Spun
By Liz Wyatt
Chapter Ten: In This Life
I was nurtured I was sheltered
I was curious and young
I was searching for that something
Trying to find it on the run
Oh and just when I stopped looking
I saw just how far I'd come
In this life
In this life
You give me love
You give me light
Show me everything that's been happening
I've opened up my eyes
I'm following
Three steps fight an honest fight
Two hearts that can start a fire
One love is all I need
In this life
-Delta Goodrem
She knew that she shouldn't be sacred, he was defenseless of course. She'd come face to face with him before, but something wouldn't stop punching her insides.
"Rogue, how nice of you to join us. I thought you would be back at the mansion with the big news and everything."
Her throat was dry. Her hands balling into fists, ready to pounce. Yet she stayed mute in the door frame.
"I thought…I mean she said you survived, but I didn't believe her." John was staring at the doorway with disbelief. Rogue wasn't sure if it was happiness or pure confusion that crossed his features. The lines these days seem to be getting crossed more often.
"well don't be too surprised my boy. After all one must never assume that things are really what they appear to be." He had said it to John, but he eyes trailed over to Rogue who simply took a step back as he pushed his way in. The door shut.
"How'd you find me?" John said simply. No emotion behind the statement. The soldier seemingly returning.
"I've been tracking your movements for the past few days. This girl peaked my interests in finding you, as she seemed so determined that you had been lost in battle. I knew I had to prove her wrong once again. Besides…" he drew the last lines out with a glance back at Rogue. "It's time to get back to business."
She couldn't hold in her emotion any longer.
"Business being murdering hundreds of people, right?"
He smiled. "All for the greater good my dear."
"Oh can it Magneto, you and I both know that there is nothing remotely good in your teachings. What you're working for is insanity. Although I am curious what they would think of a measly human like yourself taking them on." She laughed a little at the thought. She peered at John to get confirmation, but saw that his loyalty appeared to be in tact…just not towards her.
"You're right Rogue. I had to sit back and watch the humans create weapons to use upon my people. I had to watch politicians try and change their laws, not to include us, but to destroy our numbers. Now, I am finally able to do something about it."
"What changed?" she asked.
He smiled once again, which only added to the queasiness in Rogue's stomach.
He didn't answer her.
"You tracked me down. What do you need?" John cut through the silence.
"I need you to locate the originals. You will find many have been living in the same building together, though a few have chosen to go their own roots. They need a leader once again. While I will be waiting to take that lead, I need you to organize them."
Rogue wasn't sure if Magneto was stupid or not because he seemed to be laying down his plan right in front of her. Not that it mattered; she didn't understand how he expected the other brotherhood members to respect him as a human. Although John seemed to be ready to accept Magneto back with open arms, no matter his status. A part of her admired that John didn't have prejudice towards humans as much as she thought, but another part of her wondered if he was having a difficult time squaring away his old feelings from hers and Magneto's new status as humans.
She realized that she was still clutching her fingers into a ball when she felt blood trickle from her palm. She unravelled her hand to see that one of her fingernails had pierced her skin. John looked at her bewildered before turning to Magneto.
"What…what about Rogue?"
"Don't worry I'm relying on her telling her little X-mates, but not until later."
"What do you mean, not until later?" Rogue asked panicked. She knew that she could fight Magneto off if she really needed to, but getting through John was another matter.
"You see Rogue, if you had stayed at home and let my boy go it would have been a lot easier for you. Now, you have a choice. Come with us now and be blindfolded or stay here."
"What do you think I'm going to pick!" she was beginning to bubble over with anger. "John, don't be stupid. Let's just go…you and me. We'll find Teva and –"
"No." Magneto cut her off. "You will play by my rules Rogue. I enjoy your struggle to divide your friends and loyalties; however, I can't allow you to disturb my plans."
John looked at her and then Magneto.
