A/N: Based mostly on the new X-series Wolverine and the X-Men, with only minor character changes to suit canon. Since I'm just one of those special people who get to watch the series before the rest of America, this preface will help you sing-along with the story. Enjoy!
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Preface (Episode "Hindsight" parts 1-3):
After a mortifying explosion that took away the X-Men's precious Charles Xavier and Jean Grey, the X-men, broken and dejected, have disbanded. Wolverine returns to his life on the road in Canada. Cyclops, drowning in a pit of depression over the deep losses he has suffered, decides being alone in an empty apartment suits him best. Rogue, feeling abandoned, joins the Brotherhood. Beast becomes obsessed with discovering the cause of the blast that destroyed everything they held dear, and stays in what is left of the sublevel parts of the X-Mansion. Kitty seeks solace in the paradise promised in Magneto's Genosha. Bobby is forced back home to his parents, while Peter chooses to return to Russia.
Over a year later, Wolverine discovers that a Government-funded mutant-hunter organization called the Mutant Response Division (M.R.D.) are capturing mutants and imprisoning them. Enraged, he and Beast travel far and wide to reunite the scattered X-Men. With the help of Emma Frost, they are able to locate their friends, including a comatose Professor Xavier. Charles then communicates telepathically from twenty years in the future, warning them of a terrible fate involving the sentinels and the Brotherhood of Mutants controlling and destroying the known world. In order to prevent this dreadful outcome, Charles informs them Wolverine must bring the team back together and lead it himself. Though Cyclops is not pleased, Charles's prompting makes him agree to stay.
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A touch of the hand to the guard's face and the alarm code was hers. Rogue simply walked through the front door. She crept quietly through the museum, her black sneak suit adding to her stealthy silence. She ignored the sacred valuables behind glass casings, and the priceless paintings that could be so easily plucked off the wall. She was only here for one thing, under the orders of the Brotherhood. Another patrolling security guard didn't see her coming. She knew exactly where she was going, having walked this heist through in her mind a thousand times. The stone and gem room was near the back, in a section all its own. Another stolen code from the thoughts of the last guard she had touched allowed her to unlock the laser wall.
But as she went though the door, she lowered her hood in the sight of some other thief present beside herself. A trench coated figure, hanging from the ceiling over the very glass case that she was planning to steal from in this very moment. Just as she was came in, he was pocketing her prize in a leather pouch, which he then pocketed.
"Hey!" Rogue snapped in a hissing voice, in case there were more patrolling guards. "Those are mine-- I need those!"
"Well, so do I, Chere," the man replied, twisting on his rope so he sat upright. "I got here first, so dey're mine fair and square. T'anks for shuttin' down all dose nasty lasers, though, sho made t'ings a lot faster."
With that, Gambit hit a button on his belt, and the rope attached to it began to lift him back up to the overhead window he had surely entered from.
"Why, you!" Rogue growled, starting to chase after him.
Gambit pulled out a remote, clicking a button on it. Rogue froze in mid stride as the laser alarms blinked back into commission. Rogue teetered, one leg in the air and arms lifted, to make sure she didn't set them off.
"You scoundrel!" Rogue barked up at him. "Turn them back off!"
Hanging back upside down, he pulled himself closer to her with a horizontal repel rope for accurate positioning. He stroked a finger under her chin, to which she snorted and pulled away best she could without bumping her face into a laser.
"Sorry, Chere, I don't see anyt'in' in dat for me," he replied with a shrug, showing her the bag that contained the jewels tauntingly. He smiled and let go of the rope, and repelled the rest of the way up through the roof.
"Wait!" Rogue called after him, her arms already starting to hurt from holding them up for too long. "Don't leave me here! I'm sure we can negotiate somethin'! Wait!"
The man gave her a happy salute and closed the overhead window behind himself, then disappearing from sight. Rogue sighed and blew a hair out of her face, looking around the room at her hopeless situation.
"Great…"
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Kitty kicked her feet, letting them pound into the hard metal cabinets below the chrome counter upon which she sat, enjoying the noise the movement created.
Bam!
