Disclaimer: I do not claim to own X-men, X-men Evolution, or any of the dozens of X-men derivatives that exist out there. That all belongs to the wonderful team at Marvel. I do, however, own these "Smoothie Mix Skittles"™ (yummmmmy….)

Author Note: Sorry once again for the delay… I just had difficultly balancing out 18 credits and a job last semester… But it's summer, and I promise that I will do my best to finish this fic AT LEAST by November.

Only Hope: Chapter 9—I'm Awake in the Infinite Cold

She couldn't remember when she felt so cold; perhaps the time she was trapped in the mountain cave with Scott. Seemed so long ago, yet the loss of feeling in her extremities was a painful reminder of the frigid weather atop the mountain peaks. Her body shivered uncontrollably as she wandered through the thick fog. It was foreboding enough that she had no idea where she was or no recollection of how she got there; to add to her worries, it was impossible to see within two feet in front of her. Blacking out and working up in unfamiliar territory was enough to terrify the young girl, but the fog? Come on, a tad bit of overkill. It was as if she was trapped in one of those lame-ass, low-budget movies. As she wandered aimlessly through the mist, she kept her senses up—awaiting any sign that a man in a poorly made rubber outfit in the shape of lizard was going to spring out of nowhere with his arms flailing wildly. Nothing of the manner had shown up yet, however. 'Although it would be entertaining,' she thought to herself.

Her attempt to make light of her dreary situation did not do much in terms of perking up her spirits. 'This is hopeless,' Rogue thought to herself as she clenched her fingers into a fist. She quickly brought her gloved hands to her face and gently blew on them. Unfortunately her choice of fishnet gloves did not afford her much warmth—then again, it was sweltering only hours beforehand when she chose them out.

From the corner of her eye, however, she saw a quick shadow dash off. "HEY!" she yelled into the empty space before her. "Get back here!"

'Thief…"

Rogue quickly darted her head around, desperately trying to find the source of the whisper that had just insulted her. "Anyone there," she yelled once again. "Look, if ya got a problem with me, just come out and say it to mah face, coward."

"Thief…"

"You had not right…"

Two indistinguishable voices called out to her now, as more shadows began to run pass her. No matter how quick her reflexes were however, she could never catch sight of a solid form. No matter what she did, all she was able to make out were shadows and whispers. At the moment fear began to take over as she did her best to prepare herself for what seemed to be an impending battle. "What are ya talking about?" Rogue yelled as more figures began to swirl around her. "Ah didn't steal anything from you."

"My memories..."

"My family…"

"My identity…"

"My life… My future…"

"Thief..."

Soon enough she was surrounded by these dark figures. As the voices began to grow louder and multiply, the shadows began to slow down, slowly forming solid figures. Although she still could not recognize the forms, they were starting to become more clear to her. They were also getting closer—too close for comfort for someone like Rogue. "Get back!" she yelled as she took a defense position. She slowly slid off one of her gloves as she began to spin around. There were so many of them now, at least a dozen, if not more. "Get back, Ah said!"

The first of the figures stepped out… It was the Acolyte Rogue had ran into the other night. He gave Rogue a cold stare as he lifted his staff. "Ah should have known!" she said, glaring at his viciously as she clenched her hands into a fist. "Ah should have known this a trap by Magneto." As she raised her fist for her first blow, however, another hand came down and grabbed her unprotected fist. She quickly looked behind her, her eyes growing wide at the sight of the adversary behind her. "Scott?" she said in disbelieve. All of the sudden, Rogue felt extremely weak. Glancing up at her ungloved hand, it was obvious to her now that her powers were having no affect on her fellow X-Man. "Scott? What's…."

Before she could finish her question, however, another figure came down for an attack. A burst of lightning struck Rogue at her feet, throwing her backwards. Before she had time to react, she glanced up. "Storm?" And right behind her. "Sabertooth? Juggernaut? Mystique?... Jean?" And behind them, there were more. Each a familiar face of someone she had met once during her life. Friends, foes, mutants, humans—each of them had one thing in common. Well, two actually, one: they looked extremely angry, and two: they were are people that she…

'No… It couldn't be…' she began to muse to herself. As much as she tried to debunk her theory, the realization of her predicament started to become painfully clear.

The figure that took up the shape of Scott was the first to speak out. "You're a parasite," he said vehemently as she towered over the fallen mutant. "You leeched off of my friendship, Professor's hospitality, and all of our powers. You disgust me."

