AN: Yay Sixteen is gone and done with. Now for seventeen. I plan much more drama and much longer chapter.

Chapter Seventeen: Almost Home

All the X-Men were gathered in the war room, and all looking anxious. Professor Xavier greeted them. His voice was very urgent. "I just received a phone call from a Miss Elizabeth Braddock who is friends with Warren Worthington."

"Angel?" Scott asked.

The professor nodded his head. "Yes. It would appear Warren has spotted Rogue at the New York club, Wings of Red. You must go now if we are going to find her. Do not suit up. Miss Braddock told me Rogue looked as if she were there to have a good time and not on a mission. Plus you would all blend in the crowd better. Take the X-jet and go."

"Shouldn't we like tell the brotherhood?" Kitty asked.

"No," the professor shook his head. "They will be informed later on, but Rogue seeing the brotherhood or Mystique will not help the situation."

"Don't worry Chuck," Wolverine grunted. "We'll bring her back."

"I do hope so."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While the X-Men flew the jet to New York, Rogue was getting angrier and angrier by the minute because of this Warren guy who claimed to know her. "If ya don't get outta mah way Ah will hurt you!" She growled.

Warren wasn't sure how to handle the situation. The X-Men were coming, but he needed to buy them time. He couldn't guarantee that Rogue wouldn't leave after he got away. She could just discard him as a maniac and continue dancing at the club, but there was still that chance that she would leave before the X-Men got there.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I must have had you confused with someone else."

"Ya know a lot of people named Rogue?" She asked suspiciously.

"Wow, so your name is Rogue too?" Warren asked. Yeah he sucked at this. "My friend goes by the exact same name."

"And she's an X-Man?" Rogue asked doubtfully. She didn't buy into anything this guy was saying. He mentioned the X-Men and for that she knew that there was no way she could trust him.

"Yeah, but she's not anything like you," he went on. "She doesn't forget people easily, and she's very loyal to her friends."

"An' your saying Ah'm not."

"Well. . ."

Rogue was getting tired of this. Coming to a club was a bad idea. She thought it might be easier since she could touch now, but there was always some lunatic hanging around. And this guy was a lunatic who was friends with the enemy and enemies with Magneto. "That's it. Ah'm leavin'."

Again he jumped in front of her. "Wait, I insulted you. I'm sorry. Please let me make it up to you."

"Do ya know what Ah can do?" She asked taking a step closer to him, her hand fingering her bracelet, prepared to take it off. "With one touch, Ah can drain your memories and your strength. Everythin' inside your head become mahne! Now if ya don't get outta mah way Ah will use mah powers on ya!"

Warren's first instinct was to get the hell out of her way before she could do what she said she'd do. He remembered her using her powers on Magneto, and that wasn't to pretty. But a thought came to him. Rogue obviously didn't remember who he was, but if she touched him she could absorb his memories, and she'd see the ones where they met. She'd see herself working with Scott and fighting Magneto. He wasn't sure if this would work, but it was worth a try.

"Like you'd actually hurt me," he didn't want to sound so mean but he needed to motivate her to absorb him. "I don't think your capable of it."

Rogue stepped back in surprise. Sure he was crazy but he'd at least been friendly most the time. "Oh really?" She regained her composure and undid the clasp of the bracelet.

"Really," he took an intimidating step closer. "I don't think you have any powers at all. Your probably just one of those geeks that wish they had super powers." Okay he had to admit that was a bit harsh.

Rogue glared at him. "Get outta mah way," she warned in a low growl.

"Make me."

The bracelet was off, and Rogue's bare hand flew Warren's face. Warren felt the effects almost immediately. First it was a slight tingling and then his energy abandoned him and flooded into Rogue. Images and memories flew into Rogue's mind. Rogue was very surprised to find a memory with her in them. He really did know her. She concentrated hard on the memory. She wanted to know where he had met her. She saw herself, side by side with Cyclops, she was fighting alongside him! And. . .she was in. . .an X-Men uniform.

Rogue released her grip on Warren and he fell to the floor. "Told you we met before," he said breathlessly. "Are you yourself again?"

"How-?" Rogue asked. Her face was twisted in utter confusion. "This can't be." She kept shaking her head and muttered that to herself over and over again.

A voice called her from behind. "Rogue! Hey Rogue!" It sounded like Pietro's voice. Before she could turn around she felt Pietro's hand on her bare arm. He didn't know she wasn't wearing the bracelet, so she began to absorb him too. More memories rushed into Rogue's already full head. This time they were Pietro's. There were the memories of the Brotherhood, and then there was Mystique telling the brotherhood that Rogue had joined the X-Men. But that wasn't right! More memories of Pietro fighting the X-Men and Rogue was one of them! Finally she saw Pietro's memory at the acolyte base before they left. Mastermind. She knew him from Pietro's past memories. He was there at the base. There to alter Rogue's memories. To make her an acolyte.

