Title: Falling Slowly
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Pairings: Scott/Rogue, mentions of others
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: Season 1 & 2. Slightly AU -> alternate/deleted scenes. Some language.
Artist: sukiyakiya (Art/Fanmix here)
Summary: How Scott and Rogue slowly fell for each other...
Notes: Written for xmenbigbang '11. I will be making a sequel, rewriting/adding to Seasons 3 & 4, so look for it in 2012.



At the soft knock at the door, Rogue glanced up from her journal and found Scott Summers standing in the doorway. He stood awkwardly, his one arm was resting behind his back and the other was still lifted to knock. A small smile graced his lips.

"Didn't mean to disturb you, Rogue, but I wanted to give this to you." Scott stated, pulling his arm in front of him, showing the square box he had been holding. It was just a plain white box but it looked like a clothing box, something you would see at a birthday.

Rogue stared at him in surprise, she definitely hadn't expected him to get her anything. They might have been friends but this didn't seem like a thing he would normally do. He moved closer to her, his small smile becoming a little wider, as if he was amused at her surprise.

"It's fine, Scott," Rogue managed to say, standing up from her seat on her bed. She joined him in the middle of the room. She studied the box in his hand, "What is it?"

Scott chuckled, handing it to her. "Open it and find out."

And she did, and didn't exactly find what she was expecting even though oddly enough she didn't know what she was actually expecting to be in the box. It held familiar cloth she knew Scott and the rest of the X-men wore on missions and danger room training sessions, but it was different than everyone's uniforms. It had a green breastplate and shoulder blades with an X on them that reminded Rogue of the ones on Scott's X-Men uniform, other than that it was completely black like the other uniforms.

"Is this-?" Rogue started, unable to stop, she gently took the uniform out of the box and admired it. She couldn't help the smile appearing on her face as she studied it.

"Your uniform, yes." Scott stated, grinning now. Rogue looked up at him, and flushed at his grin and in embarrassment for getting emotional over clothing.

"Thanks, Scott. I love it," Rogue stated gently.

"I'm glad, anyway, there is actually another reason why I brought this to you right now." Scott ducked his head shyly and rubbed the back of his neck - a nervous habit Rogue knew of all too well.

"Oh?" Rogue questioned, curious to find out why Scott was nervous.

"Yeah, I had hoped you'll join me for a Danger Room session."

Rogue stared at him in confusion, "Didn't we already train earlier this morning?"

"Yes, but I'd thought it'll be a good idea if we trained a little more. It'll be just us, because well, the others sort of left at my suggestion."

"Oh, so I'm the last resort?" She quickly glanced down to the uniform in her hands and winced at how she could hear the hurt in her words, Rogue didn't want to see his face when he answered the question.

"No!" Scott quickly shouted, causing Rogue to look at him in shock. At her look, he chuckled again in embarrassment. "Nothing like that, it's just you weren't with the others when I asked them, otherwise I would have already asked you... and even if you had said no, this was going to be my plan of action."

"Alright so my new uniform is a bribery to train with you in case I had said no?" Rogue questioned softly, studying Scott's face for any hints of lying.

"Well, yeah." Scott stated simply, shrugging his shoulders and smiled hopefully at her. "So?"

Rogue didn't hide her laugh at his puppy dog expression, and nodded at him. She pushed him towards the door. "Fine with me, just get out so I can get changed!"

"Great! Thanks Rogue! I'll meet you outside the doors in ten!" Scott shouted before she closed the door to the room. She stood there, leaning against the door for several long seconds smiling stupidly before she hit herself on the forehead to shake herself out of her thoughts and moved away to change.

Maybe it was really nothing to him about asking her to have a danger room session with her - alone - but it meant a lot to her. It meant he trusted her, and yes he's shown he did before this, but this oddly felt different. It felt as if he knew he could depend on her, that he knew he could trust her in a danger room session when she was only really good at the hand-to-hand combat sessions.

-

"So I heard a rumor," Scott questioned with a large grin lighting up his face as he leaned against the locker beside her. Rogue glanced up at the older X-Man and lifted her eyebrow in question. Since the training session with him, Scott managed to get deeper down in her thoughts and feelings as he continued to hang out with her. And it no longer mattered if they were at the mansion or at school, he didn't ignore her nor did he hold any grudges that she had a past with the Brotherhood. Which, in reality, none of the X-men had any grudges about her past affiliation - it was almost as if she was always one of them and that both pleased and worried Rogue. It meant they trusted her and were her friends, but from the betrayal of Mystique she couldn't help but fear that they were using her just as much as Mystique had been. Still, it was a little odd to be able to speak with him in the hallways without having to worry about looking like she was betraying the Brotherhood or getting yelled at by Mystique.

