Quick A/N: This chapter didn't turn out as humorous as I'd originally planned, but I like how it turned out for the most part. It strongly puts the question to all, Could Rogue actually fall for Apocalypse? *muahahahaha*
Thank Yous:
Witch-Uk, doesn't sound mean at all. While Amanda and Kurt are rather adorable on the series and were actually married in the comics, I'm very much starting to lean toward Wanda as his interest in this series. It just fits better. :-)
The Scribe3, I'm a closet Bobby fan as he's done in the cartoon so he'll definitely get some lovin' in the series. I love a nice fire & ice pairing. ;-)
Glaivester, thanks so much for that neat fact. I don't know too much about the comics except what I go researching here online and I never would have known there'd been an actual hint of Kurt/Wanda in the comics.
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You Can't Be Serious
"Logan, relax," Charles ordered as he moved himself between the furious man and Mystique. "Now is not the time for that."
"Mein Gott, vhat ist going on here?" Kurt demanded as his eyes darted from his mother to the X-Men and back again.
Wanda quickly stepped toward the confused young man to place a calming hand on his shoulder, which he didn't even notice but Amanda glared at.
"Agatha said you were dead," the Scarlet Witch said to the shapeshifter who was braced for attack about halfway up the staircase.
"The situation was a bit too complicated for her to grasp. As you all can see," Mystique straightened to stand with her arms crossed over her chest, "I am far from dead."
"How exactly is it that you aren't deceased?" Charles asked curiously.
"You want to have that conversation here?" Mystique countered.
The Professor understood her meaning instantly and almost agreed to move this to his office so they could have the discussion alone, but it was obvious that most all the mutants gathered in the foyer would follow to take part in the meeting.
"Yes, I believe we should. Everyone here has a right to know what is going on."
"Yeah, so tell us what the hell is going on?" Logan growled and took a step toward the blue skinned woman.
"You keep your distance, Wolverine," she said as her lithe body again prepared for attack.
Hank and Ororo stepped through the crowd to calm and restrain their friend even as they joined him in glaring at the female for answers.
Eyes darting around the assembled mutants Mystique was startled to see that she didn't recognize quite a few and many she did she was astonished to see with the X-Men.
"Who are all these people," she looked toward the Morlocks and Braddocks, "and what the hell are you all doing here?" the last was directed toward the Brotherhood and Acolyte members.
"That can be explained later, I do believe what you're doing here is the more important question," the Professor stated calmly. "Please, do not keep us waiting any longer."
"Where should I begin? With the fact that I was alive the whole time and I know of everything," she growled in Toad's direction, "that was done to me while I was trapped in stone?"
"I would like to know how you came to be restored to your present state."
"Mesmero took me to Apocalypse who put me back together for Rogue to restore," she said with a sigh as she prepared to answer their deluge of questions.
"Rogue? Where is she?!" Logan broke free of the others to rush up toward Mystique who wearily jumped back from him.
She leapt up onto the banister a safe distance from the charging mutant then answered, "In Mexico. Apocalypse is keeping her in a Mayan pyramid called the Castillo."
"Keeping her?" Charles, Kurt, and Logan all asked in surprise.
"What for?" Logan growled on the heels of his other question.
"I refuse to answer that until you get and stay away from me," Mystique told the Wolverine firmly.
Scott stepped forward this time with Hank to pull Logan back from the shapeshifter.
Seeing that the feral mutant was restrained, the blue skinned woman glared at him before turning her attention to Xavier, the calmest of the bunch.
"Because we helped free him, even though Rogue did so without her free will, Apocalypse feels he owes us. He repaid me by restoring me to one piece and having Rogue absorb my mutation so that I could return to normal," she braced herself for their reactions to the next part. "To repay Rogue, he will be taking her as his queen to rule the new world he creates with whatever plan he's working on."
"His queen?" quite a few members of the gathering asked in disbelief.
