Rogue dropped wearily into one of the many overstuffed leather chairs in the library. She absently stroked the cool dark brown upholstery, a small frown creasing her forehead even as she settled in and drew up her legs before guiltily lowering them again. Sometimes she still forgot about the small swelling at her waist, forgot that some of her favorite positions would make things even more cramped for the baby she was only just beginning to feel.
Tonight Rogue felt particularly useless. Both teams had been sent out on a joint mission, one requiring more than the normal amount of support. Only Rogue stayed behind with the Professor to keep watch over the students, all of whom decided to get up to as much mischief as possible between the teams leaving just after dinner and lights out. Rogue had dealt with a clogged toilet from the younger students and a plastic wrapped toilet from the older ones, a water fight in one of the bathrooms that somehow devolved into a catfight between roommates, and all of the alarm clocks on the second floor going off precisely five minutes apart for an hour. To say that she was exhausted would be a gross understatement, but there was still the worry about her teammates to keep her awake.
Across the large room, Professor Xavier looked up from the newspaper he was reading. “I would let you know if there were any problems, Rogue.” He spoke just loudly enough for her to hear, a gentle rebuke in his voice.
Rogue raised a skeptical eyebrow in his direction. “Would you, Professor? Are you sure you wouldn’t keep anything from me for my own good?” She flashed a tired grin to let him know that she could accept that behavior from him even if she would verbally shred any other person who wanted to try it. And even if she would do her best to find out anyway.
Xavier shook his head. “If anything goes wrong I will let you know, my dear. You look like you could use an early night,” he said frankly.
Allowing her smile to grow, Rogue shook her head. “Ah’ll wait here with you. Ah could use quiet adult company after the evening Ah just had,” she said ruefully.
The Professor nodded and returned to his paper. Rogue reflected on the strange mixture that was her mentor as she alternated between watching him read and staring into the flames leaping in the marble fireplace to her left. On one hand, Xavier kept up with the latest technology, equipping the school with state-of-the-art computers and televisions, his X-Men receiving cutting-edge body armor, weapons and medical care. However, he still read an actual printed newspaper and wrote thank you notes on stationary to patrons of the school.
Rogue allowed her head to dip sideways and then settle. Her eyes grew heavy as her eyes fixed on the flames dancing a few feet away. For a moment she would have sworn they took on a vaguely bird-like shape, but then it disappeared like any other random pattern a person might see in flames. She forgot about the anomaly moments later as a long yawn threatened to unhinge her jaw. The Professor looked over at her again, and he smiled indulgently.
“Are you sure you don’t want to head to bed, Rogue?” he asked quietly.
Rogue sighed and forced her eyes open. “Ah guess Ah should. Ah get so tired these days, and this little one isn’t even hear yet!”
“Just wait until he or she is born. I have been told that you will be grateful for all the years of sleep you had prior to having a newborn,” he teased gently as she pulled herself to her feet.
Rogue grimaced. “Ah’m awfully afraid you’re right, Professor,” she said ruefully as she made her way out of the library and into the dimly lit halls beyond. With only two adults home and all the children in bed, there was no need for the hallways to be filled with light. Rogue let her eyes wander as she passed each open doorway, vigilant as always when the others were away for signs that something wasn’t right. Seeing nothing out of place, she headed upstairs to her room.
Just in front of her doorway, Rogue saw a slip of paper. Her lips turned up as she wondered which of the students had snuck out of bed to leave her a note. She bent down and picked up the neatly-folded white paper. She flipped it open as she turned the weathered brass doorknob and slipped into the dark room. A quick flick of the light switched filled the room with a warm yellow glow, one that gave color to Rogue’s face as her own drained away once she saw the familiar scrawl on the otherwise pristine paper.
“Rogue,” it began. “I have taken Jenny with me. I have some associates who are interested in…examining her powers. However, I am willing to return her if you would like to come with me in her place. You have one hour to make your decision and meet me at the old train station two miles away. If you tell anyone about this, I will take her anyway. I’m keeping an eye on you.” The note was signed, “Jean Grey” with a conveniently placed time next to the signature.
Jenny was a ten-year-old whose abilities, turning herself almost invisible, would not help her escape from a telepath. She was probably frightened out of her mind since she had never met Jean, having only been sent to the school in the past month by her parents. The paper fluttered from Rogue’s numb fingers as she wildly looked towards the ornate silver mantle clock she had found at an antiques store recently. She had forty minutes to get there.
