Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution. Fact is, I don't own much at the moment.

Feeling came back first. I could feel the cushiony bed beneath me, the thin layer of sheets over my body. I opened my eyes, they began to throb when I spotted the same bright light above me. I'd have to fix that later.

I slowly turned my head, wincing in pain. My neck was sore, and so was the rest of my body, I knew. I could only guess that it was from the strenuous fight with Magneto. Why it affected me physically, I could only guess. I'd find out later.

Sitting beside my bed was Kitty, her eyes red. I knew she had been crying. I couldn't help but want to weep myself. She really did care, and looked as if she hadn't moved at all since when I had last seen her. I could feel tears start to push their way forward to the front of my eyes. Kitty…she had wanted me back so badly. And her presence in my mind had been so confident that I would win. She wanted me to. I didn't want to admit it, but Kitty was someone who had managed to become close to me, "The Ice Queen," and not be hurt. That was almost like the ultimate lesson, or whatever you want to call it. To me, that was the definitive testament that obstacles can be overcome. Hell, my whole ordeal was.

Kitty suddenly seemed to notice that I was awake. She gasped, her blue eyes sparkling in awe. "Rogue!" she practically screamed. "You're awake!" She suddenly leapt forward as I slowly pushed myself up and threw her arms around my neck, tears streaming down her cheeks.

My instinct was to shove her away and chew her out for endangering herself, but I didn't. She was touching no part of my skin. Slowly, I hugged her back, ecstatic just to be back and in control.

"She's awake! Everyone, she's awake! Come here and see!" Kitty cried.

Suddenly, shouts echoed through the hallway, followed by a stampede of footsteps, which took the shapes of students from the Institute. Everyone shoved their way inside, all cheering for my recovery. Scott, Jean, Kurt, Logan, and the Professor made their way to the front.

"Rogue! You're back!" Kurt cried, jumping on to my bed and hugging me briefly. Kitty let go and stepped back, still silently crying for joy.

"Thank god you're back, Rogue," Jean said with a smile.

As much as I didn't like Jean, it was still nice to know that she had been worried. I smiled and thanked her when Scott shoved past some students to my bedside.

"Rogue, what happened?" he demanded.

Everyone seemed to become silent. That was the question I didn't want to hear. How was I going to answer that without sounding like a loon? Would anyone believe me? I decided to take the easy way out.

"Ah'll explain it later. Ah'm still tired," I explained. It wasn't a lie, either, which I was really proud of. For the first time in a long time, I hadn't needed to lie to cover up what was going on. This time, I knew that I had to reveal exactly what was wrong.

Scott nodded. I knew he would hold me to my word, but I didn't care. He cared. My old crush cared. And that, for some reason, gave me a huge feeling of satisfaction.

"Are you feeling better, Rogue?" Beast asked, hanging from a metal beam above. The beams were probably installed especially for him. The Professor thinks of everything.

I nodded.

Professor Xavier turned around and ushered the students out, telling them all that I needed my rest. I couldn't argue, either, because it was true. I was still drained from the ordeal.

Kitty managed to stay behind while Beast and the Professor left. The door shut and Kitty deemed it safe to talk.

"Rogue, I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered. "You just started shaking all of a sudden. Kind of like you were having a seizure or something." She shuddered. "We were all scared. Beast didn't know what to do, and the Professor didn't either. He tried going into your mind at one point, but he looked like he'd been shot when he finished. None of us knew what to do. We were all scared we would lose you," she choked.

My gaze softened. "Ah'm not leaving, Kitty. It'll take everything th' Devil's got to take me. And even then, he'll have a hard time doing that," I said.

Kitty smiled. "The Devil wouldn't take you," she commented. "God would."

I smiled.

Kitty moved to hug me again, but I held up my hands. "You were lucky, Kitty, that you didn't touch me the first tahme. Let's be safe again," I pleaded.

Kitty smiled. "Alright," she agreed. "Good night, Rogue." And with that, Kitty left.

I slowly leaned back on my pillow, thankful for some rest and for the care that my friends showed me.

The next day, I was wheeled into Professor Xavier's study. I had protested, arguing with Beast that I was perfectly fine and could walk on my own. But do you really think he listened? Noooooo.

Everyone was gathered in the study waiting for me: for an explanation. I swallowed. They would think I was nuts. I didn't want to do this anymore. I could keep this whole thing a secret; no one needed to know. This time, I would be stronger. No rebellions would happen. I would always be in control. My palms started to sweat with my newfound panic, and I felt as if everyone were scrutinizing me then. I needed to get out, fast.

"Rogue," said the professor's voice in my mind. "Tell us what happened."

I swallowed. I didn't want to, but I knew that my chances of getting out were nil. I was tired of lying to those who really cared about me, too. So I made a quick decision.

"Ya're all wonderin' why what happened…happened," I began awkwardly. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I continued.

"There's a side effect to mah powers. When Ah touch someone, I absorb part of them. But, it doesn't go away. That part stays with meh in mah head. So, I have people in mah head. It sounds crazy," I quickly added, "but it's true. Ah touched Magneto once, and part of him stayed with meh. He took over control of mah body. When "Ah" collapsed, I was fightin' him for control. In the infirmary, I was fightin' him there, too."

Dead silence. Shit, I thought. They think I'm nuts. Time to pack for the loony bin.

The Professor nodded. "I had suspected that you had entities in your head, Rogue, but I was never sure," he replied. "When I invited you to play chess with me, it was to confirm my suspicions. You see, only Magneto had ever played me like that. Since you played like him, I was almost positive that he was helping you. He can't resist the temptation of a game of chess."

My jaw dropped. "Then why didn't ya try t' help meh?" I demanded. It didn't make any sense. Wasn't this guy supposed to help me? If he was, then he should have tried! I almost couldn't bear to look at him, the traitor.

"You ran out before I could stop you," he explained. "We received a call from Gambit just as Logan was going to head out and search for you. He said that you were coming back, but you seemed different. He was right. We could tell that something was wrong. You just fell to the floor when you came in and started groaning and sweating. It was then that I knew that something was wrong."

Kitty took up the slack. "You remember what I told you earlier: he couldn't get into your mind. We tried, Rogue, but in the end, it was up to you."

That's when it hit me: it always had been up to me. I had been relying on people to reach out and save me, when only I could save myself. I had been wandering in the dark, hoping that someone would appear and show me the light when it had been staring blindly into my face the whole time without my realizing it.

Sometimes, you just have to look a little harder to find what you're looking for.

I'M BACK! By now, most of you probably want to shoot me since I took so long updating, and I'm sorry. I've just had so much homework every night, band practices Thursday nights and Friday mornings, Wednesday church, and work most Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I'm sorry this wasn't up sooner!

Reviews:

enchantedlight: sorry it wasn't sooner!!!

Jade-eye-death: WRITE IT! I won't steal the idea! Even though its really good…

Maiden Genisis: THANK YOU!

Ally: COMPUTERS ARE EVIL at times. Mine messes up so much…

giggleboxsam: you never know…

lil badass: thanks!

SEE YOU ALL LATER!

---Jojo---