Well I'm Back! I have to admit that when I saw that I had 3 reviews, I almost peed my pants. Thanks to nellybell515 for being the first. I did try to make this chapter longer for ya. And of course honorable mentions will go to spark187 and KInasha14. Thanks for the kind words. You guys rock! ;)
Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any marvel characters. *Tear*
Chapter 2
5 years later
She stood outside of the mansion's iron gates. She forgot how beautiful this place was. The last time she was here seemed like a lifetime ago. She should have called them as soon as it happened, to let them know that she would be coming home. She should have listened to her gut instincts, telling her that it was wrong not to keep in touch with her friends, her family. She should have done so many things differently…
"Miss? I ain't got all day." She had forgotten that the cab driver was still waiting to be paid his dues.
She turned to look at the small, round man. She could snap him in half if she wanted to. He wouldn't even have a chance to blink before she could end his miserable life...
She shook the thought out of her head.
She handed, more like threw, the money in the taxi drivers direction. She didn't feel bad; he hadn't exactly been friendly during the ride.
The man grabbed his money and shut the door, not before saying, "Damn mutant freak!" and driving off to who the hell knows where.
She turned her attention back towards the mansion. She felt like she was going to vomit. Would they accept her after they found out what she had done? Would HE ever forgive her? She should have thought her plan out more thoroughly. She knew the decision was rash, but she needed to go back home. Back to normal…well as normal as a mansion full of mutants can be.
If it weren't for that stupid bitch Emma Frost, she could have found her place in the mansion and would have had a whole different life. She finally got the one thing she always wanted. Control. She would give it all back if she could. Oh well. Too late now.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, going unwillingly to that dreaded night in her mind…
Flashback
*1 Month ago*
She had never been so happy in her life. Everything was perfect. She finally had control. None of that half way concentration crap, but 100% control. She was on cloud nine.
Emma kept up her end of the deal. She came though for her, just like she said she would. Now she would finally be able to go home after the semester was over.
To help out Ms. Frost, she had taught the mechanics class. She had always loved working on bikes and cars, thanks to Logan, so the position was perfect. When she first arrived at the school, she had her doubts. Even though it was another school for mutants, it lacked the warm feeling that the Xavier Institute had. It seemed that the students here were constantly bickering and trying to compete.
However, it didn't take long for her to get into gear (literally). She actually started to like it.
She had sessions with Emma three times a week. They typically would last about 2 hours, and she would usually end up leaving feeing hopeless.
That had all changed recently. Emma went deep into her mind, and BAM! Instant control. Emma herself even seemed shocked.
"Rogue, I do not know how you have gained control so quickly. I wanted to work at this in steps, I didn't want you to become overwhelmed."
Rogue couldn't help but laugh.
"Emma, I am 23 years old and have never really kissed a guy, the quicker you help me out, the better."
Emma couldn't help but smile. She had grown quite attached to the girl. She was never the type to have friends that were women. Most women were too jealous of her. They couldn't stand that not only did she have the looks, but she had the brains as well. She wasn't just another used up blonde bimbo. The thing about Rogue, was that she never thought negatively of her. And she was a telepath, so she would know.
"This is what I believed happened. Your powers never got the chance to fully manifest. When you kissed that boy-"
Emma hesitated to see Rogue's reaction. She knew it was a sore topic. Rogue seemed ok so she continued.
"-you unintentionally hindered your powers. The more people you absorbed, the more walls you put up in your mind. I only tore down a few. I estimated that it would at least have been another year, and I am hardly ever wrong."
Rogue nodded her head. She was staring down at her hands. Her hands that were no longer poison. Her hands could touch...SHE could touch.
She looked back up at Emma. "So what does this mean?"
Emma had a smile that could barely be contained on her face.
"It means that you, my friend, might be a class 5 mutant."
Rogue's eyes widened in shock. "How do you figure?"
Emma was expecting that question. "Well, the way I see it, is that realistically it took a short amount of time for you to have full control. Just imagine what type of power you will have when we take down all the walls! You may even have some hidden mutation that we don't know about yet!"
