Chapter Seven

They had been standing around outside the hotel watching the X-Men for a while now. Some of his men were hiding in the shadows and on rooftops; the others were acting like tourists. Well, if the X-Men could do it, so could they. The 'river-rat' as his boss called her, had been sitting at that same table drinking beer after beer for a couple of hours, just staring into the street outside; deep in thought. Practically every man in the joint was trying to get her attention, Hell some of the women too. He wouldn't mind some action with her himself, but he had been told what she could do to a man. He liked his mind the way it was - intact. Some of her friends had joined her at the table and sat down for drinks. He glanced away from the southern beauty to check the street for a moment and when he glanced back she was standing. His jaw dropped as he watched her stretch the kinks out; arching her back sensuously with her hands clasped behind her head. Rubbing his hand across his brow, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Then they disappeared from his sight.

His thoughts and actions are simultaneous as he realizes they are gone and reaches for his gun. He turns towards the street and into the chest of Hank McCoy. Hank's huge hand rips the gun from his grasp and crushes it as though it were paper. Looking into his canine grin, he points his other gun into the Hank's chest.

"Not so fast, freak."

"Fast my unfortunate friend? I'm apprehensive that you're ill-equipped to manage how 'fast' I can be." Hank retorts.

The gun fires but it is not Hank who goes down, rather the other way around. Hank delivers a backhand with near impossible speed to his opponent's head causing the gun to miss its target. Watching the man slump to the ground, Hank grabs the gun from his hand and ponders it briefly.

Looking skyward, he sees Rogue rocketing towards a nearby rooftop to engage the enemy.

Bolts of energy streak past her as she closes the distance between herself and the two armed men on the adjacent rooftop. Speeding past the two soldiers, she stops abruptly behind them and stands facing them with her hands on her hips.

"Hey y'all. Didn't your Momma ever tell you it's not nice to point?" Throwing both hands out directly in front of her, she grabs their guns from them as they turn around to face her. Smiling, she bends the barrels in her fists and casually tosses the guns behind her.

"Gene joke bitch." A bolt of energy erupts behind her, but she shifts slightly to the side and it hits one of the two soldiers in front of her, sending him backwards onto the roof. "Good thing you're wearing body armour, huh?" Delivering a kick to the other one standing in front of her, she turns to face the assailant to her rear. Clenching her hands into fists, she extends the bone claws from her hands and lunges at him. Completely ignoring the energy rifle, she tears into his shoulder with her claws, causing him to cry out in pain and drop his weapon. The sound of weapon fire in the street below snaps her attention away from her assailant and redirects it to Neil and Elizabeth.

"Rogue?" Ororo appears in the sky above her.

"Storm! Look out behind you!"

An energy net materializes above her moments before she evades it, shot by a jet equipped, heavily armoured figure that looms in the sky, the sun glinting off the polished plating.

"Thank you, Rogue." The brilliant blue sky suddenly becomes dark as storm clouds usurp the horizon. The air crackles with energy as lightning flashes around Storm and becomes drawn into her hands. Reeling on the airborne threat, she unleashes a dazzling bolt that cascades across the armour plating then slowly dissipates.

Rogue, seeing that Storm's lightning had no effect, quickly drops the man in her grasp and takes flight. "Lemme have a go at it, girl." Increasing her speed, she rams the side of the armoured suit, causing it to crash to the earth. Landing beside it, she picks it up in one hand and proceeds to peel the armour away as though she were merely peeling a banana. "What have we got here?"

Reaching into the armour, she pulls a half-unconscious woman out who warns, "You haven't won anything, freak. You'll all be dead soon."

"Really?"

Hank, Neil, Elizabeth, Bishop, and Tessa approach Rogue on foot as Ororo gently lands on the ground beside her. "Who sent you after us?" Ororo questions. "What do you want?"

"You will learn to fear his name soon enough." She coughs and feebly tries to free herself from Rogue's iron grip. "And he wants you to die."

"So what else is new?" Rogue spits. "You first." She unsheathes the claws in her hands again and draws back her arm, only to be stilled by Ororo.

"No!" Her eyes search Rogue's for a sign that she is bluffing. The coldness she finds there chills her. "Rogue, this is not you. We do not kill!"

Rogue's breath leaves her as if she were soundly kicked in the gut. Dropping the woman to the ground, she steps back and stares at her hands. A guttural growl escapes past her lips as she sheathes her claws. Looking around as if lost, she retreats another step. Shaking slightly, she turns and walks away, leaving her friends staring after her.

"Bishop, take care of our guest. I will follow Rogue."

"What the Hell's wrong with me? You'd figure with all the people Ah've got crammed in mah head, at least one of them would know how to control the personalities runnin' around in here." Sitting down on a nearby bench, Rogue leans forward wrapping her arms around herself. Rocking back and forth, she continues talking. "What the hell am I doing? Why can't I control this?"

"Rogue, let me help you." Storm sits down beside Rogue but does not touch her.

"Help me?" She lets out a short, bitter laugh. "You can't help me anymore than Professor Xavier could help Sabertooth. He's in here," she taps the side of her head, "and so is Mystique and Wolverine and Juggernaut and..."

"Rogue, stop." She places a hand on Rogue's shoulder. "You are not these people."

"Really? How do you know?" She looks at her friend questionably. "I can't stay in control all the time. Sometimes they're all Ah can hear. They won't shut up an' Ah can't think straight. Ah want them to stop, but I can't block them out. They won't shut up. How can I stay in control of them when Ah can't even think straight?"

"I do not know the answer my friend. All I can do is offer my friendship. I know that does not sound like much, but within you there is much more. You have also absorbed good people as well; friends who would help you." Storm gently rubs her hand up and down Rogue's back. "We are all here for you."

Sighing, Rogue slumps forward and allows her hands to dangle near the ground. "I should go to mah room an' meditate. I need some time alone."

"I understand."

Standing, Rogue begins walking towards the hotel. "I'm sorry for scaring y'all."

Watching Rogue leave Storm replies to herself, "I think you've scared yourself the most child."

"I don't know," Hank adds as he approaches Storm. "She scared me..."