Chapter 11

- - - - - -

Rogue was having so much fun.

"Aw, c'mon, show me a little love. Don't run away!" She raced after her opponent and jumped him, pulling him down to the ground. He let off an electric shock and she leapt off his body. Both of them had powers that prevented them from being touched. Lucky for her, she had recently gained some new powers, too. Rogue let a series of kicks and punches fly, pummeling the mutant until he fell. She moved too quickly for him to shock her, and the fight ended quickly.

"You need some help, baby?" she called to Remy, who she now noticed was fighting an entire posse over by the entrance gate to the City Hall grounds. He was dodging attacks and causing explosions all over the place, but didn't seem to be making any progress.

"So it's 'baby' again, huh?" He managed to respond as she dove into the fray. "I thought you said we can't be together anymore."

"Don't read too much into it," she grunted as she wrestled with a mutant with a crushing hug. She evaded his grasp and hurled him at least twenty feet away. "I'm running on pure adrenaline, here; no room for thought."

"Where'd you learn to fight like that, anyway?"

"I didn't! Gargouille knows. Knew. Whatever." They fought side by side and Rogue couldn't deny it felt particularly good to be standing here with Remy, fighting evil together. She'd been excluded from this part of his life; it was some consolation for losing the freedom to be with him. And they made an awesome team. No reinforcements had gotten in to City Hall since they'd arrived and Scott had snuck in with Hank McCoy for reconnaissance. And no one had even seen the jet, parked on a roof nearby, where Jean was battling in her own way, trying to fight the psionic barriers placed against her.

"Well Gargouille kicks some serious ass."

"I know! Watch this!" She headlocked two smallish mutants who tried to sneak up on her, and bashed their heads together. "Marie could never do that!" Remy gave her a strange look between combatants.

"Rogue—"

"Scott's gone!" Hank McCoy fell from the sky in front of them, or at least it looked that way to Rogue. She didn't know where he'd come from, but he had landed in a crouch in front of them and swept the remaining mutants away easily.

"What do you mean gone?" Remy asked, sounding almost frightened. He and Remy moved closer to Hank and they turned their backs on one another, forming a sort of triangle to keep an eye out for more attackers. "Gone, how?"

"We reached a room where we believe Magneto is hiding. There were two mutants standing outside of it and we were spying on them when someone ambushed us. I'm afraid they were far too powerful for us both; one of them rendered me completely immobile while two others were able to get to Scott. They stabbed him with something, I don't know what, and then I saw them tie him with—GET AWAY FROM THE GATES!"

Remy and Rogue both whirled around to stare in shock at Hank. His voice had changed completely and he was now floating through the air at a rapid pace, very unnaturally. Rogue caught Remy's eye quickly and they both took off after their blue comrade.

"Can he fly?" Remy demanded.

"No more than I-auugghhhh!" Rogue felt herself lifted from the ground, and it felt like she was being physically thrown after Hank. Remy hurtled through the air after her. "What in the—"

"It's Jean!" Remy shouted. "She must have realized they have Scott!"

"I'm taking out everyone in there until I find him." The words came from Hank's mouth again, but now Rogue understood that Jean was talking through him. Jean dropped the three of them under a tree on the far side of the City Hall garden, and they tumbled and collided. Rogue quickly scrambled to her knees and grabbed Hank.

"What do you mean 'taking them out'? Jean, Magneto has anti-psionic technology. If you don't know where Scott is, how do you think you can find him?"

"Stay here," was the only response. A moment later Hank shook himself and stood up.

"That was rather rude."

"Jean must have heard you or something, Hank. Did you hear what she said?"

"Yes, I did. I also felt her presence, and I must tell you, she did not feel entirely stable."

"This isn't good." There was no need to reply to this, as a moment later the gates in front of City Hall were incinerated in a brief but fiery blast.

"Are we going to stay here like she said?" Rogue asked.

"Hell, no. I've never been one for following orders." Remy began running back towards City Hall and Rogue sprinted after him.

"Are we going to help her?"

"Maybe. She may be about to make our lives much easier—whoa."

Rogue remembered standing in an Italian restaurant over a month ago, and watching men being shredded to pieces one after another. At the time she had no idea who was doing it. Now she watched in horror as it happened again to a troop of five mutants who were pouring out of the building, and she knew exactly what was going on.

"She's killing them. She's going to kill everyone inside until she finds Scott."

"Well, good. Let's end this."

"No, Remy! This isn't good! As few casualties as possible, that's our way! We don't even know if Magneto's men have killed anyone at this point; we can't just kill them for kidnapping people."

"They didn't take hundreds of hostages because they want to sit around and chat, Marie. Don't be naïve!"

"I didn't say they did! And I'm not naïve, you ass! These are the Professor's rules – no killing unless absolutely necessary."

"Well maybe it's necessary—" Remy's words were cut off by an enormous explosion. The entire top floor of City Hall had just been decimated, and they ducked under a nearby tree to avoid the flying rubble. "Holy Christ, was that Jean?"

"I think so," Hank said, sounding both awed and horrified.

"Look, there could be innocent people up there! We have to stop Jean! I'm going after her." Rogue started running but Remy jerked her back and she nearly fell over.

