Charles glanced up at the sound of a knock on his door. Wheeling over to it he opened the door and smiled at one of the senior students.
“Yes Amy?”
“This came for you sir.” She held out an envelope with a smile.
Taking it he barely realized she’d darted off to join her friends. Instead he backed into his office and opened the envelope.
Charles:
If you want peace. If you want your team back, or rather what’s left of it all you have to do is remain by your phone for the next forty-eight hours. We’ll be in touch with you. If not…Frankenstein will be glad to forward their remains to you much like they did with Iceman. F
Tossing the letter back onto his desk Charles moved to the window and stared out. There had been so much conflict, so many lives destroyed by the actions of an unknown entity. He still had no idea who’d told of the mutants at the mansion. Or why the girls had been so easily picked out. But he was beginning to have his doubts, doubts that haunted him.
Was he willing to do whatever it took to get his team back? Were they still alive? Could he live with the nightmare that his blind devotion to a cause had created? He didn’t know, and he wasn’t too sure he could handle finding out.
Tenting his fingers he sighed. Forty-eight hours didn’t seem like a longtime but he couldn’t sit around and do nothing. Resolved to come to some conclusion he moved silently toward Cerebro. He would find his team, he would find Logan, Scott, and the girls and he would have answers.
Rogue sighed as she devoured another cookie. Logan had been insistent about her not having anything to do with the X-Men. Claimed it was bad karma for the baby but she knew why.
She smiled, he was trying to protect her even now. Protect what they’d built and prove that he loved her enough to try. She knew he wouldn’t always be so easily placated. That there would come a day when he would need to run and she would be there to run with him. They would have when men like Magneto, like Charles, like Stryker wanted to keep from them.
Hearing the sound of a knock at the door she hurried out of the kitchen and headed for the front door. She didn’t want the baby to be awakened unnecessarily.
Opening the front door she paled considerably before her training and her anger clicked into place. “What the fuck do you want old man?”
“I’ve come to talk.” Charles replied seeing the rage in Rogue’s eyes.
“Really? What makes you think I want to talk to you?”
“Rogue I’m not the enemy…”
Rogue laughed a harsh, cold sound. “You sure as hell aren’t a friend. So how’d you get here? Obviously you used Cerebro to find us.”
“I found Jean and came here to see how she’s doing.”
“Hopefully she’s swimming in the hell that’s her own mind. Maybe she’s realizing what she did, what she’s still doing. I don’t really care anymore.”
“Rogue please. All I want…”
“What you want?” Rogue hissed. “Let me tell you what I want Professor. I want to be able to sleep at night without waking up smelling semen and blood and urine. I want to stand under the shower and not feel the sting of somebody ejaculating on my skin. I want to be able to hear the wind instead of my best friends’ screams in the darkness. I want to look at my hands and not see the scars that were there. I want to forget that I’ve got adamantium in my body. I want to have some peace and quiet. I don’t want to remember what she did to us. And I sure as hell don’t want to remember you.”
“I could make the memories go away.”
“No you can’t. Because you haven’t made them disappear in your own head. You still have them…if you didn’t you wouldn’t be sitting there trembling so badly you’re nearly shitting your pants.”
“Miss Rogue?” The soft query drew Rogue’s attention to the young girl standing there holding a glass of juice.
“Yes Lily.”
“Uh can I go for a ride?”
“Sure. Take the bay mare Missy. She’s safest and you haven’t learned how to ride a more spirited animal yet. Better yet see if one of the kids will go with you.”
“Okay.”
“Is Logan or Scott out there somewhere?”
“Mr. Summers is.”
“Could you ask him to come here?” Rogue whispered softly knowing the girl would hear her.
Lily nodded and all but ran from the silent man sitting on the door step. Tearing across the yard she stumbled into the barn.
“Lily what have I told you…” Scott admonished before noticing the scared look on the girl’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s some guy at the house. Miss Rogue’s scared of him.”
“What’s he look like?”
“He’s in a wheelchair, and he’s bald.” Lily panted.
Smacking the small black button on the wall Scott patted her on the shoulder. “Remember to come into the barn a lot slower.” He called as he raced for the house. If Charles was here then that meant that there was serious trouble on the horizon.
“I don’t care what you say!” Rogue’s voice held anger and a touch of fear as Scott slammed in the backdoor. “Now get out of here.”
“Rogue! You okay?” Scott approached the young woman carefully. He knew if pushed to hard too far she often reverted to the violence and rage she felt.
“Yeah.” Rogue sucked in a deep breath and sneered at Charles. “Seems Wheels here wanted to come and talk.”
“Couldn’t follow instructions?” Scott asked coldly.
“I believe in dealing with an issue such as this in person.” Charles replied even as he felt the wave of anger that preceded Logan who glared at him. Charles watched Logan move up behind Rogue with careless abandon, pull her close and bury his face in her neck before pushing her toward the stairwell.
“Get out of our home Wheels.” Rogue hissed only to disappear up the stairs at a low growl from Logan who turned back to Charles with his claws slowly inching out.
“So you had to rush up here to see if we’d killed ‘em all huh?” Logan growled.
“Jean’s mind seemed a bit messy. Like she’s suffering a fever or something.”
“Fever?” Scott glanced at Logan. “She sick?”
“When hasn’t she been?”
“Please all I want is my team. You said you were willing to talk, willing to trade for them. What do you want?” Charles said aware of the hulking figure that moved behind him.
Logan snickered and looked at the other two men he called teammates. “What you took from the girls.”
“I have taken nothing from them.”
Scott snorted and glanced away. How typical of Charles to push aside any blame from himself.
“It’s rather simple.” Logan moved pinning Charles into place with the claws at his throat. “You’re going to forget you ever heard of any of us. You’re going to go back to New York and live in your little mansion with your students and you’re going to leave us to hell alone. If you don’t…we’ll come hunting.”
Charles swallowed at the barely disguised threat. “If I do I’ll get my team back?”
“What’s left of ‘em.” Tank snickered.
“I want to see them. I want to physically see that they’re alive and unharmed.” Charles demanded.
“Really?” Logan glanced at Scott then at Tank. “Do it Tank. Let’s see how well he likes a stay in our holding cells.”
Charles felt a prick of a needle in his neck a moment before his world went dark. The last thing he saw was Logan’s triumphant expression and the cold indifference in his eyes.
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