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“Hey,” she sits up in her bed, her nose twitching at the cigar smoke.
“Hn,” his response shows his tension. “Sorry.”
“For?” her brows furrow.
“Woke ya up,” he jumps off the window sill, stalking to her.

“I couldn’t sleep anyway,” she pats the bed. “Thank you.”
“Fer what?” he sits down beside her, his hand instinctively searching and reaching for hers.
“For getting me here,” she gestures to her room, her fingers twining with his. “For not letting me wake up there….”
“Nothin’ big ‘bout it,” he shrugs it off. “I know ya hate closed spaces…..”
“About as much as you hate labs,” she tilts her head and smiles at him.

----

“The kid got away,” he breaks the comfortable silence. “Wasn’t her time.”
“We were late,” she regrets.
“Na,” he shakes his head. “We were early.”

‘What?’ her confused eyes ask silently.
“She ain’t ready,” he explains. “Not yet. When she is….”

“We’ll be there,” she completes his thoughts.

------

Soon,

“Where’s your allegiance kid?” he walks up to the shivering girl. “Us or them?”
“If Ah don’t say you, will Ah get thrown out of this jet?” she questions through chattering teeth.
“Nope, not our style,” he pushes the button to slide shut the door. “We’ve either earned your trust by now, or we haven’t….”

Still shivering she looks at the others, especially the motherly weather goddess; she knows about…having absorbed her powers few weeks ago.

“You,” she answers confidently, honestly….a tentative smile forming on her lips.
“Welcome to the x-men,” he offers her his hand, welcoming yet another member to their family.

Taking his head, she looks up gratefully at him, making the telepath give a rare smile-smirk.

----

Later that night,

“How did you…” she nuzzles into him, both resting by the lake, her back at his chest. “…that the time was today. That her time was today.”
“Don’t know,” he shrugs and grins into the night. “Just instinct I guess. Instinct and experience.”

“Experience?” she looks up at him.
“Yeah,” he trails a finger down her rosy cheeks. “Time, that’s explains everythin’….teaches everythin’. Escapin’ frem the lab, I spent a lot of time findin’ myself. Took me time….cause it wasn’t my time until it was.”

“You sound like an eastern philosopher,” she jokes, hinting at the forgotten time he spent in Japan.
“Hmm, maybe,” he breathes in her hair, drinking in her intoxicating vanilla-sandalwood scent. “It even works fer us.”

“Us,” she looks confused again, until… “Oh,” realization dawns on her.
“Yeah, oh,” he leans back on the tree and looks up into the night sky. “We met, we separated…’
“For three months,” she reminds him.

“Three months…” he momentarily reminisces about that hopeless time. “But them we met again.”
“Yes,” she leans back into him. “Because we were ready…”

“…because it was our time.”

Note: Covers episodes from 'Rogue Recruit' to 'Turn of the Rogue'.