Ten….eleven….twelve….thirteen…fourteen….fifteen…sixteen…a…window?...seventeen…right turn…..eighteen….nineteen…twenty….elevator….

One of the first things you were taught during training, or learned instinctively if you were messed up enough, was to know your exits. When you're caught and the other guy wants you alive, they will blindfold you; maybe even throw a bag over your head until they can get you on their turf.

You have to rely on your other senses. Most likely, your hands will be bound. Your captors will escort you. If they grip you tightly, it means they desperately need you and you are too valuable to lose.

At this point, you have your feet, ears and maybe your nose left if you aren't busy sniffing out the papery smell of the inside of a brown bag.

They will lock you away and wear you down for any and all information. You refuse to break. They will grow desperate and slowly sink to levels they never dreamed of reaching if they haven't already.

If you think torture is one thing, try torture with mutants.

The ones with grotesque physical manifestations will intimidate you first. You will stare at their ugly carcasses as they keep a brooding presence. They make you think they will pummel your face beyond recognition…but these are the harmless ones.

Then come the ones that can change forms. Their mutations are internal. They may throw spikes at you or try to burn you alive. A little artful dodging will protect your hide.

Finally, the normal looking ones come. If you think you are safe, think again. These are the ones who can make you do what they want. They will attempt to bend and force you to their will. Often, they will be successful. Of course, they could come first and extract the necessary information, but that depends on how pressed for time they are.

These normal looking mutants are too cocky. They want to step on your dignity and ground it down into the earth. So, they come last. They feel they are extra special when they appear as a last resort and throw their Class 5 mutations in everyone's face.

Mutant lie detectors are beatable. You keep thinking happy thoughts, believe you're in control and whatever you say is true…then your heart rate and scent shall not deceive you.

Telepaths are okay if you know how to block them. Having extensive training in matters of the mind are helpful. In fact, having a touch of telepathy yourself goes a long way as well. You can get a reading off your captors and know how to play them.

But the real question comes down to getting past mutations that can adversely affect you. For instance, you could have the mutation to move at the speed of light, but what if your captor can bring your movement to a screeching halt with a blink of a telekinetic eye? Or better yet, what if your captor has the ability or technology to turn off your mutation?

Two floors down…maybe subterranean level….one…two….three…four….door on the left….

Holding cell…

They push you down onto the hard backed metallic chair and chain you to it. They finally remove the bag. It's dark, but they don't know you can see them very well. Cyclops' visor gives off an eerie reddish glow of the room and an outline of who else is here. There's a small cot on the side and a hole in the ground for your daily functions.

The crazy redhead Jean Grey beside Cyclops is trying to read your mind, but you won't give her the benefit. A calmer presence is near the door. Beast. You may be able to play up to him. He'd be easy to crack if he was to come question you first.

They leave the room. The door is loudly locked and bright lights are turned on that blind you. As if that ever stopped you. Two seconds later your chains fall away so that you regain some movement to go relieve yourself.

They don't know you have the upper hand here, but you can't make your move yet. It will be a few more hours...possibly days.

Cyclops and Beast come first after long hours of no contact. They chain you back to the chair. They don't question you. Instead, Beast comes to draw some blood and check your vital signs. Maybe give you some of that goop they claim is food. Soon enough, they are gone.

You know the X-men. They try so hard to force others to follow a rule they don't hold to themselves. They are brash, which means they will be unpredictable in their questioning. Your previous notions will have to be adjusted.

They want to wear down your patience. They think they have all the time in the world. They believe they know what they're doing. Scare you, torture you. Oh yes…these leathered angels are capable of torture.

Well, cockiness comes with a price. They don't know what you can do.

Let the games begin.

Logan watched her closely. He scrutinized every detail about her. Appearances can tell a lot about a person. Just observing her and how she interacted with her surroundings could gauge his questions and responses towards her.

He needed to get to know how to approach her. Logan inhaled deeply and was surprised to find a faint twinge of something sweet in the air. This was not going to be at like he expected. He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate.

Logan was usually the predator stalking out his prey. But the tables were turned this time. He felt that something underhanded was afoot, and he didn't like being played.

This was the Rogue. They finally had a face to a name and it seemed to come all too easily. After all this time of hearing but not seeing her, here she was and he couldn't believe it.

She was damn hot, and he couldn't help but wonder how this sweet piece of ass ended up doing the Brotherhood's bidding.

Logan committed every detail of her posture while she remained seated. She had wisps of white and brown hair coming out of her ponytail. She blew a breath upwards trying to move her hair out of her eyes. Then she dropped her head and tried to push it away with her shoulders. It didn't get the job done. Finally, she just gave up and sat there drumming her fingers on the armrests and wondering how long she would have to sit there chained.

Rogue, huh? Mutant with the poisonous touch. Seems like she wouldn't be here with skin like that.

As he stared at her face, she looked up and smiled. She knew he was watching and for some reason he had the feeling that she knew what she was getting into. He would have to get Drake and Yellow's account later, but now….

His eyes started to follow the zipper of her black leathered and worn uniform. The clasp had come undone at some point during a scuffle, and every time she shifted, the zipper would sneak down lower. He currently had a view of her plunging cleavage the tops of a richly green bra.

Fuck yeah, she was hot. Deep chocolate brown eyes, pouty lips and that knowing smile. She had a real sweet face, but knowing her alliance with the Brotherhood, he knew she was definitely more than sweet. A little spicy maybe…..well mostly spicy.

It was no matter, he wasn't a nice guy either. He could guarantee that if they were anywhere else, he'd have her legs wrapped around him in two seconds flat.

Shit, he really needed to get these thoughts out of his head. Getting into bed with the enemy was never a good idea…unless for really hot sex, but this wasn't the time to negotiate particulars.

He needed to get the bottom of this matter. He could rip his claws out at any second. Scare the shit out of her. After all, he was the best at what he did, and what he did best wasn't very nice.

Logan shut off the camera. Popping his knuckles, he sent a mental message to Chuck about giving him a debrief later about the secret mission he was sent on while the various members of the other team did a recon two days ago and caught this piece of ass.

Chuck gave him a silent affirmation.

Logan prepared to fuck the chick senseless in the questioning scheme of things in ways she wouldn't forget. Little did he know it was going to be the other way around.

Logan opened the door and entered just as his nose went into overdrive.

Marie licked her lips as the burly man entered the door. He stopped and rubbed his nose, which gave her time to appreciate his generous frame. Did Xavier recruit these people for their looks or powers?

She leaned back in the metallic chair and arched her back on purpose. His eyes immediately fell to her perked up rack.

Men. They were so easy. Piece of warm apple pie was how easy this was going to be.

Course brown hair in a funny style. Well, who was she to judge, she had the skunk look. Tight uniform that had random slashes, gashes, and gore barely showed the tantalizing tanned skin.

Ah, he was here to scare her. Not bad. He was glaring at her now. Ok, scary motherfucker, let's see what you got.

"So…" he began.

Too easy. She could split him in half with her bare hands. Or drop him faster than a hot potato in two seconds. She felt the metal humming off him. Well, she could twist him up too….in other ways.

She gave him her most charming smile, drummed her fingertips on the armrest, and raised a sexy arched eyebrow. "So…?"

He sniffed at the air again.

"So they finally let the dog out, I see," she continued.

He growled and she made eye contact. Warm hazel eyes stared back. It was one of those movie moments that she used to make fun of where the characters claim they knew.

What exactly did she know? She knew that he knew she wasn't here because they caught her. She was here because she allowed them to catch her.

"So….," he began pacing around the table.

"I thought a dog's vocabulary also included 'Woof Woof.''

Don't get cocky. Never underestimate the enemy. What if he wasn't as easy as she thought? Oh well, she just had to keep him at bay long enough to cover up her mess.

"How about we make this easy and you tell me the what the fuck you were doing before getting caught?"

"Sugar, I am anything but easy. You're gonna have to work a little harder," she gave him a nonchalant smile.

"Trust me darling, you don't want to make this harder."

"Why? Would you rather play fetch?" she wiggled her shoulders and her zipper came down lower.

His nostrils flared. He charged her, grabbing the underside of her ponytail and whipping her to face him. "What the fuck kind of game you playing?"

She almost ripped the chains off when at the way he grasped her. She had to keep her cool. She couldn't give it all away yet. She took a deep breath of his sweat and cigar cologne and smiled into his face.

"What game? I don't play games."

He inhaled deeply and she saw his eyes slowly change color. "You don't now do you."

"Nope. I make the games," she gave him her coyest look.

His hand moved from the underside of her ponytail and to her chest. He wasn't quite touching her skin, but he skimmed across her breasts and glided over her clavicle and neck.

Hell, no. There was no way she was gonna be manhandled on the job.

But before she said anything else, he removed his hand and with a SNIKT, three claws were released from his hand.

He couldn't hurt her with those.

"Kid, you don't make the games. I do," he said as he retracted two of the blades and pressed the third against her neck.

"Anything you want to tell me, kid?"

"Yeah," she said putting on her best scared voice.

His eyebrow rose for her to proceed.

"Don't call me kid."

He snorted, but he pressed the blade harder. She gasped and felt a sting across her neck and then looked down to see a trickle of blood make its way down her chest.

So apparently, she had met her match. Invulnerability didn't stand a chance against these claws. Marie looked back up at him as he retracted his claw.

He knew her weakness now.

"I'll be back later, kid. Next time I won't be so generous," he said eyeing his cut.

She had to bring the ball back into her court. "Neither will I," she said.

He looked at with even higher raised eyebrow.

She merely looked down to see the blood tracks.

And right before his eyes, the cut healed itself.

Logan knew she was expecting him to cut her, but he wasn't expecting her to heal either. She didn't just have poisonous skin...

He headed straight to the door trying to figure out his next mode of attack when she called after him.

"Oh and your brother says hi."

He slammed the door behind him as he left the cell, his head spinning. What the hell did she just mean about his brother? What brother? What the fuck was she talking about? What about her mutations? They literally knew next to nothing about her.

And…she was getting to him. She wasn't anything sweet although, the sweet smell was all hers...and now he was as confused as Scooter trying to chop wood would be.

He immediately headed to the switch board and turned the cameras back on as Drake and Chuck entered the room.

"What's he doing here?" he growled at Chuck.

Drake spoke up. "I apprehended her."

"As I recall, Ole Yeller was with you, too."

"I'm the team leader," Bobby said.

"And he also needs to be a part of this interrogation," Chuck said.

"I don't know about this, Chuck."

"Wha—"

"There is something seriously wrong here," Logan said.

"What do you mean?" Chuck leaned forward.

"I thought you said she steals people's powers with a touch…"

"Yes, that is what we had known. Now we finally have a face to that name."

