Spun
By Liz Wyatt
WARNING: apologies to TRUE X-men comic book fans because I really must seem to be going off book here. I'd like to think I'm a big fan, but to avoid flamey comments, you were warned.
Chapter Fourteen: Believe Me
I don't want to be the one to blame
You like fun and games
Keep playing em
I'm just saying
Think back then
We was like one and the same
On the right track
But I was on the wrong train
Just like that
Now you've got a face to paint
And the devil's got a fresh new place to play
In your brain like a maze you can never escape the rain
Every damn day is the same shade of grey
-Fort Minor
At first all that would connect through her ears and into her brain were the muddled sound of voices.
There was also a continuous ringing that prevented her from thinking straight.
She imagined that Magneto's men must have drugged her. The question was in between the time she'd blacked out and now had the X-team rescued her or was she in hostile territory?
The next thing she attempted to do was open her eyes; however, the fluorescent bulbs were too bright for her pupils to adjust. Instead a blinding pain shot through her head.
An attempt to move her arm solidified her worries. Squinting, she pulled her arm away from the table that she was occupying only to discover that she was in padded restraints.
Her eyes widened, forgetting the lights she tried to rip her arms free. She found surprisingly that her legs were free.
Shifting to angle her body so that her legs were rolled onto one side, she attempted to slip them up in order to propel the restraints off with a force. She realized that the metal legs of the bed were not so forgiving as they creaked beneath her.
It was then that the voices stopped and Rogue registered that they had been closely outside the door. She had been alone and now she'd invited in the enemy. The woman said something and the door began opening.
Rogue slipped her feet quickly down and turned her head away from the door.
"When will she wake up? I am tired of waiting" the female complained while stepping into the room and walking to the opposing side. She examined Rogue's face as if she knew that the girl was faking.
"I want to know what he wants with her. What was the point of bringing her here? She's not even a mutant anymore." That was definitely John's voice that Rogue registered even through the dull ringing.
He hadn't stepped that far into the room.
"maybe he wants to use her as a bargaining chip. It's not you should question. Besides, we all thought we weren't mutants anymore. Now look at us." Rogue noted that it was Mystique speaking.
"see that doesn't make sense. If you and Magneto are back to normal then why hadn't Rogue changed back when I saw her? She got the cure before him."
"maybe her power wasn't as powerful. How the hell should I know. Do I look like that furry blue doctor that the X-men run to?" She moved back around the table and to the door.
"You will stay guard on her door and inform me when she's ready to play."
It wasn't a question. It was an order and he knew it.
"aye aye captain." He huffed.
"try to perk up Pyro. Seems he trusts you a little more since the last mission. Maybe you can finally wipe that smug grin off of the runner's face." She sauntered past him amused.
Pyro knew that her smile could only mean devilish things. He often wondered if she would inevitably turn on him. Yet somehow he trusted her more than Magneto because she didn't pretend to want to be the leader. She was far cleverer then that to be upfront.
After Mystique closed the door, Rogue felt her palms throb from her nails that had dug deeper in her fist during the conversation. She wanted to jump off the table and smack him. She wanted to yell at him for leaving her at the hotel, for rejoining Magneto, and for deserting their friendship in the first place.
All this anger and rage was burning inside of her. Then when she was nearly ready to open her eyes and start attacking, she felt the slightest touch to her hand.
First it was fingertips, then he was holding her arm out and up away from her body. As the restraint was being slipped off her arm, his hand clasped her own and his other pressed two fingertips to her pulse point.
She was certain that her heart was racing.
"you can stop pretending you're asleep," his words bellowed close to her ears.
Her eyes immediately shot open and she used her now exposed hand to propel a punch into his jaw. As he stumbled back a bit, she rushed to undo the remaining restraint. Then he was back up.
"Jeez, was it really necessary to punch me again?" he continued to rub his reddened jaw.
"Next time I'll make sure that you're down for the count," she shot at him as she began hopping off the table in a ready stance.
"I'm not going to fight you, you crazy freak. There's no point in trying to escape either. You're safer in this room. Everything leads through packs of eager mutants just waiting to take you on." He grinned with all his smugness behind the action.
"Comforting. How do I know you're not lying?" she flashed back to when he had asked her that question not long ago. He too showed recognition in his eyes. That recognition within him did not help Rogue in her attempt to disregard her feelings about him in order to escape with a clear mind.
"you don't, but trust me when I say I owe you one for saving my ass at the fire. So, I guess I'd like to pay you back someday."
