Thank you all for the reviews, especially Laani.

Hallo, Laani! Vielen Dank! Ihre Antwort war so süß. Ich genoß wirklich zu lesen. Seine gut zu wissen, dass die Menschen auf der ganzen Welt genießen, was ich schreibe. Ich bin dieses Posting Kapitel heute speziell für Sie! Doch lesen Sie weiter! :) (Ich habe Google Translator. Sorry, wenn es irgendwelche Fehler sind).

Xman 1234765: I think many would feel the way that you have. First of all, thank you for the constructive criticism. I was somehow expecting this. I'll try to explain it to you here. What Logan feels for Rogue is more intense than what he feels for Jean. He'll always choose Rogue over Jean. Its just that he feels guilty for what he did to Jean and at that time when he killed Jean, he loved her. So, he thinks that if he stops loving her now, it would be like betraying Jean. He can't admit that he doesn't love Jean. Because he does. Its like your past love. You can't stop loving them, its just that, you love them in a different way. You have different types of feelings for them. But whatever happens, you know that you'll choose the current love of your life over your past love, which in Logan's case is Rogue.

Correction: I just found a correction. I've made it bold. Guys please tell me of you find a mistake.

Chapter Ten

Pain

In the few couple of months, I had seen a part of the mutant world that I wouldn't have dared imagine inside the four walls of the Mansion. There at the mansion, what was protected, hidden and reserved was put to use here, to earn a living or simply for entertainment. This was a part of the mutant world thriving with activity, yet unnoticed.

Yesterday, I was a part of the X-Men – a part of a fight that made the headlines everyday, the fight that made our President sleep sleepless. Today, I was in a smaller, more intricate part of the same mutant world where people ate, slept and enjoyed normally in a world created by them, without the fear of cops cornering them down.

It was a wonder how much I didn't know until now. At the Mansion, I had… a narrow mind. When I woke up each day, I wanted to live it pass somehow, and still keep breathing by the end of it. Here, it was much the same… only, I felt a little relieved. Numb, but relieved.

I was still under the shock of what Logan did to me. I felt sort of… incomplete and broken. As if I couldn't be mended anymore. But then, I finally knew what Logan actually felt for me and now, I wasn't just hanging in the air, the reason that I was relieved for. Complicated, I know.

I sighed and looked up at the sky. We were protected here. Sally, Leslie's grandmother, was a mutant who first came up with the idea to how best protect this place and give mutants a chance at hiding and living undiscovered. She had put a sort of illusion on this place which made people outside think this was an abandoned area, wrecked and torn down. Only, once you stepped beyond a certain threshold and said a certain set of words did you unlock the place, which was a secret known only to Leslie.

First, I thought I was being tricked into a place I'd regret going, the first time I met Leslie. Then, I saw what he was offering, something which was better than what I had been served in a while. So, I took it gratefully. I mean, who could blame me? The government had practically started rounding up the mutants in the days of the cure, a proof that it was anti–mutant. And to go on without the slightest fear in your heart, a sense of security that I had come to feel only with Professor or Logan, here with Leslie in a few days… there was something to be said about it.

Over it, the fact that an underground fight club met here every other day to fight to win, in bright sunlight, under everybody's nose, was a real slap right in the government's face, without them even knowing.

Mutants were a part of this human world and being in minority, not many were satisfied with the whole arrangement of politics in the world. A part of mutants joined Eric and similar people like him, who lead to try and bring the rule of mutants with the Mutant Wars – to fight the unfair system of government. A larger part of the mutants, however, chose to neither side with anyone in the Wars. They lived their lives secretly – the normal way, hiding their identity.

Yet, a part of mutants formed a part of taking pride in who they were by participating in things like what we had here – like what Leslie's Dad created. It was a sort of secret society that hosted tournaments between mutants, recreationally. The awards to winners were generous enough to get any mutant to fight opponents with serious competition in mind.

It was kind of fun to think of a life this way. Leslie had about eight mutants now, who joined him in fighting on his side, including me. Though, I wasn't essentially fighting, I knew the basics. Leslie had a hunch that if I got my powers back, nobody would stand a chance against me. I, who knew better, knew that I stood no chance against people with psychic abilities – like Eve – who didn't even require touch to topple their enemies over like bowling pins.

