6/26/11

Hey; I decided to go back and change the time continuity errors of the fic.

It's been a whole year! Woooo! One year has passed since I started this fan fic! Today, one year ago, I got the balls to post something I wrote and the rest, well...

It's been a year and we've come through 16 chapters or Taunting Repartee, and 6 chapters of Operation Repartee. That's 22 chapters of awesome in one year! Well that's almost two chapters a month. By this date next year I will attempt to post 24 chapters. Two chapters a month! That's my goal, anyway. I'm also going to try and be a little more consistent with my posting. So, no more month long gaps. I'm going to try anyway.

So, I take it that the reason I received less reviews for chapter fifteenth is the reason stated in the only two I got. Okay, I get it, you guys want more Eric and Anna time.

Ask and ye shall receive...

I was originally going to play out the next chapter in the Bayville mall and end it with that something you all want. However, given the demand I will make that part of the chapter shorter, and get to Eric and Anna talking a lot sooner than I had planed.

As you all probably realized already, during the last chapter we were in the middle of the episode Hex Factor. This chapter starts right after the episode ends, on the car ride home. There are a few plot points I need to address, which will take the form of Rogue's Flashbacks.

If your not too sure of what happened in the episode, I suggest rewatching it because I'm not going to go over everything. The site wouldn't let me post an actual link. It's on Marvel's youtube channel. They've uploaded most of the episodes of X-Men evolution into it.

I think that's everything, so without further adieu.

Enjoy ^.^

Taunting Repartee

Chapter Sixteen

Rogue sat in the back of the X-Van on the trip back from the mall. She looked around at all the unhappy faces matching her own. Kitty was sitting next to her middle seating of the Van. Kurt and Evan were behind them in the very back, Scott was in the front driving and Jean was sitting next to him in the passenger seat.

No one was talking. Everyone was too upset about the fight at the mall. This was the first time the X-Men had lost battle.

'At least ones that their aware of,' she thought with a sigh. Not one of them were taking the loss well.

But she had to admit, it was refreshing not having to hide her discontent...

She frowned at the thought, feeling guilty for having it. Just because she was miserable this last week, didn't mean she wanted everyone to feel that way. But it really was nice not having to hide her feelings. She only wished they were feelings of joy, rather than sadness.

She stared out the window as she replayed the event of the night in her head:

Everything seemed find in the mall at first. Rogue had walked up to the second floor, and searched, just as Scott had asked her too. Even as the Brotherhood started to attack, everything was still okay. Jean was easily able to handle Lance. Scott was helping, until Toad took his visor, which was when she stepped in, absorbed toad and returned the visor to Scott. Blob had tried to attack them, but Scott had taken him out in one blast. Everything was fine.

Until Wanda showed herself...

After that it was chaos.

Rogue felt the blast of energy hit her as she fell to the ground. Quickly, she managed to look up, to see fire heading in her directing. She raced to her feet as she ran away. Moving under the balcony, she watched as the fire rose into the air. Thankfully away from her. She let out a sigh of relief, and then turned her attention towards Wanda.

Kitty was behind her, halfway through the ground, screaming, "Help! I can't move." Rogue started to run out from the cover of the balcony, but she felt a hand on her arm pulling at her. Keeping her from leaving the area. She quickly spun around.

But no one was there...

"...Eric?" Rogue asked anxiously as she looked around. There was no one near her. At least no one she could see.

There was a loud explosion above her. Her eyes widened as the balcony started to break apart above her. She gasped as one piece landed to her right as she attempted to ran that way. She turned to her left attempted to run, but the landing there was falling as well, blocking her path. She looked up, her breath caught in her throat, as a steel beam was quickly approaching her.

Her eyes widened even more when the steel beam stop moving: hovering safely ten or so feet above her head. Her eyes glanced across the mall. She saw Jean save Scott from falling balcony on the other side of the mail. There was no way she was holding this beam up too.

Rogue took a deep breath

"Could you move that beam blocking my way... please?" she asked as she looked around. A second later the beam shifted to the side, giving her enough move to escape. And so she did. Running out from under what was left of the balcony, and joining her teammates as they ran out of the mall.

