Rogue had had a written summons to Professor Xavier's office. That was a first for her. She'd sort of gathered from the others that getting a written summons to The Professor's office was either very good or very bad. She, Bobby, Peter and Kitty all had ones to go at the same time. So Bobby thought he knew what this was about. He thought it was about being X-men, which he desperately wanted. Rogue wasn't so sure. She didn't think they'd want her. What use would she be to them? She killed anyone she touched. That was it. They had Logan who could heal from anything and had eight inch metal claws, Storm who could summon wind and lightening any time she wanted…
Never the less, she went to Professor Xavier's study with the others, at eight PM on Wednesday. Bobby knocked.
"Come in."
They did. Rogue looked around. Professor Xavier was there of course, his wheelchair behind the desk, Logan was leaning against the wall by the window, Scott, Storm and Doctor Grey were sitting around the room.
"Do sit." The Professor said, as Kitty closed the door again behind them. He didn't say anything else until all four of them had sat down. Bobby looked like a beat dog at the start of a shoot. Rogue didn't share his confidence. "I imagine you've discussed the reason for this appointment." Professor Xavier said. "I imagine you've some idea of what we're going to talk to you about. All of you have college applications in state, or within reasonable traveling distance, so it makes sense to have this conversation now."
Scott stood up. "We would like to ask you, all four of you, to join us as X-men." Bobby opened his mouth. Scott held up a hand to silence him. "Before you answer, there are a few things we need you to understand."
"Firstly," The Professor said. "whatever your answer is, you will always have a home here, all of you. This is truly voluntary."
"Secondly," Scott took over again, "that we don't offer this to everyone. Graduating here as a senior doesn't necessarily give you the right to become an X-man, we wouldn't have offered it to John."
"Because he didn't have enough control over his po-" Bobby started.
Scott cut him off. "It's less about control over your powers - I've got none - than it is about self-control. John was far too impulsive for me to ever want to use him in the field."
"The fact that you're here means that we have faith in you." Storm said.
Scott nodded. "Thirdly, there's a time commitment to this. If you fight with us, you have to train with us, normally about six hours per week, two 6:15 AM sessions, then three more hours or so wherever we can fit them in." He took a deep breath. "And we need you to understand what this could cost you. Every time we go out, we go out knowing there's a risk that one or more of us might not come back." Rogue looked down. She wouldn't soon forget how Scott had screamed when Doctor Grey had sacrificed herself (or seemed to). Rogue looked back up at Scott. There was a heaviness to his voice. If his face showed any emotion, his glasses hid it. But Doctor Grey had looked away, so had Logan. "We've never actually had an X-man killed in the field, God knows how we've managed that. We try to keep each other safe, but it's not always possible. There are things that we decide are worth dying for, usually that's the lives of children, but if you do this, I need you to think about that: What are you prepared to die for?" Rogue looked down again. Logan had been willing to die for her. Storm and Doctor Grey had been willing to risk their lives to try to rescue The Professor and the others, then Doctor Grey had… she must have thought it was suicide. "The other thing with this is our responsibility to the school. Anonymity is the first line of defense, then it's us. If the school is attacked, we defend it, whatever it costs us."
"We set this before you so that you know what could be asked of you as X-men." The Professor said.
"And you might have to kill." Storm said. "We try not to, but sometimes we have to. You need to think about what it would mean to you to take a person's life."
Bobby opened his mouth again.
"Don't answer us now." Scott said firmly.
"Go and think long and hard about whether you can do this." Professor Xavier said. "Then come to me, or any current X-man, privately in a few days time and talk to us about it. You should also know that this isn't a lifelong commitment. If you agree to join us, then in six months change your mind, that's perfectly acceptable." His tone told them they were dismissed. It was eerie how The Professor could do that.
All four of them got up.
.
"To me, my X-men."
Storm looked up from the stack of books she was marking. She looked around for the Professor.
"To security control, quickly."
He was inside her head. She should have guessed that. She set down her pen and set off at a jog. It was Saturday morning, breakfast hadn't even started yet, but she'd been awake so she'd started her marking. They hadn't had any drugging cases since Ryan Tang a week ago, maybe the word had got far enough.
So what was this? Being called to security control could be the first warning of an attack. Well, they were seven now. Bobby, Peter and Kitty hadn't started training with them yet, but they'd all formally accepted the offer. They were waiting on Rogue.
,
She got to security control. Logan, Bobby and Scott were already there, Bobby's hair was still wet from the shower.
"What's happening?" She asked.
Logan gestured to a screen. Rogue was walking up the track towards the main gate, carrying an unconscious man in her arms, moving slowly, stumbling under the weight of her burden.
"That's…" Bobby started. "That's not Rogue, it can't be. She was here last night." Jean came in, Peter and Kitty just behind her.
"And I reached for Rogue a minute ago." The Professor said. "I have the distinct impression that she was inside the school."
