Part 1- ‘My kingdom for a little comfort…’

Rogue clenched her hands into fists and bit down on her lip. She was watching the scene playing out underneath the window so intently she bit down on her lip hard so it began to bleed. She barely noticed.

It was anger more than anything else, anger towards him, towards her and perhaps most acutely the anger she reserved for herself. Because she didn’t care enough, almost a year together and she didn’t care that her supposed boyfriend was kissing and fondling another girl right beneath her window. If she had loved him it would have hurt more, but that was a sentiment she had yet to endure. How was it possible to love someone you could barely touch, and someone who couldn’t touch you? For to touch was literally was on pain of death.

‘Let’s torch him, right here from this window!’ Rogue startled, tried to push the voice back, she struggled, ‘Come on…’ it persisted, ‘we’ll really get iceboy hot under the collar, it’ll be as funny as watching a snowman melt!’

Rogue lifted her fingers to her aching temple and grabbed her hair furiously, as she pulled on her locks intently; she focused on the pain of her hair entangled in her fingers, to push the voice away. And as the memories faded she breathed a sigh of relief. The voices, the images of those she had absorbed were becoming more persistent, it hadn’t been her calling for Bobby’s demise, it was Pyro, and his desire for an inferno had threatened to come to the fore. At other times it had been Mystiques powers and voices, or Sabretooths, or Storms and any other number of mutants that she had ever come into contact with.

It had happened before this possession of her from various and conflicting personalities, and fighting them then had almost cost her life. And she had had Professor Xavier to help her purge them from herself, but this time, she was alone. Because she wanted to be, alone was best, untouchable and untouched.

The near war with the humans had cost too much, had taken too much from all the X-men, the professor included. And it had cost Jean her life. Rogue had witnessed her demise first hand, had touched her in those last moments, and so was left with the lingering image of her death. The memories, the images of a life lived, and a sacrifice made, all were encapsulated within her mind. And she saw it again and again, Jean-Gray’s death.

It was then that the personalities, the various mutants started speaking in her mind, whispers of darkened desires, ancient grudges and lifelong friendships that crowded her mind and threatened once more to push her over the edge. But she was alone this time, not only because she chose it, but because the loneliness chose her. There was nobody else; each was encapsulated in personal grief.

Rogue’s battle had only just begun.

Part 2- ‘The things you find at the bottom of a glass…’

She was older now; they all were, older but none the wiser. The greater understanding between humans and mutants had not come to pass, contrary to what Professor Xavier had promised; the two sides were further apart than ever. And Rogue’s resentment for them had grown into an unmistakable dislike for the race she was beginning to consider as being inferior.

The dislike was mutual; humans had gone back to chasing mutants out of their towns, back to bearing their pitchforks and blazing torches. The dark ages had returned, mutant children were taught separately, banned from mixing with ‘normal’ children; jobs for mutants once their abilities were discovered were virtually non-existent. They were forced once again to hide what they were, to suffer a cloak of anonymity, always on the run, always at risk, always afraid.

There was no sense of coherence, no unity, not even among the mutants. Factions had risen up, each with their own sense of rules, their own codes of conduct. Loyalties were as fragile as the bitter winds, as easily blown and as equally destructive.

The whole had left a young Rogue disillusioned and disparate; this was not the world she had once envisioned. This was not the bright new day promised; in fact it was very much like the old days. The days when she had been chased out of town as her powers had manifested themselves and she had become a danger. Poor Cody, she shrugged and shook her head, it seemed strange to be thinking about that now, putting Cody in a coma with a single touch had been an event that seemed like a lifetime ago.

The bar at which she now sat was suitably crowded, dirty and noisy. It had been exactly what she had needed after seeing Bobby kissing the new girl. She smiled slightly and wondered how long it would be before the cynicism set in for the fresh recruit. They were all eager at first, the new ones who ended up at the academy, all arriving with the same sad stories of abandonment and self-loathing. And all finding a home, Professor Xavier never turned anyone away. Consequently the place was filled to the brim; Rogue was already sharing a dorm room with over six other girls. Not that it mattered; she spent as little a time there as possible.

‘I still say we should have torched him…!’ Rogue set the drink down hard, so it spilled a little. Her hand flew up to her head, and she began her usual application of pulling and massaging her hair in turns to still the voices. She gritted her teeth and grunted in effort. The barman eyed her curiously before moving on to pour another customer a drink.

‘GET OUT OF MY HEAD!’ Rogue swore between gritted teeth. Far from obeying, the others joined in.

‘It would have been great…barbecued shrimp anyone…?!’ Sabretooth’s voice chipped in. Rogue’s skin bristled at the voice and the thought of that beast and his hair issues. And then they were laughing, all of them a thousand or more voices, and endless howls of laughter.

Rogue took up her drink, and clutching the glass tightly, threw it down her neck in one fell swoop. The liquor found its way down easily, burning slowly and pleasantly, with a familiar tingling left in its wake. It seemed to work, if she dulled her brain enough, perhaps she could get through the next few hours without hearing them.

She gestured for the barkeep to refill her glass, he hesitated a while before shrugging nonchalantly and complying. She sipped it slowly this time, she had not eaten for hours and even with her mutant powers drinking on an empty stomach was not a good idea.

She sat quietly nursing her drink having deliberately chosen the corner of the bar closest to the door to prop up. These days a mutant had always to make sure of the nearest escape route. She supposed with some degree of bitterness that she was one of the lucky ones. At least her appearance was relatively normal, apart from the white streaks in her dark hair, there really was nothing to distinguish her from any other ‘normal’ being. The same could not be said for the likes of Beast, who was even now in the lowest vaults of the academy, doomed to a lifetime of darkness.

She raised one of her gloved hands and stared at it absent-mindedly. ‘Yeah right…’ she thought, ‘one of the lucky ones...’ She sighed resignedly, and picked up her glass up again, as she raised it to her lips, she caught the reflection of a man approaching her at no great distance.

‘Hey baby…’ the man drawled he was clearly drunk. He was slightly overweight, with a paunch stomach and stale breath. Rogue made no attempt to hide her disgust; she glanced at him briefly before turning back to her drink. Her quiet, but clear dismissal did nothing to dissuade him. He only leaned in closer and leered, pushing up the red baseball cap that he wore, he smiled a toothless grin at her.

‘Yeah… Jeb, get yourself some of that sweet ass!’ Jeb bolstered by the fresh encouragement from his friends began to whisper close to Rogue’s ear. Lewd, half incoherent comments on what he would like to do to her, the things he would enjoy doing, Rogue barely allowed his words to register. He carried on regardless, wholly failing to notice that the woman he was molesting was slowly, carefully but very deliberately removing the black, leather gloves that covered her hands.

It was not until Jeb had reached over and placed a hand on her thigh that Rogue seemed to acknowledge his presence at all. She turned to him then, swivelling on the stool to face him fully, she stood up in front of him abruptly. She stood still smiling sweetly and even allowed Jeb to pass an approving eye over her curves and the length of her body. And then as far as everything had been still, suddenly all hell broke loose.

Rogue reaching out with her bare hands grabbed Jeb on either side of his face. All at once she could feel the life pulsate beneath her fingers, could feel his life force passing out of his body and into hers. He convulsed underneath her grasp, his body becoming limp, but she held on all the same. His images, his life and his mind were hers, she saw what kind of man he was, and she wasn’t impressed, Jeb was a violent drunk who would roll out of this place and take it out on his dutiful wife at home. She’d be doing the wife a favour by sucking the life out of the bastard right here, so she held on.

But someone had other ideas, and even as she grasped the sides of Jeb’s face, she caught the blurry sight of a staff passing in front of her eyes before it came crashing down on her wrists. The blow struck was only meant to dislodge her hold and not to cause serious injury, but the contact surprised her and she jumped back letting Jeb go. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head, and his lips had turned a disturbing shade of blue. Once more the staff came down, this time to gently push Jeb into the waiting arms of his friends. They dragged him away to the back of the room.

‘What do you think you’re doing…?’ The voice with the staff demanded. Rogue turned to look at him at last and recognised him immediately, there was no mistaking that long coat, that dark spiky hair, or those eyes, that distinctive red on black, Remy LeBeau.

There was no time to answer, the very public display of Rogue’s power and the distinct appearance of Remy made the almost simultaneous cry that went up about the bar inevitable….‘MUTANTS!’

Jeb’s friends pushed to the front of the crowd, no doubt baying for blood, and not surprisingly considering Jeb was lying on the floor, with his legs still twitching. Remy took up a defensive position, and as the crowd move in on them menacingly, he stole a glance back to where Rogue stood. Or had stood, for when he turned around to look, she was gone. He cursed under his breath and turned back to the crowd, ‘he was going to have to have words with his little cher`ie once he got out of this…’

Holding the staff by his side, he reached into his coat pocket and brought out a couple of playing cards. He held them aloft to the bemusement of the crowd, the angry mob no doubt thinking that this was a real bad time to be doing a card trick. But this card trick was different. Remy Lebeau was away and out of the door before the crowd even knew what had hit them with the explosion of the cards.

---

The explosions were minor but they had bought him the time he needed to seemingly disappear, the smoke from the blasts offering a smokescreen. Remy hurried in the one direction he knew Rogue would be heading, the only place she had, back to the Academy. He stalked her footsteps with pace and determination, she had only just arrived at the gate when he caught up with her.

Rogue was stood leaning against the railings, her distinctive hair lightly swayed by the wind. She was smiling as he approached, by all appearances waiting for him.

‘I’m hurt cher`ie, you didn’t even say goodbye.’ She stood and looked up at him angrily.

‘Ah didn’t ask you to save me…’ She replied angrily. She stood up straight now, barely a few inches away from him.

Remy was unfazed, though this was a side of Rogue he was seeing anew. The confrontational, always angry Rogue was nothing original, that side of her endeared her all the more to him, but now she seemed as if she was in physical pain as well.

‘It’s just as well then, I wasn’t aiming to save you. That poor sap back there, you could have killed him…’ Remy accosted her.

Her expression as she thought back on the events of the evening unnerved him, she seemed unremorseful, triumphant almost. There was no mistaking the cold smile she wore.

‘Ah should have killed him, it was no less than he deserved.’

Remy looked at her closely once more, he could almost swear that the brilliant green eyes had flashed a distinctive yellow. Who was this girl?
He stepped back and regarded her carefully, then chuckled lightly. Rogue drew herself up angrily, was he laughing at her?

‘Tsk…’ he shook his head, the corners of his mouth upturned into a slow grin, ‘Lord…when you X-men go bad, you really go all out huh?’

Rogue returned his smile, a slow seductive measure of the lips; she stepped closer to him, leaving barely a hair’s breadth between them. ‘Maybe ah was never that good in the first place…’

Remy’s breath caught in his throat, she was so damn close. ‘Maybe you’re on the wrong team then…’ he whispered. She smiled widely at him and brought her face closer, was she going to kiss him? Remy pondered the sweetness of the approaching sensation until he remembered just what such a kiss would entail. Those poisonous lips of hers would suck the life right out of him.

He recoiled suddenly and she laughed outright at his expression, ‘Don’t worry sugah…I’ve had my fill for today.’ She reached out all the same, her hands were bare.
Grabbing the startled Remy by the collars of his lengthy coat she pulled him close once more. So close he could smell the drink on her breath. She snaked her hands across the length of his chest over his black shirt, before reaching one hand inside his coat.

Rogue soon found what she was looking for, tucked inside his coat pocket were her black gloves. She had left them on the bar; he had been considerate enough to pick them up as he had left.

He was still looking at her slightly dazed by her proximity and her intoxicating smell as she slowly pulled her gloves back on. She gazed up at him and reaching out with one gloved hand, ran a finger slowly, teasingly across his lower lip. He barely had time to react to her parting words, ‘Ah’ll see you around swamp rat…’

And then she was away, climbing over the wall and running into the grounds of the Academy.

Part 3-‘So This Is Home…?’

Rogue made her way quietly over the grass, silent and low past the main entrance and round to the side of the building. She reached the kitchen window and smiled quietly to herself. The opening was exactly where she had expected. Dear, devoted brothers, even ones linked only through an adoptive mother they always had there uses, Kurt had left one of the windows just slightly ajar. A barely noticeable crack, and easily missed by one who wouldn’t have cause to look.

As she shimmied and slowly wedged the window open, and began her ascent she wondered at the comical absurdity of the situation. Here she was a 23 year old, adult enough to drink and brawl in bars, but still acting the pubescent teenager, scared of being caught out. The slight pause for thought as she was still only halfway through the window, with her ass and legs still dangling outside, ensured the dark figure waiting inside had enough time to step out of the shadows and catch her off guard.

He seized her about the waist and she felt herself being hauled roughly through the sill and into the kitchen. He grunted with assertion as he lifted her clean off her feet and set her back down, pushing her against the fridge and leaning into her.

She gasped a halting breath as she heard the swishing of a familiar set of blades, and felt the cold metal slowly make its way along the length of her throat before jutting uncomfortably underneath her chin. Despite the precariousness of her position Rogue smiled, taking her hands from where they had been pinned by her sides she ran them up her assailant’s arms purposefully. Letting the gloved hands ripple gently over the biceps, she came to rest them on his shoulders.

‘Late night…?’ He asked, unimpressed.

‘Not really, just lost track of time…’ Rogue tilted her head slightly to one side and tried her best to look innocent. He wasn’t falling for it.

He sniffed the air contemptuously, ‘Right, the library again…?’

Rogue shrugged, ‘Sure…’ He increased the pressure under her chin once more; Rogue thought she could feel the tell-tale pricks of blood where the metal was pressing against her skin. Far from being repulsed by it, the animal in her craved the sensation, the touch, and the danger.

He laughed slightly, ‘Funny all that studying, you should be about as clever as the Professor by now…’

‘I’ve used that one before huh?’ Rogue tried to remember the last time she had used the excuse of study for her late nights.

He nodded, ‘Last time I checked libraries didn’t stay open until two in the morning, or serve beer…’

She grew tired of his questions, and decided to take a different approach, one she was sure was going to work. ‘Didn’t your mama ever tell you it’s rude to point?’ she whispered, her eyes boring intently into his. Trailing her hand back down his arm she took hold of his hand and pushed it and the blades away. She held onto his hand turning it over in her own, gently rubbing the palm with her fingers never breaking eye contact with him.
But she should have known Logan was never going to be that easy. His face set grimly and he pulled his hand away from her roughly, retracting the blades.
She smiled all the same, and pushing past him made her way out of the kitchen. She had barely taken a few steps when she felt his strong hand grab her roughly by the forearm and pull her back towards him.

It was odd really, the way the dynamics in their relationship had shifted, and she supposed it had begun a little after Jean’s death and unbeknown to Logan about the same time as the voices had started in Rogue’s head.
He had begun to notice things about her, the depths of the green in her eyes, the curves, the full lips, the way her X-suit fit so…snugly. It had unnerved him at first; she had been nothing but a petulant teenager when they had first met, although now she had grown into an equally petulant but very attractive young woman. But Logan had his reserves and Rogue of course had her trust issues and there was Bobby, so they had settled for an uneasy sort of sexual tension between them. Something they were determined neither of them was going to act on.

They stood that way for a while, close with the air thick and the breathing heavy, he stared at her as intently as she had been regarding him. Still holding her by the arm he leant close before whispering with some menace, ‘Don’t play games with me kid…’

Rogue brushed his hand away freeing her arm; she chuckled lightly and made to leave again. This time she managed to make her way out of the kitchen and was actually halfway down the hall, when he grabbed her and pulled her inside the den. She was surprised, and twisting away from his grasp pushed him away, taking on an offensive stance, ready to fight if she needed to.

But Logan had other things on his mind, taking up the remote control he flicked on the television and the screen flickered into life. She followed his gaze to the set where a rolling news channel was broadcasting the evening’s big news.

‘This is the scene of carnage left behind tonight at the aftermath of yet another unprovoked mutant attack. The casualties involve a man said to be in a serious, life threatening condition, we understand he is comatose. Several others were treated for smoke inhalation caused by a series of explosions detonated by one of the retreating mutants…’

Rogue looked on unmoved as the screen cut to the bar owner clearly a little too excited about his sixty seconds of fame.

‘…and you know she just put her hands on that poor guy, and sucked the life right outta him…and then the other freak turned up and all hell broke loose…’

The eager reporter nodded along with fake empathy and genuine interest, ‘And do you have any idea what could have caused the altercation …?’

‘No sir I do not, the guy was just talking to her and nothing more…them mutants they ain’t nothing but freaks…we should just round them up…’

‘Thank you sir…’ the reporter cut him off hastily before the bar owner had the chance to launch into his list of profanities.

‘This latest attack has given further rise to the argument in favour of the Mutant Registration Act, under such legislation all known mutants would be legally obliged to state their whereabouts and their abilities on a national register widely available to the viewing public. It is argued that the registration is the only manner in which humans will be at all capable of keeping the mutant menace in check. The human victims of this growing mutant violence will surely be inclined to agree…’

Logan flicked the screen off in disgust as the reporter launched into details, he turned angrily to Rogue. ‘Tell me you had nothing to do with this.’
She was still focused on the now blank screen, she shrugged her shoulders and without even looking at him replied flatly, ‘Ah had nothing to do with it.’

He didn’t believe her, ‘Look kid, you’re not doing yourself or the cause any favours by getting into trouble, beating people up in bars…’

Rogue turned to look at him sternly then, those words, those two particular words inflamed some resentment deep within her. ‘The Cause…?’ she repeated, a sarcastic edge biting her words.

‘The Cause…are ya really so blind Logan? The cause is long gone; it’s long been dead on its feet. Look at us, holed up in this place, caged like animals. And after all we’ve done for them, saving the world and making sure they all sleep sound in their beds. And how do they thank us? By a death sentence they’ve aptly named the Mutant Registration Act…’

Logan could only look on astonished at the depth of her venomous tones. She approached him her hands balled up into fists. ‘A greater understanding, that’s what we looked forward to right, what we were promised would come? Well ah’ve finally seen it for the pile of crap it is. They’ll never accept us…, they’ll never want us.’

The older mutant thought he finally understood, ‘Hey, I know you’ve had it tough this past year, we all have…’ the way Rogue had spoken of being wanted, he supposed she meant Bobby. ‘It’s a tough break with Iceboy, but there’ll be somebody else...’

As he laid a conciliatory hand on her arm, Rogue looked up at him suddenly, her eyes ablaze. An understanding had finally hit her as well.

‘Ya knew didn’t you…?’ She half-spoke, half-whispered the words, she shook her head, he must have supposed that Bobby had told her, instead of finding out the way she had. There was no way Logan could have known she’d found out about Bobby’s cheating on her by spying on him through a window. She pulled her arm away, and felt sick to the stomach. They all knew, everyone at the Academy had known, and now all the curious glances, half-sympathetic and half-laughing looks aimed towards her made sense.

‘Ya’ll knew…’ she repeated, ‘how long…? How long have ya known?’ she demanded of him.

Logan held up his hands and gestured disarmingly, ‘Look kid…I promise you no-one else knew, just me… I caught ‘em out…’

‘Don’t call me kid.’ She muttered under her breath. ‘How long…?’ she would settle for nothing less than a full confession.

‘Couple weeks that’s all, I promise…, it’ll be alright kid.’ Logan reached out taking hold of her arm once more. He was unprepared for her reaction.

She placed her hand firmly on his upper arm and using an energy reserve he could never believe she had, Rogue lifted him and turning as she did so threw him towards the wall! He slammed against the bookcase with a satisfying thud before landing hard on the ground. Books rained down on him, the bookcase itself threatened to fall on top of him, until he managed to balance it by staking it with his claws and pushing it back against the wall. Her grip and throw had been so fierce she managed to knock the wind out of him.

The strange thing was that he got a sense of deja-vu; her battle move had seemed oddly familiar, like he was battling an old opponent, not Rogue. He was not the first man that evening to wonder exactly who this girl was. He scrambled to his knees, and looked up at her curiously.

‘Don’t ya ever call me kid again…’ she was oddly calm once more, even smiling, and turning on her heel walked away from him with a very satisfied bounce of the hips.

---

It was only much later when Rogue had locked herself in one of the bathrooms that she remembered to breathe. She took huge gulping breaths and sunk down slumped against the door utterly spent. Then the tears had begun hot, furious, angry tears that burned.

They all knew, and they’ve been laughing at you…’ She didn’t stop the voices this time; she just let them wash over her, in her crouched position burying her head further into the cold tiled floor.

Look at you, one of the most powerful mutants letting the X-men make a fool out of her, bawling your eyes out in the bathroom, while they laugh at you…they’ve been laughing at you. Did you really think you could trust any of them?

That got her off the floor. She stood on her feet and studied her reflection in the mirror. Poor Rogue, poor little lost girl, always alone…always. Look at the state of you, no wonder you’re a joke to them, a drunk…

‘AAGH!’ The taunts were too much, the deceit, the lies, it was all too much. Before she knew what was happening she had put both her fists through the mirror. The sharp glass bit through her gloves as it broke, and she could feel the shards pierce her skin, her warm blood seeping out and filling up her gloves. A hundred broken Rogues stared back at her through the shattered glass, a thousand scattered views.

She needed a drink.

---

Having found said drink, Rogue was out in the open air once more. Taking soothing swigs from the bottle of scotch and balancing precariously from a great height. Dancing when drunk is never a good idea, dancing when drunk on the turrets of Professor Xavier’s Mutant Academy building is a worse one.

She inhaled the night air deeply, and outstretched her arms as the soothing cold wind battered and tickled her in all the right places. She smiled, ridiculously giddy, and keeping her arms outstretched attempted a pirouette right there on the turret, from that great height.

Rogue would never have been able to keep her balance on that narrow width, not even if she had been stone cold sober. But she wasn’t sober and over she went. Falling…falling…falling, with the ground rushing to meet her at an incredible pace…

Part 4- ‘The many threads that conspire against us…’

Falling…falling, as Rogue stared with a horror that refused to abate and eyes that refused to close at the sight of cold hard ground rushing up to meet her, a silent scream formed at the back of her throat. The voices in her head screamed out loud, over and over…further and further…falling. She squeezed her eyes tight shut at last and awaited the inevitable.

Funny, the inevitable was taking a while, prising one eye open tentatively, she suddenly realised she wasn’t falling anymore. She was…floating? No, even better she was flying! Flying low across the grounds, but flying all the same…flying not falling! Rogue went from sheer disbelief to sheer delight at the sensation.

It was pure elation, adrenaline and kicks; she lifted herself higher effortlessly, flying straight up. Higher and higher spiralling as she went a loop the loop here and a pirouette there, and she couldn’t believe it, here was freedom at last. And it felt like heaven, or if not, at least it felt she could touch heaven.

When she at last forced herself to bring her feet back down on the solid roof, she sought to rationalise this latest development. Flying? Storm’s power surely, the wisely Ororo was a lucky woman to experience such joy as that, but if Rogue had developed this power, what others were awaiting her?

She smiled at the thought, the drink forgotten; she was perfectly sober now; a brush with death and such a delightful escape from it offered the promise of a new life. She was powerful, with more promised everyday, and if that was the case maybe, just maybe she could do well to put up with the voices.

The thought had her feet floating once more, it was such a strange thing, she got caught up in the moment, forgetting where all the pain went and letting out a joyful laugh. If she had new powers, she knew just who she wanted to show them to first.

Stepping onto the turret once more, she spread out her arms, and closing her eyes gladly dived off the building, wholly knowing the outcome this time. She loved the rush of coming within a hair’s breadth of the ground before lifting herself higher. She flew over to the main gate, up and over. She was soon in the city, diving in and out of the spaces between buildings; the air, the streets and the world rushing past her, and flying with a purpose as mischievous as her grin.

---

Mystique smiled slightly, in awe of the strength her leader portrayed. They had been watching the same news report that had had Logan fascinated, only instead of simply turning off the set once the report was finished; he used his magnetic powers to send the television flying into the opposite wall. There it had shattered into pieces and lay strewn about the floor, now nothing more than a pile of junk. His reaction to the news had been so sudden she had to duck quickly as the television set had whizzed past barely missing her head.

‘Mutant Registration Act…’ he muttered through gritted teeth, ‘I’ll be damned if I endure such persecution again…’

She allowed him to rant and fume awhile before she spoke; ‘You show much faith in this Cajun…’

Magneto had calmed enough to bother answering her, he paused, before smiling, ‘Monsieur LeBeau has his charms, I would not call it faith.’

‘Yet you entrust him with so vital a component of our mission, time grows short Magneto, if our plan is to succeed, a little more persuasion than simply the charms of a New Orleans thief may be required…’ Mystique crossed her arms across her chest, a determined doubtful look crossing her face.