Rogue let out a sigh as she stared out of the window.

'I absorbed toad,' Rogue realized. 'He would know, what's going on,' she thought with a smile. She took a deep breath as she searched for his mind. Closing her eyes, she brought his fragment to the surface. A mess of moving pictures laid out in her mind. With effort she managed to focus on the events of this day.

'Guess who's back,' she saw, as toad, as her Mother stood in the front door of the brotherhood house.

She pulled herself out of the memory as she felt the van come to a abrupt stop.

"Why'd we stop?" she turned to ask Kitty.

"Something's wrong with the van," Kitty answered.

"Scott, what is it?" Jean asked from the passenger front seat. Scott turned the keys in the ignition.

"I don't know," he said. "It won't start up again," he said with anger as he hit his fist into the steering wheel.

"Scott, calm down," Jean said softy.

"At least we're, like, not in the middle of the street," Kitty offered. Jean gave Kitty a reassuring smile as she pulled out her communicator.

"Yeah, Scott. Good thing you pulled over," Kurt said. Scott wordlessly got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. They all watched him stand in front the van and lift the hood up.

"Professor?" Jean asked into the communicator.

"Man, this sucks," Evan exclaimed to Kurt.

"It's not that bad... If Scott can fix the blackbird, he can fix a van, right?" Kurt asked.

"Storm?" Jean asked as she held the communicator up to her mouth. "The van broke down on the way- … Hello?" she asked.

"Jean, what's wrong?" Rogue asked.

"I don't know. No one's answering," Jean said. "There must be something wrong with it. Does anyone else have theirs?" she asked. Rogue watched Kurt feel his pockets. Rogue let out a sigh.

"I forgot mine at the institute," Rogue said.

"I don't have mine either," Kurt said. "I know I brought it with me."

"Mine's gone too. I, like, must have dropped out of my pocket during the fight," Kitty said.

"Maybe when we were in the tree," Kurt said.

"Yeah, maybe," Kitty said.

"Evan?" Jean asked.

"Nope," he said shaking his head.

"We're not that far from the institute. Kurt could you teleport back and drive another car here to pick us up?" Jean asked.

"Yeah, no problem," he said.

"I'll come with you," Kitty said with a smile. He smiled back.

"Tell Scott before you go," Jean said. He nodded as he teleported out of the van.

"See you later," Kitty said as she opened the door. Rogue eyes widened as she watched Kitty turn to get out of the van. Eric was standing just outside of the van. She watched Kitty get out of the car. Rogue sucked in a breath as she watched Eric get into the van, and sit next to her: all before Kitty closed the door. Rogue stared across at Eric, wide eyed.

"It is still too early for you to know all of this," he said gently.

She just stared at him in shock.

"I was going to leave you alone, Anna, until my plans for Bayville had come to fruition. I was going to let you live your life without me, as you desired. I tired to keep you in the dark. But your review of the situation, your very intellect has forced my hand," he finished with a sigh.

She opened her mouth to speak, but thankfully remembered that that wasn't a good idea.

'Eric-' she thought.

"We will talk at the institute," he said interrupting her, softly. "For now, be silent," he said as he looked straight ahead at Scott. She turned to look as well. He had gotten back into the van, and was trying the to start the van again. Jean let out a sigh in relief as it started up.

"Let's go home," Jean said, looking at Scott. Scott started to drive. Eric looked down at her. She almost gasped as she felt a hand on hers. She looked down to see Eric's hand on top of hers. His fingers intertwined with hers. She guessed he was trying to comfort her: not that it was working.

"Anna, try not to look as though you're terrified," Eric said softly.

'But, I am...' she thought as she forced herself to look out the window. She took a deep breath. 'You gonna tell me I have nothing to be afraid of?' she asked.

"I wish I could," he said sincerely.

Twenty minutes later she was walked into her room. Eric's hand was on her shoulder, guiding her. He had insisted upon holding onto her since they had left the car. She rolled her eyes at the thought. It's not as though she was going to try and escape. Where would she go? How far would he let her get? Her guess about two inch.

The door to the guess bedroom closed behind them.

'Can I talk now?' she asked annoyed.

