Marie sat in the comfortable chair in the study, watching her former classmates warily. She wasn't angry with them anymore but she wasn't sure she could trust them completely again either.
"...Marauders have been attacking both mutants and non mutants alike. We have no idea what they are looking for, or who. They have attacked three facilities housing mutants for experimentation, but killed everyone, prisoners locked in their cells and shot through the doors." Storm was saying. "We need to be able to mount two teams to combat this. They've been hitting multiple locations at the same time and we can't be in two places at once, our numbers just won't allow it."
"De Chere an' I we don' min helpin, but we do ting's our way, non. Gambit don' need all your techno gear." He said, surprisingly calmly and pleasantly. She wondered if it was because he was talking to Storm, not Hank or Scott who stood in the corner his arms around a shockingly pale blonde woman. That had to be his new wife Emma.
Yes, it is. Nice to meet you too, Marie.
It's not nice ta play in people's heads without permission.
The woman just smiled at her, and leaned her head back against Cyclops' shoulder.
"We certainly appreciate the help, however, our techno gear as you call it does allow us to pinpoint their activities, enabling us to concentrate on the most serious threats, with the help of Emma Summers and Cerebro." Hank said. Marie was startled by that. She thought only the Professor could use Cerebro.
"No, any class five telepath can use it, it just doesn't work as well for me since it was designed for Charles." Emma spoke for the first time, her tone cool and crisp. Marie didn't hide her snort. Scott really did like a certain type, cool, aloof, without feeling.
Oh hardly. I've loved him since Wolverine rescued us as kids.
Marie started again. Get the hell out of...
your head, I know. She felt the mental laughter.
Marie glared at the woman. She hated policing her thoughts. She didn't have to around Dark because he knew...everything, and she didn't mind him knowing. He'd helped so much with learning to cope with the survivor's guilt, the anger, the hate. He'd even recommended a therapist that worked with mutants - and abuse victims and she'd spent several years learning not only how to deal with the pain, the shame, the anger, but also to control her mutation. She did not need this woman messing in her head, trying to learn her secrets for her own agenda.
I'm really not like that. I know you thought Jean was, but she wasn't. I never liked her, hated her really - for stealing Scott from me, but as manipulative as she could be, she really didn't do anything she thought would hurt anyone - as Jean anyway.
How can I be sure?
I already know what happened to you - and the others. You're not the only one Rogue. You are not the only one he hurt, they all understand your pain, in many ways. Wolverine most of all, and he's the one most hurt.
No.
Yes. He failed you, and all the others. His job was to protect this place from threats, but he forgot to look inside the walls, until it was too late. Do you know he found them, every last one of them, every last piece that was recoverable so their families would know peace. He spent months down in that well, with all that decaying flesh sorting by scent every single one of those girls, making sure every last one of their mothers at least knew someone cared what happened to them.
No.
He keeps punishing himself, he doesn't even goad Scott, barely speaks, I don't know how many times we've had to ground him from missions because he just won't play it safe. He's trying to die, to atone for failing you most of all.
"NO!" She shouted. Everyone in the room was looking at them.
"Chere, are you alrigh'?"
"Ah'm fine, if the damned telepaths would stay the hell out of my head." She growled, then bit her lip. A little too much of that inner...no she wouldn't even think his name. Not till she could talk to him, tell him she forgave him a long time ago. She'd lost his inner voice once, and missed it terribly, but she'd been cured of more than her mutation with that injection...and of all the people in her head she missed him the most.
"As soon as we get word of any movement on the Marauders we need to act fast, so I'd like everyone in training schedules tomorrow." Storm said as if nothing had happened. "I would like to have your group train with one of ours, just so we can learn to work together, if that is alright, Rogue."
"Gambit's in charge of trainin', Ah plan the missions and get intel." She said. "It'd be up ta him if your schedule will work."
"Gambit tink it a good idea, at leas till Gambit can see what you' people can do, den maybe a little team on team so Gambit can see weaknesses an work to fix dem." Storm nodded at his reply.
"Then we'll see you all in the morning. Rest well and if you need anything let one of us know." The teams started to file out of the room. "Rogue, if I could talk to you and Gambit a moment."
Marie stayed in her chair and Gambit sat on the arm, leaning over her protectively.
"I didn't want to say anything in front of the others, but Bobby Drake escaped prison three months ago. He has been involved in two of the Marauder raids. I wanted you to know so it wouldn't be a surprise when we bring up the danger room programs and he's in them." Storm waited for her reply.
"Ah had heard he escaped. Ah ain't been worried about it. Since mah skin came back on, and Ah learned to control it, Ah figured Ah could take him down if Ah had to, so Ah ain't been worried about him comin after me."
Storm nodded. "I want you to know..."
