Part Three
Rogue woke the next morning alone. She buried her head in the pillow, breathed in Magneto's scent and smiled. Stretching, she groaned and pushed the covers away, slowly getting out of bed. She gathered her clothes and put them on, hoping she could get to their room before anyone else saw her.
"Rogue!" Pyro yelled, running down the hallway towards her.
She stopped, turned around and glared at him, daring him to comment on wearing the same clothes as yesterday. "Magneto's gone," he told her.
"What?" she asked, staring blankly at him.
"Apparently he left early this morning," Pyro replied, lowering his voice as the newer recruits began to fill the hallway. He grasped her arm, pulling her towards his room.
"How do you know he left?" she asked, sinking onto his bed, a thousand questions racing in her mind.
"Avalanche was going to get some water after—he saw Magneto leave," Pyro answered, his cheeks reddening.
"Where did he go?" Rogue demanded, jumping to her feet.
"Avalanche?" Pyro asked, running a hand through his hair.
She made a frustrated noise and glared at him. "Magneto!" she yelled, fists clenching at her sides.
"I don't know," Pyro replied, placing his hands on her shoulders to calm her.
She pushed him away, moving towards the door. "Rogue!" Pyro called and she stopped at the doorway.
"I'm fine," she lied and walked out into the hallway, ignoring the mutants in the hallway.
She pushed past them, trying to get out of the crowded hallway. "Rogue!" Paige exclaimed, bursting happily out of her room and running towards her.
"Not now, Paige," she snapped, ignoring the injured look the girl gave her. I'll apologize later.
Rogue breathed a sigh of relief as she entered her and Magneto's bedroom, frowning when she saw the clothes he had been wearing last night lying haphazardly on the floor. He never leaves them there. She picked them up, dumping them into the hamper and walked to the closet, quickly removing her workout clothes. She changed and walked into the bathroom, biting her lip as she saw the mess he had made.
She cleaned it up and pulled her hair into a ponytail, worried about how he must be feeling after Charles' death. Her hands gripped the sink and she took a deep breath, trying to push away her anxiety. Training, she reminded herself. Focus on that.
Rogue hurried down to the gym and tried to pay attention to what Mystique was telling them. Her mind kept drifting back to Magneto, wondering where he was. "Rogue," Mystique demanded and she looked at the older woman.
Mystique nodded towards the corner of the gym. "Continue," Mystique told the others and then walked away.
"Erik knows what he is doing, Rogue," she stated and Rogue bit her lip.
"What is he doing?" she asked, hoping for any information.
"You must focus," Mystique warned and Rogue groaned as she was drop kicked to the floor.
"Focus," Mystique repeated, and walked away.
Rogue pulled herself up and sighed as she walked back to the group, readying herself to attack. There will be plenty of time to worry about him later.
xxx
Rogue groaned as she walked back to the bedroom, wanting to feel the hot water run down her body and soothe her aching muscles. She had tried to concentrate on training and had been marginally successful. Unfortunately, because Mystique knew she wasn't one hundred percent focused, the older mutant had done everything possible to make Rogue pay attention.
Rogue pushed open the door and froze when she heard the sound of water running. She hurried towards the bathroom, hesitating once she reached the handle, not sure Magneto would want to be disturbed. Screw it, she thought, opening the door. He was bracing himself against the wall of the shower, letting the water slide down his back.
He turned towards her, giving her an annoyed look at being disturbed. She glared back, leaning against the wall. She quickly removed her gloves and threw them to the floor, crossing her arms across her chest, silently daring him to make her leave. He raised an eyebrow at the gloves before turning off the water.
She watched him reach for a towel and dry off, her patience dwindling away. "Where did you go?" she asked, startled by how demanding she sounded.
"Drop it," Magneto stated, dropping the towel and stalking out of the bathroom.
Rogue growled in response, following him, her hands clenching in tight fists. "No," she replied, holding her ground when he turned around and faced her, a menacing expression on his face.
"No?" he asked, taking a step towards her.
"No," she repeated, narrowing her eyes in anger. "Stop shutting me out."
His eyes went dark and he took three long steps towards her, his body towering above hers. "Do you truly wish to know where I have been?" he asked, a threatening quality to his voice.
"Yes," she replied, jutting her chin out defiantly.
He grabbed her face with his bare hands. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she felt his shield drop and his memories and powers begin to flow into her. She watched as he arrived at Senator Douglass' house, turning their own guns on the guards as he ascended the stairs towards the Senator's bedroom. Rogue grasped his arms as she saw the Senator's wife beg for her life before Magneto eviscerated the woman with a metal tripod that was in the corner of the room. Her grip tightened as she watched the Senator's granddaughter enter the bedroom, gasping as the girl was thrown violently against the wall and landed in a crumpled heap.
Rogue's eyes closed as she saw the Senator fall to his knees, pitifully begging for his life. Metal strips wrapped around the man's body, tightening painfully, causing him to gasp for air. Pain ripped through her as she relived someone striking Magneto in the side.
