaps, she had managed to gain some useful knowledge from his memories.
However, that thought stirred anger in him. To think, his past actions might have inspired her to act so impetuously and even worst drag others into such mischief. He had half a mind to separate her from the others and give her a piece of his mind. But in doing so, he would reveal he was still keeping tabs on her. Not ideal.
No, instead, he chose to observe from afar. He hovered above them all, a good twenty feet in the air above Avalanche's jeep, as he tracked the Bayville Sirens. He was far enough away to stay out of range of any of the girls' powers. From his observation of the X-Men's outdoor training sessions, he recalled Boom Boom tended to throw her little plasma balls any which way, with no real strategy. However, even from this distance, he would be able to hear their conversation.
The girls drove a short while before they came upon a man attempting to steal a vehicle. He seemed to be fumbling while trying to hot-wire the car. He watched as Rogue vaulted herself out from the back of the jeep. She ran up to the car while pulling off a glove. The thief had no time to react as Rogue used her powers to knock him unconscious.
An impressive display, he had to admit. Though, he was still perturbed she was in this situation, to begin with. Magneto watched as Rogue's expression dropped and her face lost what scant color it had as the other girls managed to catch up to her.
"You okay?" Jean Grey asked her. It seems he wasn't the only one to notice Rogue's dismay.
"I'm fine," she responded immediately, an obvious lie. "But I think we should call it a night," she suggested.
"No way. We just left the institute," Magma said.
"And we still don't know where they're taking the cars," Shadowcat objected.
"Maybe, that's a good thing," Rogue said.
'She's learned something of note, no doubt,' Magneto thought to himself as he lowered himself slightly, now hovering about ten feet above the girls.
"You want to go home already? The fun's just getting started," Boom Boom said.
"Yeah, and you're the one who said we had to finish what we started," Magma said.
"I know what I said," Rogue snapped.
"Come on already," Boom Boom exclaimed as she walked directly up to Rogue. "We got the outfits. And yes, I look amazing in these sunglasses but because someone insisted on only going out in the middle of the night, I can't see a thing," she exclaimed.
Magneto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the exchange. Had he misunderstood the circumstances, perhaps?
"You're the one who vetoed the Halloween masks," Rogue retorted.
"They were, like, really ugly," Shadowcat agreed as Jean shrugged at her with a half smile.
"And I'm not putting glue on my face," Magma said. "I'll break out," she added.
"Like, we all totally would," Shadowcat pointed out.
'That's their concern?' he thought irked. 'Vanity?'
It seemed he and Rogue were of a similar mind as he watched her roll her eyes. Suddenly, her face lit up with interest. Her eyes shifted upward until she was, once again, looking directly at him. Though, this time, she didn't avert her gaze. Instead, she lowered her sunglasses and adjusted the tilt of her head until she managed to make direct eye contact with him.
'How is she doing that?' he asked himself, accepting this was no mere fluke, as he had suspected. But rather a skill set the girl clearly had at her disposal. Of greater interest still, was her reaction to his attendance. The was no fear or apprehension. No, this time he watched as a sigh of relief escaped her. His presence was a comfort to her?
'Surely not,' he thought. Though he did lower himself to the ground, chose to stand beside her. He watched her blink several times. Realizing she had lost sight of him, as she bobbed her head slightly. It seemed she was attempting to relocate him.
"What is it?" Jean Grey asked.
"Nothing, I thought I heard something," Rogue lied, blinking as she refocused on those she was accompanying. "We should go," she said.
"We're not going home yet," Boom Boom said firmly.
"Fine," she huffed. "But we need to leave before the police get here," Rogue cautioned.
"You're the one wasting time staring off into space," Boom Boom sneered.
Magneto listened to Rogue stifle a frustrated groan "You're the one who's gonna get us all shot," she muttered under her breath, her fists balling at her side. Magneto felt his eyes narrow at the girl's comment and her obvious discomfort with this nightly excursion. he watched them pile back into the jeep. Boom Boom took the driver's seat, Jean Grey sat next to her, and Magma, Shadowcat, and Rogue piled into the back.
As Boom Boom took off, Magneto pursued.
"Rogue, look," Jean Grey said turning back at her. "I know you said you would help us, but- none of this was your idea. So, if you don't want to come with us tomorrow night, that's okay," she offered.
"Right," Rogue sneered. "And if anything happened to y'all do ya really think I'd be able to live with myself?" she asked her.
"Lighten up, Rogue," Boom Boom exclaimed.
"Yeah, we can totally handle this," Shadowcat said.
"Girl power," Magma yelled as everyone beside Rogue laughed.
"What we're doing is dangerous and illegal. Y'all get that right?" Rogue asked.
"Jean, she's killing the mood again," Magma complained.
"I'm sick of this. I'm dropping her off," Boom Boom said.
"No," Rogue exclaimed. "Sorry, okay. I'll try to lighten up," she relented. "Y'all wanna have some fun. Fine, but-" she said before sighing. Magneto watched her take a deep breath. "You're right. I've been a stick in the mud," she said before she forced herself to smile. "Okay, let's go stop some bad guys," she said with more vigor.
"Finally," Shadowcat yelled.
"Now that's what I'm talking about," Boom Boom said.
"Are you sure?" Jean Grey asked her.
"Yup, let's do this," Rogue said, a large smile plastered onto her face.
Though, Rogue hadn't directly asked for his assistance. He appreciated that she knew full well the Bayville Sirens were in over their heads. He supposed Rogue could alert Charles to her teammates' antics and have him put a stop to it. Then again, given their current arrangement, perhaps speaking with Charles simply wasn't crossing her mind as a tangible solution. And with that thought, well, he couldn't just leave her to suffer through the ramifications of her teammates' choices unaided, now, could he?