Notes: Queen-morganalefay: Thank you so much for the lovely review! It means so much that I can get such an emotional response. And don't worry, Rogue gets a little concern/understanding in this chapter. Unearthlyangel89: Thank you! I always worry about my speeches, I'm never sure if they're too melodramatic, so it's nice to know that I got it right. no escape: Yeah, Scott was a bit insensitive, wasn't he? And here ya go, a super-speedy update, aren't I nice? XX-Goth-Gal: I love it when I get emotional responses like that! And Scott doesn't make a second appearance at all, I'm afraid, so you won't get any more reasons to hate him. Sangofanatic: I really wanna tell you what happens, but I don't wanna spoil it for you. I will say that these final two chapters focus more on Rogue so while I do mention Rogue talking about her experiences and how the others react, I don't go into detail. Marie: I'm sorry for not answering you in the previous chapter, your review didn't show up. Anyway, I'm glad that you like this fic! And because I just can't resist puppy eyes, here's a quick update for ya.

This is where I really abuse ellipses, but I didn't like the way the dialogue read without them, so… shrug. Oh, and there's a link to the end half of Chapter Four in my profile if anyone still hasn't read it.

Chapter Thirteen

It was the feeling of someone else in the room that woke her up. For a second, as sleep still clung to her, she thought she was back with Adams, that she was about to be abused and tormented again, but then the soft feel of the bed reached her senses and she remembered what had happened. Opening her eyes, she sat up to find Logan standing by the window.

"We were all worried about you, kid," he said roughly without turning around. "Didn't know what had happened, where you'd gone, what was going on… Didn't think it'd be this bad, though. What they did to you…. Jesus, Stripes, I can't believe you survived it. I knew you were tough but it would have broken anyone. And don't worry about what happened with Jean. Scott'll understand, eventually. Now come on, I'm supposed to escort you to the medical bay."

Yes, that sounded wonderful, and she stood up with only a faint grimace of pain. Logan noticed it, she knew he did by the slight narrowing of his eyes, but he didn't comment on it. They walked in silence for a little bit, but Rogue knew that it wouldn't last; she could feel the questions pressing against her mind, waiting to spill from her lips. She didn't want to ask it, was afraid of the answer and wanted to remain in blissful ignorance, but she'd never been very good at keeping silent.

"Do you…" She stopped before she could actually speak the question, but it was too late anyway. Logan was looking at her, waiting for her to finish, and she sighed, crossing her arms in front of her stomach and feeling pain bite its way through her body from the touch. She took an odd form of comfort from it, telling herself that if she had survived that, she could survive Logan's answer. Hopefully.

"Do you… blame me? For what I… For Jean?"

Logan echoed her earlier sigh and was silent for a couple of seconds. Rogue kicked herself for asking, shouting at her stupid lack of self-control.

"No," Logan said eventually, and she just about collapsed with relief. "I've been in that situation, Stripes. Not exactly, but similar enough, and… I woulda done the same thing. Kill or be killed… it's the most basic, primal of choices we can make as humans and… you made the right one."

"So… If I'd let Jean win, that would've been the wrong choice?"

"No."

Rogue nodded and thought about that until they reached the medical bay. Hank, the Professor and Kitty were waiting. She hesitated in the doorway, not sure why she was so unwilling to enter, and something in her expression made Kitty flinch.

"Rogue?" she asked uncertainly, taking a small step forward. "Rogue, we… we want to know what happened. You're, um… body…. the words… you haven't told us much."

Rogue scowled, not making any attempt to hide the signs of her torture. "What is there to say?" she asked in a tone that was barely above a growl. "I wouldn't fight Jean, they tortured us, and burned me with a fucking branding iron. That pretty much sums up most of it and gives you a good idea of what my life's been like for the past month. Only now it's over, and I can rest, so all I want is for some fucking pills so that I don't have to worry about nightmares. I also want Hank to examine and tend my wounds because frankly, I don't trust the doc that Adams employed and I really don't want to get an infection. I also don't want to be asked more questions. They can wait. Clear?"

