Well this is the last I wrote before the huge writer's block hit me. I reread it and cleaned up some grammar errors. I hope I got them all but I'm not sure since English is my second language. Oh and Kii, your wish is my command. Which wish? You're going to have to find out.

Bobby Drake felt his head throb in a pulsing headache. But that was the least of it all for as he slowly regained consciousness, he started feeling the many pains and aches spread around his entire body. First his legs, the muscles in the tights felling heavy and hard; then his torso which might have well been punched through for the uneasiness he felt and last the constant beating he felt in his head. All in all, he felt like crap. He was pondering slipping back into unconsciousness when his hearing started picking up something.

It was a conversation, slowly coming to focus as he regained his senses.

"Not so tougff now are ya? Oh look, you went ou' and hurr yourself" a familiar smug voice filtered through his hearing.

"Leave her alone! You dirty coward she can't even defend herself!" shouted a young angered voice he recognized as Jamie Madrox's.

"Shu'up Madrox, I ain't talkin' to you" retorted the voice which he now recognized as his school rival, Josh Matthews.

There was some laughter coming from behind and the sound of a struggle reached his ears. He tried squinting his eyes open but found out it worsened his headache as he bit down a groan of pain.

"Let. Me. Go! You stupid brute!"

"Hey Josh she thinks she can take me. Never knew this side of you Aquilla. Kinda turns me on"

At the sound of a yelp Bobby forced his eyes open in an instant, the sudden motion giving him a sharp pain in the frontal lobes and making him groan out loud.

"Hey, it seems Drake finally decidedh to grace us with his presence. Aren' you glad girlie? Your boy toy is alive…Wha'da pity"

Bobby then forced his muscles to cooperate and heaved his tired body upwards. As he tried to balance his body in a sitting position, he noticed his hands were tied behind his back with some prickly old rope twisted in a crude knot around his wrists.

He lifted his half lidded eyes to his surrounding, finding a silent Jubilee in the same situation, just a few feet besides him. Amara was struggling against the grip of a huge linebacker who had a lustful grin on him. Just a little to his front sat Jaime who had his hands and legs tied and for some reason was sporting a lot more black and blues than Bobby himself.

But when Bobby finally took on the scene upon him, he finally noticed what was fueling the Multiple Boy's anger. There, on top of a rock, sat Josh. And laying limp on his arms was the body of Rogue, like a crude horrible version of the holy Pieta. Her sneakers seemed to have been discarded, for her feet laid bare against the musty dirt covered floor of the clearing they were in. There was a cliff just to the right and if he wasn't mistaken, Bobby could faintly hear the rushing trickle of water, which led him to believe a small river laid just below it. He drove his thoughts out of the river when he heard Jaime's angered shouts and struggles resurface again.

"Don't you touch her! Leave her alone, you sick ass!"

Josh Matthews was in the process of removing Rogue's purple shirt, having already discarded the leather jacket. Bobby couldn't help his eyes, as they gazed up at the exposed creamy skin of her torso which was now only clad in a black bra. Her heaving chest free for his eyes to roam about. He could deny it to Rahne and the rest but he couldn't deny it to himself. It was true he had fantasies in which Rogue majorly starred, and most of them were always sexual. But seeing the actual thing shocked him beyond his senses. His eyes tried for a desperate moment to record the unblemished, slightly bruised skin. But when Matthews moved for the pants he forced himself to look away. Jaime's indignant shout filled his senses.

"Don't do that! Please don't touch her…please" he almost begged this time.

"Jaime, what are you doing? Let him touch. If he gets knocked out maybe we could get out of here faster" hissed Bobby while discreetly trying to untie his knot.

Jaime turned his face to him. His eyes filled with sadness and hopelessness as tears were trying desperately to be kept at bay.

"You don't understand. He can't touch her, not now. She shouldn't be touched"

Jaime's words only confused him more as to the state of mind of his team mate. But then Jubilee's silent cringe at his side made him look, and widen his eyes out of surprise and horror.

Josh was gently grazing his fingers back and forth against Rogue's long leg. Against Rogue's bare long leg. The only thing left covering her decency were her dark undergarments. Her untouched ivory skin was now shown out in the world, free to human touch. And the first to touch her graceful skin was the one person whom he most hated out in the world.

A sudden wave of hate and anger overwhelmed him while he desperately tried to restrain himself from screaming like a madman and barreling into the oblivious quarterback. Josh's eyes were now roaming over the sleeping woman's body. His gaze was strangely enchanted, mesmerized by the creamy smooth skin that seemed to flow beneath his fingertips. His hand shaking, he reached to caress the silky skin of her cheek, now pink because of the cold, his fingers touching for just a moment before noticing an imperfection in the masterpiece. An amused frown decorated his face as he wiped a wide trail of blood with his thumb, from her brow to the top of the hairline. There was a huge bloody gash across the top of her forehead, results of the crash, along with a massive concussion as he could tell from the bleeding on her ear. She was definitely not waking up soon, the thought causing a sadistically lustful grin to form in his face.

Upon seeing said look, Bobby knew what the jock was thinking even before the teenage shark rabidly lunged to engulf Rogue's neck with his lips. The action filled him with adrenaline as he stood up and started forward. But he didn't last long in his feet for the guy who was with Amara suddenly came out of nowhere and tackled him hard in his ribs, making him fall and wheeze as he fought to catch his breath. He tried to struggle again but a few well placed kicks sent him to lay limp on his side, his dried-up mouth now spitting out thick blood. The only thing he heard now was the jock going back to Amara, laughing at his beating and to his disgust, Josh's moan in between the wet kisses he was giving Rogue. It pained him to even think of what else he could do, now that he could touch her. Why could he touch her?

"Why?" he whispered, repeating his thoughts in his raspy voice.