It was hard for Emma to control her excitement. She had struck gold by bringing the girl to her school.
"Emma I appreciate everything you have done for me, I really do, but I don't care about all the 'could possibly be there' powers. I'm so happy with the way everything is now. I really just want to go back to Xavier's."
Rogue could see the anger flash in Emma's ice blue eyes.
" Oh I see, how silly of me. Here I was thinking that we were friends, and the first thing you say to me after my years of commitment is 'I am leaving'. How disappointing."
Emma knew that the southerner was too kind hearted, and she was going to use that to her advantage. She needed the girl to stay just one more night.
Rogue instantly felt guilty.
"I'm sorry Emma, I didn't mean it like that. I just want to go there to check in with everyone. I miss them so much!"
Rogue blushed at the thought of seeing a certain Cajun again.
"I will finish teaching this semester. And who knows, I may still come back to help you next semester. I can just stay there during summer break or something…but for right now I just want to have a quick weekend visit, just to see how everyone is."
By saying everyone, she meant Remy. She had fantasized about this moment forever. She was going to tell him that she still loved him, and he would confess that he loved her as well, and they would spend all night together showing their love to each other.
Of course, that was a fantasy. In reality, she left a hand written letter with him, shoved under his door. In that letter she did confess her feeling for him, but she had no idea if he felt the same.
Emma, being a telepath, was of course listening to Rogue's personal thoughts.
"Fine. But could you at least wait till next weekend to visit? Mid terms are coming up, and I simply cannot spare you."
Rogue shook her head enthusiastically.
"Of course! That is not a problem! Thank you for understanding, Emma."
Emma felt an unusual pang of guilt in her chest.
"Think nothing of it. I do have a favor to ask of you though."
Rogue nodded. "Anything! What do you need?"
"There is this formal dinner party this evening. Since you and I have become such good friends, I would love for you to join me. We can officially celebrate your control."
Rogue grinned. Besides one lame high school dance, she had never been to a formal occasion as an adult.
"Really? I don't know what to say! Thank you so much!" She thought for a moment. "I don't really have anything to wear though…"
Emma dismissed the comment with her hand.
"That has already been taken care of. The dress is already laid out on your bed by now, along with proper shoes and some jewelry."
Rogue opened her mouth to protest. "Emma I can't accept that-"
"Of course you can. Just think of it as a going away present."
Rogue grinned. "Thank you for everything, I mean it."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Please don't get sappy on me now. Just make sure to be ready at 7 p.m. sharp."
Rogue got up and tried to control the urge to sprint to her room.
Emma felt guilty, which was out of her character. The girl would hate her after tonight.
Later that evening…
She looked at herself in he full-length mirror. She had come a long way from that gothic girl she used to be. Her hair was much longer now, almost halfway down her back. She still had her signature white streaks surrounding her face, but her hair now had a slight curl to it. She was more fit, thanks to Emma's boot camp- like training. She had also filled out in the "proper" areas. The dark make up was replaced with neutral tones, and natural long, dark eyelashes were revealed. She would occasionally put lipstick on her naturally rose colored lips. Her skin tone was slightly darker, like it had been kissed by the sun. Not exactly tan, but not porcelain like she was before.
The dress that Emma gave her was a simple, yet elegant black dress. It showed just the right amount of cleavage, and was a little too short, in Rogue's opinion. The shoes were open toed and had a high heel on them, accentuating her already long legs. Her ensemble was completed with some teardrop diamond earrings. She had to admit Emma knew what she was doing when it came to fashion.
She waited for Emma in the foyer. When she showed up, she was wearing a dress that was similar to her own, only white. She had a stressed look on her face.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I just had to make some last minute arrangements."
"Is everything ok?" Rogue asked.
"Yes. I just had to convince a very important guest to arrive at the party. Lets not worry about that now though. This is your night. The limo is parked out front. Lets go."
