A/N: Hey all! Sorry for the wait again. This time I've got an excuse. I got a temporary full-time position teaching at a junior high school and it's pretty much all consuming. Today happens to be my last day of winter break and I thought I couldn't go the whole break without at least updating this story once. So, here is an update. :) This is sort of an interlude-ish chapter, so I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution.

Chapter 44:


"Damn it!" Scott exclaimed as he watched Magda's jet fly off.

Despite getting the right piece of info in time they'd still let Magda get away. He looked around the hangar and its charred remains from the battle. How could he have let her get away? Now she had a head start to Rogue.

"Scott!" Kitty's voice broke through his misery. "Scott, we need to get out of here!"

The wail of sirens could be heard coming closer and closer. All they needed was for the local authorities to catch up to them.

"Storm!" he yelled into the comm.-link.

"Two minutes," she shouted back.

They'd left her behind in the Blackbird just in case they needed a quick getaway.

"Outside everyone!" he ordered.

There was the opening that Magda's jet had gone through and that was the direction they headed for.

Just as they reached the outdoors several military vehicles came to a screeching halt. Men poured out, all armed, guns pointing at his teammates. There were yells from the Lebanese officers in Arabic; Scott deduced it was probably the Arabic form of "Put your hands up!"

"We can take them!" Pietro said menacingly.

"No," Scott demanded. They did not need an international incident on their hands. "Storm will—"

Just as he began to reiterate that Storm was on her way he heard, coming from above them, the sound of the Blackbird's engines. Scott breathed out a sigh of relief just as it began to land between them and the armed men.

"Come on," he shouted to his fellow X-men. They all hurried towards the jet just as Storm released the ramp. They ran up and inside just as the dazed officers came back to their senses and began to release a hailstorm of bullets. Luckily, the Blackbird was made to withstand more than mere bullets. They were up in the air a moment later, stealth mode turned on so no one could follow them.

"What happened?" Storm questioned, autopilot on so she could face the haggard looking bunch.

Scott plopped down into a seat, exhaustion from the past few days setting in.

"She wasn't alone," Scott explained. "On top of Gambit and Calysto she had two others, a man and a woman."

"Not good," Storm concluded grimly.

"What are we going to do now?" Amara asked warily.

Bobby at her side, nodded. "Do we go home?"

Scott looked to Storm. What could they do now? They had no idea where Magda would go next. Their only reasonable guess was back to Bayville.

Storm nodded her assent to his silent question.

"Yes," he answered. "We're going home."

Where they'd make their stand and protect Rogue on home turf.


Rogue stepped through the sliding doors to the high tech computer lab. She found the Professor staring at a screen full of symbols and images, hieroglyphs, she assumed.

He didn't move a muscle as she approached him.

"Professor?" she inquired.

Startled out of his thoughts he turned to face her. The grave look on his face was quickly replaced by a warm smile. But not quick enough. He was worried.

"How are you today, Rogue?" he asked her pleasantly.

"What's happened?" she questioned instead. She'd woken up that morning to an uneasy feeling. And almost immediately she'd searched out for the Professor.

The Professor held his smile a moment longer, but finally it faltered and the grave look from before returned.

"Magda got away," he said simply.

Rogue let out a sigh that sounded too resigned for comfort. "She's coming for meh isn't she?"

"It's hard to say," the Professor replied truthfully. "I've still got a connection to Jean's mind and therefore Magda's. From what I can tell, her powers are extremely depleted. She needs to recover."

A burst of hope went through Rogue. "Can't we try ta find her before her power fully returns?"

The Professor nodded. "I've got Hank scanning the skies for their jet. Hopefully, we'll know when they land."

Rogue nodded. She liked the feeling of hope in her belly instead of dread. But the Professor was still watching her gravely. She refused to let the hope die down.

"So are they alright? Scott and tha others?" she asked. He nodded his answer. "And they're on their way home?"

"Yes, they'll be back. Hopefully when they return we'll have a new lead for them to follow," he answered.

