6 Months earlier
"Why the fuck can't I reach any of their communicators? The three of them are across the damn country!" Logan howled, his eyes mad with mounting rage and worry. For Rogue's 19th birthday, to close out the summer, the professor had permitted the her, Kitty, and Kurt to travel anywhere for good behavior. Logan had been downright against it (three students with passive mutations to look after each other, hell no) and Scott shared his same worry.
"What if someone is watching us? Planning something, maybe we should all go..." And the professor mused that it seemed Scott wanted to get out of survival training with Jean planned for around the same time. They deserved it, he said. They were safe and trained and most importantly, together. And then they saw the L.A footage, that the Avengers had assembled. There was an altercation happening, apparently with some students of a certain New York school...
"Language, Logan." Ororo reminded him, her face tense. She was plenty upset herself that S.H.I.E.L.D agents were picking on their students. She stood, her silver hair pulled back and a plum, maxi dress on.
"I thought we had some sort of agreement with them." Scott's shaking voice was directed at Logan, who was in no mood. He had dealt with the shifty organization, sure, but he wouldn't call them friends. Or allies.
"We were supposed to," Logan snarled, one of his claws already pointing at the X-Men's leader. His vote had been to not let them go, so he wasn't taking any shit. "I'll tell ya what I tell them, to never trust S.H.I.E.L.D." He turned his attention back on the telepath.
"We can get there in less than an hour-" Jean tried to point out levelly, but nobody seemed to notice.
"The damage is done. The news, journalists, government is already there..." Ororo placed her fingers on the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Poor, Rogue."
"They're scrambling their communicators, they planned this. Marked them, followed them-"
"Scott." Jean sighed. She wanted to believe that it wasn't as bad as it seemed, that they wouldn't target mutant teenagers on their lonesome.
"One-Eye is right." Logan snarled, ignoring his dirty look. "Something smells. Red, 'Ro. Get BrasÃl and Iceman to the Blackbird and let's get a move on."
San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge
It made no sense.
This was supposed to be a leisure trip. Nobody was supposed to know who they were. They were sight seeing at the Golden Gate Park, for Christ's sakes. That's where Iron Man touched down first.
Kitty had talked Rogue into wearing shorts (black, and with fishnets and Doc Martens), with a black cami and a cropped, black jacket. Rogue was committed to not getting any sun, or as little as possible. The former was wearing a white beach cover up with a pink bikini on under, and Kurt just his brightly printed swim trunks. The trip had been suspiciously event free. Lovely. Peaceful. The trio were just about to log a call home when it happened.
Iron Man descended quickly, hitting a few buttons in his arm console that rendered the communicators worthless. The sun beating down on the teenagers, Kitty shielded her eyes in disbelief. "Uh?" She began, eyeing the robotic suit wearily. They had heard of Iron Man, the Avengers too. What did they want them? Kurt edged backwards, his eyes darting around for an escape.
Rogue growled just like Wolverine taught her, eyeing the man skeptically. He wasn't there on friendly terms, she knew that. 'Think fast, Rogue.' She thought, this is exactly what Logan had been afraid of. The front part of the machine disappeared to revealed a black haired man, close to the professor's age.
"Students of Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters? Kurt Wagner? Katherine Pryde, Anna Marie Darkholme?" Rogue's blood ran ice cold when he called out her government name, something only Logan and the two mutants beside her knew.
"Hey?! Vhat gives?" Kurt cried, pointing a finger.
"Yeah, who told you all of our personal information!" Kitty squeaked, realizing their vacation had been effectively ruined. She wouldn't be surprised if the X-Jet flew overhead, but she didn't realize how badly she'd wish it did.
The man known as Iron Man smirked at that. "You'd be surprised who has your information, kid." Needles flew out of his arm and darted out, one into Kitty's neck. The other, into Kurt's arm. Rogue cartwheeled at the last second, the needle flying between her legs. 'What the fuck?' By the time she was right side up, Kitty and Kurt were laying motionless on the asphalt.
"K-Kurt! Kitty!"
The air whooshed painfully out of Rogue's lungs as she realized she was alone. Utterly alone, in California. And her teammates were knocked out. Iron Man was staring at his gold and red machine in confusion. "Damn it," He grumbled, glaring at Rogue. "Missed her." Rogue was furiously wriggling out of a glove, biting her lip hard not to cry. 'You got this, pretend this is just the dang Danger Room. You'd kick it's ass-' "Your skin is no match for machinery." Tony waved his arms as his face was covered once again.