"Fine. But I am not letting you mess with his mind any longer." Rogue started moving towards Magneto, fists at the ready. As she jumped to kick she found her boot caught in midair, suspended. Her eyes became wide with confusion, and then understanding. Before she could say anything she found leg being shoved to the ground and a pressure came from the zippers. It wasn't like the crushing sensation that she had met from him a few years earlier; however, she still couldn't fight it. Preparing to bend over and shove her boots off, she felt her necklace pushed in the opposite direction, chocking her. She backed up to the wall before the ice bucket from the hotel room was aimed for her head. Falling to the ground, she found her body trapped by the bike that she had worked so hard to pull inside. As it crashed to the ground, she hit her head on the baseboard of the wall.
The last image that crossed her eyes was that of Magneto heaving on the bed, clearly worn out.
In the back of her mind she thought that she had heard John yell her name, but she figured she must have imagined it.
Waking up, she clutched her head as she rolled to disentangle herself from the bike. She was on her feet slowly when she realized that she was alone. Panic once again took over as she tried to lift the bike to the upright position.
She began to roll it towards the door. As she moved the bike outside and shut the door she saw a figure come out from the shadows across the parking lot.
It was Teva.
"Teva! Are you okay!? What happened to you?" Rogue was rushing to the girl as she walked slowly towards Rogue.
"I'm fine. Where's Pyro?"
Rogue dropped to her knees to inspect the girl further, just to make sure. "What? Oh, John…he had to leave."
"Leave!? Where did he go?" Teva was looking in all directions, as if she could find him there.
Rogue tried to think of the best way to break the news to Teva. She was still trying to figure out what she was going to say when she got back to the mansion.
"I don't know where he went. There was a man that he knew…they left a while ago."
"a man?" Teva's eyes darkened and Rogue couldn't understand why, but it frightened her. "was it him? Was it Magneto?"
"how do you-" but Teva cut her off.
"It doesn't matter. What are you doing now?"
Rogue stood up and backed away a little. She didn't know what Teva's powers were. John never seemed to bring them up. Whatever they were Rogue felt as though she didn't want to find out. This girl seemed so different from the girl whom Rogue had met in the mansion. Maybe Teva was just upset with all the fighting and John seemingly deserting her.
"I need to get back home. There is a man there who can find John and I need to tell my friends what is going on."
"a man who can find John? How is that possible?" Teva asked quietly.
"It's hard to explain. The point is he's the head of our team in a way and although I'm not even sure if he's back for good…I just need to see what they can do." Rogue was rambling now, more to herself then to Teva. She was trying to slow the massive race that her heart had begun.
She walked over to her bike and got on. Teva waited as if for confirmation for what she probably already knew. Rogue nodded to Teva and then to the space behind her on the bike. "Come on kiddo."
Teva smirked at that.
Pulling up to the gates of Xavier's Institute she was surprised to find them open. Moving up the driveway she parked the bike in front of the closed garage. Rogue got off the bike and moved towards the side door, Teva followed without a word.
Rogue opened the door and was surprised to see students running through the hallways quickly. Normally this would be typical during school hours, but it was almost bedtime for the younger students. This much noise was no normal.
She found herself pressing on with more urgency. She rounded the corner into the main hallway. There she was able to see that some of the kids were congregated in the main foyer. Storm was trying to push her way through the kids who were swarming her with cries and questions. Rogue couldn't hear what they were saying for sure because too many people were talking at once.
Rogue glanced back at Teva. The younger girl was glancing everywhere around them, inspecting the trail that they had just come as if someone was going to appear out of thin air. Rogue stared at her with confusion, but before she could question Teva she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Rogue quickly spun around and backed up into the wall. Feeling her already pained head crash into wood she couldn't help but wince.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay!? Everyone has been looking for you!"
"I'm fine Jubes. Just got a little off track. Where's the professor?"
