I know I told a few people that this was going to be a doubled sized chapter (and by double sized I meant I was going to post chapter 40 and 41 together) but I spent a week writing the first part and it was beta-ed by the awesome BasiaM82- !
Again, thank you so much! Your input has been amazing!
The reason I wanted to post them both together was to finally have the numbers match up but whatever :) Instead of waiting two more weeks to write chapter 41 I'm just posting this and I'll go write it and post it in about two weeks. :)
Please enjoy!
Taunting Repartee
Chapter Forty
Only a moment ago Rogue, Shadowcat, and Nightcrawler had teleported out of the room
Charles sat dumbfounded, by Rogue's actions, in front of those still left in sub-level seven. Charles had seen many things in his life; but never had he been so repeatedly assaulted by new found information. Rogue and the fragment had spoken with such speed and confidence; Charles had struggled to keep up with the conversation. His head was still reeling.
'The way Rogue calmed down -the transformation was drastic. One moment she was trembling, then after one order from the fragment, her fears dissipated almost instantly,' he thought to himself, shocked. 'The way Rogue followed the his orders; would she do the same with Magneto? How long has the fragment had this effect on her? And my god, does Magneto know about it?' he fearfully wondered.
"Professor?" Jean asked. Charles glanced up at her.
"I apologize, everyone. I know that I promised you all answers but I still don't have most of them myself. I need more time to fully contemplate all of the implications from our conversation before I can offer explanations of this situation with any degree of confidence. Perhaps it's best if we pick this up tomorrow morning," Charles stated.
"No," Wolverine asserted with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Logan!" Ororo exclaimed.
"What?" he asked annoyed. "You and Rogue say you're going to talk to us, but you two spend the whole time talking to each other and Magneto?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Rogue, converses with the fragment of Magneto in her mind constantly," Charles said.
"And you do not approve?" Beast probed.
"No, I do not. You are all aware now that Magneto has tried to seduce Rogue?" Charles asked.
"Yeah," Cyclops answered as Wolverine growled slightly under his breath and Jean and Storm nodded.
"It's disturbing to say the least," Beast said.
"In the past, the fragment has expressed a similar interest in Rogue and she, unfortunately, returns these feelings for both the Magneto that resides in her mind and his live counterpart. My guess is that her feelings are a result of the influence the fragment has had on her these past few months," he said. "And I ha-…" he paused for a moment noticing the growing confusion in the others' expressions. "Perhaps I should just start at the beginning."
"Please," Beast said. "And after we are all informed maybe we can contemplate this situation together." he reasoned.
"Very well." Charles nodded. "To my knowledge this whole situation started December 24th of last year when Scott and Rogue saved the Angel from being abducted by Magneto..."
Charles went on to explain the first few weeks of Rogue's experiences with the fragment. How Magneto had silenced the screaming voices of all the other fragments and offered to teach Rogue how to gain control over her abilities. He had gone over once more the events that took place regarding the rebirth machine.
"And so after the incident with the rebirth machine I finally learned of the affects the fragments and their past traumas truly have on Rogue," Charles concluded the story as Kurt and Kitty teleported into the room.
"Is Rogue okay?" Wolverine asked.
"Yeah, she going back to sleep," Shadowcat answered as she and Nightcrawler returned to their seats from earlier.
"So, what did we miss?" Nightcrawler asked.
"Rogue had no control over her powers until Magneto started helping her with them," Wolverine said bitterly. "Kid, was living here for half a year-" he started to say.
"And she never told me about the nightmares," Charles interjected. "Even when I began aware of her nightmare regarding Kurt's past, she never said anything about being plagued by others and certainly never asked for help," he continued, frustration showing through his cracking composure. "Knowing what we do now about the pain she had to endure-"
"She has truly seen my parents' death?" Storm inquired, voice softened by concern.
"I do not know how many times," Charles confirmed sadly.
"I can't believe she witnessed my parents' deaths when even I do not remember it," Storm marveled.
"While being trapped in that building is likely the root of your claustrophobia, it is probable that you repressed the memory of the actual events that resulted in the death of your parents," Charles explained.
"I need to speak to her when she wakes," Storm started to say. "She told me that she has to suppress some of the emotions that accompany some of her more upsetting memories, but I never imagined that my memories could be the cause of any part of her pain," she said horrified.
"Ororo, when did Rogue say that?" Charles asked.
