"Who are You?" the Caterpillar said. "I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir," said Alice, "because I'm not myself, you see." -Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland"

One Side Makes You Bigger...

It looked so peaceful down there. Wet vapors of a cloud blew past Marie's eyes while she looked down. Picturesque rolling green hills, stopping at a cliff which dropped down into a crystal clear, sapphire lake. An elegant country manor house, looked like a dollhouse from this height. Tiny dolls spilling out, running around the grounds. All too tiny to see faces. Tiny, black dots of tiny dolls. Could they see her? A tiny black dot in the sky.

Tiny, perfect sapphire waves from the tiny, perfect sapphire lake crashed into the cliffside. A cliff side, subconsciously she twisted her ring. He was down there somewhere, hidden under perfect postcard landscape. Under a rock, he can stay there... How she got here she couldn't quite remember. She remembered flying, farther and faster...far enough away to outrun herself...fast enough so the wind rushed so loud there was no other sound.


One Side Makes You Small...


Casey had been camped out in front of the storage closet for what seemed like hours. Not really camped, more like pacing from a distance. The paramedics didn't like anyone hovering too close to the door. After Marie had run out of the kitchen, Casey followed her, but she locked herself in a supply closet. Annie called 911, Gary wasn't happy, but the dispatch operator didn't care. A bus boy had tried to push the door in, but Marie had crashed a large set of shelves in front of it.

Everyone had been asking her all the questions they wanted to ask Marie, because she wasn't talking. Well, she was, but mostly muttering and telling whoever it was to shut up. Was there a history of mental illness? Was she taking any medicines? What were they? Casey called Remy's cell, he should know these things. He wasn't much help, but said he'd get all the medicine bottles and call back.

The paramedics were still trying to talk to Marie through the door. She hadn't been saying anything for a while, not even shut up'. One of them was using a screwdriver to take the door off it's hinges, but they were still debating about if that was the best idea. Would forcing her out make her 'condition' worse? But they couldn't stand out here forever. There was a minor commotion towards the door where the kitchen went into the dining area, which was already a mess. Service was slow, the food was cold. Everyone had other things on their mind. And the patrons kept asking about the ambulance. Gary told they one of the waitresses had a seizure. Close enough. The whole dining room got free dessert for the inconvenience.

The minor commotion, turned out to be two people pushing their way through the kitchen. "Where is she?" a dark, hairy man practically growled.

"Excuse me, you can't come in here," an EMT shouted.

"We're family," a lady with red hair explained.

Casey couldn't remember Marie ever mentioning any family besides her mom, but she also said before she moved here, she hadn't talked to her mom in ages. So maybe these guys were more family she'd lost contact with. "Where's Remy? I called him-,"

"He's trying to get here. Stuck in traffic. Who do you think called us?"

"Did he get the names of the medications?" that was a blond paramedic who was impatient with everyone.

"He hasn't made it home yet. He'll call as soon as he gets there." The red haired lady had a nice smile and Casey started to relax almost instantly.

"Can you call her mom, tell her what's going on? I don't have her number."

"Of course," there was the nice smile again. "Is Marie in there?" inclining her head toward the door the paramedics were clustered around.

"She ran in here after the hallucinations started. She was hearing voices, possibly seeing things, too. Is there a history of schizophrenia in the family?" the paramedic said hoping maybe these people would be some help, as no one else had been.

"Not that I know of. Let me talk to her," she moved to door before he had a chance to answer. "Marie?" she put a hand against the door and leaned in close.

Out loud Jean called Marie's name a few times. Mentally, she scanned very closely knowing it would be hard to sense Rogue. But there was no mistaking, mentally Jean called to Logan, She's not in there.


Wonderland...


More clouds. The wind swept them together, swirling around her, pushing them past. Making a fog around her eyes. A cool quiet fog. Quiet...The quiet fog swirled around as she sank. Not entirely meaning to descend. Not entirely meaning to do anything much. It was so hard to think, let alone do something. More like she was being buffeted about by the winds, inside and out. The tiny dollhouse grew bigger, as did the tiny dolls around it. Drifting a bit away from them, the dolls were more voices, too many voices already. Find Remy that was her only logical thought. One that she had to hold on to, keep it from getting washed away in the torrent of voices.

Without realizing it, her feet connected with the ground and Marie was surprised to find herself standing on a beautifully manicured lawn. It was near the cliff, and the breath-taking sapphire lake. He likes the view here, maybe this is where he is...no he's in trouble...have to find him... While in her oblivious state, Marie completely failed to see an object streaking toward her. It connected with a thunk that didn't hurt, but knocked her over out of sheer surprise. Lightning reflexes finally kicked in and she quickly snatched up...a football? Sitting on the ground, she held the brown ball, staring at it uncomprehending. Flashes of different memories involving sports and games flitted through the ever present fog. A loud voice cut through it.