"W-Why?" Rogue called underneath silver bangs, beach kissed waves blowing in front of scared eyes. She watched in disbelief as a hulking, green giant appeared behind him. A slender woman with deep, red hair. Like Jean's. "We, we haven-"
"Sorry," Iron Man cut in. "It's a long story." Rogue watched a a red caped man with a winged helmet appeared beside him in a flash of lightning. Without another word, she stooped beside Kurt and touched his bare, blue skin. "You kind of haven't done it, yet." They watched as she reached and touched the unconscious girl as well, standing protectively in front of them even though she shook. "It's all really, really confusing."
"We got a hold of some books." If the situation wasn't so serious, Rogue would've rubbed her eyes. The handsome, hundred year old, blonde haired mascot for America was standing in front of her, with his shield and everything. Logan had told her plenty about him. "Some books that say things happen."
"Problem is," Spy-Jean began, her cold stare locked on the mutant teenager. "Those things. They started coming true. Legend is, a mutant wrote down these visions."
"A mutant that can tell the future." Tony finished, his face grim beneath his suit. The diaries had told of a fate to befall one of them, an Avenger. And they had gone rogue to ensure that it didn't come true. "And, well. This just can't come true. Period." Rogue felt the ground pitching beneath her feet, wondering where she would teleport first and hoping she made the right choice.
'I hope Logan trained me for this moment.'
"Hey, listen." Rogue wasn't sure why Logan had pulled her aside for this talk. If he was expecting her to mother hen Kitty and Kurt, she earned the right to go on vacation and she wouldn't tie any of it up watching them. "If shit goes left, if we can't get there..." It was the last thing on her mind, but of course, he was thinking it. "You do whatever you gotta to get you all back here."
Her stare dropped to the grass.
"Rogue-"
"Yeah, yeah. Ah got ya." She was definitely the fighter of the group. Kitty was a spitfire, but she wasn't tough. Not hard, like she was. She couldn't do what she had to. And Kurt was damn near a pacifist outside of team things, carried a rosary with him. Prayed. "Ah will, Ah promise."
Now it was time to put up or shut up. "Haulin' me in for somethin' Ah haven't done?" Rogue hissed, her eyes dark as she hoped nobody noticed her missing gloves. Hoped they all underestimated her, that they weren't well briefed on the chaos she could reign. "Don't sound like the Avengers thing to do." She watched Captain America's face harden, him exchange a few micro-expressions with some teammates.
"We'll get this all squared away," He assured, taking a step closer. 'Not now,' She thought, flinching. 'Don't move prematurely, you always do that. He's alway tellin' you-' She stumbled, fostering a bit of sympathy from the other superhero. 'Just a kid,' He thought. "Look, I'm sorry. But... These books have predicted some dangerous outcomes for you, knowing you're an X-Man and all, so..."
"You gotta come with us." Fake Jean finished, her face impassive. That's when she teleported. Iron Man fired off a round in shock, cursing when he realized she'd taken her friends' powers.
"She has powers, I repeat we are on high alert!" Tony shouted to his teammates, watching to see where she resurfaced. It was hovering over the Hulk.
"God, no..." A spy was called Black Widow to some, Natasha to others. 'Not him.' Everyone began screaming, but it was too late. A porcelain hand touched green skin, and then something changed in Rogue. Maybe his unpredictable mutation, maybe his gamma radiation poisoning. But touching the Hulk was not like touching the others. Her mind exploded into a green fog of rage, her absorption bringing even him to his knees.
Captain America tossed his massive shield, that looked like it was made out of the same stuff as Logan's skeleton. He stares in disbelief as the metal passes right through the mutant, her skin turning to metal. "What in god's name..." An archer that went previously unnoticed to the girl fired explosive rounds in the sky, people screaming and trying to run around this skirmish.
Rogue disappeared in a flash of smoke, this time reappearing behind the massive, Icelandic looking man with the beautiful hair. "THOR-" The man machine shouted, but it was too late. Rogue reached up and grabbed him, her fingers indenting the flesh on his face. 'What is this, this lass-' He thought, almost amused she managed to touch him.
He became afraid when he felt the energy and power being drained before his eyes. "She needs to be neutralized, NOW." Tony screamed, trying to aim a laser at her. He fired it off, but the damage was already done. Rogue possessed the invulnerability and massive strength of the Hulk, now Thor's near god-like abilities, Storm like control of lightning, and flight.
She was already a nightmare. "Tony!" Captain America screamed, lightning crashing right next to him. He stumbled, his feet hitting the concrete hard. Soon, the sky was dark, and rain was showering over them. Rogue hovered in the air, her head feeling foggier than usual from the rapid touching. 'Please, guys... Get here soon.'
