Chapter 3

Rogue bought a notebook and pen on her way home from work. Once back at her apartment, she sat down at the table and opened up the notebook. On one half of the first page she wrote down the names of all her psyches, and on the other half she sorted them in order of loudest to quietest. Logan was loudest, of course, by virtue of being absorbed multiple times, voluntary and with extended contact. He was followed by Bobby (much to Rogue's annoyance), Pete, Kitty, Magneto, Pyro, then David who had been the first recipient of her her powers, and finally four humans she had absorbed by accident in between David and joining the X-men; Angela, Brad, Lance and Danny.

She turned the page and wrote down the date that she got the news that the 'cure' would be wearing off. Underneath it, Rogue mentioned that she had noticed she'd been having nightmares and suspected they were from Logan, although she couldn't be completely certain Magneto wasn't responsible for some of them. On the next page she wrote down the date of the day she'd realised there was beer in her fridge and jotted down her observations about that. Finally she noted down what had happened to her that morning in the diner.

Rogue sat back and considered the matter. The good news was that once she figured out what was happened, she could tuck away Logan's psyche quite nicely. The bad news was that he was influencing her in the first place, and that he still managed in influence her after she'd tucked him in away. Thinking on this, however, Rogue was forced to concede to herself that her inability to tuck Logan's psyche away completely might not be entirely in her hands, given that her powers were on their way back and his psyche wasn't nearly as loud as it used to be just yet. Still, practising while he was still quiet may give her just the mental exercise and learning experience she needed to tuck him away properly when his voice was back to full strength. What's more, it should also help with the voices that were normally very quiet simply because she hadn't absorbed enough of them in the first place.

She nodded to herself and made her way to the kitchen. After a moment's thought, Rogue pulled out the salt, some mustard and poured a glass of orange juice. These three things she stood on the bench and studied for a good couple of minutes. Rogue then took a deep breath, let Logan's psyche out of the box and waited. She sniffed experimentally, but nothing smelt any stronger than it had before. Light and colour didn't seem to have changed either.

After about five or ten minutes of staring, Rogue sighed, feeling a little silly. Obviously this wasn't going to work. She put the salt and mustard away and then began to drink the orange juice. After the first sip, she turned up her nose in disgust. Orange juice, seriously, who drank that? Rogue put the glass down, went back to the fridge and reached in for one of the beers she knew was there...

"Oh!" she gasped, and a triumphant smile began to grow on her face. "Aha Logan! I have you now!"

Jubilantly, Rogue relocated Logan's psyche and tucked him away again. She looked at the beer in the fridge and smirked when she noted that she no longer had a hankering for it over the orange juice. This smugness only lasted long enough for her to realise that there were only four beers in the fridge instead of five. Groaning to herself, Rogue checked her rubbish; sure enough, there was the fifth beer.

Shaking her head, Rogue drank her orange juice and sat back down at the table. She noted the results of her little experiment in the notebook and the fifth beer bottle, then put everything down and sat back to consider the matter.

"Okay, let's think," she said to herself as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Right now the only psyche I'm aware of is Logan. I can't actually hear him, but he's influenced me to drink beer when I normally wouldn't and when I let him out of his cage just now, he didn't influence me the way I expected him to."

She sighed.

"Ultimately, I'd like to be able to stuff psyches away as soon as I'm done absorbing someone. Obviously I can't practice that until I can actually absorb people again, but that was the whole point of letting Logan's psyche out again: stuffing him back into place. Okay so... what do I need? I need... I need to be able to recognise it when I'm being influenced – no, I need to be able to recognise when a psyche has gotten out of its box and I need to learn how to stuff them away into boxes so that they can't get out without my permission. Why I would want to let them out, I have no idea, but I have 'em so I'm sure I can fine some use for 'em."


Rogue decided that before she could learn how to stuff psyches away, that she would have to develop greater awareness of her psyches. Thus it was that every day Rogue took to letting Logan out of his box for a couple of hours. Sometimes she would just stay at home and try to focus on the inner workings of her mind or try some of the physical exercises that Logan has taught her in the past. Other times she went out and just waited to see what happened.