"Because of the M-Xt" answered Jubilee in a steady calm voice, her eyes not even looking at him, dedicating all their attention to the quarterback in front. "It's an x-gene nullifier. It works upon contact, seeping through the pores and riding in your bloodstream. Then it somehow negates the x-gene. No x-gene, no powers"

"But…but, I made sure. I made sure you guys didn't breathe it. It's impossible for it to have had an effect-"

"It seeps through the pores Bobby. So even if you don't breathe it, it will still affect you"

Bobby swallowed the words, finding truth in them as he recounted the earlier events of the night. He did noticed that what Josh sprayed at them was the famous nullifier that Ray and him had heard of, but still, he thought that it worked as a common poison and as long as they didn't breathe it then it wouldn't matter. He was wrong.

Bobby stayed silent for a moment, contemplating Jubilee's words while trying to block out Amara's struggles and threats of burning all of them to death as soon as her powers came back. But then a thought came to his mind as he lifted his eyes towards the Asian girl who was still sitting calmly, her hands limp, not even trying to make a go at untying their bonds. But what was most surprising was her expression. She was still looking out, towards Josh Matthews; her eyes focused, calm…waiting.

"Hey Jubes—he paused waiting for her to look at him. She didn't. — How come you know so much about this M-Xt?" his voice tinted with a little suspicion.

A frown made its way to her face, scrunching her brows in annoyance, yet still she kept her firm gaze.

"Tyler told me. He likes to brag"

Bobby nodded slowly in slight comprehension, then turned to look around towards the other people present in the clearing besides them and Josh. His eyes landed were Amara and the linebacker that kicked him were sitting among a bunch of cut down logs and wooden planks. Amara had just recently kicked the guy who apparently tried to get fresh with her. Even though she managed to bruise his shin, all that earned her was a rough backhand to her face. Bobby winced and resisted the sudden pain that came from his sudden will to move his battered body to aid his friend. He looked towards Jubilee but it seemed her friend's situation didn't perturb her much for she still kept looking out towards Josh.

"Jubilee, where's Briggs? He isn't with the others"

"He went out to look for Sam in the woods; they want us all here first. Now shut up and stop struggling. I got a plan and I don't want you wearing your body out. Someone's got to carry Rogue" she hissed while still refusing to look at him.

That was when Bobby noticed something. Jubilee wasn't looking at Matthews. She was looking past Matthews, at a slight entrance to the dark woods which he now was sure it was were Briggs had gone off to. But then something else Jubilee said clicked in his mind. Did she say she had a plan? So what was she……she was waiting for Briggs to comeback, that is to comeback with Sam!

He looked at the calm and collected girl, keeping her energies for when they would come in need of. His vision of her changed. She no longer resembled the ditzy bimbo, California mall-rat; but rather more of a leader. Someone who could be trusted when in need.

Just then, his train of thought was disturbed by the sound of approaching footsteps. Out of the darkness of the trees, three figures walked out in hurried, unsteady steps.

Josh lifted his eyes off Rogue's bare skin for the first time to look upon the angered face of his accomplice, Tyler Briggs. His other two teammates, Byron Grant and Joe Dyer, had the same expression; like a wrestler being denied to slam people.

"I assume you di'n' find him, righ'?" questioned Josh, while the linebacker approached them, gracelessly dropping Amara besides Jaime.

"What happened?" the bulky defense player asked.

"The freak was nowhere to be found. Maybe, if we are lucky, some thing went off and made a feast out of him" answered Tyler while making his way towards the tied up recruits.

In between their captors' conversation, Jubilee broke off her trance and turned to Bobby and the others in a hurried manner.

"Okay guys, when I give you the signal cover your eyes and lay on the floor. Then after you run as fast as you can to your right" she whispered in a hurry, then, noticing Tyler coming she tripped over her last words. "Don't hesitate" was all the confused recruits understood before Tyler addressed Jubilee.

"Don't be stupid Tyler; there is no wild life in these woods. But we don't have to worry. The mutie must have jumped out and broken his neck. He's probably laying dead somewhere out there"

"Yeah, you're right" answered Briggs who later grinned and walked off to Jubilee. "You heard that right? Now that I don't have to worry about your freaky friend, we can all spend some quality time together. I mean, is not fair you only got to watch Josh, all alone here. So waddaya say we do some stuff of our own?" he finish while pulling her by her hair to a stand.

Jubilee only scowled in disgust and anger before a mischievous smirk made its way up her face. Suddenly there was the distinct sound of a 'paf' and then the 'thud' of a bundle of ropes falling to the ground and the next thing Tyler saw was Jubilee's quick palm coming fast, and painfully snapping hard against his nose. The sound of breaking bones filled the air, but Briggs didn't had a chance to even howl in pain before his breath was cut short by a hard knee to the abs, making him double over in pain and giving Jubilee the chance to finish him with a hammer blow with both hands to the back of the head. Tyler Briggs laid in a crumple of pain seconds before all hell broke loose. The entire group of young men launched to a sprint towards her.

Time for step 2, Jubilee thought.

"DROP NOW!" she yelled giving out the cue.

As every recruit dropped to the floor and clenched their eyes, Jubilee concentrated on her powers and the brightest plasma-fireworks she could imagine. Remembering how her last lesson with Rogue went, she tried to keep control of the damage it would cause. And just when all the Football members were running right at her, she released her power while shutting close her eyes; releasing dozens of energy globules which varied in size and shape and stopping the jocks in their tracks who couldn't help but stare at the wavering wall of light and sparkles that filled in front of them. With a slight tightening of her hand muscles and a mental grunt, the boys didn't know what hit them as the grand amount of globules started blowing up around them, creating a blinding and bright screeching light whose intensity sent them off flying backwards with a huge bang, their bodies impacting on the floor and sliding to a stop a good few meters away from her.

The recruits, at the sound of their captors wails of pain and complains of blindness, warily opened their eyes and took on the damage done by their Asian friend.

"What the…But how?" asked a confused Bobby.

