I thought I would answer some reviews so you know that I am reading and blushing at your requests. Thank you to all those would do review! :D You are amazing!
Verthril Thanks! I hope you continue to like my story! :) Jean1 Thanks for the review and thanks for all the questions! The reason why Rogue's power is still working even with the collar will be answered in the story later on. :) There is also a reason why they turn off almost every other mutants powers but not Rogues, but again that will be explained later. And the reason why Rogue isn't scared is because technically she hasn't been raped yet, no will she. I always picture Rogue as 'soft and cuddly in the inside, but a spit in your face if you think I'm going to let you get to me if you do me wrong.' type girl. That's why she's not going to try to incur the wrath of the guards but you can bet your sweet ass she not going to let you see her quiver in fear. And I tried to fix it to where chapter one is more believable. If I need to I'll probably go back to it again one day and try to fix it. But thank you so much for the review and to tell me exactly what parts you don't like, again it really helps me with future writing. courtneykutie Thank you so much! :D It's always awesome to hear that! angel897 I hope it stays interesting all around for you! Thanks! ;) sickgrrl I ADORE Remy as well! ;) And I will always try to update as soon as I can, but I got to work during the day so I think the most I can get up is once a week. :( I would love to just write full-time though. DREAM JOB! :D Thank you so much for loving my story! fannut LOL! Thank you for the Review! I'm not a big Bobby fan either. :) I'll be updating as soon as I can again. Please keep enjoying the story! Devil Danielle Diaries YAY! I'm so glad you get my Rogue! I love her! And I'm not a big Bobby fan either. And the reason why she left will be answered later in the story. ;) Sorry no free passes even if you review! :D But Thanks a bunch and I hope you continue to like my story. skylight14 Thank you soo much!What a compliment! I hope I continue to meet your expectations! :D And I will try to update at least once week. :( I just can't seem to get in anymore than that with my LAME J-O-B.
Authors note: I don't own x-men. And again thank you for all the great reviews! :D
Under my Skin
Chapter 4
By: CptnPlanet
Jubilee held back against the group that followed Bobby, sliding up next to Rogue.
"Why didn't you tell me you were part of the X-men? I thought you said you didn't know them." Then she muttered, "I would've felt a lot safer if I had known you were there to break us out."
"I don't know them, sugah." Rogue answered truthfully, "I can't remember anything prior to being taken. Although I think I remember something about that guy."
"Wolverine?" Rogue gave her a confused look, "The guy that healed. That's Logan, or Wolverine, as he also likes to go by."
"Yeah, I think we were in a car accident together." Rogue explained. "Although I don't remember anything before or after that."
"Logan's gone most of the time; whenever we ask Storm just says he's looking for something. But Logan seemed awful fond of you; from the time I've been here he hasn't been really close to anyone. Maybe you guys had a special relationship." Jubilee grinned up at her.
They all paused as everyone got onto the elevator to go down it was hidden behind the dark wood making it look as if it was just part of the wall. Rogue didn't like being here, she didn't trust anyone, and once she got some answers she would leave and that would be the end of this place. It might have been her home before, but not now.
"No, I don't think it was anything too special as you're thinking."
"I don't know, cher." Gambit spoke up as they all got off the elevator. "Although I don't know how he is now, I also have never seen him like this."
Rogue glared at him, but she couldn't help but notice the heat blossoming in her cheeks. "I think you both have lost your minds."
"Well, we'll see, only time will tell." Jubilee grinned at Gambit, and he just gave a small grin and a wink back.
All three stopped as 'Kitty' phased through the ceiling and landed on the ground in front of them holding an armful of clothes with her.
Even though Rogue was no longer in the battle arena Rogue was still on her guard, in case anyone decided to attack her. Though no one around her could tell she was tense around other mutants, if anyone glanced at her it would appear that she was relaxed, but no one would notice her knees bent slightly as if ready to jump away, one hand clutched the inside of the trench coat as the other was hanging loosely at her side ready to whip it off if anything happened.
