smalldarkandsullen | Dawn of Apocalypse

Dawn of Apocalypse - for quitethecharmer

"You're all welcome here for as long or short a time as you'd like."

It wasn't what Rogue had expected to hear, honestly. Not as she'd stood in front of Professor Charles Xavier, trying to be humble but stubborn enough in her pride that she wouldn't entirely capitulate. Yet, he hadn't asked her to at all. He'd looked at her for what she was: an Acolyte without a mentor. And a broken, tired girl who'd been used too many times.

Mystique was a statue.

Rogue couldn't even have pretended to care. The woman deserved it for teaming up with Mesmero to control her. They'd taken over her mind and used her to to break into the Institute to collect powers, attack her own team, and tap the Brotherhood. Then, she'd been led to Tibet to awaken Apocalypse.

Magneto had tried to lead a charge against the risen mutant, but it had ended in his death. Gambit had disappeared back to New Orleans... or maybe to Europe or anywhere the Thieves' and Assassins' Guilds wouldn't find him. Pyro went his merry-psychotic way. Colossus had stayed with her, gone with her to the Brotherhood.

Sure, none of them had been happy to see her, but they also knew that her plan was their best chance. Once Lance had promised his support, the others had fallen in line, too. Together, the ragtag group had gone to the Institute.

If they didn't stand together, they'd die separately.

After a good night's sleep (Xavier, it seemed, felt all of them needed rest -- he'd even given his students the day off from training), Rogue was awake. She still felt exhausted, but Magneto had told her she'd probably need to rest for awhile before she was back up to speed. He'd seen the damage the mind control and draining from Apocalypse had done to her. It was still written on her face.

She'd waited. Listened to the others argue and laugh and actually sound like normal teenagers while the majority of the students and newcomers ate breakfast. She didn't want to deal with all of them. She blamed herself for the rise of Apocalypse -- and the death of Magneto. She could only assume they thought just as bad or worse about her.

This... Well. This was probably the death knell of her strange relationship with Scott.

They'd managed. Not perfectly. There'd been bickering, differences in opinions, and the slight frustration on both their parts that her powers presented. Still, they always managed. A bit of talking, a bit of time apart, a few texts to test the waters with half apologies. They found a pattern and balance they could live with, even following very different ideologies.

But this? The rise of Apocalypse? With her as the key that unlocked his final tomb?

She wouldn't forgive herself; she didn't expect him to.

Now that it sounded like everyone was out of the kitchen, Rogue slipped in. She needed something to eat. A bowl of cereal, a piece of fruit, just something small. Then, well, then she'd figure out what to do next. Maybe hide away in her room most of the day. Or maybe she'd do what she knew she needed to. The Brotherhood couldn't follow a leader who wasn't visible. She had to be seen among the X-Men, her head still high.

She'd lost everything else -- their respect was all she had left. Her position as the person they would look to in this battle. Because it was sure to be a fight none of them would forget.

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While the fallout from the fight against Apocalypse had resulted in Rogue staying with the X-Men, Scott knew the situation was hardly ideal. After all, losing Magneto had obviously been difficult for her, and she'd been through other physical and emotional ordeals as well.

And even as much as he opposed the man, Scott wasn't even one bit happy or relieved about Magneto's death, either. He'd been a friend of the Professor's, at least in the past. And if his sometimes rocky yet surprisingly stable relationship with Rogue had taught him anything, it was that even the kinds of differences Xavier and Magneto had weren't entirely hopeless.

And surprisingly, the Professor had only given Scott advice for caution regarding his relationship with Rogue. Not once had he encouraged him to end it, but rather to trust his own judgement. Even Kurt had come around about it, going from worriedly warning Scott about the possible consequences to repeatedly teasing him about it, which was about as ringing an endorsement as he'd give any girl.

Rogue was putting up a strong front, much as she always did, and Scott had to wonder how much of that was for show. It had probably taken every last bit of humility she had to accept the Professor's invitation. She'd never trusted the X-Men, after all... not that they'd really succeeded in showing her any reason to.

But he knew her well enough to know that she was avoiding most of the X-Men. With Jean, he wasn't too surprised - they'd never really gotten along, and although she'd largely moved on from the breakup, he could swear that every now and then, she was still staring daggers at Rogue - but it was still a little worrisome to him.

And most of all, she seemed to be avoiding him. Her boyfriend. The one person he hoped she'd be willing to talk to about anything.

Did she still blame herself for her role in awakening Apocalypse? The thought had crossed his mind. But she couldn't blame herself... she wasn't in control of her actions. She wasn't even aware of them.

He hadn't been eating breakfast with the others - waking up early to go for a head-clearing run with Logan meant that while everyone else was eating, he was taking a much needed shower - so he came downstairs just in time to see Rogue slip into the kitchen. For a moment, he wondered if he should follow her, to make his presence known. Maybe she needed space. She'd always been a bit of a loner, after all.

But ever since that cave-in, instead of being alone, she seemed to be happy being alone with him. It was a bit of almost-normalcy for both of them. Maybe that was what she wanted, or needed, instead.

Whatever the case, he obviously wouldn't know the answer just by assuming. At the very least, he could make the offer to be there for her, to fulfill his boyfriend duties as best he could. And if she wanted to be alone, he could give her the space she needed.

With his eyebrows still furrowed in worry, he made up his mind to follow her, at the very least to say hi to her. He came into the kitchen only ten or twenty seconds after she did, not wanting to startle her.