"No time now. You and Jaime grab Rogue, and come back before those idiots recover." ordered Jubilee while grabbing Amara by her arm and pulling her towards the cliff.

The boys hesitated a second before hoisting the half-naked woman between their shoulders. The sudden contact of her warm bare arms on their necks made them both shiver as they made their way towards the girls.

"Okay, now we gotta jump. It's the only quick way to escape them for the moment. This stream is bound to lead us to Breakstone Lake. We can make our way home from there"

Bobby looked at Jubilee as if she had gone crazy while Amara looked uneasily towards the cold water. The only one who didn't seem to have a problem was Jaime who just nodded with a firm expression.

"Are you crazy?!" was Bobby's simple answer while Amara only retorted with "What if we drown o-or freeze to death? Winter's coming up and that water is bound to be cold. I don't do well in cold"

"Look we don't have time for this! Sam and Rogue need our help so we got to move fast and the quickest way right now is jumping" By the looks of the still dubious faces Jubilee's anger seemed to increase a notch.

"Are you X-men or not?" came Jubilee's furious retort. Her eyes blazing while looking from Amara's stricken face to Bobby's.

The comment seemed to have hit home as both the young recruits widen their eyes while the implication's meaning fell on them. One look around them, from Jamie's determined face to Rogue's pained unconscious one made up both their choices. With a shaky nod from Amara and an equally shaken and slow one from Bobby, Jubilee's face was set in a grim smile as she turned her determined eyes towards the raging water below her. She took a deep calming breath to think about what she was about to do.

"Okay"—she paused—"We haven't got much time. Those guys we'll be waking up soon. Me and Amara are going to go off first, then you guys can follow with Rogue about 5 seconds later after we hit the water. That'll make sure we don't collide, oh and hold on to Rogue the both of you because I don't think Wolvie's going to be happy if you guys manage to let her slip down a river"

There was a brief smile in each of their faces on the thought of the serious beating they imagine they would go through if said events were to happen, but the smiles didn't last long as looks of slight fear and determination set upon them yet again. Jubilee made a grab for Amara's trembling hand which to her surprise, managed to return her grip. A smile from her friend confirmed that she trusted her. With one last look at the boys and a brief glance at the stirring jocks, both friends took on a breath and ran towards the edge, taking a leap of faith and disappearing from the boys' range of vision. Amara's frightened screams and Jubilee's "See ya at the bottom!" reverberating all around the small canyon.

The boys gulped and after hearing the ominous splashes they nervously counted to five. When the time was up they looked at each other, tighten their grips upon the limp arms around their shoulders and with loud shouts, ran with all their might until the time to jump came, their shouts changing to louder screams. The exhilarating feel of flying while the wind whipped against their dirty clothes making them lift and flap everywhere was then abruptly changed to foreboding of pain-to-come as they saw the river's surface approaching towards them fast. There was that brief second in which they thought that this was it, the end; right before their flailing feet broke the surface with a painful burning splash.

Both their bodies' weight and Rogue's dragged them lower, sinking them fast towards the river's rocky floor in a matter of seconds. Jaime registered a sudden sharp pain on his right leg as he hit the floor violently, his grip on Rogue's arm becoming loose. But to his dismay, he noticed Bobby knock his head hard in one of the rocks before his hand around Rogue's lost strength and he started drifting away from them; His body being rapidly pulled by the strong current.

Getting an adrenaline rush, Jaime made a mad dash for his comrade's still body before he got too far for him, securing a grip around the Iceman's shirt collar. But the strain of now dragging two heavy bodies plus the pulsing pain which Jaime was sure came from his now broken leg, inabilitated him from swimming up to the river's surface. He was losing time fast and it was only a matter of moments before he couldn't hold his breath any longer. The corners of both his eyes were getting dark and his brain felt like it was going to explode from the strain. Not to mention his crying lungs who desperately begged for oxygen.

A glimmer of hope appeared when after much effort he managed to take out a hand, feeling the air outside numb its joints quickly. But before he could grab on to shore safely, he felt Bobby's and Rogue's bodies being pulled by the current, dragging his along with them. With his last attempt at getting back to shore a failure, he felt immense guilt flooding him for having failed both his friends who were now going to die, drowned along with him. With his tired and defeated body sinking fast the last image he managed to see before consciousness left him and his eyes drifted close was a distortion in the water along with a yellow blur. Then he knew no more.

000 ROF 000

He felt strange. That's the only way he could describe it for never in his life had he ever felt this…strange feeling before. For some reason his body was twitching and trembling violently. His skin felt slick outside yet stiff inside. His muscles were all cramped and as he regained more consciousness he started hearing a strange clattering noise. His head was throbbing madly while he felt himself cough out some water from his irritated throat. His hearing got better and he managed to recognize a warm presence near him. There was then some sudden pressure applied upon his chest and he found himself spitting out more water while regaining most of his senses.

As he started lifting his swollen eyelids his vision became a blurry kaleidoscope of colors in which vibrant yellow and black seemed to reign.

"About time, you idiot" whispered a familiar voice "Bobby's awake! How are you doing?" yelled the voice.

"Ugh, you better come help me then" answered a slightly desperate voice "Jaime is a little in and out but he's okay. He didn't swallow much; but I-I don't think Rogue's breathing and well…"

As the voice trailed off, Bobby felt the presence besides him shuffle and finally move away. There were some hurried footsteps and frantic curses and shuffling before Bobby commanded his strangely unstable and trembling body to sit up. Rubbing his shaking stiff hand over his eyes he found out that his mouth was moving and that the strange clattering sound was his teeth slamming repeatedly against each other. He tried to stop the movement but found out it was out of his control. The revelation made him frowned confusedly but nothing could have prepared him for what he would see once he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a moaning and trembling Jaime, resting his body against a mossy tree trunk. His features were set in a painful scowl while his hands fidgeted on top of his bleeding right leg. If Bobby looked closer, he could notice what seemed to be a bit of the broken bone sticking out of the muddy wet pants. He shuddered with imaginary pain while diverting his glance towards a group of huddled figures, one which he recognized as his friend, Amara Aquilla, who was pressing down both her hands on something that laid on the floor. There were some grunts coming from her as she gave a few coordinated pushes and then abruptly stopped. The other figure which he recognized as his insufferable best friend, Jubilation Lee, ducked her head and —he squinted to get a better look— kissed Rogue?!!