To counter the beer drinking, Rogue put some bottled water into the fridge next to the four remaining beers. Her theory was that if she saw the water when she went absently for a beer, she might realise what she was doing. Or she might not; didn't know unless she tried.

The weeks went by and Rogue found her experiments to be far more beneficial than she originally thought. For one thing, on those occasions where Logan's enhanced senses kicked in she found that his psyche was also able to help her adjust to them, rather than being overwhelmed. After all, Logan was used to that level of sensory input, Rogue wasn't.

By the time Bobby's psyche began to make his appearance, Logan's psyche had gotten quite verbal. However, Rogue was also able to identify a 'core' within both psyches. If she could contain the core, she could contain the voice and all its influence. It was with much pleasure that Rogue took the core of Bobby's psyche, stuffed it in a neat little box and dumped it into the farthest recesses of her mind.


Rogue toyed with the idea of upping her standard bet at the races, but in the end handed over her usual amount to the bookie. As confident as she was at winning, confidence alone didn't win races. She wanted to build up her cash as much as possible in case the inevitable return of her powers forced her to make a quick getaway.

She hung out with the guys until her race was called and she lined up with her competitors at the starting line. A slight smile crossed her face as the girl walked in front, flag in hand, relieved she didn't have her job any more. She waved the flag, and off zoomed Rogue and the other racers.

Partway through the course, Rogue heard a police siren behind her. She swore under her breath as they signalled for her to pull over. She had a brief mental debate but ultimately increased speed, hoping to lose them, and left the course. It was bad enough she was now going to lose the race because of their interference without having to deal with legal costs as well.

Rogue got on the main road leading away from the quiet industrial area where the racing had been set up. There wasn't nearly as much traffic this time of night, but she still cut someone off once she hit the T-intersection. She knew the area well enough to bypass speeding and red light cameras. The chase was kind of fun at first, but the sport started waning when the police kept finding her again every time she thought she'd lost them. All Rogue wanted to do was lose them and find a place to lie low while she waited for things to cool down.

Then the worst happened: Her front tyre blew out.

There was simply no time. She couldn't shift her weight to the back of the bike fast enough and she lost all ability to steer. The best she could do was jump with only seconds to spare before sheer momentum sent both rider and bike slamming into a nearby building. Her bike smashed into pieces and Rogue knew the moment she hit the wall, before she even felt the pain, that she was severely injured.

The smart thing to do would have been to wait for help - the police were hardly far behind for one thing - but Rogue was nothing if not stubborn, and so began to drag herself away from the scene. This was easier said than done. She knew bones had broken, and she was aware that she was losing blood, but this all seemed far away and unimportant. She pulled out Logan's psyche, hoping that his enhanced senses would give her the edge she needed to evade the police long enough to tend her injuries.

Somehow she found the strength to get around the corner into a darkened alley. Breathing started to get easier, although it was only when it got easier that Rogue realised that it had been staggered and painful only moments before. The stench of rubbish filled her nostrils but it was not enough to hide the scent of people, nor the smell of burnt rubber from her motorcycle.

There was a door towards the back of the alley and Rogue pulled herself there. It was a vain attempt, but she tried to get in the locked door anyway. She darted a look at the entrance of the alley, and then glanced at the back fence. Having only one way out, Rogue got to her feet (much relieved to find that she could) and began to climb over. As soon as she got to the top, she jumped down, right now not caring if she did herself further injury, and continued walking.

The way was clear as far as she could smell, and Rogue continued on her way. Abruptly she stopped. She was walking. But she was so certain that she'd felt at least one of her legs get crushed... Rogue looked down and felt her legs. Sure her leather pants were bloodied, but her legs felt intact, as did her arms. She stretched up experimentally and the pain in her back abruptly disappeared as she felt it crack. This wasn't right. Rogue was by no means complaining, but this wasn't right. Only a minute ago she wasn't even able to stand and then she was climbing and walking; she knew adrenaline could do a lot to delay the mental realisation of injuries, but this was ridiculous. Her breathing was fine, she wasn't in any pain, she could walk and as far as she could tell she was no longer losing any blood.