"Ororo, don't. Ah know you did all you could. He knew how ta hide what he was, even under Xavier's nose, his nose, and too many had ta die before we figured it out. Ah blame myself. Ah dated him for almost a year, even touched him for his powers on more than one occasion and had no idea. He is a monster, an animal, and is adept at hidin' it from everyone."
"Not everyone." Said a voice from the door.
"John?"
"I knew he was up to something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Why do you think I stayed close, Rogue. I didn't trust him, not with you, not with any girls. Things he said when we were alone gave me the creeps but never enough to confront him over." She looked at the former Brotherhood lieutenant. "Part of why I left was I felt helpless, I couldn't control him - and I knew I had to learn to control my powers better, to get stronger because I'd have to fight him someday."
"Is that why you're back?"
"John is here on a special program with the government. He is serving his prison sentence as a member of the X-Men. They figured it was the best use of his talents." Storm said as John pulled up his pants leg to show the ankle bracelet. "He has to remain on the grounds at all time unless on a mission, and he has to notify his parole officer every time he leaves."
"That's gotta suck." She said with a grin at her old friend.
"Ehh I've been in worse prisons...I kinda like it here, and Jubilee's keeping me company." He grinned back.
"Oh God!" She moaned. "Nothin's safe now."
They laughed a little and she stood up. He crossed the rug and pulled her into a hug.
"Welcome home, Rogue." He whispered against her hair.
"Ah missed you, firebug." She whispered back.
"That's Mr. Firebug to you." He grinned and kissed her on the forehead. She felt Gambit tense behind her. "You, red eyes, treat her right or you'll deal with me."
"He does." She said, slipping into her comfortable place, with Remy's arms around her waist, leaning on his lean chest. "He does."
XXXXXXXX
The two telepaths glared at each other across the room. One almost pure white, the other jet black, measuring each other up and down, looking for weakness. Finally the white one broke.
"You are Darkness." She said aloud, unable to breach his inner barriers, his mind completely blank to her.
"You are Emma Frost Summers." He said calmly, holding out a hand to her. She knew he hadn't breached her barriers either. She took his hand cautiously. "We will work well together." He said simply as he released her hand. The girl named Wanda Maximoff was foremost in his mind, the touch giving her must enough of an edge to see at least a surface thought, although she knew he let her.
"I'm sure we will." She said, knowing he'd only seen her caring thoughts of her husband, exactly what she'd allowed him to see.
"Yes, we will." He said again, matter of factly. "Good evening, Emma, you should rest. And inform your husband. He will want to know the infertility was not him, but Jean." He walked up the stairs as she stood there, her jaw open. She'd just started feeling the tiny mind inside her, barely there, mostly impressions of warmth and safety at the moment. She watched him walk up the stairs and acknowledged, at least to herself, that he'd won the first round.
"So, what do you think of him." Scott said as he walked up.
"He's good, a strong telepath and empath, I sensed another mental mutation, possibly another precog, like we need another one of those."
"Did you get anything from him?"
"He's in love with Wanda...sees them together long into old age." She said softly, that image in her mind had been warm, caring, loving. He wasn't without feeling, and she wondered if that was a good thing for an empath...especially one as strong as he was. "And..." she took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
"WHAT!" Scott spun her around to look at him.
"I've suspected for a few days, but somehow he confirmed it. I can feel the baby's thoughts." She whispered.
"We...a baby?" He grinned, his eyes behind the red glasses glowing with his joy. "No more Cerebro for you. We have two other telepaths that can use it. It's too dangerous for both of you."
"Scott..." She started.
"No, Emmy, I mean it. I can't lose you. I gave you up once, and I can't say I regret Jean, but I do regret hurting you, and I won't lose you again." He pulled her close and she allowed herself to relax into his arms, knowing that he was the only one that saw her for herself, the frightened girl with diamond skin and a telepathy that got her into too much trouble. She felt a twinge of pain as the memory of her sister's face slipped across her mind. She missed Kayla, missed her big sister at times like this.
"I don't want to tell anyone else yet." She whispered.
"Of course," He smiled at her. "I want it our secret for a while too."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pietro watched the couple below. They didn't remember him. He'd been just a kid, strapped into a cage, unable to escape because he couldn't get enough traction to get the speed up to burn the straps. He remembered them both from the cages, remembered Wolverine coming through to free them, and then leaving them to fight while the children tried to escape. They'd made it through the labyrinth of the underside of the reactor to find a helicopter and Charles Xavier waiting on the other end. They'd been brought here, allowed to rest, their families contacted, those who had them, and the rest were allowed to stay...for a while.
Xavier had tried, he had to give the old man that. But after finding out his father wasn't dead, not like his mother had told him all those years ago, but alive and a powerful mutant who could have protected his children from the hate of the world. Instead he'd abandoned them, the twins he'd fathered and left without even a thought. He gave the couple another glare, and then turned back to the front door. He needed to run off the anger.