"Skunk head queen? That's a trip, yo," Toad said with a laugh that had a few people around him laughing for a second.
The older X-Men found nothing amusing about it.
"You can't be serious," Scott said, slackening his hold on Logan.
"That's pretty much the reaction we both had, but I do not doubt the mutant's sincerity in wanting Rogue as his bride."
Before anyone could react, Logan broke free of the pair holding him back and launched himself up the stairs to knock Mystique to the ground and pin her there.
"Why Rogue?" he snarled as his claws were unleashed with wicked snikts of sound.
Slightly fearful of the wild man holding her down, the shapeshifter shook her head and looked into his eyes. What she saw there relaxed her fears of being shredded somewhat but caused her to stiffen in surprise.
"You love her," she whispered so quietly that only his sensitive ears could hear the words.
Judging by the gasps of reaction from Charles and Jean behind them, though, it was obvious that the two telepaths had detected the question and/or perhaps read the answer in Logan's mind.
"Why Rogue?" the man asked coldly, ignoring everything but the need to have that question answered.
"I don't know," Mystique finally answered with complete honesty. "He said something about her having 'purity, strength and compassion that will serve their kingdom well.'"
"That seems a bit … farfetched, Raven," the Professor said calmly as he signaled Hank and Scott to remove Logan from the shapeshifter.
"The truth sometimes is, Xavier," she replied with a relieved sigh as the weight of Wolverine was pulled from her pinned frame. "And it is the truth."
"Vhy not you?" Kurt asked with a frown as he moved away from Amanda and Wanda to draw nearer to his mother.
"Basically he feels me to be too power hungry, that I would challenge him too much as his queen."
"How did you get away from him?" Scott was curious to know.
"He let me. He restored me to this form, considered my favor returned and said I was then free to go."
"And you left without Rogue?" Logan snarled and tried to again charge the mutant only to be firmly restrained by Beast.
"It was our only option."
"So you say, mozher," the Nightcrawler said with a bite a anger as he stood before her. "Vhy is it zhat in every situation you find yourself in zhe 'only option' is alvays zhe one zhat benefits only you? Vrogue ist your daughter and mein sizter, how could you leave her vith zhat … zhat monster?!"
"Because both of us being trapped with Apocalypse would do no good and there was no way I could get her out with him determined to make her his bride. Her only chance at getting free of him was for me to leave there and come here to get you."
"Get us for what?" Charles asked with a slight frown.
"To get her out," Mystique answered determinedly.
~*~*~
"Where'd all this come from?" Rogue asked as she was led by Apocalypse back into the main chamber where a veritable feast had been laid out.
"Mesmero is quite good at fetching what I want," the ancient mutant replied as he urged her to sit in a chair positioned on one side of the table the food was on before moving to take the seat opposite her.
"Am Ah one of those things?"
"Though I do not think of you as a thing, I cannot deny that I had to summon him to bring you to me."
A wave of the En Sabah Nuhr's dark hand had the mutant they discussed rushing forward to begin serving them both.
No one spoke as the cloaked figure placed healthy portions of the delicious looking food on plates he placed in front of the dining pair. After filling their glasses with a rich red wine and bowing to his master then man faded back into the shadows.
Rogue couldn't help but shiver at how creepily Mesmero did that. He seemed to become one with the darkness and move through it soundlessly so that one never knew if he was there or not until he decided to let his presence be known.
"Shall I send him away?" asked the man across from her.
She jumped at the question and shook her head before glaring at him.
"Ah don't lahke people in mah head."
"I go there only as needed to learn that which you are still too fearful of me to reveal."
"Which is everythang. Ah don't want you in mah head. If you wanna know something ask me and if Ah don't answer then accept it," she snarled.
"My patience with you will only last so long. I suggest you not try it over such a minor detail," Apocalypse stated calmly as he began eating his meal.
Recognizing a threat when she heard one, Marie decided to follow his example and shut up to eat for the first time in almost a day.
"This is all to your liking?" he asked while watching her devour the food she had on her plate.