"It was last Tuesday. I found Rogue in the elevator, she was crying - poor child," she shook her head before going on. "We talked but she wasn't willing to tell me why she was upset."
"Do you remember the time?" Charles questioned.
"It was just before school."
"I remember that," Nightcrawler piped up. "She was acting weird: talking to herself in the bathroom."
"Well, that's not new." Shadowcat threw in. "She was probably, like, talking to one of the fragments."
"Kurt, do you remember what she was saying?" Charles continued to probe.
"Huh? Hmm, not really, I -ah. It was a few days ago," Nightcralwer responded a little sheepishly.
"It's alright, Kurt. May I look at the memory in your mind?" the Professor requested.
"Chuck, is it that important?" Wolverine asked.
"I don't know yet, but I would like the chance to find out," he answered.
"Hm, yeah, I guess," Nightcrawler shrugged.
"Thank you," the Professor said as he moved next to Nightcrawler. "Try to concentrate on that moment if you can," Charles said as he pulled into his memory.
"This is where I belong," Rogue insisted.
"You belong in the car," Kurt said. After a moment there was laughter from the bathroom. "We're going to be late for school," he said. Kurt let out a sigh as he listened to Rogue continue to laugh. 'How long is she going to laugh?It wasn't even funny,' he thought slightly annoyed. He opened his mouth to yell again but was interrupted by the door opening.
"Sorry, Kurt," Rogue said with a smile as she walked out of the bathroom.
"Did you at least find out what you were looking for?" he asked with a sigh.
"My backbone, yeah I found it," she said with a smile.
"Huh?" he asked confused.
"Nothing, don't worry about it," she laughed before she glanced up at Ororo. "Thanks, Ororo," she said as she took Kurt's hand.
"You're welcome. I hope you both have a good day at school," she said.
"Thanks," both he and Rogue said.
Charles pulled out of the memory and Nightcrawler's mind.
"Was that helpful?"
"I'm not sure, Hank. I need to speak with Rogue about it once she is willing to open up again," Charles said. "Where were we?"
"Rogue hadn't been willing to speak with you about the nightmares," Beast recalled. "But she was willing to with Magneto?"
"Because Magneto was in her mind I do not think she had to. He simply knew," Charles rationalized.
"It must have been more comfortable for Rogue to be able to work towards fixing her problems without having to explain them to anyone," Jean said. "I know it helped me a lot when I first came to the institute and you just knew what was wrong," she turned to Charles.
"Yes, I would imagine so," Charles agreed as he concealed his surprise over the comparison. "Once I finally began to understand the pain the nightmares caused Rogue it was too late: Magneto had already filled that void and he had become the teacher that she needed. My input only slowed her progress," he said. "Although, that did not stop me from trying to stay involved..."
And so Charles continued to explain the events as far as he was aware of them. How he had found out that the fragment and Rogue were somehow engaging in a sexual relationship; he had asked Rogue to promise not to do anything sexual with the fragment and how, to his knowledge, until the fragment's living counterpart had started his pursuit of Rogue she had kept that promise.
'All four days,' Charles had thought to himself. 'The time-line of events alone adds weight to my suspensions.'
Charles explained his knowledge of Rogue's conversation with Magneto at the cafe. Cyclops, Shawdowcat, and Nightcrawler had filled everyone in on what they knew about the second conversation Rogue and Magneto had the next day; both after school and the phone call later that night.
Kitty again had jumped into the conversation to tell what had happen the when they had disappeared; saving Pietro.
And finally Charles had fully explained his suspension about the fragment; how he believed that Magneto might have astro-projected into Rogue's mind, posing as the fragment.
"And that is the situation as far as I have been informed," Charles finished as he stared at the shocked faces around him.
"Chuck, I get what you think about the fragment and Magneto being the same person, but the kid's got trouble trusting people enough as it is. You really want to go down that road?" Wolverine asked.
"I do not see another alternative," he said sadly.
"You could just let her be," Jean said delicately.
"And let Rogue tell us what we need to know in her own time," Storm added. "Charles, you said that you trusted her with your life," she pointed out.
"Yes, I do, but I do not trust Magneto with hers," Charles said. "And we all know what he wants from her."
"Even though we have no idea how it would be possible for the fragment to-" Beast started to say.
"We already said we weren't gonna talk about that," Wolverine yelled. "Rogue, doesn't want us to know how. I don't want to know how."
