Hi all,
Sorry it took longer than usual for me to get this chapter up, please enjoy and review!
Chapter 8:
After looking around the manor unsuccessfully in an attempt to find Jean and block out more of her inner voices, Rogue decided that she needed some time to think. What if she really was in love with Scott? What would that mean?
How would Logan react to the news? Did he really love her again or did he just want to be her friend? Would Jean be able to forgive her? Would Scott? Did she really even have feelings for Scott?
Yes she felt the undeniable answer from within, she could no longer pretend that she did not love him. Not after everything they had been through and everything he had done for her.
Was there any chance that maybe, just maybe Scott could feel the same way?
No, absolutely not. Scott couldn't love me, Ah know that he loves Jean and he always will, he told me as much when we were in the lab.
With these thoughts running through her head, Rogue decided that she needed to take a walk and get away from all of the people that she couldn't figure out how to deal with. As she was heading out towards the edge of the grounds, Rogue ran into a very contemplative Scott.
Oh great Rogue thought as she let out an audible sigh, Just the person that Ah really don't need to see right now.
Turning at the sound of her sigh, Scott said, "Oh Marie, I didn't see you standing there." As he looked at her, he felt a slight blush rise to his cheeks, there was no way that she could know that he had been having thoughts very similar to those in her own head just a few minutes before.
"What are you doing out here? Is there anything that I can do for you?" Scott asked as he pulled himself out of his thought-filled state.
"Ah was just out for a walk," Rogue said as she avoided his gaze, "Ah'm sorry if Ah disturbed your thoughts." "Oh no, it's not a problem at all."
After an awkward moment of silence, Rogue looked up at Scott and said, "Well, Ah guess Ah'm going to go on my walk now." "Alright" Scott said quietly as she began to walk down the road.
"Marie," Scott called out once she was about twenty feet away, "Yes Scott?" After a pause that seemed like forever in which Scott briefly considered telling her how her truly felt he said, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about Logan finding out. I know that you might not have wanted to him to know the whole story, but the professor felt that it was best, and I didn't want him to hurt your feelings, and well I'm sorry."
"That's alright Scott," Rogue said as she smiled sadly at him, knowing that this was the most she would ever receive of his love. Knowing that he would always care for her, look out for her, and love their child, but that he would never really love her the way that she loved him. "Ah know that you were just trying to help me."
As she turned away from him and continued down the path away from the school, Rogue decided that if he would never return her love it would be best if he, and everyone else, simply didn't find out that she loved him at all. With a large sigh Rogue walked past the front gates of the school in order to get away from it all, if only for just a little while.
As Rogue walked away from him Scott ran his hand through his hair and whispered after her in a light tone, "Oh and in case I forgot to mention it, I think that I might love you Marie." Then, laughing at himself and the situation he now found himself in, Scott turned to walk back towards the manor and his fiancé waiting within.
Perhaps Ah should try to work things out with Logan Rogue thought as she walked, even as she thought it knowing that she would never truly feel the same way about Logan again. At least if Ah try to be with him, no one will ever see or suspect the way that I feel towards Scott.
Although Rogue was focused enough to block out the actual voices in her mind, Rogue could still feel the Wolverine part of her personality growling at the cowardice in her solution. "Ah know it's cowardly,"Rogue said to herself, "but if anyone found out the truth it would hurt so many people, is it really that bad if Ah just pretend not to have such potentially dangerous feelings?"
Yes, the answer came from her own thoughts before she even wanted one. Ah'll never really be able to deny my feelings, at least not to myself Rogue realized as she took off a glove to wipe the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes as she finally realized that she would simply have to watch quietly as Scott married Jean and as they had their own kids and grew old together.
Rogue was just fastening the buttons back up on one side of the purple opera gloves she had chosen to put on that morning, when she heard a car pulling up from behind her and someone call out her name. Oh great, she thought as composed herself to be seen, the professor sent someone to come and bring me back inside the school grounds so Ah don't wander off too far. How typical, all Ah needed was a little time alone, and he sends in the Calvary.
"Rogue," a voice said as the van pulled up beside her and the back door opened, "How nice to see you again." Finally realizing that the voice she was hearing belonged to a woman who's voice she couldn't quite remember, Rogue turned to see Dr. Kelly Reed sitting in the driver's seat of the van.
"We've been waiting for you to come out of that school for quite some time now." Ms. Reed said as Rogue felt two hands pulling her into the back of the van while careful not to touch her skin. Rogue struggled to get free, to run away, or at least to get the gloved hand away from her mouth so that she could scream. As she struggled Rogue felt something prick the back of her neck and then saw the inside of the van sway as her vision went black and she collapsed.
"Oh good, you're finally waking up" Ms. Reed said as Rogue woke up in a room unknown to her some five hours later. "We were just starting to worry that we might have given you too much of the tranquilizer."
Finally regaining her consciousness, Rogue began to remember the events of the day, Logan found out truth…talked to Scott…went on a walk…van coming to take me back to school…not from school…Doctor from lab…pulled into van…Oh god, where am Ah? Oh no, this cannot be happening again. Help me! Scott, Logan, Jean, where are you guys? Please come and find me, Ah don't think that Ah can go through this again, not by myself.
"It's good to see you awake Rogue" Kelly Reed continued, oblivious to the thoughts in the young girl's head, "Oh no dear, don't try to sit up" Ms. Reed said as Rogue struggled to get up, "You're still recovering from the tranquilzer and you need your rest."