Chewing and swallowing quickly she nodded and reached for her glass of wine to take a drink only to pause in midair as she remembered how unused to any alcohol she was.
"D'ya have any water?"
"I have no intention of intoxicating you and taking advantage of your body, Rogue. The water here is unsuitable for drinking, leaving wine as our best option for something to drink."
"How about a soda?"
He arched a brow at her and gave her a stern look so similar to Logan's that she gasped and dropped her attention to the plate before her.
"This Logan you think of so often will not be able to assist you," En Sabah Nuhr said while placing his utensils down on the table.
"And ya needed ta pry into those thoughts because?" she snarled.
"I will not have my queen daydreaming about another love in my presence," he stated with a flare of anger.
"He ain't mah love and Ah wasn't daydreamin'," Marie countered while jumping to her feet.
"You imagine that he will rush in here, slay me like some evil dragon then swoop you up into his arms and take you to that place you call home. That is very much a daydream, my child," Apocalypse and rounded the table to glare down at her. "If you persist in having such fantasies, I will have all memories of that man erased from your mind, do I make myself clear?"
Covering her head protectively with both hands, Rogue stumbled away from the ancient mutant.
"Ya can't be serious!"
"What I am is running out of patience. You are to be growing accustomed to me and accepting of your future as my queen not wasting your energy on thinking of him. If you have such trouble concentrating on me because of this Logan then I will see to it that the obstacle is removed."
"Ah'm sorry," she whispered while continuing to shrink away from him. "It's a habit and a hard one to break after only a day. Ah'll cooperate now, just don't … don't mess 'round in mah head again."
"Very good. Now, as it appears you have finished your meal how would you like a tour of our pyramid?"
Not knowing what else to do, she nodded to give her approval of the suggestion.
He offered her his arm to escort her on this tour and after a moments hesitation she slid one of her gloved hands through it.
With a frown he looked at the leather driving glove touching his skin and turned to remove both covers from her hands.
"You will no longer need such things with me," Apocalypse said while throwing the gloves aside before returning her now bare hand to his arm.
Nervously she looked to where the items had been discarded as he began leading her from the room. She hadn't been without those gloves for so long that the sight and feel of her bare hands against his skin was mind boggling.
Then there was the stunning realization that she was actually touching someone else's bare flesh.
Her green eyes seemed unable to look away from her pale white hand laid against his darker skin. It was an intriguing sight to say the least and she found herself absentmindedly beginning to stroke his arm.
The unintentional caress drew the man to a complete halt and had his head turning so quickly to look into her face that his long black hair flew across his own.
"You innocence is showing, Rogue, and while I enjoy it I must warn you that such touches may have consequences your are not yet ready to face," he warned while stilling her hand.
Eyes widening in horror at how he must have misunderstood her actions, Marie tore her hand away from him and stumbled back toward a nearby wall.
"Ah didn't mean nothin'," she nearly shouted as terrifying images of said 'consequences' began spinning through her mind.
"Believe me, my sweet," he moved forward to press her back against that wall while stroking her cheek with a rather rough finger, "when the times comes that we join, it will be nothing like you are imagining. As my queen your body will be worshipped and you will grow to love my every touch upon it."
Suddenly his lips were pressing against hers, which had dropped open in disbelief at what he was saying, and she nearly fainted.
Her hands went instantly to his shoulders, but she was too afraid of the repercussions she may face to push him away. So she just remained pinned, trembling in fear against the wall as his mouth moved firmly over her own until finally some part of her realized she was receiving her first real kiss and softened with curiosity to enjoy it.
When he finally pulled away Marie remained leaning against the wall in shock.
The kiss … she moved trembling fingers to her quivering lips, the kiss had been good.
And that fact scared her more than anything else she'd ever faced.
If you don't save me this time, Mystique Ah swear my first act as queen will be to have you killed, Rogue vowed silently as her eyes drifted shut and she once again fainted.