"Please, don't make me fight anymore." She whispered, watching as both the giant and the god seemed to dazed to really fight. 'Bruce Banner. The Green Guy? T-Thor, Thor of Asgard, Son Of Odin. The Lightbringer, God Of Thunder!' Thunder clapped in the sky as more lightning struck the ground.
"Repulsor blast!" Tony cried, the fizzling bomb flying towards her. Rogue backhanded the bomb back in the street, shouting as she felt the earth rumble. The red head pitched to her feet, the ground was shaking so bad. 'Is that me?' Rogue wondered, remembering Lance. Angry and frustrated, her mind drifted to different memories. She could sense a great deal of metal nearby.
Tears streaming down her face, she pulled the weapon out of Captain America's hands. Then, the mighty hammer wrenched from the ground, all flying towards Iron Man. The metal screeched and scraped as he flew into the ground, whole panels of metal flying off. The archer stood beside the red-head, aiming an arrow dead on at Rogue. He dropped it when it felt like a drill entered his mind.
Black Widow dropped too, holding her head. Then Cap. The, Iron Man when he stood. Hulk and Thor as well. All of them, brought to their knees. See, when Rogue tried to absorb the Hulk she got the ability to cycle through her amassed powers. But, she was losing control. And fast. The longer she pushed herself in this heightened state, the harder it would be to regain control. 'J-Just back off, before it's really bad...' She thought.
"P-Please..." Rogue begged. "A-Ah don' wanna hurt you!"
"You, stop right there." She was hovering right behind her, her cropped blonde hair blowing in her face. "I'm an Avenger, you're going with me."
Genosha, recently
"Hey kid, we're here. Genosha, or whatever." Rogue had been quiet, moody. Silent the whole jet ride. She hadn't been too talkative ever since San Francisco. It was always on her mind, haunting her. When would be the next time she melted down? She nodded, a strange brick of dread settling in her gut. This wasn't the first one off mission they had done together, but she had a bad feeling. Something she couldn't place a finger on.
She pulled the hood over her all green X-Suit up and followed silently behind Logan, her eyes scanning wearily around them. She knew if what she felt was real, Logan would've noticed a long time ago.
"Heads up," He said, his claws already out as they stepped foot on the ground. "We ain't alone." Rogue took to the air immediately. She hadn't been excited to use her new powers, but she would to protect herself. And definitely to protect Logan. He was already snarling, exotic foliage shaking around them.
"You're surrounded!" A voice called beyond the trees.
"Shit," Rogue said between clenched teeth.
"Nice cloaking software," Another voice called out mockingly.
"So, they had time to prepare." He grinned, in spite of it all. If anyone could understand what he might get out of a fight, it was Rogue. "Let's see how we get ourselves out of this one." Rogue wrenched a nearby palm tree out of the ground, eyeing the insurgents darkly.
"With a whole new set of traumas." Rogue answered, earning a snort from the Wolverine.
Logan's snarling made continuing difficult for the telepath. He broke away, and Logan gasped, opening his eyes and looking around. He was still on campus, nowhere near Genosha. Rogue wasn't fine, but she was safe. Safe from that place. Charles waited patiently for Logan to gather his breath and his thoughts. "You were ambushed, I see." He filled in quietly.
"I'll say. That place... That place was not what we thought." His stare lingered on the window, outside Scott was standing sentinel as both Kitty and Jean helped Rogue blow bubbles. It was as endearing as it was disturbing, the strange peace of it all. That this Rogue, even changed from how she was, was just fine to them all. Accepted. He sighed, his eyesight dropping to his dingy boots on the professor's expensive carpet. "They had technology that detected Forge's cloaking technology." He explained with a head shake.
"This operation runs deeper than we knew." Charles filled in, wondering now who was really behind the slave state of Genosha.
"We put up a fight, kid's powers... But it was pointless. Unless, I suppose, we killed those bastards." He met Charles' eyes like a dog who'd been in the trash. "Now? Chuck, I'm sorry. But I wish I did." The psychic winced. "I wish I gutted every, single one." He inhaled sharply, frustrated and fatigued tears glittering behind his eyes. Charles only sighed, he could not blame him.
"I know. And I thank you that you didn't-"
"Don't thank me." He snapped back. "It was only because I didn't get the chance. I would've done whatever I had to, to protect her from..." He looked outside. "This." Charles nodded sympathetically.
"Can you continue?" He wiped a hand over his face.
"Yeah."