Charles Xavier sat at the head of the conference table, looking at the group of individuals he considered his children, his friends. To the children attending Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters, they were called teachers. To the world they were simply known as the X-Men. Xavier started his superhuman group of heroes with his first three students: Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey, and Ororo Munroe (Storm).
Over the years his team of three grew to the twelve who sat before him. St. John Allerdyce (Pyro), Peter Rasputin (Colossus), Theresa Rourke (Siryn), Jubilation Lee (Jubilee), and Katherine ‘Kitty’ Pryde (Shadowcat) all graduated from the school at the same time and choose to become members of the team.
The newest members were recruited from various places in the world. From Illinois, Dr. Hank McCoy (Beast), a huge, intimidating yet brilliant and gentle man. From New Orleans, Remy LeBeau (Gambit), a handsome man who is very aware of that fact. From Germany, Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), a shy, sweet, blue skinned mutant. And from deep in the woods of Canada, a man simply known as Wolverine, a man who is a mystery to others as well as to himself.
Charles cleared his throat to get the attention of his team.
“I will not keep you long. Just two matters to touch on. Then you can leave and enjoy this beautiful day properly. By the pool, in the gardens, the garage,” he gave a knowing glance at Scoot and Wolverine, “or even spending my money at the mall.” he smiled and gave a slight nod at Jubilee, who smiled back and gave him two thumbs up.
“The first order of business is in fact not business at all. I understand congratulations are in order for two of our own. It seems Colossus has proposed last night to our dear Shadowcat, and she has accepted. Congratulations to the happy couple.” There was a moment where everyone shook hands with Peter and hugged Kitty. Everyone except Wolverine, who wouldn’t be caught dead showing emotions. He remained seated and merely gave a faint nod to the newly engaged couple.
Once all the women had a good long look at the ring, and everyone was seated again, Xavier continued.
“On to the second matter at hand. Tomorrow our team will grow by two. A Ms. Georgianna Callasantos, also known as Feral. A mutant with enhanced senses and agility. A fierce fighter. Her mutation is feline in nature, resulting in claws, fangs, fur and a prehensile tail.” He took a deep breath before he went on. “She will be joined by Rogue.”
Everyone had a reaction at the mention of her name. Everyone except the four newest members who arrived at the mansion while she was away, never meeting the women everyone loved.
Jubilee let out a delighted screech. Kitty immediately started to clap her hands and almost bounced right out of her seat with joy. Siryn, who was a mixture of excitement and shock, grabbed hold of John’s hand, whose expression mirrored his girlfriends. Jean, Storm and Peter looked genuinely happy and thrilled. Scott, although was smiling outwardly at the thought of seeing his friend again, a girl he loved deeply as if she were his own sister, inwardly his heart was aching at the pain they had shared.
Jean sensing, rather than mind reading, what her husband was remembering, leaned over and whispered “I know, my love. I know.” He gave her a sad smile and nodded.
Xavier sat patiently waiting, while his team talked amongst themselves and digested the news. He himself had needed a moment when Rogue had called him last night and informed him she was ready to return. It had been three years since he last saw her and he missed her dearly.
“Excuse me, but who the hell is this Rogue?” Wolverine asked. He has been part of the team for two and a half years and was the first of the new recruits.
“Rogue was a very valuable and much loved member of the team for four years. Before that she was a very special student or ours.” He explained, remembering the girl who was everyone’s best friend, everyone’s kid sister. Her life was a series of heartaches and horrendous events that made her wise beyond her years. “Three years ago she left us. Temporarily. And now it seems she will be returning.”
“May I ask what her mutation is?” Hank, ever the scientist, asked.
“Rogue possesses the ability to absorb the powers and personality of anyone with whom she has skin to skin contact with. With humans it is extremely deadly. With mutants there is a miniscule window, before the pull becomes deadly. Plus some other unknown powers.”
“Fascinating.” Hank muttered.
“Why’d the chere leave?” The words that left Remy’s lips caused an uncomfortable silence among the nine who knew her. Cyclops closed his eyes behind his shades. “Was it something Remy said?” he asked noticing the change in atmosphere.
“Rogue is a unique individual. Unfortunately, life dealt Rogue a very rough hand. Four and a half years ago we lost a member of our team, who was very close to Rogue. Robert Drake A.K.A Iceman.” When the professor paused, Scott let out a sad sigh at the mention of Bobby. Bobby was his protégé. His parents had disowned him when they found out he was a mutant and Scott took it upon himself to lookout for the boy, become his mentor. He watched as Bobby became a teenager and then grew into a confident young man. When Bobby died, Scott was heartbroken. He had lost his son, his brother, his best friend.
“Shortly after she was forced to completely absorb a mutant. It left her with new powers she did not know how to control. She was grief stricken, confused, and had a new resident inside her head. She came to me, worried about inadvertently hurting her teammates. Asked if there was anyplace she could go to get herself and her new powers under control. A place that didn’t remind her of the horrible events. I suggested Paris. I have a friend, a fellow telepath, who runs a school for mutants there. She accepted and she left the very next day. We have not seen her since, wanting to give her her space.”
