In a world that hates and fears mutants, Charles Xavier and Tony Stark brought together a team of teens and young adults known as the X-men out of effort to fight for peace in times where no one wants mutants in the world.

They've faced their share of successes and failures. Having fought enemies such as the Shadow King, the Morlocks and Xavier's stepbrother, the Unstoppable Juggernaut, the X-men are faced with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants escaping Alpha Flight's custody.

Mystique used her legal ward, Anna-Marie D'Ancanto – known as Rogue – to attack Carol "Ms. Marvel" Danvers as she was transporting the Brotherhood to Riker's Island. With Carol in a comatose state, Rogue now finds that she is in the worst position she can possibly be in. Stranded in the woods of Bayville, New York, the teenager is in a state of torment and suffering due to her out of control powers and her inability to organize her thoughts and separate them from others'.

Issue 34: Tracking Rogue

X-Corporation Tower – Convalescence Room

'God, I hoped for so many years that I would never have to fight the Juggernaut! Why? Because of this moment right here . . . Christ!'

The same thoughts were running through the mind of Warren Worthington III as he lay in a hospital bed for the second time that month. Not only did he end up in the medical bays of X-Corporation Tower a good week or so prior after being kidnapped by the Morlocks, but now, he had fractures in his wings. His wings were splinted upward, being held in place securely. The only reason he didn't feel the fractures in his wings or the bruise on his hip was because he was so hopped up on painkillers. They were not nearly enough to make him sleep deeply, but, they were enough to numb the pain that he had been in.

Warren stared up at the ceiling in exasperation as his thoughts continued to run through his mind. Shaking his head as though he were trying to clear it, he closed his eyes as he weakly reached over for a glass of water. Taking a longing sip, he sighed heavily. That was the moment he heard knocking on the convalescence room door, and he looked up to see Jean in the doorway.

"Hey, you feeling any better?" she asked him, moving to sit next to him.

"Well, I'm hopped up on painkillers right now, so I don't really feel anything. According to Dr. Reyes, I'm like this for a week until the fractures heal," he told her with a frustrated groan.

Jean sighed and leaned a hand on Warren's arm sympathetically. "Well, we found out about Ms. Danvers. She's comatose right now and she's in SHIELD custody. They can take care of her better than we can here, considering the fact that she's an agent for them."

"How did she end up in a coma?" asked Warren, suddenly concerned.

"A mutant with ability to siphon energy out of people ending up absorbing her to the point where she was knocked out; we believe that this is the same mutant the Brotherhood used to try and get info from your father four months ago," Jean explained grimly.

"Shit!" Warren cursed out. "And the Brotherhood, they've been so quiet all this time. I knew it was too convenient, that they hadn't been giving us any trouble all these months. All was quiet on the western front until now. What are they planning?"

"We do not know. All we're hoping for is that when we find this mutant who did this to Carol, that we will be able to get some answers from her. Maybe she can give us some insight as to what the Brotherhood has got planned," Jean explained.

"Let me guess? Is the professor in Cerebro right now?"

"Yeah, he's trying to track her. I've somehow managed to pick up on this mutant's thoughts when the professor and I performed a psychic intervention on Ms. Danvers. Apparently, this mutant, she didn't want to hurt Carol. In fact, she had been very reluctant to do it. This tells me that there's more to it than just some kid looking to cause trouble."

"What makes you think that?" asked Warren.

"Because I've lived in a mental hospital for how many years before the professor came and got me?" Jean asked in a serious tone. "I understand what it means to be manipulated into having a certain mindset. I can sympathize with her, in that respect. If it hadn't been for the professor being willing to give me second chances at having a life, I wouldn't be where I am right now. All we can do is hopefully offer the same second chances to this girl."

"Yeah, Jeannie . . . good point there," Warren said.

"Well, you're not going anywhere any time soon for a week. You're on mandatory bed rest until you're recovered; Dr. Reyes' orders. You shouldn't have even been out there in the field today especially after your accident from a week or so ago," Jean reminded him, leaning a hand on his shoulder before exiting the room to leave Warren alone.

Cerebro Chamber

'Come on, where are you?'

For the past thirty minutes or so, Professor Charles Xavier was in the Cerebro chamber, sitting there looking around for the traces of Anna-Marie's mind, which he knew had Carol Danvers trapped inside.

Keeping his eyes closed, he concentrated harder. He understood that Logan, the personal trainer for his X-men, was worried sick over the fact that his girlfriend was knocked comatose.

'Mutant . . . mutant, Anna-Marie, where are you, child?' Xavier wondered as he continued to sit there.

"Professor, you've been going at this for the past thirty minutes. What if she doesn't want to be found?" Scott asked.

