FicWad

Chapter 3

"Yah're the guy in all the newspapers?" Rouge asked a little confused.

"Yes Rouge I am. I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me and my associate Logan." The professor indicated the short gruff man.

Rouge stifled a laugh to the very inappropriate joke that was bubbling inside her.

"Uhh...Suah."

The three mutants walked out of precinct and down the steps. They walked to a nearby park.

"I have school in Upstate New York where young mutants such as yourself are taught to control their powers and to have a life among people like themselves. Not only do you learn to control your magnificent powers, you also train to improve yourself and become what my other students have been called, The X-Men. We are modern day superheroes, pretty much. For example, I am a telepath and Logan here has an amazing healing factor and claws. I was wondering since seeing your current predicament, if you would like to come and join us. You will have a room and food and friends like yourself. You will be able to have the semblance of a teenage life."

Rouge quietly listened to the bald man taking in what he was saying and contemplating it. The idea of friends and control appealed to her but she enjoyed being on her own.

"If Ah go with ya will Ah be forced ta stay there if Ah don't lahke it?"

"No Rouge you won't. If you give the school a chance and you really do not like it then you may leave."

Rouge nodded. "Well then Ah guess Ah could give it a try."

A few hours later the three were just outside Bayville. The black X-van pulled up to an ornate gate and Logan leaned out the window and punched in a code. The gates opened and revealed a sprawling estate, with large green lawns and athletic fields to one side of a massive mansion. The van pulled up to the house and Rouge got out of the car. She slung her bag over her shoulder and waited for the Professor to go ahead of her.

The professor opened the large mahogany front door and Rouge walked into a spacious foyer with a staircase to one side, a door directly in front of her and open room next to her. She looked into the room and saw a few teenagers some older and some younger lulling around. One caught her interest. She had short black hair and was dressed in a red corset and black pants. She was pale and was currently sitting in a corner with a book and some headphones in her ears.

The girl looked up and stared at the Professor, she nodded, marked her place in her book and turned off her music. She stood up and walked towards the Rouge and the Professor. It was then that Rouge noticed Logan had disappeared off somewhere.

"Ah Wanda. Thank you. This is Rouge she'll be staying with us for a little while. She'll be rooming with you so please show her to your room and help her settle in." Wanda nodded again.

She glared at Rouge who glared back just as sternly. Wanda's face brightened a little and she turned around. Rouge followed her up the stairwell and turned right down a hallway at the top. Wanda walked down the end of the corridor and opened the last door.

"Here's the room," Wanda said, her voice level and with no emotion.

"Obviously," Rouge said sarcastically in her thick southern drawl.

In the room were two beds, one messy and looked like it hadn't been made in ages, the other new with fresh sheets and properly made. The room was dark, there were heavy black curtains on the french doors that led onto the balcony. The walls were white but covered in pictures, posters, etc. There was another door on the wall opposite the balcony.

Rouge walked into the room after Wanda and dropped her bag on the floor near her new bed.

"Balcony," Wanda pointed to the curtained doors, "Bathroom," She indicated the other door with her head.

Rouge nodded and bent down to open her bag. She looked at the bed disapprovingly. She pulled out some sheets from a bedspread she had bought in New York. They were black and green. Wanda looked at her strangely before walking to the stereo that was in the room and turning on the cd player. System of a Down pulsed through the air in the room and Rouge began to nod her head to the beat of the music as she started stripping the bed of its white coverings. Wanda watches Rouge for a few seconds before walking over and stripping one of the pillows of its pillowcase and replacing it with a green one of Rouge's.

The process of redoing the bed didn't take long when it was two people making it. Petty soon Rouge's bag was empty and Rouge's side of the room looked as homely as a dark girls room could look.

A bell rang through the building. Wanda looked at the clock on the bedside table and groaned.

"Dinner," she said annoyed. She walked to the door and out into the hallway.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"It is unless you like loud noises and persistent food throwing," Wanda grumbled. Rouge nodded and followed down the stairs and into an unseen hallway and into the dining room.

There were a dozen other people sitting around a large rectangular table. Wanda took a seat and waved Rouge to one across from her. When the two girls walked in everyone turned to look at the new girl. She looked up at them and glared. She didn't like being examined.

"Can Ah help ya'll?" she bit at them.

"Uh...who are you?" A boy with red sunglasses perched on his nose.

"Rouge," she spat, "Now stop starin at meh,"

The edge in her tone of voice warned off any comment form the rest of the peanut gallery.

A tall girl with red haired walked into the room through a swinging door, carrying a big pot of spaghetti and bowl of sauce and a few containers of grated Parmesan cheese. Rouge looked hungrily at the food. She hadn't eaten all day with the exception a candy bar on the ride up to the mansion. Rouge dug hungrily into her food. She was about to bring a forkful into her mouth when the dining door opened and in walked a tall boy a few years older then Rouge. He had red brown hair, close to the shade of Rouges; he was lean and muscular but not bulky. He had a strong jaw and stubble on his chin, but he made it look good. But the thing that Rouge noticed first were his eyes. He had the most mysterious eyes; where the normal white should be, was black and instead of a brown or blue he's was red. It was like looking into the face of the devil.

Rouge quickly stuffed the spaghetti into her mouth noticing Wanda's amused expression. She glared at her, and the new boy.

"Nice you to join us," Shades said tersely.

"Shove it Scott," The shaded boy, now identified as Scott, sat with his mouth hanging open until the red head sitting next to him said something Rouge couldn't hear. His mouth shut with a snap and looked sternly at the boy before turning back to the red head and his food.

The boy walked up to Wanda and patted her on the head.

"Touch me again Cajun and I'll severe your hand from your body." Wanda said, a smile playing on her face.

The boy looked at Rouge and his eyebrows raised. He slipped into a chair next to Rouge and put his arm awkwardly around her shoulders. She turned and glared acidly at him.

"Remove your hand." He did. "You touch me again and I'll severe something else. Got it Swamp Rat?"

Remy stared wide eye at her.

He quickly scooted his chair a few inches away from her and concentrated on his spaghetti. Wanda laughed. The evening progressed as such. Rouge and Wanda talked.

After dinner was over Xavier called Rouge to his office. Rouge sat in the comfortable suede armchair slightly nervous, not knowing what the bald guy wanted to talk to her about.

"Rouge you will be starting school on Monday at Bayville High School. You will be a junior and I have scheduled you to be in the same classes of Wanda." He explained. Rouge scowled. She didn't want to go back to school, to many opportunities to hurt people. Rouge walked out of the office and stomped out into the hallway.

"Chere? Whats wrong?" Gambit asked nearly running into her.

"Bugger off Swamp Rat," Rouge spat, leaping up the stairs.