Spun

By Liz Wyatt

Chapter Two: Bend and Break

When you, when you forget your name
When old faces all look the same
Meet me in the morning when you wake up
Meet me in the morning then you'll wake up
If only I don't bend and break
I'll meet you on the other side
I'll meet you in the light
If only I don't suffocate
I'll meet you in the morning when you wake

Bitter and hardened heart
Aching waiting for life to start
Meet me in the morning when you wake up

-"Bend and Break" by Keane

Her bag sat next to her on the bench. Her green jacket seemed a bit too heavy on the warm spring day. She stripped it off and put her scarf into her bag. The red satin gloves covered her hands and up to her elbows. She couldn't quite let them go. They had become such a normal thing to her that she hadn't taken them off.

While looking around the park she saw runners, mothers with their babies, people out walking their dogs, and such. She noticed that they all looked at her strangely as they passed her bench. At first she became paranoid wondering if they all knew about her. Then she realized it was the fact that, she a young girl was alone, dressed in dark colors and with a bag as her bench mate. Rogue quickly stood up and started walking. She had her bag under her arm, with her coat tucked inside as she walked and tried to take off her gloves. As she was in this awkward position she noticed that she had traveled into an old man's chess playing area. Frustrated with her gloves she put her bag down on one of the stone seats and began to take her gloves off. That's when someone sat across from her bag. She assumed it was just another old man.

Magneto. She step back after realizing it was him. She looked around frantically as if she were looking for members of his brotherhood.

"Rogue." He said in that drawn out way.

"Magneto." She spat back bitterly.

"Oh, don't worry I don't bite…anymore." He smirked.

"so I heard. Didn't know you liked parks filled with humans." His smirk dropped.

"I come her for the chess. The humans….just happen to be here."

"You know that you're one of them now right? A human. What you call a…weak…pathetic…measly…"

"- I hear I'm not the only one." He cut her off with an evil laughter held in his eyes.. Her face dropped.

"how…"

"You think that we have secrets on my side. No, my boy Pyro told me about you and your little ice boyfriend."

She sat down assuming that if they were going to talk that she might as well not have the whole park know their conversation.

"Is he…John…or Pyro…is he alive?" she asked, her voice dripping with emotion.

Magneto found this curious. He looked at her questioningly.

"Aren't you more concerned with your own people Rogue?" he drew this out as well. Each word hitting Rogue like cement blocks to her head. She was an X-men…or was one, but here she was appearing to worry about the enemy.

"It's just…Bobby told me that John…Pyro was killed in the fight." She looked up expectantly.

He smiled slightly. "He told me about you BEFORE that. What has become of him…I don't remember. I was pulled out of there so nicely by the army." He had sarcasm in the last part of his statement.

Rogue's hands fidgeted together under the cement chess table and her eyes were trying to look anywhere, but Magnetos.

"did you…care about him?" Magneto asked with a curious knowing tone.

"who?"

"Pyro."

"He…used to be my friend."

"yes…but he has long outgrown that stage in his life. You know he killed many men without a second thought."

Rogue's eyes stared straight into Magnetos trying to figure out where he was going with their conversation.

"I never said we were still friends. You made sure of that."

"Whatever do you mean by that my dear?" he asked innocently.

She was becoming increasingly frustrated. "YOU changed him. YOU made him turn his back on his friends with notions of some better life or some shit like that."

"See THAT is where you are mistaken my dear. Pyro made his own choice. Maybe it is YOU that held him back. Maybe Charles and that school made him into something he was not."

Logan's words came back full force. "You made a choice…"

She stood up finally achieving the realization that she needed.

"Maybe John wasn't who I thought he was back at school, but maybe he wasn't who you thought he was either. You're right though Magneto…John did make a choice. We all make choices everyday. They define between what is right and what is easy. You chose the easy way and now I have to go the hard one."

She picked up her bag and smiled to herself. She didn't need a week. Two days. Two days was all it took to know that she only belonged next to Logan in the school. No matter what her "friends" say, she didn't belong in the real world. She wasn't ready to be the runner in the park or the old man playing chess alone.

Bobby was walking quickly through the hall down to Storm's office. Kitty saw him walking by the common room and she shot up quickly from her seat to go out into the hallway.

"Bobby." She said with a large smile plastered on her face as he stopped and turned around.

"Hey Kitty." He said slightly annoyed. Her eyebrows furrowed and she walked to close the gap between them.

"Hey…what's wrong?"

"nothing…just…" he looked up into her eyes and sighed. "Rogue…" He saw Kitty's shoulders drop down. Her perkyself looking defeated.

"It's just…I think she left again and I'm thinking this may be a permanent thing because I haven't really been spending all that much of time with her lately." Kitty looked at him knowing full well that he was spending all his time with her in the Danger Room, in the common room, etc.

"She's going to be okay Bobby…I mean she's human now." His face clenched up.

"I know that! I just…she's not normal or whatever. She's special."

"special?" Kitty asked a bit hurt.

"I mean…Rogue's never been able to make it all that well out there on her own. Just look at who she met her first time out." He said referring to Logan.

"Logan's not that bad Bobby."

"I know…I just feel…"

"Guilty?" Kitty asked. Bobby's face fell and he furrowed his brow.

"I'm supposed to be the good boyfriend Kitty. Neglecting her because she's "different" now. Even unintentionally is just….not…acceptable."

"Whoever said that you had to be perfect?" She stepped even closer to him and she put her hand to his cheek.

"Nobody…just me."

"See, if Rogue knows you as well as you know her then you gotta believe that she didn't just leave because of you. We've all been…a little neglectful." Kitty stared into his eyes and smiled sadly.

Logan chose this moment to come down the main staircase. Bobby heard him and he immediately stepped back a little from Kitty and she had a hurt face.

