Chapter 11

Never Apologize

Rogue's mind went blank the moment and her eyes continued to well up with tears the moment she watched Cyclops skid thirty feet on the ground unconscious. Switching back to Derek, the reddish glow slowly vanishes from Derek's eyes as he turns to face Rogue and took a slow pace towards her. His teeth shone in the darkness and his eyebrows furrowed deep that the white his eyes were no longer visible. At each step that Derek took, Rogue slowly moves back and kicking the ground away. How do you fight a mutant that could absorb every mutant power at once and amplifies it ten times its own strength were the only words that occupied her mind? It was a nightmare to see a man who has opened his heart to her for the first time and now facing this man who might be the one to finish her off.

Two outstretched hands were reaching towards Rogue as she cranes her neck back and gasping as she feels the cold fingers wrapping across her neck. Sitting over Rogue's midsection to prevent her from moving away, Derek begins to tighten his grip even more across Rogue's neck as he slams her head on the ground with brute force. The high-pitched sound of air cutting off from her throat echoed around the clearing as she gasped and twists in pain. By instinct she held her hands over Derek's wrists and fought to pry them off her. Her vision turns blurry as the lack of oxygen in her entire body begins to take effect as her grip slowly begins to grow frailer. Standing in the fine line between life and death, Rogue took another attempt in trying to reach out to Derek when she felt something wet dripping on her jaw. As she looks up, she saw Derek's eyes also welling up with tears. His voice sounded like from someone being possessed and cracked yet the intensity was still there.

"I… hate… you…"

It was a kind of flash that shot across her mind when she begins to realize about one important detail about Derek's powers. But for every second the lack of oxygen rapidly consumes on what was left of all her strength, Rogue pulls the gloves off her hands. Her eyes started to dilate but she held on, reaching her hands towards Derek's head. As the palms of her hands touches Derek's face, a powerful surge of emotions begins to rush all over Rogue's body that felt cold inside, but the warmth of Derek's face that spreads in her palms gave her enough strength to speak.

"Please…" Rogue choked. "Let… go… of your… hate…"

Whether or not Derek heard her words, he tightens his grip even more that Rogue almost lost her control over her arms. Closing her eyes, Rogue summons all her strength and will power and made another attempt.

"It's… not your… fault… Please… let me…" Rogue started to gag on her own words as she choked, "help… you… take away… your… pain…"

Rogue's strength has finally left her as her arms plopped to the ground. The cold chill that slowly envelops around her body was beginning to intensify and she could almost hear her heartbeat slowing down. As Rogue prepares herself for what seemed to be the deep void, a bright light pierces through the blackness in her eyes. Within seconds she could almost feel her breathing returning to her and warmth was spreading all over her body. She slowly opens her eyes and staring at the moon over the dark sky. Derek was holding his hands near his face and tears kept flowing out from his eyes.

"What have I done?" Derek gasped and his hands shook uncontrollably.

Derek lifts himself up from Rogue and knelt besides her. His hands hovered towards Rogue, coughing and wheezing. Placing her upper body over his lap he gently clutches Rogue's head into his arms.

"I'm so sorry. Forgive me." Derek stuttered as he sobbed.

The pain of strangulation still lingered across Rogue's neck as she tries to speak, but as Derek held her exposed hand, the warmth that was spreading all over her body begins to glow even more.

"Don't… apologize… never apologize." Rogue gasped, returning the same advice that Derek gave to her.

Rogue continues to breathe normally for the next few minutes as her strength returns. Derek helped her up on her feet as they viewed the clearing in the middle of the Black Forest. The partly shrouded figures of the X-Men including Magneto and his men were still unconscious as he looks around.

"I did all this?" Derek asked as he picked up the near-conscious Cyclops and hanged his arms across his shoulders.

"You sure did." Rogue gave a faint smile but Derek still frowned.

"I can't believe that I allowed that psycho to mess with my head, telling me to unleash my hate. Somehow it seems so convincing that I agreed until it took over completely."

Rogue held on Derek's arm as they walked towards their friends.

"No. You acted the way you should have done a long time ago. Having pent-up hatred on yourself is bound to drive you off the edge and I guess it'll lead to hatred with the rest of the world." Rogue's voice changed to a soft tone and continued. "I know I would have ended up like that."

Derek raised his head towards the starry sky and reflected on what Rogue said last. They arrived at where their friends were lying and checking to make sure that all of them are still alive. The huge crater that was the result of the blast point from his first attack stood out from the rest of the clearing. A soft voice broke the still silence as Derek lay Cyclops next to Jean and ran towards the sound. The two watched their path until they saw Magma starting to stir and Derek immediately held Magma up while Rogue tries to nudge her to consciousness. They were both smiling as two more were starting to stir when Derek suddenly shot his chest forward and his face writhed and screamed in pain before falling to the ground on his chest.

"Derek!" Rogue screamed as she saw a slim metallic rod near his lower rib section and blood started to ooze from the wound. Her eyes scan through the darkness when a voice shot out somewhere within the clearing.

"It's not over yet!"

"Bullseye." Rogue whispered to herself as she searched frantically at her surroundings.

"Ah thought ye X-Men were the best among the best as Magneto would seh, paid me two-fifty grand to play kidnapper. Though ah promised that ah wouldn't kill any one of ye. Mebbe if ah would say to Magneto that it's all an accident, after all someone has to die in a war."

Bullseye's voice vanished in the air as Rogue continues to search frantically where he might come from. As the moon finally showed itself from behind the clouds, a lone figure more than two hundred yards away came under the pale light. Rogue squinted as she saw something glimmering somewhere around Bullseye's hand.

"Ah guess since ah've been paid ah might as well get me a souvenir." Bullseye shouted from the far end as laughter broke out in the still night. "There's no way ah could miss even in this darkness."

There was no way she could avoid Bullseye as he raised his hands up in the air and realized that he was about to throw another sharp metal object at them. Rogue pulled Derek over her lap and wrapped her arms and upper body around to shield him from Bullseye. As Bullseye raised his feet for the windup, a red bolt of energy shot through the air as Rogue watch from under her arms. It hit Bullseye square on the chest as he stumbled to the ground and rendered unconscious. The sound of sliding dirt caught Rogue's attention and saw Cyclops crawling on his arms and stopped after a few feet.

"Bull's eye." Cyclops grunted before passing out again.

Author's Notes:

Sorry that it's too short to even make a decent mess of things. Right now I'm in the middle of collecting (or salvaging) what's left of all the Daria series eposides I've recorded ever since it showed here in my country for my next project (yes that also includes Is It Fall Yet? and Is it College Yet?).

Just one more chapter to go!