"But if she could touch, why didn't she just drop Drake and Yellow. Judging by her stance, she could have taken them down flat."

"I highly doubt that," Bobby piped up proudly.

Logan shook his head. "She can heal. That wasn't part of her file."

Chuck looked surprise. "Perhaps she has additional powers?"

"I don't know, but I think she's here on her own agenda."

"No way! Are you saying she let herself be caught?" Bobby snapped.

"I'm saying exactly that, Drake."

"Professor, I think Logan is feeling a little down because we actually saw some action while he was on a random pick-up," Bobby snapped again.

"I wasn't on a pick-up you Ice-ass!"

"Bobby. Logan. Let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe I should ask a few of my own questions," Chuck said wheeling to the door.

"I'm staying out here," Logan said, "to monitor. This kid is really throwing me off."

"I'm coming with you," Bobby said to Chuck, throwing Logan a condescending look.

"Drake, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Let him come. He needs the experience and it was his call," Chuck said.

Bobby carried an air of satisfaction into the holding cell. Logan merely watched the cameras as the Rogue smiled at her new prey.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Ice-dick and his puppeteer. It's nice to meet the famous Charles Xavier. Pimpin set of wheels. I'm Rogue by the way. Nice to meet you," she said with a sarcastic undertone.

Bobby jumped the gun and Logan cursed under his breath. "If you answer our questions then you should be fine."

"Tell me something I haven't heard before," she smiled.

Charles tried a new tactic, mentally silencing Bobby. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Rogue. Your presence has eluded us before."

"Just Rogue," she smiled. "I just decided to finally meet you guys."

"What changed your mind?"

"Oh, I saw your dog, whose waiting outside, fight once. It was quite a turn-on."

"Wolverine is not a dog. He is a member of this team," Chuck raised a finger to his temple and Logan knew he was reading Rogue's mind.

"Right…coming from the man who preaches peace but has assembled a facility down here that could make the U.S. military blush. Does the rest of your team know what you really have your dog doing?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Chuck said tightly. Bobby looked confused.

"Judging by the look on Boy Wonder over here, they don't. It must be so nice to keep your hands clean while you have people play dress up and try to save the world."

Bobby seemed to regain his voice now. "We don't play dress up. We actually do help people unlike you. You just bring a bad name to the rest of us."

"Au contraire. We make you look nicer. Ever wonder why you never see the big battles? The real stuff? We do it. We aren't afraid to get our hands dirty. We do what needs to be done and we don't lie about it. Unlike your Xavier here, who maintains a façade of a school while training his kids to carry out his dirty work."

"It is nothing like that here," Charles said.

"Sure. And the Holocaust didn't happen. You can say what you want. But the truth is still there. You're like a mutant laboratory yourself."

"We are anything but that," Chuck said. Logan noticed that Chuck started rubbing his temple harder.

"Uh-huh. So you keep your pubescent kids like this one," she jerked her head towards Drake, "to do the nice looking deeds, while you have your Wolverine gut everyone behind the scenes. Don't lie, you only wanted him because he would do what you didn't want to do."

"Don't you dare put yourself above us. We offer mutants a safe place to live. We help them control their powers. Help them live a normal life," Bobby spat.

Rogue threw her head back and laughed. "You're too funny. Really." She shook her head smiling. "The difference between you superhero wannabes and us is that a person knows the consequences firsthand of getting into bed with us. We don't charm you, we give you the truth. We don't control you, we want you to reach your potential. When will you learn there is no such thing as normal and the only thing Wheels over here is doing is making sure that nobody ever becomes more powerful than himself? But then again, who made you the judge?" she gave Chuck a venomous look.

Bobby sputtered. "Nothing like that goes on here."

Logan wondered why Chuck hadn't said anything yet. But when he looked over at him, he seemed to be physically strained.

"Uh-huh." Rogue said. She turned back to Chuck. "By the way, my mind is for me only. So I suggest you stop fucking trying to read it. You're only gonna hurt yourself."

Chuck looked up in surprise.

Logan shook his head. This chick was full of surprises.

Bobby snapped around to Charles. "You can't read her mind?'

"How are you able to block me out?" Charles asked her. Logan didn't need to hear his voice to know that Chuck was confounded.

"That's my little secret." She smiled.

"I think this is enough for now."

"Sure thing," she replied. "Come back when you've figured out how to read my mind. I'll be waiting here," she said as she raised her hands slightly to show off the chains.

Bobby turned around as he held the door for Chuck. "You have no idea what really goes around here. It's nothing like what you said."

"Believe what you want buddy boy. But why don't you ask your dear Professor why his dog doesn't know the truth and why he's acting like he doesn't know me."

Logan froze at the switchboard and looked over to a surprised Charles.

"I don't know you," Charles said as he turned around to face Rogue through the door.

"Sure you do. Isn't that why you were trying to read my mind? Trying to figure out what my father was up to?" Rogue gave him an exaggerated wink.

Charles looked thoroughly confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Rogue tsked. "You know very well who I am. You did kidnap me once after all."

There was a moment of silence as Charles's eyes widened in astonishment.

"You're Erik's daughter?" he gasped.

"She's Magneto's daughter?" Scott exclaimed.

An outcry erupted from all around Charles' office.

Logan stood silently with his iPad in hand staring at the image of Rogue in the holding cell. He really wanted to talk to Chuck, but the man had so far successfully evaded him.

Jubilee was sitting silently at the end. "There is something seriously fucked up with this situation."

"For once, Yellow, you're right," Logan looked up at her.

Everyone fell into smaller outbursts and disbelief. Charles looked over at Kitty and sent her a mental request and the demure girl began clicking away immediately at her laptop.

"Charles, perhaps it would be wise to elaborate. Why did she say you kidnapped her?" Beast interjected.

All eyes were on him now.

"Because, in essence I did. Years ago, before most of you even joined, Magneto and Mystique used to live with us."

"Yes, we were mere children," Jean said.

This was obviously before Logan joined and he kept silent.

"Mystique was my adopted sister, Raven, and Erik was my dearest friend. But at the time we began building Cerebro, it was the start of our disagreements. IT only progressed as Erik was out to avenge himself and I wanted him to let go. I didn't share his views, and Erik turned to Raven. While I was busy trying to help you three," Chuck looked at Scott, Jean, and Ororo, "harness your powers, Erik and Raven became intimate. Very soon, she was pregnant. Erik took another turn then. He and Raven became enigmatic about the baby that was to be born. They had high hopes. Something that was too much to be expected of a child. And by then, I knew how their thoughts were running. There was no hope if the child turned out to be human and not a mutant. I only feared for the child's well being," Charles looked down.

"What happened, Charles," Ororo stepped forward to clasp his hands.

"After Raven delivered a baby girl. Erik asked me to use Cerebro to detect a mutant signature. I did, but I didn't get anything. Their disappointment was echoing. They neglected the child. I was unable to witness their behavior. I thought I was doing what was best. One day, I simply took the baby girl and sent her far away where she would never be discovered and could grow up happily with a human family. Not too long after that, I asked Erik and Raven to leave. They did, but others decided to go with them as well."

"But Rogue is a mutant," Bobby piped up, "and if it was years ago, shouldn't she be older?"

"How did she not register on Cerebro?" Logan asked before turning to Bobby. "She has a healing factor. I think that slows down her aging process like mine."

"I think it has to do with the particulars of her mutation. It must be the same reason why I can't read her mind. But I had no idea that Rogue was the same child I sent away years ago," Charles said.

"Where did you send her?" Scott asked.

"To Mississippi. The D'Ancanto family, I believe. Kitty?" Chuck looked over at her.

Kitty looked up with a shaky face. "They're dead."

Everyone was stunned. There was more to the Rogue then they expected.

Kitty hit a button, and the images on her laptop were projected to the screen behind Chuck's desk. There lay a man and woman near each other with their necks grotesquely twisted and their eyes frozen in fear.

"Mystique," Logan said. "It looks like her work."

There was a moment of silence as Kitty pulled up various articles. "All the local articles state something about a boy going into a coma and a girl named Marie missing. Before that, her parents were known as notorious bigots."

"So they probably believed mutants were trash," Jubilee said.

"Yeah, and her parents were killed several years ago."

"So we can presume that Magneto found her at some point," Beast said.

"No shit, Sherlock, but what's she doing here now?" Logan asked.

Scott shook his head. "We need to monitor her at all costs. Magneto and Mystique could come at any moment to rescue her."

"We'll take the first shift," Jean said looking at Scott.

"I'll take next one," Logan said passing the iPad to Jean.

"Be careful," Charles said. "We know her mutation is her skin, she can heal, and she can block telepathy."

Jean gave a casual nod and the meeting became unofficially dismissed. Everyone started to leave but Logan headed straight to Charles.

"Ahh, Logan. I knew you would have some questions."

"What did she mean about not telling me the truth?"

"To be honest, Logan, I really have no idea. She wants us to play her game and she is spouting off lies to get there."

"But being Magneto's daughter wasn't a lie. You knew who she was!"

"True—"

"Then you must know something. Think!"

"Logan, I really have no idea. The only thing we can do right now is to figure out why she is here. She obviously didn't mind being caught, but Erik would not have let her go so easily. She's either here on some outrageous plan or because she wants to defect. And I believe it's the former…."

Marie rolled her eyes at the ceiling. She was still waiting for Emma's telepathic signal. How long did it take for her mother to get the job done? Granted it was her own mess that got her here.

Marie yawned. She really wanted to stretch, but the chains were holding her down. Damned motherfuckers didn't unlock the chains before they left. She didn't want to draw suspicion either by molding the metal. She dropped her head backwards and yawned again. She could at least sleep while she waited.

Two minutes later, the door burst open and the redhead stormed into the cell.

"Marie D'Ancanto," she said as she telekinetically closed the door and stalked to her side while carrying a plastic bag.

So they had done their research. "Jean Grey. I prefer Rogue." And it's Lensherr, not D'Ancanto, bitch. But she didn't need to add fuel to the fire.

Jean smiled sinisterly. She leaned closer. "You're not in a position to make any demands."

So this bitch wanted to play. "Whew. You smell."

Jean was taken aback.

"I mean the least you could do is wash that Cajun scent off of you. Does your Boy Scout know you play around or are you both into the swinging deal?"

Jean backhanded her.

Marie returned her sinister smile. "Well the next time you see that Swamp Rat, tell him he owes me an orgasm or two."

Jean slapped her again.

Marie was gonna claim special treatment for years to come for subjecting herself to this torture. The Southern fire and animal in her were roaring to wrap her fingers around Jean Grey's throat.

"What you don't like the truth?" Marie asked.

"I don't like your lies," Jean said placing the bag on the table.

"Is that so?"

Jean slapped her again.

