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Chapter 14 of
A Simple Favor
On April 18th, 2002, around 11:00 pm, Rogue stood in the kitchen with Scott and the Professor, as they watched Kitty storm out of the room. Saturday detention; that was the end result of their little outing.
'I can live with that,' she thought with a smile on her face.
"Scott, thank you for picking them up. Why don't you head up to bed?"
"Sure thing, Professor," Scott said as he walked past Rogue. She smiled at him before he left the room. She should shower and go to bed herself. It was pretty late.
"Oh, Rogue," the Professor asked. She glanced back at him. "I was wondering, have you spoken with your friend Max at all in the past few days?" he asked.
"Hmm," she said while blinking. "Not on the phone, no," she said, which was technically true.
"I see," he said as his eyes darted away from hers. "Thank you, Rogue," he said as he looked at her again.
"Good night," she said, wanting to end the conversation.
"Good night," he said pleasantly. She held in a sigh as she headed towards the kitchen's exit.
Okay, maybe she should have just said no.
'No, that's the one thing I haven't done,' she thought as she walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway. 'Lie to 'em about Max. Everything I've said is-' she thought before she froze. 'Oh god,' she thought as she felt her chest tighten.
The Professor couldn't read her mind. But what was there to stop him from reading everyone else's? He'd had plenty of time to review and scrutinize every conversation she'd had about Max with the others. And what was stopping him from doing that?
Nothing. Nothing at all. He had definitely-
"Rogue, Rogue," the Professor shouted, calling for her attention. She turned around to see he had followed her into the hallway. "Take a breath," he said gently as he moved closer to her. "Everything is alright," he said.
'No, it ain't, not if I keep talking to ya,' she told herself.
"It wasn't my intention to upset you but perhaps it's time for us to discuss this," he said.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna go to bed," she said as she turned away from him towards the elevator. Scott wasn't anywhere in sight, so he must've just gone up ahead of her.
"Rogue, please," he said.
"No," she said firmly as she kept walking.
"Max Eisenhardt's records are impeccable. A family lineage spanning back three generations," he continued regardless as she got to the elevator at the end of the hall. She pressed the button to summon it as he moved closer to her. "And the others are convinced, Logan especially, that there's no weight to my suspicions. There's simply no proof and your consistent denial only subtracts from the possibility," he said.
"Okay, so, maybe you should drop it," she said dryly as she pressed the button again.
"If only I could," he said as he moved to her side. She crossed her arms over her chest as he maneuvered his chair to face her. "On March tenth, after Max picked you up, I had Logan follow you both," he said.
"'Course ya did," she said, annoyed, while she tried to keep her composure, she tapped her foot against the floor as she waited for the elevator.
"I instructed Logan to keep his distance, considering who I thought he was following," he said, as she reached forward and pushed the button again.
"Come on-" she said irritatedly.
"Logan lost the scent, but he claimed there were several reasons why that could have occurred. He blamed distance or perhaps the body spray wore off and altered his smell," he continued to explain as she pressed the button for the fourth time.
'Scott just used this. Why ain't it?' she asked before she felt her eyes widen.
Was he? No way. Would the Professor use his telekinesis to keep the elevator from descending? Would he actually keep her here in this hallway listening to him, when it was clearly the last thing she wanted to do?
"I asked Logan why he couldn't find you," he said strongly. "And the better question is, why would Max abandon the vehicle?"
"So, what? We left the car, why's that such a big deal?" she asked.
"Because you weren't in the restaurant or any of the surrounding stores. Logan checked," he said as he tried to catch her eye. She kept her eyes firmly on the elevator door. "And at that point, I was becoming rather convinced that instead of protecting you, as I'm supposed to, I had gleefully shook the hands of your kidnapper before seeing you off," he said mildly disgusted with himself.
'Says the man who's keeping me from going to sleep,' she thought before she felt a twinge of doubt. He seemed sincere in his concern for her. That was why she forgave him for reading her mind without asking because he was only trying to protect her- And besides the Professor rarely used his telekinesis. Would he really use his powers to prevent her from leaving, while discussing her possible kidnapping? If he was, the dissonance between his actions and words was almost too much to stomach. She could comment on it- but she wasn't sure, acknowledging that she knew about his secondary power was in her best interest. She probably wasn't supposed to know about them and it would only feed into his suspicions.
"Logan lost track of you, Cerebro couldn't locate you," he continued. "I can't tell you how relieved I was when Ororo reported that you'd returned to the car. I had the others pull back and greeted you myself upon your return," he said.
'Okay, well that explains why Logan wasn't home,' she thought.
"When I spoke with Max that evening I was certain I was speaking with Magneto. But then I started to doubt myself," he said.
"Okay," she said as she glanced down at him. Accepting that either something was wrong with the elevator or he was- Either way, she wasn't getting out of this hallway until he had said his peace. So, she might as well let him get it all out and then maybe she could finally go to bed. If anything, she'd take the stairs. And while leaving him here by himself was appealing- no- okay- It was the Professor, he had her best interest at heart. It's why she was here. It's why she chose to be and X-Men. "You've been so sure that it literally didn't matter what I've said. So, why'd ya start doubting yourself?" she asked.
"I all but told Max Eisenhardt I knew who he truly was and he did nothing," he said.
"Ah-huh?" she huffed.
"Then there was your reaction to the situation," he continued. "And finally Logan's affirmation of your lack of fear," he explained.
"Yeah, 'cause no one's threatening me," she said.
"Yes, I understand that now," he said. "What you two have is an agreement," he declared.
'Do. Not. React,' she told herself as she fought to keep herself from panicking. He was right, they both know it but she couldn't-
"I witnessed his frustration, Rogue. I saw him restrain himself. And while I may never know how you managed it. For your sake, I'm pleased you've negotiated concessions out of him. Not an easy task, I assure you. I know as I've tried and failed many times in that endeavor," he said.
