You're too young.
You're not ready.
Listen to me.
Do as I say.
You can't do that.
The voices echoed in her head as she slammed down the hall, fury hazing her vision. She slammed into her room, and slammed the door, hard enough to rattle the windows. Good. The thought was overflowing with bitterness.
Who the hell did they think they were, telling her what she could and couldn't do? She was just as good as any one of them. She kicked one of the legs of her bed, then wished she hadn't, because... ouch. Even through her shoe, that'd hurt.
Bending to rub at her toe, she noticed a crumpled...something caught in the bedframe. What was that? Curiosity overrode the pain in her foot, and she plucked the thing free.
Uncrumpling it, she found it to be a postcard, dated a few months ago. She read the scrawled words on the back:
Shouldn't be writing you, but you deserved to know I'm okay. Don't come after me. It wasn't signed, but given that it was addressed to Bobby, she knew who it had to be from.
Her eyes shifted to the postmark on it, and she wondered if that's where he was...or if they'd been passing through.
Do you always do as you're told? The last words she recalled him speaking, before he left.
Maybe, just maybe, it was time for her to leave, too.
** ** **
Bundled in her old green coat, a pack slung over her shoulder, she stood outside the bus station. This was as close as she could get, but she didn't have any idea where to go from here. Just wander around, waiting for Pyro or Magneto or Mystique to show up?
Well, hell. He found her once, maybe he'd find her again. She perched on a bench, rifling through her pack for something to eat, pulling off her gloves with her teeth. As she munched on the pretzels she'd found, she began to wonder if maybe this wasn't the best idea she'd ever had.
But something about it felt right. At the mansion, she had virtually no control over her life. She did as she was told, no matter how she argued against it. It was suffocating, there. She didn't know why she thought it would be different with the Brotherhood. Maybe because it wasn't a school, and they were about action, rather than reaction.
She watched as the sun started to sink, and she realized that the waiting around plan wasn't going to get her anywhere. Hm. As she started to gather her things, a heavy hand fell on her shoulder.
"You're awfully far from home, aren't you, Rogue?"
She was surprised it was him, though she couldn't say exactly why. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm coming home."
One pale brow elevated. "Really. Care to elaborate?"
He tried to kill you once. What makes you think he won't do it again?
At least then I'd be doing something.
She let her thoughts war a bit longer, before she finally spoke. "I was drowning, there. I couldn't take it. And ..." she didn't want to get John in trouble, if Magneto didn't know about the post card. "And I thought...I'd see if the grass really was greener on the other side." She swallowed hard, a little afraid, but at the same time, not really.
She, after all, had made a decision. She'd taken a little bit of control over her life. Where it went from here remained to be seen - but at least she was doing something.
"You can't expect me to believe it's that simple."
She thought he seemed ... amused. Was that a good sign? She rubbed her bare hands together, tilting her chin to regard him. "It's the truth." She met his eyes, boldly, though her stomach clenched with fear. He could kill her. Nostrils flared a little, and she waited.
He lifted a hand, tugging at the white streak in her hair. "Perhaps it is." He stood up, and started to walk away.
She hesitated. Should she follow? Or was that dismissal?
"I'm not going to wait all day, Rogue."
She grinned, and stood. Shouldering her bag, she followed him.