"She's been asleep for days!" Remy exclaimed in exasperation.
"Her mind is a fragmented place right now." The professor calmly replied, stirring his cup of piping tea.
Remy grumbled something inaudible under his breath and turned to leave the kitchen and return to the lab where Rogue remained confined.
From his place at the oversized table the professor cleared his throat and Remy halted in the doorway.
"I don't need to remind you, Gambit, that Rogue is not herself at present. Any plans floating around your mind are ill advised." The Professor insisted firmly.
Remy said nothing, clenching and unclenching his fists in an attempt to remain calm. "You said you'd help her at the institute!" he demanded angrily.
"We're doing our best." The Professor sighed, having had this argument countless times since their return. "The walls erected around her mind are impenetrable. They're like nothing I've ever seen. She's not waking up, nor are we keeping her asleep, she's simply in a state of suspension as her mind heals. We wont know her condition until she awakens."
"There has to be something you can do!" Remy thundered, spinning to face the Professor and aggressively marching towards him.
"Watch it bub." Wolverine's voice growled from the doorway. "I'm already against you being here, don't give me any more reason to lock you up."
"I'm not the one who snuffed her out!" Remy shot back, turning to face the burly man leaning against the kitchen's doorframe.
"I didn't snuff her out, I shut her down. Temporarily." Wolverine snapped, standing up straight to meet Remy face to face.
"She's not a power plant!" Remy rumbled.
"That power was consuming her, sometimes the hard choice is the only option!" Wolverine retorted, his claws extending with their familiar 'shing'.
"Um, guys." Kitty's timid voice cut in.
"What?" both men shouted in unison.
Kitty flinched slightly before answering, "She's, like, awake."
"Enough." Rogue snapped, tearing her arm away from Jean who was examining her blood pressure. "You've run more tests than I can count. I'm fine!"
Jean frowned unconvinced, but, regardless, stepped away from her, not wanting stress to trigger another power surge.
"Professor, I want to leave this damn bed." Rogue demanded, sitting up as he rolled in with Remy and Wolverine in tow.
"I'm afraid that's not a good idea, Rogue." The Professor replied with a comforting smile. "Not until we determine what happened and whether it has permanently subsided."
"Aw come on Professor." Rogue whined. "It's not like this hasn't happened before."
Remy shot the Professor an incredulous look that was promptly ignored before turning his attention back to the Southern beauty bartering for her freedom.
"Rogue, I know you can feel me at the edges of your mind. I also know you are somehow keeping me out, even now. Are you not the least bit concerned with how this is possible?" the Professor inquired.
Rogue shrugged, averting her eyes from his and instead turning her attention to Wolverine.
"Logan?" she pleaded, locking eyes with his and refusing to look away.
"Rogue." Wolverine responded calmly, a single word that held more meaning than an entire novel ever could.
She frowned and slumped back down into the makeshift bed they had fashioned out of the medical table in the middle of the lab.
"It's quite amazing actually." Beast ranted on, unable to contain his newfound interest in Rogue's power. "I didn't think there was a mind powerful enough to block Xavier."
"What are the chances that mind was living with us all along." Jean chuckled in response, equally in awe of the situation.
The two watched from across the lab, doing their best to remain quiet despite their excited whispers to one another. On the far side, just out of earshot, was Rogue, currently frowning at the Professor who undoubtedly was making zero progress in infiltrating her mind.
"Come one, Professor." Rogue groaned in frustration. "Whatever happened is over. I'm in total control!"
The professor frowned, his brows furrowing even further than they had been in his concentration.
"I cannot deny the power has subsided." The Professor sighed. "However, it has not vanished. It lingers in the recesses of your mind, and so long as it is present, everyone around you is in grave danger."
Rogue sighed, sick of the endless and tedious explanations she'd been hearing all day.
"You can't access my mind, Professor. I don't know how to let you and you don't know how to get in, so what else is there to do? I can't stay in the lab for the rest of my life." Rogue pointed out, scanning his face for any sign she would be allowed to leave.
The Professor rubbed his temple in slow little circles as he thought about her words. He knew she was right, still he was reluctant to simply release her into society without ensuring she wasn't a danger.
"Perhaps," the Professor began, pausing as if assessing his own idea as it came to him. "If you were to focus on one thing, anything that would clear your mind, I may be able to reach for that thought specifically and slip through the cracks of your block."