She moved around the table towards him, towards the door. His eyes began searching her own for an indication of the plan that she was forming. He licked his lips as a reflex, seemingly waiting for her to pounce for the door.
"then why not start now? Release me. Let me go live my little boring nobody type life. It will be like I was never here. Like we never knew each other." Part of her wondered if that life was even possible now. Could she just pretend that her powers weren't coming back? Could she convince the X-men to leave her name off speed dial?
"Wish I could babe, but that would be a solid no."
"babe? Did you really just call me that?" she was letting the anger rush over her. Maybe if she focused on that she might survive.
"Listen, I don't know why you're here, but my advice is just play along for now."
"great advice. What, are you just playing along too?" she challenged. He stepped towards her, unsure. She didn't know if he was offended or relieved. His face was back to the stone cold killer façade that he had been carrying the past few years. She sought his eyes for confirmation that the guy she knew was still in there somewhere.
"guess not…" she said simply. She broke her focus with his eyes and began assessing the distance to the door once again. He took another step forwards as his shoulders relaxed in a long sigh and his mouth opened to seemingly explain; however, the door swung open to reveal the mutant that had plagued Rogue's nightmares for far too long.
"glad to see you have rejoined the living Rogue," Magneto stated with a crooked smile.
As he stepped further in the room, Rogue backed away a bit, arms still ready to be launched.
"Can't say I'm glad to be here. Not sure why'd you want to keep a human locked in your basement. What could you possibly gain from me?"
Magneto laughed then. It was a deep laugh that caused goose bumps to rise on Rogue's exposed arms.
"You my dear are hardly human. We both know that the cure has not lasted."
His eyes created their own smile as Rogue's own danced between each mutant and the exit. To say her heart was simply racing was an understatement. She tried to focus her thoughts. She had to turn her attention away from John. It wasn't helping her have a clear mind at all.
"still…it is curious that your powers should be so late in returning. From what Pyro has told us, you are quite the little fighter now. No matter though. I'm sure you're true powers will return. Maybe they already have right now. Let's hope shall we, for your sake."
Rogue wondered if he knew the truth.
She wondered if her body language was giving her away. She prayed that Peter's training was helping, but she knew that her own fears were overtaking her.
Magneto walked closer and she quickly backed even further towards the wall.
"what? You going to use me as some bargaining chip for the X-men? You know they'll never take the bait." Rogue stated with as much cockiness as she could muster.
"no, no. I have much bigger plans for you." He then turned to the other two.
"Mystique, give her the yellow one and drop her in with the other girl. I'm sure she'd love to have a roommate."
With that he left and Mystique began pulling out a syringe.
Rogue knew that it was now or never. Her adrenaline kicked in as she bolted for the door. Mystique was distracted and as she ran by the Pyro he grabbed her forearm only to feel a pull that drained into her own skin. His eyes widened, as did Rogues. She quickly let go and continued out the door.
"Stop her! Dammit Pyro!" Mystique yelled.
Rogue was down the hallway and into the main command center when she saw more mutants huddled around a TV in the corner. A few looked up as she locked eyes and propelled herself away from them and instead towards the staircase.
John was closing in when he saw a white blur knock her straight down into the metal steps. Her impact created a ringing noise throughout the main room.
She rolled from her face plant to more of a sitting position. Her shoulder was slumped against the wall and her other hand was reaching up to cover her forehead. Her eyebrow and forehead were pumping out a sickening amount of blood. Then she saw the mutant who had caught her off guard. Quicksilver was standing at the foot of the step grinning like an idiot.
Rogue panicked and tried scrambling as if to crawl up the steps.
Quicksilver looked ready to ambush, but Pyro reached the stairs yelling,
"no! leave her. Go back to what you were doing."
The younger mutant paused challenging Pyro with cold eyes.
"you wish you had the power to tell me what to do. Too bad, you don't flame thrower."
"well I do Pietro. Go. Now." Mystique said firmly. The boy sauntered away no longer amused.
Pyro climbed the few steps and rolled Rogue to a seated position once again. Mystique held the syringe.
Rogue turned to her former friend.
"Please John. Don't do this." He could see the fear in her eyes. He hadn't seen her this scared since before he had left. She was so strong now, yet here she was bleeding out, trapped in enemy territory.
Her eyes closed as the pain from the injection sunk in. Her body slowly relaxed until she passed out.
Pyro caught her up against himself.
