Although I now own a computer and have had some time to work on it: writing this chapter proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. Originally, I had planned to have Rogue and Magneto plan out the entirety of the new strategy step by step; explaining everything that was going to happen: while vaguely implying the repercussions of Rogue's involvement with Magneto and her effort on him. I have been planning this chapter in my head for several months now (since chapter 22).

You would think that given that much effort into the thought process of Magneto and Rogue's brain storming session I would have been able to simply sit down in front of my computer, write out the dialog, and insert some insults and clever retorts for good measure.

But over the months a very strange thing happened. My understanding of the events in question became so internally constructed that recalling the steps from point A to point Q became… lost in translation. Honestly, I don't remember how much of the plan was Rogue's or Magneto's idea. At one point in time I did: the conversation between them did happen. Unfortunately, I was at work at the time and was unable to take notes. And I've found the effort to reconstruct that though process to be mentally exhausting and in all honestly a little bit boarding.

Nevertheless, I spend nearly a month trying to work up the resolve to sit down and write out that thought process but that endeavor began to feel like a chore. I complete too many chores in my home-life and in order to receive a paycheck for this part of my life to become one. So, I've decided to stop trying to make myself write the chapter in that fashion.

Meaning that we are going to pick up the story from here…

(Also, quick note: Since flashbacks and character's thoughts are happening too close together again: Flashbacks are in BOLD for this chapter.)


Taunting Repartee

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"We should go over it one more time," Magneto said. Rogue let out a sigh from where she was laying on the living room couch. She glanced up at him; he was still pacing around the room. She was wondering when the floor would start to show signs of erosion from his ten foot route.

"We've been over it twenty-eight times, Max. And we haven't even changed anything big since the sixteenth round," she said. "We both know this plan like the back of my hand," she said as he look down at her. "And it's a good strategy, Max," she said as they made eye contact. "You just have to give the orders." They stared at each other for a few moments.

"…I am still wary of the details of the aftermath," he uttered as he broke eye contact. She sighed as her eyes lingered over the small stack of papers on the coffee table. She had written out each and every step of their plan; more for Magneto's sake than her own. There was far too much depending on this plan. The smallest error could ruin everything; which is why she'd had to rewrite the strategy over ten times as they had altered it.

However, it had been almost three hours since she had even touched the papers. They were ready.

"I'm sorry I want a high school diploma," she muttered annoyed.

"It's not that, Anna. Of course, you should want to graduate high school. You should aspire for a college education. I can easily see you obtaining several doctorates," he said as he walked over to the couch. She couldn't help but smile: no one had ever had this much faith in her ability to success. She drew up her knees to give him room to sit.

"Thank you," he said as he sat down. "My concerns lay with continuing this facade with Wanda," he said as turned to look at her: resting his arm on top of her knees. "I am supposedly going to have an extremely powerful young mutant- My own daughter, attempting to kill me. I'm sure you understand how unsettling that is," he finished.

"You're the one who decided to abandon her in a mental institution," she said rolling her eyes.

"How else was I supposed to explain her complete absence from my life?" he asked.

"Boarding school " she suggested. Magneto raised an eyebrow.

"And why did I not send Pietro to this boarding school?" he asked.

"I don't know," she exclaimed irate. They had been plotting for over ten hours straight. She was exhausted from their continuous scheming. Sleep; she desperately wanted sleep. But it was Thursday; their last night to strategize. She couldn't do anything until he was content with their plan. "…All I'm saying is ya could've abandoned her in a nicer way," she said closing her eyes.

"It fit in well enough with my original intentions for Bayville. Instead it will become an inconvenience. We will have to address that issue when the times comes," he said.

"But not tonight?" she asked.

"No, not tonight," he answered.

"Then why are we still sitting here?" she asked opening her eyes. "It's almost eight. Your people need time to get everything ready," she said.

"I know," he said.

"Then why are we still talking about it?" she asked. "Why are we still talking about any of it?" she asked. She stared up at him: waiting for him to respond.

"…Alright," he said as he removed his arm from her atop her knees. "Alright, we're done," he said.

"Finally," she said; a wave of relief washed over her as she sat up.

"You should go get some sleep. We have a long weekend ahead of us," Magneto said.

