Chapter Two
1 year later
Magneto had a frown upon his face. Anger raged through him and all of his Brotherhood members backed away, and left him. They knew he wanted to be alone. He was silent, but still dangerous as any one wrong move could mean a life lost. What Magneto dreeded had finally happened and a war was beginning. The Sentianal robots had just been revealed on the news. They were to find and round up unlisted mutants, imprisoning them in detention camps.
In his rage Magneto worked his hardest, plotting and thinking for hours how he could get back at the humans for rounding up his people in camps once again and killing them.
He was just planning assassinating the president as he knew he was the major power body behind the camps, when there was a knock at his door and a woman stepped in. She gave her reports and Magneto dropped his plans of assassinating the president to read over the information.
A top secret and highly secure 'prison' had been built. Magneto knew what this was and knew it was a cover up for a mutant death camp. Magneto puzzled over what to do, assassinate the president or rescue the trapped mutants? In the end he decided he could do both and send a team of mutants to break out the other imprisoned mutants. He would select a team to plot and destroy the camp firs and then he would continue with his plot to assassinate the president while this team dispatched and served the cause.
2 weeks later
Magneto had been angry and frustrated he couldn't just kill the president straight away due to last minute changes to the presidents schedule. He had given Pyro the mission of freeing the prisoners which happened about a week ago and went down sucessfully, but it had influenced in altering the president's schedule. Magneto had to redo his entire plan, but at last, he had found an event where he could kill the president and made plans for it.
He had a small group of his Brotherhood stir up trouble and went after the president while the Brotherhood kept the X-Men busy. He would have to work fast if he was to prevail. Atlas, he came to the room which had the president locked inside. He easily killed the guards outside of it and as soon as they were dead all fell silent. Until he heard the begging of one man.
"No, no please. Don't kill me!-"
A gun shot fired and no more was said. Magneto ripped open the door, curious to know who had been shot. And there, he was suprized to see a familiar face from he hadn't seen for about a year or so ago stood in front of him. Her arm outstreched with a gun in hand, shaking. She was staring down at the dead body of the president. Magneto took in the scene before, before speaking.
"Well, this is a suprize."
She turned around and he knew just by looking into those grey emeralds that this was not the same girl he had meet a while back. This girl was skinnier and very pale. Her bones could be seen sticking out from her thin clothing as she looked practically half alive. Her hair had been cut short. Very short as her hair looked like it was beginning to grow back from being completely shaved off. Magneto remembered her long beautiful hair that danced in the mind. Now it was just a wild mess on her head, that may ruffle in the wind, but would never be the same. The girl before him looked shocked, surprised of all sorts, but at the same time there was vengance and almost relief in those wide eyes of hers. Those eyes allured his with it's mixture of confused emotions and other sensations he was not yet sure of what were tucked away in those eyes. He wanted to know more of what lay behind those eyes. More of how she got her new look and her new attitude.
She looked at him strange as she took in his presence. It looked like she was seeing a ghost, but that soon faded and she looked behind him, seeing all the guards dead. The girl took this opportunity to escape. She exchanged a look of warning with Magneto as it told him to let her pass. He didn't stop her physically, but as she walked down the corridor Magneto couldn't help but need to question her and the actions behind her shoting the president.
"I wouldn't think Charles would approve of your actions here Rogue, so maybe you would be able to enlighten me as to what your game is?"
Rogue froze in her steps. Slowly, she turned to face him, a look of confusion on her face. Magneto found it strange how she stared at him with enlarging wide eyes almost... heartbroken.
"Your not with the X-Men anymore, are you?"
Her eyes were still wide, taking him in as if she had never seen him before in her life. As if she had never seen another person before. Magneto raised his eye brow at Rogue's reaction. It led him to more questions and a deeper desire to know the answers behind Rogue's story.
"Well?" Magneto questioned. "I haven't seen you with them over the past year. Are you with them, or not?"
Rogue just looked at him dumbfounded, turning more towards him. She seemed absolutly petrified, yet amazed. This was beginning to annoy Magneto.
"You...You remember me?" Rogue practically whispered.
What an odd question to ask, Magneto thought. He felt confused and he hated being confused.
"Yes, my dear. It is a little hard to forget almost killing you as it is to forget your touch."
Magneto folded his arms and glared at the little patch of white in her hair. It wasn't a long strip of white anymore, but the hair piece still grew and fell around Rogue's check. Yes, how could Magneto forget his failure of killing her and succeeding in his mission when it seemed she would forever be walking around with that white strip of hair he'd given to her through trying to kill her.
Something very strange happened next. Rogue began to attempt to smile. It was an awkward smile as if she had forgotten how to smile and it kept falling to that confused, disbelieving look. Rogue became light headed and suddenly had to lean against the wall before she collapsed.
"You...You remember me?" She breathed out quickly as her breathing had increased.
There was that odd statement again. Magneto was very confused to this reaction. He shouldn't have been experiencing this feeling, but he was a little bit worried and concerned for the girl's state, not just of health, but of mind. More so as a theory of what may have happened to her came to mind. He shunned that idea however, feeling it wasn't right. But what had happened to her to make her seem happy to have her once murder remember who she was?
"Why do you seem so suprized that I remember you?"
Rogue didn't answer the question. She seemed in too far a place to even hear the question.
They were both drawn back into reality as the sound of running and shouting. Both turned to see that the X-Men, Wolverine, Storm and Iceman had arrived. They all looked shocked to see the president's dead body lying on the floor behind Rogue and Magneto. Then they turned to face the two terrorists stood near the doorway.
