Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; they're Marvel's property.

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Prisoners of the Heart

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A/N: Just throwing this out, but this fic won't be very long. I'm working on a second one after this that should have a lot more promise, but I will finish this one first of course. Hope the action plays out well in this chapter; I had fun writing it. And on a sidenote, if anyone likes Romy oneshots, feel free to check out Touch. It's a different, better portrayal of Romy than this one. Enjoy!

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Rebellion

A knock at the door came hours later, stirring Rogue from her boredom. The voices residing in her head had kept exceptionally quiet, which had allowed her time to entertain her own thoughts without the impeding of repressed personalities that had supposedly been driven out. Recent turmoil had triggered some instability in her recovering powers. Currently, no options of escape had presented themselves, and Rogue was content to wait for her captors to come to her before she made any moves. One slipup was all she was counting on, and she would not let that window of opportunity pass without action.

Before the door slid open, Rogue ducked into the bathroom and locked herself in, slipping a glove off tentatively in preparation for action. If saving her life came down to using her powers, Rogue would do it. After losing control of her powers a week ago, the thought of testing them out brought some hesitancy. The ramifications of touch would not only be physically dangerous, but also mentally, as the Professor's telepathic clean-house had left her mind slightly feeble.

Her reflection showed no signs of the chaos flowing through her mind. Steely eyed and grim faced, Rogue's outer appearance belayed her inner feelings in too many ways to count. It was better this way, lest any one of her captors---however many there were---tried to feed off any visible vulnerabilities. She couldn't give them the upper hand, especially since she was already the one on the disadvantage side of the spectrum. She was the prisoner, after all.

Sharp claws punctured the metal door, and in a matter of seconds, it was render useless and torn off the threshold. Standing well near seven feet, Sabertooth cast the crumpled metal to the side, where it clanged against the cell bars with a hollow chime.

As the feral giant bent down to enter the bathroom, Rogue suddenly felt like the room had shrank to half its original size. Sabertooth may have seemed reckless and dizzied by primal desires, but he wasn't about to bump his head on the top of the door frame and knock himself out, thus allowing Rogue a means of escape. The yellow intensity of his cat-like eyes focused on her, and that one stare confirmed in Rogue's heart that this mutant would not be making any slipups. Wherever he wanted her to go, she was going to go. Any form of defiance would only earn her a broken limp or crushed ribs.

The giant bore down on her in the bathroom, his huge stature barely squeezing into the tiny compartment with her. "Your presence is requested, girlie," he snarled, seizing her wrist. Her whole hand vanished in his gargantuan grip. "Wanna try and escape?"

Rogue shook her head. "Jus' get me outta here."

Contrary to her compliance, Sabertooth acted as if she was resisting him the whole way. With brute force he dragged her, practically ripped her arm out of the socket. Pain bloomed in the crevice of her shoulder and upper arm every time he jerked her closer. Her hand had long since grown numb, buried in his vise grip. No bones had been crushed, but in due time, Rogue began to worry that his grip would suddenly squeeze her gloved hand until he turned it into splintered bones and mush.

The image motivated her to stay as close to the brute as she could, hoping that her submission would save her from further harm.

After an excruciating five minutes of traveling with Sabertooth through a metal labyrinth, the feral mutant finally paused and hit the wall. Defined lines appeared in crisscross form, and the wall separated by taking on the form of a sliding door.

Rogue stepped into what appeared to be a circular chamber with metal décor and a dome ceiling arcing overhead. Beneath the fluorescent glow of bulbs plugged in the ceiling and upper half of the room's circumference, a vacant chair with its base connected to the floor stood in the center of the room.

Rogue and her harasser were not alone.

Across from where they entered, Magneto and the remaining Acolytes resided with mixed expressions, all of them facing Rogue. The Acolyte master was the only one of the group whose expression was hidden beneath the shadows created by his helmet.

The steel-skinned behemoth---now in his flesh form---wore sympathetic eyes, and for some reason Rogue believed the cataracts of empathy pooling in his baby blues.

The one with the fire fetish scanned her quickly and then glanced at his boss, anticipating quite a show. His giddiness would've been vocalized, Rogue assumed, along with plenty of pyrotechnics had his somber master not been present, thus taming his exuberance.

The Cajun---Remy---did not show as much sympathy as he had shown her in the cell. His compassion must've been limited by his master's presence in the room, but intuition told her something lie beneath the surface of his indifferent facial expression.

The fourth and only stranger to the group, a smaller man with untamed hair, donning a cloak and hunching over, showed the most intent out of any of them. His eyes were fixated on Rogue; albeit the nervous look he cast toward Magneto every few seconds. Rogue knew without a doubt that he would be involved in this somehow, whatever Magneto had planned for her. This strange man had obviously been brought in for specific purposes.

