The Birth of Rage and Wrath Chapter 2, a x-men: the movie fanfic

Author's Note: In answer to Michael's Male Pregnancy Challenge on WRFA, in which Logan had to become a pregnant male. Underlined signifies telepathic conversation. Italics is emphasis.

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It didn't take much for Samuels and Jackson to agree to at least try Tissue's idea first. Something about Sandy not really being an ideal candidate for surrogacy because of a lack of similar genetic markers to either of the biological parents. So it was decided that Logan would become the first pregnant male, an idea that grew even more appealing to the two scientists when they realized it could potentially double productivity in future pairings if it worked.

Tissue ran a test first with Logan's healing factor, giving the Wolverine an extra finger before the mutation suppression device was removed from Logan's neck. The digit died, shriveled and fell off in a matter of minutes. They would not be able to remove the control collar from Logan's neck for any reason for the duration of the pregnancy.

It was an odd but painless sensation when Tissue created a uterine cavity within Logan's abdomen. The delivery, of course, would have to be Caesarean, and it was decided to be scheduled for a week past the eight-month mark to lower the risk of complications as the pregnancy approached the due date. Eggs were harvested from Rogue's ovaries and fertilized with Logan's sperm in a Petri dish. The three resulting fertilized ovum were injected into the created womb, and two weeks later it was confirmed that one of them had attached itself successfully to the uterus wall.

A small paper cup of vitamins and hormone supplements came with every one of Logan's meal trays from that point on. He went through a period of morning sickness that Rogue knew he was ashamed for her to see, but she couldn't let his sacrifice for her go ignored, and she cleaned his face after each bout, rubbing his scalp with strong strokes to help him relax. She did everything she could to make sure he was always comfortable.

Rogue was now the one left in their cell to wait. It hurt her to know that she was missing the evidence of their child's growth that was inevitably presented during Samuels and Jackson's examinations and tests. She almost kissed Tissue when he smuggled a stethoscope into the yard one day so she could hear the baby's heartbeat, but she refrained when Logan narrowed his eyes at the other man. As much as Logan was grateful to Tissue for his part in their child still being theirs, Logan was also a lot more territorial now. Rogue would have teased him about hormones, but she didn't think he'd appreciate it.

It was obvious to Rogue in the beginning that Logan had done this for her, to make sure that she knew if she couldn't carry his child, no other woman would either. But it slowly became less about the "have to" and more about his wanting their child to be theirs and only theirs. More and more signs of the life growing inside him became obvious, and Logan became almost as protective of their unborn child as he was of her. They spent a lot of the quiet time in their cell talking about the future, as if they were in their own small home instead of being held by breeders.

The day eventually came when the scientists discovered the sex of the baby. The Wolverine and the Rogue had produced a son.

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Logan lazily opened one eye to watch Rogue as she pulled back the blanket that had been covering both of them. When she noticed his attention on her, she smiled softly and slid down on the bed a bit. Logan was more than used to the morning ritual Rogue had begun nearly a full five months ago, and he shifted slightly so the fingers of one hand tangled gently in her hair.

"Hey, little man," she cooed to his belly, laying beside him with one small hand pressed to the bulge. Before they had known the sex of their child it had been 'baby' in place of 'man.' In the last few weeks the baby had begun reacting to her voice, stilling when she spoke and kicking excitedly against the press of her hand when she stopped. "Your daddy and I can't wait to meet you, little man."

There was a flutter of movement under the gentle press of her fingers, and Rogue tilted her head back to smile up at Logan, sharing the wonder of the moment with him.

"We both love you," he said.

He wasn't sure if he spoke of he and the child to Rogue, or he and Rogue to the child. Both were true, no matter that the baby was still three months and a couple of weeks from being born. How could anyone not love her?

Rogue's smile widened, and she moved back up the bed to touch her mouth to his in a deep kiss. Logan sighed contently and shifted slightly, trying to make himself more comfortable. Rogue felt his movement.