"Sorry, Monet! Didn't see you. Toss it back, will...ya..." A dark haired girl had come running toward her, shouting. Marie turned to face her, and the girl stopped so abruptly she pitched forward.

Jubilee had been running to catch a wild pass. While she was running, all she saw was a girl with long hair and too fancy clothes flying. She figured it to be Monet St. Croix, resident Miss Perfect and girl who drove Jubilee the most crazy out of everyone in the school. So she thought it was quite funny when the football hit her. But as she ran to get the ball back, the girl didn't look quite so perfect, or so much like Monet anymore. And when 'Monet' turned around..."Rogue? ...Oh my g- BOBBY! GET OVER HERE!"

The sudden change in demeanor from the dark haired girl startled Marie from yet another one of her dazes. She scrambled to her feet and started backing away, still holding the football. It was one of the tiny dolls from the dollhouse. What did she want? Why was she screaming? Her feet started moving faster. Her first instinct was always to run, to get away from whatever...whoever...

The doll ran forward following her, "No wait! Don't go!"

"What are you screaming about Jubes......Rogue?" There was another doll was running towards her now. And another one...were they all coming...what did they want? She backpedaled even quicker...finally twisting her body around and running again. Not running for long, she hit a wall. A cold wall...an enormous sheet of ice had grown out of nowhere right in front of her, cutting off her escape route over the lake. Again she stared uncomprehending, her hands sliding over the surface of the ice. Confusion became frustration and then anger. And the anger found ready target. Her fist smashed into the ice wall. The dolls didn't want her to run, fine. Chunks of ice fell, some over the cliff into the lake, some on the ground. She caught one chunk and flung it, scattering the dolls to the sides.

"Get away! Where is he?!?" They tried to trap her here, they must know something about Remy, why else would they come after her? Maybe they know you're dangerous. Remember there are children here, they're trying to protect-

"Shut up! I ain't talking to you!" she shouted at the empty air. Spinning on the dolls again, "Where is he? Where's Remy?"

Of course, none of them had any clue what she was talking about. The Professor hadn't told them many details about what had two days eariler. Just that an intruder had been caught. The fact that he had some link to Rogue hadn't been revealed yet, at least to the students.

Professor! Jubilee screamed mentally Rogue's back, but there something wrong with her and I don't- I know Jubilee, Charles had heard' her shock the moment the girl had seen Rogue. I'll try and talk to her. Just stay back and wait for the teachers. At last, he could find Marie's mental signature, though it was still a bit hazy. But there was tremendous psychic interference when he tried to communicate with her. He needed to get closer. Before he could, he felt a sudden sharp pain through the interference.

From the corner of manor house stepped a woman dressed impeccable in a white suit. Emma Frost had heard and felt' the commotion. She found a there was a figure a a white silk blouse and black linen slacks with long tangled hair. A small group of students were scattered around and their fear was palpatable. She looked like she was about to charge, so Emma flung a psi bolt at the offender. The girl wavered slightly, but didn't go down. That was not good, she should have gone down. She did recognize the assailant as the long missing student Rogue, but didn't care overly much. The girl was a threat, that was all that was important at the moment.

The whispers screamed as a lightning bolt split throught the fog. The pain was much harder to ignore than the voices, but she had too. To stop would be to drown in the fog. A spetral laugh floated around her. One thought, she had her one thought to concentrate on. Where was he? The dolls didn't want to talk, didn't want her to find him. If they wouldn't talk, she'd find out herself, Marie thought as she launched back into the air.

The one in the white, she was making the lightning in her head, Marie lunged for her. But another ice wall, smaller this time blocked her. She just smashed it too, while another one of them called out. "Rogue...Marie, it's me Bobby. Don't you recognize me?" That boy, that doll, his face...did she know him? She stared for a moment. No...no...no The white one was gone, so she merely reached for the closest doll. The one with the black hair went down. The memories rushed in and added themselves to the cacophony of voices. Her flight faltered as she clutched her head, trying to sort through the voices, find something about Remy. She knew he was here. There was nothing though, nothing but more noise. She steadied herself enough to rise back into the air and charge at the white one again, only to be blasted sideways. Something else at the edge of her vision she had failed to notice. Only this time, the something wasn't a football, but a red optic blast.

Emma had succeeded making Rogue even more volatile, and Scott was at loss with how to deal with her. His only thought was to keep her from doing any more damage until the Professor got through to her. "That was just to keep you from hurting anyone else, Rogue. I don't want to hurt you. Believe me, once you come to your sense you'll thank me for it. Now let's talk this out."

That man was talking, what was he talking about? It was too loud...On the ground again from the blast, she raised one fist and then slammed it into the manicured lawn. The dolls wavered as the ground shook underneath them. "Where is he?" the one thought she had to keep from losing. "What did you do to him?" Are you still wondering why they're attacking? The spectral laugh echoed again. "StoP IT!?" she clutched at her head again and pulled at her hair.