He folded his arms over his chest, leaning back against the door jamb. "Hey," he said simply, his voice carrying a weight of sympathy and concern even in that one, simple syllable.

"Hey."

Despite how she'd been avoiding the X-Men, she actually smiled when she saw who it was. Because, well, it was Scott. As much as she felt out of place here and as much as she just wanted to be away from everything, seeing Scott, hearing that tone of his voice... helped. A lot.

Magneto, for all his faults, had never given her much trouble about her relationship with Scott. He hadn't asked her to be a spy. Well, he might have asked her a few questions, and she'd answered some of them. Others, she'd just shrugged, said they didn't talk about it, and that was that. She'd grown more familiar with his thoughts about Xavier, learned how to stand on the opposite side of someone while still respecting them. Still caring. Because Magneto had cared about Xavier, in his own way. He'd never tried to kill him, no matter how extreme their differences became.

Seeing Scott made her feel less alone.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting. Very interesting. Trying to integrate the teams. Run training with Fred, Lance, Pietro, Wanda, and Peter. And all the X-Men. If anything was going to test the strength of their relationship, it would be that. Joint training.

"Nice place," she murmured, doing her best to smile. She still wanted to cry. To just sink down and not get up. First Irene had lied to her. Then Mystique had used her. Again and again. Now Magneto was dead. Loss. All around her, her entire life. And she had only one person left to lose. Which was terrifying. Because if she lost him, she wasn't sure what would happen. But saying that scared her almost as much. So she pretended like she could speak lightly, as if the weight of every word wasn't painfully obvious. "Glad you guys have so much room."

He closed the distance between them without much hesitation, putting his arms around her lower back and embracing her maybe a little bit more tightly than usual. After everything that had happened, she needed it.

After a moment, he pulled back slightly, giving her space in case she felt the need to pull away herself. In fact, he almost expected it, not that she'd ever really done it before. But she hadn't ever just experienced an ordeal like that before.

His hand moved up to rest gently on her shoulder, and even through the almost opaque material of his glasses, the worry in and around his eyes was as clear as day. But he did offer a crooked, tiny little smile, figuring that maybe making small talk was a good enough way to get her mind off of recent events, at least for a little while.

"I'm just glad you took the Professor up on his offer," he replied earnestly. "And... not just because it means we get to see each other a little bit more."

He wasn't under any illusions about Rogue's feelings on the X-Men. Maybe she distrusted them a little bit less, maybe even accepted them in a way. But while they weren't enemies, they weren't exactly friends, either. He knew that she had to have some apprehensions about the idea of the X-Men and the Brotherhood working together for the long haul. He did, too, especially since he and Lance Alvers couldn't be in the same room for more than five seconds before glowering at one another.

But one thing the X-Men did have was a lot of space. And while it was obvious that there were still some significant differences unresolved between their two camps, there were also signs of improvement. Sure, Pietro was trying to show everybody up by using his powers to win at basketball, and sure, he was rubbing in his hardly-earned victory after the fact, but it could have been a lot worse.

"No one's... bothering you or anything, are they?" he asked, wondering if maybe some of his teammates had been treating her coldly. He couldn't imagine who - despite everything that happened, it wouldn't have been like Jean to give her any trouble - but he also knew that trust was hard to come by both ways. He'd earned hers by being there for her and being sincere in his intentions... she hadn't given him any reason not to do so. But something was obviously bothering her, and his gut feeling was that it was something she didn't quite feel comfortable sharing with him, at least not unsolicited.

"Haven't been here very long," she muttered, even as she tried to smile. "But, no. No one's given me any problems. Been avoidin' me, but I've been doin' the same." Which, really, was probably for the best right now. She'd passed Jean Grey in the hall once or twice, and they'd... Well. As far as Rogue felt, they'd come to a silent understanding. Jean, Scott, and Rogue were the ones in charge of their groups. How they handled each other set the tone for the rest of them. If they couldn't act like adults, they were all as good as dead. So, maybe they were cool toward each other, but they weren't hostile. After all, an alliance because you didn't have any other choice wasn't the best for building trust.

She didn't stay in his arms. Didn't wrap hers around him and just cling like she wanted to. She didn't trust herself. After all, she knew what she'd done. It didn't matter that she hadn't been in control. Her defenses had been so weak that Mesmero had been able to control her. But she also didn't pull away. Not more than to kind of lean against the counter she was near. He was so, so close, but she felt like he was miles away. Like she couldn't let herself get any closer.

"Think Peter'll stay with y'all. Even after this is done." She smiled faintly, almost sadly. "He... He ain' Acolyte material. Not really. He was with Magneto 'cause he had money. Medical bills for his sister." She shrugged her shoulders. "Figured I'd talk t' Xavier 'bout it before I left. Once this is all over. He... needs a good team."

She didn't belong here. She wasn't an X-Man. She wasn't that good, wasn't that selfless, and wasn't that dedicated to a peaceful solution. She wanted to fight, to dig her heels in, and to stand her ground. If someone came after her, she wanted to show them why that was a stupid idea. She believed Magneto-- humans would only become more dangerous toward mutants the longer this went on.

Which was the problem. She knew it. And she knew Scott was waiting for her to say it. To confide in him. Even through his glasses, she could see it in his eyes. She could read it in the lines around his mouth, in the slope of his forehead. Living with Irene had taught her to read a face more than a gaze. He wanted to be let in, past the walls, past the gates, past the locks. She couldn't do that, not completely. But he was the furthest in anyone had ever gotten.

