Disclaimer: No own. No money. No sue.
A/N: I know that in the comicverse, Rogue is Mystique's foster daughter. I'm writing this in movieverse, though, and from what I've seen there's no way they'll be able to work that into her history, so you may assume that Rogue and Mystique don't know each other at all.
Sword hung up the phone, gently. "She's coming here as soon as she can."
Shadow nodded. "I'll stay in contact with her, in case anything turns up."
"I'll call Professor Xavier." said Ororo. "He can assist in the search."
Shadow grimaced suddenly. "You and Remy may want to… not be here when Raven arrives."
Ororo frowned at the familiar name. ~Raven. Wasn't that what Logan called Mystique?~
"Why would we do dat?" asked Remy, lounging – and fidgeting – on the couch.
"Because I just got in contact." replied Shadow. "And she's bringing a friend." He flashed an image into their minds.
"Oh."
"Oh indeed."
"Fair 'nough. Remy go pack."
Rogue had half-teleported, half stumbled, towards the main highway, and now, wearing sunglasses and the gloves and covering clothes she'd quickly taken from her room, she was riding in the passenger seat of a station wagon, driven by a man who'd taken one look at her outfit and spent the whole of the drive muttering about irresponsible teenagers; that is, when he wasn't banging at the radio trying to get something resembling music to tune in.
She sighed for the hundredth time, and examined the blue streak in her hair.
Couldn't go back.
~Leibling, come back…~
She'd almost killed him.
~I live, I love…~
Couldn't face him again.
~I forgive…~
She turned her eyes out to the long road ahead, and tried to shut out the voice that was Kurt in her head.
~Mein Rogue.~
Ororo turned the familiar corner that led up to the mansion, waking up Remy with judicious use of one index finger.
"Wha?... oh."
"Very eloquent, Remy."
He stuck his tongue out at her, child-like; Goddess, she hadn't quite realized how much she'd missed him.
"Remy take it we nearly dere, Stormy?"
"Do not call me Stormy." she said, absentmindedly, but there was a smile on her face. "Yes, we are about to arrive." Already, looming up on the right, were the gates to Xaviers; they swung open of their own accord – the red-headed reason for that happenstance bouncing up and down in the driveway with excitement.
Ororo stepped out of the car, and was immediately enveloped in a hug.
"You're back to stay, now?"
She nodded, smiling at her friend. "Yes, we're here to stay."
The students had gathered by the doorway, staring openly.
"Wow," whispered Jubilee to Kitty. "Ms Monroe's new guy is hot!"
Unfortunately she'd used the Jubilee version of a whisper; Jean fixed her with a glare.
"Don't you all have classes to be in?"
Ever tactless, Jubilee nodded, popping her gum "Yeah, and you're meant to be teaching them."
"Go on," said Ororo. "We'll just dump our things in our room; we can catch up later."
Jean nodded, but muttered under her breath. "Those brats are so going to have a pop quiz." She smiled at Remy. "Nice to see you again."
Scott, teaching a math class, just smiled at her when she peeked through the door, then carried on with his work, much to the obvious disappointment of the students. Typical Cyclops. There was very little that could cause him to do something so irresponsible as cut short an algebra class.
The professor, she gathered, was already in Cerebro. Trying to distract him would have been pointless, so instead she led Remy up to the room she assumed was going to be theirs.
Her old room was just the same – Jean must have been up and watered the plants occasionally, because they all looked alive and well. Remy just sat on the bed, looking around. She sat down beside him, and he wrapped one arm around her. They sat like that for a little while, both silent.
Finally Ororo moved, taking his hand in hers, and examining the thin scar across his wrist, asked
"Are you going to tell me about this?"
His face darkened, and he pulled away from her. "Stormy…"
"Please, Remy. I want to understand."
There was a pause. "Y' know 'bout de empathy t'ing?"
"You mentioned it once or twice, yes."
"De last time Remy use it, was when y' got y' memory back. Jus' wanted t' know y' were alright."
"And?"
"And where before Remy feel y' love for 'im, dere was not'ing. Den y' leave wit'out saying anyt'ing, and…"
He shrugged. "Bad t'ings."
She kissed him in response, tangling her fingers through his hair. After a second, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. When the kiss eventually ended, she whispered, "Take another look, Remy. What do you feel now?"
Ororo tried as best she could to project her feelings out; love, need, want. It obviously worked, because in a split second they were lying on the bed in a delicious tangle of limbs, the kiss this time more frenzied, his hands moving over her body.
~Ororo?~
She bolted upright. Of all the incredibly bad timings…
~Yes?~ she replied.