Well, she thought nobody had noticed, but she could also see out of the corner of her eye that Gambit was watching her instead of the girl that just appeared from the ceiling. Maybe he did notice her slight change. . .
Kitty skipped up to them, reminding Rogue of a gazelle, she was taller than Rogue by several inches and skinnier as well, and it seemed like the smile or grin was always permanently attached to her face, like the world was just a big playground.
"Here you go!" She thrust the clothes at Rogue. "I couldn't get a bra or underwear for you because you're too big for any of mine, but this should do okay, and I couldn't find any of your old gloves either."
Rogue blushed at the mention of her curves, and blinked at the pile of clothes. She let go at the inside of the trench coat and slipped her hand back through the sleeve as she took them in her hands. "Uh, Thanks."
Kitty winked at her, "Really glad you're back Rogue." Then she paused and tilted her head to the side, "Is it really true you can't remember anything about being here?"
Rogue just nodded with her head down still too embarrassed to look at the girl.
Jubilee jumped in, "So you knew Rogue before she left? Why don't you tell her about herself? Like, do you know what was between her and Wolverine?"
Kitty glanced at Gambit, then at Rogue for confirmation before answering, "I couldn't really tell you, as far as I could tell they were close- real close, but it always seemed like a father-daughter close to me. Everyone thought that since Logan took off Rogue had followed him." She met Rogues eyes before explaining with a shrug. "You never could stand it whenever he left."
"Was this the first time she had taken off after him? Was that the first time he left?" He crossed his arms waiting for Kitty to answer.
She did with a nod, explaining, "It wasn't the first time that he left her here, I know they came here together with Storm and Cyclops. And that was the first time she left without saying anything."
"Why did no one find this strange?"
Kitty just shrugged, "It wasn't my call to make."
"Whose call was it?" Gambit continued.
Kitty put her fist on her hip, "Probably Storms - she is Headmistress here." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Now, if you're done interrogating me like it's my fault, I have some errands to run."
Rogue just stepped aside so the girl could pass by her, not bothering to ask her anything else. Not that she had asked her anything.
"That was rude Gambit." Jubilee said as Kitty disappeared, and Rogue completely agreed with her.
"What did I do?" Gambit mocked his innocence.
Jubilee pointed her finger in his chest. "You were making it sound as if she was at fault that no one looked for Rogue."
"I just find it strange, petit, that no one assumed that she was kidnapped even though Roguey hadn't left before." Gambit said seriously, "I don't know these people like you, petit. I feel like something is off about Rogues disappearance, things just don't add up, so I believe everyone's a suspect in my mind."
Rogue glared, "It doesn't matter that I left, don't be butting into my business, Swamp Rat! It's in the past so it doesn't really matter anymore." Then she shrugged her shoulders, turning into a doorway that everyone else had already entered, "Besides maybe they expected me to leave."
"Rogue there you are!" A blue hairy bear landed in front of her making her take a step back into Gambit. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I know my appearance can be scary but I'm harmless. When Bobby told me you were back I almost didn't believe him, but here you are. And it's just as he said it seems that you don't remember anything at all."
Without stopping he noticed the pile of clothes she held in her hands, "If you need to change clothes there is a bathroom right over there for some privacy."
Rogue quickly thanked him before he could say anything else, following to where he pointed.
She quickly took off the Trench coat and shirt she had on, and slipped her legs through the black stretchy material, and put on the grey tank top, and then lastly put on the thin hoodie. After she was done she picked up the white shirt and threw it away in the trash can then picked up Remy Lebeau's trench coat folding it over her arm.
She was about to open the door fully when she heard her name, and instead cracked it so she could hear.
"But I don't understand, why would they take Rogue she had the Cure! She's not a mutant anymore." Someone, probably Bobby, exclaimed loudly.
"Well, I guess her mutation came back because she was there for 6 months and survived." Rogue recognized Logan's voice.