"I wanna go home," she whispered, fighting the tears welling in her eyes. It was so simple, so childish. But it was the thought that had gone through her mind at least once every hour since she'd seen Magneto die. "But I don' have a home t' go to."

Scott could recognize that pain in Rogue's voice, even if he didn't know everything that she was feeling. She shared more with him than she did with anyone else, but even then, there was still a lot she kept bottled up. He'd accepted that, and he could only hope that in time, she'd feel comfortable opening up more to him. But for the time being, he was happy to take what he could get.

But seeing her hurt made him hurt, too. Even if he didn't know what he could possibly do to help ease her turmoil and her suffering, he wanted to do something.. anything. As patient as he had to be as the leader of the X-Men, he was still a hot-blooded teenage boy at heart, and when it came to the person he cared about, he couldn't help but get a little impatient sometimes.

"I know you don't feel comfortable here," he said sympathetically, though the tone of his voice made it clear that he felt she belonged. "But you'll always have a home. With me."

Not with Professor Xavier. Not with the X-Men. Not with the Brotherhood. With him. No matter what she went through, no matter what she might have done, even if she refused to become an X-Man for the rest of her life... he refused to give up on her. Not as her friend, and not as her boyfriend.

Before this conversation, he'd been wondering to himself just what their position on "love" was. But there was only one conclusion he could reach: that he cared deeply for her, and even if the romantic aspect of it fizzled out with time - which he had no reason to believe it would - it was still completely truthful of him to say quietly into an increasingly tight embrace:

"Because I love you."

Because I love you.

That phrase struck home. It almost hurt with how good it was to hear someone say it. To feel like she could believe someone who said it. The arms around her seemed to keep her contained, made sure she couldn't either explode or collapse from hearing it, and she clutched to him tightly. A rock in the storm. Something safe and sturdy that would keep her from going under. She pressed her forehead to his shoulder to hide a few tears as best she could. But when she looked up, there were streaks in her make-up, both from the water and her attempt to wipe it away.

"Scott."

She needed to say it in return. She had to tell him. Because she was more and more sure it was true. That he was the one person she actually trusted. The one person who didn't want to use her. She knew Magneto used her; he was completely honest about it. Which was why she'd been so loyal to him. She was a tool, but she was valued, was told the truth, and was treated as an intelligent young woman. Mystique had lied and treated her as an object.

But before she said it, a selfish part of her needed to know. To be sure that this wasn't some ploy. Which she hated herself for thinking, but there were too many fresh wounds.

"Prepare," she muttered, putting her hand to his cheek. "Like you're going to take a blow." He might not do it; she wouldn't blame him. "If we're both ready, both focused, I think it'll... minimize the damage."

She couldn't promise not to do him any harm. She wasn't that good with her powers yet. But she knew she could manage a little. She'd worked hard to understand them that much.

He might not want to risk it. That might be asking too much of him. She swallowed hard and made her request.

"Kiss me."

Those weren't the exact words he might have been expecting to hear, but they were nice to hear, even with the slight hint that it wasn't just going to be a kiss. He understood how she felt... she'd been lied to, manipulated, and used for so long that she had to be used to it now. Perhaps some part of her needed to see it from his perspective, to be assured that the sentiment was genuine.

And he didn't take it personally, even if that might have been his first reaction once upon a time. Mystique was a master manipulator, even without her powers. She'd been able to convince Rogue that she truly cared about her, and even though Scott didn't consider himself any good at manipulation - not that he even wanted to be - to Rogue, he knew that someone claiming to care about her and only telling her what she wanted to hear wasn't exactly without precedent.

He hesitated briefly, not out of worry for his own safety or because she might see something, but because he wanted to make sure she was sure about it. Unless she really lost control, the worst that would happen to him would be that he ended up taking a nice, long nap and waking up groggy. For her, though, she might take too much of his power and not be able to control it. If he fell unconscious, the others might assume the worst and assume that she was either careless or actually malicious.

And as much as he wanted to think that the X-Men would give her the benefit of the doubt, he also knew that it was entirely possible that in the heat of the moment, someone might place the blame on her.

But after that brief pause, during which his eyebrows dug downward on his forehead in thought and concern, he nodded his assent.

"Close your eyes," he said quietly, his hands moving to her shoulders. They wanted to move to her face, to cup both her cheeks in his hands and reassure her, but they were taking a big enough chance as it was.

Then, once she had time to do so, he closed his eyes as well, leaning in close. Although he was bracing himself for what was to come next, he wasn't tense or nervous.

He was just ready. Ready for her to see his thoughts, to let her take some of his energy... ready to be her first real kiss, he assumed.

Actually, he'd been ready for that last one for a good, long while. Her power had probably been the only thing keeping him from giving her the kind of kiss that might push a movie's age rating up a category or so. Probably not the ideal thought to be at the front of his mind as she was about to see his thoughts and inner feelings for herself, but hopefully she'd be able to see the rest of it, too.

His care for her, the amount of trust he had for her, his belief that she was a good person regardless of what she might have done for Mystique or Magneto... sure, there was a desire on his part for her to come to accept the X-Men, but it was for her sake, to give her somewhere to belong. Not because she might be useful to the team.

