Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

[un_gloved]

After enough time on the island, it wasn't unusual to wake up and notice things were different. Weather changed and the atmosphere smelled different, the bed you were sleeping in wasn't quite right, the skin you were sleeping in wasn't yours.

Which was just creepy.

This time, though, as Rogue stretched into the sheets and turned her face against the pillow, instead of the nag of unfamiliarity and the typical roll of dread in the pit of her stomach, she felt a deep flood of comfort. She breathed in deep and opened her eyes, slowly, letting the creme colored paint and familiar furniture come into focus. The light from the window meant it was morning. Distantly she could hear sounds of movement, but it was far off, in some distant room of the mansion. The mansion.

She sat bolt upright, suddenly hyper aware of her surroundings. Her room looked exactly as she had left it. This was zero help. The island never pulled the same trick twice in a month. Hell, the island never pulled the same trick twice in a year. She started for the door, turned back and found some shorts so she wasn't running around in a thong and a t-shirt, and then headed out, bewildered and skeptical. She stomped barefooted down the hall for the stairs, her thoughts turning rapidly. If she was home, what did that mean? Shouldn't she have been on that barren plateau holding an unconscious Remy Lebeau in her arms? Or did the world reset itself after the M'kraan hit, and then unhit? It was possible, maybe, that the rift in the timeline Legion had created had done something similar to all the X-Men, sent them someplace else and brought them back. Siege Perilous had done similar. And if that were true, and she was about to be surrounded by a bunch of grumpy, agitated, confused mutants (she'd prefer Sentinels, good Lord) then after the dust settled and they'd been debriefed, maybe she could just give Gateway or Lila Cheney a li'l visit 'n see...

See if the island was even a real place? Home two minutes and you're lookin' for a way back? How is that right...?

The thought had stopped her and she looked up, seeing where she was for the first time since her room. Muscle memory, years of habit, knowing the place so intimately- she'd made straight for the kitchen. Beast stared at her from the beam he hung upside down on, coffee in one hand and newspaper in the other, and Iceman sat with a spoon poking out of his mouth and a bowl of rapidly disintegrating cereal in front of him.

"...What?" she said, startled.

"Good morning," Bobby said around the spoon before pulling it out.

"And I inquired as to how you were feeling on this particularly lovely day," Beast added. "But perhaps it's earlier for some of us than others. Coffee, Rogue?"

The young mutant known only as Rogue blinked, twice, and tried to get a grip on reality as she said, "Oh. No thanks, Hank."

Comments

[howmanylives]

Madrox looked at her quizzically, sensing there was some sort of deeper significance he was missing, but entirely unsure as to what it was. "Okay," he said, nodding slowly. "He's not my favorite guy, but I'm not going to ask him to help me perform harakiri."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

She stifled a sigh. If she had to have this conversation, discretely, with everyone, she was going to lose it.

"Jamie- He cannot know this ain't real. You can't say anything, not one damn thing about it, or else he will lose it. 'n I don't mean he'll get pissed, I mean he will lose control, and go beserk, 'n when that happens, people die 'n there's just about no stoppin' him. So puttin' your death wish aside, I need you t'promise you won't say anythin'."

[howmanylives]

"What?!" he asked, taken aback, and it's only through some miracle that he doesn't end up bumping into the wall. He'd had enough comments from the peanut gallery already and he'd only been up a few minutes.

Sure, Wolverine's never been amongst the most stablest of mutants, but he's still -- by some weird definition that I've never been entirely comfortable with -- one of the good guys. He's not going to go on an island rampage the second he wakes up with a killer case of morning breath. He's never been the biggest proponent for personal hygiene. Or hair removal. Some detective I am. I can't figure out for the life of me why she's so freaked out about thi-- oh. Oh.

The dawning of realization flitted across his face somewhere at the tail end of his inner monologue. "He's dying back there, isn't he?" he said, and though it was phrased as a question, it was anything but. "Adamantium poisoning."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

Rogue recoiled slightly, blinking a few times, blindsided.