"What do you want from me?" Rogue demanded angrily as she looked at Ms. Reed, "And why aren't you dead or in jail or something? Ah thought that Ah saw Storm take care of you assholes!"
"Well I can see that you're slightly upset right now," Ms. Reed said with a laugh, "But there's really no need to worry, we only need you here for a little while so that we can finish up our study and send the results to the government.
"As to why your rather violent friends didn't kill me, I got away while they were busy trying to 'rescue' you, although you were never in any real danger. I must say though, it was a very stupid move on their part to act so violently, it gives a bad name to mutants everywhere and only helps those who argue that mutants are dangerous and ought to be registered. But not to worry, I won't be including the violent outburst from your friends in the results of the study."
"Go to hell" Rogue said as she looked at Kelly Reed's overly cheery face, "You claim that you're trying to help mutants, but this is not helping anyone! All you're doing is causing pain to innocent people!"
Still smiling despite Rogue's harsh words Ms. Reed said, "Obviously you are unable to see the long term picture of how much this study will help the mutant community, or else you never would have thought to mention such awful thoughts. And might I say,"
Ms. Reed said as she dropped her false happy attitude for one moment, "that since we are probably going to see a good deal of each other over the coming weeks, that it would be a good idea for you to start addressing me as Dr. Reed and to be nice to me seeing as I am the one who is in control of your living conditions."
With that Kelly Reed walked out of the room, leaving Rogue alone to examine her surroundings. She was in a small concrete room full of testing instruments and such. In the middle of the room there was an exam table hooked up to various machines, which brought chills down Rogue's spine.
In one corner of the room there was a single bed and next to it there was a metal toilet. Just like a prison cell Rogue thought with a mirthless laugh. There were no windows to the outside, and only one door with a small window for checking up on her and a small slot for sliding in meals when no one wanted to risk coming near her.
Well the accommodations have certainly been downscaled Rogue thought when she had finished viewing the room. The more that she thought of the circumstances under which she had arrived and the words she had had with Ms. Reed, the more Rogue began to think that perhaps this was no longer any form of government funded program, but instead simply the workings of a devoted lunatic woman.
Back at the manor, Scott jerked his head up in the middle of grading papers as he heard the professor's urgent message, Scott, Logan, Jean, Storm, I need you all in my office immediately. Quickly standing up and leaving behind a rather bewildered class of test-taking students, Scott hurried down to the professor's office.
Once he arrived, Logan and Jean were already inside, and Storm arrived shortly after he did. "What's going on?" Storm asked in a worried voice, "Is it Magneto, did the brotherhood attack something?" "No Storm," the professor said with a sigh, "It's nothing like that."
"Then what is it?" Logan asked in a worried tone, "It's Rogue" Jean said in concentrated voice as she picked up on the professor's thoughts, "She's gone" "What do you mean gone!" Scott asked as fear laced through his voice, "Where would she have gone?"
Looking up at Scott with sympathy in his eyes and knowing how much he cared for Rogue, the professor continued on slowly, "I sensed Rogue leaving the school grounds sometime this afternoon, after talking with you I believe" Xavier said as he looked at Scott, "That's right" Scott said briskly as he waited for what the professor was going to say.
"After leaving the school grounds, she seemed to be fine, simply in a deep state of thought, so I decided to let her be alone for a little while. Then a little while later, I sensed a large jolt of fear from Rogue and I quickly focused in on her. I felt her being pulled into a van and recognizing her captors."
Seeing the incredulous looks that Scott and Logan were giving him, Xavier hurried on to say, "I would have called you in sooner, but I was focusing my energies on tracing Rogue. I followed her for the past three hours, and she has just now disappeared off my radar. I fear that these may be the same people who took her before and that they may be blocking my telepathy in the same way that they used the first time."
Scott inhaled sharply as he heard Xavier's last statement and finally realized what was happening, "But, I thought you said that they had been taken care of." "We thought that we had, as you put it 'taken care of' them all, but obviously we were wrong." Jean said as she looked at him, "Besides," Logan added in a defensive voice, "We were a little busy saving your asses."
"Yeah, well a lot of good that does us now!" Scott yelled as he stormed out of the room. "Leave him" the professor said as Jean started to follow, he is simply upset that this has happened he needs some space. And we need to start working on how to find Rogue. Now I have traced her to this point." The professor said as he pointed to a map and they all gathered around his desk to try and devise a way to find her.
"Oh god" Scott whispered as he walked out on the grounds, "why did this happen? I promised that I would protect her, and now she's right back where we started, but this time she's alone!"
Sinking down against the base of one of the tall trees outside the school, Scott thought, What if something happens to her? I'll never be able to forgive myself. What if they put her through a bunch of tests again? How would she be able to handle that mentally? I don't think that I could even deal with having to go through that again. And what if… Scott could barely even bring himself to think it, what if she dies? Then what will I do? She'll never even know that I love her.
"Please hold on Marie" Scott whispered as silent tears fell down his face, "We're coming to get you, I promise. Just hold on for a little while." Taking deep breaths and getting himself under control, Scott stood up and headed inside to try and figure out a way to save the woman he loved.
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I hope that you liked this chapter. Unfortunatley I'm going to be on vacation, well that part is fortuate, fot the next three weeks and so it will probably be around three weeks to a month before I am able to post another chapter. Until then let me know what you thought of this chapter and if you have anything that you really want to happen in the rest of the story. And as always thanks so much to all of my readers!