"You!" Wolverine spat, extracting his claws, his eyes focused on Magneto. Then his eyes moved to Rogue. "And you too!"
Magneto followed the Wolverine's glare to Rogue who looked almost like a cowarding animal. The last time he had seen them together, they had been a close pair. The Wolverine had almost died for the Rogue, yet here he was giving her glares that wished her dead, ready to kill her in one throw of his fist. Magneto had defently missed a change within the X-Men that was a big change. Why and how could he miss something so important?
'Charles, what have you done?' he thought to himself.
Rogue began backing away, looking between Magneto and Wolverine. She was shocked that Magneto remembered her, happy and upset at the same time. She was happy to find out that someone still remembered her, but upset and guttied it had to be Magneto; the man who had once tried to kill her and sucessed. She was in two minds. One part wanted to stay and help Magneto out of this so they could talk together at the end, but the other part of her mind took over and in two seconds Rogue was running away down the hallway.
Magneto was confused again. Confused as to why the Rogue was running away from the X-Men and confused as to why the Iceboy said he'd go after her and ran passed him after Rogue. He had to deal with the Wolverine and Storm which was easily done as he could control the Wolverine's body. He lifted the Wolverine into the air and throw him into Storm, pinning them both down to the ground.
He wasn't sure why he was following them, but he turned and followed Rogue and Iceman down the corridor.
Rogue ran and turned corners sharply, just missing Iceman's snowballs and the parts of the floor he frozen in attempt to either trap her where she stood or to trip her up. A tear slipped down her eye as she turned another corner into a longer corridor. This was the boy she once loved, chasing after her as if she was a criminal, which now she was, but still. He'd seen her as a monster a long time ago and it broke her heart to think he would really do it. He would really hurt her. His feelings weren't strong enough for her to not hurt her even if he didn't remember who she was. It stung that the love she felt was never returned and never really existed.
Atlas, Iceman caught Rogue in the long corridor, tripping her up by freezing the floor. Rogue went flying off her feet, sliding a little. Her sides burnt from the cold bun of the ice and she could feel where her new burises were going to be. It took her time to get back up. In that time, Iceman had made an ice path to get to her without slipping himself. He froze her hands in place where they were on the ground. Rogue was now stuck in a crawl position, looking up to Iceman.
"Bobby, please." Rogue begged, but when she looked to his eyes all she saw was the cold heartedness of a stranger.
Magneto walked in on this scene of Rogue begging Iceman not to hurt her.
"You killed the president! You or Magneto, one of you did. Your mad if you think your getting away with that! Your going straight to the authorises, Rogue" Iceman said, spitting Rogue's name out towards the end of his speech.
This was very interesting, Magneto thought. The X-Men turning on each other. He saw an opportunity here. Iceman raised his hands as if getting ready to use some more of his ice. Magneto beat him to it, and using the local metal, he sent it flying at Iceman, strapping him to the nearest wall.
His eyes fell to Rogue who looked from Iceman towards him, dumbfounded and teary. What had Charles done to this girl? She looked at him in fear, puzzling the question of if he'll kill her or not. To be killed though, she seemed less scared off than to be handed into the authorities. How strange it was that Rogue looked towards Iceman with more fear as if he was the greater threat. Magneto didn't see any reason to kill her or any reason to free her, except that he wanted answers (an insight into the X-Men). But he didn't need to free her for answers. He could question her here. Yet, he knew it would be foolish to waste time questioning her as time was running out. He knew it would be foolish to bring an X-Men with the Brotherhood, however, he could no longer see her as an X-Men (flashes of the president's dead body coming to Magneto's mind). There would be some risk in freeing her, he knew, but the real question was was he willing to take that chance?
Magneto raised his hand high, and Rogue turned her head away closing yes. Metal broke through the ice holding her and Rogue opened her eyes, staring at Magneto in question. Both Rogue, and even Magneto were shocked at his actions. He reformed himself sooner than she did and as Rogue attempted to stand up right on the ice, he asked with a wicked smirk of amusement, "My, what have you done to have your own team mates attack you?" He found her sudden frown of annoyance entertaining and chuckled. He had a hunch. "What have I missed?"
Rogue had managed to step off the ice carefully, without falling and onto dry land. She looked from the ice to Magneto and to Iceman who was starting to freeze the metal coves keeping him tired to the wall. Rogue looked sad and distant.
"That doesn't seem like the right question you should ask." Rogue said quietly. This confused Magneto even more. "I think you should question what you do know," She looked to him, the eyes he'd first seen when he saw her standing with the gun in her hand and the president dead at her feet had come back to her eyes. The eyes of age and torment. The eyes that told him this girl had been through a lot in the past year and he wanted to know what Charles had let a child under his care go through. "and remember and what they don't." Rogue finished turning to look at Iceman pinned against the wall.
"My dear, I am not after riddles." Magneto said, now all the humour lost from his voice and replaced with his cold serious tone. "Tell me what is happening between you and the X-Men."
Rogue's eyes went deep into thought again. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't planned or expected this to happen. She was brought out of her deep thoughts by heavy footsteps running in their direction. Heavy running and the clicking of guns from the end of one corridor and heavy feet running towards them at the other end of the corridor too. After looking from both sides, nether group having arrived yet, Rogue turned to face Magneto having came to a decision.
"I'll tell ya all I know if you can get us outta here."
This seemed like a fair deal to Magneto, yet, their were still dangerous consequences with that arrangement. Was he to accept it to satisfy his lust for answers, or was he to think of the greater good to protect his Brotherhood?