Well, I would have updated earlier this evening, but I just got back from the emergency room with my little sister. She decided to slice her hand open on a can of cat food...not too smart that one, eh? Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope ya'll like it. And as always, thanks for the reviews!

Oh, yea, Keisha, you were right. I really didn't like how Storm came out in that last chapter either and the fact that someone else felt the same way confirmed that I needed to do something about it...so I fixed it. Thanks for the feedback. :)

I think y'all know this by now, but I don't own the X-Men

Somebody Else's Song - Chapter 8

"We're here, darlin'" Wolverine whispered as he and his teammates exited the Blackbird.

Rogue, the Professor contacted her telepathically.

Professor! Ya'll gotta help me! Oh god! Please hurry!

Calm down, child. We are here.

"Elizabeth, help me to calm her."

"What the hell's goin' on, Chuck?" Wolverine growled.

"She's upset," The Professor left it at that, and returned to trying to calm the young woman.

Psychically, Psylocke began speaking to Rogue also.

It's okay, love. We're here.

N-no Betts. Ya don't understand. Oh god, NO!

xxxx

Six personas invaded the young mind of the injured X-Man.

She screamed.

xxxx

"Ahh!" Betsy's grabbed her head between her hands and fell to ground. Simultaneously, Charles clutched his own head and doubled over in his hover-chair.

"Betsy!" Warren rushed to her, "What's wrong?"

"It's Rogue!" she screamed.

That was the final straw for Logan. With an unnatural growl Wolverine raced toward the building, Cyclops and Nightcrawler right behind him.

"Charles? Betsy?"

"Go, Warren!" Psylocke yelled at him, "Help them!"

We will be fine, Warren.

Charles voice was in his head. It was so weak...and strained...

You must get Rogue away from Carly...

Gently, Warren placed his lover on the ground and flew off behind the others.

xxxx

Rogue couldn't think, couldn't breath. She could only act. Act to survive.

Her powers were no longer negated, and though mentally she was ripped apart, her super-strength was not affected in the least.

With an fierce growl, Rogue ripped herself free from her bonds, throwing the now unconscious soldiers in all directions.

She felt her grip on sanity slipping.

"Noooo!" She began ripping the room apart, bringing it down on Carly, the soldiers and herself.

"Stop her, Simon!" Carly shouted to the Colonel, "She'll kill us all!"

Colonel Greene took her by the shoulders, "No! We leave now. I don't expect to die today."

"But---"

"You've had your revenge, Carly! The mutant's gone insane! She's trying to kill herself and us too if we stay here. Now, let's go!"

With one final look back, Carly allowed herself to be led out the back of the building and to a small aircraft.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I want to watch her suffer. I need to see her die...

Rogue fell from the air and collapsed on the floor. The thoughts, feelings, fears, memories of the soldiers now combined with her own.

I don't like this I didn't sign on to gun down some girl in the middle of the woods She's gettin' what she deserves Disgusting muties How much am I gettin' paid fer this?

"Ahhhh!" she threw her face into the floor in an effort to claim back her mind. Then, suddenly, her horror was amplified as mutant powers of past absorptions others began to surface. People who she thought were gone long ago once again claimed her body for their own.

From her eyes came Cyclops uncontrollable optic blasts, Wolverine's claws burst from her knuckles dripping with her blood. Her skin turned to armor, then to blue fur. Storm's powers surfaced next as lighting began ricocheting off the walls all around her. Magneto's powers showed themselves as they began ripping the building apart at the seams, determined to bring it down on top of the young woman.

Crying out again, Rogue threw her hands to the floor. Before it could register what was happening, she kinetically charged the floorboards and blew them out from under her. The blast threw her strait through a nearby wall. Before she could pick herself up, she began teleporting all around the building uncontrollably.

Then came the memories.

Every fear, every joy, every shame, every tragedy ever experienced by anyone she had absorbed all bombarded her at once. She saw her family being ripped away from her to be murdered in a Nazi concentration camp. She kissed her parents goodbye as she and her brother jumped out of the spiraling, crashing plane. She watched her little sister die from an incurable, deadly disease and felt the guilt of not doing enough to save her. She cried as she was buried alive next to her dead mother. She felt her body being cut open piece by agonizing piece as her skeleton was reconstructed with metal. She ran from the Morlock Tunnels carrying the small child in her arms. She screamed through tears how sorry she was.

All this and more she experienced, in the span of a few seconds.

xxxx

Outside, Betsy fought to regain control of her mind.

God, what did they do to her?! I can't get control of my own mind because of the chaos hers is in...

The Professor wasn't fairing much better. He reached out to Rogue and tried desperately to grasp onto her sanity, to help her hold onto it. Then, he felt it slip away.

xxxx

Logan, Scott, Kurt and Warren raced toward the building and watched as it began falling apart

"Shit," Warren spat, "It looks like it's being torn apart from the inside!"

"Alright people, be alert. We get Rogue and we get out!" Cyclops yelled.

His order was in vain. The four X-Men stopped dead in their tracks as they watched the building crumble to the ground.

xxxx

"Rogue!" Wolverine led the way to the huge pile of rubble that the building had become. Dust and insulation clouds were thick in the air, stinging the X-Men's eyes and lungs and impairing Logan's sense of smell.

Have ta find her the ole fashioned way then, he thought wryly.

As soon as he reached the pile, Logan began ripping away wood, bricks, and metal. Nightcrawler and Angel did the same as Cyclops carefully used his optic blasts to disintegrate the larger pieces.

"I found something!" Warren yelled after a few minutes of frantic searching. The others quickly joined him.

"Under here," he indicated what was once a brick wall, "I can't lift it alone."

