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Taunting Repartee

Chapter Forty Two

Magneto sat up from the king-sized bed he had left his body on. It was dangerous, he knew, to leave his body unattended as often as he did. If any of his enemies found it, he knew it would be his demise. That was why he always hid his body in a small room which was surrounded by two feet of metal on all sides. Only he knew of its existence. Well, him and Rogue, if she ever cared enough about the infrastructure of the cafe to look.

This was the fourth trip he had made between his body and the institute today. After some practice the journey only took a little over five minutes. A time frame he found to be very useful.

Max reached his hand out and called upon his powers to bring his cellular phone to him. He opened it and searched his contacts for the number he needed. He waited patiently as it rang.

"Yeah?" an annoyed voice asked from the other end.

"Victor, how are you?" Max asked pleasantly.

"I'm okay. I gotta feeling I ain't gonna be after I talk to you, Magnus," Victor said jokingly. Max humored his employee with a soft chuckle. "How are ya?" he asked.

"I'm doing well. I wish I could state the same of others in my employ," he said before he let out a long sigh. "Victor, my friend, I understand you are on your vacation and under normal circumstances I would never dream to disturb you. However, the situation calls for a service that you alone are best capable of," Max stated.

"Yeah, I heard. How many times does that kid gotta mess up before you fire her ass?" Sabertooth asked. Max suppressed the urge to tell Saberooth to keep his options to himself. After nearly forty years of loyal service the mutant felt he had to right to make such comments. Max had used their assumed friendship to his advantage more than once. He was about to again.

"Actually, Ms. Braddock was not at fault. This time it was Pyro," Max informed him dryly.

"Huh," Sabertooth said giving out a short laugh. "That boy's always been a loose cannon."

"Trust me, old friend I am more than aware of Pyro's wild streak. Now," he said getting back to the topic he actually wanted to discuss, "if you would call Amelia. She will teleport you to the scent's trail," Max ordered.

"Magus, listen, ya know I don't mind working overtime. But tonight I ah- I had plans to meet up with my kid," Sabertooth told him.

"You're in Washington?" Max asked his voice portraying false curiosity. Max knew full well that his employee was not referring to Graydon Creed.

"No, my other kid. Rogue. First time we're getting dinner in years. It's kinda a big deal," he said. "If I could go get food with her real quick? I'll cut it short an-" Sabertooth started to say.

"Victor, you know how time sensitive these issues can be," he said.

"Yeah, I-"

"Actually, I've been meaning to speak with Charles for some time now. I can pass the message along to Rogue personally and let her know that nothing short of an order from me would have kept you keeping your appointment with her," Max said.

"I appreciate that, Magneto, bu-" Sabertooth tried to say.

"Wonderful, then it's settled," he said with a smile. "I'm certain your daughter will understand and don't concern yourself over my involvement. I'm glad to offer the favor," he said with false glee. He did not allow Victor time to reply. "Call Amelia, now," he commanded mirthlessly before he hung up the phone.

Sabertooth had accumulated quite a few privileges over the years; a very generous salary, twenty-five days of vacation time (not including holidays) to be taken at his leisure, among others.

'Even Victor wouldn't dare call back to argue his point after being given a direct order from me,' he thought. 'That's one issue dealt with,' he thought to himself as he opened the phone again and dialed another number. Although spying on the X-Men, Rogue in particular, was high on his list of priorities. He did have other pressing matters he had to contend with.

Anna Marie Creed was not the only mutant to recently escape from his captivity.

Rogue sat in the driver's seat of the van. Her head leaned against the headrest and her eyes were closed. Her body shook slightly as she continued to fight back silent tears. After thirty minutes she still hadn't fully recovered from the shock of what Max had told her.

She wondered how long it would be before she would see her Kurt or Kitty again.

'Maybe I could talk him inta-' she started to think. Her thought were cut off when she heard a low crash in the distance. 'Max?' she asked as she opened her eyes. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw Juggernaut, helmet-less, marching onto the institute's grounds. 'What?' she asked in disbelief. 'Max's was supposed to take him into his custody after the fight at the damn. He wanted ta recruit him. How'd he es-' she started to ask.

'Some of my people failed to follow protocol and he managed to escape two days ago. After he forced Elisabeth Braddock into putting mental blocks up in his mind,' the fragment of Magneto told her.