His mental 'voice' was tinged with humor. ~If you are quite done, I would like to see you and Remy at Cerebro.~
~On our way.~
"Come on, Gambit." She tapped her forehead. "We've been summoned."
Rogue awoke with a start. Her head really hurt. What had happened? Station Wagon Man had pulled in at a gas station, and she'd just gone to buy herself a soda or something… She noticed, suddenly, that her arms and legs were encased in chains. Metal ones, though, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. She tried to reach into herself, find the power she'd taken from Magneto so long ago. The chains started to shudder, the bolts holding them to the walls working their way out. It was harder than she might have thought.
Suddenly, her concentration was broken by a sharp pain; she looked up to see a smiling, auburn haired woman.
"So glad you're awake." she said. "Torturing the sleeping really is no fun at all."
"Who the hell are you?" asked Rogue, but she was concentrating on a chair in the corner of the room, it's metal frame responding sluggishly to her mental commands. At this point she was really wishing that she'd practiced more with the borrowed power; or that what she'd accidentally taken from Kurt had lasted just a little longer.
Finally, the chair lifted, flinging itself at the woman's head; only to be hit by a bright flash of light which sent it, in pieces, into all corners of the room.
"Now, now, none of that. You're not nearly as skilled with the power you stole from my father as he was."
"Father?" She concentrated on the chains again, but between all the teleporting she'd done recently, and the struggle to control Magneto's power, she was feeling drained. The chains barely moved.
The strange woman moved closer, smiling again with that grim smile. "My father would have done great things. We had plans, little girl. It was time – time for us to stop hiding, time for us to come out and take our true and natural place in things, at the top of the heap. Time to give them a real reason to fear us. And then you took it all away."
"Wanda Maximoff!"
The hail of the loudspeaker startled both occupants of the room.
"We know you're in there. You are surrounded, Wanda. Come out peacefully!"
Wanda snarled, and then there was a gloved fist flying towards Rogue's face, and then only darkness.
Mystique watched her son, his head bowed in prayer. She knew, when she had given him over to be raised by others, that she would lose part of him.
She hadn't expected to lose so much.
He'd barely spoken to her, received her cordially enough; oh, her son had manners. He was a better man for having lacked her influence.
And now he spoke in private with a force she didn't really believe in and
barely understood. The
boy-demon, reaching out for his God in his time of need. Sometimes it made her want to just laugh; his
faith was so much stronger than all those who would condemn him for his looks.
Right now, it made her want to cry.
Nearby, Logan still sat, quiet, still. Waiting for a message; waiting for someone to tell him who to kill. Her love, although she'd never spoken the words out loud. She'd thought there had been an implicit understanding between them; she'd thought he'd understood.
And then she'd lost another that had been close to her heart.
Now this time of crisis had brought them back together; the man who still loved another, and the boy who knew his God better than he knew his mother.
Raven Darkholme sighed, and leaned back on the sofa. Let there be news soon. Please, let there be news soon.
"Lieutenant Danvers!"
The blond woman turned her head, up to where Davis was coming down from the sweep.
"She's gone roof-to-roof. We've got three teams following her – she won't get away."
Ah, to be young and optimistic. What Danvers really wanted was to fly over there and put a super-strength fist through Maximoff's head, but wearing the uniform she did had… limitations, rules she had to play by.
Oh well, maybe another time.
With Davis following her, they made the sweep through Wanda's hideout, cautiously – she'd been known to leave booby-traps behind.
It was what was on the third floor that was interesting. Booby-traps, maybe, but she'd never known the Scarlet Witch to use hostages, if that's what the girl had been. It wasn't her M.O. Besides, why kidnap a hostage and then leave her behind when the feds show up?
The girl was unconscious; dispatching Davis to get the medics in, she approached her, taking her lolling head in both hands. She seemed to be breathing fairly well, although that nose looked broken; taking off one glove, Carol decided she'd better take a pulse, just to check that the girl would live long enough for the ambulance to get here.
Some streets away, the dangerous outlaw known as the 'Scarlet Witch' laughed, as she evaded yet another one of Danvers precious little squads. Such a pity; she'd wanted to take out Ms Marvel herself, but this had seemed more prudent.
What could be better? Two birds. One stone.
A/N: This chapter took ages to write – I had minor writers block, so apologies if it's not up to scratch. At least it's longer than the last chapter. I'm trying to psyche myself up to write the ending the way I kinda know I have to, not the way I really want to, which would have been much fluffier. (And if that's not a hint, I don't know what is)