‘The Prince of Thieves…’ He held up a finger to correct her, ‘You tried and failed to recruit our golden girl once before Mystique, it is time for a different approach. Besides you’ve never been known for your maternal instinct how can you be sure she won’t push you off a cliff a second time if you try to get close to her again?’ Magneto smiled slyly at the angry look that crossed Mystiques face.

His knowing smile grew wider as a sudden noise outside the warehouse was caught by his keen ears, ‘He knows what he has to do…Remy has what it takes.’

---

Rogue floated outside the window, suddenly apprehensive now that she had reached her destination. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, for some reason what his reaction to her new power would be was all she could think about. It was strange; she didn’t really know him, and as for trusting him, well he was a thief, or the ‘Prince of Thieves’ as he would sternly correct her, to trust such a man would be akin to sticking your head into the lion’s mouth. You would just be asking for trouble, and it would be one hell of a mess when that spell finally broke and those jaws came crashing down.

She inhaled deeply, and shook her head, come on she goaded herself; you’re here now, and besides who else are you going to tell? It had been one hell of a night; she’d lost and gained in equal measure. She’d lost a boyfriend but gained the power of flight and others besides; the strength to throw Logan across the room had most certainly not come from her, no that had definitely been Sabretooth.
Logan… Rogue’s subconsciously balled her hands into fists once more, when she thought back to their encounter. His betrayal had been worse than Bobby’s.

Logan who knew how much it cost for her to trust anybody had promised her that she could trust him, and she had trusted him, even allowed herself to feel something more than affection for him, but he had lied, they had all lied.

So Remy LeBeau it was then, not because he was the most honest, that was something he had never claimed to aspire to, no she knew just what to expect from him and it certainly wasn’t the truth. At least he was up front about it; he seemed to wear the trait like a badge of honour. As long as you didn’t expect too much, you could never be too disappointed. And she knew never to expect too much from the Prince of thieves.

But he had saved her tonight, and it was only the second time she had ever seen him commit so selfless an act. Even as she had claimed to need no such rescue, he had been there…, and now she was here. Besides she had to tell someone, the excitement was practically killing her.

She floated closer to the window and was pleasantly surprised to see it slightly open, she smiled to herself and wondered if he employed the same tricks she did by climbing in through the window after dark. She didn’t doubt he was better at it than she could ever be, the art of the covert entrance being part of his profession. Nor did she think Magneto kept such a tight ship as Professor Xavier.

Rogue wedged the window open further and floated right in. Gently lowering herself to the floor, she approached his bed slowly, the gentle snoring the only sound in the room. Her smile widened as she saw him turn slowly onto his back.

Trust Remy LeBeau to be the type of mutant to sleep half naked. Her eyes ran slowly up the length of his arms, across his shoulder blades and along the perfect physique that was his naked torso. The tight chest muscles rose and fell gently as he breathed; she tilted her head slightly and smilingly allowed her gaze to travel further, down to his stomach and the waistband of his pants.

She climbed onto the bed gently, barely allowing her full weight to rest on the bed, and placing her knees on either side of his waist straddled him, still being careful of letting her weight rest on him. Cautiously placing her hands on either of his arms, she leaned forward and held her breath as he stirred slightly beneath her. She stayed stock still, and made sure he was still asleep before she began blowing gently along the length of his jaw, down to the crook of his neck. She got bolder then and allowed her finger to follow the same path, along his jaw and the length of his neck.

She watched amused as his breathing increased and he murmured something in his sleep, when he still showed no sign of waking she made to play her little game again. Leaning forward she blew a cool breath along his jaw, and as she raised her hand to trail it along his neck once more, Remy’s eyes suddenly flew open and he grabbed her gloved hand in his own.

Applying the slightest pressure, he smiled slyly at her. She held his gaze unfazed; he began to raise himself slowly up from the bed into a sitting position, she sat back on her haunches as he did so, not moving from the position that now saw her sat astride his lap.

He still held her hand in his own, the fingers interlaced tightly. Their faces and lips were barely inches apart, when Rogue became aware of Remy raising his other hand and slowly trailing it over her free hand, up the length of her arm and up to her shoulder. He seemed to contemplate the bare skin of her neck before moving down, the slightest brush past her front and along her side before coming to rest on her hips.

Remy applied the slightest pressure here, and she found her breath catching in her throat, he still held her gaze, fascinated by those green eyes sparkling clearly in what little light there was in the room. Remy smiled feeling revenge was in order and gently began blowing along her jaw and neck in the same teasing manner with which she had tortured him. She closed her eyes and found herself arching her neck slightly; his fingers left her hips and found their way along her thigh. As he slowly trailed them up and down, Rogue released a long contended sigh.

He brought his face close to her ear, carefully so as not to touch her skin, ‘As much as I’m enjoying this mon ami, why are you here?’ His voice sounded strange and husky to his own ears.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, ‘Ah don’t know swamp rat, let’s see, can you keep a secret…?’

He laughed, ‘Cher`ie I’m a thief, secrets are part of our code of honor…’

Taking her hand from his grasp she placed them both on his chest letting them rest there for a while, ‘Good…’ she whispered, ‘Ah was hoping you’d say that.’ She pushed him back onto the bed and climbed off him. He leaned back on his elbows and watched amused as she pushed her hair back and let out a flustered puff of breath.

Suddenly reaching out she grabbed his hand and pulled him from the bed until he was stood in front of her. She placed a finger under his chin tilting his head up slightly, ‘Ah wanna show you something amazing…’ she whispered looking straight up at him.

He smiled and reaching up took a few strands of her hair and ran the ends through his fingers. ‘Ma pretty one I thought you already were…’

She smiled, and pushed his hand away, ‘Down boy, not that sort of amazing, no, just watch.’ She walked to the open window and started to climb out. Remy started to protest suddenly remembering just how high up they were, and wondering for the first time how she had gotten into his room. Surely someone would have heard her climbing up those steps, and across the hallway, those floorboards had more than their share of creaks than the average cockroach and termite ridden warehouse.

Rogue climbed out of the window and lowered herself onto the thin ledge just underneath it; she inched her way onto it, and watched Remy’s face change from mildly curious to seriously concerned.
The ledge barely offered the space for the front half of her foot, but she balanced on it all the same, and standing straight up, her face level with his, stretched her arms outwards. Smiling at him, she threw her head back, closed her eyes and stepped backwards of the ledge!

‘ROGUE!’ Remy’s panicked call was too late, as was the hand he had reached out to grasp her with before she had jumped. His fingers clutched thin air as she escaped him. He found his chest tightening, the fear in his face all to clear.

He hung his head in disbelief, until a familiar voice caused him to look upwards, ‘Don’t worry sugah, I didn’t go far…’ His eyes widened in amazement as his petite cher`ie came floating up towards the window, arms held behind her back looking mischievous.

Remy’s anger at her cruel trick only took a moment to surface, he passed a shaking hand through his hair before cursing in French, words Rogue believed she would not care to have him translate. She tried to apologise, he wasn’t having any of it. He eventually calmed down enough to allow her to explain.

‘The powers, they’ve just started coming to me, and ah can control them this time, ah don’t know why it’s happening now, but it is…. Whenever ah need them they just seem to be there, everyone ah’ve absorbed, their power, it’s mine.’

And to demonstrate she raised her hands above her head palms outwards, the way she had seen Storm do, and suddenly thick, angry black clouds appeared out of nowhere. Covering the clear night sky, and bringing with them a fierce wind.

‘You see…!’ The wind whipped up her hair and she looked every bit the goddess. Lowering her arms and allowing the sky to clear again, she floated close to the window and close to Remy once more.

‘Now swamp rat…’ there was no malice in the words now, they seemed to be her term of endearment for him, ‘you said somethin’ about ma bein’ on the wrong team?’

---

Joe Evans, the bar owner who had been a little too excited about his sixty seconds of fame, was still cleaning up his bar when the quartet of heavy serious looking men entered. As he stopped picking up broken glass in his dust-pan mid-stoop, he called out to them without looking up, ‘Sorry guys the bar’s closed tonight…’

A gruff voice, harsh and demanding all at once replied, ‘We ain’t after a drink…’

‘No…?’ Joe had the good sense to look up at last. He was not the smartest of people but even he could see that the burly men were something that ought to be taken seriously. Even he didn’t want to hazard a guess as to what sort of weapons they were concealing under their long trench coats, or how cold their eyes were under the dark glasses they all wore.

And then a thought struck him, they were here to rob him. Well if that was the case they were out of luck, the incident with the mutants had left him with very little takings for the night. Still, he would be inclined to give them the clothes of his back if they demanded.

One of the quartets, evidently a leader type figure stepped forward, ‘Heard you had a bit of trouble with the some mutants?’

His accent was hard to place; Joe thought he had heard it somewhere before, sometime this very night. The distinct Southern slant had him guessing as it to being somewhere from along the Mississippi river, but the intimidating stance of the man assured he couldn’t quite ascertain why it felt so familiar.

‘One of the mutants you said had her powers in touch, she touched a guy and he dropped right?’ Joe nodded along feebly. The next thing he knew he was having a picture thrust under his nose.

‘Is this the mutant you saw…?’ The Southerner demanded. He urged Joe to take it and study it closely, Joe wasn’t going to argue.

The picture was of a very pretty young girl in her early teens. It was nothing extraordinary, a picnic scene, a happy family. He peered closer at the photo, and began to nod eagerly. Granted she looked a lot happier and a lot less drunk in this picture and she wasn’t wearing those black leather gloves, but there were the unique white streaks in her hair, and the striking intensity in those green, green eyes…

Part 5- ‘A whole new lease on life…’

Rogue hadn’t returned to the mansion, she hadn’t come last night and Logan knew it. He’d stepped into their dorm room in the early hours that morning only to find her bed still perfectly made and perfectly empty.

Their fight had been playing on his mind, the vitriolic statements she had uttered, and the hateful glance with which she had left him had him shaken to the core. He should have gone after her straight away, explained himself to her, he should have done something, anything. The fact was he had remained stunned, not only for the hate she had shown but the strength with which she had thrown him across the room. Even with all their extensive training in the danger room she had never managed to exact a move like that, one that had caught him so completely off guard.

He was still in the den, sat absorbed in pensive thought when the sounds of the students milling about the house in early morning sleepiness roused him to the hour. It was morning and she was not back.

And he couldn’t sense her, couldn’t pick up her scent, where was she? How had he allowed her to get away from him so completely? A familiar gnawing in his stomach made him clutch his coffee cup harder, and a question unbidden and unwanted flooded into his mind. Who was she with?

Almost as soon as he had thought it he berated himself for the stupidity of the notion, and his petty jealousy. What did it matter who she was with, it was not as if she could actually touch them, and that was what had gotten them into this mess in the first place. She couldn’t touch… such a cruel irony then that his first image had been Rogue with another man.

‘Whoa…! Hey Logan taking up some light reading…?’ Logan growled at the sound of the cheerful voice behind him, a voice far too chipper and now more than usually grating on his pounding nerves. Bobby was stood in the doorway surveying the mess Rogue’s run in with Logan had left behind.

Before the young man knew what was happening Logan had him pinned to the wall. The older mutant had his forearm pressing crushingly against his windpipe. He struggled to catch a breath, and watched bug-eyed and terrified as Logan brought up his hand and bared three very sharp adamantium claws right under his eyes.

‘You swore to me you’d tell her…you stupid son-of a bitch…, do ye have any idea what you’ve done?’
Logan had long figured out Rogue would never been so angry had the boy just been honest with her, but Bobby hadn’t told her and he hadn’t told her either. And now it would serve them both right if she had walked out of their lives for good. It still didn’t stop Logan wanting to tear the Iceboy’s eyes out.

But Bobby had no idea why the scary older mutant with the deadly claws was swearing blue murder.

‘Look Logan…’ his voice came out as a painful squeak, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking… ABOUT!’ He practically screamed the last word as Logan increased his pressure.

‘She knows, Rogue knows…’ Logan hissed at him. Had Bobby not realised quite how desperate his situation was the blood shot look in Logan’s sleep depleted eyes served to make it perfectly clear.

‘How, did someone say…did you say something?’ A confused look crossed his face. Logan laughed an ugly, harsh sound that scared them both.

‘No, and it’s the biggest mistake of my life. But dammit, I wasn’t gonna do you’re dirty work…, you promised me; you swore to me that you would tell her…’

‘Then how?’ Bobby’s confusion lasted only a moment longer until he recalled the events of last night. They had been in the lawn, both of them just a little drunk, the moon was bright and the air had been intoxicating. This new girl was fun, bubbly and unburdened; it had been only a moment of weakness a few weeks ago. But the relationship had developed and moved on. Siren had helped him move onto a new level in a relationship, something he could never have with Rogue.

And when he kissed her now, it didn’t feel so wrong, simply because he had always known that with Rogue there would always be that barrier between them that was her skin.

So he had kissed Siren on the lawn only later realising that they were stood underneath Rogue’s window and maybe that shadow in the glass hadn’t just been a trick of the night.
He hadn’t wanted her to find out like that, to see him with his tongue down another girl’s throat.

‘Logan I was going to tell her, I just had to find the right time…’ Bobby pleaded once more.

Logan shook his head, ‘It’s too late now ain’t it, she didn’t come home last night. I swear to God, if anything happens to her. God dammit if you weren’t such a coward…’ Logan’s disgust at the man he refused to release was evident.

But Bobby, the coward that he was still had something of his pride, ‘I’m the coward…? Look at you... you’re what, something approaching 80? And you’re piss-scared of telling the woman you love exactly how you feel about her. So who’s the coward huh…? A grown man hiding in the shadows content to make moon-eyes at another guy’s girl and you have the nerve to call me a coward.’

The pressure of Logan’s arm lifted a little at the shock of the words being shot out at him. Bobby seeing him clearly riled carried on regardless.

‘Do you think nobody notices, do you think the whole Academy doesn’t know, that we don’t all have a good laugh about it?’ That was unwise; telling a near invincible man with metal shredding claws that he was being laughed at was just plain stupid. Still, no one would ever accuse Bobby Drake of being the sharpest light bulb in the box.

Logan growled, seeing red he pressed forward, ‘Just keep talking bub, it’ll be a pleasure rippin’ a hole where your stomach used to be…’

Logan extracted the claws of his other hand, slowly torturously pressing them close to Bobby’s abdomen. It was then that his nostrils caught a familiar scent and he turned to look at the figure stood in the doorway.

---

‘Rogue…’ he whispered her name, scared that she was a vision, a cruel trick of the mind that would disappear if he spoke too loud. But she was real and she regarded both of the men with some amusement.

‘Logan…’ she spoke softly, with that distinct Southern lilt that he had so often teased her about. ‘Ah think it’d be best if ya let the glorified popsicle go…’ Logan turned back to look at Bobby and hesitated for a second before complying reluctantly.

Bobby dropped gratefully to the floor, holding a shaking hand to the angry red bruises on his throat. He wheezed, and coughed struggling for a breath.
Rogue stepped further into the room, standing above Bobby she crouched down to him. Running an approving finger down the side of Bobby’s face, she spoke up to Logan whilst tilting Bobby’s face upwards slightly so she could look him directly in the eye.

‘Ya know Logan, it ain’t Bobby’s fault he wanted a new toy…, one he could actually play with. But the thin’ he ought to remember is that new toys have a nasty habit of breaking easily…’ She spoke those last words with a whisper and a gentle smile, but there was no mistaking the menacing intent in them.

Bobby looked up at her with the same horrified bug-eyed expression that had crossed his face when Logan had grabbed him. ‘Look Rogue, I wanted to tell you…really I…’

She didn’t let him finish, shaking her head she sighed resignedly, and made to stand up, but before she did so, she thought again, and turning back slapped him so hard and so fast that he collapsed backwards. His hand went from his neck to his face where he soon realised he was going to have the same matching angry bruise.

Rogue smiled satisfactorily at Logan and without saying another word made her way out of the room. Logan hurried after her.

‘Hey, we need to talk…’ He took a hold of her arm. She let his touch linger for a while before pulling away.

‘No we don’t. There’s nothing left for ya to say that ah wanna hear.’ She started walking away again, down the middle of the hallway, head held high, shoulders thrown back and wholly disregarding of the other students who milled about her, making sure they knew it was up to them to move out of the way. They eyed her somewhat curiously as they made their way to the canteen or kitchen given she was still wearing the clothes she had worn the night before.

There was also the matter of an angry Logan stalking her footsteps. That inspired awe; it showed more balls than even some of the guys had to be walking away from a beast like Logan. But then, she had always been his favourite. There was a lot of crap he was willing to take from her that he would never allow from anyone else.

Rogue walked with purpose, an intention and determination Logan had to admit was oddly appealing. Certainly the view from and of her behind as her hips swung with a liveliness that had been waning in her of late was hypnotising. He found himself having to growl at a number of passing male students with roving eyes, oddly protective and possessive of an ass that was never really going to be his. She knew or rather heard what he was doing and smiled quietly to herself.

‘Rogue…so where did you get to you dirty little stop out…?’ Was the greeting that welcomed Rogue as she entered the dorm room. Kitty Pryde as usual immaculately dressed and immaculately made up sniggered in that school girl manner of hers.

And usually Rogue made allowances for it, because by all intents and purposes the girl was harmless if a little annoying with her breathless exuberance. But today, well today was different, all she offered Kitty today was an angry snarl.

‘Get out.’ She stated in no uncertain terms. Kitty the darling of the Academy, was not used to being so effectively dismissed. And though all grown up, she still had that habit of acting like the spoilt teenage princess.

‘Excuse me…? Unless you’ve forgotten we all share this room, and like, I’m sorry, but did I blink and miss the part where you were crowned queen of England…’ She tossed her hair in an offended huff.

‘G-e-t…o-u-t...’ Rogue reiterated every syllable clearly and decisively. But Kitty was still up for a fight. It was only when a second person entered the room that she conceded. Logan was not a man to be argued with; she was out of the door even as he gestured towards it.

He closed the door with a firm bang behind him. She ignored him and making towards her part of the room started removing her gloves. She tossed them carelessly on her bed and flexed her fingers slowly. Raising her arms above her head she stretched, arching her back and sighing loudly.

Throwing open the doors of her own drawer she just as carelessly began throwing out various items of clothing over her shoulder. It was not long before the area resembled a tip. There wasn’t much variation in the colours of her clothes, black and blacker just in differing shades. The occasional dark green or midnight blue, but nothing at all to reflect the light, no pastel shades, nothing to catch the light and it was just how she liked it.

Logan watched her awhile before approaching her slowly, ‘Look ki…Rogue …’ he pointedly corrected when she looked up at him sharply. ‘I wanted to tell you, it’s just…it wasn’t really my place, ya know…?’

‘Not your place…?’ she repeated, ‘Sure it wasn’t Logan, as my friend, the man who said that ah could trust him, whose loyalty ah should never have to doubt. No Logan guess it really wasn’t your place to tell me anything…’ she scoffed, and turned her back to him once more.

He growled loudly, his claws just inching to make an appearance again, he hated these games she played, and she knew it. Hated it when she turned his back on him, when he couldn’t see or sense what she was thinking. For some reason that action of hers, that simple action of cutting the conversation off like that had started to make him nervous.

‘Ya know, ah don’t really care all that much about Bobby, the new Barbie Doll he’s found is welcome to the ice pick, but you. That’s where it hurts Logan, ya knew for weeks and ya kept it to yourself. Ya lied to me, ya looked me in the eye day after day and…you…lied. What sort sick bastard does that…?’

‘The sort of sick bastard that didn’t wanna see you get hurt…’ Logan spat back at her.

She turned to him once more and smiled cruelly, ‘Yeah, and look how well that turned out…’ she sighed. ‘This is pointless Logan we’re goin’ round in circles, same old words, same old wounds, and same old lies. It won’t work anymore old friend, ah grew up. There’s not enough in here…’ she pointed to her heart ‘and far too much in here…’ she tapped her temple.

‘What do ya want me to do Rogue? What do ya want me to say?’ He stepped towards her.

‘Nothin’…nothing at all Logan. This ain’t for ya to fix. Ah know it must be hard for ya to believe but some things are beyond even you sugah.’ She smiled at last. A familiar smile, something else that had sadly long been waning in her and it showed him that she had forgiven him, at least on some level.

She seemed to have chosen her outfit at last and separating a pair of black jeans and black long sleeve top shoved the rest of the pile unceremoniously back into her drawer. Then even as Logan looked on she began to unbutton the top of the shirt she was wearing, she had gotten at least halfway down the shirt before at last Logan realised how inappropriate this was.

‘What the hell are you doin’?’ he asked somewhat haltingly seemingly transfixed by her hands hovering over the next button.

She smiled at him mischievously, ‘Well ah was thinking of havin’ a shower, ah’d thought that works best without clothes.’ She began to unbutton further down and try what he would Logan couldn’t tear his eyes away.

He must have mentally slapped himself a half dozen times before he thought to turn his back. By that point her shirt was hanging open and he had caught sight of her black lace bra, dark and delicate material against milky white skin, and she had started to work on the heavy fastenings of her button front jeans.

And dammit if she wasn’t getting him all confused again. This wasn’t his Rogue, what had happened, had it really happened just like she said…, that she’d simply grown up when he wasn’t looking? Oh yes he saw it on the outside, that was perfectly clear she’d grown up and filled out in all the right places but on some level Logan had convinced himself that she’d always need him.

Their history, a background filled with loss, rejection and so many disjointed memories had been a connection to rival the deepest sentiment. Had so much happened in a year, that even as she was stood only a few metres away, standing half-naked and fulfilling all his deepest darkest fantasies, that she could be so tantalisingly close…, yet so damn far.

It had always been the skin, the perfect excuse for her not to touch or be touched but there were more barriers, fences, electric high barbed-wire defences that she’d put up all by herself. And he knew, those words, her words would haunt him for years to come, would terrify him as much as the darkest of his nightmares. ‘There’s not enough in here…’

His Rogue was scared and uncertain; a young woman who kept the world and its ills locked away in her head. That one he could protect, the one who would need him, who relied on him, who looked up to him.

Not this vixen, this sensual creature that teased and taunted, a singular and veritable mess of contradictions. It had changed, but his aching old bones refused to move on, refused to accept and wanted time and history to do the impossible and move backwards. Back to a year ago when it was all simple, Jean-Gray was alive, and he thought of this girl, this Rogue as a kid.

Not this temptress who even now stood close to his shoulder in her underwear displaying more skin than he had ever known her to show. Their flirting had been harmless at first, but now it was getting dark and dangerous.

Rogue brought her face close to his ear, careful always careful not to touch or be touched. She blew softly into his ear, ‘Congratulate me Logan, ah’ve found a whole new lease of life...’

And Bobby was right; the realisation dawned on him and hit him like a ton of bricks, as he watched her walk away, her bare feet skipping lightly across the floor. He was piss-scared of telling the woman he loved exactly what he felt about her, because he really didn’t know what and who it was he had fallen in love with.

Part 6- ‘Finding a confidant…’

Rogue leaned forward in the shower bracing herself against the tiled wall as the scalding water hit her skin. She watched the water bounce off her skin and flow down and away, she always set the water temperature to something slightly higher than comfortable, just so she could feel something. Desperate to feel anything, even if that was just the sting of water that was too hot.

Her hair hung limply about her shoulders, the white streaks falling over her eyes and she smiled. She remembered how fascinated a certain Cajun had found the differing tones of her hair. And she remembered how forward she had been with him; flying into his room last night had been inspiring and certainly enjoyable. And the look on his face when she had demonstrated her new powers had been priceless.

She had managed to entice him out of the room, though in truth it hadn’t taken all that much enticing. She’d barely suggested they go for a midnight stroll when he was grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head. She had sat in the window smirking widely as she watched him hop from one foot to the other pulling on his shoes.
And this was the suave and oh so cool New Orlean charmer!

He was dressed in a matter of minutes in a haste Rogue had yet to see rivalled, though when he caught her knowing smile, Remy had tried vainly to get back some of his debonair composure by carefully putting on his long coat and smoothing it down patiently. She only laughed louder at that, and grabbing him firmly by the hand pulled him towards the window. He was unsure though and pulled back hesitantly.

‘Oh come on Remy…not scared are ya?’ she goaded him, one hand placed challengingly on her hip.

‘Cher`ie Remy don’t frighten easily, but he prefer to keep his feet firmly on solid ground.’ But she wasn’t about to let him go that easily.

‘Sugah ya don’t know what you’re missing…’ She tugged on his hand once again, but he stood firm. Rogue saw at last that he was unsure, and she believed it was the first time she had ever seen him show any semblance of vulnerability. The sight touched her, standing close to him; she took his chin firmly in her hand and bringing his face close to hers, smiled warmly.