'Oh my god, without his powers-' Rogue started to think.

'Charles, will just be a helpless man in a wheel chair,' the fragment added.

'Who Juggernaut wants ta kill,' she finished alarmed as she opened the car door.

'Anna,' the fragment warned.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she muttered as she slammed it closed. 'I can't get out of the van. Max will- I can't warn the Professor either. I can't tell anyone anything... Shit, what do I- …' she asked herself as she watched him get closer and closer to the elevator. 'I can't get out of the van...,' she thought as she quickly took off her gloves; tossing them to seat next to her. 'Doesn't mean I can't hit him with one,' she thought determined as she pulled the seat belt across her chest. 'Maybe the noise will get someone's attention,' she thought desperately as she turned the keys, already in the ignition, and started the car.

'Anna, this is, without a doubt in my mind, the worst plan you have ever conceived,' the fragment of Max commented.

'I know,' she thought as she pushed the gas pedal to the floor. As she raced towards Juggernaut, eighty miles per hour, he noticed her coming towards him. However, he didn't have enough time to get out of her path and she hit him head on. She fought the urge to scream out in pain at the impact; her entire body thrusting against the seat belt.

Her head whipped forward as an airbag exploded in her face. She saw stars as the sound of breaking glass echoed in her ears. Dazed, she managed to lift her head up as she felt liquid running down her face from her nose. As a few drops dripped onto her lips she realized it was blood.

"I am gonna kill you, bitch," she heard Juggernaut say in anger as she made eye contact with him. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized the car crash had no visible physical effect on him.

She fought unconsciousness as her trembling hands unbuckled the seat-belt. Within seconds he marched up to the driver's seat door. He ripped what was left of the door off of the van and aimed a punch at her face. She tried to ignore the pain her body was in as she threw her left arm up. She screamed out in pain as she felt the bones in her arm shatter against his fist. He reached out and wrapped his hand around her neck. She let out a gasp as she felt his mind, energy, and powers flow into her.

"Son of a," Juggernaut started to say as he started to pull his hand back; his fingers leaving her neck. Armed with his strength Rogue grabbed his fingers. Her nails digging into the top of his hand drew blood as she pulled his palm bare against her skin. She gasped as she saw his other fist come towards her.

She laid back, pulling him with her further into the car, his head hitting onto the door's frame, crushing it even more. She looked into his eye as she had pulled him; it seemed to have actually affected him somewhat. Rogue screamed out in agony, tears falling freely, as she pulled him against it, again and again. All the while her powers drew precious energy out of him and into her giving her the stamina she needed to keep fighting.

She had no idea how long she had absorbed him or how many times his head hit into the frame. All she knew was they were both bleeding and it working.

Finally, she watched his eyes rolled into the back of his head. She pulled him another three times just to be sure he wouldn't recover instantly. As he fell to his knees she sat up with him. She felt the need to keep hold of his hand. She couldn't let him wake up.

'He'll kill me,' Rogue yelled in her mind; the first coherent thought she had had since she her head hit the airbag.

'Yeah, I will, fucking, kill you, bitch,' Juggernaut's voice ringed in her mind.

'Juggernaut, get back with the others,' Max commanded.

'I am gonna rip you apart, one limb at a time. First your arms, then I'll break-' Juggernaut continued to taunt. Slowly his voice got softer and softer; until it thankfully stopped all together. She released his hand and watched it fall to the ground.

With effort she managed to turn her body and leaned back against the seat. She picked up her broken arm, hissing in pain as she carefully placed it on her lap. She was leaning on glass, she knew, but leaving the van wasn't an option. Although given how much pain she was in, comfort wasn't a consideration of hers at the moment. She just hoped that Magneto would show up before it was too late.

She sat there staring out blankly into the sky, crying, and covered in sweat and blood, completely miserable and alone.

Charles Xavier exited the elevator with Storm and Beast. They were on their way to fix dinner. They had been having, finally it seemed to him, a pleasant conversation between the three of them. A welcomed change when compared to the stress-inducing, complex conversation they had engaged in for the past few days. Charles had every intention of returning to thoughts of Rogue and plans to free her from Magneto's grasp, but he was allowing himself the next hour to simply breathe. He knew Rogue would not begrudge him a moment of relaxation.

At least he had been relaxing until his eyes caught sight of the T.V's motoring the institute's grounds.

