Chapter 12: Those Who Remain

Rogue opened her eyes. She didn't know what was happening around her. She still remembered the raid and wondered if she had been shot with one of the darts and taken away. She hoped not.

But then, as she sat up and surveyed her surroundings, she realized that the mansion was in shambles. She suddenly was able to remember the fight with John, how he had blown up a generator just before going unconscious, how Kitty had attempted to save her and Alison. Now Rogue wondered where Kitty and Alison were.

Oh God, please let them be safe, she thought to herself. Please don't let either of them be dead! Please!

Rogue slowly got up and found Alison not far from her. She was unconscious, but she seemed to be mostly unharmed. Ash covered her face and it was in her hair, however. Rogue went to her and slowly shook her awake.

"Alison," she whispered. "It's me. It's me. It's Rogue. Please wake up."

Alison opened her eyes and started coughing. When she had finished, she looked up at Rogue. "Rogue?" she said. "What happened? After the explosion, I mean? Where are the others? Kitty, Logan, Bobby, and Piotr? Where are they?"

"I don't know," Rogue admitted. "I seriously don't know. But I'm really scared. We need to find Kitty and then the others. Come on." She hlped Alison to her feet.

They began searching for others, especially Kitty. They both hoped (and in Rogue's case, somehow knew) she was around here. Rogue knew they would find her.

Rogue heard someone groaning. Looking quickly around her, she saw a hand coming up through the rubble. Rogue felt relief washing over her, but it was still mixed with a little fear. She ran to that spot to see if it was Kitty, and to her great relief, it was. But she seemed to be groaning in pain. A support beam was lying on top of her.

"Kitty!" Rogue said. "Are you okay?"

Kitty looked up at her. Her blue eyes seemed to start sparkling. "I think so," she said. "I think a nail might have gone into my side. I need you to help me!" She attempted to move the support beam off herself, but it was no use. "I think I lost all concentration when I went unconscious. I'm glad you weren't hurt after that."

"Yeah, so am I," Rogue agreed. "Thanks for helping us." She got her fingers under the support beam and groaned as she tried moving it. "Kitty, please help me if you can!" She turned her head and said behind her, "Alison, come quick! I've found Kitty! We need your help! She's stuck under a support beam!"

Alison came as quick as she could. When she saw Kitty, she automatically did what she could to move the beam. It was a success, and soon Kitty was able to get our from under it. Rogue helped her up and looked her over to see if she might have been injured. She was alarmed when she saw the splotch of blood seeping through the right side of her white pajama shirt.

"Does that hurt?" Alison asked.

"A little," Kitty admitted. "Just a little. I think it's best if I get it patched up soon. Where are all the others? I know there was the explosion, but I was sure that we would be okay. I guess I lost concentration and went unconscious. I'm sorry about that."

"It's all right, Kitty," Rogue assured her in a soft voice. "It was probably the strain of the concentration. But what matters is that we can find the others and get the heck out of here."

Kitty put her hand on her wound, and she, Rogue, and Alison made their way through the shambles of the mansion. Much of it had been burnt away. But they hoped it would be able to be rebuilt soon.

The three of them suddenly heard footsteps behind them. They all froze, and then whirled around. Bobby, Piotr, and Logan stood there, watching them. A smile crossed Logan's face when he saw them, but then he frowned when he saw Kitty covering her wound with her hand.

"Kitty, you okay?" he asked. "It's good to see you guys, by the way. How much does that hurt, Kitty?" He sounded concerned for her.

"It could be worse," Kitty said. "I mean, I've never felt worse, and I've never felt this either, but I guess I could be feeling worse, you know?"

Logan chuckled. "I guess you're right. All right, let's get out of here and see who else we might be able to find. We need to get that patched up before it gets any worse."

"What do you mean, 'gets any worse?'" Rogue asked. "How do you know if her wound is that bad? How can you be so sure?"

"I was just saying," Logan told her. "And I have felt a lot of pain in my lifetime. So just remember that. Got it?"

