Hello! Told you I'd be back! K, reviews…

IvyZoe – Thankyou SO much for your review, I read it and just sat down and wrote for about an hour. I really hope this fic lives up to your expectations, I'm really honoured that you think so highly of it, and I promise not to abandon it again.

Ishy – Yeah I know, fallen off the face of the planet? Me?! Sorry!! But look, updaty goodness!! Glad your still enjoying it, I have big plans for this fic, lotsa plot…hopefully. And yeah, big bad creature, but there's a reason for that, but I'm not gonna tell you what it is yet! :P

Les723 – Course I don't mind if you out my fic, I'm really pleased you like it so much, glad you've enjoyed it so far!

Eileen Blazer – Hides I'm sorry!! But look, another update, so now you don't have to be mad at me!! Hope you enjoy it, thanks for reviewing!

Chapter 7

The mood in the mansion had risen from gloomy and fearful to cheerful and excited in that short time between the mutants waking up and the chaos that was breakfast, all due to one piece of news. Rogue had woken up! They had all gone to see her at least briefly before breakfast and were now chattering more happily than they had done in weeks, all but Kitty and Kurt who had stayed downstairs with Rogue for breakfast. The sense of relief and encouragement was due not just because they would now have their moody, depressed and angsty friend back with them (although this was of course cause for celebration) but also from the feeling that the shadow of Trask had been further lifted. Rogue and the others had suffered, were still suffering in some ways, but they had survived, and they would keep on surviving no matter what.

Rogue, meanwhile, was not feeling quite so optimistic now that she was trapped with Kitty and Kurt in a confined space and, worst of all, they were in a good mood. A very good mood. Rogue had once theorised that their mood was directly correlated to how much Kurt bamphed around, how much they bickered and how much shrill laughter Kitty could produce. In other words, better mood, louder and more irritating noise pollution. Not that she wasn't glad her friends were happy, Rogue cared about them far more than she would care to admit, but if she heard just one more bamph or one more 'like' she was going to strangle them. Slowly.

Fortunately at that moment they both realised they had a Danger Room session in 15 minutes and had to get ready at once to have any chance of escaping the wrath of a Wolverine who had been kept waiting. Rogue was just breathing a sigh of relief when Kitty turned at the door and said, 'I'll be back soon and I'll, like, bring some home-made cookies to celebrate!' before running off happily. Rogue stared after her in horror. Kitty, cooking? Haven't Ah been punished enough?!.

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'Ten days'

'…what?'

'You've been unconscious for ten days, Rogue'

'But…that's impossible.' Rogue and Professor Xavier were sitting in his study, he behind his wide dark wood desk, she in the comfortable chair on the other side.

'According to Doctor McCoy your collapse was not due to any physical aspect that he could detect, so we must therefore assume at this stage that it was something else.' He looked at her gently but closely; trying to gauge her reactions before asking, 'Do you remember anything about it Rogue?'

Rogue paused, eyes lowered and refusing to meet his own, and shifted uncomfortably under his searching gaze. She didn't want to remember, she didn't want to have to face the possibilities or what Xavier and the X-Men would do when they found out.

'Rogue,' he said softly, and she looked up into his kind face, 'you are in no trouble and this is not something you should be ashamed of. I am calling it a 'collapse' because that is what it was, and I will not sugar-coat the situation to someone as capable as yourself,' Rogue blinked at the compliment. 'I only want to help you. You do not have to tell me anything you don't wish to, and if you would feel more comfortable talking with Hank or Ororo I will take no offence.'

'No, it's alright Professor, Ah'm sorry it's just…' she shook her head, ashamed of herself for feeling untrusting, 'Ah can remember what happened, Ah just don't understand any of it. It was…'she paused thinking carefully, 'Ah was suddenly hit with memories, lahke they were forcing themselves into mah mind and Ah couldn't do anything about it, and then there was just this pain and it was in mah head but also in mah body and Ah…' she paused again, this time it was her gauging the Professor, 'then Ah blacked out,' she finished lamely.

'Was this another attack from the psyches? Or memories from the people you have absorbed resurfacing violently for some reason?'

'No, that's just it,' she said, frustrated, 'Ah didn't recognise any of the images Ah saw. It was almost like…' she bit her lip, 'like Ah was absorbing someone for the first time… But that can't be right, Ah mean, even if Ah was touchin' someone without realisin' it'd be someone in the mansion and Ah'd recognise the memories!'

'I see,' the Professor said slowly. For a few moments he stared ahead, obviously considering this, before turning his eyes on her again. 'Have you ever felt anything like this before?'

'Ah…no, Ah don't remember anything like it.' Rogue once again would not meet his eyes.

'In that case, there is something else I would like to talk to you about,' he answered gravely. 'Due to the continuing development of your mental shielding, especially the changes after your experiences with Trask,' he watched the spasm of pain cross her face with sense of utter regret, 'I can no longer enter your mind even with your assistance.'

A tiny part of her felt satisfied, safe, now that she could keep out even the most powerful telepath on the planet and yet, Rogue's heart sank, 'So, you can't help me?'

'Rogue I promise, I will do everything I possibly can to help you work through this, but I will have to do so without the aid of telepathy. To be honest, it may have been no great advantage and you, like Jean, are simply evolving and developing naturally.' Rogue nodded, although she did not seem at all convinced by this argument. To be honest neither was Xavier, but he needed more information before he could start to understand what was going on with Rogue beyond pure speculation.

'Rogue, was there anything else you want to tell me?' he asked, hoping she might finally start to talk about her capture. If he could just gain her trust enough for her to talk about it the healing process could begin; bottled up inside her like this he was afraid the pressure would build until she just…snapped. Rogue looked up at him again, and for a second hope bloomed in him, but then she shook her head.

'No Professor, thank you for your time.' She left a worried and regretful Xavier sitting alone behind his large desk as she walked quickly to the door and out into the hallway. As the door clicked shut behind her, he bowed his head into his hands.

'I have failed her.'

Outside, Rogue walked quickly down the corridor, gloved hands twisting in front of her. The truth was, she had felt something like that before, in a place she didn't want to ever have to remember. 'It's over, it's over!' she repeated to herself, 'he can't get me anymore, Ah'm safe now, Ah'm safe…'

Trask was in prison, there was no way he could get her from there, no way he could do what had been done on the slabs when he had captured her. If he was capable of that…how could they ever hope to stop him?

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The lab was deep underground, protected from attack and detection, as the last one had been, by metres of earth. This one was even larger, however, the caverns and corridors making the ground into a honeycomb, supported by dull, cold metal and lit by stark white light. In one small, almost painfully sterile room, a cold metal bed held a single figure. At first glance, she appeared to be only in a deep, deep sleep, but the skin was a little too pale, the cheeks and eyes too sunken, the blonde hair too lifeless.

She was surrounded, not by loving family and friends, but by machines, giving and recording her life. One beeped slowly and steadily as it measured her heartbeat, another pumped the nutrients and water she needed directly into her bloodstream, yet another removed the waste materials. All around her was the hum and beep of activity and electricity.

Only one machine was as quiet and silent as she was, only one organ was inactive above primal receptors. The brain activity monitor stood still and silent.

Oblivious to all, Carol Danvers slept on.

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Ok, tell me what you think with a REVIEW!!! :D

Whoever it was that warned me against using Carol, you made a very good point, but I'm being careful, promise!

There's gonna be lots to this story and I'm gonna give you clues and stuff to what's going on, so don't worry if you don't understand something, it'll probably be explained later on.

Vagabond