He could imagine that maybe – maybe, this kid did not want to be found because she was too scared. Scott could relate, especially since after he'd destroyed the roof of the hospital he'd stayed in after waking from his coma, he had taken off to the streets. He had begged, stole and did everything necessary to survive because he hadn't wanted to accept anyone's sympathy or pity. He couldn't bear the idea of anyone pitying him. After the child protective services found him, they had placed him in the orphanage. After that, everything else in his life crumbled. Professor Xavier had been the first one to genuinely care about him. Professor Xavier had seen something in Scott that he had found to be worthy.

"That could very well be the case, Scott," the professor said.

"Chuck, she's got Carol's powers and her life force and her memories inside of her! It shouldn't be too hard to find her!" Logan growled.

"How's about some patience, Logan?" Scott asked his mentor and friend, narrowing his eyes behind his visor.

"Kid," Logan started to say, grabbing Scott by the arm.

"Logan, no okay? I know what's going through your head. You want to stick your claws into the first person who gives you the wrong look right now! But what good is that going to do? What would Ms. Danvers want you to do right now?" Scott shrugged his arm out of Logan's grasp, giving him a long, hard look. Scott was one of the few X-men members who had the nerve to stand up to Logan, which was a big part of why Logan had so much respect for his student.

"Yeah, yeah, yer right, kid," Logan told him, nodding. The two proceeded to quiet down as they allowed Xavier to do his thing for a while.

As Xavier continued to sit there wearing the Cerebro helmet, that was the moment he got a trace of a mutant signature that matched up to the mutant named Anna-Marie. When he finally locked down on her, the file came up on the Cerebro computer. The computer said:

"Anna-Marie D'Ancanto . . . age seventeen, born in Biloxi, Mississippi, ran away from home after powers manifested upon kissing her first boyfriend. Abilities: ability to siphon life-force and energy out of anything alive, maintain others' memories, enhanced durability, high healing factor, and flight. Location: woods of Bayville, New York."

"Alright, we've got her location," the professor said, downloading the files on Anna-Marie D'Ancanto. However, Logan and Scott stood there, taking it in.

The fact that a seventeen-year-old kid had run away from home after having accidentally caused harm to her first boyfriend was quite the surprise. Logan had heard of mutant orphans running away from home; it was almost common given how unkind the world was to mutants. However, he also still felt the twinge of bitterness. None of that excused what Anna-Marie had done to Carol at all. However, it also gave some sort of possible reasoning behind it. Logan, the professor and Scott exited the Cerebro chamber to get onto the Blackbird as quickly as possible.

"I can't believe it . . . seventeen years old doin' shit like this; I've heard of problem mutant children before, but, this is new," Logan said, still in surprise over it. However, that didn't mean that he wasn't still angry and untrusting of this teenage girl.

"Look, Logan, I get it, you do not trust her, but give her the courtesy to hear her out and listen to what it is that she has got to say. Maybe there's a legit reason as to why she did what it is that she did," Scott suggested as they both boarded the jet. Professor Xavier sat up in the cockpit beside Scott, manning the portable Cerebro helmet that he had brought with him for this trip.

"Yer right, Cyke, yer right, but what she did is wrong," Logan said.

"Logan, we've done lots of things wrong in life. You do not have to trust her or try and break bread with her; you don't even have to look at her if you do not want to. Just let her explain herself, because she deserves to at least have that. She deserves all the same second chances that we were offered. Okay? Because before Professor Xavier, nobody was willing to give me a chance at anything. They saw me as not worthy of a shot at redemption. I am sure you were in that same place, too. So, how's about giving this kid the chance to explain herself?" Scott insisted as he took his seat in the pilot's chair. Jean, Ororo, Bobby, Hank and Cecilia soon joined them on board, Hank holding onto one of Forge's power-dampening collars. Scott started the plane, and they proceeded to fly off to the city of Bayville.

Woods of Bayville, New York – One Hour Later

"I really do hope that she is okay," said Jean as she and Scott trudged through the soft, muddy grounds of the Bayville woods. The rain was pelting down, but Jean was managing to keep her and Scott dry be deflecting the rain with her telekinesis. The loud rumbling of thunder seemed to shake the air.

"Me too," Scott said. "I don't know this kid's story but she deserves to be respected enough to be heard out. Besides, she doesn't seem like the type to run around with the Brotherhood."

Jean breathed out a sigh. "I know, Scott," she said. "But let's face it. If we were in her position – which we have been in before the professor came and got us – we probably would have done the same thing. Best I can tell she acted out of anxiety. People do things out of fear; it doesn't make them bad people."

"Yeah; I can think of a few things that I did that I'm not that proud of," Scott admitted.