"Need me to rub the small of your back?" she asked.

Having to sleep flat on his back all the time affected Logan, and Rogue did what she could to help him feel less uncomfortable. His adamantium skeleton was in too much risk of crushing something vital if he slept in any other position. Logan grunted an affirmation and rolled to his side. A moment later, Rogue had lifted his shirt a few inches above his waist and was deeply kneading the muscles in the small of his back with her talented fingers.

Logan's appreciative groan almost masked a rumbling sound Rogue didn't recognize, but she stilled and concentrated on listening.

"Did you hear something?" she asked Logan.

He didn't get a chance to answer her before Samuels and four of the guards burst into the room, one of the guards hurrying toward them with two syringes. Two more guards entered the room seconds later, a reinforced gurney between them.

"Get the Wolverine onto the gurney before you sedate him, we'll only sedate the girl if she doesn't cooperate," Samuels instructed.

It was automatic to assume they were being moved, though Rogue didn't understand why Samuels was in such a hurry, or why Jackson wasn't with him. Logan obediently moved to the gurney, Rogue helping him. He was sedated quickly a few seconds before chaos erupted.

The rumble Rogue had heard before sounded again, but much closer this time, and she finally recognized it as part of the building being destroyed.

Rogue, Logan, if either of you can hear me, get down.

Her eyes widening at hearing Jean's telepathic voice for the first time in so long, Rogue frantically looked over the gurney, which the guards were securely strapping the unconscious Logan onto. Seeing a handle she was fairly certain would lower the gurney, she pulled it. The guards started shouting at her, but Rogue ignored them and carefully covered Logan's upper body with her own.

Rogue had acted just in time as a moment later a wide red beam crashed through the wall just a few inches shy of the ceiling. The walls collapsed, knocking down all but one of the guards. Some of the cement and mortar struck her back, but Rogue didn't think she was seriously injured. She turned her head to see Scott come through the hazy, cement-dust filled air. Jean was a few feet behind him, lifting the remaining guard with her telekinesis and flinging him out of the way, his gun going in the opposite direction.

"Rogue, what are you doing, you could have been killed," Scott berated when he saw her. "Logan can heal if…"

She moved then, exposing Logan and his current state.

Scott stopped speaking and stared, his jaw hanging open.

Jean was the one who broke him out of his shocked stupor, informing him, "Scott, Storm has told me that she is providing cover, but there are signs of reinforcements coming. We need to get out of here."

Back in leader mode, Scott nodded, "Rogue, can you walk?"

"Logan was just sedated, he won't be waking up for awhile if it's the one they usually use on him and the collars suppress our powers," she responded quickly. "But yes, I can walk."

"Great," he said. "Jean, if you could control the gurney with your telekinesis while I cover our escape; let's get out of here."

"Wait!" Rogue suddenly cried. She hadn't seen Sandy since Logan's implantation, and Tissue had been kept from them for at least a week. But she held onto the hope that they were still alive; after all, they were very useful mutants to the breeders. "There are two other mutants being held…"

"They were moved already, we have no way of tracking where they were taken," Jean interrupted.

Rogue hung her head, but hope remained alive since Jean had said 'moved' and not 'killed.' She stayed close to the levitating gurney all the way to the Blackbird. Jean gave her a dirty look when she refused to take a seat in the front part of the jet, but Rogue was not about to let Logan wake up without her there and get stressed out unnecessarily. She stayed by Logan's head while Jean performed an examination, staying out of the older woman's way as much as possible.

Jean turned to her when she was done, a frown on her face, "There's something I don't understand. The fetus is barely five months along and you've been missing for nearly eight months. If this was what your captors intended, why is he only this far along, and why aren't you pregnant as well?"

Rogue flinched, a tear coming to her eye as she admitted softly, "It was Logan's choice when I couldn't carry a child to term. I miscarried twice before Samuels and Jackson discovered that I couldn't."

