Sorry, it's been so long. It's been a crazy few months! I've been working on this chapter slowly for months now!
Please enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-three
Magneto had a rather large smirk on his face and then he continued to enjoy the movie. The action had started to ramp up after Agent M had left the hotel room. He had chased after Control and his remaining men on the streets of Rio De Janerio during the height of the first night of Carnival. The streets were adorned with lights of various colors. The people with their elaborate vibrant costumes flooded the streets with their dancing, laughing, and singing.
"Quem é você? Eu não sei," Magma sang softly along with the song, as her foot tapped against the floor in time with the music.
"Hey," Iceman called out. "Amara, you're doing it again," he said.
"Oh, sorry," Magma apologized.
"Leave her alone, Bobby. It's a good song," Sunspot spoke up from the back of the room.
"Oh, sorry," Magma said she turned too looked at Magneto. Magneto raised an eyebrow as the young girl made eye contact with him. "Could you pause it for a sec?" she asked. He gave her a quick nod before pausing the movie.
"Yes?" he asked her.
"Is everything alright, Amara?" Charles asked.
"Of course, Professor," Magma started to speak as she glanced around the room, "There's a scene coming up, where they speak Portuguese, but there aren't any subtitles. Should I translate it? I usually do," she said.
"Hmm, it is a lot?" Pietro asked.
"Kinda," Magma answered.
"Oh yeah, that scene," Toad spoke up. "Yeah, you should translate it," he said. "Or Rogue can," he added. Magneto let out an amused huff as he glanced over at Rogue, she met his gaze, a small smirk on her lips.
"Rogue doesn't speak Portuguese," Shadowcat laughed. Magneto found himself opening his mouth, the question on the tip of his tongue but chuckled instead.
"At that point, my dear," he started to say switching to speaking in Portuguese, "I don't need to ask. I assume you speak the language," he said. Rogue's response was a light chuckle.
"Rogue," Sunspot called over from the other side of the room, the look on his face was one of disbelief. It was apparent to anyone who spoke the language that Rogue had understood his comment. "What the hell?" he asked in Portuguese. Rogue just shrugged at him with a smile.
"Why wouldn't that be something you can do?" Magneto laughed, still speaking in Portuguese, as he shook his head.
"No reason," Rogue replied in kind. He would have thought her southern accent would have gotten in the way of her pronunciation, but her voice was fluid and smooth. He held her gaze for a moment before they both began to laugh.
"So, every time Amara and I spoke, did you understand all of our conversations?" Sunspot asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Those were private conversations," Magma whined, crossing her arms over her chest. "Great, now we can't talk."
"Don't stop because of me," Rogue replied. "The danger room session wouldn't be the same without you two talking shit afterward," she smirked.
"Rogue," Magma exclaimed her face turning bright red as Sunspot and Magneto laughed.
"Seriously, I would never repeat any of it," Rogue said. Sunspot gave her a nod as he finished laughing.
"Joy is an emotion best when shared. Perhaps you could all speak in English so the rest of us could partake," Hank suggested.
"Wait, let me get this straight," Rogue said, switching back to English, peering past Magneto to look at Hank. "You can read ancient Egyptian, a dead language, but you don't know something as practical as Portuguese?" she said.
"Not practical," Hank shot back as Magneto laughed. "It was practical enough when we required the skill set to learn of Apocalypse's history," he retorted.
"Everyone, please," Charles started to interject.
"It was lucky," Magneto commented regardless. "She has a point, Hank," he agreed.
"I will have you know, I am fluent in four languages," Hank replied.
"Wow," Shadowcat replied as a few people in the room nodded in agreement.
"That's a lot," Jean Grey agreed.
"English, Ancient Egyptian, French and Latin," Hank listed proudly.
"So, two dead languages," Rogue teased. Magneto fought to hold in a laugh, his face settling into a rather large grin as Hank glared at Rogue.
"That's respectable, Hank," Magneto said. "For an American," Magneto added dryly as he noticed Sunspot nodding in agreement.
"Respectable?" Hank asked offended. "And how many languages do you speak might I ask?" he asked.
"Nine," Magneto replied.
"Excuse me," Hank asked as his eyes widened.
"Nine," he repeated as he held up his hand, his hand in a light fist. "English, German" he started to list he lifted his fingers to aid in his counting. "Portuguese, French, Russian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Polish and Yiddish," he finished before putting down his hand.
"Really?" Hank asked, visibility taken back by Magneto's answer. "And how about you Rogue?" Hank asked, visibility taken back by Magneto's answer. Rogue's eyes flashed to his and instantly he knew why.
"Perhaps, we should get back the movie?" Magneto asked, deflecting the question on Rogue's behalf. "I believed we've paused it for long enough?" he asked.
"Agreed," Charles said strongly as Hank sighed. "And yes, Amara. A translation would be appreciated for those in the room for do not speak Portuguese," he added, eying Rogue. She just rolled her eyes, before turning back to the screen.
"Okay," Amara said before Magneto obliged and the movie continued as Agent M made his way through the crowds and managed to spot Control a few blocks away from the hotel and the chase had continued.
'How many?' Magneto asked his girl telepathically as he stared at the screen in front of him.
'Fourteen,' Rogue answered.
'Impressive,' he commented with a smirk, not doubting her for a moment, and rather pleased she had answered the question without resistance. 'I assume it's an advantage your powers give you,' he said.
'Hit the nail on the head, sugar,' Rogue replied, he could hear the warmth in her voice. 'I have to study, like anyone else, but when I absorb someone who speaks a language I don't, it's real easy for me to pick it up. I've been going out of my way to learn as many as I can. I know it'll come in handy someday,' she replied.
'Knowledge is never wasted,' he agreed. 'Which one's?' he asked.
'I knew English and French by myself. I know every language you know,' she answered.
'I assumed as much,' he said.
'Arabic and Swahili I picked up from Ororo,' she continued.
'Arabic, really? I never would have guessed,' he said.
'She lived in Egypt for a while when she was a kid,' Rogue explained.
'I see. That makes twelve by my count. What are the other three?' he asked.
'Japanese, Spanish, and Korean. I got those from Mystique,' she finished.
'Remarkable, my girl, truly remarkable,' he replied before returning his attention to the movie.
The fight scene that followed was, by far in Magneto's opinion, the best one so far. Agent M had been robbed of his clean tuxedo, now only wearing pants and a white shirt. He seemed much more comfortable and loose in his movements. It showed in the movie's choreography.
Agent M was quickly and efficiently dodging through the crowd, jumping over, up, and around anything and anyone who was in his path, without causing any harm to his surroundings. Unlike his prey, who were pushing and shoving at those in their way. Screams of annoyance followed after the three men, making it all the easier for Agent M to continue to track them.
The two men, Control still had with him, knocked over a food cart as they ran down a street corner, which Agent M had simply leaped over the obstacle. The chase continued for several minutes of the movie's run time and Magneto was enjoying every second of it, despite its historical inaccuracies.
Agent M finally managed to catch up with one of the men, who had drawn a knife.
"Ele tem uma faca. Rapidamente, saia do caminho," Agent M screamed.
"He has a knife. Quickly, get out of the way," Magma translated as the goon swiped at Agent M several times, who in turned dodged and had to keep those around him in the crowd from getting hurt. Thankfully, the pedestrians had heeded the warning, and space was made. A small circle formed with Agent M and his opponent within it.
"You don't have to do this. Just let me past," Agent M implored as he took a step towards the man.
"I have my orders," the man replied.
"But not a conscience, evidently," Agent M said before he sprang at the man. The man swiped at him again but Agent M succeeded in disarming him, taking the knife for himself. "Stand down and I'll spare your life," Agent M offered as he pointed the knife towards the goon.
Instead, the assailant lunged at Agent M in an attempt to retake the knife. However, all the goon managed to do was get stabbed in the stomach, his body collapsed against Agent M.
"What a waste," Agent M lamented as he allowed the body to hit the floor. He swiftly used the assailant's shirt to wipe off the blood before breaking into a full sprint, leaving the confused crowd in his wake. He heard another scream and speedily ran towards it.
Agent M soon found himself a few blocks away from the main festivities. He slowed his pace as he approached the end of the block and ducted down behind a few garbage pales, to keep out of view and to access the situation.