This was the epitome of boredom, and it was frustrating. The lot of them waited for Emma to emerge from Cerebro with news of more of their lost friend's whereabouts. She looked to Logan, standing in a dark corner, his hand under his fuzzed chin, very deep in thought. Hank was typing away, his glasses sliding farther down his nose by the second, squinting at the computer in concentration. Bobby was amusing himself by seeing how many figurines he could make out of ice. He was starting to have a real fancy little army, save for a few first models that were starting to melt. Cyclops, of course, was off moping somewhere.
Bam!
"Could you stop that?" Logan snarled at Kitty. "You're derailing my train of thought."
"You have more sensitive ears than the rest of us, Mr. Logan," Kitty countered.
"The girl's point poses a certain validity," Hank rang out from behind his giant monitor screen. "But it interrupts my mind's due processes as well, so I'm afraid I must agree, Kitty."
"I'm bored," Kitty complained.
"Me too," Bobby chimed in. "Why is this taking so long anyway?"
"With the extent of our home's explosion," Hank explained. "Most of the mansion's mainframe is now fizzled, even with the recent superficial repairs thanks to Warren's generosity. I'm trying to pry into the deep parts of the hard drive for more clues to our friend's locations."
"Why don't we just start with the one's we do know about?" Kitty hopped off the counter determinedly.
"I have indeed tried to contact some, but most do not leave forwarding numbers," Hank chuckled. "Even if they did, they could be anywhere now. Take Kurt, for example. Is that boy ever in one spot for long?"
"And until we do find them, we can't be wandering around," Logan added on. "With the Registration Act signed, the M.R.D.'s have us on top priority and we're vastly outnumbered… for the moment. Who else can we think of that might lend a hand?"
"What about Piotr?" Kitty asked, and before Hank could protest, Kitty put up a hand. "Look, you paid me a visit in person, and I joined right up. Same for Bobby. I've always been closest to Petey. I have a feeling if I talk to him face to face, he might change his mind."
Logan looked to Hank for his opinion, but Hank just shrugged.
"It is worth a try," Hank threw out cautiously. "I'll look up times for the next available flight."
"I'll go with her," Bobby volunteered immediately. Hank smirked at the younger boy, throwing a knowing glance to Logan.
"You know…" Bobby covered quickly. "To make sure nothing happens to her."
"I'm not a baby, Bobby," Kitty folded her arms confrontationally.
"But with these dangerous times," Hank added. "I do think it wise for you to have an escort, Kitty."
Kitty blew some hair of out of her face in irritation. Finally, after a moment's thought, she snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Fine, whatever. He can come. Just don't be a bug and let me do all the talking."
"No buggy, no talky-- got it," Bobby saluted at her.
"I better pack an extra coat," Kitty admitted. "Russia's always colder than I remember it."
"Not colder than me," Bobby smiled happily, knowing he'd fit right in amidst the many inches of snow.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Rogue appeared through it, walking slowly and cautiously, gently closing the door behind herself. She knew she was unwelcome before she even entered.
"What do you want?" Bobby asked her harshly. "Come back to set us up again?"
"We really ought to get our locks fixed, Mr. Logan," Kitty agreed, not being able to help but give a narrow eye at her old roommate.
"What are you doing here, Rogue?" Logan said with a frown. "We aren't buying what you're selling anymore."
"You have betrayed our generous faith in you, Rogue," Beast agreed. "For the Brotherhood?"
"Give me one chance to explain," Rogue begged, her head lowered in humility. "If you believe me or not, that's yer choice. I know I hurt you all, but I meant what I said before, about not agreein' with what they do. But then I started hearin' what they had planned, all the things they were gonna do…"
"And you started to agree with their logics, yada yada…" Logan rolled his eyes to say.
"No," Rogue countered. "I started to fear it. Then I knew… in order to help the X-Men the most, I'd have to stay with the Brotherhood as a double agent. I couldn't let you know what I was doin' until I was sure I was in. Now I am, so now you know. I'll be sendin' encrypted files with information on the Brotherhood's next moves. Otherwise, it's too risky to keep in touch. I hope you guys understand. This is hurtin' me too."
The room went silent, all X-Men glancing at one another for in voiceless opinions. Kitty's face was the first to soften.
"I believe you, Rogue."
It took a moment for the others to cave as well.
"As do I," Beast agreed. "But I stress my opinions against this. It is a dangerous game, one we surely can't win forever."
"It's a gamble I'm willin' to take," Rogue said, popping her collar up higher around her ears, preparing for her exit. "To make up for all I've done."
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Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue