'Is unspoken thoughts'
-Flashback-
No. No no no no no no. NO.
"NO!" The scream tore through her throat and the ice around the room began to dissipate.
'It wasn't supposed to happen this way; it wasn't supposed to BE like this,' she thought.
"There's a smart girl, wouldn't want anyone getting hurt would we?" Sinister's lips curled in the ugly facsimile of a triumphant grin as he motioned for one of the other mutants in the room to advance. He never took his eyes off of Rogue, or his hands from the neck of the prone form in front of him. The helpless frustration and rage built inside of her, and she almost welcomed the effects of the drug when she felt the sting of the needle in her neck.
-She was lying down, and she was sleeping. Sleeping was always good, no danger in sleeping. She didn't have to constantly avoid touching anyone in her sleep, and she could shed the multitude of layers she wrapped herself in. Sleeping was perhaps her favorite activity, but someone was disturbing that sleep now. The persistent shaking continued, and she groaned her displeasure.
"Rogue. Marie. Wake up darlin'. Now's your chance!" The voice sent a chill down her spine as the events of the past 24 hours pushed their way to the forefront of her mind.
"Logan?" Her voice was husky from sleep, and she tried to process what his being there meant. He'd come to rescue her again, even after everything that had happened. Logan would get her out of the hell she'd found herself trapped in. So why was she so afraid?
"Yeah baby, it's me." The smile he gave her was one full of reassurance; the reassurance of a man afraid of nothing, and possessing an indomitable will.
"Oh God Logan, I'm so sorry." She found herself apologizing as past caught up to present in her mind. She sat up and reached for him, before realizing that she had no gloves on. She looked at him, her eyes pleading for understanding, for forgiveness.
Using her hair as a shield Logan cupped her face and tilted it towards him.
"You got nothing to be sorry for sweetheart, but we gotta get you out of here. Can you walk?" His voice was gentle, and his words helped to assuage her guilt. She tested her legs by stretching slightly and wiggling her toes. Once she'd determined that everything was in working order she answered him.
"Yeah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," she grinned, "I can walk."
He took hold of her arm where the flimsy material of the hospital gown covered her and helped her out of the bed. With a sly grin he spoke, "Good, it would make our escape a hell of a lot more difficult if I had to carry ya." He finished with a wink when her feet touched the floor.
"Now let's get out of here darlin', I can think of much better things to be doin' right about now."
With one arm around her waist for support, they made their way quickly and quietly to the door.
So far his entry had gone undetected as he made his way stealthily down the winding corridors. Following the distinctive scent of Marie, he hid behind a wall at the sound of approaching footsteps. Seconds later, a single nurse exited the nearest door way with a dossier in her hands. Taking a quick glance, Logan noted the label on the file folder and suppressed a growl; the words Rogue and Anna Marie D'Ancanto were easily identifiable. He felt his skin crawl, and had to fight the urge to release the claws that ached beneath his skin. Waiting until the nurse had rounded a corner before he followed, he hung back. Slinking silently down the remaining hallway, he listened as she passed through a door and began to speak.
"Here's the file you requested, sir."
"Rogue?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you, Madeleine. Has she woken yet?"
"No, sir. Should she be? Woken that is?"
There was a pause and then the faint shuffling of paperwork.
"Yes," another pause, "Yes. We may as well begin. No time like the present." The voice was cold, perfunctory.
"I've never seen any like her before. Is it true, sir? Is it true what she can do? That she absorbs the soul of anyone she makes skin to skin contact with?"
The man behind the door laughed; the eerie sound echoed beyond the sealed door.
"She's quite an interesting specimen. She absorbs the memories, abilities, life force, and characteristics of others she touches... Exquisite DNA, highly malleable. The possibilities are endless with this one; as long as the necessary precautions are taken, she poses no threat."
The nurse moved closer to the door, and Logan pressed himself into the wall.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Madeleine?"
"What subject would you like me to prepare for the tests with the girl?"
