A/N: This is the third story in the Nine to Five series (1.Nine to Five, 2.November Rain, 3. Light). I recommend you read the first two stories to fully understand the relationships between the characters.

This may be my final story in the series. I have more ideas, but don't know about how much time I'll have to finish them.

The first few chapters are incorporating "Self-possessed" and "Under Lock & Key" into the story.

This story will also betaed by EE's Skysong, because she rocks.


Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am to a spiritual level beyond material possessions. Therefore, I must borrow everyone else's.


There is a Light that Never Goes Out: Chapter One – Things Will Never Be the Same

Sunlight penetrated the dark comforter strewn over the Goth's head. She groaned and rolled over, pulling her covers tighter around her body. Underneath the sheets she blinked, wide awake. After a few minutes of struggling to fall back asleep, Rogue gave up. As she pealed the layers off her face, she heard a noise and burrowed further into her bed. Holding her breath, she strained to hear more, but the mansion was silent late that Monday morning.

Flinging the comforter away from her, Rogue sighed and shook herself. After returning early Sunday from her ordeal at Genesis Medical in the hands of "Mr. Sinister" (1), she spent all of Sunday in bed. At first she was exhausted, then she was scared. She could hear murmurs around the mansion and suspected they were about her. Rumors of where she had disappeared to and how Gambit had brought her home practically naked spread through the lips of everyone in the mansion.

Kitty was sought after the most for her theories, but from what Rogue could catch from snippets of conversations held outside her bedroom door, Kitty's mouth was mostly sealed. Her roommate told only Jean, Scott, and Kurt all she knew, which wasn't much. Remy was the only one besides Rogue that knew what had happened.

Spying a generic manilla file folder beside her bed, Rogue remembered the file Remy stole from Essex, detailing the work done on her. According to the file, she received the first dose of a three-part gene-therapy treatment. The full treatment would activate her latent X-genes, which Essex believed would allow her conscious access to any power she had ever absorbed. He did not know the effects that would have on her mind or memories. Didn't care, more likely. It didn't say anything about what an incomplete treatment would do, at least not in a language that she understood.

Rogue sat up and pulled a blanket around her shoulders. She knew she should get out of bed and tell the adults what went on Saturday and show them her file, but she couldn't stand the disappointed looks or sighs she knew she'd get. Ever since she joined the X-Men she had tried to show them that she could, in her own way, live up to their expectations, but on Saturday she fell so far down that she didn't think that she could ever recover.

She needed to talk to someone who understood. She needed to call Remy. Maybe he could give her the boost of confidence she needed to approach the instructors. He did manage to convince her to come back to the Institute.

Rogue leaned over and picked up the phone off the cradle. Her fingers automatically pressed the buttons, having memorized his number already. The phone only rang once before she was transferred straight to voice mail.

Pulling the receiver from her ear, Rogue stared at it as if the phone insulted her. She hung up without leaving a message, theorizing that Remy might have been training or something. They do that at Magneto's too, right?

Bored, Rogue looked around the room, trying to think of something to occupy her time. She sighed and snatched a paperback off her nightstand. One page into it, she realized it was Kitty's book. Seconds before she chucked the book across the room, Rogue came up with a better idea. She smirked and grabbed a pen off the stand to write special messages and analyses in the margins.

At two o'clock, Rogue slammed the receiver down for the fourth time. She wasn't sure if she should be angry or worried that Remy didn't answer. Her stomach answered with a growl.

It would be another hour before the other kids started returning from school. Rogue took a deep breath and slid into her robe. Peeking out her bedroom door, she made sure the coast was clear before venturing down to the kitchen. She padded down to the kitchen, breathing a sigh of relief when she got there without any encounters with the adults.

Rogue did not realize how hungry she was until she pulled open the kitchen door. Immediately she dove into the refrigerator, scavenging for something edible.

A voice behind Rogue spoke, sending her a few inches into the air. "There haven't been any good leftovers since you stopped cooking dinner."

