Summary: Not very good at summaries, basically it's just three different ways I think things could have gone for Rogue, considering how her powers work. I've never done an X-men fic before so be nice. All of the scenes are definitely AU to some extent; X-men 3 either didn't happen, or had a different outcome, or the cure wore off, you fill in the blanks, it's more fun that way anyways. Characters may be OOC.
It was storming the night Rogue decided it was time she leave.
She'd thought about it, long and hard. She wasn't one to make decisions on a whim. The fight the night before had been the final straw. As much as she believed in Magneto, she just couldn't bring herself to believe this was the right way to do things anymore.
She packed her bags, calmly and as quietly as she could, though it was doubtful anyone would hear her. There weren't that many left around to hear her, more than half of them having been killed in the fight the night before, some by the X-men, some by brave (and in a lot of cases stupid) humans. Magneto would so easily be able to find replacements; it had never bothered her before, how expendable his men were to him, at least not this much. Not until she'd seen him walk away from a girl who was even younger than Rogue herself. She'd had an ability oddly similar to Magneto's. She'd survived, but only because Rogue had gone back for her.
Thunder rumbled outside, shaking the floor beneath her as she made her way out the door, pulling up the hood of her green cloak to protect herself from the rain pouring down around her. She hurried out to her small grey car, got in, started it, stared out the window at the compound for a moment. A part of her wanted to stay. Magneto had treated her something like a father would a daughter, been good to her in a way that not everyone was willing to be, teaching her to be unafraid of what she was. She cared for him in her own way, too. But she'd known from the beginning that this wouldn't last forever. In the end she was still just Marie. She didn't hate the people who were afraid of people like her, not like he did. She had, for a while, but the feeling had died out. All she seemed to have left in her to feel was pity.
She wasn't sure of how welcome she would be back at the Institute, though, either. She'd spent the last four years as the enemy, and was no longer a kid. Perhaps they would take pity on her. Charles was good for that, wasn't he? She could be a teacher, maybe. Some of Magneto's memories could prove quite useful in teaching a history class.
Of course, Magneto's powers had stuck around too, but she didn't plan on telling anyone that. Not right away, at least. Call it her little security blanket; a secret weapon if things went wrong.
It only took Rogue a few hours to make it from Magneto's hideout to Westchester. As expected, she was not given the warmest welcome. Wolverine was the first to greet her, if you could call it a greeting.
"What are you doing here, kid?"
"Ah just wanna to talk to the Professor." She replied in her southern accent.
He grumbled something under his breath, probably cursing.
"It's 4 A.M."
"Ah had to get away unnoticed."
"Oh, so HE doesn't know you're here?" He asked with a mocking tone.
"No, and hopefully he won't fahnd out. Not for a whahle." She replied simply and calmly.
He let her in, reluctantly, and left. She looked around. Everything was much the same as she remembered it being.
Logan reappeared moments later with Scott Summers following close behind, one hand already at his visor. The Professor wheeled his way around the corner, looking like he may have already been awake.
"I think we can relax a bit, she has every appearance of being alone." The Professor told them calmly before looking to her. "An explanation would be most appreciated."
She wasted no time in trying to explain.
"Ah can't do it anymore, that's all. There are children dyin in this war he's still fightin and I don't wanna watch it happen anymore."
She turned to him and let down some of the mental barriers Magneto had taught her to keep up, allowing him to see what he needed to, so there would be no trying to convince him that she was telling the truth. She'd had all of this planned out already.
"I see." The Professor said aloud after a moment. "Yes, you may stay. I hope you will not take any offense to having an eye – or two – kept on you."
Rogue shook her head.
"Ah'd be suspicious too, Charles." The name slipped unbidden from her mouth, and she knew that was Erik speaking more than it was her, but the old Professor didn't seem to mind so much. "Ah wasn't expectin anyone to trust meh just lahke that."
There is a long, tense pause. Wolverine is eyeing her, looking torn between maybe hugging her and popping a claw or six, the latter probably being caused by her having the audacity to show up on his turf, being the enemy that she had become.
It is a strange mixture, coming from him.
Scott could very well have been eyeing her, but of course she couldn't tell through his visor. He didn't look too tense for some reason.
"Why so quiet, Wolverine? Wasn't expectin a welcome back, but still. Guess Ah ain't even worthy of a growl, huh?" She wasn't sure why she said it, but figured that it was probably Erik talking again. He enjoyed taunting the Wolverine.
The feral did growl now, low and a bit threatening.