"You don't have at tell me twice," she said as they both stood up. She started to head for the stairs as he started to walk towards the opposite door: no doubt heading towards his study. "Max," she said quickly.

"Yes?" he asked as he turned back to look at her.

"You should take those," she pointed to the small stack of papers on the coffee table.

"What happened to we know this plan like the back of your hand?" he asked.

"I usually wear gloves," she pointed out with a shrug. He chuckled softly. "Use the cheat-sheet," she ordered with a small smile. "Please," she said.

"Yes, commodore," he said as he picked up the stack. She rolled her eyes. This was the third time he had called her that.

"We ain't going anywhere near a boat," she muttered.

"I believe that is why I'm fond of the title," he said with a smirk. "All jesting aside, Anna, you did remarkably well with this," he said as he held up the papers, "I would not have been able to accomplish this without you; not in this brief amount of time. You have a very promising career in politics ahead of you." he said. "If that is where you decide to place your ambitions," he added.

"Which party would my ideology fall into?" she asked laughing.

"Democrats, most likely, on the far left of the spectrum. But you do not necessary need to be apart of the United State's politically system," he said. She started at him confused. "It's just an option for you to consider," he said before turning away from her. She opened her mouth to ask a question but stopped herself; she really didn't want to start another conversation with him. Instead she just watched him walk towards the exit. "See you tomorrow afternoon, Anna," he said as he walked through the door.

"Good night, Max" she said quietly as she watched him leave the room. She took a deep breath. 'Girl, you need sleep…just go to sleep,' she thought.

After another deep breath she did just that.


Magneto shut the door to his bedroom as he headed out into the hall. After a full nights rest he was now ready to enact the plan that he and Rogue had spent so many hours perfecting.

'Speaking of the girl,' he thought to himself as he stopped in front of her room. He silently opened the door and peeked in. A smile graced his face as he watched his girl asleep on her bed. Throughout their plotting he had come to the conclusion that there was no legitimate reason for Rogue to be present for most it. She had argued with him for almost an hour on the subject.

"Won't someone notice I ain't there?" she had asked.

"Have they ever taken notice of your absences before?" he asked.

He recalled her shocked expression when he informed her that he had one of his people, Joanna Cargrill, armed with an imagine inducer, had been and would be masquerading as her.

'Really, Anna, after everything I have revealed these past few weeks you are still capable of being shocked?' he had asked her. She had only glared in response before conceding the issue.

If he was being honest with himself there was only one real reason he wanted to keep her away from the others.

'Isolation,' he thought to himself. He had been her only human contact for a little over three days now. He did not know how she was going to react once he allowed her to be among her family again. Lately, she had been prone to outbursts of rage and crying fits.

'Her emotional tantrums are- ...understandable given everything I've forced her to endure. They're an acceptable stress releases... when the two of us are alone. But once we are among others- I can not enact this plan while worrying about the manifestations of her emotions...,' he thought.

"Max?" he heard her call out; drawing him out of his thoughts. He glanced down at her as he entered the room further. She looked terrified. "Is everything okay?" she asked panicked as she sat up.

"Everything is fine, Anna," he said calmly as he took a seat on the bed in front of her. He placed his hand on her cheek: his thumb rubbing softly as he attempted to consoled her.

"Ain't you supposed to be leaving by now?" she asked as she placed her hand on his arm; her other on his chest.

"Shh," he hushed before he leaned in and kissed her. 'She knows I am not supposed to be here. This slight deviation is causing her this much dismay?' he asked himself as he pulled back. "I only came in to check on you before I left. I didn't mean to wake you. You have my apologizes," he said. "Everything is fine," he repeated tenderly before he kissed her forehead. He listened to her breathing begin to regulate itself.

She was on the verge of a breakdown. There was no denying that. For the last couple of days their planning had kept her occupied. He had been so proud of her; the way she had handled all the stress.

'Perhaps, it would be better if she just slept until I needed her... Actually, I do not need her to absorb Juggernaut. I could always have Cargrill figh-'


"Max?" Rogue asked. She watched him pull back until her eyes made contact with his."You're gonna be late," she pointed out.

She was not expecting to wake up to him. For once she though she would have some time to herself. But then, of course, he had to check on her. It was- If he wouldn't let her near her family than she really just wanted to be alone for a while.

"I have time," he told her as he placed his free hand on her her shoulder.