"Storm!" Rogue exclaimed. "Ah- Ah didn't see ya there."

The former African goddess brought a steaming cup to her lips. "I'm sorry I frightened you."

Rogue bent over into the coldbox and fetched a Tupperware container that appeared to hold mac and cheese. "That's okay."

The two coexisted in silence aside from the quiet buzz of the microwave and the occasional rustle of the newspaper. Rogue was severely uncomfortable, but not enough to say anything.

Ororo casually looked out over the newspaper and cocked her head. "Are you feeling all right, child?"

Despite Ororo's non-pressuring tone, Rogue clammed up. "Uh. . . yeah. Ah just needed some sleep."

"Good," she replied in a way that meant she didn't believe a single word. Storm finished her tea and folded up the newspaper. On her way out, Ororo gave Rogue an all-knowing, motherly stare. "Rogue, know that if there is anything you wish to talk about, school, life, boys. . .my door is always open."

"Well. . ." Rogue's hesitation caused Ororo to pause and look back. Rogue's voice caught in her throat. After a minute, she sighed. "Nothin'."

Ororo closed the kitchen door. "Are you sure?"

Rogue shifted her eyes. "Ah just. . .Ah. . ." She looked up into Storm's eyes. "Ah screwed up real big this time, and Ah don't know if they'll forgive meh."

"The other X-Men, you mean?"

She nodded and studied her worn gloves.

"You need to give them more credit. They're your friends; they'll forgive you."

"That's what Remy said, but Ah lied to them all. Things will never be the same."

"Life has a funny way of changing things. You and the rest of the X-Men have a strong bond between you. I have faith that your friendship will grow and become stronger as a result, but only if you try."

Rogue nodded and stared at the kitchen wall. Ororo turned to leave once more before Rogue's voice brought her back in. "Storm, there's something else."

Before she could go on, Professor's voice popped into her head as well as Ororo's. Sorry to interrupt, but Rogue, you have a visiter at the front gate. I suggest you go quickly before Logan welcomes him.

A small smile spread across the Goth's face. Remy's here. Forgetting about her meal in the microwave, she sped past Ororo and out the front door. Upon reaching the front gates, she was sorely disappointed and a little faint from the run.

"What the hell are ya doin' here, John-boy?" she asked the Australian.

Above them, St. John Allerdyce extinguished the fire spelling her name and griped the iron gate as if he were a prisoner. "You need to let Remy out from under your bed. People are starting to ask about him." He stopped, but before Rogue could answer, his eyes lit up. "Oh, and can you talk to Wanda for me?"

"Gumbo ain't here, firebug," Logan called as he approached Rogue and John.

"You sure?"

Logan tapped the side of his nose. "The nose don't lie."

"He hasn't been here since early Sunday mornin'," Rogue added.

John strained his brain in thought. "If he's not with you, and he's not with me, and he's not at the base. . . then where is he?"

A cold lump moved down Rogue's throat. "Ah don't know. Ah tried ta call him -"

"Me, too."

"No," Rogue whispered. She recalled Remy's stories of Essex and Genesis Medical. Coupled with her own experience, she knew Remy's disappearance wasn't good. Remy said Essex didn't want him back, but would they kidnap him ta get ta meh? Her breathing became shallow, and she started sweating.

Logan sensed her fear. "What's goin' on, Stripes?"

"It's just that the people that took meh. . . Remy used ta work for them, and they weren't too happy he left."

St. John gasped. "You don't mean. . . Mr. Sinister?" he asked melodramatically, trying to lighten the mood.

Logan marched to the key pad by the gate. "Move, bub," he told St. John, but the Aussie didn't listen. The gates folded inward, taking the Aussie with them.

"Wheee!" John cried before the gates stopped abruptly, sending him to the ground.

With Rogue following closely behind, Logan walked to the place in the forest where he had found Rogue and Remy thirty-six hours before. The rain Sunday evening had washed away many of the smells, but Logan was determined to find something.