"Is she talking to us or ..." she barely heard someone outside question.

She took to the air again, flying blind once more, just getting away. The voices, fog and everything vanished in a screech as a sharp, searing pain cut through her brain. She managed a short scream before blacking out. Her body plummeted toward the lake.

"No!" Bobby immediately formed on ice slide, catching Rogue after falling only a few feet. He glared accusingly at the woman in the white suit, "You could have killed her!"

"Nonsense. You were there to catch her," Emma said, brushing off Drake's hysterics.

"You couldn't know that for sure," he was still angry and not about to let it go.

Emma ignored him and strode over to where Bobby was retrieving Rogue. Summers managed to beat her there, no doubt in rush to be overprotective. "She also still seems to have Carol Danvers powers, she would have been alright, Bobby." Scott reassured from the top of the cliff, as Drake slid back up his ice slide carrying the unconscious Rogue. Summers also shot a disapproving glance at Emma. "But the last time you tried a psi attack, it only made her worse. Let's hope that didn't happen this time."

"Oh? There's something worse than Rogue destroying the school and knocking out all of my students?" Emma icily replied. "Charles was clearly getting nowhere, and she needed to be stopped. Besides, I learned from my first mistake. I stopped playing nice." Cyclops decided to deal with Emma later, took Rogue from a visibly reluctant Bobby and headed for the MedLab.


"She's been working there for two months now. Under the name of Marie Carol Adler, and living in Queens with her boyfriend 'Remy'. According to her friend Casey, her only relative, besides us, is her mother' Raven. We still don't know who that is. Maybe Gordon has an accomplice. She wasn't at the real apartment, when Logan and I were checked it, but I'm not going to worry about her until we've talked to Rogue." Jean was catching up the Professor. He had made it back shortly after 'Jimmy' had vanished. Cerebro had been enlisted to track Rogue and assess her mental state. Since they had an approximate location on her, Cerebro should work better this time. But it didn't. Obliging, Rogue had come to them, although not in an expected way. But she was here now, in a containment field in the Medlab and in a psychically induced coma, courtesy of Emma Frost, but here nonetheless.

Dr. McCoy was currently using all of his 300 plus pounds to keep the students at bay, which wasn't an easy task. They were all concerned for Rogue. And they were full of questions, which Xavier hadn't answered, because he didn't know the answers.

A light rush of air as the medlab doors slide open to reveal Wolverine pacing in front of the containment field where Rogue lay. He was tracking the AWOL Gordon, but the second he found out Rogue had come back, he had taken up a post here and hadn't left since. "She's still asleep," he said unnecessarily. The point of the psychic coma was to keep her asleep until 'awakened.' "But twitching a little, like she's having nightmares. Let me talk to her. She'll remember me. I know she will."

Xavier looked at Jean and then back again then said gently,"We don't want to overwhelm her. She's in a very delicate mental state. It would be best if Jean were to contact her first, alone."

Wolverine didn't look happy, hardly unusual, but he didn't argue this time. Inwardly, he had to agree with the Professor's logic. If she'd been held captive by this guy, it would be better for a woman to approach her first.

It took a few minutes for Jean to get through Marie's perimeter shields, they were obviously much stronger than the last time Jean had seen her. Once inside, the first thing Jean saw, or rather didn't see was a dense fog. With the fog was a hurricane, which should have blown the fog away, but mental landscapes didn't have follow logical rules. Here the winds merely made the fog thicker. The fog itself was made up of thousands of whispered voices. Screams came on the hurricane winds. Between the noise and the darkness, Jean could see exactly why Rogue's mental state was so bad. Being a telepath, she could hopefully bypass this psychic morass and center herself directly on Rogue.

She ended up outside a small cabin which stood determined against the gales, but looking very shaky. It was shuddering with every wind. Quickly, she rushed in the door and was barely able to shut it again against the wind. Inside it consisted of only one room, sparsely furnished with a couple of windows on each side. A fireplace glowed on the far wall with an overstuffed armchair in front of it. The fire seemed to be the only source of light and heat in building.

"Mercy! chile, you trying to blow us all away?" a voice admonished. Rushing toward the door, was a heavyset, older woman with a multitude of braids and beads in her thick black hair. She immediately went to the door and from out of nowhere produced a board, hammer and nails to secure the shaky door. "Who are you anyway? What do ya want here?" Jean was eyed suspiciously by the would-be carpenter. The woman must be a protector persona since she was trying to preserve the cabin' which was clearly another shield of some kind.

A shield that wasn't going to hold much longer. Jean lightly touched the wall. "I'm looking for Marie. I know you probably won't believe me, but I'm friend." The wood that made up the walls didn't look that sturdy, but it was covered by some kind of thick, heavy varnish that held it together. Jean mentally questioned the Professor about it. Is it some sort of 'psychic sealant'? He answered, Apparently, it's holding this place together. Where the varnish was worn and crackled the wind forced streamers of fog through the cracks. Once inside the mists spread and wafted through the cabin slowly, whispering and shimmering with forgotten images.

