A Rogue's Tale

Who Am I Now? Part 5

This is the last part of the first chapter, but I have more written. If anyone what to throw out some ideas feel free.

Rogue reappeared at home, her Aunt Irene's home, but somehow, she didn't feel it was home anymore. She slowly walked up to the front porch, dragging her feet as her body was completely exhausted. She was too tired to even turn the doorknob to let herself in, but the door opened after a few seconds and she was greeted by a frantic Irene.

"Oh, honey, are you alright?" Irene asked her, putting her arms around her. It was like Irene was expecting her. "We were so worried."

"We?" Rogue asked confused.

"Yes," Irene said, with her arm still around Rogue's shoulders. "Come in here." Irene led her towards the living room. "I want you to meet someone."

Rogue did as Irene asked, too tired to protest. "Hello, Rogue, it's very nice to meet you." Rogue looked up to see a woman in her late forties dressed in a business suit and with her brown hair tied in a bun. She wore glasses and had a stern look on her face.

"Hi," was all Rogue could say.

"This is the woman I was telling you about," Irene said. "She can help you. This is Miss Darkholme, the principal of Bayville High in New York."

The woman outstretched her hand as a friendly gesture, but Rogue didn't take it. The things she had been through tonight were making her a little paranoid.

Rogue wanted to be hopeful, but she was so exhausted, and all she wanted to do was sleep. "Aunt Irene, ah'm really tired. Can we talk about this in the mornin'?"

"Sure, honey, go on up to bed," Irene said.

Rogue slowly climbed the stairs and made her way to her room. She half lay on her bed with her legs hanging off the side, trying to recount the things that happened that night, but she was so confused. The X-Men, something just didn't make sense about the whole thing. She wondered why one moment they would try to kill her and then the next they were trying to help her. She stood up for a moment and something fell out of her pocket. She squatted down to see what it was.

Then she remembered the girl, the red-head, Jean Gray. She gave this to her and thought for a moment of using it. She said she could reach her anytime, but then she remembered how angry she was when she spoke to her in the mausoleum. Rogue was about to throw it out her window and forget she ever had it, but something stopped her. She went over to her dresser instead. Her handbag lay there by a picture of her Aunt Irene, her mother and her. It was taken when she was little, but she could never remember when this was. She was no more than four years old, but still she thought she would have remembered.

She still had stray thoughts running through her head, thoughts that she had picked up from the people she had touched that night. She was too tired to deal with all of this and decided she would take a shower and get some sleep.

The water was so soothing to her and made her forget all of her troubles, but when the water had finally turned cold she got out and put on a pair of gray sweatpants and a T-shirt. Her door was open a crack, and she could hear voices coming from downstairs. She walked into the hallway and peeked around the corner to see what was going on. That Darkholme woman was still talking to Irene. Rogue got as close as she could without being seen.

"Are you sure she doesn't know the truth about the X-Men?" Miss Darkholme asked Irene.

The X-Men? Rogue thought. They were the ones that tried to kill her, right?

"I don't think so," Irene said, 'but I can't be sure, Raven. We need to protect her. She could still be a target."

"Yes, this is a small town, and when word gets out they'll be coming for her."

No, Rogue thought. This can't happen. She didn't want Irene to suffer for what she did. The best thing for her to do was leave Cauldecott before the authorities came for her. She had some money saved up, at least enough to get to the next town. She could find work, find some place where no one knew her and start over. That's what she thought anyway. She wasn't being rational, but what sixteen-year-old girl was.

She quickly packed a bag and took off out the window and jumped off the slope of the roof landing in Irene's flower bed. She accidentally crushed a few rows of her aunt's flowers and felt bad about it, but at least she made very little noise when she landed. She quietly took off into the night knowing she would never return here again.

This ended differently than the original episode. Rogue will be off on her own for a while, and the next chapter is mostly flashing back on her early childhood and forgotten memories.