Disclaimer: Still don't own X-Men.

A/N: Well, here we are. This chapter will switch back and forth between Rogue's POV and Logan's. I wanted to once again say thank you for reading and reviewing! This story is far from over, and I hope you all enjoy what's still to come. Also, just a note that the Ms. Marvel in this fic is based off the 90's X-Men Animated Series. Warning: Brief description of injuries.

'Please leave me alone.'

'I'm dead.'

'I'm sorry!'

Rogue clenched her eyes closed tightly and held her head between her hands as the mental battle of wills persisted. Carol wasn't leaving, she wasn't fading like all the others had. It was like having a fully formed person in her head instead of a shadow.

'I am a person!' Ms. Marvel screamed.

'You're just in my head.'

Carol didn't like that answer apparently. A stabbing pain shot through her temples in response. Rogue wasn't sure why Kern had forced her to absorb someone like Carol. The woman was powerful, more powerful than any of the others she'd had to absorb the last...however long it'd been. A month? A year maybe? It felt like years.

'The idiot got too cocky.'

'Shut up already!'

It was too much. She was having a hard enough time dealing with all the forced absorptions, the physical pain, and the fact she was going to die in this cell or on an exam table. She didn't need Carol making it worse.

'You killed me.'

'I'm sorry!'

She might have cried if she didn't feel so numb inside. The only thing filling the empty void was Carol ranting and blaming her for her death, and the guilt that went with it. Limpy could walk through the door right now and hold a gun to her head, and she probably wouldn't lift a finger to stop him. At least then the pain would stop.

'You're pathetic.'

'I know.'

Rogue laid down, her bruised cheek stinging against the cold floor, and closed her eyes again. A cough tore through her chest and sent a burning jolt through her injured side. She needed to sleep. Maybe she would wake up and it would all have been a nightmare.

Just as she finally managed to doze off a loud thud startled her awake. She didn't sit up though, only opened her eyes and stared at the door. She wasn't going to get her hopes up that it was another rescue. She wasn't going to delude herself into thinking the X-Men would barge through the door any second. They'd left her here to die, which was probably exactly what she deserved. No, they weren't coming for her.

Another loud noise met her ears, but she still just stared blankly. It was probably just the guards getting more prisoners ready for transport. They were all supposed to be packed up and moved soon. She closed her eyes, not caring in the least. Everything she'd had left was gone now. They could do whatever they wanted.

Eventually the door to her cell rattled and screeched, but she didn't have the energy left to open her eyes again. Another loud thud, the loudest yet, echoed through the small room as the door was flung open. A bright light lured her into opening her eyes, and what she saw nearly made her heart stop altogether.

It was Logan.

His face loomed over her, and a second later he was joined by others. Kurt and Storm, she realized. Kitty stood a little ways back, her eyes wide. Her gaze lazily flickered to the door and she saw Scott staring at her, unmoving. Jean was just outside the door, facing away.

How many times had she wished she could wake up and find them there? Too many, but not in awhile. She'd given up and simply didn't care. They probably weren't even real. She'd finally just lost what sanity she'd had. It was a hallucination. A cruel hallucination.

"Stripes?"

Rogue stared ahead, her eyes fixed on a random spot on the wall. It wasn't real. The X-Men weren't coming for her. She was alone.

"What's wrong with her?"

Gloved fingers gently touched her face as she was turned over onto her back. The touch was so gentle tears almost filled her eyes. Almost, but not quite.

'I want my body back!'

'I don't know where it is.'

'You killed me!'

"I'm sorry." Rogue didn't even realize she'd said it aloud. She stared up at Logan's furious expression.

He knew. He knew what she'd done and was angry. Even her own hallucination couldn't stand her. She closed her eyes, blocking out the looks of anger and disgust.

Logan made a run for the door down the hall. The swamp rat might be a slippery weasel in his book, but he'd given half-decent descriptions of the layout of this place. If he was right, then Rogue's cell was here. He swiped at a wayward guard who had managed to get away from Jean and then continued on his way.

