Author's Note: You guys are the coolest, thanks so much for the reviews! Here we go, the next chapter, short but very important and was a bit on the emotional side to write!

And sorry to say, but it's almost over folks, just one more chapter and an epilogue left after this!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ellis Air Force Base – Far too long ago… but feels like yesterday

Rogue skidded to a stop as she heard the thunderous sound behind her. Turning she could see part of the building collapse under its own weight as a fire raged inside.

Never a pyromaniac around when you need him!

"Mystique," she shouted into the radio, "come in, over," she waited long enough to see the South wall collapse, "Mystique! Come in! Answer me, Mama!"

A figure burst from the flames, a blonde woman, and it only took a moment for Rogue to recognize her. She had been there, earlier, when they snuck into the main building under the guise of an inspection.

Her clothes were now ripped, covered in blood, but it couldn't have been her own. There had been only one other person in the building with her…

"Mama…" she whispered and started to run back towards the flames when two strong arms caught her from behind.

"Lemme go!" she screamed as the man gripped her forearms, pressing them against her chest to constrict her movement. Lifting her off the ground, he dragged her backwards, feet flailing through the air as she attempted to get free. Rogue was tossed sideways and landed inside a black sedan, the doors shutting and the locks lowering on their own.

Pounding against the door, Rogue was unable to pull the lock up against the magnetic hold on it. For a brief moment she considered kicking out the windows only to remember they were bullet resistant. Staring out the back window, the rest of the building collapsed…

No… this couldn't be happening…

The door opened up and a man slipped inside. Enraged, she reached out to grab him with her bare hand but he snatched her wrist above the cuff. Her other hand swung towards him and that too was caught. "I have ta go get her!"

"I'm afraid it's too late, child," Magneto's eyes bore into hers, a coldness with a hint of sadness tucked inside.

Rogue felt as if she couldn't breathe, Mystique was the only family she had left. Her mother abandoned Rogue to her abusive father who never bothered to look for his demon of a daughter when she ran away… and now the one person who had a genuine love for her was gone. They say there are stages to grief, if that was true, Rogue shot straight to anger.

"Who was that woman?" she gritted out through clenched teeth, barely registering the vehicle moving at breakneck speed away from the incident.

"I do not know," he said, removing his grip and her arms fell to her lap as she was sitting on her knees sideways on the seat.

Staring down at her bare hands, she willed herself not to cry, not in front of him, she didn't dare look weak in his presence. Balling her fingers into fists her nails bit into flesh sharply, "Then I'll find out… and when I find her…"

She was just so angry, every inch of skin burning red from the fire threatening to consume her inside.

"You'll do what?" Magneto asked when she failed to finish her sentence.

Rogue looked up at the man, the person her mother always referred to as handsome and complicated, and found his face an empty mask of emotions, "I…"

"You'll do what, Rogue?" he said again and that's when she remembered…

Peace was never an option.

Rogue brought her hands up, once again mesmerized by the soft creases of skin. "I'll find out who sent her…" her eyes flicked back to his, "and then I'll kill her."

A smile tugged at his lips, a rare form of approval, and that was all she needed to send her down the path which lead to the most regrettable moment of her life…

"You weren't really going to kill me, where you?" Carol's voice was beside her and Rogue flicked away the memory.

The scene dissipated and she sat on the roof ledge just outside her old room. Try as she might, she never could get this place out of her mind. It was her home, her first home, the one she grew up in, the one she ran away from…

"Nah," she answered as Danvers sat down next to her, "well, maybe if I had found ya right then, I was pretty angry."

"I could see that," the woman said quietly as they stared out into the blackness towards the abyss. The Shades, no longer being orchestrated by Danvers, were free to wander, many chatting aimlessly to each other.

"I suppose you want me ta wake up now," Rogue finally spoke, "so that Professor Xavier can wake up your body."

"Thought had occurred to me," Danvers said softly, a hesitance to her voice, "but the woman who wakes up, that will be me from eight years ago, I'll still be in here with you Rogue."

"Yeah, stuck in here with me," Rogue sighed, "a fate worse than death."

"Well, it's not that bad," she tried to make it sound as if she really believed that, "I can think of worse places to be."

That failed to make Rogue feel any better about the situation. "I'd let ya out if I could."

"I know you would," Danvers responded, putting her hand on Rogue's shoulder, "but you can't, that's just how it is, you need to let it go. It was an accident, I forgave you a long time ago."

"And what about her," Rogue snapped back, "the other Carol. When she wakes up eight years of her life is going to be gone and for what? Because I wanted revenge for the death of my mother? Only it turns out Mama was just a big manipulating bitch who never really loved me at all?"