Marie's neck cracked as soon as she whipped her head forward. So, it seems like these X-men were highly unpredictable. It at least proved the point about her selective blindness theory.

If Jean was expecting to beat information out of her, there was no way she was getting it from Marie.

Marie looked up into the redhead's eyes and found them to be fiery. Not Marie's kind of fire. The all consuming fire. Aah, Emma warned her about this one.

"Since you have healing, it isn't very fair for me to go against you. I thought I'd even the odds," Jean said as she removed a metallic choker from the bag.

Marie's eyes widened in horror. No way, she had to get out of here now or everything would go to shit.

Too late.

Jean snapped the collar around her neck.

"Suppression collar, huh? Seems pretty cheap. Almost like your hair dye," Marie snapped.

This time Jean punched her and she felt the pain. Rogue felt the tingles of Jean's telepathy. Quick, what did Emma teach her?

"Why don't you tell me what you're really doing here?"

"Got unlucky. Got caught," Marie winced.

Jean kicked her backwards.

Marie coughed. "What? Can't read my mind?"

Jean moved to the other end of the table and jerked her hand. Marie found her chair immediately slamming into the wall and her head snapped against the metal.

"Gah…"

Jean started nodding her head and Marie felt her chair shake from side to side and scrambling her innards.

"It'll only get worse."

"What do you want to know?" Marie managed to make out as blood trickled down her face.

Jean walked up to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Currently getting the shit shaken out of me."

Jean aimed a punch to her gut. Marie doubled over but her chains restricted her.

"A real answer will suffice. Why would Magneto allow his daughter to get caught?"

"That's the same question I should ask my dear father the next time I see him."

Jean punched her in the face again. She took a step back and motioned with her hand so that Marie felt her shoulder dislocate.

Suddenly the door was thrown open. "Jean, I think that's enough."

Jean barely turned to her boyfriend.

"Jean? Come on. Jean?"

"What?" she snapped around and even Cyclops couldn't deny the strange glow that came across her.

"That's it for now," he said shakily.

"Ok," she said softly and got up. Before closing the door, she turned to Rogue. "I'll be seeing you again."

With that, she nodded her head and left as Rogue's chair tipped over and she landed on her dislocated arm.

Logan read through the reports that the team filed while he was on the other secret mission for Chuck.

All the reports indicated that something had tripped the alarm at the laboratory and Rogue couldn't make it past the closing gates in time. Mystique had abandoned her while Rogue was left rattling the gate. Bobby and Jubilee came upon her. Bobby's report claimed she put up a fight, while Jubilee claimed minor scuffle. Kitty and Piotr both claimed that she walked quietly back with Jubilee and Bobby as she was escorted back to the jet while they waited for Scott, Jean and Beast.

Logan looked up from the detailed reports as Jean walked back into Chuck's office an hour later.

Chuck looked up. "Well?"

"Still no word. Scott's on watch. Logan, you can get some rest until your shift. She's not cracking." Jean took a seat across from Logan and Chuck and crossed her legs.

Logan had to admit the woman pulled off the sexy look and her long legs very well. Jean tossed a smirk at Logan before turning back to Chuck. Damn telepaths.

"I snapped a suppression collar on her and tried to read her mind, thinking her mutation might be a hindrance."

"And?"

"Well, she must have really mastered blocking out telepaths. The only thing I got from her was a bunch of numbers," Jean said.

"Numbers for what?" Kitty looked up from her laptop.

"I'm not sure. She kept saying nineteen, twenty, one, two. It was like she was counting from one to twenty over and over again."

They stayed in the room for another hour debating Rogue's presence, Magneto's plans and where Rogue had been all her life. They still drew blanks and finally everyone called it a night.

Logan decided to get some shut eye before starting his shift.

Logan shuffled back to his room, showered and fell onto his bed. He only slept a few hours before he bolted awake.

He knew what she meant with the numbers...or at least he had an idea.

There was no harm in testing his theory.

He still had an hour before his shift, but there was no way he could sleep now. Logan pulled on his sweats and a hoodie and made his way to the lower levels.

Just as he got to Rogue's holding cell, he saw Scott standing outside stupefied and some painful moaning coming from the inside.

"Whatcha doin out here Summers?" Logan asked.

"Waiting for Jean. She thinks she's had a breakthrough," Scott said dazed.

Logan walked inside to find all the cameras had been cut off. Whatever was going on didn't sound good. He threw open the door to find Jean hovering over Rogue's groaning body.

"Jean!" he barked. Something inside of him snapped.

She immediately settled to the ground.

"What the hell you doing?"

"What does it look like? Trying to get information. Aren't you a little early? Well, she's still not cracking. I guess it's your turn now. I'm sorry I took up Wolverine time. Don't go too easy on her," she said rapidly as she strode confidently out of the room.

Logan had half a mind to take after her, but he had to see to Rogue first. The kid looked like she was on the brink of death.

He quickly ran to her and righted her chair and she screamed in pain.

"It's ok, kid." He released a claw and slit the collar at her throat.

Rogue coughed up an unhealthy amount of blood on his hoodie before her healing started to kick into gear.

Logan stepped outside as Jean and Scott were walking away. "What the hell Jean?"

"What?" she turned around.

"You trying to kill her?"

"Oh please Logan. She'll heal once you take off the collar. You know for a fact if it was the other way around they would have done the same thing."

Logan didn't know what to believe as he watched her and Scott walk away.

Logan slipped off his hoodie, walked back inside, and gently rubbed Rogue's face of the dried blood as the cuts and bruising started to disappear.

Rogue moaned as she opened her eyes and focused on Logan. "Damn, that bitch is crazy!"

"Jean's usually not like that. I don't know what came over her."

"More like the Phoenix came over her. Can I have some water?"

Logan raised his eyebrow as he went to the corner of the room and filled a paper cup with water. "Phoenix?"

"Another thing to ask Charles. He's growing his own ticking time bomb right there." Rogue moaned before letting Logan hold the cup to her mouth and drinking.

"What's next? Are you here to bite my head off or lick my wounds?" She asked, wetting her lips.

"Neither. I just want to ask you a few questions."

"Oh goodie. More of those. I love them especially since I've been so forthcoming. Nice body by the way," Rogue smiled cheekily. The dried blood on her face made her look disturbing.

Logan took a deep breath. "How long were you in the lab?"

Rogue looked at him. "What the fuck are you talking about? I was only there for a few minutes before your dazzling Iceman caught me." She eyed his well defined abs and the particular vein bulging down his arm.

"No, I mean the mutant experimentation lab. How long did they keep you there?"

Her head snapped up. "How would you know that?"

He had hit gold.

"The numbers. Jean said she read your mind earlier and all she got were numbers. Everyone was trying to figure it out. But I knew. I got these in a lab," Logan said releasing his claws.

He retracted them. "I don't remember much before and during. But I've been caught and sent back to labs afterwards until Charles found me and gave me a place to stay. Counting helps remove your mind from what your body is subjected to."

"Is this the part where we swap mutant horror stories and become friends and I turn and help you defeat my father for a place on your team?"

"No…I just wanted…"

"I thought so. So let's not talk about it. "

"Well, you don't seem to want to talk about anything else, so I say we talk about it," Logan said turning over the other chair and taking a seat.

"Really? I spent three years hating my parents for turning me over like a piece of meat to a mutant lab. I did shit I never want to think about again. Then one day, a band of mutants blow up the lab and offer me a place to live. A home. Only I find out that the leaders were my real parents and their friend for ages kidnapped me and gave me to scum of the parents I had who threw me in a lab in the first place. That in a nutshell is my story."

"I'm sorry that's what happened to you. But you can't hate Xavier for that. Magneto and Mystique aren't exactly parental material. Xavier had no idea your adoptive parents would be like that."

"Don't even fucking defend him. That wasn't his choice to make."

"I'm not defending him. I just wanted you to see why he did it.."

"Do you see why he does things?"

"The man offered me a place to live. He gave me a second chance."

"And because of that you're going to turn a blind eye to all the wrongs he's done?"

"He's made a few mistakes, but who hasn't?" Logan shrugged.

"His mistake cost me years of my life! He sits here wanting everyone to control their powers so that when he says go, they fire. He's worse than the Mutant Registration Act. He has Cerebro here keeping track of mutants and their powers. He's like Big Brother. And worse, as a telepath, he can sneak into your mind and jack shit up. Your lovely Jean Grey is a prime example. Someone needs to take care of her before she goes ape-shit crazy."

"You're wrong about everything. It's not the way it seems—"

"Oh yeah? You're a feral. You follow your instincts. Has your instincts not told you yet that something is wrong here?"

Logan was silent.

"I thought so. You can't sit in front of me telling me otherwise. You're self loathing is apparent. You're saying it's okay for Xavier to force you to control your animal side, but then makes you go all feral when he wants a something dirty really done?"

"I…"

"You know what I'm saying is true."

"You're just twisting words. That's what you lot are known for anyway. You're no different. You're always trying to collect mutants as well." Logan exclaimed.

"But we don't shy away from who we are. We believe every mutant is worth an immense potential no matter their mutation. We give them an option. They know what they are agreeing to. Do you know what you've agreed to? Supposedly the most powerful telepath in the world offers you a place to stay in exchange for god knows what while you fight his battles. Now how long has it been since you joined the X-men? And you still don't know the truth about anything. Such a small price to pay for your dignity," Rogue said sarcastically.

"So you know the truth? Do you know who I really am?" Wait, what was he doing? When did he suddenly feel closer to her? He was playing right into her hands.

"Maybe, maybe not. It's not my place to say. But I know some people who could help."

"Help as long as I do what you want. How are you any different now?" Good, try to get back on the right side.

"Cause I will tell you exactly what I want from you, and not lead you around on a leash."

Logan pushed his chair away from the table, got up, and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

She was really getting to him. What she was saying was making sense, but he didn't want to believe it. What if she really was telling the truth though? No. It couldn't be. She was saying anything to get him to believe her. He was not going to play her accomplice.

Keep talking though kid, and he could get something.

"What are you saying?" he asked her.

Rogue shook her head. "Join us. There is a war brewing. But what Xavier is doing isn't safe. Hoarding all these children in the middle of New York will not help. What do you think will happen when humans are permanently turned against mutants? That Sentinel project isn't just a rumor. You think you can protect all these children here?"

"So what do you suggest we do?"

"Come with me. There is no right or wrong side now. It's just a matter of survival. My father wants to avoid what was done to him for his beliefs years ago. He wants to avoid persecution for what we really are. With us, you can be free to embrace yourself. You can explore your mutation not neglect the special part of yourself and hate it because of what you think it makes you."

"I don't know if I can trust you."

