Chapter Ten:
Breakfast was pretty enjoyable, everyone getting along fairly well, no one arguing over what cartoons St. John chose to watch. Rogue found that it wasn't that uncomfortable to be around the boys. Fed hadn't talked much, he'd been too busy eating, and Piotr, Remy had been kind enough to enlighten her with Colossus' real name, had kept silent most of the time, obviously not much of a morning person.
St. John was too wrapped up in his cartoons to talk much, but he'd thrown in the occasional sarcastic remark. Mostly, though, it had been Remy, Evan and Rogue talking, and the conversation had come so easily that it surprised her how comfortable she felt around Remy. He'd spent the morning talking to her, telling jokes and recalling instances from his own past where he'd pulled stunts like the one she had told them about. Carol had made snide comments inside her head for a while, but eventually got so sick of Remy's flirting, that she just retreated to the farthest corner of Rogue's mind to sulk.
Remy was, if only for that, a miracle.
He'd managed to swipe her the other jelly doughnut when Fred wasn't looking, noticing that she had gone straight for that kind, and declaring she needed to eat more than one.
He'd been regaling her with a tale of one of his youthful mishaps in the New Orleans bayou, something that made her smile, remembering the Mississippi bayous back home, when Magneto and Sabertooth had entered the room, with Hank and Harmony at their heels.
Immediately all conversation had stopped. Pyro turned off the TV quicker than Rogue would have thought possible. Instantly the entire demeanor of the room went from comfortable and carefree to rigid and tense as the Acolytes looked to their leader for instructions. Rogue, Evan and Fred watched, curious as to what was going on.
Magneto glanced in Rogue's direction and she shifted a bit under his lengthy gaze. "I see you have recovered, child," he said evenly. "That is good to know."
"Thanks," Rogue replied. As an afterthought, she added, "Ah think."
Magneto turned his attention back to his followers. "Gambit, I have need of you and Colossus. Follow Sabertooth, he will explain on the way."
"Right, boss," Remy said, standing and heading upstairs to change, Piotr following silently. As he passed, Remy offered Rogue a faint smile before bounding up the steps.
"Pyro," Magneto said evenly, turning to look at the young man with the flaming orange hair. "You will find Pietro waiting for you on the beach. I suggest you hurry, he has little patience this morning. He is in charge during the duration of your mission. Respect him as you would me."
"Yes, Lord Magneto," St. John said, though the slight grimace on his face suggested what he thought about having to take orders from Pietro. Given the situation, Rogue couldn't say she blamed him, too much. She wouldn't have been too happy about it, either.
As soon as St. John was out of the room, Magneto glanced at Harmony and Sabertooth. "Victor, you know what to do. I trust you will make sure that the same goes of Gambit and Colossus?"
Sabertooth nodded, his long blond man falling onto his shoulders.
"Harmony?" Magneto inquired. "Mr. McCoy has volunteered to go into town with you. Please see to it that he doesn't run off anywhere, and perhaps you should pick up some clothing more appropriate in size for our young Rogue while you are out?"
Rogue didn't know whether to be relieved to hear that or worried at the 'our' young Rogue part.
"Yes, Lord Magneto," Harmony said, bowing her head slightly. She glanced at Hank. "Coming, Mr. McCoy?"
Rogue straightened, a moment of anxiety overtaking her. Hank was leaving? He was going to leave her and Evan here alone with Magneto?
Hank must have noticed, because he placed a large hand on her shoulder. "I will return soon. In the meantime, get some rest. You need it." Leaning closer, he whispered quietly, "I assure you, dear, Magneto means you no harm. You are quite safe here. And I'll be back as soon as I can."
Rogue nodded slightly.
Hank squeezed her shoulder once more, then nodded to Evan, and followed Harmony from the room. A few moments later, Rogue heard the front door open and close.
She stared at Evan, he stared at her, both of them trying not to look at Magneto, who stood somewhere behind Rogue. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was there. He had the kind of presence that you couldn't help but feel.
"Sabertooth just returned from a scouting expedition to Bayville," Magneto said, and both teens turned to look at him at the name of their home town. "His findings were quite interesting, indeed."
Rogue had never hated his stupid helmet as much as she did right then, with it veiling his facial expressions so she couldn't even guess at what he was thinking. "An'?" she prompted anxiously. "What did he find?"
"It would be invaluable for you to learn some patience, young one," Magneto advised with an annoyed glance in her direction. "Sabertooth, as you know, has a unique sense of smell, similar to your Wolverine. This enables him to detect the scents of other mutants easily, particularly mutants that he has previously come into contact with."
Ah swear Ah'll kill him if he doesn't jus' spit it out already! Rogue thought sharply.
Oddly enough, Carol said. I can't say I'd blame you in the least.
Great, Rogue muttered. That makes me feel so much better.