The connection didn't work both ways, she knew that. For a moment, though, she wished it did. No secrets on either side. No hiding that, despite how much control over her powers would help in a fight, this was the real reason she'd trained herself so hard. Why she'd worked with Pietro and Wanda and Lance and Peter. Light touches, fingertip-to-fingertip, palm-to-palm. Learning how to brace herself and how to stop herself.

The emotion was almost overwhelming. Nothing prepared her for that, not even believing Scott. And she had believed him... she just needed to know. Had to be sure. Now, there couldn't be a hint of doubt.

For a moment, she lost herself in it. The emotion, the contact, everything. Her hand curled behind his neck as she arched onto the balls of her feet. Her eyes didn't open as she pressed her lips harder into his. Really kissing him, letting him really kiss her. It felt good, and warmand safe, and... everything the fairy tales made it sound like.

Then, there was pain. Just a little, but it was a sharp stab that threatened to get worse. That reminded her what she was and why she hadn't done this before. With her hand still behind his head, she tore her lips away, breathing hard. She knew she needed to apologize. She'd almost let herself go. At least she knew. Knew that feeling meant lightheadedness for the other person. Hopefully not more potent from the kind of contact.

Instead, all she could manage to say was, "I love you, too."

It was odd... he didn't feel even the slightest bit of pain. Not even at the end. And he'd certainly gotten a little carried away, too, what with his hands starting to move down along her back as she kissed. There were a few reasons why he didn't part his lips for her or anything like that, and it had as much to do with her powers as it did with the fact that they were in the kitchen of the mansion and certain students had a tendency to enter rooms unannounced or through walls.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't feeling lightheaded by the time she did pull from the kiss, though. He felt a little weak, not enough to pass out, but enough that he might get winded a lot faster than he otherwise would. His heart was racing and his knees buckled just ever so slightly, but even so, he wasn't sure if that was because of her powers or because of the kiss itself. Maybe it was because he was aware of the emotions she had to be feeling, and he felt overwhelmed by proxy. Or maybe it was a combination of things.

Either way, though, his hands slid down to her hips, steadying himself as he recovered. His cheeks tickled with a light redness, both at her words and at the kiss that had contained a lot more yearning than he'd expected it to. Not that he was complaining one bit.

"...Wow," he murmured quietly, a drowsy smile creeping onto his lips. "That was... it was..."

His tone suddenly shifted, the look of concern shooting back onto his face. He looked her in the eyes, as if making sure that she wasn't about to start firing red bolts out in every direction. "Are you okay?" he asked hurriedly, wondering just how much she'd taken. Since he was still feeling pretty much alright, it was hard to tell.

It wasn't just her taking some of his power that worried him, though part of the concern was also out of embarrassment. While there weren't any hurtful secrets, if she picked up on his thoughts about how he wanted to kiss her... well, he didn't know what she'd think.

"So worth the wait," she replied, giving a smile that came easier than hers usually did and with a slightly different rhythm to her speech. That made her blush a little more than she already was, simply because she knew who she sounded like. She'd borrowed his speech patterns for just a moment, wholly without meaning to.

As she looked at him, her eyes weren't their usual gray-green. Instead, they were a vibrant, dangerous red, but nothing came from them. Just the color and a faint glow as the power flickered behind them before ebbing away. When she felt it slip into the unconcious part of her mind, she raised her other hand. Her gloved thumb ran across his lip lightly.

She felt good. No, she felt great. Everything he felt for and about her made her... She liked herself. Flawed, uncertain, insecure, dangerous. None of it mattered. Not right then. Because someone loved her. Really loved her. And thought she was worth the risk just for her, not for anything she could do. That and the energy of his powers gave her an almost-high.

"Maybe with a little work," she muttered, smirking ever so slightly, "we can make a few of those thoughts of yours happen."

He went through a couple different emotions in that short span of time immediately following the kiss. His concern gave way to relief when the glow in her eyes disappeared, and then relief gave way to embarrassment once more when he realized that she'd probably seen every last one of his idle daydreams about her. That particular thought drove his cheeks to a deeper shade of red, and for a moment, he felt like the ground was about to swallow him up whole.

But her teasing, and that charming little smirk on her lips, did a wonderful job of setting his mind at ease. He managed a small smile, his cheeks not getting any less red as he pulled her a little closer. Not that there was much room between them as it was, but after a kiss like that, he wanted as little of it separating them as possible.

Even missing the small bit of energy she had come away from him with, he felt incredible. It was because she'd gone from tears running down her cheeks to smirking knowingly at him. And a smirk was pretty much a smile, anyway. He'd been able to, at least for the moment, give her the reassurance she needed. Her power actually made it easier, in a way... she saw things the way he saw them, even just for a moment.

"We'll take it as slow as we have to," he tried to reassure her, though it was difficult for him not to crack a smile at her. "And I'm pretty sure you didn't see all of my ideas."

Or she might have. But the coyness in her smile was inspiring completely new ones.

Rogue might have chuckled. Or just outright laughed a little. After all, seeing his cheeks go that red (not that she was far behind, but she had make-up to hide it a little bit, at least) just reenforced everything she felt, everything she'd seen. Which was welcome. It set several fears to rest all at once, even if they were more paranoid thoughts than anything she'd ever actually considered. After all, she knew that if he'd wanted something from her, he'd have asked for it long ago. He was with her because he cared, not because she was useful. It just felt really, really good to know it with her whole being.

