"Hey, Scott?" Kitty Pryde nervously twisted one brown lock of hair around her finger.
"Hey, Kitty." He looked at her absently, then glanced back at the latest issue of Newsweek. "The New Mutant Threat" was splashed across the cover, with a warped strand of DNA as the accompanying photo. Not that the "mutant threat" was all that new, but every few weeks, the big news magazines published another round of supposedly unbiased stories detailing exactly why the mutant population posed such a threat to mainstream society. He tossed the magazine into the recycling bin. "What's up?"
"Well…it's…Rogue."
"What now?" There was a hint of exasperation in his voice. Since her final encounter with Mystique, Rogue had been even more distant than usual. In more trouble than usual. And while he ached for her, he also wanted his team running smoothly and back on track.
"Well…um…I can't find her." The words came out in a rush. "We were supposed to have a practice session in the Danger Room together, but I waited for an hour and she never showed. I mean, she wasn't there when I woke up this morning, either, but I just figured she was, like, avoiding me. She does that a lot lately, y'know. Avoids people."
"I know." Scott sighed. "You think she took off?"
"I guess so. I don't want to be a total tattletale, but I know the Professor wanted us to keep a closer eye on her. Should I not have bothered you?"
"No, you were right to tell me. I'll tell the Professor." He concentrated for a moment. Professor?
Scott, what's wrong?
Kitty says Rogue's missing. We thought you'd want to know.
Scott's mind was quiet as the professor cast around the grounds of the mansion, and not finding her there, searched Bayville.
She is indeed gone. I can't locate her at the Institute or in town. I'm on my way down to Cerebro now, but I'd like you to gather the senior X-men in the conference room.
Sure thing, professor. We'll be there in a minute. Scott turned to Kitty. "Hope you didn't have big plans for today," he said. "Go find Kurt and I'll get Jean. Meet back in the conference room in five minutes." He shook his head and went in search of Jean.
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"So the last time anyone saw her was yesterday before dinner?" The professor turned his cool gaze on the assembled team.
Kitty nodded. "I was working on a paper in the library. I was so tired when I was done that I didn't even stop to see if she was in the room – I just crashed. I'm really sorry."
"It's all right, Kitty. You're not supposed to be guarding Rogue. And I'm guessing she didn't want to be found." The professor looked grim. "Cerebro has been unable to locate her, so she is either deliberately not using her powers, or she's been unable to."
The team was silent as the meaning behind the words sunk in.
Logan appeared a deeper scowl than usual on his face. "She didn't sleep in her bed last night."
"Maybe she's just off somewhere…being alone." Jean suggested. "She hasn't exactly been social lately."
"I tracked her to the highway," said Logan. The scent ends there, so she must have gotten into a car."
"On purpose? Even Rogue's not that reckless, Professor." Kurt looked at the ground. He didn't know how he was feeling about Rogue lately. His adopted sister had killed their mother. How did you forgive that? On the other hand, how did you turn away from the only family you still had? "We should go find her."
"It gets worse, Chuck," Logan growled. "She's being followed.
"By whom?"
"Two somebodies, it smells like. One's a bunch I don't know. The other one is that Cajun who used to work for Magneto."
"Gambit?" Kitty asked. "He wouldn't hurt Rogue. He wouldn't," she insisted, as Wolverine snorted and Scott rolled his eyes at her naïveté. "He teases her, but he's helped her out a couple of times, like at school – sometimes we get harassed by the normal kids. He's stepped in and scared them off. I think he actually likes her. I mean, like-likes her. Y'know. Like a boyfr…" she trailed off at the murderous looks in Kurt and Logan's eyes.
The professor raised his eyebrows. "Be that as it may, Kitty, I'm still concerned for Rogue's welfare. We don't know what Gambit's intentions are, and it doesn't address the problem of the second group following her. Cerebro did pick up the signature of Gambit's powers last night in New York City." Xavier turned to Logan. "Take the team in the Blackbird. I'll give you the exact coordinates en route."
"You heard the professor," Logan growled. "Get suited up and meet in the hangar in ten minutes." The kids rushed out and he turned back to the professor. "Whadda you really think," he demanded. "Is the kid okay?"
"Rogue was not okay before she left," he replied. "The aftermath of the incident with Mystique, of letting Apocalypse loose…these events have only served to further isolate Rogue from the team. She's in a very precarious emotional state. I've been working with her, but it's been slow going."
"Mystique got what she deserved. The elf is hurting, and that's not nothing, but he's coming around. And nobody blames her for what happened with Apocalypse!"
