“We had to keep Anna under heavy sedation the entire time it took for us to get back here.” Hank’s voice was even, but anger was there as well. “Why were we kept unaware of her acquired feral mutation, Charles? If Logan hadn’t informed us of her healing factor, we would have had a nasty in-flight surprise.”
Charles Xavier was looking at Rogue, watching her dig her fingers into her hair, his frown deepening at her thoughts. Realizing that the doctor expected an answer, he responded, “I respected her wishes, Henry. She didn’t want anyone to know.”
Scott turned to look at her as well, his heart squeezing at the sight of her curled into herself. “What else don’t we know, Professor?”
“That’s classified, Cyclops.” The tall figure of Colonel Nick Fury strode into the room, instructing the two S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers beside him to stand guard outside. As the large metal doors re-shut behind him, he turned to face the four men.
“We’re here for Rogue, Xavier. Your X-Men did not have the authority to take her into custody.”
They all heard the growl.
“Yer askin’ for a whole lotta hurtin’ Nick if you think we’re handin' her over to you,” Logan snarled at him, taking a menacing step towards the S.H.I.E.L.D director. Every nerve ending in his body strummed with the need for violence. He was spoiling for a fight and the person responsible for not having Marie properly guarded was the perfect candidate for it.
“Are you threatening a federal officer, Howlett?” The Colonel stood to his full height, the eye not covered by a black patch shining over in anger.
“Need it repeated in stupidese, Fury?” Logan took a step forward.
Nick Fury stepped forward as well, nostrils flaring. “Anina was under our protection at the time of her abduction and we were on our way to retrieving her. You X-Men interfered in S.H.I.E.L.D. business, and left the scene with her when we expressly instructed you not to.”
Charles placed his hands on the shoulders of both men, recognizing that neither would back down from their now nose to nose stances without some intervention.
“While I can certainly appreciate your position, Colonel Fury, Rogue’s membership with the X-Men has never been terminated,” he informed the S.H.I.E.L.D. director, relieved when Logan stepped back first. “She may not have been an active member of the alpha team, but she’s remained an affiliate of ours all the same.” The colonel considered his words, breathing heavily for a few moments before speaking again.
“We need to talk privately, Charles.” He pointedly ignored the other men.
Charles shook his head definitively. “Rogue is in no condition to have her involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D. remain classified. My X-Men need to know.” Nick Fury stared at him and then swore under his breath, angry.
“That is not your call to make, Xavier!”
“Godammit, one of you had better start talkin’!” Logan shouted, stepping forward again, the glint of his claws appearing on the surface of his skin. Scott and Hank didn’t move to stop him, his frustration mirrored on their own faces. They wanted answers as well.
Nick Fury glowered at the professor, his disapproval obvious. Finally, he looked to the other men and said through gritted teeth. “I don’t care who or what you dip your dicks in, I swear, I’ll have your nut sacks if you repeat what I have to say to anyone. Understood?”
Logan grunted. Scott and Hank nodded tersely.
Satisfied, Colonel Fury revealed, “Your prisoner has been working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent for the past ten years. This was in exchange for intel on potential premature mutant manifestations in children. S.H.I.E.L.D keeps files on certain families who display genetic predispositions for the X-factor gene, much like the Guthrie family. Your Cerebro can only detect the X-gene after the mutancy manifests itself and unfortunately by that time, many children disappear, usually at the hands of their own families. With the information we are able to provide her, Rogue has been given a better chance of interceding before that can happen.”
Hank was confused. “I don’t understand. Why the secrecy? Recovering mutant children in danger is part of what the X-Men do, Colonel.”
Nick Fury looked quickly to the professor. Logan’s eyes narrowed.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mandate is to respond and neutralize threats against the American people within our country’s borders,” the colonel responded carefully. “I am sure you gentleman can appreciate that these threats mostly originate outside of the United States. As Anina, Rogue was in a unique position to assist S.H.I.E.L.D. on missions outside of our jurisdiction, as a covert operative.”