"What- What?" she said. "No, Jamie, you're not-"

He's dying back there, isn't he?

That was ridiculous.

"You're not listening t'me," she bit out, irritated. "Wolverine relies-" Adamantium poisoning.

"Has always relied more than anythin' on his senses, 'n there's no way of tellin' this from what's real. If he figures out that somone- something, the island is messing with his senses he will go berserk, and he will kill someone, and he will not even know it. He can't...""

Dying?

"He can't... can't find out..." She was frowning, at the well polished hardwood floor. She was utterly and perfectly still as the knowledge settled in and her eyes turned a brighter, liquid green.

"Why didn't I know that," she said, forgetting to blink until the tears became too heavy to stick to her lashes and started to slide down her cheeks.

"I should have realized that on my own. How..." Her expression broke and she clamped one gloved hand over her mouth.

[howmanylives]

Oh, great. Like I needed anything else to feel guilty about. I'm starting to think I should really draw up a list...pencil in some time each day to fully appreciate all of the crappy things I've done in my life. Not that I don't do that already, but then I'd at least have a built-in excuse to avoid Terry. 'Sorry, can't talk. Gotta brood at 2 o'clock, and I'm already running late now that you're here.'

Madrox stared at Rogue in mute horror. The island messing around with Wolverine's heightened senses hadn't even crossed his mind. He was a doctor and a detective -- his thoughts went directly to pathology without passing go or collecting his $200.00.

"Or he's not dying," he backtracked quickly, trying to find a way to spin this in a direction that did not involve Rogue crying. "The island probably got rid of his claws, right? Of course it did. Anything that makes us even remotely special is zapped right out of us." He waited a beat before muttering, "Oh, boy, this is awkward."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

She almost punched him. Only in the shoulder. But she didn't want to deal with more of him.

She also didn't want the situation to be any more bizarre than it already, ostensibly, was. Anyone in the mansion who wasn't fresh off the island, coming across Jamie Madrox and her, weeping, in the hallway was going to have a lot of questions. She turned, looking for the nearest, exit, and ducked into one of the mansion's many refurbished libraries that doubled as classrooms.

[howmanylives]

For a very brief second, he considered letting her just go and deal with the information herself. Then he felt like a bigger dick than he already was and nixed that plan almost immediately.

"Rogue--" he called after her, ducking into the very same library-turned-classroom, and he carefully pulled the door close behind him. Any loud noises were sure to draw the attention of some unwanted visitor, and the last thing either of them needed was some curious student interrupting them. "If he didn't tell you...chances are there's nothing wrong, right? You're practically family. He would have told you."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"Right," she grit out, "because Wolverine's always been so forthcomin' with his problems."

She slammed her fist into the leather-upholstered arm of an old chair. The thick, ancient wood cracked straight down the center. She took in and let out a heavy, steadying breath.

"I'll talk to Hank while we're here," she sighed, after a moment, dragging a hand over her face.

"He'll figure somethin' out, 'n I'll take it to the scientists back on th'island."

[howmanylives]

I don't point out that I'm technically a scientist on the island -- not to mention one who has extensive experience with mutants -- but that's only because I don't plan on sticking around for much longer. If he is being poisoned, he'll need more time to recover than I'm willing to give.

Then again, if he is being poisoned, he's lived a long enough life. Maybe he never told her because he just wants to be done...and that's something I can understand. He's lived lifetimes. How many lives does one man need?

Madrox leaned back against one of the desks, watching Rogue carefully. The show of violence was oddly comforting -- emotions were never his forte, but anger was something else entirely. Anger was universal. Anger directed towards him was just business as usual.