Tonight, I was standing in the bleachers quietly, among a cheering crowd yet again, looking at the two men fighting a hand-to-hand combat, a bit awestruck. What was special about today was that the two hardly clothed men, who were at least the weight of me put five times each, were fighting and neither was backing down for the past hour. They were huge as boulders and sweating like hell, while each tried to kick the other down into the cemented ground, which would award a sure week in a hospital to whoever was to lose the match.

I reached Leslie, popcorn in my hand, while Leslie cheered with his hands in the air, his mouth wide open. It was a wonder how mutants like the ones fighting here went into crowds undetected. I looked back at them. Yep, if I saw them walking down an alley, no wonder I wouldn't raise a finger. Even if I do find something off about them. Well, these guys were dangerous and huge...

I smiled at Leslie, who had become a sort of best friend for me now. "Come on, Les," I said, chewing on my popcorn. "It's only the hundredth time we've been here and since you're the guy whose Dad actually created this thing, you should have been over this…I don't know – years ago? Yet, you still are the same as ever."

Leslie took a handful of popcorn from me, without permission, making me smile, reminding me of Logan.

It was a wonder how I could say Logan's name without feeling anything but a slight pang of sadness. I had already cried nights over him. And now…

There was nothing for him.

Almost nothing.

Leslie put all of those popcorns in his mouth at once, scrunching while watching at the two men in death–grip all the while. I shook my head, smiling again.

Leslie looked over at me, and said, in a hurt voice, "And the fact that you are not in the least mesmerized by these great–"

"Sweating and obnoxiously large–" I added.

"–fighters," Leslie said, throwing me an evil eye, "Is a real disappointment, Rogue. I mean, look down the row. Why aren't you enjoying?" – Les said, nodding to the other end.

I followed Leslie's line of vision and spotted Eve involved in heavy snogging with her boyfriend, Marcus, which was really a wonder given that the crowd was so loud that going on the way they were looked like a real achievement.

Besides them, at least half a dozen other mutants from Leslie's mansion cheered along with the crowd. Shaggy, Goofy, Behemoth and Poseidon – were actually lined with all sorts of posters and stuff that I only laughed at when I first saw. But since I had been a witness to this so many times now, the funny part sort of felt creepy now.

Shaggy was the mutant who could transform into and attack like a real wolf. Goofy could stretch like elastic bending around enemies, always untouchable. Behemoth could turn into a boulder, rock hard, which was quite painful on impact and Poseidon, who as the name suggests, could control the flow of water and other liquids.

Apart from them, Juno sat quite peacefully at the end, watching everything. Juno was the mutant who could make people fall in love. Really. One look and she could make you run after anyone. However, it was only temporary, lasting a day, maybe two. She could make it go more than that, but she said she never tried because it took a lot of her powers. Anyway, with an opponent, you only needed a while to make them realize that they love you and lose for you. She had actually tried this on Leslie during her first practice. She made him think he loved her and then he simply stepped out of the competition for her sake.

The effect of her love only lasted until he said it. Then, he realized what he had said and smiled, taking Juno in with us. Since then, Juno has won every fight without even trying to hit her opponent.

Apart from that, Juno could also tell things about love – love prediction and stuff. For example, she was the first one who told me that Marcus and Eve would end up marrying even though they'd both cheat on one another, never confessing it to one another, and go on like that for a lifetime, happily. I kind of believed that now as I eyed them kissing one another, Eve occupying a comfortable position in Marcus's lap.

Juno was the only one I had ended up befriending in Leslie's big mansion, apart from himself. I had cordial relations with others, but it was just them both whom I really considered my friends.

Juno was quiet and smiled rarely. But when she did, it was one of those smiled that made your day. Other than that, she was a great listener and gave great advices. Leslie was… well, Leslie. He could make you smile, smack him and hug him all at once. He was a funny, flirty guy, who would get away with anything because of his looks.

Yes, she knew about me and…him. That's because she…just sort of knew even before I told her that. She knew about things like that. But Juno wouldn't ever tell me my love future. She said it was exciting that way. Besides that, she didn't even know the future of her love life. She got a bit exasperated by it, but she thought the same thing about herself. Love was exciting when you didn't know anything about it.

Lately, I was seeing the other side of Leslie. A more protective one. From the first time I mentioned it, Leslie hadn't read even a thought of mine. Or at least he hadn't for as far as I knew. He had saved me from my act of foolishness with Marcus and saved from several fights with my inmates. And somehow… I kind of liked it.

