"W-who's there?" she asked, pulling the blanket tight over her bare body. A cool wind blew through the curtains as Toby struggled to his feet. He rubbed the burned part of his neck and tried to smile at Rogue. By now her face had changed to rage and anger. "Uh, hey Rogue. I was just. . .ah. . .seeing if you. . .uh. . ." He stumbled for words but couldn't force out the truth that he had been spying on her. She jumped out of the bed with the blanket pulled tight around her body and slapped him hard across the face, sending him reeling across her desk.
"Toby! How dare you come into mah room and spy on me like that! Get outta here before ah really have tah hurt yah!" She pointed a finger to the door and he rubbed his face as he stumbled for the exit. Just as he reached it she kicked him hard in the back of his leg and sent him sprawling on the floor of the hallway. He turned over on the ground and tried to apologize to her.
"Rogue, I'm sorry, I-" he began, only to be interrupted by the slamming of the door. "Rogue," he shouted louder so she could hear it, "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to-" again his response was cut short.
"Go away, Toby! Ah don't wanna have tah deal with you right now!" Rogue shouted through the closed door. Toby struggled to his feet and rubbed his leg where she had kicked him. He hurt all across his body now, his cheek, neck, and leg. He straightened his sunglasses and walked down the hall away from her room. A door in front of him opened and Scott stepped out, dressed in sweat pants and a T-shirt.
"What happened, Tobias?" he asked. Toby just stormed passed him without even acknowledging his presence.
"Oh, shut up," he said as he walked past Scott. The boy in black limped down the hall and Scott stared in bewilderment after him. Scott shrugged and closed the door to his room.
Rogue sat down on her bed and ran her hands through her rumpled hair. She just wanted to peel that dirty feeling off of her body she still carried from last night. Requiem jumped on the bed and curled up in her lap. Rogue smiled and ran a hand through the cat's smooth, black fur. She shivered and got up to close the window. The breeze was cut off and the billowing curtains sank like dying animals. Rogue rubbed her arms together and traversed the maze of her room to the bathroom. She stripped down and turned the water on high, then ran shampoo through her hair and felt the hot water caress her body. Requiem waited patiently outside of the bathroom door. The water shut off and Rogue dripped wet as she dried herself off. She wiped fog off of the mirror and looked at herself. Her hair was wet and hung limp around her makeup-free face. She dressed herself, applied her makeup, and then went to work on her hair. When she opened the bathroom door Requiem was waiting for her. Rogue bent over and ran her hand over the cat's fur, and it purred in recognition. She dressed for the new day in her green blouse, black leggings and combat boots. Together with Requiem she left the room to see what the new day had in store for them.
"And that," said Beast as he crossed from the blackboard to his desk, "is how hypochlorite is formed." He pulled out a molecule model and showed it to the class as his monotone droned on. Tobias sat in the far back of the Saturday school room, his eyes asleep behind his sunglasses. His face rested on his fist, balanced precariously on the edge of his desk. Rogue sat two desks to the right of him, her face resting in the middle of her textbook. Her eyes were closed and she was snoring slightly, her breathing keeping pace with Mr. McCoy's monologue. Toby's hand slipped off the desk and he toppled out of it and spilled onto the floor. He awoke when his head hit the floor and he moaned in pain. Rogue awoke with a start at the sound and looked around to see what had happened. Mr. McCoy was less than pleased.
"Having fun, Mr. Maxwell?" he asked. Beast strolled over to where Toby lay on the floor. He reached out a large, blue furred hand and helped him up. "The Professor made you take this class to learn, not to sleep. Do that on your own time. What you learn here today could really make a difference out in the field." Toby rubbed the back of his head and nodded in acknowledgment. Beast turned to Rogue.
"And you, Rogue, I don't appreciate you sleeping either," he said. She was surprised he had even noticed. Looking up at the ceiling mirror she saw a large red imprint of her hand on her forehead. Her face flushed with embarrassment and she tried to rub the mark off. Evan and Kitty were the only others in the room, and they were too busy trying to hide a note to care. The hour bell rang throughout the Institute's hall and the teens in the Saturday school room gathered their things to leave. McCoy collected his notes and waved goodbye to all those leaving. Rogue took her bag and started moving through the halls, Requiem the cat and Toby the mutant hot on her trail.
"Hey, Rogue, wait up," Toby called after her. He picked up Requiem and strolled up beside her. "Lose something?" he asked, motioning to the cat. She smiled at him and took Requiem in her own delicate hands. The cat began purring softly as she held it. She reached up and brushed aside her hair as she began to talk to Toby.
"Hey, Toby, ah've been meaning tah tell yah. The Prof told me to tell yah," she licked her lips before continuing, "that yah can join me in tha Danger Room today." Rogue could tell that his eyes were full of pride beneath his sunglasses.