“Oh my stars and garters!” Beast was incredulous. “All that time when Anna was pursuing her operatic career, she was an international S.H.I.E.L.D. spy?”
Logan’s simmering anger was threatening to boil over and his voice reflected it. “You should have told us, Chuck.”
“All of you can deal with that later,” Nick Fury interrupted, impatient. “For now, it’s best the X-Men stand aside and allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to take Rogue into custody, especially in light of her association with the Brotherhood.”
Cyclops looked as though he had been struck. “All this time Rogue was a member of the Brotherhood?”
Professor Xavier shook his head. “No, Scott. As I’ve explained before, Rogue was unaware of her past with Mystique and her associates when we first encountered her and Logan all those years ago. I think it’s safe to assume that Mystique had been unaware of it as well, considering what transpired at the Statue of Liberty in New York City.”
“That doesn’t excuse her being involved with the Brotherhood, Charles.”
Logan turned to the X-Men leader, surprised. “Rogue was just a scared kid, One-Eye. She didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice.” Scott looked away, grappling with the information that the woman he loved was associated with the organization who played a major role in Jean’s death. But a bigger part of him was upset that Anna hadn’t confided in him. She hid so many things from him. What else didn’t he know about the woman he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with?
Ignoring him, Logan fixed his eyes on the S.H.I.E.L.D. director. “Why did you drag Rogue into your shit, Fury? Couldn’t you have just given her the information without needin’ to put her in danger?”
“Don’t drop that in my lap, Logan. Rogue was the one who approached S.H.I.E.L.D. to offer her services in exchange for access to my agency’s resources, not the other way around. If anything, take it up with Tony Stark. He was her contact, not me.”
The professor put out his hands, stopping them from arguing further. “It’s all a mute point now gentlemen. Rogue no longer has any recollection of her activities with S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Logan’s ears pulled back, sharply looking at the telepath. Professor Xavier was grim-faced as he told them, “Rogue’s memories from the time she arrived in Canada when she was a teenager, up until the X-Men’s arrival to retrieve her last night, are gone.”
Logan felt ice run down his spine at his words. He kept his eyes pinned on Charles as he continued.
“The woman sitting beside Rogue at the Senate hearing is a mutant. Her mutation is the ability to steal and plant memories by touch,” the professor explained. “Rogue’s memories are not hidden somewhere in her mind, they are quite literally, gone. There are only outlines of where memories should be, empty impressions, if you will. This woman has Rogue’s memories and she alone can return them.” He turned to Nick Fury. “The information I gave you based on what Rogue was able to transmit to me prior to her abduction is all that I have. Unfortunately, this Blindspot has removed all memory of her existence from Rogue once again.”
The colonel nodded, offering, “S.H.I.E.L.D.’s already working on it, Charles. Both Pyro and Spiral have no recollection of Blindspot, apparently she’s removed all memory of their part in what’s transpired so they are useless to us. Wiping away memories of her existence, and her activities, is this mutant’s calling card. Lucky for us, she didn’t anticipate Rogue’s ability to reach out to you as quickly as she did. We’ll get her. This Melanie Doonan will be found.”
Meanwhile, Logan was raking his fingers through his hair, the implications of what the professor had said beginning to sink in. “What about Rogue’s mutation? Does she still have access to Ms Marvel’s powers?”
“Without the memory of their encounter, there is nothing for her to draw on. Your mutation is clearly still prevalent as evidenced by the rapid healing of her broken jaw and her resistance to sedation, but then again, she was never able to shut it off like she could with Ms Marvel’s powers.” The professor took a deep breath, a haggard look coming over his face. “Rogue’s mutation has regressed back to the state it was when you first met her, Logan. The memory of when she gained control over her skin has been taken as well.”
Logan felt the air in his lungs suck right out of him. He couldn’t breathe. He heard someone gasp beside him.
“You’re able to help her, right?”
“I will certainly try, Scott.” But everyone in the room knew he wasn’t optimistic.
Logan moved away from the group to stand at the door of Rogue’s cell. She was still in the same position he last saw her in, squeezed into the corner of the small cell, face turned away. She looked so small, so defenseless. He pressed his palm against the cool pane of the glass, the conversation continuing behind him.
“Rogue has to come with us, Charles. This evening’s events have demonstrated her allegiance to Mystique and to the Brotherhood.” The S.H.I.E.L.D. director was trying to remain calm, but was failing. “We are taking her, effective immediately.”
“Rogue is an X-Man,” Logan heard Scott say firmly. “We take care of our own. She stays with us.”
“You can’t let your personal feelings blind you to the seriousness of the situation, Scott,” Nick Fury argued. “She is an enemy combatant on United States soil. And as such, must be held in S.H.I.E.L.D custody.”
Logan watched Rogue slowly stand up, and he reacted to the sight of the familiar curves that shaped her, the black leather cat-suit tight around her. She walked towards him and pressed her palm against his on the other side of the thick glass, keeping her eyes on his. He searched for any sign that she recognized him, looking down into their dark green depths, but he only saw resentment and anger.
Her eyes narrowed and with deliberate exaggeration, she mouthed the words, “Ah’m coming for you first.”
He pressed a finger along the glass where her cheek was closest, as if caressing it, despite the thick barrier between them. Face softened by his love for her, he mouthed back, “You better, darlin’.”
Her eyes registered surprise, then confusion. The expression on her face became vulnerable and she twisted away from him, digging her nails into her scalp, as though trying to rip out her thoughts. He watched her, every muscle strung tightly in reaction to her turmoil, heart squeezing in his chest seeing her suffer. Becoming angry, she snarled and pulled back her fist, slamming it against the thick glass.
Six claws sliced through the skin between her knuckles. Rogue stared at the bone extrusions, eyes widening at the blood that poured from the wounds they created. She looked to him, face paling, then back to her hands.
She screamed.
Logan desperately tried to open the door, keeping his eyes on Rogue as she backed away from him, tears streaming down her face. She fell against the far wall of the cell, pupils dilated in horror, her entire body beginning to shake violently. She was going into shock. The sound of his claws unsheathing alerted the other occupants in the room.
“Don’t,” Colonel Fury shouted in warning. “We don’t know what she’s capable of!”
With a roar, Logan smashed through the door, sending the other men ducking for cover as shards of broken glass showered down around them. He stormed into the cell and grabbed hold of Rogue’s wrists, careful to avoid her skin.
“It’s okay, Marie. It’s okay.” He held her hands up, careful to keep the sharp claws that protruded from them away from her. He caught her eyes with his and she stared at him, terrified.
“What did you do to me? Ah’m a… a…” Her eyes widened even further. “Ah’m a monster!” Her voice rose hysterically and she tried to pull away, her genuine fear of him breaking his heart. The others encircled them, alert.
Logan crossed her arms over her chest and spun her around, pulling her back up against him to effectively still her movements. He dropped to the ground and pulled her onto his lap, whispering in her ear through the curtain of her hair, “Just breathe darlin’, breathe. Everythin’s going to be alright.”
Rogue closed her eyes, not understanding why she believed him, not understanding why her instincts insisted she trust him, not understanding why just his scent alone was calming her down. The bone claws slipped back into her forearms and she collapsed against him, weeping.
“What’s happening to me?” She sounded broken.
Logan tightened his hold, rocking her back and forth comfortingly. His eyes shot up to Colonel Fury, the challenge in them clear. With a sigh, the S.H.I.E.L.D. director turned to Professor Xavier.
“It’s on you, Charles. We’ll be watching.”
Professor Xavier said nothing in response as the uniformed man left the room, keeping his eyes on the young woman crying wretchedly in the Wolverine’s arms.
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