Rogue paced at the parlor door. "They're late." She stated in an irritated, panicked tone.
"They're at the gate, Hon, just relax. They are probably just taking in the view of our luxurious home." Her friend replied, moving a strand of dark red from her face, her gold and green eyes giving Rogue the needed assurance that she was so missing at that moment.
"You can sense them?" She asked.
"Yeah, I can. Does that surprise y'?" Her friend inquired.
"Actually, no, but that means that your telepathy has gotten stronger." Rogue stated. "Xavier would have loved you."
"Xavier would have studied mae an' used mae, an' y' know it." Her friend stated flatly.
"Now Serina, you don't know that. Ah knew Xavier a long time and he took care of mah and I nevah felt like a specimen."
"Y' are not a 5th generation telepath nor are y' a birth mutant. Xavier in that aspect was no better than Dr. Essex." Serina bit back, knowing with her experience in life that nothing is without a price, nothing.
"Don't you go comparin' him with the likes of Sinister." Rogue defended. "Xavier never used us a test subject, never wanted world domination, just peace between mutants and humans."
"An' now there is huntin' parties for mutants an' prices on our heads so we have t' hide in the underground." Serina's brogue showing her Scottish heritage.
A young teen ran in, disrupting their debate. "We got guests commin' up de drive." The dark hired girl announced.
"We know, Sky, it is Rogue's former comrades, her friends." Serina replied, a bit annoyed at the girl's excitement.
"The ones Ah told you about, Sugah." Rogue added.
"Oh..." Sky began in a bit of confusion at their responses. "Should Ah get de door?"
"Why not." Serina replied flatly. "Rogue is a bit too excited." As she spoke, she put her brogue in check, making it sound as if she had no accent at all. The girl grinned and ran off.
"Why do you do that?" Rogue asked.
"Do what?" Serina questioned, knowing full well what her older companion was inquiring about.
"Hide your accent."
"Because it makes me harder to track, and I am more comfortable this way." Serina answered for the umpteenth time.
Rogue just glared at her, feeling Serina hid too much as it is. "Just do me a favor and be on your best behavior with them, ok?"
"Sure, Darlin'." Serina winked. "I'll be an angel, just you wait and see." Rogue just rolled her eyes, hearing the door open.

"Bonjour." Sky bubbled "Come on in." She smiled, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses as she greeted them. "Ah am Skylara, most call mae Sky an' Rogue is waitin' fo' y' in de parlor." She stepped out of the way, encouraging them to enter.
"I'm Scott Summers, this is my wife, Jean." Scott began as Remy and Hank gawked at the foyer of the house.
It was grand, with a flowing staircase on either side of the great hall. Candle and electric chandeliers hung from the 20 foot high ceiling. The carpet was deep burgundy while the tile was white marble.
"Incredible." Hank muttered.
"An' y' are?" Sky inquired.
"Oh, that's Hank McCoy and Remy LeBeau, I'm Logan." Logan introduced, irritated at their mouth gapping display.
Another young girl emerged, this one coming out a door which they couldn't see. "Nice to meet you. I am Sage." Sage introduced. "Is there an Elizabeth Braddock and a Warren Worthington with you?"
"Back here." Warren waved, making their presence known.
"Good. Sky will show you to the parlor. are your bags in the car?" Sage asked. "Yeah.. car.. van.. automobile." Logan muttered.
"Good, I will see to your bags." Sage replied, moving past them as Sky began to lead them in.