‘Swamp rat…ah won’t let you fall.’ They were simple words that carried a meaning and resonance far beyond their length. And the added lustre with which those green eyes sparkled up at him, allowed Remy little option but to do just what she asked. He only just managed to grab his staff before she had pulled him to the window and began climbing out herself.

She floated patiently outside his window as he took a deep breath and shook his head. He stuck his head out the window and promptly looked down. Big mistake…it sure as hell was a long way down. But she was floating out there patiently and there was no way he could pass up spending the rest of the night with her. So another deep breath, another shake of the head and he was climbing out the window, ‘the things I’m willing to do for you fille…’ he muttered under his breath.

He sat balancing precariously on the window sill his staff tucked under his arm, Rogue floated closer and taking both his hands gently eased him off the ledge. He instinctively shut his eyes and held them tightly closed.

‘Open ya eyes Remy…’ her voice whispered tantalisingly close to his ear. He complied, slowly prising open one eye and then the other. She was beaming widely at him and he couldn’t help but smile in return.

She held him close; wrapping his hands around her waist she held him about the shoulders. ‘Look…’ he turned his head slowly at her request and saw that they were far away from the warehouse, high up in the air and she was turning him around and around slowly. Letting him take in a roundabout view the city passing beneath them, he took in a sharp breath as the first pangs of vertigo hit him.

Rogue held him tighter and placing her head on his chest, whispered ‘it’s alright…’ And her soothing tones ensured his heart returned to a respectable rate and he began to breathe normally again.

Remy soon realised she was right, he had been missing out. The sensation of weightlessness was amazing, a resonating sense of freedom and thrilling fear all at once. Add to that the fact that she had wrapped her arms about her waist again and that she was resting her head on his chest ensured he was as close to heaven as a thief would ever get the privilege of being.

The fact she was here, still here amazed him, the night given the sequence of events had him wondering if he was still in his bed, happily dreaming.
‘Rogue, why me…?’

He had to know, for some reason it was beyond him merely to enjoy the situation and these few moments she was finally allowing him to see past the anger, he simply had to know.

‘Cher`ie why share this with me…? Remy always though he was your least favourite type of mutant…’ He waited patiently for her to form some sort of reply. She complied at last.

‘No reason swamp rat, there just ain’t nobody else…’ she shrugged her shoulders in seemingly quiet dismissal.

Remy pushed her all the same, ‘Nobody else huh? Thought ye were all one big happy famille over there…’

Rogue smiled and scoffed slightly, ‘Don’ ya know all families have their secrets…just seem they all intent on keeping them from me.’

She floated them both down towards the roof again and Remy thought he had pushed too far. But rather than leading him back to the window and back inside she led him to the edge of the warehouse roof. Sitting next to each other they dangled their legs playfully over the edge.

Remy looked down from that height quite comfortably now, funny how quickly you could get over vertigo once you knew there was someone to catch you if you fell. Rogue took a deep breath and turned her head away from him slightly. It was clear she was struggling with a memory.

Hours later Rogue would wonder about it, how it was she had opened up to him so completely; how easily the words had all tumbled out, all of it, Bobby’s betrayal, seeing him kiss that other girl and worse Logan’s lies.

Remy watched her carefully as she had talked bitterly of Logan and felt a strange instant pang of sentiment. Something he would later learn to identify as being close to jealousy. All he knew was there was no way a fille got so passionately angry about a guy unless she felt something for him, the same sort of passion Rogue was displaying now.

And as quickly as it came it was gone, and they moved on to talk of other things. She didn’t have a past, a painful fact she chose to quickly skim over. But he did, a wild, wonderful, colourful past that she had delighted in hearing about.

He had painful memories too of course; a father’s insistence that his usefulness extended only to the point of his mutancy, and within those words Rogue found that she wasn’t the only one who craved a genuine touch, a genuine attachment. Remy longed for it too.

They talked for hours, only realising the time when the sun chose to make its appearance on the horizon. Then holding him close once more she delivered him safely back to his room, he took a hold of her arm just as she turned to leave.

‘Can we do this again sometime cher`ie, Remy get the feeling this is one night he ain’t gonna forget in a hurry.’
She only nodded her agreement and was out of the window before he had the opportunity to say anything else.

Rogue turned the taps off at last feeling thoroughly refreshed; she reached for her towel and smiled. She wondered what Logan would make of her spending the night with Remy; perhaps she had caught a glimpse of what his reaction would be downstairs with Bobby.

Wrapping the towel around herself she stepped out of the shower and was suddenly aware of an intense pain in the left side of her head. She drew in a sharp breath at the sensation and clutched a hand to her pained head. It wasn’t the voices it was the memories.

She closed her eyes and was promptly engulfed.

Rogue was back on that battlefield, there were too many sounds, too many screams and so much pain…

Part 7- ‘Haunted by Phantoms…’

It hurt too much…her skin burned like the scorched earth around her; the scarred landscape blackened by the signs of a fierce fire-fight seemed to radiate as much pain as her aching bones. After Apocalypse they had thought it would get easier, they had still been recuperating when another ancient evil had been awakened, Mantor, and despite all their bravado they simply had not been ready for another fight so soon.

She smiled grimly against the darkness of it all, they were losing, the X-Men were losing and, who would have thought it, they were losing to a group of humans. Over-zealous, fanatic, psychotic and frightfully opportunistic, but humans all the same.

Irony of ironies they had come to save the pathetic creatures, they had almost saved them, Mantor had been on the verge of being banished but they had arrived with their own idea of saving the world. Those ideas involved eradicating as many mutants as they could in one fell swoop.

And this would be their prize opportunity, like shooting fish in a barrel, there were so many of them down there fighting, given that along with the X-Men the Brotherhood had been persuaded to lend a hand. As usual they had arrived late, but at least they were here.

A gruff voice was shouting at her, shouting for her to get up. It was only then that she remembered that the heat of a blast close to her feet had thrown her to the ground. No wonder all the angles looked askew.

‘Rogue…Rogue, dammit kid get up…!’ But she was tired, and it hurt, it burned. Her concentration drifted, eyes closing softly against the night. It would be so easy to slip away…Suddenly her eyes snapped open as the ground some distance in front of her began to kick up. It was as if tiny pebbles were hitting the dusty earth repeatedly, getting closer…and closer.

But they weren’t pebbles, they were far deadlier. Bullets, titanium tipped, skin and bone shattering bullets coming closer, coming to cut her to ribbons. She forced herself up, with every last ounce of strength pulling herself to her knees and then to her feet. And she ran.

Her legs and arms pumping faster, a desperate escape for the nearest shelter, but the whirring of helicopter gunship blades was above her now, a deafening roar surrounding her, then over her head and now in front of her. The pilot had manoeuvred the helicopter in her path directly cutting off her escape route, she thought she could see him smile, a vindictive, sadistic grin peeking out beneath his black visor.

But she stood her ground, the air currents from the blades whipping up her hair; she watched and waited as he trained the heavy machine guns in her direction. She closed her eyes, the last images in her mind being of the lettering on the front of the gunship. ‘FFH…Faithful Friends of Humanity…’

She heard the guns turning in their turrets, loading, priming, and she was ready and waiting. Let it stop…let it end. But others had different ideas, even as the guns began pumping out there deadly cargo she felt herself suddenly being rushed and tackled to the ground out of harms way. Over and over they rolled, herself and her mystery saviour, rolling further, an entangled mess of arms and legs, his arms clutching her against his chest tightly, protectively.

She despaired of ever stopping their rolling motion, every time her back hit the ground she released a painful grunt. It just hurt so damn much. They stopped eventually when they hit a boulder, it was his back that took the force of the blow, but he still held onto her, his arms locked tight.

The wind was knocked out of the both of them, the impact rolled him back onto her, and she lay pinned beneath him. She gasped for breath, ‘Logan…’ she whispered pitifully.
He opened his dazed eyes and looked down at her, suddenly realising, the pained expression in her face, she was more than just badly hurt… she was dying.

‘Rogue…hey kid. This fight ain’t over yet…where’d ye think you’re going…?’ he demanded gruffly of her, the slightest quiver in his voice betraying his fear.

‘Ah’m tired Logan…and it hurts, it hurts so much…’ He raised himself from her and brushed her hair away from her blood spattered face. She clenched her teeth and winced once more. The physical exertion of keeping her eyes open, of keeping them focused was becoming too painful.

‘It’ll be alright darlin’… I promise…trust me…’ He took a hold of her arm and gently raised her hand, carefully removing what was left of her tattered glove, the sight of her broken hand struck him to the core.

‘Ah’m sorry…ah let ya down…’ She looked up at him, and he could see the tears forming in her eyes. Her breathing was becoming shallower and she was slipping away, he had to act fast.

‘Don’t be dumb kid…’ Taking her hand he pressed it firmly to the exposed skin of his face. Held it tightly there waiting for her powers to take over, for her mutancy to do its thing. But nothing happened, nothing at all. He had closed his eyes, and when he opened them he could see her chest had stopped moving, she wasn’t breathing and her skin was becoming paler by the second.

‘No…no…NO! Come on kid…’ Dropping her hand he ripped off his own gloves and pressed both his hands to her face this time. Still nothing, he shook her, letting out a howl of despair. ‘Please…’ he begged, looking up into the night air. ‘Please…’ he pressed his hands to her face once more. Nothing…

He ought to have known the prayers of sinners were never answered, and providence had sought to wreak a suitable punishment for him by taking her away. He bowed his head and whispered once more, ‘Please…’ Utterly without hope this time, he gently placed his lips on her mouth, a simple goodbye for the girl he had promised it would all be alright.

And then he felt it, the pull, her powers kicking into force…sucking, taking him in. His healing power, his life force poured into her and her eyes suddenly snapped open. She grappled reaching for his shoulders as she saw him struggling with the pain. She pushed him back with all the might she could muster. He fell backwards and they were both rasping, struggling to catch a breath.

‘Welcome back kid…’ he muttered. She smiled at him. The sudden return of a familiar sound caught there attention once more. The gunship was back and this time it had both mutants trained in its sight. They awaited the inevitable, both still too weak to make an escape.

They didn’t have to, even as they watched with widening eyes the helicopter suddenly released an ear splitting screech, the sound of metal grinding and struggling. It began to spin out of control and as it did so they caught sight of its tail blades. They were iced over, frozen solid, the helicopter lost its manoeuvrability and they watched as the pilot struggled to gain control over the beast. He lost and the thing came down heavily, the main rotor blades detached themselves from the body and Rogue’s bad luck continued as the razor sharp implements promptly made their way towards her. She scrambled backwards bracing herself against the boulder, shut her eyes once more and held her breath…

She opened her eyes eventually and realised the blades had stopped…mere inches from her neck. She let out a relieved breath and shook her head. She looked up to see an equally relieved and recovered Logan holding out his hand. He had replaced his gloves and was flexing his hands, just itching to jump back into the fight.

‘Come on kid, they need us out there…’

---

Jean, oh no, Jean what have you done? Rogue looked up in time to see Jean’s fingers slip from her own. ‘I’m sorry Rogue…I had to, I have to. I need to save you all.’

And Rogue was too drained from the fight to go after her, to beg her not to make such a sacrifice, but even as Jean had pushed her out of the telekinetic force field she had grasped Rogue’s bare hands to allow herself to be drained of just enough energy for the field to collapse around her.

And collapse it did, with Jean, Mantor’s sarcophagus, his temple and the blast, that damned fatal blast from the nuclear bomb the FFH had been deranged enough to drop on them.

‘NOOOOOO! JEAN…!’ Scott’s anguished cry rang out into the night even as the field descended into nothingness, he made a run for the site but was tackled to the ground by Beast, who held him back from joining the woman he loved.

The field shrank smaller and smaller, finally collapsing into a ball of white heat energy that exploded with a brilliant radiance that would have resembled the best firework display had the circumstances not been so very tragic.

‘Tell him I loved him…’ Rogue clutched her hands to her head. She struggled to contain the voice, ‘No, ah don’t want you in there as well…please.’

Then all was silent, it seemed as if the world had stopped moving, simply to contemplate the lucky escape they had just had. It was then that a painful howl screeched through the rancid night air, but not from Scott as all had first suspected, but from Rogue cursing at forces unseen and clutching at her head despairingly…

---

Plausible deniability… that was the clause which the Government hid behind, they claimed to have not known about FFH’s plans to bring about a near nuclear holocaust. And perhaps there was some truth in that but everyone knew that the FFH had always had major players behind it.

It was the very deepest of black ops, the very deepest of undercover operations whose roots spread far, wide and deep. They penetrated the deepest echelons of all levels of society, its members immersed in all positions of authority, right up to the very senate itself, and some believed it went further. Right to the very top, el Presidente himself.

And their sole objective? To contain, maintain the mutant threat, to keep the beasts in check. The group had started with the humblest of beginnings, groups of over-zealous religious freaks, who ascertained that the X gene was a thing unholy, and to eradicate it would be performing God’s work. And they had set out to do just that, on a small scale at first until eventually they had reached the point where they could afford helicopter gunships and steal nuclear warheads.


Now it was ‘official’ that after the fiasco in China where it had been at last determined that the X-Men were in fact trying to save the world from Mantor and his horrors, that the group had gotten out of hand and needed to be disbanded.

But Rogue knew that whatever was official was never true, the group had not been disbanded, they had simply gone further underground, determined to fight a guerrilla war against the mutant race if that was what it took. But that was unnecessary, the support for them had not waned, if anything it had grown. Never mind what the X-men had sacrificed to save their lives, the fact that it was an ancient mutant that had threatened their existence in the first place was enough to ensure the heightened sense of paranoia and hate remained.

So began her deep rooted dislike for the ungrateful humans and their lies.

---

Rogue murmured returning slowly to consciousness, various images flashed before her eyes. Red…it was all an angry, fiery red. Red hair and black, dark sinful eyes…
Rogue gasped a deep breath that jolted her right back into consciousness. She had banged her head as she had fallen on the floor, gentle trickles of blood found their way down her forehead and into her eyes.

But that didn’t stop her from seeing the strange sight around her, everything was floating. Everything that wasn’t nailed to the floor was floating about the bathroom, the toothbrushes, and the towels even the fine droplets of water that had not yet drained away. Everything was floating about the room in a revolving motion, only she sat on the floor, her towelled body slumped against the floor.

She raised her hand slowly, and regarded it curiously with a tilting of her head before clenching it into a fist and bringing it back down to the floor with a hard slap against the cold tiles. In the same instant everything that had been floating came crashing down around her as well. She raised her hand once more and watched fascinated as the bathroom items quivered gently and slowly rise in synchronisation with the motion of her hand. Again, bringing her hand down the toiletries followed suit. She repeated the action a couple of times wanting to be sure, and yes, she had to at last concede, it was her…she was doing this.

Rogue sat perfectly still unsure of what to do next, the only thing moving was the fine trickle of blood that continued to roll down her head and into her eyes, red into black…

Part 8 –‘Bright lights and Hicksville…’

‘Her name is Jubilation Lee, and she’s in trouble…’ Professor Xavier was facing the window. The X-men seated or stood around the room. He always seemed to be facing away from them now, ever since Jean’s death, always away from them.

Hank was as usual hanging from the rafters, Bobby and Kitty sat in the leather armchairs in front of his desk, Storm was perched on top of it. Kurt took his place on the sofa. Logan had taken a lazy stance leaning against the doorframe, his keen eyes trained on the opposite side of the room where Rogue had chosen to stand in the corner half-concealed by shadows.
She caught his gaze and turning to look at him slowly locked onto his eyes with a slow smile.

The only notable absence from the room apart from Jean was Scott, he rarely attended briefings now, and he rarely left his room.

It was with some effort Logan tore his eyes away from Rogue and stepped further into the room, ‘What sort of trouble?’ he asked.

‘Jubilee is very young, she is trusting, unfortunately for her the man she is currently travelling with does not have her best interests at heart. You must find her before she is…seriously hurt.’ Professor Xavier tapped his fingers together quietly and they all knew the sort of hurt he was referring to. A young girl travelling in a car with a stranger, there was really only one way it could go.

Rogue grim expression became illuminated briefly by the light as she stepped out of the shadows, ‘What powers does she have…?’

They all turned to look at her. There was no doubt something strange was going on with Rogue, she was more sullen, angry than usual, but it was fluctuating. There were moments when she was perfectly normal as well, or as normal as she had been. The younger mutants dismissed it simply as Rogue being Rogue, but the older ones new better.

And Professor Xavier knew better than most. But he had turned away, from Rogue and from everyone else. Whatever he could have seen he chose not to see.

‘Harmless really, they’re quite sweet actually…fireworks.’ The professor allowed himself a small smile.

‘Fireworks?’ Logan repeated with some incredulity. He folded his arms across his chest and went back to his post by the door.

‘Yes, they’re more fun than potent; she can release small charges from her hands, lights and harmless explosions.’ The professor turned to face them at last. ‘But she is still a mutant, from what I have sensed of her she is a generally happy child and left her parents house with some reluctance…’

‘Let me guess, once the general neighbourhood became aware of her mutancy they didn’t think her as that cute little kid anymore … ‘ Rogue had stepped fully out of the shadows now, wearing a look as black as her clothes, ‘never mind that she would have saved them a packet on the 4th July…’ she added with some sarcasm. ‘Harmless powers or not, she’s a mutant right, one of the accursed…’

‘Where is she?’ Logan interrupted; this was not the time for Rogue to begin her rant. She glared at him and he offered her a slow smile in return.

‘On her way here…’ Professor Xavier replied quietly.

---

Jubilee Lee was the sort of typical 14 year old girl that in a perfect world was what all 14 year old girls should be allowed to be. She was warm, spunky and filled to the brim with a lively energy. The only fault one could ever accuse her of having was perhaps that she was a little too trusting. But unfortunately that was a mistake she had yet to learn from, and learn she did through painful experience.

The neighbourhood kids had loved her powers at first, they saw her as the best friend any kid could have. She made a light show from her hands! But suspicion is a disease solely afflicting adults, and it afflicted their parents. The kids were forbidden from interacting with Jubilee, the whole Lee family were branded outcasts, refused service from local stores, derided and disdained wherever they went. Their lives became a misery, and the young Jubilee was forced to acknowledge that she was the cause.

Her parents however loving and however supportive did not deserve such vilification, and when their home was spray painted with the worst sort of abuse and vandalism, Jubilee made her decision to leave. It had not been easy and knowing her parents would never hear of it she had packed a bag in the middle of the night. Had stood in her parent’s bedroom watching them sleep for a while before wishing them a silent goodbye, leaving only a three letter note taped to their door, ‘I’m so sorry.’

She had walked nearly a mile to the main highway, crossing fields, through the back alleys and backyards of typical suburbia to get there. And from there she had hitchhiked. She had been lucky, or so she had thought at the time, the man who had stopped was sweet, round about the same age as her dad and even looked a little like him to.

She knew where she had to go, New York, and a very special school.

---

‘AAAH…you bitch, you little bitch. I can’t see…what did you do?!’ Jubilee scrambled for the car door handle as the man she had trusted too much held his hands in front of his face.

Jubilee had known he was not taking her in the direction she had asked for and he had promised, rather than head for the city, they had been travelling into areas that were growing less populated and sparser with every passing sign.

And he had stopped talking, when she had first climbed into the car he had talked as quickly as she had, but now he remained quiet and she saw how grimly his face was set. It was then that Jubilee realised her mistake. When they seemed to be passing out of yet another small town, one Jubilee was convinced would be the last for a while she had seized her chance. She charged her hands and released a spark of light directly into the man’s face. He had promptly lost control of the vehicle and they crashed into a telephone mast, right in the centre of town.

Jubilee had counted on the town population helping her, but being too young she knew little of the level of hate for mutants that had penetrated the back waters of even the out of the way town. Consequently the crowd that had gathered saw what they wanted to see, yet another mutant carrying out yet another unprovoked attack on another human.

So they gave chase, an anti-mutant mob fuelled by blind anger and hate was chasing a young frightened girl who simply had a power they refused to understand. Rogue’s face set into a grimace of fury and disgust watched it all from the rooftop.

The X-men it seemed had arrived just in time, their X-jet had been landed just outside the town and Rogue somehow sensing the young girl’s terror had ran out of the jet before the cargo doors had even touched the ground. Logan called out after her but she ignored him.

She saw them now gathering around the crowd herding the humans in like the animals they were. Engaging some of them in a fight, those too drunk or too stupid to think they could take on a mutant. They had left Bobby guarding the jet, Logan, Storm and Kurt were too busy to notice the few stray men that had slipped away from the fight to continue their pursuit of Jubilee, among them the driver who had kidnapped her in the first place.

But Rogue saw, perched on that rooftop she saw it all and began to give chase. She leaped over the gaps between buildings with an amazing agility and grace. She found them eventually, Jubilee backed against a wire fence being menaced by three heavily built men.

Rogue stood up, standing tall on the edge of the roof; she flexed her neck from side to side, warming up and smiled, this was almost too easy.
The first one she took out just as he made a grab for Jubilee, she landed on him hard, planting both her heeled boots firmly in his back, she crouched low over him in a catlike stance, thoroughly revelling in the painful OOOMPH that escaped him, and the knowledge that she had cracked at least a few of his ribs.

As she looked up her smile widened at the sight of sheer terror that crossed the faces of the other two. She stood up slowly and waited for them to get over their shock and charge her as she suspected they would.

The first one rushed at her with a blind war cry and in a stance that had her convinced he had once upon a time no doubt been the star quarterback of this little Hicksville town of theirs. But she countered him effortlessly, stepping lightly and easily to the side, she took hold of his upper arm and using his own momentum flung him effortlessly into the nearest brick wall.

His face met the brick and mortar with a satisfying crunch, now he was going to be the former star quarterback with the most deformed nose in little ole Hicksville.

Rogue was enjoying this, it had been too long since she had gotten into any good fights, she needed to let off steam. And the danger room simulations with its robots and various set scenarios were no substitute for the pounding of flesh and bones. She turned to the next idiot and adapting her best martial arts stance, with one hand placed on her hip defiantly, invited the hairy looking biker to take her on. With a raised eyebrow and an extended hand she gestured for him to dare come closer, he took a few tentative steps forward and Rogue sniggered at him.

And with that he lost it, looking around him he picked up the nearest weapon which turned out to be a thick metal pipe. She was unfazed, it took a single crippling punch to his gut as he rushed her, and he was doubled over and had promptly dropped the pipe. She finished him off with another punch to the face.

Standing back she regarded the scene around her, all of them were out cold and she had barely broken a sweat. She lamented it could be over so soon, and almost contemplated waking one of them up again just so she could have another go. But there were more pressing matters, such as the young Jubilee who had already seen far too much than was healthy for a 14 year old.

Rogue had half expected the girl to be cowering in the corner; she was unprepared for the excited, eager voice that appeared at her shoulder.
‘Wow….that was awesome! You totally nailed those guys…!’ Rogue turned around to face her, and was met surprisingly with a face that projected total fear. For a moment Rogue thought Jubilee was afraid of her.

‘Hey, look kid, ah’m not gonna hurt ya.’ She reassured her, but Jubilee wasn’t afraid of Rogue, but rather of the menacing figure approaching from behind her.

‘Look out!’ Jubilee’s warning came just a split second too late, even as Rogue turned to look behind her, she caught the blur of a metal pipe before it came down hard, connecting solidly with her jaw. She was caught off guard and the force of the blow saw her flung to the floor a few feet away.

Stunned and dazed, Rogue raised herself to her knees in time to see that she had forgotten about the driver, he was raising the bar again this time heading for Jubilee who was fast running out of ground to back away into.

Rogue began to laugh; it was a small chuckle at first, until it grew into a full throaty laugh. Both Jubilee and the driver turned to look at her convinced he had gone nuts, but Rogue it seemed was very much in control.

She stood stoic and unmoved as a fine trickle of blood ran down from the corner of her mouth; she ran her tongue along the bottom row of her teeth. She never took her gaze away from the driver; the bastard had broken one of her teeth. She spat it out to the side of her feet along with a fair amount of blood.

Taking off her gloves slowly, she ran a finger along up the trail of blood and ran the bloodied finger along the tip of her tongue clearly enjoying the coppery taste, smiling all the time.
She narrowed her eyes and began to concentrate, before he knew what was happening he was lifted off his feet and was heading straight for her! She let him struggle in front of her, his feet flaying and kicking desperately, vainly trying to fight her telekinetic hold.

Suddenly reaching out she grasped the side of his face with her bare hands, and watched him finally understand what true pain was. Closing her eyes she pulled him in, intent on bleeding him dry. Images, memories flashed before her, Jubilee was not the first young girl that he had attacked. At least three other girls had been as unlucky as to come across this monster.