"Oh, I did," she murmured, flashing him another grin and quirking a brow slightly. It dissolved into a slightly embarrassed smile a moment later. Another thing she'd have to practice: the sultry act. Because it was fun, but she couldn't exactly pull it off when it made her crack up. "But not enough to remember most of it."

At least theoretically. She kept hoping for a telepath to join Magneto's team (Mastermind didn't count because like Hell she was letting him anywhere near her head, thank you) so she could have someone who was able to actually pick apart her brain in the moment she was absorbing. She and Magneto's current theory was that she saw it all. Everything the person thought, felt, remembered. Everything. But that because it was lifetime in what was rarely more than a minute, only certain things made impressions on her mind. The details of how it worked? Not really what she cared about right now.

"But I liked what I did see."

For someone new to the whole sultry thing, Rogue wasn't even a little bit bad at it, her urge to chuckle notwithstanding. Scott was still blushing almost as red as his glasses, but he was definitely feeling more comfortable with every passing second now.

It was funny how quickly things had turned. Whatever she'd seen in his mind - mental images of taking advantage of skin-fitting costumes aside - it had been enough to dry her tears and actually make her smile after everything she'd been through.

His day was totally made.

"I guess I'll have to make sure I remember all of it then," he teased, not that any of it would be hard to remember in the least. "So, about how long should I wait for round two, anyway?"

He certainly didn't want her to be overwhelmed, especially if she ended up absorbing so much of his mind that she lost sight of her own. But there was no way a kiss that good wouldn't lead to plenty more just like it. Besides, even if he couldn't tell the difference, he was determined to get her blushing as much as he was.

The powers and even personality might have disappeared fairly quickly, but sometimes it was easier to hold onto things than other times. A memory, a speech pattern, a power. In this case, she had a vice grip on an emotion. It might be a bit manufactured, in a way, but it kept her smiling. That was easier, right now, than facing everything else. Because there was still a lot to face. She had a lot to plan. But for right now, she wanted to ignore all of that.

After all, there was plenty more time to think about her future. About where she belonged if she survived this. Because it wasn't sure that any of them were going to come out of this alive.

"Maybe give it an hour," she replied, running her thumb across his lips again. It was plenty tempting to throw caution to the wind and kiss him. Let herself forget for a few seconds more the harm she could do without even meaning to. It hadn't seemed to phase him before. Which made her smile to think about. "Wouldn' wanna knock you on your ass. That's no fun."

Easy to joke about it, sure, but there was a real possibility of it.

"Dyin' for another taste, though."

It was good to temper his teenage hormones with a healthy dose of reality. Even when they had their disagreements and arguments, that giddy feeling that had first crept around when they ended up snuggled up in a cave together never quite left. And now that they'd just shared such an important moment together, it was only feeling stronger than before.

He realized that it wasn't perfect, of course. As glad as he was that she was able to feel his emotions and know that they were genuine, he only wished that she could have felt that way without having to use her power. For her to be happy on her own.

Well, they could work towards that. Just like they were going to work towards making sure she didn't put him under any time one of them went in for a little peck.

"Trust me, you're not the only one," he remarked, smiling into her finger. As far as first kisses went, it had been a doozy. Sure, it had left him feeling a little weak in the knees, but didn't any good kiss? As far as he was concerned, sixty minutes couldn't go by quickly enough. His hand reached up to cradle her own, being careful to avoid her skin while still keeping his fingers atop hers.

"Maybe the next one won't be in the kitchen," he added teasingly. And she was free to interpret that however she wanted.

Someday, she promised herself, she'd be used to kissing him. She'd have control of her powers -- at least as much as she did now, if not a little more -- and not feel absolutely giddy at the idea of kissing him. When that happened, maybe she could get away with surprising him with a peck on the cheek or a quick, light kiss. Minimize the contact but still make it. It seemed like such a little thing compared to what she saw at school, what Pietro bragged about and what she'd heard Gambit and Pyro talking about when they thought she wasn't paying attention. Just being able to kiss a boy without worrying would be an accomplishment.

Anything else...

Well, she couldn't say she hadn't come up with a few ideas. After all, teenage hormones caused wonderful bursts of creativity. But all that seemed like a very awkward topic. Even with her boyfriend. Considering they'd just had their first kiss. And it was definitely not subject matter to be discussed in the kitchen of a boarding house where someone could walk through walls and someone else could instantly appear. ...It was creepy enough thinking that at least two people on the grounds could, if they wanted to, read her mind.

"I ain' makin' any promises," she muttered, though she paused after she said it. That sounded so defensive, so quick to distance herself. She didn't mean to do it, and she sighed a bit after it came out, letting her glance apologize for her. "But... maybe... dependin' on how all this turns out..." It was hard to say. Still, it was true. With how he felt about her and without Magneto, there wasn't anywhere else she wanted to be. It wasn't like she could just go back to Mississippi, and there was no guarantee there'd been anything set aside for her to support herself. "Maybe I'll try my hand at this whole... hero... thing. If you think the Professor'll let me."

The shift in subject didn't go unnoticed, and for a moment, he couldn't help but feel like he'd made it a much more awkward conversation than it needed to be. He was probably getting ahead of himself... she was still so very new to this, and he hardly had any more relationship experience than she did.

But whatever nagging thoughts and anxieties had started to pop up in his head, they all disappeared when he heard those words leave her lips. His mouth hung open for a moment, and he was at a loss for words.

