The Vault - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by NicoPony
Last updated: 08/15/2007 08:57:57 AM

Chapter 4

“What’ll it be, half-pint?” Logan asked. Kitty hung back from the grill, trying to avoid the smoke wafting in her direction.

“Uhm, veggie burger please,” she said, holding out her plastic plate.

Logan puffed on a cigar. “Your funeral,” he said, dropping a veggie patty onto her waiting burger bun.

“Ugh,” Kitty said, backing away from the grill. “I totally can’t stand the sight of meat after Mister Logan took us on that hunting trip.”

“Not me,” Rahne said, proffering her plate. “I’ll take mine extra-rare, please!”

Logan grinned at her. “Comin’ right up.” The burger squished onto the plate.

“Barf-ola,” Kitty shuddered as Rahne bit into her hamburger with relish.

Scott was next in line with his plate. “Someone ought to let the Professor and Mag---Mister Lehnsherr---know the food is ready,” he said. “Otherwise, they’ll be at it until nightfall.”

The group clustered around the grill turned to look at Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, the X-Men’s former nemesis otherwise known as Magneto. The two men were engrossed in conversation, each gesticulating expansively. No doubt, the pair were involved in another one of their hypothetical debates.

“It may be easier to simply bring them their plates, and hope they remember to eat,” Ororo Munroe said. She took the loaded plates Logan offered to her and glided over to the two men.

Rogue hung back from the group, cradling her plate and debating where to sit. There were several picnic tables set up on the patio and on the lawn. Most of the New Mutants had taken over the lawn, and where seats couldn’t be found, many sat in the grass. Scott and his brother Alex, along with Kurt, Angel and Tabitha were up on the patio. The last table held Piotr and Remy, who had yet to get any food and were having a conversation; or rather, Remy was talking and Piotr as staring into space. Rogue was about to find herself a seat in the shade, preferably away from everyone else, when Kitty snagged her by the sleeve.

“C’mon, Rogue, come sit with me and Danielle,” Kitty said, her face grew serious. “You and I have to talk.”

Oh, great, Rogue thought. This is probably where Kitty asks me to leave the dorm so Danielle can have my space.

Ever since Danielle Moonstar had shown up, Rogue felt more and more like a third wheel. Not that she made any effort towards retaining her friendship with Kitty. She’d just sat back and watched as Danielle and Kitty grew closer, and let herself get shunted to the side. Other than Kurt, Rogue didn’t really feel like she had anyone she could count on.

Danielle looked excited when Kitty and Rogue sat down in the shady grass. “So?” Danielle began. “Did you ask her?”

Kitty smiled slyly. “No...not yet.”

“What’s this about?” Rogue said tiredly, fearing the worst.

“It’s about Remy,” Kitty hissed conspiratorially. “Did you answer him yet?”

Danielle shot a glance over to where Remy and Piotr were sitting and tittered happily.

Rogue’s mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. “Uh...” she finally managed.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t said ’yes’ yet?” Danielle asked.

“You’ve turned him down flat two times in a row,” Kitty said, aghast. “Third times the charm, right?”

Rogue huffed, blowing her white bangs out of her face. “He seems to think every time is the charm,” she replied hotly. “And no, we’re not going out.”

Kitty groaned. “Roooogue! Just go out with him all ready! He is so totally into you! This is your Senior year. Think how much cooler it would be if you were dating a guy in college!”

Danielle nodded in agreement. “C’mon Rogue, I’m still an underclassman. I need to live vicariously through you, or I’m never going to survive my Sophomore year.”

“This isn’t about the no-touching thing, is it?” Kitty said, her expression sympathetic.

Rogue shook her head. “No, y’don’t get it. There’s more to it than that. Ah left the Brotherhood, Ah’m not about to go back to hanging around people like that.”

“What, you mean like Lance?” Kitty said, her lower lip gutting out angrily. She and Lance, known as the Brotherhood’s Avalanche, had recently patched up their relationship.

Rogue made an exasperated sound. “It’s not the same!”