"Dump her in room 13. Then you and I need to talk Pyro." Mystique urged him with authority in her voice.
Rogue woke up a while later in a different bed. She thought that she was still dreaming because the room was barely visible. The only light source was a single candle lit on a small table.
Shifting to a seated position, she reached for her forehead, remembering her injury.
There was a large bandage across the area above her right eyebrow. As she pressed the bandage she felt a sharp pain behind her eyes and she hissed in frustration.
"you shouldn't play with it." A small voice broke through the darkness.
She wasn't alone. In a dark room where she couldn't see anything properly. Was this some kind of dungeon? Was she the thing in the basement? Rogue's mind raced before she could properly speak.
"yeah. Guess not…" Rogue said quietly.
"He doesn't usually leave a candle. He's afraid that they'll find out." The voice came again.
"who?" Rogue asked.
"Pyro. Who did you think? Did you really get hit that hard?"
"hey, why are YOU ragging on me?"
Then she stepped into the light and sat on the edge of Rogue's bed.
"Teva?" Rogue said astonished.
"yeah."
"I…I thought Mystique…but you're real?" Rogue stammered out.
"you aren't making a whole lot of sense Rogue. Maybe you should see a doctor. If you ever get out of here that is."
Rogue moved to sit with her legs crossed, closer to Teva. "How long have you been here?"
"hard to say." Teva looked different. Rogue noticed that her clothes were covered in dirt. Her hair was sticking out in random places. This child did not look like the girl she had met on that rainy evening.
"what's the last thing you remember before being here?"
"Pyro. There was a fire. You showed up and then I was kidnapped while I was running away. I didn't want to run. He told me to."
Rogue smiled sadly. She didn't know if she could have even stopped Mystique from taking Teva, but the knowledge that she had been so close and had done nothing was adding to her guilty conscious.
"do you know why they haven't let you go? It's not like you're any use to them. Unless you want to join up."
"hell no. they haven't done anything but keep me locked in this room. That blue chick comes in to play nurse and give me some meds every once in a while, but other than that they don't care about me. Except…"
"Except what?" Rogue pressed.
"The old guy came in a few times. He wanted me to use my powers. I didn't want to, but he forced me to wear this thing around my neck and then I had to do it."
Rogue's eyebrows furrowed in worry.
Meanwhile Pyro was analyzing the report for the brotherhood's last outing. X-men weren't the only ones interested in having some order to the chaos. These reports were usually thoroughly detailed when they weren't in deep hiding or on the run. Lately however more details were being left out. There weren't any concrete plans being formed yet mutants were sent out on supply runs almost daily at the beck and call of Magneto.
"what are you planning," Pyro asked under his breath into the pulsing computer screen.
"for the future." Mystique caught the fire starter off guard. She hadn't made any noise to indicate her presence, but he was sure that he must have been watching him for a while.
"what?" Pyro had regained his composure as she circled from behind the monitor to stand at his side.
"you asked what he was planning. He is planning for his future."
"and you're still not going to enlighten me, oh wise one as to what that really means?" his voice was dripping with frustration.
"let's just say he's been obsessing over your little girlfriend for months now. Guess he figures she's where it all went wrong. Liberty Island was a foolproof plan until that animal came back for her." Pyro noticed her hand instinctively reach for the scar across her stomach. When she caught his eye she quickly dropped her hand and moved in closer to his personal space, threatening.
"you know she will never be one of us. She will always be too 'good' for there to be any sort of happy outcome." Mystique took pleasure in the anticipation of his reaction.
"what makes you think I care? I know who she is. I have always known. You think I would have walked away from them if I gave a crap about any of them?" he saw her try and figure him out, but he also knew his face would not relay any more than he wanted it to. He'd thought about it too much, convincing himself that he had left because there could never be anything for him at the school. There couldn't be anyone.
"What he has planned for her will either work or kill her. Maybe both. I say you get on board now or be prepared to fight your way out of this with no solution."
"we're supposed to be some kind of brotherhood." Pyro smirked.
Mystique laughed as she distanced herself from him, "well, families fight."
Just then Magneto stepped into the room with his long cape trailing.
"bring them both, now."
Then he was gone before Pyro could open his mouth.
Mystique told him to grab Rogue while she would get Teva. As the walked to the room, Mystique admitted that she had no interest in being drained if the 'x-brat' decided to get rough.
The door clicked open and Teva quickly blew out the candle as the artificial light from the hallway surrounded Pyro's figure.
He leaned down towards the bed. Rogue spoke cautiously, "John?"
He didn't respond verbally. He merely grabbed her upper arm and dragged her out of the bed.
Once in the hallway Rogue saw Mystique go in the darkness and drag Teva out.
"let go of me!" Rogue yelled as she broke from Pyro's grasp. She looked towards his face, but his eyes wouldn't meet hers.
"shut up and move." He commanded.
"what the hell is your problem? Look at me!" Rogue yelled, but he didn't respond. "Look at me!" This time he did, but it wasn't the expression she expected. This was the look she had seen before. The look that used to creep up on his face when they were talking and Bobby would interrupt. Back then John would quickly laugh it off and leave the room; however, there was no Bobby. There was no laughing.
"come now. Move along." Mystique jabbed Rogue in the back as the foursome moved down the hallway and into the main room. They headed up the stairs into an open room that housed all their equipment and supplies. Rogue realized that the compound had to be underground. That was why the X-men had not been able to track the Brotherhood easily.
Once they were further into the room Rogue saw something that made her blood run cold. Her feet instinctively stopped and she was frozen until Mystique shoved her shoulders forward.
"What…is that supposed to do?" Teva asked Rogue.
"you do not want to know." It came out as an automatic response in her dazed state.
Rogue barely noticed the mutants who had apparently come to watch the show until she recognized the one who had taken her down. She threw her coldest look in the direction where he was strewn out on a few boxes. He blew her a kiss and laughed with a few other mutants at her expense.
Then there was nowhere else to go so they stopped. Mystique and Pyro stepped back from the prisoners. Magneto approached them. Immediately Teva's hands began fumbling together. As Rogue eyed the younger girls fighting, the hairs on her arm begun to stand up.
"I know you cannot control your powers. That is why I am here. I'm going to make them stop from hurting you anymore."
It took Rogue a second to register that he was speaking to Teva. The intention sounded honorable. Heck, she'd heard the Professor give a similar speech before; however, more refined and direct.
Now watching Teva closely, Rogue could only think of how different things would have been if Storm had found Teva that night instead of John.
"come here child." Teva didn't move and Rogue instinctively grabbed the young mutant to shift her own arms to rest on Teva's shoulders.
"really Rogue this is not necessary. You are just going to do more damage to yourself by prolonging this." He was so nonchalant about it that Rogue was even more infuriated.
"she's untamed. You really think a human can help her? After all that is what you said you are now, correct? A plain, simple, weak human."
"Oh just give me another round and I'll show you how weak I am." Rogue threatened.
He stepped towards them and this time Rogue hardly had time to think before the air turned unbearably hot. Her hands felt as though thousands of shocks were jolting into her fingertips and surging through her body. Teva was yelling out in her own distress as Rogue tried to pry her hands off the girl's shoulders.
Teva screamed as all her hair was spread standing away from her body and her feet began to lift her off the ground. Some unseen force threw rogue away.
Then it was over. Magneto had pulled her back to earth and onto the ground in front of him. Rogue was flat out on the ground, but she rolled to sit up. She noticed that all the mutants were staring strangely at Teva, but no one had moved.
Magneto unveiled his machine to the brotherhood as Rogue rolled up to her feet. She was still wavering from the pain that had surged through her body. She didn't know if she should approach Teva again or stand her own ground.
"This my brotherhood is the final stages for the project you have been helping to develop. A few years ago I had set the perfect plan to pay the humans the karma that they deserved for years of ridicule and harassment of our kind! The machine I built then was meant to transform all the humans into creatures like us, but still inferior than us. Then those traitors came and the machine was destroyed by that animal Wolverine."
Rogue smiled remembering how Logan had fought for her even when he said he was leaving. He'd saved her from dying that night.
Magneto continued to pace around the open area.
"I have learned from that mistake. The answer is not to make the humans like us, but rather to have them feel the power we hold over them. Through this girl." Then he pointed to Teva whose eyes shot wide before scanning over to Rogue's face.
"we will be able to complete the process. She will be the first."
Teva began to back away; however, a female mutant grabbed her shoulders, pushing her forward.
"What do you mean the first? What do you want me to do?" Teva screamed.
"Something we all are born to do. You have lived so now you must serve your true purpose." Magneto said ominously.
Teva began thrashing about in her captor's arms. Magneto motioned for her to be brought forward. Mystique turned on the machine and Magneto moved the metal chair forward.
"No way are you getting me into that thing!" Teva yelled.