The shot panned up to show Control, who looked haggard, his hair in disarray, sweat running down his face. He was standing in front of a car, whose driver's side window had been busted in, broken glass was scattered along the floor. Two additional men, who had not been present in the hotel room, walked over to him. One was a tall thin man, with greasy black hair, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. The other was a heavy-set man, wearing a suit, holding a small case.
"Wonderful, reinforcements," Agent M muttered to himself.
The heavyset man, glanced into the car window, seemingly surprised by what he saw inside, as Control ripped the case from his hands. He quickly opened it, revealing a gun, and placed it in the holster beneath his jacket.
"This doesn't bode well," Agent M muttered. "Wait for an opening," he told himself as he ducked back behind the pails.
The shot panned up to Control.
"Have you secured the exit route?" Control asked. The two men took a moment to share a glance.
"Boss," the tall man, a thick Brooklyn accent apparent in his voice. "It's Carnival. We should go back to the hotel, lay low for the night. Make our way to the airport tomorrow morning," he suggested.
"That isn't an option," Control yelled. "Do you have a route?" he asked again.
"A route to drive? Through Carnival? No, boss, I don't got a route. It'd be faster if we walked. Not safer, just faster. Definitely not in a stolen car," the tall man said as the man peered into the window.
The shot switched back to Agent M, as he eavesdropped from behind the garbage pales.
"With hostages?" the tall man said. Agent M's eyes widened he lifted himself. "Boss, why do we got hostages?" the tall man asked as Agent M peered into the car window and saw a family there. A father, mother, and a little girl had been stuffed into the back seat of the car. Agent M's hand balled into a fist.
"It was their car," Control answered dryly as the tall man glanced around the area towards Agent M. He met the tall man's eyes for barely a second before he ducked back down behind the garbage pails.
The shot paned back to Control as the tall man turned to open the passenger car door. Control now looking enraged, took the gun out from his inner jacket and aimed it at the tall man. The heavyset man, raised his hands immediately in size of surrender as he backed away from Control.
"Vamos," the tall man said to the family inside and they exited the vehicle visibly shaking with fear as they clung together.
"Let's go," Magma translated.
"Boss- we're federal officers on foreign soil. We- we can't be taken hostages," the tall man said before turning back to look at Control and became aware of the gun pointed at him. "But we-" he stuttered as his demeanor changing, sweat dripping down his forehead, as he took a step back from Control. "Okay, okay," as he lowered his hands towards his jacket, perhaps he was armed himself.
"Don't move," Control yelled before the heavyset man made a run for it. Control aimed and shot the fleeing man in the back. "No one moves," he screamed as the tall man and the family froze.
The shot panned back to Agent M who glanced around the pales to see the heavy-set man bleeding out.
"Damn it," Agent M muttered to himself. "A child's life hangs in the balance. I have to wait for the right moment," he told himself
"Okay, okay, Boss. Whatever you say," the tall man said.
"Reach real slow and take out your gun," Control ordered.
"You got it, boss," the tall man replied.
"Now, put it on the ground," Control yelled before a brief pause. "Kick it towards me," he ordered. There was a loud and distinct sound of metal banging into metal as the garbage pail moved slightly. "Idiot," Control yelled.
"I can go get it," the tall man offered.
"Leave it," Control yelled.
"Good man," Agent M muttered as he started to move.
The shot paned back to Control as he was shooing the family back towards the car. The tall man walked in front of the family, attempting to shield them from Control. A shot was fired and Control was hit in his shoulder.
"Vamos," Agent M yelled as he appeared from the left. He aimed and pulled the trigger but the gun jammed and wouldn't fire. The family and the tall man attempted to run. However, Control reached forward and managed to grab the little girl's arm and point the gun directly onto her head.
"Back up, back up, back up," Control screamed he turned to face Agent M, who was still advancing on the man. "Do you want more blood on your hands tonight, Agent M? Do you?" Control screamed, as pushed the gun into the girl's head.
"Por favor não me Machuque," the little girl cried.
"Please don't hurt me," Magma translated for the little girl.
"Por favor não minha filha," the mother screamed.