It was quiet for a moment, before Jubilee broke the silence.
“When does she get in?”
“Sometime tomorrow evening. But I suspect she will be tired from such a long flight and would want to go straight to bed. We will formerly welcome her back and welcome our new member, Feral, the following morning. That is all for today. You are dismissed. Enjoy your day.”
L’Academie Pour Les Individus Mutants was located at 21981 Rue de Grenelle, Paris, France. The school was slightly different than Xavier’s. Here there were practically no children seeking sanctuary. In this country mutants were widely accepted. The school serves the purpose of helping young mutants, new to their powers, learn to control them, and teaching what is ethically right concerning their ability. For example teaching a young telepath that it is not right to ‘convince’ their parents to let them stay up past their bedtime.
In her fifth floor bedroom, Rogue leaned against the window, taking in her unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower. It was early in the morning in June and the sun was casting a gold tint on the world. She would miss this view, but she knew when she came here it would not be a permanent arrangement.
On her bed lay an open suitcase, mostly full. She was racing around her room gathering up last minute objects, when the view caught her attention and all thoughts of packing vanished. A knock on her door snapped her out of her gazing.
“Yeah. Come in.” Rogue instructed. She fast became friends with everyone here and all were welcomed in her room.
“You almost ready?” Polaris, the green haired beauty, asked. “Your cab will be here in an hour. What’s taking you?”
“Just a few last second things to pack. I was trying to get in one more breathtaking view before I left.”
“OK. Why don’t you tell me what to pack and you leave it to me. That way you can go downstairs and say goodbye to everyone, without being rushed.”
“Thanks. Just the stuff in the bathroom and on my desk.”
“See ya downstairs.” Rogue thanked her again and went to say bye to the women who helped her these past years. The headmistress of L’Academie. Emma Frost.
“Come in, Rogue.” Emma announced before Rogue had a chance to knock. She was used to it. Xavier did the same thing. Opening the door, Rogue found Emma standing behind her desk, dressed in her signature white. “The time has come were we must say au revoir.”
“Yup. I can’t express in words how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me. I learned to control the personalities in my head, even erasing them permanently. I learned how to use Carol’s powers. I even learned to control my own power. Thank you so very much.”
“You give me too much credit. You did all the work. I merely gave you the tools and offered support. You did the hard part.”
“Still. Thank you. You made me feel very welcomed here and I will miss you.” Emma held open her arms, and Rogue fell into them, trying very hard not to cry on her silk shirt.
“I will miss you too, child.” Sensing that they were both not far from tears, Emma pulled back from Rogue and held her firmly by the shoulders. “Rogue, you are a survivor. Now it’s time to close this chapter of your life and welcome the next. We will always be here for you. We will always be your friends. We will see each other again. Now get out there and say goodbye to everyone. They’re right outside waiting for you. LIKE I DON’T KNOW THEY’RE OUT THERE. TELEPATH, REMEMBER.”
Rogue laughed, whispered a ‘see ya’ and walk out the door into the hallway where, sure enough, the rest of the staff stood waiting. Feral had apparently just finished her goodbyes and was waiting to speak to Emma. Rogue gave a tight hug to Meggan, who cried so much she started to shape shift into a weeping willow (her powers being greatly affected by her emotions). Polaris, who finished with her luggage, skipped down the stairs and flung herself at Rogue. “I don’t care if there will be a sea between us. You’ll still be my girl.”
Psylocke and Quicksilver, both hugged her at the same time. “Take care of each other.” She told the newlyweds. Next was Havok, Scott’s brother. He knew Scott saw her as a sister, so he treated her the same way. Last were Cable and Bishop. They were the classic odd couple. They never agreed on anything yet they were the best of friends. They treated her as one of the guys and she loved them for it. “That’s right. Save the best for last.” They both said together. She was laughing, even as the tears fell, when she hugged them.
The door to the headmistress’ office opened and out walks Emma Frost and a teary eyed Georgianna. At the same time a horn honked from somewhere in front of the building.
“It’s time. Your cab is here.” Emma tried to stay strong but her voice cracked slightly. She grew to care for Rogue and Feral was like a daughter to her, and now they were both leaving her. But it was for the best. They were starting new chapters in life and she was proud of them.
The men packed the luggage into the trunk while the two girls got into the cab. They waved goodbye as the cab drove them to the airport.
“Gigi I’m sorry you had to dress up so much. It’s just New York is different than here. Not as accepting.”
“It’s fine. I understand.” Feral was dressed in jeans with a hole for her tail, a sweatshirt with a hood, a long black raincoat that covered her tail and gloves. “Thanks for lending me the gloves.”
“No problem. I have tons.”
“Hey, why are you still wearing gloves? You can control it now.”
“I know but I wore them for so many years that I just feel naked without them. When we get to the mansion I’ll wear them less and less.”