Jubilee didn't seem to be convinced by Rogue's lame attempt to act as though her treason wasn't anything more than a misunderstanding. Rogue wondered what Bobby and Kitty had told the others. She forgot in all the hysteria that she might be considered their enemy now for helping John and leaving the others behind.
"He's up in his study with Wolverine. Things are beyond crazy. I thought…I thought you'd been kidnapped or something." Jubilee's voice sounded sincere enough and Rogue had to sigh in frustration. This was a bigger mess than she hoped it would be.
"You need to get to Charles." Teva said, hoping to refocus Rogue's drifting mind.
"you're right. Let's go. Jubes, think you can see if the coast is clear by the back stairs. I don't feel like running into the crowd right now."
"sure, sure…but Rogue, who's the kid?"
"Oh, this is Teva. Don't worry she's a mutant. She's with me." Rogue was trying to explain, but she preferred not to tell Jubilee all the juicy details just yet, especially when she was about to encounter that situation very soon.
Jubilee went around the corner and then coughed while motioning for Rogue to come forward. Teva chased Rogue's movements precisely.
When they reached the door to the study, Rogue's hand hovered over the knob. She took a deep breath that lasted a little too long.
"What are you waiting for?" Teva whispered from behind her.
"nothing… I…" But Rogue suppressed her fear and walked in.
Rogue scanned the room. Beast was sitting on the sofa with a few files strewn on the coffee table. Logan was pacing back and forth, glancing out the large windows that led onto a balcony.
The professor, Rogue assumed was the man sitting in the oversized leather chair that stood beside the couch. The second she entered Logan stopped his movements and the other two looked up swiftly.
Logan threw his head around sniffing the air.
"Oh, Rogue. So good of you to come back." The professor said. It wasn't exactly the same voice she remembered, but the tone was definitely that of their beloved leader.
Logan was fuming. He didn't say anything as Rogue cast her eyes in his direction, but shifted them rather quickly once his expression was clear. She once again had to remember her breathing because her heart was out of control. She knew it was silly to be afraid of Logan, but all the same she couldn't help her feelings.
"do come in." Beast said as he lifted his right hand/paw to the air. Rogue walked in, but as she peered back to motion for Teva to come in as well she found that the young girl was nowhere to be seen. Rogue looked back in the hallway, confused. Had she dreamt the whole thing? This wasn't helping her handle on reality for the moment.
"What is it Rogue?" The professor asked, but Rogue simply tried to wipe the image out her mind as she shook her head back in forth. Shutting the door, Rogue walked to sit in the chair that stood on the opposite side of the couch. From there she had a clear view of Logan's face, although she tried to avoid looking up.
"Don't you try to hide from me kid. Where the hell were you? What were you thinking going off with that psychopath? Do you want to get yourself killed!?" Logan approached her with every question. His voice tight, yet controlled for the most part. Rogue could tell that he was holding back some of his anger, probably because of the present company.
"Logan, let the girl calm down. Can't you see she is startled enough." Beast stated with understanding eyes.
"Logan…I'm sorry." Rogue started. Her voice quiet and strained as well.
"Rogue. Why don't you tell me what you came here to say?" The professor suggested, breaking the tension.
"can't you just find it. I mean can't you go into my mind and pull it out. It's all complicated and I don't really know where to begin."
The professor smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. His smile proved that he appreciated Rogue's difficulty, but it also held sadness.
"I'm sorry Rogue, but as I am just returning to proper health my powers are not as strong. I could go into your mind, but I would not like to take the chance of damaging you."
Rogue sighed.
"fine. Well it started when I went off on call to help out Bobby and Kitty. They were determined to take care of it themselves-"
"didn't help them too much as iceboy puts it." Logan interjected.
"Logan." The professor said with a firm tone.
"sorry, but the kid has been god knows where with that pyromaniac and we're just going to sit by while she explains how he tricked her into helping him. How she fell for those sad little eyes and the kicked puppy routine when we know that he set the fire which killed more than twenty people!"