"Well, at least they weren't able to force you to give them what they wanted," Jean replied.

Rogue frowned, feeling like Jean didn't understand the situation at all if that was how she responded. But what did she care? She and Logan and their unborn son were safe now. They were going home.

When Logan showed no signs of waking on the flight back to Westchester (Scott informed Rogue that the lab had been well hidden in a remote part of Montana), Jean shifted her attention to getting the control collar off of Rogue. The pass-code to unlock the device was actually a specific frequency of sound waves. After many attempts, Jean finally found the right frequency just as they landed.

Feeling odd for only a moment after the rush of the return of her powers, Rogue told Jean, "You don't need to use telekinesis to get the gurney to medical. I'll push him."

Jean shrugged, "Alright."

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"You can't turn his off," Rogue said firmly. "His healing factor will destroy the uterine cavity and kill our baby."

After shifting Logan from the gurney to one of the beds in the medical room, Rogue had again refused to leave Logan's side. Jean had been angrier this time, ignoring Rogue completely until she had forced herself between Jean's fiddling fingers and the control collar on Logan's neck.

"I know," Jean answered. At Rogue's startled look, she added, "We have no way of knowing what kind of steps the geneticists were going to take to ensure this pregnancy continued, or even if they were. It will be better for Logan if we take care of the situation now, when there isn't as much for his healing factor to fix."

"You can't kill our baby." Rogue's voiced was soft, a desperate plea.

"It's not natural, Rogue," Jean said firmly, a look on her face Rogue had only seen a few times before.

Rogue stared at Jean in shock. The woman in front of her had just reduced the miracle of life to an 'it.' Samuels and Jackson might have kidnapped and imprisoned her, impregnated her and conducted numerous medical tests on her, and done the same things to Logan (on top of a bit of torture), but not once had they tried to end a life. And now Dr. Jean Grey-Summers, a mutant who was supposed to be caring and compassionate and Rogue's friend, was more than just willing to do so. She was dead set on it.

Rogue thought about running to the Professor, but she knew she couldn't leave Jean alone with Logan. With her out of the way, the older woman would definitely try to remove the collar before Logan had woken up. Concentrating hard internally but keeping her eyes on the redhead, Rogue mentally called for the mentor to so many.

Jean has informed me of the situation, Rogue, and I agree with her analysis. We have no way of knowing how much damage this unusual situation is doing to Logan's body. Chances are great neither he nor the fetus would survive the full gestation period.

That 'fetus' is our baby, our son, Logan's and mine, Rogue mentally argued. You have no right to make this decision for us.

Rogue could feel the Professor sigh in her head.

Rogue, I know you have convinced yourself because of your feelings for Logan that the fetus is biologically both of yours, but I am sure the men who captured you were not conducting their experiments just to help you procreate with the man you have been infatuated with since the first time you met him. We have no way of knowing what they did to the fetus and I'm not willing to risk Logan's health to find out.

She tried once more to argue with him, to explain to Xavier that she and Logan had been in a real relationship even before their capture, that she had been pregnant the natural way when they first been taken, but the Professor had cut her off from his mind. Rogue could only wait and hope Logan woke up before Jean found the right frequency to open the power-suppressing collar.

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Jean wasn't able to unlock the collar before Logan woke. But to Rogue's shock and utter dismay it didn't end up mattering. Logan's eyes opened and flew around the room, settling only briefly on Rogue before resting on Jean. His entire body relaxed, Rogue thought it was from the fact that they were home. It took her a few more minutes to realize she was wrong.

"Jeannie," he breathed.

That should have been her second clue that things weren't the way she had thought. Although Logan still occasionally flirted with the redhead – to keep up the status quo and mess with Scott – he hadn't called her by that pet name in some time. Since long before Rogue had become more to him than his best friend.

"Logan," Rogue called to him softly. When he turned his eyes to her and smiled slightly, Rogue said gently, "Tell Jean not to take the collar off. You know what will happen to our baby if she does."