Rogue grimaced against the pain and the horror of what his victims had suffered overwhelmed her and she winced in pain. With a growl of pure anger, she tightened her hold and threw him. Hard and fast into the brick wall, such was the strength and the fury with which she had flung him that the impact caused the wall to shake and crack. His skull smashed and as he slumped down to the concrete floor a trail of bloody matter stained the wall behind him.

She was breathing hard, a fine sheen of sweat covering her tense body staring at the driver and the bloody mess he was in. She was sure she had killed him.

Jubilee came running up to her once again, Rogue held her back with a sudden rising of her hand. ‘Don’t touch me…!’ She snapped at her. The younger girl’s face fell, ‘I’m sorry…’

Rogue turned to look at her at last, ‘No, ya don’t understand…’ she picked up her gloves from the floor, ‘my skin…, ya could really get hurt.’

Jubilee seemed to understand at last, ‘Oh, that’s your power?’

Rogue nodded, ‘Yeah, my power…poisonous skin…’ Jubilee stepped closer all the same. Rogue smiled at her, this kid sure had a nerve.

‘But if that’s your power, what about the thing with your mind…the way you pulled that guy towards you… that was telekinesis, right?’ And she sure was observant.

Rogue sighed and having put on her gloves placed an arm about the younger girls shoulder leading her away from the carnage. ‘Yeah…kid about that; let’s just keep that between ourselves for now huh…’ She pressed the girls shoulder, ‘can ah trust ya Jubilee…?’

The young mutant looked up at Rogue surprised, ‘You know who I am?’

Rogue nodded and smiled at her, ‘Ah sure do…my name’s Rogue. We’ve been lookin’ for ya kid, lucky we found ya just in time…’

Jubilee nodded, before adding, ‘It sure is…and Rogue, you can trust me.’ Rogue looked down at her as they walked; surprised to see an expression in the kid’s face that was something akin to adoration.

Rogue tightened her arm about Jubilee’s shoulder and allowed the girl to lean into her. Just before they left the alley and turned into the street Rogue concentrated once more, she kept Jubilee moving as the iron bar that had been used to attack began to quiver and rise from the ground.

It hung suspended in the air, shaking a little before it straightened, the metal seemed to hesitate for a while before it shot through the air straight and true, right into the chest of the Jubilee’s kidnapper. His skull may have been smashed against the wall, and he may very well have been dead, but Rogue so no harm in making sure.

Part 9- ‘Making Plans And The Problem With Ethics…’

Rogue sat atop the warehouse roof cheerfully swinging her legs, she turned to look at Remy with a gleeful smile. The roof had become their own special sort of place, away from the rest of the Acolytes, the X-Men and the rest of the world. Rogue still didn’t trust the Cajun swamp rat but she was beginning to enjoy his company a lot more.

She found she could be herself around him, as sullen, angry, quiet or as loud as she liked, no questions asked. She liked that clause, no questions asked. Nobody move and nobody got hurt.

It had taken her a while to fully appreciate the telekinesis or the telepathy; she found she had to be watchful around the mansion, if she didn’t take care she would find herself invading other mutant’s thoughts. And what the other Xavier Academy attendees thought was scary!

Kitty’s secret crush on Kurt was laughable, because if she only thought to ask him she would find that Kurt felt the same way about her. Other’s worried about normal teenage stuff, parents, school; those thoughts comforted her awhile, whatever else was happening in the world, however they were perceived mutants worried about things as normal and everyday as any human.

Of course there were minds she deliberately kept away from, the older mutants, Storm and Beast who would know in an instant if their mind was being probed. And Scott’s mind, she had caught a glimpse of his state one evening as she had walked past the room he had shared with Jean. Her mind’s eye immediately transported her in the room alongside him; he was lying prostrate on his bed, his arms crossed protectively over his chest. She couldn’t help but be pulled further, deeper into his mind, further into his memories of Jean.

And Rogue saw things she did not wish to see, a cloudy vision of happier times, Jean walking about the room, laughing…twirling, it was all a mess, a tangible mass of memories and recollections. Then all at once the images were focused and she seemed to be intruding on the last conversation they had ever had together.

And it got harder to breathe; because they were talking about marriage…and children. Rogue hitched a breath, vainly trying to pull away, but however much she pulled she couldn’t move.

All of a sudden the image vanished and Scott sat bolt upright seeming to sense a presence in the room. That was Rogue’s cue, forcing her mind back she pulled herself outside to her physical being still stood outside his room.

Scott rushed towards the door flinging it open with an urgent fury looking first one way then the other… only to find there was nobody there.
Rogue waited until she was sure he had gone back inside and locked the door before she floated back down from the ceiling.

The Professor’s mind she also avoided, attempting any intrusion on his thoughts would be like sending out a flare, he would detect her new powers in an instant and she sure as hell wasn’t about to explain herself to Professor Xavier or allow herself to be probed and investigated by Doc McCoy, something she was sure would happen once they knew how far her powers had extended.

And then there was Logan, his mind she avoided for so many reasons, principally because she knew something of the nightmares he regularly suffered. To be caught up in something like that was far too much for her to bear. However angry she was with him, she would hate the idea of knowing just how much and how far he suffered.
And maybe, just maybe if she read his thoughts she would discover how deep his feelings were regarding her.

It would mean she’d have to confront her own feelings about him, and for whatever reason, however much she could flirt with him, drive him crazy by blowing hot and cold…she wouldn’t, couldn’t force herself to recognise what she felt for him. She wasn’t ready for that, scratch that, she was past ready. Somewhere along the line the moment had passed, and every minute that passed made it harder.

Harder, because somewhere along the line she had changed, and not just with her power, some part of her had died along side Jean, a hope, some notion things would get better; and it was an ideal she had been happy to bury. The delusion of a better day had lifted, it was to the future she looked, and it was a future that couldn’t lie with the X-Men or with Logan.

That didn’t mean she would stop having her fun with him, there were few things in life more satisfying than knowing just how far she got under his skin.

‘Cherie, ye know if you do this, there’ll be no going back…they won’t want ye back. You ready for that fille?’ Remy looked across at her and seemed to read her thoughts perfectly.

She sighed and smiling looked around her. His playing cards were floating around them both in a wide circle. She was using her telekinesis to keep them afloat and he had charged them with his own power. The whole thing looked remarkably beautiful, a ring of fire, burning around just the two of them.

She lifted her hands and instantly they began rising higher until they floated high above their heads. She looked towards him with a clear gaze and an even clearer resolution.

‘Ah know…just like ah know ah won’t wanna go back.’ Suddenly she brought both her hands together in a tight clasp. The pack of cards still charged collided together creating a huge column of light that reached far into the night.

‘Ah hope ye got a new pack of cards swamp rat…’ She smiled widely at him as the now obliterated cards rained down on them in tiny pieces like crude confetti.

He patted the left side of his coat, ‘Right here…’

---

Comic books made heroes. She knew that, comics made heroes out of strangers who had suffered, boys who had lost parents and as a result turned into dark knights. Heroes out of teenagers bitten by radioactive spiders who began climbing walls and shooting webs, comics made heroes out of the least likely of souls.

Tragically unrealistic at best, more often than not they were saviours whose distinctions were drawn, black and white, good and evil. Lines as simple and finite as all that, never wavering and never wrong. Jubilee Lee knew all this yet she had made a hero out of her saviour, Rogue.

What wasn’t there to admire about the Mississippi broad, given her Southern lilt, her strength and her amazing powers. She wasn’t a comic book hero; the distinctions were less clear, the lines all too easily blurred.

In the few weeks she had been at the mansion Jubilee had seen Rogue in all her various guises, at once sullen, at times sweetly sarcastic and even amazingly blasé with what Jubilee was certain had to be the scariest mutant on the planet, Logan.

But Jubilee was true to her word and kept Rogue’s secret, the power she had witnessed in her she had discussed with no one. Though she had revelled in holding many of the students enthralled as she had told them of how Rogue had dispatched of the thugs in the alley. Her natural exuberance made her a hit with just about everybody, though Logan did find her noise a little excessive at times.

She breathed a fresh air into the mansion, and even the Professor could be found smiling just that little bit more. But for Jubilee the hero undoubtedly of Xavier’s mutant academy was Rogue.

And Rogue was not entirely indifferent to the kid either. ‘Kid’, Rogue smiled at the term, the same word Logan had used for her for so long, it seemed she had inherited the same trait and coined the phrase for the strange Asian girl, who for some reason had grown attached to her.

She stood watching her in the open door of the professor’s study as he taught his class about ethics. Well she remembered these lessons, it felt a lifetime ago when she had sat the back eager to learn, desperate to do better. She shook her head even now she could see herself, wide eyed and hopeful. Such fools then, like Jubilee and so many of the mutant kids who sat there now, swallowing the same false hope and dreaming of better days.

Professor Xavier could sense her presence over his shoulder at the door, could feel her disapproving eyes bore into his back. He sighed deeply before continuing, ‘The greatest challenges are yet to be faced by mutants…’ He wheeled his chair to the other side of the room, so he could face Rogue but still address the students.

‘I’m sure you have all heard of the proposal for the Mutant Registration Act, and I am sure all of you are aware what such an act will mean for our kind. It does not however have to be a cause for consternation and conflict between our race and the human kind. Open dialogue, concessions and compromise from all sides will see us avert a head on collision.’

He looked up sharply at Rogue, who was by now wearing a cynical smile and shaking her head, the tension between her and the Professor was clearly caught by the students who all felt this was somehow going to end up being quite a different sort of lesson.

Professor Xavier continued all the same, ‘The debate and dilemma for the humans is a broad one, should they accede to the rights of the individual, with regards to freedom of expression and actions, or should the greater responsibility lie with the needs of the wider society, and their rights to live in safety without fear or harm. Therein lies the question, does the right of the extra-ordinary, the super-powered individual such as mutants fall into this equation? Can we claim to demand the absolute rights to our powers, or does society have the greater claim on us, if not to constraint then at least monitor these powers of ours…?’

The whole class waited with baited breath, waited on Rogue, she merely huffed and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. The Professor smiled, ‘Rogue? Would you care to join the debate?’

She smiled and stepped into the room, ‘Ah’ve heard this fairytale before Professor, there’s no happy ending to this one.’

‘There is no doubt the debate will rage on Rogue, perhaps it is not even for this generation to find the answer…’ he gestured towards the roomful of students.

‘Perhaps because there is no answer Professor, your wish to avoid conflict, may prove to be just that…a wish. Confrontation is comin’, professor, never mind all the platitudes. It’s easy for us all to bury our heads in the sand, and warn the next generation of the monsters hidin’ under their beds, meanwhile we’ll find its all too easy to scream when we’re bleedin’, and vainly wishin’ we’d spoken out before…’ She stood up straight wearing a peculiar smile.

Professor Xavier eyes narrowed and he concentrated, he kept his gaze fixed on Rogue. ‘You see class, Rogue was one of my best students for an ethical debate, right here in this classroom, and lately it seems her views have changed.’

‘Adapted…. Professor, ma views have adapted. Wasn’t it you who said that we are all programmed to wanna fight to fit in, our nature’s ya said, humans and mutants alike, to wanna be accepted, to survive, that’s the natural law of all things…right?’ She looked towards him coldly.

She turned to walk out of the room; she stopped at the door and called over her shoulder,
‘Guess ah’m wondering why some of us are forced to fight that much harder…’

Rogue hurried out of the class, shaking with suppressed anger. She needed to hit or hurt something; the various voices in her head were calling for blood, never mind the danger room this was a far greater need, far more base and sadistic.

Part 10-‘The Bitch Of Bayville Makes Her Move…’

Rogue stalked down the corridor cursing under her breath as she went. The sunlight filtered through the tall bay windows that stretched from floor to ceiling but it did nothing to lighten her mood. She hurried past the views overlooking the gardens with a frustrated haste.

That is until she spied an all too familiar sight of blonde hair blowing in a gentle breeze. She had walked past the view first, but she stopped, approached the window slowly and looked again.
Siren… stood alone on the small ornamental bridge, reading a book and looking every bit the picturesque beauty.

Rogue regarded the sight with some curiosity, before smiling quietly to herself.
Time to spoil the view…

‘Hey…’ Rogue approached the girl with a gentle smile and an innocent gait. ‘Siren, right..?’ She asked, approaching her slowly.

The girl was surprised and just a little bit nervous. Siren was the classic all-American beauty, all curves, blonde hair and blue eyes. All with the addition of that nauseating positive attitude that sent Rogue’s teeth grating, she believed she could pinpoint this particular mutant to a tee. The girl had probably been head cheerleader, class valedictorian and all round school sweetheart, no poisonous skin for her, no such luck.

Y-yeah…and you are Rogue, right?’ Siren stammered slightly and began chewing her lower lip. ‘Look…um… I’m sorry for what happened, between me and Bobby; we really didn’t mean to hurt anybody.’

No of course not, ya just like sticking your tongue down random guy’s throats, Rogue thought with a vicious snarl. But she smiled and made a point of circling around her. She stopped just behind her. ‘Why’d ya think ya have to apologise to me?’

Siren turned around to face her, the slightest measure of confusion crossing her pretty face, ‘Well Bobby had said that you and he were…you know…’

Rogue stopped closer, ‘didn’t stop ya though did it?’ She didn’t wait for Siren to reply, ‘ya know it’s oddly appropriate your name…Siren…’ Rogue barely whispered the words now but there was no mistaking the gravity of her tone, ‘Sirens were traditionally said to be underworld creatures that lured sailors to their deaths by their haunting song…’ She was at Siren’s shoulder now, whispering into her ear.

The girl pulled away a startled expression crossing her face. But Rogue changed her approach once more; she smiled, the angry expression banished and the tone normal again. ‘Forget about it…Bobby and ah were over a long time ago, it wasn’t really gonna go anywhere.’
‘Either way, I am sorry…’ Siren was confused; she had no idea what to make of the strange Southern girl with the dark clothes and the strange hair.

Rogue waved away her apology, and with her arms crossed behind her back stepped close to the other girl once more. ‘So what’s your power?’

Siren shrugged her shoulders, ‘the power of echoes and sound, if I scream loud enough I can shatter any glass object within a 10 mile radius...’ She smiled proudly.

Rogue smiled back and nodded, ‘Oh, hence the name, Siren…’ she stood barely a few inches away from her now. ‘Do ya wanna know what my power is?’

Siren desperately wanted to move back but somehow couldn’t find the strength to step away, ‘I-I already know…your skin…’

Rogue leaned closer into her and tilted her head slightly, ‘Honey, ya don’t know the half of it…’ She didn’t move away and in fact seemed fixated by the girl’s mouth.
Sirens lips twitched nervously, Rogue noted her fear and smiled, ‘ya know you have a very pretty mouth, ah can understand why Bobby was so desperate to lock lips with ya…’

Siren was finding it difficult to breathe; it was only now she was beginning wonder why Rogue was holding her hands so tightly behind her back. Why her eyes had suddenly changed to a feline like yellow. She instinctively took a step back.

‘W-what are you doing..?’ She soon got her answer, Rogue reached out suddenly and clamped a hand over the girl’s mouth, and it was a vice like grip leaving Siren with very little strength to fight back or to use her mutancy and scream.

Rogue clasped her other hand tightly around the girl’s wrist. Both her hands were bare and Siren was soon experiencing pain like she had never known. The pull was excruciating, and Rogue held on bringing her face close to Siren’s ear whispering. ‘Ah’m just stockin’ up darlin’…just stockin’ up…’

---

‘You know you should have killed her…’

Rogue pushed the voice away, she was getting better at it now, or maybe because there were so may of them up there now that she’d given up fighting with them, and sometimes even held amusing little conversations with them.

Barely a half hour after leaving Siren a crumpled unconscious mess on the bridge she had set off. She hadn’t killed her, only took enough out of her to ensure she’d be out for a couple of days and to know what it was, what it cost to make fool out of Rogue. She smiled, there was no way the blonde bimbo was going to forget her in a hurry.

‘It would have been easy and so simple…ya know she deserved it…’ Rogue shook her head clear, ‘we don’t kill mutants, steal their powers of course, but we don’t kill them…’ she muttered under her breath.

‘But we kill humans?’

‘That’s different…’ she replied, ‘he deserved it…’

---

She stood in front of the now fast dilapidating house that had long been home for the Brotherhood. Well, she thought, wouldn’t Mystique be proud to know how much care they were taking of the place. The shutters were hanging off dirty windows, and the lawn was overgrown with a hundred different variety of weed.

She stepped towards the door and settled her eyes on the man stood leaning lazily against the wall. She smiled widely at him, ‘Ya know swamp rat, there ain’t no cause for ya to be here…ah’m sure ah can handle the Brotherhood on ma own…’

Remy leaned further back, raising one knee and placing his foot against the wall, he looked coolly over at her, ‘Cher`ie… Remy pretty sure ye can handle just about anything…it don’t mean he don’t wanna be around when ye do…’ She hadn’t called on him but he had come all the same, sensing that she was finally ready to move on, and he wanted to be the first she moved on to.

He was turning a playing card over and over in his hands; she noted the suit with a curious smile, the Queen of Hearts…oddly appropriate.
She looked up at him, by now standing only a few inches away, they stood close together on the porch, she pressed a hand to his arm, and searching his eyes found him to be oddly, deeply affected by her touch. That made her smile even more and leaning forward she grazed her lips against his cheek, it was the slightest of touches barely a seconds worth and certainly never enough to allow her mutancy to kick in, but he caught his breath all the same.

She stepped back and gestured towards the door, ‘Then…would ya do the honours…?’
He understood completely and bowing slightly complied by knocking on the door loudly, she nodded her appreciation and Remy took up his lazy post by the door once more. ‘Why thanks sugah…’ She offered him one of her brilliant smiles before turning her attention back to the front door.

She didn’t wait for a reply, and taking off her gloves flexed her hands.
‘Time for ya to do your thing Rogue…’ She spoke to the voice deep inside her head, calling up a memory, closing her eyes she concentrated. Suddenly flinging her arm outwards and gesturing with her open hands towards the door she heard it creak and then with a satisfying crunch splinter.

The door flew off its hinges and into the house, fine bits of wood splaying everywhere. It came to land on the staircase, Rogue stepped into the hallway, calling out ‘Knock…Knock…!’

She looked towards a very confused Lance, frozen in the hallway, regarding the door with some confusion and in the middle of carrying a fork of spaghetti to his mouth. He turned to look at the point where the front door once stood, his mouth agape he could for a while only stare at the girl who stood in its place.

‘What the f-…Rogue?’ She smiled at him and the rest of the Brotherhood, Blob, Pietro and Toad, who had by now joined Lance in the defunct hallway.

‘Hello boys…. Did ya miss me…?’ Lance tossed his plate aside and took a step towards her; he recognised the all too confident look in her eyes, the challenging air about her as she smiled.

‘I’ll say this for you Rogue; you still know how to make one hell of an entrance…’ he stepped closer still, ‘So, what’re you doing here?’

She smiled sweetly, ‘Just had a cravin’ to pound some mindless meat…’ she encompassed them all in a glance, ‘so what of it boys, ya up for a fight?’

Lance crossed his arms and laughed, ‘All of us…? You wanna fight all of us?’ He looked past her shoulder and to the empty space behind her. ‘Just you…?’

She mimicked his stance and leaning her head to one side shrugged her shoulders, ‘Don’t worry, ah’ll go easy on ya.’

Still unsure but unwilling to pass up such a challenge all four mutants stepped forward towards Rogue, ‘Girl, you got yourself a fight.’

‘Good, and ah hope for your sake ya boys are wearin’ underpants.’ None of them understood that last statement of hers.

Lance lunged at her pressing his hands to the floor as he did. The ground underneath their feet began to shake and churn up, the shockwave heading straight for Rogue.

He looked up smiling triumphantly, Rogue didn’t move until the last minute, as the seismic disturbance reached her she simply lifted her hands and floated upwards. She smiled widely at the boy’s surprise and shook her head at him. Lance had never been able to control his power for long, using powers akin to an avalanche left him drained.

She used that to her advantage, flying over to him; she floated him up to her level, and promptly drained him. He fell unconscious and when she had her fill threw him out of the doorway and onto the lawn.

‘WOAH…’ Pietro gasped out loud, ‘hey no fair….!’ Next came Blob, the only real danger with his strength and weight, tactics 101, take out the strongest and the rest will soon follow. She used the wall as a springboard and pushing with her legs somersaulted in the air and landed on the big man’s shoulders, quickly pressing her hands to his neck.

He fell to the floor with a thump that set the ground shaking again. She climbed off him and sought to fly again when toad whipped out his tongue and wrapped it around her ankle. He began to pull her to the floor but she had a strength he had not anticipated.

She wrapped her hands around the tongue, cringing at its sliminess and used it as a leverage to lift him from the floor. He struggled and she smiled before beginning to spin, slow at first, then faster and faster in dizzying circles until she released him. He went flying out to the lawn and landed heavily on the already unconscious Lance.

Only one left now. Rogue approached Pietro with a smile and a menace. He stood his ground as she moved towards him.

Remy was sat on the porch calmly stacking up his cards in a game of solitaire as various Brotherhood members came flying overhead. He barely even flinched as they sailed over his head one by one to land on the lawn, even the giant, they were all soon stacked one on top of the other on the grass in front of him.

The only indication he was actually noticing what was happening was the lazy smile he wore, quietly proud of his cher`ie. She came out dusting herself off having flung the last one onto the lawn, he stood and handed her gloves. She took them from him, and allowed her bare fingers to lace over his, lingering just a while, but it was enough to trigger the pull. He flinched, only now noticing her eyes were still glazed over, but the sharp sound of his pain snapped her back and she closed eyes, pushing the voices and the power back.

She forcefully pulled her hand away and quickly replaced her gloves; Remy breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Sorry sugah, still in attack mode…’ she rubbed her hand over eyes and seemed to stagger a little. He caught her against his chest and steadied her with his arms, ‘Rogue…, fille you need to slow down.’

She pushed him back a little and stood on her own, ‘No, ah’m fine…’ she looked over at the mutants on the lawn and smiled, ‘ah’m better than fine.’

---

By the time Remy and Rogue had left the Brotherhood were thoroughly humiliated, not only had she beaten them and soundly kicked their ass, she’d left them all tied together and perched precariously on the roof of the house.

And she’d removed their pants, no doubt her little joke, but thankfully she had at least left them their underwear. Now her earlier question made sense.

What everyone failed to notice was the black van parked just a little down the street, with blacked out windows, allowing the perfect view of the house. He watched with a fearful intensity, clutching the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles whitened under the pressure.

He had caught up with her at long last.

Part 11- ‘Of All The Things To ask…,

‘She killed him Logan…’ Professor wheeled his chair over to the window where the other man stood. Logan’s arms were crossed tightly over his chest and his face was set into a grim look of pensive resignation.

‘I’m sorry old friend, I realise how difficult this must be for you…’ Logan looked up sharply at the direct approach Xavier had taken.
‘Don’t do that…’ he snapped. ‘Don’t go in there,’ he tapped the side of his head, ‘it’s too personal.’ He turned back to the window

Xavier sighed and wheeled himself away, ‘I’m sorry Logan, I don’t mean to probe, but you know… you’ve seen it. The anger growing in her, the darkness she’s no longer able to or no longer willing to fight.’

Logan nodded his head sadly, ‘I thought, if she just let me in…this past year it’s been hard on all of us. But I guess I always knew it had hit her the hardest, and I just waited…’ he turned back into the room looking towards Xavier, ‘I wanted her to come to me, to need me…’

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against the cool glass, feeling so tired and at a loss. ‘Talk ’bout bein’ a selfish bastard.’ He hated himself for waiting, for wishing her to fall just so he could be the one to catch her, but now, now that she had fallen it was from such a height and it was too far.

He couldn’t help her, but maybe, surely the world’s greatest psychic could? He turned toward him suddenly, ‘Charles, you can fix it right? You can bring her back…’

‘I have tried Logan, believe me, but this is not like it was, when Rogue found herself haunted by the ones she absorbed before she was willing to fight them, this time…’ He shook his head and wheeled further into the centre of the room.

‘What…this time what?’ Logan demanded impatiently. Xavier shook his head sadly, ‘She’s crossed too many lines this time Logan, I can’t bring her back because she doesn’t want to come back.’

Logan knew he was referring to Siren; Bobby had found the girl still unconscious and collapsed on the bridge. As Hank had tended to her physical well being Xavier had probed her mind to see what could have happened.

