Disclaimer: I do not own X-men, Fantastic Four, or any related characters. It has been so long since I've updated! I'm very sorry about that. Remember to read, enjoy, and review!

Chapter 11

There was a hushed silence over the room. For some reason, Rogue couldn't take her eyes from the screen. Someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't react. Instead, she watched with horror as the mutants continued to infiltrate the city, all headed towards the Worthington Corps. Building.

It was just like Regan said. She had a choice and it was a choice that no one else could make for her. She could go and protect the people from mutants or she could track down the Frightful Four. But she couldn't do both.

"Rogue, are you alright," Johnny's voice rang quietly in her ear, his breath caressing her skin. A small chill went down her spine, but she shook it off and turned to face the other people in the room. Even Regan was watching her with curiosity.

"Ah-Ah-"

Ben was nodding at her in the corner of the room. On his face was a knowing look.

"Ah'm sorry. Ah really wish that I could help ya'll, but they… they need meh."

Johnny looked as though he wanted to argue, but Ben cut him off, "I thought that you'd want to help against this threat. At the moment, it's more important than the Frightful Four." Every eye was turned looking at the orange, rock-like man. "If I was in any position to join you, I'd be there in a heartbeat."

Sue and Reed both nodded, about to say something, but Johnny cut them off.

"What are you talking about? You have to go with us! Who's going to protect you from all of them?"

His tone sounded genuinely worried, taking her by surprise. But then, when she thought about it, they had become friends of a sort over the weeks that she had been there. It shouldn't have been so surprising that he wanted to keep a friend safe.

"The X-men will show up soon."

"What if they don't?"

Rogue smiled, "Trust meh, they will. The X-men will never let those they consider their enemies threaten the lives of the innocent. It'd be bad rep for the rest of us mutants."

"But who will protect you?"

"Sugah, sometimes Ah don't need protecting. Thanks, though."

He looked as though he was going to say something more, but Sue put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. Taking his cue, he stopped and left the room.

Sue said, "Don't worry Rogue. He's just worried about you."

"Ah know. Ah just wish that Ah could…"

"We know. Are you sure, though, that you'll be completely fine?"

Rogue shook her head, "Whether or not Ah am completely fine is not the point. Where the X-men go, Ah go. Ah'm no coward and no one is going to ask meh where Ah was when they ask about the fight. Ah'm goin' to be right there with 'em."

As she spoke, her accent became thicker and thicker. Sometimes it was embarrassing when it happened, but she couldn't help it. Being southern was a part of who she was and nothing would change that.

"Be careful."

"Ah will be."

She didn't have any of the protective leather that the X-men wore on occasions like this. She would make do with her jeans and t-shirt. It wasn't like the leather protected her from very much else. So, with one final look towards the room that Johnny had disappeared into, she headed out the door, taking the elevator and running into the deserted streets.

No one was outside. Most people had locked themselves away inside. Very few cars passed her by, and those that did weren't taxis. Not that she thought that any cab would have taken her anywhere near where the mutants were invading. She would have to make do with running.

Each step seemed to pound into her. If there was one thing that she truly hated, it was running. It made her tired and gross feeling. It strained her leg muscles and made her heart hammer and her breath catch. For the good of mankind, though, she would keep running. The sound of her pounding feet echoed in the empty streets.

"Are you going somewhere?"

The voice made Rogue stop and turn around. Paste-Pot-Pete stood but feet away.

"Ah can not deal with ya right now. Will ya wait a couple of days?"

"Sorry, but I can't do that. See, you would make a perfect bargaining chip. The Fantastic Four wouldn't be able to attack me if I had you as a hostage."

"Ya are messin' with the wrong girl."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really," she tugged off her gloves and threw them aside. "See, right now Ah'm mad. Ah'm real mad. Ah'm so mad that Ah just don't want to deal with ya. So leave now or ya'll regret it."

"The little southern girl resorts to threats."

"It's no threat, Pot. It's a promise."

With that she jumped at him, throwing all of her weight into taking him down. Her hands reached for his bare head, but he kicked her in the gut and scrambled away. It took Rogue a few moments to catch her breath and by that time Pete was nearly on top of her. "Some promise."

He lifted his arm and smacked her across the face. The blow stung, but nothing more. She hurled herself at him again, this time getting a good grip on his head. His screams of pain pulsed through her ears, but she didn't let go. Slowly he drifted off into unconsciousness and she took her hands off him.

"Now that wasn't too much of a fight," she murmured to herself. It was getting dark out. People would be starting to go to bed… at least on a normal night. Tonight they would probably be tuning in to their news station to see what was going on in the city. Either that, or they were trying to evacuate. Whatever way she looked at it, she was still far, far away from the Worthington Corps building.

--

To: whitestripes

From: KitKat

Subject: Have You Seen The News?

Rogue, I hope that you're getting your ass out of that city and as far away as possible. Magneto is officially entering and going to destroy Worthington Corps. If he sees that you're there, he's going to want to kill you. After all, you were the first person to ruin his plan of a completely mutant world.

Actually, he'd probably just want to kill you because you're an X-man. Or not. Because, you know, he and Xavier used to be friends or whatever. Just, the Professor went towards the good and Magneto didn't. Whatever. I just want you to know that you should stay safe tonight. Bobby and the rest of us going to fight, but you got the cure. You can't fight. You did get the cure, right? It's one of those answers that you haven't quite told us about yet.

--

To: KitKat

From: Torch

Subject: no subject

We've never met, but I'm sure that you've heard of me. I'm Johnny Storm. Rogue left her laptop on and I got… curious. Rogue's not going out of the city. In fact, she's going to the heart of the battle.

