Chapter Text
“Rogue!”
Rogue cursed beneath her breath, her shoulders immediately hunching. She could feel the bristle of defensiveness in her head, hackles rising at the voice behind her and causing her lip to curl slightly before she managed to shake it off with a huff of annoyance. It was just Bobby. Nothing dangerous or unsettling, like the things that usually brought Logan’s echo to the surface.
Logan’s echo had been at the surface almost constantly since last night. Nightcrawler, on the other hand, had been completely silent. She wasn’t sure exactly what to make of that.
“Rogue!” Bobby called out again, and Rogue hesitated just at the end of the hall. A part of her wanted to just go ahead and duck around the corner, slip into Professor X’s class, and hope that the lecture started before Bobby had the chance to ask her anything.
But she’d been absent yesterday, and when you literally live at your school of only a couple dozen students it’s very obvious when you’re absent. It was pure luck that Kitty and Jubilee hadn’t hunted her down and bombarded her with questions yet. They probably already had an idea of what happened yesterday; rumors moved quickly at this place, and Rogue had no doubt that there was something floating around about the whole thing.
Out of the members of their little club, Bobby would probably be the most chill of them — a sentence that made the echo of David chuckle, and Rogue had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the stupid, unintentional pun. She didn’t want to seem crazier than she was.
It was hard not to feel crazy when a part of her brain was growling as when Bobby came up next to her, breathing heavily and shaking his head.
“Where’ve you been?” He blurted out, his brown creased and… damn. Rogue wasn’t expecting to feel bad or anything, but the worry in Bobby’s blue eyes made a flash of guilt shoot through her chest. “I didn’t see you at all yesterday. I was getting worried.”
The echo of Logan was still growling though, and she could feel irritation sneaking up behind that guilt. She inhaled, trying to focus on her own feelings — not Logan’s over-protectiveness — and then met Bobby’s eyes.
“Ah’m fine.” She shrugged. “Jus’ wasn’t feelin’ well yesterday.”
“You sure?” Bobby raised an eyebrow, worry still on his face. “I heard…”
He trailed off. Logan’s echo was huffing in annoyance.
“You heard what?” Rogue pressed, trying to keep herself from snipping at him. “What’re people sayin’?”
Even though she tried to keep her voice light, Bobby still put his hands up in self-defense. “Hey, nothing bad! Just… I overheard some things. Apparently Nikki was chatting with Jubilee and she’d heard Ms. Grey say something to Professor Xavier so—”
“Jus’ spit it out, Bobby.” It was a bit harder to keep her voice even, because now she could feel Eric’s echo stirring in the back of her mind. She really, really didn’t need to deal with the headache that was that man at the moment, especially when Logan’s echo already had her on edge. “What’re they sayin’?”
Bobby’s mouth shut, he hesitated for a moment, and then he finally blurted it out. “Did you see Nightcrawler last night?”
Shit. Well, there went any chance of people not knowing.
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But it ain’t a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?” Bobby raised his eyebrow even higher. “I can’t believe you haven’t already gone and talked to Jubilee about it. She can’t believe you haven’t talked to her about it!”
“It ain’t a big deal,” Rogue pressed, crossing her arms. Something about the mention of Nightcrawler had made the echo of Logan start growling louder, and… shit, she could feel the other echo of him perking up too. That echo was usually so much quieter, she almost never heard him in the middle of the day like this. “He’s jus’ another kid, Bobby.”
“That’s not what you were saying a couple days ago.” Bobby tilted his head. “You okay, Rogue? I thought you were excited about looking into this.”
She was a whole lot less okay than she’d been thirty seconds ago. She could feel the fainter version of Logan pulling at the edges of her consciousness, and damn it, something about feeling his presence always put a shake in her hands and a hitch in her breath. She couldn’t deal with two Logans and an Eric right now, not while she was trying to carry on a normal conversation.
“How ‘bout we talk after class, huh?” Rogue suggested.
“I think Jubes is gonna try to steal you as soon as class is over,” Bobby pointed out. “If Kitty doesn’t first, at least.”
Shit. Right. Both Kitty and Jubilee were in this class. Rogue had been dodging them all day, but she could only do that for so long. She was going to have to talk to them eventually, she knew that. But her head was loud right now, and she still wasn’t sure what to expect from the strangely quiet Nightcrawler echo hanging around at the edges of her mind. She’d deal with talking to her friends later, assuming she was able to escape them. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to.
But Ms. Grey had been all on to her the night before about it being okay to ask for help, right? So maybe…
“Listen.” Rogue tried to shove the voices in her head to the side so she could focus on Bobby. “I don’t feel good right now Bobby, can ya jus’... can yah help me dodge ‘em after class? If I go off an’ talk to you, maybe they won’t bother to ask an’ I can talk to ‘em tomorrow.”
Bobby’s brow furrowed. “Wait… really? You don’t want to talk to ‘em?”
“Obviously I wanna talk to ‘em,” Rogue said, despite the fact that the words kind of tasted like a lie on her tongue. “I jus’... wanna take a day, y’know?”
Bobby’s brow furrowed more. “Not really. You’re usually all-in on hanging with them. Are you feeling okay?”