"And so we won't," Charles said quickly. Charles looked around at the others and said, "If all of you agree that I should not search though the fragment's mind for answers then I'm afraid that we are at a standstill."
"Personally, I believe that you should keep reading the fragment's thoughts. If nothing else it will keep the fragment from-," Beast said before Wolverine began to growl again, "behaving inappropriately," he finished.
"I disagree. Rogue, has already promised not to do anything sexual with the fragment. I believe we should trust her to keep her word," Storm countered.
"Me too," Shadowcat said.
"And me," Nightcrawler said. Charles glanced around the room. It seemed that only Beast was of the same mind as him.
"Then we wait," Beast said, conceding to the majority.
"I suppose so," Charles uttered, not sure yet if he was willing to leave it at that. For three weeks he had been waiting idly by as Magneto had somehow abused his ward right under his roof. He didn't think he could stand to sit back and allow that type of abuse to continue unabated.
"I'm going for a ride," Wolverine said as he stood. "Half-pint, you mind letting me know when she wakes up?" he asked.
"Yeah, totally," Shadowcat said with small smile.
"Thanks," he muttered before he walked out of the room.
"Meet's over then?" Nightcrawler asked.
"For now, yes," Charles answered.
Rogue placed the collection of cold-cuts back in their drawer within the refrigerator. She had just finished making her second sandwich. The first she had eaten the day before. After its consumption she had passed out for another twenty hours of sleep. Now, finally, the dizziness was gone and she was no longer fighting just to keep her eyes open.
Kitty, Kurt and Logan had all offered to join her for her trip to the kitchen but Rogue had declined. She really did just want to be alone for a few minutes without having to deal with any of her family's questions or concerns.
Rogue let out a sigh when she realized that the Professor had entered the room.
'It was nice while it lasted,' Rogue thought annoyed.
"It's good to see you're awake," he said as she slammed the refrigerator door closed.
"Thanks," she muttered as she headed back to her plate on the counter. Since she had found out that the Professor was reading the fragment's mind, she had been, in her mind, understandably annoyed. 'Now, I can't even talk about what's going on with you, Max,' she thought, irritated, as she grabbed her plate and made her way to the table.
'I can be vague,' Max offered as she sat down, placing the plate in front of her.
'You shouldn't have ta be,' she thought as she took her first bite. 'It's bad enough I gotta watch every word I say; now I have ta watch what I think too,' annoyance bubbled up through her thoughts.
'I doubt Charles would read your thoughts without permission,' he said.
"You feel like responding to that?" Rogue asked dryly, staring out over his shoulder. She refused to look him in the eye.
"... Magneto is correct. I will not read your mind," the Professor said.
"Ya just did... twice," she said before taking another bite.
"There is a distinction there, Rogue-" he started to say.
"That I don't approve of!" Rogue exclaimed. "Yesterday morning you said you were gonna respect my privacy. Is this what you call respect?" she asked incredulously.
"Rogue, please understand-" he started to say.
"I do understand why you're doing this. I also understand why Magneto keeps kidnapping and stalking me. Just because I understand doesn't mean I have ta like what you're doing," she said.
"You're comparing me to him?" the Professor asked in disbelief.
"Yes," she said. "You're both disregarding my privacy because you feel that's what you need ta do ta protect me and you're both wrong. You think you're protecting me from him and his dangerous sexual advances," she said mockingly. The Professor's eyes narrowed at that comment. "And he thinks that by recruiting me into his group that he's protecting me from any threats to our kind. At least that's what you tell yourselves," she said bitterly.
"The truth is, both you and he have the same goals: controlling information," she said as the Professor's eyes widened. "Magneto wants to recruit me to keep me from telling you or anyone else what I have access to from his mind. And you're worried about what Eric might've learned in case he's somehow overlapped with the fragment. I'm the one struck in the middle of your fight."
"My life turned upside down every few days because both of your secrets are so fucking important. I am so tired of explaining shit ta both of you," she exclaimed. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I- I'm sorry. I- I didn't really mean that. I know you care about me. I know for you it's not just about information," she said.
"For Magneto, it is?" he asked.
"He cares about me too," she said.
"But not strongly enough to be unwilling to threaten you," he stated.
"Yeah," she said dryly. 'Which is bullshit; people who love ya shouldn't be willing to do things th-,' she thought to herself.
'An-' the fragment started to say; she could hear the concern and sincerity in his voice.
'Max, I know ya wanna say something about that-'
'I would like to do more than state; but given the company,' Max said.
"Rogue?" the Professor asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Prof, you don't even know what we're talking about," she said with narrowed eyes.
"I would like to," he said.
"But I don't," she said strongly. "I'm entitled to having conversations that ya don't know every detail of. With Magneto or whoever the fuck else I decide I wanna talk to," she said annoyed before she dropped her half eaten sandwich "I ain't hungry anymore," she muttered with a sigh.
'Ann-' Max started to protest.
'I'm gonna eat again in less than two hours. I ain't gonna collapse from exhaustion between now and then,' she told him while rolling her eyes.
'You are still planning to meet your father?' Max asked. She saw the Professor's eyes light up in surprise.
"Yes, I am," she answered both of them bitterly aloud as she stood up. She felt another surge of anger towards the Professor's actions. For her it was the first few days of her captivity with Magneto all over again; having to be accountable for every thought with no real privacy. She thought she was finally done with that.
"Rogue, are you certain that is the wisest course of action?" the Professor asked as she marched over to the trash can.
"Until a few days ago I didn't think that Victor gave a shit," she said as she tossed the rest of her sandwich into it. "He thought the same about me. If I don't show up he's gonna think I was just messing with him. I won't cancel on him," she said as she headed to the dishwasher.
"I'm certain he would understand," the Professor started to say.
"He doesn't know me well enough to understand," she said as she placed the plate in the dishwasher.
"That may be so, but what about the danger of leaving the institute?" he asked.
"Way ahead of you, Professor," she said as she closed the dishwasher. "I talked to Kurt; he's letting me borrow his image inducer," she told him as she held up her wrist to show him the watch around it. "I already programed it to make me look like Logan," she said as she pressed it and Logan's shape, dressed in his new uniform, disguised her. She heard him gasp.
"Rogue, how did you-" the Professor started to ask surprised.
"I got both Magneto and Mr. McCoy up here," she said she put her fingers on her temple. "How do you think I did it?" she asked annoyed. "I'm gonna borrow Logan's new bike and go meet Victor. I talked to Logan too. He said he won't leave the institute until I get back. It ain't gonna look remotely outta place ta those cameras and whoever's watching them to see Logan take off on his own. I got it covered, Prof. I'll be fine," she finished.
"And what if Magneto does, somehow, find you?" the Professor asked. "Magneto is Sabertooth's employer; what if he has already informed Magneto that he plans to meet you for dinner?" he asked. Rogue's eyes widened with fear. "What if he doesn't allow Sabertooth to leave his base and comes to meet you in his place?" he asked as Rogue took a deep breath.
"...Then I talk Magneto into trying french fries," Rogue said with a smirk.
'That, Anna, is never going to occur,' Max assured her; lightheartedly.
'I don't know, Max, I can be very persuasive when I wanna be,' she thought as she turned the image inductor off.
'You most certainly can be, my girl,' Max laughed.
"Rogue, this is no laughing matter," the Professor said firmly. She turned to face him.
"Would you prefer I start crying again? 'Cause I sure as hell wouldn't. I am sick and fucking tried of crying and of being miserable and terrified. I know that I should be scared of mine and Eric's next conversation 'cause I don't know what the fuck's gonna happen. Anything could fucking happen. But, after everything I've lived through already I refuse to be afraid to step outside. So, I'm going... with or without your approval," she told him.
"Rogue, could you please sit for a moment? There is something I must ask you," he said as he gestured towards the chairs.
"Prof…" she started to protest.
"Please, it's not what you think," he told her. "You have had your chance to have your say. I do not agree with you completely but I listened regardless. Would you please pay me that same respect?" he asked. Rogue let out a sigh as she sat down again. "The other day when we were being held captive by Magneto he began to demand things of you in exchange for our safety. If given the chance-"
"He's do it again in fucking heartbeat," she said dryly.
"As I thought," he nodded. "I want you to promise me something. If we are in that situation again I need you promise me you will not make any deals with Magneto, at least not alone," he stressed. Rogue looked away from him, her eyes growing distant. She was willing herself not to think anything that would give the truth away.
"...But what if he's asking for something I wanna give him?" she asked softly.
"Especially, then," he stressed. "Rogue, please promise me you will not have sex with him to protect us," he asked. Her eyes widened as she recalled the night she had made the deal with she had had sex with Max that night but it wasn't because of their deal.
