Harry: Patience, all shall fall into place as I see fit. ;) But yeah, Old Sinny is a bit of a jerk, ain't he?

Lucky439: Ask and ye shall receive. Enjoy.

Ishandalf: If any of us were an evil mastermind, we would. There's just something satisfying about telling the good guy where we are and then proceeding to not let him have his way and kicking his ass. I always root for the bad guys (if they're hot of course).

Disclaimer: Ahem…Marvel's

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Sinister was flanked by his Marauders, a cruel grin on his face.

"Remington, my boy, I really did expect better of you. It took you an entire month to find me, and only after a tip from your precious friend Gray Crow. I really am disappointed. I thought I had taught you better," he shook his head.

"You play hide n' seek pretty well, an' I don' remember you teachin' me much o' anyt'in'. Oh, an' I ain' yo boy."

Sinister laughed, "Oh, but aren't you? If it weren't for me, you might very well be a greasy sploch on the pavement. You do remember, I am the one who helped you control your powers. You must at least give me some credit, dear boy."

"I don' have t' give you not'in', but you do have sumt'in' o' mine dat needs t' be given back."

"Oh? And what exactly would that be."

"I t'ink you know."

"Ah, yes, the girl. I'm afraid I'm not through with her, you'll just have to come back later."

"An' I'm afraid dat's not an option."

Sinister let out a mock sigh, "Very well, I'll just have to kill you. Scalphunter, dispose of them."

Gray Crow nodded and beckoned for the other Marauders to move forward while Sinister exited the room, his cape billowing behind him. Gambit turned to Rogue

"Alright, chere, we gonna punch a hole t'rough dem fo' you t' get by. You go find our daughter while we deal wit' dem."

"But Gray Crow, he's your friend right?"

"Not right now, chere, he don' know much o' anyt'in' right now, 'cept fo' what Sinister wants of him."

"I think I get ya, Cajun," Logan chimed in, "None o' these poor bastards know what's going on except what Sinister tells 'em. But he's right, it only takes one of us to go in there and get her, and you're the best candidate. You gonna be alright?"

Rogue nodded, "Just clear a path, Sugah, Ah'll do tha rest."

"Very well," Storm responded, "we shall distract them."

The fists started flying, so to speak. Vertigo pretty much landed everyone on their asses from the start, but she fell out of the fight soon after, done in by her own powers. Logan dodged several shuriken from Riptide and even a spear from Harpoon before smashing Prism into tiny pieces. Now all that was left was the heavy hitters. Rogue grabbed someone by the arm and threw them over her shoulder, smashing them against the wall, she turned on another when Kurt called out to her.

"Rogue, we can handle it from here, go now!"

She nodded and charged forward through the doors Sinister had just exited. It was a maze of corridors. How was she ever going to find Lucretia?"

The girl opened her eyes again. It was still hard to see, but she had learned to get past that. Even as a toddler, she knew what instinct was, and she used it. She used her new found powers to reach out with her senses to realize the world around her. Because of her empathic connection with her family, she could feel their fear and worry. She also knew that they were coming for her. This made her anxious. She tried furiously to move, but without result. Suddenly, she felt her mother, stronger than before. She was here, looking for her. She instinctively concentrated on her anxiousness and amplified it, focusing it towards her mother. The little girl prayed with all her might that it would work, because out of the corner of her eye, she could see the large figure moving towards her again.

Rogue rounded corner after corner, each time meeting a dead end. She wasn't even sure if she was making progress. She could have been just running around in circles, coming to the same dead end every time. She started marking the walls, hoping that she would see she was moving in circles and choose a different turn. Her efforts, however, were not necessary. She turned one corner and was suddenly blasted by a wave of emotion. Fear, anxiety, excitement, all mixed together. It knocked the wind out of her temporarily, but eventually, she adjusted and began to follow it like a trail of breadcrumbs. The closer she got, the stronger the feelings became. She knew she would find her, and everything would be okay.

The battle outside was coming to an end. Only three Marauders were left and Kurt and Storm had been knocked unconscious. That just left Gambit, Bishop, and Logan to face off against Scalphunter, Blockbuster, and Riptide. Logan smiled and cracked his knuckles, this was gonna be fun.

"Care t' dance, ladies?"

"Age before beauty," Riptide spit out.

Logan snorted, "Too bad beauty don' apply t' any o' you ugly mugs. Guess we'll just have to go with age!"

He charged forward, claws extended and started swinging, Gambit and Bishop not far behind. Logan couldn't remember the last time he had had this much fun, but before he knew it, it was over. The three remaining Marauders were now bloody heaps on the floor. Kind of disappointing, really. But, still, they had a job to do. The three X-men ran through the doors and started on Rogue's trail.

Rogue finally reached the main laboratory, greeted with the full emotions of her daughter. She saw her. She was floating in a giant glass cylinder, surrounded by a thick gray substance. A mask was over her mouth and nose, allowing her to breathe. Her eyes were wide open and staring at her. Rogue suppressed a shiver. Unfortunately, she was also greeted by Sinister.

He sighed, "You people are really interfering with my plans. You have no manners whatsoever."

"Sorry, sugah, Ah didn' really have a proper upbringin', if ya know what Ah mean."

"Yes child, I do. Now, down to business. You want your daughter, correct?"

She nodded.

"And all I want is to find out the full range of her powers."

"Sorry, that won't cut it. Let her go, an' Ah won't bruise you up too badly."