It wasn't that he doubted she had the right stuff to be on the team. In fact, he was completely convinced that she'd make one hell of an X-Man. He'd said as much to the others, even before they'd started dating. In fact, not long after they'd first met. Her deciding, of her own volition and without feeling like she had no other choice, to join the X-Men, or at the very least, staying with them? That would make him incredibly happy... but only if it was what she wanted to do.

"Trust me," he assured her, his hand gently resting on her shoulder. "He'd love to have you on the team. And so would I." He slipped his other hand around her waist, pulling her into a gentle, affectionate hug much more chaste than the flirting and the banter. "As long as it's what you want."

After all, she'd made it perfectly clear that her choices were hers to make. The least he could do was respect that.

As long as it's what you want. Rogue refused -- outright refused, damn it -- to cry again. She'd been thoroughly distracted, then he had to go and say something that sweet. The only choices she'd ever felt like she had any real control over were the ones about him. They'd come with their own share of regrets, yes. The fights between their sides, the personal disagreements caused by those... But those decisions were still the best she'd ever made.

"We'll see where everthin' stands after this fight is over," she murmured. 'And see who's still standin'' went unsaid. "I just... know I'd like t' give it a try."

She'd told him an hour, but she couldn't help it. As long as she was careful, she told herself, there'd be no harm done. So, she kept the kiss she stole a peck, light and quick. Not even enough to change the color of her eyes. Sweet as she'd made sure the gesture was, she couldn't deny it left her wanting more.

He didn't mind one bit if she couldn't help but steal a peck like that here and there. In fact, he was glad she couldn't. It brought a small smile to his face, and it kept his cheeks from losing too much of their prior redness.

Rogue on the X-Men. It'd be a good fit, he was sure. When they'd ended up working together, it had felt natural having her there, as if she understood the team's dynamic even if she wasn't a part of it herself. She was a quick learner, even more so when she could use her powers. As team leader, he was supposed to teach everyone else things like tactical maneuvers... and the two of them had a very enjoyable method of sharing that kind of knowledge.

She'd already made great strides in being able to control her powers after working with the Brotherhood and Magneto. The Professor would surely be able to help her even more. The Professor cared about all mutants, after all... just like Magneto. They just had very different ways of showing it.

His smile grew as he thought about the possibilities, just for a moment. No more waiting an hour between each kiss for them. Sure, it might take a long time to get there, but she was well worth the wait.

"Well, if today's shown me anything..." he began as he took his hand off of her shoulder and shifted backward, folding his arms over his chest. "...It's that I like it when you give things a try."

They might still have to wait another fifty-five minutes or so before they tried it again, but that didn't mean he couldn't tease her a little bit until that happened.

"I swear," she said, that smirk curling her lips again as an eyebrow arched, "you're just askin' for me t' knock you flat."

As much as she didn't want to admit it, it'd probably happen at least once. She already knew what it felt like to really kiss him, how easy it was to lose herself in that feeling. And if he was either too distracted or too much of an idiot to stop her, she'd probably do some harm eventually. Still, at the very least, the days of fearing putting someone in a coma unintentionally were gone. Besides, it'd serve him right, teasing like that.

As she said it, she stepped forward, trailing the tips of two fingers down the curve of his jaw.

His optimism was a good balance for her cynicism. It felt good. Even. They were two weights on opposite ends of the scale, and they seemed to level more often than not. It was really nice, in a way, to have that in her head. Sure, it was borrowed, but... maybe if she got used to kissing him, let it really sink into her mind, she'd start thinking a little like that herself. It wouldn't be so bad, to have a bit kinder of an outlook on the world. Especially if she was going to give being an X-Man a try. She'd need to see things through his eyes, and this was definitely a fun way to do it.

"We should prob'ly get. Go outside an' join the others or somethin'." She made no attempt to hide her smirk. "Otherwise, I'm gonna start ignorin' my own advice an' take you up on that 'somewhere else' offer real soon."

She was right, of course. It was nice to give themselves time to flirt, tease, and just enjoy being with one another in general, and it was really tempting to milk it for all it was worth. They'd have plenty of time to spend alone with one another, though. There was no need to try to cram it all in at once.

He knew there were going to be even more challenges ahead. There were plenty more dangerous enemies where Apocalypse came from. But she gave him every reason to believe that they'd make it through them... not only safely, but with their relationship intact.

Still, maybe it was the precariousness of their situation that made him want to live every moment with her to its fullest. They both had made it clear from the beginning that they didn't want there to be any regrets, after all. And the only one Scott was afraid of, in the small part of his mind that worried about things, was not making the most of it.

"Yeah, I guess we should," he admitted, smirking right back at her as he unfolded his arms, allowing one hand to rest temporarily on her hip. Admittedly, the fingers on his face were making it very difficult for him to want to go much of anywhere besides that "somewhere else" he'd half-jokingly recommended.

Another thought, though, made his lips curl into a smirk to match hers.

"You do realize people are going to ask what you're smiling about, right?" he asked playfully. "It's a good look for you." Sure, he'd gotten a few smiles out of her. Plenty of them, in fact, and more than a few smirks. But they were usually reserved for the moments they'd managed to steal away in privacy. She was going to be wearing that gorgeous grin of hers for quite a while, if he had anything to say about it.