'Right?' she asked herself. 'No,' she thought quickly. 'I- I wanted to,' she thought. "...Prof, I- I wouldn't," she stuttered.
"I'm glad to hear that," he said relieved."In a few years when you are older and it is no longer illegal; if you still wish to pursue a relationship with Magneto-"
"You'd approve?" she asked in disbelief.
"Maybe, not entirely but, at least, it will no longer be abuse," he said.
"It's not abuse now," she insisted.
"So, we both still disagree," he said.
"Ya know, ya can't ban me from having sex, right Prof?" she asked.
"Yes, of course I know that," he sighed. "The other day, may I assume, that you called for us because you did not wish to go with Magneto?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"And if Magneto comes for you again will you be willing to go with him?"
"...No," she answered; knowing that was the correct answer to tell him; to support the facade. "Not without being threatened," she added; she wasn't sure if she was lying or not.
""Then can we agree that if Magneto does manage to get you alone you will be his prisoner?" he asked. Rogue let out a sigh. She was his prisoner now.
"... Yeah, Prof, we can agree on that; I'd be his captive," she said sadly
"When it comes to sexual matters, most states agree that eighteen is the age of consent. And consent is most certainly the topic we are discussing. My question is; how are you supposed to feel as though you have the power to say no to him when he has refused you the right to leave a certain room, let alone his company? How can you possibly be free to give consent in that situation when you yourself are not free?" he asked.
"Because, it was dif-" she started to say before stopping herself. The Professor had no idea how many times she had been in that situation already. She had already come up with her own answer. 'But how the hell do I explain that to him without-' she started to think. "Prof, I ah- ...I need a minute," she said softy.
"I know that Magneto has already put you in that position while he was holding you prisoner in the cafe. Take your time to sort through your feelings and answer me when you're ready," he said.
"Thanks," she said with a small smile as she sat back against her seat. With a sigh she closed her eyes. 'I need you to be vague,' she told him.
'Understood,' Max said.
'It's different. You would never rape me, I know that,' she thought.
'Charles' argument is that once you are in that situation you no longer have consent over anything,' he reworded.
'But, I do,' she insisted. 'I can say no, I have said no. I-' she thought before stopping herself. "Prof, when I was with him in the café; yeah he was trying to have sex with me, but when I said no he stopped," she said.
"Until he tried again," he pointed out.
"And, I said no, again," she said.
"Rogue, why are you defending him?" he asked confused. Rogue blinked: surprised at the question.
"I'm not; I'm defending me." she insisted.
"But you are. Rogue, Magneto should respect you enough not to wish to take you captive. My point is that you should never be in that situation. Whether or not you have consent, in a normal healthy, relationship, should never be in question. That is my issue with his intentions. It's not what he stated; I know you're intelligent. After witnessing the cognitive abilities you've displayed over the past few days, how could I feel any other way?" he asked.
"Thanks," she smiled.
"Of course," he said returning it for a moment. "Now, about that promise I asked you to make a few minutes ago," he said with a raised eyebrow.
"Damn it,' she thought to herself. 'I was hoping he'd drop it.'
"Rogue?" he asked. She sighed.
"But what if I'm the only one he's willing to negotiate with?" she asked.
"That doesn't matter. Magneto should not ask that of you," he said.
"He doesn't give a shit that you're supposed to be in charge. He's gonna negotiate with whoever the fuck he wants to," she said.
"Rogue I will disband the X-Men before I will allow him to use our safety to take advantage if you," he said strongly.
"What?" she asked as her eyes widened in shock. "...Ya- you can't mean that," she said disbelief.
"I most certainly do," he said with conviction.
"It's your life's work," she exclaimed.
"I do not necessarily need to have the X-Men active to do my work. I can continue to help young mutants gain control over their abilities regardless," he said.
"Prof, I- I appreciate the thought but ya- you shouldn't disband the X-Men. If ya do Eric's not gonna magically stop pursuing me," she said. The Professor looked surprised.
"I thought you said this was about information. If there are no X-Men to inform than he should be willing to leave you alone. Neither of us would be a threat to him," he said.
'Fuck,' she thought. "...Okay, maybe it's about more than that," she admitted reluctantly. "It won't stop him," she said.
"Then what will?" he asked.