What he saw had startled and horrified him to such an extent that he had initially slumped forward in his chair, sheer exhaustion coming from Siren’s painful memory of Rogue’s unprovoked attack. He had shut his eyes and only opened them at length to wheel himself hastily out of the med lab, leaving a very confused Hank, Logan and Storm in his wake.

But Logan, who knew of the threat Rogue had issued Bobby over Siren had followed him only for Xavier to confirm every suspicion he never wanted to have.

Xavier sat bolt upright and waited with a halted breath. Sure enough the voice returned and this time both Logan and Xavier were listening carefully. Rogue.

‘Ya know it’s rude to talk about someone when they’re not in the room…and Professor I think Scott needs your help…’

---

Rogue had returned to the mansion to pack knowing it was only a matter of time before the Professor had figured what she had done to Siren. She had worked the anger out of her system in her fight with the Brotherhood. Now she just wanted to be away, far from the mansion and from the X-Men.

But the things they say about the best laid plans and all that. She wasn’t going to get a clean break, not least because she had done little to deserve one. She had told Remy to wait just outside the mansion gates while she had made straight for her dorm and the bag under her bed.

She didn’t anticipate the figure waiting behind her door, and it was only when she was busy piling clothes into her bag that he chose to speak.

‘I saw what you did, the way you attacked that girl…I saw you Rogue.’ She turned around and came face to face with Scott. He was unshaven, bedraggled and looked as if he hadn’t washed in the best of a week, but he was their fearless leader all the same.

She looked up at him, ‘Ah don’t know what you’re talking about.’ She turned back to her packing. He came closer and stood over her shoulder; she could feel him breathing heavily over her neck, leering almost. This was not good; it had not occurred to her how far grief could have pushed Scott.

‘I saw you…’ he whispered, ‘the way you drained her on purpose, the way you walked away as she dropped.’
Rogue turned around and pushed him back forcefully, ‘Ya know for a man with glowing red orbs for eyes ya sure do see a lot.’

He had his hands around her throat before she could even blink, pushing her back against the wall, choking the life out of her, she was too shocked to do anything but stare into his red shades as his face bore down on her, as his words washed over her.

‘I knew, from the beginning I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you but the Professor insisted…’ He spat the words at her, his face twisted into a bitter snarl. And Rogue despite all the strength she’d found in herself could not at first fight back.

He was confirming all she’d long thought about this place, all she knew they’d long thought about her. They had never trusted her, never accepted her, not really.
‘Is that why ya worked so hard to get me to join huh?’ She pushed him back but he held fast.

Scott shook his head, seemingly confused his grip on her loosened, ‘I was wrong, but Jean and the Professor they both said there was always something beneath the surface, that the X-men should give you a chance and a home…’

Rogue took advantage of his distraction and pushed him back forcefully until he fell to the middle of the floor. She coughed and fought to breathe normally again rubbing the welts on her neck from where Scott’s hands had held her.

‘I saved your precious Jeannie and your life more than once; I don’t owe you or the X-men anything!’

She watched from the corner of her eye as he raised himself slowly to his feet and pushed his red glasses further up his nose, his jaw line was set tight, and he spoke through clenched teeth with a face contorted into a hateful scowl.

‘It was you who should have died, not Jean…YOU!’

Rogue stopped dead in her tracks and could only stare at him mouth agape. All the fight suddenly drained out of her and she was suddenly aware of the pain in her chest. She had always known it was there, but she’d long managed to pummel it into submission until it resided merely as a dull ache. But now, with his hateful words it came rushing back and it was a knife, a bitter unbelievably sharp knife that cut through and through.

But as with all pain an all wounds that are left to fester, Rogue turned this particular hurt into anger and it now coursed through her veins as a darkness she embraced. Because it saved her, saved her from being hurt by trusting men like Scott Summers who had once told her that she would always mean something, that she would always be a part of a valued team, and who was now wishing her dead.

‘Is that wh-what you…is that what you all think?’ She looked away disgusted and held her hands into tight fists as he barely hesitated before replying with a firm ‘yes.’

Unfortunately for him Bobby Drake could not have chosen a worse time to burst into the room hell bent on revenge for his girlfriend. He shouted some sort of obscenity she barely acknowledged before he aimed a series of deadly sharp icicles her way.

Rogue looked up angrily; Scott’s words still plaguing her mind, her eyes flashed a menacing yellow. As the shards of ice flew toward her she held up her open outstretched hand and concentrated. The ice stopped mid air and she smiled in triumph.

Snapping her eyes to glance briefly at a shocked Bobby she gestured with her hand and instantly the icicles instead headed at a frightening pace for Scott!

With the same hand and an easy flick of the wrist Rogue used her telekinesis to send Bobby crashing into the wall, his head flew back hitting the solid wall behind him awkwardly and he slumped down to the floor unconscious. She turned her attention back to Scott, he had managed to dodge the icy weapons and blasted the rest with his optic blasts but he was out of practise and as a consequence there it was, a large chunk of ice protruding from his chest.

The wound was just above his heart and a little below his shoulder, it was not fatal, at least not yet. Rogue tore off her gloves and approached him as he fell to his knees, his hand pressed over his wound. She stood in front of him and looked down.

‘Ya blame me don’t ya?’ She kneeled down with him, tilting her head curiously to one side. ‘Ya think if ah hadn’t been around to drain her, she’d still be here. Do ya really think ah had a choice…’

She spoke to his mind. ‘She used me Scott, ya know she did. What do we all fear when we die? Bein’ forgotten. And she wanted ya, she wanted us all to remember, how could we forget dear Jean, when she’d implanted all her memories in the walkin’, talkin’ memory bank. She used me…’

‘Stop it…stop it!’ he screamed, ‘She sacrificed everything for us, she saved all of us..!’

But Rogue had him at her mercy now and carried on regardless, ‘Do ya think ah want her in my head, all her memories, her visions, everything she ever knew or felt haunting me up here, she’s turned into that little piece of conscious ah never wanted…why’d ya think ah haven’t really hurt ya yet?’

And then she heard it the words he had been silently screaming all along, the words he forced into her mind, ‘DO IT! Really hurt me…Kill me...’

Rogue shuddered at his insistence and desperation; she stepped back and watched him wide eyed. She could not believe that this was the same Scott Summers, the man they had all looked up to for so long. A man so resolute and firm in his ways that both she and Logan had joked about how annoyingly stiff and straight laced he was and how far that stick would have to be shoved so far up his ass that he could be so damn righteous all of the time.

But they had respected him all the same; because whatever else Scott was he was not one to give up, to speak of defeat. He was always the one who sought the way out, through careful rationale, through reasoning.

Yet here he was demanding something of her that was beyond all reason, beyond a man whose best friend was rationality. This was the reason for his goading, for his hateful words, he was pushing her to give into the anger and end it for him.

Coward. Rogue’s anger found its way to the surface but not for the reason he had wanted, bitter tears forced stung her tears and she hastily blinked them away. Here was another using her, and she was tired of it. How many times would it have to take for her to remember that everyone wanted something, nothing was always for nothing, what was it about her that screamed use me?

She lifted her arms, palms outstretched and watched as he rose from the floor, she held him suspended in mid-air for a few seconds before she threw her arms upwards and watched as he slammed into the ceiling, pinned in a shape resembling a crude cross shape. With his arms stretched forcibly outwards the muscle around his wound stretched, the blood finding its way along the length of the icicle and dripping to the floor.

She was ruthless, forcing his eyes open and forcing himself into his mind she taunted him, ‘How ironic ah’m using your dead girlfriend’s power against you.’

‘Then use it, kill me…’ he whispered, he had taken up the words as some sort of mantra and seemed it was all he was capable of muttering.

She was disgusted, ‘ya pathetic little man, fine ya wanna die so badly…!’
With that she brought up arms down in one swift motion and Scott followed suit, he hurtled towards the ground, both of them knowing that the impact was sure to shift the icicle so it pierced his heart, granting his wish and killing him.

‘NO!’ Rogue whirled to face the new voice just as Scott came to a sudden halt inches from the floor. He released a painful moan of either relief of disappointment, Rogue could not be sure.

Xavier was at the open door with Logan by his side, he had his fingers pressed to his temple and gently lowered the now unconscious Scott to the floor. He turned his attention to Rogue and looked at her intently.

She locked his gaze with his own, suddenly the wheels of his chair shifted into gear and he rolled backwards and out of the room with a haste that had him gripping the arm rests to prevent himself from falling off. His chair skidded to a halt outside the wheels turning furiously.

‘Stay out of ma head old man, ya got no business bein’ up there, besides you ain’t gonna find it gets any prettier…’ Rogue stepped forward menacingly her fists clutched tightly to her side, only for Logan to step in her way with his claws extended.

He shook his head, ‘don’t make me Rogue…’cos we both know I will.’

She smiled then, a genuine look of attachment and something else, affection, sadness perhaps.

‘What do ya want Logan?’ she whispered the words for his ears only, and approached him slowly, her bare hands flexing gently against her side.

‘Stop…just stop. And come back to us …to me.’ That stopped her short; she had never heard him sound so tender, so lost. He seemed to be wearing his heart on his sleeve, like a wound that would not seal. And it was then that Rogue realised just how similar they were.

But she had come too far now, there was no way she could back down. Events, situations, lives had changed too much. And of course Logan already knew her answer; he saw it all in the way she smiled for him, just for him.

‘Too much and too far…right?’ he asked her with a halting breath. He nodded along with her. And of all the things he could have asked her, he had never thought simply asking her to stay would be the hardest.

She stepped close to him now, everyone else forgotten, pressing her lips gently on his, the slightest of brushes, she then whispered in his ear, ‘Sure is a shame Logan, me and you, hell it could have been somethin’ real special…’ she pulled away and smiled slyly at him, ‘but never mind, ya know what they say, there’s nothin’ to make a relationship more interestin’ than a little rough and tumble…’

Rogue looked toward Xavier again, ‘It’s been a hell of a ride Professor but ah guess this is where ah get off.’ He nodded his head slightly and she smiled, ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself; some of us just won’t be helped.’

Turning on her heel she only hesitated for a few seconds before rushing headlong towards the window, she smashed through it and Logan who was at the recess in an instant saw her hurtling towards the ground coming within inches of crashing into the stone before she raised herself up and flew right over to the gates and to a waiting Remy.

Rogue only looked back once towards the room where Logan still stood, only now he had been joined by Jubilee.
‘If I ask will she take me with her…?’ Rogue read her mind and could not help but feel the slightest of pangs at leaving her behind. But she knew it was the only thing to do.

‘Forget it kid,’ Jubilee startled that her thought could have been projected so clearly was leaning forward straining to catch every word Rogue offered her in reply, ‘it’d be best for ya to stick with the X-Men, they’ll take care of ya, it’s what they do. Ain’t that right Logan?’

Rogue smiled at them both as Logan placed a protective hand on Jubilee’s shoulder. And then she was gone roaring away on the back of Remy’s motorbike.

Part 12- ‘A Force Unseen…’

Hank struggled to persuade Bobby to sit still long enough for him to apply the bandage to his head, he couldn’t be sure if it was the boy’s hurt pride or adrenaline from the ‘fight’ with his ex that had him in a state of hyperactivity.

Doc McCoy had come to expect his lab to be filled with broken, injured and bewildered mutants of late and he had one particular mutant to thank for his latest influx; Rogue. She had either deliberately or inadvertently had a hand in placing them all here.

There was Scott, stretched out on bed, a man who he was sure hadn’t slept for weeks, heavily bandaged with his shoulder in a sling, and Bobby who had been cleared from having a concussion but not, according to Logan from being a complete ass.

Logan, Hank couldn’t help but feel sorry for his old friend, the physical injuries the ones the doctor saw could be bandaged and healed but what of the injuries done to Logan. Dealing with the treachery and desertion of a woman he had come to love was a pain no salve could fix. Hank saw him leaning heavily into the corner, pressed close to the wall a black look filled with anger crossing his face. Hank knew better than to talk to him whilst he was in this state, better to let the Wolverine wander into the woods behind the mansion and take out his frustrations on the old trees. Nobody in their right mind would want to cross those claws tonight.

And the Professor, he would see this as a personal failure, because he couldn’t reach the girl in time to make her see the destructive path she was taking. Showing each mutant that they had a higher purpose, a place in the world alongside humans had been his life’s work. Seeing one of his first, and Hank did not doubt one of his favourite protégés out of control had to be painful.

Rogue had been a favourite with so many at the academy, how would they take the news? How would the other students react to the fact Rogue had joined the other side, Magneto and his band of mutants? It had hit Hank hard, and he had been around long enough to have his share of disappointments in life. Rogue, though at times had been brusque and hostile, her southern charm and humour had soon won many over. She had been a constant presence at the academy, and although lately even he had noticed her pulling away, it would be strange not to see her around the academy.

‘What did you say to her?’ Logan’s quiet but firm voice brought Hank out of his silent reverie. He was slightly unnerved as Logan finished his sentence with his more than usually gruff snarl. His question had been addressed to Scott and as Logan moved over to the injured man Hank also moved instinctively in that direction. He did not doubt Logan was capable of violence, right now with Rogue’s defection Hank wasn’t sure of anything not even of the X-Men turning on each other.

‘Nothing…’ managed a weak Scott.

‘Bulllshit!’ Logan cried out furiously, ‘you must have said somethin’ to her; there was no way she would have…’ He seemed to falter.

‘Attacked me?’ Scott finished the sentence for him. ‘Because that’s what she did Logan, Rogue attacked me.’ But Logan was adamant.

‘What did you say to her?’

‘Rogue hasn’t been herself of late Logan we all know that, attacking a fellow X-man, well it’s something I did not expect. But it is not wholly unusual if she was seeking to cut all ties with us, with the academy ensuring there was no return, well then turning on her team mates would be….would be the way to go about it.’

Professor Xavier wheeled his chair towards Logan and Scott ready to interfere if he needed to. His voice faltered a little as he spoke. The strength he had sensed from Rogue was overwhelming; the power had resonated from her and it was matched by her anger. And to think all this time he had been worrying about another rising, had been worried about The Phoenix. And all this time this incredible force was or had been right in front of him, that he could have missed it was terrifying. The fact that she was perhaps on her way to join Magneto was even worse.

‘And what did you do to her Professor?’ Logan’s accusation caught him completely off-guard. He stared up at the angry man, whilst Logan advanced toward him. Hank knew there was no way Logan would hurt the Professor but he couldn’t help but be on edge all the same.

‘Rogue said you had been in her mind before. Is that why she was so angry? Had you been in there without permission?’ Logan’s voice rose with every word until he was practically shouting, ‘that’s it isn’t? You forced your way in there.’

‘I had no choice,’ Professor Xavier’s eyes narrowed and his voice grew stern, he could feel everyone’s stares fixed firmly upon him, judging him. ‘What I saw, what she had done to Siren and that man that she killed...’

Killed, that was news to Scott, Hank and Bobby, their eyes widened in shock. The Professor continued, ‘What I saw was such anger, bitterness and this overwhelming hate, it was as if she was covering herself in this black cloud, I had to force my way through. To see and to know what she had become…’

Logan stepped forward once more, ‘what do you mean, what has she become?’ His voice faltered. The Professor merely shook his head sadly, ‘I don’t know Logan, all I know is that she has this tremendous power, all the life sources she absorbed over the years she is somehow controlling them, using each ability as and how she wishes, it is a force unseen…’

Professor Xavier paused a little as the effect of his words were absorbed by the others, ‘But that is all I could get, she resisted me I couldn’t see any further.’

Logan’s hands balled into fists and he struggled to contain his claws, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘You had no right, that’s why she was so angry, you violated her. That code of practise you go on about, it meant nothing, you swore you would ever invade the mind of another, and you broke that promise to her.’

‘Logan, aren’t you listening…’ Professor Xavier gestured desperately, ‘I had no choice.’

‘That isn’t the way she sees it, as far as Rogue is concerned it’s another betrayal by someone she trusted.’ Logan looked around the room first at Bobby, who rightly cast his gaze downward; Logan briefly closed his eyes clearly counting himself in the tally of those who had hurt Rogue, before opening them again and settling his stare on Scott.

‘What did you say to her Summers, she didn’t just attack you did she?’ Logan’s voice was softer now, pained and slow.

It was a long while before Scott spoke; he pulled himself in the upright position, his long legs dangling from the bed to the floor, ‘I told her…I said it was she who should have died.’

‘What?’ Logan hadn’t heard right, he couldn’t have.

‘I told her that she should have died instead of Jean, that we didn’t want her on the team, and that I advised against it. I told her that’s how everybody at the academy felt, that she would always be an outsider, and that she would never be….’ He faltered before speaking again, ‘that she would never be wanted.’

Scott shut his eyes tightly and seemed to curse under his breath, repeating the words he had spat at Rogue only a few hours earlier suddenly resulted in him realising the devastating effect his words must have had. Had he really wished her dead? What had he done?

But it was Logan’s disappointment that sounded the loudest, merely shaking his head he made his way to the automatic glass doors, before turning and simply saying, ‘And we wonder why she left.’

His shoulders were heavy and sagged as he walked down the cold corridor, what had they done, what had they all done?

Part 13- ‘Promises…Promises….’

Rogue climbed off the back of the bike and stood facing the tall building, she hadn’t noticed how much bleaker the place looked in the night. She had told Gambit to keep driving so instead of heading straight to the warehouse they had spent the next few hours exploring the open road and Rogue had loved every minute of it.

The events back at the mansion had been unfortunate but she didn’t regret leaving, not for a second. As she rode on that bike she had felt the wind whip up her hair the sensation was as close to freedom as she had got in the last few months. Maybe things could have gone better with Logan, she sighed quietly to herself when she thought of him again, but she shook the gravity off and smiled. It wasn’t the end, not by a long while, she would see the X-men again, and she would see Logan again, in fact she was planning to see as much of them as she ever did.

She stepped into the dark building her footsteps causing the laboured and rotted floorboards to creak with every step. Gambit was right behind her, but she soon sensed they were not the only ones in the room. And sure enough out of the shadows came figures she soon recognised, Magneto and Mystique. For a while they all just stood together in a circle under the single fluorescent strip light hanging from the ceiling.

Almost instinctively Rogue took a step backwards; she had fought these mutants for so long it was only natural for her to feel cautious. Her retreat found her in the arms of Gambit, he placed his hand protectively in the small of her back and the warmth of his touch through the material of her coat steadied her. He moved his hand upwards until it rested on her right shoulder.

‘Its okay fille, I’m right here…’ He pressed her shoulder lightly and with his guidance she stepped forward once more.

Magneto sensing her hesitation attempted to offer a smile; Rogue decided it would be a long time before she would ever get used to that smile without thinking it was just creepy. ‘I can well understand your caution my dear,’ he spoke in a low gravely voice, oddly stately but menacing all the same, ‘it must be strange to find yourself here of all places.’

Rogue smiled a little, taking another step forward she looked around the vast empty warehouse, or at least attempted to, it seemed Magneto and the gang had yet to discover the wonders of electricity, either that or they were having trouble paying the bill because the whole place was pitch black. And then almost all at once the whole place lit up, every light in the building seemed to ignite; she looked back towards Magneto who was still smiling.

Rogue scoffed, ‘Nice trick, but ah kinda prefer the dark these days.’ With that she closed her eyes and concentrated, the lights began to flicker and then one after the other each bulb shattered, row after row the glass smashed and the tingling sound echoed around the room as the pieces hit the floor, until the only light left was the one that they were all standing under. She smiled widely now as the superior display of her powers boosted her confidence.

‘Very impressive Rogue, it is clear to see your powers have developed beyond all expectations…’ Magneto started to walk in a wide circle around her, as if he was inspecting her, Rogue turned to face him at every turn, added confidence she may have had but there was no way she was going to leave her back exposed to Magneto.

‘Ah’m guessing ya know somethin’ about what’s happenin’ to me?’ Rogue queried as soon as Magneto had come to a stop in front of her. He smiled once more and almost laughed a little. ‘I assure you my dear; I have no idea what you’re talking about…’

Rogue smiled along with him, ‘Sure ya don’t… y’all expect me to believe that the Cajun here just happened to stumble into that bar brawl?’ She crossed her arms in defiance,
‘Ya know ma accent may be slow, but I sure as hell ain’t.’
Magneto stepped close to her and shook his head, ‘No you really aren’t slow at all are you?’

‘So what’s happening to me?’ Rogue demanded once more.

‘It’s quite simple really…you’re evolving. Your X-gene is most likely in its final stages of development and as such your powers have kicked into overdrive.’ Seeing Rogue confused still he reached forward and tentatively placed a hand on her arm, ‘You really should be quite proud, Rogue you’re close to perfection.’

Rogue shook his hand off; his tone unnerved her, perfection? ‘Why now, why is this happening now?’

Magneto shrugged, ‘That I can’t answer, perhaps it’s in answer to the trauma you’ve suffered these past years, and these powers are an added defence mechanism that your body has deemed necessary, after all evolution is about survival.’

‘Are they permanent?’ Her voice shook a little as she spoke; it seemed so hard to believe, if she had evolved exactly what had she evolved into? A superior version of herself or a collection of every other mutant she had ever encountered? She found it difficult to discern which prospect she feared more.

‘I’m not sure, Rogue this change, the speed of it is unprecedented, we knew it would happen eventually, but how far the powers would extend is unknown even to us.’

‘We…?’ Rogue stared up at him now, her eyes blazing with a fury that was at once vulnerable and demanding.

‘Oh Charles knew something was happening, we may not be on the same side but we do have the odd discussion now and again, ‘ Magneto smiled quietly to himself, a small remembrance igniting a memory, ‘usually over a game of chess.’ The smile faded and Magneto feature’s returned to its usual stern appearance. ‘He spoke to me about it; he asked me if I thought if it was possible that mutants were still evolving, if it was possible some of us hadn’t reached our full potential. He was general in the details of course but I knew it was you, Rogue you had him worried, he saw it in you as I have long seen it, the power, the grace…the potential.’

Mystique who had hitherto remained silent suddenly spoke up excitedly, ‘And now you’re here, back where you belong, where you fit in.’ Rogue snapped her head around to look at Mystique, the woman who had posed for so long as her best friend and who claimed to be a mother to her.

Rogue laughed bitterly, ‘and now ah suppose we can have a lovin’ mother and daughter reunion right?’ Mystique actually stepped forwards as if to her embrace her estranged daughter. But Rogue’s blazing eyes and clear rage stopped the older mutant in her tracks, she shook her head, ‘now ah know you’re not goin’ to make the mistake of touchin’ me, not unless ya liked the idea of bein’ pushed off a cliff again, ‘cause believe me that can be arranged.’

Mystique growled warningly, her eyes gleaming a menacing yellow the ladies were ready for a fight. Magneto stepped forward and pointedly ignoring Mystique spoke low to Rogue, ‘But you enjoy it don’t you…the power, the darkness, its comforting isn’t it?’

Rogue smiled sweetly up at him, ‘The power, ya mean you’re power?’ She looked him squarely in the eye, ‘Yeah the magnetism’s fun, but ah like the blocks better.’ She tapped her finger against her forehead, meaning she had gotten around his ability to read minds, so there would be no playing tricks with her.

But he was right, the power all that strength was truly glorious, perhaps evolving wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
‘Why are ya tellin’ me this, why work so hard to get me here?’ Rogue turned on Magneto with an energy he found amusing. ‘What do ya want from me?’ she pressed further.

He looked intently at her and standing close pressed both his hands onto her shoulders, Rogue stared up at him this time allowing the contact to remain. ‘Because Mystique is right, you do belong here; don’t be afraid of the darkness or what you’ve achieved, embrace it, encourage it…’ taking one hand from her shoulder he took hold of her chin firmly, ‘listen to me Rogue, I can help you, right now I know that it tires you, after absorption you get a little weaker, well I can help you control that, train the process so there won’t be any pain and all that’ll you feel is the power, the life force as you suck it right out of them…’

His words, his words were so soothing, the sound filtered through her and she found herself nodding her head, her eyes drifting closed, but the effect lasted only a moment and she remembered where she was and who he was. Snapping her eyes open, she stepped back quickly. ‘Why…?’ she asked furiously of him.

‘Can’t you see it…?’ Magneto’s voice rose and octave and his voice seemed to boom and resonate around the room, ‘What we can be, Rogue with you by my side we can restore the natural order, take it back and make it the way it should be. With your powers we can turn this world upside down and bring these pathetic humans to their knees, we can put our race where it should be…, at the top of the food chain.’

She looked at him intently, how was it he was saying the words she had been thinking, words she had been carrying on her heart for so long? And why was it that this suddenly made all sense to her?