The form of Jean came up to Scott from behind, grabbing onto his arm. She didn't have to say anything; if looks could kill, then the one she was giving road was deadly. The hatred, the disgust, the look of superiority that Rogue had always thought the preppy mutant felt over the goth girl was all mixed in her glare.

Rogue quickly pulled in her legs into her chest and covered her head as the figures began to move in on their prey. Hot tears streamed down her face as she awaited the attack. She felt helpless as the voices kept screaming accusations of every single insecurity she had about herself and her relationships. Not only had her powers disappeared, but it felt as if the last ounce of emotional strength was dashed in a matter of moments. Throughout the mixture of her tears and screams, a sudden pain struck Rogue. That damn ringing noise again, it had returned and its frequency and pitch and increased sending pain throughout her entire body.

"Wat do you mean ve can't visit her?"

"You need a dictionary, bub? Ya ain't going in there."

"But, like, we have her homework and…"

"I'm sorry, no one can go in, children. Rogue is in a very weak state right now, its best that she doesn't get too excited."

"If you're so concerned about her, then at least get Magneto's lackey out of there."

"Scott," Ororo said softly. It had been roughly three hours since Ororo found Rogue passed out in the hallway, enough time for the other teens to return from school. Rogue was still caught in a deep sleep, which according to Hank had been triggered by a strong fever that the young girl was experience. If you hadn't gotten to her in time, I fear what could have happened if we were unable to take care of that fever. Although her state had long since stabilized, Rogue was still running a 101 degree fever and was showing no sign of waking up anytime soon. Still, that was not enough to stop the curiosity and persistence of the other students in the Institute.

"You ask us not to worry, but you leave that creep in there with her," Scott scoffed as he looked over the older mutant's shoulder at the sleep young woman in the bed by the entrance. Next to her, separated only by an off-white curtain, was the Acolyte he had fought with earlier that morning. Dr. Hank was preoccupied with Rogue for the most part and had given the red-eyed mutant a couple of latex gloves to entertain himself with. Hard to believe the young man making "glove balloons" was the cause of all the damage in the institute earlier this morning. Gambit looked over at the med-bay doors as he held on of his new creations in his hands. Glaring at him through the glass window was the idiot from this morning—the one whom someone forgot to inform that sunglasses were meant for daytime hours. Guess he missed that memo. Gambit shot a cocky smirk at the younger boy as he lowered four of the latex fingers on his blown up glove and waved the remaining finger in the middle at the peeping tom.

"Look, I ain't too happy with the arrangements either," Wolverine stepped in. Neither he nor Ororo seemed to have taken notice of the silent battle between the younger mutants. With Scott's dark sunglasses, it was difficult to detect what exactly the boy was looking at. "But we have to keep an eye on both of them. Got it."

"BUT…"

The sound of metal claws unsheathing interrupted the young man's objection. Wolverine continued, raising his adamantium claws in clear view. "I asked you if you 'got it'."

"Yes, sir, we understand" Scott said dejectedly as he motioned for his companions to follow in suit. Kitty and Kurt frowned at the orders, as they slowly paced after their "leader." Kurt looked back one more time before entering the elevator at his mentors. "She's going to be okay, right?"

Ororo gave a forced smile to the young boy as she walked over to join him on the elevator. "She'll be just fine, Kurt. Don't worry."

As the elevator doors closed, Wolverine turned and looked into the med bay where Hank was jotting down his observations on a chart. Rogue was still passed out, and by the look of her face, she was having one intense nightmare. Inwardly, he felt so weak. He felt as if he had somehow failed to protect her as well as the other students. He cursed at himself as he walked into the lab towards Rogue's 'roommate.' Hank looked up at the sudden intrusion in the med-bays quiet environment and quickly noted the direction that the temperamental Canadian was heading. "Logan, I really don't think this is the time for any sort of interrogation. Rogue needs her rest."

"We'll do our best to keep it quiet. Right, Gumbo?" Wolverine said as he pulled back the curtain separating him from Rogue.

"Oui, mon ami," Gambit said as he glanced up at his visitor. "Gambit be all nice and silent, can assure you dat."

Logan scowled at the audacious young mutant as he pulled a chair to the side of the bed. "The Professor isn't here to stop me from dragging you to a nice quiet area and forcing out info from you. So you better play nice. Just level with me. What happened out there with Rogue? What happened between the two of you that she ended up like this?"

Gambit shot a deathly glare at his elder. "Gambit never hurt femme in his life." His face lightened before he continued. "Aside from a broken heart or few."

He was getting awfully frustrated with the cocky young man. "Well, she was fine up until you came along. I want to know what happened out there."

