Hey, I'm sorry it taking me so long to update! I no longer have a computer of my own. I've been working on the fic on my cousin's computer whenever she was kind enough to allow me to use it. I have no idea how this is going to work when she goes back to school. I'll figure it out.

For now, a quick note: I am not given a detailed description of Magneto's house. It honestly doesn't matter what it looks like. Picture whatever you want to picture.

Please enjoy!

Taunting Repartee

Chapter Twenty-Six

Rogue took a deep breath as Magneto finished explaining his plan. Despite promising to tell her everything he kept most of his details limited to the x-men's involvement within his scheme.

"If you need to know more about my associates then ask. I will answer the question in accordance to the relevance of the information to your strategy," he had told her.

"Do you have other questions, Chief?" he asked from his seat. They had arrived at his house about five minutes ago but he had elected to stay in the car as he explained his plan. She turned to glare at him but was met with only a chuckle and his smile. "Take your time, my girl," he said he opened his door and got out of the car. She let out a sigh as got out of the car as well. She let her thought wander to through their conversation as they walked towards his large house.

Magneto's main goal was simple: to reveal mutant kind to the world. Much of the plan relied on the abilities of his team of telepaths to control the many factions within Bayville.

Rogue found herself asking early in the conversation, "Just how many telepaths do you have, Max?" The answer was an astonishing eight: Blindspot, Elizabeth Braddock, Shan Manh, Jason Wyngarge, his daughters Regan and Martinique Wyngarge, Emma Frost, and her younger sister Cordelia Frost.

"There are many more pieces to this chess set than you realize, my girl," she recalled Magneto saying. "I am controlling a city, Anna. Bayville's population is just over six thousand. Eight is hardly inappropriate-"

"The entire situation is inappropriate," she interjected.

"Is it?" he asked mockingly. "Personally, I find allowing genocide to go undisrupted unspeakable."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she yelled. "No one's said anything about genocide."

"Because I have not allowed them to formulate the thought," he said in abhorrence "Trask is currently satisfied with simply leveling the playing field in human favor. His ambitions will grow far beyond that if left unattended… Eight itself seems inappropriate once the scope of our situation is taken into account, doesn't it Anna?" he asked. She didn't reply. "Bayville is not the only site where my influence is known. Eight, three of which are terribly inexperienced when compared to their mentors, is as many as I can afford to spare," he said.

Most of the ground work for the plan was already in place. Mystique was "in charge" of the brotherhood and x-men. Logan had already been kidnapped by Trask's anti-mutant faction.

"So, that's what you did this afternoon? You had Logan abducted by some political fanatic-" Rogue recalled saying.

"Trask," Magneto interjected. "The man's name is Bolivar Trask," he informed.

"I really don't give a shit what the bastard's name is," she informed him. He had chuckled softly before continuing.

Conveniently, there was an anti-mutant faction whose base had been established almost a year ago in Downtown Bayville. Magneto planned to have Mystique order both teams into a search party for Logan. As the teams were searching for Wolverine they would find the sentinel. The robot would attack and the fight would be caught by the news: revealing mutant kind to the world.

"The main goal of this strategy, as I'm sure you realized," Magneto started to say, "is to reveal mutant kind to the world. I have known that this day was going to come for many years now. Charles is wrong," he said strongly. "It does not matter how the emergence happens the mutant race will be met with distrust and hate. No amount of education or positive media coverage will cause their reactions to be any different. Factions such as Trask's are only the beginning. If these fanatics are not controlled, if the emergence is not controlled, then countless mutants will be murdered senselessly," he said in disgust. "I will not allow that to happen," he told her.

The sentinel would then proceed to arrest most of the members of both teams. However, a small group of mutants would be allowed to escape back to the institute only to be contained there, along with the all of the institute's students.

"Oh," she replayed Magneto's words, "and then the institute is going to explode," he said offhandedly.

"Why?" she demanded to know.

