Hi everyone. Thanks so much totenchi13, Kataract52, Christa4ever, falynn07, Kairan1979, romiross, and the swiss miss who reviewed In the Afterglow. I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Okay so tenchi13 had suggested a follow-up piece to In the Afterglow from Rogue's perspective and a few others expressed interest in it. I wasn't going to do it, but then the idea kept turning around in my brain until it snowballed into this. I figured I should still get this out before X-Men Legacy 251 in case they say/do something to blow this story out of the water. (Knowing my luck, it'll turn out that they didn't really sleep together back in 249)

I don't know if it's any good. It's a little longer than the last one and I found myself going on a few tangents as I was writing this. Here's hoping it doesn't disappoint. I'm not sure I got everything out that I wanted to, but it was kind of getting to the point where I was just going in circles and adding too much that strayed too far from the main ideas. So, if it sucks, let me know and tell me why.

Also, to anyone who's been patiently waiting for the next chapter of Rock Bottom I apologize for the wait. Between work, home renovations and my newfound crochet hobby eating up my time, I haven't had too much time to look at that story. But, summer holidays are just around the corner, so hopefully it'll only be a couple weeks more.

Take care everyone and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Marvel.

After Dawn

In that space somewhere between asleep and awake where dreams bleed into reality and the mind struggles to discern between the two, she almost felt normal. She wasn't living on a giant rock inhabited by mutants. She was not a part of a team of said mutants who fought to protect others like her and the rest of the world from threats that one would normally find in bad science fiction novels. And the gently heaving chest beneath her cheek along with the arms that held her in a warm embrace most certainly did not belong to a former terrorist who had intentionally hurt her and her teammates numerous times in the past. If she kept her eyes closed a little longer, maybe she could pretend that she was just plain, old Anna Marie, and not Rogue: mutant adventurer with the ability to suck someone's soul out through their skin.

But she couldn't keep her eyes closed forever. Soon enough she would have to wake and face her usual demands and responsibilities. She would also have to face the man whose bare form was pressed against her own nude figure, as well as the fact that she willingly shared her body with him last night. The sensation was not unpleasant; as a matter of fact, it was perhaps better than she always thought it would be. There was a method – a technique – to the way his hands and mouth roamed over her body, but at the same time, each touch, each ministration was filled with tenderness and passion. It was enough to set her skin on fire and bring her into a state of delirious euphoria that she hadn't felt in a long time.

It was what her body had been waiting for since that time in the Savage Land. The moment between them, however brief, lit a spark inside her that warmed her belly and left her desiring a man who would become the source of many of her pains for years to come. And in a twisted way, despite all the reasons she had to hate him, that need to finish what they started lingered, no matter how much anger she used to supress it. If she was being completely honest with herself, she wasn't sure what drove her to his bedroom last night. Perhaps she'd hoped that she would get it out of her system and the curiosity over what could have been would be satisfied. But try as she might to deny it, the need was more than just physical. Legion's reality just complicated things further by opening up feelings she thought she had long since closed the door on.

She opened her eyes to the faint light creeping in between the spaces in the heavy curtains. She shifted her head upward to look at him. His normally stiff and controlled expression was relaxed and peaceful. Steely, blue eyes that, only hours ago, burned with an insatiable hunger and desire to taste and touch each part of her they gazed upon, lay hidden under closed eyelids. She had seen those same eyes glow with a different kind of hunger before: a hunger for vengeance and a thirst for blood. Who was this man beside her? He was once a hated enemy of the X-Men and of humanity. He was the man who saved her life and shattered her heart in the span of a few days. And who was he now, to the X-Men, to her?

She wasn't naïve enough to think that just because he was at the X-Men's side now, that he'd stay there forever. People rarely ever change completely – she knew it all too well. She didn't come to Xavier at first because she believed in his philosophy on mutant/human relations. She was quite happy with the brotherhood until the day she completely absorbed Carol Danvers. Anna only came to the mansion for the purely selfish reason of keeping herself from going completely insane. She was driven by desperation and a sense of self preservation. It was only after a while that, after seeing both sides, she formed her own ideas about right and wrong and decided that her views were more in line with the X-Men's beliefs and not so much with what Mystique had taught her all these years. Still, she understood that the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad, didn't really mean anything. Everyone wants what's good and right; but who defines what is good and right?

One person's hero is another's villain. For many people, Magneto was a villain who was bent on the destruction of humankind to gain superiority for mutants, while to just as many others he was a hero who fought back against those who oppressed mutants out of fear and hate. She'd seen both sides of him in the Savage Land. For him, it was better to lose lives fighting, than to helplessly sit back while just as many lives are taken by those who would oppress his kind. Anna knew that eventually, he would see the more peaceful tactics as futile in the cause for mutant rights and that being under the command of someone else will fill his gut with that wretched feeling of helplessness that he felt as his family was taken away from him by the Nazis and as he heard the screams of little Anya from within his burning home. Then, he would likely break away from this life and find himself going about his old ways to save his people from the tyranny of those who feared them.

She carefully disentangled herself from Erik's arms, as not to wake him. Standing up, she smirked at his seemingly undisturbed form. She'd always thought he'd be a light sleeper and that something much less than someone crawling out of his bed would wake him. But knowing him, he might just be feigning sleep to save both of them the awkwardness of her "walk of shame" out of his room. After gathering her clothes, she dressed as quickly and as silently as possible. Her thoughts flicked for a moment to Remy. She knew in her heart that she loved him and that he was probably right about what he said about him being her home. Maybe one day, she will wind up back in his arms and they can be happy together. But she couldn't ignore the chemistry between Erik and her and she had a feeling that any time they had to explore the connection between them was limited. What happens next? She had promised nothing more than one night, but did she want more? Did he want more?

Regardless of what either of them wanted, she knew that the probability of any relationship between them lasting long was slim. Feelings aside, their circumstances and life paths (past and future) would likely tear them apart in the end. The question was did she want to continue something that would inevitably end in heartache? Her logical mind warned her against that path, while something else inside her suggested that it might take more than one night in his bed to quench whatever burned between them. But was it worth the heartache in the end? She bit back a sigh as she moved toward the door. With one, last glance at him she silently slipped out of the room.