Dabi came to my room late one night, or very early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it. After a frenzied hookup, we both fell asleep almost immediately. I woke later to an uneasy feeling. The air in the room was cool on my bare skin. Dabi was lying halfway on top of me, snoring softly, his face on my chest. My wrists were still chained together, my arms wrapped around his shoulders. The sky was still dark outside my window.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something out of place. I craned my neck and saw Shigaraki sitting in the chair. "Shit," I gasped. I tried to reach for the covers, but I was weighed down by Dabi's sleeping form. I shook him awake. "Get up! Dabi, get up!"

"I am up," he murmured, pressing against me. Technically, it was true, but not what I meant. Then he noticed our visitor. He tried to sit up, but he got caught in the cuff chains.

I tried to untangle us and cover myself, but it was impossible to do both. Finally Dabi managed to slide down and free himself. He licked my stomach as he went. I glared at him as I pulled the blanket up over my body. "Seriously?"

Despite being completely naked, he made eye contact with Shigaraki as he circled the bed to retrieve his clothes from the floor. "What the hell is so urgent you couldn't wait?" He stepped into his pants and pulled them up.

Shigaraki looked at me. "I sent for you over an hour ago, but no one was willing to interrupt..." he gestured towards the bed, "...this."

I clutched the sheets tighter around myself.

Dabi fastened his belt, then pulled on his shirt. "Fine, let's go, then."

"Not you," Shigaraki said, annoyed. "Her."

Both of them looked at me, and I wanted to disappear. Dabi looked surprised, then amused.

Shigaraki rose and came towards me, and I shrunk back. He held up the keys to my cuffs. Reluctantly, I held out my arms, and he unlocked each side, careful not to touch my skin. Then he sank back into the chair.

I stared at him in disbelief. Then I shot a look at Dabi, who shrugged. I shook my head. "Absolutely not. Wait outside."

Shigaraki stood with a sigh. "Chill out; I couldn't care less. Meet us downstairs." He walked out. Dabi chuckled darkly as the door swung shut.

I slid off the bed and started to gather my clothes. "Is he always like that?"

Dabi was still grinning. "So you're giving him orders now?" I rolled my eyes. Dabi pulled on his jacket. "I'll see you down there."

I froze. "Wait, you don't have to escort me?"

"Not anymore." I thought he looked a little proud. Then he left.

I quickly got dressed and ran a comb through my hair. The uneasy feeling had not left me. I stepped into my shoes, then headed out the door. There were no guards in the hall. It felt strange. I made a quick detour to the bathroom.

Before going downstairs, I went back to my room to grab my gloves. I probably wouldn't need them, but I wanted to be prepared either way. Maybe I was stalling, too. Something felt different about this night.

Sounds of muffled shouting pulled me from my thoughts. It reminded me of my test a few days before. I backed up against the wall, my eyes on the door. Then I felt the building rumbling beneath me. I looked around in bewilderment. Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed. Dust and debris rained down over me as I tried to cover my head.

For a while, all was dark. My body felt broken, but I was drifting just out of reach from the pain.

The next thing I knew, there was a tingling surge in my arms. It was like many hands were reaching out to me, offering me strength. My eyes shot open as I drew in a sharp wheeze of air. Several of the students from class 1-A were leaning over me, and they all let go of my arms. I was flat on my back, and I coughed as I struggled to catch my breath. My throat felt full of dust. "Where am I?"

"In the hospital," said Ochaco.

"Miss Marie, you've been in a coma for four days," explained Tenya, the tall boy with glasses.

I looked around. I was in a narrow bed with side rails. Everything in the room was a pristine white, and I could hear various monitors beeping.

Deku spoke up. "We found a way to help you, with all of us working as a team." He proudly looked around at his classmates. "Everybody here has a transformation quirk that could help give you strength or resilience. I was really careful about who I asked; I didn't want you to absorb anything that might complicate your healing. We made sure to all grab on to you at the same time, so none of us would get drained too quickly."

"Smart." I smiled up at him. "Risky, but smart." He beamed.

I rubbed a hand over my face, and realized there was an oxygen mask over my mouth and nose. I pulled it away, then noticed an IV tube stuck into my arm. What had landed me in such bad shape that the students felt they had to intervene?

I sighed in frustration. "Kids, what happened? I can't remember."