Rogue pulled away from Pietro's grasp, which was good, because as soon as she did Pietro fell to the ground. He looked like he was struggling to get up but didn't have the energy.

Remy had seen the entire thing. He ran through the crowd, pushing past people to get closer. "Rogue chere!"

"Get away from meh!" She screamed, beginning to attract attention from people close by. "Ya knew didn't ya!"

Remy slowed down and approached her at a steady pace. Her face was twisted in anger and confusion. "Chere, Remy can explain."

"Explain what? Ya gonna explain about why both Warren and Pietro have memories about meh being an X-Men? Gonna explain about Pietro's memories of Mastermind screwing with mah memories? What could ya possibly say to explain that Remy?" She took a step closer to him. "Who am Ah?" This time her voice held more confusion and desperation than anger. It made Remy feel so guilty. "Am Ah an X-Men or an Acolyte? Well!" Now a lot of people were staring. A small crowd had formed around them.

"Chere, you're a-" Before Remy could finish Rogue doubled over in pain. She let out a loud scream.

"It's my powers," Warren said as he stood up, still wobbly. "The wings are coming out."

Rogue's cloths torn as two wings emerged from her back. Rogue gave out a cry of pain as they did. Gambit tried to go over and help her but she shuddered away from her.

"Ya'll get away from meh!" Warren's wings, and Pietro's speed, Rogue flew out of the club that looked like a flash of light.

All around them people were staring and shouting, "Mutant!"

"Their mutants!" A girl yelled. "Someone call the police!"

"Aw hell." Gambit cursed. "Lookes like we better get outta here as fast as we can. C'mon mon ami." With reluctance he bent over and helped Pietro to his feet. "We gotta tell Magneto we lost Rogue and then figure out a way to get her back."

"Magneto's behind this?" Warren asked.

Remy didn't have time to answer. A pretty girl with oddly colored hair emerged from the crowd and ran up to Warren. "Warren, the X-Men are here. The one called Jean just contacted me. Where's Rogue?"

"Tell Jean that Rogue's not in the club." He glared daggers at Pietro and Gambit.

Gambit already had his cell phone on, and was calling Magneto. "We got a problem."

"Why can't you just leave her alone?" Warren demanded. "Do you think any human being deserves what your putting Rogue through?"

"We aint humans," Gambit reminded him, closing the phone. "We be mutants. We gotta deal with tings dat de humans will never know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Just as the X-Men filed out of the X-Jet in New York Jean informed them that Elizabeth Braddock had just contacted her through telepathy and told her about what happened. "She can't be very far," Scott said. "Everyone search the perimeter. We need to find her before the acolytes do. If she's absorbed Warren and Quicksilver's memories than there's a chance we might be able to convince her we're on her side."

Everyone agreed with no arguments. Most of the X-Men split up in pairs. Shadow Cat and Wolverine, Night Crawler and Storm, and Beast and Jean. Scott went off on his own. He didn't want to sound self-important, but he felt that he and Rogue had made a connection. Obviously not a connection he had with Jean. No one except her could have that connection with him. The one he had with Rogue was different. They both suffered because of their powers. He didn't suffer as much as she did obviously, but he was one of the few people to actually have a clue of how tough it might be. Plus he had also been there when Rogue found out Mystique had been using her. He helped her through. He never gave up on her, and deep down she knew that. Scott truly felt like he could reach her. And, as team leader, he felt it was his responsibility to reach her.

Scott ran down the streets, keeping his eye out for a white streaked haired girl with huge wings. He doubted she'd be out in the open, but hopefully he'd see something or find a clue to where she could be. And then he heard it. As he passed an alley way he heard crying coming from the alley. Rogue. Trying not to get his hopes up, Scott entered the alley. He saw a small feather right in front of a large dumpster. As he came closer the crying became more clear, and he found Rogue on the other side of the dumpster.

"Rogue," he said gently trying to block out the urgency in his voice so he wouldn't alarm her.

Rogue's head was buried in her arms. And as he said her name she didn't move or lift her head. If she still thought he was the enemy she didn't show it by jumping to her feet ready to fight. Instead she just said, "Get away from meh please."

"I just want to help."

"No." She said harshly. "Ah'm sick of fighting an' playin' who's on what side. Ah don't even know what Ah am anymore."

Scott approached her slowly and kneeled down before her. She still didn't make a move to hit him or run away. "Do you want to know who you are?"

Finally, Rogue lifted her head and looked at him. "Yes. No more lies."

"I can't give you your memories back. But I can let you see mine." He held out his bare hand to her.

