I demand to know what Rogue's assignment is! And where GAMBIT IS!!!! I MEAN, COME ON PEOPLE! YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS AND HE WOULD DEFENTLY BE A BIG HELP!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Mother and daughter



Rogue yanked down as hard as she could, she began to thrash about, slowly wearing down the vines that held her back. Gaia stood up in fear. This wasn't suppose to be happening! Rogue shouldn't be mad at him! Nothing made sense to him. He shook his head in disbelief. His eyes widened as he heard a snapping sound. Rogue had broken one arm free from his vines. More began to shoot out of the wall but Rogue had dropped to the ground and avoided them. She stood and glared at Gaia.

"How dare ya!" She hissed as she reached down and pulled him up.

"But Rogue, you-"

"Ya almost took mah memories! MAH MEMORIES!!!!!!!!!! What the hell made ya think that was ok?!" Rogue punched him in the jaw making him stumble back. "Ah don't want ya disgusting thoughts inside of mah head, so Ah won't use mah powers on ya." Rogue spun around and did a round hose kick to his midsection. Gaia fell once more to the ground. Rogue knelt down and lifted him up slightly as she pulled back her fist. "Ya don't deserve to get off like that!" She punched him once more. She pulled back and punched him again and again. After about the fifth time Rogue hit him from the side of his face with the back of her hand with her hand making a fist. She was about to strike him again when someone grabbed her hand. She glared back at the person. "What the hell are ya here for Mystique?!" Mystique looked at the young woman with sorrow.





Artemis glanced over at Nebula.

"This will be your first big fit as an X-men, right?" Nebula sighed.

"Yeah."

"Scared?" Nebula bit her lip.

"Alittle."

"Good." Nebula looked up at her teacher confused.

"Why is it good?" Artemis glanced over at the young X-man once more.

"Because you aren't going to pull some B.S. crap to prove that you aren't scared." Artemis sighed and shook her head. "I'm not gonna lie to you. The person who took Rogue has to be good. They were able to knock out anyone that could have detected them or start a search party right away AND they got through the new security system."



Lady Hawk stared at the computer screen in front of her. She was doing some of her usual duties as a Fury, but her heart wasn't in it. Her mind constantly was drifting off. Lady Hawk thought of how things were going in her personal life. With a defeated sigh she shook her head clear of any thoughts and looked at the screen intently. It was her duty to do finish her work and by the angels* she would get this done!!! Even if it took every last fiber in her being she would do it! Lady Hawk glared at the screen. It was police reports. There were many new ones for when she checked earlier that day. She narrowed her eyes. The blasted things would not give her the autopsy reports that she wanted. Lady Hawk leaned back in her chair as she typed away at the keyboard.

"Maybe . . . . maybe they have it on a new server . . . ." She wondered aloud. She wheeled the chair over to another computer and started to type away once more. She bit down on her lip as she started to create a new program to hack into the police computer system. She figured that they had updated the program they were using and even if they didn't, it never hurt to be prepared. After typing rapidly for a few minutes she paused. Lady Hawk glanced at the phone beside the computer. She tapped her fingertips on the desk in front of her as she thought. She picked it up and looked at Frank's number. She rarely called him so she didn't know it that well. She punched in the phone number but stopped before she got to the last digit. Her finger hovered above the number for a moment before Lady Hawk put the phone down again. With a saddened sighed she went back to typing in codes for the new program. Every now and then she would glance at the phone but quickly banish any thoughts that entered her mind. "It's not like it would matter." She muttered.



"Don't Rogue." She simply said. Rogue narrowed her eyes.

"Why not?" Mystique pulled her up so she was standing and embraced her in a hug.

"Because you don't murder. That's not you." Rogue just stood there.

"Mystique . . ." The shape shifter closed her eyes.

"Yes?" Rogue gave a sob.

"Take meh away from here!" Rogue hugged the woman tightly. Mystique nodded into her shoulder.

"Alright. I'll take you to my home." With that said she guided her daughter away from Gaia's unconscious form and through the maze of her kidnapper's home. Mystique held the young woman as she walked. She stroked her hair as they made their way through the maze of Gaia's home.