Rogue slowly nodded.

"Kitty, let's take a look at that wound before my nerves get the best of me," Logan finally said. "I'm trying to help you girls, and every single time I see you clutching your side like that, it makes me cringe. So let's see it."

Kitty took her hand off the wound. Logan looked at it and then said, "Looks like a nail went in there. It's not too bad. We're going to get it patched up quickly, and then…" He became lost in thought for a moment, and his voice trailed off. When he returned, he looked to Rogue. "Could you take some of my power and give it to her? I have a good healing factor that she can use. Just take off your gloves and touch me, then transfer it to Kitty. You've done that kind of thing before, haven't you?"

Rogue shook her head. "I've never tried doing that. What if I accidentally hurt her while transferring the power? I don't want to hurt my best friend, Logan. Please."

"It's the only way, Rogue," Alison told her. "Just have faith in yourself. It's the best thing to do when it comes to a situation like this." She smiled tiredly at both her and Kitty.

Rogue sighed, took off the glove on her right hand, and then touched Logan's bare skin. He yelped out for a minute. Then Rogue turned to Kitty and touched her bare arm. Kitty groaned when she felt the pain of the connection. Looking down at her wound, she saw it had begun healing. She looked at Rogue and smiled.

After Rogue had put her glove back on, Kitty hugged her. "Will that be permanent?" Kitty asked Logan. "The transfer of your powers, I mean."

"No," he replied. "It'll wear off in about an hour. Or so I think. I mean, that's my best guess. Anyway, let's get over there—" He pointed north of them "—and see if we can find someone. I really need to know if the Professor is around here or not."

They continued making their way to where Logan had pointed to. When they reached the spot, they found three others standing there and looking around. Kitty realized two of them were Storm and Jean. She tried to learn who the third person was, but she was unable to do so.

"Logan!" Jean yelled to him. "My God, the children! Are they all okay?"

"Yes," Logan replied. "Kitty was injured, but her injury is gone now. She's good for now."

"Oh thank Heaven!" came Storm's voice. "Scott is over here with us, as are Bobby Drake and Piotr Rasputin! But no one else is over here, Logan!"

When Logan and the others had reached the spot where the others stood, Logan surveyed them all. Bobby and Rogue noticed each other, as did Piotr and Kitty. The two couples embraced.

Piotr looked down at Kitty and noticed the splotch of blood on her shirt. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

Storm, Jean, Cyclops, and Bobby all looked over to them and saw the splotch too.

"It's okay," she assured them. "Thanks to Logan and Rogue, it's no longer bleeding."

They nodded and then went back to speaking with Logan.

"Where's the Professor?" asked Jean. "I hope he hasn't been taken."

"I hope that, too," Logan said. "I'm not sure about anything, however. Jean, can you sense anymore mutants around this area besides us?"

"No," she replied. "My mind is cluttered, however. That might be the main reason."

"No, your mind is fine," said Scott. "You don't make mistakes, so don't say that."

"Good point," Logan said. "But we need to make sure, remember?" Scott nodded. "Good. Now, is there any possible way we can contact the Professor or anybody else? Heck, I'd even take the furball! I'd even take Beast! I guess he got taken, as well."

Silence fell over them. Kitty finally broke it.

"If the Professor was taken, then the best thing to do is go after whoever took him!" she said. "I'm not going to leave him or any of the people in this school behind! I may not have been here for a whole school year, but I've still gotten to know a lot of people real well. I love all of them. I won't dare to leave anyone I love just because I don't know where the heck they are!"

"We didn't say anything about leaving them behind," Logan told her.

"Then what?" she snapped back at him.

"We were about to say we're going to get them," Logan said.

Kitty's expression softened and a peculiar expression crossed her face. "Oh," she said. "Nevermind."

"But how are going to know where we need to go? How in the name of God are we going to get there?" Bobby asked.

"We have the Blackbird," Storm explained. "You see, after Kitty, Alison, and Rogue become members of the X-Men, we put their costumes in there, and we also have ones for you and Piotr."