While still eyeing Jean suspiciously, the big woman called over her shoulder. "Marie, you wanna talk to dis lady? Or should I ask her to leave?" The last sentence implied that she wouldn't be asking.'

The response was quiet. "She can stay." A voice came quietly from the overstuffed chair facing the fireplace. Though Rogue had spoken, there was no indication of movement. Very quietly Jean approached, while still trying to decypher the meaning of Rogue's mindscape with Charles. The question is, who constructed this shield? If it was Gordon, then it would be shielding Rogue from her memories, if it was Rogue, herself, then it's just keeping the psyches out....Charles pondered that, He had some hand in it, I believe, but most of the mental energy from the building feels like Rogue's own...Most but not all? Yes, it feels like Rogue built this place, but he's... reinforcing it somehow. He was reinforcing, anyway, the 'sealant' is crumbling now.

While Jean walked, a wisp of fog glided past with a child riding a bike. It faded in and out until the mist dissolved completely. There was Rogue curled up in the chair, an old, patchy quilt around her shoulders. Jean lower herself level with the arm of the chair, keeping her distance and gauging the girl's reaction. A particularly strong wind shuddered the cabin and the girl flinched slightly.

The woman with the braided hair had followed Jean over and was standing on the other side of the chair. She rested the back of her hand against Rogue's forehead, like checking for a fever."You don' look so good, petite. Are you sure you want to talk to dis femme? She could be a troublemaker like de others." Do you think she means the other psyches?... Probably, but she could mean other telepaths, who knows what's been happening while she's been gone.

"It's OK. I think I know her. And I'm just a little cold, that's all. I'll be fine." She said sounding like she was placating an over anxious mother. Could this be her mother' Raven?

Beads clinked together as the woman looked toward a window. "The storm's never been dis bad before. Dis poor place is falling part. Don' ya worry none, chile, I'll take care of it," she stood up and turned around. Pounding echoed through the room, as the woman went to work on another breach in the wall.

Warmth of the fire crept out along the floor. Inside the flames, more images flickered and sometimes drifted out with the smoke. Rogue dropping a tray of glasses and holding her head... In a bedroom talking to Gordon, Just be careful, please," she pleaded. And they kissed. Gordon wasn't effected at all by her powers. Did you see that Professor? Out loud Jean only said quietly, "You remember me?" Out of the corner of her eye, she still looked at the two people in the flames.

Marie's face reddened. She stared intently at the fireplace, it shifted back to faceless flames momentarily. Only then did she answer, "Think so, Jean, right? I'm remembering a lot now," her eyes went down, still feeling awkward. Nervously, she pushed a few stray locks of hair away from her face.

The older woman continued, still in hushed tones, "So you know we don't want to hurt you? We're your friends here."

Still not looking at Jean "Yeah, I'm sorry about before, I didn't remember..."

"That's alright. We just glad you're back, even if you were in a little bit of a bad mood." she tried to be light hearted. Marie didn't really respond, just continued to stare at the fire, the only source of warmth in the house. New figures shimmered into existence, ones Jean didn't recognize. "I know you must have been through a lot in the past months, but you're safe now. If you want to talk about what happened, or just anything, I'm here. You remember that I'm good listener right?" She decided on a a slight change of subject, as Rogue didn't look inclined to continue the old one. "Is that Raven?" Jean asked inclining her head to the woman who was nailing another board into the wall, as mists swirled around her wrists.

Marie eye widened in surprise, "Umm...no. That's Mattie. She's Remy's aunt. I absorbed him once, on accident and ...How did you know..." her eyes then dropped and she fidgeted with a tiny tear in the quilt, avoiding Jean's look.

Remy's aunt? So that's not one of her protectors. "You're friend Casey. Logan and I went to your work when we heard you were sick."

"Did Cerbro pick up on that?" she looked up curious how they knew where to look for her, and a bit suspicious.

"No, Casey called Remy,' is that his real name? We were questioning him about you and Scott intercepted the call.

Suddenly, Marie got very agitated, "Questioning? Oh no... I was right, I can't believe this-,"

"It's ok, Rogue, he can't hurt you anymore."

"Hurt me? Listen, I know he was probably being really stubborn and uncooperative, but he was just trying to protect me, even though I can take care of myself, that's the whole reason he was at the institute to beginning with, it's just an overprotective guy thing, I'm sure Scott does the same thing," she was rambling but didn't notice or care, "I know you've got him locked up in the danger room or some place because he won't tell you where I am, but I'm here now, so you can let him go and tell him I'm here too, because I know he's really worried,- You have to let me talk to him. Wake me up now."

"You're still sick Marie," a huge wind gust shook the walls to emphasis that point. "And he's not here. He went looking for you."

