Taunting Repartee

Chapter Twenty-Four

Rogue moaned softly as Eric bite her neck. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she straddled his lap. She took deep breaths: as usual they did very little to help her escape the aroused state Eric enjoyed trapping her in.

"How the hell am I supposed to… figure out what's going on in Bayville by sitting on your lap?" she managed to ask aloud as he continued to run his hands up and down her now shirt-less back. He responded with a deep laugh.

"I assure you, my girl, we will get to that," he said as he pulled back slightly to meet her gaze. "You will simply have to be patient," he said as he moved his hand to gently brush away some hair off of her face.

He leaned in to kiss her again as there was a knock at the door. Rogue turned her head away from Eric's as she gazed at the door. She moved to get off of his lap but he tightened his hold on her waist keeping her getting up. She turned back to glare at him.

"It is far too soon for the food," he explained as he ran his hand down her bare shoulder and across the straps of her bra: causing her to shiver. "Yes?" he called out loudly.

"Sir, I apologize for bothering you, but we have a situation that requires your guidance," she heard Blindspot say. She watched Eric raise an eyebrow.

"In a moment," Eric declared as he removed his hand from her waist. He gave a quick nod to Rogue: she understood to stand up.

'Where the hell is my shirt?' she asked herself as she surveyed the room. She saw some black material on the floor near Eric's desk and walked over to it. She reached down and pick up the shirt. 'Or what's left of it,' she thought frustrated as she noticed it was ripped. 'I can't wear this,' she thought annoyed. "What is your obsession with ruining my clothes?" she asked him as she turned to see him standing near the door. He chuckled as he walked towards the couch. He reached down and picked up the black jacket.

"This should be sufficient," he said as he handed her the jacket, while his eyes glanced over her body. She snatched it out of his hand as she continued to glare at him. He took a step towards her as she put on the jacket as quickly as she could. He reached out and grabbed at the jacket: buttoning the bottom button. She slapped his hand away.

"I can do that myself," she muttered as she buttoned the next button.

"Of course you can," he said with a chuckle as he used his abilities to shake the metal buttons: causing her to lose her grip on the button. His hand swiftly took hold of the jacket again. This time she didn't bother to fight him as he did up the last of the buttons. She inhaled sharply as his fingers slid across her neck, and under her chin. He titled her head up to face him. "I promise you, my girl, we will finish this," he said before he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips, "sometime tonight."

"I'd be okay with you breaking that promise," she whispered.

"Nevertheless, I am a man of my word," he said with a chuckle. "Let's see what trouble my minions have gotten into, shall we?" he asked with a smile as he backed away from her. She watched him turn towards the door as she started to smooth out the jacket. "Your appearance is fine, Anna. I would not be allowing you to leave the room if I thought otherwise," he said as he got to the door. She huffed as she stopping touching the jacket, and followed him out of the room. Her eyes immediately went to her brother. He was standing motionless a few feet from Magneto's office

"Graydon?" Rogue asked confused as she walked up to her brother. "Why's he like this?" she asked somewhat panicked as she examined her brother's frozen posture.

"Emma, take Rogue outside," Magneto commanded.

"But-" Rogue started to say as she turned to face Magneto.

"Now," Magneto said sternly as their gaze met: his cold eyes bored into Rogue's.

'There's that look again,' Rogue thought with a fear filled shutter as she felt Emma's hand on her arm.

"Let's go, Rogue," Emma said quietly. 'Neither of us can help him here. Defying Magneto will only make the situation worse for Graydon,' Emma projected into Rogue's mind. Rogue nodded to both of them as she let Emma usher her towards the exit.

'Emma, what's going on?' Rogue asked as she turned back to look at her brother.

'Outside,' Emma thought firmly as she tightened her hold on Rogue's arm. Rogue watched Magneto walk up to her brother, his hands clasped behind his back, as Emma pulled Rogue out of the room.

'Is Gray gonna be okay?' Rogue asked as they walked thought the restaurant.

'I don't know,' Emma admitted. Rogue gasped as a few tears ran down her face.

"Ms. Manh bring Graydon into my office," Magneto commanded. "Blindspot, I wish to know to know what was said," he said.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not that type of telepath," Blindspot said.

"Cell phone," Magneto commanded. Blindspot quickly got hers out of her pocket. Magneto opened it wordlessly and dialed a number. "… Ms. Braddock, I'd like to give you the opportunity to redeem yourself in my eyes," he said.

'What happened?' Rogue asked once they were outside the restaurant. "Emma, please he's my brother," she said as Emma released her arm. Rogue watched her roll her eyes.

"And he's my boyfriend," Emma yelled, "and believe me I am just as worried as you are. But you don't understand," she yelled as tears ran down her face. "I work for Magneto, and he has made it very clear that he's the only one who is allowed to give you information. It is not my place to tell you anything," Emma yelled in anguish.

"I'm sorry," Rogue muttered as she hugged herself: the cold was starting to get to her. Rogue's eye widened slightly. "He's not in trouble because of what he told me at that diner, right? I thought I covered that up well enough," she said quickly.

"You- … you did. That's not why," Emma said. Rogue let out a sigh as she shuttered from the cold. "I can't tell you why," she said again.

"I understand," Rogue said as she ran her hands up and down her arms.

"Are you cold?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "The jacket's kinda thin," Rogue said as she and Emma began to walk to her silver car

"The shirt underneath as well, I take it," she commented.

"What shirt? Eric ripped mine," she said annoyed.

"How- how did that happen…exactly," Emma asked as she took a deep breath as she opened the driver's seat door.

"I'm not sure actually," Rogue said as she opened the passenger side door to the car. "My eyes were closed when it happened," she explained as she and Emma sat down on the seats. "One minute I was sitting on the chair in front of him and next thing I know I'm on his lap shirtless," she said with a sigh.

"…How many times has," Emma started to say as she started the car "… has Magneto attempted to seduce you?" she asked.

"What today?" Rogue asked as she looked up at Emma. Rogue watched her take a deep breath and wipe a few tears off her face. 'Are those tears for me?' Rogue asked herself confused.

"Yes," Emma said. Rogue wasn't sure which of her questions she was answering. "…how- how many times today?" Emma asked.

"Hmm…" Rogue paused as she thought about it for a moment. 'There was in the car the first time, and the second time? Does just a kiss count?' she asked herself.

"Yes," Emma said. Rogue looked up at her again. "Just a kiss counts," Emma answered disgusted.

"Hmm… then those three in the car and in my bedroom he kissed me… and then just now in his office," she said as imagines popped into her mind from each event. Rogue took a deep breath as she pushed them back.

"Five then," Emma said quietly.

"Yeah, and he kinda promised that we're gonna have sex tonight. Even though I told him I don't want too. Of course, why would it matter what the captive thinks?" Rogue asked bitterly before sighing. "God, I hate this shit. Neither of us know if Gray's gonna be okay and all we can do is sit here and hope that jackass is in too good a mood ta hurt anyone. Fucking bullshit," she mumbled as she continued to hug herself: waiting for the car to warm up enough to turn on the heat.

"I have my suitcase in the truck. I'll give you a shirt to wear," she offered she started to regain her composure.

"I- thanks, Emma," Rogue said surprised by her kindness. "But-" she started to say as Emma opened her door, "I don't want to get ya in trouble or anything," she said.

"Giving you a shirt would get me into trouble?" she asked in disbelief.

"It's Eric," Rogue said. Anger flashed across Emma's face.

"I'm giving you a shirt," Emma said in anger as she stepped out of the car. "He can have both our memories erased if that's too severe a crime," Emma muttered as she closed the door behind her.

Graydon slowly realized that he had control over his body again as he opened his eyes. He looked up to see Magneto sitting behind his desk. He also realized that he was seated, in one of the seats facing the desk.

"You may leave us now Ms. Manh," Magneto said. Graydon flinched slightly at the sound of the door closing behind him. Graydon took a deep breath as he waited for Magneto to speak again. He watched Magneto read over a piece of paper. "I understand you wish to speak with me about my relationship with Rogue," Magneto said as he glanced up from the paper to look Graydon in the eyes.

"Ye- yes, sir," Graydon managed to say.

"And what is it exactly you would like to discuss, Mr. Creed?" Magneto asked.

"I… sir- …I." He had wanted to talk to Magneto about it, but now that he was here sitting in front of the man he was speechless.

