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Chapter Twenty-Five:

Rogue took one last deep breath; her powers once again under her control. She took another few moment to reinforce the psychic blocks she had set up in her mind.

'Thank god, for Jean's power,' she thought satisfied as she opened her eyes.

She glanced over at the clock, it was eleven-twenty-three. She was cutting it close but she could make it work. She quickly stood up and made her way to her dresser. She opened her top draw and pulled out a small black watch.

'Okay, Anna Marie, try not to be a coward this time. It's only a two month lecture series. You already blew two of your chances,' she thought as she walked over to bed and picked up her backpack. She slipped the watch into the front pocket of her bag and looped it over her shoulder. 'You gotta bite the bullet and talk to him,' she told herself as she took a deep breath. 'Tell Max you ain't coming to his class and get inta Manhattan early,' she ordered herself.


Magneto sat at his desk, glancing over the test results. He had graded them so quickly last night, he barely recalled who had understood what. He needed the refresher before his class started, which was rather soon.

He looked up from his notes as he felt someone walking towards his room. The small amounts of metal on their clothing giving them away. The person was wearing a pair of jeans and had a bag of some sort, most likely a backpack, over their shoulder. He dismissed these trivial details as soon as he had sensed them. What piqued his interest, however, was an image inducer, not against someone's wrist as he might expect, but suspended within the front pocket of the backpack.

'Curious,' he thought as he stood up. 'What could Night-crawler possibly need?' he thought as he walked over to his door. He opened it to find Rogue standing in front of him.

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"Hello, dear," he said, concealing his surprise as he moved out of her way.

"How'd it go with Charles?" she asked as she entered his room.

"I was impatient with him," he admitted, as he closed the door behind her, as his senses lingered on the image inducer in her bag. 'Where did she get that device?' he asked himself.

"You probably restrained yourself more than I would've," she grinned, as he heard her sit on the bed, placing the bag beside her.

"Perhaps," he chuckled as he turned to face her. "I made it painfully clear, that he isn't to force you into another confrontation on the matter," he said as he walked back over to his chair and sat. "We'll see if he abides by it," he said as he studied her. Her demeanor seems off in some way.

"Hopefully, he will," she said as she ran a hand though her hair

"Indeed," he said as he studied her. "Are you alright? You seem- nervous," he said. He watched as a surprised expression crossed her face. She let out a little sigh as the expression left her features.

"I guess I am," she smiled before letting out another sigh. "It's about this morning," she said her tone turning more serious.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You can't do that again," she told him.

"My girl, I am still learning how to navigate these encounters of ours. I have no intention of making you uncomfortable in any way that you do not deem enjoyable. So, yes, of course, if there is anything that you do not wish for me repeat, all you have to do is say so," he said.

He watched a smile grace her face as the tension she was holding in her limbs loosened and her posture relaxed.

"Max- I loved nearly every second of it," she said. "But," she started her smiling faltering, "we can't do anything in my room again. Jean's powers are getting stronger and she heard us," she explained as his eyes widened. "It's okay," Rogue said quickly. "I talked to her. Apologized a bunch. She ain't gonna say anything to anyone. Everything's fine. Just-" she started to say. He held up his hand which quieted her.

"Understood, my girl," he said.

"Thanks," she smiled as she stood up. "And I gotta skip your class today," she said quickly as she picked up her bag.

"Oh?" he asked his eyes shifted to glance at the bag as she slung it over her shoulder.

"I gotta be someone by one-thirty. So, I'll explain later," she said as she started to walk towards the exit.

"You're leaving the institute?" he asked as she stood up.

"Yeah," she answered as he felt her place a hand on the door knob.

"Is that why you need an image inducer?" he asked. He felt her hand slip off of the door knob as she let out a sigh. "Where did you procure one? I doubt Charles is handing them out," he said.

"No shit," she sighed as she turned to face him. "I made it," she told him.

"Really?" he asked fascinated as he took a step towards her. "May I see it, please?" he asked.

"Fine," she huffed annoyed. "Just don't make a big deal out of it, okay? It's just an image inducer," she asked as he felt the zipper on the backpack begin to open seemingly on its own.

'She must have absorbed Miss Grey's powers,' he realized as he watched her let the backpack gracefully fall to the floor. The watch was lifted into the air and to Rogue's hand and she put the device on.