She watched the Professor attempt a smile, but it wavered. "What aren't ya telling meh, Professor?"

The man let out a sigh. "Magda has acquired the help of a man, a mutant, Nathaniel Essex. Though, he likes to now go by the name Mr. Sinister."

An involuntary shiver went up Rogue's spine.

"He's a follower of Apocalypse, but he surely has his own agenda," the Professor finished.

Rogue let out a tired sigh. She knew what he was saying. Essex could be a whole new problem on his own.

"Ah… ah think ah need ta go lie down," she spoke, sounding too fragile for words.

The Professor gave her hand a pat. "I'm sorry to worry you, Rogue."

She gave him a weak smile. "Thank ya for telling meh tha truth."


Wanda tried to smile at Rogue reassuringly, but after everything she'd just told her it was hard.

Rogue had stumbled into Wanda's bedroom not too long ago. She'd told her the whole story and now she sat dejectedly at Wanda's bedside.

"Ah'm sorry," Rogue apologized. "Ah just wanted someone ta talk ta. Ah should have gone ta lie down. Ah didn't mean ta worry ya too."

Wanda did smile than. Rogue was just too considerate. "Rogue, I'm glad you came to talk to me. Now I know what's going on, too. Ever since I got these," she indicated her broken arm and leg, "People have been afraid to tell me what's going on."

Rogue's face took on a stricken look. "It's not cause ya're Brotherhood or ah horseman, ah swear," Rogue said quickly. "We're all just afraid that ya'll try ta go after them…"

Wanda grimaced. "Why does everyone keep thinking that? I mean even Kurt was worried I'd go off to kick some butt."

Rogue gave her a sheepish look. "Well, ya're not exactly known for tha coolest head."

She gave her an amused smile to which Wanda could only reply sarcastically, "Ha ha."

Both girls shared a brief laugh which died down all too quickly. A thick silence settled between them.

Wanda couldn't help thinking about Kurt. Before he'd left he'd given her a kiss, albeit on the cheek. It had sparked things inside her that she did not even know she was capable of feeling. And now he was coming home.

"Ah should really go lie down," Rogue broke the silence.

Wanda nodded. "Thanks for visiting me."

Rogue gave her a smile before exiting the room, her steps weary. Wanda was just musing how all the stress could not be good for the baby when a knock at her door came again.

"Come in," she called, thinking it was one of the younger X-men with her lunch.

When a blonde head stuck its way inside Wanda could not hide her surprise. "Warren!"

They had barely said two words to each other since the winged mutant had arrived at the mansion. So for him to be at her bedroom door now was more than a little strange.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I was just looking for Rogue."

"You just missed her," Wanda informed. "She said she was going to lie down for a bit."

"Oh ok," he said looking dejected. "I'll just go now."

She didn't know what was up with the man but he sure looked like he'd lost his best friend. "Everything all right?" she asked.

He gave her a wry smile. "You mean besides us being randomly picked to be Apocalypse's minions?"

She smiled. "Yeah, besides that," she agreed.

"Everything's great," he assured. "See you later."

Wanda let out a sigh. She hadn't expected him to divulge all his secrets, but they had been on the same team the last time Apocalypse had reared his ugly head. She'd assumed they could talk at least a little. Still she got the feeling his troubles were on the personal side. And she definitely couldn't help with that.


Well that's it for this one. I hope you enjoyed. I know it was pretty short and not very informative. I'm hoping to have another update up in the next two weeks. Crossing my fingers. In the meantime, I hope you'll let me know what you think of this chapter. Thanks!

Thanks to all who have continued to read and review this story: kana117; twilightcloud18 (I totally understand about not having time for much outside of work; thank you for taking the time to read!); GohanRULEZ (yep!); MarkC (thanks! Jean will definitely be making another appearance in the future); Ryromaniac (thanks for the review; there will definitely be some angst surrounding Jean and her troubles much later); Aipom4; and D . Torres.

Thanks again!