"They didn't tell you what happened, did they?"

Raven started- she had thought she was alone as she'd wandered through the school gardens, musing on what lay ahead for her, and feeling thankful that at least she and John would be together for the foreseeable future.

John had more or less recovered from the injury he'd taken on Alcatraz and would be able to leave the school with her soon. Raven turned from the view of the property's small lake and felt a small measure of surprise to find Rogue facing her, with her hands on her hips.

Raven's face remained blank- she had been staying at the mansion for three days already, no doubt Rogue had been informed of what had happened to her by now. "What do you mean?" Raven's voice was steady, yet she pressed to read Rogue's body language and didn't like what she found- the girl wasn't afraid of her as she had once been, rather she looked almost mocking, superior…

"To Magneto, I mean. Storm and Logan didn't tell you what really happened to him, did they?"

Raven tensed at the mention of Eric- he was dead, and most of her efforts had been focused on keeping him from her thoughts. She didn't need reminders from the girl. Still, what was she on about?

"They told me he was defeated, I think that's enough." Raven said evenly.

Rogue shook her head. "No- Logan told me what really happened. They tricked him, stuck him with four cure darts,"

Raven tensed, her stomach lurched and her heart thundered…red, all around her, red…

Rogue cocked her head. "I guess he finally got what he deserved, you both did…"

Raven focused on Rogue through a red haze. The girl, the one Eric had centered his plan around, the child, she was mocking them! This girl, Mystique had been stabbed in her fight to protect her, she had been a crucial part of the plan…the little brat dared to…

Rogue never saw the attack coming- Raven landed a strike that Logan would have envied, she felt the girl's cheekbone shatter under her knuckles! Raven pounced like a great jungle cat, and for a split second Rogue could have sworn that the golden, predatory eyes that had haunted her dreams had returned- glaring at her from a beautiful, snarling face!

The pain was blinding, Rogue passed out a moment after she felt the back of her head hit the ground. Raven stood over the fallen brat with the big mouth. "Look at you! You never deserved your gift, you really are the pathetic little skunk John said you were," Raven hissed to her slumped victim. She recalled the countless times before when, as her beautiful mutant self, Mystique would corner her victims, pounce and strike.

There was once a time that she had tried to deny her mutant nature- the cold, vicious predator attributes that had emerged in her mind at the same time as her reptilian features. That time was long past, and Raven seemed to pick up right where Mystique had left off.

To think, Eric had been cured! Raven blinked back tears of fury and the unfairness of it all. Eric, her leader and protector, cured and worthless just as she herself had become…no! Not helpless, not worthless…had he escaped the chaos of Alcatraz? Was he out there, somewhere, alive even now?

My end is near…don't try to find me…

The thoughts flew from Raven's mind as her former vindictive instincts took hold, making her sharp, alert and infinitely more dangerous. She stared at Rogue's swollen face, the bruise already spreading, for several minutes. You, the thing Eric had me risk my life for…even if I could, I would never morph you…little traitor, you make my skin crawl!

Raven lifted her gaze from Rogue's battered face and slid to the stark white band of hair- Eric's lasting impression. Her eyes narrowed. Her lips curled into a smile.

John had been resting in his old room for a while. His concussion had been subdued to mere bruising and, as ugly as it was, he felt much better after being let loose from the medical area beneath the surface of the mansion.

His room had been vacant for months- it wasn't his old sheets or blanket on the bed- but the little familiarities were a small comfort to him. He remembered the scent of the room, the crack on the ceiling he'd accidentally made by tossing a baseball, the sound of the mattress creaking…he thought of his first girlfriend, whom he'd met there in the school. It felt like ages ago. She had been a pretty girl with a cool power; they had had a lot of fun together.

She had been outspoken and competitive with him, John loved that. They had called her Dazzler, he'd always just called her Alison. John frowned. She had gone back home. He didn't even have a picture of her.

This isn't home anymore, he thought as he lazily glanced over to his window. The view was more or less familiar to him. It overlooked a stretch of the lawn and a part of the main garden, but he still had the strange paranoia of being a stranger among former friends.

Bobby had dropped the smug smirks, predictably falling to a strong sense of guilt when he saw that John was in true pain from their fight. Bobby had given up trying to convince John to come back to the school; he was resolute that he was finished with Xavier's.

Besides, he reminded himself, he and Raven were going to start over together in some place the feds granted her- a nice apartment in the artistic district of the city. He'd been surprised at the choice of place, but Raven had assured him that she'd swept it for bugs and found the place clean. It wasn't far from a nice park, there were plenty of restaurants and movie theaters to entertain him- anything else was just a subway ride away. Sounded too good to be true.