"How do you have some for us?" Bobby asked.

"We were planning to make you guys part of the X-Men," Scott said. "We just never got around to it. The girls seemed a little more special at the time, and they revealed their powers to us before the teachers knew of yours."

"So where is this Blackbird?" Rogue said. "Isn't that what we came back in that one day?" she asked to Kitty and Logan.

"It is," Logan said. "Now come on. We need to get there. Let's hurry, because I'm not sure how much time we have left to do this."

"And how are we to find them?" Piotr asked in his Russian accent. He got closer to Kitty.

"There is a tracker with the Professor," Storm said. "He always has one on the suits he wears. And they're always on our X-Men suits. That is how we are supposed to find one another when we have to."

Kitty and the others just nodded, unsure of what she would be doing next. She looked over to Rogue and Alison, who looked at her with some concern.

"Okay," Logan said. "Follow me, guys. We need to get to the basketball court."

As they walked that way, Kitty looked to Rogue.

"I'm so scared," Kitty admitted to her.

"I am too," Rogue said. She put her arm around Kitty's shoulder. "But we're going to be okay. "We'll be okay as long as we keep believing."

Alison saw this and placed her hand on Rogue's shoulder. "I know that as long as I remain with you guys, I'll be fine," she said. "You guys are my greatest friends, and I'm going to keep you as my friends until the end."

Hearing this made both Kitty and Rogue feel much better.

Looking over to Bobby, Rogue noticed something was wrong. "Bobby, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied sharply.

"I know when you're lying," Rogue said. "I can tell real well. It's something that runs in my family."

Bobby smiled at her and finally admitted the truth. "All right, you've got me," he said. "You see, John was an old friend of mine. We knew we were mutants a long time ago. In my neighborhood, there were four of us. Piotr and I were two of them. John and another guy—I forget his name—were the last two. The Brotherhood were very much known in that neighborhood. The other guy whose name I forget was killed in a car crash—his ability was to slow down time, ironically, but he was drunk that night, if I remember correctly—and so John decided to go with Magneto—he actually called himself that. So I remember John, Magneto, and the Brotherhood. I refused to join them, because Magneto told me of his plans to eradicate humanity and make us the perfect species. It was disgusting, if you ask me. So when the Professor came to me, I said yes, and that was before this school year."

Hearing this sent chills down Rogue, Kitty, and Alison's spines. They couldn't believe it.

"When I learned of my ability, I was asleep, and suddenly I found myself in what I now know was a dreamworld. I was flying, and then suddenly I began falling. When I woke up, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I was in the basement, and I realized I'd fallen through the floor. My parents found me and soon we realized what I was. But all I care about is the fact they accept me. And so do you guys. That's why you're all my friends. I'll make sure I never leave your sides."

"I learned of my ability when I was helping Bobby in our neighborhood once. He was being beaten upon by some of the gang members there, and I attempted to stop them, and though they tried to punch me back, the places they punched were those I wished there was protection. I was suddenly encased in metal. The gang members believed they were just intoxicated—I know that because I heard them say so the next day. But they all had broken fingers and hands for a small while. It was because of that incident that the Professor found me. And now I am here." He looked down and smiled at Kitty. She smiled back and got closer to him. Rogue and Alison smiled at this.

They reached the basketball courts and found Logan pressing buttons on some sort of device that had been hidden under the metal of a basketball hoop. When he'd finished, the middle of the basketball court opened up. The Blackbird suddenly appeared.

"All right," Logan said. "It's time we get in there and begin changing. Jean, you have the trackers in place?"

"Yes," she replied. "Let me just get everything on and ready."

Logan nodded.

"The men will be changing in one corner of the Blackbird, the ladies in the other," Logan explained, though he seemed to be rolling his eyes at the same time. Seeing this made Kitty giggle a little.

As they got on to the Blackbird, Kitty and Rogue thought the same exact thing: Here we come, Professor.