So so so so so so so i wanted to update DAYS AGO BUT NO! i couldnt... so now its here! XD ENJOY & REVIEW!

Living the X-Men Life 26

A sinking sensation of dread numbed his brains as a rush of questions overwhelmed him. What happened? How did the door open? Why is the door open? Did she do it herself? WHERE IS SHE?

"Go, go, GO!" yelled Wolverine, his finger on the communicator on his ear. "She's still inside!"

...

She watched them warily. Brown-eyes 'Richie' and Blue-eyes 'Jim' were standing against the opposite wall facing her direction but currently their notepads were more interesting sights. Behind their surgical masks, they were discussing something very fervently that made Richie gesture with his pen repeatedly. Jim was twirling his. Rogue strained her ears in vain – they were too far away for her to hear anything.

Then Richie pointed at her. The frightened part of her joined pure curiosity in staying put where she was.

Jim scratched his hair-netted head with the tip of the pen. Then he said one last thing to Richie before smacking the other man's backside and started walking toward her door. Rogue noticed something black appear from under Richie's lab coat. She didn't have to peer any closer to send fear deadening the world around her. A stun gun. Logan told her before those things could zap up to 1000 kilovolts. He also told her all about shock batons, that they were preferably used at close range. But she didn't see any black sticks with prongs at the end slinking out of their sleeves.

Just then, Jim put his face close to the glass.

She retreated back a few inches away. Despite the frightened pounding in her chest, she demanded, "What d'yah think you're up to, you yahoo?"

"Now, now, stay nice and quiet." he replied coolly as he fiddled with something out of her narrow range of sight. "And keep your hands to yourself."

"Not if you don't tell meh' what Ah'm doing here." she threatened although she could only think about how screwed she might be.

"Hundreds of guards will come running. Does that answer your question?" He looked up at her and she noticed how pale his own skin was. She guessed he didn't get out of the lab very often.

That could work to her advantage. If these two were big-mouthed bookworms, Richie wouldn't have the balls to pull the trigger or have any fatally good aim. She could kick the gun out of his hand, suck the life out of him then take on unarmed Jim. And guess what? She'll know every inch of this place. Find a launch pad, snag a plane and she's... absolutely unrealistic.

"Now, I want you to sit on the bed like a good little girl and don't even think of making any sudden moves. I don't like what the boys do to mutants who misbehave myself. So do us both a favour."

When she didn't so much as blink, he narrowed his eyes. "Move."

She scowled at him, heart racing. Shit, he meant he wanted to get the door open. What the hell are they gonna do to her? Terror ran through her veins as she mechanically made her way to the only furniture in the small cell.

"Remember, no sudden moves." said Jim.

There wasn't a creak when the ungraspable knob on her side of the door twisted around. She watched and squeezed her toes together nervously. She took up the pillow and held it close.

Meanwhile the two scientists made no ceremony about entering a subject's cell. They walked right in as if they belonged; Richie standing guard (a most unimposing figure) by the door with his stun gun and Jim sat himself next to her. Every inch of skin was covered by rubber gloves, surgical masks and paper white uniform, not to mention the hairnet. The only thing that could possible help her was the skin around their eyes. She'll have to distract them first then. Otherwise anyone can duck a hand to a face.

She leaned away unconsciously.

Jim slowly produced a hand to her. "You'll be fine. Richie and I've decided against directly experimenting substances on your person. It never turns out pretty. All we need is another blood sample."

"So you're gonna drain meh' dry?" She stayed very still.

He waved both his hands theatrically and chuckled, "No no!"

What he didn't know was Rogue had been trained to look out for distractions and she had spotted the injection tube of blue liquid in the flap of his coat when he waved his arms about. The very injection tube he was now reaching for.

"Just that, I think it's better if you're not awake to see the red going out of your veins –!"

He had barely finished his sentence when she threw the pillow at Richie and the stun gun. The standing man toppled out the door, the weapon clattering away. As Jim gawked in surprise she lashed out and grabbed at his blue eyes. She winced in expectation of the usual head-splitting absorption.

A split-second was all it took.

His skin was smooth, like a baby's backside. Her cold fingers drew comfort from touching his warm face. In her haste she had poked his right eye with her thumb. She was using her right hand. Her upper body was twisted to grab at him and her back muscles were protesting. But her head was still perfectly clear.

All confidence drained away, leaving her empty and hollow and shocked. A moment later, a wild panic erupted from her very core. She didn't know what was in that tube. What liquid was blue? Mr. McCoy never taught her what chemical was blue! Would Logan know what poison was blue? Would Jean and Scott know? Would Kitty know? Would Kurt – Kurt was blue!