"No, you don't," she said. "You should-"

"You have completed your end of our deal. Now, you must trust me to execute that plan," he said.

"Until tomorrow when I rejoin the X-Men," she said slowly.

"I've had some second thoughts about that," he said. Rogue felt her heart skip a beat. What was he going to change now? "Cargrill could easily fight Juggernaut in your place; their powers are similar enough. No one would question it," he said.

"Why should that matter? That's not what we agreed on," she said.

"I kno-"

"At this point, Max, we can't afford to change anything. If something goes wrong- If one little thing goes wrong this whole thing could blow up in our faces. You can't let that happen," she said. Was he trying to drive her insane? She just wanted to go home to her brother. But he kept delaying that. "Max, why are you doing this to me?" she asked: silent tears running down her face.

"Because of this," he said as he gently rubbed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "Emotionally, Anna, I am uncertain if you can handle the responsibilities we assigned you. I know without a doubt that Cargrill can. As a strategist, Anna, whom would you employ to complete our tasks: you or Cargrill?" he asked. She turned her gaze away from his before she took a deep breath.

"...Cargrill," she admitted in a whisper. "I would trust Cargrill over me," she said more tears escape from her eyes confirming his concerns. "...Then what am I supposed to do? I'm gonna go crazy if I just sit here and do nothing for two days," she said as she looked back up at him.

"I do not require you to be conscious for this. You could sleep through it," he told her. She sucked in a breath. "I've had you sleep through my events before.," he said.

She couldn't argue with that. He'd had her unconscious for most of last Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday he had knocked her unconscious as well. Not for nearly as long; but she knew that he could do it again at a moments notice.

"You need rest, Anna. You've slept for over nine hours and still you have bags under your eyes," he told her.

"Do I?" she asked softly. He nodded.

"Clearly, you are still exhausted. I have caused you so much anxiety over the past few weeks. Allow me to spare you this weekend. Lay back and close your eyes, Anna," he said as he gently pressed on her shoulder; pushing her back onto the bed. "I will implement our plan as we have agreed. You have my word," he promised.

"I don't know, Max," she muttered as she allowed her arms to rest on the bed.. 'I did say I was gonna trust him, didn't I?' she reminded herself.

"Have I broken a promise to you thus-far?" he asked.

"...No," she answered.

"Do I have any reason to start today?" he asked.

"None that I know about," she said.

"There is no reason," he told her with a smile. "Nothing has changed between us since Tuesday," he said. "Correct?" he asked.

"No, no, nothing's changed. We still need to talk about us," she pointed out.

"And we shall once the emergence has past," he said. "Which for you, my girl, will happen much faster if you just close your eyes," he said with a smile. She reached her hand up and put it on his face. His hand soon covered hers as he leaned down and kissed her.

A few moments later he pulled back. Confusion fulled her as she reopened her eyes.

"Why am I still awake?" she asked. He grinned.

"In the past you have gotten very angry at me for taking advantage of that. I decided not to repeat the offense," he said. She felt herself smile. "Should I have?" he asked.

"No," she said quickly shaking her head.. "I'm really glad you didn't," she smiled. He returned the smile. There was that feeling again; contentment. She felt that way a lot when he smiled at her like that. Suddenly, she felt safe. It was- 'Wish I felt like this all the time,' she thought to herself. She lifted her head off of the pillow and kissed him this time.

She heard him groan as she pulled away.

"I'm gonna close them now." she said. He nodded with a smile.

"I will be the first thing you see when you wake up," he told her.

"Okay," she said with a nod before closing her eyes.

"Rest well, my love," he said before placing his lips on her forehead.

The last thing she felt was the blanket covering her body and his lips leaving her forehead.


I know it's short, but I really wanted to get past season two already. So, I took a shortcut around the plot. If anyone has any questions about what happened during the emergence (who did what, etc,) please feel free to ask. I will answer them!

Please review!

Speaking of which...

Thanks you to everyone who is reading and reviewing! You all rock! It's late, like 1:02pm, and I don't feel like spending an hour responding to each of the reviews individually. I think I'm going to start responding to you all as I get them; rather than wait until I'm done writing the chapter to even think about my responses.

Well, except to people who choose not to sign in. I'll still respond at the end of the chapter to you. Gah and Nikki: Thanks!