"Like hell, you are. What if she kills you?" Rogue snatched her arm away and shoved him to the ground.

"Either help me or get out of my way, Gambit." His eyes narrowed, looking both angered and perhaps hurt. Rogue didn't have time to worry about his feelings, but she couldn't just leave him lying there. They glared at each other for a heated moment.

"Perhaps we should wait for reinforcements," Hank put in mildly. Rogue turned to him in disgust.

"I'm not waiting while people are dying," she snapped.

"Help may be closer than you think." He nodded at something behind her and Rogue turned to see a beat-up old car rolling over the grass towards them. Storm and Kurt jumped out of it, and pulled the Professor after them.

Thank god.

Rogue and the two useless idiots beside her ran to join the rest of their team.

"What happened here?"

"Jean."

"They kidnapped Scott. He's under some anti-psionic protection and she can't find him, so she's killing everyone in sight."

"Where is she?"

"The jet's up there," Gambit pointed to the roof of a high-rise across the street. The Professor didn't waste any time.

"Kurt, take me there now." In a flash, the two of them disappeared. The rest of the X-Men looked at one another in slight puzzlement, not sure what to do.

"I'm going after them," Rogue said impetuously, but Storm held up a hand.

"Just wait."

Rogue waited, feeling extremely jumpy with every second that passed. It was less than a minute before Kurt reappeared in front of them, however.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Professor Xavier convinced her to stop. Storm, Hank, Gambit, you will go in to rescue Scott, with Jean's help. Marie—er, Rogue—there are several of Magneto's men on their way to the roof of that building right now, to try and stop Jean. They are protected from her detection so we need you to stand guard and keep them off of Jean. You must not let any of them pass. I will take the Professor inside to try and reach Magneto."

"Storm will go with the Professor," Rogue suddenly heard herself saying. "I can't track her at all. Send Kurt to help me get Scott." Suddenly she felt a huge release from a tension she hadn't even realized she'd felt. Jean had been talking through her. It was seriously unpleasant.

"Was that Jean?"

"Why can't she track you, Storm?"

"I don't know. But let's do what she says." They split up. Rogue wrapped her arms around Kurt and he teleported them to the jet. The Professor was there, but a second later he and Kurt were gone. Rogue was alone, and she could not let anyone pass.

Jean needed to hurry the hell up. Rogue didn't know how long she'd been out here, fighting like she'd never fought before, but she was getting tired. It felt like Magneto had sent his entire force up here to attack the jet. She had to race back and forth between opponents non-stop, and every time she would knock someone out or shove them over the side of the building—no time to think about that—another one would appear.

She wasn't sure she could keep this up much longer. And then Mystique appeared, and she knew she was doomed. Everyone else faded into the background, somehow.

"Get out of my way." Rogue felt a thrill of fear, for the first time all day. Worse, it was all mixed together with guilt and love and exhaustion and determination, and she realized that Mystique had a powerful hold over her. But she could not let her pass.

"It's not happening, Mystique. I will fight you."

"You can try." She lunged.

Rogue dodged her attack and they began to fight in earnest. But Mystique was vicious, and powerful, and unstoppable, and she kept pushing Rogue back. They got closer and closer to the jet. Rogue brought out every move she could think of, but Mystique had her on the defensive from the start.

"I won't let you pass," Rogue snarled, trying not to show her exhaustion. "I'm not the weak, pathetic girl you once called me. You should've killed me while you had the chance, when I was still human."

"I wanted to see what you would become," Mystique replied in an emotionless voice, surprising her. "You are more powerful now. But I'm still stronger." She landed a series of vicious punches and kicks that knocked Rogue to the ground. She lay there, stunned, unable to move, and Mystique leapt on top of her. The eerily blue woman lowered her head until she was just inches above; Rogue couldn't tear her eyes away. "There's so much I could have taught you," Mystique said throatily. "Too bad." She lifted her hands to Rogue's head, when—

She disappeared. Rogue scrambled backwards, confused.

"What in the hell?"

"It's over." Rogue looked up and climbed to her feet, and saw Jean striding down the jet ramp, looking irritatingly calm. "Scott's safe. So are the others. And now you are, too."

"Where's Mystique?" Rogue didn't care to ponder why she sounded so distraught, but she had to know. "Did you kill her?"

"No. She's in jail. Which is where Magneto will be in just a minute if you'd be quiet for a second." Jean closed her eyes and Rogue watched as….nothing happened. "There. It's done."

"Are you kidding me? What do you mean done?"

"Magneto and his men are all detained, as are his henchmen. At least, all of the ones in City Hall. Now that there are no hostages, the police can get back to work and get control of the city again. Our work here is done."

"Just like that? What happened to all the anti-psionic technology?"

"It slows me down, it doesn't stop me. And that's the one thing I can't fight—time. That and—oh, no."

"What?" Rogue asked, but it was immediately clear. Jean collapsed into a heap on the ground. "Shit!" She picked up the now-powerless mutant and carried her into the jet. "I hate flying this stupid thing," Rogue muttered to herself. A few minutes later they were flying back to school, and Rogue prepared for the fallout that happens after a battle.