I shrugged, looking back at the fighters. Nothing interested me these days. I didn't feel satisfied in anything. I felt just… blank.

"I think, I'm going to leave after this fight," I said, chewing more popcorn.

"What?" Leslie looked over at me, offended. "There are still two more fights to go. And then, Eve's fight is up next!"

"Which, she would undoubtedly win," I told him, looking over at Eve again. She was now falling over Marcus, who had an arm around her. "Really, Les, I need go back."

"Come on, Rogue? For me?"

I smiled, defeated at once because of his puppy–dog–face. "You are one heck of a bully," I said, sitting down and extending my popcorn towards him.

One of the guys was falling down now, the leaner one in comparision, when Leslie got up and winked at me.

I smiled, knowing what he was about to do.

He went up to Marcus and Eve and wrenched them apart forcefully. They both looked at him angrily.

"What?" Eve said.

Only Eve got away with back–talking to Leslie. Reason? She was a distant cousin of his.

"Get off. You fight next."

Obviously, they weren't on good terms owing to the fact that Leslie's Dad was a millionaire and Eve had lost both of them along with everything they ever owned. Eve's Dad was into cards a lot, and lost everything.

"Yeah, whatever," she said, sliding of Marcus and straightening her skirt. Then, she sat back beside him, looking at the fight as if nothing had happened.

Leslie came back to sit next to me, followed by Marcus, who settled down in a seat next to me, on my other side, which was unfortunately unoccupied.

Okay, Marcus was… just not somebody I was comfortable with. He was an outrageous flirt and he had gotten over my defenses a couple of times now, already. Not that I kissed him or anything. Just that that sweet and handsome face got me babbling like a baby. I just hated that fact about him. And then, his mutant abilities were way too severe for me to adjust too. He had the ability to see into others weakness and strike them full. He was basically with Leslie because he could spot an opponent's Achilles heel. This kind of looked like cheating but supposedly other 'sponsors' like Leslie, had people like Marcus up their sleeves too.

I looked at Leslie who didn't look as happy now, as before and was eyeing Marcus with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Marcus asked, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm just putting some distance between me and Eve. You don't want to see us sucking faces again, do you?"

Yeah, Leslie's Achilles heel? It was Eve. And Marcus took full advantage of that situation.

I glared at Marcus. "Shut up," I said, in a low warning voice as Leslie got up to announce the next fight. The fight was finally over and he gave me a look of concern. Throwing a glare at Marcus, he got down to the arena and look back at us, a mike in his hand, talking rapidly.

"Or what? You'll do what?"

I glared at him some more. "You don't want to see me when I get my powers back, Marcus. You'll be the first man I'd want dead. And it'll take just a second. I'll just have to hold on to that yabbering mouth of yours, and woosh. We'll have a powdered Marcus."

Marcus's smile faltered but he looked right back. "Wouldn't you want that? To hold on to my mouth?"

I looked at him, disgusted. "In your dreams." I eyed Eve, who was standing next to Les. "You just got off her! I swear you go from one girl to next––"

"So, now it's my fault that I'm so gorgeous?" He interrupted me, smiling.

"I hate," I said, looking over at him, "Over confident asses like you."

"Really?" Marcus said, smirking. "Only a couple weeks ago, I swear you were about to kiss me."

"What?" I said, looking up at him. "Right," I scoffed.

Okay, maybe I was lying. Slightly. God, I was drunk, okay?

"Come on," He said, smiling. God, this guy had freaking dimples on his cheeks and his teeth were unusually white. "Back at that old bar? Where you almost went back to the room I hired for the night?"

"Shut up," I snapped. "I was drunk. I foolishly trusted you. I would have trusted Shaggy in his wolf form back then."

Thank God for Leslie who saw us leaving in nick of time. I swear I never got that drunk so soon.

"Right," he smiled.

"Will you leave me alone already?" I said, annoyed. "Go bug somebody else."

"But you're the most fun to bug!" He whined in a kid's voice. Suddenly, his ears were next to mine. "You know Rogue what's your weakness?"

I looked up at him, suddenly a wee bit excited to know. "What?" I asked.

"Oh, so you want to know that, don't you?"

I gaped at him. Wow. This guy sucked big time.

"No, I don't actually," I said, turning to look at Leslie.

"Come on, aren't you excited to know, huh?"