"Of course," he said as he let go of her shoulder. He walked passed her, as he took off his coat. Folding it, it laid it on top of the dresser. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of her PJ's. With a sigh she walked towards the bathroom. "So, ask," he said.

"I don't have anything to say," she said as she turned to look at him. "I can't talk about anything we talk about to other people. So, I ain't gonna. I just wanted to know if I could," she said before turning to walk into the bathroom.

"What you know or do not know is, at this point, irrelevant. You will not be able to inform anyone of anything. At least not until I am done in Bayville. So," he said as he sat down on the bed, "you might as well satisfy that endless curiosity of your," he said with a smile.

"I'm gonna take a shower," she said as she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She locked it, just to make it absolutely clear that she didn't want him to come in.

About an hour later, Rogue was looking at her reflection in the mirror. She had taken a long shower, got dressed, and blow dyed her hair. She had taken her time while doing each activity, but to her it didn't seem as though enough of it had passed.

With a sigh she opened the door to the bathroom, and stepped out. Eric was sitting up on the right side of the bed. His back against a pillow on the bed-frame. He was reading a book: The Prince. He looked up as she exited the bathroom, closing the book. He turned to put it on the nightstand to his right, before turning his gaze back towards her. She now had his undivided attention.

She moved to her left slightly until she could lean against the wall.

"So, now what?" she asked.

"That's entirely up to you, my dear," he said. She didn't say anything. "We could talk, or something else." he said. A small smile graced his face as he looked at her. She looked away from him as she rolled her eyes. "We could sit here in unbearable silent. Not my first choice," he told her. "Or we could go to sleep," he said.

"In the same bed?" she asked raising an eyebrow as she met his gaze again.

"We have before," he said.

"Last time you got in a bed with me, you took advantage of me," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Anna-"

"I was tired," she said strongly interrupting him. "It had been such a long day. You knew that, but keep pushing and pushing and pushing until I couldn't think anymore," she yelled. "I didn't think it was a good idea. Not after everything I learned that day. It was too much. But you, kept..."

"It was not my intention-"

"That was exactly your intention," she said interrupting him. "You knew what you doing. Don't insult me by pretending otherwise," she said. He stared at her for a moment, before sighing.

"So, I won't. You have my apologies," he said. "...When you said that all you wanted to do was pull me closer, I had thought it was the situation that was keeping you from going forward with your desires."

"It was," she said. "...My body wanted it, but my mind knew it was a bad idea. By the time you were holding me, Eric... my mind wasn't working right anymore. So, my body got what it wanted. But it wasn't what I wanted."

She looked away from him, feeling awkward just standing there, but she wasn't going to sit on that bed.

"If it will make you feel more comfortable, I will sleep on the floor," he offered. She glanced up at him surprised.

"Seriously?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes," he said.

"...Promise?" she asked.

"I give you my word," he said.

"...Okay," she said quietly.

"So, that's one issue we've discussed. How many more do we have to get through?" he asked with a small smile.

"I've lost count," Rogue said honestly as she walked over to the bed. She took a seat, as far away from him as possible. "I wanna say this out loud." She looked him in the eye. "We are not doing anything sexual tonight. You are not seducing me. If we end up doing anything like that tonight I..." she let her voice trail off as she looked down at her hands. She had meant to finish the sentence with a threat. But there was nothing she could threaten him with. She was helpless.

"I understand," he said gently as he leaned forward, searching for her eyes. She met his gaze.

"But do you accept it?" she asked.

"I promised not to sleep on the bed, did I not?" he asked.

"Yeah," she agreed, "but you didn't promise not to try and convince me that having sex on the floor would be a good idea," she pointed out.

"Or against a wall either," he added with a smile, looking away from her.

"Eric!" she reprimanded. He chuckled.

"Forgive me, my girl, the image was," he paused as he glanced back up at her, "...quite inspiring," he said breathlessly. She felt her face blush: wishing he would stop looking at her like that. "In my defense, you are the one who brought up the topic... as usual" he said with a grin. She just glared at him with narrowed eyes."...What else would you like to discuss?"