"Please, not my daughter," Magma supplied.
"Meu filho não lhe fez mal. Eu imploro, senhor, pelo amor do céu, deixe minha família ir," the father begged.
Magneto's eyes widened at the father's words, so similar to the ones he had spoken the day he had lost Magda and Anya, his wife and daughter. He felt a pain in his chest at the familiarity of the scene.
"My child had done no you harm. I beg you, mister, for the love of heaven, let my family go," Magma translated.
Magneto sat forward in his seat. His hand gripped his knee, needing to steady himself, wanting, above all, for the little family to remain whole. For them not to be subjected to the same tragedy he and Magda had suffered when their daughter had been stolen from them.
"Keep back or I will shoot you all," Control yelled.
"Eu sinto Muito," the tall man said as he stood between the father and Control. "Eu sinto Muito."
"I'm sorry," Magma supplied.
"Por favor," the father screamed, as he tried to get past the tall man.
"Please," Magma translated.
"Papa, eu não posso fugir," the little girl screamed.
"Papa, I can't get away," Magma supplied.
"There's no need for that, for any of this," Agent M said as he held his hands up in a sign of surrender as he dropped the gun, which was useless to him now. "No one else needs to be hurt. You wanted to take me in, yes? Let them go and I will leave with you willingly," he offered.
"You think me a fool," Control screamed.
"No, no, of course not," Agent M said gently. "I think this is a matter of leverage and you have the winning hand. That is all. Please don't hurt them," Agent M pleaded. "They have nothing to do with this, with our dispute. Please don't harm them. What do I need to do? Tell me and I'll do it," Agent M said.
"Get- get-" Control stuttered. "Get on your knees," he yelled.
"Alright, alright," Agent M said as he did as he was told.
Control cautiously walked around and behind Agent M as he dragged the crying girl with him. Control brought the handle of the gun down and hit Agent M in the back of the head. He quickly fell to the ground unconscious.
Control let the girl go and she ran to her mother and father. The three of them quickly fled past the body of the heavyset man to safety away from Control.
'Oh, thank heaven,' Magneto thought to himself. He felt Rogue's hand cover his again as she grabbed it a quick squeeze. He returned the gesture as he let out a sigh in relief and sat back against the couch.
"Now," Control said. "Are you gonna help me bring Agent M in or do you want to join your friend over there," Control asked gesturing towards the heavyset man.
"That was the mission, right? Let's bring him in," the tall man said.
Magneto felt a sense of fatigue after the scene, the relief that the family had survived was beyond satisfying. A brief scene had felt like an hour, sitting at the edge of his seat, as he watched the little girl struggle to survive. The following scenes seemed to pass by in only an instance.
Agent M awoke in a government building of some kind, strapped to a bed, no doubt about to be tortured in submission. The tall man, whose name turned out to be Jimmy Bradley, has rescued him from his bondage and assisted him with deleting his records from the CIA database (which is actually he had done by himself after dealing with the Fourth Reich in Antarctica) before they both fled from the facility.
Agent M informed Bradley of the truth of what the CIA was doing in regards to Nazi assets, which enraged his fictional partner. The two of them set out to Antarctica together and found the Savage Lands.
Magneto found himself fully invested again as Agent M and Bradley had broken into the Fourth Reich's base of operations. The action scenes were exciting and Bradley's outspoken personality brought some life to Agent M's stoic demeanor.
The two men had quickly found out about the plot to destroy Poland and set to work in stopping the dinosaurs riding Nazis with all of the campiness one would expect from a nineteen ninety's action movie.
Magneto greatly enjoyed the climate and found himself beaming as the credits rolled across the screen.
Rogue glanced over at Magneto, the smile on his face was infectious. She was tired but already knew she didn't want the night to end. He was back in a good mood and wanted to enjoy that.
'So, I was thinking,' Rogue thought, projecting her thoughts into Magneto's mind.
'Yes, dear?' he asked as he glanced over at her
'We could take responsibly for cleaning up the mess and let everyone else go get some sleep?' she asked. She watched him consider it for a moment, already knowing how he would respond.
'That seems fair,' he nodded at him.