“It’s exactly the same!” Kitty said. “Lance did some crummy things to me when we first met. He still does crummy things...like vanish on me without so much as a note saying where he’s gone...” she added as an afterthought. “But otherwise, we get along fine! And he cares about me, that’s what’s important.”

Rogue continued to look doubtful. “Well, at least Lance doesn’t flirt with every woman in sight.” She cast a glance at Jean, who still looked angry. People were carefully staying out of her way.

“Oh, I don’t think he’s serious,” Danielle said. “He’s just a big tease. He looks at you different.”

“I dunno...” Rogue said, the conversation was beginning to wear down on her. She hadn’t expected the girls to confront her this way. “Remy and Ah got a fundamental difference of opinion. As in, he’s wrong and Ah’m right.”

Kitty sighed. “Rogue, no one’s ever going to like the same music you like, so get over it!”

“It ain’t about music either! It’s about ideology. Don’t y’all think it’s weird to be living under the same roof as Magneto and two of his Acolytes? They completely exposed us, and now everyone knows we’re mutants.”

“Well, Professor Xavier says---.”

“Let’s not get into another one of those ’Professor Xavier says’ speeches,” Rogue said.

“Well, if we can’t get along with other mutants who might think differently than we do,” Kitty stated, “what chance do we have with regular people?”

Rogue had no response for that.

Piotr was wearing that blank expression he usually wore when he was contemplating all the wrongs in the world. Long expanses of silence made Remy nervous, so he liked to fill the spaces with lots of idle chatter.

“...Then the guy empties this garbage bin into Jean’s Jeep, so I grab the bin and shove it down over his head. He kinda stumbles around a bit, until I kick him over and he rolls into these other two morons...”

“This is all ridiculous,” Piotr finally said.

“Well, I thought it was pretty funny, too---.”

“No, I meant this,” he said, and his hand swept out to encompass the scene before him. About two dozen Institute students were casually lounging in the yard, picking at the remnants of their meals. Laughter and conversation drifted on the soft autumn breeze. Piotr fixed his dark gaze on Magneto in particular. There was standing animosity between the the two. “We sit here having a picnic, when my family remains missing and in probable danger.”

“You can’t blame them for wanting some down time after that whole Apocalypse fiasco,” Remy replied. “And I’m sure Magneto’s got a plan.”

“I think your trust in him is unwarranted,” Piotr said.

“Hey, helped me out of a tight spot. I’m sure he’ll do the same for you. As soon as the Scarlet Witch flies back on her broomstick, we’ll take the fuzzy elf-guy and find out which dimension your wacky brother jumped off to with your folks.”

Piotr leveled his gaze on Remy. “Do you really think they will help?”

“Sure, that’s what these people do. They don’t wear spandex for nothin’. And that Forge character specializes in dimension-hopping. You’ll see, we’ll find them. And if your sister is as cute as her photos, we’d best find her...the sooner the better.”

Piotr put his arm around Remy’s neck and pulled him into a loose headlock. “You keep your hands off my sister!” he said, but he was smiling at least.

“Ow! Okay, uncle...Uncle!”

“Are the two of you killin’ each other all ready?”

The two young men looked up to see Rogue standing with her hands on hips. Piotr released his grip on Remy, who straightened and fixed his hair.

“We jest, only,” Piotr said.

“Good thing you showed up, I was about to lose my head,” Remy whispered to Rogue, as if Piotr couldn’t hear.

“We’re organizing a ball game over in the field. You comin’?”

Piotr glanced at Remy, who shrugged a shoulder. “Let the weight of the world off your shoulders, Hercules,” Remy said.

“I will play,” Piotr said finally.

“I’m not much for team sports,” Remy told Rogue.

“Whatever,” Rogue said, and turned on her heel. Piotr followed after her.

Remy sighed, then jumped off the picnic table and following after Rogue.

“Ah thought you weren’t gonna play?” Rogue said, when he caught up to her.

“Nope, I don’t play ball. But I make an excellent heckler.”