I own nothing X-Men or X-Men Movie related. I gain nothing but the joy of writing and developing these crazy characters out of this.
Please enjoy, read and review! Thanks to those who already have…I hope this continues to live up to your expectations.
Returning to the mansion, now knowing where their friend and teammate was was difficult for the whole team. They had put so much into the search, each of them needing to know their world had not yet come to abruptly missing people that would never be found. Make that missing mutants. As they landed, everyone was worn out from the day, but anxious to get back to the desert to rescue the Wolverine and whoever else they could from the deep, well guarded prison.
The debriefing was short with a promise of another planning session in a few hours, after the team had gotten some rest. Until then, Ororo and Scott met to map out the area and determine entry points. Rogue went to the kitchen for a snack before she was going to head to her room to get the sleep she would need for the coming day. On her way up to the main floor, she ran into Emma Frost, the White Queen and began to fill her in on the day's progression.
"Ah know you're tryin' ta get into mah head. Jus' go ahead and tell me what it was Ah felt out there cuz it was awfully familiar Emma." She turned to the White Queen as they stood in the hallway leading to the kitchen. The white haired, pale woman in front of her nodded stiffly and closed her eyes. Rogue could see her eyes moving back and forth under her eyelids, as if she were actively dreaming. Briefly, she wondered if that was what Emma's telepathic powers felt like, walking through others' dreams.
When Emma's eyes opened again, Rogue's answer was staring back at her. Even still, she needed the words to confirm her fears and her hopes. Nodding, Emma opened her mouth and gave the Rogue the words she needed to complete her incentive for the mission's success. "The Wolverine is not alone Rogue. You are correct; the Diablo Blanc is there and warns you of danger from his captivity." The words were almost soft and kind coming from the usually cold woman. The brunette in front of her nodded, understanding more than Emma knew.
Then she quietly thanked her friend and turned swiftly away and on to her destination. As she gracefully moved about the kitchen, preparing a quick snack, her mind was far from the task at hand. She paused as she leaned back against the cool kitchen counter, sandwich in hand and only a single bite eaten as yet. Closing her eyes, she saw him holding out his hand to her as she lay cold on the white floor in the large glass room. Her hand bare, his gloved as always, he pulled her to her feet and began to pull her from the nightmare she'd been left to. With a quick glance behind her, she winced at the sight in the room. She had not started there alone, though she was leaving the room without life as she now fled. A voice started her heart and her legs moving once again, "Chere…"
The kitchen door slammed open loudly and Rogue's eyes snapped wide, tearing herself from the memories and the image of the man who had saved her in so many ways that day. Her teammates poured into the room and voices planning, plotting and analyzing came to her over the thoughts racing through her own mind. She knew she would have to tell them now what the place was. Things she had not told anyone at the mansion entirely as she was now Rogue completely, and could not dwell on or share the pains in her life. Later, she comforted herself. For now, let them make their plans. It would be useful to them all to have as many ideas as possible about how to accomplish their large goal. Later, at the briefing, she would explain as much as she needed to in order to get them all through this without further injury or capture. Until then, she would rest and prepare.
Finishing her sandwich, she made her way through the small talk in the room. Complaints were common about the desert weather and why Storm couldn't have helped the team out on that end, maybe bringing in some rain or cool winds to ease the sweat drenched afternoon. Tactics were thrown out as to how to enter the underground installation as well as guesses as to the purpose of the captivity and even the captors' identities. The Rogue listened to their ideas but kept mostly silent. The others were so caught up in their discussions; they seemed not to notice her distance. Shuddering, she said her goodnights and left the now crowded room.
The walk to her room was silent but full of thoughts and emotions. Trying to clear her head enough for sleep would be a daunting task this evening she knew. As she readied herself for bed, the Rogue tried to breathe deeply to quell her anxiety for her two friends and whoever else might be stuck down there with them. Opening her window doors, she stepped out into the night air at her balcony's edge. She leaned her elbows on the railing, putting her head in the palms of her now ungloved hands. Below her, Scott walked across the trim lawn towards their cemetery gardens. The night before every mission or battle, the man would visit the gravestones of his passed loved ones. For strength and clarity, he would spend about a half hour or so there. It was common now and no one would generally bother their leader then. However, recently, someone had taken to meeting him as he returned and Rogue noticed that this time would be no different. The Ice Queen's brilliant white hair and pale skin lit up against the dark night. The other woman walked smoothly to the bench at the edge of the tree line that separated the mansion's main grounds from the X-Men's fallen friends. Seating herself, she looked to the same clear sky Rogue was now peering at from her own balcony. Not a word or look passed between the two women, yet they both knew each other was there.
Turning, Rogue shut her curtained window doors and slid into her bed. Staring at the ceiling now, her mind spun at the thought of her friends together in that mock prison. Would they find each other even though they had never met? She knew the answer was undoubtedly no. The way those places were set up, one never knew where they themselves were, and much less whom or how many others were also there at any given time. No, unless they were able to get to them on their mission, her older brother wannabe Logan would never actually meet the man who had last saved her life.