A few hours later
Rogue was really enjoying herself. She was getting a lot of attention from the men, especially a Mr. Sebastian Shaw. He was a little stuck up, but she had drunk a little too much to care. She was dancing! No gloves or boundaries. Just skin-to-skin contact. This was marvelous. Unfortunately, the night was coming to an end. Most of the guests were already gone.
Mr. Shaw took her naked hand.
"Madame, would you please join me in another room?"
Rogue couldn't hide the look of disgust on her face.
The man let out a chilling laugh. "I do not want you to join me for the reason you are thinking of. I already have 3 women waiting in my bedchambers. No, with you I need to discuss business."
She looked at him confused. "Business? Emma never mentioned anything about business."
"She did not because I asked her not to. Emma works for me, you see. And I would like to offer you a fantastic opportunity as well."
By this time they had already made their way into a very large room.
Rogue looked about the room. She felt a sudden sharp pain in her neck. She felt dizzy…why did she feel dizzy?
The last thing she remembered as she was falling to the ground was the look on Emma's face.
"Rogue, please forgive me."
XXX
When she awoke, she found herself in a dark, dingy room with very high ceilings. It smelled of mildew and something else she couldn't quite name. Her head was throbbing. She quickly fell over and started to vomit.
A voice came out of some hidden intercom system.
"Ah my dear, I am so happy to see you are with us. You are in this containment unit for your own protection. You see, a little bird told me that you might be a class 5 mutant. And to be frank, I want you to be a member of our club. Not just any member, but a queen."
Rogue wiped off her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked up and shouted hoping he could hear her. "There is no way in hell that I would be part of your club!"
A cruel laugh was his reply. "Such anger and hostility! You will make a great addition. We are members of the Hellfire Club. And you will join. We must have you. Our Emma here can control your mind, so you have no say in the matter. We just need to speed up the process of you obtaining your maximum power. I have brought in a guest to help us out. You may remember Ms. Frost making arrangements by phone to have her sent to us."
There was a creaking of a door, it sounded like it came from somewhere up above. Then all of the sudden there was a loud THUD, which caused her to jump. She looked over to her left, where the object had landed.
It moaned.
She jumped back alarmed because of the sound. The person started to stir, and slowly rose to their feet.
It was a woman. She had long blonde hair, and was wearing a black uniform that looked more like a one-piece swimsuit. Down the middle was the symbol of a lightening bolt. Her outfit was completed with elbow length black gloves, and thigh high boots.
The woman rubbed the back of her neck, before facing her. "They got you too? Damn bastards shot me up with something when I wasn't expecting it. Don't worry though. I am pretty sure that I can get us out of here."
With that, the woman attempted to jump, but fell awkwardly back down to the floor.
She looked confused. "Where are my powers?"
She looked around the room, like she expected to find them there. Then she unexpectedly shouted, " WHAT HAVE YOU DONE SHAW?"
The sudden outburst startled Rogue. She had no idea what was going on, but she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
The chilling voice answered back. " Don't worry Ms. Marvel, your powers are still intact. We injected you with a temporary power inhibitor. A scientist that worked for Trask Enterprises created it. We unfortunately had to dispose of him due to his discovery, but not before we apprehended the formula-"
"What does that have to do with us?" Ms. Marvel cut off the phantom voice.
"I am so glad you asked. You are going to help this young lady take full advantage of her powers. Just look at it like a little test. Unfortunately, you will not live to see the results."
Ms. Marvel whipped her head around and looked at rogue wide eyed. She raised her fist as if rogue was going to pounce.
"You're with them?"
Rogue raised her hands up in defense. "No! I was drugged and thrown in here! I was tricked! I am not going to fight you!"
The voice came over the intercom system again. "Unfortunately my dear, you will fight her. Its either one of you live, or both of you die. We thought that if a Trask scientist was able to create a formula to hinder powers, why couldn't he create one that enhances them? So we had him do it for us…he was ever so eager."
All of the sudden a cloud of gas was distributed from the dingy vents up above. Rogue did everything in her power to avoid breathing in the fumes, but it was to no avail. She felt an instant tingling go through her body. Her skin felt like it was on fire. She felt her powers coming to her finger tips at full force. She knew that if the other woman came anywhere near her, she would instantly be killed. Speaking of the other woman, where was she?