"I didn't change that much," she said as she pressed the small button on the side of it, activating the image inducer. He raised an eyebrow at her appearance before he began to circle her.

"Smart of you to keep your height and body type the same, given the inducer's limitations," he said as he observed the hologram from behind her. "Black is suitable selection," he said as he stepped up to her back and lifted some of the black hair, letting it run through his fingers. The hologram remained consistence even as he moved her hair, up and down. It wasn't the easiest aspect to program into the device. It would have been far easier to pull her hair up into a pony-tail and avoid the extra work.

"Even without altering the length of your hair, it differs your look considerably," he said as let her hair fall back into place. "The color on your skin is nice touch. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd had spent the day lounging on the beach," he said amused as he moved back in front of her.

"Everyone's always saying how I need to get more sun," she said rolling her eyes.

"Indeed," he said he took her chin in his hand and lifted her gaze up to his. "Clever to select brown eyes," he said.

"They are the most common. Are ya done with the inspection yet?" she asked impatiently as she rolled her eyes.

"It's an impressive disguise, my girl," he smirked. "You made this?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered as she switched the watch off.

"Where did you get the components?" he asked as he took her hand in his. He brought her wrist up to his face so he could examine the watch.

"Kurt's his old image inducer broke a while back when he was helping Toad with-" she started to say before she cut herself off. He watched her shake her head before continuing "I was able to salvage most of what I needed from it. The rest I got from stuff laying around the institute," she answered.

"Spare parts? You made this from spare parts?" he laughed astonished.

"It wasn't that hard," Rogue said with a smirk. He chuckled at that.

"Have you have any issues with it shorting out?" he asked.

"It works as long as I use it sparingly." she answered as he slipped his free hand around her waist. He pulled her closer to him, her hands moving to his chest. "Max, I gotta go," she said.

"To do what?" he asked as he met her gaze. "You mentioned that you've acted upon your ideological beliefs," he guessed.

"No," she said quickly, "That's ain't what this is about. It's more personal than that," she said pointedly, no doubt hoping he would drop the subject.

"Oh?" he asked, regardless. She sighed as she hesitated to answer his question, as she often did. "If we were discussing my past you would readily answer my questions," he said. She let out an annoyed huff as she rolled her eyes.

"Not everything is about you," she said bitterly.

"I never said it was. I was merely drawing attention to the pattern I've recognized. If I inquired about my past you're happy to comply. If I ask about you, you're uncommunicative," he pointed out as he searched her gaze for any response to his words.

Something flashed in her eyes. Once again he saw, what he now knew to be, fear in her eyes. She blinked and the fear was gone.

"Do all of our conversation have to turn into interrogations?" she asked annoyed.

"You tell me, my girl," he countered with a raised eyebrow. "What are you so afraid of?" he asked. Her eyes widened at that and she pushed back, breaking out of his hold. She turned away from him.

"I want to tell you more about myself. I have been. Just- There's so much I've never said out loud before. I've talked more about myself this past week than I have my entire life," she pointed out as he walked towards her.

"That's true, isn't it, dear?" he asked as he placed his hand on her shoulders. "Why is it so difficult for you to speak about yourself?" he asked.

"I already promised to warn you, if I'm in danger," she said as she turned to face him again. "Isn't that enough for this morning?" she asked softly, deflecting his question. He let out a sigh at that as he returned his hands to her shoulders.

"Can you truly fault me for attempting to better understand you?" he asked. "As you've said, there must be an abundance of information about yourself that you have never shared with another and I relish the opportunity to be the one you choice to confide in," he said.

"Then, could ya give a girl a chance ta volunteer?" she asked with a smirk. "It's not that I don't want you to know, Max. It's- Silence and secrecy is how I've always managed the competitive environment. I've started losing control over it 'cause I'm actually talking about shit and it's- it's- I'm terrified of everything going to hell cause I couldn't keep my damn mouth shut," she said.

"There's no danger in silence because nothing changes. The risk lies in disclosure," he summarized.

"Pretty much," she confirmed.

"To clarify, you're not worried about me at this moment?" he asked.

"No," she smiled as she shook her head. "Max, I got you right where I want you," she said before she leaned up and pressed her lips to his. He moved his hand to her cheek as they deepened the kiss. He felt her relax in his arms. She playfully bite his bottom lip as she pulled away from the kiss. He chuckled at that.