Rogue's eyes flew open, releasing her hold on Magneto's arms, her hands moving to his right side. "They hurt you," she said, touching the area. "You need to have someone check this out."
Magneto grasped her hands, his shield once again in place, protecting him from her power. "Your ribs could be broken," Rogue continued, looking up at him. He was watching her. "What?" she asked, uncertainly.
"You do not care about what I did," he stated.
She wrenched her hands free from his grasp and stepped away from him, shaking her head in anger. "You still doubt my allegiance," she said bitterly, moving towards the door.
He grabbed her arm, roughly pulling her back to him. "I doubt your tolerance for my actions, Rogue," he replied and she struggled against his grip.
"You didn't tell me you were leaving," she said, scowling at him when he wouldn't release her.
"I only told Mystique," Magneto said, running fingers through her hair. "She was not supposed to tell you."
"She didn't," Rogue replied, wrenching her arm from his grasp. She glared as she continued, "I see how it is, Magneto. It's okay to fuck me, but letting me know any important mission details isn't relevant."
She started towards the door, gasping as he grabbed her around the waist, crushing her against him. She struggled, trying to force him to loosen his grip. He hauled her towards their bed, threw her down, trapping her body against the mattress with his own. "Is that so?" he hissed into her ear, thin straps of metal attaching to her wrists as he moved off of her.
He waved a hand and she turned over, fuming as she looked at him. "Yes," she said.
He loomed over her, watching her with guarded eyes. She looked away from his intense stare, tears forming in her eyes. "No," she whispered, closing her eyes.
He did not respond and she looked back at him. "I think you don't know what this is either," Rogue stated, her gaze locking with his.
She felt the straps release from her body, her breath catching as he pressed his body against hers. She could feel him hard against her stomach, his hands grasping hers as his lips melded against her own. His kiss was demanding, his tongue seeking hers. She closed her eyes, entwining her fingers with his as he raised her arms above her head.
He broke the kiss, releasing her hands and tugged her shirt off, pulling her up so that she was sitting. His fingers lightly traced her face, slowly moving down her neck and drawing intricate lines on her collarbones. Her eyes flew open as she felt his shield drop briefly. So beautiful. She watched him carefully, unsure what he was doing. He removed her bra, his power once again flowing into her. Mine.
"What are you doing?" she asked as he pushed her down, pulling her pants and panties off.
"I would think that was obvious, my dear," he replied as his tongue flicked one nipple.
She glared at that, groaning as he traveled down her body, kissing and touching her skin. She spread her legs as his fingers brushed over them, her back arching as he traced her lower lips before plunging two fingers inside of her. His thumb rubbed harshly against her clit. Never enough. She blinked as the feel of the metal in the room became more prominent in her mind.
"Erik," she began, moaning as his tongue replaced his fingers. She grasped the cover beneath her, head thrashing as he flicked her clit with his thumb.
My soldier. He moved back up her body, removing her hands from the bed, interlocking their fingers as he pulled her arms above her head again. "Erik," Rogue repeated, silenced as his mouth pressed against hers.
He entered her, thrusting fast and hard as he ended the kiss. He looked at her, his gaze never wavering as they found their rhythm, his hands forcibly pressing hers into the bed. Mine. "Always," she whispered, arching into him as she came.
His thrusts became harder and more erratic until he clenched his eyes shut, groaning as he came inside her. My love.
He fell against her, bracing himself on his hands before pulling out of her. He rolled away, pulling her body close to his, and wrapping one arm around her. "My love," he repeated and she smiled against his chest.
"Forever," she replied, closing her eyes and letting herself drift to sleep.
xxx
Rogue awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door. She groggily lifted her head up and smiled lazily at Magneto. He ran his fingers through her hair before nudging her off of him. "Get dressed," he told her as he walked to the closet and retrieved a pair of pants.
She watched him slip them on as she pulled the covers over her body, snuggling down into the mattress. He raised an eyebrow at her before waving his hand. The door opened revealing Mystique.
"It's on the news," the blue mutant informed him before walking away.
"Dressed," Magneto ordered as the door closed, grabbing a sweater from the closet.
Rogue pushed the covers off and quickly gathered her workout clothes, tugging them all back on, and then followed him out of the room. She tried to smooth down her hair, wishing she had grabbed one of the elastic bands from the bedside table.
The television room was crowded; every mutant at the facility seemed to be crammed into the small room. A path parted for Magneto as they entered and she stayed close to him, wary of how little space there was between her and the others. She pulled her arms to her, silently berating herself for leaving her gloves on the bathroom floor.
"Senator Douglass' body was found inside his Maine home early this morning," the reporter stated as images of police, FBI, and medical personnel were shown traversing the grounds outside the Senator's home. "The Senator along with his wife, three-year-old granddaughter, and seven Secret Servicemen were found murdered when the police responded to a frantic call by the Senator's maid."