"Nothing," she exclaimed. "It's doesn't matter where I go, or what I do. He's gonna keep following me," she said annoyed.
"Why? " the Professor asked.
"You know why; he wants a partner. Someone to share his life with."
"Actually, I did not know that," he said slowly. "...He wants a wife?" he asked in diebelief.
"Pretty much, yeah," she said slowly.
"But why must it be you, Rogue?" he asked confused. "What does he want from you that he can't find in someone else closer to his own age? Why has he become so fixated on you?"
She just stared at him and fought the urge to tell him.
"I don't- I don't know why it just has to be me. I can't explain it," she lied. She wanted to get out of there. She hated lying and anything she would have to say next would be another lie.
"Prof, it's already four. I- ah I need to go take a shower and get ready to meet Victor. That's what I gotta do... Prof, I," she said as she looked up at him. "Please don't disband the X-Men. It won't help anything," she said.
"What will?" he asked.
"I don't know yet," she said. "Maybe... Maybe, I should just go to him," she said softly.
"Rogue," the Professor exclaimed as he moved closer to her. "That is not the answer," he said strongly.
"This is where you belong," he said strongly.
"I know that," she muttered; she knew instantly why he had chosen those words. They sat in silence for a moment. She had a feeling he was waiting for her to comment on his words. 'I don't wanna lie,' she thought sadly.
"...Rogue, Kurt allowed me to-"
"I know, he told me," she said with a sigh.
"That was nearly a week before Magneto restated his interests in you... as far as I know," he added. Rogue felt a pit in her stomach; why had she broken down in front of so many witnesses?
'How the hell I am supposed to explain this?' she asked herself as she fought to keep her facial expression neutral. She wondered how long she had before she be forved to call Magneto to reafirm the fascade. The fragment of Magneto chuckled darkly. 'Huh?'
'Charles, really? As far as you know?' Max asked with a laugh. 'Use your comment sense, Professor,' he mockingly.'I have been present in Anna's mind this entire time. A day had not passed before I reiterated my offer; which as Anna knows she has the freedom to accept it at any time. During that meeting she and I discussed her options; My ideology; her developing ideology,' he said.
"And that conversation caused her to break down?" the Professor asked in disbelief.
"It wouldn't be the first time," Rogue stated honestly.
"His words have brought you to tears before?" the Professor asked concerned.
"Yeah," Rogue muttered. "Once or twice," she said.
'Anna, I have told you that I state what I must-' Max started to say.
"Yeah, yeah," she said aloud. Normally, she would just think her comments to the fragment; but today they were putting on a show. "I know in the most brutal way possible," she said rolling her eyes.
'Because you're stubborn,' Max said.
"And you're an asshole," Rogue finished annoyed.
'Anna, it was not my aim to cause you that much dismay,' he said remorsefully. 'As soon as I realized-'
"I know ya stopped. Ya always do," she said with a small smile. "Just sometimes you push way too fucking hard," she said honestly.
'So, you keep telling me. I've been trying-' Max said.
"I know. I appreciate it," she said. "Ya just suck at being a friend," she told him; Max chuckled in response. "We talked about pretty much everything and yeah the option ta join him comes up a lot. I mean, ya can't deny that ya'all would be safer without me here ta get kidnapped every other day," she said. Charles sighed.
"Rogue, when a store is robbed whom deserves the blame? The thief for breaking in, or the store for being open at its location of choice?" he asked.
"The thief," she said.
"No one blames the victims in these situations, which is what Magneto has tried to turn you into, but you can not give in to his tactics. Rogue, I cannot tell you how proud I am of the way you fought against him. I know the other day you must have been frightened beyond belief," he said.
"I wasn't - not really," she told him. He looked at her curiously.
"How do you feel when you're with him?" he asked.
"Annoyed, really fucking annoyed. He always shows up when I don't want him there. When he's not around I'm terrified of when he's gonna come for me next. I know so much and he doesn't want his secrets known. But once I'm with him, Prof it's- … He doesn't wanna hurt me. He likes me. He wants to teach me everything he knows and show me so much that I've never seen."
"I- I know that I should be more pissed off at him; cause he keeps trying to kidnap me and he'll willing to threaten everyone to get his way. I know that a part of me should try ta hate him for everything's he done. But it's hard to stay mad at him when all he wants is to help me... I feel safe with him," she admitted quietly; her eyes on the table.
He didn't respond to her. After a moment she glanced up at him. The faraway look in his eyes told her that he was thinking.
