*Poof* Rogue entered Dorian's room as stealthily as she knew how to. She couldn't risk him waking up while she was convincing his mother he was gone. Now for his mother. Rogue had to figure out some story that Dorian's mother would believe. She never had a son. No no, that would never work. He was still with the X-men resting after all he had been through the past week? That'll have to do. She carefully made her way to his mother's room. Rogue inched the door open and planted the story into her head. She returned to the sleeping boy, feeling guilty about what she was doing. But just a few days ago she had destroyed her mother, or at least she had thought she did. Even if Mystic was still alive, what she had done, how she hurt Kurt, it changed her forever. Rogue carefully carried Dorian out his window and through the nearly empty streets of the city, avoiding others whenever possible.

"I see you've brought the boy. I'm impressed."

"Save it, Agatha. Ah'm not doin' this for you or anythin'." Agatha smiled weakly.

"But this is like nothing I've done before. I cannot wait to see the results of my work."

"So how long will it take ya to do what ya need to do?"

"I'll need at least a week. It may take some time for me to even find the X-gene in him. He has such a unique power you know." Rogue could sense something wasn't quite right with Agatha.

"Ok Agatha, what's goin' on? Somethin's not right an' Ah wanna know what ya plan tah do wit' Dorian besides help me wit' mah...mah problem."

"Your power is not a problem; it's a gift."

"An' why can't Ah return it?" Agatha's face dropped as she let out a sigh.

"I'll help you with that soon enough."

~*~

Rogue still couldn't get over what she had done when she woke up the next morning. How could Ah do such a thing? Ah mean, Ah don't even know what Agatha could be doin' tah Dorian. Why did she need him? Couldn't Ah have just absorbed his power an' she could use that to find a cure? Why didn't Ah just turn off mah pow'r after absorbin' Dorian? Ah havtah find Agatha and get Dorian back. Not watching where she was walking, Rogue ran into a self-absorbed Scott.

"Oops, sorry Rogue." Rogue just looked at Scott and continued walking. Scott shrugged and walked to Jean's bedroom door. He knocked and was quietly whispered in. Scott poked his head in.

"Jean, are you sure you wanna do this here? Remember last time?" Jean pulled him in and closed the door.

"Scott be quiet. They might have heard you. It's too risky now. Meet me in the Danger Room at 9:00 tonight. Logan's last session is at 7:00 and that should give Roberto plenty of time to clean up thanks to his latest stunt," Jean thought to Scott.

"Ok, I can't wait 'til then." Jean rolled her eyes at Scott and pushed him right back out the door and closed it.

~*~

On her way to find Agatha, Rogue runs into Remy who can't wait for more "one-on-one" time with Rogue. Dere she is. Remy takes a deep breath.

"Remy was jus' wonderin' if you 'ad some free time to spend wit' him?"

"Be sure tah tell 'im Ah'm busy right now." Remy moved behind Rogue, but she wasn't going to let him get to her. She had to get to Dorian before anything happened she would regret.

"Com'on Rogue. You can't be doin' anythin' dat impor'nt. I 'ave what it takes to relieve you of any stress." He slid his hands to the inside of her thighs slowly and gently.

Rogue melted in his arms. Ok, maybe Dorian could wait anothah hour or so. Agatha wouldn't hurt him would she? Rogue ported them to Remy's apartment. This time around, they were happy with the end result.

~*~

"Do you have mutant 147?"

"Dorian Leech is in my custody, where he will not be harmed."

"I can't risk you screwing it up. We will handle it from this point." The dark figure shoots a dart at Agatha. She waves her hand and the dart hits the ceiling above its intended target.

"Don't forget, you need me to give Rogue the formula to deactivate her X-gene. Without my help, she will be an unstoppable threat to you. No matter how good your synthetic energy pulse is, it can't rival the real thing. Her powers have advanced too far for that. Besides, if I don't give her this formula, she will know something is wrong and might alert the other mutants of what you're doing."

"Then maybe we won't need you that much after all. Give the girl the formula. We no longer need you for our research. Bring me the boy." Agatha directs two soldiers to a door. They return with Dorian unconscious.

"What are you going to do to him?"

"We're doing as you suggested, using the real thing."

"You do realize Rogue will come back for him? She was never going leave him here until I gave him back. She will return soon enough and won't take no for an answer." The dark figure walked over to Dorian, pulled out a pocket knife, and cut a small piece of flesh from Dorian's abdomen. He then bags it and hands it to one of the soldiers.

"Why not use nails or hair like most people? Was there a point to leaving a mark on him? It will just make Rogue and his mother suspicious." The figure turns and walks right up to Agatha's face.

"Tell Rogue you needed that piece for the formula and Rogue can convince his mother he fell or something. The specifics of Rogue's story are not as significant as those of yours." Agatha causes him to pass out. She is then electrocuted by the collar around her neck. Agatha collapses to the floor and blacks out.