Disclaimer: I do not own X-men or any related characters. Hope you enjoy this new chapter, remember to read, review, and enjoy (which is repeated)! I'm happy to announce that now I not only have a vague idea of how many arcs will be in this story, but the plot line also! Yay! And that includes character interaction.

Chapter 8

To: KitKat

From: whitestripes

Subject: I Think The World's Too Big To F

I've gotten (and reread) your last several e-mails, all of which said basically the same thing, by the way. And at the moment, it's impossible for me to get out of the city. Plus, I don't think that I really want to. Ben is in the hospital. That's where we're headed right now, actually. I'll get more into that right now.

After a long night of panic, mayhem, and fancy dress, Sue, Reed, Johnny, and I set out on a search for Ben, whom had not shown up at Sue's award ceremony. We split into two groups, one of Sue and Reed, and one with Johnny and I. Around halfway through said search, we ran into a creepy guy. You know, bald, evil look in his eye, about to try to blow up the world.

He said a few things. Those few things got me worried. He seemed to know exactly where Ben was and what had happened. Despite the fact that most of the time Johnny acted as though he could care less, he literally went mad with rage. So he ran at this guy, his arms literally complete covered with fire.

The man seemed to be expecting this and had quickly jumped onto a wall, sticking there before beginning to climb. Johnny grabbed one of his feet and dragged him down, punching him once in the face hard enough that I heard a distinct crack. All the while he was yelling, "Tell me where Ben is! Tell me where Ben is!"

A shriek filled the air. I hadn't realized that it was mine until I realized that my mouth was open. Quickly I ran over to him and tried to pull Johnny off saying, "He can't tell us anything if he's unconscious."

Let me tell you, Johnny is not one to listen to reason. Rather quickly, he shook me off and went back to beating the crap out of this man. His clothes were on fire and the man was screaming bloody murder. I felt more helpless than almost anytime in my life (discounting when I was kidnapped).

It was only too late that I saw the man's hand reaching for a gun. I lunged, but it was delayed. A blast filled the air. Again I screamed, but this time I ran towards the man and Johnny. It appeared that he was still conscious, merely… sticking to the ground. He was unable to move and vaguely I heard him say, "Rogue, get out of here. There's nothing you can do."

The fact that I was a mutant, too, didn't seem to connect in his brain. The mystery guy didn't seem to think that I was much of a threat because he continued to smirk at the Human Torch and completely disregarded me. Flame Boy was struggling against the sticky bonds that held him in place on the ground. He was still telling me to get away when I edged closer to the man. My gloves had long since been left behind.

"Guess who I am, Johnny Storm? Guess who I am, Human Torch?" The man chanted, squealing in delight. He was literally reveling in his victory. "I'm now your worst nightmare. I'm Paste-Pot-Pete and I'm now your biggest enemy." When he finally saw me approaching, he aimed his gun at me, "Stay where you are, girlie, unless you want to get hurt."

He had no idea how much I had been hurt in the past. Quicker than you could blink, I did one of Logan's famous rolls onto the ground, surging forward. Pete shot his gun, but missed me completely. I sprung up and lunged towards him, hands outstretched. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Johnny had become what his name was, a human torch. That seemed to disintegrate whatever was binding him to the ground.

But just because he was suddenly free didn't mean that I was going to let him have at this guy again. My skin made contact with his head. I shut my eyes to the pain. Memories flew into me and I could see the pain in the main's face. His childhood was a tragic one, where no one loved him. His teenage years spent in a lonesome boarding school. His adult life was spent planning to take over the world.

Finally an image of Ben Grimm came to me. He was in an alleyway, surrounded by three trashcans. The street sign by him read '56th Street'. As carefully as I could, I took my hand off of his skin and left him gasping. For some reason, I didn't seem to affect him much more than just the usual shock. Before either Johnny or I could react, he had taken off climbing up a wall, wobbling the entire way.

Johnny turned to me, "What was that?"

By then I was putting my gloves back on. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That's you're power isn't it? Sucking the life out of people?"

I couldn't help but wince. I mean, what a cruel way to put it. But, my power is cruel in itself so I can't very well blame him.

"I also get people's memories and, for at least a short while, their powers if they have any."

When I told him that I got people's memories, too, he perked up a bit more. "Then do you know where Ben is?"

"56th Street."

He nodded, "Let's go."

And we found him, Kitty. It wasn't a pretty site, but we found him. Sue was crying as we rushed him to the hospital. I was crying as we rushed him to the hospital. I mean, he was this big, orange beast man. Who the hell could beat him up? Who the hell?

---

Rogue found Johnny sitting in a hospital chair, looking uncomfortable with his head in his hands. Dawn was beginning to break. Everyone looked so sullen. It was clear that Ben would be fine, but that didn't stop anyone from worrying. "Who's Paste-Pot-Pete," Reed asked.

It was their twelfth time trying to explain exactly what the man looked like. Reed seemed determined to have this physical description in his mind, every detail memorized to the last bit. "Medium height. Bald. Crazy eyes."

"There had to be more details than that," Reed insisted.

Johnny just shook his head, "He looked plain. He was the type of guy that you would see on the street and not think anything of later. Just another face in the crowd."

"Until ya saw his eyes," Rogue added in, hoping to be at least a little bit helpful. She wasn't.

A nurse came into the waiting room, searching until we were finally found. "You may see him now. But please, just go one at a time until his strength has returned. Too much excitement could be bad for him in this state."

"I'll go first," Reed said finally to fill the silence. He took off after the nurse, his face pale and gaunt.