Another, deeper voice answered from the corner. "The building collapsed with you inside." It was Eraser.

My body went cold with fear. I vividly remembered his face dripping away in gray blobs. "No, no, no," I whispered, trying to push myself up. "Not again."

Eraser moved closer, holding out a hand towards me. "Marie, it's over. You're safe now."

I jerked back. "Don't touch me!" With all my strength, I forced my aching body up. Something caught my leg, and I realized that my ankle was cuffed to the hospital bed. I couldn't escape. "Stay away!"

Jirou piped up. "Marie, that's Mister Aizawa! Eraser, remember?"

"No, it's not him. It's a fake!" Panic was taking over. Were the students all fakes too? Would I have to watch them melt, or die horribly? "No, please…"

"Kids, get out of here," said Eraser.

I grabbed the side rail of the bed and tried to drag myself up, but my foot pulled against the cuff again. "I can't, please, not again-" Suddenly there were nurses, grabbing my arms and pressing me back down. "No!" I shrieked, my voice raw.

"Now sweetie, calm down," one of them urged softly.

"They're testing me!" I struggled desperately. "No, please!"

"Careful," Eraser warned. "Don't hurt her."

"She'll be perfectly fine. We can't let her go harming herself or others."

I was too weak to fight all of them. They easily held me down and fastened each of my arms to a side rail with thick velcro straps. After they let go, I tried twisting and wrenching against the restraints, but it was no use. Finally I collapsed, my chest heaving. Angry tears brimmed in my eyes. A nurse put the oxygen mask back over my mouth and nose, while another injected something into my IV port.

"There you go," one of them soothed, patting my shoulder. "Try to relax now, honey. You don't need to get all worked up." Before long, the nurses had all gone.

"Marie?" I heard.

"Please let me go," I begged, my voice high and strained. Tears ran down my cheeks.

For a moment there was silence. Then Eraser spoke again. "You said this is a test?"

"Yes." I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Well done, you figured it out. Now you must be patient and wait for the next part."

That made a bit of sense; they couldn't expect me to get out of this on my own. I felt myself relax, just a little.

"They've done this before?" Eraser asked.

"Yeah, you were there, remember?" I shook my head; that wasn't quite right. I needed to focus. The adrenaline had jumbled my thoughts. "Not the real you, the copy of you."

"What else?"

I remembered him leading me down the hall, and seeing the bodies. My eyes welled with tears again at the memory. "They were all dead," I whimpered. My shoulders shook, holding back a sob. "And it was my fault." I felt hot tears run down my face, but I could not wipe them away.

"Then what?"

It took an effort to turn my head towards him. "Then… you melted." I noticed Deku peeking around the door frame.

Eraser rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Marie. You can rest now."

"No, wait..." The pieces were falling together. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to concentrate. "You called me Rogue. But you never-"

"I've always called you Marie."

I stared up at the ceiling. "Is this… real?"

"Would you believe me if I told you?"

"No," I admitted, and my breath hitched as I stifled a sob.

Deku spoke up from the doorway. "What about me?"

Eraser scowled at him. "I distinctly remember telling you to leave."

"Sorry, sir." Deku approached my bed. "Do you think I'm a copy, too?"

I didn't want to believe that, but horrible images leapt to mind. I shut my eyes, trying to shake the thought from my head. More tears spilled from my eyes.

"Miss Marie, you said you went to a school like ours. Was it the one founded by Charles Xavier?"

I looked at him in surprise. "Yes."

"What was he like?"

I remembered the man's face easily, his gentle eyes and soft smile. "Kind," I finally said. "He was always so kind."

Deku nodded, his eyes wide. He was trying to distract me. It might just work.

"Professor Xavier took me in when I was nobody, a complete stranger. I had nothing but the clothes on my back. He promised he would do everything in his power to help me. And I wasn't the only one he helped; that's just the sort of person he was. I don't think I'd still be here if it weren't for him." I sniffled.

"Who else do you remember?"

I thought for a second. "There was… Wolverine."

"He had metal claws, right?"

"That's right. He was the first other mutant I ever met. He saved my life. Also I had a massive crush on him, but he liked someone else."

Deku blushed. That must have reminded him of someone special. He changed the subject. "Did you ever borrow his quirk?"

"Yeah, a few times."

"So cool!"