"6 months? Then where was she for the past 3 years?" This came from the bear.
She had been missing for 3 years?
"She doesn't remember, at least I don't think she does, she shot me in the head when she saw us." Logan muttered the last part.
"Why did no one look for her when she disappeared?" Rogue recognized Remy's Cajun accent.
"That was my fault," A soft voice answered, and the first voice Rogue couldn't register. "Professor X told me that he had a feeling that Rogue would get the cure and that she might disappear for a while after it. He didn't sound too worried about it so I didn't think it was a big deal, I figured that she was just going after Logan."
"It's not your fault Storm, no one blames you and I bet Rogue doesn't either." Logan's rough tones came again.
Rogue had heard enough she didn't like being talked about behind her back but it would be even more uncomfortable when they noticed her listening in on them talking about her. So she pushed the door fully open, making the hinges squeak and she grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, as everyone's eyes locked onto hers.
'Never mind,' she thought inside her mind. 'This is just as embarrassing.' She managed to grab to door handle again and started to close the door, but Gambit grabbed it just before it shut and grabbed her arm.
"I forgot to pee." Rogue muttered as an attempt to make an excuse.
He just chuckled knowingly. "Don't be shy, petit. We were just talking about you."
Storm, or at least Rogue was guessing it was the Storm that everyone was mentioning, came up to her and trapped her in a hard warm hug. "I'm so sorry." She whispered in Rogues ear before letting go.
She was pretty, white hair that fell over her shoulders; her dark eyes were red-rimmed as if she had been crying, her dark skin was unnaturally pale with a tint of green.
"It's okay." Rogue whispered back, no point in hiding that she hadn't heard everything they had said. "Logan is right, I don't blame you."
Storm just gave her a weak smile.
"So, kid, why don't you tell us exactly what happened? And tell us exactly what you remember." Logan crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall as if he was ready for a big story.
Rogue looked from Storm, to Gambit, to Logan, to Hank, and then turned around the room to see if anyone else was still in the lab.
"Where is everyone else?" When Rogue realized it was only them.
"Forge took them," This came from the blue bear. "He can get the collars off a lot faster than I could, being the mechanical genius, and no one really needed medical attention."
Rogue nodded as she turned to Logan to recap her memories, "I think I remember a car crash, you went flying through the window and then just got back up like it was nothing."
Logan's brows went up in surprise, "Yeah that was when I found you hitching a ride without my knowing. You remember that?"
"Yeah, but I didn't remember until I shot you in the head and you got up from it." Rogue looked at his now healed head, ashamed. "Sorry about shooting you in the head too."
Logan waved it off as if it wasn't a big deal. "What's the next thing you remember?"
She sat down in the nearest chair, picking invisible lint off Remy's trench coat. "I'm in the woods just outside a city, naked, and then men about 10 of them start towards me, I run and as one tries to grab me he falls down unconscious. I can remember everything about his life, as he was a kid and as he played with his three nieces. It was like I was him. After that, I keep running but then I stop and try to fight them, I take out about 5 more then suddenly black."
"And you don't remember anything before that?" The blue man asked her.
Rogue shook her head, "Nope, the next thing I know is that I'm caged, and being put in an arena, that's when I found out that I don't just take memories but other mutants' powers."
"I wonder when your powers came back." He mused out loud. "I'd like to run some tests if you don't mind."
Rogue shrugged, "I don't mind but I don't plan on staying here for very long, but I owe ya'll for helping me escape."
Storm put her hand on Rogues shoulder, "But this is your home Rogue, if you want to find your memories the best place would be to stay here, at least for a little while."
Logan walked in front of her, "She's right, kid, you need to stay here for right now, just until we can make sure your safe."
"I can take care of myself." Rogue announced out loud.
"Sure, cher, that's why you ended up in a cage with no memories, fighting like a dog." Gambit said nonchalantly, and then grinned as she turned and glared at him and threw his coat at him.