His eyes widened while he felt all the blood rush rapidly to his face while his strange trembling seemed to ease a little and he regained the strength to stand up. As he stumbled his way over towards the occupied girls, Amara's arm began to yet again move while Jubilee's pink face reemerged.

"W-what the hell are you guys doing?" he exclaimed, making them jump in surprise. It seemed that they hadn't notice his presence because their minds were too occupied with the task at hand.

"Bobby, what the hell? Sit down, you gotta get your strength back" reprimanded an exhausted Jubilee while an equally tired Amara signaled a "Now" then Jubilee yet again ducked her head and Bobby couldn't help but look on with entranced eyes.

As Jubilee reemerged, her ashen face looked towards her Brazilian friend pleadingly. The girl's right ear remained squished on the 21 year old X-woman's chest, looking desperately for any sign of life. Her eyes darted from here to there before locking with the California girl's blue ones.

"Damn it I don't understand" muttered the dark skinned girl before yet again taking position to push. "She's already spat out most of the water, what's wrong now?"

As Amara yet again started to rhythmically apply pressure, Jubilee started twiddling with the southern girl's messy hair. "C'mon Rogue, c'mon. Wake up. Just wake up please, just wake up" her voice breaking at the end while the beginnings of sad tears started gathering at the edges of her thin eyes.

Bobby could only watch stunned as the two girls tried desperately to resuscitate the southern Goth again and again, getting no results every time they checked. By now he could see that their efforts were dwindling and the hope behind them was dying. His eyes fell on their defeated slumped figures, as Amara half-heartily gave a push or two while Jubilee lay sobbing hard on top of the still body of the half naked girl.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh-my-god,ohmygodohmygod" the cries of Jubilee broke Bobby's already aching heart while Amara tried hard not to cry, having already abandoned her task. But tears were already making their way down her cheek on a silent sad march.

Bobby looked desperately from one to the other, his mind trying hard to deny what his eyes were seeing.

"W-…What the hell are you guys doing?!" he suddenly yelled "Why aren't you guys moving?! D-do something before it's too late! Don't just sit there!"

"Bobby…w-we can't—"

"Sure as hell we can! Out of the way Jubes" he rudely shoved the girl away, taking on her position. His hand already at Rogue's throat, fingers making contact with her skin for the first time, while accommodating her chin to open up her throat. Bobby felt a pang of fear pass over him upon feeling the strange, different burning feeling which he had now identified as cold. Cold never affected him this way before because of his powers and all but now, he knew how bad it could feel when your body wasn't immune to it.

He also knew that a cold body wasn't normal on anybody but him, and right now, Bobby could feel that Rogue's body was practically freezing. Not to mention the blue tinge her lips and skin were taking.

There was a feeling of dark foreboding that threatened to fill and tear him from the inside out, but he managed to shake it off before it could consume him. He concentrated with the task at hand, ordering Amara to apply pressure yet again. The girl had but a second to hesitate before Bobby's enraged "Do it!" made her comply.

Bobby always imagined that his first kiss with Rogue was going to be under a set of different circumstances. But as his shaking lips neared her blue tinged ones he couldn't help but pray this wasn't the last one. As he felt the unnatural coldness of her lips, he tried to give his all into blowing warm air inside Rogue's lungs; His cold hands grasping her left one in a desperate attempt to pull her back from wherever she was lost. But as the time progressed with no results yet again, he started to feel the dark foreboding feeling take over his aching body again. Jubilee's loud sobs didn't help the situation either.

Amara had yet again given up on her labor, and had gone to comfort her shaken friend. But his mind wouldn't let him give in as well; wouldn't let him accept, as his hands started to fidget with Rogue's left arm, encasing it in a deathly grip while he tried time and time again to blow air into what was now a hopeless case.

He didn't even know he was crying until he saw his salty tears drip on to the pale girl's still face. And just when he was about to give up on everything, he started noticing something strangely different. The nerves of his hands started picking up a different feeling, much like the one he discovered lately but familiar. A feeling he already knew, experienced and could easily identify. The feeling of warmth.

But before he could call on his discovery, he felt a sudden pull fall upon him, as if an icy claw had quickly slithered from his hands all the way to his head, gripping him tight and yanking him roughly out of reality. And the next thing he knew, his world was dissolving rapidly while something else took its place.

His vision swam fast. The scenes before his eyes distorted in front of him in a constant dance of motion. Everything was happening in a fraction of a second.

He was moving, and moving fast. Almost flying.

There was someone in front of him, running away from him while he greedily tried to catch up. He could feel all sorts of emotions fill his senses mixing inside him and confusing him.

Anxiety. Surprise. Amusement. Fear. Excitement. Desperation. Exhilaration. Pain…

An attack. He was being attacked. There were strange flashes in the darkness, blinding him.

Suddenly a huge shadow came out of nowhere, lunging menacingly at him.

Everything sped up, actions happening faster than normal. Confusing him as to what was going on.

Before he knew it, he was grabbing a hold of one figure, female?, while the other screamed at his side.

He heard voices, so many voices shouting in protest, pain and delirium. Screaming in complete insanity.

Then suddenly there was a pair of exotic amber eyes with thin pupils looking straight at him out of the thick darkness while a strange hissing voice ranged among the many others that thrived to be heard.

"Not yet…….Not yet!"

And he suddenly found himself fighting for his breath while somebody shook him hard by the shoulders.

