Chapter 7 "Poison Touch"

"What's goin' on?" Logan half growled as he and Rogue climbed aboard the jet after gearing up.

"Charles found some activity back at the warehouse where we last saw Magneto." Scott answered from the cockpit. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"That's stupid for him to go back there." He said, thinking out loud. That made no sense unless…

"It's a trap." Rogue said flatly, finishing Logan's thoughts. Logan nodded and so did the rest of the team.

"Should we check it out anyway?" Kitty asked meekly. Logan saw Popsicle Boy putting a protective arm around her shoulder, whispering something into her ear.

"Yes, Charles has instructed us to be on our guard but to take a look around that warehouse just to be on the safe side." Storm said softly, trying to ease Kitty's mind. Logan thought the Kitty kid was too soft and sweet for this kind of shit. She wasn't ready to be on the team, he thought gruffly.

The Cajun was sitting in the front row looking rather irritated. Logan smirked. He doubted that Gambit would be going near Rogue anytime soon. Jubilee had taken the seat next to him and was flirting with him like crazy anyway. He'd bounce back, Logan decided, rolling his eyes.

Rogue sat; visibly tense, in the last row of seats in the very far corner of the jet. No one had said a word to she or Logan about what had obviously transpired between the two at the dance. Not even Kitty or Jubilee. Logan sat in the row diagonal to her, giving her a few fleeting glances, not wanting to meet her eyes.

Rogue stared out the window of the jet, thankful for the opportunity to be lost in thought. Her mind absently wandered to the time when she'd been sucked out of the jet and had suspended in mid-air until Kurt rescued her. She wondered how he was doing. He hadn't stayed on at the mansion because he chose the path of becoming a Catholic priest, must to Storm's disappointment. Everyone could see Storm had taken a bit of a liking to the German speaking transporter, but she'd recovered and now seemed to fancy the robust blue intellectual doctor that was Dr. Hank McCoy, also known as Beast.

Rogue looked over to Logan, who was staring out the window closest to him. She wondered what he was thinking. Did he regret almost kissing her? Was that what he was going to say to her down in the Danger Room? Or, possibly, had he come down there to tell her he cared?

At that moment Logan felt Rogue's eyes on the side of his face and he turned to meet her gaze. Both being stubborn neither turned away. Logan saw the conflicting emotions in her eyes and she saw the weariness in his. All at once Rogue knew in her heart that Logan cared for her. Now alls she had to decide was whether she could allow herself to open back up to the man she had loved for years and who had broken her heart. Could she let herself love him again? Had she ever stopped?

…….0…….

Inside the warehouse the only thing the team found was lots of old machinery and broken glass. The place looked like there had been no activity taking place within it for years. Everything was covered in what seemed like layer upon layer of dirt and grime and everything looked virtually untouched.

Rogue felt an uneasiness creep over her as the team crept deeper and deeper into the darkness and dust. It's too still, Rogue thought. Something isn't right. This isn't right.

A split second later lights throughout the entire building came on, momentarily stunning the group. Rogue whipped out her knives with a quick flick of her wrists and got into her fighting stance. She listened carefully but could only hear a faint clicking sound that was the lights switching on.

"Logan, is it Magneto?" Scott yelled.

"I don't feel him." Logan shouted back.

Rogue felt the ground beneath her begin to shake. She glanced around and she saw the rest of the team rush toward the door only to see metal bars coming down, blocking any chance of escape. Rogue heard laughter coming from the rafters of the building. The laughter echoed throughout the place as bars came down over the windows. Rogue knew that laughter anywhere. Mystique, she thought.

"Come on out you cowardice blue bitch!" Rogue yelled. The laughter continued until she saw ropes being thrown down from the rafters and members of The Brotherhood sliding down from their perches.

"Way to make an entrance." Scott muttered.

"What do you want Mystique?" Storm asked. Everyone was in stance, reading to pounce on the gang of evil mutants. Mystique smirked as the rest of the Brotherhood gathered at her side, looking like a black plague ready to descend on the X-Men.

"We've come for your heads." Mystique leered, and then turned to her five companions, one among them being a very angry looking Pyro. "Kill them. No mercy!" She screamed and then lunged forward. The battle had begun.

Immediately Pyro unleashed balls of fire upon the team. Rogue felt like hell was raining down on top of her as she tried to find cover. Bobby quickly covered them with a thin sheet of ice giving them enough time to duck and cover before the fire melted it.

Scott began to blast The Brotherhood with his beams, distracting Pyro long enough to give Bobby a chance to get close enough to him to hit him square in the chest with the biggest ball of ice Rogue had ever seen. Rogue knew that Pyro would not be getting back up after that blow.