Jim yelped in pain for his eye. The injection tube was fully revealed in his right hand with his thumb ready for a quick jab.

Mystique... was blue. Now she was red. Red swept away by blue waters. At the bottom of a cliff. Off a cliff side. Near the Institute. Near her home. Near Remy.

Richie was getting back up. He was staring.

Before Jim could jab her arm, she used her same hand on his face to catch his rubber-gloved wrist. He managed to jerk in her weakened grasp. She brought up her other hand and pushed him and his thumb away.

In his struggle, he had leaned forward as she pushed the needle away. Rogue didn't have time to recoil before the thin metal found its way into his throat. The hand she used to back her up pressed the pump down and released the blue liquid.

He gurgled – a very unpleasant, wet sound – and his eyes attempted to jump out of his sockets as he collapsed on her. She shoved him off and pulled her hand away, aghast.

"Oh shit! OH SHIT! JIM!" screamed Richie.

But she couldn't pull her eyes away from the man clutching at his throat at her feet. Already the skin around the puncture was turning a bad shade of purple with an intricate web of protruding capillaries. He coughed as if he could hack the chemical out, salivating all over the cushioned floor. His legs were rigid and his torso was twitching violently. He suddenly flipped on his back and arched up, jaw gagging open and eyes riveted on his poisoner.

Her eyes locked with his and she parted her lips in disbelief. A cold impression spread in wisps down her back to her hands. Her grip tightened. The world was a fuzzy white shadow except for the pale face staring right through her. It seemed to grow larger in her vision, coming closer and closer, and closer still, etching itself into her memory.

In another world, a clattering was faint.

She didn't think; her legs recovered faster than her mind did and she ran. She dashed out. Leave the room. Leave the man. Leave that face behind her. Get out of here. Get out. GET OUT!

It wouldn't stop looking at her. Wouldn't stop watching her. Those eyes were blue. Those eyes are blue. So blue. Too blue.

A dull pain hit the side of her face; pained with the force she ran into it with, dulled by the warm softness of it.

At first she thought she ran into the wall. When it registered to her that walls weren't warm, the wall wrapped itself around her. Her nose picked up cigarettes, musty spandex and a woman's perfume.

Then the wall pulled itself away rather abruptly and held her by her shoulders. She leaned into it. It leaned her head up and the blue eyes dissolved away into another face. A face with red eyes. A face with a moving mouth and strong hands. A face that was –

"Remy..." She felt her lips move but only a breath escaped her lips.

...

A breath of air got pumped out of him when she whammed into his chest. But he couldn't care and threw his arms around her where the thin white shirt covered her and held her tight and close.

"Oh God, you're alright." he whispered into her beautiful, ever fluffy red hair.

But her own arms remained hanging at her sides and she was barely standing on her feet.

He pulled away and was aware that he was holding most of her weight up. Her head flopped down and he pulled her back to him so her face would look into his. "You alright, Chéri? Hey, Rogue. Rogue. Look at me. Listen to me."

Her lips moved and a soft warm breath tickled his face.

"We're gonna get outta here. You and me. Now. Can you stand?"

She gazed at him, eyes half-lidded and mouth apart. Suddenly she shuddered and clutched her head. He tightened his hold on her in case she collapsed. Instead she straightened up, turned to the something in her hand (was that a needle?), gasped and stared at her hands. But she didn't let go. He quickly shrugged out of his coat to drape around her. The stare she gave him when she looked up was pure wide-eyed confusion. Her mouth tried to form words and he neared his face to hers as safely as he possibly could, trying to catch her.

Giving up, she gripped at his uniform and buried her face away. That's when he looked up and noticed the man in a lab coat thrashing and gagging noiselessly on the floor, foaming at the mouth. He quickly covered her up, the ends of his coat spreading around her shorter person.

As he was zipping it up, here was a thud like a human body carelessly dropped and Logan came up to them. He glanced into the facilitation cell and back out. "C'mon Rogue. Can you run?"

The slow turn of her head was almost ghoulish. In his arms, her fists tightened themselves and he became worried that the injection cylinder might burst into a splatter of blood and glass.

"Yes." she mumbled.

Wolverine seemed uncertain for a flicker of a second then he gave Remy a hardened eye. "Forget runnin'. You're carryin' her all the way." Then he went inside.

"And you?" Remy did as he was told and took Rogue's bare feet off the ground.

Wolverine had patted the dying man down and produced a notebook and a bottle of blue liquid. These items he shoved into a pocket and was running ahead before the words were out, so Remy followed suit. Rogue remained wide-eyed at nothing in particular.