"Logan." Bobby said while turning from Kitty and crossing his arms across his chest.

"Bobby." Logan asked confused while swaggering to the last step.

"Rogue's gone again." Bobby said matter of factly.

"I know."

"You know?...how…" Bobby was pushing his shoulders forward in utter confusion.

"yeah…I saw her leave two days ago. You mean…you JUST realized she was missing?" Logan said while arching an eyebrow his way, but glancing at Kitty. Kitty was now staring down.

"I…well…she…but you…you didn't stop her!?" Bobby was getting mad.

"Hey! Iceboy it's not my place to stop people from leaving. She wanted to go, so I let her go."

"But this is Rogue! I mean she's your friend or something too."

"I know that."

"Then knowing that…how could you JUST…let…her…go? He enunciated every syllable to make it seem more dramatic.

Storm walked out of the professor's office to see Bobby yelling at Logan and Logan standing with his own arms crossed.

"Hey!" Storm yelled to get Bobby to stop. "what in the hell is going on here?"

Bobby and Logan were both too busy glaring at each other. Kitty looked at Storm.

"umm…Bobby was just concerned about Rogue leaving."

"Rogue left?" Storm asked, more toward Logan.

"yes. Rogue left two days ago." Logan said, while turning his head in her direction.

"two days…but, why?"

"why don't you ask iceboy over here."

"Hey! You're the one that talked her into leaving. Saying it was okay and all that."

"don't put this on me boy."

"oh, trying to show how old you are or something Logan. Like you're really that much of an authority "wolverine"." They were getting closer to Storm stepped between them and pushed them back with her hands.

"Hey! Unless you both want to feel what it's like to be electrocuted then I suggest you quit this NOW!"

Bobby turned to Kitty.

"Let's go." He grabbed her arm and started to walk away. She turned towards Rogue and held her eyes to apologize. Storm simply nodded in understanding.

"Storm…"

"ah hmm!..Logan, if you say one more thing about Bobby I swear-" Storms lips pursed together in frustration.

"wasn't going to." He cut her off.

"good. Now tell me about Rogue." They walked into the professors office as Logan retold the story.

Rogue stood at the front gate pushing the call button. She heard the camera mechanically draw itself in her direction. Then the gate opened and she walked on to the driveway. The moment she did she had a flash of memories hit her.

"This is the school I was telling you about." Rogue looked to the woman in pilot seat of the jet. "you're going to love it here."

She glanced at Logan's sleeping form next her and then to the man seated in the co-pilot seat. He had a large visor. The woman had white hair. Suddenly Rogue thought you had to have some defining costumish thing to fit in at this school.

She looked out the window at the old stone building as the jet lowered into the opening on the basketball court. Kids were in the windows watching the jet lower and she felt self conscious as if those kids could see her. She noticed in one window there was a flame burning brighter and brighter behind the face of a boy in a window. The flame eventually stopped all together as Rogue noticed two figures occupied the window now.

"You came back!" Storm greeted Rogue at the front door with a hug.

"yeah…ah just couldn't stay away." She laughed nervously.

"Well…I'm glad. You know there is always a place here for you Rogue."

Rogue simply smiled and walked further in to the main hall. The lights were dimly lighting the hallways as Rogue knew it was late at night and most of the students were asleep in their beds.

"where's Logan?" Rogue asked Storm who was now next to her.

"umm…I think he's downstairs somewhere. Probably in the danger room or something. Do you want me to put your stuff in your room and you can go see him?"

"sure.." Rogue was confused. She knew Storm was nice, but this was a little weird.

Storm lifted Rogue's bag and smiled at her. "well okay then…"

Rogue smiled oddly and walked to the elevator.

Walking down the long silver corridors Rogue could still recall Dr. Grey checking her up in the medical area and then having Scott escort her upstairs. It seemed like someone else's life now. As she turned to go in the danger room she could hear what seemed like a battle going on in the danger room. She opened to the door to see a replica of the final battle with the brotherhood and with Jean. She spotted Logan in the center of it with a crazed looking Jean in the middle. Suddenly fire hit Logan and Rogue noticed John fighting Bobby on the sidelines. The whole x-men group was battling it out. For a second Rogue wondering if it was all real. She could see Kitty phase through a guy and then knock him out.

Was this what it was like? Rogue had heard stories about the fight, but to be in it was a strange feeling. She felt like she was being inappropriate going into Logan's world.

"Logan!" Rogue yelled to be heard over the loud blasts. Logan noticed her, but he must have thought she was just another member of this created battle.

"Rogue! He rushed over to her. "You're here! You didn't take the cure."

She was confused and her heart sank at the realization that Logan really thought she was one of the figments of the danger room.

"Logan…"

"here…take my power. You're the only one that can stop Jean. Take my healing power and get close enough to take that phoenix thing out of her! Quickly, this whole place is going to come down soon."

"Logan…I"

"No time, Rogue. Go!" he pulled her hand and placed it to his cheek. Rogue tried to hold back tears.

"did it work?" Logan asked expectantly.

"Logan…this isn't real. I'm not one of them."

"one of what?"

"Logan. You're in the danger room."

His face fell and he stepped back from her as if he had been burned by her touch. She felt a tear drop out of her left eye. She quickly wiped it away.

Logan looked around frantically and then back at her.

"You weren't there."

She shook her head and tried to hold back more tears.

"it all makes sense now." He yelled for the program to be over and Rogue watched Bobby and John fade away.

"Logan…"

"you could have stopped her. I never thought of it before. That's why I came here. To figure out what was wrong. Why she…had to…why we couldn't…" he realized that his own emotions were heavy. "but you took it…the cure."

"Logan…I'm so sorry!" she began to let the tears come freely.

He didn't know how to react so he walked out, leaving her there alone.