Rogue started to cry, trying to wipe away the tears before they managed to escape halfway down her cheeks.

"You didn't know," the woman pointed out but it did little to help. "And what about Cody, don't you want to wake him up too?"

"Oh, god, Cody," that made matters even worse and she choked back a sob, "I've taken everything from him, he's been in a coma longer than he's lived his life."

"Now don't be talking about me when I ain't around," as if on cue the boy scuttled through the window and sat down on the other side of her, his Lego sword in his hand. Taking one look at Rogue, "Gee, Blondie, what you dun this time?"

The woman held her hands up in surrender, "You try talking to her."

"Me?" he frowned, "I got nothing ta say. Remember, I've been here longer than ya Blondie, got a nice little piece of real estate claimed for myself. I don't bother Skunk Head and she don't bother me. You're tha one that gets all high and mighty over there."

"High and mighty?" Danvers was absolutely aghast, "I only wanted to help her. She needed to know the truth."

"Yeah, and see what good that's done," he gestured toward Rogue as if he was sarcastically showing off a prize.

"At least I'm trying to be productive," she countered, "you just sit around and play with whatever new toys or games filter in."

"Yeah, so?" he asked rhetorically then leaned closer to Rogue. "But seriously, when ya wake up, can ya go by a game store and absorb someone who's played Diablo? Totally want ta check that out."

"Cody!" Danvers admonished.

"What?" he replied innocently.

Rogue couldn't help it, she started to laugh. It was a deep laugh, one that made the ribs hurt and your ears pop. She wasn't sure where it came from, what real emotion was behind them, but just listening to her mental roommates bicker sent her over some edge and this was the only way to come down safely.

"Ya okay?" Cody asked after she had a chance to catch her breath.

"Yeah," she managed to slow her breathing a little bit, "tha thought of spending tha rest of my life with ya two up here made me go crazy for a moment."

"That's comforting," Danvers said dryly.

Cody gave Blondie a look, then turned back to Rogue, "Hey, I can't tell ya how he'll react when he wakes up. I'd like ta think he'd be reasonable and all but ya never know. What can I say, is that if ya don't do it, ya'll regret that even more."

"I know," she answered quietly.

"What's all tha fuss about then?" he said and it looked like Danvers was about to say something in answer but he held up his hand behind Skunk Head's back, index finger pointingly telling her to keep her trap shut.

"I…" she started, trying to formulate her words but her mind a swirl of conflicting emotions. "I just can't face them."

"Face who?" he asked.

"Everyone," she frowned at the word and how true it rang. "You and Carol for starters, but… Pyro, he was my best friend. Magneto had ta have known, maybe even from tha beginning. There's no way I can go back ta tha Brotherhood, or any of them, now. And tha X-Men, I'm tha enemy, I've absorbed so many of them. Sure, tha Professor helped me, but only because Gambit asked him to. And Gambit…"

She didn't quite know how she felt about that man with the red eyes and cocky grin, though she had her theories, none of which were comforting at this moment, simply complicated.

"Okay, for one," Cody started to tick off his fingers, "Pyro is deathly afraid of Mystique, and for good reason," he shuddered, "she'd beat him a mile past an inch of his life without so much as batting an eye. As for Magneto, I told ya, never trust a man who wears a cape, especially a purple one, so there ya go."

Rogue snickered despite herself.

"I think you'll also find," Danvers added, "that the X-Men are not as judgmental as you might think. You've seen into their minds."

"That's tha problem, isn't it," she shook her head, "Gambit was right, it's always been about us vs them. I believe in tha Professor's dream of being able ta live in peace but I believed Magento was right, it wasn't ever gonna happen. Two sides of tha same coin, I picked my side, and now I'm not so sure it was tha right one."

"Then choose a new side," Danvers said quietly, taking her hand in hers, "do you want to be the warrior…"

Cody slipped his elegantly crafted sword into her other hand, "…or the weapon."

Rogue lifted the multicolored toy into the air, it was flimsy at best. One strike and all the Legos would shatter. The kid was too smart for his own good. This was her, each brick a voice and together they looked impressive but ultimately they were just waiting to fall apart.

She was raised to be a fighter, to be a soldier in Magneto's army. It's all she had really known since she was twelve. Sure, she wasn't completely devoid of nurturing, even if apparently it had all been an act on her mother's part. Still, she had toys and a little manner of freedom when it came to the typical teenager stuff. However, she was never let to forget that a war was going on.

"The warrior," she said curiously, rubbing two fingers down the side of the blunt blade, "the weapon," she frowned, now laying it across both hands, "or something in between…"

With a crack, the sword snapped in two.