"I paid for the building. I should be able to destroy it at my leisure," he replied calmly. She rolled her eyes: for the moment ignoring the implications of his words.

"But everyone's already been taken captive. What's the point?" she asked.

"The media will begin to record coverage of Xavier's former home. A collapsed building with various pieces of debris and weapons spread across the yawn will leave a much stronger impression than a sound structure, don't you think?" he asked with a grin.

"…You want us to be feared, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, yes I do," he answered. "They should fear us," he said.

"Of course they should fear you. You're the one who's controlling thousands of people, and you expect none of them to attack back," she said in disbelief. "You're gonna start a war," she said.

"In a War, Anna, neither side is certain who will win, and the body counts, the casualties," he said in disgust, "are endless. Those are two aspects of this conflict I will not permit…War? No, my dear girl, there will be no war. No, I'm going to watch the board from above as I control all the piece's movements," he paused smiling widely, "at the moment, my girl, as the both of us control their movements."

Once everyone had been transported back to the faction's base they would be jailed for a short while until Magneto arrived to rescue them all.

"Then you get to the big hero," Rogue had said bitterly. "While everything you've ever said about mutant and human relations being proved right with one fucking action," she said irate. "Un-fucking-believable," she muttered as she stared out the window. "…Then what?" she asked.

Magneto was going to have Trask move Mystique to a different base. Magneto planned to allow her to escape. He planned to blame Mystique for Xavier's abduction. Without her the X- Men would be unable to find Charles. With both Professor Xavier and Mystique locations unknown Magneto assumed that taking control over both teams would be un-difficult.

"Having a team of telepaths at ya beck and call don't hurt your chances either," she recalled muttering: Max had laughed in response.

Magneto's plan: at least as much as he was willing to explain to her: ended with him claiming control over both of Bayville's teams.

Rogue took a seat on light red couch in his living room as she came out of her thoughts.

"It seems like you really want control of all the teams in Bayville," she said.

"Gaining public control over the X-Men is a benefit to this strategy. For you Anna," he started to say as he took a seat next to her on the couch, "I am willing to temporary relinquish that benefit," he said.

"Temporary?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned to face him.

"A conversation for another day, my girl," he said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "What I want out of this strategy is our kind to be revealed to the world without a single dead body," he said.

"You also want us to be feared. The way you had things set up I don't think mutants would be tolerated in public much. Not if a whole group of us just escaped from a government base. We would be criminals running from the authorities."

"You misunderstood, Anna. Trask is not a government agent. He cut his ties with S.H.I.E.L.D some years ago," he said.

"You're telling me that the U.S government is gonna have no part of this?" she asked. "There's gonna be panics, people too afraid to leave their house and… Max, if we do this my way then we can't have that effect…" she paused: a few ideas running through her mind. "At least not permanently. Things have to go back to normal, there has to be- Maybe not peace, but I need to be able to live with my family in Bayville: in the institute. Something has to happen in between mutants being revealed and me and family going back home: Something that lets us do that. Something that- that stops the government and Trask from hunting us out in the open like that… I'm sure what yet, but-"

"Anna," Magneto said gently, "we'll talk more tomorrow. We both need some sleep," he said as he rose from the couch.

"Are you insane?" she exclaimed. "I don't have time to sleep. I gotta-"

"Anna, it's-" he said as he turned to face her: staring down at her for a long moment. He looked tired.

"It's what?" she asked slowly.

"It's nearly two in the morning," he uttered.

"I'm not going anywhere. I gotta think," she said. "I only have two days," she said. He looked away from her a moment. He ran his hand through his hair before sighing.

"… If I postpone the emergence until Friday will you sleep then?" he asked.

"I-" Her eyes widened for a brief second before she smiled. "You'd postpone just ta get me ta get some sleep?" she asked with a soft laugh.

"Anna, there's very little I wouldn't do to get you into a bed," he said. She started at him a moment before she broke out into laughter. He let out a soft chuckle.

"Or a wall," she said through her laughter. He laughed.

"Or a couch," he said as he sat next to her again: wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Any tangible surface really," he said with a chuckle as she continued to laugh. She turned her body to face his.

She looked up at him as her laughter died down she realized how close they were: her face was very close to his. Her eyes shifted to his lips for a fraction of a second before returning to his eyes. She took a deep breath.

"Anna, whatever it is that you are thinking," he said as his thumb rubbed little around her shoulder, "whatever impulse you are feeling at this moment: please stop suppressing it," he said as he rested hand on her hip: his fingers rubbing slightly at her skin. Both their breathing grew heavy: thickened with lust.

"I probably shouldn't," she muttered as she placed her hand on his arm. Her other hand went to his chest: grapping at his shirt. She saw a flush of color rise in his cheeks: no doubt her face was a similar hue.

"Why ever not, my girl?" he asked.

"Beca-" she paused: her usual reasons for denying both their urges currently not present. She looked away from him as she attempted to remind herself why she frequently said no,

"I am not holding you captive at the moment," Magneto said. That was the biggest issue she had with their sexual relationship: the fact that they she was a prisoner.

'No, right now he's not,' she thought to herself. 'You chose to come here with him.'

"You have my word I will postpone the emergence until Friday." he said as she shifted slightly on the couch moving more of her body onto his. Her leg was now draped over his: his knee pressing up in between her legs.

"You are brilliant, Anna Marie. In three days you will have a strategy that serves both our agendas. I highly doubt that it will take you the full three days to plan. Never-the-less they are yours to do with as you please," he said. She slipped her hand up from his chest to rest against his cheek. He lowered his face closer to hers.

"You're gonna keep your word," she muttered breathlessly.

"Every promise I have ever made to you I will keep," he said strongly gazing deep into her eyes. Rogue paused for a moment, staring at him. She couldn't believe how much she wanted to believe him. She also couldn't fathom how much she really wanted to touch him. They had engaged in sexual behavior before when she still believed that he was the fragment, but somehow this time was different… she knew why of course. Her mind kept drifting back to one thought.

"… Earlier you made me a promise that we would finish-"she started to mutter hers lips brushing against his.

"I remember," he uttered quickly.

"If you don't keep to that promise," she struggled to say. "To all your promises…I- I won't be able to trust- to trust a word you say," she finished: hardly believing that she was going to reuse this argument towards this end. He stared at her a moment as he smiled widely.

"That would be a betrayal of your trust," he chuckled before he kissed her lightly. "All that time and effort I've put," he paused to give her another kiss as both the hand grasped the others, rubbing, "into regaining you confidence-"

"Lost," she muttered as her eyes closed.

"Wasted because I failed to act upon this one promise," he whispered as he moved his knee slightly beneath her. She was panting now: her whole body shaking in anticipating for what they were about to do. "Well, we can't have that now can we?" he asked: he could hear his amusement in his voice, but found that she didn't care.

"No, we- we really-"He gave her a peck on the lips, "really," another peck, "really fucking-"

"My thoughts exactly," he uttered before he crashed his lips into hers: deepening his kiss as her tongue made its way into her mouth. She moaned as he moved his knee against her. Her hand slipped up into his hair pulling her-self even closer to him. He pulled onto his lap fully and began to pull her against him as she wrapped her legs around her back. He leaned forward, laying her down on the couch as his hand began to fumble with the black jacket.

"Wait," she mumbled. He pulled away from her lips.

"Anna-" he became to say: a mix of anger and frustration in his expression.

"No, not to that," she said breathlessly. "I wanna do that," she said with a smile. "It's just that Emma was nice enough to let me borrow a shirt. I don't wanna rip it on her. She doesn't like my enough as it is," she said. He nodded as pulled lifted his upper body off of her: holding himself up with one arm on the side of the couch. He unbuttoned his shirt as fast as his fingers would allow: stripping it from his body.