The next thing she knew, the woman was hovering right in front of her. She had a crazy look in her eye.
"Listen girlie, I don't buy your 'innocent' act. If one of us has to die, it is not going to be me. I tried to find a way out of here, and I can't. I'm sorry…"
And with that she dropped to the floor and kicked towards Rogue's leg.
Rogue heard a SNAP, and instantly felt the worse pain she had ever felt in her life. She fell to the ground, screaming in agony. She was afraid to look at her leg, but Wolverine's previous training taught her that she would have to assess the situation. When she looked down, she knew immediately that her leg was snapped in half at the knee. The only thing that was holding the bones together was her skin. The woman must have some kind of super strength as well as the flight ability. She started to hyperventilate from a mixture of the pain and the sight.
The searing pain clouded her vision. She desperately tried to look around and find her assailant. She heard the clicking of boots off to her right side. They were coming closer. She looked up into the eyes of Ms. Marvel. It was at this moment she knew that she was going to die.
"I'll do you a favor and kill you quickly."
Rogue closed her eyes. The last thing she thought was, "I wish I had Jeans telekinesis, that way I could at least hold her in place until I figured something else out…I'll never get to see Remy again…"
She held her breathe and awaited the final blow, but it never came. She squinted out of one eye to see what was going on.
Ms. Marvel was still in front of her, but it was as if she couldn't move, like she was stuck in place. Rogue went to look at a different area, and where her eyes traveled so did Ms. Marvel.
"No…it couldn't be…"
She turned her head in a different direction, and once again Ms. Marvel moved in the direction of her sight.
She was controlling her with Jean's power. She had absorbed Jean at one point in time, when she was losing control of her powers. She had somehow called upon her telekinesis.
The realization startled her, and she lost control, releasing the blonde woman in the process.
The woman stared at her with a death glare. "You'll be sorry for that!" And with that she charged towards her.
Rogue immediately raised her hands up in front of her as an act of self-defense, and in the process grazed the skin of Ms. Marvel.
She immediately felt the power surge through her body. She looked down and realized she was floating. Her leg no longer hurt, and she thought that had something to do with Wolverine's mutation. That or the fact that this Ms. Marvel character was indestructible. Speaking of Ms. Marvel, she looked down to see where the woman had gone off too. The sight she saw instead made her nauseous.
She saw the woman in a heap on the ground. Her eyes were still open, but they were rolled back and glazed over. Rogue instantly knew that she was dead.
This was too much…it all was too much. She didn't mean to…she didn't want to…and then she passed out.
XXX
She awoke to hearing hushed voices.
"The enhancing formula has worn of Mr. Shaw, but she will still retain the powers of Ms. Marvel. I can't believe that she was able to call upon different mutations that she has absorbed in the past."
"Yes Ms. Frost, she will be the most powerful mutant in our ranks, you chose wisely my dear."
"Thank you my King, but I must warn you that she will fight us every step of the way. She is very strong-"
"Emma, you forget that you are a strong telepath. You will control her mind-"
"But Sir, that will be exhausting, how can I manage to watch her constantly-"
"YOU WILL AND YOU MUST!"
Emma looked down at the floor. No one noticed the woman hovering silently above them.
Rogue had heard enough. It was either fight these idiots, or sneak out silently. She thought over her options. She could charge down against the two, which could be unwise due to the fact she knew nothing about Mr. Shaw or his abilities. Or, she could leave, never to be seen again, but she knew they would keep on searching for her. She decided against both.
She slowly landed gracefully in between the two.
"That is not necessary Mr. Shaw. I want to become a member of your club. You mentioned that I would have a high position. If you meant that, I will stay."
The large man looked at her suspiciously. "I am pleased to hear that you have changed your mind, but for my own reassurance, would you mind if Ms. Frost took a look in that pretty little mind of yours?"
Rogue froze. "Of course she can."
She turned to look into Emma's ice blue eyes. Emma looked into her deep emerald ones. Emma rested her fingertips on Rogue's temples and closed her eyes.