"Hey - you ok?" Scott questioned, calling Rogue back from her thoughts. She nodded and studied him. He was clearly still worried, his forehead was creased and his face gave him away as serious but she could see the amusement appearing on his face slowly coming back.

"What's the rumor, Scott?" Rogue asked, wondering why he would be listening to any of the rumors going around the school and hoping that it didn't have something to do with Jean Grey. She really didn't want to talk about the redhead right now.

His smile reappeared, "I hear you and Kitty are trying out for the new play."

Rogue stared at him in shock, "How did you know that? That just happened last period and we didn't announce it to anyone but that kid."

"Ah, but see Evan was there, and subtle isn't quite his strong point - he told Kurt about it and he told me." Scott stated, the worry all but gone from his face, the amusement growing as Rogue slammed her locker closed in anger. "I didn't realize you wanted to be an actress."

"I'm totally kicking that porcupine's butt in the danger room tonight." Rogue promised and rolled her eyes as he laughed. They began to walk towards their English class. "I don't... Not really, anyway... Just Kitty was being annoying and I couldn't quite keep my mouth shut. And then suddenly we were in a competition."

"Well I, personally, can't wait to see you perform in the play." Scott stated, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and despite the fact she immediately tensed at the contact Scott kept his arm there as they continued to walk. "And if you need any lessons in dancing for the part, don't ask Kurt."

Rogue laughed at his joke, causing several people around them to look at them as if they just saw an accident take place. With Scott's arm around her shoulders, Rogue ignored the rest of the school. It didn't really matter what they thought.

-

"Should have known something bad was going to happen," Rogue stated softly as studied herself. The hair that grew after she absorbed Sabretooth was slowly disappearing with the help of Professor Xavier. Apparently it was 'all in the mind' and locking away Sabretooth's mental self was able to de-fur her, however Professor X didn't want to lock away everything - he wanted her to learn how to control her abilities. She hated that reason, although she could understand where he was coming from, but he didn't know how much she hated having other people in her head.

She was happy to see the hair was disappearing, but wished it would happen faster. It's only been a few days, but it felt like a lifetime and she hated how much anger she felt at everyone around her. The memories Sabretooth had, that she was able to understand, were only of fighting Logan and she found that Sabretooth had memories of Mystique. However, despite concentrating on those memories, Rogue still had no more knowledge of their relationship than the fact that the two knew each other and it wasn't exactly a warm relationship.

"Rogue?" Rogue winced as she heard Scott knock against the door.

"Still can't come in!" She yelled, she might not be as hairy as she had been, but there was no way in hell she was letting Scott see her like this.

"Come on! Kitty told me it was getting better! And I have you're homework for you, you'll need to do it or you won't be able to past the test."

Rogue smiled at Scott's tone, you could almost hear the whine in it. She knew he wouldn't make fun of what happened to her (he never did when it concerned her powers), but she just didn't want him to see her like this. And no matter how much she told him to leave her alone in the room, he appeared like clockwork after school with her homework swearing she'd fail a test when she went back to school without studying it or some other excuse to get in the room. However after a silent treatment lasting over three hours and Logan glaring daggers at him being late for a Danger room, he usually relents and drops her schoolwork beside the door for Kitty to grab on her way in.

"Not yet!" Rogue shouted back before falling back on her bed. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage him, but she was so bored of reading and so tired of having only Kitty as a companion. The younger girl wasn't bad or as annoying as she used to be, and Rogue generally liked her - it was just too much of the same person, and she was still too bubbly. Also, it didn't help that Kitty made sure that Rogue knew that she was going to win the competition.

"Rogue! I swear on my family that I won't laugh or make fun of you or think of you any differently. Please? It won't do you any good if you're cooped up in your room all day and by yourself." Scott stated through the door, and Rogue sighed softly before glancing down at herself.

Her hair was still long enough to reach her mid-back, her ears still resembled a feline's and she still had claws. The fur aspect of the transformation 'gifted' by Sabretooth were all but gone. In reality, it was really only her ego keeping her from contact with other people and her fear that Scott would turn away from her in disgust at what her powers could do. She knew he wouldn't though, deep down, the information she received from him twice before told her that he would never leave a friend behind - wouldn't find her disgusting and would never hurt her feelings on purpose. She also knew that for him to swear on his family - family he had lost long ago - was serious and something Scott would never joke around with. Rogue knew all of this and yet was still afraid.

"Rogue? Can you at least talk with me then? I feel pretty stupid and useless out here."

Rogue knew for a fact that if Scott hated anything, it was feeling stupid and useless, and it oddly hurt her at being the cause of it.

Letting out a deep breath to calm her nerves, Rogue stood up from the bed and walked over to the door. As her claws touched the door handle, she almost pulled back and away from it, but instead took another deep breath and opened the door.