‘You know..,’ he spoke low again, ‘you of all us know what it is to hate them, to know how much they have hurt us and how they deserve to be punished. Can you imagine what it would be like Rogue, if we can change it, can you imagine mutants living without fear? Living free lives, without prejudice, without the hate and the threats, and free to practise their powers, Rogue can you imagine a world without organisations like the FFH?’

That did it, Magneto could not have words that would have spoken more to Rogue than the notion that they could be free of the hateful FFH.

‘Alright, ah’ll stay,’ she replied softly. Gambit took the one bag she had brought with her and made his way to the warehouse floor, halfway up the stairs Rogue turned back to an unmoving Magneto, ‘but ya should know I ain’t gonna make the mistake of trusting any of ya…’

He smiled back at her, ‘Then you’re in the right place, because none of us would be stupid enough to make that mistake…’

---

Rogue was laid flat out on the uncomfortable mattress her arms resting listlessly by her sides, and her hair hung loosely over her eyes, around her face and down around her shoulders; she stared up at the ceiling, her eyes blank and unmoving. The paint was peeling and yellow, the warehouse was certainly not the Academy in terms of appearances or comfort, but it was where she was staying. It was the place she had chosen, an abandoned old building surrounded by mutants only a few weeks ago she would have been fighting.

The strangest thing oddly enough for Rogue was the silence of it all, the warehouse was so damn quiet; at the Academy she had been used to the noises. The sounds of the other students running in the corridors, the giggles of the girls she had to share a room with, the shouts from outside the window, it was a constant noise, even in the dead of night she would hear them, sleepy breathing sounds, shallow sighs, contented happy sounds she found it harder and harder to endure. She barely slept and having to listen to how easily a good night’s rest came to just about everyone else only made her want to scream in anger.
But here it was quiet, peaceful almost, now that was strange.

But now here she was in a room next door to the Cajun, the same mutant who was now leaning against the frame of her half-open room door.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts she barely registered his presence. He watched her intently for a while before finally choosing to break the silence, ‘Hey cher`ie…’ his soft voice cut through the unusual silence easily.

Gambit had to repeat his words before she noticed him; she turned her head slightly to look at him. ‘What?’ she asked quietly.

‘Somethin’ on your mind cher`ie?’ he asked her before his face broke into a mischievous smile. A confused Rogue could only look curiously at him before it finally dawned on her what he was indicating with those red eyes of his.

She wasn’t lying on the mattress anymore, rather she was floating a few inches in the air above it, she had been so preoccupied in her thoughts she barely noticed she was levitating.

Recovering she sat up and buried her head in her hands, sighing deeply she stood up and made her way towards the door.

‘Ah need to go see someone, don’t wait up…’ she called out behind her. She was away and down the staircase before Gambit had time to make a reply.

---

The clink-clink of glass caught his ears long before it would have caught in the range of any normal human range of hearing. And then there was the familiar scent, he shut his eyes and allowed his other senses to guide him, to the scent and the sound of the one person he needed to see, to hear… and to feel again.

And sure enough there she was sitting on a little clearing leaning back against the tree and looking for all the world as if she belonged there. But she didn’t belong there, not anymore. The white streaks in her hair caught the moonlight perfectly as she tilted her head up slightly to look up at him; she smiled and held up a bottle of beer for him.

‘Hey Logan, drink….?’ Her southern lilt made her voice seem softer than usual. He stared down at her for a long while determined to ensure she wasn’t an illusion, a bitter mind-game of make believe. She was real all right, curiosity and sanity satisfied he took the bottle from her gloved hands and sat next to her.

‘Guess it’s nice to see some things don’t change…’ he growled at her before twisting the bottle cap open and taking a long sip of ice cold beer. She smiled and took a sip from her own bottle.

‘Ouch…’ she replied, he’d never been happy with her drinking, too much and too fast for one so young he had always said, but she smiled at his words all the same, ‘And ah thought ah was supposed to be the bitter one.’

He looked sternly at her, ‘Yeah well I haven’t had the best of days.’

‘No?’ she questioned him, ‘Wanna talk about it?’ she looked slyly at him, a look he didn’t appreciate. ‘Should ah take that as a no?’ she continued.

He growled low and Rogue started to wonder if this really was a good idea. ‘Why’d you do it?’ But his voice softened and he leaned his head back against the tree, they were sat close their heads almost touching. He looked over at her, so as he spoke his every word was a breath brushing softly against the base of her neck.

She met his gaze, her voice grew husky and she struggled to speak ‘What?’

‘Why’d you have to hurt her, Siren why’d you drain her?’

She looked away, and paused before she answered, ‘Because I could.’ His look of confused dismay failed to move her. She smiled and looked directly at him again; his face was so close to hers, their lips barely inches apart. Neither moved, neither was willing to give in.

‘Come on Logan, ya know me, ah’ve never lied to ya. What do ya want me to say, that I did it because I was pissed off she screwed around with ma boyfriend, that ah wanted to hurt her, to make her feel it?’ She shook her head, ‘No, to tell ya the truth ah couldn’t care less about them, ah did it because ah could, because ah have the power and because ah….enjoyed it.’

Rogue spoke the last words carefully, so that he would hear, that he would understand. She stood up and as she did so cast the bottle aside, brushing herself down she turned to walk away.

An infuriated Logan grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her back, as chance would have it he was wearing gloves, or maybe it had less to do with chance and more with the fact that he had been expecting this nocturnal visit. Either way his rage was clear as he grabbed her forcefully by the chin and forced her to look at him.

‘I don’t believe you…’ he hissed the words at her. He wrapped his other hand around her waist and pressed her close, she was crushed against his broad chest, her legs clashing against his, his hand held firmly against her back.

‘There’s got to be more to it than that, I know we hurt you, all of us…and me especially,’ he stopped and moved his hand to stroke her face gently, ‘but Rogue…’ his pained voice softened her a little as she closed her eyes and relished the feel of his strong hand against her skin, but it was only a little, and she pushed his down and away and stepped out of his embrace.

Her eyes blazed with a long suppressed fury. ‘Scary isn’t it, seeing it…all this darkness that surrounds me, look at me Logan, look at what I’ve become…’ She burned the words into his mind.

‘You should have told me, you never let me in!’ Logan could see it now, all the bitterness, all the rage she had lived with this past year had been eating her up and now instead of fighting it she was using the white hot rage that burned in her, and it was making her dangerous. He was seeing the darker side of her and the startling truth was what he saw was a mirror image of what he himself had been so many years ago.

All those years ago, before he had found the Academy, before Charles had calmed the tempests of his mind, back when he had still carried the scars of their experiments, when he had carried the agony and misery of his existence as a pain without release, this….this is what he saw in Rogue now.

And the revelation almost brought him to his knees, because she had found Charles, and she had found the academy but still it had meant nothing.

‘Ah was bleeding right in front of y’all, and ya didn’t see it, none of ya did, ‘cause ya didn’t want to. But you’re watching now aren’t ya, that’s why ah did it, ah wanted y’all to see the power that ah have.’ Rogue smiled at him before she slowly began to peel off her gloves.

Logan tensed at her actions but refused to move, he stood resolute and unafraid, ‘You had that power before remember? All those changes you went through because of the mutants you’d absorbed before, that almost killed you.’

She shook her head, ‘No, not this time, its different now, ah can control it…they don’t control me, not this time Logan.’ She flexed her bare hands and stepped toward him.
Logan watched her every step, she came closer and closer until she was only inches away from him.

‘Don’t do this Rogue,’ Logan’s voice cut through the deadly silence that had hung between them, ‘this isn’t you.’ She smiled up at him, a gentle smile, and the smile that he remembered from so long ago.

‘Logan…’ she barely whispered his name, ‘ah would never hurt you…., not unless ah have to.’ She watched his eyes before fixing her gaze on his mouth seemingly fascinated by his lips; reaching out tentatively she brushed a finger gently against his bottom lip, her hand quivered gently.

Logan took hold of her hand pressing it in his own, ‘What about Siren, you almost killed her; you didn’t have to do that.’ Rogue snatched her hand away and turning her back to him proceeded to replace her gloves.

‘This is me Logan, Scott was right; y’all should never have trusted me, ah never belonged here, not really…ah never fitted in, maybe ‘cause ah never wanted to.’

‘You do belong here, Scott was angry, grieving he didn’t know what he was saying, you need to be here…’ He pleaded with her, she needed to be here, where he could save her and stop her spinning out of control.

But his words fell on deaf ears, Rogue shook her head, ‘No…this was place was killing me, ya still can’t see the hell ah’ve been through, now ya get to see. Ah’ve crossed over to the darker side Logan, and ah kinda like it there.’

But he wasn’t ready to let her go, not yet, ‘This rage you’re carrying, you think that’s going to help you? I’ve been there, I’ve felt that hate, but you know what it’s gonna burn out and you know what you’re gonna be left with nothing…nothing Rogue.’

She stared at him before she smiled and laughed a little, ‘Then ah guess you’re right some things don’t change…’

Logan’s anger at her stubbornness threatened to boil over, ‘Then why’d you come here, what was the point other than pissing me off?’

‘Ah honestly don’t know Logan…’ She began walking away, before Logan relented and called out after her.

‘I ain’t giving up on you Rogue, no matter what, you can walk away all you want I’m not giving up.’

She stopped and turned on her heel, ‘That’s a shame because I gave up on you and this place a long time ago.’

Then what do you want from me?’ Logan shouted out her, even as she walked away he could catch her words floating back on the wind.

‘Ah don’t know Logan, ah may have given up on you….but ah ain’t ready to let you go…yet.’

Part 14- ‘Something About Betrayal…’

‘War is overdue
The time has come for you…’- Assassin- Muse

Subtlety had never been her thing, scratch that, subtlety was boring. Now this was fun, Rogue had her hands outstretched towards the camera’s pointing in their direction, she turned to look behind her, smiling sweetly at Remy, before she concentrated and watched as a fireball shot from either of her fingers and she saw them explode.

‘Cherie, ah like the way you think…’ Remy stood close behind her, she laughed slightly as the alarms wailed behind them, the maximum security complex churning into a state of panic.

She snaked her arms about his neck, his long leather jacket providing all the protection he could ever need from her. His arms naturally wrapped about her small waist, pressing her closer, tight against his chest, and she sighed loudly, shivering involuntarily as his leg moved to between her legs, nudging them apart gently widening her stance.

He smiled wickedly at her, and she shook her head, ‘Damn ya Cajun, ah’m beginning to like the way ya think as well.’
He couldn’t help but grin at her words, gripping her tighter as she concentrated and they began to levitate, gently rising above the ground her arms still about his neck, his eyes boring intently into hers.

They twirled round and around slowly as she lifted them higher, rising steadily, getting clear of the high walls, the barbed wire and glass at the top. With remarkable ease she floated them right over and down to the ground even as a small army of guards assembled waiting for them.

‘Mon ami…’ Remy looked down smilingly at her, cherishing the feel of her arms still about his neck, ‘time for you to do your thing.’ She nodded, no need to tell her twice. She turned to face the guards and smiled, they seemed a little taken back.

‘Ya know, the best thing for ya to do would be to run…now.’ She issued them a warning, hoping all the same they wouldn’t listen. They didn’t, she nodded appreciatively as they primed their guns and aimed in her direction.

Flexing her hands she stretched out her arms and used her telekinesis to pry the guns from them, she floated them high into the air, it was so easy and they were virtually powerless as they watched their only means of defence bouncing around meaninglessly in the air above their heads.

Rogue laughed as she brought her hands together quickly, linking her palms and fingers, the guns followed suit, clashing into each other, fusing into a mass explosion, fragments of twisted metal falling harmlessly to the ground.

The guards could only stare, too stupid or too shocked to move, either way they could only watch helplessly as her expression changed, no longer smiling, cold and calculated she shut her eyes and immediately a wind began to blow through the complex, it whipped up fiercely, the sky darkened over, heavy thunderstorm clouds blackened everything, she snapped open her eyes, now gleaming a fierce yellow, and down came the lighting striking within inches of the guards feet.

She floated upwards, her hair billowing around her, she seemed to pluck a fierce gust straight from the skies and aimed it straight towards them, and it hit the ground like a hurricane slamming into the poor guards like pins in a bowling alley.

Remy was inclined to make the same analogy as he watched the men go flying in all directions, some slamming into walls, others half way across the lawn and even a few ending up high in the trees.

She floated down to solid ground, the winds disappearing, the light returning, and she turned to face a proud Remy, ‘How ‘bout that Swamp rat?’ He nodded his approval and she laughed.

Turning to walk towards the building she called out to him, ‘Think ya better let the rest of ‘em in, don’t want them thinkin’ we’re havin’ all the fun now do we?’

Remy moved at last, heading towards the control station that operated the large security gate he and Rogue had floated over. He charged the door and watched it fly open underneath the force of the blast.

Making his way over to the controls he took out his pack of cards, he kissed the first one, Queen of Hearts, a long time favourite, now more so than ever, smiling as he watched his Cherie walk towards the main building. He replaced it in his top coat pocket, and patted it down, the rest he placed over the main console, charging them and barely making it out of the small booth before the computers exploded.

The ten foot high gate rolled open and there stood the rest of the Acolytes, Rogue barely slowed her pace as they caught up with her, Remy flanking her left and Magneto taking the right, she strode out in front, a leader, at last demanding respect and getting it.

With the fires still raging from Remy’s charged inferno, the bodies littering the yard and the peculiar smile Rogue wore as she walked, anyone looking at them would have to say it was something to behold, she looked like a demented angel, creating her own little hell, and anyone sorry assed enough to be sucked into that hurricane was beyond hope.

Her whole being lit with the orange glow of the fires as she walked was nothing compared to the rage of the embers that burned in her eyes.

---

The lights of the long corridors flickered incessantly, flashes on the grim set faces that walked with a purpose. Only Rogue seemed to smile, she’d rendered the rest who followed behind her obsolete; those who stood in their way were dispatched of ridiculously easily.

She swatted them away, with easy flicks of her wrists, telepathically, magnetically whatever it took, the guards and security melted away and it seemed as if nothing could stop her, she was a whirlwind, a force to be reckoned with.

Magneto placed a hand tentatively on her shoulder indicating she should stop, and she did in front of a particular cell, the heavy metal door with a number embossed clearly. They stood back as she concentrated, and watched as the metal heated and began to glow a fierce red, it only a few minutes for the metal to creak and give way before exploding inwards.

Rogue stepped into the room as the smoke cleared, curious as to what or who it was Magneto had insisted they rescue. She sat on an empty bunk, tied up into a strait jacket, jet black hair; heavy lids framed by a darkened, tired look, this girl couldn’t have been much older than she was.

She looked up at Rogue and snarled, Rogue smiled; maybe she’d like this girl after all. Her anger, all that fury and hate came off her in waves, and it was a sentiment Rogue perfectly understood. And then even as she watched the girl rose up from the bunk in a haste Rogue hadn’t anticipated and headed straight for her.

Only she wasn’t aiming for her, rather it was the person stood behind her who had her worked up, ‘you bastard…this long, it took you this long?’ Rogue took a quick look behind her, Magneto. All that rage was aimed at him, and much as she would have liked to see this demented strait jacketed freak pull the old man apart with her bare teeth, she had to think of the bigger picture.

Rogue halted the girl mid charge, holding out her hand she lifted her straight into the air, suspending her briefly before she began to turn her around slowly, undoing the buckles of the jacket as she did so. Free at last, her arms flailed catching empty air as she flapped her arms helplessly before Rogue let her drop to the floor.

The impact and Rogue’s interference only made her angrier, and she struggled to her feet, her swearing turning the air blue. She looked ready to charge again, but Rogue smiled and shook her head, and she faltered.

‘Get outta my way sweetheart, you don’t wanna know what I can do…’ she seemed to be charging up, but Rogue stood her ground.

She smiled wider, stretching out her arms, she opened her hands, a fireball in one hand and a ball of ice floating in the other, she floated inches off the ground, her eyes blazing a fierce red, and her hair billowing as a familiar wind engulfed the room. Everyone shielded their eyes as her voice, commanding and in control, boomed down to them.

‘Correction, ya don’t wanna see what ah can do, believe me…’ Rogue added a touch of bitter chill to the wind to make her point before floating back down and standing between Magneto and the newly freed prisoner once more.

Rogue stepped forward and smiled, ‘Look, ah ain’t the biggest fan of ol’ tin head, but he’s the one with the plans, so ya gotta appreciate the fact that ah gotta keep him alive.’ She looked directly at the girl, unmoving and unwavering.

The girl backed down at last, ‘What plans?’ she asked resignedly, the look of hate still firmly held in Magneto’s direction.

Rogue laughed, ‘Oh, ya know, kinda like stickin’ it to the asshole’s who put ya in here the first place.’

That was enough, she nodded and gave in to Rogue’s directions, her eyes flitted briefly towards Magneto, ‘but don’t think I’m gonna be forgivin’ you anytime soon…dad.’

It was Rogue’s turn to be surprised, dad? Well, it seemed the ol’ coot still had some tricks up his sleeve. She turned to leave, mission accomplished, stopping in the doorway, her soft gentle Southern lilt took on a menacing tone and her intention were clear as she looked back towards the new recruit.

‘By the way, ya ever think of charging me like that again, you’re gonna be lucky if ya end up in a place like this.’

---

Rogue stood stock still in the middle of the security complex lawn as a familiar scent flooded her senses and she smiled as she recognised everything about it, cigars and beer… Logan.

Sure enough, even as she shape shifted she spied the blackbird landing and her once X-men team-mates spill out. They stood in a wide semi-circle around her; only to them she appeared as she what she wanted them to see, not Rogue, but Magneto.

It figured Mystique would have to come in handy sooner or later, she stood in red and purple uniform, cape and helmet, and they were fooled.

Professor Xavier rolled forward, ‘Eric what are you doin’ here?’ he seemed to sense something was wrong, but couldn’t quite place it.

Magneto stepped forward, ‘Oh Charles, just meeting up with family, there’s nothing quite like a family reunion, don’t you think?’ He laughed then, looking around at the senior X-men, Logan, Scott, Beast and Storm.

‘Speaking of family,’ he continued, ‘strange how yours seems to have been dwindling of late, you seem to be losing recruits by the day Professor, first Jean…’ He watched as an incensed Scott stepped forward, his fists balled by his sides, ready to strike. ‘And now Rogue. If I didn’t know better Charles, I’d have to say you were getting a little careless in your old age.’

‘That’s it bub…’ Logan growled, ready to pounce, and not even Xavier’s steady hand would have kept him back as the sound of his adamantium claws grating together stung the air. But he stopped of his own accord, sniffing the air in recognition, a familiar scent, not at all like Magneto, but…

‘Rogue…?’ The name puzzled the rest, and they watched aghast as the familiar figure of Magneto shifted into the equally painfully familiar one of Rogue. Their friend, their once upon a time team mate, seemingly the good girl gone so bad, gone so wrong…

She laughed, and placing her hands on her hips, struck a pose for them, ‘How ‘bout it, ya like the new look?’ And it was then they realised how much she’d changed, not only in her shifting alliance, but even in the way she dressed.

She wore a long black army overcoat, a short top underneath, black and leather it barely covered the top half, her shoulders and stomach bare, the pale skin seeing the sunlight at last, and a short skirt, slit at the sides from the waist to the knee, bare long legs underneath. Heavy black boots with heels at least a few inches long, heavy zippers right up to the calf and more tellingly no gloves.

Long deadly fingers that she passed through that two-tone hair of hers, and then the smile faded as she looked towards Logan, ‘What was it ya said, somethin’ ‘bout betrayal stickin’ with ya? Guess you’re ‘bout to find out how right ya are.’

She stretched her hand towards him, and he felt it, the power she used to stretch the metal in his body, lifting him slightly, she punished him, twisting the adamantium, inflicting pain after pain, he could only grimace as the claws stretched and separated pulling his skin, ripping it apart.

He gritted his teeth and screamed until she let him drop, he fell to the ground gasping, waiting for his healing to do its thing; she looked around her at each of the X-Men in turn aching for the next one to make their move.

The rest of the Acolytes came to stand behind her, watching as she did, waiting for the fight to begin.

‘I want domination
I want your submission
I see you’re not resisting
To this temptation
I’ve got one confession
A love deprivation
I’ve got a jet black heart
It’s all fucked up and it’s falling apart..’

‘Take your past and burn it up and let it go
Carry on; I’m stronger than you’ll ever know
That’s the deal; you get no respect
You’re gonna get yours
You better watch your fucking neck’

-To Be Loved- Papa Roach

Part 15-‘Friends, Foes, Lovers…Sinner…’

Logan gasped as he struggled to his feet, his eyes met her cold ones, and she stared at him her mouth twisted into a silent cruel smile. He wanted so much to believe that this wasn’t her; this wasn’t his Rogue, not that girl he had loved for so long.

No this was something else, she wasn’t in there, not encased in that body, that mind, twisted in bitterness, hell bent on hurting him, intent on making him pay. She couldn’t be in control; it had to be something else, someone else in there.

But it was her, from the streaks in her hair, the defiant stance down to the clothes she wore, it was Rogue. A twisted bitter Rogue, a Rogue with new friends, old enemies now her allies, old friends were now foes and lovers…

Lovers…Logan turned and fixed his gaze on the Cajun, Remy met his eyes and smirked, damn Cajun, she had left the Academy with him, she had spent nights with him…it was his fault, he had done this.

God he hated the bastard, for taking her away, for being the one she wanted to stand with now, for being everything he couldn’t have been. For being there for her, for being the one she chose.

Memories of the past year flooded in on him, they had never talked ‘bout it, never confronted it, this thing, these feelings that had hung between them for so long. After Jean’s death it had seemed inappropriate, lousy to think about moving on, to think of rebuilding their lives, so much of her still hung around the Academy.

There were so many ghosts back there, so many bitter memories, lives Rogue had interacted with everyday and never really been allowed to touch, because of that damn mutation of hers.
Always isolated, she was always alone, and he had not chosen to see it, and even when he had seen it he’d never had the courage to do something ‘bout it.

He had been a poor excuse of a man, to let her suffer alone as he had, thinking… always thinking that she would make the first move, that she would come to him filled with her need, ‘cause he was too proud, too much of Wolverine to admit that he had needed her so badly.

Where would they be, content, happy even, if the reservations had been put away, if the games hadn’t been played, if the only thing that had existed between us was truth, where would we be?

What would have happened, how much of this could have been prevented if he’d just had the courage to say those simple words, those gentle words that could have brought her back from the edge? Where would they have been now, at what point, surely not as bitter, as hurt and as miserable as this if he had simply stopped waiting.

Simply stopped waiting, stopped and told her, darlin’ I’m here for you, here if you want someone to take the anger out on, here if ya wanna use me as a punch bag, here if ya want someone who isn’t afraid to hold you, who will say to hell with your mutation, just let me in, I’ll take it all.

And I’ll take it all, but this…this is too much, you can’t break me, you can’t kill me, however far you’ve gone Rogue, I’m gonna be the one to bring ya back. Even if that means I have to kick your ass to do it.

He looked at her again, bore his eyes intently into hers, and he thought for the briefest of moments she softened, a little but enough to tell him that maybe, just maybe she was still around.

But as quickly as it came, she was gone retreating behind that hard exterior, finding comfort in the dark, the one constant that had plagued her life, the one thing she had found she could rely on.

Past the friends that had abandoned her to her loneliness, past the companions that could and would not see, she had been slipping for so long, and they had not helped. Had not seen it, looked past it and beyond it, the gruffness excused as a trait of her Southern often lapsing charm, her sassiness accepted as part of her character, but had she screamed it, had she torn it open for all to see, they would have turned a blind eye.

The Professor, for so long miserable through losing one of his first students, Scott who had chosen to lash out angrily at her caught up in personal grief over his lost love, Hank who had buried himself in the vaults of his labs, content to hide out down there, choosing to find rationale in this crazy mixed up world through the cold deductions of science.
And Storm, the beautiful goddess, flawed when it came to healing one of her own flock, finding comfort in her gardens, in the constancy, and healing nature of the elements. In her gardens life came after death.

They were here, all of them, friends, foes, lovers…and sinners. And she eyed them all in turn, her cold eyes coming to rest on the one she considered to be the guiltiest…Logan. Lover and sinner…

‘Rogue…’ he whispered, the silence, the abject silence between an impending battle is the worst thing in the world, and he veteran of so many battles and so many wars hated it more than most, hated it beyond words now, he stepped forward, ‘Rogue…don’t do this.’

She smiled, not a hint of regret, ‘Logan, someone really has to teach ya somethin’ ‘bout crashing a party…’ She raised her hands and floated upwards, ‘for one thing, ya never, ever forget to bring the beer…’

She laughed slightly and he found himself starin’ at her, she was making jokes now? He gritted his teeth and sprang his claws free. He flexed his hands and she shook her head, that smile never fading, never slipping.