"Allow me to paraphrase your concerns biased upon the conversation you just had with Ms. Frost," Magneto said as he held up the piece of paper again.

"Sir?" he asked confused.

"Although I am teaching your sister a great deal, that woman has managed to teach me a few things as well. In particular the importance of how one words their sentences. In your case you asked Emma" he started to say as he moved the paper in front of his face, "'Is Magneto sexually assaulting my little sister?'" he read off the paper.

"Emma answered yes, however, let me assure you the answer to that question is a definitive no," Magneto paused for a moment to let Graydon absorb his words. "The definition of sexual assault is any unwanted contact of a sexual nature on another person: including, but not limited to, molestation… and rape. I have said this to Rogue several times, but I will only say this to you… once. I have never, and will never rape Anna Marie Creed."

Rogue sat in Emma's car glancing out the window. In the mirror she gazed at her reflection: the white button down Emma gave her, along with the heat in the car was keeping her warm. She turned to look at Emma.

"You wanna go in there help him, don't you?" Rogue asked.

"Yes," she answered as she looked away from Rogue.

"But you're not gonna because you're afraid of what Eric will do to you and Graydon if you tried anything," Rogue said. Emma nodded with a sigh. Rogue snorted in disbelief. "You're as much a prisoner here as I am," she said. Emma looked at Rogue with wide eyes.

"No, I'm not," she said softly in disbelief.

"Then go in there and tell Magneto that you're taking Graydon back to D.C," Rogue said.

"I can't do that," she exclaimed.

"Why?" Rogue asked. "Because you want to be in Bayville? Because you wanna sit here in this car waiting for him to let you see your boyfriend? Or because you know that if you tried to do something that Magneto is against he will use his powers or his resources to keep you from stepping out of line?" she asked.

"That is not true," she insisted softly as she shook her head no.

"That's how Magneto works," Rogue insisted. "He helps you with some part of your life and then you feel like you owe him everything for it," Rogue said. She watched Emma eyes widen. "Then he asks you do things that you're willing to do, but if he ever wants ya ta do something you're truly against then… then he's willing ta threaten you," Rogue said. Emma looked over at Rogue. "He uses fearand intimidationto get us to do what he wants," she finished. Rogue watched Emma place her hand over her mouth: her eyes closed as tears ran down her face.

'I wish I had some tissues or something to give her,' Rogue thought.

"Glove compartment," Emma managed to say. Rogue reached down opened up the glove compartment and took out a hand full of napkins.

"Here," Rogue said as she held out the napkins to her.

"Thank you," she mumbled as she one out of Rogues hand.

"Anytime," Rogue uttered before they fell into an uncomfortable silent.

"Graydon," Magneto said from behind his desk, "I suppose I should inform that I am in love with your sister," Magneto said as Graydon eyes widened. "Although she does not fully return my feelings: she does care quite deeply about me. And those feeling have continued to grow the more time she and I spend together: partially working on her gaining control over her powers. She has also shown an interest in strategical disciplines. She and I have spent a great deal of time discussing strategy: almost exclusively the strategies we are implementing here in Bayville," he said before he placed the piece of paper down on the desk.

"Which is why, unlike the rest of the x-men, she alone is aware of my dealings here. She and I refer to her current rank as captive because there are quite a few actions I am engaging in that she does not morally agree with. But why should she? You know what I am doing here. You have assisted me in the containment of your younger brother and the rest of the x-men , brotherhood, and your mother, of course. I have seen disapproval on your face, Graydon. I see it there now."

"And I know that the only thing that has kept you from speaking your mind is considerable amount of respect you have for me: a respect that has been shaken by my relationship with your… seventeen year old baby sister. That I regret. When that aspect of our relationship started I knew there would be consequences. How could there not be with the difference in our age? Although I was not the one who initiated the relationship- not that that is an excuse."

"When she kissed me the first time, I should have told her it was inappropriate and ended it there before anything had begun. But the poor girl- A mere moment before she kissed me, she hugged me for the first time. And I learned that that was the first hug she had received since her powers had manifested… And Graydon... I was appalled. Over a year she had her powers, and not one individual had shown her a single act of intimacy: sexual or otherwise. Not Charles, her friends, not even your mother had acknowledged that she was a human being in need of companionship: in need of some type of physical contact."