"Hey y'all," Rogue said addressing the room, many of the room's occupants turned to look at her. "Magneto and I are gonna take care of the cleanup. Least we can do after making y'all wait so long," she said.
"Seriously?" Bobby asked.
"Yes," Magneto confirmed with a nod.
"The gesture is appreciated and we'll take you both up on that offer," Charles said with a smile. With that, the room broke into multiple conversations as the occupants began to get up and disperse.
"Thanks, Rogue," Bobby said as he, Amara, and the other new mutants rushed towards the exit.
"Hey, wait up," Jamie yelled.
"Sorry, only so much room in the elevator. Get the next one," Ray said as most of the new mutants ran out of the room.
"Jamie, not to worry," Kurt said before he ported to sat next to the young boy. "Who needs an elevator? When you can travel in style," Kurt smiled as he placed his hand on Jamie's shoulder and teleported them out of the room. Rogue couldn't help but smile at the exchange before she turned to face Magneto.
"First we're gonna gather up all the garbage. Then you'll take it upstairs to the kitchen and make us some more tea and I'll return all the furniture to the common room," she suggested.
"I could take the furniture if you like, "Magneto offered.
"Do you know where it all goes?" she asked, knowing full well he didn't. He paused a moment.
"You'll handle the furniture then," he retracted. Rogue found herself laughing at that.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a disgusted look from Wanda directed at her. Considering she, the brotherhood and Kitty were halfway out of the room, she kept her attention on Max as she attempted to ignore her.
"By yourself?" Kitty asked concerned. Rogue turned to face the exit and looked up at Kitty.
"Kitty, don't worry about me," she said as she smiled reassuringly at her friend. "I got magnetism and telekinesis right now. I can move a few couches," she finished dismissively.
"When did you use your powers on father?" Wanda asked alarmed. Rogue physically restrained herself from rolling her eyes at Wanda's tone.
"When I allowed her too," Magneto lied easily, turning to face the exit as well. "After dinner, she was practicing her abilities and we lost track of the time. Again, we apologize," he said- his tone dry, clearly he was getting tired of having to say it. "Good night, Wanda," he said, his voice gentle, yet commanding. "See you tomorrow afternoon," he said- effectively dismissing her.
Wanda's face turned scarlet as she quickly turned and left the room, the rest of the brotherhood followed behind her, along with a few others.
With that, most of the room's occupants had left. Leaving only Charles, Mr. McCoy, Max, Logan, Ororo, Scott, and Jean, who were no doubt waiting for the elevator to be free for use.
"Since it's been brought up, how much process are you making in that regard?" Charles asked.
"Have my powers been helping?" Jean asked.
"Jean, you have no idea," Rogue smiled as she felt Magneto's eyes on her. She glanced up at him to see him cross his arms over his chest as he sat back against the couch.
'Do you want me to lie about this as well?' he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No," she moaned aloud before sighing. "Hold on a second," Rogue said as she pulled her legs up and crossed them on the cough.
"What are you doing?" Scott asked.
"You'll see. Just give me a minute," Rogue replied as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
As she exhaled she used Jean's powers to rid herself of the two consciences in her mind. She took another deep breath as she braced for the onslaught of the burning sensation of her powers which covered every inch of her skin. She exhaled again as she pushed the burning down, turning her powers off.
Jean Grey watched Rogue as she opened her eyes and uncrossed her legs returning them to the ground. Rogue stood as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. To her surprise, she then walked over to the couch where she and Scott were seated, taking the chair Roberto had occupied. Rogue turned the chair to face Jean and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Jean, I just wanna say," Rogue smiled as she started to stripe the gloves from her hands, "thank you for letting me borrow your powers so much. It's really helped," she said as she placed them on her lap. She smiled as held Rogue's gaze.
"You can borrow them as many times as you need," she said. Rogue held out her hands to her. 'I did just offer,' she thought before she placed her hands in Rogues. Jean felt her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She gripped Rogue's hand tightly in her own. "Rogue, this is-" she started to say fluttered. She took a breath, composing herself. There was only one thing to say. "Congratulations," she said earnestly.
"Thank you," she replied as she tightened her grip in kind. Jean felt a sudden urge but stopped herself from acting on it.