"Trust me? I spent years with my adoptive family hating my skin before they turned my over to a lab to get rid of me. They don't understand what is different. They need time. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day. Together we can all stand up for ourselves. Prepare ourselves. Give the human race time to come to grips with us. If they can, we can live together. If they can't then a war will come. But until then, we just want to make a place for ourselves.

"And I'm suddenly supposed to believe you?"

Rogue smiled, "I like you and I know that you like me too, at least enough to know I'm telling the truth."

"How do you know I like you?"

"It was obvious when you first walked in. You were thinking if it were anywhere else, you'd have my legs wrapped around you in two seconds flat."

Logan froze mid-stride.

CHUCK! Logan shouted as he made his way back upstairs. Where are you?

In my office.

Logan took every shortcut he knew and met Chuck at his office door.

"Logan, what is going on? What's the matter?"

"She's a telepath!"

Charles eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She knew what I was thinking."

"Get Hank and meet me downstairs."

Ten minutes later, Hank, Charles and Logan were watching Rogue on the screen again.

"Her mutation is more complex than we thought," Hank said watching her every movement.

"That could explain why she could block my telepathy," Charles said.

"She must be quite powerful," Hank continued.

"Which makes us wonder what other powers she has," Logan said, "And why would Buckethead let her go and not try to rescue her."

"It's time to really find out. Gentlemen," Charles motioned and all three men went to confront the Rogue.

"Logan, Logan," she tsked. "I knew you'd go tattle. Now what can I do for you guys?"

"You've certainly surprised us," Charles said.

"Well, that's me. I'm just full of surprises."

"How did you pick up telepathy?" Hank asked.

"Why do you all ask questions you know the answers to? I learned from the best. Someone who Charles kicked out a while back for her so called ethical dilemmas, but would actually give you a run for your money now."

"Emma Frost." Charles stated.

"Yup. The one and only. If you don't mind telling me, I would appreciate knowing how many days I've been contained here."

"Three." Hank piped up.

Rogue nodded. "So day one, you leave me here to rot. Day two you send Beast in here to run tests. And day three, you all just go crazy and overdo it. But anyhow, you know what they say, fish and guests smell after three days."

"You're saying you're gonna leave?" Logan asked.

"Yup. Just waiting for dear old Emma to give me a sign. It shouldn't be too long now."

"Sorry darling, I don't see you leaving here any time soon."

Rogue turned to Beast. "Hmm… my dear Beast, will you be so kind to tell me what time it is. To the second, please?"

"1:07 and 50 seconds. AM."

"Well the time has arrived sooner than I thought. What a coincidence!" She said sarcastically. "I must fly this coup soon." Eight…seven…

All three men were confounded. Five…four…

Logan stepped forward. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Simple. I mean it literally." Two…one.

Before three pairs of staring eyes, she lifted her hands up and the chains easily snapped as if they were paper.

"I'll be seeing you suckers later," she said as she barreled past them.

Logan was the first to recover and go after her with Hank hot on his tail. Charles immediately sent out a mental distress call to the other X-men.

A resounding boom suddenly rocked the far side of the mansion. Rogue turned around to see Logan and Hank frozen in the middle of the hall.

"My mother loves to outdo herself."

Marie relied on her senses to get her out of this maze or at least find a window. She took a mental second on complementing herself for being spot on time.

She heard Wolverine's claws come out and just as she felt him prepare to tackle her, she flew upwards. Once near the ceiling, she looked down at a shocked Wolverine. This time Beast proceeded to attack and agilely jumped up to meet her.

But she simply smiled and flew through the ceiling, pushing the metal apart and allowing her head to break through the structure and coming in front of a surprised Iceman. She gave him a gentle push and he flew back down to the end of the hall.

Before he could process what had happened, she was flying towards the ceiling and breaking through the next level again. Seeing the nearest window, she flew straight towards it, barreling into glass. It shattered around her as she flew up and turned to see small explosions lighting the sky on the far end of the mansion.

When it suddenly started to rain, she became drenched and saw Storm making it rain to put out the fires.

Marie heard the chopper and turned around to see it twenty feet in front of her. Her mother gave her a toothy smile as Emma motioned for her to hurry.

She aimed for the chopper when she suddenly felt herself weighted down. She glanced downwards to see Wolverine had jumped from the window she shattered and had grabbed onto her legs.

"You never give up, do you?" she asked.

"You're not getting away from me that easily," he said preparing to dig his claws in her with a feral smile.

She smiled, but in that split second, she caught his gaze. Intense hazel and chocolate brown were locked and Wolverine couldn't finish the job.

"I wasn't lying about what I said," she said.

"I know." Wolverine looked back at the mansion in defeat.

"Xavier wants to paint us as the bad guys for doing exactly what he wants you to do."

"I know," came the solemn response.

"We aren't the bad guys. It's not too late to join us. Bring everyone around. Make them see the cold hard truth."

He looked deep into her, Marie felt her soul on fire.

"I…don't know what to believe," he said looked back at her.

She nodded. "What do you think needs to be done?"

He looked back at the mansion. She didn't need to be a telepath to see his gaze was honed in on a particular redhead. So apparently he had some issues with the crazy bitch.

She gave him a sad smile. "Your indecisiveness disappoints me."

Wolverine whipped his head around to her as she easily peeled his grip off of her. She held him by one arm and tossed him onto the nearest rooftop.

Marie flew up into the chopper and beside Emma.

"You guys owe me big time for this. Please tell me you at least got the job done."

Raven gave her a thumbs-up as she guided the chopper off of Xavier's grounds.

"So what's with you and Wolverine?" Emma asked as she handed her a pair of headphones.

"He's hot. Definitely fuckable. May come around in time," Rogue replied as she donned the headphones to listen to her father.

Logan rolled onto his feet and turned to see Rogue's face as the chopper went out of sight.

Xavier wheeled beside him two minutes later to see the bare speck in the distance.

"How is everything?" he asked.

"Just minor explosions. I wonder how they got past our security system," Chuck said.

"For three days, we held her. Nothing happened. And now this! What was the point? What the hell is going on?" Logan growled.

Charles said contemplatively, "I believe Rogue was just a distraction."

That was the truth and the why was still elusive, but it wasn't the answer Logan wanted.

"I'm here. Your mother and Lance were able to get me here on schedule without drawing attention…particularly because everyone was focused on you. Although we did get sidetracked, you managed to deflect attention beautifully. We'll talk more later, but I have to make sure everything is dealt with on this end," came a clear voice through Marie's ears.

"Yes, father." Marie took off the headphones as her mother landed the chopper on a helicopter pad atop a building in Yonkers.

"So getting him to Genosha was a breeze?" Marie asked Emma.

Emma sighed before continuing in her crisp, clear accent. "We thought we would have additional trouble, but thanks to our lab distraction, Erik and Wanda were able to leave undetected to make sure none of Callisto's work gets out."

"What was hard was tracking through our known channels while figuring out Xavier's informers…especially since most of them don't know they are rats," Raven shook her head.

Marie nodded her head in agreement. "I'm sorry. If it wasn't for Remy, we wouldn't have to sidetrack to the lab."

"That damn Cajun ex of yours definitely gave them the heads up…we had to make it seem like we were after something at the lab or anything else before Xavier figured out the real deal," Raven said as she cut the engine of the helicopter.

"Something like suppression technology…which they used on me?" Marie held up the remnants of the collar where Wolverine had slit it earlier off her throat.

Emma stared at her. "I didn't think they had it yet…let alone used it."

Raven turned to her daughter. "Apparently they have no qualms about using it on people they don't like."

"Yeah, and I lost the shapeshifting and telepathy after the Grey bitch collared me," Marie said harshly.

"Did they—"

"She tried to read my mind, but I learned from the best and blocked her," Marie turned to Emma.

"And naturally you lost only the temporary mutations," Raven brought up.

Marie nodded.

"But that is an interesting point you have brought up. What was the Brotherhood doing at a lab? Why did Rogue get caught? And what do they want with suppression technology?" Emma asked in a mocking cryptic voice.

As all three women lithely jumped down from the helicopter, Marie continued, "Judging from their sporadic interrogation techniques, not everyone especially Charles Xavier is entirely open with the others about…anything really."

The three women smirked to each other in understanding before walking to the ledge of the skyscraper, while Raven muttered something about all-knowing Charles acting like he was God.

Marie took her mother's hand in comfort, knowing the source of her feelings for Charles. Raven just gave her an affectionate smile.

Turning away from her, Marie took a look at the hefty drop down to death while Emma said, "makes you glad you're on the right team doesn't it?"

"Hell yeah," Marie and her mother answered unanimously.

"You up for flying us to the penthouse?" Emma asked.

"You ok with smelling my body odor?" Marie retorted.

Emma wrinkled her nose and drew up her white cape closer to her face.

"I haven't showered in three days," Marie smiled.

Raven laughed. "Can we just leave?"

Marie levitated off the ground and grabbed each woman under the arm before lifting off.

Emma tapped at her temple. "The real pilot should be waking up soon."

In minutes, they were in downtown New York City and Marie flew them up to the rooftop of the penthouse they had been renting for the last month.

Victor Creed and Pietro Maximoff were already waiting near the screen door. They had paid a hefty sum for the immense space with rooftop access.

"Runt, you smell."

"Nice to see you too, Vicky," Marie imitated Emma's pet name.

Victor growled and Emma threw a punch at Marie's shoulder.

Pietro became a silvery blur as he dashed towards Marie and peered into her face and eyed her blood stains. "You look grungy, too."

Marie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Children," Raven rolled her yellow eyes.

"Why don't you freshen up?" Emma asked Marie. "The rest of the gang is en route and we can discuss the details and the next course of action."

Marie nodded and headed straight towards her room with Emma hot on her heels.

Walking into the bathroom, Marie began stripping off the messy scraps of her uniform while Emma settled on the armchair outside by crossing her long white boot clad legs and drumming her fingertips on the armrests.

"What do you want?"

"You know what I want," Emma said.

Marie sighed. "There's nothing going on between me and Wolverine."

"Uh-huh. And the Pope isn't Catholic."

"Emma!"

"Just saying…"

"What? The Pope isn't Catholic?"

"I meant about that little spark between you and him."

"There's no spark!" Marie exclaimed.

"I can sense it between you two. He doesn't see you as the enemy…but he doesn't trust you yet."

"I don't know….I felt something…I thought I was convincing him…but I think he has issues with Jean Grey," Marie said hurriedly knowing Emma's touchiness with Jean.

Emma scoffed. "Tell me who doesn't in that inbred mansion? She and Charles have fucked up Scott's mind so much it was so easy for me to probe his mind for mansion security."

"Well, I got a buzz from Scott too before the collar. His mind seemed…staticky," Marie said as she turned on the hot water.