"And then she kissed me…" Magneto paused a moment and let out a long sigh. "And then the poor girl apologized for kissing me. And I knew right then that my next sentence, my next action, would determine how she viewed herself completely for years to come. I knew then that I had the power to erase a year's worth of negative self-perceptions… so I made my choice… now barely two months later we have the utterly brilliant, self confident young woman that she is today and that… I do not regret," he said strongly.

Rogue gasped as she watched Emma open her door. Rogue reached over and put her hand on Emma's arm stopping her.

"What are you doing?" Rogue asked.

"I'm going to go talk to Magneto. I can't sit out here any longer," she said.

"Are you insane," she exclaimed. "He gave you an order: a direct order. If you disobey him… I don't know what'll happen, but it won't be good," she said.

"But-" Emma started to say.

"No, buts… Now close your door, it's cold," Rogue said. Emma closed the door in defeat. "I'm sure Graydon's gonna be fine. Eric for some reason still wants me on his side. Hurting my brother's ain't the best way to achieve that," Rogue said attempting to comfort her. Emma slipped her arm out of Rogue's hand, and moved her hand to hold Rogue's.

"Do you really think he'll be alright?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I do," Rogue said. "… I'm sorry about what I said this afternoon… about how you follow orders blindly," Rogue said.

"Don't be," Emma said as she met Rogue's gaze. "You were right," she said before letting out a long sigh.

Rogue flinched as she heard green sleeves playing from her jacket pocket. She reaching into her pocket and took out the phone: answering it.

"Hello?" Rogue asked.

"Anna," Magneto said, "Give the phone to Emma," he commanded.

"Is Graydon okay?" Rogue asked.

"Now, Anna," Magneto ordered. Rogue rolled her eyes with a sigh as she moved the phone away from her ear.

"He wants to talk to you," Rogue said as she held out the phone. Emma took a deep breath as she took the phone with her free hand.

"Sir?" Emma asked as silent tears ran down her face.

"Emma, are you alright?" Magneto asked into the phone. "You don't sound like yourself. You sound as though you have just been weeping," he said. Magneto watched Graydon get to his feet.

"Is she okay?" Graydon asked softly. Over the phone he could hear sharp inhales of breath: no doubt she was still crying.

"Go," Magneto said to Graydon, "They are in your car," he said. Graydon quickly left the office. 'Anna, what have you done?' he asked in his thoughts as went over to his desk. He picked up a note-pad and pen and headed out of the office. "Emma, I need you to calm down. Graydon is on his way to you now. Everything is alright," he said calmly.

Rogue watched Emma cry quietly as she held onto the phone. Rogue began to smile as she saw her brother running up to the car.

"He's okay," Rogue said relieved. "Emma look," she said. Emma slowly glanced out the window to see him: as soon as she saw him she threw open her door and ran out of the car into his arms.

"Graydon… oh God, Graydon… I was so worried," she cried into his shoulder.

"Shh… I'm okay," he whispered into her hair. Rogue moved to her open her door but found it would not opened. Her heart began to race as she saw Magneto heading out of the restaurant and towards the car. She gasped as the seatbelt moved seemingly be itself, once again trapping her in the seat.

For the second time that day she watched with fear-filled eyes as Magneto got into the car.

"Rogue, what did you do to Emma?" Magneto

"I didn't do anything to Emma," Rogue said confused. Magneto eyes narrowed as he stared into hers. "I didn't," Rogue insisted. "Don't ya thing if I used my powers on Emma, I'd be, ya know, using them?" she asked annoyed.

"Emma, did you and she talk?" Magneto asked loudly as he turned his gaze to look at the Emma and Graydon for a moment.

"Yes… yes, sir," Emma muttered into Graydon's chest.

"I want a transcript of the conversation, now," he said firmly as handed the pen and notepad to Rogue. She placed the pen and pad on her lap and began to write out her and Emma's conversation. She saw Magneto out of the corner of her eye leaning towards her: reading the conversation, as she wrote it. As she wrote she made sure to leave out the few lines when she and Emma discussed the diner conversation. She didn't want Graydon to get into any more trouble than he already was.

