A/N: It's my first story here, I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Rate and review, do tell me if something is off. As for Rogue's accent, I'm still figuring it out. And the other chapters, too.


It was a lovely Wednesday morning, save for Cerebro picking up a new mutant in the area. All of the residents were spending their last days of summer "vacation" in their rooms when the Professor summoned the senior X-Men team into his study to inform them of their mission. As far as they knew, the girl had some kind of mental ability, which decided to surface with full force at once.

"It's like, the best way to spend, like, our last days of summer picking up some psycho…" Kitty started ranting, but was soon silenced by the glare of Wolverine just entering the room.

"There's no need to set the team up, Chuck. The girl came with free delivery." He said and pointed a thumb towards the front gate above his shoulder.

Charles raised an eyebrow and glanced out his window, and indeed, a broken figure stood just outside the entrance.

"Rogue, Jean, I trust you can deal with the situation. The others are dismissed."

"But Professor!" Cyclops protested, desperately aching for showing off in front of a certain redhead, that is.

"I'm done, Scott. You are dismissed."

"Listen to him, Shades." Logan growled as he pushed the younger mutant out of the study.

"Ah don't even know why Ah'm with Miss Perfect here. She can deal with her kind alright..." Rogue thought to herself as they neared the gates. The new mutant had her back to them, leaning against the iron. As they got in hearing distance to her, however, she dropped to her knees, and plastered her palms onto her ears, crying out loud.

Jean opened the gates and went to help her up. She placed a hand carefully on the girl's shoulder, and tried to turn her towards them.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" The shout tore from her throat with unexpected power, her voice husky from crying. Jean stumbled backwards, just to be caught by Rogue, who inched closer in the meantime.

"So that's why…" She thought as she steadied Jean and got out of her arm's reach as soon as possible. She sat down next to the girl and felt the strange urge to embrace the poor being.

"Don't come near me!" She said, now with less force, and crawled farther away from the girls. "I want to talk to Xavier!"

"That's where we're taking you, listen. Ah have gloves on, right? Ah won't touch you." She said, now annoyed by the strange dance. How much easier would it be to just knock her out and carry her back to the institute? Still, who wanted and unstable mutant inside their head?

They carefully helped the girl to stand, and Rogue placed a supportive arm around her shoulder. This got her weird looks from Jean, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong. It just felt so right to help the girl. She just wanted to be close to her. It was like a force pulling them together. She turned her head and actually smiled at the stranger, who just snorted and turned away from her, pushing her away.

Jean and Rogue stood frozen into place as the girl took some steps further and shuddered in disgust, rubbing her arms absently. It reminded Rogue a bit of herself, but it couldn't be. She couldn't have the same powers. That would be downright cruel.

The Professor waited for them back in his study. He motioned for the new girl to sit down, and turned to his own students.

"I would like to have a private word with our guest, why don't you girls go and wash up for lunch and inform Ororo and Logan that I wait for them in here." He said calmly and waited for the girls to leave the room before he turned to the newcomer.

"I'm Professor Xavier-" He started, but the girl cut in.

"I know who you are, and I know what this place is. That's why I came here. I want you to help me deal with my powers."

"Very well, then. Since I already happen to know your name, and your age, we might as well try to start with what your powers are."

"I'm an empath. I can feel what others feel. I can manipulate them if I try, but it's all so confusing… and then, there's the…"

"Problem with your skin. What does it do?"

"When people touch me, they become… they… things happen… I don't want it."

"What happens exactly?" He asked, trying to work his way around the barriers that keep the girl from speaking about it.

"When people touch me, something in their mind clicks, and they… they just want to… fuck me. I can't put it nicely, I'm sorry." She blurted out, her eyes tightly shut, not daring to look up. Xavier blinked twice before speaking.

"I see. How long have you had these powers for?"

"I've had them for a little over two years now." She said in an uncertain voice, her hands slowly rising to hold her head in a protective way, but stopping halfway through. "I've never had problems with them, well, aside from the part that I can't really touch anyone. But now something triggered them." She fell silent as she tried to tune out the feelings of everyone from her mind. Storm and Logan choose this time to make their entry, and stood behind the Professor as he motioned for them to remain silent. When the girl raised her head a few minutes later, he introduced her to his colleagues.

"Logan, Ororo, this is our newest student, Jennifer Vibben. Jennifer, these are Ororo Monroe and Logan, the two mentors in the institute."

All three of them nodded, and Jen patiently waited as the Professor explained the situation to the others. Logan growled quietly, and Storm had worry showing all over her. When they finished talking, Xavier turned to the girl again.

"Ororo will show you to your room, and when you are settled, you can join the other students at lunch."

Jen nodded, but hurriedly took a deep breath to talk, as she discovered a key problem.

"Professor, I… kind of have nothing of my own anymore, including my gloves. I would really like to… borrow a pair or something." She said while her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

The Prof only nodded contently, and let them out of the study.

When she couldn't kill any more time with straightening her clothes and brushing her long, brown hair to look socially acceptable, she stuck her hands into her pockets and headed down to the kitchen. All she wanted was not to be noticed, but seeing that she only wore black, and that she was the shiny new toy, it was near to impossible. She got her hopes up as she reached the stairs, but was scared to death by a voice calling out to her. Quickly righting herself she glanced over her shoulder and recognized the goth who helped her earlier today.