For a long time, everyone simply sat in silence, wondering what would be happening next. Johnny seemed as though he were having his own inner battles. Rogue knew that he was probably beating himself over letting Pete get away. She was having troubles with herself for letting him get away, too.

The door to the waiting room opened. A familiar looking redhead entered, searched the room before he gaze fell on their small group. "Johnny," she called, rushing over to him.

He took his head out of his hands, "Lisa."

"I just heard about Ben, that poor man. He's going to be all right, isn't he?"

To Rogue, her worry seemed fake. If she didn't know better, she would think that the woman was actually happy that Ben was down for the count. She seemed way too overly exaggerated at the moment.

"He's going to be fine."

"Oh, that's good." She slid into the seat next to his. "Hello Rogue, Sue."

Rouge nodded while Sue replied, "How are you?" She seemed just as pensive about the girl as Rouge did.

"I'm doing fine. The new job's going good."

"The new job? I didn't know that you quit your old one," Sue had one eyebrow raised as she shot Rogue a look. The southern girl didn't know exactly what was meant by that look, but she knew that it couldn't have been good.

"It was getting too stuffy for little old me. So I got a new one and it's been going great."

Johnny looked at Rogue and explained, "Lisa used to work for Mutant-Human exchange. She was one of the go-betweens on the human side."

Sue nodded, "She has helped us on a number of occasions."

Lisa merely smiled at the praise and turned to Rouge. "So I'm guessing that you're a mutant, too? I mean, why else would you be staying with the Fantastic Four?"

Rogue nodded offhandedly. She was watching the television screen instead. There were images of last night's panic sweeping through the screen. Inwardly, she winced, thinking of all the people who must have been scared to their wits end.

"Rogue, Ben wants to see you now." Rogue looked up, not even realizing that Reed had come back. Silently she stood up and followed the nurse through the doors.

The orange man was lying down, just as bruised and battered as he was when she had last seen him. This time he was more bandaged up and looked as though he would pull through. Before she thought that he would die.

"Hey, Ben," she said in her quiet southern drawl, looking at the man.

He cracked a small smile in return, "Rogue, please sit down."

She complied, "Ah'd ask a silly question like 'how are ya', but that would be pointless."

"I didn't ask you back here for small talk," he agreed.

They were silent for a few moments before Rogue asked, "Do ya know who did this to ya?"

He was breathing slowly, as if trying to allow the memories to come to him. Finally he replied, "There was one woman. She had long, red hair. And three men… one was wearing an old, green-striped shirt. They were all pretty nondescript. I… I can't remember anything about them. But they called themselves the 'Frightful Four'. I think that they were trying to be foils to our Fantastic Four."

Rogue nodded, "Ah think that meh and Johnny met one of them. He was able to scale walls and stuck Johnny to the ground using some sort of sticky material."

"That was one of them."

Hesitantly, she patted him on the arm, "Get better soon, Ben."

"Thank you. And don't worry. I will be. And Rogue?"

She looked back at him, "Yeah?"

"Never be afraid of your power. Don't let it control you."

"Thanks Ben. And ya don't worry, either. We'll find this 'Frightful Four' and when we do, they'll wish that they never messed with a member of the Fantastic Four."

"Thanks."

"Anytime," she replied as she walked out the door. That was more heart wrenching than she thought it would be. To see a man as large as he so weak and indisposed gave one a sense of mortality.

Quietly, she sat down in her chair. Instantaneously, Sue got up and started heading towards the room. The blonde couldn't take not seeing one of her best friend's any longer.

Johnny was talking in quiet whispers to Lisa. Rogue still felt as though there were something extremely strange about the woman. It was as if she didn't belong. Mutant relations… she remembered reading something about that recently on the Internet. Whatever it was, she would find out soon. Ignoring the couple across from her, she pulled out her laptop and checked her e-mail.

---

To: whitestripes

From: KitKat

Subject: I Can Do Whatever I Want To… Even If It Is As Large As The World

So is Ben going to be all right? Is he hurt that badly? Please e-mail me immediately. Stupid you. I don't even know these people and, like, I feel like part of their family. I wish that you would stop telling me all these things about these people.

Johnny seemed awfully worried about your safety. Either that or he has a major hero complex and doesn't want you to see him fall down… in that case, how sweet! I think that he has a crush on you, either way. Or you're madly in love with him. The way that you talk about him makes it seem as though you have a schoolboy crush on him. And you're a girl, so that makes it all the funnier!

But, seriously, you never told them about your power? That's majorly bad. What if one of them touched you, not knowing the harm it could cause? I'm in a state of shock that you would be so irresponsible.

Things are hectic here at the Institute. It's like we're getting ready for a war or something. Well, actually, we are, but whatever. Bobby has been sulking. He's depressed and not talking to people very much. Everyone is a little weirded out by it, but only I really know why. And I promise not to tell anyone about how your relationship is on the rocks. It's none of their business, after all.

Warren is such a total hottie. But it is so depressing. Whenever I try to talk to him, all he talks about is you and how great it was that you sent him to a place where he could be with fellow mutants. Either that or he sulks for things that I cannot quite understand. I think that it has something to do with his father, but whatever. I mean, either way, he's the brooding type that seems to like someone else (you). God, my life sucks. Hot guy shows up and he likes my best friend. Doesn't that figure?

Wait… wait a second. You didn't get the Cure, did you? You're still safe being in the city. I mean, quite personally I would prefer you out of it, but I mean, you didn't get it. You didn't get the Cure! Holy shit!

Ok, enough of me freaking out. Stay safe, Rogue. Just because you still have your powers doesn't mean anything.