She noticed that the Professor was watching her with sharp, narrowed eyes but quickly averted her gaze. She didn't want him to see the dark pain in her eyes, or get a glimpse into her equally dark mind. Her eyes landed on Kitty again, who was staring at her in shock and… something else. It was close to pity, but had an element of something else that Rogue didn't recognise. Something inside her cracked just a little at the sight because it was the personification of losing innocence, of realising that the world was not all sunshine and bubblegum and that people couldn't stay innocent and young forever, not if they wanted to survive.

Rogue sighed and walked inside the room so that she could sit down on the bed. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I don't mean to be so harsh, but I've been through a lot. I just want a little time to sort things out before I get the third degree. Please?"

"She deserves it, Chuck," Logan added from where he was leaning in the doorway.

Xavier let out a heavy breath and nodded his acquiescence. "Alright. Hank, I'll want a full report."

"Right, Professor. Now, everyone out."

"Um-"

Everyone turned to look at her and she cursed herself for speaking, but decided that she really had to know, so she gathered her courage and spoke. "Did you find Jean's body?"

For a second, no one spoke, but then Logan released a heavy breath and shook his head. "No, we looked but, no dice."

"They must've burnt it," Rogue murmured to herself. "I'd always wondered what they did with the corpses. I mean, just from the fights while I was there, there had to have been dozens of fights, and they had to have been going for a good few months beforehand so…." She looked up and saw that they were all looking at her with expressions of shock and horror, even Logan, but to a lesser degree. She realised, belatedly, that she had to be more careful about what she said, that she couldn't just voice her thoughts anymore. Hank was the first to recover and ushered everyone out, ignoring Kitty's quiet, worried questions.

He waited until the doors had closed before pulling on some gloves and beginning the examination, mostly keeping silent except to ask her a few, standard questions, does this hurt, follow my finger, when were these inflicted… Rogue answered automatically, not paying attention to how he poked and prodded and shifted and moved her.

It was over remarkably quickly, her wounds quickly washed and redressed, and then Hank was handing her a couple of small white pills and a little cup of water. She popped the pills dry, ignoring the water, and climbed under the thin sheets, staring at the ceiling until Hank left.

(0)

Once again, she woke to the feeling of someone watching her. She swallowed back a sigh and opened her eyes. Kitty was sitting on the bed next to hers, watching her with a mixed expression of thoughtfulness and worry. Rogue remained silent, watching her calmly, waiting for whatever was about to happen.

"Did you really kill mutants?" the younger girl asked suddenly, and Rogue blinked before sitting up, pushing her hair out of her eyes and trying to figure out what to say.

She couldn't think of anything, so she just said, "Yes."

Kitty was silent for a moment, frowning and biting her lower lip, and then she looked up at Rogue and said, "I don't understand that. I don't know how you could…"

"I didn't have a choice," Rogue stated flatly. "I didn't want to die. I'm not a matyr."

Kitty nodded and silence fell again. Rogue wondered what else Kitty wanted to ask, or say, and when she would go away.

"I'm sorry," Kitty said in a voice that was barely above a murmur, and Rogue frowned.

"For what?"

"For… not finding you sooner. For letting you go through that. For whatever it is that Scott said to you. I'm really sorry, Rogue."

Despite herself, Rogue found herself smiling a little and it made Kitty smile back at her. "It's alright. I don't blame you, never did, never will."

Kitty grinned and opened her mouth to say something else when Hank walked in.

"Alright, Kitty, out. Rogue, how are you feeling today?"

Rogue nodded vaguely at Kitty as the younger girl left, and then thought about Hank's question, evaluating both her body and her mind. "A bit numb, kinda disorientated, but pretty good, considering."

"Good. Now, we've got some nicely coloured pills here for you and a couple of injections. Sorry."

"After what I've been through, I can handle some jabs."

Hank grimaced, but didn't comment. Rogue endured another bout of poking and prodding, swallowing the pills handed to her and not flinching when Hank gave her a couple of injections.

"Do you feel up to talking yet?" he asked when it was over, taking off his gloves and tossing them in the bin. Rogue wanted to say no, not yet, please don't make me talk about it all, but she knew that she couldn't put it off forever, so she just nodded silently. Hank walked with her to the library, where Xavier, Kitty, Logan and Ororo were all waiting, ready to hear her gruesome tale.