St. John caught up to Rogue while Logan was sniffing the ground. He giggled. "I see Paris; I see France. I see Badger's under-"

Logan stood up straight, popped his claws and growled.

As St. John stiffened, closed his eyes, and waited for his life to pass before him, Rogue watched a different, fearful and very real sight unfold before her. Sabertooth and Magneto entered the clearing. Immediately Sabertooth and Wolverine began circling. Magneto approached majestically, dragging Colossus's motorcycle behind him.

Seeing the motorcycle she and Remy spent Saturday night on, Rogue gasped. Hypnotized, she approached the bike, but Magneto pulled it away from her.

"What are you doin' here?" Logan barked.

Putting two feet on the ground, Magneto rolled his eyes. "Looking for my lost employee." He turned to the firebug unsuccessfully hiding behind a tree. "Pyro, stop cowering and take the motorcycle back to base. Sabertooth, this is not the time for personal vendettas. Find the scent."

Fearful that Magneto would punish him for coming to the X-Men before approaching him, St. John did as he was told. Sabertooth was less accommodating.

Taking matters into his own hands, Magneto forced Wolverine's adamantium-laced skeleton against a tree and stepped in front of Sabertooth. "Thank you for your offer of assistance, but it is not needed. Sabertooth, - "

Crossing her arms and popping her hip, Rogue snorted. "Ya think ya're goin' out lookin' for Remy without meh, ya're crazy."

Magneto chuckled. "My dear, you are not even dressed."

Rogue's face grew red, and she growled. Her hair, tied up in a pony tail, grew a little longer as did her nails. The world grew a little muted and fuzzy, but she ignored it. "Doesn't mean Ah can't take ya down again." She leapt, fangs raring, but she bounced off a magnetic force field.

Irritated, the megalomaniac released his grip on Logan. "Wolverine, restrain your student. She may hurt herself."

On the ground, the world spun a little, but Rogue ignored it. Rolling back to her feet, Rogue got in attack position, but Logan stepped in her way. "Move!"

Logan observed Rogue's shakey stance and extraordinarily pale face. "You're in no condition, Stripes -"

"Ah'll show ya. . ." Rogue jinxed herself with those words. Taking a step she plunged into darkness.


As Wolverine gathered Rogue's limp form, Magneto said, "Really, Wolverine, you should take better care of your students."

Wolverine snorted. "Least it doesn't take me two nights to figure out when one of mine goes missing."

Logan turned and caught a whiff of someone he hadn't smelt for months. "Mesmero?" he whispered. He smelled the air again to confirm before turning back to the Acolytes. Sabertooth and Magneto were discussing the same mystery scent.

"His name's Mesmero," Logan interrupted. Pyro jumped, Magneto raised an eyebrow, and Sabertooth growled at being outdone.

"The X-Men have had dealings with this Mesmero before?"

Logan nodded. "Telepath. He hypnotizes people into doing his dirty work for him. He kidnapped Jean and some of the others a few months back to steal some fancy jewelry for him."

"Why are you sharing such valuable information with us?"

"Mesmero's workin' on something. We don't know what it is, but Chuck's pretty sure about one thing: It's bigger than anything we've ever faced before. If he's right, the X-Men might not be able to handle it alone."

"A collaboration?" Magneto laughed. "You may lead children into battle, but my men are professionals."

Logan shrugged. "It's your funeral." He turned and carried Rogue back to the Institute.

Magneto and Sabertooth discussed their next move while St. John looked urgently after Logan and Rogue. "Wait up," John called. "I need to ask her about Wa. . ." He felt Magneto's eyes burn into his back and stopped before saying any more.

Magneto cleared his throat, waiting for an explanation.

John stopped and turned. ". . .watching my back. What if this Mezzy-o guy is still around? I don't want to be walking up to the ute all alone. He might take me too." John put on a dopey grin, hoping it would sell his story. It didn't.