The others were freeing prisoners on their way while taking care of the remaining guards. Security had been lax. Logan doubted they'd been expecting another attack so soon after the last. The fact they were in the process of packing up to move had helped too.

He reached the door and attempted to slice through it. His claws left deep marks on the metal, but the door was thicker than he'd thought. It would take time. Time he didn't have. "Cyclops!" he called since the others were still dealing with other cells.

Scott was there in the blink of an eye and didn't even ask what he needed. He focused his sights on the door hinges and soon they began to melt away. It was all Logan needed. Before the hinges were even fully removed he rammed his enter body into the door. It burst open, flying backwards until it hit the inside wall.

Logan squinted as he stared inside the dimly lit cell. A reeking odor hit his senses just as his eyes fell on the small form laying on the ground facing them.

Rogue.

He rushed inside and fell to his knees at her side. There was a large bruise around her eye, her jaw looked swollen and bruised as well, and there were a couple of scratches along her forehead and cheek. The start of a gash was above her other eye, but it disappeared from view where that side of her face was against the floor. Even her lip looked like it had been split open at one point. He glanced over the rest of her, looking for any signs of bleeding that needed to be taken care of immediately. He could smell blood, and there were stains of it on her clothes and bandages, but he didn't see anything bleeding at the moment.

His heart nearly stopped as his fingers inched towards her neck to check for a pulse. Just as his gloved fingers were about to graze her neck her eye fluttered open though. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes found him and he knew instantly they'd drugged her, just like Gambit had warned. She looked tired and warn out, but it was the pain lingering in her eyes that nearly pushed him over the edge.

He wanted someone to pay for this, and he wanted to be the one to make them pay.

The others joined him, but he couldn't tear his eyes off the girl in front of him. He heard Kitty gasp, heard Storm mutter something under her breath, and felt Kurt shaking next to him.

The kid looked bad.

It was then that he realized Rogue wasn't looking at them any longer. She stared at something, probably nothing, and ignored them. He wasn't sure she was even really coherent enough to recognize them. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

"Stripes?" he said, attempting to get her attention. Her gaze didn't even flicker in his direction. She barely even blinked.

"What's wrong with her?" Kurt asked, sounding slightly panicked.

There was probably a lot wrong with her. Things they couldn't even see right now.

Before they could deal with any of that, they had to get her out of here though. Carefully, hoping not to cause her anymore pain, Logan began turning her over onto her back and off her side. As he did so, Storm held the girl's head to help make the movement go more smoothly, and cause Rogue as little discomfort as possible.

Ororo's hands lingered a moment longer before she moved back. Though the unseeing look in Rogue's eyes didn't change, she actually made a soft, barely audible, sound at the loss of contact. Almost like a wounded infant missing its mother's tender touch. The sound sent a stabbing pain through Logan's heart that just made him all the more angry at the people who had done this to his Stripes.

"I'm sorry," Rogue suddenly said, her voice broke and wavered and came out as barely more than a strained whisper.

She looked straight up at him, and Logan felt his blood boil. She was sorry? She had nothing to apologize for. Nothing. And yet here she was, broken and abused, and she was apologizing. Logan wasn't even sure who she was apologizing too. Whoever it was didn't deserve it.

He wanted to rip out the throat of whoever had done this.

When her eyes closed he released a haggard breath. He was going to get her out of here, then he would hunt down the people responsible. For now he focused on getting the shackles off her wrists. "Shadowcat," he summoned, lifting Rogue's hands. "Think you can..."

Kitty was at his side in a instant and reaching towards the chain that connected the cuffs. A second later they slid through Rogue's wrists. "Her wrist!" Kitty exclaimed, sounding slightly horrified at the sight. She tossed the restraints away with disgust.

Logan studied the hand in question. It was bloodied, and her wrist was raw, swollen, and disfigured. He wouldn't be surprised if it were broken. Her left hand was wrapped in a blood stained bandage, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know why.