Rogue had no doubt that Jean was keeping a mental eye on her as promised, so she made no effort to shout for the Professor. Instead, she left the note on her bed where anyone looking for her would see it, grabbed the green hoodie draped over the arm of her delicate pink desk chair and quietly left her room, carefully leaving the door slightly ajar. The trip down the hall and the back staircase seemed to take too much time although it must have only been a minute or two. Rogue cautiously left through the back door, again leaving it open just a little bit.
Once she was outside, Rogue felt free to break into a run that soon became a leap into the air. It felt good to race just above the trees. She was able to give the adrenaline pounding through her veins an outlet as she soared in the direction of the abandoned building that was her goal.
Jean Grey impatiently watched the sky even as she kept one hand clamped over the mouth of the young girl she held firmly to her side. She ignored the wide, terror-filled blue eyes even as her own scanned the treetops. She had no doubt that Rogue would choose to travel via the air, where few humans were likely to see her, as opposed to the road where any passing car might spot her. Her powers let her know that Rogue was on her way but little else. For some reason the girl had often remained an enigma to her. Perhaps it was the camouflage of other minds existing behind the deceptively sweet brown eyes.
Mentally shaking herself free of random musing, Jean spared a glance for the slim man in black standing next to her. He would driving the special van they had prepared for Rogue, one made with bars of adamantium incorporated into the steel frame, while Jean ensured that Jenny arrived safely back on mansion grounds. She wasn’t a monster, after all. She wouldn’t really let the child be hurt.
A flash of white caught Jean’s eye, and then Rogue was landing in front of her. The two women glared at each other for several tense seconds before Rogue smiled reassuringly at Jenny.
“Everything is gonna be fine, sweetheart. You’ll be going back to the school in just a few minutes. Isn’t that right, Dr. Grey?” Rogue’s tone went from sweet to hard as her eyes narrowed again.
“Of course, Rogue. We just need you to climb into the back of our van,” Jean said, gesturing elegantly towards the stark white vehicle.
Rogue raised an eyebrow at her, an unconscious mimic of Logan that stabbed Jean as a reminder of all she had lost and all Rogue still had. “How do Ah know that you will return Jenny if Ah get in there?” she asked suspiciously.
“Jenny isn’t really the one we want, Rogue. We have no use for her. She will be safely left just inside the gate to find her way back to the mansion,” Jean promised.
Rogue looked at Jenny again. “Do you think you will be able to get from the gate to the house, Jenny?” she asked kindly.
Jenny nodded, her gaze still screaming even if she couldn’t with Jean’s hand still fixed firmly over her mouth. Jean smiled tightly down at her as well, but that seemed to frighten the child even more. A quick frown replaced the smile.
“Fine, Ah’ll do it,” Rogue said, pressing her full lips into a thin line as she looked at the van, its back doors wide open with Jean’s associate waiting to one side. Jean suppressed a gleeful laugh as the younger woman strode over and jumped inside.
Jean pulled Jenny to the passenger side of the van as the back doors were slammed shut behind Rogue. She pushed the girl up onto the wide bench seat and then followed her. She looked at the man now sitting behind the wheel and nodded. He inclined his head slightly and then started the car. Jean shot a quick look over her shoulder through the adamantium barred window that separated the back of the van from the front seat. Rogue glared back her silently, which only increased her joy.
Five minutes later they dropped Jenny off at the gate as promised. Once the child was out of the car and safely past the wrought iron gate Jean’s driver sped away. They had a short window of time to get away before the Professor find out what happened and start looking. By that time, Jean intended for the three of them to be safely miles away.
“They will come after me, you know,” Rogue said softly from the back, confidence dripping with every syllable.
Jean simply smiled as she remained facing forward. “I’m planning on it.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm finally back to this one! I'm so sorry it's taken so long. First I got stuck on where I wanted it to go, and then I got pregnant and had a baby, which left little time for anything else between work, school, my older daughter and my newborn. But the baby's a year old now, and it's time for me to get back in the game. I have the rest of this plotted out, I swear, and I hope to get it wrapped up in the next few weeks.
Chapter End Notes:
What a lovely, ominous note to end on...