"He was able to detect the scents of several of your X-men comrades among the rubble," Magneto said evenly. "But there were no remains found, at least not that we know of. It is all too likely that the bodies of those who remained inside were completely destroyed."
Rogue swallowed hard, her eyes stinging with tears.
"However," Magneto said. "Victor was also able to pinpoint the scent of Jean Grey, Lance Alvers, Kurt Wagner and Kitty Pryde on the grounds."
Rogue blinked in shock. "But...they weren't there when..." she trailed off, fear seizing her by its cold, harsh fingers. Had Jean and the others already returned home when the explosion happened? Oh God, if they had...
"We do not know," Magneto answered calmly. "But we have reason to believe that Miss Grey, Miss Pryde and Mister Wagner are still alive. Their scents were farther from the blast, closer to the woods. It eludes that they were escaping the scene, not caught up in it."
Escaping. That meant surviving. Which meant they were alive.
As if reading her thoughts, Magneto turned to look at her. "We have no way of knowing if they are alive or not, but we can only hope they are. Sabertooth was unable to trace their scents past the treeline. Either they never made it farther than that, or they did not move on foot."
"The Blackbird," Rogue murmured, feeling a little bit defeated. "We took the Blackbird that day. They would have flown it when they left."
"Yeah, man," Evan agreed, nodding. He frowned, a worried look in his eyes. "But if they took the Blackbird...how do we find them?"
We don't, Rogue realized with a wave of dread. There was no way for them to. Unless Magneto was able to somehow locate and track down the Professor. And that would only happen if the Professor wanted to be found.
And with their identities revealed, with the world in an anti-mutant uproar, why would he want to? He had to protect those who had survived, and to do that he would have to sever all ties with their past, would have to cover all of their tracks.
Rogue knew that's what he would end up doing. What he would have end up having to do. She didn't blame him, she would do the same thing in his shoes.
But that left her and Evan and Hank on their own.
Not quite, Carol reminded her, her voice surprisingly even, without accusation or caustic undertones. You have Magneto.
Those are mah two choices? Rogue drawled. Make it on mah own or make it with Magneto? Some choices.
I said they were choices, Carol retorted. I never said they were good ones.
"You mean..." Evan rasped. "We probably won't be able to find them? If they're even still alive?"
"I have faith that Charles is alive," Magneto said, his voice conveying a surprising amount of determination. "I have to believe that. You should do the same. As for finding him, I will not cease looking, for this is a war I cannot win alone."
"A war against humanity?" Rogue growled. "That's what ya talkin' 'bout, ain't it? Homo sapiens superior takin' their rightful place as the rulers o' the world an' all that trash? Magneto, ya nuts if ya think the Professor will ever help ya!"
Magneto turned a cool glare upon her. "You are very young, child. Perhaps when you are older, you will come to understand the symbiosis between Charles Xavier and I. He needs me as much as I need him, if we are ever to create peace between the mutant race and humans."
"Ya awfully full o' y'self, ain't ya?" Rogue scowled.
"With good reason, my dear, I assure you," he replied evenly. He straightened, his broad shoulders making him look impressively foreboding. "I will notify you if there is any further developments into the search for Charles. Until then, my friends, make yourselves at home here. For I doubt you have anywhere else to go."
He turned and began walking out of the room, his stride arrogant and powerful, everything about his posture confident and crisp. When he reached the door, however, he stopped. He didn't turn to face them, just stopped.
"I thought you might like to know," he said in a quiet voice. "That Sabertooth also discovered the identity of the person who destroyed the mansion."
Rogue stiffened, her entire body going rigid. She felt like every muscle in her body had suddenly tightened. Beside her, Evan's chin jerked up, his eyes narrowed.
"Mystique," was all Magneto said as he left the room. It was all he had to say, really. That one name had caused everything inside of Rogue to go cold. She felt as if Bobby had just frozen the blood in her veins into ice.
And then the rage flooded over her, hot and fiery and rolling out of control within her.
Mystique had destroyed her family.
Had killed Scott and Bobby and the others.
For as long as she lived, Rogue would never forget the horrible feeling of hatred and betrayal that swelled up inside of her in that moment. Mystique, the woman who had hurt her so badly, who had lied to her, used her, manipulated her, had finally found yet another way to destroy her life.
Ah can't believe her, Rogue thought, her throat burning. Ah can't believe that she would…
But she could believe it, and she did. Who else would hate the X-men so much?
Rogue had never felt such fury towards anyone before. In that instant, she saw clearly what she would do if she ever got her hands on the shape-shifter. She would do the one thing the Professor had always indoctrinated into the X-men that they should not do, could not do, no matter the circumstances.
If she ever found Mystique, Rogue was going to kill her.
A low growl came from beside her, and she turned to find Evan's face shaking with fury. His dark eyes locked with hers. "Mystique is dead," he hissed venomously. "When I get my hands on her, she's dead."
Rogue nodded silently, not trusting her voice at the moment.