"His scent is two days old. There is no reason for you to hide behind an X-Men's skirt nor 'ask' them anything. Besides, I doubt Mesmero would find a mind in your skull to control."

John huffed at the insult, then sighed as he pushed the bike away from Wolverine and the unconscious Rogue to the road. He'd have to find another way to ask Rogue to help him fix the Wanda situation.


After taking one step toward Piotr's motorcycle early Sunday morning, Remy blinked and found himself outside the gates of a different estate with a charged card and bo staff in hand. "Where am I?" He jumped when he saw his boss standing in front of a tattooed man wrapped in iron rods. Some fifty feet away, Warren Worthington III was sprawled on the ground, breathing but unconscious.

Was Magneto attempting to recruit Angel again? Remy struggled to remember how he had gotten there with them, but nothing seemed familiar.

He instantly panicked. Did Malice follow him from Genesis Medical and possess him? He didn't feel like he did after she possessed him. Usually he was light-headed, fuzzy and open to suggestion, not wide-awake and paranoid with a total blackout.

Magneto reached into his prisoner's cloak and pulled out a green rock. "And as for this relic. . .let's find out if it was really worth it." He turned and started floating away, pulling his prisoner behind him in his iron cage.

Remy couldn't believe Magneto would took off without explaining anything to him. What was this relic? Did he steal it? Why didn't he remember? Who was the freak in the cage? And what did it have to do with Birdboy?

No, wait. This was Magneto he was dealing with. He never divulged any information that would put someone on equal footing unless he had to.

Remy sighed and started after the shrinking dots in the sky. Maybe he would see something familiar and be able to make his way back to the base. Confused, Remy surveyed the sky again. He didn't think it was that clear a few minutes ago. At least, what he thought was a few minutes ago. Diving into his jacket pocket, Remy yanked out his cell phone. The display was dark; the battery was dead. He swore and kicked a random rock.

Preoccupied with finding out what happened, Remy never noticed a hairy man step out of the bushes. "What? Your girlfriend didn't call?" a mocking voice said behind him.

The Cajun charged his phone, prepared to throw it, until he realized it was only Sabertooth. "Good to see you too, 'Toothy. You're not on de short leash tonight. Did Mags finally cough up de bucks for an invisible fence?"

Sabertooth snorted and flicked something from his teeth. "Didn't realize you wanted to find your own way back tonight." He turned to run off into the woods.

"Wait," Remy called, kicking himself because life had come down to relying on a hair-ball for directions. "Where the hell are we?"

Sabertooth chuckled. "What's in it for me?"

"A scooby snack," Remy muttered under his breath as he thought of a real answer.

"I heard that."

The Cajun winced at being so stupid. He was not thinking clearly. He was a master thief and a decent strategist. He was coming at this problem all wrong. Feeling his mojo returning, Remy smirked. "How 'bout you tell me how to get back so Magneto doesn't blame you when I don't show up?"

Sabertooth growled. "You'll show up."

"Oui, but I could take my time. Just enough to make your life a living hell, homme."

Sabertooth hesitated to call Remy's bluff, but he broke under Remy's confident smirk. He growled and gave Remy the information he need before taking off into the night.


"Come back, Blue Monkey Remy (2)!" St. John screamed. One of the plastic pink flamingos the purple Peeps were wielding bit his shoulder (3). The second time he was bit, he opened his eyes. John was transported to a kitchen table littered with empty cigarette packs. Or someone simply woke him up.

The Aussie flung his arms around his very real friend. "Remy, you saved me!"

Remy was too tired to push him off. "And dis is my reward? Can't I get de donkey behind door number two?"

St. John let go and looked around the room, confused. "Where did your sexy blue monkey girls go?"

"Dey climbed back into dat crazy noggen o' yours."

Disappointed, he sighed. "Shoot. I thought I had a chance with one of them too."

"What about Wanda?"