"Bobby! Bobby! Oh my god Bobby! C'mon what's wrong? What the heck happened?" a voice was yelling at him as he yet again, for the third time this day, tried to recover his senses.

"You know…this is getting tiring" he croaked in a raspy voice to then fall upon a coughing fit.

"Oh my god Bobby, are you okay?" asked the voice which he was now sure belonged to his best friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine Jubes….Just a little out of breath……and extremely tired" he added upon feeling his heavy body.

"You idiot, you scared me" she said while pulling him in a fierce hug that surprised the hell out of him. "He's okay Amara!" she yelled to her friend who to his surprise, was laughing in incredulity.

"You won't believe this but the icedork did it! He really did it! I can't believe it, she's breathing. I mean just like that, all of a sudden she's breathing!" Then there was some more laughter, this one filled with happiness.

The sound of the Brazilian girl's laughter and Jubilee's happy sobs brought a lazy smile to his face as he sat up to gaze at the moving chest of the southern girl they all came to respect. His heart filled with an overwhelming sense of relief and gratefulness at the same time that he could swear that if it wasn't for Jubilee's grip on him, he could have developed the power of flight.

But the happiness was short lived as suddenly he could hear rapid heavy footsteps approaching and before his mind truly registered what that meant, there was a sudden gasp besides him and Amara's laughter suddenly ceased as the sounds of an ominous click-click ranged loudly in the air. Bobby had only par seconds to turn before a deafening bang resounded, leaving him with a high pitch ringing in the inside of his ears while warm liquid suddenly sprayed onto his face. There was an inexplicable confusing silence as he saw his best friend tumble besides him before the ringing and the blanket of deafness left his ears to be replaced by painful shrieks and Amara's horror stricken cry of "Jubilee!" His widened eyes turned to see the shrieking girl clutching her right shoulder, blood rapidly pouring from in between her trembling fingers.

"You Mutant filth had jush about top mh patience" the shooter almost whispered, smoking gun raised, while shaking in contained hatred. The figure of Josh Matthews stood in front of them, his once splendid clothes now full of scorch marks, dirt and grass stains. His trembling snarling face was covered by one or two scratches along with the dirt and sweat that told them he must have hiked down the cliff. His friends weren't looking that great either and some of them seemed to even be lounging some heavy wide packs atop their tired broad shoulders.

Bobby's emotions went haywire as he saw Amara reach out for the fallen Jubilee only to be stopped by her harassing linebacker who quickly twisted her arms and sent her to her knees. Another one of the guys was approaching the feverish Jaime while the last one of the delinquents was setting down the heavy packs besides the inert Rogue after noticing she remained unconscious.

He was on his feet in a matter of seconds. Ignoring the dizzying nausea that washed over him, he barreled head first into the still figure of Josh Matthews. But being a well trained athlete, the boy easily maintained his balance and resisted back before kneeing Bobby in the stomach, slamming the butt of the Beretta on the back of his head and pushing his weakened body to the ground. The sharp sound of the gun being cocked filled the air before it was dangerously pointed at the crumpled boy's face.

"Dhammit Drake! Don't you fhuckin' move unless you wan' me to blow your brains out!" the desperate angered gleam in the quarterback's eyes made the shaking Jubilee stare in horror as the fidgeting finger was set against the gun's trigger.

"N-no!! P-please don't!!" came her desperate cry.

"You should shoot the stinkin' mutant Josh" the boy known as Tyler Briggs stepped besides his friend, a manic snarl plastered on his bruised bleeding face while he twirled a familiar black spray can between his hands. A shriek made the boy look up towards the back to amusedly watch Amara struggling wildly while two of his teammates dragged her towards the wooden planks they had taken out of the packs. Meanwhile, the other boy was carrying the limp body of the Multiple Boy who seemed to have gone into shock, and setting it atop two planks that had been nailed in the ironic shape of an X. Long strips of old rope were being unpacked now, alarming the scared Amara into a frantic state. Tyler decided everything was in order after watching the Brazilian girl hit the dirt because of a powerful punch from one of her captors.

"Now just for that we're going to make yours special" someone growled at the now dazed girl.

All the while Bobby was getting more desperate and angry by the second. How did they end up in this situation? Everything was spiraling way out of control and he was feeling more terrified by the second as he could see no way out of this horrible nightmare.

Bobby then saw Jubilee trying to crawl her way towards him. But she never made more than a foot before Tyler stepped in front of her and emptied the black can on her entire form, suffocating her into an unhealthy cough fit. Bobby was instantly on the move, with anger prompting him to do something but the sudden sharp sting of his cheekbone fracturing against cool metal made him tumble down with a cry.

"Bastards!! What the hell did we ever do to you?!" cried the fallen boy, eyes watering with pain while the right side of his face swelled up incredibly fast. Suddenly he was grabbed by the front of his dirty shirt to come face to face with his attacker.

"What did you ever do? Well I shay eshisting is one of the worsht of all. That…and fhucking up my life!" spat the angered Josh before heaving and throwing the x-man a long 3 feet in the air.

Bobby landed with a wheeze on what were now bruised ribs. He wasn't given a second's rest before a sharp kick in between his rib cage made him cry out in pain. Sobs and wild protests could be heard from Jubilee as she was forcibly restrained by Briggs from intervening. One hand locking her left arm and griping her shoulder wound in torture while the other was almost buried in her eyes' sockets to prevent her from closing her eyes.

"Because of you freaks!-" Josh accentuated with another harsh kick to the diaphragm "-My family has suffered pains and loss!"

Bobby turned to face his assailant only to be greeted by the sole of his sneaker crashing painfully atop his features.

"My father ish rarely home!" continued the enraged boy, drowning Jubilee's shouts for mercy as he smacked kick after stomp after kick on to the beaten form of Bobby "My mother!-" to this the young man stopped to look at the sky in anger before looking towards Bobby with utmost hate "My mother ish as good as dead,… sinche you fucking freaks locked up my brothehr!"