Her ears pricked up at the sound of a siren, and her eyes darted around. She could figure out what was going on later, right now she needed to make herself scarce.


Rogue was woken up on Sunday morning by a knock on the door. She wrapped her dressing gown around her.

"Who is it?" she called.

Rogue stiffened when her visitors identified themselves as the police, but took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Why good morning officers," she said. "What can I do for you?"

"Marie D'Ancanto?" one asked.

"That's right."

"Do you own," he proceeded to rattle off the registration number of her motorcycle.

"Yes... What's this about?"

"Where were you last night between..."

Rogue informed them she was home alone. When asked if anyone could vouch for her, she asked them what part of "alone" they didn't understand. Eventually Rogue managed to get out of them that her motorcycle had been totalled the night before and the driver was suspected to be involved with illegal street racing. Rogue informed them that the idea was ridiculous and that her motorcycle was parked in the garage. She promptly freaked out when they got to the garage and she 'discovered' it wasn't there.

The investigation that followed worked out rather well from Rogue's perspective. Being a Saturday night, most of the tenants in her apartment block had all been out, and those who hadn't been never noticed the departure of her motorcycle. A security camera across the street from the crash site and forensics confirmed that the rider would have had to be injured, and badly, but because Rogue was obviously completely healthy and in one piece, no one could reasonably pin her as the rider. It was doubly fortunate for Rogue that there had been a light rain overnight that the investigators had been unable to get a clear enough blood sample for a DNA analysis. She had taken the precaution of dumping the riding gear that she had been wearing that night too, glad that she had a spare set in her wardrobe.

The only sticking point was the matter of her key in the ignition. In the end Rogue allowed everyone to think she was stupid enough to leave her spare key on her motorcycle, but in her favour, her motorcycle lock was found in her parking space.

With hidden delight, Rogue made an insurance claim and was thrilled to find that they would still cover her even though the key had apparently been left on the bike (although she suspected it wouldn't happen again). Officially, she expressed nothing but irritation, anger and frustration at the whole thing, although a lot of that frustration was real when she found herself having to walk to work while she was waiting for insurance to pay up. Unofficially, Rogue was rather excited at the prospect of getting a new motorcycle. Between the insurance and the money she'd saved from her wins, she was expecting to get a much better motorcycle, and maybe even go up a division in the races once she deemed it was safe for her to join back in again.

Her miraculous healing, Rogue rightly put down to Logan's psyche. It was the only logical explanation and she was rather surprised she didn't think of it earlier, given that Logan's enhanced senses were a part of his mutation. Rogue made further experiments with this new development and amused herself with bone claws.

Knowing that her use of borrowed powers had a tendency to wear off, however, and uncertain whether her imprinted powers would be permanent or have a limited lifespan, Rogue reluctantly brought Bobby's psyche out for more experiments. At first she had trouble, which she put down to Bobby's psyche not being quite loud enough yet, but she eventually began to make headway. Pete and Kitty's psyches weren't far behind Bobby's in returning, and shortly thereafter Magneto's and Pyro's began to make an appearance. Soon it was Logan's psyche that was spending the most time shut away, but Rogue felt that the practice managing different psyches was ultimately much more beneficial.


"Guess what!" Rogue said delightedly to her fellow waitress Kathy as the breakfast rush began to calm down.

"What?" Kathy asked, surprised at this unusual level of excitement from her colleague.

"I've got a new baby!"

"You're going to have a baby?"

"No, silly," Rogue said, slinging an arm around her (and weirding Kathy out by her unusual friendliness). "I got a new baby. I have a new motorcycle, finally, after my old one got stolen. She's just gorgeous. Do you wanna meet her?"

Kathy giggled nervously and Lisa rolled her eyes.

"I think we're all going to have to see this thing," Lisa said. "Honestly, Marie, the way you've been going on about this new bike of yours why... anyone would think you liked it better than people."

"You know what Lisa? It's entirely possible," Rogue beamed.

When Rogue's shift was over, Lisa and Kathy walked out with her so they could see Rogue's new Kawasaki Ninja.

