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Disclaimer: The X-Men characters,
and all other recognizable characters are copyright to Marvel
Entertainment Group. This work of FanFiction is not meant
to infringe on that copyright or defame Marvel Comics or the
X-Men and related characters in any way.
I know there is no David's Bridal in on the Paramus strip
but humor me, people.
Copyright: This work of FanFiction and the original
characters described within are the intellectual property
of K-NICE and her IRL persona. No copying, distributing or
editing of this material is permitted without the express
permission of the creator, K-Nice, under United States copyright
law.
"Good afternoon from WRKS Radio in Westchester New York
- the station that ROCKS for you. It's a beautiful May day
... huh, huh, alright, yeah ... Continuous rock commin' atcha
right after this commercial break ..."
Rogue turned the radio down as she pulled out of the driveway
of the Xavier Mansion. She really hated radio commercials
especially the cheesy ones favored by the local stations.
However, she was in the mood to drive and she loved nothing
better than putting the top down on her Mazda Miata and becoming
a red blur on some back country road, with pounding rock music
pouring out of her speakers. She turned the music up and adjusted
the bass. Aerosmith's "Crazy" seemed to fit her
mood. She had been going stir crazy all day.
After the usual morning session in the Danger Room, Rogue
had rushed through her chores, particularly hauling the Mansion's
garbage to the Salem Center Dump. She had just felt so restless
the last couple of days. Some time alone was what she needed
but every time she thought she had found a quiet spot, one
of her house mates would interfere. First, Betsy and Warren
insisted on cavorting in the pool while Rogue tried to read
on the patio. After the third splash and the second ear-piercing
shriek, she had fled to her room. There, Joseph was patiently
waiting for her in the hallway. She gave him some excuse and
flew out the hall window to try the roof. Even as she exited
the house she could smell the smoke that probably meant Gambit
was up there, and had been there for quite a while. There
was little wind out, so Rogue decided to climb high into the
sky, where no one good bother her. Instead, Cannonball nearly
plowed into her as he attempted to push his top speed. Frustrated,
Rogue ran out to the garage, jumped in her car and sped away.
Rogue ran her fingers through her curly red hair as the wind
blew it around. She eventually found herself on the Bear Mountain
Expressway and then the Palisades Parkway. Rogue didn't really
care where she went, as long as she was alone for once.
Between Joseph and Remy and her team responsibilities, Rogue
felt there was no time for herself. As she darted back and
forth on the narrow Parkway, she emptied her mind of the stresses
that seemed to accumulate and compound daily. She forgot about
her twisted love life, her bizarre day job and the torment
of her powers. For a few moments, she could check her rearview
mirror like everyone else and act as if the worst thing in
her life would be a traffic ticket. She lost herself in the
speed, concentrating on every turn of the wheel. She got of
the Parkway before she had to get on the George Washington
Bridge. Instead she cut into Paramus, NJ - a driver's worst
nightmare!
Rogue didn't really care that the town was a logistic incubus.
The road was lined on either side by restaurants, stores and
business offices. Down the center of the street were K-Bars
forming a barrier between east and west travel. There were
very few opportunities to cross to the other side, and most
of these involved getting off the main road and waiting until
someone would let you back into the flow. Traffic was tight,
which forced her to slow down a bit, but she still didn't
come near the speed limit.
As traffic grew worse, Rogue grew bored. She looked out at
the stores as they whizzed by. One in particular grabbed her
attention. David's Bridal. She felt anger at whatever fates
had destined her to a life alone, without the chance to live
normally, to marry, to raise children ...
Rogue stopped herself. The whole point of this little drive
was to get her mind off all the things in her life that she
couldn't control. She saw an opportunity and cut in front
of a truck in order to make a somewhat illegal U-turn to the
other side of the street.
She turned into the parking lot of David's Bridal and parked
in the first available space. She walked into the store and
was assaulted by white. There were beautiful white gowns everywhere
she looked. She took a moment to adjust and to try and figure
out what exactly she was in the store. A plump young woman
came up and offered to help. "What kind of dress are
you looking for?"
Rogue was dumbfounded. Not a wedding dress - too many
questions. Not a bride's maids either. What else is there?