Look at me now, look at me and see, finally see who and what I am, something beyond your nightmares, something beyond your fear, something beyond you.

And then it happened, without warning, without hesitation, she threw flames from her hands watching as a line of fire scorched the grass, reaching high into the air, erecting a barrier between the X-men and the Acolytes.

That was Storm’s cue she flew into the air and called up the rains to dampen the fires; she flew level with Rogue, staring at her as the heavens poured between them. There was sadness in her gaze, and a whimper of self reproach as she spoke.

‘Please Rogue, I don’t want to hurt you, but please you must stop this before you hurt anyone else…’

Rogue’s answer was to summon thunderclouds of her own, she brought with them a fierce wind, Storm was pushed back until she regained her composure and flew towards Rogue once more, if she had not seen it with her own eyes she would not have believed it. The Professor had spoken of it, but it still seemed incredible that this young mutant girl could hold so much power and so many lives in that head of hers.

It was incredible but dangerous, she hated to do this, but someone had to stop Rogue, Storm reached up stretching her hand far into the sky, called up an almighty force, she aimed the wave of electricity directly at Rogue!

It hit the young mutant in the chest, seemed to bathe her in a brilliant light, she was like the angel of death, illuminated and bright, blindingly so, the mutants on the ground were forced to look on helpless as an almighty light show played out above their heads.

Rogue screamed, and for a while it seemed Storm had succeeded, but Rogue’s scream wasn’t one of pain, it was pleasure. She spread out her arms wide, a beautiful angel crucified as the lightning coursed through every one of her veins, all that energy flowing through her body and it was glorious!

Rogue absorbed the attack, all of it, and when it stopped her head was bowed, she looked up at last to a confused Storm, her eyes shone a bright yellow, and she stretched her arms out once more. It seemed Rogue was not even fazed.

But now, now it was her turn, ‘ah think it would be best if we kept ya grounded Storm…’
She reached up her hands stretching far into the dark clouds, mimicking the stance Storm had taken, and gathered her own lightning strike. She aimed it at Storm, who took a direct hit, but it didn’t stop there, she gathered more energy, and yet more, strike after strike, merciless in her attack, Storm was suspended by at least a half a dozen blasts of electricity, pain upon pain heaped on her body.

Rogue held her like this for a while, allowing her to feel the full force of the blasts before consenting to release her, the Goddess fell from the sky, unconscious and spent. Storm had indeed been grounded. Hank only just managed to grab her before she hit the ground.

‘ROGUE…!’ Logan’s fierce growl screamed up at her and she laughed a cold empty laugh. And then all hell broke loose, Sabretooth tired of standing on the sidelines made a direct line for Logan, his age old nemesis.

Scott directed his optic blasts at Remy, he dodged them easily, swatting away the rest with his staff, and countering with his own explosive deck of cards.

Rogue smiled as she floated high in the air and watched as the fray exploded beneath her, ‘it was on…it was so on…’

---

He was gonna catch up with her, he watched as she threw an energy blast at Scott, pushed back the Professor and generally created havoc with everything that was still standing. It was like a war zone, not a single tree stood that wasn’t ablaze, and not a single building that wasn’t crumbling.

The prison grounds bared the hallmarks of a fierce fight, and it was all because of her, he was gonna catch up with her. But meantime he still had to contend with a three hundred pound alley cat that was the Sabretooth.

The animal jumped him from behind when he was too busy starin’ up at Rogue, but he countered the move easily, grabbing the overgrown feline by the scruff of his neck and throwing him easily over his shoulders.

He slammed him hard into a tree and watched as the trunk was split in two. He brushed off the fur ball’s hairs; Sabretooth didn’t get up, he was out cold. Now it was her turn, you can’t break me, you can’t kill me, but I’m sure gonna kick your ass for this stunt.

Rogue had floated Scott up to her, she watched as he struggled helplessly against her pull. She brought him close, his legs kicking away as he tried to get away, she smiled and looked closely at him.

‘What’s the matter Scott? Nothin’ to say to me now…? She mocked him, her words bitter and hurtful reproach for his attack on her at the Academy. ‘Ya know they say payback’s a bitch.’ She wavered close to him, and to think once upon a time she had actually had a crush on this asshole; she easily dodged the optic blast he delivered, flying with an elegance and speed he had yet to see matched.

She used her telekinesis to freeze him to the spot, and floated behind him, ‘d’ya know what it is Scott to feel so utterly helpless, to know that ya have no control over your mutation…?’ he struggled against her hold, but she was stronger than any of them could have imagined.

‘Ah always wondered how ya would look without the glasses…’ she reached behind him and yanked his visor away. All at once a stray blast from his open eyes was sent high into the air. She smiled triumphant as he shut his eyes tightly, the pain and fear from the loss of control unbearable.

She laughed as she floated around him, ‘Listen to me Scott, ah’m gonna set ya down in the middle of the field, right in the centre of the fight, but ah guess ya better keep your eyes shut, or ya might jus’ blow away someone on your own side…what about it red-eye, ya got the nerve to take the chance, gonna risk blastin’ your friends into outer space?’

Rogue did just as she had threatened she lowered him back to the field, in between Storm and Hank, right behind the Professor, she smiled cruelly as she saw him struggle to keep his eyes firmly shut.

---

She was still watching them when she was suddenly tackled from behind, the attack took her completely by surprise, but she knew at once who it was, Logan. They flew through the air, their momentum carrying them forward, he grunted with the exertion, her hands were pinned tightly to her sides, but she wasn’t putting up much of a fight.

They crashed through the wall of the main entrance hall of the prison, by now completely deserted; they came barrelling through, an entangled mess of arms and legs, bricks and mortar.
He dragged her to her feet, his deadly adamantium claws jutted tightly under her throat and at her stomach. Her bare hands were free; she held them close to his face, their weapons, their given mutations ready and poised to kill each other.

They stood this way the longest while, each staring the other down, daring each other to make the first move, retaliation and retribution never far away. The air hung heavy with smell of charred soil and fire, the fight out there was still ongoing, a battle equally as fierce raged between Logan and Rogue.

A fight neither was willing to back down from, each believing they were in the right, wondering how far they would go to prove their point. Could it be that two best friends, two souls more alike than they would ever care to admit, were willing to kill each other?

‘Do it…’ she whispered at last, ‘come on Logan…let me feel it,’ she actually arched her neck willingly pressing the metal further into her skin. The cuts were deepened, the blood trailed down her neck and along his blades.

And it was the sick perverseness of it all that made him growl loudly, she pressed forward still her hands hovering barely inches from his face.

She smiled then, ‘like ah said Logan, ain’t nothin’ to make a relationship more interesting than a bit of rough n’ tumble…’

He shook his head, ‘since when did stealing other mutants powers become stockin’ up?’

‘So blondie woke up huh?’ she watched as he confirmed it, Siren had indeed awoken from the coma Rogue had put her in.

‘And we got a visit from the Brotherhood; they told us what happened, how ya caught them off guard…,’ Logan stared at her intently, knowing always knowing the confirmation would come, but she didn’t speak, jus’ smiled that damn playful smile of hers.

‘What’re ya playin’ at Rogue? Hookin’ up with Magneto, ya really think ya can trust that bunch of assholes?’

She laughed a little, ‘Oh come on Logan, ah learnt ma lesson where trust is concerned, ah ain’t ever gonna be that stupid again, ya taught me well ol’ friend, no more mistakes…’

‘Then what? What is it, why them, why here and why now?’ He asked of her, desperate for answers, desperate to make some sense of this. To know there was some reasoning behind this insane path she was taking, to know that within the madness lay some sort of method.

Something to come back from, something that will let me bring you back.

‘Ah’m tired Logan of bein’ pushed around, bein’ made to suffer ‘cause ah’m different, they don’t deserve it, they don’t deserve to be in charge of this world, but we can take it from them.’

Logan looked closely at her, no method, just madness. She was even beginning to sound like him, Magneto, that maniac who thought every concession must be made through force. Who fought the X-men, fought the humans for control, to instigate a New World order.

‘D’ya even know what you’re sayin’, this is crazy!’ His words sounded desperate and hollow even to his own ears.

‘Why? Look how strong we are, the gifts we have, we can take it apart Logan, take them apart, fix it the way we want to!’

He scoffed, ‘the way you want to? Or the way Magneto wants? Nice move Rogue, selling your soul to the devil.’

She laughed at that, ‘Sugah, ah’d be worried if ah had a soul to sell…’ She pressed forward, her fingertips almost brushing against his face, he saw then the look she wore, the hungry, insatiable expression, she was thirsting for it, the mutation had taken over, the need to draw energy from another, the will to feed on the life force of another.

‘Come on Logan…’ she whispered seductively, ‘ya have any idea what we can do together, ya and me baby, hell it’ll be more than somethin’ special.’ His hands faltered, the tension in his arms slackening, the claws slipping from her neck slightly.

She took her chance and pushed him back, the force caught him off guard, she was as strong as Sabretooth, if not stronger, they were both grunting with the exertion as she pushed him back against the wall, they struggled for the briefest moments before he stopped struggling and let her press her body flush with his.

But she didn’t drain him, not yet; instead she leant in close and whispered next to his ear, her words blowing gently across the nape of his neck, she smiled as she spoke. ‘Ya have no idea what a thrill it is, taking their life force, holdin’ onto them, watching their eyes bulge out their heads, wonderin’ hopin’ and prayin’ that ah’d let go.’

She drew back and looked at him closely, ‘Ah can see them screamin at me to let go, but ah hold on, just long enough to make sure they know, that ah could’ve, if ah wanted to ah would’ve.’

Would have taken their lives, would’ve taken everything from them, ‘cause ah’ve gotten a taste for it now.

‘So how ‘bout it Logan, wanna play a little game with me?’ She asked of him teasingly, brushing her fingers slightly over the tufts of his hair, ‘it’s called how long can you hold on?’

His eyes met hers, confused and bitterly disappointed, in her, in himself, but her lips hovered inches from his, and for all his pain, he could only think of what it would be like to have a taste.

Her thoughts were centred on the same idea, ‘how ‘bout it Logan, d’ya dare to let me…’ she stared at his lips, and moistened her own subconsciously, ‘how much are ya willin’ to take?’

He smiled then, ‘ya want my powers Rogue? Then ya get everything that comes with them!’ He suddenly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her flush against his chest, and he kissed her.

Hard and fast, a forceful meshing of the lips, and she groaned as he pulled her in closer still, her hands cupping his face, his hands roughly grasping at her hips, his claws digging into the small of her back.

She winced in pain, a gasp escaping her, a rush of breath passing into his mouth as she realised he was as determined to hurt her, as she was him. But she revelled in the touch, the perverseness of skin cutting open, the feel of blood trickling down.

His mouth had opened willingly under hers, and the brush of her tongue against his had him moaning, had him pulling her in closer still, their legs entangled, both willing that her mutation would hold off just a little longer. It was not enough; this taste could never be enough.

But it came, the pull, the force of her skin drawing him, and he felt it, the pain as the contact of her lips, the bare hands pressed against his face, began to draw him in. He bled into her, his memories, his powers, all his force…and she struggled with the intensity of it all.

She struggled to break the hold, to push him away but he held on, determined to make her suffer as he did. The claws at her back retracted as he succumbed to the darkness, and her hands slipped from his face, they crumbled to the floor, as the blackness overtook her as well and she drew in a shuddering breath as she broke away from him at last.

Rogue rolled painfully onto her back, as she saw him shut his eyes and slip into unconsciousness, she struggled to breathe, her eyes unable to focus on anything.

She heard his voice at last, saw him crouch close to her and lift her up, ‘come on cheri’e time to get ya out…’ Remy, good old Remy, the Cajun who had watched everything from his spot concealed in the shadows.

‘Dancing with the devil's past has never been too fun
It's better off than trying to take a bullet from a gun
And he cries:
Hey baby can you bleed like me?
C'mon baby can you bleed like me?’

‘Just try to comprehend that which you'll never comprehend
Try to comprehend that which you'll never comprehend
You should see my scars
You should see my scars’- ‘Bleed Like Me’ – Garbage

---

Part 16- ‘Tell Me It Hurts…’

She snapped her eyes open, it was dark, and cold, her teeth chattered involuntarily as struggled to make sense of her surroundings. She groaned, her head pounded and she tried to remember what it was she had done last and just why it should hurt so damn much.

Her head felt like a dead weight, she slumped forward and the white bangs of her hair fell into her eyes, and then it started, the excruciating pain, the white hot burning that beat with every pulse, that flowed through her constricting veins. Her skin ached, her bones ached, every damn nerve was set alight and it burned unbearably.

She pulled her arms, wanting to wrap them around herself, wanting to soothe, needing this ache, this battered bruising, this burning to end, it hurt, it hurt so damn much. She tugged at her wrists, but it was no use. She turned her head slightly, wanting to see what held her back, and she saw with a sickening thud to her heart that she was bound.

She was suspended in some sort of structure, a glass tank that held masses and masses of green liquid, and a panic, an instinct to be free stronger than any she had ever known, took over, she lost control and thrashed wildly.

But her feet were bound in the same way, stakes driven through her wrists and her feet, linked to heavy bolts and heavier chains, there was no escape, there was no freedom, and all at once she knew there was only this…death.

And slowly, slowly the water, the poisonous liquid she was being held in began to rise; it crawled up her neck, spilled into her mouth and finally came over her head. She was drowning in it, and for all her screaming it was useless to resist. Every time her mouth opened to release a guttural desperate cry, the liquid simply flooded in and she was drowned all over again.

Her eyes bulged wildly, the terror, the horror of knowing that her life was slipping out of her hands caused her to struggle harder, she pulled vainly against the chains, her limbs screaming with the pain of her efforts…and life, life simply drifted away…slipped away.

Her body could not struggle, could fight no more…and she surrendered to the darkness, the warm embrace that was release…death.

---

It was a hollow sort of peace, a feeling of being lost in the darkness, but not fear, nothing of fear existed here. Nothing existed here, not a chink of light, not a movement in the reverent stillness of time and space, nothing existed, she did not exist, pain did not exist, life and death were concepts that were lost, caught in the shadows that drifted on endlessly.

And it was bliss, it was utter bliss, like the warmth from a glowing ember, the cushioning softness of knowing that one could drift away endlessly on this plane, healed from sorrow, spared from misery and saved from the pain.

But it was not meant to last, even as she floated away content at last, a force reached out, a hand, and a bitter possessive hand that reached in and pulled it all apart. Pulled her away from contentment, and pulled her out of the comfort of nothingness.

She was wretched away from the safety of the darkness, pulled back into the wretched misery of the light. A light, harsh unforgiving light as poisonous as the green liquid in which she’d drowned.

And she was bound all over again, she could see them, their cowardly faces hidden behind their darkened surgical masks, she could see the black chemicals they pushed into her skin, breaking her with their needles.

She was alive, Oh God she was alive to feel it all, and she watched, and she was free to scream but it made no difference. Their expressions were stoic, unchanging even as she screamed for all she was worth she saw them come closer, blades, cold hard metal was held in their hands.

And there were so many hands, as the cold hard gleam of the scalpels flashed before her eyes, hands clamped down on all of her limbs, she was held down, by the taut bounds that tied her to the gurney, and their hard calloused hands that pressed deep, keeping her still, keeping her useless.

It barely registered at first, the sharp metal piercing her skin, small cuts and slices, and then the blades drove deeper, pushing further, past the first layer of skin, into the muscles and severing every nerve. It burned, her whole being was in fire from the pain, the muscle and skin ripped apart, the bones pushed and probed.

They poured molten fire into her opened skin, and she was alive and awake to watch it all, whipping her restrained head around wildly to see their eyes unmoving, to see their hands covered in blood, it poured out of her, viscous red liquid oozed out of every sore, it dripped to the floor, it bled into the walls, it flowed away and Oh God…could there really be so much blood…? How was it that she was still alive, how was it that she could see her life force being ripped away and still be awake to see it all…?

Her screams resounded, the sound of despair bouncing around the hollow stone walls, it ebbed away, like her blood it flowed away into a meaningless echo, and when the screams resided…she died all over again…

---

There was no peace, no escape, no soothing dark to lose her self in this time, there was only pain, the misery of knowing that she wasn’t dying anymore, but being ripped apart and pulled into life again.

What had they done…what had they done…she was alone in the room now, suspended in the green liquid once more, but something was different, something was wrong. Her body felt heavy, every limb weighing her down with an added mass of its own.

Her hands flexed against the chains that bound her, she stretched her fingers, even they seemed heavy, and then it happened, with a hollow swish lost in the ripples of water she saw the blades.

Metal, claws…sharp claws…she had blades in between her knuckles, what had they done…what had they done?

She stared as the blood trickled in between the blades, her flesh was cut and it hurt, the claws hurt, she flexed her hands once more and the metal retracted back into her skin, nestling neatly into her hand, and even as she watched she saw the blood stop and the skin heal over right before her eyes.

But the pain would not leave pain and rage…burning hot fury, a thirst for escape and a need to sate her anger with blood. She roared an animalistic hoarse cry that ripped deep from her throat, tore through her body with a force she had never known.

Her hands flexed again and she watched as the claws appeared, turning her wrists slightly she slashed at the chains that bound her arm, the claws sliced cleanly and easily through the metal, the chains fell away with a clang and one of her arm was at least free.

She made short work of the rest of the chains, until she was free to break through the surface of the water, and it was a struggle, everything was heavy, her limbs were heavy, arms and legs that felt like a dead weight, pulling her back down, wanting to drown her.

She clung to the edge of the tank, dragging her body upwards and out of the water; she coughed and spat out acrid liquid, and fell to a heap on the floor.

Crawling to her hands and knees, she saw the scars that kept healing over, but her mind, her bruised and battered mind, the scars would run deep, would run forever, and her soul, her aching soul screamed revenge.

---

Remy had lifted her easily, she was so weak after her encounter with Logan, she had lost consciousness and as the Acolytes made a strategic retreat his eyes never left her face. He watched as slow beads of sweat gathered on her brow, strange because her body felt so cold.

Now stood at the door of her room and watching her writhe in pain on the bed, still only semi-conscious but screaming like she was fighting her way out of hell, he rubbed an aching hand over his face.

Magneto was stood by his side, they watched in silence as she struggled, Remy could see even Magneto was concerned, and as he rarely cared for anyone one way or the other, Remy knew this was something to be worried about.

‘What’s happening to her, cheri’e, why is she hurting so bad?’ Remy stared at his leader awaiting an answer.

Magneto simply shook his head slowly and frowned, ‘Logan…Logan’s happening to her…’ He walked away at that leaving a concerned Remy to glower after him.

He stepped further into the room, taking a cloth from the basin he had placed on the floor next to her bed he squeezed out the water and placed the cool cloth on her forehead. He hated there was nothing more for him to do.

And he hated that Logan had done this to her, he had seen it all, their fight, the words, the things she had to say to him. She had sounded so passionate, so much in control, and she had hungered for him…Logan.

She had fallen so easily into his touch, and Logan had had been so unafraid, so willing to kiss her, to touch her poisonous skin and fall into her embrace.
Remy cursed him under his breath, he had always been slightly hesitant, pulling back at the last minute, he flirted crazily with her, but she was Rogue, the untouchable, or she ought to have been.

A knot tightened in his chest as he realised how deeply he had begun to feel for this fille, and how the burning grew, how this incessant ache and resentment illuminated into a pointed jealousy. She had come to mean more to him than he could have ever imagined.

---

Hank had carried him with some difficulty back to the X-jet, Logan was unconscious and as such his body felt like a dead weight. He began to worry, Logan’s breathing was slow and shallow, and he hooked him quickly to the emergency ECG monitor and watched with baited breath until the electronic beeps finally registered the faintest of heartbeats.

There was nothing else for him to do, Logan’s healing would take care of the rest, anything Hank could offer would be purely cursory, a bandage here and a stitch there, in the end what was both Logan’s curse and blessing would prove to be the cure. His own remarkable healing would put his broken body back together again.

At least the body could be mended, even Hank knew nothing could fix the ache in his old friend’s heart, nothing to soothe the bitter betrayal of one they had all trusted, and one Logan loved so very much…Rogue, what have you done?

Hank stared at his still body for a while, his eyes flitting quickly to the monitor seeing the beats gathering pace, seeing Logan’s heart beat getting stronger.
The Doc moved to where Scott still held his hands over his eyes, reassuring the young man quietly Hank wrapped a length of bandage tightly over his eyes, Scott’s shoulders slumped forward heavily and it was the sure knowledge of how far they had all come, how far from what they had been.

Happy and complete, friends, team mates…Rogue what have you done?

Logan’s eyes snapped open at last, recalling his fight with Rogue perfectly, knowing exactly what he had done and what she had done. He had surrendered everything to her, all of it, his power, his mutancy, his life force…and his memories.

His mouth twisted into a bitter smile, ‘Be careful what you wish for sweetheart…’ he muttered, before the darkness took over and he slipped back into nothingness once more.

‘You walk on like a woman in suffering
Won't even bother now to tell me why
You come alone, letting all of us savour the moment
Leaving me broken another time
You come on like a bloodstained hurricane
Leave me alone, let me be this time…’

‘You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption
I don't want to mention, the reason I know
That I am stricken and can't let you go
When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know
That I am crippled by all that you've done

Into the abyss will I run…’

---

Part 17-‘All For You…’

She could smell it…the crude, perverse pleasure that came from its coppery tanginess, could smell and taste it…blood, it poured down the walls, washed over her, drowned her in its sweetness, and sated her thirst.

Revenge, she had torn the place apart, with the weapons they had melded to the very soul and essence of her, she had ripped the labs to shreds, but still the screaming would not stop, the cries of anger, anguish and pain tore on and on, seeping into her very bones, pushing at the walls of her mind.

And now as she walked, it was with an aching burn that would not cease, a sickening haunting, pounding away at her, until all she saw came in a flash of red and fury. It would not stop, and she could not stop, the rage as she fought through the darkness of her broken mind, the black abyss that seeped through every pore, crippling her senses, until she could only crawl.

All the power, all the strength meant nothing as she felt stranded, abandoned by a faith she had not managed to grasp, a rescue she could not fathom, and a relief from this madness that would not come.

It left her broken, surrounded by her own useless rage, blinded by the cold metal, haunted by the darkness that beat down on her and in on her, thumping away, beat after resounding beat, as loud as thunder and just as deafening. It broke her; brought her down to her knees and she could only stare at her reflection.

She stared at herself in the cold metal of the laboratory cabinets, and did not recognise the face that stared back. The skin red raw and streaked with blood not her own, the hair unkempt and wild, the scars that tore deep, the bloodshot eyes.

They could not know, the demon they had unleashed and the beast she could now no longer cage, it stared back at her, the mouth twisted into a cruel smile, the eyes rimmed black, the soul vacant.

She roared and all at once was surrounded by a blinding light…

‘Cheri’e it’s me….!’

A hoarse cry suddenly awakened her as she stared wildly around her, whipping her head from one side to the other, not recognising her surroundings. Her breath came in shortened loud gasps, every breath a sound that rasped and grated. Rogue felt an arm reach out and grasp her chin firmly, a second hand wrapped around the top of her arm and held tight.

Rogue looked down at the hand and turned to stare up at the wide bulging red eyes of Remy, she had her hand wrapped around his throat, and had pushed him against the wall, squeezing the life out of him. Her other hand was raised and aimed right between his eyes.

It was what this other hand had protruding from it that caused her to scream out in horror, claws, three razor sharp bone claws, stuck out at least six inches long and embedded deep between her knuckles.

The pain, it was real, her skin sliced open and bleeding from the knuckles, it was real and it burned, deeper than she had ever known, pushing aside all the power she felt surging through her veins, until it was the only feeling she recognised. She released her grip around his throat and stared as he fell to the floor choking for a breath.

Rogue stared down at her hands, the bone claws, ready and willing to slice through anything that got in her way, a part of her now, base to the very nature of her, attached from the inside out. Logan’s power, what she had thirsted for, and what he had given her, Logan attached to her now, inside out.

She remembered, she saw it all again, and once more, the blood the pain, and the anger brought her to her knees. He knew what he had done to her, Rogue felt the sure idea that he had done it to her deliberately creep on her, those nightmares she had experienced, that excruciating pain, the maddening sounds that revolved around and round her tormented mind, they had been his, they were hers now.

‘Ya want my powers…you get everythin’ that comes with ‘em…’ that’s what he’d promised and that’s what he’d given her, staring at her hands, the blood on them drying quickly as the cuts healed over and the claws shrank back into the folds of her knuckles, the pain settling into a sharp ache, an itch she could not scratch.

