Virago
Chapter Fourteen

21 April 2009

She woke.

The lights were blinding, and she winced. It was so quiet. She could hear someone breathing, somewhere to her right. She moved her head slowly, squinting in the still too brightly lit room. A blonde, tousled head lay beside her hand. She tried to lift a finger, and realised that they were enclosed.

She knew him.

He thought he heard his name being called. But it was a dream. It had to be. There would be no reason for Rogue to be calling his name.

Scott sighed, turning and drifting deeper into restless sleep.

Warren jerked. Something had woken him. He was immediately drawn towards the pillow, to Rogue. She was staring at him, her eyes wide.

He stood abruptly, relief and elation filling every part of him. 'Rogue!'

But her gaze didn't stray from whatever it was that caught her attention, and Warren grew instantly anxious. He turned slowly, following her line of sight. His eyes fell on his hand, which were covering hers.

The glove.

He gently tightened his grip on her, bending closer and subtly forcing her to look at his face. 'Hey, beautiful.'

A pained look crossed her face as she gazed up at him. 'It's back, isn't it?'

'And so are you,' he whispered, smiling tenderly, encouragingly, at her.

Rogue lifted her other hand, and he sensed it as she slowly brought it up to his face. But she stopped short from touching him. Warren could feel it. Just there. So close.

'Your face…you have scratches, bruises…and I can't…' Her hand dropped back onto the bed. The anguish on her face was unbearable.

Warren pushed back his own sorrow. 'It's going to be okay, I promise you.'

'Hey.'

Rogue hurriedly pushed aside the return of thoughts and feelings she had expected would never return. It was back. Her mutation. Her isolation.

But now was not the time for such dejection. For even before she saw the owner of the voice, the beginnings of a smile had started to tug on the corner of her lips. She turned to him. 'Hey.'

The boy- No, he was a man now. He walked towards her with confidence and ease that she had never seen before. Kurt had grown. There was nothing of the boyishness that defined him when they had first met.

And she had missed it all. The change and development, the transformation of boy to man. A man she was intensely proud to call her brother.

'How are you feeling, Rogue?' Kurt asked. It pleased her that his accent was still as strong as she remembered.

The weight pressing down on her chest since she had woken eased slightly. Rogue found that it was all but impossible to be disheartened in Kurt's presence. 'Like I almost died.'

Kurt frowned deeply at her. 'But you didn't.'

Rogue's smile widened, hoping to reassure him. 'I'm okay, Kurt.' She indicated to the chair beside the bed. 'Sit.' He did so. 'I was starting to think I was all alone. I haven't seen anyone since Warren left. Where is he?'

He offered her an apologetic smile. 'Er…Hank poisoned him.'

For a moment her heart stopped. 'What?'

'Maybe "poison" is too strong. It was just a little something to help him sleep.'

Rogue breathed out. 'It's been a very busy couple of days, hasn't it?'

'Hectic,' Kurt confirmed. He looked away, his gaze drifting to the silent machine that continued to monitor her vital signs.

She could only guess at the thoughts that occupied him. 'Want to talk about?'

He turned back to her, his face a mixture of sadness and concern. 'Are you… Rogue, I'm not sure-'

'All of it,' she interrupted gently. 'I realise that it's not all going to be good, happy, fuzzy, but I'll be okay.'

'There's…a lot of it.'

Rogue looked directly at him. 'Hit me.'

He sighed. 'Where do I start…? Mystique-'

'Is dead,' she finished abruptly. 'Warren told me.' Rogue had expected that she would feel something – relief, possibly even regret – at the death of the woman she hated, but instead had felt nothing upon hearing the news. She had wondered if that meant anything, but shrugged it away. Mystique was no longer, and that was that.

Kurt nodded. 'It had been her all along. She helped Garrison with the microbes and all the rest of it. After realising how it all worked, and knowing that the government was after him, she and Lance came up with a plan. Mystique would become Garrison, and Lance would make sure that the real doctor worked on a serum. They got here just in time.'

A memory hovered from just beneath her recall. A voice desperately calling her name, pleading with her to stay awake. As she attempted to remember more details, the memory swiftly drew back. Rogue frowned, easily forgetting it all. 'Lance was here?'

'He stayed for only a while, but it was long enough.'

Rogue bit her lower lip. 'Kitty…?'

Kurt's features darkened. 'I've never seen her like this, Rogue. She's so full of, of…hate.' His voice had dropped to a whisper at the last word. They both knew the source, the target, of that hate.

'Oh, Kurt, I wish…' She trailed off. There was nothing she could do. No amount of wishing could heal the rift that she had created. She tried to think of something else. 'How…how did the mission go? With the commandos?'

'No major injuries. In fact, Wolverine is out on another mission with some of the newer members.'

'And Jean?'

'She…she left, for a few days.' Kurt avoided her eyes, his gaze drawn once again to the machine beside the bed. 'A little time, and a little space, you know?'

Rogue closed her eyes, wondering if there was anything else that she had ruined during her short stay at the mansion. She was surprised that the building still stood. Why had she returned? 'I should never have come back…'

'No!' Kurt replied with a touch of anger. He stood, moving closer to her. 'Rogue, don't say that. I'm glad you came back. If you hadn't-' He stopped. They both knew how the sentence would end.

'But Kitty, and now Jean? I did this, all of it.'

'We're all adults here, Rogue. We're not kids anymore. We make choices, and we live with them.'

'And you are the ones paying for my choice.'

To Rogue's utter surprise, a gentle smile formed on Kurt's face. 'Then it's our choice to pay. Rogue, listen to me. You did what you thought was best, and though you hurt a lot of people, it was our choice to react in the ways that we did.'

'But Scott and-'

'You didn't make Scott fall in love with you, Rogue.' Kurt shook his head sadly. 'The truth is things between Scott and Jean are not what you would expect. The circumstances of how they finally got together, it wasn't the best.'

Rogue just looked at him for a moment. How she wanted to hug him. 'You've grown, little brother.'

He grinned down at her. 'So have you, big sister.'

end chapter fourteen.

Author's notes: As always, thank you for all your lovely comments. I'll be happy when this is finally finished!