Magneto laughed slightly before saying, "Who said it was for you." Then Rogue felt two strong arms grab her own.
"What!?" Rogue yelled in anger. The mutants pushed her towards Magneto and Teva. Even as she struggled to push off the ground with her heels, there was no hope. They were too strong for her. Then she attempted to focus her powers into draining them. One keeled over quickly, but Rogue noticed that the other had ridiculous yellow gloves on.
"I told you to avoid the bare skin!" Magneto bellowed.
Rogue took the opportunity to smack a right hook into the gloved mutant. He stumbled before coming forward with his own punch. She fell to her knees and he continued to drag her.
"What's Rogue got to do with it?" Pyro asked. He attempted to sound nonchalant about it, but there was a hidden emotion betraying his stonewalls.
"She will be the vessel. The center to this entire operation my boy."
"I don't understand." Pyro said with a bit of concern pouring through. He looked in Rogue's direction as her face already showed a bit of bruising on her cheek to accompany her white bandage across her forehead.
"All will be clear in a few moments."
The gloved mutant lifted Rogue to her feet while Teva's captor pushed her to face her friend.
Magneto stepped next to the damaged girls with a grin plastered on his features. Something he didn't show often which only created a nauseous feeling in Rogue's stomach. Her head was still ringing from the punch, but she was desperately trying to focus on a way out.
"Now, take her power." Magneto commanded.
"No." Rogue whispered.
"Now!" Magneto yelled.
"Rogue?" Teva asked as if to see if the older girl had already created a new plan.
Pyro stood side by side with Mystique. He was torn. Part of him knew that Rogue could take Teva's power and the younger mutant would only be stunned like he was, but he also recalled the pain for both of them in that act.
"Stupid girl always have to ruin it!" Magneto roared before putting Rogue's hand onto Teva's exposed collarbone.
The surge through Rogue's body was different this time. She felt Teva's powers flowing into her own body. It was excruciating because Rogue couldn't control it though she tried. Teva began to have shallow breathing before crying out in pain.
Magneto continued to force Rogue's hand to stay put.
Through the screaming and her now drowning eyes Rogue could barely comprehend the shattering sounds of glass as the warehouse area was being invaded.
"No! Stop them now!" Magneto ordered to the brotherhood members. Pyro watched his fellow members rush between supplies to fight the X-men. He saw a streak of ice as someone was thrown into the air and frozen before crashing into a million pieces. A deep anger was building in the fire starter; however, when he turned to join the fight Mystique held his forearm. She ran past him in the direction of Wolverine.
Rogue panicked then. They'd come to save her, but she knew they were too late. Magneto was forcing her to kill Teva. She could feel Teva's heartbeat ringing in her own ears. Teva continued to scream her head off.
"No! Please! You're killing her!" Rogue shouted in a voice she had never heard from her own mouth. It was a shrill attempt.
"No, you are." Magneto smiled.
"John!" Rogue tried again. This time as Teva was slumping against Rogue and Rogue herself was exploding in pain from the younger girl's mutation, Pyro couldn't deny his feelings.
"Stop! She took the power. They can stop now!" He yelled above the noise of the battle raging around him. He stepped towards Magneto's unamused expression.
"It won't be complete until she retains the powers."
"Retains? What so you're just gonna go killing mutants so Rogue can absorb their powers? And for what?"
"You my boy are way beyond your time to question this. You stood by me. This insignificant crush is no use to you. You will never fulfill you full potential if you choose this girl over everything we have worked for." Magneto warned.
Pyro's eyes burned with flames. This was it. Just like Mystique had said, he had to make a choice. Everything he knew for a girl. It seemed easy. No girl was worth losing his family, but really what family would do this to him. Then he realized it. Rogue had never stopped caring about him. Him. Not the greater picture. Him. Her friend, who was watching her commit the act that she had always feared.
Without saying a word he clicked the fire to ignite in his palm.
"Let her go!" he said before pushing the flame towards his mentor.
Magneto pulled his hands away. Teva let out one last piercing scream while Rogue collapsed, barely breathing.
Author's Note:
Props to my reviewers and everyone who is continuing to read! The fact that you took the time to Review keeps me going, so thank you!!
I will be wrapping this up within the next 2 chapters I hope.
Apologies for the delay (as per usual). Some serious family stuff happened and I won't go into much more detail because it's messed and a big downer that you don't need.
Needless to say I don't think this chapter is as nice as I wanted it to be, but after seeing the Wolverine movie I knew I couldn't leave you all high and dry.