"Let's go," he barked out. He folded the blanket Rogue was on over her to cover her bare arms and legs before gently gathering the girl in his arms. He wasn't ready to trust anyone else to carry her.

He felt both a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach as well as a raw fury upon realizing she had at least one broken rib. He could feel it through the thin blanket. He'd barely made it to the door when Jean threw out a hand towards something down the hallway.

"We have company!" she said just before a bang echoed down the corridor from where the red-head had thrown someone into a wall.

Logan scowled as he stepped out into the corridor with the others. At least a dozen guards were heading their way. He shared a look with Storm before she took off to lead the way. They'd been up against worse. He clutched Rogue to his chest and glanced down at her. He'd never seen her look so small and fragile before. More like the child she'd never gotten to be, instead of the tough Rogue he knew her to be.

"Don't worry, Stripes," he muttered as the others easily took care of the threat. "We're gettin' you out of here."

"Don't worry, Stripes. We're gettin' you out of here."

The words barely registered, but what little got through almost made her feel...safe. A few little sounds of pain escaped as she was jostled about. Moving hurt. Breathing hurt. Being alive hurt.

"We can't get out that way! It's blocked!"

She thought she heard Scott, but the voices blended together with the ones in her head.

"Where are all these guys coming from?" Kitty questioned.

Rogue didn't open her eyes, but she gritted her teeth when an abrupt lurch set her side on fire.

'You deserve it,' Carol said bitterly.

'I know.'

"Gonna have to put you down for a minute, Stripes," she heard someone whisper just before her back was once again on something solid.

A familiar skink sound reached her ears before someone grunted and fell to the floor nearby. As the noise around her escalated she felt herself being pulled deeper into sleep. She couldn't resist it.

"This might have worked the first time," a gruff voice suddenly said. It sent a feeling of dread washing over her. "But it won't work this time. None of you are getting out of here."

Rogue turned her head and pried her eyes open as far as they would go, which wasn't much. Standing just a few feet away was Brax. He was facing away from her, apparently not considering her a threat in her current state, and facing the X-Men with a gun pointed at Logan.

Other guards stood around as well, all with weapons aimed at the six mutants. Jean had her hands up, and Rogue assumed it was to protect them from being shot at. No one was paying her any attention. She felt like a piece of useless trash. A murdering, useless, and toxic piece of trash that no one wanted.

"I don't think keeping all of you as prisoners will be necessary," Brax continued. He sounded...pleased.

Rogue watched through a haze as Brax leveled his gun at Jean. If he fired the bullet probably wouldn't get through the barrier she was projecting, but she could only keep it up for so long. They were outnumbered and cornered. Eventually someone would wind up getting hurt.

The thought managed to wake her up a bit and helped her focus. Maybe they were real. Maybe they weren't. It didn't matter. Because no matter how much they hated her, how disgusted they were at what she'd done, they were still her family.

And right now her family was being threatened.

It sent a wave of fury through her. She focused on the anger, she clung to it like it was an anchor, and used it to keep herself grounded. She summoned all the strength she had left. No one was going to hurt her family as long as she was alive to stop it.

She heard the cock of a gun, and that was enough.

She flew upwards and straight at Brax, grabbed him under the arms, and threw him straight into the opposite wall. He slid to the ground, leaving behind a head sized dent in the wall.

The X-Men now behind her stared in shock, and the guards froze, not knowing what to do now that Brax was unconscious. Only then did it dawn on her that she was in the air. Flying. She was flying.

'Those are my powers!' Carol's voice boomed in her head. 'You stole them!'

An excruciating pain ripped through her skull.

She crashed to the floor while clutching her head, the pain traveling up and down her body until it was all she was aware of. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before. Yet another level of pain she'd never experienced, and one she just wanted to stop. Tears sprang to her eyes, but went unnoticed.

'Please...just...stop,' she begged.

'Not till you're dead.'

She couldn't think, couldn't comprehend the blurry figures gathering around her, and suddenly she couldn't even remember her name.

Everything went dark as she finally lost the battle.