Emma found nothing. Not one thought. Not one feeling. The girl had a mental shield up. She had to make a choice. She could help the only woman that had ever befriended her, or she could turn against her, and be imprisoned to control her mind for who knows how long.
"She is telling the truth."
Rogue was surprised, and she did her best not to show it. Emma was actually covering for her.
"Well this night has turned out magnificently. Lets end it on a good note, shall we? Emma, show our new Queen to her quarters."
He bowed towards Rogue, and turned to leave the room.
The women walked in silence until they made it to Rogue's room. When inside Emma turned and locked the door.
"I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that you are going to sneak into his room and kill him for what he has done."
Rogue just stood before her in silence, not showing any emotion.
"I didn't read your mind, if you must know. I just know you."
Rogue snapped. "You don't know a damn thing about me! I will destroy him, and you are lucky I don't do the same to you! The only thing saving your pretty little butt is the fact that you lied for me back there."
"Rogue, you don't understand. You can't fight him. His mutation is absorption. The more blows you throw, the stronger he will become. Even bullets and the blades of weapons can empower him."
Rogue thought about this. "Well then, I'll destroy him without hitting him or using force. I suggest that you leave tonight Emma, because things are definitely going to 'heat up' in here."
Emma got what the southerner was implying. She was going to set Shaw's mansion on fire, with him in it.
"You better make sure that he is dead Rogue, because if he lives, he will hunt you down forever."
Rogue turned her back and looked at her reflection in the vanity mirror. The outfit held no meaning like it did earlier, no happiness or excitement. She looked exhausted.
"Don't worry about that. You will not be able to tell there was anything here after I get through with it."
Present Day
Rogue was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard the roar of a motorcycle engine off in the distance. She quickly ran her fingers through her long hair to make sure she looked ok. She still stood outside of the mansion's iron gates. She became increasingly nervous as the sound grew nearer. There were only 3 men in the house that had rode when she left. They were Scott, Logan, and…Remy.
Oh my God, what if it was Remy? She knew she looked exhausted and worn out because of the recent events. She had refused to fly here because she wanted no part of the powers that she took. They were permanently hers because she killed someone. He would think of her differently if he ever found out. She could now call upon mutations that she had absorbed in the past, but she didn't want the others to know that she changed, that she was different, that she was a murderer.
Would he even recognize her? Would he even care that she was back?
The bike and its rider had just turned onto the long driveway. She squinted her eyes against the sun to get a better look. It wasn't Remy, it was…
"Logan!"
She threw her bags down and ran towards him.
At first, he didn't know who was approaching him, until he had smelled her scent. That was the only way that he knew it was her. Well that and her signature white streaks. The girl had changed. Like a caterpillar turned into a butterfly. She was beautiful. She had definitely outgrown her goth stage. He had always thought her pretty before, not romantically, but how a father thinks highly of a daughter.
He smiled one of his rare smiles. She stopped when she came right in front of him.
"It's good to have you back, stripes. Did you get done what you went there to do?"
He was trying to ask her if she had gained control.
"Yes, I did. I got a little more then I bargained for."
She wasn't about to go into detail about everything right now. She doubted that she ever would. She knew he wouldn't push the issue. For now.
Logan pulled her in for a hug.
At first it was awkward for her, not because she didn't like it, but it was a rare display of affection coming from the hard core Wolverine.
He then let go and held her away from him. "You've changed. The five years you've been gone have been good to you. Ya look good."
She smiled at him.
"Well, let me help you with your things. I'm sure everyone will be excited to see you. Kitty asked me almost every single day if I had heard from you. I think that was the hardest part, not being able to contact you."
He wasn't about to tell her how Gumbo reacted when he found out she had left without personally saying goodbye. The kid had been heart broken because of it.
He looked over and saw how guilty she looked. "I never should have left."
The comment surprised him. He thought that the trip would be worth it because she gained control.
"Well your home now. Lets go inside."
She looked up at the mansion. She was home. She was finally home.
To be continued