The way to the parlor was windy and very maze like. The whole time was walked in silence except for the muttering awe of each of the former X Men. The decoration of the place was very southern bellish. Some would say Gone with the Wind exploded in here. In some places there were paintings of southern scenery, others of Japanese scenery, somehow they meshed well in the manor.
As they walked, the tile changed from white marble and burgundy carpet to granite marble and midnight blue carpet. The house looked more enormous from the inside than the out.
"Here we are." Sky announced, opening the doors to the parlor. Ah have t' go help with de bags." She excused herself.
As they entered, they noticed that this was unmistakably Rogue's personal sanctuary. It was decorated just like a picture perfect southern parlor. The colors done in deep reds with complimenting pinks. The furniture was all antique and the fixtures were still gas. She did have electricity there, but they matched the gas fixtures perfectly.
"Well, y'all gonna stand there and gawk, or are you gonna c'min and say Hi?" Rogue smiled, trying to break the awkward silence that befell the room.
Serina just chuckled softly, making her presence known.
"I'm sorry." Scott began. "We are just in shock." He stammered as everyone else moved in to sit down.
"You never mentioned how beautiful it was here." Jean added, carefully sitting down.
"Don't worry, all the furniture has been reinforced so it won't break." Serina explained. "We have a rambunctious bunch here at times."
"Oh." Jeans nodded.
"This is Serina." Rogue introduced. "She is my partner here." She smiled, moving to stand behind Serina, her hand on Serina's shoulder. She knew how Serina felt about large groups of people in close quarters. "She is professor at the collage near here as well as a museum curator."
Hank's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Afraid so." Serina smiled.
"But y're t' young, Petite~." Remy stated in a bit of surprise.
"I had an early start." Serina smarted off a bit. Rogue just gripped her shoulder. "Actually, I am one of the youngest in my field."
"Are you a mutant?" Scott asked bluntly.
"And I think that is my que to go." Serina stood, bowing at the waist. She stood nearly 6 foot tall. Her hair hung down her back in loose deep red and black curls. Her features and hands were delicate, her nails long and well manicured. Her face, though, was angelic and youthful. As she strode from the room, she caught much attention solely because of her grace. Once gone, the silence remained.
"You just couldn't do it, could you, Scott." Jean snapped bitterly. "You couldn't wait to question who is mutant and who is not."
"I was just curious." Scott defended. "She seems awfully young to be a Ph.D. Professor."
"It's all right." Rogue interjected, trying to not have a dispute here, and she was prepared for this to happen. "Serina is touchy. You see." She began, moving to sit in Serina's empty lounger. "she has been tested, but she does not seem to carry the mutant gene they look for." She paused for a moment, hearing Serina bark at the girls over dropping something. "She is not fully human, so any subject about science, genealogy or mutation disturbs her and she usually just excuses herself from any questions or discussions of the sort." Again pausing, listening to arguing from the girls in the hall. She took a deep breath, knowing Serina will take care of it. "Even though, her study is littered with her degrees, she sees them as nothing more than her boredom. She comes from a dark past, an evil childhood, so going home for vacations was something she rarely did. Her genealogy, or defects as she will call them are very painful for her to talk about or remember. We just leave her alone until she decided to privilege us with a small bit of her past. Her immediate childhood, before she graduated high school, she buried herself in books and pushed forward on her education."
"How old was she when she graduated?" Hank asked, seeing that there was a lot of seriousness in Rogue's voice. Almost as if giving them a warning. "She was 13." She replied. "She is 21 now and has 12 PH.D's on her wall and various other degrees." She took a deep breath. "She is my silent partner here."
"You mean she financed all of this?" Scott asked in a bit of shock.
"Yes." Rogue almost breathed rather than said. "We have many investments, but this is her gift to mah." Rogue explained. "She is the only one who knows if and what abilities she has. As far as Ah know, she is good with money, investing and survival." Rogue finished, trying to close the subject.
"Miss Rogue," Keria began, making her presence known. "Miss Serina need you in the drawing room for a moment, if you please. Something to do with killing Sage and Sky?"
Rogue took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Could you get them some refreshments. Ah believe they are in the kitchen?" Standing.
"Yes, Miss Rogue. Not a problem." Keria answered, smiling. "I'm Keria and this." Her hand pointed to a shadowy figure behind her. "Is Mei. We'll be right back with some refreshments." She smiled, leaving.
"Ah'll be right back." Rogue stated.
"Is everything all right?" Warren asked.
"Yeah, just that rambunctious group Serina mentioned earlier." She muttered out, leaving the room.

In the drawing room, tempers were heated. "I caennae believe y'd not pay attention tae thin's more carefully!" Serina was screaming, which was almost a normally elevated voice that was unable to be heard outside the room. "These people probably have nothing more than what they brought, left in their lives an' y' go an' haul it around as if it was a sack of flour?!?!?"
"Serina, what on earth?" Rogue began, walking in on the conversation.
"These two." Serina was sputtering, her face very flushed. Rogue knew this was going to get bad, real fast. "They carry thin's as if they were just somethin' that can be simply tossed around without a care that they belong t' someone else." She was snapping. Rogue knew it as things around them in the room began to shake violently.
"Calm down, Hon, Ah'll deal with them. What exactly happened?" Rogue asked, her face holding concern, hoping that this was the only room where things shook. "We bumped into each other, knocking off that Ming vase in the foyer." Sage replied calmly.
"It was an accident." Sky added. "We loaded ourselves down with their t'ings an' we bumped into each ot'er an' Ah hit de vase."
"I see." Rogue noted that Serina was more concerned of her friend's belongings rather than the priceless vase that they broke. She wondered if she was using it as a defense to hide that the loss of the vase upset her, even if it was insured fully. "Y'all go and finish bringing their things in, one at a time, then you can begin on the kitchen and horse stable."
"But..?" Sky began as Sage cringed.
"No "buts". now go!" Rogue snapped, seeing Serina seethe from their actions. "Seri, Ah'll get the camera..."
"No." Serina snapped quietly. "Y' have company. I'll do it. it was mine after all." She waited for no reply from Rogue, or argument, and left the room.