"My girl, what is stated between us, stays between us," he said before he kissed her again.

"I know, I mean- hopefully it's actually working," she said softly.

"What's working?" he asked.

"I turned off my psionic emanat-" she started to say as fear flashed in her eyes again.

He knew she was very skilled at keeping her emotions, especially fear from gracing her features. It was why he had become so obsessed with her eyes and the secrets they held. Now, however, the fear was prominent on her face as well.

"Shit," she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to say that out loud," she whispered panicked.

"Rogue?" he asked concerned.

"Shit- shit- shit," she said as her breaths started to come fast.

'This isn't a manipulation,' he realized as she closed her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "It's alright, take a deep breath," he instructed her he held her to him. 'Psionic emanations?' he asked himself surprised as he rubbed her back, softly up and down, hoping it would help to calm her. 'That's why she has the image inducer,' he realized.

'She must have used Miss Grey's powers to block her psionic emanations. When she leaves the institute, she can't be tracked telepathically, regardless if she uses her abilities or not. Cerebro won't be able to find her either. She must use the device to hide her appearance and gain the freedom to whatever it is she intends to do' he thought as her breathing started to return to normal. 'It must be a rather powerful telepath she's afraid of to go through these procedures to avoid them. Who is she so afraid of?' he thought.

"I apologize," he said aloud. "I'm still learning when I should and shouldn't push you for answers," he said.

"It ain't your fault," she muttered. "I'm the one who dropped my guard," she said as she opened her eyes. "That's on me. I gotta go," she said as she pulled herself out of his arms

"Rogue," he said. "You don't necessarily need to tell me. If I heard you correctly before then we both know what that's means," he said as she telekinesis to bring the backpack to her hand. "It doesn't need to be stated aloud. However, given that understanding, does anyone know where you're going today?" he asked as he caught her gaze again.

"Kitty does. She's been covering for me when I go to the city," she answered. "I should be back before dinner," she said.

"Manhattan? You're going to Manhattan?" he asked.

"Yeah. Empire State University," she answered at last.

"Why there?" he asked.

"There's this lecture series I've been going too," she said.

"About?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter," she said. He raised an eyebrow at that. "It ain't until one-thirty but I ended up missing it last week when I went to your class," she said.

"You're going by yourself?" he asked alarmed.

"I have a couple of friends that I'm meeting up with," she said defensively.

He didn't like this at all. Within a few hours of promising to protect her, he already felt there was just cause for him to do so. He should postpone his class and go with her. Perhaps get to the to the bottom of this phantom telepath who haunted his lover's steps. It simply wouldn't do.

"Rogue?" he asked concerned. He heard her let out a sigh. "I can postpone my-" he started to offer.

"Max," she said strongly as she marched up to him. "Let's get something straight," she said as she stared up him. "I like when you take control in the bedroom but that does not mean I want you ta dominate every aspect of my life. I've been taking care of myself for a real long time before you showed up. I ain't some helpless damsel that's gonna need your protection every five seconds. I'm a mutant, Magneto," she said pointedly.

He felt a smirk creep across his lips as he watched this girl, this woman, he was so enamored with assert herself.

"A powerful one," she said strongly, her voice filled with pride. "I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful for your offer to protect me. 'Cause I am. There's gonna be a time where I'm gonna have ta take ya up on that, but that day ain't today. Do not treat me like some fragile piece of glass that you have to keep from breaking. I'm made from stronger stuff than that," she finished.

"Of course, you're not helpless, my girl. I never thought you were. I've more to say on the matter. However, I've delayed you long enough. Go," he said. She smirked before she leaned up and gave him a peck on the lips.

"See ya tonight, Max," she said before she backed away and left.


Little Red Dove: Happy belated Birthday! And no worries! Sorry to hear about your lap-top. I've been there before and it's sucks.

Thank you for recommending the fic to your friend! I'm glad she's enjoying it I'm glad you liked the scene with Jean and Rogue! I'm going to start adding more characters to the fic and I'm so happy you're up for reading those scenes as well. I've fully decided what the plot for the fic is going to be and now it's just writing it and letting it all play out. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Oh! I also took your advice and started to post on Archieveofourown. I'm still not ready to get into Taunting, but I reported all of this fic (minus this chapter) to that site. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter