Wiping away the tear from her face, Carol realized she had already made her decision. She had just been putting off the inevitable. She had to help them, and she couldn't join Magneto. Her life, as precious as it was to her, wasn't worth her soul.
"Wake Jubes and try to keep her quiet," Carol said, moving away from the cell and over to the control panel. Magneto hadn't trusted her with the combination to release the barrier, so she used the one-two combination of her fists into the control panel. The barrier sparked and fizzled, disappearing completely. Logan and Jubilee cautiously entering the hallway as soon as it was down.
"Marie?" asked Logan, looking in her eyes.
Carol looked away. "No. Rogue doesn't have any combat experience. Let's get away first."
Logan, who had at first looked disappointed and a bit suspicious, nodded at her logic. "Lead on."
Silently, Carol lead them through the halls that she had walked many times over the course of the past two weeks, trying to clear her head and figure out her future. She knew the way by heart, leading them through the labyrinth of twists and turns.
When they were only a few turns away from escape, Logan stopped. Carol and Jubilee immediately stopped along with him, trusting to his superior instincts.
"Logan, what's wrong?" Carol whispered.
Every muscle in his body was tense. His jaw muscles twitched as he tried to answer her question, but his response just came out in an unintelligible mumble.
Before she could react, a massive creature dropped to the ground behind her, and Sabretooth had her in his tight grasp. His strength was a match for her own, and with her hands gripped in that position, she couldn't get enough leverage to escape. She tried stomping on his feet and kicking back at his legs, but he only laughed at her. Jubilee wasn't doing much better against Mystique, who had been so well camouflaged against the wall, she'd seemed to appear from thin air. She was was using a much larger and stronger body than her natural, blue one, keeping Jubilee's hands pointed in a safe direction.
Logan was still motionless in the middle of the corridor, growling through his teeth. Magneto, one hand held out controlling Logan's skeleton, walked up from the direction they'd come.
"Carol, my dear, I'm surprised at you. After your friends turned their backs on you, we gave you everything: shelter, food, warmth, companionship. This is how you repay us?"
"You're right, Eric," Carol answered. "You gave me a place to stay when I had nothing, and I am grateful for that, but you're wrong about one thing."
"And what is that?"
Carol closed her eyes and surrendered the control she'd held onto so desperately for so long. Raising her head to meet Magneto's eyes, she answered his question. "My name is Rogue."
As she said the words, she felt her bare skin react to Sabretooth's grip, and the connection opened.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000