Rogue sighed, moving back to her company who was dining on sandwiches, horderves and fresh lemonade, tea or beer. "Sorry about that. one of the girls broke one of Serina's vases." She explained, sitting down.
"It's all right." Hank comforted. "I hope it wasn't too expensive."
"Oh.. well.. Ah'd say it was priceless." She replied.
"Family heirloom?" Warren asked.
"Sure, if you're related to someone in the Ming Dynasty." She blurted out.. Several nearly choked on their drink, Remy was choking on a finger sandwich. "Did y' say Ming Dynasty?" Remy's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, did Ah stutter?" She was tempered, still listening for friction as the girls passed Serina in the Foyer. She was sure Keria would be back so she could prevent a murder. "Have you heard from any of the others?"
"Storm was captured outside of Kenya, Cable is nowhere to be found, most have just simply disappeared." Scott explained.
"Did you have trouble finding us?" Rogue asked, hearing foot falls in the hall. "Actually, it was rather odd. We reached the first gate and wondered if you shared property, but the sign said what your letterhead did, so we entered. We had no idea that the driveway was so long." Hank rambled.
"Well, we like to make sure we are not bothered. The reason we have two gates is because we sometimes hold hunting on the property." She explained. "That and it was here when we bought the place. Something to do with the history of the property."
"Oh?" Warren quizzed.
"Yeah, it is a 250 year old house, so it has a history. Serina bought it from the historical society when they had to stop tours because of an accident." Rogue explained. "Well, y'all must be tired. Ah'll show you your rooms and then you can rest, wash up, or look around. Just no looking above the second floor, is all we ask."
"Can I ask why?" Scott asked, a bit stunned.
"Because it is mine and Serina's. It was her only request aside from her study and office. There is a mirrored library, a solarium, which is Serina's, large kitchen, many breathtaking rooms and bathrooms. So besides it, the garden, stables, lake and pool, you should have enough to keep you busy for weeks." She rubbed the back of her neck in nervousness. "We've been here a year and still haven't seen all of the house."
"What do you mean." Jean asked, following her as she began to lead them.
"Ah mean, this is a very, very big house." Rogue answered. "There is always something new to see that we might have overlooked or just haven't gone there yet."
"Ah, I see, I think." Hank muttered.

After showing them to their rooms, Rogue sought out Serina. She was in the solarium. As she approached her, she noted that the roses she cut earlier were blooming again. "You all right, Sugah?"
"Yeah." Came the soft reply. "Called the insurance. They said they'd send me a check in the mail."
"Sounds like they are getting used to the fact that we have accidental teens." Rogue joked.
"Yeah." Again Serina's voice was soft, but more monitored. "Are they settlin' in?"
"Yeah."
"Good. The sooner they do, the better." Serina replied. "Then I caen go out again. See if I caennae free a few more."
"You need to be careful, Serina. Ah don't like you doing this alone." Rogue stated, concerned as she sat across from her.
"So what? Am I supposed t' bring a known mutant, someone wanted by them to break more mutants out?" Serina looked up from her ledger. "I am unknown to them. They look for a female in black, not mae, never giving mae a second thought. It is the only way." She paused, seeing that Rogue knew she was right. "Did they have any information on the others?"
"Storm was captured outside Kenya." Rogue answered.
"I see. Well, make some excuse for mae tonight. I'll go after her." Serina stated.
"No, you're not healed from the last one." Rogue snapped, raising her voice. " One of these times, that chamber isn't gonna save you."
"I know, but there is no other choice. I am fine. I got Keria and Mei, and we got the Blackbird. I'll be fine. I'll jest rest after. May take a week or two, will you be all right?" Serina ended in question.
"Yeah, the shopping will last us about a month and a half, if we run out, we'll improvise. 'Sides, you always keep in touch. You'll know if Ah need you to bring some supplies home."
"Always." Serina answered with a smile. "I need to go prepare. Make some excuse for mae. I'll be stopping by the island before Kenya. I have a feeling I'll need my big brother for this one."
"You're gonna get Mike?" Rogue questioned, rising to walk with Serina.
"Yeah. He loves jobs like this. I think it'd be best with his help." Serina replied.
"Bring that boy home with ya and Ah'll make some good old fashioned southern fried chicken. I know he loves mah macaroni salad." She smiled.
"I will let him know, but only if y' make mae tha potato salad." Serina's hold on her brogue slipping.
"You come back in one piece and still breathing, and you've got a deal."
"Count tha day's, Rogue." Serina chuckles her challenge. "Count tha days."
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