"Hello, Rogue." Magneto offered nothing more, his hollow face still expressionless inside the frame of his trademark headwear.

"Ah have ah right ta know why Ah'm here," Rogue demanded in a voice that made it sound more like a plea. The count was six-versus-one. Bad odds to do any real demanding.

"I have an offer for you. You can either accept what I am about to require of you, and I will make sure it is all painless and free of any discomfort. Or, you can struggle and be defiant. I'm sure you know where that path will lead you."

"An' why would ya be offerin' this ta me?"

"Everyone deserves a chance for a little mercy, dear." His eyes were cast in shadows of the past. Sabertooth shoved her forward and into the metal chair in the middle of the room. "Sit."

Rogue sat.

"Mastermind here will search through your memories and wipe away all the clutter in your head. In exchange, he will be seeking certain memories concerning your elusive foster mother."

"What? Mystique? Ah don't know where she is! Why do ya care?"

Magneto's cape flapped at his heels as he walked closer. "You of all people, Rogue, should know how conniving the woman can be. I have discovered a tryst between her and the mutant known as Mesmero."

"That crazy guy with the tattoos on his face? The one who played us into stealin' those rings months ago?"

"Yes, the same mutant who tricked us into destroying the spider guardian. We had him in our possession, but…limited resources resulted in his escape and left us without much information."

Squirming in the chair, Rogue said, "Ah still can't help ya with anything."

"We shall see. The quicker you assist us the quicker we set you free."

She doubted that very much, but the metal clip that wrapped around her abdomen and pinned her to the chair convinced her to stifle any concerns. The man Magneto had referred to as Mastermind crept closer to Rogue, his stump fingers extended and weaving through the air.

As his eyes glowed with a cerulean hue, his mutant powers activating, the Cajun stepped in between him and Rogue gasped. The diversion caused Mastermind to lose focus of his target and thus deactivate his powers.

"Gambit," Magneto beckoned, "what're you doing?"

"If de girl says she doesn't know anyt'ing, why subject 'er t' all this?"

Gambit stood close to Rogue, his position offering a distraction more than protection, warranting Rogue precious moments to devise a plan. Whatever Magneto had Mastermind brewing up, it was somewhere between telepathy and hypnosis, probably deleting or reconstructing memories. Her mind was definitely too fragile at the moment, and no matter what Buckethead had said, the experience was going to be far from painless. Her attempts at reasoning had left her nowhere, as Magneto had chosen to ignore her plea of ignorance. In truth, Mystique's whereabouts were as mysterious to her as anyone else in the room.

"You're wasting precious time, Gambit. Mesmero and Mystique could already be putting the final pieces together!"

"Pieces o' what? Y' never told us what Mesmero's been plannin'."

Magneto had refrained from employing any other restraints on Rogue's body; the metallic band around her stomach prevented her from standing but not from leaning forward. Gambit's gloved hand dangled at his side within reach, the tips of his fingers exposed as the glove was not fully concealing. The odds were six-against-one, and Rogue wasn't going to get a better chance than now. It was too bad that the closest mutant to her was the only one who'd show any compassion toward her. It was either him or her, and Rogue chose not to let it be latter. If she stayed around too long, Magneto would simply brush Gambit to the side and force Mastermind into her head. Taking the Cajun's life force would be her only ticket out of here without more mental trauma involved.

Clenching both her hands, Rogue felt the edges of the queen of hearts jab the flesh of her left hand, where it lay tucked in her glove, its usefulness becoming evident now but only if she reached out and grabbed Gambit's hand.

Quit stallin', she demanded of herself, and her fingers finally started to work her right glove off. All the mutants she could see were watching Magneto and Gambit, except for Sabertooth hiding outside her line of sight. His presence was somewhere behind her and that made her uneasy. The fastest, wildest mutant of the bunch was in a position to take advantage of her vulnerability. But if all she did was sit and contemplate in the chair, she'd be vulnerable to whatever powers Mastermind possessed, once he got by Gambit.

The bickering continued and Gambit's hand went up and dropped back down at his side. One chance…

Rogue checked a second time to make sure all eyes were on the disagreement, and she made her move, testing the limitations of her restraint by bending forward as far as the strap allowed her, and she flailed her arms until her bare hand clasped tightly around all five of Gambit's right hand fingers.

All eyes were on her now.

Adrenaline kicked in as Gambit's life force flowed through her, along with his skills, abilities, memories, and mutant talents. She had trouble discerning most of the mess, but all she required at the moment were his powers, his skills, and his knowledge. Everything else jumbled through her mind but did not distract from the task at hand.

Escape was everything, and Rogue was ready to accept the costs.