"It's very... green," said Kathy.

"I like green," Rogue replied.

"Shouldn't Ninjas be black or something?" Lisa asked.

"Some are," Rogue replied. "And is the colour all you guys can comment on?"

She then proceeded to lovingly rattle off the specifications of her new motorcycle, all of which went completely over Lisa and Kathy's heads, and they managed to escape by citing that they really needed to get back to work.

Rogue's riding buddies were far more appreciative of her new ride. They also thought it was pretty cool that not only was she able to evade the police but she was also able to collect on insurance. Rogue just downplayed how she was able to avoid injuries, saying she got lucky, which had the benefit of being true.

She gave it some time for the heat to cool down before she started racing again though. While she did save on fuel, what she made as a waitress wasn't really enough.


He was tall, blond, built like a tank and he looked Rogue over as she and her motorcycle approached the starting line.

"You're not racing are you?" he asked her.

"No, I'm just here for the scenery," Rogue retorted dryly. "Of course I'm here for the race."

"Huh," he sniffed, now eyeing off her new motorcycle. "On that? Good luck, sweetheart. You're going to need it."

"Oh good," Rogue replied slyly. "I like over-confidence in my competition. It makes victory all the sweeter."

Especially when the odds on her winning tonight were almost insulting. Not nearly as high as they were when she first started, but certainly the highest they'd been in awhile. Rogue planned on cleaning up tonight.

He chuckled.

"How about we make things interesting," he said, leaning in close to her. "How does a side bet sound to you?"

"That would depend on the stakes, now, wouldn't it?"

"Well," he said, daring to run one hand along her leather-clad leg. "I know what I want."

"Funny, I do too," Rogue replied darkly. "When I win, I'm going to take your bike and use it for spare parts."

He paused. "Good thing for me, you're not going to win. Because what I have in mind for us when I win will be so much more fun."

"Uh huh, and if you don't get your hand off me right now, I'm going to use you for 'spare parts'," Rogue said. "Take your little 'side bet' and shove it up your ass."

He had no chance to retort as the racers were given the signal to get ready. Rogue sat on her motorcycle and pulled down the visor on her helmet. The girl waved the flag and off they went.

It was clear from the first that the blond rider – whose name Rogue would later learn was Niel – was out to get her. He was ruthless in not only staying directly in front of her, but also demonstrated he wasn't beneath running her off the road or otherwise setting her up for an 'accident'.

Fine. He wasn't the only one who could play dirty.

Next to Logan, Bobby's psyche was the easiest to get out. Rogue pulled out her ex-boyfriend and accessed his powers. It took some concentration, especially at the high speeds, but as they approached a corner, Rogue iced over the ground in front of Niel. Knowing exactly where the ice was, Rogue was able to ride on by without touching any of it herself and left Niel trying to recover behind her.

Rogue sped off, catching up with the two other riders in front. She succeeded in bypassing one of the riders when Niel came up behind her and tried to not only bypass her, but drive her off the side of the road. Her preferred option would have been to pull out Kitty's psyche and phase herself and her motorcycle, but she didn't care for any of her fellow riders to witness her doing such a thing. It rankled, but Rogue reluctantly dropped back and came back up around the other side of the other rider. Niel passed them both.

By the time Rogue managed to get into the third place position, Niel had already taken first. A series of tight turns won her second position. She began gaining on Niel.

The finish line was in sight but was coming up too soon. Rogue just didn't have enough time to get past. The idea of losing to Niel put a bitter taste in her mouth.

It didn't occur to Rogue until afterwards that she had cheated. It didn't matter to her at that point that they were in first and second places. They could have been in fifth and sixth at that moment for all she cared. All Rogue was thinking about was how she did not want to lose to him.

Rogue pulled out Magneto's psyche. She used his power to manipulate magnetic fields to latch onto Niel's motorcycle and not only slow him down, but propel herself past him. She crossed the finish line in a decisive victory. She collected her prize money after she came to a stop and didn't even bother to hide her smirk as Niel met her eyes and glared malevolently at her.