"No, give that to me," Magneto said as Rogue was flipping over the first page. She instead ripped it off the pad and handed it to him. "Keep writing," he ordered.

And so she did, until she had written out the entire conversation: every minute or so handing him a new page to read.

"You don't even realize what you've done, do you?" Magneto asked in disbelief.

"What are you talking about? Telling Emma she's a prisoner? If she's afraid to disobey a single order in fear of what you'll do then yeah she's a prisoner. It's blackmail, just like with me," Rogue said.

"So, you do know understand, somewhat, what you have done to her," he said with anger in his voice. Rogue just looked up at him with a confused expression.

"I just told her the truth, what I think," Rogue said.

"You just changed the way she views the last eight years of her life. You singlehandedly altered every perception she has of me," he said annoyed.

"And that's a bad thing because?" she asked mockingly. Magneto let out a sigh.

"You will wait here and you will be silent until I am done repairing the damaged you have caused… or else," he said.

"Or else what?" she asked annoyed.

"We will discuss that later if you force my hand, but I promise you my girl you will not like it," he said.

"Oh, you mean there's something about this captivity I'm supposed to like?" she asked mockingly.

"We both know there is something you enjoy a great deal about this captivity, Anna" he said with a smirk. "If we did not have an audience this would be one of those moment I would kiss you… just to prove a point," he said as his eyes glanced over her lips. She sucked in a breath. "Silent, Anna," he said sternly. "Both physically, and mentally," he said. She opened her mouth to speak. "You have done it before: at the café, and other instances where you did not wish for me to read your mind. You will do so now. Not one coherent thought in your mind, or sound out of thar mouth: just listen. Do you understand what I am demanding of you?" he asked.

She just glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"That's my girl," he said with a smirk before he stepped out of the car: closing the door behind him. She watched him walk up to Emma and Graydon.

"Emma, Graydon" Magneto said as he approached them. "I would never hurt either you … I do not understand where either of you received the impression that are acceptable losses. There are no acceptable losses," he said in disgust. "Not one," he said strongly. "I cannot express strongly enough how invaluable you both are to me. That is why I needed you both in Bayville at this time. It is why I will always need you in Washington, Graydon," he said as he placed his hand on Graydon's shoulder.

"I understand that Rogue said some truly hurtful thing about my character. That I am willing to threaten those whose council I hold in such high esteem. She, unfortunately, speaks of personal experience. I have threatened to take her from the institute if she cannot keep my secrets, and this was after I gave her the choice to forget it all and be like all the other x-men: utterly clueless of my dealings here in Bayville."

"She chose truth over a façade. And so yes, I expect her to keep my secrets from the x-men because she has elected to have that knowledge. Knowledge I have not forced upon her: knowledge I am not forcing her to keep. Earlier this evening when you came to speak to me, Graydon, Ms. Manh overreacted. And I knew that Rogue would as well, that is why I asked you to take her outside Emma. I knew the she would never attack you, never attempt to use her powers on you. I knew that you, out of all those present tonight, would be safe with her alone…" he let out a sigh.

"Or so I thought… Rogue said what she did basied upon a misjudged notion of right and wrong: not as the three of us understand it. She does not fully comprehend my vision as you two do. Yes, I know I have stated that Rogue's knowledge is only secondary to mine: in terms of facts that is true. Rogue knows more about what I do here in Bayville than anyone else: but the ideology behind those actions that… that I am still teaching her. And I have such high hopes for her, as I had in both of you when you both her age…I hope that both of you can understand my actions, as she does not. And I pray that I have your approval… and respect," he finished.

"Sir, I don't know what to say," Emma said.

"You don't have to say anything at the moment…Neither of you are required to say a word. Take all the time you need to sort through your doubts. I know that you both have them now, and I suspect that it will take some time for those doubts to be truly diminished… For now what I require of you both is quite simple…please go inside and enjoy your diners… Rogue and I, if I can convince her to eat with us peacefully, will hopefully be in shortly. If not I will have to take her home: in which case I will no doubt retire for the night. We all have a very long day ahead of us tomorrow," he finished as he gestured towards the restaurant.

Rogue watched Graydon and Emma slowly turn and walk towards the restaurant. Graydon had his arm around Emma's shoulder: she had her arm around his waist: neither of them turned back to look at Rogue before they entered the restaurant.