"Do you know exactly what does that collar does, Rogue?" The blue doctor asked before she could lose her temper with Remy.
It worked, Rogue turned to the blue man as she reached up to touch the collar. "I don't know exactly, but I was told it supposed to shut down mutant powers, but I don't think that's true."
"Why don't you think so?" He put his glasses on as he took a step closer to it, and Rogue tensed.
"Because it doesn't for me," Rogue lifted her hand up to his face, almost touching him. "If I touch you right now I can still absorb your memories, so my skin still works. But the memories don't stay there for as long as they would if the collar was turned off. And also a man with enhanced senses could also see better in the dark as well as his nose even though the collar was turned on. But none of the other mutants could use their powers."
"Hmm. That is interesting; Forge will do some tests on the collar just to be sure." He assured her as he put his arm around her waist, completely unaware of her 'don't touch me' warning and pushed her out the door. "Go to Forge, he can get the collar off, as I'm sure you are ready to get it off for good now. And then come straight back here so I can take some blood samples and run some tests."
He pointed to the door right at the end of the hall. Rogue looked back at Logan, she wasn't sure why, but he nodded as if giving his approval and then Rogue turned and left the room completely.
"What do you think, Hank?" Logan asked as his friend came up to him.
"I think she's defensive, she doesn't want to trust anyone, but she trust's you the most out of all of us. She's a strong girl but she's scared too, she's just keeping it locked away and that's not healthy especially with her power."
"What do you mean, mon ami?" Gambit asked as he slipped his arms through the sleeves of his coat.
"Well, if her powers are working again then that means that not only is she locking away herself inside her head, but she's also locking everyone else up too." He tried to explain but Gambit still appeared confused.
"The problem is Gumbo that every time she uses her powers the consciousness of others that she absorbed don't just fade away with time, they stick with her always, and with what she's gone through she could easily start to go insane." Logan explained to him, the only reason he could get it was because Rogue had explained it to him on the train right before she got kidnapped by Magneto.
"And not only that, if her powers manifested in any way, like I assume it has, she could start to lose control of those powers." Hank looked towards Logan meaningfully. "We could have another Jean incident on our hands."
Storm, Logan and Hank all turned quiet and thinking, as Gambit had no idea who Jean was and what she did to these people to make them so worried.
He had no idea he was stepping on a land mine when he asked, "Whose Jean?"
He could see Logan's jaw clench tight, Storm crossed her arms, and Hank fix his glasses. "Jean was a level omega mutant, she was one of the X-men, powerful and dangerous, and although she had control of her powers in her younger years, the Phoenix her other personality took over and killed thousands of humans at the research center for the cure at Alcatraz Island under the command of Magneto."
It hit Gambit, "Yes, I know Magneto. I can imagine what happened."
"Yeah, he thinks that all Mutants are the superior race and that we should rule over the humans. But the war that he imagined didn't turn out quite like he thought it would and he got a heavy dose of the cure himself." Logan smirked at the memory, then glance towards Storm and Hank. "He disappeared after that, but if Rogue has her powers back after getting the cure. . . "
"He may very well have his powers back as well. Yes I thought the same thing." Hank finished for him.
"Do you think that maybe Magneto had her all this time?" Logan asked him.
"It's very possible, but what would he want with Rogue again? He already knows that the machine he built to change people into mutants wouldn't work not even with Rogues power." Hank shook his head. "I just can't think of a reason why Magneto would want her, and yet he's still being so quiet now."
Nobody said anything, they all stood there with their arms crossed, thinking . . . until the ground shook, forcing everyone to grab onto something.
"What the hell was that?" Logan growled suddenly heading towards the door.
Jubilee ran into him as she was coming in, clutching Logan's shirt, "You gotta come quickly! Something's wrong with Rogue!"
They all hurriedly filed out of there; Gambit quickly following behind Logan.
The door was blown off, and the other mutants who had already gotten the collar off stood around it, staring at the girl that was floating in the air with her hands clutching her head in the fetal position.