Through several groans and curses, the four X-Men lifted the large chunk of debris revealing a battered and bloodied body.

xxxx

Psylocke picked herself up and slowly walked over to Charles who was slumped over in his chair, trying to recover.

"Charles, are you alright?"

"I'm...fine, child. Just collecting my thoughts. And you?"

"Well enough," she looked over to where the building now lay in ruins, "Can you sense her Charles?" she asked quietly.

"No. And the agony she was in, the shock to her mind...and then the building collapsed..."

"I pray that I am wrong, Professor, but...That was Rogue's mind, wasn't it? I can't be completely certain because is was so scrambled and unrecognizable there at the end, but..." she trailed off.

"Yes, Elizabeth. Whatever is left of Rogue's body is of no consequence. Rogue's mind has been destroyed."

xxxx

Wolverine hauled the bleeding man up by what was left of his uniform.

"Where is she?" he shook the barely conscious solider violently.

"He asked you a question," Scott stepped forward, "Where is Rogue?"

Finally, the man spoke, though it was barely more than a whisper, "The mutie bitch? Dead and buried, which is right where she outta be...Where you all outta be you fuckin'---"

Logan ripped the man apart with one swipe of his claws.

"Logan!" Scott yelled reproachfully.

"Back off, Cyke. We gotta find Rogue now! Whatever they did to her was enough to send Betts and Chuck into some sort of psychic attack! If she's still alive, we gotta find her pronto!" Without another word, the four continued their search.

A few moments later, Xavier and Elizabeth joined them. Though Charles noted the carcass of the dead solider and recognized Wolverine's handiwork, he said nothing. He and Psylocke continued to psychically scan the rubble, even though both new it was useless. And while the others still held out hope for their teammate, the psychics silently prepared themselves for the sad news they would soon have to deliver.

xxxx

Chere...

Remy LeBeau was suddenly aware of everything around him. Including the morphine in his system and the intense pain that he still felt despite the drugs. Someone was crying nearby.

Rogue?

He opened his eyes and immediately closed them.

Damn dat light's bright.

His headache intensified.

Merde. What happened?

Then he remembered.

"Rogue!" he sat strait up.

"Gambit!" Storm rushed to his side, "You must remain calm my friend. You are injured---"

"Stormy, where's Rogue?"

She didn't answer right away.

"Stormy..." he felt light-headed and weak. The darkness was claiming him again.

No!

He fought it. He had to know if Rogue was okay...

"Gambit, please," Beast appeared at Storm's side, "You must remain calm." He placed his large blue hands on Gambit's shoulders, gently forcing him back down on the bed. "You are recovering from surgery and you have a very serious concussion---"

"Beast...where is...Rogue...?" Gambit's eyes slowly closed as Beast injected his arm with some sort of liquid.

"Only a very strong sedative, Ororo," Beast turned to his friend, "To help him relax. He needs to conserve his energy."

Storm nodded and sat back down next to his bed.

Beast walked across the infirmary to Bobby's bed. Iceman had yet to regain consciousness after his surgery.

Smiling weakly to Opal, Hank checked he machines that were hooked up to Bobby. Hank made a few notes on his clip board before speaking.

"He is my best friend." Hank stated quietly, but offered no more. The worried lines that creased his forehead spoke volumes for his love of Bobby. After a few moments, he spoke again.

"My dear, I must confess that I had...reservations about your relationship with Bobby."

Wiping her tears, Opal looked at his questioningly.

"But," he continued, "I am sorry I doubted your feelings for him. I see now how much you truly care for him. "

"I do, Hank...More than I realized I guess." She broke down again.

Hank placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Bobby will be fine. He's strong."

He turned away from her and left the room to go clean the O.R. Moments ago the Professor had contacted him to tell him that they had located Rogue and were preparing to land the Blackbird and infiltrate the enemy's base. He was to be prepared for anything.

xxxx

He barely recognized her. The only thing that assured Kurt Wagner that the broken body before him was, indeed, his sister was the distinct white stripe through her long auburn hair. Though it could hardly be called white at this moment. It was coated with blood and dust and tangled chaotically. He stood, transfixed for a moment staring at the once-white streak. Noticing how still Kurt had become, Warren walked over to his friend.

"Oh my God! Professor! Scott!"

Scott was the closest. After he took a second to fight back his nausea, he knelt down and carefully pulled the rest of Rogue's body from the wreckage.

Her body was completely broken. Bones protruded through her skin in several places at unnatural angles and blood leaked from the huge gaping wounds that covered most of her body. The blood mixed with the dust and thickly coated her once-pink skin. Kurt turned away and vomited violently. Warren placed a hand on his back comfortingly, but never looked away from the shattered body in Scott's arms.

"Come on, Rogue," Scott whispered as he carefully felt for a pulse, "Come on." He brushed aside the thick hair and felt frantically for any sign of life through the bloodied and bruised skin. Betsy came rushing up with Logan right on her heels. They both stopped short when they caught sight of her.

"She needs medical attention, Now!" Scott barked, "I think I feel a pulse, but with the blood loss and damage to her organs---"

"Move it, Angel," Wolverine brushed past him, "The girl needs healin' and I'm the one who's gonna give it to her." Without hesitation, Wolverine placed his palm to her dirty torn cheek. Nothing happened.

"Damnit, Rogue," he muttered, cupping her face with both his hands. Again, nothing.

"I can't feel anything," he said in disbelief, "I can't feel her power pullin' at me at all..."

"We must get her to Beast immediately," Charles interrupted. They hadn't even noticed his arrival. A simple order from their leader was all it took for the X-Men to snap out of the shock, at least long enough to get their wounded home.