"Hey, wait up. The Professor told me ta give you these." Rogue offered her a pair of gloves with one of her gloved hands. Jen stared at the sight for a moment before carefully taking the offered clothing, intensely looking at her shoes.

"That girl has a beautiful smile. Even if it was not genuine. They never are." She wondered to herself as she fidgeted with the gloves, trying to figure out what to say exactly.

"C'mon, try them on. Ah wanna know if they fit or what. Name's Rogue by the way." Rogue told her in encouragement, seriously wondering about what it could be that required her to wear gloves like her. As Jen put them on, she took her time to give the girl a once over, deciding she didn't look half bad, well, as far as style goes. She was abruptly torn from her thoughts however, as Jen spoke.

"Jen." She repled shortly. "Listen, sorry about this morning. I'm just… I… Well… I guess all of you will know the whole thing in minutes anyway, so I might as well tell you. I'm an empath. I feel other's emotions and manipulate them. And also, I didn't freak out about touching for nothing."

"Yeah, Ah was wondering about that. But Ah guess… Ah guess Ah can relate. What does yours do?"

Jen turned her gaze away from Rogue, suddenly feeling embarrassed, but she felt a reassuring hand reach out for her.


"Hey Ah kill people with my touch; you can't have it that bad." She chuckled out, suddenly feeling a bit easier that she could connect with someone. Her hand, however, fell back to her side.

Jen looked at her with wide eyes for a split second, and then nodded. She swallowed uneasily, and then giggled.

"You'll probably find it quite ridiculous, but… believe me, it isn't. My touch makes people want to… have their way with me. And they usually don't stop until they are done…" She trailed off, hugging her shoulders in shame, and started down the stairs. Rogue soon fell into step with her, her face blank, digesting the new information. Before they reached the kitchen, she spoke again.

"Hey, wait. Considering your powers, you are probably making me say this, but part of me honestly can relate to your problem, seeing where Ah come from. So… if you want someone ta talk to, come find me… And remember, you are among friends here… just be yourself… and… yeah…" She trailed off, and entered the kitchen, but could clearly hear Jen saying 'That's exactly the problem…' before the noise of her fellow mutants filled her ears. She wondered what it could be like, not being able to trust anyone's actions. She had a fair share of betrayal, but in Jen's case, it was entirely something else. Aside from still feeling genuinely sorry for the girl, she just felt happy that se finally found a kindred spirit who she could maybe, just maybe make friends with.

As the days passed, Jen seemed to settle in a bit more. She kept to herself most of the time, but when she socialized, she seemed happy. Nobody asked about her skin, but she didn't mind Rogue knowing after all. It's always nice to know someone shares your point of view.

She spent a lot of time with Jean, but instead of relaxing herself, she only tensed up and asked how she managed to channel out thoughts. Jen didn't take no for an answer. She wanted to know how to suppress her powers again, so she can be somewhat normal. She'd given up on the case of her skin a long time ago, but she wanted to at least feel her own emotions. All she had now was the frustration of school starting tomorrow.

"Listen, I have to get a few things done, why don't we continue tomorrow after school?" Asked Jean politely, but her mood told Jen she only wanted to get away from the questions. Feeling it unnecessary to cause a scene, she only nodded politely and lay back on the sofa, closing her eyes and having a little rest. The living room area was fairly empty, that's why she liked it so much. As she started drifting off to a light sleep, she felt the cushion shift next to her and opened her eyes to see an equally surprised Rogue with a book in hand.

"Ah'm sorry, I didn't mean ta wake you. Didn't see you ta be honest." She told her, and opened her book, showing Jen she didn't want to be a pain.

"I don't mind. I like being around you." She blurted out without thinking, and blushed a little before correcting herself. "I mean, you are almost always blank, and I can… literally feel what I want around you."

Rogue didn't know what to say to this, but for one, she knew what having a crowded mind was like.

"Hey Ah get it, don't worry. Ah know what a crowded mind is."

"Thanks. Listen, I'm just gonna leave you to your book."

"This? Ah know it by heart. Ah just didn't want to be around people."

"That's what I figured." Jen started to walk again.

"Hey, wait. You don't happen ta have clothes or anything, do you?"

"No, I could use some. I ran away, but I guess you figured."

"You can borrow some of mine tomorrow, seeing as it is Sunday. And then we can go shopping after school."

"I'm kind of low on money too, you know…"

"That's not an excuse, come on! Ah've been waiting for this for ages! Finally someone who has the same style as me!"

"Oookay… I… guess I'll see you?"

"You know where my room is right?"

"I'll just follow the sound of mindless chatter and you'll be right next to it." Said Jen as she rolled her eyes, turned around and haphazardly raised a hand to signal her departure. "Night."

"Night ta you too." Rogue said, feeling her heart jump a little. She could swear she saw Jen freezing in her tracks for a split second at this, so she quickly soothed herself. She didn't want the new girl thinking she was some kind of stalker pervert.

"Ah'm just happy that Ah'm finally making friends or what. Calm the heck down, Rogue, you'll give the poor girl nightmares!" She gave herself a pep talk. There was no denying though, she rather liked spending time with Jen too, the girl managed to make her forget her agony for a little. She wondered if Jen did it on purpose or not, then opened her book and started reading, making herself a mental note to ask the girl about it later.