"The sooner and farther Scott or anyone is away from those mindfuckers, the better."

"You're a mindfucker, too."

"Not like them."

Marie just shook her head. "I don't know about Jean. She's gonna go bat crazy soon…but when?

"True, missy. However, the real question is…is Wolverine gonna be a problem?"

Marie ducked her head under the spray and wondered the same thing.

The team had no notion of chasing the Rogue. Logan sensed it the second everyone shifted attention to the smolders. He could tell from his viewpoint that the explosions where louder than damaging, but all mutants were on deck, getting more in each other's way than helping.

It was a never ending battle. If it wasn't mutant labs or the Friends of Humanity, it was the X-men versus the Brotherhood. Would it never end?

Logan didn't know how long he stood on the rooftop watching the chopper disappear into nothingness. Chuck had long since gone back to other end of the mansion to survey the damage, avoiding the awkward silence that Logan had left between them.

Chuck knew something…whether intentional or not and Logan intended to find out. How did Chuck expect the team to function if he constantly hid things from them? Who was he to judge what his team members should know? Better yet, what was he not telling Logan?

Logan shook his head. This was how the Brotherhood got into your head. Rogue was a distraction…but he didn't know for what and he wasn't going to start questioning the good guys based on what the bad guy…er girl said.

Logan finally turned to go to the other wing to survey the damage, but there was a lingering notion in his head about how he couldn't smell a lie on her when she was here.

Ororo had taken good care in putting out the fire. There was minor damage to the building. Chuck would probably have men come out in the morning to fix it up.

Jean was seething about the escape next to Scott, who was salvaging the remains to survey the any other damage as she telekinetically moved things away.

The only injuries appeared to be some smoke inhalation and minor singes and burns.

All in all, Logan felt that the Brotherhood had made complete fools of the X-men.

But they weren't just made fools of….the Rogue had really made Logan question what he knew and thought was doing.

A refreshing shower and a late night dinner later, found Marie in the living room of the penthouse with her mother, Victor, Emma, Pietro, Mortimer Toynbee (Toad), Sean Cassidy (Banshee), Lance Alvers (Avalanche), and John Allerdyce (Pyro).

"Where'd you find that Swamp Rat?" Mortimer threw at Marie as he handed the guys beers.

"Party in the Big Easy several months ago when Lance and I went to talk to John," Marie wrinkled her nose before taking a glass of wine from Emma.

John clicked his lighter. "Even I could have told you that asshole was trouble."

"Either way, we can't afford to make any more mistakes like that. Granted it was a good thing we busted up a lab, but it was a detour we didn't need," Victor muttered fingering what was left of the suppression collar before crushing it to dust between his palms and propping his feet up on a nearby box.

"Regardless, you did a good job covering up," Sean toothily smiled.

Marie smiled back. "Thanks."

Raven took a sip of her wine. "What's next on the agenda?"

John clicked his lighter closed. "I've spread the word in the only way I can."

"And my remaining underground friends are making their ways to the safe houses and getting ready to leave…especially after the last FOH attack," Mortimer slurped.

"You've told them to remain in obscurity, though?" Raven questioned him.

"Totally. Mastermind, Havok, Psylocke, and Warren," Mortimer nodded to Sean, "are keeping an eye to make sure no word gets out."

"I've been in contact with the mutants whom Xavier hasn't met from the cure list Warren snatched for me," Sean said.

Lance cracked his knuckles. "Transport arrangements are just about done. I think we can start moving out by the end of the week. Since we can't all just get on a plane without drawing attention like we were able to with Magneto and Callisto, I've had to weave my way around all our known friends without alerting any activity. There are several cargo ships in the harbor we can board. Once we're out to sea, the remaining Acolytes and I are getting military jets arranged so we can fly under the radar to Genosha. It's all tricky business, but nothing we can't handle. The important thing is to get to sea."

"We're good for the most part then. Kurt and I will meet soon next week to see where Xavier stands," Emma said.

Mortimer looked up curiously. "How do they not know that Kurt is their rat? I mean…don't they like know Kurt is your son?" he turned to Raven.

"Not a lot of people know…because of the shit that was happening at that time…" Raven drifted off.

Emma picked up. "From my time there, Xavier does surface scans unless he's really interested in the mutant. He's not too interested into Kurt's history seeing as how there are other blue mutants and all sorts of physical mutations present in the mansion. Besides I've blocked out Kurt's history with us and no one has bothered to penetrate his mind too deeply. And…Kurt's really good about following directions, no questions asked. Thus, Xavier doesn't feel the need to alter his mind in anyway like I believe he does others. I leave contact info randomly and Kurt knows enough to come," Emma stated.

"And from what I can tell, he only gives his team members certain intel so they don't look past the surface for the complexities…of any mission," Marie continued, "which is why he doesn't appear to be a rat…let alone one for us."

Victor rubbed Emma's palm as he said, "That was also how I knew Jimmy wasn't really aware of everything. I know Jimmy better than he knows himself. The men we were working with up to this point had nothing to do with Jimmy…

"Unless he was pointed in that direction with what he believed to be legitimate information," Raven finished, "in which case he offed them."

John made an exasperated sigh. "All this speculation…stuff is good, but what's the next deal? When do we leave? I want to see some action!"

"So far, Callisto and the Morlocks have been able to topple the Genoshan regime and start building up with all the resources we've acquired. Father is in the process of taking care of the mutates. Plus, Wanda has made sure none of the news has gone public yet," Pietro said.

"And it's really important we continue under the radar until we are sure of everything," Raven commanded.

"Now that the X-men will be focused on the lab we blew up, the collar I stole…if they figure it out, and their own squabbles—"

"Thanks to me and Victor telling you which seeds of doubt to plant," Emma interrupted Marie.

Marie nodded, "Our next move is to tie up loose ends…and see about the Sentinel program before we leave."

"With Stryker behind it, it's gonna take serious shit to stop it," Victor exclaimed.

Marie hissed at the mention of Stryker's name but Victor glared at her into silence.

"I talked to Bolivar Trask a few days ago and he said he can get us some files by next week," Raven said.

"But his kids are starting to manifest…according to the last time I talked to Warren about three weeks ago," Sean spoke up.

"That's sure to cause problems," Mortimer said.

"He didn't tell me," Raven muttered.

"Probably cause he's really scared. He's already put his neck on the line and he's paranoid considering everyone else we've been in contact with has 'disappeared,'" Marie said.

"Then contact him soon and convince him otherwise," Victor said.

"Maybe offer him a place...make him come with us."

"Will do," Marie replied.

Emma put her glass down. "Anything else?"

"Mortimer, get your slimy friends out before they are attacked by any more FOH bastards," Raven said.

"I'll be in touch with Worthington labs and help out Warren," Sean volunteered.

"Pyro, you need to keep an eye on X-men," Emma said.

"Surveillance duty?" John asked incredulously.

"And Lance, let us know all of your routes of getting there in secret."

Lance saluted in compliance.

"Let's give ourselves about two and a half weeks. We should all be out be out by then," Raven said.

"That will give me time to make sure all our contracts are carried out," Victor replied.

"And for me to make sure all the money is in place." Raven looked at the assembled group. "I'll need some help though."

A small discussion broke out over who'd help her.

"I'm in the process of acquiring all incriminating files. So far," Emma pointed to the box that held Victor's feet, "this is the first."

"Then we'll all meet here and torch this place before going to our new home," John slammed his fist on the table in conclusion.

Two and a half days later, the daily routines of the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters were back to normal for the most part.

However, underground, the X-men had practically pulled their hairs out trying to figure out what was really going on.

After Hank had discovered the missing suppression collar, Jean had shot it down saying it could have been lost in the scuffle. However, when the collar failed to turn up in their search, Chuck suspected that the missing collar and the lab were somehow connected. Jean also brought up the fact that Rogue could have been there scoping out their underground levels, their infrastructure, and possibly Cerebro. Given that she never left the cell, Hank and Logan both agreed it was impossible and the suppression collar theory had so far won out.

And today, Bobby had taken some of his team back out to the lab to scour it for any clues as to why the Brotherhood was there.

Scott and Ororo were taking care of the students while Hank, Jean and Chuck spent time in the medlab pouring over Rogue's leftover blood samples.

Logan was left to ponder the need for a suppression collar for the Brotherhood when they were staunchly against hiding and 'curing' themselves. Did they intend to destroy the technology? Who had given them information about the lab anyway?

These thoughts didn't stay long in Logan's head. He was still stuck contemplating the Rogue puzzle.

Chuck had so far avoided contact with Logan unless absolutely necessary and Logan was getting antsy. All he could hear were Rogue's words echoing in his brain. Words about how he didn't know anything, how he knew she wasn't lying, and most of all, about his brother.

Logan didn't know he had a brother. The last fifteen years was all he could remember. Everything beyond that was a blur. He had nothing but a dogtag.

The life he remembered hadn't been easy either. He had found himself in and out of labs where he picked up one name – Stryker. Logan knew he meant something to Stryker…enough to go through unbearable amounts of torture.

About eight years ago, Logan was participating in cage fights for survival when he was recruited to the Avengers. A job…and steady fights were more than he could ask for. But the Stryker still remained in his head, and he was no close to finding him.

Frustrated, he left the Avengers and somehow fell back into a lab looking for Stryker when Charles Xavier contacted him and said he had information Logan wanted. Working for the Avengers couldn't give him all the necessary documents, but Charles revealed that Stryker was an underground government mutant experimenter.

Although with the X-men he didn't see as many fights, he had a little more to go from on his past. As of late, Chuck would give him a name and Logan would carry out an interrogation. Stryker must have been real good about keeping his men tight-lipped. The result, Logan ended their lives before they could damage anyone else.

But if as Rogue said…he didn't know anything, then what was he really doing for Chuck?

Not expecting to see results anytime soon, Logan spent most of the day in the gym while his brain sorted through possible scenarios they had already been through. Maybe he needed to take a look at the lab himself. Sniff any clues out.

After a shower, Logan walked to the mailroom where Multiple Man crowded it and was sorting through the tremendous volume of mail.

Logan glanced and saw his box sat as usual…empty except for Scooter's lesson plans from a month ago.

Just as he turned, one of Jamie's duplicates, handed him a square package.

"This one's for you."

Logan grunted his thanks and examined it. There was no return address and Logan immediately ripped it apart to find a square case with a CD inside of it. He turned the cover over and saw a note taped to the back.

Thought you'd be interested in this.

Why would Nick Fury send him something?

Running his hand through his coarse mane, Logan walked back to his room and inserted the disc in his laptop.

Seconds later, a video recording from a cell phone appeared. Logan stared at the screen at what seemed to be the surveillance deck of a lab. By the end, Logan knew the lab was the same one Bobby had gone to when they caught Rogue.