Pressing her foot to Gambit's back as he began to sag, Rogue gave a thrust of her leg and sent the unconscious mutant tumbling into Mastermind, who nearly collided with Magneto. The mutant master avoided the collision with ease, sidestepping both Mastermind and Gambit. Before he could give a flick of the wrist and steal away Rogue's chance of escape by binding her with more metal, she urged the playing card tucked in her glove to ignite with kinetic energy. She yanked off her other glove and flicked the card at Magneto's feet, thankful that she had kept the seemingly frivolous item. It exploded upon impact with the metal floor, driving Magneto backwards and hindering his attempts at trapping Rogue in the chair.

A quick tap of her finger broke the bind around her abdomen, releasing Rogue from the chair. The air behind her shifted, and she lurched forward, ducking, as Sabertooth's fist plunged into the back of the chair, denting the metal and narrowly missing its target. Rogue spun and evaded a swipe by dropping to the floor, diving and rolling away a moment later to put space between her and the feral giant.

The youngest looking Acolyte with the flamboyant costume and flashy orange hair constructed a wall of fire that cascaded along the floor and snaked behind Rogue, temporarily blocking her escape. The only other Acolyte whose name Rogue did not recall plundered towards her, his skin shifting to that of an alloy, possibly steel. He narrowed his eyes at Rogue and reached for her, but the newly acquired acrobatics enabled Rogue to perform an evasive leap into the air, where she flipped and descended upon the behemoth's shoulders, grappling his face with one hand to keep her balance. The absorption lasted only a few seconds, as Rogue had to react to the pyromaniac behind her. Sliding forward and over the head of the crumpling mutant, Rogue planted her feet on the floor and placed both her palms against his trunk, lifting him upwards with her newfound strength and catapulting him at the other mutant. Having been drained of his powers, the dark haired mutant reverted back to his organic skin in mid-flight, but still weighed enough to ram the fire-wielder and take him down for the count.

Rogue sensed Sabertooth in mid-strike, and unable to avoid his attack, she pivoted into him, swinging her own hand and intercepting his claws. Their fingers interlaced, the absorption stunning him enough for Rogue to twist, place her back to his chest and grip his wrist with both of her hands. She brought her arms down in an arc, leveraging Sabertooth over her back and throwing him over her shoulder. The giant cat sailed through the air and landed at Magneto's feet.

As Rogue charged the Master of Magnetism, he unleashed a magnetic pulse that slammed her onto her back, jarring her senses. She landed with her legs flying up, and she held them there, bending them and then extending her arms to propel herself onto her feet. Before Magneto could hit her again, she braced the metal chair and charged it, as she tore it out of the floor and heaved it at Magneto. The chair fell far from its aim, halted in mid air by his powers, but the ensuing explosion knocked Magneto off his feet.

It did the same to Rogue.

As the detonation flung Rogue backwards, she built up steel skin and crashed into the door she had entered through. The door buckled under her momentum and added weight, and she landed on her back in the hallway, crushed metal cushioning her fall.

Her pale flesh returned, and she sprinted down the hall, mixed memories from three of the Acolytes rushing through her head and directing her to a room filled with a number of escape vehicles.

Only Rogue's footsteps echoed through the halls, yet she still moved as if her captors were almost on top of her. She shouldered through a door hidden in an alcove to her right, easily missed had she not absorbed its location through the Acolytes' memories.

She took the metal steps three at a time, hitting the cement floor in a rush and almost stumbling. Though careening, Rogue managed to reach out and grasp the front of a snowmobile before she toppled. The Acolytes were still far behind, but sticking around to see how much ground they could cover in a matter of seconds was not an entertaining idea.

Swinging one leg over the seat of the vehicle, Rogue tapped a button on the side of the console, activating a garage-like mechanism that revealed sloped terrain and the reminiscence of fallen snow. The snowmobile roared to life with a turn of the grip, and with the dissipating but still needed memories hanging in balance, Rogue picked out the quickest route off the mountain and onto the highway.

The icy air stung her face but the liberation of victory brought an excited gasp. She sucked in cold breaths that took a toll on her lungs, but with giddy anticipation, she was unable to stop taking in gulps of air.

Fifteen minutes later she hit the highway on foot, unable to bring the snowmobile down any farther on the mountain. Its usefulness had ended five minutes prior, and she'd only just slowed from a jog to a brisk walking pace. With constant glances over her shoulder, Rogue hurried along the road, reaching out with telepathic pleas to either the Professor or Jean, whoever would answer. It was a stretch, and distance was an important factor. She'd been gone for more than twelve hours, so they would be searching for her.

She was not being followed.

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A/N: Please let me know how it turned out. Review! And expect another chapter in a couple of days.

-fathoms-