"Is it just your hands?" she asked.
"Nope," Rogue smiled. With that, Jean pulled the other girl into a hug which she returned. "Thank you so much," she said.
"I didn't do anything," she said.
"Yeah, you did," she replied as they pulled away from each other. She took her hands into hers again.
"Well, what we talked about this morning makes a lot more sense," Jean teased. Rogue's face blushed slightly.
"Jean Elaine Grey," Rogue reprimanded lightly before both girls broke into laughter.
"What did you talk about this morning?" Scott asked. Both she and Rogue shared another glance before laughing again. "That wasn't an answer," her boyfriend pointed out. She was about to turn to address him but, Rogue gripping her hands, stopped her movement.
"I meant what I said this morning, I'm gonna help you gain control over your powers, the same way you helped me gain control over mine. The conversation that we need to have at some point, still needs to happen, and that is- It's entirely up to you when it happens. But I wanna one thing right now. If that's okay with you?" Rogue asked.
"O- okay," she replied nervously.
"I know how afraid you are of your abilities," she said and instantly Jean felt her chest tighten as she instinctually tried to pull away from the other girl but she gripped her hands. "I really need you to hear me about what I'm gonna say next. Okay?" she asked again.
"Perhaps now is not the time for this," Charles pipped up. Jean watched anger appear on Rogue's face. Her expression went neutral as she rolled her eyes.
"I only wanna help you, the way you've helped me. Please listen to what I have to say," she implored. Jean took a deep breath before nodding.
"Okay," she said again.
"Before I had absorbed you, I had experience with Magneto's powers. Telekinesis and magnetism, they ain't the same, but they ain't exactly different either. What I knew about controlling Magneto's gave me insight into how to control yours," she said.
Jean could sense the others in the room glancing at each other, sharing looks of concern and surprise, especially the professor and Magneto. She could sense a silent conversation between the two. Jean shook her head, blocking out the distractions and focused on Rogue. The other girl smiled at her before continuing.
"Because I've had experience using magnetism, I figured out how much your powers are gonna grow," she said.
"Really?" Jean asked surprised. The other girl nodded, squeezing her hand.
"I know how debilitating fear can be and I'm the last one who should be talking about overcoming it," she said rolling her eyes at herself. "I've spent so much of my life in fear. But-" she said shaking her head again, stopping herself. "My point is, fear ain't good for you. It ain't gonna help any. So, if nothing else, I wanna set your mind at ease," she explained. "And maybe a couple of other people hearing this, ain't the worst thing either," Rogue added knowingly, with a smirk. Jean found herself smiling at that.
"Maybe not," she agreed.
"As powerful as you're gonna become with your natural mutant abilities, that's how strong I am every time I borrow your powers," she said strongly.
"You- you are?" she asked startled.
"Yup, and have you noticed anything?" she asked with a smile.
"Notice anything?" she asked confused.
"Nothing's floating. I ain't reading anyone's mind," Rogue beamed before pausing. It was like she was waiting for something. Jean let Rogue's word sink in as it dawned on her.
"No, you're not," she said amazed.
"I have complete control over your powers because you're powers are controllable," Rogue finished strongly as Jean felt tears forming in her eyes. "So cast that fear from your mind, okay? It's ain't true and it ain't helping you. Ya don't need it," Rogue earnestly as Jean felt tears running down her face.
"I'm going to be able to control them?" she asked.
"Yes, 'course, you are, sugar," she said as she pulled her into a hug. "If it becomes too much and ya need help, I'll be there. In the same way, you've been there for me. Even if all ya need me to do is remind you that you can do this," Rogue finished. Jean squeezed her eyes shut as she held the other girl close to her, tears running freely down her face.
As she held onto Rogue, she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest.
"Thank you," Jean said.
Hey! I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry for breezing past parts of the movie. I might have them rewatch it at some point in the future and I can touch on the scenes I didn't show. It was really affecting my writer's block and this date 05/03/2003 has taken up 11 chapters so far! This is the day that will not end. No matter how much I try to move things along!
Anyway, I'm going to start writing the next chapter and I'll update when I can.
Thanks for reading and looking forward to knowing your thoughts!