He folded and unfolded his hands, as if contemplating whether or not such a thing was even possible.
"Make it a loud thought. Focus on anything that will be powerful enough to possibly reach beyond your mental blocks." The Professor stated, finalizing the plan as possible.
Rogue sighed and eyed him skeptically, a horrible feeling washing over her before she pushed it away. She was fine, she knew it and was more than a little annoyed the Professor didn't know it too. She couldn't help herself, all she could focus on was anger. First it was anger at being essentially imprisoned, then her mind drifted back to the Professor's lie concerning Cody, and finally her mind wandered enough that she was simply furious with all anti-mutant activists. She did try to let it go, but each time she tried to turn her attention to something else the thought evaporated into mist and she was right back to fury. Her mind reeled until she simply couldn't contain it. Anti-mutant activists had always been a thorn in her side – in high school they'd all but tried to run her and her peers out of town, she'd been arrested, imprisoned, used in various ploys between mutants and humans, and hunted on numerous occasions. Hell, on her way to Mississippi she'd had to save a little girl from an angry mob of them!
"Rogue?" the Professor interjected concernedly.
He could feel her mind bristling despite the walls still in place. Where he thought a specific focus would clear her mind instead he could sense it clouding over and becoming even more shielded than before. He pressed harder, desperately trying to barrel through her mental blocks, only to encounter the full force of her rage at which point she pushed back. The intensity of it sent him reeling backward in an attempt to get away from her, clutching his head as he did so.
Jean and Beast were at his side almost instantaneously.
"Charles?"
"Professor!"
"Hang in there!"
"Stop it Rogue!"
The lab quickly became a whirlwind of concern for Charles and demands for Rogue as the Professor clutched his skull in pain. Jean took an aggressive step towards Rogue, who didn't so much as flinch at the redhead's sudden advance.
"Don't make me do something we'll both regret!" Jean demanded, the tools on the nearby medical table beginning to vibrate at her threat.
Rogue said nothing, simply looked at her calmly for a brief moment before extending her hand to Jean's forehead. The redhead was unconscious so fast no one even knew what had happened. Beast turned to look at Rogue apprehensively but made no move towards her, simply remained at Charles' side sending worried glances at Jean's limp body on the lab floor.
"Now Rogue." Beast cleared his throat, ever the diplomat. "Let's not be rash here."
Rogue was across the room in seconds with one bare hand on Beast's forehead and the other on the Professor's.
"Nothing personal." Rogue stated to their unconscious bodies. "But I can't have you trying to stop me."
Remy was just about to step into the shower when a plume of smoke filled the air and Rogue was suddenly in the bathroom. For a moment he was so shocked he didn't register it was her, then he simply grinned seductively.
"A polite person would knock, Cherie." He purred.
She cocked her head to the side in a way that made him shiver with desire, her half lidded eyes surveying his body lengthily. In one swift move she was against him, pressing him into the bathroom wall with a thud that was drowned out by the rush of water from the shower.
"Much as I want to, mon Chere…" He chuckled throatily, subtly reminding her of the nuances of her mutation.
She smiled and closed the small distance between them, locking her lips to his and taking immense amusement from his utter shock. As seconds passed with none of the usual effects Rogue's touch promised, his hands found her waist and he deepened the kiss.
"How… How is this possible?" he panted between frantic kisses.
"You talk too much." She groaned, nipping his bottom lip before pulling away slightly.
She felt a rumble ripple through his chest at her actions and grinned at the power she had over him. Biting her lip coyly, she trailed her hands over his bare chest, loving the sensation she'd longed for most of her life. His body was muscular and hard yet his skin was soft, exactly how she had pictured he'd feel back in their Mississippi hotel room.
A sudden knock echoed through the room, breaking their intimate moment as a harsh bellow soon followed.
"Rogue!" Wolverine pounded on the door furiously.
She made no move to answer or open the door for him and Remy glanced between her and the door confusedly. Finally, when it was clear Wolverine would not give up and potentially knock down the door, she aggressively swung it open to face him. Glaring at him in absolute fury she gripped his face with her hand and watched as he collapsed onto the floor in a heap. She then turned around and did the same to Remy before quickly escaping without a single glance back at the institute. She knew where she was going, she'd gotten enough information from Remy's mind to serve her purposes well.