Logan was shocked. He played it again just to be sure.

He ejected the disc and sat back in his chair trying to piece together was he saw. He still knew something was off, but perhaps this was the first piece of the puzzle.

Logan put the disc back in the case and took off down to the medlab.

Hank, Jean, and Chuck were head to head discussing something.

"Yes, Logan?" Chuck looked up.

"Get the team..Bobby…everyone to your office…even that Cajun." Logan held up the case, "I've got something to show you."

(18 years ago)

She shouldn't be here. That was all Marie could think as she ran her fingers along the bars of her miniscule cell. She moved them back and forth.

One…two…three…four….

They were ten bars. Ten forward, ten backward. Twenty when she counted. Then she would start to count again…so she wouldn't hear the piercing screams at the end of the hall….or the guards dragging a limp body back to a cell.

Marie should have been at home. Pulling on her plaid skirt and sneaking some of her mother's lipstick before going to school. That was what she had been doing before her whole life changed.

Three bullies and one kiss later had her two parents giving her to the Colonel to cure her of her affliction. She hadn't gone willingly, wondering why her parents were sending her with men with guns.

The Colonel sent a tall, beautiful woman to retrieve Marie while she was outside on the front lawn yelling at her parents, asking them what was going on.

Marie never saw the woman who snuck up behind her and latched her hands around Marie's upper arms. The pull on her skin was instantaneous. Marie's yells turned to bloodcurdling screams as the woman seeped into her mind.

Neither could let go.

Minutes later, the woman lay on the ground twitching to her death and Carol Danvers had taken over her mind. As Carol started to adjust to her new body, a nearby doctor accompanying the Colonel realized what was happening and snapped a mutant suppression collar around her neck.

She was taken to an underground facility and housed on the floor with restricted access. She was a high maintenance mutant. She was left alone for the first week.

During this time, Marie learned that Carol Danvers had been drugged to do the Colonel's bidding. Through Carol's adult mind, ten-year-old Marie had realized what her parents had done.

At first, Carol was angry at the life she lost. The result: the Colonel had a ten-year old girl placed in solitary confinement and strapped to a bed.

Then, Carol slowly started to become sympathetic and offered her powers of flight and super-strength to Marie. She offered to plot an escape, but nothing could come to fruition unless the collar was removed. And the collar was made of a powerful metal that couldn't easily be broken unless there was a key. Furthermore, Marie was heavily sedated anytime the collar was to be removed.

Marie slowly lost control of time, and started to turn to counting and hating her parents while Carol protected her from everything else that was going on…specifically the experiments that the Colonel was advancing.

___________________

(17 years ago)

Carol slowly started to leave Marie's mind about a year later when another mutant was brought to her floor. By then, Marie had already matured far more than she should have had to and called herself Rogue to protect what little innocence she had left.

The new mutant was a middle-aged man with cool demeanor and a handsome face. He called himself Magnus or Magneto. He was known for controlling metal.

The facility began implementing a twenty minute recess for all the mutants to make sure they had energy to use their mutations when was necessary. Marie was the only one who knew how to play chess on the travel size set that was available, and Magnus soon accepted her challenges.

It wasn't long before the Colonel had her absorb Magnus to power his new experiment.

The only problem was that she wasn't ready with handling his memories.

Through his memories, Marie saw that his real name was Erik. She had nightmares about being in concentration camps. She saw him with two small children—twins—whom he left to avenge the death of his parents.

Each night, she looked through his memories because he had some kind of life while she was stuck in a cell with no hope for ever having a life of her own. She didn't even have Carol's company anymore.

She saw that he was friends with another man named Charles. They were close but they started to drift apart after Erik killed the man who had his parents killed. Charles saved his life and helped him control his powers, while Erik began to grow close to with Charles's sister, Raven.

Marie let slip her memory searching to Magnus one day during a chess game. He said it was personal and they never played again.

And afterwards, every time the Colonel had her absorb Magnus, he remained in the dark corners of her mind where she couldn't see anything.

However, Marie could still go through things that Magnus hadn't previously covered.

She saw Raven have a baby, but the delivery had thrown off her mutation. Raven was having problems with her mutation and was slowly growing sad and depressed.

The next thing she saw, Magnus and Raven were leaving to go somewhere. They were together, but constantly fighting. Raven disappeared. Magnus started to gain power and popularity among certain mutants while he continued to look for something.

Raven appeared sometime later crying about a baby. Magnus took some mutants with her and brought a small blue child with a tail back to Raven.

That was all Magnus allowed her to see.

_____________________

(16 years ago)

A year later, an animal was brought in. He seethed with silent rage. His hair was untrimmed and nails were ridiculously long. He called himself Sabertooth.

He barely glanced at Marie. It wasn't long before Stryker had her touching him to gain his healing powers. Sabertooth was heavily drugged as well...like Carol.

By then a new thing began, the doctors in the facility began taking blood samples from her. Trying to analyze her mutation to make sure it would stand through whatever the Colonel was planning.

She now started looking into his memories. He was Victor Creed. He loved his brother, Jimmy, but didn't always show it. However, Marie soon found herself trying to block him in her mind.

Victor had a penchant for taking part in the most heinous and bloody acts. Marie often found herself randomly vomiting whenever a stray memory made its way into her.

There was one thing that Victor always said that echoed in her mind. "Make Jimmy forget."

Marie once had the audacity to ask the real live counterpart. The result was that although he was furious, he too began to block out things of subsequent touching.

They did manage to bond. Despite witnessing his crimes, Marie knew that if there was ever any hope of getting out, Victor Creed would know what to do. She followed him around like a twelve-year-old sick puppy during their twenty minute breaks. Victor shook her off at first, still distrustful of her because she knew what he was thinking. But soon enough, she grew to by the pesky fly on his shoulder that he just never swatted away.

And furthermore, Magnus and Victor both started to sit with her during their twenty minute breaks. Magnus because of on overwhelming sense of protecting her from something and Victor because Magnus some how made him. It must have been through words, because Magnus had an uncanny way with words when he tried.

The three of them never talked, but an underlying connection was borne between them to survive and not relinquish control to the Colonel.

_________________________

(15 years ago)

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Magnus was silent. She didn't know what else to say. She had practically sapped out the man's youth and aged him at least fifteen years.

"Come on Rogue," one of the doctors said. "If you take any longer, not only will I inject this stuff into the mighty Magneto, but I'll also kill you."

Marie shook her head.

The Colonel entered then to view the progress. "What's taking so long?"

"I think we might have to strap them together," the doctor said.

The Colonel smiled to himself. "Are father and daughter having some problems?"

Both Marie and Magnus whipped their heads to look at the Colonel.

"What are you talking about?" Marie cried. "He's not my father."

"Are you referring to the weak bastard who gave you to me? What was his name again?" the Colonel asked mockingly.

"D'Ancanto," Marie muttered shell-shocked. "He was my father." But the words tasted vile in her mouth.

Magnus whipped his head around this time to look at her.

"Of course," The Colonel practically hummed to himself. "But Magneto or Erik Lensherr is your biological father. Something we discovered from those numerous blood samples you gave." The ones they forcefully took from her.

Marie's world was spinning.

"How does the mighty Magneto feel now?" The Colonel laughed.

By then, most of the doctors had strapped Marie into the machine and Magneto to a harness.

"You're going to touch her and she's going to power my machine."

Marie was locked into a contraption that was painfully weighed down on her. The Colonel brought out a drugged Victor, who was there to carry out the Colonel's instructions like Carol was years ago.

One of the doctors came up to her and began to sedate her. Another did the same for Magnus. Marie was staring at him disbelievingly.

Victor was forced to encase Magnus so that he would have no choice but to touch her….and not have time to bend any metal.

"I'm sorry," Magnus whispered this time. There was a subtle sense of shock and Marie saw the instantaneous lines that appeared on his face from the words coming out of the Colonel's mouth.

Tears were streaming down her face. "I don't want to do this." The practice and set up for the machine was hard enough. She had hoped for it to fail and now she had to go through the pain all over again and she knew it would be worse.

Once the Colonel gave his signal, Sabertooth locked Magnus's hands on her face while two men undid the collars on her and Magnus.

In a few seconds, the contraption was no longer heavy, but light as a feather. And before Magnus could turn the place into metal mush, they both had succumbed to the sedation and the tell-tale signs of her mutation were on. Veins appeared all over Magnus…her father's face. He was aging in front of her to a man who was beginning to look like her grandfather.

An eerie glow started to emit from the machine and Marie shifted her gaze elsewhere.

She always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty…now here she was right smack on top of it.

She was going to kill her own father. She wanted to cry but she couldn't. Her skin was doing nothing but sapping everything from him.

The eerie glow continued. Someone snapped off Victor's collar but he was too drugged to pay attention. Soon enough, he bent forward in pain while he dropped Magnus…her father.

The Colonel was laughing happily.

Marie heard a faraway explosion. She didn't know what to pay attention to.

Her father was unconscious, and in her mind, he was no longer controlling which of his memories she was seeing.

Victor was howling and another explosion faintly made her ears.

She was in a concentration camp again.

The eerie glow was disappearing.

She was holding a beautiful baby girl.

There was a silvery blur and the blue mutant…Raven were rapidly taking down the doctors and other guards.

She was pushing a bullet through a man's head….Sebastian Shaw's head.

The Colonel was trying to escape. Victor ripped a man a part. Blood was everywhere.

Marie saw her hair whip forward. It was white.

She tried to shake her head but it was becoming too much.

She was rescued from an underwater missile by her friend.

Her vision was tinged with darkness. Someone was removing her from the machine.

Marie blinked her eyes. A very young blonde woman in her late teens and dressed in white was peering into her face.

"You're going to be ok," a clear voice said. Marie tried to focus on her lips.

"Are you an angel?" Marie asked before giving in to the darkness and reveling in Magnus's last thoughts.

_______________________________

(28 years ago)

"Erik, be reasonable."

"Charles! I trusted you!" Erik gripped him by the throat.

Erik threw Charles across the room. Charles staggered before getting up.

"I did what I thought was best. She wasn't going to be a mutant."

"But she's still my daughter. It was my decision to make. Not yours!" Erik delivered a swift uppercut that split Charles' lip. "How could you have done that? For all your talk, you're just a bunch of bull shit!" Erik kicked Charles. "Where the hell is she?"

"Far away from here. Where she can grow up safe and normal." Charles barely managed to grapple onto the metallic helmet that Erik had come to prize.

"Haven't you figured out by now that there is no such thing as normal?" Erik turned away to finger a paper weight on Charles' desk. "She would have had other uses whether she was a mutant or not."

"Like what? You can't expect your young daughter to pass as a normal human as your secret spy?" Charles asked as he dabbed at the blood on the corner of his lip.