Yeah, it's a finished chapter! Okay, so now this night is going to be three chapters because this one began way more epic than I had intended!

I'm so sorry this took me so long to get out. But, college and gradation and all that: it took some time. And then after writing that textbook I needed a couple of days away from a computer: which turned into a week. But the day before yesterday I got back on the computer opened up what I already had of the chapter and started writing: two epic ideas later and here we are with this chapter!

Once again this was an experimental chapter and I need feedback: please tell me what you think! Good or bad? Did I change point of view/ scenes too many times, or did it work for the plot like I think it did? Anything feedback will be appreciated!

PLEASE REVIEW!

Speaking of which:

Original1: Graydon's characterization is a bit more complex than that. In the comics (Earth 616) Graydon hates mutants because his parents abandoned him as a child, he was raised in a prep-school environment with strong Anti-Mutant views and then later in his life found out that the parents who had abandoned him were both mutants. His past set him up for the hatred he has for all mutant kind.

In my story however his parents raise him for most of his life. (If he wasn't living with his parents than he was being taken raised by Irene, also a mutant) This serves to give Graydon a loving home with a completely mutant family: his mother, father, sister, foster mother, friends, etc. The fact that they were all mutants was never hidden in the family, either. So, Graydon grew up with a blue mother, hairy clawed father, with the viewpoint that that was normal. When he found out that he was not a mutant (Reaching puberty and not gaining any powers) he was deeply disappointed by this. But instead of setting his differences from his family make him an outcast he decided to make it strength to his family by going to school to become a politician, by majoring in political science: which is when Magneto approached him and took him under his wing (so to speak). And yes, the fact that he is dating Emma does strengthen his resolve towards the mutant cause. He knows that if he stays with Emma that his children with her will most likely be mutants. So he continues to fight for the cause for his family, the love of his life, and his future children.

Anyway, I'm really glad that you loved the chapter and I hope you loved this one as well! Thank you reading, the lovely review! I'm thanks for the "good luck!" I'm done with school now, so yeah! I hope to hear from you again!

Warrioroftheseventhstar: I'm not sure yet, honestly. As I was writing it was I thinking "wow, what a bitch you are making Shan into…what's going on there, in the comics she's all motherly towards the new mutants because she's older than all of them, and has her brother and sister to raise… what are you doing to her character, Christina? What are you doing? … " For the plot I needed a telepath to overact to Graydon's actions and all the other telepaths Magneto has in Bayville were busy doing their jobs, she was the only one free for the diner. So, I had to make her do it.

To answer your question (Finally) I'm still deciding if that's her character or not. I have a great backstory (taken from the comics, mixed with what if's this had happened) to explain the large changes in her personality but I'm not sure yet.

You know a bit about her character in the comics right? Do you mind giving me your opinion? (Anyone else who happens to read this too?) Okay so here's the back story: in the comics Shan comes to America from Vietnam during the Vietnam war. She fights and kills her twin brother. She and her mother are raped by pirates and her mother is killed. Some stuff happened with her crime lord uncle and he kidnapped the children. Spiderman, the fantastic four, and Xavier help her get her brother and sister back. (Except for the last sentence, Shan has a super depressing past).

So, here my take on it for the story: what if Spiderman and the fantastic four don't exist on this earth (which they don't) and Shan never received the help she needed to get her brother and sister away from her uncle? What if she was forced to help him to keep the kids safe for many years until the children were accidently killed by the crime lords enemies? Then she would stop helping her uncle because she didn't have too anymore, and she would just be kind of angry… all the time. Is that too mean of a past? What do you think? Any ideas? (Is this response too long?)

Thanks for any feedback, for the review and for reading! I hope to hear from you again.

Le Diable Blanc: Please don't be insane yet! Here's the update! Sorry I took so long… Thank you for reading!

Alienaracher: I will update NOW! Thanks for reading and for adding my fic to your favorite story list! I hope to hear from you again.

Erisna Deathclaw: Thanks for reading and for the story alert!

Crazyjess09: JESS! Thanks for the review! I love reading them. I hope you loved this chapter, and I hope to hear from you again.

Indiana9311: Thanks for reading and for the story alert!