X-Men Evolution: Rogue Evolution

Christmas Morning 12.2

**Hey!

Just wanted to drop a content warning for self-harm by knife. At no point in the story is anyone actively harming themselves or encouraging anyone to hurt themselves, but while editing, I could see how it may be interpreted that way.

If this is a trigger, no worries, I'll include a summary at the end.

Thanks!**

Anna's leg just wouldn't relax under the sheets. She tried shifting and changing positions, she tried drinking water, she even tried just flat out resisting the urge to have it move, but the fucking thing just wouldn't leave her alone. She heard it called 'restless leg syndrome' or something, but whatever it was called she was getting ready to punch a fucking hole through her wall.

Admitting defeat, she finally sat up and flipped the light on. The place was just as she left it when she flipped the light off, empty. Well, it wasn't any emptier than normal. There was still furniture and everything else that was typically there, but there wasn't a Kitty where there typically was. When Anna first heard the plan, she thought she'd love having the room to herself for a while.

It was great for the first couple of nights. After that, she found that the house started to creak more, and the urge to lock her bedroom door at night. She didn't know why; nothing was different from before. And if there was some ghost that haunted the house, she'd know about it by now... right?

"This is stupid," Anna said to no one in particular, then found her jacket and boots. "Finally get some fucking alone time and I can't even enjoy it." She didn't bother zipping up the coat before heading out of her bedroom door. "I finally get some fucking peace and quiet," Anna is only a couple of steps before heading out the front door when she relizes her boots are untied. She props her foot up on the window's ledge and fastens one boot after another in turn. "And my leg gets all weird and I can't fucking fall asleep," She unlocks and throws open the door. A wall of cold brings life back to the numbness in her skin.

"Stupid," Anna said a few feet down the path from the front door. Her coat was zipped all the way to her throat, and her hands were stuffed in her pockets. "It's not like I even really miss her, it's probably just because I'm used to having her around." Nothing replies to her accusations aside from the crunch of fallen snow beneath her. She found herself checking her phone every other minute, but there was nothing ever on it to check.

"It's, like, whatever, right?" She said, stepping over a log. "You know, Kurt has Evan, Scott, and Jean are buddies..." Breathing became a little more difficult as she continued her trek through the woods. She activated the flashlight on her watch to make sure she didn't wipe out on a tree. "But, you know, I've always been a loner. I don't actually, like, need anyone. Some people are just built different."

The terrain became more difficult to navigate than she remembered, but she felt an echo of relief originate from her stomach when she found the well-trodden foot path. "And the only guy I know who'd get that is the meat man himself. Yeah, me and him, we're both loner types that don't need no-body. Nope." The cold started to settle into her ragged body. She hugged herself tighter.

"Couple of alpha male types," She said after a while. "He'll understand when I, uh, tell him how much I don't care..." Her brain fog was getting worse, but when the hill crested and she could see the top of Logan's camp, she felt a spark in her chest. "I just hope my fellow alpha wolf has some hot coffee or something..." When she finally reached the camp, though, she found no fire or lights in any of the tents.

"Hey!" She called into the darkness, "Big dog!" She actually heard herself bark a couple of times, "You there?" Either he didn't want to dignify any of that with a response, or he really wasn't. Anna found his cabin with the help of her light and knocked, but there was no answer. "Logan?" She peered in the windows, but there was no sign of life inside. "Big dog?" She said in a much smaller voice and without barking this time.