"Prof?" she asked. His eyes refocused on her.
"Rogue, do you feel safe now?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't," she said shaking her head.
"There's nothing to apologize for, Rogue," he said. "I'm sorry I allowed Magneto to gain this much influence over you," he said.
"That ain't your fault," she exclaimed. "I mean- who do you blame when a store gets robbed?" she made eye contact with him. "The thief or the manager who assumed their security system was up to date?" she asked with a small smile.
"The thief," he smiled in return. "One always faults the thief who committed the crime," he said.
"Rogue, can you promise me one thing?" he asked.
"It's depends on what ya're asking," she told him.
"That fair enough," he said with a smile. "If you wish to leave the institute, for any reason, whether we find your relatives-"
"Huh?" she asked; taken back. "Find my-" she started to ask. "I don't even know if Owen or Carrie are still alive," she said sadly.
"Do you wish to find out?" he asked.
"Of course, I do," Rogue exclaimed.
"Then considerate it on my to do list," he said with a smile. Rogue couldn't help but return it; she felt hopeful.
"Thanks," she said.
"You're welcome," he said with a smile. "And as I was saying if you decide that you wish to go live with either of your relatives or even Sabortooth-" he started to say before Rogue let out a soft laugh.
"That ain't gonna fucking happen. Having dinner is one thing, but I don't think I could live with that man again. Prof, I already told you, you're the best guardian I've ever had and I love you like an uncle, I do," she said as she watched his eyes light up with emotion.
"An uncle?" he asked happily.
"Well, yeah. I mean, until last Thursday Victor was mostly a shit father I didn't wanna compare you with him," she said. The Professor laughed softly.
"I appreciate that, thank you," he said smiling.
"You're welcome," she said as she watched tears filling in the ducts of his eyes. "Hmm, you okay, Prof?" she asked with a smile.
"I'm fine," he said as he rubbed the corners of his eyes. "I'm fine," he said he placed his hands on his lap." Please continue," he said.
"Just that I-ah I have no intention of leaving. I've considerated it a couple of times; I mean, can ya blame me? How could I not think about it? But I don't wanna. Not really; but I don't wanna be selfish either if staying here means that I'm putting everyone else in danger. But as far as Magneto's concerned; I ain't gonna leave with him, not unless I'm forced to," she said.
"I plan to do everything I can to keep that from happening," he told her.
"I know ya do," she said. "...See," she exclaimed happily. "I told ya, you're a good guardian," she said with a smile; which he returned.
"So you did. I glad to living up to our expectations of me," he said before her gaze left his to look at the clock on the wall.
"Prof, I'm really gotta go get ready now. I'll be late if I don't," she said. He nodded.
"Please be careful," he said.
"I will. I'll see you later tonight," she said.
"And hopefully we can discuss your unwillingness to make a certain promise?" he asked.
"You ain't gonna drop this are ya?" she asked with a sigh.
"I'm afraid not," he said.
"Alright, fine. We'll talk about it. Do ya wanna take the ride with me?" she asked.
"In the elevator?" he asked.
"No, ta McDonald's," she answered. "Logan drives you places all the time. That won't look weird to the cameras either," she said in response to his raised eyebrow.
"...Alright, then," he said after a moment.
"Okay, I'll met ya at the elevator in like an hour?" she asked.
"Alright," he said.
Charles Xavier watched his ward walk out the room. He took a deep breath.
'Plurals. She keeps referring to his kidnapping attempts in the plural,' he thought to himself. 'That most certainly means something,'
"Oh, hey, Scott, Jean," he heard Rogue say from down the hall.
"Hey, Rogue," Scott said.
"How are feeling?" Jean asked.
"Much better," Rogue told her; Charles could hear the smile in her voice.
"Hey, that's great," Scott exclaimed.
"Thanks, but I gotta run. I gotta go get ready," Rogue said.
"Okay, see ya later," he said.
"See ya," she said.
After a moment Scott and Jean walked into the kitchen.
"Scott, Jean just who I was hoping to see," Charles said with a smile. "I need a favor from the two of you," he said.
"Yes, Professor?" Jean asked.
"Would the two of you, please, go over the order of events from the three weeks I wasn't here," Charles asked.
"Sure," Jean said.
Thats it for this chapter! Thank you all for reading! Please review! I love hearing for you all and getting feedback! :)