Rogue grinned, forcing herself to step back and to the side. To make herself stop touching him. Because otherwise, she wasn't going to stop. Which didn't mean she couldn't tease him a little.

"Now, that's assumin' Pietro ain' gonna just knock it right off my face by sayin' somethin' stupid."

Or Lance. Or someone.

Still, he had a point. Someone was going to notice. But, well, she didn't really care. Let them know she was actually happy. Especially with just a bit of lingering influence from Scott? She felt like she deserved it. She deserved to be happy, and she deserved to show that she was.

He didn't really care if anyone noticed, either. Even though things were still a little clumsy and awkward when he and Jean talked to one another, she seemed to have accepted the fact that he'd moved on and done so herself. That wasn't to say there wasn't still a strong bond between them, but that bond had ended up taking a much different form. And it wasn't as if he'd kept his relationship with her a secret, aside from the first few weeks.

Of course, there wasn't really any keeping secrets from telepaths, even if they tried their hardest to respect his privacy. He'd been thinking about her pretty hard, and it was a little difficult for the Professor not to pick up that someone was on his mind.

Now, though, there were no secrets to be had. He sidled up next to her with a smile, his arm wrapping around her shoulder. So much for not touching him.

"I'll just figure out a way to get you smiling again," he promised, ready to walk with her whenever she was ready. "Or, you know, you could knock him down a peg or two."

He was joking about the last half, but only a little bit. Not that he would've minded seeing her make an ass out of Pietro... but Pietro really didn't need the extra help.

"We really tried to train him," Rogue said with a bit of a laugh as they walked. "I even bought a spraybottle." She stopped speaking for a moment, thinking about it, then shook her head a little. Her smile faltered, but it stayed. Just a little softer. "I think we actually made Magneto laugh. We figured out where he'd run from the spraybottle -- right into his room and slam the door. So we set a cold bucket of water on the top of the room. Slammed it, whole thing came down on his head. Of course, we had to mop it up, but..."

She showed her teeth in a grin. "Totally worth it."

It was strange, in its own way. Magneto hadn't been a good father while Wanda and Pietro grew up. He'd resulted in brainwashing Wanda. But that had given her more control, made her anger less. And, well, who was Rogue to judge? She'd wanted to ask if Mesmero could change her memories, get rid of some of the pain she still felt. But she hadn't quite trusted him to keep what she wanted. Like Scott.

Magneto probably wouldn't have told him to take that from her, but Mastermind might have decided on his own. It wasn't worth the risk.

But... as bad as a father as he'd been? He had, in his own way, tried to make up for it now that they were older. He'd cared about them, wanted to train them and see them do well in school. When Pietro and Wanda were expelled, he'd tutored them himself. And... he'd never made her feel like an outsider. She'd felt like she was an adopted daughter. Always aware she wasn't quite family but welcome all the same.

Not that she'd expect anyone to believe her that Magneto had seemed to care about her.

"He's actually not that bad. Once y' get t' know him. Sure, still an ass. But... Not too bad."

It was a little odd for Scott to think about Magneto having a sense of humor. Or how close Rogue must have felt with him, like family. He'd been so used to seeing Magneto as an enemy that he hadn't bothered thinking about the other aspects of his life. And while he still didn't agree with the way Magneto did things, he had to admit that he was perhaps being unfair.

He'd given Rogue somewhere to feel safe and to belong, at least for a little while. For that, at the very least, Scott had to be thankful.

"I'm sure he's not," he admitted, though he might not have been talking just about Pietro for a moment. "In fact, if you could keep his mouth closed, I'm pretty sure we'd get along just fine."

Pietro had always gotten on Evan's nerves a lot more than Scott's, after all. Scott had dealt with flashy showoffs before, and Pietro just happened to be the one with the quickest mouth. Scott doubted very much that he and Pietro would ever like one another, at least any time soon, but that didn't mean Scott couldn't respect him.

Hell, he even respected Lance Alvers to an extent, even if he was an arrogant, delinquent jerk. And nobody got under Scott's skin like Lance did.

"...By the way, I talked Logan into putting in a swing out back," he mentioned, wanting to change the subject before her smile disappeared too much. "You know, just in case you wanted to sit down for a while."

He still remembered how, that very first night of their relationship, she'd talked about how nice it would be to sit on a swing with someone special. He actually remembered quite a bit about that night. It wasn't exactly the sort of night a guy forgot, what with the whole "falling asleep in each other's arms by a flickering fire" bit.

"...You didn'."

The words are barely out of her mouth when, no, she sees it. A porch swing on the lawn, with its awning to block out the sun. Pretty damn close to what had sat on the front porch of the house Irene had. The one she'd leaned back on, rocking herself a little as the neighborhood do-gooder mowed the lawn. Or the paper delivery boy biked by. She'd spent so many hours on that swing, either flirting with the boys or reading her book and pretending not to notice the boys.

"Scott Summers," she murmured, glancing over at him and shifting to knock his shoulder with hers, despite the arm around her, "you are a charmer."

It was a small thing, foolish in comparison to everything else. But he'd remembered. Of everything they'd talked about that night, of everything that had happened, of everything that had happened since. And this was in front of her. A fantasy of early teenage years. Of a girl with no way to reach out to her crushes. Now? A reality.

She shifted a bit to give him a light peck on the lips. Quick, barely there, but felt.