Jean nodded, and began her telepathic search. However, what she heard brought a shiver down her spine. She could hear Anna-Marie's thoughts; they were projecting loudly in her mind, and she could feel the girl's pain and fear. However, it wasn't long until Jean and Scott stumbled across the form of Anna-Marie curled in a tight ball on the soft, muddy ground below, rain pelting down on her face as she sobbed dryly. Her whole body was shaking from a mixture of cold and fear, and Scott and Jean could both see that the girl had gotten sick. It was a pitiful sight for them to take in as they walked over to her slowly to try and help her up.

Anna-Marie D'Ancanto didn't know how long she had been laying in the grass of the woods of Bayville, New York. All she knew was that she had to try and gather her mind. But she was finding the task to be nearly impossible as she continued to sob. For several hours her body had just been floating there before she finally lacked the strength and collapsed down into the mud. Her mind and body were still in the mode of fight or flight. She couldn't bring herself to relax because her breathing was still erratic and heavy. She knew that if she did not calm down, then she would eventually throw up again. But, she did not care. She couldn't see herself recovering after having done what she just did.

What she had done was nearly unforgivable; she knew that. She understood what she did was wrong. And now, Ms. Marvel, one of the founding members of the Canadian-American mutant group, Alpha Flight, was knocked comatose because of her. How was she supposed to forgive herself for what she had just done? What could she possibly do to make up for it? She'd rather Alpha Flight collar her and lock her up in prison. She'd take jail over this. Her head was spinning as she continued laying there, shaking and crying. She was surprised that she still had any tears left to shed.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU STOLE MY LIFE!" shouted the psychic voice of Carol Danvers.

'Please, please, just leave meh alone! I beg of ya! I beg ya!' Rogue thought as her body continued shivering from cold.

"Why? Why is this happenin' to meh? I didn't wanna hurt anyone!" Anna-Marie asked herself, still breathing hysterically. "Ah'm a good person . . . what have Ah done to deserve this?" She stared up at the sky. "IS THIS WHAT YA WANT FROM MEH?" she screamed out, as if she were cursing out God for making her this way. "Is this what Ah am?" She felt her body beginning to grow weaker as she continued to lie there in the grass, closing her eyes as her sobs wracked her whole frame. She was cold, scared and confused. Why did this have to happen to her? What had she done that had been so wrong in life to deserve something like this?

As her sobs finally began to subside, she felt her breathing slow. She didn't have any more tears left in her to release. But, her breathing still posed as an issue as she continued with just lying there on the ground. A violent shiver wracked her body. She did not know how long she lay there. It must have been a long time, though, because she heard footsteps over her head and concerned whispering. She felt the presence of someone kneeling next to her, a hand on her shoulder.

"Anna-Marie?" she heard a voice asking her over her head . . . a male's, a voice of concern and worry, genuine kindness and sympathy.

The young woman shut her eyes tighter. She just wanted to disappear forever. She wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

'Easy,' she heard a voice inside her head, only this one sounded much quieter and more controlled. It was a voice that belonged to a female. 'Listen, try and concentrate. We can help you. It's going to be okay. You'll be alright.'

Anna-Marie just shook her head, her body still shaking hard.

"Hey, hey . . . c'mon, look at me." Anna-Marie opened her eyes to see a young woman with long, flaming red hair and a young man with dark hair and a red visor masking his eyes. She recognized them as Cyclops and Marvel Girl from the X-men. "Calm down," Scott Summers told her quietly. "We know what happened; just tell us what's going on. We're willing to listen."

"X-men?" the shaken mutant asked.

"Yeah," Jean said softly, her hands rose in the air to show that she meant no harm. "We're aware of what had happened. We know you broke the Brotherhood out of Alpha Flight's custody."

"Yeah . . . Ah-Ah know what Ah did," Anna-Marie whispered. "But-But what's gonna happen to Ms. Marvel?"

"Her powers are part of you permanently, now. I-I tried to wake her from her coma. I can't," Jean said, shaking her head. "The best Professor Xavier and I can do is place some mental blocks on your mind to hopefully quiet her until her consciousness makes its way back to her body."

Somehow, more tears made their way to Anna-Marie's eyes as she heard about what had happened to Carol. "Please . . ."

"Yeah, yeah, I can sense that you didn't want to; that you didn't mean to do it. I know you regret it," Jean said, sympathetic. She could feel the younger teen's fear radiating off her. It reminded her of when she and Scott had first gone off to pick up Bobby from Boston. "Look, we do not know what's going to happen from here. But attacking a SHIELD agent and a founding member of Alpha Flight is a felony, and unfortunately, a serious one. But I want to hear from you why you did it. You're deserving of being able to say what needs to be said."

"Ah-Ah didn't want to, but Ah felt that Ah had to," Anna-Marie admitted. "Ah ended up joinin' the Brotherhood, though Ah didn't do it intentionally."

"Yeah; we're aware of your history with them, but you do not seem like the type to run around with them," said Scott, the sympathy evident in his tone. "Why'd you join them?"