I looked back at him. He was smiling smugly at me. I sighed at looked back at Leslie who introduced Eve's opponent, a girl with chocolate–brown skin, who was thin and lean, but exceptionally long, almost like a tall pole.

Now, Leslie was climbing back up to us.

"Logan," Marcus whispered in my ear suddenly, his breath caressing my ear. when I almost jumped out of my seat, my heart beating wildly.

"What?" I said, horrified.

"I don't know who he is," he said, smiling. "But he's it. He's your weakness."

I gulped looking down at his smug face. I felt my face heat up and all I could feel was my rage for this guy. I didn't know but suddenly, I wanted to hit Marcus so hard that––

"He left you, didn't he?"

"Shut up," I growled in a low voice.

"He left you alone. I'm guessing for another girl."

I glared at him, feeling my eyes glaze over. I shut my eyes, feeling heat rise up to my hands. Oh no, it wasn't happening. Not now.

"Was she beautiful?" He asked, a smile in his voice. "More beautiful than you?"

Before I could open my eyes, I heard the sound of tumbling of a few chairs all together. I looked up to see Marcus lying in a mass of chairs.

"Calm down, Rogue," I heard a voice beside me and a hand slid around my waist.

I breathed deeply before looking at Leslie who was still looking at me.

"Calm down," he whispered again, looking at me.

I nodded. I wanted to leave. Now.

"I'm leaving," I said, getting out of his grip on my waist. I touched his fingers and I saw a certain flash of scenes.

Leslie crying over a dead woman bleeding profoundly, urging her to wake up, Leslie beside Eve, both hugging. Eve looked a mere five–year old kid. A man, hugging Leslie, then patting his head…

Then, I was back into the present. I was hyperventilating when I got out, leaving behind a Leslie who had several small scars on his arms.

I couldn't think but I was walking on. I couldn't see but I was walking. I couldn't hear but I was walking.

I smashed into a guy, who gasped as I saw his memories swirl in my head.

Playing basketball with a blonde girl in the rain, kissing her deeply, holding her hand in the car, while he drove, gazing deeply into his eyes…

I collided with another guy, who shrank back. More memories.

A car crash… blood, dead woman. He was crying now. "Wake up Marge!" He shouted, crying…Then, a fight with a man. "You don't understand anything!" he shouted…

I cried in pain as I felt as my head had split open. I couldn't see, couldn't breathe and I felt around for support, trying to hold on to anything.

I fell on my knees, tears in my eyes. It hurt. My head hurt badly. I clutched my head hard.

Then, I felt hands around me. Hands that pulled me up, tugging at my shoulders.

But before I could say or do anything, a voice in my head exploded.

"Say your last words, Rogue."

And I gasped at the familiarity in them.

It was Jean.

Jean.

I felt more hands now. My eyes were shut. They were saying something but I couldn't hear it above the pain in my head. And then, there was a loud blast of noise as I fell down, holding my head.

Pain, so much pain.

I balled into myself, trying to hold on, trying to control the pain. But it was so much.

I screamed involuntarily, clutching my head. I felt the tears falling down my eyes, as they left wet, warm and salty trails. I kicked around, wildly as hands tried to hold me down, pin me down. But I kicked them and soon they were all off me.

More memories.

Eve crying beside the same woman I saw earlier. Eve throwing everything around, shouting crying, bawling…

Marcus kissing a black–haired girl, pushing her into the wall. With one pull, the blue dress fell off her shoulder and he kissed her shoulder, as she moaned…

Juno smiling at a guy. He looked back with a smile. He was wearing a black tux and there were lights all around… Bright shining lights.

Lights that hurt my eyes.

Then, there was a huge sound, above all my pain, loud deafening sound. As if…

A bomb. A bomb had exploded somewhere.

But then, my head hurt more. I cried loudly, thrashing around my legs and arms. The pain intensified and I felt myself floating. No hardness of the pavement, no nothing. Just air.

And then, I felt a final pang of pain, so intense that it defeated everything else. All thoughts left me and all I could so was scream to stop it.

"Stop it!" I cried, as I felt myself drifting off. "Stop it, please! Make it stop!"

And then, I lost my consciousness.

So, did you like it? Review and tell me! :D

Was it too intense? We are coming to the climax of the story. Tell me what you think. More action will be up in the next chapter. You'll understand everything then. A lot of the story is based on the next chapter.