"You ran off with HIM for four years, you can't xpect…" He started to come towards her, and Scott moved forward as if to stop him, and she wondered off handedly when those two got to be anything close to friends.
Rogue could feel Magneto's power ready to be used, leaving an odd tingling sensation in her gloved fingertips. She wasn't sure how strong her borrowed powers were, but she was more than ready to find out, even if it meant letting everyone know about them so soon.
"Logan, that is quite enough." The Professor cuts in quickly. "Rogue, there is a vacant room at the end of the hall in the teacher's wing. You still know your way around, I assume?"
"Thank you." She nodded and strode past Wolverine, calm and confident, making her way upstairs, ready to get settled and hopefully get some sleep. Scott moved (more like flinched) out of her way as she went past him, the reaction she remembered getting from many here due to her skin.
She could feel Logan's eyes on her as she went and she had a feeling she'd have to be just as worried about him and what he'd do as he would probably be worried about her.
A small smile graced her lips as she made her way down the hallway. It was good to be home.
"An X-man? You want me to be on the team?" Rogue asked, incredulous.
"We could use a new member, and you do have some experience." The Professor replied calmly.
"Ah just didn't think you'd pick me for that job after…" She'd been back for nearly a year now, sure, but still.
"Well, it wouldn't be that simple, of course. You'd have to pass the test just as everyone else. I know you've gained some control of your skin, but then, that's not all you can do now, is it Rogue?"
She froze upon hearing this. How could he possibly know…
"Forgive me, it's just that Logan saw you practicing in the Danger Room once and told me out of something akin to concern I suppose. He didn't like the fact that you'd been hiding things." He paused and she could see a hint of excitement in his eyes. "Just what can you do?"
"Ah…haven't tested the limits yet." She replied whilst holding a hand out towards his desk. Several pens and the holder they'd been in started to float. "Anythin that's made more out of metal than anythin else, for sure. His are the only powers that I've kept." She decided to leave out that she still had him in her head, too. "But that's only because I've never absorbed so much of anyone else."
The Professor eyed the floating pens, looking fascinated. She brought the holder back down to the desk gently, and then set the pens back inside it, all from her position halfway across the room.
"I'll have to tell Scott about this so he can come up with a test that challenges your powers as well as your borrowed ones…"
~two days later~
"Is this the only thing you could come up with?"
"Well, you two haven't been getting along, ever since you came back. Figured this would be an interesting way to blow off steam."
Of course they hadn't been getting along. Logan thought Marie a traitor, though he was glad she'd come back around.
Rogue turned to Wolverine, who looked about as happy about their current predicament as she did.
They had already tested her to see what she could do with her skin, and she had passed with flying colors. She didn't see the point of this, at all. Except that maybe Cyclops just thought it would be fun to watch Logan get beaten for once.
Wolverine seemed hesitant. Worried about hitting a woman or something? A small smile graced her lips as she strode forward.
"Well, come on." She said. Scott disappeared into the observation room. Rogue, seeing that Wolverine had no intention of making the first move, balled one hand into a fist and punched him in the shoulder, hard as she could.
It couldn't have hurt him that bad, but he stumbled back anyway, probably more out of shock than anything else.
Then he let out a low growl and charged her. She dodged to the left and spun around with a kick to throw him off balance, he grabbed her leg and twisted her around, she landed on her back and, using Magneto's powers to make him lighter, threw him over her head. He let go of her leg as he went flying. She sprang to her feet and winced when she put pressure on the leg he'd grabbed. Her ankle was sprained.
Oh well.
Rogue ignored the pain as Wolverine came towards her again. She balled up both hands into fists and tried to land several blows to his stomach and head, but he blocked her easily before landing a blow of his own to her stomach.
She was frozen for a moment in pain. Ok. Forget this. He was stronger and faster than her overall, she'd never be able to beat him in hand to hand combat like this.
But then, that had been the point, right?
He came at her again, but this time she was ready. She just hoped she was strong enough for this. Holding one hand out towards him she focused on his fist as he came up to punch her again.
It stopped mid-punch. His eyes widened. He couldn't move. She shook with the effort of keeping him there. Taking a breath, gathering as much strength as she had, she threw him backwards. He flew back and hit a wall, though not very hard, and sat there staring at her, looking stunned.
Then there was a long moment of intense silence, the only sounds being that of their heavy breathing.
"That was good." Scott broke it, clapping as he came out of the observation room. "Well done, Rogue. You pass, of course!"
She smiled at him, a genuine smile. It had been a while since she'd really smiled. It felt good.