"Mystique found meh in Biloxi. Ah-Ah ran away from home last fall, because, the first boy Ah ever kissed . . . he-he ended up in a coma for nearly three weeks. And Ah-Ah can still feel his presence inside mah mind," Anna-Marie said softly, tears welling in her eyes again. "Ah never wanted ta hurt him, ever. But after that happened . . . everyone was looking at meh like Ah was the devil. Ah never wanted powers . . . Ah used to be normal!" Anna-Marie's sobs grew more anguished, and Jean sat down, not minding that her uniform was being covered in mud. Upon sitting down in the soft ground, she gently placed Anna-Marie's head onto her lap, using a gloved hand to stroke her hair gently.

"Shhhhhh, I know," Jean whispered. Scott extended a hand forward, rubbing the younger teen's back in soothing patterns.

"It's okay," Scott whispered. "It's alright, you're safe. Continue."

"Ah ran away because I knew mah daddy wouldn't approve of mah being a mutant. So, when Mystique found meh, she-she offered to give meh shelter with her, to train meh on how to use mah powers. Why-Why would Ah say no? Why would Ah refuse? She was the only one to notice Ah was suffering and to offer meh anything at all."

Scott and Jean sat there, taking in what the younger teen had to say. The fact that Anna-Marie just told them that she had done what she did as essentially a favor to Mystique in exchange for helping her, it made sense to the two of them. Of course, they were with the X-men as a favor to Professor Xavier in exchange for him taking the two of them in when nobody wanted them.

Jean could see images flashing through her mind as she read Anna-Marie's thoughts. She picked up on images of an older man drunkenly berating a young child of about thirteen years old. She also saw images of that same girl kissing a boy, and screaming in fear due to that said boy collapsing to the ground, not moving and not breathing. Jean was then bombarded with an unsettling image of that same girl, sleeping outside a train station and using newspapers to cover her shivering body. Then she was greeted with imagery of Anna-Marie being found by Mystique, being trained on her powers and absorbing Warren's father. Jean closed her eyes, gasping slightly as she took in everything. It took all strength in her to keep her tears where they belonged.

Jean and Scott had both been in the horrible position of nobody being there for them. Looking at Anna-Marie, the girl had felt the sense of being alone and no one being there for her. It was clear she had no family or anyone to rely on. Mystique had been the closest thing to family she'd had. Now, she was all alone again, and feeling scared over her new powers.

"We believe you," Scott said to her. "Just-Just come with us and the rest of the X-men. We'll see what we can do to help you with whatever you need. We will work on helping you with some special accommodations so that you do not end up going to jail. You need another alternative from prison. Yes, you need to be held accountable, but I do not think sending you to jail is the answer. I've been where you were – probably worse, actually. We all have. You've suffered enough. Well . . . keep in mind that Logan Howlett – Wolverine, well, he's not thrilled about it. That is considering what you did to his girlfriend, but, the first step is you admitting it. But you should understand that there will be consequences coming with this."

Anna-Marie swallowed. "Ah-Ah'll accept whatever punishment Ah have ta take. Whatever's decided, Ah deserve it, because Ah did something terrible."

"Don't beat yourself up," Jean whispered. "Okay? Because all that's going to do is make you feel worse than you already are at this point. What matters is what you do to try and make up for it. C'mon, let's go."

Scott offered Anna-Marie a hand up and he and Jean got the teen onto the X-Jet together, moving her towards the back of the plane and getting a shock blanket wrapped over her.

As they passed, they could see Logan, who was keeping his face neutral. But Jean could sense that he wasn't trusting of Anna-Marie in the slightest. In fact, Jean could tell just by reading his thoughts that it was taking everything in the Wolverine's power to not go into a berserker rage as he looked at Anna-Marie. After settling Anna-Marie in the back of the jet, Professor Xavier came over as Scott got up to go into the cockpit.

"Anna-Marie," the professor said. "The only thing that Jean and I can possibly do at this point is put a block or two on your mind to block Ms. Marvel out. I fear that her powers will always somehow be part of you. We do not know when she will awaken, but when she does, just know that it's not ever going to be the same."

The Southern belle nodded; she was prepared to accept whatever was planned for her at this point. All she could do was put her faith in something.

Closing her eyes, she felt the professor and Jean placing the blocks on her mind and helping her to find her shields, and she felt the voices quieting in her mind. She leaned in against Jean, her head falling into the red-head's lap as she felt the exhaustion overwhelming her mind. She was completely, one-hundred percent drained, and all she wanted to do at that moment was just sleep as Jean ran her fingers through her muddy, soaking wet hair to soothe her. She could hear one thing enter her mind . . . Jean's voice saying, 'It's going to be okay . . . you're going to be okay. Just rest for now. You're safe now.'

Up next: Breaking the Habit