"Oh my stars and gathers," Beast muttered under his breath. They all saw Juggernaut on the ground; his head cut open; blood pouring out.

"I think there's someone in the van," Storm stated concerned; from the angle to camera was shooting at it was unclear.

"Is that Rogue?" Beast asked confused.

"Go," Charles ordered. Storm and Beast ran from the room. Charles put his fingers to his temple. 'All X-Men are to report-' he started to project into his students mind, but his thought was cut off when he saw Magneto appear on the screen. 'Everyone is to stay inside. I repeat no student is to leave any sub-level. X-Men included. Stay inside,' he ordered as he turned to make his way to the elevator. "Hank, quickly, I need to get outside," he called out. Beast ran back. He swiftly moved behind Charles. Beast pushed the wheel chair as fast as he could without breaking it.

"Anna?" Magneto asked as he approached her. "My god what happened?" concern colored his voice as he took in the severity of her injuries. She was covered in blood and there were small cuts all over her body. He examined at her face and found small burn marks marring her delicate skin. His eyes traced the thick, dark crimson line that trailed from her swelling nose, over her lips and down her chin. Even though he knew that a good portion of the blood that covered her was Juggernaut's, the blood that did seep from her was cause for concern.

He pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed.

"Ameila?" he asked into the phone.

"Magneto?" Ameila asked irritated. "You usually have others-" she started to say.

"I know, but it's an emergency. I need you to bring your daughter to the Xavier Institute within the next five minutes or Anna Marie Creed will bleed to death."

"What?" he heard Sabertooth scream in the background.

"We're on our way," Amelia said before hanging up the phone. He quickly put it back in his pocket.

"Anna?" he asked again. "Are you conscience?" he asked.

"...Y-ye...es," she managed to mumble but he could tell it had hurt her to say that one word. "I- I,... sta- ay...," she tried to say as her eyes fluttered open

"Shh... Anna, you're hurting yourself. Whatever it is, it can wait," he told her gently. She grabbed onto his arm. Her strength surprised him.

"I- sta-sta- ayed i-in the van," she said stuttered while staring into his eyes. His eyes widened as she started coughing.

"I did this," Max uttered horrified. He received no answer, his girl was too busy fighting her lungs. 'She couldn't call for help. She saw Juggernaut and had no choice but to fight him alone... without leaving the van,' he thought shocked. "Anna, I am so sorry. If I even had an inkling that that promise would cause this much harm to you I would never had forced you to make it. I was angry. I-" he said quickly.

"Fuck you," she spat out before she coughed once more. His eyes narrowed for the briefest of moments before refocusing on her body. He took in her injuries once more.

'She has every right to be angry with me,' he thought.

"Rogue," Max heard Charles call out from behind him.

"I release you from that promise. You may communicate with whomever you choose without consequence," Max whispered before Storm ran up to his side.

"By the Goddess," Storm muttered in disbelief.

"We need a first aid kit immediately," Max said as he turned to look her in the eyes. "And blood if your infirmary has any of her type," he told her.

"I don't believe we've stocked our blood supply yet," she said gravely.

"Do you have a BD Vancutainer?" Max asked as he heard Charles and Beast join them.

"Yes, we do," Charles answered as he made eye contact with Magneto.

"Then that will suffice. I'll give her as much of my blood as she needs," Magneto said.

"Your blood t-" Storm started to ask.

"B positive, the same as Rogue's," Magneto said. "Charles, is Mr. Wagner present? We need to get her to your infirmary," he said.

"I'll call him now as well as Logan," Charles said.

"I've already called a healer, Charles. Sabertooth is with her. There is no reason for Rogue to obtain any more nightmares from her experiences today," Magneto said.

"Agreed," Charles said reluctantly before he placed his fingers on his temples. Once he saw that Charles was clearly doing his part Max turned his attention back to Rogue.

"We need to get her out from there," Max said as he used his powers to slowly dissipate the metal of the van's frame. He used the metal to make a long flat slab to place Rogue on. Together, Storm and Beast went to pick her up. Rogue screamed out in pain, they ceased their movements instantly.

"Rogue, I'm so sorry," Storm said softly. Rogue's scream died down to a light whimper.

"Charles, is there any way you can keep Rogue from feeling the pain? There's no reason for her to suffer any further," Max said.