That was enough to make the barely-held-back irritation bubble up in her. “I told yah, I ain’t feelin’ good.”
The words were sharper than intended. She could feel her teeth gritting together too, and she desperately hoped that her voice didn’t sound at all like a growl. Bobby once again put his hands up in surrender.
“Hey, don’t worry, I get it. Sorry, it’s just not like you, and…” he trailed off, and then suddenly he was eyeing her with far too much scrutiny. “Wait a second. Rogue, did you—?”
Rogue was turning away before he could finish the question, her hands clenched into fists and the echoes in her head snarling that she needed to get away. Eric had faded into the background, but both versions of Logan were urging her to get out, to get space, to escape before Bobby could see just how crazy she was.
“Hey, Rogue!”
Bobby didn’t know about the voices, but he had seen her dealing with the aftermath of absorption before. He knew that she didn’t act herself after she touched somebody, and there was a look of recognition in his eyes…
“Rogue!”
It didn’t matter that Nightcrawler had been weirdly silent ever since she’d left the medbay — she was still managing to look crazy enough that he could tell. It was downright embarrassing, and she didn’t want to have to deal with any of that right—
“Rogue, stop, I—”
Something about the word made her freeze. Her legs locked up. Her arms dropped to her side, her chin jerking down, her eyes fixed on the floor, a tremor nearly running up her spine before she managed to still it and…
“Woah.” Bobby stopped beside her, and Rogue could hear the surprise in his voice even as it felt… wrong. Hearing his words felt suddenly, inherently wrong in a way that she couldn’t quite seem to describe.
That near-silent presence that she’d hardly been able to feel in her mind all morning was suddenly extremely, extremely loud; so loud that she didn’t feel like she could move at all.
You were told to stop. That’s an order.
Rogue could feel her breath hitching in her chest at the sound of that echo. There was so much certainty in those words, so much certainty that she didn’t feel like she could move at all.
What the actual hell?
“Uh… Rogue?” There was a hand in front of her face. She was still looking at the ground. “Um… earth to Rogue? You okay, you seem a bit… a bit out of it.”
She tried to open her mouth. She tried to blurt out that she was fine, that this was nothing, any sort of explanation that could say this wasn't a big deal , but her lips wouldn’t move. Her head wouldn’t move either, her eyes focused firmly on the carpet beneath her feet. She could feel her heart pounding, but the sensation was almost distant; like it was detached from her body.
Head down, gaze blank, proper form.
With a sharp inhale, she managed to shake her head. The movement sent alarm bells shrieking through her mind, but she ignored them. She forced herself to shake her head again, hoping that it would rattle loose the cold that had sunk down to her bones.
Something about the freeze up had scared off both of Logan’s echoes. That wasn’t usually something that happened. Rogue wasn’t sure if she was glad, or if that freaked her out even more.
“Ah’m fine.” The words finally slipped out, and that seemed to be the final thing needed for her to be able to breathe. She inhaled sharply, shaking her head again, and tried to ignore the way that bile seemed to creep up her throat. “Ah’m fine, Bobby, ah jus’...”
What the hell was that? He just said “stop” and she… she couldn’t…
“You sure?” Bobby didn’t sound convinced in the slightest. “You, uh… you completely spaced there, Rogue. That was…”
Weird. It was weird, and stupid, and she hated that it happened. She hated that Bobby saw that. She hated that Nightcrawler seemed to think it was normal, and she hated that she had so many voices clashing in her head and making her crazy.
At least they were quiet now. All of them, even Logan. It was like something about Nightcrawler’s reaction put a bad taste in all of their mouths.
Why the hell did he react like that?
“Did you touch Nightcrawler?” She winced at Bobby’s question, and it was a wince that was all her own. No other voices, no other thoughts; just her own embarrassment. “Is… was that…?”
“I told yah, I ain’t feelin’ good.” There was no bite or growl to her voice now. Only her own exhaustion threaded through the words as she sighed. “An’ I already told Kitty that lookin’ into Nightcrawler too much was probably a bad idea.”
Bobby was watching her closely, concern painted across his face. “But… did you—?”
“Ah was the one that talked to Logan, an’ it looked like somethin’ we shouldn’t mess with.” She shook her head, her bangs falling into her face. “An’ now I know it ain’t somethin’ we should be messin’ with.”
“So you did touch him?” Bobby asked, his eyes wide. “Rogue, if that was a side effect of that…”
“Bobby.”
“If that was a side effect, I think that’s more of a reason for us to look into this.” His voice sounded so damn sincere, and Rogue couldn’t tell if it made her want to lean closer to him or pull far, far away. “Rogue, that was… that was weird.”
She could feel herself bristling — no Logan, no Nightcrawler, just her. “Trust me, ah know.”
“Like, really weird—”
“Ah said ah know, okay?” She balled her fists up, and she could feel the way that the seams of her gloves bit into her hands. It hurt in more ways than one.
“But if there’s something weird going on with a new student, shouldn’t we know about it?” Bobby watched her closely, his lips still pulled into a frown. “That doesn’t sound like something we should ignore. He might need someone to go figure out what’s going on.”