He had half expected her to notice the memory when they shared that first kiss, but then again, it had been in the back of his mind. He'd been more focused on his feelings for her, wanting to make sure she saw them first and foremost. The memory was probably in there somewhere, complete with Logan's raised eyebrow and shrug at the suggestion.

He stole every bit of the kiss that he could, his smile growing. It was so tempting to throw caution into the wind sometimes, but it was best that they continue being careful.

"I thought you might appreciate it," he replied, rather smug and pleased with himself. Every now and then, he could be a little romantic. "I think it's as good a place as any to keep an eye on the others, right?"

If he'd learned one thing during his time with Rogue, it had been that seeing her happy felt really, really good. And that was long before they'd managed to have anything resembling a kiss on the lips.

Rogue chuckled again. It provided an excellent distraction to the worries on her mind. The loss of Magneto, the Brotherhood settling in, joint training. She could put it all out of her mind as she walked over to the swing. She unlaced the combat boots she wore and toed them off. After sitting on the swing, she tucked her legs half under her and half to the side.

Scott had told her she had a home with him. It was the small things that drove that home, like this swing. That made her even more sure that, after all this was said and done, she'd give being an X-Man a try. See if there was a place for her on this team, if she could fit into their lifestyle. It was worth it to try. Especially for Scott. If it didn't work... they'd figure something else out.

She looked across the yard. The group playing basketball, another playing dodgeball. The multitude of X-Men with the smattering of the Brotherhood here and there. They all... looked like they belonged. Which made her smile.

"Y'know, I think sometimes I forget. That most of us ain' even eighteen."

He took his place next to her, an arm casually laying around her shoulders as one leg folded up over top the other one. It was so easy to forget about everything that they had to worry about when they could just relax like this, but it was only temporary. They'd have a world to save soon enough.

"You're right," he remarked, watching as Kurt flagrantly violated the "no powers" rule someone had tried to establish in the dodgeball game. This was mutant dodgeball... pretty much anything went. "A year ago, I was more worried about passing geometry than saving the world."

A lot had changed since then. So had all of them. The Brotherhood? Well, they were a lot less of a pain to deal with. Scott had learned to relax when he needed to. Kurt had learned to be more serious when he needed to be. And yet, most of them were still kids.

One day, mutant kids would be able to just be kids. Teenagers could worry about acne, exams, and proms instead of hiding their powers or having to fight to survive. That was the world the Professor was trying to build, the one he wanted to share with all of mutantkind.

And Scott really wanted to share it with Rogue, too.

"An' I was figurin' I'd never leave Mississippi." After all, she hadn't minded her small town all that much. She'd had friends, gotten into trouble, and was pretty satisfied with everything. Now, she had powers, a boyfriend, was far from home, and was going to challenge something as old as the pyramids. "But... here we all are. Together."

Which was the surprising part, in the end. A good surprise, though. That the Brotherhood, for all their rough edges, and the X-Men, for all their righteousness, somehow fit together in this moment. They were a patchwork of personalities, yes, but they were all stitched together. Edges were going to fray -- Evan and Pietro were already starting to argue -- but they could keep them together. Keep them focused.

"We're gonna get back to it," she murmured, leaning against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Settlin' in somewhere, worryin' 'bout tests. Maybe not you an' me, but... the younger ones. They're gonna get that."

Xavier had his vision of the future; Magneto had his. Rogue had seen Magneto's. The asteroid had failed, but there was another plan. Blueprints she'd been allowed to look at. A nation for them. A place for mutants to call home, where any were welcome and could live away from humans. It was a world she wanted to see. A world that these kids deserved.

Here they were, at the meeting of two very different worlds. Maybe Magneto's vision for the world was more realistic, and maybe Xavier's was too idealistic. Maybe Magneto placed too little faith in the goodness humanity was capable of. Or maybe, just maybe, the truth was somewhere in the middle.

Maybe it would take a lot of doing for mutants and humans to get along. But maybe it was just a matter of time until the world moved forward and came to accept mutantkind and their gifts. And maybe, given enough time, both Rogue and Scott would be able to control their powers and live something like normal lives together. The thought made him happy, and for a moment, he wondered what it would be like for them to have a swing of their own to sit on.

Time, it seemed, would be the only way to find out if that would be the case. He turned to kiss the top of her head affectionately, not sure if her hair would be enough of a cushion to keep her powers from giving him a jolt, but it was a brief and light enough peck that it probably wasn't even an issue.

He didn't have any words. Nothing he said could really make the moment any more perfect. So, instead of a verbal response, she got a kiss to her head and pulled a little closer to him. The gentle swaying of the swing was the perfect contrast to the chaotic game of dodgeball going on right in front of them.

Well, there was one thing he could say.

"How long before we go show them how it's done?"

There was a lot that the future left uncertain. Both good and bad. There were probably more battles to fight, but there might be peace, too. Probably not in Xavier's view of the world or Magneto's. Integration was likely impossible, at least on a total scale, but isolating themselves from the world wouldn't work either. Maybe they could find something else, though. The two of them. Make some place for themselves. For others.

Somewhere with a porch swing and somewhere to call home.

It might not be possible. But it was a nice thought. Not one she wanted to devote herself to entirely right now, no. But a nice thought to help her sleep at night, especially with everything that was happening.

She watched the activity, the balls flying, and the kids laughing. She smirked as she pulled away from him and put her boots back on. "Now sounds good."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dawn of Apocalypse - for quitethecharmer

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