She smiled as she started to unbutton the jacket: although at a much slower pace than necessary. She bite her bottom lip as she watched him watching her. He continued to move against her in a deliberately slow speed. She threw open the jacket coat and began to unbutton the shirt: top to bottom. She felt her bra unhook as he moved his free hand into her shirt and onto her breast.

Once she had finished he leaned back: letting her sit on his lap as she pulled the jacket, shirt, and bra off completely. She leaned down: her hand on his bare chest: bring her lips to his as his hands explored her body.

"I have a request," he muttered as his eyes made contact with hers. "Can we carry on with this," he said referring to the movements their both making with their lower regions, "just without clothes?" he asked. Her face flushed heatedly before she nodded and the next thing she knew they were both on their feet. He kissed her again before lowering himself to the floor. He used his powers to undo her pants. She grasped at his head, holding him close to her. His hands were around her backside as he slid her pants and undergarment down her legs. She let out a soft moan as he kissed the inside of her leg and grabbed her butt. He placed light kisses on her skin on his way back up. Their lips met as her hand brushed against his belt.

"I will not stop you this time," he said huskily

"Good," she said as her hand seized his belt. As she took Max's belt off a voice in the back of her mind told her that this was still a bad idea: that there were still many reasons why she shouldn't go through with this. But somehow she managed to ignore the fact that he was still holding her family captive as she slid down his pants: a condom flying into his hands from across the room. Somehow she managed to disregard that this partnership of theirs was only temporary as Magneto sat her down on the couch: holding her legs wide apart warning her that it would hurt.

"But only for a moment, my love, I promise," he whispered before kissing her: her hands went to his cheeks holding his face to hers.

Somehow she was able to be completely indifferent to the voice of reason within her own mind as Magneto thrusted into her for first time, and the second…for the third…for the countless times that night.

And as she laid in Max's arms on his bed, they had somehow made it up the stairs to his bedroom during: the aftermath of what they done still resonated throughout her body: she knew that at that moment she knew that she had never been safer in her life than she was now lying in his hold.

Given everything that has happened to her throughout her life: she found that feeling safe was important to her. A little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that it was Magneto she should be afraid of: but as she glanced up at his face. She found that she wasn't anymore.

"I believe you," she whispered. He slowly opened his eyes as his hand cupped her face bring her closer to him for another kiss.

"About what?" he asked.

"Most- … All of it," she uttered.

"You trust me again?" he asked. She nodded before he smiled warmly down at her. "I will never betray that trust again, Anna," he promised.

"You better, fucking, not," she started to say: his expression became confused. "Or I swear to god, Max, I silent treatment your ass into the ground," she warned.

"Did you just threaten me wit-" he started to ask in disbelief with a chuckle.

"Hell, yeah," she smirked. "And you know I can do it too… for hours, days maybe," she teased.

"Anna, I don't think either of us truly desire to found out just how long you can stand to not utter a single word or thought," he said.

"So, you better not piss me off then" she said with a smile. He smiled down at her as his eye lite up with pride.

"What am I going to do with you?" he asked.

"I can think of a few things," she said with a smirk.

"Can you now?" he asked wonderfully intrigued by her statement.

"Yeah," she said before she gave him a quick peck on the lips. 'It's almost three o'clock in the morning," she said as she lowered herself her head to rest on his chest: her eyes blissfully closing, "we should sleep together," she said with a grin.

He laughed loudly before kissing the top of her head.

And Rogue found that despite everything, perhaps even because of some of it, somehow… as ludicrous as it may seem… somehow she was actually happy. Happy to be precisely where she was: happy to be his company.

'But at what cost?'

So, that's it for this chapter. I have no idea when the next one is going to come out. I'm going to try and write one more chapter before my cousin goes back to school. Maybe ask my other cousin if I can use his desktop while he's not home. I'm gonna try like crazy!