Rogue stared incredulously, "Well, then wake me up and let me call him!"

"You're not coherent when you're awake. How about the Professor calls him?" she reasoned. Is this really possible, Professor, or could his control not have faded yet? Xavier was perplexed as well, She feels...utterly sincere.

"But you have to use my phone, he won't answer if the school's number shows up," she had finally gotten out of the chair, but it was only to pace and hold her temples. Curiously, the storm outside picked up at the same time.

When she started rememering the Institute, she had stopped worrying so much about Remy. Because she knew, even if they did catch him breaking in, they wouln't hurt him. She hadn't considered them thinking Remy had hurt her. Wolverine would kill him. Wolverine had better not even touch him.

Jean's eyebrows knitted together,"You didn't have a phone."

"What? Of course I have..." her phone was probably at the bottom of Hudson Bay or smashed against the wall of the storage room at work.

"We'll use Storm's phone. Remy won't know that number." Well, we want him back here one way or another, why nor see if this works? Jean reasoned with the Professor.

Conceding the point, "Alright. Where is the Professor anyway?" her head swivelled around looking, "I thought he'd be the first one in here trying to straighten out my head."

Jean might have been surprised, but not after the last few minutes, "We didn't want to bring in too many people at once."

" Fraid I'd freak out again?" with half a wry smile.

"Yeah, kind of. He been here the whole time, just staying out of sight."

"The more the merrier, right?" not without a bitter irony. "I got room for one more. Storm can call Remy herself. And you tell Wolverine if he so much touches Remy, I'll will knock him back to Canada, personally."

Holding up her hands up placating, "I'll tell her right now, I'll tell both of them."

"WHAT?" Wolverine said to nobody in the room, since Jean and the Professor made no reaction, both still being in the astral plane. "That's crazy, You know he's got her under some sorta psychic control." If that's true, we really need him alive to figure out what exactly he did, because it's very effective. Just tell Storm to call and play along with her for now.

"How is Storm supposed to call him? We still have his phone."

She can try the apartment and tell Emma to keep trying with Cerebro.

"Lotta good that contrapation's been so far..." he angrily mumbled.

The Professor shimmered into existence beside the arm chair, "Hello, Marie. It's good to see you again, we've been worried," he used his understanding-grandfather-voice, even though he was as confused as Jean as to what was going on.

From a few feet away Mattie exclaimed, exasperated, "Another one? For heaven's sake, why do I bother with the boards?"

Over her shoulder, "Sorry, Tante. He's with Jean," then turning back, "Sorry about worrying you, Professor. I didn't mean to..." realizing she was apologizing a lot, she trailed off not quite knowing how to finish that sentence. Instead she went back to the topic that was bothering her most,"About Remy, I mean Jimmy, I guess that's what he goes by here, James Gordon. He works here, it's kinda a long story and all...But what happened wasn't his fault."

The professor assumed his best let's-pretend-I-believe-you expression, "Can you tell us what did happen?"

"No," she reluctantly replied and started pacing again. "I still don't remember that. I remember everything else, but that. I was walking into town...and the next thing I remember was walking again, but there was snow and Carol was there, inside my head. I don't know what I did to her." Memory flashes flitted through the fireplace flames. ... Running from Carol's voice, flying faster away, a hole in ground in Madripoor...A stranger inquiring about her health in Chinese...

"Concentrate on what happened while you were walking,"

Crackling flames flitted again, and flitted back. The fire burned. Marie shook her head wearily, rubbing her temples,"It doesn't matter. I should go find Remy."

"Marie, would you like us to help you?" the Professor said reassuringly. She shrugged incremently, not feeling hopeful. Jean and the Professor focused their mental energy toward her trying it elicit the lost memories. It was difficult even this close. Her mind was still fractured sand closed off. The fire flamed higher...it was dark, that was all, dark, someone screaming, a dark screaming place, dark again...and then that was gone too. "Sorry, Professor," Marie shut her eyes and leaned back in the chair again.

A different track was needed. "You do remember coming back here, briefly?"

"Yeah, I was back on the road to Salem Center, and then I got all confused with Carol, so I took off. ...How? Why? Westchester? What am I doing in Westchester, New York!?! Why wouldn't I be...I told you to shut up already!... And then I ended up in Madripoor.

Charles steepled his fingers, "Why there?"

"I was just flying blind. Probably went around the whole world at least once. Madripoor just happened to be the place I crashed when I finally wore myself out. I couldn't remember myself after that. I think I wanted to forget, so I could forget what I did to Carol. Ever heard of something called a fugue state'?"

"Yes" the Professor said encouragingly. While he was talking to Rogue, Jean realized she hadn't heard any hammering for a while. Craning her neck, she looked around for Tante Mattie.'

