Chapter Five:

Rogue has always been an agile, fast girl. It has nothing to do with her mutation, she's just always been graceful, a talented gymnast, a natural dancer. To her, fighting has always been like dancing, you just have to figure out your opponent's steps, and then follow your own.

Now, though, with the super strength, the enhanced speed, and the invulnerability of Carol Danvers' pumping through her veins, she is a powerhouse, and she knows it.

In a matter of seconds, the others know it, too.

Pietro Maximoff is fast, he was born with the mutant power of super speed, but Rogue's rage gives her an incredible burst of energy, and she catches the speed demon by surprise, slamming him back into the very tree he had used for shelter moments before.

Those watching start in surprise. Fred, Hank and Evan because Rogue is not usually known to be so aggressive. Remy, Pyro and Colossus because they aren't entirely sure what is going on. Sabertooth is just glad to see someone smacking the little hyperactive jerk around for once.

Magneto whirls, his eyes flashing, and extends a gloved hand towards her. A metal bar rises into the air and hovers behind Rogue, curling around her and pinning her arms at her sides, not tight enough to hurt her, but enough to keep her in place.

Or so he thinks.

Rogue merely blinks, startled, then growls in annoyance and, with a burst of strength, bends the metal off of her easily, for the first time grateful to have Carol's powers in her body. Carol is floating back to the surface of her mind now, but she doesn't care. Carol is angry, too, and she needs an outlet for both of their anger. And in Carol's mind, if Pietro hadn't tricked the X-men, Rogue would never have been captured, and she would never have been absorbed.

For once, Rogue and Carol are thinking on the same wavelength.

Magneto steps back in shock, and how Rogue wishes she could see his face right then. She ignores the gasps and cries of astonishment coming from her friends and the Acolytes, and takes to the air slightly, ramming into the Master of Magnetism hard, driving him to the ground, where the blow to his head renders him unconscious.

The others are staring, but neither Rogue nor Carol pays them any attention. They are both focused on the sprawled form of the mutant known as Quicksilver, who is struggling dizzily to his feet. Rogue doesn't know which of them is pleased to see that he is injured, nursing a broken nose and a few broken ribs, his head bleeding badly, but she has a feeling it is both of them.

"Ya betrayed us, Pietro!" she sneers, hovering towards him, her feet barely off the ground. "We trusted ya! Lance trusted ya! And ya betrayed us," she snarls viscously, clenching her fists at her sides. "Ya betrayed us all!"

"Rogue," Hank begins, in that ever calming, soothing tone. It usually helped to ease her anger, but today it fueled it.

"Damn ya, Pietro," she yells, driving her knee hard into his stomach. "Speak t' me! Why the hell did ya do it?!"

"I..." Pietro stammers, blood seeping from his nose. "I...he's my father..."

Sabertooth roars savagely, and the sounds of a scuffle ensue behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, Rogue sees Hank tackle the feline mutant as he lunges at her back, and she is half-grateful to Hank for stopping him.

But only half-grateful. The other half of her couldn't care less if she lived or died.

And the scary thing is, she is no longer sure which part is Carol and which is Rogue.

"Ya father set us up, Pietro!" Rogue shouts angrily, not caring at all as she feels strong, solid metal arms wrap around her, tearing her off of Pietro. She knows could have fought back, could have torn away from Colossus, but she is tired and weak from months in captivity, and she just doesn't care enough to do it. "Ya father could have gotten us killed!"

She hears the familiar sound of Evan loading spikes, and knows, somehow, that he is aiming them at Colossus, ready to defend her if need be.

But Rogue is beyond attacking Pietro physically now, for she doesn't want to see him dead. She knows that much clearly, and she knows if she were to hit him again, she might not get a choice in the matter.

"He could have gotten ya own sister killed!" she shouts, her voice changing as Carol took control. "And that doesn't bother you, because he is your father?!"

"No one's dead," Pietro cries in protest. "Wanda and the others weren't even captured! And we came to get you all out, in case you didn't notice! You should be thanking us!"

Rogue's eyes flash, green and blue swirling in her retinas. "Thanking you?" she echoes in Carol's voice, scowling incredulously. "Thanking you?!" She tears at her dirty, bloodstained uniform with her gloved hand, revealing cuts and gashes all across her body. "Look at me, Pietro!" she snarls. "Look at me! This is what you did! I can't even show you how much harm you and your father have done!"

Normally Rogue would fight Carol for control, but right now neither of them cares about the other. For once, they coexist in harmony, focusing their anger and rage on the boy before them. They share the same thoughts, the same words, finishing one another's sentences as easily as if they are reading a script.

"This is what Ah suffered and-"

"-endured and lived with everyday for the past few months! All because-"

"-of ya! Evan and Hank have been tortured! Ah've been tortured! Logan is missin', God knows where, an' all ya can say is that he's ya-"

"-father?! You're nothing but a coward, Maximoff! Nothing but a hyperactive traitor on a permanent sugar high! I hope you can live with yourself-"

"-Pietro! Cuz Ah sure as hell know that Ah couldn't!"

Pietro's eyes widen, his face going pale. He swallows hard. "I...I didn't...I..."

Then there is only a blur as he zips past them, disappearing down the beach. Rogue watches him go, shaking with anger.

"Put her down, Piotr," Magneto orders weakly, having come to just in time to witness the end of the fight. Colossus hesitates, then obeys under a two-way glare.

Rogue scowls at him as he sets her down on the sand.

"Victor," Magneto snaps, slowly pushing himself to standing. "Release Mr. McCoy at once. And Mr. McCoy, please refrain from hitting my followers. Good help is hard to find these days."

The Master of Magnetism dusts off his clothes, while everyone waits tensely for his reaction. Carol couldn't care less. Oddly enough, neither could Rogue.

What's the worst he can do? Kill her?

The past few months have reaffirmed in her mind the belief that there are many things worse than death.

Finally Magneto turns to her, his chin lifted indignantly, but there is a certain respect about the way he now looks at her. "I see that you have developed some new powers, child."

"Ya could say that," Rogue snaps.

"There are very few brave enough to dare to attack me," Magneto says coolly. "I commend you for that." His eyes narrow dangerously. "But do not ever test me again, girl, or things will turn out very, very bad."

"Yes," Carol agrees hotly, replying with the words Rogue that is thinking. "But not for me."

Magneto's eyes flashed. "You do not know who you are dealing with, child."

"Oh, Ah do know," Rogue sneered. "Ah just don't care."

Wordlessly, Magneto turns on his heel, his cape billowing out behind him, and strolls towards the house. Sending her a dangerous look, Sabertooth follows, growling.

Pyro and Colossus silently disappear after them, and she sees Remy give her a worried glance before he, too, turns away, leaving her with Hank, Evan, and, surprisingly, Fred.

"Rogue?" Evan asks uneasily, hesitance flickering across his face. "Are you okay?"

"No," Rogue replies honestly just before her legs give way under her. Fred catches her, and as she slides into unconsciousness, she hears Hank telling him to carry her.

Where to, she has no idea.

Nor does she care.