"She blames herself. Her background and her mutant powers have forced her to maintain a degree of control that is exceedingly unusual in someone her age. To act as impulsively as she did when pushing Mystique off the cliff…to have her powers taken out of her control and used against her friends…and now, to cope with all of the personalities she absorbed while under Mesmero's control…It's taken a great toll on her, Logan. I should have foreseen this. I should have tried to prevent it."
"Now who's blaming themselves? She's a teenager, Chuck. Nobody can guess what they're gonna do. But you didn't answer my question. Do you think Rogue's okay?"
"I honestly don't know."
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Surveying the ruined back of the club, Wolverine sniffed as Jean turned to Scott. "Well, I guess it's pretty clear Gambit was here."
Scott nodded. "But was Rogue?"
"Yeah." Wolverine snarled. "She was here. So was the other group I smelled back at the institute. Seems like Rogue and the Cajun came out this way. The others didn't."
Nearby, Kurt paced as Kitty laid a consoling hand on his arm. "We'll find her, Kurt. Mr. Logan's already caught her scent."
"There was obviously a fight, Kitty. If Gambit was doing all this damage, why wouldn't Rogue be using her powers, too? Why can't Cerebro find her?" The boy shook his fuzzy head, tail whipping back and forth in agitation. "Something's wrong. I can tell."
"So can I," said Wolverine grimly. "I smell blood. Rogue's blood."
Kurt's yellow eyes went wide. "Please…Wolverine…find my sister."
"I'm on it, elf. Let's go."
The trail to the apartment wasn't hard to follow. Within minutes, the Blackbird was hovering above a brownstone in a well-kept neighborhood.
"This totally does not seem like Magneto's kind of place," Kitty said. "Seriously. This is like…way too low key for a super-villain."
The team stood ranged in a half-circle. "Here's the plan." Eyes flinty behind his mask, Wolverine stood. "Jeannie, you stay here and keep an eye on things. Can you sense her?"
Jean concentrated. "She's on the north side of the building, top floor. She's been hurt, but she's okay. She's…afraid, I think. I'm sorry. I can't get more than that – her mental shields have really come along since she's been working with the professor."
"Be ready to yank us all out of there. We might outnumber Gambit right now, but if the rest of the Acolytes are around, then we get Rogue and go. Cyclops, you and Shadowcat here head in the front – phase through and short out any security systems you run across."
"Gotcha," said Scott, and he and Kitty phased through the floor of the Blackbird to the roof below.
"What about me?" Kurt asked.
Wolverine looked at him speculatively. "Nightcrawler, you port in – after I've gone first. Once we get in there, you follow my lead. If she looks like she's in any danger, you port her to the Blackbird right away."
"How are you getting in?" Jean asked.
He smiled coldly. "Lower me outside the window."
A/N
Clever rabbits will notice that I've gone back to the previous chapters and mostly eliminated the Gambit in third person thing. I'm not sure if that's considered cheating or not -- and I'm so damn happy to have Gambit not speaking like a musclehead that I don't much care.
Snow queen 2 and Lid'l Rogue -- Thanks. It's not often I'm called both comic and evil, but I live to serve.
Panther Nesmith -- thanks for soothing my conscience over the whole third person thing. It seemed like all the cool kids were doing it, but it's just not me. It's been an awfully long time since I saw the original X-Men cartoon (were there dinosaurs? I seem to remember dinosaurs), and to my chagrin, I've missed many of the Evo episodes that feature Gambit. Which raises the question, I suppose, of why I'm so smitten with him. I guess I just have a soft spot for the con artists. And yeah -- that timing thing's a bitch. It always seems to be for these two.
Ishandahalf -- I have to confess that my two-year-old is often referred to as the bunny, and she's a pretty energetic, willful little thing. I can only imagine how tired I'd be if she were, in fact, a bunny on crack. Sigh. Anyway, yep, Rogue softened up pretty quickly -- how very uncharacteristic of her! I think the drugs and her injuries, combined with being in such a foreign situation just left her completely off-guard. The girl's a wreck, right? Remy's the first person who seems to genuinely understand why. How could you not fall for that feeling of, "Yes -- someone gets me!"? On the other hand, I suspect she won't react well to the realization that she let him get that close. And an angsty Rogue is a snarky Rogue. Never fear. You're Canadian? Lucky you. I've been threatening to move up your way since the Election 2000 debacle. Besides, I like the cold. And disembowelment? While I'm sure Logan's quite skilled in that area, and I'm sure Remy's antics will tempt him to try it, it would definitely put a damper on the relationship!