Marie didn't notice and continued her story, "Remy thought that's what it was." The flames flared a bit showing Gordon-"Remy" at a laptop showing something to Marie and she started talking about french fries. "He tried to help me find out who I really was, find my way home. I'm the one who kept putting it off, or thinking of something else. I'm the one who didn't want to find out. All he ever did was try to help me." She was spending a lot of time trying to defend Remy. "You two are the telepaths, you can see for yourselves."

"Actually, it's extremely hard for either of us to read you're mind. Even now." Marie looked perplexed. "The storms' outside act as interference, and Major Danvers had formidable shields herself, which you absorbed."

He did find out that the military agency, S.H.I.E.L.D., had an all points bulletin out for one of their agents, a Carol Danvers, but she turned out to be a blond, a good ten years older and three inches taller than his chere.

She'd never made the connection before, how could she have missed it? "Major...She was in the army...no, the air force," she remarked almost dreamily. She seems more preoccupied with Carol than any of the other psyches. Makes sense, she would probably be the strongest of them all. "I didn't remember her at all at first. I didn't want to think about her." The fire flickered into what looked like a street fight with the Brotherhood, minus Magneto, while an enormous wind blast rocked the house. Felt like it was going to blow over, while phantom Marie ran from an unconscious phantom Remy in the shuddering flames.

Ear splitting crack thundered. A window blew out, the boards covering it disintegrated into splinters. Shards of glass flew past, some embedding themselves into the far wall. Mattie, the would be carpenter and protector of the shield was no where to be found. Almost simultaneously, the front door gave in. It practically exploded in a shower of matchsticks. The protective measures in Rogue's psyche were collapsing. Gale force winds continued to rip away the front of the cabin. The Professor quickly threw up a make shift psychic barrier to keep them all from being blown away by the forces disintegrating Rogue's mind. With the temporary shelter, the deafening roar of the wind lessened and the dust and debris previously whipping around the cabin settled to the floor.

Jean had only ever seen Major Carol Danvers in her hospital bed, with a pale, fragile countenance. Her psychic persona, unencumbered by her physical state, was much more formidable. She was likely the driving force behind the destruction of the first shield and had made it inside before the Professor's new shield went up. She and Charles could try to force her out now, but that would just be a delaying tactic. She had to be dealt with eventually, or she would just keep tormenting Rogue.

Maj. Danvers looked squarely at Rogue, ignoring all other presences."You remembered, I'm touched," she remarked with utter insincerity. "And you've brought some new friends," she casually said after surveying the room. "That's not fighting fair, but what else could I expect?" Military issue boots thumped as she took a few steps forward. Though looking quite a bit worse for wear, she was still in uniform. Danvers had been in civilian clothes when she was found, and probably when she was disappeared, but this was the psychic plane. What mattered was how Maj. Danvers thought of herself. Khaki colored camouflage BDU's, the jacket was gone, lost in the storm and most of her long blonde hair had been pulled free of the braid holding it back. The battle torn but resilient solider.

"Hello, Major Danvers. My name is Dr. Char-,"

"Charles Xavier. I know who you are. Your one of the talking heads that shows up on CNN every so often going on about the mutant situation.' A few guys in intelligence thought you might have mutant connections. I didn't believe them, but I guess they were right," she shrugged as if that didn't matter much.

Still attempting to play peacemaker, Xavier continued, "It's a cause I care about a great deal."

"Then why are you helping her? She attacked a mutant," Carol pointed out logically.

"I want to help both of you."

Her eyes narrowed to slits, "Then get out of my way and let me finish this." Rogue made no reaction to the obvious threat. In fact, the girl had been conspicuously silent throughout the entire exchange. Carol continued walking and Marie only looked at the ground, playing with her hair. Jean edged toward her, if there was trouble, well, more trouble, she didn't look like she was even going to fight back

The Profesor kept talking, "What happened? Why do you think she attacked you?"

"Ask your little friend," but with a slightly uneasy look.

"You don't remember, either. Do you?"

The uneasy, uncertain look remained. "There's only one way I could have ended up here. I spent enough time in her sorry excuse for a mind to know how this works. She stole my life. I don't know what fairy tale she's told you-,"

"She doesn't remember either." Carol's uncertainity became disbelief as she looked back at Marie, wondering how no one could know what happened to her.

Weakly Marie's voice was heard, "i'm sorry. i didn't mean to..." she trailed off, knowing it was pointless. She had been standing beside the chair, but her legs gave out and she now started to sink to the ground. Jean tried to support her, this wasn't good. She was giving up. Jean and the Professor wouldn't be able to fight Carol effective if Rogue wouldn't.

"Sorry? Oh, alright then, that makes everything better. That makes me not dead!'

The Professor looked at her evenly with a light of hope, "You're not dead."

"What?" slightly surprised.

"Whatever happened with Rogue, didn't kill you, it left you in a coma instead. You're in the long term care ward at Walter Reed Medical Center. I've been helping with your rehabilitation. Your friend Colonel Fury asked for my help. Some good progress-,"

"So I'm not dead, I'm vegetable. That makes me feel a whole lot better, Chuck," she interuppted derisively.