Logan's head rolled back to Jean again, "You can get it off?"

Jean nodded, "I already removed Rogue's. I just need to find the right frequency, but Rogue won't let me close enough."

Logan turned back to Rogue again, his features grim, commanding, "Let Jeannie do her job, kid."

Rogue just stood there, her mouth hanging open. She was too shocked to resist when Jean firmly guided her out of the room. Storm was in the hall, and once she saw the vacant expression on Rogue's face, she led the younger woman through the lower level of the mansion to the elevator. Assuming Rogue was in shock from finally being rescued or just overly tired from her ordeal with the breeders, Storm escorted her all the way to her room.

"Take a shower, put on some clean clothes, and get some sleep, child," Storm ordered gently. "Things will look brighter tomorrow. You are home now, and safe."

Rogue followed Storm's first two commands. By the end of her shower, she was shaking violently, tears slipping silently down her face. She knew if she looked in the mirror her eyes would be completely bloodshot. She pulled clothes out of her dresser, her movements automatic and stilted since she had left Storm in the hall more than ten minutes before. Rogue sagged against the piece of furniture, a sob stuck in her throat. She was unable to breathe for long moments, and she knew if she didn't do something, her sorrow might put her into a catatonic state. She had nearly been destroyed when she lost her first child, and this was so much worse.

A spark of anger came at the thought that this was being done to her by the people who were supposed to care the most. Rogue latched onto that anger, able to build a mental cage around her despair now that she had something else to focus on. She fed the rage, wondering how Jean and the Professor thought they were in the right, performing what amounted to an abortion this late in a pregnancy. And Logan… how could he so easily allow it, ask for it, after all the two of them had gone through?

Pregnancy had its downsides, and it couldn't have been easy for someone as blatantly male as Logan to go through things that only women had ever experienced before. Especially when he had been backed into a corner that had forced him to accept it. When she had lost the first of the two children she had been unable to carry to term, Logan had been upset at her withdrawal from the world, but he had never said anything about the death of their child hurting him.

There was a good chance that he had never wanted a baby with her at all, that he had accepted it the first time because it had happened and he had promised to always take care of her. After that, it was a matter of getting her to want to survive. Rogue's anger intensified. He had done only what was necessary to keep his word… he had never loved her at all.

She had fooled herself into believing his words over the time they had been together because she wouldn't have accepted any less from him. But she could see now that she had been a convenience, a warm body that wasn't committed to someone else. After all, he had never made a move in her direction until Jean and Scott had been married for more than a year and she herself had become touchable. And whenever he did, it wasn't where any of the other X-Men would find out about it.

Rogue was furious that the others weren't at least willing to listen to her side of the situation, but he had made it pointless anyway by asking Jean to take off the collar. Logan didn't have the X-Men's excuse of not knowing the whole story and not being comfortable with the sudden odd occurrence. He knew that this was their child. And he was still going along with their son's murder, even requesting it.

The only thing that was truly hers, the only thing that had ever been that precious to her besides Logan's apparently false love for her, was being taken away, with absolutely no way of ever getting it back. Rogue wanted to lash out, to take from each of them what was most precious. And as member's of Xavier's coddled X-Men, their abilities were what they would miss the most. Their recent actions proved that they didn't care about people, only power. After all, what use was Logan to them powerless and pregnant, not to mention unable to unleash his claws.

Rogue was seething, and something inside her snapped. She had never wanted to use her skin before, never wanted to take what others weren't willingly sharing, but that had changed. And with that change, the walls she had unknowingly built around the strength of her own ability crumbled. The core of who she was, the essence of her being, was a magnet for power, a sponge. No longer held back by her desire to control it so it wouldn't hurt anyone, her ability went seeking outside of her, pulling to it what it found outside of the walls of her room, outside of the mansion to the grounds. Curiously, because she was no longer afraid of hurting anyone, the mutants affected hardly felt a thing, aside from few who felt but dismissed a momentary dizziness. When Rogue's ability had reached as far as it could, gathering to it everything in its path, it slammed back into her, knocking her to her knees and nearly overloading her with new abilities and the knowledge to use them.