"No. I'd rather she knew of her heritage. You've taken a legacy away from her."

Erik angrily moved his hands causing all the metallic objects in the room to vibrate and fall over.

"How do you think Raven's going to feel when she realizes her own brother did this to her?"

Charles looked away.

"She was dealing with some of her own problems, but she would never have agreed to what you just did."

"Please don't tell her," Charles pleaded quietly.

"Not tell her? She deserves to know what happened to her child!" Erik fumed as he wrecked Charles' office.

"It was for the best. Your daughter would never have a place in our world," Charles tried to justify.

Erik turned swiftly around and kicked Charles across the room.

"Oh face it, Erik! You and Raven are far too zealous—"

"Charles?"

Both Erik and Charles turned to see Raven enter the room. Her shapeshifting was still off and her skin had a deathly blue glow.

"How could you?" Raven slowly walked forward but stumbled.

Erik reached out and steadied her.

"How could I what?" Charles asked trying to deflect.

"Don't do that. Don't avoid the question. I could hear both of you as soon as I turned onto this floor."

"Raven…" Charles crumbled. "I'm…so…sorry."

"Sorry?" Erik asked disbelievingly.

Once Erik was sure Raven was steady, he made his way to Charles. "Tell me where she is!"

Charles looked away. "I won't let you near her. She's just a baby. Raven, I did what was best. She'll grow up far away from here….I know it's going to get worse out there for us. But your daughter will never have to know it…Why can't you understand I did the right thing?"

Raven shook her head. "Charles, you will never understand me...but to do that to my own daughter...your niece. You're such a hypocrite. Iit was a choice that didn't belong to you."

"And now she'll never know us. She's going to grow up hating us." Erik finished.

Charles was silent.

"I'm leaving. You can keep your bull shit philosophy and your money. You can keep your act and try to preach friendship while forcing mutants to hide their true selves, but I won't tolerate it any longer." Erik turned to leave. "Raven?"

"What?" Charles managed while staring at his adoptive sister.

"You heard me. I'm leaving. Raven?"

Raven and Charles were still staring at each other.

"Erik, wait."

"What Charles? You can't have expected me to stay after you kidnapped my daughter."

"What's going on here?" Moira MacTaggert entered, surveying the damage.

"Ask him," Erik venomously declared.

Moira looked to Charles but he was still staring at Raven.

Raven gripped onto Erik. "You promised you would stay out of my head."

"I had to know," Charles whispered.

"You can't expect me to stay either. I wish I could say thanks for all you've done, but this….I can't accept."

"What's happening?" Moira asked again clueless. "Where are you going?" The tension in the room suddenly sunk down on her and she remained silent.

"You still haven't told me where she is," Erik said as he and Raven inched forward to Charles.

Raven stopped, but Erik continued. "Where is my daughter?"

Charles looked over at Moira before back at Erik.

Erik grabbed Charles by the collar and shook him. "Where is she?"

Erik punched him again as Moira emitted an outcry.

Charles choked on the blood in his mouth. "…Dan..to…family. Met them…with ba..by…at sta…tion….in…Jer..sey."

Erik dropped him. "Good-bye Charles. For the sake of our earlier friendship and because you did save my life once…I'm leaving you like this. I would rip your throat out with my bare hands at what you've done…but…you'll pay someday…you will pay."

Erik turned to Raven and started to lead her out as Moira went to Charles side.

"Erik?"

Erik barely turned. "Don't worry Charles. The only people leaving today are us two. I would never touch your precious Jean Grey."

"She's like a daughter to me." Charles knew it was the wrong thing the second it left his mouth.

Erik turned and suddenly Charles found the letter opener that was on his desk at his throat. Charles tried to remove it, but it pressed tighter into his skin.

Moira turned to Erik. "Stop it! What are you doing?"

Raven remained silent despite Moira's pleas.

Erik walked slowly towards Charles. One hand was miming a tightening motion as Charles continued to struggle with the letter opener that was beginning to draw blood.

Once Erik was standing in front of Charles, Charles was shocked to see a cold, calculating vengeance seep into his eyes…the same look he had when they were going to stop Sebastian Shaw.

"Stop!" Moira screamed.

Charles barely glanced to the side to see Moira.

Erik and Raven were both silent until the unmistakable click of a revolver was heard.

Erik barely turned his head to see Moira armed.

Raven moved to stop her.

"Don't touch me or I'll shoot him!"

"Raven, wait." Erik said.

Raven protested.

Erik watched a trickle of blood stain Charles clean white shirt.

Moira made a decision. She was getting ready to take a shot…at least to scare Erik.

But at the exact second Moira fired, Erik lowered his hand and stepped away just as Charles slumped forward in relief as the letter opener fell.

The bullet, however, lodged itself into Charles' spine.

___________________________

Marie woke up gasping. It took her several seconds to reassemble her thoughts and sort through the onslaught of her father's memories.

She turned over until she realized that she was in mid-air. She toppled back onto her bed trying to catch her breath again. But the onslaught of her dream and memories and her father's was too much. Marie ran to her bathroom and vomited everything and then some.

Pushing her hair out of her sweaty face, Marie gulped at the fifteen years that had passed since then. She may have been rescued and her father saved, but the promise she made to herself when she was thirteen, still stood.

One day both Colonel William Stryker and Charles Xavier would pay for what they did to her.

Marie opened her eyes to the bright rays of sun streaming through the blinds. It must have been later in the day than she thought. Yawning and stretching, she realized she was back in her bed.

The last thing she remembered was puking her guts out. Someone must have brought her back to bed. She sniffed out and got a whiff of Victor and Emma.

Smiling to herself, she put a robe over her tank and pajama pants. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and quickly brushed her teeth before leaving the room. She stopped by the office and quickly checked her e-mails to see if there was any word from Bolivar Trask.

She followed the smell of cooling food to the deck on the roof where Victor's mangy paws with long nails were attempting to turn the page of a newspaper while he chewed on bacon.

"Thanks for waiting for me," Marie said sarcastically as she took a seat across from him and poured herself a lukewarm coffee.

"You were dead to the world," he grunted.

"So?"

Victor growled.

"Thanks for putting me back to bed."

Victor growled again in reply. "Bad dreams?"

Marie nodded, but they both knew she would talk about when she wanted. "Where's everyone?"

"Raven went to clear out some accounts and grab some files. She took Mortimer and Sean. John and Lance are doing their shit. Emma's meeting with Kurt."

"Good." Marie grabbed a plate and heaped on a pancake, eggs and some bacon before Victor could take any more. "What else is new?"

"Mutant Registration Act. The bill is going to pass through Senate by the end of the week."

"I was really hoping Xavier would manage to convince them to shoot it down….well, at least we'll be out of here before it can really affect us."

Victor sighed as he put the paper down. "It's not that simple. Mutants are already being rounded up and branded. Xavier is forestalling the inevitable…but he's failing."

"Maybe if he wasn't so hypocritical all the time…," Marie went to steal some bacon from Victor, but he smacked her hand.

"Back off, runt."

"Grr…" Marie replied.

"How's your end?"

Marie took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. "I haven't gotten the chance to talk to Bolivar yet. He's probably counting his blessings since everyone else we talked to is dead. I've been so tired, I needed to get myself together before I could figure out how to approach him without being traced. But I did get this cryptic email a few days ago that I just checked from his son, Larry…"

"And?" Victor watched her as she fiddled with her food. Realization dawned on him. "…isn't he the one who could see the future?"

Marie nodded slowly.

"Do I even wanna know?"

"…uh…he said that…"

"Huh?"

"I…uh…he said…that…I mean…"

"Runt either spit it out or don't," Victor grumbled picking up his paper again.

"From what I could figure out…he said the Sentinels would be released….there would be an attack."

Victor lowered his paper and peered at Marie with his dark eyes. "What?"

"They're going to be hard to beat….but we'd be there…when there'd be an attack…fighting with the X-men."

Kurt Wagner fingered the slip of paper in his jacket that he found earlier today.

He was supposed to be heading back to Westchester especially after hearing about the incident at the mansion. However, Charles Xavier had insisted that the damage wasn't too serious and Kurt needed to finish his recon mission.

Well, the recon was done, and Kurt had to say…the new object of attention was playing with the wrong kind of fire…top-secret government kind of fire.

Kurt sighed as he crumbled the paper. What was even stranger was that the slip of paper had an address and time…and Kurt was heading there right now instead of heading back to give Charles his report.

He had no idea why this seemed right, except for an instinctual feeling that no harm would come to him.

But still, Kurt was nervous and it was not because he was afraid of his 'special' watch suddenly stopping to work and revealing his true blue skinned, long tailed form….

Kurt checked the address again and surmised he still had a block to cover and so far nothing about the neighborhood was seedy or disturbing. It was all high-end retailers and boutiques. Oh well, looks could be deceiving…he would know.

Kurt turned onto the assigned street and checked both sides of the street for the building number.

A tea bar? Kurt shook his head and crossed the street into the trendy little establishment and looked around.

There wasn't much off a crowd. Mostly people in suits and a few men discussing an 'icy' woman who had turned them down at the bar.

He started strolling around wondering if there was another clue to the note in his pocket when the one of the cute brunette servers stopped him.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm…." his eyes fell on a figure in a white trench coat reading a fashion magazine in one of the corner booths. "…looking for someone."

The girl followed his glance and shook her head in amusement. "Good luck."

Kurt gave her a confused smile and walked to the corner booth as he felt some of the men stare at him walking towards the woman.

"You?" Kurt exclaimed.

The woman tossed her magazine to the side and ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "Kurt, have a seat. You're a little late. Let's have some tea."

She waved her hand to the same cute brunette server and the men glared daggers at Kurt.

Kurt lowered his voice. "Just what the hell are you doing here?"

"Kurt, please take a seat."

"I will not," he harshly exclaimed.

"Fine then." The woman looked deep into his eyes and gave a slight squint.

"What did you do?" Kurt asked, gripping the table as a dam in his mind broke through and there was flood of thoughts. Kurt slowly sat down clutching his head.

"I tell you to take a seat every time and you never listen," she clucked.

The server came bearing teas.

Kurt watched as the blonde woman began to stir in sugar and milk.

"Here. Have some of this," she pushed a cup towards him.

Kurt groaned as he slowly recovered from his daze. "Why Emma?"

"Because I'm protecting you…or else as Erik sees it, protecting our kind," Emma smiled.

Kurt slowly took a sip of tea. "How's mother? Marie? You look good by the way."

"Good. Raven is being our Robin Hood by impersonating some mutant haters and taking their money for our funds. Thank you."

"By herself?" Kurt asked worriedly, rubbing his temples.

