Retro: Not What It Looks Like

"He's a big boy, Rogue, he don't need you ta chase afta him." Gambit was standing in the doorway of the garage, arms folded, watching as Rogue stood there with her hands on her hips and just stared at Matthew Keller's jeep.

"He hasn't been back in three days. Ah AM going to find out WHERE he's got to an' WHAT kind of trouble he's gotten into!" Rogue turned on her heel, brushed past Gambit and stalked out the door of the garage.

"He don't need you to--" Gambit jogged to catch up and then got in front of her, trying to block her way.

"That Marine boy don't EVER leave his jeep for this long. Now GIT outta mah WAY, Cajun!"

And Gambit was left to just stare in consternation as Rogue left the ground, and flew off through the city.

Matthew Keller hadn't been seen or heard from in three full days. Neither had D'arcia. The first was not staff at the school, but with one nephew attending there and the other living not too far away, he WAS a common sight, and had gotten to be a familiar face to the staff. And the second one WAS staff - and hadn't been seen or heard from in the same amount of time as Matthew.

Rogue didn't like it. With the man's history, she really didn't like it one bit. So when she landed on the street across from Matthew's apartment building, it was with a little bit of surprise - and a little bit of worry - that she noted D'arcia's vehicle parked out front of the building. A big, dark-painted Humvee.

Matthew, meanwhile, had been taking care of a very sick D'arcia. It had taken her a good three days to recover from being drained. She'd pushed it, and wanted to know what it really -meant- for him to drain a person. Why in the hell Matthew had given in, he did not know, and wasn't sure he'd ever figure it out. But he had; and had drained her. She'd spent the next three days sick as a dog, and had only managed to climb out of bed this morning.

For his part, he hadn't slept a whole hell of a lot, so when she asked about getting her clothes into the wash - she'd been in the same set for days - he tossed them into the wash and then went and crashed on the couch for a couple of hours.

They'd been in the middle of talking - as the two soldiers were prone to do from time to time - when the banging started on his front door. Still waiting for the wash to finish, D'arcia stood up in the living room and turned to look at the door, his shirt hanging down over her top and legs as she stood there. And Matthew... hadn't even gotten as far as a shower or his gloves after he woke up before they had started chatting.

But in the current situation - not expecting any kind of visitors - he snatched both of his sidearms down off the wall, and tossed one of them over towards D'arcia. THen he went towards his door, peering out the peephole just in time for another fist to land on the door. It banged against the wood hard enough to make Matt think the wood was about to splinter.

"Ah KNOW yah hidin' in there, but ah don' know WHY ya hidin', sugah. Now OPEN up this door or ah SWEAR, ah will bust it RIGHT down!!"

Matthew stared at the door as that shout filtered in through the wood. With a soft groan, he lowered the sidearm in his hand and motioned to D'arcia to do the same thing. Then, he opened the door, and just peered out at the X-Man standing there.

"If you bust in, you're liable to get your face blown off when you set the traps off." He said calmly. "Hello, Rogue..." And he moved his arm away from the door, allowing her access to walk inside.

Rogue eyed him and smirked."Ya think a small fire cracka is gonna blow up this pretty face?" She smiled at him, entering as he allowed her but then she stopped dead when she saw D'arcia standing there like some one who might of done something, looking almost guilty.

She blinked with a huge "What the hell did I MISS?!" expression. Then she glanced from D'arcia to him, then her again and finally on settled her gaze on Matthew with a smirk. "...And here ah was startin' to worry that something had happened to ya. I guess something did. Just not what Ah thought!"

Matthew glanced briefly at D'arcia, and inwardly groaned at the way she was standing there like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. Then he looked back at Rogue, and just ran a hand through his hair, smiling wryly. "She took sick for a couple of days." He replied calmly, moving to close the door in behind Rogue. "It was my fault; I wasn't just going to dump her at her house and leave her to it."

Rogue stood there, looking from one to the other."Sick ya say?" Suuure sick, she thought, and smirked a bit."Nah, since ya alright, ah should head back. Really. Ah just wanted to check on ya, ya know. But since ya got... company." She smirked and headed for the door again.

Matthew shut the door behind her, reset the traps on it, then set his sidearm where it belonged before he turned around to collect the other one from D'arcia.

D'arcia twisted the weapon in her hand, presenting it for him to take while she held the barrel, with the safety on. "Why do I have the distinctive feeling that this will be known across the school staff?"

And Matthew Keller just groaned.