2

It was still late by the time Magneto and Rogue arrived at his base. Rogue was getting sleepy in the ball that was pretty uncomfortable even though Magneto had made her a seat inside it.

When she came out of the ball though and saw the base she wasn't overwhelmed. She did feel a little uneasy at the entire place being made of metal, however. In fact, massively on edge. She'd barely knew the guy two seconds and now she was inside a metal fortress that he could control with his mind. She might never see sunlight again.

"Huh, sure do make a girl feel free ta leave whenever she wants when ya placin' her in dome of your control," Rogue muttered.

"There are advantages to having buildings full of metal. Indeed, I may stop someone exiting, say, an intruder or someone who has betrayed me. But I am also at an advantage to defend us if we are ever attacked. That, and weaving a fortress made of metal rather than searching for a brick building is less time consuming." Magneto said.

Rogue snorted, "So basically, ya skippin' out on gettin' a mortgage." Rogue said, finding herself amusing.

Magneto didn't laugh. It seemed he was as cold as the metal surrounding him.

When they entered a large, circular room, Rogue noticed there were four men coming out of the metal works. Rogue stopped to eye them all up. One was very tall and built like a house. She hadn't seen anyone his size before nor with his muscle. The next man was tall, but not as tall as the first one. He was lanky with black and red eyes that she could see from a far. She bet he was terrifying for anyone who strolled the streets at night and thought a demon was after them. The next man was just a little bit smaller than the demon eyed man, but much more brightly coloured in his orange suit that matched his orange hair. The last was taller than both men in the middle. He was furry and sniffing the air as he approached. They stopped in a line before Magneto.

"Rogue, these are my men. Colossus, Gambit, Pyro and Sabretooth. Acolytes, this is the Rogue." Magneto said.

Magneto began to go off on some speak about how they would all soon train together and learn of each others abilities there. Rogue, however, noticed that Sabretooth was still eyeing her up and down with a glare. He looked angry, but she could see he was biting his tongue and trying to focus on Magneto. Rogue had a bad feeling about him. She figured he would be the one to cause her the most trouble. Especially when he was eyeing her like that. Rogue couldn't resist.

She stepped up to Sabretooth, interrupting Magneto and saying, "Awww, well aren't you a pretty kitty?"

The orange haired man burst into laughter. Rogue couldn't see the other two men, otherwise she would have saw Gambit's smirk as well and Colossus' shock.

Sabretooth stepped closer to her, towering above her as if trying to intimidate her.

"Watch it mouse! Or you might not live passed tomorrow." Sabretooth threatened.

Rogue didn't flinch. Sabretooth was too busy glaring into her green eyes to notice that Rogue let her free hand slip up to just behind his ears. And she began to scratch.

"Owww, ferocious kitty." Rogue said, still scratching and move her hand around behind his ear.

All the men in the room knew that the only person who could save her then was Magneto if he was even fast enough to stop the strike Sabretooth was aiming at Rogue's gut. That was, also, if Magneto would even bother trying to save her life. Sabretooth had lifted his arm, his fingers coming together to form small knives to cut through the girl's flesh.

His arm stopped just short of her chest as it went slack. A small purr mixed in a growl escaped Sabretooth's sealed lips as his eyes closed. Rogue chuckled as she found the spot she was looking for.

Sabretooth's eyes shot open at the giggle. His hand slapped hers away. Anger starting to take over his face again

"Please reframe from antagonising my men, Rogue." Magneto said.

Rogue turned her head slowly to glance at Magneto, the mirth still in her eyes. Sabretooth stormed off, jumping high and prowling away.

"Ain't ma fault if ya men have a stick up their arse." Rogue said, now turning to eye up the other three men remaining. It had been a while since she'd had the company of anyone other than Irene or Mystique.

The orange haired man looked like he was trying to hold back his laugh, but he couldn't. The demon eyed man had a smirk on his face. The tall and muscular man's face hadn't moved. Oh, he was next.

"Besides," Rogue said, making her way slowly towards Colossus, shaking her hips as she did, "be rude of meh not ta say hello properly."

Rogue stopped in front of Colossus. He really was stiff and unmoving in emotion as he glanced down at her. Rogue tilted her head to one side, folding her arms over her chest and bringing a finger up to her lips.

"Rogue, this is-" Magneto began to say, but Rogue had shifted her full attention onto Colossus.

"Hiya big fella." She said, stepping forwards towards him so their chests almost touched, "You gonna make sure no harm comes ta little, sweet meh?"

Colossus turned his head away from her, but she caught the small blush on his checks as she stroked his arm with the back of one gloved finger.

"I think you best take Magneto's advice if you ain't lookin' to get hurt, Cherie." Said the demon eyed man.

He had been watching this girl, amused the entire time she'd stepped foot into the Acolyte's base. He'd looked her up and down as soon as she'd entered, seeing nothing special about her except her white stripes. He had wondered if they were dyed or apart of her mutation. She had nice green eyes and a great figure. She was dressed in just some plain jeans, green top with a brown leather bomber jacket and some black gloves. She didn't wear any make-up and her hair just hanged loose around her face. From what he read of her style of clothing, he guessed that she wasn't into trends. That, or hadn't been given the chance to choose her style. She'd fade into a crowd quite easily in that get up though. Maybe. Women her age usually wore make-up so that would make her stand out. That and the fact that she was almost fully covered up. He was sure he'd heard that she was from the south. If he hadn't broke into Magneto's files and seen what her mutation was, he'd be questioning if she really was from the south if she was covered head to toe. Then, her southern drawl had confirmed she was. Also reading that file, he kind of understood why she didn't have a trending style of dress. She'd been hidden most of her life by Mystique.