"I'm looking for a dress for my ..." she remembered
one of those asinine commercials "Prom." The saleswoman
gave her the once over. "Um, you see, I'm, uh, going
with a younger guy. My cousin. Bobby." As Rogue stumbled
to explain herself, the woman just ignored her and lead her
through the store to formal wear section.
Rogue was surround by purples and blacks and blues and greens.
Her eyes lit up. She had never gone to her own prom and it
couldn't really hurt to pretend for a little while. She thumbed
through the racks, running her fingers over the rich fabrics.
Satins and silks in a riot of colors spread out before her
and Rogue set about the important business of playing dress
up. She chose several dresses and took them into the changing
room.
She twirled and strutted in front of the mirrors, collecting
admiring looks from the other shoppers, who unanimously agreed
that they would prefer to have her figure they strove to stuff
themselves into their respective choices. Rogue had never
felt so beautiful. She loved the novelty of it - trying on
these gorgeous, expensive dress for no reason at all. The
short red one with the open back wasn't her style, nor was
the black floor length with a slit to the hip. She was somewhat
partial to the royal blue that ended 3 inches above her knee,
and the dove gray slip dress was too plain. Rogue spent hours
sampling and rejecting dresses and gowns.
After the first few she began to seriously think about what
she would have worn to her prom as a teenager. Back when she
was young enough to dream, back before she learned that the
simple pleasures of life were forever beyond her, Rogue had
imagined that she would wear pink tulle to her prom. At the
time, pink was the color she considered the most delicate
and feminine. She may have been a rough and tumble girl but
she wanted to be beautiful just like any young girl. And she
daydreamed that she could achieve that beauty in a perfect
pastel pink belle of the ball gown, complete with hoop skirt
and white satin gloves.
Rogue began to search the racks throughout the store in search
of her dream gown. It was a futile and frustrating exploration,
but she eventually caught the attention of a salesclerk. "Can't
find what you're looking for?"
Rogue looked at the young woman and decided that maybe she
was still young enough to dream. "Yes, I'm looking for
a very particular dress in a very particular color."
She found it, 40 minutes later, in a mail order catalogue.
She was so elated and so wrapped up in the fantasy that she
agreed when the salesclerk offered to order it for her. She
excitedly wrote down her name and phone number so the woman
could contact her when the dress came in. Rogue fairly floated
out to the car and drove home to the X-Mansion in a daze of
joy. It was only when she snuck up to her bedroom and prepared
to go to sleep that she remembered that there really wasn't
any prom, that would never be any prom. The let down was hard
for her. For a few hours, she had dream again and now all
those dreams were for naught. She cried quietly at her own
stupidity and drifted to sleep.
Rogue woke in the morning intending to call the dress shop
and cancel the order. She was looking for the number in the
phone book when Cerebro's alarms began to claxon. There was
some new threat for the X-Men to deal with. Rogue was excited.
Combat would let her take her mind of her own folly the previous
day.
On the Blackbird, Gambit avoided her and Joseph seemed to
cling to the inside edge of her personal space. Yep, this
is my life. Harrying around the world, which fears and hates
me, to protect people, who fear and hate me, from other mutants,
who just hate me. My boyfriend is ignoring me, and I've acquired
a satellite. Rogue grinned and got ready for action.
The last week had gone by in a blur. After neutralizing yet
another mutant threat, the X-Men had been called to deal with
another mutant who lost control of his powers at an amusement
park and the ensuing riots by the FOH. When they finally got
home, everyone just wanted to crash for a while.
Rogue was napping in her room when a call came in from David's
Bridal. Gambit happened to be in the kitchen and answered
the phone. A grin spread across his face as the sales woman
explained the situation. "I'll be dere to pick it up
dis aftanoon." A plan was forming in his mind, and he
knew just what to do with this new information. It would take
the cooperation of all the X-Men, but it would be worth it
to make Rogue just a little bit happier.
Rogue was sitting at the kitchen table on a Saturday night,
wondering how her life had gotten to this point. Everyone
else was out some were, doing something, except her. Well,
her and Joseph. The intercom crackled. Speak of the devil
. . "Hey, Rogue, I was wondering if you would join
me in the Danger Room for some sparring. Seeing you knew Magneto
so well and everything." He was rambling.
"Sure, sugah, I'll be right down." She sighed in
exasperation as she moved from the table. Why couldn't she
wallow in peace, for once.