"Nothing," she whispered. "What's the point?" she asked annoyed. "It's not like I can do anything," she said in defeat, looking down at her hands. "It's irrelevant what I know," she said bitterly.

"It terms of speaking to anyone else about the situation. But having knowledge is never irrelevant," he said as she looked up at him. "Never," he repeated strongly as their eyes met.

"There's a lot I'm confused about right now," she said.

"Then we will take one issue at a time until you are no longer confused," he said with a small smile. She watched the smile on his face: it only served to irritate her.

"Why are you happy right now?" she asked.

"Since you absorbed me in New York we have had, at the very least, three conversations a day. For three weeks you and I shared a bed," he said smiling openly, "this bed," he said. She turned away from him blushing slightly. "We were more or less inseparable for almost two months times, Anna. And I found, that after all that time with you, that being apart for even five days... it is not something I desire to do again," he said. She looked back up at him. She saw compassion in his eyes. "I've missed you, my love."

She quickly got off of the bed, turning her back to him.

"Anna-"

"This is weird, Eric... You claim to love me but... here we are in my bedroom," she said as she turned around to face him. "Your holding me here against my will, as usual." she said. He smirked as he stood up.

"A necessary evil," he said as walked towards her. "The only other option was to keep reordering you memory."

"That dream I had last night?" she asked.

"Was not, in fact, a dream at all," he said as he sauntered closer to her.

"What did you do to Kurt?" she asked warningly, as she unconsciously took a step away from him.

"I did nothing to your brother. It was not his leg you saw..." he said, as she raised an eyebrow. She pulled the image of the blue leg to mind. Why hadn't she taken a closer look at it before. It was much wider than Kurt's.

"Mr. McCoy," she realized breathlessly.

"Correct."

"What did you do to him?" she asked.

"I had his memory, of the latter part of the night, erased, after I persuaded you to help me save his life."

"Why was his life in danger?"

"He had a conversation with Mystique that ended rather badly," he said as he took a step closer to her.

"Why would he talk to Mystique- forget I asked that," she said interrupting herself. "Who was she disguised as?" she asked.

"Do you truly want to know?" he asked as he took another towards her. They were only a foot apart now. She turned her gaze up to met his. "Do you wish to bare more secrets?"

"You asked me that last night," she said.

"What was your reply?"

"No, but what choice do I have? You said 'None.' Then I woke- ...Then I passed out. So, last night erasing my memory was fine, but less then a day later it's no longer an option?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Eric, what gives?"

"It was the second time within twenty-four hours that you had discovered something profound. I knew that you discoveries could only be delayed, not prevented," he said. She huffed.

"So, you want to be the one who control when, where, and how I get this information."

"Precisely," he said.

"Do you want me to know who Mystique was impersonating?"

"Not yet, but soon," he promised. She looked away from him as an image from her dream came to mind: The Professor, jumping over the gate.

"Where's the Professor?" she screamed.

She pulled herself out of the memory as she looked up at him.

"The Professor. She was impersonating the Professor," she said strongly.

"Or, you could put it together it now," he said.

"So, where was the Professor when Mystique was talking to Mr. McCoy?" she asked as she stared up into his eyes. He didn't say anything but there was look in his eyes: pity. "Where's the Professor now?" she asked quietly.

"He's alive," he said as he put his hands on her arms, he rubbed gently. "but not in Bayville. He can not interfere with the events in Bayville from where he currently is."

"You're not gonna tell me where."

"No, I am not. Know that he is safe, healthy. I promise," he said as he rubbed her arms. She gazed her gaze downwards. "Do you have other questions?" he asked.

"Yeah, just... it's been a long day."

"Tired?" he asked.

"I'm exhausted," she admitted as she looked up at him. She finally realizing how close they were, that he was touching her. "Eric, I-" she started to say, but he interrupted her.

"Shhh," he hissed as he lowered his head towards hers. She couldn't help but stare into his eyes. There was something about them, almost hypnotic, that compelled her to keep his gaze. "Just one?" he asked softly.