"No, no there isn't," Charles said as he moved closer. "Rogue, do you object?" he asked her. The slight shake of her head was almost unperceived. "...Alright, then close your eyes and breathe," he said. In a flash Rogue's expression changed from pain-stricken to almost peaceful.

'If only there wasn't so much blood,' he thought to himself. "Alright, let's try this again," he said as he moved behind Beast. He gently moved his hands to cradle Rogue's head. "Carefully, just because she can't feel the pain does not mean our actions won't cause her more harm," he warned.

"I know," Beast said under his breath as they lifted her up. Out of the corner of his eye Magneto could see a cloud of mist swoop in from above and land on the ground as they placed Rogue on the slab.

As Nightcrawler teleported in front of the elevator the mist turned into three people; Sabertooth, Ameila Vought and Anna Vought a young fourteen year old mutant with black hair, brown skin and green eyes.

"What the fuck happened to- Juggernaut?" Sabertooth asked enraged. "I'm gonna-" he started to say as he headed towards the man's body. Anna Vought went to Rogue's side.

"Mom, I've never," Anna Vought started to say as Nightcrawler teleported to Rogue's side.

"What happened to her?" he asked, shocked.

"Leave him, Victor. Saving your daughter's life is far more important than ending his," Max said as he placed a hand on the Sabertooth's chest, attempting to hold him back.

"It's alright, Anna. Do the best you can," Amelia said to her daughter as Storm tried to calm Nightcrawler down.

"She's going to be okay," Storm said. Everyone was talking, explaining, and nothing was being done. Magneto glanced down at Rogue; her eyes stared up into his.

"Help," Rogue mouthed.

"Enough," Magneto and Charles screamed in unison. They made eye contact for a brief second as all the others fell silent. It's seemed they were of the same mind on this issue.

"Kurt, you will teleport Rogue, Magneto, Sabortooth, and this young woman-" Charles started to say.

"And her mother," Amelia interjected.

"And her mother to the infirmary," Charles repeated with a nod. "The rest of us will take the elevator and be there within moments," he added.

"Why can't Rogue just absorb Sabertooth here," Kurt asked.

"Too much glass," Sabertooth said as he walked up to Kurt and Rogue. "Kid won't have my healing factor forever. We gotta get every fucking shard out or it might kill her later," he said annoyed.

"The sooner-" Magneto started to say.

"What about Juggernaut?" Beast asked.

"Miss Vought can heal him after we've ensured Rogue's survival," Magneto said coldly.

"Fine by me," Sabertooth commented as he kneed down next to the slab touching it.

"Charles?" Storm asked.

"Kurt, go quickly please and bring back a first aid kit. Hank you alone will work on Juggernaut," Charles ordered.

"Yes, Professor. Everyone grab on," Nightcrawler said as kneed down beside Rogue. "Hi, nice to meet you," Kurt said with a sad smile as he put his hand on the metal slab and Anna Vought's shoulder. Max put his foot onto the slab as Amelia put her hand on the Anna Vought's other shoulder.

"We're ready, Kurt," Amelia said before Nightcrawler teleported them away.

Fifteen minutes later Magneto sat in the infirmary on the bed next to Rogue's. His blood drained out of his arm through a tube, into a bag, into an IV, into Rogue. Rogue's eyes were closed. She wasn't feeling any pain, but her face kept changing expression. He knew what those sporadic changes meant; she had escaped into a memory.

'The questions remain: whose and when?' Max asked. He was drawn out of his thought as he heard Sabertooth and Wolverine growl at one another. He sighed as he stood up and walked towards the door. The tube gave just enough room to do so. "Victor," he said strongly as he cracked the door open. "I already ordered you to stand or sit as far away from Wolverine as you possible can without leaving the room," he said.

"Bastard keeps glaring at me," Saberooth said.

"I'll give ya something ta glare at, Bub," Wolverine said with malice in his voice. Magneto felt Wolverine attempt to unsheathe his claws but he used his control over metal to keep him from being able to do so. Magneto had no patients for this.

"This is neither the time nor the place. If I hear one more outburst I will knock you both unconscious and hold your hand, Victor, up to Rogue's face myself. Control yourselves," he ordered before he closed the door. "They're worse than children," he commented under his breath as he walked back to the bed and sat down again.