John's face fell further. "Oh, Magneto asked her to make me more miserable, so she stuck me in a microwave with jousting purple Peeps. But you know, what I want to know is why I was in that four-fingered man's handbasket? OH! That reminds me. . ." He stood up and punched Remy in the stomach with all his might.

The Cajun shoved John over his chair and into the wall. When he regained his breath, Remy asked, "What de hell was dat for?"

"I should be asking you that question! You don't kill the messenger!"

Remy towered over the irate Aussie. "John, if you don' start speakin' sense. . .at least more sense t'an you are now, I'm stealin' all your candles and givin' dem to Sabertooth."

"At Xavier's today, the badger punched me and told me to pass it on to you and tell you, 'You're an idiot, and don't forget our talk.' Then he carried Rogue inside - "

Remy raised his hands. "Hold up! Why wasn' Rogue walkin'? And why were you at Xavier's?"

"She fainted. Something about not eating for a few days." John hadn't finished his sentence before Remy had lifted John's cell phone and dialed the Institute's number. The Aussie sighed at the loss of his audience. He righted his chair and sat. Picking up the ashtray, he scanned it for the longest stub to try and re-light.

Remy paced as he talked. "I need to speak wit' Rogue. . . . Just let me. . . Can't you- Fine. Tell her I called when she's up." He laid the phone on the table and slid it to John. "He said she was restin', and he wouldn' let me talk to her."

John replied coldly. "What a surprise. It's only. . ." He squinted at the microwave clock; his eyes widened, and he looked at his watch. "Woah. Late."

"What's your problem?" Remy snapped.

John flung his arms in the air. "I don't know. Maybe I slept with Wanda, she beat me up and dumped me, Magneto interrogated me about where you were when I haven't seen you since Thursday, Petey and Mastermush are coming early and I haven't finished Petey's present yet, Wanda won't talk to me or see me or take my calls, I got caught talkin' to Rogue, and I've having nightmares where Wanda tortures me with purple Peeps and a strange, blonde mullet man is carrying me around in his handbasket while Cyclops is wearing flannel and singing about brains."

His friend blinked and sat down. "Sounds like your weekend was as shitty as mine."

"At least you beat Dreamcoat back here."

Shrugging, Remy replied, "I took a cab."

John stared off at nothing. "I know you didn't bring back any flying monkey ladies, but did you grab any alcohol? Or maybe some cigs?"

His infamous smirk spread across Remy's face. He stood up and disappeared into his own room. When he came out, he had a carton under one arm. Instead of going to the kitchen, Remy walked back to Piotr's room and returned with two bottles in addition to his cigarettes.

John's blue eyes sparkled. "Have I told you how much I love you lately?"

The thief set his booty on the table and started pouring drinks. "Dis better not be leadin' up to another hug."

John faked a sob. "That hurts, Rems. Why can't you ever show your true emotions? Maybe we should go to couples' therapy."

Remy slid John's drink across the table. "Just take your drink, Ozzie." After pouring his own, Remy glanced out the window. "You t'ink I let de meter on de taxi waiting outside run long enough to charge on Mags Gold Card?"

Stroking his chin, John leaned back in his chair and said, "Not quite. How about a game of Risk?"


(1) See previous story November Rain for more details.

(2) In X-Men (second series) #10 & 11 the X-Men are forced to play out the Wizard Of Oz in Mojoverse. Gambit, Psylocke, Jubilee, and Lila Chaney were all blue flying monkeys. Rogue was the Tin Man, Cyclops was the Scarecrow, Wolverine, the Cowardly Lion, Beast, Toto (all he could say was "Rrrr"), and Longshot was Dorothy.

(3) St. John has a fear of purple Peeps as revealed to Wanda in Nine to Five.

A/N: I just had a great idea for a challenge. Would anyone like to write a possible origin, reasonable or not, for St. John's fear of purple Peeps? I'm interested in what other people's ideas are. It could be a one-shot contest or something. I don't know what the prize would be for the winner, but I think it would be fun. Any takers?