AN: Sorry it's been taking so long, I pretty much got punched in the face by an evil cold. I've been wanting to get on the computer and write, but I've been to weak. I'm still sick so if this chapter ends up sounding crazy, you know it is because a delirious person wrote it!!! So please R&R, I really do love it.

Chapter 12: Refuge

The car swerved as all four bodies slammed against each other and the flank of the jeep. There were two hummers behind them shooting to flatten the tires.

The steering wheel jerked out of her hands with enough force to break her fingers. The car spun and nearly flipped over.

"Grab it!" Ben, Dylan and X yelled. Rogue grabbed the steering wheel, but her arms were to weak so X grabbed it too and pulled in her direction. The tire exploded when a bullet pierced it and caused the jeep to forge off course.

When they pulled the jeep back onto course Rogue yelled. "Hey Dylan, ya wanna help us out by throwin a fire ball or somethin?" Dylan sat still until Ben urged her to do it.

"If you don't, when they catch us you'll be in one of those cages too.?" Fear ran across her face as she unbuckled her seatbelt, got up and turned around towards them. Her eyes narrowed and her hands began to glow crimson as the fire flowed through her hand.

The flames grew as her tiny hands were engulfed by the angry red orange blue flames. They grew to be three feet around and began to melt the material from the seat. She threw the flame made balls towards the cars.

One flame ball landed on the windshield of the hummer. The heat from the fireball began to burn the men inside. The glass windshield heated up, the plastic and metal dashboard began to melt. The man who held the steering wheel released his grip as his hands began to blister and burn. The car veered off to the side and hit a dirt mound causing it to flip over.

The other flame ball hit the grill of the other hummer, it exploded as the car rolled over it. As the flames melted the tires the man behind the wheel stomped onto the breaks. In the jeep X hooted in joy as they got further and further away.

When they were several miles away and in a secluded spot Rogue pulled over.

"What are you doing?"

"We gotta change the tire an ah need ta relax a bit."

"Rogue, we need to find a place to hide, we can't stop now."

"How do ya expect ta drive ta anywhere safe without four tires? Ah can't drive anymore anyways, ah'm to tired."

"Where are we going to hide?" X looked over to Rogue for an answer.

"X we need ta get back on the road before ah can give ya that answer." Ben and X grabbed the tire, jacked the jeep and unscrewed the nuts that kept the wheel in place. Rogue and Dylan seemed too be in a staring contest.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Dylan looked away for a moment, but when Rogue wasn't paying attention she began to stare again.

From her peripheral vision Rogue could see the blond eying her. "What?!"

"Nothing." Rogue rolled her eyes at the blond woman.

"If it was nothin ya wouldn't keep starin at me."

"Dill, could you stop? Leave her alone." Ben knew what his sister was doing, she was trying to figure her out. She tried to see what had happened to the girl, she wasn't psychic, but she was good at reading people.

"What do ya wanna know?" Rogues face darkened. The look was almost masochistic, like reliving what had happened would bring her joy in a way. To Dylan the look was almost evil, animal like. It seemed to Dylan that if she asked about what had happened Rogue might attack her.

"Like I said before, nothing."

"Ya jus like ya brother a bad liar."

"You don't know anything about..."

"Hey, chill. Ah jus said ya brother is a bad liar, hell so am ah. Don't take offense."

"So you get to fight with her and I don't. Thats not fair!"

"Ah'm not X. It's jus a lively discussion."

"What is the little one talking about?"

"The name is X or X-23 get it right, fireball!"

"Who you calling fireball."

"Ladies can we just hurry to change this tire and get somewhere safe. Then I'll let you kill each other."

"Nobody's gonna kill anyone, X! Dylan? Ah can find us a place ta hide but y'all gotta stop goin fa the jugular. Guess what we in this together." Rogue walked over to a tree and plopped down in it's shade, midday in Australia was no joke. It's hot as hell!

"Okay, were done, pile in." Ben sat in the drivers seat and Rogue in the passenger.

"Ah jus need ta concentrate an ah'll figure it out." Dylan sighed and flopped onto the backseat of the jeep. X wanted to gut the woman sitting next to her in the backseat.

Rogue closed her eyes and traveled deep into her mind. She knew John was there, when Dylan threw the fireballs he almost let them veer off the road so he could see 'the pretty fire'.

John, ya here?

Ay? What of it. There gonna be more pretty fire?

Ah need ta find a safe place ta hide, if ya do ah promise lots a pretty fire. God now ah'm startin ta sound like you.

And ya act like that's a bad thing Shelia.

John! We need ta hide now, ya wanna go back ta that place?

No. My gran lives in Sydney if ya let the oldie know ya one a my mates she'll let ya stay for a while.

Thanks, that's good for now. She opened her eyes, seen a familiar street sign and began to direct Ben. "At the next corner take a left turn, drive straight for about a mile and take the exit to the freeway."

They drove at 90mph for six hours towards Sydney and the last hour they slowed as they closed in on the city. As they drove across the harbor bridge they could see the opera house, their eyes widened as they watched the illuminated structure.

"How did yo know how to get here?" Rogue turned her head towards Ben.

"That's the complicated thing bout my powers. Ah can absorb the memories, personality and abilities of a person and the abilities thing is only fa mutants. The kicker is in doing so ah can drain a persons life energy."

"Yeah, how'd you know..."

"Like ah said memories. Ah can pretty much use em as my own when they cooperate. All ah had ta do was get St. John ta tell me; it's easier that way."

"Like an encyclopedia?"