Gambit sat in the back of the Velocity. He was where the same outfit he had for Magneto but there was an X on his belt. Colossus had and X on his shoulders and Pyro had an X on his belt as well. The more experienced members of the team, including the three former Acolytes, were going on the mission.

"X-men, be ready, we are getting close to the area where I picked up Rogue's mutant signature." Charles Xavier announced from up front. Kurt fidgeted in his seat. He was anxious to get his sister back.



Michelle dropped down next to Angelic Demon.

"Angelic, did you realize that Blade was in town?" Angelic shrugged as she flipped through the T.V channels.

"Not really. But I see you're picking up on some of her traits." Michelle sighed and scratched behind her ear.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Michelle was quiet for a bit. She snuck a few glances at Angelic Demon.

"I'm guessing you had a talk with Dixie while you picked her up." Michelle bit her lip.

"Well . . . don't get mad at her . . . it kinda slipped . . . but is it-"

"Yep." Angelic Demon cut her off as she answered. Michelle nodded for a moment.

"So . . . you ever thought about another Fury . . .?"

"Nope." Was her simple answer.

"Why not?" Angelic Demon sighed as she turned off the T.V.

"Crystal and I, even though we are friends, bicker WAY too much for me to ever see her as something more than a friend, Blade was never my type, too childish sometimes, you are FAR to you young, and Alana is a good friend. 'Sides, ya'll were straight." Michelle nodded in thought.

"I guess . . . but . . . how do ya know?" Angelic Demon rubbed her forehead. She was getting to big a headache for something so small.

"Crystal never showed any interest in anyone but one day she said that one that was at the bar that day was cute and she might have thought about going out with him if we were never so busy, you were Ga-ga over every boy that crosses your path, Blade is so hung up on that Detective, and Alana loves Frank." Michelle had been nodding through the entire thing, confirming it with herself but she did a double take when she heard about her leader.

"WHAT?!" Angelic Demon sighed and nodded once more.

"Yes, and before you go all crazy about details and reasons, you can see it in her eyes every time he's around. He'd probably know it too if he wasn't so shy about it. I mean, I look at Natasha the same way." Michelle stared at the woman.

"Natasha?" Angelic Demon blinked a few times in confusion before smiling as she realized her error.

"Natasha is my girlfriend." Michelle made an ohhh sound and nodded.

"Dixie said something about you having a girlfriend. She is a musician, right?" Angelic Demon sighed and nodded.

"Violinist." Michelle opened her mouth as if to ask another question but Angelic Demon cut her off. "Knock it off!!!!!!! You're questions are giving me a headache!" With that said, Angelic Demon turned on the T.V once more and began to flip again. Michelle rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Sometimes you over react."

"You're point being?" Michelle shook her head and left.



The X-man-er . . . X-woman, known as Artemis sat on top of the X-jet, waiting for the others. She was crouched down as she scanned the area with her ears listening for the slightest bit of extra breathing. The beating of the Velocity alerted her of the others arriving in three minutes.

"Nebula, they'll be here in a few minutes." She called down to the young woman standing beside the Blackbird. Nebula nodded, forgetting the fact that her mentor could not see her. Nebula scanned the area once more as she tried to calm her nerves. "What's wrong?" Artemis asked as she glanced towards Nebula.

"Well . . . amusement parks always creep me out."

"Why?" Nebula bit down on her lip. Artemis sighed. "Look, if this is gonna bug you that much then stay in the X-jet, got it?"

"No, I'll be fine. It's just that . . . well, when I was little I got separated from my mom and couldn't find her till night. But I'll be fine." Artemis grunted in response. After a few minutes the familiar hum of the Velocity entered the silence that had settled upon the two. Dixie looked up as the wind blew her hair back. Artemis merely glanced in it's direction before going back to scanning the area. She remained squatting on top of the Blackbird as the other X-men filed out of the Velocity. Dixie looked down at the ground in embarrassment as her friends saw her. She felt her cheeks burn.





reference to Curse of Life

by the angels