Chapter 14: Being Bait Is Not Fun

Lady k.

"I gave you specific instructions! How hard is it for trained mutants to kidnap a girl who is in a coma?!" Magneto shouted, his voice echoing off the walls of the metal dome that had become his new headquarters. 

"Xavier is beginning to suspect! If he brought down all of his forces in order to rescue the Untouchable-"

"Rogue," Gambit added quietly, but surely.

 "What?" asked Magneto, his voice filled with rage at the loss of time and effort.

 "De chere's name be Rogue," Gambit repeated, his annoyance with his leader apparent.

"I don't care what her name is! She is nothing to me but bait for Apocalypse…" Magneto leaned towards Gambit a bit more, trying to make his point apparent.

"And don't you forget it either."  Magneto gave Gambit one more moment of his glare and then quickly turned towards his other Acolytes.

"Don't think that either of you will get away with this either! The reason that I picked each of you to work for me is because you were the best in your trades. If this is all the mutant world has to offer, I must be a god!" he sneered as he turned his back on the Acolytes and faced Rogue.

He turned away quick enough to miss Gambit roll his eyes and St. John yawn.  

Rogue lifted a hand to her aching head as soon as she came to. She could not open her eyes; she could sense the room she was in was well lit, and her eyes could not take in light yet.

She slowly moved into a sitting position and continued to rub the back of her head vigorously. Where was she? How much time had passed since she had fallen asleep? It felt like it had been days…

Carefully, Rogue opened one squinted eye and took in what she could of her surroundings. The first thing she saw was a silver chair, set up against a white wall. A blindingly white wall that made her eye water. Rogue slowly turned her head to the left of the chair and saw a steel frame bed made up with white bed sheets.

 Rogue made an attempt to stand, but her legs proved unstable underneath her weight. She fell back on the floor, landing in a clumsy fashion with her legs flailed out to the side resembling a discarded rag doll. Instead of trying again, Rogue decided it would be best to regain her eyesight first. She had always found progress in the "baby steps" method.

Even now she was coaching herself mentally. C'mon, just open your eye a bit. No need to rush… Eventually, after what seemed like forever, Rogue's other green eye was functioning again.

 She lifted her head to view her surroundings, and the first thing she saw was glass, and behind the glass, Magneto and his Acolytes, staring at her curiously.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Rogue yelled before realizing that they were not in her room, but instead a detainment cell in Magneto's lair.

 "What the hell am ah doing here?" Gambit, John, and Piotr looked uncomfortable while Magneto merely grinned. "Such a temper! You should be grateful that I've taken you away from the Institute! But then again, you always were irritable, weren't you, Marie?" he said, his grin quickly becoming a sickening smirk.

Rogue's eyes fell upon Magneto with an icy glare. "How do you know my name?" she asked.

Magneto smiled. "I'd like to keep that secret for my own."

 "It's no surprise if you got it from the Professor's directory. The Prof has always had my name typed onto my file," she answered, her voice conveying no surprise or anger.

Magneto continued to smirk. "As you see, I've given you one of my best rooms, since you are going to be with us for some time," Magneto said.

"And why is that?" Rogue asked, with the pain in the back of her head starting to become noticeable again.

Magneto strode over to the door behind the glass leading to the hallway. "Because Apocalypse will be looking for you, and he doesn't know about this place. However, he will feel inclined to destroy the Institute, regardless of your presence or absence there. Don't you understand, Marie? I've saved you!" Magneto said.

 Rogue glared at him. "Stop calling me that! I am not Marie anymore!" she said with her teeth clenched together tightly. She curled her legs underneath her and shifted her weight so that she was sitting with her legs out to her side in a neater fashion than before.

"What do you want me for anyway?" she asked.

"I need you to act as bait for Apocalypse so that I can destroy him for myself. I thought for sure that you were useless after he touched you and took your powers, but now I understand that he is looking for you harder than ever. For some reason you've become valuable again," Magneto said. "So, now that you are here do your best to be comfortable. My Acolytes will be around for any needs you might have."

Without another word, Magneto walked out the door in to what looked like a metal hallway.

Rogue was silent for a moment as she tried to comprehend exactly what had happened.

Then suddenly, everything made sense. "You!" she snarled as she glared at the Acolytes. "All of ya! This was all a set up!" Her eyes turned to Piotr. "You don't like Kitty at all, do ya? This was all part o' some sick plan by that demented tin head!" Piotr shifted uncomfortably. "I do care for Kitty," he muttered softly.

"Gambit, Pyro, Colossus! Assemble!" Magneto shouted from the hallway. John sighed. "Does he always have to say that? It sounds wrong," he said. No one answered him.

 Gambit rose to his feet and Piotr turned away from Rogue's helpless figure on the other side of the glass.

Piotr and John walked out the door, but Gambit glanced back at Rogue behind the glass. "Gambit'll be back in a while. Don't worry, no one is gonna hurt you," he said before exiting the room.

Rogue glared at the exit with the most hatred she could muster. If Magneto and his goons thought that she was just going to take this they were dead wrong. She tried to push herself off the floor, but it wasn't any good.

Even if she was going to escape, she would have to stay at Magneto's lair for a while.

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to start writing again. I know I've lost just about all my reviewers…oh well. Do me a favor and keep reading. I'm back in the writing mood, and I am determined to finish this story soon (and not 3 months from now). Thanks