"Mystique." Logan said. "So who's the kid in her arms, I can't see his face."
"Beyond the scope of my powers." The Professor said. "To reach out for an unconscious mind at a range of hundreds of yards, without knowing who I'm reaching for… no. Jean?"
Jean positioned herself directly in front of the screen and stared at it. "She's ataxic." She said after a moment. "Carrying weight can make you stumble, but it can't make you place your feet like that. She's been drugged."
The door opened again. Rogue came in. "What's happening?" Everyone turned to face her.
"What are you doing down there, bub?" Logan asked, gesturing at the screen. Rogue looked at the screen. Her mouth fell open.
"This is now?"
"Yep."
Rogue gaped. "That's… that's not me. I'm…"
"Here." Scott finished.
"So that's… Mystique?"
"Probably." Scott said. "But knowing Mystique, we have to entertain the possibility that you're Mystique, and the one out there is Rogue. It wouldn't be the first time she's snuck in here without us realizing."
"I'm not Mystique." Rogue protested. "I'm…"
Bobby held out a hand to her. She looked at him warily. "Go on." He said. "Go on, I trust you. Mystique wouldn't be able to copy Rogue's power, right?"
"She did grow claws." Logan said.
"That's kind of different." Jean said.
The Professor handed Rogue his tea. Rogue pulled one glove off and reached for Bobby's hand. She took the tea in the other hand. Bobby didn't look worried at all, Storm guessed that made sense. He and Rogue probably pushed the boundaries together quite a bit. They probably had quite a good idea of how much Bobby could take. There was stillness for a moment, then Storm heard the cracking of ice. Bobby pulled his hand away from Rogue, Rogue handed the cup back to The Professor. The Professor looked at the cup, then around.
"We may take it, then, that that Rogue" He pointed at the screen. "is the imposter."
"So you can use Bobby's power without hurting him." Scott said.
Rogue nodded. "If we get the timing right."
Scott smiled for a second. "That could make you the most versatile of all of us." And he was right. If they figured out how to use Rogue safely, they could have two cryoforms, two telekinetics, two transocular ectotherms when they needed them.
"What are we gonna do about Mystique?" Storm said. As cool as Rogue's power could be, they did have an immediate problem.
"We've always said we treat anyone." Jean said. "Any mutant who turns up needing help."
"Mystique though…" Scott said.
"We don't know for certain that this is Mystique." The Professor said. "There may well be other mutants who can change their appearance. I think we should offer them aid, but we should take precautions."
,
So they went, the X-men, there were a lot of them now. Logan, Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Bobby, Peter, Kitty and Rogue. Logan wasn't sure he felt safer with the bigger group. He thought he'd just be checking that the new ones were okay the whole time. But it was what it was. Mystique, or whoever she was, had got to the front gate and collapsed, the man just lying on the ground in front of her. As they got closer, Logan recognized the man. John, or 'pyro' as he'd called himself.
"Help me." Rogue, no, Mystique, said. "Please." Rogue walked up to her and extended an ungloved hand. Mystique looked at her for a few seconds, swore quietly and turned in to Xavier. "I should have thought of that." And that was his voice. "Scott, help me."
"What do you want?" Scott asked. Rogue backed away.
"In a few minutes," Xavier-Mystique said. "I'm going to pass out. We've always said 'any mutant', any mutant who needs us. That's us now. Help us."
"What happened?" Jean asked.
"Darts." Xavier-Mystique said. "Both of us were hit by darts, Pyro half an hour before me. I was trying to get him in to cover, to hide until the dart wore off, then I was hit. Jean, I don't know what was in those darts. I don't know if we'll survive this, please." This was really creepy. Logan looked across at Jean, who had set her jaw tight. It was obviously hard for her to hear Xavier begging her for help and know she had to stand off.
"If you come with us," Scott said. "you come as a prisoner, you don't fight, you don't try to get away from us."
Xavier-Mystique looked so wounded. "And it has to be like that. You're a son to me, Scott."
"You're Mystique." Scott said. "You are a kidnapper, a saboteur and a murderer. If you come, you come cuffed to Logan."
Xavier-Mystique lowered her head. "Fine." Scott cuffed Mystique's right hand to Logan's left, Jean started examining John. He looked very pale.
"Alive." She said. "Seems stable, but his… I want to check his pressures."
"We find his lighters first." Scott said. Jean set about it, Bobby joined her. Logan looked back at Mystique, who still looked like Xavier. He – she – had her head in her hands, panting.
"I think that's all of them." Bobby said, dumping two wrist things and a standard zippo lighter on the ground.
"Right, let's move." Scott said. "Bobby and Peter, take John between you."
"Get up." Logan said to Mystique. She looked at him, then down at her legs. "You're not really Xavier, you're not really paralysed." He pulled her up. She swayed. "Fine." Logan growled. He pulled her right arm across his shoulders and half carried, half dragged her away.