Rogue closed her eyes and rolled to one side, pulling the covers a little closer around her body. She'd arrived back in New York a bit battered but she knew she would not break down more than she already had. She'd already worked through that trauma and while it would always be a part of her, the mansion had offered her once again a fresh start. She had taken a cab from the airport and simply stood at the mansion's gates. After a moment's pause, she smiled a small smile and lifted herself up and over the gate, swiftly flying to the front doors. Dropping her bags, she rang the doorbell just as the door swung open to reveal the grisly man she had missed. When her eyes met his, he was taken aback by their vibrant green and their weary expression. He saw himself there, but not through his own memories. No, the Rogue had her own demons now.
"Marie…" the Wolverine had started in a deep voice. The woman before him shook her head with a slow, haunted smile.
"No Logan, not Marie anymore. Please just call me Rogue. It's okay." He looked ready to protest, to declare that she would always be Marie, that he would make sure of it. Yet, the tilt of her head, the small almost imperceptible negative shake, and her peering past him towards the others gathering behind him all stopped him from saying another word.
The questions had bombarded her. She'd known they would and she'd considered it a small price to pay in order to be home. Details she was scarce on. It wasn't for everyone, or anyone really, to know all that she had gone through. Those pains had already been shared with too many and these people who loved her did not need to suffer with her through those memories. So she was vague when it counted and led the questions to more innocent topics. She skipped briefly over her newly acquisitioned powers and how they had come about, but she spoke in depth about the joys of flying and how cool her brightened green eyes were. The advantage was all hers in the manipulation of the conversation as she took the best tips from everyone in her head.
When the evening had slowed and the majority had gone to their respective rooms, she headed out to the grand back porch that overlooked the swimming pool and tennis courts. As she'd thought she would, she had found Logan on a pool chair smoking a cigar, a beer on the low glass table beside him. She'd sat in the chair on the other side of the table, pulling her long black coat more tightly around her in the cooling night's breeze.
"So Marie…" Rogue shook her head. "Rogue…" Wolverine corrected himself with a smirk. "You were lying your ass off in there tonight. What really happened? You weren't okay, we all know that. There was a time when Emma couldn't track you telepathically and no one could find a trace of you anywhere. You gotta know we looked."
Rogue nodded. "Logan," she paused, "You're right, it wasn't good. But it's mine and if the time is ever right, I suppose I might be persuaded to talk. Not now, not anywhere in the near future. There's no need."
"I can smell him on you ya know? Who is he?" The Wolverine's nose was crinkled a bit in disgust and frustrated curiosity.
Smirking, she allowed his probing question. "He's the one who found me and saved me. He's the one who kept me from going over the edge Logan. His name is Remy LeBeau, the mutant known as Gambit."
Thus had begun their conversation about a daring rescue and escape, about refuge and salvation, about frustration, agony, defeat and triumph. All that Rogue had endured seemed to have been made endurable by this other man's presence in her life at the right times. Logan fought the urge to demand that he should have been the one there to help her and save her and instead genuinely tried to listen to his friend. Again, her details were sketchy when it came to the nitty gritty, but she seemed to lack no details in her description of this red eyed thief and his bravado she so pleasantly rolled her eyes at throughout.
"Why didn't he come with you? Why'd he let you go?"
"The man has his own way to go right now Logan. He has his own feats to plan and the mansion and the X-Men just won't help him right now. His own mission needs to be completed first but he will join us when the time is right. He promised."
Logan had looked over at her and wondered what now went on behind those green eyes. While they appeared to be more expressive, it was deceptive. In reality, they were terribly harder to read. A coldness seemed to emanate from them. But in that one moment, he saw her faith and desire before she quickly recovered, probably without realizing she'd let anything through, and she had rolled her eyes and smirked before standing to leave.
With all her belief in this man and all the respect even Logan had come to have for him through her words, it had been two years since she'd seen him and six months since she'd heard from him. The Guild had offered no information, effectively having had to cut the man out of their contacts for their own safety. Rogue knew they would be searching for him, but that outwardly no connections could show. The safety of the guild was of greatest importance for without that, they would have no chance at bringing him back. Logan had known she was worried; didn't want him to leave when such danger was out there. He hadn't understood her worries fully as he hadn't really known what it was exactly that lurked new for their kind. So he had gone and she'd kept silent, hoping he would return, hoping she'd silently find some lead on Remy.
Now there was nothing and she needed to make sure the rest of her friends understood what they were getting into. She would follow through regardless of their decisions, but the situation was getting too bad for her to stay silent. As the Rogue's eyes finally drifted shut, her last thoughts were dreading the nightmares she would be having that evening. With her worst fears confirmed, her dreams she knew would now consist of watching her own imprisonment be turned on to the two she loved most.
What had their world come to?
Read and review please! Next chapter should be up before the beginning of the weekend, Saturday at the latest. Woohoo!