Rogue saw Remy struggle back to his feet, he inched closer to her, until she snapped her head back up at him and growled, the sound savage and feral stopped him in his tracks. Her eyes were glazed over and hungry, he recognised that look, he’d seen it so many times before, pupils dilated, the eyes bloodshot and hungry, Remy had seen Logan look like that so many times. In the middle of a battle, pure animal, coarse adrenaline, an untameable rage, the beast released.

He stepped back as she growled once more, not only at him but at the audience that had gathered at her room door, Magneto, Mystique and Sabretooth, all of them staring at the wild, unkempt thing, her clothes torn, hair strewn, this Rogue who it had seemed had finally taken on a power that was more than she could ever cope with.

‘AAAAAAHHHHH….!’

She leapt at them with a fierce howl, their instinct was to step back, Remy only managing to dive out of the door before they closed it on her, trapping her inside the room. They held the door shut as she pounded away inside, throwing her self at the door, scratching at the walls, growling and howling in turn.

Remy stared at Magneto, his neck still sore from where Rogue had held him, the savage look in her eyes haunting him, and for the first time since this had all begun, regretting the set of choices that had led him to bringing her here.

‘What now…?’ he asked Magneto, his voice shaken, dreading the idea that the changes wrought in Rogue now would be permanent, and if that was the case, how would they deal with her now, that animal they had unleashed.

But Magneto seemed unfazed, instead he smiled, ‘now, my dear boy…now we wait.’

---

‘What were you thinking Logan…?’ A sharp voice called out, Logan winced slightly at the sound, having excused himself from the infirmary he stood at the window of Xavier’s office, stared at the black emptiness of the night and asked himself the same question.

‘I gave her what she wanted,’ he whispered at last. He had given her what she wanted, his power, his strength, his mutation. His memories…he knew what she had to be going through, right at this very moment, the nightmares, and the blood, its scent, strong and invasive, as if it hung heavy in the air and all she could do was feel it. Feel it pounding away at her, rich veins of red, hearing it, seeing it, in herself and everybody else.

A raised awareness of the life blood that oozed in the veins that pounded away in everybody else around her, and that awareness coming with its own sick lustfulness, a desire to see that blood run.

He knew all that, he had been through it all, seen it, felt it, lived it, and he knew it was nothing less than hell, and in those few insane moment when he had kissed her he felt it was nothing less than she deserved.

‘What she wanted…?’ The professor repeated, he shook his head, ‘I’ve seen what’s inside that head of yours Logan, what happened to you, and what they did in those experiments…’ his voice faltered as he saw Logan’s back stiffen in quiet rage, ‘and now Rogue sees it, all that rage Logan, that bitterness, all that to put alongside her own.’

‘No my friend,’ he wheeled himself next to Logan, ‘I think you’ve given Eric what he wanted, a reason for Rogue to remain angry, a reason for Rogue to condemn the human race…’

Logan could only shut his eyes at the words, realisation dawning, a black cloud against an imperfect horizon.

---

It had taken almost a half the night for the noise, the sound of furniture breaking, the growls and snarls to finally quieten down, Remy had spent that time sat on the floor outside her door, his head resting back against the wall, he pulled himself to his feet, his back stiff, he turned the lock of the door quietly and pushed the door open slowly hoping she hadn’t found a way to climb out of the window.

She hadn’t, he saw her huddled in a corner, her skin covered in a fine sheen of sweat, clothes shredded, her knuckles bruised and bloody. She looked up at him, her eyes rimmed red with tears, Remy saw her struggle to catch a breath, and he approached her slowly, wanting to make sure the madness had passed, the feral beast locked away at last.

That was what they had to wait for Magneto had assured him, as long as she fought them, curbed the rage and pushed the demons inside down, she would be able to harness Logan’s power, as well as the nightmarish visions he had to live with. Rogue was strong, Magneto had assured them, more than Logan had ever been, she would cope with it, and she would overcome.

It seemed as if the old mutant’s predictions had been right, now as Remy crouched in front of her, he looked at her intently, and as she stared back at him he realised she was in control, but only just. Pushing herself slowly to her feet, using the wall against her back for support, she passed a battered hand through her bedraggled hair. She stepped forward and brushing past Remy headed for the now open door. He grabbed the top of her arm, careful to grab only a handful of clothing, and pulled her back.

‘Where are ye goin’ Cheri’e?’ he asked her.

She sighed deeply, ‘ah have to go see him, ah have to know if it was real, everythin’ ah saw, ah have to know…’ Rogue tugged her arm, but Remy refused to let go. He knew she was talking about Logan, and he caught the tone of sorrow in her voice, sympathy and something like regret was etched deep in her tone. His jealousy came to the fore as he pulled her back; he had never heard her sound like that, certainly not with him empathetic, and gentle even.

‘You can’t go back Rogue…you said you understood that,’ he snarled at her, pulling her back so she stood directly in front of him.

She growled at the force he used, her eyes flashed a menacing yellow as she grabbed him by his shirt collars and lifted him clean off his feet, slamming his back against the wall she snarled at him, ‘green really ain’t a colour that suits ya swamp rat,’ she pushed back again, before her grip loosened and her voice softened. She looked up at him with sadness, ‘ah know ah can’t go back, ah don’t want to, but Logan saved ma life more than once, ah owe him this…’

She released him and moved towards the door once more, before calling back softly over her shoulder, ‘ah’ll be back before morning…’ she smiled gently, ‘ah promise…Remy.’ It was one of the few times she used his real name, assuring him the promise she had made was one she intended to keep.

---

Lying on that bench, staring up at the stars he stood by her feet, taking in the sight of her. The torn clothes, the skin shredded at the hands, and the wild, untamed hair, so much of it reminded him of what he had been, all those years ago, before the academy, before Xavier had helped him grasp and hold onto some sort of sanity.

It made him ache to see her like this, he ached simply to hold her in his arms, to hug her, hold her against his chest and soothe the visions away. But this gap, this wide chasm between them seemed to stretch wider with every step she took in the opposite direction, until even this slight distance, from where he stood to where her head rested back against the bench, this short distance seemed like an eternity.

He sat down where he was, on the damp grass of the Academy grounds, waiting for her to ask the questions he knew she had and dreading the answers that he had to give her. He waited and kept on waiting as the silence stretched on, until he at last heard the ruffling of her clothes, he saw her slide off the bench and come to kneel directly in front of him.

First came the inevitable anger, she slapped him hard across the face, ‘ya bastard…’ she spat at him, ‘what did ya do to me…what did ya give me?’

His smile was rueful, despite the ache that tore deep; he smiled and laughed a little, a small taste of the cruelty she had lately offered everybody else. ‘Nothin’ ya didn’t ask for sweetheart…’

Her response wasn’t the one he expected at all, she tilted her head, her bottom lip began to quiver and she looked so much like a lost little girl.

He stared at her as the tears rolled softly from the corner of her eyes, reaching up he softly brushed the moisture away, the slightest of touches, never letting her mutation take hold, ‘Logan…’ she whispered, ‘was it real?’

Was it real, all of it, the pain, the tearing of skin, the aching burning needles, the blood, all that blood, was it real, had she seen what he had been through, had she witnessed the tragedy of his life firsthand?

His silence only confirmed it all, her head dropped, and he heard her ask again, ‘Why are ya still fightin’ for ‘em Logan, after all that, why are ya still here?’ Her voice soft but clear with anger, made him smile gently.

‘Cause there ain’t nothin’ else kid, the alternative, those ideas of takin’ over you talk ‘bout? It can’t happen we’d screw it up worse than they already have, d’ya really the likes of Magneto are gonna do a better job? No, Rogue we can start a war, and they’ll only hit back harder, and in the end we’ll screw us all to hell.’

Worse…? Rogue shook her head at him, how could they possibly do a worse job than these humans already had, worse than the FFH, it didn’t even seem possible. Their cruelty, their selfishness, their hate had led them to this, had led the world to this. To a fight between mutant and human that was inevitable.

She smiled and put a finger gently on the side of his face, her voice steadier now, the menacing tone in her words all too clear, ‘Ah’ll make them pay Logan, for what they did to ya, for what they’ve done to all of us…ah’ll make ‘em all pay…’

Logan grasped for her, even as she pulled away, ‘No Rogue!’ He watched on helplessly as she stepped back and disappeared into the darkness. She turned a deaf ear to his words.

‘Yes Logan…for you…’


‘You don't know what your power has done to me
I want to know if I'll heal inside
I can't go on with a holocaust about to happen
Seeing you laughing another time

You'll never know why your face has haunted me
My very soul has to bleed this time
Another hole in the wall of my inner defences
Leaving me breathless, the reason I know…’
That I am stricken and can't let you go
When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know
That I am crippled by all that you've done

Into the abyss will I run…’
Stricken- Disturbed

‘I've been defeated and brought down
Dropped to my knees when hope ran out
The time has come to change my ways…

On this day I see clearly everything has come to life
A bitter place and a broken dream
And we'll leave it all, leave it all behind…

I'll never long for what might have been
Regret won't waste my life again
I won't look back
I'll fight to remain…’

‘Metalingus’- Alter Bridge

---

Part 18- ‘The World According To Rogue…’

His eyes flickered briefly across the bank of computer screens, before leaning back on his chair and yawning loudly. He propped his feet up on the counter and tucking his head back down on his chest tried to fall back to sleep. Nothing ever happened out here; he had no reason to be worried, this was the cushiest job he’d had to date. Damn near the easiest pay packet that left him smiling all the way to the bank.

Course the drawback was the fact they were buried hundreds of feet underground, buried under mounds of snow with a virtual mountain sat on top of them, wearing a crappy grey security guard outfit that itched in all the wrong places. Plus it got kinda lonely in the small office he sat in day in day out, but he could live with that, sides he reckoned company was overrated anyhow. Deciding to put sleep on the back burner for now, taking the headphones wrapped around his neck he slipped them over his ears, hit the play button on his music player and began bobbing his head along to the loud guitar riffs pounding away in his ears.

Eyes closed tight, imagining himself on stage as the next Dave Grohl, rocking out and dreaming of roadies throwing themselves at him, he swivelled around and round on his chair, the computer screens and his job forgotten.

---

She made her way purposefully across the steep ground, her knee-high, stiletto heeled boots crunching loudly. Digging deep into the snow, her white streaks of hair caught in a slight breeze, billowing softly around her, her pale skin marked now only by blood red lipstick she wore. Her eyes darkened with lashes of mascara, laced heavily so only the slightest flash of bright yellow shone out as her eyes glazed over and flashed menacingly.

Coming purposefully to a stop beside a huge fir, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pushing the tails of her long coat aside she crouched down, the long slit in her skirt revealing the skin of her thighs, and brushed her gloved fingers lightly over the snow. Wincing in pain, she staggered back to her feet and turned to the small crowd of mutants stood behind.

Her cold gaze met and held Magneto’s; she nodded slightly, ‘it’s here…’ she spoke softly, but clearly, her voice catching on the breeze and carried effortlessly away across and down the mountain.

‘Well done Rogue,’ Magneto smiled his approval at her, she hissed at him, turning back to stare at the ground and growling loudly.

She stretched out her arms, flexed and watched as the claws between her knuckles shot out; she’d become accustomed to the pain, that sharp wince, that feel of flesh parting and blood trickling down. She welcomed the pain now, kept it fresh in her mind, kept it to remind herself exactly what she was here to do.

Glancing back over her shoulder, she offered them a cold smile, ‘don’t go away now,’ she told them, before she closed her eyes and concentrated, and felt herself phase right through the cold solid ground, down deep into the ground underneath the fir tree. Faster than the time it took to blink, effortlessly passing through metres of cold damp earth and ending up falling into a cold, clinical corridor.

Landing gracefully on her feet, she glanced around her, white tiled corridors, and in an instant she saw them bathed in red, turning to the nearest security camera at the end of the corridor, nestled high into a corner, she stared up at it. Through black eyelashes and eyes devilishly yellow, she smiled before she blew a kiss into the lens and promised to unleash hell.

---

He sensed something was wrong before he saw it, caught in the middle of a monster guitar riff; it had been an eerie shift in the air that had made him stop and turn off the music. His back to the computer screens, and staring out of his office window for the first time he noticed the blinking green strobe lights of the tunnel, the emergency lights and power generator had kicked in. And he knew that only happened when something really went wrong.

Turning slowly back to the monitors, his eyes widened at the sight of a girl, white streaks in her hair, long leather coat, tight shirt and those hauntingly yellow eyes that stared up smiling at him. And then the picture was lost, the screen switching to an image of snowy static, one after another, each monitor simply malfunctioning, and the same grainy image.

Something was going seriously wrong. Panic came at him at last, in waves washing over him and causing a fine sheen of sweat to break across his brow. He caught the sound of his own quick breath, his heart thumping louder and louder in his ears, and suddenly he realised why that made him so nervous. It was the only sound he could hear, there were no alarms, no warning sirens, nothing, just that slowly flashing green light out in the tunnel, alternating between the darkness and the green.

He swallowed slowly, staring out of the window, his connection to the outside world, he’d sat here for years, watching the scientists walk down that tunnel, holding their passes up to the glass and waiting for him to buzz them through the steel door and into the next series of security checks.

But now, that window had a whole different meaning, that thick piece of glass was the only thing that stood between him and what was on the other side. The only thing that stood between him and…her.

Her, the devil, with the white streaks and the yellow eyes.

His jaw set tight he went to stand in front of the glass, morbid curiosity getting the better of him, he leaned into the window, straining his eyes to adjust to the changes in the light, the alternation between black and green.

Black and green…on and off…black and green…darkness and light.

Stood fixated by the light show, for the next few minutes as nothing else happened he began to relax a little, thinking maybe he’d scared himself senseless over nothing, and that would be the last time he’d sneak a few beers in to work to have with his lunch.

Then it happened, black into green…and her, pressed up on the other side of the glass, staring in at him, the green lights adding another pale, sallow look to her face, her red lips turned upward into a cruel smile and those eyes, flashing brighter than he could have ever thought possible.

He had never been a religious man, but if there was a God, he surely was praying to him now, for what was on the other side of his door, surely was the devil.

---

She rose up through the ground, phasing effortlessly upwards until she was stood in front of them again, she smiled at them stood in a wide circle around her, ‘let’s go,’ she simply stated before slowly walking up to Magneto and taking his hand in a gloved one of hers phased him through the ground and into the facility below.

She did that for each of them, Sabretooth, Mystique, Pyro and Wanda until at last there was only Remy, stood leaning against the fir and waiting for her. Rogue stepped up to him and smiled, ‘ready to go Swamp rat…?’ she whispered, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He leaned forward, his lips only inches from hers, ‘anywhere ye say Cher`ie,’ he promised. She laughed a little at that, trust Remy ever the New Orleans charmer to know just what to say. Her arms still around his neck she phased them both through the ground and into the tunnel below.

Magneto had already begun to make their way down the tunnel when Remy and Rogue made their reappearance. He looked around and waited for his eyes to adjust to the green flickering light and as he did his gaze settled on the small office to the right.

The glass was missing from the window, and he saw a man slumped to the floor underneath a bank of computer screen, his eyes sightless and his head slumped at an awkward angle. Remy turned to look back at Rogue but she’d begun to move down the tunnel. He followed and heard the screaming start.

---

Rogue stood at the end of a long corridor, she walked slowly down looking one way and the other, both sides of the walls were banked by long lengths of glass. Her blood pounded away in her ears, anger burning her from the inside out, as she saw what was behind the screens.

Recognition, haunting images flooded in on her, the metal tables, the syringes, and those bone cutting saws. She saw them, the doctors in their lab coats, cutting them up, cutting, and probing mutants like they were animals. That was what this place was, a testing facility, a secret scientific laboratory, a death camp.

She saw it all again, being strapped to those tables, being cut open watching, the warmth, the blood flow out of her, spill to the floor and stain these crisp white walls. She felt her hands flex, the muscles clench into a spasm and the bone claws pop out with a sharp swish. And the pain, it was excruciating, she felt the horror, the pain, the misery of them all, every single mutant they’d experimented on, every one they’d cut, everything they’d done, buried here in their secret labs, she felt, and she saw it all.

It made her scream, in anger, frustration and hate, she screamed, and the sound reverberated, piercing the ears of everyone. The power she’d stolen from Siren coming to the fore, Rogue’s scream came at over a hundred decibels, shaking the walls and shattering the glass.

The silence followed, only the sharp tingling of the glass as it rained to the floor carried over the sound of her sharp breaths as she struggled to regain control. Her eyes flashed yellow, as she shifted her gaze quickly into one of the labs. A swift movement had caught her eye as she saw a lab coat disappear quickly behind a set of steel cabinets.

Smiling quietly to herself, she walked slowly into the lab, grinding her boots purposefully into the glass, crossing across the shattered window and heading for the cabinets. She could him breathing, the smell of fear heavy in the air, sweat and panic coming off him in waves and making her smile.

She stopped next to him, saw him crouching, his back pressed against the cabinet, his eyes wide, and muttering something to himself. Rogue lowered herself down to him, resting back on her haunches; she leant in close and whispered, ‘Ya know ah reckon we should call pest control, what d’ya think?’

He stared up at her, his eyes brimmed red, fear masking his every feature, ‘w-what do you want…?’ he managed at last, she stared at him a while, seeming to contemplate her answer, reaching out she ran her gloved fingers down the side of his cheek, ‘don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt…’ she promised him, her voice soft.

She lied.

---

Rogue rubbed her palm thoughtfully and regarded the pathetic husk of a man lying at her feet with some disdain, he was breathing still but only barely, but she wasn’t finished yet. Replacing her gloves, she stood back and concentrated.

The scientist body began to rise from its slumped position on the floor, he groaned, offering a useless struggle, Rogue’s telekinesis carried him effortlessly through the air turning him over mid point and slamming him down roughly onto the metal surgical table.

She kept his arms pinned to his side, and looked around the lab thoughtfully, cabinet doors flew open, tools and equipment pouring out of them to fall noisily to the floor, her gaze quickly scanned the contents, until her cold smile meant she had at last found what she was looking for.

From his viewpoint, flat out on that table things could not have looked worse, staring up he watched as a half dozen syringes floated across the room and hovered above him, and then there were half dozen more, and they kept coming until he lost count. His mouth locked in a hoarse scream, he watched as the cold glints of pin point sharp needles were held inches over his body.

Rogue’s sharp heels clicked across the floor as she came to stand at the foot of the table, holding his gaze as he silently begged her to stop. She held up her palm, waited for a second before her fist closed and the razor sharp needles came plunging down…

---

She moved down the maze of corridors with ease, now that she knew the place like the back of her hand, she’d taken everything she’d needed to from the scientist she’d found in the lab.

The images of his mind played in front of her now, she walked at the head of the group, helping to clear the way for the rest, Magneto and Mystique making sure to take care of the rest of the lab personnel, they were all swept aside before her as she made her way quickly down the corridors, finally turning into an octagonal room that she recognised instantly.

Holding cells, rows of them, piled along the corridor, ones on top of the other, her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth in anger, she saw and felt the misery that existed behind those locked doors, the pain and fear that marked their existence.

Stepping forward until she was stood in the middle of the room, her eyes blazed yellow as she outstretched her arms, seconds later a large creaking filled the room, the sharp metal of the doors began to buckle and bend with her will, her strength shook the walls, dust and tiles began to fall to the floor as she kept on concentrating.

The groans of the metal and walls became deafening, the rest of the group stepped back, seeking refuge in the recess of the corridor. They looked on as Rogue’s strength broke and brushed aside the locked doors that held so many.

Every door buckled and broke, and came crashing to the floor around her, sharp clangs that resounded and shook the earth. And at last, as the dust settled they appeared, her newly released mutants, prisoners freed from their chains, by her.

She smiled, who would have thought it, Rogue…the salvation.

---

They stared at the mess, silence enveloping them all, the sheer wanton destruction all too clear about the place, and the cause of it a certainty that fell heavily for all of them. The senior X-men stood around the decimated labs, wondering just what in the hell Rogue had done.

None of them had been aware of this place, an underground testing laboratory hadn’t even appeared on their radars, but Magneto had sent Xavier a message. Come and see, he’d promised, see what she’s now capable of.

They had come, and witnessed a sight they could not have believed if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, and a thousand different nightmares came to the fore for at least one of them. Logan, he’d known something of med labs and scientists in white coats, the sort of scientist now lying dead on a cold lab table with at least a hundred needles poking in him.

He couldn’t pretend to be sorry, his teeth gritted together, he could smell the fear, the blood staining the place and he could smell her, Rogue. She had taken her revenge, ‘all for you,’, she’d promised him, only thing was Logan got the sense this was just the beginning.

He growled suddenly, the loud vibration causing Storm and Scott to turn to look at him quickly, Logan had his claws bared and was staring into a darkened corner of the lab. Almost on cue stepped a tall, fair-headed man, a black patch covering one eye and a perfectly pressed uniform, covering some well toned muscles.

‘Fury…’ Logan spat out his name with disgust. Nick Fury simply smiled slightly and nodded towards him, ‘good to see you again too Logan.’

He brushed past Logan and went to stand looking over the body, his head tilted to one side, he spoke firmly, ‘so when exactly were you going to let S.H.I.E.L.D know your Rogue has, well for the lack of a better word, gone…Rogue?’

Logan growled, ‘ain’t none of S.H.I.E.L.D’s damn business!’

Fury turned on him quickly, ‘Oh yeah, well a couple dozen humans lying cold in a morgue and the human pincushion here says different,’ he glared at Professor Xavier, ‘you know the rules, soon as there is a threat, as soon as any of you become a threat S.H.I.E.L.D has the right to be informed!’

‘For what…?’ Logan had grabbed Fury by the collars and was lifting him clean off his feet, a pair of sharp adamantium claws pressed to his neck, ‘so you can put us down?!’

The others pressed forward, wanting to calm Logan down before this got any further out of hand, but Fury had come prepared, out of the shadows stepped dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D soldiers, black helmets covering their faces, and their guns aimed at the X-Men.

‘Did ya know ‘bout this place Fury?’ Logan ignored the guns pointed at his head, ‘did ya know what they did here?’ He gestured with his head to the labs, this cold, murderous place.

Fury stared down at him, ‘No, we knew something about a lab underground; we always figured it was research and nothin’ more, which sorta begs the question, how’d Rogue find out about it?’

Logan snarled, ‘Nope, it sorts begs the question, why the hell didn’t you find out ‘bout it?’

‘I already said we didn’t know…!’ Fury repeated, his one good eye narrowing and a frown crossing his face.

‘Ya didn’t know, or ya didn’t wanna know?’ Logan retorted, shaking his head in disbelief. He knew S.H.I.E.L.D, once upon a time he’d even worked for them, and there wasn’t a lot they didn’t know.

Fury sniggered, despite Logan tightening his hold around his neck, ‘You want to talk about culpability Logan, here and now, in front of your friends, want to tell them what you used to do for a living…?’

‘Screw you Fury, you one-eyed prick..!’

‘She’s an X-Man…’ Xavier interrupted, ‘or at least she was, this is a family matter, we will deal with it, we will bring Rogue and the others to account, S.H.I.E.L.D. need not concern themselves with this.’

Logan pushed Fury back, letting go of his collar at last, but still keeping his claws unsheathed, Fury rubbed his neck and stared at the Professor, ‘It’s too late for that, she’s gone too far, we can’t overlook this, there’s too many dead to count Xavier.’

‘Ya heard him,’ Logan pressed forward once more, ‘we’ll deal with it, so how ya ‘bout ya go back to that pie in the sky of yours huh?’ His voice was tinged with the clearest of menace.

Fury smiled, ‘Deal with it, is that what you’ve been doing? Funny seems a lot like you’ve been burying your heads in the sand.’

‘Trust me…’ Logan chuckled, ‘ya don’t wanna talk ‘bout buying things right now,’ he flexed his hands, the cold adamantium gleaming.

Scott had had enough, he stepped between the two men, ‘Look before this turns into a pissing contest between the two of you, how about we figure out exactly what Rogue was doing here in the first place.’

It was the Professor who came up with the answer at last, his voice, soft and pained shook as he spoke. He had seen it all, deep within his minds eye, using his psychic link to pass over the resonance Rogue had left behind he had seen it all, the destruction she had wrought and more, the prisoners she had released, mutants every single one of them.

Mutants that like her, had been betrayed, had been used and broken by the humans, and suddenly it had become all too clear what Rogue’s intention had been, why she had come to this place. And looking up at both Nick Fury and Logan, he spoke his fears to them all.

‘She’s building an army…’