Scott, who had been leaning against the door when it was opening, stumbled but managed to balance himself before he could fall and smiled down at her. Rogue moved away and wrapped her arms around her chest, and watched as he entered the room and studied her.

His smile widened softly as he caught sight of how long her hair was and her pointy ears.

"You promised you wouldn't make fun of me," Rogue reminded him softly.

Scott shook his head, "I wasn't going to make fun of you... I think you look good like that."

Rogue stared at him in surprise, "What?"

"I like your hair long and I can't say I don't like the ears. They're cute, reminds me of an elf."

Rogue let out a surprised laugh at the last bit, "I should have known you would be a closet Lord of the Rings fan."

Scott grinned cheekily, "Of course - those movies and books rocked."

"You are one strange man, Scott," Rogue stated softly, a small smile lighting up her face. "Now, why have you wanted to come in here so bad?"

"To make sure you were still practising for the play. There is no way I'm going to let you out of this one." Scott promised as he sat down at her computer desk. Rogue stared at him in confusion and shock.

"Kitty got the part - so what's the difference if I was still practising for the play, and besides, why are you so interested in me doing this?"

"Because for one, you said you could and would do this, and you never break a promise. And for the second reason, well... I already bought the tickets and I bought them to see you in the play." Scott stated honestly, causing Rogue to stare at him.

"Kitty got the part, Scott. Go and support her," Rogue stated softly and Scott shook his head, and stood back up.

"I'll support her, of course, but I know you wanted to do this too and I know you can do this, I believe in you." He stated firmly, walking closer to her. "Jason's already told me he wants you as well as Kitty in the play. And I won't leave this room until you promise you'll go."

Rogue chuckled softly, suddenly amused at him."Why is it that you always happen to have to bribe me to do something for you?"

Scott smirked, "Hey, I'm actually not bribing you with anything this time - just threatening."

Same difference, Rogue thought. It was a little too tempting to see how long he would last in staying in her room. Still, she knew, he was going to win because he was even more stubborn than she was and let out a reluctant sigh which caused Scott's smirk to widen in triumph.

-

"You were amazing."

Rogue looked up at him, and shook her head.

Scott smiled. "I'm not joking, you were really good. And your costume rocked."

"Gee, thanks Scott." Rogue stated softly, walking away. Scott stared at her in confusion before quickly catching up to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just tired."

"Rogue, you were happy a minute ago - what happened?" Scott asked, grabbing her arm causing her to flinch and stop walking. "Rogue!"

Rogue sighed loudly and looked away from him. "I'm fine, Scott, can I just go to bed?"

"Rogue... no. Not until you tell me what happened." Scott stated, stepping in front of her. "Rogue I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me."

"Why won't you leave me alone? I did the show, let me go to sleep." Rogue whispered, wishing you would let the subject drop. The last thing she wanted was to listen to Scott and for him to tell her she was overreacting.

"Rogue..."

"Look just Taryn and her friends said a few things to me on the way out, that's all. Can I go now?"

Scott narrowed his eyes at what Rogue stated, "What exactly did Taryn say?"

"It doesn't matter, Scott, you can rest easy." Rogue stated, trying to brush past him, but Scott moved in the way - blocking her path.

"I'm not going to rest easy, she upset my friend, and it's not alright. What did she say?" He looked annoyed and she could see a faint glow of his optic blasts, which shocked her into silence. She'd never seen Scott, outside of a battle or a Danger Room session, look like this. It stated how angry he was, and she knew Scott was her friend but it just struck her exactly how close a friend she was for him to act like this. Before she realized what she was saying, she explained to Scott what she had overheard Taryn and her friends had been talking about. Apparently Taryn had also auditioned for the role and believed that Rogue (and possibly Kitty) had slept with Jason and the Drama Club Teacher to be in the play.

Rogue heard Scott growl softly before he walked away from her, causing her to stare at him in confusion for several quiet minutes before she realized what he was going to do. She quickly ran after him.

"Scott!"

This time, she was blocking his path and she wouldn't let him pass her. "Rogue, can you please move?" She could hear how annoyed and upset he was in his voice, but she didn't want him to talk with Taryn or any of her friends. He didn't need to defend her - they weren't worth it.

"No, Scott. You aren't going to them! They are just a bunch of gossip girls that have nothing better to do than insult everyone else. Don't give them any attention and eventually they'll shut up or-"

"They'll go after someone else. Neither you or Kitty deserves to be thought of that way, Rogue. I'm not going to just let them get away with it. You two were brilliant out there and everyone else could see it. Taryn just needs to accept that or get another life." Scott stated, slipping around Rogue and stalked over towards where he could see the girls in question were at. Rogue watched him and couldn't believe it, he really did say something to Taryn and her friends despite the fact that Jean was her friend as well and the last thing he would ever do was hurt Jean.

It made her like him even more than she already did.

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