"Stop. Professor, Jean I know you're only trying to help me...but just... stop. Ok? I did steal her life, whether I meant to or not. I've been hiding from that, but I can't do it any more. It only fair...she should get another chance." teary eyed she pleaded.

The professor looked down this time and Jean put a hand on Marie's shoulder. "It doesn't work that way. This is your mind. Carol can influence it, maybe control it for a short time, but it is still your mind."

"Look at this," Xavier gestured to the chaos raging outside the shield. "You didn't just forget about Carol to not feel guilty. The conflict of two personalities existing in the same mind was tearing your psyche apart. That's why you made yourself forgot her. You created a new life using elements from both of you and forgot' anything else that didn't fit."

"Which was everything." Remy had been right the whole time about the fugue thing.

Recalling the earlier memory of confused Rogue flying to Carol's old apartment. "You let her be in control at first, didn't you?" Mutely, Marie nodded. "It didn't last for long, because it can't. You will always be the dominant psyche. You didn't want to remember because that would shatter the delicate balance your were trying to maintain. But that balance couldn't last either, because it wasn't natural. I'm surprised these shields lasted as long as they did." The shields were a makeshift construct of Rogue's desperate subconscious, they should have fallen apart within days.

Indignantly, the major interrupted, "So what exactly are you trying to say Xavier? She killed me, but feel bad for her because I had the audacity to fight back and gave the poor dear a headache?"

"Carol-,"

"No! Don't call me 'Carol' like we're friends. She's obviously your friend." She was clearly, and not unreasonably frustrated. Months worth of feelings she couldn't express, tumbled out. "You talk a good game about kindness and tolerance, and everyone getting along, but you don't really mean any of it. I have done more for mutant human relations than you will ever do. She took down a federal agent, that's great for mutant relations! I earned my place on special forces, I proved that I could be trusted. Don't you think there were plenty of people who thought a mutant couldn't be entrusted with sensitive missions or information. But I worked and showed all of them that I could. I have protected heads of states, I've stopped wars. And now, now I float around the psychic ether while, she uses my powers to shelp drinks around and play house with a wanted fugitive! Is that your dream, Professor?"

"Of course not. But you cannot function in Rogue's mind. It would destroy both of you."

"At least it would be over," she said quietly, her anger simmered just below her voice and added to it now, a bitter note of finality. The hurricane outside tripled in its intensity. That wasn't Carol's power, but, again, this was the astral plane. Charles raised a hand to strengthen the battered shield. Beside him, Jean whispered desperately, "You have to fight her, Rogue."

Rogue, it had been a long time since she'd heard that name. Shaking her head, "No, I can't kill her again."

"That's not Carol. It just a copy of her personality, like all the other psyches in your head. The real Carol is in Maryland and killing yourself won't help her!"

Carol floated off a few feet above the above ground and dropped suddenly back down. Her fists pounded against the cabin floor, with all of her strength behind them. A move eeriely reminescent the one Rogue had used outside. Shock waves rocked the already ricketty structure. The walls started to crumble like the front door had. The Professor had to strengthen and extend the shield at the same time. Mists eased their way in. Taking advantage Xavier's distraction, Carol lunged for Marie, knowing that she was the lynchpin and the weak point at the same time. She backhanded Jean on her way, but the woman didn't go far. "Let her go!"

"No." she said plainly. Carol had Rogue by the throat dangling in the air. "This is going to end. One way or another. Now."

Jean and the Professor both stayed close, but held their positions, hoping Marie would finally decide to fight. Like before she could feel them channeling their power to her. She still didn't want to, it still didn't feel right. Carol was only defending herself. She supposed they would have to try something if she didn't. This had to be her fault, even if she didn't know how exactly. But Jean was right, killing herself wouldn't help Carol, the real Carol or the one stuck in her head.

A layer of fog now covered the floor with more seeping in. Was the Professor letting them in to try and motivate' her, or was she doing it, by giving up? More mists appeared, seemingly coming through the shields. She could hear their whispers roaring over the din outside, as her vision began to blur and darken. Losing air, she thought to herself. Even though this was her mind and she didn't strickly need to breath. What was important was what she thought should happen. People tended to think of their psychic selves the same way they thought of their psychical bodies, those who ever had the opportunity, that is. That was why the Professor thought that it was so important for Marie to fight Carol herself.

The images sprang up and faded back. She watched the pictures, Wolverine in a bar fight, David playing catch with his little brother, all of the people in her head. There were so many of them, when did she absorb so many people? It would be easier this way, it would be penance of a sorts, but it wouldn't help any of the people she had hurt, it wouldn't make Carol live again. Vaguely she wished that Remy were here. This was always so much easier when he was there. Would he understand? "That won't change. None of your reasons' will ever change that. If you love me, don't leave me, ma cherie."