"One of the Alpha levels - it's time we put the newest containment cells to use."
"Yes, sir."
Logan felt the ice creep up his spine at the words, and a flash of masked doctors drinking champagne flashed before his eyes. He wouldn't let them do the same to Marie; he wouldn't let them inflict that horror on her. No matter what it took, he would find her. He would find her and he would get her out of there, and he would never let her go again.
It wasn't until a considerably tense moment later that he felt the pull. It was a draw that reached straight to his bones; while it wasn't painful, he was hard bent to resist it. Something inside of him recognized the touch. It was familiar; gentle but strong, easy going, but unrelenting. It was utterly Marie.
"Just through this door, darlin'. You make it through this door, and we're outta here," Logan disappeared through the doorway and into the darkness beyond.
Reaching blindly Rogue tried to follow, and stepped into the shadows. "Logan?"
Her voice echoed along the empty halls, the darkness intimidating in its silence.
"Logan, where are you?"
Using her hands to guide her along the wall she called out again tentatively, "Logan?"
She gasped when a hand closed around her bare wrist, and she was snapped awake.
Standing directly above her, with his hand clasping her wrist, was the grotesque face she'd come to associate with the man called Sinister. His mucronate teeth displayed in an amused simper, he repeated the name she'd called out in her sleep. "Logan?" The scorn with which he said the name caused her to grit her teeth. "I'm so sorry, my dear, but you'll have to be satisfied with me. Logan isn't here."
"Is it too late to ask for a refund then? I bet that's why you went into genetics, isn't it? Tryin' ta fix that ugly mug of yours? Good luck with that."
His empty eyes narrowed and he drew his hand back. Instead of flinching however, Rogue braced herself for the hit, but it never came.
"You would do well to watch that sharp tongue of yours, little one. You have no idea of what I'm capable of doing to you."
"Well, sugar, since you're so obviously fond of hearing yourself speak, why don't you just fill me on in?" Her accent honey coated the words, but couldn't hide the malice that dripped from them.
"You really are a ball of fire aren't you? That's one of the abilities you possess, is it not?" He tilted his head in her direction and waited for an answer.
She smiled in false indulgence and bat her eyelashes, "I dunno sugar, why don't you give me a lighter and we'll find out," before ostentatiously winking.
He sighed, annoyed. "You will be my greatest creation. With your DNA I will finally have the key to creating the Super Mutant. Whenever you absorb someone, you retain a piece of them. Your DNA actually conforms, it holds the changes. Through you, I will be able to make more like you. Through you, I will be untouchable. Rest now. The first absorption will take place shortly. As for your powers, they are useless in this room. Nothing you do inside these walls will facilitate your escape."
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth to keep it from trembling as she glared at his retreating back. She didn't know what was worse: the fact that Logan's rescue had been a dream or the fear of what was to come.
The harsh disappointment when she realized everything with Logan hadn't been real had helped her to shake off the last vestiges of sleep. Somehow, as her conscious mind replaced her subconscious, she was comforted nonetheless. There was a part of her that knew, on the edges of peripheral thought, that Logan was somewhere within the walls of the Institute.
Rogue didn't know if it was the distinct metallic signature of his bones, or a more primal instinct; but she could sense him just beyond her reach. Thinking back, she remembered one of the Professor's lectures about magnetic fields and the threat Magneto posed if he tapped into them. If someone had asked her later how she had known what to do, she'd be unable to answer. At that moment however, her need, her desire for Logan transcended and eclipsed all thoughts of the impossible.
Visualizing Logan and focusing on the metal that ran throughout his body, she opened herself up to the planet's magnetic fields. The one thought coursing through her mind, was to become a magnetic homing beacon.
'Because I have a clue what I'm doing,' she scoffed. 'Right. I may not be able to use my powers to get OUT, but he never said anything about bringing anyone else IN.'
With a new sense of determination she settled herself against the hospital bed. Centering her power she fixed her mind on Logan once more and released the longing she felt.-