"It's never just one," she whispered, her lips brushing against his. Her face flushing at the contact. "You always want more," she said as his hands moved her hip, and back. He gently pulled her in closer to him, until she was pressed up against him. Her eyes widened as her hand brushed over the zipper of his pants. She sucked in a breath as she moved her hands to his chest. "More then I'm willing to give," she whispered.

"If we had this conversation two weeks ago, you would be more than willing," he said as he moved one of his hands to brushed some of her hair behind her ear. His hand moved to her reddened cheek, as he titled her face even move towards his.

"I didn't know two weeks ago about everything that's going on. I still don't...right?" she asked breathlessly.

"You know more than anyone else. Your knowledge is only secondary to mine," he said as his hand slipped under her shirt. She warmth on her back, along with the feel of his lips brushing against hers every time either of them talked, was intoxicating.

"Eric, what are trying to do to me?" she uttered.

"You are still capable of thought?" he asked.

'Yes,' she answered.

"And you mind, that brilliant mind of your. Is it telling you to back away from me?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"But you are not listening to it," he said as he hand trailed down from her cheek, to her neck. His thumb rubbed along her throat, causing her to swallow. "Why aren't you?" he asked before he lightly kissed her for a second, it was more a tease than a kiss.

"I don't- I don't know," she said as a few tears fell from her open eyes.

"Because deep down you know that you want this. You know that you want me... You know that you love me," he said. She tried to shake her head, but the effort was too much.

"I don't-... I don't love," she said as her body started to lightly shake in his hold. He started to saunter forward, she had no choice but to walk backwards. Her feet moved backwards, one step at a time. It was only his hand on her back that kept her from losing her balance. "I don't- I don't," she continued to say as her back lightly hit the wall. "I don't..." she whispered. His hand moved from behind her back to her stomach, as he lightly pressed her against the wall.

"You do," he said softly. "You used to stare at up at me while we where in bed. This expression of utter peace, utter contentment on your face. Your soft smile. Your quick mind. That is what I fell in love with," he said as his hand slipped under the fabric of her shirt on her stomach. "What a fool I was," he said with a laugh. "All the signs where there. I was spending every waken moment of day with you. I let other projects, other parts of my life fall to the wayside."

"What a favor I own to Charles. If he hadn't of found out about our relationship, then you and I would never have had that fight. You would not of have stopped speaking with me, and I would not of left the note for you to meet me at the cafe. If he had not of interfered I would still be utterly co-dependent upon you. We would not of had that conversation last Saturday. You would not have told me that I am in love with you," he said with a laugh.

"You were right, of course, my girl. I am very... very much in love with you..." He kissed her then. She melted against him, a warmness radiating around her her entire body, she felt as though she was on fire. Neither of their eyes closing, they continued to stare at one another as they kissed. He broke the kiss, pulled back slightly. "Do you believe me?" he asked suddenly. "Do you believe that I love you?" Her breathing was unsteady as her shaking hands went onto each of his arms. She nodded frantically.

"I- I believe ya," she uttered. He smiled as his hand rubbed against her cheek. "It does- doesn't mean th-that-" she started to say as she tried to shake her head.

"Shh," he hissed softly as he put a finger on her lips. He moved his hand to cup her chin, titling it upwards. "You said that I always want more. You are correct. I will always want more from you, because I know that you are capable of so much. I want a life time with you. No- I want several lifetimes with you."

She took a deep breath.

"Eric, do you have any idea how crazy this all is? How insane you look to me right now?" she asked. "You're holding me captive. You have my teacher, god knows where, and you've asking me to spend several lifetimes with you. Several lifetimes of this?" she asked incredulously "Of this insanity?" she yelled as tears started to fall from her eyes. She shook her head no, as she grabbed onto his arms. She tried to push them off of her. "Eric, let me go... please-please... I-I can't breath..." she struggled to say. "...please," she begged as she looked up at him. He released her. She staggered away from him.

She needed to get away from him...fast. She headed towards the bathroom. He lifted his hand up, and the door slammed closed. She fell to the floor as she saw her only route of escape denied to her. She crawled back a few feet until she was leaning against the side of the bed. Her eyes closed as she hyperventilated on the floor. She tried to catch her breath, but it was no use. The more she tried to stop it, the louder her breathing became.