Down in the ladies changing room, Rogue went to her locker
a opened it. She shrieked. Instead of her usual fighting togs,
there was a perfect pastel pink prom gown. Rogue giggled as
she changed into it. Someone had put everything she would
need, including a huge hoop slip, silk pantyhose and precisely
stained satin shoes. When she finished dressing, she looked
in the mirror, fixing her hair up with some bobby pins. As
her excitement began to wear off, she started to feel ridiculous.
I'm 23 years old. Proms are for 18-year-olds with their
whole lives ahead of them.
"But you do have you whole life ahead of you,
Rogue." Jean Grey entered the locker room in a brilliant
evergreen silk column dress. "Ready to live it?"
Rogue's eyes glittered as she nodded. As they walked down
the hall together, Joseph joined them. They stopped right
before the Danger Room doors. Jean continued on. Joseph self-consciously
pinned a corsage on Rogue. "I've completed my work on
the Z'nox technology." He held up a cylinder the size
of a Magic Marker. He slipped it into the corsage where the
flowers hid it from view. "It radiates a field that will
protect those within five feet around you from your powers.
When I found out about tonight, I figured it would be the
perfect time to give it to you."
"You mean, this wasn't your idea." Rogue was surprised.
She had assumed that sweet, gentle Joseph had arranged things
so she could wear her dream dress. She stared at him as he
turned away.
"I hope you enjoy the evening Rogue."
"Joseph ..." Rogue was dumbfounded. Of all the
times for him to leave me alone.
She already had a pretty good idea of what was going on but
when she walked into the Danger Room she was thunderstruck.
It looked like a high school gymnasium, poshly decorated under
the theme "Dreams Can Come True." Rogue was immediately
swept up by Bobby Drake, all decked out in a powder blue tuxedo.
As they twirled around to Jimminy Cricket rendering the theme
song, Rogue searched the faces of her team mates. They were
all dressed in formal wear, looking more beautiful than Rogue
had every seen them. When the first song ended, Rogue noticed
who was handling the music - WRKS radio.
She grinned and let herself pretend for just a little while.
Then she remembered Joseph's gift and decided to put it to
good use. Bobby screamed like a first grade Girl Scout when
she pecked him on the check, put pretty soon everyone settled
into the idea that on this one magic night, Rogue's dream
of being able to touch those that she loved was finally coming
true.
Rogue found herself caught up in the fantasy and it seemed
that her teammates were getting into it with her. By the end
of the evening, they had voted Scott and Jean Prom King and
Queen. Rogue didn't mind that she wasn't chosen. Who would
be her king?
The answer came around midnight when the prom wound down.
"Cherie, can we talk a bit?"
Gambit's soft words were accompanied by a subtle raising
of his eyes that in better times had meant to meet him on
the roof. Rogue let him pass her by as they exited the Danger
Room. She turned to watch him go and as she looked back, the
simulation was fading. Rogue stared at it for a while and
then gathered up her skirt and flew down the hall.
She thought about Remy and about the way he had treated her
when they had danced. He had not tried to monopolize her time
and they had only danced to two slow songs and three fast
songs together. He hadn't tried to touch, even though he knew
he could. He had just held her like she was a normal girl,
like they were normal. He had kept the conversation light,
no challenges, no demands. Rogue just wanted to relax in her
room, rest her feet and think about what the night had meant
for her. But, Remy's invitation still tickled her mind.
As Rogue came out of the elevator and onto the main floor,
she decided not to go to her room, after all.
Rogue had to walk through the front door to get out of the
house. Her dress wouldn't fit through the windows. She flew
up silently, except for the rustling of chiffon against taffeta.
He turned to watch her hovering in the moonlight.
He seemed content to stare so she spoke. "Thank you,
sugah, but why? How?
"De lady said it was a prom dress so I figured you need
a prom ta go wit' it. As for how, dey don't as' too many question
when you pay cash." He was smirking at her, yet there
was something sad in his eyes. "I just ... wanted you
to have a nice time. E'rybody t'ought it was a good idea.
Jeannie helped with the decorations..."
She cut him off with a kiss. "Thank you."
"You said that already."
"Yeah." She tucked her skirt underneath her as
she sat down beside him, her head on his shoulder.
Sat in silence for a few moments before she kissed him again.
"I realized three things tonight, Remy. One, dreams do
come true. Two, I love you. And three, I hate pink taffeta."
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