Bobby wheezed frantically trying to move away before another barrage of kicks sent him in to a world of itching piercing pain. He could feel his last meal come right out along with some great amounts of blood in which he tried his best not to choke in. He knew he couldn't take more since the small amount of air that he could inhale without feeling too much pain was not enough to sustain his brain activity.

Meanwhile, Amara felt she was no more than a pair of eyes watching a horror scene unfolding. But unlike in the movies where you only feel slight compassion and solidarity for the characters, this was reality and she knew that it was real pain playing before her eyes. And what was worst was that they were her friends suffering while she laid tied up, impotent. The brutes around her found her friends' agony amusing. She couldn't help but feel a sudden urge to cause them pain. The hate, it was cold inside her body, consuming all her thoughts of escape.

"You like what you see prissy princess?" said her harasser who was making sure her hands and wrists were properly tied against the arms of her wooden cross. It would only take a few seconds before she, along with the inert body of Rogue tied besides her were raised from the floor to be exhibited like condemned criminals besides the unconscious Jaime.

"Just pray we don't get more creative" continued the blonde boy while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and shaking a fist full of nails. With a nod to Joe and Byron, Amara felt hers and Rogue's weird double cross being raised to a high upright position, her blood starting to accumulate in her head and neck with every second of being upside down; her special punishment for resisting.

"Like the skirt from here babe" commented one of the boy from behind.

The irrational part of Amara's mind told her to forget manners and spit all over their hideous faces. But the other part which was a little saner, told her either way all she would gain out of that would be another hard backslap and/or worse. Turning her face away from their disgustingly leering expressions, Amara tried to concentrate in some possible way of getting her friends out of this mess. Bobby's wheezing and Jubilee's shocking gasps weren't making her job easier.

Tears prickled her eyes when she had to yet again force her eyes out of the macabre spectacle taking place in front of her. The coldness of hatred filled her entire being, wanting nothing but the pain and death of the ones that made them suffer so.

With frustrating groans, her body started struggling to free itself and act on her thoughts. Her hands started scrabbling desperately for freedom, to the amusement of some below, feeling the tight restraints hindering any useful movement. Then the finger on her right hand grazed something soft and cold. She looked to her right to find Rogue's immobile left arm was the thing she touched.

"If the time comes, were y'all are in a tight spot an' y'all ain't able t'rely on ya powers

mark mah words

you're gonna regret not taking some 'self-defense crap'

and Ah'm certainly not going ta save ya asses outta that"

How horribly true

If only they had their powers, the very thing why they were being attacked for in the first place, things wouldn't look so terribly bad. Amara realized that they relied so much on them that the second they were power stripped, they crumpled into nothing; and although it was hard to admit when you were wrong, she suddenly regretted ever having yelled at Rogue that day on their last training section. Because right now she was praying for a miracle, that Rogue could miraculously wake up and help them out like she promised not to, long ago.

Her hearing picked up the sounds of heaving and wet coughing coming from the ice-boy's direction; her eyes not brave enough to investigate what was happening now. All she could do was twist her wrists and scrabble helplessly for more give on her restraints; Mind analyzing any possible way of escape to the point of almost losing all hope. Then her eyes fell on the runic marks adorning the unconscious southerner's arm and her mind flashed.

"It was a catastrophe, Charles. An entire crowd, we were lucky it didn't all get out in the media."

"Unspeakable power. And what frightens me is, it can be anyone in there."

"I knew that thing was trouble -sob- I told her since it started glowing."

"It's a canal, I theorize. She's the anchor that's keeping him from eternal traveling."

All of that she heard the day after 'the accident'. Things that she hadn't given much thought until now, when ultimate despair called for anything. Then there was today's event. Although she doubted it at first, now that she thought about it again, she knew that it had something to do with Rogue's miraculous resurrection because she was certain that for a minute, the X-woman was legally dead.

Then strange logic started connecting in her mind. When one was unconscious, one entered a deep state of sleep where the mind retreated to its deepest parts; the fact that this was a case of unconsciousness by concussion made it a deeper, coma-like sleep. Now this should have killed all hope of Rogue ever helping them out of here but her strained mind found an unlikely way out.

A hopeful grin made its way on her face.

She will give them hell.

Silence.

Breathe in, breathe out

That was all he could hear now. Silence and it's only disruptor, his breaths.

Light overwhelmed his vision. As he laid…or floated? He didn't know, but what he did know was that feeling all around him was no more.

Breathe in, breathe out

A thought crossed his mind. He should be doing something. He was doing something. But what? Something important…

"Bastards!!

What the hell did we ever do to you?!"

What? Someone did something.

Breathe in, breathe out

"Hey Drake! Think fast!"

We were attacked.

Breathe in, breathe out

"Sam don't!!!"

My friends…

Breathe in, breathe out

"Jubilee!"

…they are in trouble. I must help them.

Breathe in, breathe out

"N-no!! P-please don't!!"

I must. I want to. But then…why am I not?

Breathe in, breathe out

"Stop it! Stop hurting him please!"

Pain... Why?... Why us?

Breathe in, breathe out

"Do you know what she said once Drake?"

Is not our fault.

Breathe in, breathe out

"She said…she wished it was me…instead of him."

"…I hate you"

And then the colors started filling in his vision, if not a few.

"I think that last one smashed his skull Josh" someone said.

"…"

"Well show's over so there's no reason for me to stick around" another voice…one he's heard before. He searched for it to confirm his thoughts but his eyes only showed blurry shadows in an even darker background. "C'mon let us do something else for fun"

And then Bobby saw and he wished he had not been able to. Defeated onyx eyes, gazing back at him. The trails of her trials coating her flushed cheeks. Strong arms held her limp body while she was taken farther and farther away from him, towards the inside of the darkness.