Her eyes opened as she heard footsteps. She watched his feet as he walked passed her. The door to the bathroom opening, as he approached it.

He came out a moment later with a metal cup in his hands. He knelled down beside as he tired to press the cups against her lips. She shook her head frenetically, her hands coming up as she swatted at his face, and the cup.

"It is only water," he said as he gently used one hand to keep her two from hitting him.

"I- I don't beli-"

"Anna," he screamed as he took both of her hands in his. He used his powers to hold the cup in the air. He used his newly freed hand to take hold of her chin. He turned her face to look at him. He waited until he had her gaze before speaking. "If I wanted you to be unconscious I would not need to trick you into drinking a drug. You would be unconscious..." He stared at her for a moment: making sure that she had heard him. "Now, stop acting like a rapid animal, and drink the water," he said firmly.

She nodded slightly. He released her chin as he moved the cup closer to her. He let go of one of her hands. She used it to take the cup out of the air, and bring it to her lips. She took three large gulps.

"More?" he asked. She nodded as she cup flew out of her hand, and towards the bathroom. She took deep breaths as she waited for the cup. She heard the water turn on the bathroom, and then turn off again. Less than a minute later she saw the cup in front of her. She grabbed it out of the air again, and drank all the water. When she was done, she placed the cup on the floor.

"I'm okay, now," she said. She pulled at the hand that was still in his. "I'm not gonna try and hit you again," she said looking up at him. He released her hand. She lowered it to the ground. "I wanna go to sleep now," she whispered. He put his hand on her knee, rubbing slightly. "Alone," she uttered. "There's-" she stopped herself for a moment, her courage failing her. She took another deep breath.

"There's another bedroom across the hall. No one's using it. You could keep the door to this room locked just as easily from there as ya could from here. And then you could have a- … have a bed to sleep on too. So, you wouldn't have to sleep on the floor... Even if you couldn't keep the door locked all night, cause of sleeping. I wouldn't go anywhere. I don't- I don't have anyone to go to. There's no one who could help. You're too-"

"We'll talk tomorrow," he said as he stood up. "Get some sleep," he said as he walked towards the door. "Anna," he said as he got to the door, turning around to look at her again. She looked up at him. "For what it's worth, I am sorry for putting you through all of this."

"Sorry enough to stop?" she asked.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Then your apologize ain't worth shit," she said bluntly. He looked away from her, and then walked out of the room wordlessly.

She climbing up onto the bed, and pulled the covers over her. Closing her eyes, she cried herself to sleep.

And that's it for this chapter... I know it ended on a really sad note. But that's what the circumstances called for.

Anyway, I hope to have another chapter up in two weeks. So, that's 12/27/09. Maybe sooner. We'll see how busy my new job makes me.

So, it's review time! Please review! I loved reviews. Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top? For the record: you guys have power. I reworked the entire plot of this chapter to make people happy. There is a limit to what I'm willing to change. For example, this fic's plot will follow the show. That's not changing. I've spend way too much planing out how, Eric and Anna's interactions play out around the plot of the show. But I am open to suggestions. Case in point: this chapter.

I'm also going to try and make the next chapter a little more fun. Like it was in the first six chapters. Messed up things were going on all over the place, but Rogue was still having fun. I'm gonna try and bring that back a little. I have to admit the fic has taken a very very dark turn.

Actually, you know what. I trying to assume how you are guys feel about the fic rather than just ask you guys. What do I know?

So, I'm gonna put this to a vote.

Would you guys prefer that the fic continue being as dark as it is, because the plot calls for it (There will be more Eric and Anna interactions no mater what) or would you prefer that I try to make the mood of the fic more fun and carefree? The consequence to that option being that Rogue would have to buy in to Eric's bullshit a little more, and let down her guard around him. Something, I would consider a little out of character for her at this point in the story, but I'm willing to play around with it until I get it right for you guys, if that's what you all want.

Voting will start the moment you read this, and will continue until the 19th. So, one week. I'll have a week to write the chapter. I can do that, no problem.

So, now it's up to all you lovely people!

The option with the most votes wins!

Mood of the fic: Light or dark? Place your votes!