Broken metal and bits of tools few around her, as well as fire and what looked like ice.
"Logan! Can you get her to calm down?" Storm yelled over at him.
He whipped his jacket off and threw it over to her, "I don't know. She might not let me near her."
One of the escaped mutants came up to him, "Is there anything I can do?"
"Yeah," He growled lightly his claws sliding out from between his knuckles, "Go get that fucking kid that brought you down here, so I can rip him to pieces."
He watched as the kid did as he said and left followed by several others. Logan didn't care about them he had other things to worry about. And right now the one at the top of his list seems to be losing it.
Logan pointed to Jubilee, "Do you know what powers she's absorbed since she's been captured?"
Jubilee shook her head, but another man step toward him, "I know each one: there was a woman with invincibility and flight, one that could control gravity, and a man that could see in the dark, and the last could shoot energy beams from his hands."
He took a step closer, threateningly, "You seem to be paying a lot of close attention to her."
He just raised his hands in the air grinning, "Of course I did, her and I were the longest two in there, and we were going to have to fight eventually." He let his hands fall to his sides, "A good thing we got out before we had to fight."
"Does this usually happen when they turn off the collars?" He didn't lower his claws from the man's face.
"No this is the first time she's actually lost control like this." He answered truthfully.
Logan nodded before turning back to Storm, "Don't come in there unless I tell you to."
Storm nodded before Logan turned back towards Rogue, he took a step into the room.
It had felt as if a house got dropped on him, he fell to his knees and he heard Storm yell his name. He had to get Rogue to concentrate on him. But how the hell were they going to help her without a God damn telepath? But if they couldn't help her she would end up leaving, and if he couldn't get to her then all this wondering would be for nothing and she would end up killing herself.
"No!" Logan fought to stand up and he tried to yell towards her. "Rogue! Kid! Get it together!"
He yelled at her taking another step closer to her, he could feel the room getting colder and colder until it was like a blizzard, this must be from when she controlled Bobby, but to use a power from that long ago?
Logan took another step closer. "Rogue!"
The next thing was fire; seemingly coming from nowhere was surrounding her. Logan was almost their next to her, until the gravity seemed to pick up a notch and he was forced to the ground again and this time she did focus on him, just not in the way he wanted. She looked down at him, her hands still at her temples, tears were running down her cheeks from her red glowing eyes. Wait. Red glowing eyes? Wasn't that Cyclops' power? When did she get that?
As if to prove him right, she shot the red energy beam at him, and he just barely managed to avoid it, still stuck to the ground as he was, he had just managed to roll onto his stomach and was now staring at the gaping hole in the ground that would have been him if he hadn't moved.
She screamed, and the red beams stopped as she closed her eyes and returned back to the fetal position.
He rolled onto his back and was surprised to find Gambit right above Rogue, as he held onto Kitty through the ceiling. That's right Kitty's powers had no effect on Rogues gravity powers, and if Gambit could manage around the debris then he could get her to calm down.
"Rogue! Come on, kid! You're stronger than this!" He yelled to her, but she started to scream loudly again.
Gambit and Kitty both jumped from the ceiling, Gambit latched on to Rogue sticking her with a syringe until suddenly everything seemed to die down, the fire and the cold disappearing into thin air, as well as the gravity returning to normal and Logan could move again.
Rogue and Gambit began to fall from the sky, Rogue wrapped in Gambits arms as if she was fast asleep, Gambit landed on his feet easily enough like a damn cat, and Kitty was already next to him.
"What do you think happened?" Gambit asked as Logan walked towards him.
"What we were afraid of." Logan said as he took the girl into his arms. "What did you do to her?"
Gambit shrugged, "Hank gave me some needles and told me to give her a dose to calm her down if I could get to her."
They both walked out of the destroyed room, Forge looking on in horror at his once paradise.
"Where the hell is Bobby?" Logan growled once again as he took Rogue from the Cajuns arms and into the medical ward.