"he didn't do it."
"is that what he told you!?"
"Logan." The professor began again. However, Rogue stood to face Logan.
"John didn't start the fire. I know you don't trust him, but trust me. You didn't see him! You weren't there until it was over! I was in it Logan! I saw the men beating him! So what you think I can just condone that because he happens to have been a bad guy!? You have NO idea what is going on!" Rogue's fists were aching at her sides. Her instinct in the last few days was to punch anyone that crossed her. Realizing that she was getting far too upset she turned back towards the professor. Logan stood silent.
"The men who set the fire, they had these guns. John saw it first hand and he said that when the guns were fired at mutants it stuns their powers. Basically the men incapacitated him long enough to get him out of the building and beat him up. They set the fire to kill the mutants inside."
"did you see these guns?"
"not first hand, but why would John lie about this."
"because he's a compulsory liar by nature. Just a guess." Logan cut in.
"yes, but not this Logan. He was scared. I think he's been running from house to house trying to avoid these men, but he had a theory that the government was backing the supply since the weaponry was too advance for the bums that had them."
"Interesting theory. If these guns do exists then it means that someone higher up is trying to round up the mutants."
"I don't mean any disrespect professor, but I don't think they are rounding them up. I think they are trying to purge them from the world."
"Where's your friend now?" Logan asked.
Rogue stayed quiet for a few minutes. The professor looked her in the eyes.
"Is the cure temporary?" Rogue asked with a ball welling up in her throat.
"what's that got to do with anything?" Logan asked confused.
The professor must have slipped into Rogue's mind, or at least the surface because he seemed to answer what she was thinking.
"Did he do that to you?" The professor was pointing to Rogue's neck where a red line was imprinted.
"yes. It wasn't like before. I think he might be getting more of his power back, but I can't be sure. It might just be left over or something…"
"would someone like to fill me in here!?" Logan yelled.
"yes, please do explain." Beast agreed.
"Eric appears not to be as harmless as we had assumed." The professor stood up. This movement grounded Rogue back to reality. She had almost forgot about the professor's new body.
"Magneto. But how is this possible?" Logan walked over to Rogue and reached his hand out to touch her neck. She flinched away.
"What is it kid? You're not afraid of me?" Logan's eyebrows shot together in worry.
"no, it's just how do we know that if Magneto can get his powers back that it won't happen to me too." Logan was torn between a smile and anguish. Rogue could see the emotions play behind his eyes. She wondered if he liked her better when she was a mutant.
"let's not jump to any conclusions." Beast said as he too rose to stand.
"He's right. We cannot assume that the same thing will happen to you Rogue. Eric's powers were already beyond the level of a normal mutant, there is no reason to suspect that the cure that you took will wear off." The professor smiled to comfort her. Then his expression changed to uncertainty.
"I do have to ask you Rogue, where is the girl you were with when you came here?"
A/N: Hey all you lovely readers. Thank you for continuing to endure my spaced updates and lengthy story. I hope you like this chapter a bit better because it's longer as I had to hash out some key story points for the future. Don't worry John isn't going anywhere! Once again I appreciate all the feedback you guys have given me. Especially my Chapter Nine reviewers, dulcesweet, weebird, Wanda W(as always, a BIG thank you!), 3karen3, and ebuchala!!
Like I said I got into the Twilight series and have now completed all four books, gotta say 1-3 was AMAZING and 4 was…a bit disappointing. Didn't feel like Meyer's writing, more like a fan fiction. Hmm
Anyways I still say you should read it if you haven't. Anyone who has read my Livejournal blog has already heard me ramble on about this, sorry again.
PS: my birthday is coming up! Not that anyone cares, but I'm putting it out there!
Also just a thought if anyone is in the mood for some visual Ryro go over to youtube and check out MelKatProductions because those girls always have the best Pyro/Rogue videos! I have only made one in my life, and let's just say it wasn't nearly as pretty as theirs.