"Ah-huh," she said again, feeling deeply ill at ease.
"Perhaps the rebirth machine incident didn't cause you strife. But after the mansion was destroyed, I know you felt culpable from the way you carried yourself. And while no one was hurt in today's excursion, that may not always be the case," he said. She looked up at the elevator door again. "Eventually, he will ask too much of you. And you will have to make a choice, the X-Men or him," he said gravely.
"Look, following the brotherhood boys was my dumb idea, okay?" she said, needing to deflect the conversation. "No one put me up to anything. And the only thing I feel bad about is getting Kitty detention," she said.
"I see," he said again, as he glanced away from her. "Any comments about the other two incidents I referenced?" he baited.
"I don't exactly remember you complaining when I led you directly to Magneto's base," she said dryly.
"I'd like to say it was the only time I managed to find him without his consent, but we know that simply isn't true," he said, his tone matching her own.
She let out a sigh. Fine, if he wanted a confession so badly, she'd give him one.
"My mother blew up your home," she said as she met his gaze again. "So, yeah, I didn't feel great about that," she said.
"Mother?" he repeated as his facial expression altered to a look of surprise.
"Foster mom, Irene, and Raven. They adopted me together," Rogue explained.
"I didn't know that," he said dismayed. Though from the way he looked away from her, she could tell he was speaking to himself, surprised by his gap in knowledge. She watched him consider this new information as if he was recalculating his position. "Rogue, is there a reason you've never disclosed this? Surely Kurt would have been comforted to know he has a sister," he said.
"I was adopted. We ain't related. Not really," she said.
"I doubt Kurt would see it that way," he said.
"I-" she said before she sighed. "Yeah, I know," she huffed.
"Then why?" he asked before she tapped her foot against the floor.
"I- I loved Raven when I was younger," she admitted, though it pained her to do so. "As strict as she was, she was my mom and I loved her. Then she- she left me and she said it was cause her work was so important, but I- I didn't care about that. I just wanted my mom and I- I was so happy to see her in Mississippi. I jumped at the chance to move to Bayville to be closer to her again and then she-" she said as she felt her sinus choke up and- "I don't wanna talk about this," she said as she felt tears forming in the ducts of her eyes.
"Rogue," he said, sympathetically.
"All I wanna do is go to sleep," she said exhaustively. "So, can you get this faulty elevator to work? Please?" she asked him.
She blinked a few times, her eyes stinging, as her request was met with a familiar ding, the doors immediately opened, and she felt her blood boil.
"It seems to be working now, thank goodness," the Professor said joviality.
'Hypocrite,' she hissed in her mind as her hands balled at her sides.
"It's rather late- we'll pick this up another time-" he said before her narrowed eyes flashed to his, and as she watched him take in her enraged demeanor his eyes widened. "I-" he said, fumbling, shocked by her reaction.
"God, you're as bad as she is," she muttered in disbelief.
"Now, that's not fair," he countered.
"Fair," she repeated outraged. She let out a shriek as she marched into the elevator. "Ya know what?" she asked as she spun around to face him as he moved forward an inch to join her. She quickly stepped forward, blocking his path, and keeping him from entering. "If you're gonna keep accusing me of working with Magneto, maybe I should jump ship. Maybe with him, I'll get treated with some actual respect," she said pointedly.
"You don't mean that," the Professor said haughtily as she felt her eyes widen further. She slammed her thumb against the button, wanting nothing more than to get away from him. "You're letting your anger get the better of you," he added.
"Just leave me alone," she screamed before the doors finally closed. She stumbled back, hitting the back of the lift as she felt-
She didn't know what she was feeling, but none of it was good, and all of it was too much- she- wanted to cry, she wanted to hit something, she wanted to-
She wanted to call Max- but she'd promised the Professor she wouldn't speak to him about the X-Men. And while he may not have any integrity. She did. She kept her promises- she-
She managed to get to her bedroom. Kitty was sitting on one of the two twin beds in the room, her face dropping as soon as she saw her.
"Did the professor yell at you?" Kitty said as Rogue marched over to her closet to grab some PJs. She didn't have the energy to comment. She just- "That's like, totally unfair. I thought we weren't in trouble," she said.
"We're not," Rogue said
"So, like, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Rogue answered before she heard a knock at the door. Kitty ran to open it and she turned in time to see Logan standing at their doorway.
"Hate to break it to ya but, neither of you two, are missing school tomorrow. I'm gonna need you both to pipe down before you wake anyone else up," Logan said.
"Sorry," Kitty whispered. "We were just getting ready to turn the lights out," she said, covering for them both.
"Ah-huh," he said unconvinced as he turned to look at her. "You alright?"
"No," Rogue answered honestly, her voice felt hollow.
"He asked ya about Max, didn't he?" Logan asked.
"Yup," she said.
Logan let out a low growl before he said, "We told him to lay off ya."
"Well, he didn't listen," Rogue said dryly.
"Yeah, we'll see about that," Logan grunted before he turned to leave. "Try to get some sleep," he said.
"Thanks," she said softly before he closed the door behind him. Kitty looked at her concerned. "I'm too tired," she said, shutting down any question or comment her roommate intended to ask.
"Okay," she said. "Well, I'm totally here for you if you want to talk, okay?" she asked. Rogue sniffled slightly but nodded at the other girl.
"Thanks, Kitty," she said.
That did make her feel a little better. More so that Kitty respected her decision and didn't try to strong-arm her into a conversation.
She forced herself to take a breath. She was just going to get worked up again- not that she had calmed down from-
She took another breath.
God, she needed sleep. She was done with today.