"N-noo" he tried to say but only a small croak escaped his blood coated mouth. And before he knew it, she was out of his sight and he was left with his deep sense of failure and guilt.

"Ya worry far too much. She's gonna be alright, she's a big girl"

Already his attacker was approaching him to most likely finish the job, he thought. His only option left would be to pray. To pray for mercy and forgiveness.

"Y'all are big boys and girls now"

"I'm s-sorry"

"Y'should be able to tell what's right and what's wrong"

"I was wrong"

"We're mutants, we don't need self-defense"

"Please…Help"

Click-click

"You don't know how much I'll like you dead"

"Me too"

The unknown raspy voice surprise Josh Matthews along with the sudden shouts and shrieks of his teammates as a giant fire exploded from behind him. Both he and the others turned to stare in stunned surprise while the formerly concussed pale brunette tumbled out of her cross, her entire left hand in flames. His companions where all retreating back from the sight and he had but a second to stare upon murderous brown eyes before she thrust out her hand and a ball of burning pain collided with his chest, blowing him far away from the downed Iceman. The other young men prepared themselves for a similar attack but instead watch hopefully as their attacker shrieked in pain while clutching her arm which was starting to be engulfed in flames. Assured by the sight of their attacker stumbling and losing control of the flames, they were just about to approach the screaming mutant when the flames in her consumed left arm lowered in intensity.

"SSSTAY BAACK!"

And then the ground started to shake massively. The young men found themselves tumbling to the floor after losing their balance, scrambling about in order to dodge the newly emerging rifts in the ground.

"What the hell is going on?!" Tyler Briggs emerged from some trees dragging a semi-conscious Jubilee by her injured arm. It took one look of Jubilee's disarrayed half-dressed state and the flaming mutant was sent into a shrieking fit of anger shooting a tongue of fire towards the arriving boy. Wide eyed, Briggs had seconds to let go of the California girl and launch himself out off the path of destruction.

"Ssshiiit! I thought the can took care of their powers Ty!"

"It did! I've seen it work before, it nulls them completely!" answered Briggs while looking over the direction his friend Josh was last seen. "Where the fuck is Josh?!"

"Well that sure as hell don't look like a nulled mutie!" yelled the blonde line backer while he and Joe jumped to the side to avoid the sudden explosions of vapor and pebbles that came from the rifts.

"Fuck if I know then! Josh answer me man!"

But the called teenager remained silent while his friend Tyler tried to reach the position he thought he could see his friend's foot in, the unsteady ground making it almost impossible to advance much.

"Tyler! Let's get the fuck out of here man, this ain't worth it!" said Amara's tormentor, and his teammates seemed to agree completely with his point of view and were on the process of running back towards were they came from when a scream and two fire balls blasted the pathway and engulfed it in flames. Sparks from the blast caught their pants and made them scramble on the floor to drown the flames licking at them.

"N-NNO! Y-You don't RUN! Stay-Pain t-to you-KILL!!"

The sweating athletes watched frighten as the red faced woman in front of them yelled furiously causing stronger tremors and more heat than they'd ever felt before. The whole clearing now felt like a giant oven was baking it into a hell, and the rabid stumbling girl was its governing demon. The incoherent cries and the smell of burning flesh completed the nightmarish picture to the young men.

"-kill youkill youkill you-FEEL!So many in-Just for a moment-NEED to make them pay-HURTS I'm sorry-"

"R-Rogue?" croaked Jubilee while looking towards the rambling girl who didn't seem to notice her. Her eyes then landed on the bloody mess that was Bobby Drake and noticed that he was miraculously moving, or twitching more like it. With a sob she crawled her way towards him, her pathway free of any of their previous attackers which where now too preoccupied looking for a way out that wasn't already in flames.

Tyler saw her intentions but decided his search for Josh was more important at the moment. His football teammates were keeping the woman mutant's attention away from his actions.

"Jesus lord we're gonna die! She's gonna kill us!" sputtered Byron while clutching burns in his legs.

"Shit! Freak's gone crazy, I'm out of here fire or not!" And noticing their attacker was busy talking to herself the scared blonde linebacker took his chance and ran through the flames that blocked his escape. The other two teenagers decided that small burns were far better than being roasted alive and rapidly followed after him.

The fire was now spreading fast, consuming the trees surrounding the clearing and filling it with smoke. There were strange winds shaking the tops of the trees and lifting up dead leafs from the floor.

"Rogue!" tried to scream Jubilee while dragging Bobby with her trying to avoid the spreading fire. She noticed the smoke was already sweeping over Amara and Jamie's unresponsive bodies. "Rogue -cough- stop! Turn it down!"

But the mutant woman seemed to have lost control of her faculties and was now too busy clutching her head and muttering to notice her surroundings. She stumbled forward a few paces before slipping and falling in one knee.

"-confusing-many voices-why stop?-NO ESCAPE-to protect-in danger my friends-HURTS-just a mom -gasp-… "

And then Jubilee saw the strangest thing. Rogue's trembling body seem to clamp down in rigor while her pupils flashed bright blue. Then the multiple fires around them started diminishing in size while the flames in her arm extinguished themselves revealing raw burned skin.

"Big mistake mutie" Tyler Briggs emerged from behind a burned tree a few feet in front of Rogue's body, Josh's fire arm clutched in his twitching hand. But before he could even raise it properly an electric blue bolt zapped the gun right out of his hands.

Jubilee looked towards the direction it came from and found the cause of the strange winds. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of the dark jet hovering atop their position. The vision of her friends coming down from the vehicle looked like a mirage from heaven. Feeling safe for once in the night, she released the last of her self-control and succumbed to the dizzy spell caused by her blood lost.

000 ROF 000

Nurse Morrow was ordering the expedients of her patients and at the same time looking for her car keys. It had been a tiring long day and her fatigue was showing in her messy dark hair.

