Mice Will Play

Valle Soleada, CA

“It’s bigger than I thought,” Sage remarked as Lucas knocked sharply on the heavy oak door with elegant beveled glass panes. Lucas sighed and leaned back against the porch’s support beam, folding his arms as they waited.

“It’s pretty nice, more than I expected,” he admitted, surveying the beachfront before them. “Rogue’s done well for herself.”

“That’s what happens when you inherit a king’s ransom built from a life of crime,” she mused. He frowned.

“You belonged to the Hellfire Club, once upon a time. During my time, you never joined the XSE. Not that you aren’t a welcome addition,” he added. Her expression was stoic as ever, barely curling the corner of her mouth. “Can you really be so quick to point the finger about profiting from illegal gain?”

“Things change…sometimes. Becoming an X-Man was an act of faith on all of our parts. Prior to becoming Shaw’s assistant, I was a mercenary and trained assassin. The only thing that set me apart from any other killer was my willingness to fight for the right side. Not unlike Logan.”

“That’s stretching things a bit.” Lucas wasn’t so sure Logan was fighting for any side except his own. They hadn’t seen the gruff loner in several weeks. Still, Lucas acknowledged, the binding factor in Sage and Logan’s respective inductions to the team was Ororo. She vouched for the character of both of them and gave more than the benefit of the doubt.

They were interrupted by quick footsteps inside, growing closer until the front door was unlatched and yanked open.

“Yer HERE! Aw, c’mon in and gimme some sugah!” Rogue was radiant as she launched herself across the porch. Lucas hardly had time to brace himself before she practically knocked him over.

“Rogue! OOF!” She no longer possessed enhanced strength. She embraced like a normal woman, but she had a solid grip on him, hanging on his neck and kicking up her heels.

It occurred to him that her cheek was pressed against his bare neck.

Nothing was happening.

“Hold on a minute! Have you lost your mind?”

“Aw, shoog, live a little and lighten up,” she chided him, releasing him and stepping back to look him over. “Damn, Luke, ya look good in yer civvies. But by the time ya’ve been here a couple of hours, yer gonna agree with me that yer wearin’ too much. We’re about ta hit the peak hours.”

“You’ve already gone native,” Sage remarked, eyeing Rogue’s outfit.

“You like?” She did a little sashay and turn, hands on her hips.

She was nearly bare. Rogue wore a tiny, tiny handkerchief top that tied around her neck and across her back in a neat knot, leaving little to the imagination. Her shorts were denim cut-offs that she’d slashed here and there with a razor blade, the hems just landing shy of her undercurves.

Sage looked at her quizzically. Lucas silently drooled.

Her skin was perfect, free of scars and nearly poreless, and now mildly tanned from time on the coast. The most striking accessory for Rogue’s new look was a tattoo of bold black ink that reached from her shoulder to her wrist. The angular, tribal patterns were unearthly and beautiful and looked as though they took hours.

“You can’t just take me by surprise like that, Rogue! What about your powers? We still don’t know if they’re permanently gone or dormant. Remember how you manifested the ones you’d absorbed before, sometimes with no warning? I don’t want any surprises.”

“Only surprises I got up my sleeve are what’s to eat and all the sights I wanna take ya ta see,” she shrugged, flashing a dimpled smile. “My powers have gone bye-bye, Luke. And I ain’t complainin’. I haven’t felt this free since I was just old enough for a trainin’ bra.” She stepped out of the shade, enjoying the sun’s rays against her bare back. She hummed a low sound of contentment.

“What made you decide on some ink?” Sage inquired. She joined Rogue briefly and reached tentatively for her forearm. She traced the intricate lines of the tattoo.

She snatched her hand back as the pattern shimmered and seemed to follow her fingertips, pooling around them. “Oh!”

“Don’t worry, honey, it ain’t gonna bite. It’s temporary. Mah friend Paint did ‘em, she’s a real artist. She can do you all, too.”

“No, thank you,” Sage sniffed. “I’ve been marked once.” She leaned her elbows over the porch rail and looked contemplative. “It won’t happen again.” Luke glanced at her face, a creamy, patrician mask marred only by the long, jagged scars trailing from the corners of her eyes to midway down her cheekbones. They were a gruesome reminder of the only time Sage ever needed the X-Men’s help, when they’d nearly arrived too late.

“Suit yerself, sugah,” Rogue offered. “But in the meantime, c’mon! Luke, yer gonna help me in the kitchen. We can have some of the sweet tea I made and we’ll get caught up.”

They followed her hesitantly to the back of the house. She felt their eyes on her back and their unspoken questions as they perused her home.

“You have some lovely things, Rogue.”

“That’s another thang, sugah. Ya don’t hafta call me that all the time, now. Rogue’s just a codename I don’t need anymore. I go by Anna now. Anna Raven.”

“It’s nice,” Lucas replied. “Suits you.”

“The first name’s mine. I borrowed the other one from Momma.”

“You still consider her your mother,” Sage said. There was no hint of curiosity in her voice, but there was wariness. Rogue met her gaze levelly, unblinking.

