All through the meal Rogue felt eyes on her. Most were the eyes of her friends, some were the eyes of the older students, and the rest were the eyes of the students who were too young to remember her but who were intrigued by the presence of a new adult, especially one who looked as comfortingly momish as she did at that moment.
She knew that even though her hair must look a mess and her face was probably beginning to bruise, her well coiffed light brown hair and simple make up screamed ‘Mommy’ to all of the younger children. Not to mention that she still wore the knee length powder blue skirt and white top with matching sweater that she had been wearing to her engagement party the evening before. And she still had on her engagement ring. She would have to get that back to Mike somehow.
After the meal the children retired to the lounge or their rooms and the X-men convened in Professor X’s office. Everything still looked the same but the people were different somehow, more mature.
Most obviously changed was Kitty who was rosy cheeked and glowing in her pregnant state with Colossus at her side, looking even bigger than the last time she saw him, if that was possible. Storm had her white locks cut in a bob style and had a scar along her jawline that Rogue didn’t recognize although it looked years old. Jean on the other hand had grown her hair out and dyed it a slightly less vibrant shade of red. She was perched on the edge of Scott’s arm chair and Scott had his arm resting around her waist in a comfortable manner. Scott actually looked too comfortable... well for Scott that is. It looked like marriage had chilled him out much for the better. The Professor was the only one of them who looked unchanged, as if time hadn’t touched him, although he must be over seventy by now.
“Rogue, what happened?” Kitty burst out once everyone had assembled.
“Ah was hopin’ ya’ll could tell me that,” Rogue said in a frustrated voice “until yesterday Ah was Jane Bayfield, elementary school teacher and mom extraordinaire.”
“Mom? Rogue do you have a baby?!?” Kitty squealed, rubbing her own belly unconsciously.
“No, Tommy is my fian- exfiance Mike’s son.”
“Rogue, what did you mean when you said you were Jane Bayfield?” The Professor asked.
“Ah mean exactly that, Ah was Jane Bayfield. Ah remember being born and raised in Pennsylvania and my parents dying in a car crash when Ah was 19. Ah remember my childhood best friend Sasha and Ah remember going to a fondue place on my 10th birthday. Ah remember attending the University of Pennsylvania and graduating cum laude with a degree in education. Ah have been living life as a completely different person for the past three years and Ah want to know why!” She said near tears now.
“What do you mean three years?” Jean asked quizzically “You’ve only been gone a little over two years. You die- disappeared shortly after you’re 21st birthday.”
“Wha- what do ya mean? Ah can’t remember anything past my 20th birthday...”
Everyone was silent for a moment. “Rogue, I think that I should take a look in your mind. To help you remember, and to help us figure out who did this to you.” The Professor said finally. “But for now, I think we should all get some rest.”
“Thank you professor, but Ah just have one more question.”
“What is it my dear?”
“Where’s Logan?”
“Well, that, Rogue is a question I can answer definitively: I have no idea.”
§––––––––––§
“Good morning, sunshine!” A voice said above Rogue much too cheerily and she struggled to open her eyes against the blinding light coming in through the window of a guest room. She finally settled for opening one eye and identified Kitty standing in the middle of the room, a large bag of clothing in her hands. “Pete wanted to carry these in to you but I told him we had some catching up to do. He’s so protective of me and the baby, always offering to carry even the tiniest of things. I swear he offered to carry my purse the other day it’s ridiculous... but I love it.” Kitty said, her smile widening.
“Now that’s something Ah’d pay to see, Colossus with a purse. How long have ya’ll been married, anyway?”
Kitty’s smile faded “It’ll be two and a half years next month,” she said slowly “You were my maid of honor.” She finished softly, picking at invisible lint on her shirt to avoid Rogue’s eyes.
“Oh. Well Ah’m glad Ah was there,” Rogue said before quickly changing the subject “And when is the next little X-man due?”
“Two months. And she’s actually gonna be an X-woman.” Kitty brightened at the mention of her baby.
“Oh, a girl! Kitty, that’s so exciting! Remember when we used to plan out baby names and you only ever wanted to pick out girl names? It’s like ya knew.”
“Yeah, I remember.” Kitty paused “I’m really glad my daughter will get to know her Auntie Rogue.” She said, tearing up. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry.” Kitty laughed, wiping at her eyes “I’m so emotional these days.”
“Ah’ve missed you Kits. And Ah’m so happy to be able to meet your daughter.” Rogue said, getting up and hugging Kitty. “Now, let’s get to picking out some clothes that don’t make me look like Susie Homemaker, shall we?”
§––––––––––§
Two hours and 7 new outfits later, Kitty and Rogue had caught up about everything over the past two years except for “Logan,” Rogue blurted out finally “What’s the story?”
“Oh, honey I’m so not the person to ask. You two were so caught up in each other in that last year that between missions and you guys taking all those romantic getaways I hardly saw you, let alone Wolverine.” Kitty replied
“Ah have to find him. Do you have any idea where he would be?”
“After you di- were gone, he locked himself in his room for a week, and then one day he was gone. He hasn’t been back since.”
“So how exactly did Ah ‘die’ anyway.”
“Well we thought that you died in a fire caused by mutant protesters. Although we have no idea why you were even there. You and Logan were supposed to be at some secluded cabin,” Kitty cringed at the story. Something about that story pricked at the back of Rogue’s mind. Why did that story sound so familiar? And then she realized: “Ah heard Hank talk about a friend who was killed by protesters... he meant me.” She said, not as a question but a statement.
“It was really hard for everyone... when you were gone.” Kitty said sadly.
“Ugh, it’s all so frustrating! Why did this happen to me? Ah wish Ah could remember.”
“That’s why you have an appointment with the professor tonight, to help you remember.” Kitty responded kindly “Now let’s go get some lunch in town, I’m absolutely starving.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is probably the last chapter I'm gonna post for a week or so because I'm super busy moving into my new apartment. Reviews encourage me to type faster!