"No. Mortimer and Sean are with her. It was relatively easy because of Warren's help in pointing out our King Johns and Sheriffs. Got anything for me?"

"Give me a second. I'm trying to get back in touch with myself. Just keep talking. How did you get the note in this time?"

"A little pickpocket while I distracted you from afar. I couldn't openly approach you of course."

"How's your feral?" Kurt gave her a ghastly smile.

Emma clucked. "Hot as usual. Although these last few days have been time consuming so I've been craving sex. You know it does keep me looking younger and radiant."

Kurt covered his ears. "Aahh…too much information." Kurt shook his head as his memory assimilation was complete. His eyes suddenly widened. "Trask!"

Sensing the change, Emma leaned forward. "What about him?"

"I think Charles is going to send Wolverine out to kill him."

"Why would he do that? Bolivar has nothing to do with Charles." Emma asked with growing frustration.

"I'm supposed to be on reconnaissance. William Stryker has met with Bolivar several times so I'm thinking Charles will use that to convince Wolverine to take the mission. Get closer to Stryker, get his memories back. But I know Charles is really thinking why we would be involved."

Emma leaned closer. "How the hell is so attuned to us?"

"My best guess is Remy."

"I knew that sleazebag was trouble the second your sister mentioned him."

"Well…don't blame her. She already blames herself for a lot of other things. Besides you all convinced her to loosen up and have fun when she was there."

"I know. But how would Remy know exactly who we were dealing with?"

"From what I gather, Remy used to be on Stryker's books…something I'm sure both Charles and Remy have agreed not to share with Wolverine. He's an empath….I'm guessing he could sense something different from whenever Mother and Marie went to carry out their missions in disguise."

"Then we really have to get to Bolivar. How are his children?"

Kurt sighed. "He's done a pretty good job of hiding them…but I don't know where. From my recon, I'm thinking people around Bolivar realize his children are mutants. And until we get Bolivar out of Stryker's clutches…we don't have anything….no information…nada."

Emma was still trying to comprehend something. "What do you mean Stryker's clutches?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Kurt took a sip of his tea. "Stryker has men everywhere too. He can be quite persuasive."

"I know…he managed to convince parents to give up their children," Emma said bitterly and Kurt knew who she was referring to. "But why would he suspect Bolivar. Our meetings have been orchestrated to look….unsuspecting. We made sure of it."

"Either way, Stryker knows something is up…and he's keeping an eye on Bolivar. And when I mean eye…" Kurt imitated a gun with his fingers to drive home his point.

Marie sat in silence chewing on her food. Victor had gone back to his paper.

They had at least come to the agreement that if the Sentinels couldn't be shut down, then they needed to know how to destroy them before leaving for Genosha. Marie planned on contacting Bolivar soon.

Victor finally spoke up. "How's Jimmy?"

"Good, I guess. Before I lost the telepathy, he seemed sure of everything, but I sensed he was starting to wonder about things."

Victor nodded, staring into his plate.

"He doesn't remember who you really are."

"Well, I'm not going to be telling him anything anytime soon. We separated for a reason."

"True, but he also said he's been in and out of labs since then."

Victor raised his eyes in curiosity.

"We shared a moment of clarity," Marie said, pouring herself coffee, "I mean, we didn't swap stories, but the sentiment is there."

Victor was silent for another moment.

This time Marie was prompted to talk. "Victor….I…those years….when we…"

"I thought we agreed it was in the past, Runt."

"I know, but sometimes I can't help but wonder…about things…"I stole your life force...your powers—"

Victor folded his paper and started to eye his nails. "We agreed not to talk about these things for a reason. You were a kid. And I'm still here. We managed."

"True. I was a kid. But I spent three years there. Father came a year later and you a year after that. I already had an adult woman in my head. I had no choice but to grow up."

Victor gave her a quick glance before turning back to his nails. "Why are you bringing this up?"

"I…it's just that sometimes I get confused with everyone's memories in my head."

"I thought you had control."

"I do. God, yes I do, thanks to Emma. But sometimes when I sleep, they come out. When I wake up…I'm slightly disoriented. But essentially everything you let me see has become a part of my life."

Victor growled. "I thought I didn't let you see anything."

"You let me see things until—"

"Until I realized how I was hurting you. That lab wasn't easy for me. I did things before that I don't think can ever be forgiven. But when I was in the lab, I had so many drugs being pumped through my system that I was no longer in control...but I knew I never wanted to be that monster again and I didn't want anyone else seeing it. That's why I didn't let you see anything else."

"You've really mellowed out, haven't you?"

Victor gave her a devilish grin. "Don't tell anyone that. Emma has really turned me into a pussy..cat."

Marie laughed.

A serious look came over his face. "But you too...It was you. I see this frail little girl always following me around. I know she's not crazy, but she must have seen something in me to stick around. I figured as long as my past didn't come up, I could be the hero she wanted. No one else looked at me the way you did then…the way you still…you all do. Being around people who cared never really happened to me. All my life people told me I was an animal. No one told me I was still a man. No one said that the animal was a part of me, but I was still a man."

Marie took his hand. But Victor was still Victor and took it back. Marie wasn't offended.

"What do you want to know?"

"I'm confused with some things…especially since you blocked things out….why did you want to make Jimmy forget?" Marie asked thinking of the echoing voice in her head.

Victor's eyes widened. He looked away and everywhere else before focusing on Marie again. "Jimmy and I were together…fighting wars and doing stuff."

"For Stryker?"

"Yeah…for him. Things got bad. Jimmy left. And the next thing you knew, the love of his life is dead and Stryker has them pumping metal onto his skeleton."

"I know that part. But why did you…"

"Jimmy took down a lot of shit as he escaped that place. Stryker wanted to redo the experiment, but since he didn't have Jimmy, he went with the next best thing."

"You," Marie said quietly.

Victor solemnly nodded. "Stryker still had his eye on Jimmy. I never did anything for my brother, but the least I could do was give him a life back. Spending a eternity with blood on your hands….it ain't pretty. So I told Stryker that I'd do it on the condition that he'd make Jimmy forget everything."

"Why?"

"Like I said, runt, I wanted to give him back his life. At least make up for some of the stuff I made him do."

Marie nodded in understanding.

"I guess it was all for nothing. Jimmy still went in and out of labs, so even though Stryker made him forget, he still had his eyes on Jimmy. And now Jimmy does the same thing we did before, but this time with false intel and under Charles Xavier."

Marie snorted at the mention of Xavier. "Did you know that he told father that he had given me to the Dan-to family?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Father and mother spent years searching for where the Dan-to family disappeared to until they decided that Xavier game them wrong info. Xavier probably mispronounced the name on purpose."

"I've heard the rest of the story," Victor continued. "Erik attacked Xavier in his office. Emma and Jean were there at the time because Jean accused Emma of using her powers on the other students…specifically Scott. "

"Yup. And then Jean pulls off father's helmet and Xavier paralyzed him."

"Lucky your mother was able to escape with Emma who had enough sense to figure things out when Jean went a little crazy."

Marie eyes her cup of coffee. "That son of a bitch locks father up in a plastic prison where he was just a sitting duck for Stryker to come take."

Victor nodded. "True and I hear that reflected badly on Xavier with other mutants. That was how Raven and Emma were able to round up enough people to come stop Stryker on Liberty Island from killing every mutant with his Cerebro-like machine.

"I hate Xavier."

"I'm sure he hates us too," Victor said smiling and giving Marie a glance at his razor sharp canines. "He's probably insane, too. Hearing everyone's thoughts, trying to control them, amplifying them through Cerebro….yup, he's definitely crazy and it explains a lot."

"Hey! Emma's telepathic, too."

Victor laughed, "But she ain't crazy. She knows exactly what she wants and goes after it. Makes her way more stable than anyone at that mansion where they supposedly teach you how to control your mutation."

"Yeah, Emma helped clear out a lot of stuff for me…but now that you say it, I wonder about the X-men. Do they have a reversal block in place because of Xavier and Jean's telepathy?" Marie asked.

"I don't know. Things are too fucked up in that mansion for there not to be."

Before Victor could reply, an annoying ring startled both of them. Victor took a cell phone out of his pocket. "It's Emma."

Marie nodded and began to clear away her plate as Victor answered.

He barely got another word out when Emma's furious stream of words cut him off. Victor waved her over and Marie could hear her keen sense of hearing.

"…son of a bitch….Charles wants to get rid of another man. He sent Kurt to keep tabs on Bolivar to figure out why we're interested in him. Kurt says that regardless of his report, Xavier is gonna have Wolverine take Trask out…and that Stryker is holding Trask in captivity…."

Victor and Marie rolled their eyes in exasperation at yet again Stryker entering their lives and Xavier trying to disrupt them.

By the end of Emma's call, where Kurt had also added his two cents, they had all begun to strategize how to rescue and protect Bolivar Trask, the unintentional creator of the Sentinels.

By early evening, Scott, Jean, 'Ro, Hank, and Chuck wheeled into the office where Logan was impatiently waiting.

"What is this about, Logan?" Ororo asked.

"Just wait a second," Logan turned to Chuck, "where's Drake? He needs to see this."

"On his way. I contacted him as soon as you told me to, but he said there was something up with the lab and he'd tell us when he'd come," Chuck said.

"And that Cajun rat?"

Chuck's eyes widened for a second. "He should be here soon."

"Logan, do you always have to use such terms when referring to team members?" Hank politely asked.

"Yes."

Five minutes later, Remy LeBeau casually strolled in. Looking around, Logan noticed the Cajun's glance linger on Jean before turn to Chuck. Logan had to admit, Jean was attractive, and she had a tendency to stand out like a sore thumb. Even Ororo with her white hair was much better at undercover ops.

"Looks like a party," Remy said.

Logan grunted. He was currently not happy with the Cajun...especially since he'd been withholding information.

Everyone broke into quiet, smaller discussions for the zillionth time about why the Brotherhood wanted suppression technology and why Mageto allowed his daughter to come out into the open.

Logan started to shuffle his feet in agitation. Just who the hell thought it would be a good idea to have Drake lead a team?

Finally, Bobby showed up twenty minutes later with Kitty, Jubilee and Piotr in tow looking haggard and frustrated.

"What's the matter?" Hank asked looking at their faces.

"The lab….it's been cleared. No sign of anything," Jubilee said meekly.

"How?"

Logan spoke up. "I've got an idea." He held up the disc.

"What's that?" Jean asked.

"This is from a friend…I'm guessing he may have taken a look at the lab after you pipsqueaks left last week," Logan said.

"Wait just a minute," Drake said getting red.

"No. My friend is legit. I told you something was up and this proves it." Logan went to play the disc on the projector.

The cell phone recording was played again for the third time that day as Bobby sputtered in shock and Remy grew nervous.