“Didn’t say Ah loved her. Didn’t say Ah trusted her. Didn’t say Ah’m sendin’ her a Mother’s Day card any time soon. But yeah, shoog, she’s mah Momma. The only one Ah’ve ever had.”

“What Sage means is that if there was ever someone who was much, much more than the sum of their parts, Anna, it’s you,” Lucas quipped. Rogue winked, lips curling slowly and enticingly. Lucas saw at that moment how young she truly was, without the shadows that used to haunt her moss green eyes. She was vibrant and happy, and looked every inch the woman she was meant to be, had her powers and desperate lifestyle not gotten in the way. Thief, would-be assassin, officer, pawn…Rogue was never truly a child.

“Um, Luke…Ah guess Ah put mah foot in mah mouth about the whole tattoo thing.”

“No big deal. I like yours. It’s…different.” His intelligent coffee brown eyes held understanding, the right one marred slightly by the dark ‘M’ insignia burned into his flesh.

“It’s over the top, Ah know, but again, it makes me feel less bare.”

“So does putting on some actual clothes,” Sage muttered. Her expression wasn’t truly a smile, and her voice was so calm and measured. “We’ve got enough women running around half-naked at the school as it is.”

“Ah ain’t ready t’come back to the school. Don’t know if Ah even have to. Remy an’ Ah are just makin’ our way and figurin’ it out as we go along.”

“Remy’s still out in the field, even in his limited capacity,” Sage reasoned.

“Remy still enjoys the life. Needs something ta occupy himself. I’ve got mah bikes. If Remy wants t’go out on a recon with ‘Roro every now and again, that’s up to him. I’m his lover. Not his momma.” She opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a huge glass pitcher of iced tea with lemon wedges floating in it.

“I see.”

“Well, Ah hope ya do see, and that ya understand, Sage. Ah came ta Charles ta help me control my powers because they were killin’ me. Ah didn’t know who Ah was, and Ah’m still decidin’ that now, but at least Ah can do it without hundreds of other voices screamin’ in mah head.”

“Who’s to say that they’ll stop screaming?” Lucas joked. “I hear voices all the time.”

“Right. Better call Charles up, then, Luke…” She rolled her eyes at him and poured him a tall glass, handing it to him. Once again he tensed as her fingertips grazed his, but once again, nothing happened.

Her skin was soft and cool.

“What Ah’m sayin’ is, if Ah ain’t a mutant anymore, Ah don’t necessarily belong to a school for ‘em, now do Ah?”

“That’s up to you. You won’t be the first person at the school who stayed on, even depowered, if that’s what it comes down to.”

“Carol did that once upon a time, but she’d had her fill once Ah moved in. She wasn’t too happy ‘bout it.”

“What happened?”

“Apparently she gained a different power than the ones Ah stole. She came in the front door, took one look at me, and cleaned mah clock.”

“Ooh,” Luke winced.

“Ah never aspired ta be an X-Man, Luke. It’s just how the cards fell when they were dealt.”

“So this is your chance to bow out?” Sage murmured over the edge of her tea before taking a sip. She made a contented noise and sat on one of the leather bar stools by the counter.

“This is mah chance ta cool my heels. Think Ah’ve earned it. Look around.” She motioned to her immaculate kitchen. “Ah have a home, a job, mah man who loves me, and who’s loved me through ten kinds of hell an’ back, and a life that doesn’t involved nearly gettin’ killed every time Ah draw a breath. Ah’m tired, girl.”

“History never showed that you lost your powers,” Luke pointed out.

“History’s been rewritin’ itself since ya got here, Luke.” She waited for him to put his glass down before poking him in the ribs. He jumped back and stifled a laugh.

“Quit it!”

“Whatsamatter? Afraid of a li’l ol’ girl who lost her powers? Ah can’t hurt ya, Luke!” She jabbed him again, and he slapped at her darting hands. A smile twisted his lips. Sage watched the spectacle they made, bored.

“What’s the status on Ororo and Remy?” he barked between warnings and Rogue’s giggles.

“I’m getting an update now,” she informed him coolly as she removed her pair of cybernetic glasses from her bag. A small white light gleamed on the stem and the red lenses glowed. She punched a tiny button and brought up the array and high-speed connection.

“GPS says they are at the Presidential ranch with no incident or problems,” she said.

“Good,” Luke replied.

“They’re in the open; I won’t attempt contact until they’re in a private location. Scanner readings show several occupants and compromise any communication with us if we don’t want to blow their cover.”

“Such as it is,” Rogue tsked. “Ah can’t believe Remy’s goofball idea for a disguise. Ororo should be ashamed of herself for goin’ along with it.”

“I told her to use the mini inducer,” Sage sighed. “She was stubborn about it.”

“Tell me about it.” Luke looked annoyed. “She’s been so…reckless, lately.”

“Remy’s been rubbin’ off on her for a while.” Anna opened the refrigerator again and began taking out ingredients for chicken tacos.

“So you’d like to believe,” Sage argued. “I know Storm. She’s not immune from impulsive actions. Don’t blame Remy, Anna.”

“Two of ‘em are peas in a pod.”

“You miss him, don’t you?” Luke looked thoughtful. Anna looked wistful.

“Yeah. Ah sure do.”