He'd been lying on the bed, resting and trying for a nap despite that he was rarely ever able to sleep during the day. Just as he'd felt his mind begin to drift into sleep, Raven slid into his room. He glanced up. She looked nice, though her eyes seemed a little bright. "John, get your shit, we've got to get going," she gestured urgently.

He sat up. "What? I thought we wouldn't leave for another day or two-"

"Change of plans, kid, now get what you need, we've got to go!" she said hurriedly.

John shrugged and grabbed a backpack, began to stuff his borrowed clothes inside. Raven rushed from the door, jumped over his bed and bounded over to the window. "What's with you?" he asked.

"Nothing. Are you ready?"

"Ah, yeah, I guess,"

"Good. Meet me in the driveway in five minutes. That should give us enough time," she called over her shoulder as she bolted out the door.

John frowned. He didn't know what was up with her, but even before all this had happened, he'd never known what to expect with her.

Bobby poked his head in. "Hey, Myst- ah, Raven said you were leaving?"

John shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so. I don't get why she'd rushing, but whatever."

"And you're going with her?"

John nodded, "I'm going. You're not gonna start crying on me now, are you?" he teased.

Bobby smiled. "I would freeze my tears so you'd never know," he drawled. "Anyway…um, it's weird, but, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Well. I know we were fighting, but I wasn't really trying to give you brain damage or anything," Bobby said.

John frowned. "Why not? A fight's a fight, Bobby. I mean, hell, I'm sure Magneto didn't actually want to cripple Xavier, but it happened anyway. Shit happens in fights, what can I say? Next time, don't think for a second that I'll go easy on you. And for the record, I would've easily beaten you, and next time, I will! I never make the same mistake twice." John said curtly.

Bobby shook his head and sighed with a strange smile. "Ok, deal. I'll see you at the rematch. Take care of yourself, John." Bobby said, extending his hand.

Despite himself, John reached out and shook it. "Always have, always will. See you around Bobby."

John shouldered the backpack and strode down the stairs and out into the early afternoon sun. Raven was already waiting for him in front of the school- the feds truly had provided her with everything, including the black Pathfinder that rested with its engine running. John slid into the passenger seat- it was too early to test his luck behind the wheel. For safety's sake, he decided to wait until his bruises had faded a little more before he drove again.

Once they were on the highway, John broke the silence and turned to her. "So are you going to tell me what this is about or not?"

Raven's eyes didn't leave the road. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, for- give me a little credit, ok? Why'd you fly from Xavier's like a bat out of hell? What's with this mad rush?"

Raven took an exit and headed in towards the city. "You never told anyone where we were staying, did you?" She asked.

"How could I? You haven't even told me much of anything about the place yet." He said. "And don't try to avoid my question, ok? I wasn't born yesterday."

Raven shot him a glare out of the corner of her eye. "All right…we had to get out of there because of something Rogue told me."

"Rogue? What's that little swamp rat got to do with anything?"

"Nothing really, but she told me that Eric didn't die…or maybe he didn't. She never said for sure before…"

John tensed. "Before what, Raven?"

"She said that Eric got what he deserved…that little bitch was mocking us, she dared to-"

"Save me the melodrama, what the hell did you do? Oh God, please tell me you didn't kill her- Jesus, Logan will gut the both of us-"

"Shut it, I didn't kill her…I hit her…among other things…"

"What other things?"

Raven sighed and parked the Pathfinder against the curb of a decent looking building in a decent looking neighborhood. A little preppy for John's taste, but it was a lot better than the other places he'd lived when he was a kid. "I stole something," Raven said.

"Oh, big deal! What could you have possibly- that's not what I think it is, is it?" John asked, his eyes drawn to what she held. "Eric's helmet. Where did you get this?"

"Storm's office. She won't see that its missing until her class ends," Raven checked her watch. "And that's not for another half hour."

John handled the helmet with the utmost delicacy and reverence. "I think Storm will understand. By the time she knows we've left, it won't be any mystery to her who took it from her office."

John held on to the helmet and looked up and down the street. Raven looked down. "Hey, Raven, it's ok. I mean, it's not like they'll come after us just for this."

"There's more,"

"Oh yeah, what else did you take?"

Raven reached into the deep pocket of her jacket, and John recoiled in horror at what she pulled out to show him. A few strands of deep chocolate brown had slipped into the snowy mass- it was Rouge's white hair, stained dark crimson at the ends where it had been torn from her scalp.