"Kinda, ah jus can't get em ta shut up."

"What do you mean shut them up." Dylan looked over to Rogue suddenly interested in the conversation.

"They are like... ya can say my other personalities, once ah absorb em they wont go away until a strong psychic takes em away. There have been times when ah slipped an one a them surfaced, ah was jus overloaded. It nearly killed me." She let out a small laugh when she said the last few words.

"So..." Dylan raised an eyebrow. "It's like you have split personalities?"

"Kinda, but they don't get much playtime. It only happened when ah kinda had a bit of a power surge."

"Power..."

"Surge?"

"Yeah, it was... ah don't wanna talk bout it any more."

"How'd you deal with it."

"Um.. ah didn't, the professor did. He got rid a all the personalities an left me with a blank slate, all ah did was start my collection all over again."

"Wow... why did you keep doing it?" Ben looked to see her face, but it was buried in her uniform.

"Ya wanna turn here an drive straight fa five minutes. How else was ah supposed ta help people with my powers?Ah absorb ta help someone else or ta save my self an they compile."

"How could you help someone, didn't you say you could kill... life energy, right?"

"Never killed a person, but the prof says if ah hold on to someone long ah could." She looked down the familiar street, even thought she herself had never been there the memories and warm feelings for the place flooded her. Gran. She smiled as she remembered her, no St. Johns grandmother. "Third house on the left."

They pulled up to the large house. Rogue walked to the front gate and remembered...

It was the middle of may. She was just a boy playing on her grans front lawn. "John come in and wash yer hands. Lunch is ready..."

"We used ta eat lunch... Ah mean John an his gran, every Saturday."

"Why don't you knock on the door?" Rogue stepped close to the door, she was about to knock when she saw a note.

Molly,

Sorry, but I needed to get away. I know we have our bridge

games twice a week. Don't worry I'm apples.(okay) See you

in two weeks, don't you love singles cruises.

Sue Allerdyce

"Ah guess we don't have ta worry about old gran."

"What are you talking about?"

"The old bird went on a singles cruise." Rogue walked up to the address plate on the side of the house, moved it and pulled out a key. "Ah guess gran won't mind." Rogue put the key into the lock and unlocked the door. "Jus don't turn on the lights in the front of the house."


"Logan, it took you long enough."

"I know Ororro. Ya ready to go?"

"Not yet, we still are trying to pinpoint X-23, she keeps moving."

"We might as well get going in their direction." Logan, would you come into my office please. "Gotta go see Chuck, tell em to get ready."

Logan walked into the professors office, he seen Magneto, Pyro, Colossus and Gambit in the office along with the professor. "Logan, welcome back."

"It was just two weeks Chuck."

"I know. We have a very strong lead, I think we'll have both girls home within a matter of days."

"Days... Chuck, if he wants them back it won't take days, it'll take hours. For all we know he already got the girls."

"Logan, we just need them to rest for just a moment. When they do that, we'll be on the move."

"Chuck, why don't we start heading there now and when ya find em on cerebro we'll be that much closer to them, it'll be safer."

"Okay, ready the team. Head to Hobart, Australia, then move on from there." Logan headed down to the lower levels to prep the team. It was just four of the x-men and the four Acolytes.

"Okay, Storm, Hank, Elf. We're gonna be heading to Australia in fifteen minutes, Chuck'll tell us where to go from there. Ya got fifteen minutes."

When the fifteen minutes ran out, they all got on the jet in uniform with all the equipment they could possibly need. At take off they were all ready, well at least they hoped they were ready to see what they might find.


As Rogue, X, Ben and Dylan walked into the house they felt the solitude of being isolated from the world.

"Ah'm gonna get in a shower an get some sleep. Don't turn on the front lights, don't make any calls, we want it to seem like no one was here. We can't leave any trace of our presence. Got it guys." They all bobbed their heads in agreement.

"Would you mind if I ate something, or are we supposed to starve."

"Go on an eat, jus don't eat the poor woman outta house an home." X, Ben and Dylan headed for the fridge as Rogue made a path to the bathroom.

In the shower Rogue washed away all the feelings of anxiety, she had an Epiphany of sorts. She now knew if she could get far enough from Trask and his soldiers she'd be okay, she'd get home.

She waked out of the shower and headed to the old womans room. She knew somewhere in her house she had something for Rogue to wear, she didn't want to have to put that uniform on again.

She dug through the womans closet, and found an old cardboard box, in it were clothes from what looked like the sixties. Rogue pulled out an old Rolling Stones concert tee and a pair of bell bottoms. I hope these are going to fit.

She pulled on the shirt, it was a little big, but it worked. When she got the pants on they just fit, they were a little tight in the hips but other then that they fit nicely. She made her way to John's old bedroom it was fit for a teenager and she could see that John had gotten his powers while he was here, that story was told by the scorched dresser.

She climbed into his bed and let her head fall onto the pillow. Rest, I haven't felt a pillow in ages. No wonder why people love these things, it's comfortable. When morning comes we'll head out, we'll go to a place that John barely remembers, somewhere deep in his mind... somewhere... over the rainbow. Wow, I need to go to sleep. Damn Kurt for making me watch the wizard of oz so much.

It isn't a bad movie, it's just... I can't wait til I get home, I'm gonna watch the wizard of oz with my little brother. I need to sleep, damn train of thought. SLEEP!

AN: I own nothing except for my two characters Ben and Dylan, oh and my story. Remember I'm sick so if it doesn't make any sense blame it on that. R&R!!! please! :)