He laughed softly, "I'm sure you won't."

Rogue lunged forward with all of her might and Sinister grabbed her by the throat, lifting her inches above the floor. She gasped for air against his force and pulled at his hand.

"This is what I mean," he laughed, "always interfering. I'm afraid you've lost all usefulness to me child. I really am sorry. You were an unexpected surprise for me. It is truly unfortunate things had to end this way."

Rogue tried to gasp out a nasty retort, but found her throat wouldn't open far enough to allow sound to escape. She started to black out. Her vision started to fade. Suddenly, she was somewhere else. She was back in the bar, with the black-haired woman, still puffing on the black cigarette. She pulled the it away from her mouth.

"I told you to protect them. Now would be a good time to open the other box I gave you."

"What?"

The woman raised an eyebrow, "You actually spoke?" She ground out the cigarette, "You must be getting too familiar with this world." She shrugged, "You don't need me anymore anyways. Let the old powers resurface within you. They're yours now anyways. Ms. Danvers wouldn't be able to use them even if she wanted them back. They are a part of you, you've ignored them for too long. Now would be a good time, you don't have long." The woman turned back to her pool game, and the bar started to fade. Right before it vanished completely, she saw the man again. He had crystal blue eyes.

Rogue suddenly came to, and gripped at Sinister's hand with renewed vigor. She remembered everything the woman had said and reached down to find the powers she had taken from Carol Danvers when she was Ms. Marvel. She felt the strength flowing through her. Her throat expanded and fresh air coursed into her lungs. She gave a good tug on Sinister's hand and pulled it away from her neck and then proceeded to bend his arm the wrong way. He snarled at her and gave a good blow to her ribcage with his free hand.

"You forget, my dear, that I am immortal, and therefore cannot be harmed! I am also a shape shifter and can bend my body anyway I see fit!"

"Ah'll try an' remember that next time Ah try and rip yoah head off!" She charged again at full speed, hitting him full on in the chest and knocking him backwards into Lucretia's tank.

"You ought to be more careful, child. If that tank ruptures, you could very well kill your precious daughter!"

In fury, Rogue charged him again, fists blazing. She clocked him good once in the jaw and again to the other side. Then she brought her knee up and smashed him between the legs. While he was bent over, she grabbed by the back of this suit and threw him against the wall.

Gambit, Logan, and Bishop ran through the maze, Logan hot on Rogue's scent. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of Rogue's brawl with Sinister.

"Sounds t' me like Rogue be havin' all de fun, non?"

"Well, let's get there before she has too much."

"Oui, lead de way mon ami."

Lucretia watched the fight from the confines of her tank. Everything was a too blurry for her to tell exactly what was going on, but she knew that her Mamman was really giving the bad man a hard time. She wanted to help her mother. She wanted to be outside, with her. She wanted to see her Pappa, she wanted to go home. So she decided, that outside the glass was the place to be, so she pushed. She pushed against the glass with the powers the dark man had shown her. She felt the field around her expand and she faintly heard the glass begin to crack.

Sinister turned from punching Rogue in surprise. "No child!" He stood up straight and moved to run to the tank. Rogue grabbed him by the back of his shirt just in time to see the glass around her daughter shatter. The glass exploded everywhere, covering everything in sight. Instinctively, Rogue used Sinister as a shield. The deranged man was practically sliced to ribbons by the shards. She dropped him in disgust and screamed at what she saw.

Remy heard Rogue scream and pushed past Logan, following the sound of her voice. He rounded corner after corner, hoping he wasn't too late. He rounded a final corner, and stopped. He couldn't believe his eyes. He fell to his knees.

Rogue sat there, in the middle of the floor, cradling their daughter in her arms. There was blood on the floor. The little girl was bleeding badly, her wetsuit cut to pieces. Tears streaked down Rogue's face as she clutched the toddler's hand.

"Mamman," the little girl whispered. Rogue let out a loud sob and clutched the little girl closer to her, it was the first word she had ever spoken.

At that moment, Bishop and Logan rounded the corner.

"Cajun, what's goin' on?"

"My god," Bishop whispered.

Suddenly, Rogue's head snapped towards them, her eyes wide. "Logan, come here," she whispered, there was a fire in her eyes. While Bishop and Remy stared on in disbelief, Logan walked slowly towards Rogue and kneeled beside her. Lucretia's breath had grown faint, almost nonexistent.

"What is it, darlin'?"

"Ah'm sorry about this, Logan," she muttered as she raised a bare hand to his face, "but Ah need yoah powers."

She watched, blankly, for a moment as Logan slumped to the floor, then turned her attention back to her daughter. Catching on to what Rogue was doing, Remy stood, griping the door jam for support.

"Dat's it, chere, it just might work!"

"Gambit, what are you talking about?" Bishop demanded.

"Shhh, she need t' concentrate."

Rogue placed a hand on her daughter's face and tried to absorb her memories, praying silently as she did. Finally, she felt Lucretia pull back. A smile broke on her face.

"That's right, sugah, use his powers. Heal yourself," and as she said that, the wounds on her body began to close and heal. Rogue looked excitedly at Remy who rushed over to her and picked the two up, hugging them tightly, laughing as he did.

From the floor, Logan groaned, "What happened?"

Rogue laughed, "We'll explain on th' way, Logan."

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See, no cliffhanger this time. You love me right? You do, I know you do. Now go review and I'll start on the next chapter.