"Callisto!" Mystique called for the black tattooed woman. The woman apparently called Callisto, smiled and knew exactly what to do.

Callisto had the power of super speed and she used this to her advantage. She ran around the team in circles, so fast that Rogue could only see her as a blur. Everyone was ready to see who she would attack, but at her rate, she could attack all of them before any of the could blink.

Before Rogue could blink The Brotherhood advanced and she found herself face to face with the woman that had the appearance akin to a snake. Rogue wasn't sure why Mystique hadn't come for her but Rogue was more than prepared to fight this serpent.

The snake woman circled Rogue slowly, flicking her forked tongue out at her, laughing slightly.

"Who are you?" Rogue asked. The snake woman smiled.

"I do not see what my name will matter to you girl," the woman said. Her accent was thick and Rogue noted that it sounded southern European. "I'm going to strip your skin from your bones."

Rogue narrowed her eyes and readied herself. Suddenly Rogue felt a presence from behind and strong arms going around her.

"ROGUE!" She heard Logan scream her name but she didn't understand. She turned her head slightly and saw Mystique smirking from behind her. She then saw the snake woman advance on her, her long fangs dripping with deadly venom and anticipation.

Rogue looked around frantically as she struggled with Mystique. Mystique was extremely limber and had herself wrapped around Rogue with a death grip.

Rogue saw all of her team mates busy fighting, none able to come to her aid. Rogue felt the snake woman's fangs press against her skin. I will not die like this, Rogue thought, rage breaking in the pit of her stomach. She lifted her leg and kicked Mystique as hard as she could in the knee. She heard Mystique let out a screech and momentarily release Rogue, but it was too late. Rogue felt the fangs pierce her throat and the burn of the venom being inserted into her bloodstream. Rogue decided that if she was going to die, so was the snake. Rogue plunged both of her knives into the belly of the woman and twisted, the woman letting out a horrid scream and pulling away.

"Serpentania!" Mystique shouted and jumped up to her feet, pushing Rogue to the ground. Rogue hit the ground, clutching her throat. She could feel the venom's effects and knew that she didn't have long.

"She's dead! Come on!" Rogue heard one of The Brotherhood shout. I killed her, Rogue thought. Good.

Moments later Rogue was surrounded by the X-Men. Logan was standing over her, looking down at her, tears in his eyes.

"What can we do?" Kitty asked meekly, she and Jubilee standing helplessly over their best friend's body.

"I don't know…" Scott shook his head.

"Logan, can you help her?" Storm asked frantically. Rogue noticed Storm's face was smeared with blood. Who's, she didn't know.

"How can de wolf man help the Rogue girl?" Remy asked genuinely confused.

"Logan has regenerative capabilities. He can heal rapidly. Rogue's gift is that if someone touches her skin she absorbs their life force, and in the case of mutants, borrows their gifts. She's learned to control it, but she can still use her power whenever she wants." Bobby explained, looking down upon Rogue, a panicked expression on his face.

Rogue felt like all of the muscles in her body had caught on fire. She wanted to scream but she couldn't breathe well enough. She felt her lungs begin to falter. Her heart was fluttering.

"No!" Rogue chocked out. "I...wont… cant…hurt…him…"

"Rogue, please!" Logan shouted. He pulled off his gloves and laid both hands on her face. "Please Rogue… please baby let me help you."

"I… don't…want…to…hurt…you…again." Rogue coughed and felt herself start to convulse.

"Then let me help you! God, Rogue, please… I love you Rogue please!" Logan pulled her into her arms, laying his cheek on her forehead, holding her as she shook violently. And then suddenly all was still.

"No…"Jubilee gasped and began to sob heavily. Kitty buried her face in Bobby's shoulder.

"Why…" Logan began, but suddenly felt the pull of Rogue's powers. He felt his powers being pulled from his body along with some of his life-force. He just prayed that it worked before he felt himself sink into darkness.

Authors Note: Omg, okay I have two apologies to make. I am SOO SORRY that this took so long to get out. I just took my final today and sat down and made myself finish this chapter. I will have a little down time until the 28th so I will try to get as much of this story done as possible, if not completely finish it. Because after that I will be taking 5 classes and it will be extremely hard for me to find time to do any kind of writing, but I will anyway, even though updates may be so few and far between. Next apology is THIS CHAPTER SUCKS, or at least I think so. Its horrible writing but I ran out of ideas on the battle scene and was in a rush to get this out, so I am sooo sorry and please don't flame me for this chapter. I did my best with the circumstances I was under. SO next update will be much sooner I hope. Again, I am so sorry!