He would understand, with his past, he knew about penance. But he would hurt, a lot. She would hurt him. Jean, the Professor and the rest of them. She'd hurt them, too. Still dangling from Carol's iron grip Marie whispered, barely audible, "I'm so sorry." All the mists in the house gathered toward the two of them. Whispers grew even louder as they converged, becoming the crashing of waves. People and images floated up, jumping, drifting. They drew to Carol. Ebbed and flowed around her. Clinging to her like wet shadows. At first, she didn't notice, too much other noise and interference. And then when she did, there was brief shock, fear, but only for a second. Then there was a sort of detached interest. She actually didn't look angry anymore, the whispers roared into a tidal wave. Crashing into and drowning everything around them. And quickly as it had begun, the sound faded, and with it, the storm outside. The ghost of Carol Danvers faded with them into the quieting dust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I was late updating, I am sorry, but I think I made up for it in length. That was, I think, twice as long as any of the other chapters. I played around a bit with the 'laws' of astral plan I think. But hey, it's the astral plan, 'laws' are flexible. And as for Tantie Mattie, I thought since Rogue didn't have a protective mother figure in her life, (Mystique really doesn't count as a 'mother' figure, and Rogue's not happy with her at the moment anyway) so she might borrow Remy's. Mattie does have that much stronger cajun accent I didn't want to write Remy with, because it was too over the top. But she's old, she's lived in New Orleans her whole life, I thought she concievable could have a much stronger accent.

I think I figured out the problem I was having with the story, I think it was the pacing. Some of the chapters probably need to be combined or reworked. But I have now idea when I'd have time for that. ;) So I'm just going to finish it, and maybe play with the chapters some more later, if I have time. I promise, no more whining about that. On to the reviews, thank you so much everyone who reviewed.

*()- Oh yeah, she had plenty of incentive to beat up the X-Ment. I wanted to have her beat up more of them, but I couldn't quite work it in. And she wasn't exactly figting in her top form thanks to her ongoing nervous breakdown.

evanescence kicks ass()-Absorbing Carol was a little of it, just not all. I was having pacing problem. I think I figured out my writing problem, thanks for your encouragement.

AngstWolf()-My grandma was stuck in that fire, she didn't have to evacuate, but it was pretty freaky. She didn't mention the 4 horseman though. She doesn't have your imaginaion. :) I'm so sorry to keep you waiting. I had a project for work to do. But this chapter is super-sized. Your second review kicked me into finally posting this chapter and stop tweaking.

ishandahalf-Happy Birthday! I think topaz is pretty, but does only go with certain things. I did not know that about opals. Maybe they really are bad luck! Poor Remy, first he gets beat up then hears his girlfriend's having a psychotic episode. Not having a good day. And yeah, just because the X-Men thought Remy kidnaped and brainwashed Rogue that no reason to be violent. Can't we all just get along? :) Yes, Remy finally got a chance to use his master theif skills. He's just so good, that he knows when not to use them too. ;) This is another of those chapters with no direct Romyness, too many other things going on. But there always has to be some! I was so not a bunny on crack this time. I was a bunny on Valium with a broken leg hobbling around on crutches. :) So sorry.

akaineko-You were right about Carol getting stronger and taking over. That's exactly what she was doing. Thanks for the suggestions. They're always helpful. I liked the idea of Logan and Jean beating Remy there, but then I thought 'crazy' Rogue wouldn't actually wait around for either one of them.

Cherry13-Thank you so much. My update was a little late, but it's longer this time.

Samm16-No direct evil cliffhangers here. But a little still unresolved plot, but it's not the same thing! Honest! I'll really try to be faster with the next chapter. I'm not trying to drive you crazy. :)

Jukebox-Wolverine definitely wants to get a hold of Remy again, but Rogue will something to say about that now. Remy would have been able to calm her down, but Xavier and Jean were the ones the get there first. Well, not first, there was that whole debacle with the students and Emma failing miserably, but they got to her before Remy.

roguelebeaux003-I like Carol. I was trying not to make her seem to villian-y. The Rogue/Carol episode of the old cartoon was what got me into X-Men and comics in general.

theshadowcat()-I should have known that about the snow. I lived in Michigan for a while when I was little. It could snow in September, but that would be rare. Guessing same goes for Canada? Well, I didn't actually mention snow in that section so I'll just changed the title. And I do know that Canada's not into massive military and weapons projects. That part I was adapting from the comics. I actually had a fun little conersation with Muccamuk about that at the beginning of the story. In the comics Canada has spies, super-soldiers and all sorts of covert stuff. They were the ones running the Weapon X project that Wolverine was in. In X2, I think they just made it be an American project instead, which honestly, does make more sense.

Pixie Flyer-Thanks for review. I glad you like the plot, I sometimes wonder if I'm paying enough attention to it.

star_of_chaos()-Next update is finally here, hope you still like it. :)