Gambit sighed as he laid his head back into his pillow. "Gambit already talk to de professor about dis. One moment Gambit running fine, next thing you know, he wake up in dis 'comfortable' bed surrounded by loving faces such as your own. Must have used her powers when Gambit wasn't looking. Dat what she does, non? Take other mutant's powers by touch?" Course it was a lie. He knew damn well she had used her powers on him. Quite a kiss if it knocked him out for a couple of hours, he was still a bit dazed from it. However, Gambit looked at himself as a gentleman; it wasn't proper to speak of such manners about a female, especially if she was passed out a couple of feet away from him. They didn't have to know how it happened, just that it did.

He knew more than he was letting on, Wolverine was sure of it. But, the young man was quite hesitant to talk about anything at this point. And although Charles had left the Institution for the day, the Professor left explicit instructions that no harm come to their new "guest." "I'll know what happened out there," he said succinctly as he stood up and made his way towards the exit. "And I'll find out why you came here. I guarantee you of that. If I find out you just lied to me about her though, and you did do something, you're going to pay." With that, the mutant known as Wolverine left the med-bay.

"Homme always so hospitable?" Gambit asked the blue-furred doctor who was attending the patient to the right of him.

"Logan is very…" Doctor McCoy struggled to find the exact words to describe his hot-tempered comrade as he monitored Rogue's pulse. "Passionate about protecting his students. It is, after all, a dangerous world that we live in, and are students are quite young and unprepared for the magnitude of troubles that await them outside these halls. We fear we may have to withdrawal all the students from any public school soon and start teaching them here for their own protection. The world has never been the same since we were all revealed to the public. Logan, like the rest of us, is merely concerned about our students' safety."

"Sort of like a family, non?" the red-eyed mutant mused sadly as he picked up another glove.

Hank looked up at the change of the young man's tone. "Yes, I guess you can say that."

Gambit merely smiled at the comment as he tied several gloves together by their pinkies and thumbs. For a brief moment he began to think about his own family down in New Orleans. Sure, he and his father had their differences and feuds, however, they were still family. He could still remember the last time they had talked, before he walked out on him, the family, and the Guild. Harsh words soon became hard punches and soon escalated into Gambit being disowned. Didn't he deserve it though? He had shamed the Guild by refusing to go through with the engagement. No. That engagement was the last straw, he could allow Jean Luc to use him like he had done so many times in the past. The bastard had dragged him through hell and back, using the boy for his special gifts and charm.

By this time Rogue's fever had gone down considerable, and she had stopped trembling awhile now. She seemed to have been stabilizing to a certain degree. There was still the matter of her finding the strength to wake up, but she showed no physical signs that she was in any sort of danger. Opening up the curtain separating the two mutants, he took up the chair that Logan had once sat in. Gambit looked up at the doctor whom had taken the seat besides him. "What can Remy do for you?"

"I just have one question, Gambit…" Hank began as he removed his classes and stuffed it into the pocket of his white lab coat.

"Call me Remy, doc," the young man smirked as he tossed the last of the gloves and the empty box to the end of the bed.

"Well, Remy," Hank said with a quick smile. "I just wanted to know, why you haven't made any attempts to escape yet? Honestly, I've seen what you could do. I know you're capable of escaping. Although you still complain about you back and neck, I see nothing physically wrong with you. So why are you still here?"

Remy scoffed as he looked absentmindedly at the ceiling. "Like you said, dere's a lot of crazy stuff going on outside, Remy feels safer here den returning to Magneto. Plus, dis bed is much softer than mine."

"Whatever you say, Remy," Hank chuckled as he stood up from the uncomfortable chair. "If you need anything, there's a button at your bedside. Whenever your ready to talk to us. We'll be here." Remy only smiled as he laid back into his pillow and closed his eyes. Yes, this was actually the safest place for him to be at the moment, even though three out of five of the occupants wanted his head.

Author Note Part Deux: Well, there you go. The long awaited Chapter 9. But hey, it was 6 pages on word Once again, I apologize to all the fans of the fic for teasing you all with the lack of updates. But I'll do my best to make up for that now. Although I'm not going to do the individual reviews to all the posts, I must tell you all that I read every single one and I greatly appreciate all the love that this fanfic has been receiving. It's very inspirational. I had no idea that this fic would be so well received and wanted to thank those who took the time to review. So yes.

On other news!squeals of happiness! Kelsey Grammar is going to play Beast in X-Men 3… Wheee! Although I am slightly worried about how the Phoenix Saga is going to be interpreted this time around. Gah… So worried. O.O