How strong she had been before was nothing compared to the powers and abilities she now had coursing inside her. And because her power had touched his, Rouge had no problem hiding the change in her status from Xavier. Rising with an ease that belied how hard she'd struck the floor, Rogue made her way to the mirror in her room. She had not wanted any of the less human-looking students' physical mutations, and apparently her power had compensated by only changing one thing about her outward appearance.

She stared at herself for a few minutes before a light near her chest winked at her. A reflection of light had caught Logan's dog tag. For whatever reason, Samuels and Jackson had never made her take it off. Perhaps it had gotten stuck inside the control collar when they had first put it on her; she didn't really care now. She lifted her hand and yanked the offending thing off, the metal floating easily to her hand. She had suppressed Magneto's power long ago so she wouldn't be reminded of what he had done to her, how much hate and impotent fury he made her feel. But fury was now her friend and she brought up her memories of that night, playing them over and over again in her head, never getting as far as when she had known the X-Men and Logan were there to help her. After all, it hadn't been her they cared about; it had been humanity.

With a small snarl, she tossed the metal piece onto her bed. Someone would find it and give it back to the person it belonged to. She couldn't stay. With the way she felt, it would be dangerous to risk coming face to face with certain residents of the mansion. Dangerous, potentially lethally, for them. Besides, she had things to do.

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Scott was on his way to the med lab after completing the Blackbird's post-flight checklist to check on Jean's progress with Logan when he noticed Rogue walking in the general direction of the front door. She was wearing a jacket and boots, both unnecessary inside the heated mansion. There was also a small duffel bag slung over one shoulder. One thing, however, was blaringly obvious in its absence. The dog tag that had hung from her neck for nearly the entire three years she had been living with them was no longer on its chain. The chain was missing too, her neck bare of adornment.

"Rogue," he called softly to her.

She gave no indication of hearing or seeing him. Scott moved to stand in her path, and when she moved to brush past him, he caught hold of her arms.

"You should be in bed resting after everything you went through, not wandering the halls. Come on, Rogue."

The young woman known to Scott only as Rogue looked up and met his gaze straight on. Scott gasped in shock. One of her eyes, the right one, was still it's normal dark brown, but the other one was a swirl of colors: green, blue, grey, brown, black... even red and yellow. But neither one had the spark of life Scott had come to associate with her. Anger, so deep he cowered just to see it, was the only emotion he could distinguish in her eyes.

"Rogue is no longer," a cold voice, much older than he remembered hers being, informed him. "I am Rage."

She moved to brush past him more firmly this time, but she tilted her head and seemed to consider something. She glanced into his eyes again.

"Tell your wife if I ever see her again, I will take retribution for the death of my son. And Xavier better take that into consideration if he ever decides to try to find me."

Scott swallowed hard. Jean had informed him telepathically of the situation and Rogue's mistaken belief that the child was hers. But he had no doubt that Rogue... no, she truly was a different person now... Rage was telling the truth. She would retaliate and feel completely justified in doing so. He didn't blame her. He had no idea what she had been through while being held, but it was understood that something must have happened… the scientists would not have kept her alive that long otherwise. Could she really be at fault for wanting to believe that something of hers had come out of it?

He also felt it was wrong to just destroy an innocent life, no matter how it had started, but he had been outvoted by Jean and Xavier, who felt Logan was too important to the cause to risk him.

Scott nodded mutely when he realized Rage was waiting impatiently for a response. She seemed to be satisfied with it, and Scott watched in silent awe as Rage left the mansion. It took him several minutes to gather his courage to tell anyone else what had happened. By the time any of her friends tried to go after her, Rage was long gone.