Thank you to everyone who is putting up with my bad updating and still reading the story! I really do appreciate it!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I am apologizing to everyone who voted! Because at the end of the day this chapter became a mix of A and B. Rogue heard the explanation in third person-i-ness was highlighting the best parts of their conversation: keeping it interesting. I know that most people voted B, and Rogue did start to think about her plan. But then as I was about to get to more strategizing well… surprise sex scene! … Honestly, sometimes this fic just writes its self. It's weird.

Please let me know what you thought.

Speaking of which

Review time!

Deathstroke'sDaughter: Thanks for voting on all the questions! I'm glad you think that the name calling is funny! There's going to be more of that! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know what you thought? I hope to hear from you again.

Supreme Tactical Bias: Yeah, I would get the world's most awesome cookie! Thanks for voting and everything that you wrote! Really! It made my day! Oh, and if you ever find a story that has a similar plot to mine would you please consider leaving a review with the details? Not that your searching for one… just that I would love to read anything you might suggest. Again thank you for all the kind words. I hope to hear from you again. Thank you!

P.S. I love you user name! :)

Raven34link: Thanks for voting! And for leaving like a million reviews within two weeks! That was awesome! Oh, and just too let you know, Rogue didn't get to eat but Magneto did! He had lobster while he waited for Betsy Braddock to get to the Crescent Beach Club. It was about an hour wait. Thanks for every review you have ever left! Seriously awesome! I hope to hear from you again.

Gah: Yay, input! 1) Awesome! 2) I agreed, she really is crass! 3) Thanks! 4)Thank for your insight! What I came up with for the first half of the chapter was taken from your words. Thanks for the good ideas! Throughout the conversation, and facts I kept in mind what you wrote about inserting fun. Thanks for the voting and I'm glad that you're enjoying the fic. I hope that you like this chapter too! Please let me know? I hope to hear from you again!

Alienarcher326: I'm so sorry I took so long! I hope it was worth the wait! Thanks for the review! I hope to hear you again.

Nikki: Thanks for voting! I love your idea for the name calling! I am so going to use it in the next chapter (or knowing my pace of writing) or within the next ten chapters! But I am going to use. I love the idea of Blindspot calling her commander, while Pyro insists she a commodore because Magneto used the title once. :) Thanks for that. It's going to make a great scene, and probably a running gag whenever Pyro's the fic! I hope to hear from you again!

LadyNorth: Thanks for voting! Sorry, I suck at listening to what people choose! And yeah, last chapter I should have reread it about five more times before posting it, but I working on borrowed time and laptop so I make due with what I had. I believe that there are much less mistakes in this chapter than 25. Free feel to inform me if I'm wrong! Thanks, as usual, for reading and reviewing! I hope that you loved this chapter and I hope to hear from you again?

Warrioroftheseventhstar:

"ERIC EXPLAINED! Wow! So when you were writing that did you have to pry his lips open or what?"

Pretty much! I had to rewrite it a few times to make sure he answered each question she asked. When through I think five times before I was satisfied with his level of answering! Thanks for writing that, by the way! I smile every time I read it! I glad that were cool with the Shan situation. To be honest I do eventually want to write out all the beginning story of the characters in this fic. I have most of Betsy's Emma's and now Shan's written in my head. But I figure I should spend some more time on the fic itself, rather than all these side projects. So, it'll have to wait.

Sorry about the voting…how I didn't really listen to people… I hope you liked it anyway! Please let me know what you think? I'll see what I can do about the Maxxy comment! Thanks for the suggestion! I hope to hear from you again.

Meow114: Thanks for voting! Sorry you had to wait so long! I hope it was worth the wait! Let me know? It's going to be a while but Rogue will eventually gain over another's mutants powers…but oh boy is it going to be a while before we get to that. Thanks for the review! I hope to hear from you again!

Thanks to everyone who put my on story alert and their favorite story lists!

AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO IS READING THIS LINE! YOU ARE AWESOME!