A/N: Whhhheeewww, its been awhile but I'm determined to finish this story. I actually had this xhapter done on Monday, but because I made an "infraction" my acount was locked until today. Sucks but oh well, least you get your chapter. This one is kind of a sad chapter and many of you may get angry at me for it. Hope you enjoy it, remember to give me a review!!

Chapter 57 – Not this Time

Frost stood staring out her window at the moon. It was a crescent sliver in the dark. The palest of whites in the black sky. She smiled and closed her eyes, basking in the glow. Caliban growled low next to her, rubbing his bare head against her leg, nuzzling her hip. She let her hand trail over him, scratching behind his ear and rubbing the back of his neck. Everything was running smoothly. Though Gambit leaving and helping those X freaks was not part of her plan. It was just a minor glitch, a slight bump in the road that she was determined not to let screw up her perfect plan.

Gambit would be dealt with later. She couldn't kill him though. He was to go to Magneto. But she'd need a new pet for her bedroom. Her smile broadened, maybe the Wolverine. He would be a challenge to tame but he'd be well worth it for her beds sake. And she was sure that after she was through with him, he'd be hers always. Just like Caliban was, just like Gambit had been. Only time would tell. But the blue one wasn't bad looking either, neither was the one with the visor. She'd have her choices later. Right now, all that mattered was Tristian and his power.

He was the main course of her plan. The one thing she desired more than the man to put between her sheets. She'd been trying to go after him for years and she almost had him until that bitch Bonnie came along and ruined it all. Now the red head Jean was ruining it all again. But not this time.

She let a cold smile spread across her red lips, blue eyes blazing as she gazed down at Caliban. "He will be mine, Caliban. No girl will ruin me this time," she stared at the moon. "It happened once before...but not this time."

She turned her back away from the window heading towards her room with Caliban in tow. If she'd looked a second more she would have seen the X jet fly overhead.

Rogue groaned. Her back was sore and her face hurt from where Stryfe had hit her. Her arms were aching from the way she sat against the wall, arms twisted behind her. She tried to move her fingers to get circulation going but winced at the numb pain. She blew at the hair in her face to move it and looked around the dark basement.

The only light they had was the single light bulb that swung from the wire in front of them, basking them in a pale yellow glow. She turned her head painfully to Bobby. He had his head leaning against the brick wall behind them, dry blood covered one side of his face from forehead to chin. She nudged him with her shoulder.

"Bobby?" she whispered. She nudged him again speaking louder, "Bobby!"

"Huh?" he grunted and peeked his eyes open.

She let out a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like tha'."

He smiled weakly. "Sorry." He gestured at the darkness with his head. "Has it done anything?"

"Ya, it's moved a lil," she said in a whisper, staring at the darkness. Hearing Emplate's chains rattle every now and then as if timing their life's clock, chiming away the minutes they had left. They were going to die in this basement, Rogue was sure of it.

She closed her eyes and took a shaky deep breath to steady the rapid beat of her heart that she was almost sure Bobby could hear. Once she had enough courage to talk without the break of tears in her voice did she speak. "I love you, Bobby."

"I love you, too, Rogue," he whispered back and Rogue vaguely wondered if he felt the fact too. That they were going to die.

She thought of the X-Men then. They would come for them. And they would die here to. In this basement. It would be their grave, at least for some of them. She prayed they wouldn't come. Prayed they'd stay away and leave Bobby and her to their fate. It was bad enough it was going to end like this for them, but not for the others. They should be spared.

Footsteps echoed and they both gasped. The creature growled and its ruby red eyes could be seen in the darkness as the mechanical steps got closer. "Bobby, I'm scared."

He moved closer to her. "I won't let anything happen to you."

It wasn't her safety she feared. It was the safety of the X-Men. Her fate couldn't be changed, but there's could be. It wasn't too late for them. The person stepped into the light and Stryfe smiled down at them. "Let the fun began," he reached down and plucked them up by their shoulders. But for her and Bobby, life would be short. She didn't regret anything. She lived her life the best she could for a mutant.

Next to her Bobby struggled against Stryfe as he shoved him back against Cain who held him tightly across the chest. Bobby gasped and still struggled. Rogue let out a stifled cry, praying to every God she could think of to spare them and wishing she had her powers to prolong her life, maybe even save them from these two.

She wished even harder that her friends be saved from the same fate. That she'd be forgiven for being the bait that brought them to it. A tear fell down her cheek as she saw the blade, but her eyes stayed on bobby, watching him slowly suffocate. She closed her eyes and knew there was no coming back from it this time. Logan had saved her from the dark last time. But not this time. So she did the only thing she could different from last time. She welcomed her own darkness.

I know its been a long time but I finally got a simple idea. R&R PLEASE. New chapter coming soon.