She remembered the moment she had heard the news cast. She had been relieved. Maybe, she had thought, she would get away. Perhaps they would let her go back to the X-Men. Magneto had explained briefly the purpose for which she was kidnapped, and what her part in it was to be. Maybe they couldn't go through with it, now. Maybe they wouldn't be able to for a long, long time. Maybe they would her go.
"Due to storms in the area, the UN summit has been postponed. The new date has not yet been released, but an official will hold a press conference later tonight. More on this on the nine o'clock news. Over to James with spo-"
The squeaking of the radio ceased, leaving the room suddenly quiet. The four members of the Brotherhood of Mutants were gathered in what Magneto called his office; a cavernous room with stone walls and a lonely, metal desk. They looked expectantly at him. Magneto, as always, seemed frightfully calm. His face hid his bitterness and disappointment to all but a very few. Indeed, Mystique was the only one in the room to notice it. Her brows creased slightly, a hint of a worried frown. The others were oblivious. The silence lasted for a few minutes, broken only by small, nervous movements and heavy breathing from the occupied and tied body bag that sat slumped against a wall.
"We will wait," Magneto said at last, a nearly inaudible sigh escaping his lips. "Take her to a cell. I want her well looked after. She will need her strength, after all."
"Won't the X-Men come after her?"
"I doubt they will be any problem. Mystique, come, my dear. We have a great deal of planning to do."
.
They had taken her to a cell. A large hole had been cut in the bag, and she had been left to awkwardly crawl out herself as the heavy door closed. It was heaven to breathe again, although the air smelled of dust and something faintly rotting. She took in her surroundings quickly; there wasn't much to see. A bare mattress in a corner, a single flickering light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and a vent seven feet above the floor. The walls and floor were concrete, and rather rough, and after having scraped her wrists painfully on the floor, she huddled on the mattress in the corner. There was nothing to do but wait. Wait, and hope that they would come for her. Hope that Logan had been right about the Professor.
.
It had been night when it happened. At least she thought so. She hadn't slept since she got there, and she hadn't become hungry enough that it could have been more than a few hours. She had heard the footsteps first. Heavy, booted feet, making enough noise to be heard, albeit muffled through the thick, steel door. As the door opened she was overwhelmed by the smell. It seemed to penetrate every pore of her skin, covered as it was. She had noticed it faintly earlier, but she had been half unconscious then, and the thick plastic of the bag had isolated the air quite a bit. But it was there now, immense and unavoidable. It was a smell of fur, a feral smell. Like an animal. There were subtler odors as well, blood, and meat. She would later come to think of it as the smell of death.
He towered over her as he entered, a huge, dark shape. Eyes black and predatory regarded her from under overgrown eyebrows, and as he bared his fangs in a grin they caught the flickering light. His hair hung down around his face, filthy and tangled, like the unkempt mane of a shabby lion. Considering how much like an animal he looked it seemed almost wrong for him to have several furs hanging over his shoulders. Then again, it was definitely a predator he resembled. As he hunched down over her, huge claws looking ready to rip her apart, all she could think
.
When Toad found them a few hours later, Sabretooth was in a coma. Rogue lay huddled on the mattress, sobbing hysterically. Her clothes were in shreds, and she clutched them to her chest in a not entirely successful attempt to cover herself up. There were claw marks on the wall around her. They were far too small to have been made by Sabretooth. When he tried to approach her she growled. Not with the same menace as Sabretooth, but enough for him to settle for kicking the comatose man in the ribs before leaving to inform Magneto. It was, he later reflected, probably for the best when she was kidnapped back by the X-Men.
Author's note: I don't particularly enjoy writing these kinds of fics, but the event is referenced in one of my other fics, and I felt the need to write it. Just to sort of know what happened, have it clear in my head. So yes, this is why Liberty Island never happened, and yes Toad has an extremely loose definition of recruit.