"I'll keep my mouth shut," he said after a long moment. "If it helps any, I can even pretend I'm from this time period. Or leave. I'll wake up in a couple of days no matter where I am."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"Jamie, ya got a big ol' tattoo on your face that sure has heck wasn't there the last time I saw ya. Before th'island, that is. You wanna bother coverin' it up with makeup, that's your call, but I don't have any." She sat on the edge of the large desk at the head of the room.

"'n not hat I don't like seein' ya, but you're not obligated t'hang around if you don't want to. Stayin' or leavin's your prerogative, sugar."

[howmanylives]

"...I've never liked it here," he admitted frankly after a second's hesitation. The X-Men would never be a good fit for him. That was a simple and incontrovertible fact. His power wasn't useful against the kinds of things the X-Men went against regularly. He was better suited to fringe teams, specialized teams.

Teams that didn't deal with giant robots on a daily basis.

"Wait," he said suddenly, straightening from his noiresque slouch as though he'd been burned. "The last time you saw me-- When, exactly, are we?"

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"From what I gathered from Hank 'n the... talkin' to I got from Scott," she mumbled, "'s about two weeks after the M'kraan crystal wave did not destroy th'universe."

[howmanylives]

"That's...that's what I thought," he said, remembering one of their earlier conversations. Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose once again. He was going to need some Aspirin. Or a gun. At this point, either would suffice. "I'm, uh, dead. Not me, obviously, but right now? Everyone thinks I'm dead. From the Legacy Virus."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"......Well, shoot," Rogue said.

[howmanylives]

"Yeah," Madrox agreed shortly, tipping his head back in defeat. "If I remember correctly, I'm not due for a reappearance for...well, not for a while, at least."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"Well, great," Rogue sighed.

"I mean, sorry for your loss, 'n all," she added, rubbing her back of her neck.

"I dunno what you wanna do 'bout it. You c'n take my car if you wanna split, it's the red convertible."

[howmanylives]

"Well, it's not like we don't come back from the dead all the time, but it might be better off in the long run," he pointed out with raised eyebrows. He tapped his temple -- gently enough to not create another dupe. "Less headaches."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"Keys're in my room," she told him with a weary sort of half smile.

[howmanylives]

"Your room. Right."

He nodded once, and started for the door. As he turned the handle, though, he hesitated, and turned to look back at Rogue. "Uh, I could Sherlock my way to your room, but it'd save me some time if you just gave me some directions."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

She looked up at him, shook herself slightly, and pushed herself up off the desk.

"Ah- yeah, c'mon, sugar." Her head felt cloudy. No surprise there. But she'd forgotten how bad it could get. Because it was bad.

She started down the hallway, making an effort not to look distracted, with limited success.

[howmanylives]

"Thanks," he murmured, following behind her. He considered, briefly, whether or not to comment on her sudden bout of distractedness, but he ultimately decided against it. If she wanted to talk, she would. There was no point in forcing the subject, especially if it would end up with her in tears again.

"I'll make sure no one sees me on the way out," he added just as quietly, mostly to make conversation. Silences made him uncomfortable. "I can be very sneaky."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"Sure," she murmured. It felt like something was trying to come up, while something else was trying to bury itself, slip deeper down. It was making one of her temples throb.

"Prof'll probably be too busy grillin' me t'bother ya. He's gotta know somethin's up, even if me'n Wolvie ain't talkin' 'bout it." She stopped in front of her door and opened it, going to the bedside table.

It was strange. Her tv, her laptop, her book collection, the small collection of stuffed animals on her bed. It made her feel painfully homesick and embarrassed at the same time. She opened the drawer in the nightstand and pulled out a keyring, and tossed it to Jamie.

"Should be a full tank."

[howmanylives]

Madrox caught it easily, sighing as he absorbed the dupe created by the impact before he had a chance to say anything. He'd lived with his power all of his life, but that didn't make it less tiring, especially when it came to performing such mundane activities as catching things.

"Great," he said, pocketing the keys. He was already heading back to the door before he added, " And Rogue? Have a nice visit."