Reluctantly, Rogue took it. His memories came just as the others came, only Scott had been the only one out of them to offer them to her. Rogue began to view a piece of her past, only through Scott's eyes. One of the first memories that came to her head was a memory of the danger room. The X-Men were breaking into a building in the simulation. Their object was to rescue someone. Scott found that person and it turned out to be Rogue. Only it wasn't the real Rogue. She had been programmed into the simulation. She was an obstacle, taking the place of the real captive to trap the X-Men. When Scott discovered this he called the simulation off and became angry that she had been put in it as the enemy.

More memories came. Memories of the field trip with Scott. A memory Rogue still had. Mastermind didn't bother to erase this one because it kept her against Mystique. But it was altered. It was different in Scott's mind. HE helped her against Mystique. Not the acolytes. The acolytes didn't even exist back then. They worked together as a team, and the X-Men rescued them.

"Where's your allegiance kid? Us or them?"

Rogue had long since pulled away from Scott's hand now, but his memories were still flying through her head. God, was this all true? There was something strange about Scott's memories. Absorbing Warren's and Pietro's had been alarming, but seeing Scott's memories of her, even though they were completely different than her own, and she should have been freaking out because of them, they comforted her. They made her long for something that she couldn't even remember.

"How can this be real?" Rogue's shaky voice asked. "Ya remember it like we're some kinda family."

"Because we are."

Scott sat right next to the dumpster, leaning against it for support. Rogue hadn't drained him as much as she drained Pietro and Warren, but still was pretty bad.

"So the X-Men. . .they think of me as. . ." Rogue didn't want to say it. She didn't know if she was afraid using that word was right, or using it was wrong.

"Family," Scott finished. He stood up, still a little wobbly on his feet. He gave her an encouraging look and held out his hand to her. "So what do you say? Want to go home?"

Rogue smiled. "Home." It sounded so nice. She wanted to be apart of a family again. The acolytes were great. Even though they lied to her. Living them was like having a bunch of roommates, but she didn't need roommates. She needed family. Rogue put her bracelet back on so she wouldn't absorb Scott, and then she took his hand. She could tell by the look on his face that it was going to be okay.

Despite his lack of strength, Scott managed to pull Rogue to her feet. He gave her a reassuring smile, but then in an instant it was gone. Not just the smile, but also the feeling that things were going to turn out okay, the hope to be apart of a family, the hope that she'd get everything in her head sorted out, because in that instant, a metal beam came out of nowhere and crashed into his stomach, causing him to fly up and hit the wall of the alley.

"Scott!" Rogue cried out. Blood was dripping down his head and he looked barely conscious. She wanted to go to him and help him, but her path was blocked by a giant, hairy mutant known as Sabertooth.

"Now if I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to leave the acolytes," Sabertooth said. "Wait a minute, I do know better, and I still say your trying to leave the acolytes. Do you know what we do to traitors?" He asked coming towards her.

Without realizing it, Rogue took a few steps back until her back hit the wall. She didn't know why she was scared of Sabertooth. She was supposed to be an X-Man. Sabertooth shouldn't scare her, but he did. Sabertooth used the metal beam in his hand and swept it under Rogue's feet causing her to come crashing to the ground. The next thing she knew he grabbed her hands and twisted them behind her back and began tying them with a thick heavy rope.

"Let meh go!" She yelled.

"Or what?" Sabertooth dared her. He made sure to tie extra rope around the bracelet, making it impossible to try and take it off while her hands were tied. Then he lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder.

Scott saw the whole thing, but his body was unable to respond to any commands he gave it. "Rogue!" He called out her name but it came out weak and cracked. Sabertooth heard him and turned. He grinned a sickening grin at Scott while Rogue struggled desperately in his arms.

"Don't worry one-eye," Sabertooth said. "You'll see her again. I promise, only I'm not to sure you'll want to once Mastermind gives her an attitude adjustment."

Scott watched helplessly as Sabertooth walked off, carrying Rogue over his shoulder. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Rogue's desperate eyes looking into his as if pleading for help.

AN: Mein Gott! I am done! Okay for anybody who's wondering about the whole Scott and Rogue thing and are afraid it will be a Scogue, the answer is NO, NEIN, NON! There will be no Scogueing in this fic. I believe that Rogue and Scott get along pretty well with each other AND he was the one who didn't give up on her. I felt they should have one of those moments, and Scott is still oblivious to the crush Rogue had on him. He's just doing what he does best, not giving up, especially on Rogue. But oh mein gott! THE DRAMA! What will happen next. Tune in next time, which will bein two weeks cuz I'm being dragged off the dessert to see a gigantic hole in the ground known as the grand canyon. Gott I'm so tired.