Authors note- I am soooooooo sorry the update took so long. The day after my last update my hard drive crashed and I just got my computer back! The good news is I have up to chapter sixteen written so its just a matter of typing them. Hope you like this chapter again sorry for the wait. Enjoy!

" Do you hear that?" the first soldier asked.

"No" the second soldier shrugged.

"I thought I heard a stick break."

"We're in a forest, there's animals every where, you didn't hear anything."

"But what if it is her. They said she's very crafty and dangerous."

"It's not, it's all in your head man."

"I guess so your probably right." the first soldier replied giving in.

"I don't get why were here in the first place. We sighed up for the stinking army to serve our country." he mocked " The job description didn't have anything to do with chasing some mutant who isn't even a mutant anymore. shouted the second man.

"Yeah we should be doing something worth our time." the first soldier agreed.

" At least now we know were all our tax dollars are going to, a useless cause."

"Seriously, this country is paranoid." They continued their useless talking trying to pass the time as they continued through to the end of the forest.

She let out a deep breath as they walked away. She felt like going to sleep for a few hours.

"Wait" she thought"I could follow those fools out of the forest. It would be dangerous though, they have guns and I'm sure they wouldn't mind firing them. And I'm definetaly not in any shape to fight, I'm hungry,tired and weaponless." she threw the ideals around in her mind."So, I either follow them and chance capture and who knows death or I stay here and die lost in a forest.

She pulled herself from under the bush wiping the dirt off of her. So she started her pursuit, hoping that even without her powers she could be stealthy enough to not be captured.

--

"Hey" came the high pitched voice she had come accustomed to."You'll never believe what just happened!"

"wha' " she said carelessly flipping through the book Flow, find your inner peace

"They got Cerebro to work" she looked excited "Well in theory."

"Really" she said throwing the heavy book on the messy floor with gaining interest. It was true, she enjoyed Kitty's eccentric yapping about the team. She did sort of miss being on the team. Even though her powers were useless she liked feeling as if she was apart of something important and bigger then herself.

"Yeah, Storms gonna try today!"

"Wow, ah can' believe it works." she replied completely focused on the conversation.

"Pretty awesome, when are we doing it?" Her faced stiffened and turned slightly red realizing her mistake.

"When are ya doin' it?" she corrected herself giving Kitty a brief smile who understood her embarrassment.

"Well at three, today." a silence passed between them. "Uh, Rogue."

"Yeah." she replied trying to find an excuse to change the subject.

"How about you come with me."

"Na ah can' ah gotta do some stuff ta do."

"Rogue really. We all miss you on the team. There's no reason you can't come, your still our teammate." Kitty said rather demanding a side of Kitty which didn't usually come out.

" Well, ah guess so, if its alrigh' with Ro' an' everybody."

"Of course it's alright." Kitty gave her a brief hug before leaving the room, telling her to be in the Cerebro room by three. She fell back onto her pillow sighing. She looked around her room her eyes resting on the book she'd forgotten in the mess of her room.

"Inner peace, ya right."

--

Ororo looked up from the stack of bills on her overcrowded desk as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in " she called. The door creaked open to reveal Kitty's head poking in.

"Thanks" kitty walked in taking a seat in front of Ororo's desk looking through the pile of papers." Um, I have a favor to ask you."

"Alright, go ahead." she nodded

"Well, the thing is..." Kitty began.

"I don't like the sound of this"she thought.

"I kind of told Rogue that she could come to the Cerebro thing today."

"I see."

"Before you say anything. I don't care if she has no powers, she is still one of us. Just because she took the cure doesn't mean anything!" she panted shouted at Ororo her face turning bright red." Another thing I still consider her apart of the team! So consider that before you say anything."Kitty was furious. Ororo just sat blinking.

"Well I never said that there was anything wrong with Rogue coming, Kitty." Ororo said trying to calm her down and make some sense of the situation.

"Oh, Yeah." she sat back giving an apologetic smile. "Sorry for yelling."

"It's alright, I personally would love to have Rogue to come."

Uh huh, yeah. I'll be going now, thanks again." Kitty left feeling rather foolish.

Sitting back and taking a deep breath she tried to refocus her mind on the ever growing pile of bills. It didn't work so well.

"Well that was productive"she said sarcastically getting up to leave taking a last glance at the bills.

"Tomorrow's a new day." she sighed leaving the room.

--

It had gone smoothly so far. They had been walking for at least an hour but she wasn't a very good judge of time and they showed no signs of knowing she was following them. To her dismay she wasn't as stealthy as she had hoped. Luckily she'd met up with two new recruits stupid and unexpected.

SNAP

"What was that!" shouted the first soldier shouted spinning around on his heels. She trust herself behind a tree hoping that the soldier hadn't seen her.

"Dude, you stepped on a stick, relax. The clearing to the city is only like a mile or two." the second soldier stated anxious to get to a shower and out of the forest.

"Alright, I think this forest is getting to me I keep feeling like someones watching me."

"Hey all that means is that your an inside kind of guy. I don't like creepy crawly animals either. You probably heard a squirrel or something."

"Yeah your probably right." the first soldier said once again.

So the men kept walking in the same direction as before. She continued walking but more towards the trees this time watching for sticks that was two close calls.

She saw the sun peek through the dense trees and heard the noise of busy people in the city. She felt excited she'd decided to follow the stupid soldiers. So she sat down in the bushes letting the soldiers slip out of the trees and into the warm looking sun.

"Good I'm all clear." she thought. She looked herself over.

"A change of clothes would be nice. Too bad I dropped my bag earlier. Though I still have some money in my pocket." Money, she despised money.

"That's all my good for mother cared about. She tried to kill me my good for nothing two bit family.." She thought getting frustrated in the fact that she had to live the way that would make her family the happiest people in the world.

"Why am I even thinking about them, she threw me on the streets quicker then I could blink when she learned I was a mutant." She felt sick even thinking about them.

"When I would skip school being scared of the others before I could fully control my powers they knew something was up. That is probably why I am here, I hate admitting this, even to myself, but that is my worst fear, losing control." she sat feeling sick again. "At least as Mystique I could be different then the evil I saw in people, normal people, but as Raven I've lost control I'm a slave. "My family dear old moms the only one left.That woman hated change more then she hated me. I bet she still lives in the same house." She got up brushing herself once again.

"I've sat here and pouted long enough." She thought hoping the sick feeling would fade with the memory of her family as it usually did.

She walked into the sunshine feeling the warmth of the sun and the happy feel of freedom.

"Well as close to freedom as I'll ever get again."

"Ah". She tried to scream but the massive hand covering her mouth stifled led any attempt.

"Told you I heard her." the familiar voice of the soldier rang as a death bell to her ears. Her fears had been realized. She felt the other grab her hands and cuff them. This was it, she was caught and afraid.

Authors note- Please review and again soo sorry for the wait. I'll try to update the next one quicker. Reviews seriously do help. Thanks for reading.