Amelia and Anna Vought ignored his comments and all the short conversations he had had in the past few minutes. They were busy at work removing all the glass from Rogue's cuts. Earlier Jean Gray had been in the room levitating Rogue's body into the air so they could get all cuts on her backside. After ten minutes they had finished and sent her out of the room again.

Amelia's past experience as a nurse became incredibly useful as she quickly taught her daughter how to disinfect the cuts. Anna was also able to accelerate the healing of the smaller cuts as they went. The larger ones were too much of a struggle for the young mutant whose control over her powers was still developing.

"That's all of it," Amelia Vought said a few minutes later as she hovered in front of Rogue; a pair of tweezers in her hand.

"You're certain," Magneto asked.

"Yes," she answered. "Anna, would you go let Victor know we need him?" she asked as Magneto removed the IV from his and Rogue's arms.

"Sure, Mom," Anna said as she healed the small wound caused by the IV in both Rogue's and Magneto's arm.

"Thank you," Magneto said with a smile. She smiled back slightly before she turned away from him and put her pair of tweezers down on a table next to the shards of glass she had extracted. She cracked opened the door.

"Mr. Creed," Anna called out. Magneto had offered to help with the extraction but was told that there would be too many body surrounding Rogue's if he did. It was the reason only the three of them were in the room.

The others, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Jean Gray, Wolverine, Sabertooth, and Shadowcat, stood just outside in the hall eagerly awaiting a positive prognosis. Charles, Beast, and Storm were outside dealing with Juggernaut. A progress report, from five minutes before, told them that the man would live. Charles was forced to stay outside, subduing his half-brother until the proper authority arrived to take him into custody.

Sabertooth walked into the room. Anna closed the door behind him.

"Alright, let's do this," Sabertooth said as he walked up to the bed. He put bare hand on her exposed shoulder. It took a few second but Sabertooth fell to the floor unconscious. Max watched as all the cuts still present healed and then hair rapidly grow all over her body. The hair on her head grew down to her back for some reason as her nails grew to almost claw-like. Magneto's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't known that anyone's powers could transform her physically, aside from Mystique's.

'Who else's powers would affect her like this?' he asked himself curiously, not certain if he wanted himself or Rogue to ever truly know the answer as he lifted Sabertooth up and carried him to the spare bed. 'The girl's been through enough.'

"Mom, why isn't she waking up?" Anna asked her mother pulling Max out of his thoughts.

"Rogue, is currently using her powers. She's exploring some memory within her mind. She'll awaken when she is ready to and not a moment sooner," Max said. "She's going to be just fine. Thanks to your help, Miss Vought," he said. Anna smiled sheepishly at him as Amelia put her hand on her daughter's shoulders.

"We need to get back to the house. I've been gone too long at it is," Amelia stated; it was the first sentence Amelia had said directly to him in over five years.

"I understand. Thank you for your assistance," he told her politely.

"You're welcome," she replied. After a second she looked him in the eyes again. "...I would have raised them both, Magneto. Neither of them would have lacked love," she said.

"I know," Max said. "I watched you raise, Anna and Anna Marie. Your ability to love and care for a child was never in question, Amelia. I made the mistake of listening to Irene. For some reason the woman has no qualms with manipulating Rogue to ends I do not comprehend. Once I manage to locate Irene I'll be sure to ask why and assure she is never able to do so again," Magneto finished darkly. Amelia glared at him curiously.

"You care about Anna Marie, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, I do. She is the most gifted student I have ever had the pleasure of instructing. I enjoy making her laugh," Max said honestly.

"You tell jokes, now?" Amelia asked in disbelief.

"Not many, no. Obscenities," he said with a short chuckle. "She finds it hilarious whenever I use them. Something about the tone my voice has. She explained it to me one. It amuses me to no end," he grinned. "She's in good hands, Amelia. She's surrounded by people who care about her. Today was an unfortunate accident that I know Charles and I will never allow to happen again," he told her. She held his gaze for a long moment.

"... If it's for Anna Marie you can call me again," Amelia said.

"Thank you," Max replied. She nodded before she turned herself and daughter into mist and teleported out of the room.

"Max," he heard Anna's voice from behind him.

'She must have been waiting till we were alone,' he thought as he turned to face her; she was now sitting up in the bed.

"Could you come sit down? You and me need to talk," she told him.

Thank you for reading! Please review!

I'll have the next chapter up soon.