The Rogue
Author's Note: hey, thanks for the votes! Hope you enjoy the next chapter! I've tallied up the votes and found that Scott won pretty much 72-64. I guess its better this way: at least it'll be more original. I'll try Marie/Logan on my next fics. Until then, I hope this will do.
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Genetics Mutation Forensic Research Lab; Codename: Area 42
It was a warm sunny day in Mississippi. Spring was always as warm as summer and it was almost as humid. General Austwit stood proudly in the control room of the Western Wing of the Underground facilities.
" General, the signal is back online."
The gruff looking man, about mid-forties stepped forwards. He took his place beside the sitting soldier and looked over his shoulders towards the small screen.
" Where is the signal now, Jhonson?" he asked.
" Still in New York, sir; but it appears as though its on high ground. A building, possibly," the spectacled man replied.
" Good work. Keep at it, inform me of any changes."
Suddenly, the transparent sliding doors slid open, and out stepped a heavily guarded man. He wore a black suit and had short brown hair and blue eyes.
" Dr. DeVillago, the signal has shown itself once again, all systems are prepared to go," General Austwit said as he saluted the man.
"Good job, General. We must retrieve project 147 immediately," he said. " Call Dr. Kophman, tell him to prepare 624 once you locate 147."
The general saluted and immediately went to work. The suited man, Samuel DeVillago was a rich and respected scientist, currently running for Mayor in the small Cadlecott County. He had worked hard and long to perfect the perfect mutant weapon.
He sat at one of the chairs overlooking the entire room and began to observe the screens. Then, the alarms went off, informing the team of trouble.
" General, what is going on?" DeVillago asked.
" Its 147, sir," he replied. " She's trying to over-ride the memory blocking device we placed on her. I'm afraid it may be working."
DeVillago stood and nodded at the General. He began to walk out of the room, with the General not far behind. One of his bodyguards gave him a phone as he snapped his finger.
" Karen? Get me the original team from project 147: The Rogue. Tell them to meet in the conference room at Area 42 in 30 minutes," he ordered.
General Austwit eyed the doctor warily and cleared his throat as they reached the elevator.
" If I may, sir? What exactly are you planning?" he asked.
DeVillago faced the military officer and gave him the cellular phone.
" I'm going to prepare the team. Once we retrieve our elusive rogue, we can continue the project once again," he said. " I want you to call Karen and tell her to prepare a plane to retrieve Mr. Phillip Nate. I believe he was one of our telepathic officers."
" But sir, we don't exactly know where 147's location is," General Austwit said.
" That is why we're having the conference. We shall figure out where she is soon," he said as the elevator stopped. He took off his jacket and placed it on one of the coat racks. " Dismissed, General. Go get 624. Bring him to us in a while."
" But sir-" General Austwit started. " The signal-"
DeVillago took his lab coat and put it on, cutting off the General before he finished his sentence. " We programmed the TAG device to 'malfunction' once she reached a point where she is able to control her powers, somewhat. It will be useless in two weeks. We need to find that device now!"
" You… planned it go like this?" the General asked, awed at his words.
" We didn't have the funds 8 months ago," DeVillago explained as he took a seat. " I was all we could do."
The General stood still, not caring that a team of scientists was taking their seat at the oval table. He sighed and eyed the large projection screen that hung before the table.
" The secretary of Defense won't take a liking to this," the General warned.
DeVillago laughed and wiped a fake tear from his eyes. " General, the Secretary of Defense has kept Area 51 a secret and has been funding it for years. What makes you think that our new provider isn't the one and only?"
The General stood, in shock at what he had just heard. He nodded and held onto the phone. He stepped out of the room and began to make calls.
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In the conference room, the team was assembled and DeVillago was just about ready to debrief his team. He turned on the large screen and the buzzing of conversation dulled to nit.
" Sir, what… what is this?" one of the female doctors asked. " I thought project 147 was aborted months ago."
" Well, Dr. Stevenson," he replied. " It seems our provider wants us to continue the project."
" Mein Gott! Vhat are ve to do?" the stout German professor asked. " If ze mutant find out about ze lab, zhey might plan to strike Area 42!"
" That, Professor Krauss, is the reason why we have to retrieve project 147 immediately," he explained. " We have to bring her back here before she recalls the location of our labs."
" Well, how we retrieve 147?" asked a small Asian woman, her English slightly rusty from the long lack of use.
" Oui, et avec quoi?" a french scientist asked.
" Not what, mon ami," said DeVillago. " Who"
He placed a disc inside the small computer and the projector screen immediately showed the data inside. A photo beside a report of information showed up. It was a young boy by the name Richard, codename: Hypno. He had hazel eyes and brown hair, and a sweet smile that made him quite adorable.
" Project 624," DeVillago said. " Hypno."
" Project Hypno?" Dr. Stevenson asked. " He's only a child!"
DeVillago looked at the frantic woman and nodded. " Yes, but he's a child immune to the Rogue's powers."
He pressed a button on the computer and the screen instantly changed to a small picture of the boy's anatomy.
" We can place a bug on him, enabling us to listen in on their conversations. Then, we locate both 624 and 147," he said.
" Brilliant, but…how do we send him in the first place?" asked one of the Italian scientists.
" The GPS satellites," DeVillago said. " We can hack into the satellite, find the frequency on 147's TAG device and locate her precise coordinates. Bring the child to her, and we bring them both back."
The team nodded and began to think of ideas on what to do once the mutant would arrive.
" Sir, I couldn't help but over hear your conversation with General Austwit. Why was it necessary to call Officer Nate?" an elderly woman asked.