"Once, he accidentally stabbed me, so I took just enough of his power to heal myself."

Deku's eyes widened. "Wow."

His enthusiasm urged me on. "At school, one of my teachers was Jean Gray."

"No way, you don't mean Phoenix?"

"Well, I only knew her before all that. We had no clue how powerful she actually was. I don't even think she knew."

I could have chatted with the boy all day, but soon I grew tired, and Eraser urged him out the door. Deku promised to stop by again soon so we could talk more. Though he was doing it to help me, I was fairly sure he gained as much from the conversation as I did.

As I nodded off, I thought I heard Eraser's voice. "Whatever my copy did to you, I'm sorry."

I spent the day drifting in and out of restless sleep.

Once the nurses were sure I wasn't going to panic again, they let me out of my restraints. They got rid of the oxygen mask, and removed a catheter they had placed while I was unconscious. They warned me not to get out of bed without a nurse by my side. I wasn't allowed to eat any solid foods yet, only liquids and jello.

Later I woke up, needing the toilet. I pressed the call button on my bed, and they told me someone would be right down to help me. Yet, twenty minutes went by, and no one came. I was starting to squirm.

Someone knocked on the door frame. "Hey gorgeous!" It was not a nurse, but Midnight, smiling warmly.

I sat up a little straighter. "Hi," I said.

Her smile fell. "Marie, sweetheart, you look miserable!"

"I'm okay," I insisted.

She hurried to my side, gently touching my shoulder. "You poor thing. Tell me, what can I do?"

I couldn't only think of one thing. "Honestly, I need to get to the bathroom. I paged the nurse but it's been a while."

"Babe, that's no problem. I've got you." She fiddled with the bed rail for a moment until she got it to drop down out of the way. Then she helped me get my feet on the floor. While I got my bearings, she gathered up the loops of IV lines attached to a metal pole.

Since I didn't have my gloves, I was worried about accidentally brushing against her skin, until I remembered the last time I had seen her. Before I left to face League of Villains, she had held my face in her hands. Borrowing her quirk had been soothing, not painful or frightening.

Midnight put her arm around my back. "Go ahead and lean on me, I'm stronger than I look."

"Thank you," I said, letting her support me. Slowly we made our way to the tiny bathroom, pushing the IV stand alongside. It was slow going. Once we were there, I grabbed the safety bar on the wall. As weak as I felt, I could not let her watch me use the toilet. "I can manage from here," I promised.

"Fine, but I'm waiting right here. Don't try to be tough and end up hurting yourself. We're both gals, we have all the same bits." She left the door open just a crack.

Like I needed reminding about her bits. I carefully hobbled the rest of the way and sat down on the toilet. Then I waited. It was so quiet I could heard a ticking clock out in the hospital room, and even voices from the hallway. "Uh, Midnight?"

"What is it, dear?"

"It's too quiet."

"Oh, boy. I would offer to sing, but I'm no Present Mic."

"I don't care. Please?"

"Fine, but only if you sing along."

"I don't know any Japanese songs. Do you know any in English?"

She was quiet for a minute before I heard anything. "You are my fire, my one desire… Marie, why aren't you singing?"

I took a breath, and sang the next line horribly. "Believe when I say I want it that way."

We both sang the next part together, but in completely different keys. "But we are two worlds apart, can't reach to your heart…"

By the chorus, my nervous bladder finally gave in, and I almost cried in relief.

After I flushed the toilet, Midnight pushed the door open and scowled at me. "We will never speak of this to anyone."

I shook my head. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Once I washed my hands, she helped me back to bed and tucked me in. Just that short trip across the room had worn me out.

She brushed a strand of hair away from my face. "Poor thing, that took a lot out of you, didn't it?"

My stomach fluttered at her touch. "Yeah, I've been sleeping a lot but I don't feel rested."

She raised one eyebrow. "Now, that's my specialty!"

"But you just got here!" I pouted.

"There will be plenty of time for us to catch up later. Right now you need to be recuperating." She put her hand on her hip. "I insist."

"I guess there's no point arguing, then."

She smirked. "Good girl. Are you comfortable?" I nodded, and she unbuttoned the top of her blouse, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on my forehead. "I'll see you again when you're feeling better. Sweet dreams, Marie." Then a soft, pink haze surrounded me, and I drifted off.