“He doesn’t need a whole buncha kids starin’ at ‘im,” Rogue said, shooting Bobby a glare. “He needs space right now.”
“You can’t know that for sure.”
Except she could. She knew he needed space, because the echo in her head was practically shaking in terror. He was almost silent now, curled up in a back corner of her mind, but for a moment there…
Orders. It had to follow orders.
She grit her teeth together, barely holding back from the urge to shake her head. No. She didn’t need to look any crazier than she already did.
“Let’s jus’ drop it, Bobby,” she said, trying to force herself to take a breath after she spoke. It didn’t work well. “The professors know what they’re doing.”
Bobby raised an eyebrow. “Woah. Seriously, you okay Rogue? That’s not like you at all.”
“Well, maybe ah’m still feelin’ Nightcrawler, alright?” Rogue tried to keep her voice steady, and forced herself to take another breath. This one was a little bit easier, and she clung to it. “Ah’m serious when I say we need to trust ‘em on this one, Bobby. Ah think Logan knows what he’s doin’.”
At least, she hoped. She desperately, desperately hoped that Logan knew what he was doing, because as messed up as Nightcrawler’s head seemed to be, she’d felt something slightly similar before. Logan’s quieter echo still haunted her head, and once and a while she’d get flashes. There were pieces that stuck in her mind, itching at her brain. There was something about the way he lurked at the very back of her mind… it felt eerily similar to the way that Nightcrawler was lurking at the edges of her mind, only just now jumping forward and making himself known again just because something sounded like an order.
As much as she wanted to see Nightcrawler again, she could tell that he didn’t need to be around people. Not yet. Not while his mind felt the way it did.
“Okay.” Bobby was nodding, but his expression didn’t quite seem convinced. “If you’re sure—”
“Ah’m sure.” She nodded firmly. “Ah’ll talk to Jubes an’ Kitty tomorrow or somethin’, but ah jus’... ah think we gotta back off on this one.”
He still didn’t look like he agreed with her, but he let out a breath. “I’ll help you dodge ‘em.”
Now that was a relief. That made her breathe a bit easier.
“Thanks, Bobby.”
“Anytime.” He tossed her a smile, but there was still a complicated look on his face. “But… Rogue. I’m serious. If there’s stuff we should know about Nightcrawler—”
“Logan doesn’t wanna tell anybody ‘bout ‘im,” Rogue pointed out. “He needs time to adjust an’ stuff. We shouldn’t rush ‘im.”
“But…” Bobby trailed off, then sighed. “I mean, that makes sense.”
“Thank you.” Rogue brushed her bangs out of her face, shaking her head. “If ah couldn’t convince you, there was no way in hell ah was gettin’ Kitty an’ Jubes to back down.”
“Oh, remember who you’re talking about.” Bobby gave her a look. “Not sure if you’ll be able to make ‘em back down.” While those words settled in the air, he glanced to the side. “And I…”
“Bobby,” Rogue said, her voice taking on an edge once again. “Come on, you didn’t even buy into the whole “cryptid” thing.”
“And that’s not really what I’m thinking about,” Bobby said quickly, like it was a defense. “It’s just… I dunno. Kinda unsettling that they still haven’t said anything to us.”
“Bobby…”
“I’m not going to go looking for trouble or anything.” He gave her another look. “Unlike some people.”
Her jaw dropped, and she barely resisted the urge to elbow him in the side — an old urge. Maybe it was from David. Maybe it was an urge from back when she used to be Marie. Either way she choked it back and rolled her eyes instead. “Hey. Ah learned my lesson.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Absolutely not. Rogue rolled her eyes again. “‘Course I did.”
“Well. I’ll trust you on that.” His smile dropped away. “At least for now.”
“Bobby.”
“You’re probably right; he might just need time to settle in.” Bobby hesitated for a moment. “But if something weird’s going on with him… we gotta know at some point. I get holding off for now, but if they go months without telling us…?”
“They wouldn’t do that,” Rogue said quickly. “He’s been here a handful ‘a days, Bobby.”
“I know, I know. That’s why you’ve got a point.” He shrugged. “But if it goes on too long… that just seems like something we should try to look into, if we get the chance.”
“It won’t,” Rogue said, shaking her head. “I think we just gotta give it a bit. Let ‘im settle in.”
“Well,” Bobby said, striding forward suddenly. “You can have fun explaining that to Jubes and Kitty.”
“Hey!” Rogue exclaimed, turning quickly to walk with him around the corner. “You said you’d help me avoid ‘em!”
“I said I’d help you avoid ‘em today.” Bobby shot her a cheeky grin. “Tomorrow? You’re on your own.”
Rogue rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue as she followed him into their class. She knew she’d have to have a conversation. That, however, could be a later problem.
For now, she wanted to focus on getting through class without triggering any more weirdness from Nightcrawler’s echo. Avoiding Kitty and Rogue could come after that. And after that… well. If she wanted to see Nightcrawler again, she was going to have to get to work on her persuasion skills.
She may not be the most persuasive person ever, but she was pretty certain that Logan wouldn’t be able to stand up to her persistence.