--

To: Torch

From: KitKat

Subject: Fucking Nutcase Anyone?

Are you kidding me? You're Johnny Storm? And you didn't try to stop her? What ever happened to that freaking crush you had on her? Shouldn't that have made you stop her or whatever? Like, you are so stupid.

--

To: KitKat

From: Torch

Subject: Are You Calling Me A Nutcase?

I did try to stop her. She left anyway. And what are you talking about crush?

--

To: Torch

From: KitKat

Subject: If The Title Fits

Well, the X-men are leaving, so this will be my last e-mail. You are way too obvious. Like, even through Rogue's e-mails I got the vibe that you totally are into her. She may not see it, but that sure as hell doesn't mean that the rest of us are stupid.

--

The X-men were already fighting by the time that Rogue had arrived. The battle, however, was far from over. All around there were mutants fighting mutants. Mixed in with everything there were some soldiers and guards with guns loaded with the Cure.

Rogue's face hardened as she slipped off her gloves. This wasn't the time to be standing around; this was the time to fight. Without another thought she plunged headfirst into the battle, dodging fists and powers. At one point she got locked into a battle with what appeared to be a spike-wielding mutant.

When he first saw the girl, he snorted, "And who are you supposed to be?"

She lunged at him, dodging one of his spikes clamping her hand over his face. "An X-man."

The man crumpled to the ground and Rogue allowed herself to wait for his powers to sink in. Getting passed his memories seemed to be the hardest part of it, though. There was so much pain buried in his mind that it was unbelievable. His parents didn't want him… the world definitely didn't seem to want him. He had been alone, living on the streets as a child. There was one point when she got a glimpse of some sort of drug addiction, but that seemed to disappear. The final part was his savior, a white haired goddess whose name he didn't seem to know. In his mind he called her Auntie. Rogue called her Storm.

After all of those thoughts and feelings got buried down as deep as they would go, she tapped into his powers. The feeling of spikes molting out of her skin hurt at first. But as she used them as weapons and got more and more used to the feeling, it didn't hurt so much. It was almost like some sort of sick high.

Through the battle, she caught sight of her friends fighting. At one point, she saw Logan completely tear down one mutant. At another, Piotr was literally throwing people left and right.

If there was one thing that Rogue had been trained for, it was endurance. She didn't have any powers that were particularly special, so Logan spent a lot of his time (whenever he was around) building up her endurance and strengthening her muscles. But, even with this training, she could feel the fatigue setting in. It was something that happened sometimes after she took a mutant's powers. Sometimes it just took so much out of her that she had to sit down and rest. But she couldn't rest. There was fighting going on.

"Rogue!" The voice resounded through the air. Kitty. She was running as fast as she could, dragging a little kid with her. And behind them a huge man followed, his footsteps shaking the ground. Her friend grabbed her hands and started dragging her along with them. "This kid-" she huffed, "has the power that they're making the cure out of. I can't use my power when I'm with him."

The little kid looked confused and frightened and excited all at once. Rogue glanced back at the approaching beast of a man, and then back at Kitty before saying, "Get him out of here. Ah'll… do my best."

She looked ready to argue, but didn't. Instead, she increased her speed to a point that the boy looked almost like a rag doll flying in the wind behind her. Rogue turned around. The giant man didn't stop. Instead, he knocked her right over. This didn't stop her, though. She grabbed onto his foot and was dragged along with him for the run.

Her body twisted and turned over the course of the run. She could hear some of her clothes tearing and her skin being cut, but she didn't let go. The man finally seemed to realize that there was someone attached to his foot.

With one swift kick, she flew through the air and her back hit the dirt. Hard. She cringed in pain, but didn't have enough time to react as he came towards her at full speed. He picked her up by her neck and threw her across the battlefield. This time when she hit the dirt, it felt as though every bone in her body was shattering. The strange man didn't seem to have any qualms with crushing her, as he came running towards her again.

This was the second time that Rogue truly thought that she was going to die. The first one being when she was kidnapped by Magneto, of course. No bone in her body seemed to work. She tried crawling away, but couldn't get up the strength. Again the man picked her up by her neck. This time, he started to crush her. If she could get any air to her lungs, she might have screamed. Instead, she was struck silent. Her vision started going black and the pressure was unbearable. He nearly had her begging for the end.

Something took his attention away. He bellowed and dropped her into a mess of limbs onto the ground and turned around. Who he was faced with was a boy completely made of ice. Bobby. Rogue felt the any air she had left in her be swept out at the site of him.

He worked fast, streaming out ice. The juggernaut kept on breaking out of his ice coffins. Bobby looked worried, but not more so than anyone else. All of the X-men came here knowing that they could die.

She picked herself off of the ground. Pain shot up through her legs, but somehow she managed to walk. While he was distracted, she used her little strength to jump on his back and brush her bare skin to his.

The memory onslaught was amazing. The man seemed to have a close connection with Professor Xavier, but she couldn't quite tell what that connection was. He had been locked in jail numerous times. Many, many murders were on his head. And then there was his power. Although he had real, brute strength that she could feel brimming her bones and hardening her muscles, she couldn't move. He wasn't like Logan. He wasn't indestructible. His powers wouldn't heal her.

She crumpled to the ground once again. This time, there was someone to catch her as she fell. The arms that wrapped around her were those of her boyfriend… ex-boyfriend.

He didn't seem to have any of the same prejudices that she had. "Welcome back, Rogue."

She couldn't do more than stare up at him.

A/N: This wasn't quite my best chapter ever, but I'm really bad at battle scenes. I hope, though, that eventually they start coming out more smoothly. Anyway, remember to review!