"Well that's it for me. I'm going to go home, take a nice bubble bath and sleep for ten hours. Here, they're all yours. Left you some code browns." said Nurse Morrow while piling the column of files on a young nurse.

"Ugh, thanks. I remember bubble baths,…and sleeping too" replied the young brunette as she made her way towards her station to drop off the expedients.

"Girl, I don't know how you and Annie do it. The dog shift is the worst." commented Nurse Rhodes, a small but powerful looking black woman, while putting on her coat "I remember my days in that hell and things were quiet back then if you know what I mean"

The other nurses stared at the woman for a moment and some of them looked nervously over their shoulders and towards the empty hallways of the small hospital.

"Well it's gotten quiet these last few months, right?" answered Annie the nurse as she looked towards her shift companion, Rebecca Rizzo.

But Nurse Rizzo never had a chance to answer because a muffled commotion at front desk directed their attention towards the double doors in front of their small stations which opened loudly, permitting male nurse Gustavo Montaigne to pass through while escorting an occupied bed.

"A lil' help here ladies? There're five more comin' through. Eve darlin' page Doctor Kalarjian-"

"He went home early today, something about his ex-wife" Nurse Morrow took off her coat and assisted Nurse Montaigne while Nurse Annie Lyon and Nurse Rizzo held the doors for the other nurses with the other patients. They managed to get a glimpse of the security guards holding off some angry youngsters who where disputing before closing the doors behind the last of the patients.

"What about Dr. Stevenson?"

"Gus where are you?! He's still not back from the city, is that a GSW?"

The light haired man examined his patients shoulder and cursed. A more throughout examination revealed no more gunshot wounds on the patient relieving him of some of his stress.

"Damn, with no Docs we're goin' to have to operate oursel-wait that new Doc, she's-"

"-Right here." answered suddenly a Latin woman as she gloved her hands. "What have we got?"

The nurses looked chagrined for a moment before Nurse Morrow decided to respond.

"Some minor abrasions in her arms and legs but I think the shoulder GSW is the worse."

"I think we got a train wreck here. Kid's hardly breathing" yelled Nurse Rhodes from one side of the room while another alarmed nurse screamed about severe burns from the other. The mocha skin doctor assessed the chaotic situation with a calm countenance. Meanwhile, in the middle of the commotion, the doors of the ER opened and an impaired man rolled inside.

"Prep the OR, I'll be with you in a moment." calmly ordered the doctor while making her way towards the 'train crash' and examining and feeling up his severely beaten body. "Got some crunchy ribs, and some fractures in the arms. Won't know more for sure until we see the damage inside. Traces of vomit; got to watch out for aspiration. Fix him up for a quick X-ray and then give him some NSAIDs for the pain."

As she was making her way towards the burned victims the wheel chaired man stopped in front of her path.

"Sir you can't be here at this moment or you'll disturb our work. Go back to the front." And she dodged out of his way without losing a step and started examining the patients. "First degree burns to the abdomen, small loss of fluid but no severe damage to the skin. Rub some antibiotic on it. Pupils are sluggish, possible concussion"

As the doctor move to check on the other patient she saw the man approaching her through her peripherals.

"Severe second degree burns to the arm -Sir I told you to get back to the front desk, will someone please make sure he does this time- going to need systemic antibiotic for this one and an IV for fluids. Pupils are blown—"

"Excuse me, you do not understand. I just wish to warn you of the special precautions you should take on my stu—"

"Sir I know perfectly well what kind of precautions I should take on my patients now if you'll just let me do my job then—" but then the doctor was interrupted by a frighten shout coming from the X-ray room followed by a loud thump from her right side made by the falling body of an unconscious nurse with an IV needle in her hands.

"I'm afraid you do not know these kinds of precautions."

The wide eyed doctor could only stare shockingly from the scene before her to the bald man with the concerned frown while the implications sunk in.

000 ROF 000

After the rather surprising turn of events, some semblance of order was established in the ER by the good Doctor who with a stern glance managed to appease the fears of her staff towards their 'special' patients. Taking the necessary precautions informed to her by Professor Xavier, she succeeded in safely stabilizing the conditions of the patients without any more problems.

Charles Xavier was contemplating the past night's events when he noticed the Hispanic doctor approach him cautiously.

"Well Professor, it looks like you may be able to take Ms. Aquilla and Mr. Maddrox home today after the therapy. We found no noticeable damage to their lungs so I think it safe to dispatch them."

Don't think about itDon't think about itDon't think about it-What if he knows?Don't think about it-Nobody knows here I can't have this happening nowDon't think about it! He's supposed to be some mind readerHe'll know.

"Mr. Matthews may need to remain a day just to make sure there is no risk of infection. As for the others—"

"You're a mutant"

"W-what?"

"I'm sorry but I couldn't help it. You're thinking so hard that you're in fact projecting which for a telepath is rather like shouting at someone in the ear."

"I- you're wrong. I…" She looked for people who might have heard around the waiting room but found none. "Look I don't want it to be known alright? I got a good job here and I just want to keep on doing it."

"It is not my intention to disrupt your life, but I must advice you that denying your true nature will only lead you to future pains. It is necessary that we accept ourselves for others to be able to do so in the first place"

"Yes but is not that easy! If this got out then I might lose my job as a doctor which is about the only thing that matters to me. I help people. A lot of people. And if 'denying my true nature' enables me to do so then so be it."

After that passionate confession the doctor looked again over her shoulders and glared at the few persons that seemed to have noticed her agitated state. After driving their stares off with her glare she took a deep breath to compose herself. The Professor calmly surveyed her actions while frowning in deep thought.

"If practicing as a doctor is all you truly wish, then perhaps there is a solution I could offer."

The woman looked at the smiling man with an interested yet wary look, her own thoughts already guessing what the man could be referring to and debating the outcome of such a decision. The telepath smiled at her while looking towards her name tag.

"Would you be interested in working at a school, Dr. Reyes?"

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----End episode 1-