Before she'd even stepped foot in this base, he'd almost been expecting a girl who was shy because she had no idea how to act around people since she'd been cooped up so long. That or a girl with anger issues. Seeing her flirting, however, was a nice surprise. He wasn't looking forward to having to tip toe around a shy girl nor deal with someone else with a bad attitude problem. It was a nice surprise for sure.

Rogue turned on Gambit. She'd noticed that his red irises seemed to be glowing almost. Now that she was getting up close to the man who she depicted as Cajun, she started to realise how nice his eyes really were.

Rogue stepped towards him, this time, getting in his person space more than she had with Colossus. She reached up, taking his chin in-between her fingers as she tipped his head to look down further into her eyes.

"Awww, you supposed ta be the dark, dashin' hero type? Those eyes certainly help the façade." Rogue said, starting to get lost in those soldering, dark eyes of his. He really was quite attractive. Rogue almost felt like she was falling. Especially as she muttered, "there like burnin' rubies in the night."

Gambit seemed to hold back a snort, but one of his eyebrows rose as he reached up and took the wrist of the hand that was cupping his chin. He was sure that his life here with the Acolytes had just become much more interesting, but only when his boss wasn't stood there watching them. He could tell that she'd fallen under his charm like most women do when he looked at them. He wasn't really used to women approaching him though. All though he knew he could be very captivating and persuasive, that only usually happened when he sort out a woman or man himself and had them swoon under his charm. If he wasn't seeking them out, usually, his eyes would scare anyone away. It was quite a nice change to be approached by someone who was flirting with him rather than the other way around. This Rogue girl was definitely making a first good impression on him. But probably not their boss.

"Let's just say I more don't fancy cleaning up dis place if you keep headin' where you're goin'," Gambit said, releasing her hand gently.

Rogue blinked once, then felt like some sort of spell had been broken. She'd never experienced that with a man before. And, seeing as he was a mutant, she guessed that whatever she'd just experienced was a part of his mutation. She'd have to be wary of that the next time around. All though she hadn't said much that was embarrassing or bad, those last few words of hers had felt like they were out of her control.

Rogue then left another hand on her shoulder. This one was a little rougher than Gambit's had been.

"I believe that is enough for the night." Magneto said, beginning to force Rogue forwards further into the base.

Rogue's smirk grew. Her gaze hadn't dropped from Gambit's and his hadn't left hers. She winked at him as she allowed Magneto to guide her body. "See ya around, sugar." Rogue said, as she finally turned her attention to where she was going.

"Awww," she heard a Australian voice say behind her, "I never got my introduction." Said Pyro.

Rogue chuckled at this and said over her shoulder, "Ain't much ta say there. The crazy says it all."

As she began to get taken down a corridor, Magneto's hand lifting, she heard Pyro's manic laughter say "Ha har! I like that Shelia. Who knew Sabie could purr!"

Rogue smiled, feeling now more than before that she'd made the right decision to leave Irene and Mystique. The new men in her life seemed like pretty toys to play with.

Magneto showed her to a room that was just as big, if not bigger, than her last room at her mamas. She even had a shower attached to her room she noticed as she peered into it.

"You skip on water bills too?" Rogue asked, smiling devilishly at him.

"Make yourself familiar. Tomorrow, you will be collected at seven am sharp and will attend your first meeting. And Rogue, I expect you not to torment my men and pay attention to what I have to say," Magneto said. As he did, Rogue noticed that parts of her wall began to rip off and other metal items lifted to surround her too. Rogue glanced around herself, raising her eyebrow at the threatening gesture, "or else."

Rogue scoffed, "Ya really do need ta brush up on ya people skills, ya know." Rogue said, eyeing Magneto, smile on her face.

She just wasn't afraid of him. Sure, if they were actual enemies, then yes, there would be a threat to fear. But he was trying to convince her to join his team and do jobs with her after all. She was pretty sure he wouldn't hurt her if he needed her in one piece to get a job done. That just made the threat seem less… well, threatening.

"When it comes to business I expect you to act responsible." Magneto said.

Rogue nodded her head, "Sure, sure. Then I get ta check out the locals, yeah?" Rogue asked.

Magneto wanted to sigh. There was a reason he had surrounded himself by men who were no longer teenagers. But he could not afford to send her to the Brotherhood house. She was too powerful to lose. He knew he would just have to reinforce some form of discipline, however, he would also have to be careful not to push Rogue back into the arms of Mystique. He was still dubious of her and whether she would try spying on him for Mystique.

Rogue watched as Magneto returned the metal pieces to their original places, feeling like she'd accomplished a small victory. She knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"Sleep now. Tomorrow, we will further discuss your role working for me." Magneto said, going to close the door behind him as he left.

"Oh Mags," Rogue called after him.

Magneto turned slightly.

Rogue knew she shouldn't be saying this yet because she didn't even know the man, but Irene had taught her manners and, if this place was any good, she wanted to be on good terms with it's boss.

"Thank you." Rogue said.

Magneto nodded, closing the door fully and leaving. He had felt some what more reassured that he had made the right decision after hearing Rogue's manners. She may have been a teenager and the daughter of Mystique, but he knew Mystique would never thank him. Perhaps, there was hope for her yet.

Rogue dropped her bag and lay back on her bed, sighing. She did feel guilt at just taking off and ditching both of her mamas, but… she was just going crazy locked up there with them. Maybe now, after escaping them, she'd be able to actually try and enjoy her life while she had her freedom.