" He's a telepath," DeVillago replied curtly. "We need someone to 'aid' her as she unlocks her past. Afterall, it won't do us any good sending 624 if she doesn't remember her own child."
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Logan growled as he entered the hallway towards the student's dorms. He made his way towards Rogue's room, knowing that she stayed with the human 'caution' sign. He didn't bother knocking as he opened the door. With his heightened senses, he knew she was making out with her boyfriend, but the Wolverine wasn't really bothered by the scene nor was he embarrassed by his actions.
" Do you mind?" Jubilee fumed, flustered and blushing as the Canadian made his way to Rogue's bed.
Bobby glared at the feral man and kissed Jubilee's cheek, making his way out of the room. " I'll see you at dinner Jubes," he said winking, despite the impatient man in the room.
" Okay," she replied, glaring at Logan who was now comfortably sitting on Rogue's bed, eyeing the room and its décor.
"Now," she started. " What was going through your thick head? What was so damn important that you had to interrupt a FINE moment?"
Logan brushed off Jubilee's cold look of hatred and cleared his throat. He had no idea how to ask Jubilee such stupid questions that the Wolverine would never bother to ask.
" Why the hell do you hate me so much?"
Jubilee stared at the man, not believing how dense he was. She blinked and scoffed. 'Men' she thought. 'So…stupid'
"Why…" she stated. " I'll tell you why! You hurt Rogue! She's very close to me! One of my best friends, and you turned her into a… a… dog on a leash!"
Logan was almost thrown back by the force of her words, but he sat silently, urging her to go on.
" You left her broken-hearted! She loved you! And you left us to clean up the pieces! And now that everyone's going okay… you come and wreck things again!"
She stood up and took out a recent photo of the X-Men at a picnic. Rogue was at the side, fingering his dog tags, looking lonely and lost.
"This was taken not too far back," she seethed. " We tried so hard… we tried everything! Eventually, Scott brought her back to the living and you have the audacity to ask why I hate you?"
Logan shook his head and denied everything she said in his head. He stared at the album, three months' worth of memories all in photos. They were mostly filled with happy faces, but one face always stood out. His Marie. As the dates became more recent, the paler she became, until halfway through the third month. She began to have life in her eyes again.
Jubilee found one photo of Rogue that Bobby had secretly taken of her.
" See this?" she asked showing Logan the photo." One month after you left."
The photo sent chills down his spine. It was a photo taken during the junior/senior Valentines' dance. They day he had found out about a lead and decided not to visit. She looked beautiful, despite her abnormally thin body.
Logan knew it was tough on the road, not eating regularly. He knew it would have taken her a while before her system grew accustomed to having three meals a day.
" So?" Logan asked. " She looks fine, considering it was only one month after I found her."
Jubilee sighed and flipped a page of the album. There was a different picture. This time, the X-Men were swimming, but Rogue was just sitting in the sides; this time with Scott.
" This was taken about two weeks later," Jubilee said softly. " Mr. Summers noticed how thin she kept getting and decided to do something about it."
" She cried a lot too," she continued, remembering nights that Rogue would whimper and slip out of the mansion to vent out her sorrows in the forest.
Logan growled angrily and was about to say something when Jubilee cut him off. " She always got nightmares." He looked at the girl and blinked.
"Nightmares?" he choked out.
" Yeah, she said once sometimes she would get yours and she would go off to your room, because the 'Logan' in her head felt more comfortable in somewhere familiar…" Jubilee started. " Sometimes, she would get her own, and it was too much for your room. But Mr. Summers always managed to calm her down."
" Her own?" Logan asked. " What do you mean by that?"
"I figure, she knew subconsciously about her being experimented on…Her nightmares…" Jubilee replied sadly. " Only Mr. Summers could bring her back. She'd only cry and scream in your room…"
After a moment of silence, Logan began to stand up. Jubilee placed the album back in her drawers and stopped Logan before he left.
" Rogue's better now Wolvie, thanks to Cyclops," she said, reverting back to the teenager Logan was used to hearing. " Jean and Cyke's breakup… in my opinion did Cyclops and Rogue some good."
"What're you getting at?" Logan growled. 'Are you sayin' that I should back off?' he thought angrily.
" Don't mess with it Wolvie," she warned. " You ran. Give someone else a chance to make Rogue happy."
Logan spun around and pinned Jubilee to the wall, much like he did with Kitty earlier that day.
" Look flash! I know I'm not much compared to tight-ass with his education and shit," Logan spat. " But I know I love Marie and I made her a promise that I'd protect her! Now that I'm here, by God I will hold up to that promise!"
Jubilee shivered as she stared at the man. Her voice not working as the full meaning of his words reached her brain.
" Y-you love Rogue?" she asked. " Then… why leave her?"
"I-" he sighed. " She thought she was 17, she told me she was 17. That would be wrong…Me, a dirty old man, who barely even knows of his past…. And her… that innocent angel. I had to let her grow and experience life. But-"
" You didn't know how much of life she's already experienced…" Jubilee finished, finally understanding some part of the Canadian mutant. " I didn't know… you sure have a funny way of showing it…"
Logan sighed and made his way out the door, but not before he heard Jubilee sigh and tell him where he could find his beloved Southern Belle.
" The roof… she always goes to the roof…"
' I'll make it right Marie… just you watch…' he thought. With that, he made his way towards the stairs leading towards the roof.
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Author's Note: that was quite a lot of information to digest, wasn't it? Hope it was good! It'll make sense once the following chapters come up.