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'Impossible,' she whispered, as the man returned to staring at the chess board, 'Magneto.'

Chapter 4: 22

'John.. why are we here?' Rogue whispered, warily watching the man, as he kept his head bent low over the chessboard.

' Magneto wants to rebuild us,'

'He can't rebuild you,' her voice began to raise, a slight hysteria threatened to break through, 'his powers were destroyed, Logan told me, he's nothing now,'

'Does he look like his powers have been destroyed?'

'This man tried to kill me,' Rogue hissed, she yanked her hand from his and began to walk away.

'He can help you, don't you want the freedom to touch again?' her feet stopped, but her mind whirled; would he be able to help her? A way to keep her powers but control them. John began to walk away from her, taking her silence as rejection. Rogue took a sharp intake of breath and began to follow him. The man shuffled his shoulders when he turned to look at them,

'You came,' he said, eyeing John mean fully. His gaze fell upon Rogue and a small smile played in the corner of his mouth. 'and you bought company,' Rogue snorted at him, refusing to meet his gaze.

'We need all the help we can get,' John agreed. The old man leaned back, the light reflecting against his blue eyes. To Rogue, he didn't look dangerous, he looked --- normal. Something he seemed completely uncomfortable with.

'Where are you staying at the moment?' Magneto asked, beginning to stand up. Rogue was so tempted to help him, he looked feeble; his back slightly bent, his hands shaking. But he stood up easily without any support.

'No-where, the streets mainly,' John answered.

'There's a place down the road, number 22 I think,' Magneto muttered. A key suddenly appeared in Magneto's hand. Rogue eyed him suspiciously, how was he doing this? The shot was supposed to cure the mutants, yet Magneto stood before her slowly regaining his powers. Could this have happened to her, if she had taken the cure? She shuddered at the thought. John took the key and began to stride away, Rogue hesitated, then ran after him. She kept a short pace behind him, as they passed through the gates she tossed a glance back, the park was empty.

'Where's he gone?' she asked bewildered.

'I'm not the only one he needs to meet,' he replied, obviously unconcerned. He looked across the street at the numbers painted on the doors, '2,3..' he murmured, 'it must be down here, come on,' he took her hand and that feeling returned. She felt the sense of security run through her as John tugged her down the street.

They finally reached a three-storied house with a black door stating the numbers '22' on it. John grinned as he unlocked the door, obviously pleased with himself, Rogue raised her eyebrow, it wasn't that hard to find the house.

The house was nothing special; empty with the exception of a few household appliances. The kitchen smelt suspiciously of damp and the front room had rot spreading through the walls. It held six bedrooms with a bathroom on each floor. Rogue choked, her heart plummeting, she was expected to live in this dump. John noticed her sudden change in mood,

'Do you want to pick your room?' he asked quiety. She toured each of the six rooms and decided on the last room. It was on the third floor and faced out over the streets, she could see the park, the main roads and if she squinted past the looming buildings she noticed the small break of the ocean. The room was a lot smaller than the others but it felt more comfortable to her. Placing her bag down gingerly on the carpet she turned to face John. He was leaning against the door frame, staring at her intently.

That's when it hit.

That's when she realised why he had been grinning, the whole house empty, apart from two...

A/N: Thankyou all you guys for favoriting and reviewing it means alot :) let's get the Ryro stories out there!! :P