"All right!" he said excitedly. "It's about time that bald guy let me hang with you guys. Come on, I've been here two weeks already and I've hardly seen anything even remotely secret in this place. When do we start?" Rogue smiled at his words and let out a slight laugh.
"Right now," she said as she led him down the Institute's hall toward the Danger Room. "Oh," he said, his elated spirit quickly diminishing into fearful anticipation. He followed the Gothic beauty into the facility's prep room where the suits were stored. The Professor was waiting for him.
"Ah, Tobias. I am glad you can join us today. Here is your official uniform," he said, pointing to a black suit folded in a cubby with "Darkwolf" emblazoned on a plaque at its front. "Get dressed and you can enter the Room to begin the test." He wheeled out of the room and left Toby, Rogue, and Requiem alone. She crossed to a changing stall and began to put on her uniform. Toby was half sunk into his shadow when he heard her voice.
"An don't think yah can spy on me in here, either! If ah catch yah, ah swear ya'll never walk straight again!" Toby winced at her words and shaped back into his human form. He went into his own stall and began to put on his new uniform. It fit perfectly, and he even liked the color. Of course it was black. The black jumpsuit included knee-high leather boots and elbow-length gloves, with red and black "X" logos emblazoned on the hard knee and shoulder plates. A black balaclava covered most of his head, and the uniform was topped off with a dark baseball cap that had a red and black "X" logo on the front. He stepped out of the stall to see Rogue halfway to the entrance door. Requiem waited patiently by her pile of clothes as she strolled into the Danger Room, Toby hot on her heels. They stood in the dark for a few seconds before dim red lights lit their way.
"Welcome to the Danger Room," the Professor's voice said over the loudspeaker. "Your objective is to reach the other end of this area." Rogue could hardly see anything until her eyes adjusted to the dark. Toby was already leading the way, guiding her with his hand. He grabbed her and ducked into his shadow just as a ruby laser blasted where he and Rogue had been standing. He moved quickly along the wall in his shadow, the big guns of the Danger Room tracking him and knocking huge chunks out of the reinforced barriers. Toby and Rogue came out of the shadow at a bend just as a big laser began tracking them. Rogue took a running start and jumped off the wall, landing on top of the robot gun's electronics housing. She punched her fist hard into its tracking device, causing the beam to cut a wide swath across the room. It decapitated many of the other guns with a fiery explosion. She jumped off the gun just as it, too, exploded in a fireball. Her body moved like a ghost as she dodged and jumped the blasts all around her, twisting and turning her lean figure. Tobias was right behind her and turned to glance back just as a laser tracked him. It fired a ruby slice of light that struck him square in the back, sending him flying twenty feet through the air and into a metal wall. The impact knocked him cold and shattered his glasses into tiny pieces. He slumped to the ground with a smoking burn mark on his back and his brain turned off. Rogue turned around and saw him laying unconscious.
"Toby!" she yelled. He gave a low moan and his head fell on the floor. Rogue jumped in the air and gave the gun that had shot Toby a swift kick, smashing its sensors to slag. She ran over to Toby and pulled her right glove off her hand. She reached out and touched his face, transferring his powers into her body. She gave a grunt and arched her back as her hair turned black and grew red streaks like Toby's. Rogue grabbed him in her arms and sank into her shadow. It moved across the floor like a bird in flight, ruby red beams crisscrossing the room trying to hit it. Rogue carried Toby out of the shadow as they neared a line of turrets blocking the exit. She extended her fingers and dark waves began to form, encircling the area in darkness. Her eyes, sensitive to light, were able to guide her to safety as the robotic computers attempted to switch tracking visions to find them. Just as one locked on with infrared, Rogue reached the finish line. The turrets powered down and collapsed back into their respective bays. The lights came on, dim so as not to hurt Toby's powers. Rogue lowered Toby to the ground and felt his powers slowly draining from her body. The Professor's voice came over the loudspeaker again.
"Rogue, is Tobias all right?" he asked. She glanced up at the control room. "Yeah, he's gonna be all right," she said, run a gloved hand through her hair as the red and black streaks faded into her natural auburn.
Toby awoke on Rogue's bed, lying on his stomach. His back burned intensely and he could hardly turn his neck. He winced at every breath. Requiem lay over his legs and purred, leaving him with some feeling of comfort. He craned his neck when he heard the door open. Rogue entered the room carrying two chocolate milkshakes. She put a folding table in front of the bed and put Toby's glass on it, giving him a long straw so he could reach the creamy, chocolate goodness. She sat next to him and gave him a swift slap on the back. She laughed as he screamed in pain, clenching his teeth and squeezing his hands into fists. Somewhere across the Institute Kurt was balanced on a flag pole and he nearly fell off when he heard the loud scream. Rogue just laughed and sipped her milkshake as Toby flinched.
"Yah never will forget yer first time," she said. Toby forced a sarcastic laugh mixed with genuine pain as Rogue took another sip of her milkshake and Requiem purred his complacency.
Aster Anucarr