Rogue closed the gate to the mansion for the last time. Ah ain't coming back... not aftah what they did ta Gambit... Ah ain't evah gonna come back. She thought as she looked through the bars. The rest of the X-Men would likely come after her but they wouldn't find her. She turned around and with barely a glance back she walked away.
"She left... it's no wonder as to why you know," Storm said as she crossed her arms, "After what Logan did to Gambit... I'm not in the least bit surprised."
"Well the swamp rat kept getting in the way..." Logan said clenching his fists, "Besides it can't have been all my fault."
"As usual you are incorrect Logan," Professor Xavier said as he rolled up.
"What does that mean?" Scott asked raising an eyebrow from behind his sunglasses.
"She left because of what we all did that day..." Professor Xavier said sadly, "because of Logan's and your actions, Scott. As well as the inaction taken by the rest of us. Because of that she wound up getting hurt both physically and mentally... She believes that she can no longer trust us. Her love for Gambit, in my opinion, has clouded her judgment to a point."
"You have to be kidding... she doesn't trust us anymore? We've been there for her sense the beginning... When she showed up here at the mansion we were there to greet her!" Scott yelled out of disbelief.
"It's sad Scott, I know... But it is true... She won't come back... Not any time soon at least," Professor Xavier said equally sadly, they had lost two powerful allies now first Gambit and now Rogue.
It was anyone's guess as to what she was going to do now, especially on her own.
Rogue shrugged her coat in closer around her, it was bitter cold but she wasn't going to stop. She knew that if she stopped the Professor could get a solid lock on her and would send Kurt to get her, she couldn't... no wouldn't let that happen. Ah've gotta get as fah away as ah possibly can... othahwise they could find meh and bring meh back to the mansion... ah ain't goin' back no mattah what. She thought as she continued to walk down the darkening road. It was late fall and it was cold but her anger and sadness made it seem even colder.
Ah have ta find a way to get away from the X-Men for good, she thought as she looked up and down a road before crossing, ah don't evah want ta see their faces evah again. Not aftah what they did ta Gambit...or what they did ta me...
She kept her white streak of hair under a woven winter cap that was a nondescript shade of brown. Her brown trench coat was heavy and made of near leather like material. Her blue jeans where faded and had a rip just above the left knee. Her gloves where a tan brown and made of thick leather as well, to keep her hands warm and to protect others from her power. Though it was cloudy and was starting to get dark she wore a pair of black sunglasses to keep her identity a secret, same with the brown and dark green scarf she wore around her neck which hid her nose and mouth from the bitter wind.
Slowly she walked into a forest preserve, the light dusting of snow from the previous day crunching softly under her feet. The birds that still lived there sung softly in the branches, seeming to tell each other of the day's events and being curious about the intruder at this hour. Rogue looked up into the broken evening sky. The clearing cloud cover and the trees revealing the stars behind them. She watched the stars and saw what she thought would be a shooting star and made a wish.
Ah wish for Gambit's safety and that we will be able ta see each othah again, Rogue wished silently as the shooting star disappeared behind the clouds. With a smile she walked on, deeper into the forest. She didn't know that something was there, of course how could she but it was waiting for an unexpecting person to find their way there.
"Someone is coming sir... she is different than all the other specimens we have gathered," someone said, the vast majority of their body covered in robotics, the only thing revealing that they may have at one point been human was the pale blue right eye.
"Interesting, who is she? Where is she?" another answered, he was an officer. His torso, right arm and both legs was machine but his left arm and head aside from his left eye, ear, neck and most of the back of his head was human with a bit of dark brown hair cropped short.
"Identity unknown, trajectory is strait at us at a steady pace," another said, "species: human, race: would appear American perhaps, hair is brown red from what we can tell and her eyes are behind a pair of sunglasses."
"I see, intercept her and bring her onboard," the officer stated coolly, "Oh and don't kill her... I want to see her alive."
"Yes sir," the first said as he rushed off to collect a task force to "collect" the woman.
Rogue continued to walk slowly through the preserve and lowered her scarf slightly to smell the cold fresh air though the wind bit her lower face when she did. Sense it was now dark; she removed her sunglasses so she could see. Folding them she put them in one of the deep pockets of her coat, not noticing the glowing red eyes of the troopers that watched her from behind the trees and bushes.
With a sigh she looked back up to the stars, the clouds moving quickly over them and the nearly full moon. Now what do ah do? Ah gotta stay somewhere... ah don't wanna freeze ta death out here in the middle of this place... so... Now what? Rogue thought as the troopers silently moved in closer, each with a stun rifle in hand. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she removed the winter cap and ran her fingers through her hair. As she opened her eyes she finally saw it, six near fully mechanical troopers standing around her with rifles trained on her.
"Ah so ya'll wanna play monkey in the middle, do ya? Alright shugahs... let's play," Rogue said coolly not even fazed by their presence.
Rogue ducked in, taking three steps and delivered a right hook hard to one of the troopers in center mass. The trooper flew back, as sparks flew from his chest and his rifle landed on the ground behind her. Having taken five quick steps pushing off on her right. She turned on the ball of her left foot, jumped, and landed a kick to the left side of the next trooper with her strong leg. Launching herself off that trooper, she backward shoulder rolled and grabbed a third trooper swung him around like a rag doll then threw him into a tree.
Somewhere in the tree line a seventh trooper, the squad leader, took a shot with his stun rifle. The blast looked like pale blue, almost white, electricity which hit Rogue just above her lower back.
As her body spassemed out for a few seconds she managed to say, "Ya fuckers don't play fair..." and she went limp, falling to the ground unconscious.
"She'd better be worth this..." the squad leader said as he stepped out of the tree line holding the butt stock of his stun rifle on his hip.
Meanwhile, back on the ship...
A homing beacon sounded, it signaled that the subject had been secured and the team was awaiting pickup. The drop ship that had concealed itself in the preserve earlier that day lifted off and headed towards the squad's position, landing just long enough for them to get on board.
The team carried Rogue into a secure room for transport to the mother ship orbiting the planet, a room containing only a bed that was secured to the ground, as well as a sink and latrine likewise secured. They laid her on the bed and secured the door as they left her to sleep off the effects.
"She has been secured sir," the squad leader told the officer with a deep bow, "However, I lost three good men in that... She is a formidable opponent sir."
"I see, have you discovered her identity yet?" the officer said not bothering to return the bow.
"No sir but she should awaken shortly," the squad leader said hazarding a glance up.
"Then inform me when she awakens!" the officer yelled as he spun on his heel smacking the squad leader with a strong back hand slap to the jaw that sent the man, if he could be called that, flying across the room and into a table, "DISMISSED!"
Rogue slipped in and out of consciousness. Catching bits and pieces of conversations as her perception waxed and waned. What's goin' on here? She thought as her hearing steadied enough that she could finally hear the whole conversation. Where am ah? Why do ah feel so heavy? These questions filled her head and more as her head turned to the side touching the cold metal of the bed she was on. Slowly, almost laboriously, her eyes opened. The light stung her emerald green eyes and she was forced to snap them shut so she wouldn't hurt her eyes.
"Sir! She's waking up!" a voice said almost half way mechanically.
"Good," another voice, darker and colder, said but it wasn't as mechanical as the first.
"Ah god... ah think ah'm gonna be sick..." Rogue managed to say as she forced her eyes to adjust to the bright room.
"Don't worry, that is just a side effect of the stun rifle blast that hit you," the officer said making an effort to make his voice sound friendlier.
Rogue forced herself to sit up, her muscles strained from feeling that her body was too heavy for them. Looking down she almost panicked. Her coat, cap, scarf, and most importantly her gloves where gone.
"Alright... Where the hell did ya stash mah gloves?!" Rogue yelled the fatigue and seemingly impossible weight falling away as she shot up off the bed.
"What importance do they have to you?" the officer asked as he picked the gloves up off the table beside him.
Rogue scowled in disgust and stormed over to the officer, snatching the gloves out of his hand with her left hand and punching him with her right.
"Ya really have no idea as ta what you're dealin' with do ya?" Rogue asked angrily as she nearly jammed the gloves back over her hands, "Mah powah can kill a normal person in less than a second if ah touch them with mah bare hands..."
"I see...," the officer said as he picked himself off the ground half surprised that she could knock him down, "so... Do you have a name to go along with that vicious right hook?"
"Mah name is Rogue... and ya'd bettah remembah it if ya don't wanna meet it again..." Rogue all but spat at the officer.
With that she turned around and walked back over to the sink. She filled it with cool water and, after taking her gloves off again, washed her face. Grabbing a towel that sat next to the sink she dried her face off and looked back to the officer and his lackey.
"Are ya still here? Get the hell outta here... ah don't need any company... thank ya..." Rogue half yelled realizing that her "guests" where still there and she had no interest in having them watch her all day.
"We can be a strong ally or formidable foe depending on what you want to make us, Rogue... By the way... my name is Volt... Officer Wesley Volt," Volt said as he opened the door letting his lackey leave before him, "Oh and chow will be in an hour and a half... I hope that you will join me..."
With that Volt closed the door.
Great... Ah've been abducted by aliens now! Rogue thought as she sat back down on the bed. And what's more, one of them has asked me to have lunch or dinnah or whateveah the meal is with him... Fuck, if Logan hadn't shoved Gambit outta the X-jet then ah wouldn't have any reason ta be here right now... well... What's done is done... in fact ah might still be able ta see Gambit again soonah or latah.
Rogue fidgeted with her hair as these thoughts went through her head. It may have been these thoughts that led up to what happened to her... no one really knows... but this much is for sure... it changed her life... forever.