“Do you think I’ll fit in? At the mansion I mean.” Feral was very insecure at times. She spent her whole life in Paris, and even though she was accepted there, she always got the typical shocked first reaction because of the fur. She had finally gotten the guts to travel. See a city that was not Paris. She just hoped that she would be accepted in her new home just as well in her old.
“Of course.”
“Have you ever had a furry mutant at the school before?”
“Furry. Scaly. Webbed. You name it, we had it. We have a girl who can walk through walls, a boy who does not sleep. Just stays up all night changing channels with a blink of his eyes. We have a guy who can become metal. A solid piece of walking metal. And we have a girl who can shoot fireworks, from her hands. And for some reason, she loves the color yellow. Wears it every day. Yellow room, yellow everything. I’m starting to think it just might be part of her mutation.” She smiled at Feral and nudged her with her shoulder. Feral was feeling more relaxed.
“So you’re ready to go back. Got over everything?” Feral asked after awhile.
“No. Not over it yet, but I’m finally at a place where I can think about it without losing it.” Her mind quickly flashed to that night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They were fighting against the Brotherhood. She was fighting Arclight. Bobby was taking on Toad. The others were paired up, some one on one, others two on one. Bobby managed to defeat Toad, freezing one foot to the floor and his mouth shut. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, when out of the corner of her eye she saw Sabretooth. He was coming up behind Bobby and fast.
She tried to scream out a warning but it was too noisy, he couldn’t hear her. She tried to run to him, but Arclight jumped on her back, knocking her down. She took her eyes off Bobby long enough to knock out the women who attacked her. When she turned her attention back to Bobby, his eyes were wide with shock and blood was starting to poor out of his nose and mouth. She didn’t understand, until she looked lower and saw an arm coming around from his back. The hand on his stomach. The nails, thick, black and unnaturally long embedded into him. The other hand doing the same but to his back, tearing into his lung.
She screamed and ran to him but he was far from her. She saw as Sabretooth extracted his claws and stabbed him again and again. He was quick. By the time she got to Bobby, Victor had turned and ran in the other direction. She didn’t care about Victor right now. She could always get him later. Right now she was worried about Bobby.
“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! JEAN!” Rogue called out. The fight was ending. The Brotherhood was retreating but she didn’t notice. Bobby was trying to speak but all he managed was a whisper.
“It’s no use.” He choked out. His breathing was gurgled. She knew blood was rushing into his lungs.
“No. Just wait until Jean gets here. She’ll make you better.” Rogue was starting to panic. Tears were welling up in her eyes, her breathing becoming erratic.
“She ca- can’t” He winced in pain as he tried to draw breath into his pierced lungs. There were too many slices and he was quickly drowning in his own blood. Combine that with the damage done to his liver and stomach, he did not have long.
Jean arrived, closely followed by Scott and the rest of the team. Rogue looked to her, waiting for her to do something, but she just covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes as a tear slid down her face. She knew just by looking at him, there was nothing she could do.
Scott fell to his knees, feeling sick to his stomach. Jean held him as he watched Rogue hold Bobby, her uniform quickly being covered in blood.
“It’s ok. It’s -” Bobby broke off in a fit of coughs.
“Don’t speak.” Tears were falling down her face rapidly, splashing onto his blood covered chest. Jean did the only thing she could do to help. She took Bobby thoughts and transformed them into Rogues mind, acting as a telepathic telephone.
Rogue was overwhelmed with the thoughts she got. Love. Sorrow. Regret. Pain. So much pain. An idea came to her. A stupid idea. Bending low so her mouth was next to his ear, she whispered so only he could hear.
“I can make the pain stop. You could be here for minutes in pain before you go. I can make it go away. Now.” She prayed he understood what she meant.
His eyes widened, in pain or in shock of what she was offering to do, she wasn’t sure. But then he surprised her and nodded. She took a deep breath to steady herself. He turned to Scott, and tried to grab his hand but his arm merely jerk in his direction. Scott moved closer and held the younger man’s hand.
“G-goodbye” He said in a weak voice. He then turned to Rogue. “I’m ready.”
“Ready for what?” Scott asked panicked. Jean came up behind him.
“It’s ok. They thought this out. We can’t stop them.”
“Stop what?” He asked again.
“I lo-ove you.” Bobby gurgled.
“I love you too, sugah.” She choked out through her tears. She then lowered her head and kissed him. No barrier. Just the feel of her soft lips against his cold ones, slick with his own blood. It was a few short seconds before the hand Scott was holding became limp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogue was nervous. She tried to hide it but knew she was doing a poor job when Feral reached over and held her hand. They would be arriving at the airport any minute. They have almost two hours before takeoff. Plenty of time to check their luggage, get through security and find their gate. Maybe have enough time to grab some food. Then onto the eight hour flight and the forty-five minute car ride to the mansion. A whole entire day dedicated to traveling, but it would be worth it. After three years away, Rogue was finally going back home.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Can't stay away from the fanfiction ;)
~~~~~~~~~ means flashback
~~~~~~~~~ means flashback