"Footage from the surveillance camera's show that the mutant terrorist known as Magneto was responsible for their deaths," the reporter continued, a photograph of Magneto displayed on the screen.
Rogue intertwined her fingers with his as the others began to murmur to one another. "Silence," Magneto demanded, his attention never wavering from the screen.
Images of a demonstration in New York City were shown and Rogue's grip on his hand tightened. Anti-mutant protestors were walking the streets, holding signs depicting various ways to kill mutants. "These mutants have no respect for human life," one man said, shaking his head in disgust as he looked into the camera.
"It's us or them," his companion said before thrusting a sign that had the words 'The only good mutant is a dead mutant'.
The video footage changed to a riot outside one of the mutant detainment camps. The military was creating a blockade around the structure. "The day of reckoning has arrived," a preacher said amongst the throng of angry men and women. "The demons must be destroyed."
"Mystique, Gambit, and Callisto, come with me," Magneto stated and turned on his heel.
Rogue moved with him, his grip on her hand tightening as he walked through the crowd. "Pyro, Avalanche," Magneto said, waving the two of them towards him.
"Yes, sir?" Avalanche asked.
"Keep everyone calm," Magneto said before exiting the room.
"How?" Pyro whispered anxiously and Rogue shrugged in response before the door shut behind her.
Rogue followed the others to the debriefing room, sitting down in her usual seat. She watched Magneto carefully, anxious when he did not sit like the rest of them. "Mystique," he began, looking at the shape shifter. "Go back to Washington. Learn what you can about the retaliation the government plans to take."
She nodded and rose. "He deserved to die," Mystique said before walking out the door.
"Gambit and Callisto," Magneto continued, focusing his attention on the two of them. "We will need as much support as we can gather."
Gambit nodded and rose. "I'll contact Emma," Callisto said as she stood. "She can focus on the west coast. Gather more recruits."
"Good," Magneto replied as the two left.
Rogue watched him, biting her lip as he gripped the back of his chair, bowing his head. "I should never have…" Magneto began, his voice trailing off as he shook his head.
She watched as the chairs rose a few inches in the air, the table wobbling unsteadily. "Mystique is right," she said, placing a hand on his arm. "The Senator deserved to die."
"Yes, he did," Magneto replied, looking at her, his eyes dark. "I should have waited. We have no way to tell what the government's response will be."
"No one will fault you--"
"I do!" he exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table. "I let my emotions rule my mind."
Rogue reached towards him again, unsure what to do or say. "We are at war," Magneto stated, looking back at her, an emotion she couldn't name in his eyes. "I do not have the luxury of allowing for emotions of any kind."
"What are you saying?" she asked, tensing.
"I will have someone clear your things out of my room," he said and she blinked, her breath catching, not quite believing what she had just heard.
"That is all," he continued and she stood, biting back her tears as she exited the room.
She walked down the hallway, her pace becoming faster with each step until she was running. She pushed open one of the doors, collapsing against the railing, as she allowed her tears to fall. The metal stung her face and she moved away from it, wrapping her arms around her body as she rocked back and forth, her cries engulfed by the wind.
xxx
Rogue stared at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes red and puffy from crying. He isn't the only one who can be cold. She picked up the scissors from the sink and began cutting her hair. Her fingers twisted around one white lock, eyes narrowing in uncontrolled fury. She cut it, watching the white strands fall to the floor. Mine, she thought bitterly as the scissors scraped her scalp, making sure there was no trace left of the white. How stupid could I be? She repeated the treatment on the other white piece, dropping the scissors into the sink when she was finished.
Her hands gripped the metal of the sink, letting it bite into her skin, as she looked at her short hair. I am Rogue. She released her grip and exited the bathroom, looking at the clothes folded neatly on her bed. Her eyes narrowed as she searched for the clothes she had worn when she had first arrived, pulling them out of the stack. She threw them on her chair and then picked up the rest, dropping them outside of the room.
"Rogue?" Pyro asked, looking at her in disbelief as he rounded the corner.
"I don't need these," she said, nodding towards the clothes. "Let the new mutants fight over them."
"What are you going to wear?" he asked, following her into the room.
She nodded towards the clothes on the chair. "You're going to need more than two outfits," Pyro continued, sitting down on the bed.
"I'll be fine," she said. "I have clothes for training and for when I'm not."
"Err…what about gloves?" he asked.
"Let everyone else be careful," she replied, exiting the room. "I have training."
xxx
"You cut your hair," Magneto stated and Rogue shrugged, putting soap onto the sponge.
"Yes, sir," she replied, taking a stack of plates and placing them in the sink.
"Why?" he asked, not moving from his spot in the doorway.
"Why not?" she countered, scrubbing furiously.
"You look like a boy," he stated and she looked at him, pushing away the memory of him telling her how beautiful she was.
"Good," she replied and turned back to the dishes.
She heard him leave and continued to scrub. I am Rogue. I am Rogue. I am Rogue.